STARTING FIVE
Chris Davis and the greatest finish in college football history. Nice branding there, Mike Slive.
1. A Jordan-Hare Raising Experience
Can we stop arguing about whether Auburn deserves to be ranking ahead of Ohio State (when really it should be whether Auburn deserves to be ranked ahead of Missouri, an argument that admittedly will soon be moot) long enough to bask in the afterglow of perhaps the greatest college football game ever played?
My short list, like yours, only extends as far back as my memory. Every one of the games below was intriguing from the opening snap, was filled with bizarre twists and turns, and featured a crazy finish. Here they are (and notice how all the scores fall between 28 and 42 points) in chronological order:
Notre Dame 35, Houston 34………………..1979 Cotton Bowl
Miami 31, Nebraska 30……………………….1984 Orange Bowl
Notre Dame 31, Miami 30…………………..1988 Catholics vs. Convicts
USC 34, Notre Dame 31……………………..2005
Texas 41, USC 38……………………………….2006 Rose Bowl
Boise State 43, Oklahoma 42………………2007 Fiesta Bowl
Auburn 34, Alabama 28……………………..2013 Iron Bowl
There’s no improving on this scene. College football isn’t perfect, but it’s pretty damn near close.
Worth noting, as Yahoo! Sports’ Pat Forde did, that CBS’ Verne Lundquist called both Saturday’s game and the Christian Laettner buzzer-beater in 1992. Loved Verne informing us that Auburn coach Gus Malzahn and his wife, Kristi, were never served when they visited a Waffle House after the Tigers’ miraculous comeback versus Georgia two weeks earlier. After waiting for what Malzahn deemed too long (then again, he does run a hurry-up offense), the Malzahns stood up and exited.
Any Auburn fan could’ve told Gus that he ought to have headed to Guthrie’s, anyway.
2. Hershel. Walkers.
Ironically, Hershel was the one who in times of crisis always kept his head about him.
Meanwhile, one state to the right of the Iron Bowl, another feud attained climax as the Governor attempted to invade Ricks’ prison in the mid-season finale (there are now mid-season finales?) of “The Walking Dead.” The walkers were upstaged by human-on-human violence that saw Herschel (Scott Wilson) get decapitated by the Governor, who then was cut down with the same cutlass by Micchone. It was a literal, not figurative, back-stabbing as earlier in that same episode Micchone had told Brian-with-one-‘i’ that she was going to kill him.
No lie, Hardwick actually appeared in two Rob Zombie films.
I’m as intrigued by Chris Hardwick, the host of “Talking Dead” as I am by the show itself (Hardwick also hosted the “Breaking Bad” chat-fest, “Talking Bad”). Each Sunday night Hardwick hosts a studio show in which the events of the episode just seen are discussed. It’s week in and week out of grisly deaths of characters we, the audience, had gotten close to, and it’s amplified for Hardwick by the fact that his own father died unexpectedly three weeks earlier. He ended a recent show by noting that his own dad, PBA professional Billy Hardwick, had died the day before of a heart attack, but Hardwick soldiered on.
3. Paul Walker
2 lessons here: 1) Slow down and 2) Is there ever really a need to break the news of someone’s death on Twitter?
The actor who appeared in the “Fast and Furious” films dies in a fiery car wreck. Walker, 40, dies but irony survives. Meanwhile no shortage of folks on Twitter who never met Walker and were not at the scene of the accident tweet the news of his passing, then apologize when it appears that the TMZ report is a hoax (TMX is actually pretty reliable), then notify us again when it turns out that the news, sadly, is true. Why does anyone need to be the first on his or her block to spread the news of the death of someone they’ve never met to people they don’t know?
4. Speaking of Talking Bad…
This is not exactly new, but Jimmy Kimmel Live! has been asking celebrities to read the nastiest tweets they receive on camera. Here’s Will Ferrell, Andy Dick and others in the first installment…and here’s Russell Brand, Jessica Alba and Zach Braff taking the pain… And here’s Dennis Quaid, Sharon Stone, Aaron Paul, Mark Ruffalo and Larry David reading the haters. As Kimmel quips, “People are the worst.”
5. Biblio Files
The New York Times releases its “100 Notable Books of 2013”, none of which include the characters Katniss Everdeen or Christian Grey, so who’s reading them? Not us!
I actually enjoyed reading the blurbs that sound as if they’ve been written by someone gunning just a little too hard for an “A” in Freshman Comp. & Lit: “Witheringly trenchant” and “prolix post-modern.”
Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in!
I only watched part of the OSU-Mich game until the last quarter & was somewhat shocked that the Buckeyes had not put the game away. Total shock was held abay by remembering it was a “rival game’ AND that it was being played in da Big House, the VERY large home of the opponent. Actually, shock did make an appearance in the last few seconds. That was pretty darn exciting. Or so it seemed until the Main Course!
There’ve been a lot of exciting college football games over the decades but WOW, can you think of one that just smacked you upside the head like Roll Tide vs War Eagle, edition 2013?! How many times did you think Auburn was OUT of it? I lost count at 5. For THAT ending to happen in 1 of the 2 big Rivalry Games, for it to be at home for Auburn, the underdog (not exactly David vs Goliath but WHO, not counting Auburn hardcores, bet against Bama? I was HOPING they’d lose, but never would have put my money down.), well, it made you scream at the TV even if you weren’t from Alabama or not an Auburn alum/fan.
All the home-fan reaction footage reminds me of Tebow’s Bronco-Steelers playoff game. LOVE looking at those videos. Especially when the whole family sits there wearing the team/school ‘spiritwear’ & scream/jump up & down like they just won the lottery. (Did you see the clip of Rowdy Gaines? Loved it!)
BTW, with the Gators of 2006-2009, Broncos 2011, Auburn in 2010 & this year, I’m beginning to think God loves the Orange & the Blue, maybe even more than he hates Cleveland!
As for the perennial question – Who belongs in the NCG, well, there’s still one more week. FSU could lose to, um, Duke? Well, it could happen! Right? Ahem. And OSU could lose to Mich St & Auburn could lose to MO. And OMG, look who’d be back in the Championship game! Argh! Anyway, to me the bigger story is if Winston gets arrested/indicted & FSU is in the NCG. Could the BCS people kick them out after selecting them?
One more thing – I can’t see twitter on the weekends, so on Monday morning, I click over & read yours all at once. You really are the Don Quixote of no-playoff-college football. I’ve always wanted a playoff but since reading you since 2007, I’ve decided a 4-team playoff is enough, any more teams & you dilute the regular season. Hey, might not be your Impossible Dream, but that’s more success than DQ!
What time zone are you in these days? It’s almost 3:30 eastern time & still no IAH. “The kids are up in arms..”
Anyway, I want to know your opinion of the USC hire. I just don’t get it. Sarkisian had about the same W-L percentage at Washinghton as Kiffin at USC. I think they should have given Coach O at least 2 years as HC. He earned it after saving the team from the fiery abyss this season.