11/20 Wednesday Quickie

*Was the Panthers-Pats game-ending call right? The best analysis of the situation came from Grantland's Bill Barnwell, who explained how the Pats blew the game before the refs blew the call.

*Is Robinson Cano worth $300M? Put it this way: No player is worth $300M, except Bryce Harper hitting free agency at age 25 or 26. So: No, Cano is not worth $300M.

*Wiggins, Parker and Randle have (rightfully) gotten all of the attention, but OK St PG Marcus Smart put on a show last night, reminding everyone he is as NBA-ready as anyone in college hoops.

(But it doesn't feel like OK St has nearly the same "national title or bust" expectations as the Big Three frosh.)

Let's not overlook Wisconsin's Frank Kaminsky, who had a school-record 43 last night. Wisconsin basketball is... fun?

*The Heat succeeding despite Dwyane Wade being out -- and, admittedly, this isn't the playoffs, but merely a mid-November game -- is a pretty good reminder that LeBron is amazing.

*The most fascinating player in the NBA is a guy who hasn't even played this season yet -- Kobe. Can't wait for that return.

*Big night tonight in the NBA: 13 games. If you enjoy schadenfreude, keep an eye on the Pacers routing the Knicks -- and the struggling Nets at the... Bobcats?

But the best game will mean staying up late: Grizzlies at Warriors, with a 10:30 ET tip time. Will have to catch the AM highlights for that one.

-- D.S.

11/16 Saturday Quickie

*Yes, #BatKid was the best story of the year.

*The most interesting player in college football is UCLA LB/RB Myles Jack, and it isn't close.

*The Pacers are legit. They won't beat the Heat in the playoffs, unfortunately, but they are legit.

*Duke is going to be even better next year when Jabari Parker sticks around to play with Okafor.

*Is it too much to ask for a Northwestern win over Michigan and Florida win over South Carolina? (Probably.)

*The Maryland-UConn women's game was a ton of fun. UConn is astonishing to watch up close.

-- D.S.

11/15 Weekend Quickie

*I'm taking Gabe to see No. 1 UConn play No. 8 Maryland in College Park tonight. Should be an awesome atmosphere and a great experience for Gabe (and me).

*That Warriors-Thunder ending was as amazing as it gets.

*A few weeks after thinking the Colts were a darkhorse contender for the AFC title, I think they'll be lucky to win a playoff game. Maybe they only show up versus the good teams.

*While Miguel Cabrera was more deserving of AL MVP than he was last year, he still isn't as valuable as Mike Trout.

*Andrew McCutcheon as NL MVP caps a dream season for Pirates fans. What a wonderful player.

*The college football weekend slate is a relative dud, compared to last Thursday night. I guess Georgia-Auburn is the big game worth watching, if only to see if Auburn stays relevant in advance of its game with Alabama.

*Also a slow weekend in college hoops (especially relative to last Tuesday, which will be a recurring theme all season long). Ohio State-Marquette on Saturday, I guess? But not really.

-- D.S.

11/11 Curbed Quickie

*Thank you to everyone who has served the country. My paternal grandfather served in the Pacific theater during World War II. We honor everyone who honors the rest of us with their service.

*The deal within which Vox Media is buying Curbed brings together two of my favorite companies and many of my favorite people. Really thrilled for everyone involved.

*Gabe's favorite NFL team is the Carolina Panthers, so he was beyond elated at yesterday's season-defining win. They're not winning the Super Bowl, but outperforming expectations is nice, too.

*The Wizards' loss in Oklahoma City last night was an epic disappointment, but it affirmed what I have been saying about Bradley Beal for two years: He will be a superstar NBA player.

*My fictional college football playoff foursome: (1) Alabama, (2) Stanford, (3) FSU, (4) Baylor. Ohio State's resume -- if you can even call it that -- is tantamount to an unbeaten MAC team.

*I appreciate why the Braves are moving to the 'burbs, but it feels like a mistake.

-- D.S.

College Hoops Tip-Off

The opening day of the college hoops season always brings me back to my wonderful stint as college basketball editor for ESPN.com -- hey, it was only 17 years ago!

Last year, I totally whiffed in picking Kentucky to repeat as champs. That won't stop me from picking them to win it all again this year.

*Final Four picks: Kentucky, Michigan State, Duke, Creighton.

*Will Andrew Wiggins reach the Final Four? No.

Shortest. Preview. Ever.

-- D.S.

11/08 Stanford Quickie

(1) Stanford's win over Oregon was the single-best win by any team this college football season.

The win is not just enough to put Stanford in the theoretical "What if there was a 4-team playoff right now?" bracket, but enough for me to rank the Cardinal at No. 2 ahead of unbeatens like FSU, Baylor and (give me a break) Ohio State.

The consolation that Stanford will be shut out of the national-title game is that they will be matched up with a "But we're undefeated WAH!" Ohio State and absolutely destroy them.

Anyway, last night's game was a pretty amazing example of why college football is the best.

(2) If it wasn't already, the Redskins' season is over after last night's collapse -- I'm no fan of Mike Shanahan anyway (let alone the Redskins), so I'm looking forward to the inevitable regime change. If anything, the result felt like adding insult to insult.

(3) ICYMI, Grantland's Brian Phillips on the Incognito-Martin story is the best thing on it that I have read this week. Check it out here. But meanwhile, that bullying quote relayed by Martin lawyer David Cornwell -- cripes.

(4) I love my relationship with Georgetown's Sports Industry Management (SIM) program. Last night, I got to lead a conversation with PTI creator Erik Rydholm, and he only affirmed my opinion that he is the most brilliant person in sports media. There is not much better than listening to someone really smart talk about... well, basically anything, but certainly things you also think about a lot. Thanks for the time, Erik.

Enjoy your weekend!

-- D.S.

11/06 Election Hangover Quickie

*That Richie Incognito is loathsome is undisputed. I remain more fascinated with the culpability of head coach Joe Philbin -- not just "what did he know and when did he know it?" but this essential proposition: He either had no idea what was going on (which makes him stupid and negligent) or he did have at least some idea what was going on (which makes him a liar and fairly evil). So: Stupid or evil? Which is it, coach? I think he didn't know but SHOULD have known -- not that this is an excuse, but this was an inexperienced head coach overwhelmed by the full spectrum of the job.

*I think Nick Saban would leave Alabama for Texas -- I think that basically every college coach would leave their current situation for Texas. But WILL he? What other challenges does he have at Alabama? How much does the Big 12's relatively soft schedule factor in? I have long thought that the best college football coaches were wildly underpaid -- if I was Texas, I would offer him $10M a year for 10 years and force him to  turn down the combination of unprecedented money and unprecedented resources.

*Too bad about Aaron Rodgers. Presuming he's healthy to return to full strength for the season's final 5-6 weeks, the Packers should still get into the playoffs, at which point he can resume falling short of another Super Bowl title. In the meantime, the Packers will likely not be fun to watch.

-- D.S.

11/3 Sunday Quickie

(1) The only material change to the CFB top 4 is that FSU jumps back over Oregon for the No. 2 spot, on the strength of clobbering Miami. Oregon will vault back to No. 2 if/when they beat No. 4 Stanford on Thursday night. Baylor moves into the top 4 with a win over Oklahoma Thursday.

(Nope, don't want to talk about either Florida or Northwestern.)

(2) Today's NFL schedule lacks a good game between two good teams (Bears-Packers tomorrow night comes closest), but we're close to must-win territory for borderline would-be playoff teams -- Dallas, Baltimore, Carolina and San Diego.

(3) The Sixers are 3-0. This is the most amazing November storyline in the history of the NBA.

-- D.S.

10/31 Halloween Quickie

(1) Red Sox win the World Series. "Good. Crazy." I'm no Sox fan, but begrudging congrats to Sox fans.

(2) The presumptively tanking Sixers beating the Heat is the most delightful result possible of the NBA's slate of season-opening games.

(3) Happy Halloween. As Gabe said this morning: "Best day of the school year!"

-- D.S.

10/29 Tuesday NBA Tip-Off Quickie

(1) I have resigned myself to the idea that the Red Sox will win the World Series.

(2) I am committed to appreciating LeBron even more this season -- someone who is playing at the top of his game... and anyone's game, all-time.

(3) That said, LeBron's dominance and the presumption of yet another title for the Heat -- no different than last year -- is bad for the league.

(4) Finals pick: Heat over Spurs in 5. Then LeBron leaves for Cleveland and Bosh leaves for one of the teams in Texas, and Miami's moment is over.

(5) My favorite NBA storyline this year is the return of Kobe.

(6) I am pleasantly optimistic about my Wizards this season, despite mixed feelings about the Marcin Gortat trade. It's nice to say "Playoffs or bust."

-- D.S.

10/28 Monday Quickie

(1) Can you remember a stranger way back-to-back World Series games have ended? Walk-off obstruction, walk-off pickoff. The only question is how the Series can top this weekend in Games 5 and 6 (and 7*).

(2) The five best storylines coming out of yesterday's NFL games:
*Megatron's 329.
*Chiefs are 8-0.
*The Eagles are awful.
*Is Brees, not Manning, midseason MVP?
*This is one odd season so far.

(3) Alabama, Oregon, Florida State and Stanford: That's my playoff foursome, if the college football season ended today.

Like the NFL? Don't forget to check out The Q, from USA TODAY Sports.

10/23 Very Quickie

(1) "Your phone is the new Jumbotron." That was my pithy add to the OnDeck West conference in San Francisco this week. I interviewed Pac-12 commish Larry Scott to open the conference yesterday. It was a ton of fun -- thanks to the OnDeck folks for having me. Met a ton of great people and found myself thinking of a lot of great ideas.

(2) Ohio State over Mizzou? Really? My USA TODAY Sports colleagues have picked the latest "if the season ended today" college football playoff of Alabama, Oregon, FSU and Ohio State. I cannot understand how anyone can look at Ohio State's resume and rank them ahead of Missouri. This is the farcical side of the playoff system.

(3) Cardinals in 7.

-- D.S.

10/14 Throwback Quickie

10 years ago today: The Bartman moment, one of the most indelible in baseball history.

Here is what I wrote the morning after, in the Daily Quickie -- note that "Steve Bartman" wasn't yet known as the name:

Two Words For You:
BLAME.  GAME.

He will forever be known as "That Fan," short for "That Fan Who [Nearly/Totally (TBD)] Cost The Cubs The World Series".

That Fan is an obvious (and worthy) scapegoat, but let's spread the responsibility around: Dusty, Gonzalez, the radio announcers, Prior, Farnsworth, Derrek Lee, the headset manufacturer, Pudge, Beckett, the masses on Waveland, Dick Jauron, Ernie Banks, Andre Dawson, the fans sitting around That Fan, Paris Hilton, Bernie Mac, Harry Carey's ghost, the media.

Whether the city has a complete meltdown depends on how Game 7 plays out tonight (understanding that Kerry Wood is as hot as they come right now, but on the flip side, so was Prior):

If the Cubs win:
All is forgiven ...

If they lose:
Yikes ....

Then I had an item asking if Alex Gonzalez was the new Bill Buckner:

Lost under the "That Fan" pile-on is Alex Gonzalez's Bobble -- this generation's Leon Durham moment, improbably from a shortstop who led the NL in fielding percentage.

What irony in his trendy name-shortening: "A-Gon." Because his error? Pure "AGony."

Rally-kindling instead of rally-killing: The Bobble doesn't quite rise to the mythic level of Buckner-esque proportions, but That Fan was merely guilty of amateurish behavior; what's the pro's excuse?

10 years later, Gonzalez's role in the debacle is still vastly underrated.

Yeesh: Whenever I read back through an old Quickie -- especially something from that first year or two -- I am reminded how tight I wrote, as compared to now. I got worse as I took more space....

Also: 10 years later, the Quickie is so mobile-friendly -- a decade ahead of its time, I guees.

-- D.S.

09/30 Anniversary Quickie

10 years ago today, I proposed to Mrs. Quickie.

If you've never read it, the (nominally zany) origin story was published on The Awl at the end of 2010.

Takeaway: I'm very lucky.

-- D.S.

9/29 Sunday Quickie

With Lane Kiffin getting fired, it was always "when," not "if." Is USC still a great job? Yes.

Getting ready for a great Week 4 for The Q. Please pop by this afternoon to keep up with the best takes on the biggest storylines of the day (and there are plenty).

Meanwhile, off yesterday's day in college football, I am participating in a very cool USA TODAY Sports panel that is picking a "if-the-season-ended-today-and-the-playoff-was-in-place" four-team bracket.

After yesterday, mine is (1) Georgia, (2) Alabama, (3) Clemson, (4) Texas A&M. Georgia's win over a very good LSU team was so wildly entertaining and impressive that the combination of UGA's wins over LSU and South Carolina -- plus taking Clemson to the edge at Clemson in a toss-up first week of the season -- makes Georgia the clear-cut No. 1 team for me.

My explanation to my panel colleagues:

The whole point of the expanded playoff is that we are supposed to get beyond "and-oh" superficialities and reward the teams with the best resume — who did you play, who did you beat and what was the context?

This week, it is baffling that anyone could put any team but Georgia at No. 1. Where Oregon and Ohio State have yet to play anyone great, UGA has now beaten TWO superb teams and taken a third, on the road, right up to the edge. Their resume right now is so vastly superior to that of Oregon or Ohio State — or any other team that is "unbeaten" -- that if you don't have them ranked No. 1, it is hard for me to believe you are taking the new playoff process seriously, versus just propagating the legacy system of "Oh, your record is so sparkly!"

By the time Oregon and Ohio State finish their ENTIRE schedules, they won't have played as many tough games combined as Georgia has played before the end of September. If resumes matter, then Oregon and Ohio State don't.

-- D.S.

9/27 Mariano Quickie

Another week flies by working with the amazing Q team. Please give it a look -- and come back! (And tell friends!)

Inspired by Jim Delany (of all people), I put this together yesterday, a regular refrain from me: Do people realize the massive opportunity that would come from combining college football's compensation problem and the NFL's age-limit problem? Huge.

Anway, the real thing I wanted to say is that I cannot think of an athlete -- in this era of "Trolling Wins" and "Contrarianism Rules" -- who has more universal appreciation than Mariano Rivera. All the best to one of the all-time greats, in any sport. If you are any age from 25-65, he has loomed as large as anyone -- but done it without much fanfare, beyond the awesomeness we can all see for ourselves. The ultimate "show, don't tell."

College football look-ahead:

*When LSU beats Georgia, they'll deserve to be in that mythical "football four" playoff group. And if Georgia beats LSU, they'll deserve to be No. 1, even with the loss at Clemson. LSU will win.

*I want Wisconsin to beat Ohio State, but it's not going to happen, setting up an incredible match-up next Saturday night in Evanston.

*Notre Dame is going to get exposed by Oklahoma in South Bend. No weirdness like last year.

*Ole Miss will keep it interesting for, say, three quarters. Then it'll be all Bama.

*So Florida lost its QB and its most disruptive defensive presence, all in the same week. It's a good thing it's Kentucky. (Famous last words...)

Enjoy your weekend. Check out The Q!

9/20 Weekend Quickie

Another week, another week I haven't updated the blog -- I'm immersed in The Q. Hope you've had a chance to check it out. 

Learned a ton this week, just like we learned a ton last week.

Had great coverage of the Trent Richardson trade -- in the first half-hour afterward, I'd put our coverage up against anyone's.

Increased our output of posts and refined how we manage the stream, both really good developments.

Added a new talent -- FTW's Nate Scott, who was my partner-in-crime on USA TODAY's Ad Meter project last winter, and who is just a brilliant, congenial person to work with.

My goal is to make huge strides week-over-week -- mostly in how we're executing. The audience and revenue will take care of itself (as it already is).

Brief college football tailgate:

My if-the-season-ended-today playoff field: Alabama, Georgia, A&M, Clemson.

Check out the full file here, from the entire playoff panel. In the absence of my beloved BlogPoll, this has been a wonderful outlet.

As for this weekend's games:

Clemson might have locked in a spot next week with the win last night at NC State -- but it wasn't that impressive and being the 4th seed means it's a tenuous spot. Who might take them out? No one -- this week's games are really really mediocre. (Stanford, who plays Arizona State? Hell, ASU should have a loss from Wisconsin right now, and I'll grade them out as such.)

With zero upsets on tap, the only game that really matters is Kansas State-Texas, if only to see what happens when Texas loses AGAIN.

Enjoy your weekend. Visit The Q!

-- D.S.

9/13 Quickie: Introducing The Q

How busy has it been this week?

So busy that I haven't even been able to get to my own blog to announce the launch -- last Sunday -- of a brand-new product I have been a part of creating: The Q.

You can find it at q.usatoday.com.

The value proposition and format should feel familiar to you, although the initial scope of coverage is all NFL, all the time. (For now. Cough.)

But there are some big differences from anything you might think this resembles, aside from the all-NFL focus:

*It is built not just "mobile first," but really with the mobile audience as the only one in mind. Oh, you absolutely can (and should!) check it out on your work computer during the weekdays. It will look great (and even have a few desktop-only enhancements). But the thing is really geared for consumption on the phone (so feel free to check it out on your phone at work, in addition to at home, on the go, etc.)

*There is a great team of editors, producers, developers, designers and talent working on it. I'm a bauble. The real key is the core editorial team, plus the amazing developers and designers and USA TODAY Sports staff working on it.

*You really do need to check it out, because it represents the next stage in an evolution I have been working on since the Daily Quickie launched 10 years ago, through Quickish and now The Q. There are some amazing implications for sports fans and the media industry baked into it, which I'll get into over the next few months. I'm really excited for it.

So please: Check it out. Give it a try. Tell your friends, co-workers and folks in your social network(s). It needs all the support it can get, and you're a huge part of that, as you have been all the way from the start, all those years ago.

Huge thanks for your patience here and elsewhere as I have put so much time and energy into working on it.

Enjoy your weekend. I think Alabama wins, but I don't feel particularly strongly about that. If anyone can foil Nick Saban two years in a row, it's Kevin Sumlin and Johnny Manziel.

-- D.S.

09/06 (It's a New Day) Quickie

The NFL season hasn't even started yet and it has already gotten its signature performance from Peyton Manning...

Anyway, things have been busy the past few months. For those who email asking "Man, what happened to Quickish?" it's a fair question.

The answer is that I have been working on a new USA TODAY Sports product that you will get a sneak preview of on Sunday afternoon, if you go to USATODAY.com.

It's not a secret (heck, I advertised for help!) It's a new quick-hit, quick-twitch platform that, at least to start, will focus on the NFL.

It is not Quickish or Quickish 2.0, although it would be nuts not to use the lessons from Quickish in building something new that represents an evolution in a space I have spent a lot of time in: Quick-hit, real-time(-ish) topical news delivery and consumption.

We have some talented folks on board to make it happen day to day, moment to moment -- if nothing else, there's your clear differentiation from Quickish -- and I'm really excited for fans to try it.

It's not the end of Quickish.com -- I'm thinking about ways to pivot the platform and the value proposition to make it relevant (and sustainable, given that it would just be me working on it).

But it is the start of something new and really cool. Please come by USATODAY.com on Sunday afternoon to get a preview, then use it constantly after that. Please immediately save it to your mobile home screen. Please tell your friends!

Can't wait for you to check it out.

Meanwhile, can't ignore tomorrow's college football schedule and a few picks:
Georgia over South Carolina.
Florida over Miami.
Michigan over Notre Dame.
Upset alert: Western Kentucky over Tennessee.

-- D.S.

9/3 (Tuesday) Quickie

Today's Name to Know: Jameis Winston. "Jameis Football," amirite?

Today's REAL Name to Know: Diana Nyad.

Terrelle Pryor: Has a player from the "Supplemental Draft" ever ended up a starting QB in Week 1?

Roger Federer: Is this what the end looks like? Hope you appreciated him while he was at the top.

Tim Tebow: Will he end up on the Patriots at some point this season? Oh, why not: I'll say "Yes."

-- D.S.