I hope the Detroit Tigers got their man. The Tigers announced today, a new chapter of Tigers baseball is just beginning. The Tigers have named Scott Harris the club’s President of Baseball Operations. Harris, 36, had been the general manager of the Giants for three seasons after serving multiple roles in the Cubs’ baseball operations department for seven years under Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer. Last year the Giants had the best record in the MLB, and the Cubs won the World Series in 2018. Time will tell if this is a good hire.
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I was pleasantly surprised when I read an article in The Guardian today, that said Michigan and Maine were the only two states who test the sludge that is used for fertilization of farmland. Here are excerpts from the article. States are continuing to allow sewage sludge to be spread on cropland as fertilizer and in some cases increasing the amount spread, even as the PFAS-tainted substance has ruined farmers’ livelihoods, poisoned water supplies, contaminated food and put the public’s health at risk.
Michigan and Maine are the only two states in the US to widely test sludge, and regulators in each say contamination was found in all tested samples. Still, in recent months, officials in Virginia increased the amount of sludge permitted to be spread on farmland without testing for PFAS, while Alabama regulators have rejected residents’ and environmental groups’ pleas to test sludge for the chemicals.
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I heard about this story over the weekend, but I had my doubts. Turns out it is true as reported by the The Athletic, a subsidiary of the NY Times.
The University of Texas is one of the few athletic departments that shows a profit each year, due to its tremendous booster support and its very large football stadium. In June, UT spent $280,000 in a single weekend to recruit, Arch Manning and nine other high school football players. This was his Manning’s official visit to Texas, a designation that meant the school could roll out the red carpet for him, using its expansive resources to try to impress the most coveted quarterback recruit in decades. A luxury hotel. An open bar for parents. A smorgasbord of food and nonstop entertainment. Nine recruits, including Manning, received first-class treatment throughout their 48 hours in Austin, all paid for out of the school’s substantial recruiting budget.
NCAA athletics is a like a nuclear arms race, no matter how much you spend today, it will not be enough for tomorrow. Is it any wonder that only a select few universities have athletic departments that are profitable? Of the 65 schools in the five major conferences in Division I, only 25 reported a profit in 2019.
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It was a roller coaster weekend for Eastern Michigan University athletic director, Scott Weatherbee.
Late Saturday, the EMU football team went into Tempe, Arizona and defeated Arizona State, 30-21, leading to Sun Devils head coach Herm Edwards getting fired the following day. The Eagles dominated from the start, taking a 10-0 lead after the first quarter and leading the rest of the way. They scored on four of their first-half possessions, converting 9-of-10 third downs to take a 24-14 lead, holding a 307-127 advantage in total yards.
And then on Sunday, EMU basketball player Emoni Bates, a one-time five-star recruit who was on the cover of Sports Illustrated, is facing gun charges after he was arrested during a traffic stop Sunday night in Washtenaw County. Bates, 18, faces two felony charges in Washtenaw County’s 14A-1 District Court, online court records show. One charge is for carrying a concealed weapon. The other is for altering identification marks on a weapon or firearm. Both were requested by the Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Office. Bates was suspended from “practices and playing privileges” at EMU, university Athletic Director Scott Wetherbee said in a Monday statement.
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Getting old is not for sissies. Since my annual physical in mid-August, it has been a whirlwind of tests and procedures. Dr. Tom O’Connor has been my primary care physician for over 30 years. I trust him completely. At my exam, I told him about the sleight pain I was having in my right breast, while he shared with me that my bilirubin lab scores were slightly elevated. Dr. T, wanted to make sure there were no issues, so he started the ball rolling by ordering additional tests. Since mid-August, I have had a mammogram (now I can relate to Leah complaining about it every time she gets one), I have had an ultrasound on my liver, and finally on Friday evening, I had an MRI on my abdomen that lasted over 1 hour and 20 minutes. Let’s just say, it was not a pleasant experience as my arthritic neck and damaged shoulder were barking at me the entire time. Add that to the extremely cramped quarters and a noise level that rivals a rock concert, I couldn’t get out of the machine fast enough. The good news is that other than being old, there does not appear to be any issues that I need to worry about.
I am really looking forward to my cardiac stress test in November and my colonoscopy in December. Getting old is not for sissies.
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Quote of the Day: “Man, it’s inspirational to see the direction of the franchise and what Scott can bring to the organization. The way his mind thinks. The vision he has for this organization. He’s been around so many successful teams and successful people. I think he’s going to do it his way and he’s going to have a lot of information for us moving forward on what we need to do to get this back to being a winning organization.” Tiger Manager A.J. Hinch on the new President of Baseball Operations, Scott Harris.
Orchid of the Day: Aiden Hutchinson and Amon-Ra St. Brown of the Detroit Lions. Three sacks for Hutchinson and an NFL record for St. Brown, for being the first player in NFL history to have eight catches and a TD in six consecutive NFL games.
Onion of the Day: The golf gods were not very kind to Tom Peterson and me yesterday in the second round of our two-man best ball tournament at Oak Lane Golf Course in Webberville.
Question of the Day: With 70 points in two games and not folding yesterday, are these the Same Old Lions? Or do I have a reason to be optimistic?
Video/Image of the Day: Check out the catch and run by Deandre Swift at the 8 minute mark of the video.