Ole Miss scored a run in the 10th inning and Scott Weathersby took care of the rest Monday, giving the Rebels a win in the NCAA tournament regional in Oxford and moving them into next weekend's Super Regional in Lafayette, La., against Louisiana-Lafayette. My thoughts on the Rebels' win, next weekend's challenge, the NBA Finals and more in this version of 10 Thoughts, thanks to my friends at Grenada Nissan.
1. Ole Miss' 3-2 win over Washington capped off a weekend that couldn't have gone better for the Rebels. Ole Miss cruised Saturday to an easy win over Jacksonville State, won a 2-1 pitchers' battle against Washington Sunday and then outlasted the fatigued Huskies on Monday.
The Rebels did it in front of a raucous Swayze Field crowd, one that won over the home team and opponents alike. The kids from Seattle left Oxford disappointed but in awe of the atmosphere that is June baseball at Ole Miss.
They also did it with strong bullpen outings from Aaron Greenwood Sunday and Weathersby Monday, timely hitting from Auston Bousfield Sunday and Sikes Orvis Monday, smooth defense, strong starting pitching and gritty toughness.
"I think that's what our league prepares you for," Ole Miss coach Mike Bianco said. "We've been in a lot of these tight games, a lot of one-run games. Sometimes it doesn't go your way, but this time is weathered and certainly tournament tested and a team that believes they're always in it and never out of the fight.
2. Ole Miss will face Louisiana-Lafayette in southwest Louisiana in a Super Regional beginning Friday or Saturday. The Rebels will need just two wins to get to the College World Series in Omaha for the first time since 1972. It will be tough sledding against the Ragin' Cajuns, who improved to 57-8 with a regional championship win Monday night over Mississippi State.
Many had looked forward to an Armageddon matchup of sorts in Oxford between Ole Miss and the Bulldogs, and while that matchup favored the Rebels, I wondered if it might ultimately serve as a disadvantage to the home team. Ole Miss would have had everything to lose in that scenario, and the Bulldogs could have played loose as an underdog.
We'll never know. Instead, Ole Miss will throw a collection of power arms at ULL and take a collection of power hitters into a small ballpark. It's a recipe for success for the Rebels, a team built for a three-game series. People around the program believe this Ole Miss team is the one that breaks the Omaha drought. By this time next week, we'll know if they're right.
3. Not a lot really happened at the Southeastern Conference spring meetings in Destin, Fla. But a lot was said that was more than a bit interesting. Take, for example, some of the comments from outgoing Florida president Bernie Machen, who's never been known for being all that guarded in his comments in the first place.
Machen, in an interview with SI.com's Bernie Machen, explained on Friday why the five power conferences need more autonomy, why he's worried they won't get it and why things could get very messy if they don't.
Minutes later, SEC commissioner Mike Slive made the veiled threat heard round the college athletics world. Slive raised the specter of an NCAA "Division IV" made up exclusively of schools from the five wealthiest leagues.
Having sensed pushback from leagues outside the ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, Pac-12 and SEC toward those conferences' effort to create rules for their particular income bracket, Machen spoke plainly about the wealthy athletic departments being "between a rock and a hard place" with lawsuits on one side and less wealthy athletic departments on the other. Machen warned that if the big schools don't get the flexibility they want to make more permissive rules regarding spending on athletes, pending litigation could decimate the business model of major college sports.
"We've got these lawsuits coming down the pipe at us," Machen told SI.com. "If we don't get it, I think there will be some real difficult times ahead for the NCAA and for the five conferences. What's interesting is the NCAA needs this to work as much as we do."
As Staples wrote, "The wealthy conferences want to give athletes more scholarship money, long-term healthcare and better opportunities to return to finish degrees because those schools are being sued to the hilt in federal court. These schools want to protect their business model, and the people getting rich off this system want to keep as much of their money as possible while also remaining legally compliant.
"Former UCLA basketball player Ed O'Bannon's lawsuit against the NCAA is set to go to trial on June 9 in Oakland, Calif. No matter the verdict, that case could be appealed to the Supreme Court. Its impact won't be immediate, but if the NCAA ultimately loses, it would essentially be illegal for a collegiate governing body to sell a television broadcast without directly compensating the athletes for the use of their names and likenesses. For a group of 14 university presidents who will become cable programmers when ESPN's SEC Network launches on Aug. 14, that's a daunting prospect."
Machen told SI.com that the shift in public opinion regarding collegiate athletics now "is toward welfare. There are a lot of people who think that we have taken care of our coaches, we have taken care of our facilities, but we have done nothing for our athletes in 20 years that they didn't have before."
If the five power conferences don't get what they want with regard to autonomy, they're threatening the formation of new division within the NCAA. Why would any of the other schools vote to allow that?
"If (the autonomy plan) doesn't pass, the next move would be to go to a Division IV," Slive said on Friday. "It's not something we want to do."
The NCAA board is scheduled to vote on the autonomy plan in August. It must then be approved by the majority of Division I members at the NCAA convention in January.
"The whole thing could go up in smoke if the lawsuits come down, if the unionization ruling is upheld," Machen told SI.com. "The whole intercollegiate model is at risk. If they don't want to do this, it seems to me that it's incumbent upon them to come with something that will help us get out of this box."
4. Defensive linemen and defensive coordinators aren't the only people adjusting to the hurry-up, no-huddle offense that has taken college football by storm. Officials are having to prepare for it as well.
On Thursday in Destin, SEC coordinator of officials Steve Shaw broke down several of the ways in which the defense-stretching, clock-defying offenses favored by Oregon, Oklahoma, Auburn, Clemson, Ole Miss and many others have changed the way officials must operate. In order to ensure a fair, consistent game, officials have altered their procedures. In every FBS conference, when the umpire spots the ball, he is not to sprint toward the line of scrimmage. He is not to walk toward the line of scrimmage.
"We expect a crisp jog," Shaw told SI.com.
The emphasis on officiating in 2014 will also include experimentation with an eighth official and increased pressure on replay officials. Shaw spent Wednesday in Destin with the SEC's football coaches, who occupy both sides of the aisle on the tempo issue. Auburn's Gus Malzahn and Texas A&M's Kevin Sumlin want to go fast. Alabama's Nick Saban and Arkansas' Bret Bielema want to slow things down.
"It's a Democrat-Republican issue," Shaw said "There are some Democrats and some Republicans and they're probably never going to change sides."
This season, the SEC will place the eighth official opposite the referee in the offensive backfield. This new official, called the center judge, will spot the ball and allow the umpire -- who lines up near the linebackers and who sets the ball on a seven-man crew -- to pay more attention to the action on the line of scrimmage. The Big 12 experiment used an official floating between crews. In the SEC, referee Matt Loeffler's crew will get the eighth official, and that crew will work games involving all 14 teams during the 2014 season.
The one hard-and-fast rule of replay reviews is that once the next play is snapped, the last play is gone and no longer reviewable. That is making a replay official's job brutal, given the influx of up-tempo coaches.
"Imagine you're working Ole Miss and Auburn," Shaw told SI.com. "They're both up-tempo, and whether they snap it or not, they're at the line six or seven seconds into the play clock. You can't wait until they snap it. ... You have to make a decision. Am I going to stop this play or not?"
5. As a part of President Barack Obama's youth safety sports summit, which is taking place this week, the NCAA and the Department of Defense announced that they will launch a $30 million concussion database in efforts to "enhance the safety of student-athletes."
The NCAA and the Department of Defense are calling the initiative the "most comprehensive study of concussion and head impact exposure ever conducted."
CBSSports.com's Jon Solomon reported the NFL will chip in $25 million to the project as a part of ongoing efforts to better understand concussions and how to best treat them.
The NCAA and The White House estimate that 37,000 male and female student-athletes will participate over the course of the three year study. Each participant will receive a preseason evaluation and will be continually evaluated as their season progresses.
"NCAA schools have placed a priority on improved concussion management, but we still have many unanswered questions in this area," said NCAA President Mark Emmert in a release. "We believe in the incredible potential of this research. Student-athletes will be first to benefit from this effort, but it also will help to more accurately diagnose, treat and prevent concussions among service men and women, youth sports participants and the broader public."
The entire program will be led by researchers at Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin.
I'll give the NCAA and the NFL credit. Both bodies understand just how much football is under the gun right now, so to speak. Both bodies must do everything they can to protect the cash cow football has become. Figuring out a way to stop or curtail concussions and re-establish trust in the game among the parents of youths is absolutely critical. Otherwise, it's not unrealistic to believe football's popularity has reached an apex.
6. My friend, Jim Dunaway, is a sports television anchor and popular radio talk show host in Birmingham, Ala. Dunaway is also quite adept at predicting which SEC football games will get the national slot on CBS in the fall. If Dunaway is right, and his reputation is strong in this category, Ole Miss and Texas A&M will play at 11 a.m. on Oct. 11 in a game televised by the network.
Here's Dunaway's full slate of TV predictions:
Sept. 13 Georgia at South Carolina
Sept. 20 Florida at Alabama
Sept. 27 Tennessee at Georgia
Oct. 4 LSU at Auburn
Oct. 11 Ole Miss at Texas A&M 11 am; LSU at Florida 7 pm
Oct. 18 Texas A&M at Alabama
Oct. 25 SCarolina at Auburn
Nov. 1 Florida at Georgia
Nov. 8 TexA&M at Auburn 2:30 p.m.; Alabama at LSU 7 pm
Nov. 15 Auburn at Georgia
Nov. 22 Missouri at Tennessee
Nov. 28 Arkansas at Missouri
Nov. 29 Auburn at Alabama
Dec. 6 SEC Championship Game
7. Few have had a better 2014 than Adam Silver. The NBA's new commissioner is wildly respected and popular after dealing with the Donald Sterling situation as aggressively as he did. Now, the sale of Sterling's Los Angeles Clippers to Microsoft founder Steve Ballmer has made the rest of the league's ownership giddy. Ballmer is paying $2 billion for the Clippers, a franchise recently valued by Forbes at around $750 million.
As Grantland.com wrote late last week, the league's national TV contract, which yields about $30 million per team annually, is up after the 2015-16 season, and the new one will trump that in a landslide. Throw in the sale of the Milwaukee Bucks for $550 million and the heady TV ratings the league gets all season long and the NBA couldn't be much healthier.
Silver is getting the credit, but as Grantland.com wrote, "The forces driving this are obvious. The league slaughtered the players, forever disorganized and fighting among themselves, in the 2011 lockout. Players used to get 57 percent of all league revenue; they get 50 percent now, a savings of about $10 million per year for each team. Live sporting events only get more valuable to TV networks as fewer competing programs prove DVR-proof. China and India loom as untapped or only semi-tapped markets.
The league's revenue-sharing system will soon ensure that every team makes a profit, or at least comes close.
"The Bobcats got $20 million from it last season, and they'll get about that much again this season. The Pacers and Grizzlies snagged about $15 million apiece, according to several league sources, and even big-market teams such as Atlanta and Washington got some extra scratch. Only a short time ago, owning an NBA team was not a hugely profitable business. Owners used the losses as a tax benefit, knowing they'd reap the gain someday by selling the team outright. They just enjoyed the spotlight.
"Now more owners and prospective owners are viewing teams as moneymaking ventures in their own right, not just glamour purchases with shaky short-term balance sheets."
The sale of the Clippers likely has other NBA owners wondering if it's time to cash out. If the Clippers are worth $2 billion, for example, what could the Lakers fetch? What could Jerry Reinsdorf get if he sold the Chicago Bulls?
The sale of the Clippers to Ballmer could challenge Silver eventually. As Grantland.com notes, "Ballmer is at or near the top of the league's 'wealthiest owner' totem pole, and so he represents another prickly possibility ? the potential for another owner willing to blow past the luxury tax in order to win. The league paid lip service to 'competitive balance' as a goal of the 2011 lockout, and Silver genuinely cares deeply for that cause, even if ratings for small-market playoff games continue to disappoint. The punitive tax hasn't yet scared off the Nets' Mikhail Prokhorov and the Knicks' James Dolan; what if it doesn't scare Ballmer, either?"
Given the year Silver has already had, he's likely not too worried about it yet. Like everything else, it will probably work out.
8. The NBA Finals begin Thursday night in San Antonio with the Spurs looking for revenge against two-time defending NBA champ Miami. Credit where credit is due; the Spurs and Heat deserve to be in the Finals. The two teams play basketball the right way. They're selfless. They move the basketball and they defend. Miami's Erik Spoelstra doesn't get the credit afforded San Antonio's Gregg Popovich, but he rarely doesn't make the necessary adjustment to help his team win. The floor will be full of future Hall of Fame inductees, including the best small forward to ever play the game (LeBron James) and arguably the best power forward to ever lace up a pair of sneakers (Tim Duncan). It should be fantastic theater. My pick, by the way: Spurs in 7.
Other notes of interest (at least to me) from the NBA:
A. The two most recently vanquished teams, Indiana and Oklahoma City, appear to be going in different directions. The Pacers seem destined to lose Lance Stephenson and now have Roy Hibbert all but demanding a trade. Paul George is a phenomenal player, but he needs a supporting cast. It's debatable at best regarding the Pacers' ability to supply it in an Eastern Conference that's only getting better (read: Washington Wizards, Toronto Raptors). The Thunder, meanwhile, figure to benefit from this deep playoff run. Thabo Sefolosha is likely gone via free agency, opening a lineup spot for Reggie Jackson. Derek Fisher is likely (hopefully) history as well, in line for a head coaching gig with the Knicks or Lakers, opening more minutes (presumably) for Jeremy Lamb. Oklahoma City needs shooters. The Thunder need Lamb and Perry Jones to develop their defensive games. Steven Adams needs to take the next step in his development. Assuming the Spurs' core actually ages, one has to like the Thunder's chances at returning to the Finals next season.
B. Kevin Love spent the weekend in Boston, hanging out with Rajon Rondo. That's great, except Love isn't a free agent. Still, no one expects him back in Minnesota next season, and Boston would provide a perfect fit for his skill set. Love has some leverage, in that it stands to reason no team will deal draft choices and young talent for the former UCLA star unless he agrees to a long-term deal.
C. Kudos to the late Herb Kohl. The former owner of the Milwaukee Bucks passed up a larger offer ? $250 million more ? to keep the franchise he owned for 29 years in Milwaukee, according to a report on Friday from Brian Windhorst of ESPN. The 79-year-old former U.S. Senator from Wisconsin turned down an offer that would have totaled approximately $800 million from Ballmer and partner Chris Hansen in favor of a $550 million deal in April from hedge fund managers Wesley Edens and Marc Lasry. The reasoning: Ballmer and Hansen had planned on moving the Bucks to Seattle if the deal was accepted by Kohl, according to Windhorst. Edens and Lasry contributed an additional $100 million toward the construction of a new arena, an amount matched by Kohl. As part of the deal, the NBA is able to buy the Bucks from new owners Edens and Lasry if there is not a plan in place to build a new arena by the end of 2017. The clause in that contract was an opportunity that Ballmer and Hansen saw to move the team to Seattle, the former city of the Thunder ? then the SuperSonics.
D. I joke on Twitter about Fisher a lot, and while I did think the 39-year-old guard took far too many minutes and shots for the Thunder this season, he's a class act and I expect he'll do very well in New York if that's where he ends up (as most anticipate).
9. Miami Dolphins owner Steve Ross said on Saturday at the NFL Career Development Symposium in Philadelphia that the city of Los Angeles will get an NFL team ? not an expansion team, and not the Dolphins ? within the next five years, according to a tweet from The Wall Street Journal's Kevin Clark.
In a report from Dan Hanzus of NFL.com, Ross was quoted at length talking about the NFL being "very concentrated" on launching a team in Los Angeles.
"It's not as simple as finding a place and putting a stadium there," Ross told NFL.com. "I think a lot of teams would like to be there, and certain teams should be there, and I think the NFL is very concentrated on getting a team in the L.A. market It's about finding the site, building the stadium, getting the approvals and moving on. I think that's one of the great priorities of the NFL."
Ross said before purchasing the Miami franchise in 2008, he gave some thought toward working on building a stadium in Los Angeles. Last July, longtime Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said it's a "black eye" for the NFL to not have a league in such a large market like Los Angeles. Jones said the league is "closer than ever" to having perhaps one or two teams back in the city, a throwback to the days when the Rams and Raiders were there until 1994.
Meanwhile, Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank believes the NFL will eventually expand to London.
"I think it will start with an increased number of games," Blank told SI.com's Peter King. "That will be translated into a very successful series of games, and eventually, I think a franchise. And maybe more than one. London's a big city ... I think eventually having that many games says that we really are playing a season in London, so we probably ought to have a team here. I think it will be a natural progression to a team."
Blank pointed out that each of the three games scheduled for this year -- 240,000 tickets -- are sold out.
"I think that it's proved conclusive that fans will come out when they see the real players playing games that are really meaningful, as opposed to NFL Europe," Blank told King. "There's been discussion about potentially having a franchise in London. I'm very optimistic. The approach that the international committee and the commissioner have taken is, 'Let's do London right, and then move from there to potentially somewhere else.' I'm sure there are wonderful cities in Europe, and elsewhere."
10a. Stealing a little from ESPN Radio's Colin Cowherd here with my version of two for the road. First, according to SI.com, a letter from biologist Charles Darwin to his son may have proven that hockey was played in England long before the first officially recognized game was played in Canada.
As every Canadian could tell you, the first recorded indoor game occurred in Montreal in 1875. However, in a letter to his son who was away at Shrewsbury School, the father of evolution remembered playing the game in the early 1800′s, according to the London Daily Mail.
"My Dear Old Willy have you got a pretty good pond to skate on? I used to be very fond of playing at Hocky [sic] on the ice in skates," Darwin wrote.
Darwin had himself attended the school as a boarder between 1818 and 1825 himself, and it is thought his reference to enjoying "hockey on the ice" relates to this time.
The new info comes from a book by Canadian hockey historian Jean-Patrice Martel titled On The Origins of Hockey, which also found other evidence the game in England in a 1838 newspaper report of a game of ice hockey played at a party.
10b. Is Walter White really dead? The actor who played White in "Breaking Bad," Bryan Cranston, didn't rule out the possibility that White is still alive in an interview on CNN today with host Ashleigh Banfield.
Spoiler alert:
In last year's climactic finale "Felina," White appeared to die after a violent shootout with the neo-Nazis who had stolen his drug earnings.
"You never saw a bag zip up or anything," Cranston said.
Banfield then pressed Cranston by directly asking him if Walter White is in fact "dead".
"I don't know," Cranston answered, before saying about a possible Breaking Bad movie: "Never say never."
Cranston has previously said that he would love to guest star in the upcoming "Breaking Bad" spinoff series "Better Call Saul."
I'm torn here. I loved "Breaking Bad." Loved it. However, I'm not certain my heart could take much more. There's a reason, after all, that I've gone to the other end of television series spectrum these days.
"Arrested Development" has yet to cost me a moment's sleep.
