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.