Sports has a very interesting notion – anytime there’s a draft or a Hall of Fame vote, by it’s very nature, there are “winners” and “losers” – who got picked/enshrined early, late or not at all. Those that are picked early are more valuable than those picked later. By the same token, the people who decide who get chosen can have their own opinions and prejudices, which means that voters, in deciding who belongs, andmore important in some ways, when someone would be allowed in. In this way, the organizations that make these determinations, can send not so subtle messages to that player.
To me, no one has been more effective in sending these type of messages than the Hockey Hall of Fame. By limiting the number of entrants in a given year (and later adding required female entrants and business people who take up spaces in the entrants), as a result, there are players who are forced to wait years despite having obvious credentials. For example, former Blackhawk Jeremy Roenick scored 513 goals in his career., usually an automatic mark to enter the Hall. Accounting for the 5-years retirement requirement, Roenick, who retired in 2009, should have been eligible in 2014, but he wasn’t elected until 2 years ago. Roenick is a character, a bad boy who got fired from cable duties for making inappropriate comments about a female broadcaster. For hi real, and perceived sins, Roenick had to wait over a decade. Players like Patrick Elias, Rod Brind’amour, Curtis Joseph and Henrik Zetterberg are not in. What are the voters waiting for? Incease the maximum nuber of enshrinees and let’s get this moving.
Football has generally not been as bad as some of the other sports (although baseball with its steroid club and the late Pete Rose certainly have had their day). This season, the entire NFL decided to punish Shadeur Sanders, who went frpoma top 3 first round draft pick to being chosen by the Browns in the 5th round. Why? Because he is the son of Deion Sanders, a man well versed in self advertising, or even Shadeur who refused to meet with teams and had a select group of teams he wanted to play for (none of which were the Browns).
Now, the Pro Football Hall of Fame is under scrutiny because Bill Belichick, who coached six Super Bowl Champions did not get the required number of votes. Acknowledged as one of the greatest coaches every, Belichick’s snub surprised people. Yes, Belichick was and is an unpleasant curmudgeon, at least in the press, and reportedly, some voters didn’t vote for him because of Deflate-gate, or stories of other cheating (i.e. filming Super bowl opponents’ practices). Other than the ball inflation incident, nothing has been proven, maybe more against Tom Brady than Belichick. Some are probably upset that when no NFL team wanted him to coach and run a team. So he took his toys and went to North Carolina. Some voters may think that the 4-8 record with 2-4 conference record this past year fulfils punishment above and beyond the Hall loss.
I have never been a fan of Bill Belichick; but as much as I disliked him, it’s a no-brainer as a Hall of Famer. This is no place for petty voters.

Hello everyone – I have returned from being banished to Internet Elba, I was writing and posting but couldn’t get the word to you. I am glad to be back.
I’m sure that many of you remember my absolute disgust for ESPN’s resident loud, ignorant n****r Stephen A. Smith, the highest paid talent in televised sports. My issue is that he is “ghetto” when it suits him and young Black people watch him; but even worse, he is a stereotypical Stepin’ Fetchit to White America being someone that many “traditional” (White)) ESPN male viewers can look down upon. He is inexplicably popular, the highest paid talent at The Nationwide Leader.
It is in no way unique that performers, politicians, people in the public eye begin to believe their own PR. That’s what makes musicians think they’re actors, actors believe they can sing, sports broadcasters believe they can do news. With the exception of Keith Olbermann, former ESPN talent can’t pull it off. So SAS believes that he could be a politician, and not only get elected to a local or Congressional position, but to President of the United States. About two years ago or so, SAS began dabbling in politics, appearing most on the Fox News Sean Hannity Show. He would come on as a “Democrat” espousing right-wing talking points; far from being a typical Democrat He and Hannity were “friends,” he said. Considering the number of Black people who are on Fox, they are either NINO (Negroes In Name Only), or easy targets to be fed to the regular Fox stooges. Smith has broadened his exposure by getting a political podcast on Serius XM, spouting propaganda like Candice Owens or Brandon Tatum or Larry Elder, the broadcast equivalent of Samuel L. Jackson’s Samuel in Quentin Tarrentino’s “Django Unchained. Smith is preaching the same old Uncle Tom rhetoric. There remains one HUGE flaw in Smith’s plans: many of the people who share is views and worldview hate people of color like Smith or, at best, believe he is a DEI hire. Still, most of this flew under the radar, until this past week.
Knoicking the Epstein Files off newspaper front pages, was an ICE officer shooting and killing a wonan protestor in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Renee Good, a 37-year-old woman was dropping off her 6-year-old daughter at school, when her car was stopped by ICE officers. Here reports diverge: The Department of Homeland Security all the way up to Kristi Noem and President Donal Trump said that Ms. Good was trying to run the officers over, ending when one of the stormtroopers shot her three times in the face. Unfortunately for them, the world of cell phone cameras showed the incident from various angles, which clearly showed that the woman was backing her car up and had the SUV’s wheels turned away from ICE when the tug opened up and shot her three times in the torso near the head. The final shots wer fired into the driver’s side window which could only have been possible if the car was turning away.
Never shying away from controversy, Smith chimed in: that the shooting was completely justified; no legal issues should follow the ICE agent, as he reacted accordingly to his training, profession and situation. He continued “she wasn’t driving down the road, coming at you 90 miles an hour, she was parked in the middle of the street. Rather than get out the car, she wrongfully tried to drive off. And wrongfully disregarded a law enforcement official because that it was ICE is and as a result, lost her life because of it.”
One of the most overused tropes of the Right is that obeying the order from a police officer and you won’t be harmed. Too many incidents have shown that this is not the case: people, especially people of color have found themselves beaten, ehot or killed with their knees on the ground and their hands in the air. (I wonder if the fact that Ms. Good was a married member of the LGBTQ+ community hasn’t been used as another stressor.) SAS, as a Black man I’m sure has been stopped for being Black in a car, or on a street. Fame doesn’t protect a person of color from being racially profiled. Stopped, frisked or worse. I cannot image that the little entitled loudmouth believes that he is famous enough to be left alone, with or without the standard exclamation “don’t you know who I am?”
So far, there hasn’t been the amount of outrage that other statements have generated. Maybe Smih’s comments have come on very low rated podcasts, or it has gotten lost in the never ending avalanche of the Trump Administration’s daily corruption and cover-up, but somewhere, karma awaits.

I wish that a story like this would surprise and shock me, but it doesn’t and before long, will be forgetten in even larger criminality. What do I talk about? Gambling and point-shaving and throwing games in today’s gargantuan sports gambling monster.
This week, prosecutors in Philadelphia announced indictments tied to a sprawling betting scheme to rig NCAA and Chinese Basketball Association games. Twenty-six people, including more than a dozen college basketball players who tried to fix games as recently as last season face charges. The scheme generally revolved around fixers recruiting players with the promise of a big payment in exchange for purposefully underperforming during a game, The fixers would then place big bets against the players’ teams in those games, defrauding sportsbooks and other bettors.
The fixers’ scheme grew to involve more than 39 players on more than 17 different NCAA Division I men’s basketball teams, who then rigged and attempted to rig more than 29 games. The fixers and backers wagered millions of dollars, generating “substantial proceeds” according to prosecutors for themselves, and paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to players in bribes, prosecutors said, with payments to players typically ranging from $10,000 to $30,000 per game. Four of the players charged – Simeon Cottle, Carlos Hart, Oumar Koureissi and Camian Shell – played for their current teams in the last few days, although the allegations against them do not involve this season. Another one of the players charged is Eastern Michigan’s Carlos Hart.
Calling it an “international criminal conspiracy,” US Attorney David Metcalf told reporters in Philadelphia that this case represents a “significant corruption of the integrity of sports.” The indictment suggests that many others – including unnamed players – had a role in the scheme but weren’t charged, and Metcalf said the investigation was continuing. Of the defendants, 15 played basketball for Division I NCAA schools during 2024-2025 season, prosecutors say. Five others last played in the NCAA in the 2023-2024 season while another, former NBA player Antonio Blakeney, played in the Chinese Basketball Association in the 2022-2023 season. The remaining five defendants were described as “fixers” who recruited players and placed bets. They include two men who prosecutors say worked in the training and development of basketball players. Another was a trainer and former coach, one was a former NCAA player and two were described as gamblers, influencers and sports handicappers.
As long as there is sports and large sums of money, temptation will hover over sports especially college and foreign like Godzilla standing amoung the ruins of Tokyo. It was hoped (certainly by me) that NIL money would reduce the temptation, and maybe amoung the Power Conferences and top teams, this is true, but there are far more colleges and universities fielding teams not as lucrative, and still, many of these players come from impoverished backgrounds where any money is more than they have probably seen in their lives.
What can be done? Honestly, probably just keep running a step behind the perpetrators. The NCAA permitted college athletes to bet on professional games, but rescinded this rule in November. More problematic is that a lot of thefixes, especially on foreign games involved micro bets, incredibly fast, in-game moments , like the result of the next pitch of possession. Reportedly, millions of dollars in bets came in on particular pitches, or faceoffs. It appears that that is the next target for regulators – identifying very sudden bets in one direction. Maybe that will work, at least until the next con can be invented.

I know; who buys “records” anymore? Well, vinyl is selling better than ever, and even CDs are selling better. I admit that I still purchase CDs and I purchased a refurbished iPod with a 1 TB hard drive. I am approaching 37,000 songs and am not using even ½ of the drive. It is one of my most important devices, So, here is my favorite records on 2025 – unfortunately, for an older person like myself, who doesn’t hear as much new music as I did in decades past, this list has a dearth of youth, The other drawback is the release of unreleased material which costs plenty,,,
10. Arcade Fire – Pink Elephant: the first record since the Canadian band in 3 years was a letdown compared with their earlier releases, but then again, band leader Win Butler had been accused of sexual harassment to women and relationship with wife and band member Regine Chassagne to reportedly be troubled. It was still interesting and good enough to make the Top 10 (or because there were very few records released, especially worth being on any “best of” list).
9. David Gilmour – The Luck and Strange Concerts: the Pink Floyd guitarist released a record of new material in 2024 and made this list. One year later, Glimour releases a live album made up of the album, some earlier solo material, and of course a bit of Floyd material. What pleased me was the inclusion of a live version of the instrumental “Marooned” from The Division Bell
8. Jeff Tweedy – Twilight Override: The very prolific leader of Wilco released a 3-disc set of mid-tempo songs recorded with a set of non-Wilco musicians. Some of the songs standout, but only for an incredible one-disc set. Still, it is almost a law that requires anyone writing about music who writes a Best of the Year article and lives in the Chicago area must list any Wilco/Tweedy on it. OK –
7. Bryan Ferry & Amelia Barnett – Crazy: Mr. Ferry, one of my all time favorites, provided background music for Ms. Barnett’s lyrics. The lyrics are pretty good, but the jazz infused melodies are very good as usual.
6. Florence + The Machine – Everybody Scream: The latest songs from Florence Welsh and her band are another tuneful. Record. The title tune is a particular favorite.
5. The Beatles – Anthology 4: to go along with the remaster of the original Anthology records and television and of course, there had to be some reason to give the Fab Four and their widows and families some money. Familiar songs, slightly different,
4. Bruce Springsteen – Nebraska ’83: Bruce is cashing on on his back catalog starting with the stark, acoustic Nebraska. The original album has been remastered, but there are unreleased songs including the legendary version with the E Street Band, and demos and outtakes including song that would show up on the next album, this little record called “Born in the U.S.A..’
3. Bruce Springsteen – Tracks II: Springsteen wanted to make a killing for his family, but I’ll give him credit – instead of going back to the released albums and material; instead, he used the time the pandemic down time to go back to all of the music that Springsteen made, gotsongs. . Instresdm them prepared as albums, then would get cold feet and cancel the release. The “lost” albums became almost mythic, rumored among we fans, some small amounts getting released on the earlier Tracks set. Seven full albums of unreleased music, put together with the other songles made from the same sessions, so each one of the records have a certain coherence.in time, sound and mood. To shelve entire, nearly finished and finished albums then starting over takes guts, and to come back with remastering, finishing and programming the songs as though each record was being purchased alone. I admit that I have not listened to the entire set, but I have enjoyed what I’ve heard and hopefully finish listening to the entire thing.
2. Nine Inch Nails – Tron: Ares Original Soundtrack Recording: My favorite concert of the year was my very first time seeing NIN. I’ve been a fan since the very first record, strident but outstanding. On the other hand, I have never been into the Tron ftanchise. I didn’t like the first film and I never saw the second or third, but the single off the record was right in line with prior NIN music.As the first record by the band, or more specifically the musical duo of Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. As a soundtrack, it has all of the problems of movie music – you can’t put the music in any context. Some songs stand-alone – others are background or mood setting.
1. Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross – Challengers – Original Soundtrack Recording – for the first time I’ve done this (over 20 years), this is the first time that the same artist has two records on the list back to back., and of course, this has happened twice this year. Challengers is a film starring Zendaya, a story about the love triangle among three tennis stars on the professional tennis tour. I found the film tedious; the three leads were unpleasant and not only did I not care about their relationship, I didn’t want to spend time with them. However, the tuneful industrial music written by Resner and Ross was the most played music on my iPod this past year.
Like for film, I am very interested in your favorites of the year.

At this time each year, the year end “best of” lists come out for movies and music. I enjoy doing this because I enjoy such a wide range of films: from Kurosawa to James Bond; Godzilla to Citizen Kane. While I see a good number of films each year, I admit that now that my girls are old enough to go to the movies without me (or I should say prefer to) so I can be more selective than ever in what I see.
For the first time this year, I will be listing a film that I only saw streaming. In the past, I often saw films in Toronto that were financed by one of the services, but the film was shown on the big screen. This year, one film I missed in the theater and later caught online made this list. First, the Honorable Mentions:
Naked Gun – this updating of the television show and three films starred Liam Neeson as the son of Leslie Nielsen’s bumbling Frank Drebin. It is funny seeing Neeson who has turned into the ultimate action hero at 70+ years old, and Pamela Anderson was good as the female lead. While many of the jokes were very funny, it just didn’t have the rapid-fire volume of the first ones. In the earlier films, if something missed, the next joke came on so fast that the audience didn’t have time to groan.
Ballerina – I do really like the weird, ultra-violent world of John Wick and this spinoff follows Ana de Armas, who first showed her ass-kicking skills in the James Bond movie “No Time To Die,” as a young woman whose father was in involved in the shadow world of assassins. Eventually, Eve grows up, learning the skills that are required in this world. Even John Wick (Keanu Reeves) shows up and is part of the action. Yes, like most of the men on Earth, I find Ms. De Armas incredibly beautiful, but in this rugged film, she takes as good as she gives, getting hit, thrown, gets engaged in a flame thrower, all to great effect. I’m ready for a sequel.
Thunderbolts* – a film about misfit superheroes from the House of No Longer great ideas (Marvel) did not seem like it would be very good after mediocrities like Caption America: brae New World. This film however was much more of a character study where the bad guy was the depressed side of one hero, the Sentry, whose Void persona was depression personified. It’s too bad more people, especially teens didn’t give this a chance; they may have really connected with the story.
10. The Fantastic Four: First Steps – I know that people will be surprised that I chose this film. It is good in places and also not as good – loads of story felt trimmed from the film. However, since my favorite comics character, Galactus, Devourer of World, was the big bad, I loved every moment. It was Galactus done right. Will this be on anyone else’s Top Ten Lists – absolutely not, but it’s on mine and it’s my list, so there!
9. Superman – I enjoyed this film more than I thought I would. I think that Introducing characters that only the true hard-core comics people knew was a risk and it barely worked. The characters – Hawkgirl, Metamorpho, Mr. Terrific and Guy Gardner Green Lantern. As a comic reader, I knkew them all, but considering how little time was paid to those characters, you could almost feel the audience falling asleep. What saved it was the acting: David Corensweet who I had never seen in anything before made for a very understated Kal-El. The phenomenal Rachel Brosahan made up for the understated Superman as a young Lois Lane trying to come to grips as a modern woman dating the most powerful man on the planet, even though she has never looked to be a damsel in distress or otherwise. What truly made the film was the great Nicholas Hoult, excellent as Lex Luthor – a genius who need to prove that he is Superman’s better., no matter the cost to buildings and innocent bystanders. And of course, Krypto the Super Dog stole every scene he was in.
8. Eddington – I missed this film in theaters but my Dads Movie Group did see it and praised it I finally caught it on streaming and it was terrific A standoff between a small-town sheriff and mayor set off a violent, stylistic dark comedy, neo-Western. Joaquin Phoenix who I have a mixed reaction to, is very good as the sheriff trying to hold things together. Emma Stone makes an appearance as does Pedro Pascal who has been omnipresent over the past couple of years – (staring in Fantastic Four, for example). This film reminded me of top flight Tarentino wannabe films like Identity (2000). Bloody, strange and humorous at equal turns.
7. Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning – more unbelievable stunts, this time following Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt chasing Esai Morales from the previous film. Of course, everyone says it is the final one, so there has to be wrapping up of storylines (including from the very first film, a member of the team has to die, but the end doesn’t make it feel like a true ending. Cruise walks away as does the remaining members of the team. I’m not saying that Hunt had to die – that’s too cheap and cliched, but for him to just fade away like that, when it looked like Hunt would finally be retiring with one of the loves of his life but they just go their separate ways. Leaves room for another mission (or 2 or 8), but Criuseis nearly my age, much too old to be hanging onto the sides of airplanes.
6. Nuremberg – one of the “hot” films at TIFF, meaning that there were few tickets to be had, but I found a ticket and got to see it. A two-pronged story taking place at the end of World War II starting with the capture of high ranking German leaders who did not commit suicide. Now captured, what do you do with them. There was no “international law” recognized at the time, so Supreme Court Justic Robert H. Jackson (the great Michael Shannon) is sent to Nuremberg where the Allies have incarcerated their prisoners, to build a framework to try the prisoners.. The highest ranked prisoner was Hermann Goehring, in what should be an Oscar nominated role. To get an idea into the Nazi, the U.S. military brings in psychiatrist Douglas Kelley (Remy Malik) to analyze the top Nazis, especially Goehring. The film is a faihrly standard docudrama except for the lead actors and Leo Woodhall’s Sgt. Howard Triest who humanizes the story from a victims’/survivors point of view. It was award bait, and looked great, and the acting was top flight, but the story was right out of a TV movie, but Crowe, playing a Hannibal Lector type villain was really good.
5. Black Bag – an underappreciated gem. Steven Soderberg released a number of small pictures, one was a horror film, and this one – a star studded spy story with Michael Fassbender, Cate Blanchett, and Pierce Brosnan. Unlike the big budget, Mission Impossible/James Bond superspy spectacular. Fassbender plays a spy trying to find a double agent who could also be his spy wife (Blanchett). A dinner party bringing the suspects together and leading to find the mole. A snappy 93 minutes, well written, well-acted and smartly directed smart film.
4. Frankenstein – I really tried to see Guillermo del Toro’s dream film on a bug screen at TIFF and with the filmmaker attending. That makes it more special, but except for seeing the film on a large screen, it is my duty to review the film not the atmosphere. This is an interest take on the tale and while we have seen films that subtly depict the creator Victor as the bad guy, but this film takes that even further and the creature is the much more sympathetic character. The film looks great, and Jacob Elordi made a tender, yet super strong Lazerus. Unfortunately, the actors let del Toro down a bit: Oliver Isaac was more of a driven villain; Christolpe Waltz was his usual eclectic self – good but not exactly a stretch; and worst of all was Mia Goth who played the center of the love triangles between Franken stein and his brother and Frankenstein and the creature, seemed too young for Isaac, too vapid in the rest of the scenes except for the scenes with the creature, which were actually touching.
3. Hamnet – I tried to see this in Toronto, but word of mouth made it impossible to get a ticket so I waited for it to be released to regular theaters, and last Satury, I finally caught it. The story of Shakespeare’s wife and especially his son Hamnet who died at the age of 13. We don’t know how the death of his son affected the writing of the world’s most famous play, and as a person who has seen numerous film depictions of the melancholy Dane from everyone from Lawrence Olivier, Eichard Buron, David Tennant, Kenneth Branaugh to Ethan Hawke. The focus was on “Agnes” (generally called Anne in history, played by an excellentJessie Buckley, who should expect an invitation to the Oscars in the Spring, as the wild spirit who became Shakespeare’s wife and the life in the house as Will (Paul Mescal) was writing and trying to make a life in London. It is based on the best-selling novel, directed by Chloe Zhao who won an Oscar for directing Nomadland, and then helming the ambitions but ultimately unsatisfying Eternals for Marvel. Highly recommended.
. One Battle After Another – this may be the tightest race I’ve ever had for best film of the year. Pauk Thomas Anderson’s latest maybe the most straightforward, casual fan friendly film he’s ever made. Starring a great Leonardo DiCaprio (and I’ve never been much of a DiCaprio fan) as a single father raising his daughter under the radar because he was part of a left-wing revolutionary group ith a black woman who has the child, but now, they’ve been found, and the old enemies are out looking for them. Benecio del Toro is once again excellent in a role of a quirky helper, and Sean Penn playing a complete maniac chasing them. I already mentioned that Eddington had a certain Pulp Fiction strangeness, in it, and I got that same vibe here, only stronger. It definitely breaks boundaries and challenges conventions, but it was also very human and funny. I have to say that depending on what day it is, and which way the wind’s blowing, this film could be my number 1 and the next film number 2. Maybe I should call them 1 and 1a?
1. Sinners – the mash up of horror and Black music and Black culture has been the film that stayed with me all year despite premiering last February.

There is no one who has ever read college football stories on this site or has ever met me who doesn’t know my sheer distaste for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Ever since I started watching football, to me, ND was the “White People’s College Team,” the college version of the pre-2010s Boston Celtics. The alums were entitled, always reaching back to Knute Rockne and “The Gipper,” and all of that other ancient nonsense. Worse than the alums have always been the South Side Chicago Irish “Domers” fans solely due to ethnicity or being Catholics, and most of them don’t have the brains to get into the school if all they had to do is spell Notre Dame and we spot them the N-O-T-R-E.
In case you’ve been away from the news, 10–2 Notre Dame was not chosen to participate in the College Football Playoffs. The Irish lost their first two games of the season and then won 10 games in a row, and were ranked high all season. At the end of the season, it was between ND and Miami, who beat Notre Dame back in September. ND is the better teambut the College Football Playoff Committee chose Miami. Instead of going to a “lesser” bowl (like my beloved Northwestern Wildcats), ND decided to take its ball and go home, refusing to play any postseason game this season, in effect giving the old middle-finger salute to the College Football Playoff selection committee, the ACC, and ESPN. When the CFP snubbed Notre Dame in favor of Miami and Alabama, it probably thought the Irish would be peeved—but still willing to attach their gold-plated brand to some second-rate bowl game. It didn’t expect athletic director Pete Bevacqua to boycott bowl season.
To me, this is just Notre Dame is acting like a petulant child throwing a tantrum. Yes, the Irish are insufferable with their gold helmets, Touchdown Jesus, and Knute Rockne. Yes, this year, ND got hosed, for maybe the first time in the school’s history. Because of the name recognition, tradition and they fact that their fans travel very well, they have often been chosen for bowl games. How many times has ND been chosen for a bowl game instead of a smaller name/school, meaning of course that it’s all about the money. How many times have ND been chosen in the pre-season Top 25 based solely because they sell magazines and get fans to watch coverage.
Of course, ND is the last main independent school. No conference for the Irish. In the 1980’s it was because ND had signed an exclusive television contract with NBC (earning it the nickname “Notre Dame Broadcasting Company”). Being in a conference means rivalries, and revenue sharing in the conference. ND didn’t need t sharer with anyone. Unfortunately for them, the Big Ten Conference came up with its own Big Ten Network, and did the SEC and other conferences. Suddenly, each Big Ten school earned more television revenue individually than Nitre Dame The school knew that they needed to join a conference for the non-football sports: men’s and women’s basketball, volleyball, but all of the conferences would not take them without football, until the ACC came along and let them join every sport except football. While I have no confirmation of his, I have heard for years that there is an open invitation for ND to join the Big Ten. They’re already in the Midwest, they already play Michigan State, USC, and Purdue and used to play Michigan annually. That is until Michigam won too many times and the cowardly friarsdropped that game. Truth be told, replacing even mediocre Big Ten teams instead of Navy and Boston College would mean, no easy victories. The Big Ten is such that there are generally elite schools like Ohio State, Michigan and Penn State and the other teams are on roller coaster of being good and being bad. Literally, any given Saturday, anyone in the Big Ten could beat anyone else in the Big Ten, depending on how the cards fell. That wouldn’t be dgood for ND – they have to guarantee their 8-9 wins to make sure they are bowl eligible with a couple of tough games to put them in National Championship contention.
Yes, they could have avoided this year’s CFP snub by joining a conference rather than holding themselves aloof, then throwing a pity party for themselves. “It is Notre Dame’s fault,” said Paul Finebaum on ESPN’s Get Up on Monday. “They think they’re better than everybody.” True enough, and by their reckoning, ND sitting out will cost the CFP money. The Irish have their own TV deal worth an estimated $50 million a year with NBC Sports, and AD Pete Bevacqua is a former chairman of NBC Sports, with no love lost for ESPN.
One would think that for all of the sturn und drang around ND that they have a much tighter grasp on the sport but ND has 11 National Championships, a drop in the bucket compared to the New York Yankees or Montreal Canadiens. Further, the Irish haven’t won a college national championship since 1988, thirty-seven years, when the coach was Lou Holtz.
Since 1988, Domers needed to come to grips with the change in college football. Major powers in the Midwest, South and West became recruiting giants in their own right – ND’s ability to pick the very best athletes has long ago ended. All that tradition creates some of the most press and fan pressure in the nation.
So let them sit out. How about sitting out next season too; and he one after that?I cannot fully sit back and enjoy the college football season until it is guaranteed that Notre Dame has no chance of winning the national championship (which hurts me because they have a great Black coach and I would love to see him do well.)Go sulk in the nearest corner and amuse yourself by watching Knute Rockne – All American and Rudy on a constant loop. We rest of college football won’t miss you.

I admit that I often have thoughts that are fairly crass and tasteless (but that’s what makes them funny), so when I first heard about the incidents involving former University of Michigan football coach Sherrone Moore, I thought – what’s with these brothers becoming head football coaches at Michigan schools and can’t check their libidos not sexually harass women. For those that don’t remember, in September, 2023, the USA Today was the first to report that allegations involving sexual harassment about then Michigan State head coach Mel Tucker had been made by Brenda Track, a rape survivor and sexual violence prevention advocate. Ms. Track said that Tucker was masturbating during a phone call between the two; Tucker says it was consentual. Eventually, Tucker was fired and there is a lawsuit against Michigan State by Tucker for wrongful termination.
The new story involves Moore, who took over the Michigan program when Jim Habaugh left for the NFL’s Los Angeles Chargers, and on the field, Michigan has done fairly well, and although this year’s team once again lost to Ohio State, the game was closer than usual and the future appeared to be fairly bright. Until Monday, when Moore reportedly barged into a former lover’s home and threatened to kill himself, telling her that his “blood is on your hands.” Moore, 39, was charged with alleged home invasion, stalking and breaking and entering, following his shocking arrest and termination from one of the sport’s most prestigious jobs. The alleged home invasion is a felony while the other two charges were filed as misdemeanors against Moore, who has been held at the Washtenaw County jail — about 4 miles from Michigan Stadium where he’d been head of the Wolverines football program.
The victim had been in a years-long relationship with the married Moore when she allegedly broke it off with him on Monday. Moore allegedly reacted by “making numerous phone calls and sending numerous texts,” before the woman eventually presented herself to the University” and cooperated. Moore allegedly barged into the woman’s home through an unlocked door “without permission” on Wednesday and grabbed two butter knives and a pair of scissors, Pittsfield Charter Township police said. “‘I’m going to kill myself,'” the prosecution told the court, quoting the defendant’s alleged words to the victim. “‘I’m going to make you watch my blood is on your hands. You ruined my life.'” The woman called her lawyer and told Moore she was going to call police before he left, prosecutors said. Moore was picked up “without incident” police said. Magistrate Odetalla Odetalla on Friday granted Moore $25,000 bail, ordered him to wear a GPS monitor and stay away from his former girlfriend.
Moore was fired on Thursday after the findings of an internal university investigation determined that Moore had an inappropriate relationship with another employee. Moore is married with three very young children, and has already undergone a brief mental health examination, and is reportedly open to more psychiatric evaluation. Moore is married with three young children and led the Wolverines to a 17-8 record overall and 12-6 in Big Ten play.
There are many thoughts I have on this: first, does the sport and its overproduction of testosterone help lead to this? The “alpha male”/women are possessions attitudes that have become more open in the past Trumpian decade. The hatred and diminishing of women is scary. Not that I’m perfect by any means, but having been raised by my mother and grandmother, two of the most extroverted take no prisoners women who ever walked the earth. If I treated a woman, barged into a woamn’s home, stalked her, both of them would come back from the great beyond and toss me off a cliff.
That said however, it seems that Moore has some serious mental issues. This man needs help and should get it. However, there are no winners here: the other woman – what were you thinking (but even then, you don’t deserve the stalking and fear you received); the wife and kids – who deserve te most empathy as innocent bystanders; the football players and coaches who worked their asses off to follow Moore; and finally, Moore himself. Mental health is serious, happening to many more people that you know or related to people you know.
Overall, a sad, sad mess.