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Bar Chat

11/29/2021

So Much for Ohio State...it's Michigan

Add-On, early Wed. a.m.

College Football Playoffs rankings…and other stuff

1. Georgia 12-0
2. Michigan 11-1
3. Alabama 11-1
4. Cincinnati 12-0
5. Oklahoma State 11-1
6. Notre Dame 11-1
7. Ohio State 10-2
8. Ole Miss 10-2
9. Baylor 10-2
10. Oregon 10-2
11. Michigan State 10-2
12. BYU 10-2
13. Iowa 10-2
14. Oklahoma 10-2
15. Pitt 10-2
16. Wake Forest 10-2
17. Utah 9-3
18. NC State 9-3
19. San Diego State 11-1
20. Clemson 9-3
21. Houston 11-1
22. Arkansas 8-4
23. Kentucky 9-3
24. Louisiana 11-1
25. Texas A&M 8-4

So just play the games.  Can Notre Dame sneak in?  They need some help.  We do know Alabama must win, and obviously Michigan and Cincinnati, while Oklahoma State is in a great spot.  Saturday has the potential to be a lot of fun.

But the selection committee conceded last night that the following story hurts Notre Dame’s chances.

--In a shocking development, Brian Kelly bolted Notre Dame for LSU for a reported 10 years, $95 million with incentives.  This came days after Oklahoma’s Lincoln Riley took the head coaching job at USC.

Kelly, totally classless, messaged his ND players late Monday night.

“Men… Let me first apologize for the late night text and, more importantly, for not being able to share the news with you in person that I will be leaving Notre Dame.  I am flying back to South Bend tonight to be able to meet with you in the morning but the news broke late today and I am sorry you found out through social media or news reports.”

Kelly is 113-40 in 12 years at the school, including having a team this season very much in the CFP hunt. He will not coach a CFP or New Year’s Six game for the Fighting Irish.

Dan Wolken / USA TODAY

“The news conference to introduce Lincoln Riley as USC’s head coach on Monday was so full of grandiosity, athletics director Mike Bohn uttered the following words without even a hint of irony:

“ ‘It was never our goal to change the landscape of college football with one of the biggest moves in the history of the game, but we did exactly that.’

“Bohn’s perch atop the mountain of coaching search bravado lasted approximately two hours.

“Because for all the talk coming out of L.A. about shifting the paradigm of the sport by hiring Riley, LSU pulling Brian Kelly out of Notre Dame one-upped it in a manner that is even more shocking for an industry whose alarms bells should now be fully blaring.

“Coaches change jobs all the time, and desperate schools do desperate things this time of year. But for Kelly to leave Notre Dame high and dry when his team still has a chance to win a national championship is both something we’ve never really seen in college football and a Rubicon crossed that takes the sport down a perilous path.

“How does anyone continue to pretend that this is amateur sports when a multi-million dollar coach leaves his players in the lurch while they could still end up playing for history?  How does anyone take the sanctity of the College Football Playoff seriously when it means so little to Kelly that he high-tails it out of town before he even knows whether his team gets in?

“Just two days ago, after Notre Dame finished off an 11-1 season with a blowout win over Stanford, Kelly said the following: ‘We’ve got one of the best four teams in my mind in the country, without question, and we’re ready to prove it.’

“And with the Fighting Irish expected to be ranked No. 5 or No. 6 by the selection committee on Tuesday, it wouldn’t have taken that much for Notre Dame to get in.  If Georgia beats Alabama and either Cincinnati, Michigan or Oklahoma State loses their conference championship game, the Fighting Irish would almost certainly be in the final four.

“In other words, Kelly bailed on one of six teams that still had a chance to win the national title. That’s not just the action of a broken man, that’s the product of a broken sport.

“And college football better get its arms around this insanity before the playoff expands to 12 teams, where theoretically there could be 20-plus schools still in the mix at the height of the coaching carousel.

“ESPN or any other television network better think twice about spending billions of dollars on a television product where coaches would rather chase big contracts for themselves than helping the unpaid amateurs etch their names in the history books.  If the potential participants don’t care, why should anyone else?

“For those who say you can’t blame Kelly for accepting a contract from LSU that is expected to be well north of $10 million per year, that’s bollocks.  There is nobody to blame but Kelly for a classless, gutless exit before the kids he recruited to Notre Dame even know whether they’ll have the privilege of playing for a national championship.

“By making this move now, Kelly should be a pariah in his profession, never thought of the same way again.  He doesn’t care at all about those players, and whatever respect he had earned for his stewardship of the Notre Dame program over the last dozen years has been flushed down the toilet.  He should forever be known as little more than a snake and a mercenary.

“And yet, the larger story here is about a sport that is speeding toward the edge of an economic cliff while functioning in a manner that fundamentally devalues its core product.

“No other sport does this. The Minnesota Vikings can’t offer to double Bill Belichick’s salary while he’s getting ready for the Super Bowl.  In professional sports, there are contracts and consequences. In college sports, the culture of agents running roughshod over athletics directors has led to a gradual acceptance of the idea that they can do whatever they want, renegotiate contracts whenever they want and change jobs at will regardless of what it says on a piece of paper.

“It’s one thing when a coach leaves for a new job and skips out on the Weed-Eater Bowl.  But when it encroaches on the Playoff – the one thing that supposedly still matters in this sport besides money – you’ve got a real problem on your hands.

“Notre Dame’s Playoff fate will be decided by a committee of 13 people who supposedly consider every factor involved in a team’s season and potential competitiveness. Will they look at the Fighting Irish the same way knowing that the program has suddenly been plunged into chaos?

“It’s a fair question and a rotten outcome for the players who worked too hard to be kneecapped like this by a coach who is going to earn eight figures at LSU while they continue to get their scholarship, room and board at Notre Dame.

“And yet, it perfectly embodies the current state of college football where schools can afford to offer 10-year contracts to coaches they want and dole out huge buyouts to the ones they grow tired of precisely because they aren’t required to pay the players….

“This isn’t a sustainable system.  At some point, the notion that a coach can take a new job while his team is still in the championship mix needs to be addressed with massive financial penalties and contractual consequences. If not, it’s only going to sow more chaos in the coming years.”

Meanwhile, regarding Lincoln Riley’s moving out to Southern Cal, it was a stroke of genius (and $s) for USC athletic director Mike Bohn.  After a series of bad hires for the Trojans football program, this was a great one.  And, unlike in the case of Brian Kelly, no one begrudges Riley, who in his five season at Oklahoma finished 3, 4, 7, 6 and a possible top ten in the final AP Top 25 poll this season.

Riley replaced Bob Stoops in 2017, and now Stoops is filling in to coach OU’s bowl game. Stoops was 190-48 in 18 seasons with the Sooners, winning the 2000 national championship.

Chuck Culpepper / Washington Post

“Lincoln Riley to Southern California becomes the sexiest coaching hire in college football since who cares when, a hire so sexy it might justify the ludicrous custom of rating the sexiness of coaching hires.

“It’s loud, booming, even sort of tectonic.  Riley’s departure from Oklahoma…throws on some lights out west and reshapes the national landscape. It moves a coach with glamorous football style and three College Football Playoff berths to a place that boosts the sport when it has its glamour going – and a place with zero playoff berths.  It came out of left field and the Left Coast, so it comes even as an upset.

“Who knew old Southern California still had it in it?  Its coaching hunt had felt sort of doomed since its dismissal of Clay Helton on Sept. 13, two games into his seventh season.  Who could infuse some outsize promise into the offseason following this season sitting on 4-7?  Who could do better than the fleeting success of the 12 seasons since Pete Carroll fled for the NFL and took the memories of royalty?

“Well, now, look at this thing.  Southern California has a new coach who trades in quarterbacks in an era when quarterback relevance somehow towers more than ever, a coach who has tutored three of the 32 starting quarterbacks in the NFL, a coach whose insight helped fuel the churning statistics that fueled back-to-back Heisman Trophy winners in Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray, a coach who remains somehow 38.

“He’s one of those play-calling geeks, yes, his brain addled by the zigzags of receiver routes and whatnot, but the evidence suggests he also can construct or sustain a culture….

“Now the West Coast has Riley in Los Angeles to go with Mario Cristobal’s revived recruiting lure up in Oregon.  The Pac-12 has fresh light in a country that needs it.  It’s going to be one hell of an offseason, and there’s nothing like hells of offseasons.”

Think the potential for transfers, mused your editor.

Bill Plaschke / Los Angeles Times

“In the waning days of its worst football season in three decades, USC has pulled off the play of the year, defying all expectations, bucking conventional wisdom, making a miracle happen.

“Did the Trojans really just hire Lincoln Riley? Pinch me.

“Is their football team really going to be coached by arguably the brightest young football leader in the country?  Revive me.  When USC fired embattled Clay Helton in the second week of September, Rick Caruso, the chairman of the USC Board of trustees, promised to acquire ‘a world-class coach who will return the USC football program to the most competitive and highest levels of collegiate football.’

“Promise kept.”

As for Riley’s contract, it’s a widely reported 10 years, $110 million, with the school supposedly buying both his homes in Norman for $500,000 over asking (a $1 million bonus), while purchasing a $6 million home for his family in Los Angeles, and allowing him access to a private plane 24/7.

USC has not officially released figures or terms. As a private university, it has no obligation to do so.

Meanwhile, the preseason Heisman favorite, Oklahoma quarterback Spencer Rattler, who then lost his job to Caleb Williams after playing poorly in the first few games of the season, has entered the transfer portal.  He’ll be an attractive piece for some Power Five school.  Maybe a Pitt, with the departure of Kenny Pickett to the NFL.  [I have no freakin’ clue.]

NFL

--Sunday night, after I posted, Baltimore improved to an AFC best 8-3 with an ugly 16-10 win over Cleveland (6-6), a big loss for the Browns’ postseason hopes, despite the fact Lamar Jackson threw a career-high four interceptions.

The Browns entered the game with the No. 1 rushing offense in the league, but picked up all of 40 yards on 17 carries as the Ravens’ ‘D’ dominated.

--Monday night, the Washington Football Team won its third straight, 17-15 over Seattle, to move to 5-6, prompting its fans to go, ‘WTF!’  The former Redskins franchise is just two games back of the Cowboys in the NFC Least.

But Seattle fans, seeing their team a shocking 3-8, are more descriptive, murmuring under their breath, ‘What the hell is going on?!’

Russell Wilson, statistically, looked good….20/31, 247, 2-0, 110.6, but super receiver DK Metcalf had one catch for 13 yards and it took him forever to even get targeted.  The Seahawks also had just 34 yards on the ground.  Coach Pete Carroll is wondering why he didn’t inquire about returning to USC before the red carpet was rolled out for Riley.

--Meanwhile, the playoff standings…seven in….

AFC

Baltimore 8-3
New England 8-4
Tennessee 8-4
Kansas City 7-4
Cincinnati 7-4
Buffalo 7-4
L.A. Chargers 6-5…last in on tiebreakers
Las Vegas 6-5
Denver 6-5

NFC

Arizona 9-2
Green Bay 9-3
Tampa Bay 8-3
Dallas 7-4
L.A. Rams 7-4
San Francisco 6-5
Washington 5-6…last in on tiebreakers, shockingly
Minnesota 5-6
Atlanta 5-6
New Orleans 5-6

MLB

--Funny how I wrote my comments Sunday about being a Mets fan, and how I was happy with what new GM Billy Eppler had done in his first week, signing three solid players, including Starling Marte, but how the Mets had to get pitching help.

And less than 24 hours later, owner Steve Cohen pulled the trigger in signing 37-year-old Max Scherzer to a whopping three-year, $130 million contract.  The $43.3 million average annual salary sets a record, surpassing the $36 million the Yankees’ Gerrit Cole is receiving.

Scherzer is also the oldest player in MLB history to sign a $100 million contract.

What’s stunning is that the future first ballot Hall of Famer never really had the Mets on his radar.  It’s the money.  After all, the Mets still don’t even have a manager yet.  At 37, it’s also a huge gamble for the Mets and Cohen.  For all his toughness, Scherzer did opt out of a playoff start last month due to fatigue.

But at the same time, he’s Max Scherzer…until this last episode as tough as they come, a leader on the mound and in the clubhouse. He’s going to singlehandedly change the culture.  Scherzer’s obsessed with winning, nothing more, and won’t put up with teammates who whine when they are booed.

And now he’s teamed with a hopefully healthy Jacob deGrom to form the most dynamic 1-2 mound duo in recent memory.

--Talk about being aggressive, the Texas Rangers and Dodgers shortstop Corey Seager agreed on a 10-year, $325 million deal.

Looking to capitalize on their new ballpark and a return to prominence after five consecutive losing seasons, the Rangers have now committed $556 million to three players in a span of hours.  Earlier, they inked second baseman Marcus Semien to a seven-year, $175 million contract and starting pitcher Jon Gray (a middling 4th starter) to a four-year, $56 million deal.

--And Seattle shelled out $115 million over five years to reigning AL Cy Young winner Robbie Ray, and was said to be in the market for other big names, like Kris Bryant, though Javy Baez, who the Mariners were targeting as well, signed with Detroit…six years, $140 million.

Toronto replaced Robbie Ray with Kevin Gausman (five years, $110 million), who had a terrific season with the Giants.

--Back to Max Scherzer, I was convinced he’d stay in L.A., and now the Dodgers, having lost both Scherzer and Corey Seager, with Clayton Kershaw, Chris Taylor and Kenley Jansen also potentially bolting as free agents, are no longer the perennial playoff lock that they’ve been the past decade (nine straight seasons).

College Basketball

--New AP Poll (records thru Sun.)

1. Duke (51) 7-0
2. Purdue (9) 6-0
3. Gonzaga (1) 6-1
4. Baylor 7-0
5. UCLA 6-1
6. Villanova 4-2
7. Texas 4-1
8. Kansas 5-1
9. Kentucky 5-1
10. Arkansas 6-0
11. Arizona 6-0
12. BYU 6-0
13. Tennessee 4-1
14. Florida 6-0
15. Houston 5-1
16. Alabama 6-1
17. UConn 6-1
18. Memphis 5-1
19. Iowa State 6-0
20. USC 6-0
21. Auburn 5-1
22. Michigan State 5-2
23. Wisconsin 5-1
24. Michigan 4-2
25. Seton Hall 5-1

Look who’s no longer in the top 25…St. Bonaventure (No. 27 if you carry out the votes).  Hopefully, as I said last time, a lesson learned for the Bonnies with their poor performance against Northern Iowa.  But they’ll have a huge opportunity when they face UConn (Dec. 11) and Virginia Tech (Dec. 17).  A split with these two is a must.

Wake Forest actually picked up two votes this week!  It’s been ages since this occurred.  And the Deacs (7-1) won their Big Ten/ACC challenge last night against Northwestern (5-2) 77-73 in overtime.

Rutgers (4-3) had a needed win in the challenge, 74-64 over Clemson (5-3).

But Ohio State upset Duke last night, 71-66, in Columbus after Duke had built a 43-30 halftime lead.  The Buckeyes held the Blue Devils scoreless over the final 4 ½ minutes.  So Duke’s No. 1 ranking lasted about 36 hours.

Ohio State (5-2) is 2-1 against ranked opponents this year.

NBA

--LeBron James’ awful stretch continued as he has entered the NBA’s Covid protocols, the team announced on Tuesday.  He missed last night’s game against the Kings, the Lakers winning anyway, 117-92.

It is unclear when LeBron, who is vaccinated, will play again, and as I go to post, unclear if he was in close contact with someone who tested positive, but it seems he tested positive on 2 of 3 tests Monday or Tuesday, according to reports.

Players who test positive must miss at least 10 days before they can return.

--Very entertaining game between the Knicks and Nets at Barclays Center last night, the Nets grinding out a 112-110 victory.

James Harden had 34 for Brooklyn (15-6) and Kevin Durant 27, but it was James Johnson, yes, the same guy I just wrote of, who was on the court come crunch time and he calmly sank two free throws with 2.2 seconds remaining to seal the victory.

Alec Burks, inserted into the starting lineup over the slumping Kemba Walker, had 25 and Julius Randle 24 for the Knicks, now 11-10.

--And in the most anticipated regular-season game in recent history, Phoenix (18-3) stretched its winning streak to 17 with a 104-96 win at home over Golden State (18-3). 

A hamstring injury kept Devin Booker sidelined in the second half, but the Suns held Steph Curry to just 12 points on 4-of-21 shooting from the field (3-of-14 from 3).

The 17 wins in a row ties a franchise record for Phoenix set in the 2006-07 season.

Golf Balls

--In his first in-depth interview since his horrific car crash last February, Tiger Woods shed light on his traumatic injuries, recovery and what the future might hold.

“I think something that is realistic is playing the tour one day – never full time, ever again – but pick and choose, just like Mr. [Ben] Hogan did.  Pick and choose a few events a year and you play around that,” Woods said during a Zoom interview with Golf Digest’s Henni Koyack from his South Florida home.  “You practice around that, and you gear yourself up for that.  I think that’s how I’m going to have to play it from now on.  It’s an unfortunate reality, but it’s my reality.  And I understand it, and I accept it.”

“I don’t have to compete and play against the best players in the world to have a great life. After my back fusion, I had to climb Mt. Everest one more time. I had to do it, and I did.  This time around, I don’t think I’ll have the body to climb Mt. Everest, and that’s OK.  I can still participate in the game of golf. I can still, if my leg gets OK, I can still click off a tournament here or there.  But as far as climbing the mountain again and getting all the way to the top, I don’t think that’s a realistic expectation of me.”

Woods commented on the those first days and weeks with his mangled right leg, facing the possibility of amputation.

“There was a point in time when, I wouldn’t say it was 50/50, but it was damn near there if I was going to walk out of that hospital with one leg.  Once [I kept it], I wanted to test and see if I still had my hands.  So even in the hospital, I would have [girlfriend] Erica [Herman] and [friend] Rob [McNamara] throw me something. Throw me anything.”

After three weeks at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, he moved home and for three months he was in a hospital-type bed, basically immobile.  Next, a wheelchair.  He then progressed to crutches.

Despite the 2-second video of him flushing a short iron the other day, at which point I said no way he was playing Augusta next year, Tiger in the interview said:

“I have so far to go [before he can compete in a PGA Tour event]. …I’m not even at the halfway point.  I have so much more muscle development and nerve development that I have to do in my leg.  At the same time, as you know, I’ve had five back operations.  So I’m having to deal with that.  So as the leg gets stronger, sometimes the back may act up. …It’s a tough road.  But I’m just happy to be able to go out there and watch Charlie play, or go in the backyard and have an hour or two by myself with no one talking, no music, no nothing.  I just hear the birds chirping.  That part I’ve sorely missed.”

Tiger made similar comments on Tuesday in a news conference.

--Editorial / Washington Post

“Lee Elder knew he was destined for the golf course by the time he was 9 years old.  The racist gatekeepers of a notoriously White sport, however, didn’t want him there.  The barrier-breaking Black athlete, who died on Sunday, has rarely been given his due. He gave an immeasurable amount to the game and those who play it.

“Mr. Elder always had to look out for himself.  He lost both of his parents before age 10, and he found his way onto the fairway trying to make some money.  Too small to caddie, he collected stray balls for cash.  When he got big enough to carry bags, he learned in part by watching his clients.  Mr. Elder didn’t shoot a round of 18 holes until he was 16; opportunities to play were scarce, especially for African Americans.  In his late teenage years, he hustled, including by posing as a chauffeur for the infamous golfer-gambler Alvin Thomas, better known as Titanic Thompson, who took wagers that he and his driver could beat the players on the course. They capitalized on the prejudices of those who didn’t expect any Black man such as Mr. Elder could have the talent to compete.

“Mr. Elder was pivotal in changing that assumption.  He excelled in the United Golf Association Tour* for Black players, and then the PGA Tour when the association lifted its ‘Caucasians-only’ rule in 1961.  He paid his own way to the competition, reasoning that he’d rather not allow White backers to make off with part of his winnings. He bucked civil rights leaders by agreeing to participate in a PGA Championship in apartheid-era South Africa – but only if the tournament were open to all races.  His stubbornness paid off.  And it did again, as he refused to let harassment, death threats and routine indignities deter him from competing and conquering.

“Mr. Elder won the Monsanto Open – at the same course in Pensacola, Fla., where he was once forced to change clothes in the parking lot – to qualify for the 1975 Masters.  He rented two houses in Augusta, Ga., moving between them for safety – but still he played.  By becoming the first Black man to participate in the event, he pried open a door that had stayed shut for far longer than in most other professional sports….

“Golf is still an overwhelmingly White sport, and the number of Black players is falling. The effects of yesterday’s exclusion reverberate today.  Lee Elder played throughout his career on his own terms because society’s were unfair – and he showed those who followed that they, too, could win.  The rest of us owe it to him to keep advancing the ball, on the links and everywhere else.”

*Elder once won 21 out of 23 UGA tournaments.  He would go on to win four PGA Tour events, including the 1978 Westchester Classic, which was a big non-major in those days.

Stuff

--Here I talk all the time about Mikaela Shiffrin and then I forgot to write of her triumph in the slalom at Killington, Vt., on Sunday, her 46th career victory in slalom tying the World Cup mark for wins in a single discipline…Sweden’s Ingemar Stenmark with 46 giant slalom race wins in the 1970s and 1980s.

But Sunday also showed how the sport has come down to Shiffrin and Slovakia’s Petra Vlhova, who finished second.

Vlhova won the first two slaloms of the year, Shiffrin second in both. Shiffrin won the lone giant slalom, Vlhova third.

Both are 26, Vlhova three months younger than Shiffrin.

The scene shifts to Canada’s gorgeous Lake Louise (I remember visiting here as a kid and always wanted to go back) for two downhills and a super G, weather permitting.  This is the venue that Lindsey Vonn historically dominated, seemingly winning both downhills every year at the site.

Shiffrin’s 71 overall WC wins are second on the women’s all-time list behind Vonn’s 82.  Stenmark won 86.

--Lionel Messi captured his record seventh Ball d’Or, the sport’s most prestigious individual prize, as best footballer of the year.  Cristiano Ronaldo is next at five, no one else more than three.  The award, handed out by France Football since 1956, was controversially not awarded last year because of the pandemic.

In this year’s voting, Messi beat out Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski.

The Ballon d’Or is voted for by 180 journalists from around the world.

--In the NCAA Division I Men’s Soccer Championship, we are down to the Elite Eight:

1 Oregon State vs. 8 Clemson
4 Notre Dame vs. 5 Pitt…ND 2-0 winners Sunday over Wake Forest

3 Georgetown vs. 11 West Virginia
10 Saint Louis vs. 2 Washington

So form has held, the top five seeds still there.

--And we note the passing of bowler Mark Roth, 70.  He was one of his sport’s all-time greats and the second to earn $1 million in career earnings in the sport.  The cause was congestive heart failure, his wife said.

Roth won 34 titles, including a record eight of them in 1978.  He was known for his “violent approach to bowling, one that he once compared to ‘ripping the cover off the ball.’  By turning his wrist severely as he released the ball, he created great speed and spin, causing the ball to hook toward the strike pocket.”  [Richard Sandomir / New York Times]

Next Bar Chat, Sunday p.m.

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[Posted Sunday p.m.]

Add-On up top by noon, Wednesday.

Michigan Football Quiz: In honor of their big win, 1) Name the two quarterbacks to throw for 9,000 yards in their careers in Ann Arbor.  2) Name the five running backs to rush for 4,000 yards.  Answers below.

College Football Review

[Comments written prior to release of new AP Poll…rankings used below are from CFP]

--In games Thursday and Friday….

I watched 9 Ole Miss (10-2) wrap up a New Year’s Six bowl bid with a 31-21 win over Mississippi State (7-5), mainly to see the two quarterbacks on what was a rainy Thanksgiving night in Starkville.  And the rain impacted play, as the Bulldogs’ Will Rogers saw his receivers drop a ton of balls, Rogers needing 58 pass attempts for his 336 yards, which isn’t that great.

On the other side, Matt Corral, whose Heisman hopes ended a few weeks ago, looked like an NFL quarterback despite his pedestrian numbers…26/34, 234, 1-1, plus a touchdown on the ground.  He’s got the goods. 

So this is one college football fan who will look forward to watching the Rebels wherever they end up on New Year’s, and their coach Lane Kiffin can entertain some big offers from elsewhere after, if he doesn’t beforehand.

Friday, 4 Cincinnati (12-0) was less than scintillating in beating East Carolina (7-5) 35-13, but for the Selection Committee, it should be good enough, for now.  Desmond Ridder was picked off twice for the Bearcats, but the Cincy ‘D’ was tough.

16 Iowa (10-2) trailed Nebraska (3-9) 21-9 with 5:54 to play in the third, but the Cornhuskers blew it, losing another close one, as the Hawkeyes stormed back with 19 unanswered points for the 28-21 win.  Iowa was helped by a blocked punt for a touchdown that made it 21-16 early in the fourth.

19 Utah improved to 9-3 with a 28-13 win over Colorado (4-8), and then awaited the Oregon-Oregon State game for their Pac-12 title opponent.

21 San Diego State (11-1) had a real offensive explosion, 408 yards!, as they defeated Boise State (7-5) 21-16.

And then you had a critically important game Friday night in terms of next week’s ACC championship game.

20 North Carolina State needed a win over North Carolina in Raleigh, and then a Wake Forest loss Saturday at Boston College, to secure the Atlantic division berth for a shot at Pitt in the conference title game.

But State trailed 30-21 with just 2:12 to go, after initially taking a 14-0 first-quarter lead, as Grayson Atkins’ second of two fourth-quarter field goals, this one from 50, gave the Tar Heels the seemingly insurmountable lead.

The Wolfpack, though, had other plans, and future NFL receiver Emeka Emezie hauled in a 64-yard scoring strike from Devin Leary to cut the lead to 30-28 with 1:35 to play.

Onside kick time…and kicker Chris Dunn executed it to perfection, recovering it himself, thus setting NC State up for a game-winning field goal with just a few first downs.

Only Leary and Emezie hooked up again, this time from 24, and the Wolfpack defense held Sam Howell and Co. in check for the startling 34-30 win.  Two scoring drives in 1:03.

For Carolina (6-6), Howell was not great through the air, 14/26, 147, 1-1, but he rushed for 98 yards and two touchdowns, the Tar Heels’ running game with 297 yards for the game, the most given up this season by State.

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So I wrote all the above before Saturday’s action…and we’ll just start with Wake Forest at Boston College, 30-degree windchill, difficult conditions for the passing game, Wake coach Dave Clawson having been given a contract extension the day before, and an ACC championship game berth on the line, and the Deacs did it, cruising 41-10.

Sam Hartman, while not super accurate, still threw for three touchdowns and rushed for another, becoming just the fourth quarterback in ACC history with 30+ touchdown passes and 10 rushing, receiver A.T. Perry with two more TD catches, giving him a school-record 13.

And the defense showed up, with B.C. quarterback Phil Jurkovec going 3 for 11 for 19 yards and two interceptions.  You’re reading that right.  As Johnny Mac put it, “leather-helmet era stats.”

[Jurkovec, reading the hype that has him a top-six quarterback if he comes out for next spring’s draft, obviously needs to stay in school another year.]

To be fair, B.C. (6-6) was dealing with the flu all week, including Jurkovec, but the bottom line is Wake is headed to Charlotte for an ACC title game against Pitt, ending Clemson’s six-year run as Atlantic Division champions in the process.  It’s also Wake’s second 10-win team in school history, the other being our Orange Bowl season of 2006.

Speaking of Pitt, like Wake they are 10-2 after a workmanlike 31-14 win over Syracuse, Kenny Pickett throwing for only 208 yards but four touchdowns, with receiver Jordan Addison catching two of them for 17 on the season in his own record-breaking campaign.

Pitt’s defense held the Orange to just 242 yards of offense.

So we have what should be a very entertaining ACC championship game, a New Year’s Six berth on the line.

Meanwhile, 1 Georgia slammed Georgia Tech (3-9) 45-0, outgaining the Yellow Jackets 463-166.

But then the real action started and we had a stunner in Ann Arbor, 5 Michigan (11-1) handing 2 Ohio State its second loss, 42-27, eliminating the Buckeyes from playoff contention, and the Big Ten title game.

Hassan Haskins tied Ron Johnson’s 1968 rushing mark with five touchdowns (28-169-5), the Wolverines dominating up front, rushing for 297 yards overall while holding the Buckeyes to just 64 on the ground.

[Only once in the previous five meetings had Michigan gone for more than 100 yards.]

C.J. Stroud was fine for OSU, and kept his Heisman hopes alive, going 34/49, 394, 2-0, but he was pressured all day, sacked three times by Aidan Hutchinson.  On the other side, Ohio State’s defensive front ended with zero sacks and, incredibly, zero tackles for a loss.

Well, you can imagine how Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh felt (and the university…cool moment after as hoops coach Juwan Howard congratulated him), never having beaten Ohio State, 0-6 coming in.  Harbaugh’s pay was slashed last winter, to the tune of $4.05 million, because of his lack of success against the Buckeyes.  But he made $500,000 of that back with Saturday’s win for reaching the Big Ten title game.  Winning the Big Ten championship would give him an additional $1 million, which then earns him another $200,000 for a New Year’s Six game, and if Michigan is a CFP semifinalist, he receives $300,000 more.

For Wolverines fans it’s a narrative-shifting moment, the first win over Ohio State in a decade.

And then we had a true classic, 3 Alabama (11-1) coming back in the final moments of regulation to tie Auburn (6-6) 10-10 on a 28-yard Bryce Young touchdown pass to Ja’Corey Brooks, who made a spectacular play on his end, and then ‘Bama prevailed 24-22 in the fourth overtime on a Young to John Metchie III hookup on the two-point play. 

Young, like C.J. Stroud, kept his Heisman hopes very much alive with a 25/51, 317, 2-1 effort, while Metchie took over the No. 1 receiver role and had 13 receptions for 150 yards, this after star wideout Jameson Williams was ejected earlier for targeting on a kickoff return, many questioning why a star of Williams’ caliber is even on special teams, but Saban has often allowed this.

Running back Brian Robinson also left the game early with a leg injury, but the Crimson Tide overcame these losses.

What a gut check for coach Nick Saban’s boys, Saban very publicly earlier in the week calling out the Alabama fanbase for being spoiled and “self-absorbed,” expecting 56-0 blowouts every week.  For one week, I actually found Saban likable, including his postgame comments and his celebrating with the team in the locker room like a little kid.

But bottom line, ‘Bama must beat Georgia to get into the playoffs.

In another huge rivalry game with CFP implications, 7 Oklahoma State (11-1) beat 10 Oklahoma (10-2) 37-33.  The Sooners led 33-24 after three quarters, but the Cowboys answered with two touchdowns in the fourth and the defense then held on for the win.  OK State QB Spencer Sanders, while throwing two interceptions, nevertheless led the way, throwing for over 200 and picking up 93 yards on the ground and a touchdown.

The Cowboys in beating the Sooners ended Oklahoma’s run of six consecutive conference championships.

8 Baylor (10-2) heads to the Big 12 championship against OK State after a 27-24 win over Texas Tech.

6 Notre Dame (11-1) stayed more than relevant in the CFP conversation with a 45-14 win over Stanford (3-9).  But the Fighting Irish’s regular season is over…no conference championship showcase contest to further impress the Selection Committee.

In the Pac-12, 11 Oregon (10-2) stayed in line for a New Year’s Six berth and will be having a rematch with Utah in next Friday’s championship game after a 38-29 win over Oregon State (7-50.

Anthony Brown was very solid at quarterback for the Ducks, 23/28, 275, 2-0, plus 83 yards on the ground and a score.

12 Michigan State moved to 10-2 with a 30-27 win over Penn State (7-5), Kenneth Walker III with 138 yards on the ground, though too little, too late for his Heisman dreams.

In a mini-shocker given how 14 Wisconsin was on a roll coming in, the Badgers fell to the Golden Gophers in Minneapolis, 23-13, as Minnesota (8-4) held Wisconsin’s freshman running back sensation Braelon Allen to just 47 yards in 17 carries.

So Wisconsin (8-4) is not headed to the Big Ten title game against Michigan, rather it’s Iowa taking on the Wolverines.

13 BYU (10-2) should be headed to a decent bowl contest with a 35-31 win over USC (4-7).

24 Houston (11-1) tuned up for its biggie against Cincinnati, 45-17 at UConn (1-11).

22 UTSA’s dream season went up in flames at North Texas (6-6), the Green Wave rushing for 340 yards on the way to a 45-23 win over the Roadrunners (love that nickname), UTSA suffering its first loss, now 11-1.

23 Clemson (9-3) didn’t make it to the ACC championship game but is finishing strong and is worthy of a decent bowl game, 30-0 winners over South Carolina (6-6).

UCLA (8-4) is headed to a decent bowl contest itself after a 42-14 win over Cal (4-7), which will be Chip Kelly’s first as coach in this his fourth season, the school’s first since 2017.  Yes, like it or not, Bruins fans, Kelly has probably done enough to warrant another season.

USC, on the other hand, is in the wilderness, staying home in the postseason at 4-7 (a makeup game against Cal next week) after the aforementioned loss to BYU.  It’s the Trojans second bowl-less season in three years.

Lastly, Coastal Carolina ends the regular season a disappointing 10-2, needing overtime to beat South Alabama (5-7) 27-21.  Johnny Mac’s Chants had big dreams early on but will be watching at home as next weekend’s Sun Belt Conference title game is Appalachian State vs. Louisiana*.

*Ragin Cajuns coach Billy Napier is headed to Florida but will coach title game.  Seems like a great choice for the Gators.

And then you have New Jersey’s state school, Rutgers.  As my favorite local sportswriter, Steve Politi, put it in the Star-Ledger (NJ.com), after another pathetic effort at home against Maryland (6-6), falling 40-16, the 5-7 Scarlet Knights (2-7 in Big Ten play), should not accept a bowl game if offered…depending on the number of 6-6 teams reaching the threshold, spots might be available.

Politi:

“Bowl games are supposed to be a reward for the players and a treat for the fans.  The players certainly didn’t earn that reward, and most of the fans made another quick exit from SHI Stadium after halftime.  Is anyone really going to pay for a flight to Orlando for a potential pre-holiday Cure Bowl matchup against a middling MAC team?  Please.”

But Politi adds that coaches love the extra 15 days of practice and Rutgers has the second-longest bowl drought among Power 5 programs, “a distinction that (Greg) Schiano wants to scrub from existence for recruiting reasons.”

A team with a 2-7 conference mark, however, doesn’t deserve a bowl game, period.  [Sorry, loyal Rutgers alum Manny R.]

So now your new AP Poll!

1. Georgia (62) 12-0
2. Michigan 11-1
3. Cincinnati 12-0…flip-flopped with ‘Bama
4. Alabama 11-1
5. Oklahoma State 11-1
6. Notre Dame 11-1
7. Ohio State 10-2
8. Ole Miss 10-2
9. Baylor 10-2
10. Oregon 10-2
11. Michigan State 10-2
12. BYU 10-2
13. Oklahoma 13-2
14. Utah 9-3
15. Iowa 10-2
16. Houston 11-2
17. Pitt 10-2
18. Wake Forest 10-2…no problem with this
19. San Diego State 11-1
20. Louisiana-Lafayette 11-1
21. North Carolina State 9-3
22. Clemson 9-3
23. Arkansas 8-4
24. Texas A&M 8-4
25. Kentucky 9-3

The big matchups next weekend.

Friday:

Oregon-Utah

Saturday:

Baylor-Oklahoma State
Georgia-Alabama
Houston-Cincinnati
Iowa-Michigan
Pitt-Wake Forest

With Notre Dame watching at home.

Much more in my midweek chat after we see the CFP rankings.

But if I had to pick a final four today, it would be Georgia, Michigan, Cincinnati and Oklahoma State.

Of course we could have real bedlam and end up with Georgia, Alabama, Oklahoma State and Notre Dame.

Or….

NFL

--Thanksgiving Day gave us some dreadful football.

In the opener, I watched the Bears (4-7), losers of five straight, save coach Matt Nagy’s job, for now, with a 16-14 win on a Cairo Santos field goal as time expired, handing host Detroit another loss, Dan Campbell’s team 0-10-1.  My eyes totally glazed over minutes into this one, but like a zombie, I stared at the tube and was transported to never, never land…waking up on the deciding field goal.

Actually, I found Joe Buck and Troy Aikman to be humorous during this one, recognizing the rest of America was thinking the same thing.  Why are we watching this?!

Then in Game Two, Las Vegas at Dallas, the two teams committed a combined 28 penalties (14 each) for 276 yards, the most in the NFL in three years, as the Raiders (6-5) handed the Cowboys (7-4) their third loss in four games, 36-33 in overtime.

One of the 28 penalties proved to be a game-deciding one as Dallas cornerback Anthony Brown committed his fourth pass-interference penalty in overtime that kept the Raiders’ drive alive, resulting in Daniel Carlson’s winning field goal from 29.  It was his fifth FG of the game.

[All four of Brown’s interference penalties came on third-down incompletions.]

Both Derek Carr and Dak Prescott played well at quarterback for their respective teams, but the Vegas defense held Dallas to just 64 yards rushing, with the offense picking up 143 on the ground themselves.

So the Raiders stay relevant, while the Cowboys’ lead in the NFC East has been cut to two games, Philadelphia 5-6.

In the nightcap on Thanksgiving, Buffalo improved to 7-4 with a needed 31-6 win over the Saints (5-6) in New Orleans.

Josh Allen threw for four touchdowns (and two interceptions), while the Bills defense held the injury-riddled Saints to just 190 yards of offense.

Frankly, I didn’t watch a single second of this one because I chose Ole Miss-Mississippi State instead, which hardly makes me a bad person.

--So in today’s action, so much for the Eagles being two games back of Dallas, as they lost to the Giants (4-7) to fall to 5-7.  Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts, while rushing for 77 yards, was atrocious through the air, 14/31, 129, 0-3, 17.5….though his desperation pass in the endzone as time expired should have been caught.

As for New York’s offense, it was non-existent, Saquon Barkley proving for the 30th time he is not the ‘Second Coming’, rushing for 40 yards on 13 carries, and this included a 32-yarder.  So give your children a simple math problem.

“If Saquon rushed for 40 yards on 13 carries, and 32 were on one scamper, what does that say about the other 12 carries?”

“Daddy, it tells me Saquon blows.”

But he’s a nice guy.

--And in the end, it was a great day for New York football fans, as the Jets traveled to Houston to take on the equally pathetic Texans and the Jets emerged victorious, 21-14, to move to 3-8, the Texans 2-9.

The game saw the return of Zach Wilson, who was not good, 14/24, 145, 0-1, 58.5, but the Jets had a running game, racking up 157 yards, and Wilson showed some guts in coming back out when it looked like he had reinjured his right knee.

Defensive end John Franklin-Myers had a big game with two sacks and an interception, so for one game he earned his huge contract extension, that has the Franklin-Myers family eating from the finest restaurants in the land, daily.

--Moving on to games that mattered….

The Bengals are 7-4 after a 41-10 ass-whupping of the Steelers (5-5-1), a huge loss for Pittsburgh. 

Ben Roethlisberger threw two picks, one returned for a score, and Cincinnati running back Joe Mixon had a monster game, 165 yards on 28 carries and two touchdowns.

--Indianapolis had a 24-14 lead at the half, at home, against Tampa Bay, but the Bucs stormed back in the second half, took a 31-24 lead with 10:06 to play, the Colts tied it at 31-31 with 3:29 remaining on a Jonathan Taylor touchdown run, but Tom Brady engineered a 75-yard, eight-play drive for the win, 38-31, the capper a 28-yard touchdown run by Leonard Fournette.

Fournette had a monster game, 17 carries for 100 yards and three touchdowns, plus another TD receiving.

The Colts lost in the end, however, because they had five turnovers.

And while Brady was far from great statistically, Rob Gronkowski had seven receptions for 123 yards, thus earning him another 16 endorsement contracts.

Meanwhile, Indy didn’t lose because of Summit kicker Michael Badgley.  He hit his lone field goal from 45 yards and all four extra points, so he remains perfect as a Colt…10/10 FGs, 28/28 XPs.

--As for the red-hot New England Patriots, they won their sixth in a row, dominating Tennessee (8-4) 36-13 in Foxborough.

Mac Jones was super again, and in control…23/32, 310, 2-0, 123.2…while the Titans committed four turnovers.

Us New York area fans, specifically Jets fans, are sickened by the fact that for us old folks, age 60 and over, in our dying years the Pats will still be on top with Jones (and whoever takes over for Belichick).

Yes, if you’re a Mets, Jets, Knicks and Rangers fan, life has not been a bowl full of cherries.

To channel “Hee-Haw,” it’s been nothing but gloom, despair, and agony on me….

[In my prime sports following years (1967 on…amid the Wonder Bread Years), something like six championships in 216 seasons.  Giants/Yankees’ 11 vs. the Jets/Mets’ 3.]

Phil W., Jimbo, Stu W., Bro and Mark S. are among those sharing my misery.  For Johnny Mac, sorry, buddy, but tack on 20 seasons….J. Mac holder of the sword, wife Ellen in charge of sanitizing it before expressing to moi after her beloved employs it.

And in the late games….

Denver and the L.A. Chargers are both now 6-5 after the Broncos’ 28-13 win, Justin Herbert picked off twice, one for a touchdown, after his superb effort the week before.

In Green Bay, Aaron Rodgers shrugged off his broken pinkie toe, which he had jokingly referred to as ‘Covid toe’ earlier in the week, a story stupidly picked up by the Wall Street Journal, to lead the now 9-3 Packers to a 36-28 win over the Rams, 7-4 and losers of three straight.

And the 49ers moved to 6-5 with a 34-26 win over the Vikings (5-6).

--Separately, the Rams and the NFL agreed Wednesday to pay $790 million to settle a lawsuit over the team’s departure from St. Louis, enabling Rams owner Stan Kroenke and the league to avoid the spectacle of a St. Louis trial next month, just before the Super Bowl at Kroenke’s showcase stadium in Inglewood.

Under the terms of the agreement, St. Louis gets the money no later than Christmas Eve, with Kroenke and the league left to decide how much of the payment should be allocated to the Rams and how much to the NFL and other owners.

The lawsuit, filed in 2017, alleged that the Rams’ move from St. Louis to Los Angeles violated the NFL’s relocation policy, under which the team and the league should have made every reasonable effort to keep the team in St. Louis.

College Basketball

--Things heated up in a hurry on Friday and we’ll have a shakeup in the top ten. First, Dayton (3-3), out of nowhere, upset No. 4 (AP) Kansas (4-1) 74-73 at a tournament in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, as reserve forward Mustapha Amzil hit an off-balance jumper at the buzzer…the ball hitting the front of the rim and then the backboard before falling through the net as the final horn sounded.  It was his only shot of the game.

Kansas hit just 9 of 20 from the free throw line, and was 4 of 19 from three.

Dayton now faces Belmont, which defeated Iona 72-65.

Iona, coached by Rick Pitino, had beaten No. 10 Alabama on Thursday, 72-68, becoming the first team in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference’s history to beat an AP top-10 team.  Great stuff.

MAAC teams are now 1-119 against an AP top-10 squad*.  [Pitino has defeated a top-10 team at four different schools…Providence, Kentucky, Louisville, Iona.]

*Make that 1-120, Iona losing to 4 Kansas this afternoon, 96-83…but they beat the spread of 13.5!  And at the end of the day, boys and girls….

I just love the way Pitino has embraced Iona.  He knows it’s his last stop and he’s made a mark.  In this transfer-happy era, why wouldn’t you want to play for the guy for a year?  Like if you’re good enough to play in Europe, for example, that kind of ballplayer.  You get invaluable experience from a coach who’s seen it all, including in the pros.

--Late Friday night, No. 1 Gonzaga (6-1) fell to 5 Duke (7-0) 84-81 in Las Vegas before an announced crowd of 20,389, the largest for a hoops game in state history.

Gonzaga turned the ball over 17 times to Duke’s 8.

“It’s just a really big-time game, what a great crowd,” Coach K said after. “We thought it might be a showcase game and it was.  But having this type of crowd was amazing.  Obviously, we feel great about the win, and we think we beat an outstanding basketball team.”

Because of the atmosphere, this is the kind of game that benefits both teams come tournament time.

--Saturday, St. Bonaventure suffered its first defeat and it was a bad one, 90-80 at home against Northern Iowa (2-3), the No. 16 Bonnies falling to 5-1.

I think my boys got a little full of themselves after their stirring tourney success in Charleston and what was one of the best defensive teams in the country last season, with the same starting five returning, has been less so this campaign thus far, yesterday the Bonnies giving up 15 threes (on 31 attempts) to the Panthers.

So while I said it was a “bad” defeat, it also should be treated as a “good” one…a lesson learned.  Be humble, work your ass off, and don’t take anything for granted.  You have to earn the hoped-for 4-seed come tourney time. 

--Wake Forest had a nice 80-77 overtime win Friday night against Oregon State (1-5…but an Elite Eight team last season), the Deacs with a gut-check after blowing a 20-point second-half lead.

Up 55-35 with 16:05 to play, the Deacs suddenly went frigid from the field and the Beavers went up top with 5:00 to play, before Wake regained its mojo, sending the game into overtime where they came through in the end.

But then the Deacs (6-1) suffered their first loss last night in this tournament in Destin, Florida, 75-61 to LSU (7-0); Wake shooting just 6 of 25 from downtown, while committing 22 turnovers.

NBA

--Friday night, the Knicks took on the white-hot Phoenix Suns at the Garden and for the first time this season, Knicks fans let the home team have it, New York pathetic in a 118-97 loss.

But the Knicks (11-9) rebounded last night in Atlanta, beating the Hawks (11-10), who had won seven in a row, 99-90, despite playing without Kemba Walker, Derrick Walker, Nerlens Noel and Taj Gibson. 

So from game-to-game, you just don’t know which Knicks team will show up.

--Meanwhile, the Suns (17-3) stretched their winning streak to 16 last night with a 113-107 victory at Brooklyn (14-6), a signature ‘W’, as Devon Booker, who looked awesome Friday with 32 at the Garden, scored another 30 at the Barclays Center.  Kevin Durant had 39 in defeat.

You know who’s playing well for the Nets off the bench?  Wake Forest veteran James Johnson.  Forget his raw stats, which are miniscule, but his +/- figures are off the charts in many of his limited moments.  He’s a valuable piece come playoff time, a lockdown defender, if he can stay healthy.

--The 17-2 Warriors took on the Clippers in Los Angeles this afternoon….and Golden State is 18-2, 105-90 winners.

--It was not a good week for LeBron James…as in it was a really crappy, self-inflicted one , that will hurt his legacy some…and that is in no way an overstatement.

First, he was suspended one game for an on court altercation with Pistons thug Isaiah Stewart, and now he’s been hit with a $15,000 fine from the NBA for making an obscene gesture during the Lakers win over the Pacers on Wednesday night.  He was also warned about using profane language regarding his suspension during media availability.  James referred to it as “bullshit.”

LeBron was just another jerk this week.  Advertisers tend to steer clear from same.

MLB

--Gotta hand it to new Mets GM Billy Eppler.  He did indeed hit the ground running, signing three free agents his first week – Eduardo Escobar, Mark Canha, and Starling Marte.

The first two got two-year deals, Marte four, the center fielder the biggie in the group, though both Escobar (an infielder) and Canha (OF/1B) have pop and give the Mets needed depth and versatility.  I like the moves.

But now Eppler knows he has to get some pitching, badly.

[Owner Steve Cohen was upset with pitcher Steven Matz’s agent after Matz signed a four-year, $44 million deal with the Cardinals.  Word was the Mets wanted to bring him back and Cohen felt the agent betrayed him.  Mets fan say, don’t worry, Uncle Stevie.  It’s Steven Matz, not Sandy Koufax!]

I’ve been surprised there has been as much activity as there’s been with the collective bargaining agreement expiring at 11:59 p.m. ET on Dec. 1, a lockout looming.

But you still have a lot of prime targets, particularly shortstops Carlos Correa, Corey Seager, Javy Baez (2B/SS), Marcus Semien (2B/SS) and Trevor Story.

And pitchers like Cy Young Award winner Robbie Ray, future Hall of Famer Max Scherzer, as well as first baseman Freddie Freeman and third baseman Kris Bryant.

--I do have to say that regarding the coming lockout, I’m confident an agreement will be reached by end of January.   Little will be done in December, and there will be all kinds of gloom and doom in January, but my sense is a fair amount of progress on a new CBA has already been made and the two sides will compromise.  They know they have to.  It’s not like baseball is gaining in popularity.

NHL

--Alex Ovechkin had a hat trick Friday night as the Capitals defeated the Florida Panthers 4-3 in Washington, giving him 18 goals on the season, the most through 21 games by a player in at least their 17th season.  He’s now just 19 goals from passing Jaromir Jagr for third on the career list following his 28th hat trick.

And this is a guy who was hit in the face by a puck deflected by Florida’s Radko Gudas in the game’s first five minutes.  Ovechkin made a quick visit to the locker room for a few sutures, and returned for his next shift three minutes later.

“It kind of was a wakeup call,” he said after.  “Thank God, I didn’t lose any teeth.  It was not that major.”

You gotta love it.

Ovechkin then scored again in this afternoon’s 4-2 Capitals win over the Hurricanes.

--Unfortunately, the NHL has a real Covid problem, the Islanders the second team to have a few games (at least two) postponed due to a Covid outbreak.  Let’s pray with the new Omicron variant inevitably sweeping our shores at some point, the Covid situation doesn’t worsen anymore than the expected winter spike.

--I saw on hockeyreference.com that Edmonton defenseman Kris Russell became the first player with 2,000+ blocked shots (since advanced stats on this category were introduced with the 2007-08 season) when he blocked 6 in a win over Vegas Saturday.

2,000!  Good lord.

Premier League

Saturday, Arsenal beat cellar-dweller Newcastle 2-0.  I keep saying the Newcastle story is one of the more fascinating ones in sports these days.  Yes, 25 games to play, but they are six points out of the 17-slot and headed for relegation after the Saudis just invested $100s of millions in the team!

Chelsea tied Manchester United 1-1, as United awaits new manager Ralf Rangnick, the team managed on an interim basis by Michael Carrik.

Sunday, Man City beat West Ham in a biggie, 2-1, though the Hammers stayed top four in the standings, Liverpool whipped Southampton 4-0, and 19 Norwich picked up a point against the Wolves, 0-0.

Tottenham’s match with Burnley was snowed out!  [This doesn’t bode well for Britain’s/Europe’s looming fuel crisis.  It’s not even December.]

Stuff

--We note passing of the great Stephen Sondheim, 91, a true giant in the entertainment world.  He died suddenly at home in Roxbury, Conn., Friday, after celebrating Thanksgiving at a dinner with friends.

Charles McNulty / Los Angeles Times

“Sondheim didn’t invent ‘the book musical.’  But he was a young disciple of Oscar Hammerstein II, who helped the American musical make an evolutionary leap into a more integrated form, first in his work with Jerome Kern on the 1927 musical ‘Show Boat’ and later in his celebrated collaborations with Richard Rodgers.

“The only child of affluent New York dressmakers, Sondheim essentially became part of Hammerstein’s country household after his parents divorced and he moved with his formidable socialite mother to Bucks County, Pa.  Sondheim looked to Hammerstein as a ‘surrogate father,’ who opened up the possibility of theatrical songwriting. At the time, Sondheim was a precocious young classical piano player being groomed for a concert career.  Broadway wasn’t in the cards.

“In recounting Hammerstein’s profound influence, Sondheim recalled to (director Richard) Eyre: ‘I showed him everything I wrote from the age of fifteen on, and he treated it absolutely on a level with professional work. …As a result of Oscar I think I probably knew more about writing musicals at the age of nineteen than most people do at the age of ninety.’”

Sondheim’s Broadway debut as a lyricist was on “West Side Story,” working alongside composer Leonard Bernstein, book writer Arthur Laurents and director-choreographer Jerome Robbins.

Sondheim, while excited to work with Bernstein, “had misgivings about joining the team strictly as a lyricist.  Hammerstein, once again serving as the benevolent hand of fate, advised him not to pass up the opportunity of working with such gifted professionals.

“After this landmark success, Sondheim was determined to conquer Broadway as a composer.  But another lyric-writing opportunity came about that he found impossible to pass up; a musical inspired by the memoir of burlesque entertainer Gypsy Rose Lee.”

Sondheim was thus reunited with Laurents and Robbins for “Gypsy.”

“West Side Story” and “Gypsy” would normally be enough for any theater artist in terms of crowning achievements.

But instead it was “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum,” “Company,” “Follies,” “A Little Night Music,” “Sweeney Todd”…then “Sunday in the Park With George” and “Into the Woods.”

Sondheim would go on to collect eight Tony Awards – including best original Broadway score for three straight years in 1971-73 and a lifetime achievement Tony in 2008.  He earned eight Grammys, with singer Judy Collins’ version of Sondheim’s “Send in the Clowns” winning song of the year in 1975.

He also captured an Oscar for his contribution to the 1990 soundtrack of “Dick Tracy.”

Sondheim received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Obama in 2015.

Think about it…a new film version of “West Side Story,” directed by Steven Spielberg, opens in December, and in Broadway previews right now, a novel production of “Company” has New York once again abuzz.

Charles McNulty:

“No words can do Sondheim justice, but his own (from ‘Sunday in the Park With George’) capture the liberated artistic spirit that kept Broadway marching, despite its timidity, into the future:

Stop worrying if your vision
Is new.
Let others make that decision -
They usually do.
You keep moving on.

--Garth Brooks is big in Ireland.  He just added a third date to his run in Croke Park, Dublin, next September.  Friday morning, more than 280,000 people were queuing online for tickets for the three gigs.

Croke Park is Ireland’s version of Wembley Stadium, and it actually has a capacity of 82,000.

This level of ticket demand really is amazing given Ireland’s overall population…5 million.

Top 3 songs for the week 11/27/71: #1 “Theme From Shaft” (Isaac Hayes)  #2 “Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves” (Cher)  #3 “Baby I’m – A Want You” (Bread)…and…#4 “Have You Seen Her” (Chi-Llites) #5 “Family Affair” (Sly & The Family Stone)  #6 “Imagine” (John Lennon Plastic Ono Band)  #7 “Got To Be There” (Michael Jackson…his best…)  #8 “Peace Train” (Cat Stevens)  #9 “Rock Steady” (Aretha Franklin) #10 “Desiderata” (Les Crane…B+ week…)

Michigan Football Quiz Answers: 1) Two to pass for 9,000 yards in their careers: Chad Henne (2004-07) 9,715;  John Navarre (2000-03) 9,014. 2) Running backs over 4,000 yards: Michael Hart (2004-07) 5,040; Denard Robinson (2009-12) 4,495; Jamie Morris (1984-87) 4,392; Tyrone Wheatley (1991-94) 4,178; Anthony Thomas (1997-2000) 4,098.

Add-On up top by noon, Wed.

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