Milestone Blast in Queens

For the first seven years of his Major League career, Pete Alonso was the power hitting staple in the lineup for the New York Mets. He's the franchise all-time home run leader. Before the start of this season, Pete left the Mets and signed on to play with the Baltimore Orioles. When this season started, Pete needed 36 home runs to reach the 300 mark for his career. Last night, he reached that mark.

And he did it in the most almost ironic way possible. Game tying shot, in Queens no less.

With the O's down 3-2 in the 9th, Alonso smacked a pitch from Kodai Senga into the left field season for a no doubter 44 foot shot to tie the game at three. The crowd gave him such an ovation, Pete actually gave a curtain call. Baltimore went on to come away with a 7-5 win in 11 innings.

Alosno became the 171st member of the 300-home run club in Major League history with his game tying home run. It was a career highlight for one of the prolific home run hitters of his time and generation. And he's still got a lot more left in the tank. We could be talking soon about him joining the 400 club or more by the time all is said and done for Pete. It was a huge moment for one of the best hitters in the game of baseball. Alonso became the third player to hit his 300th home run against a team for whom he played in 1,000 or more games. Willie Horton hit No. 300 with the Seattle Mariners against the Detroit Tigers in 1979, and Torii Hunter did so for the Tigers against the Minnesota Twins in 2013.

Now, as for the fans reaction. The game was meaningless for the Mets last night, as they had been eliminated from playoff contention losing the night before. So the game meant absolutely nothing. Alonso was a beloved figure in New York. He was one of the most popular players in Mets history. He's the all time leader in home runs. Fans didn't want to see him leave over the winter, but he did. So the fact that Pete hit such a milestone home run was a huge moment and the fans showed their appreciation in kind. The reaction from people outside of the Mets fandom have been getting on Mets fans case for how they've reacted to Pete the last couple of days. I doubt that other fans wouldn't have done the same thing that Mets fans did the last few days.

Now as a Mets fan, I do think the reaction might have been different had the Mets been a playoff team instead of now twelve games under .500 with a week and a half to go in the regular season., If they were still fighting for either a playoff spot or the division title, I don't think Pete gets as many ovations as he has over the last couple of days, because the game would have been important. But it was a meaningless game for the Mets in late September and it was a huge moment for a guy who was loved when he played here. So the reaction was deserved from the fanbase.

Best & Worst NFL Week One

The opening week in the NFL season is in the books, and what a wild and strange opening week it was. We saw the defending champs make a statement in their opening night win. We saw the Lions and Saints hook up in a wild overtime game. Then there was the dominating performance by the Bears as a team, and Kenneth Walker running wild on Monday Night! If all of this was just on opening week, we could be in for one hell of a year!

Here are some of the best, and worst, from week one in the NFL!

Best: Ben Johnson, Head Coach Chicago Bears
Having an offense be a part of the highest scoring week one game in NFL history says a lot for the new man in town. And this coming after Bears coach Ben Johnson went on record that he wanted to have the highest scoring offense the NFL has ever seen. It got off to a good start in a 59-37 drubbing of Carolina in the Bears opener. That performance tied the 2019 Ravens for the most points scored in week one in this quarter century. Oh, and it was the most points that the Bears have scored in ANY game since 1980 (they beat the Packers in week 14 that year 61-7). All of the points scored by the Bears here were done by the offense, scoring six times on the ground and twice more through the air. D'Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai both had over 100 yards rushing, while the passing game went for another 269 yards. Johnson showed what having an offensive minded head coach could do in Chicago.

Worst: Christian Parker Defensive Coordinator Dallas Cowboys
Parker just joined the Cowboys as the man to try and turn that Dallas defense around and take them to another level. What we saw against the Giants in the opener wasn't that. New York came away with a 28-20 win, a game in which the Dallas offense did it's job. It was Parker's defense that came up short. To be fair, the opening game isn't as bad as allowing the 30.1 a game that the Giants defense did. An inability to handle simple plays against the Giants could be reason to cause a little bit of alarm early in Big D. A big example of this is the fact that the defense left Isaiah Likely wide open not once but twice for his touchdowns. There as no pressure on Jaxon Dart, who completed all of six passes Sunday night. Dallas made no effort to get any pressure. if this was week one, it could make things a lot more interesting in Dallas this season.

Best: Kennerth Walker, Running Back Kansas City Chiefs
After having spent his first four years in Seattle, and coming off a Super Bowl last year, Walker was getting a chance in a new place in Kansas City. Between that and Patrick Mahomes coming off knee surgery at the end of last year, there was a few question marks going into the Monday Night opener. Those questions were answered fast in KC's 31-10 win over Denver. Mahomes had a solid day, but the real story of the night was Walkers first game performance in his new city. Walker ran wild, having 23 carries for 173 yards and a touchdown. He also added another three catches for 18 yards and another score. Walker was showing that the change of environment hasn't changed his game, and he was at the top of it in the opener.

Worst: DeShaun Watson, Quarterback Cleveland Browns
It's no secret that Watson has been a major letdown in Cleveland. Going into the opener, it was a surprise that the Browns decided to name Watson the starter of Shedeur Sanders, but at the same time this I think is the Browns still trying to justify his contract. Well Watson did, how do I put this nicely, Watson things in the opener. Cleveland got blown out 34-10 by Jacksonville, while Watson was average at best. Sure, the 205 yards and a touchdown could look somewhat sexy. At the same time, he threw an ugly pick on the Browns opening drive, he got sacked five times and had a QBR of 34.5. Another bad day in Cleveland in what could be a very long season for the Browns.

Best: Ashton Jeanty, Running Back Los Vegas Raiders
Powering the Raiders offense in week one was a familiar face. Vegas got off on the right foot with a 27-13 win over the Dolphins, and they had their biggest weapon handling the load. It was Ashton Jeanty taking the ball and running with it, literally. Jeanty had more yards by himself then the Dolphins had as a team. Jeanty had 23 carries for 102 yards. While he never crossed the goal line, his punishing running was able to open up the pass game for Kirk Cousins. Oh yeah, and Jeanty added another 45 yards to his day on six catches. Two of those catches went for his touchdowns. It's proving that he's become a good security blanket for not only Cousins, but for Fernando Mendoza whenever he finally gest regular season snaps.

Worst: Rams Week One Game Plan
There's a lot to take in for the Rams from their overseas 27-7 loss to the 49ers. A lot of people, me included, had the Rams as an early favorite to be a Super Bowl team. They start the season flying over to Melbourn to play the Niners to start the year. Jet lag didn't help the Rams play. Losing by 20 was the biggest week one loss by a preseason Super Bowl favorite in half a century. Oh and Matthew Staffod play wasn't great. He threw for 155 and a pick and only completed 15 of his 25 passes. It was the lowest scoring game for Stafford as a Ram and the first time the Rams had lost by double digits since 2024. Also, it didn't help that it was announced before the game, that Myles Garrett was going to miss the first the month of the season having knee surgery.

Baking In Tampa

There was a cloud of uncertainty in Tampa Bay as far as the quarterback position is concerned. Now that cloud has lifted. Baker Mayfield had entered training camp on the final year of his contract, and he was looking for an extension. Both sides had agreed that once camp started talks would stop. They haven't, because a couple days before the Buccaneers kicked the season off, Baker got his extension. Baker was signed Tuesday afternoon to a new extension for three years at $165 million. This will keep Baker here in Tampa through the 2029 season.

Baker got something he was looking for from the Bucs. he had said in the media prior to this that he never really intended to reset the market for quarterbacks, but he wanted to be fairly compensated for what he's been able to do with the Bucs during his time here in Tampa. And why not? Since Baker's gotten here in 2023, he led the Bucs to back-to-back NFC South titles, and he's put up some of the best offensive numbers of his career.

This has come off the heels of having defensive tackle Vita Fea signed to a new extension during camp. Both Vita and Baker's signings were a big talking point for the Bucs going into camp, and both have been signed to new extensions before the start of the season. Now it's about getting down to business and coming back from a disastrous second half of last year.

Baker coming off an injury plagued season last year, which lead to a dip in his numbers from the first two years in Tampa. He appears to have been healthy all of camp. This is the year for Baker to prove to not only himself but to the Buccaneers organization that they made the right investment in getting him his new extension.

2026 'NFL Season Preview

The time has arrived. The waiting is over. The National Football League has returned for the 2026 season! There's a lot to dive into and look at for what's about to go down during the NFL season. Seattle is looking to defend its world title, while New England is looking to get back to the big game and make atone for last season. There's going to be a lot of highlighted games this season as well. We will have nine games played on international soil, four games played on Thanksgiving weekend in prime time, and four games played around Christmas, one on Christmas eve and three on Christmas day.

We've also seen plenty of player movement going around the league this season too. Kirk Cousins (Vegas), Kyler Murray (Minnesota), Tua (Atlanta), Travis Etienne (New Orleans), Mike Evans (San Francisco), Stefon Diggs (Washington), Deboo Samuel (San Francisco), Bradley Chubb (Buffalo), Geno Smith (Jets), Minkah Fitzpatrick (Jets), Jaylen Waddle (Denvcer), Miles Garrett (Rams), AJ Brown (New England) have all been moved either via free agency or trades this offseason.

So with all that being said, trades, free agents, the draft what have you, the season is finally ready to rock and roll. Here's how we see the 2026 NFL season playing out!

NFC:
NFC East:
1. Dallas Cowboys (12-5)*
2. Philadelphia Eagles (9-8)
3. Washington Commanders (9-8)
4. New York Giants (6-11)

We're starting things off with what looks to be a very rebuilt Cowboys team. The Defense in Dallas looks like they might be a handful to deal with this season, with Qwuinnen Williams getting his new contract and hoping to have a big year for that defense. Dallas seems to have the weapons for Dak to work with on the offensive side of the football to really be able to make some noise this season. A team that could be taking a step back this season would be the Eagles, who are coming off the division title last season. Philly still has plenty of offensive weapons for Jalen Hurts to really work with. Having a new offensive coordinator to work with could make things interesting for the Eagles What could be holding back the Commanders from being the team to really challenge for that division is how well their new offensive coordinator David Blough can mesh with Jaylen Daniels. He's got a receiving core that's a little bit older and one guy in Diggs who is still trying to prove something that he can still produce in this league. With everybody healthy, it looks like Washington could have that bounce back year. But it might not be enough to get them over the hump as being a playoff team is concerned. Finally we have a team in flux in the form of the Giants. New York is still trying to solve a problem at quarterback, but with Jaxon Dart showing some signs last year, they MAY have found something to work with. Now having a guy like John Harbaugh to learn under as his head coach, Big Blue could be starting to make a trend upward. Also getting Cam Skattebo back and health will be a big plus for the Giants, if he can be as close to productive as he was before he got hurt last season.

NFC North:
1. Detroit Lions (13-4)*
2. Chicago Bears (10-7) (WC)*
3. Green Bay Packers (10-7)
4. Minnesota Vikings (9-8)

For the third time in the last four seasons, the North title is going to go through the Lions, who are coming off a low season last year. They had the injury bug hit them last year, but this year will see Detroit have one of the easiest schedules in the league. They got a new offensive coordinator in Drew Petzing who should have a healthy offense to try and get humming quick. After last year's division title, the Bears are going to be good but take a slight step backwards this season. They lead the league in takeaways last year but might not get that high a number again this season. Still, with the play of Caleb Williams, they should still be able to keep pace with what they did a season ago. Even with losing DJ Moore in a trade, the Bears offense can still have weapons for Williams to work with. It's been winning seasons as of late for the Packers, and this year is going to be no different. it may get off to a slower start, but it will still finish above .500. Micah Parsons is going to be out the first month of the year, but once he comes back, this Green Bay defense is going to be tough to deal with. What worries me could be the paly of the offensive line and really giving Jordan Love time and room to make plays. They will turn it on enough to make noise towards a playoff push, but it comes up short. Finally, the Vikings round out a division where all teams finish with winning records. You got the best receiver in the entire division in Justin Jeffersoni, but the big wild card for Minnesota is what they are going to get under center. Can Kyler Murray rejuvenate his career? And what will the future hold for JJ McCarthy? Defense looks about aver, middle of the pack kind of team on paper.

NFC South:
1. Carolina Panthers (9-8)*
2. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (8-9)
3. New Orleans Saints (7-10)
4. Atlanta Falcons (6-11)

For the second year in a row, the Panthers will reign atop the NFC South. This year, it won't be because of anybody collapsing. In the weakest division in all of the NFC, the Panthers have the roster that might be the best of the bunch when they healthy. Bryce Young gained more confidence as last year went along, and he knows he can play and hang in this league. Having Chubba Hubbard a little banged up could slow things down a little for Carolina, but having Coker and McMillan catching passes from Young can help make up for it. The defense could have ability to be somewhat solid, but like aspects of the offense, they are a little banged up going into the season. Once they get healthy, they take the division. Right behind them are going to be the Buccaneers, who pose the closest thing to a threat to taking this division. Losing Mike Evans to free agency and Lavonte David to retirement put a hamper on things in Tampa Bay. There's also the sting of that on top of last year's collapse down the stretch that cost them the division. Baker Mayfield is playing on the final year of his contract and he's healthy. So you know he's going to come out motivated They still have some solid pieces on offense for them to work with. The Defense could be pretty good, especially if rookie Ruban Baine can live up to expectations. Not too sure what kind of team you're going to get out of the Falcons this season. Tuua Tunbgovailoa is taking over under center instead of Michael Penix. Tua's getting one final shot at this go around while Penix tries his hardest to prove he's finally ready to take over for this team for good. Atlanta still has Robinson, Pitts, and London to make the offense go. But it's the defense in the end that's going to let Atlanta down just a little. Same kind of argument can be made for the Saints, who don't have many prospects to really work on for being good this season. Sure, New Orleans has the third easiest schedule in the league this season, but what could carry the Saints to being a surprise team at all this year is the paly of Tyler Shough. Between him and Spencer Rattler as the backup, there's some speculation how good the QB play is going to be this year. You could have a good run game with Etienne and Kamara (when he gets healthy). But the pass game is weak behind Chris Olave. And on the other side of the football, outside of Cam Jordan, nobody on that defense scares anybody.

NFC West:
1. Los Angeles Rams (13-4)*
2. Seattle Seahawks (12-5) (WC)*
3. San Francisco 49ers (10-7) (WC)*
4. Arizona Cardinals (3-14)

This is, on paper, going to be another dominating year in the West for the Rams. Even though Matthew Stafford doesn't have much left in the tank, he's still got plenty of loaded weapons to get the ball to. Too many weapons on one side of the ball, while the other side adds the best pass rusher in the game today. There's star power all over the place on this Rams team, and anything less than a Lombardi Trophy would be a massive disappointment for this team. Following right behind them would be the defending world champion Seahawks. Seattle made changes to their coaching staff this season, but Mike MacDEonald still has the plan set in stone for what they want to do this season. They did take a bit of a hit with MVP Kenneth Walker III going to KC. But there's still enough talent here on both sides of the ball that's back from last year to where they can almost go punch for Punch with LA. Another team that's going to try and keep pace with them is a slightly reloaded 49ers club. It was injuries that hampered San Francisco last year, and even coming out of camp with new weapon Mike Evans dealing with them, this team could still be good. If they are healthy, or as healthy as they possibly can be, this team might be a dangerous team to deal with. Unfortunately, there's one team in this division that's not going to be able to keep pace is the Cardinals. Sure, there's a few pieces in the likes of Marvin Harrison Jr and Trey McBride, It's going to be hard to contend in the West if they don't have a future at quarterback. Brissett and Minshew aren't even close to being the answer now or long term. Anything above 4 or so wins this season in Arizona would be a miracle.

AFC:
AFC East:
1. Buffalo Bills (10-7)*
2. New England Patriots (9-8) (WC)*
3. New York Jets (5-12)
4. Miami Dolphins (3-14)

It was an off year for the Bills last year, playing second fiddle in the division. This year, Buffalo goes right back to the top of the mountain in the East. There's a new stadium for new coach Joe Brady to help break in. Adding DJ Morore for Josh Allen to throw to makes his targets even more deadly. Bolstering the defense by adding in Bradley Chubb. Buffalo has a good enough team on both sides of the ball to usher in this new stadium in Western New York and are primed to have a deep playoff run again this season. Right behind them are the division and conference winners from last season in the Patriots. New England had a rebuild faster than people thought last year, winning the whole conference. Most of the talent is still in place in New England, but the schedule is going to be a lot tougher. It's not going to catch anybody off guard what the Pats are going to be able to do this year. If Drake Maye can keep up the performances he had last year, then New England will be a lot tougher for Buffalo to keep at bay. Behind those two teams are ones who are going to trying to keep rebuilding. One of them being the Jets. New York has some talent with Breece Hall and Garrett Wilson to work with. But the Quarterback situation is still a mess. Bringing Geno Smith back means they have no hope under center for one more year when MAYBE they can finally find their guy at QB. There's good farmwork for talent on both sides of the football in New York, they just don't have those key pieces yet to finally be able to bring it all together. Only one team this year is going to be worse, that being the Dolphins. On paper at least, Miami may have the worst put together roster in all of football. Outside of De'Von Achene, there's not one weapon of note on the offensive side of the football to work with. The defense leaves even more to be desired. Miami this year is going to be bad enoguh to finally get the Jets out of the basement.

AFC North:
1. Baltimore Ravens (11-6)*
2. Cincinnati Bengals (10-7) (WC)*
3. Pittsburgh Steelers (7-10)
4. Cleveland Browns (5-12)

After a down season a year ago, this will be another return to a division title for the Ravens. They are going to have to do it this year with Jesse Minter running the show instead of John Harbaugh. In fact, there's a lot of change over from the coaching staff a season ago. As long as Lamar Jackson can stay healthy under center, the offense could still be able to hum along just fine. May have to see what will happens with the interior changes made to the O-Line. But it helps that the early portion of the schedule could be a favor. The only reason I don't have the Bengals winning things here is because, given the last couple of years, I worry about the health of Joe Burrow. If Joe can stay healthy, Cincinnati will be able to overtake the others for the division. All the pieces are here for Cincinnati to be really good, it just really depends on the play at Quarterback. On the other side of the ball, the Bengals have a solid core, which could make them tough to play against. Then you have the Steelers who are going to be getting the last ride of the career of Aaron Rogers hall of fame career. That and Pittsburgh is having its first season without Mike Tomlin at the helm of this team. The Pittsburgh defense isn't getting any younger and outside of TJ Watt, there's not much star power here. The offensive side has some stuff to work with in both the ground and pass game. They just have to make sure that they can get every ounce of juice out of Rogers to come even close to being a contending team. Bringing up the rear in this division are going to be the Browns who still have no idea what they are doing. Deshaun Watson is starting under center, but that's only because of his gigantic contract. It doesn't really matter who's under center, because there's four new starters on that O-Line and they are going to leave the QB high and dry it feels like more often than not. And on the other side of the ball, Myles Garrett is gone and they don't have much else there. Five wins will be lucky for Cleveand this year.

AFC South:
1. Houston Texans (12-5)*
2. Jacksonville Jaguars (9-8)
3. Tennessee Titans (6-11)
4. Indianapolis Colts (5-12)

For the third time in four seasons, the South title belongs to the Texans.  Past seasons have seen them playing wild card weekend, but this finally becomes the year that Houston gets a bye in the first round of the playoffs. CJ Stroud is healthy and more settled in at this level. He's got good weapons to work with, including new back David Montgomery to had the ball to, and Nico Collins finding his stride catching passes from him. With a solid defense and starting the season off with four games at home in their first seven weeks, they going to be tough to deal with. Houston should be able to run away with this division. The only other team that can finish with a winning record in this division will be the Jaguars. There are higher expectations for Travis Hunter to take his game to another level this season. They have new players in the form of Bhayshul Tuten running the ball and Ventrell Miller at linebacker. They are unproven commodities and are going to lead to Jacksonville taking a step backward this year. Sure Trevor Lawrence is going to be doing all he can to get them towards a playoff spot, but the team has taken a step back for the year. Behind them are going to be a not quite ready yet but improving Titans team. Robert Saleh is getting another shot as head coach in Tennessee, and he's got a young gun in Cam Ward to work with. Ward is looking to be able to build off what he did a season ago and can only keep going up from where he is. He's got weapons to work with, sure, but they aren't proven to work in the system yet. It going to be a little more growing pain for the Titans. The only team that's going to be worse than Tennessee, is going to be the Colts this season. Indianapolis is hoping Daniel Jones can build off winning comeback player of the year, and having Jonathan Taylor still running the ball are going to be a bright spot. Alec Pierce is going to be a question mark dealing with injury, and Keenan Allen isn't going to be as much of a factor dealing with his off the field issues. This is going to be a very down year in Indy this year.

AFC West:
1. Denver Broncos (11-6)*
2. Los Angeles Chargers (11-6) (WC)*
3. Kansas City Chiefs (10-7)
4. Las Vegas Raiders (5-12)

For the second year in a row, the AFC West title belongs to the Broncos. Bo Nix has a new weapon to work with in tight end in Evan Engram. With him joining Waddle, and Sutton in the passing game, and JK Dobbins running the football, Denver's offense is going to be able to put some points on the board. And that leaves a lot for Sean Payton to run with. The defense is still very solid and can hold the opposition at bay on quite a few afternoons. The closest team that's going to challenge them is going to be the Chargers. There's plenty of offensive weapons for Justin Herbert to make plays with. Starting with Hampton taking the handoffs, and Ladd McConkey leading a pretty good pass catching corp. LA has to tools on the offensive side of the ball, that if everybody healthy they could be something. Defense may take a step backwards for this season, but it will still be good enough to get into the post season. A team that's going to take a bigger step back this year is going to be the Chiefs. Kansas City could be without Patrick Mahomes, dealing with his knee injury he sustained at the end of last season. This is also a chance in a sense to see if Justin Fields has anything left in the tank after the disastrous showing last year. Kenneth Walker adds a new element taking over the rushing duties in KC this season. And they still have a pretty good receiving group with Kelce Worthy and Rice. Defense could be good enough to keep KC hanging around for a chunk of the year, but not having Mahomes is going to keep them out of it this year. Finally, bringing up the rear in this division is going to be the Raiders. Even though they have the op overall pick Fernando Mendoza, he won't be starting the year under center. Kirk Cousins has that title. Before the year is over, Mendoza is going to be that guy. They have a decent running game in Ashton Jeanty and tight end in Brock Bowers. Outside of that Vegas doesn't have the offensive firepower to really hang with the rest of this division.

2026 Florida College Football

That time of year has arrived! College football season is here, and the state of Florida is well represented. There are 18 totally college football programs in the state, ten of which are D1 schools. Of all those D1 programs here in the state, there's five that we will try and cover the most here on the show: USF, UCF, Florida, Florida State and Miami.

 A grand total of sixty games will be played combined between the five schools. Yes there are crossovers this year, where some of the schools do play each other this season. Quite a few of those games involve teams that are ranked, as of this writing, in the top 25 in the nation in the coaches polls. There's no doubt in anybody's mind tis going to lead to a lot of exciting football this season.

We will dive into it a little more in the coming days, with schedules and what not for the schools we look at the most. But with that being said, taking everything into account, here's how we see the Florida big programs finishing this season.

USF: 7-5
UCF: 6-6
Florida State: 7-5
Florida: 6-6
Miami: 10-2

So what say you? Is this how the big five Florida schools finish the 2026 season?

Wonderful Weekend in Tampa Bay

It is finally happening! After almost twenty years of back and forth and trying, the Tampa Bay Rays are going to be getting their new ballpark, replacing Tropicana Field! A deal is in place for a new $2.3 Billion stadium and surrounding development to be finished in Tampa. Timeline will be completed supposedly in March of 2029.

All in all, for the ballpark project to be completed, the city of Tampa is contributing roughly $80 million in public funding, and the county of Hillsborough will contribute almost $800 million. The remaining $1.4 billion or so and any cost overruns will be privately financed. The new complex will be located near Hillsborough College's Dale Mabry campus. All of this is happening after votes passed in the city of Tampa on Friday. Also, per the agreement, this new ballpark, whatever name its going to be, will be owned by the county, with the Rays paying $4 million a year in rent. The lease on the ballpark is expected to run for 35 years.

Anybody in the Tampa area can tell you this has been going on for almost twenty years. Ever since Stu Sternberg took over ownership of the team, the Rays have been trying to replace the Trop as their home. A lot of the holdups have been, if we really being honest, is because nobody wanted to deal with Stu. That's at least the prevailing theory around the baseball world and the Tampa area as to why it took this long to get everything done. Once the new ownership took over, everything got done and we have the new ballpark.

As I said on the last episode of the show, I'm still a little hesitant about this just because, given what has happened with the Rays history, something could still always pop up to delay this process. I'm always nervous that something could still go wrong. Once the shovels actually go into the ground and things start getting done, I'll feel a lot better about this. Don't get me wrong, I'm very happy that this is getting moving in the right direction and its moving, but I'll be a lot happier once shovel hits ground and everything starts going up in the next few months.

For now at least, the city of Tampa can rejoice that the new ballpark is coming!

Thank You Bill

This. Is. SoprtCenter!

Its a phrase that sports fans have been hearing in one form or another since 1979. It was the flagship show on the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network. Better known to all as ESPN. Founded by Bill Rasmussen on September 7th, 1979, ESPN became the mighty power in sports TV ever since. It's founder, Bill, passed away on Tuesday at the age of 93.

Rasmussen came up with the concept in 1978 and saw the station officially launch in 1979, when SportsCenter became the first show on the network. It was first thought up by Bill and his son Scott as a mainly Connecticut venture, then becoming a 24-hour national sports network and a powerhouse in the TV industry. Bill had come off just losing his job with the New England Whalers of the WHA and was looking for a new venture, rolling the dice on what would become ESPN. Over the time since the networks launching, it has broadcast thousands of memorable sporting events and spanned off into multiple different subnetworks under that umbrella. Boill would leave the company in 1980, before it really took off.

Even though his tenure wasn't very long within the company, what he was still able to do to get this network off and running was a huge achievement in not only the world of sports but the world of broadcasting as well. His impact on the business will be felt for a long time to come.