Is FIFA Illegally Selling $3,000 Grass? 🌱

We’ve officially hit the worst time in the sports calendar (no offense, MLS fans).

While some of you may be using this lull to dig into your other hobbies or interests, my focus has shifted to where Minnesota Gophers QB Drake Lindsay is being mocked for the 2027 Draft.

So far, he’s gotten as high as No. 4 overall.

In today’s newsletter:

🗞 The Big Story: Why Do The Red Sox Always Play ‘Sweet Caroline?’

📉 Biggest Loser: Is FIFA Illegally Selling $3,000 Grass?

🏆 Winner’s Circle: Meet Texas Tech’s New High-Tech Beds

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Why do the Boston Red Sox play ‘Sweet Caroline’ during the 8th inning of every single home game?

It’s one of the most famous traditions in sports, but it almost never even happened.

The Birth of a Tradition: Meet Billy Fitzpatrick. For 20 years between 1984 and 2004, he was the scoreboard operator at Fenway Park, and during a game in 1999, the stadium’s PA announcer asked Amy, the musical director, to play “Sweet Caroline” in honor of Billy’s daughter, Caroline, who had just been born.

So, she did, and actually continued playing the song every once in a while throughout different parts of the game for the next three years; however, it was far from a tradition at that point. In fact, Amy actually had a rule when it came to playing ‘Sweet Caroline:’ the Red Sox had to be winning.

Conditional Rules: But that all changed in 2002, when the Red Sox hired a man named Charles Steinberg to be the executive vice president of public affairs.

See, Steinberg believed that the song had “transformative powers,” which was important for a fan base that hadn’t seen their team win a World Series in 84 years. So, he suggested that Amy start playing the song in the middle of the 8th inning of every single game to help give the stadium some energy, regardless of how the team was doing.

Still, I don’t think even Steinberg could have predicted what would happen next…

Because not only did the Red Sox break their World Series curse less than two years later, but since they began playing the song at every home game, the team has:

Talk about home field advantage.

FIFA is currently selling one of the most expensive pieces of grass ever, but some government officials are calling the whole process illegal.

Let’s break it down.

A Forever Home: As a part of hosting the 2026 World Cup, the state of New Jersey spent over $13 million to install and maintain a natural grass field at MetLife Stadium.

However, while other host stadiums across the country are ripping up their grass fields and reinstalling artificial turf ahead of the NFL season, five yards of the field at MetLife, which hosted the World Cup Final, has actually been cut into over 8,000 small pieces, encased in acrylic resin, and is currently being sold across four different packages that range in price from $450 to $3,000.

Meaning, if each tier sells out, these grass collectibles would generate over $11.2 million in revenue.

So what’s the problem here?

Sharing the Wealth: Across the political spectrum, New Jersey state officials agree that since New Jersey taxpayers paid millions of dollars for the pitch at MetLife, they should also “share in any proceeds.” A state assemblyman even pointed out that since MetLife is technically “state-owned property,” FIFA is not allowed to sell the pitch without permission, and doing so is actually “illegal.”

Now, when FIFA was asked about this fallout, they were sure to clarify that the turf sale is a “host city-led initiative” in which FIFA receives a “nominal royalty fee of less than 5%” while the majority of the revenue goes to the New York/New Jersey Host City Committee.

But herein lies the real problem.

Bittersweet: After months of going back and forth with FIFA over everything from transportation costs to ticket prices, to New Jersey, this looks like just another example of the state taking on all of the costs, while FIFA enjoys a cut of the profits, and they believe these grass collectibles are no different.

The only question now is: is it too late to actually do anything about it?

Texas Tech just bought two of the most high-tech beds ever created, and it could give them an advantage over every other team in the country.

Top Dollar: Last year, the Red Raiders unveiled their brand-new, $242 million football center, complete with a state-of-the-art weight room, new locker rooms, and countless other amenities.

However, quite possibly the most unique part of this new facility is the high-tech training room available to every athlete at Texas Tech.

Recovery Room: This area features most of the amenities you might expect at the highest level of professional sports, including:

Still, in my opinion, none of that is as impressive as a pair of high-tech beds.

Rest and Relaxation: These Sensory Deprivation Dry Floats were designed to mimic sensory deprivation chambers, but without the hassle of actually getting wet. And just like the more traditional float tanks, Dry Floats utilize 9,000 pounds of Epsom salt and warm water that’s contained in a sort of water-bed and is typically heated to your body temperature, to give you a feeling of total weightlessness.

And when you combine that with noise-canceling headphones and an eye mask, studies have shown positive impacts on almost all aspects of recovery, including stress, muscle and joint pain, and focus.

Still, that’s not even close to the best part.

That’s because, according to Texas Tech’s head athletic trainer, when athletes take a nap in a sensory-deprived state, they’re able to enter R.E.M sleep faster than normal, meaning a quick 30-minute nap is actually equivalent to 2 hours of good, restful sleep.

Schools will really do whatever it takes to win these days.

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👋🏻 Happy Friday!

My dad (Badger fan) recently requested that I “stop the homer content” on my Instagram Story regarding my pumping of Drake Lindsay’s draft stock.

For the record, I am not a journalist, and I will not be stopping.