Month: December 2021

Recall that the Brooklyn Nets put Kyrie Irving on ice at the beginning of the season because he refused to be vaccinated and because NYC and Brooklyn had local ordinances on the books requiring him to have one-shot of the vaccine to play in the venues where games were being played.  The Nets said they did not want a part time player and asked Irving to stay away.  Given all the hullabaloo over that story at the start of NBA Training Camp and through until now, it is amazing how little it seems to have mattered.  You would have thought the Earth was going to reverse its rotation and the sun would be coming up in the west by now given the back-and-forth over that issue.

In the last 48 hours, I have run across 3 reports that seem to run in different directions related to the Kyrie Irving/Brooklyn Nets “situation”:

1. CBSSports.com reported that the Nets might be willing to have Irving back on the team as a part-time player and there was cautious optimism about making that happen.
2. The Athletic reported that as of 15 January, the Canadian government would require NBA players who come to Toronto to play to be “fully vaccinated”.  If that means two shots plus a booster shot – separated by the appropriate time spans – that would keep Irving out of any game(s) in Toronto until a potential late-round playoff encounter.
3. Various news outlets reported that NYC would require “full vaccination” – – two shots but not a booster – – for all adults and children over 5 years old when they are dining indoors or are at an “entertainment venue.”

Unless Kyrie Irving has relented and taken a shot and not let anyone know about it, I think the Nets’ cautious optimism may be trumped by the increasing levels of vaccine protection required by localities germane to the NBA.  Obviously, I have no knowledge of Kyrie Irving’s thinking on this matter as of this morning; but somehow, I doubt that he has been “secretly jabbed” and is ready to get back on the floor.

Switching gears …  Last week, I read that RG3 announced that he is writing a book that will be out in August 2022 and that it will be a “tell all book” about his time with the Washington Football Team – – under the team’s previous name.  Griffin is out of the NFL now and is not likely to get any significant offers to return to the league for reasons having to do with his performance and nothing to do with any sort of “tell all” activities.  What RG3 is doing now is color analysis of college football games for ESPN.  At the time he signed on with ESPN, he made sure to make it clear that he had an “out clause” in that contract should he get an opportunity to go back to the NFL.

The working title for Griffin’s book is Surviving Washington.  In the announcement of the impending release of the book, RG3 obliquely referred to sexual harassment which is a smoldering topic pertaining to the Washington Football Team in the wake of that “investigation” for which there is no final report.  The statement was obviously very carefully worded to be sure to use the hot-button phrase “sexual harassment” but not to reveal what he might have to say about it and the team environment.  When pressed, he responded:

“The book is not about other people’s experiences with sexual harassment in Washington.  It’s about my experience with sexual harassment in Washington.”

Reading that response, the door is left wide open to address that issue from a variety of standpoints.  Was RG3 harassed?  Was he a harasser?  Was he encouraged to harass?  Obviously, the idea is for everyone to buy the book to get the answers to those sorts of tantalizing possibilities.

There is an aspect of Griffin’s time in Washington that could make for interesting reading.  All during his time with the team, there were sporadic reports that Griffin had a sufficiently cozy relationship with owner Danny Boy Snyder that allowed him to end-run the coaches and the team Front Office when he felt that he needed something from the team he was not getting.  There were no first-hand accounts of any such player/owner interactions or dealings nor were there any denials.  There is something that RG3 can clear up – or at least shed light on – in his “tell all” narrative.

Until I read reviews, I am not signing up to buy a copy of the book the day it hits the shelves.  There have been a couple of tell all books that have been important contributions to sports.  Ball Four by Jim Bouton and Juiced by Jose Canseco come to mind.  If folks who review Griffin’s book say it is of a similar caliber, I will surely buy it and read it – – but I really do not understand why he is writing the book and why now.

As I noted, RG3 is a color analyst for college football games on ESPN and in the times I have heard him on a broadcast, he is already far above average among the cadre of college football color analysts.  As I said, he is not likely to get another shot at playing QB in the NFL, so TV talking is his most logical career path forward.  And that brings me to a failure to comprehend:

• How does a “tell all” book about things that happened between 2012 and 2015 advance the author on a career path as a TV color analyst?
• If happenings back then were sufficiently dire to create a book title as stark as Surviving Washington, why the silence until 2022?

Finally, let me close today with an observation by Bertrand Russell that just seems appropriate:

“Life is nothing but a competition to be the criminal rather than the victim.”

But don’t get me wrong, I love sports………

 

 

The CFL Grey Cup game was Sunday evening and it conflicted with the late NFL game and Sunday Night Football; not to worry, this is why God provided the inspiration for man to invent DVRs.  I watched my replay of the game yesterday and it was really enjoyable.  The teams were evenly matched; the game was close throughout; the game went to OT and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers won the Grey Cup for the second time in a row by a score of 33-25.  [There was no Grey Cup game in 2020 because the CFL was dark for all of 2020.]  The Blue Bombers have won consecutive Grey Cup games twice before in history, but it was a long time ago; they accomplished this feat in 1958/59 and then again in 1961/62.  In order to force the OT, Winnipeg had to come back from a 22-10 deficit in the 4^th quarter; the game had plenty of exciting moments.

I really like the CFL version of OT better than the college football version because in the CFL teams take possession at the 35-yardline instead of the 25-yardline.  Those 10 yards can make a difference when a team gains little or no yardage on the first three downs; in college football, there is still a relatively easy field goal try available; in the CFL, that field goal try is much more difficult.  Moreover, in Sunday’s game, the wind was a significant factor; had one of the teams needed to try a field goal  from more than 40 yards out, it was not going to be a “gimmee”.

Another plus for the CFL OT rule is that when a team scores a TD, they must go for a two-point conversion.  I like that and would also put that in the college football OT system too.  As for the NFL, if they ever seek to take kickoffs out of their OTs and go to a formulaic drive starting point, I would put the ball on the 50-yardline to begin each team’s OT possession.

The Blue Bombers got a TD and a two-point conversion in the first possession of OT.  Then on the Tiger-Cats’ possession the Blue Bombers intercepted a pass that was deflected twice before the Bombers’ player secured the ball.  Game Over!

There were rumors/reports back in the summer before the CFL got underway that the league was talking with the new owners of XFL 2.0 perhaps about some sort of joint operation/collaboration/whatever.  Nothing came of that, and I hope nothing comes of it for two reasons:

1. CFL football is sufficiently different from US football that the two games will not “merge” easily.  And CFL football is an entertaining product because it is different.  Cooperation/collaboration with XFL 2.0 would probably wind up with a product that is not as good as either one would be separately.
2. The CFL tried an expansion into the “Lower 48” back in the 1990s.  The “experiment” was short-lived and did not end well.  The US-based teams had sparse attendance – to be polite about it.  The CFL game is extremely popular in Canada; it did not sell here in the US.

The Baltimore Stallions (grown up versions of the Baltimore Colts?) were one US-based team that had decent attendance.  #2 son and I took in a game at the old Memorial Stadium in Baltimore when the Stallions played there; my recollection is that the stadium was more than half-full on that day meaning the crowd was at least 25,000 folks.  Had other teams drawn that well, the expansion into the “Lower 48” might have survived more than 2 seasons, but that was not the case.

There is an excellent book on that attempted CFL Southern Expansion written by Ed Willes, End Zones & Border Wars.  I recommend it as a “stocking stuffer” for football fans on your gift list.  The next-to-last chapter in that book is titled, “Half the People Here Couldn’t Even Spell Saskatchewan”.  I think that chapter explains clearly why that “expansion” was doomed from the start.

While I do not think CFL football has a natural home here in the US, perhaps the time has finally come – after 50 years of hyping and prognosticating – that soccer might break through and become much more prominent here.  I read a report that NBC Sports has extended its ownership of television rights here in the US for English Premier League (EPL) games for 6 years and a total of $2.67B.  NBC has been televising Premier League games here in the US for about 10 years but the latest report I could find about the rights fee they are paying put the number at $180M per year.  It does not take a math genius to see that NBC Sports thinks there is significant potential for growing the audience over the next 5 or 6 years.

More importantly than just the significant jump in the annual rights fee here is the report that NBC Sports did not get these broadcast rights easily.  Reports say that ESPN, CBS and Amazon also bid for those broadcast rights.  People have been predicting the explosion of soccer in the US for at least the last 50 years; maybe now that will actually come to pass?

The acid test for soccer growth in the US should be the growth seen by teams in MLS and the NWSL.  It could be the case that American soccer fans recognize the significant difference between the way games are played in the EPL – and La Liga and Serie A etc. – and in MLS.  If those American fans turn to watching foreign league games because of the higher caliber of play rather than US-based soccer teams, then whatever growth in popularity happens will have a cap on it.  Time will tell…

Finally, let me close with this item from Dwight Perry in the Seattle Times from last week.  This play on words is so bad, he should be sent to bed without supper…:

“A fan in Las Vegas took off her prosthetic leg and beat another fan with it during the Golden Knights’ 3-2 loss to Edmonton.

“Lucky she wasn’t whistled for a gam misconduct.”

But don’t get me wrong, I love sports………

 

 

Late last week, there was a report that the NCAA has suspended Auburn basketball coach, Bruce Pearl, for two games this season and put Auburn basketball on 4 years’ probation for “unethical conduct” by former assistant coach Chuck Person.  You may recall that Person was one of the coaches swept up in that FBI investigation of improper payments given to basketball recruits.  Pearl was not charged by the Feds, but the NCAA somehow determined that he “violated head coach responsibilities because he did not adequately monitor” Person’s recruiting actions and because he “failed to promote an atmosphere of compliance.”

Even without knowing everything – or even anything – about basketball recruiting at Auburn, I find the NCAA’s rhetoric here laughable.  Please ask yourself:

• If you believe – as I do – that basketball recruiting at major schools never complies fully with NCAA rules and regulations, then how and why would a coach at one of those schools “promote an atmosphere of compliance” and lose out on most if not all the “prime recruits?
• If you believe that Bruce Pearl knew nothing about who Person was recruiting and how things were going in terms of getting commitments from those recruits, you probably also believe that you can save time by putting your alarm clock in the bank.  He monitored his assistant the way every head coach monitors their assistants involved in recruiting, no?

And then the NCAA rhetoric takes flight and travels to an unknown dimension even beyond the Twilight Zone:

“Further, when the head coach became aware of potentially problematic situations involving the assistant coach, he failed to ask reasonable and pertinent questions.  These shortcomings allowed violations to go undetected.”

Two comments on that paragraph:

1. The NCAA admits here that its “compliance officials” were inadequate in this situation because the lack of “reasonable and pertinent” questions from the head coach made the improprieties go undetected.  If you must punish the coach and the school, you also should fire all your compliance officials who were clearly incompetent to do their jobs.
2. The NCAA cannot know that Pearl never asked “reasonable and pertinent questions”; all they can know is that nothing was reported to them.

It seems to me that Bruce Pearl is seeking to become the latter-day Jerry Tarkanian – the coach who is always skirting around the edges of the rules and who gets caught “over the line” every once in a while.  Recall that Pearl was fired from the head coach position at Tennessee when there were NCAA violations there and then Pearl behaved unethically by covering them up and lying to the NCAA about events.

• Memo to Coach Pearl:  It would not be tremendously difficult for you to find another college basketball figure to emulate who might be a tad more admirable,

I mentioned that Auburn would be on 4-years of probation as a result of this NCAA ruling.  I guess that is important but the rest of the sanctions against Auburn are meaningless:

• The NCAA fined Auburn $5,000.  That is less than what individual recruits were improperly paid.
• The NCAA fined Auburn 3% of the Auburn basketball budget.  Just a guess here, but two boosters can probably cover that.
• Auburn will vacate any wins it accumulated if any player who was improperly recruited played in the game.

If anyone at NCAA Hqs wonders why these sorts of rule-breaking episodes continue to take place, all they need to do is look at the level of punishment a school or a coach might get because of breaking the rules.  The cost/benefit calculation here universally comes out in favor of “cheating”.

Moving on …  In today’s Washington Post, Kevin Blackistone has a column decrying the choice of Beijing for the 2022 Winter Olympics because the Olympic Charter contains this statement:

“The enjoyment of the rights and freedoms set forth in this Olympic Charter shall be secured without discrimination of any kind such as race, colour, sex, sexual orientation, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.”

Blackistone lays out the clear and obvious contradictions that exist when one juxtaposes the Chinese treatment of minorities and political opponents with that statement of principles in the Olympic Charter.  He acknowledges that the Biden Administrations enactment of a diplomatic boycott is “the weakest of sauce.”  He points out correctly that the Olympic ideal is not tied to politics but that having nations send teams to the games inevitably makes the games political.  At the end, he says that nations seeking to host future Olympic Games need to demonstrate their adherence to these principles and not simply acknowledge them.  And it is with that closing argument that I take issue.

Yes, the IOC and the “Olympic Movement” like to portray the Games as beacons of all that is good and worthy in the world.  Maybe there is a nugget of that sort of thing inside the morass that is the IOC – – but the first and foremost driving force for the IOC and the sine qua non within any bid to host any Olympic Games is MONEY.  China can and will spend lavishly when given the chance to host Olympic events; some of that lavish spending winds up in the coffers of the IOC and most probably in the pockets of some IOC officials.  Until we all stop viewing the Olympic Games through rose-colored glasses and recognize that they are a fiscal entity at the core, these sorts of statements of outrage will happen repeatedly.

Finally, on the subject of “principles”, consider this observation by author, Somerset Maugham:

“You can’t learn too soon that the most useful thing about a principle is that it can always be sacrificed to expediency.”

But don’t get me wrong, I love sports………

 

 

It is time once again for a Football Friday.  As will become apparent throughout today’s offering, last week’s presentation was horrendous.  As usual I will begin with a review of last week’s Six-Pack.

• College:  0-3-0
• NFL:  0-3-0
• Total:  0-6-0
• Money Line Parlays:  0-2  Net was minus-$200

Once you have stopped snickering at the ineptitude evidenced above, look at the damage last week did to the Six-Packs’ overall record:

• College:  14-18-0
• NFL:  20-25-1
• Total:  34-43-1
• Money Line Parlays:  2-7  Net “profit/loss”:  Minus-$398.

 

College Football Commentary:

 

The season came to an end for the Linfield College Wildcats last weekend when they lost in the quarterfinal round of the Division III football tournament to Mary Hardin Baylor University by a score of 49-24.  Linfield finished the season with an 11-1 record and won the Northwest Conference Championship for the 11^th time in the last 12 seasons.

Sonny Dykes took the head coaching job at TCU.  Sonny Dykes is the son of Spike Dykes who was a good football coach at Texas Tech and one of the more colorful characters involved with college football in the 80s and 90s.  Rather than limit himself to “coachspeak” when interviewed, Spike Dykes became known for his quips.  Here are two of my favorites:

After taking a drubbing on the field his assessment was:

“Oh, we played about like three tons of buzzard puke this afternoon.”

After hearing a defensive tackle try to sing the national anthem before a game:

“He won’t weigh 285 (pounds) for long if he has to do that for a living.”

I wonder if Sonny can match his father quip for quip…?

In any event, TCU fans are in for a philosophical change in their football program.  The previous coach, Gary Patterson, was there for more than 20 years with a defensive mentality.  Sonny Dykes will bring his version of the Air Raid offense to TCU – similar to the offense that Mike Leach runs at Mississippi State.  Another interesting thing to watch for with this coaching move is that Sonny Dykes came to TCU from SMU – two schools that are less than 50 miles apart.  Reports say that Dykes will bring several assistant coaches with him from SMU meaning that this rivalry could be enhanced in the next several years.

Fresno St. needed to find a new coach when Kalen DeBoer left to take the job at Colorado State.  They convinced Jeff Tedford to come back to Fresno St. earlier this week.  Tedford stepped down from that job in 2019 for health reasons, so I must assume that whatever those issues were, they are now obviated.  Tedford was 26-14 in three seasons at Fresno St. before he stepped aside; prior to that he was the head coach at Cal for 11 seasons going 82-57 there.

If you had to select the College Football Coach of the Year, I think your choice should come down to two folks:

1. Luke Fickell – Cincinnati:  The Bearcats kicked the door down and inserted themselves in the CFP for the first time and finished the season 13-0.
2. Jim Harbaugh – Michigan:  He finally beat Ohio State; he has Michigan in the CFP.  Last year he took a pay cut as part of a contract extension.

Baylor 21  Oklahoma St. 16:  Baylor scored 3 TDs in the first half over a span of about 13 minutes and held on to win by the skin of their teeth.  The Cowboys had the ball first and goal at the Baylor 2-yardline with a minute and a half left in the game.  Here is the sequence from that point on:

• First down:  Run the gall and gain 1 yard to the 1-yardline
• Second down:  Run the ball for no gain
• Third down:  Incomplete pass
• Fourth down:  Run the ball for no gain
• Baylor takes over on downs and runs out the clock…

Utah St. 46  San Diego St. 13:  This is an interesting result because San Diego St. had been winning its games with a stingy defense.  The Aztecs rank 15^th in the country in Total Defense yielding only 321.5 yards per game.  Here, it was Utah St. showing defensive prowess holding San Diego St. to 1 of 14 on third down tries.  The fact that the Aztecs also committed 9 penalties contributed to this debacle.

Cincy 35  Houston 20:  The outcome here was still in doubt at the half until the Bearcats scored 3 TDs in 8 minutes in the third quarter.  Houston acquitted itself well holding Cincy to zero for 8 on third down conversions.  Houston finished the season at 11-2 and will play Auburn in the Birmingham Bowl on December 28^th.

Alabama 41  Georgia 24:  Going into this game, Georgia had never given up more than 17 points in a game and had only given up double-digit points 4 times in 2021.  Then Alabama amassed 536 yards of offense converted 7 of 14 third down tries and scored 41 points.  I surely did not see that coming.

Michigan 42  Iowa 3:  It was not a huge surprise to see Michigan’s defense stifle whatever it is that Iowa calls an offense this year.  However, Iowa’s defense is above average and the idea that Michigan might gain 461 yards and score 42 points was a surprise.

Pitt 45  Wake Forest 21:  At the end of the first quarter, Wake led the game 21-14.  Then the Deacons’ offense went into hibernation.  Throwing 4 INTs certainly did not help Wake’s cause.

Utah 38  Oregon 10:  The Utah defense dominated the game allowing Oregon only 221 yards of total offense for the day.  As the PAC-12 champion, Utah will go to the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day for the first time in school history.

I cannot ever recall thinking that the State of Utah was a focal point of football excellence for a season.  However, Utah is the Pac-12 champion and Utah St. is the Mountain West champion and BYU finished the season at 10-2 ranked #12 in the latest polls.

Looking back at the 2021 season through the other end of the telescope, I wondered which team was the biggest disappointment for the year.  I came up with 5 candidates:

1. Clemson:  Despite losing Trevor Lawrence to the NFL, there were more than a few folks who follow and analyze college football who figured Clemson to be in the CFP again this year.  Even after Georgia held them to single digits in Game 1, most folks felt that Dabo Swinney would get the Tigers on a roll.  That never happened – – and prized QB recruit DJ Uiagalelei looked more like a walk-on than a 5-star recruit.
2. Indiana:  They were ranked 16^th in the nation in the pre-season polls and finished 2021 with a 2-10 record.
3. Texas:  Steve Sarkissian was supposed to be the coach to prove that “Texas is back” and relevant in college football once again.  Well, Texas lost to Kansas this year giving up 56 points to the Jayhawks.
4. Texas A&M:  At the start of the season, no one had the Aggies as a serious CFP contender – – and then they beat Alabama.  Expectations soared and then Texas A&M proceeded to lose 4 conference games…
5. UNC:  The Tar Heels were ranked 10^th in the country in the pre-season and finished the season at 6-6 barely making it into a meaningless bowl game against South Carolina three weeks from now.

You make the call…  Personally, I think it would come down to a toss-up between Clemson and Texas.

 

College Game of interest:

 

Army – 7 vs. Navy (34):  This game is always of interest; you will never see a player “dogging it” in this one.  Army is 8-3 this year and their offense has scored more than 30 points 7 times this year.  Navy is 3-8 for the season but they played teams like Houston, Cincy and SMU close.  I know both teams will run the ball and that both teams know how to defend the triple option offense the other guys will run.  Nevertheless, that Total Line is too low to ignore.  I like the game to go OVER – but not by much – so put it in the Six-Pack.

 

NFL Commentary:

 

            Before focusing on NFL matters, this is the weekend of the Grey Cup Game in the Canadian Football League.  The game will be played in Hamilton, Ontario and will feature the Hamilton Tiger-Cats against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.  Hamilton is 10-6 this year and Winnipeg is 12-3 coming to the game.  Over the regular season, the Blue Bombers led the CFL in scoring at 25.6 points per game; the Tiger Cats averaged 22.3 points per game putting them 5^th in the 9-team league.  Winnipeg also led the CFL in points allowed and in Total Defense; Hamilton was second in the league in points allowed and third in Total Defense.

These teams met on the first weekend of the CFL season back in August.  The Blue Bombers prevailed then 19-6.  This matchup is a repeat of last  year’s Grey Cup Game; Winnipeg won that game 33-12.    This year’s game will take place on Sunday evening at 6:00 PM EST and will be on one of the myriad ESPN networks.  Check the listings…  And here is the line for the game:

 

• Winnipeg – 2.5 at Hamilton (43.5).  Money Lines:  Winnipeg -135 and Hamilton +115.

 

The following item comes from Dwight Perry’s Sideline Chatter column in the Seattle Times:

“Can you get a 15-yard taunting penalty if you’re dead?

Pittsburgh fan Wayne Alexa, 76, got in one last shot at his favorite NFL team in his obituary, posted on PittsburghCremation.com: ‘Passed away on Sunday, Nov. 14, 2021, after a long bout with the Steelers. He was at his home with family when they went into overtime against the 0-8 Detroit Lions, and that was all he could take.’”

Presumably no charges for involuntary manslaughter will be filed against Mike Tomlin in the matter…

Reacting to Monday night’s Pats/Bills game where the Pats only threw the ball 3 times, NFL historian, Dan Daly, issued this Tweet:

“Washington Football Team had consecutive games at the end of the 1940 season where the Giants threw 7 passes against them and the Eagles threw 60.  Gotta be some kind of record.  The Bills might be looking at a similar situation with the Pats and Bucs.”

The Houston Texans continue to confound; if they have any quality players left on the roster, the Texans seem hellbent to purge themselves of such a commodity.  This week they chose to waive linebacker Zach Cunningham who is only 26 years old and who has already led the NFL in tackles in his brief career.  Last year, the Texans thought he was worth a 4-year contract extension worth $60M.

Evidently, Cunningham and Texans’ coach, David Culley did not see eye-to-eye and reports say that Culley had “disciplined” Cunningham several times this year.  Here is what the coach had to say when asked about the personnel decision:

“We have standards; I didn’t feel like those standards were being met consistently. It wasn’t tough at all (to waive Cunningham). It’s about the team. It’s not about one individual player.”

Cunningham can be claimed off waivers by any team who would then inherit his current contract.  If he is not claimed, he will become an unrestricted free agent and can choose where he wants to play for the rest of this season.  I refuse to believe that he will be out of the league; he is much better than that.

The Washington Football Team has been playing well – particularly on defense of late.  Call me a cynic if you want, but I believe that the ascension of the defensive unit began when Chase Young incurred a season-ending injury.  Let me explain…

Chase Young is a 5-star physical talent; make no mistake about that.  Chase Young is also a “look-at-me guy.”  I do not know this for sure because I have no idea what the defensive scheme was when he was in the game, but it looked to me as if Young was doing a lot of “ad-libbing” on defense trying to make big plays after which he could dance in the spotlight.  The defensive ends who have been playing since he and the other defensive end, Montez Sweat, have been out are folks you have probably never heard of:

• Bunmi Rotini
• James Smith-Williams
• Casey Toohill
• Shaka Toney
• Daniel Wise

However, these guys never seem to be lured out of position and forced to chase down a play on their side of the field.  Chase Young will be a fine player in the NFL when and if he becomes more disciplined and more of a team guy instead of a “look-at-me guy.”  According to reports, Young attended none of the teams OTAs or mini camp last year; maybe that would be a place for him to start reinventing himself.

Moving on to last week’s games…

Cards 33  Bears 22:  The Bears held the Cards to only 257 yards of offense but turned the ball over 4 times on 4 INTs by Andy Dalton.  That is how the Cards got so many points without gaining a lot of yards.  Three TD drives by the Cards were 12 yards, 20 yards and 28 yards in length.

Colts 31  Texans 0:  The Texans managed only 141 yards of Total Offense here and only crossed the 50-yardline once in the entire game.

Chargers 41  Bengals 22:  The stat sheet for the game is almost dead even; a big difference here is that the Chargers scored TDs off their drives/turnovers and the Bengals did not.

Lions 29  Vikes 27:  The Vikes are 5-7 and 11 of their 12 games have been of the “one-score variety”  The Vikes trailed 20-6 at halftime and fought back to take the lead at 27-23 with just under two minutes left in the game.  The Lions then drove 75 yards and scored a TD with no time left on the clock to win their first game of the year.  Justin Jefferson had a huge day for the Vikes caching 11 passes for 182 yards and a TD.

Dolphins 20  Giants 9:  The Giants never got to the end zone; in fact, they only got to the Red Zone once in the game.  The Dolphins did not dominate on offense, but they did score 2 TDs that put the game on ice.  Speaking of scoring 2 TDs, that is how many touchdowns the Giants have scored in their last 3 games.

Eagles 33  Jets 18:  Gardner Minshew II filled in for Jalen Hurts at QB and showed why the Eagles were comfortable trading Joe Flacco over to the Jets at the trading deadline.  The Eagles gained 415 yards on offense and Minshew posted this stat line:

• 20 of 25 for 242 yards with 2 TDs and 0 INTs

Not bad for a backup QB making his first start of the season…

Bucs 30  Falcons 17:  The game was close at the half with the Bucs leading 20-17; then the Falcons were shut out in the second half.  The Bucs sacked Matt Ryan five times in the game and Tom Brady feasted on the Falcons’ pass defense:

• 38 of 51 for 368 yards with 4 TDs and 1 INT.

Here is a fun fact …  Tom Brady has never lost a game he started against the Falcons.

Rams 37  Jags 7:  The Rams were winless for the entire month of November, but that bad spell came to a halt quickly here.  The Jags only produced 197 yards of offense in the game. The Jags scored on a 13-play 61-yard drive in the second quarter to make the score 10-7.  After that drive, here are the results of the Jags’ subsequent possessions:

• Three plays and a PUNT
• Three plays and a PUNT
• Halftime
• Three plays and a PUNT
• Seven plays and turnover on DOWNS
• Five plays and a lost FUMBLE
• 8 plays and a PUNT
• Final whistle.

Football Team 17  Raiders 15:  Since 2002, the Raiders have had 1 season with a record over .500.  Their coach for that season (2016) was Jack Del Rio; last week, Jack Del Rio was the defensive coordinator that beat the Raiders.  This is the 4^th win in a row for the Football Team

Steelers 20  Ravens 19:  When the Ravens kicked a field goal halfway through the third quarter to make the score 10-3 in their favor, I thought the game was over.  In no way could I see how the Steelers would score 17 more points – – but they did.

Seahawks 30  Niners 23:  The Seahawks’ defense came to life in this game and held the Niners to only 71 yards on the ground.  Russell Wilson and the offense also awoke from a slumber and posted 327 yards of offense.  Was that a sign of a turnaround or just a one-off good game?

Cowboys 27  Saints 17:  Saints QB, Taysom Hill threw for more yards than Dak Prescott did here.  That is the good news for Saints’ fans.  Hill also threw 4 INTs in the game.  That is the bad news – – and the difference in the game.

 

 

NFL Games:

 

The teams on their BYE Weeks are:

• Colts:  Given their defense and the productivity of RB, Jonathan Taylor, how is it that the Colts are only 7-6?
• Dolphins:  The Dolphins have won 5 in a row after starting the season at 1-7.
• Eagles:  Did Gardner Minshew’s performance create a QB controversy in Philly?
• Pats:  The Pats have won 7 in a row after starting the season at 2-4.

This is the last of the BYE Weeks in the regular season.

In last night’s game, it was really two different games from half to  half.  The Vikes led 23-0 at the half and totally dominated the game.  After kicking two field goals in the third quarter, the Vikes led 29-0 with 6 minutes left in the third quarter.  Then the Steelers offense arrived; the Vikes’ defense went passive; the Steelers defense picked up the pace and the Vikes’ offense stopped functioning.  As a result, the Steelers scored 3 TDs in a span of 5 minutes and 4 seconds turning a laugher from the first half into a nail-biter that was decided on the final play of the game when a Ben Roethlisberger pass to Pat Freiermuth in the end zone fell incomplete.  Final score was Vikes 36 and Steelers 29…

The Steelers played terribly for the first 40 minutes of the game; the Vikes played terribly for the final 18 minutes of the game.  It was not an artistic game by either team, but it made for entertaining television on a Thursday evening.

Raiders at Chiefs – 10 (47.5):  When these teams met a month ago, the Raiders were a small favorite and then they lost to the Chiefs 41-14 in a game that was not that close; it was Patrick Mahomes’ best game of the season.  Since then, the Chiefs beat the Broncos and the Cowboys holding both teams to 9 points.  Meanwhile the Raiders also beat the Cowboys (in OT) but lost to the Bengals and the Football Team.  The Chiefs have a 2-game lead over the Raiders in the AFC West; a win for the Chiefs here would make that the equivalent of a 4-game lead given that the Chiefs would own the tiebreaker between the teams.  The Raiders’ offense is clearly struggling so here is the question:

• Who do they miss more, Henry Ruggs III or Jon Gruden?

Saints – 5 at Jets (43):  The Saints have lost 5 in a row and have not looked good doing that.  The Jets are 3-9 and have not looked good doing that either.  There was stiff competition this week, but this turns out to be my Dog-Breath Game of the Week.  Alvin Kamara should be back this week for the Saints if that makes you any the more interested in this dumpster fire of a game.  The game boils down to this in my view:

• The Saints’ offense is anemic
• The Jets’ defense does not stop anyone
• Something has got to give…

Niners – 1 at Bengals (49):  The spread opened the week with the Bengals as 1-point favorites.  The line stayed that way until Wednesday when it flipped to the Niners as the favorites.  Both teams need this game for their playoff pushes; I have no idea which version of either team will show up here; both teams are inconsistent.  Purely a hunch, I like this game to go OVER; put it in the Six-Pack.

Jags at Titans – 8.5 (43):   The Titans had last week off and they get Julio Jones back from injury this week.  The Jags stunk out the joint against the Rams last week.; the Jags’ offense is only scoring 15 points per game; no wonder their record is 2-10.  Moreover, this is the second straight road game for the Jags – – something Urban Meyer has had little experience with in his collegiate coaching days.  The Titans are not a reliable team, so I need to talk myself into taking them here even though I know they are clearly the better team.  OK, I talked myself into it; I’ll take the Titans and lay the points; put it in the Six-Pack.

Ravens at Browns – 2.5 (43):  The Browns had their BYE Week last week and this is the second straight road game for the Ravens.  Both teams struggle to score so defensive play is really important here.  This is a big game for both teams regarding the playoff hunt.  The Ravens have a 1-game lead over the Bengals and a 1.5-game lead over the Steelers and a 2-game lead over the Browns going into the weekend.  A victory for Cleveland here would put a blanket over the entire AFC North.  Lamar Jackson has regressed as a passer so this could come down to a battle of running games.  If that is the case, give me Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt.

Falcons at Panthers – 2.5 (42):  Let me wrap myself up in my “polite scarf” and say that these are two mediocre teams.  The Panthers just fired their Offensive Coordinator; whoever inherits those duties will not be helped by the absence of Christian McCaffrey.  The Falcons’ defense stinks; the Panthers’ defense is much better.  Consider this:

• Falcons’ record is 5-7; their point differential is minus-116
• Three other teams are 5-7; their point differentials are minus-17, minus-2 and +3.
• Lions’ record is 1-10-1; their point differential is minus-113

This is the runner-up for Dog-Breath Game of the Week…

Cowboys – 4.5 at Football Team (47.5):  This is not the best game on the card for the weekend, but it might be the most intriguing game on the card.  Dak Prescott has started 8 games against the Football Team – or its predecessor – and his record is 7-1.  As noted above, the Washington defense is on the upswing; at the same time, the Dallas offense is not as explosive as it was 4 or 5 weeks ago.  I think the Football Team has a real chance to win outright, so, I’ll take them here plus those points; put it in the Six-Pack.

Seahawks – 8.5 at Texans (41):  Above, I wondered aloud if the Seahawks came to life in their win over the Niners last week.  Well, here is a litmus test.  The Texans are just miserable; so, a living, breathing Seahawks’ team ought to throttle them  We shall see…   Even if the Seahawks prevail here by 4 TDs, I will not yet pronounce them “back” and “a serious playoff threat”, but they should still stomp the sorry-assed Texans.  I’ll take the Seahawks on the road to win and cover; put it in the Six-Pack.

Lions at Broncos – 10 (42):  This line opened with the Broncos as a 7-point favorite; the line eased up to 8 points by Wednesday night and then flew up to this level in the next 18 hours.  Just as a trend note here:

• In 2021, the Lions are 1-10-1 but they are also 8-4 against the spread.

The Broncos can still make the playoffs notwithstanding the facts that they have lost 6 games; 2 of those losses have been in the division and 5 of the losses have been in the conference.  But a loss here would be extremely injurious to those playoff hopes.  Believe it or not, even at 1-10-1 the Lions are not mathematically eliminated from the playoffs but can flip that status here with a loss.  Hey, I am grasping at straws here to make this game seem relevant; this was a contender for Dog-Breath Game of the Week.

Giants at Chargers – 10 (43):  The spread line has been steady all week long; does that mean bettors do not think there might be a difference for the Giants at QB if Mike Glennon plays or if Jake Fromm plays?  The key here – no matter the NY QB – is the Giants’ running game.  The Chargers’ run defense is bad; it ranks 31^st in the NFL giving up 141.2 yards per game; the only team worse than the Chargers would be the woebegone Houston Texans.  The only reason I will not select this game is that I hate double-digit spreads in NFL games – – but the Chargers need the game and are the significantly better team.

Bills at Bucs – 3.5 (53.5):  Tom Brady is 32-3 against the Bills over his career and has won his last 9 starts against them.  You can be pretty sure that the Bills will not face weather conditions in Tampa thar are reminiscent of what they saw last Monday night in Buffalo.  I think the Bills can score on the Bucs’ defense and I think the Bucs can score on the Bills’ defense.  That Total Line is high, but I will still take the game to go OVER; put it in the Six-Pack.

(Sun Nite) Bears at Packers – 13 (43):  The last time these teams met; Aaron Rodgers made it known to Bears’ fans who were flipping him the bird that he “owned them”.  Coming off a BYE Week, he will retain custody here…

(Mon Nite) Rams at Cards – 2.5 (51):  For the second week in a row, the Monday Night Football game is the Game of the Week.  The Cards won the first meeting between these two teams by 17 points; as of this morning the teams are separated by 2 games in the NFC West standings; a win for the Cards will not guarantee them the division title – – but it will make that status much more likely.  The Rams may have seemed to come back from a deep sleep last week – – but the opponent then was the Jags.  The Cards are a much more potent opponent this week.

Let me review this week’s Six-Pack – – which cannot possibly do worse than last week’s:

• Army/Navy OVER 34
• Niners/Bengals OVER 49
• Titans – 8.5 over Jags
• Football Team +4.5 over Cowboys
• Seahawks – 8.5 over Texans
• Bills/Bucs OVER 53.5.

And for good measure, let me throw in 2 Money Line parlays:

• Football Team @ +175
• Titans @ minus-420.  $100 wager wins 240

And …

• Titans @ minus-420
• Seahawks @ minus-370
• Chargers @ minus-440
• Packers @ minus-650  $100 wager wins $123.

Finally, here are some words from comedian Fred Allen on the subject of Hollywood:

“You can take all the sincerity in Hollywood, place it the navel of a fruit fly and still have room left over for three caraway seeds and a producer’s heart.”

But don’t get me wrong, I love sports………

 

 

The name change is official and you can now purchase Christmas presents with the new and official logo of the Cleveland Guardians as Christmas presents – – for someone you don’t really like but are socially pressured into purchasing a gift for.  The Cleveland Indians are no more; hail to the Guardians – – I guess.  The new team name may not be offensive to anyone yet, but it surely is silly given that the name derives from some large statues at the end of a bridge in Cleveland said to be guardians of the city.

The nonsensical basis for that name got me to thinking that there might be something in the air in Ohio because there are several silly team names in that state.  And then I realized that California also must be afflicted by whatever is in the air in Ohio because there are plenty of dumb names there too.  And then my mind just started to wander, and I came up with this manic ramble on silly team names.

University of Arkansas – Monticello Boll Weevils.  Someone thought it would be a good idea to name a team after a pest that people expend time, money and energy to eradicate.  I guess it is a better name than “Smallpox”, but not a lot better.

Stanford Cardinal.  No, it is not named after the bird; it is simply a color, a hue.  The team used to be the Indians, but that name was far too horrible for sensitivities in Palo Alto and they came up with this new name; it probably just managed to beat out “Mauve”.  Oh, and Stanford is in California…

Williams College Purple Cows.  There must be a rare breed of cattle in the western Massachusetts area…

Cal – Santa Cruz Banana Slugs.  Another team named after a pest that people try to eradicate.  And it is in California…

Cal – Irvine Anteaters.  The best I can say is that it is not a pest nor is it a prey animal.  It is another entry from California.

Delta State Fighting Okra.  What might okra be fighting about and against what other sort of opponent?  I am trying to picture in my head a battle between okra and ashwagandha, but nothing happens.

Toledo Mud Hens:  The only appealing feature of this name is that it was the favorite team of Corporal Max Klinger on M*A*S*H.  Please note that Toledo is in Ohio…

Akron Zips.  The name derives as a shortened form of “zippers”.  As if that were not dumb enough, the school mascot is a kangaroo which has exactly nothing to do with zippers.  Akron is close to Toledo in Ohio…

Akron Rubber Ducks.  The city of Akron has plenty of ties to the rubber industry but why it was a good idea to name a minor league baseball team after a child’s bath toy is not immediately obvious.  Maybe you have to live in Ohio for a while to get it…

Savannah Sand Gnats.  More fascination with naming a team after a pest…

Montgomery Biscuits.  The name is silly to be sure – – but at least the possibility exists that the biscuits will be tasty and enjoyable.  Moreover, there is no stupidity included here as would be the case if they were the “Fighting Biscuits”.

Binghamton Rumble Ponies.  The city of Binghamton considers itself the focal point of carousels; carousels have horses on them; somehow, those horses became known as rumble ponies.  Aren’t you glad you came here today to learn Useless Fact # 36775?

Hartford Yard Goats.  It is certainly important to keep goats in a yard lest they get out and roam about thereby creating a giant “Goat Rodeo” in the neighborhood…

Lehigh Valley IronPigs.  Yes, IronPigs is one word and not two – – if that makes any difference to you…

Long Beach State Dirtbags.  Only the baseball team bears this nickname; the other teams are called the 49ers – – which might make sense if the school mascot was something other than a shark.  Of course, all of that takes place in California…

Campbell Fighting Camels.  Camels spit but are not necessarily fighters.  I guess I should be thankful that Campbell University chose not to be called “Soup”…

Syracuse Orange.  The mascot is a large, orange-colored sphere indicating that the team is named after a fruit – – which grows exactly nowhere near Syracuse, NY.

Wake Forest Demon Deacons.  I find a more than sufficient level of cognitive dissonance here with “demon” and “deacon” in juxtaposition.

Fort Wayne Mad Ants.  Yet another team named after a pest – – and without any explanation as to why they are angry…

Scottsdale Community College.  They are the Fighting Artichokes.  How an artichoke might engage in a fight is an exercise left to the reader…

Southern Illinois Salukis.  According to Wikipedia, a saluki is an Egyptian hunting dog – – which is not native to the southern part of Illinois or any other part of Illinois.

Utah Jazz.  The name made sense when the team was in New Orleans, but Jazz and Salt Lake City are associated about as closely as mustard and vanilla ice cream.

Enough tomfoolery for today…  yesterday I mentioned that Antonio Brown was suspended for 3 games by the NFL for presenting a forged vaccination status record to the league.  Here is how Dwight Perry saw that situation in the Seattle Times:

“Topps, Donruss and Score are scrambling to produce the first fake Antonio Brown trading card.

“Or is it Moderna, Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson?”

But don’t get me wrong, I love sports………

 

 

I want to make only one comment about the death of Medina Spirit – the Kentucky Derby winner back in May of this year – at Santa Anita earlier this week.  After the horse collapsed, vets took samples of hair, blood and urine to assist in the determination of the cause of death.  Please recall that blood samples – and presumably urine samples too – were taken back in May after the Derby and those tests showed positive results for betamethasone which is a banned substance.  The retesting of a separate sample and the adjudication of that matter remains “a work in progress”.  Please do not hold your breath until there is a result of this postmortem and if you want to be suspicious about the findings, go with it; the horseracing stewards have given you ample latitude for skepticism.

Antonio Brown – along with teammate Mike Edwards – has been suspended for 3 games by the NFL for acquiring and presenting a false vaccination record to the team and the league.  The players are not going to appeal the suspensions and the NFLPA was part of the investigation/adjudication processes.  I read one report that said that a forgery of a record that included the seal of the CDC was a Federal crime; I have no idea if that is correct, but it does seem reasonable.  On the assumption that is correct:

• Antonio Brown and Mike Edwards get 3 games off (without pay) for endangering the health of others, lying to league officials and possibly violating Federal law.
• Tom Brady got 4 games off (without pay) for allegedly underinflating a football.
• Got that…?

A week or so ago Vikings’ DE, Everson Griffen was in an armed standoff with police in Minnesota at his home.  He said someone was in his house trying to kill him; he was armed and ready to defend himself.  Police found no evidence of any intruder and after a lengthy standoff, Griffen was taken into custody and taken for a psych evaluation.  The results of that evaluation are in; Everson Griffen suffers from bipolar syndrome.  Taking his statement regarding the results of the evaluation at face value, Griffen may be on a path to managing his condition:

“It’s true; I am bipolar.  I will embrace it and I will be an advocate for mental health.  I been running from it a long time. I’m not ashamed of it anymore. It all started when my mother passed away. Went into a dark place, thought I was great for many years. I promise this time I will do everything the experts say and my wife. I love my family and I miss my friends. Thank you for all the love and support, but most of all thank you for all the prayers.”

Griffen is on the “reserve/non-football illness list” at the moment with no reports as to when he might return to the Vikings active roster.  The Vikings can use his presence and his pass-rushing skills as they scramble for a wildcard slot in the NFC playoffs.  He is not the first defensive end associated with the Vikings to suffer from bipolar disorder.

About 20 years ago, the Vikes drafted Dimitrius Underwood, a DE from Michigan State in the first round of the draft.  Underwood walked out of training camp a day or so after signing his rookie contract and said that he could not play football and be true to his Christian faith.  Later that year, he cut his throat and was running down the street when apprehended by police and put into protective custody; he too was diagnosed with bipolar syndrome.  Underwood has been in and out of jail and/or hospitalization since he left pro football.  I hope that Everson Griffen deals more positively with his affliction than Dimitrius Underwood did.

In recent years, the NBA faced the issue of “load management” for players; many fans felt they were victims of “bait and switch” when they paid premium prices for tix to see top-shelf stars when they came to their town to play the locals and then the top-shelf stars simply showed up in street clothes and sat on the bench.  Load management is still happening, but it seems to have become sufficiently mainstream that fans are not as exercised over it as before.  However, there is a new NBA phenomenon this year:

• Healthy star players who never play for their teams by mutual consent.

Ben Simmons does not want to play for the Sixers and the Sixers seem not overly anxious to find a way to get him to want to play for the team.  The team has suspended him and fined him; his salary is in escrow until he returns to action – – whatever that might mean in this circumstance.  Fans who go to see the Sixers – – in Philly or elsewhere – – will not see Ben Simmons in a Sixers’ uniform even sitting at the end of the bench.

John Wall wants to be traded from the Rockets and the Rockets want to trade him.  That seems like a solvable situation, no?  Well, Wall’s super-max contract along with the fact that he is still recovering from a devastating leg injury gives other teams sufficient pause when it comes to handing over a bounty to the Rockets.  (Wall will make $44M this year and $47M next year on that deal.)  And the Rockets are not interested in giving Wall away for a bag of beans.  So, when fans go to see the Rockets play, they get to see John Wall in street clothes sitting on or very near the team bench so as not to risk any sort of reinjury to that damaged leg.

Those situations are not a good image for the NBA nor is this a brand-new phenomenon.  Last year, the Thunder sat Al Horford down at the end of the bench and did not use him late in the season with the clear intention of trading him once the season was over.  Horford went to the Celtics in the off-season but fans who paid full price for a Thunder ticket late last year did not get to see the best team the Thunder could put on the floor.

I do not know what the solution is here, but it does seem to me that teams like the Rockets this year and the Thunder last year are not trying to win games as a priority and that tarnishes “the integrity of the game”.  This is a problem for the NBA and the NBPA to address and resolve.

Finally, a definition from The Official Dictionary of Sarcasm:

“Ikea:  A retail furniture warehouse whose motto is ‘Here you freakin’ build it.’”

But don’t get me wrong, I love sports………

 

 

Eighty years ago today, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt declared that it would be “a date that will live in infamy” and that a state of war existed between the US and the Empire of Japan.  We know how that turned out…

Today news broke that President Biden will indeed enforce a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in China because of China’s actions with regard to human rights’ abuses.  Unfortunately, I believe we know how this will turn out too…

Yesterday, I focused on the CFP pairings.  The two semifinal games will be played as the Cotton Bowl and the Orange Bowl games this year.  However, there are forty other bowl games on the calendar which brings us to a minor math calculation.

• 42 bowl games => 84 teams to take the field
• There are 130 colleges that play Division 1-A college football.
• Therefore, 64.6% of the teams make it to bowl games.

Please keep that simple math in mind when you hear someone bloviate about how important the regular season is in college football and/or how all those bowl games are important as “rewards” for teams not quite of the caliber of the CFP teams.  A large number of college bowl games are meaningless and are of only marginal interest to anyone other than the TV network that gets to put a live sporting event on the air for 3-4 hours.  I would not suggest that you tune into many of those games for more time than it takes to see a “crowd shot”; in most of the games, the number of fans interested enough to buy a ticket and show up in the stands is meager at best.

Let me present nine bowl games here – in alphabetical order lest anyone think that I have spent sufficient energy to come up with some sort of rank ordering – for which I think there is little potential interest:

1. Alamo Bowl:  Oregon vs Oklahoma.  Oregon’s coach left to go to Miami and Oklahoma’s coach left to go to USC.  Even the head coaches of the two teams do not care about this game.
2. Cheez-It Bowl:  Clemson vs. Iowa St.  This is a big comedown for Clemson who had become accustomed to a CFP slot as opposed to an assignment in afterthought bowl game.
3. Citrus Bowl:  Iowa vs Kentucky.  This game will be the college football equivalent of an Ambien pill; you will not be able to stay awake from start to finish.
4. Duke’s Mayo Bowl:  UNC vs S. Carolina.  Other than this being a “Border War Game” who cares?  UNC underachieved its lofty pre-season ranking, and S. Carolina surprised everyone by winning 6 games…
5. Fenway Bowl:  UVa vs SMU.  Virginia’s coach resigned and will not be there for the game; SMU saw its coach leave for a nearby rival and too will have someone else at the helm.  Here are two more coaches who do not care about these bowl games…
6. Hawaii Bowl:  Hawaii vs Memphis.  Hawaii is 6-7; Memphis is 6-6.  The two teams come to kickoff at a combined record below .500.  Moreover, it is a mathematical certainty that the two teams will leave the field at the end of the game with a combined record below .500.  How enticing is that?
7. LA Bowl:  Oregon St. vs Utah St.  Let me go out on a limb here and make a prediction that “State” will win this game…
8. Myrtle Beach Bowl:  ODU vs. Tulsa.  Both teams finished the season at 6-6;  ODU started the season at 1-6 and then won their last 5 in a row.  Note that this game has not attracted a “presenting sponsor” demonstrating the attractiveness of this event to the advertising/promotional mavens…
9. Pinstripe Bowl:  Maryland vs Va Tech.  I am sure there are plenty of folks in the Bronx who care about this matchup.  By the way, the fact that Tech was invited to this “prestigious event” was not sufficient to save Tech’s coach’s job…

Lest I be accused of ignoring those few bowl games outside the CFP that might be interesting if not important, here are 4 games of that nature:

1. Fiesta Bowl:  Notre Dame vs Oklahoma St.  Both teams had a chance for one of the CFP slots going into the final week, but both were “overlooked”.  Maybe this is the “Miss Congeniality” bowl game this year?  Notre Dame is a 2-point favorite in the game as of this morning.
2. Peach Bowl:  Michigan St. vs Pitt.  These are two good teams; Pitt is the ACC Champion and Michigan St. defeated the Big-10 Champion.  Currently, Pitt is a 4-point favorite in the game.
3. Rose Bowl:  Ohio State vs Utah.  These are two good teams; had they played each other early in the season, it might have been my Game of the Week.  They have a common opponent in Oregon.  The Buckeyes opened as 6.5-point favorites in this game.
4. Sugar Bowl:  Baylor vs Ole Miss.  Baylor averaged 32.6 points per game this season; Ole Miss averaged 35.9 points per game this year.  There should be fireworks here.  Baylor is currently a 1-point favorite.

Finally, I apologize for repeating this observation as a closing but since today involved so much college football commentary, here is H. L. Mencken on the subject:

“College football would be more interesting if the faculty played instead of the students – there would be a great increase in broken arms, legs and necks.”

But don’t get me wrong, I love sports………

 

 

Well, we now know the participants in the College Football Playoffs.  I think the Selection Committee’s work was made a tad easier when Baylor beat Oklahoma St. on Saturday; had the Cowboys finished 12-1 as a conference champion, there could have been a debate with regard to Oklahoma St. or Cincy.  As things turned out, Cincy became the obvious choice.

The two most impressive showings by teams in the CFP last weekend were the ones seeded at the top.  Alabama scored 41 points on a Georgia defense that had been allowing less than 8 points per game and it was not some sort of fluky game that produced that scoring outburst.  Alabama gained 536 yards in the game and converted on 7 of 14 third-down situations.  I was surprised at the ease with which they moved the ball.

The other big-time performance was by Michigan.  I never thought that Iowa was going to win the game, but I thought the Iowa defense could keep it close.  Well, that didn’t happen.  When Michigan got 2 TDs in the first quarter on a 4-play drive covering 85 yards and then another on a single play for 75 yards, it was pretty clear that the Iowa defense was not up to the onslaught that was happening.

The first round of the playoff will be on New Year’s Eve.  The fact that there are three weeks until game time has not stopped the sportsbook oddsmakers from posting lines for the games.  In case anyone is interested this far in advance, here are the game times and the opening lines:

• (3:30 PM EST) Cincy vs. Alabama – 14 (58):
• (7:30 PM EST) Michigan vs Georgia – 8 (43.5):

There were two coaching departures relatively local to the DC area in the last several days and both were a surprise.  Bronco Mendenhall resigned as the head football coach at UVa.  He has been in that job for 6 years; he took over a program that was in tatters and had Virginia in a New Year’s Day Bowl Game in 2019 when Virginia also won the Coastal Division of the ACC.  Often when a coach “resigns”, that turns out to be either a face-saving announcement or possibly an indication of a slightly more generous buy-out than what was contractually called for.  If either of those situations obtain here, there was certainly no indication of it bubbling beneath the surface.

The other coaching surprise was that Maryland fired Mark Turgeon as the head basketball coach.  He has been in that job for 10 years and posted a 226-116 record which is not normally a “firing offense”.  Maryland fanboys will applaud the firing because Maryland fanboys have – – and have had for at least 50 years – – unrealistic expectations for their basketball team.  Turgeon only took the terps to the Sweet 16 once in those 10 seasons and that is a “firing offense” in the minds of the fanboys; they expect Final Four appearances to happen with some sort of regularity.  After Gary Williams won a National Championship at Maryland, the fanboys turned on him when there were no encore performances.

Danny Manning will take over the job at Maryland on an interim basis; he had been an assistant under Turgeon.  He has some ACC head coaching experience in his past; he was the coach at Wake Forest  for 6 seasons.

Making this change even more surprising is that Turgeon was given a contract extension through the 2025/2026 season back in April of this year.  Given the expectations of the fanboys, this is not an attractive job.

I am trying to blend in some college basketball viewing time as we get to that part of the college basketball schedule where there are real games and not scrimmages that count as official games.  I have not seen a whole lot of Duke big man, Paolo Banchero, but I have seen enough to say he is the closest thing to Zion Williamson I have seen on a Duke team since Zion went to the NBA.  Banchero is big and strong and amazingly “athletic”/”agile”.  They list him at 6’10” and 250 lbs.  I’ll buy the height listing, but I’ll take OVER on the weight.  I really like the guard tandem for Duke this year too; both Trevor Keels and Jeremy Roach are very good and fun to watch.

The only problem with watching Duke basketball this year is that this is Mike Krzyzewski’s final year and that ceremonial and maudlin overhang on the games has already been done to death.  Make no mistake, Mike Krzyzewski deserves a “Farewell Tour” in his final season as much as any coach in any sport deserves one; I have no problem with the concept.  My problem is that there are so many chapters in that book.  What needs to be said has already been said.

Gregg Drinnan was the sports editor of the Kamloops Daily News until that newspaper went to the great recycling bin in the sky; he now publishes a blog called Taking Note.  Recently he “took note” of the fact that the Cowboys/Raiders game on Thanksgiving this year drew an audience of 38.5 million folks.  Then he added:

“Just in case you were wondering why neither the NBA nor the NHL played any games on what was American Thanksgiving.”

Finally, apropos of nothing, here is a Tweet from humorist and culture critic Brad Dickson:

“Alec Baldwin now says he never pulled the trigger of the gun on the ‘Rust’ set. Maybe O.J. Simpson can help him search for the real trigger puller.”

But don’t get me wrong, I love sports………

 

 

Last week was a mini-Football Friday; this week’s version will be a tad bigger – – but not like they were during the main body of the college football season.  So, let’s just call this one the first of several midi-Football Fridays.  And as usual, let me begin with a review of last week’s Six-Pack.

• College:  1-2-0
• NFL:  2-1-0
• Total:  3-3=0
• Money Line Parlays:  0-1  Minus $100

That brings the combined results for the season to:

• College:  14-15-0
• NFL:  20-22-1
• Total:  34-37-1
• Money Line Parlays:  2-6   Minus $198.

 

College Football Commentary:

 

            The Linfield College Wildcats won their second-round game in the Division III football playoffs last week beating St John’s (MN) in a tight game 31-28.  This week, the Wildcats are on the road again heading off to Belton, TX to take on the Crusaders of  Mary Hardin-Baylor University.  The Crusaders come to the game with a 12-0 record and an explosive offense that has scored 72 points or more  three times this season.  Go Wildcats!

It is time to award the Brothel Defense Award for 2021.  The award goes to the college football defense that allows everyone to score at will.  This year the award goes to:

• UMass:  The defense allowed 43.1 points per game in 2021.  This is the second time in 3 years that UMass has earned this “award”…

There has been a lot of coach-shuffling among a half-dozen big time programs this year but there is one coaching change at a Division 1-AA school that might be an interesting opportunity for a young coach seeking to make a mark.  The University of Delaware fired Danny Rocco as its head football coach earlier this week.  Delaware has a rich tradition in small college football over the years going back to the days when Tubby Raymond’s wing-T offense was a perennial winner.  Delaware is in the Colonial Athletic Association which has been dominated by James Madison University in recent years – – but James Madison is moving up to Division 1-A meaning there is an opportunity for Delaware to “reassert itself”.  This could be a real opportunity for a young coach…

Last week was a tumultuous week in college football with plenty of top shelf teams taking it on the chin…

Maryland 40  Rutgers 16:  Neither team is “top-shelf”, but the winner would be bowl eligible, and the loser would not.  Rutgers is not.

Michigan 42  Ohio St. 27:  The monkey is off Jim Harbaugh’s back.  This was a dominating win by the Wolverines; with 2 losses it is impossible to see how Ohio St. makes the CFP.  Michigan moves on to the Big-10 Championship Game against Iowa this week.

Baylor 27  Texas Tech 24:  With this win – and a win by Oklahoma St. – Baylor will play in the Big-12 Championship Game this week.

Wake Forest 41  BC 10:  Wake needed a win to play Pitt in the ACC Championship Game this week.

North Texas 45  UT San Antonio 23:  UTSA was 11-0 entering this game and North Texas was 5-6.  This was a shocker and may be characterized as a “look-ahead game” for UTSA as they will play W. Kentucky for the C-USA Championship this week.  Meanwhile, the Mean Green is bowl-eligible.

New Mexico St. 44  UMass 27:  With this result, the Aggies advance their record to 2-10 while UMass sits at 1-11 for the season.

Alabama 24  Auburn 22 (4 OT):  It took a minor miracle for Alabama to get this game into OT; the Tide trailed 10-0 and looked totally discombobulated for the first 3 quarters of the game.

Oregon 38  Oregon St. 29:  Oregon now gets a rematch with Utah for the PAC-12 Championship and that winner goes to the Rose Bowl Game.

Va Tech 29  UVa 24:  Both teams finish the season at 6-6; both will go to a meaningless bowl game; why not just stage a rematch?

LSU 27  Texas A&M 24:  Somehow, LSU salvaged bowl-eligibility out of this train wreck of a season…

Minnesota 23  Wisconsin 13:  That loss takes Wisconsin out of the Big-10 Championship Game.

Oklahoma St. 37  Oklahoma 33:  The Cowboys move on to play Baylor in the Big-12 Championship Game and keep some remote hope alive about a CFP invitation.  The Sooners lost the game and then lost their coach who jumped ship to go to USC…

Notre Dame 45  Stanford 14:  The Irish finish the season at 11-1 and their coach heads south to LSU.

Iowa 28  Nebraska 21:  That win puts Iowa in the Big-10 Championship Game against Michigan.  The Huskers end their season with a 3-9 record.

Cincy 35  E. Carolina 13:  The Bearcats finish the year at 12-0 and face Houston in the AAC Championship game this weekend.

Washington St. 40  Washington 13:  This rivalry game was never in doubt in the second half…

 

The SHOE Tournament Field:

 

The SHOE Tournament is a figment of my imagination.  What I would want to do is to take the 8 “worst teams” in the country and seed them from worst to least worst and then play them off in a bracket.  The difference here is that the loser must play on, and the winner can go home knowing they are not the SHOE Team of the year.  And the SHOE Team is not a label any team would want because it stands for Steaming Heap Of Excrement.

Here are my teams in seeded order and a short review of why they are where they are:

• 8^th Seed (the “Least Worst” of the Field): Temple – – 3-9  In their 3 wins (one over a Division 1-AA team), the Owls scored a total of 120 points (40 points per game).  In their 9 losses, Temple never scored more than 14 points in a single game.  Hard to win if you don’t score points…
• 7^th Seed:  Kansas – – 2-10  That win over Texas almost got them out of this tournament entirely but looking at the overall schedule, the other win was over a Division 1-AA team and 6 of the losses were by 25 points or more.
• 6th Seed:  Arizona – – 1-11  The Wildcats have not been remotely impressive this year ranking 124^th in the country in scoring offense (17.2 points per game) and 98^th in the country in scoring defense (31.4 points per game given up).  They get a low seed here because they faced stiffer competition that other tournament invitees to come.
• 5^th Seed:  Arkansas St. – – 2-10  The two wins were over a Division 1-AA opponent and a not-very-good La-Monroe team.  In addition, the Red Wolves’ defense ranked 124^th in the country in points allowed (38.6 points per game).
• 4^th Seed:  Akron – – 2-10  The two wins were over a Division 1-AA team and then over Bowling Green in early October.  The Zips lost their last 6 games – all against MAC opponents – and managed to lose to Temple earlier this season giving up 45 points to the offensively challenged Owls.
• 3^rd Seed:  Florida International – – 1-11  That win was over a Division 1-AA team back in Week 1 (September 2^nd to be exact).  Five of their subsequent losses have been by 33 points or more.
• 2^nd Seed:  UMass – – 1-11  The winner of the Brothel Defense Award usually makes it to the SHOE Tournament field and UMass is no exception.  Five of those eleven losses were by 38 points or more.
• 1^st Seed (the “Most Worst” of the Field):  UConn – – 1-11  What separates the Huskies here is that their one win was by 5 points over an Ivy League opponent AND the Huskies provided the only win for UMass this season.  Ugh!  Moreover, seven of the eleven losses were by 31 points or more.

Let the worst team continue to lose…

 

College Games of Interest:

 

Baylor at Oklahoma St – 6 (46):  On October 2^nd these two teams met on this field and the Cowboys prevailed 24-14.

Houston at Cincy – 10.5 (53):  This is the College Game of the Week even though the AAC championship is no big deal.  Houston is 11-1 for the year; Cincy is 12-0.  Cincy has a legitimate shot at breaking into the CFP – – but they need a convincing win here to retain that status.  Both teams can score; Cincy ranks 8^th in the country in scoring offense and Houston ranks 9^th.  On defense, Cincy ranks 3^rd in the nation in points allowed per game while Houston ranks 19^th .

Georgia – 6 vs Alabama (49.5):  This is a big game for Alabama; if they get blown out by 4 TDs or more, they will not be in the CFP.  Nick Saban tends to do well in “big games”.  This is also a big game for Georgia because it has been a while since Georgia beat Bama – – 13 years to be exact.  I see a defensive game here; I like the game to stay UNDER; put it in the Six-Pack.

Wake Forest vs Pitt – 3 (71):  If you like offensive fireworks, I suggest you tune into this game on Saturday night.  Wake is 3^rd in the country in scoring offense (42.9 points per game) while Pitt is 4^th in the country in scoring offense (42.8 points per game).  I think both teams will score early and often; I like the game to go OVER; put it in the Six-Pack.

Iowa vs Michigan – 11 (43.5):  This is a classic let-down game for the Wolverines after beating Ohio St. for the first time in forever last week.  The Hawkeye’s defense has been opportunistic all year long; Iowa is 3^rd in the nation in Turnover Margin.  Meanwhile, the Iowa offense is vestigial; it ranks 123^rd in the country; the Michigan defense should feast on this.  I think this game will be low scoring and I think that line is fat; I’ll take Iowa plus the points here; put it in the Six-Pack.

Utah St. vs. San Diego St. – 6 (50):  This is for all the marbles in the Mountain West conference.  San Diego St. has been winning with its defense and has compiled an 11-1 record so far.  In 6 of their last 7 games, the Aztecs have not scored more than 23 points – – yet they won 5 of those 6 games.

 

NFL Commentary:

 

Back before the season began, I listed 8 NFL coaches who might be on a hot seat in 2021.  I thought I would take a moment today to update that list; here are my original eight:

1. David Cully (Texans):  Yes, it is his first year; and yes, the roster is sub-standard.  But the Texans are hard to watch even if they are giving good effort.
2. Vic Fangio (Broncos):  I said he needed serious playoff contention to survive, and the Broncos are still in the picture.  His hot seat may be cooling off a bit…
3. Kliff Kingsbury (Cards):  I said he needed a playoff appearance to survive, and it looks almost certain that he will get one.
4. Matt LaFleur (Packers):  I worried about the apparent falling out he had with Aaron Rodgers but none of that seems to have shown up on the field.
5. Mike McCarthy (Cowboys):  After running out to a huge lead in the AFC East, if the Cowboys spit the bit and sink to a wildcard in the playoffs, I still think McCarthy could be gone.
6. Matt Nagy (Bears):  Fans in Chicago will help him pack his things and get them on a moving van out of town if given the opportunity…
7. Zac Taylor (Bengals):  I said then that this was a longshot entry on my list.  Zac Taylor is secure in his position in Cincy.
8. Mike Zimmer (Vikes):  He got a 3-year contract extension in September; he ain’t going anywhere…

I would want to put three other coaches on a watch list here:

1. Pete Carroll (Seahawks):  The Seahawks are a major disappointment and Carroll seems overwhelmed by what to do to get things on the right course.
2. Joe Judge (Giants):  The Giants were never serious Super Bowl contenders for 2021, but they have underperformed and underachieved.
3. Matt Ruhle (Panthers):  All I can say is that owner, David Tepper, seems like a very impatient man and the Panthers are not playing well these days.

And I have two first-year coaches who will not be terminated this year because it is too early to do so but who have not shown impressive on-field results:

1. Urban Meyer (Jags):  Like the Texans, that team is hard to watch…
2. Nick Siriani (Eagles):  The team is inconsistent from week to week and his play-calling decisions are from somewhere in low Earth orbit…

 

Football Team 17  Seahawks 15:  Don’t laugh; the Football Team looks like a playoff team to me.  They are 2 games behind the Cowboys in the NFC East and have two game s against the Cowboys in the next 4 games.  The Seahawks are playing out the string.

Falcons 21  Jags 14:  The Falcons ran out to a 21-3 lead in the middle of the 3^rd quarter and managed not to blow the lead in the 4^th quarter.  Progress!!

Dolphins 33  Panthers 10:  The Cam Newton homecoming is not looking all that wonderful.  He was pulled from the game with this stat line:

• 5 of 21 for 92 yards with 0 TDs and 2 INTs

Giants 13  Eagles 7:  The only saving grace for folks watching this game is that it was close all day long.  The quality of play, however, was a different story…

Bengals 41  Steelers 10:  The Bengals scored on their first 4 possessions.  After they punted on the fifth, Ben Roethlisberger immediately threw a Pick-Six to make the score 31-3 and turn this game into a laugher.

Jets 21  Texans 14:  The Texans led 14-3 in the middle of the second quarter and then the offense went silent.  The total offense for the two teams combined here was 468 yards.  Tyrod Taylor had the better stat line of the QBs in the game with this one:

• 17 of 26 for158 yards with 2 TDs and 1 INT
• Remember that was the better stat line…

Bucs 38  Colts 31:  This game was back-and-forth all day long.  Leonard Fournette gained 100 yards rushing in the game and scored 3 rushing TDS and he had a receiving TD too.

Broncos 28  Chargers 13:  Here is what you need to know about the Chargers’ running game here.  Their leading rusher was Justin Herbert, and he gained a total of 36 yards.

Pats 36  Titans 13:  The Titans were shut out in the second half.  Mac Jones had a good day with this stat line:

• 23 of 32 for 310 yards with 2 TDs and 0 INTs.

Packers 36  Rams 28:  The Rams are 7-4 at this point and have not looked like a well-oiled machine on offense or defense for the last several weeks.  If the Rams do not find a way to stop the run, they could miss the playoffs.

Niners 34  Vikes 26:  The Niners outgained the Vikes by 100 yards in the game.  Moreover, the Niners ran the ball for 208 yards on the Vikes’ defense.

 

NFL Games:

 

Teams with a BYE Week are:

• Browns:  It seems as if things are coming apart at the seams in Cleveland.  The Browns are 6-6; they are last in the AFC North and already have 2 division losses.
• Packers:  Aaron Rodgers’ pinky toe gets a week off…  They still lead the Vikes by 3.5 games in the NFC North race.
• Panthers:  Christian McCaffrey is hurt again and their QB situation is a hot mess at best.  They need a week to try to pull it back together; playoff hopes are dim at best.
• Titans:  They have lost two in a row and lead the Colts by 2 games with 5 left to play.  The offense has to find a new identity without Derrick Henry; they have a week here to go and search…

Vikes – 7 at Lions (47):  No Dalvin Cook for the Vikes this week; he is out with a shoulder injury.  I don’t think that swings the tide in favor of the Lions by any means, but his absence keeps me from making a Six-Pack selection in favor of the Vikes.  This game is critically important to the Vikes if they want to have a ghost of a chance of catching the Packers.

Cards – 7.5 at Bears (43.5):  We know that the Cards are rested off their BYE Week last week; we think that Kyler Murray is back and ready to play; he practiced this week.  There is a big difference between a healthy Kyler Murray and Colt McCoy.  The Bears beat the Lions with Andy Dalton at QB; if Justin Fields is healthy, do the Bears go back to him now?

Bucs – 11 at Falcons (51):  The Falcons are 3 full games behind the Bucs in the NFC South; their aspirations now need to be limited to making the playoffs which is anything but a sure thing with their record at 5-6.  A loss here would make that goal much more difficult to attain.  The Bucs have too much talent; this game will not be fun to watch.

(Sun Nite) Broncos at Chiefs – 9.5 (47): This game was flexed into the Sunday nighttime slot.  The Total Line opened at 49 points; it dropped to 47.5 in less than 24 hours and then shed another half-point during the week.  The Broncos had a big win over the Chargers last week; the Chiefs had a big time resting up on their BYE Week last week.  I think the Chiefs are about to go on a run to the playoffs starting here; Andy Reid’s teams typically come back from the BYE Week on a tear.

Colts – 10 at Texans (46): This spread opened at 7.5 points; it then jumped from that number to 9 points without any intermediate stops on Monday morning; then it eased up to this level over the rest of the week.  Jonathan Taylor should have a huge day against the Texans run defense ranked 31^st in the league.  Absent a couple of major brain cramps by Carson Wentz, this should put the Colts’ record above .500.

Eagles – 7 at Jets (45.5):  Will Jalen Hurts play?  Somehow, the Eagles’ offense built on running the ball and having a mobile QB who can improvise would be missing one aspect of that offense if Gardner Minshew II is the QB.  The Eagles can still convince themselves they are a playoff team; the Jets cannot do that without giggling.  It was a close call, but this is my Dog-Breath Game of the Week.

Chargers at Bengals – 3 (50):  Both teams need a win here.  The Chargers are a game behind the Chiefs in the AFC West, but a loss here puts them at .500.  The Bengals are a game behind the Ravens and do not want to lose any ground with the season already into December.  I think the difference here is Joe Mixon and the Bengals’ running game.  The Chargers have the worst run defense in the NFL allowing an average of 145.3 yards per game.  I like the Bengals at home to win and cover; put it in the Six-Pack.

Giants at Dolphins – 4 (40.5):  The Total Line here opened the week at 42; it eased on down to this level by Wednesday mid-day and has stayed at this level since then.  The Dolphins are 5-7 on the season but they have won 4 in a row.  The Pats have won 6 in a row; along with the Dolphins, the Chiefs have also won 4 in a row; those are the longest extant winning streaks in the NFL.  This should be a very low-scoring affair…

Football Team at Raiders – 2 (49):  The Football Team has won 3 games in a row to insert themselves into the playoff extrapolations; the Raiders may have exorcised some demons with their OT win over the Cowboys on Thanksgiving.  I think both offenses will show up here and play well; I’ll take the game to go OVER; put it in the Six-Pack.

Ravens – 4 at Steelers (44):  I said earlier this week that the Steelers were a team in free-fall.  The only saving grace for them here is that the Ravens have looked out of sync for the last couple of games too.  The Steelers need this game desperately; a loss would all but eliminate them from winning the AFC North and would make a playoff push very difficult.

Jags at Rams – 13 (48):  The Rams have lost 3 in a row and have not looked good doing that.  The Jags have lost 3 in a row – – and the Jags rarely look good doing anything at all.  This is a must-win game for the Rams; moreover, this is a must-win-and-look-good-doing-it game for the Rams.

Niners – 3 at Seahawks (45.5):These are teams headed in different directions; the Niners have won 3 in a row and have been dominant running the ball.  The Seahawks have lost 3 in a row and have been unimpressive in all those losses.  The Seahawks give up 124.9 yards per game on the ground; I think the Niners will run the ball down their throats this week.  I like the Niners to win and cover on the road; put it in the Six-Pack.

(Mon Nite) Pats at Bills – 2.5 (42):  The Total Line opened at 45 points; there have been no precipitous drops as the week unfolded but a steady erosion down to the current level.  One Internet sportsbook has it at 41.5 points this morning  This is the Game of the Week; the winner will be in first place in the AFC East; that is important for seeding and home field advantage in the playoffs but both teams look to be shoo-ins to make the playoffs.

So let me review the Six-Pack for the week before I give you 2 Money Line Parlays:

• Georgia/Alabama UNDER 49.5
• Wake/Pitt OVER 71
• Iowa + 11 vs Michigan
• Bengals – 3 over Chargers
• Niners – 3 over Seahawks
• Football Team/Raiders OVER 49

And here are two Money Line parlays for this week:

• Bengals @ minus-160
• Niners @ minus-150
• $100 wager wins $171

Second parlay:

• Bengals @ minus-160
• Niners @ minus-150
• Football Team @ +115
• $100 Wager wins $482

Finally, here is an entry from The Official Dictionary of Sarcasm:

“Intellectual:  Somebody who actually thinks about stuff.  These dangerous subversives are notoriously good at blending into normal society, but as a general rule, if the person next to you wears glasses and has never slopped a five-dollar tip into a pole dancer’s G-string, call your local authorities immediately.”

But don’t get me wrong, I love sports………

 

 

Well MLB has entered lockout mode.  The League says that the union has never wavered from its original positions demonstrating an unwillingness to bargain for a new CBA.  The Union says that the league wants the players to relinquish currently held rights and benefits.  And the beat goes on…  As is always the case, this confrontation is about money first, money second and everything else after that.  Here is how all this boils down:

• MLB is a business enterprise that generates approximately $10B per year in revenues.
• MLBPA wants a greater fraction of that money to flow to its members.

Until that gulf is bridged, this lockout will continue and according to reports that means:

• No free agent signings
• No trades
• No Rule 5 Draft
• No arbitration figures exchanged ergo, no arbitration hearings
• No players allowed in team facilities
• No Spring Training
• No start of the regular season on time
• …

There will be crafted messaging from both sides of this matter over the next days/weeks/months; try not to take them literally and do not believe that either side will be expressing the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth in their messaging.

Next up …  The USFL will come back from the dead and begin play again in April 2022.  Initially, this will be an 8-team league with franchise names that will be familiar to football fans who were around in the mid-1980s when the original USFL was alive and well.  Folks may not remember the fortunes of and many of the players for teams like the Philadelphia Stars or the Tampa Bay Bandits or the New Jersey Generals, but they should recall the team names.

There is an interesting planning aspect for the first season of the USFL’s relaunch that I do not fully understand.  The league will play all its games in Birmingham, AL; there are 8 teams, and the season will be 10 games long so that means 40 games will take place there.

The league plans to put on games on Saturdays and Sundays in the Spring; that means there will need to be multiple game venues in the Birmingham area to stage these games.  I have never been to Birmingham so I am abjectly ignorant as to the football facilities there, but I wonder if some of the game venues will be held in the moral equivalent of a high school football field.  We shall see…

Another aspect of putting all the games on in Birmingham confuses me.  The idea would be to have some or all of the USFL teams play their 2023 home games in the cities that match the team names.  That makes a lot of sense – – but how are fans in those cities supposed to develop a meaningful attachment to a team that never plays “at home” in 2022?

The USFL has a “broadcast partner” in FOX.  In fact, two folks who are prominent in FOX football telecasts – – “Moose” Johnston and Mike Pereira – – have positions in the USFL league office.  [Aside:  Johnston has been involved in Front Office duties with teams in the AAF and XFL 2.0 in the past.]  From the outside, it seems that the folks at FOX and FOX Sports may be more than merely “broadcast partners”.

There has been a recent blossoming of “Spring Football Leagues” in the US.  Two years ago, the AAF launched and folded its operations about halfway through the season.  Last year we saw the XFL come back from the dead only to cease operations after a few weeks thanks to COVID-19.  Interestingly, XFL 2.0 as a business entity still exists; it was purchased at auction by a consortium led by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson; and if you believe the statements coming from whatever exists as a management structure there, XFL 3.0 will start up in 2023.

The original USFL had a practice that increased its local popularity and one that has not been replicated in any of the other Spring Leagues that I am aware of.  Back in the 1980s, the USFL had a territorial aspect to its player draft; that let various teams seed their roster with players that local fans already had some familiarity with.  Obviously, the league cannot make the draft entirely territorial; that would give teams in Alabama, Florida, Texas and Michigan a significant advantage over a team in Northern New Jersey.  However, the idea of seeding the Michigan Panthers’ roster with a couple of players from Michigan and/or Michigan State is a good promotional idea to assemble a fanbase.  I have not read any report that the relaunched USFL will do the same thing.

From a promotional standpoint, the USFL should try to entice Steve Spurrier to return to the USFL and coach the Tampa Bay Bandits as he did back in the 1980s.  Spurrier is a colorful and charismatic guy who will draw attention to the league; in the early days of a relaunched USFL, public attention is a very good thing.  The barrier here is that Spurrier is now 76 years old and may not want to reassume his public persona as “The Ol’ Ball Coach” – – but if he is willing…

One of the team names in the USFL next spring will be the New Orleans Breakers.  I think that is a bad team name.  The last time New Orleans experienced “breakers” was when Hurricane Katrina did a number on the city.  There are so many other images one can associate with New Orleans; is coastal flooding the one you want for your new league?

Finally, Dwight Perry had this observation in the Seattle Times regarding new revenue streams opening in the sports world:

• “The Washington Capitals became the first NHL team to sell advertising on their jerseys, and now the door is wide open:
• Molson Canadiens?
• STP Oilers?
• Bud Light Sabres?”

But don’t get me wrong, I love sports………