Note: Crazy schedule next few days…some fun, I must admit, just not a lot of time for work. This weekend is my almost annual (2009, 20011, 2012) trip to Kiawah, S.C., to play the Ocean Course and then run a half-marathon the next day.
Now I was going great guns, relatively speaking, with my training this summer, but Hurricane Sandy set me back in a big way and I’m rather depressed heading into this. In 2009 I ran a 2:14 (chip time…I start way in the back and it takes three minutes to get to the starting line), and last year I was psyched to beat it by three minutes, 2:11.
So this year I thought for sure I’d do under 2:10 and now I’ll be happy to do 2:15 (I never walk any portion of a half). Back in the day, like way back, I did a few 1:51s. But I’m old…and it sucks.
Anyway, I won’t be pulling any Paul Ryans on you. You’ll get to see how I did online. I think rmssports.com/results/12kiawah.txt will be the best place. If I drop dead…well, I guess you’ll see a DNF….and that would be your sign that there will be no more Bar Chats. [Long-time readers know that in this race in 2009, in the final mile I passed a man in full cardiac arrest who did indeed die.]
So that’s my long-winded explanation for the next few BCs being on the light side. Much of December will be. I need a bit of a break.
PGA Tour Quiz: Name the six to win two or more events on tour this past year. Answer below.
BCS Uproar
“The BCS isn’t about best matchups: Alabama coach Nick Saban took part of his postgame press conference on Saturday to talk about Georgia, which was No. 3 coming into the SEC championship game and had just lost a heartbreaker, 32-28. Saban said that despite the rule that limits only two teams from one conference getting BCS slots, that Georgia deserved to go to a BCS game. Florida (11-1), which lost to Georgia, got the Sugar Bowl berth because it finished No. 3 in the final BCS Standings.
“ ‘I thought the BCS bowl games were supposed to get the best teams in the game. So now it’s all about the conferences sharing the money,’ he said. ‘But I still think they can share the money however they want. It’s not a financial decision. It’s a player decision and reinforcing the players in a positive way for the great season they had. Florida should go to a BCS game, too. If you only lose one game in this league, you should be in a BCS game. If you got in this [SEC championship] game, you should be in a BCS game.’
“But here’s a reality check for Monday morning. The BCS system, like any system, has priorities. Some the powers that be have chosen. Some have been forced upon the system. Here they are, in order of their importance:
“ * Create a vehicle to match No. 1 and No. 2 for the national championship. They never said we would agree on who No. 1 and No. 2 are, just that they would play.
“ * Protect the conference champions who signed on to the agreement. The Big Ten or the SEC would never have signed on to the BCS agreement if their champions, no matter what the record, were not granted access to one of the big games. So when a 7-5 Wisconsin wins the Big Ten, there is no option. Without that guarantee Jim Delany would have walked and just signed his own deal with the Rose Bowl.
“ * Give the little guys just enough access to keep them from taking you to court. The BCS could not put together a closed system and tell the smaller five conferences (MAC, Mountain West, Conference USA, Sun Belt, WAC) that they would never, ever get access to one of these big bowls just because the public doesn’t embrace the Cinderella in football the way it does in the NCAA basketball tournament. It’s called the Sherman Antitrust Act and you don’t want to be on the wrong side of it.
“ * So two access points were created for the little guys and Northern Illinois met one of them by finishing No. 15 in the final BCS Standings and ahead of Big East champ Louisville (No. 21). The Huskies are getting beat up in the press but they followed the rules and everybody agreed on the rules in advance.
“ * Within that framework and those limitations, the bowls get a selection order and a chance to put together the best matchups possible. The idea is to be fair to all of the bowls and not give one or two of the bowls lousy matchups in order to get blockbuster games in the other two. The fans and the media don’t like that because they would rather have two great matchups rather than four average ones. But the fans and the media don’t have any skin in the game. So the needs of the bowls are balanced with the needs and wants of the fans. Sometimes the fans lose.”
“(Northern Illinois) may have caused a bit of consternation among elitists, but it earned its way in one of the best years in MAC history. The Huskies’ only loss was by one point to Iowa. Yes, the Hawkeyes were Big Ten bottom feeders. But the Huskies, 12-1, won eight of their games by at least 12 points.
“Oklahoma limped to the finish, winning its final three games by one, three and seven points while giving up more than 1,600 yards and 15 touchdowns. Georgia? The Dawgs’ argument is not with Northern Illinois in this case, it is with the BCS commissioners who set the rules. Conferences are allowed a max of two teams. The SEC was represented by Alabama and Florida. The Big 12 got only Big 12 co-champ (with Oklahoma) Kansas State.
“Northern Illinois only did what it was told. BCS rules state that if a non-BCS champion finishes in the top 12 it is automatically in. The threshold becomes top 16 if it finishes in front of a BCS-league champion. The Huskies finished ahead of two – Wisconsin and Louisville.
“And if you think this is an anomaly, think again. If this had been 2014, NIU would have been guaranteed a spot in a playoff bowl as the highest-ranked non-BCS champion. There would be no top-12, top-16 standard to meet.
So…games in which to buy beer for.
BCS: Notre Dame vs. Alabama
Fiesta: Oregon vs. Kansas State
Orange: Northern Illinois vs. Florida State
Cotton: Oklahoma vs. Texas A&M
Chick-fil-A: LSU vs. Clemson [New Year’s Eve…Yes! I now have something to do!]
Alamo: Oregon State vs. Texas…mildly interested…excuse to pull out Beaverwear
Pinstripe: West Virginia vs. Syracuse…will follow on computer until second half if close
–Meanwhile, Johnny Manziel, the superstar freshman quarterback at Texas A&M, and Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te’o, are the odds-on favorites to win the Heisman Trophy on Saturday. Kansas State QB Collin Klein will probably finish third.
Manziel would be the first freshman to win the award. Only three sophomores have ever won it…Tim Tebow (2007, Sam Bradford (2008) and Mark Ingram 92009).
–Arkansas shocked the college football world by hiring Wisconsin’s Bret Bielema as its next coach. Bielema, 42, has gone 68-24 since becoming head coach in 2006, with four seasons of 10 or more victories and three consecutive Rose Bowls. Is this Midwesterner ready for the South? Good barbecue?! Are you kidding me?! I’m there.
But…why would Bielema leave a great Big Ten gig, where he is clearly comfortable, for Arkansas? We aren’t talking ‘Bama, LSU or Florida. This is a lateral move at best.
Then again, as Brian Bennett of ESPN.com points out, being successful at Wisconsin isn’t easy. Little home-grown talent and intense recruiting wars, especially with Urban Meyer now hanging his hat at Ohio State.
So now who replaces Bielema? Paul Chryst left Wisconsin for the head-coaching job at Pitt and it looks like he is turning things around the way the Panthers finished the season. If Chryst goes back to Wisconsin, that would mean four coaches at Pitt in four years. Ughh.
–Do the Jets start Mark Sanchez, Greg McElroy or Tim Tebow? At the end of Sunday’s debacle that McElroy pulled out for the Jets (everyone and their brother agrees with my initial take Sunday night that it was truly the worst football game ever played), I thought coach Rex Ryan should go back to Sanchez for this Sunday’s game in Jacksonville.
–On Sunday night, Bob Costas used his halftime segment to comment on the murder-suicide committed by Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher. Costas quoted Fox Sports columnist Jason Whitlock and said, “If Jovan Belcher didn’t possess a gun, he and Kasandra Perkins would both be alive today.”
Costas thus became the brunt of angry and hostile blog posts demanding he be fired from NBC.
I like Costas. I just wish he had employed my adage ‘wait 24 hours’ (in this case 48 or more). Nonetheless, Costas, in comments on the Dan Patrick Show on Tuesday, said some of the following:
“Sometimes the quality of those who oppose you speaks for itself. I was told – I didn’t see it – that someone compared (the halftime segment) to blatantly racist comments. This is simply a case of people who don’t agree with this or they don’t agree with what people think I was saying.
“If someone writes something that people disagree with, no matter how well it was written, if the topic is emotional, people are apt to be described as a screed. Someone (who) disagrees will characterize it as a rant.”
Costas added he wished he had more time, preferring a more in-depth discussion when touching on such a tragic incident.
Patrick asked Costas for his exact stance on gun control, which I won’t repeat here. Patrick then said he thought Costas’ segment was too “heavy.”
College Basketball
AP Poll
1. Indiana
2. Duke
3. Michigan
4. Syracuse
5. Louisville
6. Florida
7. Ohio State
8. Arizona
9. Kansas
10. Gonzaga
17. San Diego State…your Bar Chat Pick to Click! Jamaal Franklin, a 6-5 guard, is averaging 10.7 rebounds a game, along with 19.9 ppg. By March, everyone will realize he’s the best player in the country and destined to be a top three draft pick.
*Kentucky totally dropped out of the top 25, from No. 8, the biggest single-week drop from the rankings since they were expanded to 25 teams in 1990.
I’ve known the Washington Wizards have sucked for some time now, but it took the Washington Post’s Norman Chad to remind me just how much.
“(The Wizards), over the last four seasons, are 19-63, 26-56, 23-59 and 20-46. The last time they made the playoffs was 2008, the last time they won a playoff series was 2005 and the last time they won an NBA title – their only one – was 1978….
“At the moment, the Wizards’ coach is Randy Wittman, a 21st-century Red Klotz, the biggest difference being Klotz was supposed to lose every game. Wittman has the lowest winning percentage (.322) of any active NBA coach, with a 119-251 record.
“Wittman lost in Cleveland (32-50 and 30-52 season), he lost in Minnesota (12-30, 22-60, 4-15) and now he’s lost in Washington (18-31, 1-13). He’s proven he can lose anywhere, anytime, under any conditions – which gives him a bright future with perpetually losing franchises….
“On my last trip to Washington, someone offered me Wizards tickets. I politely declined and went and stood in the Bureau of Engraving and Printing lobby instead.”
BUT WHAT’S THIS?! ON TUESDAY NIGHT, THE WIZARDS BEAT THE HEAT!!!
Ball Bits
–It would seem as if we won’t have much longer to kick Alex Rodriguez around, seeing as how he is undergoing a second hip surgery, and this one on the other side from the 2009 operation, a procedure far more serious because he has a bone impingement plus a torn labrum. A-Rod, for all intents and purposes is finished.
Oh, sure, I guess he could come back in 2014 and hit 20 home runs (after struggling mightily the second half of 2013 following rehab that will keep him out until June-July).
“The Yankees announced Monday that third baseman Alex Rodriguez, the highest-paid player in baseball history, would have hip surgery in January…He will be sidelined for four to six months, the team says.
“Calin Moucha, associate chief of joint replacement surgery at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, told USA TODAY Sports, ‘My expectation is it takes six to 12 months to come back.’”
But unlike the Steinbrenner Yankees of old, when King George would tell his baseball people in a situation like this to go out and get the best third baseman you can buy, the Yankees are thinking of bringing back Eric Chavez, who, as Nightengale points out, has missed 647 games over the last six years.
“The Yankees haven’t signed a free agent outside of their organization this winter, bent on getting their payroll under $189 million by 2014 to save a few bucks on their luxury tax….
“(The) Yankees used to operate with an open bank vault, and now they’re searching under couch cushions for loose change.
“The Yankees believe Rodriguez will be fine after surgery. They’re fooling themselves….
“The great unknown is whether Rodriguez’ days of performance-enhancing drug use led to the hip injuries and his dramatic decline.”
“So this is what the Yankees hope, going into a season that might not start for Alex Rodriguez until he has turned 38: That the reason he looked as washed up as he did in the postseason of 2012 was because he now has two old-man hips instead of one….
“It will be nine years in February that the Yankees brought Rodriguez here from Texas. At the time they thought it was one of the biggest trades in their history just because they were getting a player that so many thought was the best player of his time, one maybe on his way to being called the greatest of all time. He wasn’t even 30 yet.
“Of course they didn’t know he was a juicer then. Nobody except A-Rod and his cousin Yuri did, the rest of the world wouldn’t find out until five years later when he got busted by Sports Illustrated and was forced to come clean.
“You might remember what he said in February of 2009 on the day he was supposed to have come clean, when he told us he’d only used banned substances – his crisis managers made sure he stayed away from the word ‘steroids’ – for the three years he had been with the Rangers.
“ ‘To be quite honest,’ he said, ‘I don’t even know exactly what substance I was guilty of taking.’
“But he took that ‘substance’ month after month for the first three years of his $252 million contract before he got to New York and opted out of the last three years of that contract. Somehow he ended up with an even bigger contract from Steinbrenner and Sons.
“Now the Yankees are where they are with Rodriguez as he faces surgery on his left hip this time…more serious than the surgery on the other old-man hip. And if you are starting to wonder about how much all of this has to do with the ‘substance’ he says he only took for those three years in Texas, you’re allowed.”
—Mike Napoli signed a three-year, $39 million deal with the Boston Red Sox. Napoli went from .320 with 30 home runs and 75 RBI for the Rangers in 2011 to .227, 24-56 last season, but the Red Sox are convinced he’ll come closer to the 2011 form in Fenway Park, where he has feasted in the past.
–The Nationals signed pitcher Dan Haren, who was 12-13 with a 4.33 ERA for the Angels last season. Haren can be very good. But $13 million for one year?! Oh well. These are the times we live in.
–The Giants re-signed outfielder Angel Pagan for four years, $40 million. Amazing.
–And Jason Bay is close to signing with Seattle. Yours.
–In an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle, former Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda said Hall of Fame voters should just say “No” to Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Sammy Sosa. But any drug suspicions concerning his long-time friend Mike Piazza are not true.
Top 3 songs for the week 12/9/78: #1 “Le Freak” (Chic…blows) #2 “MacArthur Park” (Donna Summer…at least it’s a little better than the Richard Harris version…which is simply the worst tune in the history of the universe…) #3 “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers” (Barbra & Neil…just bring me beer and we’ll be cool….)…and…#4 “I Just Wanna Stop” (Gino Vannelli…needs a haircut…) #5 “How Much I Feel” (Ambrosia…can’t imagine the jam session that resulted in this dreck…glad I wasn’t there…) #6 “I Love The Nightlife (Disco ‘Round)” (Alicia Bridges…whatever…) #7 “Time Passages” (Al Stewart…mailed it in…everyone knows this…) #8 “My Life” (Billy Joel…easily among his worst…) #9 “Sharing The Night Together” (Dr. Hook…festival seating for the next Dr. Hook concert!!!) #10 “(Our Love) Don’t Throw It All Away” (Andy Gibb…could have been worse…)
PGA Tour Quiz Answer: Six to win two or more events in 2012…
Rory McIlroy 4
Tiger Woods 3
Brandt Snedeker 2
Jason Dufner 2
Zach Johnson 2
Hunter Mahan 2
