8/2 - NFL BACK TOGETHER WEEKEND

*THE CARDINALS ARE THE NEAR UNANIMOUS PICK TO FINISH LAST IN THE TOP SHELF NFC WEST: Arizona, Atlanta, Carolina, Indianapolis and the Jets were the lone teams not part of The NFL Network training camp updates Saturday or Sunday.   

*49ERS HEAD COACH KYLE SHANAHAN IS EXPECTED TO BE AVAILALBLE TO START THE REGULAR SEASON: He has been an occasional training camp participant following a near fatal July car accident in  which he was at fault.

*PATRICK MAHOMES HAS NOT BEEN RULED OUT FOR THE REGULAR SEASON OPENER: He has been a limited practice participant coming off last December’s significant knee injury that required extensive surgery. KC begins the regular season at Denver in the first Monday night game.

*THE PRE-SEASON SUPER BOWL FAVORITE RAMS MIGHT BE STRONGER SOON: Future lock Hall of Famer Aaron Donald has been working out and is expected to end his retirement.

*CALEB WILLIAMS HAS SLIMMED DOWN: The third-year quarterback has lost 10-15 pounds, but he still needs to be better than the worst NFL on-target passer he was last season.

*CBS GOT LUCKY: Highly overrated game analyst Tony Romo has been placed on medical leave following a widely reported DUI incident. CBS reportedly will save a significant amount of the 10-year,$180 million deal he signed in 2020.

TUESDAY - MLB TRADE DEADLINE RECAP

7-31 - BIG TEN MEDIA DAYS  

*INDIANA IS AN UNDERDOG, AGAIN: The Hoosiers are picked to finish third in the Big Ten even after their 16-0 National Championship 2025 season.

        *OHIO STATE HAS NOT WON THE BIG TEN SINCE THE 2020 COVID SEASON: Yet the Buckeyes whose 15-game winning streak ended against Indiana in last season’s Big Ten Championship Game are picked to win this season.

        *MICHIGAN HAS A KILLER SCHEDULE: Kyle Whittingham’s team welcomes Oklahoma in Week 2 and also hosts Indiana before November road games at Oregon and Ohio State.

        *OREGON LAST SEASON LOST TO ONLY INDIANA (TWICE): The 2026 Ducks final 6 games include road trips to Illinois and Ohio State plus home games versus Michigan and Washington.

        *PENN STATE IS ALMOST ALL NEW: New coach Matt Campbell has 40 new players, including 24 from Iowa State topped by All Big 12 quarterback Rocco Bechi.  

        *USC NEEDS TO BE BETTER ON THE ROAD: The Trojans were 7-0 in the rejuvenated LA Coliseum but 2-4 on the road. The 2026 road slate includes Penn State, Indiana and UCLA.

7/30 MLB TRADE DEADLINE PREVIEW

        *THE TIGERS WILL DEAL TARIK SKUBAL: The price tag increased with the Dodgers now interested because of Shohei Ohtani’s currently questionable pitching status.

*KEVIN GAUSMAN WILL ALSO LIKELY BE ON THE MOVE: The Jays have gone from Game 7 of the World Series to last place in the AL East.

*FREE AGENT ELIGIBLE LUIS ARRAEZ WILL BE DEALT BEFORE THE AUGUST 3RD DEADLINE: The base hit machine will be one of many Giants on the move.

 *THE ASTROS ARE EXPECTED TO DEAL JEREMY PENA: He hired Scott Boras recently as his new agent. There is close to zero chance the Astros will sign Pena to a long-term deal.

 *THE PADRES MIGHT MOVE STUD CLOSER MASON MILLER: There is no hurry contractually because he is signed thru 2029.

 *OTHER TRADE CANDIDATES: The Marlins Sandy Alcantara, the Angels Zach Zeto and Jose Soriano, the Rockies Hunter Goodwin, the Royals Seth Lugo and the Mets Luke Weaver.

7/26 -RANDOM NOTES

* THE DIAMONDBACKS SHOULD SELL PRIOR TO THE AUGUST 3RD DEADLINE: Eduardo Rodriguez and Paul Sewald could help a pathetic farm system which is ranked 26th by Baseball America. Unfortunately, Mike Hazen, responsible for the awful rank, remains the general manager.

*THE DODGERS PLAY THE GAME WITH FEW MISTAKES: In the field, they almost always make the routine play, and, at the plate, they put the ball in play. The results are 13 consecutive post-seasons and 12 straight NL West championships.

*THE TIGERS MUST TRADE TARIK SKUBAL: Splitting a 4-game home series versus the lowly Royals should end any doubt. There is ZERO chance they will re-sign Skubal. Also, Steve Phillips believes Detroit could also trade Casey Mize.

*AROLDIS CHAPMAN IS A CERTAIN HALL OF FAMER: He became the all-time MLB saves leader this week.

*THE MARINERS-RANGERS 4-GAME SERIES CONCLUDES ON MONDAY: Seattle has IS 6-4 this season versus Texas and just 1.5 games behind in the AL West.  

*CUBS-PIRATES GAMES COULD BE AN INSTRUCTIONAL VIDEO: The Cubs are baseball’s best defensive team while the Pirates are the Bad News Bears.

7/24 - SEC MEDIA DAYS OBSEVATIONS

*SEC TALKING DAYS SEEMED TAME: I long for the “Talkin’ Time” days of Steve Spurrier and “Rat Poison” from Nick Saban who did use that term while a member of the of the media on SEC Network.

*THERE WAS 1 TALKING POINT MENTIONED BY NEARLY EVERY COACH: The SEC has opted for 9 conference games which means half the teams will play 5 road games.

*THE SEC HAS 6 DIFFERENT COACHES: including 3 from the ACC which is a massive jump in talent.  

*GEORGIA IS SEEKING A 3RD CONSECUTIVE CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP GAME VICTORY: One of the highlights over the 4 days in Tampa was Kirby Smart discussing him studying the Oklahoma City Thunder because of their recent season annual success.

*ALABAMA COACH KALEN DEBOER WAS NOT RECEIVED WELL: The Tide media, and especially the fan base, were critical of the third-year Tide coach after saying, “We are NOT thinking national championship.”

*LANE KIFFIN CLAIMS HE IS OFF SOCIAL MEDIA: What’s next, a hot dog without mustard?

NEXT THIS WEEKEND - MLB RANDOM NOTES

7/20 - DODGERS/YANKEES OBSEVATIONS

*The Dodgers not surprisingly outclassed the shorthanded Yankees.

*Loa Angeles won 2 of 3 before Dave Roberts wisely went bullpen game on Sunday night before the trip continues with series versus the Phillies and Mets.

*The Dodgers mostly have the same starting 9 every game but should add a catcher because catcher Will Smith may not return healthy even in September.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto solidified his standing as baseball’s biggest clutch pitcher with a Sunday morning’s complete game domination.
The Yankees lost 10 of 11 at home before Sunday night’s win.

*Even if Aaron Judge returns healthy after the August 3rd trade deadline,  the Yankees need offensive help at catcher and third base.

7/17 - END SEASON MLB PREDICTIONS

NL EAST

1. Philadelphia: The Phillies should remove the weak link of the rotation Aaron Nola who is owed $9 million over EACH OF THE next 4 seasons.  

2. Atlanta: General manager Alex Anthopoulos has a long history of adding before the trade deadline.

3. Miami: The organization is making a mistake if they are buyers between today and the August 3rd deadline.

4. Washington: Entertainment guaranteed because of an explosive offense, bad defense and the MLB’s worst bullpen.  

5. New York: Front office man David Stearns did a horrendous job assembling this mess which had just Juan Soto on the All-Star Game.

NL CENTRAL

1. Milwaukee: The Brewers have hit the third fewest homers in baseball but still have baseball’s second best road record behind the Dodgers. 

2. Chicago: The Cubs must do better than David Peterson on the starting pitcher market.

3. Pittsburgh: The talented young starting staff is constantly throwing unnecessary pitchers because of horrendous fundamental defense resulting in multiple errors.

4. St. Louis: The Cardinals losing ways in July is likely to continue if the starting pitching does not show significant improvement.   

5. Cincinnati: It’s gotten so bad that Terry Francona has been booed in his home stadium.

NL WEST

1.Los Angeles: Edgar Diaz and Blake Snell are scheduled pitch soon for the first time this season.

2. Arizona: Sweeping the disinterested Dodgers in LA should not mean the Diamondbacks become buyers. Paul Sewald would be a highhly sought after closer.

3. San Diego: MLB’s most underachieving team starting tih Manny Machado and Jackson Merrill.

4. Colorado: Predictably bad but mostly unwatchable.

5. San Francisco: Would fall into last place if they are able to find new home for Willy Adames, Matt Chapman and Rafael Devers are traded.

AL EAST

1. Tampa Bay: Look for the Rays to trade for an effective mid-level starting pitcher,

2. New York; Will when healthy excellent offense and SP depth overcome blow average defense at multiple positions - also when will Aaron Judge return?

3. Boston: 9-game winning streak near end of first half quickly turned fortunes.

4. Baltimore: awful (7-14) in 1 run games.

5. Toronto: from Game 7 of the World Series at trade deadline sellers?

AL CENTRAL

1. Cleveland: will pull away when Jose Ramirez returns from injury.

2. Chicago: second half collapse coming because of fewest innings pitched from rotation.

3. Minnesota: Joe Ryan is the best starting pitcher who should be traded.

4. Detroit: Would be stupid if they do NOT trade Tarik Skubal who it had no chance to signing long term.

5. Kansas City: Salvador Perez needs to retire.

AL WEST

1. Seattle: Will all righthanded rotation backfire?

2. Texas: MLBs most boring team.

3. Houston: Yordan Alvarez baseball’s most feared hitter.

4. Oakland: last season’s fun was a fluke.

5. Los Angeles: Unfortunately, management said Mike Trout will not be traded.