Note: Posted Wednesday AM, prior to the announcement of the new inductees into the Baseball Hall of Fame, 2:00 PM ET…or leaked sooner…
Olympics Quiz: Since the Olympics were held in both Albertville and Barcelona in 1992, the Games have rotated every two years. So, name the last ten sites. Answer below.
Florida State 34 Auburn 31
After a Cody Parkey 22-yard FG for Auburn, it was 24-20 Tigers over the Seminoles, 04:42 left in the fourth quarter, and Auburn was seemingly in the process of blowing a 21-3 second-quarter lead. Then….
FSU TD 04:31…Levonte Whitfield 100-yard Kickoff Return…FSU 27 Auburn 24
AU TD 01:19…Tre Mason 37-yard run, capping off 8-play, 75-yard drive…Auburn 31 FSU 27
FSU TD 00:13…Kelvin Benjamin 2-yard pass from Jameis Winston, 7 plays, 80 yards….FSU 34 Auburn 31
“For 58 minutes and 41 seconds Jameis Winston was being dissected. Not just by the Auburn defense, but by amateur and professional QB gurus all over the country as they watched a potentially huge upset unfolding on a grand stage.
“The 6-5, 230-pound Heisman winner looked rusty and sluggish and confused, and his throwing motion now just seemed too much of a windup and slow. And then, Winston trotted out onto the field with his team down 31-27, the ball spotted on the Noles’ 20-yard line and the Rose Bowl crowd on its feet.
“Winston, the redshirt freshman of the unbeaten Noles who had blown out all 13 of their previous opponents, had a simple message to his teammates before the first play of the biggest drive of his life: ‘This is what we came here for.’
“Winston’s first pass went for 8 yards to Rashad Greene. The next play, a slant, where Greene beat his man and raced down the sideline for a 49-yard gain, moved the ball to the Auburn 23. Then, Winston dumped a pass off to Devonta Freeman for 6 more yards before the Noles called a timeout with 47 seconds remaining. Six plays later, Winston found Kelvin Benjamin, FSU’s super-sized wideout, across the middle for the game-winning touchdown. It capped the biggest comeback in BCS history, rallying FSU from a 21-3 deficit.
“ ‘I was ready,’ Winston said. ‘I wanted to be in that situation because that’s what great players do. That’s what great quarterbacks do. That’s what the Tom Bradys, Peyton Mannings, Drew Brees, that’s what they do. Any quarterback can go out there and perform when they’re up in the second quarter. That’s what you’re judged by, especially by your teammates. I’m pretty sure I got more respect from my teammates and the people around me on that last drive than I got the whole year.”
Jameis was hardly spectacular. 20/35, 237, 2-0, one fumble, sacked four times. He was an awful 6 of 15, 62 yards in the first half.
But on that last drive he was 6 of 7 for 80 yards and the win.
But think of all the plays in the fourth quarter that FSU blew. Like Devonta Freeman’s idiotic unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that didn’t allow the Noles to go for two when they cut it to 21-19.
Or Rashad Greene’s drop inside the 10 with just 27 seconds left that now it’s easy to gloss over.
Or the unbelievable delay of game penalty that backed up the Seminoles to the 8.
“So I have only one thing to say to the BCS after Monday evening’s national title game:
“Thank you for the perfect ending to 16 years of an imperfect BCS system.
“Thank you for a game-changing fake punt, a 100-yard kickoff return, another late comeback by you-know-who, a career-defining, last-minute, game-winning drive by the Heisman Trophy owner.
“This was the best national championship game since the 2005 season, when Texas beat USC on this same Rose Bowl field. This was the kind of game that you never erase from your DVR. The kind of game that grandparents tell their grandkids about.
“Check that. It was the kind of game that a grandkid told his grandparents about. At least, that’s what Florida State tight end Nick O’Leary did afterward as he embraced Jack and Barbara Nicklaus on the confetti-strewn field.
“The greatest golfer of all time wore a FSU cap and a proud smile as he posed for family photos with O’Leary. And if you looked hard enough, you’d swear he was near tears.”
“The ornery BCS expired loudly, perfectly, kicking and screaming into the chilly darkness.
“The loony BCS took its last breath Monday by taking away the breath of a Rose Bowl filled with chants, chops, dancing and grief.
“Auburn won. No, Florida State won. Check that, Auburn won. No, wait, by a score of 34-31 blazing in eternal white bulbs above a field littered with glittering confetti and forever memories, Florida State won college football’s final BCS national championship….
“It’s all over…the 16-year BCS college football championship system that will be replaced next season by a four-team playoff. Also ending was the Southeastern Conference’s seven-year stranglehold on the crystal ball, and isn’t America thrilled with that?
“In the end, the much maligned system finished its run by getting it right with the two best teams in America playing one of the best games of any season, a game so wildly dramatic and intense that it left at least one competitor walking in circles on the cluttered field in a daze.
“And that was a guy from the winning team. Mario Edwards Jr., a Seminoles defensive end, stood far apart from his stage-crowding teammates during the postgame trophy presentation, alone and in shock.
“ ‘I’m at a loss for words,’ he said, looking up at the thousands of Seminoles fans who wouldn’t stop screaming. ‘Best game I’ve ever played in. Best game I’ve ever seen.’”
Lastly, Auburn’s Tre Mason had nothing to apologize for, though of course he was despondent after. 34 carries, 195 yards, and that exciting fourth quarter score. He helped himself in the draft, to say the least.
Final AP Poll
1. Florida State
2. Auburn
3. Michigan State
4. South Carolina…awesome…
5. Missouri
6. Oklahoma
7. Alabama
8. Clemson
9. Oregon
10. UCF…great for them…
15. Louisville 12-1…so close, yet so very far…
–I’m going to try and get a handle on just how strong the upcoming draft is going to be at QB and wide receiver next time, but De’ Anthony Thomas’ announcement he is heading out too only adds to the immense talent pool at the skill positions. [I see him far more as a receiver / kick returner, than a running back.]
Watching Auburn, I couldn’t help but think back to perhaps the single best college football game I ever attended in person (seeing Tony Dorsett rush for 300 against Notre Dame at Pitt is in a different category), Wake Forest vs. Auburn, Oct. 27, 1979, my senior year. Auburn comes to Winston-Salem ranked No. 13 (Wake a shocking No. 18), we were down 38-20 at half as Auburn’s running backs (none other than Joe Cribbs and James Brooks) would combine for 205 yards on the ground for the game. But we were playing great on offense, and the feeling in the crowd was that we could do it.
And so we did, 42-38, behind quarterback Jay Venuto (23/43, 258), wide receiver Wayne Baumgardner and the great running back James McDougald (30-147). But to shut out the Tigers in the second half we needed a fumble recovery deep in Wake Forest territory by LB Carlos Bradley and a late interception by DB Larry Ingram to close it out.
That was the Wake team that came out of nowhere to go 8-3, before losing in the Tangerine Bowl to LSU (coach Charlie McClendon’s last game). After the Auburn win, though, we were 7-1 and moved up to No. 14. [Then we stumbled from there.]
Our head coach, John Mackovic, would a year later move on to Dallas as Tom Landry’s assistant head coach and then a number of college head coaching jobs, plus a four-year stint at the helm of the Kansas City Chiefs, all as a result of our Cinderella ’79 season.
USA TODAY’s Look at 2014
1. Florida State…Winston’s back, after all, and the offensive line will be better.
2. Oregon…healthy Marcus Mariota
3. Alabama
4. Ohio State
5. Auburn
6. Michigan State
7. Stanford
8. Oklahoma
9. LSU
10. UCLA
Of course I’ll be picking Oregon, assuming Mariota is healthy heading into the season. But I might be going with UCLA as my title game opponent for the Ducks. With Hundley back, excitement in Los Angeles will be at a fever pitch come next September.
[By the way, UCLA finished No. 16 in the final AP poll, with USC No. 19; the first time the Bruins finished higher in the ranking than the Trojans since 1998.]
4:35 PM ET…New Orleans at Seattle…48, rain/wind…this will be fun.
8:15 PM ET…Indianapolis at New England…51, rain…hopefully a ton of it.
1:05 PM ET…San Francisco at Carolina…58, sunny…ordinarily wouldn’t like good weather, but this should be a great game.
4:40 PM ET…San Diego at Denver…47, sunny…while Chargers and Rivers play well in the cold, they can’t be disappointed over this forecast. Nor can Peyton, however.
–Mark R. pointed out that the last four Super Bowl winners were also the Eagles’ home opener the same season.
2009 – Saints
2010 – Packers
2011 – Giants
2012 – Ravens
And in 2013? It was the Chargers….hmmmm…..
–For the archives, Kansas City quarterback Alex Smith was the first to ever throw for four touchdowns without an interception and still lose the game, according to Elias Sports.
–Should the NFL opt to add a seventh playoff team, it wouldn’t go into effect until 2015 and there are two possible scenarios for accommodating it.
Either have a play-in game between No. 6 and No. 7, or take away the No. 2 seed’s bye, leaving only the top seed with one and then creating three games per conference.
College Basketball / AP Poll
1. Arizona (60 first-place votes)*
2. Syracuse (5)*
3. Ohio State*
4. Wisconsin*
5. Michigan State…see below
6. Wichita State*
7. Baylor
8. Villanova
9. Iowa State* …then beat Baylor 87-72 in Ames, Tues.
10. Florida
13. San Diego State…huge step up with Kansas road win
15. Colorado…very cool
16. Duke 11-3…deserves this
17. Oregon
19. UMass
*Undefeated as of Monday…but then Mich. State defeated Ohio State in East Lansing, Tues., 72-68 in OT.
UNC out of top 25.
–Speaking of the Tar Heels, in a CNN Exclusive, Sara Ganim reported on the athletic program there, as well as others, from the standpoint of the kinds of athletes being recruited for the major sports.
“Early in her career as a learning specialist, Mary Willingham was in her office when a basketball player at the University of North Carolina walked in looking for help with his classwork.
“He couldn’t read or write.
“ ‘And I kind of panicked. What do you do with that?’ she said, recalling the meeting.
“Willingham’s job was to help athletes who weren’t quite ready academically for the work required at UNC at Chapel Hill, one of the country’s top public universities.
“Soon, she’d meet a student-athlete who couldn’t read multisyllabic words. She had to teach him to sound out Wis-con-sin, as kids do in elementary school….
“As a graduate student at UNC-Greensboro, Willingham researched the reading levels of 183 UNC-Chapel Hill athletes who played football or basketball from 2004 to 2012. She found that 60% read between fourth- and eighth-grade levels. Between 8% and 10% read below a third-grade level.”
So of course this all came to a head two years ago “with the exposure of a scandal where students, many of them athletes, were given grades for classes they didn’t attend, and where they did nothing more than turn in a single paper.”
Willingham herself admits “she took part in cheating, signing her name to forms that said she witnessed no NCAA rules violations when in fact she did. But the NCAA…never interviewed her. Instead, it found no rules had been broken at Chapel Hill.”
A CNN investigation of multiple universities found most “have between 7% and 18% of revenue sport athletes who are reading at an elementary school level.” [Some have a higher percentage.]
–Three players for UTEP’s men’s basketball team were kicked out of school for betting on at least one sporting event, though it doesn’t seem they bet on UTEP games or were part of a point-shaving scheme. Basketball Coach Tim Floyd said he learned about the alleged gambling when he received a “random tip.”
“I’m crushed personally that this has happened,” Floyd said. The team is 10-5 in Conference USA.
—Division III Grinnell College has already produced 138-point scorer Jack Taylor and now Patrick Maher broke the NCAA record with 37 assists Monday night in a 164-144 victory over College of Faith. Taylor put Grinnell on the map when he had his big night on Nov. 20, 2012 against Faith Baptist Bible.
I’d be losing faith if I were among the two victims. But then I can be shallow.
Ball Bits
–As noted above, this is being written prior to release of the names from the Baseball Hall of Fame vote, Wednesday afternoon.
But before the results are announced, ESPN tallied the votes of its 17 staff members who submitted ballots and 17 of 17 went for Greg Maddux and Frank Thomas, 16 of 17 for Tom Glavine. Craig Biggio received 13 of 17, or 76.5%, which if this translated for the rest of the voters would be enough for enshrinement, 75% being the required figure.
Mike Piazza received 12 of 17, 70.6%.
Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens, by the way, got 9 of 17, 52.9%. I said last chat these two would move up from the 36-37% they received last year.
—Don Mattingly received a two-year contract extension from the Dodgers, a smart move. As the Los Angeles Times’ Bill Plaschke put it, “A combustible team equally capable of championship and circus now has one less major distraction, while a solid guy who has led this team with a feather duster has finally been given a hammer.
“The Dodgers no longer have to worry about the stability of their leadership, and Mattingly no longer has to worry about his freedom to lead.”
Donnie Baseball has a 260-225 record with one division title in three years.
And last Sunday I was writing up Bar Chat when I learned of the passing of former Yankee and Hall of Fame broadcaster Jerry Coleman too late to give his story proper respect.
“Coleman’s playing career [Ed. 1949-57] was unspectacular: His career batting average was .263, he had little power [Ed. 16 home runs, 217 RBI on 558 hits] and he played only one season as a regular. But that one season was impressive: As the Yankees’ everyday second baseman in 1950, he played 153 games, batted .287 and was named the most valuable player in the World Series as the Yankees swept the Phillies. [Ed. He also made his only All-Star team that season.]
“As a Marine pilot, he flew in the Pacific during World War II and was recalled to fly during the Korean War.
“As a broadcaster for the Padres starting in 1972, he was known to get lost in the clouds of the English language as he never did in the cockpit.
“He once blurted: ‘Winfield goes back to the wall, he hits his head on the wall and it rolls off! It’s rolling all the way back to second base. This is a terrible thing for the Padres.’
“And then there was this: ‘On the mound is Randy Jones, the left-hander with the Karl Marx hairdo.’ [Ed. Plus another famous one: “Rich Folkers is throwing up in the bullpen.”]
“Coleman acknowledged that there was a ‘term that’s associated with me ‘Colemanisms,’ or what you might call flubs,’ he said in ‘An American Journey: My Life on the Field, in the Air, and on the Air,’ a memoir written with Richard Goldstein and published in 2008.
“ ‘Maybe I talk too quickly, too soon,’ he added. ‘I may have said the one on Winfield. ‘Winfield goes back. He hit his head against the wall. It’s rolling toward the infield.’ I meant the ball, of course. I just didn’t get around to saying, ‘It wasn’t his head rolling toward the infield.’ I skip a word here and there.’
“But he could be entirely clear when he had something to say on an issue. After baseball began to acknowledge the enlarged physiques of some players and their ballooning home run totals, in 2005, Coleman spoke out in favor of strong penalties for abuse of steroids.
“ ‘If I’m emperor, the first time, 50 games, the second time, 100 games, and the third strike, you’re out,’ he said.
“Major League Baseball adopted that penalty structure by the end of the year.”
Coleman was playing in the minor leagues in 1942 when he enlisted in the Navy’s preflight program and was later assigned to the Marines. He would end up flying 57 missions in the Solomon Islands and the Philippines in a two-seat Dauntless dive bomber.
The war ends, Coleman goes back into the Yankees’ farm system, and in 1949, now 25, he make it to the big leagues.
Then in 1952, being a war veteran, Coleman was recalled and, like Ted Williams, sent back to war.
Coleman told the New York Times in 1952, “For an experienced flier, it takes only about two months to get back in harness. Starting with a youngster who has never flown before, it would take about two years before he would be ready for combat duty.”
So after playing in 11 games in ’52, he went off to fly 63 missions. Combined, in the two wars, Coleman was awarded two Distinguished Flying Crosses, 13 Air Medals and three Navy Citations. He was the only major leaguer to see combat in two wars. [Ted Williams didn’t see combat in WWII.]
“(Coleman) averted death when a Sabre jet narrowly missed him as they headed for the same runway. Another time, his plane flipped over after the engine quit on a runway during takeoff, with his bomb load still intact, and he was nearly strangled by his helmet straps. He also saw his Marine roommate shot down and later had to confirm the death to the pilot’s wife in person.”
Coleman went on to play a few games for the Yanks end of the ’53 season and then four more years, hitting .364 against the Milwaukee Braves in the 1957 World Series.
That was a losing effort, Yankees going down in seven, but overall, Coleman played on four Yankees championship teams in six World Series.
It was Howard Cosell who convinced Coleman after his playing career was over to try broadcasting and he worked with the Yankees until 1969. Moving to California, he eventually settled with the San Diego Padres and at one point the team made him their manager, 1980, but after finishing last he went back to the booth.
In 2005, he was given the Ford C. Frick Award by the Baseball Hall of Fame for broadcasting.
–The Chicago Bulls traded All-Star forward Luol Deng to the Cleveland Cavaliers, with the Cavs sending center Andrew Bynum and three future draft picks (including second-rounders in 2015 and 2016), and the right to swap 2015 first-round picks with the Cavs (with conditions).
Deng is an unrestricted free agent this summer and was miffed Chicago didn’t lock him up. He’s averaging 19.0 points, 6.9 rebounds and 3.7 assists thus far this season.
Strange deal. Chicago immediately waived Bynum to clear his $12.3 million salary off their books, which, combined with other measures, including not having to pay the balance of Deng’s $14.3 million salary, will bottom line save the franchise $20 million as they look to rebuild through the next few drafts.
Bynum will become a free agent by the end of the week and there are a number of teams that will pursue him.
Meanwhile, Bulls Coach Tom Thibodeau is not a happy camper. He doesn’t have Derrick Rose, and now he’s lost his next best, favorite player, Deng.
–Forget Olympics fans, and fans of Alpine skiing, the news Lindsey Vonn announced she would not compete in Sochi and will undergo another surgery on her knee was devastating for NBC.
Vonn, as you can imagine, is indeed “devastated” herself, as she said in a statement. She now hopes to be back for the 2015 World Championships.
It was last February that she required surgery after a crash at the world championships. Vonn then appeared to some to be rushing her comeback a bit (but who are we to know), and then she reinjured the knee in November. Vonn returned a few weeks later to compete in three World Cup races at Lake Louise, Alberta, but she suffered a setback at Val d’Isere, France on Dec. 21.
“I did everything I possibly could to somehow get strong enough to overcome having no ACL but the reality has sunk in that my knee is just too unstable to compete at this level,” Vonn said in the statement. “I’m having surgery soon so that I can be ready for the World Championships at home in Vail next February.
“On a positive note, this means there will be an additional spot so that one of my teammates can go for gold. Thank you all so much for all of the love and support. I will be cheering for all of the Olympians and especially team USA!”
Obviously, boyfriend Tiger Woods’ input was sought, you have to believe. He certainly has a unique perspective with all his own severe knee issues.
–With Vonn out of the picture, attention on the American side will turn to 18-year-old Mikaela Shiffrin, who is a definite gold medal contender in the slalom, Shiffrin having won the event in Bormio, Italy last weekend.
We hope Ted Ligety shines for the men in the giant slalom, which he has dominated, winning four World Cup titles in the event since 2008. But he hasn’t had the best season thus far in WC competition.
Or maybe Bode Miller will surprise out of nowhere.
Julia Mancuso? She’s had a poor World Cup campaign and shouldn’t be counted on for any podium finishes.
–I was reading an article on the selection of players for the various national teams playing in the hockey segment of the Sochi Games and this really could be exciting. Hopefully the U.S. gets off to a good start.
—Zach Johnson won his 11th PGA Tour event in winning the Tournament of Champions at Kapalua on Monday, which marks the official start of the 2014 portion of the extended 2013-14 season. For Johnson it was also his third worldwide win in his last six starts. Dating to his rookie season in 2004, only Tiger, Phil Mickelson and Vijay Singh have more PGA Tour victories.
Budding superstar Jordan Spieth finished second, while Kevin Streelman and Webb Simpson tied for third.
–For years I have harped on the topic of the ivory trade, pleading with the Chinese to do something.
Well a few weeks ago the government signed off on a treaty during the African Elephant Summit in Botswana to try and put an end to the slaughter of innocent elephants and I noted at the time it was a hopeful sign, but I wasn’t holding my breath.
Then on Monday, China very publicly destroyed six tons of confiscated ivory for the first time in Guangdong’s Dongguan, marking a major step to combat illegal wild elephant tusk trading.
It was truly the first such gesture reflecting what can only be viewed as a sincere policy shift by Beijing.
Two giant machines crushed the ivory into powder in front of diplomats, conservationists and the media.
But according to the South China Morning Post, the ivory seized in Dongguan is equivalent to the tusks of just 3,300 elephants, yet 25,000 were slaughtered for their ivory in 2012 alone. Obviously a lot more is still being smuggled successfully.
Top 3 songs for the week 1/6/62: #1 “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” (The Tokens) #2 “The Twist” (Chubby Checker…incredible he still performs this…) #3 “Run To Him” (Bobby Vee)…and…#4 “Peppermint Twist” (Joey Dee & the Starliters) #5 “Can’t Help Falling In Love” (Elvis Presley…ate bananas and peanut butter a lot…) #6 “Happy Birthday, Sweet Sixteen” (Neil Sedaka) #7 “Goodbye Cruel World” (James Darren…yes, Mr. “Time Tunnel”, for you old-timers out there…watched this as a kid with “Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea”…) #8 “Walk On By” (Leroy Van Dyke) #9 “When I Fall In Love” (The Lettermen) #10 “Unchain My Heart” (Ray Charles)
Olympics Quiz Answer: Last ten sites…
1994 Lillehammer
1996 Atlanta
1998 Nagano
2000 Sydney
2002 Salt Lake City
2004 Athens
2006 Torino
2008 Beijing
2010 Vancouver
2012 London
