by John Walters

Starting Five

A loaded room

Cool and The Gang

It was a rather august group that gathered at the White House yesterday to receive the Medal of Freedom from President Obama: Michael Jordan (“The guy from Space Jam“), Tom Hanks, Bruce Springsteen, Diana Ross, Robert Redford, Robert DeNiro, Vin Scully, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Lorne Michaels and a very emotional Ellen DeGeneres, who was almost not allowed in when she forgot her proper identification.

They haven’t let me in to the White House yet because I forgot my ID. #NotJoking#PresidentialMedalOfFreedom pic.twitter.com/sHocwqChKV

— Ellen DeGeneres (@TheEllenShow) November 22, 2016

I’m wondering how many of these recipients wondered if they were there to attend the turkey pardoning.

2. NCA—What?

The NCAA ordered Notre Dame football to vacate all the wins from its 2012 an 2013 seasons in what is an egregiously excessive punishment for an act committed by a female student trainer. So, yeah, that 12-0 start in 2012 AND Lennay Kekua were both just grand illusions.

Excessive sanctions to the point of absurdity. This was a student-trainer typing papers. Not institutional. https://t.co/7PdCcQdbgf

— Jay Bilas (@JayBilas) November 22, 2016

As coach Brian Kelly noted, the penalty was discretionary and it was excessive. Notre Dame found out that student Ally Lopshire was doing some dirty deeds, so it instantly self-reported and suspended five key players. And the NCAA still brought down the hammer.

3. Fort Wayne Is A Relevant Basketball Town Again

You remember the Fort Wayne Pistons, who lost the decisive game of the 1955 NBA Finals to the Syracuse Nationals and were accused of throwing it for point-shaving purposes (they committed two turnovers plus a foul in the final :18)? You don’t? Well, they did.

And you know of the Fort Wayne Mad Ants of the NBA D-League, who won the 2014 championship with Peyton Siva.

Another chapter in the northeast Indiana town’s history was added last night, as the Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne Mastodons shocked No. 3 Indiana in overtime, 71-69. Don’t you love that they’re the Mastodons?

I love Love LOVE what IUPUFW coach Jon Coffman said after the game. Extremely gracious to appreciate that IU took an in-state road game against a smaller school (Notre Dame used to visit Butler, but they’d lose).

Bloomington is 200 miles south of Fort Wayne, but the Hoosiers had not played there since 1967, when they beat Notre Dame.

SI’s Luke Winn, who cares more about college basketball than most of us do about our pets, had a wonderful tweet (since deleted for reasons we can only guess) about the aftermath. It read: “Finding out that those were paid court-stormers, incited by the media, cheapens Fort Wayne’s upset for me.”

4. The Election’s Over, But Cable News Remains Testy

Here’s CNN’s Wolf Blitzer pressing RNC spokesman Sean Spicer about why Donald Trump doesn’t do enough to disavow racists (you can jump to 5:00 mark). It gets, um, spicy…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mvaMeOvHSs
Here’s Fox News’ Megyn Kelly pressing GOP rep Sean Duffy about Trump potentially flip-flopping “You were the ones saying ‘Lock her up!'” Kelly says.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rXs3XaPU3s

And here’s CNN’s Brooke Baldwin reprimanding Charles Kaiser for using the N-word on live television. And yeah, I don’t know what he was thinking (by the way, how much does CNN pay Paris Dennard to appear daily? His main attribute seems to be that he’s America’s lone black Trump supporter).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUsBgHh2–k

5. “It is a tale. Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing.”

Yada yada yada

That’s either from Shakespeare’s Macbeth (Act 5, Scene 5) or it’s a review of every ESPN college football selection show. Dig: There are just TOO MANY games taking place this weekend that will not turn out the way the experts expect for anyone to really concern themselves about the College Football Playoff. Besides the obvious ones (Michigan-Ohio State and the Apple Cup), there’s Auburn-Alabama, Minnesota-Wisconsin, Michigan-Penn   State, Bedlam, and even Utah-Colorado and Florida-Florida State. All will potentially impact the playoff and not all will have the results the experts expect. Count on it.

My favorite part of last night’s telecast was when Greg McElroy reminded the set that it’s “not a four-team playoff, it’s a 65-team playoff.” Did you hear that, P.J. Fleck? Western Michigan never had a chance. “Forget it, P.J., it’s Chinatown.”

Music 101

Return To Innocence

This 1994 song by the German group Enigma obviously has a lot of international appeal. It hit No. 1 in 10 countries (and No. 4 here) and look how many YouTube views it has: more than 39 million. Meanwhile, the song’s chant was sampled from a pair of aboriginal Taiwanese, known as Amis, who later turned around and sued Enigma. The case was settled out of court but the Amis now are given partial credit on all releases of the song, plus royalties.

Remote Patrol

FRIDAY

No. 5 Washington at No. 23 Washington State

FOX 3:30 p.m.

How do you like them apples?

Black Friday football may be my favorite sports day of the year. It’s an extra day of college football acting as an amuse bouche to Saturday’s main course. This is for the Pac-12 North championship and keeps U-Dubs playoff hopes alive, while Wazzu would love to return to the Rose Bowl for the first time since the 2002 season. It’s only the sixth time in the illustrious history of the Apple Cup that both schools have been ranked. Get loose on the Palouse!

by John Walters

Starting Five

A Wolf in cheap clothing?

Meet The Press

Yesterday Donald Trump summoned prominent TV news media types such as Lester Holt, David Muir, Wolf Blitzer, (CNN prez) Jeff Zucker, Charlie Rose, Gayle King, Norah  (not Rosie) O’Donnell, George Stephanopoulos (who once worked at the White House), Erin Brunette and Chuck Todd, among others to Trump Tower, a.k.a. White House North. He opened the meeting by telling CNN’s Zucker, “I hate your network, everyone at CNN is a liar, and you should be ashamed.”

The 20-minute meeting went down-escalator from there. As one source at the off-the-record summit told The New York Post, “It was a (bleeping) firing squad.”

(But it wasn’t, though; those are coming next year.)

Trump was supposed to meet with The “Failing” New York Times today, but this morning he called it off. Who needs print media when you have Twitter? (UPDATE: Trump went ahead with the NYT meeting, but it was just early drinks, no dinner.)

I know, I know: I’m part of the “media elite” (I’m just not paid like those guys), so I fail to understand that it’s totally cool for the president to completely attack the First Amendment in the manner he warned Hillary would attack the 2nd (for which there was no evidence, by the way). I want to say that Trump just does not understand that the media does not work for him, but I want to add the warning that a man who now has his power will be able to make life incredibly difficult for news organizations if he so chooses. Who is going to stop him, if he installs all of his own puppets in key positions?

Trump apparently called out NBC News prez Deborah Turness, who is British, for running photos of him that are uncomplimentary. I don’t understand that. Dude never takes a bad picture. Sad!

We’ve already seen powerful GOP’ers such as Paul Ryan and Ted Cruz choose to lick Trump’s Cole Haan’s rather than stand up to him. And this is the ruling party. Time will beg the question: What powerful American leader/politician is going to have the courage to stand up to Trump’s tirades. Because it’s going to get worse before it improves.

2. Spencer For Ire

Donald Trump is not going to get up and stump for nationalism and racism per se. He’ll have a well-dressed bigot like Richard Spencer, speaking here at a forum in D.C. on Saturday, do it for him. And then he’ll look away as these types of hate groups grow.

Here’s part of the Holocaust Museum‘s “review” of Spencer’s speech (this stuff is actually happening):

According to press reports, Richard Spencer, the leader of the National Policy Institute – a white nationalist think tank – that sponsored the conference, made several direct and indirect references to Jews and other minorities, often alluding to Nazism. He spoke in German to quote Nazi propaganda and refer to the mainstream media. He implied that the media was protecting Jewish interests and said, “One wonders if these people are people at all?” He said that America belongs to white people. His statement that white people face a choice of “conquer or die” closely echoes Adolf Hitler’s view of Jews and that history is a racial struggle for survival. 

….The Holocaust did not begin with killing; it began with words.

I wonder how all of this is going to fly with Jared Kushner, who is Jewish.

3. Mexican Carr Tell

Derek Carr: Holla! and Hola!

In the first NFL regular-season game played in Mexico, Oakland Raider QB Derek Carr rallied the Plata Y Negro to a 27-20 win over the Houston Texans. You have to figure the fans in Mexico City were rooting against the Texans, eh? Carr threw a pair of fourth quarter touchdown passes, a 75-yarder to Jamize Olawale and the game-winning 35-yarder to Amari Cooper, as the Raiders rallied from a seven-point fourth-quarter deficit at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City.

The stadium is located at 7,382 feet elevation, which I imagine makes it the highest-altitude NFL game ever staged. Meanwhile, that Sean McDonough-Jon Gruden in-booth chemistry needs a ton of work. This is a one-and-done deal, no?

4. The I-5 Killer

Wood field played wide receiver at Portland State University

Hot off the CMS platform: Jon Wertheim‘s story on SI.com about Randall Woodfield, the I-5 Killer who was also in 1974 a 17th round pick of the Green Bay Packers (yes, they had a 17th round back then). I have not yet read it, but I’m always enthused to read anything Wertheim dives into.

This story originally appeared as a Lifetime TV movie based on a book by crime author Ann Rule. Woodfield, still incarcerated in Oregon, was convicted of killing three women along lonely stretches of I-5 between northern California up through Washington, but he may have killed as many as 44.

5. “Aided By a 52-0 Run…..”

Guard Katelynn Flaherty scored 17 points during the 52-0 run

Last Friday night unranked Michigan hosted similarly unranked Howard in a women’s basketball game. The Howards (what’s their mascot name? Oh, Bison) went up 6-0 and apparently that woke up the Wolverines, who then scored the game’s next 52 points.

Michigan went on to win 109-41.

Music 101

The Sun Always Shines on TV

This was a-ha’s follow-up single to the monster No. 1 hit “Take On Me” from the summer of 1985. It was releasees in November and I’ve always associated it with colder weather and shorter days (despite the title). This song from the Norwegian group did not do as well in the U.S. but it did hit No. 1 in the U.K.

Remote Patrol

Blue Velvet

10 p.m. TMC

A David Lynch film starring Kyle McClachlan, Laura Dern, a haunting Isabella Rossellini, and a sadistic Dennis Hopper. He’s basically playing a malevolent version of his Shooter character from Hoosiers. This was a major cult hit back in the day, whenever exactly the day was.

by John Walters

The Starting Five

Tiernan denied Cheserek an unprecedented fourth consecutive NCAA X-Country title

1. The King Is Dead

Running geek news: On Saturday in Terre Haute, Ind., Oregon’s Edward Cheserek, a.k.a. “The King,” took aim at becoming the first man in NCAA history to win four consecutive NCAA cross-country national championships. No one had ever even won three  non-consecutively except for legends Gerry Lindgren, Steve Prefontaine and Henry Rono.

Cheserek entered the race the prohibitive favorite, as he owns 13 national championships in x-country, indoor and outdoor track (the record is 15).But Villanova senior Patrick Tiernan, an Aussie who finished 2nd last year, dropped the King at the 8K mark. Tiernan broke the tape in the 10-K race in 29:22, five seconds ahead of Justyn Knight of Syracuse. Cheserek finished a distant third in 29:48.

“I wasn’t coming in second again,” said a resolute Tiernan afterward. “I was going to get my way today.”

Rule No. 37: Something can’t happen; until it does.

2. Character Is Who You Are When No One Is Looking (Even If You Are The Most Watched Person in a 100,000-seat Stadium in A Televised Game)

Is this Prescott’s first Gatorade ad?

If you have not seen the brief video of Dallas Cowboy rookie quarterback Dak Prescott failing to complete a sideline throw and then correcting his error, watch it here. The Cowboys beat Baltimore for their 9th consecutive win on Sunday, but this moment will last as the game’s highlight.

I remember watching George W. Bush appear on Letterman while he was running for president (the first time, I think). During a commercial break—I believe Dave aired the moment later to show us—Bush reached over and clutched the end of a female producer’s long sweater and, without asking her, used the garment to clean his glasses. I never forgot that. It said so much more than any words could.

3. The Hamilton Nontroversy

The vice president-elect, Mike Pence, attends a Broadway show, Hamilton, in which the main character is killed in a duel by the nation’s third vice president, Aaron Burr, for not apologizing for an insult. At the show’s conclusion, as the cast stands onstage having taken a final bow, the actor who played Burr (Brandon Victor Dixon) reads a brief statement directed toward Pence and his new boss about respecting diversity.

Unusual? Yeah. Petulant and disrespectful? You can see that, though it was Dixon who admonished the audience not to boo and, given the material, was respectful as possible. Pence handled the entire episode well but his boss, having no concept of irony, demanded an apology via Twitter.

The cast and producers of Hamilton, which I hear is highly overrated, should immediately apologize to Mike Pence for their terrible behavior

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 20, 2016

President-elect Trump was also none too pleased about Saturday Night Live’s cold open, demanding “equal time” in a tweet (Is he just going to spend four years reviewing late-night TV shows and the theater?). Afterward, Alec Baldwin had a few words for the 45th president (how did we all argue before Twitter?).

…@realDonaldTrump
Equal time?
Election is over. There is no more equal time. Now u try 2 b Pres + ppl respond. That’s pretty much it.

— ABFoundation (@ABFalecbaldwin) November 20, 2016

By the way, Bobby Moynihan messed up his line in that skit, saying he was from “Virginia” when he should have said, “West Virginia.” Also, immediately after Kristen Wiig’s monologue (which must have created one or two sleepless nights for the people in wardrobe), SNL did a faux commercial skewering liberals, “The Bubble.” So, sorry Donald, not completely one-sided.

4. Yale Daily Nudes

It was bun day in Cambridge

(UPDATE: Our lede should have read, “Yale ended one streak and its fans looked poised to start another….” MH regrets the error.)

For the first time in ten years, Yale defeated Harvard in The Big Game on Saturday. The Elis (3-7) also denied the Crimson (7-3) their fourth consecutive Ivy League title as QB Kurt Rawlings threw for two scores and ran for 74 yards in Cambridge. A few Yale undergrads were so moved by the team’s play and the 60-plus degree temperatures that they got naked (it’s about half that temperature today), and then got kicked out. It’s not exactly the old women’s rowing team stripping down for a Title IX protest, but you know….

If only Rory Gilmore were still on the case, this would make a front-page story in the Yale Daily News.

5. There’s No Palace Like Home*

Claire Foy and Matt Smith sparkle as the royal couple

*The judges will also accept “Games Of Throne” and “The Not-Thomas Crown Affair”

Looking for a little royal intrigue before the gang from Westeros returns? May I suggest Crown on NetFlix, a series based on Queen Elizabeth the 2nd’s rise to the crown in post-World War II England. Just watching the sets, and wondering where they filmed the scenes, is half the fun.

That’s Jared Harris (a.k.a. Lane Pryce from Mad Men) as her “pa pa,” King George VI, and the always excellent Jon Lithgow as Sir Winston Churchill II. It’s terrific: there’s palace intrigue (Princess Margaret, you hussy!), a prodigal son and a terrific love story between QE2 and Prince Phillip. MH recommends….

Music 101

Bits & Pieces

This is a gem at 1:59 by The Dave Clark Five (lead vocals and drums by Mike Smith here, who wrote the song). It was released in February of 1964, just as the Beatles were arriving in the U.S. for the first time, and yet it hit No. 2 in the U.K. an No. 4 in the States. One month earlier their song “Glad All Over” had knocked “I Want To Hold Your Hand” from No. 1 on the U.K. charts.  One month later, in March, they would become the second band in the British Invasion, after the Fab Four, to appear on The Ed Sullivan Show (which they did for consecutive weeks that March).

Remote Patrol

Marathon: The Patriots Day Bombing

HBO 8 p.m.

This documentary explores not just the horrible 2013 bombing that claimed three lives and injured hundreds, but also the aftermath as amputees and others attempt to pick up their lives.

by John Walters

The Starting Five

The blue awnings to the left? Tiffany’s. Next to that, Trump Tower. Parked in front? Six dump trucks to absorb any potential blasts. Good times.

Taking The Fifth

It seems that Donald J. Trump is ready to be the 45th president of the United States, but he may not be ready to leave New York City. Donald is conducting all of his extreme vetting of potential staffers and cabinet members from Trump Tower, which is just south of 57th Street on Fifth Avenue, which if you’ve never been to New York City, is a prit-tee, prit-tee, prit-tee essential piece of real estate. And busy.

Statue commemorating the spot of Washington’s inauguration, across from the NYSE

Are we going to have four years of this? Trump has already indicated a desire to return to Trump Tower on weekends, as if the White House is just boarding school. How did we get from the Twin Towers to Trump Tower in just 15 years? Worth noting: George Washington was sworn in as our first POTUS in lower Manhattan, in a building catty corner to the New York Stock Exchange. Is Trump bringing it all back home?

Caught the above video for the first time yesterday. The comedian is Anthony Atamanuik. Check out the look on the mug of the dude at the 1:19 mark.

2. K.P. Duty

The Knickerbockers defeated the Piston 105-102 behind a career-high 35 points from 7’3″ Latvian Kristaps Porzingis, who is 21 years old. That’s an encouraging sign for a franchise that has experienced just three winning seasons in the past 15 years. On the other hand….

Porzingis has 35 points tonight, but I can’t root for him because he took a job away from an American worker.

— Downtown Josh Brown (@ReformedBroker) November 17, 2016

(Downtown Josh Brown is someone you should follow, if you’re not already)

3. Faster Than The Human Race

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKFAALtenzY

Have to admit, it was refreshing to see some deer run down a human for once. I hope the deer’s grill is okay. The runner who failed to “Watch out for the deer!” was Justin DeLuzio, a senior at Gwynedd Mercy College who was taking part in his last cross country race. Deluzio, competing in an NCAA D-II Mideast regional in Center Valley, Pa., got up and finished the race.

4. Death in the City

Comunale was 26

The story of the death of 26 year-old Joseph Comunale is not uncommon. Something like this happens in New York City at least once a year it seems. Doesn’t make it any less grisly.

Here’s what we know: Comunale, a 26 year-old Hofstra grad who lived in Stamford, Conn., takes the Metro North into the city (about 80 minutes) with some friends to attend a party. Someone knows someone. Good-looking guy, extroverted, Comunale makes some new friends, ditches his friends, and goes clubbing. Is last seen entering an upscale apartment building on 59th and 1st just after sunrise with two other men and three women.

James Rackover, right, and his pop. The son is a primary person of interest in the murder.

That’s the last anyone sees him alive. On Wednesday morning his body is found in a shallow grave off a dirt road in Oceanport, N.J., about 35 miles south as the crow flies. Apparently one of the two men had led cops there. He’d been stabbed to death and the body burned to some degree.

Meanwhile, the man who owned the apartment, James Rackover, the son of a wealthy jeweler, at some point on Sunday allegedly asked one of the security people in the building how long they keep surveillance video before getting rid of it. Not smart, dude. Not smart.

Man, if Law & Order were still airing fresh episodes….

(UPDATE: The older man above is Jeffery Rackover. He’s a longtime friend of Donald Trump’s and sold him the engagement ring he gave to Melania. So it’ll be interesting if he puts in a call to the Don for a favor).

5. 76…er

6’3″ sophomore Katie Lou Samuelson is hoping to help UConn break its own record streak of 90 straight wins. Tonight is its sternest test until Dec. 7, at No. 1 Notre Dame

Don’t usually do items on programming, but how strange that No. 2 Baylor at No. 3 UConn, the latter of whom is sporting a 76-game win streak, can be found nowhere on national television tonight (ESPN is going with Louisville at Houston in football, which makes sense, and Pitt at SMU in men’s basketball, which doesn’t.).

To break its own record of 90 consecutive wins, UConn will need to beat No. 2 Baylor (tonight), No. 8 Texas (Dec. 4), at No. 1 Notre Dame (Dec. 7), No. 7 Ohio State (Dec. 19) and at No. 6 Maryland (Dec. 29). That doesn’t even include a contest with No. 20 DePaul and this weekend’s game at LSU, which won’t be simple. That’s five Top 10 and six Top 20 teams between now and the record. Not an easy stretch.

Meanwhile the 2-9 Philadelphia 76ers, who need to go back 4-plus seasons to compile a total of 76 victories, are on TNT tonight at the T-Wolves (second night of a back-to-back for the Sixers; take Minnesota and give the points if you are a wagering man).

ESPN has no control over the Sixer game, I know, but I’m trying to understand why Baylor at UConn from Gampel Pavilion is not on TV. Krulewitz, you have any answers?

Reserves

What Makes America Great Again?

Earlier today on CBS This Morning Jon Stewart appeared and spewed more wisdom that you’ll hear out of Donald, Rudy or KellyAnne for the next four (make it less, please) years. One of the things he said that stuck with me, “Nobody ever asked Donald Trump what makes America great.”

I think I did in one of my 5,000 Trump-related tweets, but I’m too lazy to find it. But you do know, that VERY question from the Northwestern coed (Is “coed” not acceptable? Forgive me) was the launch pad of The Newsroom. Very prescient, Mr. Sorkin.

Word Up

Obsequious

adj. obedient to an excessive or servile degree (from the Latin sequor, “to follow”)

The obsequious Howard Stern fan phoned into the cable news channel to say, “Bababooey.”

Music 101

That’s Entertainment

Unless you grew up in the U.K. and are at least 45, you may not know who The Jam are. Punk contemporaries of The Clash, this trio from Surrey scored 18 consecutive Top 40 singles in Great Britain between 1977 and 1982 and as you can see, they would morph into New Wave or even beat music. That darker-haired singer is Paul Weller, who would later go on to form the Style Council, an ’80s New Wave band. This 1980 song is the only song by The Jam to make Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time (No. 306). You’ve probably also heard “Town Called Malice” without realizing it was by The Jam (or maybe I’m just talking about myself).

Remote Patrol

No. 5 Louisville at Houston

ESPN 8 p.m.

It may be time to sculpt a new bust for the Heisman

The Cards are dealing with the WakeyLeaks scandal of earlier this week (Who cheats to beat Wake Forest?) but they find themselves at the 8-2 Cougars making one last plea to the Selection Committee. Louisville’s lone loss was by 6 at Clemson on October 1, as they were stopped just a few yards short of pay dirt (yard marker guy didn’t seem all that interested in laying orange stripe down, by the way). Michigan or Ohio State is still going to lose, so Lamar Jackson and his posse (wait, can I say that?) are going to have win out and then prolly hope that whoever wins the B1G championship game isn’t as appealing to the SelCom (they’re not to me). It would have helped if Houston had only lost to Navy.

by John Walters

Starting Five

Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump: Washington’s real power couple

The Purge

Great story, and I don’t know why I never heard this before this week: In 2004 a New Jersey billionaire real estate tycoon was arrested on tax evasion, witness tampering and illegal use of campaign funds. This same tycoon hired a prostitute to seduce his own brother-in-law, which she did, then sent the sex tape to her husband (his sister!) to keep her from being a witness against him in a civil interfamily suit.

Again, the year was 2004 and The Sopranos was in full bloom: this guy was just acting like Tony in real life.

Charles Kushner’s story was so sordid that it later became the basis for a Law & Order episode

Eventually, the tycoon goes to trail and federal prosecutor Chris Christie has him put away for a year. Here we should note that the tycoon was a major contributor to Democratic governor Jim McGreevey, who would resign in August of 2004 after announcing that he’d had an extramarital affair with a man. So here comes the future governor of New Jersey, a Republican, putting the screws to one of McGreevey’s major supporters.

Oh, and during the trial, though it wasn’t actually relevant, Christie made sure that the public knew about the ugly in-law hooker incident.

Christie: Cue, once again, the “Curb Your Enthusiasm” theme

That tycoon’s name is Charles Kushner. His son, who was 23 at the time of his arrest, is Jared Kushner. Over the weekend and on Monday, Chris Christie was dropped as the head of Donald Trump’s transition team and three men who are close to Christie and were thought to be shoo-ins for cabinet positions in the Trump White House—Mike Rogers, Rich Bagger and William Palatucci—either walked away or were told they were no longer welcome in what one source called “a Stalinesque purge.”

Jared Kushner has a long memory, and his father-in-law’s ear.

Meanwhile, in case you were wondering if we’re headed down a path, you should know that in 2007 Charles Kushner, a lawyer who was disbarred after this mess, bought a property not far from Trump Tower for $1.8 billion. Its address: 666 Fifth Avenue.

2. Romo Void

All class from Tony Romo yesterday—How ’bout that Cowboy!—in defusing a potentially volatile QB controversy in Dallas. Let the words speak for themselves:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQjTTpwEb-Q

One thing to consider: Romo still has that fire a burnin’ and he still wants to play. He’s going to be the backup on what is the best team in the NFL after having been the face of the team for more than a decade (13 years). He’ll ride out this rodeo, may even collect a Super Bowl ring, but don’t believe he’ll be watching from the sideline again next year. Romo, who will be 37 next season, has the best 4th-quarter passer rating of any NFL QB since 2006.

My favorite quote from Romo’s statement: “Something I’ve learned from this process as well. I feel like we all have two battles, or two enemies, going on: One with the man across from you, the second is with the man inside of you. I think once you control the one inside of you, the one across from you really doesn’t matter.”

3. State of The Union

The game featured three lead changes in the final 6 minutes

Before last Saturday’s 31-28 loss at John Carroll, Division III Mount Union had not lost a regular-season contest since 2005. The defeat snapped an NCAA-record 112-game win streak and means that the Purple Raiders will need to play a true road playoff game this weekend—at Hobart—for the first time since 1996.

1996 was also the year in which John Carroll won their second of 12 national championships. To win their 13th, and return to the Stagg Bowl, they’ll likely have to play nothing but road games from here on out.

4. “B-1-G! B-1-G!”

At 111 yards per game, Saquon Barkley is the Big Ten’s leading rusher

Four of the top eight teams in the country, according to the Playoff Selection Committee, reside in the Big Ten (and No. 15 USC would beat at least three of them). It’s way too early to worry about this (I can totally see Penn State losing to Michigan State), but you’ve got Ohio State and Michigan at Nos. 2 and 3, respectively, though if the Nittany Lions (No. 8) win out and the Buckeyes beat the Wolverines, neither OSU or UM would even advance to the B1G Championship Game.

The Buckeyes have beaten four different teams, three of which were conference foes, by at least 58 points

Which is where it gets sticky. Assuming no upsets the final two weeks (a major assumption, by the way) and a Buckeye home win against the Khaki Kids, you’d have No. 7 Wisconsin versus No. 8 in the B1G title game. And would the winner of that game advance INSTEAD of Ohio State or in addition to Ohio State.

That’s the fun argument this week. Also, a reminder, that if Michigan wins out, with backup QB John O’Korn, it will render all this moot. My guess? Something unforeseen will happen to render all of this pearl-clutching unnecessary.

5. Whiplash Dinner

Finally saw Whiplash this weekend, and for all of the intense drumming scenes, as well as the martinet cruelty of Fletcher (J.K. Simmons, who deservedly won an Oscar), this dinner scene will stay with me longest. It’s something right out of Good Will Hunting. Crisp, fast, and funny. It’s like a tennis volley in which both players slowly approach the net and then it’s just quick back-and-forth, except that it’s four on one. Great stuff, if you’ve never seen it.

Word Up

apparatchik

noun, “A member of a communist apparat, or political organization.” (has a derogatory connotation, or at least it did before a week ago)

Music 101

Burning Down The House

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVv94T5LF0c

The title comes from a Parliament-Funkadelic audience chant—Talking Heads drummer Chris Frantz had recently seen them play live at Madison Square Garden. The song and video were ubiquitous ( <–future “Word Up” term) in the summer of 1983, which was Peak MTV.  David Byrne & Co’s highest charting song, it reached No. 9 on the charts.

Remote Patrol

The Endless Summer

TCM 8 p.m.

I saw this for the first time last winter, and it is a classic. This is the surfing doc on which all future travelogues were built. Remember that it’s late 1963 and early 1964. When these two surfers left the USA, John F. Kennedy was still president. And then they traveled to west Africa, South Africa, Australia and the Polynesian Islands. This was almost like going to the moon back then, which no one had yet done.