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The Tulsa Beacon

 

Jeff Brucculeri

Jeff Brucculeri is a freelance writer and broadcaster. You can contact him at [email protected], or follow him on Twitter @JeffBSports.

Who likes preseason games?

Tulsa Beacon

A year ago, the NFL changed its schedule by decreasing the number of preseason games to three, and increasing the regular season schedule to 17 games. However, there’s still debate over the necessity of preseason games. There have been preseason games since the NFL was founded in 1920, but fans and some players regularly raise…

More than 100 pitches is very rare

Tulsa Beacon

This week, some quips and comments from this sports writer’s notebook. It’s not very often you see a minor league baseball pitcher pitch more than six innings, but I witnessed it with my own eyes this past Sunday at ONEOK Field, as the Tulsa Drillers starter, Bobby Miller, went 7.1 innings. He even threw over…

Mazatlan mission trip was a success

Tulsa Beacon

MAZATLÁN, MEXICO – Here I am on another mission trip. This is my first time in Mazatlán, in fact, my first time anywhere in Mexico other than the border town of Nogales, south of Arizona, where I have visited three times. Like many of the mission trips I’ve been on over the past 15 years,…

It’s about time for these to be in the Baseball Hall of Fame

Tulsa Beacon

“It’s about time,” could have been the theme of the National Baseball Hall of Fame’s Class of 2022 induction ceremony, last weekend in Cooperstown, N.Y. For many years, baseball fans and historians have questioned why players like Tony Oliva, Jim Kaat, Gil Hodges and Buck O’Neil weren’t already in the Hall of Fame. That injustice…

Decades of exposure to baseball evokes many memories

Tulsa Beacon

I’ve been thinking lately. Actually, I’ve been reminiscing a lot lately. Maybe because I’m in my 50’s and I’m a grandparent, but whatever the reason, I’ve spent a lot of time looking back on my life. Baseball has been a huge part of my life since I was a kid. Until the pandemic shutdown minor…

Former TU QB Dane Evans stars in Canadian league

Tulsa Beacon

Former University of Tulsa quarterback Dane Evans is now in his fourth season of professional football north of the border. Evans is a member of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League. Evans, whom I follow on Twitter, is a native of Chickasha, Oklahoma, and graduated from high school in Sanger, Texas. He completed…

The reason for all of these conference changes is money

Tulsa Beacon

TV networks to change schools? There was a time in the not too distant past that college athletic conferences were very traditional and very regional. Member schools competed against each other every year for decades, creating some of sports most heated rivalries. That’s no longer the case. The leading motivator for colleges to stay or…

US soccer fans are looking toward the 2026 World Cup

Tulsa Beacon

Some people may think it’s a bit early to be getting excited about the 2026 World Cup soccer tournament coming to the United States, but not soccer enthusiasts. FIFA announced last week, the host cities for the World Cup, and I’m already considering what cities I will travel to, in order to see games in…

Victory Field in Indianapolis is an impressive stadium

Tulsa Beacon

INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana– Every time I visit a new minor league baseball stadium, I can’t help but compare it to the Tulsa Drillers ONEOK Field, and Victory Field in Indianapolis measures up quite well. Victory Field is home to the Indianapolis Indians, the Triple-A team of the Pittsburgh Pirates. On the night I was there last…

King’s Island’s 50th anniversary

Tulsa Beacon

MASON, OHIO – Kings Island amusement park has had a very pop culture existence. It was featured on family sitcoms in the early 1970s, and later was the location of one of Evel Knievel’s motorcycle jumps. Now celebrating its 50th Anniversary, this park has become one of my favorite amusement parks in the country. Recently,…