ESPN’s next big move
ESPN launched its direct-to-consumer app today. Here’s more. https://www.cnbc.com/2025/08/21/disney-espn-app-launch.html.
Gotta say, there was a point in time when I was all for à la carte viewing options. I was wrong. All the streaming services are nuts. Nuts.
And wicked pricey.
Yes, those dang teenagers and their loud rock-n-roll better get off my lawn.
Questions for the masses on an Anything Goes Thursday — the ol’ AGT, as the kids say:
› Do you watch live sports on your phone?
› Will you get the ESPN app, with plans starting at $11.99 per month?
› What streaming service do you use most?
It also allows a lot of professional and major college sports conferences a chance to breathe because streaming services like the ESPN app need premium content that subscribers will pay for.
College football common sense
Two things across the college football landscape caught me eye, and each made me think, “Yeah, that seems logical to me.”
The first is this story from The Athletic reporting the College Football Playoff Committee will use a strength-of-record metric in picking the field of 12.
Good. Unless you are Missouri and maybe Ole Miss or even an Indiana or even a Clemson in pursuit of the 1 overall seed.
For the SEC duo above — and maybe even Tennessee — a 9-3 mark against those schedules may not be enough to get into the playoff.
Indiana plays all of three opponents ranked in the preseason polls.
For Clemson, well, the Tigers are part of a clear trend for me.
I have never been one of those folks who chant “S-E-C! S-E-C!” when a school in the same conference as my alma mater is doing something tremendous.
Alabama and Georgia having championship-level success hurts AU in terms of recruiting efforts.
But this year, the nonconference part of schedules for the SEC carry magnified importance.
Consider this: Chalk wins against some of the top-regarded teams from other conferences — the SEC gets the ACC and the Big Ten favorites in Week 1 as well as a trendy Big 12 frontrunner, plus multiple shots at Notre Dame before Columbus Day — if “strength-of-record” is truly factored in.
Say Notre Dame goes 11-1 or maybe even 10-2, but one of those losses is to SEC middle-of-the-road foes Texas A&M or Arkansas?
In the release, the CFP states, “This metric rewards teams defeating high-quality opponents while minimizing the penalty for losing to such a team. Conversely, these changes will provide minimal reward for defeating a lower-quality opponent, while imposing a greater penalty for losing to such a team.”
This is also a measure to make sure the TV partners can still schedule Week 1 blockbusters like Texas at THE Ohio State or LSU at Clemson.
The other moment of clarity for college football headlines was the ESPN list of the top 100 college football players, and Jeremiah Smith, the superb WR1 for THE Buckeyes, is rightly 1. Here’s the list, and a few quibbles.
› Kadyn Proctor, the Alabama left tackle, is too low at 14. He’s a monster who is 6-foot-7 and 366 pounds who squatted 815, benched 535 and cleaned 405 over the summer. Did I mention he has a 32-inch vertical? At 366 pounds.
› Diego Pavia, the Vandy QB1, is at 97. Which seems low to me, especially factoring in value to his program.
› Missouri RB Ahmad Hardy is at 90. Again, a little underrated since Hardy will topple 1,000 yards rushing if he stays healthy.
› Tech QB1 Haynes King should be higher than 68.
Thoughts?
› Christian Miller, the Georgia DT, is much better than 56. I think he will be an All-American. Same with Florida center Jake Slaughter, who falls at 37.
Thoughts, other than five SEC QBs, are in the top 25?
Pre-“er” months realizations
Yes, Plays went 0-2 with a truly inexplicable loss by the Dodgers to Colorado.
And that was with Shohei Ohtani getting rocked by those Rockies.
It pointed me to numbers that feel intertwined as the MLB marathon is 10 days from the “er” months, when legends are made and miseries are exposed.
› Since the All-Star break, the Dodgers have 14 wins. The Rockies have 15. The Dodgers are paying their injured players ($81 million) more than the Rockies are paying their active players ($52 million).
This led me down the sportrac.com rabbit hole of MLB payrolls.
It’s doubly important as the MLB owners are pitching the idea of salary caps amid conversation about expansion.
It’s logical to assume money = wins, but it’s not always the case.
In truth, it’s a way for owners to police the owners because billionaires feeling the juice of putting together a winning team — and closing headline-grabbing deals — is an intoxicant.
A salary floor makes more sense in terms of competitive balance to me.
With that, here are the top 5 and bottom 5 payrolls in terms of total dollars, including the money spent on players on the IL.
1 Los Angeles — $341 million. Los Angeles is 72-55 and leads the NL West by 1 game.
2 New York Mets — $339 million. New York is 67-59 and trails Philly by 6.5 games in the NL East.
3 New York Yankees — $297.8 million. New York is 69-57 and trails Toronto by 4 games in the AL East.
4 Philadelphia — $287.8 million. Philadelphia is 74-53 and leads the NL East by 6.5 games.
5 Toronto — $252.4 million. Toronto is 74-54 and leads the AL East by 4 games.
Only two of the top eight teams in terms of total payroll have losing records — Texas, which is seventh on this and is 63-65, and Atlanta, which is ninth on the list and is 58-69.
The bottom five includes Tampa Bay, Pittsburgh, the A’s, the Chicago White Sox with Miami last across MLB at $66.6 million (or less than what Shohei makes when his deferred moneys kick in).
Those bottom five are all under $90 million and are a collective 82 games under .500.
This and that
› Speaking of MLB, Braves played. Braves won. This season has stunk, but the last four starts for right Hurston Waldrep have been stellar.
› Saw this on Twitter after Auburn claimed seven more nattys this week, including one in 1993 with a certain son of a familiar FSU coaching legend: “Terry Bowden has a national title, BUILD THE DAMN STATUE. Hell, if it’s life-size, it won’t require that much bronze.”
› Rules, everyone. Here’s Paschall on UT QB1 Joey Aguilar, who almost became a firefighter during COVID. Man, think his favorite gadget play is the hook and ladder? Here’s Paschall on Bama QB1 Ty Simpson, too.
› WNBA rookie Paige Bueckers dropped 44 points — on 81% shooting — in a buzzer-beating loss.
Today’s questions
Yep, it’s AGT, and we started with a slew above.
We’ll also ask, does MLB need a salary floor more than a salary cap?
And fire away — either here for today or for the mailbag tomorrow — on this AGT.
As for today, Aug. 21, let’s review:
› Happy birthday, Hawaii, which became a U.S. state on this day in 1959.
› Kenny Rogers would have been 87 on this day. Wilt Chamberlain would have been 89.
› “Bambi” was released on this day in 1942.
Rushmore of “deer,” and have a little fun, friends.
And remember the mailbag.