Tradition's Finest Episode 101 - "That One Time Episode"

Welcome Back to the Tradition's Finest Podcast! Episode 101 - "That One Time Episode" includes a discussion of the following sports-related topics: - NCAA: News & Storylines - - NCAA College Football Week One Review & Recap: In this week's episode, JD & Spencer will discuss, review & each provide their individual takeaway's for the Week 1 slate of College Football games from across the country - - Be sure to tune in for an in-depth recap of the games that began last Thursday & ended with the final game on Monday - - A discussion of the following game(s) are included in this week's College Football Review & Recap segment: No.25 Boise State at South Florida (FCS) Tarleton State at Army Auburn at Baylor - NCAA: News & Storylines (cont'd) - - "Give me my first love:" Following the college football games on Thursday & Friday night(s), a record 3.5-million viewers tuned in to ESPN's "College Gameday" show on Saturday morning, which took place before the huge matchup between No.3 Ohio State & No.1 Texas at the "Horseshoe," and approximately five-million viewers watched the final 15 minutes of the show, just to witness longtime college football analyst Lee Corso, a fixture of the "College Gameday" panel/crew, make his final headgear selection/pick, which took place at midfield & drew a massive ovation from the fans at Ohio Stadium - - and of course, he went out on top: Corso signed off from ESPN's "College Gameday" in his final show on Saturday, and near the end with the contemplation of his final pick, he muttered the words "Give me my first love," which led to him throwing on the "Brutus the Buckeye" mascot head gear, much in the same manner as he did thirty years ago when he made his first official mascot head gear selection - - Interestingly, as the slate of Week 1 games played out, Corso's sendoff only became more impressive - all six teams that he picked to win this past weekend came out on top, which included a "stunning" upset (**No spoilers ) - - Corso was the only member of the "College Gameday" panel to accurately predict all six games - - To take Corso's perfect weekend even a step further, every team that he has been associated with throughout his career - both as a player and as a coach - also won (i.e., Indiana, Louisville & Northern Illinois) - - Corso, 90, had announced earlier this year that he was going to soon retire from ESPN - after being a part of the Gameday crew since it became a traveling show in 1993, and has worked alongside analyst Kirk Herbstreit for more than a decade - - While "College Gameday" won't ever be the same without Lee Corso, the Tradition's Finest crew was beyond elated to witness the perfect sendoff. . . No.1 Texas at No.3 Ohio State "Aflac Kickoff:" Syracuse vs. No.24 Tennessee No.8 Alabama at Florida State "Battle for Death Valley:" No.9 LSU at No.4 Clemson No.13 South Carolina vs. Virginia Tech "Convicts vs. Catholics, Rivalry Revisited:" No.6 Notre Dame at No.10 Miami TCU at North Carolina - NCAA: News & Storylines (cont'd) - - NCAA College Football Week Two Preview & Predictions: In this episode's Week 2 preview, JD & Spencer provide their individual & independently selected pick(s) and/or predictions for each of the following Week 2 matchups - as well as providing in-depth analysis & reasoning to explain the justification for their selection: **Be Sure to Share Your Picks with Us via Twitter/X - - @TraditionFinest OR Send Us an Email at [email protected]!! "Battle for the Cy-Hawk Trophy:" Iowa at No.16 Iowa State (-3.5)    O/U41.5 No.11 Illinois (-2.5) at Duke                                   O/U50.5 Oklahoma State at No.6 Oregon (-28.5)                        O/U58. South Florida at No.13 Florida (-17.5)                          O/U54.5 No.12 Arizona State (-6.5) at Mississippi State                   O/U59.5 "College Gameday:" No.15 Michigan at No.18 Oklahoma (-5.5)     O/U45.5 Kansas at Missouri (-6.5)                                    O/U51.5 - NFL - While the "Great Depression" occurred in the late 1930's/early 1940's, and affected a significant portion of the middle- to lower socioeconomic status households across the United States, the year of 2025 could certainly be classified as a much more trying time - that is, if you are a citizen of Dallas, Texas - - This year, alone, the citizens (and possibly "fans") of the Dallas metropolitan area now has lost two of its' most influential sports figures, to date - starting with the "most shocking" trade in NBA history, that shipped Mavericks' superstar guard Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for an injury-plagued veteran (i.e., Anthony Davis) - - Then, on Thursday, multiple sources began to discuss the latest "breaking news:" a trade had been completed that sent Dallas Cowboys All-Pro LB Micah Parsons to none other than a divisional rival, Green Bay Packers - - The bitter contract dispute between Cowboys owner & GM Jerry Jones & Micah Parsons had finally came to a screeching halt - and once again, a Dallas-based sports franchise, did the unthinkable, and traded away their most dominant edge rusher in his "prime," (age 26) in exchange for two first-round picks & DT Kenny Clark - - Shortly after the trade was completed, the Packers franchise accomplished what the Cowboys' Jerry Jones could not in a matter of minutes: The Packers signed him to a four-year, $188 million contract, which included $120 million fully guaranteed at signing - - In each of Parsons' first four seasons in the league, he has averaged somewhere between 12 and 14.5 sacks - and since 2021, he has had a 30% pass rush win rate - which blows every other player out of the water, including Browns' Myles Garrett. . .Q: Can you make sense of Cowboys' team owner & GM Jerry Jones' decision to trade Micah Parsons to the Packers rather than to just pay the man what he deserves?. . . - NBA - Jeremy Lin, who took the NBA by storm in 2012 during a stretch of games for the New York Knicks that was infamously dubbed "Linsanity," has announced his retirement from the sport of professional basketball - - Prior to playing in China & Taiwan, Lin spent nine seasons in the NBA with eight different franchises, after going undrafted out of Harvard - - Lin made his mark in 2012 after then-HC Mike D'Antoni inserted into the Knicks' starting lineup that February when star forward Carmelo Anthony was sidelined - - Lin would go on to lead the Knicks to a seven-game winning streak, with one of the most notable highlights of "Linsanity," during which he scored at least 20 points in nine of 10 games, was a 38-point, 7-assist effort in a win over the Los Angeles Lakers as he outscored the late Kobe Bryant - - Lin finished his NBA career with a total of 480 games played - and even won an NBA championship with the Toronto Raptors in 2019, his last season in the league. . .Q: What is your most memorable memory and/or moment of Jeremy Lin and/or from his ridiculous 35-game run with the Knicks referred to as "Linsanity?". . .The Los Angeles Clippers reportedly have been accused of "circumventing the NBA's salary cap," by paying $28 million to Kawhi Leonard for a "no-show job" - - As first reported by Pablo Torre, a sports podcaster & former ESPN contributor, on Wednesday, the Clippers have reportedly paid Leonard through a now-bankrupt company owned by team owner Steve Ballmer - - Citing legal documents purportedly involving the tree-planting service, Aspiration, Torre reported that Ballmer paid Leonard without requiring the Clippers star to do any legitimate marketing and/or paid advertisements for the company - - Shortly after Torres' initial report, the Clippers organization responded to, and directly denied these allegations - - Q: Would you necessarily be shocked to learn that this is more fact than fiction?. . . - MLB - Philadelphia Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber hit four HRs on Thursday night against the Atlanta Braves to become the 21^st MLB player - and 4^th Phillies player - to accomplish this particular feat - - In 2025 & this season alone, this is the third four-HR game of the MLB regular season, following Eugenio Suarez & Nick Kurtz - - Schwarber finished the game with a Phillies-record nine RBI in the team's 19-4 victory over the struggling Braves - - Schwarber, who currently leads the majors with a career-high 119 RBIs, took the outright NL homer lead with a career-high 49 HRs, moving within one of Seattle's Cal Raleigh (50) for the major league lead - - Schwarber, 32, continues to scale many of these major milestones late into his career, including winning the World Series with the Phillies in 2024 & being crowned the 2025 MLB Home Run Derby champion after surviving the first-ever "swing-off." Thanks for Listening!