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5. Well, so much for all those narrow victories being a sign that fate was on Notre Dame's side.
4. Fate, apparently, couldn't make up for the fact that Notre Dame's players weren't anywhere near as good as Alabama's players.
3. My sources at the Vatican tell me Pope Benedict XVI was so impressed with the Crimson Tide that he converted from Catholic to Catho-hick.
2. Hold on ... I think 'Bama just scored again.
1. Touchdown Jesus lost to a guy who is one letter away from being Satan. (Think about it.)
^
Showing posts with label Alabama. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Alabama. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Sunday, November 25, 2012
Notre Dame isn't great but it's good enough to play for pretend title
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Nobody has ever accused me of being a Notre Dame homer. In fact, I'd never hide the fact that, as a Marquette guy, I'd just as soon the Irish lose every basketball game they play. And, unlike some of my fellow Warriors, I didn't root for ND football just because that was the big Catholic school.
Having said all that, I'll say this: Notre Dame, as much as any team can, "deserves" to play in the mythical national championship game.
Notre Dame plays a national schedule, which is more than Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Oregon, Kansas State, Ohio State and any other team can say.
Are there cupcakes on the ND schedule? Sure. Name a school that doesn't play a bunch of those. Did ND have to squeak out victories over a few mediocre teams? Sure. Name a team that didn't have some close calls against inferior opposition.
Notre Dame played road games against Michigan State, Oklahoma and USC as well as home games against Michigan and Stanford. All were ranked in somebody's top 10 at some point this season. Each team fell to the Irish.
Notre Dame isn't one of the great teams of all time. Nor is it even one of the great teams of recent vintage. I'm guessing that the Irish will be underdogs against either Alabama or Georgia in the pretend title game. But for the first time in years, Touchdown Jesus didn't have to cover his eyes when the home team was playing.
The Irish did everything they had to do to be ranked No. 1 in the ridiculous, convoluted, unsatisfying system college football uses to crown its make-believe champion.
The sport is better when Notre Dame matters. It will be even better if the Irish are playing for a real championship in a few years after the BCS goes bye-bye.
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Nobody has ever accused me of being a Notre Dame homer. In fact, I'd never hide the fact that, as a Marquette guy, I'd just as soon the Irish lose every basketball game they play. And, unlike some of my fellow Warriors, I didn't root for ND football just because that was the big Catholic school.
Having said all that, I'll say this: Notre Dame, as much as any team can, "deserves" to play in the mythical national championship game.
Notre Dame plays a national schedule, which is more than Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Oregon, Kansas State, Ohio State and any other team can say.
Are there cupcakes on the ND schedule? Sure. Name a school that doesn't play a bunch of those. Did ND have to squeak out victories over a few mediocre teams? Sure. Name a team that didn't have some close calls against inferior opposition.
Notre Dame played road games against Michigan State, Oklahoma and USC as well as home games against Michigan and Stanford. All were ranked in somebody's top 10 at some point this season. Each team fell to the Irish.
Notre Dame isn't one of the great teams of all time. Nor is it even one of the great teams of recent vintage. I'm guessing that the Irish will be underdogs against either Alabama or Georgia in the pretend title game. But for the first time in years, Touchdown Jesus didn't have to cover his eyes when the home team was playing.
The Irish did everything they had to do to be ranked No. 1 in the ridiculous, convoluted, unsatisfying system college football uses to crown its make-believe champion.
The sport is better when Notre Dame matters. It will be even better if the Irish are playing for a real championship in a few years after the BCS goes bye-bye.
^
Monday, November 7, 2011
Today's High Five
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5. It's never been more obvious that the NFL MVP is Peyton Manning.
How would you like to be paying big money for Colts season tickets this season?
And please ... I don't want to hear anybody say the Colts should try to lose to secure the draft rights to Andrew Luck. The Colts don't have to try to lose. They are quite accomplished at it.
4. Were I voting for guys actually playing this season, my midseason MVP ballot would read: Aaron Rodgers, Aaron Rodgers, Aaron Rodgers, Aaron Rodgers and Aaron Rodgers.
Followed (in no particular order) by Frank Gore, Calvin Johnson, Matt Forte and Matthew Stafford.
And then, finally, Aaron Rodgers.
3. Fox ran a graphic chronicling Tom Brady's comebacks when the Patriots have trailed or been tied late in games.
Um ... if the game was tied, how is that a comeback?
2. If you're like me, you're on pins and needles with this whole NBA lockout thing.
1. LSU coach Les Miles is right: His team's win over Alabama doesn't "prove" anything other than the fact that the Tigers have the upper hand in the SEC West.
The victory certainly doesn't prove LSU is the nation's best team. With the current system, there is no way to determine that. And, given the extreme limits of the BCS, there won't be any way to measure it come January, either.
It's just an opinion.
No matter who plays in the season's final game, it will be for nothing more than the mythical national title -- just as in the days when sportswriters and coaches chose the "champion" in polls.
At least back then, smart people didn't pretend something actually had been decided on the field of play.
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Monday, March 14, 2011
Some strange tourney selections, but don't weep for snubbees
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The Bald Truth
Let me start by saying I'm thrilled Marquette is an 11 seed. Everybody knows it's better to be an 11 than an 8 or 9 because, if the 11 seed can beat the 6 in its first game, it then gets to play the 3 seed in the next round; the 8 or 9 must play the top seed in its second game.
Having said that, every year I'm reminded how crazy some of the seeding is. For example ...
Marquette and West Virginia each won 20 games and each played proudly in the best conference in the land. Marquette didn't have a single "bad loss" all season; West Virginia lost at home to Marshall. And not only did Marquette beat West Virginia during the season, my Golden Warrior Eagles defeated the Mountaineers in the Big East tournament.
Nonetheless, Marquette was one of the last five teams in the tournament -- and the very last that doesn't have to do one of those play-in games -- while West Virginia is a 5.
Weird.
The Balder Truth
Illinois failed to win 20 games, never contended in the Big Ten, beat just about nobody all season and blew numerous games it was supposed to have won. Many Illini fans were convinced their heroes weren't going to make the NCAAs after a conference tournament loss to Michigan.
Yet here the Illini are, easy qualifiers as No. 9 seeds. Meanwhile, Colorado -- which beat Texas and Missouri teams that had defeated Illinois -- was snubbed. And while the Illini couldn't even handle Northwestern and Illinois-Chicago, Virginia Tech beat Duke but was snubbed.
Weird.
THE BALDEST TRUTH
Having said all that, I don't feel at all sorry for any of the snubbees.
I'm guessing that if Colorado had somehow found a way to beat Harvard, San Francisco and Iowa State or if it hadn't lost 6 of 7 during one stretch, the Buffaloes wouldn't have been excluded. I'm guessing that if Virginia Tech hadn't lost twice to a dreadful Virginia team and once to even more hapless Georgia Tech, the Hokies wouldn't have given the selection committee the chance to slight them.
One of the cool things about sports is that participants control their own destinies. Every single one of the snubbees had the opportunity to win another game or two and take itself off the dreaded bubble.
Rather than whine about "undeserving" teams that got in, snubbees and their fans need to look in the mirror and say:
"Yeah, but if we only had beaten San Fran (as Colorado didn't) or Virginia (as Virginia Tech didn't) or Iowa (as Alabama didn't) or San Diego (as St. Mary's didn't) or Yale (as Boston College didn't), we'd be in the tournament, too."
Nah ... much easier to whine and blame somebody else, right?
^
The Bald Truth
Let me start by saying I'm thrilled Marquette is an 11 seed. Everybody knows it's better to be an 11 than an 8 or 9 because, if the 11 seed can beat the 6 in its first game, it then gets to play the 3 seed in the next round; the 8 or 9 must play the top seed in its second game.
Having said that, every year I'm reminded how crazy some of the seeding is. For example ...
Marquette and West Virginia each won 20 games and each played proudly in the best conference in the land. Marquette didn't have a single "bad loss" all season; West Virginia lost at home to Marshall. And not only did Marquette beat West Virginia during the season, my Golden Warrior Eagles defeated the Mountaineers in the Big East tournament.
Nonetheless, Marquette was one of the last five teams in the tournament -- and the very last that doesn't have to do one of those play-in games -- while West Virginia is a 5.
Weird.
The Balder Truth
Illinois failed to win 20 games, never contended in the Big Ten, beat just about nobody all season and blew numerous games it was supposed to have won. Many Illini fans were convinced their heroes weren't going to make the NCAAs after a conference tournament loss to Michigan.
Yet here the Illini are, easy qualifiers as No. 9 seeds. Meanwhile, Colorado -- which beat Texas and Missouri teams that had defeated Illinois -- was snubbed. And while the Illini couldn't even handle Northwestern and Illinois-Chicago, Virginia Tech beat Duke but was snubbed.
Weird.
THE BALDEST TRUTH
Having said all that, I don't feel at all sorry for any of the snubbees.
I'm guessing that if Colorado had somehow found a way to beat Harvard, San Francisco and Iowa State or if it hadn't lost 6 of 7 during one stretch, the Buffaloes wouldn't have been excluded. I'm guessing that if Virginia Tech hadn't lost twice to a dreadful Virginia team and once to even more hapless Georgia Tech, the Hokies wouldn't have given the selection committee the chance to slight them.
One of the cool things about sports is that participants control their own destinies. Every single one of the snubbees had the opportunity to win another game or two and take itself off the dreaded bubble.
Rather than whine about "undeserving" teams that got in, snubbees and their fans need to look in the mirror and say:
"Yeah, but if we only had beaten San Fran (as Colorado didn't) or Virginia (as Virginia Tech didn't) or Iowa (as Alabama didn't) or San Diego (as St. Mary's didn't) or Yale (as Boston College didn't), we'd be in the tournament, too."
Nah ... much easier to whine and blame somebody else, right?
^
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