[Posted Wed. a.m.]
Atlanta Falcons Quiz: As you all know, Atlanta’s only other Super Bowl appearance was 1998, a 34-19 loss to Denver and John Elway. Name Atlanta’s QB, leading rusher, and the two leading wide receivers on that team. Answer below.
Super Bowl Bits
–Yes, it is pretty amazing that Bill Belichick and Tom Brady are both appearing in the Super Bowl for a record seventh time, the duo 4-2 in their previous six games (the two losses to the Giants). Belichick’s seven surpasses Don Sula for the most by an NFL head coach.
We say the same stuff every year about Belichick. Only he seems to be able to consistently take NFL castoffs, or uncover hidden gems, and turn them into highly productive players in his scheme; like receiver Chris Hogan, a Jersey boy who played his college ball at that football powerhouse Monmouth.
Meanwhile, for Atlanta, Matt Ryan, aka Matty Ice, is making his first Super Bowl appearance after a fine nine-year career; this season handily his best with a league-leading rating of 117.1 (when his previous high was 99.1).
–The betting line is still Patriots -3. The Over-Under is a record 58. Boy, I’ll take the Under.
As noted by CBSSports.com’s Larry Hartstein, the Over is 25-24 in the SB (there was no official total listed for the first one back in 1967). In 2010, when the total was 57, the Under cashed in New Orleans’ 31-17 win over Indianapolis.
–So how often over the years have I noted that while Rutgers has a lousy football program, they somehow produce far more NFL talent than average? [A lot, if you didn’t know.]
And now we have a situation in Atlanta vs. New England where the Scarlet Knights have more former players in the Super Bowl than any other school!
5 – Rutgers
4 – Alabama
4 – LSU
4 – Stanford
While receiver Mohamed Sanu is the Falcons’ lone Rutgers representative, the Pats have four…three being defensive backs – Devin McCourty, Logan Ryan and Duron Harmon – and the fourth, linebacker Jonathan Freeny.
As Steve Politi of the Star-Ledger/NJ.com notes:
Current Rutgers head coach Chris Ash, while he didn’t coach any of the current Rutgers alums in the NFL, “has gotten to know them. He was at an airport on Sunday night during the AFC and NFC championship games, scrambling to put the final pieces together on his first full recruiting class as head coach. That, more than anything, will consume him until national signing day on February 1.
“But he’ll head into those final meetings with high school players armed with one more weapon. Most top high school prospects have one thing in mind when they’re picking a college, and that’s getting the exposure and coaching necessary for that big payday in the pros.
“ ‘Everyone goes into college with a dream and a goal of having a chance to play in the NFL,’ Ash said. ‘And everyone thinks you have to play at this school or that school to make it.’
“Ash doesn’t have to make that argument. He’ll have Bill Belichick making it for him in the coming days with each press conference he attends in Houston. The Patriots head coach is notoriously tight-lipped on many topics, but he is as gushing as an admissions-office tour guide when asked about Rutgers.
“Who can blame him? It isn’t just his friendship with former coach Greg Schiano, who invited the four-time Super Bowl winning coach to ride on the team bus during road trips. His son, Steve Belichick, is a Rutgers graduate who played lacrosse for the Scarlet Knights and walked on to the football team as a long snapper.
“Steve Belichick is now a defensive backs coach for the Patriots, working with his three former teammates on a daily basis. The three players and their coach were featured in a video on the Patriots website, with McCourty wearing a T-shirt honoring his former teammate Eric LeGrand and all four talking about the bond they formed in Piscataway.
“Add injured linebacker Jonathan Freeny, and the Patriots have given the Scarlet Knights an unprecedented presence in the big game…until, of course, you remember that the four Scarlet Knights earned a championship ring the last time New England won the title.”
–Gary Myers / New York Daily News
“Unless Matt Ryan – who played at nearby Chestnut Hill for Boston College – and the Falcons put up a good fight, there could be more drama on the podium right after the game and at the Super Bowl MVP news conference the morning after the game than there is on the field. If the Patriots win, then Goodell will be handing the Lombardi Trophy to Patriots owner Robert Kraft with Brady and Bill Belichick by his side.
“Kraft’s friendship with Goodell was terminated when Brady was suspended. Goodell has no use for Belichick after he didn’t follow through on a promise to apologize for Spygate the morning after the penalties were handed out. Instead, Belichick repeatedly said, ‘We’re on to San Diego,’ when he was asked. Belichick most likely has never invited Goodell to a barbecue at his vacation home in Nantucket.
“The soap opera won’t be complete unless Brady wins the MVP award and Goodell has to hand over the trophy and pose for pictures.
“Back in the day, Pete Rozelle dreaded the three times he had to turn over the Lombardi Trophy to his nemesis, Al Davis. This will be worse for Goodell. He completely alienated the fan base of his league’s most successful team. He based his suspension on the $5 million connect-the-dots investigation by Ted Wells that the league later admitted in court provided no concrete evidence that Brady had anything to do with footballs being deflated in the 2014 AFC title game victory against the Colts.
“The entire ordeal put a dent in Brady’s integrity and reputation and caused a lot of resentment towards Goodell among Brady’s family.
“Goodell skipped the AFC title game Sunday to be in Atlanta for the NFC game. When Patriots radio analyst Scott Zolak held a ‘Where’s Roger?’ sign out of his broadcast booth, it was shown on the video boards behind each of the end zones. The fans immediately picked up on it.
“ ‘Where is Roger? Where is Roger?’ they chanted late in the third quarter after Brady had turned the game into a blowout….
“That chant is no longer necessary. Goodell will be in Houston. So will Brady. Now it’s up to Brady to make him hand over the trophies.”
—All is not well in Pittsburgh. First, when you look back at Sunday’s game, aside from Le’Veon Bell’s groin injury that limited him to 20 yards on the ground, Antonio Brown’s seven receptions for 77 yards was not nearly as decent as it looks on paper.
Fresh off his jerk turn on Facebook the week before, streaming coach Mike Tomlin’s postgame comments following Pittsburgh’s win over Kansas City, which earned Brown a $10,000 fine and the contempt of his teammates, Brown came up very small and was hardly a factor when the Steelers still had a shot against the Pats; a majority of his catches and yardage coming after Pittsburgh was down double-digits.
As reported by Aditi Kinkhabwala of NFL Network, there are people in Pittsburgh who believe Brown is more concerned with his own stats than winning. Last year, Tomlin told him “stop chasing statistics.” No one should be surprised if Brown isn’t on the Steelers next year.
And then you had quarterback Ben Roethlisberger say that he didn’t know if he’d be back next season.
“I don’t know…It’s one of those things…I’m going to take this offseason to evaluate, to consider all options, to consider health and family and things like that.”
But Roethlisberger added he’s not “by any means saying I’m not coming back.” He is due around $19 million next season as part of a five-year extension that has three seasons left.
—How lousy have the postseason games been? “Nearly half of all the football (46.9%) has been played with one team leading the other by at least two scores.” The average margin of victory in the ten games is 15.7. [WSJ]
—Mock draft season…yes, we get sick of them after a while but I’m going to note some from time to time, namely because my Jets have the No. 6 pick and, goshdarnit, I’m interested in that.
Mel Kiper / ESPN
1. Cleveland – Myles Garrett, DE, Texas A&M
2. San Francisco – Mitch Trubisky, QB, North Carolina
3. Chicago – Jonathan Allen, DL, Alabama
4. Jacksonville – Jamal Adams, S, LSU
5. Tennessee – Mike Williams, WR, Clemson
6. New York Jets – Marshon Lattimore, CB, Ohio State
7. Los Angeles Chargers – Cam Robinson, OT, Alabama
8. Carolina – Leonard Fournette, RB, LSU
9. Cincinnati – Solomon Thomas, DE, Stanford
10. Buffalo – Deshaun Watson, QB, Clemson
So two things…All I’ve been hearing is how much the Browns like local boy Trubisky and I’ll say they still pick him…this also shows you what a crappy draft it is for quarterbacks this year.
As for the Jets, they literally need everything, but first and foremost a QB. Ergo, if they don’t think Bryce Petty is the answer (I won’t even mention Christian Hackenberg….oops, sorry…just did), you’d think they’d be taking a serious look at Watson. [Except I like Petty.]
Plus, Dak Prescott went in the fourth round, so you never know. Maybe one of the other college kids out there could work.
–Police released a 20-minute video that shows Bengals cornerback Adam “Pacman” Jones as he was arrested after an incident at a Cincinnati hotel in early January.
As Jones was in the back seat of a Cincinnati police vehicle, he repeatedly shouted expletives at Sgt. Jarrod Cotton, who is African-American.
At one point, Jones says: “You are a b—- a– n—-r. I hope you die tomorrow.”
It gets even worse.
Jones’ attorneys issued an apology on Monday. The Bengals did as well.
Roger Goodell should just ban the dirtball for life.
College Basketball
AP Poll (Jan. 23)
1. Villanova 19-1 (35)
2. Kansas 18-1 (28)
3. Gonzaga 19-0 (2)
4. Kentucky 17-2
5. Baylor 18-1
6. Florida State 18-2
7. Arizona 18-2
8. UCLA 19-2
9. North Carolina 18-3
10. Oregon 18-2…quack quack
11. Butler 17-3
16. Creighton 18-2…doh!
17. Duke 15-4
18. West Virginia 15-4…down 11
22. Maryland 17-2
–Monday, North Carolina State then upset Duke, in Durham, 84-82, as probable lottery pick, Dennis Smith Jr., went off for 32 points for the Wolfpack, while Grayson Allen was just 1 of 9 from three, 13 points in all.
–Tuesday, we had a rash of big-time upsets….
No. 1 Villanova fell to 19-2, 7-2, in losing to Marquette (14-6, 5-3) in Milwaukee, 74-72, after the Wildcats had jumped out to a 39-24 halftime lead. The Golden Eagles were coming off their upset of then-No. 7 Creighton.
No. 2 Kansas lost at 18 West Virginia 85-69, this after the Mountaineers had suffered two bad losses last week that dropped them from 7 to 18 in the polls. Kansas is now 18-2, 7-1, while WVU is 16-4, 5-3.
And No 4 Kentucky (17-3, 7-1) lost at Knoxville to a mediocre Tennessee squad (11-9, 4-4) 82-80.
So idle No. 3 Gonzaga could be No. 1 when the AP releases its next poll on Jan. 30.
Meanwhile….
Wake Forest resumed its losing ways on the road, losing to Syracuse 81-76 as the Deacs hit just 7 of 24 from three. Wake fell to 12-8, 3-5, while the Orange are 12-9, 4-4.
And then you had this game in Pittsburgh. Louisville led Pitt 51-18 at the half, hitting 20 of 28 from the field, and proceeded to destroy the Panthers 105-51, the second-worst loss in Pitt history and the largest ever margin of victory for a road team in ACC play. Pitt was just 13 of 51 for the game (25.5%) and was outrebounded 48-26. 13 Louisville improved to 17-4, 5-3, while Pitt is just 12-8, 1-6, in coach Kevin Stallings’ first season.
—Northwestern has been here before. After a decent start it dreams of its first-ever appearance in the NCAA tournament, only to collapse at season’s end.
But as they prepare to play Nebraska on Thursday, they are indeed 16-4, 5-2 in Big Ten play, tied for third with Purdue. All of the Wildcats’ losses came to teams ranked inside the RPI’s top 50.
Cue Al Michaels: “Do you believe in miracles?!”
[If you don’t follow such things that closely, Northwestern is the only longstanding member of a power conference never to make the Big Dance, and they haven’t even had a winning record in conference play since 1968.]
NBA
–Kind of funny how Golden State coach Steve Kerr called out players for not taking the All-Star selections seriously, this being the first season where the players influenced the vote, and then they “made a mockery” of the system, as Kerr put it.
Of the 324 players who voted, 128 did not vote for LeBron and 154 did not vote for Kevin Durant, which is a joke. As ESPN.com reported, “a large group of voters apparently voted for themselves, based on the number of role players who received one vote.”
Golden State lost on Monday down in Miami to the 15-30 Heat, 105-102, the Warriors dropping to 38-7.
–So I wrote of how the Knicks have essentially lost five games in January at the buzzer, and Monday night in Indianapolis I was watching as they were seemingly headed to number six, when with 1:07 left and a one-point lead, 100-99, Derek Rose, who had missed a layup, turned it over. But Carmelo Anthony then made a jumper, 102-99 Knicks with 0:46 to play; Indiana hit two FTs, 102-101; Melo then made just one of two free throws; Paul George hit two FTs for Indiana to pull even at 103-103, 0:42 to play; and you knew the Knicks would find a way to lose.
Only Melo hit a jumper, Indiana turned it over, and four Courtney Lee free throws later, Knicks win, 109-103.
The drama, though, continues to surround Anthony and whether Phil Jackson will be successful in finding another team to take Melo’s contract off his hands.
Enter LeBron. On Monday, after a 124-122 loss at New Orleans, the Cavs’ fifth in seven games, LeBron spoke of his frustration with the team being unable to secure another playmaker/backup point guard and of his concern that the team isn’t acting with enough urgency.
“We’re not better than last year, from a personnel standpoint…we’re a top-heavy team,” James said. “I just hope that we’re not satisfied as an organization….I don’t got no time to waste. I’ll be 33 in the winter and I ain’t got time to waste. That’s what I’m talking about.”
LeBron went on but the point was made. So while his buddy Carmelo Anthony doesn’t fit his description of a backup point guard, Melo is a scorer and no doubt LeBron would love to have him.
–In a major grudge match on Tuesday, Washington defeated Boston 123-108. These two teams really hate each other. Something to watch for if they match up in the playoffs; the Wizards 25-20, the Celtics 26-18.
–For the record, after I posted Sunday, I do have to note that the Dallas Mavericks defeated the Los Angeles Lakers 122-73, the most lopsided loss in franchise history, but not as bad as Wake Forest’s 130-70 loss to North Carolina State, decades ago, typed the Wake alum, for a specific audience of 4 or 5.
Australian Open
This is becoming interesting. Roger Federer’s resurgence off injury has been a big surprise as he has advanced to the men’s semifinals with a straight-set defeat of unseeded Mischa Zverev. The 35-year-old will now face countryman Stan Wawrinka.
Federer himself is kind of shocked over his play, having come in seeded 17th as he seeks an 18th Grand Slam title. This is his 41st Grand Slam semifinal, and he’s the oldest men’s singles semifinalist at the tournament since Arthur Ashe in 1978; the oldest at any Grand Slam since Jimmy Connors reached the 1991 U.S. Open last four at age 39.
Wawrinka beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in straight sets.
On the women’s side, Venus Williams reached the semis to set up a rather shocking, all-American, semifinal, Williams going up against unseeded Coco Vandeweghe of New York.
Venus, 36, thus becomes the oldest Australian Open semifinalist in Open Era history after her defeat of Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. [You really don’t know if I spelled that correctly, do you?]
As for sister Serena, 35, she became the second-oldest Australian Open women’s semifinalist, advancing this morning.
But Venus has now reached two Grand Slam semifinals in less than a year – the other being at Wimbledon. The only time she made the Australian Open final was in 2003, when she lost to Serena.
As for Coco Vandeweghe, who would be getting huge press if she was performing in a more conducive for U.S. media time zone, she upset No. 7 seed Garbine Muguruza two days after knocking off No. 1 seed Angelique Kerber.
Men’s Division I Hockey Poll (Jan. 23)
1. Boston University
2. Minnesota-Duluth
3. Denver
4. Penn State
5. Union
6. Minnesota
7. UMass-Lowell
8. Ohio State
9. Harvard
10. Western Michigan
16. St. Lawrence
MLB
–San Diego Padres slugger Wil Myers signed a new six-year, $83 million extension, the largest contract in Padres history.
–Fox Sports reported that the contract of Royals pitcher Yordano Ventura had a provision that would void payment on $20 million still guaranteed for failure to perform due to injury or death resulting from driving a motorized vehicle while intoxicated.
There have been few details from Ventura’s fatal crash in the Dominican Republic over the weekend, but in a few weeks when the toxicology reports come back there will be quite a story.
Authorities did tell Royals general manager Dayton Moore that no alcohol was found at the scene and mountainous terrain and foggy conditions may have played a part.
–Jared Diamond of the Wall Street Journal reported on the findings of a study released Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences having to do with the impact of jet lag on athletic performance.
Researchers at Northwestern University have found that “teams traveling eastward at least two time zones give up more home runs than they otherwise would,” as Diamond writes.
Dr. Ravi Allada and his colleagues analyzed every MLB game played from 1992 through 2011, finding “4,919 instances of a team playing after crossing two or three time zones without enough time to recover, which Allada said is one day per time zone.
For decades, starting pitchers have traveled ahead of their teams to avoid overnight flights, but Allada says teams should be even more aggressive. “They should be doing it more,” said Allada, a professor of neurobiology. “The number of time zones you’re crossing, I would send them that many days ahead of time.”
Diamond: “Ultimately, the study shows that jet lag completely counteracts any benefit caused by home-field advantage, which is about 4%.”
When negotiating their new collective bargaining agreement this fall, travel was a bone of contention with the players and starting in 2018, the 162-game schedule will be played over 187 days rather than 183; plus more afternoon games on getaway days.
NASCAR
The sport has dramatically changed its points format to award points that can be carried into the postseason. For now, all you need to know is that each race will have three stages. The top 10 drivers at the end of Stage 1 and Stage 2 will be awarded points on a 10-through-1 scale.
The third portion of the race will be for the overall victory, and although traditional point scoring will be applied for that stage, the win will be worth 40 points. The rest of the field will be scored on a 35-to-2 scale, and positions 36-40 will receive only one point.
So you’ll actually see a checkered flag at the end of Stage 1 and Stage 2, all of the changes designed to keep each race more interesting throughout, as well as more meaningful with the bonus points carrying over to the playoffs.
The only thing that doesn’t change is once you get to the final four drivers at Homestead in the finale, it remains whoever finishes first among them that day that takes the Cup.
I like this. You will definitely see some hairy driving at the end of each stage…though a stage can end under caution.
Stuff
–Attention racing fans…this Saturday at Gulfstream Park, NBC (4:30-6:00 p.m.)…you have the inaugural $12 million Pegasus World Cup, the richest race in the world, which will feature California Chrome, 2016 Horse of the Year, and Arrogate, winner of the Travers Stakes and 2016 champion three-year-old.
Recall, these two faced off against each other last November in the Breeders’ Cup Classic in a truly momentous race, Arrogate edging Chrome at the wire.
This is Chrome’s last race (not sure on Arrogate).
The problem is the horses are going off at the 1 (Arrogate) and 12 (California Chrome) post positions. Not good.
Bob Baffert’s Arrogate is ridden by the great Mike Smith. Art Sherman’s Chrome has Victor Espinoza up.
Keen Ice is capable of an upset, maybe, though us racing fans want one of the two greats to take it. A replay of the Breeders’ Cup is too much to ask for…but we will!
–I’ve been writing about the plight of Team USA during this World Cup ski season and it’s been all about Mikaela Shiffrin and the return of Lindsey Vonn, with the American men having one platform finish the entire season. [Steven Nyman, third in a downhill.]
So with two-time gold medalist Ted Ligety now out following back surgery and iffy at best for Pyeongchang, as Matthew Futterman wrote in Tuesday’s Wall Street Journal, Alpine prospects aren’t very good beyond Shiffrin and Vonn, with Lindsey being 33 come the Games.
The problem, as Futterman, writes, is that the other winter sports for Team USA aren’t much better.
“Alan Ashley, chief of sports performance at the U.S. Olympic Committee, said so much effort goes into the creation of an Olympic champion that ‘when they succeed at the top the best thing to do is try to keep them there.’
“The problem is that money and staff are limited at both the privately-funded USOC and the national sports federations. The care and feeding of a top national team inevitably draws resources from development.”
So growing the talent pool has taken a back seat to keeping someone like 34-year-old speedskater Shani Davis at the top of his game.
And then you have NBC, which is paying $1 billion to televise the 2018 Games, but you have to overcome the 14-hour time difference to the eastern U.S. NBC needs American stars, especially in women’s figure skating. As I wrote the other day, Ashley Wagner and Gracie Gold are the experienced U.S. skaters, but 17-year-old Karen Chen won Saturday night for the U.S. title and the problem here, potentially, is that she has no international experience. [Even though Gracie Gold finished fourth, there is nothing to keep the U.S. Figure Skating Association from sticking her on the team for Pyeongchang.]
On the men’s figure skating side, Nathan Chen (no relation) won the national title, but he hasn’t won a senior international competition as yet.
Ergo, boys and girls, we’re going to be scraping and scrapping for medals.
Here’s a fun fact. There are fewer than 1,000 U.S. speed skaters between the ages of 12 and 24, writes Futterman (I’m surprised it’s that many), while the Netherlands has tens of thousands of competitive speed skaters. Good lord!
Oh well, we have freestyle skiing and snowboarding, where we’re pretty good, though I just don’t care about these two…mused the traditionalist. [Shaun White, 30, may still be in the picture…I know him!]
–From Ryan Herrington / Golf World
“According to the final tally at ObamaGolfCounter.com, Barack Obama played golf on 306 days during his eight years in the White House. Assuming he played 18 holes each time, that’s more than 38 rounds a year, almost double the national average of 19.3 rounds for all golfers in the United States. Obama’s total is far from Woodrow Wilson’s estimated 1,200 rounds while occupying the Oval Office or Dwight Eisenhower’s approximately 800, but it certainly sets the 21st-century bar for golfing presidents. So, can Donald Trump top him? Given how the man who took the oath of office as the 45th president last Friday appears to be distancing himself from his predecessor, it’s unclear whether Trump will take aim at Obama’s mark or let his clubs gather more dust.”
Golf Digest / Golf World’s Jaime Diaz has golfed twice with Trump, who has a 2.8 handicap, and says the best part of Trump’s game is his ball-striking, though Trump insists it’s his putting.
–All eyes on Tiger Woods at Torrey Pines this week. It would be great for the sport if he can be competitive again, but you have to be concerned with his schedule…four events in five weeks.
–Longtime reader Kate L. told me that golfer Dominic Bozzelli is a kid to root for. Bozzelli, in just his sixth PGA Tour event last week, finished fifth. [He looks like Andy Pettitte, by the way.] Turns out Kate’s son played a lot of junior events with Bozzelli so I’ll start pulling for him.
Top 3 songs for the week of 1/25/75: #1 “Please Mr. Postman” (Carpenters) #2 “Laughter In The Rain” (Neil Sedaka) #3 “Mandy” (Barry Manilow)…and…#4 “Fire” (Ohio Players) #5 “Boogie On Reggae Woman” (Stevie Wonder) #6 “You’re No Good” (Linda Ronstadt) #7 “One Man Woman/One Woman Man” (Paul Anka with Odia Coates) #8 “Morning Side Of The Mountain” (Donny & Marie Osmond) #9 “Never Can Say Goodbye” (Gloria Gaynor) #10 “Pick Up The Pieces” (AWB)
Atlanta Falcons Quiz Answer: 1998 Super Bowl team…quarterback Chris Chandler (threw for 3,154 yards, with 25 TD passes and 12 INTs); running back Jamal Anderson (1,846 yards and 14 TDs…he was the entire ground game…Chandler was second on the team in rushing with 121 yards); Terance Mathis (64-1,136, 17.8 avg.) and Tony Martin (66-1,181, 17.9) were the two fine wide receivers.
In the Super Bowl, Chandler was 19/35, 219, 1-3…3 INTs. Anderson was effective, 18 carries for 96 yards. Tim Dwight had a 94-yard kickoff return for a TD for Atlanta as well.
For Denver, John Elway was 18/29, 336, 1-1. Rod Smith had five receptions for 152 yards and a score, while Terrell Davis rushed for 102 yards on 25 carries.
Next Bar Chat, Thursday.
