Author: Dave Long

The Big Story – Local Football Coaches: It was a great Day for Ohio State Football on Saturday as Ryan Day checked another box on his sparkling career resume when after four straight losses he finally got his first win vs. archrival Michigan with a 27-9 win.

On the other hand, his former OC Chip Kelly got fired by the Raiders.

Given that LV was 2-9 with chatter coming from both sides, it makes you wonder: was it the offense just not getting it done despite enough talent? Or did 74-year-old Pete Carroll need a scapegoat because he knew his coaching career could be over with a one-and-done in Vegas?

The good news is he’s still owed $12 million so he’ll be OK financially.

Sports 101: Name the first to kick a NFL field goal of 60+ yards.

News Item – Rafael Devers Trade Now Complete: The big concern about it just being a salary dump wasn’t true. Instead the Red Sox re-invested some of that big money in a trade with the Cardinals for starting pitcher Sonny Gray. Never been a big fan of his mainly because of how he shrunk from the pressure playing for the Yanks. But he did win 14 and 13 games for sub-.500 St. Louis and has averaged 175 innings the last three years. And they didn’t give up much in a 22-year-old with a mid-90s fastball and command issues (Brandon Clarke) and 2-4-with-Boston-last-year Richard Fitts.

News Item – Five Observations as NFL Enters December:

Last year Minnesota entered December 9-2 compared to 4-7 now. So did any team screw itself more than Minnesota did by letting QB Sam Darnold walk and going with J.J. McCarthy, who’d never taken an NFL snap?

It’s rare that a trade of high-profile players works as evenly it has in the 2021 trade of Matthew Stafford and Jared Goff. L.A. won a Super Bowl and Stafford is still playing great by leading the NFL with 30 TD passes, while Detroit’s team, mostly dormant since the late 1950s/early ’60s, came alive thanks to Jared Goff suddenly becoming what we expect from a first overall pick (2016) under new HC Dan Campbell, and after draft board maneuvering the boatload of picks they got were turned into Jahmyr Gibbs, Sam LaPorta and speedster Jameson Williams.

Stefon Diggs is the Patriots’ first true slot receiver since Julian Edelman retired. It was a money-in-the-bank vital spot during the dynasty thanks to Edelman, Troy Brown and Wes Welker.

FG kicking is ridiculous today. A 50-yarder is the new 35 and seven guys have made them from 60 yards in 2025. At the top is Jacksonville’s Cam Little, who hit a record 68-yarder in October after drilling one from 70 in August.

The Numbers:

76 – All-time NFL record for most rushing TD’s by a QB reached by Josh Allen after he got tush-pushed from about the five in Buffalo’s win over Pittsburgh.

259 – rushing yards piled up on the Eagles by Kyle Monangai (130) and De’Andre Swift (125) in leading Chicago to its shocking 24-15 win over the defending champs on Friday.

800– career wins for Miami Heat head coach Eric Spoelstra.

… Of the Week Award

Bad Ending of the Week – Bill Belichick: They won’t write that it was a good first year for BB at UNC. The Tar Heels closed out their season with three losses to North Carolina schools including Saturday’s 42-17 pasting by NC State to end Year 1 at 4-7. Not what they were expecting.

Quote of the Week – Kenyon Martin: Not sure what started the war of words between the 2000 first overall pick and 21st-century cheap shot king Draymond Green. But Martin had the most accurate comment when he said, “you played 128 games without Steph … the record is 52-76, under .500.” Bam!

Best Weekend In L.A. – Cooper Flagg: The 18-year-old Dallas rookie became the youngest player to record 11 assists in a game, on Friday versus the Lakers, and score 35 in one, versus the Clippers on Saturday.

Sports 101 Answer: New Orleans kicker Tom Dempsey’s 63-yard FG in 1970 was the first 60+ kick in NFL history. The record lasted over 40 years. He did it with a kicking foot that had no toes on it due to a birth defect.

Final Thoughts – Red Sox Rumor Mill: Word on the street has Jarren Duran as most likely to go to fill their need at first or third. But despite being a gold glove fielder with the power of 25 homers a year I’d be more inclined to trade Wilyer Abreu. Because with his speed, Duran can do things offensively few can do and I value that more than the defensive difference between Roman Anthony and Abreu in right. Plus 22-year-old Jhostynxon Garcia, who hit 45 homers in his last two minor-league seasons, is at worst a year away from being ready to replace Abreu.

Email Dave Long at dlong@hippopress.com.

The Big Story – Thanksgiving: It’s Turkey Day, which means we’ll be thankful for things that happened during the sports year, which we’ll get to in Final Thoughts. It also means this was written before the Patriots were in Cincinnati Sunday afternoon. My biggest prediction for that was that the Pats win and, despite the denials, I’m betting Joe Burrows started his first game since Week 2. On to face the dastardly G-Men Sunday.

Sports 101: Name the only two quarterbacks to lead two different professional football leagues in passing.

News Item – 2025 Patriots After 10 Games:

Key Stat – Drake Maye: He is completing 72% of his passes and led all quarterbacks who’ve played 10 games in QB rating.

Improvement – Defense: It allowed the fewest rushing yards per game after 10 weeks. And no one has gotten even 60 yards.

Backslide – O-Line: Going into the Bengals game the 38 sacks allowed were the second most in the NFL.

Game Ball – The T-E-A-M: They don’t have close to the talent the 2007 team had, but incredibly they were not far off from being undefeated.

News Item – Most Young QB’s Need Time to Develop: One of the more interesting stories is how some who were once thought to be “highly drafted bust QB’s,” from Baker Mayfield to Sam Darnold to Mac Jones, have un-busted in their new homes, reminding all it usually takes time for young QB’s to develop. In particular is the vaunted 2021 draft class where five QB’s were taken in the first 15 picks, with mixed results.

A Little Recent History – 2020 Draft Update – The QB Class: It was supposed to be one of the best in history. But now it’s in the running for one of the worst ever. Five years in, here’s where it stands.

Trevor Lawrence – First Overall: Still in Jacksonville, but with a 28-42 record and one playoff appearance he’s been completely underwhelming in all but one year. Though he did make it to his second contract and the really big money.

Brett Wilson – Second Overall: A complete disaster in Jetland on the heels of the Darnold and Mark Sanchez disasters. Now on his third team, this time with Miami.

Trey Lance – Third Overall: Missed most of Year 1 with an injury and didn’t even make it to the end of his second training camp before being traded. Now in Dallas competing for the backup spot with Joe Milton after the Patriots stupidly traded him.

Justin Fields – 11th: A very good athlete and runner. But he’s on the outs with his third team, where he just got benched as the Jets continue searching for Joe Namath’s replacement.

Mac Jones – 15th: Dumped by NE after one good year and two bad ones. Now on his third team, and in going 5-3 while completing 69.6% of his passes filling in for Brock Purdy in 2025, is he just better, or finally playing with the right coach/system? I think the latter.

The Numbers:

4 – NFL punters averaging over the unheard-of 50 yards per kick, led by Cincy’s Ryan Rehkow’s astonishing 53.7. And three more are over 49.0.

15 – thanks to the five he got on Maye and the Pats, the league-leading sack total by Cleveland behemoth Myles Garrett.

15.7 – third best in the league punt return average by Pats DB Marcus Jones.

Sports 101 Answer: The only two QB’s to lead two different pro leagues in passing were John Hadl, who did it for San Diego in the AFL and the Rams in the NFL, and Otto Graham, who did it with the Browns in both the All-American Football Conference (AAFC) and after they joined the NFL in 1950.

Final Thought – 5 Biggest Sports Things To Be Most Thankful for in 2025

Mike Vrabel: Not sure exactly how he’s doing it. But the difference is night and day from the Jerod Mayo era.

Drake Maye: It’s a good thing Coach B and the guys he made OC his last two years completely screwed up Jones. Otherwise they probably wouldn’t have drafted a guy whose stats in his first two years are better than you-know-who’s were in his.

Roman Anthony – A Star is Born: The Sox were 32-36 when he first entered the line-up. When he went out on Sept. 2 they were 76-62. He was the difference in that 44-26 mark.

Sox Front Office Came to Life: Complain all you want about John Henry since 2019. But he traded four prospects for a Top 5 starter in Garrett Crochet and has spent half a billion dollars on players since March.For him to be totally forgiven he has to re-invest the $250 million saved in the Devers trade and more to get a real No. 2 starter and Pete Alonso to bat fourth.

Wyc Grousbeck: I know he’s out as owner, but he was an excellent one who was willing to spend when needed and cared about the Celtics’ place in the city.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Email Dave Long at dlong@hippopress.com.

The Big Story – Pats Tied for Best Record in NFL: They remind me of the 2013 Red Sox, who had me saying all through the year, “how are they doing this?” And I kept doing it right up until they won the World Series. And even then, I still found it hard to believe they did it. And with The Pats 9-2, we’ll see if history can repeat itself.

Sports 101: You’ll see in The Numbers the whopping number of shots missed by Detroit’s Cade Cunningham in a game last week. Who was the last NBA’er to miss more than that?

News Item – Patriots Down Jets 27-14

Key Stat – 9-2: They’re now about two wins from making the playoffs.

Improvement – Winning While Not at Their Best: Maybe I’m back in 2001-2019 mode, but having done it three weeks in a row, the Pats are back to winning when they don’t have their A game.

Backslide: Since it’s happened seven times in 11 games it’s not a backsliding exactly, but what’s the deal with the bad guys scoring so often on the first possession of the game?

Game Ball: TreVeyon Henderson or Drake Maye. Hmmm. A three-TD performance and a so-so 69 rushing yards. Or a mistake-free game for 281 yards, one-TD game and another 70%-plus completion percentage game. It’s Maye because Henderson only got his after Maye took them up and down the field to put him in position to score.

Next Up: On to Cincinnati with all wondering if Bengals QB Joe Burrow will play.

News Item – Big NFL Stories as the Stretch Run Starts

Patriots Revival: Nobody, not even the all seeing Nostradamus saw a 9-2 start coming.

Jonathan Taylor: The Indy tailback leads the MVP chatter thanks to his league-leading 1,132 rushing yards, 6.0 yards per carry average and 15 TD’s after 10 games, which projects to 1,924 and 26 TD’s.

Chaos in New York Football: The Giants HC and Jets GM got fired in the same week. The stopgap QB the G-Men brought in got benched after two games, and the Jets traded/dumped their two best players at the deadline. In the words of the late great Vince Lombardi, who the Giants once let get away to GB, “What the hell is going on out there?”

Denver Broncos: Did not give much thought to now 9-2 Denver when the year started. But after watching them in Sunday’s win over KC, they’re really dangerous because (1) QB Bo Nix is the real deal, (2) their defense is really fast all over, and (3) with their most in the league by far 49 sacks (second best is 34) they can really rush the passer.

The Young QB’s From 2024 Draft: The play of Maye (3), Nix (12) Jayden Daniels (2, now hurt) and Caleb Williams (1) is saying no draft misses here.

News Item – Player of the Week – Josh Allen: Last year’s MVP put the struggling Bills on his back by running for three TD’s and throwing for three more in Buffalo’s 44-32 win over Tampa Bay.

The Numbers:

16 – jaw-dropping steals to go along with 44 points (on just 25 shots) by Notre Dame star Hannah Hidalgo in ND’s 85-58 trashing of Akron.

45 – Mark Ferdinando-like number of shots taken by Detroit’s Cunningham when he put a 46-12-11 triple double on Washington in a 135-132 OT win. Oh, in making just 14 shots he missed 31 for a 31% FG percentage.

500,000 – bail in U.S. dollars for Cleveland pitcher Luis Ortiz, on charges accusing him of game fixing, according to ESPN.com.

… Of the Week Awards

Alumni News: Yes, folks, that was ex-Patriot Kyle Dugger getting a 73-yard pick-six for Pittsburgh in its 34-13 win over Cleveland.

Rarity: Victor Wembanyama (31-15-10) and Stephon Castle (20-10-10) became the fifth NBA teammates to record triple doubles in the same game. But sorry, since Wemby’s final assist was a garbage time alley-oop with .02 seconds left in the Spurs’ 125-120 loss, it’s a bogus stat.

Random Thoughts

While baseball’s merchandising greed over tradition is vomit inducing, at least the Red Sox’ two city edition uniforms would be appealing for an expansion franchise. But what does the Pats wearing boring grey ones vs. the Jets have to do with Patriots football, Roger Goodell?

Sports 101 Answer: Cunningham’s missed 31 shots were the most since RickBarry went 17-50 in the 1966-67 game.

Final Word – Red Sox 2026 Decisions: If I were charged with untangling the Red Sox 2026 infield puzzle, I’d move Trevor Story to second and put Marcelo Mayer at shortstop. It doesn’t make sense to have the SS of the future playing out of position when the 33-year-old Story has demonstrated he’s a solid second baseman already. Then I’d go hard after Pete Alonso in free agency because they need a potential 50-homer bopper for the middle of the line-up a lot more than they do a return of the valuable but very overpriced Alex Bregman ($40 million per) at third.

Email Dave Long at dlong@hippopress.com.

The Big Story – Football Takes Center Stage: With baseball finally over, football now has the attention of sports fans through mid-February. And with the Pats, Colts and Broncos sitting atop their divisions while sharing the league’s best record at 8-2, it has been a most surprising first half of the year.

Next comes the very definition of a trap game for New England on Nov. 13, when they face the (2-7) Jets, whose second win came a few days after giving up on 2025 by trading their two best players.

Sports 101: Who holds the rookie records for most rushing yards in a season by a Patriot runner and for the NFL overall as well?

News Item – Patriots Down Tampa Bay 28-23: Another close win, which needed a Stefon Diggs on-side kick recovery to put it away. But they didn’t let it slip away either as they moved to 8-2. And who would have thunk that?

Key Stat – Rushing Yards: 147 yards on 14 carries and two loud TD’s for rookie TreVeyon Henderson.

Improvement – Kyle Williams: The rookie wideout got the radio yackers and boo-birds off his back for at least one week after his 72-yard catch-and-run score to tie the game at 7-7.

Back slide – Drake Maye Decision Making: He made the usual number of big plays, but again put it up for grabs in the end zone for a fourth-quarter pick when a FG would have iced the game.

Game Ball – Henderson: His 69-yard TD run in the final minutes was the longest by a rookie in Patriots team history since his 55-yarder made it 21-10 in the third quarter.

News Item – Gambling Story Grows: This week it’s MLB, as suspended Cleveland hurlers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz were charged with allegedly rigging pitch counts for payoffs from gamblers.Yes, by all means, Rob Manfred, perfect time to make Pete Rose eligible for the Hall of Fame.

News Item – The Player of the Week – Jonathan Taylor: The Colts back went for 244 rushing yards and three TD’s in their 31-26 OT win over Atlanta. The TD’s included an 83-yard run and the walkoff game winner to give him 15 on the season, while another made him the Colts’ all-time rushing TD leader with 65.

The Numbers:

34 – second most in the NFL sacks surrendered by the Patriots o-line in 10 games.

546 – total yards by the Detroit offense (226 rushing, 320 passing) in a 44-22 thumping of the Commanders.

900 – career goals scored by Alex Ovechkin to become the first in the NHL’s 900 goals club.

… Of the Week Awards

Thumbs Down – Patriots Brass: For doing nothing at the trade deadline to address their biggest needs — edge rusher and running back depth.

Stat – NY Jets Being The Jets: According to Dan Graziano of ESPN.com, after trading DB Sauce Gardner to Indy, their cap hit for him in 2026 will be $11 million while for the team he’ll play for it’ll be just $9 million.

Good News – Trevor Story: After arguably being the team’s MVP (.263, 28 homers, 96 RBI) Story has opted in on his contract option to play for the Sox in 2026.

Sports 101 Answer: With 1,808 yards Eric Dickerson is the all-time NFL rookie rushing yards leader, and the Patriot rookie leader is Curtis Martin with 1,487 in 1995.

Final Thought – Hot Stove League Opens: All the important roster building and free agency calendar dates are in play now. So the Sox are on the clock to put the 2026 team together. The four biggest stories:

John Henry: He got a little fan respect back in 2025 by spending $500 million on new players after being public enemy No. 1 for five years of indifference. Will it continue?

Rafael Devers Trade: I’ve been saying since his trade in June that it is not concluded until we see if the owner will re-invest the money ($255 million) saved by the trade. If not, feel free to boo at every turn.

Power: They need a major power hitter to hit fourth. Mets FA Pete Alonso would be perfect for Fenway.

No. 2 Starter: They need a Pedro-Schilling-like one-two punch. The price tag for young players and a new contract make getting available Tigers ace Tarik Skubal highly unlikely, but he’d be perfect.

Third or Second Baseman: With the not worth $40 million Alex Bregman gone and Story staying, Marcelo Mayer will play one spot, so they need the other filled with someone new or maybe Kristian Campbell if he’s ready. Get to work.

Email Dave Long at dlong@hippopress.com.

The Big Story – A Great World Series: It was two outs away from being the Manchester, N.H., World Series — manager John Schneider, pitching coach Pete Walker and eight players, led by Vlad Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette, all spent time at Delta Dental Stadium with the Fisher Cats before ascending to Toronto. But thanks to Toronto’s answer to Bucky Dent, Miguel Rojas, tying it at 4-4 with a one-out ninth-inning homer followed by the winning run being scored in the 11th, L.A. became the first repeat series winner since the 2000 Yankees. And they actually played baseball as we once knew it with suicide squeezes, solid fielding, advancing runners to manufacture runs over relying on just homer balls, and they had the epic 18-inning Game 4. A great World Series that featured baseball as it ought to be.

Sports 101: Name the five winningest pitchers in World Series history.

News Item – Patriots Now 7-2: They say sometimes it’s better to be lucky than to be good. Which the Pats were in Sunday’s 24-23 win over Atlanta, where the margin of error was a missed extra point.

What’s To Like – Pop Douglas: The upward trend of the second-year receiver continued with four catches for 100 yards, and his TD came on a career-best 58-yard catch and run.

Key Stat: It’s now nine games in a row where the D has not allowed a runner to reach 50 yards, this time holding NFL per-game rushing leader Bijan Robinson to 46 yards.

Backslide: 1. The secondary gave up three TD catches to the same guy, Drake London. 2. In his worst game since Week 1, Drake Maye’s two TO’s led to the 10 Falcon points that let them back in the game. 3. The O-line gave up six more sacks.

Game Ball – Atlanta kicker Parker Romo: The kicker cut by the Pats in training camp missed the fourth-quarter extra point that gave the Patriots a lucky one-point win.

News Item – Epic WS Game 3: It went 18 innings in six hours and 39 minutes and was won on a walk-off homer by last year’s Series hero, Freddie Freeman.

The Numbers:

12 – strikeouts by rookie Trey Yesavage, who set a WS record of 23 swings and misses in Toronto’s 6-1 Game 6 win over L.A.

59 – million dollars owed in buyouts to football coach Brian Kelly ($53 million) and AD Scott Woodward at LSU athletics because their team is 5-3.

68 – yard FG by Jacksonville’s Cam Little to set the NFL’s all-time record for longest FG ever in their 30-29 win over Las Vegas.

… Of the Week Awards

Thumbs Up – Mookie Betts: Oh, great, another reason to mourn the Red Sox losing the greatest RF in team history, as he was named the 2025 winner of the Roberto Clemente Humanitarian Award for helping communities in so many ways the list is too long to print here.

Thumbs Down – LSU Athletics: A 5-3 football program from the same state as U.S. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson comes from, wasting $59 million in unnecessary payouts, on the same day the Speaker (and his colleagues) let food stamp payments stop helping feed needy families around that state and the country. Seems like we’ve lost perspective, don’t you think?

Hard To Believe Stat – Josh Allen: Recording the 79th rushing TD of his eight-year career to push a quarterback ahead of the great Earl Campbell for 25th place on the all-time TD rushing list during Buffalo’s win over KC.

Sports 101 Answer: 10 wins, Whitey Ford; seven wins, Red Ruffing, Allie Reynolds, Bob Gibson; six wins, Lefty Gomez, Waite Hoyte and Chief Bender. All Yankees except Gibson (Cardinals) and Bender (A’s).

Final Thought – Shohei Ohtani: It’s rare that I watch a game just to see one baseball player these days. But I did it for Ohtani in the WS. And he did not disappoint. In the epic 18-inning Game 3 marathon alone he reached base nine times via two homers, two doubles and five walks as he scored three times and knocked in three more, which tied the record for most extra-base hits in a WS game set in 1906 by some guy I never heard of and I’ve heard of everyone.

He also became the first to have three multi-homer games in the same post-season. Plus he pitched in the playoffs, where he was 2-1 with a 4.43 ERA, including a 10-K, six-inning effort in the NLCS.

It inspired ESPN’S Buster Olney to call him the greatest player ever. I say pump the brakes on that. He’s never going to catch any of the Babe’s major stats, including pitching, where at 39 to 94 he’s 55 wins behind the Babe. But that doesn’t mean he’s not the most exciting player to watch since at least Junior Griffey. Which is good enough for me.

Email Dave Long at dlong@hippopress.com.

The Big Story – World Series? It takes a big story to bump the World Series from the front page. But the growing pro sports gambling problem did that with the arrest of ex-Celtics Chauncey Billups and Terry Rozier in a nationwide gambling probe.

But we’ll be total homers and go with the 6-2 Patriots start that no one saw coming after Sunday’s 32-13 win over Cleveland.

Sports 101: Who has the most career World Series hits, and most in a single series?

News Item – The World Series Games: With the series tied 1-1 on Monday morning, it could be over by the time you see this. So we’ll save the post mortem for next week.

Maye Day In October: The prodigy’s latest was 18-24 for 282, three TD’s and a pick. The 135.8 QB rating was the fifth time he’s been over 135.

Painful Lesson – Will Campbell: All five of his sacks didn’t come against him, but Myles Garrett gave the fourth overall pick a rough day Sunday.

Play of Game – Jaylinn Hawkins: For the reach back one-handed grab/pick.

Game Ball – The D: No one rushed for 50 yards against them for the eighth straight week.

News Item – Celtics Opener: They lost to Philly 117-116. Here’s what jumped off the box score: (1) They shot 25.3% on 3-balls as Payton Pritchard and Derrick White went 5 for 20. (2) The Sixers won while getting just four points from Joel Embiid. (3) Starting center Neemias Queta scored 17 on 7 of 8 shooting and had eight rebounds in 25 minutes before fouling out. (4) Pritchard joined White and Jaylen Brown in the revamped starting line-up.

News Item – NFL Trade Deadline is Nov. 4:

Top NE Target – Trey Hendrickson – Bengals: The free agent to be is dealing with a nagging hip issue. But they’re 28th in sacks, and adding an edge rusher who had 17.5 sacks in 2024 and ’25 would help the pass D immensely.

RB – Depth: With TreVeyon Henderson coming off his best game Sunday (despite a red zone fumble) they don’t need a name. A solid backup who does not fumble would provide the depth they need.

Wide Receiver: New Orleans’ three-time 1,000-yard receiver Chris Olave is available. But with the receiving room dramatically improved he’d be a luxury.

The Numbers:

40 & 15 – points and rebounds from Victor Wembanyama as San Antonio ruined the NBA debut of maniac Cooper Flagg in a 125-92 slaughter.

105 – after getting five on Sunday vs. NE, career sacks by Browns DE Myles Garrett to move past the great Reggie White on the all-time sack list.

111 – career rushing TD’s for Derrick Henry as he passed Walter Paytonfor fifth place on the all-time list. And to add insult to injury he did it playing against the Bears.

… Of the Week

Thumbs Down – Merch Sales: The Packers in all white and Steelers in all gold on SNF, give me a break. U-gly!

Worst Loss: Nope, notCoach B; UNC lost again 17-16 but it was in OT to a quality Virginia team.

Instead, Deion Sanders sees Colorado drop to 3-5 after a 53-7 toasting from Utah on Saturday in the worst loss of Coach Prime’s coaching career as his UC record dropped to 16-17.

Random Thought: John Smoltz is a great color analyst because he uses his experience to tell us what he would do facing the hitter at the plate before he throws the pitch, giving us something to look for on the next pitch.

Sports 101 Answer: With 71 the all-time WS hit leader is Yogi Berra. For one series it’s a tie with Bobby Richardson (64), Lou Brock (68) and Red Sox alum Marty Barrett (86).

Final Thought – Gambling Threat to Sports: It is a story that first came to light during the 1919 World Series and has reared its head many times in boxing, horse racing, college basketball and many other activities in the years since. The latest episode of Gambling And Sports Together Is A Disaster Waiting to Happen has come to the legal gambling industry in the last year or so.

First the interpreter for baseball’s biggest star goes to prison for embezzling money from him after getting in over his head to gamblers. Then last week the NBA had a head coach (Billups), of all things, and an assistant coach (Pitino-era Celtic Damon Jones) who is a confidant for their game’s biggest star, along with an active player (Rozier), indicted in a nationwide FBI-led gambling sting. The indictments say those mentioned either allegedly provided inside player info to bettors or were separately involved in a systematic way of cheating in high-stakes poker games that had ties to the mafia.

Hello, professional sports, you have a problem! And guess what, I’m, ahhh, betting, a college scandal isn’t far off. I mean where else is a college kid gonna put all that NIL money? Bet on it.

Email Dave Long at dlong@hippopress.com.