Armadillo: Thursday's List of 13: Nobody asked me, but........
13) New Year's Day used to be one of the best days of the year, culmination of the college football season, but the BCS system put an end to that. Not sure why they have four early games on at once with the Rose Bowl/Fiesta Bowl on TV unopposed, but thats the way things are.
Curious to see how things change next year with the new playoff system.
12) NHL struck gold with its outdoor games; 105,491 fans sat in the snow all day and watched Toronto beat Detroit in a shootout. It was estimated that almost half the fans came across the border to root for the Leafs. Road team is now 6-2 in NHL's outdoor games.
11) Mike Emrick is the best play-by-play announcer in any sport; its a treat to listen to his enthusiasm calling a game.
10) Buccaneers finally got it right and hired Lovie Smith; Tampa Bay is at Chicago next year- expect to see it as an early season primetime game.
9) Liked seeing injured LSU QB Zach Mettenberger wearing a headset, taking notes during the Tigers' bowl game; too often, injured players seem like an outcast on the sidelines. Mettenberger was like an assistant coach; it had to help young QB Anthony Jennings in his first college start.
8) You wonder if coaches at Georgia/LSU weren't totally unhappy about playing young QBs in their bowl games; it gives them a head start on next season. Its sad for a senior QB to miss out playing in his last bowl, but next fall, the experience those two QBs got Wednesday will be a big help.
7) South Carolina RB Bruce Ellington made a couple excellent catches in the Gamecocks' win over Wisconsin; easy to visualize him as a player similar to Dexter McClusker of the Chiefs, a dependable 3rd down back.
6) ESPN GameDay needs to do a profile on Mrs Jim Mora; her husband was a terrific NFL coach who became famous thru post-game sound bites; Jim Jr is a terrific coach at UCLA who seems a lot more pleasant than his dad. Would be a good feature to hear from their wife/mother.
5) Harvard beat Boston College 73-58, sixth year in row Crimson beat BC. Hard to be a viable ACC program if you can't beat an Ivy League team. In its attempt to get better in football, ACC has hurt itself as a basketball league.
4) Since 2004, teams that won a bowl game, then returned to the same bowl the next year are 11-15 against the spread, 1-3 this year.
3) There are 256 games in the NFL's regular season; this year, in 28.5% of those games (73), one side got 70%+ of betting action. Those teams were an surprisingly bad 31-42 (42.5%) against the spread.
2) LSU won the Outback Bowl, so Outback restaurants are giving away free blooming onions today if you go in and say "Outback Bowl". It isn't often you can get something for nothing; today is one of those days.
1) No doubt in my mind, most interesting part of the NFL Draft will be which team drafts Johnny Manziel. To me, he is a lot like Fran Tarkenton; others have compared his daring antics to Brett Favre. No matter what, he is must-watch TV; his career will be interesting to follow.
13) New Year's Day used to be one of the best days of the year, culmination of the college football season, but the BCS system put an end to that. Not sure why they have four early games on at once with the Rose Bowl/Fiesta Bowl on TV unopposed, but thats the way things are.
Curious to see how things change next year with the new playoff system.
12) NHL struck gold with its outdoor games; 105,491 fans sat in the snow all day and watched Toronto beat Detroit in a shootout. It was estimated that almost half the fans came across the border to root for the Leafs. Road team is now 6-2 in NHL's outdoor games.
11) Mike Emrick is the best play-by-play announcer in any sport; its a treat to listen to his enthusiasm calling a game.
10) Buccaneers finally got it right and hired Lovie Smith; Tampa Bay is at Chicago next year- expect to see it as an early season primetime game.
9) Liked seeing injured LSU QB Zach Mettenberger wearing a headset, taking notes during the Tigers' bowl game; too often, injured players seem like an outcast on the sidelines. Mettenberger was like an assistant coach; it had to help young QB Anthony Jennings in his first college start.
8) You wonder if coaches at Georgia/LSU weren't totally unhappy about playing young QBs in their bowl games; it gives them a head start on next season. Its sad for a senior QB to miss out playing in his last bowl, but next fall, the experience those two QBs got Wednesday will be a big help.
7) South Carolina RB Bruce Ellington made a couple excellent catches in the Gamecocks' win over Wisconsin; easy to visualize him as a player similar to Dexter McClusker of the Chiefs, a dependable 3rd down back.
6) ESPN GameDay needs to do a profile on Mrs Jim Mora; her husband was a terrific NFL coach who became famous thru post-game sound bites; Jim Jr is a terrific coach at UCLA who seems a lot more pleasant than his dad. Would be a good feature to hear from their wife/mother.
5) Harvard beat Boston College 73-58, sixth year in row Crimson beat BC. Hard to be a viable ACC program if you can't beat an Ivy League team. In its attempt to get better in football, ACC has hurt itself as a basketball league.
4) Since 2004, teams that won a bowl game, then returned to the same bowl the next year are 11-15 against the spread, 1-3 this year.
3) There are 256 games in the NFL's regular season; this year, in 28.5% of those games (73), one side got 70%+ of betting action. Those teams were an surprisingly bad 31-42 (42.5%) against the spread.
2) LSU won the Outback Bowl, so Outback restaurants are giving away free blooming onions today if you go in and say "Outback Bowl". It isn't often you can get something for nothing; today is one of those days.
1) No doubt in my mind, most interesting part of the NFL Draft will be which team drafts Johnny Manziel. To me, he is a lot like Fran Tarkenton; others have compared his daring antics to Brett Favre. No matter what, he is must-watch TV; his career will be interesting to follow.
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