Go away, Joe Exotic; FSU’s Jordan Travis is a ‘Tiger King’ we can embrace | Commentary

Running off at the typewriter …

After dispatching of both the LSU Tigers and the Clemson Tigers, FSU quarterback Jordan Travis has decided to make some NIL money off his newly earned nickname “The Tiger King.”

Except Joe Exotic — the slimy former zookeeper and convicted felon who was the subject of the hit Netflix documentary Tiger King — is not happy about it. Even though Exotic, whose real name is Joseph Maldonado, is in federal prison in Texas, he is threatening to sue Travis for trademark infringement.

Why? Because Travis’s NIL people have created a line of “College King” T-shirts that depict Travis sitting on a throne wearing a crown as two tigers (one in Clemson orange and the other in LSU gold) rest at his feet. The shirts are priced at $31.24 — the score of Saturday’s win over Clemson.

By the way, kudos to Travis for evenly splitting the profits from the shirts with his offensive line at FSU.

As for the sleazy Joe Exotic, doesn’t he have anything better to do while he’s behind bars than threaten college athletes with frivolous lawsuits?

Hey, Joe, isn’t there some rocks in the prison yard that need breaking up? …

SHORT STUFF: Taylor Swift, by making one appearance at the Kansas City Chiefs game last weekend to root on her new boyfriend Travis Kelce, has done the impossible. She overshadowed the Miami Dolphins scoring 70 points against the Denver Broncos, she increased the NFL’s TV ratings among female viewers, she caused Kelce’s jersey sales to go up 400 percent and, even more miraculously, she has turned the usually boring and mundane Bill Belichick into a standup comedian. Cracked the Hoodie — a self-avowed “Swiftie” — when asked about Kelce now dating Tay Tay: “Travis Kelce has a lot of big catches in his career, but this would be the biggest.” … Admit it, you liked seeing Deion Sanders getting spanked by Oregon last weekend, didn’t you? … And speaking of which, our Quote of the Week comes from Oregon coach Dan Lanning during his fiery pre-game speech before the Ducks routed Coach Prime’s Colorado team: “They’re fighting for clicks. We’re fighting for wins.” …

Did you see where Colin Kaepernick is lobbying to be signed by the New York Jets? Hasn’t he suffered enough? … A moment of silence, please. Brooks Robinson has gone to That Big Hot Corner in the Sky. The legendary Baltimore Orioles third baseman passed away earlier this week at the age of 86. The 16-time Gold Glover was arguably the greatest fielder of all time and was aptly nicknamed “The Human Vacuum Cleaner.” Said Pete Rose after the Orioles disposed of Rose’s Cincinnati Reds in the 1970 World Series: “God sent Brooks Robinson to play third base. He caught everything but a cold.” …

Right after Ohio State beat Notre Dame on the last play of the game on Saturday, the first thing Buckeyes coach Ryan Day did was call out octogenarian former Notre Dame coach Lou Holtz in his post-game TV interview. Holtz earlier in the week had said in an interview on The Pat McAfee Show that the Buckeyes lose so many big games because they aren’t very physical. Replied a fired-up Day after the game: “I’d like to know where Lou Holtz is right now!” Um, this is just a guess, but since Holtz is 86 years old and the game ended after 11 p.m., I’m betting he was probably beddy-bye at his home in Lake Nona. … Speaking of Holtz, one of my favorite sports quotes of all time came when Holtz was coaching at Arkansas and Razorback fans celebrated winning a bid to the Orange Bowl by throwing oranges onto the field. Cracked Holtz; “I’m just glad we’re not going to the Gator Bowl.” … The Associated Press reported that Damian Lillard is being traded to the Milwaukee Bucks to join Giannis Antetokounmpo. Do we even need to play the NBA season or should we just give the Bucks the Larry O’Brien Trophy now? …

Mikey likes: UCF over Baylor by 7, Kentucky over Florida by 3, Dolphins over Bills by 4, Jaguars over Falcons by 6, Bucs over the Saints by 1, Europeans over Americans by 4 in the Ryder Cup, Tay Tay over the Beatles by 2 (No. 1 albums) by the time she retires. … I don’t know about you, but I believe the best day of any baseball season is the day that the Yankees get officially eliminated from the playoffs! … Headline at The Onion.com: “Stephen A. Smith Recalls Tough Childhood Having To Debate Gang Members.” … And speaking of Stephen A., did you see his awful one-hopper when he threw out the ceremonial first pitch before a Yankees game a few days ago? It might have been the worst pitch since a guy went on Shark Tank trying to sell the panel on the Ionic Ear — a Bluetooth earpiece surgically implanted into your ear canal (with an electric Q-tip to charge the device). …

LAST WORD: “It’s a pretty sure thing that the player’s bat is what speaks loudest when it’s contract time, but there are moments when the glove has the last word.” — Brooks Robinson