Let’s tend to business.
Rushmore of best heads of of hair for male sports stars over the last half century – Boz, Oscar Gamble, Troy Polamalu and Andre Agassi (bonus points for versatility). Announcers: Barry Melrose, Mel Kiper, Jimmy Johnson and Hubie Brown.
Forest Whitaker’s Rushmore – “Fast Times at Ridgemont High,” “Platoon,” “Godfather of Harlem,” “The Last King of Scotland.”
Rushmore of “Conor” (spelling can deviate) – Sarah Connor (mom of John Connor who saved the world in the Terminator franchise), the Conners (Roseanne’s sitcom family), Jimmy Connors and of course “Con-Air”
Rushmore of famous U.S. signs – See Rock City, the Hollywood sign, the big Vegas sign above the city of sin, and the peace sign. Visor tip to the old-school “John 3:16” sign at sporting events when I was growing up.
And for some new to know.
Holy buckets of range balls, some Aussie named Lucas Herbert has nine birdies and no bogeys through his first 16 holes at the British Open at Moccasin Bend East on Friday. He is currently hinting history.
LeBron is close to a decision. Anyone else kinda hoping that decision is to retire at this point?
NFL draft expert Matt Miller was involved in a terrible car crash earlier this summer. A GoFundMe was started to help with medical costs, but the social media blowback has now morphed into an investigation to alleged fraud by Miller. Crazy.
And then there is this story in which Texas Tech billionaire booster Cody Campbell gave $274K to Texas AG Ken Paxton, who is running for U.S. Senate. OK. But Campbell gave the fat check a day before Paxton wrote a passionate letter to the Big 12 in support for Brendan Sorsby. Hmmmmmm.
Also, movie quote correction from Thursday: I wrote “Day ain’t over yet” and attributed that to Josey Wales. Josey had plenty of memorable one-liners, but the “Day ain’t over yet” was from Curly in “City Slickers” from the Oscar-winning Jack Palance.
Let’s bag the ‘bag shall we? I think we shall.
From Bob
Gene Henley’s article in the TFP today about the Mocs women’s basketball team rebuilding is interesting. They lost three top players to transfer; two of those went to schools playing in bigger leagues: one to Wisconsin and one to Miami. We’ve been talking about how, with the transfer portal, it must be hard to sustain a winning team in mid-major basketball these days. My question is: Would Wes Moore (a great coach, no matter where he is) have had the success he had here at UTC if the transfer portal was in effect back then?
Bob
I think yes, because Moore has had success everywhere. He was brilliant (copyright Guinness beer guys) here. He has been tremendous at NC State.
And he did it year over year over year, so he was always rebuilding, developing and advancing.
The real truth for the UTCs and the mid-majors is that keeping guys like Wes Moore for as long as he stayed with the then-Lady Mocs will be an impossibility.
The lure of money will always be there for true talents.
But the frustrations of being pillaged and being forced to start over every single season – especially in a sport like college basketball – will force great coaches like Moore at mid-major locales to look to move quicker than ever.
From Chas
Kentucky PF Milan Momcilovic’s $6 million NIL deal makes him the highest paid player in college basketball and only a few shekels behind Miami’s QB as highest paid in all of college sports. Gator Thomas Haugh and Rebel Trinidad Chambliss scored $5 mil deals, the only other SEC players in the top ten, according to On3.
For Friday’s (money) bag: Did UK overpay the sharpshooter?
Chas
Yes, but no. A definite maybe.
As for the definition of “overpay,” if his next best offer was $4 million, then assuredly so. But in determining worth and/or value of transactions, be them draft picks, portal additions or free agent signings, the actual answer can only be deciphered after the showing.
That said, the no comes from this: After visiting with and finishing second for a slew of the portal possibilities in the top-10, Mark Pope simply HAD to have Momcilovic.
For perception among the BBN. For his system, which needs to stretch comfortable shooting from a distance. For the confidence inside and around the program.
Overspend in money? I think yes. Until I saw that article, I would have made more than a few guesses before landing on Milan Momcilovic being college basketball’s highest paid player.
Overspend in terms of need – on the floor and among the fans? I don’t really think that was possible in Pope’s current position.
From Tom
Jay, didn’t you and Pasquale touch on that topic back in the day? (Mailbag question). Come to think of it, may have actually predated your show? Back to the late, great “Doctor B” days. Topic involved Chattanooga area cross section of football recruiting, booster groups, etc.
Tom
I am sure we did. And I am sure Doctor B did too back in the day.
It’s a common talking point here, and the geography makes it a unique market for sure.
If I contend that AU fans are top 2 or 3 in the A-T-L, the more interesting discussion around the 423 would be which fan base is biggest after the big 3 locally.
Tennessee is clear 1, Georgia is 2 with Alabama a close 3.
I think UTC would be 4, but I wonder the true rankings after those three?
Seems like there are a bunch of AU folks around the city, or maybe that is just my perception since a) half my wardrobe is AU-adorned, so b) I hear a lot of folks say “War Eagle” in passing.
Thoughts?
From Spy
Taylor Sheridan looks at his bank account and goes “Emmys? Emmys? Bwhahahahaha!!!!! The only thing I need an Emmy for is as a doorstop for the vault of money I’m making.”
Spy
Amen.
Have a great weekend, friends, and everyone enjoy the kickball title match Sunday.