From Paul
Has there been a hire remotely close to the hiring of Nick Saban that resulted in such a large economic impact for a university? Joe Pa is the closest I can think of.
Paul
Such a great and accurate question.
The finances that Saban has brought to the university as a whole puts him in the rarified place in that it would be impossible to overpay him.
Ask yourself this: If the Dallas Cowboys called and offered him $15 million, Alabama would match it. If Apple called and offered him $20 million, I believe Alabama would match it.
According to USA Today, check the difference in enrollment of incoming freshmen at Alabama from 2006 B.S. (Before Saban) and the fall of 2017 (Year 10 A.S.): "Alabama reports it had an incoming freshman class of 4,404 students (2,926 in-state and 1,478 out of state). (2017's) incoming class, the school says, is 7,407 students (2,406 in-state and 5,001 out of state)."
More from that USA Today article: "Alabama reports 41% of its (2017) incoming class scored 30 or higher on the ACT (versus 13% in 2006) while (2017) 34% had a GPA of 4.0 or higher in high school (versus 17% in 2006)."
War Saban.
As for Paul's question, if we had to craft a Rushmore of coaches that have had that type of economic impact on colleges and towns, we'll start with Saban.
We'll add Bobby Bowden, who in a lot of ways turned FSU from a teachers college into one of the most desirable jobs in college football. We'll add Coach K and Knute Rockne with a slight edge over Joe Pa.
Thoughts? (Great question.)
That brings us to this week's Rushmores
Rushmore of movies that were TV shows first (Non-Saturday Night Live version, otherwise "The Blues Brothers" makes it): "The Fugitive"; "The Untouchables"; the "Mission Impossible" series; the "Star Trek" series.
Rushmore of fictional TV sports shows: "Friday Night Lights," "The White Shadow," "Coach," and "Eastbound & Down."
Rushmore of college football debuts: Herschel "Oh my GOD, a freshman!" Walker; Michael Crabtree, who had 12 catches and three TDs in his first game in a freshman season in which he had 134 catches, for 1,962 yards and 22 TDs (dude should have won the Heisman); Hugh Green (11 tackles, two sacks and a blocked punt against Notre Dame); and Marshall Faulk (386 yards rushing, 44 points, 422 all-purpose yards and seven TDs)
Rushmore of movies with a kid in the lead role: "Home Alone," "The Sixth Sense," "Stand By Me," "Little Miss Sunshine" over "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial," because do we really know how old E.T. was?
From Stewwie
For the bag, what would you say are the best 10 consecutive years in each sport since 1970? Not just in terms of revenue and ratings, but thinking more about the fan perspective in general - the matchups, the rivalries, the quality of play, and the must-see TV. Consider the NFL, college football, NBA, college b-ball, MLB, golf, NASCAR, and anything else you want to add.
Stewwie
Such a great question and one that was tougher than I thought.
- I think the easiest one is college basketball. From 1979 (Bird-Magic) to 1988 (Danny Manning and the Kansas Miracles), the NCAA tournament became truly Mad. The rivalry that was Bird-Magic; Jordan and Worthy getting Dean a title in '82; the Wolfpack and Jimmy V in '83; Georgetown in '84 and Villanova over the Hoyas in '85; Never Nervous in '86 and Keith Smart's shot in '87. What a run.
- I will go 1996-to-2006 in the MLB. The Yankees were legit. The Braves. Chicks digging the long ball. Bonds doing Ruthian things.
- NBA was 1983-93, consider the all-timers who won titles. Bird and Magic changed the NBA. Heck, they saved the NBA, which had Finals games being broadcast tape-delayed for Pete Maravich's sake. Then Jordan came along and took it to another level until the physicality of the Jordan rules made it tough to watch.
- As for NASCAR, I know the mid-to-late 1970s gave birth to the sport as we know with the great rivalries and names like Yarborough and Waltrip and Petty and Daddy Allison and a slew of others like a young Dale (that Wrangler car was sweet), but from 1991-2001 before Dale's death, the sport was crazy good.
- Golf's choices mirror NASCAR's for reasons beyond just the individual star power the sport craves. Has to be 1997-2007 for Tiger's decade of dominance, even more than the 1970s as Watson and a few others challenged Jack.
- Is tennis the toughest one to answer, especially on the men's side? As great as the late 70s and early 80s were, the current overlap of three of the greatest ever is pretty staggering, too. You know more tennis than I do, Stewwie, I'll let you answer that one.
- In the NFL, the height of the Peyton-Brady back and forth in the 2000s. For example, from 2004-2014, here are the MVP winners, in order: Peyton, Shaun Alexander, LaDainian Tomlinson, Brady, Peyton, Peyton, Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Adrian Peterson, Peyton, Rodgers. Other than Shaun Alexander, that's some all-timers and first-ballot guys.
- College football may be as tough as tennis, and like everything else in college football, it's completely dependent on what flag you fly from your car window. The 1980s were amazing for Auburn, but the 2010 national title was pretty boss, too. If you are a Tennessee fan, you gladly take the 1991-2001 stretch, right? If you are a Georgia fan do you take the last 10 years or the 10 around Herschel and the school's 1980 natty? Of course Alabama will take the last 10 years, during which Saban losses about once a year. As an Auburn fan and an SEC follower, I think the 2004-2014 likely is the best. (Crazy that Auburn had a team that should have played for the title in 2004, won it in 2010 and was 5 seconds from winning it in 2013, right?) But man, if you are going to argue for the 1980s - Herschel, Bo, Flutie's Hail Mary, those Canes teams, the iconic Orange Bowl when Miami beat Nebraska, Bobby Bowden making FSU relevant - I'm good with that.
- Not to be too much of a 1980s homer, but the boxing world was pretty excellent in the 1980s. Hearns-Hagler. Manos de los petras (Roberto Duran). So many dudes in so many classes. And then comes Tyson. Yes, the total right answer likely would be from '66-76, but that's before the time frame.
Great conversational question, Stewwie.
From Jason
Did you give your cfb picks today?
Jason
Yes, we did. Here they are and there are more than normal.
Hey, we liked a lot of games this weekend, including a couple tonight with Army minus-20.5 and Wake Forest minus-3 (buy the half). As a reminder, the numbers at your entertainment broker may be slightly off one way or the other. I used the numbers posted at VegasInsider.com as of Thursday morning.
We opened quickly with two wins - Clemson minus-22 in the first half and BYU-Utah under 48 - last night. Yes, the Clemson number needed a goal-line stand and some breaks, but as someone said on Twitter, the house never apologizes for bad beats, so a fortunate break here or there is much-appreciated.
Also, we finished the NFL preseason with a 1-3 showing last night against the number. All told, we capped a very unentertaining preseason slate with a very entertaining 16-8 record against the spread. That's 66.7 percent friends, and they would build hotels around your picks if you could channel that consistently.
From Spy
That Nebraska-USA line (USA! UsA! oh, wait, wrong USA). was between a P5 and a G5. That Tech-Clemson line is between two P5s. That's what's startling. Am I crazy (don't answer that, 5) to think Duke covers?
Spy
Maybe not crazy to think Duke covers, but if they do it's because Lord Saban has allowed them to, and that is distinctly possible.
He normally spares coaching colleagues that a) he respects and b) knows he's not going to recruit against in the foreseeable future. Duke and David Cutcliffe check both those boxes.
That said, the number is 35 and this could easily be what last night was in Clemson. (Sorry, Spy.)
And speaking of that, man were those Vegas guys on the button on Clemson (laying 36.5 and won by 38), Arizona State (laying 24 and won by 23) and Texas A&M (laying 33.5 and won by 34).
Also of note, UTC closed last night as an 11.5-point favorite and won 24-10. Congrats to Rusty Wright and the Mocs.
From Don
Completely agree about "Yellowstone," the past couple of weeks have been up there with "The Sopranos" as far as I'm concerned! The language and violence can be a little rough but the plots and the acting are tight. The woman who plays Beth should be up for some Emmys this year. She has knocked it out of the park this season with some intense scenes.
Don
I know this is not a question per se, but man, that "Yellowstone" knocked it out of the park this summer. (See what I did there, Spy? "Yellowstone" - Park - Good times.)
Some folks were a little disappointed with the "Yellowstone" season finale, and I agree with what someone said here earlier this week that it easily could have been 90 minutes or even two hours.
And yes, Kelly Reilly has crushed her role as Beth, and her scene in that woman's boutique a couple episodes ago was all-around excellent. And while we are throwing praise, Luke Grimes (who looks like if "90210" alums Jason Priestley and Brian Austin Green had a love child) has been awesome as Kayce, and if you don't like Rip Wheeler, well, that's a you problem.
The development of the characters has been excellent, and the story arcs have been exceptionally well-crafted.
I was a little disappointed that the direction at the end the other night - spoiler alert - had Tate being held captive by white supremacists, because I can see how that will lead to some racially divisive storylines that are kind of needless.
Here's hoping I'm wrong about that, and they stick to the greed and the land and the power plays. Season 2, all in all, was aces, though.
Either way, I'll be watching when "Yellowstone" returns for Season 3. (Side note: Jamie killing that reporter, that story has to resurface at some point, right? And what about the ranch hand they let walk? He's coming back for some blackmail money at some point. That or he's the daddy to Beth's baby. Hmmmmmm. Dang, I should be writing for the show.)
Have a great weekend friends.
War college football. And let's go Fab 4 (times 3) picks.