Author: Matthew Soderberg

By Matthew Soderberg | Sports WriterTexas Christian University had three players selected before Baylor in the 2020 NFL Draft. Texas Tech had one. TCU went 5-7 last season. Tech won only four games. Baylor won 11, and it’s all because of former head coach Matt Rhule.Baylor had no first round picks. Denzel Mims was the only player picked on day two, and while three defensive players were selected on day three, the Bears didn’t produce any elite prospects. Yet, by all accounts, the Green and Gold were an elite team last season.The Bears finished 11-3, their best finish since the…

By Matthew Soderberg | Sports WriterAcross the country, athletic departments are cowering at the budget ramifications coming down from COVID-19. Despite the impending doom for some sports, Felecia Mulkey expects Acrobatics and Tumbling to continue its monumental rise.Mulkey, the Baylor A&T head coach and NCATA expansion director, has been spearheading the campaign to move the sport under the NCAA’s umbrella. Currently it sits under the NCATA, the National Collegiate Acrobatics and Tumbling Association, but there was supposed to be a vote by the Division I council this month. Due to the national emergency, the vote has been pushed back to…

By Matthew Soderberg | Sports WriterThrough two weekends of “The Last Dance,” viewers are as ecstatic as Dennis Rodman after his two day vacation to Las Vegas in the middle of the 1997-1998 season. Weekend one was a huge hit with over 6.1 million viewers watching both episodes, the highest total for any ESPN documentary.Night two didn’t let up. Episode three featured Rodman, the enigmatic power forward who led the back line for the second three-peat. He also is one of the most controversial players in NBA history, racking up technicals, new hairstyles and famous girlfriends. One of the best…

By Matthew Soderberg | Sports Writer’One of the first big sporting events since the cancellation is finally here: the NFL Draft. Of course, even with a virtual draft, there are going to be some interesting decisions. Applauds:Dolphins – Tanking for Tua worked! Miami picked Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa with the fifth overall pick. They didn’t overthink the injuries and question marks; they just took the best player on the board. He has the opportunity to be the best player from this class, and he could wreak havoc in a division without a dominant quarterback.Cardinals – With Clemson defensive player Isaiah…

By Matthew Soderberg | Sports WriterIt’s the most wonderful time of the year (please sing that line to get your one spark of joy this week). Quarantine is the best time to get our lives in order and do all the things we said we’d do when we had free time as long as you can hoist up the motivation to do it.Speaking from experience, this is a hard time to get work done. Finding the drive to put out articles or get school work done is not easy, and I doubt I’m alone. Just from scrolling through Twitter, it…

By Matthew Soderberg | Sports WriterHis “Airness.” Air Jordan. The Greatest. Ever. There’s no dispute, and ESPN is going to take advantage of that over the next five weeks with their documentary “The Last Dance.” But like Michael Jordan himself, the 10-part show is complex.“The Last Dance” focuses on MJ’s final season with the Chicago Bulls when the team won its sixth title in eight years. However, since the documentary covers one of the most impactful players in sports history, it has to go further than just one season.About half of episode one focuses on the preseason of 1997-1998, with…

By Matthew Soderberg | Sports WriterJust imagine: you are coaching in the 2028 NCAA national championship game. You’ve won the past four titles as the head coach of Florida Atlantic. So, you’re either a multimillionaire, or EA Sports is making college football games again, and they should be.The EA Sports college football and basketball video games were the base of my childhood. Building dynasties and making great programs out of obscure colleges took up more time than I’d like to admit, and I miss them dearly.The games gave you the power to take over a program in Dynasty Mode, or…

By Matthew Soderberg | Sports WriterEverybody needs a pick me up, and probably a status update since we can’t tell what day of the week it is. Good News:The Masters, easily the most recognizable golf tournament in the world and one of the top five sporting events in general, has chosen a new date. The prestigious green jackets will be handed out on Nov. 12 with play happening on the preceding three days. Tiger Woods is the defending champion, and he is only three victories behind Jack Nicklaus for overall major wins. The PGA Championship (Aug. 6-9) and the US…

By Matthew Soderberg | Sports Writer, Video by Nate Smith | Broadcast Reporter The postponement of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics altered athletes on the world stage, and both current and former Baylor student athletes were also afflicted by the ramifications of the decision. Baylor track and field head coach Todd Harbour said the delay was expected once everyone realized how harshly COVID-19 was affecting the world. “When they canceled our season, I felt like the Olympics would be [too],” Harbour said. “I knew they were going to try to hold on as long as they could, but the more reports…

By Matthew Soderberg | Sports Writer, Video by Drake Toll | Broadcast Managing Editor In the aftermath of Monday’s NCAA vote to allow spring-sport athletes another year of eligibility, Baylor softball head coach Glenn Moore said there are good and bad consequences that will follow the NCAA’s choice. “This decision is going to prove to be a little more complicated than just the fact that we have a returning class,” Moore said. “Certainly I will be excited with this senior class coming back, and we’ll work through all the things we need to. I also think it was a very…

By Matthew Soderberg | Sports WriterThe NCAA announced Monday that all spring-sport athletes would receive an eligibility waiver and increase in scholarship counts, allowing players who would have aged out to return for another year. The Division I Council declined to give the same aid to winter sports.The council’s decision comes on the heels of every collegiate season getting canceled due to concerns over COVID-19, including the first year without March Madness since 1938. It will be up to individual schools to decide how they will provide aid to returning athletes and will have to take account how their decisions…

By Matthew Soderberg | Sports WriterBob Bowlsby has been a busy man. The Big 12 Commissioner has had anvils falling on his face since the NBA postponed its season, as has the rest of the sports world. And he still isn’t sure when the industry will be back on its feet or what the consequences are so far.Bowlsby addressed the media Thursday, with the bulk of his discussion on the financial ramifications of losing the spring season and the possibility of losing next fall. He said he’s had “several” calls with the NCAA over the past few weeks, and the…

The world turned upside down. In a matter of hours, the Bears went from scouting their next opponent while in Kansas City, Mo., to heading home with no season to finish. Due to concerns over the spread of COVID-19, the NCAA canceled the March Madness tournament, leaving many college basketball players frustrated and heartbroken. It also left Baylor sophomore guard Jared Butler with a decision to make.Butler came into the season not necessarily touted as one of the best players in the country, and Baylor wasn’t supposed to be a top-tier school. Three Man Weave slotted the guard as “potentially…

By Matthew Soderberg | Sports ReporterIn the beginning, there was the Word, and the Word was with God. Then they made the Earth and all its inhabitants, and then us, the humans. Then we destroyed all the hard work they provided for us.Genesis 1 starts with the creation story. After God creates man, He says to him in Genesis 1:28 “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over all living creatures.” I think many people take that to mean humans can do whatever they want with the land and the animals and the…

Matthew Soderberg | Sports WriterLive sports in America have been gone for 12 days. It is a barren landscape in the industry, but there are at least a couple of notes to be optimistic about.Good NewsThe new NFL league year began without a hitch last week. A strong quarterback market has been bubbly, and two of the best 10 wide receivers in the country were traded. Now, being from Houston, a few of those things aren’t great for me, but activity is activity.The All-American lists in both men’s and women’s basketball came out, and Baylor is well represented. One Bear…

By Matthew Soderberg | Sports WriterFrom start to finish this wasn’t a normal season for the Bears. Baylor’s men’s basketball team began their season 24-1, including a stretch that featured the longest winning-streak by a Big 12 team in conference history. Then, it abruptly ended due to the world-wide pandemic.Baylor was ranked No. 1 by the Associated Press four times more this season than it had been over the course of program history. The Bears were set up for their best showing on Selection Sunday, with Joe Lunardi’s bracket projection slotting them in for a No. 1 seed. In the…

By Matthew Soderberg | Sports WriterIt just stopped. Everything just, kind of, stopped. I suppose there was a warning; we should have expected something like this to come, but nothing could have prepared us for something as dire as a world without sports.Sports are one of the best escapes from the real world. People rely on sports to get away from the troubles in their lives, whether it’s hard times at work or at school or at home. Men and women have routinely gotten home, flipped on ESPN, and relaxed while “Sportscenter” or a game subdue their worries.To add insult…

By Matthew Soderberg | Sports WriterNo. 1 Baylor Acro & Tumbling defeated Gannon University Tuesday night to the tune of 290.65-280.665. The Bears earned season-highs in five of the six events across the evening. Baylor started off with records in each heat of the Compulsory Event as well as in the Acro Event. They led 68.8-67.85 after the first two contests, and that lead grew again in a strong, but not record-setting Pyramid Event, allowing the Bears to stroll into halftime with a 1.7-point lead. The Bears were struck with their lowest-scoring event this year up next with the Toss,…

By Matthew Soderberg | Sports Writer, Video. by Nate Smith | Broadcast Reporter In a game with 14 ties and 12 lead changes, No. 4 Baylor men’s basketball found a way to win without junior forwards Mark Vital and Tristan Clark. The Bears defeated Texas Tech 71-68 in overtime with three Baylor players with more points than Tech’s leading scorer. The Bears shot the ball horrifically in the first half. At 34.4% from the field, and with the Red Raiders taking nine less shots and making two more, most would expect Baylor to be in a severe deficit going into…

By Matthew Soderberg | Sports WriterNo. 19 Baylor softball defeated No. 21 Arkansas 3-2 Thursday after a late comeback powered the team over the Razorbacks. Sophomore third baseman Lou Gilbert went 3/3 at the plate and scored the game-tying run in the top of the seventh.Redshirt senior Gia Rodoni earned the start for the Lady Bears and pitched five innings of two-run ball. Rodoni’s only runs allowed came off a two-run shot launched in the bottom of the fourth. The senior also threw seven strikeouts with three hits allowed and no free bases.After Nicky Dawson came out of the game…

By Matthew Soderberg | Sports WriterBaylor track and field will head north for the Big 12 Indoor Championships on Friday and Saturday. Both the men’s and women’s squads finished sixth in the conference last season.The Bears won six out of the 38 events at last year’s championships, and they return eight athletes from those wins. Head coach Todd Harbour said they have tempered expectations heading into this weekend.“We don’t have enough firepower to go up there and really realistically say we can try to win this thing, but we can still go up there and have a great meet,” Harbour…

By Matthew Soderberg | Sports WriterIn the upcoming Texas primary, healthcare is set to be a hotly contested issue as voters head to the polls.In a Gallup poll from April 2019, 80% of people polled said they worry a “fair amount” about healthcare availability, and in the recent Nevada Caucuses, CNN said over 40% of people polled said their biggest concern going in was healthcare.The Hankamer School of Business features many economics professors who study the healthcare industry.Dr. Michael Richards and Dr. Mark Kelly are two associate professors in the department that have researched the area, and Richards said a…

By Matthew Soderberg | Sports WriterBaylor baseball earned its fifth win of the season with a 2-0 victory over UT Rio Grande Valley Wednesday afternoon. The Bears pitched their second shutout of the season, with both coming on mid-week games. Freshman righty Will Rigney made his first appearance for Baylor as he earned the start and pitched three innings of shutout ball with two strikeouts, one walk and one hit batter. He was relieved by redshirt junior righty Jimmy Winston who pitched his first scoreless outing of the year. He made it through 2.1 innings with four strikeouts and five…

By Matthew Soderberg | Sports WriterNo. 23 Baylor softball defeated Louisiana Tech Tuesday night to end their early season home stand undefeated at Getterman Stadium. Freshman righty Aliyah Pritchett drove in both runs for the Lady Bears and provided three innings of scoreless relief to finish off the Bulldogs.Redshirt senior righty Gia Rodoni earned the start for Baylor and pitched four innings of one-run ball to raise her ERA to a paltry 0.97. She also recorded three strikeouts over her time on the mound, equaling as many batters as she hit.Rodoni began the top of the second with a hit…

By Matthew Soderberg | Sports WriterBaylor Interdisciplinary Core professor Dr. Sam Perry and Dr. Thomas Kidd, the Vardaman Distinguished Professor of History and Associate Director for the Institute for Studies of Religion, recently wrote books on the Evangelist movement and how it interacts with American politics.Kidd said when evangelicals are mentioned in polls or on the news, it’s not representative of the entire body of “born again” Christians.“When evangelicals are discussed in the media, you’re talking not about evangelicals generally, but about white Republican, self-identified evangelicals in polling,” Kidd said. “I mean, that’s a perspective, but that’s not, that’s certainly…

By Matthew Soderberg | Sports WriterBaylor softball senior pitcher Gia Rodoni was named Baylor Lariat Sports Athlete of the Weekend after completing her fifth career no-hitter against Tulsa Friday afternoon. The senior finished off the Hurricanes with a complete game no-no and a perfect game through five innings. Rodoni also recorded nine strikeouts against the No. 35 team in the country. After the game, head coach Glenn Moore said her success has been unexpected after missing last season. “She’s been phenomenal this early in the season,” Moore said. “We didn’t expect her to be progressed to this point this early…

By Matthew Soderberg | Sports WriterA capacity crowd of 10,637 fans showed up to support their teams at the Ferrell Center Saturday as No. 1 Baylor faced No. 3 Kansas for dominance in the Big 12. The fans weren’t turned away by the high ticket prices, even as the cost for a seat was at a minimum over $200. Even ESPN personality Jay Bilas said he heard about the difficulty getting into the game. “I’ve been told that tickets are going for a little more than face value,” Bilas said. With ESPN’s “College GameDay” on campus, as many as 850…

By Matthew Soderberg | Sports WriterNo. 1 Baylor acrobatics and tumbling defeated No. 2 Oregon 281.35-275.475 in its home opener. The Bears improved their record to 3-0 and improved their winning streak to 33 matches.The match started with the compulsory event, the baseline competition level for collegiate A&T. The event is split between four portions, and Baylor lost the first three but outdid the Ducks well enough in tumbling to lead after the first sixth, 37.8-37.45.The acrobatics event followed with a Bear loss, 29.3-28.45, and the home squad barely pulled out the pyramid event with a score of 29.6-29.4. Baylor…

By Matthew Soderberg | Sports WriterBaylor softball finished the Baylor Invitational on Sunday with a 5-4 win against Illinois. The victory over the Illini pushed its record for the weekend to 5-0.Redshirt junior righty Sydney Holman-Mansell earned the start for the Lady Bears and got through three innings of four-run pitching before being relieved. Holman-Mansell gave up six hits and four earned runs in her time on the mound while striking out four batters.After Illinois plated their first run of the day in the top of the first, Baylor redshirt junior right fielder Madison Kettler tripled down the right field…

By Matthew Soderberg | Sports Writer Baylor softball powered through day two of the Baylor Invitational with two 2-1 wins against Texas State and No. 17 Minnesota. The Lady Bears won each game in walk-off fashion.Freshman righty Aliyah Pritchett got the start for the Lady Bears in the first game of the day and pitched seven innings of one-run ball with five strikeouts and eight earned baserunners. Pritchett limited the damage to the first inning in her game on the mound as she pitched six scoreless to finish off Texas State.The Lady Bears responded in the bottom of the first…