Do you really believe …
… the District 1-5A and 1-4A championships will be decided this Friday night, in Week 4?
… LSU will go to Oxford and score more points than Ole Miss Saturday?
… Sam Burns and the USA will ride the home course advantage at Bethpage Black and regain the Ryder Cup Sunday?
… the Toronto Blue Jays and the Milwaukee Brewers are the top teams in their leagues as the MLB regular season concludes Sunday?
… the Cowboys, Saints and Texans are as bad as their combined 1-8 record indicates?
… the Rouxgaroux indoor football franchise survived its shoddy start last spring and will be playing next spring in Brookshire Grocery Arena?
… Paul Skenes is human?
Those are just a few questions that seem timely as we acknowledge the Shreveport Mudbugs are two weekends into the NAHL regular season (if they’re as good as usual, they’ll be in the playoffs next May); the New Orleans Pelicans tipped off preseason workouts Tuesday and Zion Williams is a seven-year NBA veteran; 10 years ago, Donald Trump and Jimmy Kimmel were cordial.
Strange, but true.
As far as those other topics above …
… it’s going to be a very interesting Friday night at Evangel and Northwood.
Airline’s reconfigured offense (run, do not necessarily throw, to the nearest end zone) and its always-gonna-be-doubted defense (could take a giant leap toward changing that reputation with a statement game at ECA) contribute to a compelling matchup at Rodney Duron Stadium.
The Vikings topped the Eagles 47-42 last year when the word “potentially” still applied to Evangel passer Pop Houston. The best way to defend him is to deny him. Hold possession. Houston is a problem. And he’s hardly a one-man team, although he did have all but 81 of the Eagles 704 total yards last Friday when they survived a heck of a comeback by Byrd, which trailed by 21 twice before forging a 28-all tie in ECA’s 43-36 survival act.
What does Byrd do? Run the ball. What should Airline do?
Whatever happens, call me crazy, but those Parkway Panthers would like a word. And don’t discard Captain Shreve’s Gators. The 1-5A race has plenty of plot twists ahead.
Northwood’s Austin Brown believes this is the Falcons’ best squad ever. The 2023 team beat mighty North DeSoto. Could the Griffins, deservedly elevated to the top spot in the state 4A top 10 after overpowering West Monroe on the road last week, be unable to handle the heat two weeks in a row?
This one will be the tipping point for the 1-4A title. It’s a shame Northwood’s enrollment is a few dozen too many for the Falcons to play in the Division II postseason, where they’d be sure to mount a deep playoff run. They can prove that point Friday night if they keep NDHS from scoring too much.
… Am not sold, at all, on LSU’s offensive line. The Tigers are now too thin at running back with Caden Durham at least gimpy, and Garrett Nussmeier seems unable to go downfield even if he got enough time to look deep. That Tiger defense is absolutely legit, even though they’ll go without Evangel product Gabe Reliford (dislocated shoulder) for the first time Saturday afternoon.
LSU is highly-ranked because of that season-opening Clemson win that doesn’t look so spiffy nowadays. Ole Miss’ biggest drama is in the Lane Kiffin household, with daughter Landry cozy with LSU linebacker Whit Weeks. The coach’s response? “Take the over.”
… New Yorkers heckling Europeans, especially Rory McIlroy? Decorum dismissed. Jon Rahm’s temper has a hair-trigger, too. The United Nations General Assembly has a better chance of consensus than Europe has of hauling the Ryder Cup back across the pond next week.
… Toronto? Milwaukee? Next thing you’ll tell me is some guy named Cal Raleigh has 60 bombs and counting and Seattle has salted away the AL West. Don’t believe this World Series will be network TV-ratings friendly.
… Yes. The Saints ain’t, not this season. The Cowboys play their best defense when Jerry Jones goes into a courtroom. The Texans are the outlier, but it’s tough to come back from 0-3 to contender.
… Still despise the Rouxgaroux mascot. That’s a Cajun creature. The move across the Red River gave new ownership a great opportunity. The Bossier Bigfoot was a brand there for the taking. What a whiff. Merch sales alone would have made it a profitable franchise.
… Skenes – is there any question? He’s MLB’s best pitcher. Livvy Dunne loves him. He’s a patriot who really, truly wants to serve in the Air Force after he stops pitching.
Human? Nah. He’s a unicorn.
Contact Doug at sbjdoug@gmail.com