Observations

 Some cool stuff happened over a Sportsball-engorged weekend, and some not so cool stuff, and some frankly abominable stuff from the usual abominable suspects. Therefore the Blob will depart from its usual windy pontificating to offer some brief observations in a feature we'll call, cleverly, "Some Cool Stuff And Not So Cool Stuff And Frankly Abominable Stuff":

* In Detroit, my Pittsburgh No-Longer-Cruds-For-Now beat the Tigers yesterday, 4-2, thereby finishing the 2026 season 82-80. It's the former Cruds' first winning season in eight years, and they also finished third in the NL Central for the first time in a decade.

So here at the Blob, we don't care if you don't care. Raise a cheer anyway, losers.

* Also in Detroit ... on Saturday, when Justin Verlander's young daughter escorted him off the mound after his last game, and the plate umpire saluted him, if your throat didn't get tight you have no soul.

* Desman Stephens II's brutal hit on a sliding Dante Moore in Saturday's USC-Oregon was not the most egregious thing about the whole incident. Seen in real time, Moore slid late and Stephens was already committed. This doesn't mean it wasn't a cheap shot and Stephens didn't deserve his ejection; it only means football at that level is played at warp speed, and so you can understand (well, I can, anyway) how hits like that happen sometimes.

No, what was egregious was Stephens celebrating the hit while Moore lay unconscious and twitching on the field. And USC coach Lincoln Riley not on only not stopping him, but allowing Stephens to remain on sidelines. A real football coach would have banished him to the locker room for the rest of the afternoon.

(Postscript: To his credit, Riley did announce Sunday he was suspending Stephens for one game. Maybe he came to his senses, or the viral blowback from the incident forced his hand.)

* Congratulations, or something, to the Colorado Rockheads, king of baseball's Cruds for the second year in a row. The 'Heads finished 58-104, a comfortable 42 games out of first in the NL West, and four full games ahead of MLB's next Cruddiest team, the Los Angeles Mange-els. It was the fourth straight season Colorado has lost at least 100 games.

So "Huzzah!" to the Mile High Defile.

* In golf news, Team USA came from way back to win its 11th straight President's Cup, beating the International team 17-13. The Americans won nine of the 12 singles matches Sunday, an historic beatdown witnessed by President Donald John "Get My Good Side" Trump, who was on hand to present the trophy.

The President was so excited he immediately signed an executive order to rename it the America's Cup, thereby honking off yacht racers everywhere. Then he grabbed the trophy and ran off with it to his waiting motorcade.

(OK, so he didn't either of those things. But you know he wanted to.)

* And speaking of our Fearless Leader ...

Word came down over the weekend that his Regime is looking into building a ballpark somewhere in Grand Teton National Park, at the request of Major League Baseball. Apparently Fearless Leader 'n' them think this would be a lovely idea, on account of there's nothing they like better than pissing on nature.

Those of us who do not enjoy that pastime would prefer MLB commish Rob Manfred -- who put this benighted idea in F.L.'s head -- be taken on a scouting trip to the Tetons, smeared with honey and left in the path of a grizzly.

"The claws!" Manfred screamed. "Oh, God, the CLAWS!" ...

Beautiful.