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The NFL conundrum
You can assemble the best roster out there.
You can have it mesh with the coaching staff perfectly.
You can zoom into contention in a wide-open conference.
And then your QB1 goes down and poof.
The Jets know. They lost Aaron Rodgers in four plays into the season.
The Browns know. They lost DeShaun Watson as their top-ranked defense started flexing its strength.
The Vikings know. They lost Kirk Cousins right when Kirk Cousins was being the good Kirk Cousins.
The Colts and the Giants know. They lost Anthony Richardson and Daniel Jones respectively.
The Bengals know. They lost Joe Burrow and any reasonable chance at returning to the AFC title game. (Although, sweet buckets, Jake Browning. No back-up QB has made that much money on a random Monday Night Football since Matt Flynn back in the day parlayed Monday night magic with Green Bay into a free agent starters deal with Seattle. The Shotgun — if that's not Browning's nickname, it should be — was brilliant earlier this month against the Jags.)
Now the Chargers know, too, since Justin Herbert was lost for the season with a broken finger on his throwing hand.
Not sure if any of these teams can make the playoffs — but here's hoping at least a couple do, because the idea of Joe Flacco or Josh Dobbs in a meaningful playoff game could go a long way paying for the Greeson family Christmas — but jobs are lost and careers ended by some of the smallest and/or strangest injuries.
It also makes you wonder how should teams approach the most important position in sports.
Sure, everyone wants a Mahomes and is willing to pay the freight for Josh Allen.
But are we to a place that every team should spend a third-day pick on a QB for depth and cross your fingers for a Brock Purdy situation? I tend to think yes.
Because too many times this year, a dude your entire franchise trusts at QB1 has crumpled and then, like Keyser Soze said of the devil, "And like that ... he's gone."
End of an era
Man, Al Michaels is one of the all-time TV sports voices.
He also has one of the all-time classic calls — maybe the most classic ever — when he asked America if we believed in miracles.
Michaels, who has called a record-tying 11 Super Bowls in his storied career and had been the voice of Sunday Night Football on NBC for 15-plus years, reportedly has been dropped from NBC's playoff plans.
And know this, networks do not pay folks the kind of coin Michaels has made to be the lead guy on a regional college basketball game on Peacock.
In truth, I can't help but feel for the 79-year-old Michaels, who certainly has had a career worthy of one final lap, you know?
So it goes, and who knows who in the sports hierarchy at 30 Rock is ticked at whom.
But Michaels in a lot of ways — dude was doing Olympics broadcasts and Wide World of Sports stuff in the late 1970s — was the national sports voice as many of us were growing up.
Visor tip, Al.
Bowling memories
Man, the college football carousel is spinning, right? Transfer QBs headed all over the place. Side note: I'm going to get a little sprinkle on Notre Dame transfer QB1 Riley Leonard for the Heisman as soon as possible.
Also, could Georgia lose its star recruit as the top-ranked QB in the 2024 cycle will visit Nebraska — where his dad was a star and his uncle currently is on the Cornhuskers staff — this weekend just a week from the start of the early signing period.
Plus, the Florida attorney general is moving forward in an effort to sue the college football playoff committee for leaving FSU out of the four-team bracket.
(Side question: We can all agree that is mostly political pandering right? Which also begs this side question on the side question: If you are political pandering to the FSU faithful in your state, are you not running the risk of alienating the Gators or Hurricanes supporters? Discuss.)
And the SEC will reveal its football schedule for 2024 tonight. Normally these kinds of schedule reveals — be it the NFL or whomever — rank somewhere between Downton Abbey and those Muzak test patterns on my level of enthralling television. This is different. Especially in what will be a historic season across the league as Oklahoma and Texas come into the fold.
But all of that is jazz-hands stuff compared to what we are gathered for. That's right, ladies and gentleman, the Bowling for Bowls of Bowl Game Success (Bowler Optional) official entry form.
Deadline is Saturday at noon. No purchase necessary. Your friends, family and anyone foolish enough not to be a regular is also welcome to play. These listed spreads are final. Yes, half of Georgia's team may opt out, but the line listed below is what we are dealing with for these happenings.
Also, don't highlight your picks. It makes it more difficult in the tabulating process. Some of you are spread-sheeters. And that's fine. If you want to circle your picks, fine. If you want to cut and paste the entire list below, then leave your pick so the entire column would look like this.
Rose Bowl — Alabama
Sugar Bowl — Texas (minus-3.5)
Cool?
Also A-OK. But the highlighting does not show on a print-out. Fire away.
1-point games
Myrtle Beach Bowl — Georgia Southern vs. Ohio (-2.5)
New Orleans Bowl — Louisiana vs. Jacksonville State (-2.5)
Cure Bowl — Miami (Ohio) vs. App State (-3.5)
New Mexico Bowl — Fresno State vs. New Mexico State (-2.5)
Arizona Bowl — Wyoming vs Toledo (-1.5)
Toastery Bowl — Old Dominion vs. Western Kentucky (pick 'em)
68 Ventures Bowl — Eastern Michigan vs. South Alabama (-16.5)
2-point games
Independence Bowl — Cal vs. Texas Tech (-3.5)
Frisco Bowl — Marshall vs. UTSA (-8.5)
Boca Raton Bowl — South Florida vs. Syracuse (-5.5)
Birmingham Bowl — Duke vs. Troy (-5.5)
Camellia Bowl — Northern Illinois vs Arkansas State (-1.5)
Armed Forces Bowl — Air Force vs. James Madison (-4.5)
Famous Idaho Potato Bowl — Utah State vs. Georgia State (-3.5)
3-point games
L.A. Bowl — Boise State vs. UCLA (-2.5)
Las Vegas Bowl — Northwestern vs. Utah (-7.5)
Hawai'i Bowl — Coastal Carolina vs. San Jose State (-7.5)
Quick Lane Bowl — Bowling Green vs. Minnesota (-5.5)
First Responder Bowl — Rice vs. Texas State (-6.5)
Guaranteed Rate Bowl — UNLV vs. Kansas (-11.5)
Military Bowl — Tulane vs. Virginia Tech (-5.5)
Liberty Bowl — Memphis vs. Iowa State (-6.5)
4-point games
Gasparilla Bowl — Georgia Tech vs. UCF (-6.5)
Duke's Mayo Bowl — UNC vs. West Virginia (-3.5)
Holiday Bowl — USC vs. Louisville (-6.5)
Fenway Bowl — Boston College vs. SMU (-10.5)
Pinstripe Bowl — Rutgers vs. Miami (-4.5)
Pop-Tarts Bowl — NC State vs. Kansas State (-4.5)
Alamo Bowl — Oklahoma vs. Arizona (-3)
Sun Bowl — Oregon State vs. Notre Dame (-10.5)
5-point games
Texas Bowl — Oklahoma State vs. Texas A&M (-4.5)
Gator Bowl — Kentucky vs. Clemson (-6.5)
Cotton Bowl — Missouri vs. THE Ohio State (-3.5)
Peach Bowl — Ole Miss vs. Penn State (-4.5)
Music City Bowl — Maryland vs. Auburn (-2.5)
Orange Bowl — FSU vs. Georgia (-13.5)
ReliaQuest Bowl — Wisconsin vs. LSU (-10.5)
Citrus Bowl — Iowa vs. Tennessee (-7.5)
Fiesta Bowl — Liberty vs. Oregon (-3.5)
7-point game
Rose Bowl — Alabama vs. Michigan (-1.5)
Sugar Bowl — Washington vs. Texas (-3.5)
10-point bonus
National champion (just the winner, no spread)
This and that
— Rest easy, Andre Braugher, who I remember most from his debut in film in the amazingly well-crafted "Glory" and most as Lt. Pembleton in "Homicide." He was 61, which is wicked young. And dude was a seriously great actor and well-trained in the arts with a B.A. from Stanford and a masters from Julliard.
— Has there been a positive story this year that starts "PGA leadership _______"? Because here's the next one as 21 rank-and-file PGA players have hired attorneys in an attempt to force the PGA to be more transparent in its merger conversations with LIV and potential other investors.
— All-around TFP ace David Paschall shares an interesting conversation he had on "Press Row" with renowned sports filmmaker Ken Rodgers and his next 30-for-30 project, which centers on Chattanooga legend Reggie White. It debuts tonight, and I will be watching.
— So Cam Newton made some news this week saying several of the MVP front-runners are not "difference-makers" as QB1s and are simply "game-managers." OK, am I the only one who thinks managing the game is one of the top qualities for effective QBs at any level? Also, someone should have asked ol' Cam — whom I love and will be forever grateful to — the "Bull Durham" classic of "Who dresses you? Don't you think this is a bit excessive for the Carolina League?"
— Man, just yesterday we were discussing the lost seasons for Washington professional sports teams. Now they really lost something as the Wizards and the Capitals are moving to Virginia. Yes, that's across the river but still, the Virginia Capitals does not make a whole lot of sense, no?
— So the NBA refs tossed Nikola Jokic in his only trip to Chicago on Tuesday night for arguing a no call. That it also happened on Serbian Appreciation Night should be mentioned I suppose too.
Today's questions
Which way Wednesday starts this way:
Which QB1 injury this season was the most detrimental to his team?
Which relocated franchise has the most nonsensical name?
Which slide of a traditionally iconic NFL franchise — Pittsburgh or New England — is more depressing?
Which is more important in today's college football success on signing day or in the portal?
As for today, Dec. 13, let's review.
On this day 20 years ago Saddam Hussein was captured by American forces.
"Driving Miss Daisy" premiered on this day in 1989. True or false, that makes Morgan Freeman's Rushmore. True or false, you could not make "Driving Miss Daisy" today?
Taylor Swift is 34 today.
Rushmore of Taylor, and have a little fun, will ya?