By TERRY LYONS
BOSTON – USC lost and TCU lost!
USC is OUT while TCU is in.
The Georgia Bulldogs smoked LSU, 50- 30, to take the SEC championship and lock the No. 1 seed in the upcoming College Football Playoffs while the Purdue Boilermakers vs. Michigan Wolverines Big Ten Championship game was underway as this missive posted its “Bulldog” edition, the Wolverines with a 14-13 lead at the half.
There will be tons of speculation and reasoning for the CFP committee to toss-around the virtues of Ohio State, Alabama, and TCU to decide the final two teams to qualify. Ohio State and Alabama are probably the best two teams of the five, but TCU’s season-long resume might qualify the Horned Frogs to No. 3 as ‘Bama, Tennessee, Clemson and Penn State seem to blend into one, as in one short. USC finished 11-2 in the Pac-12, but lost to Utah twice in the season, once on October 16th, and again in the conference championship game Friday night, thumped 47-24. That places USC as a solid No. 8 or No. 9 at best.
Taking it all in, it might be easier to assign TCU and USC to the January 2nd Rose Bowl and let Georgia and Michigan play the final on January 9 and call it a season. That would make either the Fiesta Bowl or the Peach Bowl pretty annoyed.
By Sunday morning, the decisions were made:
College Football Playoffs 2022-23:
- Georgia
- Michigan
- TCU
- Ohio St.
Outside looking in?
- Alabama
- Tennessee
On the flip-side, let’s all celebrate the fact Miami (Ohio) and the University ofAlabama-Birmingham – their friends call ‘em UAB – will kick-off Bowl season with berths in the Bahamas Bowl on December 16th – just 12 days away. On Christmas Eve, Middle Tennessee and San Diego State will travel to Honolulu for the annual Hawaii Bowl on December 24th and enjoy a “Mele Kalikimaka” on a bright, Hawaiian Christmas Day, December 25th.
HERE NOW THE NOTES: The Boston Celtics are 18-5 to date, 11-2 at the TD Boston Garden. That amazing start was good enough for the NBA to recognize head coach Joe Mazzulla as the NBA Eastern Conference Coach of the Month for games played in October and November. It marked the Celtics 16th overall NBA Coach of the Month honor since the award’s inception during the 1982-83 season. Boston leads the league in points per game (121.9), field goal percentage (49.8), three-point field goal percentage (40.8), free throw percentage (85.3), while also ranking sixth in assists (27.5). … For the first time in franchise history, the Celtics averaged at least 123.0 points and shot over 50.0 percent from the field during one calendar month (min. 10 games) for games played in November when they posted a 14-2 record.
Not to be forgotten, Celtics forward Jayson Tatum was named the Kia NBA Eastern Conference Player of the Month for October/November. Tatum earned his second career NBA Player of the Month award and now holds the third-most monthly honors in Celtics history behind Larry Bird (7) and Paul Pierce (3). This season, Tatum has appeared in 21 games (all starts) and is averaging career-highs of 31.6 points on 48.8 percent shooting from the field and 87.3 percent from the line, along with 7.8 rebounds, and 4.5 assists in 36.7 minutes per game.
BOSTON BREWIN’ – The Boston Bruins, the Celtics’ neighbors at TD Garden and their respective practice sites, are 20-3 for the season and 14-0 at home after Saturday night’s victory over the highly competitive Colorado Avalanche by the score of 5-1. … The Bruins and the red hot New Jersey Devils are 1 and 1A in the NHL power rankings. This column will delve into that full list in depth next weekend.
KNAPP MEMORIAL FUND: Eight NFL teams and up to 50 NFL coaches will participate in different ways to support the first-ever Coach Knapp fundraiser this December, which will benefit The Coach Knapp Memorial Fund. The fund was created this year to educate drivers on the dangers of distracted driving, reduce the number of distracted driving-related deaths, and promote distracted driving awareness reform in the United States. … Knapp’s wife, Charlotte, and his close friend and agent, Jeff Sperbeck, created the fund to honor the legacy of Greg Knapp who was killed after being hit by a distracted driver while he was bicycling in July 2021. Coach Knapp was known for climbing the stadium stairs before every single NFL game he coached over his 25 season career…. Stadium stair climbs and other fundraising activities will play a part of the tribute. … At the time of his passing, Knapp was previously named Passing Game Coordinator for the New York Jets under head coach Robert Saleh.
PGA TOUR BRUNCH: The six-days a week missive, known to you all as PGA TOURBRUNCH is right around the corner with the first issue of 2023 planned for Wednesday, January 4 with the Sentry Tournament of Champions scheduled to take place January 5-8 in Kapalua, on The Valley Isle of Maui in Hawai‘i. … After a wrap-up column on January 9th, PGA Tour Brunch returns January 11th with a preview of the first full-field event of 2023 when the PGA Tour pros tee-off for the SONY Open in Honolulu. You might’ve read it before, but PGA TOUR BRUNCH is the perfect gift for your favorite golf fan (maybe fans). It’s a gift that keeps on giving all season long, and up to the Tour Championship in late August 2023. … Why Brunch? Well, it is sent in advance of each round of golf and – with the tournaments played in different time zones throughout the season, the time can change a bit. Ideally, it pops-up in your inbox at 12 Noon (ET), at a time when you have a minute – over LUNCH or BRUNCH to relax, grab your mobile device and take-in a screen or two or three of the most important information on the tournament being played each week. Some basic stuff, yes! Tee Times, Leaderboard, what time the TV and Radio broadcasts will be for the day/week and just a few links to surf to get deeper information. … It saves time, as we’ve done the groundwork to put forth what you NEED to read to follow the Tour. For a limited time (Today through Dec 31, 2022), we’re offering a 20% discount as a Special Holiday Greetings and Gift idea. Click HERE
PGA TOUR BRUNCH is the “sister publication” to the missive you’re reading now – While We’re Young (Ideas) aka TL’s Sunday Sports Notes. Both are available for subscription via Substack and both are sent to your device by email and they’re archived on the Substack App and our home sites. Similar to PGA TOUR BRUNCH, you can gift a subscription to WHILE WE’RE YOUNG (Ideas) – before Dec. 31, 2022 by visiting HERE.
WORLD CUP: The hopes of the United States advancing in the 2022 World Cup soccer tournament came to an abrupt end Saturday, much to the 3-1 ear-slapping at the hands of The Netherlands. Although the FOX, USA-loving broadcast teams and studio commentators made excuses of “what an experience” and “too much youth,” stating, “we should be proud” cliches, and emphasizing on the incredibly un-professional use of the word “we,” the truth be told, the USA got their asses kicked.
Maybe some Kipling – from his Poem, “If” might fit the sitch:
“If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;
If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim,
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster.
And treat those two impostors just the same.”
See you in: (USA sites) – New York/New Jersey, Philadelphia, Boston, Atlanta, Miami, Houston, Dallas, Kansas City, Seattle, San Francisco/Bay Area, Los Angeles; Vancouver and Toronto for Canada and Mexico City, Guadalajara, Monterrey for Mexico in the truly North American World Cup of 2026.
- The Triumph* clip is NOT for office consumption and it dates back to a Conan show during the Rio World Cup.
WORLD CUP TID-BITS: Jennie Taft made the FOX and FOX Sports 1 studio shows work. Why, oh, why did they mover her to pitch-side reporter? … Has anyone ever seen NBA/ABA great Rick Barry at the same phone booth as former USA soccer player turned broadcaster Alexi Lalas? … Buried in the personal memory bank was a 1990 trip to London to see the likes of Tears for Fears, Elton John, Eric Clapton, a Genesisreunion with Tony Banks (piano), Mike Rutherford (guitar) and Phil Collins (drums, vocals) at Knebworth. The trip coincided with a World Cup quarterfinal win for England over Cameroon (3-2, on the 1st of July) and a (1-1) tie vs Germany which resulted in England losing 4-3 in the shoot-out on the 4th of July. England had several chances to win and a goal recalled for being off-sides to further the disappointment. The image embedded was a gentleman, sitting on the curb just outside an upscale pub near the JW Marriott Grosvenor House. He had his head in his hands for 10+ minutes, not moving a muscle otherwise. It was then, and only then, I could understand the meaning of World Cup soccer to the English, the Europeans and the world as a whole. Of course, I was thinking about MLB scores back home and the fact Pink Floyd headlined Knebworth, a notch above Paul McCartney and Wings. … Sadly, I think the excitement of the USA qualifying and advancing to the Round of 16 in this, the 2022 World Cup, will mean little to NOTHING for the MLS or television coverage for the sport of soccer in the USA. … FOX Sports commentators admitted to the lack of size, strength and depth for the USA team. Excuse the basketball reference, here, but the USA needs to develop a more “Jordan Rules” mentality and to utilize the Chuck Daly/Isiah Thomas invented strategy to bang, crack and hit anything that moved as it made its way in front of the rim (USA goal and especially the goal-keeper). I’m not talking about drawing yellow cards or penalties (allowing shots at point blank range), but I am very much aware of what the Detroit Pistons – via Bill Laimbeer, RickMahorn, Dennis Rodman and the rest of the “Bad Boys” – did to the mighty Chicago Bulls and its stars who took it to the rim. Additionally, the Hall of Fame coach Pat Riley did the same in the 1991-95 era of New York Knicks/NBA basketball. Riley convinced the Knicks that they were capable of winning and advancing in the playoffs if they played rough and tough. He convinced the likes of Charles Oakley, Anthony Mason and John Starks that they could win if they played very physical basketball. Team USA needs to hit the weight room or do some recruiting.
In closing, there’s one other important detail, call it another fact. The Netherlands was a better Futbol team. They out-played the USA, fair and square. In addition to The Netherlands, there are at least xx other teams better than the USA team and they include: Argentina, Brazil, England, France, Spain and Portugal, for sure. Add to the probably better teams of Switzerland, Poland, S. Korea, Japan, and Croatia. In other words, if you ranked the Round of 16, the USA was arguably 16th, maybe 15th or 14th.
