Because basketball was invented as a bridge of boredom from football to next season’s football, I’ve watched a few good TV shows this past week. Kaleidoscope on Netflix is very good. It’s a vault heist series where you can watch any episode in any order, always saving the “White” episode for last, and it still makes sense. Watch the short explanation video above the episode list. Many of you will remember the lead actor, Giancarlo Esposito. He played Gus Fring in Breaking Bad. Arguably one of the most sinister dudes in the history of tv.
If you have Peacock, there are two documentaries worth your time. Paul T. Goldman is a weekly doc about Paul T. Goldman. Never heard of him? Me either. He’s a nice Jewish man that trusts people a bit too much. As a twist, Paul T. Goldman actually plays Paul T. Goldman in an oddly twisted docudrama.
The other documentary is a work by former ESPN reporter, now FoxSports reporter, Tom Rinaldi. If you know who was “the stylin’ and profiling limousine riding jet flyin’ kiss stealin’ wheelin’ n’ dealin’ son of a gun” you will want to watch “Woooooo!” It’s about the guy who made Muhammad Ali look like Jimmy Carter. That’s right, The Nature Boy himself…Rick Flair. Interesting story of excess and sorrow. Flair tells it like he was. Warts and all.
Oops sorry, I forgot the "Quasi-Am" Champ game was being played last night. Oh well. So, who did you say won again? NIL...Transfer Portal... Recruiting violations... Seriously, c-mon Man!
Interesting tune Doc. Makes me think of the line from Dazed and Confused...”I love those high school girls. I get older, they stay the same age”. Haha.
Doc...maybe you are right about any team not looking for pity by the opposing coach not running up the score. I dont happen to agree with that in a game as lopsided as this one was,but i defer to your experience. What i really dont understand is why in your column your referred to TCU as any number of other team but not TCU. It may generate some laughs or seem creative, but having read your stuff for 30 years or so I think it was something you didnt need to do for effect. Maybe it's worth remembering that the Frogs did beat the Wolverines and came within an inch of beating Kansas State for the Big 12 championship and won a few other games even though they werent playing Georgia or Bama or Tennessee etc .
I guess college football is either going to deteriorate , or somehow get better, thanks to NIL. At the end of the day it seems like the only purpose of NIL is to pay college players to play football for their school, whichever school that is in a given year. Somehow i dont see the sport at the college level getting better because of NIL. I sure hope I am wrong as usual.
I made the mistake of telling my work colleague yesterday that TCU would give Georgia a game, but the Bulldogs would prevail in the end.
Little did I know that TCU decided to skip, and allow Florida International to play in its place ...
It's really interesting to see the evolution -- or regression -- of major college football when it comes to NIL. Only 36 years ago, an entire football program, Southern Methodist, was gutted beyond recovery by the NCAA for doing what every school is allowed to do now. We all know the schools that will benefit from NIL, and we all know the schools that will get hosed in the process, but I don't think that matters much anymore.
I think Scharping will fill in admirably for Cappa, and Adeniji has played quite well the past two games. Even with Collins and Cappa out, the O-line -- with those two -- is still a far better cry from the O-line the Men dealt with last year.
I like the Bengals by 10 on Sunday night ... regardless of who the Ravens' QB is. Baltimore plays just stingy enough defense, and barely enough offense, to keep the game relatively close and exciting, but the Men prevail and, in a perfect world, will host either Jacksonville or San Diego the following week due to a huge upset by Miami over the Bills.
Blowouts will continue to be a part and parcel of college football, as long as folks are ranking and rating teams on margin of victory, strength of schedule, etc. Until college football just looks at a victory as a victory, we'll continue to have games with scores like last night. It's just the way it is.
Jan 10, 2023·edited Jan 10, 2023Liked by Paul Daugherty
TCU was running on "luck" fumes for a long time. Kinda like the '61 Reds, who shocked everyone getting to the Series, then ran out of gas against one of the best Yankee teams ever. Cinderella stories are great until the big crash back to reality. TCU was really good, never great all year. Makes ya wonder a little about the Big 12 and more so the Big 10.
Jackson has had some great games coming off injury in the past. Jez sayin'. Baltimore, with him playin with any mobility at all, turns into a toss-up game. Everybody seems caught up in the illusion the Bengals are invincible. Hardly.
I'm tellin ya, wait till players get in too deep with a sleazy booster doling out cash under the table and are forced to throw a game or two. It's coming, not tomorrow, but soon. I don't think I'm being cynical, just projecting the end of the path already chosen. I'd be glad to be wrong on this one. Kids coming from poverty to college and stardom are easy prey.
The NIL revolution does resemble professional free agency and is much fairer to the players. It has also confirmed a variety of half truths about college sports. First, money has become so big that the pursuit of more American green is driving administrators to break long held traditions just to please TV networks. Second, the transfer portal is making a mockery of “student-athlete” and putting a huge question mark on whether they should even be in college.
Third, boosters would be foolish to continue giving big bucks to the school when you can pay the player directly and maybe even get a boost to your business advertising. Finally, the customers (football fans, in other words) get pretty much nothing given the turnover and natural instability that this kind of labor freedom has. It’s a perfect world of greedy capitalists when you think about it.
As for blowouts, the way Georgia rolled for scores at the beginning made me glad TCU got an early TD to avoid a goose egg in the biggest game of the year. Shutouts while being blown out hurt a little more IMO.
I have a rule. Never root for a coach that wears a sun visor indoors or at nighttime. Lane Kiffin, Kirby Smart, Dr. Pepper commercial guy from a few years back, etc. It's annoying. God love them, but they're annoying!
I'd rather have the kids pitch than bring back Cueto. No more re-tread Reds.
I love the concept of a 12 team National Championship tournament but the current version has shown multiple times that finding just four teams resulting in competitive games is tough. I wonder if the 12 team version will mean even more lopsided games.
NIL and the transfer portal can have even bigger impacts on college basketball. It's essentially turned mid-majors into farm teams for the Power 5 conferences. Anecdotally, the Ohio Bobcats were poised to be a very good team this year and probably would have been a safe bet to win the MAC and go back to the NCAA tournament. Coach Jeff Boals - who was in the running for jobs at Washington State and Butler last off season - probably would have spring boarded to a bigger job.
Instead, OU's two best players transfer. Ben Vander Plas is at Virginia and Mark Sears is at Alabama. OU is 8-7 overall, 0-2 in the MAC.
I THINK Cincinnati will win on Sunday, but I don't put a lot of stock in my football knowledge or predictions. I was surprised to hear Max Kellerman on ESPN radio this morning say that if Lamar Jackson is at practice on Wednesday, he's sticking with his pre-season pick of the Ravens winning the Super Bowl. I honestly don't know how much stock anyone should put into Max Kellerman's take - or why practicing Wednesday is the magic mark - but it did shock me a bit.
There are two divisions of college football. Georgia, Ohio State, and everybody else.
Because basketball was invented as a bridge of boredom from football to next season’s football, I’ve watched a few good TV shows this past week. Kaleidoscope on Netflix is very good. It’s a vault heist series where you can watch any episode in any order, always saving the “White” episode for last, and it still makes sense. Watch the short explanation video above the episode list. Many of you will remember the lead actor, Giancarlo Esposito. He played Gus Fring in Breaking Bad. Arguably one of the most sinister dudes in the history of tv.
If you have Peacock, there are two documentaries worth your time. Paul T. Goldman is a weekly doc about Paul T. Goldman. Never heard of him? Me either. He’s a nice Jewish man that trusts people a bit too much. As a twist, Paul T. Goldman actually plays Paul T. Goldman in an oddly twisted docudrama.
The other documentary is a work by former ESPN reporter, now FoxSports reporter, Tom Rinaldi. If you know who was “the stylin’ and profiling limousine riding jet flyin’ kiss stealin’ wheelin’ n’ dealin’ son of a gun” you will want to watch “Woooooo!” It’s about the guy who made Muhammad Ali look like Jimmy Carter. That’s right, The Nature Boy himself…Rick Flair. Interesting story of excess and sorrow. Flair tells it like he was. Warts and all.
Oops sorry, I forgot the "Quasi-Am" Champ game was being played last night. Oh well. So, who did you say won again? NIL...Transfer Portal... Recruiting violations... Seriously, c-mon Man!
Interesting tune Doc. Makes me think of the line from Dazed and Confused...”I love those high school girls. I get older, they stay the same age”. Haha.
Doc...maybe you are right about any team not looking for pity by the opposing coach not running up the score. I dont happen to agree with that in a game as lopsided as this one was,but i defer to your experience. What i really dont understand is why in your column your referred to TCU as any number of other team but not TCU. It may generate some laughs or seem creative, but having read your stuff for 30 years or so I think it was something you didnt need to do for effect. Maybe it's worth remembering that the Frogs did beat the Wolverines and came within an inch of beating Kansas State for the Big 12 championship and won a few other games even though they werent playing Georgia or Bama or Tennessee etc .
I guess college football is either going to deteriorate , or somehow get better, thanks to NIL. At the end of the day it seems like the only purpose of NIL is to pay college players to play football for their school, whichever school that is in a given year. Somehow i dont see the sport at the college level getting better because of NIL. I sure hope I am wrong as usual.
I made the mistake of telling my work colleague yesterday that TCU would give Georgia a game, but the Bulldogs would prevail in the end.
Little did I know that TCU decided to skip, and allow Florida International to play in its place ...
It's really interesting to see the evolution -- or regression -- of major college football when it comes to NIL. Only 36 years ago, an entire football program, Southern Methodist, was gutted beyond recovery by the NCAA for doing what every school is allowed to do now. We all know the schools that will benefit from NIL, and we all know the schools that will get hosed in the process, but I don't think that matters much anymore.
I think Scharping will fill in admirably for Cappa, and Adeniji has played quite well the past two games. Even with Collins and Cappa out, the O-line -- with those two -- is still a far better cry from the O-line the Men dealt with last year.
I like the Bengals by 10 on Sunday night ... regardless of who the Ravens' QB is. Baltimore plays just stingy enough defense, and barely enough offense, to keep the game relatively close and exciting, but the Men prevail and, in a perfect world, will host either Jacksonville or San Diego the following week due to a huge upset by Miami over the Bills.
Blowouts will continue to be a part and parcel of college football, as long as folks are ranking and rating teams on margin of victory, strength of schedule, etc. Until college football just looks at a victory as a victory, we'll continue to have games with scores like last night. It's just the way it is.
TCU was running on "luck" fumes for a long time. Kinda like the '61 Reds, who shocked everyone getting to the Series, then ran out of gas against one of the best Yankee teams ever. Cinderella stories are great until the big crash back to reality. TCU was really good, never great all year. Makes ya wonder a little about the Big 12 and more so the Big 10.
Jackson has had some great games coming off injury in the past. Jez sayin'. Baltimore, with him playin with any mobility at all, turns into a toss-up game. Everybody seems caught up in the illusion the Bengals are invincible. Hardly.
I'm tellin ya, wait till players get in too deep with a sleazy booster doling out cash under the table and are forced to throw a game or two. It's coming, not tomorrow, but soon. I don't think I'm being cynical, just projecting the end of the path already chosen. I'd be glad to be wrong on this one. Kids coming from poverty to college and stardom are easy prey.
The NIL revolution does resemble professional free agency and is much fairer to the players. It has also confirmed a variety of half truths about college sports. First, money has become so big that the pursuit of more American green is driving administrators to break long held traditions just to please TV networks. Second, the transfer portal is making a mockery of “student-athlete” and putting a huge question mark on whether they should even be in college.
Third, boosters would be foolish to continue giving big bucks to the school when you can pay the player directly and maybe even get a boost to your business advertising. Finally, the customers (football fans, in other words) get pretty much nothing given the turnover and natural instability that this kind of labor freedom has. It’s a perfect world of greedy capitalists when you think about it.
As for blowouts, the way Georgia rolled for scores at the beginning made me glad TCU got an early TD to avoid a goose egg in the biggest game of the year. Shutouts while being blown out hurt a little more IMO.
I have a rule. Never root for a coach that wears a sun visor indoors or at nighttime. Lane Kiffin, Kirby Smart, Dr. Pepper commercial guy from a few years back, etc. It's annoying. God love them, but they're annoying!
I'd rather have the kids pitch than bring back Cueto. No more re-tread Reds.
I love the concept of a 12 team National Championship tournament but the current version has shown multiple times that finding just four teams resulting in competitive games is tough. I wonder if the 12 team version will mean even more lopsided games.
NIL and the transfer portal can have even bigger impacts on college basketball. It's essentially turned mid-majors into farm teams for the Power 5 conferences. Anecdotally, the Ohio Bobcats were poised to be a very good team this year and probably would have been a safe bet to win the MAC and go back to the NCAA tournament. Coach Jeff Boals - who was in the running for jobs at Washington State and Butler last off season - probably would have spring boarded to a bigger job.
Instead, OU's two best players transfer. Ben Vander Plas is at Virginia and Mark Sears is at Alabama. OU is 8-7 overall, 0-2 in the MAC.
I THINK Cincinnati will win on Sunday, but I don't put a lot of stock in my football knowledge or predictions. I was surprised to hear Max Kellerman on ESPN radio this morning say that if Lamar Jackson is at practice on Wednesday, he's sticking with his pre-season pick of the Ravens winning the Super Bowl. I honestly don't know how much stock anyone should put into Max Kellerman's take - or why practicing Wednesday is the magic mark - but it did shock me a bit.