Big Bear Nolan's Blog

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  • Is 2026 another prove it season for Ohio State’s Ryan Day?

    Entering the 2024 College Football Playoff, Head Coach Ryan Day and the Ohio State Buckeyes were under a lot of fire. The team fell to Michigan for the fourth straight season which caused the Buckeyes to miss the Big Ten Championship for the fourth straight season. The 2024 loss was also worse because Michigan was an Unranked 7-5 team and yet still could not beat them. What followed was one of the best runs in CFP history where OSU had to run through three top-5 teams to win the National Championship. The Buckeyes carried the momentum through the 2025 season with an unbeaten regular season that also included a win over the Wolverines, but stumbled in the Big Ten Championship and CFP game to the two National Championship teams in Indiana and Miami. So heading into this year after the disappointment of 2025, is this upcoming season another prove it year for Coach Day?

    Notable Buckeyes scores under Day since 2021:

    (Rankings were where OSU played the opponent at the time which you can view here)

    • 2021
      • W 45-31 at Minnesota
      • L 35-28 vs No. 12 Oregon
      • W 33-24 vs No. 20 Penn State
      • W 59-31 vs No. 19 Purdue
      • W 56-7 vs No. 7 Michigan State
      • L 42-27 vs No. 5 Michigan
        • Win vs No. 11 Utah in Rose Bowl
    • 2022
      • W 21-10 vs No. 5 Notre Dame
      • W 54-10 vs Iowa
      • W 44-31 at No. 13 Penn State
      • L 45-23 vs No. 3 Michigan
        • Loss vs No. 1 Georgia in Peach Bowl CFP Semifinal
    • 2023
      • W 17-14 at No. 9 Notre Dame
      • W 20-12 vs No. 7 Penn State
      • W 24-10 at Wisconsin
      • L 30-24 at No. 3 Michigan
        • Loss vs No. 9 Missouri in Cotton Bowl
    • 2024
      • L 32-31 at No. 3 Oregon
      • W 21-17 vs Nebraska
      • W 20-13 at No. 3 Penn State
      • W 38-15 vs No. 5 Indiana
      • L 13-10 vs Michigan
        • CFP run
          • W 42-17 vs No. 7 Tennessee (CFB 1st round)
          • W 41-21 vs No. 1 Oregon (Rose Bowl CFB quarterfinal)
          • W 28-14 vs No. 3 Texas (Cotton Bowl CFB semis)
          • W 34-23 vs No. 5 Notre Dame (National Championship
    • 2025
      • W 14-7 vs No. 1 Texas
      • W 24-6 at Washington
      • W 42-3 vs Minnesota
      • W 34-16 at No. 17 Illinois
      • W 34-0 at Wisconsin
      • W 38-14 vs Penn State
      • W 27-9 at No. 15 Michigan
        • Postseason
          • L 13-10 vs No. 2 Indiana (Big Ten Championship)
          • L 24-14 vs No. 10 Miami (Cotton Bowl CFB quarterfinal)

    This is the notable timeframe in Day’s tenure as the Ohio State head coach. Something I noticed when making this list is while they have showed that they can clearly beat anyone, hence why Ohio State won the 2024 natty. Some of these schedules were kinda soft. Now some of these seasons, teams like when they played Wisconsin in 2022 and 2023 were ranked No. 18 and No. 19 in the preseason AP poll both of those years. But were unranked when the Buckeyes played them, and Penn State last season was predicted to be another matchup between top 5 teams and maybe No. 1 vs No. 2. But instead a disappointing season for PSU made it a 3-5 unranked team at No. 1 Ohio State. You can’t blame those teams underperforming on the Buckeyes but where you can point to the schedules is exactly what happened in 2024 and 2025. Part of the reason why the Buckeyes were ready for the CFP run in 2024 was because they were tested with games like the two games at Oregon and Penn State and you could see that with how they played. In 2025 yes they beat Texas who at the time was No. 1 and finished well, but that wasn’t the same Texas team week one so really, Ohio State didn’t really have the same competition that they had in 2024. And when it was time for the big tests against Indiana and Miami, you could see they didn’t know how to punch back.

    This season, Ryan Day is not only coming into it off the stench of the 2025 ending. But he also has to do a lot of reloading with all the talent that the Buckeyes lost in the NFL Draft, which was highlighted by players like WR Carnell Tate, CB Caleb Downs, and LB Arvell Reese. This season is also a tricky schedule where the Buckeyes host Illinois, Oregon and Michigan. But have to go on the road to Texas, Iowa, Indiana, USC, and Nebraska. Im not saying they will be awful, but this is definitely a test for Ryan Day and his Buckeyes this season.

  • Was the 2026 Monaco GP one of the best?

    48 hours ago, Formula One completed its crown jewel race of the season in the Monaco Grand Prix. Usually this race which is normally ran the Sunday on Memorial Day weekend in the United States is known as one of the least chaotic races. However what happened on the streets of Monte Carlo on Sunday was anything but calm. So I want to see what made this one so good.

    1. Reliability Issues

    The streets of Monte Carlo are normally difficult to manage but a lot of competitors found themselves in trouble. Max Verstappen couldn’t even compete in the race because his car which qualified P2 did not start. Lando Norris had issues that forced his team to retire his car. Charles Leclerc who was in position to get a podium in his home race had a brake failure and crashed. Others like Valteri Bottas and Lance Stroll had issues but Verstappen, Norris and Leclerc were the big three that had notable issues. Heck even the winner in Kimi Antonelli was complaining about issues but those never resulted in anything serious.

    2. Penalties

    If you got up early enough to watch this race, one thing you would’ve noticed was a LOT of yellow or red exclamation points next to drivers names. Those meant they were either under investigation or penalized. On pit road mostly, drivers were having mishaps trying to navigate the tight corners. One of the notable moments was the day George Russell had. The Mercedes driver had penalty after penalty for failing to properly serve his penalties. And Pierre Gasly crossed the line in 3rd place but didn’t get rewarded with a podium because he had a time penalty.

    3. Fun mix of names up there

    Like what I stated earlier, there was a fun mix of names up in the top 10. Antonelli, Lewis Hamilton And Isack Hadjar finished in the top three spots in that order. But Gasly even with the penalty still finished 8th, both Racing Bulls in Liam Lawson and Oliver Lindblad had top 10 finishes and Alex Albon and Esteban Ocon each got respective top 10 finishes for Williams and Haas.

    For an average F1 race at Monaco, I have to admit this one was a really fun one and hopefully future years in Monaco or simply more races this season can continue to have action. Even if the young Antonelli cruses to the World Drivers Championship.

  • Five intriguing series in the week of June 8-11 for MLB

    1. New York Yankees at Cleveland Guardians (8th-10th)

    Two teams with the best records in the American League go head to head this week. The 38-26 Yankees travel to Cleveland to take on the 37-30 AL Central leading Guardians. It is obviously a series that both need for a lot of reasons, New York is tied for the lead in the AL East behind Tampa Bay and Cleveland holds just a 4 game lead over the Chicago White Sox in the Central. These two have also matched up in the postseason multiple times with New York taking the last four postseason series between the two. So seeding is on the line with this series too.

    2. Los Angeles Dodgers at Pittsburgh Pirates (9th-11th)

    The back to back defending champs in the Dodgers head to PNC Park for a pivotal series vs the Pittsburgh Pirates. The NL West leading Dodgers at 42-24 are trying to stay in sight of the NL No. 1 seeded Atlanta Braves while the Pirates at 34-32 as im typing this are only 0.5 games out of the Wild Card. While the Dodgers do have a 7.5 lead in the division, its far from the time where the Dodgers can get comfortable. PNC has given LA fits in the past so we will see how the Dodgers do this week.

    3. Philadelphia Phillies at Toronto Blue Jays (8th-10th)

    Two teams that have found themselves in a rut to begin 2026 have really found themselves over the past few weeks. Right now the Phillies are 35-30 and hold the No. 5 seed in the NL Wild Card race where the Blue Jays are 32-34, but only 0.5 games out of the AL Wild Card. Two teams that were thought that would be contenders this season are hanging on in early June. This series coming up this week at Rogers Centre will be a huge one as it can go a long way for the winner’s season.

    4. Atlanta Braves at Chicago White Sox (9th-11th)

    This series has a lot more at stake than what most thought at the start of the season. Coming off 2025, The Braves missed the postseason due to a lot of injuries and the White Sox were coming off another tough season despite it being somewhat better then 2024. Now as both teams face off this week at Rate Field, the Atlanta Braves hold the leagues best record at 45-21 and the White Sox hold a 34-31 record which is currently good enough to be the No. 5 seed in the AL Wild Card chase. While there is still plenty of season left and plenty of teams below Chicago that are beginning to find their footing. This series is a great opportunity for the White Sox to show that they can hang with MLB’s best.

    5. Arizona Diamondbacks vs Miami Marlins (9th-11th)

    Big wildcard implications are on the line for this one. The D-Backs head to Loan Depot Park with a 34-31 record, 7.5 below the Dodgers in the NL West but 0.5 games above the NL Wild Card cutoff. While the Marlins aren’t totally out of it with a 31-35 record and only 3.5 games below the Wild Card. So these two teams need this one to stay close in the standings.

    Let me know what series your looking forward to below in the comments!

  • What is wrong with Hendrick motorsports?

    Nascar’s most accomplished team seems to be having a rough time adjusting to the new Chevy

    Hendrick Motorsports, Nascar’s most accomplished team in the sports history has struggled halfway though 2026. Which is shocking because since 2020, you can say they have been the best team. In the timeframe from 2020-2025, the team has seen three combined titles from Chase Elliott (1) and Kyle Larson (2) along with two Daytona 500’s in the emergence of William Byron’s career. This was coming off a rough stretch from 2017-2019 where only three drivers won races in that time span for HMS. Similar to that stretch, this season Chevrolet has built a new body for the Camaro ZL1 and while HMS is having a solid season, its not up to par with what they’ve expected, I want to give my thoughts on what I see.

    1. Toyota, mainly JGR and 23XI is having an out of this world season

    Those two teams which are mainly highlighted by the 45 of Tyler Reddick and the 11 of Denny Hamlin have dominated this season. Reddick himself has five wins this season (three came in the first three races) and has a 140+ point lead over Hamlin in second for the regular season standings. Hamlin on the other hand, who not only was on the heels of a heartbreaking loss in the 2025 championship race, and has already put up a good 2026 has found his footing winning two in a row. The 11 team has been in contention for nearly every race this season. It is hard to win when these two and their teammates who unfortunately hasn’t been getting the shine dominate every weekend.

    2. Injuries and bad luck

    This one will be about their fourth driver in Alex Bowman. He has had a lot of talk surrounding him with the rumors that HMS might be moving on from Bowman soon. To be fair to Alex, since his barrage of injuries in 2022 and 2023, he has had a lot of bad luck to deal with. Yes, he did strike gold in 2024 to win the Chicago Street Course race that season. But other than that, nothing else has really gone right for the man. Yes some races are his fault, but on a day like yesterday when his teammates were all running in the top 10 all day and he could barely hang onto 29th, there’s not much he can do. Bowman is also mainly in his point situation because he missed a few races due vertigo. Alex is a proven winner in this sport, everyone looks past at how good he was in 2020 mainly due to the fact that his teammate won the title. But before his injury in 2023, Bowman was leading the point standings. I think Hendrick as a team can be stronger if Bowman gets good cars constantly.

    3. Inconsistency

    The biggest thing I’ve noticed about Hendrick this season is that they are very inconsistent. Every week it always seems like one guy is getting the good stuff and the other three are getting a pile of you know what. Bristol, Kyle Larson was competing for the win where his teammates could barely hang onto the lead lap that race. Just recently in the Coke 600, Larson was consistently at the top while the 24 and 48 only got top 10’s because Bowman and William Byron had to wheel it. HMS has found victory lane twice this season courtesy of the No. 9 team (Martinsville and Texas) and while Elliott and co. who are advertised to be the most consistent team in the sport has been the best HMS car this season. The 9 team actually has been more inconsistent, for every race like Texas where Elliott dominates and wins, it seems like a race like Phoenix and Bristol where he could barely hang on with Legacy Motor Club happens.

    4. 24 and 5 teams having hangovers.

    Last season, William Byron and Kyle Larson made the final four with Larson winning the title. This season while both have shown the ability to compete, neither have really came close to winning. William and the 24 team have found themselves in a lot of other peoples messes this season or sometimes put out some stinkers of race cars. While the 5 has competed in a few races this season, Larson always seems to have to challenge a JGR or 23XI Toyota that is simply just better. It is also important to point out that even with the title last season, Larson’s last win in the Cup series came on May 11, 2025 of last year at Kansas Speedway so it has been over a year since we have seen the 5 in victory lane.

    5. Field caught up?

    I mentioned how good JGR and 23XI has been. But is it fair to say that others that we didn’t see coming like Spire motorsports play an effect in this? Spire has collected two wins this season from its drivers in Carson Hocevar and Daniel Suarez (Talladega and Coke 600). Not only is Spire a Chevrolet team, but they also are affiliated with HMS through a technical alliance. While Hocevar in the past has proven himself to be a talented driver, his first win in the cup series was just a matter of time. However with the team’s overall surge, is this an example of some challenges that Hendrick has to deal with?

    Eventually Hendrick will get right back to where they should but 2026 overall just feels kinda meh for this team. We will see as there is still a lot of season left.

  • Opinion: Brewers and Twins is baseball’s most underrated rivalry.

    I might be a little bias on this one, being born in Minnesota while having family from Wisconsin and attending college at the state. However, from experience attending Minnesota Twins / Milwaukee Brewers games at both stadiums. I can say that in my opinion I think this rivalry is very underrated.

    It is not a rivalry where both teams hate each other like the Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings do. Both teams and fanbases have a mutual respect for each other, I’ve seen both fans say that they like the other team and have heard each others announcers credit the other team and how they do things all so often. In fact their is an announcing connection between the two as the Twins PXP announcer for TV in Cory Provus used to work with Brewers radio and alongside legendary radio announcer Bob Uecker; before moving to the Twins radio and ultimately now Twins TV. You also have the connection with players like J.J. Hardy and hall of famer Paul Molitor who both played for both teams. Both fanbases also take over the other stadium, when the Brewers come to Minnesota. It is like they take the fans with because that is most of Wisconsin natives that live in Minnesota like my Dad or western Wisconsin’s opportunity to see Milwaukee. Same thing with the Twins, it’s the opportunity to see the Twins for Minnesota natives that live in eastern Wisconsin or maybe northern Illinois. Now with all this love, where is the rivalry you might ask? Oh it is there and by rivalry, it is a competitive rivalry.

    Brewers/Twins is a rivalry where you throw out the records cause anything can happen (literally). I can think of a lot of big moments like Prince Fielder’s inside the park home run or Michael Cuddyer hitting the cycle against the Brewers. Or you have moments like Minnesota winning a game vs the Brewers in 2017 because of a balk. Along with the matchup on 5/28/19 where Devin Smeltzer in his debut shut down the Brewers and defending MVP Christian Yelich to give the Twins a 5-3 win. The season series dating back to 2021 also signify this. In 2021, Milwaukee was a team that made the NLDS that season and the Twins had a disappointing season where they finished 73-89. Yet Minnesota won the season series vs the Brewers that season. Then in 2022 and 2023, both teams walked each other off. In the Twins lone win in ’22, Jose Miranda hit a walk-off home run off Josh Hader to win 4-1. Then in 2023, Carlos Correa did the same off of Devin Williams in the Twins 7-5 win on June 12. Milwaukee also had their share, Luis Urias hit a walk-off sacrifice fly in ’22 and Brice Turang hit a walk-off single in the finale of the series in 2023.

    Especially in the series that just took place over the week of May 15-17 this season. The Brewers won that series 2-1 but had to crawl their way to a 3-2 win and a 2-1 win in both while falling 5-4 in the finale. This year similar to 2021, the Brewers are a World Series contender while the Twins have talent but also have question marks. The winner every time the Brewers and Twins play always comes down to who makes the most plays which makes losing so frustrating. Both teams split the series in 2023, but both have arguments why each should’ve won the series’ that they lost as Milwaukee did hold a lead in both of their losses at Target field and same with Minnesota in the series at American Family Field. In 2024, Milwaukee behind a split at home and a sweep at Target field won the series 3-1, yet Minnesota pushed them to the limit but didn’t capitalize. Same thing happened in this most recent series, in game one, Minnesota held a 2-1 lead in the 8th but a Royce Lewis interference allowed the tying and go ahead runs to score. Game 2, Twins had a 1-0 lead but a Lewis error on a ball destined to be an inning ending double play allowed the Brewers to tie it. Game 3, Milwaukee had the defensive errors and a 1-14 day with RISP that led to a 4-5 loss.

    No matter how good or bad these teams are, always expect it to be a fight. Its not a hateful rivalry, its a fun competitive rivalry.

  • Surprises with the 2026 MLB season through May?

    The 2026 MLB season is about to complete its second full month and while there is still plenty of season to go, there is a lot of fun quirks and suprises in the league that I want to talk about.

    1. The disparity between records in the two leagues

    As I am typing this, a 33-20 record in the National League which is currently the record of the Milwaukee Brewers has them the lead in the NL Central but 3rd in the postseason seeding. Meanwhile, the Athletics who don’t even have a full time home are leading the AL west with a 27-28 record. Now with Houston getting healthy and Seattle still in that division it will for sure be competitive. But the highly competitive NL Central has no teams below .500 while the highly competitive AL West has no teams above .500. Both divisions symbolize the differences of records between the NL and AL. The National League also features the Braves, who boasts the best record in the league with a 37-18 record and the 2x defending World Series champion in the Los Angeles Dodgers.

    2. The teams in postseason spots also explain the disparities

    When you look at the current NL standings, you will see the league leading Braves and the defending champion Dodgers with a perennial NL central champion and the team who had the No. 1 seed in 2025 in the Brewers at the top. The San Diego Padres are the No. 4 seed currently in the NL with a 31-23 record. Meanwhile when you look at the American League, you got the Rays blowing everyone away as the AL East and AL leader with a 34-18 record and New York as the fifth seed but second in the East with a 33-22 record. Besides the Cleveland Guardians who leads the AL central with a 33-25 record, everyone else in the American League postseason right now has a record below .500. Which the two teams holding the last two spots in the Chicago White Sox are two seasons removed from having the worst record in the league, and the Minnesota Twins who hold the No. 6 seed are a season removed from a historic fire sale at the trade deadline.

    3. The teams that no one expected have young talent shining

    I just spoke on the Twins and the White Sox, but they’re benefiting from a refresh. Right now, veteran and all star center fielder Byron Buxton is the face of the Twins, but one of their most underrated players is the young outfielder in Austin Martin. Who is slugging .288 with 2 home runs and 16 RBI’s on 42 hits. The Twins young pitching staff led by Joe Ryan and Taj Bradley has been good to start the year too. Minnesota also has been getting big hits from guys like Luke Keaschall, Brooks Lee and Kody Clemens. On the White Sox side, this was maybe a little bit more expected with the young talent they had from last season like Colson Montgomery and Chase Meidroth. But I would be wrong if I didn’t mention one of if not the the biggest piece that they added this season in Japanese free agent Munetaka Murakami. In his first two months of MLB so far, Murakami is slugging .234 with 19 home runs along with 39 RBI’s on 45 hits. The Athletics who have a lot of young talent like Nick Kurtz, Lawrence Butler, Tyler Soderstrom and Darrell Hernaiz are also backed by veterans like Brent Rooker and newly signed free agent in Jeff McNeil. So its no wonder why they’re taking advantage of the weak AL West

    4. Teams that expected to be here are suffering from injuries or just plain slow starts

    The Brewers did have a somewhat slow April and that was mostly due to the fact that players like Jackson Chourio, Christian Yelich and Andrew Vaughn saw time on the IL. But now those players are back, the Brewers are predictably rolling like predicted. However, the biggest team that is suffering from injuries is the Houston Astros. Houston has had a knack for slow starts, even in its 2022 World Championship season when they started 11-11 to the season. But this year, the ‘stros have seen players like catcher Yanier Diaz, 3B and SS Carlos Correa and 2B Jose Altuve miss time. Even the ace of the staff in Hunter Brown has been on the IL, same with the Astros’ closer in Josh Hader. Luckily for the Astros, the weak AL west has allowed them to stay in it and they are starting to figure it out either way

    While there is still plenty of season left, 2026 has been off to an interesting start as we officially will now enter the summer months this weekend.

  • 2026 Opening day thoughts and reactions

    Opening Day for the 2026 MLB season has officially come and gone (despite some teams beginning today on march. 27). While for the most part it had that classic opening day feel, there were the debut of promising teams and prospects along with new streaming partners. So I wanted to talk about it and give my perspective.

    • Promising players from last season along with debuting propsects made their first opening day and showed out.

    Brewers pitching prospect Jacob Misiorowski who had a mind blowing debut in 2025 along with a strong ending became the team’s ace with the exit of Freddy Peralta. “The Miz” as the Brewers call him pitched five innings, while striking out 11 batters in his Opening Day debut against the Chicago White Sox. This all came after Misiorowski gave up a lead off home run which ended up being his only run given up on the day in the Brewers 14-2 win. Other prospects in Carson Benge for the New York Mets and J.J. Wetherholt for the St. Louis Cardinals made their anticipated debuts for their respective teams, and both were at home in front of their home fans. Benge and Wetherholt both homered in their debut’s to help their teams to wins.

    • Some teams had to overcome slow starts for dominating wins.

    A common theme I noticed when watching these games were the slow starts some teams overcame for somewhat surprising results. The Brewers overcame the leadoff home run from White Sox Chase Meidroth to cruise to a 14-2 win which that itself wasn’t so surprising. However, in the New York Yankees/San Francisco Giants “Opening Night” game on Wednesday, Yankees starter Max Fried escaped trouble in the first inning where the first three batters all reached. That led to the Yankees being able to get on Giants starter Logan Webb in the middle innings to win 7-0. However the most surprising result probably was the one at Citi Field between the Mets and the Pittsburgh Pirates. Newly signed second baseman Brandon Lowe hit a first inning two-run home run to put the Pirates up 2-0, with Paul Skenes on the mound with the early lead it looked to be a long day for the Mets. It was anything but, aided by two misplays in center from O’Neil Cruz, the Mets responded with a five-run first to chase Skenes out of the game and carry them to a 11-7 opening day win. Another shocker was the Chicago Cubs and Washington Nationals game, Washington went into Wrigley and opened up with a 10-4 win in the Friendly Confines.

    • Netflix and NBC made their programming debuts for MLB and one was actually decent while the other was a disaster.

    Netflix and NBC were announced to carry games over the 2026 season, with Netflix airing a few games while NBC and Peacock will take over for the Sunday Leadoff and Sunday Night Baseball games that Roku and ESPN used to carry. Both streaming services made their debuts this week, beginning with Netflix in the Yankees and Giants Opening Night game. The game itself was a microcosm of the broadcasting disaster that Netflix put together. While some of the on-air talent was good, the rest of the broadcast was just a marketing ploy with a baseball game in between. We barely saw hits because of late cuts back into the game, or the ungodly amount of interviews in the game which one caused us to miss the first ever ABS challenge in the history of MLB. But don’t worry, we got our fair share of Jimmy Uso from WWE, quarterback Jameis Winston or Bert Kreischer drinking a Corona on a Kayak in McCovey Cove, we also got to see the national tv sponsor ads in the sponsor board make Rafael Devers and others look distorted. Also the tv score bug from Netflix that was provided to us viewers, you needed a strong pair of glasses to read i (rhetorically). On the other hand, NBC made its debut with a doubleheader on opening day with the Pirates/Mets and D-Backs/Dodgers. While I couldn’t watch most of either game, I did notice a much better difference with NBC. The score bug and graphics NBC had was much clearer and had better picture quality. It seemed like they had help from their affiliates that help broadcast regionally. Clayton Kershaw made his tv debut in the Dodgers game and he was good too.

    Opening day isn’t always going to be perfect, every one literally is working out their kinks. But all in all, it is great that America’s Pastime is officially back and running for another season.

  • Thoughts on the 2026 Daytona 500

    The 68th running of the Daytona 500 has come and gone and for a longtime Nascar fan who is a Tyler Reddick and Chase Elliott fan. I definitely have mixed emotions about the event. So I want to spew my thoughts out below.

    1. The finish continued a streak of fluky finishes

    To win the Daytona 500, you need a little but of luck on your side. That has been proven true in every single running of the 68 Daytona 500’s. But since 2020, the winner either evaded a last lap crash to win or caught a lucky caution at the time right before he got passed. Today was no difference, Carson Hocevar was wrecked from the lead, allowing Reddick and a few others to skirt on by. Reddick then got a push in 3rd from teammate Riley Herbst to blow past Zane Smith and leader Chase Elliott to come to the line first. Reddick also got aided by a bad block from Herbst taking out Elliott and Brad Keselowski who was coming with a full head of steam to make it to the line first. The finish just added to a streak where it was all about getting all the breaks as the seas part.

    2. Fuel Mileage was fun (To a point)

    Strategy is a part of racing, especially in this race. An example of this race is the 2017 race where fuel mileage came to play and burned multiple drivers. But today took it to the extreme and in my opinion ruined part of the finish. Pit stops started around 30-20 laps ish to go and for about that whole sequence, the Toyotas led by Bubba Wallace, Christopher bell, and Corey Heim led the pack and slowed the pace down causing a 3 by 3 traffic jam, which as a fan was hard to watch. When pit stops finally started, the teams in my opinion gave themselves almost no time to be able to re stack the field and get competitive. Because once they did, there was about 10 to go and immediate urgency set in. It doesn’t make sense to watch when you knew that they were just wasting those laps.

    3. I did like the mix of names that led this race

    Part of the magic of restrictor plate racing is the fact that we see drivers who usually on a week by week basis that aren’t contenders contend. Today was no different, a lot of unfamiliar faces were up at the front today. Cody Ware in the Rick Ware Racing #51 got up there and led some laps today and before a bad block took him out of the race, Justin Allgaier in the JR Motorsports #40 was leading and had himself in contention. Zane Smith in the Front Row Racing #38 won the first stage and almost won the race being in second on the final lap. I hope that nascar fixes the package itself, but I never want that magic of drivers who might not be a true competitor on a week to week basis be up there.

    4. Nascar made the right call to move the race up early

    The race was moved up by an hour due to a threat of storms late in the day for Daytona Beach. It ended up being the right call as after the race ended, it started to storm over Daytona International Speedway. Albeit it was a little bit after the race ended along with the post race media session’s but Nascar’s call might have saved the Daytona 500 from continuing a streak of rain delayed races. Many fans on social media which are also feelings from myself also noted how the aura difference of the finish felt like the past 500’s when almost every 500 would finish in the daytime/sunset hours. Compared to the last few years dating back to 2017 when it ended under the lights.

    5. Overall, was a solid 500 just wish some things were different

    This 500 was a fun race for most of it, the mix of names leading and the unpredictability was fun. At the very least as a fan, Tyler Reddick being the one to take it from Chase is at least keeping me happy still awfully heartbroken for the 9 team but ecstatic for the 45 team. This is also a huge win for 23XI as both of their main drivers now have Crown Jewel wins (Bubba Wallace, 2025 Brickyard 400). The fuel situation and the predictability of another crash filled ending was a buzzkill. Gone are the days of being able to control the race on the final lap like Jimmie Johnson did in 2013 or Dale Jr the next year. Elliott literally got penalized for being first place coming off of turn four, it was always going to come down to the 45 and 35. But give credit to Tyler, he never gave up and kept his foot in the gas and got redemption from being so close last year.

  • UW Oshkosh Volleyball sweeps WIAC and NCAA regional

    Volleyball’s NCAA tournament run

    The UW Oshkosh Volleyball team clinched its third straight  Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference regular season Title with a win over UW-Eau Claire in the regular season finale for both teams on Nov. 7, the Titans beat the Blugolds 3-1 and finished the season with a 31-3 regular season record with a 7-0 conference record . The Titans went into the 2025 WIAC tournament with the one seed for the third straight year where UWO took care of the No. 4 seed UW-Whitewater Warhawks with a 3 to nothing sweep in the semifinal round. Then, in a rematch from the regular season finale against Eau Claire. The Titans had to come back from a two to zero deficit to defeat the Blugolds in the championship and claim its first conference tournament title since 2008 after its third straight try to do so.  The tournament championship not only clinched a spot in the NCAA Tournament for the Titans, but allowed the team to host a regional for the second time in the past three years at Kolf Sports Center.

    Similar to the last time when UWO hosted in 2023. The Titans opened up with Greenville University from Illinois, also like 2023, UWO swept Greenville in the opening round. But this year it wasn’t without a fight, the Titans survived the first set winning 25-23 over the Panthers after Grace Juergens got the winning kill. Following the first frame, UWO settled in winning sets 2 and 3 handedly with scores of 25-12 and 25-18 to advance to its third straight appearance in the second round. Sami Perlberg led the way in the win over the Panthers with 12 kills and 13 aces. Borrowman recorded four aces on the night, Izzy Coon led with 22 kills and Callie Panasuk led the team in digs with 16. 

    The Titans faced the Gustavus Adolphus Gusties from Minnesota in the round. UWO beat the Gusties 3-0 behind 12 kills from Perlberg. Like the Greenville match, set one was the closest set of the day for the Titans as UWO won it 25-20 after the set was closed out by two kills from Juergens on a 3-0 run. A 9-3 lead in set two allowed the Titans to cruise to a 25-17 set two win that was completed behind two kills from Perlberg and a kill from Lauren Grier. The third and final set was close for the beginning until a 7-2 run by the Titans turned a 10-10 tie into a 17-12 UWO lead. From there UWO cruised to another 25-17 set win to close out another sweep to advance to the Sweet 16 round in a rematch of the Sept. 5 meeting against Wash U of St. Louis. Perlberg once again led with a high of 12 kills and 1 ace. Coon and Jaclyn Dutkiewicz each had the team high in assists with 15 respective kills and Panasuk once again had the lead with 21 digs.UWO held down the top defense and top scoring offense in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference in Gustavus down. “Our gameplan is to just do us and do what we need to do,” Juergens said when talking about the gameplan against the Gusties. 

    In the rematch against Wash U. UWO swept the Bears 3-0 with set scores of 25-18, 25-17 and 25-20. To win its third straight regional and advance to the Elite Eight round for the third straight year. A 15 kill performance from Juergens got her the team high on the night. Borrowman led with three aces, Grier and Hannah Moe each tied for the team lead in blocks with four respectively. Coon led the team on the night with 20 assists and Panasuk once again led with 18 digs. 

    Coach Jon Ellmann credits the team’s ability to stick together on how they were able to improve and get better throughout the regional. “We are this diverse group of 25 women and our coaching staff, there are so many mini microstories that help us find success,” Ellmann said. 

    The Sweet 16 win was another check to a season where UWO swept both the WIAC Regular Season and Tournament Championships. Although the Tournament championship being added onto a third straight WIAC regular season and NCAA Regional Championship is something that Coach Ellmann realizes is hard to do. Ellmann realizes that this time in the Elite Eight, there is more to be accomplished this time.

    “(In 2023) when we ended the season with a Regional Trophy and a Conference Regular season championship trophy, we realized as a staff the next year that is hard to do,” Ellmann said. “To have the same two trophies sitting in our locker room, there is an awareness that we did this special thing twice in a row but there is a severe hunger to do more.” 

    The Titans are hoping to avenge losses in the elite eight in 2023 and 2024 Titans will play against Calvin University from Michigan at the Shirk Center in Bloomington, Illinois. You can catch the Titans game against Calvin on Wed. Dec 2 at 2 pm. The game will be streamed on ESPN +.

  • Why you should watch all three NFL Thanksgiving games today

    This Thanksgiving Thursday in 2025, the three NFL games that will happen on thanksgiving is a loaded slate. There are reasons why you should settle in your living room with your friends and family and enjoy football all day with your Turkey, Mac and Cheese and whatever else you like.

    Packers (7-3-1) at Lions (7-4), 12 pm CT FOX

    For the second time in the last 3 years, the Packers will be the Lions opponent on Thanksgiving day (2023). Green Bay also looks to earn its second straight win on Thanksgiving at Detroit when they beat the Lions 29-22 in ’23. Unlike that 2023 matchup when the Packers were simply trying to start a run to the postseason, this matchup is potentially for the NFC North. Can the Lions get a big win to pass the Packers in the standings, or can Green Bay get its first sweep over the Lions since 2020 and set up a massive matchup against Chicago next week.

    Chiefs (6-5) at Cowboys (5-5-1), 3:30 pm CT CBS

    After the big comeback win from down 21-0 against the rival Philadelphia Eagles. The Dallas Cowboys welcome in Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs for a massive game that has Playoff implications on the line. As of now, KC sits one game below the playoffs and Dallas is 2 below. Two of the biggest teams in the league are currently out and desperately need this one to simply stay alive in the playoffs.

    Bengals (3-8) at Ravens (6-5), 7:20 pm CT NBC

    This one might not have as big of playoff implications as the first two games had but this one is definitely interesting. The upstart Ravens that are surging since QB Lamar Jackson returned now hosts the 3-8 Cincinnati Bengals. However this is one they cannot look past, QB Joe Burrow has been activated off the injured list for the Bengals and will start tonight. Expect some juice to come from the Cincinnati sideline and don’t be shocked if the Bengals make the Ravens sweat.