OBSERVATIONS: Some Thanksgiving tidbits to chew on

By Hal McCoy

UNSOLICITED OBSERVATIONS from The Man Cave, offering some short pre-Thanksgiving appetizers:

—After watching Gonzaga dissect UCLA on the Bruins’ home court, it isn’t likely the Zags will lose a game this season, unless the Milwaukee Bucks are slipped onto the schedule.

—One thing for certain, Tampa Bay quarterback Tom Brady and Father Time are best of friends.

—When Steph Curry is on the floor, the three-point line should be the International Date Line.

—A quarterback trying to escape Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett is like trying to sneak bottled water past TSA.

—Putting A-Rod in the baseball Hall of Fame would be like naming John Dillinger president of a bank.

—The University of Dayton (1-and-3) and Wright State University (1-and-5) basketball teams would like to push a reset button on their seasons and definitely not the replay button. WSU lost three straight in the Naples Invitational to finish last in an eight-team field. Their last loss was to Long Beach State, 85-76, a team that had lost four straight.

The Raiders have lost five straight, longest losing streak in coach Scott Nagy’s illustrious tenure.

—To improve scoring, a suggestion has been made to baseball commissioner Rob Manfred that runs scored on home runs be doubled. A solo home run would be worth two runs, a home run with one on would be worth four runs, a home run with two on would be worth six runs and a grand slam home run would be worth eight runs.

—Are the Houston Rockets really the Washington Generals, the team that loses every game to the Harlem Globetrotters?
The NBA’s Rockets, with a nameless roster, are 1-and-16 and a definite threat to finish worse than the 9-and-73 Philadelphia 76ers of the 1972-73 season.

—The Cincinnati Reds sent out an e-mail listing the best holiday gifts for your favorite Reds fan. An accomplished closer, a leader in the clubhouse and a shortstop were not on the list.

—This one is from Dave Ross in the Sidney Daily News. Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud tosses the football around like pizza dough in a Flying Pizza parlor.

And Woody Hayes is spinning in his grave. A forward pass was a foul and nasty thing to Woody, who preferred using his fullbacks as battering rams. For example, are you ready for this? In 1962 Paul Warfield led all OSU receivers with eight catches. . .for the entire season. And times didn’t change Woody. Eleven years later, 1973, tight end Fred Pagac led the Buckeyes with eight receptions. . .for the entire season.

—As expected, the Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) decision, whereby college athletes can sell their names, is already out of hand. It has trickled down to high school athletes.

A 17-year-old Charlotte, N.C. high school basketball player, junior Mikey Williams, has signed a multi-year shoe and apparel deal with Puma. Boosters at the University of Miami (Fla.) are paying every Hurricane football player $45,000.

And Quinn Ewers, finished his high school requirement a year early and skipped his senior year to sign with Ohio State. GT Sports Marketing signed him to a multi-year $1 million endorsement deal.

The kicker on this is that Ewers is OSU’s third-string quarterback. Wonder where he will transfer to after this season?

And then there is this high school quarterback named Arch Manning. Yep, he is Archie Manning’s grandson and a nephew to Peyton and Eli Manning. His father, Cooper, is rumored to have said the bidding on Arch start at $10 million. For college.

Momma DO let your sons grow up to be quarterbacks.

—Great first names in sports. . .There are two Sinceres, UTSA running back Sincere McCormick and Ole Miss defensive lineman Sincere David. And there is Miami basketball player Precious Ayah. Also at Miami is Dae Dae Grant.

Ohio State football has running back Master Teague and North Carolina basketball has Leaky Black. Bumper Pool plays linebacker at Arkansas and Smoke Monday is an Auburn defensive back. My favorite, though, is Tyler Junior College quarterback General Booty.

And my childhood name was Bubby. . .but don’t ever call me Bubby. I never liked Bubby Brister as a quarterback. . .or any Pittsburgh Steelers.

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