Gang, here's the short and long of it: Winter means cold weather and potential snow. Snow means no school and loads of bread.
Glad we got that off our chest.
From the "Talks too much" studios, have you thought about the mailbag?
Chicago Bulls' Derrick Rose (1) shoots over Golden State Warriors' Stephen Curry (30) during the first half of an NBA basketball game Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2015, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez) Derrick Rose
Wow, Derrick Rose will have knee surgery. Again.
The Chicago Bulls have their season derailed. Again.
And the pain of the moment is not as great as the pain of the questions of what will be.
Rose decided to fix the meniscus of his right knee rather than having it removed. Repairing it will be similar to the surgery that ended his season last year and the rehab-and-return schedule would be nine-months or so. If he had decided to have it removed, he could have been back for the playoffs but the long-term effects include a lack of explosion, pain and potential arthritis.
So we are left with another postseason without Rose, who when healthy can be a true difference make on each end of the floor.
And Rose is left not knowing what his future holds, considering dude's game is based a great deal on his explosive speed with the ball in his hands, and after his third knee injury in three-plus years, there certainly will be lingering effects.
It's sad in a lot of ways, and Rose could make a push for the all-time Rushmore of great ones derailed by injury.
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Bracket busters
We are speeding toward the NCAA tournament - we're like less than three weeks away after all - and with that in mind, we feel we owe it to you to start spending a little
Weather permitting, there are several college basketball games of interest tonight. Let's review:
Basketball tileFirst, Kentucky faces Mississippi State. This does not seem like an overly difficult test for the Wildcats, who will have the nine best players on the floor. Not at the same time of course, that would be a violation.
Second, Duke plays an overmatched Virginia Tech, but the questions about Jahlil Okafor's ankle remain.
There are three key bubble games, led by Georgia at Ole Miss and including Illinois at Iowa and UConn at East Carolina.
Should be interesting - unless of course you're Georgia Tech, and as Billy knows, well there's not a lot that's interesting about Yellow Jackets hoops right now.
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Action-packed in L.A.
The Academy Awards were Sunday, and this image of Michael Keaton putting away his acceptance speech after the award went to someone else is touching and real. It's also sad, because you have to believe the 63-year-old Keaton realizes that this could be his only shot at the top honor in acting.
Michael Keaton arrives at the Oscars on Sunday, Feb. 22, 2015, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP) That said, the fact that Bill Blazejowski from "Night Shift" or Jack from "Mr. Mom" was on the cusp of winning an Oscar is kind of surreal.
Then you remember that Jeff Spicoli from "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" has won two, as does Rick Gassko from "Bachelor Party." Other than Sean Penn and Tom Hanks, who are some of the best actors in strange early roles that went on to win Oscars?
Speaking of La-La Land, the race to get to L.A. has picked up real speed for NFL teams. Here's a story that Inglewood is about to build a stadium with plans of the Rams returning to L.A. This comes on the heels of the power-struggle play that Oakland and San Diego were looking to share a stadium in Carson, Calif., in an effort to force their current locales to get serious about new venues.
Crazy, indeed. We agree that L.A., the second-biggest TV market in the land, needs an NFL team. But three seems a bit much, you know?
The race is on.
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This and that
- Man, the Tiger Woods stories keep circulating. After Butch Harmon's offering that he would help Tiger if asked but Tiger's too proud for that, now comes someone on Tour telling a reporter that Tiger's agent is covering for him and that he may skip Augusta. C'mon gang. First, don't all agents and people on the staff of stars cover for their clients in some ways? Second, we'd be stunned if Woods skips the Masters, and if that happens, then this is way, Way, WAY worse than we imagined.
UTC coach Jim Foster talks with his team at McKenzie Arena in this 2014 file photo.- We talked some about the success of Jim Foster's Mocs on Tuesday here at the 5-at-10. TFP ace columnist Mark Wiedmer gives his view here and makes a case for a seed higher than the current projected No. 8 in the tournament.
- We shared the funky college helmets earlier this week. Here are some proposals for funky, new-look NFL helmets.
- All-around TFP ace David Paschall shares that as many as five of the best prospects in the Minnesota organization - including Byron Buxton, who is the top prospect in all of baseball - could be in Chattanooga this year.
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Ric FlairToday's question
Some interesting birthdays today.
Carrot Top is 50. And yes, we saw "Young Einstein." Wait that was Yahoo Serious, who was a serious yahoo and the Austrailan version of Carrot Top. Side note: Carrot Top has done some serious lifting in his latter years.
Today is Ric Flair's 66th birthday. He is our all-time favorite wrestler, and that begs the question: What's our Rushmore of professional wrestlers?
Go, and OG, we're excited to see your list.
(And remember the mailbag.)