Keith Strudler

It was a bit of a political footnote, especially in the otherwise political swamp that is the state of Florida, but of the long list of donors that contributed to the political super PAC Never Back Down, which supports presidential candidate and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, one in particular stood out. That one was the Orlando Magic, one of two NBA franchises in the sunshine state and the only one along the bellwether I-4 corridor, although perhaps not so much anymore. The donation was for $50,000, far more than you could give directly to a candidate themselves. But the amount wasn’t the story. It’s the donor – an NBA franchise, a privately owned organization that otherwise operates very much in the public domain. And one whose employees may hold a vastly different view of presidential politics than its owner.

There are a few individual sporting titles that require an almost unfathomable sense of bravado and swagger, a willful rejection of humility and full embrace of manifest destiny.

It’s rarely easy for an NFL coach to cut a player from their pre-season roster. Getting from the 90 that start preseason to a 53-man opening day roster is tough for a long list of reasons, but no more so than you have to tell 37 people that they won’t get to play for the team. Which in many cases means you’re telling them their dream of playing in the NFL is over.

Perhaps every football coach’s favorite offensive formation is something called the Victory Formation. Every coach but Mario Cristobal of the University of Miami. At least that’s what it seemed like last Saturday, when Miami had a three-point lead and the ball with 33 seconds left against Georgia Tech, who had no time outs left. Which, unless it’s fourth down, is when you call Victory Formation, when the quarterback takes the snap and a knee while the offensive line huddles around. That, in this case, would have effectively ended the game and secured Miami’s win and continued their undefeated season.

There are some basic rules around the Olympic Games. Like participating countries must maintain sports federations in competing sports, and countries must qualify through a range of qualifying standards and competitions, and, of course, no tackling.

By any measure, Connor Stallions seems to love football. He’s been on the staff of the University of Michigan Football since 2022. And he volunteered for the team for seven years before that. And beyond Michigan football, he has bought tickets to more than 30 football games over the past three years, including at 11 other Big Ten schools. It’s that last part that seems to have caused some trouble. Because it seems increasingly likely that those tickets were purchased to help Michigan steal signs from opposing teams in clear violation of NCAA rules.

Sports commentator Keith Strudler checks in with his weekly deep thoughts.

WAMC Northeast Public Radio | By Keith Strudler The term dead money gets talked about a lot around college sports, especially right now.

WAMC Northeast Public Radio | By Keith Strudler Last weekend was one of the more frustrating in recent memories.

WAMC Northeast Public Radio | By Keith Strudler What would have been one of the most unexpected news headlines at the beginning of the NFL season now