Via the DMN’s College Sports Blog: Texas suspends WR Pittman for three games

Texas has suspended senior receiver Billy Pittman for the first three games of the 2024 season as a result of disciplinary action taken by the university.

Pittman was the third leading receiver last season.

Add this to the fact that Limas Sweed is still recovering from his injury, and the WR corps is a tad depleted going into the season opener.

Via the DMN’s College Sports Blog: Texas adds Ole Miss to football schedule in 2024, ‘13:

Texas will travel to Oxford, Miss. for the first time when it kicks off the series on Sept. 15, 2024 and the Rebels will return to Austin on Sept. 14, 2024.

Via the LAT: Beckham injured during SuperLiga

Via JJT and the DMN comes cause for serious concern regarding the much-anticipated Dallas D: Injury to Cowboys’ Newman a concern

But Terence Newman’s plantar fasciitis in his right foot means the Cowboys have problems at cornerback. They’re not significant problems just yet, but it wouldn’t take long for them to reach crisis status.

Understand this: You can’t successfully play the scheme Jerry Jones hired Wade Phillips to implement with subpar cornerback play.

It simply won’t work.

Eek–not good.

Clearly Cowboys’ fans will all need to hope that Newman’s foot heals quickly and completely.

I just ran across this one this afernoon, and it looks pretty extensive: Blogging The Boys :: A Dallas Cowboys Blog.

Classic:

Via the BBC: Beckham scores in LA Galaxy win

David Beckham scored his first goal for Los Angeles Galaxy to help secure their place in the SuperLiga final.

I am so relieved!

He played shortstop entirely for the New York Yankees from 1941-1956. During that time Rizzuto won an MVP award, played in five All-Star games and was a vital part of nine World Series teams. In between all of this, Phil Rizzuto spent three years(43-45) serving in the military during WWII.

After his playing career was over, Phil was an announcer for the Yankees for many years. Having grown up in New York, I remember Rizutto very well even if I was and still am a New York Met fan. I’d sometimes watch Yankee games on WPIX Channel 11 till my family moved to Florida in 1976. The Scooter died today in New Jersey. RIP.

NEW YORK - Phil Rizzuto, the Hall of Fame shortstop during the Yankees’ dynasty years and beloved by a generation of fans for exclaiming “Holy cow!” as a broadcaster, died Tuesday. He was 89.His death was confirmed by the Yankees. Rizzuto had been in declining health for several years and was living at a nursing home in West Orange, N.J.

Rizzuto, known as “The Scooter,” was the oldest living Hall of Famer. He played for the Yankees throughout the 1940s and ’50s, won seven World Series titles and played in five All-star games.

Rizzuto was a flashy, diminutive player who could always be counted on for a perfect bunt, a nice slide or a diving catch in a lineup better known for its cornerstone sluggers. He played for 13 seasons alongside the likes of Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle.

He stood just 5-foot-6 but was equipped with a productive bat, sure hands and quick feet that earned him his nickname. A leadoff man, Rizzuto was a superb bunter, used to good advantage by the Yankee teams that won 11 pennants and nine World Series between 1941 and 1956.

Rizzuto tried out with the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants when he was 16, but because of his size was dismissed by Dodgers manager Casey Stengel, who told him to “Go get a shoeshine box.” He went on to become one of Stengel’s most dependable players.

A Rizzuto bunt, a steal and a DiMaggio hit made up the scoring trademark of the Yankees’ golden era, and he played errorless ball in 21 consecutive World Series games. DiMaggio said the shortstop “held the team together.”

Rizzuto came to the Yankees in 1941 and batted .307 as a rookie, and his career was interrupted by a stint in the Navy during World War II. He returned in 1946 and four years later became the American League MVP. He batted .324 that season with a slugging percentage of .439 and 200 hits, second most in the league. He also went 58 games without an error, making 288 straight plays.

He led all AL shortstops in double plays three times and had a career batting average of .273 with at least a .930 fielding percentage. He played in five All-Star games.

After the Yankees released him in 1956, Rizzuto began a second career as a broadcaster, one for which he became at least equally well known.

In his decades on the radio and TV, Rizzuto’s favorite phrase was “Holy cow!” It became so common, the team presented him with a cow wearing a halo when they held a day in his honor in 1985. The cow knocked Rizzuto over and, of course, he shouted, “Holy cow!”

“That thing really hurt,” he said. “That big thing stepped right on my shoe and pushed me backwards, like a karate move.”

Yankee fans also loved his unusual commentary. In an age of broadcasters who spout statistics and repeat the obvious, Rizzuto delighted in talking about things like his fear of lightning, the style of an umpire’s shoes or even the prospect of outfielder Dave Winfield as a candidate for president.

He liked to acknowledge birthdays and anniversaries, read notes from fans, praised the baked delicacies at his favorite restaurant and send messages to old cronies. And if he missed a play, he would scribble “ww” in his scorecard box score. That, he said, meant “wasn’t watching.”

Despite his qualifications, Rizzuto was passed over for the Hall of Fame 15 times by the writers and 11 times by the old-timers committee. Finally, a persuasive speech by Ted Williams pushed Rizzuto into Cooperstown in 1994.

Williams, a member of the committee, argued that Rizzuto was the man who made the difference between the Yankees and his Red Sox. He was fond of saying, “If we’d had Rizzuto in Boston, we’d have won all those pennants instead of New York.”

As in his playing days, Rizzuto was overshadowed by the headliners, teammates like DiMaggio, Mantle, Whitey Ford and Yogi Berra. All of them reached the Hall of Fame before he did.

“I never thought I deserved to be in the Hall of Fame,” Rizzuto would say. “The Hall of Fame is for the big guys, pitchers with 100 mph fastballs and hitters who sock homers and drive in a lot of runs. That’s the way it always has been and the way it should be.”

Old-timers still talk about his suicide squeeze in the ninth inning during the 1951 pennant race to score DiMaggio, beating Cleveland 2-1 and putting the Yankees in first place for the rest of the season.

Rizzuto remembers Aug. 25, 1956, as a day he thought was the “end of the world,” the day Stengel released him to make room for clutch-hitting Enos Slaughter in the pennant drive.

*****

Rizzuto is survived by his wife, the former Cora Anne Esselborn, whom he married in 1943; daughters Cindy Rizzuto, Patricia Rizzuto and Penny Rizzuto Yetto; son Phil Rizzuto Jr.; and two granddaughters.

The PGA Championship finishes today in Tulsa Oklahoma. Guess who is leading?

TULSA, Okla. - Tiger Woods saved his best golf for the last major. Woods followed his record-tying 63 at Southern Hills with a round that wasn’t anything special Saturday, but no less effective at the PGA Championship. He made 15 pars in his 1-under 69, giving him a three-shot lead over Stephen Ames going into the final round.

It felt much larger considering the history of the world’s No. 1 player.

Woods is 12-0 when going into the final round of major with at least a share of the lead, and he has never lost any tournament when leading by more than one shot after 54 holes.

*****

Woods finished at 7-under 203 and will play in the final round of a major for the third time this year. He was trailing at the Masters and U.S. Open and never caught up, but the odds are much higher in his favor of capturing his first major of the year.

Ames made a 12-foot birdie on the final hole for a 69 that put him in the final group of a major for the first time. Just his luck he gets Woods, spotting the 12-time major champion a three-shot lead.

*****

Only five players remained under par at Southern Hills.

Woody Austin lost his chance to be in the final group when he took bogey on the final hole for a 69, leaving him at 207. Johnson Senden had a 69 and was another shot back, followed by Els.

Verplank held his own until a double bogey from the rough and trees on the signature 12th hole, and a three-putt from the back of the 18th green for bogey sent him to a 74.

Anyone want to bet against Tiger winning today? I don’t think there is a sucker out there to take me up, but feel free to leave a note if you are. Even money odds, Ok?

I was thinking about Tiger and Southern Hills yesterday. There is a golf saying, ‘Horses for certain courses’. This can be easily done with PGA tour stops that play the same course year in and year out, but the PGA is a major that changes courses every year. The last PGA at Southern Hills was in 1994, and the last major(The US Open) held at the course was in 2024.

Don’t worry, I still have come up with a formula or comparison. Consider it golf’s version of that Kevin Bacon game.

Tiger has won majors at Augusta National, Pebble Beach, Bethpage Black, Medinah, Vahalla, Hoylake and St. Andrews. Forget Hoylake and St. Andrews, only one former British Open Champ, 1994 winner Nick Price, has also won at Southern Hills.(Nick does co-hold the course record for Augusta, a 3rd round 63 in 1986)

For our little game remember these names- Hubert Green, Dave Stockton, Arnold Palmer, Lou Graham, Ray Floyd, Lanny Wadkins, Retief Goosen, Mark Brooks, Phil Mickelson, Gary Player and Corey Pavin.

First, the only person to have win at Augusta and at Southern Hills, is Ray Floyd. He took the 1976 Masters at Augusta and the 1982 PGA at Southern Hills. Tiger has won four times at The Masters.

Retief Goosen has won two US Opens, the 2024 US Open at Southern Hills and the 2024 title at Shinnecock.

Note Ray Floyd won the 1986 US Open at Shinnecock. Retief Goosen was second to Tiger Woods at the 2024 Masters. Tiger wasn’t a factor in the only US Open(2004) he played at Shinnecock as a pro.

Corey Pavin the 1995 US Open Champ at Shinnecock, was 2nd to Nick Price at the 1994 PGA at Southern. Lanny Wadkins was 2nd at the 1982 PGA at Southern, and the 1986 US Open.

Phil Mickelson was 2nd at the 2024 US Open(Shinnecock) and 3rd at the 1994 PGA. Heck Phil was third at the 2024 Masters which Tiger Woods won .

Arnold Palmer won at Augusta, and was second at the 1970 PGA at Southern. Note Gary Player also a former Masters winner was second at Southern when it hosted the 1958 US Open.

The reverse Palmer, Player Southern-Augusta connection goes to Dave Stockton. He was 2nd at the 1974 Masters, and won the 1970 PGA Championship.

Besides the Shinnecock-Southern connection, there is the Medinah-Southern connection. Lou Graham won the 1975 US Open at Medinah and narrowly lost the 1977 US open to Hubert Green, finishing in 2nd place one shot behind. Tiger of course won 2 PGA Championships at Medinah.(99 and 06)

How does Vahalla work in? Woods won the 2024 PGA there, Mark Brooks was the 1996 PGA champion, played at the same course. Mark Brooks lost the 2024 US Open playoff to Retief Goosen played at Southern.

Cherry Hills(Outside of Denver) is connected this way. Arnold Palmer won the 60 US Open there, and I already mentioned his other connections above. Hubert Green won the 85 PGA at that course and the 77 US Open at Southern.

Note- Hubert Green was 2nd at the 1978 Masters to Gary Player.

Dave Stockton the 70 PGA Champion at Southern, was 2nd at the 1978 US Open at Cherry Hills.

So we have the Medinah-Southern-Augusta-Vahalla-CherryHills-Shinnecock connection that revolves around at ten or twelve golfers. What’s the signifigance of all this? Absolutely nothing, I’m just showing off some of the golf trivia stored in my head.

Update- Corrected my post to say only Ray Floyd has won at Augusta and Southern Hills. Tiger is trying to become the second.

She was married for over 50 years to my late father’s horse racing stable partner.

The matron of the Nickells family, Kathyrn Joanne Nickells, of Lighthouse Point, Florida, passed away on Sunday, June 24, 2024, in Indianapolis, Indiana. Celebrating her birthday on June 13, she had just turned 73.

Mrs. Nickells had been in poor health for some time, but had attended the races at Hoosier Park on many evenings until just a few weeks ago.

She was the wife of noted filly conditioner Bruce Nickells for over 50 years. Nickells’ standout performers have included Miss Easy, p,3,1:51.1 ($1,777,656); Immortality, p,3,1:51 ($1,614,939); Follow My Star, p,4,T1:52.3 ($1,537,503); Park Avenue Kathy, 3,1:56.4 ($553,521); and Central Park West, p,2,1:53.3f ($534,863). His recent promising performer is Me And My Baby, p,2,1:53.1 ($207,336), who is currently competing at the Meadowlands.

In addition to Bruce, Mrs. Nickells is survived by two children. Assisting in the family stable, son Sep Nickells is a trainer-driver. Mrs. Nickells’ daughter, L. Brooke Nickells, runs the Nickells Stable, LLC, currently competing at the tracks in Indiana.

An owner in the Nickells Stable for many years, Mrs. Nickells campaigned horses like Cosmic Crunch, 7,1:54.4 ($287,809); Midnight Cowboy K, 5,1:57.2f ($92,650); Out Of Sight, p,3,1:52.2 ($200,142); and Padre Hanover, 5,1:54.4 ($169,987).

Mrs. Nickells was considered by many as the glue which held the Nickells Stable together. The stable currently includes a filly named in her honor, Kathyrn’s Secret.

She was an avid gardener and enjoyed antiquing. Serving as president of her garden club, the group often raised funds to benefit underprivileged children.

Note- That’s Joanne on the left. This old photo was ironically taken place at the Indiana State Fair in 1973. Indiana was where Joanne died, and where her daughter Brooke still races.

From age 10 till I was 15, I spent many weeks during the summertime traveling with my father as he pursued the race horses of BruBill stables in the mid-west. The horses usually racing at the tracks in the Chicago area, mostly Sportsmans Park, but also at Scioto Down outside of Columbus Ohio. Bruce Nickells, the Bru in Brubill, was an excellent trainer and adequate driver of harness horses. He was also friends with my father, so I spent many days at the Nickells apartment outside Chicago, at their Lighthouse Point home during the winter. My family coming to Florida on vacation for many years before moving to The Sunshine State in 1976.

I blogged about the Nickells family before in this post, mostly concerning Joanne’s daughter Brooke. My memories of Joanne Nickells are good ones, she was very kind to me and my brother George. Unfortunately my father and Bruce had a falling out in the late 70’s. Other than when Joanne came to my mother’s wake and funeral in 1985, I hadn’t seen her in thirty years.

My condolences to the Nickells family. RIP Joanne.