This was a big deal back in the day. You literally didn't see highlights you we do now. MNF was everything.

So umpires are getting scrutinized and lambasted for missing pitches an 1/8” of an inch to an inch off the plate that really isn’t the plate as MLB only counts the back half of home plate. Imagine being told you are wrong by a computer that the pitch you called a strike because it caught the front half of the plate is actually a ball. Then getting crap from all the younger, nerdy generation because it’s so EZ to tell if a pitch is a strike at 100 mph or a ball from your fucking couch. Get a grip people. They won’t call the real zone because hitters would struggle more than they do now. Imagine that.

I ask this question all the time and ask it in reverse as well -- why would a team that can dominate and win in the ACC or Big 12 mortgage their soul for $20 million to $30 million more a year if that money translates to more losses and less competitiveness than before? Seriously - what's the purpose of competing if it's not to win? Just ask the University of Maryland. They really wanted the money!! They really gotten the money!! And, since they've left the ACC, any of their programs that matter have significantly deteriorated: - Men's basketball went from elite status to what? Maybe average? They've gone from competing for national titles to making the S16 ONCE (TEN YEARS AGO) since leaving the ACC. - Football went from above average to below average. They can't generate fan interest and they look to be forever mired in the middle to lower tier of the conference. - Wrestling when from a juggernaut (winning 24 ACC titles and routinely producing All-Americans) to now routinely finish at or near the bottom of the Big Ten standings. - Volleyball was a consistently strong program that contended and made the NCAA tournament seven times between 1990 and 2005. Maryland has not made a single NCAA tournament since leaving the ACC. - Women's Soccer was highly competitive, making 13 NCAA tournaments while in the ACC. Since leaving the ACC, Maryland has failed to qualify for a single NCAA tournament. - Their once vaulted Field Hockey program that one 8 National Titles before joining the Big Ten, hasn't won a single title since leaving the ACC. I'm sure that it is awesome to have more revenue, that they have to spend at a higher rate to be more competitive against all the other teams in their conference that also have more revenue, but the purpose of fielding an athletics program is to be competitive, not to have more revenue and end up spending more money and end up deeper in the red.

This kind of tradition is why college football means so much more than wins and losses to so many people. There are already too many fans who see these players as nothing more than a jersey number and a set of stats. When opportunities for connection between players and fans are removed, it becomes easier to overlook the humanity of the players. And that sucks.

There are also jobs with more pressure and less pay for the record

That time Larry Bird decided to play left-handed against the Blazers because, and this is an actual quote, “I’m saving my right hand for the Lakers.” He put up 47 points, 14 boards, 11 assists. Two nights later, the Celtics beat the Lakers at the Forum.

I think this speaks to a bigger problem with college football today. We’ve created a world where anything short of competing for a national championship is considered failure. It wasn’t that long ago that you could have a great season without winning it all. Beat your rival. Compete for a conference championship. Win 10 or 11 games. Go win the Outback, Citrus, Sugar or Cotton Bowl and head into the offseason feeling pretty damn good about your program. Now an 11-3 season gets dissected based on why you didn’t make the playoff or why your coach “can’t win the big one.” That’s what we’ve lost. The national championship used to be the ultimate goal, but it wasn’t the only thing that gave a season meaning. And the irony is we’ve sacrificed so much of what made college football unique for an expanded playoff system that still won’t eliminate arguments about who belongs. We’ll just argue about team No. 24 instead of team No. 4. Conference championships should matter. Rivalries should matter. Bowl games should matter. A really good season should be allowed to simply be a really good season.

Most of the college football universe knew the kick missed wide left. Now we have physics on our side to prove it once and for all. Send this to your Hokie friends or anyone in denial. Shoutout to HokieSpurs on Instagram for being smart and breaking it down.

Fall is a confusing time for SEC fans when the Braves are in the playoffs because we hate each other in general but then unite for 3-hour increments throughout the week

Players don’t quit teams. They quit transactional coaches. Saban breaks down why. 🎥

Clemson Football has only four losing seasons since I became a fan in the first grade (81-81). #TuesdayThoughts

🏈🙌🏼🎃🍁🍂

I have a Coaching Friend who sends out "Thoughts of the Day". This one has been said many ways. But this is So True and This is a Great Way to say it.

Looking at the last two years. Georgia starters are 90% recruits. Bama starters are 60% recruits. Bama loses 20-25 players a year. Georgia loses 12-14 players a year. Georgia brings in about 10 players a year with 6k snaps in experience. Bama is 20 players with 14k snaps. Each has an NIL budget of $28-29M Georgia is more pure high school recruits and bama is more of the modern system with a combo. Georgia uses the portal for fill in 5 and 6th DBs Bama uses 2/3rds of their portal for O and D line, DeBoring seems to use the portal for the large men and recruits for the skill positions. Athens has 1 Beef O’Bradys Tuscaloosa has ZERO Beef O’Bradys. This probably explains why players stick around UGA versus leave.

This is so good. As a former small-town sports editor, what we did *mattered*. Saturday morning meant a game story - with quotes & reaction - and full boxscores from every game. Previews on Thursdays. Features, coverage of all sports. You knew what was going on in the area.

No I got kids that love to go out there win or lose. We still interact with our Clemson players, they still get to get their sweatbands and gloves and all the cool stuff. don't punish the fan/kids. That's where these memories are made

The AP Poll was the standard for decades, but a subset of the voters turning their ballots into clickbait articles has rendered it functionally useless. This guy jumped Mississippi State UP eight spots after a 33-point home loss. It's time to start pulling votes from people.

AP voter Greg Luca had Miss State #18 and Pitt #23 last week. Miss State lost by 33 points to Alabama. Pitt beat 4-0 Virginia Tech on the road. You want to know where he has those two ranked in his ballot today? He moved 4-1 Miss State up to #10. He dropped 5-0 Pitt to unranked. Yes, he moved Miss State UP 8 SPOTS FOR LOSING BY 33 POINTS, and dropped Pitt OUT OF THE RANKINGS FOR BEATING AN UNDEFEATED TEAM ON THE ROAD.

Jokic is probably the most underrated player in basketball history because the people who would appreciate his game the most gave up on watching the NBA years ago.

Tonight I met with a couple of other old schoolmates and learned for the first time what NIL was originally intended for and how it got totally blown out of proportion to where it is just collectives of boosters who put their money/donations into a collective fund for their school to use however it chooses to pay players not only out of high school but from existing competitive college programs and just get rid of guys who aren’t working out. Are we sure this has anything to do with higher education and obtaining a degree any more?