They were separated by only a single pick at the top of the NFL draft, but the hotter national spotlight focused on Bears No. 1 pick Caleb Williams should reduce early outside expectations for Commanders rookie Jayden Daniels. That’s a good thing for a quarterback’s development.
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.
