So here's a dilemma for any college football program looking for a new head coach: You want a coach who considers your program a "destination," but none of the really good coaches think that way -- either you overestimate your own program's value or the coach's current situation is "good enough" (meaning, at a minimum, not worth the switching costs).
That was on display at Tennessee over the last 72 hours: Coach after coach turned them down, until finally they found Derek Dooley, the Saban disciple from Louisiana Tech, who may not have a particularly good record as a head coach, but damn if he doesn't think this is the opportunity of a lifetime.
And, you know what? I'd rather have a guy like Dooley who will work like crazy on behalf of Tennessee, thinking it's a dream job, than a coach who will constantly be looking around for a job he REALLY wants.
Tennessee doesn't have to be a top-tier coaching job, in an absolute sense. All it has to be is a top-tier coaching job for someone who thinks it is.
-- D.S.
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Friday, January 15, 2010
Quickie: NFL's Elite Eight, Vols, Gaines
Leading today's SN column, does the NFL have its ideal Elite Eight? On the NFC side, most certainly:
*Favre, the most-watched player.
*Cowboys, the most-watched team.
*Saints, the best long-term team story.
*Warner, the best long-term individual story.
On the AFC side? Well, there is certainly a healthy contingent that wants to see the Colts fail. The Chargers are probably the best shot at that. The Ravens aren't as compelling as the Patriots would have been, but the Wild Card schadenfreude was probably worth it. And the Jets are a good story -- that one team that should have every non-playoff team's fans going "Next year, why not us?"
Let's try some picks:
Vikings over Cowboys
Saints over Cards
Colts over Ravens
Chargers over Jets
You?
All you can hope for is some close games. The second half of last weekend's final game eclipsed what would have gone down as one of the least memorable and lamest Wild Card weekends ever.
More from today's column:
*It's not that Tennessee is a bad job, per se. It's that coaches realize that they have a better shot at making the BCS -- let alone being happy -- at a program they are comfortable in.
*Sundiata Gaines instantly became one of the Top 5 stories of the NBA season: One week, D-League; the next week, hitting buzzer-beating game-winning 3s to beat LeBron.
*When was the last time the best college hoops game of the weekend was a women's game? Actually, the women's schedule has always been studded with the top powers playing each other. It's the smartest thing the machers of the sport ever decided to do. Will I watch women's hoops consistently? No. Will I watch Notre Dame vs. UConn? At the very least, I'll drop by during NFL commercial breaks.
*Arne Duncan was right about the NBA's age-limit being "intellectually dishonest." But I care less about the farce it makes college than the way it keeps NBA-worthy talent out of the league.
*Orrin Hatch was wrong that President Obama should invite Boise State to the White House. Even though I voted Boise No. 2, it's not like the consensus was that they were the 2nd-best team in the country, like Utah was last year. Why not invite Texas or Florida, ranked ahead of Boise? If "going unbeaten" is the only thing keeping me from calling myself a national champ, I'm scheduling the 12 worst teams in Division 1-A and going 12-0. Boise's schedule was closer to that than having to deal with something like the SEC's grind.
*Josh Johnson was the ace of my fantasy team last year, so I'm happy for him getting paid by the Marlins. That said, if the Marlins could flip Johnson to a contender for top prospects that have more long-term upside and fit with the team's financial plan, why shouldn't they be able to do that? You can't look at their record and claim that they don't make savvy moves, even when cost-cutting. Would you rather have them spend Met-money, only to finish 17 games worse?
*SN's latest Mock Draft has the Jaguars taking a QB with the No. 10 pick -- Jimmy Clausen. (Over Tebow? No way. Won't happen.)
Complete column here. More later, and the usual light posting from here through the weekend.
-- D.S.
*Favre, the most-watched player.
*Cowboys, the most-watched team.
*Saints, the best long-term team story.
*Warner, the best long-term individual story.
On the AFC side? Well, there is certainly a healthy contingent that wants to see the Colts fail. The Chargers are probably the best shot at that. The Ravens aren't as compelling as the Patriots would have been, but the Wild Card schadenfreude was probably worth it. And the Jets are a good story -- that one team that should have every non-playoff team's fans going "Next year, why not us?"
Let's try some picks:
Vikings over Cowboys
Saints over Cards
Colts over Ravens
Chargers over Jets
You?
All you can hope for is some close games. The second half of last weekend's final game eclipsed what would have gone down as one of the least memorable and lamest Wild Card weekends ever.
More from today's column:
*It's not that Tennessee is a bad job, per se. It's that coaches realize that they have a better shot at making the BCS -- let alone being happy -- at a program they are comfortable in.
*Sundiata Gaines instantly became one of the Top 5 stories of the NBA season: One week, D-League; the next week, hitting buzzer-beating game-winning 3s to beat LeBron.
*When was the last time the best college hoops game of the weekend was a women's game? Actually, the women's schedule has always been studded with the top powers playing each other. It's the smartest thing the machers of the sport ever decided to do. Will I watch women's hoops consistently? No. Will I watch Notre Dame vs. UConn? At the very least, I'll drop by during NFL commercial breaks.
*Arne Duncan was right about the NBA's age-limit being "intellectually dishonest." But I care less about the farce it makes college than the way it keeps NBA-worthy talent out of the league.
*Orrin Hatch was wrong that President Obama should invite Boise State to the White House. Even though I voted Boise No. 2, it's not like the consensus was that they were the 2nd-best team in the country, like Utah was last year. Why not invite Texas or Florida, ranked ahead of Boise? If "going unbeaten" is the only thing keeping me from calling myself a national champ, I'm scheduling the 12 worst teams in Division 1-A and going 12-0. Boise's schedule was closer to that than having to deal with something like the SEC's grind.
*Josh Johnson was the ace of my fantasy team last year, so I'm happy for him getting paid by the Marlins. That said, if the Marlins could flip Johnson to a contender for top prospects that have more long-term upside and fit with the team's financial plan, why shouldn't they be able to do that? You can't look at their record and claim that they don't make savvy moves, even when cost-cutting. Would you rather have them spend Met-money, only to finish 17 games worse?
*SN's latest Mock Draft has the Jaguars taking a QB with the No. 10 pick -- Jimmy Clausen. (Over Tebow? No way. Won't happen.)
Complete column here. More later, and the usual light posting from here through the weekend.
-- D.S.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
How Kurt Warner Saved My NFL Fandom
I will always have a soft spot for Kurt Warner, because he basically resurrected my NFL fandom.
Backstory: I grew up in the 1980s in suburban D.C. as a die-hard Bears fan. When I got to Chicago for college, I developed a contact allergy to my Bears fandom -- and lost interest in the NFL, more generally.
Fast-forward to 1997: Back East after my first tour at ESPN.com (then in Seattle), I leveraged ESPN.com's relationship producing NFL.com to get a job at the NFL.
Without getting into any details, working at the NFL eroded any nominal lingering interest I had in the NFL.
I left the NFL in the spring of 1998 for SI.com -- and, yes, I was an editor of Peter King's MMQB *and* of Dr. Z, who once bawled me out something fierce. I still had no interest in the NFL.
Then, in the fall of 1999, something happened to rekindle my interest in the league -- if not a specific team: Kurt Warner.
The grocery bagger from Arena League who, by virtue of a freak accident to starter Trent Green, became the Rams' QB. And this QB from Nowhere absolutely lit up the league.
Warner led the Rams to one of the great turnarounds in NFL history: 4-12 in '98 to Super Bowl champs in '99. What a story.
And I was captivated. Not by the team, per se, but more viscerally by the unpredictability. The NFL was interesting for me again.
If this no-name QB could step in and start destroying the league, turning around a franchise in the process, anything could happen. I wanted to start following the league again.
I'm not sure my NFL fandom has ever been that piqued, but I remember it so vividly, always hoping that I might be that surprised and entertained again someday.
(As it turns out, I was unable to regain my die-hard Bears fan-ness -- to my regret -- and I ultimately tried to be a Jaguars fan, which has not really worked. Now, I'm reduced to something I've been foreshadowing for four years: That I'll probably root for whatever team drafts Tim Tebow. I should say that in recent years, I have become a die-hard fantasy football GM, and my fantasy team gives me enough satisfaction I don't feel the need to have a "real" team.)
So anyway: I have a soft spot for Warner.
I don't just think that he is a Hall of Famer. Between his backstory and his subsequent performance, I think he is the single most interesting player story in the history of the league.
And it all started 10 years ago, when this QB none of us had ever heard of destroyed the league and restored my NFL fandom.
-- D.S.
BTW: This post was in part inspired by this great post about Warner by Leitch over at Deadspin. Leitch, to his credit, is a die-hard Cardinals fan, going back to the St. Louis days, following the franchise to Arizona, rather than re-orienting around the Rams.
Backstory: I grew up in the 1980s in suburban D.C. as a die-hard Bears fan. When I got to Chicago for college, I developed a contact allergy to my Bears fandom -- and lost interest in the NFL, more generally.
Fast-forward to 1997: Back East after my first tour at ESPN.com (then in Seattle), I leveraged ESPN.com's relationship producing NFL.com to get a job at the NFL.
Without getting into any details, working at the NFL eroded any nominal lingering interest I had in the NFL.
I left the NFL in the spring of 1998 for SI.com -- and, yes, I was an editor of Peter King's MMQB *and* of Dr. Z, who once bawled me out something fierce. I still had no interest in the NFL.
Then, in the fall of 1999, something happened to rekindle my interest in the league -- if not a specific team: Kurt Warner.
The grocery bagger from Arena League who, by virtue of a freak accident to starter Trent Green, became the Rams' QB. And this QB from Nowhere absolutely lit up the league.
Warner led the Rams to one of the great turnarounds in NFL history: 4-12 in '98 to Super Bowl champs in '99. What a story.
And I was captivated. Not by the team, per se, but more viscerally by the unpredictability. The NFL was interesting for me again.
If this no-name QB could step in and start destroying the league, turning around a franchise in the process, anything could happen. I wanted to start following the league again.
I'm not sure my NFL fandom has ever been that piqued, but I remember it so vividly, always hoping that I might be that surprised and entertained again someday.
(As it turns out, I was unable to regain my die-hard Bears fan-ness -- to my regret -- and I ultimately tried to be a Jaguars fan, which has not really worked. Now, I'm reduced to something I've been foreshadowing for four years: That I'll probably root for whatever team drafts Tim Tebow. I should say that in recent years, I have become a die-hard fantasy football GM, and my fantasy team gives me enough satisfaction I don't feel the need to have a "real" team.)
So anyway: I have a soft spot for Warner.
I don't just think that he is a Hall of Famer. Between his backstory and his subsequent performance, I think he is the single most interesting player story in the history of the league.
And it all started 10 years ago, when this QB none of us had ever heard of destroyed the league and restored my NFL fandom.
-- D.S.
BTW: This post was in part inspired by this great post about Warner by Leitch over at Deadspin. Leitch, to his credit, is a die-hard Cardinals fan, going back to the St. Louis days, following the franchise to Arizona, rather than re-orienting around the Rams.
Quickie: Tiger, Kiffin, Wall, Griffin, Idol
You know the Lane Kiffin storyline is wearying when the news that Tiger Woods is allegedly in rehab for sex addiction is the preferred leading storyline of the morning. But there it is.
My point: Woods should have gone out with "sex addict" immediately; it would have defused (and diffused) the entire scandal.
Lane Kiffin is right about one thing: USC is a better job than Tennessee. That doesn't make him a more likable (or qualified) coach, but it's something.
Would Tennessee really re-hire Phil Fulmer? I still think they should throw crazy money at Muschamp -- even if he uses Tennessee as a training ground for an eventual return to Texas.
College Hoops Player of the Mid-Season? Obviously, John Wall.
Want a stark comparison? Try No. 1 overall NBA draft pick Blake Griffin -- out for the season, now, with that knee injury -- compared to 2nd-round steal DeJuan Blair, who had 27 and 21 last night... and has no ACLs in either knee.
Where inevitability happens: I need flare-ups like Blair's line last night (or off-court stuff like Arenas) to keep me engaged with the NBA, because otherwise, the macro view is depressing: The Lakers are clearly going to win the West and beat whoever comes out of the East.
So let me get this straight: Chris Johnson is NFL Offensive Player of the Year, but Peyton Manning was the overwhelming MVP.
Love the Charlie Brown career stats thing.
The NFL may have gotten pummeled yesterday by the Supreme Court, but don't expect the ruling to change much.
Idol: Sorry, it's my guilty pleasure. While everyone else is talking about "Skiboski" or "Pants on the Ground," I think that kid from Illinois with the sick mom is going to be a Top 10 finalist.
Complete SN column here. More later.
-- D.S.
My point: Woods should have gone out with "sex addict" immediately; it would have defused (and diffused) the entire scandal.
Lane Kiffin is right about one thing: USC is a better job than Tennessee. That doesn't make him a more likable (or qualified) coach, but it's something.
Would Tennessee really re-hire Phil Fulmer? I still think they should throw crazy money at Muschamp -- even if he uses Tennessee as a training ground for an eventual return to Texas.
College Hoops Player of the Mid-Season? Obviously, John Wall.
Want a stark comparison? Try No. 1 overall NBA draft pick Blake Griffin -- out for the season, now, with that knee injury -- compared to 2nd-round steal DeJuan Blair, who had 27 and 21 last night... and has no ACLs in either knee.
Where inevitability happens: I need flare-ups like Blair's line last night (or off-court stuff like Arenas) to keep me engaged with the NBA, because otherwise, the macro view is depressing: The Lakers are clearly going to win the West and beat whoever comes out of the East.
So let me get this straight: Chris Johnson is NFL Offensive Player of the Year, but Peyton Manning was the overwhelming MVP.
Love the Charlie Brown career stats thing.
The NFL may have gotten pummeled yesterday by the Supreme Court, but don't expect the ruling to change much.
Idol: Sorry, it's my guilty pleasure. While everyone else is talking about "Skiboski" or "Pants on the Ground," I think that kid from Illinois with the sick mom is going to be a Top 10 finalist.
Complete SN column here. More later.
-- D.S.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Quickie: Kiffin, Kiffin, Who Wants a Kiffin?
It's hard to blame Lane Kiffin for bolting Tennessee for USC. USC is a better program. It is easier to win. It is easier to recruit. His coaching staff will be sick. It is his dream job.
That doesn't mean Kiffin isn't a douche for leaving Knoxville after only a year (although it's worth noting that coaches -- notably Urban Meyer -- leave programs after 2 years regularly).
I can understand why Tennessee fans feel jilted -- after all, they think their program is at least as compelling as USC's. With time (and Kiffin's recruiting), they might have been right.
On the other hand, they knew exactly what they were getting when UT hired Kiffin. They cheered at his taunting of Urban Meyer. They lapped up the recruiting news. They loved the 7-win start.
All the while, Kiffin was still Kiffin. Still the guy who was involved in USC's mid-decade iffiness. Still the guy who failed in the NFL. Still the guy who committed violation after violation at UT.
And as soon as Pete Carroll left USC, the Vols should have been prepared for Kiffin to bolt -- not just because it's a better job or his dream job, but because that's just the kind of guy he is.
Now USC is an NCAA penalty waiting to happen (although as Wetzel points out, it's not like NCAA probation stops the juggernauts... just look at Alabama this year).
And Tennessee is left with a huge problem: They have no coach, and coach-poaching season is all but over. Their recruiting situation is in serious trouble -- which could set back the new coach years, no matter who they get. (Did you see Urban Meyer on TV smiling at a text message last night? Don't think that wasn't related to recruiting -- or perhaps schadenfreude.)
Things will work out fine for Kiffin -- they always seem to. They will work out fine for USC -- Kiffin might be one of the only coaches in the country who could salvage a Top 5 recruiting class.
Things might not work out so great for Tennessee. Maybe they brought it on themselves, but you can still feel sympathy for them.
More in today's SN column:
*Evan Turner!
*Kentucky!
*Brees!
*Kobe!
*McGwire!
*McCoy!
*Goose Gossage!
See the whole thing here. More later.
-- D.S.
That doesn't mean Kiffin isn't a douche for leaving Knoxville after only a year (although it's worth noting that coaches -- notably Urban Meyer -- leave programs after 2 years regularly).
I can understand why Tennessee fans feel jilted -- after all, they think their program is at least as compelling as USC's. With time (and Kiffin's recruiting), they might have been right.
On the other hand, they knew exactly what they were getting when UT hired Kiffin. They cheered at his taunting of Urban Meyer. They lapped up the recruiting news. They loved the 7-win start.
All the while, Kiffin was still Kiffin. Still the guy who was involved in USC's mid-decade iffiness. Still the guy who failed in the NFL. Still the guy who committed violation after violation at UT.
And as soon as Pete Carroll left USC, the Vols should have been prepared for Kiffin to bolt -- not just because it's a better job or his dream job, but because that's just the kind of guy he is.
Now USC is an NCAA penalty waiting to happen (although as Wetzel points out, it's not like NCAA probation stops the juggernauts... just look at Alabama this year).
And Tennessee is left with a huge problem: They have no coach, and coach-poaching season is all but over. Their recruiting situation is in serious trouble -- which could set back the new coach years, no matter who they get. (Did you see Urban Meyer on TV smiling at a text message last night? Don't think that wasn't related to recruiting -- or perhaps schadenfreude.)
Things will work out fine for Kiffin -- they always seem to. They will work out fine for USC -- Kiffin might be one of the only coaches in the country who could salvage a Top 5 recruiting class.
Things might not work out so great for Tennessee. Maybe they brought it on themselves, but you can still feel sympathy for them.
More in today's SN column:
*Evan Turner!
*Kentucky!
*Brees!
*Kobe!
*McGwire!
*McCoy!
*Goose Gossage!
See the whole thing here. More later.
-- D.S.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Quickie: Grading McGwire's Confession
Former White House spinmeister Ari Fleischer did a good -- but hardly great -- job in scripting Mark McGwire's so-called confession/apology.
It was very smart to take a buck-shot approach to the media: No exclusives, plenty of availability for all the "big" outlets, a credibility-creating sit-down with Bob Costas.
It was smart to apologize. It was smart to bring up apologizing to the Marises, in particular. It was smart to offer a bit of "hard" news about the reason he said "don't want to talk about the past."
It was undermining to let McGwire insist on the "I only did it to get healthy." That may very well be true -- in fact, I totally believe him.
But when he leans back on the "god-given hand-eye coordination" as the source of his success -- implying that the PEDs only got him to a level playing field -- he loses me and a lot of others.
He ignores what I'll call the "But For" implication: "BUT FOR the drugs..." there would be no Hall of Fame career, no 1998, no records, no superstardom.
That is the very definition of "performance-enhancing."
To suggest otherwise is ludicrous on its face. As I say in today's SN column, he should have been much more explicit that he simply could not have done anything without the help of the drugs.
Check out the rest of the column for more, including what he should do next; whether I "accept" his apology (everyone needs to make their own choice); and more.
This Fleischer detail was new to me this morning -- but consider whether you want to trust the apology of a player whose talking points come from a guy whose other client is the BCS.
Meanwhile, the Seahawks have to be kind of annoyed -- their franchise is relevant for the first time since they made the Super Bowl (maybe even more so) and it's eclipsed by McGwire.
I think Carroll is going to do a very good job, by the way. I am less certain about USC maintaining its elite status...particularly if they hire Jack Del Rio.
As a Florida hoops fan, I am very very nervous about what's going to happen tonight in Gainesville when Kentucky comes to town -- the Gators could lose by 30.
Anyway: Complete column here. What's YOUR take on the McGwire apology?
-- D.S.
It was very smart to take a buck-shot approach to the media: No exclusives, plenty of availability for all the "big" outlets, a credibility-creating sit-down with Bob Costas.
It was smart to apologize. It was smart to bring up apologizing to the Marises, in particular. It was smart to offer a bit of "hard" news about the reason he said "don't want to talk about the past."
It was undermining to let McGwire insist on the "I only did it to get healthy." That may very well be true -- in fact, I totally believe him.
But when he leans back on the "god-given hand-eye coordination" as the source of his success -- implying that the PEDs only got him to a level playing field -- he loses me and a lot of others.
He ignores what I'll call the "But For" implication: "BUT FOR the drugs..." there would be no Hall of Fame career, no 1998, no records, no superstardom.
That is the very definition of "performance-enhancing."
To suggest otherwise is ludicrous on its face. As I say in today's SN column, he should have been much more explicit that he simply could not have done anything without the help of the drugs.
Check out the rest of the column for more, including what he should do next; whether I "accept" his apology (everyone needs to make their own choice); and more.
This Fleischer detail was new to me this morning -- but consider whether you want to trust the apology of a player whose talking points come from a guy whose other client is the BCS.
Meanwhile, the Seahawks have to be kind of annoyed -- their franchise is relevant for the first time since they made the Super Bowl (maybe even more so) and it's eclipsed by McGwire.
I think Carroll is going to do a very good job, by the way. I am less certain about USC maintaining its elite status...particularly if they hire Jack Del Rio.
As a Florida hoops fan, I am very very nervous about what's going to happen tonight in Gainesville when Kentucky comes to town -- the Gators could lose by 30.
Anyway: Complete column here. What's YOUR take on the McGwire apology?
-- D.S.
Monday, January 11, 2010
Quickie: Cards, Carroll, Kansas, Jeter
This was one of those mornings where you could pick from 3-4 top stories, any one of which would have made for an incredibly strong discussion:
*Pete Carroll leaving USC for the Seahawks, which both signals the erosion of Troy as well as the ascension of Seattle as an intriguing NFL franchise.
*The Patriots getting clobbered, which either signals some sort of painful interregnum of The Dynasty -- or simply its end.
*Kansas losing to Tennessee, not just on its face but for its conditions -- UT playing six scholarship players, on the heels of a terrible team scandal.
*Derek Jeter is getting married to Minka Kelly on November 5! (Ugh...)
But, no: "51-45" -- my favorite of the shorthands for the game -- trumps all of those, both for the insanity of the scoring and the individual performances and the moment it happened -- not just the playoffs, but 7/8 of the way through a remarkably lame Wild Card weekend.
The rest of the NFL playoffs will be hard-pressed to match Cards-Packers, but now that we've excised the unworthy, the prospect of any of the 4 "Top 2" seeds in either conference losing should be more than enough to provide drama.
Complete SN column here, putting it all into perspective. More later.
-- D.S.
*Pete Carroll leaving USC for the Seahawks, which both signals the erosion of Troy as well as the ascension of Seattle as an intriguing NFL franchise.
*The Patriots getting clobbered, which either signals some sort of painful interregnum of The Dynasty -- or simply its end.
*Kansas losing to Tennessee, not just on its face but for its conditions -- UT playing six scholarship players, on the heels of a terrible team scandal.
*Derek Jeter is getting married to Minka Kelly on November 5! (Ugh...)
But, no: "51-45" -- my favorite of the shorthands for the game -- trumps all of those, both for the insanity of the scoring and the individual performances and the moment it happened -- not just the playoffs, but 7/8 of the way through a remarkably lame Wild Card weekend.
The rest of the NFL playoffs will be hard-pressed to match Cards-Packers, but now that we've excised the unworthy, the prospect of any of the 4 "Top 2" seeds in either conference losing should be more than enough to provide drama.
Complete SN column here, putting it all into perspective. More later.
-- D.S.
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Sunday (Very) Quickie
I like novelty as much as anyone, so I guess the Cowboys winning a playoff game qualifies.
But here's the question: Is it enough? Or do they need to beat the Vikings next weekend in Minnesota -- or go even further? I think that, for now (and given the recent futility), it should be enough. Enjoy it, Cowboys fans.
(Given that the Cowboys always get tons of people to watch their nationally televised games -- as does Brett Favre -- next week's NFC Divisional could be the most-watched ever.)
Meanwhile, for the Jets, it IS enough. Go back to August: Did any Jets fans expect to get to the NFL quarterfinals? (Hell, to even make the playoffs?) Everything after this is gravy.
Today doesn't lack intrigue: How will the Patriots play without Welker? Can the Packers double-up on beating the Cards?
Wild day in college hoops: Started with that big G'town win over UConn, then continued with some really intriguing results -- Wisconsin over Purdue? GA Tech over Duke? Notre Dame over West Virginia? Mississippi State beating Mississippi? Georgia hanging tough with Kentucky? Mizzou beating Kansas State? UNLV beating New Mexico?
I'm a big believer that the college hoops regular season is pretty meaningless -- as far as top teams losing impacting their chances of doing well in (let alone making) the NCAA Tournament. But this should remind you that any of those top teams -- Purdue, Duke, WVU, Kentucky -- aren't impervious when trying to win four straight in March to make the Final Four. (Even Kansas struggling with Cornell to start the week indicates that no team is a lock.) The best thing that can happen for college hoops is results like this -- it makes March feel that much more wide open.
CFB Recruiting: Think the uncertainty over Urban Meyer has impacted Florida recruiting? Not quite. Yesterday, they got commitments from one of the nation's top DTs (Sharrif Floyd), one of the top DEs (Ronald Powell) and one of the top safeties (Matt Elam). I'm going to have more to say about the future of Florida next week, but despite the success of the 2006 recruiting class, Meyer has never had more talent in the program than he has as of Signing Day 2010.
NFL Draft: Speaking of Florida, Tim Tebow signed with an agent -- Jimmy Sexton, who will have the most intriguing client in the draft. Despite draft grades that put him in the 2nd round (or worse), Tebow will be a 1st-round pick; Sexton's biggest job is to get him the best fit. (Oh, and Tebow will play in the Senior Bowl -- you can't say he is ducking the NFL scrutiny.)
Vlad Guerrero signs with the Rangers: It's weird to think of Vlad not in an Angels uniform, but they didn't want him and he didn't want to be there. He has hit really well in Arlington and will play DH -- I think he has a terrific year ahead (although the lineup around him isn't nearly as nasty as what he had with the Angels... that will matter).
Texas Tech hires Tommy Tuberville: Probably the best available option, given the circumstances. He'll do fine, but won't be as successful as Leach.
No word yet on Carroll to the Seahawks. Remarkably little rumor swirling right now, after that flurry on Friday. You'd think both Seattle and USC would want this finalized ASAP.
Last two words: Tyreke Evans.
-- D.S.
But here's the question: Is it enough? Or do they need to beat the Vikings next weekend in Minnesota -- or go even further? I think that, for now (and given the recent futility), it should be enough. Enjoy it, Cowboys fans.
(Given that the Cowboys always get tons of people to watch their nationally televised games -- as does Brett Favre -- next week's NFC Divisional could be the most-watched ever.)
Meanwhile, for the Jets, it IS enough. Go back to August: Did any Jets fans expect to get to the NFL quarterfinals? (Hell, to even make the playoffs?) Everything after this is gravy.
Today doesn't lack intrigue: How will the Patriots play without Welker? Can the Packers double-up on beating the Cards?
Wild day in college hoops: Started with that big G'town win over UConn, then continued with some really intriguing results -- Wisconsin over Purdue? GA Tech over Duke? Notre Dame over West Virginia? Mississippi State beating Mississippi? Georgia hanging tough with Kentucky? Mizzou beating Kansas State? UNLV beating New Mexico?
I'm a big believer that the college hoops regular season is pretty meaningless -- as far as top teams losing impacting their chances of doing well in (let alone making) the NCAA Tournament. But this should remind you that any of those top teams -- Purdue, Duke, WVU, Kentucky -- aren't impervious when trying to win four straight in March to make the Final Four. (Even Kansas struggling with Cornell to start the week indicates that no team is a lock.) The best thing that can happen for college hoops is results like this -- it makes March feel that much more wide open.
CFB Recruiting: Think the uncertainty over Urban Meyer has impacted Florida recruiting? Not quite. Yesterday, they got commitments from one of the nation's top DTs (Sharrif Floyd), one of the top DEs (Ronald Powell) and one of the top safeties (Matt Elam). I'm going to have more to say about the future of Florida next week, but despite the success of the 2006 recruiting class, Meyer has never had more talent in the program than he has as of Signing Day 2010.
NFL Draft: Speaking of Florida, Tim Tebow signed with an agent -- Jimmy Sexton, who will have the most intriguing client in the draft. Despite draft grades that put him in the 2nd round (or worse), Tebow will be a 1st-round pick; Sexton's biggest job is to get him the best fit. (Oh, and Tebow will play in the Senior Bowl -- you can't say he is ducking the NFL scrutiny.)
Vlad Guerrero signs with the Rangers: It's weird to think of Vlad not in an Angels uniform, but they didn't want him and he didn't want to be there. He has hit really well in Arlington and will play DH -- I think he has a terrific year ahead (although the lineup around him isn't nearly as nasty as what he had with the Angels... that will matter).
Texas Tech hires Tommy Tuberville: Probably the best available option, given the circumstances. He'll do fine, but won't be as successful as Leach.
No word yet on Carroll to the Seahawks. Remarkably little rumor swirling right now, after that flurry on Friday. You'd think both Seattle and USC would want this finalized ASAP.
Last two words: Tyreke Evans.
-- D.S.
Saturday, January 09, 2010
Saturday (Very) Quickie
Pete Carroll to Seahawks? This is a great move for him, for a few reasons. (1) He'll have complete control in Seattle; (2) USC seems to have some NCAA issues looming; (3) money.
When things inevitably fizzle out in the NFL -- and they will, after he has pocketed $35 million -- he will be able to name his program and pick his price back in college.
I already had USC falling behind Oregon next season -- as they did this past season -- and this would just cement it.
(Who should USC hire? Well, they seem to want Mike Riley from Oregon State -- why would he leave? He's totally happy there. Sarkisian? Does he really want the NCAA headache? Jeff Fisher? Ugh: Pro coaches can't translate to big-time college football. Would be a horrible choice.)
Wizards start the healing: All signs of Arenas are gone from the franchise -- no posters in the arena, no jerseys in the shops. This is kind of horrible. I'll have more on Arenas on Monday, but as a huge Arenas fan, this remains so brutal. Hey, the Wiz beat the Magic last night, after Antawn Jamison publicly apologized to the crowd at the Verizon Center. Hmm...
Pro Football HOF Finalists announced: So when the room of folks deciding get to Emmitt Smith, do they just say, "All in favor? Aye? Ok, let's move on." It should take 5 seconds. (What if baseball went to a small committee model used by pro football? It's still way too opaque, but I think I have more faith in it.)
Peyton Manning wins NFL MVP: I think that some consideration should have been given to Chris Johnson, Brett Favre and Phil Rivers -- in that order.
Big win for G'town over UConn, btw.
Jets-Bengals at 4:30: I'll take the Jets.
Eagles-Cowboys at 8: I'll take the Eagles.
Should be a fun night of football.†
-- D.S.
When things inevitably fizzle out in the NFL -- and they will, after he has pocketed $35 million -- he will be able to name his program and pick his price back in college.
I already had USC falling behind Oregon next season -- as they did this past season -- and this would just cement it.
(Who should USC hire? Well, they seem to want Mike Riley from Oregon State -- why would he leave? He's totally happy there. Sarkisian? Does he really want the NCAA headache? Jeff Fisher? Ugh: Pro coaches can't translate to big-time college football. Would be a horrible choice.)
Wizards start the healing: All signs of Arenas are gone from the franchise -- no posters in the arena, no jerseys in the shops. This is kind of horrible. I'll have more on Arenas on Monday, but as a huge Arenas fan, this remains so brutal. Hey, the Wiz beat the Magic last night, after Antawn Jamison publicly apologized to the crowd at the Verizon Center. Hmm...
Pro Football HOF Finalists announced: So when the room of folks deciding get to Emmitt Smith, do they just say, "All in favor? Aye? Ok, let's move on." It should take 5 seconds. (What if baseball went to a small committee model used by pro football? It's still way too opaque, but I think I have more faith in it.)
Peyton Manning wins NFL MVP: I think that some consideration should have been given to Chris Johnson, Brett Favre and Phil Rivers -- in that order.
Big win for G'town over UConn, btw.
Jets-Bengals at 4:30: I'll take the Jets.
Eagles-Cowboys at 8: I'll take the Eagles.
Should be a fun night of football.†
-- D.S.
Friday, January 08, 2010
Final BlogPoll Ballot: Alabama, Boise 1-2
Below, please find my final BlogPoll ballot of the season. Please leave feedback in the comments -- I'd really like to have this reflect the group's analysis. And thanks for the input all season.
 | ||
| Rank | Team | Delta |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alabama | |
| 2 | Boise State |  4 |
| 3 | Texas | |
| 4 | Florida | 1 |
| 5 | TCU |  3 |
| 6 | Ohio State | 3 |
| 7 | Oregon | |
| 8 | Iowa | 2 |
| 9 | Cincinnati | 5 |
| 10 | Penn State | 9 |
| 11 | Virginia Tech | 1 |
| 12 | Brigham Young | 2 |
| 13 | Georgia Tech | 5 |
| 14 | Wisconsin | |
| 15 | Nebraska | 5 |
| 16 | Utah | 1 |
| 17 | Pittsburgh | |
| 18 | LSU | 7 |
| 19 | Mississippi | |
| 20 | Miami (Florida) | 2 |
| 21 | Southern Cal | |
| 22 | Texas Tech | |
| 23 | Central Michigan | 1 |
| 24 | Clemson | |
| 25 | Navy | |
| Last week's ballot | ||
Dropped Out: Oregon State (#13), West Virginia (#16), Stanford (#18), Arizona (#21), Oklahoma State (#23), Northwestern (#25).
Quickie: Alabama Wins The Title (But...?)
Alabama is a fantastic national champ. Let's just say that right off the bat -- the running game is as good as any I've seen in the BCS era, and the D was terrific. They throttled Florida and they moved the ball on a Texas D that didn't have the excuse of missing its QB.
And while their title isn't asterisked in the least, it will always be accompanied by two qualifiers:
(1) "Not to take anything away from Alabama..."
This allows the speaker to both acknowledge Alabama's worthiness as a champ, but then proceed to qualify their worthiness as a champ.
(2) "...but if Colt McCoy had played..."
Aha! The great unknowable. What we have is the tiny sample size of McCoy's plays in the game, which seemed -- again, tiny sample size -- to be on the verge of out-playing Bama's D and, perhaps, leading Texas to the upset win.
Can you remember a championship game where the takeaway storyline was about the losing team? Maybe Miami against Ohio State in the 2002 season. Or about the losing player?
But short of this being the start of an Alabama dynasty -- and it very well could be -- when we look back in 1/5/10/20 years, we'll mainly remember "But if Colt McCoy had played..."
You can bet it will be legend among Texas fans, who will go down to their last days swearing that "if only McCoy had played," Texas would have won the game. Other fans, too.
(Despite Gilbert's struggles, he played admirably -- astoundingly, he nearly pulled it off. Blame Texas' coaches, not just for that awful decision at the end of the 1st half, but for choking on their own panic in Gilbert's first half-dozen series. Hope Texas fans recognize that from their $6 million coach.)
But Alabama fans are the only ones who get to say, definitively -- no "if" or "but" -- that they are the national champs of the 2009 season.
My End-of-Season BlogPoll Top 10:
1. Alabama
2. Boise St
3. Texas
4. Florida
(And I was very conflicted about not putting Florida ahead of Texas, for a lot of reasons.)
5. TCU
6. Ohio State
7. Iowa
8. Oregon
(I will probably end up flip-flopping Oregon and Iowa.)
9. Penn State
10. Cincinnati
(I will probably end up flip-flopping Cincy and Penn St -- do we count Cincy as they finished the season, or being coached by Brian Kelly? I'm going to assume the latter -- body of work.)
As for next year, I think you have to install Alabama as the team to beat, but I've already laid out my scenario:
Alabama will finish the regular season unbeaten, including a signature win over Florida; then, Florida will come back and stun Alabama in the SEC title game. Meanwhile, Boise State and TCU will both finish unbeaten, with Boise earning a BCS bid because they beat TCU head to head earlier this week. Ohio State will be the only BCS-conference team that goes unbeaten. Boise will beat Ohio State in the national title game; the SEC will freak out.
(Of course, that theory falls apart if unbeaten Boise, with a win over a very very good TCU team, can't even crack the top 3 -- let alone the Top 2 -- in the final polls this season. The pollsters -- coaches and media alike -- will always favor the big-conference teams at the top.)
Check out the complete SN column here.
And while their title isn't asterisked in the least, it will always be accompanied by two qualifiers:
(1) "Not to take anything away from Alabama..."
This allows the speaker to both acknowledge Alabama's worthiness as a champ, but then proceed to qualify their worthiness as a champ.
(2) "...but if Colt McCoy had played..."
Aha! The great unknowable. What we have is the tiny sample size of McCoy's plays in the game, which seemed -- again, tiny sample size -- to be on the verge of out-playing Bama's D and, perhaps, leading Texas to the upset win.
Can you remember a championship game where the takeaway storyline was about the losing team? Maybe Miami against Ohio State in the 2002 season. Or about the losing player?
But short of this being the start of an Alabama dynasty -- and it very well could be -- when we look back in 1/5/10/20 years, we'll mainly remember "But if Colt McCoy had played..."
You can bet it will be legend among Texas fans, who will go down to their last days swearing that "if only McCoy had played," Texas would have won the game. Other fans, too.
(Despite Gilbert's struggles, he played admirably -- astoundingly, he nearly pulled it off. Blame Texas' coaches, not just for that awful decision at the end of the 1st half, but for choking on their own panic in Gilbert's first half-dozen series. Hope Texas fans recognize that from their $6 million coach.)
But Alabama fans are the only ones who get to say, definitively -- no "if" or "but" -- that they are the national champs of the 2009 season.
My End-of-Season BlogPoll Top 10:
1. Alabama
2. Boise St
3. Texas
4. Florida
(And I was very conflicted about not putting Florida ahead of Texas, for a lot of reasons.)
5. TCU
6. Ohio State
7. Iowa
8. Oregon
(I will probably end up flip-flopping Oregon and Iowa.)
9. Penn State
10. Cincinnati
(I will probably end up flip-flopping Cincy and Penn St -- do we count Cincy as they finished the season, or being coached by Brian Kelly? I'm going to assume the latter -- body of work.)
As for next year, I think you have to install Alabama as the team to beat, but I've already laid out my scenario:
Alabama will finish the regular season unbeaten, including a signature win over Florida; then, Florida will come back and stun Alabama in the SEC title game. Meanwhile, Boise State and TCU will both finish unbeaten, with Boise earning a BCS bid because they beat TCU head to head earlier this week. Ohio State will be the only BCS-conference team that goes unbeaten. Boise will beat Ohio State in the national title game; the SEC will freak out.
(Of course, that theory falls apart if unbeaten Boise, with a win over a very very good TCU team, can't even crack the top 3 -- let alone the Top 2 -- in the final polls this season. The pollsters -- coaches and media alike -- will always favor the big-conference teams at the top.)
Check out the complete SN column here.
Thursday, January 07, 2010
Quickie: Alabama Will Throttle Texas
I find it amusing that people are trying to compare this national championship game to the one following the 2005 season, when Texas upended USC.
It will be much closer to the trend we've seen since them: SEC dominance, via defense.
The biggest difference between the opponent Texas faced in January 2006 and the one they face tonight is: Defense. That USC D was overrated; this Bama D is brutally good.
(The closest analogue to this Alabama D is the Nebraska D, and you saw what the Huskers did to Texas' offense. And don't be fooled by the "scoring defense" stat -- Bama is the best D in the country.)
As I mention in the lead item of today's SN column, maybe I'm still shell-shocked from the SEC title game, but Florida had a pretty good offense -- Alabama snuffed it out.
Meanwhile -- and this should scare Texas fans even more -- Florida's defense was as good as any I have ever seen. Even without Carlos Dunlap, they were a sick D.
And Alabama steamrolled right over them. McElroy picked them apart. The game plan was brilliant and the level of execution was astonishing.
This game won't be close. I have Alabama winning 34-13 -- the score might be closer than 21 points, but the game won't feel that way.
This ain't 2005. This ain't the USC D. And Texas is going to figure that out pretty quickly.
More you'll find in today's column:
*OK, so about Arenas: I'm sad more than anything. Longtime blog readers know that Arenas has my favorite NBA player since the year he joined the Wizards. He acted like an idiot -- as we have come to demand he act -- and Stern seems to be taking this whole thing overly personally, like Arenas is intentionally trying to screw with him, rather than just being an idiot. I hope Arenas isn't banned for the rest of the season (as of last night, Arenas was saying all the right things -- finally), and I am even more nervous that the Wiz are going to void his contract and drop him.
*Dawson: See the post below.
*I'm happy for Charlie Weis. He's at his best as an NFL offensive coordinator, and expectations are low enough in KC that he might actually thrive. And he's rich.
*I'm less impressed with Kansas than Cornell, and I'm quite sure that last night's results will bias me in a disproportionate way in March when I'm picking brackets.
*LeFevour!
*I wonder if Saturday Night Live reached out to Tim Tebow as a guest-host before they settled on Charles Barkley.
Check out the whole column here. More later.
-- D.S.
It will be much closer to the trend we've seen since them: SEC dominance, via defense.
The biggest difference between the opponent Texas faced in January 2006 and the one they face tonight is: Defense. That USC D was overrated; this Bama D is brutally good.
(The closest analogue to this Alabama D is the Nebraska D, and you saw what the Huskers did to Texas' offense. And don't be fooled by the "scoring defense" stat -- Bama is the best D in the country.)
As I mention in the lead item of today's SN column, maybe I'm still shell-shocked from the SEC title game, but Florida had a pretty good offense -- Alabama snuffed it out.
Meanwhile -- and this should scare Texas fans even more -- Florida's defense was as good as any I have ever seen. Even without Carlos Dunlap, they were a sick D.
And Alabama steamrolled right over them. McElroy picked them apart. The game plan was brilliant and the level of execution was astonishing.
This game won't be close. I have Alabama winning 34-13 -- the score might be closer than 21 points, but the game won't feel that way.
This ain't 2005. This ain't the USC D. And Texas is going to figure that out pretty quickly.
More you'll find in today's column:
*OK, so about Arenas: I'm sad more than anything. Longtime blog readers know that Arenas has my favorite NBA player since the year he joined the Wizards. He acted like an idiot -- as we have come to demand he act -- and Stern seems to be taking this whole thing overly personally, like Arenas is intentionally trying to screw with him, rather than just being an idiot. I hope Arenas isn't banned for the rest of the season (as of last night, Arenas was saying all the right things -- finally), and I am even more nervous that the Wiz are going to void his contract and drop him.
*Dawson: See the post below.
*I'm happy for Charlie Weis. He's at his best as an NFL offensive coordinator, and expectations are low enough in KC that he might actually thrive. And he's rich.
*I'm less impressed with Kansas than Cornell, and I'm quite sure that last night's results will bias me in a disproportionate way in March when I'm picking brackets.
*LeFevour!
*I wonder if Saturday Night Live reached out to Tim Tebow as a guest-host before they settled on Charles Barkley.
Check out the whole column here. More later.
-- D.S.
Wednesday, January 06, 2010
I'm Happy Dawson Made The Hall
Two thoughts:
(1) Go Hawk! I have an irrational affinity for Dawson's candidacy, from my die-hard love of the Cubs from the time I was a little kid through college. (Why'd it atrophy? Eh...don't ask.)
(2) The BBWAA as a group should be pretty embarrassed for itself, although I suspect there's two camps, one with at least some appropriate sense of shame and one of ignorant gloating.
(Blyleven missing out by 5 votes is fascinating; he's a lock next year. Alomar is a lock next year. Larkin will take a few years. Edgar's going to be a Rice-like slog, so buckle up.)
- D.S.
(1) Go Hawk! I have an irrational affinity for Dawson's candidacy, from my die-hard love of the Cubs from the time I was a little kid through college. (Why'd it atrophy? Eh...don't ask.)
(2) The BBWAA as a group should be pretty embarrassed for itself, although I suspect there's two camps, one with at least some appropriate sense of shame and one of ignorant gloating.
(Blyleven missing out by 5 votes is fascinating; he's a lock next year. Alomar is a lock next year. Larkin will take a few years. Edgar's going to be a Rice-like slog, so buckle up.)
- D.S.
Happy Anniversary, Daily Quickie
Seven years ago this morning, the Daily Quickie made its first-ever appearance on the front page of ESPN.com. This was the column. (Wow.)
Very intentionally, it was unlike anything else you could find in sports media, online or off. I put the consumer first: What was the unmet need?
Something that, when you got to work (or woke up for class), gave you some perspective on the previous night and the day ahead. National, all-sport focus. Daily frequency, so you could feel confident making it a habit -- in looking for it every morning.
I believe on that first day, I got up at 4 a.m. to start writing for an 8 a.m. deadline. And it stayed that way for a long time, at least the first six months -- probably the first year. And that doesn't even include the hours I'd put in the night before. I was obsessed. (I was also transfixed by my traffic in those first days; there's nothing as gratifying as hitting "refresh" on the traffic monitor and watching the numbers surge by the minute.)
I would like to think that I designed it for inevitable success -- to be fail-proof. But it would be impossible to know until readers gave it a try. The response was overwhemingly positive.
And I had the job I had dreamed about since I was a kid: Not just a sports columnist, but one with a daily column and a national, write-about-anything focus. I loved every single day (and that included my Ripken-esque streak of 420 consecutive weekdays with a column, what has to be a record not just for ESPN.com but in sportswriting.)
Writing the Quickie opened up all sorts of doors: People recognized the column (if not always my byline). It got me my erstwhile career on "Around the Horn." I got to host a daily chat on ESPN.com (Morning Quickie alums: Holla!) I had the weird talking "Danimation" precursor to ESPN.com's podcasts. It introduced me to all sorts of great folks, both inside and outside of ESPN.com -- many of whom I'm still friends with today. And it introduced me to millions of readers -- tens of thousands of whom were generous enough to email me and many of whom are hopefully reading this now. Thanks for sticking around.
January 6 will always be a special day for me.
-- D.S.
Very intentionally, it was unlike anything else you could find in sports media, online or off. I put the consumer first: What was the unmet need?
Something that, when you got to work (or woke up for class), gave you some perspective on the previous night and the day ahead. National, all-sport focus. Daily frequency, so you could feel confident making it a habit -- in looking for it every morning.
I believe on that first day, I got up at 4 a.m. to start writing for an 8 a.m. deadline. And it stayed that way for a long time, at least the first six months -- probably the first year. And that doesn't even include the hours I'd put in the night before. I was obsessed. (I was also transfixed by my traffic in those first days; there's nothing as gratifying as hitting "refresh" on the traffic monitor and watching the numbers surge by the minute.)
I would like to think that I designed it for inevitable success -- to be fail-proof. But it would be impossible to know until readers gave it a try. The response was overwhemingly positive.
And I had the job I had dreamed about since I was a kid: Not just a sports columnist, but one with a daily column and a national, write-about-anything focus. I loved every single day (and that included my Ripken-esque streak of 420 consecutive weekdays with a column, what has to be a record not just for ESPN.com but in sportswriting.)
Writing the Quickie opened up all sorts of doors: People recognized the column (if not always my byline). It got me my erstwhile career on "Around the Horn." I got to host a daily chat on ESPN.com (Morning Quickie alums: Holla!) I had the weird talking "Danimation" precursor to ESPN.com's podcasts. It introduced me to all sorts of great folks, both inside and outside of ESPN.com -- many of whom I'm still friends with today. And it introduced me to millions of readers -- tens of thousands of whom were generous enough to email me and many of whom are hopefully reading this now. Thanks for sticking around.
January 6 will always be a special day for me.
-- D.S.
Quickie: McGwire Doing It To Himself
I'm not nearly qualified to dive into the hard-core debates about the Hall of Fame merits of the players on this year's bubble: Edgar and McGriff (among first-years), Dawson and Blyleven (among hold-overs). I love reading the best arguments, and I'm obviously biased for the ones made with more SABR-minded analysis.
So in the lead of today's SN column, I don't even bother touching the debate over McGwire is or isn't Hall-worthy. The point I want to make is that he would get in -- immediately -- if he would just "talk about the past." It's so ridiculously simple that I almost want to keep him out for being so stupid to fail to recognize it. I don't know what his problem is, but it's there for the having.
He's going to get shut out this year. Alomar is a lock. Larkin is probably a lock. I'd love to see Edgar get in, but that's probably a year away. Dawson will probably get in, taking advantage of the lowered bar from the "Jim Rice Precedent." McGriff probably deserves to get in, if only because he represents the last vestiges of pre-steroid power. And, of course, I'm in the "Let Blyleven in" camp, and I think this is the year.
Meanwhile:
*That was a good win for Iowa -- shows what a few weeks of prep for the triple-option can do. But I'm much more excited about watching Dan LeFevour for the last time. He should go down as one of the greatest MAC QBs of all time, which is saying something.
*I'm not a particularly big Mike Shanahan fan -- hard to be if you've read "Three Seconds of Panic." I think Snyder is turning over too much power, he'll ultimately either regret it or balk at being cut out and this ends badly, without a Super Bowl win.
*Signing Matt Holliday ensures that Albert Pujols doesn't even think of leaving St. Louis.
*Wait: Are the Wizards going to go on some kind of dysfunctional run of success?
*So Tiger really did take a 9-iron to the face, eh?
Complete column here. More later. Big anniversary today.
-- D.S.
So in the lead of today's SN column, I don't even bother touching the debate over McGwire is or isn't Hall-worthy. The point I want to make is that he would get in -- immediately -- if he would just "talk about the past." It's so ridiculously simple that I almost want to keep him out for being so stupid to fail to recognize it. I don't know what his problem is, but it's there for the having.
He's going to get shut out this year. Alomar is a lock. Larkin is probably a lock. I'd love to see Edgar get in, but that's probably a year away. Dawson will probably get in, taking advantage of the lowered bar from the "Jim Rice Precedent." McGriff probably deserves to get in, if only because he represents the last vestiges of pre-steroid power. And, of course, I'm in the "Let Blyleven in" camp, and I think this is the year.
Meanwhile:
*That was a good win for Iowa -- shows what a few weeks of prep for the triple-option can do. But I'm much more excited about watching Dan LeFevour for the last time. He should go down as one of the greatest MAC QBs of all time, which is saying something.
*I'm not a particularly big Mike Shanahan fan -- hard to be if you've read "Three Seconds of Panic." I think Snyder is turning over too much power, he'll ultimately either regret it or balk at being cut out and this ends badly, without a Super Bowl win.
*Signing Matt Holliday ensures that Albert Pujols doesn't even think of leaving St. Louis.
*Wait: Are the Wizards going to go on some kind of dysfunctional run of success?
*So Tiger really did take a 9-iron to the face, eh?
Complete column here. More later. Big anniversary today.
-- D.S.
Tuesday, January 05, 2010
Putting Tim Tebow's Career in Perspective
Check out my latest -- and final, presumably -- guest-post about Tim Tebow over at Yahoo's Dr. Saturday. I attempt to put his career into some kind of perspective.
Quickie: For Boise, Next Stop 2011 BCS
All of a sudden, my pre-New Year's prediction for 2010 that Boise State would not only play for -- but win -- the national championship looks pretty good.
Thanks to their signature win over TCU last night, Boise is as well-positioned as any non-BCS team ever to crash not just a "BCS-level" bowl, but the BCS national championship game.
All it will take is the usual pinball of improbable upsets among the BCS teams to make it happen: Texas stumbles -- just once -- without McCoy. Alabama runs the table in the SEC (including a win over Florida), only to lose a rematch to Florida in the SEC title game. The Pac-10 and ACC flake out. The Big East champ, even if undefeated, can't credibly claim to be stronger than Boise. I have Ohio State going 12-0, and even OSU fans tell me I'm crazy. It's not unreasonable.
And then, Boise steps in: They have the BCS cred. They have the momentum from this unbeaten season. Now, they have the head-to-head win over next season's next-best non-BCS team. They will start the season highly ranked, and they will simply stay near the top as everyone else falls short. Then, in the title game -- back in Glendale, ironically -- they will do what they do best: Win.
All of a sudden, my Boise bandwagon for next season feels a little more full.
(As I point out in today's SN column, this development would be bittersweet for people who hate the BCS system: On the one hand, a non-BCS team would crash the national title game; on the other hand, the BCS folks could then argue that the system is entirely egalitarian. Frankly, if the BCS cabal wants to maintain its power, THEY should be rooting for Boise next season, too.)
More in today's column:
*Mike Shanahan in DC. I'm so underwhelmed.
*Charleston!
*Are the Wiz ready to drop Arenas?
*Who's excited about the Orange Bowl?
Lots more there. Complete column here. More later.
-- D.S.
Thanks to their signature win over TCU last night, Boise is as well-positioned as any non-BCS team ever to crash not just a "BCS-level" bowl, but the BCS national championship game.
All it will take is the usual pinball of improbable upsets among the BCS teams to make it happen: Texas stumbles -- just once -- without McCoy. Alabama runs the table in the SEC (including a win over Florida), only to lose a rematch to Florida in the SEC title game. The Pac-10 and ACC flake out. The Big East champ, even if undefeated, can't credibly claim to be stronger than Boise. I have Ohio State going 12-0, and even OSU fans tell me I'm crazy. It's not unreasonable.
And then, Boise steps in: They have the BCS cred. They have the momentum from this unbeaten season. Now, they have the head-to-head win over next season's next-best non-BCS team. They will start the season highly ranked, and they will simply stay near the top as everyone else falls short. Then, in the title game -- back in Glendale, ironically -- they will do what they do best: Win.
All of a sudden, my Boise bandwagon for next season feels a little more full.
(As I point out in today's SN column, this development would be bittersweet for people who hate the BCS system: On the one hand, a non-BCS team would crash the national title game; on the other hand, the BCS folks could then argue that the system is entirely egalitarian. Frankly, if the BCS cabal wants to maintain its power, THEY should be rooting for Boise next season, too.)
More in today's column:
*Mike Shanahan in DC. I'm so underwhelmed.
*Charleston!
*Are the Wiz ready to drop Arenas?
*Who's excited about the Orange Bowl?
Lots more there. Complete column here. More later.
-- D.S.
Monday, January 04, 2010
Quickie: Fiesta, Wild Card, Arenas, Mayo
I'll be very clear: Tonight's Fiesta Bowl represents nothing less than a de facto national semifinal game for next year's national championship.
That runs counter to the early lamentations that the BCS cabal shunted off its two interlopers to face each other in a bowl; it may have assured that one of them crashes the big game next year.
Both TCU and Boise State will be undefeated next year -- both teams, loaded, will be even better next year than this year. Both will have quality wins. Both will have this recent track record of being BCS-worthy.
Voters will have to decide between the two of them which one gets to play what I predict will be the lone undefeated team from a BCS conference.
The way they will do that is by looking back to this game as their playoff. If both teams are virtually the same and both unbeaten at the end of next season, this is a fair head-to-head comparison. And it will be used not just in the preseason rankings, but the postseason one, too.
This matters: I think that next season, either Boise or TCU could beat the best of the BCS conferences. So who survives Boise-TCU tonight will most likely to get that shot.
The BCS folks are adamantly against a playoff system -- ironically, they will get one tonight that will reverberate for the rest of the year.
(By the way, this would not be possible if they were split up, with each thrashing Iowa, Cincinnati or Georgia Tech.)
That sums up the lead of today's SN column. More you'll find:
*I don't mind the tanking of games by certain NFL teams. What I mind is the cynical attempt to avoid calling it tanking. What the Bengals did last night was even more intentional than an individual player throwing a game -- it was an institutional decision to throw a game. Again: I don't care if they do it. But I'd like for them to call it what it is.
*The Patriots are screwed. They won't even get past the Ravens next week. (And I was going to take them to win the AFC.)
*My Super Bowl pick: Chargers over Vikings. (Can you imagine the Favre Mania for the two weeks of Super Bowl lead-up? I'm already nauseous.)
*If it's possible for Gilbert Arenas to change the subject, he has with his Twitter barrage. There is no way this was a calculated attempt to distract, but it sure was effective.
*Tweeted this yesterday: Can you imagine how bad the OJ Mayo stuff REALLY was, if USC is penalizing itself? Of course, I'm not holding my breath for similar treatment for the Bush scandal.
*Kentucky's win over Louisville revealed some emotional fragility for the Cats, but didn't dissuade me that they are going to the Final Four. On the other hand, the win of the weekend goes to Purdue, over West Virginia.
Lots more in the column, found here. More later.
-- D.S.
That runs counter to the early lamentations that the BCS cabal shunted off its two interlopers to face each other in a bowl; it may have assured that one of them crashes the big game next year.
Both TCU and Boise State will be undefeated next year -- both teams, loaded, will be even better next year than this year. Both will have quality wins. Both will have this recent track record of being BCS-worthy.
Voters will have to decide between the two of them which one gets to play what I predict will be the lone undefeated team from a BCS conference.
The way they will do that is by looking back to this game as their playoff. If both teams are virtually the same and both unbeaten at the end of next season, this is a fair head-to-head comparison. And it will be used not just in the preseason rankings, but the postseason one, too.
This matters: I think that next season, either Boise or TCU could beat the best of the BCS conferences. So who survives Boise-TCU tonight will most likely to get that shot.
The BCS folks are adamantly against a playoff system -- ironically, they will get one tonight that will reverberate for the rest of the year.
(By the way, this would not be possible if they were split up, with each thrashing Iowa, Cincinnati or Georgia Tech.)
That sums up the lead of today's SN column. More you'll find:
*I don't mind the tanking of games by certain NFL teams. What I mind is the cynical attempt to avoid calling it tanking. What the Bengals did last night was even more intentional than an individual player throwing a game -- it was an institutional decision to throw a game. Again: I don't care if they do it. But I'd like for them to call it what it is.
*The Patriots are screwed. They won't even get past the Ravens next week. (And I was going to take them to win the AFC.)
*My Super Bowl pick: Chargers over Vikings. (Can you imagine the Favre Mania for the two weeks of Super Bowl lead-up? I'm already nauseous.)
*If it's possible for Gilbert Arenas to change the subject, he has with his Twitter barrage. There is no way this was a calculated attempt to distract, but it sure was effective.
*Tweeted this yesterday: Can you imagine how bad the OJ Mayo stuff REALLY was, if USC is penalizing itself? Of course, I'm not holding my breath for similar treatment for the Bush scandal.
*Kentucky's win over Louisville revealed some emotional fragility for the Cats, but didn't dissuade me that they are going to the Final Four. On the other hand, the win of the weekend goes to Purdue, over West Virginia.
Lots more in the column, found here. More later.
-- D.S.
Sunday, January 03, 2010
Sunday (Very) Quickie
So short of playing for a national title, the final game of Tim Tebow's career went about as well as possible. But the Tebow Era at Florida is over -- Tebow's pro career has begun. Tracking, now 'til the Draft...
Is it me or have the bowl games mostly sputtered? Northwestern's loss to Auburn was an amazing way to start the New Year's Day slate, but aside from that, it's been pretty lame. Kudos to Ohio State on beating a very good Oregon team. (I will now curse OSU fans by picking them to go unbeaten next year and making the national title game.)
I wasn't impressed by Kentucky. They could have stepped on the throat of Louisville early; they settled for a cheap forearm to the head and letting UL back in the game in the 2nd half. I'm not saying that UK still isn't on the fast track for the Final Four, but a team like Purdue wouldn't stand for that. If anything plagues Kentucky, it's the "head-case" factor -- don't discount it.
(Damn, maybe I need to reconsider my feeling that Syracuse is a potential Final Four team. Let's stick with Elite Eight. Meanwhile, Kansas showed just how good it is by throttling a good Temple team.)
Gilbert Arenas on Twitter this weekend has been mesmerizing -- if only because this is a personable athlete, entirely unfiltered. And it's freaky.
The end of the college football season always bums me out -- yeah, recruiting is interesting, as is spring practice -- but it's not the same as the season. I'm sure hard-core NFL fans feel the same way, particularly for fans whose teams' seasons are over today.
-- D.S.
Is it me or have the bowl games mostly sputtered? Northwestern's loss to Auburn was an amazing way to start the New Year's Day slate, but aside from that, it's been pretty lame. Kudos to Ohio State on beating a very good Oregon team. (I will now curse OSU fans by picking them to go unbeaten next year and making the national title game.)
I wasn't impressed by Kentucky. They could have stepped on the throat of Louisville early; they settled for a cheap forearm to the head and letting UL back in the game in the 2nd half. I'm not saying that UK still isn't on the fast track for the Final Four, but a team like Purdue wouldn't stand for that. If anything plagues Kentucky, it's the "head-case" factor -- don't discount it.
(Damn, maybe I need to reconsider my feeling that Syracuse is a potential Final Four team. Let's stick with Elite Eight. Meanwhile, Kansas showed just how good it is by throttling a good Temple team.)
Gilbert Arenas on Twitter this weekend has been mesmerizing -- if only because this is a personable athlete, entirely unfiltered. And it's freaky.
The end of the college football season always bums me out -- yeah, recruiting is interesting, as is spring practice -- but it's not the same as the season. I'm sure hard-core NFL fans feel the same way, particularly for fans whose teams' seasons are over today.
-- D.S.
Friday, January 01, 2010
New Year's (Tebow Finale) Quickie
So it's Tim Tebow's final college game tonight. Not a small event -- particularly in my house.
Here's my prediction: Florida 55, Cincinnati 10. Cincy's offense has never seen a defense like Florida's; Cincy's defense has never seen an offense like Florida's. This is Georgia-Hawaii 2.0. (And I say that as someone who has really liked Cincinnati all season long.)
The biggest news: Fox and Time Warner called a truce, allowing me and 13 million other people to watch the Sugar Bowl.
Hope everyone had a nice night last night and is enjoying the bowl games today. More later.
-- D.S.
Here's my prediction: Florida 55, Cincinnati 10. Cincy's offense has never seen a defense like Florida's; Cincy's defense has never seen an offense like Florida's. This is Georgia-Hawaii 2.0. (And I say that as someone who has really liked Cincinnati all season long.)
The biggest news: Fox and Time Warner called a truce, allowing me and 13 million other people to watch the Sugar Bowl.
Hope everyone had a nice night last night and is enjoying the bowl games today. More later.
-- D.S.
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