The month of September is the HELLO-GOODBYE month in the sports world. Summer sports are winding down while Fall Sports are just beginning! Take a look…

…HELLO TO COLLEGE FOOTBALL: Talk about excitement of the 1^st weekend between two long-time football powers- Miami vs Notre Dame-it was a thriller! Miami led 24-14 with 9:42 when Miami kicker Carter Davis put a 38 yard FG to take advantage of a deflected interception. ND answered as their red-shirt QB CJ Carr led them right back down the field for a FG. Then, the ND defense stepped up & forced a 3 & out. ND kept the momentum rolling when TE Eli Raridon caught a 65 yd pass. ND scored 2 plays later with 3:21 on the clock to tie the game. But…it wasn’t over…Miami led by transfer QB Carson Beck (transfer from Georgia—his $3m-$4m NIL money changed his mind  & converted him to play for Miami) set up the winning FG by Carter Davis-47 yarder with 1:04 left in the game. Final Miami 27- Notre Dame 24!  What a turnaround for Davis—last year he was 2 for 7 in FG attempts @ Florida Atlantic! It was a GREAT game between two long-time college powerhouses. 

….GOODBYE TO BEING #1:  Ohio State 14 Texas 7. It was a defensive battle! Texas actually had the best of the “statistics game” with 336 yards total offense to the Buckeyes 203 yards! Texas QB Arch Manning (yes…another Manning QB is on the tube) had a tough day (to put it mildly). Manning was 0-for-5 on passes 5 or more yards downfield over the first 3 quarters. He also finished with an off-target rate of 37% — the worst game in that department by any Texas quarterback over the past decade! One title titled it “Manning Flopped”! Manning telegraphed one downfield interception with a long windup, and nearly telegraphed another, but officials overturned the tipped pick. He completed a very modest 17 of 30 passes for a scant 170 yards, a touchdown and an interception. Further, most of those yards came in the fourth quarter when his team was down by two scores. This was the 4th time the No. 1 team in the AP preseason poll has met the previous season’s national champion in the opening game of the season. The defending champ has won the last 3 times!

…GOODBYE TO THE MEMORIES! It was the first opening day loss for Bama in 24 years as they fell to Florida State 31-17. It was Bama’s 1^st opening day loss in 24 years! Further, only it’s 8^th loss on opening day in 55 years!  Footnote here… myself, I’d rather see these “big” programs play each other in the opening game. As a coach, you really learn much, much more about your players against other good teams than “blow outs” where your team totally overmatches the opponent. (see below). The loss ended Alabama’s streak of 23 consecutive wins in season openers and was their first season-opening loss since 2001! 2^nd year Head Bama Coach Kalen DeBoer still has the shadow of Nick Saban hovering over him which included 6 national championships—WOW! 

…HELLO TO ANOTHER CUPCAKE! Mizzou 61 Cen Arkansas 6,  a BCS school (formerly called a D-2 school)  that finished 6-6 in 2024. So Mizzou opens up against a D-2  team that didn’t even hold a winning record! Enough said about playing totally overmatched teams who are playing for the money and not to compete on the field. If you REALLY want to be considered in the Highest Tier of College Football (and we are paying the coach that type of salary -$9m+/year) schedule like a TOP TIER team.

…Saying GOODBYE to the football program will be QB Sam Horn. Horn walked off the field on crutches. Horn was injured after just 1 snap.  Wouldn’t it be tragic to lose your baseball career for 1 football play? I wish him luck in his recovery.

… Louisiana State University seems to always say HELLO TO A NEW SEASON by “loading up” in the early games against terrific non-conference opponents. For example, this year-#9 LSU 17 plays  #4 Clemson. Playing other top-notch opening games is common place for LSU in recent years: In 2024: LSU played Southern California Trojans. In 2023, it was the Florida State Seminoles.  2021 saw LSU vs the UCLA Bruins. Recruiting & aggressive non-league scheduling (with good outcomes) is how a team reaches the top levels in the rankings. You have to believe that it prepares them for their challenging SEC games “down the road.” Maybe….maybe…that’s 1 reason why they’re in the top spots in NCAA.

…Walt Jocketty is saying HELLO to the Cardinals HOF. I must admit I was surprised…I had never thought of putting an off-the-field person in the HOF. Then, I was skeptical that he belonged. But…I was shocked & amazed at the ballplayers that Jocketty procured for the Cardinals. Jocketty was GM for the Cardinals from 1994-2007. Sooo…he was GM in 1996-won Central Division; defeated San Diego in NL Division Series; lost to Braves in NL Championship Series; in 2000 the Cards won the Central Division with a terrific 95–67 regular season record; in NL Division Series: Swept the Atlanta Braves, 3–0 but lost NL Championship Series to the New York Mets, 4–1. The next year- 2001 finished 93-69 in

Regular Season & secured the NL Wild Card. Lost NL Division Series to the Arizona Diamondbacks, 3–2; In 2002 posted 97–65 record while winning the NL Central division. In NL Division Series: Swept the Arizona Diamondbacks, 3–0 (avenging 2001 post-season loss) but in NL Championship Series: Lost to the San Francisco Giants, 4–1. In 2004 again won NL Central division with a record of 105–57 (48 games over .500!!)  In NL Division Series beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 3–1. Also won the NL Championship Series as they handled the Houston Astros, 4–3. But, fell in World Series as they were swept by the Boston Red Sox, 4–0. Finally in 2006 the Cardinals won the World Series as they beat the Tigers 4 games to 1. Boy…those really were the “Good Ol’ Days”! It was the first MLB title since 1982!! Jocketty was fired the next year (2007) when Jeff Luhnow became a 2^nd “faction” in the leadership of the team. The Cardinals sided with Luhnow. It seems strange to me…Luhnow then left the Cardinals in 2011 taking some (maybe even a lot) of the Cardinals new software with him! There was a back/forth struggle between the 2 teams for several years over the departing actions of Luhnow. I must say…the entire incident was kept relatively quiet. BTW…the year after the 2006 championship, the Cards won a stunning low total number of wins with a meager 78 wins in 2007. That would be the only sub .500 season until 2023!  In ’23 the Cards new ownership began their “new approach” and they posted a horrible 71-91 record. But, more importantly, the change in evaluation & leadership now seemed more based on their cost than their performance.

…Jocketty had this success as he procured players through trades like Adam Wainwright, Jim Edmonds, Scott Rolen, Mark McGwire, Edgar Renteria, Darryl Kile, Larry Walker, Woody Williams, Jeff Weaver, Jason Marquis, Rafael Furcal, Joel Pineiro, Mark Sweeney, Todd Stottlemyre, Dennis Eckersley, Fernando Vina, Will Clark, and others who played roles in the winning years of the Cardinals.

SAY HELLO TO THE CARDINALS HALL OF FAME!! There were many “Notable” free-agent signings by Jocketty: Chris Carpenter, Jason Isringhausen, Jeff Suppan, David Eckstein, Mike Matheny, Andy Benes, Tom Henke, Reggie Sanders, Ron Gant, Ryan Franklin, Pat Hentgen, Delino DeShields, Julian Tavarez, So Taguchi, Scott Spiezio, Ryan Ludwick, Gary Gaetti, Tony Womack, Mark Grudzielanek, Juan Encarnacion, and the late-career Willie McGee. I know I’ve left some guys out (maybe some of your favorites) – but there are so many of them, and that’s credit to Jocketty.  WOW!! Even though I thoroughly enjoyed Cardinal baseball for all those years… I didn’t realize that Jocketty had assembled so many gifted, very-very talented, players while still keeping the overall salary scale in “check.”  With Albert & Yadi coming through the system to supplement many of these players, the Cardinals were a powerhouse for a long, long time in large part due to Jocketty’s skill as GM!!

…SAY GOODBYE TO THE DYNASTIES: As we approach the end of the MLB regular season as we face September, the Detroit Tigers & Milwaukee Brewers sit at the top of each league. At the START of the season, the usual, Yankees & Dodgers were considered the favorites, No ONE expected either of these teams to be so dominant as they have in 2025 . But, when you look @ the statistics of each team, it’s clear why they are #1. Each team did it a different way! Take a look…

…Milwaukee’s team stats in NL Batting:  #1 batting average in NL;  so of course #1 most hits; #1 in Runs Scored; #1 OBP (on base %); #12 in team strikeouts; #1 Stolen Bases (free bases, of sorts); very strong home record of 45-24! Clearly their batting & base running are their strong points.

… In team PITCHING STATS in NL: Brewers are #4 in team WHIP with a .123 mark. The #1 team in that category San Diego is .120; at .121 are the Cubs & Pirates! Sooo.. it’s very, very close! Brewers are #11 in NL in Quality Starts!! Brewers are #3 in Strikeouts from their pitchers; but…saving the best to last…Milwaukee is #1 in NL team ERA @3.60 & #2 in team saves in the NL; Brewers staff is #3 in team strikeouts!

…Ironically, the 2025 Milwaukee Brewers started the season with 4 straight losses but won 7 of the next 8 games to jump over .500. Milwaukee had a 14 game winning streak this year and 7x won 3 in a row with 2 other winning streaks of 4 games. Streaks like that lead to Championships.

…Detroit Tigers Offensive team stats in American League:  4^th in AL in runs scored’ 6^th in AL in Team Hits; 5^th in AL in Home Runs; 12^th in Strike Outs; 5^th in Slugging %; 15^th(last) in STOLEN BASES; 4^th in Team Runs.

…In Team Pitching Stats: The Tigers are 4^th in team ERA; 6^th in Team SAVES; 7^th in allowing Home Runs; 3^rd in allowing WALKS; 6^th in SAVES; 4^th in Team WHIP; 5^th in STRIKOUTS; despite those not so glamorous stats, the Tigers lead the league with 15 shutouts!!

…SAY GOODBYE to mediocrity as the Detroit Tigers rely on new, young stars– Spencer Torkelson, Javier Báez, and Zach McKinstry at the plate in 2025. McKinstry, who performed poorly in 2024, has significantly boosted his production at the plate. Led by ace Tarik Skubal, their pitching staff has also been a major strength, ranking among the league’s best (see stats Above).

…SAY HELLO TO ANOTHER GREAT YANKEE! In the American League –It’s been  totally dominated by NYY 1B, Aaron Judge. He’s actually dominating at the plate like Babe Ruth did in his heyday.  Well…maybe I’m stretching it a bit! Babe Ruth was incredible. Really incredible!   But…Judge has been terrific also. Check out Babe’s  key statistics in 1921:  Home Runs: 59  RBI: 168;   Runs Scored: 177 (still an MLB record) ;  Walks: 145;  On-Base % (OBP): .512;   Slugging %: .846 ; Total Bases: 457 (still an MLB record); Extra-Base Hits: 119 (still an MLB record).

…So Ruth’s lifetime stats are probably not reachable but compare Aaron Judge’s 2025 numbers:  

Average-.324; Home Runs:43; Hits-151; On-Base Plus Slugging (OPS)- 1.113; On-Base %(OBP)-.442. and OPS (on base + slugging)—1.13!!! He’s not the Babe but….but, without doubt, he’s producing at an unbelievable clip in 2025. Keep following him. And…in fairness to both these great players, the MLB game has changed a great deal since the Babe wore cleats.

….SAY GOODBYE TO OPENING DAY SUCCESS! Deion Sanders had to say GOODBYE in week 1 in a different way then any other of his years as Head Coach. Sanders’ Colorado team lost to Georgia Tech (not GEORGIA!!) 27-20. It was the 1^st time that HC Sanders has ever lost a FIRST game of the season. Haynes King faked a pitch and scampered for a 45-yard TD with ONLY 1:07 remaining as Georgia Tech overcame a turnover-filled start to upend Colorado 27-20 this weekend. Maybe Sanders should look in the mirror… Colorado had 2 timeouts left on their final drive but didn’t use them!  As a result when They drove to the 50 yard line before they were forced to attempt a Hail Mary with only 3 seconds remaining in the game but the ball was batted down in the end zone. Now…that clock management isn’t the players fault! However, let’s give him credit for scheduling a “real” competitive team in week one of the 2025 season.

…Thanks so much for your TIME & READ! I really appreciate it!  YOUR thoughts on any of the topics are always invited. Bob