Good Morning, kickoff is in 33 days.
It took him a few days and some close-call at-bats, but Alex Bregman finally picked up that elusive first big-league hit on Sunday:
.@ABREG_1 got that first one out of the way! https://t.co/EfzLwacOLz pic.twitter.com/6hpAhPGyrF
— Houston Astros (@astros) July 31, 2016
Nice of Miguel Cabrera to congratulate him after. Of course, the Astros still lost to Detroit, 11-0.
Last Week Les Miles met with the Baton Rouge Rotary Club for what has become his traditional final fundraising/public speaking event of the offseason. It’s produced some memorable moments in the past and this year, on the final stop of what I’m now calling the “Les Miles Playing With House Money Tour 2016”, Miles reiterates some of his summer vacation, explains the Cuban economy, and also shares a few stories of his youth, like the time his dad told him to fight a bully, a fight he knew he was going to lose. (Special thanks to LPB for being the ONLY local news outlet to actually film this in it’s entirety and to the folks at LSUFootball.net for finding it.)
In football news, Ross Dellenger had a nice feature in The Advocate on the 3-4 defense that Dave Aranda will be bringing to the Tigers this fall, with some nice insight from Billy Cannon, Pete Jenkins and others. There’s also this handy graphic to visualize some of the changes.
Scott Rabalais of course asks if this revolution will extend to the offense which falls on a lot of the same lazy #narrative tropes we’ve discussed in the past. Que Sera Sera.
Rabs did, however, also pen this excellent historical feature on the sole Olympic Gold Medalist in LSU history, Glenn “Slats” Hardin, who picked up the gold in the 400-meter hurdles at the infamous 1936 games in Berlin.
Speaking of the 3-4, Pro Football Focus explains why they’re expecting some big things for Arden Key in the new defense. And speaking of PFF’s college experts, they are quite the fans of the LSU offensive line in 2016.
In some LSU-related recruiting news, Les Miles’ son Ben will be taking his talents up to Big Red Country, committing to Mike Riley and Nebraska. Miles is a 6-1, 210-pound fullback prospect, and listed as a three-star by 247 Sports. He had offers from Michigan State, Boston College, Navy and LSU, but talking to sources he was largely looking out of state for the exact reasons you’d think. The scrutiny that would come with an LSU coach’s son accepting a scholarship to play football here is just something the family would rather avoid, which is understandable. Here’s wishing Ben some luck. I can still remember a time when Nebraska made fullback a glamour position.
In other recruiting-ish news, four-star safety Todd Harris decided to commit to...his high school, Plaquemine High in a ceremony Sunday evening. Yes, he did the whole hats-on-the-table deal (LSU, Ole Miss and Bama, if it matters), cast them all aside to throw on Plaquemine Green Devils gear.
Yep.
His head coach is saying the stunt was his idea. I don’t particularly get wrapped up in all the recruiting stunts, or the ARGLEBARGLE they generate. This is one of the few meaningful choices these kids will get to make in their football careers, and sure, have all the fun you want. But...yeah.
A couple of LSU’s undrafted Men’s hoops players have found themselves some roster spots as Keith Hornsby has signed with the Dallas Mavericks and Tim Quarterman has signed with the Portland Trailblazers, both of them to partially-guaranteed contracts.
Leaving LSU for good this morning. It's def bittersweet. My time at LSU was unbelievable. So much undeniable love for Tiger Nation!
— Keith Hornsby (@KHornsby4) July 31, 2016
We’ll compile a full list before the opening ceremonies, but LSU will have plenty of representation in Rio over the next few weeks. WNBA Superstars Seimone Augustus and Sylvia Fowles will be leading Team USA on the quest for their 3rd straight gold medal. If you’ve not been following these two LSU greats in the WNBA, you’ll be proud to know that they’ve combined for 2 WNBA Finals MVPs, 9 WNBA All Star nods, and 3 WNBA Championships, most recently together for the 2015 title with the Minnesota Lynx.
LSU Soccer gets underway in a mere TWELVE DAYS! The program is celebrating it’s own olympic milestone as Allysha Chapman (2009-11) will become the first LSU soccer player to reach the olympics as she plays for Team Canada.