An anticipated overkill by the No. 1 team will fit only too well into an annual early-season pattern. Last week’s interesting games were far outnumbered by clinics in running up the score — 76-0, 63-0, 69-3, 52-0, just to note a few of the many uber-routs. College football’s landscape is changing, yet the custom of big schools beating up on the little guys thrives. The obsequious national media and the people scheduling these games somehow fail to recognize what a bad look this is.

Charging on: Taylor Heinicke’s NFL career lives! Every time the former ODU star turns up on another team, Monarch fans have reason to smile.

Future watch: The NFL’s new kickoff rule and the introduction of in-game coach interviews will compete for this season’s worst idea.

Cats in the hat: NFL players now have the option to add the shock-absorbing Guardian Caps to their helmets during the regular season. Almost none will. Because while the shock-absorbing material may be useful for practice, it’s not cool enough for games. The league says that over two preseasons, the caps reduced concussions by 50% in practice for certain position players. But for now, fashion wins out over function.

Quick hit: Nobody asked me, but I’ll take the Ravens vs. the 49ers in Super Bowl LIX. Anybody can pick the Chiefs to three-peat. What’s the fun in that?

Turn it down: After a couple weeks of college football on TV, I’m reminded that too many play-by-play announcers took screaming lessons in broadcast school. So often the mute button is our friend.

Add TV: Again this year, every pass a defender touches is “almost intercepted.”

Bad start: The ACC badly needs a football reset. Or it could just jump directly into basketball season.

Rank: Florida State, 0-2, has been a mess. But what were the professional guessers in the media thinking when they placed the ‘Noles 10th in the preseason rankings? Anybody willing to explain?

Old-school: With the introduction of the 12-team playoff, the weekly Top 25 guesstimate rankings begin to look even more like an antique.

Name change: Reader Don Vtipil questions why, in this age of NIL, college players are still called student-athletes. He suggests “university employees.” I’m with him.

TV timeout: Seeing as how Tom Brady is making $37.5 million per year to work for Fox, let’s hope he’s not another analyst who talks like he’s being paid by the word.

He’ll be back: I’m not usually so free with my compliments for TV talking heads, but I thought Robert Griffin III, recently fired by ESPN, did a better job than most on panels or in game-day booths. Somebody will grab him up.

Camera ready: With Monday Night Football spots on the ManningCast, a weekly Friday ESPN show with Peyton and an analyst position on the CW Network’s “Inside the NFL,” Bill Belichick is giving every appearance of a guy getting over his media shyness.

Poor kid: Danger lurks around every corner … and ballfield. Croix Bethune, a midfielder for the Washington Spirit of the National Women’s Soccer League and a member the U.S. Olympic gold-medal winners, recently threw out the ceremonial first pitch at a Nationals game. And in the process, she suffered a torn meniscus that will sideline her the rest of the season.

What he said: Orioles TV voice Kevin Brown created a classic call this week when two players from the pitiable White Sox collided on a routine popup, allowing the ball to drop and three runs to score. “Oh no, oh my goodness,” Brown exclaimed, “the White Sox have just gone full White Sox.”

Bob Molinaro is a former Virginian-Pilot sports columnist. His Weekly Briefing runs Fridays in The Pilot and Daily Press. He can be reached at bob5molinaro@gmail.com and via Twitter@BobMolinaro.

I didn’t pray to win, but I prayed that God would allow me to run to the best of my ability and bring Him glory.

Through my career, God allowed me to have much success.

Now I’m not saying God wanted me to win over other competitors, but I do believe God works for the good of those who love and serve Him.

That brings me to something that happened last week.

Lake Mary of Florida shocked Taiwan last Sunday in the Little League World Series, rallying for a 2-1 win in extra innings. It’s the state’s first LLWS title and the sixth straight tournament won by a U.S. team.

But heading into the team’s final at-bat before extra innings, things didn’t look good as Lake Mary trailed 1-0.

ESPN cut to Florida manager Jonathan Anderson giving his team a final pep talk before they went to the plate.

“Oh, what a story it’s going to be, boys,” Anderson told his team. “One of the first days that we got here, I came down here, a man prayed over me. OK, he saw my dad later, he said, ‘It’s already been written.’ We are already the champs. The Lord put it in his book. We are just going to finish the story right here, right now.

“Stay calm, stay composed, stay within yourself, but understand it has already been written,” he continued. “It’s already ours. We just have to finish it here. We just have to play this inning. Understand?”

The team replied, “Yes sir.”

He added, “Here we go,” Anderson told the team. “It’s our summer. It’s our game. We are gonna come out on top.”

After a scoreless seventh inning, Taiwan was unable to get the automatic runner home from second base in the top of the eighth, setting the table for Florida to capture the title.

On the first pitch of the bottom of the eighth, Hunter Alexander dropped down a bunt to the right side.

Pitcher Chiu Wei-Che fielded the ball cleanly, but his throw to first sailed into right field when no one was at the bag, letting the runner from second score and giving Florida the win.

The bunt that was heard around the world

Here's the historic play that won Florida their first-ever #LLWS title pic.twitter.com/Ba0HjhRFQC

— Little League (@LittleLeague) August 25, 2024

When it comes to religion, some people were bothered by Anderson’s message.

What many also may not realize is Anderson didn’t even know that ESPN turned his mic on and was recording this intimate moment between him and his team.

I spoke to him earlier this week about many things, including the win and his faith.

“We’re a faith-based family. So that was already engrained in us the whole entire time,” Anderson told me one day after his Lake Mary team was honored with a parade in front of thousands of fans at Disney’s Magic Kingdom. “But if you trust in the Lord, anything is possible.”

More than 400 miles away, watching the game unfold in Chesapeake, were friends Jeff Guill and Joe Smith.

Earlier in the week, they had been in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania, the site of the Little League World Series.

Guill has been to four of the past five Little League World Series. Smith, along with his son, Isaiah, were making their first trip.

While they were there, they saw three of the Florida players and Anderson walking around.

Smith and Guill stopped them and chatted with them.

After talking for a few minutes, Guill and Smith asked if they could pray with them.

Anderson said, “Absolutely.”

Guill prayed with them, while Smith took pictures.

The next day, Guill and Smith ended up sitting behind Anderson’s father, David, and other family of the players from Florida.

Before they left, Smith told Anderson’s dad, “It’s already been written in the book, you’re going to win.”

Guill and Smith returned to Chesapeake. They watched the championship game together.

Then they heard Anderson’s talk and what he said about their encounter. Both were shocked in amazement.

“It made me feel good, but I was more grateful that no matter what, whether they won or loss, that they glorified Jesus with their play,” Smith said. “They did their part, and God took care of the rest.”

Guill, who leads Christian Embassy’s Men’s Ministry in Chesapeake, said that experience is going to change many, including the players’, lives.

“I just want them to know that Jesus Christ is in everything. He’s there for us, even in a ballgame,” he said. “Prayer is so important and it changes everything. People will say, ‘Doesn’t God love the kids from (Taiwan), too? Of course, but for whatever reason, Florida was destined to win. And God used us as prayer warriors.”

As they get closer to the metal cage that sits in the end zone, the music begins.

As they pile into the cage, including some climbing at the top of it, the music intensifies.

Then comes the blue and yellow smoke.

Then more music, as players begin to rock from one side to the other in unison with the music.

Then, the doors of “The Tiger Cage” fly open as the players run onto the field.

It’s the sight and entertainment that fans look forward to at every Oscar Smith home game.

“You look at it in the daylight and it’s just some metal bars with blue and gold on it,” said Oscar Smith athletic director Ray Collins. “But when all of the kids load in there, and all of that energy comes pouring out onto the field, it’s pretty amazing.”

Tiger Cage in force. Oscar Smith vs. Phoebus pic.twitter.com/rSfAVOvKP1

— Larry Rubama (@LHRubama) September 1, 2023

The entrance is like no other in Hampton Roads.

It gets the home team fired up, and gets the opposition’s attention. Videos of the entrance on social media get thousands of views, likes and comments.

“It’s like saying, ‘We’re going into battle now,’ ” said former Western Branch coach Lew Johnston. “For a bunch of kids who are not very confident going into the game, it can be as intimidating as heck.”

Former King’s Fork coach Joe Jones remembers seeing the cage for the first time.

“When they came out, it got me fired up because it was something that I hadn’t seen around here,” he said. “For me, I think that’s the most intimidating (entrance) around. I always said, if your a competitor, this will crank you up. If that doesn’t crank you up to play hard, then you’re not a competitor.”

Richard Morgan arrived at Oscar Smith in 2002. He took a program that was middle-of-the-pack and transformed it into a perennial region and state power and into the national conversation. During his reign, the Tigers won 82 consecutive Southeastern District games and at least a share of 12 consecutive district regular-season championships. He also led them to state titles in 2008 and 2011 and two other appearances in the state final.

But Morgan always looked for an edge to help his team.

Terry Batten, a former Oscar Smith quarterback in the early 1980s, has been a part of the program. He remembers when the Tiger Cage came into existence.

“Todd Springer, who was an assistant coach under Richard Morgan, and his brother, Corey, had a little brainstorming session and came together with the idea,” he said.

Introducing our new high school sports newsletter: 757Teamz Extra

Jeff Rowland, another former Oscar Smith player, helped bring the plan to fruition.

“Corey Springer came to me with his idea. He wanted to do something to get the players hyped,” he said. “I’m a metal distributor, and Corey was a customer of mine. He came to me with the idea. And it took off from there.”

What Rowland didn’t expect, however, was how it evolved.

“Now, I had no idea that they would be climbing all over it,” Rowland said with a chuckle. “But I love it when I see them. They’re up there having a ball and doing their thing. I had no idea that this thing would get like this.”

The Tiger Cage. It never gets old. Deep Creek vs. Oscar Smith pic.twitter.com/Li0ri6UgTj

— Larry Rubama (@LHRubama) October 25, 2019

Former Oscar Smith star quarterback Phillip Sims said the Tiger Cage was born in 2008.

“It was my sophomore year. To be honest, at the time, I thought it was crazy. But now, that’s part of their identity of what Oscar Smith football is,” said Sims, the current Princess Anne High coach who set numerous Virginia High School League passing records at Smith and was the 2009 Abe Goldblatt All-Tidewater Player of the Year. “That just speaks volumes to who Morgan was as a coach, to have the foresight and 20 years later what he started, and it’s still going. They’ve taken it and made it their own.”

Former Oscar Smith star Joe Jones didn’t have the Tiger Cage when he played. But he saw its impact when he returned as a coach.

“Coach Morgan was always looking for an edge and looking for different ways to motivate the players,” he said. “It’s definitely blown up, including nationally.”

He also remembers how an opposing coach in the playoffs once kept his team behind the bleachers until the team came out of the cage.

“They stayed behind the visiting stands until it was over and didn’t even acknowledge that it was something to see,” Jones said. “My first year at Lakeland, I did the same thing. We didn’t hit the field until they got out of the cage.”

Oscar Smith running back Brandon Nesbit Jr. remembers seeing the Tiger Cage when he played for Deep Creek.

“When I first saw it, I didn’t think too much of it because I was on the other side of the field,” he said. “But it was sweet; it was cool.”

Now that he’s a Tiger?

“It’s good,” Nesbit says with a huge smile. “It’s a good feeling. When we come out the Tiger Cage, it’s straight business.”

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How special is it? Only varsity players get to come out of the Tiger Cage.

There have been a few exceptions, including Oscar Smith quarterback Lonnie Andrews III.

When he was 5, he got to come out of the Tiger Cage with the team.

“It meant a lot because I had my dad’s jersey on. It was a great experience,” said Andrews, the son of the late star Oscar Smith running back. “It’s our tradition. It’s where we get hyped and puts the opposing team in fear.”

Former Indian River and Lakeland coach Glenwood Ferebee knows all about the Tiger Cage.

“I know it was intimidating to the kids because it was something different,” he said. “It was an electric atmosphere.”

Ferebee liked it so much that when he was recently hired at Butler High in North Carolina, he copied the idea.

“We’re the Bulldogs, so I got a dog kennel instead of a cage,” Ferebee said with a chuckle. “I saw the impact that it had for Oscar Smith. … I hope it helps to get the energy going here. We lost last week, but a lot of people gave us compliments on it. It definitely gives you that edge.”

Said Oscar Smith star defensive back Jahmari DeLoatch: “It’s more than just a Tiger Cage,” he said. “It’s one of the things that makes Oscar Smith, Oscar Smith.”

Larry Rubama, 757-575-6449, larry.rubama@pilotonline.com

A big shadow: Taylor Heinicke’s legacy came up again this week when Grant Wilson was picked to be the first ODU quarterback to start back-to-back season openers since Heinicke three-peated between 2012 and ’14. One day, the school will put up a statue for Heinicke.

Blowing up: Too many calls to the Orioles’ bullpen lately have been wrong numbers.

Their legacy: After a slow start to the season, the Houston Astros are coming on strong. Time for America to grow suspicious again.

Coming attractions: A popular refrain is that college football fans will get used to former Pac-12 teams playing in the Big Ten. But some things you just shouldn’t have to get used to.

Anticipation: For how absurd this will look for the far-flung, new-age ACC, here’s hoping the conference football title runs through Dallas with SMU.

Back and forth: Social media squabbles between Olympic gold medal sprinter Noah Lyles and some NFL and NBA stars began with Lyles’ taunts. Unlike the planet’s fastest human, he contends, football and basketball domestic league winners have no business calling themselves “world champions.” A silly argument, but Lyles isn’t wrong.

Future watch: Given how long 40-year-old Aaron Rodgers has been away from the game, the start to his season will feature a tug of war between rest and rust.

A look back: The news that at 24 years, 195 days, Denver’s Bo Nix will be the fifth-oldest rookie quarterback to start an NFL season recalls that Roger Staubach was 27 in 1969 when he left the Navy to join the Cowboys. Staubach’s career is one of football’s great stories.

Reader response: Bob from Hampton wonders why Oklahoma State football players need a QR code on their helmets that links to a donation page for the school’s NIL fund. “Why not skip all that,” he said, “and have some guy on the sidelines with a paper bag full of cash to hand out to a player who scores a touchdown?”

The long game: Further proof that devotedly following a college basketball team can keep you young, Loyola of Chicago March Madness celebrity Sister Jean turned 105 this week.

Tennis economics: A first-round loser at the U.S. Open earns $100,000, often a lifeline for journeymen and women.

Copycats: With the debut of a 12-team College Football Playoff, ESPN is borrowing from basketball to introduce a Bubble Watch, to be updated each week, predicting who gets first-round byes, the first four out, the next four out and so forth. Because this thing just can’t be hyped enough.

Just asking: When the transfer portal produces college football rosters that are 50% new each season, who can know anything?

PG TV: If you’re tuning in to HBO’s “Hard Knocks” featuring the Chicago Bears’ training camp, you may have noticed that something’s missing from this year’s series — profanity. Naughty words have been left on the cutting-room floor, producers say, out of respect for the McCaskey family, owners of the Bears. Well, then, why not edit out language in future seasons so parents can watch with their children?

Bob Molinaro is a former Virginian-Pilot sports columnist. His Weekly Briefing runs Fridays in The Pilot and Daily Press. He can be reached at bob5molinaro@gmail.com and via Twitter@BobMolinaro.

Vroom: As part of an NIL deal, football players at Texas are given the use of Lamborghinis. Young, high-strung athletes in $350,000 sports cars? What could go wrong?

New life: Presumably, new U.S. men’s soccer coach Mauricio Pochettino is bringing a defibrillator to the job.

Legend to legend: The retirement of North Carolina women’s soccer coach Anson Dorrance, who won 21 NCAA titles in 45 seasons, recalls something Dean Smith once said: “This is a women’s soccer school. We’re just trying to keep up with them.”

Debacle: Nobody’s a winner in the gymnastics bronze-medal hot-potato case involving American Jordan Chiles and Romanian Ana Barbosu. Except the lawyers.

Scratched off: Breakdancing, which made its Olympic debut in Paris, will not be included among the sports in the ’28 L.A. Games. Why? My guess is because it’s not a sport.

Relocation plan: After many years, lacrosse returns to the Olympic menu in L.A. But if Oklahoma City is the venue for women’s softball in ’28, why not stage lacrosse in Maryland, a cradle of the sport and home to the lax hall of fame and USA Lacrosse, the sport’s governing body? There are more current and former lacrosse players in Maryland than you can shake a stick at.

Reality check: Their speed on the track is nothing compared with how fast most of our great Olympic sprinters, hurdlers and distance runners will be sent back to the athletics version of the federal witness protection program. Too bad. But football muscles out everything.

New wave: The L.A. Olympics swimming competition will be held inside SoFi Stadium, home to the Rams and Chargers. Gives new meaning to “football pool.”

In passing: The NBA’s schedule release was met with deafening silence.

Just a thought: Games of 40 minutes in length heightened the suspense of Olympic basketball. Perhaps the NBA should consider trimming its 48-minute slogs. Never happen, of course, lest TV ad revenue suffers.

Hoop du jour: With Victor Wembanyama vowing to lead a French juggernaut into the next Olympics, who will make the clutch plays for Team USA after graybeards Steph Curry, Kevin Durant and LeBron James pass the torch?

Numbers game: Forgotten amid the heroics of Curry and Co. is that the USA was more than a two-touchdown favorite against France.

Future watch: To the media and others who equate anything less than men’s basketball gold with infamy, I suggest you lighten up.

The great hybrid: Don’t tell the Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani that a 6-foot-4, 215-pound home run hitter doesn’t also fit the description of a lead-off man. His 35 stolen bases through Wednesday were the second-most in baseball.

Bob Molinaro is a former Virginian-Pilot sports columnist. His Weekly Briefing runs Fridays in The Pilot and Daily Press. He can be reached at bob5molinaro@gmail.com and via Twitter@BobMolinaro.

Curt Newsome, who grew up on the Peninsula, recently stepped down after 10 years as the head coach at his alma mater, Emory & Henry, which he had helped take from NCAA Division III to Division II in 2021.

Born in Newport News, Newsome played linebacker for Phoebus and E&H before becoming a five-time Peninsula District Coach of the Year.

Amid a highly competitive district, he guided Kecoughtan into one of the state’s top programs from 1987-97, earning state Division 6 runner-up honors in his final season with the Warriors.

He then moved to Heritage, helping the Hurricanes from Newport News assemble the team that won the Division 5 state title under John Quillen in 2000. Meanwhile, in 1999, Newsome became an assistant under Mickey Matthews at James Madison, recruiting the 757 heavily and sparking the 2004 Dukes to their first NCAA Division I-AA (now FCS) championship. He then spent seven years on Frank Beamer’s Virginia Tech staff, mostly working with the offensive line, and returned to JMU as an assistant in 2013 before going to Emory & Henry.

Newsome, 65, told the Bristol Herald-Courier about stepping down to focus on his recovery, “It’s like a bad dream. I hate to leave this place, but I just feel like it’s the right thing to do.”

Since being diagnosed in the spring, he has visited Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore to see cancer experts and has undergone twice-monthly chemotherapy at a hospital in Abingdon.

As Newsome copes, E&H named offensive coordinator Quintin Hunter the Wasps’ interim head coach. He was a JMU receiver while Newsome was an assistant coach for the Dukes.

Here’s to hearing good health news for a football icon.

Virginia Elite girls set national record: A team from Chesapeake’s Virginia Elite Track Club set a national relay record at the 58th AAU Junior Olympic Games on Aug. 3 in Greensboro, North Carolina.

Virginia Elite broke the 10-and-under girls 4×400-meter relay record with a time of 4 minutes, 19.27 seconds. That eclipsed the previous record of 4:19.95, set last year.

The team members were Arianna Finkley and Kennedy Johnson of Richmond, Autumn Gregory of Virginia Beach and Azalea Davis of Hampton.

Seeking nominations: The Virginia Sports Hall of Fame is seeking to honor students who exemplify excellence in athletics, academics and community service. The nomination period for its Student-Athlete Achievement Awards is open through Oct. 18.

Nominees must attend a public or private high school in the state, earn a letter in at least one sport sanctioned by the Virginia High School League or Virginia Independent Schools Athletic Association, be in the senior class of 2025 and have a minimum 3.0 grade-point average.

The reception for award winners will be held in February. For more information, visit vasportshof.com.

What’s coming up

Sunday: Fans can get their first look at the two-time defending Sun Belt champion Old Dominion women’s soccer team when it plays host to George Washington in a 1 p.m. exhibition.

Thursday: The ODU women’s soccer team opens the regular season by playing host to VCU at 7 p.m.

Saturday: The Smart Smiles 5K is set for 8 a.m. near the Mariners’ Museum in Newport News, and the Raising the Roof 5K will be at the James City County Marina Meadow in Williamsburg.

My creds: I’m an old, ailing, white male in his ninth decade, born, reared and educated in the South. I’ve lived south of Richmond my entire life and don’t expect that to change. Even so, I can’t recall a moment during my lifetime when I’ve let race affect how I’ve lived or treated others. I hope it never does.

That said …

It bothers me that so many NASCAR fans constantly disrespect Bubba Wallace. Since 2012, he’s run 380 races in the organization’s top three series, winning eight times. In 2018, he became the Cup Series’ first Black driver since Bill Lester 12 years earlier. He’s only the second Black driver to win in Cup, 58 years after Wendell Scott.

Despite his success, fans denigrate almost everything Wallace does. They say he’s a terrible driver, a no-talent hack. They don’t like his attitude or how he carries himself. They shudder that he has a pregnant white wife. They call him a whiner, a malcontent. Some have called him an embarrassment who should be run off.

That’s odd since he hasn’t done anything, or said anything, that almost every other driver hasn’t done or said at some point. He’s booed and jeered at pre-race introductions, clearly replacing Kyle Busch as the Cup’s most unpopular driver. Surprisingly, it hasn’t helped much that he’s driven for much-beloved icons Richard Petty and Michael Jordan.

Wallace has been accepted by most in the racing community, but it’s unlikely some fans will ever view him as just another racer. After seven years and those 380 starts, he’s still fighting to feel comfortable. Unfortunately, small-minded people with hatred and bigotry still command the loudest bullhorns in these politically- and culturally-divisive times. They never miss a chance for cheap shots.

Message boards carped that Wallace won the rain-shortened fall 2021 Talladega Superspeedway race only because officials stopped it while he was leading. In fact, the rain that interrupted the Monday afternoon show lasted all night, making the call perfectly appropriate. He briefly silenced the naysayers the next year by convincingly winning a full-distance race at Kansas Speedway.

Still, critics say he’s prone to emotional meltdowns that endanger others. They cite last month’s post-race contact with Alex Bowman at Chicago as proof he can’t control himself. And they point out he intentionally wrecked Kyle Larson at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in 2022, incurring a one-race suspension. Have those critics forgotten that championship drivers Chase Elliott and Matt Kenseth have also been suspended for rough driving?

It’s worrisome that people aren’t overwrought when white drivers lose their temper, wreck each other and fight. (Wink, wink: boys will be boys). But those same fans pound their keyboards with invective and personal attacks when Wallace shows his competitive emotions. With him, this seems like an obvious double-standard of the oft-quoted “goose and gander” adage.

In truth, almost every driver has gone over the edge. A partial list: former champions Elliott, Larson, Kevin Harvick, Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt and the Busch brothers. You get a virtual all-star lineup if you include Denny Hamlin, Jeff Burton, Ricky Rudd, A.J. Allmendinger, Clint Bowyer, Ty Gibbs and Ricky Stenhouse. And, of course, that Hall of Fame trio of Bobby Allison, Donnie Allison and Cale Yarborough in Turn 3 after the 1979 Daytona 500.

In fairness, it might be that some of the hatred aimed at Wallace is because he drives a Toyota. The Japanese manufacturer upended NASCAR when it arrived in 2007 with massive financial and technological resources that destroyed the sport’s fragile competitive balance. Fans comfortable watching Ford, General Motors and Chrysler Corp. products didn’t exactly welcome the “dark side” (Jack Roush’s term) with open arms.

Another recurring rap is that Wallace showed up with a chip on his shoulder. Critics called him cocky and arrogant, full of himself. They said his swagger didn’t match his record, that he was all hat and no cattle. They unfairly accused him of orchestrating that 2020 Talladega garage pull-down controversy that was not of his doing.

Arrogant and cocky as a newcomer? Really … sort of like when 20-something Darrell Waltrip showed up in 1972 to start a three-championship, Hall of Fame career? Or the championship-winning Kevin Harvick and the Busch brothers? Or the ill-fated Tim Richmond? Or not immediately, but fairly quickly, the late, sainted Mr. Earnhardt?

Again: I know why Bubba Wallace is the most reviled driver in Cup Series racing. Trouble is, I just don’t understand why.

And that’s sad … because I thought we had become better than that.

Al Pearce, a native of eastern North Carolina, is a semi-retired sports writer who’s lived in Newport News since returning from Vietnam in 1968. He spent 35 years at the Times-Herald/Daily Press, where his primary beat was motorsports, starting at Dover, Delaware, in July of 1969. He is a multi-award winner and member of five media halls of fame. Reach him at omanoran123@gmail.com.

Numbers game: The revelation that on Wednesday 20-year-old Orioles infielder Jackson Holliday became the youngest player in American League history to homer in three consecutive games is further proof that no sport does statistics quite like baseball.

Breaking in: Jackson went 4 for 34 at the plate before rehabbing his swing in Norfolk. Coby Mayo, who tore up Triple-A pitching, was 0 for 13 with six strikeouts for the Orioles through Wednesday. The jump to the big leagues can be staggering.

What he said: Jim Harbaugh’s vigorous public denial of knowing anything about Michigan’s sign-stealing scheme would have impressed Sgt. Schultz.

Making claims: The ACC school that’s produced the most medals in Paris is, um, Stanford.

Stolen glory: In addition to Katie Ledecky, among the greatest re-minted ACC athletes are Tiger Woods and John McEnroe, also former Stanford students.

Bidding adieu: The award for best exit by an Olympian goes to 41-year-old Cuban wrestler Mijain Lopez, who won his fifth consecutive gold, then retired by leaving his shoes on the mat.

Up next: Because there just aren’t enough Olympic sports, the 2028 L.A. Summer Games will see the debut of men’s and women’s flag football. And yes, with the support of their union and the league, NFL players are expected to participate. In the men’s division, presumably.

Fun fact: If you’ve wondered about flag football’s international appeal — and who hasn’t deeply pondered such a thing? — it is played in more than 100 countries.

Free passes: Last weekend, the Blue Jays issued a two-out, nobody-on-base intentional walk to Aaron Judge. In the second inning. The next day, they intentionally walked him three times. The highly unusual strategy may be the only way to keep Judge in the park some days. But not a great look for the game, right?

The other guy: Judge has one hand on the AL MVP trophy, but Kansas City shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. deserves consideration, too.

Cleveland rocks: Here on the East Coast, thoughts turn to the Yankees-Orioles AL East matchup, though the Central-leading Guardians may be better than both of them.

Curious comedown: Let down by an underachieving Angels franchise and then by his body sums up the latter, sadder parts of Mike Trout’s career.

Out of step: Lincoln Riley stepped on a rake by broaching the idea of ending Southern Cal’s football series with Notre Dame. We get it from Riley’s angle. Another difficult game as a Big Ten team could hurt USC’s playoff chances. Too bad for him and the coaches who follow. The rivalry means too much to the Trojans.

Money talk: Another twist in the further monetization of college sports has Miami recording star Pitbull purchasing the naming rights to Florida International’s football stadium for $6 million. For the next five years, FIU will play in Pitbull Stadium.

Bob Molinaro is a former Virginian-Pilot sports columnist. His Weekly Briefing runs Fridays in The Pilot and Daily Press. He can be reached at bob5molinaro@gmail.com and via Twitter@BobMolinaro.

The Grassfield High grad ran 12.98 — the fastest time of the day — to win his semifinal heat. It was the 10th time Holloway has run under 13 seconds in this event, including two of the four fastest times ever.

In winning, he also turned back Jamaica’s Hansle Parchment, who denied Holloway the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.

In that race, Holloway led for much of the race until Parchment caught him late.

“I got a little bit excited towards the end of the race and my form kind of broke down,” Holloway told reporters.

Holloway called it one of the worst races he’d ever run. It was one of Parchment’s best.

That’s been Holloway’s motivation this time.

When the two hurdlers faced one another in a semifinal Wednesday, Parchment was no match for Holloway, who got out fast and was never pressed.

Holloway will see Parchment again on Thursday as he also advanced to the final, which will be held at 3:45 p.m. on NBC (WAVY). Americans Freddie Crittenden and Daniel Roberts, who both finished runner-up in their heats, also will be in the final.

But Holloway is on a mission. He’s focused and ready.

Now he’s got a chance to win Olympic gold.

If he’s successful, he’ll be the first American to win Olympic gold in this event since 2012.

It got me thinking: What would a gold medal mean to Holloway’s legacy in the 110 hurdles?

In an interview prior to him leaving for Paris, I asked Holloway where he thought he ranked amongst the best 110 hurdlers ever.

Holloway ranked himself third behind Allen Johnson and Aries Merritt.

“It all boils down to the resume,” he told me. “I don’t think my resume stacks next to, you know, the other top two people without an Olympic gold. You got Allen Johnson at the very top. He has the most sub-13s and he’s the 1996 Olympic champion. He has the resume that every hurdler wants.

“And I said Aries Merritt was second. He’s the outdoor record holder. He has the indoor world title, he has the outdoor world title. And guess what he also has in his resume? An Olympic gold. So I think right now, I think that’s really the only thing I’m missing.”

Johnson has won the most 110 hurdles at the Olympics and World Championships. He won gold at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and four World Championships (1995, 1997, 2001, 2003). He’s also run 11 races under 13 seconds, one better than Holloway.

Merritt holds the current world record of 12.80, which he set in 2012. He won gold at 2012 London Olympics and won bronze at the 2015 World Championships. He has run eight races under 13 seconds.

There’s also Greg Foster, who won three World Championships (1983, 1987 and 1991) and silver at the 1984 Olympics.

Then you look at Holloway.

At 26, he’s already won three World Championships in 2019, 2022 and 2023. And he has an Olympic silver medal.

He also owns the second-fastest time in the 110 hurdles at 12.81 seconds.

“If the world record comes, it comes,” he said. “But I think the biggest thing is just at this point in my career, it’s all about winning. It can be fast, it can be slow.”

Holloway is arguably the greatest 60-meter hurdler ever. He hasn’t lost an indoor hurdle race in nine years. The last time he was beaten was when he was a sophomore at Grassfield High. He’s won nearly 80 races in a row since then, including his entire NCAA career. He’s won two world titles (2022 Belgrade and 2024 Glasgow). And he’s broken the world record twice as a pro, including a 7.27 seconds, which he set at the 2024 USA Track & Field Indoor Championships.

Now he’s focused on Olympic gold in the 110-meter hurdles.

“I don’t know what it means to be an Olympic champion,” he told me. “I know what it feels like to be a silver medalist. I can talk about that every day. But Olympic gold is going be a tough one. But I think when that moment comes, I don’t think I’m going to let it slip through my hands this time.”

Again, it goes back to his focus. He’s also a student of the event.

And if I’m a betting man, I think Holloway not only gets his first Olympic gold on Thursday, but before his career is over, he will be the greatest 110-meter hurdler ever.

Larry Rubama, 757-575-6449, larry.rubama@pilotonline.com

Wherever this season lands him — on the practice squad behind Kirk Cousins and Michael Penix Jr. or elsewhere — for a too-short, undrafted quarterback, he’s had an interesting career. This season, he said, he intends once again to be “a great teammate.” Heinicke’s time in the NFL proves that there’s a talent to that.

A moment of crisis: With Orioles All-Star infielder Jordan Westburg joining Jorge Mateo for an extended injury absence, Jackson Holliday is being thrown into the deep end.

Just a kid: Any evaluation of 20-year-old Holliday’s big-league readiness should take into account that he’s the youngest player in MLB. After being the youngest in Triple-A.

Marketplace: Of the 34 players traded this week, 20 are relief pitchers the average fan wouldn’t recognize. Boring stuff. It’s boring, too, that in an era when starting pitchers are lucky to work five innings, bullpen journeymen often alter the course of seasons.

Not right: Paris 2024 is the first Olympics in modern history to have an equal number of male and female athletes. Though that depends, I suppose, on how one counts a couple of male-born transgender boxers controversially competing in the women’s division.

From the heart: After winning bronze in sabre, Ukrainian fencer Olga Kharlan said, “To all the athletes who could not be here because Russia killed them, I dedicate this to them.” As real as it gets.

False claim: The ACC must think its fans are morons. Note the conference’s “Olympians made here” online self-promotion after Katie Ledecky’s gold-medal swimming performance. Ledecky graduated from Stanford three years ago.

Football folly: While they’re at it, why don’t conference flaks proclaim John Elway an ACC legend? Or SMU’s Eric Dickerson?

Bottom feeders: Stanford is all that’s keeping Virginia from last place in the media’s ACC preseason poll. Wonderful timing to bring the West Coast school into the fold after it stopped playing good football. Stanford does, however, feature a strong swimming program. Yippee!

Numbers game: When the 1992 Dream Team laughingly romped, the Olympics featured 21 players with NBA experience. In Paris, 68 players boast an NBA résumé. The Dream Team beat up on window cleaners and cab drivers.

Bread and circuses: This summer, Texas shelled out $2.3 million for a campus party — with Pitbull as the alleged musical attraction — to celebrate its entrance into the SEC. So, no, football and basketball factories don’t get to whine about where they’re going to find the money to pay athletes.

Idle thought: Commanders can’t be the worst name along a pro sports landscape that includes the Cleveland Guardians.

Future watch: Aaron Rodgers won’t be satisfied until he gets his head coach fired.

A wrinkle: There’s at least one reason to watch this year’s tedious NFL preseason games — for the chance to be confused and/or amazed by the new kickoff rule.

In closing: I don’t think I’ve ever met a White Sox fan. Don’t expect to meet one this summer. Not, at least, anyone who would admit to it.

Bob Molinaro is a former Virginian-Pilot sports columnist. His Weekly Briefing runs Fridays in The Pilot and Daily Press. He can be reached at bob5molinaro@gmail.com and via Twitter@BobMolinaro.