Miami Marlins hire Kim Ng as the first woman to be the GM of a major sports franchise, and more sports news

Kim Ng made her mark in sports history Friday as she was hired as the new general manager of the Miami Marlins. Ng is the first woman general manager of an MLB franchise.

In fact, Ng is also the first woman hired as general manager in any of the four major North American men’s sports leagues (NBA, NFL, NHL, MLB). It’s a historical hire, for sure, but it’s for someone who more than deserves the opportunity.

Ng, 51, has more than 30 years of experience with the Chicago White Sox (1990-96), New York Yankees (1998-2001), Los Angeles Dodgers (2002-2011) and MLB Commissioner’s office (2011-2020). She was part of three World Series championship teams.

“This challenge is one I don’t take lightly,” Ng said. “When I got into this business, it seemed unlikely a woman would lead a major league team, but I am dogged in the pursuit of my goals.”

The significance of this move can’t be understated. Sometimes when a minority is given the first opportunity, it’s an unfavorable position with a rebuilding team, but that isn’t the case here. Ng will be in charge of a Marlins team that surprised baseball with their first playoff appearance since 2003.

The Marlins are a young team filled with talented prospects, and chief executive Derek Jeter isn’t afraid to make big moves to turn the franchise around. This opportunity would be great for any general manager candidate, which is why Ng’s pending success could turn a new leaf for women and minorities in leadership positions in men’s sports.

The college football season has been wild and unpredictable. All of the postponements and delays have put the timeliness of the schedule in jeopardy.

According to Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby, that could lead to the College Football Playoff being postponed.

“I am on the CFP operations committee, and we spent some time talking about that,” Bowlsby said on Sirius XM radio. "We have not come to any closure on it, but there is some latitude to postpone it if that need should arise.

This week’s college football slate is filled with postponements. More than half of the SEC’s games are postponed, and the Big Ten and PAC 12 are rescheduling games, too. The problem in the Big Ten and PAC 12 is that those schedules were made without bye weeks, so there wasn’t extra room to play rescheduled games. Even though the SEC had extra room, the postponements are adding up. LSU has two postponements with only one week in between the final SEC week and the SEC Championship.

The numbers suggest that more games will be rescheduled in the coming weeks, which could force the playoff committee’s hand.

The Indianapolis Colts defense has been one of the best in the NFL and they had a chance to show on the national stage on Thursday night that it’s no fluke. The Tennessee Titans seemed destined to win the division after a strong start, but they are 1-3 in their last four games after a 34-17 loss to the Colts.

This was a tone-setting win for the Colts. The Texans and Titans both made the playoffs last season while the Colts searched for consistency at quarterback.

Phillip Rivers is the lead man at quarterback now, and his play sometimes leaves something left to be desired, but the Colts' defense has been so good that it hasn’t hampered them too much.

This division seems like it’ll be a battle to the end. Both teams have four games remaining against teams over .500, including a matchup in two weeks against one another in Indianapolis.

The Colts drew first blood, but this one is far from finished.