Cleaning out the Inbox: Passings

 We return to the world of tributes to a few recent passings from the sports world.

Goodbye to Rodney Rogers at the age of 54.

Arguably the second-best player (after Tim Duncan) in the history of Wake Forest basketball, Rogers was a lottery selection (ninth overall) in the 1993 NBA Draft by the Denver Nuggets after winning the ACC Player of the Year award the previous season.

Rogers would play twelve seasons in the NBA for seven teams and would win the Sixth Man of the Year award in 2000 with the Phoenix Suns.

Rogers had been paralyzed from the neck down since a dirt bike accident in 2008.

Goodbye to Elden Campbell at the age of 57.

The all-time leading scorer for the Clemson Tigers, Campbell was named All-ACC three times in the late 1980s before being drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round, where he played for the first nine years of his fifteen-year career.

Campbell led Clemson to the only regular-season ACC title in the program's history and is the surprising answer to a question: Who scored the most points for the Los Angeles Lakers in the 1990s?

Goodbye to Dave Morehead at the age of 82.

Morehead was one of a group of pitchers that the Boston Red Sox hoped could return to contention in the early sixties, but were not part of the eventual Impossible Dream team in 1967.

Morehead pitched for the 1967 American League champions but was not a key contributor, finishing 5-4 in ten starts.

Morehead fired a no-hitter at Fenway Park for Boston over Cleveland in 1965 in a game attended by only 1,200 fans.

Goodbye to Steve Taneyhill at the age of 52.

Known for his long ponytail and his homerun swing touchdown celebration, Taneyhill set the South Carolina record for passing yards and led the Gamecocks to the first bowl victory in their history with a 1995 CarQuest Bowl win over West Virginia.

Taneyhill spent two seasons on the Jacksonville Jaguars' practice squad but never appeared in a game for them.

Goodbye to Steve Regal at the age of 73.

Often remembered as the "other" Steven Regal," Mr Electricity" held the NWA and AWA's light heavyweight titles, and with "Gorgeous" Jimmy Garvin, held the AWA tag team titles, defeating the feared Road Warriors in a match with tons of outside interference.

Regal would later wrestle for the NWA and WWF as a preliminary wrestler after Garvin and Regal's title reign ended with a loss to Scott Hall and Curt Hennig.

Regal was the son-in-law of the star wrestler of the Golden Age, Wilbur Snyder.

Goodbye to Jawann Oldham at the age of 68.

The second round pick of the Denver Nuggets in 1980 from the University of Seattle, Oldham would play until 1995, playing for eight teams as a backup big man known for his shot blocking and defense.

Oldham would later play a key role in starting the Chinese, Japanese, and Korean professional leagues.

Goodbye to Rags to Riches at the age of 21.

The first filly to win the Belmont Stakes in over a hundred years was in the 2007 edition.

Rags to Riches also won the Kentucky Oaks and would win the Eclipse Award for Champion Three-Year-Old Filly.

Boxing Challenge! Smith knocks out Matias

   Most people thought Dalton Smith had a chance to upset Subriel Matias in his attempt to take the WBC junior welterweight title from Matias.

Few thought that Smith could knock out Matias, who had shown a strong chin in his many slugfests, but Smith surprised everyone with a fifth-round KO to lift the WBC title from Matias in New York City.

The fight was filled with toe-to-toe combat, and with Smith bleeding from a cut over his left eye, Matias seemed to be edging ahead in what promised to be a bruising affair.

Smith ended all of that when he landed a right hand in the fifth that took away the legs of the champion, and as he wobbled, a second right hand dropped him face-first to the floor.

Matias managed to reach his feet, but his legs were clearly not listening to him, and the fight was waved off.

I had Matias slightly ahead 39-37 at the time of the stoppage.

Smith will meet former champion Alberto Puello next in a WBC-mandated bout.

Puello lost his title to Matias last year in a close fight, so he's a deserving challenger and should test Smith.

Smith moves to the top of a division filled with talented young champions (Teofimo Lopez WBO, Gary Antuanne Russell WBA, and Richardson Hitchens IBF) and could make good matches with any of them should he defeat Puello.

Matias may have taken a step back after being knocked out, as his style is built on wearing fighters down until they wear out.

Now that his chin has shown some vulnerability, Matias could be at the beginning of a slide down the division, and his next fight is worth watching to see how being knocked out for the first time will affect him.

In Germany, heavyweight contender Agit Kabayel survived a strong first round from Damian Knyba to score a third-round stoppage.

Knyba landed several right hands in an aggressive first round and bruised Kabayel around his left eye, but the German landed well in the second round before hurting a dazed Knyba with right hands of his own.

I thought the ending could have been a little premature, but I think Kabayel would have ended the fight anyway, so Knyba was spared some punishment.

Boxing Challenge

Kabayel should be in line for a possible future challenge of Oleksandr Usyk, who owns three of the four heavyweight titles, but a potential fight against recently promoted WBO champion Fabio Wardley (Usyk vacated that title after his win over Daniel DuBois) would be an almost-guaranteed firefight.

TRS: (3) 

Ramon Malpica: (2)

Vince Samano: (1)

PPM

   The NFL postseason arrives with six playoff games over three days!

Last Week: 3-4

Overall: 159-78

AFC
Patriots over Chargers 24-21

Bills over Jaguars 35-33

Texans over Steelers 20-17

NFC

Packers over Bears 31-29

Eagles over 49ers 27-21

Rams over Panthers 35-17

Boxing Challenge

    January is a slow month in boxing, usually because few want to train during the holidays.

But this weekend, there are two fights of interest for the boxing challenge for 2026.

In Germany, heavyweight contender Agit Kabayel makes his ring return with a minor title defense against unbeaten Damian Khyba.

Kabayel has stopped his last three opponents, each a notch higher up the ladder, with a 2023 knockout over then-unbeaten powerhitter Arslanbek Makhmudov, a 2024 KO of smooth boxing Frank Sanchez, and last year's knockout of perennial contender Zhilei Zhang, and has made himself a deserving championship contender.

The unbeaten Khyba hasn't fought top competition yet, with his best wins coming against then-unbeaten Marcin Siwy and journeyman Joey Dawejko, and takes a big jump forward against Kabayel.

In New York City, Subriel Matias defends his WBC junior welterweight title against his mandatory contender, England's Dalton Smith.

Matias, who held the IBF version of the title before an upset loss to Liam Paro, won the WBC title last July with a majority decision win over Alberto Puello.

Smith, the youngest and most heralded of the British Smith family, is an aggressive fighter, but other than a KO win over a washed-up Jose Zepeda, his opponents have been of the European level.

Style-wise, this should be a very entertaining fight, with both fighters enjoying a more aggressive approach, so I'm looking forward to this one!

Boxing Challenge

Heavyweights 12 Rds 

Agit Kabayel vs Damian Knyba

Ramon Malpica: Kabayel KO 6
TRS: Kabayel KO 4

Vince Samano: Kabayel Unanimous Decision

WBC Junior Welterweight Title 12 Rds

Subriel Matias vs Dalton Smith

R.L and V.S: Matias Unanimous Decision
TRS: Smith Split Decision

Cleaning out the Inbox

  The inbox is overdue for a cleaning, so I'll do so here!

Apparently, whether you want to blame it on climate change or a natural coincidence, the range for animals continues to stretch, and when that happens, new breeds can intermix with each other.

Weather.com writes of the new hybrid species, the "Grue Jay," which is a breed comprised of a Blue Jay and a Green Jay.

The Green Jay, a warm-weather bird, has moved a few hundred miles north from its previous northern border along the Texas/Mexico border.

The Blue Jay has extended its range westward, and now the two have started interbreeding, producing birds with mixed characteristics.

NHL.com shares the inspirational story of Seattle Kraken reporter Piper Shaw, who has overcome a challenging childhood to achieve her goal of working in media. 

Shaw's story has to be read to be believed that she survived such awful treatment, and I'd recommend that you do so!

The Athletic offers "Trouble with the Snap, which discusses the tenth anniversary of the Michigan-Michigan State game that saw the Spartans win on the final play of the game when Michigan's punter fumbled the snap, and Michigan State recovered and scored for the victory.

The article also digs into the Michigan-Michigan State rivalry, which is often overshadowed by the Ohio State-Michigan wars but is almost as heated between the two schools.

Cleveland Magazine writes about the retro Pizza Hut restaurants that pop up around the country, yet the chain doesn't actually acknowledge they exist.

The Pizza Huts are decorated and designed exactly as they looked in the 1980s!!

The redesigns were offered for a limited time and aren't available after a change in management.

Cleaning out the Inbox: Passings: Non-Sports Edition

      It's the non-sports edition of tributes from a few notable people who have recently left our world.

Goodbye to Ace Frehley at the age of 74.

The long-time guitarist for KISS, Frehley, was with the band from 1972-1982 before going on his own. 

Frehley returned to the band from 1996-2002, but eventually left on bad terms with band members Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley.

When KISS's four members released solo albums in 1978 under the KISS banner, it was Frehley who had the only hit with "New York Groove," which reached the top twenty.

Goodbye to Sonny Curtis at the age of 88.

Curtis played guitar with Buddy Holly and the Crickets and, after Holly's death, moved into the lead vocals position with the group.

Curtis was more famous as a songwriter, penning such songs as "I Fought The Law", "Walk Right Back", "More Than I Can Say", and the theme song of the "Mary Tyler Moore Show", "Love Is All Around.

" Love Is All Around" was a hit ten years apart for Curtis, with the theme hitting in 1970 (sung by Curtis) and again in 1980 with a slower, country-style ballad by Curtis.

Goodbye to Steve Cropper at the age of 84.

"The Colonel" was the guitarist in the 1979 film classic "The Blues Brothers" for the band, but was also a key part of the "Mar-Keys", who scored a hit with the instrumental "Last Night" in 1961.

"Last Night" is fondly remembered by me from my childhood, thanks to its use in the opening introductions of NBA broadcasts by CBS, with Brent Musberger breathlessly adding his comments.

Cropper was also a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame from his membership with "Booker T and the MG's" and was a noted songwriter with credits from co-writing hits such as "Knock On Wood", "In the Midnight Hour", and "Sittin' On The Dock of the Bay".

Goodbye to Adam the Woo at the age of 51.

I'm not really the target audience for YouTube influencers, but I did enjoy watching videos made by "The Woo," as he was actively in the travel community.

Woo also traveled to abandoned places and into places behind the scenes, which he often didn't have permission to visit, which caused him to be banned from the Disney parks.

I didn't watch every one of his videos because, after a while, there are only so many amusement park videos that I can watch, but he seemed like a nice guy who found a niche that touched many people.

Garrett breaks record in Browns winning finale

     Myles Garrett got the sack that he needed to set his record, the Cleveland Browns' defense scored the team's only two touchdowns, the Cincinnati Bengals missed two extra points, and Andre Szymt kicked two 49-yard extra points.

All of that occurred before Szymt kicked a 49-yard field goal on the last play of the game to give the Cleveland Browns a 20-18 win in Cincinnati, the final game of the Kevin Stefanski era, if not the Andrew Berry era, in Cleveland.

Devin Bush grabbed a tipped Joe Burrow pass and ran ninety-seven yards for one touchdown, and Sam Webb ran fifty-three yards after recovering a Noah Fant fumble for the other Browns touchdown.

The Browns finish with a record of 5-12 and will return for the 2026 season with a new head coach.

Brownie Bits

1) It took until the fourth quarter, but Myles Garrett did get the one sack that he needed to set a new NFL record for sacks in a season.

The Bengals did an excellent job keeping Garrett off Joe Burrow until the record-setting sack, when Garrett was able to get off the line with an incredible jump, and Burrow had no way to avoid Garrett.

2) I was interested to hear that Michael Strahan commented that his was the real record because he did it in sixteen, not seventeen games.

Strahan is right that his task was accomplished in fewer games, but the NFL used to play twelve and then fourteen before Strahan's day of sixteen games, and I don't remember him complaining about that.

The record is the record for most in a season until the NFL decides to have a record for 12, 14, or 16 game seasons.

3) Shedeur Sanders's day wasn't very impressive as the rookie lostt a fumble and was fortunate to finish without an interception as the Bengals dropped two that should have been caught.

Sanders finished with a paltry 111 yards and was sacked six times.

4) Sanders did come through on the final drive, as he led the Browns into position for Andre Szymt's game winning boot, twice converting third downs with ten plus yard completions.

Sanders has been a mixed bag in his start, he did win three of his starts (Raiders, Steelers, and Bengals) but didn't really stand out in any of them.

5) Shedeur Sanders played well enough to be in the mix for the starting job in training camp but not well enough to hand him the top job.

I saw some things I liked and some I didn't, so consider me unsold but not on a permanent basis.

6) You have to be happy for Andre Szymt who came full circle after missing a field goal against these same Bengals that would have won the season opener, only to beat the Bengals with a field goal in the final game of the season.

Szymt finished the season twenty-four of twenty-seven on field goal attempts and proved me wrong when I wanted him released after the opener.

7) Cincinnati kicker Evan McPherson is usually one of the better booters in the league.

McPherson had missed only one extra point all season but in this one, McPherson missed two extra points in a game that Cleveland won by two.

8) The Bengals scored the first touchdown (Evan McPherson missed the XP) and appeared to be ready to go up by two touchdowns when Shelby Harris stuck up his hand to deflect a Joe Burrow pass into the hands of Devin Bush, who ran ninety-seven yards for the score.

Harris has always brought a knack for deflections as a defender and in blocking kicks and if the veteran doesn't return, that ability will be missed.

9) The Browns made life tough on Andre Szymt as he had to kick forty-nine yard extra points twice as both Devin Bush and Sam Webb were flagged for excessive celebrations as both dived into the end zone untouched on their scores.

I can excuse Bush's penalty a little but after seeing that call, Webb's penalty was really mindless.

10) The Browns will pick 6th in the first round and the win over the Bengals didn't hurt their position thanks to Washington's win over Philadelphia.

Had Washington lost that game, the Browns would have selected seventh.

11) Final note: The Browns won their final two games.

Had they lost both games, they would have selected first as they would have won the tiebreaker with the other three win teams.