Monday, December 30, 2013

This Is Gonna Be Wild

Twelve teams have finally qualified for chance to win a Championship.  The month of football worth watching is finally here.

I've made no secret that I find the NFL regular season boring, especially compared to the level of effort put into the college game.  When the NFL plays football worth watching, it is usually worth the time.

Saturday, 4:35 pm, Kansas City at Indianapolis-  The Colts have won their week 16 matchup impressively in Kansas City.  I really don't see anything different happening.  Trent Richardson gives the Colts a much needed running game, balancing the strength of Andrew Luck's passing.  What is different about this Colts team is that they play defense.  Gotta wonder how many Super Bowl Rings Peyton Manning would have if he had this kind of defense.  I see the Colts rolling through easily.

Saturday, 8:10 pm, New Orleans at Philadelphia- The Eagles are the last team in, and the Saints come in winning two of their last five after opening 5-0.  This game has all the potential of being the worst played of the Wild Card Weekend.  New Orleans has the experience to go on the road and win.  The true wild card will be the weather.  The Eagles could make things very interesting, but I see a good opportunity for a road team to win.  Saints march on.

Sunday, 1:05 pm, San Diego at Cincinnati-  The Bengals won 17-10 on December 1, and did it by running the ball.  This game will hinge on Andy Dalton: four interceptions, like he had yesterday, and the Bengals exit early again.  If he plays well, the Bengals should win.  A running game will be Dalton's best friend, and would give him a solid base to work.  I can't see the Chargers winning on the road.

Sunday, 4:40 pm, San Francisco at Green Bay- Aaron Rodgers totally changes this game.  He knocked the rust off quickly against Bears and looked like a champion against the Bears. San Francisco won the last two matchups, September 8 and in the playoffs last year.  I think Colin Kaepernick and the read option could be very useful here.  The 49ers are still the NFC Champions until someone beats them.  Maybe it will be the weather.  I like the Packers at home.

So...am I off base?

Saturday, December 28, 2013

Random Thoughts-December 28

Some random thoughts while taking the kids to Snow Camp.

-Locals in Northern Indiana, take note.  Something special is happening at Elkhart Christian Academy.  The Boys basketball team owns wins over Elkhart Memorial and Mishawaka this season.  The seven seniors on the roster may be something truly special, worthy of competing at the highest levels of 1A basketball.  I won't drink all the Kool-Aid just yet, but watch their upcoming matchups with Triton, Warsaw and Senior Night with Elkhart Central.  This team could put a State Championship Banner in the rafters.  As eighth graders, some of these kids put a National Championship team together as travel players.

-Watched Once in a Lifetime: The Story of the New York Cosmos last night.  I have seen this movie before and was amazed at how prophetic Dick Young turned out to be.  He denigrated the signing of Pele by the Cosmos saying it would signal the death of his beloved baseball, which he wrote about for 44 years around the New York area.  The murderer was not Pele, it was Baseball itself.  Let's keep paying mediocre top level players exorbitant salaries (can anyone say Shin-Soo Choo?) and the game will swallow itself in a sea of red ink.

-The wrong football replaced baseball.  American (NFL) football has pervaded every level of consciousness.  The NFL did a masterful job of controlling salaries through the collective bargaining agreement, then promoted itself shamelessly.  How the NFL handles concussions and the next collective bargaining agreement will determine it's place in American consciousness.  Baseball could learn a few lessons.

-The NHL prepares for an outdoor game at The Big House in Ann Arbor on Wednesday.  I love the idea of the outdoor series, but find it interesting that they plan to do this in Los Angeles, when the Ducks and the Kings play at Dodger Stadium.  Players around the league complain about the ice in Southern California enough without taking it outside.  I hope the technology is good enough to make this work the way it needs to for a regular season game.

-Thank you, Snow Camp!  Glad to get the kids out of the house for a few days and just be who we are without being parents all the time.  I really admire the parents who will work with these kids over the next four days.  They are incredibly committed to our children.

So...am I off base?

Thursday, December 26, 2013

Random Thoughts-Boxing Day, 2013

Some random thoughts while waiting for the kickoff of one of the biggest days of Premier League Action.

-Half of England seems to be waiting for David Moyes to be fired as manager at Manchester United.  Yes, the Reds have struggled, but are still in the upper half of the table.  David Moyes is no Sir Alex Ferguson, but Sir Alex Ferguson is no David Moyes.  The Reds have shown some good form, and it's a change for everyone.  Sir Alex Ferguson was just Alex Ferguson when he first started: David Moyes deserves the same opportunity.

-Big bowl night for the MAC.  Bowling Green takes in Pitt in the Little Casears Bowl.  Northern Illinois faces a slightly lower profile opponent than their last Bowl outing in Utah State at the San Diego Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl.  Don't be surprised if both MAC teams win tonight, and Jordan Lynch has a huge game for Northern Illinois.  It will be a good football night.  One of my favorite weeks of the year starts today!

-Above all, I hope everyone had a wonderful day yesterday.  It should be a day of peace and goodwill, and I hope it was for all of you.  We had a wonderful day.

-Were there really five NBA games played yesterday.  Sorry, didn't notice.

So...am I off base?

Monday, December 23, 2013

Christmastime Is Here

Yes, I use the C-word.  It's a nasty habit I've had since I was little.  I learned it from my parents, and it has come to be one of the most treasured things I do each and every year.

Christmas is about the greatest gift we could ever be given, and the gifts we give that symbolize what happened in a cave in Bethlehem a couple thousand years ago.  A devout Jewish carpenter gave us a great example of step parenting.

The gifts given are a transport back to a simpler time, when the wonder of Christmas was in the belief that those presents under came from a man living on the North Pole, traveling by reindeer power.  It is a transport back to when you got what you really wanted, even though it wasn't what you told Santa when you were on his lap.  It is transport back to when Mom and Dad showed you how much you were loved, even when they weren't on your personal Nice List.

I still don't know how my parents did it with ten children.  When I was very little, there were college bills.  When the college bills were for me, the grandchildren always got something and seemed to love being with Grandma and Grandpa.  Everybody got a houseful of food, friendship, and love.  Maybe it was like everyday when those kids were growing up, and that's what they lived to do with Christmas.

Christmas Eve has always been the best.  These brothers and sister who lived around the midwest all gathered to relive those days of growing up on 26 acre farm in the country.  The turkey and noodles still taste the same, but something is missing.

It has been 21 years since my mom has been with us for her favorite time of year.  It has been six years since we all hopped in our cars and drove to my brother's home where he was three days from leaving us far too soon.  We still gather on Christmas Eve to exchange gifts, share our lives, and remember the ones we desperately wish were there.

Don't make me say the H-word.  I'll do it at work, because I must to not offend the patient.  It takes away the meaning of this time of year from me.  I just won't do it.

It is Christmas.  It always has been and always will be.

I don't care what you think this time... I'm not off base.

Saturday, December 21, 2013

Bowl Season 2013-14

The college bowl season kicks off today with four games.  Seems like a lot of games for the opening day of the bowl season.  But there seem to be a lot of games to be played.

I seem to remember just a modicum of bowl games growing up.  Some have lasted, some have disappeared.  I remember the first Independence Bowl in Shreveport, still around today.  I remember the Garden State Bowl, dumped because it was too cold in East Rutherford, New Jersey.  Funny how a Super Bowl is being played there this season.

I remember when the Holiday Bowl came into being and knowing San Diego would be a big hit.  Two bowl games now populate the San Diego holiday schedule, one sponsored by a local credit union.  The first incarnation of the Tangerine Bowl lasted for many years in Orlando, eventually dying out, replaced by a new version that now seems to be called the Russell Athletic Bowl.

I've seen some great football played in Bowl games.  First one that springs to mind is a shootout between Brigham Young and SMU in the Holiday Bowl.  BYU had Jim McMahon at quarterback, throwing for 446 yard and 4 touchdowns, and making plays all over the place.  Craig James, the less vaunted of the Pony Express backs, ran for 225 yards and two touchdowns, while the "other" back was some guy named Eric Dickerson.  BYU prevailed, 46-45, and the game gained a reputation for high scoring, entertaining football.

A couple of other games come to mind.  How about Boise State showing itself as a big time program against a strong Oklahoma team in the Fiesta Bowl, and a Statue of Liberty play for the ages?  Notre Dame fans will always remember the Chicken Soup game at the Cotton Bowl.  Miami Hurricanes stopping a two point conversion against Nebraska to win a National Championship in the Orange Bowl.  Old time fans will remember Dicky Maegel of TCU running wild in the Cotton Bowl, to be cut down by Tommy Lewis from Alabama: Tommy made a textbook tackle and he did it coming from the bench.  You think Mike Tomlin just thought of this thing?

It's probably as well that there is football today.  It is the Winter Solstice, the day with the least amount of daylight in the Northern Hemisphere.  Cozy up with the TV, put the recliner in L position, and let the slobberknocking begin.

I'll be at my in-laws, opening presents.

So...am I off base?

Thursday, December 19, 2013

Seahawks Kool Aid

I'm drinking the Seahawks Kool Aid.

It's easy for me.  I've been a Seahawks fan back to the days when Jack Patera was in charge, and Jim Zorn was doing a passable imitation of Fran Tarkenton.  Steve Largent was the best route runner of the day, a master of coming back to his quarterback.  Of course, Jimmy Carter was in the White House.

This Seahawks team has a lot of ingredients of teams that win the Super Bowl.  Defensively, they have been exceedingly solid.  It is difficult to run against the front seven, showing speed laterally.  They have kept quarterbacks like Cam Newton and Colin Kaepernick under wraps, even though Kaepernick picked up a win at his home.  They have been impressive shutting down Drew Brees and Eli Manning, guys who have only won three Super Bowls between them.  Andrew Luck did well, getting the other win at home.

Richard Sherman is the best cover corner in the League right now.  He has been an effective shut down corner, leaving only half the field as an option for any quarterback.  His game is based in film study, knowing where the ball in going to be, and reading the tendencies of the receiver.  Athletically, he is as good as any defensive back in the game today.

Offensively, Russell Wilson has been the most successful of the second year quarterbacks, primarily because he has the most accurate arm of that group.  His legs leave the read option a viable alternative that must be accounted in a defensive game plan.  He did not shrink in the playoffs as a rookie, winning a road playoff game and coming up one drive short in Atlanta.

Marshawn Lynch runs with as much heart as anyone in the League, and is complemented by a talented group of wide receivers.  Golden Tate is a star in the making, and Doug Baldwin is almost as good, sometimes better.  They make a lot of sleepless nights for defensive back coaches.  Line play has been solid, but hard to believe they have allowed 36 sacks this year.

They are going to the Super Bowl.  I will call it now.

So...am I off base?

Monday, December 16, 2013

Random Quick Hits- Dec. 16

Some random quick hits while waiting for the dog to relieve herself in the driveway instead of the yard.  Thank you, snow cover.

-I would like to know how Bears fans are feeling after Jay Cutler found a way to win a game yesterday.  A lot of grouching followed the announcement of Cutler starting ahead of Josh McCown.  Generally, a starter doesn't lose his job for injury in the NFL.  Some notable exceptions include Drew Bledsoe giving away to some guy named Brady, Trent Green falling behind some grocery store employee names Kurt Warner, and recently, Kansas City Chief quarterback Alex Smith losing his job to Colin Kaepernick.  Each one ended in a Super Bowl berth.

-Nice week, Notre Dame basketball.  Let lose at home to North Dakota State, then go to a neutral site and beat Indiana.  Consistency is the hallmark of champions.

-Another consistency award to the New Orleans Saints, for playing a huge Sunday night game last week to end the Carolina Panthers winning streak.  They came up small yesterday in St. Louis against the streaky Rams.

-A little baffled why the Cubs would give a second or third starter like Jeff Samardzija the kind of money they did.  Oh, yeah!  Theo Epstein knows all.

-The Kansas City Royals have quietly put together a very solid line up.  They may be one or two starters away from being strong contenders in a weak AL Central.  Not sure it will happen with the ownership.

-Same story in Cleveland where the rumor mill around Justin Masterson started to churn.  Unlike the Cubs, this is a legitimate ace.

So...am I off base?

Saturday, December 14, 2013

What? No Dresses?

I apologize for the short hiatus from writing.  My computer had other uses for most of this week.  After all, finals are just around the corner for my kids.

While I was gone, Major League Baseball decided to outlaw collisions at home plate.  Some would say they would match the other levels of baseball, where the rules says to avoid contact. The travel level I coached at says a player can be ejected for making contact at any base.  Safety is important.

Safety is no less important for millionaire playing a little boy's game.  In 2011, Buster Posey's injury effectively ended the season for the San Francisco Giants after winning a World Series.  The injuries around home plate will always happen.  It's where games are won and lost.  The price of winning and losing is much higher.  The desire to get a ring you work your entire lifetime to get leads to the willingness to risk at a higher level.

Consequently, the reactions are much more visceral.  He's got the ball, and he's going to stop me from scoring, which my team needs.  My only hope is to knock out the ball. I might knock him out in the process, I might knock myself out, and injuries could happen. My gut says I've got to get there and score.  His gut says he's got to get the out.

MLB, you got this one wrong.  Your game already enough people wondering if sissies are playing. Baseball fights are the joke of the conflict world.  The Brian McCann/Carlos Gomez incident in September would have no meaning without contact.  The price is high, many people are interested in the outcome, therefore the price the players pay should be high.  People pay to see the best level of play, and the passion it took to get there.  Let the expression of that passion roll.

So...am I off base?

Monday, December 9, 2013

Random Thoughts-December 9

Some random thoughts while waiting for the roads to clear.  It will take to spring.

-Anyone else love to watch football played in the snow?  Several games yesterday featured snow which hampered and changed the way games are played.  I believe those games are won by coaching, making the adjustments to play calling, attitudes, and strategy.  Philadelphia, for example, won yesterday with the changes made by their coaching staff at halftime.  The Eagles have change of direction speed, a game not suited to snow covered fields.  Using the speed in straight lines eventually put the Lions on their heels and put the Eagles in the win column.

-Seattle's run defense was finally exposed by a good San Francisco running game.  Downhill running, combined with great line speed blew open some holes and lead to the 49er win yesterday.  It sure wasn't a dominant performance, but enough to get the win.  While New Orleans looked good last night against a hot Carolina team, Seattle still appears to be the class of the of the NFC.

-Tom Brady and the Patriots pulled out one more win, but the end appears near.  Sooner or later, it's gonna take a new magician, and we'll see what Bill Belichik can do with a lesser product.  They appear to be the class of the AFC, but some of the best competition appears to be weaker than first thought.

-Quite an interesting week in Major League Baseball.  Robinson Canoe's signing in Seattle appears to inject new life into the Mariners.  Second level superstars, like David Freese, changing address. The playoff teams and the ones that finished close seem to be relatively quiet.  I'm looking for some moves from teams like Kansas City and Cleveland.  The Nationals made a couple of moves late in the week to add depth, but still need top line talent to go with Harper and Strasburg.  Wondering how much longer Jeff Samardzija will be a Cub.

-Finally, sending prayers to the Elkhart community.  Sarah Crane, the youngest stage four colon cancer patient in the United States, went home to be with the Lord on Saturday.  One can't look anywhere without seeing purple Sarah Strong signs and merchandise.  It united a community.  She was a friend of several young people that I have coached over the years, and we are praying for a peace beyond understand to all involved.  It covers a lot of people.

No...I'm not off base on the last one.

Saturday, December 7, 2013

A Bad Idea Whose Time Has Come

If you read regularly, you know I love college football.  The passion of players fighting to get to the next level, the traditions inspired by overcoming odds, and the things that can happen when one game is played combine to make it irresistible to old, romantic types like me.  The "Old College Try" means you take a shot at it, even if you're not supposed to stand a chance.

Growing up, it eluded my sensibilities that there could be more than one National Champion.  I remember the Miami Hurricanes returning to the national spotlight by beating the unbeatable Nebraska Cornhuskers thirty years ago, stopping a two point conversion in the Orange Bowl's final minutes.  I remember the BYU Cougars winning their championship game almost 10 days before the Number 2 team played and wondering why don't they decide this on the field.

The Fiesta Bowl, a mid level bowl game usually played around Christmas for most of it's existence, took the opportunity presented by independents Penn State and Miami, moving their game to January 2, 1987.  It allowed a match up of #1 and #2 to get a champion on the field.

It eventually gave stillbirth to the BCS, an idea with one too many letters.  While it got the top two teams on the same field, it sometime left you wondering how it picked those teams.  Several deserving, undefeated teams were denied the opportunity to win a championship on the field, and only allowed to win one in their hearts.  A couple of occasions, most notably the Miami blowout of Nebraska in the 2002 Rose Bowl, a team reached the "title game" without even playing for their conference championship.

It's a bad idea to allow players, who shelf life as a player is one play or less, to risk giving everything they have for a denial by a computer.  Sales are won and lost on arbitrary decisions and salemen's personalities.  Football games have millions more interested and the outcome is expected after sixty minutes or more, if needed.

I'm an old romantic, but play the darn thing off.  We have enough bowl games to have a 64 team tournament, allowing sponsors to use their money as they choose, get exposure, and showcase their city.  Should Shreveport have a National Championship Game?  Shouldn't be expected.  Too many games for such a physically demanding sport?  Aren't the Pop Warner Championships just as many games on younger bodies?  Junior hockey players, while a different kind of physical, play on a roughly weekly basis and play from October to April.  The NCAA doesn't seem to mind allowing schools to play games on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights when classes are in session, what is the difference in playing extra weeks?

A four team playoff is a step in the right direction, and as we learned with the NCAA basketball tournament, deserving teams will always be left out.  Football's 65th team probably doesn't stand a realistic chance of beating the number one, but in one game anything can happen.  The NFL might even have to deal with the talk THAT could provide.

So...am I off base?

Thursday, December 5, 2013

Quick Hits- December 5

Here are some quick questions, some with answers, others rhetorical.  I was never good at rhetoricals, just asking them.

-What is a Niall and the strange power it has over teenage girls?

-Are the Seahawks the best team in the NFL right now?  They sure seem to be filling that role.  Great performance against the Saints Monday night.

-Just heard a local story: A man went to the store and came home with gunshot wounds to his legs.  He's not cooperating with police, either.  Why doesn't that surprise me?

-Russell Wilson seems to be getting a lot of attention at the moment.  He has been a solid performer over the last two seasons and does what needs to be done to win.  Isn't that what a quarterback is supposed to do?

-College Basketball Number 1 goes down at home.  Will the real North Carolina Tar Heels please stand up?

-Some really good football this weekend.  Intriguing championship matchup in the Big 10/11/12 and the SEC.  Nice Michigan State logo produced by Auburn.  Wonder what Nick Saban is doing this weekend...

-When I went to bed last night, it was 60 degrees.  It was 37 degrees when I got up this morning.  Will the real December in Indiana please stand up?  I think it is coming-below zero wind chills on the horizon.

-Pope Francis was a bouncer in his younger days?  Wonder how he dressed.  Did he quote poetry like Patrick Swayze's character in Roadhouse?  Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken" might be appropriate.  Or did he just grunt a lot.

-Are professional video games coming?  I have heard it talked about for years, but it never seems to happen.  Not a surprise, really.  Who wants to watch basement dwellers with no real jobs get overpaid for a freakish skill?  Then again...wouldn't that be most professional entertainment, including sports?  The lessons are to apply to real life, not create skills that match nothing usable for real life.

So...am I off base?

Monday, December 2, 2013

Surprise!

Open mouth, insert foot.

Alabama sure looked like an unbeaten National Champion.  In general, they had played like one.  For the most part, they played like one Saturday.  So why does War Eagle own the Iron Bowl?

Two poor decisions by Nick Saban.

Why not kick the 32 yard field goal with five and half minutes to play?  I agree Cade Foster had looked like the last deer that rearranged my Buick.  He seemed truly overwhelmed by the situation, but has been your man all year.  Live with him, die with him.

What was Nick thinking? A ten point lead makes Auburn play with a little bit of desperation instead of confidence.  Maybe another missed field goal seals Alabama's fate, but the odds are almost insurmountable in your favor should he make.  Seems worth the gamble to me.

Why is the 57 yard attempt okay at the end of regulation?  It's possible he could make to win, but the return going all the way could not have been in mind.  "The Book" says you go for the win on the road and play for overtime at home.  While it is a one-in-a-whole-lot situation for the return, it is a possibility.  College football is all about the possibility.  Those possibilities are why I love college football.

These decisions are why college coaches are paid so much.  It has cost Alabama a whole host of outcomes.  I want to give Auburn their due.  They executed well, and made the big plays when they needed them.  They took advantage of what Alabama gave them, which none have been able to accomplish in the last three seasons.  I hope they enjoy the ride.

So...am I off base?
 

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