Anchor Drop, November 4, 2019: Another Monday After a Loss

Good morning.

Women’s golf finished in ninth place at the Battle at the Beach in Los Cabos this weekend. Louise Yu finished in eighth place in the individual competition, shooting 2-under par.

Five Vanderbilt soccer players were named to the All-SEC second team on Sunday. The Commodores play Alabama tomorrow in the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament.

Women’s tennis finished its fall schedule with the conclusion of the June Stewart Invitational on Sunday.

So, apparently it’s a weekly thing now: Hustler sports editor Max Schneider thinks Gerry Gdowski needs to go, though he still won’t say the same for Derek Mason.

Off the West End

Well, college football’s silly season is getting an early start. Willie Taggart has been fired by Florida State. It’s the second job opening in FBS this season, and I don’t think Rutgers got nearly so much attention.

Aside from the “we had no choice” nonsense said out loud by Florida State’s President (you always have a choice), the thing that immediately jumped into my mind is that Taggart hadn’t even finished his second year, so of course the national media jumped on Florida State for not giving him a fair chance, right? Well, not so much. Everybody understood why this was done, which was something that could not be said for Vanderbilt’s firing of Bryce Drew earlier this year. Amazingly, even Tim Brando seems to understand this one.

(Part of it, certainly, is that most members of the national media have watched Florida State play football and did not watch Vanderbilt play basketball last season. But I digress...)

Anyway, this could change a few things in the SEC East if, as the rumors have it, Kentucky’s Mark Stoops is at the top of Florida State’s list. Stay tuned.

Scoreboard

NFL: Texans 26, Jaguars 3 ... Bills 24, Redskins 9 ... Chiefs 26, Vikings 23 ... Dolphins 26, Jets 18 ... Eagles 22, Bears 14 ... Steelers 26, Colts 24 ... Panthers 30, Titans 20 ... Raiders 31, Lions 24 ... Seahawks 40, Buccaneers 34 ... Broncos 24, Browns 19 ... Chargers 26, Packers 11 ... Ravens 37, Patriots 20.

NBA: Pacers 108, Bulls 95 ... Heat 129, Rockets 100 ... Kings 113, Knicks 92 ... Lakers 103, Spurs 96 ... Mavericks 131, Cavaliers 111 ... Clippers 105, Jazz 94.

NHL: Capitals 4, Flames 2 ... Blackhawks 3, Ducks 2.

PGA Tour: Rory McIlroy won the WGC-HSBC Champions in a playoff.