By JOSH HELLER
Staff Writer
1. Strong Out as Longhorns Coach
Following a disappointing 5-7 season, Texas University fired head football coach Charlie Strong, and has already found a replacement.
Mack Brown was a steady piece of Longhorns football, and after his long legacy, Texas looked to Charlie Strong to inherit a poor situation, as the previous year’s team went just 8-5, which was a disappointment to a team that had so many successful years.
Since their loss in the 2009 BCS Championship game (a 13-1 season), Texas has eclipsed eight wins just once, in 2012. Brown spent 16 seasons at the helm of the Longhorns, giving them one national championship and 10 Bowl wins.
This season, Texas started out strong, defeating then-nationally ranked Notre Dame in their first game in double overtime, and then a trouncing in their next game against UTEP. Strong and the Longhorns went 3-7 the rest of the way, including some embarrassing losses to Kansas and TCU in the final two weeks. Kansas finished their season at just 2-10 (Texas lost in overtime), and TCU is currently 6-5.
Texas already made a replacement for their head coaching vacancy, signing a former Houston coach to a five-year, $5 million per-year deal. Herman led this year’s Cougars to a 9-3 regular season record, and he now looks to take over a Texas team that is looking for a 2017 comeback.
2. McGregor Stripped of Title
Conor McGregor is still lightweight champion of the world, but his featherweight belt has been stripped, per the UFC.
McGregor won the featherweight title back in December of 2015, and he has not defended his title since winning it. Although some UFC reporters said that McGregor was reluctant to give up the belt, UFC commissioner Dana White and the UFC were well within their rights to strip the title.
Jose Aldo won the interim title back in July, and has been declared holder of the belt by the UFC. The UFC also announced a new main event at UFC 206, with Anthony Pettis and Max Holloway battling it out for the interim featherweight title. This match replaces the light heavyweight fight between Daniel Cormier and Anthony Johnson, which had to be replaced because of an injury to Johnson.
3. Mariners, Diamondbacks Make Big Deal
The dog days of the offseason continue, but MLB fans were served up a pre-Thanksgiving treat, with the Mariners and Diamondbacks pulling off a pretty big deal.
The Mariners sent young pitcher Taijuan Walker and young shortstop Ketel Marte to Arizona for 2016 N.L. hit leader and shortstop Jean Segura, outfielder Mitch Haniger, and pitcher Zac Curtis.
Walker is a former top prospect in the league, and Marte has shown some promise in the infield for Seattle. Walker is the bigger name of the two, and before his injury last season, he was stellar, posting a 3.66 ERA. After the injury, Walker struggled a bit, but ended the season with a 4.22 ERA.
Segura, meanwhile, was mediocre in his time in Milwaukee, but after being sent to Arizona last season, he really shined, hitting for a .319 average, and smashing 20 home runs, a great number for a shortstop.
We have seen plenty of early moves this MLB offseason, and hopefully this trade is an indication of more to come.
4. Cousins’ Thanksgiving Performance Spells Out Next Deal
After filling up on some turkey, it won’t be surprising to see Kirk Cousins fill up on some big bucks next offseason.
Cousins played back-to-back primetime games, with a win against the Packers last Sunday night, and a Thanksgiving loss to the Cowboys. In the two games, Cousins threw for 824 yards, six touchdowns and no interceptions. Cousins’ Thanksgiving Day performance of 449 yards and three touchdowns is even more impressive given that Washington was coming off just three days’ rest from the Sunday previous.
Washington has been the beneficiary of the connections Cousins has made with pass catchers Jamison Crowder, Pierre Garcon, Desean Jackson and Jordan Reed, which helped ease their early-season running back issues. Now, the team can heavily rely on Cousins to lead the way, and can expect solid contributions from new starting running back Rob Kelley.
After this season, Cousins will become a UFA, and he is going to get paid. Cousins is currently the 13th highest-paid quarterback (right behind Tom Brady, in terms of yearly salary), and will be the biggest QB to hit free agency this year. Many would not be surprised if Cousins moves into the top five of highest paid quarterbacks, but it’s a question of where he will end up.
Of course, Washington would love to keep him, but after shelling out huge money to Josh Norman last offseason, it’s curious if they can fit all their pieces under the cap. Other teams will line up to take a shot at signing Cousins, but wherever he ends up, Cousins is going to get the big bucks.
While the Cowboys still stand atop the NFC East, Washington, New York and Philadelphia are all not far behind. It will certainly be a race to the playoffs, and if the Cowboys keep up their current pace, it will just be a race for the Wild Card.
5. Vegas NHL Team Name Announced
After many months of speculation, the new Las Vegas hockey team has been branded, and the 31st team in the NHL is now the Vegas Golden Knights.
There were plenty of technical difficulties in the unveiling, but the Golden Knights (sounds familiar, doesn’t it?) revealed their name and logo last week. The logo received plenty of backlash on social media, as many compared the Vegas logo to Boba Fett from “Star Wars” or Magneto from “X-Men.”
The name also received plenty of backlash, not just because Golden Knights seemed tacky to many fans, but that the word “Las” is missing, which is strange.
Up next for the Golden Knights will be an expansion draft to take place after the Stanley Cup is awarded in June. Each team has a list of players that they must protect from expansion, with some teams having longer lists than others. Vegas will get to choose one player from each NHL team.
General manager George McPhee will be given some good opportunities to make the Golden Knights competitive right out of the gate, as they will also get a shot at the top pick in the Rookie Draft in late June.
Every team is going to have to make some difficult choices regarding who they want to expose this June, which is why many think this will be the most active trade deadline in recent memory. But for now, at least people can stop calling them the Vegas Hockey Team, as the Golden Knights have officially entered the NHL.
