When it comes to sports, we are the Land of Job.
We’re wilderness walkers, 40 days and 40 nights, wearing designer hair shirts, even as we’re not aware of what we’ve done wrong. Cincinnati, thy name is Charlie.
What is the CFP committee but just another reminder of that truth?
Given the history of the 13-member conglomeration of ESPN caddies and Power 5 worshippers (Let us all bow our heads to Alabama) what did you expect? This is what tyranny looks like, quasi-amateur football-style:
Win all your games. Win them by a lot. Play in a good league, play a good non-league schedule. We’ll reward you.
So when the horn sounds, the UC Bearcats reward is a 6th place slot in a 4-team race. The No. 2 in the polls Bearcats. The unbeaten Bearcats. You knew they’d be punished for not beating the spread at Navy, and they were. The committee guy said so on national TV last night.
You knew that ‘Bama would be ranked higher than the Bearcats, because college football’s playoff race is nothing more than an annual catwalk stroll for the Tide, who have lost to then-unranked Texas A&M and whose best non-conference W is over 4-4 Miami.
And so on.
From USA Today:
"ESPN's current deal with the CFP pays about $470 million per year. ESPN has separate contracts with the Rose, Sugar and Orange bowls that up the network's total layout to more than $600 million annually to be the television home of college football's most important postseason games."
ESPN also owns 80% of the SEC network and 100% of the ACC network, and ESPN/FOX are in the midst of 6-year $2.67 billion deal with the Big Ten for football. (Shout out to Mobster John for that last paragraph.)
You knew what would happen before it did. You knew the committee’s explanation before it was uttered. If I wanted my intelligence assaulted, I would have watched the nightly news.
UC has a few problems, not the least of which is, it has no marquee wins left on its schedule. Neither Houston nor SMU made the committee’s top 25. Every team ahead of them – GA, The Chosen Ones, Michigan State, Oregon and OSU – has at least one marquee game left. So does unbeaten No. 8 Oklahoma.
UC needs to leap two schools. There are two schools that qualify. Maybe three. If Ohio State loses again, it’s out. Ditto Michigan and Michigan State. The Buckeyes play Michigan State and at Michigan and, possibly, in the Big 10 title game. If they run that gauntlet cleanly, they deserve to be top 4.
If Oklahoma stays unbeaten, UC has no chance.
Alabama still has to go to No. 13 Auburn, then very likely play Georgia in the SEC title game.
The larger point remains: If you are not a P-5 team and you do everything you’re asked to make the Final 4 and you still have little to no chance, why are you told that you do? Better the puppet committee just tell you in September, “Do everything you can, you’re still not getting in our club. Have fun.’’
I’m not suggesting UC should be in the playoffs. I’m not that smart. I’m suggesting UC’s resume deserves better consideration than it’s getting from ESPN, er, the committee. I said this a couple weeks ago, and it’s still true: UC will be Argument 1 for an expanded playoff. That will be the legacy of this impressive group.
Job(bed) again.
Now, then. . .
BRAVES WIN SERIES. I THINK.
I checked out when they were up, 5-0. Are they the best team in baseball? No. They were the hottest team at the right time. Their bullpen was very good, their homerun guys hit homeruns, their GM did a very nice job at the trade deadline, their manager was near-perfect at managing all the pieces. Props to them for losing Ozuna and Acuna and still running the postseason gauntlet.
The Astros picked a bad time to stop being the Astros, especially at the plate. They didn’t make a habit at swinging from the heels all summer. They did in the Series.
Do you recall a Series in which starting pitching was less significant? Are we really in an era where every team has a bunch of 4-inning starters and all-purpose relief pitchers? Is this the game you want to see? Micro-managing?
Watching this World Series was exhausting and I never made it past the 6th inning.
Remember when you’d buy a ticket because so-and-so was pitching? Fill in the blank: Koufax, Gibson, Maddux, Valenzula, Scherzer, Buehler etc.
Is a team’s MVP now its. . . analytics crew? Should the Reds be looking to MIT for their next GM?
Would they rather have five Antones than one Castillo? Well, I guess.
Starting pitching is expensive. Front-office people are not, in comparison. Nor are “6th-inning guys.’’
Meantime, Dusty Baker still needs that ring to make it to Cooperstown.
YOUR DAILY LAUGH.
The Morning Man misses Stein-Mart.
Seriously. Their prices fit Johnny Thinwallet’s sensibilities, their selection matched JT’s tastes, such as they are. Now, the ‘Mart is gone forever and I’m searching.
BTW, when did clothes get so expensive?
I mean, $45 for a Champion hoodie? Is it silk?
I don’t buy many clothes, but what I buy, I wear out. Along those lines, I’ll spend on timeless stuff that’s durable. J. Crew buttondowns, Merrell shoes, Bean sweaters, Levi’s and. . . Champion hoodies.
So, question:
What’s your go-to sweatshirt brand? I love sweatshirts. They are, in fact, the best thing about cold weather. My current favorite isn’t a Champion, but a lined hoodie from Clearwater Outfitters. I bought it for under $50, had it for maybe five years. I wear it like skin.
Your favorite clothes choices, please.
ZAC AND JOE DAY at PBS.
Coach, QB and assorted mates talk to the media. As Marvin Lewis always said, I see better than I hear.
One L is acceptable, two is a trend. Important game Sunday v. the Browns. Continuing my positivity, I expect the Bengals to right the wrongs of last week. I’ll be surprised if they don’t. The Browns are nothing special, Mayfield’s missing his mojo. But Nick Chubb is good to go and Myles Garrett likely won’t get the week off.
If the Bengals want to be taken seriously as (division) title contenders, they need to flex their superiority on Sunday. If they intend to show that the unity they’ve expressed is real, they need to take it to Cleveland, a team equally desperate and motivated.
This is a swing game in the North.
You might even call it a “statement game.’’
TUNE O’ THE DAY. . . These guys gave me a top-5 concert experience, wayyyy back in the mid-70s. They capped it with an encore of Free Bird – without a vocal.
Ronnie Van Zandt, lead singer/face of the group, had an active fondness for Jack Daniel’s. The Jack bottle was an accessory, same as a mic or a tambourine. By encore-time, ol’ Ron could not walk. He came out and tried Free Bird, but gave up after “If I leave here. . .’’ The band gamely kicked a—after that. Ronnie tried to sit on a stool. This song isn’t that song. But it’s pretty good.
From USA Today:
"ESPN's current deal with the CFP pays about $470 million per year. ESPN has separate contracts with the Rose, Sugar and Orange bowls that up the network's total layout to more than $600 million annually to be the television home of college football's most important postseason games."
ESPN also owns 80% of the SEC network (20% Hearst) and 100% of the ACC network, and ESPN/FOX are in the midst of 6-year $2.67 BILLION deal with the Big Ten for football.
Source link
