Thoughts of the Day: July 12, 2021

A few thoughts to jump start your Monday morning:

FABIAN FALLS OUT OF MLB DRAFT FIRST ROUND Back in February when strikeouts were becoming a serious issue, Jud Fabian’s draft stock began to fall and it kept falling throughout the spring. Projected as the third best prospect in the country at the start of Florida’s season, Fabian’s early season strikeout issues just wouldn’t go away and not even big league power could rescue him in the eyes of the scouts. As a result, the Gators’ center fielder dropped completely out of the first round of the Major League Baseball Draft which concluded Sunday night.

Most mock drafts had Fabian going somewhere between 20-30 in the first round, with the most likely landing spots the Chicago White Sox and Chicago Cubs but when both Chicago teams passed, the freefall began. When the draft picks up with the second round today, Fabian and pitcher Tommy Mace are both expected to go although the money won’t be nearly as good as it is for first rounders. Fabian does have options, however. He isn’t 21 yet and still has two years of collegiate eligibility remaining. If he doesn’t like the team that selects him or the second round money, he can take his chances and come back to Florida for the 2022 season. Mace is out of options, which means that while he is likely to go second round, whoever drafts him won’t offer him a large bonus.

The Gators are almost certain to lose at least three signees from their No. 1-ranked recruiting class, all first rounders. Righthanded pitcher Andrew Painter (6-7, 230, Pompano Beach, FL Calvary Christian) was the first Gator signee to go, taken with the 13th pick by the Philadelphia Phillies. The second Gator signee to go was righthanded pitcher Chase Petty (6-0, 185, Somerset, NJ Mainland Regional) who went to the Minnesota Twins at No. 26. Center fielder Jay Allen (6-3, 190, Fort Pierce, FL John Carroll Catholic) went to the Cincinnati Reds with the 31st pick.

Rounds 2-10 will take place today with 11-20 on Tuesday.

A FEW THINGS THAT HAD ME THINKING DURING THE WEEKEND

1. It’s mind boggling that the United States Olympic basketball team lost an exhibition game to Nigeria over the weekend. Nigeria hit 20 3-pointers and outrebounded the US team 46-34. This is the first time a United States team has ever lost to a team from Africa. “In a way, I’m kind of glad it happened,” said Greg Popovich, coach of the San Antonio Spurs and the US team. I think it’s absolutely embarrassing. Maybe the US team will prove me wrong and win every game in Tokyo handily, but I think this is a bad omen. There is no excuse for the US team to ever lose the gold medal.

2. The NCAA and Kansas basketball will do battle in the Independent Resolutions panel, which is a fancy way of saying a courtroom setting with the judges who aren’t directly connected to any university. It’s worth mentioning that KU will fight it out even though there is wiretap evidence from the college basketball corruption trials and under oath depositions and transcripts that are fairly conclusive. Kansas also has football recruiting violations that will be heard at the same hearing. The allegations against basketball coach Bill Self are all Level I. Combine those with the football violations and Kansas becomes a candidate for the harshest sanctions in history that don’t involve the death penalty.

It’s worth mentioning the Kansas situation because there are new allegations, these aimed at former football coach Les Miles, former athletic director Jeff Long and the entire Kansas athletic department. The family of former fullback Capleton Humphrey, who left the team in 2019 after a series of confrontations with other players on the team, agreed to accept $50,000 in benefits – tuition, monthly stipend checks, moving expenses. The family is now calling the agreement hush money and they’re threatening to sue. I’m not sure there are any NCAA violations here, but the optics aren’t good and, if there are violations, they will only pile on to the deep trouble Kansas is already in.

Of course, this is the NCAA we’re talking about and if we go by their success (inject strong dose of sarcasm here) in court then we know they are capable of screwing up even the surest of things.

3. Okay, I’m the one who brought up Les Miles here so I can’t let the NCAA vs. LSU pass without a comment or two. The NCAA is investigating LSU for football and basketball violations. The NCAA has in its possession copies of Federal Court transcripts and depositions from the college basketball corruption trials. There is wiretap evidence of basketball coach Will Wade openly boasting about the amount of money he was offering at least one prospect. The football program has self-imposed sanctions for former offensive lineman Vadal Alexander’s family receiving $180,000 in money embezzled from a hospital by an LSU booster back when Miles was the HBC at LSU. Former LSU wide receiver Odell Beckham was handing out cash to players after the Tigers beat Clemson for the 2019 national championship.

There is also that teensy matter of the Title IX lawsuit against the school in which football coach Ed Orgeron is named as a defendant for failing to report a rape by former running back Derrius Guice. Title IX is administered by the US government and not by the NCAA but like the case at Kansas, the optics are absolutely horrendous.

Like Kansas, LSU is deferring future hearings on the NCAA violations to the Independent Resolutions panel with the hope that independent people will go lighter on the school than Committee on Infractions members who have ties to their schools. The NCAA still has not issued a notice of allegations, which could mean the investigation hasn’t been completed.

4. The college football preseason magazines may be enamored with Georgia quarterback JT Daniels, but The Athletic’s NFL Draft expert Dane Brugler apparently didn’t get the memo that was being circulated. Brugler has put out two quarterback lists for the 2022 draft – a top 20 of 2021 seniors and a top 10 of underclassmen. Obviously, Daniels doesn’t qualify for the seniors list which is headed up by 1. Malik Willis (Liberty), 2. Desmond Ridder (Cincinnati), 3. Brock Purdy (Iowa State), 4. Kenny Pickett (Pitt) and 5. Dorian Thompson-Robinson (UCLA). On the underclassmen list, Daniels comes in eighth, trailing (in order) Sam Howell (North Carolina), Spencer Rattler (Oklahoma), Matt Corral (Ole Miss), Carson Strong (Nevada), Kedon Slovis (Southern Cal), Phil Jurkovec (Boston College) and Graham Mertz (Wisconsin).

I’m not a draft expert but based on what I’ve seen watching college football the past three years, if I had to rank the ten best quarterbacks heading into 2021, they would be: 1. Howell; 2. Purdy; 3. Corral; 4. Slovis; 5. Rattler; 6. Willis; 7. Purdy; 8. Tanner Morgan (Minnesota); 9. Strong; and 10. Grayson McCall (Coastal Carolina).

5. All eyes at the Home Run Derby tonight will be on the California Angels’ Shohei Otani, who leads the Majors in home runs with 33, 16 more than former Gator Pete Alonso of the New York Mets who will be back to defend his 2019 title. I’ll watch with the expectation that Pete at least makes it to the finals in that high altitude setting in Denver. The game Tuesday night? Doubtful. Most All-Star games have been a disappointment since the 1971 game in Detroit, won by the American League 6-4. Six home runs were hit in the game including a monster shot by Reggie Jackson that would have gone completely out of Tiger Stadium if it hadn’t hit one of the light standards on the right field roof. Estimates are the home run traveled somewhere between 525-550 feet. The other homers were hit by Johnny Bench, Henry Aaron, Roberto Clemente, Frank Robinson and Harmon Killebrew.

There were 22 future Hall of Famers in that game: Rod Carew, Reggie Jackson, Carl Yastrzemski, Jim Palmer, Luis Aparicio, Harmon Killebrew, Al Kaline, Thurman Munson, Tony Oliva, Brooks Robinson and Frank Robinson from the American League; Willie McCovey, Johnny Bench, Steve Carlton, Tom Seaver, Ferguson Jenkins, Henry Aaron, Lou Brock, Roberto Clemente, Juan Marichal, Willie Mays and Ron Santo from the National League.

OVER, UNDER, AROUND AND THROUGH

Alabama: ESPN NFL analyst Dan Orlovsky, says former Alabama quarterback Jalen Hurts “can’t sniff as good as Carson Wentz is.” Philadelphia benched Wentz for Hurts last December and then traded Wentz to Indianapolis in the offseason.

Arkansas: Jace Bohrofen, who made the All-Freshman team in the Big 12 at Oklahoma, is transferring to Arkansas. Bohrofen hit .252 as a true freshman as a right fielder and designated hitter.

Auburn: Former Georgia wide receiver Demetris Robinson is transferring to Auburn. Robinson, who started his career at California, caught 42 passes for 443 yards and three touchdowns at Georgia. At Cal, he caught 57 passes for 837 yards and seven touchdowns in 14 games.

Georgia: Clemson defensive back transfer Derion Kendrick has gone through a pretrial intervention for an arrest for unlawful possession of a gun and marijuana. With his record expunged, Kendrick will be immediately eligible at Georgia, which opens its season September 4 with Clemson in Charlotte.

Kentucky: Dare Rosenthal, who was LSU’s starting left tackle in 2020, is transferring in to Kentucky. He has two years eligibility remaining.

LSU: Former LSU linebacker Barkevious Mingo has been arrested in Texas on charges of indecency with child-sexual contact. It’s a second degree felony charge that carries a maximum of 20 years in prison. Upon being informed of the arrest, the Atlanta Falcons released Mingo, who had played with six previous NFL teams.

Mississippi State: Will Bednar, the righthanded pitcher who was the Most Outstanding Player in Mississippi State’s College World Series championship, was selected with the 14th pick in the first round by the San Francisco Giants.

Missouri: Missouri has seen a 50 percent increase in season ticket sales over the levels of the last full season in 2019.

Ole Miss: The Toronto Blue Jays selected righthanded pitcher Gunnar Hogland with the 19th pick of the first round in the Major League Baseball Draft.

South Carolina: South Carolina fans are upset with former corner Jaycee Horn, who recommended 4-star athlete Chris Graves (6-1, 175, Fort Myers, FL Bishop Verot) to go to Miami to play for Travaris Robinson, formerly the secondary coach for Will Muschamp.

Tennessee: Former UT safety LaDarrell McNeill, who started 41 games from 2012-15, has passed away. He was 27 years old.

Texas A&M: Former Aggie baseball coach Rob Childress has taken a job as director of player development at Nebraska.

Vanderbilt: Righthanded pitcher Jack Leiter was taken with the second choice in the first round of the Major League Baseball Draft by the Texas Rangers … Righthanded pitcher Kumar Rocker was taken with the 10thpick in the first round by the New York Mets … Scotty Pippen Jr. has withdrawn from the NBA Draft and will return to Vandy for his third season. Pippen averaged 20.8 points, 2.9 rebounds and 4.9 assists per season last year.

ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: I managed to make it all the way through Wimbledon without once tuning in to watch a single match. Tennis bores me now. I used to love tennis back when it was played with wooden racquets and it was more of a finesse game. I think it was a more entertaining game back in those days when the racquets weren’t so high tech and there was more of a premium put on shot making. If you ever get a chance watch a replay of the 1980 Wimbledon final between Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe, won by Borg, 1-6, 7-5, 6-4, 6-7 (16-18 in the tiebreaker), 8-6. Borg and McEnroe met 14 times from 1978-81 with each one winning seven times. McEnroe was 3-1 in Grand Slam Events with McEnroe winning twice at the US Open and once at Wimbledon.