But if he had to choose a college time in the good ol’ U.S.A., the career-long Dallas Mavericks star says he would’ve gone to Arizona. Why be a Wildcat?

“They say it’s good there,” Doncic said in a video released by Overtime, a sports league and media company.

Luka said if went to college in the US he would’ve went to ARIZONA 👀 pic.twitter.com/R3mAcHYse7

— Overtime (@overtime) September 21, 2024

4 years of eligibility left@luka7doncic 👀👀👀 pic.twitter.com/ZZsbyHGKRr

— Arizona Athletics (@AZATHLETICS) September 23, 2024

Phoenix Suns fans might be torn if that were the case. They probably have a laundry list of reasons to dislike Doncic for what he’s done to the Suns as a pro, but some probably wish Phoenix had drafted him instead of Deandre Ayton with the No. 1 pick in the 2018 NBA Draft.

Arizona Wildcat fans more certainly wish that Doncic had spent a year in college, especially since Doncic could have teamed with Ayton in 2017-18.

Ayton’s team, a No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament, flamed out with a first-round loss to No. 13 seed Buffalo in a game that might’ve been different had Doncic been living that college life.

Luka Doncic isn’t the only one who could have seen himself playing in college at Arizona

Overtime’s video included a poll of three former Duke players who were asked where they could’ve seen Doncic going to college.

The New Orleans Pelicans’ Zion Williamson said he could’ve seen the Slovenian suited up for USC, Texas A&M and Florida.

Orlando Magic rising star Paolo Banchero said former Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski loved Doncic and would have fit him in Durham, N.C. But fellow Duke product and current Boston Celtic Jayson Tatum sees why Doncic might lean toward Arizona.

“He plays in the Western Conference so I’m going to say he went to like, Arizona,” Tatum said.

There are certainly vibes that match Doncic enjoying school in Arizona.

Now where would he come to understand those vibes since he never thought about college? Well, he spent the last few years with former Wildcat Josh Green on the Mavericks. Maybe there were some good stories shared.

Though Doncic’s theoretical college tenure came during Sean Miller’s time as head coach at Arizona, current Wildcats head coach Tommy Lloyd is known to be one of the best international recruiters in college hoops. He’s recruited players from central Europe in places like Lithuania, Serbia, Poland and Croatia.

Word just might’ve gotten around.

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Arizona State’s Kenny Dillingham has created some headlines this year. His candid honesty and humor come out in front of cameras.

Usually, it’s helpful for ASU football.

We’re not sure if the latest instance counts. Dillingham spoke pretty glowingly of the atmosphere at Jones AT&T Stadium in Lubbock, Texas, to start the week of preparation before the Sun Devils’ first official Big 12 game.

It was so complimentary that the head coach’s press conference was twisted by the Red Raiders to act as a voiceover for a Texas Tech hype video.

Red Raider Nation, you have a reputation to uphold.

BE THERE AND BE LOUD.

🎟️ » https://t.co/KOZxCTbv1v pic.twitter.com/W1yelmuq6A

— Texas Tech Football (@TexasTechFB) September 18, 2024

Whoops!

Dillingham was asked Friday on Arizona Sports’ Bickley & Marotta about his words getting layered over some Red Raider hype. It sounded like there’s an inkling of regret.

“Yeah, uh, don’t really have a comment there,” Dillingham said playfully. “It’s a great environment. I guess they liked what I had to say about the environment.

“Hopefully, I didn’t hype their fan base up too much. It was to hype us up! Not them!”

Arizona State's Kenny Dillingham accidentally created a voiceover for a Texas Tech hype video.

"Hopefully, I didn’t hype their fan base up too much," he said.

Listen to Dillingham's full visit with @Bickley_Marotta ahead of ASU's first ever Big 12 game:… pic.twitter.com/hBgp5lmW70

— Arizona Sports (@AZSports) September 20, 2024

How did Kenny Dillingham end up creating a voiceover for the Texas Tech hype video?

Dillingham on Monday was asked a rather innocuous question about Arizona State entering its first conference game as a new member of the Big 12.

He ended up diving into the game day details for the Red Raiders’ home. That includes a tortilla toss, a practice with a few origin stories.

“This will go down in literal history. Very few times in sports do you get to accomplish a first. Like a real first,” Dillingham said Monday. “Not a crazy first. A real first. … It’ll be remembered forever as ASU’s first Big 12 game.

“The crowd there, I’m very excited for the tortillas — I’ve heard that there’s tortillas that get thrown around. I’m excited for it because it’s a challenge, but it’s what college football is supposed to be. We walk out underneath the band, is where I was told our entrance is. A college band on the road, it’s going to be loud. Their fans are diehard fans, it’s a college town. It’s going to be an unbelievable environment to play in. I think that’s the exciting part about joining the Big 12.”

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After an incredible performance on Sunday, Harrison received one of the most prestigious player awards in the NFL.

Not the MVP but the NVP — the Nickelodeon Valuable Player.

.@MarvHarrisonJr ARE YOU READY TO GET SLIMED?! pic.twitter.com/4mqbkTtoXo

— Arizona Cardinals (@AZCardinals) September 18, 2024

The rookie scored two touchdowns and racked up 130 receiving yards on four catches to help the Cardinals defeat the Los Angeles Rams 41-10 on Sunday.

Cardinals offensive tackle Paris Johnson Jr. was eager to present Harrison with the honor and dump two jars of green slime on his head, a mandatory ritual following any Nickelodeon award win.

The NVP award, part of the “NFL Slimetime” on Nickelodeon, is a player of the week honor given to players based on fan votes.

Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray was the first to ever receive an NVP in 2021 after the Cardinals crushed the Tennessee Titans 38-13 during their season opener. Murray finished the game with four touchdown passes.

Harrison wore a protective cap in the video but to no avail. After Johnson dumped the jars of green goop on Harrison, the wide receiver was left covered in slime.

“Remember that, P?” Harrison asked Johnson before referencing the iconic Nickelodeon tune, the SpongeBob Krusty Krab Pizza song.

In addition to the award, Harrison received a purple chain with an NFL Slimetime logo pendant and a silver trophy featuring the orange Nickelodeon blimp.

Harrison looks to continue his success on the field during the Cardinals’ game on Sunday against the Detroit Lions.

Dennis Gardeck celebrated the first of his career-high, three-sack day with the St. Louis Stomp, a nod to Golden.

The Junkyard Dog pic.twitter.com/N8xY2yfl7O

— Desert Sports (@AZSportsFan20) September 16, 2024

“Markus Golden did not tell me he was doing the coin toss, which was absolutely absurd,” Gardeck said after the game. “He kind of got me charged up, seeing him out there. That’s my dog. One of my favorite teammates that I ever played with. He used to do the St. Louis Stomp, little something like this.

“He’d say, ‘We’ve been doing this since high school, Dennis!’ So that was a little nod toward Markus.”

Gardeck spent time with Golden as a rookie in 2018 when the undrafted linebacker out of Sioux Falls was a backup and special teamer. They later shared the same position room during Golden’s second run with Arizona in 2020-22.

Arizona Cardinals pass rusher Dennis Gardeck made sure to pay tribute to former teammate and recently retired Markus Golden (@markusgolden) during his 3-sack day vs. the Rams.

Junk was in attendance for the beatdown. pic.twitter.com/dMoedMWsXz

— Tyler Drake (@Tdrake4sports) September 16, 2024

A brief history of Dennis Gardeck’s sack celebrations for the Cardinals

Gardeck is not just a student in the art of the sack celebration.

He is a teacher, too.

Inspiration for his sack celebrations has come from a bevy of places, be it from wrestling star Daniel Garcia, a former teammate or from his own imagination.

Gardeck reinvented a move from the movie Hot Rod as the “turn the cona.” As in, around the corner of a cone drill just like the outside linebacker room’s pass rush drills.

Then there’s Gardeck’s other go-to: “hitting the strobe.”

HIT THE STROBE https://t.co/Dk7UKyNeiL

— Dennis Gardeck (@DGardeck) December 13, 2020

Now in his seventh NFL season, Gardeck has assembled quite the resume when it comes to his sack celebrations. And his football career has come along pretty nicely, too.

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A 41-10 thrashing of the Los Angeles Rams will do that.

ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky on Monday called Murray’s perfect passer rating, 266 passing yards and 59 rushing yards “top-five player” stuff.

And Good Morning Football’s Kyle Brandt is taking it a step further as he awarded Murray the show’s game ball on Monday.

My gameball goes to a guy who is no longer yours to kick around… @gmfb pic.twitter.com/V78SkQ43V4

— Kyle Brandt (@KyleBrandt) September 16, 2024

“For the aggregators, for the content creators, for the podcasters, for the tweeters, Kyler Murray is no longer yours to kick around. I’m sorry,” the host said. “You’re going to have to find a new joke. It’s over guys. You’ve been feasting on this guy for two years, three years.

“The short jokes. The video game jokes. I’m going to go all in here. It has been brought to my attention that there is a new edition of the ‘Call Of Duty’ franchise that comes out this fall. It comes out Oct. 25. …I’m going to say right now that Kyler Murray is going to be brilliant in that game (against the Miami Dolphins days later).”

Nice to see Brandt getting ahead of it, even though Murray’s success won’t exactly put a dead end to those jokes.

THIS DUO IS SPECIAL pic.twitter.com/76H3mCTusj

— NFL Memes (@NFL_Memes) September 16, 2024

Kyler Murray is playing really well. You have a sell high window until Week 8. pic.twitter.com/peQywjK1OX

— Al Smizzle (@AlZeidenfeld) September 15, 2024

Brandt has been pushing positive Cardinals vibes since the preseason. He named Arizona as a playoff team in early September, a pick that at the time stood out.

Still, turning others into believers has happened more quickly than expected.

Murray’s highlight reels and stats have done the talking.

Murray’s performance against the Rams was historic.

He’s the second NFL player ever and first since 1974 to surpass 250 passing yards and 50 rushing yards with a perfect passer rating.

It’s a small, two-game sample size with a perfect passer rating carrying some weight. But as of Monday morning before the final game of the week, Murray ranks fourth in passer rating (122.9) and second in adjusted QBR (91.2), the latter of which accounts for his threat on the ground.

Murray ranks first in ESPN’s points above average (PAA) and second in expected points added (EPA) as well.

In more graspable terms, he’s completing 73% of his passes, averaging 8.2 yards per attempt, has thrown for four touchdowns without an interception and has added 116 rushing yards on just 10 carries through two games.

And in more blunt terms, he’s causing problems for opponents.

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GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — The Los Angeles Rams’ defense, still adjusting to playing without Aaron Donald, had no answer for Kyler Murray and the Arizona Cardinals.

The offense, decimated by injuries on the line, had little hope of creating running holes or protecting quarterback Matthew Stafford.

The result: a 41-10 blowout loss to the Cardinals on Sunday that ended Los Angeles’ nine-game winning streak in the desert.

“There’s nothing positive about it,” Rams coach Sean McVay said. “The only positive thing is that this game is over now and we can move forward.

“It was an incredibly humbling three-hour window. They did what they wanted to do from the start and we didn’t do anything to give ourselves a chance.”

The Rams (0-2) had dominated the series against the Cardinals (1-1) since McVay took over in 2017, winning 13 of 15, including nine straight in Glendale.

A slew of injuries — particularly to the offensive line — and breakdowns left the Rams whirling around State Farm Stadium like a dissipating dust devil.

Sean McVay isn’t the only Rams leader taking the Cardinals game hard

“That’s not how we want to look and that’s not who we are,” Rams defensive end Kobie Turner said.

The Rams’ offense had some good moments against Detroit last week despite numerous offensive line injuries, pushing the Lions to overtime before losing 26-20.

Los Angeles’ patchwork offensive line was no match for the Cardinals on an ugly Sunday in the desert.

Arizona’s shifting defense caused all kinds of problems, quickly closing holes before Rams runners could get there. Los Angeles finished with 53 yards rushing on 20 carries.

More concerning was the pressure put on quarterback Matthew Stafford.

The Cardinals got off blocks so quickly Stafford had little time to decipher the defense, much less make downfield throws. Outside of a 42-yard completion on a broken play in the second quarter, Stafford was repeatedly forced to throw underneath, finishing with 216 yards on 19-of-27 passing.

Stafford also was sacked five times — three by Dennis Gardeck — and lost a fumble.

“I had some opportunities to get the ball out of my hands and didn’t,” Stafford said. “It’s frustrating as a player to do that.”

The retirement of Donald, one of the best defensive players of a generation, left a huge hole, but the Rams had some good moments against the Lions last week.

Nothing seemed to go right against the Cardinals.

The shifty Murray repeatedly escaped pressure to extend plays, giving his receivers time to break free. He hit Marvin Harrison Jr. on a 60-yard touchdown on a rollout late in the first quarter and dodged three tackles in the second before hitting Elijah Higgins in the back of the end zone for an 18-yard TD that put Arizona up 21-0.

Murray also scrambled for 59 yards rushing on five carries, while James Conner gouged the Rams for 122 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries.

“He was moving around the pocket, doing Kyler Murray things, scrambling around,” Rams linebacker Michael Hoecht said. “We’ve just got to keep him bottled up, continue to take one more step, get him on the ground and not let him extend plays because that’s when he’s Kyler Murray.”

Even when the Rams got something right, it went wrong.

With Arizona driving, Rams linebacker Jared Verse stripped Conner around the 4-yard line for a fumble. The ball rolled forward and tight end Trey McBride fell on it in the end zone for a touchdown that put the Cardinals up 41-10 early in the fourth quarter.

“This was one of those days that was really humbling,” McVay said.

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The Cougars defeated Jedd Fisch’s Washington Huskies, 24-19 in the Apple Cup after the Cougars got a defensive stop on fourth down near the goal line.

WASHINGTON STATE GETS THE STOP ON 4TH DOWN!!! 🤩 @WSUCougarFB pic.twitter.com/u9X0TMsaKR

— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) September 14, 2024

The Pac-12 Conference X page celebrated the win over the former Pac-12 team.

😤😤😤 pic.twitter.com/1WpvrTn4XW

— Pac-12 Conference (@pac12) September 14, 2024

Seattle Forecast: CRIMSON REIGN #GoCougs pic.twitter.com/Y5uz3KnQyt

— Pac-12 Conference (@pac12) September 14, 2024

Arizona Fans on X did not hold back on Fisch, who left Arizona this offseason for the Huskies after leading the Wildcats to a 10-3 season, including a win in the Alamo Bowl in 2023.

as an Arizona fan who watched us get mashed by K-State last night, this was exactly the hangover cure I needed

— dylan (@alltimeworst) September 14, 2024

Arizona fans watching Jedd Fisch and Washington lose after getting blown out by Kansas State. pic.twitter.com/vL7zDBMiGd

— ESPN Tucson (@ESPNTucson) September 14, 2024

Arizona may have been blown out yesterday but seeing Jedd Fisch lose to a zombie Pac-12 team sparks immense joy

— Mikal Bridges Fan (@MikaIBridges25) September 14, 2024

Jedd Fisch shouldn’t have left Arizona

— Drew Nixon (@drewbnix) September 14, 2024

Jedd Fisch looks the most like Brad Garrett when he’s upset after a loss.

— Aaron Levine (@AaronLevine_) September 14, 2024

The play call on fourth seemed similar to a call Fisch made with Arizona in a 43-41 loss to USC last season. Fisch wasn’t exactly applauded for repeating history on Saturday.

Jedd Fisch loves running sideways when you absolutely have to have a TD with the game on the line pic.twitter.com/PZEBbEIH0Q

— Curtis Rogers (@AKidFromKent) September 14, 2024

Jedd Fisch losing on the 1 with a HB pitch is poetry. History repeats itself… pic.twitter.com/0HruufJbet

— heemathor (@heemathor) September 14, 2024

4th & Goal on the 1 down 5 in a rivalry game…

Jedd Fisch: “let’s run a speed option to the short side of the field”

BRUH😂😭 https://t.co/7sOQ6MqOAx

— Jackson Groff (@JacksonGroff) September 14, 2024

Fisch discussed the play call after the game and took the blame for it.

Jedd Fisch on 4th-and-1 call: “That’s on me” pic.twitter.com/KFn32FiuGa

— Ty Gilstrap (@ty_gilstrap) September 14, 2024

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Gardeck joined Big Red Rage on ESPN 620 AM Thursday and discussed his experience of meeting O’Malley during the practice and defending him as he caught passes from quarterback Kyler Murray. 

“It was absolutely terrifying because if I see an average person about the same size as Sean O’Malley, I’m thinking if we have to step outside, I might be ok,” Gardeck said.

“And I know for a fact that is not the case with Sean O’Malley. So it was terrifying.”

UFC Champion Sugar Sean O’Malley visited Arizona Cardinals training camp today.

Sean O’Malley lives out in Phoenix Arizona. 🫡 pic.twitter.com/GTnSS28l8k

— 🌵 Mr. Az (@MrAzSports) August 28, 2024

Gardeck and Murray weren’t the only Cardinal players O’Malley got to work with during the practice as he also got to work out with offensive lineman Will Hernandez.

Will Hernandez gets Suga Sean O’Malley on the ShotSled™️ at the Cardinals training facility! 🚨🛷#Resilite | #ShotSled pic.twitter.com/XWUAQDezYf

— 𝙍𝙚𝙨𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙚 (@resilite) August 30, 2024

Despite the apprehension of meeting O’Malley, Gardeck said it was a positive experience meeting and working out with him.

“He was great. He was open to trying anything and everything. He’s an awesome dude, but absolutely terrifying,” Gardeck said.

ASU thought quarterback Sam Leavitt had kneeled down after the game clock hit 0:00, but after the Sun Devils celebrated, they were called back to defend one more play from Texas State.

“You and I are finally speaking because, after a while, they put a second back on the clock and ran another play,” ESPN sideline reporter Harry Lyles Jr. said to Dillingham. “Can you explain what the referee told you there?”

“Yeah, I’m only out here right now so I don’t get fined. That’s all I got to say because that was ridiculous,” Dillingham answered following the Sun Devils’ 31-28 win.

‘I’m only out here right now so I don’t get fined’ hahaha pic.twitter.com/t519dBBAVB

— Kyle Martin (@StrangersAstory) September 13, 2024

He had reason to be confused or a little impatient.

ASU’s weird ending vs. Texas State leads to Kenny Dillingham’s meme moment

Arizona State quarterback Sam Leavitt took a few seconds before he put his knee down with whistles blowing, thinking he’d ended the game.

Leavitt met with Dillingham with a celebratory mid-air body bump. And Dillingham even made it all the way to Lyles in front of ESPN’s camera to prepare for a postgame interview but was caught saying “if they put another second on this clock …” before he ran off to prepare his team for a final play.

Officials had to clear the field of players off the field and reconvene with a message they were giving the ball back to Texas State at its own 30-yard line to run one more play.

Nothing came of a little bubble screen and a lateral recovered by ASU, but it delayed the postgame proceedings.

Dillingham at his podium press conference made clear it wasn’t the fault of the referees on the field. He said the clock went to a replay review room but wasn’t sure why.

And despite Dillingham’s appearance of being perturbed in the second interview with Lyles, he promised to reporters afterward he was not mad at the game officials and not all that upset to be standing with Lyles.

He admitted his sarcasm was layered on a little thick.

“First things first, I said something on TV … That was a joke, right?” Dillingham said later.

“They said they’re reviewing the time on the clock. … To be clear it’s not the guys’ on the field’s fault,” Dillingham added. “Not fun for them, obviously … I thought for sure we could take two seconds (off the clock) and take a delayed knee. If that’s how it’s going to work, we should start throwing those away, which is also fine.”

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During a recent interview on the Up & Adams show with Kay Adams, Durant picked the Dallas Cowboys as the team he would get rid of.

Kevin Durant says seeeeee ya @dallascowboys pic.twitter.com/6FjikRdCCB

— Kay Adams (@heykayadams) September 6, 2024

“I just don’t like them,” Durant said. “I had to ask myself why I don’t like the Cowboys because I don’t hate any teams or any players. I’m a huge fan of a lot of teams, but the Cowboys are just that one team I don’t like.”

Relegation is not a practice in the NFL but it’s in the French Ligue 1 soccer league, where the 14-time All-Star purchased a minority stake in the Paris Saint-Germain soccer team in August.

🏀 Kevin Durant at the PSG Campus 🤝

📺 Before tonight’s final, take a look back at Kevin Durant’s visit to the PSG Campus 🔴🔵 pic.twitter.com/qZjHEXfPBW

— Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_English) August 10, 2024

Durant, who grew up in Washington D.C., is a longtime Commanders fan. He explains his pick for relegation is due to seeing many people in the D.C. area become Cowboys fans over the years.

“It’s probably like 75 percent Cowboys fans in Washington D.C. in my group of people that are Cowboys fans and I just hate that they don’t stay loyal to the crib,” Durant said.

If the Commanders, behind Heisman trophy winner and former Arizona State quarterback Jayden Daniels are successful this season, don’t expect Durant to welcome back anybody that would want to jump back on the Commanders bandwagon.

“They gonna have to stay on that side. We not letting them on the bus,” Durant said.

Arizona Cardinals offensive lineman Will Hernandez’s training camp mustache is moving onto the regular season.

Look out, Buffalo. It’s basically a game changer.

The camp ‘stache is here to stay for Arizona Cardinals OL Will Hernandez.

“Gotta give the people what they want!” pic.twitter.com/1jkZXgs752

— Cardinals Corner (@AZCardsCorner) August 29, 2024

“I just wanted to switch it up with something new and then it just kind of hit honestly,” Hernandez said Thursday. “All the guys loved it, created a lot of camaraderie, a lot of good times.

“It was funny actually, a bunch of people started messaging me about it, really taking the time out of their day to let me know that they liked the mustache. I was like, ‘You know what? You gotta give the people what they want.'”

But as with every change, there’s going to be critics.

Hernandez — much like head coach Jonathan Gannon when talking about Arizona’s pass rushers — isn’t paying attention to the noise, especially knowing what’s next in his ‘stache’s evolution.

“It’s mainly positive. There’s been some negative, but we don’t listen to that. They love it,” Hernandez said of the offensive line room. “I keep telling them there’s a final form. It’s not there yet. There’s actually nothing in it right now. There’s a lot of room for improvement.”

Arizona will take any added boost it can get along an offensive line that is expected to block for a top-tier rushing attack on top of keeping quarterback Kyler Murray upright.

That last part is especially important given what Hernandez is seeing out of Murray this year.

“This is the most locked in I’ve ever seen him since I’ve been here,” Hernandez. “I’ve gotten to know him so much more over the years — even more on a personal level — and I definitely believe in him.

“I’ve seen a change in a positive direction. I have his back 100% no matter what, but it makes me want to play even harder for a guy like that.”

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Both teams have direct ties to this iteration of the Arizona State Sun Devils, most deeply involving Florida State.

ASU head coach Kenny Dillingham got his first job in the college ranks thanks to now-FSU head coach Mike Norvell, when the then-ASU offensive coordinator offered Dillingham a job on his staff.

Dillingham would follow Norvell to Memphis and eventually Florida State where he coached quarterback Jordan Travis, who along with Bo Nix make up Dillingham’s most successful quarterbacks he has coached in his young career.

Former Oregon State quarterback DJ Uiagalelei will make his Seminole debut and try to fill Travis’ cleats, after his departure from Oregon State coincided with the mass exodus of 10 schools leaving the Pac-12.

Kenny Dillingham on the inspiration he takes from Florida State HC Mike Norvell, whom he worked under at ASU, Memphis and FSU:

“The consistency he had and the process.” pic.twitter.com/JdpaIENiek

— SunDevilSource.com (@SunDevilSource) August 24, 2024

Roughly 4,000 miles of travel for both teams

Uiagelelei has already come through in a big way for his new team, working with NIL partner Beats by Dre to hook up every teammate with new headphones for the long journey across the pond.

Traveling in style 😎🎧 @DJUiagalelei + @beatsbydre#NoleFamily | #KeepCLIMBing |#BeatsElite | #BeatsPartner pic.twitter.com/ppTcZWxBjG

— FSU Football (@FSUFootball) August 22, 2024

Once they arrived, FSU quarterback Trever Jackson and his teammates jigged their way into the Irish spirit in a video shared on his TikTok.

LMAOOO pic.twitter.com/BfdTQbD7if

— Jeremy Ireland (@JIreland80) August 23, 2024

For Georgia Tech ties, Arizona State’s new backup quarterback, Jeff Sims, began his career with the Yellow Jackets. Sims threw 30 touchdowns in 25 games across three seasons while at Georgia Tech.

Sims in his collegiate debut faced off against the Seminoles with Dillingham on the sideline, throwing for 277 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions along with 64 rushing yards.

When the Yellow Jackets arrived, they quickly became familiar with Aviva Stadium, which is hosting college football for the fifth time.

Atlanta, GA ➡️ Dublin, Ireland #StingEm 🐝 pic.twitter.com/jZbxkFTZ5n

— Georgia Tech Football (@GeorgiaTechFB) August 22, 2024

Georgia Tech punter David Shanahan was entering a homecoming game of sorts, as he grew up playing Gaelic football and rugby in County Kerry, which is about 300 kilometers away from Dublin on the opposite Irish coast.

Two more games in Dublin are scheduled down the line: Iowa State and Kansas State will face off in 2025 before Pitt and Wisconsin do so in 2027.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Manager Torey Lovullo grabbed a fungo bat at Fenway Park and took cuts at numbered baseballs.

The distance of which he hit each ball determined the draft order. D-backs players gathered around the turtle to watch their fantasy football fates and talk a little smack.

Starting pitcher Merrill Kelly’s baseball hit the wall, so he will have the chance to take Christian McCaffrey or CeeDee Lamb with the first overall pick. Lovullo popped up Joc Pederson’s ball, so the veteran designated hitter will go last.

D’backs manager Torey Lovullo took BP at Fenway to set his team’s fantasy football draft order. Each ball was numbered & the distance he hit each determined position. He hit the wall on Merrill Kelley’s baseball (he goes 1st) and popped up on Joc Pederson’s (he’s last) pic.twitter.com/aohDpCSmAE

— Tom Caron (@TomCaron) August 24, 2024

Lovullo was familiar with the Fenway Park sightlines having coached in Boston from 2013-16 before getting hired by Arizona. His last professional at-bat as a player was in 2000, but he still showed some pop to come up clutch for his guys, other than Pederson.

After the pregame fun, the Diamondbacks clobbered the Red Sox 12-2 to open the three-game series.

The NFL season is only two weeks away, starting Sept. 5 with a Thursday Night Football matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and Baltimore Ravens.

Skip can still swing it. 💪 pic.twitter.com/Xnjgt3PCNx

— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) August 23, 2024

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But before the Cardinals head to Buffalo to take on the Bills, it was only right for my daughter, Brady Drake, to give her expert record prediction for the season ahead.

Unlike last year’s 5-10-2 mark — which wasn’t that far off if we’re being honest — she was much more optimistic this time around, albeit after Week 3.

Similar to her thinking in 2023, she has Arizona losing its first three games (Bills, Los Angeles Rams, Detroit Lions) of the year.

The dark days would soon be over, however.

Just as the going got tough, a win over the Washington Commanders and former Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury ended the skid for the Cardinals.

Clearly the victory provided some added juice — dare we say, “momentum?” — to Arizona’s system, rattling off another 13 wins.

Maybe Drake is already envisioning the added boost rookie wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. will bring to an offense expected to take a jump behind a healthy Kyler Murray.

Maybe she thinks the defense is going to surprise after a poor showing in Year 1 under the new regime.

Whatever the reasoning, Drake is clearly liking the direction this team is heading.

One more time for the folks at home:

Week 1: @ Buffalo Bills (Loss)
Week 2: vs. Los Angeles Rams (Loss)
Week 3: vs. Detroit Lions (Loss)
Week 4: vs. Washington Commanders (Win)
Week 5: @ San Francisco 49ers (Win)
Week 6: @ Green Bay Packers (Win)
Week 7: vs. Los Angeles Chargers (Win)
Week 8: @ Miami Dolphins (Win)
Week 9: vs. Chicago Bears (Win)
Week 10: vs. New York Jets (Win)
Week 11: Bye
Week 12: @ Seattle Seahawks (Win)
Week 13: @ Minnesota Vikings (Win)
Week 14: vs. Seattle Seahawks (Win)
Week 15: vs. New England Patriots (Win)
Week 16: @ Carolina Panthers (Win)
Week 17: @ Los Angeles Rams (Win)

Final record: 14-3

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The D-backs have survived a lot going against them. Ketel Marte has been the MVP on paper, but others have stepped up in big moments.

But let’s get to the matter: Who is Him on this year’s team?

Slugger Joc Pederson earlier this month announced out loud that he is Him.

“I’m him” – Joc Pederson 🔥

pic.twitter.com/Sx4avcWN9a

— Fanatics Sportsbook (@FanaticsBook) August 6, 2024

Well, there appears to be controversy afoot, because in a win against the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday, video from D-backs reporter Jody Jackson caught outfielder Jake McCarthy appointing himself as Himself.

Jake: “I’m HIM”
memo to Joc 😂 pic.twitter.com/fqxj92KOvU

— Jody Jackson (@Jody_Jackson) August 20, 2024

Arizona Sports’ Bickley & Marotta, a radio show devoted to the toughest aspects of journalism, attempted to ask the tough question to an unbiased third party. That on Tuesday morning happened to be guest Blaze Alexander, who recently got recalled to the D-backs from a stint in Triple-A Reno.

He attempted to answer to both sides of the argument about who’s Him. 

Who is HIM on the @Dbacks? Joc Pederson? Jake McCarthy?

Diamondbacks INF Blaze Alexander is asked the tough questions on @Bickley_Marotta. pic.twitter.com/MOknteCM6J

— Arizona Sports (@AZSports) August 20, 2024

“Hey, I’m going to keep it simple. They’re both Him, man,” Alexander said. “They’re both raking. They’re both Him. I’ll let them decide that. They’re just fun to watch, man.

“I remember even yesterday, I mean, Joc hit that homer at his forehead. Looked at the dugout — I don’t know if they gave a little side view — but I yelled, ‘You’re him.’ In my opinion, they’re both Him, man.”

JOC ROCKET. 🚀 pic.twitter.com/7t4VJbjBGi

— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) August 19, 2024

Even as McCarthy and Pederson each hit a bomb in the 9-6 victory against the Rays, rookie catcher Adrian Del Castillo hit a grand slam and finished with six RBIs on Monday. Is he Him, too?

We might need to put this to a vote. 😂 pic.twitter.com/jaN8zAOr2S

— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) August 21, 2024

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The ball struck by Tampa Bay Rays first baseman Brandon Lowe never came down at Tropicana Field, a quirk unique to the St. Petersburg ballpark.

Lowe, who hit the high fly ball at a 42-degree launch angle off D-backs ace Zac Gallen in the second inning, was awarded a double.

The roof at the Trop strikes again 😅😂

(via @BallyRays) pic.twitter.com/wanwBR8Ago

— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) August 17, 2024

Why? Tropicana Field has a set of rules for this very event, which occasionally occurs.

There are four catwalks that look like rings around the ballpark (A, B, C and D).

If the ball hits the C or D rings, the lower two, in fair territory, it is declared a home run. If the ball strikes the upper two rings in fair ground, it is live and can be caught by a defender or fall for a hit.

In Lowe’s case, the ball hit one of the upper two rings and never came down, which is ruled a double.

Everything you’ve always wanted to know about Tropicana Field pic.twitter.com/mmmD7XFez6

— Jeff Eisenband (@JeffEisenband) October 8, 2021

Had Grichuk caught the ball, the Rays would have had one runner aboard and two outs. Instead, Tampa Bay found itself with two runners in scoring position and one out.

Gallen escaped the jam, although the Rays had already tagged him with four runs to take an early lead. The Rays went on to win the game 6-1.

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Carroll reached third on a McCarthy single against Rockies starter Tanner Gordon with no outs in the bottom of the first. Third up, Joc Pederson put a ball into play that jetted off the first-base bag and deep into right field.

Right fielder Sam Hilliard eventually tracked it down and got the ball back in the infield to first baseman Michael Toglia, but the damage was hardly done with two runners in and Pederson on second.

Because for some reason, Toglia thought he could cut down Pederson standing off the bag at second. The errant throw not only got past second baseman Brendan Rodgers but cruised into left-center field — like all the way to the Chase Field wall.

Clear the bases, Joc! 🤯 pic.twitter.com/MdGGx9kXux

— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) August 14, 2024

So with that, Pederson ramped back into base-running mode, turning third with clarity that he’d probably score so much that he was chuckling the whole way.

🤪 pic.twitter.com/dSyP8vY15q

— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) August 14, 2024

The tone was effectively set in the D-backs’ favor because Colorado found five different ways to allow a player on base in the first inning.

To follow the little-league homer, Josh Bell reached on catcher’s interference, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. singled, Eduardo Rodriguez was hit by a pitch and Geraldo Perdomo walked to score a fourth run.

The Diamondbacks left the first inning with that 4-0 lead after chasing Gordon just two outs into his start.

A fresh inning did not curb the Rockies’ mistakes either, with a Hilliard throwing error in the second giving the D-backs another run.

https://x.com/Dbacks/status/1823818537229824092

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Is he intimidating to a group of kids more interested in a trip to a Sizzler steakhouse than playing a baseball game?

It would not appear so.

Johnson stars in an extended Sizzler commercial where the Arizona Diamondbacks World Series co-MVP is tasked with whipping some kids into shape. It’s not so much intimidation he uses but blunt honesty.

“Alright boys and girls. Playtime is over … You know what it takes to win?” he asks. “No, you don’t, because you guys are losers.”

Johnson’s advice to the kids includes:

— “How can you run and be fast if you fall down?”

— “The thing with hitting is you got to have your eyes open. You see that? Open.”

— “Do I think they should play other sports? I’ll be honest, absolutely.”

— “That’s much better. You didn’t fall down.”

Johnson tries to build credibility with the youngsters by mentioning his pitch velocity and accolades. Like:

“I didn’t do it on purpose,” he says of once hitting a bird with a pitch. “It was just flying and next thing I know I see feathers everywhere.”

So does his style of motivation work?

Spoilers: No!

But the kids do score a run, have fun and earn a trip to Sizzler even though they lose 9-1.

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The Lumberjacks’ alternate Astrojacks identity was chosen to celebrate Flagstaff and the greater Northern Arizona region’s lunar legacy.

Go for launch 🚀

🔗 https://t.co/zsn5l84UvY pic.twitter.com/z3q2qLysA5

— NAU Athletics (@NAUAthletics) August 12, 2024

The team’s uniform will feature an interstellar color scheme of nova navy, stardust gold and pluto blue in celebration of Flagstaff’s discovery of Pluto.

It was also include multiple cosmic characters, including a symbolic “A” in the Astrojacks brand font that embodies a space shuttle prepared for launch. In addition, planetary rings surround the lettering in an upward left-to-right trajectory.

Louie the Lumberjack also has a new cosmic companion, Blouie the Space Ox.

All Astrojack games will feature one-of-a-kind fan giveaways, contests and special entertainment.

Take a closer look at the inspiration of all the details in our new alternate identity, the Astrojacks 🚀

🔗 https://t.co/zOZPPQBz9u pic.twitter.com/T6LF2JB5Ro

— NAU Athletics (@NAUAthletics) August 13, 2024

When will the Astrojacks play?

This alternate identity will be featured six times during the 2024-25 athletics season.

The Astrojacks will compete on the following dates in 2024-25:

• Astrojack soccer – Thursday, Sept. 19 vs. New Mexico at 7 p.m. – Lumberjack Stadium
• Astrojack volleyball – Thursday, Oct. 17 vs. Montana at 6:30 p.m. – Rolle Activity Center
• Astrojack women’s basketball – Thursday, Jan. 23 vs. Eastern Washington and Saturday, Jan. 25 vs. Idaho
• Astrojack men’s basketball – Thursday, Feb. 20 vs. Idaho and Saturday, Feb. 22 vs. Eastern Washington

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The NBA regular season isn’t that far away. The schedule is about to drop, and training camps will ramp up in about a month and a half.

So Durant and Booker jetted off to Saint-Tropez in the south of France, according to Deuxmoi World, which posted photographs of the Phoenix Suns teammates enjoying themselves on a yacht. Among the images: Durant doing a very vacationing man thing and hitting a water slide.

DEUXMOI EXCLUSIVE…Olympic basketball champions Kevin Durant and Devin Booker enjoying their vacation in style, relaxing on a luxurious yacht in Saint-Tropez 📸 @backgrid_usa pic.twitter.com/Jl4pWZjOG2

— deuxmoi (@deuxmoiworld) August 13, 2024

The arms up.

The eyes closed before hitting the water.

Finally, the man is able to relax a little bit.

Meanwhile, Booker was chilling in a floating vessel with some pals below.

The internet enjoyed the snapshots of NBA players doing regular people stuff — well except for the whole yacht part.

And kinda annoyed at it too pic.twitter.com/Yy3Gg0H5zD

— Chel (@chel_talksports) August 13, 2024

pic.twitter.com/0I2jLvrnXN

— JM =^) (@JM539581) August 13, 2024

The look on his face. He’s just trying to feel something

— Adam Blake (@adamab925) August 13, 2024

pic.twitter.com/m79M99sBCW

— Mia Agraviador (@MiaAgraviador) August 13, 2024

Bro this pic of KD has me weak 😭😭😭 pic.twitter.com/kqpYIOw3nf

— Isaac 🔱🇺🇸🏀🥇 (@mikalbridge) August 13, 2024

Kevin Durant’s case to deserve a nice vacation after the Paris Olympics

Durant averaged 13.8 points and shot 54% from the floor in the Olympics, mostly coming off the bench after sitting out the exhibition portion of the schedule due to a calf strain.

He jumped into the starting lineup in the gold medal matchup victory against France, scoring 15 points and adding four assists to add to his legacy as the first American men’s basketball player to win four gold medals.

He’s also the all-time leading scorer for Team USA.

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