Motor City Mad Mouth Insights

Sports Scene

2026-03-01T01:04:00.000-08:00

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

In this column, it’s time to give a few special shout out to some very good people.

We’ll start with former Tampa Bay Buccaneers Coach Bruce Arians on priorities for coaches. He said via the NFL Network “I tell my coaches if you miss a Recital, Football Game, Basketball Game, I’ll Fire You.” He won the Super Bowl with the Buccaneers in 2021. He goes on to say, “I missed a lot of (My Son’s Games). Those years don’t come back. It means more to your children. When I hear about guys sleeping in their office…I wonder what the hell they’re doing there…The work will always be there, the kids won’t.”

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The Minnesota Twins received a tough break this spring. Pablo Lopez, a guy that could pitch in any era because he’s an innings eater, has a “Significant Tearing” in his right UCL and will be lost for the season. He will undergo Tommy John Surgery. Get well soon, Pablo. He’s one of my favorite pitchers in this generation.

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I’ve enjoyed working with Mario Cristobal and I like his most recent quote pertaining to recruiting. “We don’t get into negative recruiting, but people always negative recruit us, and that’s fine. No one should ever take that personally . Just let it play out.” On recruiting The State of Florida.

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I want to wish a Happy 80th Birthday to one of My Best Friends in Sports Media, Bob Ryan. He retired from the Boston Globe. He’s a mentor to me and much more! You won’t meet a classier individual than this! If you don’t know much about him then look him up on Google.

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It’s time to talk about Pro Sports Valuations with the South Florida Franchises. 1. Miami Dolphins $8.25 Billion, Miami Heat $6.03 Billion, 3. Florida Panthers $1.89 Billion, 4. Inter-Miami $1.45 Billion 5. Miami Marlins $1.30 Billion.

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Netflix is pursuing Barry Bonds for its exclusive coverage on Opening Day between the Giants and Yankees, per The Athletic. Netflix is also trying to sign CC Sabathia for the broadcast.

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I look forward to the next Sports Scene as the objective is to come up with a combination of storylines that will certainly be enlightening and informative.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at Southfloridatribune@gmail.com and you can see his broadcasts by Subscribing to the South Florida Tribune YouTube Channel. Also, he wrote a book called “Lessons From The Microphone” which can be purchased on Amazon/Kindle and Barnes And Noble. The audio book is also available.

Miami’s James Brockermeyer Has A Chip On His Shoulder

2026-02-28T23:54:00.000-08:00

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

When you get snubbed to go to the NFL Scouting Combine, there is a reason to have a chip on your shoulder.

That turned out to be the case for 23-year old James Brockermeyer, a center, who had to protect QB Carson Beck last Fall. Brockermeyer had a fine season with the Hurricanes.

He was First-team All-American in 2025. He was Third-team All ACC in 2025.

The 6-3, 295 pounder, who attended All Saints Episcopal High School in Fort Worth, Texas., will have to show what he can do when the Miami Hurricanes have their Pro-Day in Coral Gables in a few weeks.

Prior to coming to Miami, he played three years at Alabama from 2021 through 2023, by playing in 16 total games, while utilizing a redshirt season. After the conclusion of the 2023 season, Brockermeyer entered his name into the NCAA transfer portal.

Brockermeyer transferred to play for the TCU Horned Frogs.

During the 2024 Season, he appeared in and started all 12 games for the Horned Frogs. After the conclusion of the 2024 season, Brockermeyer once again entered his name into to NCAA transfer portal.

That’s when Mario Cristobal and the Miami Hurricanes came into the picture and he would enjoy a ride that would lead himself into the National Championship Game. The Miami Hurricanes came up short 27-21 to the Indiana Hoosiers.

I had the opportunity to speak to Brockermeyer on a couple of occasions at the Senior Bowl in Mobile, AL and this guy is a pleasure to talk to. I was shocked that he wasn’t invited to the Combine but getting to know him as I did, he’s the type of individual that will utilize this as motivation to get to the NFL.

If you’re looking for a hidden gem, you might have one in Brockermeyer. The object of the game is to protect the QB so keep your eyes on him. Also please check out the videos in the story. I’m sure that you will enjoy them.

There are a lot of videos from the Senior Bowl and we’d appreciate it if you would please subscribe to the South Florida Tribune You Tube Channel.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at southfloridatribune@gmail.com. He also wrote a book “Lessons From The Microphone” which you can purchase on Amazon/Kindle and Barnes And Noble. We also have an audio version as well.

The Senior Bowl, Where Dreams Begin

2026-01-31T11:22:00.000-08:00

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

The Senior Bowl in Mobile, AL., is no typical postseason game where you’re wondering if players are going to drop out to get ready for the pros.

This is a different animal. Throughout the week, it was great not thinking about Name, Image and Likeness (NIL), just the NFL.

The practices were spirited and it was great watching players pursuing their dreams. Everyone had a story to tell and I was going after as many players I could get. Whether it’s at a podium with a bunch of media colleagues, or on the field after practice, my microphone was ready to roll.

From 1951-2020, the Senior Bowl was held at Ladd Peoples Stadium in a residential area of town. The stadium holds 40,000 for football and has field turf. It is owned and operated by the City of Mobile, AL.

On our free day, my photographer Candy Ebling and I checked out this venue which does have high school games. You could tell that the facility has some wear and tear on it.

The Senior Bowl has been moved to Hancock Whitney Stadium at the University of South Alabama. This venue holds 25,450 and it’s a beautiful facility.

The Senior Bowl, which is now sponsored by Panini made the right call with the upgraded amenities and additional training facilities in the event of inclement weather conditions.

The Senior Bowl is about players making favorable impressions to their coaches, scouts and all the important decision makers that will determine if they call get paid to play professional football.

With this being my first Senior Bowl Experience I met a few media people that gave me the best advice on how to cover the event.

The Wednesday Media Day was organized and the players had assigned tables. No problem.

The post-practice was like seek to see who you will find. You can get a good interview or a couple mini interviews because we only had 10 minutes and once our time expired, security would escort everyone off the field. It was like speed dating and take what you can get.

The best parent about this project is that I have enough content that will get me through the NFL Draft which is at the end of April. All the videos will be on the South Florida Tribune You Tube Channel.

Here is a sample size of the soundbites that you can look forward to seeing on the You Tube Channel and the football podcasts.

At the podium, Diego Pavia (Vanderbilt), Garrett Nussmeirer (LSU) were the big name quarterbacks. Alabama tight end Joshua Cuevas, and outside linebacker Jude Bowry from Boston College had some great insights.

Since we’re from South Florida, we landed two Miami Hurricanes, with offensive tackle Markel Bell and center James Brockermeyer. Running back Kejon Owens played for Florida International University. FIU produced TY Hilton and current Canes head coach Mario Cristobal.

One player who had no travel expenses to make the Senior Bowl was South Alabama wide receiver Devin Voisin, who was wearing his helmet when we were talking.

I always try to target Big Ten players and landed Rayshaun Benny (Michigan) Nick Singleton (Penn State) , Jakobi Lane (USC), Vinny Anthony II (Wisconsin), Bryce Boettcher (Oregon).

Other names worth mentioning include: Keylon Rutledge (Georgia Tech), Cole Payton (North Dakota State), Adam Randall (Clemson).

The road to the NFL begins with the Senior Bowl, continues with the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, Pro Days by each school and culminating with the NFL Draft which will take place in Pittsburgh.

During the week, we dealt with colder temperatures and the Arctic blast continued on game day as the temperature is 34 degrees and it feels like it feels like 21. In 1985, the temperature was 40 degrees.

We’ll see what players will shine and ultimately become contributors or perhaps impact players that could even reach the Super Bowl. These videos on the You Tube Channel will take you behind the personality of the player and what they experience at the Senior Bowl.

This game has higher stakes, a far cry from those bowl games that you’re going to see primarily in December because of what’s on the line. These players aren’t going into the transfer portal.

It was nice to take a break from that this week because it was all about the NFL Dream.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at southfloridatribune@gmail.com. You can follow him on X @TribuneSouth and see his broadcasts on the South Florida Tribune You Tube Channel.

He wrote a book called “Lessons From The Microphone” which you can purchase on Amazon/Kindle, Barnes and Noble. The Audio Book is also available.

USF’s Mt. Rushmore of Coaches

2025-12-05T07:35:00.000-08:00

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

A lot has changed since I graduated from the University of South Florida in 1986.

Back then, I worked for the Tampa Tribune and that’s how I paid my way through college. I went to as many games as I could with my student identification card that allowed me to go to activities. Those fees were included in my tuition.

The athletic department has grown in ways that I never imagined.

Our Basketball program is where we had our Homecoming Games. The Sun Dome was the venue and I’ve had so many great moments back then. Eighteen months ago, added more memories at the Yuengling Center when USF Men’s Basketball hosted the FAU Owls.

Unlike High School where you attend based on where you live, you can’t choose where you want to go. It’s where your parents set-up shop and proceed from there.

In my situation, I was looking forward to graduating from Southfield Lathrup High School in Michigan because I had aspirations to play Baseball and enjoyed catching. Unfortunately, my folks opted to follow their passion for horses and bought land and graduated from Lakeland High School in Milford, MI, thus since I didn’t have transportation and there would be no Baseball.

Turning a negative into a positive, I got involved in Journalism, a 47 years later, I’m in Sports Media.

But in college, I developed a lot of great relationships throughout the years.

The University of South Florida was a commuter school and was the perfect fit for me. I chose to attend this school and created a lot of great memories. I donate to the Alumni Association and now I’m thankful to cover their sports teams from time to time.

When we attended Senior Day on November 29, this was pretty neat. There were 30 seniors recognized before USF thrashed the Rice Owls 52-3 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa.

I did attend a homecoming game years ago when I wrote for the Detroit Monitor vs the Cincinnati Bearcats when the program was in its infancy stages.

I’ve seen many USF Bulls games against the FAU Owls as well. They’re both members of the American Conference so I work hard to plan my schedule to see these two schools face one another.

I’ve been covering the Owls since 2007 and my football father is the legendary Howard Schnellenberger. I worked my connections in Detroit and FAU got invited to the Motor City Bowl, which Coach and I would talk about a lot and he gave me an autographed copy of his book when he invited me to his house. We always took pictures together.

There was a different feeling covering the Rice contest. All week long, the only thing I kept hearing about was the USF Head Football Coach potentially leaving for another job. Let’s face the reality, until USF lands in a power conference, this will be a stepping stone job.

Knowing this on my drive to Tampa, I had a great idea that it was time for me to implement since I felt the timing was right.

I decided to come up with a Mt. Rushmore of USF Coaches to celebrate the Sports History since the University has its own Hall of Fame which I hope to see at some point. My next visit to campus will likely be when the new Football Stadium opens in 2027.

So here it is, I’m going to release my Mt. Rushmore of USF Coaches. I encourage feedback as to who you would add or subtract.

1. Lee Rose (Men’s Basketball). This is an absolute no brainer! Coach Rose led two teams to the Final Four of the NCAA Division I basketball tournament with the Charlotte 49’ers in 1977 and the Purdue Boilermakers in 1980. How can a guy not be No.1 when he leaves a Big Ten School to coach a young basketball program! He coached at USF from 1980-1986 and was 106-69 during his tenure at USF. He coached the Bulls to their first postseason appearances in team history, reaching the NIT three times before leaving in 1986 for the NBA. His all-time college record was 388-162. Coach Rose and I were close as we spent time at USF and I followed him to the NBA and interviewed him during his stops in the NBA. His first major pro drafted at USF was Charlie Bradley, who was drafted by the Sacramento Kings. Charlie and I are great friends and we still stay in touch on Facebook.

2. Eddie Cardieri (Baseball). This is also a no-brainer! Cardieri, who was Major League Hall of Famer Robin Robert’s top assistant three seasons before assuming control in 1986. He coached the Bulls to tremendous success over the next 21 seasons and compiled a 731-546 (.572) record to become the winningest coach in USF Baseball history, surpassing the next closest coach by more than 460 wins and logging five seasons with 40 plus wins and 16 seasons with 30 or more.

Cardieri led USF Baseball to eight conference titles across three conferences. The Bulls won five regular season and two conference championships and made nine NCAA Regional Appearances, the most for any coach in program history.

He was inducted into the USF Athletics Hall of Fame.

We’re great friends and I’ve added him to My Media Network as a Baseball Analyst. He’s an outstanding job for us. More importantly, he’s an unbelievable human being!

3. Jim Leavitt (Football). When I was on campus last weekend, I did a video at Gate A showing where the new on campus stadium is and it was neat to the construction in progress. We also saw the new athletics center on the outside adjacent to the stadium.

But there is one man who is responsible for this stadium. Leavitt defines what loyalty is in every sense of the word and I truly hope he gets a statue somewhere in this stadium!

Jim Leavitt was hired as the first coach of the USF Bulls in 1997. He worked at Kansas State from 1990-1995 as an assistant coach in different capacities. He had the dubious task from starting this program from scratch and the football team’s offices were in trailers. But that didn’t stop Jim as he found a way to work through the early obstacles of building the program.

The first time I met Jim was when I covered a Homecoming Game vs the Cincinnati Bearcats as a writer for the Detroit Monitor. I mentioned this earlier in the story.

USF won the game and afterwards, I approached Jim about doing an interview on the field. He was hesitant but after I told him that being an alumnus, my goal was to promote my alma-mater and used my loud demeanor to get the message across! I had to be loud because of the amount of noise on the field. He definitely agreed to the interview.

We talked about numerous things and it was a great experience. When the interview was over, we hugged for a few minutes he knew that my heart was in the right place. I’m proud to know Jim Leavitt!

His overall record at USF was 95-57. Unfortunately, Jim is too high strung at times and is an in your face type of person. That demeanor ultimately led to his controversial dismissal at USF. I do believe he is mis understood. Nevertheless, after USF, he never got another head coaching job again. His flamboyant personality wouldn’t be a good fit with today’s student athlete.

Leavitt, was inducted into the USF Hall of Game this past fall. Unfortunately, his high strung personality bit him again as the administration elected not to be present at the ceremony as a result of a recent legal issue. He was cleared of any wrongdoing, therefore both sides wanted to let the other inductees speak about their accomplishments. Both Leavitt and the administration made the right decision.

But when you look at the overall picture, without Jim Leavitt, USF wouldn’t be where it’s at today. He was extremely loyal and with the job he did, there is no doubt he could have used USF as a stepping stone job, earned more money as many coaches do these days. His loyalty counts for something!

Our paths would cross again as he was a defensive coordinator for FAU in 2020. He deserves to be on My Mt. Rushmore!

4. Alex Golesh (Football). This guy inherited one of the biggest rebuilding jobs on the planet as he succeeded Jeff Scott, who was 4-26 as head coach. Scott worked with legendary Clemson Coach Dabo Swinney and one would think that his background could translate into success in Tampa. It didn’t and as a result, he was employed with South Florida from 2020-2022.

Enter Alex Golesh, who came to USF from the University of Tennessee after being an assistant coach. Golesh was the offensive coordinator and tight ends coach and he had no head coaching experience. What Golesh does have is an electric personality and great mind.

After the Jeff Scott debacle, the success was evident in the first season as Golesh was 7-6. He followed that season up with another 7-6 mark then battered Syracuse University by humiliating the Orange 45-0 in the Boca Raton Bowl.

Golesh’s third season was a breakout, culminating with a 9-3 record—-USF’s first nine win campaign since 2017 and their best overall mark in eight years. The team ranked third nationally in total offense and fifth in scoring, returning to the AP Top 25, (peaking at No.18) for the first time in seven years. Key early victories included a dominant 34-7 over No. 25 Boise State in Week 1 and an 18-15, road win against No.23 Florida in week two were both signature triumphs that propelled USF to 6-1 start, and secured USF to bowl eligibility for the third straight year.

Golesh’s offensive brilliance saw USF score 50 points in five games.

QB Bynum Brown had a breakout out year with Golesh’s up-tempo offense. He became the first USF QB to throw for 3,000 yards and rush for 1,000 yards in a season (joining Jayden Daniel’s as one of only two FBS players to do so), and finished first in the AAC and 7th in FBS in total yards per-game (318.8).

Golesh’s overall record in three campaigns was 23-15! That’s why he’s on this list. One of the questions I asked him during the post-game media session was are you pleased with the fact that the program is in better shape than you found it? The entire interview and all of the others are included in this story.

As much as I enjoyed my time up in Tampa last weekend, there was one incident that led to a bad taste in my mouth with a USF PR Person.

I will not divulge his name.

But when I see him, he will apologize to me because he didn’t know my intentions for taking a certain action!

He doesn’t know me as much as I thought he did.

But, he’ll know more about me soon enough!

If he doesn’t apologize, there will be consequences about future coverage among other things!

Don’t alienate an alumnus who donates money and supports the program in other ways.

With all the information regarding Golesh’s future, this media session with the coach lasted 21:08 seemed like a swan song. Instead of talking about a convincing victory over Rice, all the talk was about whether the coach was coming or going. This was a topic on Tuesday’s edition of Inside The Pigskin on Tuesday Night. Check it out.

Knowing all of this on my four hour trek on I-75 North, I made a decision on the way up to find a way to get a photo with Golesh.

There was no opportunity to get one after the Syracuse win in Boca Raton, FL and after the Miami Hurricanes ran USF out of Hard Rock Stadium with a 49-12 thrashing, that wouldn’t have worked.

With that said, I made the bold decision with this on my mind, I needed to get this photo to insert in this story, to get a photo with Golesh after he spoke at the podium. I wish I could have found a way to get the photo.

All this situation did was raise my blood pressure and stress level. But it is what it is.

I can appreciate the fact that timing may not have been the greatest as the PR guy stated. To his credit, his emotions were in the heat of the moment, thus I accept that.

But where I’m, outraged with this guy is what he told me that I like drawing attention to myself.

He’s dead wrong and I’ll let him know to his face to make sure he never questions my integrity again!

Mark my word! My instincts drive me to make decisions!

I have “No Ego” at all!

All I do is lead by example and look to make people better around me!

I don’t need to draw attention to myself for a coach that 12 hours later proceeded to land the head coaching job at Auburn University!

My goal is to represent My Media Outlet which I own and have built from scratch which is getting bigger by the day with the editorial and broadcast departments.

Our You Tube Channel is closing in on 1 Million Views and we’re looking for a big year in 2026!

I don’t have to draw attention to myself!

I’ve been fortunate to interview so many great personalities across all of sports. I wonder if this guy has ever heard of Muhammad Ali, Tommy Lasorda, George Steinbrenner, Richard Petty, Isiah Thomas, ESPN Legend Bob Ley, Don Mattingly, Howard Schnellenberger, Don Shula, Chuck Daly, and many others that are in My Book “Lessons From The Microphone” and I have every intention of writing the second one in 2026.

I don’t need this or any other coach to draw attention myself.

I’ve lasted in this industry 47 years and I’m looking to reach 50 years. I might scale things back to work on other projects and partially retire to do some more traveling.

These days, I mentor all the people that come to me and think of others first!

I’ve heard some boneheaded statements, but drawing attention to myself Takes The Cake!

This PR Guy will realize it when we meet again! I promise you that!

These days, I choose the projects that I want to take on and don’t mind spending money if they benefit the platform as a whole!

To be able to write a Mt. Rushmore Story about My Alma-Mater is truly special and I’m deeply proud of connection to the university!

Early in the story, I talked about not choosing my high school. I chose USF!

Time will tell what the future holds about how much we promote this university.

But the individuals that made the list are well deserving of the recognition!

Scott Morganroth can be reached at southfloridatribune@gmail.com. You can follow him on Twitter/X @TribuneSouth.

To see his broadcast, you can subscribe to the South Florida Tribune You Tube Channel at no charge and hit the notifications button to see the latest.

Also, Scott wrote a book called “Lessons From The Microphone” which can be purchased on Amazon/Kindle and Barnes and Noble. The Audio book is coming up soon.

Don Mattingly Deserves To Be In Hall of Fame!

2025-08-30T00:28:00.000-07:00

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

The reason why Baseball is such a true passion of mine is not only have I played the game, but have covered it for over 45 years.

The relationships one makes in this game are truly remarkable.

I’ve made so many that it would be hard to list all of them.

On Saturday, August 23, 2025, there is one person that I wanted to do an interview with in person.

We’ve talked so many times at Marlins Media Availabilities, Zoom Calls and privately, but there was some unfinished business to take care of. We worked together through Covid-19.

He was born on April 20, 1961 and is 64 years old in Evansville, Indiana.

He made his MLB debut for the New York Yankees on September 8, 1982 and his last appearance on October 1, 1995 for the Bronx Bombers.

His nickname is “Donnie Baseball” and spent his entire 14-year MLB Career with the New York Yankees, and later managed the Los Angeles Dodgers for five years and the Miami Marlins for seven years.

Don Mattingly has a lot of memorabilia in the Baseball Hall of Fame, but the only thing that’s missing is a plaque.

He hit .307, amassed 2,153 hits, added 222 home runs and has 1,099 RBI.

Other players have made it to Cooperstown with similar numbers.

The reality is a back injury cut Mattingly’s career short, but he still has a chance to be inducted through the veterans committee.

My good friend, Bob Ryan from the Boston Globe definitely believes Mattingly belongs in the Hall of Fame. Ryan is a voter for the Baseball Hall of Fame and is inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame in Basketball. I value his opinion immensely!

My interview with Bob is in this story. I hope you enjoy it.

This Baseball Lifer and I go back many years dating back to the 1980’s when we were both in the Yankees farm system.

I wrote for the Hallandale Digest covering the Fort Lauderdale Yankees and New York in Spring Training. Don played for the Greensboro Hornets and marched his way through the system and landed in the Bronx.

Although he’s not in the Hall of Fame yet, his No. 23 is retired and is in Monument Park as a honoree with the Yankees.

He’s the only player without a World Series to earn that honor.

But to me, Mattingly is a friend and a brother!

He’s the older brother that I never had!

I love this guy!

When we’re not talking baseball on the microphone, we’re talking about life.

In recent years, I’ve been dealing with head trauma such as concussions and now have Alzheimer’s Disease.

Don felt bad when he heard this information. Don has always been there to give me moral support.

The Toronto Blue Jays were in Miami to face the Marlins the weekend of August 22-24.

We contacted the Blue Jays communication department to see if Don would come on the Motor City Mad Mouth Show for about 10-15 minutes.

Last year, the Blue Jays did approve us to attend a game in Toronto and we reminisced on the field.

We told the Blue Jays that Don and I have been friends for years dating back to the 1980’s.

We received an email back from the Blue Jays and Don, true to who he is, gladly appeared on my show and our interview lasted nine minutes.

As my friend and mentor Craig Mish looked on, Don and I did our thing and we talked about the Hall of Fame as well as other Baseball Topics.

Once again, the interview lasted nine minutes and we covered everything that I had outlined. I knew Don had to take care of his coaching responsibilities on the field and also caught up with other people in Miami where he was very likeable by all.

When the interview was over, we took pictures with each other and exchanged hugs.

Mish came up to me and said, “Scotty, I thought you were going to go 15 minutes, and you did a good job making it shorter. Short interviews are the way to go.”

Those kind words by Mish were worth a Kodak moment as Craig is another great friend!

The Blue Jays Communications Department told Candy Ebling that Mattingly rarely grants one-on-one interviews, but he was glad to accommodate me and understood the value of our friendship.

Candy told the traveling Blue Jays Communications Department Representative that we plan on covering the team during Spring Training in Dunedin, Fla.

They said they’ll be more than happy to accommodate us.

I hope that when that happens, that if it’s meant to be, Mattingly finally gets his due in Cooperstown and will finally have his moment on a bright summer day in Upstate New York.

Back in the 1990’s when I was in Cooperstown, I spent $350 for a Hydrostone Statue with Mattingly holding a bat in his hand swinging. It’s currently sitting in My Studio.

While he’s comfortable in his own skin, as his accomplishments speak for themselves and is honored by the Yankees in New York, former Dodgers Manger Tom Lasorda once told me, “Because God Delays, Doesn’t Mean that God Denies.”

The same can be said that he hasn’t been to a World Series yet.

The Yankees made it in 1981 before he arrived and lost, then won it in 1995 the year he retired.

My sentimental favorite is to see the Blue Jays at least get and hopefully win the World Series.

A championship ring on Mattingly’s finger would have true meaning to this Baseball Lifer.

It’s time for Mattingly to get his moment in immortality!

In recent years, the Baseball Hall of Fame has seen many of its members unfortunately pass away.

Words of wisdom from Lasorda, another man that I cherish who has meant a lot to me throughout my lifetime are always things that I keep in my mind!

But Don Mattingly is simply one of a kind!

I’m truly grateful to the New York Yankees, Miami Marlins and Toronto Blue Jays for giving me one more amazing memory with a person that I view as the older brother that I never had at LoanDepot Park in Miami!

This was a day where a Detroiter/Midwesterner had the opportunity to hang with a fellow Midwesterner from Evansville, will remember.

Once upon a time, the Detroit Tigers had a AAA team in Evansville called the Triplets. Mattingly and I once talked about this.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at southfloridatribune@gmail.com and you can follow him on X @TribuneSouth.

To see his broadcasts, there is no charge to subscribe to the South Florida Tribune You Tube Channel.

Scott has a book, “Lessons From The Microphone” that can be purchased on Amazon-Kindle and Barnes & Noble. This book talks about Old School Media vs New School Media.

Marlins Surpass Last Year’s Win Total

2025-08-28T22:02:00.000-07:00

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

The Miami Marlins were attempting to take a page from the Florida Panthers.

They were looking to be the next feel good in South Florida. There was a period where the Fish were 8-1-1 in series, had a nine game winning steak and even sent a few players to the All-Star Game in Atlanta.

We did a podcast on the Marlins after they swept the New York Yankees 3-0 and sold out all three games at LoanDepot Park “Are the Marlins Contenders or Pretenders?” Miami won on the field and at the gate as 101,000 + fans .

Many of us felt that Manager Clayton McCulllough had his young team trending in the right direction.

After the Yankees series, the Houston Astros came to town and the Fish were feeling good.

But it didn’t take long for the series and what took place from August 4-6 for reality to set in.

An August 4, the Astros pounded Miami 10-2 in front of 10,827. The Marlins lost 7-3 to Houston on August 5 as 12,186 saw them lose to the first place Astros. In the finale on August 6, 10,073 saw Houston lose 6-4 win as Miami averted the sweep. The attendance for the three games was 33,086.

At the time of the trade deadline, Miami decided not to sell.

They kept Cy Young Award winner Sandy Alcantara and Edward Cabrera.

The only player that was moved was outfielder Jesus Sanchez to the Houston Astros for three minor leaguers. The way the Marlins change their roster, these guys can be in the Big Leagues in no time,

But to be 55-55 after the Yankees series was quite an accomplishment.

Miami is the only team to have a winning record all-time vs the Bronx Bombers.

At one point, the Marlins were 16 games under .500 and rolled out six consecutive series wins to reach 55-55.

The 2025 season has had its’ peaks and valleys.

One of the lowest points of the season occurred during a three game series vs the Colorado Rockies. At the time, the Rockies were playing such poor baseball that there was a chance they could challenge the Chicago White Sox futility record last year.

Here is how things shook out during the series that took place from June 2-4.

On June 2, the Rockies defeated Miami 6-4 in front of 5,894 fans. The Rockies won their 10th game of the season.

On June 3, 7,583 attended a 3-2 loss while on June 4, the Colorado won 3-2 in front of 6,261 fans.

For the three game series, 19,738 fans attended in a ballpark that has a capacity of 37,442. The Marlins lost money staffing the ballpark for the Rockies series. What’s embarrassing about this series is Miami averaged 11,649 fans.

The Athletics average 10,069 at Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento, as the park’s capacity is 14,000. Meanwhile, the Tampa Bay Rays are averaging 9,872 At George M Steinbrenner Field which holds 11,206.

The biggest feel good story of the year has by far has been left-handed hitter Kyle Stowers, who was acquired at the 2024 trade deadline for All-Star Trevor Rogers.

Before he went on the Injury List, Stowers was hitting .288 with 25 homers and 73 RBI in 457 plate appearances. The injury that sidelined him was a grade one left side strain. On July 13, he hit three home runs and collected six RBI., against his old team the Baltimore Orioles.

As of August 7, the Rogers trade for Stowers was a win-win situation for both sides. Stowers was hitting .294 with 25 homers and 71 RBI. Rogers had a 5-2 record with a 1.44 ERA and a 0.83 WHIP for the Baltimore Orioles.

Stowers and Nick Kurtz of the A’s won the player of the Month honors for July.

Kurtz hit .395, with 11 RR, 27 RBI and a 1.269 OPS.

Stowers hit .364, with 10 HR, 20 RBI and 1.269 OPS.

The Marlins playoff hopes have nose dived especially after the Houston series

Miami hit the road and lost to Atlanta 4-1 in a five game series. The Marlins traveled to Cleveland and lost a three game series to the Guardians 2-1. The road trip continued and so did the losing as Boston took the series 2-1 at Fenway Park.

Would coming home change in terms of winning series?

No.

The Marlins lost to the St. Louis Cardinals, Toronto Blue Jays and Atlanta Braves 2-1 in these respective series. In the opening game of the Cardinals series, St. Louis snapped a five game losing streak.

There is no question that losing outfielder Stowers has been a difficult blow to the Marlins.

But injuries are part of the game.

Earlier this season, we saw Cal Quantrill pitch the immaculate inning. He was the only major league signing this off-season.

The right-handed pitcher was placed on outright waivers. He was owed the remainder of his $3.5 Million salary, posting a 5.50 ERA in 24 starts, including a 11.25 ERA in three starts in August.

The Atlanta wasted no time adding Quantrill, whose record stands at 4-12, with a 6.07 ERA and 85 strikeouts.

In his most recent game, he gave up nine runs, nine hits in 3.1 innings as the Braves we’re shelled by the Philadelphia Phillies 19-4 on Thursday Night in Philly.

In this story, are some videos that I know you will enjoy and these will talk about the peaks and valleys that the Marlins are dealing with in the summer.

A year ago, the Marlins finished with a 62-100 record.

With the Marlins 7-4 win at New York over the Mets Thursday Night, the Marlins won the 63rd contest surpassing last season’s total.

It will be interesting to see what the final triumph total becomes.

Manager Clayton McCullough is one of the nicest people I’ve ever worked with. Not only is he pleasant to work with, but he has a good temperament with the fans.

I hope he has the time to see the fruits of his labor.

Unfortunately, Don Mattingly, Derek Jeter and Kim Ng weren’t able to complete what vision they had for the franchise.

It’s good that the Marlins have had the opportunity to honor championship managers Jim Leyland and Jack McKeon this season.

Now we’ll see if the Marlins retire those skippers numbers and other players in the future who are inducted into their Hall of Fame, perhaps Miguel Cabrera, Dontrelle Willis and Josh Beckett.

To date, there are no numbers retired in the rafters and a good spot for them would be next to the Championship Banners of 1997 and 2003.

The lesson McCullough has had to covey to his players, these are the dog days of summer.

Many of these players came from somewhere to get their chance of playing Major League Baseball.

It will be interesting to see if the Marlins can learn enough this season and change the narrative as to how to become contenders thus convincing fans to continue to coming to the ballpark.

This is a fanbase which has experienced so much losing and when the team becomes consistent winners, aside from the New York Yankees, Mets, Boston Red Sox, Philadelphia Phillies and Detroit Tigers, it will be a tough sell.

The Yankees, Red Sox and Tigers come every two years.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at southfloridatribune@Gmail.com. You can follow him on X @TribuneSouth.

To see his broadcasts, go to YouTube and Subscribe to South Florida Tribune.

He also wrote a book, “Lessons From The Microphone” which talks about Old School Media vs New School Media. It’s available on Amazon/Kindle and Barnes & Noble.

Marlins and Giants Make Things Interesting

2025-06-18T03:23:00.000-07:00

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

There have always been some interesting moments when the Miami Marlins and San Francisco Giants square off through the years.

In 2003, I attended the Marlins clinching victory when the Florida Marlins defeated the Giants 7-6 in the fourth game to win the series 3-1. But the play that will always be remembered was when J.T. Snow was in scoring position with two men on.

He tried to score on a single to left by Jeffrey Hammond. Jeff Connie’s throw was on target, and Ivan Rodriguez tagged snow at the plate as Snow barreled into him. Rodriguez fell backwards, and, as he rose, showed that he had held on to the ball, preserving the Marlins win.

Miami would defeat the Chicago Cubs in the NLCS and went on to win the World Series.

Since that game, I’ve always tried to see these squads face each other and these series’ have always been entertaining. But every time I see these teams, the memories always stand out in my mind watching Barry Bonds lose in the post-season and I was in the Marlins clubhouse getting doused by champagne.

I had no interest in dealing with Bonds because of his arrogant demeanor, plus at the time my Gastonia Rangers colleague Wayne Rosenthal was Miami’s pitching coach and we proceeded to have a blast hanging out.

Earlier this month, we saw a pair of games with these two teams.

On May 31, 2025, a guy, who I interviewed at the All-Star Game in Miami, Robbie Ray, who pitched for the Seattle Mariners at the time, was on the hill for the Giants.

He entered the game with a 7-0 record with a 2.56 ERA. He faced Edward Cabrera (1-1, 4.73 ERA).

Before the game, I asked Marlins Manager Clayton McCullough his thoughts about facing a hurler who has overcome Tommy John Surgery and is pitching outstanding.

You can hear that interview in this story, in addition to the fact that the skipper also answered a question that I presented about future Hall of Fame pitcher Justin Verlander.

This contest turned out to be a pitchers duel as Cabrera pitched 5.2 innings of scoreless baseball. The Marlins scored the only run of the game in the second to win the contest 1-0. The bullpen kept to Giants off the scoreboard the rest of the way.

Ray was tremendous as he pitched seven innings, allowed just two hits, walked three and stuck out nine. He is currently 8-2 with a 2.68 ERA with 97 strikeouts.

On Sunday, June 1, the Giants bounced back and won the game 4-2. They scored four runs off of Miami starter and loser Ryan Weathers, who hurled six innings and yielded four runs.

But the bright spot for Miami was the play of Marlins second baseman Xavier Edwards. He had a franchise record setting afternoon by going 5-5 with five hits. He’s just an amazing player and it seems like every time I see him, he plays spectacular.

When I saw him play last year in Milwaukee, he recorded the first cycle in team history.

Hayden Birdsong earned the win for the Giants and his record improved to 3-1 while Camilo Doval notched his seventh save.

The Marlins lost the first game of the series as Cal Quantrill, the author of a game that we attended when a pitched “The Immaculate Inning” was on the wrong end of a 2-0 decision. He pitched five innings, gave up eight hits, two runs but amassed seven strikeouts with just one walk.

The Giants won the series 2-1.

Since this series, the Giants swung a trade with the Boston Red Sox and acquired Rafael Devers to bolster their offense.

We talked about this on Monday Night’s Edition of 108 Stitches, Baseball Talk which is included in the story.

To date, the Giants record is 41-32 and they’re 3.5 games back in second place behind the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Western Division.

Meanwhile, Miami is 29-42 and is in fifth place in the National League East, 15 games behind division leader the New York Mets.

McCullough was named as a coach to the National League All-Star Game in Atlanta joining Dodgers Manager Dave Roberts. Before taking the Miami job, McCullough earned a World Series title with Roberts.

The game will take place on July 15 at Atlanta’s Truist Park.

My next trip to Miami will be the weekend of July 19-20, one of those games as the Fish host the Kansas City Royals. Former Florida Gator Jac Caglianone comes to town. He was the No.6 overall player in the 2024 MLB Draft.

Baseball Expert Harold Reynold describes him “as a player that we’re going to be talking about this guy for years to come.”

I’ll be taking my first trip across the Big Pond, with stops in London, England, Belgium, Netherlands, Norway and Iceland.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at southfloridatribune@gmail.com. You can follow him on Twitter/X @TribuneSouth. To see his broadcasts, there is no charge to subscribe to the South Florida Tribune You Tube Channel.

Finally, Scott wrote a book, “Lessons From The Microphone” which talks about Old School Media Vs New School Media. It’s a good read for everyone especially for students looking to get into the industry. This can be purchased at Amazon/Kindle and Barnes & Noble.

Are The Mets Ready To Seize The Big Apple?

2025-06-14T03:13:00.000-07:00

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

Could there be another Subway Series in the Fall Classic in October?

The way things are going right now, it’s hard to bet against it.

During the off-season, the Mets landed former Yankee Juan Soto in free agency.

He’s the latest to play for both New York clubs.

He’s joins Darryl Strawberry, Gary Sheffield, Rickey Henderson, Curtis Granderson, Doc Gooden, David Cone, Robinson Cano, Bartolo Colon, Yogi Berra, and Carlos Beltran.

This is quite a list.

There are so many intriguing parts of the Soto signing.

His 2025 Salary of $61.9 Million is larger than the Miami Marlins Opening Day Payroll of $47.9 Million.

The perks in his 15-year deal worth $765 Million include the following:

1. No.22 Jersey

2. Luxury Suite at Citi-Field

3. Four Premium Seats Per-Game.

4. Award Bonuses.

5. Security For Family.

There is one perk which is missing.

There is no Yankees slugger Aaron Judge for line-up protection.

On May 20, Juan Soto thought he homered so he stood in the batters box to watch it.

The play ended up being a long single.

After the game, Mendoza wasn’t happy with the effort. “You gotta get out of the box. We’ll discuss that..” Mendoza was alluding that Soto didn’t hustle out of the box.

Let’s face the reality, the New York Mets are going to have an eventful year as they battle for the front pages with the New York Yankees.

The Soto signing is going to add to the intrigue.

On last week’s edition of 108 Stitches, Baseball Talk, My crew included: Eric Katz, George Eichorn, Trent Clark and longtime New York Mets fan Stuart Hack.

The title of the show was “Biting Into Big Apple Baseball” as we talked about should be Hall of Famers on both sides, each team’s revenue sources as well as values, clips from Mets Sports Writer Tim Healy, as well as other storylines. All the videos are in this story.

Clark is a Baseball Lifer that’s worked with the LA Angels, Detroit Tigers and Cleveland Indians. He’s a regular panelist on our show that airs at 8:30 PM ET Monday Night’s on You Tube.

The one thing that he said which stood out is the length of Soto’s contract which as we mentioned is 15-years.

The length is always a concern these days when signing a mega super star.

We’ll find out down the road if that comes to fruition with Soto. We’ve seen this happen with Miguel Cabrera and Albert Pujols.

This is why owners are reluctant to had out deals much longer than eight years.

The smaller markets could do it in order to keep a player in their market for a long time and make them the face of the franchise.

At the moment, Soto is ———————————————————————————.

The Mets are currently in first place with a record of ———- —- games ahead of second place ——————.

Time will tell whether Soto was worth the investment or whether he’ll be traded before the end of the contract.

His signing is another development in the Subway Series and he joins the list mentioned above that has worn both sets of pinstripes.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at southfloridatribune@gmail.com and you can follow him on Twitter/X @TribuneSouth.

To see all of his broadcast, there is no cost to subscribe to the South Florida Tribune You Tube Channel.

He also wrote a book “Lessons From The Microphone” which can be purchased on Amazon/Kindle and Barnes & Noble. It’s mainly Old School Media vs New School and is a great read for those learning about the industry or can serve as a hand book for others in the industry.

The Magnitude Of Head Trauma

2025-06-08T01:47:00.000-07:00

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

If there is anybody that knows about the damaging effect about head injuries, it’s myself.

During the past three years, I’ve had four concussions.

I wouldn’t even begin to count how many more that I’ve had throughout the years.

I sustained my latest concussion during Easter Weekend and was in the hospital for four days.

Unfortunately, my diagnosis has led to Alzheimer’s Disease. It’s a condition that I know that I will succumb to in the next few years.

I’m currently taking a lot of medication prescribed by my doctors and staying active by writing, covering sporting events, doing podcasts and plan to write a pair of books in the next 12 months.

My doctors are telling me the more activity the better and they don’t even mind me drinking a lot of caffeine to keep me stimulated.

In fact, I schedule my appointments on late Friday afternoons, and one of the nurses subscribed to my You Tube Channel loves when I come in.

I’m so wired with caffeine that I really make her laugh by firing one-liners faster than Indy Cars race around a track.

She laughs real hard especially when she has patients that are down in the dumps which makes her feel sad. When I’m there it’s a much higher octane energy level!

She uses my shows at home when she needs a good laugh to keep her upbeat.

It’s safe to say that my sleep pattern is totally unpredictable.

When I went to the Super Bowl in New Orleans, I attended a couple of interesting events.

First, I went to the NFLPA Press Conference and one of the topics the players discussed was whether they would approve of an 18-game season which would reduce the pre-season down to two contests. During this meeting, the players were totally against it due to safety concerns.

After the meeting, I did an interview with Chicago Bears backup QB Case Keenum and we talked about that very subject and helmets. Our interview is in this story, in addition to the NFLPA meeting. Check them out. I know you will learn something from them.

The next event I attended was the day before the Super Bowl.

It was Super Agent Leigh Steinberg’s annual party.

It was interesting to see the different vendors and I met a doctor who talked about a jaw protection product called Neurogard +. I actually did an interview with him as well. This is also included in the story.

Player safety has been a concern for years and there was a recent settlement that was handed out to players due to their head injuries and other ailments. These injuries have led to ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease), CTE, Parkinson’s Disease, and Dementia among others.

But the reality of the situation is the players can balk at the 18-game season all they want.

It will eventually get negotiated into the new collective bargaining agreement.

What will end up happening is there will be an extra bye week, increased roster sizes and the owners will increase their revenue streams. The extra game will end up being an international contest which we know the NFL is working diligently to market the game globally. We all know with extra games, there will be more practice time which also adds hits. The players will make more money per-year.

During the press conference it was very interesting to hear the different viewpoints on these head injuries including one from Washington Commanders running back Austin Ekeler. If there is anyone prone to get hit high, it’s running backs.

During the Miami Hurricanes Spring Practice, I noticed the team wearing Guardian Caps. I wasted no time asking Hurricanes Coach Mario Cristobal whether we would see the team wearing Guardian Caps in the Fall. That interview is also included in the story.

This is a subject that will continually be analyzed on all levels from youth, college, professional football as well as all the medical people analyzing the data.

Dealing with Brain Trauma first hand gives me first hand experience as to what these players are facing from migraines to short term memory and maintaining balance when walking with the fear of falling.

My toughest challenges about head injuries stem from lack of stability in my body, short term memory loss and now I tend to make simple mistakes on the road such as forgetting my location or even missing exits on the highways.

I struggle going to places with lots of noise and it’s increasingly difficult to be around loud children which sets off my migraine headaches.

I’ve driven over four million miles in my lifetime and I enjoy being on the road to meditate by listening to music.

Now I spend 24 hours at home working remotely from my computer unless I go out for a quick networking meeting or a restaurant, sporting event with my wife.

In early August, I leased a Honda Odyssey and have 50,000 miles included in my package, and on Memorial Day, I finally surpassed the 1,000 mile mark.

I struggle dealing with this all of the time. I can’t drive more than 15 minutes without my wife and these days, she drives the majority of the time.

This is the part that’s killing me inside!

Now I have to find other ways to meditate and miss those drives on the ocean looking at the Atlantic Ocean and beaches. Being a resident in Florida, there are tons of beaches on the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico.

My recent concussion led to a broken left thumb and being in the protocol took me off the road for six weeks.

One of my closest friends is named Jennifer Lee-Cobb.

She is a former St. Louis Rams Cheerleader and Jennifer has been on my podcast a few times. She’s dealt with head injuries living through it with family members. She’s currently leading the fight against Parkinson’s Disease.

Legendary fighter Muhammad Ali died of this disease. One of my colleagues former UCLA Broadcaster Chris Roberts recently passed away.

Actor Michael J. Fox, former Hockey Coach Barry Melrose are also dealing with Parkinson’s Syndrome.

LA Times columnist and former Around The Horn panelist Bill Plaschke reveals he’s been battling Parkinson’s Disease for the last four years.

Former Bears Hall of Famer Steve McMichael recently lost his battler with ALS. The only thing we can be thankful for is he was inducted into the HOF in 2024.

Jennifer and I are very close and although we haven’t met in person yet, she keeps tabs on all of my activity especially content I produce. She’ll appear in the chat room from time to time and she’s also in my book, “Lessons From The Microphone” because of what she does and how we connected. I’m very confident that we will meet down the road.

I know you’ll enjoy her story that’s included in this article.

Head injuries are about education through all kinds of sources.

I’m hoping to talk to more players, coaches and medical professionals in the future as I aim to educate others while going through my own battles.

In the end, the next time you watch any heavy contact sport such as Football, Hockey, Boxing, MMA, Wrestling and Bareknuckle Fighting, we have to be conscious of the head gear as well as the impact of the contact for which the blows the head is subjected to.

But no matter what we find out, we must understand that while head injuries are common in sports, anyone can be subjected to them. When they’re subjected to them, the focus then gets placed on the caregivers. It’s a domino effect.

As I get ready to embark on my first trip overseas which will take my wife and I to London, Belgium, Netherlands, Norway and Iceland, I’ve prioritized my bucket list now so when the time comes and I need more advanced care, I’ll appreciate the things I want to do while I can enjoy them. All of these places will be on a cruise ship.

If my health holds up, the target is to hit Paris, France., Barcelona, Spain., Rome, Switzerland, Portugal and if I’m ambitious, my wife and I will get to Germany. Realistically, I’m not holding my breath on Germany. But if we do this land trip, another book will follow.

The amazing part about my diagnosis is my doctor that told me about this didn’t think I would be able to write another book sighting the early short term memory loss.

My wife looked at her as we walked out the door and told this female physician let me give you some sound advice, “Don’t put anything past my husband. I’ve seen him do some unbelievable things especially when his back is to the wall as he feeds off of pressure. Bad move because he thrives on proving people wrong!”

So here we have it. I’ve had a chance to give you a glimpse of my story and talk about sports. The videos inside this article will speak volumes since they come from a wide range of sources!

Scott Morganroth can be reached at southfloridatribune@gmail.com and you can follow him on Twitter/X @TribuneSouth. Also, there is no charge to subscribe to the South Florida Tribune You Tube Channel to see his broadcasts.

Also, he has a book called “Lessons From The Microphone” which can be purchased at Amazon/Kindle, Barnes & Noble. We’re working on getting the Audio Book.

This book is great for individuals that want to learn about the Media and talks about Old School Media Vs New School Media. Students use it as a handbook to learn about the business.

The Evolution of Spring Football

2025-06-06T06:06:00.000-07:00

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

The United Football League’s playoffs start this weekend.

The defending UFL Champions Birmingham Stallions face the Michigan Panthers in one contest while the DC Defenders tackle the St. Louis Battlehawks in the other game.

Aside from college football, the UFL has been a good feeder system for the NFL.

NBC has been a broadcasting partner in the past while FOX owns the league.

ESPN is carrying the games this league.

It’s been a good opportunity to keep their main broadcasters busy during the offseason while others actually got jobs for the networks in the NFL. Greg Olson got his start in Spring Football.

The Birmingham Stallions are the three-time champions and play their games at UAB and they’re seeking a fourth title under Skip Holtz.

The Detroit Lions found their kicker across the building at Ford Field when Jake Bates was kicking bombs for the Michigan Panthers.

QB A.J. McCarron has enjoyed a nice career with the St. Louis Battlehawks.

QB’s Luis Perez and Jordan Ta’amu have found themselves on NFL rosters in the summer and this year QB Matt Corral along with wide receivers Hakeem Butler (Battlehawks) and Deon Cain (Panthers) could be playing on Sundays.

The city of St. Louis has been the benefactor of Spring Football as The Dome at America’s Center have seen the Battlehawks draw crowds in the 30-40,000 range. This is another reason why St. Louis shouldn’t have lost the Rams but Owner Stan Kroenke opted to move to Los Angeles and has flourished back in the Rams original home.

I’ve enjoyed covering Spring Football dating back to 1984 when I covered the original United States Football League. In fact, I wrote a story in college and it won an award. I enjoyed watching the Tampa Bay Bandits and saw Steve Spurrier’s coaching career get started. His Bandit Ball was fun to watch.

I attended the 1984 USFL Championship Game at Tampa Stadium. In fact, that weekend, myself and other reporters were invited to current President Donald Trump’s suite to talk about the USFL. Trump was the owner of the New Jersey Generals and his star was running back Herschel Walker.

I’m not going to go over the demise of that league because it’s not applicable to what we’re doing. But that USFL had stars like Walker, Houston Gambler’s QB Jim Kelly, LA Express QB Steve Young, Memphis Showboats DT Reggie White and many other competing with the NFL for star-studded talent. The teams were privately owned. They had an 18 game schedule and also produced a lot of great coaches.

This version of Spring Football’s teams are not privately owned. The regular season is 10-games with two playoff games including the Championship which takes place on June 14th in St. Louis.

The league is owned by Dwayne “Rock” Johnson and his ex wife Dany Garcia. They’ve done a good job in slowly developing the financial blueprint to keep the league on a sustainable path for gradual growth.

They’ve done some innovative things that the NFL can use to see if those rules could either be added or modified.

They hired FOX’s Mike Perreira and Dean Blandino to oversee the officiating. These guys analyze replays in the booth and make the changes and all the people can watch the transparency of why the calls were made and changed.

I’ve seen offensive and defensive coordinators make calls in the booth and relay them to the players on the field. Holtz is a hands on coach and you can see his expertise on offense.

There are no extra points as they have the one, two and three point conversions. To think that a team can actually tie a game on a nine-point play is totally surreal. But I’ve seen it happen.

I’ve enjoyed the in game interviews with the coaches and players as they are excited for the opportunity to be seen on television with the hopes that these opportunities give them another a chance to play in the NFL. Since I have covered minor league sports through the years, it’s refreshing to see players and coaches have a chance at upward mobility. Keep in mind, the NFL is looking for new officials.

Before the opening game of the year, DC Defenders Head Coach Reggie Barlow took the head coaching job at Tennessee State and succeeded Eddie George, who landed at Bowling Green University. Barlow brought his defensive coordinator Greg Williams to Tennessee with him.

Meanwhile, Shannon Harris succeeded Barlow and guided his team to a playoff berth.

In addition to Holtz, Mike Nolan has done a good job with the Michigan Panthers, Wade Phillips guided the San Antonio Brahmas to the UFL title game a year ago, while former Oklahoma Sooners legendary coach Bob Stoops has transitioned into Pro Football with the Arlington Renegades. His offensive coordinator is former Detroit Lions signal caller Chuck Long.

But let’s make no bones about it, the league is struggling with attendance issues on the field playing inn front of sparse crowds.

Birmingham has struggled at the gate despite winning championships especially during a time in the spring in a football state which has powerhouses like Alabama and Auburn.

The Houston Roughnecks and Memphis Showboats franchises could be on the move and the league is considering expanding by two next year in addition to relocation. I truly thought Houston made a mistake not going back to its past and using the Gamblers.

In May and April, the following UFL trademarks were updated as live and pending. The Portland Breakers, Orlando Renegades, Jacksonville Bulls, Baltimore Stars, Houston Gamblers, LA Express, Denver Gold, Oakland Invaders, Tampa Bay Bandits, Philadelphia Stars, New Jersey Generals, Arizona Outlaws, (Chicago) The Blitz, New Orleans Breakers and Oklahoma Outlaws.

Who knows what will become of this. But I will say, the league should put a team in San Diego and Oakland and follow the path of the Battlehawks as markets that had NFL teams which would appreciate having Pro Football again. Time will tell if that happens.

Here at the South Florida Tribune, we do provide UFL Feeds thanks to Mark Perry who is in charge of that website. I had him on a podcast which is included in this story. You’ll find it very informative and we hope to have him on again.

We also did a recent podcast on our which is titled “Is The UFL Any Value To The NFL?”

You’ll find the opinions and insights quite interesting.

Finally, at Super Bowl 59 in New Orleans, I had an interview with Darryl “Moose” Johnson and he’s the man calling the shots. We all know that he was a legend with the Cowboys and does an outstanding job with FOX, but I truly enjoyed our conversation and I know you will as well.

This story is designed to give you an in-depth perspective of Spring Football, past and present and let’s not lose sight that it’s also beneficial for the television networks to provide programming during the off-season as well.

In fact, I was pleased with the amount of views that Perry’s appearance provided on our network, then again I shouldn’t have been since we were talking about football.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at southfloridatribune@gmail.com and you can see his broadcasts and subscribe to the South Florida Tribune You Tube Channel at no charge.

You can follow the South Florida Tribune on Instagram as well as on Twitter/X.

Scott wrote a book on called “Lessons From The Microphone” which can be purchased on Amazon/Kindle and Barnes & Noble.

He’s the Publisher of The South Florida Tribune,

Citrus Series Produced Interesting Storylines

2025-05-29T05:59:00.000-07:00

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

Anytime the Miami Marlins face instate rival Tampa Bay, these two squads with the lowest payrolls in baseball always find a way to make each series competitive.

Entering the last series from May 16-18, the “Citrus Series” which is separated by 205 miles, saw the teams 56-56 in 112 games.

Miami has won a pair of World Series while the Rays have been there but were unable to win the Fall Classic.

The 2025 season has presented new challenges for both teams.

Miami replaced Skip Schumacher with Clayton McCullough as the new skipper. Former Rays executive Peter Bendix is running the show for Miami, as he replaced Kim Ng.

Meanwhile, the Rays had to relocate to George M Steinbrenner Field as on October 9, 2024 as Hurricane Milton destroyed Tropicana Field where much of the fiberglass roof membrane was ripped off. Although the renovation is planned for 2026, its future is uncertain.

The Marlins will face the Rays in Tampa from June 6-8th.

During their recent series with the Rays, the Marlins came away with 9-4 and 5-1 triumphs and lost 4-0.

We attended the Saturday and Sunday contests between the two teams and I asked McCullough what he thought about facing the Rays. My colleague Craig Minervini also added an excellent follow up question which you’re going to see in the story about this topic and much more.

Leave little doubt that there will be speculation about the future of Marlins Cy Young Award winner Sandy Alcantara’s availability as we approach the trade deadline.

On Saturday, Alcantara pitched four clean innings before yielding four runs in the fifth inning.

He pitched five innings, allowed five hits, had two walks and struck out three.

But he had difficulty holding runners which led to four stolen bases including a pair to Jose Caballero in the fifth inning that led to the winning run. Tampa Bay won the contest 4-0 and the Rays pitching staff limited Miami to six hits.

Alcantara’s record dropped to 2-6 with a 7.99 ERA.

Sunday’s game featured a pitching match-up between Cal Quantrill for Miami who entered the contest with a 2-4, 7.00 ERA squaring off against Tampa Bay’s Shane Baez 3-2, 5.02 ERA.

It seems like everytime I go to Loan Depot Park there is always a memorable moment and on this day another one occurred.

I’ve seen a no-hitter, All-Star Game and thanks to Quantrill’s fifth inning, you can add “The Immaculate Inning” to the list. In the fifth inning he struck out Jonathan Aranda, Christopher Morel and Kameron on nine pitches.

It was truly something worth watching and that was the lead topic on Monday’s edition of 108 Stitches, Baseball Talk which you can see the entire episode by clicking in this story. We broke down all of the facts about Quantrill’s accomplishment.

During the fourth inning, Quantrill worked out of a jam but was fortunate to only yield one run.

The Marlins amassed 10 hits in the contest and had a pair of homers by Otto Lopez and Liam Hicks.

Hicks had two hits in the game while Eric Wagaman reached base three times with a pair of hits.

Quantrill’s final line was he pitched five innings, gave up two hits, one run walked two and stuck out six to improve to 3-4. After Quantrill’s departure, the team used four pitchers and there was no save credited,

Meanwhile, Baez pitched six innings, gave up nine hits, five runs, walked three, struck out two and yielded the pair of round trippers to fall to 3-3.

Miami came away with a 5-1 win and now lead the all-time series 58-57 with a return trip in early June.

As of 5-29-2025, The Tampa Bay Rays are 28-27 which is good for second place in the AL East behind the New York Yankees.

Miami stands at 22-32 and are in fifth place in the NL East.

This weekend, the San Francisco Giants come to town for a three game series.

Quantrill will return to the hill Friday Night with his 3-4 mark and 6.09 ERA. He’ll face Kyle Harrison (0-1, 9.1 IP, 3.80 ERA).

On Saturday, Edward Cabrera (1-1, 4.73) faces Giants All-Star Robbie Ray (7-0, 2.56 ERA). I had a chance to speak with Ray when he was an All-Star in Miami.

On Sunday, the Marlins throw out Ryan Weathers (1-0, 15.2 IP, 1.15 ERA) against Hayden Birdsong (2-1, 32,2 IP, 2.48 ERA).

The only way the Marlins fans will see Justin Verlander is in the Giants dugout talking to his teammates, as he’s currently on the injured list.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at southfloridatribune@gmail.com. You can also follow him on X @TribuneSouth.

To see his broadcasts, there is no charge to subscribe to the South Florida Tribune YouTube Channel.

Finally, he wrote a book, “Lessons From The Microphone” which can be purchased on Amazon/Kindle and Barnes & Noble.

The Iron Man Of Radio Play-By-Play, Atlanta Hawks Steve Holman Sr

2025-05-11T01:46:00.000-07:00

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

As I get ready to write my second book, Lessons From The Microphone, Part Two, I use the Motor City Mad Mouth Show as my vehicle to seek the best interviews.

I’ve known this guy for three years, we’re friends on Facebook and we met at the National Sports Media Awards Weekend, in Winston Salem, NC.

He’s a Man of His Word and will now be in “Lessons From The Media” Part Two that will be released later in 2025.

His name is Steve Holman Sr. Steve is the radio voice of the Atlanta Hawks.

At the moment, I’m currently battling from the early onset of Alzheimer’s Disease, in addition to the fact that I have suffered four concussions in three years. I’m just on a mission to keep my 45, plus years in this business going and appreciate the run I’ve had!

Despite my head injuries, I was fired up to do our interview on Wednesday, May 7, 2025.

I have a rule that I don’t disclose my medical issues to individuals because I keep those private and like to keep the focus on the task at hand.

You won’t find a nicer and down to earth individual to talk to than Holman Sr.

This guy is the Ironman of Broadcasting. I made a reference to Lou Gehrig.

He has broadcast 3,083 straight games and is going strong at age 71. This puts him only behind Chick Hearn, whose record stands at 3,338 consecutive games. I actually had the chance to meet Hearn when the Los Angeles Lakers face the Detroit Pistons in the NBA Finals at the Pontiac Silverdome in the the 1980’s.

Hearn was able to continue broadcasting into his late 80’s. Holman Sr is on a pace to set a record that will never be broken.

If you haven’t heard much about him, it’s because the Atlanta Hawks have not been able to sustain success to get them in the NBA Playoffs. Also, Holman Sr enjoys being the local guy that thrives on being the trusted voice his fans want to hear.

He enjoys taking photos and signing autographs and he’s not seen on Nationally televised NBA Broadcasts.

There are lots of broadcasters different sports that enjoy staying out of the spotlight light.

A few that come to mind are Eric Reid of the Miami Heat, George Blaha of the Detroit Pistons and the late Ernie Harwell, of the Detroit Tigers.

During our interview we talked about his longevity and how he got started.

Steve worked behind the scenes and had mentors like Johnny Most of the Boston Celtics and Curt Gowdy as his mentors.

Working behind the scenes is so valuable because you learn all facets of the business.

The full interview is in this story.

I told him that I had aspirations of being a play-by-play announcer as a kid and if the right opportunity came a long for me at 62, I would strongly consider it. That opportunity could be in minor league baseball in Florida or in college.

But no worries Steve, the only sport I would ever consider is baseball since I played the game for six years and have been covering it for over four decades.

When I lived in Phoenix, 25 years ago, and covered the Suns vs Pistons, I had aspirations of doing basketball. I interviewed Suns and National Broadcaster Gary Bender and wrote a story on him for the Detroit Monitor.

He sent me a copy of his book.

I was a fan when Gary Bender announced the 1982 Final Four in New Orleans at the Superdome when North Carolina defeated Georgetown, led by Michael Jordan. Dean Smith won his first title.

Patrick Ewing, Jordan and James Worthy had Hall of Fame Careers. Georgetown Coach John Thompson had a stellar career behind the bench. He eventually won a National Championship for the Hoyas.

Gary and I stayed in touch.

He eventually retired and moved to North Carolina and while none of this came to fruition, we always remained friends. He’s truly one of the greatest broadcasters of all time.

I will be writing columns for the IBWAA which stands for the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America, their newsletter called “Pitch.”

Steve said when I come to town, he’d be more than happy for me to sit alongside of him at courtside to allow me shadow him while he does his job.

I’ll gain more memories watching him in action and perhaps, we’ll do a Motor City Mad Mouth Show from State Farm Arena providing my health holds up.

During our interview we talked about the current state of the Hawks and he gave young aspiring announcers pointers how to reach their dreams.

What makes Holman Sr so special is he didn’t have a family member that was in the business which meant he had to earn the opportunity by performing and make the rise up the ladder. This was talked about during our interview.

We also talked about how we both agree that to be a good broadcaster, it’s necessary to be a strong writer and he even taught me that TV Anchors get lost on the air if they don’t have their script.

This interview was about two radio guys just enjoying the opportunity to learn from each other while educating fans, plus aspiring media members, particularly announcers.

When I complete my second book, I plan to market them both together.

These days, I cover my fair share of events, appear on radio shows, I’m the Executive Producer and host for many podcasts, plus my passion is writing. I thrive on being the best Content Creator that I can and enjoy filling out the line-up card for my podcasts, in addition to doing interviews.

The content creation takes me back to my younger days in the media when I was a producer for WXYZ in Detroit for Sports Talk and wrote for the Detroit Monitor.

You had to start somewhere behind the scenes before getting on the air.

Being a content creator in these times is extremely exciting for me!

I’ve also expanded my reach beyond the sports arena and one of my favorite shows is 60 Minutes.

I’ve learned that enable to survive in the media, it’s necessary to be different. Don’t be a one trick pony.

I will not do a one-on-one interview unless it fits my criteria.

The individual has to be in the business for a great period of time and also must be able to tackle my tough direct questions.

More importantly, they have to be just nice people!

I’ve turned down many requests from individuals who wanted to come on these shows.

Our shows appear on numerous audio platforms including I-Heart Radio, Spotify and Apple. I post them on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and they’re on The South Florida Tribune You Tube Channel. The link is in this story so please subscribe to see all of our programming.

Moreover, when individuals come on my shows, they get the benefit of invaluable Google Exposure.

I’ve done thousands of interviews over my career. I’ll continue to be active until I can’t do them anymore. My doctors have increased my medications and are extremely proud of me due to my tenacity to keep active in the manners that I mentioned above.

Steve Holman Sr is a Blue Collar individual in every sense of the words.

He goes to work every day and enjoys doing his job. I doubt if he thinks what he’s doing is a job.

Radio announcers don’t get the celebrity treatment that TV Announcers receive because they’re not in front of the camera. Until cameras and new media entered the picture, I enjoyed letting my deep voice do the work and let people wonder what I look like on the air.

When you network at National Events, you’ll meet some great people.

I’ve been fortunate that since November that I had broadcasting icon Kenny Albert and now Steve Holman Sr to come on the Motor City Mad Mouth Show since November.

I have plenty of other individuals which I’ll invite based on the criteria that I pointed out to you.

I know that you’re going to enjoy the interview with Steve because he’s a guy that’s paid his dues and doesn’t have an ego where he seeks the national limelight of having to leave for larger markets than Atlanta.

As I mentioned before, he’s a down to earth individual and exemplifies one of the things that I talk about in my book, relationships are what life is about.

Once we became friends and got to know each other, then the trust was built and, thus this interview was a regular conversation amongst two old school guys that speak the same language in our industry.

Steve Holman Sr is a Basketball Hall of Fame Announcer as well as a person!

I’m very fortunate and grateful to be your friend and now the whole world knows it!

But no worries Steve, you don’t have to mentor me in making a play-by-play comeback, I’m very comfortable doing what I’m doing and enjoy individuals such as yourself and many others tell their stories.

After all, that’s what guys like us do is tell stories.

This story and the interview was about letting the whole world know about Steve Holman and there is a broadcasting legend doing his thing in Georgia. I’m confident that we’ve accomplished that objective.

Happy Mothers Day!

Scott Morganroth can be reached at southfloridatribune@gmail.com and you can follow him on X @TribuneSouth. To see his broadcasts, click the provided link and hit the red subscribe button.

Scott’s book Lessons From The Microphone can be purchased on Amazon/Kindle as well as Barnes & Noble. The audio book in on the way.

This book talks about Old School Media vs New School Media which everyone can learn from, especially students looking to get into the business.

He’s also the Publisher of the South Florida Tribune which also has a Broadcasting Division.

Miami Marlins Vs Athletics

2025-05-09T07:29:00.000-07:00

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

During the course of the 2025 Season, we’ll be focusing on certain Marlins series with the intent of covering games on Saturday’s and Sunday’s. Our objective is to speak to the manager on Saturday then see what we can come up with on Sunday.

Since I’ve seen every team in MLB team and due to health issues, plus a heavy podcast schedule during the week, this is the best approach.

The Marlins and the Athletics have a unique history.

Both are small market teams. They have multiple championships in their history. Going into last weekend’s series, Miami led the all-time series 14-11. The Athletics managed to win this one by topping the Fish twice.

But the games we attended were close.

On Saturday Night, to honor the late ESPN broadcaster Stuart Scott, left-handed hitter Kyle Stowers took out the “whooping stick” and slammed two homers in Saturday Night’s 9-6 win over the A’s.

Stower’s bomb in the ninth inning was classic. In his previous at bat, Stowers made great contact on a hit but it went foul leading to a strikeout. The rule is is if a hitter gets one good look, it leads to an out.

When Stowers came to the plate in the ninth inning, I had a feeling that he would do something special. Indeed, he did. He hit a grand slam home run to the opposite field over the left field wall and just like that, the Marlins walked off the field with a 9-6 win.

Stowers came to the Marlins last season in a trade for Trevor Rodgers. This kid looks like he has a brigt future playing for rookie Manager Clayton McCullough.

Int the contest, Marlins rookie pitcher Max Meyer had a no decision and we were able to get some timely comments before the game with McCullough that are in this story that you can click on and listen to them in their entirety.

The A’s are an interesting story. They’ve left Oakland and are playing in Sacramento.

They’ve called up their top prospect Nick Kurtz. Former Marlins prospect J.J. Bleday is also on the squad which is expected to make its official move to Las Vegas in 2028.

They currently play their home games at Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento, which is also the AAA home of the San Francisco Giants top farm club, the Sacramento River Cats.

The New York Mets played at Sutter Health Park and it marked the 63rd Stadium the Mets have ever played a regular season game in.

The franchise had four World Series titles, including three in a row from 1972-74, six AL Pennants, seven MVP Awards, seven rookies of the year, five Cy Young Awards, 21 playoff appearances, and multiple generations that supported the Oakland A’s. They played 57 years in Oakland and enjoyed a nice Bay Area rivalry with the San Francisco Giants, including the Earthquake World Series.

The team had 17 American League West Crowns, seven Hall of Famers, seven Rookie of the years, four Managers of the year and over 1,000 players. They played in the Oakland Coliseum from 1968-2024.

When you put the names like Catfish Hunter, Reggie Jackson, Joe Rudi, Rickey Henderson, Vida Blue, Joe Rudi, Mark McGwire, Tony LaRussa, Billy Martin, this franchise has an amazing history.

In fact, Jackson and a group of investors made an attempt to buy the A’s from Owner John Fisher, but none of that came to fruition.

There is no doubt that the A’s attendance in Sacramento will be scrutinized all season long.

Their attendance dropped below 10,000 during very first homestand of the season. It’s been a struggle for them to lure free agents because they don’t want to play in a minor league ballpark. Depending on how competitive the team is, they’ll have to face this dilemma for two more years.

With the exception of George Steinbrenner Field, which is the temporary home of the Tampa Bay Rays, the A’s will have to make the most of their current situation as the only major league parks they’ll see is on the road.

I have to say that it was wierd seeing the Athletics across their jersey with a Las Vegas patch.

In the final game of the series, The A’s topped the Marlins 3-2.

Nick Kurtz was 2-4 in the contest with a triple and a run scored.

The A’s left Miami with a 19-16 mark while the Marlins took a 13-20 mark into their next home series versus the defending World Series Champion Los Angeles Dodgers.

Other videos in this story include Marlins Catching Coach Joe Singley and Daniel Alvarez Montes, who appeared on Fire Up Florida Sunday. He’s been covering the Marlins for several years and this is what we got accomplished on Sunday.

Montes is 28-years old and know the Marlins like the back of his hand. Dan does an outstanding job brining the world of baseball to Latin Baseball. During our interview, he didn’t pull any punches when it came to talking about all the key topics pertaining to the Marlins. He’s been a great friend and help since I’ve been with the club in 2020.

If you’re a real Marlins fan, you’ll truly enjoy his insights. If you’re a casual baseball fan, this guy is a star on the rise and I’ve already seen him appear nationally covering events like the World Series, World Baseball Classic, etc…

Who know down the road if the Baseball Hall of Fame will recognize top Latin Media, but Montes, who is from Venezuela, could be a name to watch out for although, I won’t be alive when it happens.

This is what the weekend coverage plans are all about for selective series throughout the summer.

How time flies. On April 5, 1993, the Marlins win their first game ever in franchise history.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at southfloridatribune@gmail.com and you can follow him on X @TribuneSouth. Also, there is no cost to subscribe to his broadcasts on South Florida Tribune’s You Tube Channel.

Scott also wrote a book, “Lessons From The Microphone” which can be purchased on Amazon/Kindle and Amazon. It talks about Old School Media vs New School Media. It’s a great read for everyone that wants to know about our industry, especially students getting into it.

Motor City Mad Mouth Insights: Accomplishments

2025-05-06T05:11:00.000-07:00

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

I’ve always been a firm believer if a city has an old sports site, then use it if possible to build a new venue. Washington Commanders Owner Josh Harris will be moving his team to the soon to be demolished Robert R Kennedy site and building a new stadium where the expected cost will range from $3.7-4 Billion.

The Washington Redskins played there from 1961-1996 winning three Super Bowls. Harris will contribute $2.5 Billion towards the project and the team will begin playing in the Nations Capital in 2030. In the meantime, they’ll remain at Fed Ex Field in Landover, MD.

I truly enjoyed seeing Redskins games at RFK vs the Detroit Lions. Also, Harris said that despite the fans wanting the Redskins name back, it will not happen.

Another footnote, Washington has been selected has the host city for the 2027 NFL Draft.

Other venues on sites that were for Sports include: Turner Field in Atlanta was refurbished for Georgia State Football, Miami tore down the Orange Bowl and the Marlins play in Loan Depot Park, The Omni in Atlanta was demolished and is State Farm Arena for the Hawks, the former home of the Texas Rangers Globe Life Park (Choctaw Stadium) was remodeled for the Arlington Renegades of the UFL, the Metrodome in Minnesota was demolished and replaced by U.S. Bank Stadium and is the home of the Minnesota Vikings.

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Derek Jeter finally graduated from Michigan—-More than 30 years after first enrolling. Jeter has added a new title to his Hall of Fame Resume: college graduate. Over three decades after enrolling at the University of Michigan, the former New York Yankees shortstop returned to Ann Arborio this weekend ton don the cap and gown.

In another development in Ann Arbor, University of Michigan President Santa Ona will take the same position at the University of Florida in Gainesville. Ona had to deal with the Connor Stallions football scandal and despite that, won the National Championship under Coach Jim Harbaugh, now of the San Diego Chargers. Ona goes to the Sunshine State where there will be no state income tax.

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Congratulations to Kenny Albert for landing his dream job as the lead play-by-play announcer for the New York Rangers. Kenny has covered a lot of sports and we’ve been good friends for years. We reconnected at a media convention in Greensboro, NC and he was kind enough to come on the Motor City Mad Mouth Show in November.

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I’m extremely grateful to Kansas City Chiefs Vice President of Communications Brad Gee for his help at Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans. When I had some really important questions that I wanted to ask at Press Conferences, he came through in the clutch. I hope our paths cross down the line.

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I like the Words of Wisdom from University of Houston Men’s Basketball Coach Kelvin Sampson. “No one ever loses anything as long as they don’t quite.” I couldn’t agree with you more coach!

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Deceased comedian Robin Williams asked production to hire at least 10 homeless people in all of his films, helping over 1,500 throughout his career. Entertainment industry insider, Brian Lord revealed a unique clause in Williams’ contract that required the production to hire homeless people to work on the field.

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It was great to see 91-year old Hubie Brown call one more game during the 2024-25 season before retiring from broadcasting after 52 years in the NBA as a coach and one television. I had the opportunity to meet Hubie before the seventh game of a playoff series in Miami as they faced the Detroit Pistons. I wish I would I had a camera phone. But like everyone that hangs around Hubie, you’re always going to learn something. He called his last game between the Philadelphia 76’ers and Milwaukee Bucks on ABC, on February 9, 2025, accompanied by Mike Breen.

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U-Conn Women’s Coach Gene Auriemma went on record on the state of college basketball with NIL and transfers “How do you coach in an environment where the players feel like they owe you nothing and you owe them everything?” In April, he won his 12th NCAA Championship defeating South Carolina 82-59.

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Scott Morganroth can be reached at southfloridatribune@gmail.com, You can find him on X @TribuneSouth. To see his broadcasts, there is no cost to subscribe to the South Florida Tribune Yoiu Tube Channel.

He also wrote a book, “Lessons From The Micropone” which can be purchased on Amazon/Kindle and is also available at Barnes & Noble.

Miami Hurricanes Pro Day and Spring Game

2025-05-06T03:21:00.000-07:00

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

From the minute we arrived on the University of Miami Campus, it was apparent that there would be very few places to park when the Canes held their Pro Day at the Indoor Facility in April. We parked in the swimming parking lot.

The reality is there would be 20 football players working out for all 32 teams. The main attraction was QB Cam Ward. The workout was around three hours as the players had to run various drills, demonstrating speed, catching abilities while cornerbacks, and safeties had to show the scouts that they could be able to stop big plays.

It was an intense workout. It helped others draft stock and hampered some players as well.

Ward clearly impressed the Titans and was selected by them as the first overall.

Two players that had great seasons would be signed as undrafted free agents.

Wide receivers Jacolby George and Xavier Restrepo signed with the Carolina Panthers and Tennessee Titans respectively.

When I presented a question to Daniel Jeremiah before the NFL Draft in Green Bay, because of Restrepo’s substandard speed, he was a tough evaluation.

That proved to be the case in the NFL Draft. The NFL evaluators didn’t care that Restrepo is the Canes all-time leader in receiving yards with 2,844, had 200 receptions along with 21 touchdowns. They viewed him as a slot receiver. Being undrafted was a blessing in disguise as he’s being reunited with Ward.

Before the workout got started, I had a chance to speak to NFL Network’s Brian Baldinger and not only did he give his takes about the draft, but praised Miami Coach Mario Cristobal for resurrecting the program. You can see that video in this story.

We also have videos in this story from the players that were made available to us. I hope you enjoy them.

The Hurricanes had seven players selected in the NFL Draft, the most at UM since 2017.

Their top selections included Ward and tight end Elijah Arroyo, who was selected in the second round (No.50 overall) Friday by the Seattle Seahawks.

On the Final Day of the NFL Draft, there were five Hurricanes that heard their names announced.

Offensive lineman Jalen Rivers (fifth round, Cincinnati Bengals), linebacker Francisco Mauigoa (New York Jets, fifth round), defensive end Tyler Baron (fifth round, New York Jets), kicker Andy Borregales (sixth round, New England Patriots) and running back Damien Martinez (seventh round, Seattle Seahawks) were all selected.

I have a feeling that Martinez will be the sleeper in this draft as he’ll be paired in the same backfield as Kenny Walker III.

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As far as the Canes Pro Day a few weeks later, The Hurricanes Communications staff did a smart thing. They didn’t print out rosters and didn’t waste any paper. Starting QB Carson Beck didn’t participate in the workout.

In reality, that’s what it was and on campus for the fans to see since the team plays its home games at Hard Rock Stadium.

When the workout was over, Cristobal was available for questions and one of the questions I asked him was about guardian caps, which the team utilized.

You’ll find his interview and the other players in this story as well.

Candy Ebling was extremely busy that day but Mother Nature gave her a comfortable day with a little bit of a breeze to work with.

We’ll see how the transfer portal plays out over the next couple of months and at the end of July, it will be interesting to see what players and coaches will be available before the start of training camp.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at southfloridatribune@gamil.com. He can be found on X @TribuneSouth.

To see his broadcasts, there is no cost to subscribe to the South Florida Tribune YouTube Channel.

Finally, he write a book called “Lessons From The Microphone” which can be purchased on Amazon/Kindle and Barnes & Noble.

NCAA 2025 Women’s Final Four Overview

2025-04-23T05:42:00.000-07:00

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

There were a lot of great storylines at the 2025 NCAA Women’s Final Four in Tampa which was played at Amalie Arena.

There was only one that was missing. USC’s JuJu Watkins suffered a severe knee injury and the Trojans were doomed in the tournament.

There were two first timers with the UCLA Bruins and Texas Longhorns.

There were three No.1 seeds and a No.2.

The No. 1 seeds were UCLA, Texas, South Carolina while the U-Conn Huskies were the No.2 but definitely didn’t play like it. It’s hard to believe that UCLA was representing the Big Ten.

The true meaning of tough love between a coach and a player does exist as U-Conn Coach Gene Auriemma told guard Paige Beuckers “I love you, that’s all I can say. I love you.” This was after the Huskies thrashed the South Carolina Gamescocks in the Finals 82-59.

The U-Conn Huskies wasted no time extending Auriemma as he is now the highest paid women’s coach earning an $19.7 Million extension.

In January, Scouth Carolina makes Dawn Staley the sport’s new highest-paid coach with a historic 25.5 Million extension,

During the tournament, Sarah Strong set an NCAA record for the most points by a freshman in a single tournament with 114. The future looks bright for U-Conn. In the finals, she dominated with 24 points, 15 rebounds, five assists, three block shots and two steals.

Going into this game, in Auriemma’s 12 previous National Title Appearances, he has won 11 times with the lone loss being to Staley’s Gamecocks.

This is a good accomplishment for Staley and during her post-game press conference in the video provided, I asked her what it’s like to compete against this coaching icon.

There were a lot of great videos throughout this tournament and we hope you enjoy each and every one of them,

We’re also including a video of Tampa local Girls/Women’s Basketball Icon, Jackie Eisenhauer , who I covered in the 1980’s for the Tampa Tribune, that was a standout player for Armwood High School and the University of South Florida Bulls as she talks about the rise in women sports especially on the hardcourt. I can only imagine what Jackie would have looked like in a WNBA uniform.

Unfortunately the all three games had lopsided outcomes.

Texas got crushed by South Carolina 74-57. U-Conn rolled by UCLA 85-51 and as forementioned, The Huskies hammered the Gamecocks 82-59.

There were no players drafted into the WNBA from UCLA and Texas. Our main interviews were with Close, Staley and Auriemma, in addition to a couple interviews with Gamecocks players after the final game.

To no surprise, Bueckers was the No.1 overall pick in the WNBA Draft taking her 19.8 PPG to the Dallas. She was the only player in the Final Four to be selected in the first round. Days earlier, she became an investor in Unrivaled, a 3on3 league. With Unrivaled she’ll earn $350,000 for one season, and during her four year deal with the WNBA, she’ll make $348,000 on her rookie deal.

In round No.2 with the sixth pick overall, Te-Hina Paopao was drafted by Atlanta and she averaged 11.4 PPG at South Carolina,

Two picks later in the second round, eight overall, Bree Hall was selected by the Indiana Fever and will have Caitlin Clark as a teammate. The South Carolina guard takes a 39.9 FG % to the Hoosier State.

In round three, fifth overall, U-Conn guard Kaitlyn Chen takes her 11,9 PPG to expansion, Golden State.

Another U-Conn Huskie, forward Aubrey Huskie will take her 7.5 PPG, 5.4 RPG and 53.3 FG% to Minnesota, This was a great move by the Lynx to bolster their front court.

Sn now it’s time to see how these young ladies perform at the next level.

It’s worth noting that Bueckers is the only athlete (male of female) to defeat six No.1 seeds in the NCAA tournament, In 2022, the Huskies downed NC State, and Stanford. In 2024, defeated USC and pulled the trick again versuses the Trojan in 2025. in 2025 it was UCLA and South Carolina in the Final Four,

If you’re looking to see the first Bueckers vs Clark Math up, it will be on June 27.

ESPN will broadcast it first ever WNBA pre-season game.

I can only imagine what late Tennessee Volunteer head coach Pat Summitt must be thinking right now as Women’s Basketball is hitting unbelievable heights and let’s not forget she led her team to eight National titles.

This was truly an unbelievable experience covering the 2025 NCAA Women’s Final Four in Tampa and I’m grateful to USF Associate Athletic Director Brian Siegriest for making this happen!

When I woke up on January 1, 2025, this event wasn’t on my radar but it indeed turned out to be quite memeroable down the the final question to Auriemma when I asked him how does it feel to be mentioned in the same question as UCLA’s “Wizard of Westwood” John Wooden. You’ll have to listen to that in the video.

Ironically, 50 years ago in 1975, Wooden won his 10th National Title. A half century later, Auriemma racked up is 12th.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at southfloridatribune@gmail.com and you can find us on X @TribuneSouth. To see all of his broadcasts and the company videos, there is no cost to subscribe to the South Florida Tribune YouTube Channel.

Finally, he has a book “Lessons From The Microphone” which can be purchased on Amazon/Kindle and Barnes & Noble. The audio book is coming out soon. This book talks about Old School Media vs New School Media and is extremely beneficial for students learning the business.

Kickers Have Candid Personalities

2025-04-22T23:47:00.000-07:00

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

There are certain positions in sports where you get some of the most interesting and candid comments. From my past experiences, I’ve had a blast talking with kickers.

This dates back to my days working as a sportswriter for the Hallandale Digest.

The first NFL team I covered early in the 1980’s was the Miami Dolphins coached by Hall of Fame icon Don Shula.

I would get some of my best interviews during training camp.

The first kicker that I interviewed was with Garo Yepremian, who used his foot to help the Dolphins win a pair of Super Bowl Titles in the early 1970’s. Yepremian is also known for a missed field goal where he attempted to bat a ball out of the bounds but instead batted it up inn the air right into the arms of former Detroit Lions teammate, Redskins cornerback Mike Bass, who returned it for a touchdown. The Dolphins still won the game 14-7 and completed the only undefeated season in NFL History in 1972.

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The following Dolphins training camp, Shula brought in another kicker named Al Del Greco who competed for the job in 1984.

Del Greco was an undrafted free agent from Auburn University. He caught my attention when the Tigers, thanks to his four field goals defeated the Michigan Wolverines in 12-3 in the 1984 Sugar Bowl. Del Greco was a four year letterman who completed 110 out of 111 PAT’s in his college career. He also set the SEC record for field goal attempts in a single game in a 1982 game versus Kentucky where he made six out of his seven attempts. His 236 career points place him fifth on the Auburn career scoring list.

When I suggested to Digest Editor Dan Bluesten that we write about Del Greco, he was strongly opposed to the idea. I told Dan that since I’m covering training camp, I’m going to do it anyways sighting the fact that if Del Greco performed well, he’d land a job with another team. I spoke to Shula about this and he shared my sentiments.

Del Greco proved me right. He played for the Green Bay Packers from 1984-1987, St. Louis?Phoenix Cardinals 1987-1990, Houston Oilers/Tennessee Oilers/Tennessee Titans 1991-2000. The Coral Gables, Florida native scored 1,584 points in his NFL Career.

My instincts prevailed again.

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During the past few years, I’ve been fortune enough to cover the Miami Hurricanes and a kicker that I’ve talked to numerous times that you could see in Andres Borregales, who hails from Caracas, Venezuela. It was wierd not seeing him at the Hurricanes Spring Game but his name was mentioned as the event started.

During his career, he was a two-time First Team All-ACC Kicker in 2023, 2025. In the 2023 season, he was 22-26 on field goal attempts and 44 of his 45 extra points. In the 2024 season, he hit a 56-yard career long field goal that resulted in a win over Virginia Tech. He finished his final collegiate season in 2024 going 18-19 on his field goals, while also making all 62 of his extra point attempts.

Enclosed in this story is the video that we did during the Hurricanes Pro Day a few weeks ago.

As I said, I’ve interviewed him numerous times and is considered a legitimate prospect.

How legitimate is he?

The New England Patriots selected him the sixth round of the NFL Draft Saturday which ensures him one trip to Hardrock Stadium as he looks to make life difficult for the Miami Dolphins.—————————————————————————————————————————-

The final kicker that I’ll talk about is Harrison Butker of the Kansas City Chiefs. He was originally drafted by the Carolina Panthers but never played with the cats. He joined the Chiefs in 2017 and has been their kicker since then. He has won three Super Bowls, was the NFL Scoring leader in 2018, made the longest field goal in a Super Bowl:57 yards (LVIII). He has kicked nine field goals in the Super Bowl.

His Chiefs records include he booted 38 field goals during his 2017 rookie campaign. Points by a rookie with 142, points by a kicker in 2017 with 142. The longest field goal he’s ever made was 62 yards in 2022. His Career field goal percentage (minimum attempts) 89.1 %.

Butker has amassed 992 points during the regular season and 175 more during the playoffs.

When he’s off the field, Butker has been known for come controversial comments which I will not discuss in this story. Feel free to look those up online.

Butker did visit President Donald Trump at the White House in February.

Before Super Bowl 59 In New Orleans, I interviewed Butker for the Motor City Mad Mouth Show and we talked about his successful career with the Kansas City Chiefs and much more.

You can see that interview enclosed in this story.

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In the end, kickers are their own breed. They stand around the sidelines waiting for their moments to kick a game winning field goal. When they miss a field goal, they definitely take a brunt share of it. There are times when a team’s offense stumbles, they kick the only points in wins or losses.

On the big stage, they’re under a larger microscope as the goats or the villains. Teams have been known to go through multiple kickers in a season. Not every kicker has the luxury of kicking in a dome therefore, they have to adjust to all kinds of weather and field conditions, They’ve been known to make touchdown saving tackles on special teams. For the most part they’re isolated and take the least amount of hits of all positions on the field. Their hits are mentally when things go right or badly wrong,

Nevertheless, it’s a key position in football and that’s why I focused on the subject in this story.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at southfloridatribune@gmail.com. You can find him on X @TribuneSouth. To see his broadcasts, there is no cost to subscribe to the South Florida Tribune YouTube Tube Channel.

Finally, he wrote a book, “Lessons From The Microphone” which can be purchased on Amazon/Kindle and Barnes and Noble. It’s a book that talks about Old School Media vs New School Media and is extremely useful for students getting into the business. The audio book is coming out soon.

Tampa. Local Legends, Jackie Eisenhauer and Leo Haggerty

2025-04-22T12:59:00.000-07:00

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

My brother Lonny once told me that Tampa is one of my hometowns. My younger sibling hit a bullseye with this comment!

During the weekend of April 3-6, it was an opportunity to go back to the past and work in the present,

Thanks to my co-host on Sports Wrap, Leo Haggerty, I asked him if he could find a way to get me in touch with Tampa lady’s legendary High School and College player Jackie Eisenhauer.

At a USF Women’s Basketball Event on Campus, Haggerty bumped into Eisenhauer and he told her that I was interested in bringing her on the Motor City Mad Mouth Show when I returned to Tampa.

Eisenhauer gave Leo her phone number and we did the show at George Steinbrenner High School on Friday, April 4th. It was great catching up with the former Gaither High School guard that averaged 18 points-per-game and was also an excellent point guard, who was worth about five assists per game. All Jackie did was make her teams much better!

At the time, I was in charge of the girls basketball beat for the Tampa Tribune and went to games all over Hillsborough County. As time progressed, and I saw Jackie play, I continued to cover more of her games that ultimately saw her get a scholarship at the University of South Florida.

During our interview, we talked about the good old days when she played in High School. I didn’t see her play in college because I relocated back to Detroit.

We also talked about the changes in today’s change in women’s sports and how big the NCAA Women’s Final Four has become. It’s now a feeder system to the WNBA.

Moreover, we also talked about what she’s doing now.

Thanks to Jackie, it was great seeing longtime baseball coach John Crumbley as we also spent time reminiscing.

If you’re a fan of women’s sports, I encourage you to watch this entire interview.

Jackie told me off camera that she’s a fan of the newest basketball league, Unrivaled which recently signed U-Conn Basketball Star Paige Beuckers will present more opportunities for ladies to make even more money.

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Leo Haggerty and I work with Ralph Williams on Saturday Mornings from 9-10 AM on Sports Wrap on RW Productions and also is on a pair of South Florida Tribune Platforms. I’m the Executive producer of this show.

In Addition to has wealth of business knowledge as an entrepreneur, at the age of 70, Haggerty reminds me of the “Energizer Bunny” where he keeps going and going!

Anytime we get a chance we get to work together, we do it.

Leo and I seized the opportunity of the 2025 NCAA Women’s Final Four as we did “The Motor City Mad Mouth Show” at the Black Rock Bar and Grill in Tampa, Florida.

We had quite a show and had Owner Craig Piccard on as a guest. He watched the entire show then became part of our three team crew.

When we do shows in Tampa, Black Rock will be the location as we’ll have a live show and a studio audience when we do our next telecast.

This interview is also inside this story and if you want to learn about Tampa Sports from two knowledgeable men that have deep ties to the area, here is your ticket.

If you’re not knowledgeable about Tampa Sports, no big deal. We talk about everything.

I also gave Leo a signed copy of “Lessons From The Microphone” and I have no doubt he’ll do his best to talk about the book. He also wants to be in the next one which I will be working on this year.

But when you connect the dots between Jackie and Leo, the one thing I talk about heavily in my book is relationships.

The real hero of this story is USF Associate Athletic Director Brian Siegrest.

If it wasn’t for Brian coordinating the Women’s Final Four, we don’t make the trip to Tampa in April to not only do these two shows, but covering the event itself.

By approving us, Brian made me feel comfortable and gave me everything I needed to get a lot accomplished.

Now I have a vested interest in Women’s Sports, and as a result, I was paying more attention to the WNBA Draft.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at southfloridatribune@gmail.com. You can reach him on X @TribuneSouth. To see his broadcasts, there is no charge to subscribe to South Florida Tribune You Tube Channel.

His book “Lessons From The Microphone” can be purchased at Amazon/Kindle and Barnes & Noble.

The Legend Of Kenny Albert

2025-04-17T01:57:00.000-07:00

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

One of the main things that I mention in My Book “Lessons From The Microphone” is the importance of building relationships. It’s a must when dealing with people in life.

When I met legendary broadcaster Kenny Albert at the 2018 NHL All-Star Game at Tampa’s Amalie Arena, I asked him if he would mind doing an interview. He was more than happy to do it and we spent time talking about hockey and all the other sports he calls. His personality is so relaxing that you felt like you were talking to a life long friend.

These days, you’ll find Albert on FOX doing NFL Games as well as Hockey on TNT.

He recently wrote his first book, an autobiography entitled “A Mic For All Seasons”, on October 10, 2023, with Triumph Publishing. The book documents 30 years of broadcasting, citing stories about his career rise, relationships with broadcasters and athletes, and his family.

During the 2024 NSMA Awards Banquet in Greensboro, NC., Albert won an award for New York Sportscaster of the Year. Broadcasting runs in his family as he’s the son of jack of all trades Marv Albert and as well as other broadcasters Al Albert (Uncle) and another Uncle Steve Albert.

Kenny has called the NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL along with others.

When we reunited last summer, we reminisced about our conversation in Tampa and we took some photos together. It was two old friends getting to getting together hanging out.

Then I asked him if he would like to come on “The Motor City Mad Mouth” down the road. Kenny wasted no time saying yes and we exchanged phone numbers.

The first thing we did is we did a book swap as I sent him an autographed copy of mine and he reciprocated by sending his. When you talk about a 57-year old who has experienced a lot during his career, Kenny has done exactly done just that.

We did our show and it’s on the South Florida Tribune You Tube Channel. The episode ran 25:55 and we covered a lot of topics. It’s a must watch for those of you interested in his career and the relationship he has with his father Marv.

Just because you have a legendary father doesn’t guarantee automatic success.

Kenny learned from his father and worked hard to have a dynamite career of his own!

He’s humble and never takes things for granted. We both are like that and this is why we have such a great connection.

Every broadcaster has a dream job and when it became public information that New York Rangers legendary Announcer Sam Rosen was retiring at the end of the 2024-25 Season, I asked Kenny if this was a job he’d covet. He said he does do Rangers games and out of respect to Rosen, he’d let the situation play itself out. I completely respected where he was coming from.

A couple days ago, Rosen was winding down his final days as voice of the Rangers.

The stories of his successor surfaced again about who would replace him.

The Rangers wasted no time choosing Kenny Albert as his successor. You couldn’t ask for more of a seamless transition than this to a better man!

When I got news of this, I quickly texted Kenny to congratulate him. His first response to me was, “Thanks Scott. Appreciate it. Hope you’re doing well.” I then sent him a video of Darry Johnston which we did at Super Bowl 59 in New Orleans and he liked it. Albert and Johnston worked together calling the NFL on FOX.

I did mention to Kenny that he will be mentioned in my next book and will remind my readers who important how relationships are,

When I saw Kenny call the Detroit Red Wings 5-2 road win over the New Jersey Devils on Wednesday Night, it was great seeing him talk about my hometown team that resides in the “Motor City.” Then again, watching him behind the microphone is a treat calling any game.

Kenny and his crew will be calling their second Stanley Cup Finals in three years for TNT.

You can bet I will be watching my friend in action. He’s a man that I’m proud to call a friend as well as an excellent colleague!

In my 45 + years in the Media Business, I’ve met a lot of great people. That’s what keeps my passion going to stay in this business.

I’ve been recently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease and my doctors have increased my medication and have told me to remain active to stall this disease from progressing.

I told this to Kenny before we did our interview in November and said I feel great. As classy as he is, we hit the LIVE Button, and you wouldn’t know that I was ill. As we always communicate, everything between us just went naturally.

On tonight’s edition of the Sports Exchange, Kenny Albert is going to be the headline topic. This decision is an absolute no brainer!

Both of the shows we did together will be inserted into the story. I hope you enjoy both of them.

But in the meantime, while New York Fans can enjoy Kenny, it’s important to see the rest of the world to appreciate him as well.

I hope one day, health permitting that I get a chance to see a Rangers Game at Madison Square Garden with Kenny in the booth and we can just hang out before or afterwards. I’ve never been to MSG and this would be a memorable experience with my great friend!

God Bless Kenny! You’re a great person and keep piling up your accolades because you deserve everyone of them! I hope your book is a best seller so you can keep inspiring others!

Scott Morganroth can be reached at southfloridatribune@gmail.com.

You can find him on Twitter/X @TribuneSouth and see his shows by Subscribing to the South Florida Tribune You Tube Channel.

Finally, his book, “Lessons From The Microphone” can be purchased via Amazon, Kindle and Barnes & Noble.

Spring Training With The Minnesota Twins

2025-03-22T02:40:00.000-07:00

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

My original plan for the weekend of March 13-16th was to attend the 12 Hours of Sebring, as I always like to cover endurance races.

But my instincts took over and said, you’ve been there and have done that. Once again, my instincts were right.

Instead, it was time to get back in baseball mode.

I’ve always wanted to attend a Spring Training Game at Hammond Stadium in Fort Myers, FL, the home of the Minnesota Twins. I’ve already been to Fenway South which is six miles away.

When you talk about great people to work with, Nina Zimmerman and Dustin Moorse are as good as it gets. Nina told me she was pleased to accommodate the South Florida Tribune to expand their presence in our market.

Meanwhile, Dustin was awesome as he granted me clubhouse access and whatever else I needed.

I’m looking forward to working with both of these individuals both in Fort Myers and in Minneapolis in the future.

My original target was former Miami Marlins pitcher Pablo Lopez, but he was pitching and would only be available in the clubhouse after his outing. As a result, I would ask some questions which occurred around the seventh inning. You’ll see the conversation in the video in the story.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to stay afterwards to talk to Manager Rocco Baldelli as I had to return home. Hopefully, that opportunity will come at a later date.

I asked Moorse if he could find me a catcher. I told him that I played the position in Little League and have interviewed a lot of them through the years covering baseball.

Dustin delivered and I interviewed Ryan Jeffers outside of the clubhouse because when I explained to Moorse getting the interview on You Tube would be problematic, due to copyright issues; he totally understood and it worked out well.

He told Jeffers that I wanted to talk to him about catching and that I would keep the interview short and it was a blast with the 6-4, native of Raleigh, NC. Jeffers has been with the Twins since 2020. He was the Twins second round pick, 59th overall in 2018.

We talked about so many different aspects of catching as you’re going to watch. Jeffers didn’t play in the Twins 6-5 loss to the Boston Red Sox.

But you can rest assured that I’ll be watching him throughout the season and hope he has tremendous success. I always root for people that make my job easier and more pleasant. In addition to the video, we also took a photo together.

Before I interviewed Jeffers, Moorse came to me in the clubhouse and told me the Twins athletic trainer was having a media availability. Since I was new, it was nice of him to go out of his way to invite me to it and the one thing that gets my energy level higher is when someone talks about my “Motor City Mad Mouth Hat.” I got in my few questions and learned a lot.

Finally, I approached Twins reporter Audra Martin and asked her if she has some time to talk to me. She covers the Twins and the Minnesota Wild. She was extremely cooperative and sweet. We had a blast. One question that I decided to not ask due to time limitations about what female broadcasters she idolized growing up. Perhaps, down the road, it will come up.

Instead, I talked to her about the Twins, working in the Minnesota market and kept the conversation about her goals. Audra came across to me as an individual that’s extremely happy working in a small market and being appreciated in the Twin Cities. In this interview, we both had a lot of fun doing it.

The one story that I told Moorse and Zimmerman was back in 1987 when the Minnesota Twins played the Detroit Tigers during the American League Championship Series.

I attended game five and attempted to buy a ticket but was ripped off initially. However, fate would work out for me and I saw my uncle Gene Ryeson and he gave me some money when I told him what happened. I mentioned this in my book, “Lessons From The Microphone” and I bought another ticket.

This time, I turned a negative into a positive and I sat next to former Minnesota Twins Owner Calvin Griffith.

We talked baseball the entire game and I remembered everything he said then proceeded to write a story. My editor George Eichorn sent the story to Griffith and the Twins and he responded back to us and if I ever made it to the area, I would be invited to attend a game and we could talk more. If there was ever a time that I wish I had a camera phone, this was it.

The Twins would defeat the Tigers in this game and went on to win the World Series. As much as I would have liked to have seen Detroit win, I became an admirer of the Minnesota Twins ever since.

What happened this past weekend with what I accomplished only added to the respect that I have for this classy organization beginning with Moorse and Zimmerman.

If you ever have a chance to see Hammond Stadium, this facility holds 9,300 and the complex is just unbelievable. The state of the art venue also is the home of the Twins Florida State League team.

I’ve always felt great that when I get a lot of cooperation, this is when I’m at my best.

Since Covid 19, getting total cooperation has been a challenge throughout the sports world.

But with the Minnesota Twins, it felt like old times and made the task so much more pleasant! I can’t thank them enough and am looking forward to promoting them in the future.

They indicated they wanted exposure in our market and I will do everything in my power to give them that and much more!

It’s safe to say that the detour I took shifting from Sebring to Fort Myers turned out to be a no brainer. The trip from Deerfield Beach, Florida to Fort Myers is slightly under two hours away off of I-75.

My instincts were right again as you can tell in this story and the videos inside.

A topic on the 108 Stitches, Baseball Talk Podcast on Monday which you can find on the South Florida Tribune You Tube Channel was on the trip to Fort Myers. This show featured Pablo Lopez, who is happy that he has a new home in the Twin Cities.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at southfloridatribune@gmail.com. You can find him on Twitter/X @TribuneSouth. To see his broadcasts, they can be found of The South Florida Tribune You Tube Channel and there is no cost to subscribe.

Also, he wrote a book, “Lessons From The Microphone” which is available on Amazon/Kindle and Barnes and Noble.

Life After Football, Former Washington Redskin, Antomio Wise

2025-03-13T01:30:00.000-07:00

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to attend press conferences and record interviews, then write basic stories.

Once upon a time, a mentor of mine named Andy Liscano, who was a television reporter in Miami back in the early 1980’s always taught me that the key to being a real journalist is by being different. I mentioned him in My book “Lessons From The Microphone.”

I’ve received a lot of great advice in my 45 + years in Sports Media and have used a lot of it. It’s always great to learn from other colleagues in the industry.

When you go to a big event, it’s like Halloween.

How much candy can you get to fill-up your bag?

The best part about this candy is you don’t have to have your parents go over it to see if there are unexpected and unwanted surprises in it.

There is nothing like a big event because that feeling that you’re a kid out of a candy store is running through your mind. I thrive on these events because I view it as advanced networking.

In a day where the smart phone has replaced the tape recorder and you can get videos, it makes content hunting even more fun. The smart phone comes in handy to do interviews and in some cases, I use it for just photos.

My niece Brook once taught me a lesson about Facebook. She told me that she only uses it to post phots. Great stuff, Brook because not only do I use Facebook to post them, but these photos also land on Instagram. When I thought of the California Wildfires, I definitely appreciated what Brooke had to say.

To tell you that Super 59 in New Orleans was a smashing success, would be mildly understating the obvious. I’m looking forward to covering the NCAA Women’s Final Four in Tampa, just weeks away.

My wife/photographer Candy was a recording machine.

Where there was an interview, Candy was there to take care of it.

At a family meal, My nephew Branden once said to me that “Uncle Scott, how did you find a woman that likes what you do? I said, I don’t know, but I’m glad that I did.” I used his question at our wedding on January 1, 2017.

I’ve been to five Super Bowls and they’ve all been very enriching. I’ve made a lot of contacts, taken some photos and more importantly accumulated a lot of memories.

As long as my health allows, I’ll go to more of them and eliminate national media awards banquets events that only last a few days and are too costly for that short period of time.

As I was talking to Roy Kessel of the Sports Philanthropy Network, who is a great friend of mine, I stumbled across this opportunity.

I met former Washington Redskins player Antomio Wise and we started talking. The thing that impressed me about Wise was that when his football career is over, he found a career outside of the gridiron in the financial industry.

At that point, my content hunting instincts went to work and since we’re both authors, we made a book exchange.

Every social media has its purpose. I look for guests that are successful after their athletic careers are completed. As I was looking at Wise, the one person who came to mind is former MLB catcher and a great friend of mine, Barry Foote.

Interviewing Wise turned out to be a “Wise” move because many athletes go broke after their athletic careers are completed. Wise gives good advice to non athletes and I hope you enjoy the interview. If you learn something off of it, then I did my job and followed the advice of Andy Liscano.

I really enjoy writing stories about the subjects that I interview because it provides a great overview of them and the message that we’re both looking to share.

I look forward to the next event and will produce another story like this one.

It’s one thing to produce content that working behind the computer at your home and office is productive. But there is no better place to be than in the field than hunting for it.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at southfloridatribune@gmail.com and you can find him on Twitter/X @TribuneSouth. You can connect with him on LinkedIn and to see his broadcasts, there is no cost to subscribe to the South Florida Tribune You Tube Channel.

His book “Lessons From The Microphone” can be purchased on Amazon/Kindle along with Barnes & Noble.

FAU Had Their Wheaties And Crushed ECU 81-53

2025-03-12T01:46:00.000-07:00

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

I’ll never forget that when the FAU Owls named John Jakus as their new Men’s Basketball Coach on March 27, 2024 to replace Dusty May, who went to the Michigan Wolverines, that there was quite a turnout at his opening day press conference.

He was cheered mightily by the fans. Jakus only had about seven minutes to talk to the media and a reporter from a West Palm Beach TV Station asked the majority of the questions while others couldn’t get a word in. I was one of those.

But on Sunday, I finally had a chance to get to a Men’s Basketball Game which turned out to be Senior Day. The team honored KyKy Tandy, Ken Evans Jr. and Jack Johnson for their contributions to the program.

FAU went into the contest leading the all-time history 4-2. East Carolina entered the game with and 18-12 mark and 10-7 in the AAC. Meanwhile, FAU entered the contest with a 16-14, 9-8 mark in this key conference showdown.

As I looked at the press notes before and throughout the game, Jakus was mentored by two of the nations best head coaches in Scott Drew (Baylor) and Mark Few (Gonzaga) and is no stranger to working with mid major programs.

Jakus will be on a future edition of the Motor City Mad Mouth Show after the season.

The Owls responded with a performance that showed they’re on a mission to get to the post-season.

The game started off slow and at one point the game was tied 9-9.

But with 9:33 left in the first half, FAU led 18-11 going into a timeout.

By the 4:53 Mark in the half, FAU led 33-14 and at halftime the score was 41-23.

Why did a game that appeared to be a close matchup get out of hand so quickly?

FAU out rebounded ECU 25-14 and outscored the Pirates 7-0 on second chance points. The Owls held the lead for 13:50-2:06.

Even Florida Panthers Captain Aleksander Barkov, who was wearing his FAU t-shirt was impressed sitting in his court side seats and was signing autographs.

There was no let-up in the second half for FAU as the Owls out scored ECU 40-30. The time with the lead jumped to 33:50. ECU only led 2:06 the entire game.

FAU out rebounded ECU 47-33 their second chance points raised to 20-7. FAU outscored ECU 32-26 in the paint and led in bench scoring 30-8.

Baba Miller had 18 points, five assists and 12 rebounds, Maya’s Vokietaitis had 10 points, Tandy led all scorers with 19 points, while Tre Carroll had 17 points and 11 rebounds.

When the game was over, Jakus was really delighted with the way the team played all-season. I finally had a chance to ask the first year coach several questions as you’re going to see in the videos included in the story.

After the press conference, we finally had our formal introduction and took photos. When I was leaving the building, we took another photo and talked. I told him something he already knew, have a good conference tournament and the post-season awaits you. He appreciated this comments and we took another photo on the court.

I told him that he’s the fourth FAU Coach I’ve worked with. The others were Rex Walters, Mike Jarvis and May. He told me, “I hope that I’m the last.”

I hope so because Jakus can now settle into his surroundings and continue to build the program the way he wants to. For a guy that has worked at mid-major programs, there is no question that Athletic Director Brian White got this hire right.

I’ll be interested to see what goes on from here and you can be rest assured that it won’t take me until the last game of the season to see John Jakus and his Owls going forward. I was amazed by the energy at “The Burrow” on Sunday and it was a pretty decent crowd.

Now, the Owls begin AAC Tournament play on Thursday so we’ll see what’s in store with the squad in the next few days.

Meanwhile, he knows that our conversation is far from over as we mentioned him coming on the Motor City Mad Mouth Show so we’ll be able to promote the FAU Program nationally. He said he was looking forward to coming on.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at southfloridatribune@gmail.com and you can find him on Twitter/X @TribuneSouth.

To see all of his shows, you can subscribe to the South Florida Tribune You Tube Channel.

Finally, he wrote a book, “ Lessons From The Microphone,” which can be purchased on Amazon/Kindle and Barnes & Noble.

Motor City Mad Mouth Insights: Iconic Performers

2025-03-06T02:24:00.000-08:00

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

In my lifetime, I’ve been fortunate enough to meet many iconic performers and witnessed many others.

On last night’s edition of the Sports Exchange with Myself, JB Ellis, Pensman Sports, Candy Ebling and George Eichorn, the opportunity to do a show with a pair in the headline was too good to pass up.

I titled the Show “Paying Tribute to Gene Hackman and Al Trautwig” and I told my co-hosts this would be a loaded episode. I knew Ellis was leaving for Japan on Sunday to watch MLB in Tokyo so it was necessary to have him on this episode.

We talked about Bill Laimbeer believing LeBron James could play in the 1980’s, the most points by a Canadian player is 55 by Jamal Murray of the Denver Nuggets against the Portland Trail Blazers, Vlad Goldin of Michigan proposing to his girlfriend at Crisler Center in Ann Arbor after a loss to Michigan State, in addition to discussing Matthew Stafford staying with the LA Rams.

I also interviewed current and soon to be former Philadelphia Eagle Darius Slay Jr. about returning to the Detroit Lions. We also had our parting shots.

The chat room was active as each individual talked about the movies that Hackman participated in and many remembered Trautwig’s accomplishments. As usual, Ebling did her research about both individuals and that continued the momentum in the chatroom along with the dialogue with the crew.

This is a must watch video that we’re inserting in this story.

I’ll say this, Hackman will always be remembered in my eyes for his role in the movie “Hoosiers” because the two quotes that stand out include: “When it comes to this basketball team what I say is the law, absolutely and without discussion.” I use that line a lot in my dealings with people. Another quote, “Let’s see what hand I’ve been dealt.” How many of us can relate to that? All I know is that I’ve watched Hoosiers a lot, too many times to count and it never gets old!

If you’re a student of life, then watch the movie!

Hackman died at the age of 95 and while his passing is still under investigation in Santa Fe, NM, his memory is engrossed into my head.

Rest in peace, Gene, you’re never going to be forgotten.

As for Trautwig, he won numerous awards in New York, worked for MSG for 30 years, covered the New York Yankees, Knicks and the Rangers.

I remember him early in his career when he was working with the Dan Kelly Sr and Gary Green on the USA Network covering NHL Hockey.

He covered Tennis, the Olympics and every sport imaginable. Candy Ebling did an outstanding job going over his background.

His impact in New York Media can be spoken in the same sentence as Kenny and Marv Albert, Sam Rosen, Walt Frazier and he’s worked with the legendary Jim McKay. Trautwig also covered the Indianapolis 500. Unfortunately, he passed away at age 68 due to Cancer.

When you’re in the entertainment business, your voice and performances live on. There was way no way that I could do a show without including both of those individuals.

Earlier this year, I had the opportunity to do an interview with Kenny Albert.

We’ve been friends for years dating back to meeting at the NHL All-Star Game in Tampa and reconnected at the NSMA Awards Convention last summer in Greensboro, FL.

We’re both authors and when I approached him about coming on the Motor City Mad Mouth, he quickly accepted and after a couple of months texting, we got it done in January.

As I battle Alzheimer’s Disease and realize that now I’m confronted with an illness that’s fatal, I’m embracing every opportunity that comes my way and taking full of each situation to the max. My You Tube Channel is something I take full pride in so my family and friends will always appreciate my memory, especially my wife Candy.

We had an incredible run at Super Bowl 59 in New Orleans amassing over 30 videos.

To add last night’s Sports Exchange and talk about Hackman, Trautwig and even mention Kenny Albert, is another thing that I’m fortunate to have the opportunity to do.

I couldn’t have had a better crew to enjoy the 1:10:13 to acknowledge these people along with the topics that were addressed.

RIP Gene Hackman and Al Trautwig and thanks to your legacies we all had the opportunity to celebrate you on March 5, 2025 on the Sports Exchange.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at southfloridatribune@gmail.com and he can be reached on Twitter/X @TribuneSouth.

To see his broadcasts, there is no cost to subscribe to the South Florida Tribune Channel on You Tube.

Lastly, he wrote a book, “Lessons From The Microphone” Tuning into the Enduring Wisdom of Visionary Leaders and you can purchase on Amazon or Barnes in Noble. The link is also available on The South Florida Tribune Website.

Motor City Mad Mouth Insights

2025-02-24T23:45:00.000-08:00

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

As I write this column at 1:42 AM ET, on 2/25/25, there are some things that I’ve decided I want to get off of my chest.

1. On a recent edition of 108 Stitches, Baseball Talk, my crew and I talked about the Boston Red Sox heavily overpaying for Alex Bregman. Who in there right mind would pay a guy in his early 30’s salary of $40 Million per-season. You guessed it, the Boston Red Sox. Despite having two opt outs, there is no way that Bregman will use them with his recent injury history. The Tigers made him the highest offer of $171.5 Million for six years and he turned it down with a chance to reunite with former Manager AJ. Hinch. I give the Tigers credit for attempting to open up the checkbook under Owner Chris Illitch.

2. What a difference a coach makes. The Detroit Red Wings ousted Derek Lalonde and hired Todd McClellan during Christmas. The results have paid off as the new pilot has a 16-5-2 record. If the playoffs started tomorrow, the Red Wings would snap an eight-year playoff drought. I expect them to be buyers at the trade deadline.

3. It was great having Dr. Michael Hutchinson on No Limits last night with Candy Ebling. We met Dr. Hutchinson at Super Bowl 59 in New Orleans. He has created NeuroGuard + and it serves so many purposes in lower jaw alignment during sports, concussion mitigation, helps breathing, banging teeth together, etc… Dr. Hutchinson lives in Traverse City, MI and we both talked about our struggles playing “The Bear” a Jack Nicklaus designed golf course which is known for devouring golf balls. Years ago, while staying at the Grand Traverse Resort, My brother Lonny and some friends played “The Bear” and by the fifth hole, as we started losing golf balls, wound up lining up in teams and played best ball to get through the 18 holes. A great story as I look back, but it was a humbling experience when it took place.

4. The Detroit Pistons defeated the LA Clippers 106-97 at Little Caesars Arena in front of a crowd of 18,989 fans. Cade Cunningham led the team with 32 points, and nine rebounds, Jalen Duran added 12 points and 19 rebounds to win their seventh straight game. Tobias Harris added 20 points for the Pistons, who broke a 10-game losing streak to the Clippers. Detroit (32-26) hadn’t won seven straight since December 26, 2014, to January 7, 2015. The Pistons have their best 58-game record since they were 42-16 in 2007-08—the last year they won a playoff game. The worst kept secret on the planet is former Coach Monty Williams finished 14-68 last season. As I mentioned with the Red Wings, coaching changes can make a difference as JB Bickerstaff and his coaches have done an outstanding job with this group of players. Detroit Owner Tom Gores hired Trajan Langdon from the New Orleans Pelicans and the Duke graduate has done a remarkable job incorporating veterans to blend well with the younger players.

5. I see a lot of myself in Detroit Lions Head Coach Dan Campbell. When I sense changes have to be made on my broadcasting network, I seek to find replacements. I’ll even make sure my guys and gals can appear on multiple shows. In Campbell’s case, he saw the writing on the wall in 2023 when there were rumors that his offensive and defensive coordinator were hot head coaching prospects. The Lions managed to keep Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn through the 2024 season. As a result, Detroit finished with a 15-2 record. As soon as the Lions were eliminated by the Washington Commanders, Johnson and Glenn were hired by the Chicago Bears and New York Jets respectively. Campbell knew this was coming and proceeded to fill these positions.

6. It was great covering Super Bowl 59 in New Orleans for a couple of reasons. First of all, this was my fifth and Candy Ebling was working her first. In addition to coming to the Big Easy for the first time, Ebling was a recording machine. We amassed over 30 interviews which will be on the South Florida Tribune YouTube Channel. Please subscribe to the channel. Second, one of the classiest Communications Executives I’ve ever dealt with is Brad Gee, the Vice President of Football Communications for the Kansas City Chiefs. When I needed to get a question at the Media Availablities, Brad came through in the clutch. I hope our paths cross again.

7. On Monday, February 17, 2025, it was great having Facebook Friend Cliff Neill on the Motor City Mad Mouth Show talking about NHL Expansion. You never know where your next guest will come from.

8. On Wednesday, February 19, 2025, the gunslinger came out of my and this sports guy proved that he’s not a one trick pony and left his sports comfort zone to interview actress, writer and on air personality Rachel Galvin. We talked about her beginnings in Los Angeles, CA and her road to South Florida. We worked together at the Deerfield Beach Observer and I’m looking forward to her assistance in Lessons From The Microphone, Part Two.

9. It was a privilege to work with former FAU Basketball Coach Dusty May for a few years in Boca Raton. The man who led the Owls to the 2023 Final Four, has a chance to do it again with the University of Michigan Wolverines. Only two players remain from last year’s Michigan squad that was 8-24 under former Coach Juwan Howard. May has worked the transfer portal and made use of U-M’s NIL funds to turn around this Blue Blood Program.

10. Speaking of the transfer portal, May brought in former Owls Center Vlad Golden and this move has paid big dividends. The Wolverines are second in the Big Ten with a 21-6 record. Following a 75-62 loss to rival Michigan State in Ann Arbor, Goldin proposed to his girlfriend Camryn Volger at Center Court at the Crisler Center. After the NCAA Tournament, Goldin’s next stop will be the NBA.

That’s it for this column. I’m going to try to get a couple hours of sleep before I take a blood test at 6:40 AM.

But this was fun so get used to more “Motor City Mad Mouth Insights” once a month.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at southfloridatribune@gmail.com and you can find him on Twitter @TribuneSouth. To see his broadcasts, check out his YouTube Channel (South Florida Tribune) then press the subscribe button.

Canes Roller Coaster Ending

2025-01-04T01:10:00.000-08:00

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

After watching some of the College Football Playoff Games, there is no doubt the Miami Hurricanes could have put on a good show.

Unfortunately for Miami, the Canes lost two out of the last three ACC Games, thus failed to make it to the ACC Championship Game against SMU. It’s one thing to lose games, but when you lose to unranked opponents that will do nothing to impress the College Football Playoff Committee, which judges by strength of schedule.

When Miami lost to Georgia Tech in Atlanta, November 9, 2024, the Canes took a 10-7 lead at the end of the first quarter. But Georgia Tech put sevens on the board during the next three quarters to emerge with a 28-23 win and handed Miami its first loss of the season.

After a bye week, Wake Forest came to town and Miami redeemed itself with a 42-14 win over the Demon Decons. The Canes stayed in the playoff discussion.

It all came down to a road trip to the Syracuse Orange on November 30 in upstate New York playing at the Carrier Dome. There would be no elements to play a factor in the contest.

Miami jumped out to a 21-0 and the Canes seemed like they were cruising towards the ACC Championship Game in Charlotte. I was actually preparing the cover this game at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, NC.

But there was one person that prevented that from happening. It was Syracuse QB Kyle McCord, who transferred from Ohio State after the Buckeyes lost to Michigan in 2023. Buckeyes fans used him as a scapegoat in a loss to Michigan and he bolted to Syracuse.

McCord put on a show against Miami as he was 26/36 for 380 yards and three touchdowns with zero interceptions. His main weapon was running back LeQuint Allen, who had 22 carries for 82 yards and scored two touchdowns.

His favorite targets were wide receivers Trebor Peña who caught six passes for 128 yards and a touchdown. Jackson Meeks had seven receptions for 110 yards and two touchdowns.

Miami’s Cam Ward had an excellent contest as he was 26/36 for 349 yards with two touchdowns.

RB Damien Martinez had 10 carries for 84 yards and a touchdown, Mark Fletcher rushed 13 times for 56 yards and two touchdowns.

Wide receiver Xavier Restrepo played in what turned out to be in his final game and he caught nine passes for 148 yards and one touchdown. Jacolby George had six catches for 212 yards and Elijah Arroyo has five receptions for 44 yards and one touchdown.

When it was all said and done, Syracuse pulled off the 42-38 upset and Miami found itself just waiting for its Bowl Game.

Amazingly enough, I saw the Orange get crushed by the University of South Florida 45-0 in the Boca Raton Bowl 45-0 so this program has come a long way. Both Miami and Syracuse finished with 10-3 records.

The Hurricanes were invited to the Pop Tarts Bowl on December 28, 2024 at Camping World Stadium in Orlando.

Outside of the College Football Playoff, this looked like one of the best Bowl matchups.

Both teams entered the game with 10-2 records. This would be the first meeting over between these two squads for whom both felt they belonged in the playoffs.

During the first media availability, I asked both coaches whether they could schedule each other down the road.

Miami’s Mario Cristobal and ISU’s Matt Campbell were open-minded to the idea and even laughed about it. You’re going to see that in the video.

Restrepo didn’t play in this game to prepare for the NFL Draft.

This game was billed as “The Battle of the Storms” Cyclones vs Hurricanes.” Judging by these two teams respective offenses, this title was appropriate.

The over/under on this game was 61.5 and Iowa State ranked fifth in the country in total yards with 422.1 per game. Meanwhile, Miami was ranked first in the country amassing 550.7 per game.

Miami played this game without WR Isiah Horton, who entered the transfer portal.

The first quarter was entertaining as Iowa State jumped out to a 21-14 lead, as QB Rocco Becht was 6-9 for 87 yards and a touchdown. Greg Burkle caught the touchdown pass. RB Carson Hanson rushed for two touchdowns.

Miami scored 17 unanswered points in the second quarter to take a 31-28 lead at halftime. Ward threw a pair of touchdowns. One was to Elijah Arroyo while the other went to Joshisa Trader.

At halftime, Miami outgained Iowa State 358-267 total yards.

Ward threw 12 passes for 190 yards and three touchdowns. Martinez looked great on the ground by amassing 179 yards on seven attempts and a touchdown.

Becht, held his own in the first game by going 14-22, with 180 yards and two touchdowns.

What we would see in the second half is what defines today’s college football?

Ward didn’t play in the second half and was replaced by Emory Williams.

This move caught all of us off guard.

I heard reports on the field that there were two New York Giants scouts and they asked Ward to play in the first half.

After the Game, Coach Cristobal chose to not give an explanation about this decision,

The Cyclones took advantage of the Wardless Hurricanes by outscoring Miami 14-10 and won the contest 42-21. Becht finished the contest going 22-35 for 270 yards and tossed three touchdowns, Once again, for Miami, Martinez wound up with 179 yards.

Miami had 524 total yards and Iowa State had 415, but the only thing that mattered was the result on the scoreboard.

Since the Pop Tarts Bowl ended, Jcoolby George and Damian Martinez decided to enter the NFL Draft.

Hurricanes defensive coordinator Lance Guidry was fired.

During the second half of the contest, Cristobal had to find out what he has in Williams. He struggled as he was 5-14, 26 yards and an interception.

I can only imagine how differently this game would have turned out had Ward played all of it.

But welcome to the new era of college football where the transfer portal can cripple a team during Bowl Season. There is no question that this system needs to get fixed.

The Hurricanes have hired Corey Hetherman, who was the defensive coordinator for the Minnesota Golden Gophers last season.

Another update, Iowa State Head Coach Matt Campbell is a candidate for the Chicago Bears head coaching vacancy.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at Southfloridatribune@gmail.com and you can follow him on “X” @TribuneSouth. You can find his broadcasts by subscribing to the South Florida Tribune You Tube Channel.