The Train Daddy is back with sports news, life lessons and politically incorrect talk. All aboard! It’s July and the tradition is to shout-out the greatest country to ever exist, the United States of America!

This is something I have done every year since 2008, writing for the Pulse. I love this country, and I love sports. Every July 4 there are two guarantees for me—I watch Independence Day and pretend to be Will Smith. I am a man who gets jiggy with it, blows up aliens, saves the president, marries a stripper, and shows the world how badass America is.

The other tradition has always been watching Joey Chestnut stuff wieners down his throat at a pace that the mind cannot comprehend. The GOAT returns to the playing field after he was banned from the 2024 Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest.

Why was he banned? The simple answer is he had a relationship with fake wieners. Partnership, relationship, whatever, he was getting paid to promote Impossible Foods, a company that develops plant-based substitutes for meat products. “Overly priced crap” also explains Impossible Foods.

The MLE (Major League Eating) and Nathan’s didn’t like Joey representing the fake wieners of Impossible. So, they hit the 16-time champion Mr. Nut with a one-year ban.

Well, good news everyone! Joey will return to Coney Island for the 2025 contest, having resolved the sponsorship issue. I imagine by the time you, the reader, are reading this, the competition will have already happened. Google “Joey Chestnut” right now. I bet he put down 70-plus dogs and buns this year, something he hasn’t done since 2021. The greatest American athlete of all time is ready to take back his crown!

I wish I could tell you I was done talking about wieners, but I would be lying. Keep men out of women’s sports! Did you see the recent trans athlete who pitched a shutout to give his Minnesota high school softball team a state championship?

It caused Riley Gaines and Simone Biles to have a war of words on social media—one that ended up with Simone Biles, the decorated Olympian, making a fool of herself. Simone apologized to save face and then deleted her X account. These so-called trans activists always come out after their own retirement and the vast majority speak in riddles on the topic because they are too afraid to bluntly say trans women should be allowed to play with women with no restrictions!

It’s simple for me: keep wieners out of women’s sports. Alright, we are officially done with the wiener talk here!

I know this is completely out of left field: Fred Durst, the lead singer of Limp Bizkit, did it all for the “rookie.” I will say, as a Titans fan and ’90s kid, this story made my heart sing!

So, the Bizkit has been making a comeback these days as the now 54-year-old Durst and his band continue rocking. I mean, they are opening for Metallica right now on tour, and that’s no small thing!

They were recently in Denver at Mile High for a show—the same place the Tennessee Titans will open the 2025 NFL season—and Fred walked out onstage wearing a Cam Ward jersey for the entire set. What makes it funny is Fred was born in Jacksonville—what makes it not surprising is the fact he wants nothing to do with those jungle kitties in his hometown.

I just thought it was cool, Fred showing some love to the number-one overall pick of the 2025 Draft. Put respect on my QB’s name!

Cam Ward was drafted at the top overall spot and the TV crew immediately started rambling about Shedeur Sanders, a story they desperately were trying to sell us. The joke was on them when Sanders was eventually drafted 100-plus picks down the road by the Browns.

Cam earned his airtime, and TV did him dirty on draft night. They skipped over his highlight package and even cut out footage of him thanking God and family. The disrespect was real, as they spent most of that time talking about a player who ended up a fifth-round draft pick.

Cam is a kid who overcame so much as a zero-star recruit. He became a legit star who threw for a Division I record-breaking 158 pass TDs and became the number-one pick in the draft. To be fair, Cam himself probably couldn’t care less about how much he is talked about on TV. He has made it clear the media and noise isn’t his thing. He just wants to play football. I got no problem doing the whining for him, though!

Mel Kiper the clown still has me bitter, but shout-out to Fred Durst for repping the brand right in the home of where it all will go down week 1. Titans at Broncos! I am hoping for a Bo Nix sophomore slump and some Cam Ward rookie magic. Titan Up!

Let’s now move to a few of my favorite sports moments in American history. We must start with the Miracle on Ice—the 1980 hockey team taking down the power that was USSR hockey—right? Many people like to give credit to President Reagan for ending the Cold War, but I say it was the Miracle on Ice that did it.

Remember the 1992 Dream Team? Complete domination, they beat teams by an average of 44 points to win a gold medal for USA Basketball. Names like Jordan, Bird, Magic, Barkley, Ewing, Malone. Ballers!

I have given love to Pat Tillman every year for the past decade in these articles. Tillman gave the ultimate sacrifice for his country. Pat was an Arizona Cardinal, an NFL safety who turned down $4 million to join the Army after 9/11. Pat was killed in Afghanistan in 2004 and became the face of heroism for so many. God bless you, Pat!

There are so many great moments in American sports history. Jesse Owens shaming Hitler in Berlin and winning numerous gold medals is another. Unfortunately, it was a time in American history where Jesse wasn’t exactly given the hero’s welcome at home that he so deserved in 1930s America. Thankfully the history books remember, and Owens will be remembered as one of America’s greatest athletes and Olympic stories.

Another legendary patriotic moment: It was 1976 and Rick Monday stopped two protestors from burning a flag on field at Dodger Stadium. One unfurled the flag while the other took out a lighter, but Monday was faster and snatched the flag away before the disgusting act was accomplished. “What they were doing was wrong then, in 1976, and in my mind, it is wrong now, in 2006,” Monday later said. “It was also reinforced by a lot of friends who lost their lives protecting the rights and freedoms that flag represented.”

Photo courtesy U.S. National Archives

Let us also not forget the perfect pitch to start game 3 of the 2001 World Series, 49 days after 9/11, George W. Bush wearing a bulletproof vest and standing alone on the mound, head high in Yankee stadium. Many people say he looked like an unbreakable statue that night. Bush threw a perfect pitch from the mound, something not easy to do. 

Former Titans offensive lineman Taylor Lewan knows all about that after throwing the ceremonial pitch for the St. Louis Cardinals last month. “Worst day of my athletic life,” Lewan said. I personally disagree that it was the worst day of his athletic life. That would be 2021 week 1 vs. the Arizona Cardinals, when he let Chandler Jones have a historic day and rag-doll Ryan Tannehill on a five-sack performance that included two forced fumbles.

I get off topic so easily . . . back to President Bush. The crowd went wild, and it was a feelgood moment for America when we needed it most. There are dozens of other great sports moments I could have talked about but those are the ones that always come to mind, I reckon.

Time to wrap this article up. I pray you all have a wonderful July; it’s about to be a hot one! Welcome to humid Tennessee—being honest, no place I’d rather be. I love my state, love my home. The Tennessee hills is where they will put me six feet under when it’s all said and done. I do pray that I can at least experience one Lombardi as a Titans fan. That’s not asking too much. I just turned 40 this year, so the clock is ticking. No sports achievement would top my list more than a Titans championship.

Wrapping it up for real now! Have a great July 4th. Eat, drink liquids and spend quality time with family and friends. Be thankful you live in such an amazing country. Being a citizen of this country is a blessing, and I will show my love for it this July 4th when I put on my American flag suspenders and matching bandanna while I run around like a child blowing up a thousand dollars’ worth of fireworks. That’s freedom, baby! God bless America!

The Train is rolling into the station. Choo-choo!