[Posted Wed. a.m.]
Minnesota Vikings Quiz: 1) Adrian Peterson has seven seasons with 1,000 yards rushing for the Vikings. Name the other two with at least three seasons of 1,000. 2) Who holds the team record for most TD passes in a season with 39? 3) Who is the all-time scorer? Answers below.
College Football
The new College Football Playoff Ranking….but first…
A reminder…the AP’s Top Ten….
1. Alabama 10-0 (61)
2. Ohio State 9-1
3. Louisville 9-1
4. Michigan 9-1
5. Clemson 9-1
6. Wisconsin 8-2
7. Washington 9-1
8. Oklahoma 8-2
9. Penn State 8-2
10. West Virginia 8-1
14. Western Michigan 10-0
22. Boise State 9-1
24. San Diego State 9-1
And now…your new CFP Ranking….
1. Alabama
2. Ohio State
3. Michigan
4. Clemson
5. Louisville
6. Washington
7. Wisconsin
8. Penn State
9. Oklahoma
10. Colorado
11. Oklahoma State
12. Utah
13. USC
14. West Virginia
20. Boise State
21. Western Michigan
25. Texas A&M…I had a brain cramp last chat, initially saying their last game was played in Lubbock. I know the Aggies are in College Station…the fingers on the keyboard sometimes have a mind of their own.
So I said last time that the CFP Selection Committee would probably rank Clemson ahead of Louisville due to their head-to-head, and that was the case. But while we have just two weekends, plus conference championships, to play, it is still totally up in the air, re Nos. 2-4. On Tuesday’s rankings show on ESPN, there was zero talk of Oklahoma, for example, and I could argue they are still in it, if they beat West Virginia Saturday in Morgantown, and then Oklahoma State. Of course they would need a ton of help, and my idea is totally unreasonable, but so was the thought Nos. 2-4 would lose last Saturday. [Bottom line, I want the Sooners to win out because they would be an exciting New Year’s Six bowl entrant.]
The Big Ten is a mess. Penn State could be in the conference title game against Wisconsin, should Ohio State defeat Michigan Nov. 26. [Penn State beat OSU, but lost to Michigan.]
So that means Ohio State would finish 11-1 but with no conference championship. But they would still get in the CFP final four. Would Penn State then vault the others to get in with two losses as well (assuming they defeated Wisconsin in the Big Ten title game)? It’s becoming complicated. [In that scenario I’m talking Alabama, Ohio State, Clemson and Penn State…over Louisville and Washington.]
As for the Boise State-Western Michigan situation (San Diego State not ranked by the CFP), it’s all about being a conference champion and Boise State needs Wyoming to lose, and then Boise would have to win the Mountain West conference championship, which would be against San Diego State. If Western Michigan wins out, they should get the New Year’s Six bid….that’s my deal. It just sucks they are 14 AP, but still just 21 CFP. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that Western Michigan and Boise State are both the Broncos, adding to the confusion.
Anyway, for this Saturday, aside from the Game of the Week, Oklahoma-West Virginia, the only other game worth watching (sound familiar?) is 10 Colorado hosting 22 Washington State. Granted, the Cougars lost to Eastern Washington and Boise State the first two weeks of the season (both games by 3 points) and have won 8 in a row since then vs. largely patsies, but it’s 8 in a row, and if they beat Colorado and then Washington on Nov. 25 that will really shake things up. Certainly put Washington State in the New Year’s Six conversation, and knock the Huskies out of the CFP.
—FCS (Div. I-AA) Coaches Poll (Nov. 14)
1. Sam Houston State 10-0
2. Jacksonville State 9-1
3. Eastern Washington 9-1
4. North Dakota State 9-1
5. James Madison 9-1
6. The Citadel 10-0
7. Richmond 8-2
8. North Dakota 9-2
9. North Carolina A&T 9-1
10. South Dakota State 7-3
17. Lehigh 8-2
NFL
—No shortage of good games the past few days, including Monday night’s Giants-Bengals contest at the Meadowlands; the Giants (6-3) winning 21-20 as the defense stiffened when needed most.
For New York, Eli Manning was 28/44, 240, 3-2, 81.6, with Odell Beckham Jr. catching 10 for 97 yards and a score (a spectacular move on Pacman Jones), while out of nowhere, a semblance of a running game broke out…Rashad Jennings rumbling for 87 on 15 carries. [Actually, the Giants’ 122 rushing as a team was a season high! Contrast that with the totals I had on the Jets just the last four games.]
But it was the Giants’ defense that was the story, holding Andy Dalton to just 204 yards passing, with the great A.J. Green held to 68 yards and a touchdown; totaling locking down the Bengals after Cincy (now 3-5-1) had taken a 20-14 lead in the third, including back-to-back sacks to close it out.
A week ago I noted that the Giants were 5-2 this year in games decided by seven points or less, versus 3-8 last season. Well make that 6-2. Quite a turnaround, and it’s all about the ‘D’.
–After posting Sunday night, I watched the New England-Seattle game, a terrific contest won by the Seahawks 31-24, a rare home loss for the Pats.
Seattle took the 31-24 lead on the third Russell Wilson to Doug Baldwin touchdown pass of the game, but then coach Pete Carroll curiously went for two points rather than just one, which obviously would have meant the Patriots would have had to score a touchdown and then convert the two-point conversion to send the contest into overtime. Whatever. It was Carroll being way too cute again, which gets him in trouble.
But this time Tom Brady had the ball on the New England 25, with 4:24 left, and drove the Pats to the Seattle 2, 1st and goal, but a couple of runs, a Brady fumbled snap, recovered by him, and then an unsuccessful fourth down toss to Rob Gronkowski in the end zone, broken up by Kam Chancellor…game over.
Brady was a very ordinary 23/32, 316, 0-1, 90.1 against the stout Seahawks defense, while Russell Wilson continued his stellar play, 25/37, 348, 3-0, 124.5.
LeGarrette Blount had three touchdowns on the ground for New England.
Back to Gronkowski, I saw the hit on him by Seahawks safety Earl Thomas in the second quarter and, looking back, it’s remarkable Gronk stayed in to the end. But on Monday we learned Gronkowski might have suffered a punctured lung and could miss a game. Tuesday, though, we were told it may not be a punctured lung, but it’s still some kind of chest injury and his availability for this weekend is in question.
–Lots of Tony Romo talk around here, as in he’s coming to the Jets, but I don’t want to see that. I like Romo, and I’m guessing he still has some good football left in him, but he’ll just get hurt.
[Tuesday, Romo, who is suiting up this week, said he understood his role with Dallas and that it is Dak Prescott’s team, but that he still wanted to play for hopefully years to come.]
Speaking of the Jets, the New York Post’s Mike Vaccaro had the following on Sunday’s hideous 9-6 loss to the Rams.
“Every now and again, the Jets don’t just make you question your affinity for them, but for the very sport of professional football. There was that 7-6 win against the Cardinals a few years ago, at MetLife Stadium, a game so mind-bendingly ugly that it convinced some folks that Greg McIlroy was Peyton Manning.
“There was a 3-0 win against the Redskins in the rain years ago, a game that moved Boomer Esiason afterward to quip, ‘They probably aren’t forwarding the game tape to the Smithsonian.’
“There have been others. There have been plenty of others.
“Now there is Rams 9, Jets 6, a game so ugly, so blightful, so frightful, so dull and desultory that it filled MetLife Stadium with a funereal stillness early that only deepened, and worsened, as the day progressed. This was two nowhere teams playing a nowhere game, the two of them so hapless and so hopeless that the folks who were actually here envied the folks at home across each of the 60 minutes.
“At least the folks at home could change the channel. Or go for a nice, long walk in the park. Or do seven loads of laundry. Or pay bills.
“Or rake leaves….
“There was a 78-yard punt by the Rams’ Johnny Hekker, and it would be nice to make a few jokes about how that was the high point of the game except it really was the high point of the game. It turned the field upside down, and ultimately set up the Rams for their field goal of the game, the game-winner, three points that felt like 30 in a football game that felt like a soccer game….
“It’s one thing to be terrible. It’s something else to be unwatchable. Especially with six games left, four of them at home. If you drink, make it a double. If not?
“Change the channel. Turn the page. Just…end…the…season.”
–Guess what? The No. 1 overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft, Jared Goff, is making his first start on Sunday for the Rams against the Dolphins! This will be interesting, given his poor reviews, post-draft.
–The ratings may be turning for the NFL, post-election (and for a week that great World Series). Certainly it helps to have good matchups, like Sunday’s. Richard Sandomir of the New York Times reports that Seattle’s win over New England drew an average of 22.5 million viewers, up 16% from the comparable game last season. Until then, NBC’s viewership of Sunday Night Football had fallen 18% this season.
Fox’s late afternoon Dallas-Pittsburgh game generated a preliminary overnight rating of 17.8, the highest of any NFL game this season (although it fell 3% from the comparable game on CBS last year).
But this is interesting. CBS’ slate of games Sunday afternoon tumbled 28% from last year. Huh.
We’ll learn something on Thursday night, as NBC takes over, but with New Orleans-Carolina, two sub-.500 teams.
College Basketball
AP Poll (Nov. 14)
1. Duke (58)*
2. Kentucky (1)
3. Villanova (5)
4. Oregon
5. North Carolina
6. Indiana (1)
7. Kansas
8. Virginia
9. Wisconsin
10. Arizona
*Duke then lost Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden, 77-75 to Kansas (who you’ll recall had lost its opener to Indiana). But before we make too much of it (Duke’s Grayson Allen scoring just 12 points on 4 of 15 shooting from the field, 1 of 7 from three), understand the Blue Devils were without three of their star freshman due to injury – Harry Giles, Jayson Tatum and Marques Bolden – all of whom should be back by January, if not sooner.
–Monday, Villanova defeated 15 Purdue 79-76.
But there was a major development in Spokane, Wash., No.14 Gonzaga whipped San Diego State 69-48, as the Aztecs reverted to historic form…they forgot how to shoot…just 28.6% from the field, 16 of 56 for the game. Eegads!
This is a critical early-season loss and your “Pick to Click” is reeling after just the second game.
Here’s the problem. Some key players, that I based my preseason forecast on, are hurt, including potential All-American Malik Pope (who should play soon), along with two other key rotation guys. But in reading the San Diego paper, there is talk SDSU’s super freshman, Jalen McDaniels, who’s injured, now may be redshirted! As Charlie Brown would say, ‘Drat!’ If Pope doesn’t come back and play to his immense potential, this season could be a disaster.
The Gonzaga game was really critical in terms of the pollsters and, in the future, the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee. It needed to be close and it wasn’t.
But a word on the Zags. SDSU coach Steve Fisher called Gonzaga “as good as anyone in the country” and talk about some Redwoods; they have players 6-10, 6-11, and three 7-footers.
NBA Bits
–Monday, out of nowhere, the Knicks (4-6) actually played some real hoops in dispatching of the Mavericks (2-7) 93-77 at the Garden, behind Kristaps Porzingis’ 24 points and 11 rebounds.
But the story was the move Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek made at halftime. The Knicks had played a sluggish first half, the Garden crowd was booing the effort, and Hornacek made the bold decision to bench Joakim Noah, he of the $72 million contract. Hornacek played a smaller lineup, reserve guard Justin Holiday played great, and the Knicks won handily. Noah said the right things afterwards.
–Tuesday, Cleveland (9-1) beat Toronto (7-3) in a good early-season matchup, 121-117, as the Raptors’ DeMar DeRozan was held under 30 points for just the second time this season, scoring 26.
The Hawks (8-2) beat the Heat (2-8) 93-90, a game I note just because Miami’s Hassan Whiteside had 25 rebounds. Also, Demon Deacon fans, James Johnson has been playing well for the Heat. Good to see.
The Lakers (7-5) continue to play solid ball, beating the Nets (4-7) 125-118 in L.A.
–Meanwhile, LeBron James has an issue with Phil Jackson, after the Knicks’ president called James out in a Q&A with ESPN.com. James took offense to Jackson using the word “posse” to describe his friends and associates. Jackson also told ESPN that James “likes special treatment.”
“To use that label, and if you go and read the definition of the word ‘posse,’ it’s not what I’ve built over my career,” James said. “It’s not what my family stands for. And I believe the only reason he used that word is because it’s young African-Americans trying to make a difference.”
James said that while he used to respect Jackson “as a coach,” he no longer respects him, period.
The Knicks’ Carmelo Anthony, a friend of LeBron’s, said he understands why James was offended by Jackson’s use of posse to describe James’ business associates.
“I would never want to hear that word about me and my – I don’t want to say crew – but people that I consider family or people that I come up (with), been through thick and thin with,” Anthony said Tuesday. “I’d want it to be called a tight-knit group or family. That’s what I consider those close people to me.”
Because the Knicks have done so poorly since Jackson took control of the organization, this seemingly minor story will have legs.
MLB…Hot Stove Talk
—Neil Walker accepted the Mets $17.2 million qualifying offer and the second baseman is returning to the Mets for 2017. This made sense as he’s coming off back surgery and while the Mets are optimistic about his recovery, it’s risky. Hopefully his power is still there, and if he’s successful, he can get a longer-term deal next offseason, either with the Mets or someone else. There is no way another team would shell out, say, $40 million over four years not knowing what kind of ballplayer he’ll be come spring training.
–Joe Giglio of NJ.com had a piece on a Japanese slugger who just might command a monster deal, the Babe Ruth of Japan, Shobei Otani, a 22-year-old who is both an outstanding pitcher as well as hitter.
Otani, 6’ 4”, played for the Nippon Ham Fighters in the Pacific League and was 10-4, 1.86 ERA, 140 innings, 11.2 SO/9, while batting .322 with 22 HR and 67 RBI. Joel Sherman of the New York Post recently said some scouts are talking about a $300M potential price tag.
One scout said, “I actually think the guy might get a $300 million deal. That is how special a talent he is. He has power No. 1 starter stuff. He is throwing 99 in the eighth inning. His secondary stuff is unhittable.”
Another, a scouting director, said: “I hate to use the name Babe Ruth, but who was the last player we thought might be able to be both your ace and your cleanup hitter? There is always mystery because you have to translate a guy who pitches once a week on Saturday or Sunday and the hitting from there to here. But the talent translates. It is obvious and terrific.”
So as Giglio writes, the Yankees have had success with Japanese stars like Hideki Matsui, Hiroki Kuroda and Masahiro Tanaka. Maybe they take a run at him.
But it’s my understanding Otani doesn’t have to go out this year, so we’ll see what develops. He may be more of a story next offseason.
–I apologize I forgot to write down who reported on the topic of bad contracts, just considering 2017, like the Mets’ David Wright making $20 million, let alone what he is owed after (another $20M, $15M and $12M), but one that stands out is that of Cincinnati pitcher Homer Bailey. Heck, at this point, there are more than a few casual fans who might go, ‘Homer who?’
I mean this guy had solid seasons in 2012 and 2013, starting 65 games with a 3.58 ERA and tossing 417 innings, and then the Reds decided to reward him with a massive six-year, $105 million package prior to 2014 and over the last three years, he has pitched in a total of 31 games, with a 4.20 ERA in 180 innings. And there is no guarantee he will be available in 2017, yet he is due to make $19 million….then $21M, and $23M, before a buyout in 2020. Yikes.
Oh, there are a slew of bad deals. It helps the Cubs won a World Series, otherwise management would be thinking endlessly as to just why was it that they gave Jason Heyward an eight-year, $184 million deal.
–MLB Awards:
Rookie of the Year
N.L. Corey Seager, Dodgers
A.L. Michael Fulmer, Tigers
Manager of the Year
N.L. Dave Roberts, Dodgers
A.L. Terry Francona, Indians
Golf Balls
–Not for nothing, but the real sleeper in golf these days is 34-year-old Swede, Alex Noren, who won last weekend for the fourth time in 11 European Tour events, this one by six strokes in Sun City, South Africa. I don’t care what tour you’re on…4 in 11 is darn good. He’s up to No. 9 in the World rankings.
–The Zurich Classic in New Orleans is being held April 27-30 next year and it’s adopting a two-man format, the first official PGA Tour team event in 36 years, and already tourney sponsors are working on creating some buzz, as Rickie Fowler and Jason Day have agreed to team up. Justin Rose and Henrik Stenson are another announced grouping. It’s a great idea, seeing as the event has had very weak fields in the past.
The new format will include 80 teams. You’ll have one round of alternate shot and then one of best ball, before a 36-hole cut for the low 35 teams and ties, then another round each of alternate shot and best ball. The victor will earn many of the same PGA Tour perks available at an individual event: two-year exemptions, spots in the Tournament of Champions, Players Championship and the PGA Championship (but no Masters exemption) and just slightly less in FedEx Cup points.
–Yeah, this is looking ahead, but there is already talk that in 2020, with golf at the Olympics in Tokyo, the PGA Championship would be played in May (not July like this year), with the Players Championship moving back to March to avoid the 2016 schedule jam. If golf is approved for the Olympics beyond 2020, this move could become permanent, though it still depends on those writing the television checks.
The big issue with moving the Players Championship to March is the conflict with March Madness.
Stuff
–The other day I talked about Team USA and World Cup soccer qualifying, after losing their first of 10 matches in the “Hex” (their six team bracket) to Mexico, 2-1 in Columbus, Ohio. That wasn’t the right way to start.
But Tuesday, it got worse…far worse…a 4-0 defeat at the hands of Costa Rica on the road. It’s being described as both a “humiliation” and “catastrophic.” It didn’t help that coach Juergen Klinsmann’s post-game news conference was only three questions old when he was asked the one that was on everybody’s mind: Is he the right man to lead the U.S. national team to another World Cup?
“Um, I think so,” Klinsmann responded quietly.
This was the most one-sided loss for the Americans in World Cup qualifying since 1980 – and the most one-sided shutout loss in 59 years.
So with the loss to Mexico, the U.S. has opened the final round with consecutive losses for the first time; its streak of seven straight World Cup appearances in danger.
Qualifying play doesn’t resume until March when the U.S. will host Honduras and then go to Panama.
–The NCAA Men’s Soccer Championship gets underway on Thursday, a 48-team field, nine of which are from the ACC, with Wake Forest earning a 2 seed, Maryland being No. 1. Wake plays the winner of Coastal Carolina-Radford on Sunday. Good luck to Colgate and St. Francis (Brooklyn). Also, Boston College plays Fordham on Thursday in a battle of Jesuits.
–Sunday’s Sprint Cup final at Homestead should be fun. Even casual sports fans may want to tune in for the last quarter of the race. [I’m going to be flipping back and forth with football for sure.]
The big story is Jimmie Johnson is attempting to join Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt in the seven-time champion club.
–Brad K. passed along a tale from Bordeaux, France, that is pretty awful so I’m withholding some of the facts, such as the victim’s age, but it’s a lesson to us all…beware of rams. An elderly man was killed by one on Tuesday, “charged at” and trampled. The man was on a farm, visiting a friend, when the ram decided to protect his flock, “playing the role of the dominant male because there were a lot of ewes.”
Then, a female politician rushed to the scene and the sheep charged her. “The ram is expected to be put down.”
Top 3 songs for the week 11/12/77: #1 “You Light Up My Life” (Debby Boone) #2 “Boogie Nights” (Heatwave) #3 “Nobody Does It Better” (Carly Simon)…and…#4 “It’s Ecstasy When You Lay Down Next To Me” (Barry White…ooh baby…) #5 “Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue” (Crystal Gayle) #6 “I Feel Love” (Donna Summer) #7 “Baby, What A Big Surprise” (Chicago) #8 “Heaven On The 7th Floor” (Paul Nicholas) #9 “How Deep Is Your Love” (Bee Gees) #10 “We’re All Alone” (Rita Coolidge…#s 1, 5 and 10 exact same tune…#3 catches a break because it was a Bond song…music getting real crappy about this time…as a sophomore at Wake I was losing patience, and my GPA was plummeting to levels never seen before in the history of academia…)
Minnesota Vikings Quiz Answers: 1) 1,000 yards rushing: Robert Smith had four such seasons, 1997-2000, with his best saved for last, 1,521 in 2000, after which he walked away from the game at age 28. Chuck Foreman had three 1,000-yard seasons, 1975-77. 2) Daunte Culpepper has the most TD passes in a season with 39 in 2004. 3) Kicker Fred Cox (1963-77) is the all-time scorer with 1,365 points, and it’s not even close, with receiver Cris Carter next at 670.
Next Bar Chat, Monday.
