Nightmare Super Bowl

Where are Eli Manning and Justin Tuck when I need them?

A year and a half ago, I wrote my Sports Hate Power Rankings.  As I noted in a comment, the Seahawks were a glaring omission.  I said they should be inserted at number 7.  Well, the Heat were at number 6 and that was mostly because of LeBron James.  So I'd move them way down the list now, which puts the Seahawks at number 6 and the Patriots at number 5.  These are my two least favorite NFL teams and now they're playing each other in the Super Bowl.

If there was ever going to be a Super Bowl that I wouldn't watch, this would be it.  I just like football too much, though.  So I will watch, but I won't be happy about either result.  I compared this possibility to a Knicks-Lakers NBA Finals.  But even though they are my two least favorite teams in the NBA, it's not a good comparison.  I would root for the Knicks without a second thought.  I hate the Seahawks and the Patriots almost equally.  The only good thing is that one of these teams is going to lose the Super Bowl.

So why do I hate these teams so much?  Let's start with the Seahawks.  Pete Carroll, Pete Carroll, Pete Carroll, Richard Sherman, and Pete Carroll.  If I did a Sports Hate Power Rankings for people, Pete Carroll wouldn't be number 1 (Barry Bonds), but he'd probably be number 1 out of football people.  Pete Carroll coached the Jets to a 6-10 record (last place) in 1994.  He was fired after one year and replaced by Rich Kotite (that worked out well).  After a couple other NFL stops (including stop as head coach of the Patriots), he went to USC.  He built his team on cheating.  The 2005 Notre Dame-USC game was the most exciting sporting event I've ever attended in person.  Notre Dame lost that game because of USC using a professional athlete.  Reggie Bush was by far the best player on the field, but he was not eligible to play in that game.  Then Pete Carroll went to the Seahawks (because he wanted to escape USC before the punishment came down) and built a team on performance enhancing drugs.  So he's been had four different college/NFL head coaching jobs.  He got fired at his first two jobs, and then he discovered cheating.

For the Patriots, it's Bill Belichick and Tom Brady.  By all accounts, Tom Brady is a good guy.  However, he went to Michigan.  If he had only won one Super Bowl to this point, I'd probably root for the Patriots.  But I really don't want Tom Brady to tie Joe Montana with four Super Bowl wins.  I'll always appreciate what Eli Manning and Justin Tuck did in Super Bowls XLII and XLVI.  Now Tom Brady has another chance to win his fourth Super Bowl and a cheating scumbag is my only hope for preventing it.  Speaking of cheating scumbags, Bill Belichick hasn't won a Super Bowl since Eric Mangini exposed his cheating in 2007.  I'd like to keep it that way.  Belichick was also named head coach by the Jets and never coached a game for them.  And the Jets were the team that unleashed Tom Brady on the NFL.  Brady was going to be good no matter what, but his career would have been much different if Mo Lewis didn't knock out Drew Bledsoe in 2001 (Brady wouldn't have won Super Bowl XXXVI that season, no way to know what happens after that).

The other thing that makes this miserable is that both of these teams should have lost already.  How did the Packers lose yesterday?  If Notre Dame ever made it to the semifinals and lost like that, I don't think I'd be able to leave my house for a month.  I was on the phone with my brother Sean early in the game and I said I hated kicking the field goals (especially the first one when they were inside the one, they were a little farther out the second time).  Maybe they wouldn't have scored a touchdown, but you have to try to get a foot and a half for four extra points.  Even if you don't get it, the Seahawks would have been pinned inside their own one.  And the Ravens should have beaten the Patriots last week.  The Patriots did a great job to come back, but the Ravens have to put them game away when you're up by 14 two different times.

So we have two teams that I have reason to hate both as a Notre Dame alum and as a Jet fan.  The Seahawks have no Notre Dame players (at least they had Golden Tate last year) and the Patriots have two (Darius Fleming and Jonas Gray).  If the guys on the Patriots were major contributors, then that might be a reason to root for them.  But I'm rooting for the Seahawks (really just rooting against the Patriots more than against the Seahawks) for a couple of reasons.  First, the Patriots have a coach and a quarterback I despise and the Seahawks only have a coach that I despise.  I have no issue with Russell Wilson.  And second, go back to the Sports Hate Power Rankings.  Michigan was number 1.  I can't root for a Michigan guy to tie Joe Montana with four Super Bowl wins.

So Pete Carroll is a cheating scumbag, but I have to root for him against another cheating scumbag.  I guess the best possible outcome would be that a huge scandal surfaces that forces Carroll to resign before the game and then the Seahawks win without him.  That would be something I could enjoy.

The misery of winter that usually kicks in after the Super Bowl has started two weeks early for me.  I just can't wait for the Big East Tournament.

The Enemy of My Enemy

Well, I blogged almost all of the New Year's Six.  I might as well finish this off with the Championship Game.  I took a nap so that I'll be able to stay awake for this game.  Let's go:

8:29- The captains come out for the coin toss.

8:30- Oregon wins the toss.  They're taking the ball.  Brian Kelly usually takes the ball for Notre Dame.  Although I did like Charlie Weis's attitude of "Why wouldn't we want the ball," I prefer deferring.  But when you have an offense as good as Oregon's, it probably does make sense to take the ball.

8:31- We have a useless interview with Mark Helfrich by Heather Cox.

8:32- And now for the useless interview with Urban Meyer by Tom Rinaldi.  Seriously, I learned nothing from either of these and I'm completely unsurprised by that.  They should have just hired Gregg Popovich to handle Helfrich's and Meyer's part.

8:33- The game finally starts with a touchback.  8:33 on a Monday night.  This game should be on a Saturday night.  And I wanted painted end zones.  We got them tonight, but they're both black.  Oregon's should be green and yellow and Ohio State's should be red and grey.  How hard is this?  I give up.

8:34- Mariota completes for eight yards on the first play.

8:35- Oregon's running back recovers his own fumble.  Oregon picks up a first down.

8:36- Mariota fumbles.

8:37- The referee finally awards the ball to Ohio State, but this will get overturned.

8:40- The call is overturned.  That took way too long.  By the way, I like Oregon to cover tonight.  Of course, I was way off on the two semifinal games.  But I went 4-0 against the spread in the NFL this past weekend (2-2 in picking actual winners, I figured one road team that wasn't the Panthers would win, but I picked the Ravens).  I'm going to take the Packers and Patriots to win this weekend, but I've got the Colts covering the spread.  Remember, all that 4-0 record last weekend means is that I'm due to be way off.

8:42- Mariota throws for a touchdown on 1st and goal.

8:43- Oregon doesn't go for two and it's 7-0.

8:47- Ohio State runs for two on their first play.

8:48- Jones scrambles and powers past a dude to convert the first third down.

8:50- Jones scrambles, but doesn't get enough for the first down.  It's fourth down.

8:51- Ohio State's Australian punter kicks it away and there's a fair catch.

8:53- ESPNU has the game on with Mike Wilbon, Jay Bilas, and some other people as part of ESPN's Megacast.

8:55- Barry Melrose is eating something.  It's fourth down for Oregon.

8:56- Oregon downs a punt inside the 5.  I'm leaving ESPNU on for a little while.  I don't think Melrose has said anything since I put it on.  It's a little weird with Mark Schlereth with a bunch of non-football guys.

8:59- They're talking about the Dez Bryant non-catch.  My take is that the rule is pretty silly, but it was the right call (I seem to remember Michael Floyd making a catch similar to that against Michigan State that was overturned after taking two steps with the ball in the end zone).  My guess is that the NFL won't change the rule, at least not before next season.

9:00- We have a completion to the 30 on 3rd and 8.

9:01- Now we have a completion into Oregon territory.

9:03- Ohio State goes for it on 4th and 3.  It's close.

9:04- Barry Melrose gives ESPN credit for the first down line.  I'm pretty sure that started with either Fox or CBS on their NFL games.  The line here was accurate and it's a first down for Ohio State.

9:05- Ezekiel Elliott scores.  This whole ESPNU thing is a little weird.  It's a bunch of random dudes and Julie Foudy.

9:07- After a hold on the extra point, it's 7-7.

9:08- It's Wilbon, Bilas, Foudy, Schlereth, Melrose, and I just figured out the last guy is Aaron Boone.  I don't know if he's said anything while I've been watching.

9:11- ESPN Classic has no broadcasters, just stadium sounds.  You can hear the PA guy.  I like it.  I might stay with it, but it's not in HD.  The lesson, as always:  Cablevision is the worst.

9:12- We have a 3rd and long coming up.

9:13- Mariota had a man down the field, but he dropped it.

9:14- Oregon punts.  Ohio State's return man breaks some tackles and takes it into Oregon territory.  There's probably some sort of Oregon Trail analogy that could be made here.

9:16- We have a pass interference in the end zone.

9:17- Elliott takes it to the 1 and then Jones passes to Vannett for the score.

9:18- The extra point makes it 14-7 Ohio State.

9:19- I haven't talked about the uniforms yet.  Why is Oregon wearing grey?  Ohio State should be wearing grey, Oregon shouldn't.  What's wrong with green and yellow?  I think the two-color face mask is really stupid.  Change to a green face mask and get rid of the O on the back of the helmet (pick the O on the sides or the wings, not both) and the helmet would be fine.  The only good thing about Oregon's uniforms is the duck on the sleeves.  Ohio State's uniforms are pretty good, but I don't like the black numbers on the sleeves.  Speaking of uniforms, a Colts-Packers Super Bowl would be a great uniform match up.  Anything involving the other two teams just leaves a lot to be desired.

9:24- Maybe Ohio State does have a chance.  I'm rooting for Oregon.  I don't like Ohio State, but I guess the enemy of my enemy is ... not as much of my enemy as my enemy is.  Or something.

9:26- It's 14-7 after one quarter.

9:27- Joe Montana drew a leprechaun.

9:30- The Internship is on one of the movie channels.  Chetty won't be having a cold one with Vince Vaughn.

9:31- Ohio State botches a hand off and it's recovered by Oregon.  That was definitely Jones's fault.  He was trying to put it back into the Elliott after pulling it away.

9:35- It's 3rd and goal for Oregon.  Mariota runs to the three.

9:36- The running back is stopped at the one.  From three yards out, take the points in that situation.  If you go for it on the one and get stuffed, I'll live with that, but take the points from that far out.

9:41- A big run by Elliott gives Ohio State room to breathe.

9:43- Ohio State completes a pass into the red zone, but they fumble and it's recovered by Oregon.

9:47- Mariota gets sacked and this will be a three and out.

9:48- Ohio State will start in Oregon territory.

9:52- We have a long pass to the six.

9:54- Jones keeps it for a touchdown, but they're reviewing it.

9:55- It's 3rd and goal after Jones was down short of the end zone.

9:56- Jones scores on the sneak and it will be 21-7.

10:00- Fowler mentions the weather.  I just checked the weather on my phone.  It's 38 degrees there, two degrees warmer than it is here.  I still wish the roof was open.

10:01- Holding negates a decent gain for Oregon.  They look terrible right now.

10:03- But now they get a big completion on third down into Ohio State territory.

10:05- Now they pick up a big 3rd and 9 conversion.

10:06- Bad throw on 3rd and 4.

10:07- They kick a field goal and it's 21-10.

10:08- Total yards right now are 307-275 Ohio State.  It doesn't feel that close.

10:13- Three runs by Ohio State, three timeouts by Oregon.  We have 20 seconds left.

10:14- Oregon calls for the fair catch at the 32 with 14 seconds left.

10:15- Oregon tries to run a trick play, but it doesn't go anywhere.  21-10 at halftime.

10:34- Dave Dameshek (host of my favorite NFL podcast) gives the uniform matchup a B-.  I'm calling grade inflation.  It feels like a C- to me.

10:38- I've said this before, but this game needs a better name.  Can we just call it the College Super Bowl?  I know that's not very creative, but we're not doing any better.  We have the World Series, Little League World Series, and College World Series.  We have the Super Bowl and the Pop Warner Super Bowl.  Why not the the College Super Bowl?

10:41- Touchback to start the second half.

10:45- Jones runs to the outside after looking like he was going to sneak it and gets the first down on 4th and 1.  Herbstreit and Fowler think that was by design.  I'm not sure about that.

10:46- Twitter thinks the referee is Bob Newhart.  After he calls a false start, Don Mattingly's nephew picks off a pass that was bobbled.  By the way, Mattingly's nephew was "committed" to Notre Dame at one point.

10:50- One play, 70 yards.  Mariota to Marshall.  Touchdown.

10:51- They're reviewing it to see if he dropped the ball too early.

10:52- It was close, but it's confirmed.  The kick makes it 21-17.

10:57- Jones is stopped short on third down.  They are going to review it.

10:59- The call stands and then Elliot runs for the first down on 4th and 1.

11:00- A Jameis Winston Rose Bowl-like fumble is recovred by Oregon.  They have great field position.

11:02- Ohio State is one turnover away from tying a championship game record.

11:03- Mariota's pass on third down is caught, but the receiver got pushed out of the end zone.

11:04- A field goal makes it 21-20.

11:08- ESPN goes commercial, kickoff, commercial.  That's some great TV right there.  Kramer is starting a Peterman reality bus tour.

11:14- Elliott is good.  He picks up another first down.

11:16- Jones scrambles and powers his way for a first down on third down.

11:17- First and goal after another nice run by Elliott.

11:18- Elliott takes it in.  The kick makes it 28-20 after three.

11:19- Kramer points out Lomez's place of worship.

11:23- Mariota completes on the first play.  He has some pretty good numbers.

11:24- Incomplete pass on 3rd and 10.

11:25- Oregon's defense needs to do something.  Elliott already has 200 yards.

11:31- Ohio State converts a big third down.  Jones had lots of time to throw there.

11:32- Elliott scores another touchdown.

11:33- The kick makes it 35-20 with 9:45 left.

11:34- Kramer's steering wheel fell off.

11:35- Newman wants to return bottles in Michigan.

11:36- Herbstreit talks about Meyer priding himself on special team.  Brian Kelly, on the other hand...

11:37- Holding during the return puts Oregon back at the 10.

11:38- Well, college football is the sport of the fall so I'm going to drink a Sam Adams Octoberfest.  I have a small stockpile (not like what I have with Summer Ale when that season comes to an end).

11:39- Mariota is shaken up.

11:40- Unsportsmanlike conduct on Oregon.  That doesn't help.

11:41- And now we have a false start on 2nd and 22 with the backup in.  An incompletion makes it 3rd and 27.

11:42- Mariota is back and it completes a pass, but it's seven yards short.

11:43- Oregon had their backup quarterback lined up as a punter, but Ohio State calls timeout.  Joe Montana doesn't have a Heisman, but he does have championship rings.

11:46- Oregon punts.  7:40 to play.  I wrote the words "game over" in my notebook.  And we just went punt, commercial, timeout.

11:47- Newman discovers that Mother's Day is the key to unlocking the Michigan bottle deposit scam.

11:51- Jones is stopped a yard short on third down.

11:52- Ohio State takes a delay of game.  I would have gone for it there on 4th and 1.  With 4:23 left, the game is definitely over with a first down.

11:56- Nice throw and catch for Oregon, but there's a holding.

11:57- Third and long coming up.

11:58- The pass is dropped.

11:59- Incomplete on fourth down.

12:00- It's midnight on a Monday night.  Or I guess it's Tuesday now.  And this game isn't over yet.

12:02- Oregon used one timeout, but now they're not calling a second timeout.  Why?  By the way, Mariota wasn't bad.  The rest of his team, however...

12:03- Oregon jumps offisde on fourth down.  It's 1st and goal.

12:06- Elliott scores his 15th touchdown of the game.  Or something like that.  It's 42-20.

12:10- The game is over.  Ohio State wins.  Urban Meyer is a great football coach.  There's one challenge left for him at the college level.  He could stay at Ohio State for a long time and win lots and lots of games and compete for many more championships.  He's done it at Florida and now he's doing it at Ohio State.  That's easy.  If he wants a challenge, it's time for him to start thinking about the job that he said was "still my dream job" in 2008.  Yep, I'm talking about Notre Dame.  Urban Meyer was the wide receivers coach there from 1996-2000.  He might be coaching at Notre Dame now if not for Bob Davie telling him not to take the job.  Yep, it's going to be harder than it was at Florida.  It's going to be harder than it is at Ohio State.  But do you think you're a better coach than Bob Davie?  Um, yes, most Division I college football coaches can reasonably say that.  It certainly takes better than Bob Davie at Notre Dame, but if I'm being honest, Urban is even better than the first head coach he coached under at Notre Dame.  If Lou Holtz could do it, Urban can make Notre Dame a champion again.  If Brian Kelly can't get it done, I hope Urban Meyer is our next coach.  If Kelly can't get it done, it's time for Meyer to fulfill his dream.  Of course, he could have before so I hope Kelly fulfills all Notre Dame fans' dreams.  Less than eight months until we take on Texas.  Go Irish!

Birthday/Quarterback Ramblings

Well, it's my birthday.  Last year, I was dreading my birthday.  This year, I just don't care about turning 31.  I actually forgot about it yesterday until a parent wished me a happy birthday after our basketball game.  If you didn't know, I'm coaching girls basketball this year.  It's the first year our school has had a team and it shows.  We're 0-9.  But we played our best game yesterday.  And all of my best players are 6th or 7th graders except for one 8th grader.  They had played no organized basketball before this year so they had a lot to learn.  We did not get called for a single foul in the first game.  When I told the team that, they thought that was good.  I had to explain that it meant that they're not being aggressive enough.  Yesterday, I had a player get called for four fouls for the first time.  I took her out when she got called for her fourth.  I told her I was going to put her back in, but she couldn't foul again.  Secretly, I was hoping she would foul out (we weren't going to win and it would have been funny), but she managed to play the last four minutes or so without fouling.  So that's how girls basketball is going.  Practices are more fun than games for me, but we haven't had a practice since before Thanksgiving (packed schedule combined with limited gym availability).  I think after the season ends, I'm going to practice with them once a week and try to get them ready for next year.  They don't know basketball, but there are some decent athletes on the team so hopefully next year will be better.

My students were much more excited about my birthday than I was.  They brought in ice cream cake that we had during recess.  I greatly would have preferred this workplace birthday celebration recognition.  I'm totally serious.

Random thought:  I've had enough of winter.  It took until January 7.  I don't mind cold during Christmas (it would be really weird to be in Australia where it's summer for Christmas), but after that it's just annoying.  Summer is easily the best season and winter is its opposite.  I really should just move to southern California.

Famous people I share a birthday with:  Kate Middleton, Richard Nixon, Chad Johnson, Pope Gregory XV, Dick Enberg, Mehmet Ali Agca, Muggsy Bogues, and Joey Lauren Adams.  You probably know my feelings about the royal family so Kate Middleton does nothing for me.  If you know about my interest in history and politics, it might surprise you that I don't have any strong feelings about Richard Nixon.  The Jets beat Chad Johnson (it might have been Ochocinco back then) in the playoffs on our birthday five years ago so that was fun.  I don't know anything about Pope Gregory XV.  I do like Dick Enberg, but it's not like he's my favorite play-by-play guy.  Mehmet Ali Agca is the guy who shot St. John Paul the Great so that's lame (but of course, John Paul II forgave him, he was awesome).  I can't say I was ever a big Muggsy Bogues fan, but I have to respect anybody that was several inches shorter than me (and I'm not tall) who played 14 seasons in the NBA.  And Joey Lauren Adams was in Big Daddy, which was a fantastic movie.

But I left out my favorite famous person that I share a birthday with.  He's the answer to this question:  Which quarterback has the highest career quarterback rating in the postseason?  Surely it must be somebody that's in the NFL today in these pass wacky times, right?  Tom Brady?  Drew Brees?  Peyton Manning?  Aaron Rodgers?  Nope.  Maybe Kurt Warner, he put up some big passing numbers, right?  Close, but no.  Then it has to be like Joe Montana, John, Elway, or Terry Bradshaw, right?  Nope.  It's Bart Starr.  I know quarterback rating is a little bit of a silly stat (Why is 158.3 a perfect rating?), but that says something.  If you look at the all time regular season leaders, seven of the top 8 are still active because it's so much easier to pass today than it was decades ago.  Tony Romo is second at 97.6.  Tony Romo might have had a great season and maybe sometimes he gets criticized too much, but he's nowhere close to the second greatest quarterback of all time.  John Elway ranks 65th all time at 79.9.  John Elway is much much closer to the second greatest quarterback of all time than Tony Romo (some people might even put Elway at 1 or 2 on their lists).  Bart Starr is tied at 56th with the immortal Jeff Hostetler at 80.5.  Chad Pennington, Matt Schaub, Carson Palmer, David Garrard, Andy Dalton, Jay Culter, Brad Johnson, Jason Campbell, and Kyle Orton all rank ahead of Starr.  But Fran Tarkenton, John Elway, Johnny Unitas, Bob Griese, Terry Bradshaw, and Joe Namath all rank behind him.  Bart Starr is also the all time playoff leader in lowest percentage of passes intercepted (1.41%).

It's not like this is due to small sample size.  There weren't as many rounds of playoffs, but the Packers were always there.  Starr went 9-1 in the playoffs.  Among quarterbacks with at least three starts in the playoffs, that's the best winning percentage of all time.  Now, the Packers had the greatest NFL coach of all time and I'm sure that they were loaded in those days, but that's impressive.  Check out his postseason game log.  He completed 61.03% of his passes in the playoffs and had 15 touchdowns and only three interceptions.  Bart Starr won five championships (three NFL championships and two Super Bowls).

Add all that up, and I think Bart Starr is the most underrated quarterback in NFL history.  If you asked football fans who the greatest Packer quarterback of all time, they'd probably say Brett Favre (or maybe Aaron Rodgers).  I think Starr is the best and it's pretty close between Favre and Rodgers for second (I think Rodgers will eventually do enough to pass Favre pretty easily and maybe even enough to pass Starr).  Here are Bart Starr's regular season stats.  Yes, I'm telling you a guy who never threw more than 16 touchdown passes or 2,438 yards is better than a guy who has thrown for more yards than anybody else in NFL history (Manning will pass Favre next year as long as he doesn't retire and stays healthy).  As I already covered, it's a different game today.  Starr led the league in completion percentage, lowest interception percentage, and quarterback rating three times.  He led in yards per attempt twice.  His 1966 season was outstanding (14 touchdowns, 3 interceptions, led the league in completion percentage, lowest interception percentage, yards per attempt, and quarterback rating).

There are all sorts of rankings of quarterbacks that you can find.  The most recent one that I found when I googled it had Favre number 5 and Starr not in the top 10.  I don't know where I'd rank Starr all time (I never saw Unitas or all sorts of other Hall of Famers and I don't remember Montana or Marino until the ends of their careers), but I do know I'd rank him ahead of Favre.  I saw him throw enough terrible interceptions to not rank him as high as a lot of folks would.  That list also has Favre ahead of Johnny Unitas and Peyton Manning.  I know Favre ahead of Manning is ridiculous.  I haven't looked closely at Unitas's career, but a lot of people would rank him number one so I'm pretty sure having Favre ahead of him also is ridiculous.  Let's finish up with my quarterback power rankings.  I'm only ranking quarterbacks that I can remember watching in their primes:

12.  Eli Manning
11.  Drew Brees
10.  Ben Roethlisberger
9.  Jim Kelly
8.  Kurt Warner
7.  Steve Young
6.  Brett Favre
5.  Troy Aikman
4.  Aaron Rodgers
3.  John Elway (you might make the case that I don't even remember him in his prime, but I remember him winning two Super Bowls, I don't remember any of Montana's Super Bowls)
2.  Peyton Manning
1.  Tom Brady

If I were to dig deeply into the greatest quarterbacks of all time, I'm starting with Joe Montana and going from there.  I just did some quick googling and there are only five quarterbacks a National Championship in college and a Super Bowl in the NFL:  Joe Namath, Ken Stabler, Joe Montana, Troy Aikman, and Tom Brady.  Stabler split time in college, Aikman started four games at Oklahoma in 1985, but then he was injured.  Tom Brady was the backup for the half championship that the forces of evil won in 1997.  So that leaves Joe Namath and Joe Montana as the only two legitimate starters for both a National Championship team and a Super Bowl winning team.  Pretty cool.

Happy Birthday Bart Starr!  I'm sorry that scumbag Brett Favre gets more recognition than you.

Happy Birthday Lou Holtz!

I have the good fortune of sharing my birthday week with one of my favorite people in the entire world, Louis Leo Holtz.  He is the last great Notre Dame football coach.  I hope Brian Kelly joins him in that category, but as of right now, Holtz is the last one.  But besides his great success at Notre Dame, the thing that I love about him is his belief in Notre Dame.  As he once said, "If you've been to Notre Dame, no explanation is necessary.  If you haven't been there, no explanation will suffice."  I was reading his autobiography and he discusses the spirit of Notre Dame that makes Notre Dame a special place.  He felt that and I felt that.  If Ohio State was found to have all sorts of rules violations and they were ruled ineligible for the championship game and were somehow replaced with Notre Dame, Lou would absolutely be convinced that Notre Dame would beat Oregon.  Even though he was never a Notre Dame student, Lou Holtz understood Notre Dame.  I fear that Brian Kelly does not.

Anyway, my birthday week and the Baseball Hall of Fame elections make me think of my birthday two years ago.  It was my first day back at work after the National Championship Game in Miami.  That day and the day after the Celtics lost Game 7 to the Lakers in 2010 were the two days that I've least wanted to go to work in my entire life.  The one thing that cheered me up two years ago just a little bit was the fact that nobody was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.  Today four people made it in.  They should have just voted Ken Griffey Jr. in this year even though he's not eligible yet.  How would I vote for the Hall of Fame?  First, just think about it.  There's no doubt about some players.  If I have any doubt, then I go to the numbers.  And nobody who cheated or bet on baseball gets in.  Here's my hypothetical ballot:

1.  Ken Griffey Jr.- I'd write him in a year early.

2.  Randy Johnson- No doubt.  He had a very long run of dominance.  I don't need to go through his numbers, I just know he belongs in.

3.  Pedro Martinez- Again, no doubt.  He wasn't dominant for as long as Johnson.  But at the top of his game, he was even better than Johnson.

4.  John Smoltz- If you were an Atlanta Braves fan and you had a big game to win, this was the guy you wanted on the mound.  And you had Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine on your team.  Those two guys got in easily and they were better regular season pitchers than Smoltz, but being better than those two in big games has to get him in also.

5.  Curt Schilling- Sorry, John.  Schilling was pretty much as good as Smoltz as a big game pitcher.  He had a short run when he was teammates with Johnson and he was just as good.  And even when he wasn't at the top of his game, you wanted him pitching a big game (the bloody sock game comes to mind).

6.  Mike Mussina-  I have no doubt about those first five guys.  I had some doubt about Mussina.  One of my favorite Mike and the Mad Dog bits was when they would go through a player's seasons and decide if they were Hall of Fame seasons or not.  I'm giving him eight Hall of Fame seasons (1992, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2003, and 2008).  Combine that with several other solid seasons and it's enough to get in.  I know his ERA wasn't always the prettiest, but keep in mind that he spent most of his career in a really bad place to pitch (and Yankee Stadium wasn't a great place to pitch either) and he pitched in the height of the Steroid Era.

7.  Edgar Martinez- Probably not as surprising as the next player on my list, but hold on, we'll come back to him.

8- Fred McGriff- Fred McGriff?  Yep, Fred McGriff.  Hold on, we'll come back to him too.

Here's a list of guys I wouldn't vote for:

1.  Tim Raines- There's an asterisk here.  I don't remember Tim Raines in his prime.  Some guys love Tim Raines.  I would abstain on him (if that were an option).  I just don't remember him well enough to say whether or not he belongs in the Hall of Fame.

2.  Craig Biggio- He's from Kings Park, New York, but no.  I think there's some suspicion of steroids.  And if he was on steroids, he's out for sure.  But let's assume he's clean for a minute and give Biggio the Mike and the Mad Dog treatment.  I'm giving him four Hall of Fame seasons (1994, 1995, 1997, 1998).  He had some other really good seasons.  But it's not the Hall of Really Good.  He got in because he stuck around for 20 years and compiled numbers.

3.  Mike Piazza- I'd be shocked if he wasn't on steroids.

4.  Jeff Bagwell- Again, I'd be shocked if he wasn't on steroids.

5.  Barry Bonds- We know he was on steroids.  He got 202 votes more than he should have.

6.  Roger Clemens- We know he was on steroids.  He got 206 votes more than he should have.

Here's why I hate the guys that used steroids.  They killed part of the greatest game in the world.  Baseball is a game of numbers.  755 (Hank Aaron's career home run total), 714 (Babe Ruth), 660 (Willie Mays), 61 (Roger Maris's single season home run record), 511 (Cy Young's career wins), etc.  So you could say Barry Bonds murdered several of these numbers (and McGwire and Sosa before him in the case of the single season total).  But it's not just Bonds, McGwire, and Sosa.  It's Rafael Palmeiro, Manny Ramirez, Gary Sheffield, David Ortiz, Jose Canseco, Jason Giambi, etc.  Players who had great careers are made to look ordinary in comparison to these cheaters.

And that brings me back to Edgar Martinez and Fred McGriff.  Like I said, my first test is just thinking about a player and whether or not he's a Hall of Famer.  Edgar Martinez passes that test.  In a big spot, I would have been scared to death of Edgar Martinez and not so much of Rafael Palmeiro.  But they played in the same era and Edgar Martinez's 309 career home runs looks like nothing compared to Rafael Palmeiro's 569.  And when I check the numbers, I get eight Hall of Fame seasons for Edgar Martinez.  He was David Ortiz before David Ortiz, a DH that scared you to death minus the steroids (I think, and if I'm wrong, Edgar Martinez doesn't belong in the Hall of Fame).  As for Fred McGriff, one number really stands out:  493.  He hit 493 home runs.  You know who else hit 493 home runs?  One of the five greatest hitters of all time, Lou Gehrig.  Of course, Fred McGriff is not Lou Gehrig, but he had some great seasons.  Again, his 493 home runs doesn't seem like a big deal because Rafael Palmeiro was playing at the same time and hit 569.  If all these scumbags weren't cheating when Fred McGriff was playing, his 493 home runs would really stand out.  Instead, they get lost in a sea of cheaters.  I have nine Hall of Fame seasons for McGriff (1989-1994, 1999-2001, and 1995, 1996, and 2002 are very close).  Again, this is assuming that McGriff was clean.  But I feel really bad that dominant players like Edgar Martinez and Fred McGriff can't get into the Hall of Fame because they happened to play at the same time as a bunch of scumbags.

Now that I've gotten myself angry with the cheaters who ruined part of baseball, let's go back where I started and finish this on a positive note.  Here my list of favorite coaches/managers from my lifetime:

10.  Al Groh- He's one of exactly two Jets head coaches with a winning record.  Sad, but true.

9.  Mike Brey- I used to be a big critic, but we could be doing a lot worse.  He needs to have some more success in the tournament, though.

8.  Gregg Popovich- He's a great coach.  I was always happy if he beat the Lakers or Heat.

7.  Tom Coughlin- He won my two favorite Super Bowls of all time.

6.  Brad Stevens- I want to be Brad Stevens.  I'm was a big fan going back to his Butler days.  I really want to see him successful with the Celtics.  Danny Ainge needs to turn all these draft picks into some good players for him.

5.  Bill Parcells- He's the other Jets head coach with a winning record.  He took the Jets from a laughingstock to a Super Bowl contender.

4.  Joe Torre- I liked Torre before he went to the Dodgers.  He led the Dodgers to their first playoff series win since 1988.

3.  Doc Rivers- I'll always remember him for beating the Lakers in 2008.

2.  Tommy Lasorda- He's the only Dodger manager to win a World Series during my lifetime.  He's kind of the Dodgers' version of Lou Holtz.

1.  Lou Holtz- I already covered Lou, but I'll just point out the National Championship in 1988 and the National Championship he was cheated out of in 1993.  I love Lou!

RedZone Cable Box

It's been a little while since I've done a running diary of anything.  When college football fixes New Year's Day and has it's first ever playoff, it seems like a good time to break out the running diary again.  Actually, we're making this a two-day mega diary to cover the entirety of the New Year's Six and whatever else was going on.  I did this one a little differently than previous running diaries.  I had no confidence in my four and a half year old laptop to survive.  So rather than typing on my computer as things were happening, I took notes in a notebook.  So this is kind of  a retroactive diary based on my notes.  I took 17 pages of notes.  If you don't want to read the whole thing, that's cool.  If you want to read about the Rose Bowl, you can figure out where to scroll to.  I suggest you read at least the first hour though because that's where I explain the title of this post and it's one of my greatest ideas ever.  By the way, I did not even remember where I started this until I opened my notebook this morning.  Anyway, here's what transpired:

New Year's Eve:

12:00- We're starting with Big East basketball until the football gets going.  I'm waiting for tournament tickets to go on sale (last year it was the middle of January).  I plan on going Thursday, Friday, and Saturday this year (last year I went all four nights, but I think I'll skip Wednesday this year).  We're starting with St. John's at Seton Hall.

12:02- "Gus Johnson, right now St. John's goes mantaman!"  Actually, it turns out that they're playing zone, but I love Bill Raftery.  It's good to have Big East basketball back.

12:03- Really ugly shirt for Steve Laving.  He's got some sort of futuristic priest look going on.

12:06- I really like Seton Hall's court.  Nice and simple (and Dodger colors).  It looks really good, unlike the stupid standardized NCAA tournament court.

12:17- Both teams are Under Armor (I refuse to use their silly British spelling) teams, like Notre Dame.  They make some good looking uniforms, unlike Adidas.  Last year, Notre Dame's Adidas uniforms were exactly the same as Michigan except they didn't say Michigan and they had gold instead of ugly yellow.  I do have a couple of complaints, though.  Why is St. John's wearing blue instead of red?  And the collars are a little weird.

12:22- St. John's 21, Seton Hall 15

12:24- Seton Hall's Sterling Gibbs misses two free throws, gets the rebound, and ends up getting fouled again.

12:25- This time, he makes both.

12:29- Seton Hall has a player named Brandon Mobley.  The first syllable of his last name is pronounced like the word mob and not like Mobile, Alabama.  I'd prefer the other way.

12:30- TCU wins the coin toss in the Peach Bowl, the first of the New Year's Six.  They defer.

12:32- Ole Miss takes the kick just past the 25.

12:33- ESPN is using a different score graphic than their regular graphic.  I saw this in one of the early bowls, but it's not what they've been using recently.

12:34- Interception for TCU.  Their ball at the Ole Miss 35.

12:36- Double pass for a TCU touchdown.  That was pretty sweet.

12:37- Commercial in the Peach Bowl.  I have to change the channel.  NFL RedZone has spoiled me.  You can watch 6-7 hours of football on a Sunday and not need to use the remote once (of course, if the Jets weren't terrible, I'd want to watch the Jets' game for half that time).  Somebody needs to make a cable box that can tell when there's a commercial and change the channel for you.  You could program up to five channels and rank them in terms of priority.  Right now, I'd be watching the Peach Bowl, but it would sense that when that game goes to a commercial and change the channel to St. John's-Seton Hall (and if that's in a commercial, I could have third, fourth, and fifth options).  When the commercial ends, it goes back for you.  Of course, there would have to be some sort of override like if I wanted to stay with the St. John's-Seton Hall game for the end of the first half.  But tomorrow is 2015, we have to make this happen.  I once had a VCR that could sense commercials and fast forward through them automatically (yes, a VCR, it played VHS tapes and everything) so this has to be possible.  I'm calling this RedZone Cable Box (copyright, trademark, or registered trademark or whatever of Jim).  Somebody give me some money and make my idea a reality.

12:41- Trick play for Ole Miss that loses a bunch of yards.

12:43- We have a double Urkin.  This is when RedZone Cable Box would go to my third option.  I need to find one for now.

12:45- St. John's up by two.

12:46- Drunk History is on Comedy Central until 3:42.  This would be option 3.

12:47- TCU's uniforms aren't particularly good, but they definitely could be worse (maybe I'm becoming desensitized to bad uniforms).  Ole Miss easily wins the uniform match up here with some very solid uniforms.

12:51- Seton Hall drains a three with five seconds left in the half.  They lead by five at halftime.

12:53- Big 4th and 1 conversion for TCU.

12:55- 15 yard touchdown run for TCU.  I'm rooting for TCU, but I want a good game.

1:02- TCU stops Ole Miss for a loss on 3rd and 2.

1:03- Great bounce for Ole Miss on the punt.  Their defense needs to do something.

1:05- TCU loses six yards on three plays.  We have signs of life for Ole Miss.

1:06- And then there's an interception on the first play of Ole Miss's drive.

1:07- TCU messes up a trick play and gives the ball back to Ole Miss on a botched lateral.

1:11- Ole Miss misses a field goal and they get called for a personal foul after the play.

1:14- Ole Miss picks off a pass.  As bad as they've played, this could be a lot worse than 14-0.

1:16- TCU ends the quarter with a sack on 3rd and 9.  Ole Miss has 11 yards of offense in the quarter.  I'm going to make a smoothie.

1:26- Orange juice, banana, strawberry, mango, pineapple, and red papaya smoothie.  It tastes pretty good.

1:27- Another touchdown for TCU.  I'm taking a break from this game unless Ole Miss startes doing something.

1:30- Seton Hall up by nine.

1:31- 249 days until Notre Dame plays Texas.

1:40- TCU's quarterback catches a pass that he threw (after it was batted), but it goes for a loss of two.  I really wanted that to turn into something.  TCU is going to punt.

1:43- St. John's is making a run with some pressure defense.

1:45- I get a Christmas card from Pete and Katie.  They always used to mail stuff to me with an incorrect address.  Fortunately, it would still get to me.  This time they have the address right, but it took until New Year's Eve to get here (it looks like they sent it a while ago).

1:48- There are tickets for the Orange Bowl for $3.26 on Stubhub.  Could I get a flight from Islip and get there in time?

1:52- St. John's gets a basket and a foul and we have a technical foul on Seton Hall.  Seton Hall's lead is down to five.  Gus and Coach don't like the technical call.  St. John's misses two out of three free throws.  The lead is down to four.

1:53- Kyle's thoughts on the Peach Bowl:  "Gary is teaching Hugh a lesson about manhood."

2:06- TCU gets a sack to end the first half.  It's 28-0.  Unfortunately, I know what it feels like to be an Ole Miss fan at that game right now.

2:08- Seton Hall by 9 with 1:35 to play.

2:12- Seton Hall wins by 11.

2:55- I'm back after a little break.  It's 42-0 TCU.  Wow.  But we have Butler at Villanova in basketball.  Villanova is playing on campus and they also have a beautiful court.  They're up 21-14.  Butler needs a touchdown to tie.

3:00- The Celtics are beating the Kings 90-69.  The Kings are wearing some nice Rochester Royals uniforms.  And Demarcus Cousins has just been ejected.

3:05- Band snap for Ole Miss on 4th and goal.  The quarterback chased it down and then pitched it to a teammate to lose an extra six yards.  You can't blame him though since it was 4th down.

3:24- Sybil Ludington's midnight ride is on Drunk History.  I wish I could show this to my students.  I also wish I could show them Mike Zaun.

3:33- Villanova's up 36-32 as we start the second half.

3:38- Ole Miss scores!  SEC!  SEC!  SEC!  It's 42-3.

4:11- I have the TV on mute now and I'm listening to the ND Fan Radio podcast.  A guy has called in from Ireland.  It's pretty cool to hear "Malik Zaire" said with an Irish accent.  The first Notre Dame game he ever watched was the 2005 USC game.  He saw it on DVD in 2007.  Quite a story.

4:15- The Fiesta Bowl is about to start.  Fortunately, Arizona isn't wearing red helmets with their red jerseys and red pants.  Boise State's uniforms are okay, but Arizona wins the uniform battle.  I'm still rooting for Boise State.

4:19- They show highlights of Boise State's win in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl.  My roommate Nick at Notre Dame was from Boise.  I think he went to that game.  College overtime is very silly, but that was a great game.

4:21- Villanova is up by 14 with under four to play.

4:22- Boise State runs for a 56 yard touchdown on 3rd and 2.

4:23- Boise State's kicker is named Dan Goodale.  I like good ale.

4:27- Former Notre Dame wide receiver DaVonte' Neal makes a catch for Arizona.

4:29- Boise State forces a punt.

4:31- Beautiful press break for Villanova.  They're going to win.

4:40- Tomorrow is a holy day of obligation.  The Fiesta Bowl is probably the game that I'm least interested in out of the New Year's Six (although it has to turn out better than the Peach Bowl did).  So I don't mind missing some of the game to go to the vigil mass.  I missed a 57 yard touchdown pass for Boise State while I was getting ready for mass.  I'll be back after mass.

6:15- I'm back from mass.  Both teams scored 17 while I was gone.  Marquette is up 44-34 against DePaul.  DePaul's court is not good, but I'd still rather see ugly unique courts in the NCAA tournament than an ugly standardized court.  I'm taking another break for dinner.

6:47- They're reviewing a sack.  But if it wasn't a sack it's intentional grounding.  The clock would be different so it's not exactly the same result either way, but this is stupid.  They review too much in college football.

6:50- My dad ordered a rainbow cookie cake from King Kullen for Christmas Eve.  They gave his cake to somebody else.  They had a half rainbow cookie cake there and they gave it to him for free.  Today, he was able to get a full cake.  I only mention this because apparently much of the country is not well acquainted with rainbow cookies, which are amazing.  If you have no idea what I'm talking about, I feel sorry for you.  And I'm not a cake guy, but the rainbow cookie cake is outstanding.  It tastes like the cookies.

Rainbow cookie cake is awesome.

7:03- Nice punt by Boise State's quarterback.  I always enjoy that play.  It always seems to work.  DePaul beat Marquette.

7:05- TAINT for Boise State.

7:10- Arizona throws a long touchdown pass.  It's 38-27.  Unlike Ole Miss, they're putting up a fight.

7:13- Boise State runs the double pass and they make a ridiculous catch.  It's under review.

7:14- It's going to be overturned.  It's the end of the third quarter.

7:16- We have a football, basketball, Seinfeld triple Urkin.

7:18- Jerry's Nana is missing.

7:19- Boise State's offense put up 25 yards in the third quarter.

7:26- Jerry's Nana is writing PBS a check for $1,500.  Uncle Leo is not happy about it.

7:27- Arizona misses an open receiver for a big gain and has to punt.

7:32- Arizona recovers a fumble with 9:17 left.

7:35- Ken Griffey Jr.'s son makes a catch for a first down.  He should have been named Ken Griffey Jr. Jr.

7:38- Arizona kicks a field goal.  It's 38-30.

7:39- Donna Chang is not Chinese.

7:40- Creighton is playing Providence in a rematch of last year's Big East championship game.  Providence has another solid court.

7:43- Boise state gets nine on 3rd and 10.  Arizona is getting the ball back down by eight with 4:36 to play.

7:47- 4th and 10 coming up.

7:48- Incomplete.  Boise State takes over with 3:20 left.  Dick Rod isn't happy.  Arizona has all three timeouts still.

7:53- Boise State runs on 3rd and long.  I don't like the call.  Arizona will get it back with a little less than 3:00 left.  Too conservative there.

7:55- Sack on 2nd and 10.

7:56- Nice gain for Arizona on 3rd down.  It's going to be 4th and 1.

7:57- Two guys take it on the read option and get the first down.  This reminds me of when I was a kid playing football in my friend's backyard.  My friends Andy and Pat would run a play where they would both run with the ball and one of them would take it if you went for the other one.

7:58- Sack.

7:59- Long completion to the Boise State 8.  Arizona spikes it with 20 seconds left.

8:00- Incomplete pass as the receiver falls.  It's going to be 3rd down with 14 seconds left.

8:01- A sack ends the game.  You have to get rid of the ball there.  Good game, but not great.  It is nice to see Dick Rod lose.

8:14- It's Brent Musburger and Jesse Palmer for the Orange Bowl.  I wish I had known about the Brent Musburger drinking game when I was in college.  It wouldn't have been smart to do it every weekend, but it would have been fun to do once.

8:19- Mississippi State will start with the ball.  Their uniforms are fine, but their colors aren't the best.  Georgia Tech, on the other hand, wears beautiful colors.  And it's ACC vs. SEC so I'm rooting for Georgia Tech.

8:22- Georgia Tech picks off a pass.

8:23- Georgia Tech's first play didn't go well.

8:24- Their next three plays did go well.  Two long gains and then a touchdown.  That offense is fun to watch when Notre Dame doesn't have to defend it.  I'm going to relax for most of the rest of the night.

11:50- I was struggling to stay awake for most of the Orange Bowl.  Georgia Tech won easily.  Xavier is beating Georgetown.  By the way, Xavier's court is awesome.  I would love to see NCAA tournament games played on that court, but their arena is probably too small for the tournament anyway.  I'm going to bed.  I'll be back tomorrow.

New Year's Day:

1:01- I'm getting started a little late.  I took a walk to Jimmy's to start 2015 with some delicious pizza.  By the way, I also did some weightlifting and I walked about 3.5 miles yesterday, so I'm not being completely lazy for these two days.  Anyway, Baylor threw a long touchdown pass and they're about to tie it at 7.

1:10- This holiday really is silly.  And the rituals of New Year's Eve are really silly too.  Why would anybody want to stand out in the cold in a huge crowd and watch a ball serve as a watch/calendar?  And what is significant about this day?  We start a new year?  Big deal (and which date the year starts on is completely arbitrary).  It's one-twelfth as rare as starting a new month, but it's ten times more common than starting a new decade.  Think about our other federal holidays.  Presidents Day would be just as silly (and perhaps even more so), except that's not a holiday.  Labor Day is pretty silly too (but it does serve nicely as the unofficial end of summer).  But our other federal holidays are for our independence, soldiers who died, veterans, giving thanks, one of the most important historical events of the last 1,000 years, and the births of Martin Luther King Jr., George Washington, and Jesus.  Lincoln's birthday isn't a federal holiday, but Put Up a New Calendar Day is?  That makes no sense.

1:12- By the way, I'm not looking to give back New Year's Day as a holiday.  But let's just be clear that the fact that there are big football games are more important than the start of a new year (unlike Christmas, where the holiday is much more important than the basketball games).

1:14- Michigan State scored a touchdown.  The Winter Classic hasn't started yet.  I did some googling and it looks like the Winter Classic is going to be in Boston next year.  I do enjoy hockey at Fenway Park, but the NHL has already done that.  If I was planning these things, I'd definitely be having the Winter Classic at Busch Stadium.  Target Field and Coors Field would be next on the list (it sounds like they're going to have outdoor games there next season also).  Ohio Stadium would make a lot of sense too.  I don't know how popular the Blue Jackets are, but I think Ohio State fans would fill it up for outdoor hockey.  I'd also consider Globe Life Park, Chase Field, and Marlins Park, but I don't know if you're going to have enough hockey fans in Dallas, Phoenix, and Miami for that to make sense.  But get to new places before you start repeating places.  They've done Heinz Field before, but I would do PNC Park.  Citi Field would be good too, but I don't know why they'd pick Citi Field over Yankee Stadium.  This reminds me of Tom Verducci's idea for the Summer Game.  I love this idea.  I'm mad at myself for not thinking of it first.

1:23- Let's go through the uniform match ups in the football games going on right now.  The Cotton Bowl is pretty good.  Baylor's uniforms are a little silly (the shoulders are funky and the pants have weird stripes that don't take up the whole leg), but they're not too bad.  Michigan State wins the uniform battle, but I'm rooting for Baylor.  Minnesota beats Missouri easily in the Citrus Bowl.  My friends Dennis and Courtney are at the game (she's from Minnesota).  I don't usually root for Big Ten teams, but I'm giving Minnesota the Lou Holtz Coached There Exemption.  The Outback Bowl has really good uniforms with Wisconsin and Auburn.  No clear winner there.  I'm rooting for Wisconsin only because Barry Alvarez is coaching this game (Notre Dame was 24-1 and won the 1988 National Championship when he was the defensive coordinator under Lou Holtz).

1:31- The Winter Classic starts.  They have a great logo for this game.

1:40- Rex Ryan is going to interview with the 49ers.  I want the 49ers to hire somebody I can root for since they are in the same division as the Seahawks.

2:14- The Capitals lead the Blackhawks 2-1 after one period.

2:15- At the Cotton Bowl, Tom Luginbill just said, "I was talking with the officiorating crew."  Um, okay.

2:29- Baylor leads 24-14 at halftime.

2:30- Football Baby picks Alabama and Florida State.  I agree.  He's 30-9 all time, but this is his first time picking college games.  I got a good chuckle out of the video's explanation of what was used to represent Florida State.

2:34- Wisconsin goes for it on 4th and 1 from their own end of the field and Melvin Gordon goes all the way for a touchdown.

2:46- It's 44 degrees in the shade at the Winter Classic.  That's much warmer than when Kyle and I went to Frozen Fenway last year.

2:52- Minnesota's tight end makes a catch and has an awesome run after the catch for a touchdown.  He hurdled two guys (not at the same time).  It's 14-13 Minnesota.

2:55- The Cotton Bowl started at 12:45 and the Citrus Bowl started at 1:00.  The second half just started in the Cotton Bowl and there's 11:48 left in the third in the Citrus Bowl.  The Cotton Bowl is moving slowly.  Also, why can't most of these stadiums with artificial turf fully paint their end zones?  The Citrus Bowl does it.  Why can't they do it for the Peach Bowl, Cotton Bowl, or Sugar Bowl?

2:56- Long touchdown pass for Baylor.  They might be pulling away.

3:00- I'm on the phone with my brother Sean.  He's not too excited about the possibility of Doug Marrone as the next coach of the Jets.

3:18- Michigan State is using this strange formation where the quarterback stands directly behind the center and the center hands him the ball rather than standing five yards behind the center and having the ball tossed to him.  Also, they have two gentlemen standing in line behind the quarterback.

3:26- Wisconsin has a rather large kicker and he's about to attempt a field goal to tie the game.  Gus Malzahn calls timeout to ice him.

3:27- The kick is good.

3:30- There's a guy dressed as a blooming onion at the Outback Bowl.  The Outback Bowl needs a better name.  It was the Hall of Fame Bowl from 1986-1995, but that doesn't make sense either.

3:31- Overtime in the Outback Bowl.  College overtime is really stupid, but it does have the possibility of being very exciting.

3:35- Wisconsin is using the same bizarre formation that Michigan State was using before.  Wisconsin's quarterback hands off to the first gentlemen lined up behind him.  Apparently that gentleman is playing a position called "fullback."  Crazy.

3:37- The rather large kicker puts Wisconsin up by three.

3:40- Auburn is going to attempt to tie it with a 45 yard field goal.  Barry Alvarez calls timeout to ice their kicker.

3:41- The kick hits the upright and Wisconsin wins.

3:42- I find out from Mike Golic on Twitter that I missed a 6'7" 390 pound guy scoring a touchdown for Baylor.

3:44- I watched it on my phone.  He had an 18 yard touchdown catch.  It was pretty cool.

3:50- Minnesota just punted down by nine with less than 7:00 to play.  I wrote the words "game over" in my notebook.

3:53- Michigan State scores to make it 41-28.  It's not over yet.

3:56- Who knew John Carlson played tight end for the Cardinals and defense for the Capitals?

3:58- Michigan State recovered an onside kick.  This might get interesting.

4:00- Connor Cook throws a terrible TAINT trying to escape a sack, but a block in the back takes the touchdown off the board.  There wasn't even a receiver where he was throwing.

4:03- 7:06 left in the Winter Classic and we're tied 2-2.  I want a shootout.

4:06- Baylor goes for it on 4th and 6 at Michigan State's 39.  The pass is incomplete.

4:12- Connor Cook scrambles for a touchdown.  5:11 left to play.

4:13- They're reviewing the play.  It looks short.

4:15- Michigan State scores on 1st and goal after the review.

4:16- It was close, but they didn't review that one.  It's 41-35 with 4:55 left.

4:17- The Capitals take a 3-2 lead with 12.9 seconds left.

4:19- The Blackhawks got a decent scoring chance, but they lose.

4:21- Michigan State calls their first timeout.  It's 3rd and 4 coming up.

4:23- Baylor gets the first down.

4:25- It's 1st and goal for Baylor.

4:26- Never mind, there was an offensive face mask on that last play.  It's still a first down, but not goal to go.  Baylor is in field goal range.

4:28- Two nice defensive plays after a false start.  It's 3rd and 18.  Bryce Petty has 547 yards passing.

4:30- Baylor's 44 yard field goal is blocked.  Nice return for Michigan State.  They have it in Baylor territory with 1:05 to play.

4:32- Michigan State picks up a first down on a pass to the 32.

4:33- It's 3rd and 10.  ESPN has the field goal range line on the field.  You know, in case Michigan State wants to try to get within three and then onside kick with less than a minute to play.

4:35- Michigan State picks up a first down on 4th and 10 to the Baylor 10.  0:33 left to play.  Then Cook misses an open receiver on first down.

4:36- Overthrown pass on second down.  0:22 left.

4:37- Cook throws a touchdown on third down.  Baylor has all three timeouts and there are 17 seconds left.

4:38- The extra point is good.  It's 42-41 Michigan State.

4:39- The kickoff goes out of the end zone.

4:40- Sack on first down.  0:13 left, timeout.

4:41- Sack on second down.  0:07 left, timeout.

4:43- Interception on third down.  Michigan State is going to win.  This game turned into a classic.  People seemed excited about the Peach Bowl.  I thought this was going to be the best non-playoff game.  It looked like I was going to be wrong, but Michigan State got a great win.  

4:45- Remember when John L. Smith was Michigan State's coach?  Things have changed.  I didn't mention Mark Dantonio as a possible replacement for Kelly if he leaves.  He might be my number one choice.  (I also didn't mention Bret Bielema.  I'd consider him too.)

5:27- I'm back after dinner.  It's 3-0 Florida State in the Rose Bowl.  Oregon is wearing much less offensive uniforms than I expected, but they would be a lot better with yellow face masks and yellow pants.

5:28- Kirk Herstreit mentions picks and screens in the Notre Dame-Florida State game.  I'm still bitter.

5:29- Oregon scores one play after a sweet option play.

5:29- The referee's microphone is not working.  The only thing we hear is, "Therefore, the previous play never occurred."  Apparently they're altering the space-time continuum at the Rose Bowl.  They're reviewing the play before the play that didn't occer.  But this is another example of reviewing things that don't need to be reviewed in college football.  They're reviewing a play that neither team wanted reviewed.

5:32- So Oregon didn't score because that play never happened.  They got stopped on first down after the review, but they scored on second down.

5:33- Oregon goes for two and gets it.  It's 8-3.

5:36- The Rose Bowl is pretty awesome.  I really want to do a tour the next time I'm in California (hopefully this year to see an Angels game).

5:39- There's a bad punt and it's Oregon's ball at the Florida State 40.  There are four bowls tomorrow (and the Alamo Bowl is a pretty good one).  At least one or two of them should have been today or yesterday.  Who cares about bowls after the big ones are over?

5:44- Oregon goes for it on 4th and 5 at the 22 and a half, but Mariota throws incomplete.  It didn't work, but I don't mind the call.  That's not a chip shot field goal.

5:46- Rocky IV is on one of the movie channels, but it's not in HD.

5:53- Oregon gets a big 3rd and goal stop for a loss, but they were offside.  We're going to have an untimed down to end the quarter.

5:54- Oregon gets a stop on the untimed down.

5:58- Florida State hadn't converted a fourth down all season until now.  Scumbag coach decides to go for it and scumbag quarterback scores on an option play.

5:59- The play is under review and he didn't score.  Oregon is going to take over inside their own 1.

6:01- Chris Fowler is really confused about what happened on a read option.  It's a good gain for Mariota and Oregon gets some room to breathe.

6:06- Mariota made a ridiculous throw, but Florida State drops an easy pick.

6:12- A 28 yard field goal for Oregon makes it 11-3 and makes me think of Texas's field goal from the same hash to beat Michigan in the 2005 Rose Bowl.

6:14- "If he dies, he dies."  I know that would be extremely rare, but the fact that it's not a totally ridiculous part of Rocky IV shows you just how crazy boxing is.  But I am a fan of my former classmate Chris Algieri.

6:24- Oregon misses a chance at an interception in the end zone.

6:26- Oregon gets away with a hold/pass interference on 3rd and goal.  Florida State kicks a field goal to make it 11-6.

6:29- Rocky arrives in the Soviet Union.

6:31- Offensive pass interference against Oregon.  Did a Florida State player take off his helmet and not get called for it this time too?  Yep, still bitter.

6:33- Mariota escapes a sack and completes for a first down on third down.

6:35- Touchdown run on 3rd and goal from the one.  They kick the extra point this time and it's 18-6.

6:37- Training montage in Rocky IV.  The 80s were the best.  And Ivan Drago introduced Jose Canseco to steroids.

6:39- There were five Super Bowls played at the Rose Bowl, but we haven't had one since Super Bowl XXVII.  I wish they would go back to the Rose Bowl.  I also wish they would play Super Bowls at Yankee Stadium and Lambeau Field.

6:41- They call a 12 men on the field penalty on Oregon before the snap.  Why isn't that a free play for the offense?  If they can get a good gain against 12 guys, let them take that and decline the penalty.

6:43- Touchdown for Florida State with 0:36 left.  Nuts.  It's 18-13.

6:46- Oregon calls their first timeout after a five yard run.  0:30 left.

6:47- Holding on second down takes away a good gain.

6:48- Mariota gets picked with 0:16 left at the Florida State 49.

6:49- Oregon's offensive coordinator is former Nebraska quarterback and New York Jets safety Scott Frost.

6:51- Florida State hits the upright to end the first half.

6:56- The Russian is cut!

7:00- "Moscow is pro-Rocky."

7:01- Soviet leaders are not happy.

7:02- We're going to the 15th round.

7:04- Down goes Drago!  "Rocky Balboa has done the impossible and these people love it!"

7:06- "If I can change, and you can change, everybody can change!"  This was the beginning of the end of the Cold War.  I've said it before and I'll say it again, the three heroes of the Cold war were Rocky Balboa, Ronald Reagan, and St. John Paul the Great.

7:18- Scumbag quarterback passes for 20 yards on the first play of the second half.  My dad and I both think Florida State is going to win.

7:20- Florida State was moving, but Oregon rips the ball away and takes over at their own 31.

7:24- Oregon runs for a touchdown.  They went 69 yards on five plays.  It's 25-13.

7:28- There must have been a penalty that I missed.  Oregon is kicking off from the 50.  Why not onside kick here?  Your worst case scenario is Florida State gets the ball at the 40.  They get it at the 25 on a touchback.  I think the reward is high enough to risk 15 yards of field position.

7:31- Scumbag quarterback completes a pass for 22 yards on 3rd and 21.

7:34- Scumbag quarterback finds Travis Rudolph for a touchdown and it's 25-20.

7:38- They show the San Gabriel Mountains in the background.  You can also see them from Dodger Stadium.  Herbstreit says he'd be fine with the National Championship Game there every year.  That's not going to happen of course.  I'm a little concerned that the Rose Bowl won't get the National Championship Game anymore now that they've abandoned the strict championship game rotation that the BCS had because the stadium isn't not modern enough.  I know this will come as a shock to you, but I have a plan for this.  You have an eight-year rotation.  On years 1-3 and 5-7 of the rotation, you use the sites of the New Year's Six.  So each one gets a championship game every eight years.  On years 4 and 8, you open it up to any site.  I would like to see championship games in Tampa (that's actually where it is in two years), New York (Yankee Stadium of course), Houston, Indianapolis, Santa Clara, San Diego, and Orlando (the Citrus Bowl was just renovated).

7:40- Mariota to Carrington for a long catch and run touchdown.  It's 32-20.

7:44- Florida State's return man couldn't decide whether or not to bring the ball out of the end zone.  He avoids disaster and gets to the 17.

7:47- Herbstreit says a route was "too parallel to the line of scrimmage."  There's that Ohio State education.  Things are either parallel or not parallel.  There aren't degrees of parallelity (not a word, I know, because there's no such thing).

7:48- Oregon recovers a Florida State fumble at the Florida State 43.

7:49- Mariota to Carrington for another touchdown.  It's 39-20, but the Cotton Bowl showed us that this isn't over.

7:55- Florida State calls timeout on 3rd and 4.  Yep, they won't be needing that later.

7:59- The play clock is running down and Florida State calls their second timeout before 4th and 5.

8:01- Scumbag quarterback escapes a sack, fumbles, and Oregon returns it for a touchdown.  This is awesome!

8:02- The extra point is blocked and it's 45-20.

8:04- There's a big kick return for Florida State, but there are flags and it's coming back.

8:06- Scumbag quarterback gets picked on a pass that was deflected by an Oregon pass rusher and then bobbled by a receiver.

8:07- It's 45-20 after three quarters.

8:08- Scumbag quarterback holds up four fingers for the number of Florida State turnovers in the third quarter.  Or the number of Oregon touchdowns in the third quarter.

8:10- Batman Begins just started so that's a good flicking option.  I need RedZone Cable Box.

8:12- Heather Cox told us that scumbag quarterback "shook every single player on his offense."  I think she left out a word or two, but okay.

8:13- Mariota keeps on 4th and 2 and goes for a 23 yard touchdown run.  I'm taking a break unless this gets interesting.

8:24- Herbstreit:  "Florida State has quit."  This is reminding me of Super Bowl XXXVII.  The team that I hate is getting absolutely pounded.  It's not a competitive game, but I'm loving it.

8:59- At the Rose Bowl, they had a coin with the logos for Oregon and Florida State and nobody had to call it.  At the Sugar Bowl, we have the traditional heads/tails coin toss.  We have a very good uniform match up, but Alabama gets the edge with the numbers on the helmets.

9:01- The kickoff was mishandled by the Alabama returner in the end zone.  The return let it go after getting hit in the hands and the official didn't blow the whistle until another Alabama player picked it up and took a knee.  Ohio State guys were closing in on it.  That could have been a very weird start to this game if not for the Alabama guy that picked it up.

9:04- Alabama goes three and out.

9:07- A long run for Ohio State makes it 1st and goal.

9:09- Urban Meyer calls a timeout.  Why is he wearing a jacket?

9:12- A field goal puts Ohio State on top 3-0.

9:19- Alabama boots a 73 yard punt and the Ohio State returner loses his helmet on the return.  That was like something out of Madden.

9:20- Ohio State loses a fumble on the first play of the drive.

9:21- Alabama runs for a touchdown and goes up 7-3.

9:23- I flick to the Internship on one of the movie channels.  It didn't get great reviews but I love Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson.  But I just saw the part where Vince Vaughn is asking for help and he's trying to stop a car and ask the driver, but it's a driverless car.  Why in the world would he try to stop a car when there are people all over the place that he could ask for help?  That makes no sense.

9:30- A long pass for Ohio State makes it 1st and goal.

9:31- Cardale Jones drops the snap and gets dropped for a loss.

9:34- A field goal makes it 7-6.

9:37- I'm texting my friends from college and asking who they're rooting for.  Jon, Kyle, and Wilhelm are all rooting for Alabama.  In one of my recent posts I mentioned Alabama's evil empire status and the SEC as reasons to root against them.  I left out Lane Kiffin as a very obvious reason to root against them.  Now there are plenty of reasons to root against Ohio State too, but I'm rooting against Alabama.

9:38- The referee's name is Land Clark.

9:43- Sims to Cooper for a touchdown makes it 14-6.

9:45- Ohio State only gets back to the 12 on the kick return.  This is starting to feel like it might get out of hand.

9:46- Jones is sacked at the 2.  Alabama fans want a safety, but that's the right call.

9:47- Brad Nessler said there's "a first down and some room to work."  Um, not even close.  It's 4th and 8 at the end of the first quarter.

9:50- So the official name of the championship game is the College Football Playoff National Championship.  Boring and way too long.  Can we just call it the College Super Bowl?  Not creative, I know, but we're not coming up with a better name.  I'm sure there would be some trademark issues, but we do have the College World Series.  Let's make this happen.

9:52- ESPN is a little late on this, but they do go back to the mistake on the opening kickoff that turned out to be inconsequential.

9:54- The teams are trading punts.  Alabama takes a delay before punting.  Ohio State went from their safe punt team before the delay to their return team after the delay.  This happened in the Notre Dame-Syracuse game I went to.  Syracuse went for the fake after taking the penalty and Notre Dame put the return team on and it worked beautifully.  This would be a good time for Alabama to do the same thing, but they do punt it away.

10:00- Ohio State gets a big third down conversion.

10:01- Alabama picks of Jones and they bring it back to the 15.

10:04- Alabama converts on 4th and 1.  It's 1st and goal.

10:05- A touchdown makes it 21-6.  I'm going to start drinking soon.

10:09- There's a huge hit at the 14 on the kick return, but Alabama gets called for unsportsmanlike conduct.

10:12- There's a false start on the running back.  Now why isn't that allowed to go and be a free play for the defense?  The running back is allowed to move before the snap.  If he's moving forward at the snap, then it should be an illegal shift, but if the defense makes a play they can decline the penalty.

10:15- It's 1st and goal for Ohio State.

10:16- There's a pass interference on Alabama on a terrible throw.  If the Alabama player had taken a different angle, he picks off the pass and it's a TAINT instead of hitting the receiver and getting called for pass interference.

10:22- Ohio State finally gets into the end zone.  It's 21-13.

10:29- Alabama drops a pass on third down.  We have a nice punt and a fair catch.

10:32- I'm drinking a beer my brother Tom gave me for Christmas.  It's pretty good.  It's some kind of bourbon barrel double IPA with a high alcohol content.  It's in a bottle that's 1 pint, 9 ounces.  This beer isn't messing around.

10:33- Jones scrambles for 23.

10:34- Ohio State calls a timeout with the clock already stopped.  They have one left with 0:19 left in the half.

10:35- Ohio State goes with a reverse pass for a touchdown.

10:36- There was very little room for the receiver get his foot in after leaping to make the catch, but he did.  It worked, but I didn't like that call.  Alabama wasn't fooled.  At that point a run made no sense so the coverage was good.  It was a play with a very high degree of difficulty, but it was a great throw and catch.

10:37- The extra point makes it 21-20 with 0:12 left.

10:39- Ohio State is up 348-140 in yards.  Wow.

10:40- Alabama takes a knee and we're going to halftime.

11:08- An Ohio State player has his helmet pop off on a jet sweep.  That was even more Maddenesque than the one before.

11:10- A long touchdown pass gives Ohio State the lead.  Its' 27-21.

11:14- After back to back sacks, Alabama punts.  For some reason, there's no return man for Ohio State and the punt goes 65 yards after a good bounce.

11:23- Ohio State downs a punt inside the 1.

11:29- We have a TAINT for an Ohio State defensive end.  It's 34-21.  Yep, most of my predictions were wrong, but I did have the Cotton Bowl as a great game.

11:39- Sims keeps it for a touchdown and it's 34-28.

11:54- We have one of those ridiculous Matthew McConaughey Lincoln commercials.

11:58- "Woozily" is used as an adverb on the broadcast.

12:00- Cyrus Jones has "CY. JONES" on the back of his jersey.  Professional teams never do that anymore (insert "Alabama is a professional team" joke here).

12:01- Ohio State punts and gets a terrible bounce.  Alabama gets the ball on the Ohio State 23.

12:02- Ohio State intercepts Sims on Alabama's first play.

12:17- Alabama takes too much time to punt the ball, but their punter is ridiculous.  Ohio State will take over on their own 5.

12:21- Jones keeps for a first down on 3rd and 1.  4:02 left to play.

12:23- Ezekiel Elliott goes 85 yards for an Ohio State touchdown.

12:24- The two point conversion is good and it's 42-28.

12:26- Alabama is down by 14 with 3:16 left.

12:28- DeAndrew White makes a big reception and gets to the Ohio State 14.  The name Andrew just wasn't good enough for his parents.

12:30- Sims to Cooper for the touchdown on 4th and 2.  It's 42-35 with 1:59 left.

12:32- The onside kick is recovered by Ohio State.  It took a pretty good bounce, but but Ohio State got it.  Alabama has 2 timeouts with 1:57 left.

12:34- Jones throws deep on first down and it's incomplete.  That was a strange call.  You're up seven, don't stop the clock for Alabama (especially not on first down).

12:35- My handwriting is getting pretty bad after the drinking (that one big bottle with the high alcohol content was like the equivalent of four normal beers).  But Jonah Keri just compared Laney to a lobotomized squirrel on Twitter.  I had a good laugh.

12:36- 3rd and 9 is coming up for Ohio State.  Alabama has one timeout left.

12:37- Jones is tackled for a big loss.  That was not a good possession for Ohio State.

12:38- Alabama has the ball at their own 18 with 1:33 left.

12:40- Alabama gets a first down across midfield with 0:25 left.

12:41- Incomplete pass.  Eight seconds left.

12:42- Ohio State intercepts a pass in the end zone and returns it for some strange reason.  The returner does hold on to the ball though and Ohio State wins.

12:43- Wilhelm calls that Alabama possession "the worst two minute drill ever."  That's what you get from Laney.  The good news is he lost.

12:45- Go Ducks!  Good night.