Random Thoughts: hodge-podge edition

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent sports

The latest installment of Random Thoughts centers around next year’s Major League Baseball season, favorite sports, a resignation, NIL in Ohio, preseason picks and the World Cup.

2027 baseball

Major League Baseball announced its 2027 schedule last week. Hopefully I’m wrong but like many others, I have serious doubts the 2027 Major League Baseball season will begin on time, if at all. A lockout is almost certainly on the horizon and a big part of it is owners’ proposal for a salary cap. Obviously it’s something the owners have wanted for a long time, while the players union is against it.

Both sides appear ready to dig in. I’m just hoping the entire season isn’t wiped out.

Surprising stat

I’m not quite sure I’m buying this but apparently it’s true. According to a new study, soccer has overtaken baseball to become America’s third-favorite sport. American football is No. 1 by a big margin, followed by basketball, soccer, baseball and hockey.

No disrespect to soccer players or fans. I would think football would be No. 1, baseball second, basketball third, then soccer and hockey. Apparently not.

He’s out

This doesn’t come as a surprise – Michigan AD Warde Manuel is out, effective at the end of this year. The announcement was made yesterday. After the things that have gone on in Ann Arbor – Connor Stallions, the Sherrone Moore situation – someone was going to go down.

NIL in Ohio

Last last year, OHSAA member schools passed an emergency NIL (Name, Image, Likeness) referendum. The vote wasn’t close, with nearly 80 percent of schools that cast ballots voting in favor. It should be noted that 30 percent of member schools didn’t cast a ballot for or against it.

While it’s still relatively knew in Ohio, high school NIL deals are pretty rare. Approximately 50 NIL deals have been registered with the OHSAA, a requirement according to the rules. Of those, most are very small deals valued at $1,000 or less. Just a handful are considered top-tier deals.

This isn’t surprising. As mentioned, it’s still very new and quite honestly, 95-99 percent of Ohio high school athletes aren’t going to get big NIL deals. LeBron James would have cleaned up big time if NIL was in place when he was in high school. A handful of elite athletes like that would have done well. Could things change at some point? Perhaps, but I think the potential impact of NIL in Ohio has been overstated.

Preseason predictions

Believe it or not, we’re getting closer to the time for the VW independent’s preseason predictions for the Northwest Conference and the Western Buckeye League.

This will be the 10th year the VW independent has published preseason predictions. Off the top of my head and ahead of receiving preseason information from the coaches, I can think of three teams that should be NWC title contenders and I think there are three or four teams that could contend for the WBL championship.

I’ll make my final predictions once I receive all of the information from the coaches and publish them in early August.

Picking again

Along with the preseason picks, Pigskin Pick’Em will be back for a 10th season. Games involving NWC, WBL, GMC and MAC teams will be picked each week, along with Lima Sr.

World Cup

Back to soccer.

The World Cup is over and what a finish it was. It took extra time but Spain defeated Argentina 1-0. If nothing else, the final truly showed the U.S. men’s team has a lot of ground to cover to get to that level.

As always, if you have thoughts or comments on any of the above topics, feel free to email me at sports@thevwindependent.com.