Sarni's Scrolls: McElroy a rising star

By Jim Sarni

The Golf Channel devoted 28 hours of comprehensive coverage to the Solheim Cup, the prestigious women's team event between the United States and Europe, last weekend in Andalucia, Spain.

It was a hard-fought battle at a beautiful venue.

Final score: USA 14, Europe 14.

But the trophy remained with defending champion Europe.

The Americans needed 14 1/2 points to take the trophy away, according to the rules.

Three days, 28 hours, and it ended how it began... in a tie. That's ridiculous.

No overtime. No extra innings. Not even a coin flip.

There should be a tiebreaker.

"Penalty kicks," suggests TMG colleague Mark Blaudshun.

Maybe a putting contest.

Something.

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ESPN promoted Greg McElroy, the former Alabama quarterback, to its No. 2 college football announcing team with Sean McDonough this season.

McElroy replaced Todd Blackledge, who moved to NBC for its new Big Ten package.

Smart move. McElroy provided sharp analysis and insight on the FSU-Clemson game. He didn't hesitate to criticize the Tigers for their suspect play calling.

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Usher will headline the Super Bowl halftime show, Feb. 11 in Las Vegas.

The NFL asked Taylor Swift but she's too busy with her Eras Tour. At this stage in her career, she doesn't need it.
Swift, 33, reportedly will likely do the Super Bowl in the future, but there's plenty of time. Madonna was 53 when she performed at the big game.
Swift caused a sensation Sunday by accepting Travis Kelce's invitation to attend the Chicago Bears-Kansas City Chiefs game at Arrowhead Stadium. She cheered wildly -- "Let's f***ing gooooooo" -- from the Kelce suite with Travis' mom Donna.
Fox, however, saw enough of the awful Bears and switched away from the national game at halftime.

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Sunday was a great day to be an underdog in the NFL.

*The Arizona Cardinals (+11.5 points) shocked the Dallas Cowboys 28-16.

*The Indianapolis Colts (+7.5) beat the Baltimore Ravens 22-19 in overtime.

*The Houston Texans (+7.5) routed the Jacksonville Jaguars 37-17.

***

Cordella has been promoted to President, NBC Sports. Cordelia played on Providence College's 1987 Elite 8 team...

Ratings for the first two Thursday Night Football telecasts topped all the Thursday numbers from 2022. NFL fans have found Amazon...

"12 Months To Live," the third novel by James Patterson and Mike Lupica, comes out Monday. The authors appeared on "Good Morning America."

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Natalia Bryant, the 20-year-old daughter of the late Kobe Bryant and Vanessa Bryant, walked her first catwalk during Milan Fashion Week... She also threw out the first pitch at a Los Angeles Dodgers game...

From Coach Prime to "nature's couch potato," the sloth. "60 Minutes" did a fascinating feature on the slow-moving creature that has survived for 64 million years on Sunday's show. A lesson for the modern world: slow down, you move too fast...

Max has added "Naked Attraction", a full-frontal dating show from the U.K. The winners go on a date, wearing clothes...to start...

Headline from The Onion: "'NFL Introduces New Helmet Designed To Protect Players' Wives"...

"Celly" is hockey slang for goal celebration... but now it's being used by sportscasters for touchdowns, home runs, anything worth celebrating. I do a celly after I finish a column.

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Jim Sarni, BC Class of '69, is a former sportswriter for The Boston Globe and the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. He resides in Fort Lauderdale and watches a lot of television.