{"id":144177,"date":"2021-07-27T03:52:15","date_gmt":"2021-07-27T08:52:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=144177"},"modified":"2021-07-27T03:52:17","modified_gmt":"2021-07-27T08:52:17","slug":"random-thoughts-fall-sports-mlb-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2021\/07\/27\/random-thoughts-fall-sports-mlb-more\/","title":{"rendered":"Random thoughts: fall sports, MLB, more"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

SCOTT TRUXELL\/<\/strong>independent sports editor<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fall sports practices, the Cleveland Guardians, Major League Baseball\u2019s trade deadline, Tate Martell, and a collegiate shakeup are among this week\u2019s Random Thoughts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Almost time<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s hard to believe that fall sports practices – cross country, football, girls’ tennis, soccer and volleyball – will be in full swing at this time next week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have my fingers crossed for a sense of normalcy this fall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Guardians<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ll address this one last time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m not a fan of the new name picked by the Cleveland Indians organization. It just doesn\u2019t do anything for me and it\u2019s based off a reference that few people outside of the Cleveland area understand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is it the worst name? No, although some would disagree. But it seems like there were far better choices out there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MLB trade deadline<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Major League Baseball\u2019s trade deadline is 4 p.m. this Friday. It the time of the season where playoff contenders try to bolster their respective rosters, while teams going nowhere purge the high payroll guys.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is your team buying or selling?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tate Martell<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s hope the third time is the charm for Tate Martell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The former Ohio State quarterback, who transferred to Miami (FL) is on the move again, this time to UNLV. It\u2019s probably where he should have gone once he announced he was leaving Ohio State.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He\u2019ll have two years of eligibility left and he sticks around, he\u2019ll be nearly 25 by the time he plays his last game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s official<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oklahoma and Texas are off to the SEC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Right now, it\u2019s just a matter of when. It looks like it should be 2024-25 but it wouldn\u2019t be shocking at all to see both schools buy their way out earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Personally, from a competitive standpoint I think both schools are probably going to regret this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s next?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It would appear the Big 12 (which has 10 teams) is doomed. With all due respect to the other schools, Oklahoma and Texas were the money schools, the ones who drove the bus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

The remaining schools \u2013 Baylor, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, Texas Christian, Texas Tech and West Virginia are going to have a hard time making a go of it on their own. Yes, Baylor has great women\u2019s basketball teams, Kansas is a traditional men\u2019s hoops power, and Iowa State\u2019s football program is up and coming. But there\u2019s not enough \u201cstar power\u201d there for it to keep going in the pending eight team format.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Kansas and Iowa State to the Big 10 speculation is already underway. Many people believe West Virginia would be good fit too, but the Mountaineers have other options and reportedly prefer the ACC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Texas schools, Kansas State and Oklahoma State could be left out in the cold, or find themselves in a less than ideal situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ohio State to the SEC<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s out there that Ohio State and Michigan should now join the SEC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As an Ohio State fan, let me say no thank you, pass. Not interested. The Big 10 is where both the Buckeyes and Wolverines belong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Agree or disagree?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you have thoughts on any of the above topics, feel free to email me at sports@thevwindependent.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SCOTT TRUXELL\/independent sports editor Fall sports practices, the Cleveland Guardians, Major League Baseball\u2019s trade deadline, Tate Martell, and a collegiate shakeup are among this week\u2019s Random Thoughts. Almost time It\u2019s hard to believe that fall sports practices – cross country, football, girls’ tennis, soccer and volleyball – will be in full swing at this time […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-144177","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-07 06:16:37","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144177","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=144177"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144177\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=144177"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=144177"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=144177"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}