WBC
KPRC Channel 2 News came out with a 30-minute special recently on the folks who have turned up dead in H-Town local bayous. The special is called “Bodies in the Bayou.” Here is from KPRC Channel 2 News:
Houston – Since 2017, more than 200 people have been found across Houston’s 2,500 miles of bayous. Social media is full of questions: How did these people die? Was someone responsible? And if there is a killer, what are police doing to stop them?
Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare says there is no serial killer dumping victims into the bayou. But every time a body is found in Houston’s waterways, some people believe otherwise.
KPRC 2 spent two months speaking with a victim’s family, Harris County’s top prosecutor, and others for a 30-minute special, “Bodies in the Bayou.”
Lauren Freeman, cousin of Kenneth Cutting Jr., expressed frustration with the investigation.
For 19 months, she has searched for answers about what happened to her cousin. His body was found in a bayou east of downtown Houston in June 2024. Houston police investigated but later closed the case.
“It’s pretty close ended if you know what I mean,” Freeman said. “It’s like, if you bring evidence, okay, what do you want us to bring? What exactly do you need to reopen his case?”
Kenneth Cutting Jr. is among 40% of people found in Houston bayous since 2017 whose deaths were ruled undetermined by the Harris County Medical Examiner. That statistic has fueled public speculation about a serial killer.
Andy Kahan, director of victim services and advocacy at Crime Stoppers of Houston, said, “Not only is the public obsessed that this potentially could be a serial killer, from my perspective, it almost appears like they want there to be a serial killer.”
Here is the entire KPRC Channel 2 News story: ‘Bodies in the Bayou’: Inside Houston’s waterways and unsolved cases.
The crime victim fella has been advocating for victims for a few decades now. Clearly the folks who lost family members to the bayou feel like victims. I can’t argue with that. The crime victim fella appears to be discounting their concerns and not taking them seriously. He is certainly not feeling their pain. That is how it looks like to Commentary. Just saying.
_____
There was a meeting about college sports this past Friday. See this from AP:
President Donald Trump predicted the destruction not just of college sports but the entire U.S. collegiate system unless the industry is fixed quickly — something some sports leaders who joined him Friday at a White House summit agreed could only happen by raising more money to pay players.
Trump suggested he would write an “all-encompassing” executive order within a week in hopes it would spark action from Congress. He said he expected the order to trigger a lawsuit that could put the issue back in front of the court system that approved industry-changing payments to players for their name, image and likeness.
That new system has left many schools drowning in red ink, while rules governing their payments to players are only slowly taking hold.
“The whole educational system is going to go out of business because of this,” Trump explained, when asked why he was devoting time to college sports with the war in Iran and other issues dominating the headlines.
During the meeting in the East Room — which included lawmakers, conference commissioners, the president of the NCAA and CEO of the U.S. Olympic team but none of the NCAA’s 550,000 college athletes — Trump said, “I thought the system of scholarships was great.” He was harkening to the recently ended era in which players received little to nothing beyond financial aid.
Here is the entire read: Trump warns US collegiate system could collapse without reform to sports | AP News.
This is about greed. Greed for head coaches. Greed for athletic directors. Greed for college administrators. Greed for those with broadcasting rights. It is certainly not about the college athletes. Maybe the current system needs some work, but it is never going back to the old days. Nope.
_____
With the World Baseball Classic (WBC) in full swing, there is talk about MLB players participating in the 2028 LA Olympics. They got a couple of years to work out an agreement between the players and owners. Just start the 2028 season a week earlier and end a week later and take two weeks off for the Olympics.
_____
The WBC began play at Daikin Park this past Friday. Six games have been played. Italy, Mexico, and Team USA are all 2-0 in Pool B play. It is going to be rocking tonight with Team USA taking on Mexico. Tomorrow night it is Team USA versus Italy and Italy taking on Mexico on Wednesday night.
The top two Pool B teams will move on to the quarterfinal round against the top two Pool A teams at Daikin Park this Friday and Saturday. Right now, Cuba and Puerto Rico are the top two Pool A teams.
I don’t have Team USA gear, so I will wear Astros gear this evening at Daikin Park. The team USA lid is the featured photo today.