{"id":191792,"date":"2025-04-15T03:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-04-15T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=191792"},"modified":"2025-04-12T07:49:31","modified_gmt":"2025-04-12T12:49:31","slug":"191792","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2025\/04\/15\/191792\/","title":{"rendered":"Random Thoughts: spring sports, more"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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

This week\u2019s installment of Random Thoughts centers around Mother Nature, soccer, Flacco Fever, plus an NIL contract dispute.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A request<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dear Mother Nature,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Please bring in warmer and dryer weather for spring sports. It doesn\u2019t have to be blazing hot and it doesn\u2019t have to be bone dry, but how about something other than windy, 30s or 40s and rain or constant drizzle? I think it\u2019s a reasonable request.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Soccer decision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Van Wert girls varsity soccer coach Ashley Showalter made announcement last week \u2013 the program is effectively being put on hold in hopes of taking the path to being more competitive. I\u2019m sure it wasn\u2019t an easy decision but at this time, it\u2019s the correct one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s not going away altogether \u2013 the team will compete at the junior varsity level for the next few seasons, which should give the players a chance to become more competitive. That, coupled with an increased emphasis at lower levels, should help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now what\u2019s needed is young ladies who want to play the sport and learn the fundamentals at all levels and athletes and parents to buy into what Coach Showalter is trying to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Flacco Fever II<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

He quickly became a fan favorite two seasons ago and now he\u2019s back. It was announced on Friday that quarterback Joe Flacco agreed to a one-year deal to return to the Cleveland Browns. The deal calls for $4 million but with incentives can grow to as much as $13 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Flacco didn\u2019t exactly set the world on fire with Indianapolis last season. He very much looked like a 40-year-old quarterback. He has a strong arm but is prone to interceptions. However, there\u2019s no denying he\u2019s a good field general and a guy who\u2019s great on the sideline and in the locker room. Overall, it\u2019s a good signing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Contract dispute<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This was just a matter of time, whether it happened at the Division I college football or basketball level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Tennessee Volunteers and starting quarterback Nico Iamaleava became gridlocked in NIL contract negotiations. It got to the point that Iamaleava didn\u2019t attend practice Friday ahead of its Orange & White spring game on Saturday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to ESPN, he\u2019s scheduled to make $2.4 million this season but wants $4 million. This is the same guy that was last seen running for his life against Ohio State.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As I\u2019ve said before, I don\u2019t begrudge anyone making money, but someone somehow has to get a handle on this NIL madness. It\u2019s truly the Wild West.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

SCOTT TRUXELL\/independent sports This week\u2019s installment of Random Thoughts centers around Mother Nature, soccer, Flacco Fever, plus an NIL contract dispute. A request Dear Mother Nature, Please bring in warmer and dryer weather for spring sports. It doesn\u2019t have to be blazing hot and it doesn\u2019t have to be bone dry, but how about something […]<\/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-191792","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-03 06:01:15","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\/191792","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=191792"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191792\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":191794,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191792\/revisions\/191794"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=191792"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=191792"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=191792"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}