Dave Wilson

Before he was the best golfer of his generation, Rory McIlroy was an East Tennessee State commit Fred Warren was one of the first college coaches to recruit heavily from Europe. And he nearly snagged a young McIlroy.

In an alternative world, @paolouggetti.bsky.social takes us over to Tennessee, home of Rory McIlroy.

"Johnson City is quite a bit like Ireland in just the terrain, just rolling hills and cattle," Aaron O'Callaghan said.

www.espn.com/golf/story/_...

West Virginia's Edward Vesterinen, the 6-3, 285-pound defensive end from Helsinki, on if he thinks Rich Rodriguez knows much about Finland: "He thought I was vegetarian."
Asked why he thinks he thought that: "We're very sustainable."

This story is so good it makes me mad. Which is good. But bad. But it’s only because it’s very good. And it’s a lovely portrait of someone who can’t stop doing what he loves, and a family devoted enough to sacrifice every day for it.

How drug cartel wars led coach Gerry Glasco to Texas Tech: 'Nothing about softball is scary to me' Facing elimination in the 2025 WCWS is not a problem for Texas Tech coach Gerry Glasco after what he has seen.

How the Mexican drug cartel wars and a fear of returning to pig farming led Gerry Glasco to softball, and how at 66, he landed a job at Texas Tech and took them to the Women’s College World Series in one year.
www.espn.com/college-spor...

Party hats, piñatas, disco balls: Inside UCLA's 'absolutely feral' dugout party How the Bruins' dugout is keeping vibes up at the Women's College World Series.

Genuinely missing the WCWS in Oklahoma City this week after covering it the past few years, and scenes like this, where college sports are still a party and everyone’s allowed to have fun, is why.
www.espn.com/college-spor...

Attn @sickoscommittee.org I saw a sign today for the Williamson County A&M club fish fry tomorrow (30th anniversary!) and they have a CATFISH OL’ SARGE.
www.wcamc.com/fishfry/

NFF adjusts college HOF coaching eligibility bar The National Football Foundation has lowered the eligibility criteria for coaches to be considered for induction into the College Football Hall of Fame beginning in 2027.

Hal Mumme, on the NFF changing its Hall of Fame rules opening the door for Mike Leach to get into the Hall of Fame: "It's the only sane thing to do. Why is 60% the magic number? I mean, not everybody gets to coach at Notre Dame or Texas or something."
www.espn.com/college-foot...

'She's a folk hero in our sport': How NiJaree Canady became college softball's first million-dollar player Palo Alto to Lubbock: Inside why NiJaree Canady transferred to Texas Tech. 

Texas Tech pitcher NiJa Canady made headlines with a massive NIL deal. But it’s about more than money, she says. How Gerry Glasco, his offensive prowess (and Patrick Mahomes) sold her on Lubbock and changed the program overnight. (And I want to see her sling a tortilla)
www.espn.com/college-spor...

YouTube video by OkiePatriot 76 Radio John Daly - Whiskey & Water (feat Willie Nelson)

Happy 92nd to Willie Nelson (again). His pal John Daly told me in Augusta about their duet: “You gotta wish Willie two birthdays. I'm April 28th. He's April 28/29. Half his body came out 28th, half the 29th. If you don't wish him happy birthday twice, he won't talk to you.”
youtu.be/4mVcR3HFhwI?...

Or maybe not useful. But entertaining.

The only thing useful about Facebook is joining the most boring groups.

Accurate representation of the life of a newspaper designer

'I have a superpower now': Jack Bech leans on late brother's memory in pursuit of NFL dreams Bech, whose brother Tiger was killed in New Orleans on Jan. 1, projects as a Day 2 pick.

NFL draft feature: The unshakeable Jack Bech, whose brother died in the New Orleans terror attack, is on a mission: “Whatever team gets me, it's going to be a 2-for-1 special. Not only do you get Jack Bech, you get Tiger Bech too. I have a superpower now."
www.espn.com/nfl/draft202...

On Friday night of Masters week, Bryson DeChambeau hung out at the Pearmans’ house for an hour, bonded with their dog Rosie and played with Pearman’s lucite putter he calls “Liberace.”
“I knew he could steal my wife,” Paul Pearman said. “But I didn’t know my dog would fall in love with him too.”

'Bryson's in the backyard': A Masters contender comes to visit Before Bryson DeChambeau shot a Saturday 69 to get himself into contention, he was putting in work on a stranger's putting green.

On Friday night, Paul Pearman cut the lights on over a backyard putting green in his Augusta neighborhood. Then a guy walked up and said he was Bryson DeChambeau. “Nice to meet you, I’m Jack Nicklaus,” he said. Except one of them was telling the truth.
www.espn.com/golf/story/_...

Rory vs. Bryson: What to expect from an epic Sunday showdown at the Masters There are 18 holes between Rory McIlroy and his career Grand Slam. But standing in the way is Bryson DeChambeau, who denied McIlroy a major just 10 months ago.

Read my guy @paolouggetti.bsky.social and get pumped about all we have in store Sunday at the Masters.
www.espn.com/golf/story/_...

Bernhard Langer's last supper The 67-year-old finished one stroke outside the cut line at his 41st and final Masters, capping off a career that spanned eras.

For the great ones, deciding when to walk away is a matter of faith. On Bernard Langer, the last major winner to play persimmon woods, his enigmatic clubmaker from the 1980s, a legendary gift, and the end of an era at the Masters and in golf.
www.espn.com/golf/story/_...

'An ordinary guy': What's John Daly doing at the Hooters in Augusta? Golf's everyman hero hasn't played the Masters since 2006, but every year he shows up in town to hang and sell merch.

Dare I say the John Daly/Hooters experience in Augusta is… kind of wholesome? Dale from Vidalia bringing onions. Fans bumming Marlboro reds off their hero. A man of the people, even amid health issues.
“I’m like Lazarus, I just keep coming back from the f’n dead.”
www.espn.com/golf/story/_...

Good job Dave

The two Augustas.

R.C. Slocum is the 'last one of those guys' It will be a long time before another figure spends half a century working for a program the way that Slocum did at Texas A&M.

An appreciation for R.C. Slocum, “Texas royalty” who officially retired after 53 years at Texas A&M. From accelerating integration in 1972 to the Wrecking Crew, he changed the Aggies forever.
"R.C. is for A&M what Coach Royal was to Texas," DeLoss Dodds said.
www.espn.com/college-foot...

a man is talking to another man and the words it 's a moral imperative are visible ALT: a man is talking to another man and the words it 's a moral imperative are visible

Damn, Val Kilmer. It’s time to watch Real Genius again. #whynotkent

McNeese's unexpected star? The boom-box-toting manager adding to its March Madness hype Amir Khan rose to fame in February after a video of him leading the Cowboys out of the locker room while rapping Lud Foe's "In & Out" went viral.

www.espn.com/mens-college...

Thanks much. That was a wild day.

He is

Attn: @kvv.nolayingup.com: Thought you’d appreciate that Hal Mumme still has the headgear from your story, one of my favorite ESPN Mag stories/photo shoots 10 years later.
www.espn.com/espn/feature...

This Facebook Marketplace listing should be Julian Casablancas’ next album title/cover.

CFP takeaways: How Ohio State dominated to complete a historic run With a mix of epic talent and tons of maturity, the Buckeyes opened the new CFP era with a title. And they just might do it all over again a year from now.

* Talent: super important. Maturity: ditto
* Well damn, Will Howard (and all the other redemption arcs)
* Probably not your last run, Irish
* No one had ever played 6 top-5 teams or beaten 5. OSU's historic run awaits every future champ.

TITLE GAME TAKEAWAYS: www.espn.com/college-foot...

Longhorns QB Ewers declares for '25 NFL draft Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers is declaring for the NFL draft.

www.espn.com/college-foot...

TCU 'Underfrog' walk-on awarded full scholarship Ella Hamlin, one of the TCU students who joined the women's basketball team in January 2024 to save its season, earned a full scholarship Tuesday.

One of the four TCU students who joined the basketball team during midseason open tryouts last year got a full scholarship Tuesday night. Ella Hamlin, a nursing student, was the only “Underfrog” to stay with the team, and TCU estimates cost of attendance at $82,310.
www.espn.com/womens-colle...