Now, remember: I'm a Northwestern alum and I grew up very close to Maryland (including a strong rooting interest in Maryland hoops), so I appreciate all sides here.
But the reality is that it is a GREAT move for Maryland (and, arguably, even more for Rutgers), and -- yes -- it is entirely about the money.
Maryland athletics is in terrible shape financially. Joining the Big Ten and its ATM of a cable network will help immeasurably.
From the Big Ten's standpoint, expanding the footprint is mandatory in a "super-conference" world, and it is most ideal to do it in big markets like DC and NYC.
I have no patience for people griping "What about the tradition!?" Those people don't have to finance college athletics. You can lament the end of the Maryland-Duke rivalry while agreeing the move makes sense.
As many have suggested, it is likely the Big Ten isn't done yet. The ideal form isn't 14 -- it's 16. And UNC is the prime target for the league, unless the SEC wises up and nabs them first.
And once the Big Ten is up to 15 -- and presuming the ACC loses a standard-bearer like Florida State to a less-desperate league like the Big 12 -- ACC newcomer Notre Dame may re-think its opposition to joining the B1G.
And if ND isn't interested, I could see the Big Ten going for UVA (great academics, irrelevant media market) or Georgia Tech (great academics, terrific media market) or even Syracuse (great academics, even more of a NYC media influence than Rutgers).
When you acknowledge that the moves are all about money, they make sense.
More:
*49ers find a QB: Alex Smith is solid, but Colin Kaepernick has the potential to be a star. Jim Harbaugh suddenly has a QB controversy, which qualifies as a "quality problem."
*Shabazz Muhammad's UCLA debut: Solid, with plenty of room for upside. But the real revelation is that Georgetown is much better than they were getting credit for (and Otto Porter is a star).
*David Beckham leaving LA Galaxy: By all accounts, his MLS career was a success, if not exactly something that propelled the league into the top tier. But it definitely helped.
-- D.S.
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Monday, November 19, 2012
11/19 (Very) Quickie
What to make of NFL Week 11? What stood out to me was that this was a week where teams that are seemingly hopeless gave fans hope.
The prime illustration is the Jaguars, who took mighty Houston to OT... and might have finally proven the Gabbert experiment isn't worth pursuing any further.
No, Jacksonville didn't win, but no one thought they were going to win. This was as close to a moral victory as you'll get in the NFL.
Meanwhile:
*Gronk out with broken arm: Yikes for Pats fans.
*RGIII mania: He was better than ever yesterday.
*Eagles Watch: Is it even a good gig to want?
*Cowboys win: "At least we're .500" is a good season?
*Player of the Week: If not Chad Henne, his opposite number Matt Schaub.
*BCS: Notre Dame-Alabama? Tide by 3 TDs.
*Tennessee fires Derek Dooley: Again, is it even a good gig to want?
*Barkley out vs. ND: Will make Irish getting Kiffin'ed even more epic.
*Kobe triple-double in W: And D'Antoni hasn't even started yet!
*Speaking of triple-doubles: Kevin Durant is so amazing.
*Terps to B1G: If you're a MD regent, do you vote to join Big Ten? Hell yes.*
*Finally, who can't get behind populist new NASCAR king Brad Keselewski?
-- D.S.
* - Yes, as with Syracuse and the Big East, let's lament the end of Maryland's storied ACC basketball legacy, but this is all about football.
The prime illustration is the Jaguars, who took mighty Houston to OT... and might have finally proven the Gabbert experiment isn't worth pursuing any further.
No, Jacksonville didn't win, but no one thought they were going to win. This was as close to a moral victory as you'll get in the NFL.
Meanwhile:
*Gronk out with broken arm: Yikes for Pats fans.
*RGIII mania: He was better than ever yesterday.
*Eagles Watch: Is it even a good gig to want?
*Cowboys win: "At least we're .500" is a good season?
*Player of the Week: If not Chad Henne, his opposite number Matt Schaub.
*BCS: Notre Dame-Alabama? Tide by 3 TDs.
*Tennessee fires Derek Dooley: Again, is it even a good gig to want?
*Barkley out vs. ND: Will make Irish getting Kiffin'ed even more epic.
*Kobe triple-double in W: And D'Antoni hasn't even started yet!
*Speaking of triple-doubles: Kevin Durant is so amazing.
*Terps to B1G: If you're a MD regent, do you vote to join Big Ten? Hell yes.*
*Finally, who can't get behind populist new NASCAR king Brad Keselewski?
-- D.S.
* - Yes, as with Syracuse and the Big East, let's lament the end of Maryland's storied ACC basketball legacy, but this is all about football.
Saturday, November 17, 2012
11/18 (Oregon! K-State! What???) Quickie
Good god, that's why we love college football. Nights like Saturday, where presumptions are obliterated.
Like: "Kansas State is too solid to lose a trap game at Baylor." They were decimated.
Like: "Well, even if: Oregon will never lose at home to Stanford." They were neutered.
And we are left with a world where Notre Dame is No. 1 -- but needing a win over arch-rival USC next Saturday night to play for the national title. A loss and they're out.
Meanwhile, all of a sudden, the Alabama-Georgia winner of the SEC title game (presumably Alabama) is into the national-title game.
Yes, one week after Alabama and the SEC were both presumed "done."
And I would cackle at the notion that we are a Notre Dame loss to USC and a Florida win over Florida State from Florida playing the Alabama-Georgia winner in the national-title game...
...Except (a) Notre Dame is winning and (b) Florida definitely is losing in Tallahassee to an FSU team motivated by the self-loathing of knowing they missed a shot at the national title game by losing to NC State AND denying their biggest rival a claim.
The thing is: This happens in college football ALL THE TIME. This isn't an exception. It is what affirms college football's regular season as the greatest in all of sports.
And why every Saturday in the fall is booked, noon to midnight. The most incredible things happen.
-- D.S.
Like: "Kansas State is too solid to lose a trap game at Baylor." They were decimated.
Like: "Well, even if: Oregon will never lose at home to Stanford." They were neutered.
And we are left with a world where Notre Dame is No. 1 -- but needing a win over arch-rival USC next Saturday night to play for the national title. A loss and they're out.
Meanwhile, all of a sudden, the Alabama-Georgia winner of the SEC title game (presumably Alabama) is into the national-title game.
Yes, one week after Alabama and the SEC were both presumed "done."
And I would cackle at the notion that we are a Notre Dame loss to USC and a Florida win over Florida State from Florida playing the Alabama-Georgia winner in the national-title game...
...Except (a) Notre Dame is winning and (b) Florida definitely is losing in Tallahassee to an FSU team motivated by the self-loathing of knowing they missed a shot at the national title game by losing to NC State AND denying their biggest rival a claim.
The thing is: This happens in college football ALL THE TIME. This isn't an exception. It is what affirms college football's regular season as the greatest in all of sports.
And why every Saturday in the fall is booked, noon to midnight. The most incredible things happen.
-- D.S.
Friday, November 16, 2012
11/16 (Friday) Quickie
I'm no fan of Notre Dame, although I acknowledge that college football is better when Notre Dame is competitive.
I love Chip Kelly and what he has done at Oregon (equal parts the offense and the marketing), but -- again -- I find it hard to root for the Ducks.
I am intrigued by Kansas State, but had a hard time actually rooting for them. Then I read the lead WSJ story on them today and it finally clicked for me:
Kansas State is the ultimate evolution of my beloved 1995 Northwestern Wildcats: Not flashy, just solidly effective in all phases.
(It doesn't hurt that of all the teams in the country, only Kansas State fans might lay claim to Northwestern's title of "most historically mocked college football program.")
And so that clarifies things for me, at least as it relates to picking among college football's Big Three: I'm riding with K-State, because they remind me of my favorite team of all time.
More:
MLB: Cabrera tops Trout for AL MVP, as expected -- although it is kind of remarkable how overwhelming Cabrera's win was, almost like the BBWAA voters making a political statement about "those confounding stat-heads and their WARs." Isn't the real problem that we have allowed the BBWAA to "own" the "official" MLB awards?
Buster Posey wins NL MVP: Bet that's not his last.
CFB Weekend: Is it a trap game for Kansas State at Baylor? Yes. Is it a trap game for Oregon hosting Stanford? Not really. Is it a trap game for Notre Dame hosting Wake? No.
CFB Game of the Week: USC-UCLA for the Pac-12 South title? Eh. Does it really matter? The winner gets destroyed by Oregon anyway.
NFL: Anyone else think it's weird that recaps of the Bills' win over the Dolphins last night includes the idea that Miami was some kind of playoff contender? They were/are not.
NBA: With a win over the Spurs, is it finally time to take the (unbeaten!) Knicks seriously? No. The Knicks are fun when they are winning, but that's not the same as being a contender.
NASCAR: Brad Keselowski is your name to know. Barring a huge upset, he is going to be the Chase champ.
MLB Hot Stove: You don't really think that Bud Selig will pull a David Stern and revoke the Marlins' trade, do you? He already framed it as a reasonable baseball deal.
NHL: "Taking a break?" That's a euphemism for "If we don't get serious, the season is over."
Personal: Three months from today, I will turn 40. Anyone ever done P90X? I'm intrigued by the idea of spending the next 90 days whipping myself into some semblance of shape.
-- D.S.
I love Chip Kelly and what he has done at Oregon (equal parts the offense and the marketing), but -- again -- I find it hard to root for the Ducks.
I am intrigued by Kansas State, but had a hard time actually rooting for them. Then I read the lead WSJ story on them today and it finally clicked for me:
Kansas State is the ultimate evolution of my beloved 1995 Northwestern Wildcats: Not flashy, just solidly effective in all phases.
(It doesn't hurt that of all the teams in the country, only Kansas State fans might lay claim to Northwestern's title of "most historically mocked college football program.")
And so that clarifies things for me, at least as it relates to picking among college football's Big Three: I'm riding with K-State, because they remind me of my favorite team of all time.
More:
MLB: Cabrera tops Trout for AL MVP, as expected -- although it is kind of remarkable how overwhelming Cabrera's win was, almost like the BBWAA voters making a political statement about "those confounding stat-heads and their WARs." Isn't the real problem that we have allowed the BBWAA to "own" the "official" MLB awards?
Buster Posey wins NL MVP: Bet that's not his last.
CFB Weekend: Is it a trap game for Kansas State at Baylor? Yes. Is it a trap game for Oregon hosting Stanford? Not really. Is it a trap game for Notre Dame hosting Wake? No.
CFB Game of the Week: USC-UCLA for the Pac-12 South title? Eh. Does it really matter? The winner gets destroyed by Oregon anyway.
NFL: Anyone else think it's weird that recaps of the Bills' win over the Dolphins last night includes the idea that Miami was some kind of playoff contender? They were/are not.
NBA: With a win over the Spurs, is it finally time to take the (unbeaten!) Knicks seriously? No. The Knicks are fun when they are winning, but that's not the same as being a contender.
NASCAR: Brad Keselowski is your name to know. Barring a huge upset, he is going to be the Chase champ.
MLB Hot Stove: You don't really think that Bud Selig will pull a David Stern and revoke the Marlins' trade, do you? He already framed it as a reasonable baseball deal.
NHL: "Taking a break?" That's a euphemism for "If we don't get serious, the season is over."
Personal: Three months from today, I will turn 40. Anyone ever done P90X? I'm intrigued by the idea of spending the next 90 days whipping myself into some semblance of shape.
-- D.S.
Thursday, November 15, 2012
11/15 (Dickey) Quickie
RA Dickey is my favorite baseball story of the past decade -- and it's very possible that he is my favorite baseball story of all time.
It is hard to find something more compelling: The first knuckleball Cy winner. He's 38. As recently as two seasons ago, he was a cast-off (but was also a former 1st-round pick!) He went through enormous personal travails and came through it with the most thoughtful perspective of any athlete in sports.
You can admire him, sit and watch him in awe, cheer away -- the whole thing. I can't understand anyone who wouldn't root for him.
It is the most remarkable Cy Young victory -- probably MLB Award win, period -- in baseball history. Dickey is probably the most accessible athlete in sports -- the most easily relatable.
The award was a foregone conclusion. His season was not -- and it is one we will remember for a long time.
More:
*MLB MVP Awards: I'm all-in on Team Trout (over Team Cabrera). Cabrera is going to win MVP, and it's not like there haven't been absurd MLB award oversights in the past. It's just that you felt that with the increased influence of helpful "advanced" statistics, we wouldn't have such glaring problems anymore. Not giving Trout the MVP qualifies as glaring.
*Not everyone on the Jets hates Tim Tebow -- Shonn Greene is OK with trying something new at QB. (Ryan and Tanenbaum should be, too.)
*Clippers beat the Heat, decisively: It's a long (long, long) way from the first few weeks of the season until June. But qualify the Clips as a contender in the West with a ceiling of, say, getting to the conference finals.
*Magic isn't a fan of Jim Buss or the D'Antoni hiring: Eh. And?
*College Hoops: Florida clobbers Wisconsin. I'm a huge Florida basketball fan, but I am also very critical (self-critical?) of the team. And I found nothing not to love about what happened last night. All it did was affirm that the ceiling for this team is the Final Four, with the floor as a third straight trip to the Elite Eight. Erik Murphy is a match-up nightmare -- a stretch 4 who has the skills to work inside, too.
*The ACC and Orange Bowl's 12-year deal is only interesting for the reality of Notre Dame becoming a permanent resident in the Orange Bowl every year.
*If I'm Shabazz Muhammad, I'm dropping out of UCLA and working exclusively on getting ready for the NBA. He is a Top 3 lock for next year's draft -- why sweat playing 20 games at UCLA for an NCAA system intent on exploiting him?
*Really enjoying ESPN the Mag's "One Day, One Game" issue, even if Alabama's loss to A&M last week took a bit of the oomph out of it.
-- D.S.
It is hard to find something more compelling: The first knuckleball Cy winner. He's 38. As recently as two seasons ago, he was a cast-off (but was also a former 1st-round pick!) He went through enormous personal travails and came through it with the most thoughtful perspective of any athlete in sports.
You can admire him, sit and watch him in awe, cheer away -- the whole thing. I can't understand anyone who wouldn't root for him.
It is the most remarkable Cy Young victory -- probably MLB Award win, period -- in baseball history. Dickey is probably the most accessible athlete in sports -- the most easily relatable.
The award was a foregone conclusion. His season was not -- and it is one we will remember for a long time.
More:
*MLB MVP Awards: I'm all-in on Team Trout (over Team Cabrera). Cabrera is going to win MVP, and it's not like there haven't been absurd MLB award oversights in the past. It's just that you felt that with the increased influence of helpful "advanced" statistics, we wouldn't have such glaring problems anymore. Not giving Trout the MVP qualifies as glaring.
*Not everyone on the Jets hates Tim Tebow -- Shonn Greene is OK with trying something new at QB. (Ryan and Tanenbaum should be, too.)
*Clippers beat the Heat, decisively: It's a long (long, long) way from the first few weeks of the season until June. But qualify the Clips as a contender in the West with a ceiling of, say, getting to the conference finals.
*Magic isn't a fan of Jim Buss or the D'Antoni hiring: Eh. And?
*College Hoops: Florida clobbers Wisconsin. I'm a huge Florida basketball fan, but I am also very critical (self-critical?) of the team. And I found nothing not to love about what happened last night. All it did was affirm that the ceiling for this team is the Final Four, with the floor as a third straight trip to the Elite Eight. Erik Murphy is a match-up nightmare -- a stretch 4 who has the skills to work inside, too.
*The ACC and Orange Bowl's 12-year deal is only interesting for the reality of Notre Dame becoming a permanent resident in the Orange Bowl every year.
*If I'm Shabazz Muhammad, I'm dropping out of UCLA and working exclusively on getting ready for the NBA. He is a Top 3 lock for next year's draft -- why sweat playing 20 games at UCLA for an NCAA system intent on exploiting him?
*Really enjoying ESPN the Mag's "One Day, One Game" issue, even if Alabama's loss to A&M last week took a bit of the oomph out of it.
-- D.S.
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
11/14 (Marlins) Quickie
I have historically been largely supportive of the Marlins' strategy -- if you win two World Series titles, you can sort of do what you want.
However! The team crossed a line when it bilked Floridians for the money to pay for a new stadium, then dismantled the team last night.
Marlins fans have a right to be pissed. I'm not sure other fans around the country have as much of a right to gripe, but the stadium thing shocks the conscience.
Meanwhile: The Jays are very much a contender. The balance of power is so imbalanced toward the AL East -- the comparisons to the SEC are apt.
Consequently, it is time for MLB to seriously consider eliminating divisions, balancing the schedule and giving five playoff spots to the top five finishers in each league.
Duke beats Kentucky: Calipari is right -- Duke is a bunch of floppers. The only disappointment was the way he backed off his halftime accusation after the game was over.
MLB Awards: I vote for Verlander and Dickey for Cy.
(Meanwhile, Davey Johnson was an obvious pick. I would have liked to see a tie in the AL between Melvin and Showalter, but it's hard to knock the Melvin pick.)
NFL/Tebow: So the team -- or at least some portion of the team -- hates him so much that they're leaking to the media how much they hate him? I think they don't hate Tebow -- I think they hate the circus, which is more of a problem with the media than Tebow himself. By all accounts, he is a great teammate.
But it confirms two things: (1) Rex Ryan's inability to incorporate Tebow innovatively into the offense has turned into a major problem, and (2) the fundamental mistake the Jets (and Tebow, too) made in bringing him over. I think Tebow thought the Jets would use him more, not just make him serve as Woody Johnson's real-life toy collectible. Is there anyone who doesn't think that Tebow (and the Jets) would be so much better off if he was in Jacksonville?
-- D.S.
However! The team crossed a line when it bilked Floridians for the money to pay for a new stadium, then dismantled the team last night.
Marlins fans have a right to be pissed. I'm not sure other fans around the country have as much of a right to gripe, but the stadium thing shocks the conscience.
Meanwhile: The Jays are very much a contender. The balance of power is so imbalanced toward the AL East -- the comparisons to the SEC are apt.
Consequently, it is time for MLB to seriously consider eliminating divisions, balancing the schedule and giving five playoff spots to the top five finishers in each league.
Duke beats Kentucky: Calipari is right -- Duke is a bunch of floppers. The only disappointment was the way he backed off his halftime accusation after the game was over.
MLB Awards: I vote for Verlander and Dickey for Cy.
(Meanwhile, Davey Johnson was an obvious pick. I would have liked to see a tie in the AL between Melvin and Showalter, but it's hard to knock the Melvin pick.)
NFL/Tebow: So the team -- or at least some portion of the team -- hates him so much that they're leaking to the media how much they hate him? I think they don't hate Tebow -- I think they hate the circus, which is more of a problem with the media than Tebow himself. By all accounts, he is a great teammate.
But it confirms two things: (1) Rex Ryan's inability to incorporate Tebow innovatively into the offense has turned into a major problem, and (2) the fundamental mistake the Jets (and Tebow, too) made in bringing him over. I think Tebow thought the Jets would use him more, not just make him serve as Woody Johnson's real-life toy collectible. Is there anyone who doesn't think that Tebow (and the Jets) would be so much better off if he was in Jacksonville?
-- D.S.
Monday, November 12, 2012
11/12 (Monday) Quickie
*Lakers hire Mike D'Antoni: Phil seemed like a lock, so this was a surprise. Still: I find D'Antoni way more intriguing than Jackson. Let's rev up Showtime 2.0.
*NFL Week 10: The Giants results is just a reminder that we know nothing... I'm going to keep saying "Don't put too much stock in the latest Texans win" right up until they win the Super Bowl, aren't I?... That has to be all for Mike Vick in Philly (Andy Reid, too), but does anyone really think Nick Foles is the answer?... Think there were a lot of formally acknowledged concussions yesterday (most notably: Vick, Jay Cutler, Alex Smith, Fred Jackson) -- now imagine how many there really are.
*BCS: No problem with K-State and Oregon as your 1-2 teams. (Sorry, ND: A distant third in the nominally reliable "eye test.") The reality is that even with a loss, Alabama would beat any of them, and don't think SEC execs aren't ticked that a dynastic championship run (not to mention domination of the BCS Top 10) by the conference carries no weight relative to "and-oh" records.
-- D.S.
*NFL Week 10: The Giants results is just a reminder that we know nothing... I'm going to keep saying "Don't put too much stock in the latest Texans win" right up until they win the Super Bowl, aren't I?... That has to be all for Mike Vick in Philly (Andy Reid, too), but does anyone really think Nick Foles is the answer?... Think there were a lot of formally acknowledged concussions yesterday (most notably: Vick, Jay Cutler, Alex Smith, Fred Jackson) -- now imagine how many there really are.
*BCS: No problem with K-State and Oregon as your 1-2 teams. (Sorry, ND: A distant third in the nominally reliable "eye test.") The reality is that even with a loss, Alabama would beat any of them, and don't think SEC execs aren't ticked that a dynastic championship run (not to mention domination of the BCS Top 10) by the conference carries no weight relative to "and-oh" records.
-- D.S.
Saturday, November 10, 2012
11/11 (Johnny Football) Quickie
You know a player is electrifying when it is obvious to a 6-year-old and a 4-year-old. That was Johnny Manziel -- "Johnny Football" -- with my kids on Saturday afternoon.
I have absolutely no problem installing Manziel as the Heisman front-runner ahead of K-State's Klein (even if he leads the team to an undefeated season) or Oregon's Barber or Notre Dame's Te'o.
That was the most impressive win I have seen since Cam Newton's Auburn came back from being down a ton to beat Alabama two years ago.
Newton was also a first-year starter (and one-year wonder), but the insane part is that Manziel still has next year, and even after he becomes NFL-eligible, two years of college after that if he wants.
If Texas A&M can head into Tuscaloosa and beat No. 1 Alabama in the Aggies' first year in the SEC, imagine what happens after Kevin Sumlin finishes a few recruiting cycles.
Anyway, I said this on Twitter last night and I believe it: I have no problem reserving one of the two BCS title-game slots for an SEC team, and I have no problem giving that slot to the 2-loss runner-up of the SEC West.
No team has had a better win this season -- and it's not even close (the top contender up until today was probably K-State winning at Oklahoma).
No team has a better star player. No team has a more impressive balance of slick offense and stout defense.
And it is hard to find a team that has played a tougher schedule. (Which is why I'll overlook the two losses -- if Oregon or K-State or ND played A&M's schedule, they would have more than two losses.)
This was the signature moment of the college football season -- the defending champ knocked out by the spunky up-and-comer. It is why college football is the best.
*****
As for the situation with the BCS, it's pretty simple: If Kansas State and Oregon win out, they will meet for the national title, no matter what Notre Dame does.
If either K-State or Oregon lose -- unlikely, but stranger things have happened (and fairly frequently at that) -- ND moves into the slot provided it doesn't lose, either.
If two of the three lose a game, 1-loss Alabama moves back into the title game, provided it doesn't lose again -- it won't -- and it will steamroll that non-SEC team.
I am inclined to give the SEC champ the benefit of the doubt -- just because a team is undefeated shouldn't automatically mean it is better than a 1-loss team.
That said: It's hard to watch Alabama the past two weeks and not think that both Kansas State and Oregon would give them at least as tough of a game as A&M.
Then again, that is the same kind of logic that ends up getting debunked every...single...year... in the BCS title game.
*****
*Florida didn't deserve to win that game. They deserved to get humiliated by Louisiana-Lafayette, who -- for their part -- deserved to have that "once in a lifetime" moment for a program on the fringes.
THAT SAID: Holy smokes. They came through when it mattered. With that last minute drive and then one of the most improbable plays I have ever seen -- what was essentially a walk-off blocked-punt TD. After 58 minutes of hating this game plus the Northwestern debacle ending -- see below -- it was a day-maker. Luchiez Purifoy, I will never mock you again for wearing the sanctified No. 15 jersey.
*The Northwestern loss to Michigan -- and, make no mistake, it was a Northwestern loss, not a Michigan win -- was the most disheartening of my 20 years of being a fan.
This team is three chokes from being 10-0, and that's not just "oh, if some crazy combination of things happened, we would have won." That's "the game was won, the team couldn't execute down the stretch... again."
It is baffling. It is maddening. And it should be intolerable to any fan of a program that takes itself remotely seriously.
I cannot for the life of me understand why Pat Fitzgerald is such a brutal in-game tactician when things get to the fourth quarter. I cannot understand why he can't produce a competent defense (or employ a competent defensive coordinator).
But a 7- or 8-win season when a 9- or 10- (or 11-) win season -- a spot in the first Big Ten title game was there for the taking -- was absolutely attainable is unacceptable.
I'm going to make myself feel better by watching highlights of Johnny Football.
-- D.S.
I have absolutely no problem installing Manziel as the Heisman front-runner ahead of K-State's Klein (even if he leads the team to an undefeated season) or Oregon's Barber or Notre Dame's Te'o.
That was the most impressive win I have seen since Cam Newton's Auburn came back from being down a ton to beat Alabama two years ago.
Newton was also a first-year starter (and one-year wonder), but the insane part is that Manziel still has next year, and even after he becomes NFL-eligible, two years of college after that if he wants.
If Texas A&M can head into Tuscaloosa and beat No. 1 Alabama in the Aggies' first year in the SEC, imagine what happens after Kevin Sumlin finishes a few recruiting cycles.
Anyway, I said this on Twitter last night and I believe it: I have no problem reserving one of the two BCS title-game slots for an SEC team, and I have no problem giving that slot to the 2-loss runner-up of the SEC West.
No team has had a better win this season -- and it's not even close (the top contender up until today was probably K-State winning at Oklahoma).
No team has a better star player. No team has a more impressive balance of slick offense and stout defense.
And it is hard to find a team that has played a tougher schedule. (Which is why I'll overlook the two losses -- if Oregon or K-State or ND played A&M's schedule, they would have more than two losses.)
This was the signature moment of the college football season -- the defending champ knocked out by the spunky up-and-comer. It is why college football is the best.
*****
As for the situation with the BCS, it's pretty simple: If Kansas State and Oregon win out, they will meet for the national title, no matter what Notre Dame does.
If either K-State or Oregon lose -- unlikely, but stranger things have happened (and fairly frequently at that) -- ND moves into the slot provided it doesn't lose, either.
If two of the three lose a game, 1-loss Alabama moves back into the title game, provided it doesn't lose again -- it won't -- and it will steamroll that non-SEC team.
I am inclined to give the SEC champ the benefit of the doubt -- just because a team is undefeated shouldn't automatically mean it is better than a 1-loss team.
That said: It's hard to watch Alabama the past two weeks and not think that both Kansas State and Oregon would give them at least as tough of a game as A&M.
Then again, that is the same kind of logic that ends up getting debunked every...single...year... in the BCS title game.
*****
*Florida didn't deserve to win that game. They deserved to get humiliated by Louisiana-Lafayette, who -- for their part -- deserved to have that "once in a lifetime" moment for a program on the fringes.
THAT SAID: Holy smokes. They came through when it mattered. With that last minute drive and then one of the most improbable plays I have ever seen -- what was essentially a walk-off blocked-punt TD. After 58 minutes of hating this game plus the Northwestern debacle ending -- see below -- it was a day-maker. Luchiez Purifoy, I will never mock you again for wearing the sanctified No. 15 jersey.
*The Northwestern loss to Michigan -- and, make no mistake, it was a Northwestern loss, not a Michigan win -- was the most disheartening of my 20 years of being a fan.
This team is three chokes from being 10-0, and that's not just "oh, if some crazy combination of things happened, we would have won." That's "the game was won, the team couldn't execute down the stretch... again."
It is baffling. It is maddening. And it should be intolerable to any fan of a program that takes itself remotely seriously.
I cannot for the life of me understand why Pat Fitzgerald is such a brutal in-game tactician when things get to the fourth quarter. I cannot understand why he can't produce a competent defense (or employ a competent defensive coordinator).
But a 7- or 8-win season when a 9- or 10- (or 11-) win season -- a spot in the first Big Ten title game was there for the taking -- was absolutely attainable is unacceptable.
I'm going to make myself feel better by watching highlights of Johnny Football.
-- D.S.
Friday, November 09, 2012
11/09 (College Hoops Tip-Off) Quickie
The new college hoops season tips off today, and the universe revolves around John Calipari and Kentucky.
Not just because Cal broke through with his first national title a year ago. Not just because he reloaded with an insanely talented freshman class. Not just because the expectations are, once again, "National title or failure."
But because Calipari has created the most entrepreneurial system in all of sports. From sales and marketing to business development to product development, he has out-innovated everyone else.
The core? Embracing the NBA's age limit and offering the top high school players the ideal one-year finishing school before they enter the NBA: Get coached for the pros, compete for a national title, be on TV a ton and raise your personal and professional profile.
What top prep WOULDN'T want that, and -- as it turns out -- they mostly all do. And after last year's perfect execution of the plan, it appears locked in for as long as the NBA keeps an age limit.
Another team might win the national title -- Indiana is the popular favorite, but I don't see it -- but Calipari has guaranteed that Kentucky is always at the top of the list of contenders.
National title pick: Kentucky
Final Four: Kentucky, Louisville, Florida, Gonzaga
Player of the Year: Doug McDermott, Creighton
A-As: McDermott, Cody Zeller, Isaiah Canaan, Tony Mitchell, Nerlens Noel
Does Northwestern make the NCAA Tournament: No.
*****
Colts win again: More love for Luck.
Kobe's glare: I'm with Kobe. Get over it, friends.
MLB Hot Stove: Rangers' limit with Hamilton is 3 years? That ends that.
CFB Weekend: Kansas State will lose at TCU. (That's big enough.)
Syracuse's Fine: How the hell does that guy get his rep back?
Lane Kiffin: Still bringing the LOL. Yeah, the manager totally acted alone.
College hoops opens its season on an aircraft carrier tonight AND in Brooklyn. What more do you want?
-- D.S.
Not just because Cal broke through with his first national title a year ago. Not just because he reloaded with an insanely talented freshman class. Not just because the expectations are, once again, "National title or failure."
But because Calipari has created the most entrepreneurial system in all of sports. From sales and marketing to business development to product development, he has out-innovated everyone else.
The core? Embracing the NBA's age limit and offering the top high school players the ideal one-year finishing school before they enter the NBA: Get coached for the pros, compete for a national title, be on TV a ton and raise your personal and professional profile.
What top prep WOULDN'T want that, and -- as it turns out -- they mostly all do. And after last year's perfect execution of the plan, it appears locked in for as long as the NBA keeps an age limit.
Another team might win the national title -- Indiana is the popular favorite, but I don't see it -- but Calipari has guaranteed that Kentucky is always at the top of the list of contenders.
National title pick: Kentucky
Final Four: Kentucky, Louisville, Florida, Gonzaga
Player of the Year: Doug McDermott, Creighton
A-As: McDermott, Cody Zeller, Isaiah Canaan, Tony Mitchell, Nerlens Noel
Does Northwestern make the NCAA Tournament: No.
*****
Colts win again: More love for Luck.
Kobe's glare: I'm with Kobe. Get over it, friends.
MLB Hot Stove: Rangers' limit with Hamilton is 3 years? That ends that.
CFB Weekend: Kansas State will lose at TCU. (That's big enough.)
Syracuse's Fine: How the hell does that guy get his rep back?
Lane Kiffin: Still bringing the LOL. Yeah, the manager totally acted alone.
College hoops opens its season on an aircraft carrier tonight AND in Brooklyn. What more do you want?
-- D.S.
Thursday, November 08, 2012
11/08 (Tillman) Quickie
OK, so it sounds like the Charles Tillman thing is a moot point, because he said this morning that his wife is now scheduled to give birth Monday, not during the Bears game on Sunday. But still, the point is worth making...
"Faith, family, football." That isn't necessarily an original thought, but it is one of the core tenets of Tim Tebow's worldview -- his priorities. Charles Tillman said the same thing in a tweet to ESPN's Mike Greenberg and Golic this morning.
Tillman is right and PFT's Mike Florio is wrong -- if the timing happens to work out coincidentally, it is more important for Tillman to be at the birth of his child than it is for him to be playing in the Bears game. Full stop.
Here's to an easy birth for his wife, for a healthy baby and for Tillman to experience nothing but joy (a previous birth was incredibly difficult and complicated). The highlight of 2012 for me was the birth of my daughter and being there to support my wife.
You just can't take these things for granted and you absolutely support whatever Tillman's decision is.
More:
Chuckstrong: Love that the Colts players shaved their heads in support of head coach Chuck Pagano, and love that Indy is playing tonight on national TV to raise the profile even more. You've got to tune in, if only to watch Andrew Luck, coming off the biggest passing day for a rookie in NFL history.
Lakers are 1-4: How many games before the sample size is big enough where we say "This team just isn't particularly good?"
Jim Buss gives Mike Brown the dreaded vote of confidence: 'Nuff said.
Clippers beat the Spurs: To the point above, the best team in L.A. is the other one.
Heat obliterate the Nets: Brooklyn has a lot of cachet, but it isn't even close to being a contender.
Rockies hire Walt Weiss: If you remember Weiss as AL Rookie of the Year... well, you're old. Sigh.
Mike Vick to brother Marcus: "Shut off the Twitter." Older brothers FTW.
MLB Hot Stove: I think the trade market for Justin Upton is way more intriguing than the situation with Josh Hamilton. Nats GM drafted Upton and is sitting on a stockpile of minor-league talent. Is it too much to think he might make a play for him?
RIP Darrell Royal: If you were going to pick out 10 college football coaches who are the face of the sport's history, Royal is on the list. (Hmm, off the top of my head, in no particular order: Bryant, Saban, Rockne, Switzer, Royal, Osborne, Spurrier, Meyer, Schnellenberger, Heisman.)
CFB: Should Kentucky consider hiring Bobby Petrino? My original thought was "Hell no." Now, I actually think "Absolutely." This is a program going nowhere. Petrino is a mess of a human being, but there is no denying he is a good football coach.
CBB: Xavier transfer Dez Wells eligible for Maryland. Makes the Kentucky-Maryland season-opener tomorrow night in Brooklyn that much more interesting.
More CBB: Season tips off tomorrow. Much more tomorrow, but I'll offer a spoiler: Kentucky, Kentucky, Kentucky.
-- D.S.
"Faith, family, football." That isn't necessarily an original thought, but it is one of the core tenets of Tim Tebow's worldview -- his priorities. Charles Tillman said the same thing in a tweet to ESPN's Mike Greenberg and Golic this morning.
Tillman is right and PFT's Mike Florio is wrong -- if the timing happens to work out coincidentally, it is more important for Tillman to be at the birth of his child than it is for him to be playing in the Bears game. Full stop.
Here's to an easy birth for his wife, for a healthy baby and for Tillman to experience nothing but joy (a previous birth was incredibly difficult and complicated). The highlight of 2012 for me was the birth of my daughter and being there to support my wife.
You just can't take these things for granted and you absolutely support whatever Tillman's decision is.
More:
Chuckstrong: Love that the Colts players shaved their heads in support of head coach Chuck Pagano, and love that Indy is playing tonight on national TV to raise the profile even more. You've got to tune in, if only to watch Andrew Luck, coming off the biggest passing day for a rookie in NFL history.
Lakers are 1-4: How many games before the sample size is big enough where we say "This team just isn't particularly good?"
Jim Buss gives Mike Brown the dreaded vote of confidence: 'Nuff said.
Clippers beat the Spurs: To the point above, the best team in L.A. is the other one.
Heat obliterate the Nets: Brooklyn has a lot of cachet, but it isn't even close to being a contender.
Rockies hire Walt Weiss: If you remember Weiss as AL Rookie of the Year... well, you're old. Sigh.
Mike Vick to brother Marcus: "Shut off the Twitter." Older brothers FTW.
MLB Hot Stove: I think the trade market for Justin Upton is way more intriguing than the situation with Josh Hamilton. Nats GM drafted Upton and is sitting on a stockpile of minor-league talent. Is it too much to think he might make a play for him?
RIP Darrell Royal: If you were going to pick out 10 college football coaches who are the face of the sport's history, Royal is on the list. (Hmm, off the top of my head, in no particular order: Bryant, Saban, Rockne, Switzer, Royal, Osborne, Spurrier, Meyer, Schnellenberger, Heisman.)
CFB: Should Kentucky consider hiring Bobby Petrino? My original thought was "Hell no." Now, I actually think "Absolutely." This is a program going nowhere. Petrino is a mess of a human being, but there is no denying he is a good football coach.
CBB: Xavier transfer Dez Wells eligible for Maryland. Makes the Kentucky-Maryland season-opener tomorrow night in Brooklyn that much more interesting.
More CBB: Season tips off tomorrow. Much more tomorrow, but I'll offer a spoiler: Kentucky, Kentucky, Kentucky.
-- D.S.
Wednesday, November 07, 2012
11/07 (Two-Term Obama) Quickie
Today isn't a post about President Obama winning re-election, but instead about the sports-media guy turned politcal-media guy Nate Silver of 538.com.
Silver became the poster guy for political punditry this season with his confident (and quantitatively backed-up) predictions about the Presidential race, capped by last night, where he basically ran the table. (Not coincidentally, the Obama re-election team took the same approach, with the same results.
Silver took a lot of grief from the more traditional political pundit class -- it was amusing to watch as a sports fan, because this was a debate we had in sports a decade ago (stats vs. scouts, later morphing into sports pundits who were comfortable and facile with numbers versus those who weren't).
In the end, Silver won the day, because rigorous quantitative analysis matters. In sports or in politics, there will always be a place for qualitative punditry -- the 24/7 news cycle demands it -- but it must be rooted in data (and, yes, sometimes counter-balanced or checked by it, too).
I don't expect that things will change in the pundit world too dramatically, even as Silver and his data-first approach ascends to pre-eminence. There was too much ignorance of basic statistics -- basic understanding of probabilistic thinking -- during the past few weeks' Silver-centric flare-up from critics.
But it is a great reminder -- something to hold up and even admire -- that just because you insist on a reality doesn't make it so. Math matters.
Last night in the wake of Obama's victory, NBC News' Chuck Todd called the election the political equivalent of a "Moneyball"-style triumph. The same can be said for Silver.
Of the lasting impacts of this election season, I hope that this kind of clear-eyed quant-aware approach to analysis -- in politics, finally catching up to sports -- earns a place.
-- D.S.
Silver became the poster guy for political punditry this season with his confident (and quantitatively backed-up) predictions about the Presidential race, capped by last night, where he basically ran the table. (Not coincidentally, the Obama re-election team took the same approach, with the same results.
Silver took a lot of grief from the more traditional political pundit class -- it was amusing to watch as a sports fan, because this was a debate we had in sports a decade ago (stats vs. scouts, later morphing into sports pundits who were comfortable and facile with numbers versus those who weren't).
In the end, Silver won the day, because rigorous quantitative analysis matters. In sports or in politics, there will always be a place for qualitative punditry -- the 24/7 news cycle demands it -- but it must be rooted in data (and, yes, sometimes counter-balanced or checked by it, too).
I don't expect that things will change in the pundit world too dramatically, even as Silver and his data-first approach ascends to pre-eminence. There was too much ignorance of basic statistics -- basic understanding of probabilistic thinking -- during the past few weeks' Silver-centric flare-up from critics.
But it is a great reminder -- something to hold up and even admire -- that just because you insist on a reality doesn't make it so. Math matters.
Last night in the wake of Obama's victory, NBC News' Chuck Todd called the election the political equivalent of a "Moneyball"-style triumph. The same can be said for Silver.
Of the lasting impacts of this election season, I hope that this kind of clear-eyed quant-aware approach to analysis -- in politics, finally catching up to sports -- earns a place.
-- D.S.
Tuesday, November 06, 2012
11/06 (Election Day) Quickie
Took my kids to vote this morning, just like I took them to vote four years ago. It is a thrilling moment to explain the basic foundation of democracy to a curious child and watch them soak in the community and the spectacle of it.
We stood in line for no more than a half-hour, which is nothing compared to what others will go through today to cast a ballot. It is an embarrassment that we don't have a system that makes voting simple, easy, fast and universally accessible to any eligible citizen.
That is the extent of any "political" statement I have to make -- if you know (or think you know) whom I voted for, ok -- whether you agree or disagree is part of the process; otherwise, I merely hope you exercise your right to vote for the candidates of your choice, along with any ballot measures that might impact you more locally.
More:
*Andy Reid is as good as fired, but it might not come until the end of the season. It will be an awkward lame-duck phase, but he sort of brings it on himself by, say, sticking with Michael Vick.
*That play where Riley Cooper laid down in the end zone on the kickoff -- hiding in plain sight -- before catching a lateral (later ruled an illegal forward pass) and racing for a TD was one of the best plays you'll see all season -- straight out of your backyard game. Brilliant.
*Nothing says "false hope" like the Knicks being 3-0 with all three wins by double-digit margins.
*Basically, the Heat just turn it on when they want to. And when they do, they're unstoppable.
*Did Nets fans really think the team in Brooklyn would just start winning like a contender?
*I only saw a few highlights of last night's Kentucky exhibition, but they sure look reloaded.
*I would take it as a point of pride if I was given the first two official NBA "warnings" about flopping. Kudos to you, JJ Barea.
*David Ortiz didn't like Bobby V? You don't say!
*Obama is right: Political pundits ARE just like sports pundits.
Vote.
-- D.S.
We stood in line for no more than a half-hour, which is nothing compared to what others will go through today to cast a ballot. It is an embarrassment that we don't have a system that makes voting simple, easy, fast and universally accessible to any eligible citizen.
That is the extent of any "political" statement I have to make -- if you know (or think you know) whom I voted for, ok -- whether you agree or disagree is part of the process; otherwise, I merely hope you exercise your right to vote for the candidates of your choice, along with any ballot measures that might impact you more locally.
More:
*Andy Reid is as good as fired, but it might not come until the end of the season. It will be an awkward lame-duck phase, but he sort of brings it on himself by, say, sticking with Michael Vick.
*That play where Riley Cooper laid down in the end zone on the kickoff -- hiding in plain sight -- before catching a lateral (later ruled an illegal forward pass) and racing for a TD was one of the best plays you'll see all season -- straight out of your backyard game. Brilliant.
*Nothing says "false hope" like the Knicks being 3-0 with all three wins by double-digit margins.
*Basically, the Heat just turn it on when they want to. And when they do, they're unstoppable.
*Did Nets fans really think the team in Brooklyn would just start winning like a contender?
*I only saw a few highlights of last night's Kentucky exhibition, but they sure look reloaded.
*I would take it as a point of pride if I was given the first two official NBA "warnings" about flopping. Kudos to you, JJ Barea.
*David Ortiz didn't like Bobby V? You don't say!
*Obama is right: Political pundits ARE just like sports pundits.
Vote.
-- D.S.
Monday, November 05, 2012
11/05 (NFL Midseason) Quickie
Hard to imagine a year ago that the midway point of the 2012 NFL season would be defined by the Indianapolis Colts. But it is:
-- Chuck Pagano's leave-of-absence while battling leukemia, leading to the most gripping moment of the season so far.
-- Andrew Luck fulfilling his potential as the best NFL QB prospect since Peyton Manning by setting a new single-game record for passing yards by a rookie.
-- The Colts -- who are supposed to be (and have every right to be) in post-Peyton rebuilding mode -- being entirely in the mix for a Wild Card spot in the AFC.
At the midway point of the NFL season, they are the Team of the Year. More awards:
MVP: Matt Ryan
Rookie: Luck and Robert Griffin III
Coach: Lovie Smith
More NFL: Is there anything more symbolically appropriate than Jerry Jones being locked out of the Cowboys locker room after their loss to the Falcons?
If I am Jerry Jones: I am formulating a break-the-bank offer for the suddenly contract-free Sean Payton.
BCS: Oregon hops over Notre Dame. Oregon can't play defense. Then again, Notre Dame nearly lost to Pitt. Kansas State fans are probably sure the Wildcats can beat both anyway.
Lakers win! Imagine the hysteria if they lost to the lowly Pistons. Doesn't change the fact that this team is very far from being a contender (let alone the top contender) in the West.
Tonight: Eagles-Saints, in a must-win for both teams, making it a delightfully desperate situation to watch for those of us who don't care about either team.
Fantasy: When your team sucks -- as mine does, perennially -- you take the moments when they happen. For example, my 1-7 bottom-feeders were playing the 7-1 league-leaders this week. My hearty band throttled them (and that was with Andrew Luck on my bench, sitting behind Cam Newton, who I just can't bring to sit), and my playoff-less season is made.
Don't forget to vote.
- D.S.
-- Chuck Pagano's leave-of-absence while battling leukemia, leading to the most gripping moment of the season so far.
-- Andrew Luck fulfilling his potential as the best NFL QB prospect since Peyton Manning by setting a new single-game record for passing yards by a rookie.
-- The Colts -- who are supposed to be (and have every right to be) in post-Peyton rebuilding mode -- being entirely in the mix for a Wild Card spot in the AFC.
At the midway point of the NFL season, they are the Team of the Year. More awards:
MVP: Matt Ryan
Rookie: Luck and Robert Griffin III
Coach: Lovie Smith
More NFL: Is there anything more symbolically appropriate than Jerry Jones being locked out of the Cowboys locker room after their loss to the Falcons?
If I am Jerry Jones: I am formulating a break-the-bank offer for the suddenly contract-free Sean Payton.
BCS: Oregon hops over Notre Dame. Oregon can't play defense. Then again, Notre Dame nearly lost to Pitt. Kansas State fans are probably sure the Wildcats can beat both anyway.
Lakers win! Imagine the hysteria if they lost to the lowly Pistons. Doesn't change the fact that this team is very far from being a contender (let alone the top contender) in the West.
Tonight: Eagles-Saints, in a must-win for both teams, making it a delightfully desperate situation to watch for those of us who don't care about either team.
Fantasy: When your team sucks -- as mine does, perennially -- you take the moments when they happen. For example, my 1-7 bottom-feeders were playing the 7-1 league-leaders this week. My hearty band throttled them (and that was with Andrew Luck on my bench, sitting behind Cam Newton, who I just can't bring to sit), and my playoff-less season is made.
Don't forget to vote.
- D.S.
Sunday, November 04, 2012
11/04 (CFB Hangover) Quickie
There will be no Alabama-LSU II: The Sequel.
LSU has no shot at playing for the national title -- no embarrassments like last year's title-game rerun that made the regular-season "Game of the Year" a farce.
But Alabama -- hoo boy, Alabama -- affirms its place at the top of the polls. That was grown-up football last night in the 4th quarter, something the rest of the contenders around the country could barely (if at all) comprehend, except in circumstances like Oregon has had over the past two seasons in which they have experienced first-hand what elite SEC defenses look like.
The Oregon fireworks display in out-scoring USC was fun -- it felt as good as eating fistfuls of Halloween candy. There is no question: Oregon's offense is a thing to behold.
Then again, it was empty calories -- Chip Kelly has brought his high-octane offense to games with the best of the SEC, with time to prepare, and walked away solved and beaten.
I still want to see Alabama vs. Oregon for the national title -- this is Oregon's best offense, by far. And if they can scoot past Bama's defense of future pros, more power to them.
But it might just be the third straight season -- the sixth straight season, if you count BCS title-game wins by the rest of the SEC -- where the grown-ups show up to the kids' game, playing to win.
More:
*Yup, Matt Barkley should have left school for the NFL a year ago. What you wonder is if the Redskins would have drafted Barkley or stuck with RGIII. Let's hope it is the latter.
*Still not convinced Kansas State couldn't neutralize Oregon -- but only if Collin Klein is entirely healthy. If he's not, K-State's unbeaten run could end next week.
*Congrats to Notre Dame fans on eking out a win that should have been a loss. Every title contender deserves one or two of those per season. That doesn't mean ND would survive vs. Oregon or Bama.
*Next week's biggest games: K-State at TCU -- Upset Special. A&M at Alabama -- no upset, but fun to watch Johnny Football against Alabama's D. (ND at BC? Meh. Only if ND loses.)
*BlogPoll Top 25 Preview: (1) Alabama, (2) Oregon, (3) Kansas State, (4) Notre Dame, (5) Georgia, with Texas A&M leap-frogging into my Top 10.
-- D.S.
LSU has no shot at playing for the national title -- no embarrassments like last year's title-game rerun that made the regular-season "Game of the Year" a farce.
But Alabama -- hoo boy, Alabama -- affirms its place at the top of the polls. That was grown-up football last night in the 4th quarter, something the rest of the contenders around the country could barely (if at all) comprehend, except in circumstances like Oregon has had over the past two seasons in which they have experienced first-hand what elite SEC defenses look like.
The Oregon fireworks display in out-scoring USC was fun -- it felt as good as eating fistfuls of Halloween candy. There is no question: Oregon's offense is a thing to behold.
Then again, it was empty calories -- Chip Kelly has brought his high-octane offense to games with the best of the SEC, with time to prepare, and walked away solved and beaten.
I still want to see Alabama vs. Oregon for the national title -- this is Oregon's best offense, by far. And if they can scoot past Bama's defense of future pros, more power to them.
But it might just be the third straight season -- the sixth straight season, if you count BCS title-game wins by the rest of the SEC -- where the grown-ups show up to the kids' game, playing to win.
More:
*Yup, Matt Barkley should have left school for the NFL a year ago. What you wonder is if the Redskins would have drafted Barkley or stuck with RGIII. Let's hope it is the latter.
*Still not convinced Kansas State couldn't neutralize Oregon -- but only if Collin Klein is entirely healthy. If he's not, K-State's unbeaten run could end next week.
*Congrats to Notre Dame fans on eking out a win that should have been a loss. Every title contender deserves one or two of those per season. That doesn't mean ND would survive vs. Oregon or Bama.
*Next week's biggest games: K-State at TCU -- Upset Special. A&M at Alabama -- no upset, but fun to watch Johnny Football against Alabama's D. (ND at BC? Meh. Only if ND loses.)
*BlogPoll Top 25 Preview: (1) Alabama, (2) Oregon, (3) Kansas State, (4) Notre Dame, (5) Georgia, with Texas A&M leap-frogging into my Top 10.
-- D.S.
Saturday, November 03, 2012
11/03 (Very) Quickie
NYC Marathon cancelled: After hearing from so many friends and folks in NYC, this is the only decision that made sense.
CFB Viewing Guide:
Noon: Mizzou at Florida (ESPN2) + A&M at Miss St (ESPN)
3:30: Ole Miss at Georgia (CBS) + Texas at Texas Tech (ABC)
7:00: Oregon at USC (FOX)
8:00: Alabama at LSU (CBS)
NBA Last Night:
*Lakers 0-3: Time to panic? Yep.
*Harden 45 pts: MVP.
*Knicks thump Heat: The Heat don't care.
*Bobcats win: (Bobcats win?! Bobcats win!!)
*Anthony Davis concussion: NBA enters debate.
NHL cancels Winter Classic: Like NBA canceling Christmas or NASCAR canceling Daytona 500 or NFL canceling Kickoff Weekend.
MLB Hot Stove: All eyes on Josh Hamilton. If it's not the Rangers (who put in a perfunctory bid), then who?
Parenting: Final Saturday for the "Rockets" of the Montgomery Soccer Inc. 1st-Grade Division. Blissfully, no scores or stats were kept, although the kids have a way of minding the results. An awesome season for Gabe, under the coaching of another kid's dad, who was awesome. We're on a hiatus until January, when I take over as coach for the 1st-grade basketball juggernaut.
Slow day turns into huge night of CFB. Enjoy.
-- D.S.
CFB Viewing Guide:
Noon: Mizzou at Florida (ESPN2) + A&M at Miss St (ESPN)
3:30: Ole Miss at Georgia (CBS) + Texas at Texas Tech (ABC)
7:00: Oregon at USC (FOX)
8:00: Alabama at LSU (CBS)
NBA Last Night:
*Lakers 0-3: Time to panic? Yep.
*Harden 45 pts: MVP.
*Knicks thump Heat: The Heat don't care.
*Bobcats win: (Bobcats win?! Bobcats win!!)
*Anthony Davis concussion: NBA enters debate.
NHL cancels Winter Classic: Like NBA canceling Christmas or NASCAR canceling Daytona 500 or NFL canceling Kickoff Weekend.
MLB Hot Stove: All eyes on Josh Hamilton. If it's not the Rangers (who put in a perfunctory bid), then who?
Parenting: Final Saturday for the "Rockets" of the Montgomery Soccer Inc. 1st-Grade Division. Blissfully, no scores or stats were kept, although the kids have a way of minding the results. An awesome season for Gabe, under the coaching of another kid's dad, who was awesome. We're on a hiatus until January, when I take over as coach for the 1st-grade basketball juggernaut.
Slow day turns into huge night of CFB. Enjoy.
-- D.S.
Friday, November 02, 2012
11/02 (ATH) Quickie
Some of you -- very some -- will remember that glorious stretch in the summer of 2004 where I appeared on "Around The Horn," accumulating a stellar record of 0-4.
It went no further. I was the "Moonlight Graham" of sports TV punditry (although, technically, being "Moonlight Graham" would be appearing on a single show, and having it pre-empted by a live game running late, pushing the show to ESPNews, where no one would watch it).
Anyway! To commemorate the 10th anniversary of the launch of Around the Horn, being celebrated by the show today, I wrote about that experience for Quickish. Please take a look.
More:
Big weekend in college football: LSU vs. Alabama, although for all the "Game of the Year" bluster, can we just remember that the two teams played a year ago in the regular season and the result DIDN'T MATTER AT ALL.
Things might be slightly more clear this year: If Alabama wins, LSU's national-title hopes are over. If LSU wins, they keep Alabama from playing for the SEC title (as they did a year ago), but the presumption is that an unbeaten Oregon or K-State or Notre Dame would out-point a one-loss Bama in the BCS standings... even if Bama would throttle any of them. One-loss LSU would deserve to be in the national-title game ahead of all but the highest-rated of the O/KSt/ND trio, even if all three were unbeaten.
I wish people would stop talking about USC-Oregon as a big game -- Oregon is going to mop the floor with USC. As if maintaining its position for the national title game isn't big enough (and Oregon really really needs to destroy USC to prop up its otherwise paltry schedule strength), you have to believe Oregon wants to make up for last year's loss to the Trojans. If Chip Kelly reads the BCS dynamics correctly, he'll try to score 100 on USC in LA.
The rest of the schedule is kind of meh: Oklahoma State isn't beating Kansas State in Manhattan. And Notre Dame certainly isn't losing to Pitt.
NFL: 5 Storylines I Like And/Or Love
*Game of the Week: Steelers at Giants
*Could unbeaten Falcons drop Cowboys to 3-5?
*Dolphins-Colts: For playoff position? Really?
*Cam Newton vs. RGIII: Worth watching closely
*Gabe was Newton for Halloween - can't believe we aren't going to the game while Newton is in town.
NBA: Do the Thunder miss James Harden? If Harden is on the team, they probably don't lose to the Spurs at the buzzer last night. The question really is whether they will miss him in a seven-game series with San Antonio in May.
Tonight: Clippers-Lakers and Heat-Knicks as the headliners? Give me the NBA debut of Michael Kidd-Gilchrist for the Bobcats, against the Pacers. To the free preview of League Pass!
MLB Hot Stove: Dan Haren to the Cubs? Does that make them a contender? No.
NYC Marathon: I'm torn -- I think an event like that would help lift the city's spirit a bit. On the other hand, the media tent is using enough power to help 40 houses in Staten Island. I can understand the frustration.
-- D.S.
It went no further. I was the "Moonlight Graham" of sports TV punditry (although, technically, being "Moonlight Graham" would be appearing on a single show, and having it pre-empted by a live game running late, pushing the show to ESPNews, where no one would watch it).
Anyway! To commemorate the 10th anniversary of the launch of Around the Horn, being celebrated by the show today, I wrote about that experience for Quickish. Please take a look.
More:
Big weekend in college football: LSU vs. Alabama, although for all the "Game of the Year" bluster, can we just remember that the two teams played a year ago in the regular season and the result DIDN'T MATTER AT ALL.
Things might be slightly more clear this year: If Alabama wins, LSU's national-title hopes are over. If LSU wins, they keep Alabama from playing for the SEC title (as they did a year ago), but the presumption is that an unbeaten Oregon or K-State or Notre Dame would out-point a one-loss Bama in the BCS standings... even if Bama would throttle any of them. One-loss LSU would deserve to be in the national-title game ahead of all but the highest-rated of the O/KSt/ND trio, even if all three were unbeaten.
I wish people would stop talking about USC-Oregon as a big game -- Oregon is going to mop the floor with USC. As if maintaining its position for the national title game isn't big enough (and Oregon really really needs to destroy USC to prop up its otherwise paltry schedule strength), you have to believe Oregon wants to make up for last year's loss to the Trojans. If Chip Kelly reads the BCS dynamics correctly, he'll try to score 100 on USC in LA.
The rest of the schedule is kind of meh: Oklahoma State isn't beating Kansas State in Manhattan. And Notre Dame certainly isn't losing to Pitt.
NFL: 5 Storylines I Like And/Or Love
*Game of the Week: Steelers at Giants
*Could unbeaten Falcons drop Cowboys to 3-5?
*Dolphins-Colts: For playoff position? Really?
*Cam Newton vs. RGIII: Worth watching closely
*Gabe was Newton for Halloween - can't believe we aren't going to the game while Newton is in town.
NBA: Do the Thunder miss James Harden? If Harden is on the team, they probably don't lose to the Spurs at the buzzer last night. The question really is whether they will miss him in a seven-game series with San Antonio in May.
Tonight: Clippers-Lakers and Heat-Knicks as the headliners? Give me the NBA debut of Michael Kidd-Gilchrist for the Bobcats, against the Pacers. To the free preview of League Pass!
MLB Hot Stove: Dan Haren to the Cubs? Does that make them a contender? No.
NYC Marathon: I'm torn -- I think an event like that would help lift the city's spirit a bit. On the other hand, the media tent is using enough power to help 40 houses in Staten Island. I can understand the frustration.
-- D.S.
Thursday, November 01, 2012
11/01 (Harden) Quickie
Two words: James Harden.
It's almost like I don't need to write anything more today, Harden's debut with Houston was THAT spectacular.
Through my preferred construct of small-sample-size instant history, it is clear that as good as Harden was as the third wheel of the Thunder, he is even better as an alpha.
Let's agree that it will be fun to watch him this season -- and that he instantly becomes a "must-follow" superstar, perhaps for now THE must-follow superstar.
More:
*Lakers fall to 0-2: And adding injury to insult, Nash is hurt.
*NFL: DeAngelo Hall... sigh. Just cut your losses, man.
*CFB: Bama-LSU isn't quite what it seemed it would be in August, but still.
*MLB: Say this for Giants fans - they know how to throw a parade.
*CBB Name to Know: UCLA frosh Kyle Anderson.
*Halloween hangover: I could eat mini-Twixes all day.
- D.S.
It's almost like I don't need to write anything more today, Harden's debut with Houston was THAT spectacular.
Through my preferred construct of small-sample-size instant history, it is clear that as good as Harden was as the third wheel of the Thunder, he is even better as an alpha.
Let's agree that it will be fun to watch him this season -- and that he instantly becomes a "must-follow" superstar, perhaps for now THE must-follow superstar.
More:
*Lakers fall to 0-2: And adding injury to insult, Nash is hurt.
*NFL: DeAngelo Hall... sigh. Just cut your losses, man.
*CFB: Bama-LSU isn't quite what it seemed it would be in August, but still.
*MLB: Say this for Giants fans - they know how to throw a parade.
*CBB Name to Know: UCLA frosh Kyle Anderson.
*Halloween hangover: I could eat mini-Twixes all day.
- D.S.
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
10/31 (Boo!) Quickie
The best Halloween candy is the mini Twix.
Gabe is going as RGIII for the elementary school parade, but was supposed to be Cam Newton (we also made him a back-up costume, an iPhone). Jonah is going as Captain America. Lucy is going as an owl, and if you know the Old Navy infant Halloween costume selection, you'll know what I'm saying when I say it's adorable.
I'm going as Tim Tebow. Kidding. But I am intrigued that the Jaguars could trade for Tebow at tomorrow's NFL trade deadline. Some context: Tebow reportedly chose between the Jets and Jaguars and picked the Jets -- I don't blame him. The promise was that Rex Ryan had the chutzpah to use Tebow dynamically. That, plus the Jets' status as contenders, outweighed a north Florida homecoming. Here's the thing: Ryan turned out to be a dud and the team turned out to stink and playing in NYC doesn't do so much for Tebow that he wouldn't get playing in Florida. And the Jaguars really (really really) need him -- as they have since the night they passed on drafting him. The Jets won't trade him, because it would be seen as their failure -- not Tebow's. As if the failure of a season isn't humiliating enough.
NBA: Lakers 0-1. (Lakers 0-1!!!) Mike Brown's Princeton offense is terrible. This should be the offense: "Let Nash be Nash." Everything else will take care of itself.
By the way: I'm not one to put stock in a season-opener (or any single regular-season game), but file away Howard's atrocious FT shooting for the playoffs, where that kind of thing can kill a team.
NBA, Cont'd: Ray Allen blitzes his old Celtics mates. Allen was every bit as potent as we assumed he would be once he lined up alongside LeBron, Wade and Bosh. It only gets more devastating from here, friends.
NFL: Mike Vick is the Eagles' starting QB, but you better add a "for now" to that. A loss to the Saints probably ends his run as QB1.
MLB Awards: You can have the defense of anyone else in baseball. I'll take Mike Trout, inexplicably snubbed for a Gold Glove (not that Gold Glove matters anymore -- cripes, Derek Jeter won Gold Gloves).
Last Word: It's amusing to watch the media's political horde fall over themselves talking about Nate Silver and a stat-centric methodology, if only because it's something we've been dealing with in sports for at least a decade (let's call the publishing of "Moneyball" the unofficial start). Political pundits who don't rely on anything but qualitative "gut" to make pronouncements have every reason to feel like they are being exposed as frauds, but like sports pundits who act the same way, they should feel secure that their employers make money off quippy, boisterous pronouncements -- the accuracy doesn't (and has never) mattered.
-- D.S.
Gabe is going as RGIII for the elementary school parade, but was supposed to be Cam Newton (we also made him a back-up costume, an iPhone). Jonah is going as Captain America. Lucy is going as an owl, and if you know the Old Navy infant Halloween costume selection, you'll know what I'm saying when I say it's adorable.
I'm going as Tim Tebow. Kidding. But I am intrigued that the Jaguars could trade for Tebow at tomorrow's NFL trade deadline. Some context: Tebow reportedly chose between the Jets and Jaguars and picked the Jets -- I don't blame him. The promise was that Rex Ryan had the chutzpah to use Tebow dynamically. That, plus the Jets' status as contenders, outweighed a north Florida homecoming. Here's the thing: Ryan turned out to be a dud and the team turned out to stink and playing in NYC doesn't do so much for Tebow that he wouldn't get playing in Florida. And the Jaguars really (really really) need him -- as they have since the night they passed on drafting him. The Jets won't trade him, because it would be seen as their failure -- not Tebow's. As if the failure of a season isn't humiliating enough.
NBA: Lakers 0-1. (Lakers 0-1!!!) Mike Brown's Princeton offense is terrible. This should be the offense: "Let Nash be Nash." Everything else will take care of itself.
By the way: I'm not one to put stock in a season-opener (or any single regular-season game), but file away Howard's atrocious FT shooting for the playoffs, where that kind of thing can kill a team.
NBA, Cont'd: Ray Allen blitzes his old Celtics mates. Allen was every bit as potent as we assumed he would be once he lined up alongside LeBron, Wade and Bosh. It only gets more devastating from here, friends.
NFL: Mike Vick is the Eagles' starting QB, but you better add a "for now" to that. A loss to the Saints probably ends his run as QB1.
MLB Awards: You can have the defense of anyone else in baseball. I'll take Mike Trout, inexplicably snubbed for a Gold Glove (not that Gold Glove matters anymore -- cripes, Derek Jeter won Gold Gloves).
Last Word: It's amusing to watch the media's political horde fall over themselves talking about Nate Silver and a stat-centric methodology, if only because it's something we've been dealing with in sports for at least a decade (let's call the publishing of "Moneyball" the unofficial start). Political pundits who don't rely on anything but qualitative "gut" to make pronouncements have every reason to feel like they are being exposed as frauds, but like sports pundits who act the same way, they should feel secure that their employers make money off quippy, boisterous pronouncements -- the accuracy doesn't (and has never) mattered.
-- D.S.
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
10/30 (Sandy) Quickie
Lost power, but it came back on. So there's that! Meanwhile, the photos from NYC -- especially from the Subway system -- are kind of staggering. Hope everyone in Sandy territory is doing OK...
*MLB: Not many people were paying attention, but the Giants are one of the most interesting World Series champs of the past 25 years (and longtime Quickie readers know that two titles in three years qualifies you for "micro-dynasty" status, although in this case, the lineups were very different). The Giants' title is less about "can other teams replicate it?" than it shows how hard it is to find the right formula (which is -- by the way -- why you don't punt on your big chances, like the Nats did.)
*Hot Stove: Who signs Josh Hamilton and how much do they pay him? There are enough questions that he won't get the number he wants (and possibly won't get the length of contract he wants), but it'll still be a big number. It is a lot of risk, and I'd certainly make him include a clause hedging risk around his addiction issues (including his tobacco addiction issues that seemingly sent him into a tailspin at the end of this past season, when he inexplicably decided to stop dipping mid-season).
*NFL: 49ers crush Cards. If Alex Smith is going to be that effective, install San Francisco as one of the Top 3 teams to beat in the NFL (of course, the Giants are also in that mix, and the Niners can't seem to solve New York).
*NFL: Eagles won't bench Vick. (Yet. The key word in that news is "yet.")
*NBA: The season opens tonight with a terrific Heat-Celtics match-up that centers around Ray Allen against his old teammates, and there is no love lost. Otherwise, the NBA regular season assumes its position as the least-relevant regular season in major pro sports.
In any given season, only a handful of teams have a real chance of winning a championship. This year is leaner than ever: Heat. Lakers. That's it.
(Do you really think the Spurs can beat the Heat? Do you really think the Celtics can beat the Heat? Do you really think the Thunder can beat the Heat? Hell: I don't think the Lakers can beat the Heat -- and they might not even be able to beat the Spurs or Thunder.)
And that's pretty much the story: The Heat have entered their moment. Everyone else is playing for second place, with the most notable storyline being whether the Lakers will win the West (their ceiling) or fall short (which is nothing less than failure).
But the league includes a lot more fans -- like me with my beleaguered Wizards -- where all you want to see is "Improvement." The Wizards have finally turned a corner (well, aside from the inevitable injuries to its top 2 stars) and will be better, if not quite good.
Let's go back to another Quickie staple: There is no shame in having your season be "made" by getting as far as the conference finals or conference semis or simply getting to the playoffs. As long as your team isn't winning a title -- and let's face it: unless you're a Heat fan, your team isn't -- you might as well maintain (managed) expectations commensurate with that.
Enjoy the new NBA season, everyone!
-- D.S.
*MLB: Not many people were paying attention, but the Giants are one of the most interesting World Series champs of the past 25 years (and longtime Quickie readers know that two titles in three years qualifies you for "micro-dynasty" status, although in this case, the lineups were very different). The Giants' title is less about "can other teams replicate it?" than it shows how hard it is to find the right formula (which is -- by the way -- why you don't punt on your big chances, like the Nats did.)
*Hot Stove: Who signs Josh Hamilton and how much do they pay him? There are enough questions that he won't get the number he wants (and possibly won't get the length of contract he wants), but it'll still be a big number. It is a lot of risk, and I'd certainly make him include a clause hedging risk around his addiction issues (including his tobacco addiction issues that seemingly sent him into a tailspin at the end of this past season, when he inexplicably decided to stop dipping mid-season).
*NFL: 49ers crush Cards. If Alex Smith is going to be that effective, install San Francisco as one of the Top 3 teams to beat in the NFL (of course, the Giants are also in that mix, and the Niners can't seem to solve New York).
*NFL: Eagles won't bench Vick. (Yet. The key word in that news is "yet.")
*NBA: The season opens tonight with a terrific Heat-Celtics match-up that centers around Ray Allen against his old teammates, and there is no love lost. Otherwise, the NBA regular season assumes its position as the least-relevant regular season in major pro sports.
In any given season, only a handful of teams have a real chance of winning a championship. This year is leaner than ever: Heat. Lakers. That's it.
(Do you really think the Spurs can beat the Heat? Do you really think the Celtics can beat the Heat? Do you really think the Thunder can beat the Heat? Hell: I don't think the Lakers can beat the Heat -- and they might not even be able to beat the Spurs or Thunder.)
And that's pretty much the story: The Heat have entered their moment. Everyone else is playing for second place, with the most notable storyline being whether the Lakers will win the West (their ceiling) or fall short (which is nothing less than failure).
But the league includes a lot more fans -- like me with my beleaguered Wizards -- where all you want to see is "Improvement." The Wizards have finally turned a corner (well, aside from the inevitable injuries to its top 2 stars) and will be better, if not quite good.
Let's go back to another Quickie staple: There is no shame in having your season be "made" by getting as far as the conference finals or conference semis or simply getting to the playoffs. As long as your team isn't winning a title -- and let's face it: unless you're a Heat fan, your team isn't -- you might as well maintain (managed) expectations commensurate with that.
Enjoy the new NBA season, everyone!
-- D.S.
Sunday, October 28, 2012
10/28 (ND! SF! Harden!) Quickie
Plenty to talk about...
*Notre Dame. It's almost a "'Nuff said" scenario.
Any lingering skepticism about their other wins -- and I had some -- is gone. If Kansas State was getting max credit for winning at Oklahoma as "Single-Best Win of the Year," then what do you give a team that won at Oklahoma in even more impressive fashion?
Spoiler alert: You make them No. 2 in the country, as Notre Dame deserves to be. There are four teams left with a realistic shot at playing for the national title: Alabama-LSU winner, Notre Dame, Kansas State and Oregon. And all four could conceivably go unbeaten.
Honestly? Oregon is probably the second-best team in the country, but USC's loss at Arizona yesterday makes the Ducks' tepid strength of schedule even more flimsy. Let's go back to the old idea: It seems unfair to punish them for it, but you can't reward Oregon for playing a patsy schedule.
(Let's remember what happened last year when they tried to boost their schedule strength by playing an elite SEC team -- they got walloped. This year's Oregon team is better -- but how much better?)
But let's not diminish the larger point: Notre Dame deserves to be part of that uber-elite group.
*Giants up 3-0 on Tigers in W.S.: It will be under-appreciated because the series will end in a sweep or maybe 5 games, but this is a wonderful Giants team every bit worthy of the championship it is about to claim.
(And I can't help but make this personal about the Nats and the Strasburg Shut-Down: The 2012 Giants are a pretty good example of why you can never take it for granted that you can simply make the playoffs again, let alone win a championship once you get there.)
*NBA Blockbuster: Thunder trade Harden to Rockets. OKC was never going to pay Harden what he wanted (or what he could command) -- a max deal. It is unreasonable to ask him to accept a huge haircut to keep the core together.
And so the Thunder shipped him to Houston for Kevin Martin -- a nice complement for the OKC Big Three, if not nearly the dynamic presence Harden was -- and Jeremy Lamb (a decent prospect) and a slew of picks, which is, if nothing else, "The Thunder Way."
I would argue that the Thunder are no longer on par with the NBA's super-elite, but the cynic would note that it's not like Harden showed up in the NBA Finals a year ago anyway. But chemistry is an interesting thing.
Meanwhile, the Rockets get something they have lusted after for years: A franchise player. The Lin-Harden backcourt is very strong, although hardly a championship contender. But at the very least, they have a go-to star (and go-to scorer).
*CFB Hangover: The tragedy of Marcus Lattimore. I'm sick to my stomach about his season-ending (and possibly/probably career-ending) injury. This is why I am so adamantly against the NFL Draft age minimum -- Lattimore would have been a 1st-round pick had he been able to enter the league after his marvelous freshman season. But mandated to stay in college, he had a serious knee injury last year and a devastating one this year.
If I'm star soph teammate Jadaveon Clowney, why would I play next season at South Carolina when I could spend the year training for the NFL Draft (and NFL) -- as if Clowney playing 13 more games next year (more accurately: putting his pro career at risk for 13 more games next year) would raise his stock higher than the Top 5 lock he is now?
*Florida loses to Georgia: Yes, I'm bitterly disappointed. The only consolation is that it goes hand-in-hand with expecting your team to win championships, a glorious feeling I hadn't had about this Florida team since halfway through Urban's final season in Gainesville. "Win or Fail" is brutal, but that's what I signed up for.
UPDATE: This week's poll -- with ND at No. 2, as foreshadowed above.
-- D.S.
*Notre Dame. It's almost a "'Nuff said" scenario.
Any lingering skepticism about their other wins -- and I had some -- is gone. If Kansas State was getting max credit for winning at Oklahoma as "Single-Best Win of the Year," then what do you give a team that won at Oklahoma in even more impressive fashion?
Spoiler alert: You make them No. 2 in the country, as Notre Dame deserves to be. There are four teams left with a realistic shot at playing for the national title: Alabama-LSU winner, Notre Dame, Kansas State and Oregon. And all four could conceivably go unbeaten.
Honestly? Oregon is probably the second-best team in the country, but USC's loss at Arizona yesterday makes the Ducks' tepid strength of schedule even more flimsy. Let's go back to the old idea: It seems unfair to punish them for it, but you can't reward Oregon for playing a patsy schedule.
(Let's remember what happened last year when they tried to boost their schedule strength by playing an elite SEC team -- they got walloped. This year's Oregon team is better -- but how much better?)
But let's not diminish the larger point: Notre Dame deserves to be part of that uber-elite group.
*Giants up 3-0 on Tigers in W.S.: It will be under-appreciated because the series will end in a sweep or maybe 5 games, but this is a wonderful Giants team every bit worthy of the championship it is about to claim.
(And I can't help but make this personal about the Nats and the Strasburg Shut-Down: The 2012 Giants are a pretty good example of why you can never take it for granted that you can simply make the playoffs again, let alone win a championship once you get there.)
*NBA Blockbuster: Thunder trade Harden to Rockets. OKC was never going to pay Harden what he wanted (or what he could command) -- a max deal. It is unreasonable to ask him to accept a huge haircut to keep the core together.
And so the Thunder shipped him to Houston for Kevin Martin -- a nice complement for the OKC Big Three, if not nearly the dynamic presence Harden was -- and Jeremy Lamb (a decent prospect) and a slew of picks, which is, if nothing else, "The Thunder Way."
I would argue that the Thunder are no longer on par with the NBA's super-elite, but the cynic would note that it's not like Harden showed up in the NBA Finals a year ago anyway. But chemistry is an interesting thing.
Meanwhile, the Rockets get something they have lusted after for years: A franchise player. The Lin-Harden backcourt is very strong, although hardly a championship contender. But at the very least, they have a go-to star (and go-to scorer).
*CFB Hangover: The tragedy of Marcus Lattimore. I'm sick to my stomach about his season-ending (and possibly/probably career-ending) injury. This is why I am so adamantly against the NFL Draft age minimum -- Lattimore would have been a 1st-round pick had he been able to enter the league after his marvelous freshman season. But mandated to stay in college, he had a serious knee injury last year and a devastating one this year.
If I'm star soph teammate Jadaveon Clowney, why would I play next season at South Carolina when I could spend the year training for the NFL Draft (and NFL) -- as if Clowney playing 13 more games next year (more accurately: putting his pro career at risk for 13 more games next year) would raise his stock higher than the Top 5 lock he is now?
*Florida loses to Georgia: Yes, I'm bitterly disappointed. The only consolation is that it goes hand-in-hand with expecting your team to win championships, a glorious feeling I hadn't had about this Florida team since halfway through Urban's final season in Gainesville. "Win or Fail" is brutal, but that's what I signed up for.
UPDATE: This week's poll -- with ND at No. 2, as foreshadowed above.
DanShanoff.com Ballot - Week 9
| Rank | Team | Delta |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alabama Crimson Tide | -- |
| 2 | Notre Dame Fighting Irish |  3 |
| 3 | Kansas St. Wildcats | -- |
| 4 | Oregon Ducks | -- |
| 5 | Georgia Bulldogs | 7 |
| 6 | Florida Gators |  -4 |
| 7 | LSU Tigers | -1 |
| 8 | South Carolina Gamecocks | 3 |
| 9 | Florida St. Seminoles | 5 |
| 10 | Ohio St. Buckeyes | -- |
| 11 | Clemson Tigers | 7 |
| 12 | Louisville Cardinals | 7 |
| 13 | Oregon St. Beavers | -6 |
| 14 | Oklahoma Sooners | -6 |
| 15 | Texas Tech Red Raiders | -- |
| 16 | Stanford Cardinal | -- |
| 17 | USC Trojans | -8 |
| 18 | Texas A&M Aggies | 3 |
| 19 | Mississippi St. Bulldogs | -6 |
| 20 | West Virginia Mountaineers | -3 |
| 21 | Louisiana Tech Bulldogs | 3 |
| 22 | Kent St. Golden Flashes | -- |
| 23 | Toledo Rockets | 2 |
| 24 | Boise St. Broncos | -- |
| 25 | Texas Longhorns | -3 |
| Dropouts: Ohio Bobcats, Rutgers Scarlet Knights | ||
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