Thursday, November 06, 2008

Thursday 11/06 A.M. Quickie:
Obama, Utah, Manny, TP, Amare, More

I didn't intend to lead today's SN column with continuing promotion of my college football playoff plan.

But I unexpectedly went on a local radio show last night, and we spend the bulk of the time talking about a CFB playoff -- and I think it was entirely driven by Obama bringing it up Monday.

The BCS/playoff debate is omnipresent, but it usually doesn't hit in full force until December. But because of Obama's mention of it on Monday, it is front and center. When the President-elect initiates a policy discussion, it tends to get attention. In this case, his policy is playoff. I want nothing more than to help.

And so on the show, I teased my "SEC-ession" plan -- but don't call me an SEC elitist. I have modified the plan! I now think the SEC and Big 12 should jointly secede, then dare the rest of the country not to follow. You can see the complete plan in the post below (or here).

Anyway, at some point, there will be a playoff. The fastest (if "exlusionariest") way to get there is my plan -- not sure what's holding the SEC and Big 12 back. They'd make more money dropping out of the BCS and creating their own playoff than staying in the BCS.

(UPDATE: As usual, Matt "Doc Saturday" Hinton has some of the most clear-eyed analysis about the current iteration of the BCS mess, specifically involving USC and Pete Carroll's recent complaints. The gist: If you had won, you'd be fine.)

But that's neither here nor there: It is an absolutely loaded column today. Among the highlights:

CFB: Utah/TCU tonight and it's big-big-big. One of the Top 3 most important games of the year, because -- presuming the winner wins out -- it should be for a BCS-busting BCS bowl bid.

NBA: Everyone is talking about Tony Parker's double-nickel, and it was impressive (boosted by the fact that it was the Spurs' first W of the season). But statistically, for my money, Amare's line was even more impressive. Points (49), rebounds, assists, blocks, steals. It was all there.

MLB: Dodgers make Manny a huge offer. And I say he's worth it.

Complete SN column here. More later.

-- D.S.

2 comments:

Biff said...

Dan,

I'm all for whatever it takes to initiate the move towards a true playoff... even your succession plan.

But, I would not be satisfied until that leads to a 16-team playoff where all 11 conferences get an auto-bid.

As I've said in years past, until the following statement is true for college football, it is a farce when compared to *any* *other* college sport.

STATEMENT: Any team that goes undefeated in the regular season and the post-season wins the championship.

It's not that hard, really.

A.P. Boynton said...

Amare's was more impressive because he got 49 in regulation. It took Parker double overtime to get 55. Get 55 in 48 minutes and then come back to us.