Category: Daily Rants

I am an old, fat guy.  In terms of physical appearance and charm, I reside right there at the same point on the scale as Shrek.  I have not descended to the depths of Jabba the Hut – – but I appear to be trending in that direction.  This is not something that keeps me awake at night; I live by the simple self-awareness of Popeye the Sailor:

“I yam what I yam…”

However, my age and my “charm level” does give me standing to be highly offended by the early coaching hiring decisions in the NFL.  Two of the early hires appear to me to be “underqualified, young pretty boys”.  Rather than use my life status as a way to feign outrage at the blatant ageism and grotesque-ism on display here, I will simply tell you why I was really surprised by the decisions to hire Matt LaFleur in Green Bay and Kliff Kingsbury in Arizona.

1. Matt LaFleur was the Skins’ QB coach when Kyle Shanahan was the offensive coordinator.  His pupils at the time included RG3, Kirk Cousins and Colt McCoy; the Skins enjoyed little success during that period and none of his student QBs have shown greatness to date.  He spent 2 years with the Falcons as their QB coach when Kyle Shanahan was the offensive coordinator there.  They went to a Super Bowl, but it would be a stretch to say that LaFleur was the instrument of a career emergence for Matt Ryan in Atlanta.  Please note that when Shanahan took off from the Falcons to take over the Niners, he did not take LaFleur with him.  Last year, LaFleur got a promotion to be the offensive coordinator for the Titans and worked with Marcus Mariota there.  Let’s just say that the Titans’ offense scared just about no one in the NFL; I could make a case that Mariota regressed slightly last year, but I am willing to attribute that to having a new offensive system that he had to learn.  And now, Matt LaFleur is the head coach of the Green Bay Packers.
2. Kliff Kingsbury was the head coach at Texas Tech – his alma mater by the way – from 2013 until last month when he was fired.  Prior to that, he had been an offensive coordinator at University of Houston and Texas A&M.  His overall head coaching record in college is 35-40 despite coaching the likes of Patrick Mahomes and Baker Mayfield at Texas Tech.  Last year, Texas Tech was 5-8 and three of those wins came over Lamar, E. Washington and Kansas.  And now, Kliff Kingsbury is the head coach of the Arizona Cardinals.

Maybe one of these guys is the “next Sean McVay” or maybe he is even the “next Bill Walsh” in terms of offensive innovation.  If that is the case, I will tip my hat to them and say that GMs in Green Bay and Arizona were brilliant in seeing whatever it was that they saw because there is nothing tangible on the curriculum vitae of either of these guys to say that he should be one of the first guys off the board in the hiring frenzy season for the NFL.

But they do look good and presentable when dressed up for a press conference…

Enough of my faux aggrievement…  There is an NFL coach who ought to be at least miffed by yesterday’s events.  Gregg Williams got his walking papers from the Browns when the team selected Freddie Kitchens as their new head coach.  Kitchens was the Browns’ offensive coordinator last year whose role with the team expanded when Hue Jackson and Todd Haley were fired in mid-season.  Williams’ role with the team similarly expanded then; Williams took over as the interim head coach and the Browns went 5-3 with Williams in that role.

• Quick Quiz:  Who is the last Cleveland Browns’ head coach to leave the job with a winning record before Gregg Williams?  Answer below…

It is impossible from the outside to know all of what changed for the Browns once Haley and Jackson were gone but it would seem that both Kitchens and Williams had something going for them that was absent before the mid-season firings.  If this were a year ago and Jimmy Haslam were overseeing the hiring process, I would be skeptical about the choice; Haslam has yet to make a cogent personnel move since buying the Browns in 2012.  However, all reports say that Browns’ GM John Dorsey made this call and Dorsey is highly respected as a “football guy”.  Therefore, I will sit back and wait to see how all this pans out.  The Browns have plenty of young talent on the roster; they should be a playoff contender next year.

The selection of Kitchens as the guy to take over the tiller here combined with the immediate dismissal of Williams from the team leaves a little room for speculation about the relationship between Kitchens, Williams and Dorsey.  You would think that the strong close to the season would motivate the team to “keep the band together”.  That is not happening in Cleveland…

• Quiz answer:  Marty Schottenheimer was the last Browns’ coach to leave the job with a winning record.  From 1984 through 1988, Schottenheimer’s Browns were 44-27.

Many NFL coaches are animated on the sidelines.  Some take it to extremes like Jerry Glanville or Pete Carroll or Bill Cowher.  However, there are some who are very restrained in their sideline demeanor; I have referred to them in the past as the “Easter Island Statue” coaches.  Tom Landry and Bill Walsh were almost aloof on the sidelines most of the time; Norv Turner often looked halfway between “bored” and “amused” on the sidelines; Jim Caldwell looked as if someone had just awakened him from a nap in his recliner; Todd Bowles’ change of expression from “outrage” to “euphoria” would be hard to detect.

And that leads me to wonder who will be the next “Easter Island Statue” coach in the NF for next year.  Ron Rivera?  Andy Reid?

Finally, Dwight Perry had this item in the Seattle Times a few weeks ago:

“Michael Vick advised the Ravens’ Lamar Jackson to ‘proceed with caution’ when it comes to:

• “a) running too much as an NFL quarterback
• “b) choosing his off-the-field activities.”

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

 

 

Five years ago, the Super Bowl was held in New Orleans; the game was between the Ravens and the Niners; you should remember that game as the one where the lights went out in the third quarter for about half an hour.  The Ravens led comfortably before the lights went out but the Niners rallied once the lights came back on and made a game of it down to the final possession.  After that game, Ray Lewis – and probably some others – advanced the conspiracy theory that the league had engineered the power outage because the league wanted the Niners to win the game.  In the intervening years, I recall one time when Terrell Suggs made a similar allusion.

Before I expend another byte of memory on this rant, I have not seen a shred of anything that could even masquerade as evidence for this hypothesis nor can I conjure up a rational sequence in my mind that would suggest to me that the NFL might have cared who won that game.  But I mention it here because Russell Okung, starting OT for the LA Chargers, has asserted this week that the NFL is conspiring against the Chargers.

Okung has advanced his theory even further than I remember Lewis or Suggs taking their hypotheses; Okung called out Roger Goodell specifically by name as a part of the conspiracy.  Let me give you the rough outline of Okung’s hypothesis:

• The Chargers’ home stadium for this year – awaiting the completion of the new stadium for the Rams and the Chargers in LA – is a 30,000-seat soccer stadium.  In terms of revenue generation and in terms of a visual comparison to the other 31 home venues, the Chargers’ Stub Hub Center comes up short.  According to Okung, the league has no problem with the Chargers making it to the Super Bowl this year – but the league is going to make them do it on the road.
• In last week’s win over the Raiders and in the game three weeks ago against the Ravens the Chargers were in a position to win the game but in each case a holding call (against Okung in each case) nullified a run for a first down giving the Ravens chances in the two games for a victory.  Three weeks ago, that chance materialized; last week it did not.  The Chargers’ loss three weeks ago kept them from winning the AFC West and gaining the top seed in the AFC playoffs.  The holding call last week gave the Ravens a chance to eliminate the Chargers from the playoffs – but a lost fumble on the Ravens’ final possession kept the Chargers’ hopes alive.

The fact that the Chargers were not eliminated last week would seem to put the lie to the conspiracy theory here because the Chargers can still host a home game in these playoffs in that itsy-bitsy stadium.  Here is how:

1. Colts (6^th seed) beat the Chiefs (1^st seed) in KC this weekend – – AND – –
2. Chargers (5^th seed) beat the Pats (2^nd seed) in Foxboro this weekend.

In that event, the Chargers would be the higher seeded team for the AFC Championship and would play at home in the Stub Hub Center.

So … IF Roger Goodell and the NFL poohbahs are so hard-over on keeping the Chargers from hosting a playoff game that they would begin to exercise their plot in Week 16 of the regular season, why would they leave themselves open to the possibility of having the Chargers be the home team next week?  IF this is such a big deal, why did not these conspirators make sure that the Chargers were “one and done” in these playoffs?

Oh, I get it now…  The NFL was even more interested in getting even with the Ravens last week for beating the Niners in the Super Bowl five years ago when the “power outage ploy” was unsuccessful.  How does that song go?

“I can see clearly now …”

Moving on …

Low probability events happen every day; sometimes they happen in the sports world.  Remember the Buster Douglas win over Mike Tyson; remember the “Miracle on Ice”; remember NC State beating “Phi Slamma Jamma”.  Last weekend, there was another highly improbable sports result but this one was far more subtle.  Adam Schefter pointed it out in a Tweet:

“Bears were +2 in turnovers Sunday vs. Eagles. Home teams that were +2 in the playoffs the past 40 years were 112-4.”

In case the battery on your phone is low and you cannot use the calculator there, that means that 97% of time when the home team won the turnover battle by a margin of 2 turnovers, that home team won the game.

Now, put yourself in the mindset of a rabid sports fan in Chicago.  In a pure flight of fancy, imagine that you have a choice that cannot be overruled by any power in the known universe.  Lake Michigan has been frozen over but the ice has begun to break and there is open water out there with ice floes afloat.  You – in your omnipotence – can launch one and only one naked person onto an ice floe into the open waters of Lake Michigan consigning that person to a slow death by hypothermia.  Would you pick:

1. Cody Parkey – – OR – –
2. Steve Bartman?

Just asking…

Finally, since I began today talking about conspiracy theories, let me close with a definition from The Official Dictionary of Sarcasm:

“Conspiracy Theorist:  Someone whom you indulged when they would go on a tirade about how the Air Force has a space alien hidden in a bunker somewhere – and to whom you gave polite audience as they maintained that the CIA killed JFK, Marilyn Monroe and John Lennon – but who finally, totally and irrevocably lost you when they started talking about how humanity is actually a race of freaking lizard people.”

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

Well, I surely did not see that coming.  I expected Clemson/Alabama to be a close game down to the final quarter and I expected both defenses to lead the way.  The only thing I got right in that assessment was the Clemson defense taking care of its business to the nines.  The total yardage for Alabama and Clemson was almost a dead heat (difference was 52 yards) but the last time Clemson allowed a score was on the first play of the second quarter.

Congratulations to Clemson.  That is the first team ever to finish a college football season with a 15-0 record.

Bob Molinaro had this comment about last night’s CFP championship game in the Hampton Roads Virginian-Pilot last week:

“In case you missed it, the College Football Playoff committee members’ No. 5,7 and 8 teams – Georgia, Michigan, Central Florida – all lost their bowl games to lower rated teams.

“Luckily, they got Nos. 1 and 2 right.”

However, it does seem as if they got No. 1 and No. 2 in obverse order.

And, Brad Dickson posted this Tweet prior to the CFP championship game:

“Monday night Alabama plays Clemson for the national championship the same time the Andy Griffith Show is on MeTV. I plan to watch Andy Griffith because it feels like less of a rerun.”

Indeed, Alabama and Clemson have met before in the CFP tournament, but last night’s game was anything but a “rerun”.

Last month, the Tampa Bay Rays announced that they were abandoning their search/plans for a new stadium.  The Rays have been plagued with poor attendance for years; the last time they averaged more than 20,000 fans per game was in 2010.  Here are attendance data for Rays’ home games over the past 3 seasons:

• 2016:  15,879 per game – total attendance = 1.29 million
• 2017:  15,477 per game – total attendance = 1.25 million
• 2018:  14,259 per game – total attendance = 1.15 million

The Rays have played – and will continue to play – their home games in Tropicana Field and the team announced earlier this week that they will be making some changes in the stadium.  They are going to reduce the seating capacity yet again – – this time to give the fans a more intimate experience.  Before I get to the rhetorical gas surrounding this matter, allow me to give you an overview of the history of Tropicana Field and its seating capacity:

• When the Rays played their first game there in 1998, the seating capacity was 45,369.
• Between 1999 and 2010, seating capacity was reduced 6 times such that in 2010 the place would hold 36,973.
• Two more seating capacity reductions between 2010 and 2018 meant the Rays played in a facility last year that would seat 31,042.
• Over the two decades the Rays have played in Tropicana Field, the facility has shrunk by 32%.

The current announcement says that starting in 2019, Tropicana Field will have 25,000 seats.  If the Rays miraculously managed to sell out every seat in the stadium for every home game in some future season, they would only draw 2,025,000 fans.  In 2018, twenty teams in MLB surpassed that attendance mark.  What this downsizing means is that the Rays are consigning themselves to the bottom third of the MLB attendance scale.  The team lease on the stadium runs through 2027.  I shall not be surprised to hear from Rays’ ownership about their measly attendance figures starting sometime around 2024…

Here is what the team will do in this round of renovations/downsizing:

• The upper deck will be closed and new “premium seating” will be added to the lower deck in left field.
• There will be changes made to exits and entrances to the stadium to make those processes more convenient.  [Aside:  If attendance continues to drop, they will not need to worry about easy access and egress from the facility.]
• The current artificial turf on the field will be replaced by a new artificial turf that will supposedly be more durable than the current turf because there are lots of other events (concerts and the like) held in the stadium.
• Lighting will be replaced with LED bulbs that will reduce energy consumption while adding more light to the facility.

Here is what Matt Silverman – president of the Tampa Bay Rays – told MLB.com about these moves:

“These renovations mark our continued commitment to providing a first-rate fan experience at Tropicana Field.  Together, in concert with the reduction in seating capacity, these investments will help create a more intimate, entertaining and appealing experience for our fans.”

If someone were to set the OVER/UNDER line for Rays average attendance in 2019 – in the new “more intimate, entertaining and appealing” stadium – at 15,000, which way would you go?

Finally, Dwight Perry had this to say in the Seattle Times recently:

“The first 12 games of the World Chess Championship between Norway’s Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana of the U.S. produced zero wins and 12 draws.

“‘Hey, trying coming up with your own shtick next time,’ said Major League Soccer.”

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

 

 

There was a play in the Eagles/Bears game yesterday that demonstrates a hole in the new NFL rule on “what is a catch”.  If you recall, the Bears completed a pass; the receiver had the ball and took several steps before he was stripped of the ball before he was down.  The ball sat on the field; no one recovered it – – AND – – the back judge came running up to the place where the receiver was on the ground signaling an incomplete pass.  I could not hear it, but presumably he was also blowing his whistle to signal the end of the play and the need to stop the clock on the pass he had just ruled was incomplete.

No one made a clear recovery of that ball lying there on the field around the 10-yardline.  Of course not; everyone in the vicinity saw the official signal an incomplete pass; there is no reason to try to “recover” an incomplete pass.  The problem with the rule as written or as interpreted is this:

• Since the replay showed a legal catch followed by a fumble – and not an incomplete pass as called – and since there was no “clear recovery” of the fumble demonstrated by the replay, there was no way to allow the reality of the fumble to determined what to do with the next play.  Therefore, the call on the field – despite being clearly demonstrated as incorrect – had to stand.

The NFL Competition Committee must have this as Item #1 on its agenda for its meeting later this year…

Last week, I pointed out that reports about the demise of NFL popularity may be a tad premature.  Ratings are up, and NFL football dominated the sports viewing calendar for 2018.  If you watch games on the weekends, you know the feeling of being bombarded by ads at every stoppage of play and you also must have determined that there is a rhythm and flow to which ad goes in which slot in the games.  Here is a tally of the most frequent advertisers on 2018 NFL games; the ones listed as the Top 5 in terms of frequency should be no surprise; the order may surprise you but not the advertisers:

• Number 1:  Geico
• Number 2:  Verizon
• Number 3:  Pizza Hut
• Number 4:  Burger King
• Number 5:  Bud Light  [Dilly!  Dilly!]

Actually, I was surprised by one thing about this “Top 5”.  I would have thought that there were more ads for Progressive Insurance than there were for Pizza Hut – – but the data say I would have been incorrect in that assumption.  In addition, total ad revenue generated by all the ads on NFL regular season games was up a little over 3% for 2018 as compared to the 2017 regular season.

Last week, adweek.com reported that Super Bowl advertising slots are bringing in something “north of $5 million” for a 30-second spot during the game.  If that price holds true, CBS will join NBC from last year’s telecast going over $500M for total advertising revenue for the day.  The game itself should draw about $350M for 30-second slots and the other $150M or so will come from pre-game and post-game slots.

The Raiders – I don’t know if it is proper to identify them as the Oakland Raiders any more since they may play their home games in Fargo, ND next year for all we know – hired Mike Mayock to be their GM about a week ago.  Mayock has been a TV analyst and “draft guru” for several networks over the past decade or so.  He replaces Reggie McKenzie who had been the Raiders’ GM for almost 6 years until he was fired in early December of last year.  Recognizing that the NFL – like many other professional sporting leagues – is a copycat league”, here is something to ponder:

• If Mayock is highly successful in building a competitive roster for the Raiders, which team will be the one to jump in and make a pre-emptive offer to Mel Kiper, Jr. to be its GM?

The week after the NFL concludes its season with Super Bowl LIII in Atlanta, there will still be professional football to watch – – if your cable package includes CBS Sports Network.  The Alliance of American Football will commence then.  Next year, there will presumably be two pro leagues cooking in the springtime assuming that the AAF survives and that XFL 2.0 comes into existence.  And – believe it or not – there is a third new football enterprise that could become a reality.

About a month ago, Ricky Williams announced something called the Freedom Football League.  Williams said that he was joined by Terrell Owens, Simeon Rice and 50 former players as stakeholders in this enterprise.  Here is part of William’s announcement:

“It’s a new spring football league, and it’s for the fans and it’s by the players. It all started with a bunch of guys sitting around a table, talking about the good old days and realizing ‘you know? We have a lot of experience. We’ve been there before, we know how to do it, what if we started a league and really made it about developing young men?'”

The FFL will start with 10 teams and will get its players from “…those defecting from the NFL, graduating college or high school or playing in international or alternative professional football leagues.”  Based on an interview with ESPN’s Outside the Lines, Williams indicates that the FFL will have social objectives as well as athletic and economic objectives:

“When I grew up watching football, I really wanted to be like Jim Brown, not because of what he did on a field, but because he could take that platform and have a voice. And so, when I got to the NFL expecting that to be the case, anytime a big social issue came up we were told: ‘Be quiet … It’s a distraction.’ And so really [we’re] changing the conversation.”

Based on what I know now, I have no way to anticipate what the league will look like or where it will be located.  Obviously, that means I have no way to assess its potential viability.  If it really “about developing young men”, I wish it great success; if this is merely a football version of the “AND 1 basketball exhibition tour”, then I hope it dries up and blows away.

Finally, here is an observation from Dwight Perry in the Seattle Times:

“A 46-year old Irish woman who claims she’s married to a 300-year old pirate called Jack now says she wants to divorce him.

“As for Jack, he reportedly ran off with Mantei T’eo’s girlfriend.”

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

 

 

Today is the first Friday of the New Year and I shall acknowledge that fact with the first Football Friday of the New Year.  And so, without further ado…

College Football Commentary:

Bob Molinaro made an important – and interesting – observation in the Hampton Roads Virginian-Pilot this week

“Bottom line: Secondary market ticket prices for Monday’s title game in Santa Clara, Calif., are plummeting. There may even be a few empty seats at Levi’s Stadium when Alabama and Clemson take the field. With two Southern teams playing out West, maybe we shouldn’t be surprised. Many partisans just can’t afford the trek. The relative lack of interest in tickets among the general public is a reminder that college football passions burn hottest in the South. Alabama and Clemson meeting for the fourth year in a row sends the same signal.”

The important part of that comment is the phrase “… college football passions burn hottest in the South.”  That is not a knock on the sport; it is simply a recognition of reality.  If the Alabama/Clemson game were to be played in Atlanta or Charlotte or New Orleans – or even Miami – there would not be an empty seat in the stadium and there would be as many standing room tickets sold as the local fire marshal would allow.

College Football Championship Game:

(Mon. Nite) Clemson vs Alabama – 5 (59.5) Game is in Santa Clara, CA:  The spread opened at 7 points and the Total Line opened at 62.5 points.  Early money went to Clemson and the UNDER but the line has been steady for about the last 48 hours.  If Alabama wins here, it would be the 6^th national championship for that team under the tutelage of Nick Saban.  Bear Bryant also won 6 national championships at Alabama and Bryant is still a revered figure in that part of the world 35 years after his death.  [Aside:  If Alabama wins, it will be Nick Saban’s 7^th overall national championship; he also won one at LSU about 15 years ago.]  Both teams will face the best defense they have seen all year.  I expect a close game, so I’ll take Clemson plus the points.  I would prefer not to pick the Total Line here.  I am confident that this will not be a “Big-12 kind of game” where the loser might score in the high-forties.  Other than that…

NFL Commentary:

There has been a line of thinking out there for the past several years that football is a sport on the wane and that the NFL lost a lot of popularity from the way it treated Colin Kaepernick.  I have no interest in worrying about that narrative because I have thought that most of the rhetoric was overblown to begin with.  Now there is some interesting data for the “football nay-sayers” to explain.

Sportsmediawatch.com had a report this week containing the following information:

1. Regarding television audiences in the US, 80% of the top-rated sports programs in 2018 were NFL games.  [Remember, 2018 also had the Winter Olympics and the FIFA World Cup.]
2. The Eagles/Patriots Super Bowl game had fewer viewers in 2018 than in 2017 but it still drew 103.4 million viewers.  The next highest sports program – also an NFL playoff game – had only 44.1 million viewers.
3. The top 7 TV audiences were for NFL games; the program in 8^th place was the Alabama/Georgia CFP Championship Game.
4. Overall, NFL ratings were up 5% in 2018 as compared to 2017.  Football is not dead.

If you want to browse through the data to find out where a specific event may have been on the TV ratings list, here is a link to the report:

NFL Games:

There are 4 games this weekend as the top two seeds in both conferences get a BYE Week to rest up and prepare to host games next weekend.

(Sat 4:30PM EST) Indy at Houston – 1 (48): Way back at the start of this season, I said that the Colts’ fortunes would depend on the health of Andrew Luck’s shoulder.  Indeed they have, and his shoulder is just fine.  I would imagine that Andrew Luck and JJ Watt would be the top contenders for Comeback Player of the Year and they will be going at one another in this game.  These two teams are about as evenly matched as that 1-point spread would indicate.  Consider:

• Texans are 11-5 – – Colts are 10-6.
• Both teams were 6-2 at home
• Both teams were 4-2 in the AFC South Division
• Texans point differential is +86 – – Colts’ point differential is +89.
• Texans’ defense is ranked 12^th in the NFL – – Colts’ defense is ranked 11^th in the NFL
• Texans are 11-2 in their last 13 games – – Colts are 10-1 in their last 11 games.

Call this a Two Peas In A Pod Game…

The biggest difference here is the way the teams protect the QB.  The Colts’ OL has been very good this year; Andrew Luck has not been beaten within an inch of his life.  On the other hand, the Texans’ OL has given up 62 sacks and Deshaun Watson has avoided plenty of other sacks just by running for his life.  Another interesting thing to watch for in this game is how much help DeAndre Hopkins gets from the rest of the Texans’ WR corps that has seen two good wideouts go down to injury this season.  If one of the Texans’ ‘new guys” does not make the Colts’ secondary acknowledge the presence, Hopkins will be double-teamed all day.  Purely a venue call here; I’ll take the Texans and lay the point.

Here is a trend that I will be going against with that pick:

• Road team is 7-1-2 against the spread in the last 10 meetings between these teams.

(Sat 8:15PM EST) Seattle at Dallas – 2.5 (43):  The spread opened the week at 1-point and has risen slowly but steadily all week long.  Both teams win using the same formula.  When they run the ball successfully and play solid defense, they win.  The Cowboys have the better running back in Ezekiel Elliott; the Seahawks have the better QB in Russell Wilson.  The Seahawks beat the Cowboys earlier this year but that was before the Cowboys acquired Amari Cooper and presented something more than a token passing threat.  Just a hunch, but I like the Seahawks plus the points here – – even though the Cowboys are very good at home (7-1 this year) and the Seahawks are mediocre on the road (4-4 this year).

Here are two conflicting trends at work for the Cowboys:

• Cowboys are 6-2 against the spread in their last 8 games.
• Cowboys are 3-11 against the spread in their last 11 playoff games.

(Sun 1:00 PM EST) Chargers at Baltimore – 3 (41.5):  The early start to this game is not optimal for the Chargers coming almost 3000 miles across 3 time zones to the kickoff.  On the other side of that balance however is the fact that the Chargers have been a better road team than a home team this year (7-1 on the road versus 5-3 at home).  These teams met two weeks ago in LA and the Ravens won that game holding Philip Rivers under 200 yards passing and intercepting him twice.  On offense, the Ravens used a power running game to control the clock and the tempo; I presume the Chargers’ coaches will have the team ready to counter that sort of offense.  The Ravens have the advantage on special teams.  I like the Ravens to win and cover here; I also like the game to stay UNDER.

Here are trends at work for this game:

• Chargers have gone UNDER in 20 of their last 28 games against AFC teams.
• Ravens are 6-1-1 to go UNDER in their last 8 playoff games.
• Ravens are 7-1 against the spread in their last 8 games in January.

(Sun 4:30 PM EST) Philly at Chicago – 6.5 (41) The spread here opened at 4.5 points and has been slowly increasing as the week progressed.  The Eagles are the only team returning to the playoffs from last year who are playing in this wild-card weekend; all four of the teams with BYE Weeks were in the playoffs last year and they get a week off here.  I wrote the Eagles off earlier this year; I was wrong about that.  I did not think they could sweep the Rams, Texans and Skins in their final 3 games – – but they did.  The Bears’ defense leads the league in points allowed – only 17.7 points per game – and the Bears have not allowed more than 17 points in their last 4 games.  The Eagles’ defense has played well for the last month; they will need to contain the Bears’ run game and then try to force Mitchell Trubisky to beat them through the air.  If the Bears can run the ball, the Bears will win the game comfortably.  The Eagles have covered in 4 of their last 5 games and there is always the possibility of some more “Nick Foles Magic”.  I’ll take the Eagles plus the points.

Here are opposing trends for this game:

• Eagles are 6-2 against the spread in their last 8 playoff games on the road
• Bears are 7-1 against the spread in their last 8 games as the favorite.

Finally, here is a definition from The Official Dictionary of Sarcasm:

“Fruitcake:  A gift given to you last Christmas by people who shrewdly anticipated your needing a doorstop this Christmas.”

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

 

 

Here in Curmudgeon Central, the passing of one year to the next causes me to write Bad Ads for the previous year.  In the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the passing of one year to the next means that Gene Collier publishes his awarding of the Trite Trophy on the last Sunday of the year.  This year marked the 35^th time the Trite Trophy has been awarded – and has been the case in previous years, the result is well worth the time it would take you to read it.

If this event is not marked as a reminder on your calendars, let me provide you with a link here to this year’s “award ceremony”.

In addition to Gene Collier’s annual contribution to enjoyable reading, I can always count on Scott Ostler of the SF Chronicle to offer up some insightful – and often wishful – ideas for New Year’s resolutions.  Here are four ideas from his compendium for 2019:

“To knuckle down and finally finish writing that book I haven’t started.”

And …

“To discover a new baseball stat. Working title for my website: ‘FoulBalls.com’.”

And …

“To invent a ballpark food. Perhaps something inspired by the turducken concept. Like, a churro inserted into a hot dog, inner-tube style, and the hot dog wrapped in a pizza. Churdogza. With a jalapeño hot-fudge ranch dip.”

And …

“To pitch Hollywood on my idea for an NBA reality soap opera. The NBA has the best drama. Baseball? Forget it, the sexiest topic in MLB is whether to ban the shift. Football? They tamp down the interesting stuff (see: Colin Kaepernick, Eric Reid, Washington’s D.J. Swearinger). My soap will feature Draymond and KD, Russell Westbrook, the Ball family, LeBron James, James Harden, and the entire Knicks front office.”

For those of you who think I may have been overly critical or improperly focused on the foibles and missteps of Danny Boy Snyder over the past two decades, please take a moment to read this column in the Washington Post by Sally Jenkins.  This is not a “take-down”; this is a “hood stomp”.

There are reports out there saying that ESPN will keep the “Booger Mobile” in its garage for any and all the NFL playoff games covered by the World-Wide Leader.  Hosonna and Hallelujah to that decision.  Booger McFarlane will be in the booth with his broadcast colleagues for the ESPN games – where he has belonged for all the 2018 football season.  Hopefully, this is a sign from the suits on mahogany row at ESPN that the Booger Mobile will be dismantled and sold off as spare parts.

I don’t do a lot of “rooting for” people or things to happen in these rants; that would not be much of a curmudgeonly thing to do.  Nevertheless, I must admit that I am sorta – slightly – rooting for the KC Chiefs to win the Super Bowl this year.  Here is why:

• By all accounts – and from the NFL Films program on his life inside and outside football – Andy Reid is a good person.
• He also has some prodigious football stats as a head coach with winning percentages in excess of more than a couple of coaches who are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
• Andy Reid is not there – and is not likely to be considered for a spot in Canton, OH – unless he wins a Super Bowl.  That is the box he has left unchecked on his curriculum vitae.
• Until and unless he wins a Super Bowl, Andy Reid will be one of the group of “very good coaches” who is not in the Hall of Fame because he never “won the big one” such as Marty Schottenheimer.
• If Andy Reid wins a Super Bowl and that gets him into the HoF, he will assuredly be the coach with the greatest girth amongst he peers there.  I once said of Andy Reid that if you threw a football at him from behind, so he could not catch it, the ball would go into orbit around his waist…

The Sporting News named Kenny Omega as the pro ‘rassler of the year for 2018.  Since I associate from my youthful days of following pro ‘rassling top shelf ‘rasslers as “alpha males”, I am not sure what sort of character Kenny Omega might play to win such an award.

The New Year greeted UCLA basketball coach, Steve Alford with news that he was the former UCLA basketball coach.  Dick Vitale says that UCLA should hire Rick Pitino for the job; that would require the AD and the administration there to have a set of onions the size of watermelons.  I have no idea if the powers that be in Westwood want to hire a permanent replacement in the middle of this season or if they are going to do their searching in January – March 2019 and try to land their guy once the regular season is over.  If they would be content to wait here is a dark-horse name, they should consider:

• Buzz Williams (Va Tech):  Williams won two thirds of his games at Marquette over a period of six seasons in the Big East and since then he has won 59% of his game at Va Tech in four-and-a-half seasons despite taking over a moribund program.  UCLA basketball may not be the glamor job that it was during the Wooden years, but it is still a prestigious job – – despite the potential of having to deal with LaVar Ball occasionally.

Finally, since most of today’s rant deals with the end of 2018 and the start of 2019, consider this observation by Brad Dickson on that topic:

“If Albert Einstein posted his brand new Theory of Relativity on Facebook it’d probably receive about 3 or 4 ‘likes’. If he then posted a photo of the Einsteins with the family dog it’d get 400 ‘likes’.”

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

 

 

This is the final weekend of the NFL regular season and this is the final weekend of the calendar year.  So, it is time for Football Friday – – an abbreviated edition today.

Warren Wells was a WR for the Oakland Raiders in the old AFL.  He passed away earlier this week.  Back in 1969, before the rules were skewed to enhance the passing game, Wells led the NFL in these categories in a 12-game season:

• Yards receiving with 1260 yards
• Yards per catch with 26.8 yards per catch  [Wow!]
• TDs receiving with 14 – – and – –
• Total Yards from scrimmage per game with 1284 yards.

Warren Wells had personal issues that shortened his career, but he was a REALLY good wide receiver.

Rest in peace, Warren Wells.

NCAA Commentary and Games of Interest:

The College Football Playoff happens this week.  Finally, we can put to bed the ongoing narrative about how many teams should be in the CFP and how they should be selected.  Starting tomorrow, the only things that matter will happen between the sidelines in the Orange Bowl and in the Cotton Bowl.

Oklahoma vs Alabama – 14 (79) In the Orange Bowl in Miami, FL:  This game should be interesting because Oklahoma has won most of their games by outscoring the other guys not by stopping them.  The Sooners have been under 40 points in a game only 3 times this year; when they lost, they still scored 45 points.  Meaning no disrespect to any of Oklahoma’s Big 12 opponents, the Sooners have not played a defense like the one they will see in this game.  According to reports, Alabama QB, Tua Tagovailoa will play meaning that he has recovered sufficiently from a foot/ankle injury he sustained earlier this month.  The Sooners’ defense is nothing to write home about, but Tagovailoa has not been practicing at full speed for most of the time since the SEC Championship Game; he has to be just a little “rusty”.  I like Alabama to win the game but spotting 2 TDs to Kyler Murray and that Oklahoma offense is difficult to handle.  I’ll take Oklahoma plus the points.

Notre Dame vs Clemson – 13.5 (56.5) In the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, TX:  I think both teams here are excellent on defense.  Clemson has only allowed 4 teams to score more than 20 points in a game this year; Notre Dame has allowed only 4 teams to score more than 20 points in a game this year.  I fully expect each defensive unit to show up and play well here.  I do like Clemson’s offense more than I like Notre Dame’s offense.  Clemson averages 538 yards per game of offense and Notre Dame averages 456 yards.  However, that 81 yards per game differential does not translate into 13.5 points for me.  I like Notre Dame plus the points.  I also like the game to stay UNDER.

Since the CFP games take place in college bowl game venues, perhaps this comment from Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times is appropriate here:

“Flush with Ideas”

“Just wondering: Shouldn’t American Standard be sponsoring a bowl?”

NFL Commentary:

Earlier this week, the Oakland Raiders signed Nathan Peterman as a free agent.  After Peterman’s release by the Bills, he cleared waivers and then the Raiders picked him up.  Jon Gruden was high on Peterman during his days at ESPN when he was part of the network’s coverage of the NFL Draft.  If Gruden can develop Peterman into a competent NFL QB, then he is indeed THE Quarterback Whisperer.

Here is a stat that I ran across – and have spent no time verifying:

• The Arizona Cardinals have gone three-and-out on 33% of their offensive possessions in the 2018 season.

No wonder the Cards rank last in the league in total offense – and not by just a little bit.  The team just above the Cards in terms of offensive output is the Buffalo Bills; that team is hardly feared as an offensive juggernaut around the league.  Nonetheless the Bills gain 293.1 yards per game while the Cards only gain 244.5 yards per game.

The Skins released safety, DJ Swearinger on Monday after he called out the team’s defensive coordinator and his play calling toward the end of the Skins’ loss to the Titans on Saturday.  At the end of the game, the Skins had the lead, but the defense allowed Blaine Gabbert – – yes, THAT Blaine Gabbert – – to drive the field and score the TD that won the game.  [There was a subsequent Pick Six thrown on the next Skins’ possession that made the game look more lopsided than it was.]

This was not nearly the first time Swearinger had expressed problems with the team and the coaches; in the past he had been a bit more oblique.  He had railed on the intensity of practices and the “laid back nature” of the football operations with the Skins.  I guess it was the repeated spouting off – plus the specificity of his remarks this time – that cost him his job.

Do not feel too bad for DJ Swearinger.  In less than 48 hours, he was signed by the Arizona Cardinals – the team he was with before the Skins signed him as a free agent two winter’s ago.  Here is the overview:

• Swearinger is not the best safety in the NFL – – but he was voted as a Pro Bowl alternate this year.
• Swearinger is by far the best safety on the Skins’ roster – – the others who play that position are closer to the Porcelain Bowl level than to the Pro Bowl level.

If you live anywhere near the DC area, this is merely the latest drama emanating from the Skins’ operation.  Player/coach clashes in public may be unusual in many cities but not around here.

• Clinton Portis clashed in public repeatedly with head coach, Jim Zorn in 2008 and their feud continues to this day with Portis ripping Zorn every chance he gets.
• RG3 and the Shanahans (Kyle and Mike) engaged in several public spitting matches.

Eagles 32/Texans 30:  I said it was the Game of the Week and it lived up to that label.  Nick Foles worked a ton of magic here throwing the ball 49 times completing 35 of those balls for 471 yards and 4 TDs.  I think I read Foles’ contract correctly; if I did, then the Eagles hold an option for him for 2019 at $20M for a year.  On 3rd and 4^th down, Foles was 15 for 16 for 165 yards and 2 TDs.  With those kinds of numbers and with Carson Wentz still on his rookie deal, the Eagles just might pick up that option…

Vikes 27/Lions 9:  Matthew Stafford – making somewhere in the $25M-30M per year range – was held to 18 for 32 for 118 yards passing before he was lifted in the 4^th quarter.  With the Browns on the improve for the moment, the focus of dysfunctionality in the NFL could be on Cincy or Oakland or Detroit.  The Lions are making a strong case to be in the spotlight in 2018…

Cowboys 27/Bucs 20:  The Cowboys clinched the NFC East title with this win.  Jameis Winston did not throw an INT in the game but he did lose 2 fumbles that led to 2 Cowboys TDs.  What to do with and about Jameis Winston will consume a lot of time in the Bucs’ organization this offseason.

Colts 28/Giants 27:  The Giants led 14-0 and later led 24-14 in this game but could not hold on. The Colts’ defense committed to stop Saquon Barkley and they did just that holding him to 43 yards on 21 carries.

Pats 24/Bills 12:  The Pats are the AFC East champs for the 10^th year in a row.  If this is what the Pats’ dynasty looks like as it crumbles, I suspect that Pats’ fans will settle for a continuation next year when they see the Pats win their 11^th straight title.  The Pats ran the ball for 273 yards in this game showing that they can win games in a variety of ways; the team seemed not to miss Josh Gordon a bit in this game.  Speaking of Josh Gordon, here is a comment from Dwight Perry in the Seattle Times:

“The NFL has suspended Patriots receiver Josh Gordon yet again for violating the league’s drug policy.

“In other words, upon further review, they’ve ruled he was in possession.”

Bears 14/Niners 9:  Both defenses controlled this game.  Mitchell Trubisky had some nice individual stats (25 for 29 for 246 yards and 1 TD) but that only produced 2 TDs for the game.  The Niners never saw the end zone.

Rams 31/Cards 9:  The game was a total domination by the Rams.  The Cards got 1 TD in the game; it came on a pass form Larry Fitzgerald to David Johnson.  That was the highlight/takeaway from this game

Saints 31/Steelers 28:  The Saints wrapped up home field advantage in the playoffs with this win.  Meanwhile, the Steelers may have played themselves into exclusion from the playoffs. The Steelers started the day as the #4 AFC Seed and wound u- the day as the #8 team in the standings needing help to get into the playoffs at all.   Ben Roethlisberger threw for 380 yards and Antonio Brown had 14 catches for 166 yards and 2 TDs, but that was not enough.  There has been an awful lot of drama with the Steelers’ this year; are they trying to emulate the Skins?

Seahawks 38/Chiefs 31:  The Seahawks’ formula is run the ball and play defense.  The Chiefs’ offense scored plenty of points here, but the Seahawks offense was able to keep pace because the Chiefs’ defense gave up 210 yards rushing and 465 yards of offense.  They say, “defense wins championships”.  If that is true, then the Chiefs have an Achilles’ Heel.

Falcons 27/Panthers 10:  Backup QB Taylor Heinicke threw 3 INTs in the game and the normally inept Falcons’ defense held the Panthers to 10 points.  The only bright spot for the Panthers was Christian McCaffrey who ran for 101 yards and caught 12 passes for another 77 yards.

Browns 26/Bengals 18:  The Browns are 7-7-1; they could wind up with a winning record this season and they have an excellent nucleus of young players to build around.  The Browns have been last in the AFC North standings for each of the last 7 seasons – – but not this year.  Granted the Bengals had to play their backup QB, but at the half, the Bengals’ passing offense totaled negative-15 yards.  Jeff Driskel ended the day with 133 yards and 2 TDs as passing offense numbers.

Packers 44/Jets 38 (OT):  Aaron Rodgers threw for 442 yards and 2TDs – – plus he ran for 2 more TDs – – to give the Packers their first and only road win of the season. The Packers needed to come back from a 15-point deficit in the 4^th quarter to force the OT and then to win the game.   The Jets’ defense gave up 540 yards in the game.

Jags 17/Dolphins 7:  This game was about as interesting as the score would indicate.  The Dolphins did not gain 200 yards on offense – – for the 3^rd time in the last 4 games.  The Jags offense produced all of 10 points in this yawn-fest.  A late Pick-6 made this into a 10-point game.

Raiders 27/Broncos 14:  A freaky 99-yard punt return by the Raiders was the only on-field highlight of this game – – unless you count some of the fans running onto the field after the game since this was likely the final Raiders’ game in the Oakland Coliseum.

NFL Games This Week:

The NFL has flexed the important games to the late Sunday afternoon time slot and to Sunday night.  A couple of the early games have potential significance on the playoffs, but the main games are for later in the day.  Those late afternoon games with no major playoff importance are in that time slot because they are being played in the western time zones.

There are two déjà vu games this week:

1. Kirk Cousins leads the Vikings out against the Bears at home with the following at stake.  If the Vikes win, they are the #6 seed in the playoffs; if they lose, they could be done for the year.  Last year, when Cousins was with the Skins, he and his team faced that same situation – – and the Skins saw their season go up in smoke losing to a Giants’ team that only won 3 games all year.
2. Last year, the Ravens were in the situation where a win over the Bengals in the final week would guarantee them a playoff slot.  The Ravens lost that game.  Here we are at the final game of the regular season for 2018 and the Ravens are in the same position.  If they win, they are in.  If they lose, they may be outside looking in once again.

Early Afternoon Sunday Games

Dallas at Giants – 6 (41.5):  Yes, I looked twice at the spread here; indeed, the Giants are favored in this contest.  In fact, the spread opened the week with the Giants favored by 3 points and that number expanded quickly to this level.  The game has no playoff bearing at all; the Cowboys are the #4 seed in the NFC no matter what happens here or anywhere else in the league.  That means the Cowboys will play the #5 seed next week and that would be the Seahawks as of this moment – but it could wind up being the Vikes.

Carolina at New Orleans – 7 (44):  This game has no playoff meaning at all either.  The Saints will have home-field advantage for the entirety of the NFC playoffs; the Panthers will be spending lots of time in the offseason hoping that Cam Newton’s arm/shoulder heals completely before OTAs begin.  Who knows if Sean Payton will rest some or all his top players?  If he does decide to give Drew Brees some time off here, the question will become:

• Will the “next QB up” be Terry Bridgewater or Taysom Hill?

Jets at New England – 13.5 (45):  The Total Line here opened the week at 48 points and dropped to this level quickly.  The Patriots can still achieve the #1 seed in the AFC playoffs for this year, but it gets complicated to explain how they get there.  Here is the simple and direct meaning of the game for the Pats:

• Win here and the Pats are guaranteed at least the #2 Seed in the AFC playoffs which means they get a BYE Week next week.

I would not bet on this game.  However, here is how I think it will unfold.  Pats get a lead and then nurse the lead with a running game while the defensive wrinkles confuse rookie QB Sam Darnold.  If I am right, then the bet is to take the Jets.  If I am wrong, the Pats could win this in a storm.

Detroit at Green Bay – 8 (44.5):  This might have been a contender for Dog-Breath Game of the Week but the big 4^th quarter comeback by Aaron Rodgers last week followed by a Packers’ win in OT makes me think this game might have some late excitement.  Notwithstanding that potential, both teams are disappointments this year.  The Lions fired their coach after last year despite two consecutive seasons at 9-7.  The best they can do this year is 6-10. Meanwhile, the Packers must be a sub-.500 team this year and they have already fired their coach in the middle of this season.  Hoo-ray!

Jax at Houston – 6.5 (40.5):  The spread for this game opened at 10 points; dropped to 7 points overnight and then inched down to this level.  Why so much Jags’ money?  Beats me; I checked the Jags’ roster and their 2 QBs are still Blake Bortles and Cody Kessler.  The Texans will clinch the AFC South title with a win here; if they lose, the winner of the Colts/Titans game on Sunday night will be the AFC South champ.  A win for the Texans – along with a bunch of other happenings – could get them a BYE Week next week but the important thing for them is to win and be part of the playoffs.  The Jags’ front seven versus the Houston OL is the only mismatch favoring the Jags.

Atlanta – 1 at Tampa (51):  The Falcons started out as 1-point favorites in this game; then the Bucs were 1-point favorites and now the Falcons are once again 1-point favorites.  The game is meaningless save for the fact that it is a division game.  The Falcons were picked by more than a couple of prognosticators as the NFC Super Bowl team this year.  Their 6-9 record coming into this game defines “underachievement”.  The Bucs’ record stands at 5-10 and a blowout loss at home in this game ought to trigger a huge reshuffling of the cards in Tampa.  This is what I call a WGARA Game – – a Who Gives A Rat’s Ass Game

Miami at Buffalo – 3.5 (39.5):  This is the Dog Breath Game of the Week.  The Dolphins have the 30^th ranked offense in the NFL; the Bills have the 31^st ranked offense in the NFL.  If you are searching for meaning for this game, perhaps this will help:

• If the Dolphins win, they will finish the season at .500.

Sorry, that is the best I can summon up here…  If this were a pro ‘rassling event and they needed some crazy stipulation for the match, maybe this would suffice:

• First team to score in the “teens” wins the game.
• Problem with that stipulation is that the game might take 6 full quarters for one of them to get there…

Late Afternoon Sunday Games

Oakland at KC – 13.5 (53.5):  In terms of rivalries, this one goes back to the 60s when John Madden and Hank Stram went at one another.  This year the teams have mirror-image records; the Chiefs are 11-4; the Raiders are 4-11.  Believe it or not, the Chiefs could wind up with the overall #1 Seed in the AFC playoffs here – – or they could fall al the way to the #5 Seed.  A win guarantees them home-field advantage and a BYE week next week.  With a loss, many things are possible…  I am not sure the Raiders have a sufficient ground attack to take advantage of the Chiefs’ biggest weakness.

Philly – 6.5 at Washington (42):  The playoff implications here are simple and straightforward:

• Eagles make the playoffs with a win here PLUS a Vikings’ loss to the Bears

End of message…  Someone asked me earlier this week if Nick Foles is the best backup QB ever.  He surely had a magical run last year and played outstandingly last week, but there was this guy named Steve Young who backed up Joe Montana for the Niners – – and Young was pretty good too…

Cleveland at Baltimore – 6 (41): The Ravens are “win-and-you’re-in” – – just as they were last year playing the Bengals in the final game of the year.  Last year, the Ravens spit the bit; they will need to be focused and ready for this game because the Browns are not the pushovers they have been for about the last decade.  The Browns won the first meeting this year 12-9 but neither team today resembles what happened back in October.  The Ravens now have Lamar Jackson running the show with a lot more emphasis on the run game.  The Browns have an interim head coach who has the team playing a lot better than they were under the former non-interim head coach.  Both teams have won 5 of their last 6 games.  This should be a good game.  Ravens loss plus a Steelers win would give the Steelers the AFC North title AND it would eliminate the Ravens from the playoffs in the final week for the second year in a row.

Cincy at Pittsburgh – 14.5 (45.5):  The spread for this game opened at 17 points and the Total Line opened at 48 points.  Both of those line movements are big ones.  Here are the playoff implications for this game:

• Right now, the Steelers are outside looking in.
• If they win this game AND if the Ravens lose to the Browns, the Steelers will be the AFC North champs and make the playoffs
• Moreover, if the Steelers win here AND the Ravens lose, the Ravens will be eliminated from the playoffs for the second year in a row.  So, the Steelers’ fans will be rooting for the Browns this week.  Seriously…

I read in a blog somewhere that the Steelers can also make the playoffs if they win this game and the Colts/Titans game winds up in a tie.  There is no way I am going to try and verify that because it would mean figuring out the tie-breakers for three teams all of whom have a tie game on their record.  I’ll pretend that cannot happen.  James Connor is listed as questionable for this game.  That is important in the passing game for the Steelers.  Connor’s backup the last couple of weeks has been Jaylen Samuels; he has run well, but his pass blocking and blitz pickups have left something to be desired.  The Bengals knocked the Ravens out of the playoffs last year with an upset win in Week 17.  That is not going to happen here, but that line does look fat; I like the Bengals plus the points.

Chicago at Minnesota – 5 (40.5):  I think this is the Game of the Week.  For the Vikes, this is a “win-and-you’re-in” game.  They can still make the playoffs with a loss providing the Eagles   also lose to the Skins.  If the Vikes get in as the #6 Seed, their first-round playoff opponent next week would be the #3 Seed – – and as of this morning the #3 Seed in the NFC are these same Chicago Bears.  There is a possibility the Bears can move up in the seedings with a win here AND a Niners victory over the Rams.  I suspect that the Bears are going to go for that #2 Seed and play their starters; if I am correct, I really like the Bears plus the points here.  If I’m wrong…

Chargers – 6.5 at Denver (41.5):  The Chargers and Chiefs have identical 11-4 records, but the Chiefs hold the head-to-head tie-breaker.  The Chargers can win the division if they win here AND the Chiefs lose to the Raiders; that would drop the Chiefs to the #5 Seed.  A month ago, the Broncos looked to have a reasonable path to a wild card playoff berth; with four games to play, they had three in a row against teams with losing records – – and then this final game.  They needed to win out.  Here is what happened:

• Niners 20  Broncos 14  Niners’ record today is 4-11
• Browns 17  Broncos 16  Browns’ record today is 7-7-1
• Raiders 27  Broncos 14  Raiders’ record today is 4-11

So much for that stroll down primrose lane to the playoffs for the Broncos…

Arizona at Seattle – 13.5 (38.5):  A loss by Seahawks here PLUS a Vikes’ win in Chicago would drop Seahawks to 6^th seed in the NFC from the 5^th spot they currently hold.  Right now, their first-round game would be in Dallas against the Cowboys.  Both the Seahawks and the Cowboys focus on running the football, that game could bring back memories of Woody Hayes and Darrell Royal.

SF at Rams – 10 (49):  This spread opened at 7.5 points and jumped to this level as the week wore on.  The playoff meaning here is very simple:

• If the Rams win, they get a BYE next week as the #2 seed in the NFC playoffs.

To get that win, the Rams will have to do it without Todd Gurley and wth CJ Anderson at RB.

Sunday Nite Game

Indy – 3 at Tennessee (43.5):  The winner of this game will go to the playoffs; it is as simple as that.  The Colts needed a big rally – – actually two big rallies – – to win last week over the Giants (see above).  The Colts held Saquon Barkley in check last week; can they do the same this week with Derrick Henry?  Looking only at the QBs here, this will be a battle between Andrew Luck and Blaine Gabbert.  [Aside:  The Titans “real QB” says he will try to play this weekend; to me, that means he is not going to play very much and not very well if he does play.]  If football were not so much a team game, there would be no choice to make here.  The game is in Nashville where the Titans are 6-1 this season.

Finally, I will crib from Dwight Perry’s Sideline Chatter column in the Seattle Times for the third and final time today:

“Harley-Davidson has recalled 238,000 motorcycles because they have a clutch problem.

“The NFL, not to be outdone, immediately recalled the New York Giants.”

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

 

 

As the year is drawing to a close, I’ll use today to clear a few small items off my clipboard to get ready for 2019 ranting…

The Chicago Bears are going to sell beer in cans not plastic cups.  The reason is that beer cans are more environmentally friendly – they are recyclable – and plastic cups are now seen as spawn of the Devil.  It was not all that long ago when all the momentum was to sell beer in plastic cups because when an angered and inebriated fan threw the beer container at an opposing player or official, the cup was a lot safer than a full can of liquid.  According to a report in the Chicago Sun-Times, Soldier Field peddles about 20,000 cases of beer a year at the Bears’ home games – including exhibition games – and whatever other ancillary events take place there.  That amounts to 480,000 cans of beer.

• That is a lot of “ammunition” to put in the hands of potentially angry spectators – and –
• That is almost a half-million plastic cups that need not be used.

It turns out that Urban Meyer is not going to retire fully at Ohio State.  He will not be the head football coach, but he will stay on at the university and he will be teaching a course there – one that students can take for academic credit.  The course will be “Leadership and Character” and it will be offered by the business school at the university.  Given some of the off-field “issues” that Meyer’s players have had at Florida and the way he danced around candor related to allegations of domestic violence by one of his assistant coaches, the course title and might strike one as ironic…

If you ever have a chance, watch an NBA game on TV between the Houston Rockets and the LA Lakers.  Forget about all the nuances of the game and focus on this:

• How many extra steps do the officials allow James Harden to take without a traveling violation – and –
• How many extra steps do the officials allow LeBron James to take without a traveling violation?
• For a single game, add those two numbers.
• I’ll set the OVER/UNDER for that total at 50.5.

The NBA has deals in place with two “sports data providers” to distribute in-game official NBA data that can be used by licensed sportsbooks in the US for in-game NBA and WNBA wagers.  [Aside:  If you are even thinking of making an in-game wager on a WNBA game, please get yourself some counseling – quickly.]  This may seem like a small deal but data from betting shops in Europe and the UK indicate that live/in-game wagering has a larger handle than betting prior to the start of the contest.  Is this the harbinger of a major change in betting habits in the US?

In other news related to the NBA and wagering, the league announced about a week ago that it had expanded its partnership with FanDuel:

• FanDuel had been the Official Daily Fantasy Partner of the NBA and WNBA
• Now Fan Duel is also the Authorized Gaming Operator for the NBA.

Best I can tell, here is what the expanded partnership does:

• FanDuel gets to use the NBA logos and trademarks on all its basketball products and gets access to the NBA’s official data streams.
• The NBA gets to be part of FanDuel’s process for creating new betting formats and new “gaming experiences”.

All of this gambling-related news comes because the Supreme Court struck down PASPA as unconstitutional earlier in 2018.  In tat decision, the Court said that Congress could act to establish regulations on sports betting – – but that the way they did it in PASPA did not pass Constitutional muster.  Well, the Congress appears to be taking that opening seriously.  A group of Senators will introduce legislation designed to provide US Government oversight for sports betting.  According to reports, the proposed legislation would include:

1. A prohibition on sports betting for amateur sports except the Olympics and college sports.  [That means you will not be able to get down on a 12-and-under soccer game involving the travel team from your town.  Too bad…]
2. A prohibition on sports betting by anyone under 21 years of age.  [I guess that makes sense … except people are eligible to vote and serve in the military at age 18 but they can’t make a wager on the Jets getting 4 points against the Bills?]
3. A prohibition on sports betting by athletes, coaches, officials, and others associated with sports organizations.  [I hope that only means no betting on the sports they are involved with; a basketball player ought to be able to bet on horseracing and/or a football game without a problem.]
4. A prohibition on sports betting by persons convicted of federal crimes related to sports betting.  [No problems here…]
5. A requirement that sportsbooks use results provided by sports organizations or their licensees to determine betting outcomes through 2024 and then to set data integrity requirements for future times.  [Sounds like the lobbyists for the NCAA, MLB, MBA and NFL had an impact here.]
6. An amendment to the Wire Act which would allow interstate sports wagering.  [No problems here…]

Frankly, other than giving the sports leagues legal authority to get themselves a regular stream of revenue from sports betting, I am not sure this legislation addresses much of anything important.

Finally, here is a commentary by Dwight Perry in the Seattle Times:

“Ten Byron (Ill.) High School football players were suspended for three games — the last of which was a 24-20 loss to Monticello in the Class 3A state-championship game — after they ran across a field naked with Oreo cookies wedged between their buttocks as a prank.

“That’s what you call a costly end-zone celebration.”

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

 

 

It is late enough in the NFL season for me to offer up my observations about the TV productions associated with NFL football for this season.  It is not as if I am awarding some sort of honorific title that anyone associated with NFL broadcasting would care about; these are just my reactions to some of the studio shows and television announcing teams that graced the airwaves this year.

For no reason in particular, let me start with CBS.  Their pre-game/post-game studio show is the best of a sorry lot.  Notwithstanding that accolade, the show has plenty of room for improvement; here is the most obvious way for the show to get better:

• Bill Cowher has sailed by his “’Best If Used By” date.  His analyses for every game sound the same to me – – run the ball; stop the run; hold the other QB in check.  [The depth of that insight is equivalent to the depth of puddle in a parking lot.]  The only thing he leaves out is “score more points than the other guys”.  As the depth and content of his contributions to the “discussions” on the program have diminished, Coach Cowher has amped up the volume as if to make his points appear to be more meaningful.  Sadly, volume does not equal insight…

I like Phil Simms in this studio role a lot more than I liked him in the booth as a color analyst and I think Nate Burleson is a rising star in that business.  CBS should leave both of those guys alone.  I have never been a Boomer Esiason fan; the best I can say about him is that he is the same now as he was two or three years ago.  If you liked him then …  James Brown is just fine as the ringleader here.

CBS has two excellent broadcast teams calling their games:

1. Jim Nantz and Tony Romo are each very good – – and when they play off one another they each make the other one better.
2. Ian Eagle and Dan Fouts are also excellent – – but far less recognized because they do not get nearly the exposure that Nantz and Romo get.

Over at FOX, the problem seems to be that the network is trying to turn the pregame show into a comedy event – – with one glaring problem:

• None of the people on the program are even remotely comedic.  I have a corn on my foot that is a funny as any of those guys.

I have no problems with either Howie Long or Tony Gonzales; they seem to realize they are there to talk about football first and silliness third or fourth.  Jimmy Johnson is better than Bill Cowher; let me leave it at that.  Michael Strahan may be wonderful on Good Morning America; I’ll never know about that because you could not get me to watch any of those “morning fluff shows” without providing me with wealth that would change the fortunes of at least 4 of my future generations.  What I do know, is that he adds little important insight to the FOX pregame shows.  Curt Menefee is a slightly heavier version of James Brown; he is just fine – and innocuous – as the ringleader here.  And that brings me to Terry Bradshaw…

• I would much prefer to see Terry Bradshaw join Bill Cowher in retirement – forced or voluntary makes no difference to me.

Oh, by the way, someone at FOX must figure out a graceful way to “move on” from Rob Riggle and his weekly picks.  He takes 2 minutes to do a comedy routine; but it is not funny.  And here is something the FOX people need to realize:

• Short of colonoscopies, there are few things more uncomfortable that watching someone trying to be funny – – when the bit is not funny at all.

In the booth at the games, FOX has Joe Buck and Troy Aikman as their top-shelf team.  Those guys are really good – and no, Joe Buck is not smarmy and no, Troy Aikman does not hate your favorite team.  The problem at FOX is that it is a BIG step down from those guys to the rest of their announcing crews.

For NBC’s Football Night in America, Tony Dungy and Rodney Harrison do a fine job in their low-key presentations.  I prefer their understated presentations of their opinions much more than the bombast or the attempted humor at CBS and FOX.  Mike Tirico is good.  Tirico’s “problem” is that he is the NBC heir-apparent to several positions.

1. Mike Tirico is the latter-day Dan Patrick on Football Night in America.  Problem is, that Patrick was better at that job.
2. Mike Tirico is the latter-day Bob Costas at the Olympic coverage.  He is to Bob Costas as Adam Sandler is to winning an Oscar for Best Actor.
3. Mike Tirico is seen as the heir-apparent to Al Michaels as the play-by-play guy for Sunday Night Football.  Mike Tirico is to Al Michaels as Colonel Sanders is to Auguste Escoffier.

Over at ESPN, the self-proclaimed “World-wide Leader” has not recovered from the decision to “move on” from the Sunday morning show that Chris Berman orchestrated.  Randy Moss and Charles Woodsen are fine; the rest of the program participants could be changed out with Manny, Moe and Jack on any given Sunday and it would make no difference.  That program needs a total overhaul.  The lead-in to Monday Night Football is significantly better than the Sunday morning show.  Adding Suzy Kolber and Steve Young to Randy Moss and Charles Woodsen makes that program work.

And that brings me to the ESPN game coverage for Monday Night Football.  Let me preface these remarks by saying that anyone at ESPN who tries to compare this announcing crew to Frank Gifford, Howard Cosell and “Dandy” Don Meredith should have his/her head placed directly to the right of Ted Williams’ head in that cryolab wherever it is.

• Joe Tessitore needs to recognize that every 3-yard run on 1^st and 10 is not the shot heard round the world.  I did not think it possible that someone else could be as hyperbolic as Kevin Harlan and/or Gus Johnson – – but Tessitore achieves that level.  Many is the game where I would swear that he is in the booth chugging quadruple espressos at every change of possession.
• Jason Witten suffers by comparison to his former teammate Tony Romo who stepped into the announcing booth at the top of the announcing ladder and performed outstandingly.  Witten made the same jump from field to booth at a similar level, but Witten is merely OK at the job.  What ESPN needs to do is to provide Witten with mentoring and other opportunities to be on the air so that he can grow in his new occupation.  Jason Witten is not a “natural” on the air – – but he has insights that are valuable.  I consider him a work-in-progress.
• I really like Booger McFarland; simultaneously, I hate how ESPN is using him on the MNF telecasts.  We have had a full year of the Booger-Mobile; it was worth a try, but it does not work.  It is time to send it to the Edsel Hall of Fame.  Booger McFarland has insights to offer; in addition, he is clever and – at times – funny in the way he makes his points.  He would only be better if he were in the booth with his colleagues so that they could play off one another the way human beings do in social situations.  I believe that ESPN is wasting a significant talent in Booger McFarland propping him up in that motorized contraption.  Oh, by the way, if Booger and Witten were in the booth together and interacting there as human beings who also happen to know football, I think it would help Witten’s development as a color analyst.

Finally, Greg Cote provided a commentary in the form of Carnac the Magnificent in the Miami Herald last week:

“Answer: Imprisoned-for-life Larry Nasser says his years of sexual abuse of female gymnasts should have been tried as a medical malpractice case.

“Question: What’s the new and ultimate definition of ‘delusional’?”

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

 

 

Until I read a blurb in the Washington Post over the weekend, I was not aware that LeBron James hosted a TV show on HBO.  I do not subscribe to HBO and without this mention in the Post, my ignorance would have likely extended forever.  The show is evidently named The Shop and it features a barber shop setting where LeBron and his invited guests sit around and talk about “stuff”.  If I were already subscribed to HBO, I might tune into an episode or two just to see who the invited guests are and what the discussion topics are about.  Having said that, I will not be adding HBO to my cable TV package based on my newly acquired awareness of this programming.

Here is the part of the report in the Post that caught my attention.  They report that LeBron James had this to say in a recent episode of his show:

“In the NFL they got a bunch of old white men owning teams and they got that slave mentality.  This is my team.  You do what the f- – – I tell y’all to do, or we get rid of y’all.”

LeBron then went on to praise NBA commish, Adam Silver, for allowing NBA players to have “a real feeling” and to express those real feelings even when Silver does not agree with them.  OK, I get it; LeBron James thinks Adam Silver is a good guy and a lot better person that Roger Goodell.  Moving on…

LeBron James is an adult; moreover, he is an intelligent and articulate adult – – the syntax of the above statement notwithstanding.  In addition, I recognize and appreciate the use of hyperbole regarding many situations.  However, in this case, I believe that LeBron James went too far – – way too far.  Let me explain.

I have a problem with LeBron’s position and it has nothing to do with stereotyping in his description of NFL owners as “old white men”.  Most NFL team owners are exactly that but not all of them.  My problem is his attributing their thoughts to a “slave mentality”.  LeBron does not – because he cannot – read minds.  He has no idea what NFL owners think or if they possess a “slave mentality”.

Slavery was – and remains – an abominable aspect of the human social order.  Attributing aspects of slavery – even the mindset of slave owners which can only be imagined or inferred – is an extrapolation that is improper.  If I were to make some sweeping and damning statement about the mentality of Black NBA basketball players based on my mind-reading skills, I would and should be vilified as a racist.

The NFL is far short of beneficent in the way it deals with its players.  I am perfectly willing to heap scorn upon them for dumb things that the league does.  However please consider:

• There is a union representing the players.  Slaves did not then and do not now have unions.
• There is a CBA under which the owners and players do their business.  I have never heard of anything resembling a CBA in a situation where slavery is part of the social order.
• The CBA makes the NFL owners and players partners in a multi-billion dollar enterprise.  Actual slaves are not partners with their owners.
• The CBA provides players with something called “free agency”.  Free agency allows players to “take their talents” elsewhere; when slaves in the southern US sates ran away, they were hunted down and returned to their owners. Free agency is the antithesis of slavery.
• The NFL has made about 10,000 players millionaires in the past 20-25 years.  Few if any slaves in any slave society ever achieve a tenth of that wealth.

While ranting about something related to the NBA – tangentially to be sure – let me comment on an NBA game that was on my TV last week.  The Washington Wizards played the Houston Rockets; both teams had started the season significantly underachieving expectations for them; recently, both teams had shown improvement and the Rockets had made it back to the .500 level for the season.  NBA games in December are usually snooze-fests, but this one looked like it had the potential to be interesting.  Man, was I wrong…?

• The Wizards gave up 70 points in the first half by standing around on defense as if the game was a rec league contest for men 50 years and older.
• They seemingly equalized that lack of effort on defense by having everyone without the ball on offense standing around like the statuary in the Roman Pantheon.
• Meanwhile, the Rockets made the game painfully boring by effecting an offensive game plan that had them attempt 55 shots from 3-point range.  At least in the 3-point shooting contest during All-Star Week, there is a short time limit on that activity – which by itself is boring – but the Rockets did that for all 48 minutes here.

The final score of this hot mess was Rockets 136 and Wizards 118 – – if you care.

Finally, here is the Headline – and the sub-headline – for an article on CBSSports.com from last Saturday:

“Ranking Foles’ most likely landing spots”

“Nick Foles could stay in Philly or the Super Bowl

LII MVP could opt to move on this offseason”

Well, that covers all the possibilities – including his possible decision to retire from the NFL to herd yaks in the highlands of Nepal next year.  Sheesh…

[Aside:  No rant tomorrow.  I will have something posted on Wednesday 26 December.  Merry Christmas/Seasons Greetings to one and all.  Be safe and stay well.]

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