Weekend winners
Ole Miss. I was kind of surprised too when the statements really resonated that this is Ole Miss’ first national title. In any sport. Heck, Vandy had a bowling title before the run of baseball excellence. And wow, what a postseason spring, huh? The Rebels by almost every report were the last team in the field of 64, and their the last team standing. Crazy. And congrats. And a year after Mississippi State won it all too.
Colorado Avalanche. The better team won, especially with the Lightning without one of their top scorers for most of the Stanley Cup Finals. Colorado’s 3-2 win ended the Lightning’s hopes for a three-peat. Man, looking through history, a three-peat is legit. The last team to do it was the Lakers, who only had two of the top-12 players ever to lace them up in their prime. Before that it was some dude named Jordan and the Yankees with the two highest Hall-of-Fame vote getters ever in Jeter and Rivera. The NFL has never had a three-peater. And it only seems harder because of the circumstances, free agency and the money. Kudos.
Michael Thorbjornsen. Yes, Xander Schauffle won the Travelers. Yay. Xander Schauffle is going to win a lot of nondescript PGA events through the coming years. But Thorbjorsen – pronounced just like it’s spelled and like that’s the first and last name of a key subordinate of Jon Snow with the Night’s Watch at The Wall – finished fourth. As a 20-year-old amateur, Thorbjornsen finished solo fourth, which is exceedingly rare. Side question: Do you know the last amateur to win a PGA event? Phil Mickelson in 1991.
Jaden Rashada. Wowser. Dude is a highly regard high school QB and he picked Miami. That’s happened before, especially back in Da Day of Da U. But On3 is reporting that Rashada got an NIL deal worth $9.5 million. Again, bowser. For some comps, Joe Burrow will make $9 million next year. Tua Tagovailoa will make $7.6 million. Mac Jones will make $3.9 million.
The USFL. You have to consider announcing a second season is as big a win as the league could have hoped for, right? That’s what Sports Business Journal reported over the weekend, and it will give the upstart summer league a full week to discuss it before the championship game this weekend.
Weekend losers.
America. Man, when you thought the divide could not get more wide or vitriolic the last 72 hours happened. And know this, the BET Awards apparently pulled no punches last night. https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/janelle-monae-taraji-p-henson-jazmine-sullivan-bet-awards-f-you-supreme-court-050200901.html When politics becomes more persuasive and important than empathy, we’ve all lost. I do wonder how many people celebrating the overturning of Roe vs. Wade were among the folks who were adamant about an in individual’s right to deny the vaccine?
Twitter over the weekend. Egad. Yeah, walk away and do it quickly, because it was a cauldron of anger. One example: Here’s pop star Pink’s Twitter activity. Uh, NSFW friends. https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/pink-slams-supreme-court-overturn-roe-v-wade-183146252.html
CBS golf coverage. It was shared last week that Nick Faldo was walking away. OK, he’s fine. Not as Johnny Miller or even as good as some of his CBS predecessors. It was also shared around these parts that Trevor Immelmann will get that lead chair next to Jim Nantz moving forward. But here are a few questions for CBS: One, did Keith Mitchell wear a “I Love ABC” visor or something. Dude was inside the top 10 all afternoon Sunday and the fence marking out to bounds on 12 got more air time. Two, how much is Phil Mickelson kicking himself right now? That job 100% would have been his and for top dollar considering what Fox just paid Tom Brady. Three, Yes, Jim Nantz comes across as a world-class stick in the mud, but when he’s not there, the CBS broadcast really feels like its coming to live from Valley Brook for the third round of the member-guest.
Jason Kokrak. What was that dude? Kokrak smoked a wedge 45 yards over the green on his final hole Friday, way out of bounds and into a crowd of spectators on the other side of the road. He was headed for a missed cut, but rather dropping another ball and finishing the hole, Kokrak grabbed his bag, headed the to car and walked it off without finishing or turning in a score card. At least one report has him being the next name headed to the LIV. I’ve been more open-minded than most about those taking the huge checks and headed to the Saudi-backed league, but dang Kokrak, be better than that. (Yes, when you read to the bottom of the article his playing partner said it was a time-saving measure not to go drop since he was going to miss the cut anyway.) But a PGA Tour hitting a ball 45 some yards over his target that ‘happens’ to land in the crowd? Hmmmmmmmm. We’ve got some attorneys who are regulars here. If that knocked some dude out, how difficult would it be to prove intent on Kokrak’s antics?