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.

(Tampa) Bay of Champions

 Tampa Bay added to its collection of professional sports championships in the past year with the NFL Buccaneers winning Super Bowl 55 on its own turf Sunday--the first team to do that.  They join the NHL Lightning (who won the Stanley Cup) and Major League Baseball's Rays for winning the American League pennant, but lost the World Series to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The National Football League made it through a coronavirus-plagued season without having to cancel a game, in a season no one thought should have happened.  But they did end up rescheduling games during the week, which meant that for the first time ever, we had Tuesday Night and Wednesday Afternoon Football plus Monday double headers.

THE GAME

Quarterback Tom Brady passed for three touchdowns to lead the Bucs to a 31-9 win over the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs at Raymond James Stadium.  It wasn't really close.  Patrick Mahomes, KC's wunderkind quarterback, failed to get his team in the end zone, thanks to the efforts of the Bucs' stifling defense and the Chiefs' tendency to draw flags at inopportune moments.

With this win, Brady now has won seven of the 10 Super Bowl games he's played in, mostly with the New England Patriots.  At 43, and in his third decade in the NFL, Brady has said he'd like to keep playing until he's at least 45.  He may be the greatest quarterback of this century, and of the Super Bowl era.  But of all time?  Considering the fact that the NFL has been in business for more than 100 years, the ghosts of Bart Starr, Johnny Unitas, Sid Luckman and others might have something to say about that.

The Bucs, an NFC Wild Card team, beat the Washington Football Team, New Orleans Saints and Green Bay Packers on the road to win the conference title.

The Chiefs only had to beat the Cleveland Browns and Buffalo Bills at home to defend their AFC championship.

EVERYTHING ELSE

• Raymond James Stadium sure looked full Sunday.  A closer look reveals that of those 50,000 filled seats, 25,000 of those were live human beings (7,000 of those were "healthcare heroes" that got in free, as long as they were vaccinated), and 30,000 were cardboard cutouts for social distancing purposes.  After the game, despite predictions from the likes of Dr. Anthony Fauci that this Super Bowl was going to be a Super Spreader event, not many folks were wearing masks, were they?  Of course, this is Florida, a state not exactly known for its restraint.
• Instead of a Boomer favorite to play its halftime show, the NFL chose a current popular act named The Weeknd.  The show wasn't great by any means, but it will boost The Weeknd's profile among those who had never heard him before (which is most of America) or are baffled as to how he spells his name.
• The commercials for the CBS telecast were more notable for who wasn't there than who was.  Owing to the pandemic and the general tone of 2020, Budweiser decided to leave its Clydesdales at home this year.  But fellow Anheuser-Busch brands such as Bud Light more than picked up the slack.  The ads in general weren't great.  They were mostly bland and tried to be funny.  And all those ads for Paramount+, CBS' rebranded streaming service, was a Rocky Mountain Low.
• History was made when a female official refereed the Big Game. two female coaches were on the sidelines, and the poet who made a name for herself at President Biden's Inauguration contributed a piece on frontline workers.  But the NFL's TV commercial promoting racial tolerance somehow neglected to mention Colin Kaepernick. 
  

Crimson Tide In, Buckeyes Out

 Despite a deadly pandemic that's been ravaging America for almost a year, the 2020 college football season somehow managed to make it past all the outbreaks, postponements and cancellations of games played by athletes who risked their lives and scholarships in empty stadiums for the benefit of you watching from home.

Nearly 15,000 masked and socially distanced patrons made their way into Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Monday night to watch the Alabama Crimson Tide win the College Football Playoff championship, pummeling Ohio State's Buckeyes 52-24.  Heisman Trophy winner DeVanta Smith had a night for the Tide, scoring three touchdowns and running for 215 yards in the first half alone.  Quarterback Mac James threw for five touchdown passes.  Najee Harris scored three of his own.

This was Alabama's sixth national championship in over a decade, having completed an undefeated (13-0) season playing mostly SEC conference opponents due to the pandemic. Coach Nick Saban made a little history too, with his seventh national title (the first was at LSU) surpassing another Tide legend, Paul William "Bear" Bryant.

Before getting run off the field by Alabama, there was some question as to whether Ohio State should have been in the CFP in the first place.  Because of game cancellations during the season due to COVID-19 (including one with hated rival Michigan), the Buckeyes found themselves two games short of bowl eligibility.  But because they are The Ohio State University, the Big Ten found a way for them to play in the conference's championship game at Indianapolis against Northwestern.  The Buckeyes won the game, and the chance to be the conference's representative in the CFP.  They surprised a few folks by defeating defending champion Clemson at the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans, while Alabama took down Notre Dame at the Rose Bowl (at Arlington, TX.  Don't ask.).

So Alabama wins another football title.  This has been going on for so many years that critics have advocated expanding the College Football Playoff to at least eight teams, for variety's sake.  It won't happen for another five years, because that's how long ESPN's TV contract has to run.  Sure, what's another five years of Clemson vs. Alabama for the national championship?  Players come and go, but coaches always get their money. Pandemic or no pandemic.

The 2020-21 Owljock Bowl Board

Alert:  some material has been updated.

Welcome to this year's Owljock Bowl Board.

There are normally more than 40 NCAA-sanctioned postseason football games, with almost as many title sponsors selling everything from financial services to regional fast food restaurants. This year there are 27, with 17 bowls (by our count) opting to cancel due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and college football's decision to press on with the regular season despite having to cancel/postpone a number of games because of coaches and players testing positive or getting sick.

A moment of silence, please, for the bowls that won't be held this year:

• Bahamas Bowl
• Celebration Bowl
• Fenway Bowl
• Hawaii Bowl
• Holiday Bowl
• Las Vegas Bowl
• Los Angeles Bowl
• Pinstripe Bowl
• Quick Lane Bowl
• Redbox Bowl
• Sun Bowl
• Frisco Bowl
• Birmingham Bowl  
• Guaranteed Rate Bowl
• Gasparilla Bowl
• Military Bowl
• Independence
  

Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State and Notre Dame have all been announced as participants in this year's College Football Playoff.  The Crimson Tide and Tigers were expected, while the Buckeyes and Fighting Irish are here because of who they are.  If the Big Ten conference hadn't agreed to bend the rules in favor of Ohio State in matters such as, let's say, playing for the conference championship despite having played fewer games than teams with a better record (Indiana), then the Buckeyes would be sitting at home, wouldn't they?

For the first time since 1942, the Rose Bowl won't be played in California.  The first time came a few weeks after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, with fears that the West Coast might be under Japanese attack.  So the game between Oregon State and Duke was moved to North Carolina.  This time, its chances of hosting a CFP semifinal diminished when requests to let a few hundred family members into the stadium during a pandemic were denied by California's stringent anti-virus codes.  So the game was moved to Arlington, Texas, where presumably the coronavirus statutes are a little more lax than health officials would like.

Here's what's left of the bowl schedule, which will be played strictly for the TV cameras in mostly empty stadiums with few to no spectators.  With one exception, all games will be seen on the ESPN Family of Networks.  We will, as usual, provide brief descriptions of the company sponsoring the bowl in the event you've never heard of them before (and in some cases, neither have we).  Because this is still 2020, games and matchups are subject to change.

December 21, 2020

Myrtle Beach Bowl:  Appalachian State vs. North Texas (Conway, SC) ESPN

December 22, 2020

Famous Idaho Potato Bowl:  Tulane vs. Nevada (Boise, ID)  ESPN

RoofClaim.com Boca Raton Bowl:  Central Florida vs. Brigham Young (Boca Raton, FL) ESPN

Roofing repairs.

December 23, 2020

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

Freight shipping and logistics.

Montgomery Bowl:  Memphis vs. Florida Atlantic (Montgomery, AL) ESPN

December 24, 2020

New Mexico Bowl:  Hawaii vs. Houston (Frisco, TX) ESPN

Moved from Albuquerque, NM.

December 25, 2020

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

December 26, 2020

Cure Bowl:  Liberty vs. Coastal Carolina (Orlando, FL) ESPN

Breast cancer awareness.

SERVPRO First Responder Bowl:  Louisiana vs. Texas-San Antonio (Dallas, TX) ABC

Disaster restoration services.

LendingTree Bowl:  Western Kentucky vs. Georgia State (Mobile, AL) ESPN

Personal finance website.

December 29, 2020

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

Cheese snack food.

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

Energy company.

December 30, 2020

Duke's Mayo Bowl:  Wake Forest vs. Wisconsin (Charlotte, NC) ESPN

South Carolina-based condiment.

TransPerfect Music City Bowl:  Iowa vs. Missouri (Nashville, TN) ESPN

Translation services.

Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic:  Oklahoma vs. Florida (Arlington, TX) ESPN

Tires and blimps.

December 31, 2020

Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl:  Tulsa vs. Mississippi State (Fort Worth, TX) ESPN

Defense contractor.

Arizona Bowl:  Ball State vs. San Jose State (Tucson, AZ) CBS

AutoZone Liberty Bowl:  West Virginia vs. Army (Memphis, TN) ESPN

Auto supplies retail chain.

Mercari Texas Bowl:  Arkansas vs. Texas Christian (Houston, TX) ESPN

Internet merchandise site.

January 1, 2021

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

National chicken restaurant chain.

Vrbo Citrus Bowl:  Auburn vs. Northwestern (Orlando, FL) ABC

Vacation rentals.

Rose Bowl Game Presented by Capital One:  Alabama vs. Notre Dame (Arlington, TX) ESPN

Financial services.

College Football Playoff semifinal.  Moved from Pasadena, CA.

Allstate Sugar Bowl:  Clemson vs. Ohio State (New Orleans, LA) ESPN

Insurance and financial services.

College Football Playoff semifinal.

January 2, 2021

TaxSlayer Gator Bowl:  North Carolina State vs. Kentucky (Jacksonville, FL) ESPN

Internet tax preparer.

Outback Bowl:  Mississippi vs. Indiana (Tampa, FL) ABC

Steakhouse restaurant chain.

Playstation Fiesta Bowl:  Oregon vs. Iowa State (Glendale, AZ) ESPN

Video game consoles.

Capital One Orange Bowl:  Texas A&M vs. North Carolina (Miami Gardens, FL) ESPN

See under Rose Bowl.

January 11, 2021

College Football Playoff National Championship Presented by AT&T:  Teams TBA (Miami Gardens, FL) ESPN

Dodgers Win Pandemic Series

 The Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Tampa Bay Rays to win the 2020 World Series in six games at Arlington, TX.  For a baseball season that began in late July and shortened to 60 regular season games performed in empty stadiums due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, and few thought should have been played at all after two teams had outbreaks, this was quite an accomplishment.

Game 6, won by the Dodgers 3-1, was notable because:

• Rays manager Kevin Cash lifted his starting pitcher Blake Snell in the sixth inning with a 1-0 lead, ultimately losing the game and the Series with subsequent relievers failing to stem the tide.  So the moral of this story is:  If you live by the pitch count, you can also die by it too.
• Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner was taken out of the game when he tested positive for Covid-19, yet he was allowed to celebrate maskless with his wife and teammates in the post-game championship ceremonies.  Obviously, somebody dropped the ball here.

This World Series was played at the Texas Rangers' new retractable roof stadium in Arlington, which is actually closer to Fort Worth than Dallas.  Not only was this the first Series to be played at a neutral site (league championship playoffs had also been held in Houston, San Diego and Los Angeles), but it was also the first held in the same ballpark since 1944 when the Cardinals and Browns (now the Baltimore Orioles) shared Sportsman's Park in St. Louis during that wartime series.  Until Turner's diagnosis, Major League Baseball had done a pretty good job of keeping the virus at bay with keeping close tabs on the players and limiting attendance.

The Dodgers, who have been in the Series three of the past four years before finally winning their first title since 1988, went through the Milwaukee Brewers, San Diego Padres and Atlanta Braves in the National League playoffs to get here.

The Rays, only in their second Series since 2008, defeated the Toronto Blue Jays (who spent their regular season in Buffalo), New York Yankees and Houston Astros in the American League playoffs.

The Dodgers have now won seven world championships in franchise history, starting in Brooklyn in 1955 and the rest in Los Angeles.  This is the first title in which Vin Scully, who broadcast Dodgers games from 1950 to 2016, was not in the booth when they won.

Against all odds, Major League Baseball survived long enough to play a season in the shadow of Covid-19.  Whether there will be a full season in 2021, with paying customers permitted to watch inside a stadium, is anyone's guess.

Sid Hartman (1920-2020): Covering a Century of Minnesota Sports

It only seemed as if Sid Hartman had been around forever, if you've been a follower of Minnesota sports. For 75 years, he had been writing columns for the Minneapolis newspapers that eventually became the Star Tribune.  For 65 years, he was a fixture on WCCO Radio with daily appearances and a Sunday morning show.  On TV, he was a panelist on a weekly Channel 23 show hosted by Mike Max on Sunday nights. 

Hartman was 100 years old when he died on October 18.  On that Sunday morning, his final column had appeared in the newspaper.  By afternoon, when his death was announced by son Chad, the tributes started pouring in. 

Everyone who knew Sid, it seemed, had a story to tell about him.  Like how he operated and cultivated his "close personal friends" by insinuating himself into the lives of the athletes, coaches and other movers and shakers who normally wouldn't have the time of day for anyone else. Because unlike most journalists, in order to get the story, he knew everyone and everyone knew him. And he wouldn't write a critical word in return. 

Hartman was partially responsible for helping bring major league sports to Minnesota, starting with his stint as general manager of the NBA Minneapolis Lakers in the 1950s. But even after the Twins, Vikings, Timberwolves and the NHL were established here, he kept his focus on the University of Minnesota's athletic department, a focus he kept ever since he was selling newspapers outside Memorial Stadium. 

Sid Hartman came from an era when newspapers and radio were the main source of information and entertainment for most Americans. Now, with both mediums hanging on for dear life, one more piece of 20th century culture has gone for good.  And one more Minnesota icon passes into legend. 

Lakers, Storm Burst Basketball Bubble

The National Basketball Association was the first professional sports league to call a halt to its season when Covid-19 got serious in March.  Seven months later, after moving their playoffs to Walt Disney World in Florida, the NBA finally crowned a champion. 

It is the Los Angeles Lakers, who beat the Miami Heat in six games.  For the Lakers, it was their 17th NBA title (that includes five in Minneapolis), tying them with the Boston Celtics for the most championships in the league's history.  For LeBron James, it was his fourth title with three different teams (the Lakers, Heat and Cleveland Cavaliers).

Despite the play of Miami's Jimmy Butler, for whom no one will ever call a team-killing malcontent ever again, the Lakers seemed preordained to win.  Not only because of James' presence, but also as a tribute to Kobe Bryant, who with his daughter was killed in a helicopter crash in January. 

The WNBA played their shortened season and playoffs in a bubble of their own in Bradenton, Florida.  The Seattle Storm, led by stars Sue Bird and Breanna Stewart, swept the Las Vegas Aces in three games. 

The bubble format worked out for both leagues, with no games postponed or canceled due to players getting sick or testing positive for COVID-19.  Other leagues such as the NHL and Major League Soccer have also done it successfully.  Outside the bubble, the NFL, Major League Baseball and college football have had problems keeping everyone healthy. 

Even though the players from the NBA and WNBA were sequestered inside the bubble, they didn't forget the social unrest going on outside. Courts and uniforms were adorned with Black Lives Matter, "Say Her Name", remembrances of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and other Black victims of police brutality. The only postponements had to do with players protesting the shooting of Jacob Blake by Kenosha, Wisc. police, and the demonstrations that followed. (According to WTMJ in Milwaukee, Blake is recovering.)

It must be noted that all this activism by the players would not have been possible without the bubble. If fans had been allowed to attend games in their home arenas and players so much as took a knee during the National Anthem, the backlash would have been significant. 

Whether this experiment continues into next season depends on how long it takes for the coronavirus vaccine to be approved for use, if ever. The most the NBA can hope for is a shortened season that ends by early summer, and a return to arenas (though Toronto might be a problem).  Otherwise, Lakers and Storm fans can rejoice responsibly in winning championships in a most unusual year.