RIP Joe Kapp

Joe Kapp died yesterday.  He may not make your list of the 10 greatest QBs in history, but he was successful and involved in many aspects of the game.

• He was the QB of the last Cal team to play in the Rose Bowl in the 50s.
• He was in the CFL and won a Grey Cup with the BC Lions
• Later, he was the GM for the BC Lions
• He was in the NFL and made it to the Super Bowl with the Vikes
• He had roles in football movies including The Longest Yard and Two Minute Warning.
• He was the head coach at Cal – – and was on the job for the famous final play against the “Stanford Band.”

Rest in peace, Joe Kapp …

Based on reporting yesterday, the NBA is about to get some bad news once the NFL schedule is released later this week.  Christmas Day in 2023 falls on a Monday; Christmas Day is usually dominated in the sports world by five NBA games on TV from about noon to midnight in the Eastern Time Zone.  Many fans consider Christmas Day to be the de facto start of the NBA regular season after a bunch of meaningless games in November and early December.  [Aside:  I consider March 1^st to be the start of the real NBA regular season but that is a rant for a different day.]

Normally, the NFL plays a Monday night game.  In the past, they have aired a double-header on Christmas Day when it is a Monday.  The rumor is that this year the NFL will broadcast a triple header – – 1:00 PM through about 11:30 PM in the Eastern Time Zone – – and the showcase NBA Christmas extravaganza is going to be buried.

The NFL aired a triple header last year because Christmas fell on a Sunday and the NFL has a triple header every Sunday.  The TV success was sufficiently large last year that the league is rumored to try to make this a calendar fixture.  I don’t know how they might try to do that in 2024 when Christmas will fall on a Tuesday, but we can leave that to the scheduling mavens at NFL HQs.

In addition to Sunday triple headers, the NFL also presents an all-day football orgy on Thanksgiving Day and those games always draw mega-audiences.  I would not be surprised to see a “Christmas Triple Header Tradition” start if the NFL can figure a way to make such a thing happen when Christmas is either a Tuesday or a Wednesday – – days where there is no ”NFL presence” on the sporting calendar.

Moving on …  The EPL season is in the deep stretch.  Sixteen of the twenty teams have 3 games left to play; Man United, Newcastle, Chelsea and Man City have 4 games remaining.  Man City is at the top of the table with a 1-point lead over Arsenal and with a game in hand.  Toward the top of the table, there is a tight battle for 4^th place and 5^th place which means something in English Football.  The top 4 teams are included in the UAEFA Champions League; the top 5 teams are invited to participate in the Europa League; the Champions League is a much bigger deal.

As of this morning, Man United is in 4^th place and they lead Liverpool by 1 point with a game in hand.  Liverpool has been on a run lately winning their last 5 games; Man United has hit a rough patch lately winning two and drawing one in its last 5 games.  Two of the three remaining games for Liverpool are against teams that would be relegated if the decision were made today so the pressure is on Man United.

Of course, here in Curmudgeon Central there is a mandate to focus on the bottom of the table to see which teams will be “sent down” to the Championship next year due to low quality performance this season.

• Southampton is at the bottom of the table with 20 points.  They are not mathematically consigned to relegation yet, but it would take a miraculous turn of fortune for them to stay in the EPL next year.  They have lost 4 of their last 5 games and tied the fifth one.
• Leeds United is next-to-last with 30 points.  They too have lost 4 of their last 5 games along with a draw and two of their final three games are against teams in the top six of the league.  Things look bleak for Leeds United.
• Leicester City is third from the bottom with 30 points but holds the lead over Leeds United based on goal differential.  They have 1 win and 2 draws in their last 5 games but two of their remaining three games are against top-five teams.
• Everton is fourth from the bottom with 32 points.  They are fighting relegation; the last time Everton was in something other than the top tier of English football was in 1951.  Their remaining schedule appears to be softer than either Leeds United or Leicester City.
• Nottingham Forest is fifth from the bottom with 33 points.  [Aside:  Wouldn’t it be great if their goalkeeper was named Robin Hood?]  They have won 2 of their last 5 games giving them a bit of breathing room here and their remaining schedule is not nearly as tough as some others here.

Three of these five teams will be relegated to the Championship next year.  Burnley and Sheffield United will be promoted to the EPL next year; they finished first and second in the Championship this year and are automatically promoted.  The third promotion will be decided by a playoff involving the teams finishing third through sixth in the table for the year.  That playoff begins this weekend; here are the matchups:

• Sunderland vs. Luton Town
• Middlesbrough vs. Coventry

If Sunderland were to win this and gain promotion to the EPL, it would create a situation where Sunderland and Newcastle United would meet twice next year thereby re-establishing a longstanding rivalry known as the North East derby.  Having no other rooting interest here, let me back Sunderland in this playoff round.

Finally, apropos of nothing, let me close with this observation by Douglas Adams in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy:

“In the beginning the Universe was created.  This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move.”

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