A red-letter chance
We spoke Tuesday about who has the most at stake in this Super Bowl, and the easy and correct choice is clearly Andy Reid.
But what about Patrick Mahomes?
I ask because of the locale of this Super Bowl and the chance to use every writer's friend, alliteration.
Mahomes has lit the league on fire in his first two years as a starter. Total fire.
Check the stats: He has 31 starts (24-7 record), completed 65.9 percent of his passes for 76 TDs and 18 picks and 9,412 yards. That's a smidge less that two seasons.
He's been as magical throwing it as any young player ever, including a star with a very similarly sizzling start to a iconic career. That cat's numbers through his first two seasons: 25 starts (21-4 record), completed 62.2 percent of his passes for 68 TDs and 23 picks and 7,294 yards.
Beyond the stats symmetry comes the alliteration fun.
Those second set of numbers? Yep, as Mahomes makes moves in Miami, math shows a match with Marino.
And making matters more meaningful, Mahomes is headed to a Super shot in year two as a starter. Like Marino.
But Marino never returned to the big game after year two, a fact that has been mentioned more than once, and Marino's lack of a title is a bigger albatross on his career than it is Reid's.
So will Mahomes be the Marino - or, in the M-based name game - the Montana of his generation?
Is this the first step or his only shot?
Because as much as we'd all like to believe that Mahomes will get a career filled with Super Bowl bids, we assuredly thought the same thing about ole Danny Boy back in the day.
College hoops craziness
What just happened?
OK, before we get rolling, let's remind everyone about our process. You know the rules, when TFP ace columnist Mark Wiedmer writes college hoops, we read and link Weeds' views on college hoops. Dude is a guru, bonafide and certified. As they say in "O Brother Where art Thou?," "He's a suitor."
Here's Mark's view on the Vols debacle, and we'll get to that, but now is the perfect time to remind everyone what Mark - remember a college hoops Goo-RU - wrote Tuesday about how SEC teams need to start building on success.
Well, that lesson was lost on the Vols, who were dreadful against a bad Texas A&M team. The Vols were out-rebounded by 25 and lost 63-58 to an Aggies bunch that was 9-9 coming into Tuesday's game and coming off an embarrassing loss to Oklahoma State.
And it was capped by an ugly exchange at the end when SEC referee Mike Nance bumped into a standing-still Rick Barnes. Barnes was very diplomatic after the game, telling reporters he was confident that the SEC office will look into the matter.
It was strange and kind of ugly, like the effort the Vols put forth.
But it was not the only odd look from a surreal night of college basketball.
There was Florida completing throwing up in its collective mouth at home against Mississippi State.
There was Auburn needing not one, but two OTs to escape Oxford, Miss., and Kermit Washington's Rebels.
Then there was an impossibly odd scene in which Mike Krzyzewski lost his stuffing and gave his infamous Cameron Crazies an absolute tongue-lashing for chanting at Jeff Chapel, the former Duke player and assistant who is now the Pitt head coach.
I'm pretty sure there's not a bigger jackwagon who has been painted as lovable and gotten a bigger career pass for whatever reason than Coach K. (That said, picking a side between Coach K and the Duke students is akin to picking a side in an Alabama-Notre Dame national title showdown. Can both sides lose?)
Hey Coach, chill, man. Seriously. Telling your students to "shut up" because "Chapel is one of our own" loses a whole lot of steam - and credibility - when the chants were actually "Hey Jeff, come sit with us."
Whatever, and I really used to like Duke basketball.
Still mourning Kobe
I spoke my peace Tuesday. And I am still shocked by the ripples and waves the deaths of Kobe Bryant and eight others Sunday are having over the country.
Before we offer some opinions about the celebrity rush to be the most sad, let's review the news of the day.
The helicopter carrying Bryant, his daughter and seven others lacked a key piece of safety equipment that would have helped the pilot recognize the terrain changes.
Also of note, and amid all the overdone overtures on every sports channel, Elle Duncan's testament - and to be fair, it happened Monday, when the emotions and the grief felt more genuine and less mass produced and reproduced - on ESPN went viral with the #girldad. Here's the Twitter thread and, as a super-proud girl dad, this emotion I understand and appreciate. (Just made my girls - 9-year-old daughter Madeline Ray and wife Mrs. 5-at-10 - breakfast before school. These are the salad days, friends.)
As for some of the other statements that were circulated Tuesday, Jerry West said Sunday was the saddest day of his life. Well, having lost both parents and watching cancer consume them, Jerry, you have lived a very charmed and sorrow-free life, sir. Congrats on that.
Of course, people can grieve however they want to or need to. That's their right. And there's no doubt that Jerry West had a 25-year relationship with Bryant.
But, man, there have been a ton of testaments and the folks lining up to share their stories and interactions with Kobe. I have to back the sentiments of all-around good egg Chuck Barkley. You can see his speech on TNT last night - Barkley starts at the 4-minute mark - here, and of the things Chuck nails are his emphatic reminder that there were seven others not named Bryant on that chopper and the pain of loss.
This and that
- Michigan covered. Florida did not. As we all know, 1-1 is not entertaining because of the entertainment brokerage fees. Alas. So that's 19-16 against the number in college hoops. More picks to come soon.
- Chris Doleman, the Hall of Fame defensive end with the Minnesota Vikings, died Tuesday after a fight with cancer. He was 58.
- Domini Thiem beat top-seeded Rafael Nadal in the Aussie Open. Just passing it along (and making sure Paschall knows that I know, you know).
- Speaking of David Paschall, the TFP all-around SEC wizard, he tells us here that Vandy is facing a tall task - winning tonight at Rupp - to avoid the most consecutive losses in SEC men's basketball history.
- Deion Sanders told "The Dan Patrick Show" that Prime Time will have a college football head coaching job. In 2021. As crazy as that may sound, if you were a team in a Group of Five conference looking for buzz, energy and name recognition, who would get you more than Neon Deion? If you are South Florida or Georgia Southern or fill-in-the-blank-mid-level school, would you rather hire Butch Jones or Sanders? Would you rather have a hotshot coordinator from the Big 12 or Sanders?
- Do not forget the Proper Super Bowl contest. We have about 25 entries so far. More details can be found here.
Today's questions
Which way Wednesday will start this way: If we set the over/under on Patrick Mahomes' Super Bowl title at 1.5, which way are you going?
Which college basketball surprise Tuesday night surprised you the most?
On this day 25 years ago Steve Young won his only Super Bowl with a record six TD passes. Who is the best QB in NFL history with only one Super Bowl ring?
As for other things on this day, Jan. 29, let's review.
It was 425 years ago that "Romeo and Juliet" was first performed. Man, that Willie Shakespeare may catch on.
The Coca-Cola Company incorporated on this day in 1892.
Oprah is 66 today.
Rushmore of famous females? Does Oprah make it? Go, and remember the Proper contest and the mailbag.