by John Walters
The Smart-est Timeout
Yes, New Year’s Eve’ CFB playoff semis were the best duo yet (let’s remember, it has not even been a decade of this). Just check out the scores: TCU 51, Michigan 45 and Georgia 42, Ohio State 41. The Era of Total Defense is over.
Consider, the third quarter of the Fiesta Bowl alone featured six touchdowns (two by each team) and that the Peach Bowl featured defending champs Georgia overcoming a 14-point 4th-quarter deficit.
And yet, for all of the highlight-reel plays, the pick-sixes, the 50-plus yard TD plays or pass completions, THE PLAY of Saturday night was what you see above. The Buckeyes, up 38-27 with 9:30 to play, face a 4th-and-1 at their own 38. Ryan Day sends out the punt team but they line up in an unbalanced formation. The ball is snapped to the upback, who easily converts the one yard.
First down, Buckeyes, just over nine minutes to play, with an 11-point lead. Pack your bags for Inglewood.
But wait. The play was called dead a heartbeat before the snap. Kirby Smart, from the sideline, noticed the unbalanced formation. Or, more likely, an alert assistant upstairs did and relayed that info to Kirby, who did not hesitate. You trail by two scores with under 10 minutes to play, you figure you’re going to want to save all three timeouts. But Kirby made the decisive call and it turned out to be the right one. And that, as much as any play by Stetson Bennett or any other Dawg, is how come Georgia is off to California as -600 favorites to defend their national championship.
A Twitter follower called this the best timeout in the history of college football. I’m anti-recency bias, but I cannot conjure another timeout that even comes close. Can you?
Charlie Wisdom
Here’s Warren Buffett’s business partner, Charlie Munger, dropping a truth bomb. A couple things: 1) You could have learned this 30 years ago listening to Hannibal Lector mentor Clarice Starling (“What does he do, Clarice?” “He abducts women.” “No. He covets.”) 2) This may be true, but it’s easy for Munger to say he does not envy anyone; he could not spend his fortune if he lived another decade, which he will not.
Barbara Walters
Texted my genius former student, SportsBrain, on New Year’s Eve to say, “Now everyone’s favorite Walters has died” and he replied, “Is this from your mom?” Funny kid.
Anyway, Barbara Walters left us on NYE at the age of 93 (if you had her and/or Pope Benedict in your 2022 dead pool, props to you) and if you only know her from The View, that’s too bad. Walters really was a television trailblazer. In the 1970s and 1980s the “Barbara Walters Special”, semi-regular hour-long shows on ABC in which she interviewed three renowned people, that was must-see television.
Fortunately, Walters left a plethora of clips for younger broadcasters and journalists to learn how it’s done. Walters was never there to concur with her guest; nor was she there simply to antagonize him or her. Walters’ job, and she did it with uncanny aplomb, was to induce the guest to reveal himself. She did so by asking pointed and direct questions, by listening to a response and taking that as her cue, and by having done her homework and then some beforehand. Nobody, man or woman, did it better. One or two (e.g., Mike Wallace) were just as deft but no one was better.
This interview with Donald Trump should be shown in every journalism class there is (although why are you taking a journalism class? Were all the sections of Latin and horse-and-buggy maintenance filled up?).
New Year, Old GOATs
Not surprisingly, the 7-8 Green Bay Packers walloped the 12-3 Minnesota Vikings (the score was 41-3 before the Vikes posted two garbage-time TDs) at Lambeau yesterday. And Tom Brady led the Tampa Bay Bucs to victory after trailing 14-0. New year, old GOATs.
The playoffs began for the Green Bay Packers in early December, after a 40-33 at Philadelphia left them 4-8 and presumably with a DNR tag. Ohh, but this is Aaron Rodgers, people. The Pack have won four straight since then, and suddenly that wild 4th-quarter comeback versus the Dallas Cowboys at Lambeau in November—Green Bay trailed 28-14 in the 4th—doesn’t seem so innocuous.
Since the defeat at Philly—the NFL’s top team at the time—every game for the Packers has been win-or-go-home and they’ve won. Next Sunday they host Detroit in what is a virtual wildcard game for both teams. Green Bay is in with a win, while Detroit is in if they win and Seattle loses (unlikely, as the Seahawks host the disappointing LA Rams… defending Super Bowl champs, you may recall).
What people will be mentioning if Green Bay wins is that the two playoff teams in the NFC with the worst records will be Green Bay (9-8) and Tampa Bay (9-8 or 8-9). But those two “pretenders” possess two o the, what, five best quarterbacks ever to take an NFL snap: Rodgers and Tom Brady. And quarterbacks matter, especially in the fourth quarter of playoff games. By the way, the last three Buc wins have featured comebacks from deficits of at least 10 points versus teams that will not be headed to the postseason, for what that’s worth.
Rodgers. Brady. The playoffs. Prepare for Nielsen numbers to explode.
Dollar Quiz
1-6, Match the actress with the Hitchcock film:
A) Tippi Hedren 1) Psycho
B) Ingrid Bergman 2) Rear Window
C) Kim Novak 3) North By Northwest
D) Grace Kelly 4) Vertigo
E) Janet Leigh 5) Notorious
F) Eva Marie Saint 6) Marnie
7. How many clubs play in the Premier League each year?
8. What was unique, arguably a first, when Aaron Judge (Yankees) faced Adam Ottavino (Mets) last season?
9. What individual country suffered the most deaths in World War II?
10. In what city was the first NBA (it was known as the BAA, Basketball Association of America at the time) game played?
Current Standings: Dan Henry, Micah Sage and TJ Miles all have ONE win.
1. Hedren – Marnie
2.Bergman – Notorious
3. Novak – Vertigo
4. Kelly – Rear Window
5. Leigh – Psycho
6. Saint – North by Northwest
7. 20
8. Jersey #99 vs. Jersey #0 ?
9. Soviet Union
10. Toronto
Correct!
Thought this would be the highlight of my day, then USC choked the Cotton Bowl 🙂