Anchor Drop, June 11, 2020: 86 Days to Kickoff

Good morning.

We are now 86 days away from Vanderbilt football’s scheduled season opener against Mercer. #86 for Vanderbilt is redshirt sophomore tight end Ben Bresnahan, who saw his first action in 2019 after missing the 2018 season with an injury, catching seven passes for 105 yards.

Optional Musical Accompaniment

Well, the first night of the MLB Draft has come and gone. Austin Martin somehow lasted until the fifth pick, which led Toronto Blue Jays blog Bluebird Banter to declare that they may have landed the steal of the draft. Vanderbilt also probably lost two commitments, with Robert Hassell going to the Padres with the 8th pick (he was the first high school player drafted) and Pete Crow-Armstrong to the Mets with the 18th pick. We’re back for the second through fifth rounds tonight, and Andrew has your primer coming later this afternoon.

(In all seriousness: hey, Tigers, Orioles, Marlins, and Royals, this is why y’all have the top four picks in the draft, though shouts to the Texas Panhandle and Heston Kjerstad.)

Here’s a cool story about a protest in Murfreesboro, which led to one of the protest’s organizers speaking to a couple of police officers, one of whom is the father of former Vanderbilt football players Emmanuel Smith and Josh Smith.

Vanderbilt also recognized a couple of athletic department employees who are retiring.

And, incoming Chancellor Daniel Diermeier held a Zoom meeting yesterday.

Chris Lee’s latest podcast, with Seabass. (Always do appreciate him doing a weekly podcast with a radio host in Jackson.)

Coming later this morning, from me: we’re starting the football position preview series with the quarterbacks.

NASCAR has banned the Confederate flag at its race tracks, a sure sign that change is real.

Actual Sports on TV

The PGA Tour is back! The Golf Channel is showing the Charles Schwab Challenge from Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, starting at 11:00 AM CT. (And there was much rejoicing, but mostly from Tom and Shawn.)

And that’s the extent of live sports. You will watch golf and you will like it. I have already promised my wife that I will counterprogram her intention of showing the twins Disney shows by making them watch golf, so get ready.