Tradition's Finest Episode 100 - "The Wilt Conspiracy Episode"

Welcome Back to the Tradition's Finest Podcast! Episode 100 - "The Wilt Conspiracy Episode" includes a discussion of the following sports-related topics: - Miscellaneous - PGA: Everybody loves a first-time winner, especially one who had been hit across the head by a two-by-four in so many near misses - - prior to Sunday, English golfer Tommy Fleetwood has been a runner-up on the PGA Tour six times, finished in the top three in a dozen tournaments, has 30 top-five finishes, and finally, has 44 top ten finishes, which according to ESPN, were the second most by a golfer without a victory on the PGA Tour this past century - - In his 164th career start at East Lake Golf Club on Sunday, while holding a 0-163 PGA Tour record, Fleetwood captured his first PGA Tour victory in the Tour Championship to capture the FedEx Cup and its $10 million reward - - Fleetwood posted a 2-under 68 in the final round and finished at 18-under, a combined three strokes better than Russell Henley (69) & Patrick Cantlay (71), who finished the tournament in second and third place, respectively - - After covering the PGA's No.1 golfer in the world the past few weeks, we felt somewhat compelled to mention Scottie Scheffler and his performance in this week's Tour Championship - Following his impressive victory at last year's PGA Tour Championship, Scheffler was attempting to become the first golfer to win the FedEx Cup in back-to-back seasons, but unfortunately, he faced significant adversity from the start of the event on Sunday - - On the opening hole, Scheffler badly pulled his tee shot down the left side of the fairway, and his ball bounced once and shot under a fence, landing out of bounds - however, Scheffler would remain a serious threat to Fleetwood's potential first career victory through the 15th hole, when he sank a tee shot into the water, ending his hopes for a victory on Sunday as well as for a sixth victory this season of the PGA Tour - despite the rough day, Scheffler would finish with a score of 2-under 68, tied for fourth place at 14-under - - As for Fleetwood, it has been a long and exhaustive journey, but it seemed to be well worth the wait - and as a professional athlete, you have achieved some level of greatness when your long-awaited victory garners support & congratulatory posts via social media from a few of sports' biggest stars, such as fifteen-time major champion & 82-time winner Tiger Woods, Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James & WNBA star Caitlin Clark - - Q: Could you imagine going 0-163 in any sport & still maintaining that resiliency necessary to pull out the victory in your 164th event, thus winning a $10M reward? What are your thoughts on English golfer Tommy Fleetwood picking up his first career PGA Tour victory in none other than the Tour Championship? Thoughts on Scottie Scheffler's ability to struggle on the course & still finish within the top five?. . .PGA golfer Keegan Bradley, who is the eighth-best American golfer in the most current world rankings, did not call his own name Wednesday while announcing the captains for the United States Ryder Cup team, as he ultimately made the decision to not become the event's first playing captain since Arnold Palmer in 1963 - - Bradley named Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa, Ben Griffin, Cameron Young, Patrick Cantlay & Sam Burns as his six Captain picks for next month's Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black on New York's Long Island - - Q: Were you surprised to hear the Keegan Bradley did not call his own name to serve as one of the Captains for the 2025 U.S. Ryder Cup team? - MLB - Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh aka "The Big Dumper," was already in the midst of a transcendent season, but now it's historic - - With a pair of early HRs in Sunday's 11-4 win over the Athletics, Raleigh tied, and then broke the major-league record for most HRs hit in a single season by a catcher - - In the first inning, Raleigh clubbed his 48th HR of the season with a two-run blast - and then, one inning later, he hit No.49 on the season - thus pushing him ahead of a record set by Kansas City Royals star Salvador Perez in 2021 - - On Monday, Raleigh added yet another milestone to his already impressive list of accomplishments this year: With a first-inning shot against the San Diego Padres, Raleigh extended his major-league record for HRs by a catcher, and entered some elite company - - Raleigh joined Yankees legend Mickey Mantle as the only switch-hitters with 50 homers in an MLB season - and became the 8th player in MLB history to reach the half-century mark in the month of August. . . - NCAA: News & Storylines - The SEC Conference announced last Thursday that it will play a nine-game conference schedule starting in 2026, which is a historic move that the Conference has been considering for years - and was a decision that was approved by the SEC's presidents and chancellors after a recommendation by the Athletic Directors in the conference - - Under this new format, the SEC will continue to play without divisions - - Each school will play three annual opponents focused on maintaining traditional rivalries, and the six remaining games will rotate among the rest of the league opponents - - Each team will face every other SEC program at least once every two years & every opponent in an home-and-away series over a four-year span - - Furthermore, SEC teams are still required to schedule at least one additional high-quality nonconference opponent from the ACC, Big Ten or Big 12 Conference(s) or Notre Dame (Independent) each season - - SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey recently indicated on The Paul Finebaum Show that the 2026 schedule will be released later this fall - and further elaborated that the College Football Playoff's decision to use enhanced strength-of-schedule (SOS) metrics - played into their decision to expand the conference schedule - - Q: What are your thoughts on the SEC Conference's decision to implement a nine-game conference schedule starting next season? - - Shortly after this announcement was made, multiple outlets begin to speculate as to whether this would negatively affect the home-and-home series that has been scheduled between SEC programs & nonconference opponents beginning in 2026 and beyond - - The short & sweet answer to this question is. . .Yes, it will! - - And So It Begins. . .Following this announcement, the University of Alabama has already began making adjustments to its pre-existing nonconference matchups - - For instance, on Tuesday, it was announced that Alabama & West Virginia have mutually agreed to cancel their home-and-home series, which was set to begin in Morgantown, WV next season, with the Mountaineers set for a trip to Tuscaloosa in 2027 - - Q: Will the mutual agreement to cancel the Alabama-West Virginia home-and-home series have some type of "domino effect" on the current matchups between SEC programs & Power Four opponents scheduled beyond the 2025-26 season?. . ."College Football Week Zero Recap:" The 2025 college football season officially kicked off last weekend with a total of five FBS vs. FBS matchups in Week 0 - - In this week's "Week Zero Recap," JD & Spencer provide one takeaway from a few of the most notable matchups, and discuss a few of the most impactful moments from the first official weekend of the 2025-26 college football regular season - - The following Week 0 games were discussed in this episode: "Irish Farmageddon/Aer Lingus College Football Classic:" No.22 Iowa State vs. No.17 Kansas State, Fresno State at Kansas, UNLV vs. Idaho State, and Stanford at Hawaii - - "College Football Week 1 Preview:" In this episode's CFB Week 1 preview, JD & Spencer provide their individual & independently selected pick(s) for each of the following Week 1 matchups - as well as providing in-depth analysis & reasoning to explain the justification for their selection: **Be Sure to Share Your Picks with Us via Twitter/X - - @TraditionFinest OR Send Us an Email at Traditions.Finest@gmail.com!! Thursday, August 28th, 2025 No.25 Boise State (-6.5) at USF        O/U63.5 Friday, August 29th, 2025 Auburn (-1.5) at Baylor                O/U57.5 Colorado vs. Georgia Tech (-5)         O/U53.5 Saturday, August 30th, 2025 No.8 Alabama (-13.5) at Florida State   O/U50.5 No.1 Texas at No.3 Ohio State (-1.5)    O/U47.5 Aflac Kickoff: Syracuse at No.24 Tennessee (-13.5)   O/U50.5 No.9 LSU at No.4 Clemson (-4)         O/U57.5 Sunday, August 31st, 2025 Virginia Tech vs. No.13 South Carolina (-8)   O/U52.5 "Catholics vs. Convicts, Revisited:" No.6 Notre Dame (-2.5) at No.10 Miami    O/U50.5 Monday, September 1st, 2025 TCU (-3) at North Carolina                O/U56.5 - NCAA: News & Storylines (cont'd) - In what could possibly be the most incredible statement made by a college football player to describe the "hype" surrounding a program in preparation for their team's season opener, Nebraska DB DeShon Singleton - who HC Matt Rhule refers to as the Cornhuskers' "Swiss Army Knife" on defense - made the following statement on Wednesday aboard a flight alongside QB Dylan Raiola: "We Finna Make People in Wheelchairs Stand Up." . . . - NFL - After much trade speculation, the Washington Commanders have traded RB Brian Robinson Jr. to the San Francisco 49ers in exchange for a 2026 sixth-round pick, the two teams confirmed on Sunday afternoon - - According to multiple sources, the Commanders had been seeking to trade Robinson since early August, and had planned to release him if they could not find a suitable trade partner - - This move will now save Washington approximately $3.3 million in salary cap space - - On the other hand, and unlike the Commanders, the Niners are certainly not as secure with the overall depth at the RB position - San Francisco has dealt with a slew of injuries out of their tailbacks, especially with starter Christian McCaffery - and they have also been without rookie Jordan James for most of training camp, recently placed Patrick Taylor Jr. on IR with a shoulder injury & just got backup, Isaac Guerendo, back from a lingering shoulder injury - - Q: What trade grade would you give the Niners in their acquisition of RB Brian Robinson Jr.?. . .The two most notable players that were remaining as "hold-in(s)" for their respective franchise due to contract disputes - WR Terry McLaurin (Commanders) & Trey Hendrickson (Bengals) - have officially reached agreement(s) to remain with their teams - - Commanders WR Terry McLaurin, for instance, reached an agreement with Washington Monday on a three-year contract extension worth up to $96 million that will get him back in uniform in time for the Commanders' regular season opener against the New York Giants next week - - Q: Was this the right call by the Washington Commanders? Do you think there were any legitimate trade discussions by the Commanders' front office to evaluate McLaurin's value? - - As for Trey Hendrickson & the Bengals, the star pass rusher has received a $14 million raise for this upcoming season, which boosts his 2025 salary to $30 million, sources confirmed to ESPN's Adam Schefter on Monday - - While Bengals fans can now exhale, the bad news is: Hendrickson is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent after this season, and would certainly be a valuable asset for multiple NFL franchises if he does prefer a change in scenery - - "Your English Teacher and Your Gym Teacher are getting Married:" Pop superstar Taylor Swift & three-time Super Bowl champion Travis Kelce took to social media on Tuesday afternoon to reveal that they are officially engaged to be married - and did so by using the aforementioned caption - - Q: On a scale from 1-10, how excited was your wife? How excited were you?. . .Per reporter Tom Pelissero on Wednesday, while the NFL initially proposed a suspension of 10-12 games for Kansas City Chiefs WR Rashee Rice, his legal team fought for a much shorter ban - which ultimately delayed the overall process - - On Wednesday, it was announced that Rice has accepted and will serve a six-game suspension to start the 2025 NFL regular season - - Q: Does a six-game suspension seem a bit short, lengthy or "just right" in light of the situation?. . . - 2025-26 NFL Preseason Prediction Showcase: AFC Conference - 1. AFC Divisional Winners (i.e., AFC East, AFC South, AFC West & AFC North)? 2. Which AFC team(s) do you predict to be "Super Bowl Pretenders" this NFL season? 3. Which AFC team(s) do you predict to be "Super Bowl Contenders" this NFL season? 4. Which team do you predict to represent the AFC Conference in this year's Super Bowl (i.e., Super Bowl LX)? Thanks for Listening!