I’m ba-a-a-ck!

Being a grandfather isn’t something that you train for. It was quite challenging last week to go outside and shoot basketball for an hour in the summer heat with an 8-year old intent on dispatching his creeky ol’ Grandpa in morning games of one-on-one.

He took the overall 3-game series, but Grandpa held his own (at least for this year).

Now, where did I put that tube of SportsCreme?

In fact, the past month has found my lovely wife and I spending a full week with each set of our five young (10 and under) grandsons. We have enjoyed a total summer blast!

Now, the house is quiet again. Our eight-year old rescued Old English Sheepdog (Molly) seems to be mourning the loss of our fine young gentleman visitors and their very patient Dad.

Molly enjoyed extra company during her morning and evening dog walks every day.

It has been difficult to keep close tabs on sports while traveling to visit or hosting our very sharp and fun-loving grandsons over the past month.

Some things appear to have changed a lot. Others didn’t.

It’s time to catch-up.

Good news! Saints legend Drew Brees was inducted into the Pro Football Hall-of-Fame!

New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees led the Black and Gold to their only Super Bowl appearance and title in February, 2010. He set numerous NFL passing records during his stellar 20-year pro football career.

The Texas-born Brees was an excellent student as well. He majored in Industrial Management at Purdue University. Drew Brees quarterbacked the Boilermakers football team to the Rose Bowl in 2001 as the team won a share of the Big Ten title.

The San Diego Chargers selected Brees with the first pick in the second round of the 2001 NFL draft.

It’s hard to believe that he played in San Diego for the first five years of his pro football career.

A trade to the New Orleans Saints in 2006 also paired Drew Brees with new head coach Sean Payton. It would be a match made in WhoDat Heaven for us Saints fans.

Hurricane Katrina devastated the city in August, 2005. The Louisiana Superdome was painstakingly repaired and refurbished the following year as New Orleans welcomed home its beloved football team along with a new quarterback and head coach.

Drew Brees’ infectious positive attitude and leadership skills helped the Saints improve every season leading up to that Super Bowl victory.

More importantly, the Saints’ rise served to boost the spirits of the entire Gulf South region during recovery efforts from both Hurricane Katrina and, a month later, Rita in southwestern Louisiana.

Sorry, Archie Manning supporters.

The true GOAT (greatest of all time) for the majority of New Orleans Saints fans is Hall-of-Fame quarterback Drew Brees. Congratulations!

Red-hot Red Sox are blazing in baseball’s American League!

The Boston Red Sox have won 27 of their last 32 baseball games through Sunday, August 9. Boston was at the bottom of the American League East standings earlier in the season.

The BoSox are still seven games behind the Tampa Bay Rays with 45 games left to play in baseball’s seemingly never-ending 162-game regular season. Late inning comebacks have been the rule during Boston’s recent hot streak during July and into early August.

Will the Boston Red Sox remain hot during this hottest month of the year? Stay tuned!

The eight team UFL recently packed-up and left Houston and Birmingham. Why?

Spring pro football’s United Football League (UFL) quietly exited two of its long-time markets less than two weeks ago.

The Birmingham Stallions won three straight spring football titles from 2022 through 2024. A brand new college football stadium for UAB featuring nearly 40,000 seats played host for Stallions home games in each of the past five seasons.

The UFL’s billionaire owner and apparent league spokesman, Mike Repole, jousted with Birmingham football fans earlier this season about their lack of support for the team.

It’s no surprise that Repole just pulled the plug after attendance declined this year. His excuse for leaving Birmingham is what has raised eyebrows in Alabama.

He said, “With Birmingham, this decision was 100% about the wrong sized venue. Even on opening day, when 16,000 Stallions fans showed up, the energy, passion, and game atmosphere was not felt due to the size of the venue.”

Here’s a question for you, Mr. Repole.

Doing just as you requested, the Houston UFL franchise vacated its college football stadium at the University of Houston. The Houston Gamblers moved into the city’s downtown soccer venue with 20,000 seats this season. How do you explain why less than 7,000 fans attended Houston Gamblers football games this spring? The team did exactly what you asked for and had even less success. Houston’s UFL franchise is now defunct.

Perhaps Mr. Repole might consider that the UFL’s on-field product is simply not very good. It is also played during increasingly hot spring weather – especially in the league’s southern markets. UFL games – which are (generally speaking) low scoring and not very exciting to watch – have trouble attracting local fans when tickets were priced as low as $20 apiece.

The market, sir, has been and continues to speak to you quite loudly.

Golf – Welcome to the winner’s circle, Jackson Koivun and Asterisk Talley!

Two weeks ago, former Auburn All-American golfer Jackson Koivun picked-up his first PGA win at the 3M Open in Minnesota. It was only his third professional start!

After Sunday’s middle-of-the-pack finish in his fourth PGA start at Greensboro, NC, the 21-year old Koivun has earned enough FedEx points to qualify for this week’s first round of PGA playoffs beginning Thursday in Memphis.

Let’s also welcome a 17-year old upcoming high school senior golfer to the winner’s circle.

Asterisk Talley (yes, that’s her real name) easily won her first USGA championship by taking the US Women’s Amateur title in Tennessee with an 8-up victory. She had previously finished runner-up in the 2024 US Junior Girls Amateur and the US Women’s Amateur.

Congratulations to Ms. Talley! Yes, there will forever be an Asterisk next to her last name on the US Women’s Amateur trophy.

LIV Golf remains on life support but wants to tee it up again in 2027

In this continuing soap opera, LIV Golf (completing its fifth season in late August) will lose its Sugar Daddy financial backers. The Saudi Public Investment Fund (with over $1 trillion in assets) has lost more than $5 billion to start, fund, and prop-up this worldwide golf venture. They are skedaddling by no later than the end of August.

Last week, LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neal announced that a new lead investor has been secured. Before you say, “Hooray!”, the golf league’s boss did not reveal a lot of specifics. We don’t know who the investor is, how much money was actually being injected, or any other details which translate into a viable 2027 LIV Golf campaign.

Golfers expecting to participate in LIV Golf during 2027 (assuming there is a season) will be playing for smaller prize money and will likely be asked to share in the risk (and, if possible, the rewards) of the revamped league.

The future still looks shaky for LIV Golf.

The US Senate punted on 4th down to go on vacation and leave the future of college athletics hanging in the balance

When you woke up on Saturday morning, the United States Senate had adjourned to take a well-earned (sarcasm intended) full month of vacation.

Senators Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Maria Cantwell (D-Washington) were finally able to bring their college sports bill to the floor of the US Senate over the past few weeks. It showed some encouraging signs of passage.

The SEC and Big Ten finally jumped aboard to support the Senate’s “Protect College Sports Act” last week. That was the equivalent to a two-minute drill in hopes of getting this bill across the Senate’s goal line prior to the legislative body’s annual August recess.

College sports conferences have been unable to get their primary rule maker and enforcement arm (the NCAA) to take consequential actions in recent years. Guidelines and enforcement of rules in today’s transfer portal and NIL high dollar environment have many mid-sized and smaller universities considering dropping sports altogether. The SEC recently suggested it was willing to break away from the NCAA and establish its own set of rules if something doesn’t change soon.

With the proverbial play clock running, some Senators (as they are prone to do) tried to add amendments to the college sports bill last week. They wasted too much time and failed to bring it to a full Senate vote prior the month-long adjournment.

However, the Senators are promising to bring this college sports bill to a vote when they return in early September.

If that occurs, the sports bill must still be approved by the House of Representatives and then obtain the President’s signature to become law.

Sounds like a Hail Mary could be needed to complete this legislation with the mid-term elections coming up in November!

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