Cleaning out the inbox: Passings

We have built up quite a few passings in the inbox of late, mainly because the passings haven't arrived in large numbers in a period and that's a good thing!
Still, that means notices will be piling up and the result is a larger post.

Goodbye to Harrison Dillard at the age of 96.
Dillard was the oldest living Olympic gold medalist before his passing with four gold medals in the 1948 (London) and 1952 (Helsinki) games.
Dillard won the 100-meter gold in London and then added the 110-meter hurdles in Helsinki to become the only man to this day to own gold medals in those two events.
Dillard was also part of two relay winning teams to account for his remaining golds.
Dillard worked for the Cleveland Indians in the scouting and public relations departments as well as the business manager for Cleveland city schools after his athletic career ended.

Goodbye to Ron Fairly at the age of 81.
Fairly spent twenty-one years in the majors, the first eleven with the Dodgers. where he was part of three world championship teams.
Fairly might be better remembered as the only player to play on both Canadian expansion teams (Montreal 1969 and Toronto 1977) and would make his only All-Star appearances with those teams, one for each team.
Fairly would also spend fourteen years in the booth as part of the Seattle Mariners broadcasting crew.

Goodbye to Jim Coates at the age of 87.
Coates pitched parts of nine seasons in the majors, mostly with the Yankees with a career year of 13-3 in 1960 for the Yankees.
Coates might be remembered by some as the subject of stories in Ball Four involving Coates and Jim Bouton during their shared time with the Yankees.
Coates was asked by Bouton if he was endorsing iodine "Because his picture was on the bottle".
At the time, skulls were used as the symbol for poisonous material and Coates was a tall, skinny person.
Coates was also mentioned as a pitcher in the book that enjoyed throwing at hitters, starting dust-ups and then "crawling out of the ensuing pile".

Goodbye to Charles Rogers at the age of 38.
Rogers was a star receiver at Michigan State and was selected by Matt Millen as part of the wide receiver three years first-round draft selection run for Rogers' home-state Detroit Lions.
While Rogers was tremendous for Sparty, he disappointed with the Lions and lasted only three seasons as he battled problems with both alcohol and drugs.
Rogers would play only fifteen games for Detroit, catching thirty-six passes on his career, but it was a different story for Rogers at Michigan State as he grabbed twenty-seven touchdown passes in a two-year career in East Lansing as he won the Fred Biletnikoff Award for the best wide receiver in the nation.

Goodbye to Zeke Bratkowski at the age of 88.
Bratkowski played for the Bears and Rams, but was best known as the caddy of Bart Starr in the 1960s for the Vince Lombardi Packers teams that dominated the era.
Bratkowski's biggest moment with Green Bay in 1965 was when Bratkowski relieved an injured Bart Starr in the Western Conference championship in the first half and led the Packers to a 13-10 overtime win over Baltimore.
Starr would return the following week in the 1965 league title game against Cleveland as the Packers would defeat the Browns to win the final NFL title before the beginnings of the Super Bowl.
Bratkowski would later become a quarterback guru and offensive coordinator for various teams through the middle of the nineties.

Goodbye to Jim LeClair at the age of 69.
LeClair played twelve years with the Cincinnati Bengals at linebacker, nine of those as a starter, making the Pro Bowl in 1976 and played for the 1981 AFC champion Bengals, which meant he played in the famous "Freezer Bowl" AFC Championship game against the Chargers.
LeClair also played the final two seasons for the New Jersey Generals in the USFL, a team owned by a certain person that you may have heard of.

Goodbye to Charlie Taafe at the age of 69.
Taafe was the head coach at the Citadel for a decade before his biggest success in Montreal with the CFL's Alouettes winning the league's coach of the year award in 1999 and 2000.
Taafe left Montreal to become the offensive coordinator for Ralph Friedgen at Maryland, where he was the OC for Maryland's miracle run to the Orange Bowl.
Taafe would only be a head coach for one more year, as he went 3-15 for Hamilton in 2007, but he was the offensive coordinator for Central Florida after that, where he developed Blake Bortles into a first-round draft pick by Jacksonville.

Buckeyes roll over Rutgers

The game on the scoreboard was closer than expected, but it still was completely uncompetitive as Ohio State crushed Rutgers 56-21 in Piscataway.

Almost all of the starters were pulled before the second half and Justin Fields was finished after leading the Buckeyes to a touchdown on their first possession of the second half.
Fields threw for 305 yards in his half plus one possession of work and threw four touchdowns in that time with two of those going to Binjimin Victor.
Chris Olave led the air attack with 139 yards and J.K. Dobbins scored two touchdowns to go with his one-half total of 89 yards to pace the Ohio State offense.
Ohio State improves to 10-0 overall and 7-0 in the Big Ten and will face Penn State in their final home game this Saturday at noon.
A Buckeye victory would clinch the Big Ten East and guarantee a trip to the championship game in Indianapolis.

I've written in the past that the hardest posts to write are these blowouts and to be honest, I watched very little of the second half as I watched the much closer game in Iowa City, as the Hawkeyes poked a hole in the boat and ended Minnesota's undefeated season.
It appears now that as long as Wisconsin doesn't lose to 4-6 Purdue in Madison next Saturday, the battle for Paul Bunyan's Axe will determine the winner of the Big Ten West.

Since I didn't watch much of the second half and I've been feeling a bit run down this week, I'm going to stop here and leave the box score for posterity,
I have a work thing tomorrow, BUT when I have time, I think I have a pretty good post on tap.
I hope you'll enjoy it..

NFL Hammer Falls; Garrett finished for the season

The NFL didn't waste time announcing their decisions on punishment for the late game brawl in Cleveland Thursday night.
Three players were given suspensions that will cause players to miss time, and both the Browns and Pittsburgh Steelers were given $250,000 fines as an organization for the incident.

The Browns will lose Myles Garrett for the remainder of the regular season and possibly a few in the 2020 season as his suspension will not officially end until Garrett meets with the commissioner during the off-season.
Garrett will be suspended without pay and will pay an undisclosed fine.
Larry Ogunjobi will be suspended without pay for next Sunday's game against Miami for pushing down Mason Rudolph from behind and will also pay an undisclosed fine.
Both players are expected to appeal their suspensions, but I'm not sure much will change.
I think that Ogunjobi may have a chance to have his penalty reduced to a fine, but I don't think Garrett will receive a reduction, although the league may quietly tell Garrett off the record that if he says the right things about the incident and keeps his record in order that he might not miss a game in 2020, although I'd doubt that they would announce that publically now.

The loss of both players will be a hit to the defensive line that has been without starting defensive end Olivier Vernon of late and should Vernon be unable to return for the Dolphins game, the Browns would be without three of their four starters on the defensive line.
I would bet that the main beneficiary in playing time in the position vacated by Garrett will be Chad Thomas, who has been a rotational player and will likely move into a starting role, while Chris Smith should see more snaps as I would guess that Smith would move into the rotational slot of Thomas.
Devaroe Lawrence will replace Ogunjobi at defensive tackle, should his suspension hold up.

Pittsburgh's Maurkice Pouncey was suspended for three games and also fined an undisclosed amount for the Steelers for his role in the fight where the Pittsburgh center threw multiple punches and kicked Myles Garrett, while Garrett was down on the turf.
The loss of Pouncey, who is Pittsburgh's best offensive lineman, from the Steelers offensive line for games against the Bengals, Browns, and Cardinals will hurt Pittsburgh's late-season run at a playoff berth.

I didn't have a lot of issues with the suspensions.
I thought Myles Garrett's six games is fair, although should it stretch into the 2020 season, I'd consider it a little excessive.
I believe that Maurkice Pouncey's three games out of the lineup are reasonable because I think that Pouncey's penalty should be half of what Garrett received.
Larry Ogunjobi's one game term might have been fair, but a fine would be better-suited, since apparently Mason Rudolph, who started the incident and then inflamed it, has received no punishment.
I write apparently because Rudolph has said he expects to be fined, but yet in the suspension announcement, Rudolph was not mentioned, although it was noted that others could still be punished  and I expect with many in the media along with fans stating their problems with Rudolph receiving nothing for his actions that Rudolph will get a fine.
If Rudolph would have gotten a game, I wouldn't have quibbled with one game for Ogunjobi, but if a fine is acceptable for Rudolph, I would say the fine would be acceptable for Ogunjobi for his pushing of Rudolph to the ground.

I'd also say that Pouncey missing the game against the Browns in Pittsburgh might be a good thing because I'm willing to bet that it is going to be a crazy game that could be extremely dirty and anything that diffuses that is a good idea.
I'm not sure when the appeal process will be held, but Ogunjobi and the Browns might decide to drop the appeal if they sense that they will not win it as the Browns will need him more for a road game against Pittsburgh than for a home game against the Dolphins, should they need to make that decision.

All and all, I only have one complaint- the lack of a penalty to Mason Rudolph and I'm willing to bet that Rudolph will be given one, although it will likely be a financial one rather than one that sees a missed game.

Back later with the Buckeyes visit to Rutgers.

I tell ya' Herbie

I tell ya' Herbie returns with our weekly look at the college football world starts with a win that I didn't see coming and a look back with what proved to be a prescient thought.

I tell ya' Herbie:
                           I'll admit to being very surprised with Minnesota's victory over Penn State last week and I'll be even more surprised if P.J. Fleck's Gophers can survive Saturday's trip to Kinnick Stadium in what looks to be a trap game immediately after what could eventually be looked at as a program-defining win over the Nittany Lions.
However, you have to give P.J. Fleck credit for what he has been able to build at Minnesota.
How many times in the past under Glen Mason would Minnesota start 5-0 after rolling over three non-conference weak sisters and then eat a few bottom-dwellers before melting like a Kit Kat left in the car in their first test against a conference heavyweight?
Answer: Every Time.

I tell ya' Herbie:
                          I saw this coming with P.J. Fleck dating all the way back to 2015 and I'm not talking about the ability to turn programs around.
In 2015, Fleck brought the Western Michigan Broncos to the Horseshoe in Columbus and I didn't know much about him as a coach, although I did remember that he had spent one season with Ohio State under Jim Tressel as a graduate assistant.
Fleck spent the game running up and down the sideline like a nut, screaming non-stop and I remember telling Ryan- "if this guy ever gets a Big Ten job, he's going to be very annoying'.
SHAZAM!!!

I tell ya' Herbie:
                          I know Iowa State's two-point attempt was stopped by Oklahoma with 24 seconds to go as the Cyclones played for the win on the road rather than kick an extra point to go to overtime, but I still love the mentality in going for the win by Matt Campbell's Cyclones.
In my mind, if you have a lesser team and especially if you are on the road, you go for the win in these situations.
The longer the game goes, the more likely that the more talented team will be able to win.
Unless the coach in question really blows the actual play call, I wouldn't criticize the coach that goes for the win,
Campbell's name continues to be a name in play after the job that he is doing in Ames with Iowa State with his name mentioned as a candidate at the two jobs already open for 2020 (Florida State and Arkansas) and as a dark horse at the biggest of them all at USC, should that position come open.

I tell ya' Herbie:
                          I wrote a post on the mess at Arkansas with their firing of Chad Morris and the corner that the Razorbacks have put themselves in with their run of recent bad hires over the last ten years.
I intended to write a small blurb for " I tell ya' Herbie", but there were so many things to discuss on the Hogs that as I was writing the post that it easily grew into its own post.
I haven't heard anything about a leading candidate other than the possibility of Auburn's Gus Malzahn, but the surprising news that I have read is that so many fans want Bobby Petrino to return.
Petrino did lead the Razorbacks to their last strong seasons but considering Petrino's exit from Arkansas (fired for deceiving the school on finances that involved paying a far younger mistress in the athletic department) and Petrino's final year at Louisville (2-8 last season), I'd be surprised if Petrino would actually be given consideration.

I tell ya' Herbie:
                          The Pac 12 is getting their fair share of publicity for potentially grabbing a playoff spot for their champion (assuming that it's the one-loss survivor of an Oregon-Utah title game) and that's a fair point, but what I find odd is the conference as a whole.
Entering today, other than Oregon and Utah, the remaining ten teams in the league have records no better than 6-4 (Washington and USC), no worse than 4-6 (Colorado) and the remaining seven teams are either 5-4 or 4-5.
On one hand, that is a remarkably balanced league that can arguably see any team beat any other, including Utah, who lost to USC in their only loss, but on the other hand, it could be looked at as a league filled with a bunch of mediocre teams that can play a large number of competitive games, but with few standouts.
For the Pac 12 to thrive and begin to attract more notice for their quality of play, one or two more schools are going to have to jump up to a higher level,
                         

Late Game Melee' tarnishes Browns win

On a night when the Cleveland Browns were finally about to make a statement on the national scene that things had changed in one of the worst organizations in sports, all hell broke loose on a meaningless screen pass with eight seconds remaining and the story immediately changed from the Cleveland Browns defeating the Pittsburgh Steelers 21-7 in Cleveland to the scary incident between Cleveland's Myles Garrett and Pittsburgh's Mason Rudolph and Maurkice Pouncey.

In the game, Baker Mayfield threw for two scores and ran for another to account for the Browns scores with Nick Chubb running for 92 yards to lead the ground attack.
Joe Schobert played a tremendous game from his linebacker position with seven tackles, two for losses, a sack, two interceptions, and four pass deflections, which short of scoring a touchdown is about as good as a linebacker can perform.
The Browns improved to 4-6 with the victory and will finish their three-game homestand with the Miami Dolphins coming to town a week from Sunday.

Brownie Bits

1) This was an uneven game that was filled with hits that might have crossed the line and would see Damarious Randall ejected for a helmet to helmet hit in the third quarter.
I didn't think any of the units involved in the game played that well other than the Browns defense and it was filled with the type of chippiness that division games often become.

2) Baker Mayfield's throws were better in this game, although not to what you expect.
His second touchdown pass to tight end Stephen Carlson that clinched the game in the fourth quarter was very good as he squeezed the ball into the one spot that Carlson could catch it without the danger of an interception,
Still, for a quarterback whose strength is supposed to be accuracy, Mayfield often struggles even in victory (17 of 32 in this game).

3) I mentioned Joe Schobert's game above and it's worth mentioning again.
Schobert's final few games of this season could determine whether he stays in Cleveland or moves on as he will be a free agent after the season.
Putting up the type of numbers that Schobert did on this night on national television will certainly give potential suitors plenty to be excited about and I'm happy for him as well.
I have often been critical of Browns linebackers through the years for being tackle accumulators and not always playmakers, but Schobert was a playmaker vs Pittsburgh.

4) Morgan Burnett was also having a magnificent game with several tackles and an interception before leaving the game with an Achilles injury.
Achilles injuries are rarely minor and I'd think that Burnett will miss a few games at the minimum and maybe even the remainder of the year.
The timing comes with the Browns very light at safety right now and just as the veteran was starting to round into form.

5) The Browns continue to phase in Kareem Hunt into the offense and it seems like for now the Browns have the right balance with Hunt.
Hunt carried the ball six times and caught six passes (from eight targets), which seems about right for now- about half of the touches of Nick Chubb (27 carries).

6) The Browns bullied the Steelers to the point of doing to them what they had done since the early 90s to the Browns.
Punished them physically, made them eat the ball with the running game and beat the Steelers offense up to the point that their only scoring drive was basically created from pass interference penalties (58 yards were handed to the Steelers on those Browns errors.)
In the end, Pittsburgh's only hope to score was for Mason Rudolph to throw the ball and pray someone interfered with his receivers.

7) As I said earlier, this was a less than clean game, Pittsburgh's James Conner and JuJu Smith-Schuster were both driven from the game with injuries and the Browns lost Morgan Burnett to injury and Damarious Randall for a helmet to helmet shot
I have a feeling that the rematch in Pittsburgh is going to be a very ugly game, not that this one was a thing of beauty.

8) The Browns intercepted Mason Rudolph four times and didn't turn the football over themselves.
It sounds basic because it is, but forcing turnovers and not making them yourselves goes a long way towards winning football games.
Usually, it is the Cleveland Browns that are losing that battle.

9) Pittsburgh's Heinz Field has always been a tough stadium to kick in, particularly on the end facing the river (whichever one that happens to be there), but the Dawg Pound end of the Browns stadium is quickly becoming its own little briar patch for kickers.
Chris Boswell missed his only field goal attempt at that end for the Steelers and Austin Seibert missed his first two attempts of the season and the only two that he tried in this game, at the same end of the stadium.

10) Look for the Browns to sign a safety to the main roster and one to the practice squad this week.
The Browns have no idea on the availability of Morgan Burnett, Eric Murray is still out, the Browns released Jermaine Whitehead after his social media outburst after the Denver loss and after the ejection of Damarious Randall, the Browns were down to Juston Burris and rookie Sheldrick Redwine for most of the second half.
Burris grabbed one of the four interceptions and he's developed well since they signed him from the Raiders (after the Browns dropped him and hoped he'd pass through waivers), but the depth is now light and it'll need to be addressed.
The Browns have Tighe Sankoh, a safety from Greenwich, currently on the practice squad.

11) And now what you have been waiting for- the Myles Garrett-Mason Rudolph incident.
I'm going to start with a question and comments and then I'll move to what I would do to punish those involved.

Question- Why are the Steelers even throwing the ball, to begin with?
There are eight seconds to go, down 14 and deep in your own territory- just call a dive play and the game is completed.
The Steelers didn't have to run the ball, but a run would have saved their quarterback a hit and all that then entailed.

A) Watch the tape, Mason Rudolph grabs the front of Myles Garrett's helmet with one hand and the back of his helmet with the other hand as Garrett is on top of Rudolph.
Rudolph begins the confrontation right there, Garrett being bigger and stronger, dislodges Rudolph's helmet instead, but with the Browns defense headed up the field after Rudolph's screen pass to Trey Edmunds was completed, Steeler linemen Maurkice Pouncey and David DeCastro move in to protect their passer.
Some have said that Rudolph's playbook/wristband was lodged into Garrett's helmet.
No way-watch the video at 1;23 and Rudolph's wristband is clearly visible while his fingers are inside the facemask.
No problems as they break things up, Garrett is holding the helmet of Rudolph and Garrett is with DeCastro and it appears that things are calming down- if there is a chance to avoid what happened, it is right here.
Linemen generally police each other and it appears that it is dying down,

B) Mason Rudolph charges Garrett and reaches for Garrett.
I'm not positive, but he may have made contact with Garrett's shoulder slightly and then Garrett whacks Rudolph with the helmet.
This is now the second time that Rudolph has engaged and been the aggressor and yet after he was hit, he didn't fall down or wobble, he turns to the referee with his arms open as the aggrieved party.

C) Maurkice Pouncey attacks Garrett and lands seven punches and a kick to Garrett while David DeCastro holds Garrett down.
While the helmet shot is dangerous, let's not underestimate the danger of a 260-pound man kicking someone while wearing metal spikes.

D) While this is going, Larry Ogunjobi sees what is going on and pushes Rudolph down from behind.
That's essentially the end of the issue other than some pushing and jawing back and forth.

12) In the end, no matter the behavior of Mason Rudolph and what he did to possibly incite an issue.
Myles Garrett is in the wrong.
Can't use the helmet that way.
Can't- No excuses, Garrett in the wrong.
Garrett should get at least four games, I wouldn't argue against six, which finishes the season.

Maurkice Pouncey- half of what Garrett gets.
I understand the "Protect his QB" crowd, but the NBA has a severe stance on fighting, the NFL should follow their lead, and for landing seven punches and a kick onto a player that is being restrained, a severe penalty should be levied.
Pouncey's behavior should have him suspended for half of the Garrett suspension.

Mason Rudolph- One game suspension and a large fine.
Rudolph started the incident by ripping at Garrett's helmet and then added to it by charging at Garrett.
The real argument can be made that this ugly incident doesn't happen without Rudolph running at Garrett.

Larry Ogunjobi and David DeCastro-large fine
DeCastro would have been the peacemaker until his takedown of Garrett, so Pouncey could beat on him.
Ogunjobi pushed Rudolph from behind and that was a bit of a cheap shot against an unprepared foe.
Both players deserve fines, but I wouldn't gripe if both were sat down for one game.

The Cleveland Browns won a football game against a hated rival and pushed them around as they haven't in decades.
The Browns also achieved one goal that had never been accomplished before- for the first time, the Browns have now defeated Pittsburgh and Baltimore in the same season.
This should have been the story and instead, it is about Myles Garrett's loss of control.
No matter the actions of Mason Rudolph, the blame has to move to Myles Garrett.
Long ago, I remember a principal telling me this- "no matter what someone says to you, there is nothing that justifies violence".
That's the case here. Myles Garrett is in the wrong, no matter how much he was incited to act, Garrett was wrong.

On a night that the Cleveland Browns could have established themselves as no longer the pushovers of the AFC North that could have been remembered for years as the start of a changing of the guard,
the Browns will instead be remembered for a helmet attack and one of the ugliest incidents in the history of the game.

Browns waive Antonio Callaway

Before the Thursday night game with the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Cleveland Browns announced that they had waived wide receiver Antonio Callaway and activated rookie offensive lineman Drew Forbes from injured reserve to replace Callaway on the roster.

Callaway was the Browns fourth-round selection in the 2018 draft, which was the first under John Dorsey.
Callaway had contributed little in the 2019 season after a suspension that cost him the first four games of the season and upon his insertion into the lineup after the conclusion of the suspension, bounced a sure touchdown against the 49ers off his hands and into a San Francisco defender for a long return that shortly thereafter turned what would have been a 14-10 San Francisco lead into a 21-3 deficit for the Browns.
Callaway would finish his 2019 Browns season with eight catches for eighty-nine yards without a touchdown, but as recently as two weeks ago it appeared that he was on the verge on turning his season around with five catches for fifty-six yards, including a forty-one yard catch that set up a Browns score in their 24-19 loss in Denver.
That was the final glimmer of hope for the former Florida Gator though, as he was suspended for the win over Buffalo last Sunday for being late to the game and when he was late to a Tuesday practice with rumors beginning to circulate that Callaway was facing a ten-game suspension for failing a drug test, the decision was made to cut ties.

The addition of Drew Forbes, who was impressing many in the pre-season after being selected in the sixth round, to the offensive line will help with depth and perhaps Forbes could even push for playing time.
Forbes was a tackle at Division I-AA Southeast Missouri State, but the Browns were using him at guard as well in training camp and he could earn time at either spot.

The release of Antonio Callaway is the right thing to do and the time is right as the Browns have given Callaway several chances and Callaway hasn't seemed to have learned anything from his mistakes that trace all the way back to his college days.
I'm on board with that decision, but it continues to chip away at the 2018 draft that once looked to possibly rank with the best in Browns history.
Between the release of Callaway (4th) and the recent trades of Austin Corbett to the Rams (2nd) and Genard Avery to Philadelphia (5th), John Dorsey is now down to his first-rounders Baker Mayfield and Denzel Ward, both of whom performed better as rookies than they have in 2019, Nick Chubb who has been tremendous (2nd) and rotational defensive lineman Chad Thomas (3rd), who has occasionally shown a reason to hope for more, but might wind up better remembered for his hip-hop career.

I'll be back later with thoughts on the Browns battle with the Steelers!

Cleaning out the inbox

It has been a while since I have cleaned out the inbox as between football, boxing, and hockey when possible this is the busiest time of the year.

Hence, the inbox is bulging with notes to be notated and with the Browns playing on that dreaded Thursday night, I decided to work on this today.
This edition is VERY the Athletic heavy with the first five articles, so if you aren't a subscriber I apologize and if you aren't and you want to be-let me know as I can send you a link and add TRS twenty-five dollars in Amazon cash!

The lovely picture above of Bill Belichick in those oh so nineties NFL Properties clothing items, reminded me of the Athletic article that looked back on Belichick's Cleveland tenure and how it ended.
It was written by a Boston based reporter and such has a mild-Belichick slant, but it still is a good article as the reporter talked to several people, including players that played in Cleveland during that period.
The fallacy is that Belichick in Cleveland was going to be an eventual success and I'm not sure that would be the case.
The Browns had one winning season in his five seasons there, made one playoff appearance with one win and Belichick's draft record really wasn't all that great.
Eric Turner was a hard hitter that saw his career and life ended far too soon and Steve Everitt was a solid center, but not a perennial Pro Bowler and they were the best first-round picks by Belichick.
Tommy Vardell, Antonio Langham, Derrick Alexander, and Craig Powell were the other first-rounders and disappointed as they ranged from busts to average players that didn't live up to what you expect from your first-round picks.
One other great note from the article discusses the release of Bernie Kosar and notes the immobility of Kosar with his pass accuracy, resembling the skills of the QB that Belichick kept in New England (Tom Brady), while in Cleveland, Belichick kept the physically talented, yet disappointing Vinny Testaverde, while with the Patriots Belichick moved the similar Drew Bledsoe to Buffalo.
Perhaps the case might be made that without the failures in Cleveland, the successes of the New England Patriots may not have been possible?

The Athletic writes of the football program's growth and the surrounding area at Appalachian State with its effects on the town of Boone, North Carolina.
The article is essentially a history of the Mountaineers football program with discussions with the various coaches at Appalachian State that traces back to and includes Mack Brown in the 1980s.
I found one segment interesting with the topography of Boone and how that has to figure in with every expansion and improvement for their athlete facilities as well as their rivalry with Georgia Southern, who has been the only team to defeat Fred Landucci's favorite team in the last two seasons.

This one from the Athletic writes the story of how Gonzaga has built itself a perennial power that is more than the dominant team in a mid-major conference, it is one of the top programs in the country.
The Gonzaga story is an amazing one of how a program can be sustained without football income and without power five (and Big East basketball) attention and cash.
Mark Few's achievements of completing and exceeding what Dan Monson started in Spokane is arguably the long term (I.E. not counting a one season miracle ) underdog story of the last 50 years in college basketball.

Our final piece from the Athletic is an oral history of Jake Plummer's years at Arizona State.
The Plummer years ended seconds away from a possible national title in Tempe, had Ohio State not pulled out the Rose Bowl in 1997 over the Sun Devils.
The term that his teammates used that seemed like described Plummer best was "Calmly Intense" and some of these stories bear this out.
I've always liked the form of oral histories because it tends to allow the subjects to speak for themselves, rather than be filtered through the lens of the writer.

ESPN ends our run of The Athletic links with a look at the newest Cleveland Cavaliers assistant coach in Lindsay Gottlieb, who the team hired from her head coaching position at California.
As someone that doesn't follow women's college basketball closely, I didn't know very much about Gottlieb's background but reading this article I found her mix of old school basketball with the new wave from the analytical side very intriguing.
I also found it interesting that she was a seldom-used player at Brown in her college playing days and worked her way through the maze to move to the NBA.
After reading this article and with the massive amount of respect that I have for John Beilein and his knowledge of the game, I'll state this- I wouldn't be against placing a small wager that when John Beilein retires, Lindsay Gottlieb will be the next coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers.

We wrap with this note from Fred Landucci, who sends this article from Baseball America's Joe Sheehan.
Sheehan's column is entitled "How to lose a baseball fan in four months" and discusses teams drop in attendance and uses it as a parallel between teams that have attempted to compete and those that have moved their stars along and have slammed that proverbial window of attempting to compete for playoff positions shut.
It's interesting to see how that is working out for the various clubs and how the teams that decided to cash in their stars saw an attendance decrease.