Monday, December 4, 2017

Sports this 'n' that

As reported yesterday, Alabama slunk into the College Football Playoff over Big 10 champion Ohio State and Pac 12 champ USC. Why? Because of politics. The folks behind the CFP and their media partner, ESPN, are under the impression the Crimson Tide, who lost 9 days ago to Auburn, are a bigger ratings draw than the others.

BOLLOCKS & BALDERDASH!!!

So what if USC & Ohio State had 2 losses each? Auburn ended with 2 losses after Georgia bumped them off to win the SEC title on Saturday night. As a result, as mentioned yesterday, there are no teams from the East, Midwest, or West, aside from Big 12 champ Oklahoma, which identifies more as a Southwestern team, in the Playoff on January 1, and that's wrong for those who are more concerned about ratings in major media markets like New York, Boston, Chicago, and Los Angeles. Since the Rose Bowl will host one of the playoff games, USC & Ohio State, who would normally be in Pasadena on January 1, will be elsewhere.

Committee chairman and chief apologist Kirby Hocutt of Texas Tech tried to clarify the committee's final decisions, but it all ended up a bunch of excuses to cover the political games being played behind the scenes. Like, don't ya think there were some committee members in Charlotte on Saturday morning when Alabama coach Nick Saban was a guest on ESPN's College GameDay? I'm now convinced that the fix was in.

Enjoy your Weasel ears, Mr. Hocutt. You deserve them.
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New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski, the poster boy for fraternity behavior in the NFL, did his best impersonation of a wrestler, not specifically his real-life pal, WWE's Mojo Rawley, in Sunday's win over Buffalo. Perhaps overcome by the need to over-perform in front of his homies in the area, Gronkowski was flagged for a late hit on Buffalos Tre'Davious White, who left with a concussion. Now, you wonder if Gronkowski will wind up suspended or get a slap on the wrist from the NFL. After all, he did apologize for his actions, and so did coach Bill Belichick.

Maybe Gronk's warming up for Wrestlemania in April. Rawley needs a new tag team partner after turning on Zack Ryder last week, and.......!
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Congratulations to Saratoga resident Bobby Fish, who, along with regular tag team partner Kyle O'Reilly, copped the NXT tag titles at the tapings in Orlando on Wednesday. Not too thrilled with this current gimmick that has the former reDRagon teaming with O'Reilly's old partner, Adam Cole, to form the Undisputed Era in NXT. All that is, really is another nWo/Bullet Club clone gimmick. Cole has all the charisma of a burned toothpick, and wore out his welcome in Ring of Honor earlier this year. The title match will be shown on WWE Network on December 20.
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The timing of this next item is a little dubious if you're a fan of former WWE champ John Cena.

Cena, currently in "Daddy's Home 2" with Mark Wahlberg, Will Ferrell, & Mel Gibson, and soon to be heard in "Ferdinand" next week, is being sued by Ford after he reneged on a deal to keep a vehicle he'd recently acquired for 2 years. Cena, for whatever reason, turned around and sold the vehicle within a few weeks. To his credit, Cena, knowing that the lawsuit would stain his WWE image, has agreed to work with Ford to pay restitution.
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Giants coach Ben McAdoo may be an ex-coach soon, and why not?

Never mind that McAdoo, who will never be confused with former NBA star Bob McAdoo, a former Knick, was mocked by Fox celebrity NFL handicapper and KFC pitchman Rob Riggle before Sunday's game vs. Oakland. Then, Big Blue slumbered through most of the first quarter before finally putting some points on the board behind QB Geno Smith, only to lose the game and drop to 2-10, their worst record after 12 games in 41 years.

I honestly believe the Giants made a big mistake by not bouncing McAdoo (or, should that be, McAdon't?) after Big Blue opened the season 0-5. GM Jerry Reese didn't address the team's biggest off-season issue, the offensive line, which has more holes than a cake of Swiss cheese, in the draft or via free agency, likely because he was checking peanut butter futures at the time.

Updated, 12:13 pm (ET): Reese & McAdoo are both gone with 4 games remaining in the season.

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