Hello, friends! Yikes, what happened to the summer? As a reminder, Full Court Press is using sports to remind us of what once was good, and what could be again. The last time I wrote these was good and writing it could be good again. Am I right?

Even Cowpoke fans thought they were in for a long season when Oklahoma State lost their season opener to Tulsa on Sep 5th.

Okie St hired away Coach Eric Morris from North Texas and also brought over his QB, Drew Mestemaker, in the transfer portal.

GrantB25 spoke for the entire fanbase. Like if it were Florida State losing to FIU. Imagine Michigan losing to Western Michigan! Wouldn’t that be crazy?!²

Here’s what’s fun about sports though: they had another shot at suiting up this past week when another team came to down.

^{gulp… is that Phil Knight’s music???}

Rebounding from an embarrassing loss to face a Top 10 team with a top QB prospect, not exactly ideal for most teams… but QB Drew Mestemaker has done the unthinkable before.

He was the backup QB for the entirety of his HS career (Go Vipers!) and somehow managed to win the starting job at North Texas… as a walk-on. A breakout party of a 2025 season was what followed.

As to how he would respond to his first setback in Stillwater?

Oklahoma State went on to beat Oregon 39-31.

Really cool story. Really nice touchdown. Really relatable moment.

Bouncing back from my own Tulsa loss³ to write this! What are you bouncing back from this week?

On Sunday, I listened to Chance the Rapper at his Coloring Book 10 Year Anniversary Concert.

The Sunday prior, I watched Cars in theaters as it celebrated its 20th Anniversary.

Timeless classics. Memories from years ago that got to be relived.

Reliving the past is easy. Its accessible at (nearly) any time.

But making a new memory? Creating a new story? That takes work. Effort. Creativity.

I find myself thinking (as I’m sure others are in the great AI year of 2026), “how can I be more present?”

I think it looks different for everyone - lifting weights, going on a long run, taking a trip to the driving range, listening to music in the car just for the fun of it (instead of just “entertainment”).

I watched as Chance said “let’s put our phones away and be present for this next song” just for a few dozen fans to whip them out seconds into the track.

Even this newsletter was my attempt at getting back to making “new” rather than just reliving what was.

After all, we’re just trying to be reminded of what once was good… so we know what could be again.

Thanks for reading my newsletter! Bounce back this week!

Did someone send Full Court Press to you? Subscribe here!

Please reply with your feedback and I’ll get back to every response in my inbox. I hope you’d consider sharing it with a friend who enjoys one or more of the following:

Blessings,

Brandon