by John Walters
A Medium Happy 71st to Randolph Mantooth, the hunkier half of Gage & DeSoto
Starting Five
Jackson has accounted for 18 touchdowns in three games and is second in the nation in rushing
Lamarvelous!
Were Lamar Jackson and Louisville ready for their closeup versus No. 2 Florida State on Saturday? The 6’3″ sophomore from Boynton Beach, Fla., accounted for 362 all-purpose yards, four rushing touchdowns and a passing touchdown in a 63-20 beat down of the Noles.
To be clear, Louisville’s defense was just as good, with five sacks and two forced turnovers. The score was 63-10 until late in garbage time.
It was a long afternoon for the FSU freshman….
The Cards are now a solid No. 3 and face two Top 10 teams on the road (Clemson in two weeks and Houston in November). It’s early, but Lamar Jackson is now the Grange Award frontrunner and the Cards control their playoff destiny. Coach Bobby Petrino, when he gets off the motorcycle, HE’S GOOD!.
2. Let’s Hang On To What We Got*
*The judges will also accept, “When A Mic Drop is a Ball Drop”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFSClH8hPyU
First it was Ray-Ray McCloud of Clemson last week (above)….
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rA72a0gg5ms
Then, last Saturday night, versus No. 3 Ohio State, Joe Mixon of No. 14 Oklahoma did the same thing at the end of a 97-yard kickoff return (for some bizarre reason, replay officials never even looked at it and Mixon got away with it).
Then later on Saturday night Cal running back Eric Enwere did it at the end of a 55-yard touchdown run versus Texas with the Golden Bears only leading 50-43. This one was called back, as was the Clemson play.
This crisis of idiocy did not begin this month. Remember Kaelin Clay of Utah last year versus Oregon?
Is it going too far to suppose that the men with the talent and speed to make these plays are a double-edged sword? Part of their upside is their immense belief in themselves (and speed), but the other end of that is that they need to mic-drop the football and bask in adulation? Those of us SMH’ing at them would never have the talent to do what they do. Cultural Divide Debate Embrace in 3…2…1….
3. Is Network TV Dead?
Sterling K. Brown
Grand total of Emmy winners from the four major networks—ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC—in prime-time TV: One, Regina King, Best Supporting Actress, Limited Series, ABC, for American Crime.
The cable/streaming nets ruled, and the biggest story is that it’s not even a story any more.
The Emmys finally got it right (I didn’t hear the words “Modern Family” once) as Veep won for Best Comedy, Game of Thrones for Best Drama, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver for Best Variety Talk, Key & Peele for Best Variety Sketch, Kate McKinnon for being Kate McKinnon and The People Vs. O.J. Simpson for Best Limited Series. Three actors from that series—Sterling K. Brown (Chris Darden), Sarah Paulson (Marcia Clark) and Courtney B. Vance (Johnnie Cochrane)—deservedly took home Emmys and there was much talk of chains being rocked, while Paulson ended her acceptance speech by paying tribute to Clark, who was in the audience. I’m embedding my own tweet here, but….
Sarah Paulson wins. It took 21 years, but Marcia Clarke and Christopher Darden finally won in Los Angeles….
— Medium Happy (@jdubs88) September 19, 2016
Great Moments: Besides Paulson’s speech, Matt Damon walking onstage to troll host Jimmy Kimmel, Kimmel’s mention of Johnnie Cochrane “looking up” from wherever he is, Andy Samberg being Andy Samberg, and the reunion of Sipowicz and Simone.
By the way, returning to the original point of this story, the most celebrated prime-time shows currently on CBS, NBC and ABC (via ESPN) are prime-time NFL telecasts…and Empire. Just so you know….
4. Non-Bronx Bomber
This is Ahmad Khan Rahmani, the man who planted three bombs in New York City and New Jersey over the weekend. No one was killed. Rahmani is a loser (to be clear, the death toll had no impact on whether he was a loser or not). Just another alienated, disaffected person who wants to blame someone else for his inferiority. He’ll be caught soon. Or dead. (UPDATE: Captured before noon)
5. Lost In Boston
Ramirez hit the game-winning three-run walk-off on Thursday, and then another three-run homer and the game-winning solo shot on Sunday night
The Yankees entered the ninth inning at Fenway Park on Thursday night with a three-game lead and a chance, with three more outs, to be just three games out of first place (and two back in the wildcard). Masahiro Tanaka, the AL ERA leader, had pitched seven innings of one-run ball. Then Boston struck for five runs and the Yankees lost all four games to the Red Sox (they blew four-run leads in the first and last games of the series).
It’s not officially over for the Bombers, but it sure feels over after that nut punch of a weekend at Fenway. Hanley Ramirez went Manny Ramirez on the Yanks, going 9 for 16 and hitting four home runs in four games. I’m ready for it: Gimme a Cubs vs. Red Sox Fall Classic.
Music 101
Woodstock
In which Joni Mitchell explains why she was unable to attend Woodstock—a TV commitment in NYC; she reveals that she watched it on TV, too—but then just went ahead and wrote a classic song about the concert event of the decade epoch that she was unable to attend even though she was only about 2 1/2 hours away (helicopters, anyone?). Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, her pals whom she’d been playing with in Chicago the night before, made more hay with this tune, but it’s Mitchell’s song.
Remote Patrol
The Tonight Show
NBC 11:35 p.m.
A few days after having Donald Trump as his guest, host Jimmy Fallon welcomes Hillary Clinton. Egg Roulette, anyone?
Since 1995, there has only been one season in which both the St. Louis Cardinals and New York Yankees have missed the postseason in the same season: 2008. The Cardinals, even though only 1 game out of the second Wild Card slot, have been extremely volatile all season. The Giants have six more games against the NL West-leading Dodgers and the Mets have the lowly Braves and Phillies and mildly lowly Mariners left on their schedule.
The 2008 World Series featured the Phillies and Rays, with the Rays winning in 5 games. Therefore, the losing manager of the World Series that year was Joe Maddon. Heartbreak city, Chicago.
The Phillies won in 5 games, obviously. Not the Rays.
Another interesting sports tidbit(albeit I’m sure many will say/tweet it):
After next weekend, four rookie quarterbacks will have started an NFL game before the 1st overall selection in the draft, Jared Goff. And it’s only going to be week three!
Those four being Carson Wentz, Dak Prescott, Jacoby Brissett (next week) and Cody Kessler (next week).
Don’t forget the South Carolina State player who caught the kick off in the end zone and threw the ball to the ref who let it drop so Clemson could recover for a TD.