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SwampSwami.com - Sports Commentary and more!You STILL want to be a Mid-Major Athletics Director? (Conclusion)Here is a brief summary of the previous post.
The most recent Athletics Director at UL-Monroe resigned on Monday. John Hartwell’s background was incredibly solid.
He had been the AD at Utah State and Troy before coming to ULM in early 2023.
I recently watched a video in which John Hartwell explained that his previous work experience had come in the financial services industry. That certainly seems prudent if you are managing a college athletics budget worth millions of dollars.
ULM has suffered for years at the bottom of the F...2025-08-0913 minSwampSwami.com - Sports Commentary and more!So you want to be a Mid-Major Athletics Director? (Part 1)There is an Athletics Director job opening (again) at the University of Louisiana at Monroe.
John Hartwell resigned from the Sunbelt Conference school on Monday.
He replaced Scott McDonald (2019-2023) who replaced Nick Floyd (2017-2018) who replaced Brian Wickstrom (2013-2017).
Hartwell spent just 2 ½ years as the AD for this quaint public university located along lovely Bayou Desiard in Monroe.
He reported for duty in early 2023 after spending seven years in a similar position working for the Utah State Aggies of the Mountain West Conference.
Hartwell’s departure from...2025-08-0812 minSwampSwami.com - Sports Commentary and more!Will Jerry Jones try the “Herschel Walker” play soon?The new football season brings another game show is being played by Dallas Cowboys owner (and the star of our show), Jerry Jones.
The weekend sports headlines percolated several stories featuring the 82-year old owner of the highest valued pro sports franchise ($10 billion and counting). Jones has inserted himself in the middle of yet another contract renegotiation with a key member of his football team.
The Micah Parsons Project
Dallas Cowboys defensive end/pass rushing specialist Micah Parsons is heading into the final year of his initial NFL contract. 2025-08-0512 minSwampSwami.com - Sports Commentary and more!LIV Golf Pivots toward its Team ConceptTake that, PGA Tour!
Upstart professional golf competitor LIV Golf announced this week that it is raising tournament payouts beginning in 2026.
An extra $5 million of prize money will be added to every LIV Golf tournament next season.
All of the incremental money will be used to sweeten the payouts for the top three finishing teams at each event.
LIV Golf is taking a big leap in marketing its unique team golf concept in contrast to the individual-based golf events of the PGA Tour.
A...2025-08-0210 minSwampSwami.com - Sports Commentary and more!The Dog Days of Summer mean Football Practices BeginIt’s almost here! The sizzling outdoor temperatures also signal that your favorite college football team is starting practices for the fall season.
August is just days away. The start of the 2025 college football season is only one month away, too.
Did you know that “The Dog Days of Summer” are between July 3 and August 11?
It’s unfortunate that Fido should be forever linked to this blast furnace portion of the year.
The astronomical truth is that the dog star (Sirius) becomes the brightest star in the night sky during mid...2025-07-3110 minSwampSwami.com - Sports Commentary and more!Whatcha Gonna Do??? Remembering Hulk HoganLast Thursday’s passing of the professional wrestling giant known as Hulk Hogan (born as Terry Bollea) came as a big shock to most of us.
The initial reports said that Hulk Hogan died from a heart attack. The internet has been circulating that Hogan had complications following a recent surgery on his neck.
He was 71 years of age.
That seems relatively young, but the actuarial tables of major insurance companies say that American men live to an average of 77 years compared to age 81 for women.
To the surprise of...2025-07-2912 minSwampSwami.com - Sports Commentary and more!Northwestern State Football – Cautious Optimism in 2025Coach Blaine McCorkle knew the job as head coach for the Northwestern State University Demons football team was going to be a very big challenge.
He arrived in early 2024 after completing a successful turnaround at Belhaven College in Jackson, Mississippi. Belhaven went 24-7 during his final three seasons at the Blazers’ head football coach.
Coach McCorkle was quite aware that moving to Natchitoches, Louisiana last year to lead the Demons football team was going to be tough.
It was.
His Northwestern State University Demons football team posted an...2025-07-2410 minSwampSwami.com - Sports Commentary and more!Scheffler wins another Snoozer + WNBA and Peacock news!Happy Monday to all!
This weekend’s British Open (aka “The Open Championship”) was another runaway victory for the hottest golfer on the planet, Scottie Scheffler.
He took the lead on Friday afternoon at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland with a 7-under par 64. Scheffler never relinquished the lead during Saturday and Sunday’s final rounds.
The Dallas, Texas native coasted to a 4-shot victory Sunday to secure his fourth major championship.
It was yet another of his patented “sleeper hold” final round performances.
Scottie Scheffler was already three-under p...2025-07-2110 minSwampSwami.com - Sports Commentary and more!A Sunbelt Reunion for Louisiana Tech, ULM, and the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns!It finally happened this week.
Louisiana Tech University held a news conference at 3PM this afternoon to officially accept an invitation to (re)join the Sunbelt Conference. An earlier press release mentioned that the Bulldogs will begin play no later than the 2027 college football season (more on that issue in a moment).
Yes, I have done my tiny little part to help push this issue along during the past month (see here and here). Do you think this 1981 graduate of Louisiana Tech would stoop low enough to take a victory lap at the begi...2025-07-1711 minSwampSwami.com - Sports Commentary and more!Up, Up, and Away! It’s Season 2 for Centenary College FootballOne of the smallest colleges in America started a football team in 2024. It is now getting ready for its second season as part of the NCAA Division III Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference.
Centenary College of Louisiana is located in Shreveport.
This liberal arts private college is currently celebrating 200 years after being founded in 1825.
The Gents (actually, the school’s official nickname is “Gentlemen”) once fielded a rather successful college football team until the advent of World War II in late 1941. A brief resurrection of the football program was attempted (and failed) during th...2025-07-1511 minSwampSwami.com - Sports Commentary and more!Dream Match-up – MLB All-Stars vs. the Savannah Bananas!Major League Baseball’s annual All-Star Game will be played in Atlanta, Georgia on Tuesday, July 15.
A ticket to the July event is never cheap. Fans paid an average of $350 to watch last year’s All-Star game in person due to the high demand for tickets.
Why does MLB play an All-Star game?
The All-Star game is primarily used to generate publicity for Major League Baseball during the one month of the year (July) where baseball has the men’s team sport spotlight all to itself.
Major League...2025-07-1010 minSwampSwami.com - Sports Commentary and more!Welcome to the Sunbelt Conference Beauty Pageant!Louisiana Tech University’s invitation to join the Sunbelt Conference did not appear a week ago as many interested parties had hoped over the past month.
Louisiana Tech was a former member of the Sunbelt Conference from 1991 through 2001. However, the “old” Sunbelt did not sponsor football until the year 2001.
The Bulldogs bailed on the Sunbelt in order to join the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) in that same year of 2001.
The 2001 version of the WAC featured prominent football members such as Rice, SMU, Tulsa, and UTEP.
Things changed in 2005...2025-07-0812 minSwampSwami.com - Sports Commentary and more!Hot Dog! Let’s Celebrate the Fourth of July!***Update – Joey Chestnut (70 1/2) and Miki Sudo (33) captured first place honors in Friday’s 2025 Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July Hot Dog eating contest. Neither world record (76 for men and 51 for women) was threatened this year.
Happy 249th birthday, America!
Friday, July 4th will be celebrated around the country in a variety of ways. Backyard barbecues, local fireworks displays, and a number of outdoor activities all make for a fun three-day holiday weekend.
The sports calendar is relatively bare this month
The summer heat brings a lull of...2025-07-0411 minSwampSwami.com - Sports Commentary and more!Will the Houston Texans end the city’s Football Losing Streak?The Houston metropolitan area is one of the nation’s most fertile grounds for high school football talent.
Check out the rosters of some of the top college football teams. Houston and its sprawling suburbs is listed as the hometown of many great young football players.
NFL Hall-of-Famers like wide receiver Cliff Branch, linebacker Mike Singletary, defensive end Micheal Strahan, running back Eric Dickerson, and center Alan Faneca all played high school football in the Houston area.
It is hard to believe that the city of Houston’s largest college football teams...2025-07-0111 minSwampSwami.com - Sports Commentary and more!When (if ever) will the WNBA become Profitable?The United Football League (UFL) is likely to lose another $50 million or more in its second season of spring football. League owners would be smart to end that money-losing experiment soon.
Recent television ratings and low home attendance indicate that the average sports fan will not miss the UFL next spring if that league should fold soon.
The WNBA loses nearly the same amount of money as spring football’s UFL
The Women’s National Basketball Association began play in 1997. A 13-team WNBA plays its schedule (a little...2025-06-2712 minSwampSwami.com - Sports Commentary and more!A Sunday of Home Court AdvantagesThree major sports events were held on Sunday afternoon and evening.
The assembled crowds were solidly behind one primary participant.
They cheered relentlessly from start to finish for their favorite.
As you may have guessed, Sunday’s overwhelming crowd favorites all won.
“Geauxmaha” Nebraska is the northern home of the Men’s College World Series Champion LSU Tigers baseball team
The Midwestern city of Omaha, Nebraska should be designated as the unofficial sister city of Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Sunday’s College World Series...2025-06-2410 minSwampSwami.com - Sports Commentary and more!Will Louisiana Tech (Re)join the Sunbelt Conference?Full disclosure – Ol’ SwampSwami earned an M.B.A. from Louisiana Tech University in 1981.
This is not the first time I have discussed this issue.
Yours truly has been on this particular soapbox since October, 2021 (click here) and again last fall in October, 2024 (click here).
The rumors are flying this week that Louisiana Tech University may be offered a spot to join in the Sunbelt Conference very soon.
Actually, Louisiana Tech would be rejoining the Sunbelt Conference.
The Bulldogs were once a memb...2025-06-2011 minSwampSwamiSports.comWill Louisiana Tech (Re)join the Sunbelt Conference?Full disclosure – Ol’ SwampSwami earned an M.B.A. from Louisiana Tech University in 1981.
This is not the first time I have discussed this issue.
Yours truly has been on this particular soapbox since October, 2021 (click here) and again last fall in October, 2024 (click here).
The rumors are flying this week that Louisiana Tech University may be offered a spot to join in the Sunbelt Conference very soon.
Actually, Louisiana Tech would be rejoining the Sunbelt Conference.
The Bulldogs were once a memb...2025-06-2011 minSwampSwami.com - Sports Commentary and more!A “Cinderella Story” Father’s Day US OpenHere’s hoping that you had a terrific Father’s Day weekend.
My wife and I enjoyed a brief stay with one of our sons and his two youngsters in north Louisiana. On Sunday, we had a nice video chat with our other son and his three young gents in the mid-Atlantic region.
All in all, it was a great weekend for catching-up with the family.
That also left time for my annual Father’s Day Sunday ritual. I attempt to stay awake to watch the entire final round of the US Open...2025-06-1710 minSwampSwami.com - Sports Commentary and more!The Big Ugly Settlement AgreementThis story is definitely not about any current legislation in Washington, DC which may or may not happen anytime soon.
I’m going to try to explain the historic $2.576 billion college sports settlement agreement which was finally approved by a federal judge late last week.
The settlement agreement will (eventually) spread a lot of money around to many college athletes who competed in NCAA sports after June 15, 2016 through the present.
Feel free to read the entire 76-page ruling by clicking here (Warning – it’s quite boring!)
The big, ugly settlement agreement (I’ll r...2025-06-1212 minSwampSwami.com - Sports Commentary and more!Aaron Rodgers’ New NeighborhoodPittsburgh was the longtime home of PBS children’s show host Fred “Mister” Rogers.
His gentle voice and calm demeanor in his “Mr. Rogers Neighborhood” television show became a regular in our home during our two sons’ pre-school years.
Parents felt like they could trust Mister Rogers. His thoughtful and creative half-hour daily program projected a genuine care and personal regard for his younger viewers.
Fred McFeely Rogers passed away in 2003 at the relatively young age of 74 from stomach cancer.
Last Friday, another Mr. Rodgers arrived in Pittsburgh
2025-06-1011 min