— College sports has turned into a circus; during the transfer window last January, 34 teams were looking for a new starting quarterback. These days, schools are paying $3M+ to QB’s.
— Oklahoma coach Brent Venables signed a new six-year contract worth $63M; Sooners are 32-20 in four years under Venables, 0-4 in bowl games.
— When Baker Mayfield transferred from Texas Tech to Oklahoma, the Texas Tech QB was Davis Webb, who is now the offensive coordinator for the Denver Broncos.
— If you have Netflix, the Quarterback series is a good watch; a Hard Knocks-type show that focuses on three or four QB’s for three different seasons.
— Famous birthdays, August 21st:
Archie Griffin, 72
Gary Hogeboom, 68
Jim McMahon, 67
Craig Counsell, 56
Akili Smith, 51
Jesse Chavez, 43
JD Martinez, 39
Brandon Drury, 34
Luke Weaver, 33
Corbin Carroll, 26
Friday would’ve been Wilt Chamberlain’s 90th birthday.
— Last four years, head coach/QB for the Raiders in Week 1:
2023- Josh McDaniels, Jimmy Garoppolo
2024- Antonio Pierce, Gardner Minshew
2025- Pete Carroll, Geno Smith
2026- Klint Kubiak, Kirk Cousins or Fernando Mendoza
— Cowboys/Saints were both fined $500,000 by the NFL after their joint practice earlier this week turned into a series of brawls.
— In the NBA, Cleveland Cavaliers signed James Harden for three years, $97M.
— Four NBA players who have earned $500M+ in their careers:
Lebron James, Steph Curry, Harden and Kevin Durant.
— Former Nuggets coach Michael Malone is the basketball coach at North Carolina now, which is going to be very interesting to follow this winter.
— Movie of the Day: Let it Ride (1989)- A cab driver gets a hot tip on a race horse and he wins a lot of money; he keeps gambling all day, much to his wife’s dismay.
Richard Dreyfuss runs amok as the cab driver, Teri Garr is his wife; David Johansen, Jennifer Tilly and Robbie Coltrane add to this comedy, which is a funny movie.
— When baseball had their lockout in 1994 that cancelled the World Series, they were 57 players who never played in another big league game. 19 of those players played their last game the day the strike began.
— Braves-Brewers are playing a game Sunday night in Williamsport, PA, at the Little League World Series.
— The late Tommy John pitched 26 years in the major leagues; he faced Roger Maris seven times, Mark McGwire 22 times. Maris retired 18 years before McGwire’s rookie season.
— If I had my way, outfield fences would be 8 feet high in major league stadiums, as often as possible. Robbing home runs is one of the most exciting plays in the game.
— Houston Astros players have their own fantasy football league; buy-in is $2,500/team, so if they’ve got 16 teams, that’s a $40,000 pot they’re playing for.
— Washington Nationals won the 2019 World Series; after that season, 3B Anthony Rendon signed a seven-year, $245M contract with the Angels, which expires after this season.
Rendon played a total of only 257 games in those seven seasons, hitting 22 home runs. In his last three years with Washington, Rendon hit 41-44-44 home runs.
