Commentary and news about sports and sports teams — and media coverage of them.
In case you missed it, Boise State’s Ian Johnson scored the winning two-point conversion in OT, threw the ball into the stands, celebrated with his 56 family members present, and — on his knee — proposed marriage to his cheerleader girlfriend live during the post-game interview.
She accepted.
“Michigan brought its horse-and-buggy offense to the Rose Bowl on Monday and produced what horses-and-buggies usually do. Manure.”
Bill Dwyre, Los Angeles Times, who concludes, after considering Michigan and its three-point loss to Ohio State:
“There are still seven shopping days left before the Jan. 8 national title game, plenty of time to ponder the phrase ‘Florida and the points.'”
[USC defeated Michigan 32-18 in the Rose Bowl.]
“Ford, during the 1976 Republican presidential primaries: ‘Governor [Ronald] Reagan and I have one thing in common — we both played football. I played for Michigan, he played for Warner Brothers.'”
As reported at Sideline Chatter.
On this date 49 years ago Tobin Rote threw for four touchdowns and ran for another as the Detroit Lions defeated the Cleveland Browns, 59-14, in the NFL championship game. It was the Lions’ third title of the Fifties, all over the Browns.
Since then the Lions have missed 40 out of 49 post seasons (counting this year) and are 1-9 in games when they did make it. Only the Cardinals have done worse.
For nearly all of that time the Lions have been owned by William Clay Ford, grandson of Henry and son of Edsel Ford. The Lions aren’t exactly built Ford tough.
• Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel, on the most lucrative jobs in sports: “1. Bengals’ bail bondsman; 2. Grant Hill’s surgeon; 3. Dennis Erickson’s real-estate agent.”
• Steve Schrader of the Detroit Free Press, on Lions QB Jon Kitna on pace to be sacked 63 times this season: “He gets sacked so much, they ought to ask if he’d prefer paper or plastic.”
Lamar Hunt, who died last week, was one of the founders of the American Football League. He was the son of H.L. Hunt, a Texas oil tycoon who, among other things, fathered 14 children with three women, including two that he was married to simultaneously. H.L.’s great remark about pro football and his son Lamar came after that first AFL season in 1960 (quotation from Football Digest).
[Lamar] Hunt may not have looked it, but he had a lot of money. His father, the legendary H.L. Hunt, had a fortune estimated at $600 million, which may not seem all that impressive in today’s era of billionaires but made him one of the nation’s richest men at the time.
It was the elder Hunt who came up with the best-remembered quote from the AFL era. After his son reportedly lost $1 million in his first season, H.L. was asked how long Lamar could keep doing that. According to various reports, he said Lamar would go broke in about 150 years if he kept it up.
“Comedian Argus Hamilton, on Tiger Woods repeating his call for drug-testing in golf: ‘The results won’t always be pretty. The last time John Daly gave a urine sample, it had an olive in it.'”
As reported by Sideline Chatter.
“How about that Heisman Trophy winner, Troy Smith, from Ohio State, huh? You know, he was taking his Heisman Trophy home with him and they wouldn’t let him through airport security. Yeah, we can’t get Bin Laden, but we’ve got the Heisman, by God.” — David Letterman
Sometimes NewMexiKen realizes just how screwed up everything is and I just want to cry. But, of course, I don’t cry because I’m a man, and even if I did go to the ballet I don’t want you to think I’ll be weeping over everything.
“You want to know why Steve Spurrier turned down the chance to pursue the Alabama and Miami jobs to stay at South Carolina?” wrote Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel. “He just got a $500,000 raise for taking the Gamecocks to the Liberty Bowl.
At South Carolina, you get a raise for going to the Liberty Bowl. “At Alabama and Miami, you get fired.”
Arizona State University has hired Dennis Erickson as its new head football coach. Does this look like a ticket to success to you? If he’d moved around much more he’d need his own UPS tracking code.
| 1982-1985 | Idaho |
| 1986 | Wyoming |
| 1987-1988 | Washington State |
| 1989-1994 | Miami |
| 1995-1998 | Seattle Seahawks |
| 1999-2002 | Oregon State |
| 2003-2004 | San Francisco 49ers |
| 2005 | Did not coach |
| 2006 | Idaho |
“Washington is eliminated from playoff contention and ensured a last-place finish in the NFC East.”
The Washington Post
“The game should be a boon to New Orleans’ ravaged economy. Not only will Irish fans descend on the city, but there’s also a decent chance they’ll be hitting the Bourbon Street bars by halftime.”
Stewart Mandel referring to the Sugar Bowl game between Notre Dame and LSU. Or, as he calls it, “the Blowout on the Bayou.”
Enough already with politics, the sins of the media elite, education in America, and the wrongs done Al Gore. Today Bob Somerby gets to the serious matters. College football!
Unlike Kevin Drum, we weren’t real surprised when Southern Cal fell to the Bruins on Saturday. Yes, the Trojans had trampled the best of the rest, beating Arkansas, Nebraska and Notre Dame by an average of 25 points. But they struggled within the potent PAC-10—they went 7-2, with several close calls—and UCLA was always capable of beating them. The real pain of this weekend’s games? Being forced to hear all that tired old pap about the SEC’s manifest greatness.
At Slate Chris Suellentrop takes a contrary point of view about the BCS — one I find convincing. You should read it all, but here’s a couple excerpts:
Playoff systems are designed to determine, in a fair manner, which is the single best team in a particular sport. Their purpose is not to pit the two finest teams against each other in a season-ending game. The Yankees and Red Sox do not play annually in the World Series. The Indianapolis Colts will never be given a chance to play the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl. When the two best college basketball teams in the country face off, as they routinely do, in a Final Four semifinal or even in the round of eight, does anyone think that the loser deserves a rematch?
Do we know if Florida is the second-best team in the country? Of course not. Here’s what we do know: Michigan is not the best. How do we know that? By the traditional criterion: They scored fewer points in a football game than Ohio State did. The only team that has the “right” to play in the BCS championship game is the best team, Ohio State. And the only teams that should be scratched without question are teams that have already been determined to be “not the best,” like Michigan.
To state the obvious, if there was a playoff system, this morning eight teams would still have a shot at the NCAA Division I-A football championship instead of two. That is so much better than the BCS, it’s by orders of magnitude.
Most of the football powers are state schools. That means the people that run those schools are public employees (whether they realize it or not).
So excuse me, but why are our employees f***ing with us?
USC will be in the championship game after all. The Trojans face California Sunday.
It’s the NCAA water polo championship game, but whatever.
As recruiting goes, this one was a shoe-in.
John Robinson, the former USC football coach, once paid a visit to a top high-school prospect — only to find Bo Schembechler, his Michigan counterpart, already ensconced in the kid’s living room. “When Robinson finally got inside,” wrote Bill McGraw of the Detroit Free Press, “Schembechler put his arm around him and told the parents that Robinson is a fine man, but he added, ‘You can’t trust a man who wears shoes like that.’
“And all during the visit, Robinson said, the parents and their son kept looking at his shoes.
“The recruit went to Michigan.”
There are 17 players on the Baseball Hall of Fame ballot for the first time and 15 holdovers.
Which of the 32 would you vote to admit to Cooperstown?
| First year: | The 15 holdovers: |
|---|---|
| Harold Baines Dante Bichette Bobby Bonilla Scott Brosius Jay Buhner Ken Caminiti Jose Canseco Eric Davis Tony Fernandez Tony Gwynn Wally Joyner Mark McGwire Paul O’Neill Cal Ripken Jr. Bret Saberhagen Devon White Bobby Witt |
Albert Belle Bert Blyleven Dave Concepcion Andre Dawson Steve Garvey Rich “Goose” Gossage Orel Hershiser Tommy John Don Mattingly Jack Morris Dale Murphy Dave Parker Jim Rice Lee Smith Alan Trammell |
No. 1 Ohio State played No. 4 Florida in one NCAA football semifinal.
And then No. 2 USC met No. 3 Michigan in the other.
And then the winners played for the championship one week later.
And then … our alarm clock went off.
By the Sunday after Thanksgiving I’ve usually been enough of a glutton that I swear off food entirely. You know, go cold turkey.
Reading this article by Seymour Hersh in The New Yorker last night I couldn’t help but think we’ve turned into a country that Shakespeare could write a historical tragedy about.
NewMexiKen lives near a state highway with a posted speed limit of 50 mph. (That translates to about 65 in practice). Parallel to the road, and about 50 feet away from it, is a bike path. The path, however, is used by strollers (both the people kind and the kid-carrying kind) and slower bicycle riders. Most of the lycra-wearing bike riders use the bike lane on the highway itself. I understand that drivers are often rude to cyclists and that some drivers seem to get off on endangering bicycle riders. That said, though, why do so many of these bicycle riders — including those riding solo — hug the painted line separating the bike lane from the traffic lane? Isn’t that inviting trouble? The bike lane is eight or ten feet wide. I drive down the middle of my lane, why can’t/won’t so many cyclists ride down the middle of their lane?
Why is it that some people put on both socks then both shoes, while other people put on one sock and one shoe then the other sock and shoe? I’m the latter type.
I kind of like the logo for the New Mexico Bowl, which is having its first game December 23. It’ll be UNM vs. Nevada or San Jose State.
Grinding the beans just before brewing the coffee really does enhance the flavor. It also gives you something to do while drinking the coffee — clean up the mess.
Notre Dame really needs to get into a conference for football. I know they like taking home ALL the TV money and not having to share it (as conference teams do), but playing the other independents like Army and Navy isn’t going to prepare them for pro teams like USC. Playing Stanford (1-10) and North Carolina (3-9) didn’t help either. The Big 10 has 11 teams. Why not 12?
I bought some Christmas lights at Costco. According to the info on the box, this 100-light string of multi-colored LED bulbs uses just 8 watts, compared to 36 watts for mini lamps and 500 for incandescent Christmas lights (C-7 bulbs). Seemed like a good choice; for indoor or outdoor. Bulbs never need replacing.
How come cocaine is against the law but Costco is permitted to sell chocolate covered bing cherries?
I bought the Obama book (mentioned in the previous post).
… of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Tina Turner (with Ike); she’s 67.
The Ike and Tina Turner Revue was one of the highest energy ensembles on the soul circuit in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s.
Ike Turner had begun as a bandleader and talent scout in the ‘40s for blues and R&B performers. He recorded “Rocket 88,” considered by many the first rock ‘n’ roll recording, under the name of his baritone sax player, Jackie Brenston, in 1951.
Turner and his band, the Kings of Rhythm, found a young singer named Annie Mae Bullock in 1956. Eventually, the singer was renamed Tina Turner and the two married.
Their first hit, “A Fool in Love,” was recorded in 1961 when another singer failed to show up for a session. After several early ‘60s hit R&B singles, including “It’s Gonna Work Out Fine” in 1961, they became major stars in England.
A 1971 cover version of John Fogerty’s “Proud Mary” reached No. 4 on the pop chart. Ike and Tina divorced in 1976.
… of Oakland Raiders coach Art Shell. He’s 60. Shell is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a player and he was the first African-American head coach in modern NFL history.
Hall of Fame pitcher Vernon Louis “Lefty” Gomez was born on this date in 1908. He died in 1989.
“No one hit home runs the way Babe (Ruth) did. They were something special. They were like homing pigeons. The ball would leave the bat, pause briefly, suddenly gain its bearings, then take off for the stands.” Lefty Gomez
“When Neil Armstrong first set foot on the moon, he and all the space scientists were puzzled by an unidentifiable white object. I knew immediately what it was. That was a home run ball hit off me in 1933 by Jimmie Foxx.” Lefty Gomez
Charles M. Schulz was born on this date in 1922. He died in February 2000, the night before his last Sunday strip appeared.
 |
24 All-Star Games… Three MVP Awards… 475 Homers… 331 Batting Average… 3,630 Hits… 1,949 Runs Scored… Three World Series Rings… 1,951 RBIs… 3,026 Games… Seven Batting Titles… A Plaque in Cooperstown… |
And Michigan is a good team.
But if they play Ohio State again in the BCS title game I’ll take the Buckeyes and give you 10.
“We played Michigan three times in 366 days in one span,” the former UCLA coach recalled Friday. “They kicked our butt in the Bluebonnet Bowl [Dec. 31, 1981], and then we played them at Ann Arbor in the third game the next season.
“In that one, they get up on us in the first half, 21-0. Some sort of bad call by the refs happened right before the half, and so, when the gun went off, I’m right out there in one of the officials’ face. I’m yelling at this guy and I turn around and who is standing right behind me? It’s Bo.
“So I ask him what he’s doing there, and he says to me, ‘It’s my stadium.'”
Terry Donahue as reported by Bill Dwyre in the Los Angeles Times.
UCLA won the game 31-27.
Think Ohio State and Michigan could pull this off?