Of course, the title of this post is not to be confused with "Of Mice and Men", which I think was a book written by John Steinbeck back during the Great Depression. Not sure, because yours truly never read it. However, I HAVE read all of John Grisham's books and been over a 40 year subscriber to MAD magazine. So that should count for something.
By and large, all but a handful of things I have ranted on are topics which come to me by observing the world of sports. See or hear something on TV, in a venue, or maybe even a sports bar by one of the other patrons, and it gives me an idea I run with.
To be sure, yours truly would be the first to admit (lord knows I've been told enough by others) that the quality contained within these posts is hardly Pulitzer worthy. Rather, more the ravings of a semi-literate lunatic. But I really do try and, hey, the boss man (editor) already knew I was an idiot when he approached me about signing on for such an endeavor in the first place. And I got a free lunch out of the deal. Who could turn that down? Over 1800 articles later, here we are, still alive, kicking, and blathering on, though the content probably hasn't improved much. Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah, Mach and Matthew. Right.
Every once in a while, a topic will be suggested by another for me to expound on. Most will be declined for various reasons. It's already been covered 100 different ways, could get me in trouble with the aforementioned boss man, or perhaps I just draw a -- surprise -- blank. Surprisingly, or maybe not, are the times when somebody gives me an idea for a post, and they probably don't even realize it. This would be one of those times.
There's this person out there somewhere named Mach. I don't know him -- or her. Or where they live. It could be anybody from anywhere. I have no means of finding this out and don't want to. Evidently, Mach reads my articles at least occasionally, and sometimes even hits me up with a comment here and there. For both I am grateful, though I sometimes question the very sanity of said Mach. After all, logic would seem to dictate that anybody that would continue to read this tripe can't be wrapped too tight.
But after my previous article, which was not exactly kind to the Detroit Lions, Mach weighed in again. It appears he/she is a Lions fan. Did I mention something about the elevator and the top floor?
One of Mach's comments suggested that quarterback Matthew Stafford, a hero in Detroit, might be better served if he took his talents elsewhere when he becomes a free agent after next season. And that struck a chord with yours truly. Let's look at that possibility a little closer.
Stafford will have put in roughly a decade's worth of service to the Lions after next year. To date, his win/loss record is 51-61, for a percentage of a paltry .455. True, Stafford has put up some amazing personal passing statistics along the way, most notably with the help of the recently retired Calvin "Megatron" Johnson, but he's never won a single playoff game. Chances are, he won't next year either. The Lions, as a team, and given their, shall we say, "challenged" philosophies and coaching staff, don't appear headed for greatness any year soon. The very notion of them being anywhere near Super Bowl worthy is somewhere between sad and flat out laughable.
So put yourself in Matthew Stafford's shoes when he becomes a free agent, unless he's foolish enough to sign on for even more years of frustration with the Lions in the next year.
When the opportunity arises, he'll be 30 years old. Still in his "prime" with likely the best grasp of the game he's ever going to have. At the peak of his bell curve, as it were. Where might he want to go, given choices and, most importantly, where would be a good fit? Money shouldn't be a problem. Stafford's already made upwards of $100 million and will continue to make big bucks no matter where he might land. He's pretty well set for life already in the finances department. Of course, this all assumes a disastrous injury doesn't befall him in the next year, but the possibility always looms in the NFL. As they say, each and every play can be a player's last. It happens frighteningly often.
A couple seemingly ideal possibilities can probably be ruled out. Stafford grew up in Dallas, but pulling a Lebron James and going home appears off the table with young Dak Prescott lighting it up for the Cowboys. Though he went to college at Georgia, about an hour's drive from Atlanta, the Falcons don't seem a likely destination as well. Their current QB, Matt Ryan, is about three years older than Stafford, but will still be quite serviceable if and when Stafford hits the market. Plus he knows their playbook inside and out. Talent wise between Stafford and Ryan is too close to call for the Falcons to bench Ryan (and his big contract) in favor of the Georgia peach.
Yet other possibilities are intriguing. Consider the Denver Broncos, reigning Super Bowl champions, no less. Since Peyton Manning retired, they're in desperate need of a talented veteran presence that Stafford could bring them. Elsewhere, the core of the team remains solid -- just no decent quarterback.
Could we dare mention -- gasp -- the New England Patriots? Tom Brady might want to play for another 5 or 10 years, but that's not going to happen. When his fall comes, and it will be soon (he'll be 40 in August), it's likely to be precipitous. Somebody will have to take his place. Sure, they've groomed Jimmy Garoppolo for the job, and he's done a fine job when given the rare chance to play. Yet one has to think a guy like Bill Bellichick would take a hard look if somebody like Stafford was out there for the taking. And what quarterback wouldn't want to play for such an elite organization? They can make the playoffs on autopilot. Could Stafford lead them back to another Super Bowl or three? Entirely possible. It would be a win-win, no pun intended.
Ben Roethlisberger in Pittsburgh is now 35. How much longer does he have? Head coach Mike Tomlin and the Steelers organization would no doubt love to plug in a guy like Stafford if Big Ben calls it a career.
The above three, Denver, New England, and Pittsburgh are proud franchises with a history and expectation of winning. This sets them at a polar opposite from what Stafford has endured in Detroit. Depending on how things play out after next season, any would be a good fit for Stafford.
Of course, on the flip side, there would be any number of not-so good destinations. Teams like the Bears, Chargers, and certainly the woeful Browns might want to throw big bucks at Stafford, but he'd be crazy to go there. Even if Drew Brees hangs it up in New Orleans, the rest of the team has deteriorated badly since they won the Super Bowl several years back. Why would Stafford be interested in any of them if he has no shot at the ultimate prize? And when he's at the peak of his career with lifetime dough already in the bank, one would think his main objective would be playing in and winning a Super Bowl. Isn't that what it's supposed to be all about?
You can bet that behind the scenes the Detroit Lions will be trying to lock up Stafford for more years during the 2017-2018 campaign. And who knows? After so many seasons toiling away for the dysfunctional from top to bottom Lions, maybe he doesn't think so straight anymore and could be coaxed into it. A decade in that town, playing for that team, is just about enough to land anybody in the proverbial cuckoo's nest.
It should also be noted that, by most all accounts, Matthew Stafford is a good guy, an upright dude. Always has been. Man works hard and keeps his nose clean.
So for his sake, here's hoping he takes a good long hard look around when free agency becomes a possibility, and turns it into a reality. He deserves it.
Besides, even with him, the Lions haven't come anywhere close to playing in the Super Bowl, let alone winning it. Stafford hanging around for a few more years wasting his considerable talent isn't likely to change that. Put another way, the Lions are going to lose anyway. It's just their nature. Always has been as well.
So, with apologies to Bogey, here's looking at you kid, or at least Mach, whoever and wherever you are. Thanks for the idea and I hope I didn't botch it too badly. I'm still not going to read Steinbeck's tome, but I've only got halfway through the latest edition of MAD. Time to go put in some more quality throne time and get a few yuks. The Lions, mercifully, are done this year, so no more humor to be found there, though I must admit it's been a rich source over the years.
Monday, January 9, 2017
Saturday, January 7, 2017
Detroit Lions. Poof--again
It's sadly comical how they fall for it every year. "They" would be Detroit Lions fans and their ever gullible media that continues to get them drunk on the same kool-aid season, after season, after season. Decades now.
It would be a bit like expecting Old Yeller to not die at the end of the movie, or replays showing Hillary winning the last presidential election. No matter how much one watches it and hopes for a different outcome, the result is always going to be the same. BTW, isn't such behavior the classical definition of "insanity"?
Yet the line most often used, that never seems to fail, is "these are not the same old Lions". And the suckers buy it. Again. But are they indeed the same old Lions? Let's examine it a little further.
They're still owned by a Ford, but not the late William Clay. No, his 91 year old widow Martha is now in charge, along with some help from their daughters. It is entirely possible, perhaps probable, that they know about as much about the intricacies of pro football as your average plumber knows about brain surgery. The only son, Bill Jr., is too busy running the Ford car company to dabble much in the football operations anymore. Lest we forget, when he tried that, Junior thought Matt Millen would be a savior for the Lions and talked his dad into hiring him to run the show -- for eight -- count em -- EIGHT long and dismal years. Yes sir, a chip off the old Edsel, that Billie.
These days, in their infinite wisdom, the Fords have a new president of the Lions. One Rod Wood, an estate planner by trade. That would lead to the obvious question -- how, pray tell, can a guy with that background possibly know the first thing about overseeing an NFL franchise?
Combine such clueless front offices with many clown coaches over the years, and there you go. A recipe for the many disasters that have befallen the woeful Lions over the decades.
But now they had yet another chance to redeem themselves in a playoff game at Seattle. Things didn't look good going in. The Lions have historically not played well on the road, and particularly so at outdoor venues. Seattle would offer both.
After a down, then up regular season, the Lions finished with a whimper losing their last three games. It should be noted that while the Lions had an overall easy schedule, they did have to play four games against teams that would wind up making the playoffs. They lost every one of them. Two to the Packers, and one apiece to the NY Giants and Dallas Cowboys. If nothing else, the Seahawks obviously were another playoff team. Understandably, the bookies had the Lions as 8 point underdogs, a huge margin in the NFL. Point spreads are rarely that high.
To boot, the Lions had won a grand total of one playoff game since Super Bowls began a half century ago. A 1-9 total record. Further, they are one of only four teams to have never made an appearance in the Super Bowl, let alone win it. The other three are Jacksonville, Houston, and the (new) Cleveland Browns, notably all expansion teams who didn't even exist when the early Super Bowls were being contested.
The Lions haven't been exactly kind to themselves on another front either. The draft. No one would doubt the Cowboys had a wildly successful draft last spring. First round pick Ezekiel Elliott is leading the league in rushing, and even later round pick Dak Prescott has proven himself to be a wunderkind taking over for injured quarterback Tony Romo. Not long ago, the Lions first choice was an offensive tackle -- one Reilly Reiff -- who couldn't start. Needless to say, the difference is glaring.
After a brilliant, if somewhat shortened career, former Lion Calvin "Megatron" Johnson decided to walk away and retire after last season. CJ had shed blood, sweat, and no doubt tears attempting to help the Lions for ten years, not to mention putting up eye-popping individual receiving stats, but never once got to experience the taste of winning a single playoff game.
The same could be said for Barry Sanders almost two decades ago. Though he's now rightfully enshrined in the NFL's Hall of Fame, he finally wearied of their losing ways and took an early hike as well. This, while having several potential outstanding seasons still in front of him. At that, BS is #3 on the all-time NFL career rushing list, but barring injury and had he played out the string, Sanders likely would have put the mark so far out of sight it would never be remotely approached again. Sanders, a proud but humble man, just couldn't take the losing culture any more. Some things in life are just more important.
To be sure, the Lions brought in one Bob Quinn, a former scouting guru for the New England Patriots. As much as the Lions have lost -- the Patriots have won, at least in recent times. A fantastic move -- right? Not so fast. As the general manager, one of the typical duties is the hiring and firing of head coaches. It made sense that he would want his "own man" at the helm on the field. But this was not to be. The above-mentioned Martha had taken a personal liking to current coach Jim Caldwell. The same guy who's track record shows he had been a good coordinator under other successful head coaches elsewhere around the league, but was over his head when he assumed field command himself. The upshot? What the owner wants -- the owner gets. So Caldwell it was, with Quinn basically hamstrung right off the bat. Put another way, what good did it do to bring in a fresh new mind from an elite organization if he didn't have free rein to do his job in full? This was a typical Lions wrong-thinking gambit.
On to the game in Seattle. They could win, quoth the Lions faithful, as they chugged another fifth of kool-aid. Their latest hero, one Matthew Stafford, could lead the team to victory. Indeed, like Calvin Johnson, Stafford has put up some gaudy passing statistics, and led several improbable come back from behind drives to win games earlier this season.
Alas, Stafford and the Detroit offense wouldn't score a single touchdown against the Seahawks, settling for two measly field goals in a 26-6 beatdown. Make that a 1-10 playoff record and add another year since their last and only playoff victory (now 26 and counting) while the Super Bowl -- as if -- drought continues as well.
During the game the Lions pulled some of their usual bone-headed stunts. Lots of stupid penalties, including a few "what the hell are you thinking out there?" personal fouls.
Though the game was all, but not quite out of reach in the fourth quarter, the duh Lions struck again. With all three of their time-outs still remaining, the Lions called one with 4:25 still left on the clock. But wait a minute. A Seattle player had been shaken up and was down. The clock would have stopped anyway. So the Lions had blown a time out for no reason whatsoever. Less than a minute elapsed on the game clock before they had found a way to use up their remaining two as well. At this point, a phrase mentioned above bears repeating. What the hell are you thinking out there? Hello Caldwell? Anybody home?
And here's the best part when it comes to shooting themselves in the foot again. Before this game was even played, coming on the heels of three straight not-so-close losses to end the regular season on a decided whimper, incredibly the Lions added a year to Jim Caldwell's contract. He'll be back next year. Hey Bob Quinn. Was this your call? That's hard to believe unless his short time in Detroit has caused his brain to malfunction. (Hmm. That's possible.) Or did Martha and her happy estate planning Rod order it from on high, thereby making it as difficult as possible to succeed in his GM position? This too, would be typical SOP for the Lions. Strive for success while putting as many obstacles in front of themselves as they can.
Yet despite their usual foibles and the predictable outcome of the game against the Seahawks, perhaps something good came out of all this.
You know those football sheets where you pick squares and hope the last two numbers of the final score tally with the numbers you were given at random? Zero is always good. So are four and seven. Eight, nine and five, not so much.
But it never -- ever -- comes up 6 and 6. This game did, the oddness of which is somehow fitting of a Lions game. So just when somebody thought they had a sure loser on the sheet, BAM, they're now a very surprised winner.
Yours truly chuckled when he saw a Detroit area scribe say (before the game) that these are not the same Super Bowl winning Seahawks from a few years ago. Perhaps not. But then they argued that these are not the "same old Lions" either.
Well now. As it turned out, nothing could be further from the stark reality of it all. The puddy-tats are very much the
Same
Old
Lions.
How could anybody that possessed the capacity of even semi-objective thinking have possibly have deemed them otherwise?
Sadly, it's a sure bet the suckers will be back yet again next year hoping for a different outcome. But no, Old Yeller and Hillary aren't going to be resurrected either.
You'd think they'd get that by now. I mean, how many times does one have to get hit in the head with a hammer before they figure out that whatever they're doing isn't a good idea?
Some things just aren't meant to be, and all the faith and blind hope in the world isn't going to change it.
It's the Detroit Lions.
Poof. Down they go again.
Sound familiar?
It would be a bit like expecting Old Yeller to not die at the end of the movie, or replays showing Hillary winning the last presidential election. No matter how much one watches it and hopes for a different outcome, the result is always going to be the same. BTW, isn't such behavior the classical definition of "insanity"?
Yet the line most often used, that never seems to fail, is "these are not the same old Lions". And the suckers buy it. Again. But are they indeed the same old Lions? Let's examine it a little further.
They're still owned by a Ford, but not the late William Clay. No, his 91 year old widow Martha is now in charge, along with some help from their daughters. It is entirely possible, perhaps probable, that they know about as much about the intricacies of pro football as your average plumber knows about brain surgery. The only son, Bill Jr., is too busy running the Ford car company to dabble much in the football operations anymore. Lest we forget, when he tried that, Junior thought Matt Millen would be a savior for the Lions and talked his dad into hiring him to run the show -- for eight -- count em -- EIGHT long and dismal years. Yes sir, a chip off the old Edsel, that Billie.
These days, in their infinite wisdom, the Fords have a new president of the Lions. One Rod Wood, an estate planner by trade. That would lead to the obvious question -- how, pray tell, can a guy with that background possibly know the first thing about overseeing an NFL franchise?
Combine such clueless front offices with many clown coaches over the years, and there you go. A recipe for the many disasters that have befallen the woeful Lions over the decades.
But now they had yet another chance to redeem themselves in a playoff game at Seattle. Things didn't look good going in. The Lions have historically not played well on the road, and particularly so at outdoor venues. Seattle would offer both.
After a down, then up regular season, the Lions finished with a whimper losing their last three games. It should be noted that while the Lions had an overall easy schedule, they did have to play four games against teams that would wind up making the playoffs. They lost every one of them. Two to the Packers, and one apiece to the NY Giants and Dallas Cowboys. If nothing else, the Seahawks obviously were another playoff team. Understandably, the bookies had the Lions as 8 point underdogs, a huge margin in the NFL. Point spreads are rarely that high.
To boot, the Lions had won a grand total of one playoff game since Super Bowls began a half century ago. A 1-9 total record. Further, they are one of only four teams to have never made an appearance in the Super Bowl, let alone win it. The other three are Jacksonville, Houston, and the (new) Cleveland Browns, notably all expansion teams who didn't even exist when the early Super Bowls were being contested.
The Lions haven't been exactly kind to themselves on another front either. The draft. No one would doubt the Cowboys had a wildly successful draft last spring. First round pick Ezekiel Elliott is leading the league in rushing, and even later round pick Dak Prescott has proven himself to be a wunderkind taking over for injured quarterback Tony Romo. Not long ago, the Lions first choice was an offensive tackle -- one Reilly Reiff -- who couldn't start. Needless to say, the difference is glaring.
After a brilliant, if somewhat shortened career, former Lion Calvin "Megatron" Johnson decided to walk away and retire after last season. CJ had shed blood, sweat, and no doubt tears attempting to help the Lions for ten years, not to mention putting up eye-popping individual receiving stats, but never once got to experience the taste of winning a single playoff game.
The same could be said for Barry Sanders almost two decades ago. Though he's now rightfully enshrined in the NFL's Hall of Fame, he finally wearied of their losing ways and took an early hike as well. This, while having several potential outstanding seasons still in front of him. At that, BS is #3 on the all-time NFL career rushing list, but barring injury and had he played out the string, Sanders likely would have put the mark so far out of sight it would never be remotely approached again. Sanders, a proud but humble man, just couldn't take the losing culture any more. Some things in life are just more important.
To be sure, the Lions brought in one Bob Quinn, a former scouting guru for the New England Patriots. As much as the Lions have lost -- the Patriots have won, at least in recent times. A fantastic move -- right? Not so fast. As the general manager, one of the typical duties is the hiring and firing of head coaches. It made sense that he would want his "own man" at the helm on the field. But this was not to be. The above-mentioned Martha had taken a personal liking to current coach Jim Caldwell. The same guy who's track record shows he had been a good coordinator under other successful head coaches elsewhere around the league, but was over his head when he assumed field command himself. The upshot? What the owner wants -- the owner gets. So Caldwell it was, with Quinn basically hamstrung right off the bat. Put another way, what good did it do to bring in a fresh new mind from an elite organization if he didn't have free rein to do his job in full? This was a typical Lions wrong-thinking gambit.
On to the game in Seattle. They could win, quoth the Lions faithful, as they chugged another fifth of kool-aid. Their latest hero, one Matthew Stafford, could lead the team to victory. Indeed, like Calvin Johnson, Stafford has put up some gaudy passing statistics, and led several improbable come back from behind drives to win games earlier this season.
Alas, Stafford and the Detroit offense wouldn't score a single touchdown against the Seahawks, settling for two measly field goals in a 26-6 beatdown. Make that a 1-10 playoff record and add another year since their last and only playoff victory (now 26 and counting) while the Super Bowl -- as if -- drought continues as well.
During the game the Lions pulled some of their usual bone-headed stunts. Lots of stupid penalties, including a few "what the hell are you thinking out there?" personal fouls.
Though the game was all, but not quite out of reach in the fourth quarter, the duh Lions struck again. With all three of their time-outs still remaining, the Lions called one with 4:25 still left on the clock. But wait a minute. A Seattle player had been shaken up and was down. The clock would have stopped anyway. So the Lions had blown a time out for no reason whatsoever. Less than a minute elapsed on the game clock before they had found a way to use up their remaining two as well. At this point, a phrase mentioned above bears repeating. What the hell are you thinking out there? Hello Caldwell? Anybody home?
And here's the best part when it comes to shooting themselves in the foot again. Before this game was even played, coming on the heels of three straight not-so-close losses to end the regular season on a decided whimper, incredibly the Lions added a year to Jim Caldwell's contract. He'll be back next year. Hey Bob Quinn. Was this your call? That's hard to believe unless his short time in Detroit has caused his brain to malfunction. (Hmm. That's possible.) Or did Martha and her happy estate planning Rod order it from on high, thereby making it as difficult as possible to succeed in his GM position? This too, would be typical SOP for the Lions. Strive for success while putting as many obstacles in front of themselves as they can.
Yet despite their usual foibles and the predictable outcome of the game against the Seahawks, perhaps something good came out of all this.
You know those football sheets where you pick squares and hope the last two numbers of the final score tally with the numbers you were given at random? Zero is always good. So are four and seven. Eight, nine and five, not so much.
But it never -- ever -- comes up 6 and 6. This game did, the oddness of which is somehow fitting of a Lions game. So just when somebody thought they had a sure loser on the sheet, BAM, they're now a very surprised winner.
Yours truly chuckled when he saw a Detroit area scribe say (before the game) that these are not the same Super Bowl winning Seahawks from a few years ago. Perhaps not. But then they argued that these are not the "same old Lions" either.
Well now. As it turned out, nothing could be further from the stark reality of it all. The puddy-tats are very much the
Same
Old
Lions.
How could anybody that possessed the capacity of even semi-objective thinking have possibly have deemed them otherwise?
Sadly, it's a sure bet the suckers will be back yet again next year hoping for a different outcome. But no, Old Yeller and Hillary aren't going to be resurrected either.
You'd think they'd get that by now. I mean, how many times does one have to get hit in the head with a hammer before they figure out that whatever they're doing isn't a good idea?
Some things just aren't meant to be, and all the faith and blind hope in the world isn't going to change it.
It's the Detroit Lions.
Poof. Down they go again.
Sound familiar?
Thursday, January 5, 2017
UConn lady express rolls on
One just about runs out of superlatives when attempting to describe the UConn ladies basketball team, and head coach Geno Auriemma.
Are they the greatest dynasty ever in the entire world of sports?
Probably.
Geno's won 11 national titles there, to eclipse John Wooden's former UCLA mark of 10.
The last four years in a row they've captured the crown and are highly favored to five-peat this year.
Currently, they're riding an 89 game winning streak. A few years ago, UConn and Geno ran off another 90 in a row for the all-time record, again outdoing Wooden's former mark of 88.
Auriemma's .870 career winning percentage is the highest of any coach, in any sport -- ever.
To put that in perspective, consider the Golden State Warriors from last season. They also set an all-time record by posting a 73-9 regular season mark. True, that equates to a winning % of .890, slightly higher. But they only did it for one year. Auriemma's career spans thirty.
It's quite likely the above mentioned winning streak record will not only be broken, but shattered this year. Barring unforeseen events, such as a rash of injuries, UConn appears poised to keep rolling for some time. Up next, they face #22 ranked South Florida. A good team, but likely not nearly good enough to knock off Geno's bambinos, especially when the latter will be playing at home.
Then they get a streak of nine games playing against unranked teams. That collective outcome is fairly predictable. Blowouts. If they get that far, then they'll face South Carolina, currently ranked #5. That should be a test, but again, UConn will have home court advantage. It's entirely possible, even likely that the Huskies will roll to another undefeated regular season.
And who's going to beat them in the NCAA playoffs?
Further, it's not like they've played a schedule made up entirely of patsies. The closest they've come to suffering defeat was in the opening game of this season. A close 78-76 win on the road at then #12 Florida State. It was almost to be expected. After all, this was the first game in four years that Geno and UConn were without the services of Breanna Stewart, who graduated last year and was the #1 pick in the WNBA. In her four years, they were national champs every time, and Stewart hadn't tasted a single defeat in well over 2 years before she left. The first couple games figured to be ones of adjustment without her.
After FSU, next up was a match on the road at then #2 Baylor. UConn prevailed 72-61, a comfortable win.
Then they started rolling and the competition didn't seem to matter. Again, they weren't all patsies. Games included #14 Texas, and then #2 Notre Dame. They were handily dispatched, with the ever-proud Fighting Irish getting taken down at home. A bad day in leprechaunland.
As could be expected, those games against unranked teams were indeed blowouts. But hey, they can only play whoever they're scheduled to play. And UConn, being a rather small school compared to many of the huger institutions across the land, plays in the American Athletic Conference. Therefore, their conference schedule could be looked at as weak. However, it's not like they duck anybody on the non-conference part of their schedule. By most accounts, Auriemma's more than willing to take on all comers, but a lot of the larger schools are no doubt wary of putting UConn on their schedule, for fear of the awful beating their team might take, be it at home or on the road. Any high-profile match-up would likely be televised, perhaps nationally, and other coaches/administrators at other proud universities could be understandably gun shy of the embarrassment they might be made to suffer. So it is what it is, certainly through no fault of Geno and UConn.
Auriemma's closing in on 900 career wins (898). The all-time record holder was the legendary and recently deceased Pat Summitt with 1078. Not far behind her is Coach K at Duke, with 1056 (including his first 5 years at Army). Just one more year with the Blue Devils and he'll take over the #1 spot. When he will retire and what his career grand total will be is anybody's guess.
At first glance, Auriemma being so far behind Krzzewski (158 wins), and with Duke a perennial powerhouse, one might think Geno will never catch him.
But there's a major catch. Coach K will turn 70 next month. Auriemma is a full decade younger at 60. With college hoop teams typically playing about 30 regular season games a year, plus the tournament, and further factoring in UConn getting 5 star recruits every year from the prep ranks to reload, it's no stretch to assume Auriemma will chalk up at least 25 wins a year, likely several more.
If he decides to hang out until he's coach K's age, another ten years, that's certainly upwards of another 250 wins, maybe over 300, in the career category. Even 5 more years and he'll be breathing down the neck of coach Pat's mark.
Of course, one never knows what Auriemma has in mind for his future. Maybe he'll hang around until he puts the mark so far out of sight that it will never be approached again. Or in a few short years, he could decide to retire at a fairly young age and go on to enjoy other things in life, such as travel. Even if he stepped down after this year, not likely, he certainly has no financial worries. Besides the big bucks he's made at UConn, there would be no shortage of other offers. Tons of endorsement offers would roll in if he wanted to take them. He could get behind a microphone for one of the networks as an analyst. Lots of things that pay quite handsomely.
But for now, and the foreseeable future, coach Geno Auriemma and his Lady Huskies are something to behold indeed, and have been for quite some time.
So with all due respect to all the others out there over the years, and there are many great ones, are both this coach and his teams the best of all time at what they do?
It's truly difficult to argue against it.
Are they the greatest dynasty ever in the entire world of sports?
Probably.
Geno's won 11 national titles there, to eclipse John Wooden's former UCLA mark of 10.
The last four years in a row they've captured the crown and are highly favored to five-peat this year.
Currently, they're riding an 89 game winning streak. A few years ago, UConn and Geno ran off another 90 in a row for the all-time record, again outdoing Wooden's former mark of 88.
Auriemma's .870 career winning percentage is the highest of any coach, in any sport -- ever.
To put that in perspective, consider the Golden State Warriors from last season. They also set an all-time record by posting a 73-9 regular season mark. True, that equates to a winning % of .890, slightly higher. But they only did it for one year. Auriemma's career spans thirty.
It's quite likely the above mentioned winning streak record will not only be broken, but shattered this year. Barring unforeseen events, such as a rash of injuries, UConn appears poised to keep rolling for some time. Up next, they face #22 ranked South Florida. A good team, but likely not nearly good enough to knock off Geno's bambinos, especially when the latter will be playing at home.
Then they get a streak of nine games playing against unranked teams. That collective outcome is fairly predictable. Blowouts. If they get that far, then they'll face South Carolina, currently ranked #5. That should be a test, but again, UConn will have home court advantage. It's entirely possible, even likely that the Huskies will roll to another undefeated regular season.
And who's going to beat them in the NCAA playoffs?
Further, it's not like they've played a schedule made up entirely of patsies. The closest they've come to suffering defeat was in the opening game of this season. A close 78-76 win on the road at then #12 Florida State. It was almost to be expected. After all, this was the first game in four years that Geno and UConn were without the services of Breanna Stewart, who graduated last year and was the #1 pick in the WNBA. In her four years, they were national champs every time, and Stewart hadn't tasted a single defeat in well over 2 years before she left. The first couple games figured to be ones of adjustment without her.
After FSU, next up was a match on the road at then #2 Baylor. UConn prevailed 72-61, a comfortable win.
Then they started rolling and the competition didn't seem to matter. Again, they weren't all patsies. Games included #14 Texas, and then #2 Notre Dame. They were handily dispatched, with the ever-proud Fighting Irish getting taken down at home. A bad day in leprechaunland.
As could be expected, those games against unranked teams were indeed blowouts. But hey, they can only play whoever they're scheduled to play. And UConn, being a rather small school compared to many of the huger institutions across the land, plays in the American Athletic Conference. Therefore, their conference schedule could be looked at as weak. However, it's not like they duck anybody on the non-conference part of their schedule. By most accounts, Auriemma's more than willing to take on all comers, but a lot of the larger schools are no doubt wary of putting UConn on their schedule, for fear of the awful beating their team might take, be it at home or on the road. Any high-profile match-up would likely be televised, perhaps nationally, and other coaches/administrators at other proud universities could be understandably gun shy of the embarrassment they might be made to suffer. So it is what it is, certainly through no fault of Geno and UConn.
Auriemma's closing in on 900 career wins (898). The all-time record holder was the legendary and recently deceased Pat Summitt with 1078. Not far behind her is Coach K at Duke, with 1056 (including his first 5 years at Army). Just one more year with the Blue Devils and he'll take over the #1 spot. When he will retire and what his career grand total will be is anybody's guess.
At first glance, Auriemma being so far behind Krzzewski (158 wins), and with Duke a perennial powerhouse, one might think Geno will never catch him.
But there's a major catch. Coach K will turn 70 next month. Auriemma is a full decade younger at 60. With college hoop teams typically playing about 30 regular season games a year, plus the tournament, and further factoring in UConn getting 5 star recruits every year from the prep ranks to reload, it's no stretch to assume Auriemma will chalk up at least 25 wins a year, likely several more.
If he decides to hang out until he's coach K's age, another ten years, that's certainly upwards of another 250 wins, maybe over 300, in the career category. Even 5 more years and he'll be breathing down the neck of coach Pat's mark.
Of course, one never knows what Auriemma has in mind for his future. Maybe he'll hang around until he puts the mark so far out of sight that it will never be approached again. Or in a few short years, he could decide to retire at a fairly young age and go on to enjoy other things in life, such as travel. Even if he stepped down after this year, not likely, he certainly has no financial worries. Besides the big bucks he's made at UConn, there would be no shortage of other offers. Tons of endorsement offers would roll in if he wanted to take them. He could get behind a microphone for one of the networks as an analyst. Lots of things that pay quite handsomely.
But for now, and the foreseeable future, coach Geno Auriemma and his Lady Huskies are something to behold indeed, and have been for quite some time.
So with all due respect to all the others out there over the years, and there are many great ones, are both this coach and his teams the best of all time at what they do?
It's truly difficult to argue against it.
Wednesday, January 4, 2017
Cooper, Caldwell, and Giants
It's interesting to note Jonathan Cooper, an offensive guard, was recently released by the Cleveland Browns and quickly snatched up by the Dallas Cowboys.
If anything, the Cowboys have long been known for having a superior offensive line. And the Browns have long been known as, well, terrible all around. Yet wait a second -- this guy wasn't good enough for Cleveland but apparently is for Dallas? How can that be? The thought here is the Browns missed something. The Cowboys don't often. Example: they saw something in a not so highly rated quarterback in last year's draft that apparently escaped everybody else all the way until the fifth round. Enter Dak Prescott. How's he working out?
Head coach Jim Caldwell of the Detroit Lions has been told he'll be coming back again next year. But did he earn it? Not really. In fact, it could be argued that one event, totally out of his control, wound up working in his favor to get another season at the helm.
That would be the NY Giants defeating the Washington Redskins last weekend, a game the Skins were favored to win. That result knocked the Skins out of the playoffs as a wild card, and let the Lions squeak in. Had it gone the other way, coupled with the collapse of the Lions during their last three regular season games -- all losses in which they were outscored by a 90-51 margin -- it would likely have spelled the end for Caldwell in Detroit.
Caldwell's history speaks for itself. He's been thought of as a successful coordinator when working under other head coaches elsewhere on good teams, but when given the reins of command himself has usually crashed and burned once his new team has fully implemented his schemes. But hey, it's Detroit and the Lions. Even mediocre is great by their standards. Because Caldwell has posted a barely above .500 record while there, it's a wonder they haven't carved out a huge marble statue of him yet to proudly display in front of Ford Field. Another year over .500 and they might rename the stadium after him.
Further, it could also be argued the only reason Caldwell was still around THIS year was because the Lions' owner, the doddering Mrs. Ford, personally took a liking to him. When new GM Bob Quinn was brought in from the Patriots last year, he likely wanted his own head coach. Given Quinn's pedigree with such an elite team, a head coach with Caldwell's dubious past likely wasn't his first choice, to say the least.
The NY Giants made a mini-splash in the news. It seems their receiver corps headed down to Miami to party for a day or so. In itself, nothing wrong with that. Hard working men that take such a beating for a living deserve a little R and R once in a while.
But in the whole scheme of things, it leaves one to wonder. After the Washington game mentioned above, which was in DC, they probably had to fly back to NY. True, the Giants are actually based in New Jersey, but do they even have airports in that state or has the mere physical presence of governor Chris Christie crowded them out?
Nonetheless, said receivers quickly flew to Florida. Then had to make a quick turn around and head back to Jersey. After which, in a couple days, they have to fly to Green Bay for a playoff game this weekend. That's a lot of air miles in a short amount of time. Will it (jet lag) take its toll? Unknown.
Meanwhile, the Packers have been sitting home, or at least at Lambeau Field, likely watching film and game planning for the Giants. To boot, after a slow start this year, the Pack have got many players back from the injury list and Aaron Rodgers has found his stride again (you knew he would, cuz he's too good not to).
On top of that, GB has been super hot, riding a 6 game winning streak to end the regular season, during which they've outscored the competition by an impressive 185-112 tally.
Add it all up and what do you have?
Beats me, but throw in the rabid cheeseheads that will be rooting them on and amping them up and I know who I like to win the game.
By a lot.
If anything, the Cowboys have long been known for having a superior offensive line. And the Browns have long been known as, well, terrible all around. Yet wait a second -- this guy wasn't good enough for Cleveland but apparently is for Dallas? How can that be? The thought here is the Browns missed something. The Cowboys don't often. Example: they saw something in a not so highly rated quarterback in last year's draft that apparently escaped everybody else all the way until the fifth round. Enter Dak Prescott. How's he working out?
Head coach Jim Caldwell of the Detroit Lions has been told he'll be coming back again next year. But did he earn it? Not really. In fact, it could be argued that one event, totally out of his control, wound up working in his favor to get another season at the helm.
That would be the NY Giants defeating the Washington Redskins last weekend, a game the Skins were favored to win. That result knocked the Skins out of the playoffs as a wild card, and let the Lions squeak in. Had it gone the other way, coupled with the collapse of the Lions during their last three regular season games -- all losses in which they were outscored by a 90-51 margin -- it would likely have spelled the end for Caldwell in Detroit.
Caldwell's history speaks for itself. He's been thought of as a successful coordinator when working under other head coaches elsewhere on good teams, but when given the reins of command himself has usually crashed and burned once his new team has fully implemented his schemes. But hey, it's Detroit and the Lions. Even mediocre is great by their standards. Because Caldwell has posted a barely above .500 record while there, it's a wonder they haven't carved out a huge marble statue of him yet to proudly display in front of Ford Field. Another year over .500 and they might rename the stadium after him.
Further, it could also be argued the only reason Caldwell was still around THIS year was because the Lions' owner, the doddering Mrs. Ford, personally took a liking to him. When new GM Bob Quinn was brought in from the Patriots last year, he likely wanted his own head coach. Given Quinn's pedigree with such an elite team, a head coach with Caldwell's dubious past likely wasn't his first choice, to say the least.
The NY Giants made a mini-splash in the news. It seems their receiver corps headed down to Miami to party for a day or so. In itself, nothing wrong with that. Hard working men that take such a beating for a living deserve a little R and R once in a while.
But in the whole scheme of things, it leaves one to wonder. After the Washington game mentioned above, which was in DC, they probably had to fly back to NY. True, the Giants are actually based in New Jersey, but do they even have airports in that state or has the mere physical presence of governor Chris Christie crowded them out?
Nonetheless, said receivers quickly flew to Florida. Then had to make a quick turn around and head back to Jersey. After which, in a couple days, they have to fly to Green Bay for a playoff game this weekend. That's a lot of air miles in a short amount of time. Will it (jet lag) take its toll? Unknown.
Meanwhile, the Packers have been sitting home, or at least at Lambeau Field, likely watching film and game planning for the Giants. To boot, after a slow start this year, the Pack have got many players back from the injury list and Aaron Rodgers has found his stride again (you knew he would, cuz he's too good not to).
On top of that, GB has been super hot, riding a 6 game winning streak to end the regular season, during which they've outscored the competition by an impressive 185-112 tally.
Add it all up and what do you have?
Beats me, but throw in the rabid cheeseheads that will be rooting them on and amping them up and I know who I like to win the game.
By a lot.
Monday, January 2, 2017
The Big 10 and Michigan. Yikes
The Big 10 is known for a lot of things. Huge schools, traditions, academics (well, sorta), and of course sports, among other things. A proud conference indeed.
Yet one might give pause to attending or sending a child to further his/her education there, especially in any branch of mathematics. After all, they don't seem to grasp the basic principle of simple counting. To wit: How could the conference have expanded to 12 schools, then 14, and still call itself the Big 10? Maybe not so proud, or shouldn't be.
But as we all know, this is football bowl season. Indeed, the Big, ahem, Ten got ten invitations to various bowl games. Out of fourteen schools, that's pretty good.
Now the bad news. Of those ten bowl games, seven of them wound up being defeats. A 3-7 record on the biggest stages is, well, not so good.
Down went Ohio State, in flames. to Clemson. Skunked.
Michigan lost. So did....
Iowa
Indiana
Maryland
Nebraska
And Penn State, conference champs.
Only Minnesota, Northwestern, and Wisconsin were able to win a bowl game, and the Badgers over a second tier (MAC) conference team, barely.
So all the hue and cry about the mighty Big 10 perhaps being the best football conference in the land is likely no more than hooey. Out of 14 teams, a 3-7 bowl record and 4 Did Not Qualifies is what it is. Not pretty.
The state of Michigan itself fared even worse. They went 0 for everything across the board. Besides Michigan going down, so did the Eastern, Central, and Western Michigans. Once mighty Michigan State was among the DNQs this year. Though MSU can rightly boast of featuring the only veterinary school in the state, their football program appeared to, excuse the pun, go to the dogs.
This, from the same state that took a few weeks, including a recount, to figure out which Presidential candidate had tallied the most votes.
Which would seem to fit right in with a conference that can't count, as mentioned above.
And we won't even talk about the condition of the roads in Michigan, because it can be summed up in one word.
Shameful.
In fact, pretty much all around.
It would seem to go hand in hand with why they call themselves the Wolverine State when there aren't any wolverines in the entire state, except in the zoo. Sigh....
Yet one might give pause to attending or sending a child to further his/her education there, especially in any branch of mathematics. After all, they don't seem to grasp the basic principle of simple counting. To wit: How could the conference have expanded to 12 schools, then 14, and still call itself the Big 10? Maybe not so proud, or shouldn't be.
But as we all know, this is football bowl season. Indeed, the Big, ahem, Ten got ten invitations to various bowl games. Out of fourteen schools, that's pretty good.
Now the bad news. Of those ten bowl games, seven of them wound up being defeats. A 3-7 record on the biggest stages is, well, not so good.
Down went Ohio State, in flames. to Clemson. Skunked.
Michigan lost. So did....
Iowa
Indiana
Maryland
Nebraska
And Penn State, conference champs.
Only Minnesota, Northwestern, and Wisconsin were able to win a bowl game, and the Badgers over a second tier (MAC) conference team, barely.
So all the hue and cry about the mighty Big 10 perhaps being the best football conference in the land is likely no more than hooey. Out of 14 teams, a 3-7 bowl record and 4 Did Not Qualifies is what it is. Not pretty.
The state of Michigan itself fared even worse. They went 0 for everything across the board. Besides Michigan going down, so did the Eastern, Central, and Western Michigans. Once mighty Michigan State was among the DNQs this year. Though MSU can rightly boast of featuring the only veterinary school in the state, their football program appeared to, excuse the pun, go to the dogs.
This, from the same state that took a few weeks, including a recount, to figure out which Presidential candidate had tallied the most votes.
Which would seem to fit right in with a conference that can't count, as mentioned above.
And we won't even talk about the condition of the roads in Michigan, because it can be summed up in one word.
Shameful.
In fact, pretty much all around.
It would seem to go hand in hand with why they call themselves the Wolverine State when there aren't any wolverines in the entire state, except in the zoo. Sigh....
Sunday, January 1, 2017
Detroit Lions. A worrisome pattern
Well OK. The regular season is now over for the lovable, or not, Detroit Lions. They just dropped their final game, at home, to the Green Bay Packers 31-24. Actually, the score was deceiving because it wasn't that close a game. After a tit for tat first half, the cheesers thoroughly dominated the puddy tats in the second. Detroit quarterback Matthew Stafford threw a meaningless "hail mary" pass into the end zone for a touchdown as time was about to expire, long after GB had started celebrating the win.
So now it's off to the playoffs for both. As division champs, the Packers get to head back home to the friendly confines of Lambeau Field to host the NY Giants, a wild card team with actually a better record. Meanwhile, the Lions face the daunting task of traveling to the not-so-friendly confines of Seattle.
For the Lions, this is what happens having dropped the last three games of the regular season. The same Giants dumped them 17-6 a couple weeks ago, and the Dallas Cowboys totally trashed them 42-21 just last Monday night.
As has been mentioned in this space before, the Lions had a ridiculously soft schedule this year. At that, they needed several breaks, which they got, to barely limp into the playoffs.
Yet a closer look reveals a worrisome pattern has developed by the Lions. Consider who they've played.....
Besides the mandatory 2 games apiece within their division against GB, Minnesota, and Chicago, here's a list of the rest.....
Indy Win
Phil W
Tenn Loss
Hous L
LA W
Wash W
Jax W
N. Orl W
NY (Giants) L
Dal L
The Lions finished the season a semi-respectable 9-7, but who they've defeated, and lost to, is very telling.
See the pattern? Out of the above teams, nary a one of Detroit's nine victories came against what would be a playoff squad. Every single time they played one, they got beat. To boot, besides the Tttans, even the lowly Chicago Bears knocked them off once. Basically, they feasted on below average competition.
But now, however far they go, and it will quite likely be another one and done in the playoffs, EVERY team is, obviously, of playoff caliber.
All year long they couldn't beat a playoff team and potentially three grueling matches with them, all on the road, stand between them and a first ever Super Bowl appearance?
Three words.
Not a chance.
Despite the usual hype generated around Detroit when their team has even a modicum of success, in the end it appears to be boiling down to a quite familiar result.
It's just another year.
Given their long and sordid history, that's another pattern that's very difficult to argue.
They are, after all, still the (same old?) Lions -- right?
Idle thought: If we call the Green Bay Packers the Pack, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers the Bucs, and the Jacksonville Jaguars the Jags -- um -- what should we call the Tennessee Titans? Careful.
So now it's off to the playoffs for both. As division champs, the Packers get to head back home to the friendly confines of Lambeau Field to host the NY Giants, a wild card team with actually a better record. Meanwhile, the Lions face the daunting task of traveling to the not-so-friendly confines of Seattle.
For the Lions, this is what happens having dropped the last three games of the regular season. The same Giants dumped them 17-6 a couple weeks ago, and the Dallas Cowboys totally trashed them 42-21 just last Monday night.
As has been mentioned in this space before, the Lions had a ridiculously soft schedule this year. At that, they needed several breaks, which they got, to barely limp into the playoffs.
Yet a closer look reveals a worrisome pattern has developed by the Lions. Consider who they've played.....
Besides the mandatory 2 games apiece within their division against GB, Minnesota, and Chicago, here's a list of the rest.....
Indy Win
Phil W
Tenn Loss
Hous L
LA W
Wash W
Jax W
N. Orl W
NY (Giants) L
Dal L
The Lions finished the season a semi-respectable 9-7, but who they've defeated, and lost to, is very telling.
See the pattern? Out of the above teams, nary a one of Detroit's nine victories came against what would be a playoff squad. Every single time they played one, they got beat. To boot, besides the Tttans, even the lowly Chicago Bears knocked them off once. Basically, they feasted on below average competition.
But now, however far they go, and it will quite likely be another one and done in the playoffs, EVERY team is, obviously, of playoff caliber.
All year long they couldn't beat a playoff team and potentially three grueling matches with them, all on the road, stand between them and a first ever Super Bowl appearance?
Three words.
Not a chance.
Despite the usual hype generated around Detroit when their team has even a modicum of success, in the end it appears to be boiling down to a quite familiar result.
It's just another year.
Given their long and sordid history, that's another pattern that's very difficult to argue.
They are, after all, still the (same old?) Lions -- right?
Idle thought: If we call the Green Bay Packers the Pack, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers the Bucs, and the Jacksonville Jaguars the Jags -- um -- what should we call the Tennessee Titans? Careful.
Detroit Lions update
As this is written, the Lions are slugging it out with the Green Bay Packers for the NFC North Division title. But the Motowners have already caught yet another major break.
The Washington Redskins, at home, went down to the NY Giants earlier today. That guarantees the Lions a spot as at least a wild card in the playoffs. In effect, so far, they have backed in.
The game going on against the Pack is crucial. The winner gets to play at home next week against the wild card Giants, while the loser has to hit the road and take on the Seattle Seahawks in the house of horrors in the great northwest.
Playing at home against the Giants, a very good team themselves at 11-5, is one thing, but perhaps manageable. But going to Seattle likely spells the end of the road for whichever team has the dubious honor of the trip. If so, it could well be another one and out in the playoffs for the Lions, which have never won a playoff game on the road since a decade before Super Bowls even started, and only one total at home, well over 20 years ago, at home.
Yet though it's long been forgotten, at least in Detroit, one particular play has made all the difference for the Lions. It happened in Minnesota against the Vikings, way back on Nov. 6. The Vikes had tied the score with seconds left in the game and had only to kick the point after touchdown to win it. But their place kicker, one Blair Walsh, missed it. A sure loss for the Lions turned into a gift from heaven win in over time.
This was "yuge", and yes, that word is spelled as intended. As in bigly (might as well go with the flow).
Had Walsh made that PAT, all but automatic for any NFL place kicker, the Lions would already be eliminated from the playoffs.
But they're improbably still alive.
Back to the game......
The Washington Redskins, at home, went down to the NY Giants earlier today. That guarantees the Lions a spot as at least a wild card in the playoffs. In effect, so far, they have backed in.
The game going on against the Pack is crucial. The winner gets to play at home next week against the wild card Giants, while the loser has to hit the road and take on the Seattle Seahawks in the house of horrors in the great northwest.
Playing at home against the Giants, a very good team themselves at 11-5, is one thing, but perhaps manageable. But going to Seattle likely spells the end of the road for whichever team has the dubious honor of the trip. If so, it could well be another one and out in the playoffs for the Lions, which have never won a playoff game on the road since a decade before Super Bowls even started, and only one total at home, well over 20 years ago, at home.
Yet though it's long been forgotten, at least in Detroit, one particular play has made all the difference for the Lions. It happened in Minnesota against the Vikings, way back on Nov. 6. The Vikes had tied the score with seconds left in the game and had only to kick the point after touchdown to win it. But their place kicker, one Blair Walsh, missed it. A sure loss for the Lions turned into a gift from heaven win in over time.
This was "yuge", and yes, that word is spelled as intended. As in bigly (might as well go with the flow).
Had Walsh made that PAT, all but automatic for any NFL place kicker, the Lions would already be eliminated from the playoffs.
But they're improbably still alive.
Back to the game......
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