ATLANTA PAPER WILL 'STOP THE PRESSES' BY END OF YEAR

 Lots of stuff … starting with non-sports-but-important-sports-related news … In case you missed it, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, at one time the South’s best (by far) newspaper, will no longer be available in print, effective year’s end. It will become strictly an on-line operation because that’s where people prefer getting their news, weather, sports, etc., management said.

QUESTION: Can the Richmond Times-Dispatch be far 

behind?

                                 * * * * * * * *

So St. Christopher’s offensive lineman DARIUS GRAY, 

the last of the five-star recruits to commit, chose South 

Carolina over LSU … with Clemson, Ohio State and 

Tennessee also-rans among his final five. How much are 

the Gamecocks of SHANE BEAMERpaying him? That 

should be the first question … especially after he said he 

liked Beamer so much, and USC Nation treated him so 

well … Now, raise your hand if you think Gray will 

spend his entire undergraduate career in Columbia, S.C.

EVERY ONCE IN a while someone with considerable 

knowledge of a particular subject will agree with the 

memory man, as strange (or unlikely) as that might 

sound.

Saturday night, in Honolulu. same-old Stanford lost 23-20 

to the University of Hawaii on a last-snap field goal. In 

dropping its ninth game of the last 10, dating back to 

September 28, 2024 (when it finished 3-9 for the fourth 

straight year), the Cardinal blew a 20-17 lead with some 

eight minutes to go.

Richmond’s BOBBY ROSS watched the late game on 

CBS with more than passing interest because new 

Stanford coach FRANK REICH played for Ross at the 

University of Maryland. So what was his immediate 

takeaway?

“Their quarterback was terrible,” said Ross, who played 

the position at VMI and developed BOOMER 

ESIASON as well as Reich at College Park. How terrible 

was BEN GULBRANSON, a 6-3, 220-pound senior 

transfer from Oregon State where he spent most of the 

past five years as a backup?

“He kept throwing short, or wide … on an offense of 

mostly short passes,” Ross said. “Their running game was 

very good … with two excellent backs.”

Gulbranson was lured to Palo Alto, Calif., by ANDREW 

LUCK, in his first season as general manager at his alma 

mater after twice being Heisman Trophy runnerup as well 

as top overall draft choice of the NFL Colts. Against 

Hawaii, Gulbranson completed 15 of 30 passes for 109 

yards, with one interception that killed a second-half 

drive.

Ross was impressed with “Hawaii’s little quarterback”

 MICAH ALEJADO, 5-10, 180-pound redshirt 

freshman, a left-hander who threw for 210 yards (27 of 

39) and two touchdowns despite going most of the game 

with an ailing ankle … and losing a fumble in the end 

zone on his first snap, leading to a 10-0 deficit, 

YOUR RICHMOND Flying Squirrels announced 

Wednesday the season finale – Sunday, Sept. 14 (1:30 

p.m.) – that in itself has little to no significance, is a 

sellout.

However, it will be the last game played at The Diamond 

which will be replaced in 2026 by state-of-the-art 

CarMax Park.

WHILE WE’RE (briefly) promoting local events … 

Saturday Colonial Downs will have another special ($5 

general admission instead of the usual $0.0) featuring the 

Gr. III $500,000 Old Dominion Derby. 

Actually, it replaces the Virginia Derby heretofore run on 

turf. For the first time, the track’s signature race was 

moved to the dirt course this spring as a qualifier for the 

Kentucky Derby, held at Churchill Downs which also 

owns Colonial Downs.

YOU ARE BILL BELICHICK, 73 … and having all 

sorts of fun watching (listening to, mostly) your critics 

make absolute fools of themselves … like the no-name 

radio clowns in Boston who reached the height of 

originality by calling you “an a-hole” … then really got 

clever by referring to him as “horny” and “dirty old man” 

because of his 24 year old girl friend.

Instead of bothering to address the nonsense with “EAT 

YOUR HEART OUT, GUYS,” the first-year coach at 

North Carolina, winner of six Super Bowls, has filed to 

trademark “Gold Digger,” the name of jewelry 

manufactured by his company that is run by JORDON 

HUDSON, who has been accused of being one since she 

started dating Belechick.

Meanwhile, over/under for number of wins by the Tar 

Heels is 7.5, as set by one of the top gambling outlets. 

Have you seen their schedule? Take the over … quickly, 

before it changes its mind.

SPEAKING OF over/under projections … bookmakers 

like 9.5 wins for your Washington Commanders … noting 

they were 4-1 in games decided by three points or less en 

route to last year’s surprising 12-victory campaign. OK, 

so a terrible defense in 2025 preseason games has a lot to 

do with it.

Until next time ...