Good morning, all. I hope your week is off to a great start.
I am rooting for Deion Sanders to get a college football head coaching job at the FBS level. I have always been intrigued by Sanders’ career, from his days when he starred in baseball and football (Remember when he hit that inside-the-park home run for the New York Yankees?) to his role as a sports broadcaster and then his jump to the college coaching ranks.
Not many people gave Sanders a chance, when he took over as head coach at Jackson St. in 2020, but all he has done is win in Lorman, Miss. Now in his third year as coach, his Tigers are 11-0 and finally the big time college football programs are taking notice. Sanders is reportedly in talks with South Carolina and Colorado. Maybe other schools will come forward.
Here is hoping Sanders makes it to the top. It seems he has always had to prove himself, despite a stellar record, but each time “Prime Time” has delivered, whether it was during his 14-year career in the NFL, nine-year career in MLB or being a two-time All-American at Florida St.
“Neon Deion” has had quite a career, including playing on the same day for the Atlanta Braves and the Atlanta Falcons. Did I mention he is the only athlete to play in both a Super Bowl (twice) and a World Series? Now he is getting it done in the coaching ranks. Landing a position at a big time school would be fun to watch. Here is hoping “Coach Prime” lands a prime time position.
Free agent race is on
Baseball’s free agent race is on and it will be more active this year than last, when MLB ground to a halt, after the working agreement with the players association expired. Where will AL MVP Aaron Judge land? What about AL Cy Young Award winner Justin Verlander or pitcher Jacob deGrom?
When the Dodgers non-tendered 2019 MVP winner Cody Bellinger, rumors started flying they were making room to sign Judge, seemingly replacing the San Francisco Giants as the number one suitor for the slugger. Of course, waiting in the wings is his old club the New York Yankees, seemingly prepared to top all offers.
There are also stories that the New York Mets are interested in Verlander. It would mark a reunion with Max Scherzer. Would the Mets also make a play to keep deGrom? Wouldn’t that be a 1-2-3 punch. The Mets are also supposedly interested in Jameson Taillon, the Yankees free agent pitcher.
Stories -and there will be many, as websites attempt to generate clicks - abound that the Yankees are more concerned with strengthening their bullpen, rather than there starting rotation, but it would not surprise me if they emptied the tank for deGrom, should they lose out on Judge. It would also not surprise me if the Yankees signed free agent SS Xander Bogaerts, althought the Phillies are also reportedly in the hunt for the ex-Red Sox shortstop. Supposedly deep in shortstop prospects, the Yankees could package them for a big bat and closer, should Judge go elsewhere, sign Bogaerts and make that run at deGrom or even Verlander.
All in all, it should be a fun stretch over the next six weeks.
Remembering JFK
Fifty-nine years ago today, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, TX. Like many others, I wonder how the world might have been different had the 35th President served two terms?
While most events were canceled on the weekend of this tragedy, the NFL decided to play its games on Nov. 24, two days after the assassination. NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle later called his decision to go ahead with the games one of his biggest regrets.
Some presidents pretend to be sports fans, others really follow the games. President Kennedy was a true sports fan, who loved football and golf and followed baseball. (His father almost purchased the Boston Red Sox.) Like most of us who got caught up in Aaron Judge’s successful chase of Roger Maris’ single-season Home Run record, JFK closely followed Maris, as he chased Babe Ruth’s single-season HR mark in 1961.
I was in the third grade on that fateful day. I still remember my third grade teacher at Riverside School, Mrs. Gilson, leaving the classroom then returning moments later her head shaking as she said, “Class something terrible has happened. We are dismissing you early.” Then as I walked home with my buddy, I recall his sister racing down the street, screeming, “They shot the President!”
After getting home, along with my parents and brothers, I sat intrigued in front of our black-and-white Philco TV set, not fully comprehending what had happened, but knowing it was bad. I also remember thinking how one person could be president one minute and another person could be president the next.
Then two days later, as I was playing outside with other neighborhood kids, I remember my mother racing onto the porch yelling, “They shot Oswald.” I recall thinking, surely my mother got it wrong, that the news was Lee Harvey Oswald had shot the president. So we raced in the house, only to learn my parents were witnessing a murder on live television.
A nation and world changed on Nov. 22, 1963, after JFK’s limosine turned left from Houston St. onto Elm St. and drove below the Texas School Book Depository Building. It left many of us to wonder what might have been.
50 years ago
Can it be? Fifty years ago this week, I broadcast my first game on the radio, the Thanksgiving Day football game between Torrington and archrival Watertown. The game was played at historic Fuessenich Park in Torrington and broadcast over local radio station WTOR. Many years and game broadcasts have passed since then, but I will always remember that first one.
As always thank you for subscribing to my newsletter and for your support, and a Happy Thanksgiving to those in the United States
SPORTSCASTER DAN
Rooting for Deion Sanders
As usual great article Dan. Congrats on 50 years of broadcasting!