Stanley Cup Goes South. Again.

The Florida Panthers should have won the NHL Stanley Cup a week ago when they led the Edmonton Oilers 3-0. But the Oilers won the next three games to tie the Final and go to a Game 7. The Panthers won the Cup Monday, avoiding the embarrassment of being only the second team to lose it after taking a 3-0 lead. The Detroit Red Wings were that team in 1942, losing to the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The Oilers were the latest Canadian-based NHL team since 1993 to lose the Cup. But Connor McDavid, the league's best current player not to win Lord Stanley, got a nice consolation prize in being awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy for playoff MVP. A prize McDavid declined to accept in front of NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and a celebrating Florida crowd. Can you blame him?

In this decade, the Stanley Cup has resided in the NHL's warm weather outposts of Tampa Bay and Las Vegas. With the Panthers claiming the Cup for the first time in franchise history (they date back to the 1990's), one of the world's oldest championship trophies is again a Florida resident. Canada is so jealous. 

NBA Three Pointer: Celtics, Wolves and the TV Deal.

From the three-point line:

1. The Boston Celtics won their 18th NBA title Monday before the home folks at TD Garden, dispatching the Dallas Mavericks in five games. The Celtics were the best team all season, and there was little dispute over their worthiness to be a champion. Dallas? The way the Western Conference playoffs went, with new teams playing that could never have competed with Boston, let's thank the Mavs for coming out like they did.

2. The Minnesota Timberwolves, who had not been a serious playoff contender for two decades, finally became one this season. Led by Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards, the Wolves came within one game of the NBA Finals before losing to Dallas. Any chance of future success with a team like this (given their history) depends on two factors: (A) Staying together and staying healthy, which is where they have had problems in the past, and (B) Clearing up their ownership squabbles, starting with an arbitration dispute between current owner Glen Taylor and the two men he sold a chunk of the Wolves to: former baseball star and current entrepreneur Alex Rodriguez and businessman Marc Lore. We should know by Fall, if ever.

3. The NBA is almost ready to announce a new television deal with ESPN, NBC and Amazon Prime Video, once all the details are worked out.  What's missing is TNT, which might lose the games starting in 2025 after a few decades. But what basketball fans are worried about is what's going to happen with "Inside the NBA", the wraparound show that includes Shaquille O'Neal, host Ernie Johnson and lightning rod Charles Barkley that's been considered a better reason to watch TNT than the games themselves.  Well, Barkley's just announced that he's hanging up his mic after next season. But few people believe him. So however it comes out, the NBA will have a lot more platforms to play their games on.

College Basketball: Teams, Not Superstars, Win Titles

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

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

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

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

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

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Other Super highs and lows:

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

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

The 2023-24 Owljock Bowl Board

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

First, a little background.

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

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

So . . . ready for it?

Saturday, December 16

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

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

Cricket is a wireless provider.

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

Freight shipping and logistics

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

Avocados and breast cancer awareness

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

Locally based resort and casino.

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

Hosted by Rob Gronkowski

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

Defense contractor.

Monday, December 18

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

All-day breakfast restaurant chain.

Tuesday, December 19

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

Coffee shop chain.

Thursday, December 21

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

Roofing repairs.

Friday, December 22

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

Mortgage lender.

Saturday, December 23

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

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

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

Defense contractor

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

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

Gulf Coast developer.

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

Building products distributor.

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

E-commerce online shipper.

Tuesday, December 26

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

Chain of auto service shops.

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

Disaster reparation services.

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

Home mortgage lender.

Wednesday, December 27

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

Bowling promotion website.

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

Southeast-based mayonnaise brand.

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

Satellite TV provider.

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

Online tax preparer.

Thursday, December 28

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

Cloud storage company.

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

Lawn mower manufacturer.

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

Breakfast snack.

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

Energy company.

Friday, December 29

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

Online tax preparer.

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

Breakfast cereal.

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

Nationwide auto parts chain.

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

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

Saturday, December 30

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

Chicken restaurant chain.  New Year's Six game.

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

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

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

Translation services

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

Sports entertainment website.

Monday, January 1, 2024

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

Cybersecurity company

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

Vacation home rentals. 

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

Snack food

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

Financial services.  National semifinal.

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

Financial services.  National semifinal.

Monday, January 8, 2024

National Championship Presented by AT&T (Houston) ESPN

Communications giant.

 

NBA, NHL: First Time Champions

NBA:  Nuggets Strike Gold

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

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

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

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

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

NHL:  Stanley Cup in Vegas, Baby!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Super Bowl 57: KC Wins Arizona Showdown

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

FIFA World Cup: Scars to the "Beautiful Game"

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

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

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

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

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

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.

The 2021-22 Owljock Bowl Board

 Welcome to yet another year of the Owljock Bowl Board, our yearly compilation of holiday college football games played in various settings and sponsored by companies willing to risk humiliation just to get their names before the public.  It also helps to determine a national champion, sort of.

There are, by our count, 44 scheduled bowl games this year.  Last year, if you recall, half of the games were canceled because of the COVID-19 virus.  The others were either relocated or played in stadiums with few or no fans.  New bowls will make their first appearances in Los Angeles and Boston.  One is named for a celebrity (which used to happen with golf tournaments), and the other is being played at Fenway Park.

The College Football Playoff's final four is Alabama, Georgia, Michigan and Cincinnati.  The Crimson Tide is considered the favorite, as they are most years.  Georgia was merely a placeholder at the top of the rankings for most of the season before Alabama beat the Bulldogs for the SEC championship.  Michigan is here instead of TOSU (The Ohio State University).  They're still considered the Big Two when anyone outside the Midwest thinks of Big Ten Plus football.  As for Cincinnati, all the Bearcats have proved is that a non-Power Five school can make it to the big time.  Let's see if they're more than a novelty act.

This is how the Bowl Board works. In addition to the name of the bowl, who's playing, where is it and who's televising (mostly ESPN), we give you a brief description of what the sponsoring company does for a living.  Barring COVID-related cancellations and players sitting out to make themselves look good for the NFL draft, these games should proceed on schedule.  So here goes.

December 17, 2021

Bahamas Bowl:  Middle Tennessee vs. Toledo (Nassau, Bahamas) ESPN

Tailgreeter Cure Bowl:  Northern Illinois vs. Coastal Carolina (Orlando, FL) ESPN2

Tailgating event planner meets breast cancer awareness.

December 18

RoofClaim.com Boca Raton Bowl:  Western Kentucky vs. Appalachian State (Boca Raton, FL) ESPN   

Roofing repairs.

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

AT&T-owned wireless provider.

PUBG Mobile New Mexico Bowl:  Texas-El Paso vs. Fresno State (Albuquerque, NM) ESPN

Mobile games

Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl:  Alabama-Birmingham vs. Brigham Young (Shreveport, LA) ABC

Intelligence and defense contractor.

Lending Tree Bowl:  Eastern Michigan vs. Liberty (Mobile, AL)  ESPN

Online mortgage lender.

Jimmy Kimmel LA Bowl presented by Stifel:  Utah State vs. Oregon State (Los Angeles, CA)  ABC

Late night talk show host and brokerage-investment banking firm.

R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl:  Louisiana vs. Marshall (New Orleans, LA) ESPN

Freight shipping and logistics.

December 20

Myrtle Beach Bowl Presented by Tax Act:  Old Dominion vs. Tulsa (Conway, SC) ESPN

Online tax preparer.

December 21

Famous Idaho Potato Bowl:  Kent State vs. Wyoming (Boise, ID) ESPN

Tropical Smoothie Cafe Frisco Bowl:  Texas-San Antonio vs. San Diego State (Frisco, TX) ESPN

Restaurant franchise.

December 22

Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl:  Missouri vs. Army (Fort Worth, TX) ESPN

Defense contractor

December 23

Frisco Football Classic:  North Texas vs. Miami-Ohio (Frisco, TX) ESPN

United Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl:  Central Florida vs. Florida (Tampa, FL)  ESPN

Home mortgage lender.

December 24

EasyPost Hawaii Bowl:  Memphis vs. Hawaii (Honolulu, HW) ESPN

E-commerce online shipper

December 25

TaxAct Camellia Bowl:  Georgia State vs. Ball State (Montgomery, AL) ESPN

See Myrtle Beach Bowl.

December 27

Quick Lane Bowl:  Western Michigan vs. Nevada (Detroit, MI) ESPN

Auto service shops.

Military Bowl presented by Peraton:  Boston College vs. East Carolina (Annapolis, MD)  ESPN

Government security contractor.

December 28

TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl:  Houston vs. Auburn (Birmingham, AL) ESPN

Online ticket broker.

SERVPRO First Responder Bowl:  Air Force vs. Louisville (University Park, TX) ESPN

Disaster restoration services.

AutoZone Liberty Bowl: Mississippi State vs. Texas Tech (Memphis, TN) ESPN

Auto supply stores.

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

Southern California financial services.

Guaranteed Rate Bowl:  West Virginia vs. Minnesota (Phoenix, AZ) ESPN

Home mortgage lender.

December 29

Wasabi Fenway Bowl:  Southern Methodist vs. Virginia (Boston, MA) ESPN

Cloud storage for business.  Played at Fenway Park.

New Era Pinstripe Bowl:  Maryland vs. Virginia Tech (Bronx, NY) ESPN

Sports apparel manufacturer.  Played at Yankee Stadium.

Cheez-It Bowl:  Clemson vs. Iowa State (Orlando, FL) ESPN

Cheese crackers.

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

Energy company.

December 30

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

South Carolina-based condiment.

TransPerfect Music City Bowl:  Tennessee vs. Purdue (Nashville, TN) ESPN

Translation services.

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

National chicken restaurant chain.

SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl:  Wisconsin vs. Arizona State (Las Vegas, NV) ESPN

Building products distributor.

December 31

TaxSlayer Gator Bowl:  Wake Forest vs. Texas A&M (Jacksonville, FL) ESPN

Online tax preparer.

Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl:  Washington State vs. Miami (El Paso, TX)  CBS

Kellogg's Frosted Flakes.

Barstool Sports Arizona Bowl:  Central Michigan vs. Boise State (Tucson, AZ)  Barstool Sports.com

Sports website.

Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic, College Football Playoff Semifinal:  Cincinnati vs. Alabama (Arlington, TX)  ESPN

Tires and blimps.

Capital One Orange Bowl, College Football Playoff Semifinal:  Georgia vs. Michigan (Miami Gardens, FL) ESPN

Financial services.

January 1, 2022

Outback Bowl:  Penn State vs. Arkansas (Tampa, FL) ESPN2

Steak and seafood restaurant chain.

Vrbo Citrus Bowl:  Iowa vs. Kentucky (Orlando, FL) ABC

Vacation home rentals.

PlayStation Fiesta Bowl:  Notre Dame vs. Oklahoma State (Glendale, AZ) ESPN

Video game manufacturer.

Rose Bowl Game Presented by Capital One Venture X:  Ohio State vs. Utah (Pasadena, CA) ESPN

Financial services promoting new credit card.

Allstate Sugar Bowl:  Mississippi vs. Baylor (New Orleans, LA) ESPN

Insurance and financial services.

January 4

TaxAct Texas Bowl:  Louisiana State vs. Kansas State (Houston, TX) ESPN

Online tax preparer.

January 10

CFP National Championship Presented by AT&T:  Teams to be announced (Indianapolis, IN) ESPN

Communications giant. 

UPDATE (12/26/21):  The Military, Fenway and Hawaii Bowls have all been sacked due to COVID. Texas A&M was replaced by Rutgers to face Wake Forest in the Gator Bowl.  More to come?

UPDATE (12/30/21):  Wait, there's more.  The Arizona and Holiday Bowls have been canceled and Miami (FL) has begged off of the Sun Bowl.  But that game will continue because Central Michigan (who was supposed to play Boise State in Arizona) has become the last minute opponent for Washington State in El Paso.

World Series: Braves Ground Astros in Six

 The Braves franchise has played in three cities during its long history in Major League Baseball, winning one World Series in each one of them:  Boston in 1914, Milwaukee in 1957, and Atlanta in 1995.  Now, after moving to the Deep South in 1966 and in their third ballpark (Fulton County Stadium, Turner Field, Truist Park), they have added a fourth world championship and second in their current hometown.

Atlanta shut down the favored Houston Astros' bats to take the Series in six games, taking the lead early in those games with their own offense piling up runs with contributions from Freddie Freeman, Eddie Rosario and Jorge Soler.  Starting pitching from Max Fried, and a bullpen-by-committee featuring Will Smith (not that one) did the rest.  The final game was a 7-0 Atlanta shutout with Freeman and Soler hitting balls out of the park, and Fried with a stellar pitching performance.

Atlanta made it to the Fall Classic as one of the least regarded division winners in the National League, having gone through periods of injuries and illnesses to key players while breaking in some new players. They beat the Milwaukee Brewers and Los Angeles Dodgers in the league playoffs. 

The Astros, still trying to live down the signal-stealing scandal that overshadowed their 2017 championship, defeated the Chicago White Sox and Boston Red Sox to be the American League's representatives again. 

Atlanta's baseball team has its own baggage, and it has to do with the nickname Braves and all it encompasses. This has been going on at least since the team dominated baseball in the 1990s, and their fans are still performing the Tomahawk Chop at home games.

Cleveland's MLB team has changed its name to the Guardians, and the NFL franchise in the Nation's Capital is (for now) known as the Washington Football Team.  Now that Atlanta's baseball team has won the World Series, they're not expected to change their name anytime soon. 

Winning the Series also means payback for MLB taking last summer's All Star Game out of Atlanta because of Georgia's controversial decision to restrict voting privileges, and moved to Denver. 

Atlanta paid tribute to the late Henry Aaron this season by putting his Number 44 in center field at Truist Park. The team also paid tribute to him by winning a World Series--something he did once in Milwaukee. 

Bucks Stop With NBA Title

It has been half a century since the Milwaukee Bucks last won an NBA championship, when two future Hall of Famers named Lew Alcindor and Oscar Robertson led the team to their first title.  You might know Alcindor better as a Los Angeles Laker who changed his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, then won a few more titles.

In 2021, the Bucks defeated the Phoenix Suns in six games for their second championship trophy, winning 105-98 in the clincher at Milwaukee. Giannis Antetokounmpo, the team's focal point, scored a career high 50 points to wrap up a season in which, thanks to COVID-19, was anything but typical. 

The NBA 2020-21 season started around Christmas, due to the previous season ending in October.  The shortened and compressed schedule resulted in injuries to key players, and to rescheduling games around postponements due to the virus.

Then the playoffs came in mid-May. The Bucks won the Eastern Conference by defeating the Miami Heat, Brooklyn Nets and Atlanta Hawks. The Suns, led by Chris Paul, went through the Lakers, Denver Nuggets and Los Angeles Clippers to win the West.

LeBron James didn't make it to the NBA Finals this year, but he did make headlines battling Bugs Bunny at the newly reopened multiplexes for the new "Space Jam" movie. 

Marv Albert has called his last basketball, hanging up his mic following TNT's coverage of the Eastern Conference finals. He had been broadcasting sports for decades in his signature style that others have imitated, but never duplicated. He leaves as one of the greats, whether you are a basketball fan or not.  Yes Marv, your career still counts. 

This was not a banner year for the NBA, or for anyone else. For the Milwaukee Bucks and their fans, the only banner they care about is the one that's going up the rafters of Fiserv Forum next fall.

Lightning Strikes Stanley Cup Again

The Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Montreal Canadiens in five games Wednesday to win the NHL Stanley Cup, allowing it to establish a Florida residence for the second consecutive year. 

The Lightning won it before their home fans--something they couldn't do the previous season--when Ross Colton scored the only goal of the match. Goalie Andrei Vasilevskyiy, who shut down the Canadiens for much of the series, was named recipient of the Conn Smythe trophy as the outstanding player of the finals. 

The COVID-19 pandemic forced the NHL to shorten this past season to 56 games starting in January, with play restricted to teams playing each other within their own divisions and crowds gradually admitted inside arenas.  Still, that didn't stop some teams from shuffling their schedules due to players catching the virus.

The playoffs began in mid-May, a little later than usual.  The Lightning went through the Florida Panthers, Carolina Hurricanes and New York Islanders to get to the finals.  The Canadiens got past the Toronto Maple Leafs, Winnipeg Jets and Vegas Golden Knights to attain their first final since 1993. They were also the last Canadian-based team to win the Cup that year. 

This was also the final year for NBC to televise NHL games, dating back to the post-lockout year of 2005, which happens to be the longest relationship the league has ever had with an American TV network.  ESPN, ABC and Turner Sports will take over coverage next season. 

To close, two things.  First, Tom Brady of the Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers should not be allowed anywhere near the Stanley Cup. He's already notorious for tossing the Lombardi trophy to a teammate during the victory parade.

Second, and most important:  May we never see hockey in July ever again. 

Baylor and Stanford Win NCAA Basketball Titles, Despite Everything.

 After what could be called a one-year break, the NCAA crowned its champions in men's and women's basketball in spite of a pandemic and themselves.  Both tournaments were held in the vicinity of where the Final Fours were played (Indianapolis for the men, San Antonio for the women).  Both featured empty arenas with limited numbers of spectators, lack of bands and cheerleaders, and NCAA-mandated generic basketball courts.  But only one team on the men's side had to go home for violating COVID-19 protocols, defying predictions of massive forfeits on the way to that One Shining Moment.

Also defying predictions were the teams who won the tournaments.  Baylor blew out top-ranked Gonzaga 86-70 to win their first men's title.  Stanford edged out Arizona 54-53 to claim their third women's title under longtime coach Tara Vanderveer, their first since 1992.

Connecticut, which most of us have heard of because they seem to win championship after championship under coach Geno Auriemma, has actually not won a national title since 2016.  They claim the most-honored player in the land in Paige Bueckers, a freshman.  Yet they lost to a more determined Arizona squad in the Women's Final Four.

Gonzaga has its own freshman phenom in Jalen Suggs, who will forever be remembered for that Buzzer Beater for the Ages against UCLA in the Men's Final Four.  But they stumbled early against Baylor in the championship game and never recovered.  Yes, playing in a weak conference like the West Coast Conference doesn't prepare you much for the rigors of getting past opponents from bigger conferences such as Baylor.

Bueckers and Suggs played their high school ball in Minnesota and became big successes by bypassing the University of Minnesota to play out of state, following the example of other local heroes in recent years.  It's part of the reason why Ben Johnson is the Gophers' men's basketball coach instead of Richard Pitino after eight seasons, though he has landed on his feet at the University of New Mexico.

In addition to all the Covid shenanigans in Indianapolis, the NCAA got called out for short-changing the women at their tournament, from the lack of training facilities to cheap accommodations to courts that read "NCAA Women's Basketball" instead of "March Madness".  The NCAA's current TV contract with ESPN lumps the women's tournament in with non-revenue sports like ice hockey, lacrosse and gymnastics.  Yet the women's championship game got a better TV rating than the men's final on CBS this year.  It also helps if the game was a lot closer.

In spite of everything, the NCAA made it through a season pockmarked by games postponed or canceled due to players and coaches coming down with coronavirus, whether it was necessary or not.  Maybe next season there will be a vaccine, but not for arrogance and stupidity.