I went to my once-every-two-years pilgrimage to Chase Center to see the Dubs (and Jaylon Tyson) last night. My daughter and I were rewarded with the worst shooting night of the Kerr era. I also have concluded that Trayce Jackson-Davis is the most Stanford-looking player not to ever wear a Stanford uniform.
49ers and Lions put on a show despite it being a meaningless game. Lions played their starters. Niners built a first half lead, but then Purdy threw 2 INTs late before getting hurt and Moody missed seven points worth of kicks in the 40-34 defeat.
If ever there was an obvious cut coming from months and weeks away, it would have to be Jake Moody. I feel for the guy, because I think he's at a low point in his young career. I hope he can course correct and reclaim his confidence.
Goff continues his stellar campaign. However as good as the offense is, I don’t think the Lions will be able to overcome their own depleted defense come playoff time.
Toothless Michigan gained only 190 yards, but did just enough to beat the Tide 19-13. Alabama commited three turnovers, was 0-3 on fourth down, and completed only 50% of their passes.
Congratulations to the NCAA for your expanded football play off. You included in your field SMU, Boise State, Clemson, Arizona State and Indiana, schools that no one outside their fan base thought deserved a shot at the tile. In your quarter final match ups the number one and two seeds (Oregon and Georgia) have tougher foes than two teams (Penn State and Texas) that they beat out for conference titles. If you'd stuck with a four team field you'd have had Oregon, Georgia and two of Notre Dame, Ohio State and Texas. One school would have pouted but such is life. As a bonus you've killed off bowl games for good and all. On the plus side you made a bunch of money to line the pockets of fat cats.
Yup, pretty much this. The NFL-ification of college ball continues apace. The next realignment will be another crossroads for FBS football. What's the over/under on creation of the NFL minor leagues, in years?
(Checks schedule...) all the other bowl games still got or will get played, with the same extreme spread of impacts on teams prospects for the immediate future as they always have had.
Comparing today's Sun Bowl with one I remember rather well from 19 years ago, both were between 2 good, but not league championship grade teams, who played all-in and all-out, and ended with a score in the 30s, and a 1 point differential after last seconds of the game 2 point conversion hijinks.
The winning teams' players hugged and jumped around, their band played the fight song 1 more time, and there were tears shed on the losing sideline.
It's true more players skipped out on this one than that one, but that's their choice, and there were still 22 scholarship players on the field for every play.
And lower level bowl games are crippled by the early transfer portal window. Case in point: Cal's bowl game was almost meaningless to me and I chose not to watch it live because it meant less to me than any regular season game.
Draftability matters, and some do help themselves, though there is now so much coverage that there is ample other tape to base an evaluation on.
The games have to be viewed much like NFL preseason games. To some fans, a waste of time. But its also a chance to scout players who could next transfer to "your" school, or one you will be playing. They have become about personnel evaluation, and in the case of less experienced coaches and coaching staffs, a chance to demonstrate capability and develop. If you can piece together a good game plan with a hodge-podge of personnel, think what can be done with an actual cohesive roster.
"Historically" is the operative term here. CFP has already altered the course of bowl games, including games such as the Rose Bowl that are included in the CFP. The value of low tiered bowl games, the visibility, the remuneration to teams, will dip significantly in coming years, almost guaranteed.
If the value of lower tier bowl games dips, I think the better questions will be, do they survive? The financial realities of bowl games will put the lower tier games into a vise that will squeeze them even more, and give invited teams more reason to decline invitations..
Yet they are profitable, and provide better, as in more watched, content, than anything else that would show in their place. If they didn't, they wouldn't exist.
I do see that as an inevitable outcome, but we'll get to see its painful death along the way as we pine for the good ol' days when bowl games were exciting and had significance.
For me, as a fan, it had plenty of meaning. Anytime the Bears suit up, I will watch. Yes, of course it was disappointing that some key players were not playing. For the team, though, it was still an opportunity to finish the season with a win, valuable extra practice time leading up to the game, and a chance for guys to get some actual game experience that hadn’t previously. Good to see certain players recovering from injuries, such as Cade, get back on the field, too. Am I nostalgic for the old days (Copper, Citrus here we come!) when bowls had a unique cache and virtually the whole squad was playing? Sure.
Yeah. Generally the expectation I have is the NCAA will get egg thrown in its face if it tries to enforce its own rules/provide punishment these days. Some other entity may have to intervene. Perhaps a WFC staff or associate (T&H?), with more legal expertise than I, could enumerate meaningful and defensible steps universities or the NCAA could take when they have evidence of tampering such as Mora/UConn claims to have. Weird times for CFB.
Perhaps there is something I am missing, but I am surprised teams aren't making players sign contracts as part of their NIL pay. Off the top of my head, I'd include provisions defining the playing season or period, perhaps performance incentives, and of course, a clause disallowing them from contacting or working for another employer (i.e. school) during the contract period. If neither the NCAA nor congress will create rules for free agency in college, then individual schools need to start doing so with standardized NIL contracts.
"enumerate meaningful and defensible steps universities or the NCAA could take..."?
At what point have they ever done so on any issue? That is what got us here in the first place.
The only ones they can "take" will only benefit Twist (and his brethren), because billable hours always win, and divert time and money from actual productive actions, even though these actions will lose in court, as soon as they run out of diverted $s to fight a losing battle.
Gonzaga's MBB chartered plane was seen live on a plane-spotting live stream (people have some weird/interesting hobbies) violating the hold marks on its runway and air traffic controllers had to quickly tell them to stop to prevent them from going onto a runway where another plane was taking taking off. I don't think they would have collided, but the point is that safeguards exist for a reason.
You can see the Gonzaga plane come to a sudden halt. This means if you can see it from that far away, it was probably a really hard stop for those sitting on the plane.
Apropos to this, media is quite sensitive to airline issues given the Azeri flight getting shot down by the Russians and the Jeju Air flight exploding because someone designed an immovable object at the end of their runway
SHE BLINDED ME WITH...
This is great
https://x.com/Nba_Nebula/status/1874195456647193008
wow that's awesome.
It's a workday for me, so there's a DBD today.
PRO
I went to my once-every-two-years pilgrimage to Chase Center to see the Dubs (and Jaylon Tyson) last night. My daughter and I were rewarded with the worst shooting night of the Kerr era. I also have concluded that Trayce Jackson-Davis is the most Stanford-looking player not to ever wear a Stanford uniform.
And in the time it took you to type this, the Ws missed 2 more layups.
Matt Gaudreau's widow gives birth. It's New Year's Eve y'all; don't drink and drive + stay off the roads at night
https://www.yahoo.com/news/matthew-gaudreaus-widow-gives-birth-145047604.html
None of us make it alone. Make sure you surround yourself with the good ones.
https://www.si.com/onsi/athlete-lifestyle/relationships/commanders-jeremy-reaves-pens-emotional-note-to-fiancee-mikaela-worley-after-epic-proposal
Shohei Ohtani is expecting his first child. Allowance deferred until 2034 to 2043
https://www.mlb.com/news/shohei-ohtani-wife-mamiko-tanaka-expecting-first-child
49ers and Lions put on a show despite it being a meaningless game. Lions played their starters. Niners built a first half lead, but then Purdy threw 2 INTs late before getting hurt and Moody missed seven points worth of kicks in the 40-34 defeat.
https://www.espn.com/nfl/recap/_/gameId/401671698
If ever there was an obvious cut coming from months and weeks away, it would have to be Jake Moody. I feel for the guy, because I think he's at a low point in his young career. I hope he can course correct and reclaim his confidence.
Goff continues his stellar campaign. However as good as the offense is, I don’t think the Lions will be able to overcome their own depleted defense come playoff time.
DBD AV CLUB
CAL
Go Bears!!! We end another calendar year in possession of the Stanfurd Axe. Hoorah!
ELSEWHERE IN COLLEGE
aLaBaMA sHuD hAv bEan iN dA CFP
Toothless Michigan gained only 190 yards, but did just enough to beat the Tide 19-13. Alabama commited three turnovers, was 0-3 on fourth down, and completed only 50% of their passes.
https://www.espn.com/college-football/boxscore/_/gameId/401677102
There is a carillon in the park across the street and someone is playing it this afternoon. Just played the Notre Dame fight song.
Congratulations to the NCAA for your expanded football play off. You included in your field SMU, Boise State, Clemson, Arizona State and Indiana, schools that no one outside their fan base thought deserved a shot at the tile. In your quarter final match ups the number one and two seeds (Oregon and Georgia) have tougher foes than two teams (Penn State and Texas) that they beat out for conference titles. If you'd stuck with a four team field you'd have had Oregon, Georgia and two of Notre Dame, Ohio State and Texas. One school would have pouted but such is life. As a bonus you've killed off bowl games for good and all. On the plus side you made a bunch of money to line the pockets of fat cats.
Yup, pretty much this. The NFL-ification of college ball continues apace. The next realignment will be another crossroads for FBS football. What's the over/under on creation of the NFL minor leagues, in years?
(Checks schedule...) all the other bowl games still got or will get played, with the same extreme spread of impacts on teams prospects for the immediate future as they always have had.
You can't seriously be suggesting that bowl games are as they used to be. But even so that was the least important of the points I was making.
Comparing today's Sun Bowl with one I remember rather well from 19 years ago, both were between 2 good, but not league championship grade teams, who played all-in and all-out, and ended with a score in the 30s, and a 1 point differential after last seconds of the game 2 point conversion hijinks.
The winning teams' players hugged and jumped around, their band played the fight song 1 more time, and there were tears shed on the losing sideline.
It's true more players skipped out on this one than that one, but that's their choice, and there were still 22 scholarship players on the field for every play.
On Bear Insider there's an "Ignore User" function. Wish we had that here.
And lower level bowl games are crippled by the early transfer portal window. Case in point: Cal's bowl game was almost meaningless to me and I chose not to watch it live because it meant less to me than any regular season game.
Off the top of my head, bowl game points of interest, historically, in rough priority order.
1. A win could improve final ranking
2. Could improve draftability of some players
3. Opportunity to see top players show off their talents
4. Opportunity to see one's favorite team in an interesting locale
5. Good performance helps coach keep his job. The reverse is also true.
6. Additional practice and playing time in an exciting venue helps the team be better for next season
7. Additional income
8. Last chance at playing time for some team members
It seems to me that no one cares any more about 1,2,3. Maybe 5 doesn't have as much influence as it used to.
Draftability matters, and some do help themselves, though there is now so much coverage that there is ample other tape to base an evaluation on.
The games have to be viewed much like NFL preseason games. To some fans, a waste of time. But its also a chance to scout players who could next transfer to "your" school, or one you will be playing. They have become about personnel evaluation, and in the case of less experienced coaches and coaching staffs, a chance to demonstrate capability and develop. If you can piece together a good game plan with a hodge-podge of personnel, think what can be done with an actual cohesive roster.
"Historically" is the operative term here. CFP has already altered the course of bowl games, including games such as the Rose Bowl that are included in the CFP. The value of low tiered bowl games, the visibility, the remuneration to teams, will dip significantly in coming years, almost guaranteed.
If the value of lower tier bowl games dips, I think the better questions will be, do they survive? The financial realities of bowl games will put the lower tier games into a vise that will squeeze them even more, and give invited teams more reason to decline invitations..
Yet they are profitable, and provide better, as in more watched, content, than anything else that would show in their place. If they didn't, they wouldn't exist.
I do see that as an inevitable outcome, but we'll get to see its painful death along the way as we pine for the good ol' days when bowl games were exciting and had significance.
For me, as a fan, it had plenty of meaning. Anytime the Bears suit up, I will watch. Yes, of course it was disappointing that some key players were not playing. For the team, though, it was still an opportunity to finish the season with a win, valuable extra practice time leading up to the game, and a chance for guys to get some actual game experience that hadn’t previously. Good to see certain players recovering from injuries, such as Cade, get back on the field, too. Am I nostalgic for the old days (Copper, Citrus here we come!) when bowls had a unique cache and virtually the whole squad was playing? Sure.
Jim Mora goes off re: player tampering. Everyone does it. They do it to Cal players and I wouldn't be surprised if Cal did it too.
https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/43228675/other-programs-tampering-uconn-players-mora-says
Yeah. Generally the expectation I have is the NCAA will get egg thrown in its face if it tries to enforce its own rules/provide punishment these days. Some other entity may have to intervene. Perhaps a WFC staff or associate (T&H?), with more legal expertise than I, could enumerate meaningful and defensible steps universities or the NCAA could take when they have evidence of tampering such as Mora/UConn claims to have. Weird times for CFB.
Perhaps there is something I am missing, but I am surprised teams aren't making players sign contracts as part of their NIL pay. Off the top of my head, I'd include provisions defining the playing season or period, perhaps performance incentives, and of course, a clause disallowing them from contacting or working for another employer (i.e. school) during the contract period. If neither the NCAA nor congress will create rules for free agency in college, then individual schools need to start doing so with standardized NIL contracts.
"enumerate meaningful and defensible steps universities or the NCAA could take..."?
At what point have they ever done so on any issue? That is what got us here in the first place.
The only ones they can "take" will only benefit Twist (and his brethren), because billable hours always win, and divert time and money from actual productive actions, even though these actions will lose in court, as soon as they run out of diverted $s to fight a losing battle.
Gonzaga's MBB chartered plane was seen live on a plane-spotting live stream (people have some weird/interesting hobbies) violating the hold marks on its runway and air traffic controllers had to quickly tell them to stop to prevent them from going onto a runway where another plane was taking taking off. I don't think they would have collided, but the point is that safeguards exist for a reason.
https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/43229303/jet-carrying-gonzaga-bulldogs-ordered-stop-lax
https://x.com/airlinevideos/status/1873030759977763081
Three words you never want to hear from Air Traffic Control: "Stop! Stop! Stop!"
You can see the Gonzaga plane come to a sudden halt. This means if you can see it from that far away, it was probably a really hard stop for those sitting on the plane.
Apropos to this, media is quite sensitive to airline issues given the Azeri flight getting shot down by the Russians and the Jeju Air flight exploding because someone designed an immovable object at the end of their runway
POLITICS
It ain't me, it ain't me
I ain't no senator's son, son
https://www.police1.com/arrests-sentencing/senators-son-sentenced-to-28-years-for-killing-a-n-d-deputy-during-pursuit