Lamm at Large

A friend said to me this week, "Playing the Texans and Jets the next two weeks may be just what the Jaguars need." Of course playing the Jaguars (2-11) may be just what the Texans (2-11) and Jets (3-10) need. The miserable threesome are the only AFC teams already eliminated from the playoffs. Between them they are 7-32 and often not competitive. The Texans already own a victory over the […]

This week's PNC Championship has been around for 26 years, known by various names and played at several sites. Many golf fans still refer to it as the Father-Son even though daughters first played in 2005. It's 36 holes of hit-and-giggle golf. Few of us have paid much attention, and that includes hard-core golf nuts like me. It's been televised because what else is the Golf Channel going to show? […]

How bad can it get for the Jaguars and their head coach, Urban Meyer? What's worse than worst? It isn't the losing so much as it is how they lose. It's  a 2-12 record that stinks to a fan base that expected 7-9 victories with its "perfect" coach and shiny new toy, No. 1 overall draft pick in quarterback Trevor Lawrence. But the Jaguars haven't even been competitive in most games. […]

Billy Napier's first press conference as the Gators' head football coach sounded like all the other first press conferences of all the other newly hired coaches. I hope whoever wrote the original script is being paid royalties. The gist of the message from the new coach is always "we need more people, better facilities and more money." Napier is asking for a payroll for himself, his assistant coaches and other […]

I'm not an alarmist. I'm not one to declare the latest as the greatest or the worst. I don't call for a coach's head after one season, certainly not after one game. My profession has taught me to sit back, observe and be patient. Let the game, the season and the coach's future play out over a reasonable amount of time. I've done all of those things and now I'm […]

Cincinnati isn't one of the four best college football teams in the nation -- and we all know it. But that doesn't mean the Bearcats shouldn't be in the four-team playoff. In such an imperfect system of choosing the four playoff teams, Cincinnati checked every box. They took on Power 5 opponents, they won their conference championship, and they're the only undefeated team in major college football. As long as […]

Isn't it interesting that you don't hear college athletic administrators poor-mouthing any more about not being able to pay their athletes at least a small stipend? The fact that athletes can now be paid for their names and likeness took care of that. And the fact that schools are handing out multi-year, multi-million dollar contracts to coaches as if they're grocery shopping makes it clear they've been lying about their  […]

Let's pump the brakes about Tiger Woods returning to the PGA Tour. The golf world is all atwitter after Tiger made an appearance and spoke at length prior to this week's Hero Challenge in the Bahamas. He did look great considering it was only nine months ago he suffered severe injuries to his legs and one ankle and foot. And I know Tiger has made spectacular comebacks before. But he's […]

Why would Billy Napier take the Florida football job? Doesn't he know Gainesville is where coaches go to bury their careers? Doesn't he know Georgia and Alabama aren't planning to bolt from the SEC to join the Sun Belt Conference. Or the ACC, for that matter. Doesn't he know 10 victories aren't enough? Doesn't he know success is winning the SEC and at least playing for the national championship? Doesn't […]