Road Trip: Florence

   The final day of the trip involved more antique stops for the collection, a stop for dinner, and another park checked off the ballpark passport. 

We started the day with a trip that hadn't been planned originally.

I had thought since we had until the 6 PM start for the baseball game, that it might be interesting to travel to Indiana or Kentucky to the nearest large antique mall and see what they had to offer.

Those two states were intriguing as I was hoping to find some ABA items as both states had teams in the league as well as looking for the usual that I look for.

The decision was Indiana and Exit 76 Antique Mall in Edinburgh, Indiana and I'm glad we had extra time because the GPS took us through about every farm road in the state, which meant we spent about an hour more than we would have needed to arrive via the highway!

This was another excellent Antique Mall and I found a few things that I was looking for - including one that was placed back for a Christmas present (I reserve the right to edit this in a few months to insert the item)!

I did find several programs with the jewel being a 1975-76 Indiana Pacers media guide from the team's final ABA season!

I liked the price even better at three dollars and I added two 1993 NCAA regional programs, several Pacers programs from the eighties, and a 1985 Indiana State vs Evansville basketball program all at fifteen dollars for the bunch.

There was one other thing that I saw early in our visit and was considering purchasing but I forgot about it and I wish I wouldn't have!

I did buy one other item as there were two drinking glasses from Shakey's Pizza with characachers of Richard Nixon (red) and George McGovern (blue) from the 1972 presidential election.

I was tempted to buy both but the Nixon didn't even remotely resemble him, so I only purchased the McGovern glass.

After leaving Exit 76, we stopped in Columbus, Indiana, just outside the state capital of Bloomington and the home of the University of Indiana.

The lunch choice was Jaggers, a regional fast-food chain.

I ordered a burger with egg and ham (I can't remember the name on the menu) with fries and the young lady behind the counter started raving about their chicken, which she claimed was "better than Chick-fil-A", so I ordered it as well.

Well, she was wrong as they were overcooked and scrawny to boot.

It was too bad because the burger was pretty damn good.

By the time we arrived in Florence, Kentucky, we had an hour to kill so I ran into a Target looking for a Cincinnati Reds T-shirt for Cherie.

They didn't have a wide selection, so I would stop and find her one at a Walmart after the game before we left town.

The Florence Ya'lls are a team in the independent Frontier League and are named after the city water tower.

The story goes that the tower had the local mall's name on it but the city changed it to Ya'll due to legal concerns.

The Ya'lls open their ballpark very early, so we were able to go inside and check out the team shop (no baseballs for sale, which was the second time this season that a team shop didn't sell baseballs) for a bit before the players come out to the field.

Thomas More Stadium was in nice condition but nothing stood out as particularly unusual and it seemed pretty typical of a stadium built in its time (2004) with one exception.

Florence, Kentucky is located on the opposite side of the Ohio River and is the location of the Cincinnati area airport, so there is the unusual slice of attending a Ya'lls game as you constantly see (and hear) airplanes taking off and landing.

It's pretty loud and even though it's been years since my concussion, loud noises like that still bother me and while the locals are used to it, it wasn't pleasant for me!

After a quick stop at a nearby Walmart for Cherie's Reds shirt, we headed home with only stops for stretching the legs and bathroom breaks until hitting the homestead.

Florence was the final stadium that I visited for the first time this year, bringing my total to 89.

New Stadiums this year included Worcester, Portland, Somerset, Omaha, Dayton, Cincinnati, Florence, and the new park in Hagerstown.

The trips for next year are unknown as it's becoming more difficult to find parks that are close enough to do in a day.

One trip in the works would add the final minor league stadium on the east coast, New Hampshire, and add it to Fenway Park in Boston.

Once I add New Hampshire, I would have every park from Maine through North Carolina except for two parks in the New York City area (Brooklyn and Staten Island) and I find it unlikely that I go through the hassle of NYC traffic for those two parks.

The nearest stadiums to the south that I would need would be (whichever is closer to these) a new park in Spartanburg, Columbia, Charleston, or Myrtle Beach in South Carolina, while the closest to the west would be one of these Indiana facilities- Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, or South Bend.

I still have one more trip to write about before concluding the summer road trip series and I'll be working on that in the future!

Boxing Challenge: Ball batters Rios

   Saturday afternoon in  Liverpool, England, Nick Ball battered Ronny Rios for ten rounds before Rios's corner stopped the fight in round ten to retain his WBA featherweight title.

Ball overwhelmed Rios with his normal tornado-like attack that the aging Rios tried to defend against but was unable to deflect the aggressive Ball's punches.  

Ball almost finished Rios in the third round when he knocked down the veteran and had him on the verge of a stoppage.

Ball would knock Rios down in the seventh before delivering a fierce battering to Rios in the tenth, knocking him through the ropes with Rios rolling under the lower rope and rising to his feet but his corner surrendered for their fighter.

Give Rios credit for an incredibly brave effort in his third and likely final chance at a world title, as he could have packed it in on several occasions but battled on and gave it everything he had.

As for Nick Ball, he has put himself in the Honorable Mention consideration for fighter of the year with his title-winning split decision over Raymond Ford in a great fight, a draw against Rey Vargas for Vargas's WBC title in which Ball dropped Vargas twice and this win over Rios.

Ball would make interesting fights against any of the other champions Rey Vargas (WBC), Angelo Leo (IBF) Rafael Espinoza (WBO), or Robeisy Ramirez, should Ramirez defeat Espinosa in their rematch later this year.

A fight against minor beltholder Brandon Figueroa would be an almost guaranteed war and Raymond Ford certainly deserves a rematch should he decide to stay in the featherweight division.

Boxing Challenge

Ramon Malpica: 137 Pts (1)

TRS: 130 Pts (2)

Vince Samano: 76 Pts (1)

Browns wiped out in Washington 34-13

   The Cleveland Browns needed a win in the worst way as they traveled to Washington to meet the suddenly resurgent Commanders.

They leave town with their head down, a season in disarray, and with many questions, including the direction of the franchise after a 34-13 defeat.

The offense was terrible, receiving only one touchdown, a fourth-quarter garbage time pass from DeShaun Watson to Jordan Akins.

The standout for Cleveland was Jeremiah Owosu-Koahmoah, who finished with a sack, forced fumble, interception, and another pass knocked down.

The Browns drop to 1-4 with the loss and finish their three-game road swing in Philadelphia next week against the Eagles.

Brownie Bits

1) DeShaun Watson did throw the aforementioned touchdown as the game wound down.

He also finished with 125 passing yards without a completion of longer than nineteen yards.

2) Watson was sacked seven times and while he didn't throw an interception, Watson's refusal to get the ball out quickly continued to end drives before they began.

I seem to write this every week!

3) The offense is so broken that I could comment on several factors.

A lack of commitment to running the ball even a little, Watson's inaccuracy downfield, the receiver's inability to get open beyond ten yards, the problems with the offensive line (although Wyatt Teller's absence is a factor, and questionable game decisions all contribute.

4) The wide receivers are a major problem as for the second off-season in a row, Andrew Berry made a trade to add a disgruntled and disappointing receiver from another team and then stopped his work in place, thinking that he had improved the position enough.

Elijah Moore (Jets 2023) and Jerry Jeudy (Broncos 2024) haven't been awful but they haven't been difference-makers either.

Moore caught three passes vs Washington for a whopping eleven yards, while Jeudy caught one pass for sixteen and dropped a would-be touchdown pass in the end zone.

At least, the Browns can escape Moore, who is a free agent at the end of the year, Jeudy was signed to an extension by Andrew Berry before he had played a snap in Cleveland.

5) DeShaun Watson was sacked seven times as I mentioned above but the offensive line has to take some blame as well.

The Browns have been without Jack Conklin and Wyatt Teller, which certainly doesn't help, but they don't drive block on the run and or protect Watson well.

Dawand Jones has taken a step back after a promising rookie season and Jedrick Wills should be shown the door at the end of the year rather than be re-signed.

6) Jeremiah Owosu-Koahmoah's stats for the game are listed above but his interception at the goal line in the first half was the type of reception that you would expect from a tight end, not a linebacker.

JOK is one of the few Browns that is playing as expected in the first five games of the season.

7) Corey Bojorquez averaged over fifty yards on his seven punts and dropped two inside the five.

It's a long day when the punter was the top offensive threat.

8) The Browns rushing numbers were inflated during garbage time but Jerome Ford and D'onta Foreman combined for ninety-one yards on eighteen carries.

The numbers are deceiving but better than expected.

9) David Njoku returned to the field after missing the last three games and on the first offensive play, caught a pass for fourteen yards.

Njoku would not catch another pass in the game.

10) Myles Garrett was controlled by Washington as Garrett would not only finish the game without a sack, he didn't even notch a tackle.

When your best defensive player has so little impact on the game, it's always a tough day.

11) The wheels have clearly come off the wagon for the Browns.

The problem is this- what can really be done to stem the tide?

Kevin Stefanski could allow offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey to call the plays rather than Stefanski and the Browns could try Jameis Winston at quarterback and bench DeShaun Watson.

Neither of those is likely to happen.

Stefanski's ego won't allow Dorsey to call plays because Stefanski believes that's his domain and starting Winston will appear that the Browns are blaming Watson (fairly or unfairly) for all their woes.

And when you make the move to sit Watson, whenever that is, you have to be prepared to make the decision stick because if Winston succeeds, a situation develops (as in the Joe Flacco case) that any eventual move to return Watson to the lineup will be highly unpopular with the fans.

If Winston doesn't play well, going back to Watson wouldn't be appreciated by anyone, and even Watson would be unlikely to be thrilled by that position.

In other words, unless the Browns and DeShaun Watson as currently constructed can improve their play, The Browns are at checkmate. 

Buckeyes oust Iowa 35-7

    Emeka Egbuka caught three of Will Howard's four touchdown passes as Ohio State pulled away in the second half to earn a convincing 35-7 win over the Iowa Hawkeyes at the Horseshoe in Columbus.

Howard scored the only rushing touchdown to complete Ohio State's scoring.

Ohio State improved to 5-0 overall, 2-0 in the Big Ten, and will face their toughest opponent to date next Saturday night against unbeaten and third-ranked Oregon in Eugene.

Olentangy Offerings

1) Ohio State's defense was devastating against the Iowa offense, which isn't stellar but they have an excellent running back in Kaleb Johnson, who finished with eighty-six yards on fifteen carries.

Johnson's average was over five yards a carry but it's slightly inflated with one rush of twenty-eight yards.

2) Sonny Styles had a slow start to the season but I thought Styles played very well against Iowa and was a key player in holding Kaleb Johnson in check.

Styles is a work in progress as he learns the linebacker position but there are going to be some excellent times as he matures.

3) Ohio State led only 7-0 at the half even though the Buckeyes moved the ball consistently through the half.

4) That happened as Iowa stopped Ohio State on a fourth and one, Will Howard was intercepted once, and Jeremiah Smith fumbled after a long gain.

Those are little things that will need to be touched up but it did allow Iowa to stay competitive in a half that OSU essentially controlled.

5) Jack Sawyer's third-quarter strip-sack of Cade McNamara was the key play in the game.

Ohio State scored on the first possession of the second half and Sawyer's sack and turnover quickly led to another score and the rout was on.

6) And it's time for our weekly Jeremiah Smith highlight with full Dick Enberg "Oh My"!

Smith is in the corner of the end zone and as he leaps, the Iowa cornerback in great coverage, pins Smith's left arm against his body, so Smith just jumps into the air and grabs it anyway with his right hand.

Incredible!

7) Emeka Egbuka grabbed three scores and Iowa had their share of difficulty covering him as well.

Egbuka isn't nearly as spectacular as Smith but he's going to be a fine pro.

8) Really liked the grey jerseys.

Normally, I'm not a fan of the alternate togs but these were okay once in a while.

9) Yes, Will Howard threw an interception but he completed twenty-one of twenty-five and was involved in each score-I'm good.

10) Howard also has rushed for a touchdown in each of the last four games.

11) Oregon will be a tough out on the road and the Ducks are certainly capable of winning but I watched their game against Boise State, which went all the way down to the wire in a 37-34 Oregon win and Ashton Jeanty rushed for 192 yards and three scores.

Jeanty is a special back but Quinshon Judkins and TreVeyon Henderson certainly aren't plowhorses.

I think OSU runs the ball well on the Ducks and opens things up for the best wide receiver group in the nation and allowed them to notch a close win in Eugene. 

PPM

       Moving into yet another week of the PPM with football action!

Last Week: 11-5 

Overall: 54-17

College

Ohio State over Iowa 34-10

Arizona over Texas Tech 34-24

Boise State over Utah State 44-17

N.C.State over Wake Forest 35-19

Bowling Green over Akron 36-21

Oregon State over Colorado State 24-14

Tennessee over Arkansas 35-21

Games of the Week

Missouri over Texas A&M 26-20

SMU over Louisville 39-37

NFL
Commanders over Browns 28-17

Games of the Week

Chiefs over Saints 31-24

Bengals over Ravens 27-24

Premier League

Newcastle United over Everton

Championship

Norwich City over Hull City

Boxing Challenge: Alimhhanuly toys with Mikhailovich

   The build-up for the fight for the IBF middleweight title was fierce complete with threats to kill the opponent across the ring.

It didn't play out that way, instead, we saw one of the more vicious beatings in recent years as Janibek Alimkahnuly brutalized Andrei Mikhailovich for nine rounds in Sydney, Australia to retain his IBF title.

Mikhailovich landed a sharp right hand near the end of round one and it appeared that he was going to perhaps test the champion, who defended his IBF title and not his WBO version, on the evening.

It was round two that will be memorable as Alimkhanuly pounded Mikhailovich. On several occasions, the fight could have been stopped if the champion turned up the pace but instead, he would gesture and back off the gas, only to return to the attack to rip the challenger further.

As it was, the second round knockdown was the only one until the ninth, when Alimkhanuly closed the evening as the rounds in between were Alimkhnauly landing at will, Mikhailovich fighting bravely and landing the occasional right hand and little else.

Alimkhanuly called for fellow champions, Carlos Adames (WBC) and Erislandy Lara (WBA). However, both fight for PBC and neither would bring the attention or purse that would make PBC likely to work with Top Rank for a unification fight.

The best fight in the division would pair Alimkhanuly against unbeaten power puncher Hamrah Sheeraz, which could happen as Top Rank (Alimkhanuly) and Sheeraz (Queensbury) work together often.

Boxing Challenge

Ramon Malpica: 136 Pts  (1)

TRS: 128 Pts  (2)

Vince Samano: 75 Pts (0) 

I Tell Ya' Herbie

   Our weekly look at college football, I Tell Ya' Herbie starts (pause) now.

I Tell Ya' Herbie:

                             One tweak that I would make to the college football playoff would be that the fifth conference champion (Group of Five) receives the fifth seed.

Most likely, the committee will place that team as the twelfth and last seed, which means that the team will likely wind up on the road as the second-best SEC team.

Do I think that putting that same game at home would change the result?

Probably not but the best at-large team wouldn't be the final seed, it would give the G-5 team a better chance and either the G-5 or last seed would be guaranteed to advance, creating the possibility of a Cinderella to the Final Four.

If that's too much to ask, I'd be willing to compromise and require the G-5 participant to be given no lower than the eighth seed, which guarantees their representative a first-round home game.

I Tell Ya' Herbie:

                            I don't think he has a prayer of winning but it would be nice if Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty would be among the participants invited to New York City for the Heisman announcement.

Jeanty has destroyed opponents, rushing for 845 yards and thirteen touchdowns in four games, which includes 192 yards and three touchdowns against a top ten team in Oregon and Saturday's 259 yards and four scores against previously unbeaten Washington State.

Assuming Jeanty keeps this level of production and barring injury, that should happen, he deserves that recognition by the national media.

I Tell Ya' Herbie:

                             I didn't think the video review of the Hail Mary would have given Virginia Tech a walk-off win over Miami was conclusive enough to change the on-field call but you are extremely naive if you think that Miami playing at home had nothing to do with the change.

No one will ever admit that (as in the Pittsburgh-Oakland Immaculate Reception game in 1972) but it's true.

I didn't think there was evidence to overturn the call, mainly because there wasn't a good view of the ball, which I would have felt the same way if the review was to change from no-catch to catch.

I Tell Ya' Herbie:

                             The best race for an automatic bid might be the Big 12, where the three teams who were favored in the preseason all not only have September losses, they have in-conference losses!

Kansas State lost to BYU last week, Utah lost to K-State on Saturday, and Oklahoma State has lost to both of the aforementioned teams.

This opens up the longshot possibility that if say the Big 12 has three losses, could a Group of Five team such as a one-loss Boise State or UNLV or an unbeaten James Madison or Liberty have any chance of grabbing a fourth seed and therefore a first-round bye?

It would take some luck but not out of the question.

I Tell Ya' Herbie:

                             The Mountain West added their seventh school bringing their conference in a tie with the Pac 12 in the league's race to eight members that would play all sports with the announcement that UTEP will leave Conference USA to join their league.

The Miners are an excellent fit for the Mountain West, having competed against several schools in the league when UTEP was a member of the WAC, the forerunner of the Mountain West but was left out of the new league.

UTEP re-gains some rivals from years past such as Wyoming and New Mexico and will save money on travel by leaving the far-flung CUSA.

Earlier in the day, The Pac-12 added Gonzaga in all sports but football, in which the Zags do not field a team.

While that is quite a coup in basketball, Gonzaga will not count toward the Pac-12's needed number of eight schools because Gonzaga doesn't play football.

Texas State has been approached by both leagues, according to reports but is rumored to prefer the AAC to either league as that conference has three Texas schools in their league.