5-at-10: Weekend winners, losers, college football questions and Rushmore of DeNiro


              Jason Day, of Australia, holds up the Wanamaker Trophy after winning the PGA Championship golf tournament Sunday, Aug. 16, 2015, at Whistling Straits in Haven, Wis. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)
Jason Day, of Australia, holds up the Wanamaker Trophy after winning the PGA Championship golf tournament Sunday, Aug. 16, 2015, at Whistling Straits in Haven, Wis. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

It's a Monday, you what time it is.

From the "Talks too much" studios, tick-tock, football's right around the corner.

photo Jason Day, of Australia, holds up the Wanamaker Trophy after winning the PGA Championship golf tournament Sunday, Aug. 16, 2015, at Whistling Straits in Haven, Wis. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Weekend winners

Jason Day. Dude was aces and the door Sunday with a magical 67 to secure his first major. His 20-under par was the lowest score in relation to par in major championship history. His son Dash was the most recent kid of a sports star to blow up Twitter and peg the cute meter. (Although, unless he's Sampson, the kid could use a haircut.)

Jordan Spieth. Spieth finished second behind Day at the PGA, and called it the "best loss of my life." That makes pretty good sense considering that with the runner-up finish/loss: Spieth moved to No. 1 in the world; became only the second player in golf history to earn more than $10 million in a season (Tiger of course is other and he did it five times); and joined Woods (in 2005) and Jack Nicklaus (in 1973) as the only players in the Masters era who finished in the top four in each major in a calendar year. And as we have said a multitude of times, when you are on a golf list with Tiger and Jack, well, your are doing something right. Then there was also this classy gesture from Spieth has Day rolled a perfect lag putt up that locked up the title Sunday.

photo Bruce Pearl directs his team against Ohio State during the first half of a college basketball game in St. Louis.

Bruce Pearl. The former Vols coach and current Auburn hoops coach landed the biggest recruit in Auburn basketball history by getting five-star shooting guard Mustapha Heron. If Heron signs, it would give Pearl three top-100 players in the last two recruiting cycles. At Auburn. He could sell ice to Eskimos.

James Harrison. The glare Godzilla and former NFL defensive player of the year told his kids they did not deserve participation trophies. If you disagree with Harrison, well, that's your prerogative, but we think teaching little boys to work hard is one of the three best lessons they can get (how to treat women and dealing with setbacks, are the others). No one can disagree, though, that Harrison has a stance and is sticking with it.

Eric Berry. For everyone who has had the dreaded disease or had a family member fight it, Berry's return to the field after beating Lymphoma is a moment we should all celebrate. Nevermind the fact he's one of the true good guys in sports, this is awesome in its awesomeness.

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Weekend losers

CBS. The coverage over the weekend was blah-tastic, but at least on Sunday, the golf coverage at least showed golf. Saturday, the features and interviews meant there was little actually coverage of the players on the course. Here was some of the social media blow-back.

photo Dustin Johnson waves to the gallery after making a putt on the 10th green during Friday's second round of the British Open at the Old Course in St. Andrews, Scotland.

Dustin Johnson. Another major, another strong start and another weekend fade. He's performance is the goof version of shampoo - lead, letdown, loss, repeat. Dude melted down on 18 at this tournament at Whistling Straits in 2010. This weekend he sucked any drama about when the meltdown would come, posting a quad-bogey eight on No. 1 Sunday. Somewhere Anna and Elsa are singing, "Do you wanna build a snowman?"

Shelby Miller. Another case of no support from his Braves teammates. On Sunday, Miller went seven innings, allowed one earned run on two hits with 10 Ks. And yet another no decision. He has not been credited with a win since mid-May.

Trent Richardson. Wonder why the former No. 3 overall pick is on his third team in four years? Check out this and you get the feeling Helen Keller has better vision running the football.

The Nationals. Two weeks ago when they were in command of the NL East, a big surge by the Mets was more annoyingly cute than anything. Today, after the Nats have lost six straight and are 4.5 games back of those same Mets, well, there's a sense of urgency (bordering on panic) in D.C.

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College football

As of Monday, we are 17 days from college football's Thursday night kick-off.

Here are five-number related questions and answers for the season:

1. Who will be QB1 at THE Ohio State, Cardale Jones or J.T. Barrett? Here's a wild guess: On the first play of the season have both of them - as well as converted-quarterback-now-receiver Braxton Miller - on the field.

2. Who will finish second in the quarterback races at Alabama, Georgia and LSU? Each of those three teams have national championship pieces all over the field. Each of those teams, though, could have season-lasting quarterback issues. We think Alabama starts with Jake Coker, Georgia starts with Brice Ramsey and LSU starts with Anthony Jennings, but all three are far from secure.

photo Texas A&M head coach Kevin Sumlin yells at an official after safety Howard Matthews was ejected in the first half of the Liberty Bowl NCAA college football game against West Virginia, Monday, Dec. 29, 2014, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

3. Will the SEC title drought reach three seasons? We think that is likely, and it could work out that the SEC is - hold your breath and close your ears Jethro - the big-five conference on the outside looking in come playoff time.

4. For Kevin Sumlin, this is a big year, and will the fourth-highest paid coach in college football be on a very hot season this time next year? We think the Aggies have a huge ceiling, but we also know that the coach that finishes last in the SEC West will still be making more than $4 million.

5. Which of the Big Five conferences will be left out of the playoff? And as crazy as this sounds, could more than one be omitted? Know this: Notre Dame has its most talented roster under Brian Kelley; BYU returns a darkhorse Heisman candidate in Taysom Hill and Boise State starts the year in the top 25.

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This and that

- We thought this was pretty cool. Matt Jones was leading the PGA over the weekend and then stopped by this hospitality tent and played from patio.

photo Matt Jones, of Australia, hits on the third hole during the second round of the PGA Championship golf tournament Friday, Aug. 14, 2015, at Whistling Straits in Haven, Wis. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

- In the winners and losers category, rookie quarterbacks. Marcus Mariota and Jameis Winston had tough starts, as ace TFP columnist Mark Wiedmer noted here, started slowly in their preseason debut. Each finished much better, and the feedbacks from their teammates remain overwhelmingly positive.

- Another win/loss weekend goes to Tim Tebow. The former Heisman winner was a little wild throwing the ball Sunday in his return to football as he tries to make the Eagles roster but did score a rushing TD. He also reminded us that he is overwhelmingly popular. There was one report in the Eagles' team story every jersey thaws was available had at least 10 on the rank. Tebow's No. 11 was down to two left in stock.

- Matt Kenseth won the NASCAR race at Michigan on Sunday. We'll see if anyone picked him in our Twitter contest to give away two tickets to Bristol this weekend. Listen to Press Row around 5 to hear who won.

photo This film publicity image released by Relativity Media shows Michelle Pfeiffer, left, and Robert DeNiro in "The Family."

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Today's question

Feel free to offer a weekend winner or loser. It is Monday after all - and we'll be kicking them around on Press Row today, too.

If you need a Rushmore, how about the Rushmore of movies from one Bobby DeNiro, who turns 72 today?

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