THIS COLUMN WAS WRITTEN IN FRONT OF A LIVE STUDIO AUDIENCE
QUICK QUIZ
Who is college baseball’s all-time career home run leader?
QUOTABLE QUOTES
“What is a medium collateral whatever ligament? It sounds like spaghetti with fish sauce.” – Art Donavan, Pro Football Hall of Famer, on the injuries suffered by current players.
“Wherever I go people are waving at me. Maybe if I do a good job, they’ll use all their fingers.” – Frank King, coordinator of the1988 Calgary Olympics.
“If they can’t put up with my pressure, how are they ever going to stand the pressure from 60,000 people?” – Vince Lombardi, then-Washington Redskins coach, defending his demanding coaching tactics.”
IDLE THOUGHTS
Frank Robinson’s number 20 was worn by Mike Schmidt, who was a huge Frank Robinson fan growing up. Then #20 was worn by Howard Johnson who was a big Mike Schmidt fan. All three would lead the league in homers and RBI in same season.
The NCAA fined Tennessee more than $8 million on Friday and issued a scathing report outlining more than 200 infractions during the three-year tenure of former football coach Jeremy Pruitt. The Volunteers escaped a postseason ban. Tennessee committed 18 Level I violations, the most severe, and said most involved recruiting infractions and direct payments to athletes and their families — benefits that totaled approximately $60,000. The NCAA praised Tennessee for its cooperation and the Vols escaped the postseason ban, but the infractions panel noted that decision was a difficult one given the circumstances.
“The panel encountered a challenging set of circumstances related to prescribing penalties in this case,” it said in its decision. “The panel urges the Infractions Process Committee and the membership to clearly define its philosophy regarding penalties — which extends beyond postseason bans — and memorialize that philosophy in an updated set of penalty guidelines.”
Four former staffers were given show-cause orders, including one spanning six years for Pruitt, who was fired in early 2021. The NCAA report said the school failed to monitor its football program. “Additionally, due to his personal involvement in the violations, the former head coach violated head coach responsibility rules,” according to the document.
Tennessee chief communications officer Jason Baum said in an email to The Associated Press the school would not comment until after the NCAA’s briefing Friday afternoon. The NCAA found most of the violations were related to a paid unofficial visit scheme that was used consistently by the football program over two years. It involved at least a dozen members of the football staff, and the resulting violations included at least 110 impermissible hotel room nights, 180 impermissible meals, 72 instances of providing impermissible entertainment or other benefits, 41 impermissible recruiting contacts, 37 instances of providing impermissible game day parking, and 14 times in which gear was impermissibly provided to prospects, according to the report.
The NCAA also found that Pruitt or his wife were involved in impermissible payments to two prospects who later signed with Tennessee. The mother of one player received $6,000 from Pruitt’s wife as a down payment on a car. After the mother’s son signed with the Vols, Pruitt’s wife paid the woman $500 each month for car payments at least 25 times. The mother also received $1,600 from Pruitt’s wife for a deposit on a rental home in the Knoxville area. The mother of a second prospect told Pruitt she needed a medical procedure she could not pay for. The NCAA found Pruitt gave her an envelope with $3,000 for medical bills. Records obtained by Tennessee show the prospect’s mother deposited $5,100 in her bank account two days after a similar amount ($5,000) was withdrawn from the head coach’s bank account. Also, Pruitt gave the woman $300 to pay for gas. Both players competed in 23 games while ineligible, the NCAA found.
The Eastern League’s Springfield Nationals forgot to bring jerseys to a 1941 road series against the Wilkes-Barre Barons, so they borrowed jerseys from the Barons and turned them inside out during the games.
I was watching Major League Baseball’s All-Star game last week when a broadcaster called Shohei Ohtani the greatest player in the history of baseball. Hey, let’s take the foot off the gas pedal. Apologies to George Herman Ruth.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins missed an entire year of organized hockey when he was 15 because his parents couldn’t afford it. Three years later, he was the first overall pick of the 2011 National Hockey League Draft. If you have hockey equipment collecting dust in your garage, attic, or basement, please donate it to a youth hockey league or an ice rink.
Michigan lawmakers are again attempting to pass legislation to end the prohibition of alcoholic beverage sales at college stadiums. Senate Bill 247 sponsor Sen. Sean McCann, D-Kalamazoo, told the Senate Regulatory Affairs Committee that there are positive benefits to the legislation aside from simply allowing fans to purchase alcohol while cheering on their teams. Big Ten conference schools that currently sell alcohol at sports venues have reportedly seen a decrease in binge drinking and alcohol-related issues at games, he said.
“Patrons, we hope, would be less inclined to load up prior to the game knowing that they will have the option to obtain an alcoholic beverage upon entering the facility and through the duration of the game,” McCann said. The NCAA adopted a policy to end its prohibition on alcohol sales in 2019. Since then, 11 of the 14 Big Ten schools have begun selling alcohol at games, according to Marlon Lynch, vice president and chief safety officer at Michigan State University.
MSU and the University of Michigan are among the three schools that do not allow such sales to the general public, but game suites do have access to alcoholic beverages. Under the bill, the sale of alcohol at college stadiums and arenas would be limited to one hour before the event and end immediately at the end of the event. Patrons are allowed to consume alcoholic beverages on the premises for no later than 30 minutes after the event has ended, and drinks cannot be taken out of the venue.
There are concerns stemming from potentially selling alcohol at university sporting events. Lynch said there are some who worry drinks could get into the hands of underage fans. However, he added MSU data shows approximately 65% of game attendees are 21 or older and sellers would still be obligated to check identification at purchase. Another potential challenge: some stadiums may not be designed to accommodate longer lines at the counters. “With that, an implementation of advanced notice and different techniques, that can be resolved as well,” Lynch said. Even if the bill is passed, it’s still up to the university or college’s governing board to decide whether to implement the change.
Fred Schaible with Western Michigan University said University Athletic Director Dan Bartholomae has done a lot to prepare for the opportunity if the bill becomes law. He believes this is something the fans want and could bring additional revenue to the school. “There’s a lot of work that goes into ensuring the safe sale of alcohol at our venues occurs,” Schaible said. The bill passed out of committee in a unanimous vote. It will now go to the Senate floor for additional consideration. Am I the only one who thinks this isn’t a good idea?
Tony Dow, who played Wally Clever on the television show “Leave it to Beaver,” was a gifted athlete. In high school, he lettered in every sport. His best and favorite sport was swimming. In fact, he was a junior diving champion and broke a national record at age nine. Dow was an Olympic hopeful but suffered an injury while training at the Hollywood Athletic Club that shelved his swim career.
Notre Dame quarterback Sam Hartman better be able to take some ribbing from his teammates. The sixth-year senior transfer from Wake Forest had a rib surgically removed late last year. Since then, he’s switched schools and begun practicing with the Fighting Irish. But although the rib is no longer causing him any trouble, that doesn’t mean it’s out of his life for good. Hartman said that the rib is currently in the possession of his mother, and that she is in the process of fashioning the bone into, of all things, a necklace. The status of Hartman’s ribcage didn’t seem to hamper him in his final year at Wake Forest, when he threw for 3,701 yards, 38 touchdowns and 12 interceptions in 12 games.
The Notre Dame football team’s season opener is August 26th against Navy in Dublin, Ireland.
Autumn Lake Healthcare, a New Jersey-based operator of nursing homes and long-term care facilities, purchased 12,000 tickets for Sunday’s Baltimore Orioles game against the Miami Marlins. The purchase reserves the entire upper deck at Camden Yards for the company’s employees. An Orioles spokesman confirmed the purchase to The Baltimore Banner and that it’s the largest group the team has ever hosted at Camden Yards. Autumn Lake purchased the tickets for its employee family day.
LeBron James will change his uniform from No. 6 to No. 23 next season “out of respect for Bill Russell.”
Northwestern University has fired head baseball coach Jim Foster after allegations of bullying and a toxic environment within the program. Foster’s firing comes just three days after Northwestern head football coach Pat Fitzgerald was fired amid allegations of problematic hazing within the program.
I’m not exactly sure why four-year Division I college basketball programs haven’t shown an interest in Mott Community College head coach Steve Schmidt. The Central Michigan University grad has coached over 1,000 games for MCC and has led the Bears to four NJCAA Division II National Championships and has appeared in 11 National Tournaments. He is a member of the Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan Hall of Fame, Greater Flint Area Sports Hall of Fame, NJCAA Men’s Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame, and the Greater Lansing Area Sports Hall of Fame. Schmidt is the winningest coach in Mott history and in the history of Michigan Collegiate Coaches (at all levels). He is also a four-time NJCAA National Coach of the Year.
Ed Stewart injured himself in the batter’s box. The Class B Vancouver Capilanos’ hitter swung and missed at a pitch during a 1939 game and the bat whipped around his shoulder and slammed him on the back of the head. He wasn’t wearing a helmet and was knocked unconscious.
Whatever happened to Mike Henneman?
QUICK QUIZ ANSWER
B. Pete Incaviglia, who slammed 100 career home runs in 213 games for Oklahoma State University. The Cowboys’ slugger had a final season for the ages, blasting 48 home runs behind a 1.140 slugging percentage in 1985, both still NCAA single-season records. Only four players in the history of college baseball have eclipsed the 40-home run mark in a season and two are on the all-time list — Incaviglia and Florida State’s Jeff “Treetops” Ledbetter. Rice’s Lance Berkman (41 in 1997) and Brandon Larson (LSU), Eddie Furniss (LSU) and Brad Cresse (LSU) join Inky and Ledbetter in the exclusive club.
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Jul 19, 2023
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