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Bar Chat

09/17/2018

Baseball, Football...and a tragedy on the Cape

[Posted Sunday p.m., prior to Giants-Cowboys]

*My heart goes out to my friends in North and South Carolina over their historic, and deadly, flooding.  Sports isn’t really that important this weekend.  I went to school in N.C., worked there for a time with Thomson McKinnon Securities (I called it the Barbecue Tour, as I had about 20 offices to cover and all I ever wanted was the local ‘Cue), and I know places like New Bern well.  They will need a ton of help just staying safe in the coming days.

College Football Quiz: Since 1970, there have been five instances where we’ve had a school win back-to-back national titles, AP.  Name all five.  [Hints: One school did it twice.  The BCS started in 1998, and since then the AP and BCS, and then CFP, agreed.  But once, the BCS took the title away.  That didn’t impact the AP’s final poll.]  Answer below.

MLB

--Oakland picked a bad time to lose three of four, including the last two at Tampa Bay (former Met Jeurys Familia Saturday’s culprit), as the Yankees continue to play crappy, mediocre ball, losing their last two to Toronto.

So after today, in the AL Wild Card to see who hosts the one-game playoff, it’s....

Yankees 91-58
A’s  90-60

The Red Sox are coming to Yankee Stadium, Tuesday, for a three-game series.

At least for New York, Aaron Judge was activated from the disabled list, but for now is limited to the outfield and as a baserunner.  He hasn’t played since July 26 due to a broken wrist suffered when he was hit by a pitch.  He was initially expected to miss three weeks.

So here we are, Sept. 16.  The guy has to start getting some ABs before the one-game playoff, and hopefully beyond.

--The Dodgers, down three for the second wild-card spot last week, suddenly reeled off four in a row, while the team ahead of them, St. Louis, lost four straight, including the last three to L.A., 9-7, 3-0, 17-4, with Yasiel Puig crashing five home runs Friday and Saturday.

The Dodgers have now homered in 23 consecutive games, one shy of the franchise record set in 1953.

Heading into tonight’s game against the Cardinals, for the N.L. Wild Card we have:

Milwaukee 85-65... +2.5
Colorado 82-67... --
Los Angeles 82-67... --
St. Louis 81-68... 1

Because the N.L. West is knotted up:

Los Angeles 82-67
Colorado 82-67

N.L. Central

Chicago 87-62
Milwaukee 85-65... 2.5

--The Cubs lost closer Pedro Strop for the season to a left hamstring strain, leaving the Cubbies with major questions at the back end of their bullpen.  Strop, who took over for the injured Brandon Morrow in July, was 11 of 13 in save opportunities since then.

Manager Joe Maddon said he was going to closer-by-committee.

--The Mets lost two of three to the Red Sox this weekend up in Fenway, but today it was about Jacob deGrom against Chris Sale. Sale, recovering from his latest shoulder strain, threw three innings of one-hit ball, as Boston ended up winning 4-3, while deGrom, trying desperately to enhance his Cy Young credentials, struggled in the third, yielding 3 runs, but then slammed the door and ended up going 7 innings, giving up just those 3, while striking out 12...another no-decision.

So in the N.L. Cy Young race, we continue to have this bizarre situation:

Jacob deGrom 8-9, 1.78 ERA
Aaron Nola 16-5, 2.42
Max Scherzer 17-7, 2.53

Both Nola and Scherzer have been ineffective of late, vs. what they’ve done the rest of the season.

With such a wide margin in the ERA race, does deGrom get the hardware?  Philadelphia and Washington aren’t making the playoffs, which would be important for Nola and Scherzer.

I do have to note that in contrast to deGrom’s spectacular season...having extended his major-league record of consecutive starts allowing three runs or fewer to 27 today, and tying Bob Gibson’s record of 22 consecutive quality starts (six innings, 3 runs or fewer) set in 1968 (equaled in 2005 by Cris Carpenter)...we have Boston’s Rick Porcello, who was victorious in the Red Sox’ 5-3 win Saturday, moving to 17-7, 4.30!

Yes, deGrom can only dream of what kind of W-L mark he would have had with normal run support.

[Boston fans are worried that Mookie Betts suffered a big injury today, described thus far as merely left-side soreness.  We’ll learn more Monday.]

Separately, the Mets and David Wright are doing the right thing, which is kind of amazing considering how dysfunctional the organization is. Wright, in a tearful announcement the other day, said he saw the handwriting on the wall and was retiring at the age of 35 on Sept. 29 after making his final start at Citi Field.  Due to his many injuries, and spinal stenosis, he hasn’t played a major league game since May 2016.

Wright has been a model New York Met, a terrific player, great guy, charitable...everything an organization wants.  It’s important he retire on good terms, for both the team and the fans.

By the way, back in 2006, Wright took equity instead of cash when he agreed to endorse VitaminWater and that decision set up a financial grand slam, as reported by the New York Post, when a year later Coca-Cola acquired VitaminWater’s parent company, Glaceau, for $4.1 billion.

Wright’s 0.5 percent ownership stake was worth $20.5 million.  [Another celebrity, rapper 50 Cent, made out even better with his Glaceau equity stake...receiving up to $100 million from the water company’s sale to Coke, only 50 Cent lost it all, filing for bankruptcy in 2015. Wright, on the other hand, has his, and is still owed $27 million on his Mets contract for 2019 and 2020.]

Ken Davidoff / New York Post

“In the end, David Wright’s goodbye cameo comes down to just a little more money than the Mets are paying Michael Conforto for the entire 2018 season.

“The fourth-year outfielder Conforto is earning $605,090, a hearty bargain, for what has turned into a nice recovery season from his serious left shoulder injury. For six days on the active roster, from Sept. 25 through the end of the season, the Mets will pay Wright $641,711.23, the professional sports team equivalent of dinner at a nice restaurant for civilians.

“The Mets did right by Wright, who will be declared medically ineligible to play after he enjoys his farewell week, but let’s not make this into more than it was.  The costs of being petty over such a small sum – of not activating him so they could continue the insurance coverage of his salary – far outweighed the benefits of giving Wright his proper goodbye.  Besides, the Mets will make back a significant chunk of Wright’s pay, if not turn a profit outright, from the crowd they’ll draw to see his last start, Sept. 29 against the Marlins.

“Really, Wright’s acceptance of his fate will eliminate a great deal of unnecessary agita and ignorance surrounding his status, and that should help the Mets, too, as will Wright’s roster spot and the expected short-term insurance windfall....

“Wright praised (COO Jeff) Wilpon on Thursday, saying, ‘You’ve certainly gone above and beyond for me and my family, and I appreciate you for allowing me to accomplish my goal of putting on the uniform again as an active player.’....

“Wilpon acknowledged that Wright won’t technically retire, meaning he’ll get the entirety of the $27 million owed to him through 2020...(and) it’s a fait accompli that the Mets’ insurer will accept the reality that Wright can no longer do his job.”

--The other day the Mets’ Gary Cohen mentioned that Colorado pitcher Kyle Freeland, 15-7, 2.96, had an incredible home ERA for Coors Field.  So I looked it up.  The dude is 9-2, 2.36, at home...I’d say that’s pretty remarkable, given it’s still a launching pad.  The Rockies have a 4.80 team ERA at home, by comparison.

--The Orioles won today! They beat the White Sox, 8-4, to move to 43-106!!!  Par-tay!

College Football Review

We had a shocker this week, Wisconsin going down, but to whip through the other games among the top ten...and then some....

No. 1 Alabama manhandled Mississippi 62-7.  No. 2 Clemson took care of Georgia Southern 38-7. And No. 3 Georgia demolished Middle Tennessee State 49-7.

No. 4 Ohio State, though, faced a test in traveling to 15 TCU, the contest held in AT&T Stadium, and after being down 14-13 at the half, and 21-13 early in the third, the Buckeyes rallied for a solid 40-28 win over the Horned Frogs.  Ohio State’s Dwayne Haskins threw for 344 yards and two touchdowns, running for another, and J.K. Dobbins chipped in with 121 yards on the ground.

TCU was done in by three turnovers, including two that were turned into touchdowns.

This was the last game of Urban Meyer’s suspension as he returns next week for a game against Tulane, before Penn State the following week.

No. 5 Oklahoma had a tough time at Iowa State, coming away with a 37-27 victory behind Kyler Murray’s 348 yards and three touchdowns, the QB rushing for another 77 yards. The Cyclones had upset the Sooners in Norman last year.

And then there was Brigham Young, traveling to Madison, Wis., to face the No. 6 Badgers and the Cougars emerged victorious in a big upset, 24-21, as Squally Canada rushed for 118 yards and two TDs, while the BYU defense contained Heisman candidate Jonathan Taylor, yielding just 117 yards and no touchdowns on 26 carries.

In a big SEC game, 12 LSU ‘upset’ 7 Auburn 22-21 on a 42-yard Cole Tracy field goal as time expired at Jordan-Hare Stadium, a huge win for coach Ed Orgeron’s Tigers, LSU coming back from down 21-10 in a hostile environment. 

I was watching the end and thought LSU had really blown it when they took a 3-yard loss on the last play before Tracy’s attempt when I thought a quarterback sneak just to maybe gain a yard could be the difference, but Tracy will be Big Man on Campus for the foreseeable future.

[I can’t help but add, thank you, CBS, for all the crowd shots....wink wink, cough cough...]

Moving along, No. 8 Notre Dame escaped again, 22-17 over visiting Vanderbilt.  Vandy QB Kyle Shurmur was betrayed by his receivers on the final drive for the attempted upset, a last pass to receiver Kalija Lipscomb was caught, but then knocked away by safety Jalen Elliott, who saved the day for the Fighting Irish.

Notre Dame next travels to Wake Forest, and the Deacs should go in knowing they’ll be in it to the end, I suspect.

No. 11 Penn State will move into the top ten after a 63-10 win over Kent State.

In a huge game with Group of Five, major bowl implications, No. 17 Boise State had its annual test against the big boys, Power Five, and fell, 44-21 to 24 Oklahoma State in Stillwater.  The Cowboys should easily crack the top 20 after a superb effort against the Broncos.

Boise State’s Brett Rypien passed for 380 yards and three touchdowns, but this belies the fact he was sacked seven times and pressured all day.  Oklahoma State held Boise to 34 yards rushing on 31 attempts.

Meanwhile, the Cowboys were led by Justice Hill’s 123 yards on the ground, and coach Mike Gundy emerged with one of the biggest wins of his career.

One more among teams ranked in the top 25...Texas beat 22 USC 37-14; Trojans coach Clay Helton already on the hot seat...cheerleaders distraught.

--In other contests, Duke is now 3-0 after a nice 40-27 win at Baylor behind backup quarterback Quentin Harris, who threw for 174 yards and three touchdowns, while rushing for 83 yards.

Temple upset Maryland in College Park, 35-14, outgaining the Terrapins and what was supposedly a potent offense, 429-195.

Syracuse whipped Florida State 30-7, the Seminoles under first-year coach Willie Taggart falling to 1-2, the fans in Tallahassee ready to revolt.  How spoiled are Seminoles’ fans?

Try 1987-2000, when they finished AP Top Five each season!  A phenomenal run.  And from 2012-2016, they finished top 15 each campaign, before suffering through a 7-6 season in Jimbo Fisher’s last year before he took the big bucks to go to Texas A&M.  How good has Florida State been?  Try the fact they have gone bowling each year since 1982, the longest active streak in college football.

But FSU could easily go something like 4-8 this year.

Troy, which last year upset then-No. 25 LSU on the road, pulled off another biggie for the program, taking down Nebraska in Lincoln, as new Cornhuskers coach, and savior, Scott Frost, falls to 0-2.

Thursday, Boston College traveled to Winston-Salem for a biggie against Wake Forest and the Eagles prevailed 41-34, in a highly-entertaining affair.  I love this B.C. team (just as a college football fan, and even though their performance cost me my lunch bet with B.C. alum Steve D.).  I’ve said the Eagles will be the real sleeper in the country this season and I’ve seen nothing to dispel that notion.

Thursday, Anthony Brown threw for five touchdowns (16/25, 304), with receiver Jeff Smith hauling in six for 145 yards and two of the scores.  And then there was the best back in the land, A.J. Dillon, rumbling for 185 yards on 33 carries and a TD.  Wake actually did a decent job ‘containing’ him.

For the Deacs, freshman quarterback Sam Hartman showed his skills at times, 214 yards and two touchdowns, but he was 20-for-45 with two interceptions.  The guy has already made some atrocious rookie mistakes, but, you can see him becoming an all-time great at Wake.

The Deacs also had two 100-yard rushing efforts from Matt Colburn (23-117-1) and Cade Carney (18-116-0) against the stout Eagles ‘D,’ led by Wyatt Ray’s four sacks.

I see a New Year’s Six bowl game in B.C.’s future.  For Wake, bring on Notre Dame.

--The Big Ten had a historically bad day.  Outside of Ohio State’s nice win at TCU, Akron defeated Northwestern 39-34, you had the BYU upset in Madison, Temple’s win over Maryland, Troy upsetting Nebraska, and Missouri beating Purdue on a last-second field goal, 40-37.

And then you have our state school here in New Jersey, Rutgers, which was totally humiliated at Kansas, 55-14. The Jayhawks haven’t won more than 3 games in a single season since 2009...three wins, total, the prior three seasons.

The Scarlet Knights, 1-2, were outgained 544-274, and committed six turnovers!  [Kansas committed none.]  Starting quarterback Artur Sitkowski was 7/19, 47, 0-3 for Rutgers.

How bad was it? Kansas had three 50+-yard rushing touchdowns (52, 55 and 59 yards) by three different backs.

Steve Politi / Star-Ledger

“I write this without a hint of exaggeration: This might be the most demoralizing, humiliating, unacceptable loss in the modern history of Rutgers football, and yes, I know that’s a high bar to clear.

“You want to go back to the Dark Ages and dig one up that’s worse?  Knock yourself out. But don’t try to sell me that 78-0 to Michigan or 80-7 to West Virginia was worse than this, any of those dispiriting Villanova or New Hampshire losses were worse than this, or anything else in recent memory tops what happened here on Saturday afternoon for rock bottom.

“The Scarlet Knights came to Kansas and got run out of the building by the team that was supposed to be – emphasis on supposed to be – the worst Power 5 team in the country.  I think, after the Jayhawks’ 55-14 victory, we clearly know which program has earned that title now.

“Chris Ash is in his third season and he just signed a new five-year deal worth $9.8 million, so no matter how loudly fans scream (and they will), he isn’t going anywhere.  But let’s be clear: This is the type of loss that gets coaches fired.

“This is the type of loss that will be difficult for Ash to overcome. I wrote that this was his biggest game in his three seasons, because he needed to win to show that the team is making progress and keep the impatient fans off his back.”

--Among the games canceled by Hurricane/Tropical Storm Florence were East Carolina at 13 Virginia Tech (which could have been played in hindsight), 14 West Virginia at North Carolina State, and 18 UCF at North Carolina.

--Lastly, the FCS Davidson Wildcats defeated Division III Guilford Thursday, 91-61, and this was football.  Guilford had defeated Methodist in its opener 61-35.

Davidson set NCAA records for total yards (964) and rushing yards (685) in a game. The Wildcats averaged 15.5 yards per play. Eight of the Wildcats’ program-record 13 touchdowns went for at least 50 yards, and another one went for 40 yards.

NFL

A funny thing happened to the Jets on the way to the Super Bowl after their Week One performance in Detroit...reality struck.  The Jets fell behind 20-0 to Miami at the half, a dreadful first 30 minutes before the home fans, but they came back in the second to make it a game, down 20-12, Miami with a 3rd and 19, and inexplicably the Jets’ defense gave up the first down, game over.

Sam Darnold came back to Earth with two interceptions, but he still threw for 334 yards (25/41, 334, 1-2, 74.6).  Far from great, but he gave Jets fans more reasons to believe he can be the savior for the franchise.  He just needs better players around him, and for starters, the receiving corps is thin.

For Miami, Ryan Tannehill had a super game, 17/23, 168, 2-0, 123.1, but more importantly, he had 44 yards rushing, picking up some key first downs with his legs.

But now the Jets have a short week, playing in Cleveland Thursday night.  That one is going to be very interesting.

Because....

For the second straight week, the Brownies should have come away with their first win since the late 1900s, or so it seems that long, losing to New Orleans 21-18 for one reason.  Kicker Zane Gonzalez missed two extra points and two field goals.  End of story. 

In other games....

Minnesota tied Green Bay (the second tie of the NFL season) 29-29 on the warm tundra of Lambeau Field, as Kirk Cousins threw for 425 yards and four touchdowns, 118.9 passer rating, while Aaron Rodgers was 30/42, 281, 1-0, 97.4, after being questionable all week.

Atlanta beat Carolina 31-24, with Matt Ryan rebounding from a crappy Week One performance against the Eagles to go 23/28, 272, 2-1, 116.1, while Cam Newton threw for 335 and three scores; Christian McCaffrey with 14 receptions for 102.

The Steelers fell to 0-1-1, Kansas City moving to 2-0, as the Chiefs beat Pittsburgh on the road, 42-37, with first-year starter Patrick Mahomes, the new sheriff in K.C., tossing a franchise record-tying six touchdowns...23/28, 326, 6-0, 154.8.  As Ronald Reagan would have remarked to Nancy while reading the sports pages, Nancy hanging on every word, ‘Not bad, not bad at all.’

In defeat, Ben Roethlisberger threw for 452 yards and three scores.

Denver moved to 2-0 with a last-second field goal, 20-19 over 0-2 Oakland, “Chuckie,” aka Jon Gruden, still looking for his first win in his return to the sidelines.

Tampa Bay is 2-0 after a 27-21 home win against Philadelphia, behind, once again, Ryan Fitzpatrick!  That Ryan Fitzpatrick?  Yeah, Fitzmagic!  He had his second consecutive 400-yard, four touchdown game (27/33, 402, 4-1, 144.4)...remarkable.  These are WAC stats, sports fans.  I’ll have more on this next chat, no doubt.

And the Bar Chat “Pick to Click” for the Super Bowl, Jacksonville, whipped Tom Brady and Co. 31-20 in J’Ville, a rematch of last January’s AFC Championship game; Blake Bortles throwing for four scores.

The Chargers beat the Bills in Buffalo, 31-20, which I only mention because Philip Rivers had a near-perfect game, 23/27, 256, 3-0, 143.2.

Premier League

It was a depressing Saturday for this Tottenham fan, as my Spurs lost a biggie at home (Wembley) to Liverpool, 2-1, in a listless performance, Tottenham thus losing its second straight after what was seen as a franchise-changing win at Manchester United.

For Liverpool and manager Jurgen Klopp, it’s their best start to a Premier League season – opening with five straight wins – since 1990, the last time they started a league season in such a fashion.  [Premier League started in 1992-93; before  that it was the “Football League First Division.”]

Can Liverpool bring home its first title in 28 years?

Back to Tottenham, they were playing without injured goalkeeper Hugo Lloris and Dele Alli.  The loss of Lloris hurt big time.  The Spurs also looked exhausted, renewing questions about the impact of the extensive World Cup play for seven of its players.

In other contests involving the Big Six, Chelsea beat Cardiff, 4-1, to remain undefeated and ahead of Liverpool on goal differential; Manchester City beat Fulham 3-0; Arsenal won its third in a row, 2-1, at Newcastle; and Manchester United handed Watford its first loss, 2-1.

Today, West Ham won its first after opening with four losses, 3-1 over Everton.

Standings... W-D-L ...pts

1.Chelsea 5-0-0...15
2. Liverpool 5-0-0...15
3. Man City 4-1-0...13
4. Watford 4-0-1...12
5. Bournemouth 3-1-1...10
6. Tottenham 3-0-2...9
7. Arsenal 3-0-2...9
8. Man U 3-0-2...9

And now we have Champions League play starting this week...every 2-3 weeks from now until mid-December to establish the qualifiers out of Group Stage for the Knockout Round.

Tottenham is away at Inter Milan on Tuesday, part of a ‘Group of Death,’ Group B, that includes Barcelona and PSV Eindhoven. 

Group C: Paris St-Germain, Napoli, Liverpool, Red Star Belgrade

Group F: Man City, Shakhtar Donetsk, Lyon, Hoffenheim

Group G: Real Madrid (winner the last three years), Roma, CSKA Moscow, Viktoria Plzen

Group H: Juventus, Man U, Valencia, Young Boys

Reminder, Ronaldo joined Juve after nine years at Real Madrid.

Stuff

--Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez claimed the WBC and WBA world middleweight titles by inflicting a first career defeat on Gennady Golovkin with what all are saying was a “gripping points win” in their Las Vegas rematch, which I didn’t shell out the pay-per-view for. 

The Mexican claimed a frenetic final round on two of the three scorecards which was critical in preventing a repeat of the controversial draw both men shared a year ago* at the same T-Mobile Arena venue.

Alvarez ended up with a 114-114, 115-113, 115-113 majority decision.

Golovkin, born in Kazakhstan, now based in Santa Monica, Calif., told reporters after: “I’m not going to say who won tonight, because the victory belongs to Canelo according to the judges. I thought I fought better than he did. We would like to have a third fight, we will negotiate that, that’s what we want.”

But Golovkin will be 37 a year from now, if that is the date, and he can’t go much further at a top level.

*In the first Alvarez-Golovkin fight a year ago, the fight was ruled a draw, with one judge going for each fighter and one calling it even. But a judge who scored the clearly close contest, 118-110, for Alvarez came in for withering criticism.

--Brad Keselowski won his third straight race in Vegas today, this one the first of ten playoff races for NASCAR’s Chase for the Cup.

--Christopher Clarey of the New York Times did a story on the Serena Williams / Carlos Ramos controversy during the U.S. Open women’s final and whether women are treated differently than men in terms of penalties for verbal abuse.

All Fines, 1998-2018, in Grand Slam Tournaments:

Racket Abuse...646 Men...99 Women
Audible Obscenity...344...140
Unsportsmanlike Conduct...287...67
Coaching...87...152
Verbal Abuse...62...16 (most relevant to Williams’ complaint)

Ergo, much ado about nothing when it comes to claims of sexism among Serena’s supporters, and Ms. Williams herself.

--Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge set a new marathon world record with a time of two hours, one minute 40 seconds in Berlin, which has long had the reputation of the fastest marathon course in the world (it’s flat).

The 33-year-old took more than a minute off the previous best which was set by compatriot Dennis Kimetto when he ran 2:02:57 in Berlin in 2014.

Kipchoge is regarded as one of the greatest marathon runners of all time.  He won the London Marathon for a third time earlier this year and is the Olympic champion over the distance.

--SHARK!  We have a sad, tragic tale out of Massachusetts, as a 26-year-old man died after being injured in a suspected shark attack on Cape Cod (Newcomb Hollow Beach) around lunchtime on Saturday.   The man was pulled from the water and given CPR but later died in hospital from his injuries, police in the town of Wellfleet said.

The attack is thought to be the state’s first fatal incident involving a shark since 1936. The man was boogie-boarding, a type of body-board surfing, at the time of the attack.

Two great white sharks were then spotted in the waters where the attack took place.  One witness described, “Just a giant eruption of water.  15-feet wide. I saw a tail and a lot of thrashing.  You could tell by the body language of the guys in the water something wasn’t right.”

Great white shark sightings have soared in the Cape Cod area this summer, with experts blaming increased numbers of seals close to the region’s beaches.

In August, a 61-year-old man was attacked by a shark while standing in water, just six miles from Saturday’s incident.  He sustained severe injuries to his legs and is still recovering in the hospital.

--Steve G., my former next-door neighbor with the sweet driveway jumper from 20, has been in Colombia for weeks (think girlfriend) and he reports that the other day they went to the waterpark and, as an American, he had to pay 10% extra.  But, “you get to bring in your own food and your cooler full of beer!  Is this a great country or what?!”

Can’t argue with that, Steve G.

--Finally, 50 years ago today, Sept. 16, Richard Nixon, seeking to dispel his sourpuss image, appeared on “Laugh-In” just long enough to proclaim, “Sock it to me” on-camera.  It was a rare intersection of politics and entertainment, and it worked.  I remember that night.  Opponent Hubert Humphrey declined a similar invitation.

Top 3 songs for the week 9/18/71:  #1 “Go Away Little Girl” (Donny Osmond)  #2 “Spanish Harlem” (Aretha Franklin) #3 “Ain’t No Sunshine” (Bill Withers)...and...#4 “Maggie May” (Rod Stewart)  #5 “Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey” (Paul & Linda McCartney...liked this one...)  #6 “Smiling Faces Sometimes” (Undisputed Truth)  #7 “I Just Want To Celebrate” (Rare Earth)  #8 “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down” (Joan Baez)  #9 “How Can You Mend A Broken Heart” (The Bee Gees)  #10 “Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get” (Dramatics...in my all-time top 50...not a bad week...a solid ‘B’...)

College Football Quiz Answer:   AP back-to-back champions since 1970, which concurred with BCS and CFP since 1998.

Alabama 2011-12
USC 2003-04 [BCS took title away in 2004, which is just stupid.  The games were played, people!]
Nebraska 1994-95
Alabama 1978-79 [1978, USC was UPI champ, which was the competitor to AP back then]
Oklahoma 1974-75 [1974, USC was UPI champ]

Next Bar Chat, Thursday.

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