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12/07/2017

Bowl Season

[Posted Wed. a.m.]

College Football Bowl Quiz: There are 39 bowl games this year, which is actually down two from a high of 41 last season.  But in 1970-71, there were just 11.  Name ‘em (1970-71). Answer below.

College Football Review

With the stage set, aside from the New Year’s Six bowl matchups, which are all attractive for different reasons, even Miami vs. Wisconsin, what are some of the minor bowls that your editor will tune into....

I can easily blow off the first nine contests, until Dec. 22, Central Michigan vs. Wyoming.  Johnny Mac said he has a connection to CMU, so I’m expected to root for the Chippewas, but we both (and a few million others) are curious to see why we should care about Cowboys quarterback Josh Allen, a consensus top ten in next spring’s NFL Draft. 

Actually, I have a Wyoming shirt I picked up on campus there a while back, one of my favorites, so I just may be donning Cowboy apparel.

Dec. 23, love the San Diego State vs. Army matchup, featuring SDSU’s Rashaad Penny, the nation’s leading rusher.  And Toledo vs. Appalachian State, a rematch of last year’s exciting game, won by the Apps 31-28.

Dec. 26, gotta watch Duke vs. Northern Illinois for parochial reasons, some of my best friends (and supporters) being Blue Devils.

Dec. 27, Boston College vs. Iowa at Yankee Stadium could be fun if the weather sucks and I’m snug inside.  [Oops...hosting a delayed Christmas Dinner for the family that day...seeing as it’s my place...I control the television....heh heh....]

Dec. 28, Oklahoma State vs. Virginia Tech is kind of intriguing just to see how Mason Rudolph does against one of the better defenses in the country.

Dec. 29, Wake Forest vs. Texas A&M...great matchup for the Deacs...would be a nice win for the program...but it’s another Friday affair! And my yearend column!  I hate the holidays.

Dec. 30, Iowa State vs. Memphis...only good because my column will have been put to bed and Memphis has all these terrific athletes to watch.

And of course I’ll be watching the Power Six contests.

But I’m’ miffed the Peach Bowl, Auburn vs. Central Florida, isn’t New Year’s Eve!  Instead it’s New Year’s Day at 12:30.  There’s no NFL that Sunday night, Week 17.  So tell the Peach Bowl and network folks to change the date, start the game at 7:00, and give me something to do, for crying out loud.

--And let’s take a look back at Sports Illustrated’s preseason Top Ten: CFP final rank in parentheses.

1. Alabama (4)
2. Florida State...if they had Deondre Francois, you just wonder if this is a 10-2 team.  You can’t discount his importance.
3. Ohio State (5)
4. Oklahoma State
5. USC (8)
6. Oklahoma (2)
7. Clemson
(1)
8. Penn State (9)
9. Washington (11)
10. Auburn (7)
11. Michigan
12. Wisconsin (6)
16. Georgia (3)
20. Miami (10)

SI gets a pass on FSU, but bad misses on Oklahoma State and Georgia.  At least the top 11 in the CFP rankings were all in the preseason Top 20.

--Gus Malzahn is staying at Auburn, after he received serious overtures from Arkansas.  Malzahn will receive an extension and significant raise, plus a higher buyout.  He is 45-21 in five seasons at Auburn, guiding the Tigers to an SEC championship and BCS title game in his first season in 2013, and captured the SEC West title this year.

--Willie Taggart, after one year at Oregon, is replacing Jimbo Fisher at Florida State.  In 2016, Taggart was the coach of South Florida. This means that six of the seven Football Bowl Subdivision schools in Florida have changed coaches in the last year, the exception being Miami’s Mark Richt, who’s in his second season with the Hurricanes.  [Andrew Beaton / Wall Street Journal]

--Arizona State introduced Herm Edwards, 63, as its head coach on Monday, in a truly bizarre press conference.  Edwards is a strange dude.  He compiled a 54-74 as coach of the Chiefs and Jets from 2001-2008, before becoming an analyst with ESPN after his firing by Kansas City following the ’08 season.  He hasn’t coached college football since the late 1980s.

“Passion for my faith, my family and my occupation as a football coach are the things that have driven me back to the grass,” Edwards said in a statement.

ASU said they were adopting an NFL style “New Leadership Model,” “similar to an NFL approach using a general manager structure,” according to the school, Edwards being at the head.

Because of Edwards’ personality, this is either going to be a spectacular success, or a dismal failure.

--UCF, having lost Scott Frost to Nebraska, hired Missouri offensive coordinator Josh Heupel as its new head coach.  Heupel, 39, led Oklahoma to the national title in 2000 and was a longtime OU assistant coach, 2006-2014.  At Missouri, before Heupel arrived two seasons ago, the Tigers were 124th nationally on offense and he immediately turned them around, finishing 13th last season and seventh this year, averaging 511.5 yards and 39.3 points per game.

--Florida State safety Derwin James, a consensus top five in the upcoming NFL draft, opted to declare for it now, thus he won’t play in the Seminoles’ bowl game, which I can’t blame him one bit.

--Uh oh...one of the guys I’ve been citing this season, Oklahoma running back Rodney Anderson, was alleged to have raped a woman at her apartment.

Anderson, through his attorney, said the allegation is “patently false.”  He has a court hearing Dec. 18. ‘Wait 24 hours’ on this one.

--In the FCS / Div. I-AA Quarterfinals, the matchups are:

Weber State vs. No. 1 James Madison
Wofford vs. North Dakota State
New Hampshire vs. South Dakota State
Kennesaw State vs. Sam Houston State

--Finally, Oklahoma’s Baker Mayfield, reigning Heisman winner Lamar Jackson of Louisville and Stanford’s Bryce Love are the three finalists for the Heisman Trophy on Saturday night.

Jackson, in many respects, has had a better year than last season, but Louisville is only 8-4.

NFL

--Yes, it happened quickly, as I wrote last time.  I said it appeared Giants Coach Ben McAdoo was rumored to be fired shortly and 12 hours later, McAdoo and GM Jerry Reese were both told to hit the road by Giants co-owner John Mara.  Giants’ fans long local nightmare is officially over.

Mara said during a press conference announcing the firings that he has already asked Ernie Accorsi to be a consultant on the upcoming decisions on replacement for a GM, before the Giants agree on a new coach.  Reese took a lot of deserved heat this year for failing to address the Giants’ offensive line woes in the offseason after the group struggled last year.

We’ve had an embarrassing season and most people that know me know how painful that is to me, how committed I am to try and put a winning team back on the field,” Mara said. “I know our fans are suffering, but I’m suffering more, I’ll guarantee you that right now.  We’ve gotten to the point where we felt we had to make wholesale changes and that’s what we’ve done.

Mara said Monday afternoon that he wanted to look outside his franchise for a fresh perspective and not fall back on familiar faces when it comes to coach, which would seem to preclude interim coach Steve Spagnuolo, the defensive coordinator who is popular both with the players and management, as the coach next season.

So is there any chance Mara could entice Jim Harbaugh, Bill Cowher, or Jon Gruden?  It will be interesting, no doubt.

As for Eli Manning, he’ll start Sunday against the Cowboys at MetLife Stadium in what will be a total lovefest with the fans.

Steve Serby / New York Post

Christmas arrived on Monday morning for angry, disenchanted Giants fans. Black Monday arrived early for Ben McAdoo and Jerry Reese....

“A season that began with Super Bowl expectations ends with a franchise in turmoil and disarray. The general manager didn’t get the head coach the right players and the head coach couldn’t coach them. And so someone else will be drafting The Next Eli Manning, and someone else will be coaching him.

“Because of his work with Carson Wentz, you will hear the name John DeFillipo, Eagles quarterback coach and quarterback whisperer who could be viewed as another Sean McVay.  Ownership should swing for the fences in the meantime and make the call to Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh....

“We have witnessed stunning falls from grace in the sports arena, from O.J. Simpson to Lance Armstrong to Joe Paterno to Tiger Woods to Mike Tyson, on and on it goes. Each of them fell for a different reason, and all of them were on top of the world for quite a while before their respective careers came crashing down.

“McAdoo never got close to such rarified air on top of the world, but his Humpty Dumpty fall from a young head coach expecting to hoist the Lombardi Trophy to vilified pariah was so swift and sudden it has left a once-proud franchise dizzy and disoriented and searching desperately for its soul and new leadership.

“As its angry fan base today shouts: Good riddance.

“Ownership actually did McAdoo a favor. They saved him from a hanging in the public square....

“Giants fans had already changed his name to Ben Mustgo....

“If nothing else, the narrative can now turn to a tribute of sorts to Manning, 10 jerseys everywhere....

McAdoo followed Tom Coughlin and talked about that fifth Super Bowl championship on the day he showed up in that oversized suit and got to the playoffs as the rookie head coach of the New York Football Giants.

“And then forgot how to be an offensive guru.  Forgot how to lead men.  Forgot how to inspire and motivate men.

“His most unforgiving crime was treating Manning more like training camp fodder than the face of the franchise and botching John Mara’s blueprint aimed primarily at evaluating rookie David Webb, who somehow wasn’t prepared to be evaluated.

“McAdoo’s claim that he and Mara were on the same page was either delusional or fake news.”

--Cincinnati (5-7) can’t beat Pittsburgh, having now lost six straight and nine of 10 to the Steelers, blowing a 17-0 lead Monday night, Pittsburgh emerging victorious, 23-20, on a last second Chris Boswell 38-yard field goal, the Steelers now 10-2.

Ben Roethlisberger was 24/40, 290, 2-1, 88.5, with Le’Veon Bell racking up 182 yards total offense (76 rushing, 106 receiving), while Antonio Brown had another eight receptions, 101 yards and the key touchdown in the fourth quarter to tie it at 20-20.

But Brown took a nasty hit to the head while landing in the end zone in a game that is going to be talked about a long time for all the wrong reasons.  It was penalty filled, with downright dirty play, while Pittsburgh’s Pro Bowl linebacker Ryan Shazier left in the first quarter with a scary back injury following a collision that at first looked like it left him paralyzed, though we learned later it was instead a “spinal contusion” and as I go to post he continues to make progress and will not require surgery at this time.  [Shazier led with his helmet in making a tackle.]

Then Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict was carted off the field in the fourth quarter after Steelers receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster leveled him with a high hit, then taunted Burfict by walking over him.

There were 11 personal fouls called in this grudge match, with Cincinnati being penalized 13 times for a team-record 173 yards.

Schuster and George Iloka, who had the hit on Antonio Brown in the end zone, were both suspended one game.

This was not the kind of contest the NFL needs at this time. And as Steelers fan Jeff B. wondered, what will happen when Pittsburgh goes to play another arch-rival, Baltimore, on Sunday?

--Sunday night at Seattle, the Seahawks beat the Eagles 24-10 to drop Philadelphia to 10-2, Seattle now 8-4 and in the fifth NFC playoff slot.

Russell Wilson had a terrific game, 20/31, 227, 3-0, 118.6, while Carson Wentz, despite throwing for 348 yards and having the highest-scoring team in the NFL could only get 10 points out of it, due largely to Wentz losing a fumble at the Seattle 1-yard line...the ultimate killer. The ball bounded out of the end zone, Seattle taking over at the 20, and then they drove 80 yards in 11 plays to take a 17-3 lead when it should have been 10-10.

--The NFL suspended New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski one game without pay for his late hit on defenseless Buffalo Bills cornerback Tre’Davious White in the Pats’ 23-3 victory.

Gronkowski was penalized on the play but not ejected from the game.

The NFL said: “Your actions were not incidental, could have been avoided and placed the opposing player at risk of serious injury. The Competition Committee has clearly expressed its goal of ‘eliminating flagrant hits that have no place in our game.’ Those hits include the play you were involved in yesterday,” vice president of operations Jon Runyan wrote in the letter to Gronkowski to inform him of his suspension.

After the game, Gronk apologized to White. His appeal has already been turned down.

--The Playoff Standings after Monday night.  No sense getting into tiebreakers yet.

1. Minnesota 10-2
2. Philadelphia 10-2
3. Los Angeles Rams 9-3
4. New Orleans 9-3
5. Seattle 8-4
6. Carolina 8-4

In the hunt: Atlanta 7-5, Detroit 6-6, Dallas 6-6, Green Bay 6-6.

AFC

1. Pittsburgh 10-2
2. New England 10-2

3. Tennessee 8-4
4. Kansas City 6-6...AFC West a mess
5. Jacksonville 8-4
6. Baltimore 7-5

In the hunt: Los Angeles Chargers 6-6, Oakland 6-6, Buffalo 6-6.

Pittsburgh and New England square off in Pittsburgh Dec. 17. But aside from these two, the AFC playoffs have the potential to suck royally.

The NFC, on the other hand, could have some terrific games.  So the strategy will be, reserve the sofa for the NFC; go to a museum or zoo during the AFC playoffs until New England-Pittsburgh in the championship.

--Meanwhile, how ‘bout the Vikings’ Case Keenum?  At 98.6, he has the sixth-best passer rating among those starting today (not including the injured Aaron Rodgers and Deshaun Watson), with 16 TD passes and just 5 interceptions.  It’s one of the few feel-good stories in the NFL this year, which otherwise has been a dreary slog. I think it would be great if the Vikings are playing in the Super Bowl, at home, vs. Pittsburgh or New England. That’s an attractive game. [Sorry, Eagles, Rams and Saints fans.]

I mean to think, again, that Keenum was an afterthought in the preseason.  The job was going to Sam Bradford or Teddy Bridgewater.

Aside from Keenum, the only comparable story is the emergence of second-year Rams QB Jared Goff.  Carson Wentz fits the definition too, I guess, though his rookie season last year was nowhere near the horrid level of Goff’s.

College Basketball / AP Top 25 (Dec. 4...records thru Dec. 3)

1. Duke 10-0 (65)
2. Kansas 7-0
3. Michigan State 7-1
4. Villanova 8-0
5. Florida 5-1
6. Wichita State 6-1
7. Texas A&M 7-0
8. Kentucky 7-1
9. Notre Dame 7-1
10. Miami 10-0
15. Virginia

--But Monday, unranked Florida State (7-0) beat 5 Florida (5-2) 83-66, behind Terance (sic) Mann’s career-high 25 points, so the Seminoles should be in the next Top 25.

--Among the games on Tuesday, 3 Michigan State struggled on the road against Rutgers (6-3) 62-52, with the Scarlet Knights shooting just 25.8% from the field (17-66).

Ball State (5-4) upset 9 Notre Dame in South Bend 80-77.

18 West Virginia defeated 15 Virginia 68-61.

1 Duke annihilated St. Francis (PA) 124-67.

4 Villanova beat 12 Gonzaga (7-2) 88-72.

Arizona (6-3) upset 7 Texas A&M 67-64.

Nebraska (7-3) beat 14 Minnesota (8-2) 78-68.

And Wake Forest continued its resurgence with an 80-57 road win at Charlotte (3-5), the Deacs now 5-4.

--LaVar Ball pulled son LiAngelo out of UCLA, as the freshman continued to serve an indefinite suspension for his shoplifting incident in China, LiAngelo suspended by UCLA along with two other freshmen.  The school still hasn’t decided on how long the suspension is to be.

A third ball son, LaMelo, is a 2019 UCLA commit but that will now change.  And now it seems LaMelo and LiAngelo are exploring options to play overseas for a spell before coming back for the NBA.  Father LaVar told ESPN, “I’m going to make (LiAngelo) better for the draft than UCLA ever could have.”

LaVar told CNN, without naming coaches, that head coach Steve Alford and his staff needed to take more responsibility, and that related to the China trip, they should have enforced stronger rules.

On the suspension upon returning to the states, LaVar said: “You shouldn’t hang them on the cross for this long for (shoplifting).  A kid wants to play basketball all his life.  You take that away, that’s worse than jail....They already apologized. What’s the big deal?”

For his part, UCLA coach Steve Alford said he was surprised by the Balls’ decision.

“LiAngelo has been, since coming back (from China), he’s been tremendous.  He’s been to all of his classes, he’s been to all the tutors, all the mentors. He’s done exactly what’s been asked of him.”

Alford said he has not talked with LiAngelo or his father.

NBA

--Remember when the Cleveland Cavaliers were 5-7 and the story was LeBron couldn’t wait to bolt at season’s end?  Well, King James still might leave, but Cleveland is suddenly 17-7 after a 12-game winning streak, including Monday’s 113-89 blitzing of the beyond awful Bulls (3-19).  Kevin Love has been outstanding, averaging 19 points and 10 rebounds this season in just 29 minutes per.

LeBron is bettering his career averages at 28 points, 7.9 rebounds, 8.5 assists, while shooting 42% from three.

--Boston is 21-4 after a 111-100 win over Milwaukee (12-10) Monday, despite the Greek Freak’s 40 points, 9 rebounds.  Antetokounmpo is averaging 29.9 points and 10.2 rebounds thus far for the Bucks.

--The Knicks (11-12) sucked wind on the road in Indianapolis Monday, falling 115-97 in a game that was even worse than the score. Kristaps Porzingis missed another game, his fourth of the Knicks first 23, the last two due to illness.  This guy is getting irritating.  He’s got to be on the floor.

But then Tuesday the Knicks learned that Tim Hardaway Jr., who has been averaging a solid 17.8 points per game, is out at least two weeks, and quite possibly far longer, with a stress injury to his lower left leg.  A season that started out with such promise could very easily spiral out of control, especially with this upcoming stretch of 16 of 20 on the road beginning end of the month.

--Golden State lost Steph Curry for at least two weeks after he suffered a severe ankle sprain in Golden State’s 125-115 win over the Pelicans, the Warriors now 19-6, New Orleans 12-12.  Curry had 31 points and 11 assists before getting tangled up with Pelicans guard E’Twaun Moore.

Curry has a history of ankle issues, but has been durable in general.

--Sometimes a box score just stands out.  Utah (13-11) beat Washington (12-11) in Salt Lake City 113-69!  The John Wall-less Wizards shot 23 of 80 from the field, 28.8%!  Eegads.

[The team is 2-3 without Wall, who missed his fifth game with a knee injury.]

MLB

--Shohei Ohtani narrowed his choice to seven teams – the Dodgers, Angels, Padres, Giants, Mariners, Rangers and Cubs – having blown off the likes of the Yankees, Red Sox and Mets. Clearly, save for the two of the seven, Shohei is leaning towards West Coast teams.

The Rangers can offer the most of these in bonus money, $3,535,000, followed by the Mariners ($1,557,500) and Angels ($1,315,000).  The other four are limited to $300,000 for exceeding their bonus pools in prior years.

Ohtani has until 11:59 p.m. ET on Dec. 22 to agree to a contract with an MLB team.

--Meanwhile, on the Giancarlo Stanton front, the Giants and Cardinals have apparently agreed to the “general framework” of trades with Miami. Stanton has a full no-trade clause, but he, or his representatives, have met with both and Jon Heyman reported Stanton is open to joining either one, but might favor the Giants.

Sports Betting

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s eight years in office are mercifully coming to an end, but his legacy will be helped, at least among New Jerseyans who are sports fans, and perhaps nationwide, if the Supreme Court rules favorably on sports betting in the Garden State, and by extension countless other states.

George F. Will / Washington Post...this is a little wonky...

“On Monday, the Supreme Court will listen – with, one hopes, a mixture of bemusement and amusement – to arguments concerning...a law banning what many millions of Americans do anyway – illegally betting between $150 billion and $400 billion annually on sports events. Illegality prevents precise knowledge, but if the sum is just $150 billion, that sum exceeds the combined revenue of Microsoft, Goldman Sachs and McDonald’s....

“The courts nine fine minds need not, and should not, trouble themselves with the question of whether this particular prohibition is sensible. They should, however, defend federalism by telling the national government to stop telling state governments what laws they cannot change.

“Twenty-five years ago, gambling was rapidly becoming regarded less as a vice that state governments should discourage and more as a source of revenue that those governments would encourage. But in 1992, then-Sen. Bill Bradley (D-N.J.), a former college and NBA basketball star who worried about the possible corruptive effects of gambling on sports, wrote the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA). It says no government entity may ‘authorize’ wagering on sporting events. This has not deterred the many millions of Americans who since 1992 have wagered trillions on such events. Next March, the sum wagered on the college basketball tournament – approximately $9 billion – will exceed the NBA’s estimated revenue for the 2017-2018 season ($8 billion).

“In a 2011 referendum, New Jersey voters authorized their legislature to do what it did in 2014: partially legalize sports betting by repealing a law prohibiting such wagering at racetracks and casinos. The NCAA and professional sports leagues objected, saying that by ‘authorizing’ such gambling New Jersey was violating PASPA. A federal circuit court agreed, rejecting the state’s argument that PASPA violates the 10th Amendment.  (‘The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.’)  The court said New Jersey’s partial repeal affirmatively authorized sports wagering by directing it to particular venues. The court argued that PASPA did not unconstitutionally ‘commandeer’ state resources because it did not compel New Jersey to take a particular action or devote resources to administering federal choices.

“An amicus brief supporting New Jersey argues that federalism precludes the national government from forbidding a state to pass a law ‘that neither violates the Constitution nor addresses any matter pre-empted by federal law.’  Congress has not chosen, as it could, to prohibit sports betting; instead, Congress has paralyzed states, preventing them from changing laws that such betting violates and effectively commandeering state resources to enforce a policy that the state dislikes...

“As currently construed, PASPA requires states to disregard an emerging consensus: In 1993, 56 percent of Americans disapproved of legalized sports betting. Now, 55 percent approve. Twenty states have joined an amicus brief supporting New Jersey, and legislation has been introduced in a dozen states to legalize sports betting if New Jersey wins.”

Fay Vincent and Walter Slocombe / Wall Street Journal

“New Jersey argues that under prior precedents the 10th Amendment bars Congress from forcing states to regulate or criminalize private activity, and that preventing a state from repealing an existing law is as much commandeering as mandating that it pass a new one.

“The case’s outcome may have implications for other policy questions, such as marijuana legalization, gun control and ‘sanctuary cities.’ A ruling in New Jersey’s favor could stimulate further state legislation in response to the massive level of nominally illegal sports betting. So much money is at stake that there are strong financial incentives for gambling interests and state governments to bring betting into the open – that is, to make it taxable.  Even if New Jersey loses, Congress may take control of the gambling regulatory agenda....

“It’s a good bet that some form of nationwide legal betting on sports is coming. The only question is when and how.”

The Supreme Court should issue a ruling in the spring.

Stuff

--The International Olympic Committee announced Tuesday it was banning Russia from the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, citing “systematic manipulation” of anti-doping rules.

This is all about a confidential IOC report that detailed Russia’s official doping program during the 2014 Sochi Olympics, and the extensive cover-up. [Previously covered in these pages.]

No Russian officials will be allowed to attend the Winter Games. If any ‘clean’ Russian athletes are given permission to attend, they can’t compete under the Russian flag, rather they would fall under “Olympic Athlete from Russia,” OAR, and the Olympic flag.

But will Russia allow its clean athletes to compete or will it impose a boycott?

Russia was initially credited with 33 medals in Sochi, but that count has been reduced to 22 because of disqualifications related to doping; a number that could drop further.

The men’s ice hockey competition, where NHL players are barred from competing, will be further watered down without Russia in the mix, as it’s likely that players from the Moscow-based Kontinental Hockey League – widely considered the world’s second best – won’t be allowed to compete.

There is an appeal process, so this isn’t necessarily the final word, and President Putin is not pleased.

What makes this even more difficult is that Russia is hosting the 2018 World Cup.

--Manchester United became the fourth Premier League team to qualify for the Champions League knockout stage (Round of 16) with a 2-1 win Tuesday over CSKA Moscow at Old Trafford.

Liverpool can become the fifth PL team to advance today, joining Manchester City, Tottenham and Chelsea, along with Man U.

--In its annual list of franchise valuations, in the NHL, Forbes lists the Rangers as worth a league-high $1.5 billion. Toronto is second at $1.4bn and Montreal third at $1.25bn.

The average NHL team is now worth $594 million, up 15% from a year ago.

--All indications are that Tiger Woods, in planning his schedule, will next play at the Farmers at Torrey Pines last week of January. Seeing as he’s won it seven times, and it’s where his last major triumph was, the 2008 U.S. Open, this is a natural.

Assuming his health holds up, I wouldn’t expect to see him playing more than 12 or so events as he works around the majors.  This isn’t including the FedEx Cup playoffs if he should make that.

--Rohina Bhandari, a 49-year-old Wall Street private equity manager was killed by a tiger shark while diving with a group off a Costa Rican island the other day; Bhandari suffering fatal bites to both her legs while diving in a national park about 300 miles off the Costa Rican mainland, the environment ministry said in a statement.

Bhandari was a senior director at WL Ross & Co., a firm founded by Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross.

According to a report in the local La Nacion, it was the group’s diving guide that noticed the shark approaching underwater and tried to scare it away.

But as they surfaced, the shark swam directly at Bhandari and began biting her legs.

The guide tried to assist and also got bitten, according to the report.

A group of doctors, also diving in the area, ended up declaring the woman dead at the scene. The guide was reported to be in stable condition.

Top 3 songs for the week 12/4/65: #1 “Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is A Season)” (The Byrds)  #2 “I Hear A Symphony” (The Supremes) #3 “1-2-3” (Len Barry...has held up well...)...and...#4 “Let’s Hang On!” (The 4 Seasons...one of their best...)  #5 “I Got You (I Feel Good)” (James Brown)  #6 “Rescue Me” (Fontella Bass)  #7 “Taste Of Honey” (Herb Alpert and The Tijuana Brass)  #8 “Ain’t That Peculiar” (Marvin Gaye) #9 “I Can Never Go Home Anymore” (The Shangri-Las)  #10 “Over And Over” (The Dave Clark Five)

College Football Bowl Quiz Answer: 11 Bowl Games 1970-71:

Gator, Cotton, Orange, Rose, Sugar, Bluebonnet, Peach, Tangerine, Pasadena, Sun, Liberty

The next year the Fiesta Bowl made its first entrance.

By the way, the 1970 Tangerine Bowl matched up Toledo and William & Mary.

Of course trying to remember the Pasadena Bowl really isn’t fair.  But it’s just an example of how the bowl world exploded over the ensuing years.

Next Bar Chat, Monday.

 



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Bar Chat

12/07/2017

Bowl Season

[Posted Wed. a.m.]

College Football Bowl Quiz: There are 39 bowl games this year, which is actually down two from a high of 41 last season.  But in 1970-71, there were just 11.  Name ‘em (1970-71). Answer below.

College Football Review

With the stage set, aside from the New Year’s Six bowl matchups, which are all attractive for different reasons, even Miami vs. Wisconsin, what are some of the minor bowls that your editor will tune into....

I can easily blow off the first nine contests, until Dec. 22, Central Michigan vs. Wyoming.  Johnny Mac said he has a connection to CMU, so I’m expected to root for the Chippewas, but we both (and a few million others) are curious to see why we should care about Cowboys quarterback Josh Allen, a consensus top ten in next spring’s NFL Draft. 

Actually, I have a Wyoming shirt I picked up on campus there a while back, one of my favorites, so I just may be donning Cowboy apparel.

Dec. 23, love the San Diego State vs. Army matchup, featuring SDSU’s Rashaad Penny, the nation’s leading rusher.  And Toledo vs. Appalachian State, a rematch of last year’s exciting game, won by the Apps 31-28.

Dec. 26, gotta watch Duke vs. Northern Illinois for parochial reasons, some of my best friends (and supporters) being Blue Devils.

Dec. 27, Boston College vs. Iowa at Yankee Stadium could be fun if the weather sucks and I’m snug inside.  [Oops...hosting a delayed Christmas Dinner for the family that day...seeing as it’s my place...I control the television....heh heh....]

Dec. 28, Oklahoma State vs. Virginia Tech is kind of intriguing just to see how Mason Rudolph does against one of the better defenses in the country.

Dec. 29, Wake Forest vs. Texas A&M...great matchup for the Deacs...would be a nice win for the program...but it’s another Friday affair! And my yearend column!  I hate the holidays.

Dec. 30, Iowa State vs. Memphis...only good because my column will have been put to bed and Memphis has all these terrific athletes to watch.

And of course I’ll be watching the Power Six contests.

But I’m’ miffed the Peach Bowl, Auburn vs. Central Florida, isn’t New Year’s Eve!  Instead it’s New Year’s Day at 12:30.  There’s no NFL that Sunday night, Week 17.  So tell the Peach Bowl and network folks to change the date, start the game at 7:00, and give me something to do, for crying out loud.

--And let’s take a look back at Sports Illustrated’s preseason Top Ten: CFP final rank in parentheses.

1. Alabama (4)
2. Florida State...if they had Deondre Francois, you just wonder if this is a 10-2 team.  You can’t discount his importance.
3. Ohio State (5)
4. Oklahoma State
5. USC (8)
6. Oklahoma (2)
7. Clemson
(1)
8. Penn State (9)
9. Washington (11)
10. Auburn (7)
11. Michigan
12. Wisconsin (6)
16. Georgia (3)
20. Miami (10)

SI gets a pass on FSU, but bad misses on Oklahoma State and Georgia.  At least the top 11 in the CFP rankings were all in the preseason Top 20.

--Gus Malzahn is staying at Auburn, after he received serious overtures from Arkansas.  Malzahn will receive an extension and significant raise, plus a higher buyout.  He is 45-21 in five seasons at Auburn, guiding the Tigers to an SEC championship and BCS title game in his first season in 2013, and captured the SEC West title this year.

--Willie Taggart, after one year at Oregon, is replacing Jimbo Fisher at Florida State.  In 2016, Taggart was the coach of South Florida. This means that six of the seven Football Bowl Subdivision schools in Florida have changed coaches in the last year, the exception being Miami’s Mark Richt, who’s in his second season with the Hurricanes.  [Andrew Beaton / Wall Street Journal]

--Arizona State introduced Herm Edwards, 63, as its head coach on Monday, in a truly bizarre press conference.  Edwards is a strange dude.  He compiled a 54-74 as coach of the Chiefs and Jets from 2001-2008, before becoming an analyst with ESPN after his firing by Kansas City following the ’08 season.  He hasn’t coached college football since the late 1980s.

“Passion for my faith, my family and my occupation as a football coach are the things that have driven me back to the grass,” Edwards said in a statement.

ASU said they were adopting an NFL style “New Leadership Model,” “similar to an NFL approach using a general manager structure,” according to the school, Edwards being at the head.

Because of Edwards’ personality, this is either going to be a spectacular success, or a dismal failure.

--UCF, having lost Scott Frost to Nebraska, hired Missouri offensive coordinator Josh Heupel as its new head coach.  Heupel, 39, led Oklahoma to the national title in 2000 and was a longtime OU assistant coach, 2006-2014.  At Missouri, before Heupel arrived two seasons ago, the Tigers were 124th nationally on offense and he immediately turned them around, finishing 13th last season and seventh this year, averaging 511.5 yards and 39.3 points per game.

--Florida State safety Derwin James, a consensus top five in the upcoming NFL draft, opted to declare for it now, thus he won’t play in the Seminoles’ bowl game, which I can’t blame him one bit.

--Uh oh...one of the guys I’ve been citing this season, Oklahoma running back Rodney Anderson, was alleged to have raped a woman at her apartment.

Anderson, through his attorney, said the allegation is “patently false.”  He has a court hearing Dec. 18. ‘Wait 24 hours’ on this one.

--In the FCS / Div. I-AA Quarterfinals, the matchups are:

Weber State vs. No. 1 James Madison
Wofford vs. North Dakota State
New Hampshire vs. South Dakota State
Kennesaw State vs. Sam Houston State

--Finally, Oklahoma’s Baker Mayfield, reigning Heisman winner Lamar Jackson of Louisville and Stanford’s Bryce Love are the three finalists for the Heisman Trophy on Saturday night.

Jackson, in many respects, has had a better year than last season, but Louisville is only 8-4.

NFL

--Yes, it happened quickly, as I wrote last time.  I said it appeared Giants Coach Ben McAdoo was rumored to be fired shortly and 12 hours later, McAdoo and GM Jerry Reese were both told to hit the road by Giants co-owner John Mara.  Giants’ fans long local nightmare is officially over.

Mara said during a press conference announcing the firings that he has already asked Ernie Accorsi to be a consultant on the upcoming decisions on replacement for a GM, before the Giants agree on a new coach.  Reese took a lot of deserved heat this year for failing to address the Giants’ offensive line woes in the offseason after the group struggled last year.

We’ve had an embarrassing season and most people that know me know how painful that is to me, how committed I am to try and put a winning team back on the field,” Mara said. “I know our fans are suffering, but I’m suffering more, I’ll guarantee you that right now.  We’ve gotten to the point where we felt we had to make wholesale changes and that’s what we’ve done.

Mara said Monday afternoon that he wanted to look outside his franchise for a fresh perspective and not fall back on familiar faces when it comes to coach, which would seem to preclude interim coach Steve Spagnuolo, the defensive coordinator who is popular both with the players and management, as the coach next season.

So is there any chance Mara could entice Jim Harbaugh, Bill Cowher, or Jon Gruden?  It will be interesting, no doubt.

As for Eli Manning, he’ll start Sunday against the Cowboys at MetLife Stadium in what will be a total lovefest with the fans.

Steve Serby / New York Post

Christmas arrived on Monday morning for angry, disenchanted Giants fans. Black Monday arrived early for Ben McAdoo and Jerry Reese....

“A season that began with Super Bowl expectations ends with a franchise in turmoil and disarray. The general manager didn’t get the head coach the right players and the head coach couldn’t coach them. And so someone else will be drafting The Next Eli Manning, and someone else will be coaching him.

“Because of his work with Carson Wentz, you will hear the name John DeFillipo, Eagles quarterback coach and quarterback whisperer who could be viewed as another Sean McVay.  Ownership should swing for the fences in the meantime and make the call to Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh....

“We have witnessed stunning falls from grace in the sports arena, from O.J. Simpson to Lance Armstrong to Joe Paterno to Tiger Woods to Mike Tyson, on and on it goes. Each of them fell for a different reason, and all of them were on top of the world for quite a while before their respective careers came crashing down.

“McAdoo never got close to such rarified air on top of the world, but his Humpty Dumpty fall from a young head coach expecting to hoist the Lombardi Trophy to vilified pariah was so swift and sudden it has left a once-proud franchise dizzy and disoriented and searching desperately for its soul and new leadership.

“As its angry fan base today shouts: Good riddance.

“Ownership actually did McAdoo a favor. They saved him from a hanging in the public square....

“Giants fans had already changed his name to Ben Mustgo....

“If nothing else, the narrative can now turn to a tribute of sorts to Manning, 10 jerseys everywhere....

McAdoo followed Tom Coughlin and talked about that fifth Super Bowl championship on the day he showed up in that oversized suit and got to the playoffs as the rookie head coach of the New York Football Giants.

“And then forgot how to be an offensive guru.  Forgot how to lead men.  Forgot how to inspire and motivate men.

“His most unforgiving crime was treating Manning more like training camp fodder than the face of the franchise and botching John Mara’s blueprint aimed primarily at evaluating rookie David Webb, who somehow wasn’t prepared to be evaluated.

“McAdoo’s claim that he and Mara were on the same page was either delusional or fake news.”

--Cincinnati (5-7) can’t beat Pittsburgh, having now lost six straight and nine of 10 to the Steelers, blowing a 17-0 lead Monday night, Pittsburgh emerging victorious, 23-20, on a last second Chris Boswell 38-yard field goal, the Steelers now 10-2.

Ben Roethlisberger was 24/40, 290, 2-1, 88.5, with Le’Veon Bell racking up 182 yards total offense (76 rushing, 106 receiving), while Antonio Brown had another eight receptions, 101 yards and the key touchdown in the fourth quarter to tie it at 20-20.

But Brown took a nasty hit to the head while landing in the end zone in a game that is going to be talked about a long time for all the wrong reasons.  It was penalty filled, with downright dirty play, while Pittsburgh’s Pro Bowl linebacker Ryan Shazier left in the first quarter with a scary back injury following a collision that at first looked like it left him paralyzed, though we learned later it was instead a “spinal contusion” and as I go to post he continues to make progress and will not require surgery at this time.  [Shazier led with his helmet in making a tackle.]

Then Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict was carted off the field in the fourth quarter after Steelers receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster leveled him with a high hit, then taunted Burfict by walking over him.

There were 11 personal fouls called in this grudge match, with Cincinnati being penalized 13 times for a team-record 173 yards.

Schuster and George Iloka, who had the hit on Antonio Brown in the end zone, were both suspended one game.

This was not the kind of contest the NFL needs at this time. And as Steelers fan Jeff B. wondered, what will happen when Pittsburgh goes to play another arch-rival, Baltimore, on Sunday?

--Sunday night at Seattle, the Seahawks beat the Eagles 24-10 to drop Philadelphia to 10-2, Seattle now 8-4 and in the fifth NFC playoff slot.

Russell Wilson had a terrific game, 20/31, 227, 3-0, 118.6, while Carson Wentz, despite throwing for 348 yards and having the highest-scoring team in the NFL could only get 10 points out of it, due largely to Wentz losing a fumble at the Seattle 1-yard line...the ultimate killer. The ball bounded out of the end zone, Seattle taking over at the 20, and then they drove 80 yards in 11 plays to take a 17-3 lead when it should have been 10-10.

--The NFL suspended New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski one game without pay for his late hit on defenseless Buffalo Bills cornerback Tre’Davious White in the Pats’ 23-3 victory.

Gronkowski was penalized on the play but not ejected from the game.

The NFL said: “Your actions were not incidental, could have been avoided and placed the opposing player at risk of serious injury. The Competition Committee has clearly expressed its goal of ‘eliminating flagrant hits that have no place in our game.’ Those hits include the play you were involved in yesterday,” vice president of operations Jon Runyan wrote in the letter to Gronkowski to inform him of his suspension.

After the game, Gronk apologized to White. His appeal has already been turned down.

--The Playoff Standings after Monday night.  No sense getting into tiebreakers yet.

1. Minnesota 10-2
2. Philadelphia 10-2
3. Los Angeles Rams 9-3
4. New Orleans 9-3
5. Seattle 8-4
6. Carolina 8-4

In the hunt: Atlanta 7-5, Detroit 6-6, Dallas 6-6, Green Bay 6-6.

AFC

1. Pittsburgh 10-2
2. New England 10-2

3. Tennessee 8-4
4. Kansas City 6-6...AFC West a mess
5. Jacksonville 8-4
6. Baltimore 7-5

In the hunt: Los Angeles Chargers 6-6, Oakland 6-6, Buffalo 6-6.

Pittsburgh and New England square off in Pittsburgh Dec. 17. But aside from these two, the AFC playoffs have the potential to suck royally.

The NFC, on the other hand, could have some terrific games.  So the strategy will be, reserve the sofa for the NFC; go to a museum or zoo during the AFC playoffs until New England-Pittsburgh in the championship.

--Meanwhile, how ‘bout the Vikings’ Case Keenum?  At 98.6, he has the sixth-best passer rating among those starting today (not including the injured Aaron Rodgers and Deshaun Watson), with 16 TD passes and just 5 interceptions.  It’s one of the few feel-good stories in the NFL this year, which otherwise has been a dreary slog. I think it would be great if the Vikings are playing in the Super Bowl, at home, vs. Pittsburgh or New England. That’s an attractive game. [Sorry, Eagles, Rams and Saints fans.]

I mean to think, again, that Keenum was an afterthought in the preseason.  The job was going to Sam Bradford or Teddy Bridgewater.

Aside from Keenum, the only comparable story is the emergence of second-year Rams QB Jared Goff.  Carson Wentz fits the definition too, I guess, though his rookie season last year was nowhere near the horrid level of Goff’s.

College Basketball / AP Top 25 (Dec. 4...records thru Dec. 3)

1. Duke 10-0 (65)
2. Kansas 7-0
3. Michigan State 7-1
4. Villanova 8-0
5. Florida 5-1
6. Wichita State 6-1
7. Texas A&M 7-0
8. Kentucky 7-1
9. Notre Dame 7-1
10. Miami 10-0
15. Virginia

--But Monday, unranked Florida State (7-0) beat 5 Florida (5-2) 83-66, behind Terance (sic) Mann’s career-high 25 points, so the Seminoles should be in the next Top 25.

--Among the games on Tuesday, 3 Michigan State struggled on the road against Rutgers (6-3) 62-52, with the Scarlet Knights shooting just 25.8% from the field (17-66).

Ball State (5-4) upset 9 Notre Dame in South Bend 80-77.

18 West Virginia defeated 15 Virginia 68-61.

1 Duke annihilated St. Francis (PA) 124-67.

4 Villanova beat 12 Gonzaga (7-2) 88-72.

Arizona (6-3) upset 7 Texas A&M 67-64.

Nebraska (7-3) beat 14 Minnesota (8-2) 78-68.

And Wake Forest continued its resurgence with an 80-57 road win at Charlotte (3-5), the Deacs now 5-4.

--LaVar Ball pulled son LiAngelo out of UCLA, as the freshman continued to serve an indefinite suspension for his shoplifting incident in China, LiAngelo suspended by UCLA along with two other freshmen.  The school still hasn’t decided on how long the suspension is to be.

A third ball son, LaMelo, is a 2019 UCLA commit but that will now change.  And now it seems LaMelo and LiAngelo are exploring options to play overseas for a spell before coming back for the NBA.  Father LaVar told ESPN, “I’m going to make (LiAngelo) better for the draft than UCLA ever could have.”

LaVar told CNN, without naming coaches, that head coach Steve Alford and his staff needed to take more responsibility, and that related to the China trip, they should have enforced stronger rules.

On the suspension upon returning to the states, LaVar said: “You shouldn’t hang them on the cross for this long for (shoplifting).  A kid wants to play basketball all his life.  You take that away, that’s worse than jail....They already apologized. What’s the big deal?”

For his part, UCLA coach Steve Alford said he was surprised by the Balls’ decision.

“LiAngelo has been, since coming back (from China), he’s been tremendous.  He’s been to all of his classes, he’s been to all the tutors, all the mentors. He’s done exactly what’s been asked of him.”

Alford said he has not talked with LiAngelo or his father.

NBA

--Remember when the Cleveland Cavaliers were 5-7 and the story was LeBron couldn’t wait to bolt at season’s end?  Well, King James still might leave, but Cleveland is suddenly 17-7 after a 12-game winning streak, including Monday’s 113-89 blitzing of the beyond awful Bulls (3-19).  Kevin Love has been outstanding, averaging 19 points and 10 rebounds this season in just 29 minutes per.

LeBron is bettering his career averages at 28 points, 7.9 rebounds, 8.5 assists, while shooting 42% from three.

--Boston is 21-4 after a 111-100 win over Milwaukee (12-10) Monday, despite the Greek Freak’s 40 points, 9 rebounds.  Antetokounmpo is averaging 29.9 points and 10.2 rebounds thus far for the Bucks.

--The Knicks (11-12) sucked wind on the road in Indianapolis Monday, falling 115-97 in a game that was even worse than the score. Kristaps Porzingis missed another game, his fourth of the Knicks first 23, the last two due to illness.  This guy is getting irritating.  He’s got to be on the floor.

But then Tuesday the Knicks learned that Tim Hardaway Jr., who has been averaging a solid 17.8 points per game, is out at least two weeks, and quite possibly far longer, with a stress injury to his lower left leg.  A season that started out with such promise could very easily spiral out of control, especially with this upcoming stretch of 16 of 20 on the road beginning end of the month.

--Golden State lost Steph Curry for at least two weeks after he suffered a severe ankle sprain in Golden State’s 125-115 win over the Pelicans, the Warriors now 19-6, New Orleans 12-12.  Curry had 31 points and 11 assists before getting tangled up with Pelicans guard E’Twaun Moore.

Curry has a history of ankle issues, but has been durable in general.

--Sometimes a box score just stands out.  Utah (13-11) beat Washington (12-11) in Salt Lake City 113-69!  The John Wall-less Wizards shot 23 of 80 from the field, 28.8%!  Eegads.

[The team is 2-3 without Wall, who missed his fifth game with a knee injury.]

MLB

--Shohei Ohtani narrowed his choice to seven teams – the Dodgers, Angels, Padres, Giants, Mariners, Rangers and Cubs – having blown off the likes of the Yankees, Red Sox and Mets. Clearly, save for the two of the seven, Shohei is leaning towards West Coast teams.

The Rangers can offer the most of these in bonus money, $3,535,000, followed by the Mariners ($1,557,500) and Angels ($1,315,000).  The other four are limited to $300,000 for exceeding their bonus pools in prior years.

Ohtani has until 11:59 p.m. ET on Dec. 22 to agree to a contract with an MLB team.

--Meanwhile, on the Giancarlo Stanton front, the Giants and Cardinals have apparently agreed to the “general framework” of trades with Miami. Stanton has a full no-trade clause, but he, or his representatives, have met with both and Jon Heyman reported Stanton is open to joining either one, but might favor the Giants.

Sports Betting

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s eight years in office are mercifully coming to an end, but his legacy will be helped, at least among New Jerseyans who are sports fans, and perhaps nationwide, if the Supreme Court rules favorably on sports betting in the Garden State, and by extension countless other states.

George F. Will / Washington Post...this is a little wonky...

“On Monday, the Supreme Court will listen – with, one hopes, a mixture of bemusement and amusement – to arguments concerning...a law banning what many millions of Americans do anyway – illegally betting between $150 billion and $400 billion annually on sports events. Illegality prevents precise knowledge, but if the sum is just $150 billion, that sum exceeds the combined revenue of Microsoft, Goldman Sachs and McDonald’s....

“The courts nine fine minds need not, and should not, trouble themselves with the question of whether this particular prohibition is sensible. They should, however, defend federalism by telling the national government to stop telling state governments what laws they cannot change.

“Twenty-five years ago, gambling was rapidly becoming regarded less as a vice that state governments should discourage and more as a source of revenue that those governments would encourage. But in 1992, then-Sen. Bill Bradley (D-N.J.), a former college and NBA basketball star who worried about the possible corruptive effects of gambling on sports, wrote the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA). It says no government entity may ‘authorize’ wagering on sporting events. This has not deterred the many millions of Americans who since 1992 have wagered trillions on such events. Next March, the sum wagered on the college basketball tournament – approximately $9 billion – will exceed the NBA’s estimated revenue for the 2017-2018 season ($8 billion).

“In a 2011 referendum, New Jersey voters authorized their legislature to do what it did in 2014: partially legalize sports betting by repealing a law prohibiting such wagering at racetracks and casinos. The NCAA and professional sports leagues objected, saying that by ‘authorizing’ such gambling New Jersey was violating PASPA. A federal circuit court agreed, rejecting the state’s argument that PASPA violates the 10th Amendment.  (‘The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.’)  The court said New Jersey’s partial repeal affirmatively authorized sports wagering by directing it to particular venues. The court argued that PASPA did not unconstitutionally ‘commandeer’ state resources because it did not compel New Jersey to take a particular action or devote resources to administering federal choices.

“An amicus brief supporting New Jersey argues that federalism precludes the national government from forbidding a state to pass a law ‘that neither violates the Constitution nor addresses any matter pre-empted by federal law.’  Congress has not chosen, as it could, to prohibit sports betting; instead, Congress has paralyzed states, preventing them from changing laws that such betting violates and effectively commandeering state resources to enforce a policy that the state dislikes...

“As currently construed, PASPA requires states to disregard an emerging consensus: In 1993, 56 percent of Americans disapproved of legalized sports betting. Now, 55 percent approve. Twenty states have joined an amicus brief supporting New Jersey, and legislation has been introduced in a dozen states to legalize sports betting if New Jersey wins.”

Fay Vincent and Walter Slocombe / Wall Street Journal

“New Jersey argues that under prior precedents the 10th Amendment bars Congress from forcing states to regulate or criminalize private activity, and that preventing a state from repealing an existing law is as much commandeering as mandating that it pass a new one.

“The case’s outcome may have implications for other policy questions, such as marijuana legalization, gun control and ‘sanctuary cities.’ A ruling in New Jersey’s favor could stimulate further state legislation in response to the massive level of nominally illegal sports betting. So much money is at stake that there are strong financial incentives for gambling interests and state governments to bring betting into the open – that is, to make it taxable.  Even if New Jersey loses, Congress may take control of the gambling regulatory agenda....

“It’s a good bet that some form of nationwide legal betting on sports is coming. The only question is when and how.”

The Supreme Court should issue a ruling in the spring.

Stuff

--The International Olympic Committee announced Tuesday it was banning Russia from the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, citing “systematic manipulation” of anti-doping rules.

This is all about a confidential IOC report that detailed Russia’s official doping program during the 2014 Sochi Olympics, and the extensive cover-up. [Previously covered in these pages.]

No Russian officials will be allowed to attend the Winter Games. If any ‘clean’ Russian athletes are given permission to attend, they can’t compete under the Russian flag, rather they would fall under “Olympic Athlete from Russia,” OAR, and the Olympic flag.

But will Russia allow its clean athletes to compete or will it impose a boycott?

Russia was initially credited with 33 medals in Sochi, but that count has been reduced to 22 because of disqualifications related to doping; a number that could drop further.

The men’s ice hockey competition, where NHL players are barred from competing, will be further watered down without Russia in the mix, as it’s likely that players from the Moscow-based Kontinental Hockey League – widely considered the world’s second best – won’t be allowed to compete.

There is an appeal process, so this isn’t necessarily the final word, and President Putin is not pleased.

What makes this even more difficult is that Russia is hosting the 2018 World Cup.

--Manchester United became the fourth Premier League team to qualify for the Champions League knockout stage (Round of 16) with a 2-1 win Tuesday over CSKA Moscow at Old Trafford.

Liverpool can become the fifth PL team to advance today, joining Manchester City, Tottenham and Chelsea, along with Man U.

--In its annual list of franchise valuations, in the NHL, Forbes lists the Rangers as worth a league-high $1.5 billion. Toronto is second at $1.4bn and Montreal third at $1.25bn.

The average NHL team is now worth $594 million, up 15% from a year ago.

--All indications are that Tiger Woods, in planning his schedule, will next play at the Farmers at Torrey Pines last week of January. Seeing as he’s won it seven times, and it’s where his last major triumph was, the 2008 U.S. Open, this is a natural.

Assuming his health holds up, I wouldn’t expect to see him playing more than 12 or so events as he works around the majors.  This isn’t including the FedEx Cup playoffs if he should make that.

--Rohina Bhandari, a 49-year-old Wall Street private equity manager was killed by a tiger shark while diving with a group off a Costa Rican island the other day; Bhandari suffering fatal bites to both her legs while diving in a national park about 300 miles off the Costa Rican mainland, the environment ministry said in a statement.

Bhandari was a senior director at WL Ross & Co., a firm founded by Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross.

According to a report in the local La Nacion, it was the group’s diving guide that noticed the shark approaching underwater and tried to scare it away.

But as they surfaced, the shark swam directly at Bhandari and began biting her legs.

The guide tried to assist and also got bitten, according to the report.

A group of doctors, also diving in the area, ended up declaring the woman dead at the scene. The guide was reported to be in stable condition.

Top 3 songs for the week 12/4/65: #1 “Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is A Season)” (The Byrds)  #2 “I Hear A Symphony” (The Supremes) #3 “1-2-3” (Len Barry...has held up well...)...and...#4 “Let’s Hang On!” (The 4 Seasons...one of their best...)  #5 “I Got You (I Feel Good)” (James Brown)  #6 “Rescue Me” (Fontella Bass)  #7 “Taste Of Honey” (Herb Alpert and The Tijuana Brass)  #8 “Ain’t That Peculiar” (Marvin Gaye) #9 “I Can Never Go Home Anymore” (The Shangri-Las)  #10 “Over And Over” (The Dave Clark Five)

College Football Bowl Quiz Answer: 11 Bowl Games 1970-71:

Gator, Cotton, Orange, Rose, Sugar, Bluebonnet, Peach, Tangerine, Pasadena, Sun, Liberty

The next year the Fiesta Bowl made its first entrance.

By the way, the 1970 Tangerine Bowl matched up Toledo and William & Mary.

Of course trying to remember the Pasadena Bowl really isn’t fair.  But it’s just an example of how the bowl world exploded over the ensuing years.

Next Bar Chat, Monday.