College Football Quiz: 1) What two comprised the great running back tandem for SMU during their top-five AP seasons in 1981 and 1982? 2) Who is the only Stanford running back to rush for 4,000 yards? 3) Who is the only Syracuse running back to rush for 4,000 yards? Answers below.
CFB Tidbits
–Now that the dust has cleared from last weekend’s upsets, it’s really depressing that an LSU-Alabama rematch for the BCS title is a virtual certainty, assuming LSU doesn’t stumble against No. 3 Arkansas on Friday (or the SEC Conference Championship against Georgia the following week). It’s also virtually unprecedented to have the SEC occupy the top three slots in the BCS. According to Sports Illustrated, the last conference to accomplish this feat was the Big Eight’s Nebraska, Oklahoma and Colorado in 1971.
–As Reed Albergotti of the Wall Street Journal reported, “Legendary Penn State football coach Joe Paterno clashed repeatedly with the university’s former chief disciplinarian over how harshly to punish players who got into trouble, internal emails suggest, shedding new light on the school’s effort to balance its reputation as a magnet for scholar-athletes with the demands of running a nationally dominant football program.”
It should be no surprise we’re learning by the day what an arrogant jerk Paterno could be as he lorded over the university. Vicky Triponey, the school’s standards and conduct officer, complained in an Aug. 12, 2005 email to President Graham Spanier and others:
“(Mr. Paterno believed she should have) no interest, (or business) holding our football players accountable to our community standards. The Coach is insistent he knows best how to discipline his players…and their status as a student when they commit violations of our standards should NOT be our concern…and I think he was saying we should treat football players different from other students in this regard.”
–Arizona hired former West Virginia and Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez. Which Rodriguez do they get? The one who turned WVU into a national title contender, or the total failure at Michigan?
—Brigham Young has apparently turned down overtures from the Big East to join the conference for football only. Why? Money, of course. A conflict over television rights.
–Steve G. weighed in on USC-Oregon in terms of the Battle of the Cheerleaders, and while Steve is a big Trojans fan he concedes the Lady Ducks “won in a romp.” Steve, however, is demanding a rematch and I’m thinking it’s got pay-per-view potential. Perhaps an HBO series leading up to the big event.
–The other week when No. 1 LSU played No. 2 Alabama, it was the latest Game of the Century, but on the 40th anniversary of the real Game of the Century, a look back at No. 1 Nebraska vs. No. 2 Oklahoma, Nov. 25, 1971. For those of us of a certain age, some of the following is still vivid in our beer-soaked memories.
The recap from “Fifty Years of College Football” by Bob Boyles and Paul Guido:
“Longtime rivals hooked up in contest that was worthy of pre-game accolades. To stop Sooners (9-1), who averaged NCAA-record 566 yards per game, Nebraska DEs Willie Harper and John Adkins were deployed wide in attempt to keep ball away from HB Greg Pruitt and WB Joe Wylie. Pruitt and Wylie were significantly negated (only 70 total yards combined), but QB Jack Mildren produced 267 yards in total offense and 4 TDs, 2 passing. With so much action in the middle of the line, Cornhuskers NG Rich Glover responded with 22 tackles. Nebraska (11-0) enjoyed 174 yards rushing and 4 TDs from IB Jeff Kinney, who ended game with Huskers career rushing record. Despite number of stars, one player shone most of all. Nebraska WB Johnny Rodgers opened scoring with amazing punt RET: With 6 Sooners surrounding him on Huskers 28YL, Rodgers took high boot by P Wylie, taking a chance that lesser men would have fair-caught. Pruitt hit Rodgers with hard shot that spun him away from precarious situation – G Ken Jones was about to nail him. Several nifty moves later, Rodgers was off on 72-yard TD, with Wylie being bumped aside by Nebraska DB Joe Blahak. OU wiped out 14-3 deficit as Mildren ran for TD and teamed up with WR Jon Harrison for TD. It was Huskers’ turn and QB Jerry Tagge led them on two drives resulting in Kinney TDs for 28-17 lead. Sooners mustered magnificent rally to regain lead at 31-28 as Mildren ran for score and threw his 2nd TD to Harrison. Nebraska’s winning march featured more Kinney and Rodgers. Kinney bulldozed into OU territory, where drive reached crucial 3rd-and-8. Tagge was forced out of pocket before throwing to Rodgers, who made incredible catch between two defenders while sliding to his knees. Kinney crashed off tackle for winning score six plays later. It truly was a memorable ‘Game of the Century.’”
And due to performances in games like the above, I consider Johnny Rodgers the greatest college football player I ever saw. Tony Dorsett might be second on my list, though I’m more than a bit biased on this one, especially having been in the crowd the day he ran for 300 yards against Notre Dame at a time when the Fighting Irish had never given up 200 to any single back.
NFL Bytes
“Just a couple of weeks ago, the Christmas Even game between the Jets and Giants looked so toasty and inviting. Both teams owned a piece of first place – the Jets were riding a three-game win streak and the Giants were fresh off a sulky-Belichick upset of New England.
“Now Dec. 24 in the Meadowlands could become a big, fat Bowl of Sad.”
Two weeks ago the Jets were 5-3 and the Giants 6-2, and New York area fans were euphoric. Now they are 5-5 and 6-4, and it’s the height of despair, especially if you’re a Giants fan facing a very difficult schedule the rest of the way. At least us Jets supporters have an easy one and are really still in it.
But the Giants have to go to New Orleans, next Monday night, then host Green Bay, before traveling to Dallas.
And get this…during Coach Tom Coughlin’s tenure in New York, the Giants are 47-17 during the first halves of seasons and 24-34 in the second halves.
–As noted by the Journal’s Jared Diamond, this year’s Thanksgiving matchups, Detroit (7-3) vs. Green Bay (10-0), Miami (3-7) vs. Dallas (6-4), and Baltimore (7-3) vs. San Francisco (9-1), have the second-best combined win percentage for Turkey Day since 1970; 1971 being the best…Chiefs-Lions, Rams-Cowboys. I swear I remember those matchups, but 40 years ago?! That’s depressing.
–Chicago Bears fans had to be so fired up over their solid 7-3 start, but then they lose QB Jay Cutler for the rest of the regular season with a broken thumb. As I go to post, the Bears are looking at Kyle Orton to replace Cutler, Orton having been released by Denver.
Ball Bits
–Congratulations to Major League Baseball for reaching agreement with its players on a new collective bargaining agreement that includes testing for HGH next spring. As reported by the New York Times’ Michael S. Schmidt:
“Each player will have a blood test for the substance in spring training. But during the season, the testing will be stopped. After the season, it will resume.
“The owners and the players will then decide whether to do in-season testing in 2013, something the owners are clearly hoping will happen.”
The thing is, HGH is still very hard to detect, so no telling how the initial testing will go but it’s a good start. Anyone caught in the spring or off-season will face a 50-game suspension.
Replay: While negotiations are still continuing, replays could be expanded from their current use on home run calls only, to include fair/foul balls and whether balls are caught or trapped. Boy, I hope they don’t do either one, except for the playoffs.
Wild-card: If a decision is reached by March 1, an additional wild-card team will be added for 2012; if not, the wild cards will be added for 2013.
Realignment: Houston moves to the A.L. West in 2013.
Draft: Big changes here. Players taken in the June draft can sign only minor league contracts, eliminating major league deals agents often bargained for. There will be a bonus pool based on industry revenue. Teams can spend beyond the pool but there would be penalties. Needless to say, agents like Scott Boras aren’t happy.
Lowest-revenue and smallest-market teams will also be given extra draft picks under the new system via a lottery.
And the minimum salary rises from $414,000 to $480,000 and then incrementally to $500,000 in 2014, followed by cost-of-living raises the next two years. Teams will also be allowed to add a 26th player for some as yet unspecified doubleheaders. [Paul White / USA TODAY]
–Congratulations to Milwaukee’s Ryan Braun for winning the N.L. MVP Award, collecting 20 of 32 first-place votes and holding off the Dodgers’ Matt Kemp overall, 388-332. Kemp by most measures had a better year than Braun, but Braun did finish with a better combined on-base and slugging percentage than Kemp – a league-leading .994 to Kemp’s .986, and Braun’s Brewers won the N.L. Central vs. the Dodgers’ finishing 82-79.
Albert Pujols’ finished fifth in the balloting, his 10th top-five MVP finish in 11 seasons.
Back to Kemp, he did have a truly spectacular season, batting .324, with 39 homers, 126 RBI and 40 steals. No one in major league history has ever had those kinds of numbers when factoring in the stolen bases. But I can’t get all worked up he didn’t win the MVP. Kemp did tell Los Angeles-area reporters, “y’all created a monster” as he vowed to go for 50 homers and 50 steals next season, something that’s never been done.
–And congrats to Detroit hurler Justin Verlander, who became the first starting pitcher to win both the Cy Young and MVP Awards in the same year since Roger Clemens did it in 1986. [Reliever Dennis Eckersley won both in 1992.] So Verlander’s winning has reignited the debate about whether pitchers should even be eligible for the MVP, and how can you give the MVP to anyone but an everyday player? Eh. I have no problem with Verlander receiving the award. By some measurements, he had the best year for a pitcher in the A.L. since the advent of the designated hitter in 1973. During a critical 90-game stretch, beginning in May, the Tigers were 17-3 when Verlander pitched and 33-37 when he did not. [Tyler Kepner / New York Times]
–What a tragedy for the Seattle Mariners, as promising prospect, outfielder Greg Halman, was stabbed to death back home in the Netherlands, with his brother as the suspect. Halman, 24, had shown real power in the minors and was a part-time player last year for the big-league club.
College Basketball
AP Top Ten
1. UNC
2. Kentucky
3. Ohio State
4. UConn
5. Syracuse
6. Duke
7. Louisville
8. Memphis
9. Baylor
10. Florida
No huge upsets the last few days, but Coastal Carolina did pull a lesser one off at Clemson, 60-59, on a last-second shot.
Tony Stewart
If you saw my work area, I have post-its all over the place for everything from notes on the Republicans’ last debate, to reminders to call certain people, to Iran’s nuclear program, to a note to watch the last NASCAR race, to….doh! Yes, after telling you how I would be sure to tune into the last Chase for the Sprint Cup event on Sunday, I did indeed watch a fair amount of the early action, ever enthralled by the pit stops (the crews just amaze me), and the race was roughly about a third over when it went into a rain delay. So I flipped back to football (remember I had watched the Presidents Cup on Saturday night so I didn’t need to catch the taped action Sunday), and then I watched some news, and then “60 Minutes” (three great segments), and then Giants-Eagles as I finished off Bar Chat Sunday night.
So on Monday morning, bright and early, I check the newsfeeds and…NOOOO!!! I totally forgot to go back to the race at Homestead and missed the dramatic finish as Tony Stewart secured his third championship in defeating Carl Edwards. Exactly what I had been writing you about beforehand. My brother sends me a note first thing Monday, “Did you see the race? Boy, ‘Smoke’ was great.”
Get this…over the course of the 400-mile race, Stewart, in mounting two comebacks, passed 118 cars after falling outside the top 30 twice in the first 40 laps.
“I feel like I passed half the state of Florida,” Stewart said. “I would definitely say this is one of the greatest races in my life.”
A.J. Foyt called Stewart after the race and said in a statement, “Tony drove the best race of his life.”
Stewart, who has long idolized Foyt, responded, “To hear him say that, it brings a tear to your eye.”
For his part, Edwards was no slouch, leading a race-high 119 laps (of 267).
So a belated congratulations to Tony Stewart, who just may have given his sport the shot in the arm it’s needed to get back on top.
–Pittsburgh Penguins superstar Sidney Crosby finally made his debut on Monday after being out for 10 months with a concussion. And what a debut it was…two goals and two assists in a 5-0 victory over the Islanders.
There have been many moments during his layoff that we wondered if Sidney would ever play again. What an incredibly emotional night it must have been then in Pittsburgh. I’m guessing had I been there I might have had to dab my eyes with a Kleenex. But if I was a Penguins fan, I’d be a nervous wreck just watching the guy from here on, scared to death he’ll take another big lick…even as the NHL tries to limit hits to the head.
–Can’t say I follow Major League Soccer, but gotta give it up for David Beckham. He finished his five-year, checkered career with the L.A. Galaxy by helping them to the title, the perfect ending to his grand experiment. And after an injury-riddled campaign in 2010, he was the MLS Comeback Player of the Year this season. Alas, during his tenure in America, he hardly revolutionized the game as was the original intent.
1. Primanti Bros. – Pittsburgh
2. Salt’s Cure – West Hollywood
3. Alabama Jack’s – Key Largo
4. Original Joe’s – San Jose
5. Keens Steakhouse – New York City…always forget about this one.
6. Salt Lick Bar-B-Q – Austin
7. Gus’s World Famous Fried Chicken – Memphis…I’m drooling.
8. Couloir – Jackson Hole…sounds very cool…you hike up to it, at an elevation of 9,095 feet.
9. Jethro’s BBQ – Des Moines…drat! Forgot to go to this one when I was in town in August.
–Brad K. passed along the tragic tale of Indiana hunter, Paul Smith, who died after an encounter with a deer. Mr. Smith, no relation to former NFL tight ends Jackie and Jerry Smith, was 62. He died from a lacerated liver.
“After shooting a deer from a tree stand, Smith allegedly attempted to field dress the animal and discovered it was still alive. Smith told his son in a voicemail before his death that ‘he scuffled with the deer before killing it with a knife,’ according to the Indiana Department of Natural Resources.
“Smith called park officials several hours later asking for help transporting the deer carcass. A park ranger soon found Smith unconscious at the base of a tree reports the Chicago Sun-Times.”
He was pronounced dead at the scene, and an autopsy showed lacerations on Smith’s liver. Ergo, “It appears as if he was kicked,” a spokesman for the Dept. of Natural Resources said.
But, separately, in nearby Michigan, over 300,000 fewer hunting licenses were issued last year than in 1992, while the deer population has grown significantly. This is not good. The giant rats could be a real force for bad come the 2012 Election.
It was in 1968 that he met Rundgren outside the Café Au Go Go in Greenwich Village and the two built a studio in Rundgren’s Manhattan loft. When Todd formed Utopia in 1973, Mr. Klingman’s band, Moogy and the Rhythm Kings, was the core. In 1969, Moogy, all of 18, found himself producing an album titled “Summit Meeting” that had the likes of Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Dr. John and Linda Ronstadt on it.
But Denise D. and I are in mourning because we both saw Rundgren and his reunited Utopia gang, including Klingman, in recent concerts…me, September of last year, Denise just a few months ago. It was Rundgren who made the announcement of his buddy Klingman’s death.
–The aforementioned Steve G. reminded me that for some incredibly stupid reason, long ago, Anne Murray opened for Bruce Springsteen! “Murray was singing and the very loud ‘BRUCE, BRUCE, BRUCE’ chant started and she thought the crowd was booing her and left the stage.” Of course Bruce fans have a little Jets fan in them and can be a bit rude, writes your editor, himself a sometimes rude Jets fan.
–Speaking of Bruuuuuuuuuce….he’s heading back on tour in 2012 and announced this week he’d be releasing the U.S. dates shortly. The band is also releasing a new album sometime next year as well.
Top 3 songs for the week 11/24/79: #1 “No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)” (Barbra Streisand/Donna Summer….enough is right! Just shoot me) #2 “Babe” (Styx…amazing drivel from this overrated hair band) #3 “Still” (Commodores…eh…better than first two, which isn’t saying much)…and…#4 “Dim All The Lights” (Donna Summer…OK, gotta be fair…considering the genre, passable…except the bridge blows) #5 “Heartache Tonight” (Eagles…easily their worst top ten…just dreadful) #6 “Please Don’t Go” (K.C. & The Sunshine Band…this was the week where each group sought to slow it down and this one just goes on and on and on…zzzzzzzz) #7 “You Decorated My Life” (Kenny Rogers…pre-facework…what an awful week) #8 “Send One Your Love” (Stevie Wonder) #9 “Tusk” (Fleetwood Mac…didn’t like this group…but stomached this one) #10 “Pop Muzik” (M…whatever you do, don’t look this one up unless you have a defibrillator nearby)
College Football Quiz Answers: 1) Eric Dickerson and Craig James were teammates from 1979-82 and remain No. 1 and No. 3 on the all-time SMU rushing list; Dickerson with 4,450 yards and James with 3,743. In 1981, SMU finished 10-1 and was No. 5 in the AP. In 1982, the Mustangs went 11-0-1 and were No. 2 to Penn State. 2) Stanford’s Darrin Nelson rushed for 4,033 yards, (1977-78, 80-81). 3) Syracuse’s Joe Morris rushed for 4,299 yards (1978-81).
