MidValleySports.Com

Joe T., always working hard…

By Joe Torosian

Kick it!

Who is hated more than Jerry Tarkanian by the corrupt NCAA?

It is a dude that deserves a statue.

According to reports, the top four NIL earners in college athletics as of March 2026 were: Arch Manning (Texas, football), 5.4-Rocks…A.J. Dybantsa (BYU, basketball), 4.2-Rocks…Jeremiah Smith (Ohio St., football), 4.2-Rocks…Sam Leavitt (LSU, football), 4-Rocks…

None of this happens without Ed O’Bannon. The leader of the 1995 UCLA Bruins championship team. This was after a catastrophic knee injury as a freshman, O’Bannon came all the way back.

He ended up the ninth overall pick of the Nets, but athletically, he couldn’t compete at the NBA level—likely because of that knee injury. 

O’Bannon played overseas. I interviewed him several times while he played in the ABA reboot. He was a total character guy.

His 2009 class action against the NCAA isn’t the sole reason, but it opened the door for the players today to make the money they are making now at the collegiate level…He is referenced as the “Father of NIL,” and he not only deserves a statue but probably a percentage in tribute to what he helped bring about.

So I’ve been asked how I produce a column every day…My answer? I practice positive self-talk.

Every morning when my eyes open, I say to myself: “Get your BLANK out of bed!”

As a nefarious, but very successful person once said, “Eighty percent of life is about showing up. You show up 80% of the time, and good things will happen.”

Yes, Detroit did not have Cade Cunningham, but the Lakers could have rolled over and died last night, but—again!—they kept grinding and were leading 109-108 with 29-ticks left on the clock.

If a loss can ever be classified as a good loss—at the end of a long road trip—this was a good loss.

I may not like it, but I understand people will go to other platforms to watch the NFL. Will they do that with baseball?

MLB opens its 2026 season tomorrow with the Yankees and Giants on Netflix. I don’t know if you’ve ever sat through an Apple TV game, but it is excruciating.

Let me qualify that… It’s excruciating if you want to watch baseball…but Apple TV, likely Netflix, and many of these other banners always feel the need to pass through intersections and entertain at the same time.

I don’t need to be entertained, I need baseball…and long for an announcer who will only talk to me.

Where have you gone, Vin Scully? Our baseball nation turns its lonely eyes to you.

San Francisco 49ers left tackle Trent Williams will be 38 this September. In 2026 he will make 32-Rocks…his cap hit will be 46.3-Rocks…Fog City wants a restructure, but Williams isn’t budging, and he sat out the entire 2019 season with the Washington Redskins–so it tis in his nature.

How marvelous.

#13—May the San Francisco Giants rot and lie stinking in the earth.

The Dude abides…
1,255
1 John 4:1
jtbank1964@yahoo.com
Follow Joe on X: @joet13b