Weekend winners
Kirby Smart. In year two of the Smart era – which sounds pretty sharp by the way – the Georgia football program is rolling. In the last 72 hours or so, Smart’s team punctuated its first 6-0 start since 2005 with a 45-14 drubbing of Vandy and landed a commitment from the nation’s No. 1 ranked high school player. That’s a good weekend. (Side note: We did not realize how old that UGA defense is. They start seven seniors and have two juniors – Roquan Smith and Trenton Thompson – who are sure-fire NFL players.)
Mark Richt. Yep, as the Georgia program rolls with a lot of the players Richt brought in – seven offensive starters and 10 defensive starters are juniors or seniors – the second-year Miami coach landed a monster win at Tallahassee as the Canes beat arch-rival FSU for the first time in eight years. Man, if the cards fall right and Miami and Georgia play in the college football playoff, look out. We think former Miami star Michael Irvin was pretty happy after the win, but it’s pretty hard to tell exactly what he’s saying.
Everyone who watched the Cowboys-Packers. The NFL is in a weird spot. Viewership is down. Controversy – feuds with everyone from the White House to the house down the street about the pregame protests – abounds. But Sundayafternoon, with Aaron Rodgers reminding us he’s amazing and the Cowboys battling back and all that went with it, was really fun. Can Green Bay and Dallas play again next week? (Side note: Aaron Rodgers has four passing TDs in the final 30 seconds of regulation since 2014. That’s a cool dude friends. Aaron Rodgers is simply the best I’ve ever seen play quarterback. Better than Elway, Manning, Brady, et al. Most accomplished? No. Best? No doubt.)
Jacksonville. Yes, Jacksonville. The Jags defense is legit – forced Big Ben into five interceptions, two of which turned into pick sixes – and the path to the playoffs is filled with the limited hurdles that are the AFC South.
UAB. The Blazers returned to football this season after the terrible decision a few years ago to shutter the program. That’s cool. So is the fact that they blocked at extra point to secure a 23-22 win over Louisiana Tech. But beyond all of that, the fact that the Blazers players wore the names of kids fighting cancer at a nearby hospital on the backs of their jerseys reminded us of the power of sports and the things that makes us love them so much.
FILE – In this Feb. 29, 2016, file photo, Michigan’s head coach Jim Harbaugh, center right, watches defensive coordinator Don Brown, left, work with Cheyenn Robertson during NCAA college football practice in Bradenton, Fla. The two-a-day football practices that coaches once used to toughen up their teams and cram for the start of the season are going the way of tear-away jerseys and the wishbone formation. (Tiffany Tompkins/The Bradenton Herald via AP, File) Weekend losers
NASCAR. Can you name the winner of Sunday’s race? Can you name the track where they ran? Nope? Me neither. This comes on the heels of Denny Hamlin saying late last week that NASCAR drivers deserve NBA- and NFL-type money. (Side note: Martin Truex Jr. won at Charlotte on Sunday.) TV numbers are not out for Charlotte yet, but late last week we read that last week’s race at Dover was tied as the lowest rated NASCAR playoff race ever (excluding rainouts, and dating back to 2004). It tied the previous week’s race at New Hampshire, and it continued an awful trend for the sport. Know this: Before Charlotte, the previous four races ranked as the four lowest rated NASCAR Cup races since at least 2000, according to Sports Media Watch. Dover had 2 million viewers; just four years ago, the Dover race had 4 million viewers.
NFL teams playing without their starting quarterback. Titans and Raiders, two teams a lot of us thought would be trendy postseason picks, were humbled by the Dolphins and Ravens on Sunday without Marcus Mariota and Derek Carr behind center.
Dolphins offensive line coach Chris Foerster. One of the highest paid assistants in the league – he was making between $2 and $3 million according to ESPN – was allegedly on a video snorting a white powder before a team meeting. Wow, on the job booger sugar probably is not within team rules.
Oklahoma. Losing to Iowa State is never a good look. Losing to Iowa State at home in Norman just hours after the Cyclones announced that starting QB Jacob Park was taking a leave of absence for personal reasons is even worse.
UTC. Injuries, suspensions, mistakes. You name it and it has happened to the Mocs this year. Saturday’s homecoming loss to Furman dropped UTC to 1-5 and staring a monstrous uphill fight in the face.
Bonus pick: Jim Harbaugh. Dude is 5-4 in his last four games and got out-coached for the second straight year by Mark Dantonio, who has significantly less talent on the field. When does Coach Khaki start feeling the heat? Not sure but look beyond the hype and Michigan underwhelms in the biggest moments.
Bonus pick, II: The officials at the Mizzou-UK football game after missing a critical play late and costing the Tigers at least one play and maybe more in the final seconds of UK’s 40-34 win. Not a good look.
FILE – In this Dec. 11, 2016, file photo, San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick stands in the bench area during the second half of the team’s NFL football game against the New York Jets in Santa Clara, Calif. Kaepernick told CBS he’ll stand during the national anthem if given chance to play football in NFL again. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File) More anthem talk
OK, it seems that we can’t get rid of it, and in truth, we’re borderline tired of discussing it.
But it was again a major topic Sunday.
There were protests, and the Vice President protesting the protests by walking out of the Colts-49ers game. (Do we think that was a PR stunt? Yes. But in a lot of ways the protests at that time are PR stunts too.)
There was the back-and-forth discussion of Colin Kaepernick. First, CBSsports.com reported that Kaepernick would stand for the anthem if a team signed him. Then there was Camp Kaepernick saying that was not true. Then there was the stark realization that if the Titans are going to sign Brandon Weeden – for an offense designed for Marcus Mariota, who has a very similar skill set as Kaepernick – then Kaepernick is almost assuredly not going to get signed by any team any time soon.
Then there was the Jerry Jones ultimatum, in which he loudly and plainly stated that any Cowboys player who kneels for the anthem will not play in the game.
It’s clearly part of a growing disconnect between the NFL and its fans, as ratings continue to dip, and last night’s primetime game is expected to draw worse than its year-to-date counterpart (last year’s Week 5 Sunday night game got a 9.3 but went against one of the presidential debates), which would be staggering.
Hey, if it’s within his rights in the CBA, Jones owns the team and he can lay down any and all rules that he sees fit. That’s his freedom of speech and freedom of ownership. He’s not saying they can’t kneel. He’s saying that they can’t play if they kneel.
The freedom of speech is not a freedom of consequences or repercussions.
That said, we’d be very intrigued to see if Ezekiel Elliott, Dak Prescott and Dez Bryant all took a knee next week, what would happen.
Yes, Jones has the power to do what he sees fit. But the players have the power of impact for a team needing wins. (As a side note, we went to the Auburn-Ole Miss game as Auburn celebrated Military Appreciation Day and even gave a wounded veteran a house. The juxtaposition was not lost on anyone in my family or anyone sitting around us.)
It seems Jones’ ultimatum is the next step in what we hope will be the final march of this issue. (But we somehow doubt that.)
This and that
– Nick Saban never lets off the gas. Here he berates the rat-posion-pushing media after Alabama’s 27-19 win over Texas A&M. And yes, Butch seems like a punk when he spouts fake news and negativity, which is the same general thing Saban said Saturday night. The difference of course is Saban is great and Butch is Butch.
– Man, we completely went all-Jerry Seinfeld on our picks this weekend. College picks went 3-3 (thanks Navy for turning a 38-10 lead into a non-covering 48-45 win, and you too, Marshall for an uninspired 14-3 win over worthless Charlotte) and NFL picks went 2-2 (we see you Cooper Kupp and your stone hands). So it goes, and no, that’s not entertaining.
– Side note on some betting: Ole Miss’s decision to go for two rather than kick the extra point in a 44-23 loss at Auburn pushed the 21-point spread. There also was the Utah TD with 44 seconds left Saturday night and this botched, then-saved, then barely-over-the-bar extra point that closed the score at Stanford 23, Utah 20. Final spread: Stanford minus-3.
– In the first PGA weekend of the Baylor School takeover, Stephan Jaeger finished tied for 30th ($36,845.71) at 5 under after a 69 on Sunday. Luke List was one shot back and tied for 37th ($27,280). Harris English and Keith Mitchell missed the cut.
– Crazy weekend of baseball, but who could tell because every game lasted like four days and 23 minutes. Here’s the status of each series, which each series back in action today. Houston leads Boston 2-1 (Game 4 today at 1 p.m., FS1); Cleveland leads New York 2-1 (Game 4 tonight at 7, FS1); Washingt-Chicago tied at 1 (Game 3 today at 4 p.m., TBS), Los Angeles leads Arizona 2-0 (Game 3 tonight at 10, TBS).
Today’s question
Happy Columbus Day friends.
Weekend winners and losers? Do you have a suggestion?
On this day in 1941, FDR started the atomic bomb initiative (aka the Manhattan Project).
On this day in 1855, Isaac Singer patented the motorized sewing machine.
John Lennon would have been 77 today. His son Sean Lennon is 42 today.
Elvis and Priscilla Presley divorced on this day in 1973.
Oskar Schindler died on this day in 1974.
In honor of Ol’ Chris Columbus, let’s do a Rushmore of Chris.
Go.