Kendall Stanley: Truly to the victors!

It was bound to be a great matchup — the number one defensive team in the nation and the team with the Heisman Trophy runner-up quarterback — and that’s exactly what it turned out to be!

There was no denying the Michigan Wolverines the national football title. All year they had been relentless in their pursuit of the title. It was truly Michigan against everyone, and everyone lost.

When their first possession results in a TD as does the next, you knew the Wolverines were headed to the title and were not about to look back.

If I were JJ McCarthy, I’d hand off to Blake Corum on every run play. OK that’s not going to happen, but Corum’s ability to slip through the tiniest gap, spin away from the grasp of defenders and find the end zone was breathtaking to watch. Fellow back Donovan Edwards wasn’t bad either, ripping off yardage like there was no Washington defense!

The Wolverines were blessed with plenty of NFL prospects and according to players, next year’s team will see plenty of talent returning.

There are big changes coming, however, in 2024.

First, the Big 10, which hasn’t been the Big 10 for some time, is merging with Pac 12 teams in one big messy conference. Which is why Michigan will again play the Huskies in conference play in October.

And rather than four teams in the college playoff, we’ll start out with 12. Florida State will appreciate that after being bounced this year.

As the game is a few days off when I wrote this, all I can hope is the newly revitalized Detroit Lions fans give Matthew Stafford a warm welcome when he comes to town for a playoff game. Not really, send the former Lions quarterback packing.

Go Lions!

And even if she is a Big 10 rival, it is mesmerizing to watch Caitlin Clark fire one shot after another into the bucket for Iowa.

As ESPN recapped it:

Clark is averaging 31.5 points per game this season. For her career, Clark has:

• 45 30-point games (including eight this season), the most by a Division I player in the last 25 seasons

• 14 triple-doubles (including three this season), which ranks second in D-I history behind Sabrina Ionescu (26)

• 10 40-point games (including two this season), the most by any D-I player over the last 25 seasons

• become the first D-I women's player in the last 25 years to score 40 points and hit a game-winning buzzer-beater in the same game

• become the second D-I women's player in the last 25 years to score at least 35 points in four consecutive games

• become the first player in D-I history with 3,000 points, 750 rebounds and 750 assists

• led Division I in assists per game in each of the last two seasons

The current record holder is Kelsey Plum, who ended her carrier at Washington at 3,527 points. Clark has more than 3,200 at this point in the season.

If there is one highlight reel worth watching, it was Clark’s three-pointer at the buzzer to beat, unfortunately, Michigan State.

Clark launched the shot from the LOGO in the middle of the floor! Google it to see the video. And also notice that when Clark fires one up, there is no delay in taking it. Swish!

That’s what college sports should all be about.

Why do Republicans hate kids?

Republican legislatures have passed a slew of laws dealing with kids, notably transgender kids, and some states have failed to extend Medicaid benefits that could be a helping lifeline for medical care. Now there is summer food.

Republican governors in 15 states have rejected federal funds for a summer program to give food assistance to hungry children.

As noted in The Washington Post, “The governors have given varying reasons for refusing to take part, from the price tag to the fact that the final details of the plan have yet to be worked out. Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) said she saw no need to add money to a program that helps food-insecure youths “when childhood obesity has become an epidemic.” Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen (R) said bluntly, “I don’t believe in welfare.”

“Republican leaders have been criticized for playing politics with children in need, but they argue it is necessary to revert to pre-pandemic spending levels at a time when the United States is trillions of dollars in debt and lawmakers in Washington are struggling to come to a budget agreement. The summer food program was approved as part of a bipartisan budget agreement in 2022.”

The program would affect families with incomes below the poverty line and who already receive free or reduced-price lunches.

As if food banks around the country aren’t struggling as it is to provide food to those in need.

The funds would continue to fund programs that were part of pandemic relief.

’In Oklahoma, for example, pandemic food relief money has been helping more than 350,000 children in need for the past four summers, the Post reported. “Now that money has dried up with no statewide replacement on the way, and nonprofit assistance groups are scrambling to fill the gap.

“It’s just heartbreaking,” said Stacy Dykstra, chief executive of the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma, noting that 3 in 5 school-age children in her state who qualify for free or reduced-cost lunches at school would be eligible for the new program. “Many children this summer won’t have access to the food they need. It is really scary and gives me goosebumps just saying it out loud to you.”

In Oklahoma, it means 300,000 kids will go without the funds.

I guess the Oklahoma legislature figures the kids can just eat cake …

— Kendall P. Stanley is retired editor of the News-Review. He can be contacted at kendallstanley@charter.net. The opinions expressed in this column are those of the writer and not necessarily of the Petoskey News-Review or its employees.

This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Kendall Stanley: Truly to the victors!