Tag: football

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Sports: College Football Semifinals

We are down to a final 4 in college football, Penn St. Ohio St. Notre Dame and Texas. To me the most surprising game was the way Ohio St. handled Oregon. In fact, Ohio St. was the only winner to have a statistical edge. Let’s face it Buckeye fans, which I am a proud member, this football team looked like it was doing it with mirrors all season. They habitually got off to slow starts and trailed such teams as Northwestern, Akron, Indiana, only scoring 7 first half points against Iowa, almost losing to Nebraska at home, and finally ending the season with that abysmal performance against Michigan. That loss to Michigan must have woken up the entire team and coaching staff because this looks like an entirely different team in the playoffs. The key to their success is they have used the passing game to set up the running game rather than the usual reverse. They have started both games on fire, leading Tennessee by 21-0 and Oregon by a whopping 34-0 before the first half ended. I wasn’t a believer after the Tennessee game because Tennessee had many key injuries, but after this game Ohio St. is the odds-on favorite to go all the way. My second biggest surprise was the way Georgia shut down the Notre Dame running game. Neither offense shined but Georgia outgained Notre Dame 296 to 240. The two turnovers for Georgia and the opening half kickoff return for a touchdown by Notre Dame to take a 20-3 lead were the keys to victory. Although no surprise to me but I think this was lost on the media, was the way Arizona St. totally dominated Texas, but lost because of ineptitude in Texas territory and one of the worst non targeting calls in the history of college football. Arizona St had drives that reached the Texas 25, 34, 19, and 2 yard lines and walked away with no points. The drive that ended on the 2 did eventually give ASU a safety, but at a minimum they left 16 points on the field which would have won the ball game easily. ASU out gained Texas 510 to 375, made 29 first downs to 17 for Texas and controlled the ball for almost 38 minutes of the game. Arizona St. was clearly the better team, but the inconsistent Texas offense came up with enough big plays and returned a punt for a touchdown to pull out the win. Boise St. put up a game fight against Penn St. even outgaining them 412 to 387. Four turnovers and a critical hands to the face penalty nullifying a 20 yard pass and run touchdown which would have made the score 24-21 with 30 seconds remaining in the 3rd quarter were the things that sealed the victory for Penn St. Both of these controversial 3rd and 4th seeded teams put up competitive games, but we may still see a new way to seed teams’ next season. On to the semifinals.

The first game will pit Notre Dame against the Penn St. Nittany Lions and their disgusting incompetent coach James Franklin. Notre Dame should win this game on that fact alone. Despite not being able to run the ball in their normal fashion Notre Dame played about as complete of a game as possible. They played great defense, scored a special teams’ touchdown and quickly scored when Georgia turned the ball over deep in their own territory. Georgia never really threatened to make a game of it thanks to the Notre Dame defense. Many people felt that Penn St. had the easiest road to the semifinals because of the way the committee seeded the teams. I disagree. SMU for whatever reason just could not get out of the gate in their last 2 games of the season. Whether it was the pressure who knows. Boise St. played a good game and could have beaten Penn St. The Nittany lion defense has played well the whole playoffs. This game is going to come down to who can run the ball better. I think Notre Dame has two other advantages. They have the better coach by far and Notre Dame’s quarterback, Riley Leonard seems to be able to improvise better than his Penn St. counterpart. It should be a good game but I think Notre Dame prevails.

The second game will see the red hot Ohio State Buckeyes go up against the Texas Longhorns. The Texas offense will be the key to this game. I do not think they can go 42 minutes without scoring against Ohio State and win this game. When the Texas offense is on, they are explosive and pretty much unstoppable. The two overtime periods showed how this offense is so inconsistent. In the first overtime it took a 4th and 15 30 yard touchdown pass to save the day for Texas. In the 2nd overtime they scored on one play. Their defense will have their hands full with the Ohio St. offense. The Texas offense needs to control the clock and score points in the process. Texas has had offensive inconsistencies all year. It is unlikely that they are going to find that consistency one game down the road. If OSU gets out of the gate fast for the third straight game, Texas is going to be victim no. 3.

We should see Ohio St. and Notre Dame in the championship game. I called the Penn St and Notre Dame game correct in the quarter finals but missed with the Buckeyes. I should have had the big upset pick, but Arizona St. couldn’t turn total domination into a win. The pressure will really be amping up and it will be fun to see how each team responds. Even though it has had its ups and downs it has been a great playoff season so far for College Football. The only question remains is what took you so long to do this NCAA College Football. It is a shame that this has not been going on for 50 years. See you after the semi finals.

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Sports: College Football Quarterfinals

The first round of the College Football Playoffs (CFP) was not good for the ACC and the playoff committee. The two controversial picks by the committee got smoked as well as the ACC conference champion Clemson Tigers. The first round did not have any real surprises except that SMU had the big game chitters again and Ohio St. blew away Tennessee. There were no upsets and the top 8 seeds are in the quarterfinals. The quarterfinals should be more competitive with the committee’s automatic seeding process under close scrutiny during this round. The committee needs both Boise St. and Arizona St. to put in good performances against Penn St. and Texas or there will probably be a different way to seed the teams next year. I like the honoring of conference champions with a 1st round bye, so I am hoping that both of these games will be competitive. Let’s take a look at the quarterfinals in chronological order.

The Fiesta Bowl: Penn St. vs Boise St. Penn St. is once again a solid favorite, but I find it hard to believe that if the game is close, James Franklin will not blow it. The question will be if Boise St. can keep it close. I won’t be shocked if Penn St. loses this game, but I think they will wind up beating Boise St., but it will be a close one. If Boise St. can somehow run the ball and control the clock, then Penn St. may be in for a long day.

The Peach Bowl: Texas vs Arizona St. Texas is an even bigger favorite to beat Arizona St. Texas is coming off their most impressive win of the year. Arizona St. seems to have a lot of momentum as they finished the season strong. Texas’s offense has had its ups and downs this year. I think Arizona St. wins this game with the surprise of the playoffs so far.

The Rose Bowl: Ohio State vs Oregon. Even though Oregon is in the Big Ten now this has the feel of a good old fashion Rose Bowl. The Buckeyes are around 3 point favorites and I will be pulling for them, but Oregon I still feel is the cream of the crop, with Ryan Day getting back into his big game mode. Oregon wins and it might not be that close of a game.

The Sugar Bowl. Notre Dame vs. Georgia. You could say this is the marquee game of the quarter finals. With Georgia’s problems at quarterback and Notre Dame’s stout running game I like Notre Dame to win this game solidly.

I think this round will have much better games as the pressure will ramp up on all 8 teams. The great thing is to have all these meaningful games on New Years Eve and Day. I feel the final 4 will be Penn State (grudgingly) Arizona St. Oregon and Notre Dame. We will see how right or wrong I am. See you before the semis.

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Sports I Watch And Play

Bloganuary writing prompt
What are your favorite sports to watch and play?
View all responses

Finally, a prompt that I can sink my teeth into. The sports I watch are baseball, the Pirates which I blog on the Pirates Morning Report, pro football just the Steelers, college football, which is my favorite, and last but not least, golf both the women’s and the men’s tour. I do not watch the old farts tour. I do watch the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, but I do not watch college basketball during the regular season. I watch the baseball and the football playoffs. I do not watch the NHL which I do not even consider a sport and I quit watching pro basketball when fast break basketball was replaced with the triangle offense or whatever it is called. The 80’s with the Celtics and the Lakers was the end of an era and the game became very boring. I used to watch boxing but not anymore. I do not even know the name of the heavyweight champ. That just shows you how times have changed. Back through the 70’s the heavyweight boxing champion was the most revered sports figure in the world. I love college football because of the atmosphere and the enthusiasm of the crowds and the students. I do not even mind all the bowl games, although even I think they should get to a more workable number say around 25 or 30. College football is just much more entertaining than the pro game. There is more running and the defenses in the college game are not quite as good as in the pros so you see more scoring and great offensive plays. It is a much more up tempo game. Seeing a game played before 100,000+ fans is something else. I love baseball because of the skill set that the players have to have. There are very few specialty positions in baseball. You have to run field and hit in order to play that game. The game has the most strategy of any sport. The game has speeded up with the new rule changes that has made baseball a much more entertaining product. I watch all events on the DVR. Speed up those annoying commercials and you don’t have to listen to the even more annoying announcers. Thank God for DVR, it may be man’s greatest invention.

I love to play golf. I played 148 rounds this year which came close to breaking my one-year record of 150. I find it to be the most fascinating game of all. With the exception of Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus, it seems like every player has succumbed to the power of golf. What I mean by that, is they get to a certain point in the progression of their game or round and then become totally dysfunctional. They cannot perform a shot or putt that they have done literally thousands of times due to the set of circumstances at the present time. I do not care what you call it, choking, nerves, or the yips, it seems to get a hold of every golfer that has played the game. Some players make a recovery from this total incompetence and go on to win the tournament. Other players do not recover during the round and their careers are shortly over. At this time in my life, it is the one thing I would most like to figure out. I have been searching for that answer for over 30 years. I will never give up, but I wouldn’t bet money that I will find that answer. It is the one reason that I do not mind winter. It gives me a little time away from the problem. If I never do figure it out, I still know that I just love playing this mystifying game.

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Sports: Football Mysteries

As the football season is coming to an end, with the NFL starting the playoffs, and the College Football Playoff Championship game, set for next Monday, it is time to look at what I call, the mysteries of football. Maybe I should say, what is mystifying about the game. I am going to write about what I consider 3 unsolved mysteries when it comes to football. First let’s take a look at what makes football a very unique sport. Of the four major team sports in America, it is by far the most emotional. Emotion is not going to allow you to win a football game, all by itself, some talent must be there, but when a team gets fired up, there is no telling how much this will affect the outcome of the game. This is the only sport, where championships are decided by one game, winner take all. If football even tried to play three game series, most players would be dead, by the time they reach the age of 30. Football can be classified as a brutal and violent sport. Bill Russel said it best, “Basketball is a contact sport, football is a collision sport”. One of the reasons given for not expanding the college playoffs, is that it would make the colleges play more games, and increase the risk of injuries. In order to cut down on injuries, the rules of football have almost made the kick off a non play. Football is having trouble getting participation on the youth level because of fear of brain damage to the young participants. So with all this in mind, it is time to look at these football mysteries.

The first mystery is why would anyone take the chance of inciting a team by belittling them or showing some kind of disrespect. The latest example of this is Dabo Swinney saying that Ohio State did not belong in the final 4 of the college football playoffs. He may have been right. You can find out what he said and did, but the point is, why do it at all. Your not going to change who is in the playoffs, and who is out. It is a done deal. Why give your opponent more incentive and fire. Clemson had eliminated Ohio State last year in the semi finals, so the revenge factor was already motivating this team. Dabo put fuel on the fire by his repeated, inane remarks. He tried to temper those remarks near game time, by saying, he would have said the same thing about any team, that had played only 6 games. The damage was done. Not only did this fire up OSU, but it may have subconsciously made his own team overconfident. Whatever the reason, Ohio State rolled to an easy 49 to 28 win. I don’t think you are going to hear much from Nick Saban this week. The basic rule in football is to never say a disparaging word about you opponent. If you want to predict a win go ahead, but keep those feelings about the other team to yourself. Swinney wasn’t the first to make this mistake and for whatever mysterious reason won’t be the last.

Again targeting was in the headlines this week, for players getting ejected for the foul. Everybody’s screaming that it is an unfair rule, and is ruining the game. The mystery is why do players continue to do it, and more importantly why don’t coaches stop it, by making sure that players tackle with their heads to the side of the player. Being ejected from the game has been part of rule since 2013. This does not seem to be much of a deterrent. It seems like, the player’s overwhelming desire, to hurt and maim, is greater than staying in the game, and helping his team. Let’s face it, if you are leading with the helmet, you are up to no good. There is an easy solution to all of this. Just don’t do it. Don’t lead with your head. For whatever reason, players are not schooled in the proper way to tackle. Maybe it’s football’s way of making sure that more offense is in the game. If the players do not know how to tackle, then there will be more offense. Even announcers call tackles that are bad, good. In my view the only good tackle is when the arms wrap the ball carrier up. If defensive players are ejected for targeting then their replacements won’t be as good and hence more offense. If my view there is no excuse for targeting. There is no ambiguity in the rule, the way the media tries to make you believe. Lead with your head, and you are out of there. Good riddance, as far as I am concerned. Targeting needs to be enforced more, not less.

The final mystery is simply, can anybody make a yard. Watching 3rd and one and 4th and one plays especially in the pros, is mystifying. Offensive coordinators are always being criticized, when their respective offense is floundering, but this is ridiculous, when you see teams, not able to pick up a yard, in two or more tries. I blame it on being a slave to the west coast offense, and the shotgun snap. What would people say on a first and goal, at the one, if quarterback was under center, took the snap, and then pitched a lateral to the running back, 6 yards behind the line of scrimmage. This is essentially what the shotgun snap does, on a short yardage situation. You are one yard from pay dirt, but then take the ball 6 yards further back, with the snap. Let me offer some solutions, for the short yardage situation. Quarterback under the center. A quarterback, who is young, and has the ability to quarterback sneak. Place two other running backs, or even three, in the old T formation. Whether it is, 2 or 3 running backs, make sure, that these are running backs, you give the ball to on a regular basis. Since I am not coaching or playing against any football teams, this weekend, let me be a bit condescending, it’s called deception. Even if there are only two running backs, in the backfield, there are three options. Quarterback sneak, or hand the ball of to either running back, and if you go to the T formation, you will have four options. Football needs to find a short yardage offense, even on the college level. However, this does not seem to be happening in the near future. Teams continue to run plays from the shotgun on short yardage, sometimes with only the quarterback in the backfield. So football will come to it’s grand covid conclusion this month, and I doubt if any of these mysteries will be solved. I will be watching though to see if some are. GO BUCKS.