{"id":45109,"date":"2025-07-29T12:58:11","date_gmt":"2025-07-29T12:58:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/45109\/"},"modified":"2025-07-29T12:58:11","modified_gmt":"2025-07-29T12:58:11","slug":"college-footballs-talking-season-goes-quiet-plus-clase-on-leave-amid-mlb-gambling-probe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/45109\/","title":{"rendered":"College football\u2019s talking season goes quiet. Plus: Clase on leave amid MLB gambling probe"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Pulse Newsletter \ud83d\udce3 | This is The Athletic\u2019s daily sports newsletter. Sign up here<\/a> to receive The Pulse directly in your inbox.<\/p>\n

Good morning! Be mindful of upcoming deadlines.<\/p>\n

Disappearing Acts: What happened to media days?<\/p>\n

The major college football conferences\u2019 \u201cmedia days\u201d wrapped up last week. Did you notice?<\/p>\n

Media days have long been a rite of passage to the season, the ultimate sign that fall camp is about to start and Labor Day weekend will arrive before you know it. They\u2019ve quietly lost primacy in recent years, and I think\u00a0media days\u2019 slippage tells a story about how college football has changed.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Do you remember what a massive deal the SEC\u2019s media days used to be, roughly a decade ago?\u00a0The annual news conference by the league commissioner was akin to a college football State of the Union address. Coach speaking spots were enough of an event that their adversaries planned around them, like the time a former Ole Miss coach sued his successor\u00a0immediately before the latter took the podium<\/a>. Paul Finebaum\u2019s SEC Network set was a cauldron. Who could forget\u00a0the Saban-Finebaum Heated Interaction of 2016<\/a>?<\/p>\n

You are rolling your eyes, hopefully. But people did pay attention to media days as a proper event. It\u2019s hard to quantify, but I think\u00a0this Google Trends chart<\/a>, showing that interest in \u201cSEC media days\u201d peaked in the early or mid-2010s and has been sloping down since then, is on to something.<\/p>\n

One problem?\u00a0\u201cTalkin\u2019 season\u201d is now year-round. The conference commissioners rarely go more than a few weeks without speaking into a microphone and making news about playoff expansion, scheduling models, NIL or some other governance issue. There can\u2019t be a SOTU every month.<\/p>\n

I put the issue to my pal\u00a0Chris Vannini<\/a>, a national college football reporter at\u00a0The Athletic\u00a0and a veteran of many media days:\u00a0Are media days dying? And if so, should anyone miss them?<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcac\u00a0Yes and no.\u00a0For ESPN and the broadcast partners, media days are when you get the b-roll content on film you use throughout the season. They\u2019ll always need that.<\/p>\n

But\u00a0from a news perspective, SEC media days have become a waste of time for writers.\u00a0There is essentially no opportunity for one-on-one conversations. It\u2019s mostly just a TV and radio show event at this point. Other leagues\u2019 media days are more useful for writers, because they provide individual time with coaches and players. That can be useful down the road.<\/p>\n

The biggest issue with media days is that the college football offseason isn\u2019t about football anymore.\u00a0It\u2019s been that way since COVID. The pandemic, conference realignment, transfers, playoff expansion and now politics have been the most pressing topics. The No. 1 thing most people were looking for going into the Big Ten\u2019s media days was\u00a0the commissioner talking about his playoff idea<\/a>. We see the numbers. We know what people are reading and listening to, and it\u2019s less about football and more about the machinations. I hope it flips back, but I don\u2019t know if it will.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s talk more ball together this year.<\/p>\n

News to Know<\/p>\n

Guardians\u2019 Clase on leave amid gambling probe<\/p>\n

Cleveland\u2019s Luis Ortiz went on non-disciplinary paid leave July 3, as MLB began a probe into abnormal betting around two of his pitches. Now\u00a0another Guardians pitcher is under the same designation<\/a>, and it\u2019s a notable one: Emmanuel Clase, one of baseball\u2019s best relievers. The Guardians say they\u2019ve been told that no one else in the organization is \u201cexpected to be impacted.\u201d Amid broader concerns for baseball, Clase going on leave\u00a0throws a wrench into the Guardians\u2019 trade deadline<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Sanders \u2018cured\u2019 of bladder cancer<\/p>\n

Deion Sanders had his bladder removed in May after doctors discovered an \u201caggressive\u201d cancerous tumor, he revealed yesterday, as his health has been a subject of uncertainty throughout the football offseason. \u201cHe is cured from the cancer,\u201d one of his doctors said at a news conference featuring an upbeat Sanders. He\u2019ll continue to lead Colorado.\u00a0More here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

More news<\/p>\n

A Texas man who admitted he stalked\u00a0Fever star Caitlin Clark\u00a0agreed to prison time in a plea deal with Indiana prosecutors.\u00a0Read our full report<\/a>.
\nOne\u00a0NFL employee\u00a0was injured in\u00a0a\u00a0shooting last night<\/a> at the building housing the league\u2019s headquarters in Manhattan, where four other people were killed.
\nRyne Sandberg, a Cubs icon and Hall of Fame second baseman, died yesterday at age 65. Patrick Mooney wrote\u00a0a moving obituary<\/a>.
\nCameron Brink\u00a0is back. The No. 2 pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft is slated to play for the\u00a0Sparks\u00a0today after a 13-month injury absence.\u00a0She can ease back into things<\/a>.
\nBaker Mayfield\u00a0doesn\u2019t have an extension with\u00a0the Buccaneers\u00a0yet, but the team restructured the quarterback\u2019s expiring contract\u00a0to include more guaranteed cash<\/a>.
\nThe\u00a0USWNT\u00a0scheduled two friendlies with Portugal for October and\u00a0will use the occasions<\/a>\u00a0to honor the careers of recent retirees\u00a0Alex Morgan\u00a0and\u00a0Alyssa Naeher.
\nTour de Pulse: Circling back to a lingering question<\/p>\n

Our Jacob Whitehead \u2014 whose Tour de France coverage was excellent \u2014 wrote this in his\u00a0deep-dive into Tadej Pogacar\u2019s dominance<\/a>\u00a0last weekend: \u201cCycling is a sport where suspicion (of doping) is natural, because those at its heart have been burned before.\u201d<\/p>\n

And that stuck with us.\u00a0Is Pogacar \u2014 a four-time Tour winner headed toward GOAT status \u2014 now going to endure a lifetime of suspicion?\u00a0We checked in quickly with Jacob:<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcac Invariably, yes. In many ways, this exists outside Pogacar\u2019s control \u2014 cycling has such a checkered past that suspicion is a default rather than a side avenue.<\/p>\n

Pogacar, 26, has set all sorts of records in terms of watt\/kilo efforts \u2014 yet his best times up several climbs, such as the Hautacam, still lag behind those set in the zenith of the blood-doping era.<\/p>\n

The main issue, in terms of optics, is the presence of Swiss former rider Mauro Gianetti as team manager. During Gianetti\u2019s career, two doctors filed a criminal complaint against him over alleged drug use, while as a DS (head coach), his rider Juan Jos\u00e9 Cobo was stripped of his 2011 Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a victory after a doping test found abnormalities in his biological passport. Gianetti has always denied wrongdoing.<\/p>\n

For now, as Jacob points out, Pogacar\u2019s dominance appears legitimate. Onward:<\/p>\n

What to Watch<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcfa\u00a0MLB: Mets at Padres<\/p>\n

9:40 p.m. ET on MLB Network\u00a0<\/p>\n

Both teams are in tight races, with the Mets just holding off the Phillies in the NL East and the Padres right on the fence for the last wild card.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcfa\u00a0WNBA: Aces at Sparks<\/p>\n

10 p.m. ET on NBA TV<\/p>\n

As mentioned above: This is Cameron Brink\u2019s season debut for L.A. and first game since June of last year, when she tore her ACL.<\/p>\n

Get tickets to games like these here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Pulse Picks<\/p>\n

A really fresh angle from Andy McCullough, who canvassed\u00a0MLB executives\u00a0to understand their\u00a0interpersonal dynamics\u00a0as the\u00a0trade deadline\u00a0approaches \u2014 and\u00a0sorted them by personality<\/a>\u00a0in the first installment of the three-part series this week.<\/p>\n

Broad-based index funds are a better investment than sports bets \u2014\u00a0unless, I suppose, you spent the past few years betting on Scottie Scheffler.\u00a0This Neil Paine story is fun<\/a>\u00a0(and not investment advice).<\/p>\n

This report<\/a>\u00a0on\u00a0Mario Lemieux\u00a0angling to buy the\u00a0Pittsburgh Penguins\u00a0back from Fenway Sports Group\u00a0filled my Pittsburgh heart with optimism.<\/p>\n

Antonio Morales\u00a0took stock of how all of the\u00a0blue-chip quarterbacks<\/a>\u00a0in last year\u2019s college football recruiting class are doing.\u00a0The results are sobering.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Most-clicked in the newsletter yesterday: Once again, Ichiro\u2019s\u00a0\u201cwool sock\u201d comment<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Most-read on the website yesterday: Deion Sanders\u2019\u00a0health update<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Ticketing links in this article are provided by partners of The Athletic. Restrictions may apply. The Athletic maintains full editorial independence. Partners have no control over or input into the reporting or editing process and do not review stories before publication.<\/p>\n

(Photo: Jordan Godfree \/ Imagn Images)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Pulse Newsletter \ud83d\udce3 | This is The Athletic\u2019s daily sports newsletter. Sign up here to receive The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":45110,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67],"tags":[1607,399,398,396,397,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-45109","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-football","8":"tag-college-football","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-ncaa","11":"tag-ncaa-football","12":"tag-ncaafootball","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45109","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45109"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45109\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45110"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45109"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45109"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45109"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}