Happy Fathers’ Day Eve from the the Saturday Column with no name. Hopefully you’re getting everything done you need to get done so you can be done for Sunday!
After a wild week in Raiderland things are settling down. Everyone needed that to happen. So, we’ll give you a few thoughts here today and let y’all have at it in the comments and on social media. Be sure to follow us on Twitter/X, Raiderland YouTube and our engaging Raiderland Facebook Page.
- If the Softball World didn’t like Texas Tech before… they’re gonna really hate them now. Texas Tech continues to Select, not recruit, raiding the portal again this June. So far, here’s the haul as of today…. OF Kasidi Pickering from Oklahoma. An All-American who has hit .385 with 50 bombs in 189 games. Couldn’t wait to leave Norman. Bradi Gallaway and IF from La. Tech who hit .317 with 11 HR this year. Jayden Heavener, LHP from LSU. That’s an SEC team. 2.78 ERA. Moriah Polar, OF from Purdue who led the nation in batting avg at .555 this year. That’s decent. Today Gerry Glasco added Hailey Maestretti, LHP from Utah who was 2nd Team Big 12 this year…. Like we said, if the Soft World of College Softball didn’t like Texas Tech before, they’ll hate them more going forward.
We have a solutions. A One Million Dollar Bounty Series. Texas Tech boosters, and it seems there are more than a few put together ONE MILLION DOLLARS. The first Top Ten Team willing to play Texas Tech Tech in a three-game series has a chance to win all that money plus expenses if they can beat Texas Tech in a three-game series next season. Heck. We can even flip for home-and-home or just meet in the middle. The collision against Texas Tech Softball is real when it comes to top programs, particularly teams like OU and the SEC being willing to schedule Texas Tech. So… let’s up the ante. Can’t hang with little ole Texas Tech because you’re poor on the NIL front? No worries. Just beat Tech and the Red Raiders will cut a check to help you grow the game. Because it’s obvious the College Softball World doesn’t want to grow the game. They just want to protect their precious dirt and be relevant for a few weeks in May and June… So, One Million Bucks. - I was a kid when Pele’ came to New York to play soccer in America for the Cosmos. It was supposed to change everything. Soccer was gonna explode in America. Didn’t happen. 1994. America hosts the World Cup. Gonna explode soccer in America. Didn’t happen. 2026. America hosting the World Cup. Gonna explode soccer in America. it won’t happen. Unless two things happen. 1. American plays deep in the tournament and gives average fans a reason to think the sport matters and they should pay attention. 2. FIFA and soccer as a whole eliminates flopping. Seriously. That’s a huge barrier to the average fan in America watching these games. They see a player barely touched roll around like they’ve been shot. A WWI stretcher crew comes out. Carts of the dead player. They come back in mere seconds. A miracle! If those two things could happen, Soccer could emerge from the background of the American major sports scene. If not… we’ll see ya again in four years just like curling, swimming and gymnastics.
- According to an ESPN story, some folks around the Big 12 think they should make Texas Tech pay up for the legal fees incurred when the Big 12 sued Texas Tech last week over the Brendan Sorsby Saga. Fair enough. How about every school that voted to sue, be responsible for the money? It was Texas Tech that voted to sue. Texas Tech never sued the Big 12. If the league wants to create more and more private and public rancor between Texas Tech and the Big 12, pursue this route. How about this… why not hold Cincinnati responsible as well for not being willing or able to investigate Sorsby more than they did, resulting in them passing Sorsby along to a fellow Big 12 school… knowing that he’d had gambling issues. If Texas Tech can be held hostage for money, the Bearcats ought to be right there for allowing this to fester. If the Big 12 really wants to move along from this sad chapter, they might be smart to move along. Law suits have lawyers. Lawyers ask questions. There might be some questions out there, within the Big 12 ( and not just Cincinnati) that some athletic departments might not want to answer. You want a fishing expedition, Texas Tech folks know how to fish. Some in the league might want to keep that in mind and just cut bait right now….
Hyatt
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