The Harbaugh Bowl. "Super Bro I." The beat-you-over-the-head storyline for the Super Bowl is clear -- the match-up of brothers John and Jim Harbaugh.
It seems innocuous enough now, but just wait until next week, when it will be over-the-top.
That said: It is an INCREDIBLE storyline, arguably the greatest individual storyline in Super Bowl history. (What: You thought I'd say Jerome Bettis' Detroit homecoming?)
As someone who grew up with a younger brother and as a father to brothers who couldn't be more tight-knit, I welcome the crushing overexposure of the Harbaugh Bowl.
More:
*Patriots schadenfreude: The reality is that there isn't an individual team whose non-championship conclusion to the season brings out the schadenfreude like the Patriots. In part, that's a testament to them -- we just presume that they will win the Super Bowl, to avoid the disappointment if they do... and to maximize the glee when they don't. As someone without a die-hard NFL team allegiance, "when the Pats get knocked out of the playoffs" is annually my NFL season highlight.
*What next for the Falcons: Let's be clear -- it was "Super Bowl or bust" for Atlanta, so consider their season a bust, compounded by giving up a 17-0 lead at home (a week after giving up a 20-0 lead at home and only getting through because Pete Carroll got cutesy with the ice-the-kicker thing). Unsure what happens for them next, aside from another season of regular-season superiority, followed by the inevitable playoff knockout.
*Super Bowl pick: 49ers over Ravens, although at this point it's pick-against-Baltimore at your peril.
*Manti Te'o Watch: I would like there to be more sensational details, but in the end, it sure seems like the story comes down to Te'o getting hoaxed, then being so traumatized by it that he couldn't figure out how to surface the story publicly. With the Couric interview, you can already tell that the Te'o family is planning to make a very big deal out of becoming the poster family for online awareness of scams and hoaxes (and it's a very smart strategy, one that you hope is moderately sincere.)
*Sacramento Kings are headed to Seattle to become the Sonics: On the one hand, I am thrilled for my friends in Seattle who were hurt so badly when the Sonics left for OKC. On the other hand, they are doing to Sacramento exactly what was done to them, and simply acknowledging that irony probably isn't enough. Sacto IS the Kings -- Seattle has plenty of other sports teams. I just hope that the city can one day bring back an NBA franchise. Otherwise, today is a day for lamenting a devoted fan base losing their team, not celebrating the return of the NBA to Seattle (a city that deserves an NBA team, btw.)
*Enjoy your Inauguration Day/MLK Day. Both are always a special day in America.
-- D.S.
Monday, January 21, 2013
Thursday, January 17, 2013
1/17 (Te'o, Cont'd) Quickie
Let's review: This is the strangest sports story I can remember -- it makes the first day of Tiger's scandal look buttoned-up.
Here's where I net out, at least for the moment:
*I do believe that Te'o GOT hoaxed, mostly because it is unfathomable to me that Notre Dame -- an institution that knows a thing or two about paving over scandals -- would get behind this in the way that they did if they thought they could get hung out to dry.
*I think that there was still some deception involved on Te'o's part, and we'll get more details about that as this unravels. After he found out he was hoaxed, I don't blame him for wanting to cover it up, rather than make an announcement about it, but he clearly was ready to let the world continue believing the myth-defining g/f story in the absence of the news coming out.
*There are some incredible peculiarities that might make a conspiracy theorist think that it wasn't quite the "he's 100% the victim here" situation -- namely, that he would have a multi-year (seemingly romantic) relationship with someone and not just never see them in person, but never even get on Skype? How about the origin story reported in the South Bend Tribune?
There is NO way that it is as neat-and-tidy as Notre Dame has presented it.
It is the understatement of the sports year to say "Tracking..."
-- D.S.
Here's where I net out, at least for the moment:
*I do believe that Te'o GOT hoaxed, mostly because it is unfathomable to me that Notre Dame -- an institution that knows a thing or two about paving over scandals -- would get behind this in the way that they did if they thought they could get hung out to dry.
*I think that there was still some deception involved on Te'o's part, and we'll get more details about that as this unravels. After he found out he was hoaxed, I don't blame him for wanting to cover it up, rather than make an announcement about it, but he clearly was ready to let the world continue believing the myth-defining g/f story in the absence of the news coming out.
*There are some incredible peculiarities that might make a conspiracy theorist think that it wasn't quite the "he's 100% the victim here" situation -- namely, that he would have a multi-year (seemingly romantic) relationship with someone and not just never see them in person, but never even get on Skype? How about the origin story reported in the South Bend Tribune?
There is NO way that it is as neat-and-tidy as Notre Dame has presented it.
It is the understatement of the sports year to say "Tracking..."
-- D.S.
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
1/16 (Te'o) Quickie
OK, this Manti Te'o story broken by Deadspin is the craziest sports story I've read in years. If you haven't, read it now. If you have, you're probably like me: Gobsmacked.
(Chip Kelly to the Eagles? OK. Great move. I'm a huge Kelly fan and will bet on him adapting his Oregon system to the NFL -- as if Bill Belichick already hadn't?)
-- D.S.
(Chip Kelly to the Eagles? OK. Great move. I'm a huge Kelly fan and will bet on him adapting his Oregon system to the NFL -- as if Bill Belichick already hadn't?)
-- D.S.
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
01/15 (Lance) Quickie
I have pretty low expectations for what Lance told Oprah, except to the extent that he has outed himself as a liar, which bothers me a lot more than the cheating, which was endemic to the sport.
He built his entire brand on lies -- look, if anyone battling cancer took strength from Lance or the LiveStrong movement, I absolutely hope that happened. Thankfully, LiveStrong became way bigger than Lance Armstrong.
But Lance's lies hurt people -- how about the folks who tried to blow the whistle on him who he sought to destroy? How about the money he took from sponsors (and taxpayers)? How about the money he won in a libel case against a newspaper?
I buy into the theory that, more than anything, Lance is sorry he got caught. He is sorry his empire crashed around him. He is sorry that he lost his standing.
I will have to watch the Oprah interview -- again: low expectations -- but I doubt he is sorry that he engaged in a decade of lying about everything.
It is as close to a Quickie truism as we have: It is always the cover-up and rarely the crime.
More:
*USA TODAY Sports is doing a 30th anniversary of the All-USA high school football team, and what stands out more than anything is that the first-team QBs through the years... have been uniformly mediocre. When wrapping together HS, college and pro careers, the all-time All-USA QB was... Jeff George.
Seriously: I went over to our archives of the All-USA teams and looked for myself -- and it really was the best pick. (Frankly, Joe Mauer probably should have gotten it, given his "pro" success... albeit not in football.)
It is a testament to just how iffy high school recruiting is -- how dependent the player is on where they end up, who their coaches are, even what kind of system they played in high school. For what it's worth, the All-USA hoops picks were largely excellent, relative to how the players turned out in college and/or the NBA.
*With the exception of Colin Kaepernick, there is no more must-see athlete whose team is active in sports today than Kevin Durant.
*As discussed yesterday, I couldn't care less who is ranked No. 1 in college basketball -- all that matters is how you do in the NCAA Tournament. To that point, the newest No. 1, Louisville, sure looks like one of a handful of teams with a legit shot at winning it all. (My short list: L'ville, Duke, Florida, Kansas, Indiana and, possibly, VCU. Common factor? All are Top 10 in KenPom's Adjusted Defensive Efficiency rating.)
*Chargers hire Broncos O.C. Mike McCoy: Yeah, he did some interesting things with Tim Tebow last year, but the success of the Broncos' offense this year was Manning, not McCoy. But anything is better than Norv Turner at this point.
*How 'bout my Wizards?!
-- D.S.
He built his entire brand on lies -- look, if anyone battling cancer took strength from Lance or the LiveStrong movement, I absolutely hope that happened. Thankfully, LiveStrong became way bigger than Lance Armstrong.
But Lance's lies hurt people -- how about the folks who tried to blow the whistle on him who he sought to destroy? How about the money he took from sponsors (and taxpayers)? How about the money he won in a libel case against a newspaper?
I buy into the theory that, more than anything, Lance is sorry he got caught. He is sorry his empire crashed around him. He is sorry that he lost his standing.
I will have to watch the Oprah interview -- again: low expectations -- but I doubt he is sorry that he engaged in a decade of lying about everything.
It is as close to a Quickie truism as we have: It is always the cover-up and rarely the crime.
More:
*USA TODAY Sports is doing a 30th anniversary of the All-USA high school football team, and what stands out more than anything is that the first-team QBs through the years... have been uniformly mediocre. When wrapping together HS, college and pro careers, the all-time All-USA QB was... Jeff George.
Seriously: I went over to our archives of the All-USA teams and looked for myself -- and it really was the best pick. (Frankly, Joe Mauer probably should have gotten it, given his "pro" success... albeit not in football.)
It is a testament to just how iffy high school recruiting is -- how dependent the player is on where they end up, who their coaches are, even what kind of system they played in high school. For what it's worth, the All-USA hoops picks were largely excellent, relative to how the players turned out in college and/or the NBA.
*With the exception of Colin Kaepernick, there is no more must-see athlete whose team is active in sports today than Kevin Durant.
*As discussed yesterday, I couldn't care less who is ranked No. 1 in college basketball -- all that matters is how you do in the NCAA Tournament. To that point, the newest No. 1, Louisville, sure looks like one of a handful of teams with a legit shot at winning it all. (My short list: L'ville, Duke, Florida, Kansas, Indiana and, possibly, VCU. Common factor? All are Top 10 in KenPom's Adjusted Defensive Efficiency rating.)
*Chargers hire Broncos O.C. Mike McCoy: Yeah, he did some interesting things with Tim Tebow last year, but the success of the Broncos' offense this year was Manning, not McCoy. But anything is better than Norv Turner at this point.
*How 'bout my Wizards?!
-- D.S.
Monday, January 14, 2013
01/14 (Last Four) Quickie
Remember back in the day when "instant history" was sort of mocked? Now, we get claims like you're seeing all over today: That was the best NFL Divisional Playoffs round ever.
(And it was.)
Five thoughts, coming off the weekend:
*The weekend's biggest winner was Tim Tebow.
*Pete Carroll's bone-headed ice-the-kicker move was the single-dumbest coaching decision of the season.
*Yes, seeing Ray Lewis and Tony Gonzalez extend their first-ballot Hall of Fame careers one more game is kind of awesome.
*It's impossible not to love watching Colin Kaepernick.
*"Oh, well: We'll be back!" is idiotic rationalization. (Looking at you, Seattle pundits.)
Looking ahead: The 49ers are going to thump the just-happy-to-be-here Falcons, and the Patriots are going to thump the Ravens, because that's Baltimore's m.o.: An improbable early-round win followed by a loss in the conference title game. 49ers-Pats will be one of the most-watched Super Bowls ever.
More:
*Who is No. 1 in college basketball? Who cares? No poll means less than college basketball's. What Duke's loss signified is that, as usual, the Blue Devils can fold when facing a team that wants it more.
(UPDATE: A rebuttal from reader T.M., who appropriately calls me out for lazy punditry due to my anti-Duke bias: "Duke was without Ryan Kelly, a critical piece to their success this year...he's got the same foot injury that kept him out of the ACC and NCAA tournaments last year and resulted in Duke's first round loss to Lehigh. Without Kelly, the game was still up for grabs until the final minute. And it was at NC State, who if you recall was the preseason pick to win the ACC. I don't think the game was any kind of referendum on 'who wanted it more', and to say it was is basically saying that Duke didn't care enough, and moreover ("as usual"), doesn't care enough on a regular basis. You know better than that Dan...I know you respect Coach K, and to imply that the reason Duke didn't win Saturday was because his team didn't want to win that game as much as NCSU is pretty offensive." Fair point, T.M.!)
*The Lakers are off the schneid: Not as good as they should be, not as bad as everyone thinks they are.
*Lance talks to Oprah today: If you think he'll be offering a full confessional, you don't know Lance. I'm fully expecting McGwire-style "I'm not here to talk about the past" evasion of actual details or taking full responsiblity, mostly because Lance is on the hook, both with lawsuits and with the Feds. You can only hope that Oprah digs in a little bit.
*Super Bowl ads: Have you registered to be a USA TODAY Ad Meter panelist yet? Do it now. (Just click here, then look for the "Be a Panelist" link.
-- D.S.
(And it was.)
Five thoughts, coming off the weekend:
*The weekend's biggest winner was Tim Tebow.
*Pete Carroll's bone-headed ice-the-kicker move was the single-dumbest coaching decision of the season.
*Yes, seeing Ray Lewis and Tony Gonzalez extend their first-ballot Hall of Fame careers one more game is kind of awesome.
*It's impossible not to love watching Colin Kaepernick.
*"Oh, well: We'll be back!" is idiotic rationalization. (Looking at you, Seattle pundits.)
Looking ahead: The 49ers are going to thump the just-happy-to-be-here Falcons, and the Patriots are going to thump the Ravens, because that's Baltimore's m.o.: An improbable early-round win followed by a loss in the conference title game. 49ers-Pats will be one of the most-watched Super Bowls ever.
More:
*Who is No. 1 in college basketball? Who cares? No poll means less than college basketball's. What Duke's loss signified is that, as usual, the Blue Devils can fold when facing a team that wants it more.
(UPDATE: A rebuttal from reader T.M., who appropriately calls me out for lazy punditry due to my anti-Duke bias: "Duke was without Ryan Kelly, a critical piece to their success this year...he's got the same foot injury that kept him out of the ACC and NCAA tournaments last year and resulted in Duke's first round loss to Lehigh. Without Kelly, the game was still up for grabs until the final minute. And it was at NC State, who if you recall was the preseason pick to win the ACC. I don't think the game was any kind of referendum on 'who wanted it more', and to say it was is basically saying that Duke didn't care enough, and moreover ("as usual"), doesn't care enough on a regular basis. You know better than that Dan...I know you respect Coach K, and to imply that the reason Duke didn't win Saturday was because his team didn't want to win that game as much as NCSU is pretty offensive." Fair point, T.M.!)
*The Lakers are off the schneid: Not as good as they should be, not as bad as everyone thinks they are.
*Lance talks to Oprah today: If you think he'll be offering a full confessional, you don't know Lance. I'm fully expecting McGwire-style "I'm not here to talk about the past" evasion of actual details or taking full responsiblity, mostly because Lance is on the hook, both with lawsuits and with the Feds. You can only hope that Oprah digs in a little bit.
*Super Bowl ads: Have you registered to be a USA TODAY Ad Meter panelist yet? Do it now. (Just click here, then look for the "Be a Panelist" link.
-- D.S.
Friday, January 11, 2013
1/11 (NFL Divisional) Quickie
The most compelling storyline of the NFL Divisional round this weekend is Peyton Manning's return to the playoffs. I think it's pretty simple:
If Manning doesn't win, he fails to advance the Broncos any further than Tim Tebow did last year. And that would be just about as big of a failure as his regular season was a success.
Don't get me wrong: He SHOULD win. But if he DOESN'T? The season is a waste. For all the "MVP"-ness of Manning, they might as well have stuck with Tebow, if results are all that matter.
Picks:
Broncos over Ravens
Pats over Texans
Seahawks over Falcons
49ers over Packers.
One quick plug: Do you like Super Bowl ads? We have opened up USA TODAY's "Ad Meter" panel to anyone who wants to participate (it has historically been limited to a few hundred people). Click here and then click on "Be a Panelist" to register.
-- D.S.
If Manning doesn't win, he fails to advance the Broncos any further than Tim Tebow did last year. And that would be just about as big of a failure as his regular season was a success.
Don't get me wrong: He SHOULD win. But if he DOESN'T? The season is a waste. For all the "MVP"-ness of Manning, they might as well have stuck with Tebow, if results are all that matter.
Picks:
Broncos over Ravens
Pats over Texans
Seahawks over Falcons
49ers over Packers.
One quick plug: Do you like Super Bowl ads? We have opened up USA TODAY's "Ad Meter" panel to anyone who wants to participate (it has historically been limited to a few hundred people). Click here and then click on "Be a Panelist" to register.
-- D.S.
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.
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.
Tuesday, January 08, 2013
01/08 (Roll Tide) Quickie
Taking Gabe to the Wizards-Thunder game last night was such an incredible experience that I can't do it justice here and need to find some time to properly write it up. In the meatime...
Roll Tide. (Again.) We are in the Saban Dynasty for as long as he wants to continue coaching at Alabama. What last night did was re-affirm a couple of things:
*The best team in the SEC should never be locked out of playing for the national title. It is absurd to think that if Oregon hadn't stumbled, Alabama would have been shut out of the national title game.
*If it feels a bit unfair that non-SEC national contenders don't have to go through a season-long schedule nearly as rigorous as the would-be SEC champ, it is unfair that the SEC champ gets a month to prepare for whichever non-SEC team they might face for the national title.
*Once again in this dynastic SEC streak, the runner-up -- which looked so good heading into the game -- was exposed. It started in '06 with Ohio State and it continued through Notre Dame last night. ND might very well have been the second-best team in the country (I suspect ND isn't as good as a half-dozen SEC teams, but I'll let that go and avoid the word "overrated"), but the gap between "second-best" and "best" is vast.
*The game was such a blowout that the biggest story coming out of the game was Brent Musberger's on-air fascination with AJ McCarron's beauty-queen girlfriend.
*There is no reason not to slot Alabama right back at No. 1 next season, and people can say all they want about Ohio State or Texas A&M or even Notre Dame, but Bama will roll over any of them.
*It's always a sad moment when the college football season comes to a close.
But, suffice to say, "Roll Damn Tide," indeed.
-- D.S.
Roll Tide. (Again.) We are in the Saban Dynasty for as long as he wants to continue coaching at Alabama. What last night did was re-affirm a couple of things:
*The best team in the SEC should never be locked out of playing for the national title. It is absurd to think that if Oregon hadn't stumbled, Alabama would have been shut out of the national title game.
*If it feels a bit unfair that non-SEC national contenders don't have to go through a season-long schedule nearly as rigorous as the would-be SEC champ, it is unfair that the SEC champ gets a month to prepare for whichever non-SEC team they might face for the national title.
*Once again in this dynastic SEC streak, the runner-up -- which looked so good heading into the game -- was exposed. It started in '06 with Ohio State and it continued through Notre Dame last night. ND might very well have been the second-best team in the country (I suspect ND isn't as good as a half-dozen SEC teams, but I'll let that go and avoid the word "overrated"), but the gap between "second-best" and "best" is vast.
*The game was such a blowout that the biggest story coming out of the game was Brent Musberger's on-air fascination with AJ McCarron's beauty-queen girlfriend.
*There is no reason not to slot Alabama right back at No. 1 next season, and people can say all they want about Ohio State or Texas A&M or even Notre Dame, but Bama will roll over any of them.
*It's always a sad moment when the college football season comes to a close.
But, suffice to say, "Roll Damn Tide," indeed.
-- D.S.
Monday, January 07, 2013
01/07 (Next 10 Years) Quickie
If yesterday was about an appropriately quick note of the 10-year anniversary of the launch of the Daily Quickie -- the moment I met at least some of you -- then today is leaping headlong into the next day, so let's get right to it:
*NFL Playoffs: Absolutely, yes, Mike Shanahan screwed up. His attempts to talk his way out of responsibility were about as damning as anything we actually saw on the field. The reality is that even if RGIII was effective early, as his effectiveness became obviously diminished, Shanahan blew it by not removing him for Kirk Cousins. Shanahan's blunder cost the Redskins the game. Let's just hope it didn't cost Griffin even more.
*More NFL: Don't worry about the Colts -- they'll be fine. Meanwhile, if Ray Lewis' career didn't end last Sunday, it'll surely end next weekend. We have to get Manning-Brady for the AFC title. Over in the NFC, I'll take the 49ers punishing the Packers and the Seahawks rolling along by upending the Falcons in Atlanta. (If Atlanta's season is "Super Bowl or Bust," we know how it's ending.)
*CFB: BCS title game, and I'm picking Alabama to roll. I have come to appreciate Notre Dame, but even with the SEC's lackluster performance in bowl season, Alabama is like nothing ND has seen this year. The only reason it won't be a three-TD rout is because there will be enough clock-sucking running plays to keep the scores relatively low. But it will be decisive. Then, let the "Nick Saban to Cleveland" rumors begin!
*Jobs: So who's excited about Doug Marrone!
*NBA: Kobe and Dwight don't like each other? Go figure. Wonder if the Lakers can still trade Howard for Brook Lopez...
*Sports x Parenting: Thanks to my immeasurably generous friend Jack Kogod, I'm taking Gabe to the Wizards-Thunder game tonight. The Thunder are Gabe's favorite team; Russell Westbrook is his favorite player. This has all the makings of being the most formative moment of his sports fandom, which is an incredible thing to be aware of when it is happening.
*Hey, hockey starts Jan. 19!
-- D.S.
*NFL Playoffs: Absolutely, yes, Mike Shanahan screwed up. His attempts to talk his way out of responsibility were about as damning as anything we actually saw on the field. The reality is that even if RGIII was effective early, as his effectiveness became obviously diminished, Shanahan blew it by not removing him for Kirk Cousins. Shanahan's blunder cost the Redskins the game. Let's just hope it didn't cost Griffin even more.
*More NFL: Don't worry about the Colts -- they'll be fine. Meanwhile, if Ray Lewis' career didn't end last Sunday, it'll surely end next weekend. We have to get Manning-Brady for the AFC title. Over in the NFC, I'll take the 49ers punishing the Packers and the Seahawks rolling along by upending the Falcons in Atlanta. (If Atlanta's season is "Super Bowl or Bust," we know how it's ending.)
*CFB: BCS title game, and I'm picking Alabama to roll. I have come to appreciate Notre Dame, but even with the SEC's lackluster performance in bowl season, Alabama is like nothing ND has seen this year. The only reason it won't be a three-TD rout is because there will be enough clock-sucking running plays to keep the scores relatively low. But it will be decisive. Then, let the "Nick Saban to Cleveland" rumors begin!
*Jobs: So who's excited about Doug Marrone!
*NBA: Kobe and Dwight don't like each other? Go figure. Wonder if the Lakers can still trade Howard for Brook Lopez...
*Sports x Parenting: Thanks to my immeasurably generous friend Jack Kogod, I'm taking Gabe to the Wizards-Thunder game tonight. The Thunder are Gabe's favorite team; Russell Westbrook is his favorite player. This has all the makings of being the most formative moment of his sports fandom, which is an incredible thing to be aware of when it is happening.
*Hey, hockey starts Jan. 19!
-- D.S.
Sunday, January 06, 2013
01/06 (Quickie) Quickie
Ten years ago today, I published the very first edition of something called "The Daily Quickie" on ESPN.com. Here it is. What an amazing journey ever since. Thank you so much for joining me on it.
Friday, January 04, 2013
01/04 (Wild) Quickie
*I will miss Chip Kelly as a college coach, but I am really excited to see what he can do in the NFL.
*Oregon finishes the season as the most telegenic team (Manziel and Co. can make their closing argument tonight), but I can't help thinking that I was more impressed when watching Stanford and Alabama and (yes) Notre Dame and (yes, still) Florida and (yes, despite) Kansas State, at least when K-State was dictating the terms of the Fiesta Bowl during the middle portion of the first half.
*Bill O'Brien might be coming back to Penn State, but his dalliance with the NFL simply means that the proposition is "when" not "if." Penn State might have been able to guilt him into staying with "It's only been a year!" but O'Brien clearly wants in to the NFL -- and inevitably wants out of the continuing Penn State mess. Next year, "It's only been a year!" won't matter, and O'Brien will be no more committed to the program than he was this week as he peeked around for something better.
*NFL Wild Card picks: Green Bay, Seattle, Baltimore, Houston. (If that's chalk, all we can hope is that the games themselves are competitive and compelling.)
*CFB pick: Texas A&M over Oklahoma, teeing up the Aggies as a preseason Top 3 pick for next season. (Early prediction: (1) Alabama, (2) Notre Dame, (3) Texas A&M, (4) Florida, (5) Ohio State.)
*NBA: Hardly a shocker that the Spurs weren't able to get past a motivated Knicks team for SA's 8th straight win -- the thing to admire about San Antonio is that their entire system is built around competing for championships in the spring. Random games during the regular season? Meh.
*CBB: Yup, Colorado got the short end vs. Arizona, in what should have been a season-making upset win for the Buffs.
*Jobs: Anyone really think Andy Reid is going to be successful in Kansas City?
*Nuptials: Congrats to Phil Jackson and Jeannie Buss on their engagement.
*Want to be a part of USA TODAY's historic and influential Super Bowl "Ad Meter" panel that ranks the Super Bowl ads and picks the "winner?" Registration is open. Click "Be a Panelist" here.
-- D.S.
*Oregon finishes the season as the most telegenic team (Manziel and Co. can make their closing argument tonight), but I can't help thinking that I was more impressed when watching Stanford and Alabama and (yes) Notre Dame and (yes, still) Florida and (yes, despite) Kansas State, at least when K-State was dictating the terms of the Fiesta Bowl during the middle portion of the first half.
*Bill O'Brien might be coming back to Penn State, but his dalliance with the NFL simply means that the proposition is "when" not "if." Penn State might have been able to guilt him into staying with "It's only been a year!" but O'Brien clearly wants in to the NFL -- and inevitably wants out of the continuing Penn State mess. Next year, "It's only been a year!" won't matter, and O'Brien will be no more committed to the program than he was this week as he peeked around for something better.
*NFL Wild Card picks: Green Bay, Seattle, Baltimore, Houston. (If that's chalk, all we can hope is that the games themselves are competitive and compelling.)
*CFB pick: Texas A&M over Oklahoma, teeing up the Aggies as a preseason Top 3 pick for next season. (Early prediction: (1) Alabama, (2) Notre Dame, (3) Texas A&M, (4) Florida, (5) Ohio State.)
*NBA: Hardly a shocker that the Spurs weren't able to get past a motivated Knicks team for SA's 8th straight win -- the thing to admire about San Antonio is that their entire system is built around competing for championships in the spring. Random games during the regular season? Meh.
*CBB: Yup, Colorado got the short end vs. Arizona, in what should have been a season-making upset win for the Buffs.
*Jobs: Anyone really think Andy Reid is going to be successful in Kansas City?
*Nuptials: Congrats to Phil Jackson and Jeannie Buss on their engagement.
*Want to be a part of USA TODAY's historic and influential Super Bowl "Ad Meter" panel that ranks the Super Bowl ads and picks the "winner?" Registration is open. Click "Be a Panelist" here.
-- D.S.
Thursday, January 03, 2013
1/3 (Welp) Quickie
What was I saying yesterday? About what an awesome ending to the college football season it would be when Florida demolished Louisville?
Welp.
It's not like it was close -- it was Louisville domination, from start to finish. The Cards' game-plan was superior. Teddy Bridgewater was sensational. They just look like they wanted it more.
So I start the new year with a prolific Quickie Jinx -- good to see some things don't change.
-- D.S.
Welp.
It's not like it was close -- it was Louisville domination, from start to finish. The Cards' game-plan was superior. Teddy Bridgewater was sensational. They just look like they wanted it more.
So I start the new year with a prolific Quickie Jinx -- good to see some things don't change.
-- D.S.
Wednesday, January 02, 2013
01/02 (New Year) Quickie
Like everyone else, I am still astounded by Jadeveon Clowney's hit yesterday. The best reaction was from SBNation's Spencer Hall -- read it here.
Meanwhile, I have a pretty short list of "best endings to a college football season of teams I root for." 2006 and 2008 for Florida's national titles, 1995 for Northwestern's trip to the Rose Bowl (even if it ended in a loss). Maybe even 2009 - Tebow's last year - for the emotional roller-coaster of the SEC title game followed by the Sugar Bowl obliteration of Cincinnati.
Barring something insane tonight, 2012 will make the list. If/when Florida demolishes Louisville, they will likely finish the season ranked No. 2 in the country, behind only the Alabama-Notre Dame champ. Given last season, this is just about as much as any fan could hope for (short of a national title itself, obviously).
Meanwhile, Northwestern won its first bowl game in 63 years -- of my (and many others') lifetime, not to mention an enormous boost for the program. Pretty good finish - with both teams lining up for even better results in 2013 (and, yes, I know what I'm saying about Florida with that statement).
Other than that, yesterday's bowl feast was defined by Stanford out-slugging Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl -- Stanford's success (and I entirely buy David Shaw's notion that they are still ascending) is a testament to solid recruiting, extraordinary coaching and phenomenal execution, which is really just a function of the first two. If/when Chip Kelly leaves Oregon, there is no reason to believe that Stanford won't fill the breach as the best team West of Alabama.
(The finish to South Carolina-Michigan was pretty incredible, too.)
*NFL Jobs: Andy Reid to Arizona? Zzz. I am far more intrigued which team will get Chip Kelly. And, perhaps even more intriguing than that, which team will get Penn State's Bill O'Brien -- the fact that he is even entertaining the idea of interviewing for NFL jobs undermines whatever allegiance he professed to Penn State. I don't blame him for leaving, but if he leaves after just a year? I don't care how PSU might have hood-winked him with promises of no NCAA sanctions, it's a tough move for him and a rough situation for Penn State. Meanwhile, pretty amazing that the hottest college coaching commodity for the NFL (outside of Chip Kelly and, perhaps, inclusive of Chip Kelly) is Syracuse's Doug Marrone.
*NBA: Denver's yellow-with-horizontal-stripe alt-uniforms are amazing -- not quite as amazing as knocking off the Clippers and snapping LA's insane win streak, but close.
*Would be really nice to start this new year with a labor deal for the NHL.
-- D.S.
Meanwhile, I have a pretty short list of "best endings to a college football season of teams I root for." 2006 and 2008 for Florida's national titles, 1995 for Northwestern's trip to the Rose Bowl (even if it ended in a loss). Maybe even 2009 - Tebow's last year - for the emotional roller-coaster of the SEC title game followed by the Sugar Bowl obliteration of Cincinnati.
Barring something insane tonight, 2012 will make the list. If/when Florida demolishes Louisville, they will likely finish the season ranked No. 2 in the country, behind only the Alabama-Notre Dame champ. Given last season, this is just about as much as any fan could hope for (short of a national title itself, obviously).
Meanwhile, Northwestern won its first bowl game in 63 years -- of my (and many others') lifetime, not to mention an enormous boost for the program. Pretty good finish - with both teams lining up for even better results in 2013 (and, yes, I know what I'm saying about Florida with that statement).
Other than that, yesterday's bowl feast was defined by Stanford out-slugging Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl -- Stanford's success (and I entirely buy David Shaw's notion that they are still ascending) is a testament to solid recruiting, extraordinary coaching and phenomenal execution, which is really just a function of the first two. If/when Chip Kelly leaves Oregon, there is no reason to believe that Stanford won't fill the breach as the best team West of Alabama.
(The finish to South Carolina-Michigan was pretty incredible, too.)
*NFL Jobs: Andy Reid to Arizona? Zzz. I am far more intrigued which team will get Chip Kelly. And, perhaps even more intriguing than that, which team will get Penn State's Bill O'Brien -- the fact that he is even entertaining the idea of interviewing for NFL jobs undermines whatever allegiance he professed to Penn State. I don't blame him for leaving, but if he leaves after just a year? I don't care how PSU might have hood-winked him with promises of no NCAA sanctions, it's a tough move for him and a rough situation for Penn State. Meanwhile, pretty amazing that the hottest college coaching commodity for the NFL (outside of Chip Kelly and, perhaps, inclusive of Chip Kelly) is Syracuse's Doug Marrone.
*NBA: Denver's yellow-with-horizontal-stripe alt-uniforms are amazing -- not quite as amazing as knocking off the Clippers and snapping LA's insane win streak, but close.
*Would be really nice to start this new year with a labor deal for the NHL.
-- D.S.
Tuesday, January 01, 2013
1/1 (Happy New Year) Quickie
My favorite storyline of 2012 -- a lot of people's favorite storyline of 2012 -- was the stretch of "Linsanity" in late January and early February that captivated everyone.
Among other reasons I loved it was that it was as entirely unexpected as it was thrilling. If you think back to Jan. 1, 2012, you would have had no idea something so marvelous was coming.
In the end, that's why I watch -- why I love -- sports: The thrillingly unexpected (or, I guess, the unexpectedly thrilling).
Aside from rooting for your own teams -- to wit: let's go Northwestern -- that's all you can really root for. The good news is that we know something amazing is waiting for us in 2013.
Best wishes for a happy and healthy new year to you and your families.
-- D.S.
Among other reasons I loved it was that it was as entirely unexpected as it was thrilling. If you think back to Jan. 1, 2012, you would have had no idea something so marvelous was coming.
In the end, that's why I watch -- why I love -- sports: The thrillingly unexpected (or, I guess, the unexpectedly thrilling).
Aside from rooting for your own teams -- to wit: let's go Northwestern -- that's all you can really root for. The good news is that we know something amazing is waiting for us in 2013.
Best wishes for a happy and healthy new year to you and your families.
-- D.S.
Friday, December 28, 2012
12/28 (Wrapping Up 2012) Quickie
2012 was an exciting bookend to 2011:
In 2011, Mrs. Quickie got pregnant.
In 2012, we had a beautiful (and smart!) little baby girl.
In 2011, Quickish launched.
In 2012, Quickish was acquired by Gannett.
In 2011, we relocated from New York to DC.
In 2012, we found the house we'll hopefully live in for the next 25 years.
Any one of those things is a big deal. Wrapped together, it made for a truly amazing year.
I am very (very) (...very) lucky, and every day I try to remember that and to certainly not ever take it for granted.
There won't be a new baby in 2013. There won't be a sale of a company I founded. There won't be another new house. (There will be turning 40, so the year isn't without its interesting milestones.)
If it will be slightly less intense, that's OK. I am looking forward to just... being.
Being a better spouse.
Being a better dad.
Being a better colleague.
There are a lot of pathways to "better" that I have been thinking about, and all I can do is pick the ones that make sense and commit to a good-faith effort to try to be better.
Hoping to have some New Year's posts up over the next few days, but if you're checking out until 2013, here's hoping you had a great 2012 and here's to an even better 2013.
-- D.S.
In 2011, Mrs. Quickie got pregnant.
In 2012, we had a beautiful (and smart!) little baby girl.
In 2011, Quickish launched.
In 2012, Quickish was acquired by Gannett.
In 2011, we relocated from New York to DC.
In 2012, we found the house we'll hopefully live in for the next 25 years.
Any one of those things is a big deal. Wrapped together, it made for a truly amazing year.
I am very (very) (...very) lucky, and every day I try to remember that and to certainly not ever take it for granted.
There won't be a new baby in 2013. There won't be a sale of a company I founded. There won't be another new house. (There will be turning 40, so the year isn't without its interesting milestones.)
If it will be slightly less intense, that's OK. I am looking forward to just... being.
Being a better spouse.
Being a better dad.
Being a better colleague.
There are a lot of pathways to "better" that I have been thinking about, and all I can do is pick the ones that make sense and commit to a good-faith effort to try to be better.
Hoping to have some New Year's posts up over the next few days, but if you're checking out until 2013, here's hoping you had a great 2012 and here's to an even better 2013.
-- D.S.
Tuesday, December 25, 2012
12/25 (Merry Christmas) Quickie
The best holiday-centric tradition in sports is the NBA on Christmas Day, this year bumping "Lions and Cowboys on Thanksgiving Day" from the top spot, on the strength of a Finals-ish Heat-Thunder -- the day's late-afternoon headliner -- and a frolicky Lakers-Knicks (the mid-afternoon appetizer, with the recently returned Steve Nash as your must-see player). It is the marquee event of the NBA regular season, and its expansion into a 13-hour marathon is welcome.
Enjoy the day. If you celebrate Christmas, enjoy however you might be doing so (and even if you don't celebrate Christmas, there is plenty about the holiday to love, like the "A Christmas Story" movie marathon -- which I will duck into at least a dozen times over the 24 hours -- and, at least for we Jewish people, the traditional Chinese food dinner.
So, to recap: Family, food, fun, NBA. If you are enjoying any level of abundance -- possibly material, but hopefully at least health and happiness -- I hope you can spare some cheer for those less fortunate.
A few notes:
*Rex Ryan says he's sure Tim Tebow would have played if he had been asked. So there's that.
*Chuck Pagano is back, and there can't be a more welcome return in sports this year.
*Mike Vick is back, too, because Nick Foles broke his hand. Week 17 will be ambivalent for Philly, but in all the discussion of it being Andy Reid's final game as coach, it is also the presumptive end of the Mike Vick Experiment, which had some thrilling highs that probably qualify it as "delivering," but only as a sideshow.
*Does anyone think that Ryan Freel's suicide wasn't connected to his many concussions?
*So: Who got/gave the best gifts this year?
Again, happiest holiday wishes to you and your family.
-- D.S.
Enjoy the day. If you celebrate Christmas, enjoy however you might be doing so (and even if you don't celebrate Christmas, there is plenty about the holiday to love, like the "A Christmas Story" movie marathon -- which I will duck into at least a dozen times over the 24 hours -- and, at least for we Jewish people, the traditional Chinese food dinner.
So, to recap: Family, food, fun, NBA. If you are enjoying any level of abundance -- possibly material, but hopefully at least health and happiness -- I hope you can spare some cheer for those less fortunate.
A few notes:
*Rex Ryan says he's sure Tim Tebow would have played if he had been asked. So there's that.
*Chuck Pagano is back, and there can't be a more welcome return in sports this year.
*Mike Vick is back, too, because Nick Foles broke his hand. Week 17 will be ambivalent for Philly, but in all the discussion of it being Andy Reid's final game as coach, it is also the presumptive end of the Mike Vick Experiment, which had some thrilling highs that probably qualify it as "delivering," but only as a sideshow.
*Does anyone think that Ryan Freel's suicide wasn't connected to his many concussions?
*So: Who got/gave the best gifts this year?
Again, happiest holiday wishes to you and your family.
-- D.S.
Monday, December 24, 2012
12/24 (Eve) Quickie
There is this phenomenon in sports newsrooms (and emergency rooms and restaurants and elsewhere) where the non-Christians are happy to work on Christmas Eve and Christmas, letting our observant colleagues enjoy the holidays with their families.
The skeleton crew lends itself to some relaxed moments, and you often will see stories hit the front page that might not otherwise. In that spirit, I'm going to lead with the Tebow debacle, because I'm working today and it's the story that interests me most. Fair enough? I promise not to belabor it, but I think it ties back to the spirit of the season:
*****
Simply put, Tim Tebow is as team-first as any player you will meet. He is single-minded in his interest in helping his team win. He clearly thinks (and has proven) that the best chance for that is with the ball in his hands, but he has also clearly demonstrated that he's willing to do whatever it takes to help.
There are plenty of people who are tired of (or annoyed with) the "Tebowmania" thing, but that is much more of a function of being annoyed with the media than being annoyed with him. If anything, even the haters begrudgingly respect Tebow's complete commitment to winning and to his team. Throughout this season, Tebow has taken any number of relative humiliations -- being assigned as punt protector the most glaring -- in stride and with a "whatever it takes to help the team win" mentality.
What does it say, then, that Tebow was willing to tarnish that very core of his appeal -- that very core of his personality -- by telling the Jets he didn't want to be part of their Wildcat (or faux-Wildcat) inanity this week. He must know he is more popular than the team, and he had to know the Jets would leak his request (or, framed less charitably, refusal) around playing time.
He had to know there would be blowback (with the most common response something akin to how Peter King put it: He totally agrees with Tebow that the Jets have miserably screwed him around, but you can't say you won't play.) He had to know it would instantly become part of the Tebow canon -- the December nadir to bookend the moment in January during the playoffs that would define both his NFL career and Tebowmania in general.
That is how miserable he was. The Jets managed not only to implode their own season, but they made Tebow...flinch. They had him so unhappy that he went against everything he is -- and a sizeable piece of why people believe in him: both off and on the field, his subordination to the greater good... to service.
That is how screwed up the Jets are. So screwed up they could screw up Tim Tebow.
The good news is that the relationship is almost over -- it is a sign of how much the Jets fear Tebow's popularity not just that they didn't play him before, but that when he wouldn't play for them now, they honored it without fuss (until it inevitably fussed). Tebow will land with another team -- probably the Jaguars -- one that will hopefully give him a chance.
It cannot possibly go worse in Jacksonville -- or anywhere else -- than it did in New York with the Jets. The Jets had absolutely no belief -- no faith -- in Tebow.
And, it seemed, Tebow eventually lost enough faith in something he believed in -- "team" -- that he would turn away from that concept for seemingly the first time in his life.
Aside from believing in the essential rightness of his own decision in this particular case, I cannot imagine that was anything but difficult for Tebow in the grand scheme of his unyielding belief in always wanting to do what is right for the team.
Faith -- in oneself, in your team (or the larger concept of "team"), in the human condition, in people we admire (yes, like Tebow)... in anything really -- is essential, not just on Christmas but every day.
To see that faith tested in such a stark way -- by someone who epitomizes faith in football (and I'm not even talking about religious faith) -- is a pretty good reminder of the core position of faith in our lives, however it manifests itself. And it is a pretty good reminder how tenuous that faith can be.
If anything, this is a good moment to remind yourself -- to reaffirm, really -- that no matter what it might be, you've always got to maintain a little faith. Especially for those moments when it is tested.
*****
Don't forget: Starting tonight, the greatest holiday movie of all time "A Christmas Story." 24 hours of it, and in this year's production, the role of Ralphie will be played by Russell Wilson, who -- as absurds as this seems -- deserves NFL Rookie of the Year as much as (or perhaps even more than) the rookie QB who has broken all the meaningful rookie-QB records and led his worst-in-the-league-last-year team to the playoffs AND the rookie QB who has become the most must-see player in the NFL and led his nearly-worst-in-the-league-last-year team to the cusp of the playoffs.
To those of you celebrating: Merry Christmas. And to those of you not? Enjoy the Chinese food and movies.
-- D.S.
The skeleton crew lends itself to some relaxed moments, and you often will see stories hit the front page that might not otherwise. In that spirit, I'm going to lead with the Tebow debacle, because I'm working today and it's the story that interests me most. Fair enough? I promise not to belabor it, but I think it ties back to the spirit of the season:
*****
Simply put, Tim Tebow is as team-first as any player you will meet. He is single-minded in his interest in helping his team win. He clearly thinks (and has proven) that the best chance for that is with the ball in his hands, but he has also clearly demonstrated that he's willing to do whatever it takes to help.
There are plenty of people who are tired of (or annoyed with) the "Tebowmania" thing, but that is much more of a function of being annoyed with the media than being annoyed with him. If anything, even the haters begrudgingly respect Tebow's complete commitment to winning and to his team. Throughout this season, Tebow has taken any number of relative humiliations -- being assigned as punt protector the most glaring -- in stride and with a "whatever it takes to help the team win" mentality.
What does it say, then, that Tebow was willing to tarnish that very core of his appeal -- that very core of his personality -- by telling the Jets he didn't want to be part of their Wildcat (or faux-Wildcat) inanity this week. He must know he is more popular than the team, and he had to know the Jets would leak his request (or, framed less charitably, refusal) around playing time.
He had to know there would be blowback (with the most common response something akin to how Peter King put it: He totally agrees with Tebow that the Jets have miserably screwed him around, but you can't say you won't play.) He had to know it would instantly become part of the Tebow canon -- the December nadir to bookend the moment in January during the playoffs that would define both his NFL career and Tebowmania in general.
That is how miserable he was. The Jets managed not only to implode their own season, but they made Tebow...flinch. They had him so unhappy that he went against everything he is -- and a sizeable piece of why people believe in him: both off and on the field, his subordination to the greater good... to service.
That is how screwed up the Jets are. So screwed up they could screw up Tim Tebow.
The good news is that the relationship is almost over -- it is a sign of how much the Jets fear Tebow's popularity not just that they didn't play him before, but that when he wouldn't play for them now, they honored it without fuss (until it inevitably fussed). Tebow will land with another team -- probably the Jaguars -- one that will hopefully give him a chance.
It cannot possibly go worse in Jacksonville -- or anywhere else -- than it did in New York with the Jets. The Jets had absolutely no belief -- no faith -- in Tebow.
And, it seemed, Tebow eventually lost enough faith in something he believed in -- "team" -- that he would turn away from that concept for seemingly the first time in his life.
Aside from believing in the essential rightness of his own decision in this particular case, I cannot imagine that was anything but difficult for Tebow in the grand scheme of his unyielding belief in always wanting to do what is right for the team.
Faith -- in oneself, in your team (or the larger concept of "team"), in the human condition, in people we admire (yes, like Tebow)... in anything really -- is essential, not just on Christmas but every day.
To see that faith tested in such a stark way -- by someone who epitomizes faith in football (and I'm not even talking about religious faith) -- is a pretty good reminder of the core position of faith in our lives, however it manifests itself. And it is a pretty good reminder how tenuous that faith can be.
If anything, this is a good moment to remind yourself -- to reaffirm, really -- that no matter what it might be, you've always got to maintain a little faith. Especially for those moments when it is tested.
*****
Don't forget: Starting tonight, the greatest holiday movie of all time "A Christmas Story." 24 hours of it, and in this year's production, the role of Ralphie will be played by Russell Wilson, who -- as absurds as this seems -- deserves NFL Rookie of the Year as much as (or perhaps even more than) the rookie QB who has broken all the meaningful rookie-QB records and led his worst-in-the-league-last-year team to the playoffs AND the rookie QB who has become the most must-see player in the NFL and led his nearly-worst-in-the-league-last-year team to the cusp of the playoffs.
To those of you celebrating: Merry Christmas. And to those of you not? Enjoy the Chinese food and movies.
-- D.S.
Sunday, December 23, 2012
12/23 (Sunday) Quickie
Happy Festivus! My airing of grievances begins and ends with the Wizards...
We went shopping for a new couch last night, and it's hard to overstate how important the couch is for us -- for better or worse, it is the center of our home and we spend incalculable hours on it, hanging out or eating dinner informally or, typically, watching TV. All I can say is that I'm leaning toward the idea that it's probably worth spending a little extra if the couch is particularly comfortable. (Not that couches have to be necessarily expensive -- our current model, which we've had for 5 years, was a cheapie floor sample from Macy's on Fulton Street in Brooklyn, and it has held up great.)
I'm thinking of the couch because today is the second-to-last Sunday of NFL Red Zone, which in less than two seasons has become my favorite TV tradition -- basically 7 hours of being on/around/near the couch with the family, watching games and tracking fantasy teams and ducking in and out but otherwise enjoying the time with each other (and with Red Zone host Scott Hanson). The two boys are down in Florida for the week with their grandparents -- our own holiday tradition/"vacation" -- so watching Red Zone is not quite the same without them. But it just hit me this morning that Red Zone season is almost over. It'll be missed. But next year's season of Red Zone will feature an awesome new couch, so there's that.
Anyway, a few notes on a slow Christmas Eve eve...
*Tebow to the Jaguars? It has always made the most sense, and it sounds like it is finally going to happen. Tebow's No. 15 is even open, right between Justin Blackmon (14) and Jordan Shipley (16). It will be the biggest seller in the NFL next season -- and that's part of the point, isn't it?
*Falcons cruise past Lions and earn No. 1 NFC seed: It's Super Bowl or bust for this team, as it has been since August. Anyone else have zero faith the Falcons will get through the NFC playoffs? I'll be surprised if they win their initial Divisional at home against the 4-5 Wild Card winner.
*NFL Week 16: Good luck to anyone playing for their fantasy-league title. If I'm paying attention to any single game this week, it's the Redskins and RGIII.
*Great day in college hoops yesterday: If you didn't know the name "Ben McLemore" -- the Kansas star redshirt freshman who is taking college hoops by storm in his first season -- you do now, after KU beat Ohio State... Temple gets its annual win over a Top 10 team by KO'ing Syracuse... Another name to know: South Dakota State's Nate Wolters, who led the Jackrabbits over New Mexico in Albuquerque (by NBA Draft night, Wolters' stock will be sky-high)... Tough night for Florida...
*CFB: Boise State finally got its clutch field goal, a season or two too late.
*NBA: Steve Nash is back and the Lakers already look like a much better team. No coincidence there, of course. LA's playoff seed is irrelevant, as long as they make the playoffs and are healthy heading into late April.
*Wizards' fan lament: Any chance the Wiz can trade promising big man Kevin Seraphin for Sacramento's DeMarcus Cousins (now repped by the same agent as John Wall)? Seems like a decent trade for both sides, and if Cousins isn't quite a happy camper, playing alongside former college teammate Wall could only help, right?
-- D.S.
We went shopping for a new couch last night, and it's hard to overstate how important the couch is for us -- for better or worse, it is the center of our home and we spend incalculable hours on it, hanging out or eating dinner informally or, typically, watching TV. All I can say is that I'm leaning toward the idea that it's probably worth spending a little extra if the couch is particularly comfortable. (Not that couches have to be necessarily expensive -- our current model, which we've had for 5 years, was a cheapie floor sample from Macy's on Fulton Street in Brooklyn, and it has held up great.)
I'm thinking of the couch because today is the second-to-last Sunday of NFL Red Zone, which in less than two seasons has become my favorite TV tradition -- basically 7 hours of being on/around/near the couch with the family, watching games and tracking fantasy teams and ducking in and out but otherwise enjoying the time with each other (and with Red Zone host Scott Hanson). The two boys are down in Florida for the week with their grandparents -- our own holiday tradition/"vacation" -- so watching Red Zone is not quite the same without them. But it just hit me this morning that Red Zone season is almost over. It'll be missed. But next year's season of Red Zone will feature an awesome new couch, so there's that.
Anyway, a few notes on a slow Christmas Eve eve...
*Tebow to the Jaguars? It has always made the most sense, and it sounds like it is finally going to happen. Tebow's No. 15 is even open, right between Justin Blackmon (14) and Jordan Shipley (16). It will be the biggest seller in the NFL next season -- and that's part of the point, isn't it?
*Falcons cruise past Lions and earn No. 1 NFC seed: It's Super Bowl or bust for this team, as it has been since August. Anyone else have zero faith the Falcons will get through the NFC playoffs? I'll be surprised if they win their initial Divisional at home against the 4-5 Wild Card winner.
*NFL Week 16: Good luck to anyone playing for their fantasy-league title. If I'm paying attention to any single game this week, it's the Redskins and RGIII.
*Great day in college hoops yesterday: If you didn't know the name "Ben McLemore" -- the Kansas star redshirt freshman who is taking college hoops by storm in his first season -- you do now, after KU beat Ohio State... Temple gets its annual win over a Top 10 team by KO'ing Syracuse... Another name to know: South Dakota State's Nate Wolters, who led the Jackrabbits over New Mexico in Albuquerque (by NBA Draft night, Wolters' stock will be sky-high)... Tough night for Florida...
*CFB: Boise State finally got its clutch field goal, a season or two too late.
*NBA: Steve Nash is back and the Lakers already look like a much better team. No coincidence there, of course. LA's playoff seed is irrelevant, as long as they make the playoffs and are healthy heading into late April.
*Wizards' fan lament: Any chance the Wiz can trade promising big man Kevin Seraphin for Sacramento's DeMarcus Cousins (now repped by the same agent as John Wall)? Seems like a decent trade for both sides, and if Cousins isn't quite a happy camper, playing alongside former college teammate Wall could only help, right?
-- D.S.
Friday, December 21, 2012
12/21 (Pre-Christmas) Quickie
Well, I'll be filing all weekend and all next week, if you want to stick with me, but if not -- Merry Christmas to you and yours. Briefly:
*Nick Saban to the Browns? I heartily endorse this. Saban has nothing left to prove as a college coach. He has built a dynastic juggernaut at Alabama. He doesn't need money. He is already a Hall of Famer. So why not try to conquer the one thing he has yet to: Success in the NFL?
(BTW: Can you imagine the scrum to replace him if he leaves for the NFL? I can't even begin to think who might replace him. Will Muschamp seems unlikely to leave Florida, even for Alabama. Dan Mullen? He's not part of the Saban family. Chip Kelly? He has his own eye on the NFL -- meanwhile, does anything seem more fun than Kelly teaming up with Cam Newton in Carolina? The upshot is this: Is it possible that Nick Saban is irreplaceable at Alabama?)
*NFL Storylines I'm Intrigued By: (1) Is 49ers-Seahawks even more interesting than 49ers-Patriots? (2) RGIII returns vs. the Eagles. (3) The log-jam at the top of the NFC East -- not quite must-win for the Skins, Giants and Cowboys, but close to it. (4) Can the Bengals knock the Steelers out of the playoff picture? Not quite as impressive as Tim Tebow knocking the Steelers out of the playoffs in January, but close. (5) Greg McElroy.
*Bowl Mania: No bowl name makes fans smile like "Beef O'Brady's." So there's that. Meanwhile: Washington vs. Boise State in Las Vegas on Saturday should be a fun one.
*Jabari Parker picks Duke: Can't help thinking that there's a parallel universe where Northwestern fired Bill Carmody two years ago and hired Duke assistant Chris Collins, and yesterday Parker picks Northwestern. Alas.... (Meanwhile, is using Paul Pierce as Parker's comp a coded way of labeling him as unathletic?) Prediction: Parker stays two seasons at Duke, not one.
*NBA: And just like that, the T'wolves' bandwagon is filling up again. All it took was snapping the Thunder's massive winning streak.
*CFB: Steroids in college football? You don't say! Spencer Hall captures the smart reaction here.
*ICYMI: The New York Times put together a really terrific package of storytelling with "Snowfall." My only gripe: It seems unfair that reporter John Branch gets sole credit, when clearly so much of the piece's impact comes from the impressive graphics. Would have been cool for the story's producers to get top billing, along with its writer. Still: Well worth the 30 minutes to consume this.
-- D.S.
*Nick Saban to the Browns? I heartily endorse this. Saban has nothing left to prove as a college coach. He has built a dynastic juggernaut at Alabama. He doesn't need money. He is already a Hall of Famer. So why not try to conquer the one thing he has yet to: Success in the NFL?
(BTW: Can you imagine the scrum to replace him if he leaves for the NFL? I can't even begin to think who might replace him. Will Muschamp seems unlikely to leave Florida, even for Alabama. Dan Mullen? He's not part of the Saban family. Chip Kelly? He has his own eye on the NFL -- meanwhile, does anything seem more fun than Kelly teaming up with Cam Newton in Carolina? The upshot is this: Is it possible that Nick Saban is irreplaceable at Alabama?)
*NFL Storylines I'm Intrigued By: (1) Is 49ers-Seahawks even more interesting than 49ers-Patriots? (2) RGIII returns vs. the Eagles. (3) The log-jam at the top of the NFC East -- not quite must-win for the Skins, Giants and Cowboys, but close to it. (4) Can the Bengals knock the Steelers out of the playoff picture? Not quite as impressive as Tim Tebow knocking the Steelers out of the playoffs in January, but close. (5) Greg McElroy.
*Bowl Mania: No bowl name makes fans smile like "Beef O'Brady's." So there's that. Meanwhile: Washington vs. Boise State in Las Vegas on Saturday should be a fun one.
*Jabari Parker picks Duke: Can't help thinking that there's a parallel universe where Northwestern fired Bill Carmody two years ago and hired Duke assistant Chris Collins, and yesterday Parker picks Northwestern. Alas.... (Meanwhile, is using Paul Pierce as Parker's comp a coded way of labeling him as unathletic?) Prediction: Parker stays two seasons at Duke, not one.
*NBA: And just like that, the T'wolves' bandwagon is filling up again. All it took was snapping the Thunder's massive winning streak.
*CFB: Steroids in college football? You don't say! Spencer Hall captures the smart reaction here.
*ICYMI: The New York Times put together a really terrific package of storytelling with "Snowfall." My only gripe: It seems unfair that reporter John Branch gets sole credit, when clearly so much of the piece's impact comes from the impressive graphics. Would have been cool for the story's producers to get top billing, along with its writer. Still: Well worth the 30 minutes to consume this.
-- D.S.
Thursday, December 20, 2012
12/20 (Thursday) Quickie
ICYMI: This year's Quickish "Best Sportswriting of the Year" list.
*****
Beyond the sadness we all deeply feel about the tragedy in Newtown, the story of Victor Cruz providing personal consolation to the family of 6-year-old Jack Pinto, a huge Cruz fan, is particularly affecting for me. That Gabe is in first grade, like so many of the children who were murdered, put the massacre in particularly horrifying perspective for me.
But, like Jack, Gabe is at the cusp of his die-hard life-long sports fandom. Gabe's favorite NFL player is Cam Newton and the Panthers. His favorite NBA player and team is Russell Westbrook and the Thunder. He watches highlights every day. He follows my fantasy teams (and wants to play next year by himself). He battles me each week making NFL predictions (he's currently beating me with two weeks to go.)
Being a sports fan is a huge part of Gabe's burgeoning identity, just as it clearly was for Jack Pinto and probably many other of the children who were killed. When you root for your teams -- when you watch sports -- think of Jack and how much he cared, in that way that is totally innocent and enthusiastic and cynicism-free.
When you watch sports with a 6-year-old, you simply can't say things you typically would with your buddies or at a sports bar, like "Cripes, he sucks." Partly, that's because you shouldn't talk that way around any 6-year-old and partly, that's because you can't -- you simply can't -- pierce the pure, wide-eyed love for sports that exists in a 6-year-old fan who cares so deeply about sports.
And thanks to Victor Cruz for caring back.
Awkward transition to shallow commentary about the latest sports news...
*Tebow era ending in NYC: It's for the best for everyone. I'm presuming he'll end up in Jacksonville. Meanwhile, it's possibly more intriguing that the Jets are ready to bail on Mark Sanchez. If only they didn't gum up the works with that idiotic contract extension last year.
(And then there's the idea floated out there that the Jets could be interested in Michael Vick. You know what? Great. He's better than Sanchez and could himself use a change of scenery from Philly.)
*Kevin Durant scores season-high 41: He is unstoppable, as is OKC. That the team is even better without James Harden is a testament to the evolution of Durant (and, for sure, Westbrook), but also to the "system."
*Clippers win 11th straight: Are they true contenders for the NBA title? Who cares? For this franchise, relevance and winning should be good enough.
*RGIII to start: But it's got to make Redskins fans feel a little less antsy to know that Kirk Cousins actually could step in if necessary. However: Fully expecting RGIII dominance, to maximize the narrative here.
*CBB: Myck Kabongo won't be able to play at Texas this season. If he goes to the NBA Draft -- as expected -- and ends up a 1st-round pick (as is his potential), then it begs the question why any player with first-round potential should play in college basketball, rather than sit out the mandatory year off and just train for the NBA (while taking advances on future paychecks).
*CFB: Was Brian Kelly the coach of the year? Oh, probably, although you could make a pretty good case for Bill Snyder or Will Muschamp or Kevin Sumlin.
*The best thing you'll read today: John Branch -- a 2011 Quickish "Best of the Year" honoree -- with a huge story on an avalanche in Washington's Cascades.
*Also really good: The Classical with an oral history of the legendary Website "Fire Joe Morgan."
-- D.S.
*****
Beyond the sadness we all deeply feel about the tragedy in Newtown, the story of Victor Cruz providing personal consolation to the family of 6-year-old Jack Pinto, a huge Cruz fan, is particularly affecting for me. That Gabe is in first grade, like so many of the children who were murdered, put the massacre in particularly horrifying perspective for me.
But, like Jack, Gabe is at the cusp of his die-hard life-long sports fandom. Gabe's favorite NFL player is Cam Newton and the Panthers. His favorite NBA player and team is Russell Westbrook and the Thunder. He watches highlights every day. He follows my fantasy teams (and wants to play next year by himself). He battles me each week making NFL predictions (he's currently beating me with two weeks to go.)
Being a sports fan is a huge part of Gabe's burgeoning identity, just as it clearly was for Jack Pinto and probably many other of the children who were killed. When you root for your teams -- when you watch sports -- think of Jack and how much he cared, in that way that is totally innocent and enthusiastic and cynicism-free.
When you watch sports with a 6-year-old, you simply can't say things you typically would with your buddies or at a sports bar, like "Cripes, he sucks." Partly, that's because you shouldn't talk that way around any 6-year-old and partly, that's because you can't -- you simply can't -- pierce the pure, wide-eyed love for sports that exists in a 6-year-old fan who cares so deeply about sports.
And thanks to Victor Cruz for caring back.
Awkward transition to shallow commentary about the latest sports news...
*Tebow era ending in NYC: It's for the best for everyone. I'm presuming he'll end up in Jacksonville. Meanwhile, it's possibly more intriguing that the Jets are ready to bail on Mark Sanchez. If only they didn't gum up the works with that idiotic contract extension last year.
(And then there's the idea floated out there that the Jets could be interested in Michael Vick. You know what? Great. He's better than Sanchez and could himself use a change of scenery from Philly.)
*Kevin Durant scores season-high 41: He is unstoppable, as is OKC. That the team is even better without James Harden is a testament to the evolution of Durant (and, for sure, Westbrook), but also to the "system."
*Clippers win 11th straight: Are they true contenders for the NBA title? Who cares? For this franchise, relevance and winning should be good enough.
*RGIII to start: But it's got to make Redskins fans feel a little less antsy to know that Kirk Cousins actually could step in if necessary. However: Fully expecting RGIII dominance, to maximize the narrative here.
*CBB: Myck Kabongo won't be able to play at Texas this season. If he goes to the NBA Draft -- as expected -- and ends up a 1st-round pick (as is his potential), then it begs the question why any player with first-round potential should play in college basketball, rather than sit out the mandatory year off and just train for the NBA (while taking advances on future paychecks).
*CFB: Was Brian Kelly the coach of the year? Oh, probably, although you could make a pretty good case for Bill Snyder or Will Muschamp or Kevin Sumlin.
*The best thing you'll read today: John Branch -- a 2011 Quickish "Best of the Year" honoree -- with a huge story on an avalanche in Washington's Cascades.
*Also really good: The Classical with an oral history of the legendary Website "Fire Joe Morgan."
-- D.S.
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
12/19 (Best of) Quickie
Fun day yesterday: Released the 2012 edition of the Quickish "Best Sportswriting of the Year" list.
Check out the list here.
Check out my brief "liner notes" here.
There are a couple key components to every edition:
*Picking a top tier (12 in honor of 2012, in this particular case) is brutal. As much as anything, it's personal taste, but I try to get a wide variety of sources and styles.
*The meat of the list is the "Also Receiving Votes" section, up to 30-some pieces this year after half that a year ago. It's a function of how much great stuff there is at the top tier.
*But my favorite part is the "How could you miss...?" feedback from readers. No problem 'fessing up: There are bound to be glaring omissions. I love recognizing them. Please chime in if you see any.
Related to omissions, it is both odd and unfair that some of my favorite writers -- the ones who deliver every day -- are not represented. I'm thinking of folks like Grantland's Bill Barnwell, SI's Tim Layden and SL Price (whose Olympic coverage was unmatched), Deadspin's Barry Petchesky and Jack Dickey, Yahoo Sports' Les Carpenter, SB Nation's Andrew Sharp, the Wall Street Journal's Scott Cacciola and Ben Cohen, so many of my talented colleagues at USA TODAY Sports and many more folks who are recognized throughout the day, every day, on Quickish.
Regardless, I love creating the list and I am glad people seem to enjoy it. Had a few issues with a few too many people trying to access the site when the list went up -- I guess I try to see the bright side that the site crashing means that people want to see what we're producing.
Quick notes off the news:
*Jets bench Sanchez for McElroy: ...And, most relevant, NOT Tebow. Ugh.
*Wisconsin hires Utah State's Andersen: Really like this hire.
*Lakers barely beat Bobcats at home: This is what it has come to.
*Want to be a panelist for USA TODAY's famous Super Bowl "Ad Meter?" Sign up here.
-- D.S.
Check out the list here.
Check out my brief "liner notes" here.
There are a couple key components to every edition:
*Picking a top tier (12 in honor of 2012, in this particular case) is brutal. As much as anything, it's personal taste, but I try to get a wide variety of sources and styles.
*The meat of the list is the "Also Receiving Votes" section, up to 30-some pieces this year after half that a year ago. It's a function of how much great stuff there is at the top tier.
*But my favorite part is the "How could you miss...?" feedback from readers. No problem 'fessing up: There are bound to be glaring omissions. I love recognizing them. Please chime in if you see any.
Related to omissions, it is both odd and unfair that some of my favorite writers -- the ones who deliver every day -- are not represented. I'm thinking of folks like Grantland's Bill Barnwell, SI's Tim Layden and SL Price (whose Olympic coverage was unmatched), Deadspin's Barry Petchesky and Jack Dickey, Yahoo Sports' Les Carpenter, SB Nation's Andrew Sharp, the Wall Street Journal's Scott Cacciola and Ben Cohen, so many of my talented colleagues at USA TODAY Sports and many more folks who are recognized throughout the day, every day, on Quickish.
Regardless, I love creating the list and I am glad people seem to enjoy it. Had a few issues with a few too many people trying to access the site when the list went up -- I guess I try to see the bright side that the site crashing means that people want to see what we're producing.
Quick notes off the news:
*Jets bench Sanchez for McElroy: ...And, most relevant, NOT Tebow. Ugh.
*Wisconsin hires Utah State's Andersen: Really like this hire.
*Lakers barely beat Bobcats at home: This is what it has come to.
*Want to be a panelist for USA TODAY's famous Super Bowl "Ad Meter?" Sign up here.
-- D.S.
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
12/18 (Tuesday) Quickie
Today's Names to Know: Jeremy Lin, Mark Sanchez, Jim Boeheim, RA Dickey, Serge Ibaka.
Jeremy Lin playing terrific against the Knicks last night in his NYC homecoming was as predictable as it was awesome to see. It was a reminder of 2012's signature moment in (non-Olympic) sports: Linsanity, the three-week stretch in February that captured everything we love about sports.
This time, the MSG fans weren't quite as hysterical as they were 10 months ago -- they're forgiven the smattering of boos, because they were so packed with self-loathing -- but if they got to re-live that glorious stretch from last winter even for a minute, even with the center of their attention/affection playing for the other team, it is worth it.
Mark Sanchez playing terrible against the Titans last night in the Jets' coup de crap was also as predictable... as it was awesome to see.
(Aside from following hilarious comments about the game on Twitter, I tuned in long enough to see Tebow's lone series -- how about that first-down run on his first play? -- and the debacle that unfolded over the final two minutes: Sanchez INT -- his 4th -- and then the first-snap fumble after the Titans had gifted the Jets a last-gasp chance inside the 25-yard-line. It was more than enough to get the gist.)
Actually, I spent my time last night putting the final touches on this year's Quickish list of the best sportswriting of the year, which will be published sometime this week.
900 wins for Jim Boeheim: It is a monumental number. His career highlight is clearly the title run with Carmelo in 2003, with the 1987 runner-up and '96 Final Four team rounding out the Top 3.
NBA: In the West, it's the (footloose and Harden-free) Thunder, then everyone else. Hate to read too much into a single regular-season game, but OKC dismantled the Spurs, and the key was Serge Ibaka, who had 25 and 17 with 3 blocks, looking every bit like a full-fledged part of a new Big Three. OKC has won 11 straight. (FWIW, the Clippers have won 10 straight, but it's hard to see LA competing with the Thunder in May, when it counts. The Spurs? Yes. Anyone else? No.)
MLB: Dickey deal finalized with Jays. The Mets don't want to pay him, so the Jays happily will, and the competitive dynamic in the AL East is affirmed as the must-see show in baseball next year.
CBB: Should Butler join Georgetown, Villanova and the rest of the "Catholic 7" spin-off/start-up basketball league? Absolutely. It's a no-brainer.
RGIII sets NFL jersey-sales record: One more indicator that the rookie is already the face of the NFL.
-- D.S.
Jeremy Lin playing terrific against the Knicks last night in his NYC homecoming was as predictable as it was awesome to see. It was a reminder of 2012's signature moment in (non-Olympic) sports: Linsanity, the three-week stretch in February that captured everything we love about sports.
This time, the MSG fans weren't quite as hysterical as they were 10 months ago -- they're forgiven the smattering of boos, because they were so packed with self-loathing -- but if they got to re-live that glorious stretch from last winter even for a minute, even with the center of their attention/affection playing for the other team, it is worth it.
Mark Sanchez playing terrible against the Titans last night in the Jets' coup de crap was also as predictable... as it was awesome to see.
(Aside from following hilarious comments about the game on Twitter, I tuned in long enough to see Tebow's lone series -- how about that first-down run on his first play? -- and the debacle that unfolded over the final two minutes: Sanchez INT -- his 4th -- and then the first-snap fumble after the Titans had gifted the Jets a last-gasp chance inside the 25-yard-line. It was more than enough to get the gist.)
Actually, I spent my time last night putting the final touches on this year's Quickish list of the best sportswriting of the year, which will be published sometime this week.
900 wins for Jim Boeheim: It is a monumental number. His career highlight is clearly the title run with Carmelo in 2003, with the 1987 runner-up and '96 Final Four team rounding out the Top 3.
NBA: In the West, it's the (footloose and Harden-free) Thunder, then everyone else. Hate to read too much into a single regular-season game, but OKC dismantled the Spurs, and the key was Serge Ibaka, who had 25 and 17 with 3 blocks, looking every bit like a full-fledged part of a new Big Three. OKC has won 11 straight. (FWIW, the Clippers have won 10 straight, but it's hard to see LA competing with the Thunder in May, when it counts. The Spurs? Yes. Anyone else? No.)
MLB: Dickey deal finalized with Jays. The Mets don't want to pay him, so the Jays happily will, and the competitive dynamic in the AL East is affirmed as the must-see show in baseball next year.
CBB: Should Butler join Georgetown, Villanova and the rest of the "Catholic 7" spin-off/start-up basketball league? Absolutely. It's a no-brainer.
RGIII sets NFL jersey-sales record: One more indicator that the rookie is already the face of the NFL.
-- D.S.
Monday, December 17, 2012
12/17 (Monday) Quickie
Hell of a game between the 49ers and Patriots.
The Pats nearly pulled off a once-in-a-half-century comeback... Colin Kaepernick looked like a QB that could take this 49ers team to a Super Bowl... There was even a controversial 4th-down call by Bill Belichick...
We already knew the 49ers and the Pats were elite teams. And that the Pats' D was leaky but it's offense was capable of scoring in bunches on anyone (even the standard-bearing 49ers D). If you want to place an overly symbolic emphasis on anything, it would be Kaepernick coming into Foxboro in December in the cold rain in primetime and showing nothing but swagger.
It's not like the level-headed Alex Smith had a bad year last season -- he did lead the 49ers to the NFL's final four. But there was something about Kaepernick's ability to perform in a context that was just about as tough as it gets outside of the playoffs that stood out about this game.
ESPN.com's Ashley Fox was entirely fair in suggesting this was the Game of the Year in the NFL.
And SportsOnEarth.com's Mike Tanier put it nicely: This would make for a phenomenal Super Bowl match-up.
More:
Question of the Day: How many fantasy playoff games were won (or lost) thanks to Kirk Cousins?
(Given how few playoff teams probably started Cousins -- even those who might have needed a handcuff for RGIII -- he more appropriate question is how many fantasy playoff games were won thanks to Russell Wilson, who has proven himself every bit as worthy of Rookie of the Year as RGIII and Andrew Luck, a fairly remarkable thing if you think about it.)
Huge win for the Cowboys: The final two weeks of the NFC East playoff race are going to be fantastic, and let's hope it comes down to a playoff-ish play-in between the Redskins and Cowboys in Week 17.
Huge win for the Falcons? OK, they destroyed the Giants. No, I still don't buy them as a legit Super Bowl contender.
Meanwhile: The "just like last year" playoff field is rounding into form -- the league is worse off for it, by the way.
The amazing Adrian Peterson: How can you not be rooting for him to break Eric Dickerson's single-season rushing record?
MLB: The Mets giving up on RA Dickey -- regardless of who they got back in a trade from suddenly fascinating Toronto -- is worse than the Knicks giving up on Jeremy Lin.
(There aren't many stories in sports better than Lin's -- in 2012 or ever -- but Dickey's is one of them. Dickey is also more productive than Lin, with a better chance at maintaining his peak form for the length of his contract extension.)
NBA: Andrew Bynum's point that Kobe stunted his development is entirely well-taken, but he's not really in a position to be griping about it right now.
CBB: Love the little details coming out about how Butler's Brad Stevens and Indiana's Tom Crean were sniping at each other from the sidelines throughout Saturday's game.
MNF: Is it too much to ask for the Jets to finally give Tebow a chance to succeed? Probably, but for the 15th straight week, I'll be watching just in case.
-- D.S.
The Pats nearly pulled off a once-in-a-half-century comeback... Colin Kaepernick looked like a QB that could take this 49ers team to a Super Bowl... There was even a controversial 4th-down call by Bill Belichick...
We already knew the 49ers and the Pats were elite teams. And that the Pats' D was leaky but it's offense was capable of scoring in bunches on anyone (even the standard-bearing 49ers D). If you want to place an overly symbolic emphasis on anything, it would be Kaepernick coming into Foxboro in December in the cold rain in primetime and showing nothing but swagger.
It's not like the level-headed Alex Smith had a bad year last season -- he did lead the 49ers to the NFL's final four. But there was something about Kaepernick's ability to perform in a context that was just about as tough as it gets outside of the playoffs that stood out about this game.
ESPN.com's Ashley Fox was entirely fair in suggesting this was the Game of the Year in the NFL.
And SportsOnEarth.com's Mike Tanier put it nicely: This would make for a phenomenal Super Bowl match-up.
More:
Question of the Day: How many fantasy playoff games were won (or lost) thanks to Kirk Cousins?
(Given how few playoff teams probably started Cousins -- even those who might have needed a handcuff for RGIII -- he more appropriate question is how many fantasy playoff games were won thanks to Russell Wilson, who has proven himself every bit as worthy of Rookie of the Year as RGIII and Andrew Luck, a fairly remarkable thing if you think about it.)
Huge win for the Cowboys: The final two weeks of the NFC East playoff race are going to be fantastic, and let's hope it comes down to a playoff-ish play-in between the Redskins and Cowboys in Week 17.
Huge win for the Falcons? OK, they destroyed the Giants. No, I still don't buy them as a legit Super Bowl contender.
Meanwhile: The "just like last year" playoff field is rounding into form -- the league is worse off for it, by the way.
The amazing Adrian Peterson: How can you not be rooting for him to break Eric Dickerson's single-season rushing record?
MLB: The Mets giving up on RA Dickey -- regardless of who they got back in a trade from suddenly fascinating Toronto -- is worse than the Knicks giving up on Jeremy Lin.
(There aren't many stories in sports better than Lin's -- in 2012 or ever -- but Dickey's is one of them. Dickey is also more productive than Lin, with a better chance at maintaining his peak form for the length of his contract extension.)
NBA: Andrew Bynum's point that Kobe stunted his development is entirely well-taken, but he's not really in a position to be griping about it right now.
CBB: Love the little details coming out about how Butler's Brad Stevens and Indiana's Tom Crean were sniping at each other from the sidelines throughout Saturday's game.
MNF: Is it too much to ask for the Jets to finally give Tebow a chance to succeed? Probably, but for the 15th straight week, I'll be watching just in case.
-- D.S.
Sunday, December 16, 2012
12/16 (Very) Quickie
Still stunned and shaken by what happened in Newtown, and my heart goes out to the families of the people murdered. That the kids were the same age as Gabe... it's near-impossible to process.
I feel awful pushing ahead with "So how about Butler being Indiana!" or "Will we get a Rex Grossman sighting today?" or "Is the Mets letting RA Dickey go worse than the Knicks letting Jeremy Lin go?"
So I'm going to put aside the post for the rest of the day and come back to things tomorrow. Doesn't lessen the impact of Friday's tragedy -- at all.
-- D.S.
I feel awful pushing ahead with "So how about Butler being Indiana!" or "Will we get a Rex Grossman sighting today?" or "Is the Mets letting RA Dickey go worse than the Knicks letting Jeremy Lin go?"
So I'm going to put aside the post for the rest of the day and come back to things tomorrow. Doesn't lessen the impact of Friday's tragedy -- at all.
-- D.S.
Friday, December 14, 2012
12/14 (Gone Bowlin') Quickie
One of the Quickie's longest traditions: The annual bowl-sponsor quiz. In an ever-shifting landscape, see if you can match the sponsor to the bowl game. Answers at the bottom of the column:
(1) Gildan
(2) Hyundai
(3) R&L Carriers
(4) Autozone
(5) AdvoCare V100
(6) Bridgepoint Education
(7) Taxslayer.com
(a) Gator
(b) Holiday
(c) Independence
(d) New Mexico
(e) New Orleans
(f) Liberty
(g) Sun
More:
*Lakers lose in NYC: Kobe's getting frustrated, but isn't it hard to judge this team until they have Nash and Gasol back? By April, they are solidly in the playoffs and the new meme is "Nobody wants to play the Lakers."
*Bengals beat Eagles, stay in playoff contention: The best quip I heard about this game came from NFL.com's Gregg Rosenthal: "When I watch the Bengals, I don't think:"Let's squeeze more borderline teams into the playoffs!'"
*Angels sign Josh Hamilton: When money isn't an issue, you can do things like lock up two aging superstars -- in this case, Hamilton and Albert Pujols -- for close to $50M a year, just for the two of them. This team was already "Playoffs or bust." The most interesting analysis I saw was item No. 2 in Dave Schoenfield's take on ESPN.com.
*Big East break-up: I'm totally on "Team Catholic Seven," and it feels like most people are. Repeating my suggestion from yesterday: They launch a cable network dedicated entirely to the awesomeness of college basketball, even beyond the teams involved in whatever new league they set up.
-- D.S.
Answers: 1-d, 2-g, 3-e, 4-f, 5-c, 6-b, 7-a
For trivia's sake, here are the bowls whose sponsor IS the bowl name: Famous Idaho Potato, Beef O' Brady's, Little Caesar's, Belk, Russell Athletic, Meineke Car Care, Buffalo Wild Wings, Chick-fil-A, Capital One, Outback, GoDaddy.com.
(1) Gildan
(2) Hyundai
(3) R&L Carriers
(4) Autozone
(5) AdvoCare V100
(6) Bridgepoint Education
(7) Taxslayer.com
(a) Gator
(b) Holiday
(c) Independence
(d) New Mexico
(e) New Orleans
(f) Liberty
(g) Sun
More:
*Lakers lose in NYC: Kobe's getting frustrated, but isn't it hard to judge this team until they have Nash and Gasol back? By April, they are solidly in the playoffs and the new meme is "Nobody wants to play the Lakers."
*Bengals beat Eagles, stay in playoff contention: The best quip I heard about this game came from NFL.com's Gregg Rosenthal: "When I watch the Bengals, I don't think:"Let's squeeze more borderline teams into the playoffs!'"
*Angels sign Josh Hamilton: When money isn't an issue, you can do things like lock up two aging superstars -- in this case, Hamilton and Albert Pujols -- for close to $50M a year, just for the two of them. This team was already "Playoffs or bust." The most interesting analysis I saw was item No. 2 in Dave Schoenfield's take on ESPN.com.
*Big East break-up: I'm totally on "Team Catholic Seven," and it feels like most people are. Repeating my suggestion from yesterday: They launch a cable network dedicated entirely to the awesomeness of college basketball, even beyond the teams involved in whatever new league they set up.
-- D.S.
Answers: 1-d, 2-g, 3-e, 4-f, 5-c, 6-b, 7-a
For trivia's sake, here are the bowls whose sponsor IS the bowl name: Famous Idaho Potato, Beef O' Brady's, Little Caesar's, Belk, Russell Athletic, Meineke Car Care, Buffalo Wild Wings, Chick-fil-A, Capital One, Outback, GoDaddy.com.
Thursday, December 13, 2012
12/13 (Very -- and Late!) Quickie
Is this the end of the Big East? Good for the small hoops-only schools for seceding. The Big East began as a clever start-up and I would love to see the splinter group take the same approach.
(My two cents: Call itself "The Big Conference," and launch a cable and online TV network dedicated entirely to college basketball, not just the schools involved.)
More:
Josh Hamilton signing with Angels: A year after they broke the bank for Pujols. No excuses now (as if there was room for any before).
Saints: Unsurprisingly, the players aren't happy with Roger Goodell.
Warriors beat Heat: What a gorgeous final play. Anti-Hero Ball.
Texas Tech hires Kliff Kingsbury: Not just a hometown hero, but arguably the rising star assistant in college football. He's VERY young, but so was Pat Fitzgerald at Northwestern. Love this hire.
Should the NFL expand the playoffs? Absolutely. No brainer. Every instance of playoff expansion in every sport -- particularly NFL and MLB -- has been a huge success.
ESPN MLB "Hall of 100": The key point -- Bonds is No. 3 and Clemens is No. 7 and any argument that these two players are not worthy of the Hall of Fame is ludicrous.
NFL Tonight: Bengals over Eagles. Good luck for anyone in fantasy playoffs.
-- D.S.
(My two cents: Call itself "The Big Conference," and launch a cable and online TV network dedicated entirely to college basketball, not just the schools involved.)
More:
Josh Hamilton signing with Angels: A year after they broke the bank for Pujols. No excuses now (as if there was room for any before).
Saints: Unsurprisingly, the players aren't happy with Roger Goodell.
Warriors beat Heat: What a gorgeous final play. Anti-Hero Ball.
Texas Tech hires Kliff Kingsbury: Not just a hometown hero, but arguably the rising star assistant in college football. He's VERY young, but so was Pat Fitzgerald at Northwestern. Love this hire.
Should the NFL expand the playoffs? Absolutely. No brainer. Every instance of playoff expansion in every sport -- particularly NFL and MLB -- has been a huge success.
ESPN MLB "Hall of 100": The key point -- Bonds is No. 3 and Clemens is No. 7 and any argument that these two players are not worthy of the Hall of Fame is ludicrous.
NFL Tonight: Bengals over Eagles. Good luck for anyone in fantasy playoffs.
-- D.S.
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
12/12 (12-12-12) Quickie
"12-12-12" falls somewhere between "kinda cool" and "not nearly as cool as the attention it's getting."
Bountygate: Very (very) surprised that Paul Tagliabue would implicitly rebuke Roger Goodell overreaching on the player suspensions. But the theory is solid: The players were doing what the coach(es) were telling them to and so the punishments were overly harsh.
MLB Hot Stove: Kevin Youkilis joins the Yankees. Forget the whole "Red Sox player joining the Yankees" storyline; Youkilis immediately becomes the most popular Jewish athlete in New York since Amare Stoudemire. (OK: The most popular Jewish baseball player since Shawn Green... perhaps Sandy Koufax.)
NBA: Carmelo for MVP? I never would have imagined it, but -- yes -- he is in the conversation. (Although with the caveat that both LeBron and Kevin Durant are both better players, giving Melo the "Charles Barkley" or "Karl Malone" MVP during the Jordan years, when MJ shoulda/coulda been MVP every year.)
Lakers still reeling: They're just not a good team right now. (And isn't the season vastly more fascinating with the Lakers being so mediocre? Especially given that so many people -- ahem -- picked them to win the West.)
Kevin Love is unhappy: I can't follow this story without dreaming of my Wizards making a play for Love (Seraphin + Veseley + unprotected 1st-round pick in '13?). Of course, that's coming after the report that my Wizards couldn't seal the deal for James Harden back in the summer. Woo.
College Hoops: Like Notre Dame in football, college hoops is way better when Michigan is really really good. That said: It's a team I'm going to sidestep as a Final Four pick -- so keep winning, Blue, because then everyone will pick them to the Final Four and I'll clean up in the pool by NOT picking them. Still: Really fun to see them back near the top.
Fascinating read: About the way the 49ers are hiring Silicon Valley talent, led by former Facebook CFO (now team president) Gideon Yu. It seems almost unfair that the Niners would have the best coach in sports AND the best team president.
Last thought: Here's hoping the same people who cheered on Jack Taylor's 138 points for Grinnell College a few weeks ago are cheering the Indiana girls' h.s. basketball team that won 107-2.
-- D.S.
Bountygate: Very (very) surprised that Paul Tagliabue would implicitly rebuke Roger Goodell overreaching on the player suspensions. But the theory is solid: The players were doing what the coach(es) were telling them to and so the punishments were overly harsh.
MLB Hot Stove: Kevin Youkilis joins the Yankees. Forget the whole "Red Sox player joining the Yankees" storyline; Youkilis immediately becomes the most popular Jewish athlete in New York since Amare Stoudemire. (OK: The most popular Jewish baseball player since Shawn Green... perhaps Sandy Koufax.)
NBA: Carmelo for MVP? I never would have imagined it, but -- yes -- he is in the conversation. (Although with the caveat that both LeBron and Kevin Durant are both better players, giving Melo the "Charles Barkley" or "Karl Malone" MVP during the Jordan years, when MJ shoulda/coulda been MVP every year.)
Lakers still reeling: They're just not a good team right now. (And isn't the season vastly more fascinating with the Lakers being so mediocre? Especially given that so many people -- ahem -- picked them to win the West.)
Kevin Love is unhappy: I can't follow this story without dreaming of my Wizards making a play for Love (Seraphin + Veseley + unprotected 1st-round pick in '13?). Of course, that's coming after the report that my Wizards couldn't seal the deal for James Harden back in the summer. Woo.
College Hoops: Like Notre Dame in football, college hoops is way better when Michigan is really really good. That said: It's a team I'm going to sidestep as a Final Four pick -- so keep winning, Blue, because then everyone will pick them to the Final Four and I'll clean up in the pool by NOT picking them. Still: Really fun to see them back near the top.
Fascinating read: About the way the 49ers are hiring Silicon Valley talent, led by former Facebook CFO (now team president) Gideon Yu. It seems almost unfair that the Niners would have the best coach in sports AND the best team president.
Last thought: Here's hoping the same people who cheered on Jack Taylor's 138 points for Grinnell College a few weeks ago are cheering the Indiana girls' h.s. basketball team that won 107-2.
-- D.S.
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
12/11 (Pats) Quickie
The Pats' blow-out win over the Texans was as predictable as it was oddly comforting.
New England now assumes the mantle of "Super Bowl favorites," which tees up the optimal NFL dynamic -- the Pats look unstoppable... right up until they lose in the Super Bowl.
It's possible the memory of last year's SB defeat is driving these Pats this season. But it's more likely that the Texans are a facade of a contender, finally exposed on national TV as pretenders.
Tom Brady is at the top of his game. The Texans are soft. The theme of this NFL season -- at least as it relates to the playoffs -- is largely that it will play out a lot like last season.
And so if the expectation from the rest of us for Houston used to be "Super Bowl or bust," then the expectation from the rest of us for New England now is "Super Bowl bust or bust."
More:
*RGIII Update: LCL sprain, which means he could play as early as this weekend against Cleveland, but will definitely be available for the final two-game stretch. I'm not even a Redskins fan, and even I say phew.
*The NFL's Tagliabue ruling on the Saints' bounty program: It's coming today, and I fully expect Tags to go along with his successor. Perhaps this gives the league cover for the punishment to be walked back slightly, but anything more than that will be viewed as a rebuke of Roger Goodell.... and no ex-commissioner is going to send that message.
*Bobby Petrino to Western Kentucky: He will win and probably win big, right away. No one ever questioned whether Petrino is a good coach -- only whether he can make responsible choices in his personal life. That means that the situation at WKU won't end well, even if it ends with wins.
*NFL Draft: Marcus Lattimore is heading in early, probably two years too late. After his marvelous freshman season -- in which he established himself as the best RB in college football and the most NFL-ready college RB since Adrian Peterson -- he would have been a 1st-round pick. But NFL draft age-limits kept him out, so he returned to college for his sophomore year, when he tore his ACL. He still would have been a high draft pick had he been allowed to come out a year ago. But again, the draft age-limits mandated he return to college, when his other knee was mangled. Here's hoping he gets a shot in the NFL -- and here's hoping his cautionary tale ultimately changes the artificially constraining rules. (They won't, but it's worth hoping.)
*NBA: The Jeremy Lin story in a nutshell -- scores 38 for Houston but the Rockets lose to the Spurs. That's not a knock on Lin; it's a symbol of Houston's ceiling (after all, most teams lose to the Spurs). Here's hoping last night's game jump-starts a little holiday Linsanity.
*Jobs: Ravens fire OC Cam Cameron. The Ravens' offense isn't working, and so the team sided with franchise (or "franchise") QB Joe Flacco, rather than its architect. That's the way it works in the NFL.
*Should Josh Brent get to go to Jerry Brown's memorial if he wants to? I leave it up to Jerry Brown's family to decide, and they seem to want him to be there with the rest of the team. The Cowboys, for their part, support that decision. Something about that feels off, but it is the Brown family prerogative.
-- D.S.
New England now assumes the mantle of "Super Bowl favorites," which tees up the optimal NFL dynamic -- the Pats look unstoppable... right up until they lose in the Super Bowl.
It's possible the memory of last year's SB defeat is driving these Pats this season. But it's more likely that the Texans are a facade of a contender, finally exposed on national TV as pretenders.
Tom Brady is at the top of his game. The Texans are soft. The theme of this NFL season -- at least as it relates to the playoffs -- is largely that it will play out a lot like last season.
And so if the expectation from the rest of us for Houston used to be "Super Bowl or bust," then the expectation from the rest of us for New England now is "Super Bowl bust or bust."
More:
*RGIII Update: LCL sprain, which means he could play as early as this weekend against Cleveland, but will definitely be available for the final two-game stretch. I'm not even a Redskins fan, and even I say phew.
*The NFL's Tagliabue ruling on the Saints' bounty program: It's coming today, and I fully expect Tags to go along with his successor. Perhaps this gives the league cover for the punishment to be walked back slightly, but anything more than that will be viewed as a rebuke of Roger Goodell.... and no ex-commissioner is going to send that message.
*Bobby Petrino to Western Kentucky: He will win and probably win big, right away. No one ever questioned whether Petrino is a good coach -- only whether he can make responsible choices in his personal life. That means that the situation at WKU won't end well, even if it ends with wins.
*NFL Draft: Marcus Lattimore is heading in early, probably two years too late. After his marvelous freshman season -- in which he established himself as the best RB in college football and the most NFL-ready college RB since Adrian Peterson -- he would have been a 1st-round pick. But NFL draft age-limits kept him out, so he returned to college for his sophomore year, when he tore his ACL. He still would have been a high draft pick had he been allowed to come out a year ago. But again, the draft age-limits mandated he return to college, when his other knee was mangled. Here's hoping he gets a shot in the NFL -- and here's hoping his cautionary tale ultimately changes the artificially constraining rules. (They won't, but it's worth hoping.)
*NBA: The Jeremy Lin story in a nutshell -- scores 38 for Houston but the Rockets lose to the Spurs. That's not a knock on Lin; it's a symbol of Houston's ceiling (after all, most teams lose to the Spurs). Here's hoping last night's game jump-starts a little holiday Linsanity.
*Jobs: Ravens fire OC Cam Cameron. The Ravens' offense isn't working, and so the team sided with franchise (or "franchise") QB Joe Flacco, rather than its architect. That's the way it works in the NFL.
*Should Josh Brent get to go to Jerry Brown's memorial if he wants to? I leave it up to Jerry Brown's family to decide, and they seem to want him to be there with the rest of the team. The Cowboys, for their part, support that decision. Something about that feels off, but it is the Brown family prerogative.
-- D.S.
Monday, December 10, 2012
12/10 (Monday) Quickie
It is not enough that RGIII was already THE story of the NFL season or that the Redskins were involved in a taut must-win with the Ravens.
No, then RGIII had to have the knee injury, followed by Kirk Cousins coming in cold off the bench to deliver a must-have last-minute touchdown, followed by a must-must-must-have game-tying two-point conversion -- nothing short of an RGIII impression of running it in himself.
And so now, all eyes on RGIII's knee (it's not an ACL injury, at least), plus the curious case of Cousins, whose draft selection was so widely panned back in April but now looks like one of the most savvy player-personnel moves of the year in the NFL (think Rex Grossman finishes that drive with a TD + 2? no way).
For another week, RGIII is the center of the NFL universe.
More:
*And yet the Cowboys are still hanging around.
*Think the Seahawks were trying to prove a (style) point?
*Same goes for the Giants.
*If only Cam and Carolina had played that way all year.
*Selling: Falcons, Bears, Steelers. Buying: Packers, Giants, 49ers.
*Rays send Shields to KC for Myers: Good deal for both.
*NBA: The Lakers are... not good. Need Nash back ASAP.
*Messi scores 86th goal of 2012: More evidence he's GOAT.
*Still really enjoying the Manziel-wins-Heisman story.
*Has Pac retired yet? No? Will we see No. 5?
*MNF Pick: Pats over Texans, handily.
*Fantasy: Blown out to drop from playoff-qualified 4th to no-playoffs 5th.
-- D.S.
No, then RGIII had to have the knee injury, followed by Kirk Cousins coming in cold off the bench to deliver a must-have last-minute touchdown, followed by a must-must-must-have game-tying two-point conversion -- nothing short of an RGIII impression of running it in himself.
And so now, all eyes on RGIII's knee (it's not an ACL injury, at least), plus the curious case of Cousins, whose draft selection was so widely panned back in April but now looks like one of the most savvy player-personnel moves of the year in the NFL (think Rex Grossman finishes that drive with a TD + 2? no way).
For another week, RGIII is the center of the NFL universe.
More:
*And yet the Cowboys are still hanging around.
*Think the Seahawks were trying to prove a (style) point?
*Same goes for the Giants.
*If only Cam and Carolina had played that way all year.
*Selling: Falcons, Bears, Steelers. Buying: Packers, Giants, 49ers.
*Rays send Shields to KC for Myers: Good deal for both.
*NBA: The Lakers are... not good. Need Nash back ASAP.
*Messi scores 86th goal of 2012: More evidence he's GOAT.
*Still really enjoying the Manziel-wins-Heisman story.
*Has Pac retired yet? No? Will we see No. 5?
*MNF Pick: Pats over Texans, handily.
*Fantasy: Blown out to drop from playoff-qualified 4th to no-playoffs 5th.
-- D.S.
Friday, December 07, 2012
12/07 (Very) Quickie
No college football slate tomorrow? No college football slate tomorrow. (Except! Army-Navy, which is always worth a watch, regardless of how the two teams are doing.)
Meanwhile, Manti Te'o cleaning up at the CFB Awards Show last night makes tomorrow night's Heisman ceremony all the more interesting. It had seemed like Manziel was a lock -- now, maybe a puncher's chance for the linebacker? Either way: Finishing Top 2 as a defensive player puts Te'o in rare company. (To repeat: Te'o would have gotten my vote.)
Knicks crush Heat (again): And, this time, without Carmelo. Look: The Heat lost to the Wizards this week, so something is clearly screwed up there for now. They have approximately five months to figure it out (and before wins and losses actually matter). For better or worse, they'll be fine. But don't let that get in the way of inflating the status of the Knicks or anything.
Tennessee football hires Cincy's Butch Jones: A solid hire, if not exactly spectacular. It's hard not to improve on the Derek Dooley era, plus Jones won't lack for resources. Grade this one a B+/A-.
NHL Lockout: That glimmer of hope that this could get resolved turned out to be the glint off the shiv that the league just stuck into the players' union.
Broncos win 8th straight: Qualifying for the playoffs? Winning the division? Meh. Peyton Manning has to lead this team farther than Tim Tebow did, which means AFC title game or bust.
NFL Week 14: Good luck to those of you in fantasy playoffs. Hope you're not relying on Ben Roethlisberger.
MLB Hot Stove: Kind of a dud week, wasn't it? What was the highlight -- the Nats signing Dan Haren? The Yankees giving a nominal offer to Kevin Youkilis? Here's to more action later this month.
NFL Brain-Injury Epidemic: Count me among those who love the idea floated via Roger Goodell in Time this week that the league eliminate kickoffs and instead go with a system where the team "kicking off" has the option of punting from their own 30 or "going for it" under 4th-and-15 conditions, with the upside of retaining possession if they convert (not unlike a fake punt) and the downside of giving the ball to the opponent at their own 30 if they fail to make it.
Sports x Parenting: I took the kids to the local high school boys' basketball season-opener. Gabe felt confident that his stomping during opponents' free throws made a difference and Jonah found a community with the student section during its "I! Believe! That! We! Will! Win!" chant. I think we're going to adopt that for the first-grade basketball league next month.
Enjoy your weekend.
-- D.S.
Meanwhile, Manti Te'o cleaning up at the CFB Awards Show last night makes tomorrow night's Heisman ceremony all the more interesting. It had seemed like Manziel was a lock -- now, maybe a puncher's chance for the linebacker? Either way: Finishing Top 2 as a defensive player puts Te'o in rare company. (To repeat: Te'o would have gotten my vote.)
Knicks crush Heat (again): And, this time, without Carmelo. Look: The Heat lost to the Wizards this week, so something is clearly screwed up there for now. They have approximately five months to figure it out (and before wins and losses actually matter). For better or worse, they'll be fine. But don't let that get in the way of inflating the status of the Knicks or anything.
Tennessee football hires Cincy's Butch Jones: A solid hire, if not exactly spectacular. It's hard not to improve on the Derek Dooley era, plus Jones won't lack for resources. Grade this one a B+/A-.
NHL Lockout: That glimmer of hope that this could get resolved turned out to be the glint off the shiv that the league just stuck into the players' union.
Broncos win 8th straight: Qualifying for the playoffs? Winning the division? Meh. Peyton Manning has to lead this team farther than Tim Tebow did, which means AFC title game or bust.
NFL Week 14: Good luck to those of you in fantasy playoffs. Hope you're not relying on Ben Roethlisberger.
MLB Hot Stove: Kind of a dud week, wasn't it? What was the highlight -- the Nats signing Dan Haren? The Yankees giving a nominal offer to Kevin Youkilis? Here's to more action later this month.
NFL Brain-Injury Epidemic: Count me among those who love the idea floated via Roger Goodell in Time this week that the league eliminate kickoffs and instead go with a system where the team "kicking off" has the option of punting from their own 30 or "going for it" under 4th-and-15 conditions, with the upside of retaining possession if they convert (not unlike a fake punt) and the downside of giving the ball to the opponent at their own 30 if they fail to make it.
Sports x Parenting: I took the kids to the local high school boys' basketball season-opener. Gabe felt confident that his stomping during opponents' free throws made a difference and Jonah found a community with the student section during its "I! Believe! That! We! Will! Win!" chant. I think we're going to adopt that for the first-grade basketball league next month.
Enjoy your weekend.
-- D.S.
Wednesday, December 05, 2012
12/05 (Wizards!) Quickie
Confession: I have watched every Wizards game this season (sorry:
this whole wretched season), most of the time insisting that Mrs.
Quickie watch with me, which is an unreasonable demand in any marriage.
When the Wizards played the Heat last night, I had a conflicting event and had to miss watching the game. But no biggie: Guaranteed huge loss, right? Naturally, the Wizards shocked the Heat -- shocked all of NBA fandom, really -- and I missed it all.
I'm not complaining. I'll take the high-profile W and hope that the team understands what it takes to play at that kind of level every night, not just when playing the defending champs and motivated by the courtside presence of RGIII.
Anyway:
*Jets re-starting Mark Sanchez: Not clear they had a choice. (No, wait: They TOTALLY had a choice. At what point this season did Tim Tebow finally regret his decision to come to NY?)
*Arkansas hires Wisconsin's Bret Bielema: A stunner, in an age where we don't get many on the coaching front. It's an odd fit, but clearly Arkansas backed up the dump truck full of money. If Bielema didn't like Urban Meyer's recruiting tactics in the Big Ten, he's in for a rude reality now that he is in the conference.
*What next at Wisconsin? Former OC Paul Chryst -- who just finished his first year as HC at Pitt -- seems like a logical pick, but I would go outside the box and see if favorite son Darrell Bevell -- currently the O.C. for the Seahawks -- wants the gig.
*Auburn hires (back) Gus Malzahn: Excited to see Auburn's erstwhile offensive coordinator (for the Cam era) get to do whatever he wants at the SEC level.
*CBB: Georgetown thumps Texas: More indicative of UT sucking than G'town being great. But I'm starting to buy into this Hoyas team as one with a floor of the Sweet 16.
*Northwestern stuns Baylor in Waco: The team that lost to Illinois-Chicago at home last weekend beat the team that beat Kentucky in Lexington last weekend. So.
*New Orleans Pelicans: It's quirky and I don't hate it.
*Begets Charlotte Hornets? A welcome reversion.
*Wait, wait: Is the NHL lockout about to end? Here's hoping.
-- D.S.
When the Wizards played the Heat last night, I had a conflicting event and had to miss watching the game. But no biggie: Guaranteed huge loss, right? Naturally, the Wizards shocked the Heat -- shocked all of NBA fandom, really -- and I missed it all.
I'm not complaining. I'll take the high-profile W and hope that the team understands what it takes to play at that kind of level every night, not just when playing the defending champs and motivated by the courtside presence of RGIII.
Anyway:
*Jets re-starting Mark Sanchez: Not clear they had a choice. (No, wait: They TOTALLY had a choice. At what point this season did Tim Tebow finally regret his decision to come to NY?)
*Arkansas hires Wisconsin's Bret Bielema: A stunner, in an age where we don't get many on the coaching front. It's an odd fit, but clearly Arkansas backed up the dump truck full of money. If Bielema didn't like Urban Meyer's recruiting tactics in the Big Ten, he's in for a rude reality now that he is in the conference.
*What next at Wisconsin? Former OC Paul Chryst -- who just finished his first year as HC at Pitt -- seems like a logical pick, but I would go outside the box and see if favorite son Darrell Bevell -- currently the O.C. for the Seahawks -- wants the gig.
*Auburn hires (back) Gus Malzahn: Excited to see Auburn's erstwhile offensive coordinator (for the Cam era) get to do whatever he wants at the SEC level.
*CBB: Georgetown thumps Texas: More indicative of UT sucking than G'town being great. But I'm starting to buy into this Hoyas team as one with a floor of the Sweet 16.
*Northwestern stuns Baylor in Waco: The team that lost to Illinois-Chicago at home last weekend beat the team that beat Kentucky in Lexington last weekend. So.
*New Orleans Pelicans: It's quirky and I don't hate it.
*Begets Charlotte Hornets? A welcome reversion.
*Wait, wait: Is the NHL lockout about to end? Here's hoping.
-- D.S.
Tuesday, December 04, 2012
12/04 (RGIII) Quickie
At this point, one thing is clear: RGIII is the biggest thing in the NFL. And, because he is the biggest thing in the biggest sport, that makes him the biggest thing in sports right now.
He played well -- not great, by any means (although it's not like the Giants' defense makes it easy on QBs), but that was sort of a theme this weekend: From Luck to Wilson to McElroy, the big QB stories in the NFL all played good enough (and certainly, for Luck and Wilson, brilliant in spots).
But the Redskins are suddenly in the playoff picture -- something that seemed impossible just a few weeks ago. They are arguably even in the driver's seat in the NFC East.
RGIII's ability to turn reality from "No!" to "Yes!" is almost... Tebow-ish. And Griffin's popularity -- entirely justified -- is there to affirm it.
More:
SI names LeBron the Sportsman of the Year: An entirely reasonable pick. (Although I'm working on USA TODAY Sports' Year in Review package, and I'm almost certain that our No. 1 athlete of the year will not be LeBron, although it's very possible LeBron will finish No. 2.)
Heisman finalists: Johnny Football, Te'o, Klein. And that's probably how they will finish, notwithstanding my own pick of Te'o for the award. What is a shame is that the Heisman Trust wouldn't extend invites to the players finishing 4th and 5th -- in the case of the Heisman, it IS an honor simply to make the trip to New York.
A-Rod's hip: I'm not sure I get the schadenfreude. For the Yankees, on the hook for $100M for a player who might have trouble even DH'ing? Sure. For A-Rod? I can't muster it.
CBB: Dropping Kentucky from No. 8 to unranked because they lost twice in a week? UK is having some acceleration problems, absolutely, but there are not 25 better teams in the country. (In the end, who cares: All that matters is how Kentucky finishes in late March. To the extent that last week portends falling short of the championship expectations? Yes, very relevant. To the extent that the team could still get it together in time for a six-game run in late March? This week's ranking is entirely irrelevant.)
Tebow being Tebow: Enough said.
-- D.S.
He played well -- not great, by any means (although it's not like the Giants' defense makes it easy on QBs), but that was sort of a theme this weekend: From Luck to Wilson to McElroy, the big QB stories in the NFL all played good enough (and certainly, for Luck and Wilson, brilliant in spots).
But the Redskins are suddenly in the playoff picture -- something that seemed impossible just a few weeks ago. They are arguably even in the driver's seat in the NFC East.
RGIII's ability to turn reality from "No!" to "Yes!" is almost... Tebow-ish. And Griffin's popularity -- entirely justified -- is there to affirm it.
More:
SI names LeBron the Sportsman of the Year: An entirely reasonable pick. (Although I'm working on USA TODAY Sports' Year in Review package, and I'm almost certain that our No. 1 athlete of the year will not be LeBron, although it's very possible LeBron will finish No. 2.)
Heisman finalists: Johnny Football, Te'o, Klein. And that's probably how they will finish, notwithstanding my own pick of Te'o for the award. What is a shame is that the Heisman Trust wouldn't extend invites to the players finishing 4th and 5th -- in the case of the Heisman, it IS an honor simply to make the trip to New York.
A-Rod's hip: I'm not sure I get the schadenfreude. For the Yankees, on the hook for $100M for a player who might have trouble even DH'ing? Sure. For A-Rod? I can't muster it.
CBB: Dropping Kentucky from No. 8 to unranked because they lost twice in a week? UK is having some acceleration problems, absolutely, but there are not 25 better teams in the country. (In the end, who cares: All that matters is how Kentucky finishes in late March. To the extent that last week portends falling short of the championship expectations? Yes, very relevant. To the extent that the team could still get it together in time for a six-game run in late March? This week's ranking is entirely irrelevant.)
Tebow being Tebow: Enough said.
-- D.S.
Monday, December 03, 2012
12/03 (Monday) Quickie
That was a tremendous afternoon of football, headlined by startlingly interesting QB play:
*Andrew Luck: Greatest season ever by a rookie QB? Isn't it insane to think that the only reason he wouldn't claim that title is because the other top rookie QB is having a slightly better season? (And that we are coming off of last year, when Cam Newton created a new standard for rookie QBs?)
*Charlie Batch: Coming off last week's debacle, Batch sobbing on the sidelines as the Steelers pulled out the win in Baltimore over the rival Ravens is my new favorite NFL image of the year so far.
*Greg McElroy: If you thought the Sanchez-Tebow QB controversy was as absurd as it could get, think again. Mark Sanchez was finally benched, but Tim Tebow was unavailable, so they go to the third-stringer -- the articulate game-managing former college champ who has been a bemused non-factor all season long -- and he leads the offense to a TD that Sanchez couldnt'... and the team to a win. And now... what, exactly?
*Russell Wilson: Lost in the Luck-RGIII mania, Wilson is having an arguably more impressive season, given that Luck and RGIII were expected to be NFL stars from the get-go, where Wilson was a 3rd-stringer with potential, but certainly with no one expecting THIS. I am entirely comfortable with "Offensive Rookie of the Year" being a three-way tie between Luck, RGIII and Wilson.
Consider that spectrum of compelling QB storylines -- the No. 1 overall pick leading his team to the playoffs... the ageless back-up pulling off the gob-smacking win on the road... the former 7th-round pick and third-stringer stealing the show from the most popular player in the league... the third-wheel rookie QB pulling off the win of the day for his playoff contender against one of the league's elite teams.
How much more can you ask for?
Tragedy in KC: I appreciate why reporters are trying to show a little nuance in discussing Jovan Belcher, but the reality is that the guy is a murderer -- clearly mentally unstable, although that's not a mitigating factor -- and it is hard (if not impossible) to understand why we would treat him as anything but.
MNF: The must-see "Monday Night" game of the year? Very possibly -- it's RGII, the most must-see player in the NFL right now, against the defending champs, with the Redskins a win away from being very much in the Wild Card discussion (and a loss away from being pretty much out of it).
CFB Bowl lineup set: Alabama-Notre Dame will be the most-watched national-title game of the "media-fragmentation" era. The rest of the bowl lineup? Ehh...
The Fiesta (K-State/Oregon) looks fun and the Rose (Stanford-Wisconsin) looks solid, but the Sugar (Florida-Louisville) is a dud.
The highlight of the whole thing? The unprecedented presence of a MAC team in the BCS -- Northern Illinois -- only partially mitigated by the idea they are playing a fizzling FSU.
(Meanwhile, among the rest, the most notable detail is that Louisiana Tech opted NOT to play in a bowl game -- a bowl game in Louisiana! -- rather than play cross-state rival Louisiana-Monroe.)
Final USA TODAY Sports Coaches Top 25 ballot: Transparency! And so you get to see Vandy's James Franklin pushing Notre Dame down to 4th (approve!) And you get to see Michigan's Brady Hoke pushing Northern Illinois to 25th (behind USC, for whom he was the only coach to rank in the Top 25!) In the end, it is impossible to begrudge the coaches for their various regional biases and odd confederacies and personal sympathies -- the best part is that it is all out there in the open.
Meanwhile, check out my own BlogPoll Top 25 final ballot of the regular season. As I said yesterday: I am fine with Notre Dame vs. Alabama for the national title, but I think ND is not as good -- by resume or eye test -- as three other SEC teams right now. That said: All three of those SEC teams had the chance to win the SEC and get into the national title game, and all fell short.
NBA: Dwight Howard is embarrassed by old Magic mates in Lakers loss to Orlando. The Magic may or may not being going anywhere, but that was pretty close to their NBA Finals Game 7.
(Of course, the only detail that will get coverage will be Kobe telling Pau Gasol to "put his big-boy pants on," and deal with his late-game benching.)
MLB Hot Stove: The best storyline of the day is the rumors swirling that the Nats and Rays might be circling around a deal that would send Tampa workhorse James Shields to the Nats for some of DC's young (controlled) talent.
The most important (but likely overlooked) news of the day is the report that a study of 85 brains of dead football players showed that 68 had signs of CTE.
A Quickie mantra worth repeating: Knowing what we know now -- let alone what we'll know soon -- how in the world would you let your kid play tackle football?
-- D.S.
Sunday, December 02, 2012
12/02 (SEC! SEC!) Quickie
When people joke/boast about the SEC being "grown-[up] football," it is precisely yesterday's game that they are talking about.
I have heard and appreciated that Notre Dame's bona fides include that they are built to resemble a good SEC team -- the difference between "like a good SEC team" and "good SEC team" is what will be on display next month in the national-title game in Miami.
Notre Dame's running game is solid. Alabama's run defense is even more solid. Notre Dame's run defense is stout. Alabama's running game is brutalizing in a way ND has never seen. (And Georgia's running game is just as good.) Brian Kelly is a great coach. Nick Saban is the greatest coach.
I hold the 2008 SEC title game in the highest regard -- it is the greatest moment for Florida football and Tim Tebow -- but yesterday's game was even more exciting, even more of an example of how powerful and punishing the SEC is, a step beyond what everyone else in college football is doing.
I feel (nominally) for Georgia fans, because they had a shot. I don't blame the WR for catching that game-ending pass (it was headed for the end-zone and tipped anyway) as much as I blame UGA coaches for not spiking the ball and settling in for two shots at the game-winning play.
But this is yet another triumph for Nick Saban and Alabama, from the jaw-dropping running game of Lacy and Yeldon to the clutch passing TD to take the lead at the end to the third-quarter two-point conversion that ended up being the difference in the game -- something folks should think about when they are spouting orthodoxies about "taking the points" anytime before the late 4th quarter.
The SEC was on full display. And, as has come to be the norm, the league's 7th straight national title a month from now feels like a post-script.
BCS: I can feel comfortable with the title-game match-up of Alabama and Notre Dame and still not have the Irish ranked in my Top 2 to finish the season. I restore Alabama to No. 1 on the strength of yesterday's win, followed by Florida at No. 2, Texas A&M at No. 3, Georgia at No. 4 and Notre Dame at No. 5.
Other CFB yesterday: Wisconsin, whoa. The Badgers were underrated, but yikes... Kansas State had a season to be proud of (Texas? Not so much)... Why is the ACC faltering? That title game was a pretty good symbol of why... So: Oklahoma vs. Florida in the Sugar Bowl? OK.
RIP Rick Majerus: If I had to pick one person to coach my college roster -- just the coaching part -- I would pick Rick Majerus. For me, he is the ultimate example of someone who coached the hell out of their available talent, always creating winners and foiling opposing coaches. Just imagine if that guy ever had the talent that K has at Duke or Izzo has at Michigan State (or, most relevant, Pitino or Tubby had at Kentucky).
The Jovan Belcher tragedy is almost too horrible to comment on. No one can be inside his head, and so I'm left mourning his murder of his girlfriend Kasandra Perkins and the life of their 3-month-old child.
As for the NFL allowing today's Chiefs game to continue -- basically the only part of this story that would-be pundits can comment on -- seems unreasonable, given the circumstances, particularly because neither team is contending for a playoff spot and they could have easily moved the game to Monday without disrupting the schedule. For god's sake: The head coach was standing right next to Belcher when he killed himself.
All that said, enjoy your Sunday.
-- D.S.
I have heard and appreciated that Notre Dame's bona fides include that they are built to resemble a good SEC team -- the difference between "like a good SEC team" and "good SEC team" is what will be on display next month in the national-title game in Miami.
Notre Dame's running game is solid. Alabama's run defense is even more solid. Notre Dame's run defense is stout. Alabama's running game is brutalizing in a way ND has never seen. (And Georgia's running game is just as good.) Brian Kelly is a great coach. Nick Saban is the greatest coach.
I hold the 2008 SEC title game in the highest regard -- it is the greatest moment for Florida football and Tim Tebow -- but yesterday's game was even more exciting, even more of an example of how powerful and punishing the SEC is, a step beyond what everyone else in college football is doing.
I feel (nominally) for Georgia fans, because they had a shot. I don't blame the WR for catching that game-ending pass (it was headed for the end-zone and tipped anyway) as much as I blame UGA coaches for not spiking the ball and settling in for two shots at the game-winning play.
But this is yet another triumph for Nick Saban and Alabama, from the jaw-dropping running game of Lacy and Yeldon to the clutch passing TD to take the lead at the end to the third-quarter two-point conversion that ended up being the difference in the game -- something folks should think about when they are spouting orthodoxies about "taking the points" anytime before the late 4th quarter.
The SEC was on full display. And, as has come to be the norm, the league's 7th straight national title a month from now feels like a post-script.
BCS: I can feel comfortable with the title-game match-up of Alabama and Notre Dame and still not have the Irish ranked in my Top 2 to finish the season. I restore Alabama to No. 1 on the strength of yesterday's win, followed by Florida at No. 2, Texas A&M at No. 3, Georgia at No. 4 and Notre Dame at No. 5.
Other CFB yesterday: Wisconsin, whoa. The Badgers were underrated, but yikes... Kansas State had a season to be proud of (Texas? Not so much)... Why is the ACC faltering? That title game was a pretty good symbol of why... So: Oklahoma vs. Florida in the Sugar Bowl? OK.
RIP Rick Majerus: If I had to pick one person to coach my college roster -- just the coaching part -- I would pick Rick Majerus. For me, he is the ultimate example of someone who coached the hell out of their available talent, always creating winners and foiling opposing coaches. Just imagine if that guy ever had the talent that K has at Duke or Izzo has at Michigan State (or, most relevant, Pitino or Tubby had at Kentucky).
The Jovan Belcher tragedy is almost too horrible to comment on. No one can be inside his head, and so I'm left mourning his murder of his girlfriend Kasandra Perkins and the life of their 3-month-old child.
As for the NFL allowing today's Chiefs game to continue -- basically the only part of this story that would-be pundits can comment on -- seems unreasonable, given the circumstances, particularly because neither team is contending for a playoff spot and they could have easily moved the game to Monday without disrupting the schedule. For god's sake: The head coach was standing right next to Belcher when he killed himself.
All that said, enjoy your Sunday.
-- D.S.
Saturday, December 01, 2012
12/01 (CFB Saturday Finale) Quickie
*Alabama in a rout.
*Wisconsin over Nebraska, to face Stanford in the Rose Bowl.
*But let's credit UCLA, which rope-a-doped Stanford over match-ups on consecutive weekends and nearly pulled off the upset.
*I sincerely hope that Coaches and Harris Poll voters put Northern Illinois far enough into the Top 16 to get them eligible for a BCS bowl (something Kent State was all but assured had they won last night).
We'll see how many Big 12 coaches who vote in the Coaches' Poll will tank Northern Illinois in order to try to help ensure Oklahoma gets that at-large BCS spot -- and the money for the conference members that comes with it. I'm betting it will be conspicuous.
*Speaking of Big 12, I think K-State rebounds and KO's Texas.
*Stern fines Spurs $250K: Wow, did this story end up capturing a wide audience, both in and out of sports. Maybe that's because what Popovich did was so reasonable and the NBA's reaction so draconian-seeming. I'm Team Pop all the way -- he made a decision in the best interests of his team trying to win a championship, which is in the best interests of the team's fans. (That the Spurs' motley crew of back-ups nearly toppled the full-strength Heat was only a delightful bonus.)
*Reiterating a point from earlier this week, it is a joke if Bonds and Clemens are not elected to the Hall of Fame -- the writers who have self-appointed themselves to "protect" the Hall are doing more to erode its credibility than anything the players themselves might have done.
Enjoy the final real Saturday of college football this season.
-- D.S.
*Wisconsin over Nebraska, to face Stanford in the Rose Bowl.
*But let's credit UCLA, which rope-a-doped Stanford over match-ups on consecutive weekends and nearly pulled off the upset.
*I sincerely hope that Coaches and Harris Poll voters put Northern Illinois far enough into the Top 16 to get them eligible for a BCS bowl (something Kent State was all but assured had they won last night).
We'll see how many Big 12 coaches who vote in the Coaches' Poll will tank Northern Illinois in order to try to help ensure Oklahoma gets that at-large BCS spot -- and the money for the conference members that comes with it. I'm betting it will be conspicuous.
*Speaking of Big 12, I think K-State rebounds and KO's Texas.
*Stern fines Spurs $250K: Wow, did this story end up capturing a wide audience, both in and out of sports. Maybe that's because what Popovich did was so reasonable and the NBA's reaction so draconian-seeming. I'm Team Pop all the way -- he made a decision in the best interests of his team trying to win a championship, which is in the best interests of the team's fans. (That the Spurs' motley crew of back-ups nearly toppled the full-strength Heat was only a delightful bonus.)
*Reiterating a point from earlier this week, it is a joke if Bonds and Clemens are not elected to the Hall of Fame -- the writers who have self-appointed themselves to "protect" the Hall are doing more to erode its credibility than anything the players themselves might have done.
Enjoy the final real Saturday of college football this season.
-- D.S.
Friday, November 30, 2012
11/30 (Friday) Quickie
*Can't seem to find anyone particularly enthusiastic about the Falcons as a legit Super Bowl contender, which will either lead to post-hoc "Told you so!" or "Should've known!"
*Losing to Notre Dame doesn't diminish my preseason enthusiasm for Kentucky to repeat. ND was as motivated as they will be this season, and Kentucky is still figuring things out. (FWIW, absolutely hated the "black-out" jerseys, but absolutely loved Manti Te'o in the student section.)
*However! What might diminish my preseason enthusiasm for Kentucky to repeat was watching Florida destroy Marquette last night. I'm as self-critical about the Gators as any hater, but last night displayed why Florida should be on the short list of teams with a legit chance not just to make a Final Four, but to win six straight and take a national title: When Patric Young is on, giving the Gators as bullying of a post presence as exists in college hoops, it activates everything else that is great about this team: The stretch-4 (Murphy), the do-the-little-things swingman (Yeguete), the experienced and shot-jacking backcourt (Boynton and Rosario), the heady PG (Wilbeken) and yet another dangerous 3-point shooter (frosh Frazier). This is a very very good team.
*Louisville wins Big East BCS bowl bid: Hard not to love Teddy Bridgewater. And there isn't a hotter head-coaching commodity than Charlie Strong, who would be best-served to skip the mediocre jobs open this winter and wait for next year, pairing with Bridgewater for a run at unbeaten in '13.
*Must-see game of the night: Kent State vs. Northern Illinois, with the winner potentially (likely?) earning a BCS bowl bid, which would be amazing. MACtion!
*Spurs sit 4 starters: I have absolutely no problem with Gregg Popovich giving Duncan, Parker, Ginobili and Green a rest at the end of a tough road trip ending in Miami. (Sending them home? Kind of a dick move, but certainly reasonable under the circumstances -- it is self-defeating to "rest" them but have them sit on the bench. I like that he doesn't care what anyone thinks.) What made it all the more awesome was that the short-handed Spurs nearly beat the full-strength Heat -- the game was way more interesting under the Pop-changed circumstances than if everyone played.
*MLB Hot Stove: The Mets are keeping franchise player David Wright for the long-term. He has been and remains the face of the franchise in the post-Piazza era of mediocrity. He will eventually have his number retired by the team -- but is going to have a ton of trouble leading the troubled team to success in the standings.
*More: Nats trade for Denard Span. Near-universal approval for this move -- the kind of thing a contender does to get stronger. Span is great defensively and gets on base effectively, making him a solid lead-off option. The Nats had been looking for a CF for more than a year, and they got a solid option at a reasonable price and without log-jamming the position for up-and-coming prospect Brian Goodwin. This is potentially the position-player equivalent of trading for Gio Gonzalez -- use the stockpile of prospects to help the team win now.
*NFL Week 13 Storylines I Like:
*Good luck to all battling for fantasy-playoff positioning!
Meanwhile, it's not too early for "real" playoff positioning:
*Must-win for Seahawks in Chicago?
*Must-win for the Bucs in Denver?
*Must-win for the Bengals in San Diego?
*Game of the Week: Wait til Monday -- Skins-Giants.
*CFB Saturday -- the final weekend of the season, which is depressing to think about. At least we've got a national semifinal -- Alabama-Georgia winner goes to the BCS title game. The pick is Alabama, in a rout. (There are other BCS bowl bids on the line: Nebraska-Wisconsin for the Big Ten side of the Rose Bowl. I keep thinking I should take Nebraska, but Wisconsin always seems to win these games. Also: Is anyone outside of FSU not excited about the idea of 7-6 Georgia Tech representing the ACC in the Orange Bowl? Imagine Georgia Tech vs. Kent State in the Orange Bowl. Wow.
Enjoy the college football. Enjoy the NFL weekend. More on both weekend mornings.
-- D.S.
*Losing to Notre Dame doesn't diminish my preseason enthusiasm for Kentucky to repeat. ND was as motivated as they will be this season, and Kentucky is still figuring things out. (FWIW, absolutely hated the "black-out" jerseys, but absolutely loved Manti Te'o in the student section.)
*However! What might diminish my preseason enthusiasm for Kentucky to repeat was watching Florida destroy Marquette last night. I'm as self-critical about the Gators as any hater, but last night displayed why Florida should be on the short list of teams with a legit chance not just to make a Final Four, but to win six straight and take a national title: When Patric Young is on, giving the Gators as bullying of a post presence as exists in college hoops, it activates everything else that is great about this team: The stretch-4 (Murphy), the do-the-little-things swingman (Yeguete), the experienced and shot-jacking backcourt (Boynton and Rosario), the heady PG (Wilbeken) and yet another dangerous 3-point shooter (frosh Frazier). This is a very very good team.
*Louisville wins Big East BCS bowl bid: Hard not to love Teddy Bridgewater. And there isn't a hotter head-coaching commodity than Charlie Strong, who would be best-served to skip the mediocre jobs open this winter and wait for next year, pairing with Bridgewater for a run at unbeaten in '13.
*Must-see game of the night: Kent State vs. Northern Illinois, with the winner potentially (likely?) earning a BCS bowl bid, which would be amazing. MACtion!
*Spurs sit 4 starters: I have absolutely no problem with Gregg Popovich giving Duncan, Parker, Ginobili and Green a rest at the end of a tough road trip ending in Miami. (Sending them home? Kind of a dick move, but certainly reasonable under the circumstances -- it is self-defeating to "rest" them but have them sit on the bench. I like that he doesn't care what anyone thinks.) What made it all the more awesome was that the short-handed Spurs nearly beat the full-strength Heat -- the game was way more interesting under the Pop-changed circumstances than if everyone played.
*MLB Hot Stove: The Mets are keeping franchise player David Wright for the long-term. He has been and remains the face of the franchise in the post-Piazza era of mediocrity. He will eventually have his number retired by the team -- but is going to have a ton of trouble leading the troubled team to success in the standings.
*More: Nats trade for Denard Span. Near-universal approval for this move -- the kind of thing a contender does to get stronger. Span is great defensively and gets on base effectively, making him a solid lead-off option. The Nats had been looking for a CF for more than a year, and they got a solid option at a reasonable price and without log-jamming the position for up-and-coming prospect Brian Goodwin. This is potentially the position-player equivalent of trading for Gio Gonzalez -- use the stockpile of prospects to help the team win now.
*NFL Week 13 Storylines I Like:
*Good luck to all battling for fantasy-playoff positioning!
Meanwhile, it's not too early for "real" playoff positioning:
*Must-win for Seahawks in Chicago?
*Must-win for the Bucs in Denver?
*Must-win for the Bengals in San Diego?
*Game of the Week: Wait til Monday -- Skins-Giants.
*CFB Saturday -- the final weekend of the season, which is depressing to think about. At least we've got a national semifinal -- Alabama-Georgia winner goes to the BCS title game. The pick is Alabama, in a rout. (There are other BCS bowl bids on the line: Nebraska-Wisconsin for the Big Ten side of the Rose Bowl. I keep thinking I should take Nebraska, but Wisconsin always seems to win these games. Also: Is anyone outside of FSU not excited about the idea of 7-6 Georgia Tech representing the ACC in the Orange Bowl? Imagine Georgia Tech vs. Kent State in the Orange Bowl. Wow.
Enjoy the college football. Enjoy the NFL weekend. More on both weekend mornings.
-- D.S.
Thursday, November 29, 2012
11/29 (Thursday) Quickie
NFL vs. Adderall: Like "greenies" two generations ago, let's try to calculate how many pro athletes use/abuse Adderall: 33%? 50%? 75% More? I would always err on the side of "more."
Duke hoops rolls on: I'll admit I was a preseason doubter, but they have the best resume of any team in the country right now.
NFL tonight: Saints-Falcons, which is probably the best Thursday night NFL game you'll get this year. The Saints are in must-win mode if they want even a remote shot at the playoffs; the Falcons need to win to maintain their grip on home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs.
NBA: I don't think anyone expected James Harden to win in his OKC homecoming, but that's not the point. The point is that he is thriving as an alpha in Houston and Durant, Westbrook and Co. seem to be doing just fine without him. Good for everyone.
New Rivalry: Celtics-Nets? Kind of love that. And love that the Nets aren't taking guff from anyone, least of all the wannabe-bullies from Boston.
CFB Jobs: The day after rumors leak of a huge Auburn offer to Les Miles, he gets a huge extension from LSU. Well played, Mad Hatter.
College football's game of the week? Bama-Georgia for a spot on the national title game, yes, but don't sleep on Kent State vs. Northern Illinois, where the winner could/should end up in a BCS bowl game.
MLB Hot Stove: Did the Braves overpay for BJ Upton? Probably. But he is a second-tier (potentially top-tier) talent in CF and makes Atlanta's lineup better. They needed to overpay, because when they look at the Nationals above them in the NL East standings, they know they have to upgrade offensively.
Wizards win! (Wizards win?!) Wizards win!
-- D.S.
Duke hoops rolls on: I'll admit I was a preseason doubter, but they have the best resume of any team in the country right now.
NFL tonight: Saints-Falcons, which is probably the best Thursday night NFL game you'll get this year. The Saints are in must-win mode if they want even a remote shot at the playoffs; the Falcons need to win to maintain their grip on home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs.
NBA: I don't think anyone expected James Harden to win in his OKC homecoming, but that's not the point. The point is that he is thriving as an alpha in Houston and Durant, Westbrook and Co. seem to be doing just fine without him. Good for everyone.
New Rivalry: Celtics-Nets? Kind of love that. And love that the Nets aren't taking guff from anyone, least of all the wannabe-bullies from Boston.
CFB Jobs: The day after rumors leak of a huge Auburn offer to Les Miles, he gets a huge extension from LSU. Well played, Mad Hatter.
College football's game of the week? Bama-Georgia for a spot on the national title game, yes, but don't sleep on Kent State vs. Northern Illinois, where the winner could/should end up in a BCS bowl game.
MLB Hot Stove: Did the Braves overpay for BJ Upton? Probably. But he is a second-tier (potentially top-tier) talent in CF and makes Atlanta's lineup better. They needed to overpay, because when they look at the Nationals above them in the NL East standings, they know they have to upgrade offensively.
Wizards win! (Wizards win?!) Wizards win!
-- D.S.
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
11/28 (Wednesday) Quickie
If I had a Baseball Hall of Fame vote...
Barry Bonds? In. Roger Clemens? In. Sammy Sosa? In.
The more likely scenario? Renegade voters punishing each on their first time on the ballot by withholding support -- for now, maybe forever.*
* - "Forever" defined as "Until enough voters qualify to override the old-school sensibility."
The Baseball Hall's biggest problem isn't letting in would-be cheaters -- there are plenty of those already in the Hall (particularly if you think use of now-banned amphetamines, a staple of baseball from its origins until the moment they were banned a few years ago, should qualify).
The Baseball Hall's biggest problem is that the BBWAA voters responsible for the shrine -- the fans' shrine -- have taken personal moralizing to an absurd place.
Barry Bonds is one of the five greatest hitters in MLB history.
Roger Clemens is one of the five greatest pitchers in MLB history.
It erodes the Hall more to conspicuously not include them than it does to include them with notations on their plaques about the PED controversy that ended up defining their stellar careers.
More:
PED, cont'd: Adderall is the new greenie. Is it so hard to find a doctor to give you a prescription for your "ADD?" That's what most of the league (NFL and MLB) does.
College Hoops: Indiana re-affirms their bonafides by crushing UNC, a team that has spent November proving that preseason hype is meaningless. Meanwhile, I'm intrigued by Michigan -- I'm typically down on Big Ten teams (with a possible exception of Michigan State in March), but they are fiesty. Can't wait for those Indiana-Michigan games later this season.
Conference realignment: ACC adding Louisville. The Cardinals would instantly become the second-best (best?) football team in the league and the second-best basketball team (consider Rick Pitino vs. Coach K at least twice a year). It's a solid add for the ACC -- and another tough loss for the Big East.
NBA: Kobe 40. As he has aged, Kobe has become one of my favorite players. His 40 last night (while battling a cold) was classic Bryant... but I can still enjoy the schadenfreude of the Laker-hater watching them lose to the Pacers at the buzzer.
NFL: Jason Babin will be an integral part -- possibly postseason MVP -- of whichever contender picks him up. Consider that a prediction.
Heisman: Yes, I'd vote for Te'o. No, I'm not happy that I'm with Skip Bayless on this one.
CFB Jobs: Just because Auburn offers Les Miles a job doesn't mean he will take it. I would be shocked if he left an incredible gig at LSU for an iffy one elsewhere in the SEC West.
Meanwhile, Bill O'Brien is staying at Penn State: Let's add the obligatory "...for now." I'll take the under on him fulfilling the duration of his contract -- at some point, he'll do well enough that an NFL team will come calling and he will leave the rebuilding at PSU to someone else. (To his credit, he did a pretty good job in Year 1.)
Suh vs. the NFL: Did he mean to kick Matt Schaub? The league says it's tough to know his "intent," and watching the video it might -- might -- have simply been an accident. Don't get me wrong: Suh clearly meant to kick Schaub somewhere -- it's just not clear he meant to go there. Based on his track record, Suh shouldn't get the benefit of the doubt.
RIP Marvin Miller: One of the Top 10 (Top 5?) most influential people in sports over the past century. Let me join everyone else: That he never made the Baseball Hall of Fame is a stain on the Hall's legacy that will never be fixed, even if they let him in posthumously. Where was the BBWAA morality police on that? Miller enjoyed a meaningful life -- not much more you can ask for.
And also a sad RIP to ESPN's John Zehr, a fixture among the company's digital leadership for a long time and one of the architects of ESPN's digital strategies, particularly mobile. He was also a great person and someone beloved by his colleagues. Condolences to his family, friends and colleagues.
-- D.S.
Barry Bonds? In. Roger Clemens? In. Sammy Sosa? In.
The more likely scenario? Renegade voters punishing each on their first time on the ballot by withholding support -- for now, maybe forever.*
* - "Forever" defined as "Until enough voters qualify to override the old-school sensibility."
The Baseball Hall's biggest problem isn't letting in would-be cheaters -- there are plenty of those already in the Hall (particularly if you think use of now-banned amphetamines, a staple of baseball from its origins until the moment they were banned a few years ago, should qualify).
The Baseball Hall's biggest problem is that the BBWAA voters responsible for the shrine -- the fans' shrine -- have taken personal moralizing to an absurd place.
Barry Bonds is one of the five greatest hitters in MLB history.
Roger Clemens is one of the five greatest pitchers in MLB history.
It erodes the Hall more to conspicuously not include them than it does to include them with notations on their plaques about the PED controversy that ended up defining their stellar careers.
More:
PED, cont'd: Adderall is the new greenie. Is it so hard to find a doctor to give you a prescription for your "ADD?" That's what most of the league (NFL and MLB) does.
College Hoops: Indiana re-affirms their bonafides by crushing UNC, a team that has spent November proving that preseason hype is meaningless. Meanwhile, I'm intrigued by Michigan -- I'm typically down on Big Ten teams (with a possible exception of Michigan State in March), but they are fiesty. Can't wait for those Indiana-Michigan games later this season.
Conference realignment: ACC adding Louisville. The Cardinals would instantly become the second-best (best?) football team in the league and the second-best basketball team (consider Rick Pitino vs. Coach K at least twice a year). It's a solid add for the ACC -- and another tough loss for the Big East.
NBA: Kobe 40. As he has aged, Kobe has become one of my favorite players. His 40 last night (while battling a cold) was classic Bryant... but I can still enjoy the schadenfreude of the Laker-hater watching them lose to the Pacers at the buzzer.
NFL: Jason Babin will be an integral part -- possibly postseason MVP -- of whichever contender picks him up. Consider that a prediction.
Heisman: Yes, I'd vote for Te'o. No, I'm not happy that I'm with Skip Bayless on this one.
CFB Jobs: Just because Auburn offers Les Miles a job doesn't mean he will take it. I would be shocked if he left an incredible gig at LSU for an iffy one elsewhere in the SEC West.
Meanwhile, Bill O'Brien is staying at Penn State: Let's add the obligatory "...for now." I'll take the under on him fulfilling the duration of his contract -- at some point, he'll do well enough that an NFL team will come calling and he will leave the rebuilding at PSU to someone else. (To his credit, he did a pretty good job in Year 1.)
Suh vs. the NFL: Did he mean to kick Matt Schaub? The league says it's tough to know his "intent," and watching the video it might -- might -- have simply been an accident. Don't get me wrong: Suh clearly meant to kick Schaub somewhere -- it's just not clear he meant to go there. Based on his track record, Suh shouldn't get the benefit of the doubt.
RIP Marvin Miller: One of the Top 10 (Top 5?) most influential people in sports over the past century. Let me join everyone else: That he never made the Baseball Hall of Fame is a stain on the Hall's legacy that will never be fixed, even if they let him in posthumously. Where was the BBWAA morality police on that? Miller enjoyed a meaningful life -- not much more you can ask for.
And also a sad RIP to ESPN's John Zehr, a fixture among the company's digital leadership for a long time and one of the architects of ESPN's digital strategies, particularly mobile. He was also a great person and someone beloved by his colleagues. Condolences to his family, friends and colleagues.
-- D.S.
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
11/27 (Newtonian Physics) Quickie
Now THAT is the Cam Newton we all thought we'd see this season.
Nevermind that it came at the expense of the hapless Eagles -- Andy Reid is as lame-duck as it gets -- but it was a reminder of what made him captivate us in the first place.
Meanwhile, two words: Bryce Brown. Really: Who needs to play college football in a meaningful way?
Nets top Knicks: Let's be honest -- the whole "Brooklyn" thing has worked out pretty well so far. And if cachet mattered -- and in New York City, it most certainly does -- the Nets have the edge, all the more remarkable because the Knicks are having a terrific season so far.
More NBA: My 6-year-old son's favorite NBA player is Russell Westbrook -- he'll be mimicking that Westbrook dunk and waddle from last night for the next few months.
Johnny Football speaks: I'm torn -- I love this kid, I love what he did with A&M's offense this year and I love the novelty of a redshirt freshman winning the Heisman (although he's the same year in college as Tim Tebow when he won the Heisman as a "true" sophomore in his first year of starting).
But if I had a vote, I would give it to Manti Te'o, the exceptional Notre Dame linebacker. If ND's resurgence has been the story of the season -- and the D has been the story of ND's resurgence -- then Te'o is the face of it.
Let's be honest: Manziel has a lock on the Heisman next season (if "lock" is the same way we felt about Andrew Luck's "Heisman lock" in 2011 and Matt Barkley's "Heisman lock" in 2012.)
MLB Hot Stove: Rays lock up Evan Longoria. He took a bit of a haircut; the team took a bit of a risk. In the end, it's a smart move for both sides, and Longoria should anchor the Rays as an AL playoff contender for a decade. He will go into the Hall of Fame in a Rays cap.
-- D.S.
Nevermind that it came at the expense of the hapless Eagles -- Andy Reid is as lame-duck as it gets -- but it was a reminder of what made him captivate us in the first place.
Meanwhile, two words: Bryce Brown. Really: Who needs to play college football in a meaningful way?
Nets top Knicks: Let's be honest -- the whole "Brooklyn" thing has worked out pretty well so far. And if cachet mattered -- and in New York City, it most certainly does -- the Nets have the edge, all the more remarkable because the Knicks are having a terrific season so far.
More NBA: My 6-year-old son's favorite NBA player is Russell Westbrook -- he'll be mimicking that Westbrook dunk and waddle from last night for the next few months.
Johnny Football speaks: I'm torn -- I love this kid, I love what he did with A&M's offense this year and I love the novelty of a redshirt freshman winning the Heisman (although he's the same year in college as Tim Tebow when he won the Heisman as a "true" sophomore in his first year of starting).
But if I had a vote, I would give it to Manti Te'o, the exceptional Notre Dame linebacker. If ND's resurgence has been the story of the season -- and the D has been the story of ND's resurgence -- then Te'o is the face of it.
Let's be honest: Manziel has a lock on the Heisman next season (if "lock" is the same way we felt about Andrew Luck's "Heisman lock" in 2011 and Matt Barkley's "Heisman lock" in 2012.)
MLB Hot Stove: Rays lock up Evan Longoria. He took a bit of a haircut; the team took a bit of a risk. In the end, it's a smart move for both sides, and Longoria should anchor the Rays as an AL playoff contender for a decade. He will go into the Hall of Fame in a Rays cap.
-- D.S.
Monday, November 26, 2012
11/26 (Monday) Quickie
Coming out of the weekend, there are two divergent takes on the dominant topic:
Notre Dame? Ugh.
Notre Dame? Nice!
I would say there is a third way, otherwise known as "How I Learned To Stop Resenting Notre Dame And Begrudgingly Embrace Their Spot In The National Title Game."
Naturally, the rationalization came by way of my native feeling of SEC exceptionalism. In the end, this ND team is built like a great SEC team -- exceptionally stingy D, punishing run-based offense.
Do I think that Notre Dame will lose to Alabama (or, I suppose, Georgia)? Yes, absolutely. This isn't 2002 Ohio State against 2002 Miami, although that is probably the right comp if you like ND.
And yet: Do I think that the team acquits itself well among the recent wannabes who turn out to fold in the face of SEC reality? Yes, absolutely. This isn't Ohio State '06 or Oklahoma '08 or Texas '09.
Let's go back to college football's most fundamental piece of exceptionalism: The sport is better with a nationally competitive Notre Dame.
More power to 'em.
More:
*NFL Team of the Week: NY Giants, who reminded us that they are every bit the Super Bowl contender they were last year -- maybe even more so this year.
(Meanwhile: At some point, the close calls will catch up to Atlanta, and here's betting it happens in the playoffs.)
*NFL Player of the Week: Colin Kaepernick. Is it Kap? Is it Harbaugh's system? Is it simply that ridiculous 49ers D? Who cares -- love this story and love the energy of the soph QB.
*NFL Tonight: Panthers-Eagles. In a lost season for Carolina (and a VERY lost season for Philly), is it too much to ask for Cam Newton to put on a show on national TV?
*NFL Would-Be Controversy: Peyton's head. That the Broncos' (and NFL's?) concussion "test" works right up until it impacts a big star like Peyton Manning, who shrugged it off -- and kept playing.
*CFB, Cont'd: The best story in the sport is that Kent State is on the verge of stealing a BCS bowl slot for the non-BCS leagues, both because KSU is a win over Northern Illinois (itself no slouch) from cracking the Top 16 and because the Big East and ACC are a shambles. And you wonder why the momentum is toward four super-conferences.... (Still: Kent State. Amazing.)
*NBA: Knicks-Nets in their long-awaited Battle for New York. The Knicks are playing well. The Nets are playing better than expected (and quite well in their new home). The game means nothing, and yet -- in a fashion worthy of the city -- it apparently means everything.
*College Hoops: Cal Poly beats UCLA, and that is about as good as it gets for mid-major fans (and people who enjoy UCLA schadenfreude). Hard to believe that a team with the Bruins' talent can't get it together.
*Jobs: Chizik out at Auburn, leading a bevy of open jobs including Arkansas, Tennessee, Colorado, Cal, NC State, Boston College -- hell, even Kentucky is a halfway-decent gig. And that doesn't even consider Oregon if Chip Kelly goes to the NFL. Or the carousel effect if/when Charlie Strong leaves Louisville. You're picking your landing spot if you're Sonny Dykes at Louisiana Tech. Or Alabama assistant Kirby Smart. Feels like there aren't enough good coaches to fill the good spots.
*Fireman Ed quits: Meh. What kind of super-fan bails on a team during its nadir? I appreciate that he is getting into problems with some jerky fans and he just doesn't think it's worth it anymore. But stick it out -- or at least pass it on to an heir.
-- D.S.
Notre Dame? Ugh.
Notre Dame? Nice!
I would say there is a third way, otherwise known as "How I Learned To Stop Resenting Notre Dame And Begrudgingly Embrace Their Spot In The National Title Game."
Naturally, the rationalization came by way of my native feeling of SEC exceptionalism. In the end, this ND team is built like a great SEC team -- exceptionally stingy D, punishing run-based offense.
Do I think that Notre Dame will lose to Alabama (or, I suppose, Georgia)? Yes, absolutely. This isn't 2002 Ohio State against 2002 Miami, although that is probably the right comp if you like ND.
And yet: Do I think that the team acquits itself well among the recent wannabes who turn out to fold in the face of SEC reality? Yes, absolutely. This isn't Ohio State '06 or Oklahoma '08 or Texas '09.
Let's go back to college football's most fundamental piece of exceptionalism: The sport is better with a nationally competitive Notre Dame.
More power to 'em.
More:
*NFL Team of the Week: NY Giants, who reminded us that they are every bit the Super Bowl contender they were last year -- maybe even more so this year.
(Meanwhile: At some point, the close calls will catch up to Atlanta, and here's betting it happens in the playoffs.)
*NFL Player of the Week: Colin Kaepernick. Is it Kap? Is it Harbaugh's system? Is it simply that ridiculous 49ers D? Who cares -- love this story and love the energy of the soph QB.
*NFL Tonight: Panthers-Eagles. In a lost season for Carolina (and a VERY lost season for Philly), is it too much to ask for Cam Newton to put on a show on national TV?
*NFL Would-Be Controversy: Peyton's head. That the Broncos' (and NFL's?) concussion "test" works right up until it impacts a big star like Peyton Manning, who shrugged it off -- and kept playing.
*CFB, Cont'd: The best story in the sport is that Kent State is on the verge of stealing a BCS bowl slot for the non-BCS leagues, both because KSU is a win over Northern Illinois (itself no slouch) from cracking the Top 16 and because the Big East and ACC are a shambles. And you wonder why the momentum is toward four super-conferences.... (Still: Kent State. Amazing.)
*NBA: Knicks-Nets in their long-awaited Battle for New York. The Knicks are playing well. The Nets are playing better than expected (and quite well in their new home). The game means nothing, and yet -- in a fashion worthy of the city -- it apparently means everything.
*College Hoops: Cal Poly beats UCLA, and that is about as good as it gets for mid-major fans (and people who enjoy UCLA schadenfreude). Hard to believe that a team with the Bruins' talent can't get it together.
*Jobs: Chizik out at Auburn, leading a bevy of open jobs including Arkansas, Tennessee, Colorado, Cal, NC State, Boston College -- hell, even Kentucky is a halfway-decent gig. And that doesn't even consider Oregon if Chip Kelly goes to the NFL. Or the carousel effect if/when Charlie Strong leaves Louisville. You're picking your landing spot if you're Sonny Dykes at Louisiana Tech. Or Alabama assistant Kirby Smart. Feels like there aren't enough good coaches to fill the good spots.
*Fireman Ed quits: Meh. What kind of super-fan bails on a team during its nadir? I appreciate that he is getting into problems with some jerky fans and he just doesn't think it's worth it anymore. But stick it out -- or at least pass it on to an heir.
-- D.S.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
