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Weekend winners
The Greeson clan. What a week in PCB. You know those real-time moments when you make family memories? That happened last week at the 12u softball world series we attended with our daughter. From riding a hot streak and the superstitions that made, to playing cards waiting out rain delays to the park-side pond with the alligator who dared anyone to come get a foul ball, to the final game, it was a trip that will last a lifetime. Too many folks to thank, but in the end, we won four world series games, and our finale was Ray throwing a two-hitter with nine Ks in five innings and losing 2-1 on a bloop single. She also lined out on a diving play by the shortstop with the bases loaded and two outs in the final inning. Not all memories are good, not many are bad, and fewer still are lifetimers. We got some of each last week, and that's what sports is about. Hell, that's what life's about.
Carlos Whosehisracket. He beat the Joker. On grass. He's not old enough to buy a cocktail to celebrate. That said, we could also add men's tennis in this sentence since there actually is someone of merit to challenge the three old GOATs moving forward. (Yes, it's two old GOATs and Federer, but they will always be a trio in my mind.)
American soccer. I know what you're thinking: "Jiminy Christmas, Greeson, you spend a rain-soaked week at the Redneck Riviera and you come back yapping about tennis and soccer." Well, when the last-place team in the MLS adds a player even I am familiar with, well, that's a universal win for the entire U.S. kickball community. Welcome to the states Lionel Messi.
College football fans. Yes, it will be sound bites. Yes, there will be cockamamie questions from random web folks trolling for clicks. But SEC Media Days start today and there will be actual football news and details to dissect. That's better than where we have been, no?
Rory. Dude has been in the headlines a lot over the last 18 months. But most of them have been for shots he's said rather than shots he's made. He won the Scottish Open over the weekend and heads to the British Open as one of the favorites. Good for him.
Weekend losers
The Braves. Say what? The Braves lost a series? At home? The heck you say. This team is great. But A.J. Minter getting hurt hurts. And if Fried and Wright are not on track to come back sooner rather than later, the front office needs to call some folks about another rotation guy.
Anyone touching Bud Light. Now the brand backlash is hitting the bands on the Bud Light Summer Concert Tour. This is hard to believe in truth.
Jeremy Pruitt. Hey, in the old-school world of college athletics — before NIL — I understand the temptation of bending the rules so far it defies physical science. It's the risk/reward corollary, because if you pay three five-stars and get away with it, you can turn anything around in two years rather than four. But Pruitt cheated his Cornholio off and still lost. The details emerging from the final penalties and reports are eye-popping. And then reports are circulating that Pruitt is saying he paid recruits because he felt bad about the George Floyd situation. Hey, Jeremy, just stop talking for a while, huh?
The end of the celebrity golf event. So Mardy Fish and Steph Curry went to the final hole of the biggest celebrity golf tournament with Fish holding a three-point lead in the Stableford scoring system. Someone screamed during Fish's backswing on his final tee shot and he shanked it into the woods. Curry made eagle on the short par-5 to win the event. Two quick questions: One, I am truly surprised that more fans of competing players do not scream or try to distract opposing players in golf, to be honest. Two, I know about tradition and what not, but dude, it's one scream. Finish the swing.
South Georgia farmers. Man, I thought I was just missing Georgia peaches this summer. Turns out we all are. What a nightmare.
Significant signing
So all the ESPN NFL muckety-mucks are telling us that former Arizona star DeAndre Hopkins is headed to Nashville and will sign with the Tennessee Titans.
OK. Cool. The Titans needs wide receivers like the Community Kitchen needs donations — desperately, and always and for as long as I can remember.
Side question: Who was the last bona fide 1A Titans wide receiver that demanded double teams? Anyone? Bueller? AJ Brown was on his way to being that dude but he wanted to — gasp — get paid, so the Titans sent him to Philly to help make the Eagles the NFC favorites.
There were several ripples of the reported Hopkins signing that caught my eye.
First, Vegas did not move the Titans odds one iota in terms of making the Super Bowl after the signing. Yeah, that's not a good sign. And by definition, does that sign make it a bad signing?
Two, what, if anything, does this signal about the Titans' plans for 2023? Ryan Tannehill has peaked. They drafted Will Levis with a lofty pick and have Malik Willis in the mix, too. But adding an aging wide receiver who's best days were left in the desert sure looks like a decision to win now.
Hey, winning now is a good thing, especially in football's most winnable division. But this looks like a move to give Tannehill one more swing and one more autumn in the sun rather than rebooting the organization.
Three, Hopkins made a crafty decision in at least one way, at least as long as Derrick Henry still has some tread on his tires. No team faces more eight-man defensive fronts than the Titans because of Henry's pounding style.
D-Hop — with plenty to prove and a chip on his shoulder pads — has to be giddy about the thought of little-to-no-safety help.
Finally, and this may be the most telling about the current state of the NFL and the future moving forward.
Hopkins picked a Titans team in flux over a desperate New England offer. When has any free agent of this stature picked a team like the Titans over any overtures from Coach Hoodie and the crew?
Heck, in the Tom Brady era with the Patriots, a receiver like Hopkins would have accepted an offer that was fractional to head to New England.
Now? Hello, Nashville.
This may be the most telling decline of the Pats dynasty under Bill Belichick, you know?
This and that
— Luke List finished tied for 35th at the Scottish Open and pocketed more than $52,000, which helps cover the expensive trips over the pond to swing the sticks. He and Keith Mitchell will represent Baylor School at The Open this week.
— Hey, Johnny Bench, may want to keep some of those zingers to yourself, no? At a Reds alumni event, Pete Rose was telling a story about how former Red GM Gabe Paul signed Rose for $400. A fan yelled "that's cheap," to which Bench responded "yeah, he was Jewish." There were laughs but a lot of stunned looks, including one from Rose. Know this: When Pete Rose knows you've crossed an etiquette line, well, back that thing up Johnny.
— This just in: Shohei Ohtani is good at baseball.
— Here's Paschall's SEC media days preview. You know the rules.
— We've all been there, but Trump's shanked chip must be viewed to be believed.
Today's questions
Weekend winners and losers. Go.
Multiple choice Monday goes like this:
Which SEC coach will say the most outlandish/entertaining thing this week?
— The favorites: Saban or Smart.
— The pot-stirrers: Kiffin or Jimbo.
— The "need-to-make-a-splash" guys: Freeze or Beamer.
— Other (and specify).
As for today, July 17, let's review.
Ty Cobb died on this day in 1961.
Rushmore of all-time Detroit pro athletes. Go.