2010 Will Go Down As The Year . . .

Image by Profound Whatever via FlickrHuman error can still decide games.

Three teams--the NFL New Orleans Saints, NHL Chicago Blackhawks and baseball's San Francisco Giants--won their first titles in what seems like a lifetime.

John Wooden died a few months before the University of Conneticut women's basketball team broke the consecutive-winning streak set by the UCLA men's team he coached in the 1970s.

Terrell Owens and Chad Ochocinco on the same Cincinnati Bengals team meant nothing to their season.

The NFL takes concussions seriously.  Maybe too much.

The Minnesota Vikings will play anyone, anywhere, any time.  If they have to.

Michael Vick deserved a second chance in football--even President Obama thought so--but not with another dog.

If Brett Favre knew there'd be a season like this, he'd have stayed home.

The Heisman Trophy used to be a prestigious award.

Everyone complains about the Bowl Championship Series, but no one does anything about it.

Having a spiffy new ballpark couldn't mask the Minnesota Twins' shortcomings outside their own division, as the New York Yankees once again proved.

Just when you thought Jacques Lemaire was done coaching the New Jersey Devils, they pulled him back in.

No one wants to watch the Cleveland Cavaliers without LeBron James.

"The Decision" proves James is a team player, and not the next Michael Jordan.  He also didn't want to be a big fish in a small pond, so he chose to take his talents next to the ocean instead.

Other than Kevin Love, why would anybody want to watch the Minnesota Timberwolves?

Does anyone still want to be Tiger Woods?

Quick!  Other than Phil Mickelson, who won golf's majors this year?

The Canadians didn't win many gold medals at the Winter Olympics they hosted in Vancouver.  Just the most important ones in men's and women's hockey.

For one brief, shining moment, Lindsey Vonn became a household name outside the ski slopes.

The Minnesota Lynx added hometown hero Lindsay Whelan to a roster that included Seimone Augustus and Candice Wiggins, and they still found a way to avoid the WNBA playoffs.

Kim Kardashian dates athletes while sister Khloe married one.

The only Triple Crown winner in horse racing this year wasn't on the track, but at your local multiplex:  "Secretariat".

The one thing people will remember from soccer's World Cup in South Africa (besides the questionable calls):  those noisy vuvuzelas.

KFAN and KSTP-AM (aka 1500ESPN) are really talk stations that do sports.

George Steinbrenner, Sparky Anderson, Juan Antonio Samaranch, Ralph Houk, Manute Bol, Ron Santo, Bobby Thomson, Bob Feller, Merlin Olsen, Don Meredith, Bud Greenspan, Pat Burns, George Blanda, Dave Niehaus and Ernie Harwell called it a life.

2011 awaits.

The Owljock Bowl Guide

Image via WikipediaThe college football bowl season has begun.  Thirty-five games will be played between December 18 and January 10, with some of them featuring schools whose worthiness for post-season play is debatable.  They also provide programming for ESPN, which will televise many of the games.

Since corporations known and unknown began putting their names on bowl games, the original titles of them have either been pushed to the background or eliminated altogether.  (Example:  the Fiesta Bowl is now the TOSTITOS Fiesta Bowl, just like the Supremes became DIANA ROSS and the Supremes.  Thank goodness Destiny's Child never went that route with Beyonce.)  Some of these bowl titles are so bad, they're like naming your kids with the same first letter (as in Kim, Kourtney and Khloe Kardashian).

As a public service, we bring you The Owljock Bowl Guide.  First we'll give you the name of the bowl, then tell you who the sponsoring company is and what they do.  Prepare to be astounded.  (The list comes from ESPN.com.)

uDrive Humanitarian (Boise, Idaho)  transportation communications.

R+L Carriers New Orleans  Shipping firm.

Beef O'Brady's St. Petersburg  Restaurant chain.

MAACO Las Vegas  Chain of auto repair shops.

San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia

Sheraton Hawaii (Honolulu)  Hotel chain.

Little Caesars (Detroit)  Pizza delivery chain

AdvoCare V100 Independence (Shreveport, LA)  Nutrition supplements.

Champs Sports (Orlando, FL)  Sporting goods chain.

Insight (Tempe, AZ)  Business technology supplier.

Military Bowl Presented by Northrop Grumman (Washington, DC)  Defense contractor.

Valero Alamo (San Antonio, TX)  Energy company.

Bell Helicopter Armed Forces (Dallas)  Defense contractor.

New Era Pinstripe (Yankee Stadium)  Sports apparel.

Franklin American Mortgage Music City (Nashville, TN)  Financial firm.

Bridgeport Education Holiday (San Diego)  Online college.

Meineke Car Care (Charlotte, NC)  Auto repair shops.

Hyundai Sun (El Paso, TX--CBS)  Automaker.

AutoZone Liberty (Memphis, TN)  Auto parts chain.

Chick-fil-A (Atlanta)  Restaurant chain based in the Southeast.

TicketCity (Dallas)  Ticket reseller.

Outback (Tampa, FL--ABC)  Steakhouse chain.

Capital One (Orlando, FL)  Financial firm.

Rose Bowl Game presented by Vizio (Pasadena, CA)  Electronics.

Tostitos Fiesta Bowl (Glendale, AZ)  Snack food brand.

Discover Orange (Miami)  Credit cards.

Allstate Sugar (New Orleans)  Insurance.

GoDaddy.com (Mobile, AL)  Domain name registration.

AT&T Cotton (Arlington, TX--Fox)  Communications.

BBVA Compass (Birmingham, AL)  Financial firm based in the Sunbelt.

Kraft Fight Hunger (San Francisco)  Food giant teaming with anti-hunger organization.

Tostitos BCS National Championship Game (Glendale, AZ)  See Fiesta Bowl.

We did not include the following, for the simple reason that they don't have title sponsors:  New Mexico Bowl (Albuquerque), Texas Bowl (Houston), and the Gator Bowl (Jacksonville, FL). 

Vikings Lose Home and Game

The New York Giants' 21-3 takedown of the Minnesota Vikings Monday night wasn't exactly memorable.  They were eliminated from playoff contention.  With everything else that's going on, it should come as some sort of relief.

• The game was moved from the Metrodome, where the fabric roof collapsed under the weight of 17 inches of snow hours before it was originally scheduled.
• The "home" game was played at Ford Field in Detroit, where the division rival Lions usually played, before 45,000 folks who got free tickets and a regional Fox TV audience.  The way the game was played, they certainly got what they paid for.
• For the first time in 18 years and 297 games, Brett Favre did not start at quarterback due to a shoulder injury.  That meant we had to watch replacements Tarvaris Jackson and Joe Webb stumble around, failing to move the Vikings' offense.

Back to the Metrodome.  This isn't the first time the roof has deflated in the nearly three decade history of the stadium, and not just because of heavy snow.  It has also survived storms that dumped more white stuff than this.  This time, however, the Blizzard of '10 may have finally convinced even the most taxophobic Vikings fan that the Dome has seen better days.

With the lease coming up next year, the latest push to get a new stadium through the Minnesota Legislature has reached its most critical phase.  Unlike those other times, owner Zygi Wilf has You Tube evidence of a deflating dome to back him up.  If he doesn't succeed this time, it's hello Los Angeles.

In the more immediate future, it turns out that the Metrodome has seen its season end.  While it undergoes repairs, the Monday night home finale against the Chicago Bears will be played at the University of Minnesota's TCF Bank Stadium, even though (A) it's too small by current NFL standards--capacity is around 50,000, and (B) they'd need a waiver to sell beer there.  It's also going to be a frigid night

All in all, it's just one more thing in a season to remember for the wrong reasons.

Elsewhere . . .

Cam Newton of Auburn is the recipient of the Heisman Trophy as the best college football player of the year.  Did he really win it, or is it just on loan until his record's clear?

The Big Ten's two divisions are named Builders and Legends instead of the usual East and West.  It sounds like what the NHL did years ago when they named their two conferences in honor of the Prince of Wales and former league commissioner Clarence Campbell, and divisions in honor of Lester Patrick and Conn Smythe.  It was a bad idea then, and a bad idea now.

They Called Him "Dandy Don"

When "Monday Night Football" began on ABC in 1970, former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Don Meredith was brought in by Roone Arledge as part of the first three-man announcing team on TV.  Keith Jackson (later Frank Gifford) did play-by-play, Howard Cosell was the opinionated analyst, and Meredith was his country-boy foil.

Meredith did his best to enliven "MNF" for twelve seasons, especially when the games got boring.  When he wasn't needling Cosell, he would point out fans who stuck their middle fingers at the TV cameras, telling viewers that it meant their team was Number One.  Or when the game was all but wrapped up, he would serenade the nation to bed with the Willie Nelson tune "The Party's Over".

Meredith parlayed his success on "MNF" into an acting career, appearing on episodes of "Police Story" and in some made for TV movies.

None of this would have been possible if Meredith hadn't had an All-Pro career with the Cowboys, with whom he played from their expansion year in 1960 to his retirement in 1969.  He took them to the NFL championship game twice, and losing twice to the Green Bay Packers in the era of Vince Lombardi and Bart Starr.

As the song goes, they say that all good things must end.  For Don Meredith, it came at the age of 72 due to a brain hemorrhage.  He died on Sunday, but it was not announced until Monday.  Which happened to be the day when a nationally-televised football game would be played.

Giving Jerry Kill a Chance in Gopherland

Image via WikipediaIt's been seven weeks since Tim Brewster was fired as the University of Minnesota's head football coach.  So, when outgoing president Robert Bruininks' blessing, athletic director Joel Maturi conducted a nationwide search for a man who would (A) bring pride back to a moribund Gopher football program which had won three games this season, and (B) have previous head coaching experience.  Which wasn't something that occurred to Maturi when he hired Brewster.

After all that searching, the new Gopher football coach is . . . Jerry Kill, whose Northern Illinois squad was among those who helped send Brewster packing.

Yes, Kill has head coaching experience.  He's coached at several schools in the Midwest before landing the NIU gig.  This season he took his team to the Mid American Conference title game (they lost), and they are headed to a bowl game in Boise, Idaho (Kill won't be allowed to coach in it, however).

No, people in Gopherland aren't exactly thrilled with the choice of Kill.  They thought Maturi could have done much better.  But no self-respecting coach wanted to come to a program that seems to have a commitment to mediocrity.  The Gophers hadn't won a Big Ten title since 1967.  They haven't been to a Rose Bowl since 1962.  The best players in Minnesota are going elsewhere.  And the seats at TCF Bank Stadium won't be filled until U2 plays a concert there next summer.

Having said that, it's time to say something really controversial:  Let's give Kill a chance to prove himself.  Maybe he knows how to recruit players.  Maybe he knows how to have better relationships with alumni and local high school football coaches.  Maybe he knows how to compete in the rugged Big Ten, especially now that Nebraska is joining the conference.  Most importantly, maybe he could win some games.  The Rose Bowl will take care of itself.

In short, Jerry Kill may not be the coach you wanted.  But he just might be the coach the Gophers need.

A Year To Forget for Tiger Woods

Image via WikipediaTiger Woods has had a lousy year.  He ended it by losing the Chevron World Challenge--an unofficial event that benefits his foundation and invites a few select professional golfers besides himself--in a one-hole playoff to U.S. Open champion Graeme McDowell, who out-Tigered Tiger by erasing a four-stroke deficit in the final holes.

Things have changed since the night Woods rammed his SUV into a tree outside his Florida home, with wife Elin following close behind ready to whack him with one of his golf clubs.  We learned that the perfect golfer with the perfect life had a bevy of mistresses (real or alleged).  Most of his sponsors dropped him.  His actions became a textbook example of how not to respond to a crisis.  As a result, Woods' golf suffered.  He performed poorly in the few tournaments he entered, even at the majors he was supposed to dominate, not just win.

Now Woods stands before us with a life that's no longer perfect.  Elin has divorced him.  TV networks are mulling over whether to renew their contracts with the PGA Tour, since Tiger is no longer the ratings magnet he used to be.  And his hopes of overtaking Jack Nicklaus in winning the most majors in a career are fading fast, as he's getting older and new competitors--such as McDowell--are no longer intimidated by him.

But Tiger Woods is still an elite golfer, and he can still get back on top if he continues to play the way he did this weekend.  It just won't be so easy any more.

More Wisdom From The Weekend

• LeBron James' return to Cleveland Thursday, responding to an arena filled with angry fans that resembled a typical Tea Party rally in the only way he knew how.  He dropped 38 points as his new team, the Miami Heat, made short work of the overmatched Cavaliers.
• Ron Santo, longtime player and broadcaster for the Chicago Cubs, died Friday at the age of 70.  On Keith Olbermann's "Countdown" program that night, he named the Baseball Writers of America as his "Worst Persons In The World" for not selecting Santo as a Hall of Fame inductee while he was still alive.  Could it be that part of the reason Santo didn't get in during his lifetime is because he played for the Cubs?
• Auburn and Oregon will play for the BCS national championship in January.  Not who you thought would be there at the beginning of the season, right?  It kind of validates the BCS' decision to switch its games to cable.

The Weekend

Image via WikipediaVikings Win One For The New Guy (Well. We Can't Call Him The Gipper)

Leslie Frazier took the first step in staking a claim on the permanent head coaching position when the Minnesota Vikings defeated Washington 17-13.  In so doing, they won on the road for the first time in who knows how long.  On the other hand, quarterback Donovan McNabb lost to the Vikings for the very first time.  Maybe it's because the Redskins are not as good a team as the Eagles, the ones he left behind?

Gophers Close Out Season With Two Victories

Disaster was predicted when Jeff Horton took over as the University of Minnesota's interim football coach.  Then he did something his predecessor Tim Brewster could not do.  His team beat bowl-bound Illinois and Iowa in consecutive games, and captured the Floyd of Rosedale trophy to boot.  That won't stop athletic director Joel Maturi from offering the moon to some big-name coach, but Horton deserves consideration nonetheless.

The Wild's Blowout Weekend

After bad showings against the New York Rangers and Philadelphia at home, the Wild decided it was their turn to hang five goals on the Nashville Predators in the annual post-Turkey Day matinee at the Xcel Center.  Then they returned to their old habits the following night in Denver, giving up seven goals to the Colorado Avalanche.  The defense clearly needs work.

Montreal Wins Grey Cup

Rumor has it that the Montreal Alouettes won the Canadian Football League title in Edmonton with a 21-18 victory over the Saskatchewan Roughriders, giving coach Marc Trestman his second consecutive Grey Cup.  Trestman, as you may know, is a candidate for the Gopher coaching job (and maybe even the Vikings, unless owner Zygi Wilf gets stars in his eyes again).  But Trestman claims to love coaching in Montreal, and is still under contract there.    If you want to know about the game itself, check out the TSN (http://www.tsn.ca/) or CBC (http://www.cbc.ca/) websites for further details.

Zygi Wilf's All-Stars Implode

Image by Getty Images via @daylifeWith the firing of coach Brad Childress, the Minnesota Vikings are officially playing for 2011.  Leslie Frazier, the defensive coordinator who took Childress' place, gets the next six games to show fans and management that he deserves more than the 'interim' tag.

So why is this team, touted by many of the so-called football 'experts' to be Super Bowl material, the biggest flop in the National Football League this season with a 3-7 record--and would be the worst in their division if it weren't for the Detroit Lions?  Let us count the ways:

• Brett Favre skips training camp again, and had to be persuaded by some of his teammates (sent by Childress) who showed up at his Mississippi doorstep to come back for another season.
• Favre, at 41 and hobbling, no longer has the magic touch at quarterback.  But he insists on on playing for the sake of records, no matter what the cost to the team.
• The Randy Moss experiment failed.  Big time.
• Injuries and suspensions to key players.
• The defense gives up more points than the offense.

But the last straw for Childress was Sunday's game at the Metrodome, in which the Vikings all but laid down and died against the Green Bay Packers in a 31-3 loss.  Favre threw passes into the wrong hands.  Players bickered on the sidelines.  Fans booed and called for Childress' head.  It became obvious to all that something had to be done.

Did Childress deserve this?  Yes and no.  Yes, he lost control of the team.  Yes, he had an average coaching record of 39-35 over four seasons.  No, he did not get along with either Favre or Moss.  Both of them were foisted on him by owner Zygi Wilf, a man who desperately wanted a championship ring and/or a new stadium.  And the Vikings got to within one game of reaching the first goal.  Oh yes, there was a reason his nickname was "Chilly".

The Vikings face an uncertain future, whether Frazier remains coach or not.  Will this really be Favre's last season?  Is a major housecleaning in the works?  Will Wilf convince a big name former coach or general manager (some of them currently working in TV) to come here?  Can he persuade a Minnesota Legislature now dominated by Republicans to finally give the Vikings a new home?  Heck, will there even be a 2011 season? 

The answers should start coming as soon as this Sunday, when the Vikings go to Washington to play the Redskins.  One thing won't change, though.  Brett Favre is expected to start.

The World Doesn't Need Another Sports Blog (But You're Getting One Anyway)

Image via WikipediaWelcome to the Owljock Gazette.  It is dedicated to the proposition that those who can, do.  And those who can't, write sports blogs.

What we're going to do here should be familiar to anyone who's read my other blog, The Bludog Chronicle (and you really should if you haven't already.  You can find it at http://thebludogchronicle.blogspot.com/.  Sometimes, it's actually worth reading.)  Over there, we chew the proverbial fat on current events, the media and popular culture.  Over here, it's sports.

To get things rolling, here's some totally unsolicited random thoughts:

• The Minnesota Vikings' implosion is worse than we thought.  But coach Brad Childress will keep his job for the rest of the season.
• If Kevin Love scores 31 points and 31 rebounds in a game for the Timberwolves and few people see it, does it still count?
• The University of Minnesota football Gophers finally win a Big 10 game this season.  Just their luck.  Thousands of Twin Cities fans couldn't watch it because a snowstorm knocked out power.
• Ron Gardenhire finally wins the American League's Manager of the Year award.  Would he have gotten this honor if the Twins hadn't been swept by the New York Yankees in the first round of the playoffs?
• Does anyone still want to be Tiger Woods?
• Eva Longoria no longer wants to be a real-life Desperate Housewife, so she's shedding Tony Parker and his last name.
• What's the point of paying good money for a seat at a college basketball game if you're going to stand the whole time?  And you're the one who has to sit behind the student section?
• Baseball wants to expand its playoffs by adding two wild card teams.  If they insist on keeping the schedule as it is, maybe it's time to move the World Series to a neutral site and have Game 7 on Thanksgiving.
• Does anyone think it ironic that the better safety equipment is on athletes, the more violent the collisions are and the greater the chance of serious injury?
• Boxing used to be an important sport in America.  Now that it costs at least fifty dollars to watch a fight on TV and its numerous champions are so anonymous, does anyone still care?

Look for more of these so-called insights in the weeks, months, and maybe even years to come.