Good morning, and thanks for spending part of your day with Extra Points.
In a perfect world, Extra Points would run on something resembling an editorial calendar. You make the phone calls, file the FOIAs, write the second and third drafts of a story, and then can confidently say, “I’m going to publish something about X on Thursday, Y on Friday, etc.” Since we’re running close to the end of the year, there aren’t many newsletter spaces left. You want to make ’em count.
And then somebody goes out and does something that blows up your schedule. THANKS, UNIVERSITY OF UTAH.
Specific financial details about this transaction — What are the assets and liabilities moving into this new unit? How much cash will Utah get, and when will it get it? How large an ownership stake will Otro Capital hold? — are all TBA. Yes, I’ve filed the GRAMA requests, just like every other sports business publication. Yes, I’ve sent the text messages. As of this moment, I don’t have those answers.
But we know the general gist of the arrangement. Utah will create a new group, Utah Brands & Entertainment LLC, to house much of the athletic department’s revenue generating efforts. Via Yahoo:
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The university retains majority ownership and decision-making authority of Utah Brands & Entertainment. Otro marries the capital infusion with a team of experienced operators. A president from outside the university will preside over the company and report to a board, chaired by Utah athletic director Mark Harlan, with seats for trustees and Otro executives.
The project includes a fascinating wrinkle. The university is offering a prominent group of donors the ability to purchase a stake in Utah Brands & Entertainment. Already, university officials have culled a small donor base to generate millions in purchase agreements. The more than $500 million capital figure includes both the nine-figure cash infusion from Otro as well as those capital commitments from donors.
Utah Brands & Entertainment will house most of the components traditionally held within the university’s athletic department, including many athletic personnel and divisions. However, fundraising will remain with the school.
The new company’s primary goal is to generate more revenue across an assortment of areas, including ticketing, concessions, corporate sales and sponsorships. Charged with overseeing and operating the revenue-share pay system for Utah athletes, the new entity provides the department with more flexibility and freedom considering it will operate separate from a public university
The question I’ve been asked again and again over the past 24 hours — from radio hosts to EP readers to industry professionals — has been: Is this a good idea? And my honest-to-God answer right now would be … I don’t know. I don’t believe I know enough of the nitty-gritty financial specifics to answer that question. I understand why Utah would want to do this. I understand why Otro Capital might want to do it. I can intellectually understand how this could end in 10 years with everybody fat and happy.
But I do have lots of questions.
How much more revenue could Utah athletics hope to reasonably earn?
Part of the stated rationale for this deal is to tap into Otro’s network and expertise. Otro’s whole deal is investing in sports- and entertainment-related firms, and it has existing stakes in an F1 team, a data analytics company (Two Circles) and a youth sports event and marketing company. The thinking goes: Utah could generate even more revenue from stuff like live events, licensing, multimedia and ticketing by working with a firm with deep operational expertise.
Whether that works comes down to execution, but I understand the argument.
But what I’d like to better understand is … let’s say everybody is successful, and Otro helps to meaningfully grow Utah’s new earned revenues. How much is even possible?
Some days, being a working mom in Effingham County feels like I accidentally signed up to be an underpaid chaos coordinator with unlimited overtime. There is no manual and certainly no bonus check. What I do get is a lot of love, a little laughter, and the constant joy of explaining that a Christmas tree cake is not a balanced meal.
Morning madness
Most weekday mornings start with my alarm at 6:20 a.m. I roll out of bed, step over two dogs who sleep like they pay the mortgage, and stumble across the house to wake the pre-teen and teenage gremlins who refuse to rise until the last possible second. Once I hear a few groans that land somewhere between annoyance and mild betrayal, I head back to the kitchen. I pop sausage biscuits in the microwave—no judgment, still slightly better than a Pop-Tart—to feed said gremlins before throwing on an outfit that, I hope, gives the impression of effort and swipe on just enough makeup to say, “I am doing my best. Please do not look too closely.”
On mornings when I set my alarm for a completely disrespectful 4 a.m., the routine shifts to a quiet scavenger hunt in the dark. I fumble for workout clothes, try to remember if I brushed my teeth, and pack myself into the car to teach a one-hour cycle and fitness class to a room full of equally confused adults who also woke before sunrise. There’s something very bonding about sweating together at 5 a.m. while nobody’s brain is fully online yet.
By 6:50 a.m., the house is in full motion. One kid cannot find a shoe. The other cannot find the will to live. Someone suddenly remembers a permission slip due right that second. Then we sprint to the bus stop like competitors in the Effingham Olympics. If your children catch the bus by 7:10 a.m., congratulations—you’ve already worked half a day before most people finish their first cup of coffee.
Work, side hustles, and the commute
Once the bus pulls away, Mom clock number two begins—reserved for actual paying jobs. Effingham moms fall into three groups: moms who work in Effingham, moms who commute outside of Effingham, and God’s favorites who work from home. To the commuters, I say a special prayer for your patience. May your coffee stay hot, and may Highway 21 treat you kindly.
The moms who stay local are not sitting around relaxing. Many of us work full time and then stack a side hustle on top of it. Some even turn hobbies into businesses. I teach fitness on the side because I figured if I’m going to get sweaty anyway, I might as well get paid for it. Effingham moms are a special breed. You have not lived until you’ve watched a woman put in eight hours at her day job, squeeze in an hour of fitness, coach a youth sports team, and still manage to pick up groceries with the speed and accuracy of a NASCAR pit crew.
Evening shuffle
Then comes the evening shuffle. This is rarely a peaceful sit-down dinner. It’s more like rotating shifts based on practice times. Effingham Recreation is wonderful, but I am convinced the practice schedule was created by drawing numbers out of a hat. Soccer at 5, basketball at 6:30, volleyball at 7:45. And of course, someone always forgets a crucial sports accessory that must be delivered immediately, or the world will end.
Dinner is another adventure. The question, “What do you want for dinner?” should honestly be banned from every household. I lean heavily on HelloFresh, which has saved me on nights when my brain is too tired to choose between spaghetti or cereal. On other nights, it turns into “you are on your own,” but Christmas tree cakes still do not count as a meal.
Laundry is always running. The dishwasher is always full. At least one child always needs a very specific shirt washed immediately. Meanwhile, I try to stay upright until at least 8 p.m. The time change, which throws darkness at us at 5:30 p.m., really tests my spirit. Time change and I are not on speaking terms.
Why it’s worth it
Even with all the chaos, raising kids here feels grounding. Effingham has the kind of warmth that makes you feel like you belong. Schools are strong. Teachers actually know your children. Recreation keeps kids active and teaches life lessons about teamwork, sportsmanship, and how to bounce back after taking a volleyball to the face.
Effingham moms juggle a lot, but it is comforting to know we are raising families in a place that feels like home—a place where people wave at each other, neighbors check in, and your child might play ball on the same field you once did.
So here’s to the moms of Effingham County. We may be tired, but we are tough. Resourceful. Funny without trying. And we show up for our families in every way we can. The laundry will always be waiting, but the chaos will not, so we savor these days while we have them.
— Lauren Eargle is a wife, mom of four, Springfield City Manager, and co-owner of Revolution Cycle and Fitness. She juggles city hall, spin classes, and the daily chaos of raising her kids in Effingham County—sometimes all before breakfast.
The Blue Creek Blue Creek Springtime Monarchs (an affiliate of the National Wild Turkey Foundation) is inviting all area youth to its annual JAKES (Juniors Acquiring Knowledge, Ethics and Sportsmanship) Day at the Izaak Walton League facility north of Vinton.
Children age 17 and under are invited to this free event on Saturday, Aug. 13, to enjoy and learn about many activities including hunter’s safety, archery, .22 rifle target practice, trap shooting, and game calling. Lunch and drinks are provided. The first 60 children to register will receive a free Jakes Day t-shirt.
For more information, call Mike Salow at (319) 350-4187 or Randy Scheel at 319-477-3150.
Our world is awash in plastic. From single-use water bottles and food packaging to synthetic clothes, shoes, and even nail polish, our overreliance on plastic is spreading a toxic, chemical-laden material all over the planet — including in our own bodies.
Most Americans are sick of plastic use, but manufacturers continue to push the product on us. This holiday season, is it possible to have a plastic-free celebration?
There’s no substitute for systemic policy change to regulate plastic use, but individual actions on a mass scale can have an impact. They can also be a dinner table conversation, potentially spurring cultural shifts and inspiring local activism.
“None of us voted for more plastic,” says Judith Enck, founder and president of Beyond Plastics. Enck, who served as regional administrator at the Environmental Protection Agency in 2009, adds that “the reason we have so much plastic is because there is a glut of fracked gas on the market.”
Enck says it’s entirely possible to have a plastic-free holiday season. She suggests forgoing disposable dinnerware for your Christmas, Hannukah, or Kwanzaa meal. “You can rent glassware and plates and beautiful reusable tablecloths and napkins from local vendors,” she says.
The food at your holiday dinner table needn’t come packaged in plastic either. Challenge yourself to purchase ingredients from your local farmers market using cotton tote bags. Produce that is locally grown is generally seasonal, tastier, has a lower carbon footprint, and is often pesticide-free or organic.
Purchase drinks for your holiday dinner in glass bottles. Most wine is already sold in glass, but even for teetotalers, it’s entirely possible to purchase drinks packaged in glass bottles or cardboard boxes.
According to Enck, “materials like paper, cardboard, metal, and glass… can be made of recycled material and actually does get recycled when you put it in your recycling bin” — unlike plastic. Most plastic is never recycled, no matter how diligent you are about cleaning and disposing of it in your recycling bins.
Gift-giving is particularly fraught with plastic. Mass-produced toys, clothes, and gadgets are either made from plastic or wrapped in it. Enck’s organization offers a handy online guide for plastic-free gifting, like giving memberships in a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program. Most local communities, including cities, have local farmers who offer such memberships.
“Consider giving experiences rather than material products,” she adds, like “taking little kids to a matinee movie, giving your aunts and uncles tickets to a concert or a play, or giving busy parents a couple coupons that you’ll go and babysit their kids on a Saturday night.”
Memberships to museums, botanical gardens, and zoos are also excellent alternatives to plastic products. A gift certificate for a massage or yoga class for a busy working parent is likely to be received with far more gratitude than yet another trinket they don’t need.
If you feel compelled to buy a product, there are sustainable alternatives. Consider shopping at a thrift store to give an old product new life and save it from the landfill. (Vintage items are always fashionable!) Find your local “Buy Nothing” groups and post a request for lightly used items as gifts.
If you must purchase new gifts, consider plastic-free options. Clothing in particular can be sustainable if it’s made with natural fibers such as cotton, wool, or silk. Avoid clothes with labels marked polyester, poly-blend, nylon, acrylic, or microfiber. Synthetic clothes are notorious for shedding microplastics that end up in our blood stream and oceans.
Remember to use recyclable gift wrap, wrapping paper alternatives like tea towels or old cookie tins, or simply reuse last year’s wrapping.
Most importantly, make your plastic-free (or plastic-light) holiday a talking point at the dinner table and when exchanging gifts. These conversations can lead to real change: Regulations such as California’s new plastic bag ban and Georgia’s plastic food packaging ban are set to take effect next year, and are the result of dedicated public activism.
Make a New Year’s resolution to commit to political action against plastic in 2026.
Sonali Kolhatkar is host and executive producer of Rising Up With Sonali, an independent, subscriber-based syndicated TV and radio show.
NOTE: Comments posted to this blog page are for information only. The opinions of the author are not necessarily the opinions of this newspaper, its staff or its advertisers.
Newly-named Athletic Director Melissa Edwards at the Pulaski Street Sports Complex (Credit: Michael Hejmej photo)
When Melissa Edwards was a student at Riverhead High School, she dreamed of this exact moment. Being a standout athlete for the Blue Waves, excelling at softball and field hockey, she was always around the athletic department. She envied William Groth, Riverhead’s athletic director at the time, and thought about how amazing it would be to have that job one day.
Flash forward 24 years later and, effective Dec. 1, Ms. Edwards was officially named director of health, physical education and athletics at Riverhead Central Schools.
“When I saw the position open up, I knew I had to throw my hat in the ring,” Ms. Edwards said. “When you love athletics and you love education and you love being around kids, there’s no job better. It’s my dream job. And most importantly, Riverhead is home.”
After a lengthy interview process in the spring with Bob Hagen, Riverhead’s new superintendent of schools, and the board of education, seeing her phone ring with his name plastered on the screen this summer instantly brought mixed feelings.
“He started talking about how much of a great candidate I was and saying all these nice things about me,” Ms. Edwards said. “Listening to all this, I was waiting for the ‘but.’ I had already programmed myself to accept not getting the position that I didn’t realize, there was no ‘but.’ He just offered me the job.”
After graduating from Riverhead in 2001, Ms. Edwards starred for Springfield College in softball, playing catcher. She smacked 26 home runs in her collegiate career, which set a school record at the time. Following her playing career, she coached at the college level in the Boston area before coming back to Long Island.
“My whole family is here,” Ms. Edwards said. “Family always pulls you back, and that’s exactly what keeps me here today.”
Ms. Edwards accepted a position to coach Pierson in softball and field hockey. During her time there, the field hockey team won a New York State Championship for the first time in school history, and the softball team made it to the state championships three years in a row.
“It was a crazy time because once we started getting success in softball and field hockey, other teams started following suit,” she said. “Baseball started getting good, soccer, every sport wanted that taste of success. At that point, winning becomes the expectation, which is exactly the mentality I want to bring to Riverhead.”
In 2013, Ms. Edwards got an opportunity to head into the administrative field, accepting the assistant athletic director position at McGann-Mercy, a private school in Riverhead. That assistant tag didn’t last long as she fully took over the program shortly after. She held the position until the school closed its doors in 2018.
“While I was at Mercy, I realized this is the job I was meant to do,” Ms. Edwards said. “The opportunity to make an impact on kids across the board and give them a true chance at success was so fulfilling. I wanted nothing more than to do it again.”
She decided to go back to school and received her master’s degree in physical education from Adelphi University. Edwards then accepted a teaching job at Wantagh while being the assistant softball coach for a few years before most recently heading to East Hampton High School to coach their softball team.
“No matter where I went, I always wanted to come back home,” Ms. Edwards said. “I live in Riverhead. I was born in Riverhead. This was always my end goal.”
When Hans Wiederkehr, Riverhead’s interim athletic director, first heard of the hiring and met Ms. Edwards, he knew instantly she was the right person for the job.
“Energy,” Mr. Wiederkehr said. “If you don’t have energy in this position, you’re done. And if it’s not positive energy, it’s even worse. She has the energy, and she legitimately wants the best for Riverhead athletics. It’s not just talk. Nobody wants this more than her.”
Mr. Wiederkehr will stay on board to help with the transition and to build off of what’s been done already. The main focus has been on youth sports. In partnership with the booster clubs, youth sporting opportunities have skyrocketed in Riverhead.
There’s football, soccer, basketball, lacrosse — anything youth-related, it’s been started. Most recently, there’s been an emphasis on kid wrestling taking root again.
“Our buildings are full with kids’ sports every day of the week,” Mr. Wiederkehr said, showing off a detailed sheet on his desk. “Parents have stepped up. There’s many volunteers that are committed to turning things around, and both of us are committed to helping do that.”
Another thing Ms. Edwards plans on tackling is the playing fields.
“We want to make this place pristine and top-notch like our athletes deserve here,” she said. “We’re working hard with the grounds crew to clean this place up. Every day, we have a new project.”
To Ms. Edwards, the budget cuts excuse is gone. There are no more excuses. Riverhead will succeed.
“The fact of the matter is I care,” she said. “This is my home. I know all these long-time Riverhead families. I want the best for this town, and I believe in this town. Riverhead athletics is changing. We’re already seeing major progress. All I want to do is foster that success and make it an expectation.”
ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Macalester College women’s basketball team played a hard-fought MIAC game against Carleton College, with the Knights edging the Scots, 49-47 Wednesday night in the Leonard Center. Macalester is now 1-8 overall and 0-3 in conference play, while Carleton improves to 4-4, 1-2 MIAC.
Macalester opened with an 11-4 run that saw senior forward Ellie Corbett (Austin, Texas/James Bowie) score four points and junior guard Acacia Edmond (Houston, Texas/Shadow Creek) drain a three-pointer. Carleton responded with eight straight points to take a 12-11 edge before sophomore guard Emma Karlin (Rockville, Md./Richard Montgomery) restored the lead for the Scots with a basket with less than a minute left in the quarter. After a Knights’ free throw tied the score, junior guard Mary Daley (Cumberland, R.I./Bishop Feehan) scored at the end of the quarter for a 15-13 Macalester lead.
Carleton scored first in the second quarter to tie the score, but two Daley free throws and an 18-foot jumper by senior forward Brooke Boroughs (Monroe, Wash./Monroe) put the Scots on top, 19-15. After the Knights tied the score at 19-19, sophomore forward Cady Davis (Minneapolis, Minn./Roosevelt) made two free throws for a 21-19 Macalester lead heading into the halftime break. The Scots compensated for poor shooting from the field by making all six of their free throws compared to 1-of-4 for Carleton in the first half.
Both offenses came alive in the third quarter. Taylor Dente opened the period with a three to give the Knights the lead, but an 8-0 run sparked by four points from junior guard Sydnee Smith (Gainesville, Va./Patriot) put Macalester back on top, 29-22. After a Knights’ free throw, first year guard Megan Matthews (Boulder, Colo./Boulder) and Dente exchanged threes to make the score 32-26. Carleton outscored the Scots, 7-2 over the remainder of the quarter to reduce the lead to one, 34-33 heading into the fourth.
Davis opened the final period with a basket, but the Knights tallied the next four points to take a 37-36 edge with 6:05 to play. Sophomore forward Samantha Smith (Piedmont, Calif./Piedmont) broke the scoring drought for Macalester with a three for a 39-37 advantage. Davis, who grabbed an offensive rebound before Samantha Smith’s three, made a basket of her own to make the score 41-37. Liesl McCallum answered for Carleton at the four-minute mark to cut the lead to 41-39. A minute later, two Knights’ free throws tied the score again, 41-41, then another free throw and a basket by McCallum put Carleton up, 44-41.
With under two minutes to play, first year guard Faith Accardo (Thousand Oaks, Calif./Oaks Christian) heated up, draining two three-pointers around a basket by Addy Huss for a 47-46 advantage. A foul was called on Macalester with 8.1 seconds remaining, and McCallum made both free throws to give the lead back to Carleton, 48-47. With 4.7 seconds left, it appeared that Samantha Smith made a three-pointer from the corner, but the official ruled that she stepped out of bounds before the shot. Huss made 1-of-2 from the line after being fouled, but a desperation three at the buzzer was off the mark.
Davis led Macalester with eight points to go with seven rebounds, as all 10 players who played scored for the Scots. Matthews had seven points and five rebounds, while Daley finished with six points, eight rebounds and three assists. Corbett registered four blocks to go with four points and four rebounds. Huss, who entered the game with a MIAC-best scoring average of 22.4 points per game, and McCollum each scored 17 points.
Macalester returns to action in 2026 with a home MIAC game against Saint Mary’s University on Saturday, Jan. 3. The game starts at 1:00 p.m. in the Leonard Center.
