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.

The 2022-23 Owljock Bowl Board

 Another year, another Owljock Bowl Board.  We once again bring you the college bowl season schedule and the sponsors (plus one TV personality) willing to take the leap from obscurity to--maybe more obscurity?

This season there's 43 NCAA-sanctioned bowls that span from coast to coast (and sometimes beyond), with not only teams' reputations on the line but also a national championship.  As far as we know, games have yet to be canceled due to outbreaks of COVID and its other variants like they have been in the last couple of years.

But first . . .

• The College Football Playoff's final four this year is defending champion Georgia, Michigan, Ohio State and TCU (this year's Cincinnati).  What, no Alabama?  Something's not right here.  Well, after years of complaints that the same four schools get into the playoffs every year, the CFP has decided to extend its invitations to twelve teams beginning in 2024.  The number should really be eight, but ESPN would have two more years on its TV contract by then . . .
• The Big Ten has become a national conference to compete with the Southeastern Conference, adding Southern California and UCLA from the Pac-12 beginning in 2024.  And there may be more on the way if other conferences fail to keep its current members from leaving
• The TV landscape is also changing.  To match the SEC's move from CBS to ESPN, the Big Ten has partnered with Fox, CBS and NBC to televise games starting next season replacing the Worldwide Leader.

If you think the quality of the bowl games lack something, you may be right.  Not only are some players skipping games to save themselves for the NFL draft, but also for the transfer portal which allows them to change schools without penalty. 

So here it comes.  The bowl schedule includes who's playing, where's the game, where it's on TV (ESPN unless otherwise noted), along with a brief description of the game's main sponsor.  Know the drill?  Good.  Let's go.

FRIDAY, 12/16

Hometown Lenders Bahamas Bowl:  Miami-Ohio vs.  Alabama-Birmingham (Nassau, Bahamas) ESPN.

Hometown Lenders is a mortgage lending firm.

Duluth Trading Cure Bowl:  TX-San Antonio vs. Troy (Orlando, FL) ESPN

Duluth Trading sells work and outdoor apparel.  The "cure" is for breast cancer research.

SATURDAY, 12/17

Wasabi Fenway Bowl:  Cincinnati vs. Louisville (Boston, MA) ESPN

Wasabi is a cloud storage firm.  Game played at Fenway Park.

Cricket Celebration Bowl:  Jackson State vs. North Carolina Central (Atlanta, GA) ABC

Cricket is a wireless provider.

New Mexico Bowl: Southern Methodist vs. Brigham Young (Albuquerque, NM) ABC

Jimmy Kimmel LA Bowl Presented by Stifel: Washington State vs. Fresno State (Inglewood, CA) ABC

Jimmy Kimmel is a late night TV and awards show host.  Stifel is a brokerage investment bank.

Lending Tree Bowl: Rice vs. Southern Mississippi (Mobile, AL) ESPN

Lending Tree is an online mortgage broker.

SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl:  Florida vs. Oregon State (Las Vegas, NV) ESPN

SRS is a building products distributor.

Frisco Bowl:  North Texas vs. Boise State (Frisco, TX) ESPN

MONDAY, 12/19

Myrtle Beach Bowl:  Marshall vs. Connecticut (Conway, SC) ESPN

TUESDAY, 12/20

Famous Idaho Potato Bowl:  Eastern Michigan vs. San Jose State (Boise, ID) ESPN

RoofClaim.com Boca Raton Bowl:  Liberty vs. Toledo (Boca Raton, FL) ESPN

RoofClaim is in roofing repairs.

WEDNESDAY, 12/21

R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl:  Western Kentucky vs. South Alabama (New Orleans, LA) ESPN

R+L Carriers is in the freight shipping and logistics business.

THURSDAY, 12/22

Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl:  Baylor vs. Air Force (Fort Worth, TX) ESPN

Lockheed Martin is a defense contractor.

FRIDAY, 12/23

Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl:  Louisiana vs. Houston (Shreveport, LA) ESPN

Radiance Technologies is a defense contractor.

Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl:  Wake Forest vs. Missouri (Tampa, FL) ESPN

Union Home Mortgage is a mortgage lender.

SATURDAY. 12/24

EasyPost Hawaii Bowl:  Middle Tennessee State vs. San Diego State (Honolulu, HW) ESPN

EasyPost is an e-commerce online shipper.

MONDAY, 12/26

Quick Lane Bowl:  New Mexico State vs. Bowling Green (Detroit, MI) ESPN

Quick Lane is a chain of auto service shops.

TUESDAY, 12/27

Camellia Bowl:  Georgia Southern vs. Buffalo (Montgomery, AL) ESPN

SERVPRO First Responder Bowl:  Memphis vs. Utah State (Dallas, TX) ESPN

SERVPRO is in disaster reparation services.

TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl:  Coastal Carolina vs. East Carolina (Birmingham, AL) ESPN 

TicketSmarter is an online ticket broker.

Guaranteed Rate Bowl:  Wisconsin vs. Oklahoma State (Phoenix. AZ) ESPN

Guaranteed Rate is a home mortgage lender.  Game is at Chase Field.

WEDNESDAY, 12/28

Military Bowl Presented by Peraton:  Central Florida vs. Duke (Annapolis, MD) ESPN

Peraton is a government security contractor.

AutoZone Liberty Bowl:  Kansas vs. Arkansas (Memphis, TN) ESPN

AutoZone is a nationwide parts store chain.

San Diego County Credit Union Holiday Bowl:  Oregon vs. North Carolina (San Diego, CA) Fox

SDCCU  is a Southern California-based financial services firm.  Game played at Petco Park.

TaxAct Texas Bowl:  Texas Tech vs. Mississippi (Houston, TX) ESPN

TaxAct is an online tax preparer.

THURSDAY, 12/29

Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl:  Syracuse vs. Minnesota (New York) ESPN

Bad Boy sells lawn mowers.  Game played at Yankee Stadium.

Cheez-It Bowl:  Oklahoma vs. Florida State (Orlando, FL) ESPN

Cheez-It is a cheese snack.

Valero Alamo Bowl:  Texas vs. Washington (San Antonio, TX) ESPN

Valero is an energy company.

FRIDAY, 12/30

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

Duke's Mayo is mayonnaise sold in the southeast.

Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl:  Pittsburgh vs. UCLA (El Paso, TX) CBS

Tony the Tiger represents Kellogg's Frosted Flakes.

TaxSlayer Gator Bowl:  Notre Dame vs. South Carolina (Jacksonville, FL) ESPN

TaxSlayer is an online tax preparer.

Barstool Sports Arizona Bowl:  Ohio vs. Wyoming (Tucson, AZ) 

Barstool Sports is a sports website.

Capital One Orange Bowl:  Tennessee vs. Clemson (Miami Gardens, FL) ESPN

Capital One is in banking and financial services.

SATURDAY, 12/31

TransPerfect Music City Bowl:  Iowa vs. Kentucky (Nashville. TN) ABC

TransPerfect is in translation services.

Allstate Sugar Bowl:  Alabama vs. Kansas State (New Orleans, LA) ESPN

Allstate provides insurance and financial services.

Vrbo Fiesta Bowl:  Michigan vs. Texas Christian (Glendale, AZ) ESPN.

National championship semifinal.  Vrbo handles vacation home rentals.

Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl:  Georgia vs. Ohio State (Atlanta, GA) ESPN

National championship semifinal.  Chick-fil-A is a chain of chicken restaurants.

MONDAY, 1/2/2023

ReliaQuest Bowl:  Mississippi State vs. Illinois (Tampa, FL) ESPN2

ReliaQuest is in the cybersecurity business.

Cheez-It Citrus Bowl:  Louisiana State vs. Purdue (Orlando, FL) ABC

Cheez-It is a cheese snack.

Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic:  Southern California vs. Tulane (Arlington, TX) ESPN

Goodyear makes tires and flies blimps.

Rose Bowl Game:  Utah vs. Penn State (Pasadena, CA) ESPN

MONDAY, 1/9/2023

CFP National Championship Presented by AT&T: Teams TBA (Inglewood, CA) ESPN

AT&T is a wireless provider and communications giant.

That is all.

 

 

 

 

Astros Ground Phillies in World Series

The World Series ended Saturday night with the Houston Astros taking down the Philadelphia Phillies in six games to win their second title since 2017.  No banging trash lids or taping signs, just solid pitching and timely hitting carried the day.

What stood out during the Series was the first-ever combined no-hitter in Game 4.  Cristiano Javier (who went six scoreless innings), Brian Abreu, Rafael Montero and Ryan Pressly combined to shut down the Phillies.  In this era of pitch counts and managers being afraid to leave their best arms in the game for too long, maybe this was inevitable.  It will probably be a long time before we ever see another Don Larsen, who threw the first individual World Series no-hitter for the Yankees to beat the Brooklyn Dodgers back in 1956.

Dusty Baker, who's had a quarter-century's experience in baseball managing, finally won the big one to general applause as the man who righted the Astros' ship after the events of 2017.  He's also the third Black manager to win a world championship behing Cito Gaston of the Toronto Blue Jays and Dave Roberts of the Dodgers.

What isn't so celebratory is that this was the first time since 1950 (when the Phillies played the Yankees) that white and Latino players were on the World Series rosters, but not American-born Black players.  Not a good look for Major League Baseball, which usually takes a day to celebrate the first Black man to cross the color line by making every player wear his Number 42 during a game.

The Astros got here by defeating the Seattle Mariners and the New York Yankees during the American League playoffs.  The Phillies as the National League wild card got through the St. Louis Cardinals, Atlanta Braves and San Diego Padres.

Also in 2022, Aaron Judge became the third Yankee to hit over 60 home runs, banging 62 to win the American League home run title.  That's an impressive amount.  But Barry Bonds hit 73 for the San Francisco Giants in 2001 in spite of allegations of steroid use, and even Judge says Bonds' record is the true one.

Fox is still the main telecaster of the World Series, but Joe Buck split for ESPN to call Monday Night Football.  He was replaced by Joe Davis, who should be used to following legends.  Davis took over for Vin Scully, the longtime Dodgers and World Series voice who passed away this year.

No matter how baseball screws up, Scully might say it's always a great day to play a game.

Avalanche Rock The Stanley Cup

 Since the Quebec Nordiques moved to Denver in the mid-1990s, the newly-renamed Colorado Avalanche won two NHL Stanley Cup titles in their first five seasons (1996, 2001).  Sunday in Tampa, Florida, they claimed the Cup for the third time in defeating the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-1 to win their series in six games.  Arrturi Lehkonen and Nathan MacKinnon scored the game-winning goals for the Avs in the final game.  Cole Makar received the Conn Smythe trophy for playoff MVP.

The Avalanche had the most dominant team in hockey this past season, roaring through the regular season and into the playoffs with the efforts of Lehkonen, MacKinnon and Makar, not to mention the contributions of such players as Gabriel Landeskog and goaltender Darcy Kuemper.  They defeated the Nashville Predators, St. Louis Blues and Edmonton Oilers in the playoffs to get here.

The Lightning, who were already the two-time Cup champions, tried to become the first team from the Salary Cap Era (dating from 2005, when a labor lockout put the kibosh on an entire NHL season) to win three in a row--something that hasn't been done since the New York Islanders of the early 1980s.  Unlike the Avs, the Lightning struggled through the Toronto Maple Leafs, Florida Panthers (OK, they were swept) and New York Rangers to get to the final round.

In the Pandemic Era, the Lightning had to claim their championships inside a bubble in October at Edmonton (2020), and after a shortened but rapidly-paced schedule ending in the month of July (2021).  This season was extended to allow for NHL players to compete in the Beijing Winter Olympics, which they never did because of COVID postponements and misgivings about China's handling of the virus.  Tampa Bay lost the Cup a few days into summer.

Now it's the Colorado Avalanche's turn to hoist the Stanley Cup, then show it off to family and friends from around the world before starting the next season defending it.  They'll be the favorites to do so, but it won't come easy.  Just ask the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Golden State Wins Another NBA Title

 The 2022 NBA Playoffs were missing LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers for the first time in years.  But Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors picked up the slack in winning their fourth NBA championship in the last eight years (seventh overall, dating back to their origins in Philadelphia in the 1950s), and their first since moving from Oakland to San Francisco's Chase Center.

The Warriors beat the Celtics in Boston 103-90 Thursday night to clinch the title in six games, with Curry scoring 34 points to go with seven rebounds and seven assists.  For this and other exploits during the series, Curry is taking home the NBA Finals MVP trophy for the first time ever.

There were also contributions from players such as Klay Thompson and Draymond Green.  But Andrew Wiggins did not go unnoticed.  He also had a great series concluding with 18 points, six rebounds and five assists in Game 6.  In Minnesota, where the Timberwolves finally made it to the playoffs, Wiggins will be remembered as another disgruntled former Wolf making a name for himself someplace else.

The Warriors made their way to the championship through the Denver Nuggets, Memphis Grizzlies and Dallas Mavericks.  The Celtics got to the Finals by beating the Brooklyn Nets, Milwaukee Bucks (the defending champions) and Miami Heat.

This was not the most entertaining playoffs, with blowouts and one-sided games more the rule than the exception.  But watching the highlight video that is Stephen Curry certainly made up for it.  And for that, the Bay Area can celebrate another NBA championship.

The Final Fours: Kansas, South Carolina Win Titles

 Tales of two college basketball championships that took place over a two-night period:

NCAA Men's Basketball Championship:  Kansas 72, North Carolina 69

Held in New Orleans, this game was historic for the Jayhawks overcoming a 16-point halftime deficit to defeat the Tar Heels at the buzzer, the most ever in the NCAA men's tournament.  This was coach Bill Self's second title (the other was in 2008), and the school's fourth.

North Carolina, which has won a few national titles themselves, will have to settle for being the school that ended the career of Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski after beating the Blue Devils on Saturday in the semifinals, which is what this tournament will end up being known for.

Coach K (as everyone likes to call him) ends his 40+ year sojourn through college basketball with a 1202-368 record with stints spanning West Point (1975-80) and Duke (1980-2022).  He led the Blue Devils to five national titles and 13 Final Four appearances.  He can also count three Olympic gold medals, coaching the United States men's basketball team in the 2008, '12 and '16 Games.  Whether you liked him or not, Mike Krzyzewski certainly put Duke on the college basketball map.

As for Kansas, enjoy your title.  Reports are that the Jayhawks basketball program might get a major slap down by the NCAA for alleged recruitment violations, some of which have attracted the federal government's attention.  The world of college basketball is filled with a few people and programs like that. Only a few get caught.

NCAA Women's Basketball Championship:  South Carolina 64, Connecticut 49

At Minneapolis' Target Center, the Gamecocks rode Aliyah Boston's 11 points and 16 rebounds to dominate the Huskies Sunday night.  This was the second title for coach Dawn Staley, who last won in 2017. Coach Geno Auriemma's team hasn't won one since 2016.

In Minnesota, you would be forgiven if all you heard about was UConn's Paige Bueckers returning home to win a championship.  She played her high school ball in nearby Hopkins, who would have won a title in 2020 if a pandemic hadn't stopped her.  Bueckers was part of a vanguard of Minnesota athletes who took off for outstate universities to find fame and fortune instead of staying home and helping the University of Minnesota teams out of mediocrity, but you can't really blame them for that.

All this local focus on Bueckers has blinded us to the fact that there were better players on the court during the tournament.  Boston was named the outstanding player of the Women's Final Four, along with several national player of the year trophies including the 2022 Wooden Award.

Bueckers and Boston have more time to add to their legacies before moving on to "the next level", as college TV commentators like to say.  Women's basketball has a bright future, too, so long as outside forces don't conspire to take them down.  Being able to use the name "March Madness" for your tournament is just the start.

A Hollywood Super Bowl Ending

 The Los Angeles Rams became the second consecutive host team to win a Super Bowl, defeating the Cincinnati Bengals 23-20 in front of a packed house of celebrities and other corporate types at SoFi Stadium in nearby Inglewood, CA.  Rams QB Matthew Stafford threw a touchdown pass with less than a minute to go to Cooper Kupp in the end zone.  Kupp earned the game's MVP award for scoring two touchdowns and catching eight passes for 92 yards.

This is the Rams' second Super Bowl title in franchise history, but their first in Los Angeles (they did win one in 2000 while in St. Louis).  They also won the NFL championship in 1951.

For Stafford, this was more of a redemption game, finding success after years of misery as a Detroit Lion. For Odell Beckham Jr., who was injured after scoring first for the Rams, seeing his team pull out the game ended any thoughts of letting them down since they really didn't have much of a running game to begin with.  For Sean McVay, the youngest head coach (36) to win a Super Bowl, it comes with reports that he might quit coaching and go into TV.  For offensive coordinator Kevin O'Connell, he might become the next head coach of the Minnesota Vikings.

For the NFL, it was the climax to a playoff series of last-second finishes and upsets that few will ever forget. Not even Hollywood could come up with endings like those.

Halftime

It was a hip hop extravaganza with oldies acts Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, 50 Cent, Mary J. Blige, Eminem and relative newcomer Kendrick Lamar.  It was historic because you couldn't do a show like this back when they were popular (and maybe even now) due to content issues, and because of the NFL's own public embarrassments involving issues of race.  Eminem did make headlines for taking a knee at the end of his brief performance in support of Colin Kaepernick, the former Super Bowl quarterback who hasn't had an NFL job since he kneeled down during the national anthem.

The poor sound quality made the rapping unintelligible.  Either that or it was all pre-recorded.  But honestly, it isn't hip hop on TV unless the over/under on bleeped lyrics is around ten.  You hardly heard any Sunday night, possibly a new standard in restraint

The Ads

Despite all the (high-priced) celebrities' pitches for junk food, beer, electric cars, Bitcoin knockoffs, etc., there was no expensively-produced ad that really stood out.  Maybe they didn't have much in the budget after paying all the celebrities?

NBC

This was probably the last rodeo for "Sunday Night Football" as we know it.  Al Michaels will likely be replaced on play-by-play with Mike Tirico (a move long rumored), and take his talents to Amazon's new Thursday night package.  Which is interesting because in 2006, Michaels switched from Monday nights on ABC (which was moving its games to ESPN) to Sundays on NBC because he didn't want to work on cable.  Well, what's Amazon Prime Video?  It's a streaming service that delivers fewer viewers than cable, and will now be able to charge more on Prime to pay for the football.

Longtime sideline reporter Michele Tafoya has left TV to go into conservative politics.  She'll be on the staff of Republican Kendall Qualls' run for governor of Minnesota, hoping to unseat incumbent Democrat Tim Walz in the upcoming midterm elections.

NBC took a break from the Winter Olympics for several hours of Super Bowl coverage.  While we're all disappointed there's no head-to-head matchup between The Games and The Big Game, it probably would have been a ratings mismatch anyway.