Good morning and welcome to my weekend thoughts. Each Monday, I will share my thoughts on what's happening in and around SE Louisiana and give my opinions on some random topics that are on my mind. I'll also answer some questions that our readers send in so hit me up on anything from sports, music, food and more...
1. Well, you guys know where I was this weekend, and I promised a spoiler-free review... Deadpool and Wolverine, go see it! It has been 6 years since Deadpool 2 was released, and it was well worth the wait. The MCU has been suffering lately (more on that later); and this will be the only movie that Marvel will release this year, and man, they got it right! It is the BEST of the Deadpool trilogy. I will not ruin it for those who have yet to see it, but I will leave you with these two words... MAXIMUM EFFORT!
2. Saints training camp started on Tuesday, with the first practice on Wednesday. Even though I have covered the team for a few years now, this time of year is still really exciting for me. Training camp is a time for guys to step up and make their place on the roster. We all know that Chris Olave, Demario Davis, and Alvin Kamara are locks but for me, I like to evaluate the dark horses, whose names no one really knows just yet. A good example is Charlie Smyth, the Irish Gaelic football goalkeeper that we signed back in March. This kid really has a leg, getting praise just the other day for nailing all of his field goal tries, including a 59-yarder. Unfortunately, he is struggling on kickoffs, but if he can correct those issues, he could give Blake Grupe some strong competition for the starting job. Grupe has a leg as well but really struggled on short kicks last year, hitting 30 of 37.
3. LSU hosted their "Bayou Splash" recruiting event this weekend for some of their top recruiting prospects, including Jahkeem Stewart and Jackson Cantwell, the top 2 players in the 2026 class.
Get all details on their visits and more...
LSU Puts On "productive" Visit For Five-star DL Jahkeem Stewart - Rivals.com
2026 Five-star OT Jackson Cantwell Says LSU Exceeded His Expectations (rivals.com)
Also in attendance was Jalen Chapman, the 3-star recruit from Warren Easton, who on Sunday evening announced his commitment to the Tigers.
4. A report came out last week that the NFL and NFLPA are engaging in talks of expanding the season to 18 games. This shouldn't be too much of a shock to football fans, as NFL commissioner Roger Goodell spoke out in favor of an expanded season back in April, saying that he would like to see 18 regular-season games and just two preseason games in the future. IMO, they would have to add an additional bye week to the season for this to have any chance of passing. With all the injuries and fatigue that we see now, players need as much time off to rest and recover. When the NFL schedule expanded to 17 games in 2021, just 51.5% of players voted in favor of the change. Former LSU and current Bengals QB Joe Burrow, who has suffered several injuries since being drafted in 2020, recently gave his thoughts on an 18-game season: "Gotta have two bye weeks and I think it'd be cool to do normal bye weeks like it is now. Have it spread out. But then, like, Week 13, do the Pro Bowl break. Where you have the 7-on-7 and all the skills challenges, like the NBA does. Because I think that would give more ratings for the Pro Bowl, and then it would also give everybody that bye week going into the last six games of the year." Adding, "Then you have guys that are injured that would be able to potentially come back, and you want your best players out there as a league. You want them out there for the last six weeks of the season. You want your best players on the field. So, I think that would be a smart idea."
5. The summer Olympics kicked off in Paris this weekend but not without controversy. Social media was on fire, calling for a boycott over some questionable acts during the opening ceremony. None the less, the games go on and we have seen Team USA take a total of 12 medals so far (3 gold, 6 silver, and 3 bronze)
The big 2 events that I am waiting for are women's gymnastics and track where we will see one of the best of all time, Simone Biles, go for the gold in her 3rd Olympics, and former LSU track star Sha'Carri Richardson finally get her opportunity in the women's 100 meters.
Do you watch the Olympics, and what events are you interested in?
6. San Diego held their annual Comic Con event this weekend, and Marvel's Panel was on Saturday night and came with an announcement that shocked the world. After seeing Tony Stark/Iron Man save the world and die a hero in 2019 in Avengers: Endgame, it seems that Robert Downey Jr. will make his return as Victor Von Doom/Doomsday. As a huge Marvel junkie and fan of RDJ, this announcement totally blew my mind. After seeing this and Deadpool and Wolverine, I think the MCU is finally back on track, and my dream of seeing Ryan Reynolds and RDJ in a Marvel movie together could finally come true!!
7. Weather watchers need to keep an eye on the tropics, as there is a tropical wave in the Atlantic that now has a 40% chance of developing into a tropical depression or tropical storm. As we approach August, that is the time Hurricane season heats up. Hopefully, we can stay safe from a major storm this year.
Well, that's all folks. See you next week... same time, same place.
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