Welcome Back to the Tradition's Finest Podcast! Episode 135 - "The Big Hurt Episode" includes a discussion of the following sports-related topics: - NCAA: News & Storylines - - NCAA College Football: "Basket Weaving 101:" Some SEC football coaches aren't waiting for next season's kickoff to get after each other: One day after LSU HC Lane Kiffin's controversial comments concerning Ole Miss, Texas HC Steve Sarkisian made the following statement to USA Today: "At Texas, we will only take 50% of a player's academic credit hours. You may be a semester from graduating, but you're going all the way back to 50% if you play here and want a degree. But at Ole Miss, they can take you. All you have to do is take basket weaving, and you can get an Ole Miss degree." - - A University of Texas athletic department spokesperson told ESPN on Tuesday that Sarkisian's comments were part of a larger conversation about tampering and [that] he was stressing the importance of academics at the University - - Shortly afterwards, first-year Florida HC Jon Sumrall, a former assistant at Ole Miss, added to the fray later Tuesday afternoon with a jab at Sarkisian via social media: "Grateful to coach at a top 10 public university that also offers advanced basket weaving!". . .Q: What are your thoughts on Sarkisian's comments regarding Ole Miss academics for student-athletes? - - The flurry of jabs comes just weeks before the SEC's annual spring meetings, which is scheduled to occur May 26-28 at the Hilton Sandestin Beach Golf Resort & Spa in Miramar Beach, Florida - - In a four-hour interview with Vanity Fair magazine that was published on Monday, Lane Kiffin - who was the head football coach at Ole Miss prior to accepting a similar role at LSU - said that some top [high school] recruits would tell him [that] they weren't interested in coming to Oxford, Mississippi: "[They would say], 'Hey Coach, we really like you, but my grandparents aren't letting me move to Oxford, Mississippi," Kiffin told the magazine. "That doesn't come up when you say Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Parents were sitting here this weekend saying the campus's diversity feels so great: 'It feels like there's no segregation. And we want that for our kid because that's the real world."' - - According to the article, Kiffin clarified his remarks one day later: "I just hope [my comment] comes across respectful to Ole Miss . . .There are some things that I'm saying that are factual; they're not shots." - - Let's analyze the overall demographics of the two college towns: The population of Baton Rouge (LA) - home to Louisiana State University - is 52% African-American (or Black) and 34% Caucasian (or White), according to 2024 census data, whereas Oxford - the home of Ole Miss University - is 66% Caucasian (or White) and 26% African-American (or Black) - - Kiffin led Ole Miss to a 50-19 overall record from 2020 to 2025 prior to leaving for LSU, whom of which offered him a seven-year contract worth about $13 million annually - - There is no doubt that Kiffin's remarks will serve as additional motivation for Pete Golding & the Ole Miss Rebels as they prepare for the upcoming 2026-27 college football season, especially for one particular date that we are sure they have circled on their calendar, September 19th, the date that Lane Kiffin & the LSU Tigers travel to Oxford to take on the Rebels. . .Q: What is your take on Lane Kiffin's comments to Vanity Fair magazine regarding the differences in overall campus diversity between that of Ole Miss & LSU? While he has since attempted to clarify his remarks, on a more personal level, do you believe that his comments were, in fact, "calculated?". . .Missouri RB Ahmad Hardy has been released from the hospital after being shot in the upper leg early Sunday morning, sources told ESPN's Pete Thamel, as he plans to head to Missouri's campus immediately to begin rehabbing with the goal of playing this year, sources said - - The 20-year-old Tigers' star RB was shot while attending a "rap concert," in his native Mississippi, and was rushed to Forrest General Hospital in Hattiesburg, where he immediately underwent surgery: The shooting incident reportedly occurred around 2 a.m. Sunday outside a concert at the Kamakazy Biker Club in Laurel, Mississippi, as the Laurel police department informed the local news affiliate on Monday that at least two people were injured and three (3) people of interest were in custody, as three (3) 19-year-old men, identified as Landice Magee, Jvon Sibley & Alvin Peyton, were arrested & booked into the Jones County (MS) jail on Sunday, in connection with the shooting of Missouri RB Ahmad Hardy - - According to numerous reports & posts on social media, the three (3) suspects were former high school teammates of Hardy's at Lawrence County High School in Mississippi - - A first-team All-SEC selection last season, Hardy was second among FBS players with 1,649 rushing yards last season - - **NOTE: The first-team Associated Press All-America selection and SEC Newcomer of the Year also scored 16 TDs and averaged 6.4 yards on his 256 rushing attempts en route to being a finalist for the Doak Walker Award - - Hardy transferred to Missouri from UL Monroe following the 2024 CFB season, when he rushed for 1,351 yards and 13 TDs on 237 rushing attempts. . .Q: What are your thoughts on the Ahmad Hardy shooting?. . . "It Really Do Be Your Own Family:" Ohio State head football coach Ryan Day will have some very familiar competition in the Big Ten Conference very soon. .The son of the Ohio State football coach, R.J. Day, announced his commitment to Northwestern University for the Class of 2027 on Sunday - as the Wildcats play in the same conference as Ohio St., and the schools/programs will face off in a B1G Conference matchup during the regular season - - R.J. Day, a 6-foot-1, 205-lb QB prospect from - not surprisingly - Columbus, Ohio, who has started for three (3) years at St. Francis DeSales High School, will begin his senior season this fall - after which point, he plans to enroll at Northwestern under head football coach David Braun - - According to reports, the younger Day received other offers from Purdue, Syracuse, Cincinnati & South Florida, among others - - With his commitment, Northwestern will feature a total of eight (8) QBs on Braun's roster, but the most interesting aspect of R.J.'s commitment Northwestern involves the Wildcats' newly-hired OC: the OC for the Wildcats is Chip Kelly, who ironically served in the same role for Ryan Day at Ohio State when the Buckeyes won the national championship in 2024, and he was also the OC at New Hampshire when Ryan Day was the team captain from 1998-2001. . .Q: What does R.J. Day's commitment to Northwestern tell you about his capabilities as a QB prospect? Could you imagine a father vs. son scenario that becomes engrained into the Ohio St.-Northwestern regular-season matchup of the 2027-28 season?. . ."An Evaluation & Analysis of the Alabama Crimson Tide's 2025-26 College Football Season/2026-27 Season Outlook (aka, our "Alabama Postmortem" segment): In this particular segment, JD & Spencer conduct a post-analysis of the 2025-26 Alabama Crimson Tide college football season, a sort of postmortem if you will (i.e., A Season Overview). . .as well as evaluate/grade their offseason acquisitions (i.e., by way of recruiting as well as via the NCAA transfer portal) for this particular recruiting cycle. . .Finally, they each present their independent thoughts regarding the program & its' overall direction as we draw closer to the upcoming 2026-27 season (i.e., A Preseason Outlook). . .which also includes an overview & discussion of HC Kalen DeBoer's performance throughout his first two seasons in Tuscaloosa, and what pertinent factors might determine whether this coaching staff is or is not on the "hot seat.". . . - MLB - - Less than a week after the passing of former Atlanta Braves team owner, Ted Turner, former longtime manager & World Series champion Bobby Cox, 84, who won more than 2,500 games in his career and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2014, has passed away, the team announced Saturday - - Cox lasted just two seasons as a player in the majors, with the New York Yankees in 1968-69, and finished with a modest .225 career batting average. .but it was as a manager that Cox would make his mark/embolden his legacy: **NOTE: Cox ranks fourth all time with 2,504 wins in 29 years as a manager, including 25 years in two stints with the Atlanta Braves and four (4) years with the Toronto Blue Jays, as he was named Manager of the Year four (4) times - and only Connie Mack, John McGraw & Tony La Russa had more regular-season wins than Cox - - The often-tempestuous skipper - he was ejected more times than any other manager in MLB history (158 times during the regular season; to put this in context, the MLB regular season is 162 games) - and he led the Braves to 14 straight division tit...