By Franz Beard
A few thoughts to jump start your Wednesday morning:
HEART ATTACK CITY! GATORS WALK IT OFF IN 10 AGAINST GAMECOCKS
It shouldn’t have come down to South Carolina catcher Colin Burgess losing the baseball as Ty Evans slid home in the bottom of the tenth inning but it did. Evans should have scored standing up on Kendric Calilao’s slow single up the middle the play before. For reasons only Florida third base coach Craig Bell knows for sure, the stop sign was put up as Evans rounded third. He would have scored easily even if Gamecock center fielder Evan Stone hadn’t air-mailed the throw home.
So what do you do when you’ve goofed up the play before? Well, of course, you send Evans racing home on Colby Halter’s line drive to short center that Stone catches on the move so he has plenty of momentum with which to make a perfect throw home. It was an absolute strike and Evans was clearly out at the plate except for one teensy little detail. Talmadge LeCroy didn’t hold onto the ball as Evans slid by. Game over. Gators win, 2-1, and advance to the second round of the Southeastern Conference Tournament in Hoover, Alabama where they will face the No. 2 seeded Texas A&M Aggies sometime this afternoon. Sometime, because for a second straight day, thunderstorms are expected. Florida’s game was supposed to start at 2:30 Tuesday but it didn’t start until after 7 p.m. because of thunderstorms.
By winning Tuesday night, the Gators (36-20) move into the double-elimination portion of the tournament. It’s a similar situation they were in last year when they won three games in Hoover before losing in the semifinals (the tournament reverts to single elimination at that point). Going 3-1 in Hoover earned the Gators a top 16 national seed so they hosted a regional. It’s probably going to take two more wins to host again, but UF is one-third of the way there after the win over South Carolina.
The Gators had a chance to clinch the win without going into extra innings but starting pitcher Brandon Sproat, who had a no-hitter going for 6-1/3 innings, gave out of gas in the top of the ninth when he gave up a pair of one-out singles. Ryan Slater came on to induce a bouncer to shortstop that got the force at second, but the relay was not in time so the run scored to tie the game at 1-1.
With one out in the Florida half of the tenth, Evans hit a bouncer down the third base line that hit the base and bounded down the left field line. This was a ball that Jalen Vasquez probably snares and makes the throw to first easily for out number two except the tricky hop sent the ball over his head. Then came Calilao’s pinch-hit single that should have scored Evans followed by Halter’s line drive sac fly.
This was a classic pitching duel between Sproat and South Carolina starter Will Sanders. Sproat went 8-1/3 innings, giving up just four hits while striking out seven. Sanders gave up four hits and struck out 10 while giving up just one run in seven innings.
The only run Sanders gave up came on another rather weird play that involved Bell in the third base coaching box in the fourth inning. Josh Evans doubled down the right field line with two outs and Jac Caglianone followed with a high chopper that shortstop Michael Braswell fielding moving to his right. Braswell threw off balance and a little high to first baseman Kevin Madden. Madden knocked the ball down and recovered it into his glove. That split second was the difference because Rivera rounded third, sped home and scored when Madden’s throw to the plate was late.
Florida is expected to go with freshman righty Brandon Neely (3-1, 3.38 ERA) against the Aggies today. Because Sproat was able to go into the ninth, Kevin O’Sullivan was able to save all but Slater (5-3, 4.66 ERA), which means he’ll have a full bullpen ready to go today.
DEL RIO-WILSON TRANSFERS TO SYRACUSE
Carlos Del Rio-Wilson has found his transfer destination. The former Gator quarterback who was a 4-star recruit by Dan Mullen in the 2021 recruiting class, will be moving on to Syracuse where he will have to battle last year’s starter Garrett Shrader for playing time. Del Rio-Wilson didn’t accumulate any stats at UF in 2021. Shrader, who began his career at Mississippi State, threw for 1,445 yards and nine touchdowns while rushing for 781 and 14 TDs for Syracuse last year.
SEC FOOTBALL: PROJECTED O-LINE STARTERS
Alabama (46 career starts): LT Tyler Steen (6-5, 317, GR/TR); LG Javion Cohen (6-4, 305, JR); C Seth McLaughlin (6-4, 295); RG Emil Ekioyor Jr. (6-3, 307, RSR); RT JC Latham (6-6, 326, SO)
Studs: Emil Ekioyor Jr. has 29 career starts and Cohen 14. Tyler Steen was a 3-year starter at Vandy, playing in 45 career games.
Arkansas (86 career starts): LT Jalen St. John (6-5, 334, RSO); LG Brady Latham (6-5, 303, RJR); C Ricky Stromberg (6-4, 318, SR); RG Beaux Limmer (6-5, 300, RJR); RT Dalton Wagner (6-9, 337, RSR)
Studs: Stromberg (32 career starts) will be the favorite to win the Rimington Trophy. Wagner is an absolute monster with 15 career starts.
Auburn (63 career starts): LT Kilian Zierer (6-7, 312, SR); LG Brandon Council (6-4, 328, SR); C Nick Brahms (6-4, 300, SR); RG Keiondre Jones (6-4, 340, JR); RT Alec Jackson (6-5, 321, SR)
Studs: Nick Brahms (24 career starts) is one of the best in the SEC.
FLORIDA (52 career starts): LT Richard Gouraige (6-5, 310, RJR); LG Ethan White (6-5, 334, JR); C Kingsley Eguakun (6-4, 305, RSO); RG O’Cyrus Torrence (6-5, 335, JR/TR); RT Michael Tarquin (6-5, 301, RSO)
Studs: Gouraige has started 24 games at left tackle and has 29 career starts. Torrence was a two-time All-Sun Belt performer who has 35 career starts at right guard.
Georgia (58 career starts): LT Broderick Jones (6-4, 315, RSO); LG Tate Rutledge (6-6, 320, RSO); C Sedrick Van Pran (6-4, 310, RSO); RG Warren Ericson (6-4, 305, SR); RT Warren McClendon (6-4, 300, JR)
Studs: McClendon has 24 career starts at right tackle, while Ericson has 14 at right guard and Van Pran 15 at center.
Kentucky (30 career starts): LT Deondre Buford (6-3, 295, RSO); LG Kenney Horsey (6-3, 300, SR); C Eli Cox (6-4, 293, JR); RG Tashawn Manning (6-4, 344, GR/TR); RT Jeremy Flax (6-6, 356, RJR)
Studs: Horsey has 21 career starts. Manning had 14 starts at Auburn.
LSU (9 career starts): LT Will Campbell (6-6, 310, FR); LG Tre’Mond Shorts (6-5, 340, RSR/TR); C Charles Turner (6-4, 285, JR); RG Garrett Dellinger (6-5, 317, SO); RT Cameron Wire (6-6, 307, SR)
Studs: Tre’Mond Shorts was a D1AA All-American at East Tennessee State.
Mississippi State (48 career starts): LT Kwatrivous Johnson (6-7, 315, RSR); LG Nick Jones (6-3, 295, RJR); C LaQuinston Sharp (6-3, 305, RSR); RG Steven Losoya III (6-4, 305, RJR/TR); RT Kameron Jones (6-5, 315, RSR)
Studs: Kwatrivous Johnson has 19 career starts and Sharp has 17 at center.
Missouri (52 career starts): LT Javon Foster (6-5, 320, SR); LG Xavier Delgado (6-4, 333, SR); C Connor Tollison (6-4, 311, RFR); RG Connor Wood (6-4, 325, GR/TR); RT Hyrin White (6-7, 333, GR)
Studs: Foster has NFL left tackle written all over him.
Ole Miss (50 career starts): LT Jeremy James (6-5, 305, JR); LG Nick Broeker (6-5, 315, SR); C Caleb Warren (6-5, 310, JR); RG Eli Acker (6-5, 295, SO); RT Mason Brooks (6-6, 315, SR/TR)
Studs: Broeker has started every game at left guard the last two seasons and will be on a lot of All-America preseason lists. Brooks was All-Conference USA and had 25 career starts at Western Kentucky.
South Carolina (104 career starts): LT Jaylen Nichols (6-5, 322, SR); LG Vershon Lee (6-4, 309, JR); C Eric Douglas (6-4, 297, GR); RG Jovaughn Gwyn (6-3, 300, RSR); RT Dylan Wonnum (6-5, 305, RSR)
Studs: Wonnum is back for a fifth year with 32 career starts while Gwyn has made 34 starts in four years.
Tennessee (82 career starts): LT Darnell Wright (6-6, 335, SR); LG Jerome Carvin (6-5, 321, SR); C Cooper Mays (6-3, 296, JR); RG Javontez Spraggins (6-3, 325, JR); RT Dayne Davis (6-7, 325, RJR)
Studs: Carvin has 30 career starts – 17 at right guard, 8 at left guard and 5 at center.
Texas A&M (31 career starts): LT Trey Zuhn III (6-6, 315, RFR); LG Jordan Spasojevic-Moko (6-5, 340, RSO/TR); C Bryce Foster (6-5, 325, SO); RG Layden Robinson (6-4, 320, JR); RT Reuven Featheree II (6-8, 320, SO)
Studs: Foster started all 12 games last year as a true freshman.
Vanderbilt (36 career starts): LT Gunnar Hansen (6-5, 317, SO); LG Ben Cox (6-5, 310, JR); C Julian Hernandez (6-4, 304, SR); RG Delfin Xavier Castillo (6-5, 330, SO); RT Bradley Ashmore (6-6, 290, JR)
Studs: Hernandez has allowed only one sack in 14 career starts.
PAC-12 DISTRIBUTED LESS THAN $20 MILLION IN FISCAL 2020-21
There was a pandemic in 2020 but you wouldn’t know it necessarily by the Southeastern Conference, which distributed $56.4 million to each of its 14 schools during the 2020-21 fiscal year. Even the ACC bumped about $4 million during the pandemic year to $36.1 million. The Pac-12? Less than $20 million.
COVID certainly hit the Pac-12 hard, but so did a complete lack of foresight and leadership. First the league canceled its 2020 football season, but when the SEC, ACC and Big 12 announced they were going ahead with a modified business as usual approach, the Pac-12 was left scrambling. When it finally did get its 2020 football season under way it was the last conference to do so. Only two teams played seven games while Colorado, Arizona State, Washington State and California only played four each because of COVID cancellations and no contingency plan. The SEC, on the other hand, scheduled 10 games for every team in the league and played all but two, in large part because Greg Sankey put in midseason open dates that allowed him to reschedule COVID cancellations.
The moral of the story: When leaders lead, good things happen. Larry Scott, who was the Pac-12 commissioner in 2020-21, was clueless and now his schools are sucking wind financially.
ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: I stumbled across an article written by Chris Dudley, a senior wealth advisor/director of sports and entertainment at Boston Private Wealth. A graduate of Yale, Dudley spent 16 seasons in the NBA so he’s seen his share of former players who make enormous salaries bankrupt or even penniless soon after their careers are over. Dudley points out that within five years of leaving the NBA, 60 percent of former players are broke. Within two years after retiring from the NFL, 78 percent of all former players are in some sort of serious financial distress.
Those numbers are mind boggling. They point to this one basic fact: Far too many professional athletes never got any kind of direction when they were in college so they are clueless when suddenly they are making more money in a few short years than 99 percent of all Americans will ever make in a lifetime. The fortunate athletes who have good representation and a plan for lifetime success with their money are overwhelmingly outnumbered by those who run through money like it was in a sieve.
What I see with professional athletes is what is concerning me about NIL with the college kids. I see far too many collectives and rich people throwing money at kids who just days or weeks before thought they were in great financial shape if they had enough to go through the drive-thru at McDonald’s a couple of times a week. How long before some kid who has run through a large sum of NIL money is “befriended” by gamblers who will gladly pay off debts, etc. in exchange for a few small “favors”? How long before kids who have run through a lot of NIL money experience serious mental health issues or commit suicide?
I believe NIL is here to stay and there isn’t anything that can be done about it. I think the way to get any measure of control will be through regulating the collectives, corporations and individuals who get the athletes under contract. Make the athlete ineligible if he/she signs with an unregistered collective, corporation of individual. Fine the collective, corporation or individual heavily that (a) gives money without registering and (b) doesn’t provide guidance to make sure athletes aren’t blowing every penny they receive.
If we don’t get a handle on the people who give the money, then I think it’s only a matter of time before NIL implodes and we’ll have a mess in college athletics that will take years to clean up.
A few thoughts to jump start your Wednesday morning:
HEART ATTACK CITY! GATORS WALK IT OFF IN 10 AGAINST GAMECOCKS
It shouldn’t have come down to South Carolina catcher Colin Burgess losing the baseball as Ty Evans slid home in the bottom of the tenth inning but it did. Evans should have scored standing up on Kendric Calilao’s slow single up the middle the play before. For reasons only Florida third base coach Craig Bell knows for sure, the stop sign was put up as Evans rounded third. He would have scored easily even if Gamecock center fielder Evan Stone hadn’t air-mailed the throw home.
So what do you do when you’ve goofed up the play before? Well, of course, you send Evans racing home on Colby Halter’s line drive to short center that Stone catches on the move so he has plenty of momentum with which to make a perfect throw home. It was an absolute strike and Evans was clearly out at the plate except for one teensy little detail. Talmadge LeCroy didn’t hold onto the ball as Evans slid by. Game over. Gators win, 2-1, and advance to the second round of the Southeastern Conference Tournament in Hoover, Alabama where they will face the No. 2 seeded Texas A&M Aggies sometime this afternoon. Sometime, because for a second straight day, thunderstorms are expected. Florida’s game was supposed to start at 2:30 Tuesday but it didn’t start until after 7 p.m. because of thunderstorms.
By winning Tuesday night, the Gators (36-20) move into the double-elimination portion of the tournament. It’s a similar situation they were in last year when they won three games in Hoover before losing in the semifinals (the tournament reverts to single elimination at that point). Going 3-1 in Hoover earned the Gators a top 16 national seed so they hosted a regional. It’s probably going to take two more wins to host again, but UF is one-third of the way there after the win over South Carolina.
The Gators had a chance to clinch the win without going into extra innings but starting pitcher Brandon Sproat, who had a no-hitter going for 6-1/3 innings, gave out of gas in the top of the ninth when he gave up a pair of one-out singles. Ryan Slater came on to induce a bouncer to shortstop that got the force at second, but the relay was not in time so the run scored to tie the game at 1-1.
With one out in the Florida half of the tenth, Evans hit a bouncer down the third base line that hit the base and bounded down the left field line. This was a ball that Jalen Vasquez probably snares and makes the throw to first easily for out number two except the tricky hop sent the ball over his head. Then came Calilao’s pinch-hit single that should have scored Evans followed by Halter’s line drive sac fly.
This was a classic pitching duel between Sproat and South Carolina starter Will Sanders. Sproat went 8-1/3 innings, giving up just four hits while striking out seven. Sanders gave up four hits and struck out 10 while giving up just one run in seven innings.
The only run Sanders gave up came on another rather weird play that involved Bell in the third base coaching box in the fourth inning. Josh Evans doubled down the right field line with two outs and Jac Caglianone followed with a high chopper that shortstop Michael Braswell fielding moving to his right. Braswell threw off balance and a little high to first baseman Kevin Madden. Madden knocked the ball down and recovered it into his glove. That split second was the difference because Rivera rounded third, sped home and scored when Madden’s throw to the plate was late.
Florida is expected to go with freshman righty Brandon Neely (3-1, 3.38 ERA) against the Aggies today. Because Sproat was able to go into the ninth, Kevin O’Sullivan was able to save all but Slater (5-3, 4.66 ERA), which means he’ll have a full bullpen ready to go today.
DEL RIO-WILSON TRANSFERS TO SYRACUSE
Carlos Del Rio-Wilson has found his transfer destination. The former Gator quarterback who was a 4-star recruit by Dan Mullen in the 2021 recruiting class, will be moving on to Syracuse where he will have to battle last year’s starter Garrett Shrader for playing time. Del Rio-Wilson didn’t accumulate any stats at UF in 2021. Shrader, who began his career at Mississippi State, threw for 1,445 yards and nine touchdowns while rushing for 781 and 14 TDs for Syracuse last year.
SEC FOOTBALL: PROJECTED O-LINE STARTERS
Alabama (46 career starts): LT Tyler Steen (6-5, 317, GR/TR); LG Javion Cohen (6-4, 305, JR); C Seth McLaughlin (6-4, 295); RG Emil Ekioyor Jr. (6-3, 307, RSR); RT JC Latham (6-6, 326, SO)
Studs: Emil Ekioyor Jr. has 29 career starts and Cohen 14. Tyler Steen was a 3-year starter at Vandy, playing in 45 career games.
Arkansas (86 career starts): LT Jalen St. John (6-5, 334, RSO); LG Brady Latham (6-5, 303, RJR); C Ricky Stromberg (6-4, 318, SR); RG Beaux Limmer (6-5, 300, RJR); RT Dalton Wagner (6-9, 337, RSR)
Studs: Stromberg (32 career starts) will be the favorite to win the Rimington Trophy. Wagner is an absolute monster with 15 career starts.
Auburn (63 career starts): LT Kilian Zierer (6-7, 312, SR); LG Brandon Council (6-4, 328, SR); C Nick Brahms (6-4, 300, SR); RG Keiondre Jones (6-4, 340, JR); RT Alec Jackson (6-5, 321, SR)
Studs: Nick Brahms (24 career starts) is one of the best in the SEC.
FLORIDA (52 career starts): LT Richard Gouraige (6-5, 310, RJR); LG Ethan White (6-5, 334, JR); C Kingsley Eguakun (6-4, 305, RSO); RG O’Cyrus Torrence (6-5, 335, JR/TR); RT Michael Tarquin (6-5, 301, RSO)
Studs: Gouraige has started 24 games at left tackle and has 29 career starts. Torrence was a two-time All-Sun Belt performer who has 35 career starts at right guard.
Georgia (58 career starts): LT Broderick Jones (6-4, 315, RSO); LG Tate Rutledge (6-6, 320, RSO); C Sedrick Van Pran (6-4, 310, RSO); RG Warren Ericson (6-4, 305, SR); RT Warren McClendon (6-4, 300, JR)
Studs: McClendon has 24 career starts at right tackle, while Ericson has 14 at right guard and Van Pran 15 at center.
Kentucky (30 career starts): LT Deondre Buford (6-3, 295, RSO); LG Kenney Horsey (6-3, 300, SR); C Eli Cox (6-4, 293, JR); RG Tashawn Manning (6-4, 344, GR/TR); RT Jeremy Flax (6-6, 356, RJR)
Studs: Horsey has 21 career starts. Manning had 14 starts at Auburn.
LSU (9 career starts): LT Will Campbell (6-6, 310, FR); LG Tre’Mond Shorts (6-5, 340, RSR/TR); C Charles Turner (6-4, 285, JR); RG Garrett Dellinger (6-5, 317, SO); RT Cameron Wire (6-6, 307, SR)
Studs: Tre’Mond Shorts was a D1AA All-American at East Tennessee State.
Mississippi State (48 career starts): LT Kwatrivous Johnson (6-7, 315, RSR); LG Nick Jones (6-3, 295, RJR); C LaQuinston Sharp (6-3, 305, RSR); RG Steven Losoya III (6-4, 305, RJR/TR); RT Kameron Jones (6-5, 315, RSR)
Studs: Kwatrivous Johnson has 19 career starts and Sharp has 17 at center.
Missouri (52 career starts): LT Javon Foster (6-5, 320, SR); LG Xavier Delgado (6-4, 333, SR); C Connor Tollison (6-4, 311, RFR); RG Connor Wood (6-4, 325, GR/TR); RT Hyrin White (6-7, 333, GR)
Studs: Foster has NFL left tackle written all over him.
Ole Miss (50 career starts): LT Jeremy James (6-5, 305, JR); LG Nick Broeker (6-5, 315, SR); C Caleb Warren (6-5, 310, JR); RG Eli Acker (6-5, 295, SO); RT Mason Brooks (6-6, 315, SR/TR)
Studs: Broeker has started every game at left guard the last two seasons and will be on a lot of All-America preseason lists. Brooks was All-Conference USA and had 25 career starts at Western Kentucky.
South Carolina (104 career starts): LT Jaylen Nichols (6-5, 322, SR); LG Vershon Lee (6-4, 309, JR); C Eric Douglas (6-4, 297, GR); RG Jovaughn Gwyn (6-3, 300, RSR); RT Dylan Wonnum (6-5, 305, RSR)
Studs: Wonnum is back for a fifth year with 32 career starts while Gwyn has made 34 starts in four years.
Tennessee (82 career starts): LT Darnell Wright (6-6, 335, SR); LG Jerome Carvin (6-5, 321, SR); C Cooper Mays (6-3, 296, JR); RG Javontez Spraggins (6-3, 325, JR); RT Dayne Davis (6-7, 325, RJR)
Studs: Carvin has 30 career starts – 17 at right guard, 8 at left guard and 5 at center.
Texas A&M (31 career starts): LT Trey Zuhn III (6-6, 315, RFR); LG Jordan Spasojevic-Moko (6-5, 340, RSO/TR); C Bryce Foster (6-5, 325, SO); RG Layden Robinson (6-4, 320, JR); RT Reuven Featheree II (6-8, 320, SO)
Studs: Foster started all 12 games last year as a true freshman.
Vanderbilt (36 career starts): LT Gunnar Hansen (6-5, 317, SO); LG Ben Cox (6-5, 310, JR); C Julian Hernandez (6-4, 304, SR); RG Delfin Xavier Castillo (6-5, 330, SO); RT Bradley Ashmore (6-6, 290, JR)
Studs: Hernandez has allowed only one sack in 14 career starts.
PAC-12 DISTRIBUTED LESS THAN $20 MILLION IN FISCAL 2020-21
There was a pandemic in 2020 but you wouldn’t know it necessarily by the Southeastern Conference, which distributed $56.4 million to each of its 14 schools during the 2020-21 fiscal year. Even the ACC bumped about $4 million during the pandemic year to $36.1 million. The Pac-12? Less than $20 million.
COVID certainly hit the Pac-12 hard, but so did a complete lack of foresight and leadership. First the league canceled its 2020 football season, but when the SEC, ACC and Big 12 announced they were going ahead with a modified business as usual approach, the Pac-12 was left scrambling. When it finally did get its 2020 football season under way it was the last conference to do so. Only two teams played seven games while Colorado, Arizona State, Washington State and California only played four each because of COVID cancellations and no contingency plan. The SEC, on the other hand, scheduled 10 games for every team in the league and played all but two, in large part because Greg Sankey put in midseason open dates that allowed him to reschedule COVID cancellations.
The moral of the story: When leaders lead, good things happen. Larry Scott, who was the Pac-12 commissioner in 2020-21, was clueless and now his schools are sucking wind financially.
ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: I stumbled across an article written by Chris Dudley, a senior wealth advisor/director of sports and entertainment at Boston Private Wealth. A graduate of Yale, Dudley spent 16 seasons in the NBA so he’s seen his share of former players who make enormous salaries bankrupt or even penniless soon after their careers are over. Dudley points out that within five years of leaving the NBA, 60 percent of former players are broke. Within two years after retiring from the NFL, 78 percent of all former players are in some sort of serious financial distress.
Those numbers are mind boggling. They point to this one basic fact: Far too many professional athletes never got any kind of direction when they were in college so they are clueless when suddenly they are making more money in a few short years than 99 percent of all Americans will ever make in a lifetime. The fortunate athletes who have good representation and a plan for lifetime success with their money are overwhelmingly outnumbered by those who run through money like it was in a sieve.
What I see with professional athletes is what is concerning me about NIL with the college kids. I see far too many collectives and rich people throwing money at kids who just days or weeks before thought they were in great financial shape if they had enough to go through the drive-thru at McDonald’s a couple of times a week. How long before some kid who has run through a large sum of NIL money is “befriended” by gamblers who will gladly pay off debts, etc. in exchange for a few small “favors”? How long before kids who have run through a lot of NIL money experience serious mental health issues or commit suicide?
I believe NIL is here to stay and there isn’t anything that can be done about it. I think the way to get any measure of control will be through regulating the collectives, corporations and individuals who get the athletes under contract. Make the athlete ineligible if he/she signs with an unregistered collective, corporation of individual. Fine the collective, corporation or individual heavily that (a) gives money without registering and (b) doesn’t provide guidance to make sure athletes aren’t blowing every penny they receive.
If we don’t get a handle on the people who give the money, then I think it’s only a matter of time before NIL implodes and we’ll have a mess in college athletics that will take years to clean up.
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