There’s been speculation Conference USA and the Sun Belt could merge because of financial difficulties that have emerged as a result of the coronavirus shutdown. But Louisiana Tech A-D Tommy McClelland says there is no discussion within Conference USA to merge with the Sun Belt…
cut 18 (20) “…of interest’
McClelland added that if he was at U-L Lafayette, he would try to figure out a way to move up to a level like Conference USA.

The NBA is still trying to figure out how to resume its season. A survey of general managers reportedly found that 83-percent of them supported a playoff plus format, where 20 or more teams returning to play.

The LHSAA says they are looking into allegations that some schools are holding summer workouts, even though they are not supposed to until June eighth. Executive Director Eddie Bonine says they’ve received time-stamped photos and videos of the practice sessions…
cut 8 (08) “….surveillance”
Bonine says the executive committee meets next week and more details will be released then. Fox 8 Sports is reporting John Curtis and Holy Cross are two of the schools under LHSAA investigation. Both told the New Orleans T-V station said they’ve done nothing wrong and will be cleared.

In NFL news, former Saints cornerback Eli Apple has signed with the Carolina Panthers. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is hopeful coaches will be able to return to team facilities next week. Also, the NFL owners tabled a proposal that would have allowed teams a chance to convert on fourth-and-15 instead of going for an onside kick.

Legislation is heading to the governor’s desk that will ask voters on November 3rd if sports betting should be legalized in their parish. Metairie Senator Cameron Henry says if a parish approves the referendum, then lawmakers will vote next year on the regulation and taxation of sports wagering, which will be controversial
Cut 3 (05) “…should go”
Henry says the ballot question will ask voters if sports wagering activities and operations should be permitted in your parish.

Dates and times for Saints preseason games have been set. The Black and Gold will kick off the preseason in Los Angeles on Friday, August 14th. 9 PM is the start time. The next week, New Orleans travels to Pittsburgh to face the Steelers on a Sunday night. In week three of the preseason, New Orleans hosts Houston on Saturday, August 29th. The Saints conclude the preseason on Thursday night, September third against the Miami Dolphins.

Conference USA and the Sun Belt have announced their bowl lineup for the next six years starting with the 2020 season. The Sun Belt will have five bowl tie-ins, but the New Orleans Bowl will no longer have the first pick. That will go to a bowl game owned and operated by ESPN, such as the Boca Raton Bowl, Cure Bowl and SERVPRO First Responsder Bowl in Dallas.

Conference USA says they will continue to send teams to the Bahamas Bowl and the New Orleans Bowl on an annual basis.

LSU assistant baseball coach Eddie Smith says 21 Tigers will participate in summer leagues this season. Several players will play in the South Florida League, which begins play on June 12th. They are Collier Cranford, Cade Doughty, Alex Milazzo, Cade Beloso, Zach Arnold and Giovanni DiGiacomo.

Northwestern State pitcher Kyle Swanson has been named the Southland Conference Baseball Student-Athlete of the Year. The Texas native graduated with perfect 4.0 GPA in health and human performance and had a 1.04 ERA in seven appearances and four saves in 2020.

We are a step closer to legalized sports betting in Louisiana as the state legislature has given final legislative approval to a measure that would ask voters on the November third ballot if sports wagering should be legal in their parish. Metairie Senator Cameron Henry says if one or more parishes approve the referendum, then next year lawmakers will determine taxation, regulation and where sports bets can be placed…
cut 5 (05) “…next step”
Supporters say sports betting is already happening and if it was legal than the state can tax the activity to generate revenue. Opponents say legal sports betting will produce more problem gamblers, which ends up costing taxpayers.

The Louisiana High School Athletic Association is investigating ten schools for allegedly holding summer workouts before the June eighth start date. Executive Director Eddie Bonine declined to name the schools, but schools found in violation face fines and their coaches could be suspended.

Dates and times for Saints preseason games have been set and we’ll see if they actually get played. The Black and Gold will kick off the preseason in Los Angeles on Friday, August 14th. 9 PM is the start time. The next week, New Orleans travels to Pittsburgh to face the Steelers on Sunday night. In week three of the preseason, New Orleans hosts Houston on Saturday, August 29th. The Saints conclude the preseason on Thursday night, September third against the Miami Dolphins.

The Sun Belt Conference has announced that the New Orleans Bowl will no longer have the first choice on which team from the Sun Belt will play in their bowl game. Commissioner Keith Gill says a variety of ESPN operated or owned bowl games will get that first selection and the New Orleans Bowl will hold the second selection.

Northwestern State pitcher Kyle Swanson has been named the Southland Conference Baseball Student-Athlete of the Year. The Texas native graduated with perfect 4.0 GPA in health and human performance and had a 1.04 ERA in seven appearances and four saves in 2020.

Dates and times for Saints preseason games have been set and we’ll see if they actually get played. The Black and Gold will kick off the preseason in Los Angeles on Friday, August 14th. 9 PM is the start time. The next week, New Orleans travels to Pittsburgh to face the Steelers on Sunday night. In week three of the preseason, New Orleans hosts Houston on Saturday, August 29th. The Saints conclude the preseason on Thursday night, September third against the Miami Dolphins.

The Louisiana High School Athletic Association is investigating ten schools that have allegedly started summer workouts before the June eighth start date. The LHSAA says they’ve received reports involving six schools in the New Orleans area, two from the Lafayette area, and two north Louisiana schools. Executive Director Eddie Bonine declined to name the schools, but if they violated this rule, they face fines and the coaches could be suspended.

The NBA continues to discuss how it should finish its season. Dallas Owner Mark Cuban has suggested an expanded playoff format. ESPN reports that Cuban recommends the league should re-start its season with five to seven regular-season games than the top ten teams in each conference would qualify for the playoffs. The teams that qualify for the playoffs with the worst records would have play-in games, before the traditional start of a 16-team NBA postseason featuring the best of seven-game series format.

Today, the Major League Baseball Players Association will reportedly deliver a counterproposal to the owners’ economic plan that called for the top players in the game taking the largest pay cuts. The M-L-B-P-A is disappointed by that offer and they will reportedly recommend no pay cut and playing more than 82 games as the owners have suggested. The belief is a deal needs to be reached soon in order to begin a second spring training in mid-June.

The Saints have reportedly added some depth to their offensive line as they’ve inked 28-year-old James Hurst to a one year deal. The Ravens released Hurst after six seasons in Baltimore. He’s played in 90 games in his NFL career and has made 44 starts at multiple positions on the o-line, except at center. But he’s suspended for the first four games for violating the NFL’s policy on performance-enhancing substances.

Crescent-City sports-dot-com reports the LHSAA is investigating four New Orleans-area schools for holding summer workouts. The association has said that summer practices can not take place until June eighth and schools who violate this rule could face sanctions. The report did not name the schools that are under investigation.

Tomorrow NFL owners are scheduled to vote on an alternative to the onside kick. The proposal says teams should have the option of trying to convert on fourth and 15 after a score instead of going for an onside kick. In the last two years, less than 10-percent of onside kicks succeeded.

Tulane right-hander Braden Olthoff has been named a second-team All-American by Collegiate Baseball. The California native was 4-0 in four starts with a 0.32 ERA with 47 strikeouts in 28 innings. Northwestern State right-hander Logan Hoffman was also named to the second team. The junior from Canada did not allow a run in 28 innings of work and finished with a 4-0 record.

LSU pitchers Devin Fontenot and Jaden Hill were named 2020 third-team All-Americans by Collegiate Baseball. Fontenot was 1-0 with 0.90 ERA and four saves. Hill allowed just one hit in 11.2 innings. Louisiana Tech center fielder Parker Bates was also named a third-team All-American by Collegiate Baseball. The senior from Tyler, Texas hit .422 with eight home runs and 28 RBIs.

Former LSU basketball player Skylar Mays has been named the H Boyd McWhorter Scholar-Athlete of the Year. It’s the highest academic honor an SEC athlete can receive.

The Saints have placed reserve defensive end Noah Spence on the reserve-non-football injury list after he reportedly tore his A-C-L while working out away from the team. Outside linebacker Anthony Chickillo takes Spence’s spot on the active roster. Chickillo comes from Pittsburgh, where he recorded 7.5 sacks for the Steelers in five seasons.

There will be no Manning Passing Academy in 2020 due to COVID-19. The popular football camp for quarterbacks and receivers was scheduled for June 25th to the 28th and normally draws 12-hundred campers to the Nicholls State campus. But Archie Manning says having that many people in a confined area in Lafourche Parish is not a good idea.

Former LSU basketball player Skylar Mays has been named the H Boyd McWhorter Scholar-Athlete of the Year. It’s the highest academic honor an SEC athlete can receive. Mays will receive a 20-thousand dollar scholarship that will go towards his post-graduate schooling. Right now he’s preparing for the NBA draft.

The television networks that carry college football games are delaying the release of start times for games that happen in the first three weeks. June 1st was the deadline to let fans and schools when they would play and on what network. A source says the networks are delaying the announcement because the sports calendar is in flux with the possibility of NBA playoff games in September.

No word yet on if LSU will allow fans inside Tiger Stadium this year. LSU interim president Thomas Galligan said on a webinar hosted by the Baton Rouge Area Chamber that it is certainly possible fans will have to wear masks at football games…
cut 9 (10) “….stay tuned”

The Major League Baseball Players Association says they are disappointed with M-L-B’s proposal that calls for the higher paid players to take big pay cuts in order to start the season. Owners claim they will lose billions of dollars by having games this season with no fans.

The 2020 Manning Passing Camp scheduled for the last weekend in June at Nicholls State has been canceled as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. The Manning family says they will be back next year, where they hope to welcome 12-hundred campers and over 200 coaches, trainers, and support staff. Pro and college football analyst Mike Detillier says it’s an economic loss for the area and many young football players will lose out on a great experience. He says most of the starting quarterbacks in the NFL have attended as a camper or a counselor and the camp is not just for QBs…
cut 14 (10) “…been here”

Usually we find out by June first, which networks will televise and what the game times will be for the first three weeks of the college football season. But a joint statement today that they are delaying an announcement on early college football season game times.

LSU interim president Thomas Galligan said today if fans are allowed in Tiger Stadium for football games this season, it’s possible they will have to wear masks. Also, Galligan says the school is looking into canceling fall break, in order to minimize students coming and going from Baton Rouge. The school has yet to release formal plans on having students back on campus.

Yahoo Sports reports it’s possible NFL teams could hold minicamps with players as early as June 15th or as late as June 27th. But any reopening plan would have to be approved by the players association.

The NBA continues to discuss a resumption of its suspensed season. It’s likely the season will continue at Disney World in Orlando in late July. But a format has yet to be decided. There’s been talk of just resuming the season with the start of the playoffs, which means the Pelicans season will be over. Or the NBA is also looking at dividing 20 teams into groups and then have a World Cup style pool play to find out who gets in the postseason.

The New Orleans Pelicans season could be over. ESPN’s Brian Windhorst reports there’s a good chance that when the NBA season resumes the league will jump right into the postseason. And the top eight teams in each conference would make the playoffs and then they would be reseeded one to 16 based on their record. When the season was halted, the Pels were in tenth place in the Western Conference, 3.5 games back of the Grizzlies who have the eighth-best record in the West.

Yesterday was supposed to be selection Monday for college baseball and today we would be breaking down the regional that LSU would play in. D-1 baseball-dot-com came out with a bracket and they had LSU as a two-seed in the Miami regional. Northwestern State and Tulane also made the Field of 64 and they would play in the Starkville Regional.

LSU Senior pitcher Matthew Beck is LSU’s representative of the 2020 S-E-C Community Service team. The Alexandria native has been heavily involved in community service.

Former Northwestern State football assistant coach Gerald Howse has passed away at the age of 28. A cause of death was not given. He spent the last two seasons as the Demons running backs coach. He joined the Tennessee Tech football program in January.

Former NBA great Patrick Ewing is out of the hospital and recovering from COVID-19 at home. Ewing is 57-years-old and now coaches Georgetown.

The Match drew huge TV ratings on Sunday. The golf match between Tiger Woods and Peyton Manning versus Phil Mickelson and Tom Brady attracted an average of 5.8 million viewers for Turner Sports and its four networks. Turner says it was the most-watched golf telecast in cable TV history.

Major League Baseball and its players’ association begin serious negotiations today on how much players will get paid if they return to the field this season and play an 82-game schedule. The players reportedly would be okay with deferring part of their salary to next year to help owners who are having cash flow problems.

Tiger Woods and Peyton Manning won yesterday’s entertaining celebrity golf match over Phil Mickelson and Tom Brady that raised 20-million dollars for COVID-19 relief funds. Woods didn’t miss a fairway and Manning made a big bridie putt early in the match to put the duo up by three, they eventually won by one. Brady had the shot of the day as he holed one in from the fairway on the seventh hole.
Several went on social media to take shots at Brady’s game as he got off to a rough start, before that remarkable shot. Saints Coach Sean Payton said on Twitter he’s liking this Florida Tom Brady right now.

Saints Quarterback Drew Brees also went on Instagram saying he and Sergio Garcia would like to challenge the winner of yesterday’s Match event.

In NASCAR, Brad Keselowski, who started in the back of the field, won the Coca-Cola 600 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway. Seven-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson finished second, extending his losing streak to 102 races.

This is a big week for Major League Baseball if they want to begin its season around the fourth of July. The owners and the players association are expected to discuss an economic plan that will determine how much the players will get paid this season. The owners have suggested a 50-50 split, but the players have already said that’s a non-starter.

The NBA has announced its in exploratory conversations with Disney in Orlando as the place to resume the league’s season in late July 20. The games would be played at ESPN’s Wide World of Sports Complex. It’s unclear if every team will participate. It’s possible the NBA will start up by just going into the playoffs. When the season was halted, the New Orleans Pelicans were 3.5 games back of Memphis for eighth place in the West.

24-7-sports reports that former Texas senior defensive linemen Gerald Wilbon has committed to Louisiana Tech. Wilbon will be eligible right away for the Bulldogs. Wilbon played in just three games for the Bulldogs last season.

The Saints have reportedly signed linebacker Anthony Chickillo, who spent his first five seasons in the NFL with the Pittsburgh Steelers. The 27-year-old has played mostly on specials teams during his pro career. Chickillo missed a game last year after he was accused of assaulting his girlfriend, but the charges were dropped.

New York Jets safety Jamal Adams is reportedly upset over his contract talks as the former LSU star is looking for a long term deal, but the Jets have told them they prefer to wait. ESPN reports the talks have become so contentious that the possibility of a trade came up during conversations. Adams is set to make 3.5 million dollars this year after being named All-Pro last season.

The NFL Owners will have a virtual meeting next week, they’ll vote on adding a booth umpire as an eighth game official and instead of onside kicks, trying to convert on fourth and 15 from your own 25 in an effort to keep the football.

Sales of fishing licenses spiked during the Governor’s stay at home order. Kevin Barnhart has the story.
Cut 1 (30) “I’m Kevin Barnhart.”

And youth baseball returns this weekend in Lake Charles and the Baton Rouge area as U-S-S-S-A and the Governor’s games are hosting baseball tournaments. Former LSU star Rudy Macklin oversees the Governor’s games and says social distancing will still be enforced…
cut 15 (09) “…future”