College stadiums, ‘Vettes, and a “Blues” golden oldie

Shots in the Darke

With mens beach volleyball and womens gymnastics from the Summer Olympics on television in the background, it’s time to take a look at various items of interest (hopefully!) in the sports world and elsewhere!

High school golf starts Monday, the 29th with other high school fall sports beginning on Thursday, August 1st. Greenville’s Green Wave gridders, under the guidance of new head coach Sean Ford, open the regular season a day early by traveling down Route 127 to tangle with the Eaton Eagles on Thursday night, August 22nd.

Speaking of the Eagles of the Southwestern Buckeye League, the conference will be gaining a new member in the fall of ‘25 as the Oxford Talawanda Braves come aboard. The SWBL will then have 13 members, with Talawanda becoming a part of the Southwestern Division along with Bellbrook, Edgewood, Franklin, Monroe, and Ross. The Buckeye Division will remain as is, consisting of Brookville, Carlisle, Eaton, Madison, Oakwood, Valley View, and Waynesville. The SWBL has been a conference since back in the 1940s and has evolved over the years to become what is now a highly competitive league in all sports, both boys and girls.

NFL training camps are underway with the usual holdouts, injuries, and anticipation.

Remember the song “Mamma, don’t let your sons grow up to be cowboys”? Maybe it should be altered to “Mamma, let your sons grow up to be NFL quarterbacks”. In today’s era of compensation gone wild, how about these four signal callers’ latest contracts, all of which are for over $200 million dollars on extended signings—the Packers Jordan Love, Tua Tagovailoa of the Dolphins, Jared Goff of the Lions, and the Jaguars Trevor Lawrence. The thing about that is none of the four are considered to be in the top tier of five or six field generals!!

Here’s the first of today’s trivia questions—where did Jordan Love play college football?

ESPN took a poll of 14 college football writers concerning the 25 best college stadiums in which to watch a game, with no set parameters on which to base their votes. I’ve been in 12 of the 25 selections and have to say that I agree with their inclusion, although not necessarily their ranking. So here are the top 7, along with a few others—

1. Tiger Stadium, home of the LSU Tigers.
2. The Rose Bowl, UCLA’s home turf and “the Granddaddy of all bowl games”.
3. Michigan Stadium, home of TTUN.
4. Notre Dame Stadium, where the Fighting Irish play.
5. Beaver Stadium, home of the Penn State Nittany Lions.
6. Husky Stadium, on Lake Washington in Seattle.
7. Ohio Stadium, the ‘Shoe, home of THE.
12. Michie Stadium, one of the prettiest settings in football, home of Army’s Black Knights.
23. Kidd-Brewer Stadium in Boone, NC, home of Appalachian State’s Mountaineers.

For a complete listing, go to ESPN.com and search “college football stadiums”. I’m sure you’ll form your own opinions!!

I read that General Motors’ iconic Chevrolet Corvette brand had sales of 53,785 worldwide in ‘23, just 22 shy of the top sales year of 1979. Thirty-four thousand (34,000) were sold in the US, almost twice as many as in ‘19–must have been a pent-up demand following the Covid pandemic! Trivia question two—since 1981, Corvette production has been located in what city?

And you thought that the salaries were exorbitant in the NBA? Get ready as the league has just entered into a $77 Billion (yes, that’s billion) 11-year contract with NBC, ESPN, and Amazon to air games, more than double the present fees offered by TNT.

Charles Barkley, one of my favorite analysts, has an interesting take on the move, saying that TNT, which has broadcast NBA games since 1989, never had a chance because the league wanted to look to the future with streaming services as opposed to thinking of the fans’ best interests. Probably about as accurate an explanation as any!

Jordan Love played college football at Utah State, foregoing his senior year to enter the NFL draft in 2020. A first-round selection of Green Bay (the 26th overall pick), he sat the bench for three years behind Aaron Rodgers, becoming the starter in ‘23. Here’s an interesting fact: Love grew 9” and gained 80 pounds between his freshman year of high school and his first year at Utah State, so take heart, all of you late-developing 14-year-olds out there!!

The Corvette is manufactured in Bowling Green, Kentucky and with the Corvette Museum (which is well worth the visit) is located alongside I-65. On a side note, my brother Kirk always told his Ohio State college dates that he’d pick them in a ‘vette. Unfortunately, it was a Chevette!!

Finally, as I was driving back from a week of “Lake Life” on Lake Wawasee in northern Indiana with family and friends, I was dialed in to a “blues” station and cruised along to that great ballad by George Thorogood and the Destroyers, “One Bourbon, One Scotch, and One Beer”. I’d forgotten how catchy a tune that was and how much fun it was to sing along with it! Have a great week!! Cheers!!