Thursday, January 10, 2013

1/10 (Hall of What?) Quickie

Another day, another big milestone anniversary: Two years ago today, we launched Quickish.

I remember that day clearly -- it was one of the most thrilling of my life. In the year since we celebrated the one-year anniversary, obviously the big news is that the company was sold to Gannett and both Quickish and I joined USA TODAY Sports Media Group. With a huge brand and network behind it, expect big things from Quickish in its third year.

Let's get to it:

*Baseball Hall of Fame elects no one: The NYT had it right with its bold blank sports front page. The Baseball Hall of Fame is a joke. The stranglehold that the BBWAA has over the process is a joke. Given the sorry state of the Hall's finances and the insane grasp the BBWAA has, it took me five minutes and a blank napkin to sketch out a viable competitor for the Hall. Want to see changes? Lay out a vision where the Hall has to compete for fans and dollars.

*Brian Kelly interviews with the Eagles: Kelly coaching in the NFL is a "when, not if" proposition. The questions are: Is this the right NFL opportunity? If not, which one is? And will he be as sought-after if ND drops off even slightly? It is NOT about whether Notre Dame is a better gig. It is apples and oranges. Wetzel noted this today: Kelly's entire career has been about climbing a ladder, and even if Notre Dame is the pinnacle of that ladder at the college level, there is no indication that he wants to stop at the college level -- all that's left after that is the NFL. (And if he fails in the NFL -- like Chip Kelly, like Steve Spurrier -- he will have his pick of college jobs.)

*CBB Name to Know: Ben McLemore. The first-year Kansas guard might be the best player in college basketball. He is a sure-fire Top 5 pick in the NBA Draft -- given Bradley Beal's success, I could see him going as high as No. 2 or 3. If you can watch a Kansas game, do it -- he is that good.

*More CBB: With a win at Illinois, Minnesota is most definitely for real. The great thing about being a Gophers fan has to be that you are not beholden to "Final Four or Bust" thinking. If this team gets to the Sweet 16, that's a nice little season for a fan base that settles for much less, perennially.

*Tebow Watch: Jaguars fire Mularkey, and the only question is whether it is a prerequisite for his replacement that he be comfortable finding an innovative role for Tim Tebow. (I am guessing that it is.)

*The NFL's brain-injury problem: Junior Seau had CTE. Spoiler alert: They ALL have CTE. The day that there is a test for CTE that is as easy as a test for DNA -- or perhaps some kind of C-T scan (although that's a lot more costly and invasive) -- is the day that tackle football as we know it is over. Because we'll find out that not only does every NFL player have signs of CTE, but every college player will, too. And enough high school players will that the entire system will collapse.

-- D.S.

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