Waymond

From Ryan Kartje: When he first started spreading the word about Waymond Jordan, Mike Bennett figured the film would speak for itself. The Escambia High coach had been in the South Florida preps scene long enough to know what he was seeing from his new running back.

“Just watching him run the football for the first time, he was amazing,” Bennett said. He figured scholarship offers would roll in soon enough.

Jordan had similar expectations. Since he first picked up football, at 4 years old, he’d always told himself that he’d play at a big school, on the biggest stage. He’d come to Escambia as a senior with that in mind.

But in 2021, four years before Lincoln Riley and USC would see that same star potential, other college coaches, for whatever reason, weren’t paying much mind.

Given where Jordan stands today — the top running back on one of the nation’s top rushing offenses through two weeks of the college football season — plenty of them probably regret that now.

“Every coach in the country, I sent stuff to,” Bennett said. “I mean, everybody. I sent it out to everybody.”

Some smaller schools monitored Jordans’ senior year at Escambia, keeping a close eye as he rushed for 1,225 yards and 12 touchdowns. A few schools said he could walk-on. But none of them extended a scholarship offer. Jordan couldn’t understand why.

Hutchinson Community College, a junior college in Hutchinson, Kan., was one of the only places to give him an opportunity. Hutchinson was a thousand miles from his hometown of Pensacola, and a world away from the major college football he thought he’d be playing. But the staff there knew Escambia well, and they believed in what they saw in Jordan’s tape.

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ALSO: Three key questions Trojans must answer vs. Purdue

NBA

Former NBA and UCLA basketball star Reggie Miller rides along a road in the Gypsum Canyon Wilderness.

(Carlin Stiehl / Los Angeles Times)

From Kevin Baxter: Early on a muggy Saturday morning, seven dozen riders lined up five and six abreast and aimed their mountain bikes toward a narrow, rocky trail leading away from the 91 Freeway and into the wilderness of Anaheim’s rugged Gypsum Canyon.

In their white helmets and monotone synthetic racing kits, the riders were more an indistinct mob than a collection of individuals. But in the middle of the pack, perched on a pricey, Santa Cruz Blur XL, one cyclist stood out if for no other reason than, at 6-foot-7, Reggie Miller was a foot taller than most of the people around him.

Miller is also, it should be noted, a basketball hall of famer and five-time NBA All-Star who seamlessly transitioned into a career as one of the sport’s most-respected TV analysts. He has earned fame and riches most will never know and competed at a level few have ever achieved.

Yet on the day before his 60th birthday, he was about to pedal his way along 19 miles of treacherous trails, swallowing the dust kicked up by cyclists a third his age. And he couldn’t have been happier because bike racing has not just given Miller a competitive outlet, it’s provided an avenue for addressing issues of importance to him, among them equality, inclusion and social justice.

“You see so many retired football, baseball, basketball players turn to golf. That’s their vice,” he said. “Mine is cycling.”

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RAMS

Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua, left, tries to evade Houston Texans safety Calen Bullock during the Rams’ win on Sept. 7.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

From Gary Klein: Puka Nacua stole the show. Davante Adams was a supporting player.

That was the story for the star receivers in the Rams’ season-opening victory over the Houston Texans.

No one was complaining.

Except, perhaps, fantasy football players who drafted Adams.

“That’s not in the forefront of my mind,” Adams, chuckling, said this week. “I know they think it is. I’m just out here trying to win games and contribute and make plays when I can.”

Nacua brushed off a cut above his eye that required stitches and caught 10 passes for 130 yards. Adams, making his Rams debut, caught four passes for 51 yards.

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NFL scores

NFL standings

CHARGERS

Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh watches from the sideline during a preseason loss to the Rams on Aug. 16.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

From Sam Farmer: Jim Harbaugh didn’t know if he was coming or going.

Exhausted to the point of collapse and parked in the driveway of his Oakland Hills home, he briefly allowed himself to close his eyes — was it for a minute? An hour? — before jolting awake at 4 a.m. in a foggy panic. Had he just returned from his round-the-clock job with the Oakland Raiders, or was he supposed to be on his way back?

Here he was, a first-round pick from Michigan, a 15-year NFL veteran, and now a coaching grunt for the Silver & Black, ready to do whatever was asked.

“I always remember him with the hair all over his head going everywhere,” recalled receiver Tim Brown. “The veteran guys on the team were saying, ‘Jimmy, you don’t have to do this, bro. There’s other ways you can make money. You don’t have to be in here.’ Because he was literally the guy printing the papers, working the copiers. We were like, ‘All right, if that’s what you want to do with your life then OK.’”

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ANGELS

Angels star Mike Trout hits a solo home against the Seattle Mariners on Thursday night.

(John Froschauer / Associated Press)

From the Associated Press: Rookie pinch-hitter Harry Ford drove in the winning run with a sacrifice fly in the 12th inning and the Seattle Mariners beat the Angels 7-6 on Thursday night to move into a tie with Houston atop the AL West.

It was the second straight walk-off victory in extra innings for the Mariners, who extended their win streak to six games. Leo Rivas hit a two-run homer in the 13th inning Wednesday night to complete a series sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals.

Mike Trout launched his 399th career home run for the Angels, tying it 4-4 in the fifth inning after they fell behind 4-0 in the second.

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Angels-Mariners box score

MLB scores

MLB standings

SPARKS

Sparks guard Kelsey Plum, right, tries to shoot over Las Vegas center A’ja Wilson during the Sparks’ loss on Thursday night at Crypto.com Arena.

(Harry How / Getty Images)

From Anthony De Leon: Being out of postseason contention didn’t make the Sparks’ season finale meaningless.

It was a chance to avoid finishing with a losing record for the first time since 2020. An opportunity to foil the Las Vegas Aces’ push for the No. 2 seed in the playoffs while derailing a 15-game winning streak. And, above all, a matter of pride.

But just as with their season-long goal of reaching the playoffs, the Sparks fell short of their goal, as A’ja Wilson and the Aces dominated in a 103-75 victory at Crypto.com Arena.

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Sparks-Aces box score

WNBA scores

WNBA standings

NBA

From Chuck Schilken: Retired NBA player and former Harvard-Westlake star Jason Collins is undergoing treatment for a brain tumor, the NBA said Thursday in a statement released on behalf of Collins and his family.

“Jason and his family welcome your support and prayers and kindly ask for privacy as they dedicate their attention to Jason’s health and well-being,” the league said.

A 46-year-old native of Northridge, Jason Collins and twin brother, Jarron, led Harvard-Westlake to state Division III titles in 1996 and 1997, with the former being named the state Division III player of the year both seasons. His 1,500 career rebounds stood as a CIF state record until 2010, when Hemet West Valley’s Joe Burton finished his career with 1,721 rebounds.

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THIS DATE IN SPORTS

1895 — Defender wins three straight matches from the British challenger Valkyrie II to defend the America’s Cup for the United States.

1936 — Fred Perry becomes the first foreign player to win three U.S. men’s singles titles when he defeats Don Budge, 2-6, 6-2, 8-6, 1-6, 10-8. Alice Marble ends the four-year reign of Helen Jacobs as U.S. women’s singles champion, with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory.

1955 — Tony Trabert wins the U.S. Lawn Tennis Association championships with a victory over Ken Rosewall. Doris Hart wins the women’s title.

1966 — Australia’s Fred Stolle beats countryman John Newcombe to win the U.S. Lawn Tennis Association championships. Stolle wins in four sets, 4-6, 12-10, 6-3, 6-4.

1976 — Jimmy Connors beats Bjorn Borg in four sets to win the U.S. Open.

1979 — Carl Yastrzemski reaches 3,000 hits off of NY Yankee pitcher Jim Beattie.

1981 — Tracy Austin wins her second U.S. Open singles title, edging first-time finalist Martina Navratilova, 1-6, 7-6, 7-6.

1982 — Jimmy Connors wins the U.S. Open, defeating Ivan Lendl, 6-3, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4.

1984 — N.Y. Met Dwight Gooden sets rookie strike out record at 251.

1988 — 1st NFL regular-season game played in Phoenix; Dallas beats Arizona.

1995 — The Harlem Globetrotters’ 24-year, 8,829-game winning streak is stopped. It ends in a 91-85 loss to a team led by basketball great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who scores 34 points in a competitive, unscripted game in Vienna, Austria.

1998 — Lindsay Davenport captures her first Grand Slam tournament singles title, defeating Martina Hingis, 6-3, 7-5 at the U.S. Open.

1999 — Andre Agassi comes back from two-sets-to-one down to win his second U.S. Open singles title. Agassi, who never loses his serve, defeats Todd Martin, 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-7 (2), 6-3, 6-2. It’s the first five-set U.S. Open final in 11 years.

2004 — Roger Federer becomes the first man since 1988 to win three majors in a year, thoroughly outclassing Lleyton Hewitt 6-0, 7-6 (3), 6-0 to add the U.S. Open title to those he took at the Australian Open and Wimbledon.

2005 — Mark Messier announces on ESPN radio that he will retire from the NHL.

2010 — Houston running back Arian Foster rushes for a franchise-record 231 yards and three touchdowns in the Texans’ 34-24 victory over the Indianapolis Colts. Foster is the first player in NFL history to rush for at least 200 yards and three touchdowns for an opening weekend.

2011 — Tom Brady passes for a team-record 517 yards and four touchdowns, including a 99-yarder to Wes Welker, and the New England Patriots beat the Miami Dolphins 38-24.

2011 — U.S. Open Men’s Tennis: Novak Djokovic wins his first US title; beats Rafael Nadal 6-2, 6-4, 6-7, 6-1.

2014 — Diana Taurasi and Candice Dupree score 24 points each and the Phoenix Mercury, playing without star center Brittney Griner, beat the Chicago Sky 87-82 to complete a three-game sweep of the WNBA Finals for their third championship.

2015 — Kent State dominates Delaware State in the Golden Flashes’ home opener, 45-13, but it’s overshadowed by a single point-after kick in the second quarter by April Goss. Goss, a four-year member of the Kent State team and a former high school soccer player, becomes the second female to score in a Division I game in NCAA history. Katie Hnida kicked a pair of extra points for New Mexico in 2003.

2015 — David Ortiz homers twice to become the 27th player in major league history to reach 500 homers, and Boston beats Tampa Bay 10-4.

2018 — Breanna Stewart leads the Seattle Storm to their third WNBA title, scoring 30 points in a 98-82 victory over the Washington Mystics in Game 3 of the best-of-five series.

2020 — Naomi Osaka of Japan wins her second US Open title beating Victoria Azarenka of Belarus 1-6, 6-3, 6-3.

Compiled by the Associated Press

Until next time…

That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at [email protected]. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.

When he first started spreading the word about Waymond Jordan, Mike Bennett figured the film would speak for itself. The Escambia High coach had been in the South Florida preps scene long enough to know what he was seeing from his new running back.

“Just watching him run the football for the first time, he was amazing,” Bennett said. He figured scholarship offers would roll in soon enough.

Jordan had similar expectations. Since he first picked up football, at 4 years old, he’d always told himself that he’d play at a big school, on the biggest stage. He’d come to Escambia as a senior with that in mind.

But in 2021, four years before Lincoln Riley and USC would see that same star potential, other college coaches, for whatever reason, weren’t paying much mind.

USC running back Waymond Jordan carries the ball during a win over Georgia Southern at the Coliseum on Saturday. Overlooked earlier in his career, Jordan has become a key piece of the Trojans’ offense.

(Carlin Stiehl/Los Angeles Times)

Given where Jordan stands today — the top running back on one of the nation’s top rushing offenses through two weeks of the college football season — plenty of them probably regret that now.

“Every coach in the country, I sent stuff to,” Bennett said. “I mean, everybody. I sent it out to everybody.”

Some smaller schools monitored Jordans’ senior year at Escambia, keeping a close eye as he rushed for 1,225 yards and 12 touchdowns. A few schools said he could walk-on. But none of them extended a scholarship offer. Jordan couldn’t understand why.

Hutchinson Community College, a junior college in Hutchinson, Kan., was one of the only places to give him an opportunity. Hutchinson was a thousand miles from his hometown of Pensacola, and a world away from the major college football he thought he’d be playing. But the staff there knew Escambia well, and they believed in what they saw in Jordan’s tape.

If all went well with junior college, he could still get the Power Four offers he was looking for.

“He believed in himself. And he bet on himself,” said Greg Cross, the Hutchinson running backs coach. “And I would say he bet right.”

Cross figured it was a worthy bet then, before most anyone else. He could see on film that Jordan had a rare instinct for making defenders miss. In the open field, not many people could bring Jordan down on their own either. In some ways, his skillset reminded Cross a little bit of Alvin Kamara, who played the 2014 season at Hutchinson.

“But that wasn’t going to happen for him overnight,” Cross said.

USC’s Waymond Jordan stretches out to score a touchdown against Georgia Southern at the Coliseum on Saturday.

(Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images)

Jordan was by no means a finished product on arrival at Hutchinson. He hadn’t really learned yet how to take care of his body. He was out of shape. He needed to add muscle and change his diet. Plus, he struggled early on with pass protection.

Then his hamstrings started bothering him.

“I knew it was in the best interest for him to redshirt,” Cross said.

Hutchinson could afford to be patient with him. But it was a tough pill to swallow for Jordan.

“He went through a phase where he was kind of down,” Cross said. “We had a lot of talks. We would talk every day. I just wanted to keep him focused, keep him locked in, keep him motivated.

“So, me and him had a talk about it, and I said, ‘You can either let it get the best of you, or you can stay motivated and work 10 times as hard.’”

It was a formative chat for Jordan. Cross implored him to get serious about taking care of his body. He wanted him in the training room every day. They started tracking his meals. He began using the head coach’s YMCA membership.

From then on, Cross says, “I was grilling him, 24/7.”

He came back that second season looking like an entirely different player. He lost weight. He was stronger and more explosive. He had a full recovery routine.

But his hamstring was still acting up. Then, after appearing in two games as a redshirt freshman, Jordan suffered a minor fracture in his foot.

“It felt, to him, like he couldn’t catch a break,” Cross said.

He wore a boot for a couple of weeks. When he came back, he had to play through pain.

Even still, there were glimpses of what Jordan could be. Late in the season, in a game against No. 2 ranked Iowa Western Community College, Jordan broke out with two fourth-quarter rushing scores, one from 47 yards out, the other from 16, that helped put Iowa Western away. He finished with four carries for 99 yards and two touchdowns.

Hutchinson lost its next game to East Mississippi Community College and fell short of an NJCAA national title in 2023. But for Jordan, everything was trending upward that offseason.

“You really saw him take that next step,” said Drew Dallas, Hutchinson’s head coach. “It was just how quickly he was hitting the hole, how fast and confident he was playing. He’d trimmed down his body fat to hardly any at all. He was just this rocked-up ball of muscle who could see the field really well.”

That spring, as word got around, some smaller schools like Florida Atlantic and Florida International started asking about him.

By the end of that spring, Jordan had the scholarship offers he’d been waiting for.

Cross figured he would take the opportunity and run with it. And he wouldn’t have blamed him for doing so. In fact, he couldn’t remember anyone in his time at Hutchinson turning down an FBS opportunity to return to junior college.

But in Jordan’s case, he believed bigger offers could come.

“He told me that if I stayed, I would be able to come to places like [USC,]” Jordan recalls. “That it would all pay out in the end.”

USC running back Waymond Jordan cuts and changes direction while carrying the ball against Georgia Southern at the Coliseum on Saturday.

(Carlin Stiehl/Los Angeles Times)

Jordan called Cross back with a decision just a few minutes after their conversation.

“When you leaving?” Cross remembers asking him.

“He says no, ‘Coach, I’m gonna stay. I know what I can be.’”

Cross was stunned at the time. Thinking back on that conversation, he laughs.

“He put it all on red, I guess,” he said.

But it took all of one week that season for Jordan’s bet to be vindicated. He rushed for 179 yards and two touchdowns during Hutchinson’s season opener on just 14 carries. That Sunday, Cross got a call from a coach at Michigan State. Was Jordan for real? Because, he said, they were watching closely.

It was “one phone call after another, every week after that,” Cross said. Jordan rushed for 174 yards the following week, then 175 yards and four touchdowns on just nine carries in Week 4. Over a two-week stretch in November, Jordan exploded for 348 yards and four touchdowns, prompting Missouri and Central Florida, two Power Four schools, to offer him scholarships.

He finally had the opportunity he’d been waiting for. So in December, just before the NJCAA playoffs, Jordan committed to Central Florida.

USC didn’t come into the picture until later that month, just as Jordan was named the junior college national player of the year. Other Power Four schools, like North Carolina and Mississippi, were already making their cases to Jordan. But USC had a connection to Cross through Doug Belk, the Trojans’ secondary coach.

USC didn’t necessarily have a need at running back, having already added explosive New Mexico transfer Eli Sanders to its class. But when Anthony Jones, USC’s running backs coach, spoke to Jordan on the phone, he came away convinced that “USC needed this young man.”

“Waymond checked all the boxes that we were looking for,” Jones said.

Hutchinson beat Iowa Western to win the NJCAA national title in spite of Iowa Western’s all-out efforts to bottle up the Blue Dragons’ star running back. Two weeks later, he was on USC’s campus.

As soon as Jordan called him during his visit to L.A., Cross knew he was committing to USC.

Nine months later, the same running back who didn’t have a single Division I offer as a high school senior was bursting out of the USC backfield, weaving through a crowd of defenders on his way into the Coliseum end zone, just like Reggie Bush, Marcus Allen and O.J. Simpson once did.

As he scored his first touchdown as a Trojan, Jordan looked up into the stands and saw his family.

He’d waited four sometimes-frustrating years for that moment.

“His patience, his perseverance really built him into something a lot bigger and better,” Dallas said.

“I think that’s as big of a part of his journey as anything.”

We are now two weeks into the college football season, and here at the Times of Troy newsletter, we can confidently say that … we’re not really sure what to think of USC’s football team. The Trojans are an emphatic 2-0, having outscored their first two opponents by a combined margin of 99 points. They put up more yards against Georgia Southern (755) than they had in a game since at least 1972, when statistical records were first available.

(History lesson: That was still well off the program record of 978 yards, set almost exactly 100 years ago, when USC pummeled Pomona College 80-0 at the start of the 1925 season.)

And yet, for all the fireworks, I still have most of the same questions that I did before the season. Has Jayden Maiava taken a leap? Will the offensive line hold up? Is the defensive line better? Has the pass rush improved? All are trending in a positive direction at this point, but we still can’t answer any definitively. Not after two wins over completely overmatched opponents.

But for all my skepticism, I feel certain about one thing from the last two weeks, no matter how small the sample size: USC’s clearest path to the Playoff this season is through its backfield.

Through two games, USC leads the nation in yards per carry (8.6). It ranks second in the country in rushing touchdowns (10) and ninth in 20-plus yards runs (six), while exactly one in every three rush attempts by USC this season has gone for a first down.

None of those insane statistics are sustainable, of course. But Lincoln Riley told us that this was “the most talented backfield” of his tenure at USC, and so far, regardless of the competition, it seems clear that’s the case. What we don’t know for sure yet is how Riley will deploy his backfield through the Big Ten gauntlet that awaits at the end of this month.

He certainly shouldn’t need much more convincing that Waymond Jordan is capable of carrying USC’s offense. The junior college transfer’s ability to elude tacklers and change directions on a dime is truly unlike any back Riley has had at USC.

Early in the third quarter on Saturday, Jordan burst from the backfield like he was shot out of a cannon, stutter-stepped just enough to shake off two defenders, then turned on the jets. What might have otherwise been a seven- or eight-yard gain, instead became a 36-yard score.

Jordan isn’t alone in his explosiveness. Senior Eli Sanders is just as capable of breaking off a big play, like he did in Week 1, when he caught a screen pass and took it 78 yards to the house, sprinting at one point at a speed of 21 mph. Jordan served as more of a bell cow against Georgia Southern, but he still had three plays of his own of 10-plus yards.

Together, they appear to be a perfect duo in Riley’s offense. So will he let them lead the way?

Riley’s history might suggest otherwise. He has irritated fans for his reluctance to lean on the run, and rightfully so. You could make the case better clock management could have flipped a few of the one-score losses USC suffered a year ago.

This season, that could be even more important. The more Maiava throws the ball, the more likely he is to make the sort of big mistakes that could swing the game.

It happened more than once last season with Miller Moss. In three of USC’s six losses, Moss threw the ball 50 times. Enough that even Riley recognized that he should have run the ball more.

That can’t happen this season. Not with all that USC now has to work with in its backfield. And not with a season of experience in the Big Ten under Riley’s belt.

Riley has seen what it takes to make it through a Big Ten slate. Now it’s time to apply what he’s learned …

… and run the damn ball.

Tyran Stokes celebrates after a slam dunk earlier this year while playing for Sherman Oaks Notre Dame.

( Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)

—Micah Banuelos got the start at right guard over Alani Noa. Banuelos was in the thick of the competition to start at one of the guard spots, so this is less of a surprise on his end. But Noa being bumped after one week could be an interesting development. When Riley was asked about it, he only said that it was an “inside-the-walls decision”. Could this be Banuelos being the guy going forward? I didn’t think either really separated from the other at the position.

—Jahkeem Stewart lined up all over the defensive line in his first game action. The five-star freshman only played in a dozen football games at the high school level — and hadn’t played one in a while before Saturday. So Riley expected some rust. But even in his first game back, USC didn’t hold back on moving him around. Stewart played pretty much every position on the defensive line, including nose tackle. He played 23 snaps, fifth-most among USC linemen, and tallied two tackles. “He’s a really talented guy that I think is going to really impact our defense positively this year and in the future,” Riley said.

—A one-time transfer portal window is imminent. But there’s no perfect option. The NCAA Football Oversight Committee voted last week to get rid of the spring window, and while the change hasn’t been formally adopted, it’s heading in that direction. I agree with Riley that it’s ultimately progress. But if the 10-day window opens on Jan. 2, as Yahoo’s Ross Dellenger reported, that means coaches in the final four of the College Football Playoff will have to contend with players hopping into the portal mid-playoff run. Opening after the Playoff, meanwhile, might mean missing the beginning of an academic semester. “I don’t know that there’s a right answer,” Riley said. “You’re going to give up something either way.”

—The No. 1 basketball recruit in the country just visited USC. Sherman Oaks Notre Dame star forward Tyran Stokes took his official visit with Eric Musselman and Co. over the weekend. Stokes has already visited Kentucky, Kansas and Louisville, but USC is still in the thick of the race. He’s not the only top prospect who’s visited with the Trojans recently, either. Bellflower St. John Bosco stars Christian Collins (eighth overall) and Tajh Ariza (14th) had official visits at USC the weekend before Stokes. There’s no denying USC’s hustle on the recruiting trail during an absolutely critical year for recruiting in L.A. Now they just need to close with one of these top recruits.

—Tennessee and Penn State both just signed massive apparel deals to switch from Nike to adidas. Could USC follow? USC’s previous long-term deal with Nike is up next year, and the school is looking into all of its options. When Mike Bohn was athletic director, he complained to me multiple times about how bad USC’s current deal was with Nike. That’s not to say USC is looking to leave. But you can count on the size of the next deal making a much bigger difference, and adidas has shown a willingness to take big swings. For what it’s worth, in 2018, current USC athletic director Jennifer Cohen negotiated an identical switch, signing a huge apparel deal to flip Washington from Nike to adidas.

Big Ten travel tip

The most critical thing to know when traveling to Indiana from Los Angeles is that there are no direct flights into Indianapolis. So you can catch me flying into Chicago for each of the Trojans’ next three road trips.

But when it comes to fueling up before USC’s Big Ten opener in West Lafayette, Ind., next weekend, I’ll be checking out Triple XXX Family Restaurant. Once you get over the confounding/awesome name, it looks like just the sort of Midwestern diner that shouldn’t be missed. I’m a sucker for a diner burger. Especially when it’s named after a famous alum.

In case you missed it

Hernández: Is USC’s offense really that good? The Trojans’ numbers impress, but some questions loom

Clay Helton returns to USC at peace after being fired by Trojans

George Raveling, former USC basketball coach and Naismith Hall of Famer, dies at 88

What I’m watching this week

Domhnall Gleeson as Ned in “The Paper.”

(Aaron Epstein / Peacock)

I was skeptical when I heard that NBC was making a spinoff of “The Office” based on a Midwestern newspaper. I didn’t want it to sour my deep adoration for the original. But given the fact that it fits my algorithm to a frighteningly precise degree, of course I was going to give “The Paper” a shot.

And predictably, the plight of the newspaper — let alone one set 45 minutes from my hometown — was enough to get me hooked. It’s not a perfect show yet by any means, but neither was “The Office” when it first started. What I do know is Domnhall Gleeson is a joy, and there’s a kernel of something that could work here. I’ll subscribe.

Until next time …

That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at [email protected], and follow me on X at @Ryan_Kartje. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.