Vegas to Diamondhead- those players' first names part2

 Just my way of keeping track of odd player names. The prior blog ran for four years.  Sion James scored 30 points for #Tulane in an AAC win over Memphis 96-89 last night.  Don't confuse it with Zion Williamson of the New Orleans Pelicans (NBA).

A buddy sent me this one Earthland Moreland, a former PAT among many of his NFL teams played his college ball at Georgia Southern while it was still in DII. His HC was Paul Johnson who later went on to coach at NAVY and Ga Tech.

Jan 19, 2023

Umoja Gibson, a kid from Waco, TX, scored 22 in Depaul's upset of Xavier in Big East action. His teammate, Yor Anei from Overland Park, Kansas, scored two points. Hearing the word your often in daily conversation must be interesting for this kid.

Feb 6 2023

I'm unsure how I missed this one. Probably cuz he was a UFA from Auburn and landed on the Saints IR in August. Quindarious "Smoke" Monday.

March 4, 2023

Tywone Malone scored a run for Ole Miss in the second inning, but La Tech roared back for a 6-5 win. First La Tech win over Ole Miss in baseball since 1989. I got no idea what Tywone parents were thinking when spelling his name on his birth certificate.

March 11, 2023

Just having some fun: Ark St left-fielder, CROSS JUMPER, went 1-4 in in his team's 11-8 loss to E.Illinois in college baseball.

April 2, 2023

Ryan John "Rowdy" Tellez, Toronto Blue Jays (2018–2021). Milwaukee Brewers (2021–present). 

Got me thinking of Rowdy Yates, played by Clint Eastwood on the Rawhide TV series.

May 4, 2023

 Will Clark and Rafael Palmeiro were known as 'Thunder and Lightning' for the Miss St 1985 baseball team. I watched some of a 2015 documentary with same title, and was surprised that they showed Will Clark on hunting trips, and Raffy discussing his transition from Cuban emigre in Miami' FLA to Miss St w/o bashing Starkville' Mississippi.

These players were drafted by the MLB. Will Clark  - Rafael Palmeiro - Bobby Thigpen - Jeff Brantley - Gator Thiesen - Dan Van Cleve - Gene Morgan. By now Gator is probably a common southern first name.

June 17, 2023

Curious first names: Blaze Brothers, second baseman for Oral Robert U.

August 3, 2023

Those first names: Bake McBride, a decent OF with the Phillies, Cards, etc.

Sept 23, 2023

Pig Cage, an LB for UTSA. Quite a name! His team plays the Vols today.

Nov 18, 2023

Bullets Walson, born in Austria-Hungary, played QB for the Washington Senators of AFPA, which later became NFL. Record -keeping was shaky.

Dec 28, 2023

I'm reading a book about the St Louis Browns/Baltimore Orioles history and came across  the name Baby Doll Jacobson, a solid outfielder for the Browns and other teams.

 On opening day of the Mobile Sea Gulls of the Southern Association 1912 season, the band began playing, "Oh, You Beautiful Doll", as Jacobson came to the plate. and he led off with a home run on the first pitch. A lady sitting behind the plate jumped up and shouted, 'You must be that beautiful doll they were talking about.' The nickname stuck.

Feb 6, 2024

Blaze Brothers from Oral Roberts to the Cleburne Railroaders(AA_IND). He batted around .230.

April 7, 2024

Indiana St baseball 23-7 (7-2 MVC). How about this first name, Josue Urdaneta, starting 2B.

those players names      earlier blog

O5 upset chances vs P5 in weekend 1

 Ain't no way Leach let's Memphis(AAC) hang around too long. It's time for him to prove he was a good hire for Miss St(SEC). Dawgs return 16 starters. Miss St 30 Memphis 22.

Miami-Ohio(MAC) will give UK (SEC) a tough first half, but Levis will get the Wildcats in gear in the second half. UK  37 M-O 19

Kent St flashes some O but will fall on the road at UW(Pac12)  UW 23 Kent 20

Chase Brice  will get Appy(SunBelt) an upset win in week 1 at UNC(ACC). APP 26 UNC 25

And UCLA will get by Bowling Green behind veteran QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson. UCLA 30 BG 20 BTW, Bowling Green will be the first team from the MAC to play in the Rose Bowl, and it's also their first-ever matchup. 

Sept , 2 2022

I didn't guess on this game but OK St allowed 22 points in the 4Q to make the final look decent for C.Mich (MAC). I 'm sure the Cowboys subs were in . OKST 58- CMU 44

Sept 4, wrap up

Leach had his dawgs ready. Miss St 49 MEM 23

I got damn close on this score UK 37 M-O 13

Flashes batteries faded except for Cephas ( 6 rec, 105 yards) UW 45 Kent St 20

Off in so many ways on this one:  After App missed a 2 point conversion with 31 seconds to go, I watched another game. Both teams scored again- wow. UNC 63 App 61

Bowling Green hung with UCLA for a half. UCLA 45 BG 20.  

 Noteworthy: Houston needed a big second half comeback to be UTSA. Ohio roared back to beat FAU. Is Willie Taggert sweating? James Madison rolled MTSU(CUSA)

Fast and furious P5 coaching moves

 Big 10: I guess it was the $$$ that motivated Kevin Willard to exit Seton Hall(BigEast) after 12 years and join the Terps. He'll certainly give Rutgers a recruiting battle in the NY/NJ corridor. BTW, Seton Hall is focused on Saint Peter's coach Shaheen Holloway.

SEC: I'm still shaking my head over Miss St signing Jans away from New Mexico St because he's mostly a West Coast guy except for one season at Ball St. And, I also don't get Missouri hiring Cleveland State coach Dennis Gates. FLA hired Golden from San Francisco when White took the UGA job.

South Carolina is set to hire Chattanooga's Lamont Paris, who's last three seasons have been solid. LSU hired Murray State's Matt McMahon who showed he could win after Ja Morant went to the NBA.

ACC: Louisville hired Kenny Payne, who was on Denny Crum's 1986 Cards title team, and has been assistant at UK and with the NY Knicks.

Big 12: Kansas St hired Baylor assistant Jerome Tang

March 26, 2022

Frank Martin , a part of the Bobby Huggins coaching tree, is the new HC at UMass(Atlantic 10). It's his first HC gig in a non power 5 conference after HC stops at Kansas St(B12) and South Carolina(SEC). A10 is a solid hoops conference and usually gets two or three dance tickets.

Steve Prohm, who left Murray St for Iowa St in 2015 and was out of coaching last  season, returns to Murray St(OVC).

March 31, 2022

Lamont Paris had a nice run the last two seasons with Chattanooga(Southern), but I'm not sold on that being enough to the HC at South Carolina(SEC).

As expected, Holloway left St Peters for Seton Hall(Big East).

Archie Miller gets the job at Rhode Island(A10) one year after getting canned at Indiana. The matchups with Dayton , where he was HC from 2011-17 will be interesting.

April 1, 2022

Miami(FLA) is losing Asst Coach Chris Caputo who will be the new HC at GW(A10). He has strong recruiting ties to the talent-rich  D.C., area which was a key factor  in the success of both Miami(ACC) and George Mason's(A10) programs.

 Butler fired HC LaVall Jordan after five seasons, and Ohio(MAC) HC Jeff Boals is considered  a leading candidate, but they may need to look around at some top assistants on other Big East teams.

April 4, 2022

I thought Matta was older than 54 and didn't see this was coming. Butler hires Thad Matta, ex-Ohio State. He was an associate athletic director for basketball at Indiana for the past year.

April 20, 2022

Greg Oden and Jon Diebler, both former Ohio State players under coach Thad Matta, are joining Matta’s Butler staff at Butler.

June 28. 2022

The Big 12 is targeting Brett Yormark, the current COO of Jay-Z's Roc Nation and also a former CEO with the Nets (NBA), to be its next Commissioner. I thought they'd at least look for a football guy.

July 3, 2022

BTW,  Yormark and Calipari are longtime buds. That's a high level of slick.

July 24, 2022

GG Jackson, the No. 1 prospect in 2023 who had committed to North Carolina, will reclassify and join South Carolina this season. Quite a steal for HC Lamont Paris.

Dec 15, 2022

I'm moving like a snail toward some O5 hoops blogs. I watched some of the WKU/Louisville game last night and thought the Hilltoppers would keep Louisville Coach Kenny in pain, but the Cards prevailed. Jamrion Sharp, the 7'5 WKU center, is quite sight on the court. 

Jan 5, 2023

Perhaps Georgetown should've made a move. Big East is big time hoops. Georgetown's woes under sixth-year coach Patrick Ewing hit a new milestone yesterday with its 25th consecutive Big East loss, surpassing DePaul's previous record during the 2010-11 season. The stretch goes back to March 2, 2021 against Xavier, the team's last regular-season league win.

Jan 27, 2023

Reviewing some of the moves in my initial post. Big 73-55 win for the Terps over Wisky last night. 

Tang has been superb for KSt.

As far as the SEC hires. FLA and Mizzou are doing Ok.

 Payne remains in pain at Louisville (ACC). 

Feb 5, 2023

Willard is starting to make me a believer. Terps crushed Minnesota and are shopping for sneakers to wear to the Dance.

I've been wondering if Huggy should retire and then this:  Erik Stevenson scored 34 points in a West Virginia 93-61 rout of Oklahoma 93-61.

Feb 6, 2023

Buckeyes lost to Mich and fell behind Nebraska, who beat Penn St. 

Ohio State 3-9

Minnesota 1-11

 Nebraska should keep Hoiberg, but the Buckeyes may not have much patience with Holtman.

Feb 12, 2023

I was looking at the Big 10 and Big 12 scores yesterday and Indiana eked out a win over Mich, while the Terps got a big won over Penn St. It sure looks like we're heading for another Dance selection that gives the B10 too many teams. 

B12 is nuts. KSt looked like they made the HC hire of the year with Tang, but now it just appears to be a decent hire. They fell to 7-5 in b12 play after cellar dweller Texas tech knocked them off yesterday. And OK is sliding fast. It's HC may need to call the nuns of Loyola of Chicago and ask for some prayers. 

Feb 17, 2023

Texas hurried up to fire Beard because he "engaged in unacceptable behavior that makes him unfit to serve as head coach at our university."

Felony charge against former Texas coach Chris Beard dropped two months following arrest. Will a Power conference hire him in the off-season? I think so and it will be funny if its the SEC, where Texas is headed.

March 9, 2023

Looking back to the last spring hires.

SEC: Miss St and Mizzou hires appear to be OK, but some of the other not so much, particularly Paris at S. Carolina. Gamecocks lost to cellar dweller Ole Miss in rd1 of the SECT. It appears Chris Beard will be the Rebels next HC and won't that be interesting when TX plays Ole Miss in SEC action.

ACC: Adrian Autry, a Syracuse alum, will replace Boeheim who is retiring after 47 years as the Cuse HC. He!! of a career for JB but he got on my nerves 90% of the time. 

Payne has delivered pain for the Louisville fans.

Big East: GTown has no choices but to axe Ewing after another horrible season. Thad Matta's return to coaching has been unimpressive for Butler U fans.

Big 10: Willard has taken the Terps on a roller coaster ride this season. We'll get to the Dance but that's about it.

Big 12: I thought Huggy would start considering retirement, but West Virginia has perked up and could be on the bubble. They beat Texas Tech in rd1 of the B12T. TT and Coach Adams parted ways cuz of the Bible incident, and AD Holcutt could be heading for the exit.

Pac 12: Cal (3-29) has to be swinging the axe on Marx Fox.

O5/SEC showdowns and more

 I love rooting  for the O5 teams  against the P5 ,but my gut is screaming that Mississippi State quarterback Will Rogers , who passed  for 1,828 yards in five games, will  run Leach's offense better that Zach Smith runs the Tulsa O today. Miss St 24 Tulsa 22.

Same thing here as I'm taking JT and the Dawgs in a squeaker over Cincy. Bearcats will need to get its rushing attack in gear quickly to stay in this contest. UGA 28 Cincy 25.

A lot of deserved attention has been shown to the undefeated San Jose Spartans, but their O tends to sputter at times. I like the Ball St Cards who have been dealing some strong offensive Cards and Plitt will pass them to 30 23  victory.

So it's both Dawgs over AAC teams and those MAC cards.

Jan 1, 2021

2-0 yesterday, but never suspected that two Ints, one a  pick6, would be the key factors for a Leach -coached team. Miss St 28 Tulsa 26

Ball St had a pick 6 during its  to a 27-0 first quarter pouncing of San Jose St  and won 34-13

Jan 2, 2021

I thought Georgia was going down, but after the Dawgs D gave up a long rushing TD to Jerome Ford early in the third quarter, it held Cincy scoreless the rest of the game and scored a safety. The offense struggled in the red zone, and I'm still not sure why they turned down FG opportunities in the third quarter. Bearcats played a he!! of a game. UGA 24 Cincy 21

3-0 for this blog entry.