College Basketball: Teams, Not Superstars, Win Titles

 March (and April) Madness is done for this year, and we get another example of the old bromide "There's no I in Team".

Caitlin Clark, who had been setting records left and right in women's (and men's) college basketball for the University of Iowa Hawkeyes, ended her collegiate career in losing the NCAA national championship to the University of South Carolina Gamecocks Sunday 87-75 in Cleveland.

The Gamecocks, who had gone undefeated the entire season, won this game with Tessa Johnson's 19 points and Kamilla Cardoso's 15 in keeping the Hawkeyes' chances to a minimum.  Clark ended up with 30 points.

The Gamecocks had been pretty much flying under the radar as a Dawn Staley-coached team all season, while all we heard about is the greatest bumper crop women's basketball had ever produced: Clark, Paige Bueckers of Connecticut, Angel Reese of Louisiana State, and JuJu Watkins of Southern California.  Together they packed the stadiums, seen their profiles rise in commercials due to NIL money and sent TV ratings to record highs during the tournament.  Eighteen million of you watched the championship game on ABC Sunday afternoon.  That's second only to the NFL and the Olympics.

Now what? Clark is off to the WNBA, where she might end up being just another player in a league full of one-time college phenoms like herself OR she can become the change agent the league needs.  As for women's college basketball itself, they've had a big year.  But they still have a long way to go.

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One of the reasons the women's game is not yet on a par with the men's game is this:  The women's championship game was played in an NBA arena on a Sunday afternoon on network TV.  The men's championship was played in a domed NFL football stadium in Arizona on a Monday night on cable TV.

 In that stadium, the University of Connecticut won its second consecutive national title with a 75-60 win over Purdue University, led by efforts from the Huskies' Tristen Newton, Stephon Castle, Cam Spencer and Donovan Clingen.  No school since Florida 15 years ago, and Duke before that, had ever won back-to-back titles.  So clearly the Huskies' Dan Hurley knows how to coach, right?

Fourteen million saw this game on TBS Monday night despite the fact that (1) there was hardly any buzz outside of the respective campuses, and (2) it had a late tipoff in the East so there could be a long introduction and, once the game ended, "One Shining Moment".

So for this season, anything the boys did, the women did better.

Super Bowl 58: Love (and the Chiefs) Conquers All

 In the other city that never sleeps, Las Vegas hosted an event that could have gone all night.  Taylor Swift flew all the way from Tokyo as if she were Santa Claus or an Amazon package being tracked to be with the one she loves in his shining moment.  Usher performed a stellar show worthy of the Strip with guests such as Alicia Keys, H.E.R. and Ludacris.  And the football game was pretty good, too.

The Kansas City Chiefs needed overtime to beat the San Francisco 49ers 25-22, and claim the Vince Lombardi Trophy as Super Bowl champions for the fourth time in franchise history (three in this decade), and second in a row--not done since the New England Patriots in the 2000s.  Patrick Mahomes, the QB who threw to Mecole Hardman in the end zone for the winning score near the end of OT, won his third Super Bowl MVP.  And America got to see Taylor and Travis Kelce of the Chiefs in locked embrace as the confetti flew.  Storybook finish.

The Chiefs as AFC West champions made their way through the Miami Dolphins, Buffalo Bills and Baltimore Ravens to win the conference title.  The 49ers as NFC West champions defeated the Green Bay Packers and Detroit Lions for their conference title.

Back to Taylor 'n Travis for a moment.  We think it's great that the biggest pop star so far in the 2020s was able to make the time to cheer on her boyfriend from her suite at football stadiums in spite of her busy schedule.  The NFL, which hardly needed the exposure, seems grateful for all the Swifties who came aboard to discover for themselves what football is about.  Like any relationship, though, you have to wonder how long Taylor 'n Travis is going to continue.  If they don't, will all those Swifties find something else to do besides watching football?  How will the NFL survive without them?

Other Super highs and lows:

• It's been reported that 126 million of you watched the big game on CBS.  That's a big relief to a TV industry awaiting the return of its scripted shows after a long autumn of delays caused by striking writers and actors.
• CBS analyst Tony Romo, whose booth performance has been dissed by fans and critics alike, managed to make it through the game without saying something stupid.
• Beyonce tried to break the internet--again in a Verizon ad.  Arnold Scwarzenegger plays a State Farm insurance agent turned action hero. More talking infants. And Jesus apparently had a foot fetish.  Otherwise, the commercials were not great this year.

 Super Bowl 59 will be in New Orleans next year.  Mahomes has pointed out that the Chiefs can be the first team to win three straight championships.  Uh huh, and maybe the love story can continue for another season.  Just say yes.

The 2023-24 Owljock Bowl Board

 It's that time of year again.  Time to spread the word about 43 college football bowl games that are coming your way this holiday season, as sanctioned by the NCAA and mostly televised by ESPN.  Time to salute (?) the sponsors of such games who were willing to put corporate pride and a few million bucks aside, risking ridicule and anonymity to bring us pigskin entertainment.

First, a little background.

• Making up the four schools that will compete for the College Football Playoff championship in Houston January 8 are Michigan, Washington, Texas and Alabama.  No Georgia, the defending champion?  No Ohio State?  Not even undefeated Florida State?  You might say the Wolverines don't belong here because they allegedly stole signals during games, and coach Jim Harbaugh was suspended.  Alabama? Had they not defeated Georgia in the SEC title game, they wouldn't be here, right?
• This was the last season in college football before realignment rears its ugly head.  Next season, the SEC brings in Oklahoma and Texas.  The Big Ten gets even bigger with the addition of four west coast schools--USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington.  Stanford and California will join the Atlantic Coast Conference.  Most of the other Pac-12 schools, with the notable exception of Oregon State and Washington State, will be off to other conferences.  Will the last one to leave please turn off the lights?
• The biggest story of the early season was Deion Sanders, whose "Prime Time" antics set up shop as the new coach of the Colorado Buffaloes.  His overhauled team won big games and big TV ratings before the bottom fell out as the season went along, which is why you won't be seeing him anywhere except for TV commercials this season.  That doesn't mean we've heard the last of Deion Sanders, though.  He's just getting started.
• The University of Minnesota has once again made the Bowl Board this season.  But at 5-7 and only a win at Iowa to claim the Floyd of Rosedale trophy, coach P.J. Fleck's squad missed many more opportunities to bring home the bacon.  They'll be making their third appearance at a bowl game in Detroit the day after Christmas, and only because they were "academically eligible".  Like we always say:  If the Gophers are in a bowl game, you'll know there's too many of them.

As always, the Bowl Board works like this.  We mention what game it is, who's playing, where is it, and where you can watch it.  Plus a brief description of the game's main sponsor.  

So . . . ready for it?

Saturday, December 16

Myrtle Beach Bowl:  Georgia Southern vs. Ohio (Conway, SC) ESPN

Cricket Celebration Bowl:  Howard vs, Florida A&M (Atlanta) ABC

Cricket is a wireless provider.

R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl:  Jacksonville State vs. Louisiana (New Orleans) ESPN

Freight shipping and logistics

Avocados From Mexico Cure Bowl:  Miami (Ohio) vs. Appalachian State (Orlando, FL) ABC

Avocados and breast cancer awareness

Isleta New Mexico Bowl:  New Mexico State vs. Fresno State (Albuquerque, NM) ESPN

Locally based resort and casino.

LA Bowl:  UCLA vs. Boise State (Inglewood, CA) ABC

Hosted by Rob Gronkowski

Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl:  California vs. Texas Tech (Shreveport, LA) ESPN

Defense contractor.

Monday, December 18

Famous Toastery Bowl:  Western Kentucky vs. Old Dominion (Charlotte, NC) ESPN

All-day breakfast restaurant chain.

Tuesday, December 19

Scooter's Coffee Frisco Bowl:  TX-San Antonio vs. Marshall (Frisco, TX) ESPN

Coffee shop chain.

Thursday, December 21

RoofClaim,com Boca Raton Bowl:  South Florida vs. Syracuse (Boca Raton, FL) ESPN

Roofing repairs.

Friday, December 22

Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl:  Georgia Tech vs. Central Florida (Tampa, FL) ESPN

Mortgage lender.

Saturday, December 23

Birmingham Bowl:  Troy vs. Duke (Birmingham, AL) ABC

Camellia Bowl:  Arkansas State vs. Northern Illinois (Montgomery, AL) ESPN

Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl:  James Madison vs. Air Force (Fort Worth, TX) ABC

Defense contractor

Famous Idaho Potato Bowl:  Georgia State vs. Utah State (Boise, ID) ESPN

68 Ventures Bowl:  South Alabama vs. Eastern Michigan (Mobile, AL) ESPN

Gulf Coast developer.

SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl:  Utah vs. Northwestern (Las Vegas) ABC

Building products distributor.

EasyPost Hawaii Bowl:  Coastal Carolina vs. San Jose State (Honolulu) ESPN

E-commerce online shipper.

Tuesday, December 26

Quick Lane Bowl:  Bowling Green vs. Minnesota (Detroit) ESPN

Chain of auto service shops.

SERVPRO First Responder Bowl:  Texas State vs. Rice (Dallas) ESPN

Disaster reparation services.

Guaranteed Rate Bowl:  Kansas vs. UNLV (Phoenix) ESPN

Home mortgage lender.

Wednesday, December 27

Military Bowl presented by GoBowling.com:  Virginia Tech vs. Tulane (Annapolis, MD) ESPN

Bowling promotion website.

Duke's Mayo Bowl:  North Carolina vs. West Virginia (Charlotte, NC) ESPN

Southeast-based mayonnaise brand.

DirecTV Holiday Bowl:  Louisville vs. USC (San Diego) Fox

Satellite TV provider.

TaxAct Texas Bowl:  Texas A&M vs. Oklahoma State (Houston) ESPN

Online tax preparer.

Thursday, December 28

Wasabi Fenway Bowl:  Southern Methodist vs. Boston College (Boston) ESPN

Cloud storage company.

Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl:  Rutgers vs. Miami (New York) ESPN

Lawn mower manufacturer.

Pop-Tarts Bowl:  NC State vs. Kansas State (Orlando, FL) ESPN

Breakfast snack.

Valero Alamo Bowl:  Arizona vs. Oklahoma (San Antonio, TX) ESPN

Energy company.

Friday, December 29

TaxSlayer Gator Bowl:  Clemson vs. Kentucky (Jacksonville, FL) ESPN

Online tax preparer.

Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl:  Oregon State vs. Notre Dame (El Paso, TX) CBS

Breakfast cereal.

AutoZone Liberty Bowl:  Memphis vs. Iowa State (Memphis, TN) ESPN

Nationwide auto parts chain.

Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic:  Missouri vs. Ohio State (Arlington, TX) ESPN

Tire manufacturer and blimp flyer.  New Year's Six game.

Saturday, December 30

Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl:  Mississippi vs. Penn State (Atlanta) ESPN

Chicken restaurant chain.  New Year's Six game.

Capital One Orange Bowl:  Georgia vs. Florida State (Miami Gardens, FL) ESPN

Banking and financial services.  New Year's Six game.

TransPerfect Music City Bowl:  Auburn vs. Maryland (Nashville, TN) ABC

Translation services

Barstool Sports Arizona Bowl:  Toledo vs. Wyoming (Tucson, AZ) The CW/ Barstool

Sports entertainment website.

Monday, January 1, 2024

ReliaQuest Bowl:  Wisconsin vs. LSU (Tampa, FL) ESPN2

Cybersecurity company

Vrbo Fiesta Bowl:  Liberty vs. Oregon (Glendale, AZ) ESPN

Vacation home rentals. 

Cheez-It Citrus Bowl:  Iowa vs. Tennessee (Orlando, FL) ABC

Snack food

Rose Bowl Game Presented by Prudential:  Alabama vs. Michigan (Pasadena, CA) ESPN

Financial services.  National semifinal.

Allstate Sugar Bowl:  Texas vs. Washington (New Orleans) ESPN

Financial services.  National semifinal.

Monday, January 8, 2024

National Championship Presented by AT&T (Houston) ESPN

Communications giant.

 

NBA, NHL: First Time Champions

NBA:  Nuggets Strike Gold

Back in 1976, the National Basketball Association made peace with its rival the American Basketball Association by joining forces, adding the San Antonio Spurs, Denver Nuggets, Indiana Pacers and the New York (later New Jersey, now Brooklyn) Nets.  Of those teams, only the Spurs have won an NBA title, and they did it five times in a period between 1999 and 2014.

Until now.  The Nuggets defeated the Miami Heat in five games to win their first NBA championship Monday in Denver, a 94-89 win.  Nikola Jokic, who scored 28 points in the final game, was the Finals' Most Valuable Player.

The Nuggets were leading the Western Conference all season with their dominant play, then defeating the Minnesota Timberwolves and Phoenix Suns in the first two rounds of the playoffs.  But it took defeating LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers in the conference final for America to take notice of this team from the Rockies.

The Heat, behind the play of Jimmy Butler, made bigger headlines in defeating the Milwaukee Bucks, New York Knicks and Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference playoffs.  But they ran out of gas in the Finals.

Now let's see if the Nuggets can avoid being a one-shot Rocky Mountain wonder.

NHL:  Stanley Cup in Vegas, Baby!

The Vegas Golden Knights began play in the National Hockey League in 2017-18, and nearly became the first expansion team to win the Stanley Cup in its first season, losing to the Washington Capitals.

Six seasons later, the Knights have brought the Cup to the Las Vegas Strip.  They blew out the Florida Panthers 9-3 in Game 5 Tuesday in Las Vegas after a mostly competitive series.  Jonathan Marchessault of the Knights won the Conn Smythe trophy for being the playoff MVP.

The Knights were at or near the top of the Western Conference all season, the defeated the Winnipeg Jets, Seattle Kraken (in their second season) and Dallas Stars to get to the finals.

The Panthers made more noise in the Eastern Conference after just barely squeaking in, defeating the Boston Bruins (who had set an NHL record for most regular season points), Toronto Maple Leafs and Carolina Hurricanes.

Unlike the Nuggets, the Golden Knights have been competitive from the very start.  Do not be surprised if the Stanley Cup extends its residency in Sin City.

NCAA BB: LSU, UConn Win Titles. Clark and Reese Steal Headlines.

 First the results.  On Sunday, the Louisiana State (Lady) Tigers demolished the Iowa Hawkeyes to win the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament 102-85 in Dallas.  This is the Tigers' first national championship, as well as being coach Kim Mulkey's fourth title, with the first three coming at Baylor.  The game was marked by questionable officiating, high scoring and a big to-do over who's zooming who (apologies to Aretha Franklin).  More on this in a moment.

On Monday, the men's college basketball tournament was won by Connecticut in convincing fashion, a 76-59 win over San Diego State in Houston.  In a tournament marked by upset upon upset, sending the top seeds home prematurely, the Huskies stuck around long enough to win its fifth NCAA title since the Millenium.  That, for some reason, qualifies them as a blueblood program to go along with Duke, North Carolina, Kentucky, Kansas and UCLA.  In other news, Jim Nantz has called his last college basketball game for CBS, meaning he can spend more time covering golf and the NFL.  Ian Eagle takes over the Final Four mic next season.

But this is what people want to talk about:  An in-your-face gesture made at the end of the game by LSU's Angel Reese toward Iowa scoring machine Caitlin Clark, hiding her face while pointing to her ring finger in anticipation of the title she and her team was about to win.  Never mind that Clark had done the same thing in a previous game, this time a national TV audience saw what looked like a racial slap in the face.  It wasn't necessary, but then we're not used to seeing women athletes trash talking.

The thing is, Reese was in the right.  Her team had soundly defeated the Hawkeyes, she had won the Most Outstanding Player of the Women's Final Four, and certainly deserved that ring on her finger.  But we live in a time when the accomplishments of black athletes are overshadowed by more marketable white athletes of either gender. So they have to resort to things like this.

Clark, who's set a bunch of records on the court this past season to get her team into the Women's Final Four and defeating defending champion South Carolina, is certainly marketable  ESPN and ABC set viewing records for the tournament because people wanted to see her play, and because there was finally a reason to watch women's college basketball.  If she keeps this up, Clark could do the same for the WNBA.

But if Caitlin Clark needed a reminder that sportsmanship is a two-way street, she got one from Angel Reese.

Super Bowl 57: KC Wins Arizona Showdown

 Just like Wyatt Earp and his brothers and Doc Holliday had it out with the Clantons at Tombstone over a century ago, quarterbacks Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs and Jalen Hurts of the Philadelphia Eagles had their own showdown at Super Bowl 57 in Glendale, Arizona.   Just like the Earps and Holliday, Mahomes and the Chiefs were left standing in a 38-35 win over the Eagles.

Trailing by ten points at the end of the first half and Mahomes hurting because of the same knee injury he had in a previous game, the Chiefs turned the second half around to tie the game at 35.  Then with time running out, a gift from the heavens--well OK, it was the officials--when a holding penalty was called on the Eagles.  This allowed Mahomes to take a knee three times near the Eagles end zone until,with only a few seconds left, the Chiefs' kicker could boot the winning field goal.  This tactic is as stupid as freezing the kicker, but sometimes cheating works--not that we condone it.

Mahomes won his second Super Bowl MVP for this performance, which helps explain why he is the NFL's top quarterback in the post-Tom Brady era.  This is the third championship for Kansas City, and the second for Mahomes and coach Andy Reid.  They were the number one seed in the American Football Conference, defeating the Jacksonville Jaguars and Cincinnati Bengals in the playoffs to get here.

Philadelphia was the top seed in the National Football Conference, defeating the New York Giants and San Francisco 49ers in their playoffs.

This year's halftime show was done by Rihanna, a hit maker who hasn't been around much for the last few years, tending to her business interests and becoming a mother for the first time.  She ran through her list of tunes while walking through a series of platforms in midair with the greatest of ease.  The biggest headline came after the show, when it was announced that Rihanna was pregnant for the second time.  Unfortunately for her fans, this means less time making new music and preparing for a concert tour and more time tending to her family and her business interests.

Millions of dollars were spent on the commercials this year, and it seems they did more to confuse people than to sell its products.  Just how did the M&M Spokescandies take the power back from the clutches of Maya Rudolph? Companies sharing their ads to the point where you don't know who it's for? Jesus "gets" us? Are we supposed to believe Ben Stiller and Steve Martin like Pepsi Zero Sugar, or were they just acting?  Do we need another superhero movie?

According to estimates, 113 million of you watched all or part of Fox's telecast of the Super Bowl. It's the third highest number in TV history.  Kevin Burkhardt, who called the big game for the first time, was a nice change from the usual suspects--Joe Buck, Al Michaels and Jim Nantz.  But he needs work in bringing the drama.  Greg Olsen has been winning raves as a game analyst and should improve, at least as long as Tom Brady chooses to stay out of the Fox booth.

FIFA World Cup: Scars to the "Beautiful Game"

 Soccer (or football, as it's known in the rest of the world) has been called "the beautiful game" because of the way it's played, how goals are scored, and the unpredictability of it all.  Never was there a better demonstration of that than in Sunday's FIFA men's World Cup final in Qatar between Argentina and France.  For ninety minutes of regulation and thirty minutes of extra time, the two sides battled to a 3-3 draw, led by goal-scoring legends Lionel Messi of Argentina and Kylian Mbappe of France.  Then in the penalty shootout, Argentina outlasted France 4-2 to win its first Cup since 1986, setting off all sorts of celebrations in Buenos Aires and environs.  This is the best soccer has to offer, and most observers seemed to agree.

Croatia defeated Morocco to win third place, which is considered historic for the African country.  The little-regarded United States team got as far as the Round of 16 before Netherlands defeated them, which is quite a feat considering the Americans did not qualify for the 2018 Cup.

With apologies to Alessia Cara, the fact that this World Cup was held in Qatar exposed some scars to the "beautiful game" and who runs it.  This was a country that few know how to pronounce correctly, and is a little known Middle East fiefdom that saw no problem in limiting the rights of certain populations that resulted in bans on forms of clothing suggesting protest, or sacrificing the lives of migrant workers (allegedly against their will) to help build all those massive soccer stadiums in such a tiny country.  But they did show FIFA the money, and that's what counts.  Just like what it took for the Olympic Games to be held in Russia or China. Also, two journalists died while covering this World Cup:  Longtime American soccer correspondent Grant Wahl, and a photojournalist working for a Qatar TV channel.

Add to this the failure of a professional European soccer league, an American women's soccer league in crisis over allegations of various forms of harassment, and Major League Soccer's new TV deal with Apple TV + (home of "Ted Lasso") that lets Fox have some matches, but local telecasts go behind a paywall.

The next FIFA men's World Cup will be in North America in 2026, split between the U.S., Canada and Mexico.  Unlike Qatar, it will be played in the normal summer months of June and July, where you're not competing with the NFL and disrupting other European leagues.  Here's another opportunity for soccer to prove it can be beautiful without showing its scars.