So, we are less than two weeks from Christmas Day, which means that not only is the holiday rush in full swing and not only is the year coming to a rapid close, the NFL is starting to heat up.
Before we go into any of the games, let's get into the NFL ratings stuff. I talked about this last time and it's been a topic all season, the NFL ratings being down because of a number of factors but let's be honest, the bottom line is people aren't going to tune into a game that's terrible.
To wit: Dallas/Giants, Sunday night, division rivalry and a very competitive, if but defensive, 10-7 game. It drew a 14.93 rating which is an increase as compared to last year at this time, when the Sunday night game was a Patriots blowout of the Texans. And that was with it being Tom Brady and the Patriots.
Now, on to the games.
- First, the aforementioned Dallas/Giants game. I get that all the talk is Tony Romo this, Tony Romo that because the Cowboys finally lost and looked atrocious offensively. I get it, Prescott didn't play very well against Minnesota a couple weeks ago, and certainly didn't play well against the Giants.
But I think that's being really disrespectful to the Giants and how good that defense is, and make no mistake about it, that defense is championship caliber. It wasn't just Prescott, Ezekiel Elliott especially late in the game did nothing against them. Dez Bryant was a no show Sunday.
And the scary part? The Giants did all of this without Jason-Pierre Paul in the lineup, without QUESTION one of the best defensive players in all of football.
Bottom line is this: The Giants through the years have always been defined by their defense.
Whether it was Lawrence Taylor, Leonard Marshall, Carl Banks, Harry Carson, and the two Giants defenses that won Super Bowls in 1986-87 and 1990-91 or Justin Tuck, Osi Umenyiora, JP-P, Justin Tuck and the Giants Ds that won Super Bowls in 2007 and 2011 or anyone else in and around there, they've always been defined by that unit. And that unit is stout this year.
Eli Manning has been pretty terrible this year but he doesn't have to be great for them to have a chance to win a Super Bowl. Jeff Hostetler won a Super Bowl in 1990 for heaven's sake.
As to the Cowboys, this week's game is going to be pretty interesting as well. They get Tampa Bay this week once again on Sunday night and as good as the Giants and their defense have been, so have the Bucs. They are on a five game win streak themselves and four of those wins have come against Drew Brees, Russell Wilson, Philip Rivers and on the road in Kansas City. Don't underestimate the Bucs as a possible Super Bowl sleeper.
- The Texans won in Indianapolis to sweep the Colts in a season series for the first time ever, but I'm not doing jumping jacks about that win. The Colts just aren't very good this year and won't be unless they address that offensive line. Yeah they looked great the week before the Houston game but they were playing the Jets.
At this rate the way he's getting pounded Andrew Luck's career may be drastically shortened and it's a shame.
- The Denver Broncos, with their loss in Tennessee this past weekend, just made things a lot harder on themselves. That was a game they had to win, especially considering their season ending stretch: vs Patriots, @ Chiefs, vs Raiders. I honestly can't say they win a single one of those games. Yes, I know that Brady always has issues in Denver and that's where they are this Sunday but answer this question: How's Denver going to score enough to beat the Patriots with their issues offensively?
- Speaking of the Patriots, don't even look at that 30-23 final score vs Baltimore. That game was nowhere near as close as that score indicated. The Pats basically gifted the Ravens 14 points with two massive special teams mistakes and they still won by seven. To me the Ravens were never in the game.
To me, the road to the Super Bowl clearly goes through Bradyville, even without the Gronk. I can't make the argument for the Raiders in New England as highly as I think of Derek Carr, I could never make the argument for Alex Smith over Tom Brady especially on the road, and don't get me started on Denver. And Baltimore got pounded last night.
That leaves Pittsburgh, who I think would at least have a legitimate chance on the road against Brady because of their championship pedigree and because they do have guys like Roethlisberger, Bell and Brown.
- The NFC though is a totally different story. Dallas and Seattle may still be the top two teams but right now I will take the field against them. In defensive minded games like the last two, Dallas will struggle because their defense is not quite the caliber of a Giants or Minnesota, and as far as Seattle goes, losing Earl Thomas is a huge blow and they felt that against the Packers. Completely different team when Thomas isn't out there.
And the rest of the field is coming on strong. The Giants are hot and have a Super Bowl caliber defense. The Lions are finding ways to win close games that they usually lose and appear headed for the playoffs. The Packers are still very much alive if they win out and get a bit of help. The Bucs are read hot and Atlanta is dangerous and has weapons galore offensively. Even Minnesota is still very much alive.
Now quickly to the Army/Navy game:
I generally root for Navy in that patriotic classic of a college football game, but hats off to the Black Knights for ending 15 years of misery at the hands of Navy. Navy has had a good year and can still end its season strong against Louisiana Tech in the Armed Forces Bowl, but you have to give credit to Jeff Monken and his Black Knights who had Navy on the ropes last year and couldn't quite finish. Army should win its bowl game as well against North Texas to finish 8-5; the Mean Green are anything but mean and aren't a good team.
Regardless, all those men are fighting for our country which I appreciate.
Finally, some quick hitters from the coaching ranks both in college and in the NFL.
- Starting with Jeff Fisher, I honestly can't believe he has held on to a head coaching job at the NFL level for this long. His teams haven't been good in years. The last good season he had was all the way back in 2008-09...with the Titans.
I don't blame the Rams for wanting Harbaugh but if I'm Harbaugh I stay at Michigan. NO way would I want to go coach for a team run by Stan Kroenke and his family. Kroenke is actually worse than Bob McNair and that's saying something.
- Good choice by UH to keep it in house and promote Applewhite in the wake of Herman's departure. It is a risk being that Major has never been a head coach before, but it's better than Lane Kiffin who only knows how to destroy programs as a head coach.
- Speaking of Lane, he left Alabama for...FAU? Florida Atlantic? Is he really that desperate? Given those choices I'd have stayed with Saban but to each his own.
Until next time....
Tuesday, December 13, 2016
Monday, November 14, 2016
11/14/2016: The Greatest Football Weekend So Far in 2016
So the last time I was with you guys, the college football season hadn't even KICKED OFF yet. The last time I was with you, I previewed that weekend's games. That Week One of college games was a great weekend, lived up to the hype.
But that wasn't the greatest weekend of football so far this year. This past weekend that we just got done with was. From college to the NFL, it was two days of pure bliss.
So much so, I'm not even going to wait for the Bengals/Giants game tonight to comment.
I've heard criticism of the NFL's ratings so far this year, and justifiably so. There have been a lot of factors that go into that.
Amongst those are the tumultuous election which we just got done with (and no I'm not telling you who I voted for, you don't come here to see me discuss politics), the national anthem Black Lives Matter protests instigated by Kaepernick which caused a number of fans to boycott the league (I won't give you my opinion on that either, but if you think that isn't a factor in ratings you are kidding yourself), but most notably, the terrible games. The first half of the season there have been some wretched football games.
I would be very surprised if after this weekend the NFL ratings don't improve greatly. If fans can't tune in to Cowboys/Steelers OR Patriots/Seahawks when both are great games, then fans really have lost interest and it's a shame. Those were great games.
On Cowboys/Steelers. I think we all know how far the Cowboys have come just this season. Seven straight wins after a week one loss to the football Giants. A great comeback against the Eagles when they were all but dead. A clutch win on the road in Washington. Blasting the Packers in Green Bay (then again who doesn't do that these days).
But that, that's a classic, season defining win against a team with championship pedigree and expectations. Prescott and "Zeke" Elliott didn't even BLINK when Big Ben nailed that fake spike play to Antonio Brown. As a side note, I haven't seen that play executed since Marino did it to the Jets in 1994. Very surprised more teams don't use that play.
But when Dallas got the ball back, crowd roaring, game on the line, they weren't the least bit intimidated. That was a clutch drive of all clutch drives. 35-30, Cowboys win, goodbye thanks for coming.
As for the Steelers, I get that the record is 4-5.
It's not time to panic about the Steelers. Not yet. Let's look at their last four losses. To Miami, who's won four in a row, after Big Ben got hurt. Lost to the Pats, without Big Ben. Lost to the Ravens, a division rival after Big Ben got back. And yesterday, to possibly one of the two best teams in the NFL. I heard a caller on Jim Rome this morning unload on Tomlin. Relax.
They're going to beat the Browns, get to 5-5, they'll beat the Colts on Thanksgiving to get to 6-5, and they'll go from there. Still a chance to win the division and get in the playoffs is all you need.
Is Dallas the team to beat on the NFC's road to the Super Bowl? Maybe not, because of this team called Seattle. You know, the Seahawks. The team that won the world title three years ago.
That's because last night, Seattle got some retribution for that crushing Super Bowl loss to the Patriots, and reminded everyone of their championship pedigree. Russell Wilson played his best game of the year last night and when it's usually Tom Brady time, four chances to force OT from the one yardline, Seattle's defense made a stand.
Only halfway through the season but at this point I'd be mildly surprised if Seattle and Dallas isn't for the NFC flag. That by the way has as much to do with how some other would-be contenders have been playing as it does with how Seattle and Dallas are tearing things up. Atlanta looks more pretender than contender. The Vikings are leaking oil. And the Packers, my God, the Packers, have so many issues. Can't run the ball. Can't stop anyone especially without Clay Matthews.
But the weekend of craziness didn't stop there. There was this game called Broncos/Saints and if you didn't see how it finished, you need to. The Saints had a potential win, literally, ripped right away from them on a seemingly simple extra point. Saints fans have to be heartbroken today.
As for the Broncos, well, when you win championships or contend for championships, you generally win those games more than you lose them. Elway like him or not has done as an executive exactly what he did as a player; create a championship culture.
Similarly, the Chiefs pulled off a theft yesterday in Carolina; anyone who saw any part of how that game went would tell you Kansas City had no business winning that ballgame, but fact is they did. They didn't score an offensive touchdown all day and still beat Cam Newton. In Charlotte. When it looked like Carolina was finally looking like themselves again.
If the Broncos are the team with the championship pedigree (they are) and the Raiders are the NFL's up and comer (they are), then the Chiefs are the NFL's Rodney Dangerfield, they get no respect as compared to those other two. Do you realize that KC has won 18 of its last 21 including playoffs?
Do they have enough to win it all? I'd say probably not, but when you win games in that fashion that's something special.
I can tell you that I'm pretty sure what's Bob McNair's worst nightmare Super Bowl. Denver vs Dallas in his building. Either his former coach Kubiak and his cohorts go back to back or your cross state rival wins its sixth championship and Cowboy fans pack the building (and believe me they will, this is a Cowboy state first and foremost).
All this NFL, and I haven't gotten into the craziness that was college football. You know, that whole deal where 2, 3 and 4 all got beat in the same weekend.
The college football rankings will be VERY interesting this week. Alabama is almost certainly the top team and the team to beat. Ohio State I would guess will be the second ranked team even though it doesn't control its own destiny. After that, who? Louisville, maybe?
Of all the top teams that got beat, Michigan surprised me the most. Then again, maybe I shouldn't be surprised. Michigan is the team that always has all the glitz, all the glamour, higher profile, yet they always find ways to lose games like they did Saturday night. And they're probably going to lose to Ohio State in Columbus too, considering that Urban Meyer doesn't lose big games. The only times Meyer loses are when he's a huge favorite. He won't be against Michigan, so I would expect a Buckeye win.
Funny thing is, if that happens, it's Penn State that has the inside track to the Big 10 title game. I think we all know who would win a second game between OSU and Penn State, but the one time Penn State could have beat them, they did. Will it keep OSU out of the playoffs? We'll see.
Oh and there's a pretty big game Thursday night here in town (those who know me, know I live in Houston). A team called Louisville is coming here with playoff implications. Oh and it's a pretty big audition for Tom Herman, a rising coaching star, in front of a national audience.
Until next time....
But that wasn't the greatest weekend of football so far this year. This past weekend that we just got done with was. From college to the NFL, it was two days of pure bliss.
So much so, I'm not even going to wait for the Bengals/Giants game tonight to comment.
I've heard criticism of the NFL's ratings so far this year, and justifiably so. There have been a lot of factors that go into that.
Amongst those are the tumultuous election which we just got done with (and no I'm not telling you who I voted for, you don't come here to see me discuss politics), the national anthem Black Lives Matter protests instigated by Kaepernick which caused a number of fans to boycott the league (I won't give you my opinion on that either, but if you think that isn't a factor in ratings you are kidding yourself), but most notably, the terrible games. The first half of the season there have been some wretched football games.
I would be very surprised if after this weekend the NFL ratings don't improve greatly. If fans can't tune in to Cowboys/Steelers OR Patriots/Seahawks when both are great games, then fans really have lost interest and it's a shame. Those were great games.
On Cowboys/Steelers. I think we all know how far the Cowboys have come just this season. Seven straight wins after a week one loss to the football Giants. A great comeback against the Eagles when they were all but dead. A clutch win on the road in Washington. Blasting the Packers in Green Bay (then again who doesn't do that these days).
But that, that's a classic, season defining win against a team with championship pedigree and expectations. Prescott and "Zeke" Elliott didn't even BLINK when Big Ben nailed that fake spike play to Antonio Brown. As a side note, I haven't seen that play executed since Marino did it to the Jets in 1994. Very surprised more teams don't use that play.
But when Dallas got the ball back, crowd roaring, game on the line, they weren't the least bit intimidated. That was a clutch drive of all clutch drives. 35-30, Cowboys win, goodbye thanks for coming.
As for the Steelers, I get that the record is 4-5.
It's not time to panic about the Steelers. Not yet. Let's look at their last four losses. To Miami, who's won four in a row, after Big Ben got hurt. Lost to the Pats, without Big Ben. Lost to the Ravens, a division rival after Big Ben got back. And yesterday, to possibly one of the two best teams in the NFL. I heard a caller on Jim Rome this morning unload on Tomlin. Relax.
They're going to beat the Browns, get to 5-5, they'll beat the Colts on Thanksgiving to get to 6-5, and they'll go from there. Still a chance to win the division and get in the playoffs is all you need.
Is Dallas the team to beat on the NFC's road to the Super Bowl? Maybe not, because of this team called Seattle. You know, the Seahawks. The team that won the world title three years ago.
That's because last night, Seattle got some retribution for that crushing Super Bowl loss to the Patriots, and reminded everyone of their championship pedigree. Russell Wilson played his best game of the year last night and when it's usually Tom Brady time, four chances to force OT from the one yardline, Seattle's defense made a stand.
Only halfway through the season but at this point I'd be mildly surprised if Seattle and Dallas isn't for the NFC flag. That by the way has as much to do with how some other would-be contenders have been playing as it does with how Seattle and Dallas are tearing things up. Atlanta looks more pretender than contender. The Vikings are leaking oil. And the Packers, my God, the Packers, have so many issues. Can't run the ball. Can't stop anyone especially without Clay Matthews.
But the weekend of craziness didn't stop there. There was this game called Broncos/Saints and if you didn't see how it finished, you need to. The Saints had a potential win, literally, ripped right away from them on a seemingly simple extra point. Saints fans have to be heartbroken today.
As for the Broncos, well, when you win championships or contend for championships, you generally win those games more than you lose them. Elway like him or not has done as an executive exactly what he did as a player; create a championship culture.
Similarly, the Chiefs pulled off a theft yesterday in Carolina; anyone who saw any part of how that game went would tell you Kansas City had no business winning that ballgame, but fact is they did. They didn't score an offensive touchdown all day and still beat Cam Newton. In Charlotte. When it looked like Carolina was finally looking like themselves again.
If the Broncos are the team with the championship pedigree (they are) and the Raiders are the NFL's up and comer (they are), then the Chiefs are the NFL's Rodney Dangerfield, they get no respect as compared to those other two. Do you realize that KC has won 18 of its last 21 including playoffs?
Do they have enough to win it all? I'd say probably not, but when you win games in that fashion that's something special.
I can tell you that I'm pretty sure what's Bob McNair's worst nightmare Super Bowl. Denver vs Dallas in his building. Either his former coach Kubiak and his cohorts go back to back or your cross state rival wins its sixth championship and Cowboy fans pack the building (and believe me they will, this is a Cowboy state first and foremost).
All this NFL, and I haven't gotten into the craziness that was college football. You know, that whole deal where 2, 3 and 4 all got beat in the same weekend.
The college football rankings will be VERY interesting this week. Alabama is almost certainly the top team and the team to beat. Ohio State I would guess will be the second ranked team even though it doesn't control its own destiny. After that, who? Louisville, maybe?
Of all the top teams that got beat, Michigan surprised me the most. Then again, maybe I shouldn't be surprised. Michigan is the team that always has all the glitz, all the glamour, higher profile, yet they always find ways to lose games like they did Saturday night. And they're probably going to lose to Ohio State in Columbus too, considering that Urban Meyer doesn't lose big games. The only times Meyer loses are when he's a huge favorite. He won't be against Michigan, so I would expect a Buckeye win.
Funny thing is, if that happens, it's Penn State that has the inside track to the Big 10 title game. I think we all know who would win a second game between OSU and Penn State, but the one time Penn State could have beat them, they did. Will it keep OSU out of the playoffs? We'll see.
Oh and there's a pretty big game Thursday night here in town (those who know me, know I live in Houston). A team called Louisville is coming here with playoff implications. Oh and it's a pretty big audition for Tom Herman, a rising coaching star, in front of a national audience.
Until next time....
Thursday, September 1, 2016
Happy College Football Opening Day 9/1/16
We are in the month of September, and it's Thursday before Labor Day, and if it's Thursday before Labor Day then you know what that means.
You can smell stuff on the grill a few days out, baseball pennant races are heating up, kids are back in school...and oh, speaking of school...
College Football is here. I think I speak for every person who cares about the sport and reads this blog when we say, Thank the Good Lord.
Granted, the slate of games over the next night or two isn't that appealing, but honestly, are we going to complain? Really? When we haven't had meaningful football in about seven months?
That said, the networks are calling it the best slate of games on an opening weekend maybe ever. I can't say I disagree. For those who have been living under a rock, the weekend is LOADED and will play a significant impact on the College Football Playoff scene.
Just from Saturday to Monday, you have: Oklahoma at Houston, top 15 matchup (and UH's biggest football game maybe ever, right here in my current hometown). LSU/Wisconsin. Texas A&M/UCLA. Georgia/North Carolina. USC/Alabama. Clemson/Auburn. Notre Dame/Texas Sunday. And FSU/Ole Miss on Monday.
That doesn't even include Stanford on Friday night, who opens their season at home against Bill Snyder and Kansas State.
I could come out here and give you my conference title predictions and everything else, but I won't. Instead, I think I'll focus my attention on this weekend. That's going to be tough enough, I think.
Even though tonight's just an appetizer, I think I'll start with some of tonight's games. South Carolina at Vanderbilt is the big matchup on the ESPN networks tonight, and what strikes me is that it's going to be so weird for those who watch this game to not see Spurrier on the sidelines. He'd become a fixture at South Carolina...now the hotheaded Will Muschamp is in charge.
I think they got a taste of it last year but it's really going to hit home for South Carolina tonight: They are going to miss Spurrier more than even they realize. I pick Vandy to win tonight at home...which isn't a surprise...certainly the money is with them tonight as they've gone from a 3.5 to a 5.5 point favorite.
Couple of Nebraska's Big 10 mates start action tonight...Minnesota and Indiana. Both are big favorites...one at home and one on the road. Nebraska plays both this year so it will be interesting to see how both these teams play.
Tennessee also takes the field for the first time tonight as a three touchdown favorite. Is this the season the Vols FINALLY live up to the hype? That's all we ever hear from them is this is the year they are finally going to have that breakout year. Certainly the money is going slightly towards Tennessee tonight...they started as a 20 point favorite and now it's up to 21.
Friday's got a few decent matchups...Colorado State and Colorado (how in the world is Colorado a 9 point favorite there), Kansas State and Stanford (I think we all agree Stanford will win but I'll be interested to see how they play because Snyder teams always play tough), and Toledo and Arkansas State.
And then comes Saturday through Monday. Everyone is in action but these are the big matchups and my take:
Oklahoma vs Houston (at NRG Stadium): Without question the biggest football game UH has played in many a decade. After ending the season with just one loss in 2015 and defeating Florida State in a New Year's Six game, the Cougars now take aim at Oklahoma with any chances of competing for a national title on the line. Meanwhile, Oklahoma starts the season ranked No. 3...but remember, the last time OU started a season ranked really high, they lost five games.
My take is that UH's chances rest on their quarterback Greg Ward. He is a dual threat run-pass option, similar to Deshaun Watson at Clemson who nearly captured the title a year ago. If UH is to have any shot at the upset, Ward is the key. I also think that the no respect card is something UH coach Herman can play...it seems that not many think that highly of UH's chances. The line started at 10 and has gone up to 12 points with OU being the favorite.
I pick Oklahoma for the win, but I think they will have to work really hard to leave with a win. Houston will most definitely keep it within 12.
UCLA at Texas A&M: This is the 2:30 game Central on CBS at Kyle Field, with A&M a slight favorite likely due to the home field advantage. UCLA does have the edge quarterback wise when you look at who the two starting quarterbacks are. Josh Rosen is a true sophomore who likely will be a very high NFL draft pick in a couple years while Texas A&M has Trevor Knight, who transferred from Oklahoma after he lost his quarterback job to Baker Mayfield.
A big subplot in this game is that new A&M offensive coordinator Noel Mazzone spent several years on Jim Mora Jr.'s coaching staff at UCLA and I'm sure that's part of why Vegas thinks A&M has the edge, but I'll give you another reason why A&M's going to win Saturday: The heat and humidity. It's going to be 90 degrees outside and humid. Let's see if the California boys like the Texas heat and humidity.
LSU vs Wisconsin at Lambeau Field, 2:30 p.m. ABC: Lambeau Field is the site for College GameDay this coming Saturday and this showdown, as it should be. Two very good teams playing in a historic venue.
That said, Leonard Fournette's ankle seems to be OK (there were concerns about his ankle during LSU camp), and if it is, I don't see LSU being stopped. I see them winning by somewhere around the spread line, which is 10.5. Wisconsin sometimes overachieves in these games, but LSU is a near consensus top 10 team in pretty much every poll there is and a few magazines have both them and Alabama as playoff teams. What is key is they get their top contenders for the West, both Alabama and Ole Miss, coming to Baton Rouge this year.
I also think a big factor is that Dave Aranda, the new LSU defensive coordinator, knows everything Wisconsin does. They will be ready to play.
Georgia vs North Carolina in Atlanta, 4:30 p.m.: Another good matchup this one of top 20 teams (in various polls). This should be a barnburner mainly because both teams are healthy coming into the season and Nick Chubb appears to be ready to go for Georgia after a brutal knee injury at Tennessee ended his season last year.
Georgia is favored by 2.5 mainly because of the Atlanta factor I'm sure and that there will be a lot of Dawg fans in the building. I pick Georgia, but I feel the game could go either way.
USC vs Alabama in Dallas, 7 p.m. ABC: Of all the top tier matchups this one might have the most tradition involved. USC and Alabama, two of (in my view) the top five programs of all time in college football (the others being Oklahoma, Ohio State and Notre Dame).
This one's also been the battle of t-shirts. USC's student bookstore started the whole thing when they poked fun at Alabama with the ever witty, clever, "Roll Tears Roll" shirt.
And in response, Alabama eviscerated them with this shirt:
Yeah, I bet you wish you didn't start that fight, USC. Not that the shirt isn't controversial. However if you're going to come with a Roll Tears Roll blast you better be ready for some backlash.
That's pretty similar to what will happen on the field Saturday. USC may be back at that level some day, but Saturday Alabama will roll as they usually do first game of a new season. I think Alabama is favored by 11.5 and I don't think that's going to be enough. They will win by three touchdowns.
Clemson at Auburn 8 p.m. ESPN: An interesting test for the runners up from last year, going to Auburn to open their season. Meanwhile, Auburn two years after coming within a whisker of a national championship is trying to reclaim that magic.
That said, Clemson is going to win this game and I think may win the game convincingly. I thought it might be a tougher game for Clemson until I saw who is out of this game for Auburn.
This is a bad time for Auburn to be playing Clemson considering the deep threats Clemson has and the bodies Auburn is missing in the secondary. Jamel Dean, out with a knee injury. Stephen Roberts, out due to suspension. Marshall Taylor, undisclosed injury. Jeremiah Dinson, still recovering from a serious knee injury suffered last year against A&M.
BYU vs Arizona at Glendale, 9:30 p.m. Fox Sports 1: Amidst all the matchups I touched on above, this one's an underrated matchup that won't be noticed by those of us not on the West Coast. BYU tends to be pretty tough early on in the season: they clobbered Texas two straight years and beat NU last year in Lincoln on the Memorial Miracle, as it's been dubbed by BYU fans.
Arizona started as a slight favorite but thanks to the people and their money the Cougars are now the favorite. The only thing I'm going to predict about this game is that with all the offensive firepower these teams have this game may not get over before 1:30 a.m. Central time.
Notre Dame at Texas, 6:30 p.m. Sunday ABC: A very important early season game for both teams. Notre Dame not long ago had six players arrested on two different arrests. One of those players, Max Redfield was dismissed from the program and another, Devin Butler, was suspended. I am not sure of the status for the other four players.
Meanwhile, Texas has had a relatively quiet offseason and is quietly healthy coming in. This is without question a make or break year for Strong. He's been under .500 his first two years and that team MUST be improved or he will be gone. He doesn't have to win the Big 12 this year but that team must compete. I think it is for that reason, and because it's a revenge game after Texas got blasted a year ago up in South Bend, why Texas will win this game at home. Notre Dame is a slight favorite but I'm taking the Horns.
Ole Miss vs Florida State in Orlando, 7 p.m. Monday ESPN: Florida State is expected to be a national title contender this season; they open as a near consensus top 10 team and a litany of polls have them as a top 5 team. They also open the season in Orlando where they generally have success; over the last 60 some-odd years, FSU has played in Orlando 10 times and has not lost. That, along with Ole Miss being a green team, means they're good for this game right?
Not so fast.
Florida State's injury list reads like one of those long receipts you get when you go to the grocery store and you have to get a ton of things. They have major injury issues at offensive line, wide receiver, quarterback, secondary. Sean Maguire was going to be their starting QB but he's not going to play in this game and Ole Miss has a guy named Chad Kelly who can sling the football around.
Ole Miss has some question marks themselves; it's a very young team and they have a few key injuries namely at left tackle and safety. That said, even though FSU is the favorite, I feel this game is very winnable for the Rebels if they play a good game. I am taking them for the outright upset in fact. If that happens, then if Florida State beats Clemson in late October, the ACC will likely be out of the playoff picture.
A few final notes to touch on:
First of all, Colin Kaepernick situation. It's all over the news, and not just sports news. The only thing I'm going to say about this is, I don't necessarily disagree with his views but that is not a platform he should be using to espouse his views, in my opinion. It's the very same reason I got sick of Bob Costas years ago.
In another college football note, Penn State is to honor the 50th anniversary of Joe Paterno's first football game on Saturday. My question is, why?
Astros have pushed Dallas Keuchel's scheduled start at Arlington (key little baseball series this weekend, by the way) because of fatigue. Man, what a difference a year makes. A year ago, they wouldn't have pushed one of his starts back for any reason at all. He started the AL Wild Card game last year on three days' rest in New York.
It begins a grueling 13 game stretch for the local nine: six games against the Rangers, four at Cleveland and three at home against the Cubs.
Meanwhile, memo to the National League: Things in orange and blue are much more dangerous than they appear. The New York Mets, despite toiling in mediocrity for much of this season, are now starting to heat up and I can assure you they are the last team that anyone in the NL wants to see in the playoffs.
Whew, what a blog!
Until next time....
You can smell stuff on the grill a few days out, baseball pennant races are heating up, kids are back in school...and oh, speaking of school...
College Football is here. I think I speak for every person who cares about the sport and reads this blog when we say, Thank the Good Lord.
Granted, the slate of games over the next night or two isn't that appealing, but honestly, are we going to complain? Really? When we haven't had meaningful football in about seven months?
That said, the networks are calling it the best slate of games on an opening weekend maybe ever. I can't say I disagree. For those who have been living under a rock, the weekend is LOADED and will play a significant impact on the College Football Playoff scene.
Just from Saturday to Monday, you have: Oklahoma at Houston, top 15 matchup (and UH's biggest football game maybe ever, right here in my current hometown). LSU/Wisconsin. Texas A&M/UCLA. Georgia/North Carolina. USC/Alabama. Clemson/Auburn. Notre Dame/Texas Sunday. And FSU/Ole Miss on Monday.
That doesn't even include Stanford on Friday night, who opens their season at home against Bill Snyder and Kansas State.
I could come out here and give you my conference title predictions and everything else, but I won't. Instead, I think I'll focus my attention on this weekend. That's going to be tough enough, I think.
Even though tonight's just an appetizer, I think I'll start with some of tonight's games. South Carolina at Vanderbilt is the big matchup on the ESPN networks tonight, and what strikes me is that it's going to be so weird for those who watch this game to not see Spurrier on the sidelines. He'd become a fixture at South Carolina...now the hotheaded Will Muschamp is in charge.
I think they got a taste of it last year but it's really going to hit home for South Carolina tonight: They are going to miss Spurrier more than even they realize. I pick Vandy to win tonight at home...which isn't a surprise...certainly the money is with them tonight as they've gone from a 3.5 to a 5.5 point favorite.
Couple of Nebraska's Big 10 mates start action tonight...Minnesota and Indiana. Both are big favorites...one at home and one on the road. Nebraska plays both this year so it will be interesting to see how both these teams play.
Tennessee also takes the field for the first time tonight as a three touchdown favorite. Is this the season the Vols FINALLY live up to the hype? That's all we ever hear from them is this is the year they are finally going to have that breakout year. Certainly the money is going slightly towards Tennessee tonight...they started as a 20 point favorite and now it's up to 21.
Friday's got a few decent matchups...Colorado State and Colorado (how in the world is Colorado a 9 point favorite there), Kansas State and Stanford (I think we all agree Stanford will win but I'll be interested to see how they play because Snyder teams always play tough), and Toledo and Arkansas State.
And then comes Saturday through Monday. Everyone is in action but these are the big matchups and my take:
Oklahoma vs Houston (at NRG Stadium): Without question the biggest football game UH has played in many a decade. After ending the season with just one loss in 2015 and defeating Florida State in a New Year's Six game, the Cougars now take aim at Oklahoma with any chances of competing for a national title on the line. Meanwhile, Oklahoma starts the season ranked No. 3...but remember, the last time OU started a season ranked really high, they lost five games.
My take is that UH's chances rest on their quarterback Greg Ward. He is a dual threat run-pass option, similar to Deshaun Watson at Clemson who nearly captured the title a year ago. If UH is to have any shot at the upset, Ward is the key. I also think that the no respect card is something UH coach Herman can play...it seems that not many think that highly of UH's chances. The line started at 10 and has gone up to 12 points with OU being the favorite.
I pick Oklahoma for the win, but I think they will have to work really hard to leave with a win. Houston will most definitely keep it within 12.
UCLA at Texas A&M: This is the 2:30 game Central on CBS at Kyle Field, with A&M a slight favorite likely due to the home field advantage. UCLA does have the edge quarterback wise when you look at who the two starting quarterbacks are. Josh Rosen is a true sophomore who likely will be a very high NFL draft pick in a couple years while Texas A&M has Trevor Knight, who transferred from Oklahoma after he lost his quarterback job to Baker Mayfield.
A big subplot in this game is that new A&M offensive coordinator Noel Mazzone spent several years on Jim Mora Jr.'s coaching staff at UCLA and I'm sure that's part of why Vegas thinks A&M has the edge, but I'll give you another reason why A&M's going to win Saturday: The heat and humidity. It's going to be 90 degrees outside and humid. Let's see if the California boys like the Texas heat and humidity.
LSU vs Wisconsin at Lambeau Field, 2:30 p.m. ABC: Lambeau Field is the site for College GameDay this coming Saturday and this showdown, as it should be. Two very good teams playing in a historic venue.
That said, Leonard Fournette's ankle seems to be OK (there were concerns about his ankle during LSU camp), and if it is, I don't see LSU being stopped. I see them winning by somewhere around the spread line, which is 10.5. Wisconsin sometimes overachieves in these games, but LSU is a near consensus top 10 team in pretty much every poll there is and a few magazines have both them and Alabama as playoff teams. What is key is they get their top contenders for the West, both Alabama and Ole Miss, coming to Baton Rouge this year.
I also think a big factor is that Dave Aranda, the new LSU defensive coordinator, knows everything Wisconsin does. They will be ready to play.
Georgia vs North Carolina in Atlanta, 4:30 p.m.: Another good matchup this one of top 20 teams (in various polls). This should be a barnburner mainly because both teams are healthy coming into the season and Nick Chubb appears to be ready to go for Georgia after a brutal knee injury at Tennessee ended his season last year.
Georgia is favored by 2.5 mainly because of the Atlanta factor I'm sure and that there will be a lot of Dawg fans in the building. I pick Georgia, but I feel the game could go either way.
USC vs Alabama in Dallas, 7 p.m. ABC: Of all the top tier matchups this one might have the most tradition involved. USC and Alabama, two of (in my view) the top five programs of all time in college football (the others being Oklahoma, Ohio State and Notre Dame).
This one's also been the battle of t-shirts. USC's student bookstore started the whole thing when they poked fun at Alabama with the ever witty, clever, "Roll Tears Roll" shirt.
And in response, Alabama eviscerated them with this shirt:
That's pretty similar to what will happen on the field Saturday. USC may be back at that level some day, but Saturday Alabama will roll as they usually do first game of a new season. I think Alabama is favored by 11.5 and I don't think that's going to be enough. They will win by three touchdowns.
Clemson at Auburn 8 p.m. ESPN: An interesting test for the runners up from last year, going to Auburn to open their season. Meanwhile, Auburn two years after coming within a whisker of a national championship is trying to reclaim that magic.
That said, Clemson is going to win this game and I think may win the game convincingly. I thought it might be a tougher game for Clemson until I saw who is out of this game for Auburn.
This is a bad time for Auburn to be playing Clemson considering the deep threats Clemson has and the bodies Auburn is missing in the secondary. Jamel Dean, out with a knee injury. Stephen Roberts, out due to suspension. Marshall Taylor, undisclosed injury. Jeremiah Dinson, still recovering from a serious knee injury suffered last year against A&M.
BYU vs Arizona at Glendale, 9:30 p.m. Fox Sports 1: Amidst all the matchups I touched on above, this one's an underrated matchup that won't be noticed by those of us not on the West Coast. BYU tends to be pretty tough early on in the season: they clobbered Texas two straight years and beat NU last year in Lincoln on the Memorial Miracle, as it's been dubbed by BYU fans.
Arizona started as a slight favorite but thanks to the people and their money the Cougars are now the favorite. The only thing I'm going to predict about this game is that with all the offensive firepower these teams have this game may not get over before 1:30 a.m. Central time.
Notre Dame at Texas, 6:30 p.m. Sunday ABC: A very important early season game for both teams. Notre Dame not long ago had six players arrested on two different arrests. One of those players, Max Redfield was dismissed from the program and another, Devin Butler, was suspended. I am not sure of the status for the other four players.
Meanwhile, Texas has had a relatively quiet offseason and is quietly healthy coming in. This is without question a make or break year for Strong. He's been under .500 his first two years and that team MUST be improved or he will be gone. He doesn't have to win the Big 12 this year but that team must compete. I think it is for that reason, and because it's a revenge game after Texas got blasted a year ago up in South Bend, why Texas will win this game at home. Notre Dame is a slight favorite but I'm taking the Horns.
Ole Miss vs Florida State in Orlando, 7 p.m. Monday ESPN: Florida State is expected to be a national title contender this season; they open as a near consensus top 10 team and a litany of polls have them as a top 5 team. They also open the season in Orlando where they generally have success; over the last 60 some-odd years, FSU has played in Orlando 10 times and has not lost. That, along with Ole Miss being a green team, means they're good for this game right?
Not so fast.
Florida State's injury list reads like one of those long receipts you get when you go to the grocery store and you have to get a ton of things. They have major injury issues at offensive line, wide receiver, quarterback, secondary. Sean Maguire was going to be their starting QB but he's not going to play in this game and Ole Miss has a guy named Chad Kelly who can sling the football around.
Ole Miss has some question marks themselves; it's a very young team and they have a few key injuries namely at left tackle and safety. That said, even though FSU is the favorite, I feel this game is very winnable for the Rebels if they play a good game. I am taking them for the outright upset in fact. If that happens, then if Florida State beats Clemson in late October, the ACC will likely be out of the playoff picture.
A few final notes to touch on:
First of all, Colin Kaepernick situation. It's all over the news, and not just sports news. The only thing I'm going to say about this is, I don't necessarily disagree with his views but that is not a platform he should be using to espouse his views, in my opinion. It's the very same reason I got sick of Bob Costas years ago.
In another college football note, Penn State is to honor the 50th anniversary of Joe Paterno's first football game on Saturday. My question is, why?
Astros have pushed Dallas Keuchel's scheduled start at Arlington (key little baseball series this weekend, by the way) because of fatigue. Man, what a difference a year makes. A year ago, they wouldn't have pushed one of his starts back for any reason at all. He started the AL Wild Card game last year on three days' rest in New York.
It begins a grueling 13 game stretch for the local nine: six games against the Rangers, four at Cleveland and three at home against the Cubs.
Meanwhile, memo to the National League: Things in orange and blue are much more dangerous than they appear. The New York Mets, despite toiling in mediocrity for much of this season, are now starting to heat up and I can assure you they are the last team that anyone in the NL wants to see in the playoffs.
Whew, what a blog!
Until next time....
Saturday, July 2, 2016
Happy Fourth of July Weekend, Blog post 7/2/16
Well, once again, it's been a while since I was with you. The last time I was with you, we'd just come off the NCAA basketball championship game...one of the best games I've seen in my lifetime for sure. Since then, a lot has happened and a lot more Cinderella stories have come to fruition.
However, this is still a football blog, first and foremost, so that's where I think I will start.
And in particular, I'm going to start with what's going on with Von Miller and the Broncos. Von Miller holding up the Denver Broncos franchise is not some new novelty; this has been going on for quite some time.
In fact, this thing has been simmering all offseason; as recently as April, the Broncos and Miller were 20 million dollars apart in contract negotiations. See, Von Miller after a five year run which includes four Pro Bowls, two first team All-Pro appearances, 60 sacks, 6.5 playoff sacks and a Super Bowl win, Von Miller wants to be the highest paid defensive player in the NFL. The problem is, the Elway-led Broncos don't like to overpay for players; we saw that with Osweiler. If history repeats then Elway will almost certainly not overpay for Miller.
Then, a few weeks ago on Jun. 16, the day of Game 6 of the NBA Finals, Miller took to Instagram to deliver this message. That he loved his teammates, coaches and fans, but that there was no way he would play in 2016 under the franchise tag.
So far, neither side is blinking and it's July. Training camp is right around the corner. The world champs have a lot of problems other than #58 (namely Mark Sanchez being the quarterback), but right now the Miller story is almost certainly at the top of Denver fans' concerns. Miller almost certainly saw Eagles defensive player Fletcher Cox get a 6 year extension worth 103M and he's thinking about mean green.
Now, on to other major sports stories such as...
Well, the NBA Finals, for one thing. Two things come to mind two weeks into Cleveland's first championship in 52 years. The first thing is, whether you love or hate Lebron James, you have to respect Lebron James. The fact that anyone could get to six NBA Finals and win three championships is astounding. I watched Michael Jordan in his prime and he didn't come close to pulling off the feat Lebron pulled off in these NBA Finals.
At one point during the Cavs comeback, which was from three games to one down against the 73 win Golden State Warriors, and included the seventh game win on the road, I thought to myself, perhaps this is the way the 52 year Cleveland drought had to end. It had to end in the most dramatic way possible, in a decisive game, on the road, coming back from impossible odds against a historically great team.
As for the Warriors, I think it will be a while before they get back to the top of the mountain. They'll still be a great team and win a lot of games, but there's no way that sort of loss they suffered in the NBA Finals can't have an affect on them. You don't suffer that sort of loss without some hangover effect. The early prediction here says that if Kevin Durant re-ups with the Thunder, they are the favorite in my book to win the NBA title in 2017. If not them, then probably Cleveland if Lebron returns.
Oh and Ayesha Curry, Stephen Curry's wife should be made to delete her twitter account. Twitter is seriously the biggest loaded gun ever. It's great for news, but that place also tends to bring out the idiot in a lot of people. After the Cavs won game 6, Ayesha was on Twitter claiming the NBA was "rigged."
This is coming from someone who has internally questioned the fairness of the NBA for years, Ayesha needs to 1. have her account deleted and 2. keep her mouth shut. There have been a lot of questionable events in NBA history but this was not one of them. Golden State not only got beat they got beat fair and square. In games 5 and 6 they got hammered.
Staying with the NBA and the beginning of free agency, the big theme so far has been massive, max contracts. Guys like Chandler Parsons, Dwight Howard, Mike Conley and DeMar DeRozan and others are getting paid massive contracts. Of those four, I think only DeRozan really deserves that sort of money. I can't imagine what Durant and Lebron's contracts will be like when they get done.
On to golf now and the US Open. Sure, we've seen PGA tournaments since the Oakmonster and the Bridgestone is going on this weekend in Lebron James' hometown. But I'm not sure I've seen anything quite like what happened with Dustin Johnson at Oakmont. Just as a matter of record, I've never been a huge Dustin Johnson fan, but I became one after Oakmont. I was so impressed with how Dustin handled himself considering how much the USGA tried to screw him over. You want to talk about someone who could easily have complained about a bad call and I wouldn't blame him, this was the guy. You can read more about the incident here: Dustin
First of all, on the controversial sequence that happened at 5 on Sunday, Jun. 19, Dustin never hit the ball from what I saw. Dustin even told officials he never hit the ball. And I'll repeat something David Feherty said on the Jim Rome show the Monday after the US Open and that is that golf is a gentleman's game of honor. If the guy says he didn't hit the ball you have to take him at his word. Even worse, is that officials said they were going to wait till the end of Dustin's round to decide whether they were going to penalize him. What a load of poppycock.
Dustin Johnson's PGA win may have been a harbinger of good things to come for his alma mater, Coastal Carolina University because on Thursday in Omaha, the small commuter school from Conway, South Carolina won the College World Series, beating Arizona to claim its first NCAA title in any sport. Get a load of this; as improbable as it sounds that Coastal Freaking Carolina University has an NCAA title in baseball, take a look at the run they had to get through to win it all. They had to beat:
NC State @ NC State (down to their last STRIKE in regionals)
LSU @ LSU. Yes, THE LSU. College baseball power, six time national champs, AT LSU
Overall #1 seed Florida (Florida eventually went 2 and out in Omaha)
#5 seed Texas Tech in an elimination game
TCU who has been to the CWS four times in the last seven years and they had to do it twice
Arizona Wildcats, baseball power, four time national champs and had to do it twice to win it all
What an impressive run. They are just the latest Cinderella story in a 12 months that's been full of them. Such great sports stories include the Kansas City Royals as World Champs, Leicester City Football Club as English Barclays Premier League soccer champs and Cleveland becoming champs for the first time since 1964 amongst others.
Until next time...
However, this is still a football blog, first and foremost, so that's where I think I will start.
And in particular, I'm going to start with what's going on with Von Miller and the Broncos. Von Miller holding up the Denver Broncos franchise is not some new novelty; this has been going on for quite some time.
In fact, this thing has been simmering all offseason; as recently as April, the Broncos and Miller were 20 million dollars apart in contract negotiations. See, Von Miller after a five year run which includes four Pro Bowls, two first team All-Pro appearances, 60 sacks, 6.5 playoff sacks and a Super Bowl win, Von Miller wants to be the highest paid defensive player in the NFL. The problem is, the Elway-led Broncos don't like to overpay for players; we saw that with Osweiler. If history repeats then Elway will almost certainly not overpay for Miller.
Then, a few weeks ago on Jun. 16, the day of Game 6 of the NBA Finals, Miller took to Instagram to deliver this message. That he loved his teammates, coaches and fans, but that there was no way he would play in 2016 under the franchise tag.
So far, neither side is blinking and it's July. Training camp is right around the corner. The world champs have a lot of problems other than #58 (namely Mark Sanchez being the quarterback), but right now the Miller story is almost certainly at the top of Denver fans' concerns. Miller almost certainly saw Eagles defensive player Fletcher Cox get a 6 year extension worth 103M and he's thinking about mean green.
Now, on to other major sports stories such as...
Well, the NBA Finals, for one thing. Two things come to mind two weeks into Cleveland's first championship in 52 years. The first thing is, whether you love or hate Lebron James, you have to respect Lebron James. The fact that anyone could get to six NBA Finals and win three championships is astounding. I watched Michael Jordan in his prime and he didn't come close to pulling off the feat Lebron pulled off in these NBA Finals.
At one point during the Cavs comeback, which was from three games to one down against the 73 win Golden State Warriors, and included the seventh game win on the road, I thought to myself, perhaps this is the way the 52 year Cleveland drought had to end. It had to end in the most dramatic way possible, in a decisive game, on the road, coming back from impossible odds against a historically great team.
As for the Warriors, I think it will be a while before they get back to the top of the mountain. They'll still be a great team and win a lot of games, but there's no way that sort of loss they suffered in the NBA Finals can't have an affect on them. You don't suffer that sort of loss without some hangover effect. The early prediction here says that if Kevin Durant re-ups with the Thunder, they are the favorite in my book to win the NBA title in 2017. If not them, then probably Cleveland if Lebron returns.
Oh and Ayesha Curry, Stephen Curry's wife should be made to delete her twitter account. Twitter is seriously the biggest loaded gun ever. It's great for news, but that place also tends to bring out the idiot in a lot of people. After the Cavs won game 6, Ayesha was on Twitter claiming the NBA was "rigged."
This is coming from someone who has internally questioned the fairness of the NBA for years, Ayesha needs to 1. have her account deleted and 2. keep her mouth shut. There have been a lot of questionable events in NBA history but this was not one of them. Golden State not only got beat they got beat fair and square. In games 5 and 6 they got hammered.
Staying with the NBA and the beginning of free agency, the big theme so far has been massive, max contracts. Guys like Chandler Parsons, Dwight Howard, Mike Conley and DeMar DeRozan and others are getting paid massive contracts. Of those four, I think only DeRozan really deserves that sort of money. I can't imagine what Durant and Lebron's contracts will be like when they get done.
On to golf now and the US Open. Sure, we've seen PGA tournaments since the Oakmonster and the Bridgestone is going on this weekend in Lebron James' hometown. But I'm not sure I've seen anything quite like what happened with Dustin Johnson at Oakmont. Just as a matter of record, I've never been a huge Dustin Johnson fan, but I became one after Oakmont. I was so impressed with how Dustin handled himself considering how much the USGA tried to screw him over. You want to talk about someone who could easily have complained about a bad call and I wouldn't blame him, this was the guy. You can read more about the incident here: Dustin
First of all, on the controversial sequence that happened at 5 on Sunday, Jun. 19, Dustin never hit the ball from what I saw. Dustin even told officials he never hit the ball. And I'll repeat something David Feherty said on the Jim Rome show the Monday after the US Open and that is that golf is a gentleman's game of honor. If the guy says he didn't hit the ball you have to take him at his word. Even worse, is that officials said they were going to wait till the end of Dustin's round to decide whether they were going to penalize him. What a load of poppycock.
Dustin Johnson's PGA win may have been a harbinger of good things to come for his alma mater, Coastal Carolina University because on Thursday in Omaha, the small commuter school from Conway, South Carolina won the College World Series, beating Arizona to claim its first NCAA title in any sport. Get a load of this; as improbable as it sounds that Coastal Freaking Carolina University has an NCAA title in baseball, take a look at the run they had to get through to win it all. They had to beat:
NC State @ NC State (down to their last STRIKE in regionals)
LSU @ LSU. Yes, THE LSU. College baseball power, six time national champs, AT LSU
Overall #1 seed Florida (Florida eventually went 2 and out in Omaha)
#5 seed Texas Tech in an elimination game
TCU who has been to the CWS four times in the last seven years and they had to do it twice
Arizona Wildcats, baseball power, four time national champs and had to do it twice to win it all
What an impressive run. They are just the latest Cinderella story in a 12 months that's been full of them. Such great sports stories include the Kansas City Royals as World Champs, Leicester City Football Club as English Barclays Premier League soccer champs and Cleveland becoming champs for the first time since 1964 amongst others.
Until next time...
Wednesday, April 6, 2016
The Easy E Sports Blog NCAA Tournament Awards and Potpourri
Been a while since I did this. Let's see if I still have what it takes, haha.
So the last time I was with you, the Super Bowl hadn't even been played. Here we are and baseball has started, March Madness came to a dramatic end, the Broncos are Super Bowl champs and the Masters is 24 hours away.
That in mind, welcome to a very special edition of the blog for Apr. 6, 2016, and it includes a first. Tournament awards. Now obviously, I can't give these awards sitting in a chair in suburban Houston and it's not the Grammys or Oscars or anything like that, but a friend of mine came up with the idea for best game, best run etc. so that's where this idea emanated from. So without further adieu, I give you the first ever Easy E Tournament Awards.
Best Shot: This one is no question a slam dunk. Kris Jenkins, welcome to your moment that you will remember for the rest of your life. The amazing thing is, for about a five minute stretch, I thought Marcus Paige was going to get something like this. That double clutch, off balance shot was one of the most unreal things I've seen in a college basketball game...and it got eclipsed!
Roy Williams screwed up on the final sequence no doubt by not guarding the inbounds pass (where have Duke and Kentucky fans seen that before...1992, hint hint) but Jenkins still had to make the shot with everything on the line and he did. What a game and what a shot. If I were picking a close second, Northern Iowa would have to get this nod for the half court heave against UT.
Best Game: Again, a no brainer, the title game gets this award. Not only was this the best game of the tournament, it was one of the best NCAA tournament games anyone will ever see. I'm sure some older fans will argue NC State/Houston 1983, Villanova/Georgetown 1985, Indiana/Syracuse 1987, Duke/Kentucky 1992 (still considered by many the best college basketball game ever played), Arkansas/Duke 1994, UConn/Duke 1999, Memphis/Kansas 2008, or Butler/Duke 2010. But this one could play with any of them.
For one thing, these were CLEARLY the two best teams in the country. With the exception of the Memphis/Kansas game (great game in its own right), these teams dismantled everyone they played on the road to the title game.
They were also very evenly matched teams that had toughness and the will to win that is necessary to win titles. Every time both teams got backed into a corner they came out swinging and that was especially true of North Carolina; down 10 late it appeared they were cooked but Marcus Paige got hot and UNC found about its fifth wind of the night. This is one of the rare games where there were no losers in the game.
Biggest Man: Speaking of Marcus Paige, that's where I want to go next. The award for the guy who manned up the most goes to him. For a guy that took such a crushing defeat and had his potential national title moment ripped away from him by Jenkins, Paige showed a lot of grace and dignity in defeat...unlike a certain player who calls North Carolina home (looking at you, Cam Newton). In the postgame press conference, Paige stood at the mic and answered all the questions and he did so even though a title eluded him in the most crushing of ways. I am anything but a UNC basketball fan for a lot of reasons but Cam Newton could take a few lessons from Mr. Paige. A slight nod goes to Tom Izzo who, similarly after the massive first round loss to MTSU also stood at the podium and answered the questions, gave Middle Tennessee its due credit and said goodbye to his seniors.
Biggest Underachiever: To me, this award sadly has to go to Xavier. Chris Mack and the Musketeers had an excellent season all year and went 27-5 before the tournament. Some people thought they could be a darkhorse to beat UNC before they got to Houston. I didn't necessarily think that but I thought Sweet 16 would at least be in the cards. Instead they lost to an average Wisconsin team that got beat by Nebraska in the Big 10 tournament. I get that one game is one game, but that cannot happen.
A close second would be the Pac-12. The Pac-12 completely fell short of expectations before the tournament really even got started and then as expected, Oregon got smacked by Buddy Hield in the elite 8.
Biggest Overachiever: I'd give this one to Syracuse for going from some thought shouldn't be in the tournament (like myself, I thought they undeservedly got in) to Final Four, but I think Middle Tennessee is closer than you think. If you really think about it, considering the number of people that bet on Michigan State in Vegas, the Middle Tennessee upset of MSU is one of the biggest in the entire history of college basketball. If a 16 beats a 1 some day (still has never happened ever in the history of the Dance) that will be the biggest for sure but that's as close as we've had so far. That said, you have to give the award to Syracuse because whether they should have been in or not, they did make the Final Four.
Least Respected: This award (and if we had these awards last year, it would have been two years in a row) has to go to Conference USA. MTSU beating Michigan State is one of the biggest upsets in tournament history, but Conference USA gets far less respect than they deserve. Keep this in mind: the automatic qualifier from C-USA each of the last two years has beat a trendy pick to win the national title as UAB did the same thing to Iowa State in 2014.
Most Valuable to His Team: No question, it's Buddy Hield. Oklahoma can go for a minor stretch without him scoring, but he was a large part of why that team was successful. He scored 9 points against Villanova and Oklahoma gets blown out by 40 points. It just goes to show how valuable a player Hield was to that team. He is going to make a lot of money for some NBA team very soon.
As a final aside for awards, I agree with the tournament's selection of Ryan Archidiacono as the most oustanding player of the Final Four. He's not going to play a lick in the NBA but I'm impressed with his basketball acumen and how he is able to run that team on the floor. I wouldn't be surprised if he goes into coaching at some point personally.
Now for some other potpourri...
- It's Masters Week, the "tradition unlike any other." The Super Bowl of golf and the unofficial beginning of spring (to me anyways). Before I get to players who I like in this tournament, I want to give a nod to Jim Herman, the 38 year old who won the Shell Houston Open last week here in Houston to get to Augusta. This guy's 38 and this year will be his first Masters tournament, no doubt a moment he will never forget.
Now as far as the tournament itself, Jason Day has been installed as the odds on favorite, at 7 to 1 odds. Guys like Spieth, Watson, Scott, McIlroy are close behind. I don't think this is going to be a tournament, for the record, where a Cinderella name wins the tournament. I think it's going to be one of the favorites, one of the big names.
As to who I like, no doubt Jason Day has been playing great leading up to the tournament (and a very good decision by him to not play the Shell, he needed the rest after playing all those rounds of golf at the Match Play in Austin), but I think Adam Scott's going to take it. Scott's been off the radar for a few years, but has come back with a vengeance; won two tourneys already this year, finished second at the Northern Trust, and he's won at Augusta before.
As to some of the other big names, Rory could win but I think he won't, Augusta is tough for him. Spieth has the game to repeat but I don't think he'll win either. His game's a little off right now, although that's nothing getting hot at Augusta can't cure. Dustin Johnson will likely be in the hunt on Sunday, he's overdue to win a major golf tournament. Fowler will likely have a chance on the weekend, he's been playing well all year. I do think Hefty Lefty will surprise some people, he's at 15/1 odds, not exactly a favorite to win the golf tournament but I like what I see from the lefty so far this year. I don't know what this new swing coach has done for him but I think he'll have a chance Sunday.
As far as first timers go, of this group, I like Kevin Kisner, Justin Thomas and Rafa Cabrera-Bello the best; all three of those men are at 100/1 odds according to Golf Odds. Of those three, Cabrera-Bello of those is definitely playing the best golf right now; he was 11th at the Cadillac championships, third at the match play in Austin and fourth in Houston. However, Kisner and Thomas both have won PGA events this season and Kisner especially is very streaky, if he gets hot he definitely has the game to make a deep run.
- Quick Rockets take; all or nothing for them tonight in Dallas on ESPN. A win almost assures them of making the playoffs despite being terrible this year. Their last four games all should be easy victories although one of those is against the Lakers and you know darn well Kobe would love nothing more for his last hurrah in the league than to keep Dwight Howard out of the playoffs. There is no love lost between those two.
- As far as baseball goes, I like to wait some time into the season before talking about how good or bad teams are but that doesn't mean I can't get to a couple of baseball things.
First of all, Yoenis Cespedes as a gold glove player from 2015 is a total joke. I know I've got my homer Nebraska glasses on but after he clanked that easy fly ball Sunday night in Kansas City, he should have taken his gold glove and on the way out of the stadium presented it to Alex Gordon after the Royals won the game. And we all know the only reason Gordon didn't win a gold glove is because he missed half the season with a groin injury. A healthy Alex Gordon would not have clanked that fly ball I can assure you of that.
- As far as the Correa/Betances play from yesterday's Astros game, Correa's allowed to run on the grass by rule, and also Betances just made a horrible throw even though Correa's inside the base line. Girardi can complain all he wants but it won't make a bit of difference.
Until next time....
So the last time I was with you, the Super Bowl hadn't even been played. Here we are and baseball has started, March Madness came to a dramatic end, the Broncos are Super Bowl champs and the Masters is 24 hours away.
That in mind, welcome to a very special edition of the blog for Apr. 6, 2016, and it includes a first. Tournament awards. Now obviously, I can't give these awards sitting in a chair in suburban Houston and it's not the Grammys or Oscars or anything like that, but a friend of mine came up with the idea for best game, best run etc. so that's where this idea emanated from. So without further adieu, I give you the first ever Easy E Tournament Awards.
Best Shot: This one is no question a slam dunk. Kris Jenkins, welcome to your moment that you will remember for the rest of your life. The amazing thing is, for about a five minute stretch, I thought Marcus Paige was going to get something like this. That double clutch, off balance shot was one of the most unreal things I've seen in a college basketball game...and it got eclipsed!
Roy Williams screwed up on the final sequence no doubt by not guarding the inbounds pass (where have Duke and Kentucky fans seen that before...1992, hint hint) but Jenkins still had to make the shot with everything on the line and he did. What a game and what a shot. If I were picking a close second, Northern Iowa would have to get this nod for the half court heave against UT.
Best Game: Again, a no brainer, the title game gets this award. Not only was this the best game of the tournament, it was one of the best NCAA tournament games anyone will ever see. I'm sure some older fans will argue NC State/Houston 1983, Villanova/Georgetown 1985, Indiana/Syracuse 1987, Duke/Kentucky 1992 (still considered by many the best college basketball game ever played), Arkansas/Duke 1994, UConn/Duke 1999, Memphis/Kansas 2008, or Butler/Duke 2010. But this one could play with any of them.
For one thing, these were CLEARLY the two best teams in the country. With the exception of the Memphis/Kansas game (great game in its own right), these teams dismantled everyone they played on the road to the title game.
They were also very evenly matched teams that had toughness and the will to win that is necessary to win titles. Every time both teams got backed into a corner they came out swinging and that was especially true of North Carolina; down 10 late it appeared they were cooked but Marcus Paige got hot and UNC found about its fifth wind of the night. This is one of the rare games where there were no losers in the game.
Biggest Man: Speaking of Marcus Paige, that's where I want to go next. The award for the guy who manned up the most goes to him. For a guy that took such a crushing defeat and had his potential national title moment ripped away from him by Jenkins, Paige showed a lot of grace and dignity in defeat...unlike a certain player who calls North Carolina home (looking at you, Cam Newton). In the postgame press conference, Paige stood at the mic and answered all the questions and he did so even though a title eluded him in the most crushing of ways. I am anything but a UNC basketball fan for a lot of reasons but Cam Newton could take a few lessons from Mr. Paige. A slight nod goes to Tom Izzo who, similarly after the massive first round loss to MTSU also stood at the podium and answered the questions, gave Middle Tennessee its due credit and said goodbye to his seniors.
Biggest Underachiever: To me, this award sadly has to go to Xavier. Chris Mack and the Musketeers had an excellent season all year and went 27-5 before the tournament. Some people thought they could be a darkhorse to beat UNC before they got to Houston. I didn't necessarily think that but I thought Sweet 16 would at least be in the cards. Instead they lost to an average Wisconsin team that got beat by Nebraska in the Big 10 tournament. I get that one game is one game, but that cannot happen.
A close second would be the Pac-12. The Pac-12 completely fell short of expectations before the tournament really even got started and then as expected, Oregon got smacked by Buddy Hield in the elite 8.
Biggest Overachiever: I'd give this one to Syracuse for going from some thought shouldn't be in the tournament (like myself, I thought they undeservedly got in) to Final Four, but I think Middle Tennessee is closer than you think. If you really think about it, considering the number of people that bet on Michigan State in Vegas, the Middle Tennessee upset of MSU is one of the biggest in the entire history of college basketball. If a 16 beats a 1 some day (still has never happened ever in the history of the Dance) that will be the biggest for sure but that's as close as we've had so far. That said, you have to give the award to Syracuse because whether they should have been in or not, they did make the Final Four.
Least Respected: This award (and if we had these awards last year, it would have been two years in a row) has to go to Conference USA. MTSU beating Michigan State is one of the biggest upsets in tournament history, but Conference USA gets far less respect than they deserve. Keep this in mind: the automatic qualifier from C-USA each of the last two years has beat a trendy pick to win the national title as UAB did the same thing to Iowa State in 2014.
Most Valuable to His Team: No question, it's Buddy Hield. Oklahoma can go for a minor stretch without him scoring, but he was a large part of why that team was successful. He scored 9 points against Villanova and Oklahoma gets blown out by 40 points. It just goes to show how valuable a player Hield was to that team. He is going to make a lot of money for some NBA team very soon.
As a final aside for awards, I agree with the tournament's selection of Ryan Archidiacono as the most oustanding player of the Final Four. He's not going to play a lick in the NBA but I'm impressed with his basketball acumen and how he is able to run that team on the floor. I wouldn't be surprised if he goes into coaching at some point personally.
Now for some other potpourri...
- It's Masters Week, the "tradition unlike any other." The Super Bowl of golf and the unofficial beginning of spring (to me anyways). Before I get to players who I like in this tournament, I want to give a nod to Jim Herman, the 38 year old who won the Shell Houston Open last week here in Houston to get to Augusta. This guy's 38 and this year will be his first Masters tournament, no doubt a moment he will never forget.
Now as far as the tournament itself, Jason Day has been installed as the odds on favorite, at 7 to 1 odds. Guys like Spieth, Watson, Scott, McIlroy are close behind. I don't think this is going to be a tournament, for the record, where a Cinderella name wins the tournament. I think it's going to be one of the favorites, one of the big names.
As to who I like, no doubt Jason Day has been playing great leading up to the tournament (and a very good decision by him to not play the Shell, he needed the rest after playing all those rounds of golf at the Match Play in Austin), but I think Adam Scott's going to take it. Scott's been off the radar for a few years, but has come back with a vengeance; won two tourneys already this year, finished second at the Northern Trust, and he's won at Augusta before.
As to some of the other big names, Rory could win but I think he won't, Augusta is tough for him. Spieth has the game to repeat but I don't think he'll win either. His game's a little off right now, although that's nothing getting hot at Augusta can't cure. Dustin Johnson will likely be in the hunt on Sunday, he's overdue to win a major golf tournament. Fowler will likely have a chance on the weekend, he's been playing well all year. I do think Hefty Lefty will surprise some people, he's at 15/1 odds, not exactly a favorite to win the golf tournament but I like what I see from the lefty so far this year. I don't know what this new swing coach has done for him but I think he'll have a chance Sunday.
As far as first timers go, of this group, I like Kevin Kisner, Justin Thomas and Rafa Cabrera-Bello the best; all three of those men are at 100/1 odds according to Golf Odds. Of those three, Cabrera-Bello of those is definitely playing the best golf right now; he was 11th at the Cadillac championships, third at the match play in Austin and fourth in Houston. However, Kisner and Thomas both have won PGA events this season and Kisner especially is very streaky, if he gets hot he definitely has the game to make a deep run.
- Quick Rockets take; all or nothing for them tonight in Dallas on ESPN. A win almost assures them of making the playoffs despite being terrible this year. Their last four games all should be easy victories although one of those is against the Lakers and you know darn well Kobe would love nothing more for his last hurrah in the league than to keep Dwight Howard out of the playoffs. There is no love lost between those two.
- As far as baseball goes, I like to wait some time into the season before talking about how good or bad teams are but that doesn't mean I can't get to a couple of baseball things.
First of all, Yoenis Cespedes as a gold glove player from 2015 is a total joke. I know I've got my homer Nebraska glasses on but after he clanked that easy fly ball Sunday night in Kansas City, he should have taken his gold glove and on the way out of the stadium presented it to Alex Gordon after the Royals won the game. And we all know the only reason Gordon didn't win a gold glove is because he missed half the season with a groin injury. A healthy Alex Gordon would not have clanked that fly ball I can assure you of that.
- As far as the Correa/Betances play from yesterday's Astros game, Correa's allowed to run on the grass by rule, and also Betances just made a horrible throw even though Correa's inside the base line. Girardi can complain all he wants but it won't make a bit of difference.
Until next time....
Monday, February 1, 2016
2/1/16: College Football, Calvin Johnson, The Super Bowl and basketball
Welcome to February 2016...and as such, welcome to another blog post. We're in Super Bowl week and there's a lot of ground to cover elsewhere so let's hit the ground running.
One of the biggest sports stories of last weekend isn't the Super Bowl, or isn't even the Pro Bowl. It has to do with the Detroit Lions, and wide receiver (for the moment) Calvin Johnson. Yesterday, the news broke on several outlets (most notably ESPN via Adam Schefter) who reports that Johnson has been planning this retirement for a long time. You can read ESPN's writeup here: Calvin Johnson
One thing that Schefter writes that immediately comes to mind is that Johnson's body has been beaten down and he's 30 years old. Imagine how much worse it's going to get if he keeps on playing, not to mention all the stuff that's been coming out about concussions in football over the last several years.
Even in the lead up to Super Bowl week and what I hope will be a great game, this is a really black day and could signal a really alarming future for the NFL and football in general. Seriously, Johnson has been/still is one of the top receivers in this league and he's calling it good at 30, 31 years old when many of his predecessors would still be playing into their late 30s (and Jerry Rice played well past 40)?
Don't get me wrong, I think this is quite possibly the safe and very possibly the right thing for Johnson to do. It might well be better for him that he retire and take the money now rather than having to wake up with memory loss or other terrible concussion symptoms 20 to 30 years down the road.
That said, on to college football. And in the world of college football, arguably the biggest story over the weekend is the rise...and potentially the fall...of a recent up-and-coming SEC power, Ole Miss.
According to Pat Forde of Yahoo! Sports, Ole Miss "has received a Notice of Allegations from the NCAA Enforcement Staff alleging roughly 30 violations in football, women's basketball and track and field, sources told Yahoo." You can read the article here: Ole Miss Violations?
My reaction to this is: Least shocking bit of news I've seen in quite some time.
With the exception of when Eli Manning was there and made them relevant, this football program was a perennial SEC doormat year after year. Then they hire Hugh Freeze and suddenly they are getting top 10 recruiting classes? And beat Alabama twice in a row and won at Bryant-Denny Stadium for the first time since the late 80s and twice in a row for the first time ever? Yeah, nothing to see here. Not.
On a related note, as much as I hate to say it, score one for Bo Pelini; Pelini called them out in summer 2014 after some shady stuff went down when Nebraska was trying to land Damore'ea Stringfellow, who is now at Ole Miss. His quote then was, "Read between the lines. I think we all know what happened in that situation." No mincing words there, and as much as I hate to give Bo credit for anything he was dead on the money with this one. Sad thing is, NCAA will probably give them a slap on the wrist, because SEC.
While we're on the topic of the SEC, as great as they are in football, that conference is absolutely putrid in college basketball; the Big 12 wiped the floor with them this past weekend in the Big 12/SEC challenge to the tune of 7 wins in 10 games. Kentucky will probably be good in March, Texas A&M has a good team, and LSU is OK but other than that a whole bunch of whatever. The other four power 5 conferences (Big 12, Big 10, ACC and Pac-12) blow them away completely and there are even some mid-majors who can claim they're better than the SEC in basketball this year.
Oh and if you haven't seen the Oklahoma/LSU and UK/Kansas games from this past weekend, do it. Neither was as good as the triple OT classic between OU and KU but both were still good games. I don't like anything about OU but Buddy Hield is going to make some NBA team very happy.
Quick NBA topic; as much as I love Tyronn Lue (Nebraska, yo!) getting the head coaching job in Cleveland and as talented as they are, everyone proclaiming the Cavs are showing what they can be in the wake of that win over the Spurs Saturday night needs to slow down just a second. First of all, that win over the Spurs really can only be claimed a half-win because Tim Duncan didn't even play and it's a mid-season game. The Spurs don't care about games in January, they care about the playoffs. Lue is 4-1 since taking over in Cleveland, but let's see what he does over the course of the rest of the year.
And finally, here we are at Super Bowl week. The big one is six days away, Broncos vs Panthers. I'm not going to make a prediction right now but here's a key to the game, and it's not Peyton Manning.
Wade Phillips. In fact, the former Texans defensive coordinator and the son of Bum Phillips may well be the X-factor for Super Bowl 50.
Let's face it, for as much as people love Peyton Manning, man for man the Carolina Panthers are the better team. The last thing Denver can afford to do is get in a shootout with Carolina because Cam Newton and the Panthers will run them off the field if that's the case.
Denver's best bet is the same formula that they used to beat the Patriots; that is, namely, win this one with defense, special teams and just enough offense.
The problem for Wade, as highly as I think of him, and his defense is Cam Newton is an entirely different type of monster than Tom Brady. He's built like a linebacker, he's got a cannon for an arm and he'll run you over if he has to. But somehow, the Broncos have to find a way to come up with takeaways because if this game is even or + for Carolina in the take/give ratio the Panthers will win this game.
Until next time....
One of the biggest sports stories of last weekend isn't the Super Bowl, or isn't even the Pro Bowl. It has to do with the Detroit Lions, and wide receiver (for the moment) Calvin Johnson. Yesterday, the news broke on several outlets (most notably ESPN via Adam Schefter) who reports that Johnson has been planning this retirement for a long time. You can read ESPN's writeup here: Calvin Johnson
One thing that Schefter writes that immediately comes to mind is that Johnson's body has been beaten down and he's 30 years old. Imagine how much worse it's going to get if he keeps on playing, not to mention all the stuff that's been coming out about concussions in football over the last several years.
Even in the lead up to Super Bowl week and what I hope will be a great game, this is a really black day and could signal a really alarming future for the NFL and football in general. Seriously, Johnson has been/still is one of the top receivers in this league and he's calling it good at 30, 31 years old when many of his predecessors would still be playing into their late 30s (and Jerry Rice played well past 40)?
Don't get me wrong, I think this is quite possibly the safe and very possibly the right thing for Johnson to do. It might well be better for him that he retire and take the money now rather than having to wake up with memory loss or other terrible concussion symptoms 20 to 30 years down the road.
That said, on to college football. And in the world of college football, arguably the biggest story over the weekend is the rise...and potentially the fall...of a recent up-and-coming SEC power, Ole Miss.
According to Pat Forde of Yahoo! Sports, Ole Miss "has received a Notice of Allegations from the NCAA Enforcement Staff alleging roughly 30 violations in football, women's basketball and track and field, sources told Yahoo." You can read the article here: Ole Miss Violations?
My reaction to this is: Least shocking bit of news I've seen in quite some time.
With the exception of when Eli Manning was there and made them relevant, this football program was a perennial SEC doormat year after year. Then they hire Hugh Freeze and suddenly they are getting top 10 recruiting classes? And beat Alabama twice in a row and won at Bryant-Denny Stadium for the first time since the late 80s and twice in a row for the first time ever? Yeah, nothing to see here. Not.
On a related note, as much as I hate to say it, score one for Bo Pelini; Pelini called them out in summer 2014 after some shady stuff went down when Nebraska was trying to land Damore'ea Stringfellow, who is now at Ole Miss. His quote then was, "Read between the lines. I think we all know what happened in that situation." No mincing words there, and as much as I hate to give Bo credit for anything he was dead on the money with this one. Sad thing is, NCAA will probably give them a slap on the wrist, because SEC.
While we're on the topic of the SEC, as great as they are in football, that conference is absolutely putrid in college basketball; the Big 12 wiped the floor with them this past weekend in the Big 12/SEC challenge to the tune of 7 wins in 10 games. Kentucky will probably be good in March, Texas A&M has a good team, and LSU is OK but other than that a whole bunch of whatever. The other four power 5 conferences (Big 12, Big 10, ACC and Pac-12) blow them away completely and there are even some mid-majors who can claim they're better than the SEC in basketball this year.
Oh and if you haven't seen the Oklahoma/LSU and UK/Kansas games from this past weekend, do it. Neither was as good as the triple OT classic between OU and KU but both were still good games. I don't like anything about OU but Buddy Hield is going to make some NBA team very happy.
Quick NBA topic; as much as I love Tyronn Lue (Nebraska, yo!) getting the head coaching job in Cleveland and as talented as they are, everyone proclaiming the Cavs are showing what they can be in the wake of that win over the Spurs Saturday night needs to slow down just a second. First of all, that win over the Spurs really can only be claimed a half-win because Tim Duncan didn't even play and it's a mid-season game. The Spurs don't care about games in January, they care about the playoffs. Lue is 4-1 since taking over in Cleveland, but let's see what he does over the course of the rest of the year.
And finally, here we are at Super Bowl week. The big one is six days away, Broncos vs Panthers. I'm not going to make a prediction right now but here's a key to the game, and it's not Peyton Manning.
Wade Phillips. In fact, the former Texans defensive coordinator and the son of Bum Phillips may well be the X-factor for Super Bowl 50.
Let's face it, for as much as people love Peyton Manning, man for man the Carolina Panthers are the better team. The last thing Denver can afford to do is get in a shootout with Carolina because Cam Newton and the Panthers will run them off the field if that's the case.
Denver's best bet is the same formula that they used to beat the Patriots; that is, namely, win this one with defense, special teams and just enough offense.
The problem for Wade, as highly as I think of him, and his defense is Cam Newton is an entirely different type of monster than Tom Brady. He's built like a linebacker, he's got a cannon for an arm and he'll run you over if he has to. But somehow, the Broncos have to find a way to come up with takeaways because if this game is even or + for Carolina in the take/give ratio the Panthers will win this game.
Until next time....
Friday, January 15, 2016
Happy 2016: From Around the World of Sports, 1/15/2016
First of all, Happy 2016 to you and yours, wherever you may be reading this blog post. New year, same blog. That said, there's a lot of ground to cover so let's get this thing rolling.
Obviously, this is a football blog and a lot has happened in the last number of weeks, and especially this past weekend. Probably best to start with the NFL playoffs, huh?
Pittsburgh/Cincinnati game: First thing's first, that kind of loss by the Bengals is the kind of loss that sticks with a franchise forever and never goes away. They had the game WON. Up 16-15 with 1:36 to go and all they need is one first down to run out the clock.
And then, Jeremy Hill fumbled and all hell broke loose in the Steelers last drive down the field.
Before I go to the next part of this take, let me just point out that the Steelers are not innocent in this whole ordeal. Outside linebacker coach Joey Porter was on the field during Antonio Brown's injury when he should not have been and was fined $10,000 for it...as he should have been. Rules explicitly state that only attendants, trainers and substitute players can go on the field during injuries. There was also the leading of the helmet by Ryan Shazier on Giovanni Bernard that should have been flagged...but wasn't.
That said, The Vontaze Burfict hit...that was one of the most brutal hits I have seen in football in quite some time. That hit was a lot worse than anything Nate Gerry of the Huskers did in the Foster Farms Bowl (and he still shouldn't have been thrown out...Free Nate Gerry)...I'm surprised Antonio Brown knows where he is, today. Worse yet is the claim by Pacman Jones that Antonio Brown was faking or flopping on the play. Get a clue, Pacman. There is no possible way you can embellish on that sort of hit.
Former Bengals star Boomer Esiason went off on the current group in postgame and had every right to do so. That was a meltdown of massive proportions. Even though only one of the other three games was competitive and the Steelers and Bengals hate each other, that was an embarrassing display by BOTH teams.
Seattle/Vikings...To any Seahawks fans that come across this, you guys live a charmed life. How in the world can one team be on the correct side of so many pivotal outcomes? Fail Mary with the replacement refs in 2012, NFC Championship the very next season where they're up by six and they probably lose if Richard Sherman doesn't bat the ball away in the closing moments, and the NFC Championship the year after that where the Packers completely melted after being up 19-7 and in control. You cannot play a game any better than the Vikings played in those conditions without winning the game.
I guess if you ask Vikings fans though, this is just another day at the office for them. Cowboys beat the Vikings in a playoff game on a Drew Pearson pushoff, Gary Anderson misses his only field goal of an entire SEASON and the 1998 Vikings lose to Atlanta in OT a step from the Super Bowl, the 2010 NFC title game against the Saints, and then this.
As for the Texans...Wow, what an ugly scene. To say I'm embarrassed today as a fan would be an understatement. There is NOTHING good that came out of that game, NOTHING. JJ Watt got hurt in that game and had to have surgery Tuesday, Brian Hoyer morphs into the second coming of Turnover Tommy Armstrong and has the worst game of his life in the biggest game of his life, O'Brien doesn't even make a MOVE to put Weeden in and worst of all, was the red clad Chiefs fans chanting "just like baseball" at the end of the game after all the Texans fans had cleared out.
That of course, refers to last baseball season's Division Series where the now current world champion Royals shattered the hometown Astros' dreams into a million pieces. There were a lot of things that sucked about that game Saturday, but that one might have cut the deepest. You know what, Houston folk, it can actually get worse and here's why.
The Kansas Jayhawks have one of their better basketball teams this year (even by their standards) and will be favored to reach this year's Final Four...in Houston. What's significant about that is a large majority of Jayhawks fans are KC sports fans as well.
If they make it here, get ready to hear about how they own us for three days straight, potentially. Gulp. At least they can't beat us in pro basketball I guess.
Oh and if the Texans don't get a LEGIT QB in the draft or otherwise and come out with the same crap, I'm going to be driving the Fire O'Brien bandwagon from game 1 to game 16 next season. There is NO reason to come out with that garbage again.
As far as Packers/Redskins, the Packers are the hardest team to figure out in the league...even more so than the injury riddled Patriots, where we can't figure out who's in and who's out. Packers are so hot and cold it's absurd. Over the last two months of the season, they looked like anything but world beaters, then they show up in Washington and Rodgers and the Packers look like their old selves again.
Will that hold up in Arizona? The Cardinals better hope not.
Another bit of NFL news, Niners hired Chip Kelly yesterday. I'm honestly surprised Kelly didn't wait for a college job to open up because I feel he is better suited there. Him and Kaepernick should be most interesting...we know Chip Kelly can coach QBs. The talk is he is leaving the personnel decisions in the front office unlike what he did in Philly where he wanted total control.
My predictions for this weekend coming up shortly.
As far as the national championship game, let's get one thing out of the way first: You can hate Nick Saban all you want, heck I personally can't stand him. But he is, 100%, the best coach in the game right now and maybe only Urban Meyer and Jim Harbaugh are anywhere close.
This was his best coaching job since taking the Bama gig, point blank. They returned TWO offensive starters, TWO. They were a team in flux all season and lost to Ole Miss at home in a turnover filled game. Worse yet, they had to play all the top teams in the SEC: Georgia, Texas A&M, Tennessee, LSU, Mississippi State, Auburn, Florida for the SEC title. And then had to play the nation's lone undefeated team in the playoff championship game.
Yet here they are, national champs once again, for the 16th time.
As far as the onside kick call, that was genius. It was absolute genius because it was the right call, at the right time. That was a matter of Alabama coaches knowing the significance of what was going on and paying attention to film study before the game. There's a great article on Deadspin talking about what Alabama coaches saw in Clemson's kick formations and how they could use that to their advantage.
It was a great timely call as well because Alabama knew they couldn't stop Clemson and their offense probably couldn't match Clemson score for score. The play stunned Clemson just enough to where Alabama seized control and never let go.
Do they repeat next year? I'm not sure, but I do know this: Nick Saban could probably take guys off the street and make them a top 10 team. As far as threats to the crown, a number of teams could threaten them but Tennessee comes to mind immediately. Tennessee was arguably the second best SEC team after the halfway point and destroyed Northwestern in the Outback Bowl. I'm not hugely crazy about Butch Jones as a coach but he's improved them year by year.
As far as the Huskers, great end to the season in the Foster Farms Bowl. That was a vintage Cornhusker win...75% running the ball. It was really fun to see them make UCLA's defense suck wind in the second half. I felt even better that the Huskers beat Jim Mora Jr. in the process...I'm still not a fan of the confrontation he had with Snyder after the Alamo Bowl. Coaches like Snyder deserve a lot more respect than that. I will say that Josh Rosen is a complete stud and he will be UCLA's best bet for success over the next two seasons (after which I presume he will enter the draft). He has all the trappings of a future #1 overall draft pick.
As far as 2016 goes, 9-3 or better should be the goal. They should win six of those games without even blinking: Wyoming, Fresno State, Illinois, Purdue, Indiana and Maryland should all be wins no question (especially with five of those six at home). If they lose to Oregon, Ohio State and any other game but Iowa but make the championship by beating Iowa, that would be a good season. That said, the defensive line defections are quite troubling.
Everyone else but Michigan is playing for second in the Big 10 in 2016 because Harbaugh and Michigan are going to wreck this conference. Michigan State will drop back to the pack without Cook and Ohio State loses a ton of talent.
Oh and if I haven't said it already, Free Nate Gerry.
Quick NBA take: Psst, don't tell anybody but there are actually TWO teams on pace for 70 wins in the NBA this year, not just the Warriors, but the Spurs as well who remained perfect at home by beating Lebron and Cleveland last night. Not only that, but the two teams have combined to go 42-0 at HOME. The Spurs and Warriors play in Oakland on the 25th of this month and I'm convinced that game might break social media.
From the world of college basketball, it seems that football isn't the only sport the University of Iowa is excelling at these days: their top 15 basketball team just beat Michigan State for the second time in as many weeks. Izzo will probably have MSU ready to play by the time March rolls around, it's who they are, but what an impressive showing by Iowa over the last couple of weeks. They really had ISU beat at Ames too but let that one slip.
As far as predictions for this weekend's NFL action
Chiefs-Pats: Hard to say what will happen with the reports of Patriots injuries, but I'm taking Kansas City in the upset. I'm betting on their defense over Brady, even in the playoffs. I think they get some turnovers off Brady and short fields, so I'll say the Chiefs take this one.
Pack-Cards: Hard game to pick here also since Green Bay is so hot and cold. I will say, the 30 point loss by the Pack to Arizona two weeks ago is probably a rallying cry for that team. I'm going to say the Cards, but with a bit of hesitation depending on what Green Bay team shows up.
Seahawks/Panthers: I admit I had the Panthers winning this round (before losing to Arizona), but then I had them playing the Redskins. Beating Seattle in January is a whole different challenge altogether, and it's a rematch scenario and Wilson has weapons...and it won't be bitter cold outside. I have the Seahawks winning and I won't be surprised if they win big.
Steelers/Broncos: With Brown out and Roethlisberger hurt, you can't set it up any better for Denver. You're asking Landry Jones to go into Denver without Antonio Brown and beat the Broncos and I just don't see that happening. I think Denver wins this fairly comfortably.
Until next time....
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)