If nothing else, I prioritize trying to be true to my word. So when I threatened–er, vowed–three weeks ago that I was determined to milk every last drop out of the 2025 college football season that indeed I was going to pay attention to the HBCU Legacy Bowl that positively, absolutely was the final time that players would line in on opposite sides of a yard line in a real game of tackle, just like Horton, I meant what I said and I said what I meant. And this elephant’s faithful, 100 per cent.
And if you were among the dozens that may have watched on NFL Network, it actually turned out to be a decent game. SPORTS ILLUSTRATED’s Mike McDaniel (no, not THAT one) was likely one of them:
In the highest-scoring contest in the five-year history of the game, Team Gaither defeated Team Robinson, 27–23, in the 2026 Allstate HBCU Legacy Bowl in a display of the best HBCU college football players.
If you’re truly among those interested in the nitty-gritty, you’re free to click on this link for it. Suffice to say I’ve fulfilled my obligation–mostly to my own completion anxiety dysfunction–by giving you this much. I never did say I was necessarily going to watch, did I?
But I did make sure to pivot my way to Apple TV (no longer plus) last night for a far more significant event which the LOS ANGELES TIMES’ Jad El Reda chronicled:
LAFC kicked off the MLS season with a 3-0 statement win over reigning champion Inter Miami at a packed Coliseum on Saturday night. The matchup featured Miami star Lionel Messi and attracted an announced crowd of 75,673, the second-largest for a regular season game in MLS history and the largest for a season opener. It was LAFC’s ninth win without a loss in season-opening games, another record for the club.
It’s a seasonal shift that U.S. soccer fans have been conditioned to since the days of the old North American Soccer League that has mirrored baseball. But in the rest of the world–and even among U.S. colleges–soccer more closely resembles the arc of football–late summer into winter, and among the pros winter soon turns to spring. Major League Soccer will finally fall in line next year, so this is the last time we will get a lid-lifter when jackets and winter coats are mandatory. And at least in the eyes of one knowledgeable pundit cited in THE ATHLETIC’s trusty PULSE newsletter that we relied upon for much of our SUNDAY MORNING QUARTERBACK breaking news over the past few months, that’s a misstep right up there with the ones that Messi has caused on his opponents’ parts for most of his illustrious career:
The Athletic senior writer Paul Tenorio…covers the league’s operations as intently as anyone. I asked him for the most compelling business storyline he’s following around MLS this season. Here’s his answer:
“MLS missed a gigantic opportunity to use the World Cup as a sort of rebrand and chance to sell a ‘new MLS.’ The board didn’t vote to flip the calendar in time — the plan instead is to do so in the summer of 2027 — and roster rule changes that go in hand with that calendar shift should push the league forward.
“Considering that they missed the timeline, it will be worth watching how aggressive MLS teams are in the summer transfer window with restrictions still in place on how to spend. Is there a push from the league to go after big-name players that might move the needle ahead of the 2027 ‘relaunch,’ for lack of a better term? Will it matter if they do?”
The good news is that this will unfold with a slightly less walled garden that in previous years. Apple TV has dropped the second paywall barrier for these games, meaning anyone who can watch TED LASSO can now also watch MLS. FOX will have several more games as part of its own package, which they made good on yesterday afternoon with the season’s actual first regular season action. And just like baseball used to, said season officially began in Cincinnati, where the hometown ENQUIRER’s James Weber was on hand to triumph:
Cincinnati posted its second shutout in as many games this week, and shut out the Georgia side for the fourth time in franchise history. It was a welcome change from last year, when the Orange and Blue conceded six goals in two games against the Five Stripes in 2025, taking a loss and a draw.
Again, for those that are especially detail-oriented, you can click on yet another link. And yes, when warranted we’ll be paying attention to anything of consquence MLS-wise that may transpire–sorry to say, not as regularly as was SMQ. We will most def have a lot more when World Cup arrives on this continent this summer. I’ve now given you my word, and you now have definitive proof that means something. See y’all then?
Courage…