Sports 2018: Scandals and Comebacks

OK, so what else happened this year besides LeBron James moving west, another NBA title for the Golden State Warriors, Philadelphia's Eagles flying home with a Super Bowl, the Boston Red Sox winning another World Series, the Washington Capitals swigging the Stanley Cup, players taking a knee, and Colin Kaepernick does TV commercials instead of playing football?

• Larry Nasser, who was a team physician for USA Gymnastics and Michigan State University, is off to prison for sexually assaulting female athletes.  Because of what this man did (and the many gymnasts who were brave enough to point him out in court), women and young girls will think twice before ever trusting their bodies to team doctors again.  And unless your name is Simone Biles, the future of gymnastics in this country is in peril.
• Serena Williams, who pretty much is women's tennis these days, amazed the world with her comeback from a difficult pregnancy,  She also alienated a lot of folks for her meltdown at the finals of the U.S. Open, losing points for alleged cheating and the match to newcomer Naomi Osaka.
• Even though the PGA Tour promotes its golfers in its ads as "these guys are good", there's only one who still draws crowds and spikes tournament TV ratings whenever he plays:  Tiger Woods.  After a decade of injuries and scandal, Woods became relevant again in winning the Tour Championship.  Meanwhile, Brooks Koepka won two of the four golf majors this year (U.S. Open and PGA Championship).  He's good, too.
• The U.S. Supreme Court in April struck down a 1992 federal law prohibiting states from legalizing sports betting.  Who this benefits other than casinos in Las Vegas and states hoping to cash in on the possible tax revenue is hard to say.  But we won't be looking at the final score the same way again.
• After the Vegas Golden Knights went to the Stanley Cup finals in their first season, the National Hockey League is hoping lightning strikes again in Seattle.  That's when an expansion team will hit the ice come 2021.  The enthusiasm for hockey might be there, but one wonders if the folks in the Emerald City would prefer to see the NBA Sonics return.

In Minnesota, departures were the big story.

• Lindsay Whalen ended her long playing career that included a Women's Final Four appearance as a Minnesota Gopher, gold medals as part of the U.S. Olympic women's basketball team, and four WNBA titles with the Minnesota Lynx.  Whalen has returned to her alma mater as the new Gopher women's basketball coach, and so far her team is doing very well.
• Joe Mauer leaves behind a complicated legacy with his retirement as a Twins player after 15 seasons.  As a catcher, he won the American League batting title (the only catcher to do so) and for being the league's most valuable player.  When the Twins' fortunes soured, Mauer was moved to first base plagued by injuries and a massive contract that expired only last season.  But he'll be remembered as the hometown boy from St. Paul who made good, and that's enough.
• After being a big pain in the butt in demanding to be traded at the start of the season, the Minnesota Timberwolves obliged Jimmy Butler with a trade to the Philadelphia 76ers,  Since the trade, the Sixers are having a good season lodged in a playoff position (as of 12/28/18).  The Wolves are struggling as an under-.500 team well short of making the playoffs.

PASSING ON:  David Pearson, Willie McCovey, Dick Modzelewski, Paul Allen, Jim Taylor, Tex Winter, Dave Anderson, Stan Mikita, Tony Cloniger, Maria Bueno, Red Schoendienst, Dwight Clark, Carol Mann, Billy Cannon, Chuck Knox, Hal Greer, Rusty Staub, Roger Bannister, Ben Agajanian, Oscar Gamble, Warren Miller, Dan Guerney, Doug Harvey, Keith Jackson, Lee Leonard

The 2018-19 Owljock Bowl Board

To paraphrase Chuck Todd of NBC's "Meet the Press":  If it's the end of the college football season, it must be time for the Owljock Bowl Board.  But first, a couple of notes.

• Alabama, Clemson, Notre Dame and Oklahoma are this year's contestants in the College Football Playoff, which means there's a 75 percent of a team from the South winning the national championship.  The Crimson Tide, which has been the top-ranked team all season, is favored to win another title.
• The CFP semifinals will now be on the last Saturday in December, in response to calendar quirks and declining TV ratings,  That is, if the rotation falls on New Year's Day.  In which case, by tradition and contract, the Rose and Sugar bowls would host the semifinals.
• As usual, there's the whining over which teams got passed over for the four-team playoff, which usually leads to calls for an eight-team playoff.  This year it's Central Florida and Ohio State.  The Knights' crime is going undefeated in something called the American Athletic Conference, and playing pushovers just like the big boys do.  The Buckeyes won the Big Ten Plus title, but lost a key game or two for the committee to consider them.  Now coach Urban Meyer is leaving after the Rose Bowl, allegedly for health reasons, and will be replaced by assistant Ryan Day.

If you haven't been here before (or if you just plain forgot), here's how the Bowl Board works:  We name the game, who's playing and where, who's televising it, and a brief description of the game's sponsor and what they're known for (where appropriate).  Got all that?  Good. Let's get on with it.

Air Force Reserve Celebration Bowl:  North Carolina A&T vs. Alcorn State (Atlanta, GA 12/15)  ABC

New Mexico Bowl:  North Texas vs. Utah State (Albuquerque, NM 12/15)  ESPN

AutoNation Cure Bowl:  Tulane vs. Louisiana (Orlando, FL 12/15)  CBS Sports Network
Automotive retailer.

Mitsubishi Motors Las Vegas Bowl:  Fresno State vs. Arizona State (Las Vegas, NV 12/15)  ABC
Auto manufacturer.

Raycom Media Camellia Bowl:  Georgia Southern vs. Eastern Michigan (Montgomery, AL 12/15)  ESPN
Media company.

R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl:  Middle Tennessee vs. Appalachian State (New Orleans, LA 12/15)  ESPN
Shipping firm.

Cheribundi Boca Raton Bowl:  Alabama-Birmingham vs. Northern Illinois (Boca Raton, FL 12/18)  ESPN
Energy drink.

DXL Frisco Bowl:  San Diego State vs. Ohio (Frisco, TX 12/19)  ESPN
Men's clothing store chain.

Bad Boy Mowers Gasparilla Bowl:  Marshall vs. South Florida (Tampa, FL 12/20)  ESPN
Lawn mowers.

Makers Wanted Bahamas Bowl:  Florida International vs. Toledo (Nassau, Bahamas 12/21)  ESPN
Industrial park in Elk Grove Village, IL, near Chicago.

Famous Idaho Potato Bowl:  Western Michigan vs. Brigham Young (Boise, ID 12/21) ESPN

Jared Birmingham Bowl:  Memphis vs. Wake Forest (Birmingham, AL 12/22)  ESPN
Retail jewelry store chain.

Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl:  Houston vs. Army (Fort Worth, TX 12/22)  ESPN
Defense contractor.

Dollar General Bowl:  Buffalo vs. Troy (Mobile, AL 12/22)  ESPN
Retail chain.

SoFi Hawaii Bowl:  Louisiana Tech vs. Hawaii  (Honolulu, HW 12/22)  ESPN
Financial services.

SERVPRO First Responder Bowl:  Boston College vs. Boise State  (Dallas, TX 12/26)  ESPN
Disaster cleanup service.  Formerly Heart of Dallas Bowl.

Quick Lane Bowl:  Minnesota vs. Georgia Tech  (Detroit, MI 12/26)  ESPN
Auto care shops.

Cheez-It Bowl:  California vs. Texas Christian (Phoenix, AZ 12/26)  ESPN
Cheese crackers.  Formerly Cactus Bowl.

Walk-On's Independence Bowl:  Temple vs. Duke (Shreveport, LA  12/27)  ESPN
Sports restaurant chain.

New Era Pinstripe Bowl:  Miami vs. Wisconsin  (New York City, NY 12/27) ESPN
Sports apparel.

Academy Sports + Outdoors Texas Bowl:  Baylor vs. Vanderbilt  (Houston, TX  12/27)  ESPN
Sporting goods retail chain.

Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl:  Purdue vs. Auburn  (Nashville, TN 12/28)  ESPN
Financial services.

Camping World Bowl:  West Virginia vs. Syracuse (Orlando, FL 12/28)  ESPN
Camping and RV supplies.

Valero Alamo Bowl:  Iowa State vs. Washington State (San Antonio, TX 12/28)  ESPN
Energy company.

Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl:  Florida vs. Michigan (Atlanta, GA 12/29)  ESPN
Chicken restaurant chain.

Belk Bowl:  South Carolina vs. Virginia (Charlotte, NC 12/29) ABC
Regional department stores.

NOVA Home Loans Arizona Bowl:  Arkansas State vs. Nevada (Tucson, AZ 12/29)  CBS Sports Network
Mortgage lender.

Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic (CFP Semifinal):  Clemson vs. Notre Dame (Arlington, TX 12/29) ESPN
Tires and blimps.

Capital One Orange Bowl (CFP Semifinal):  Alabama vs. Oklahoma (Miami Gardens, FL 12/29) ESPN
Financial services.

Military Bowl Presented by Northrop Grumman:  Cincinnati vs. Virginia Tech  (Annapolis, MD 12/31)  ESPN
Defense contractor.

Hyundai Sun Bowl:  Stanford vs. Pittsburgh (El Paso, TX 12/31)  CBS
Auto manufacturer.

Redbox Bowl:  Michigan State vs. Oregon (Santa Clara, CA  12/31)  Fox
Movie and game rentals.  Formerly Foster Farms Bowl.

San Diego County Credit Union Holiday Bowl:  Northwestern vs. Utah  (San Diego, CA 12/31) FS1
Financial services in southern California.

TaxSlayer Gator Bowl:  North Carolina State vs. Texas A&M (Jacksonville, FL 12/31)  ESPN
Online tax preparation.

Outback Bowl:  Mississippi State vs. Iowa (Tampa. FL 1/1/19)  ESPN2
Steak and seafood restaurants.

VRBO Citrus Bowl:  Kentucky vs. Penn State (Orlando, FL 1/1/19) ABC
Vacation rental and travel website.

PlayStation Fiesta Bowl:  Louisiana State vs. Central Florida (Glendale, AZ 1/1/19)  ESPN
Videogame consoles.

Rose Bowl Game Presented by Northwestern Mutual:  Washington vs. Ohio State (Pasadena, CA 1/1/19)  ESPN
Financial services.

Allstate Sugar Bowl:  Texas vs. Georgia (New Orleans, LA 1/1/19)  ESPN
Insurance and financial services.

College Football Playoff National Championship Game Presented by AT&T:  Teams TBD  (Santa Clara, CA 1/7/19) ESPN
Communications giant.
  

Boston Red Sox: Almost Perfect

Once upon a time, the Boston Red Sox were a team of almosts playing in a national treasure of a ball park.  For nearly a century, despite legends like Ted Williams and Carl Yazstremski, the Sox almost:  Won a World Series.  Won the American League pennant, had it not been for those pesky New York Yankees.  Stayed out of last place.

That changed in 2004, when the Red Sox finally won a Series after a nearly century-long drought.  They did it again in 2007 and 2013.  This year, they became the first team in this century to win four World Series championships when they defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers in five games.  The pitching of David Price and Chris Sale, and the hitting of Steve Pearce and Jackie Bradley, Jr. made the difference for Boston.  Alex Cora became one of the few managers to win a Series in his first season.

Game 3 was notable for being the longest in World Series history, lasting 18 innings in nearly 7 1/2 hours. That's longer than the entire 1939 Series between the Yankees and Cincinnati Reds.  It was also the only game the Red Sox lost, as Max Muncy hit a solo home run into the midnight air at Dodger Stadium to win the game for L.A. in the 18th.  It was also 3:30 Saturday morning back East.

The Red Sox won 108 games during the regular season, then blew past the Yankees and Houston Astros (who both won more than 100 games) to win the American League pennant.  The Dodgers beat the Colorado Rockies to win their division playoff, then defeated the Atlanta Braves and Milwaukee Brewers for the National League championship.

Now that the Boston Red Sox are no longer the lovable losers with the iconic ballpark, they can concentrate on being one of the elite teams in Major League Baseball.  With the kind of season they had, there was nothing "almost" about it.  They were perfect.

NBA 2018-19: The Butler Did It

To combat the seeming inevitability of another Golden State Warriors NBA championship (they've won three of the last four)), LeBron James ditched his hometown of Cleveland for the second time for the bright lights of Los Angeles.  Kawhi Leonard was traded by the San Antonio Spurs to the Toronto Raptors, but he'd rather be in sunny California.  Carmelo Anthony plays for the Houston Rockets now.

All of that is overshadowed by what's going on with the Minnesota Timberwolves.  Coming off their first playoff appearance in at least a decade, it seemed as if the team had turned a corner.  That corner has turned into a cliff.  Jimmy Butler, the Wolves' leading scorer last season, has been making noises lately about wanting to play elsewhere.

Butler was brought to Minnesota by coach Tom Thibodeau from the Chicago Bulls, where they had both plied their trade.  He was supposed to provide veteran help for a team with young stars like Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins, but for some reason never got along with either of them.

The Wolves have had plenty of experience in dealing with unhappy players who wanted to be anywhere than playing for a losing team in a cold city.  Stephon Marbury wanted to be The Star instead of Kevin Garnett.  Then he became one--in China.  Latrell Sprewell turned down an offer because he wanted to feed his family.  Then he went bankrupt.

Butler made his trade demands clear--his wish list extends to the New York Knicks, Brooklyn Nets and Los Angeles Clippers, none of whom are title contenders.  He could have waited a year before his contract ran out and tested the free agent market, but the Wolves don't want to be left empty-handed.  So owner Glen Taylor has been busily trying to make trades with anyone who will have Butler, and who are willing to give up decent talent and/or draft choices in return.  So far, no luck.

Butler is still here, and it looks like he'll be on the floor for the Wolves when they open their season Wednesday at San Antonio.  The Wolves are now in a position where they can't live with Butler, but they can't live without him.  They have a winning record when he plays, and a losing one when he doesn't.  The team's playoff hopes depends on how long Butler sticks around.  We're guessing he and Thibodeau are both gone before the season ends, and the Wolves will miss the playoffs.

As for those NBA playoffs, the final will be between Golden State and the Boston Celtics.

NHL 2018-19: A Few Questions and Predictions

Will this be the Washington Capitals' hangover season, and I don't just mean from drinking out of the Stanley Cup one too many times?

What's the next act for the Vegas Golden Knights?  Will there be a residency for the Cup just like Cher or Celine Dion?

Is this finally the year a Canadian-based NHL team wins the Cup?  Could that team be the Toronto Maple Leafs, which hasn't won one since the last year the league had six franchises?

Are the glory days really over for the Chicago Blackhawks?

The Tampa Bay Lightning are another top contender.  How far can they go without general manager Steve Yzerman?

Are the Arizona Coyotes going to get a new arena or not?

Does Seattle really need an NHL franchise?  Methinks bringing back the NBA SuperSonics should be the first order of business.

For the Minnesota Wild, other than a new general manager (Paul Fenton), how do they expect to make the playoffs with basically the same lineup they had last season?  If they don't do well right away, how long will it be before Fenton finds a replacement for coach Bruce Boudreau?  And the Wild will replace "Let's Go Crazy" as its post-goal music.  Wasn't Prince a basketball fan?

WESTERN CONFERENCE TOP EIGHT:  Vegas Golden Knights, San Jose Sharks, Anaheim Ducks, Los Angeles Kings, Nashville Predators, Winnipeg Jets, St. Louis Blues, Dallas Stars.

EASTERN CONFERENCE TOP EIGHT:  Toronto Maple Leafs, Pittsburgh Penguins, Columbus Blue Jackets, Buffalo Sabres, Boston Bruins, Tampa Bay Lightning, Washington Capitals, Florida Panthers.

Twins 2018: That Was Not How You Baseball

The Minnesota Twins, who surprised everyone last year by doing well enough to get trounced by the New York Yankees in a one-game playoff, lived down to their expectations once again this decade.  They finished at 78-84, good enough for second place in the American League Central, but not good enough to prevent the Cleveland Indians from winning another division title.

Once again, injuries and ineffectiveness ruined the season for the Twins.  Byron Buxton and Miguel Sano--the alleged future of the franchise-- are this close to wasting their potential, spending time in the minors because either they got hurt or got fat (or both).  The free agents the team spent a ton of money for last winter didn't work out.  And the trades of popular players such as Brian Dozier (Los Angeles Dodgers), Fernando Rodney (Oakland Athletics) and Eduardo Escobar (Arizona Diamondbacks) in midseason were signs that the Twins were looking to the future.

Bright spots?  Jose Berrios had a great year on the mound, while Max Kepler hit 20 home runs.  And that's about it.

Then there's Joe Mauer.  With his massive and controversial contract expiring and talk of retirement in the air (he's played 15 seasons), he sure acted like he wanted to call it quits after the final game of the regular season at Target Field against the Chicago White Sox.  He got a standing ovation, had his daughters with him on the field, and donned catcher's gear one last time in the ninth inning to catch one ball.  After all this, why would Mauer want to stick around for another season or two?

Derek Falvey and Thad Levine, the brain trusts of the Twins organization, now must decide what to do with this team for the 2019 season to make them more competitive.   The first thing they did was to fire manager Paul Molitor, one season after he was named the American League's Manager of the Year for taking the Twins to the playoffs.  Molitor, who had two years left on his contract, did the best he could with the talent that he was given.  But if Falvey and Levine wanted to go in a different direction, then so be it.

As it stands, 2019 will provide another chance for the Twins to prove they can baseball.  And for the marketing department to come up with a better tag line than that.

UPDATE (10/25/18):  The new manager is Rocco Baldelli, who previously worked as the Tampa Bay Rays' major league field coordinator (don't ask).  He'll be charged with the task of bringing this team together, while paying attention to the numbers side of the players' equation to see which of them is more effective on the field.  It's called analytics, and not everyone understands how it works.  Not to mention that the Twins are one of the last teams to employ analytics, which they hope will translate to success on the field.  With this team, however, the numbers just don't add up.  That's what Falvey, Levine and Baldelli are facing.
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Our projected World Series matchup:  Boston Red Sox vs. Los Angeles Dodgers.

The NFL 2018: It's Lonely At The Top

When you're the most dominant force in American professional sports and in pop culture, as the National Football League is, everyone wants to take shots at you.  As the 2018 season gets underway, the reputation of the league has been fielding body blows.  To wit:

• Colin Kaepernick, the man whose taking a knee during the "Star Spangled Banner" to protest social injustice cost him a football career, continues to haunt the NFL with lawsuits and with becoming the new face of Nike's "Just Do It" ad campaign.  The controversy refuses to go away as long as Kaepernick sits, President Donald Trump yells about how un-American he and other (black) athletes are, conservative fans confuse protesting with disrespect for Our Flag and Our Troops while burning Nike apparel, and TV ratings go down. 
• Meanwhile, as long as Kaepernick sits, the NFL continues to employ alleged domestic abusers.
• New rules involving penalties on violent hits and the phasing out of kickoffs for the sake of lessening on-field concussions has its heart in the right place, but is confusing the heck out of everybody from players and coaches to referees, fans and broadcasters.  A little clarity, please?
• The NFL has replaced Papa John's with Pizza Hut as the Official Pizza of the league.  No amount of sausage and pepperoni could save former CEO and TV spokesperson John Schnatter from the wrath he faced over his use of the N word.  But Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones still has his back.
• Terrell Owens is now a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.  For reasons known only to Owens, he chose to have his induction ceremony in Tennessee instead of Canton, Ohio.  But then, T.O. has always marched to the beat of a different drummer.
• Johnny Manziel is back playing football, this time in the Canadian Football League.  After being benched by the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, Manziel was traded to the Montreal Alouettes, where he promptly threw too many interceptions and got injured.  But he's still turning his life around, right?
• Fox is the new home for the NFL's "Thursday Night Football" package.  CBS gets the Super Bowl in Atlanta this season.  Mike Tirico replaces Dan Patrick as host of NBC's "Football Night in America".  And ESPN's "Monday Night Football" trades in Sean McDonough (went back to college football) and Jon Gruden (went back to coaching the Oakland/Las Vegas Raiders)  for Joe Tessitore and Jason Witten.

Other than that, things are great in NFL-land.  Here's who we see as eligible for the playoffs come January.

NFC
East  Philadelphia Eagles
West  Los Angeles Rams
North  Green Bay Packers
South  Atlanta Falcons
Wild Card  Chicago Bears and New Orleans Saints

AFC
East  New England Patriots
West  Kansas City Chiefs
North  Baltimore Ravens
South  Jacksonville Jaguars
Wild Card  Pittsburgh Steelers and Buffalo Bills

At KSTP-AM, Reusse and Soucheray's Ride is Over

When KSTP-AM (1500) began running an ESPN-branded sports format in 2010, they built on the success of shows hosted by newspaper columnists Patrick Reusse of the Minneapolis Star Tribune and Joe Soucheray of the St. Paul Pioneer Press, which was left over from the conservative talk format they had.  They were also the radio home of the Minnesota Twins, and the University of Minnesota's men's hockey and basketball programs.

Now it's 2018.  The Twins and Gophers broadcasts have gone elsewhere, but 1500 ESPN (as they're currently known) is still the proud home of Minnesota United FC soccer matches.  The station lags way behind KFAN (KFXN-FM 100.3) in terms of audience and prestige.  You could say that KSTP was doomed from the moment KFAN switched its signal from AM to FM a few years ago, because AM radio does not have the cachet it once did.  That's why nearly every AM station will spend whatever it takes to put their signal on any leftover FM frequency they could find, just so they could say they're on FM.

So the Hubbard Broadcasting-owned station is making a few changes.  They swept out nine hours' worth of local programming effective after September 7, including Soucheray's "Garage Logic", Reusse's drive-timer "The Ride", and their jointly hosted "Sports Talk".  These shows were also heard across Minnesota in syndication.

Reusse and Soucheray had been hosting shows on KSTP separately and together for about 35 years.  They have been heard on Monday nights and later Saturday mornings with the wackiest cast of callers ever heard on Twin Cities radio, rivaling anything Charlie Boone, Roger Erickson and Steve Cannon ever did.

"Garage Logic", which has been on the air since 1993 as the only non-sports program on the station, is expected to continue as a podcast.  Maybe Soucheray could ask Tony Kornheiser, who also left radio for podcasting, for some pointers?

Also out the door at the Big AM 1500:  Phil Mackey and Judd Zulgad's late morning show, and newscaster John Hite.

What will KSTP do with all the free time it just created?  Put on more ESPN or syndicated shows?  Go back to right-wing talk (the elections are only a few weeks away)?  Start over with new, younger hosts?  From what we're hearing, even station management doesn't seem to know.

But we do know this.  Joe Soucheray and Patrick Reusse will be ending their radio careers at KSTP shortly after a farewell run at the Minnesota State Fair, having said that they never expected to be on the air this long, and that they've enjoyed the run they had.  So did we.

Trump Fouls LeBron on Twitter

President Donald Trump has picked up where Don Rickles left off as the new master of the insult.  The difference between the two is that Rickles was a stand-up comedian who used to denigrate celebrities, minorities and others on TV and in his nightclub act, and everyone thought it was hilarious.  Trump does much of the same thing in his Twitter posts and during his campaign-style love-ins.  But in his position as Leader of the Free World, nobody seems to know whether he's kidding or not.

The latest of Trump's controversial missives concerns NBA star LeBron James, who did a TV interview with CNN's Don Lemon to promote the startup of a school for at-risk kids in his hometown of Akron, Ohio.  James told Lemon that, among other things, the President was using sports to divide the country along racial lines.

After the interview aired, Trump tweeted that Lemon was "the dumbest man on television" who made James look smarter by comparison.  The President concluded by saying he liked Mike, which presumably meant he preferred Michael Jordan to James in the debate over who was the greatest basketball player in the last 25 years.  Or is it because Jordan plays golf?

Up until now, Trump hasn't insulted James for his past criticisms the way he has with other African-American athletes--most of whom refuse to be seen with him even if they've won a championship.  The President's remarks about James' "low IQ" must have been due to his bypassing college for the NBA, but that really has nothing to do with his intelligence.

The other reason is more political:  James recently left the Cleveland Cavaliers (for the second time) to go play for the Los Angeles Lakers.  Ohio is one of the states Trump needs to win re-election for a second term in 2020.  With LeBron out of the way and is now considered fair game, Trump believes he has a better shot at doing that.

Dozens of NBA and other athletes, including Jordan, have come to James' defense with tweets of their own which criticize the President.  But LeBron is too busy to care about that right now, what with his charitable efforts, the TV projects he's lined up, and just getting ready for next season with his new team.

Rickles, who died in 2017, is now considered a comic legend for getting laughs with his insults.  President Donald Trump, who used his tweets and public appearances to hurt and belittle people with his insults, is on his way to becoming a legend in his own mind.

World Cup: Vive le France!

The FIFA World Cup, soccer's quadrennial spectacle, ended with a tricolor hue Sunday in Moscow.  The French team defeated Croatia 4-2 to win its first championship since 1998.

The French, who became heavy favorites once perennials Germany, Brazil, England and Mexico all went down, benefited from handball fouls in the penalty area and a Croatian own goal.  But they also dominated the play for much of the match.  Kylian Mbappe became the first teenager (at 19) to score in the World Cup final since Pele 60 years ago, to go along with the three other goals he made in the tournament.  And the team was made up of players who emigrated from other countries, which should be something for President Donald Trump to think about.

Croatia, the second-smallest country ever to compete in World Cup, was in the process of gaining its independence from a war-torn Yugoslavia when France won its title in '98.  This time they made the biggest splash of the tournament, receiving a hero's welcome back home for finishing second.

This was the highest scoring World Cup ever with 169 goals.  Three Round of 16 matches and one semifinal ended in extra time and/or penalty kicks.  And fewer players were kicked out with a red card.

Russia excelled on and off the field as the host country in spite of such things as alleged doping of athletes, harassment of journalists covering the World Cup, and the specter of President Vladimir Putin.  And, oh yes, the punk rock band Pussy Riot made an unscheduled appearance on the pitch during the final to protest Putin's policies before they were led off by security.

Fox, which was televising the World Cup for the first time, did the best they could with the U.S. team not present and the decision to have their announcers call some of the matches off the TV monitors in their Los Angeles headquarters.  Predictably, with earlier starting times and lack of rooting interest, ratings took a tumble from the previous World Cup.

The U.S. did get a consolation prize when FIFA announced that they would co-host the 2026 World Cup with Canada and Mexico.  They're probably betting on better relations between the three countries after Trump leaves office.

All over France, they're still celebrating their victory.  As soon as the afterglow fades, it's time to defend their title in the desert kingdom of Qatar come 2022  Who or what emerges from the mirage remains to be seen.

They Are The Champions: Capitals, Warriors and Justify

In the past 36 hours, three champions have been crowned in hockey, basketball and horse racing.  These are their stories, in order of appearance.

Capitals Hit the Stanley Cup Jackpot

The Washington Capitals, established in 1974, won their first NHL Stanley Cup Thursday night in Las Vegas in five games over the Golden Knights.  They were established only last year.

The Capitals erased years of disappointing DC fans and hockey pundits when their expectations exceeded their grasp, having great regular-season records before flaming out in the early playoff rounds.  The fans would have been forgiven this season if they didn't quite warm up to what was going on with the Caps' playoff run.  They defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets, Pittsburgh Penguins (their long-time nemesis) and Tampa Bay Lightning on their way to representing the Eastern Conference in the Cup finals.

Alex Ovechkin, generally rated one of the best players never to have won the Cup, finally got his chance to drink from it in his 14th season.  He also won the Conn Smythe trophy for being the most valuable player in the playoffs.

The Vegas Golden Knights have just become the new standard for how to put together a winner in its first season, drafting a better crop of players than are usually allowed for expansion teams.  (Seattle and Quebec City, candidates for the next NHL franchise, should be so fortunate.)  After disposing of the Anaheim Ducks, San Jose Sharks and Winnipeg Jets in the Western Conference playoffs, Vegas became the first expansion team in 50 years (St. Louis Blues in 1968) to make the finals.

But the Stanley Cup now resides in the nation's capitol, not the entertainment and gambling capitol.  Maybe we need a new version of the old line about the baseball Senators:  "First in war.  First in peace.  First in the National Hockey League."

Three Times Golden

The Golden State Warriors won their third NBA title in four years Friday night in Cleveland, sweeping away the Cavaliers in four games.  This was the first Finals sweep since 2007, and the Cavs were on the receiving end of that one too (to the San Antonio Spurs).

Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Kevin Durant and the rest of the Warriors played their roles successfully, with Durant taking home the playoff MVP trophy.  This wasn't the powerhouse squad of past season, but they had just enough to get past the Spurs, New Orleans Pelicans and Houston Rockets to win the Western Conference.

The Cavs didn't have such a stellar year either, due to injuries and internal drama.  But LeBron James almost single-handedly pushed his team past the Indiana Pacers, Toronto Raptors and Boston Celtics for another try at a championship in his home town.

Like we said, neither the Warriors nor the Cavaliers dominated the NBA during the season.  But everyone thought those two teams for the championship for the fourth consecutive year, and there they were.  Whether they meet again for the fifth time depends on James' decision to either stay in Cleveland, or go somewhere else.

One thing we do know:  The Warriors will not be saluted at the White House by President Donald Trump.  He doesn't seem to want them there, and neither do the players.  But the Capitals are willing to fill the void.  Most of its players weren't born in the United States.

Justified at the Track

Until 2015, the horse racing world had been waiting since 1978 for a three-year old horse to win the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes in the same year.  Then came American Pharoah.  Now, for the second time this century, we have another Triple Crown winner.  His name is Justify.

Having won his first two TC races on muddy tracks, one wondered how Justify would do on the dry track at Belmont.  He did rather well, staving off the challenge of the other horses by half a length over the long distance to claim victory.

Justify is now the 13th horse to win the Triple Crown.  The wait for number 14 begins now.

The NFL and The Anthem: Love It or Leave It

Just in time for Memorial Day weekend, the National Football League's owners (without so much as a vote) decided to give its players a choice when it comes to Honoring America with "The Star Spangled Banner".  They can either stand for the anthem on the sidelines, or they can sit in the locker room until it is finished.  No more taking a knee unless it's to run out the clock.

This action meant that the league has caved to outside pressures.  They are afraid of President Donald Trump's attacks on players who take a knee.  They are afraid of plummeting TV ratings.  They are afraid of turning off fans when they should be worried about other things that threaten their sport, such as concussions, long games and hiring players with criminal records.  Most of all, they are afraid of losing money.  They'll gladly take payments from the Department of Defense in exchange for jamming "patriotic" messages down our throats to increase recruitment.

We seem to have forgotten that players such as Colin Kaepernick, whose football-playing career came to a screeching halt because of this, have resorted to taking a knee during the anthem to protest incidents of police brutality against African-Americans.  It was never intended to be an attack on America's manhood.  But that's the way it was interpreted by Trump, conservative activists and holier-than-thou veterans groups.  They'd rather see these players check their First Amendment rights at the door, or they can leave.

And what athlete wants to sit in the locker room while his teammates are saluting the flag, then risk getting booed and called a traitor by fans once he goes out onto the field?  This doesn't sound like much of a decision at all.

It's getting difficult, if not impossible, to separate sports from the rest of society.  Racial issues, sexual harassment, violence and other things have injected themselves onto the playing field, and athletes are making their voices heard.  We may not like what they have to say, but we should defend their right to say it.  Forcing them (and us) to salute a piece of cloth and a bygone way of life is not the way you Honor America.

UPDATE (6/5/18):  The Philadelphia Eagles will not get to celebrate their Super Bowl championship at the White House.  Trump disinvited them because not all the players agreed with his "my way or the highway" approach on standing for the anthem.  That's not how patriotism is supposed to work, but Trump seems to have a different set of values and we're all paying the price.

Lynx 2018: What Do You Do For An Encore?

The Minnesota Lynx have won four WNBA championships in this decade, more than anyone else in the league's history except for the Houston Comets in the 1990s.  They are excellence personified in a sports market where every other pro franchise (Vikings, Twins, Wild, Timberwolves and United) have had their hand-wringing moments.

But now it's a new season.  All the regulars are back--Seimoine Augustus, Maya Moore, Sylvia Fowles, Rebekkah Brunson and Lindsay Whelan--along with new faces Lynette Kizer, Danielle Robinson and Tanisha Wright.  The Lynx have said goodbye to Renee Montgomery (traded to the Atlanta Dream), Natasha Howard (traded to the Seattle Storm), Jia Perkins and Plenette Pierson (both retired).  And after a sojourn in St. Paul last season, the Lynx return to their newly remodeled digs at Target Center in Minneapolis.

Coach Cheryl Reeve has seen her status rise too, having also taken on the role of being the tean's general manager, which means she's now responsible for her players on and off the court.

Forgive Whelan if she's sometimes distracted this season.  She recently became head coach of women's basketball at the University of Minnesota (her alma mater), replacing Marlene Stallings, who has moved on to Texas Tech.  Whelan has never coached before, so the Gophers must see something in her besides boosting the program and selling tickets.  So far it's not a problem, since she's playing basketball during the summer and coaching it during the winter.

The challenge for the Lynx this season is not just to repeat as champions, but to do so in consecutive years.  They've won WNBA titles in 2011, '13, '15 and '17--all odd numbered years.  Which is why most basketball pundits are looking at the Los Angeles Sparks (the most recent champion besides the Lynx), Connecticut Sun and Phoenix Mercury as possible title contenders.  And the San Antonio Stars are now the Las Vegas Aces.

So what does the Minnesota Lynx do for an encore?  It comes down to how much longer they can delay Mother Time, and how much they want that one for the thumb.  We'll see what happens.

Wild and Wolves: Five and Out

Minnesota's extended winter is finally over.  So are the Wild's NHL season and the Timberwolves' NBA schedule, with both teams' playoff runs as fleeting as springtime snow.

The Wild finished their regular season with 101 points and a sixth consecutive Stanley Cup playoff appearance.  And for the sixth time they were shown the door early, this time to the Winnipeg Jets in five games.  It didn't help that (A) the Wild's two best players Zach Parise and Ryan Suter were out because of injuries, and (B) they also went a long time without scoring.  Goalies Devan Dubnyk and Alex Stalock could only do so much to keep the Jets grounded.

Years of big-name free agent signings such as Parise, Suter, Eric Staal and Matt Cullen with little to show for it has cost general manager Chuck Fletcher his job after nine seasons.  Bruce Boudreau will likely continue as coach for at least another year.

Whoever the Wild hire as GM will find that there's not much he can do to improve their lot in the draft as long as they are playoff regulars, or in the budget they have to sign current players and free agents.  Reportedly, most everyone in the Wild organization seems to agree that the roster needed to be tweaked more than to be torn down.  If they go in that direction, expect more early playoff exits.

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The Timberwolves qualified for the NBA playoffs for the first time since 2004, winning 47 games and the final Western Conference spot over the Denver Nuggets.  Their reward was in facing the top-seeded Houston Rockets, who in five games reminded everyone why the Wolves haven't been playoff contenders for 14 years.  They just folded like a cheap suit in the presence of the Rockets' James Harden.

In spite of all the hype around the Wolves' young stars such as Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins, the most impressive player on the team was veteran Jimmy Butler, whom coach Tom Thibodeau lured away from the Chicago Bulls.  Butler made quite an impact on the offense, which is why his absence due to knee problems and a few bad losses to bad teams almost drove the Wolves out of the postseason.

Towns and Wiggins (now the subject of trade rumors) were nothing if not inconsistent on the court all season.  How long is that going to last, or can we just chalk it up to their youth--an excuse that's getting old with each passing day.  Also, Thibodeau's reputation for wearing out his players seems to be coming true.

Maybe this season will be a stepping stone to better things for the Timberwolves.  They and their long-suffering supporters deserve it after more than a decade of missing out.  But remember folks, it doesn't take much for them to go back to the bad old days.

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This is where we like to project into June to see which teams will be facing each other for the right to be crowned masters of the hockey and basketball domains.  So here goes.

NHL:  Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Vegas Golden Knights

NBA:  Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Golden State Warriors

NCAA Basketball 2017-18: Triumph and Scandal

The NCAA Men's Basketball championship in San Antonio, Texas was won by Villanova for the second time in three years, defeating Michigan 79-62 Monday night.  Other than the Wildcats' domination, this tournament will be remembered for (A) Maryland-Baltimore County (a #16 seed) defeating Virginia (a #1 seed), and (B) Loyola of Chicago being this year's Cinderella.  Having not won a national title since 1963 (the year before UCLA began dominating college basketball), the Ramblers made it to the Final Four with a 98-year old nun as its mascot, but lost to the Wolverines in the semifinals.
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The NCAA Women's Tournament in Columbus, Ohio was won by Notre Dame, its first since 2001.  The Irish won on consecutive buzzer-beaters by Anike Ogunbowale, first in the semifinals over Connecticut (who were going for their 12th title under coach Geno Auriemma) for a 91-89 win in overtime, then another one against Mississippi State for a 61-58 victory.

OK, so UConn didn't win another national title like everyone said they would.  But at least another brand-name school did.
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This was also a year of scandal in college basketball, and the end is not in sight.  The FBI is investigating fraud and corruption in recruiting at several big-name universities.  One of those schools, Louisville, fired its coach Rick Pitino.  They also had to give up their 2012 Final Four appearance and their 2013 championship.  But not North Carolina.  The NCAA found no evidence of any wrongdoing in the Tar Heels' program, so they let them go.  Just like in the business world, there are some institutions of learning that are "too big to fail".

Twins 2018: Playoffs or Bust.

After the Minnesota Twins shocked the heartland by going to the American League playoffs as a wild card instead of another 90+ loss season, it's been widely assumed that this could be the start of bigger and better things for manager Paul Molitor's team.

Yes, the future looks pretty bright when you have young stars like Byron Buxton, Max Kepler and Miguel Sano on the field and at the plate, and with Trevor May. Ervin Santana and Phil Hughes on the mound.  Visions of facing someone other than the New York Yankees in the playoffs are dancing in fans' heads.  Or is that too many beers?

But then again:

• After promising to be more active in the offseason free agent market, the Twins fell way short in the Yu Darvish sweepstakes (the pitcher eventually signed with the Chicago Cubs).  They did manage to pick up a few past-their-prime players for the right price like they usually do (pitchers Fernando Rodney and Lance Lynn, for example), when they weren't raiding the financially-strapped Tampa Bay Rays' cupboard for the likes of Logan Morrison and Jake Odorizzi.
• The Twins couldn't get rid of Kennys Vargas or Brian Dozier, no matter how hard they tried.
• Jorge Polanco is out for the first 80 games of the season, suspended by Major League Baseball for using performance enhancing drugs.  He won't be available for the playoffs, should the Twins be fortunate enough to be included.
• Joe Mauer is in the last year of his contract, for better or worse.
• Ervin Santana won't be pitching for at least a month or two due to an injury.

None of this suggests that the Twins have any chance of overtaking the Cleveland Indians for the American League Central Division crown.  They won't.  They'll finish second again, but will this time be staying home for the postseason.  There's too many teams with much better records (and more money to spend) for the Twins to remain competitive.

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Here's who we think will make it to October.

American League

East  New York Yankees
Central  Cleveland Indians
West  Houston Astros
Wild Card  Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Angels

National League
East  Washington Nationals
Central  Chicago Cubs
West  Los Angeles Dodgers
Wild Card  St. Louis Cardinals and Milwaukee Brewers   

Enter Kirk Cousins, Exit Don Lucia

In what has been the most over-hyped, yet inevitable NFL quarterback free agent signings in recent Minnesota Vikings history (or at least since they got Brett Favre), the team finally got Kirk Cousins to sign on the dotted line.  For this to happen, they had to let last year's quarterback roster scatter to the winds:  Case Keenum to the Denver Broncos, Sam Bradford to the Arizona Cardinals, and Teddy Bridgewater to the New York Jets.  This is kind of risky because, if you're a team on the cusp of playing in a Super Bowl, you do not change horses in midstream unless you're forced to.  That's what happened last year when Bradford got injured after the first game of the season, leaving Keenum (who had just arrived from the Philadelphia Eagles) to take the Vikings to the NFC championship game, losing to the team he had just left.

Cousins did not have that opportunity during his years as the starter in Washington, but is expected to perform much better with an improved cast of characters in Minnesota.  The Vikings also signed Trevor Siemian from the Broncos to play backup when they could have kept Keenum, Bradford or Bridgewater to do the same job.  Depending on how the Vikings' 2018 schedule is set up (they're reportedly playing the Eagles in Philadelphia as the Thursday night season opener), Cousins will have plenty of chances to prove he's worth the money they spent on him.

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Don Lucia is stepping down after nearly two decades of being men's hockey coach at the University of Minnesota.  His resume is one of success:  Over 19 seasons with the Golden Gophers, his record was 457-248-73 (Overall, including prior stops at Alaska-Fairbanks and Colorado College, he had a 736-403-102 record in 31 years behind the bench).  His teams have won several conference championships, 13 NCAA tournament appearances, and two national titles in 2002 and 2003.

But Lucia and Minnesota became victims of the changing times in college hockey.  The Gophers switched from the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) to the new Big Ten conference, which meant trading in traditional rivals like North Dakota and St. Cloud State for the likes of Ohio State and Michigan--football schools that have hockey programs.  They haven't made the NCAA tournament in two of the last three years, and they're hosting this year's Frozen Four in St. Paul.  And they no longer have a monopoly on Minnesota talent with St. Cloud, UMD and Minnesota State Mankato rising in prominence.

For athletic director Mark Coyle, it's nearly decision time on what to do about his coaches besides naming a replacement for Lucia.  The jury is still out on football coach P.J. Fleck, whose team finished 5-7 in his first season.  Men's basketball coach Richard Pitino, after his team made the NCAA tournament last year, finished out of the running with a squad decimated by injuries and suspensions.  Marlene Stallings would have been a good candidate to be let go had her women's basketball team not gone as far as the second round of the NCAA women's tournament.

Don Lucia deserves the credit for keeping Gophers hockey near the top for all these years.  Now it's time for another coach to keep Minnesota competitive in the ever-changing world of college hockey, and to deal with fans and alumni who want nothing less than another national championship.  It won't be easy.

UPDATE (3/28/18):  The next Gopher men's hockey coach is going to be one of Lucia's former assistants from the national championship years.  He's Bob Motzko, who until recently had been the head coach at St. Cloud State.  The Huskies have had pretty good teams under Motzko, but moving down I-94 is going to be a step up in terms of talent and expectations.  Maybe he can handle it.

Pyeongchang 2018, Week Two: Triumphs and a Tragedy

The Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea is over.  The two Koreas have been getting along so well that they're planning on talks to maybe improve relations, and have invited the United States to join in.  President Donald Trump, who has sent the noted diplomats Vice President Mike Pence and Ivanka Trump to put in appearances during the Games, has sent a qualified reply.  So maybe the next time we hear the word Pyeongchang, it won't be in reference to a battlefield.  But we digress.

Here are the top five nations in the final medal count:

Norway  14 gold, 14 silver, 11 bronze=39 total
Germany  14 gold, 10 silver, 7 bronze=31
Canada   11 gold, 8 silver, 10 bronze=29
U.S.          9 gold, 8 silver, 6 bronze=23
Netherlands  8 gold, 6 silver, 6 bronze=20

The United States moved up to fourth place from the first week, thanks to the efforts of the following:

• Jessie Diggins and Kikkan Randall were the first American women to take home gold in cross-country skiing.
• The women's hockey team won its first gold since 1998, defeating Canada in a shootout.  Isn't that like winning the Wimbledon singles championship on tiebreaks?
• Lindsey Vonn closed out her Olympic career with a bronze medal in the women's downhill.  Or did she?  Mikaela Shiffrin, who won two Alpine golds herself, isn't sure Vonn's skiing off into the sunset just yet.  You'll see Vonn in China in '22 all right--as an NBC commentator.  Hey, she can't be any worse than Bode Miller, right?
• Now that the U.S. men's curling team won the gold medal in curling, will that sport end up being as popular as hockey was after the 1980 "Miracle on Ice"?

The Olympic Athletes from Russia (OAR) ended up in seventh place with 17 medals.  One of their two gold medals came in men's hockey, when they defeated an upstart German team in overtime.  It was a game that was better than it had any right to be, given that NHL players sat these Olympics out while Russian KHL players dominated.  Their last gold was in 1992 when, following the collapse of the Soviet Union, they were known as the Unified Team.

This doesn't mean that the OAR, the remnants of a Russian state-sponsored team that was disqualified from these Olympics for alleged doping violations, had cleaned up its act completely.  Two athletes were kicked out of the Games for testing positive for banned substances.  But they'll be given a hero's welcome in Moscow by President Vladimir Putin anyway.
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We hate to end this on a low note, but this bears watching in future Olympics.

Recently Dr. Larry Nasser, a Michigan-based sports physician, was sentenced to spend the rest of his life (and then some) in prison.  He was convicted in that state for sexually abusing hundreds of female athletes, including members of the U.S. gymnastics team. 

The next time you watch a sports event involving teens and/or young women, think about what it took for them to get to where they are.  There are people who train these athletes and care for their well being in a responsible manner.  But there are also some individuals who see a captive audience for their personal pleasure, and the damage they inflict can last a lifetime.

If you are a parent of these young athletes, your support and responsibility to them rests on your shoulders.  For the rest of us watching, we need to be more aware of the price of victory.

Pyeongchang 2018, Week One: Welcome to the Real World

The first week of competition for the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea began with an Opening Ceremony that included (A) North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un's sister and Vice President Mike Pence sitting in close proximity, with neither acknowledging the other, (B) an appearance by a shirtless, oiled-up Tongan dude in the Parade of Nations, and (C) the presence of NBC's Asian expert Joshau Cooper Ramo on their telecast, whose declaration that Japan had a lot to do with the transformation of South Korea as a nation (while neglecting to mention that they were under Japanese occupation from 1910 to 1945, and that many of their women were used as sex slaves) got him fired.  And with that, let the Games begin.

As of February 19, the top three medaling countries are:

• Norway with 28 (11 golds, nine silvers, eight bronzes)
• Germany with 20 (10 golds, six silvers, four bronzes)
• Canada with 17 (six golds, five silvers, six bronzes)

The United States has 10 medals (five golds, three silvers, two bronzes), which puts them in a tie for sixth place with Australia, France and Japan.

Most of those American golds have come from snowboarding (Jamie Anderson, Chloe Kim and Red Gerrard), which is the Olympics' attempt to get millenials interested in the Games.  In a more traditional sport, Mikaela Shiffrin won the women's Giant Slalom.

Shaun White also won gold in the snowboarding category for the third time in as many Olympics.  Unfortunately for him, the MeToo movement managed to overshadow his accomplishment as he got hit with questions about a sexual harassment settlement with a former female rock band member of his, claiming it was all "gossip".  White used the following day's appearance on the post-Matt Lauer "Today" show to apologize for using the word "gossip".  Crash and burn.

Skiier Lindsay Vonn (she once dated Tiger Woods, in case you didn't know) botched a gate during her run for gold in the women's Super G.  Then she heard from the thousands of not-so-well-wishers who'd rather see her break a leg than bring home a medal.  All this is because Vonn joined the list of athletes who have vowed not to be in the same room with President Donald Trump when it comes time to visit the White House.

And, oh yes, the International Olympic Committee's ban on doping Russian athletes, which has resulted in the country's official removal from these Games, and has forced its remaining (clean) athletes to compete under a different name and flag--well, how's that working out?  A curler just had his bronze medal in mixed doubles taken away for alleged doping violations.

One more week of all this.  What's going to happen next?

The Eagles Have Landed

The Philadelphia Eagles are the new Super Bowl champions, which is their first pro football title of any kind since they won the league crown in 1960.  They outscored and outsmarted the defending champion New England Patriots 41-33 in Minneapolis Sunday night.

It was an offensive show, with both teams combining for 1151 rushing yards, the most in Super Bowl history.  Patriots quarterback Tom Brady threw for 505 yards, which is also a record.

Eagles quarterback Nick Foles, who until recently was an understudy to starter Carson Wentz before his season ended due to injuries, threw for 373 yards and three touchdowns.  For that, he was named the Super Bowl MVP.  Oh yes, and he's also going to Disney World.

The Eagles are pretty much no-names next to the Patriots, but they did their job--keeping Brady out of the end zone with the game on the line in the final seconds, which is something he's done so many times before.  It's also not easy to outcoach the Patriots' Bill Belichick, but that's just what Eagles coach Doug Pederson did.

In the grand scheme of things, the Eagles are a one-season wonder, coming back down to Earth next season.  The Patriots, having won five Super Bowls in the first two decades of this century, will likely be remembered for as long as football is still played.

But for now, let the Eagles soar.

Among other things . . .

• There were a couple of plays in which receivers made spectacular catches in the end zone, but the excitement dissipated as they were subject to seemingly endless and nitpicky video reviews of whether or not it really was a catch.  This kind of thing has been going on all season, wasting everyone's time.  Even NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said he's in favor of modifying the "catch/not a catch" rules.  Over 103 million of you watched this year's NBC telecast of the Super Bowl, which is the lowest audience since 2009.  Paralysis by video analysis may be one reason why some folks are tuning out.
• You've heard this before, but it bears repeating with the country in the middle of a flu epidemic:  Can we please end the ritual of the Vince Lombardi Trophy going through the gauntlet of players from the winning team fondling and kissing the trophy before it gets to the podium?  Gross!  
• Justin Timberlake's halftime show didn't bring much of anything back, much less sexy.  It was just meh.  He tried to perform with a giant video image of Prince on what looked like the world's largest bedsheet, which only made him look and sound small.  And there was no Janet Jackson, the woman whose career he helped ruin the last time he played a Super Bowl by uncovering her nipple on live TV.  But Timberlake did mention several times that he was in Minneapolis, so there's that.
• The commercials that companies spent tons of money on to be broadcast during the Super Bowl weren't that great, though the ones from Amazon (celebrities subbing for an ailing Alexa) and the NFL (Eli Manning and Odell Beckham Jr. of the New York Giants spoofing "Dirty Dancing") came close.  But the people who run the estate for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. must have been hard up for money when they sold one of his speeches to Ram Trucks for use in a commercial.  Isn't money also the reason why we haven't heard the full version of King's "I Have a Dream" speech?
• The Twin Cities declared itself a success in hosting this carnival intended for the rich and famous.  But it will mainly be remembered as the coldest Super Bowl ever, and visitors just couldn't wait to get out fast enough.  Over to you, Atlanta.

Vikings 2017-18: Saving Their Worst For Last

Up until Sunday, there was the strong possibility that the Minnesota Vikings could have become the first NFL team to play a Super Bowl in its home stadium.  Even the league hadn't anticipated something like this, judging from the scramble to get U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis ready for the big event.

Now the Vikings are back to being merely hosts, having concluded their season by losing the NFC championship game to the Eagles in Philadelphia 38-7.  The way they played, they might as well not have shown up.

The Eagles proved why they were the NFC's top seeded team for most of the season with a better defense, a serious chip on their shoulders from being overlooked, and Nick Foles turning out to be the better substitute quarterback than the Vikings' Case Keenum.  The Eagles will now face the defending champion New England Patriots, who continue to make history by coming back to defeat the upstart Jacksonville Jaguars in the AFC title game.

Looking back, the Vikings' 13-3 division title winning regular season and playoff push hinged on a few factors:  Keenum having a career year in relief of Sam Bradford, an improved offensive line and a great defense.  They also benefited from getting breaks such as sending Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers to the sidelines with a collarbone injury, having a relatively weak schedule, and the so-called "Minneapolis Miracle".  That one involved Keenum throwing a last-second heave to Stefon Diggs for the game-winning touchdown in the divisional playoff over New Orleans.  Of course, if the Saints hadn't come back from a 17-point deficit to take the lead, none of this would have been necessary.

For next season, the Vikings have a lot of decisions to make, such as which quarterback to keep or say goodbye to.  Keenum, Bradford and Teddy Bridgewater are all eligible for free agency, along with several other players on the roster.  Coach Mike Zimmer also has to decide who his next offensive coordinator will be, because Pat Shurmur has been named the New York Giants' new head coach.

Was this Vikings season a fluke, or is this the best the team is going to get for the foreseeable future?  It's been four decades since they last played in a Super Bowl, and they've lost the conference championship game six consecutive times.  It would require another miracle to break the habit of turning in bad performances when a championship is on the line, and your fan base is subjected to yet another year of "wait 'til next year".  This is where the Minnesota Vikings are today.

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Now our official Super Bowl pick:  Patriots over Eagles.

Keith Jackson and Dick Enberg: Giants of the Mike

Keith Jackson and Dick Enberg were two of the most important voices of sports on TV in the late 20th century.  Much like Curt Gowdy, Chris Schenkel and Jim McKay in a previous generation, and Joe Buck, Al Michaels and Jim Nantz are in this one.

Both Jackson and Enberg covered the NFL, college football, the NBA, the Olympic games, boxing and golf.  Both had their trademark catchphrases.  For Jackson, it was "Whoa Nelly! and "Fum-BLE!".  For Enberg, it was "Oh My!" and "Touch 'em all".

Both men had different career paths.  Jackson was best known as ABC's voice of college football, covering many a big game from Michigan's "Big House" to the Rose Bowl aka "the granddaddy of them all", and everywhere in between.  He was also behind the mike for three World Series, the first season of "Monday Night Football" (1970), the United States Football League, and many other events for "Wide World of Sports".

Enberg began as a local sportscaster in Los Angeles in the 1960s, broadcasting Rams football, Angels baseball, and UCLA football and basketball during the John Wooden era.  Then for three different networks (NBC, CBS and ESPN, in that order), he called eight Super Bowls, nine Rose Bowls, and many Wimbledon tennis championships.  He also helped usher in college basketball as a TV sport with his coverage in 1968 of the Houston-UCLA game at the Astrodome, the first to be seen in prime time.  Later he did the NCAA Final Four men's tournament for NBC with Al McGuire and Billy Packer.

Both men did other things on TV besides sports.  Jackson appeared in commercials.  Enberg did game shows, most notably "Sports Challenge", along with a few acting roles in which he mostly played himself.

Both men chose to end their careers on a high note:  Jackson with the Rose Bowl national championship game between Texas and USC in 2006, Enberg with local San Diego Padres baseball telecasts.

And both men died within a few weeks of each other:  Enberg on December 21 at age 82, Jackson on January 12 at 89.  In an era where today's play-by-play announcers are anonymous by comparison and more likely to talk about "walk-off" home runs and "two touchdown" football games, they could have learned a thing or two from Dick Enberg or Keith Jackson on how to call a sports event without sounding like a corporate drone.

Alabama Gets Away. Again.

The University of Alabama's Crimson Tide won the national college football championship for the fifth time in nine years Monday in Atlanta, overcoming a 13-point halftime deficit to defeat the University of Georgia's Bulldogs in overtime 26-23.

Tide coach Nick Saban made the fateful halftime decision to replace his starting quarterback with a first-year student named Tua Tagovailas, who then proceeded with his teammates to complete the comeback by throwing the winning touchdown pass in overtime to DeVonto Smith, another first-year player.

For Saban, it was his sixth national title, tying him with another Crimson Tide coaching legend named Paul "Bear" Bryant.  For the state of Georgia, this is the second time in the past year that a local football team blew a big lead to lose the big game in overtime to a dynasty.

So the Tide rolls once more, even though other institutions of higher learning (including Georgia) spent tons of money to lure away some of Saban's assistants to be their head coaches.  But they still haven't learned how to defeat the master.  Saban is now 12-0 against his former assistants.

Elsewhere, the University of Central Florida declared itself national champions with an undefeated season.  But because they're not a Power Five school (Big 10, Pac-12, ACC, SEC and Big 12), they were ignored by the people who run the College Football Playoff and had to settle for a Peach Bowl appearance on New Year's Day.  Alabama, by the way, ended up with a 13-1 record.

The CFP turned out to be another Southern affair, with all four teams from the same geographical area (Alabama, Clemson, Georgia and Oklahoma) participating, with two of them from the same conference meeting in the final.  Those who complained about this lack of regional diversity have advocated for an eight-team playoff, which isn't going to happen at least until the CFP's TV deal with ESPN expires in 2025.  Until then, if you want to find the best college football anywhere, go south.