Musical Interlude: Gimme Little Sign (1968)

 Brenton Wood's 1968 hit, "Gimme Little Sign", has gotten plenty of airplay on local oldies channels. Reelin' in The Years posted this video.

Wood passed away earlier this week. Rest in peace.

The tournament of upsets produces another doozy

 The selection committee for the College Football Playoff thought they had it all figured out. Give the top 4 teams in a 12 team field a first round bye, allowing those teams time to rest, and you might get the matchup you wanted all along.

If the NCAA's annual basketball tournaments have told us anything, it's that nothing is guaranteed. That's why the NCAA trademarked "March Madness" in the first place.

Thursday at the Sugar Bowl, Georgia, the #2 seed and SEC champion, followed the lead of the other top seeds, and lost. Notre Dame, like Ohio State & Penn State before them, rode the momentum of a 1st round win, and stifled the Bulldogs, 23-10.

Now, if a leprechaun really celebrated like that, they'd give him all the Lucky Charms he wants.

The Irish now head to Miami to play the Nittany Lions January 9 at the Orange Bowl, while Ohio State & Texas meet at the Cotton Bowl January 10. The winners meet January 20 for the national championship.

Dr. Pepper has already trademarked "Playoffurary" for their Fansville series of commercials starring Brian Bosworth. I wonder if ESPN can use a holiday favorite, like, oh, I don't know, "Winter Wonderland", for future playoffs..........

Notes from around town

 Following up on a report from Tuesday: WROW is shuffling its lineup to accommodate the debuting Jaime Roberts on January 6. Current morning host Ben Patten will, as previously reported, continue to read the news, but he'll also move into Candace Curby's slot (10 am-2 pm), leaving Candace's future in doubt. She's also promotions director at Magic, so she'll move into an office role full-time. Maybe.

Meanwhile, over at Roberts' former home, WTRY, a couple of familiar names are on the schedule there.

For starters, how about some classic reruns of American Top 40, back in the early years? WTRY and corporate parent iHeart Radio have signed on to air the earliest episodes of the series, co-created and hosted by Casey Kasem. WTRY was the original 518 home of American Top 40 in the 70's & 80's before it started shifting around the dial.

And, to borrow from Gary "US" Bonds, oh, but that ain't all........!

Albany native and MTV icon Martha Quinn can be heard weekdays from 10 am-3 pm with her talk show. The show is syndicated, and based out of Southern California, where Martha makes her home. How iHeart didn't trumpet this news, given Quinn's local background, is a real head-scratcher.

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Back to WROW. We neglected to mention that weekend hosts "Brother" Lou Roberts & Bill Williams are plugging their shows in quick ads these days. Williams, in particular, gave listeners a heads-up that this week's Albany Street is a rerun from October. So far, News, Views, & Interviews host Aaron Mair has not recorded any similar plugs, but given that the last episode aired two weeks in a row (December 22 & 29), and Mair has had problems with schedules in the past, maybe he does need a moderator......!

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While most local papers give readers a few free articles to read, El Cheapo Media has decided that you need to subscribe to their website in order to access any articles at all. Like, no one's buying the print editions, it seems, so El Cheapo is desperate. Keep begging.

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Stacks Espresso Bar's changing locations on Lark Street in Albany, moving out of its original base, and into the former Cafe Hollywood. The bigger space should do wonders for Stacks going forward. I've been in their Troy location, as previously reported, and it's nice and cozy, just the right size for the Collar City.

And the dominoes begin to fall in the College Football Playoff

 "When you think you've got all the answers, I change the questions!"----Roddy Piper.

With the Sugar Bowl postponed to Thursday (more on that shortly), the College Football Playoff quarterfinals have shown just how unpredictable an expanded tournament can be.

After form held in the 1st round, it took just 24 hours for the applecart to be overturned, as three of the top four seeds have been eliminated from the tournament.

It started at the Fiesta Bowl on Tuesday, as Penn State dismissed Mountain West champion Boise State, 31-14. Heisman Trophy finalist Ashton Jeanty was held in check for most of the night, while the Nittany Lions had picked up right where they left off after advancing in the first round.

Then, earlier today, at the Peach Bowl, Texas outlasted Arizona State in double overtime, 39-31. The Sun Devils had erased a 16 point deficit just to tie the game, and force the extra periods. The Big 12 champion was sent home by a former Big 12 team (Texas now represents the SEC).

Finally, in Pasadena, at the Rose Bowl, Ohio State collected a receipt from Oregon. The Buckeyes raced out to a 34-0 lead before the Ducks finally found the end zone on the final play of the 1st half.

Photo courtesy Yahoo!.

Oregon QB Dillon Gabriel had only been sacked 13 times prior to today, but the Buckeye defense got to him at least six times en route to a 41-21 upset. 

This means the Big 10, long dismissed as a post-season doormat, has 2 teams left (Ohio St. & Penn St.). Ohio State will play Texas in the Cotton Bowl on January 10, while Penn State awaits the Notre Dame-Georgia winner in the Orange Bowl one week from tonight.

The Irish & the Bulldogs will wait until 4 pm (ET) tomorrow to play after a 42 year old Texas native, radicalized by the Islamic State, rammed his vehicle into an overnight New Year's Eve party in New Orleans, killing 15, and injuring others before he himself was killed by police. There are those who believe he didn't act alone, and that co-conspirators are still at large, with the prospect of striking again between now and next month's Super Bowl.

Once the ratings come in, ESPN & the NCAA will look like geniuses, but there's always next year, and the prospect of a more flawed tournament.