“A homeowner got a shock when the welcome mat started rattling at her! Bryce went out to discover a Western Diamondback Rattlesnake hiding under it. You can see the lump here.”
Understandable comment: “New nightmare unlocked.”
The lump is visible in the image atop this post. Below is video footage showing Bryce carefully lifting the mat with plastic tongs and capturing the venomous snake for relocation.
Notre Dame currently has two receiver commits for its 2025 recruiting class: [autotag]Jerome Bettis Jr.[/autotag] and [autotag]Elijah Burress[/autotag]. One more would round that group out, and the Irish are going after someone who’s already committed.
Three-star Florida receiver Isaiah Mizell from Boone in Orlando committed to Arizona on July 10. However, the Irish apparently have reason to believe that he’s not completely sold on the Wildcats. Whatever that might be, they have extended an offer to him, so it’s now up to him on whether he wants the ditch the desert for South Bend.
Mizell took to social media upon receiving the offer and said this:
And if that wasn’t enough, 2026 quarterback commit [autotag]Noah Grubbs[/autotag] responded to the post with the eyes emoji. One has to wonder how much of a role he might be playing in this.
While Mizell might not be the most sought-after 2025 receiver, the Irish clearly see some value in him. Let’s hope he appreciates that enough to want to go to them.
Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes and opinions.
Footage of the Chihuahuan hook-nosed snake shows that rattlesnakes are not alone in making distinctive sounds to ward off threats.
Rattlesnakes are not alone in making distinctive sounds when trying to ward off threats.
A Phoenix-based snake relocation expert on Saturday shared footage of a wild Chihuahuan hook-nosed snake making popping sounds as a defense mechanism. (See footage below.)
“A farting snake. Not kidding,” Bryan D. Hughes of Rattlesnake Solutions explained via X. “The Chihuahuan hook-nosed snake is one of two snakes in Arizona that expel air from the cloaca under force to make a sound that may be meant to avert predators.”
A farting snake. Not kidding.
The Chihuahuan Hook-nosed Snake is one of two snakes in Arizona that expel air from the cloaca under force to make a sound that may be meant to avert predators. pic.twitter.com/TxnEmZKaq2
In the footage, Hughes repeatedly touches the snake he encountered, prompting several escape/fart responses.
According to Reptiles and Amphibians of Arizona, the Chihuahuan hook-nosed snake is mostly nocturnal and typically spends its days in burrows. Rare daytime encounters occur mostly in “cloudy or mild conditions” or after heavy rain.
The field guide added: “When threatened it exhibits several defensive behaviors including jerking the body from side to side, striking with mouth closed, and making a popping noise by forcefully everting the lining of the cloaca.”
Wikipedia elaborated: “During a laboratory experiment carried out by Bruce Young, a morphologist at Lafayette College, the snakes only farted when they felt threatened, and some farted so energetically that they lifted themselves off the ground.”
The Chihuahuan hook-nosed snake, also referred to as the Western hook-nosed snake, is nonvenomous and preys mostly on mostly on spiders and centipedes.
Kate Harpring hasn’t even begun her junior year at Marist in Atlanta. That’s the same high school her father, former NBA player Matt Harpring, attended. But that hasn’t stopped many prominent programs from making her offers already. She confirmed that Notre Dame is one of those programs on social media:
On the same day, Harpring also announced an offer from Iowa, which only added onto the list of schools that already have offers to her. Among the other schools hoping to add her as part of their 2026 recruiting class are Florida State, Clemson, Louisville, Maryland, Kentucky, Arizona, Utah and Vanderbilt. Needless to say, the Irish will have plenty of competition here.
We don’t know how the Irish would look as far as competitiveness by the time she arrives on campus. However, if many prominent schools already have made her offers, she obviously is something special. Hopefully, she chooses to prove that in South Bend.
Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.
BREAKING: Wisconsin top 2025 WR target Muizz Tounkara commits to Arizona
Wisconsin top class of 2025 wide receiver target Muizz Tounkara committed to Arizona on Saturday.
The three-star wide receiver chose the Wildcats over the Badgers and Kansas Jayhawks. He had taken visits to all three programs on June 14, May 31 and June 7 respectively. Arizona got his last visit, and have now turned it into a commitment nearly a full month later.
Tounkara is currently ranked as 247Sports’ No. 764 player in the class of 2025, No. 118 wide receiver and No. 127 player from the state of Texas. He was originally predicted to pick the Badgers back in late May. Those predictions flipped to Arizona this week as his commitment date drew closer.
The three-star wide receiver joins an Arizona class of 2025 that currently ranks No. 48 in the nation. He is the group’s 20th commitment.
Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes and opinion.
Wisconsin predicted to lose top 2025 WR target Muizz Tounkara to Arizona
Wisconsin top class of 2025 target Muizz Tounkara will announce his commitment later today (Saturday, July 13). He will choose from one of three finalists: Wisconsin, Kansas and Arizona.
The Badgers were originally predicted to land the three-star wide receiver dating back to mid-May. That is no longer the case, as 247Sports Wisconsin insiders Evan Flood and Nick Osen both submitted recent crystal ball predictions for Tounkara to choose Arizona.
The Texas native is ranked as 247Sports’ No. 764 player in the class of 2025, No. 118 wide receiver and No. 127 player from his home state. His top three of Wisconsin, Arizona and Kansas was chosen out of an offer sheet that also includes Arkansas, Ole Miss, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Purdue and Utah
He is currently projected to join an Arizona class of 2025 that currently ranks No. 48 in the nation with 19 players committed. The Wildcats are in the midst of a transition to the Big 12 along with former Pac-12 powers Arizona State, Utah and Colorado.
Wisconsin’s class of 2025 has fallen to No. 22 in the nation and No. 7 in the Big Ten after not adding a commitment since top iOL Hardy Watts on July 1. The program remains in the pursuit of remaining top targets four-star DL Kade Pietrzak and four-star RB Byron Louis.
It will need another few commitments before the cycle concludes if it is to return toward the top of the Big Ten.
Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes and opinion.
Our hundreds of raters weigh in on the best public-access and private courses in Arizona.
Looking to play the best golf courses in Arizona? Welcome to our annual Golfweek’s Best ranking of public-access and private courses.
Following are the rankings for both types of courses, as judged by our nationwide network of raters. The hundreds of members of our course-ratings panel continually evaluate courses and rate them on 10 criteria on a points basis of 1 through 10. They also file a single, overall rating on each course. Those overall ratings are averaged to produce all our Golfweek’s Best course rankings.
The courses on the first list allow public access in some fashion, be it standard daily green fees, through a resort or by staying at an affiliated hotel. If there’s a will, there’s a tee time – no membership required.
KEY: (m) modern, built in 1960 or after; (c) classic, built before 1960. For courses with a number preceding the (m) or (c), that is where the course ranks on Golfweek’s Best lists for top 200 modern and classic courses in the U.S.
* indicates new or returning to the rankings
Best public-access courses in Arizona
Ak-Chin Southern Dunes in Arizona (Courtesy of Ak-Chin Southern Dunes/Allan Henry)
Home to the first two Skins Games some 40 years ago, Desert Highlands plans to rework the course in 2025.
Desert Highlands in Scottsdale, Arizona, has planned a renovation to its Jack Nicklaus-designed golf course next year, with work to include everything from greens to bunkers.
Next year’s renovation will be spearheaded by Nicklaus Design and will focus on six main areas: design enhancements to several holes, rebuilding all the greens, tee reconstruction, bunker reconstruction, vegetation management (especially removing overgrown obstacles) in the desert areas and the restoration of turf on tees, fairways and rough. Plans are for work to start in April and finish by November 2025.
“The plans Nicklaus Design has for Desert Highlands are nothing short of compelling,” general manager Desi Speh said in a media release announcing the plans. “This renovation project will not only further solidify Desert Highlands as one of the state’s most sought-after golf experiences, but also enhance the aesthetic appeal of our community. We have every degree of confidence Nicklaus Design will return our golf course to its purest form, while maintaining the quality and status that has been a standard bearer in the North Scottsdale area for over 40 years.”
No. 11 at Desert Highlands in Arizona (Courtesy of Desert Highlands)
The media release spelled out changes to several holes:
A new forward tee box on No. 5 will allow players an easier opportunity to cross the wash in front of the putting surface in two shots.
Nicklaus advised changing the eighth green complex to better see the putting surface from the landing area. The green will be rotated more perpendicular to the line of play and sloped more from back to front to open the views. The mounding will be brought closer to the right and back of the green to allow some shots to bounce onto the putting surface.
New tee boxes will be created on the 10th hole to move players away from the back of the range and to accommodate possible practice-area expansion.
A high ridge blinding the alternate fairway will be eliminated on No. 13, creating a slightly longer carry and riskier drivable par 4. Plans also could include relocating the forward tee or building a new one.
A few saguaro cacti will be relocated on the finishing hole, as they set up in front of two tee boxes. An additional back tee also could be built.
You can’t make this stuff up. The Big 12 has a crazy schedule quirk in 2024 for both Arizona and Utah.
The crazy world of college football is made even crazier by college sports realignment in 2024. The new-look college football schedule created by realignment has generated some amazing plot twists. For Arizona and Utah, two schools leaving the Pac-12 for the Big 12, there’s a shared component to their 2024 football slates.
Both Arizona and Utah are going to play 10 Big 12 opponents in 2024, but they will play only nine conference games. Wait a minute — how is that possible? Here’s how: Arizona scheduled a nonconference game with Kansas State, and Utah scheduled a home-and-home series with Baylor, before the Pac-12 died and the Four Corners schools (Arizona, Arizona State, Utah, Colorado) left for the Big 12.
Baylor at Utah and Arizona at Kansas State are Big 12 matchups in 2024. All four teams are in the same conference. Yet, neither game will be a conference game counted in the standings. This recalls the weird scenario of North Carolina playing Wake Forest in a nonconference game — not an ACC game — over the past decade.
Eric Musselman could pick off a shooting guard who has decommitted from Arizona.
The USC Trojans might be about to pick up an Arizona basketball decommit. USC basketball is believed to be the front-runner for 2024 shooting guard Jamari Phillips. Eric Musselman could add an intriguing piece to his USC roster.
“The bigger issue for Phillips and the Wildcats is what the roster will look like next season and how the potential playing time has changed as well. Arizona is expected to bring back Caleb Love for another season with Jaden Bradley and KJ Lewis slated to be starting as well.
“Tommy Lloyd and the Arizona coaching staff also added Campbell transfer Anthony Dell’Orso, who is going to play an immediate role for the Wildcats. Previously, Dell’Orso was Second Team All-CAA honoree at Campbell University in 2023-24 and was the 2023 Big South Freshman of the Year for the Camels.”
Arizona simply has its backcourt roster spots taken care of. Phillips was not going to be able to get the minutes he hoped for. USC is now in a position to pounce. Let’s see what happens.
