Good morning!
The UMass football team should switch colors from maroon-and-white to green-and-white to signify they’re the New York Jets of college football.
Sonny Werblin switched to green after he bought the Jets in 1963 because he was born on St. Patrick’s Day, same day as the infamous Blarney Blowout at UMass.
The two programs have combined for one winning season in 15 years. They’ve both gone through five head coaches and set records for ineptitude along the way. The Jets axed Robert Saleh after five games last season and UMass axed Don Brown after 10 games. Think Jaguars coach and former Minuteman QB Liam Coen will help UMass recruit after the way his old coach was treated?
New coach Joe Harasymiak’s introductory press conference looked like an episode of Schitt’s Creek. “I have always stated loudly that our athletics programs … are the front porch of our university,” said Chancellor Javier Reyes. “Take Me Home Country Roads” Reyes.
Current Jets owner Woody Johnson knows enough to keep quiet, but UMass AD Ryan Bamford constantly talks about going to bowl games and winning conference championships. Really? As the Broadway song goes, Read me no rhyme, don’t waste my time, show me!
Rats jumping ship
In the wake of the team’s historic 0-12 season the rats are jumping ship. Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Mike Bajakian has left to be the quarterbacks coach at Michigan State. Apparently the Spartans weren’t bothered that Bajakian coached his three UMass quarterbacks into throwing eight touchdowns and nine interceptions.
According to cthrupayroll, Bajakian’s total pay for one season at UMass was $376,200. Offensive analyst Drew Belcher, who made $68,500 this year, is also on the move. According to footballscoop.com, Belcher will be the offensive coordinator at Tennessee Tech, an FCS school that went 11-2 this season with former Minuteman Ahmad Haston at quarterback.
Thorr to the rescue?
This is an opportunity for Thorr Bjorn to earn his keep as senior deputy athletic director and chief administrative officer. How many wins can a title like that earn the team?
Bjorn’s making $390,000 to sit in an ivory tower and call alumni and the Boston bigwigs asking for money. Here’s an idea. Give him Bajakian’s and Belcher’s jobs and make him earn his keep the hard way.
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Seattle is a slight favorite to win the Super Bowl on Polymarket. The crypto-based prediction market lists probabilities and offers “investments” on anything from the number of tweets Elon Musk sends out to who will be the next Fed Chair— 45 percent think it will be Greenfield’s Kevin Hassett.
Super Bowl LX is in Santa Clara on Feb. 8, and 14.2 percent of the $641 million invested thus far is on the Seahawks. The Rams have fallen from 20.2 percent down to 12.7 percent after back-to-back losses to the Falcons and Seahawks, followed by the 49ers and Broncos with 11 and 10.4 percent, respectively.
The Patriots have moved from under one percent up to 8.3 percent, meaning their backers would reap 91.7 percent of the jackpot.
Meanwhile Drake Maye’s chances to be named MVP have rocketed up to 72 percent after his five touchdown passes against the Jets, and Matthew Stafford’s chances have plummeted to 27 percent after he threw three interceptions during the Rams’ 27-24 loss to Atlanta.
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The UMass hockey team played an exhibition game against Simon Fraser University last night. The SFU campus is 2,400 miles west of Amherst in Burnaby, British Columbia. The Red Leafs are at BU tonight, and earlier exhibitions included a 7-1 loss at Providence and an 8-3 loss at Bentley.
The Minutemen play for real on Friday when they host BU at the Mullins Center.
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MAC teams won two of their five bowl games. Western Michigan beat Kennesaw State, 41-6, in the Myrtle Beach Bowl, and Ohio beat UNLV, 17-10, in the Frisco Bowl. Otherwise Toledo lost to Louisville in the Boca Raton Bowl, Central Michigan lost to Northwestern in the Game Above Sports Bowl, and Miami-Ohio was beaten by Fresno State in the Arizona Bowl.
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The first bowl game UMass played was the Tangerine Bowl on Dec. 12, 1964, in Orlando against East Carolina. UMass led 13-0 on a pair of touchdown passes from Jerry Whelchel to Ken Palm, but in the fourth quarter Pirate All-American quarterback Bill Cline ran in from nine yards and threw a 2-point conversion to Pete Crane for the 14-13 come-from-behind win.
My father went to the game and returned saying he never wanted to hear “Dixie” again any time or anywhere.
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In 1959 a harness track opened for pari mutuel wagering in Hinsdale, N.H., and the local standardbred industry flourished. Barely a day would go by when you wouldn’t see a trotter on the oval at the Franklin County Fairgrounds.
The sport attracts all kinds including Dan Plesac who pitched 18 years in the big leagues and had 158 saves. After he retired in 2003, Plesac got his trainer’s license and conditioned horses at Balmoral Park in Illinois and Maywood Park in Oregon (both now closed).
Today Plesac is an analyst on the MLB Network which did a segment on his days in harness racing Asked how he’d spot a good horse Plesac said, “You look for a sleek body and a horse that’s light-footed and built for speed.”
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The Athletic polled 50 college football people — head coaches, assistant coaches, personnel staffers — and asked them to name the toughest place to coach. Not surprisingly, BC tied for third in the Power Four and UMass was second (behind Kent State) in the Group of Five. Both programs have similar negatives — a poor recruiting footprint, bad location, lack of resources, and no previous success.
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SQUIBBERS: Tua Tagovailoa’s fall from grace is why Quinn Ewers is getting his chance today against the Patriots. At Texas last year Ewers passed for 31 touchdowns and had 12 interceptions, and was subsequently drafted 231st overall. … The Boston Bruins start the second half of the season tonight in Vancouver. The first half was a roller coaster — lose seven, win seven, win four and currently lose six. … I get the feeling Chaim Bloom fleeced Craig Breslow by trading treadworn Sonny Gray for Brandon Clarke, a 6-4 southpaw whose fastball topped 100 mph in Single A. … Boston College hired 62-year-old Ted Roof this week to replace Tim Lewis as the team’s defensive coordinator. It’s Roof’s fifteenth different college coaching stop including UMass from 1994-96. … Giants running back Cam Skattebo gave each of his offensive linemen a $600 bottle of Silver Oak red wine for keeping him out of harm’s way for half the season. Not the most expensive outlay, but Skattebo is on a rookie contract. … Better than what the Packers’ $220 million QB Jordan Love gave each of his linemen — a pair of $120 Nike Dunks.
Chip Ainsworth is an award-winning columnist who has penned his observations about sports for decades in the Pioneer Valley. He can be reached at chipjet715@icloud.com