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Bar Chat

11/03/2014

How Good is the SEC?

College Football Review

Well, let’s start by running down some scores, shall we? I’ll give in and use the Playoff Selection Committee rankings (at least I think I’ll have them right), with some commentary on the other side.

--No. 1 Mississippi State (8-0, 5-0) looked incredibly mediocre in beating Arkansas (4-5, 0-5) in Starkville, 17-10, especially considering this was the Razorbacks’ 17th straight conference defeat. The Bulldogs committed three turnovers, including two interceptions thrown by quarterback Dak Prescott (18/27, 331, 1-2), but he made the big play down the stretch when he needed to.

--Thursday night, No. 2 Florida State (8-0, 5-0) looked lousy for half the contest in its 41-31 win over No. 25 Louisville, with Jameis Winston throwing 3 picks, but after falling behind 21-0 (21-7 at the half), you do have to give Winston and the Seminoles credit for a stirring comeback. Winston ended up 25/48, 401, 3-3, while running back Karlos Williams, under investigation for assault, had 72 yards on 16 carries, though he was upstaged by Dalvin Cook, who had 110 yards and two scores on just 9 carries.

--No. 3 Auburn (7-1, 4-1) traveled to Oxford to face No. 4 Ole Miss (7-2, 4-2) and eked out a 35-31 in one helluva game. The Tigers caught a late break when Rebels receiver Laquon Treadwell lost the ball at the end of a tackle-breaking catch-and-run to the end zone with 1 minute 30 seconds left. The play was initially ruled a touchdown, but replays clearly showed Treadwell had lost the ball before crossing the goal line. A crushing loss for the home fans. Treadwell also broke his leg and dislocated his ankle on the play. 

--No. 5 Oregon (8-1, 5-1), who should be No. 2 at worst these days, easily handled Stanford (5-4, 3-3) 45-16 in Eugene, with Marcus Mariota going 19/30, 258, 2-1, along with 85 yards rushing and two more scores as he solidified his Heisman trophy bid.

--In a game I watched from start to finish, No. 7 TCU (7-1, 4-1) edged No. 20 West Virginia (6-3, 4-2) in Morgantown, 31-30, on a last second, 37-yard field goal. Just a terrific college football game, even with seven turnovers, five by the Mountaineers. No doubt West Virginia is the best 6-3 team in the land and deserves to be in a good bowl game.

--No. 9 Kansas State (7-1, 5-0) beat Oklahoma State (5-4, 3-3) 48-14 as 75-year-old Bill Snyder continues to work miracles with his Wildcats. K-State’s only loss is to Auburn, 20-14, back on Sept. 18, but in terms of getting into the Final Four, the Wildcats have a murderous schedule, still needing to face TCU, West Virginia and Baylor, all on the road. Good luck, Coach! We’re pulling for you (except fans of TCU, WVU and Baylor).

--No. 10 Notre Dame (7-1) was unimpressive in beating a mediocre Navy (4-5) team, 49-39; the Fighting Irish needing a late score to secure the win. Quarterback Everett Golson did account for six touchdown; three through the air, three on the ground (the first ND QB to do so). Navy did beat the spread and at the end of the day, you know that is what really matters.

--In a disastrous loss for the SEC’s reputation, Florida (4-3, 3-3) totally manhandled No. 11 Georgia (6-2, 4-2) in Jacksonville, 38-20, as the Gators piled up 418 yards on the ground to offset the Bulldogs’ Nick Chubb, who had 156 yards on 21 carries as he continues to fill in for Todd Gurley. [Matt Jones, 25-192-2, and Kelvin Taylor, 25-197-2, had spectacular performances for the Gators.]

Gurley, by the way, who has been sitting while being investigated by the NCAA over whether he took money for a number of autographs, will be eligible to return Nov. 15 when Georgia hosts Auburn. The NCAA says Gurley admitted to accepting “more than $3,000 in cash from multiple individuals for autographed memorabilia and other items over two years,” in violation of the rules. Aside from missing what will have been four games, he has to repay a portion of the money to charity, as well as complete 40 hours of community service. Georgia is appealing.

--No. 12 Arizona (6-2, 3-2) suffered a dreadful loss to No. 22 UCLA (7-2, 4-2), 17-7, thus ending any hopes the Wildcats had of reaching the playoffs.

--But No. 14 Arizona State (7-1, 5-1) stays in the conversation with a 19-16 overtime win against No. 17 Utah (6-2, 3-2). How can I say ASU still has championship aspirations? Because they face Notre Dame next Saturday. A win in that one and ASU would be ranked somewhere around No. 7.

--No. 13 Baylor (7-1, 3-1) beat Kansas 60-14. The Jayhawks blow...2-6, 0-5.

--No. 23 East Carolina (6-2, 3-1) sent out smoke signals last week with their highly unimpressive win against UConn. All was not right with the Pirates. And so it was zero surprise they fell on Saturday to Temple (5-3, 3-2) in Philadelphia, 20-10. Put a fork in what was setting up to be a dream season for ECU and a major bowl bid. Now, that could yet go to undefeated Marshall (8-0), who was idle this week. Remember, the selection committee has to award a major bowl bid to the highest ranking “Group of Five” champion.

--No. 24 Duke (7-1, 3-1) should move up another two notches after a thrilling 51-48 double overtime win over Pitt (4-5, 2-3), despite Panthers running back James Conner’s 263 yards rushing on 38 carries, with three touchdowns. Pitt wideout Tyler Boyd contributed 140 yards receiving on seven catches (along with 102 yards on kickoff returns), in his best Larry Fitzgerald imitation. Conner and Boyd, I maintain, are still the best soph duo in the land and will be super pros.

But how is Pitt 4-5? Best 4-5 team in the history of the sport.

They obviously have major deficiencies on defense, and on Saturday, their kicker, Chris Blewitt, blew a 26-yard field goal at the end of regulation that should have sealed the victory. I watched this entire contest, too, and was ticked (with my Pitt family connections and all).

--In other games, Miami (6-3, 3-2) continued to improve, beating North Carolina (4-5, 2-3) 47-20 as running back Duke Johnson, who has been superb of late, had 177 yards on 19 carries and two scores. My hometown boy, Michael Badgley, converted his lone field goal attempt to go to 7 of 8 on the season, along with hitting all six PATs in the contest.

--Rutgers (5-4, 1-4) laid an egg of epic proportions, falling to Wisconsin (6-2, 3-1) in Piscataway. The Scarlet Knights pulled their best Wake Forest imitation in racking up a mighty 139 yards of total offense. Final score...Wisconsin 37 Rutgers 0. Way to fire up the fan base, boys.

--Maryland (6-3, 3-2) had a big win in Unhappy Valley against Penn State (4-4, 1-4), 20-19. This was not for fans of offense. The Nittany Lions outgained the Terps 219-192.

But before the start of the contest, in a totally bush-league move, the Terrapins’ captains decided not to extend their hands to Penn State’s captains when they met for the pregame coin flip. Maryland coach Randy Edsall apologized afterwards and said it wasn’t “choreographed.” “That is not who we are,” he added.

--Boston College (6-3, 3-2) is officially bowl bound with a 33-31 win over Virginia Tech, who fell to 4-5, 1-4.

Again, this kills Ohio State, because the Buckeyes’ lone loss was at home to the Hokies.

--The two worst teams in the country, Wake Forest and SMU, were idle as their fans welcomed the respite and put away the knives, until next weekend.

--Michigan athletic director Dave Brandon quit under fire on Friday, but he will receive a total of $3 million and other benefits, including prime seats to football, basketball and hockey games the next four years. It’s all about the disastrous track the football team is on. Just 7-6 last season, 4-5 this year after defeating Indiana 34-10 on Saturday.

“Brandon had become a lightning rod at Michigan, not just because of the football team’s ineptitude or the handling of a concussed quarterback in a game in September, but also for his unconventional marketing tactics. Football games have featured aircraft flyovers, sky divers who deliver the game ball and even a video greeting from Beyonce that played during halftime of the 2013 Notre Dame game. Recently, he proposed using fireworks.”

“The Southeastern Conference had a bad day...wait, is it even legal to type those words?

“The nation’s loudest football congregation was riding high Tuesday when it put three schools in the top four of the first College Football Playoff rankings.

“The SEC, however, may have peaked a bit early.

“The league likely lost two playoff contenders Saturday:

“One was expected, as two one-loss teams, No. 3 Auburn and No. 4 Mississippi, played a probable elimination game in Oxford, Miss.

“The other was not, as unranked Florida stunned No. 11 Georgia...

“That loss vaulted two-loss Missouri, a Saturday winner over Kentucky, into first place in the SEC East.

“This was not good news for the conference, as Missouri is unranked and has two embarrassing home defeats on its ledger.

“The first was to Indiana, which fell to 3-5 after Saturday’s loss at Michigan.

“Indiana has more victories against the SEC this year than in the Big Ten Conference, where the Hoosiers are 0-4.

“The SEC’s nightmare scenario is Missouri running the table and winning the conference.

“Narrow victories for Florida State and Texas Christian also weakened the chances of the SEC putting two teams in the playoffs.”

1. Mississippi State 8-0 (45 first-place votes)
2. Florida State 8-0 (15)
3. Auburn 7-1
4. Alabama 7-1
5. Oregon 8-1...s/b 2
6. TCU 7-1
7. Michigan State 7-1
8. Notre Dame 7-1
9. Kansas State 7-1
10. Baylor 7-1
11. Arizona State 7-1
12. Ole Miss 7-2...wow, too bad
13. Ohio State 7-1...yup, like I said, Va Tech loss a killer
22. Duke 7-1...not bad, editor
23. Marshall 8-0
24. West Virginia 6-3

Madison Bumgarner...final thoughts...and some Ball Bits

“People act as if the World Series wasn’t great or memorable until the end because it didn’t have enough one-run games, like we did in that magnificent seven-game series between the Twins and Braves in 1991.

“If they really think that, they don’t know what they were watching.

“It had Bumgarner, and it had two tremendous 3-2 games.

“It had the Giants scoring 15 straight runs after the Royals led 4-1 in Game 4, and then it had the Royals coming back and scoring the next 10 runs after that. Go find another World Series in all of baseball history where anything like that happened.

“And it did end with a Game 7 for the ages, and the tying run on third base in the bottom of the Series, the way it was back in ’62 when Willie Mays was at third base with two outs in the bottom of the ninth of Game 7.

“In the end, you know what the 2014 World Series really was?

“A celebration of baseball.

“It was a full-out celebration that made a lie out of the notion from fake baseball fans and fake baseball experts that if you don’t have home runs in baseball you don’t have anything.”

“There are almost no words for Bumgarner, who was credited for the save for his amazing five-inning outing – though the almost equally amazing Royals did stage a rare scare against the great lefty, putting Alex Gordon on third base with two outs in the ninth after a single and two-base error on center fielder Gregor Blanco. No worries. Bumgarner got a heroic Salvador Perez to foul out to Sandoval, who caught the popup, then fell backward and spread out on the hard Kauffman Stadium turf....

“Individually, the Giants surprise everyone all the time. But collectively is where they really obliterate expectations.

“Three times in five years the Giants entered a postseason derby field as a major long shot, and each time they surprised us all by coming up a World Series champion. They were 10th best by record this regular season, out of 30 teams. Yet, when it counted no one could get to them. As usual....

“One of these years they’ll stop surprising everyone. That time will come when folks start realizing there’s something special going on in the Bay Area....

“No matter the circumstances in October, the Giants find a way. In an era when teams strike out way more than ever, and don’t seem to mind doing it, the Giants scored 20 runs this month on outs. Their big rally in Game 7 was highlighted by consecutive sacrifice flies.

“The Giants have now won eight straight elimination games, with a cumulative score of 47-11....

“The players are much better than anyone imagined, and so is their manager Bruce Bochy, who was right to give Bumgarner a mini-break, and a full four days rest for his Game 5 start, and right again to ride his horse to the championship for a stunning five innings....

“In the end, the Royals were one base short – just 90 feet. As for the Giants, somehow, some way, they find a way.”

“Without Bumgarner, the Giants are sitting home right now, and don’t even sniff the playoffs.

“But with him on the mound, the Giants became the first team to win Game 7 on the road since the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1979.”

“The Giants would have been happy to get a couple of innings out of Bumgarner (in Game 7). He gave them five. Five? Seriously? Five innings? Of two-hit shutout relief? On two days’ rest? In Game 7 of the World Series?

“Right. Five. That isn’t just how legends are made. That is how major motion pictures are made....

“So let’s try to digest what just happened here. The Giants of Mays, McCovey and Marichal had zero World Series. The often star-studded Giants teams that took the field from 1923 through 2009 won two World Series in 87 seasons, none of them after heading out west for San Francisco in 1958.

“And then came this group. A group that found the keys to the magic carpet. And rode it to three World Series titles in five years – a feat no National League team had accomplished since the 1942-44-46 St. Louis Cardinals.”

“At 8:53 Central Bumgarner Time here, a certain 6-foot-5 left-handed San Francisco Giants pitcher walked from the bullpen to the mound in Kauffman Stadium to provide a little Show Me to Missouri. It’s said in this town that half the kids in the city would dress up as Madison Bumgarner for Halloween but their parents won’t let them because it would be just too darn scary.

“For the next 106 minutes, nearly every man, woman and child who has ever been a Kansas City Royals fan watched a horror movie that simply refused to stop as Bumgarner, entrusted with a one-run lead to start the fifth inning, allowed a single, then got out 15 of the last 16 men he faced, all of them angry, all found guilty, on just 68 pitches....

“Maybe in a decade or perhaps another 29 years – the wait Kansas City had between World Series appearances – it will be possible to say the word ‘Bumgarner’ without making the locals jump in their seats, wake in their sleep or just groan hopelessly. Is it really fair to let one pitcher carry a team to a World Series title almost solely on his broad North Carolinian back with two victories as a starter and then, in Game 7, a save for five innings of crucial relief?

“Royals fans, if they walked through a graveyard at midnight and met a giant with a hockey mask and a chain saw would say, ‘You can’t scare us. We just watched Madison Bumgarner take the World Series, stuff it in his hip pocket and take it back to San Francisco like an order of barbecue to go.’....

“The World Series has always had a simple phrase for the player who owns the whole stage, whether he’s a monster star like Bob Gibson or Sandy Koufax or a sudden unknown turned icon like Dusty Rhodes. He is simply called the Hot Hand.

“When you have him, it’s said, you ride him or the baseball gods, if such there be, take not and punish. So Bochy let him try to go the distance – even with the tying run 90 feet away.

“In a sense, Bochy let baseball – and Bumgarner – decide a moment that belonged to the game’s history. At 10:24 Central Bumgarner Time, as gravity defeated Perez’s popup, the suffering was over here. And the celebration could begin in San Francisco. And the thinking, the long, hard thinking, about appropriate civic commemoration, could begin.

“Yes, that sounds about right, though perhaps a little understated.”

“Now he belongs to history, alongside Christy Mathewson and Sandy Koufax, Bob Gibson and Randy Johnson. The pantheon of World Series pitching greats must welcome a new member. Madison Bumgarner burst into the club with a performance for the ages in Game 7 of the World Series.”

“Baseball doesn’t have a ‘One Shining Moment’ montage to end the postseason, but maybe it should. Stitch together what happened over the past 30 days, and the intricacy of each panel would need to be explained – pitch by pitch – in order to be properly admired. Since James Shields threw the first pitch against Oakland and Bumgarner threw the last against Kansas City, 32 games took place. Rank them from most to least fascinating, and there’s a scramble for those top 10 spots, with moments both monumental and minute part of the argument for each.

“Those wild card games that began it all, they’re just three years old. Debate the fairness of deciding anything with a single baseball game, sure. But man are they fun. This year, they brought us Ned Yost – the Kansas City manager who is either brilliant or befuddling – lifting Shields, his Clydesdale, and replacing him with Yordano Ventura and his 100-mph heat, two days removed from throwing 73 pitches. How long ago does Brandon Moss’s 418-foot homer off Ventura seem? Eons, particularly given what followed that night, a night that concluded with Salvador Perez’s game-winning single to left.

“The wild card games also brought us the 6-foot-5 shadow that would fall over the whole month. Pittsburgh has hosted the National League Wild Card Game each of the past two season, much to the delight of a city that, like Kansas City, wallowed in failure for decades. Bumgarner didn’t care about that, doesn’t care about much of anything but his teammates and his family, and his four-hit shutout on October’s first night served only as a precursor, though we couldn’t know then.

“This led to four division series that could feel like blowouts now – sweeps by Baltimore over Detroit and Kansas City over Anaheim, four-game matchups pushing San Francisco past Washington and St. Louis past Los Angeles – but felt like grinders on the ground. And even the most meticulous video montage could overlook what might be the most important at-bat of the postseason, contained within.

“By October’s first weekend, Jake Peavy had already beaten Stephen Strasburg (chew on that for a winter) and the Nationals’ season fell to Jordan Zimmermann, he of the last-day-of-the-season no-hitter. When the top of the ninth inning opened, the pulseless right-hander had allowed three hits and no walks. He held a 1-0 lead, and he promptly got a strikeout and a fly ball to bring the Nationals within one out of tying the series.

“Like so many of these October games, we will remember the headlines – Matt Williams’ decision to replace Zimmermann with Drew Storen with one out to go, Yusmeiro Petit’s six scoreless innings for the Giants, the longest game by time in playoff history, 18 innings of hell on an increasingly chilly Washington night, ended by Brandon Belt’s homer off Tanner Roark. All have their place on the quilt.”

Ah yes...the move to replace Zimmermann. Yet another reason why this postseason was so special.

Bumgarner hurled more innings in the postseason, 52 2/3, than any pitcher has ever thrown. [Curt Schilling is next at 48 1/3 in 2001.]

His 5-inning save is the longest in World Series history (saves becoming official in 1969).

Bumgarner had a 0.56 ERA in six starts this postseason.

And a shout out to Giants reliever Jeremy Affeldt, who has pitched 22 scoreless innings in the postseason, just one shy of Mariano Rivera’s record.

When I posted last time, within like two minutes of the final out, I said Bumgarner’s performance was the best since Christy Mathewson, 1905, and it was nice to see later that David Schoenfield of ESPN.com felt the same way.

“The Hall of Fame right-hander was one of America’s first big baseball heroes, a college-educated, affable gentleman in an era of ruffians. In the second World Series he pitched three shutouts in five games over six days. He beat the A’s 3-0 in Game 1, came back on two days’ rest in Game 3 to win 1-0 and then won Game 5 2-0 on one day of rest. Yes, the game was a little different back then but three shutouts in one World Series remains a record.”

As for the issue of sending Alex Gordon all the way home on his hit into the gap after Gregor Blanco missed it and the ball rolled to the wall, the third base coach Mike Jirschele made the right move in not sending Gordon home.

--Game 7 drew a solid Series-high rating for Fox, 13.7, meaning an average 23.5 million viewers. The broadcast was up 69% in ratings and 76% in viewers compared to Game 6 (8.1, 13.4 million)

In Kansas City, Game 7 posted a rating of 58.3, the highest metered market rating for any MLB game on record. San Francisco was at 38.8, still exceedingly high for a big market.

But that 58.3 is very cool. Says a lot about the area. In New York/New Jersey, for example, with so many distractions, including NBA games that Wednesday night, I imagine we would have been lucky to exceed 25 if it was the Mets or Yankees.

Also, encouragingly for MLB, despite having awful ratings early on in the Series, Fox was the No. 1 network for the key 18-to-49 demographic six of the seven nights the Series aired. [Sara Hamedy / L.A. Times]

--Joe Maddon is the new manager of the Chicago Cubs, the perfect place for him given all the young talent. But it meant that Rick Renteria needed to step aside after just one year. Cubs president Theo Epstein said in a statement:

“Rick deserved to come back for another season as Cubs manager, and we said as much when we announced that he would be returning in 2015. We met with Rick two weeks ago for a long end-of-season evaluation and discussed plans for next season. We praised Rick to the media and to our season ticket holders. These actions were made in good faith....

“Last Thursday, we learned that Joe Maddon – who may be as well suited as anyone in the industry to manage the challenges that lie ahead of us – had become a free agent. We confirmed the news with Major League Baseball, and it became public knowledge the next day.

“We saw it as a unique opportunity and faced a clear dilemma: be loyal to Rick or be loyal to the organization. In this business of trying to win a world championship for the first time in 107 years, the organization has priority over any one individual.  We decided to pursue Joe.

“While there was no clear playbook for how to handle this type of situation, we knew we had to be transparent with Rick before engaging with Joe....

“Rick often said he was the beneficiary of the hard work of others who came before him. Now, in the young players he helped, we reap the benefits of his hard work as we move forward. He deserved better and we wish him nothing but the best...

“We have clung to two important ideals during our three years in Chicago. The first is to always be loyal to our mission of building the Cubs into a championship organization that can sustain success. The second is to be transparent with our fans. As painful as the last week was at times, we believe we stayed true to these two ideals in handling a sensitive situation.

“To our fans: we hope you understand, and we appreciate your continued support of the Cubs.” [Bob Nightengale / USA TODAY Sports]

Renteria has two years left on his contract. He was only 73-89, but this was a seven-win improvement from 2013.

So the Cubs are going to be one of the more interesting stories of 2015, what with young stars Anthony Rizzo and Starlin Castro, budding sluggers Javier Baez and Jorge Soler, and heralded prospects Kris Bryant and Addison Russell.

No doubt the Cubs will also be going after some big pitchers whose names are listed below. If I was a Cubs fan, I’d be pumped.

--On the baseball free agency front, a major topic of conversation is Pablo Sandoval, just 28, who turned down the Giants’ three-year, $40 million contract extension offer last spring. His regular season stats the last three seasons are nothing exciting, but it’s that .344 postseason average in 154 at-bats that has some teams drooling (including .426 in three World Series). It’s likely to come down to the Giants, where Pablo wants to play, and Boston, who can offer the bucks Sandoval desires (with the Yankees possibly being in the mix).

Among pitchers, it’s all about Max Scherzer and Jon Lester. Scherzer is 39-8 the last two seasons, having turned down a $140 million+ contract extension offer from Detroit last offseason. Someone will give him more.

Lester is another hot commodity and just might return to Boston.

Benjamin Hoffman of the New York Times had this cool tidbit concerning the recently retired Adam Dunn. “In 51 percent of his 8,328 plate appearance, Dunn struck out, walked, was hit by a pitch or hit a home run, leaving the fielders a chance to stretch their legs and get ready for the next batter.”

--For New York baseball fans, Alex Rodriguez is officially back, his suspension ending with the last out in the World Series. I have to admit, I’m curious to see what kind of shape he is come spring training and if there is any chance he can actually play the field. We’re going to be talking about this guy all winter, that’s for sure.

--Finally, back to Game 7 and the MVP award, presented to Madison Bumgarner by Chevrolet local executive Rikk (sic) Wilde, who proceeded to tout the “all-new, 2015, uh, Chevy Colorado” as having, “class-winning, and leading, um, you know, technology and stuff.”

NFL Action

--Tom Brady moved to 9-3 against Peyton Manning in the regular season as the Pats (7-2) defeated the Broncos (6-2) 43-21 in Foxboro. Brady was 33/53, 333, 4-1, while Manning was 34/57, 438, 2-2. The weather obviously wasn’t a factor.

--My Jets fell to 1-8, losing to the now 5-3 Chiefs in K.C., 24-10. But what was frustrating is that the Jets didn’t play that poorly. Michael Vick was solid, neither team had a turnover, Jets receiver/returner Percy Harvin had 11 receptions for 129 yards, another 88 on two kick returns (including a 65-yarder), Chris Johnson had 69 rushing, 32 receiving in his best game, the Jets outgained K.C. 364-309...they just lost. As Tony Soprano would have said, “Whaddya gonna do?”

Well, one thing you do is find another quarterback and with the Raiders seemingly destined for the first pick in the draft, and Jacksonville battling it out with the Jets for the second pick, the deal is the Raiders are fine with Derek Carr and the Jags seem content with Blake Bortles, two rookies. [Actually, throw the Bucs in the mix.]

Ergo, the Jets could select Marcus Mariota! How psyched would your editor be?

Then again, what will Mariota’s former coach, Chip Kelly, offer the Jets to move up in the draft? Ah, good Bar Chat next spring.

--Robert Griffin III returned for the Redskins, but Washington (3-6) lost to the Vikings (4-5) 29-26. RG3 was 18/28, 251, 1-1, while rookie Teddy Bridgewater was 26/42, 268, 1-0 for Minnesota.

--What happened to San Diego? Normally they start out poorly and finish strong and this year they opened 5-1 but have now suddenly lost 3 in a row, including 37-0 to the 5-3 Dolphins.  It’s basically about Philip Rivers. He began the year with 15 TDs and just 2 INTs in his first six games, but is 5-6 his last three.

--Much-maligned Andy Dalton has been less than scintillating this year for the Bengals, yet Cincinnati is now 5-2-1 after defeating the 1-8 Jaguars 33-23. Dalton has only 8 TD passes and has thrown 6 INTs...but the record is just fine if you are a Bengals fan.

--The Cleveland Browns are still more than in the conversation, moving to 5-3 with a 22-17 win over the 1-7 Bucs. God there are some s---ty teams in the NFL this season.

--Dallas (6-3) has now lost two straight, though this time they have an excuse. Tony Romo was out with his back issues and the Cardinals (7-1) took advantage of it, beating Dallas in Jerry’s Palace, 28-17. Brandon Weeden is no Tony Romo.

--With Nick Foles hurting his shoulder in the first quarter in Houston, the 6-2 Eagles brought in Mark Sanchez, who hadn’t played since 2012, and Sanchez got the job done...15/22, 202, 2-2, as the Eagles prevailed over the 4-5 Texans, 31-21.

--While I am not a fan of Bill Belichick, to say the least, I did love his rant against weathermen.

Belichick was asked if the Patriots were game-planning based on the chilly forecast for Sunday.

“When you play in New England, you have to be ready for everything. I’d say based on the forecasts we’ve gotten so far this year, none of them have been even very close to what game conditions were. There was 100 percent chance of rain last week and the only water I saw was on the Gatorade table.” [USA TODAY]

NBA Fever

--Another bad break for the Oklahoma City Thunder, already without Kevin Durant, who lost star guard Russell Westbrook on opening night to a fractured hand. Westbrook will be out four weeks, while Durant isn’t returning for another six. Luckily, the Thunder have an easy schedule their next 27 games so the hope is they are not already out of it by the time both stars return.

--The Lakers, 0-4, and 76ers, 0-3, are off to dreadful starts, as advertised.

--The Timberwolves extended point guard Ricky Rubio’s contract, four years and $55 million, with another $1 million in incentives.

College Basketball

1. Kentucky*
2. Arizona
3. Wisconsin
4. Duke
5. Kansas
6. North Carolina...AFAM classes jammed
7. Florida
8. Louisville
9. Virginia...first preseason top ten since Ralph Sampson days (1982-83)
10. Texas
11. Wichita State
16. San Diego State...Go Aztecs!!!
17. UConn
22. SMU
24. Harvard

*Reminder...aside from Coach Cal’s usual monster freshmen class, the Wildcats return guards Aaron and Andrew Harrison, Willie Cauley-Stein, Alex Poythress, Marcus Lee and Dakari Johnson. They apparently are an authentic 12 deep.

--Phil W. passed along the ACC media vote and our Demon Deacons are preseason 12 out of 15! Do you believe in miracles?!

Yes, we are ahead of Georgia Tech, Boston College and Virginia Tech.

Needless to say, looking at the above, Duke and UNC are 1-2 with the ACC media as well.

Preseason All-ACC team has Marcus Paige (UNC), Montrezl Harrell (Louisville), Mahlil Okafor (Duke), Malcolm Brogdon (UVA) and Jerian Grant (Notre Dame).

--Hawaii fired its basketball coach, Gib Arnold, two weeks before the start of the season. Arnold was 72-55 over four years, including 20-11 last year, but the school has been under investigation for altering documents for admissions purposes, according to The Honolulu Star-Advertiser.

--Huge controversy in the world of marathon racing as Kenyan runner Rita Jeptoo, who was about to collect $500,000 for winning the World Marathon Majors title this year [comprised of results from Tokyo, Boston, Berlin, London, Chicago and New York], has instead tested positive for drugs (ESPN reporting it was EPO).

Jeptoo will not receive the prize money, which she was to do this weekend at the New York City Marathon, though she wasn’t running in it because she had already wrapped up the title with wins in Boston and Chicago.

Jeptoo tested positive during an out-of-competition test last month and she can appeal by having a second sample tested.

The positive test came before Jeptoo’s Oct. 12 win in Chicago, so it’s unclear whether her result there will stand because race officials haven’t yet received results of her test from that race.

So, if Jeptoo doesn’t get her prize, who does? It would be fellow Kenyan Edna Kiplagat who is second in the WMM standings, and she told the Wall Street Journal IAAF (Int’l Assoc. of Athletics Federations) officials have been conducting unannounced tests on her roughly every three months.

As for Sunday’s race, there were two outstanding finishes, both of which your editor caught. Wilson Kipsang of Kenya defeated Lelisa Desisa of Ethiopia, winning by seven seconds after Desisa surged ahead briefly in the final mile. Kipsang took a look at him at that point and it was like he said, ‘you ain’t doin’ that to me’ as Kipsang then bolted back in front for good.

And Mary Keitany, a 32-year-old Kenyan, bested countrywoman Jemima Sumgong, 29, with the two dueling the final four miles. Really great stuff.

The conditions for the marathon were brutal, with wind chills in the 20s at the start.

--I was watching Ole Miss-Auburn and totally forgot to watch the Breeders’ Cup Classic, won by Bayern in what was described as a demolition derby, with horses crashing into each other out of the starting gate. Trainer Bob Baffert thus won America’s richest race for the first time.

At the end of the race, stewards made the decision not to disqualify anyone, which will be a controversy long discussed by the railbirds.

California Chrome, the Derby and Preakness winner, finished third.

--At the season-ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship for the senior golf circuit, 60-year-old Jay Haas had the lead after two rounds, firing a 62 on Friday for his 38th straight round of par or better, breaking the tour record held by Loren Roberts.

Alas, on Sunday, Haas lost on the fourth hole of sudden death to Tom Pernice Jr. I ended up watching this over Pats-Broncos, but don’t tell anyone.

Bernhard Langer had already wrapped up the Charles Schwab Cup points title, with a tour-high five wins, and ended the year with record earnings of $3,074,189.

“I haven’t putted like this or made this many putts in a long time...I might go dressed as a putter tonight for Halloween.”

--Jimmie Johnson won the Sprint Cup race at Texas Speedway, but there was a fight between Jeff Gordon and Brad Keselowski at the end and I haven’t seen all the details.

--In a piece by Rebecca Frankel in the Wall Street Journal on military dogs she writes in part:

“Dogs began appearing on U.S. battlefields during the Revolutionary War, though often as pets and mascots. During the Civil War, according to an 1862 article in Harper’s Weekly, a dog named Union Jack ran toward a spray of shells, barking as if he were chasing down the Confederate artillery.

“The U.S. military didn’t officially add dogs to its ranks until World War II. This foreshadowed an unfortunate pattern – recognizing the combat value of dogs once a conflict erupts, only to forget their utility as it winds down. Messenger and scout dogs are thought to have saved the lives of tens of thousands of U.S. troops during World War II and Vietnam, according to author Michael Lemish. Yet the U.S. has never truly maintained its canine combat readiness – a mistake we may be repeating today.

“Between 2006 and 2012, the Marines were using about 1,000 dogs, but since then, they have drawn down their numbers by some 650, says Bill Childress, manager of the Marine Corps’ dog program. He adds that it could take ‘three to four years’ to rebuild the canine corps.

“The vastly superior sensory powers of dogs make them extraordinarily useful in combat. Most dogs can hear sounds from up to four times farther away than humans can. Dogs can also see much better than we can in low light and darkness, and most have a much wider field of vision. [Ed. That last bit is why I’m hoping a Belgian Malinois replaces Geno Smith at quarterback for my Jets.]

“Our four-legged friends [Ed. Belgian Malinois or German shepherds in this instance] (also) can deliver a bite that produces 400 pounds of pressure per square inch or more. (By way of comparison, a lion or shark bite packs roughly 600 pounds of pressure.)

“But the most important canine military asset in recent U.S. wars has proved to be their amazing noses. The average human has around 5 million scent receptors; the average dog has roughly 220 million. So for the past decade, U.S. dogs in combat theaters have been almost exclusively devoted to sniffing out improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, in Iraq and Afghanistan....

“Dogs offer their fellow soldiers not just keen noses but also warm hearts. This may be why no robot or hand-held sensor will ever replace dogs in combat: A dog tugging at the leash to alert soldiers to the presence of explosives is doing so, at least in part, because of its devotion to the human at the other end.”

So ‘Dog’ enhances his No. 1 standing on the All-Species List, while ‘Man’ remains mired in 390th place.

--South African police arrested two Vietnamese and confiscated 90 pounds of rhino horn, which would be worth a fortune on the illegal market. Police believe the horns came from rhinos in South Africa. Put the two to death...please.

--On a lighter note, the producers of “Game of Thrones” are opening the bank vault to sign the principal actors to new contracts, at big raises, and pick up an option for a seventh season; this as filming continues on the fifth. I didn’t see if the surviving dragons are part of the package or if they are threatening to walk out...which would be highly disturbing.

Top 3 songs for the week 11/2/63: #1 “Sugar Shack” (Jimmy Gilmer and The Fireballs) #2 “Deep Purple” (Nino Tempo & April Stevens) #3 “Washington Square” (The Village Stompers)...and...#4 “Busted” (Ray Charles) #5 “Mean Woman Blues” (Roy Orbison) #6 “Donna The Prima Donna” (Dion) #7 “I Can’t Stay Mad At You” (Skeeter Davis) #8 “Be My Baby” (The Ronettes) #9 “It’s All Right” (The Impressions...these guys are incredibly underrated...) #10 “Maria Elena” (Los Indios Tabajaras... wha?... just three months away, boys and girls, from the British Invasion...)

NFL Quiz Answer: Top three rushers in Miami history.

Larry Csonka (1968-79) 6,737
Ricky Williams (2002-10) 6,436
Ronnie Brown (2005-10) 4,815

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