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.