From the "Talks too much" remember the Alamo. And the mailbag. And your grandparents this Sunday - it's National Grandparents Day after all.
SEC asked and answered
After our week one overreactions, let's get back to questions and answers for the SEC teams based on our power poll. Deal? Deal.
Alabama Crimson Tide logo1) Alabama (2-0; vs. Southern Miss): Do the Tide need to name a full-time starting quarterback? Certainly not before this week's massacre with Southern Miss, who had fallen faster than any program anywhere until Vandy took a step off the Empire State Building with lead boots and steel pants. That said, there shouldn't even be a controversy at this point considering Blake Sims is ranked No. 6 in the country in pass efficiency.
2) Auburn (2-0; off Saturday): Are the Tigers ready to face the toughest schedule in the country? We think so. After two warm-up blowouts against SEC-foe Arkansas and San Jose State - less-talented foes, but hardly FCS schools - the Tigers take Saturday off before facing No. 19 Kansas State on the road Sept. 18. It's the first of seven dates for Auburn against teams ranked in the top 25. And the offense - ranked No. 13 nationally in yards after two weeks and seventh in the country in rushing (330 yards per game) - looks every bit ready for the challenge.
3) Georgia (1-0; at South Carolina): How will the Bulldogs handle being told how they great they are for two weeks after smashing Clemson in the opener? That will be the biggest challenge heading into the SEC East-shaping match-up in Columbia, especially considering how the Gamecocks got thrashed by Texas A&M and had to hold on against East Carolina.
4) Texas A&M (2-0; vs. Rice): Speaking of offense, can the Aggies keep up the run and gun show that has averaged 655 yards and 62.5 points in its two wins over the Ol' Ball Coach and some cat named Lamar? We feel certain they will this week against a wild Rice squad that will be cooked inside a minute.
5) LSU (2-0; vs. Louisiana-Monore): On a team flushed with talented freshmen, did we overlook sophomore Tavin Dural? Yes, yes we did. But that won't be the case moving forward considering Dural has made crazy big play after crazy big play so far this season. Dural has six catches in two games - rather mortal numbers on the surface - but those catches have gone for 291 yards and four TDs. Yes, Dural is averaging almost 47 yards per catch.
6) Ole Miss (2-0; vs. Louisiana-Lafayette): Want to know how one-sided the Rebels' 41-3 whipping of Vandy was? Three Rebels threw passes; nine Rebels ran the ball; eight Rebels caught passes. In fact, as one of the regulars on Press Row noted on Monday, the only Rebel that didn't get to play was the punter. Ouch-standing.
7) Mississippi State (2-0; at South Alabama): Is there a more regional schedule around than the Bulldogs' slate? The longest trip from Starkville is to Lexington to face Kentucky in October because the Bulldogs' other trips are this weekend to South Alabama then to LSU on Sept. 20, Tuscaloosa on Nov. 15 and Oxford to close the season Nov. 29. Pass the gravy and biscuits please.
8) Florida (1-0; vs. Kentucky): It was only one game against a dreadful Eastern Michigan team, but how much better did the Gators offense look under Kurt Roper? Tons. Literally, tons better in every fashion to the backward, slow-motion nightmare that was last year. It was fast and energized and scored 65 points and 655 yards. It also produced the single most efficient debut in college quarterbacking history. Freshman Treon Harris threw two passes, completing them both, for 148 yards and two touchdowns. According to the NCAA QB efficiency scale, Harris' rating is 1,051.6. By comparison, among quarterbacks with enough attempts to qualify, Oregon's Marcus Mariota has a rating of 208.2.
9) Missouri (2-0; vs. UCF): Want to know about balance? Just ask Gary Pinkel and the Tigers' offense, which ranks 57th nationally in passing (251.5 per game) and 57th national in rushing (196 per game). Side stat: Maty Mauk has eight TD passes in two games.
10) South Carolina (1-1; vs. Georgia): Can one game salvage a season? In this case, you bet it can. A debacle in the opener and a struggle against East Carolina are in the rear view, but the Gamecocks could grab control of the SEC East and get right back into the thick of things with an upset over Georgia.
Vols T logo11) Tennessee (2-0; at Oklahoma): What's a reasonable expectation for a youthful Vols bunch against a seasoned and talented Oklahoma team? Vegas thinks there's a three-touchdown difference, and we certainly can see that. But for UT to continue to lay the foundation, beating lesser non-conference foes is the first step, competing with the heavyweights needs to be on the agenda. Is that a few bricks down the road or is that Saturday? Will this be a step or a stomping? More brick-by-brick or stick-by-stick?
12) Kentucky (2-0; at Florida): How big would an upset of the Gators be? Historically speaking it would the football version of landing on the moon - unimaginable until it actually happens.
13) Arkansas (1-1; vs. Texas Tech in Dallas): Can the Hogs' keep the SEC's perfect non-conference mark against power conferences in tact? We'll see, but we do know this - Arkansas can flat run the football.
14) Vandy (0-2; vs. UMass): After two disastrous home losses by a combined 78-10, there are far more questions than answers for the Commodores, right? Will Vandy win more than two games? Will there be more than 20,000 people there Saturday? Will Vandy actually score an offensive touchdown this week? Is Derek Mason in so far over his head his nose could start bleeding at any time? Let's go with, No, No, Yes, and Absolutely.
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Football tileNFL Power Poll
After a week one worth of fun, here's the top five and the dregs of the NFL:
1) Seattle: Last year's champs look like the class of the league.
2) Denver: Last year's runners-up look better on defense, and that's going to have be a truth for the Denver Mannings to get back to the Super Bowl.
3) Detroit: Yep, we said it. The Lions looked good Monday night in a 35-14 win over New York that was not as close as the score.
4) Pittsburgh: Yes, they let a big lead trickle to nothing, but the traditionally slow-starting Steelers won a season opener for the first time since 2010. Think about that.
5) Atlanta: Yes, it may be a week one flash for a team that has issues, but it was a great week one for an offense that has a legit passing game.
Bottom five (see if you notice a trend here that will make Philadelphia Eagles quite pleased ...)
28) New York Giants: Hard seeing this team contend on a weekly basis. It may be time for Tommy Coughlin to consider his future options.
29) St. Louis: Yes, losing your starting quarterback before the season opener is a tough blow. But with or without Sam Bradford, a much-hyped 34 points to a team quarterbacked by Matt Cassel.
30) Washington: Six points? Six? Against the Texans?
31) Dallas: Yes, the 49ers are one of the league's top teams, but dear goodness, that was awful in its awfulness. Buck up Cowboys, you're the most valuable team in the league and arguably the worst.
32) Roger Goodell: Which brings us to...
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Ray Rice
Ray Rice was released by the Baltimore Ravens and then quickly suspended indefinitely by the NFL after the tape of Rice punching then-fiancee Janay Palmer in an elevator was released by TMZ.com.
Commissioner Roger GoodellThe images are horrible and horrifying. We have said from the moment NFL commissioner Roger Goodell handed out a meaningless two-game suspension for Rice that this was a farce and a travesty and in truth an awful precedent that covers up a growing problem in our society.
Goodell admitted that his decision was a bad one and added layers to the league's domestic violence penalties. It was a rare moment that seemed to be contrition for Goodell, a master PR weaver who seldom deviates from the focused goal of continuing to grow the NFL into a $25 billion operation.
And the tougher penalties - a six-game suspension for a first offense; a lifetime ban for a second offense - drew applause.
Now, they should draw questions. Did Goodell review his policy because the NFL what was coming, the TMZ release of an appalling video of Rice dropping Palmer with a left jab and knocking her out and refusing to even check to make sure she was still alive? And if the NFL did not see the video - if they did see the video and only suspended Ray Rice for two games, sweet Odin's Raven, then we've got much bigger, Bigger, BIGGER problems - how did TMZ get it before an $8 billion industry like the NFL?
(Side note: The NFL's suspension of Rice after his release made me think of a college buddy, who at 5-foot-5 and full of spunk and Keystone Light, looked me right in the eye before a fight after a pledge football game and said, "Jay, if you knock that big guy down, I'll kick him as hard as I can.")
Whether they realize it or not, the league has a lot of questions to answer. Yes, Ray Rice deserves to be the villain here and he may not ever get another job in the NFL. (We think he will but we'll see.)
But the league has sent a clear message here: With its blind eye to the first round with Rice - Two games? Really? If he hit an opponent during a game like he hit his future wife, Rice likely would have at least two games. - and with its indifference to Greg Hardy and Ray McDonald and the rest of the domestic incidents, the clear message the league is sending is not that it's wrong to hit women.
Nope, in the NFL's eyes it's wrong to get video-taped hitting women.
And that's a tragedy.
Roger Goodell, whatcha' got?
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This and that
Clayton Kershaw- Clayton Kershaw pitched. Clayton Kershaw dominated. Kershaw, who continues to strengthen his MVP case, went eight innings, allowing one earned on three hits, in a 9-4 Dodgers win. His MLB-leading ERA is down to 1.67.
- Braves lose because the Braves can't hit. And let's repeat it from the top, a 1, a 2, a 1-2-3-4.
- Detroit beat the New York football Giants 35-14 on Monday night. Yep, we're ready to say it: If we had the choice between Calvin Johnson in his prime and Jerry Rice in his prime, we're taking Calvin Johnson. Period.
- The Hawks are in a quagmire of angst right now. Apparently GM Danny Ferry also has delivered a racially insensitive remark and has been disciplined. We don't believe this to be over for Ferry, who actually did it in the work place and on a conference call as a reason for player-personnel decisions, which seems way worse than the actual incident that got Donald Sterling run. (Yes Sterling had a long list of violations and is a scum bag of the highest order, but he was ranting to his mistress about the company she keeps; Ferry was using his insensitive rant as a reason not to sign Loul Deng.)
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Today's question(s)
Great day for birthdays:
Colonel Sanders, Adam Sandler, Hugh Grant, Tom Wopat, Otis Redding, Rachel Hunter, Eliott from the E.T. movie, Bob Stoops. Good day.
Side note: Great list of Rushmore of female voices yesterday. We'll go Cline, Houston, Carey and Rosanne Barr. (Wait, one of those doesn't belong.... Maybe sub in Leann Rimes, and yes we're a youngster but she can go.)
As for our questions, well, here are a couple:
Would you vote for a starting pitcher to be MVP?
To honor Adam Sandler, what's our Rushmore of former SNL cast members who have had the best careers after SNL?
To honor the Colonel, what was your go-to restaurant as a kid. Ours was seriously the KFC. Loved it. Rest in peace, Colonel. Side note: How is there not an 'R' in Colonel? Pronounce that word and it's always kerr-Nel, right? Yet no 'R' anywhere.
Go.