Cleaning out the Inbox-Passings

 It's time for another edition of tributes to those who have recently passed on and we start with...

Goodbye to John Shumate at the age of 72. 

Shumate was a collegiate star at Notre Dame, who averaged over twenty points a game as a junior and senior after missing his sophomore season with blood clots, a malady that would cost him his entire rookie season with the Phoenix Suns who drafted him fourth overall in 1974.

Shumate was the star of the Irish team that ended the famous eighty-eight-game winning streak of the UCLA Bruins, a team that played with Bill Walton as their center.

Shumate would miss two seasons with blood clot problems but averaged twelve points a game for his career, which was spent with Phoenix, Buffalo, Detroit, Houston, and San Antonio.

Shumate would become the head coach at SMU for seven seasons and serve as an assistant with Toronto and Phoenix in the NBA as well as appearing in the cult film "The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh" as a player for the Pistons.

Goodbye to Tom McVie at the age of  89.

McVie was the coach of the final WHA champions in 1979, leading the Winnipeg Jets to the Avco Cup but otherwise was handicapped by three of the worst NHL teams of his era.

McVie was the second coach of the expansion Washington Capitals, the gutted by the merger Winnipeg Jets, and he finished the 1983-84 season with the New Jersey Devils, which is still the worst season in Devils history.

McVie lost over twice as many games as he won in his NHL coaching career.

Goodbye to Jeff Torborg at the age of 83.

A light-hitting catcher for the Dodgers and Angels, Torborg was noted for his arm and defense and caught three no-hitters (Sandy Koufax, Bill Singer, and Nolan Ryan) and Koufax's 1965 no-hitter was a perfect game.

Torborg won a World Series ring with the 1965 Dodgers.

Torborg would manage five teams in the majors (Indians, White Sox, Mets, Expos, and Marlins), winning the Manager of the Year award with the White Sox in 1990.

Torborg also was a successful broadcaster for the CBS radio network and national telecasts for Fox.

Goodbye to Rich Dauer at the age of 72.

Dauer was the steady second baseman for the Baltimore Orioles from 1977-85, spending his entire career with the Orioles,

Dauer was never a standout hitter but was an excellent fielder as he didn't make an error for eighty-six consecutive games and over four hundred chances in 1978, yet he didn't win the gold glove.

Both of those statistics remain American League records.

Dauer hit a homer in game seven of the 1979 World Series for the only Baltimore run in their loss to Pittsburgh but won a title in 1983 in the Orioles five-game series win over the Phillies.

Dauer coached for five teams in his coaching career, winning a World Series with the 2017 Houston Astros.

Goodbye to Eric Wilkins at the age of 68.

A hard-throwing pitcher for the Cleveland Indians, Wilkins was considered a strong prospect for the Wahoos but would only appear in sixteen games (fourteen starts) in the majors all in 1979.

Wilkins finished 2-4 and would pitch two seasons in the minors before an elbow injury forced his retirement in 1982.

Goodbye to Jim Karsatos at the age of 61.

Karsatos started two seasons at quarterback for Ohio State in 1985 and 86, winning bowl games in both seasons (Citrus Bowl over BYU and Cotton Bowl over Texas A&M) and sharing the Big Ten title in 1986., sharing the title with Michigan.

Karsatos was selected by the Miami Dolphins in the 12th round in the 1987 draft and would be with the team for three seasons but would never appear in a game.

Karsatos would work for the Ohio State radio network as a sideline reporter after his playing career concluded.

Boxing Challenge: Barboza shades Catterall

    Please forgive the shorter-than-usual recap of the Saturday Boxing Challenge events from DAZN.

I'm fighting off food poisoning which cost me attending a game on Sunday and was very disappointing to miss.

From Manchester, England Arnold Barboza defeated Jack Catterall by a split decision to become the mandatory challenger for Teofimo Lopez's WBO junior welterweight title.

The fight was very close and not all that exciting with all scores at 115-113, two for Barboza and one for Catterall.

I scored 115-113 for Catterall but there wasn't a robbery involved.

In the co-feature British junior lightweight James "Jazza" Dickens upset countryman Zelfa Barrett by Unanimous Decision.

On the evening card from Anaheim, junior welterweight Oscar Duarte stopped Miguel Madueno in seven rounds, and junior welterweight Kenneth Sims won a unanimous decision over Kendo Castaneda.

Boxing Challenge 

TRS: 19 Pts (3)

Ramon Malpica: 18 Pts(3)

Vince Samano: 15 Pts (7)

Boxing Challenge: Davis bashes Berinchyk!

      Olympic silver medalist Keyshawn Davis vowed to crunch another former Olympic silver medalist and take the WBO lightweight title from Denis Berinchyk after the latest out-of-the-ring controversy before a New York-based fight.

Before the weigh-in, someone reported as possibly being part of Berinchyk's team sent a racist note and bananas to Davis's room and an enraged Davis said he would take it out on Berinchyk in the ring.

Davis did just that, dropping Berinchyk with a body shot in the third round before landing another body blow to the liver in the fourth that sent Berinchyk to his knees and unable to beat the count.

Davis's win was very impressive as he dominated Berinchyk and was never threatened in return.

The lightweight division now has four excellent and diverse champions with Davis holding the WBO title, Gervonta Davis the WBA belt, Shakur Stevenson the WBC titleholder, and the injured Vasyl Lomachenko holding the IBF strap but hasn't decided if he will be continuing his career.

Another unbeaten Top Rank prospect notched an impressive win as junior middleweight Xander Zayas stopped Slawa Spomer in the ninth round.

Zayas won every round and other than one right hand landed by Spomer in the fifth round, It was all Zayas.

Boxing Challenge

TRS: 16 Pts (3) 

Ramon Malpica; 15 Pts (2)

Vince Samano : 8 Pts (2)

Boxing Challenge

   The boxing schedule is finally starting to gain steam in 2025 with six fights this weekend, one world title, and another bout that could see the winner eventually promoted to a full world championship.

Matchroom/DAZN will start the Saturdday from Manchester, England with a junior welterweight minor title matchup between two fighters who have long deserved a title shot and caught up in the politics of boxing.

Jack Catterall meets Arnold Barboza for a minor title, which will either nab the winner a chance at the WBO title held by Teofimo Lopez or in the possible event that Lopez decides not to face the winner, be promoted to full champion eventually.

Catterall, who lost a controversial decision to then-undisputed champion Josh Taylor in 2022, has looked good in his two fights in 2024 winning decisions over Taylor in their rematch and Regis Prograis.

Barboza scored the biggest win of his career in November with a unanimous decision win over former WBC and WBO champion Jose Ramirez.

Neither man is an especially hard puncher and style-wise, this could be an awkward and tactical match but the winner will deserve a title chance or the regular championship.

The co-feature will pit two British junior lightweights, who have each challenged for a world title and cannot afford a defeat if they hope to return to the world-class level.

Zelfa Barrett has won four straight since his ninth-round knockout loss to Shavkat Rakhimov in 2022 for the vacant IBF title while Jazza Dickens has won only two eight-round fights since his 2023 knockout loss to Hector Sosa.

Dickens has lost four of his five defeats by knockout, so Barrett's the better puncher and takes a better punch, so I favor Barrett in this one.

Friday night, Top Rank and ESPN take center satge with the first title shot for Olympic silver medalist Keyshawn Davis, who will challenge Denys Barinchyk for Barinchyk's WBO lightweight title in New York City.

Berinchyk won his title last May with a surprising split decision upset over favored junior lightweight champion Emanuel Navarette, Berinchyk will be making his first defense against Davis, who destroyed Gustavo Lemos in two rounds in November.

If Davis is as talented as I believe he is, he should defeat the gritty Barinchyk and may look spectacular in winning.

Xander Zayas is in the co-feature against unbeaten German Slawa Spomer in a junior middleweight encounter.

Both boxers are unbeaten in twenty fights but Zayas has fought better competition and Spomer is an unknown factor.

Zayas has been heavily pushed by Top Rank since the start of his career and a victory could earn him a title eliminator in his next fight.

DAZN is back in the evening from Anaheim, California with a Golden Boy promoted card.

In the main event, junior welterweight Oscar Duarte meets late replacement Miguel Madueno.

Duarte was scheduled to meet former champion Regis Prograis, who was forced to pull out due to a shoulder injury suffered in training.

Duarte has won two straight since his 2023 knockout loss to Ryan Garcia and even in his loss to Garcia, acquitted himself well in defeat.

Madueno was last seen last July in losing almost every round to Keyshawn Davis. In his fight before that, Madueno won a split decision over Justin Pauldo, who knocked out former IBF junior lightweight champion Shavkat Rahkimov last week.

The other challenge bout isn't the co-feature from Golden Boy but it's important as highly ranked junior welterweight Kenneth Sims faces tough local Kendo Castaneda.

Sims fought only one time in 2024 and will attempt to sharpen his skills against Castaneda, who took contender Elvis Rodriguez the ten-round distance in a loss in his last outing.

Boxing Challenge

WBO Lightweight Title. 12 Rds

Denis Barinchyk vs Keyshawn Davis

Ramon Malpica and Vince Samano: Davis Unanimous Decision
TRS: Davis KO 8

Junior Middleweights. 10 Rds

Xander Zayas vs Slawa Spomer

All: Zayas Unanimous Decision

Junior Welterweights 12 Rds

Jack Catterall vs Arnold Barboza

R.L and TRS: Catterall Unanimous Decision
V.S: Barboza Unanimous Decision

Junior Lightweights 12 Rds

Zelfa Barrett vs Jazza Dickens

R.L: Barrett Unanimous Decision
TRS: Barrett KO 9
V.S: Dickens Unanimous Decision

Junior Welterweights 12 Rds

Oscar Duarte vs Miguel Madueno

R.L and TRS: Duarte Unanimous Decision
V.S: Duarte KO 9

Junior Welterweights 10 Rds

Kenneth Sims vs Kendo Castaneda

All: Sims Unanimous Decision

 

Ohio State completes coaching staff

    The Ohio State Buckeyes were down to the final of three coaching staff positions that needed to be filled and the team pulled a mild surprise in former New England Patriots defensive coordinator and Detroit Lions head coach Matt Patricia as their replacement for Jim Knowles as their defensive coordinator.

Ohio State earlier had promoted Brian Hartline to offensive coordinator and play caller and hired Virginia Tech offensive coordinator Tyler Bowen as their new offensive line coach.

Hartline was expected to have a chance for the offensive coordinator position, and was regarded as the favorite, if he pushed for it, due to his value as a recruiter and developing wide receivers, where he is the best in the sport.

Ohio State wasn't going to take a chance on losing Hartline and promoting was the easy call, especially if Ohio State hires a veteran coach soon to help Hartline progress into the job.

Tyler Bowen hasn't coached the offensive line since 2017 at Maryland but his three years at Virginia Tech as their offensive coordinator should help Brian Hartline before that, Bowen was the tight ends coach at Penn State, where the Nittany Lions have put four tight ends into the pros in recent years and expected first rounder in the upcoming draft Tyler Warren, all were recruited by Bowen.

It's hoped that Bowen's recruiting prowess will improve the only area where Ohio State's recruiting has flagged a bit in recent years.

Bowen's hiring was a mild surprise, although his name did receive some mention as a candidate coming up to the hire but the real surprise was the hiring of Matt Patricia as the defensive coordinator.

Patricia was the defensive coordinator for the New England Patriots from 2012-17, winning two Super Bowls as their DC and leading them to one of the best defenses in the league before moving to Detroit for three seasons as the Lions head coach, where he finished with a 13-29-1 record.

Patricia returned to New England for two seasons and moved to Philadelphia in 2023 as an advisor before taking 2024 away from football, where he was reported to have spent time with Bill Belichick studying the college game.

Patricia hasn't coached in college since 2003 when he was on the Syracuse staff as a graduate assistant, so it'll be interesting to see if he needs any adjustment time to familiarize himself with the college game.

Patricia's rapport with players has been questioned after many difficulties with players with the Lions, although I haven't seen issues with him from his Patriots background, perhaps it was a situation of a young coach in a position he simply wasn't ready for.

Patricia's name wasn't mentioned as a candidate until a day before accepting the job. Most thought that Ryan Day would promote Matt Guerreri and Tim Walton to co-defensive coordinators.

Patricia's hiring has brought questions from Buckeye fans who wonder how much Patricia had to do with the success of the New England defenses on a team coached by Bill Belichick and that's a fair question to ask.

My response would be this-  Patricia is a proven defensive coordinator, who won't do a lot of recruiting, and lots of schemes and masterminding plans.

Plus, I think we could be here as soon as next year looking for a new defensive coordinator. Patricia is attempting to clear his name from the Detroit fiasco and would rather work in the NFL.

This trio of hires seems to have the potential to be great, but with a mix in the middle, it could fail.

The jury is out.

Cleaning Out The Inbox- Non-Sports Passings

   It's time for a non-sports edition of tributes to say goodbye to those away from the sports world.

Goodbye to Marianne Faithfull at the age of 78.

The often-troubled singer/actress came to fame in the sixties with a beautiful singing voice that saw her make the charts several times with her top-charting single her cover of the Rolling Stone's "As Tears Go By" in 1965.

Faithfull would be in a relationship with Stones lead singer Mick Jagger for several years and wound up homeless and suffering from Anorexia after their breakup in the early seventies.

Faithfull's voice would change into a raspy sound after battles with laryngitis and drug addiction permanently damaged her vocal cords but that didn't stop Faithfull from future success with several critically successful albums and roles in films and stage productions.

Goodbye to Peter Tuiasosopo at the age of 61.

A replacement player for the Los Angeles Rams for three games in the 1987 strike season, Tuiasosopo made his name in movies and films more than in the NFL, as he would never play another game in the league.

Tuiasosopo is known to most for his role in the Street Fighter films or a recurring role on NCIS but to me, he will always be thought of as "Manu Manu" the center for the Texas State Armadillos in the football comedy "Unnecessary Roughness"

Goodbye to Bob Kuban at the age of 84.

The namesake of the 1960s group Bob Kuban and the In-Men, Kuban and his group hit it big with their 1966 song "The Cheater," which ranked as high as twelve on the charts and is still an oldies station staple today.

Kuban and the In-Men had two other songs that reached the top 100 before returning to St.Louis, where they would remain the top local band.

Kuban and the In-Men performed at the opening ceremonies of the first Busch Stadium in St.Louis in 1966 and while the band was topped by Kuban in the title, it was not Kuban who sang vocals on "The Cheater", it was Walter Scott who ironically would be murdered by his wife's lover in 1983 in an attempt to cover up infidelity. 

Goodbye to Tony Roberts at the age of 85.

The veteran actor acted in several Woody Allen films and was a stage actor in Neil Simon productions in a fifty-five career.

Used mostly in supporting roles, Roberts received two chances to break out as a lead, both in 1971 and both with Sandy Duncan as his co-star.

Both " The Million Dollar Duck" (a Disney film with Dean Jones and Duncan) and "Star Spangled Girl" (a Neil Simon production based on Simon's play with the theme song that Davy Jones would sing on a Brady Bunch episode) performed poorly at the box office.

Roberts would not receive another chance to play the lead in a film or television series.

But to me, a child of the age, those two roles are memorable.

I used to go to almost all the Disney films as a child, so Million Dollar Duck sticks with me as a good memory and Star Spangled Girl was a film that often found its way to late-night viewing in the days without many options to choose from as a "Late Night Movie".

2024 Ohio State- Looking back

    It was a rockier ride than many expected with two bumps that could have derailed the train but the Ohio State Buckeyes won the 2024 National Championship as many also expected. 

And while losses to Oregon and especially a mediocre Michigan team caused doubts in the minds of some people (including me) about where the season would end, the national championship was achieved.

Ohio State was often tagged as the twenty-million dollar team for the cost through NIL, but what isn't always mentioned is that most of the financial planning involved keeping players already on the team rather than adding players from other schools.

To be fair, Caleb Downs was likely expensive to add, but Downs almost picked Ohio State out of high school as the second choice to Alabama and would have likely stayed in Tuscaloosa had Nick Saban not retired. Will Howard wasn't cheap either, but Ohio State's philosophy on transfers has consistently spent most of its budget on its current roster rather than throwing money around raiding others.

Ohio State made its share of mistakes against Michigan, mainly by playing to the strengths of its undermanned opponent. Still, the Oregon loss was a result of several oddball events coming together in one road game, allowing an excellent team to escape with a one-point win.

It was tough to see the coaching mistakes against Michigan, but I was optimistic about the playoffs because I thought Ryan Day coached so well in their almost win over Georgia in 2022. After a similar defeat against Michigan, I gave Ohio State a good chance of winning the tournament based on talent alone.

My concern was the first-round matchup with the Tennessee Volunteers.

Following a traumatic loss, it was unknown how the Buckeyes would respond but if they could rebound against Tennessee, they would immediately return as one of the favorites to win.

After watching the win over Tennessee, I had the feeling that this would be a title-winning run but while I picked Ohio State to win, I would be lying if I was positive before the game!

Watching the effort that Ohio State had against Tennessee answered my questions and while I wouldn't say I was cocky, I was certainly confident that the Buckeyes would be the final team standing.

Other than a late rally by Notre Dame, only the Texas Longhorns pushed Ohio State, and when Jack Sawyer hit Quinn Ewers to send the football careening away to be grabbed by Sawyer for the game-clinching score that will be the lasting memory of the season, I had the feeling that the title was decided then.

In a season that saw a national championship return to Columbus, the Jack Sawyer return was the most memorable play, but surprisingly, it wasn't filled with plays to be remembered.

Other than spectacular catches by Jeremiah Smith, the most memorable play from the regular season was in a loss: the Will Howard scramble, which ended with Howard sliding just as the clock ended the game in the defeat to Oregon.

The loss to Michigan was (and is still) so devastating to the program, its perception, and Ryan Day himself but as in life, sometimes it takes an unexpected step back to move forward.

It's impossible to know if that defeat spurred Ohio State to the National Championship or if the Buckeyes won over Michigan. Would they have had the same motivation to up their game in the postseason?

In the end, it was a memorable season without an overwhelming amount of memorable moments ending with the end goal being accomplished.

It's hard to argue with that.

Boxing Challenge: Chisora marches on

   Dereck Chisora was thought to be near the end of the line as a heavyweight contender and his fight with Otto Wallin was the boxing equivalent of a gold watch with one final large payday on his way out of the sport.

Instead, Chisora arrived in tremendous shape, didn't tire as quickly as he had often done in recent years, and survived an awful cut over his left eye to defeat Wallin via a unanimous decision in Manchester, England.

Chisora outworked Wallin throughout and twice scored knockdowns (in rounds nine and twelve) to cement the win.

Neither knockdown placed Wallin in danger of being stopped. Still, they did solidify Chisora's lead on the scorecards in a victory with scores of 117-109, 116-110 (my score), and a surprisingly close 114-112 with the knockdowns giving the edge to Chisora on that card.

For Chisora, who claimed before the fight that this would be his final fight in the UK, he suddenly has unexpected options.

The IBF decided to make this fight an eliminator for their second spot in the ratings and Chisora could choose to face the winner of the Martin Bakole-Efe Ajagba match and should he win, move into their mandatory challenger position.

Chisora may also pursue Anthony Joshua for a guaranteed large purse and of the three names that Chisora mentioned after his win, the possibility of Joshua bringing a larger cheer from the crowd than either champion's name, so perhaps that could be in play.

I don't want to see Chisora against the Bakole-Ajagba winner because both men are big punchers and Chisora soaks up punishment.

Joe Joyce was at ringside and should Chisora decide to face Joyce in a rematch of their terrific fight last July, I'd be okay with that.
Joyce punches hard but is painfully slow and Chisora could avoid some of Joyce's lobbing bombs.

Chisora against IBF champion Daniel DuBois could end similarly and a rematch against three-titleholder Oleksandr Usyk (Usyk won a unanimous decision in 2020) might be less competitive but Chisora could take less punishment against the supremely skilled champion.

As for Wallin, he will slip back into the fringes of contention as he came up short in a fight that was made for him to win against a smaller, limited, aging fighter and wasn't good enough.

Boxing Challenge

Ramon Malpica: 13 Pts (0) 

TRS: 13 Pts (0)

Vince Samano: 6 Pts (0)

Boxing Challenge

     The boxing challenge is brief this week with only one fight from Manchester, England from DAZN.

Veteran heavyweight warhorse Derek Chisora claims that Saturday's bout will be the final one for Chisora in England.

Chisora did say he would consider a final fight elsewhere, so it makes sense that the bout is being promoted as The Last Dance.

However, earlier this week, the IBF may have lengthened Chisora's career as the sanctioning body announced that the winner of Chisora's match with Sweden's Otto Wallin would become their second-ranked contender, and would face the winner of the Martin Bakole-Efe Ajagba match to become their mandatory challenger to Daniel DuBois or Joseph Parker, should Parker win their fight later this month.

The forty-one-year-old Chisora has taken tremendous punishment throughout his career and I'd hate to see him against Ajagba or especially Bakole, both possessing excellent punching power.

Wallin is a pure boxer and was chosen because he isn't likely to hurt Chisora if Wallin outboxed him.

Wallin has fought only once since Anthony Joshua stopped him in five in 2023 while Chisora last fought in July with a close and fun-to-watch decision win over Joe Joyce.

If Wallin boxes and doesn't fall for the Chisora tricks and mind games, Wallin could win comfortably.

Chisora's only chance is to rough it up, hope Wallin takes the bait and Chisora will have the home arena on his side, which can sway the judges.

Boxing Challenge

Heavyweights 12 Rds 

Derek Chisora vs Otto Wallin

Ramon Malpica and TRS: Wallin Unanimous Decision

Vince Samano: Wallin KO 8

Cavaliers obtain De'Andre Hunter from Hawks

    Koby Altman must have been frustrated with his Cleveland Cavaliers' recent struggles against the Boston Celtics and Oklahoma City Thunder, arguably the two best teams the Cavaliers must face to win an NBA championship.

Altman needed to do something to upgrade the roster. Still, with limited resources to trade if he didn't want to trade any of Cleveland's "Core Four" of Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, Evan Mobley, and Jarrett Allen, the Cavaliers weren't tabbed as a team likely to acquire a player that could be more than a role player by the NBA's trade deadline.

Anyone believing that would have been incorrect as Altman not only landed a player that improved the roster, Altman did so at a surprisingly low cost as the Cavaliers acquired De'Andre Hunter from the Atlanta Hawks for Caris LeVert, Georges Niang, three future second-round draft picks, and pick swaps in the future, which sometimes never are used.

Hunter was the fourth overall draftee in the 2019 draft from Virginia and is enjoying his best season as a professional with averages of nineteen points and almost four rebounds a game for the Hawks.

The twenty-seven-year-old Hunter is signed through this season and the following two years so Hunter won't be a rental and can be planned into the Cavaliers future.

Hunter is shooting forty-six percent from the floor and a career-high thirty-nine percent from beyond the three-point line.

Hunter is the "three and D" on the wing that Cleveland lacked. At 6'8", he can play the four position if circumstances require it. While Hunter may not have been the defensive stopper he was in college, he is still better than average on the defensive end.

Cleveland's cost for Hunter seems light compared to their return, losing two players from their second unit.

Caris LeVert averages ten points and just under four assists per game in almost twenty-four minutes a night. He is capable of offensive explosions, but it's difficult to consistently rely on him. His expiring contract may have appealed to the Hawks most in the trade.

Georges Niang was averaging eight points a game in twenty minutes per game off the bench and was shooting forty percent from three-point range in a season that saw improved play from Niang after a disappointing first Cleveland campaign.

The second-round picks are a tangible asset and not something that I worry about trading, and I doubt the option for Atlanta to switch first-rounders with Cleveland will ever occur.

The amazing thing for me is that the best two assets that could have been traded, the Cavaliers next available first-rounder in 2031 and their most recent first-round pick in Jaylon Tyson, Cleveland managed to keep both!

Tyson isn't playing a large role yet but impressed when he has had the opportunity and Cleveland hopes to develop Tyson into a key performer when the Cavaliers may have to make salary cap decisions down the road.

Caris LeVert and Georges Niang are both reported to be great locker room guys and losing them certainly weakens the second unit.

However, neither player would have been a playoff regular and Niang in particular would see his playing time decrease drastically during the postseason.

Both players will be missed but Koby Altman has to be praised for adding a player such as De'Andre Hunter to fill the team's largest weakness at a reasonable price.

Clearly, Cleveland has improved their chances of dethroning the Boston Celtics with the acquisition of De'Andre Hunter.

Myles Garrett requests trade

     Andrew Berry stated that the Cleveland Browns had no interest in trading star defensive end Myles Garrett and added the quote that Garrett would be "going from Cleveland to Canton", inferring that Garrett would be a career-long member of the Browns.

Less than a week later, the Browns received Garrett's thoughts on the matter, as he not only requested a trade from the team but added that his goal "was never to go from Cleveland to Canton but to compete for and win a Super Bowl"

The Browns hold some of the cards here as Garrett is signed through 2027 but by going public with his request, Garrett took away some of the Browns leverage in shopping his services.

Garrett also slapped the Browns and Andrew Berry in particular in the face by using the same phrase Berry used only days before in describing why Garrett was staying in Cleveland.

Andrew Berry is lucky to have a job after creating this mess and somehow is receiving a chance to fix it (or make it worse) now has been emasculated in public as Garrett mocked Berry with his own words.

The Browns would take a massive salary cap hit in dead money should they trade Garrett and the best thing for cap reasons would be for the Browns to sign Garrett to a renegotiated contract extension.

Wave the money at Garrett and see if that makes his problems better.

If not you try to bring in as much as possible for him in trade, preferably picks in the 2026 draft, and hope for the best.

I've seen many in the Cleveland media state that Andrew Berry should be fired immediately for being the man who traded for DeShaun Watson and the man who traded Myles Garrett or that his seat is now even hotter than it already was.

I beg to differ.

I believe that trading Myles Garrett may help Andrew Berry and Kevin Stefanski as they will have the built-in excuse of "How could we be expected to succeed without our best player?" and they should have the right and another draft to show progress.

Jimmy Haslam is very fond of Andrew Berry and while Berry should have been removed already, don't be surprised if we are here in January 2026 with Andrew Berry and Kevin Stefanski preparing for one more " all in" season.

Ohio State Offense loses Chip Kelly, Justin Frye

     Life and college football never stops as less than two weeks after Ohio State won the National Championship, the Buckeyes are now replacing both of their coordinators and their offensive line coach.

Ohio State had lost defensive coordinator Jim Knowles to Penn State and now offensive coordinator Chip Kelly and offensive line coach Justin Frye will be leaving Columbus to coach in the NFL, Kelly with the Las Vegas Raiders and Frye to the Arizona Cardinals.

Kelly spent one season in Columbus after his surprising decision to resign as UCLA's head coach to serve as the Ohio State coordinator and one cannot argue with the result after the National Championship but if one report can be believed, Kelly will receive a six million dollar payday with the Raiders, which would triple Kelly's salary with Ohio State.

There is no way that Ohio State could come close to equalling that number, so one cannot blame Ohio State for not matching the Raiders offer or Kelly for accepting.

Frye was paid one million by Ohio State last season and while the terms of Frye's deal with the Cardinals are undisclosed, it's likely Frye will be accepting a healthy salary increase.

Frye's three-year tenure had its ups and downs but Frye did his best work in 2024 with an offensive line that suffered injuries to his two best linemen during the season, Josh Simmons and Seth McLaughlin.

At first glance, I think that Kelly might be the easier coach to replace than Frye with the availability of Kevin Wilson, who was fired as the head coach at Tulsa after spending six years as the coordinator with Ohio State.

Wilson would be an easy fit with Ryan Day as they had success working together in the past and now that Wilson's head coaching career appears to be finished after his Tulsa tenure (7-16, fired with one game to go last season) and his age (64 in October), Wilson could look at Ohio State as a place that he could finish his career.

Ohio State could also move to Brian Hartline, who between his recruiting and development of wide receivers is a keeper at all costs, so if keeping Hartline means giving him this job, so be it.

It's risky since Hartline has never called plays but considering his importance to the program if he wants it, it's his.

Other mentioned candidates have been Toledo head coach Jason Candle, Akron head coach Joe Moorehead, Syracuse offensive coordinator Jeff Nixon, and Oregon offensive coordinator Will Stein.

Replacing Frye could be harder when you consider the recruiting aspect of the job.

Kevin Wilson could be a candidate for this position as well but the leader in the eyes of fans appears to be former Buckeye and All-Pro center LeCharles Bentley, who is renowned for his work with college and NFL prospects.

Bentley may not be interested but if he is, he would be a huge addition to the staff.

Should Ryan Day decide to go internal, Tim Drevno spent last season on the staff as a quality control staff but has a long record as an OL coach.

Notre Dame's Joe Rudolph has had success at three stops (Virginia Tech, Wisconsin, and Notre Dame) and was once a graduate assistant at Ohio State.

Those are my top candidates but here are other possibilities.

Two weeks isn't very much time in the real world but in the college football world it's enough time to change a program.

At the very least, Ohio State will have three major changes for 2025 on a staff that could have used some stability.

Boxing Challenge: Benavidez decisions Morrell, Fulton dethrones Figueroa

     On paper, PBC's Saturday night pay-per-view from Las Vegas was their best, from top to bottom, and it was a good evening of boxing.

Still, it felt like a mild disappointment despite providing some strong action and it started at the top of the card with David Benavidez winning a unanimous decision over David Morrell to make Benavidez the top contender to the winner of the Artur Beterbiev-Dmitry Bivol rematch that will occur later this month.

Benavidez-Morrell was a good fight but far from the light-heavyweight Armageddon that many thought was possible as Benavidez added Morrell's minor title to the minor belt that Benavidez already owned.

Benavidez threw more, landed more, and simply outworked Morrell, although Morrell had his moments most notably his eleventh-round knockdown of an off-balance Benavidez.

Morrell lost that extra point at the end of the same round when he hit Benavidez after the bell and had a point deducted, which was clearly a foul.

Benavidez won on the scorecards of 118-108 and 115-111 twice, the latter agreeing with my card.

The co-feature was a story of redemption and disappointment as Stephen Fulton won the WBC featherweight title unanimously over Brandon Figueroa in a rematch of their terrific 2021 matchup, won by Fulton by a majority decision.

The redemption comes from Fulton's rebounding from a knockout loss to Naoya Inoue and a controversial decision win over Carlos Castro in his recent two fights.

The disappointment part is that the fight wasn't nearly as exciting as their first fight as Fulton boxed more and Figueroa didn't punch nearly as often which gave Fulton a more conclusive victory.

The scores for Fulton were 117-111 and 116-112 twice, the same as my score.

The fight of the night was expected to be the junior welterweight ten-rounder between Isaac Cruz and Angel Fierro and that lived up to expectations as the two slugged each other for ten brutal rounds.

An absolute battle with Cruz winning on the scorecards 98-92, 97-93, and 96-94, the latter same as my card.

Cruz keeps his viability after losing his WBC championship to Jose Valenzuela but Cruz's aggressive attacking style isn't hurting junior welterweights as badly as lightweights and Cruz should consider dropping back to 135 pounds if he can make the weight.

Fierro made himself some fans with his effort and I'm sure earned himself future paydays.

In the opener, middleweight Jesus Ramos knocked out former junior middleweight champion Jeison Rosario in the eighth round after winning all seven of the previous rounds, dropping Rosario in the seventh.

Rosario has never been known for a stern chin but Ramos's win was still impressive.

Saturday afternoon from London, Peacock was expected to stream promising junior welterweight Adam Azim's latest challenge against former IBF junior lightweight champion Sergey Lipinets but the card never appeared on the streaming service for whatever reason.

Azim was deducted two points for low blows in the fight but controlled Lipinets before stopping him in round nine.

I've only seen highlights at this time.

Boxing Challenge

Ramon Malpica: 13 Pts(5)

TRS: 13 Pts (5)

Vince Samano: 6 Pts (4)

Boxing Challenge

      This week's Boxing Challenge is centered in Las Vegas with a pay-per-view card from PBC/Amazon peppered with interesting fights that few may see with an eighty-dollar price tag.

The main event is a much-anticipated contest between light heavyweights David Benavidez and David Morrell for the right to be the mandatory challenger for the undisputed world title currently held by Artur Beterbiev, who meets Dmitry Bivol in a rematch of their unification battle in two weeks.

Both Benavidez and Morrell were more proven as super middleweights but were forced to move to the higher weight division when champion Canelo Alvarez refused to face either man.

Neither were overly impressive in their 175-pound debut, each winning decision's (Benavidez over Oleksandr Gvozdyk, Morrell over Radivoje Kalajdzic) but they should make an exciting fight in this one.

Morrell is the more skilled boxer, while Benavidez is the bigger and stronger fighter, having faced better competition. While Benavidez is the more physical fighter, Morrell could be the harder one-shot puncher.

Placing the meaningless minor titles that each holds, the two boxers have shown legitimate animosity toward each other.

This fight could be a candidate for Fight of the Year.

The co-feature could be another candidate, as WBC featherweight champion Brandon Figueroa defends against former WBC and WBO junior featherweight titleholder Stephen Fulton in a rematch of their excellent 2021 clash won by Fulton via a majority decision that many (including me) giving Figueroa a slight edge.

Since then, Fulton has been knocked out by Naoya Inoue and won a controversial decision in his last bout over Carlos Castro, while Figueroa knocked out the same Castro in six rounds, decisioned former champion Mark Magsayo, and knocked out former junior featherweight champion Jessie Magdaleno in nine rounds last year, so it is Figueroa who is in better recent form.

Figueroa was recently promoted to full WBC champion when injury-riddled champion Rey Vargas was named Champion in Recess.

Former WBC junior welterweight champion Isaac "Pit Bull" Cruz returns for the first time after his upset loss to Jose Valenzuela against Angel Fierro.

Cruz smashed through Rolando Romero before his close defeat to Valenzuela but I thought his aggressive style didn't carry as well in the junior welterweight division as in the lightweight division which could hurt him against the heavier opponents.

Fierro is a rugged fighter who has shown toughness but is a cut below world-class although he should make an entertaining scuffle.

The PPV opener is at middleweight as touted prospect Jesus Ramos faces former WBA and IBF junior middleweight champion Jeison Rosario in a ten-rounder.

Ramos was robbed of a win last year against Erickson Lubin that he deserved and after a comeback knockout win over Johan Gonzalez, Ramos decided to move up to the middleweight division.

Rosario fought to an exciting draw last June with former WBA/IBF junior middleweight champion Jarrett Hurd but has never been known for a strong chin with knockout losses in his four defeats.

This one could be another explosive one for as long as it lasts!

In the afternoon from London, Boxxer/Peacock will present an interesting main event as unbeaten prospect Adam Azim meets former IBF junior lightweight champion Sergey Lipinets in a twelve-rounder.

Azim knocked out former world title challenger Ohara Davies in the eighth round in October while Lipinets defeated Robbie Davies Jr. (no relation) via a unanimous decision last May.

This looks like the classic veteran of the up-and-coming prospect against an aging gatekeeper.

Boxing Challenge

Light Heavyweights 12 Rds 

David Benavidez vs David Morrell

Ramon Malpica: Benavidez Unanimous Decision
TRS: Benavidez KO 5
Vince Samano: Morrell Unanimous Decision

WBC Featherweight Title. 12 Rds

Brandon Figueroa vs Stephen Fulton

All: Figueroa Unanimous Decision

Junior Welterweights. 10 Rds

Isaac Cruz vs Angel Fierro

R.L: Cruz KO 5
TRS: Cruz KO 8
V.S: Fierro Unanimous Decision

Middleweights 12 Rds

Jesus Ramos vs Jeison Rosario

R.L: Ramos Unanimous Decision
TRS: Ramos KO 4

V.S: Ramos KO 6

Welterweights. 12 Rds

Adam Azim vs Sergey Lipinets

R.L and TRS: Azim Unanimous Decision
V.S: Azim KO 6