Ryan Harless is a fourth-year undergraduate at BGSU from Hillsboro, Ohio. He is majoring in Sport Management with a Journalism Minor. Baseball and Professional Wrestling are his primary interests but he is also interested in golf, hockey, and football
Reposted: March 10, 2024
The 2024 Major League Baseball season is underway which means it is time for me to run through all of the moves my Cincinnati Reds made and decide whether or not I think they had a productive offseason.
First and foremost, the Reds did indeed make moves this offseason which is more than can be said about a lot of the recent off-season’s. Reds fans like myself had grown accustomed to quiet winter months with the only noise coming when Cincinnati lost a young star in free agency because they were afraid to spend money.
The elephant in the room for me is the fact that my favorite baseball player of all time, Joey Votto, is no longer a Cincinnati Red. That makes me want to puke. I still cannot wrap my head around the fact that Votto gave his entire Hall of Fame caliber career to this team, and they never got him to a single World Series and rarely even looked like they cared to.
I still am holding out hope that Votto will sign back with the Reds in a coaching capacity because I can’t fathom seeing him play baseball in any other jersey.
Now onto the baseball.
Nick Senzel elected for free agency and found a home with the Washington Nationals. I think this was needed for both sides. Senzel never was able to live up to his potential in Cincinnati due in part to his proclivity to injury. I hope he can find his footing with the Nationals and carve out a path for himself.
On the first of December, Cincinnati picked up a pair of good relief arms in Emilio Pagan and Nick Martinez. Pagan has made a name for himself as a reliable bullpen arm who averages more than one punchout per inning pitched. Martinez started his career as a starter but has found more success recently coming out in relief. Although he has stated that he would prefer to start, I don’t see that as a realistic possibility on this Reds team.
I like the thought of bringing in better bullpen guys as in 2023, once the starter was out of the game it felt like a grab bag of what happens next. I do think Cincinnati is overpaying for Martinez who is slated to make $14 million this year. For a guy with a career ERA over 4.00 and a team who has been adamant about not spending money, this is an odd deal.
Just 10 days after the signing of Pagan and Martinez, the Reds were in the news again. This time it was the signing of 30-year-old third baseman Jeimer Candelario. Candelario got a pretty penny inking a three-year contract worth $45 million.
I’m going to be entirely honest. I don’t like this deal whatsoever. The Reds have a PLETHORA of young homegrown infielders. This entire offseason we were wondering if Jonathan India would get traded as they didn’t look to have room for him. The Reds drafted India AS A THIRD BASEMAN!! I don’t know why we needed to drop $15 million a year on someone who has such similar stats and projections to India when we already have him on the team.
The Reds also re-signed free agent pitcher Buck Farmer for $2.25 million. Yet another arm who can reliably come out of the pen in most situations.
Nick Sadowy is from Toledo OH, and is a Bowling Green State University student majoring in Sport Management with a minor in Journalism. Nick has a passion for sports and writing about sports.
February 16, 2024
OVERVIEW
UFC 298 is the second pay per view for the UFC in 2024. This is one of the most anticipated cards of the year headlining with UFC Featherweight Champion Alexander Volkanovski defending his championship against undefeated Ilia Topuria.
MAIN CARD
Roman Kopylov vs Anthony Hernandez – This fight is kicking off the main card with a middleweight bout. Anthony Hernandez is ranked at #15 in the middleweight division, while Roman is unranked and looking to change that. Whoever wins this fight will no doubt move up the rankings. Hernandez is well known for his grappling while Roman is known for his kickboxing ability. This will hopefully kick off UFC 298 with an entertaining fight.
Merab Dvalishvili vs Henry Cejudo – This bantamweight bout seems to have some high stakes for Henry Cejudo, who claims he will retire if he does not win this fight. Merab claims “he knows he has to beat me, otherwise he’s done.” Cejudo is a former champion and if he wins this fight he most likely will receive a title shot in the future. If he does not win, it will be a difficult road back and a road he seems unlikely to go through.
Ian Machado Garry vs Geoff Neal – This next fight features one of the younger undefeated fighters in the UFC, Ian Machado Garry. Ian Garry is 13-0 and is ranked #10, while Geoff Neal is ranked #8 in the Welterweight division. Garry tends to talk trash within the octagon to get into his opponents’ heads, this will no doubt be a factor in his fight against Neal.
Robert Whittaker vs Paulo Costa - This is one of the more anticipated fights of the year as it marks the return of Paulo Costa. In Costa’s eyes, he is one fight away from a title shot. There is no better way to earn a title shot than beating the legendary Robert Whittaker, who should not be taken lightly though. If he wins, he will probably be put in the title picture as well.
Alexander Volkanovski vs Ilia Topuria – The main event of the evening features Volkanovski vs Topuria. Volkanovski has been champion for a long time, dominating the featherweight division. He has only 3 losses and 2 of his lightweight losses came from Islam Makhachev, who challenged him for the lightweight title twice and lost both times. Clearly, he has been dominant and has been a monster that no one can compete against in the featherweight division. For the first time in a long time, that has changed. Topuria is undefeated and looking to take the title away from Volkanovski. It will be interesting to see how their styles clash at UFC 298.
CONCLUSION
This card has a lot of entertainment value and intriguing high-stakes storylines at hand. Can Volkanovski stay dominant at featherweight? Will Cejudo retire if he loses? Who will challenge for the middleweight title between Costa and Whittaker? In any case, this card should be a really great watch and should bring compelling fights.
Caitlin Clark puts up a shot, hoping to break the Division I all-time scoring record.
By Lily Smith
Lily Smith is a first-year undergraduate at BGSU from Oregon, Ohio. She is majoring in Sport Management with a Marketing minor.
February 14, 2023
Caitlin Clark was just in sixth grade when Iowa head coach, Jan Jensen first recognized her. Clark grew up in West Des Moines, playing on boys’ basketball teams. She was said to have a “sassy 3 pointer” in middle school, and that skill positioned her where she is today.
Growing up playing girls basketball is a different animal. I personally played, and I can say that there is a different kind of emotion attached to it. The highs are up in the clouds, and the lows, well I’m not even sure where I’d place those. Clark has mentioned that during her early years of play, she would cry after every loss. Undoubtedly, Clark has been criticized for showing these big emotions, even in her college years.
This emotional tie can be negative in some respects, but it further proves her attachment to her sport and her willingness to work hard. With these attributes, it’s no surprise she is in position to break records. Currently, she sits with 3,520 points, and averages 32.1 points per game. Kelsey Plum of the Las Vegas Aces, holds the record with 3,527 points from her days at Washington. To break the NCAA Division I scoring record, she needs just eight points. On February 15th, the Hawkeyes are set to play Michigan at home, and this is the game predicted to break that record.
Most recently, Clark snagged the spot of the all-time leading scorer in the Big Ten on January 31st. Clark is also on track to overcome the NCAA’s all-time scorer. This achievement belongs to “Pistol” Pete Maravich who played for Louisiana State University from 1967-1970. Maravich sits with 3,667 points in his Division I career. This 55 year old record is about to be impressively beaten by a female athlete in the near future.
“Pistol” Pete Maravich in a game during his time at LSU.
Most records between women’s and men’s sports are at different levels. There is just a different level of physicality and ability between the sexes, which proves in athletic records like this. However, Clark is proving that women and women’s sports are just as impressive and high-achieving as men’s sports. There are several sources who are critical of Clark passing Maravich’s record, due to the immense amount of change in the actual sport of basketball, as well as eligibility concerns, claiming that her breaking the men’s record is not quite the same as breaking the women’s.
Either way you view it, that number of points and dedication are not something to look past or discredit. Clark brings a new sense of skill, ability, and motivation to all women, and all sports. Not only has NCAA Women’s Basketball seen an uptick of interest in the past few years, but young girls and women everywhere are opening their eyes to new opportunities. These female athletes are bringing about a new interest and leveling the playing field of women’s and men’s sports as well as their coverage in the media.
Nick Sadowy is from Toledo OH, and is a Bowling Green State University student majoring in Sport Management with a minor in Journalism. Nick has a passion for sports and writing about sports.
February 14, 2024
OVERVIEW
The 2023-2024 NFL season comes to an end with the Kansas City Chiefs edging out a victory over the San Francisco 49ers with a final score of 25-22. This game had a very slow start with a 0-0 score at the end of the 1st quarter but had an exciting finish with the final play happening in the final seconds of overtime.
Chiefs
Travis Kelce (R) vents to Coach Andy Reid (L)
Kansas City wins back-to-back Super Bowls and their 3rd Super Bowl in 5 years. This win cements them as a dynasty led by their superstar Quarterback Patrick Mahomes. Early on in the game, the Chiefs struggled heavily, barely able to get a first down. Star tight end Travis Kelce had one catch for only one yard, basically getting shut down the whole first half. He took out his frustrations on head coach Andy Reid yelling at him in frustration to get himself more involved in the big game. Coach Reid seemed to game plan more around Kelce in the second half leading to Travis’ to finish with 9 catches and 93 yards, which were a big factor in the Chief’s victory.
49ers
Dre Greenlaw’s injury came with 9:26 left in the 2nd quarter
The San Francisco 49ers once again lost to the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl for the 2nd time in 5 years. The 49ers seemed to have the worst luck with injuries in prior seasons just trying to get to the Super Bowl, and that same luck followed them into this game. Star linebacker Dre Greenlaw tore Achilles just from running onto the field to play defense. Greenlaw was one of the 49er’s best defenders this season and was a key member of the 49er’s defense.
The Niner’s offense seemed to struggle for the most part all game, only scoring 2 touchdowns in the entire game. The main playmakers for the 49ers got shut down for most of the game, with Deebo Samuel, George Kittle, and Brandon Aiyuk essentially being nonfactors for a combined total yards of 94. The only weapons that the 49ers utilized were the NFL’s offensive player of the year Christian McCaffrey and the unlikely use of Jauan Jennings. These two had the only 49ers’ touchdowns and had a total of 202 all-purpose yards.
2nd Half and Overtime
The 2nd half and Overtime of the Super Bowl is really where the game picked up from the entertainment factor. Most of the scoring occurred in both the second half and overtime. This was only the 2nd time in NFL history that the Super Bowl has gone to overtime and the first time ever that it implemented the new overtime rules where both teams have an opportunity to score a touchdown.
Mecole Hardman scores winning TD pass in OT victory for Chiefs
The 2nd half ended with a score of 19-19 which allowed the game to continue into overtime. The 49ers only ended with a field goal which made the score 22-19. This gave Kansas City an opportunity to score a touchdown and win the game. This is exactly what happened, Patrick Mahomes led the Chiefs down the field to score a touchdown to Meccole Hardman to make the final score 25-22, making Kansas City 3-time champions in the Mahomes era.
Conclusion
Super Bowl LVIII started off as a game that could have been forgettable but turned out to be quite the opposite. This Super Bowl had one of the most exciting finishes in NFL history. Most likely we will be seeing Kansas City in the future as they try to go for a three peat. However, we may see the San Francisco 49ers sooner rather than later because of the talent on their roster.
Sam Morris is from Madison Heights, Michigan, and is an undergraduate student at BGSU majoring in Sports Management. He has a passion for sports writing and journalism. In his free time, he also performs, writes, and produces his own raps for the music industry club at BGSU.
February 6, 2024
Overview
The 2023-2024 NFL season has been one filled with many intriguing storylines and surprises. Many teams that were predicted to be good this season have fallen short with season-ending quarterback injuries (Jets, Vikings, Bengals). Other teams had surprise playoff success with emerging stars, such as the Rams with rookie wide receiver Puka Nacua and the Texans with rookie quarterback C.J Stroud. Heading into the playoffs this season it felt like many teams had a realistic shot to make a deep run or possibly win it all.
AFC Playoff Storyline
In the AFC, two contenders with promising regular seasons, the Dolphins and Browns, collapsed in their losses in the AFC playoffs. Both games were similar, the Browns and Dolphins kept it close in the first halves, but then couldn’t stop the opposing offenses from scoring in the second half. With the Bills convincingly beating the 7-seeded Steelers, and the Ravens having a bye for being the top seed, the divisional round was set with the 4 AFC divisional winners.
In the NFC, two teams that had a chance in the playoffs but had disappointing ends to their seasons were the NFC East playoff representatives, the Eagles, and the Cowboys. The Eagles started the season with a hot 10-1 record before losing to the eventual NFC champion 49’ers. After that 42-19 loss, the Eagles ended the season losing 6 of their last 7, including a 32-9 upset blowout loss to Baker Mayfield and the Buccaneers in the first round. Meanwhile, the Cowboys won 7 of their last 9 games before losing to the 7-seeded Packers in the first round, 48-32.
With these two contenders eliminated, the Detroit Lions continued their improbable season with victories over the Rams and Buccaneers to reach the NFC Championship game. However, the 1-seeded 49’ers ended up rising to the occasion with two huge second halves in their come-from-behind wins against both young teams that overachieved expectations this season, the Packers and Lions.
The 49’ers winning the NFC means a 2020 Super Bowl rematch with the Chiefs. Two of the biggest storylines of the season (Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s relationship and Brock Purdy’s continued underdog story) will be going head-to-head in the media world. On the field, the matchup should be even more intriguing with each team having many strengths and weaknesses that I discuss next.
AFC Champion: Kansas City Chiefs
Kansas City quarterback, Patrick Mahomes
Strengths
The Chiefs are going into this Super Bowl with a newfound confidence that they haven’t had all season. Their offense has been rolling in these playoffs, scoring an improved 23.3 PPG, but it’s their defense that has been their biggest strength in the playoffs and throughout the year. In the playoffs, the defense has given up just 13.3 PPG and only 4 touchdowns in three games. The front seven of Kansas City’s defense has been specifically good at pass rushes, which is what they must continue to be good at in the Super Bowl if they want to have success against Brock Purdy and his plethora of skill players.
Patrick Mahomes is obviously another strength for the Chiefs; not only because of his accuracy and ability to make clutch plays, but also because of the Super Bowl experience that he has under his belt. Mahomes’ connection to Travis Kelce will also be a strength for the Chiefs. Kelce and Mahomes have tremendous chemistry and have now connected for more playoff touchdowns than any other duo in NFL history, including 49’ers’ greats Joe Montana and Jerry Rice.
Weaknesses
On the other hand, Kansas City dropped to the third seed this season for a few reasons, which will be the same weaknesses that they need to address and overcome in this Super Bowl matchup: dropped passes from wide receivers and penalties. The dropped passes by the wide receivers have been an enormous problem this season for the Chiefs. It hasn’t been just one receiver either that has been responsible for this problem but almost the entire depth chart besides rookie Rashee Rice. Kadarius Toney, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Mecole Hardman, Skyy Moore, and even Travis Kelce have had problems hanging on to the football this year. This problem has resulted in a league- high 44 dropped passes compared to their opponent, the 49’ers, who coincidentally have the league’s fewest dropped passes with 9.
The penalties are also a big problem that the Chiefs need to control in the Super Bowl. Usually a very disciplined team under head coach Andy Reid, the Chiefs rank 2nd, only behind Dallas, in offensive holding calls, and 8th in pass interference penalties. These are two big areas that they need to clean up before going up against an already potent defensive line and wide receiving core.
The rushing attack of San Francisco will also be a challenge for Kansas City as McCaffrey was the league’s leading rusher this season, and as mentioned earlier, is also a lethal weapon to catch the ball out of the backfield. Head coach Kyle Shanahan’s run-pass-option style of offense has also benefitted the run game behind blockers, all-pro Left tackle Trent Williams, and receivers Jauan Jennings and George Kittle.
Lastly, the pass rush of the 49’ers’ front seven has been one of the best in the league all season. Bosa and Young have teamed up to make a dynamic duo setting the edge, while Hargrave and Armstead have returned from injury good as new and have stepped up in the playoffs by stuffing the run game. This is going to be a key component in the Super Bowl matchup as the Chief’s ability to balance the offense with running back Isiah Pacheco has been one of the reasons their offense has sprung back to life over the last month and a half. Along with this pro-bowl caliber D-Line, linebackers Dre Greenlaw and Fred Warner have had fantastic seasons both in pass coverage and rushing the quarterback, and both will be needed in this matchup to spy on Patrick Mahomes’ running ability.
Weaknesses
Despite the abundance of weapons San Francisco has, they have two main weaknesses that could prove to be their downfall if they don’t fix them before the Super Bowl. Their first weakness is their reduced production in the secondary, particularly from the safety position. With second-year pro-bowl Strong Safety Talanoa Hufanga out for the season, the 49’ers have had to come up with mix-match solutions all year. Rookie Ji-Ayir Brown, Isiah Oliver, Ambry Thomas, and even formerly retired Logan Ryan have stepped in to fill the role. What has resulted from this has been inconsistent play over the middle of the field and plenty of big yardage catches in zone coverage. This was particularly the case in the last two wins against the Lions and Packers where Jared Goff and Jordan Love exposed the 49’ers secondary for easy touchdowns in the first halves. If the 49’ers don’t fix this problem it will be difficult to beat the Chiefs who have been exposing defenses over the middle of the field with Kelce and Rice.
The second major weakness of the 49’ers is their kicking game. Rookie kicker Jake Moody has had an up-and-down season with an 84% regular season field goal percentage, which ranks 24th in the NFL. He also has a missed field goal in each postseason game. Overall, the inconsistency and inexperience compared to their past kicker, veteran Robbie Gould, and Chiefs’ kicker Harrison Butker, is an issue if they have to rely on kicking down the stretch of the Super Bowl.
Conclusion
In my opinion, because the 49’ers and Chiefs both have balanced and deep rosters on both sides of the ball, this Super Bowl will come down to which team makes the fewest mistakes with their biggest weaknesses. If Mahomes and the Chiefs can expose the 49’ers secondary and limit their dropped passes then I believe they can definitely win this game. However, the 49’ers could just as easily win if they tighten up their zone coverage over the middle of the field and take advantage of Chiefs’ penalties which have been a problem for them all season.
Ryan Harless is a fourth-year undergraduate at BGSU from Hillsboro, Ohio. He is majoring in Sport Management with a Journalism Minor. Baseball and Professional Wrestling are his primary interests but he is also interested in golf, hockey, and football
February 2, 2024
It is WrestleMania season yet again, the most exciting time of the year for the majority of wrestling fans. Of course, that means it is also ‘Rumble season!’
They 2024 Royal Rumble took place Saturday, January 27, 2024 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida, so I’m here to give you the rundown on what you missed.
The show kicked off with the seventh annual Women’s Royal Rumble match. To the surprise of no one, this match ruled and in my opinion was the best match of the evening.
The #2 entrant into the match was the returning Naomi who had been released by the WWE in 2022 and spent her 2023 making her name in Impact (now Total Nonstop Action) Wrestling. She received an amazing ovation from the crowd and looks to start anew following her rumble performance.
Entrant #5 was the current TNA Knockouts World Champion Jordynne Grace. Grace splits her time between professional wrestling and the world of bodybuilding and showed off her raw power throughout the match.
Fun Jordynne Grace fact: she won the TNA Knockouts World Championship from Naomi on the 13th of January this year!
The next big entrant was Biancia Belair at #10. Belair is always in title contention which made her a very viable pick to win.
Following Belair’s entry into the match, there was a decent section of the match dedicated to filling up the ring. While there were some stars such as Becky Lynch and Shayna Baszler, most of the other entries were mid-carders like Xia Li and Michin.
At #28 was the long-awaited arrival of AEW’s (All Elite Wrestling) homegrown star, Jade Cargill. Months ago, we saw Cargill introduced to a WWE audience but since then hadn’t gotten to see her in a ring outside of the AEW bubble.
Cargill looked much like her AEW self which was a relief to All Elite fans like me. Cargill looks like a star and carries herself like one so I’m looking forward to her WrestleMania debut.
The returning Liv Morgan was the final entrant at #30 and she garnered a huge reaction from the Florida crowd. Morgan’s return was cut short by the eventual winner Bayley.
This rumble victory has been a long time in the making for Bayley as one of the company’s top stars for well over five years. She is finally going to get her WrestleMania main event, but who she will be facing is still up in the air.
Following the Women’s Royal Rumble was the WWE Universal Championship four-way match between the champion Roman Reigns and challengers LA Knight, AJ Styles and Randy Orton.
If you’ve been following WWE for any period of time, you know how this match went. It wasn’t a bad match, but it certainly wasn’t a good match.
It was another standard Reigns’ championship match. Let the challengers fight, Roman comes in to hit some moves and ends up in a bad spot, and then Roman’s cousin Solo Sikoa comes in for the save and Roman keeps his title.
Nothing special but it wasn’t offensively bad either. I cannot wait for Roman to (hopefully) lose the belt at WrestleMania.
After this we got a fun contest over the United States Championship between champion Logan Paul and challenger Kevin Owens.
This was a super good match. It really irritates me that Logan Paul is such a good professional wrestler in his very limited experience with the business.
This was a great back and forth contest and was probably Paul’s most violent matchup to date. Towards the end of the match, Paul went to hit Owens with brass knuckles, but Owens caught the punch and put the knucks’ on and dropped Logan with a punch of his own.
After the punch Kevin Owens went for the pin on Logan but just before the referee counted the three, he saw Owens still had the brass knuckles on and called for a disqualification and allowed Logan to escape with his belt.
This, although it was meant to be a cooldown match before the Men’s Royal Rumble, was my favorite of the night.
Now for the main event, the 2024 Men’s Royal Rumble match. I think this continued their trend over the past few years of having very predictable rumbles.
Sure, the matches are always a fun live watch, but the hour plus long contest is usually only there to fill time before the two wrestlers expected to win are the last two in the ring. They just haven’t done much for me in a while.
The #4 entrant was yet another AEW star making their return to WWE in Andrade, who had a decent showing despite not making a lot of commotion.
The purpose of this match was so that we could get the showdown between CM Punk and Cody Rhodes in the final two. Once it got down to the final two, Punk and Rhodes had a little match to build suspense for the finish.
It is clear that CM Punk can’t go at a high level anymore in the ring. Rhodes had to completely carry Punk through the final stretch in the match before finally dumping him over the top rope.
With Cody Rhodes’ win again this year, he joins eight other wrestlers as the only ones to ever win multiple rumbles. It only makes sense for him to again challenge Roman Reigns in the main event of WrestleMania 40 and FINALLY finish his story of winning the Universal Championship.
All in all, this was an ok event. Two good matches and two matches that made me go ‘meh’. But nonetheless, we are on the road to WrestleMania and have a fun month ahead of us!
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