Starting Five

Our other idea for the headline above was “Suffrage Succotash.” You decide.

1. “We the people…” Today we choose Barack Obama, the defending champion, or Mitt Romney, the challenger (Floyd Mayweather still refuses to step into the ring). Tomorrow, can we begin to have a SERIOUS discussion about camPAIN reform?

2. By the way –old-timer flashback alert!!! — back when I was at Sports Illustrated there was a very controversial presidential election. I believe the year was 2000. So a few smart minds along editor’s row, in synchronicity with the Florida election kerfuffle and mindful of the numerous intra-state rivalries that had taken place in college football that weekend (at least two, Florida-Florida State and Oregon-Oregon State, involving teams ranked in the top ten) opted to do an election-themed cover. Great idea. Except that they made the covers regional (always a bad idea). And also except for the fact that Oregon State gift-wrapped them a dream cover (seen below) that no editor properly exploited. After all, what is THIS????? I’d like to give my former bosses credit for subtlety, but I doubt that happened. I think this was just serendipitous. You be the judge. Most subscribers, by the way, never saw this cover and if you visit SI Vault you’ll only come across the Travis Minor (Florida State) version.

Yes, that IS a hanging Chad…

3. The New York Knicks are 3-0 (eat that, Jay-Z). Hey, remember that scene in “Office Space” in which one of The Bobs says, “It looks like you’ve been missing quite a bit of work lately” and Peter Gibbons replies, “Well, I wouldn’t say I’ve been missing it, Bob.” (1:06 mark). Does “work” equals Amar’e Stoudemire and Peter Gibbons equal Carmelo Anthony & the crew? Damn, it feels good to be a gangsta!

“That Carmelo, he’s a real straight shooter. He’s got upper-management potential.”

4. Spirits in the night: On the eve of the election, POTUS hits the campaign trail with The Boss. If you’re scoring at home, Bruce Springsteen has gone from “Does This Bus Stop at 82nd Street?” to jetting around in Air Force One. Land of hope and dreams? We’ll say yes. (By the way, Jay-Z was also with them in Iowa)

5. It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia: The Eagles fall to the New Orleans Saints on MNF. Long-time bird watcher Ashley McGeachy Fox opines that this was the final nail in Andy Reid’s coffin (and THIS may have been the coup de grace for Michael Vick). We enjoy that our former colleague writes “The Eagles return home to an environment in Philadelphia that will be toxic” as if that were deviating from the norm.

Reserves

Jenny McCarthy turned 40 last week and the New York Post commented that she “still looks good.”

Exhuming McCarthy: she’s not dead yet, in fact, she’s still socially presentable.

“It takes a while to catch a crocodile…” (isn’t that how the jingle went?). This Gaza Zoo escapee had been on the lam (and eating goats) for 18 months. Ben Affleck will soon be making a film about him.

Belatedly, congratulations to the Charlotte Bobcats for winning their season opener against the Pacers last Friday night, halting their losing streak at 23 games. 23… Hmm, why does that number resonate?

Things in Minnesota that are white during the winter: 1. Minnesota and 2. the Timberwolves, 66% of whose roster is pure as the driven snow (or Spanish). Anyway, some local civil rights leader smell a conspiracy.

Entertainment Weekly’s list of “20 Political Movies We Endorse.” The classic that you must see is “The Manchurian Candidate.” (the 1962 original, with Frank Sinatra).

The question with BCS No. 9 Louisville, which is a hush-hush 9-0, is two-fold: 1) How high might Teddy Bridgewater and the Cardinals rise and 2) Does it matter? The answer to the former is possibly as high as 7th, as both No. 6 Florida (which still has a date at No. 10 Florida State) and No. 8 South Carolina, which will visit No. 13 Clemson without Marcus Lattimore may still have a loss in them. The answer to the latter is, No. The Cardinals are having a sweet season under Charlie Strong, but they’ll not play a ranked team until their finale against Rutgers, who may not even be ranked by then. They are 35th in Scoring Defense and 36th in Scoring Offense, indicative of a team that is better than average but not exactly special. It’ll be another underwhelming Orange Bowl come January, as the Cards will appear there if they win the Big East.

Teddy Bridgewater

Sports Illustrated has Indiana atop its preseason Top 25… Has Bob Knight ever returned to Bloomington to call a game?

Remember Notre Dame forward Tim Abromaitis Touch, who was denied a 6th year at Notre Dame? Currently playing in France.

After Washington State was routed 49-6 at Utah last Saturday for its sixth consecutive loss, Cougar coach Mike Leach said of his players’ efforts, “That could have been a zombie convention.” Ironically enough, ZomBcon 2012, which was scheduled to take place across the state in Seattle during Halloween, had earlier been canceled.

So apparently there is a pretty face named Krystal Ball who does not earn her living one dollar at a time. Rather, she is a certified public accountant who has a new show on MSNBC called “The Cycle” with fellow 30isher S.E. Cupp, who did not write “The Outsiders” in case you were wondering. And as for what “The Cycle” refers to, don’t ask us, we don’t want to cramp anyone’s style. We’re not geniuses, of course, and what do we know about television, but how about calling the show “Ball and Cupp?”

You are gazing at, but not into, Krystal Ball

S.E. Cupp: Once doffed her glasses and won a Krystal Ball-lookalike contest

And finally, Pete Thamel of Sports Illustrated asks a bunch of coaches, Who is to blame for USC’s 6-3 season thus far, including Trojan coach Lane Kiffin. All of them, Kiffin included, blame Lane. For what it’s worth, arguably the greatest coach in USC history is Howard Jones, a namesake of future New Wave pop star Howard Jones, who’s best song in our opinion is “No One Is To Blame.”

Howard Jones and…

… Howard Jones. The ’80s are to blame for that ‘do.

Starting Five

1. The final four — plus Louisville — all survive the first Saturday in November. Alabama, Oregon, Kansas State and Notre Dame all remain undefeated (as do the Atlanta Falcons, but who cares? The NFL season doesn’t start for non-bettors or non-Fantasy Football Leaguers –all three of us–until after Christmas). More on how they did so below.

3-2-1, blast off! Kenjon Barner propels himself to the front of the Heisman race with a school-record 321 yards (and five TDs) vs. USC

2. The New York City Marathon is canceled on Friday afternoon, stirring debate over whether 1) it should have been allowed to take place and 2) you spell it “canceled” or “cancelled.” We prefer the former. By the way, Sunday brought absolutely sublime marathon conditions to the Big Apple: bright, cerulean skies, little wind, temperatures in the forties.

3. We didn’t even know such a thing as African painted dogs existed, either, but yesterday a two year-old boy fell into their exhibit at the Pittsburgh Zoo and was mauled to death. Truly tragic.

African painted dogs

4. Now that the marathon has been cancellllllled, what’s the next kerfuffle awaiting NYC and Sandy-based insensitivity? Would you believe the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show? Turns out that 300 or so National Guardsmen and military personnel who have been bunking down at the Lexington Armory in between shifts are being evicted so that preparations may be made for Wednesday’s runway show. We imagine that the men in uniform would be happy to share the space with the ubermodels.

Models versus model citizens at the Lexington Armory

5. The Chicago Bears score a franchise-record 28 points in the first quarter (and this is a franchise that has existed as such since 1922, the inaugural NFL season) against Tennessee and win 51-20. It was the Bears’ first 50-point effort since 1980. Adam Duerson, SI’s NFL editor and Bear fan extraordinaire, is a very happy man today.

Reserves

Mary Wittenberg, CEO of the New York Road Runners, continues not to get it. Kudos to Mayor Bloomberg and to Wittenberg for canceling the marathon — a little race catering to 47,500 runners winding through the storm-ravaged streets of the five boroughs, what harm or callous message could that possibly be sending? — but their remarks afterward showed a defiance that was dumbfounding. And dumb. For Wittenberg to blame the media for creating this chaos (“…the resulting extensive and growing media coverage antagonistic to the marathon…“), a body that has for more than four decades rained nothing but sunshine on the race and, more recently, on her stewardship, is epically insipid. Mike Vaccaro of the New York Post believes that she should be fired over this. I don’t know if I’d go that far, but I do think that his colleague, Phil Mushnick, nailed this pretty well here.

On the other hand, Mike Cassidy, the fastest marathoner in Staten Island, one of the hardest hit areas in New York City, feels that the shoe must go on, that  the marathon should have taken place (and he was not even entered to run).  Cassidy spells it with two “l’s”, by the way.

We love Boise State, love Chris Petersen, and will continue to do so. But we are SOOOO giddy about San Diego State and quarterback Adam “I Couldn’t Have Done It Without Myself” Dingwell beating the Broncos on the blue turf. The Aztecs are 3-0 since Dingwell took over and have won five straight overall.

The end of Lori Grimes on The Walking Dead. Holy mother…

Lori Grimes: ZILF?

The nation’s No. 2 “athlete” and No. 37 recruit over all (and, granted, such ratings are highly elastic), Max Redfield, decommits from USC. And he’s an Orange County native.

Richard Deitsch with an exhaustive and well-done media column in today’s SI.com, though it could have been edited gooder.

This is THE  iconic photo of the season, thus far, for Crimson Tide football, if not all of college football. T.J. Yeldon scoring the game-winner late at LSU. That’s LSU first-round pick Barkevious Mingo on his backside. I’ll take syrup with that pancake.

CFB’s Final Four: No one, at least no one we have seen, has yet taken a moment to appreciate how wondrous and diverse the final four unbeatens (again, Louisville, we apologize) in college football happen to be. In Alabama, Oregon, Kansas State and Notre Dame you have…

1. …three of the nation’s four time zones represented

2. …a fine array of the color spectrum, from crimson to green and yellow to purple and gray, to blue and gold.

3…. the nation’s No. 1 (and No. 2) scoring defenses in Alabama (9.11 ppg allowed) and Notre Dame (11.67).

4. … the nation’s No. 1 scoring offense in Oregon (54.33 ppg) and its No. 5 in K-State (44.33).

5. … the nation’s oldest coach in Kansas State’s Bill Snyder, 73.

6. … the nation’s most-hyped (most, but not all of it deserved) in Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te’o.

7. … the nation’s No. 1 team in terms of the all-important Turnover Margin, Kansas State, at +2.22 per game. The Wildcats, as noted by SI’s Stewart Mandel, have scored 111 points off turnovers. Their opponents have scored zero.

8. … the nation’s leading Heisman candidate in K-State’s Collin Klein.

9. … the nation’s defending national champion in Alabama.

10. …possibly the nation’s fastest player in Oregon’s De’Anthony Thomas.

Why Notre Dame Should Have Lost — but Didn’t.

If you have watched — alums would say “endured” — Notre Dame football since the 1993 victory against No. 1 Florida State, you’ve seen the Fighting Irish squander games in just about every conceivable fashion (anyone remember the excessive celebration penalty against Bobby Brown in the ’97 Michigan contest?). Saturday’s game against Pittsburgh appeared to have all the similar omens, but somehow the Irish prevailed. Below, a list of pivotal plays in which the game should’ve turned so that Irish fans would again be spending Monday lamenting the defeat. Talk to any Notre Dame fan today and they will tell you, they feel very fortunate that their team still has a goose egg to the right of the dash.

1. First and goal for the Irish at the Pitt 2-yard line in the first quarter after a pass interference call in the end zone on K’wuan Williams versus Tyler Eifert (who had about an eight-inch height advantage). Notre Dame loses a collective three yards on the next three plays and settles for a field goal.

2. Late third quarter, Ray Graham of Pitt takes a handoff at the Irish 13 and bounces off tackle left. Graham jukes an Irish DB (Kevai Russell?) and is headed for  pay dirt before being tripped up two yards shy of the end zone. Pitt, already up 17-6, fails to put it in with their own first-and-goal from the two and settles for a field goal. The 20-6 result keeps it a two-score game.

3. The two gift interceptions by Notre Dame, one each by Tommy Rees and Everett Golson.

4. The fourth-down interference call against Pitt’s Williams that really was not. Notre Dame scored soon after to pull within 20-12.

5. The resulting missed PAT — his first of the season — by Irish kicker Kyle Brindza.

6. Cierre Wood‘s fumble in the end zone as he scored what should have been the game-winning touchdown in the second overtime. If there were ever a play that encapsulated Notre Dame football this millennium, that was it.

7. Pitt’s Kevin Harper missing a 33-yard game-winning field goal try in the second overtime. Just like that he went from potentially being Boston College’s David Gordon to becoming Michigan’s Mike Gillette.

8. Notre Dame puts two No. 2’s on the field, wide receiver Chris Brown and cornerback Bennett Jackson, during Harper’s field goal try but the referees fail to notice the infraction. As does Pitt’s coaching staff. A flag would have resulted in an automatic first down. Now THAT would have been the signature play of 21st century Notre Dame football.

In the end Golson was the difference for the Irish

So how come the Irish won? Well, they had some decent luck, both in terms of officiating and Pitt failing to put in the final dagger. But they also never fully imploded. Finally — and this is the biggest factor — they have Everett Golson. On Notre Dame’s game-tying drive Golson illustrated what he is able to do for the Irish that no quarterback in years has been able to do: he has the potential to extend plays with his legs and quickness. Both the touchdown pass to Theo Riddick and the resulting two-point conversion were the direct result of Golson being too quick for Pitt’s front four. It’s plays such as those that demonstrate why Brian Kelly has been so adamant all season long that Golson is his starter.

The Irish, by the way, are 25-10 in Brian Kelly’s first 35 games. Notre Dame was 25-10 in Lou Holtz’s first 35 games. Also, the fact that a Pitt player named Holtz might have scored the decisive touchdown against the Irish is perfect. Especially when you remember that Mark May is a Pitt alum and Dr. Lou is the last coach to steer Notre Dame to the national title.

Starting Five

1. The thon must go on. As of this moment the New York City Marathon is still scheduled to take place on Sunday morning in New York City. Those of you who read our tweets know that we oppose this stance and feel that, for once, New York Road Runners CEO Mary Wittenberg is displaying an imperviousness to sound judgment. More thoughts in “Reserves.”

That’ll be us coughing “Bullsh__!” every time someone uses the term “resilience” on Sunday

2. Tony Parker, assassin: The Spurs’ guard hit a 3-pointer with 28 seconds remaining and then drained a 21-foot buzzer-beater over the Thunder’s Serge Ibaka to give San Antonio an 86-84 win against Oklahoma City in a rematch of the Western Conference finals.

3. Blake Shelton named Entertainer of the Year at the Country Music Awards, but our favorite moment was yet another terrific opening dialogue from hosts Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood, who’ve gotten the hang of it after doing this together a few years (“Thanks, BP!” “You’re welcome, Carrie!” Oh, we get it!). If this were the 1970s they’d already have their own variety show. Watch the first clip and don’t miss the 1:50 mark where they trash the worst Taylor Swift song yet written.

4. Jon Stewart and the writers of The Daily Show manage to both skewer presidential politics in Ohio (“Swing State Hell“) while satirizing Superstorm Sandy relief-effort reports without ever mentioning the storm (“People huddled in wifi dead spots…”). The opening segment of this show is the most incisive eight minutes of television every night, Monday to Thursday.

5. The roller coaster that once graced the boardwalk in Seaside Heights, N.J…

Reserves

Aerosmith appears on the Today Show, and during the tease before their first song, Steven Tyler stares into the camera and says, “Good morning, America.” The sexegenarian rock star also pulled a Tom Hanks and dropped an F-bomb. Dude is seriously toys in the attic, you know?

According to our man in LA, Guestlist Markazi, here’s Lane Kiffin on the disappointment of being 6-2 at USC: “It’s unfortunate we’ve screwed these two games up because the storyline should be Matt (Barkley) being a front runner for the Heisman.” On the other hand, Barkley is 34th nationally in total offense, has already thrown more interceptions (8) this season than he did all of last (7), has at least one worthier Heisman teammate (WR Marqise Lee), and has yet to lead the Trojans to a win against a team that currently has a winning record. We don’t know what Layla sees in him sometimes.

Another photo, from my home county, Monmouth, this from Union Beach, N.J.

We grew up in a split-level, too, but not like this…

The Song of the Year at the CMAs was “Pontoon”, a song about drifting on a barge in a lake getting sunburnt and hammered (also known as, “Summer in Georgia”). The better song, from our limited sampling, however, is “Even If It Breaks Your Heart” by the Eli Young Band. Here’s a scaled-down version from the Texas-based C&W band.

Ethiopian children with no knowledge of the written word teach themselves to hack into computer within months. No better way to illustrate what separates man from all other beasts, i.e., the ability to bypass passwords. Thanks to John Infante for the find.

Moving forward, is it really wise to be constructing a 104-story skyscraper on the southern tip of Manhattan, an area that will be continuously vulnerable to flooding situations such as this week’s in the even that all this climate change talk isn’t just in Al Gore’s head?

Pittsburgh’s leading rusher, Ray Graham, and wide receiver, Devin Street, along with starting defensive back Lafayette Pitts charged with simple assault against one alleged victim. The trio deny that they were involved and coach Paul Chryst announces they will play tomorrow against Notre Dame. On a side note, there’s a “Pitt’s Pitts?” Why didn’t we already know this?

Wait… Sage Steele has three kids??? Wow.

Not dating Christian Ponder (or flirting with Wes Welker, either, bub)

Our co-host here at the site, the brilliant Bill Hubbell, notes that the two most conspicuously current famous Mormons in America may both finish second (or, then again, first), in important upcoming balloting.

 The Marathon
Strange how Bruce Springsteen song titles have owned the narrative of the superstorm, from the eponymous “Sandy” to “My City of Ruins” to “Born to Run.” The New York City Marathon is still scheduled to take place on Sunday, although we happen to think that’s a bad idea. Some random thoughts for you to consider:

— Why is the marathon really going on? Is it to demonstrate the resilience of New York City and its citizens, or is it due to the financial headaches that might be involved for the New York Road Runners, which overseas the event, the marathon’s numerous sponsors, and the many runners who fly here from almost every continent to participate (most of whom are arriving today)? Just this afternoon New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, who otherwise has been heroically Gulianiesque this week, justified the running of the marathon by reminding all that the 2001 NYC Marathon was staged after 9/11. Of course, he neglected to note that the two events occurred nearly eight weeks apart.

— The course begins on Staten Island, one of the hardest hit areas of the storm, but is only there long enough for runners to clamber onto and then across the Verrazano Narrows Bridge. However, it is also the staging area for the race and so marathoners will wait there for two or more hours, sitting without shelter in the early morning chill, with just Port-a-Potties as human comfort. Of course, that’s more civilization than many Staten Islanders will have had in six days. Add to that the fact that 19 people have already died on Staten Island as a direct result of the storm with a high probability of that number increasing. Look at it this way: if the marathon wound its way directly past the scenes of worst devastation, and if they could clear that route, would you still think it was a good idea to run?

This will be the scene Sunday morning in Staten Island…

…but so will this

The New York Post with a cover story on how three generators that could operate up to 400 homes in terms of power and electricity in New York will be used for the media tent at the NYC Marathon.

Mary Wittenberg, the CEO of the New York Road Runners and, thus of the NYC Marathon, is a bright and savvy lady. And a dedicated runner. She has never been tone-deaf before — her handling of the Ryan Shay tragedy during the 2008 Olympic Trials was beautiful — but this time she is simply wrong. Some, such as Scott Van Pelt of ESPN (with whom we had a wonderful Twitter convo this morning) have likened this to tonight’s Heat-Knicks game at Madison Square Garden, or to Sunday’s Steelers-Giants game. But that is inaccurate.

The New York City Marathon is far more akin to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade than it is to a sporting event. The NYCM is a signature event for NYC and a showcase for what many of us consider to be the world’s greatest city. It is truly ecumenical, in that people of any race, religion, sex or country may participate, either as runners, volunteers or spectators. It is a celebration not only of New York City and of running but of universal brotherhood.

Except here’s the problem: a lot of our brothers in New York or currently experiencing the worst moments in their lives. So while no one may actually die of thirst, a lot of people could use water and it looks rather frivolous and insensitive to be setting up water stations along a 26.2-mile course for 35,000 or so marathoners. And, yes, they may have enough police and manpower to handle both the marathon and recovery efforts, but in this week of all weeks, maybe it’s better to remain focused.

You know those moments when someone dies participating in a sporting event, but the event is not canceled as the sponsors say, “He would’ve wanted us to continue?” Well, number one, nobody ever knows that. And, of course, number two, it is such a self-serving argument. A large number of people died in the tri-state area this week, and a far greater number face difficult and uncertain futures. Many, many people lost their homes. So, yes, it is quite an accomplishment to run 26.2 miles, especially if it is your first time. But maybe it is far more admirable to dedicate your time, and the vast resources that would be spent on staging this race, on helping people truly recover. And, please, Mary, do not try to sell us on the idea that after a week such as this that New Yorkers need a reason to come together, to smile, to be distracted.

That, I’m sorry, is b.s. New Yorkers need power, and heat, and potable water, and probably a far better home insurance policy than they currently have. Please do not exploit their troubles as a means of rescuing your race from the fiscal troubles it might encounter by canceling or postponing. New Yorkers, far too many of us, are very familiar with the economic headaches that this storm has caused.

Long after Sunday’s race takes place (or doesn’t) hundreds of thousands of dedicated runners will still reside in New York City. As will the New York Road Runners, a club that has a veritable monopoly on road races in the five boroughs. It will be interesting to see if the relationship between the NYRR and its hundreds of thousands of member runners changes after Sunday. Wittenberg may say that she is dedicated this to running this race for the benefit of both runners and New Yorkers in general, but that is false. And enough New Yorkers are starting to come forward today to call her out on that. Whether she is being disingenuous, whether she is rationalizing, or whether she is simply fooling herself, we will leave that to you. But the best thing to do for the people of NYC is not to be so insensitive, just five days after the worst storm to ever hit the city occurred, as to stage an event that annually maxes out the support efforts of this great city.