Recent Comments

Thank you!

Had an interview with Paige in Kaltag2 that was posted. Person was asking her about strategy and she said there were limits on what she wanted the team to do, so she is sticking to not pushing things. No surprise there. She noted that she has not even seen Jessie Holmes' team on the trail to know how they are doing. Also noted that she is typically around Matt Hall at this point in the race based upon prior years.

The team has been going trough lots of booties on each segment with the trail conditions.

Video showed her pulling out and it is daylight. A lot of teams have been preferring to run at night and avoid the heat of the day, but the weather has also cooled off. Kaltag report says a high of 19 today and a low of -6, so it is not as warm as it has been. Unalakleet weather says a high of 21 and a low of 4, so looks like no threat of weather even approaching freezing in the ~80 miles to Unalakleet.

Leader board says Paige is still in Kaltag2, but the GPS at of 1:20 PM east coast says that she is moving with 13 dogs 786 miles in/342 to Nome. She is 27 miles behind Matt Hall and 26 behind Jessie Holmes. 4th place is Nic Petit running 14 dogs 778 miles in/350 to Nome.

Meanwhile, rookie Bryce Mumford scratched at Grayling checkpoint with 8 dogs. That reduces the total field to 26, although the leader board still has him listed in the race, article says he has dropped out.

HOKEIS!!!!!!

OR HOKIES, EVEN

"foreigners (who have significant hurdles to earning NIL) are staying away from college."- why? because they want to earn a living in the sport, I assume? smart plan. I know you think colleges exist to provide paid opportunities for tennis players, but that is not their mission. The foreign players who went pro- because they wanted money are the smart ones. I do know that the VT tennis teams do not generate revenue or have legit NIL opportunities through commercials, radio spots, signature shoe sales. So it's the foreign players that realized its not their birth right to take donations from middle class fans as income vs. earning it on the pro tours. Good on them- they get it.

You clearly know nothing about college tennis, the open/ITA/future/challenger tours, or the ATP/WTA.

10 years ago, kids were often deciding whether they should go pro around 15 years old. Now they can (a) delay that decision until later (see how their body grows, etc), (b) they're getting better training for less out-of-their-pocket money, and (c) they're getting paid.

An unintended byproduct of good American tennis players going to college instead of playing lower level pro-tournaments/teams abroad is that foreigners (who have significant hurdles to earning NIL) are staying away from college. This has in turn opened up more roster spots for Americans who in past decades would have played at non-scholarship universities or not played college tennis at all.

Finally, funding for player development has (slightly) shift away from the USTA (which, IMO, is really good at evangelizing/spreading the game of tennis but not so good at elite player development) to university boosters.

At the pro level, we're starting to see college tennis alumni making a noticable difference on tour for the first time in ages. From the 60's through the 2010's, the only notable college players on tour were McEnroe, James Blake, and John Isner. Now, you have Ben Shelton, Camron Norrie, JJ Wolf, Arthur Rinderknech, Danielle Collins, Emma Navaro, etc all making NOISE (yes, I know Norrie and Rinderknech aren't American).

I know you hate the idea of college students getting money, and I'm not saying NIL is perfect, but for Tennis (which I'm sure you don't care about) it has been a win-win-win-win: It's a win for players, it's a win for NCAA tennis, it's a win for American Tennis, and it's a win for the pro tours.

This is the way.....

Let's Go!

Especially since Davidson basketball is more important to alums an boosters than anything else in their lives. Not surprising since the stock market is doing so well, etc. Everyone has 6-7 figures to donate to Davidson basketball. I wish VT could have access to that old Charlotte NC tobacco money.

25 pounds? I hope he likes salmon.

Also, is this the furthest in we have 2 teams essentially tied?

You're going to see this across all college sports. Just look at what Wake's done with their tennis team, what Nebraska has done with Volleyball, what BYU is doing with Gymnastics, etc.

Not everyone can compete in football. No school – not even Ohio State – can pay competitively in every single sport. We're gonna see schools strategically pick the sports that they can separate in.

Personally, as a big tennis fan, I can honestly say that NIL has been better for college tennis, better for American college tennis players and recruits, and better for the professional game... But that's getting way off topic