Starting Five
1. When the referee — in this case Ron Cherry, in keeping with the “simply red” theme of the 2013 BCS bowl sesaon –announces, “We have an unusual ruling on the field”, that grabs our attention. Oregon scored a one-point safety during its Fiesta Bowl win against Kansas State (reportedly, only the fourth time this has happened in a major college football game). Briefly, the Ducks line up for the PAT, had it blocked, and then Wildcat defensive end Ryan Mueller recovered it. Mueller retreated into the endzone, then lateraled it to teammate Allen Chapman, who was tackled by the Ducks’ Jake Fisher. So there you have it. If you had that as a prop bet, please contact us…from your yacht that is moored off the island of Ibiza.
2. “Momma, who DAT?” Wow, by the way, on that De’Anthony Thomas kickoff return for six that opened the game. Worth noting: 1. Thomas nearly stepped out of bounds as he fielded the kick, 2. Thomas was never touched, 3. the kickoff return measured 94 yards, and you may recall that Thomas had a 91-yard burst versus Wisconsin in last year’s Rose Bowl. In fact, in just two bowls, both of them BCS bowls, D’AT has touchdowns of 94, 91, 64 and 23 yards, 4. We weren’t listening, but did Brad Nessler or Todd Blackledge mention that Thomas mimicked breaking the tape as he broke the plane of the endzone? That was a nice touch. As far as we’re concerned, DAT is the offensive Clowney. Put him atop the list of Heisman contenders next season on the offensive side of the ball, just as Clowney belongs atop the list of defensive studs.
DAT was awesome!
3. Oh, and Oregon opens with or without Chip Kelly next season at home on August 31 versus Nicholls State. (Chip Kelly= Ore-goner) You may recall that the Colonels of Thibodaux, La., ended their 2012 season with a trek to Corvallis, Ore, where the Beavers dammed them, 77-3. So that would be consecutive pilgrimages to the Beaver State for Nicholls State, an FCS school.
4. Before last night’s Fiesta Bowl Dr. Lou matter-of-factly stated that this would be Collin Klein’s last football game, thus insinuating not-so-subtly that he wouldn’t be playing in the NFL (thanks a lot, Tebow). Recall that in a November cover story Sports Illustrated hailed Klein as “The Best Player on the Nation’s Best Team.”
5. The year 2013 has had three (Bill Walton voice) “tearrrrible” calls in as many days so far. First, there was the awful fourth-down spot (actually, the spot was fine, it was the interpretation of the spot that flummoxed all of us) in the Outback Bowl. Then again, without that ridiculous spot, a nation is deprived of the Jadeveon Clowney hit. Then there was the blatant double dribble in the Blazers-Raptors game, thus proving that not even referees watch the NBA in early January. Finally, there is this game-winning bank shot from Colorado’s Sabatino Chen last night in Tucson. It’s not even close, as you can stop the tape and see the ball leaving his fingertips with 0.2 seconds remaining. Alas, Chen’s shot was waved off and Arizona (13-0) remains undefeated.
Reserves
Lisbeth Salander >> Rex Ryan
South African mountain biker Burry Stander, a two-time Olympian, is struck and killed by a minibus while out on a training ride. Stander was 25.
Jennifer Lawrence’s Vanity Fair cover. Does that cleavage look a little off to you?
Dear Congress: THIS is why we hate you. Yes, that’s $70 million of pork (pulled, we assume) for NASCAR.
The New York Knicks beat the San Antonio Spurs by 17, ending SAS’ seven-game win streak. Coach Pop’s squad was playing its fourth game in five nights (you can bet that bettors knew that). Maybe he should’ve have strategically rested them, in the home of the NBA commish, just to see what the amount of the fine would be.