Rippee Writes: Tuesday Scoop
Golf, soccer (??), NFL and a baseball stat
Happy Tuesday to all. We will have another podcast out either tomorrow or Thursday, depending on the availability of the guest I am looking to have on, so be on the look out for that. We’ve got golf, soccer, baseball, NFL and politics (I am kidding, just a cool photo I saw) to dive into today.
Let’s go.
Riley reaches failsafe mark on Korn Ferry Tour
Hattiesburg native and Alabama alum Davis Riley is officially headed to the PGA Tour for the 2021-2022 season. He reached the Korn Ferry Tour’s failsafe threshold for points, essentially meaning he’s now accumulated enough points that he cannot drop out of the top-25 in the standings that earn Tour cards.
Riley should be on the PGA Tour already. He won twice in 2020 before the world shutdown due to the pandemic. The stoppage in play forced the Korn Ferry Tour to make a tough decision and wrap the 2020 season and the 2021 season into one. With two wins, Riley was virtually guaranteed to be one of the 25 already in a normal year and is essentially just waiting out an unfortunate break. Riley is only 24 years old and turned pro upon earning his degree from Alabama in 2019. He earned status and graduated from the Korn Ferry Tour in his first year a professional. That is a remarkable feat.
The PGA Tour will have at least one Mississippian next year, and I am pretty confident there will be at least two more. That’s cool to see.
Greg says you people love the 16 oz prime strip for $10 deal so he will roll with that for a third consecutive week. Check out our grill corner podcast from yesterday. It will make you want to fire up your grill. Also, you get $2 off any fish in the freezer. Thanks for subscribing and enjoy. Go by LBs. They’re the best. Will see about an updated deal later this week.
Ole Miss Soccer headed to Sweet 16
The Ole Miss Soccer team is in the middle of a historic run. The Rebels upset No. 8 national seed USC in penalty kicks on Friday. Goalie Ashley Orkus made 11 saves in a game in which the team was once down 2-0. The win clinched the second trip to the Sweet 16 in program history, both (2015) coming under head coach Matt Mott.
I know very little about soccer so I won’t try to pretend to offer analysis, other than that Mott seems like a nice man and clearly a good soccer coach. He likely couldn’t discern me from a total stranger and I don’t pretend to know him, but from the number of interactions I had with him over the years, he was always generous with his time to student reporters and seemed genuinely grateful that we showed up to their cover games. Congrats to Mott and the team. Hopefully there is at least one more win to write about.
SkyBox’s results speak louder than any convincing I can do. Go see these guys now with the NBA playoffs, golf and baseball heating up. This weekend was another profitable one for the best in the business. Check out their Twitter for free plays and then go do yourself a favor and buy a package. Right now, if you buy the four-week NASCAR package and it doesn’t profit, you get your money back. How can you beat that? Go see them and ensure you’re making money.
The Aaron Rodger situation is fascinating
I probably should have touched on this more last week, but I find Aaron Rodgers’ situation with the Green Bay Packers to be incredibly interesting. If you have been living under a rock for the last decade, it’s glaringly obvious professional athletes are more media-savvy than ever and in this day-and-age of speculation, social media and constantly evolving stories, these athletes have learned how to control a narrative. Unless you think Rodgers leaking his desire to be traded to the three most prominent NFL reporters, at the same time, on the biggest day of the league’s offseason was a coincidence, you have to admire the bombshell he dropped on a front office he clearly has a genuine disdain for. But will it work for him? What’s the trade value for a 37-year-old quarterback coming off an MVP season? I seriously have no idea.
One would think that value has to be diminished slightly with Rodgers forcing the organization’s hand, meaning teams will probably offer slightly less than market value given that they know Rodgers wants to leave. The most hilarious piece to this was Rodgers’ camp leaking to NFL Network’s Ian Rappaport that the Jeopardy suits were so impressed with him guest hosting this offseason, the reigning MVP may hang it up to host a game show. Because that seems incredibly realistic. From the latest reporting, it seems that Rodgers — after telling Pro Football Talk last week that he doesn’t like anyone in the front office for a variety of reasons (a genuinely hilarious anonymous leak) — has set an ultimatum: either general manager Brian Gutekunst is fired or Rodgers is not playing another snap in Green Bay. On the other side, the Packers are seemingly well-positioned to call his bluff. They don’t have to trade him and the man Rodgers wants fired would be in charge of granting that request. The organization drafted his successor last year in QB Jordan Love. Why not just hold firm and see if he will actually start missing game action?
I don’t know where this will go or how this plays out, but the way athletes are consistently using the media as a leverage tool against their employers is a fascinating development in pro sports.
I am told this photo is real
This is apparently a real photo of former President Jimmy Carter and former First Lady Rosalynn with current President Joe Biden and first Lady Jill Biden.
Something about the size difference really threw me off here. Maybe it is because it is 6 a.m. and I am barely awake, but I just assumed this was a doctored photo. Also, shout out to both of the Carters for being alive and kicking at age 96 and living modestly in a small town in Georgia — in the same house they lived in before he became President. Here’s a really good Washington Post profile from 2018 on the Carters and how they live. It’s incredibly different than any other living former President.
Ole Miss hosts Arkansas State tonight
Cody Adcock is listed as the projected starter for the Rebels. The Red Wolves boast a 194 RPI, so you should either root for a good performance from Ole Miss, or a rainout, whichever you prefer.
Here’s a stat of the day via Collin Brister: SEC Opponents if they don't put Gunnar Hoglund's 0-0 pitch in play: .118/.192/.176. That seems good.
On the horizon:
Midweek pod tomorrow or Thursday, guest TBD
Mailbag Friday
Texas A&M scout and more baseball thoughts in the newsletter.
That is all from me today. Thanks for being a loyal subscriber. Send to your friends and tell them to join. It is free. People like free.