Thursday, December 16, 2010

12/16 Quickie: Feller, Knicks, More

RIP Bob Feller, one of the great pitchers of all time. If you are only nominally familiar with him, the extensive retrospectives on his career will give you a greater appreciation.

(If you read one thing on Feller today, make it Joe Posnanski.)

Knicks win! (Even if they lost!) I don't watch much regular-season NBA, but I did watch Knicks-Celtics, and it was an Event.

The Knicks are relevant again -- you get the sense that the fans were going bananas simply because they finally matter. I found it much more visceral than the late-90s, where success was expected; there is a genuine appreciation, given how bad the team has sucked.

That they lost almost gives them more cachet -- to come so close to knocking off the standard-bearer in the East, to show that the early success wasn't flimsy, to show the potential.

Heat win 10th straight: With a trip to New York up next that should prove to be even more insane than the Celtics game. I think NYC fans could be more brutal than Cleveland fans.

Mark Cuban wants to implode the BCS... with cash: He's not wrong; money drives the system, and a better economic proposition will have some influence. But we've been down this road before with other people. That said: Cuban has the cash and marketing savvy to make hay.

NFL Midweek: Matt Cassel was practicing, but I really can't see him playing on Sunday -- taking hits? Doesn't that put the REST of his season in jeopardy?

CFB Coaching Carousel: Miami (Ohio) Mike Haywood to Pitt. Miami continues to be the cradle of coaches. It's hard not to be more inspiring than Dave Wannstedt.

CBB: Week of upsets continue. First Tennessee and Louisville lose, now UNLV, which lost to UC-Santa Barbara. (Meanwhile, the countdown is on for Northwestern's appearance at Madison Square Garden next Monday and Tuesday nights.)

Women's CBB: I agree with Christine Brennan's point here, but count me among those who are very excited to see history made by the UConn women.

NHL/TV: Caps lose 7th straight. On the plus side, the new HBO show "24/7: Caps-Penguins" is AMAZING, in part because the Caps' troubles are so in-your-face. (So many F-bombs...)

NFL Tonight: 49ers at Chargers. Implications for fantasy playoff teams. A must-win for the Chargers. But otherwise, kind of a snoozer.

-- D.S.

1 comment:

WuzUpG said...

BCS: Correct, money drives it (as well as everything).

My problem with the BCS, as you've pointed out before that it doesn't solve what the current BCS already has. March Madness still has the same problem trying to place 65, now 68 teams, and they still have controversial bubble picks.

What if CFB went to a 4-team playoff, will they be able to fill the stadium? It's not like basketball, where the fans can see the Final Four and Championship Game on the same weekend. Thus, the fans would have to choose whether to travel and see the semifinal or final.

Could they use one stadium for both semifinal games? Unless they would play on an artificial surface, the field would be in bad shape for the 2nd game. How loudly will the losing fans scream, if their kicker slipped on a last second FG attempt?