Welcome Back to the Tradition's Finest Podcast!

Episode 109 - The "Call of A Lifetime" Episode includes a discussion of the following sports-related topics:

- NCAA: News & Storylines - - "Welcome Back, College Basketball:" Due primarily to an excessive material load, we have decided to postpone on our NCAA College Basketball 'Season Preview' segment, however, JD & Spencer elected to provide their individual Final Four predictions for the 2026 NCAA Tournament. . .There is one storyline from the Opening Night of the College Basketball season that is just too great & uplifting to not mention in this week's episode: During the postgame interview following their first game of the season, Loyola (Chicago) Ramblers head basketball coach Drew Valentine indicated that he could 'sense' Sister Jean's presence in his team's thrilling win over Cleveland State on Monday night - - Loyola Chicago guard Deywilk Tavarez hit a go-ahead three-pointer with 0.5 seconds to play, to secure the 91-88 victory in the program's first official game since the death of Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt, the longtime chaplain of the program and its' globally-recognized supporter, at the age of 106 last month - - In memory of Sister Jean, who had been associated with the program since 1994, the Ramblers' uniforms will include a patch that includes a picture depicting Sister Jean in all her glory - - Q: What are your thoughts on Loyola Chicago's buzzer-beating victory in their first game following Sister Jean's passing?. . .NCAA College Football Week Ten Analysis & Review: In this week's episode, JD & Spencer will discuss the major topics/storylines, analyze & review the in-game stats & each provide their individual takeaway's for the Week 10 slate of College Football games from across the country - - Be sure to tune in for an in-depth recap, and discussion of the following games & topics which are included in this week's College Football Analysis & Review segment:

No.9 Vanderbilt Commodores at No.20 Texas Longhorns

West Virginia Mountaineers at No.22 Houston Cougars

No.10 Miami Hurricanes at SMU Mustangs

No.5 Georgia Bulldogs vs. Florida Gators (*Neutral site/game played in Jacksonville, FL)

No.8 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets at NC State Wolfpack

No.23 USC Trojans at Nebraska Cornhuskers

South Carolina Gamecocks at No.7 Ole Miss Rebels (& the firing of Gamecocks OC Mike Shula)

No.18 Oklahoma Sooners at No.14 Tennessee Volunteers

Kentucky Wildcats at Auburn Tigers (**& the firing of Tigers HC Hugh Freeze & potential replacements)

- NCAA: News & Storylines (cont'd) - - NCAA D-I College Football Coaching Carousel: This could be the most active coaching carousel the sport of College Football has encountered in many years - - In particular, prior to the end of the month of September, five Power 4 programs were searching for new HC's for the 2026 season, and that number has since skyrocketed to twelve (counting some late-offseason dismissals) after Kent State University removed the interim tag from Mark Carney - - The 2024-25 hiring cycle was historically slow at the Power 4 level, as most programs waited to see the impact of budgeting more than $20 million for athletes in the House v. NCAA settlement, but with that revenue sharing system now firmly in place, the focus has significantly shifted back to coaching changes across the college football landscape - - In this particular segment, JD & Spencer present their individual ranking of NCAA Division I College Football's open head coaching jobs, with the ranking being primarily based on factors such as the chances for a head coach to succeed there - - Coaches want to take jobs where they believe they can be successful, and based on our independent rankings, this is how most HCs would view & prioritize the particular programs - - The 12 Power 4 open heading jobs that are ranked in this segment include the following programs: LSU, Penn State, Florida, Auburn, Arkansas, UCLA, Oklahoma State, Virginia Tech, Stanford, Oregon State, Colorado State & UAB. . .NCAA College Football Week Eleven Preview & Predictions: In this episode's Week Eleven preview, JD & Spencer provide their individual & independently-selected pick(s) and/or predictions for each of the following Week 11 matchups - as well as providing in-depth analysis & reasoning to explain the justification for their selection: **Be Sure to Share Your Picks with Us via Twitter/X - - @TraditionFinest OR Send Us an Email at [email protected]!!

Tulane at No.22 Memphis (-5.5)                       O/U55.5

No.5 Georgia (-8.5) at Mississippi State                    O/U57.5

"College Gameday:" No.8 BYU at No.9 Texas Tech (-10)           O/U52.5

No.3 Texas A&M (-7) at No.19 Missouri  O/U47.5

No.6 Oregon (-6) at Iowa      O/U40.5

LSU at No.4 Alabama (-10.5)                    O/U49.5

Auburn at No.15 Vanderbilt (-6.5)             O/U45.5

- NFL - - NFL Week 9 Review & Recap: In this week's episode, JD & Spencer will discuss, review & recap each of the following NFL games from Week 9 of the regular season - - **Be sure to tune in for an in-depth review, a highlight and discussion of the following game(s) from this past weekend's slate of games:

Atlanta Falcons at New England Patriots

Carolina Panthers at Green Bay Packers

And This Week's Tradition's Finest "Most Badass Celly of the Week" Award goes to. . .Carolina Panthers RB Rico Dowdle - - Dowdle's celebration of a 3rd-QTR TD on Sunday included only two "pelvic pumps" in his rendition, referencing the character, Hingle McCringleberry, from a sketch of the Comedy Central show "Key & Peele," - - In contrast to McCringleberry's "three-pump" TD celebration, which gets flagged for excessive celebration in the original skit, it was Dowdle's understanding that he was allowed two pumps - - While the language in the league's rulebook is vague, the game official flagged Dowdle on Sunday for unsportsmanlike conduct - and unfortunately, the 15-yard penalty was forced on the extra-point attempt, for which Carolina PK Ryan Fitzgerald missed - - but perhaps it was "excessive" because six of Dowdle's teammates participated in the celebration, which means, technically, there might have been 12 pelvic pumps. . .

Indianapolis Colts at Pittsburgh Steelers

Chicago Bears at Cincinnati Bengals

"Cam Little, BIG Kick:" Jacksonville Jaguars second-year kicker Cam Little is now officially in the NFL record book after drilling the longest FG in league history on Sunday - - The Jaguars' PK booted a 68-yard FG shortly before the halftime break - in the Jaguars' eventual 30-29 OT win over the Las Vegas Raiders - - Little, who connected on a 70-yard FG during the NFL preseason, was mobbed by his teammates after breaking the record that was previously held by former Ravens kicker, Justin Tucker, who's 66-yarder held on to the record since 2021 - - **NOTE: Little is now just one of three kickers in NFL history to make a FG of at least 65 yards - not bad for a 22-year-old, sixth-round pick - who had made 71.4% of his FG attempts during the first seven games of the 2025 NFL season. . .

Kansas City Chiefs at Buffalo Bills

- NFL (cont'd) - - 2025 NFL Trade Deadline: The 2025 NFL trade deadline, which was on Tuesday, November 4th, presented teams with one last window to transform their roster prior to the stretch run of the NFL regular season - - JD & Spencer discuss & provide an 'overall grade' for a few of the more notable and/or most impactful trades that did occur around the league prior to the 4:00 p.m. ET cutoff; the following trade(s) are discussed within this episode:

Philadelphia acquired OLB Jaelan Phillips via Miami in exchange for a 2026 third-round draft pick

Seattle acquired WR Rashid Shaheed via New Orleans in exchange for 2026 fourth- & fifth-round pick(s)

Jacksonville acquired WR Jakobi Meyers via Las Vegas in exchange for 2026 fourth & sixth-round pick(s)

Indianapolis acquired CB Sauce Gardner via NYJ in exchange for 2026 & '27 first-round picks & WR Adonai Mitchell

Dallas acquired three-time Pro Bowl DT Quinnen Williams via NYJ in exchange for 2026 second-round pick, a 2027 first-round pick & DT Mazi Smith

- MLB - - 2025 World Series Game 5: Toronto Blue Jays (2-2) vs. Los Angeles Dodgers (2-2): A record-setting performance from 22-year-old rookie pitcher Trey Yesavage in Game 5 of the 2025 World Series last Wednesday night had the Toronto Blue Jays on the cusp of their first MLB championship since 1993 - - Yesavage, in his first career postseason start on the road, struck out 12 batters over seven innings while giving up only three hits without issuing a single walk, helping lead the Blue Jays to a 6-1 win, and 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series - - **NOTE: Yesavage set the rookie mark for most strikeouts in a World Series game, surpassing Don Newcombe's 11, which was set in 1949. . .2025 World Series Game 6: Toronto Blue Jays (3-2) vs. Los Angeles Dodgers (2-3): After another hitless performance in Wednesday's Game 5 loss made Dodgers star Mookie Betts 3-for-23 in this year's World Series, he wasted no time as his only solution for when slumps emerge, is to attempt to swing his way out of them: In the early part of Game 6 last Friday evening, Betts hit a two-run single that made the difference in a season-saving 3-1 victory against the Toronto Blue Jays - - Yoshinobu Yamamoto beat Toronto for the second time in a week by allowing one run in six innings, and slumping Mookie Betts hit a two-run single in a three-run 3rd inning against Kevin Gausman that included Will Smith's go-ahead double - - A two-run lead was starting to slip away from the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 9th inning - along with their chance to force this year's World Series to a Game 7 - And then Kike Hernandez turned what might have been a tying, two-run single by Andres Gimenez into the first game-ending left field-to-second base double play in postseason history - - The Blue Jays were pushed to a Game 76 while the Dodgers kept alive their chance to become the first repeat champion since the 1998-2000 New York Yankees. . .2025 World Series Game 7: Toronto Blue Jays (3-3) vs. Los Angeles Dodgers (3-3): When the final out of Game 7 of the 2025 World Series was recorded late Saturday night, and the Los Angeles Dodgers cemented themselves as champions for a second straight year - - As for Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, he turned to watch Alejandro Kirk hit a broken-bat grounder that started a double play, Kershaw was certain there were two outs and the score was suddenly tied, not that his Dodgers had just pulled off an improbable, championship-clinching 5-4 victory over the Blue Jays - - Down a run with two outs remaining in their quest to become the first MLB team in a quarter century to repeat, the Dodgers got a game-tying HR from Miguel Rojas in the 9th inning, then a game-winning HR from Will Smith in the 11th inning - - Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who recorded the last two outs in the 9th inning, mowed through the Blue Jays lineup in the 10th and staved off another furious rally in the 11th - - In the end, he became an easy choice for World Series MVP. . .