Former LSU star Alex Bregman will make his major league debut tonight with the Houston Astros, who host the New York Yankees at 7 PM. Bregman has been hitting the cover off the ball in the minors. In Double and Triple-A, Bregman has a .306 batting average with 20 homers and 61 RBIs. He’ll likely play third base or left field with Houston, who is two and a half games back of Texas for first place in the American League West.

In football news…LSU kicker Colby Delhoussaye is expected back in Louisiana today after suffering what has been described as minor injuries in a fatal wreck in Wisconsin. Nebraska punter Sam Foltz and former Michigan State punter Mike Sadler died in the crash, when the driver lost control on wet pavement and struck a tree. Delahoussaye was in the back seat of the car.

And LSU received a verbal commitment from four-star cornerback Kary Vincent, who has a 4-3 speed and he’s from Port Arthur, Texas.

The LHSAA Executive Committee has a special meeting this afternoon where the only item on the agenda is to discuss the comments made by executive director Eddie Bonine that referred to the organization as a “proverbial dumpster fire.” Executive committee member Tommy Hodges says they’ll discuss the controversial statement…:
cut 4 (06) “the state”
But he disputes reports that they are seeking to buy out Bonine’s contract.

The NFL has determined quarterback Peyton Manning did not use HGH or any performance enhancing drug. The’s league investigation included interviews with witnesses, a review of records and lab analysis.

The East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office says sports radio host and former LSU basketball player Jordy Hultberg was arrested over the weekend on battery charges. Hultberg allegedly shoved his wife into a dresser after she caught him with another woman.

The LHSAA executive committee meets today to discuss negative comments made by executive director Eddie Bonine. Emelie Gunn has more…:
CUT 1 (27) “I’m Emelie Gunn”

LSU kicker Colby Delahoussaye was hospitalized in a car crash that killed 2 others in the vehicle Saturday night. According to reports, the accident happened in Wisconsin and the others killed were 22 year-old Nebraska punter Sam Foltz and 24 year-old Michigan State punter Mike Sadler. Authorities say Sadler was the driver and he apparently lost control of the vehicle on the wet road and hit a tree. Delahoussaye was the only survivor. He suffered minor injuries.

Former LSU baseball player Ryan Schimph set a rookie record for the Padres for home runs in a month following his ninth against Washington on Sunday. The Covington native who helped LSU to the 2009 College World Series title has been on fire since being called up to the Majors on July 1st.

As expected, the Houston Astros have called up former LSU star Alex Bregman. He’ll make his debut today against the New York Yankees at Minute Maid Park in Houston, likely at third base.

C-USA football media days kick off today in Irving. Southern Mississippi was picked to win league’s West Division. Louisiana Tech was picked to finish second.

UL-Lafayette Coach Mark Hudspeth and ULM coach Matt Viator will take part in Sun Belt Media Day which begins today at the Mercedes Benz Superdome.

The East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office says sports radio host and former LSU basketball player Jordy Hultberg was arrested over the weekend on battery charges. Hultberg allegedly shoved his wife into a dresser after she caught him with another woman.

New Orleans is reportedly the favorite to host the NBA All-Star game in February now that the NBA has stripped the contest away from the city of Charlotte. The NBA moved the game out of North Carolina because that state passed a law this year that limits anti-discrimination protections for the L-G-B-T community. The league says a new location for the 2017 All-Star game will be announced shortly and the city and the association are reportedly in negotiations to bring the star studded event to the Big Easy.

The Pelicans have announced they signed first-round pick Buddy Hield. The NBA franchise also announced the signings of unrestricted free agent forward Terrence Jones and the re-signing of guard Tim Frazier. Jones is a former first round pick of the Rockets in 2012. During his career in Houston, he averaged 10 points and five rebounds a game. Frazier played in 16 games with the Pels last season.

The Sun Belt released is preseason football all-conference team today and only one Ragin Cajun and Warhawk appears on the first team. UL Lafayette senior defensive back Savion Brown is the lone first-team selection. On the second-team offense, you have Cajuns running back Elijah McGuire, ULM wide receiver AJalen Holley. The second-team defense features defensive linemen Karmichael Dunbar and Taboris Lee, linebacker Otha Peters and defensive back Tracy Walker, all from UL Lafayette. ULM’s defensive back Tre Hunter is also on the second-team.

There’s sad news to report out of the NFL. Former Head Coach Dennis Green has passed away. Green led the Vikings to 8 playoff appearances and his 1998 Vikings team went 15-and-1.

And McNeese State is mourning the loss of former athletic director and track and field coach Bob Hayes. He was inducted into the McNeese Hall of Fame in 2000.

The NBA is looking for a new host for the 2017 All-Star game and New Orleans is in the running. The league decided to look for a new site for the All-Star game because of a controversial law signed by the governor that does not protect LGBT people from workplace and other public discrimination.

Governor John Bel Edwards released a statement says Louisiana would be proud to host the 2017 NBA All-Star game if the oppportunity presents itself. New Orleans has hosted the All-Star game on two previous occassions in 2008 and 2014.

There’s sad news to report out of the NFL. Former Head Coach Dennis Green has passed away. Green led the Vikings to 8 playoff appearances and his 1998 Vikings team went 15-and-1. He was the fifth winningest coach in the 1990s. Green reportedly died from cardiac arrest. He was 67 years old.

The media covering Conference USA believes Louisiana Tech will finish second in the West Division this season, behind Southern Miss. The Bulldogs are 13-and-3 in the league the last two seasons and have seven players that were named to the Conference USA preseason all-conference team. Southern Miss is led by quarterback Nick Mullens, who threw for 44-hundred yards and 38 touchdowns last season. Both were school records. Middle Tennessee is the preseason favorite in the East. The Blue Raiders were six and two last season.

Could the NBA All-Star game be returning to New Orleans next year? The league wants to move out of Charlotte because of its objections to a North Carolina law that limits anti-discrimination protections for the LGBT community. Governor John Bel Edwards issued a statement saying Louisiana would be proud to host the 2017 NBA All-Star Game if the opportunity presents itself. New Orleans’ Smoothie King Center is reported to be the NBA’s top choice as a replacement site. League officials say they will make an announcement on the new location of the 2017 NBA All-Star Game in the coming weeks.

The NBA signing period began Thursday, and the first three free agents to sign on the dotted line for the New Orleans Pelicans were forward Solomon Hill and guards E’Twaun Moore and Langston Galloway.

The Conference USA media has chosen the Louisiana Tech football team to finish second as the C-USA West Division champs in the upcoming season. The Bulldogs are behind Southern Miss.

In the Sun Belt coaches poll, UL-Lafayette came it at number five on the rankings, and ULM NO. 11. The list was released ahead of Monday’s Sun Belt Media Day activities in New Orleans.

The McNeese baseball team has been named one of 32 Division I programs to receive the inaugural American Baseball Coaches Association Team Academic Excellence Award. The recognition honors programs that post a grade-point average over 3.0 on a 4.0 scale. McNeese was the only program in the Southland Conference as well as in Louisiana to earn the distinction.

The Atlantic Coast Conference is getting its own network channel. League officials announced Thursday that the ACC Network will launch in August 2019 as part of an extended deal with ESPN that runs through 2035-36. The ACC would become the fourth major conference with its own network, along with the Big Ten, Pac-12 and Southeastern Conference.

The NBA has moved the 2017 All- Star game from Charlotte, North Carolina and New Orleans has reportedly emerged as a favorite to host the game in February. The league is unhappy the North Carolina legislature passed a law that’s considered anti-L-G-B-T. The NBA says they will announce a new location for the 2017 All-Star game in the coming weeks.

The Pelicans finally announced their free agent signings today. Solomon Hill, E’Twaun Moore and Langston Galloway are the players added to the roster.

The media has picked Louisiana Tech to finish second in Conference USA’s West division. Southern Miss is the preseason favorite to win the West, followed by Tech, Rice and UTEP. Middle Tennessee is the media’s favorite in the East.

Appalachian State has been picked to win the Sun Belt, based on a vote of the league’s coaches. UL Lafayette is expected to finish in fifth place, ULM in last.

LHSAA President Vic Bonnaffee says Monday’s special meeting of the association’s executive committee is a chance for executive director Eddie Bonine to explain the controversial statement he made at the NFHS convention, where he referred to high school sports in Louisiana as a proverbial dumpster fire, because of the public-private school split playoff format. There’s been reports the executive committee may seek to buy out the remaining years of Bonine’s contract, but Bonnaffee says he’s not sure if a motion can be made at the meeting to buyout Bonine’s contract…
cut 18 (15) “…things”
Bonnaffee says Bonine recently received a postive evaluation from the committee.

With the Big 12 looking at expansion, Tulane athletic director Troy Dannen says they would be interested in joining the league.

A special meeting of the LHSAA executive committee is set for Monday and there’s speculation that committee members will seek to buyout executive director Eddie Bonine from his contract. Bonine is expected to discuss a report he presented to the NFHS convention last month, where he described high school sports in Louisiana as a “dumpster fire” because of the growing split of public and private schools. LHSAA President Vic Bonnaffee admits that statement rubbed some committee members the wrong way…
cut 17 (18) “….attempting to do”
Bonnafee says he’s not sure if a motion can be made at the meeting to buyout Bonine’s contract.

The Pelicans have officially announced the free agent signings of Solomon Hill, E’Twaun Moore and Langston Galloway. Galloway, who is from Baton Rouge, averaged eight points a game last year with the Knicks. Hill has averaged six points a game in his career with the Pacers and Moore averaged 8 points and shot 45-percent from three-point range with the Chicago Bulls last season.

With the Big 12 looking at expansion, Tulane athletic director Troy Dannen says they would be interested in joining the league. It’s not clear if the Big 12 is interested. Some of the rumored schools include Houston, Connecticut, Central Florida and Cincinnati.

Earlier this week former Ragin Cajuns standout Charles Tillman announced his retirement from the NFL and it didn’t take long for him to find a new job. Fox Sports has announced that the ex-cornerback will be an analyst on Fox NFL Kickoff which airs on Sunday mornings during the NFL season.

Rumors are swirling the LHSAA executive committee is seeking to buyout or terminate the contract of executive director Eddie Bonine. LHSAA President Vic Bonnafee says Bonine received a positive evaluation a couple of months ago from the executive committee, but…:
Cut 16 (11) “the director”
Bonnafee has called a special meeting of the LHSAA executive committee for Monday. Bonine is expected to discuss a report he presented to the NFHS convention last month, where he described high school sports in Louisiana as a “dumpster fire” because of the growing split of public and private schools. — The meeting will give him a chance to explain his words.

Tiger Rag has obtained a letter written by Shaquille O’ Neal that says LSU should retire the jersey of former basketball star Chris Jackson. The letter was written to the LSU Basketball Jersey Retirement Nomination Committee.

Six LSU baseball players have been named this month to their respective summer collegiate league All-Star teams. They are senior infielder Cole Freeman and junior infielder Bryce Jordan, senior pitcher Collin Strall, sophomore infielder Trey Dawson, and incoming freshmen infielders Josh Smith and Jake Slaughter.

LSU Coach Les Miles did not hold back his feelings on the gunman responsible for taking the lives of three officers in an ambush in Baton Rouge. He made the comments to coaches at the annual Louisiana High School Coaches Association meeting…:
CUT 1 (19) “other than a show”
He said the men that were lost this past week were giants. They were community servants.

Gannett newspapers are reporting the LHSAA executive committee will seek to buy out the contract of Executive Director Eddie Bonine during a special meeting on Monday. Bonine signed a four-year contract last year, but there are some who are apparently unhappy with Bonine, who referred to the LHSAA as a “dumpster fire” in a memo intended for colleagues at an NFHS meeting. Since arriving in Louisiana from Nevada, Bonine has attempted to look for solutions to end the public-priviate school split that’s been voted on by a majority of the principals within the LHSAA.

Louisiana Tech has a league-best seven football players on the Preseason Conference USA team. Junior kicker Jonathan Barnes received Special Teams Player of the Year honors. Also making the team, Xavier Woods, Jaylon Ferguson, Darrell Brown, David Mahaffey, Trent Taylor and long snapper Darrell Travis.

Tiger Rag has obtained a letter written by Shaquille O’ Neal that says LSU should retire the jersey of former basketball star Chris Jackson. The letter was written to the LSU Basketball Jersey Retirement Nomination Committee. Jackson was a two-time SEC Player of the Year and averaged 30 points a game as a freshman, 28 points as a sophomore.

In NBA news…the Pelicans are reportedly close to reaching a one-year deal with swingman Alonzo Gee. The 29-year-old averaged almost five points a game in 73 contests last season.

LSU Sports Information Director Michael Bonnette says Coach Les Miles had private meetings with members of the East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s office and the Baton Rouge Police department. Bonnette says the head coach wanted to express his support to the law enforcement agencies that lost three officers in an ambush attack by a lone gunman on Sunday.

Starting tonight on the SEC Network, 24 hours of LSU programming will begin as 12 different games from the past in six different sports will begin airing at 11 PM. You’ll be able to see the football team’s 2011 season opening win over Oregon, the historic 1990 basketball game between LSU and Loyola Marymount and it concludes tomorrow night at 8 Pm when they replay the game featuring Warren Morris’ historic home run to win the 1996 national championship game.

The 2016 preseason All-Southland Conference football teams were released today. McNeese State landed three players on the first-team on offense, tight end Zach Hetrick, wide receiver Kent Shelby and offensive lineman Mason Martin. On defense, McNeese has three more representatives. Defensive lineman Isaiah Golden, linebacker Ashari Goins, defensive back Dominique Hill. Also on the first team…Southeastern’s Antreon Bennett and Nicholls defensive back BT Sanders.