Cleaning out the Inbox

  Time for another cleaning of the inbox with various articles that catch my eye or are sent to me by others is linked here for your potential reading pleasure.

I stumbled upon this 2017 article in a Facebook group devoted to the ABA from the Duluth Minnesota News Tribune on former ABA star and NBA player John Brisker. 

Brisker has not been seen since 1976 and the urban legend about Brisker is that he moved to Uganda as a mercenary for the Ugandan dictator Idi Amin, who eventually killed Brisker.

The article centers on the disappearance of Brisker but devotes more to Brisker's tenure with Seattle, which was disappointing on the floor, and his issues with the recent deceased Sonics coach Bill Russell more than his ABA career I didn't know as much about, and found very interesting.

The Athletic notches the following two notes with the first of the pair looking back at the Florida State football career of former WCW champion Ron Simmons.

Simmons was a two-time All-American as a nose guard for the Seminoles from 1977-80 and finished ninth in the voting for the Heisman Trophy in 1979 as a junior.

Simmons was the first premiere recruit landed by Bobby Bowden and is known as the player that started the building of a program that would rank among the elite of college football for over three decades before a recent decline.

The article is based on the influence that Bobby Bowden had on Simmons, who had a very rough childhood, and Simmons's football career, although there is a portion on professional wrestling in the article which covers Bowden's memorable cameo on WCW with an inspirational pep talk to Simmons before his upcoming title match against then-champion Lex Luger.

The second of the two from The Athletic deals with the Sun Belt conference which in their recent expansion, didn't go for market size or bigger names but chose to grab schools that fit in their existing footprint, play quality football, and can step into the league with rivalries ready from the get-go.

A conference that once ranked at the bottom of the Group of Five conferences now could be rated at the top in the near future after the AAC loses steam at the end of 2022 when they lose Cincinnati, Houston, and Central Florida.

The additions of Marshall, Southern Mississippi, and Old Dominion from Conference USA and added 1-AA powerhouse James Madison to an already stacked league with strong traditional programs such as Appalachian State, Georgia Southern, Troy, and Arkansas State along with recent upstart Coastal Carolina and you have a damn good conference that might be as deep and balanced as any league in the nation.

Add to that the larger amount of regional rivalries and at least one conference is going back to what made so many love college football- balanced competition and plenty of other schools to hate!

ExpertClick.com writes an article on the upcoming 50th anniversary of the first toy robot and the person that developed it, Dr. Michael Freeman.

Freeman's first prototype was created in 1973 and it was forty pounds and three feet tall!

Contrast that with the first released robot toy 2-XL  from 1978 in the video below!

We wrap with two articles from The Athletic and the start is another article on former Cardinals and Broncos quarterback Jake Plummer, who seems to be revisited by an author every few years and every time seems to have radically revamped his life with a new interest.

This time, Plummer is involved with cultivating mushrooms and not all of those from the "Magic" variety, as the Snake is pushing for mushrooms to help save the world through culinary, medicinal, and help with mental issues as well.

As someone that puts mushrooms in lots of food dishes and has even dabbled in growing them (It was a failure in output but virtually mowed through a massive stump in two years), I found this very interesting.

If only the Snake can find one that tastes great, is fairly inexpensive, and helps with the physical and mental aches and pains!

The other article from the Athletic is an oral history of the Pac-12 Network and what has been widely believed to be the largest failure of the conference-based networks.

The article hits the beginning of the network, the issues with its carriage. most notably with Directv, and a decision that seemed to be a smart one at the start of the network but turned out to be a devastating blow to its success.

I tell ya' Herbie:

It's been a while since our last "I tell ya' Herbie", which is a weekly post based on thoughts from the college football world.

I tell ya, Herbie:
                          It's been tough getting into a season where half the teams that I follow closely (Ohio State and Boise State) aren't playing, but it's even harder when you cannot count on games from week to week to be played.
It's even tougher when you hear things about teams having Covid already as LSU coach Ed Orgeron stated earlier this week.
I'm not sure that it's a good thing for college football to be playing, mainly because it's just so hard keeping the 18-22 year olds doing the things that need to be done in order to play this game and keep healthy doing so.
The one edge that the NFL has over the college game is the money that the league has to spend to keep things as healthy as possible.
No matter the school or how much the football budget is for a school, that school doesn't have what the NFL has and there is why if I had to wager on the NFL completing their season, I'd bet yes.
And why I'd bet on some sort of stoppage, even a temporary one, for the college game.


I tell ya, Herbie:
                          The Big Ten seems to be dragging their feet on a possible return in late October.
Each of the last three days, the rumors started that the conference was planning an announcement for a return to action.
To this writing, no announcement has taken place.
I'm not sure who to blame for this mess..
Commissoner Kevin Warren doesn't want to play (although he seems to be fine with his son playing with Mississippi State) and he has some school presidents on his side.
He is opposed by the league's coaches and athletic directors and if the playing leagues manage to shove some sort of a season through and the Big Ten cannot, look for Warren  to suddenly "decide to spend more time with his family" sometime next year- No matter the amount of dollars that the league has hauled in.

Editors note: As I am writing this column, the Big Ten announced their football return for October 24.

I tell ya, Herbie:
                           As someone that likes Group of Five football, few were as tickled as I was to see the Sun Belt defeat three Big 12 teams with Louisiana (minus the Lafayette) dumping a ranked Iowa State team, Arkansas State dropping Kansas State, and Coastal Carolina pounding a hapless Kansas squad with all of those games at the Big 12 teams homes.
The Sun Belt has quite a few schools that have been playing Division I for less than two decades and you can make an argument that they have surpassed the MAC and Conference USA on the G-5 totem pole.
I would even say this- If conference realignment comes along sooner than later (which is rumored with television contracts possibly being ripped up after the pandemic "disappears"), the Sun Belt may have a choice- be a shark or a minnow.
The Sun Belt could watch some of their teams be poached- Appalachian State, Georgia Southern, Louisiana (no Lafayette), Troy, and Arkansas State could all be targeted by other leagues.
The league could also go all in and build a really G-5 football league by grabbing the top CUSA teams that would be a geographic fit from a group including Marshall, Western Kentucky, UAB, Charlotte, Florida Atlantic and International, and maybe Middle Tennessee or Southern Mississppi.
You don't want your league to be too bloated, but some type of merger between the Sun Belt and CUSA would be a pretty damn good football league.

I tell ya' Herbie:
                           With the floating schedule that has come with Covid-19, the Houston Cougars get a big opportunity on the national stage.
Louisiana Tech was forced to drop out of their game with Baylor and the Bears needed an opponent.
Houston jumped on the chance to renew an old SWC rivalry and national television as the main game on Fox.
If I can, I may cover this game for TRS mainly because I'd like to see a college game that I care about even a little!

I tell ya' Herbie:
                           Ohio State may have helped bring the Big Ten back, but the conference's foot dragging has still damaged the Buckeyes with the losses of two All-Americans in guard Wyatt Davis and cornerback Shaun Wade.
While I wouldn't rule those two players deciding not to play anyway, the close to a week delay in announcing the league's return might have cost Ohio State the two players, both of which decided to train for the NFL draft in that time period.
                         

Cleaning out the inbox-Sports Version

Time for more cleaning out the inbox,this time from the sports world..

Goodbye to Buckeye legend John Hicks at the age of 65.
Hicks was a three time All-American for the Buckeyes and was the Outland and Lombardi trophy winner in 1973.
Hicks finished second in the 1973 Heisman voting and that is the highest Heisman finish for a lineman ever.
Hicks was the dominant Buckeye offensive lineman of his day and until the arrival of Orlando Pace was considered the gold standard of Buckeye blockers.
Hicks was the 3rd overall pick in the 1974 draft by the Giants and played four years for them,but injuries prevented him from a longer pro career.
Hicks passed from complications due to diabetes...

Another goodbye to former Washington Bullet Greg Ballard at the age of 61.
Ballard played eight seasons in Washington after being drafted in 1978 before finishing up with two season with the Warriors.
Ballard's first two years with the Washington were the highlights of franchise history with the team reaching back to back finals against the Seattle SuperSonics and winning their only NBA title in 1978.
Ballard was a solid player,but not a star averaging 12 points and 6 rebounds for his career.
Ballard spent his post-playing career as a scout and coach for various teams....
Ballard passed from prostate cancer...

Goodbye to early 1990's heavyweight contender Alex Stewart at the age of 52.
Stewart was never won a big fight,,but was best known for losing a controversial decision to George Foreman along with losses to heavyweight champions Evander Holyfield (twice),Mike Tyson and Michael Moorer.
Stewart passes of blood clots in his lungs.

Shannon Hogan is the host of the New York Islanders broadcast and I've wished we were able to have her (among many) on the Devils broadcasts.
Hogan recently penned this article on why she moved to sports broadcasting from the news division.
Her words on why sports can mean so much even when things are falling apart around us are very true and well written.
I guess her reasoning is part of why sports have meant so much to me over the years...

UniWatch looks at one of the best uniforms in the NFL-the long hoped for Powder Blue jerseys of the San Diego Chargers that the Chargers wear once or twice a year and then everyone comments on why the Chargers should wear all the time.
The Chargers had a few slightly different uniforms from those days as the article discusses.
As for me-I love em and even have a powder blue Lance Alworth jersey in my closet and I'm not even a Charger fan...

Kathy Duva is best known now as the promoter of Sergey Kovalev,but in the 1980's her Main Events promotion with the late Dan Duva promoted lightweight champion Livingstone Bramble.
Duva offers her memories with Ring Magazine of Bramble's successful upset of then WBA lightweight champion Ray Mancini from Buffalo in 1984.
I always was a fan of the eccentric Bramble and got a kick out of his various behaviors....

The Comeback looks at the conference looked at as the weakest of the conferences in Division I football in the Sun Belt and discusses a strong season for the conference.
With Troy and Appalachian State each having big years,I'd rate the Sun Belt above Conference USA this year and maybe even the MAC as well..