56

     It's that time of year again to reflect on another victory over father time with the "Bulldog" of Ball Four fame, Jim Bouton, receiving the honors to represent 56.

It's been a different year since last July.

My work issues were settled in my favor but I've had a few changes in schedule since then, and while I really enjoy the new schedule as far as time off, I can't say I don't miss the solitude of the overnight shift.

I don't travel like I did previously because most of my autographing days are finished.

Baseball doesn't play on Mondays in the minors, and I work Fridays and Saturdays now, which makes me unavailable for those nights.

I miss the camaraderie of the group but I've found that I don't miss netting around the field, overly officious club employees right out of college, and I don't miss players that act more like businessmen than baseball players.

I still go on the occasional trip but they have to be planned even more now than in the past and when I do go, I find myself having more fun doing anything but going to the game!

My family has gone through a change or two but I'll save most of that for the road trip series that I am in the middle of writing.

I still have the love of my life happy and healthy, who always takes care of me and asks for next to nothing in return.

I'm blessed to have Cherie here with me and our crazy dog, Posey, brings so much joy to my life.

Rachel is doing her work with video editing and YouTube and is doing very well with her job.

Ryan lives in Omaha, Nebraska and while I miss him, I'm lucky enough to live in an age where I can talk to him for free anytime I wish.

Sometimes, I think we all wish for the simplicity of times past and there is much to be said for those days.

However, when you have family and friends around the country, the current technology allows almost the contact and everyday comfort of living a few miles away.

I couldn't be prouder of either of my kids, I worry as all parents do but I couldn't be prouder.

I still enjoy sports and writing about them but my time is limited compared to what it once was and it has affected the blog a little.

I worry like everyone else about the everyday things that affect us all and as we all age, our aches and pains that used to come and go now come more frequently and take longer to leave.

I worry about my weight and wonder how this got to this point yet I move around like a far smaller man and I feel fortunate for that.

I am a fortunate person with family and friends who care about me as I care for them.

Could things be better?

Of course but most of the things that could be better aren't life-changing, they just make life a little easier and a little more fun

Thanks to all of you and I wish I could name everyone but it's getting late and I really want to finish up.

When you think about it that way, life at 56 isn't so bad.

Boxing Challenge; Ennis shines in title defense

     The boxing weekend took a blow when IBF and WBO middleweight champion Janibek Alimkhanuly was forced from his title defense due to dehydration but two bouts remained on the week, both with world title ramifications.

From Philadelphia. Matchroom/DAZN presented Jaron "Boots" Ennis in his Matchroom debut as well as his first defense of his IBF welterweight title against David Avanesyan, a replacement for Cody Crowley, who was forced to drop out with an eye injury.

Avanesyan was stopped in six rounds by Terence Crawford in December 2022, so there was some interest in comparing Crawford and Ennis to their fights against Avanesyan.

Ennis took only five rounds as the fight was stopped in the corner after round five and Ennis definitely impressed with his smooth offensive style battering Avanesyan throughout the fight.

Ennis knocked Avanesyan down in the fifth and was landing loads of punches after the knockdown.

Avanesyan survived the round on unsteady legs and the corner did the right thing by ending the fight.

Ennis looked great and while many would love to see him against Terence Crawford, that fight isn't happening, and the available unifications might not be easy to make or overly exciting (Eimantas Stanonis WBA and Mario Barrios WBC are with PBC and soon-to-be promoted to WBO full champion Brian Norman is associated with Top Rank), so it's possible that Ennis may have to move to junior middleweight before we find out just how good he is- And my suspicions are that he is excellent.

After the late fall-out from Janibek Alimkhanuly, lightweight contender Raymond Muratalla's fight with former IBF junior lightweight champion Tevin Farmer was moved to the ESPN+/Top Rank main event from Las Vegas.

And for seven rounds, Farmer was on the verge of a major upset and was slightly leading on my card.

But Farmer was deducted a point for holding in round eight ( a questionable call in my opinion) and was badly hurt in the final round as part of a three-round sweep for Muratalla to pull out a unanimous decision.

Scores were 97-92, 96-93, and 95-94 for the unbeaten contender, my card agreeing with the 96-93 version.

Muratalla called out WBO champion Denis Baranchyk after the fight and that would be an easy fight to make promotionally but William Zepeda (the top contender in all four organizations) is rumored to see Baranchyk as the easiest of the four champions and may select the WBO title as the fight that Zepeda will fight for, which means Muratalla will have to wait.

As for Farmer, the veteran looked very good when you consider his recent inactivity and he could be in the title picture, should he be able to repeat his performance on Saturday.

Boxing Challenge

Ramon Malpica: 107 Pts (4) 

TRS: 95 Pts (4)
Vince Samano: 50 Pts (1)

Boxing Challenge

   The boxing weekend isn't filled with intriguing matchups but two fighters who may only need a big fight to become stars at the next level are in action on Saturday.

In Philadelphia, Jaron "Boots" Ennis will make the first defense of his IBF welterweight title that Terence Crawford vacated against an opponent that Crawford defeated, David Avanesyan. 

Crawford knocked out Avanesyan in six rounds in December 2022, so it will be interesting to compare Ennis's outing against him with that of Crawford's.

Ennis has been off for a year since his tenth-round stoppage of Roiman Villa and Avanesyan is a somewhat late replacement for Cody Crowley, who was originally the organization's mandatory challenger before failing an eye exam.

The fight will be the first for Ennis with Matchroom Boxing and can be seen on DAZN.

ESPN+ and Top Rank will be in Las Vegas for the first unified title defense for IBF and WBO middleweight champion Janibek Alimkhanuly as he faces a literal unknown in Andrei Mikhailovich. 

Alimkhanuly won his second title (IBF) when he stopped Vincent Gualtieri in six rounds in what may have been the most anonymous title unification fight ever.

Mikhailovich is Russian-born but fights out of New Zealand and has fought no one you have heard of before.

Mikhailovch's one win that stands out is a 2023 fifth-round knockout of Edisson Saltarin, who I've also never heard of but was 16-0 entering the fight in which both fighters were knocked down.

Unless Mikhailovich is much better than I anticipated, this should be another Alimkhanuly showcase bout.

Editor's Note: This fight has been canceled after Alimkhanuly was hospitalized with dehydration.

The co-feature is in the lightweight division with young contender Raymond Muratalla facing former IBF junior lightweight champion Tevin Farmer in a ten-rounder.

Muratalla was average in his last fight, winning a unanimous decision over Xolisani Ndongeni while Farmer will be fighting his first contender since losing his title in 2020 to Joseph Diaz.

Farmer has always been a slick boxer but I don't think he has the strength to hold off the larger and stronger Muratalla.

Boxing Challenge

IBF Welterweight Title 12 Rds 

Jaron Ennis vs David Avanesyan

Ramon Malpica: Ennis KO 7
TRS: Ennis KO 4
Vince Samano: Ennis Unanimous Decision

IBF & WBO Middleweight Titles. 12 Rds

Janibek Alimkhanuly vs Andrei Mikhailovich

R.L: Alimkhanuly Unanimous Decision
TRS: Alimkhanuly KO 6
V.S: Alimkhanuly KO 8

Lightweights. 10 Rds

Raymond Muratalla vs Tevin Farmer

R.L: and TRS: Muratalla Unanimous Decision

V.S: Farmer Unanimous Decision

Cleaning out the Inbox: Non-Sports Passings

      This is an especially sad tribute edition, devoted to the non-sports world.

Goodbye to Joe Flaherty at the age of 82.

Flaherty was part of the SCTV ensemble cast from 1976-84 as both a writer and a performer, creating classic characters such as station owner Guy Caballero, talk show host Sammy Maudlin, news anchor Floyd Robertson, late-night horror star Count Floyd, and many others.

Flaherty worked steadily after SCTV, including the co-starring role with John Candy in "Going Berserk", portraying the father "Harold Weir" in the one-year run of 1999's "Freaks and Geeks", and as "Donald The Heckler" in "Happy Gilmore" who heckles the title character at the direction of "Shooter McGavin".

Goodbye to Dabney Coleman at the age of 92.

Often cast as the heel in "9 to 5". "Tootsie", and "War Games" to name a few, Coleman was a versatile actor who was equally adept in comedy and dramatic roles.

Coleman played the lead "Bill Bittinger" in "Buffalo Bill" the 1983-84 series that would receive my vote for the best comedy that never got a break from the network (I wrote about Buffalo Bill here) and was canceled well before it should have been.

Coleman was nominated for a Golden Globe for Buffalo Bill and won one in 1987 for his other series leading role "The Slap Maxwell Story", a role in which Coleman won an Emmy.

Goodbye to M. Emmett Walsh at the age of 88.

A longtime character actor, Walsh is credited with acting in over 220 films and television programs.

Walsh's memorable roles were as the assassin attempting to kill Steve Martin in "The Jerk", sportswriter Dickie Dunn in "Slap Shot". the head of the booster club in "Best of Times, the diving coach in "Back to School", and the voice of  Earl Stutz in the animated film "The Iron Giant".

Goodbye to Alice Stewart at the age of 58.

Stewart started her career as a weekend anchor for a Little Rock, Arkansas television station before transitioning to politics. She was part of five different campaigns attempting to win the Republican Presidential nomination, all of whom fell short in the attempt.

Stewart joined CNN as a conservative commentator in 2016 and served in that role with the network until her passing.

Goodbye to Bill Anders at the age of 90.

The lunar module pilot on Apollo 8 was part of a mission without a lunar module but still was part of the three-man crew that circled the moon on Christmas 1968.

Anders is the person who took the famous photo "Earthrise" on the Apollo 8 mission, which has been named as one of the one hundred most important photos of the twentieth century.

Anders worked for NASA after the mission but never flew into space again, was the U.S. ambassador to Norway for a year, and became a multi-millionaire for his work as the CEO of General Dynamics. 

Cleaning out the Inbox

       I keep attempting to catch up with the inbox and try to write about my most recent trip but I keep running in place!  

Pluto's "heart" (now named Sputnik Planitia)  was most likely caused by a giant impact but the interesting unanswered question is this- Could the item that slammed into Pluto still be on the planet covered under its nitrogen ice? 

Sky and Telescope discuss the matter here. 

Washingtonian writes of the closing of the Crystal City Underground mall which will occur in October.

Dubbed the DC Area's strangest mall since its opening in 1976, Crystal City is literally underground (technically street level) in Arlington, Virginia, and catered to office workers and commuters going through Crystal City to get somewhere elsewhere.

The Athletic writes about the conditions at the old Cleveland Municipal Stadium which were anything but pristine.

The article discusses the paper-thin clubhouse walls that fans could see the players through, the tiny clubhouse that wasn't capable of holding the entire team after September callups, the awful post-game food spread, and the only batting cage in the entire facility.

Three Down Nation notes that CTV (Canadian Television) will return to televising the CFL later in the season (the CFL season has currently started) on Saturdays along with playoff action.

CTV is the largest Canadian network and last televised the Canadian Football League in 1986 when it shared the league's television rights with CBC.

KETV writes of the discovery of a pet donkey, who had been missing for five years in California, has been discovered by a video taken by a hunter in the area.

Diesel ran away from his owners near Sacramento in 2019 and hadn't been seen since until spotted on a video but the catch?

It appears Diesel is the leader of a pack of elk, which is a surprise to me until you discover that donkeys often protect livestock and it would make sense that a wild donkey could fill the role of protector with a pack of any animal.

Fox Business wraps this edition with word of Build-A-Bear and their recent offering of West Virginia's Mothman having sold out almost instantly and is currently unavailable.

The Mothman was the topic of the 2002 film "The Mothman Prophecies" and was visited by me and my friends on a 2017 Road Trip. 

Road Trip: Kansas City, here we come!

     I planned from the beginning that the second day was the best opportunity to squeeze in a day trip before the real business started, I wanted to visit both the Truman and Eisenhower libraries before returning home.

I decided to visit the Truman Library first for two reasons- the first is that the Truman Library was closer to Omaha than the Eisenhower Library and the other is if plans changed ( and they often can), if I had to choose one or the other, I preferred the Truman library. 

We left in the morning for the two-and-a-half-hour drive to Independence, Missouri, which is a suburb of Kansas City.

I was a little surprised at the condition of Independence as we entered town.

There was some road work being done but many closed stores with barred windows and it seemed to be very run-down.

Pulling up to the Truman Library, the front grounds were more expansive than I expected, and from my time watching programs on and from the library were the most familiar to me.

However, the most recent renovation placed the entrance at what formerly was the rear of the building.

I didn't realize this until we were touring the building for sure as the mural that used to be the first thing that visitors saw when entering, now was near the end of the building's tour.

The main difference is the new entrance has the feeling of being in a residential area with houses that were likely around when the library was built (it opened in 1957) and a cozier area than the previous entrance which looked like a looming colossus!

When entering the building, we passed an elderly woman and someone who called her "grandma'.

As I took the photo at the top of the page, this guy began to act strangely and began making odd remarks to the elderly lady, which made me wonder what his deal was.

When entering the museum, we saw another life-size statue of Truman and more noise from this guy and when we entered the first stage, the guy started to holler and make strange noises.

We never heard from or saw him again, so my best guess is that security walked him out.

What I really liked about the Truman Library was how wide the building is and the center area with the President's and First Lady's graves and the President's office area.

Everything seems so modern which is amazing with the building nearing seventy years of age!

I enjoyed going to the basement of the building and seeing various vehicles that were used by the family during the White House years and I loved watching some of the films that the museum featured.

As we hit the gift shop on the way out, I bought a few magnets for the fridge (I really liked one that was based on the cover of the book Harry Truman's Excellent Adventure) and my biggest decision came down to which Truman item I wished to buy for me.

The library had an awesome Swiss Army Knife from Victorinox with a facsimile autograph of Truman available in blue or white.

I love Victorinox's products and a similar-sized knife that looks like Swiss cheese that my mother-in-law bought for Christmas a few years ago is a staple on my key ring.

A Truman bobblehead had some appeal too and to my surprise, the knife was a few dollars cheaper.

I decided on the knife and the other items before leaving the museum.

For a facility of its age, the Truman Library through its renovations and design has given a modern and fresh look and feel to the building, which I would highly recommend to anyone in the area.

We began the drive to Omaha, looking for a place for lunch.

I had originally considered Kansas City's barbeque staple Arthur Bryant's but while we were close enough to see the Kansas City skyline, it would have been going out of the way to get there and we were beginning to see the rush hour traffic as a possibility, so I wanted to get ahead of that, if I could.

As we hit the fringes of the KC metro area, I saw a sign for Whataburger, the Texas-based burger chain that I visited once in Florida, and instantly decided on Whataburger so Cherie could try it.

It turns out that Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who grew up in Texas and attended Texas Tech, wanted Whataburgers in the Kansas City area and is a member of a partnership that owns franchises in the Kansas City and Wichita areas.

This store placed a signed Mahomes jersey in the lobby as part of the decor.

Whataburger ranks with Five Guys (I've never had the West Coast staple In and Out) as the best of the higher chain burger joints and if you have the chance to stop at one- do so!

After leaving Whataburger, we stopped at WD Pickers in Platte City, Missouri and while they had many things that I would have loved to have purchased, their prices were a bit high and they didn't have anything that I had to have at those prices.

Still, I'd return there on another trip, if I was in the area.

We also stopped in St. Joseph MO and the Jesse James antique market, named after the outlaw who died in St.Joseph.

It was large with two buildings but I didn't purchase anything there either.

We finally rolled back into Omaha and one thing I consistently notice that is different than the East Coast is the distance between gas stations, restaurants, etc.

In the East, they are all over the place, even smaller or rural areas, and in the Midwest, there are far fewer.

We then met Ryan and his family for an orchestra recital, which proved to be interesting, mainly because the youngsters played six pieces that all sounded the same despite the director calling out the song titles before each piece.

A stop at a local supermarket (Family Fare) for some supplies for the hotel concluded the day out other than a food trip next door to the hotel for dinner.

I'll get into more detail on that establishment as we move on in this series.

Next time on Road Trip- The reason we traveled to Omaha. 

Boxing Challenge: Zepeda Shines, Stevenson Wins

     The Boxing Weekend's biggest star was in Newark, New Jersey and while Shakur Stevenson controlled Artur Harutyunyan and retained his WBC lightweight title via a comfortable unanimous decision, Stevenson did little to polish a reputation that is rapidly becoming stained by boredom.

Stevenson had a mild window in the eighth and ninth rounds that he might have stopped Harutyunyan but he didn't press for the stoppage and the chance drifted away.

Stevenson's contract with Top Rank ended with a victory and while his win (119-109, 118-110, 116-112, my score 118-110) was more exciting than his last win over Edwin De Los Santos, it was far from a barnburner and didn't give Stevenson a great statement to sell himself to potential suitors.

For all of his tremendous skills, Stevenson may be the Pernell Whitaker of his era, a fighter with immense talents who can beat anyone but is satisfied with dominant but dull wins.

That may win fights, titles, and even the Hall of Fame but doesn't attract fans or pay-per-view purchases

The Hamburglar made an appearance in Newark after O'Shaquie Foster was robbed of his WBC junior lightweight title via split decision to Robson Conceicao.

This was the fight that I rated as the hardest to choose a winner of the weekend yet Foster outboxed Conceicao and while I didn't have it the shutout as the ESPN commentators scored, I did think Foster won handily at 117-111.

I thought the judges who scored for Foster at 116-112 had the fight too close but the other judges were simply terrible with scores of 116-112 and 115-113 for Conceciao.

I picked Conceciao to win but I was heartbroken for Foster during his post-fight interview as there was no anger in his eyes, only tears and his voice breaking.

Hopefully, Top Rank or the WBC will mandate an immediate rematch, Foster at least deserves that much.

Lightweight Keyshawn Davis won a foul-filled, dirty fight over Miguel Madueno by a unanimous decision.

Scores for Davis of 99-91 (same as mine) and while I like Davis, he has the feel of a fighter that could be very good but not great.

Abdullah Mason's fight with Luis Lebron wasn't part of the challenge but his impressive three-round knockout deserves mentioning.

Mason will be a star and if they fought soon, I'd pick Mason to beat Keyshawn Davis right now.

I think Mason is that good.

The star of the weekend was lightweight contender William Zepeda, who mowed down Giovanni Cabrera in three rounds.

Cabrera had lost only once, a split decision to WBC junior welterweight champion Isaac Cruz, and had an excellent first round against Zepeda.

Zepeda improved in the second and third, began to land to the head and body, finishing Zepeda off with a shot to the liver.

As the top contender in all four sanctioning groups, Zepeda has options that few challengers have, and win or lose, Zepeda is going to give a champion all sorts of hell.

I have yet to see these fights but here are the results.

From Golden Boy/DAZN

Ricardo Sandoval stopped Angel Acosta in the 10th and final round in what has been reported to be a close fight and a dubious stoppage.

Pay Per View

Shane Mosley Jr won a unanimous decision over Daniel Jacobs 

Fernando Martinez won a unanimous decision over Kazuto Ioka to unify the WBA and IBF junior bantamweight titles.

Martinez should be in line for a 2025 fight with WBC champion Jesse "Bam" Rodriguez or perhaps WBO champion Kosei Tanaka later this year.

Boxing Challenge

Ramon Malpica: 103 Pts  (6)

TRS: 91 Pts (7)

Vince Samano: (0)

Boxing Challenge

      The boxing weekend's biggest story is centered in Newark, New Jersey where WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson defends his title in the final bout of his contract with promoter Top Rank.

Stevenson is expected to cruise past Artem Harutyunan but can he be more exciting than he was in his last fight winning a dreadful fight over Edwin De Los Santos.

Hartyunyan lost a close decision to Frank Martin last July and hasn't fought since, so I don't see a path to victory for him.

The bigger question is this, how much anger comes out of Stevenson in the post-fight interview?

The much more intriguing fight is the co-feature as O'Shaquie Foster defends his WBC junior lightweight crown against Robson Conceicao.

Foster has defended his title twice with spectacular endings, stopping Rocky Hernandez in the final round of a fight he was trailing on the scorecards, and in his last fight, dropping Abraham Nova in the final round to win a split decision.

Conceicao may be the least lucky fighter in boxing as he receives his fourth chance at a world championship but each of his three earlier attempts come with interesting storylines.

Against Oscar Valdez, Conceicao lost a controversial decision and Valdez tested positive for PED use after the fight.

In his challenge of Shakur Stevenson, Stevenson vacated the title after missing weight, and in his most recent try, Conceicao drew with Emanuel Navarrete, so he can't bank on an eventual fifth title chance, should he fail in this fight.

This fight could go either way and the result would not surprise me.

The remaining challenge bout will pit lightweight prospect Keyshawn Davis against veteran Miguel Madueno.

Davis earned his best win in his short career, stopping former champion Jose Pedraza in six rounds in February,

Madueno is a step back in competition for Davis but Madueno upset previously unbeaten Justin Pauldo by split decision earlier this year on a ProBox card.

Golden Boy and DAZN are in Ontario, California with the rarest of all boxers, a number one contender in the ratings of all four sanctioning bodies, lightweight Wiliam Zepeda facing Giovanni Cabrera.

The aggressive buzzsaw, Zepeda ripped through Britain's Maxi Hughes in four rounds in March and quickly returns to the ring against Cabrera, who suffered his only loss by split decision to current WBC junior welterweight champion Isaac Cruz,

However, Cabrera has only seven knockouts and I don't think he possesses the power to slow down the relentless attack of Zepeda.

The co-feature is an interesting ten-round flyweight battle between Ricardo Sandoval and former WBO light flyweight champion Angel Acosta.

Sandoval was headed towards a title shot before he was upset by David Jimenez by a narrow majority decision but has won four straight since that defeat.

Acosta lost a close unanimous decision last April to Angelino Cordova and has fought (and won) only once since.

This shapes up to be a good one with Sandoval getting the edge as he's closer to his prime than Acosta, who may be slipping a bit.

It's not often that a co-feature makes it into the boxing challenge and the main event doesn't but that's the case from Anaheim with veteran super middleweights Daniel Jacobs and Shane Mosley Jr facing off.

Jacobs, who held the IBF middleweight title, hasn't fought since February 2022 when he lost a split decision to John Ryder on the road in Great Britain while Mosley Jr. has fought four times in that period.

If Jacobs is close to normal, he's a clear level above Mosley Jr. 

However, that's far from a sure thing.

Sunday morning from Tokyo, the WBA and IBF junior bantamweight titles are at stake with Kazuto Ioka (WBA) battling Fernando Martinez (IBF) for more than only those championships at stake.

The winner could be in line for WBC king Jesse "Bam" Rodriguez in a fight that would unify three of the four titles in the division.

Ioka would be the bigger fight as he's a star in Japan and holds a victory over Rodriguez's brother Joshua Franco, so there would be a backstory for that fight.

Boxing Challenge

WBC Lightweight Title 12 Rds 

Shakur Stevenson vs Artem Harutyunan

Ramon Malpica; Stevenson Unanimous Decision

TRS: Stevenson KO 10

Vince Samano: 

WBC Junior Lightweight Title. 12 Rds

O'Shaquie Foster vs Robson Conceicao

R.L: Foster Unanimous Decision

TRS: Conceciao Split Decision

Lightweights. 10 Rds

Keyshawn Davis vs Miguel Madueno

R.L: Davis KO 10

TRS: Davis KO 7

V.S:

Lightweights. 12 Rds

William Zepeda vs Giovanni Cabrera

R.L: Zepeda KO 9

TRS: Zepeda KO 8

V.S:

Flyweights. 10 Rds

Ricardo Sandoval vs Angel Acosta

R.L & TRS: Sandoval Unanimous Decision

V.S:

Super Middleweights.10 Rds

Daniel Jacobs vs Shane Mosley Jr.

R.L and TRS: Jacobs Unanimous Decision

V.S:

Unification WBA and IBF Junior Bantamweight Titles. 12 Rds

Kazuto Ioka vs Fernando Martinez

R.L and TRS: Ioka Unanimous Decision

V.S: 

Devils bring back Tatar

     One day after the New Jersey Devils signed a popular former Devil in Stefan Noesen,  the Devils brought another favorite back to Newark when they signed left wing Tomas Tatar to a one-year contract worth 1.8 million.

The thirty-three-year-old Tatar spent two seasons with the Devils but wanted a multi-year offer last season as he tested the free agent market.

Tatar didn't find the contract length he was looking for and attempted to return to New Jersey to accept the one-year contract the team had offered but the Devils acquired Tyler Toffoli in the interim and no longer had the space for Tatar.

Tatar signed a one-year contract with Colorado but disappointed with only one goal and eight assists in twenty-seven games before being traded to the Seattle Kraken, where his play improved over forty-three games with eight goals and seven assists.

Tatar scored fifteen and twenty goals in the two seasons he spent with the Devils and showed good chemistry on a line with Nico Hischier and Dawson Mercer, so it makes sense to me why the Devils believe he still has good hockey left in him.

I think this is an excellent addition to the Devils and I love the one-year contract that forces Tatar to prove that he's still a solid forward.

While I'm happy with the return of Stefan Noesen, I like Tatar's contract better (three years for Noesen), and while Noesen brings some intangibles that Tatar doesn't (physical play and occasionally dropping the gloves), Tatar brings a track record of success with Nico Hischier and Dawson Mercer and perhaps his return will improve the play of one or both of those players.

Donovan Mitchell stays in Cleveland!

     The Cleveland Cavaliers can relax for a bit before getting back to work on building their team around Donovan Mitchell.

 That is because the team can count on Mitchell staying in town as Mitchell signed a three-year maximum contract extension valued at 150.3 million dollars.

The contract includes a player option for a fourth year for the 2027-28 season and takes the Cavaliers off the hook as the team begins to make its first-round payments on Mitchell over the coming years.

Mitchell averaged twenty-six, six assists, and five rebounds last season in fifty-five games for Cleveland, shooting forty-six percent from the field.

Mitchell played most of the season through a deep bone bruise in his left knee that caused him to miss several games on multiple occasions, and slowed him noticeably in the postseason before a strained calf benched him for the final two losses of the playoffs against Boston.

Cleveland doesn't think the knee is a long-term concern but it's fair to be concerned even a little about the long-term status of Mitchell's knees.

This contract helps both the team and the player.

The Cavaliers retain their franchise star and avoid a season filled with conjecture about Mitchell's trade value and his looming free agency. At the same time, Mitchell, adds money to his bank account, protects himself from injury with a player option for a fourth year, and is in a perfect position for the "Super Max" extension in a few years.

The questions for the Cavaliers are these- Is the roster currently constructed around Mitchell capable of developing into a title contender?  

Can new head coach Kenny Atkinson develop Evan Mobley into a star and take him to the next level?

Is the rumored threat from Rich Paul, the agent for Darius Garland, true where Paul supposedly stated that if Mitchell was re-signed, Garland would demand a trade?
If Garland is traded, could the Cavaliers receive a major piece to fit around Mitchell? Or could it be a high draft choice to aid the team in 2025-26?

If Garland would stay in Cleveland, how can his game be changed to work more smoothly with Mitchell and Mobley?

If Cleveland does trade Garland, what position would they try to fill in return?

A pure point guard? The badly needed small forward/wing? An outside shooter, who could allow the ball to be brought up by and then flow through Mitchell? 

The Cleveland Cavaliers have accomplished their top goal in the off-season in securing Donovan Mitchell's next few years.

Now can they make the next moves to improve the team around Mitchell to be a serious title challenger?

Devils continue defensive renovation, sign Brett Pesce

     The New Jersey Devils continued their defensive renovation as the free agency period began with two signings and a player acquired via trade.

The biggest and most expensive signing was Brett Pesce, who signed a six-year contract for 5.5 million per season.

The twenty-nine-year-old Pesce has spent his entire nine-year career with Carolina (I could not resist using a picture of Pesce in their throwback Hartford Whalers uniforms) and played in seventy games last season, scoring three goals, and ten assists and finished with a plus ten plus-minus rating.

Pesce is excellent on the penalty kill and at 6'3,  205 pounds, has the size and strength that the Devils often lacked last season.

Pesce was consistently part of the Hurricane's second defensive pairing and will likely take his place in the second group for New Jersey.

While I really like Pesce and what he brings to the Devils at a position of need, I'm not thrilled with the six-year length of the contract but in free agency, often the cost of playing comes with an extra year or two at the end of the deal.

The Devils signed another blueliner when they signed Brenden Dillon to a three-year deal valued at twelve million.

Dillon turns thirty-four in November but is coming off the best offensive season of his career as Dillon scored a career-high eight goals with twelve assists and another career-high, plus-minus ratio of twenty with the Winnipeg Jets.

The Devils will be the fifth team in the veteran's career and brings a physical frame at 6'4, 225 pounds to New Jersey as a basic defensive defenseman.

As with the deal for Brett Pesce, it's not the player or the per-season cost that bothers me about this contract, it's the length.

Three years seems one year too long for a defenseman who will be thirty-seven for the final year of his deal and for whom skating speed isn't a strength.

The Devils made a trade to add a third defenseman as New Jersey obtained Johnathan Kovacevic for a fourth-round pick in the 2025 draft from the Montreal Canadiens.

Kovacevic played sixty-one games for Montreal last season, scoring six goals with seven assists and a plus-minus rating of plus eleven.

Kovacevic is solid moving the puck and is a two-way defender who could prove very helpful as part of the third pairing of Blueliners.

The Devils will send Montreal the highest of the three fourth-rounders they own in the 2025 draft between their own and picks from Dallas and Winnipeg.

New Jersey signed another free agent, former Devil right wing Stefan Noesen to a three-year contract at 2.75 million per year.

Noesen scored fourteen goals with twenty-three assists for Carolina last season and the thirty-one-year-old has played for six teams in his NHL career, four of those since leaving New Jersey in 2019.

Noesen plays a high-energy, physical game that plays every shift like it's his final one and he's found a scoring touch for a third or fourth (depending on the need) line winger.

I'd like this signing more if it were a two-year deal rather than a three only because players that play a hard rough style are known to break down all at once and Noesen isn't a young player.

I don't dislike any of these moves, but I do question if the Devils will look back in two years and wonder if they are getting the value they hoped when making these deals.

I think Stefan Noesen will help this season, Brett Pesce is a quality signing, and I think Johnathan Kovacevic might surprise some people this season.

I'm not sure I love Brenden Dillon's contract, which may have been buying high for an aging player who picked a great time for his best offensive season.

Tom Fitzgerald may have made decisions during his tenure that can be fairly criticized but he can't be criticized for being satisfied with standing pat.

Devils Deal Holtz & Schmid to Vegas!?

        Late in the second day of the NHL Draft (round six of the seven rounds), the New Jersey Devils made a trade that would have been laughed at, had it been made a year earlier.

The Devils traded right wing Alexander Holtz and goaltender Akira Schmid to the Las Vegas Golden Knights for forward Paul Cotter and Las Vegas's third-round draft choice in 2025.

Despite some questionable usage by former coach Lindy Ruff, the former seventh overall choice in 2020, Holtz scored sixteen goals with twelve assists last season and is still only twenty-two.

The hero of the Devils 2023 playoff win over the Rangers, Akita Schmid split last season between New Jersey and AHL Utica, playing in nineteen NHL games with a 3.15 GAA and a save percentage of .895.

The twenty-four-year-old Schmid had fallen behind Nico Daws among the Devils younger goalies and I suppose going elsewhere might be a good career move for Schmid, who could benefit from slotting in as someone's top goalie in the AHL.

In return, New Jersey adds Paul Cotter, a 6'2 forward, who plays a physical game that Tom Fitzgerald constantly covets.

Cotter will turn twenty-five in November and played seventy-six games last season, scoring seven goals with eighteen assists.

Cotter won a Stanley Cup with the Golden Knights in 2023 and he may be most known for this back suplex last season on Florida's Matthew Tkachuk.

I have to say, I'm not a fan of this trade.

Paul Cotter might add some muscle to the fourth line and I know how Tom Fitzgerald loves that (trading for Kurtis Macdermid and then his ridiculous contract extension belies that) and I can understand giving Akira Schmid a chance to play elsewhere.

However, I'm not happy with including Alexander Holtz in the trade.

Holtz scored sixteen goals last season and might be my choice as the player who suffered the most from Lindy Ruff's tenure in New Jersey.

Holtz is still young, and has room to grow, and yet the Devils botched his development by not playing him regularly in Newark or Utica.

The Devils made a mistake in not allowing Alexander Holtz a chance to work with a new coaching staff and their system as I believe Holtz has more value than the Devils received for him and Akira Schmid.

We now wait and see if the Devils have made a mistake. 

Boxing Challenge: Bam cuts down Estrada!

      Saturday's WBC junior bantamweight title event from Phoenix was considered a passing of the torch from aging champion Juan Francisco Estrada to rising star Jesse "Bam" Rodriguez.

If that was the case, consider the torch transferred as Rodriguez stamped himself as a pound-for-pound star with a seventh-round knockout that left Estrada writhing in pain in an exciting, yet somewhat one-sided fight.

The first two rounds were evenly fought with both fighters landing heavy artillery but Rodriguez hurt Estrada in the third and fifth and sent him to the floor in the fourth round.

Rodriguez seemed to be ready for the kill but it was Estrada scoring a sixth-round knockdown with a counterpunch and I thought Estrada was winning the seventh round when out of nowhere, Bam slammed a left hook to the liver that made Estrada quiver on the mat for the fight-ending KO.

The talk after the fight was the scorecards as one card had Rodriguez ahead 58-54, another even and the third with Estrada up by one point.

If you gave Estrada the first two rounds (questionable but plausible) I could see an even fight after six with Estrada getting rounds one and two, Rodriguez three and five, Rodriguez a 10-8 round for the fourth, and Estrada a 10-8 round for the sixth.

I split the first two rounds, so my card was 57-55 for Rodriguez.

I've heard this was a two-fight deal, so there could be a rematch, which would be fine by me but I don't see the result changing but Rodriguez has a co-manager (Teiiken) based in Japan, and the WBA and IBF titles in the division will be unified a week from Monday as Kazuto Ioka (WBA) and Fernando Martinez (IBF) face-off.

Bam against the winner or WBO champion Kosei Tanaka could be easy fights to make and should he face them in Japan, the money would be even larger.

The exposure in Japan would help Rodriguez should he decide to build towards a fight that was being mentioned as an eventual dream fight against the undisputed world junior featherweight champion Naoya "The Monster" Inoue.

I haven't watched the co-feature with Sunny Edwards winning by a unanimous decision over Adrien Curiel after nine rounds when a clash of heads opened up a long vertical gash on the face of Edwards.

Edwards's victory in a flyweight eliminator should result in the former champion receiving a chance to win another title soon.

In Miami, WBO junior welterweight king Teofimo Lopez dominated but did not dazzle in winning a unanimous decision over Canadian Steve Claggett.

Claggett's face-first style was expected to be the antidote for a lackluster effort against boxer Jamaine Ortiz but while Lopez dominated, he never hurt Claggett and failed for the fourth time in as many fights to stop a fighter at junior welterweight.

The scores for Lopez were 120-108 X 2 and 119-109, I scored the fight 120-108.

Here are my thoughts- Teofimo Lopez is a little overrated or at least his power is a bit overrated.

And while Lopez is still an excellent fighter with a top-notch victory over Vasyl Lomachenko, his win over Josh Taylor isn't as impressive as thought immediately after his victory as Taylor lost to Jack Catterall after losing to Lopez and most think he lost to Catterall before his loss to Lopez.

There is a legitimate argument to be made that Josh Taylor was somewhat overrated too by his WBSS victories as his biggest wins (Regis Prograis and Jose Ramirez) haven't aged well.

Teofimo Lopez is clearly an excellent fighter who might be lacking the special something at 140 pounds, with two fights that he was fortunate to get the duke (Sandor Martin and Jamaine Ortiz), the Taylor win, and this one over Claggett at the weight.

It may be that Lopez needs big challenges to force the best out of himself and I wouldn't count him out against anyone but the questions are beginning to accumulate for the second time in his career, can he battle them successfully again?

In the co-feature former WBO featherweight champion Robeisy Ramirez earned his rematch with Rafael Espinoza for that title with a seventh-round knockout over overmatched Brandon Benitez.

Ramirez ended the fight with a crunching left uppercut after winning every round against the battered Benitez.

The Espinoza-Ramirez fall rematch is anticipated after their awesome first battle.

Friday in Washington D.C., Lamont Roach dominated Feargal McCrory on his way to an eighth-round knockout to retain his WBA junior lightweight.

Roach isn't known as a puncher but he dropped McCrory three times (twice in round four) and when Roach stepped up the pace in the eighth, McCrory's corner ended the evening for their man.

Boxing Challenge 

Ramon Malpica: 97 Pts (6)

TRS:84 Pts (8)
Vince Samano: 49 Pts (1)

Devils trade John Marino to Utah

   I hadn't planned on writing about the New Jersey Devils on the second day of the NHL Draft since they lacked a second-round pick but the Devils and Tom Fitzgerald moved into the second round by trading defenseman John Marino and their fifth-round selection (153 overall) to the Utah Hockey Club (formerly the Arizona Coyotes) for Utah's second-rounder (49th overall) and Edmonton's second-round pick in 2025.

The twenty-seven-year-old Marino has played five seasons in the NHL, the last two with the Devils, and scored four goals with twenty-one assists in seventy-five games, finishing with a minus-six plus-minus rating.

New Jersey seemed ready to move Marino and needed to do so quickly as Marino's contract activated a no-trade clause on Monday, July 1, so the Devils needed to move during the draft.

When you consider the Devils were borderline desperate to deal Marino due to the deadline, New Jersey should consider themselves fortunate to receive two second-round picks.

The Devils have been connected to Carolina free agent defenseman Brett Pesce and removing Marino from the cap could make a signing of Pesce more likely with the additional space.

New Jersey used the second-round selection acquired from Utah to select a goaltender, Mikhail Yegorov of Russia, who played his junior hockey with the Omaha Lancers last season.

Yegorov's goals allowed average was .896 and a save percentage of .892 but Omaha was a terrible team last season, finishing last in the league, so that could have something to do with stats that aren't a standout.

At 6'5, Yegorov should cover the net well and was ranked as the top North American-based netminder in the draft.

Yegorov is the second goaltender selected in the draft behind only Ilya Nabokov, who was selected by Colorado with the thirty-eighth pick.

Devils draft Anton Silayev

     The New Jersey Devils hope to have made their final high draft pick for quite a while with the selection of Russian defenseman Anton Silayev with the tenth overall pick.

Silayev turned eighteen in April and spent last season in Russia's KHL, regarded as the second-best league in the world, playing in sixty-three games, scoring three goals with eight assists for Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod.

Nice numbers for a seventeen-year-old defenseman (he turned eighteen after the season) and the comparison used most for Silayev has been Zdeno Chara and Victor Hedman.

Chara only played seventy seasons in the NHL, and Hedman is one of the better defensemen in the league.

Those comparisons make sense with Silayev's frame (6'7  207 pounds) giving him plenty of room to fill out as he matures and he is reported to be an excellent skater for his size and isn't afraid to be rough in the trenches.

Silayev slipped a little in the draft, (looking back through mock drafts Silayev appeared as high as three and rarely below seven) and the Devils may have been fortunate that he did.

Perhaps some teams didn't want to wait for Silayev to arrive as he is under contract with Torpedo for two more seasons before he comes to New Jersey, and that could have been a factor in his slight drop in round one.

New Jersey has two excellent young defenders with different styles than Silayev in Luke Hughes (an offensive puck-mover) and Simon Nemec ( a well-rounded two-way defenseman), so drafting a big physical defender that should complement Hughes and Nemec's game looks to be an excellent addition to the New Jersey system in the coming years.

Boxing Challenge

   Saturday's boxing action features two world title fights, one bout between former champions, and another with a former champion who needs a win to force a rematch to regain his title.

The pairing that is even on paper is from Matchroom/DAZN in Phoenix as legendary veteran Juan Francisco Estrada defends his WBC junior bantamweight belt against unbeaten former champion Jesse "Bam" Rodriguez.

Rodriguez vacated the title to drop to flyweight where he won the IBF and WBO titles, unifying those titles in his last fight, breaking down smooth boxing Sunny Edwards in nine rounds.

Estrada hasn't fought since winning the title by a majority decision in his rubber match against Roman "Chocolatito" Gonzalez in December 2022 and it's fair to wonder what the thirty-four-year-old future Hall of Famer will bring to this fight against a younger competitor.

It has all the makings of a screenplay, the aging gunfighter attempting to make one final stand against a younger and faster future star attempting to use his opponent's career to build his own.

Everything points to Bam Rodriguez but I'm not counting out "Gallo" Estrada.

Sunny Edwards returns from his loss to Rodriguez in the co-feature against Adrien Curiel in a flyweight pairing of former champions in need of a victory.

Edwards defended his IBF flyweight title four times before losing to Rodriguez but took a surprising amount of punishment in that fight, while Curiel was an undistinguished fighter before winning the WBC light flyweight title from Sivenathi Nontshinga via second-round knockout before losing the rematch by unanimous decision.

Miami is the site of a Top Rank/ESPN with Teofimo Lopez in the main event against Canada's Steve Claggett.

The erratic Lopez's performances range from brilliance in wins over Vasyl Lomachenko and Josh Taylor to dull in close victories that he may not have deserved against Sandor Martin and Jamaine Ortiz.

Lopez will likely look spectacular against the moderately talented Claggett, who has been specifically chosen to come forward, make Lopez look strong, and fall spectacularly.

I'd rate this one as a lopsided mismatch and really doesn't deserve to be called a title fight.

The co-feature doesn't look any better as former WBO featherweight champion Robeisy Ramirez returns from his defeat against Rafael Espinoza against Brandon Benitez.

Ramirez is trying to stay sharp for a scheduled fall rematch against Espinoza and Benitez doesn't look like he will stand in the way, as Benitez has only one win over a recognizable opponent- former minor titleholder Xu Can.

Not a very exciting night from Top Rank.

Boxing Challenge

WBC Junior Bantamweight Title. 12 Rds 

Juan Francisco Estrada vs Jesse "Bam" Rodriguez

Ramon Malpica and TRS: Rodriguez Unanimous Decision

Vince Samano: Estrada Unanimous Decision

Flyweights. 12 Rds

Sunny Edwards vs Adrien Curiel

R.L and TRS: Edwards Unanimous Decision

V.S: Curiel Unanimous Decision

WBO Junior Welterweight Title. 12 Rds

Teofimo Lopez vs Steve Claggett

R.L: Lopez KO 8

TRS: Lopez KO 6

V.S: Claggett Unanimous Decision

Featherweights.10 Rds

Robeisy Ramirez vs Brandon Benitez

R.L: Ramirez Unanimous Decision

TRS: Ramirez KO 7

V.S: Benitez Unanimous Decision

Boxing Challenge

 Friday night will see Washington D.C. as the site as Lamont Roach defends his WBA junior lightweight title for the first time in his hometown against Feargal McCrory of Ireland.

Roach won the title last November from Hector Luis Garcia by split decision when he floored Garcia in the final round, making the difference between a split decision and a draw.

The unbeaten McCrory has faced below-average competition and who really knows what he brings against Roach but when fighters select opponents for a homecoming event, they usually don't go after the toughest test.

The fight can be seen for free on the ProBox app or the ProBox channel on YouTube.

Boxing Challenge

Ramon Malpica and TRS: Roach Unanimous Decision

Vince Samano:

Road Trip: Have you ever seen the rain?

     Waking up early on day two outside of Davenport, Iowa, I snapped a few photos of the mighty Mississippi before our day driving across Iowa, making a few stops on the way before our arrival in Omaha.

Our first stop was recommended by Ryan and didn't take us that long to arrive at the Iowa 80 truck stop, advertised as the world's largest. 

Iowa 80 is big and with plenty of food and shopping options, there is almost anything that you may need while traveling available at Iowa 80.

A few days before the trip as I was planning the route, I discovered the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library is almost directly off the exit.

 While I had plans to visit two libraries on the trip, the Hoover Library wasn't one of them.

However, if it was that easy to find, I added it loosely to the day's schedule.

It was that easy, so we made the call to make a visit to West Branch, Iowa.

Entering the library, you can drive around a local park on the library grounds, visit the grave of the former President and First Lady, and walk through a grassy area that is a reconstruction of the prairie that Hoover grew up with as a young man.

The library was filled with displays, a theatre to watch a short film, and seemed to be recently renovated with wide open spaces and modern decor.

The gift shop at the Hoover Library is by the entrance/exit area and we stopped there for a few trinkets, including one that I thought was really neat.

There was a small passport-like booklet for the Presidental Libraries that I purchased and a small foam fishing bobber (fishing was a passion for the former President),

I can't say no to cool fidget items and since the Hoover Library was the first I ever visited, I thought it would be cool to have as I visited others.

The Hoover Library was the pleasant surprise of our trip as it was much better than I had anticipated.

The drive across Iowa continued with our next stop at an antique mall that Ryan highly recommended, The Brass Armadillo in Des Moines.

The Brass Armadillo features lots of collectible items in huge stores and I thought the Des Moines location was their only one but they are in six cities in the Midwest and West.

We wouldn't be finished with the Brass Armadillo on the trip but on this one, I bought three programs, a 1977 Ohio State at Iowa football, a 1980 NCAA Mideast Regional basketball, and a 1969 Philadelphia Eagles at St.Louis Cardinals for the collection.

The local radar showed severe thunderstorms in the area and a tornado watch, so we tried to outrun the storm and we had success for a while.

However, eventually, we had to get off the interstate and into a McDonald's parking lot where I must admit it was a little scary with the van rocking from the high winds, seeing items tossed into the air, and hearing the tornado warning sirens, which is unsettling when you aren't used to it.

Once things had cleared a little, we got back on the road, and after a half hour or so, we had cleared the storm as we were driving west, it was later that we saw the tornado destroying the town of Glenville, Iowa, a town that we had passed earlier in the day.

I feel very fortunate even now that we dodged that storm.

We stayed on the road until we found Omaha and met Ryan and his family for dinner at a local Chinese buffet.

The dinner was nice, and then we found our hotel home, which Ryan graciously provided for us, for the next eight days at a Home 2 Suites in Omaha, located a short distance from Ryan's home.

I'm going to write about the places that we saw on the trip but some of the trip may be condensed for time and space.

I may do one or two posts on the various foods that we ate rather than try to remember every meal on a particular day.

I'll continue this series soon when I have time! 

Cavaliers select Jaylon Tyson

   

     The Cleveland Cavaliers made their final first-round selection that they can't lose or see changed for quite a while in yesterday's NBA Draft with the selection of California small forward Jaylon Tyson as the twentieth overall choice. 

The Cavaliers do not own their draft choices in 2025 and 2027 and Utah has the option to switch with Cleveland in 2026 and 2028, should the Cavaliers' selection become higher than the pick owned by the Jazz as part of the trade that acquired Donovan Mitchell.

That makes what would normally be a small news story about a choice from the back third of the first round of more importance than usual for the Cavaliers, who are still  building a title contender.

The first thing you notice about Jaylon Tyson is that he played for three schools in three college seasons.

That's unusual but it will not be over time as more and more college players move from school to school due to weakened transfer regulations and the rules for NIL (name, image, and likeness) become mainstream.

Tyson played one year each for Texas, Texas Tech, and then California before declaring for the draft, playing eight games for Texas before transferring to Texas Tech, which was his original commitment coming out of high school.

At Tech, Tyson averaged ten points a game before transferring due to being the subject of racial remarks by former Tech coach Mark Adams.

Tyson averaged nineteen points and six rebounds for the Calfornia Golden Bears last year, shooting forty-six percent overall and thirty-six percent from three-point distance.

The 6'6 Tyson is regarded as a player that can hit the open shot (on a team that never seems to have enough players that can do that) and he is noted as a player that can drive and create but isn't graded as outstanding in any of those areas.

Tyson is said to be weak on defense, so if you combine Tyson's offense and defense, Tyson is the opposite of incumbent wing, Isaac Okoro.

Tyson's workout for the Cavaliers was reported by the Cleveland Plain Dealer as extremely impressive  and played a key role in the Cavaliers deciding to select him.

I don't watch college basketball as much as I used to, so I can't claim an innate feeling on Jaylon Tyson but it does seem that Tyson has the offensive game that the Cavaliers are looking for.

Plus Tyson's coach at California was former NBAer Mark Madsen and new head coach Kenny Atkinson, who was an assistant with Golden State (Cal-Berkeley is also in the Bay Area) likely has some knowledge of Tyson and Tyson has some preparation advantages that other players would not have.

Picking at this portion of the draft will never bring a player certain to succeed but Jaylon Tyson has a chance to help the Cavaliers immediately as part of their second unit and contribute as a role player this season.

Cleveland doesn't have a second round pick in today's half of the draft, should they make a move to pick a player or make a trade, I'll be sure to write!

Cavaliers hire Kenny Atkinson

     The Cleveland Cavaliers have decided on their new head coach and there is a question about the decision.

Cleveland's choice is Kenny Atkinson, formerly the head coach for the Brooklyn Nets, who has spent the last three seasons as an assistant with the Golden State Warriors.

Atkinson had been mentioned as a considered candidate but was thought to be behind New Orleans Pelicans assistant James Borrego for the job.

Rumors are flying that Borrego was the choice of Koby Altman before Atkinson's interview which included owner Dan Gilbert.

Atkinson became the choice of Gilbert following the interview and it is also rumored that Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo gave a glowing recommendation to Gilbert.

To Dan Gilbert, a recommendation from Tom Izzo is as good as he could get, if Izzo did offer that recommendation, it's easy to see how Kenny Atkinson became the selection for the position.

Atkinson coached Brooklyn for four seasons, finishing with a record of 118-190 and only one winning season in 2018-19 when the Nets finished 42-40 and made the playoffs, losing in the first round in five games to Philadelphia.

Atkinson had issues coaching superstars such as Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant in Brooklyn but coached two former Nets now in Cleveland (Jarrett Allen and Caris LeVert) both players were very positive about hiring Atkinson.

Atkinson is an offensive coach who will add things that he learned at Golden State and his system is ball movement-oriented, which Donovan Mitchell is reputed to enjoy.

Mitchell, who may be getting his max extension offer shortly, has reportedly approved the decision to hire Atkinson.

I don't really have an opinion on Atkinson vs Borrego, I would have been fine with either but I will admit to a little uneasiness for one reason- Dan Gilbert.

When Dan Gilbert gets involved in decisions, his track record reeks of failure.

It was Dan Gilbert who made the decision to hire David Blatt and John Beilein with neither man succeeding in Cleveland.

Dan Gilbert has made this decision for head coach and with his team at a crossroads, he'll need to get this one right or realize that his meddling in basketball matters needs to stop.

Road Trip: Getting There

     My trip to Omaha with Cherie was the longest trip that I've ever taken and the longest time that I've ever been away from home at one time as well.

I decided to leave at 4 AM or so but since I couldn't sleep, we left town at 2:30 with the plan in mind to make a few stops in particular and see how far we could drive before we began to tire.

The planned first stop was a return to Jungle Jim's International Market, which I've written about in the past as a grocery store/market where one could spend multiple hours shopping, especially if you aren't a regular shopper at Jungle Jim's.

Jungle Jim's caters to not only the local area but also foods from around the world and has to be seen to be truly believed.

Cherie and I spent two hours there buying things for friends, hot sauces for me, and items for our hotel such as snacks and drinks with a special gift for Posey.

If you are ever in the Cincinnati area, check out one of their two locations!

We stopped at their suburban store in Fairfield because Cherie had discovered a toy store there a few months ago and it was only a few stoplights down the highway.

I had timed things so we wouldn't have to kill a lot of time when the Toy Dept. opened at eleven o'clock and things were on track but we had passed a Roosters restaurant after we got off at our exit.

I had raved to Cherie about Roosters since my last visit to Ohio and their delicious chicken, so we doubled back to beat the lunch rush and then travel to the Toy Dept.

Based mostly in Ohio and Kentucky (there is one store each in Indiana and West Virginia), Roosters allows you to pick two sauces to spin your chicken and my sandwich (Hot and Garlic sauce), and just as in my last visit, I was very pleased.

Cherie enjoyed hers as well and noted the picture by our table of one of her favorite TV shows "WKRP in Cincinnati!

We stopped by the Toy Dept. next and surprisingly I didn't buy anything!

The store was large and filled with items but only one figure (1980's Super Powers DeSaad) was needed for the collection and even though the price was fair, it wasn't a steal and I didn't want to start the trip tossing money around unless it was a bargain!

Our next stop was Knightstown, Indiana for an anticipated visit!

Hoosiers is one of my favorite films and might get the nod as my choice for best sports drama ever, so when I discovered that the home gym for the "Hickory Huskers" was open to the public, it was an easy choice for a visit.

Knightstown is a small town and Hoosiers Gym's architecture looks very regal and distinctive of its time (1921) and rolling through Knightstown gave the feel of "Norman Dale" heading into Hickory.

Walking into the building gave me the feel of stepping into the film and a very nice gentleman (I really wish I could remember his name) told me that the gym was closed after one of his high school years in 1966.

He asked if we would like a tour and we were happy to see the gym, locker room, and the famous door that Gene Hackman walked through before Hickory's first game and uttered "Welcome to Indiana basketball".

We were told several stories about the renovation of the gym, how often it is used (over 100 times per year), the tradition that sees teams that play on the floor leave a signed jersey, and how the team picture that ends the film was possessed by someone from the film for many years before the gym was asked if it would be interested in having it.

The tour was almost completed and another person came into the building, so we thanked our host and I decided to try to redeem myself for a lousy job of shooting at the Basketball Hall of Fame (I'm not sure I made a shot that wasn't a layup) with a better outing at the Hoosier Gym.

I was having a blast when I nailed my first shot, and almost hit my second before a bad miss on my third.

I started thinking about ending the day but instead, I hit my next two and started feeling a little rhythm going before Cherie signaled she needed a drink and it's always a good thing to finish on a made shot!

I'll take my three for five happily!

We stopped in the gift area before we left with Cherie getting a Hickory Husker T-shirt (I loved the design, too bad not in my size) and I bought a Hoosier Gym mini-basketball.

If you love the film or even just basketball, I highly recommend Hoosier Gym.

The plan was to drive as far as we could and stop when I was tired, we moved across Indiana and through Illinois and decided to try a Holiday Inn inside the Illinois-Iowa line.

The clerk was very kind in finding us a room that overlooked the Mississippi River, which Cherie adored looking at through the window, and it was very pleasant to watch the barges move down the river.

We both enjoyed the hotel so much that we remarked that if we ever made this trip again, we were hopeful that we could stay there again.

I'm going to try to tell the remainder of the story in installments when I can because this post took a decent amount of time to write but I'm looking forward to writing more about the road.

Boxing Challenger: Espinoza stops Chirino,Undercard theft

       Top Rank's Friday night card from Las Vegas on ESPN+ saw a title retained and a contender moving towards a title shot win a decision that he didn't deserve after missing weight before the fight.

Rafael Espinoza made the first defense of his WBO featherweight title a successful one as Espinoza knocked Sergio Chirino down three times before the referee stopped the fight in the fourth round.

Chirino was knocked down in the waning moments of both the first and second rounds but Espinoza didn't have enough time to finish the job in either round.

That wasn't the case in the fourth after another knockdown with the referee waving the bout off.

Espinoza came into prominence in the fight that made him a champion as an unknown challenger to then-champion Robeisy Ramirez and rallied from a knockdown to drop Ramirez in the final round to win the title by majority decision in a great battle.

The original plan was for an immediate rematch but Espinoza requested making an optional defense first and should Ramirez defeat Brandon Benitez next Saturday, the rematch will be scheduled in the fall.

The travesty was in the co-feature as undefeated junior lightweight contender Andres Cortes missed weight at the weigh-in and then after being outpunched by veteran Abraham Nova, was given an unpopular unanimous decision.

Nova threw more, landed more, and was the better fighter, all of which wasn't enough for the judges who somehow scored Cortes the winner 97-93 x2 and 96-94.

Nova's best round was the ninth, when he threw over one hundred punches and backed Cortes into a corner, and blasted away but one judge scored the round for Cortes anyway.

Cortes called out division champions after the fight but between blowing the scales and winning such a controversial decision, I'd think a Nova rematch would be a better idea.

Boxing Challenge

Ramon Malpica: 91 Pts (3)

TRS: 76 Pts (4)
Vince Samano: 48 Pts (2) 

Boxing Challenge

      Due to time constraints, tonight's ESPN+ card for the boxing challenge is picks only.

WBO Featherweight Title. 12 Rds 

Rafael Espinoza vs Sergio Chirino

Ramon Malpica: Espinoza Unanimous Decision
TRS: Espinoza KO 10

Vince Samano: Chirino Unanimous Decision

Junior Lightweights. 10 Rds

Andres Cortes vs Abraham Nova

All; Cortes Unanimous Decision