10 thoughts on the National Title Game

Ten thoughts from the National Championship game and the Ohio State Buckeyes-winners of the first ever playoff!

Olentangy Offerings

1) I did a podcast on my buddy R.L.Malpica and I's Cleveland Sports Outsiders before the game.
Remember that I (tongue in cheek) picked Oregon to win and we talked about the problems at quarterback for 2015,if all three quarterbacks returned.
Good luck with that decision,Urban Meyer!

2) I spoke on the podcast about that I thought the key was the Oregon pass rush and how much they could pressure Cardale Jones.
They didn't do much against Jones,which enabled him to throw the ball with ease most of the time and since they couldn't key on Jones-Oregon couldn't...

3) Key on Ezekiel Elliott,who was basically unstoppable in rushing for 246 yards and four touchdowns.
Elliott was the key reason for winning these games as Elliott put the numbers up that made one think more of Eddie George and Archie Griffin than what Buckeye fans expected from him.
Elliott is most likely the preseason favorite for next years Heisman....

4) Underrated play that might have swung the game Oregon's way-after the first drive resulted in a Ducks touchdown,the second saw Marcos Mariota hit a wide open Dwayne Stanford in the hands with a ball that Stanford would have likely scored with.
Stanford dropped the ball and Oregon would not score another touchdown for the rest of the half...

5) Oregon was able to move the ball against Ohio State,but another key was poor red zone and third down conversions against the Buckeyes.
Oregon scored just their first drive touchdown in the red zone and was an anemic 2 for 12 on third down.
That will rarely get the job done against good teams...

6) There was no doubt that this was all Ohio State.The Buckeyes turned the ball over four times with three of them in Oregon territory.
This game was close was close for three quarters,without those turnovers-it would not have been...

7) We all too often hear about the speed possessed by the SEC and to a lesser extent the Pac 12 school and Ohio State has come a long way in cutting into that gap under Urban Meyer,but there still is a place for rugged Big 10 style football and this win showed it on both sides of the football.
The Ohio State offensive line shoved Oregon off the line to create those gaps for Ezekiel Elliott and the front seven allowed Marcos Mariota hard earned yardage,but other than the opening long strike in the second half,only occasionally allowed the Ducks the big play that marked their offense this season...

8) I wonder if the Big 10 would like to reconsider their selection of Minnesota's Jerry Kill as conference coach of the year?
Three quarterbacks and a national title,think Urban Meyer wins a re-vote?

9) The other key play of this win?
The Buckeye defense stepping up after Cardale Jones had the ball slip out of his hand and turning the ball over to Oregon on the OSU side of the field.
It was the only time that I felt that Oregon was ready to swing the game their way and the defense dug down and held Oregon to just a field goal.
The three points cut the lead to one,but holding the Ducks out of the end zone kept the lead and felt like a victory...

10) We wrap with a look at 2015,where I would think that Ohio State will be ranked either first to start the year or worst second to TCU.
I'm fine with either because under the new system,it's not where you start,but where you finish.
Too bad TCU (who is on the Buckeye schedule for 2019 and 2020) isn't on the schedule next year-I'm sure that game would have a ton of hype over the summer!

11) Bonus-Stuff it Mark May!

Quick Notes-Buckeyes!

A few quick notes on why you haven't seen a recap of the Ohio State Buckeyes winning the national championship over the Oregon Ducks.

I've been a bit busy and I haven't had time to review the tape the way that I'd like to.
When I do a football recap,most often than not than not,I re-watch the game and add some fresh thoughts without the running emotion of the live game.
I'll start working on that tonight and in a day or two,I'll have a review that hopefully I'll be satisfied with as I look back on it on days down the road.

The other reason is that when you win a national title and most of your other teams aren't very good (baseball is turning the corner) that you tend to reflect and savor the feeling for a while because you might not have it anytime soon.
Johnny Sain once described this to Jim Bouton in Ball Four as the "Cool of the Evening"- a feeling of a job well done that you don't have to do again for a while,

I have some things that I want to get finished while I'll have some down time with the Devils and Cavaliers being away.
I want to do a Browns recap by position and maybe a Buckeyes as well,although I just might leave a national title  where it is without any critiquing by me!
I also have a personal post or two to add and I think some of you might enjoy those and later today,I'll be putting up a link to my latest podcast that I'm sure maybe one or two of you might listen (I can hope for more).

Anyway,I'll be back soon with more,but until then-Go Buckeyes!

The Overhand Right

The overhand right returns with a few thoughts on the boxing world before things get a little warmer next Saturday night with the WBC Heavyweight title tilt between Bermane Stiverne and Deontay Wilder.

Our picture for this edition is from the bantamweight battle that featured the WBA champion Alfonso Zamora and WBC champ Carlos Zarate in a 10 round non-title bout to prove the best bantamweight in the world,since neither organization would sanction a unification fight.
Zamora would stagger Zarate in round one,had the round interrupted by a fan that came into the ring to stand and watched his chance go away. Zarate finished Zamora off in four rounds...

I'm not a hip-hop fan,so I know little of Jay-Z,so I was wondering about what I would think of the first show of Roc Nation televised on Fox Sports 1.
The card was essentially a club show and they won't be able to have tons of celebrities for that level of show very often,but there were some positives and negatives on the presentations.

Pro-I loved the "box" with the fighters name and trunk color on the screen for the entire fight.
Most networks put it up briefly and take it down,so I really liked that part of the telecast.
The graphics were bold and easy to read too,all too often when other sports use the box,it's small and hard to read...

Con- The "host" was this really loud woman (didn't take notes on the name) that was really obnoxious.
I would have preferred the usual Fox Sports 1 host in Jessica Rosales,who was far more understated.
Gus Johnson's back.
Gus Johnson is my least favorite football and basketball announcer,but at least he knows his stuff there.
Johnson is out of his element in the fight game and comes off as unprepared when he does boxing...

I'll be interested to see the Roc Nation presentation when they present a big fight compared to one a level below the ESPN Friday Night Fights...

Al Haymon vs Golden Boy battle continues as Golden Boy settled with their former CEO Richard Schaffer and released several Haymon fighters from their contracts.
Haymon is expected to announce a deal with NBC and NBC Sports network this week that returns boxing to the network airwaves,which I have been hoping for years to see.
As much as I think that this is a good thing,Al Haymon and his stable may suddenly have painted themselves into a corner.
When you consider that Haymon has shown a reluctance to match his fighters in tough fights and has already cut himself off from HBO (and likely now CBS owned Showtime),Haymon may have a hard time making big fights for his guys,especially when you consider the only hope for Haymon to take his fighters outside his reach would be mandatory title fights-which might be out the door with Haymon fighters vacating belts in order to please Haymon.
The business of this transaction will be interesting to watch as it plays out....

I posted my thoughts on Andre Ward and his signing with Roc Nation a few days ago,but I was interested in his words during the broadcast when he was asked about Gennady Golovkin and he did say that "absolutely" he was interested in fighting GGG.
I'm not quite convinced.
In boxing-Absolutely usually means you accept all my terms and frankly Andre Ward isn't a big enough star to be dictating terms to people.
Let's see who Ward fights this year and if he forces his fights to continue to be in Oakland,since he cannot sell tickets anywhere else.....

On the signing front

The signing front returns as I try to get cards put away from last season.
With the Devils and Cavaliers on the road,the signing front might be chipped away at over the next few weeks...

The Lakewood Blue Claws hit Hagerstown and at least I had their team set because if not,I would have had very little.
The best pickup was Carlos Tocci on his SAL top prospect card and Andrew Knapp on a Bowman..

The Altoona Curve were in Harrisburg and I was able to work on their team set.
Shortstop Alen Hanson was one per and quite a grind,but I was able to get two with help from Mike and Fred Landucci later in their homestand.
The Curve was not loaded with prospects this season,but the best of those that I was able to get with Orlando Castro (very nice) and Adrian Sampson (pitched and won on this day) and Stetson Allie (2 per and quiet).

Tom O'brien got me Julio Rodriguez (before his release) on a 2012 heritage and Eduardo Rodriguez (before being traded) on a 2013 heritage at Bowie along with an old Bowman of Thomas DiBenedetto,who works for the Baysox as their video coordinator...

Next in was the only visit of the season by the West Virginia Power and the Pirates low A affiliate.
The Pirates first rounder Austin Meadows had missed most of the season and collectors were loaded for Meadows.
Meadows was super accommodating,signed everything for everyone and was so good that he set up the incident of the year after the game in Hagerstown.
The Power also had another Pirates first rounder in catcher Reece McGuire,who signed everything and a baseball.
I always try to get the Pirates first rounders on baseballs (I have each one back to Andrew McCutchen),so both Meadows and McGuire were added to that collection.
Shortstop Jacoby Jones was the surprise prospect of the year,but he had just one card-a Panini insert which were limited in number.
I ,of course,had to have one and Jones signed it.
Other prospects were then-catcher (now a third baseman) Wyatt Mathisen,Luis Heredia (SAL Prospect and Heritage) and Robby Rowland,who I had several cards for.
The Power team set was not out at that point,so that didn't get finished...

The next stop was Altoona Pa for the Eastern League All-Star game and the dumbest setup for a fan fest that I've ever seen.
Each division had a determined period of time while the other division practiced.That's how it is done often and that wasn't the problem.
The problem was half the team was at the center tables on the field and the rest were scattered around the stadium,then they would switch at the halfway point.
So you could wait for people at the tables for an half hr,not get there and they would switch.
That's exactly what happened and I missed Alen Hanson etc.due to timing.
I am rarely surprised when teams have fan fest that usually aren't fan friendly.
When they work out well,it's usually because someone involved in planning stages is a true fan.
You would be amazed at just how few people that work for team aren't really fans....

I only bought the Western Division set (for Akron,Altoona and Richmond) and worked on misc. stuff for the East.
I did get Gary Sanchez on a top 100,so I was happy about that,but many guys were only one,which is disappointing at a fan fest,
The selection of players weren't as good as past games,but I did get Indians top prospect Francisco Lindor on his all-star card...

A few miscellaneous cards were finished.
Mike Landucci got me Manny Banuelos then of the Yankees (now Braves).
I got a few of Brian Johnson,a Red Sox pitching prospect in Reading.
Hall of Famer Jim Bunning signed two cards in the mail.
And I had just one player for a Kannapolis Intimidators visit as Brandon Brennan signed a Bowman and a 2013 Kannapolis card.

The Lynchburg Hillcats were an Atlanta Braves affiliate (this year they are with the Indians) when they visited Frederick.
The Hillcats team set was released and I got some cards signed from it,but the biggest additions were getting some players that I thought were "dead cards" finished.
Dead cards are cards of players that I thought I would never have signed and this series saw four players get out of the box unexpectedly with the coolest being Cody Scarpetta-2009 Midwest League prospect and Danny Carroll-2008 Tri-Star.
The more time that goes by,the less of a chance that a card will get signed,so those are always considered successes!

Kendall Morris visited family in Frisco,Texas and nabbed me some cards with the biggest get being San Diego catching prospect Austin Hedges and pitching coach Jimmy Jones on a 1990 Score.
Right now in the hobby,my most valued cards are the Top 100's along with 88 and 90 Scores-those cards are put into their binders as soon as I get them,so they (over time) might be skipped in the signing front because they aren't with the other cards.
Don't be misled-they are most important!
Kendall also filled in some Carolina league and Myrtle Beach cards of players that left the Pelicans for AA Frisco,most notably power hitting Joey Gallo and the manager for San Antonio,former Oriole second baseman (and Kendall's favorite player Rich Dauer).

A quick trip to Bowie for a bobblehead saw me fill in a few cards for the Altoona Curve as Derreck Chupak went there.
Derreck got me some Curve team sets fill-ins,most notably outfielder Willy Garcia (who was hiding with Alen Hanson during most of the E.L. All-Star Fan Fest) along with recently promoted Josh Bell on his Bradenton team set card and most importantly his top 100!

We finish with the Greenville Drive in Hagerstown and once again in the "Summer of Brandt" there was no team set available,but being a Red Sox team,there were some mainstream cards to get signed and former big leaguer Paul Abbott,who was the teams pitching coach.
Abbott had a family member with him and if the family member was there,he was very accommodating.
If she wasn't,Abbott was not as friendly!
Manuel Margot signed his SAL top prospect card and two pitching prospects signed as Ty Buttrey (very nice) and Trey Ball (Not so nice) added their signatures.

However,the biggest catch in this series came with someone that was in the stands not on the field as former White Sox and Yankee shortstop Bucky Dent was in town visiting his son Cody with the Suns.
I had carried Dent cards all season in case this happened and it finally worked out as the lovely Cherie helped me as I wound up getting Dent on cards from 1976,1976 SSPC and 1977 with the Pale Hose and a 1981 Fleer as a Yankee.
Dent was very nice in signing before the game and I enjoyed meeting him....

Well,that's the end of a long catchup!
I'll see if I have plastic sheets to put these away and move onto another signing front soon.
The pile has been reduced to one pile now (it is as high as it will go now though),so there will be more over the winter coming soon!

Pigskin Picking Machine

The PPM returns with the NFL playoffs and the national title game.
Keep in mind that Ohio State has won every time I picked against them :)

College
Oregon over Ohio State 32-27

NFL
Patriots over Ravens 23-17
Seahawks over Panthers 32-13
Broncos over Colts 35-21
Packers over Cowboys 28-20

Last Week:3-1
Season: 101-41

Islanders drop Devils 3-2 in OT

John Tavares scored the final two goals of the game and the New York Islanders took a 3-2 decision in overtime over the New Jersey Devils in Newark.
The Devils received goals from Travis Zajac (7) and Scott Gomez (4) in the loss,which will be the Devils final game at home until the last few days of the month.
New Jersey is off until Wednesday when they travel to Los Angeles against the Kings..

Hell Raisers

1) We will be away from coverage for most of the next month due to the West Coast swing and then the All-Star break.
The only game that we will have coverage of until the 28th is the game in San Jose,which is on a Monday.
The next two games are at work,which if the NHL were as cool as the NBA,I could watch online.
They aren't.

2) John Taveras took the game and his bullrush of Adam Larsson in overtime shows the types of plays that players that you can build around make.
Taveras was all over Larsson in the corner,took the puck away and then swung around the defenseman for a shot against Keith Kinkaid for the win.

3) It's easy to blame Adam Larsson for the play at the end of the game.
He didn't do well,but two things-the first is that the guy on him is one of the best in the game and the other is-he's learning.
I know he has a few years in the league now,but actually in practical experience,he's barely above a rookie -thanks to Peter DeBoer's mishandling of him.
It's OK to be frustrated with the loss,but consider the total picture...

4) I thought Keith Kinkaid played very well and none of the goals could be looked at as bad ones.
Both Taveras goals weren't on him and the Josh Bailey goal was off a defection,so the Devils getting a point at all can be attributed to the efforts of his play...

5) I've always thought the Dainius Zubrus was overpaid for his production and Michael Ryder has equaled him this season,but I'm not sure that I know what to do about it.
Bringing up the Tim Sestito's of the world doesn't change things and getting rid of them doesn't do a ton of good on the salary cap immediately.
I suppose you just live with it for the season,but some of this stuff is tough to watch...

6) Finally,you may notice the disappearance of the Cap Geek link in the links page.
CapGeek's founder Matthew Wuest is having serious health issues and those forced him to shut the page down.
It was an invaluable resource and it'll be missed.
I'll have another link to the Devils cap,but it'll likely be less than what CapGeek brought to the fan.
Best wishes to Matthew for a speedy recovery...

Andre Ward signs with Roc Nation

Rap mogul Jay-Z (I have never heard of this gentleman before his entry into the sports agent game) had made some noise about his new promotional group,but when they tried to use then-WBO middleweight champ Peter Quillin,Quillin turned down his largest ever purse to stay with advisor Al Haymon-even at the cost of his title belt.
Large offers to Keith Thurman and Deontay Wilder were turned down and things then quieted other than their first small card being televised on Fox Sports one (the return of Gus Johnson,bleech).

However on the night that their debut card hits television comes word that the Super Middleweight champion of the world has signed with them as Andre Ward has settled his disagreement with Goosen Promotions,an issue that has kept Ward out of the ring for most of the last three years.
Ward only holds the WBA version of the title,but he beat all that there was to beat during the Super Six tournament,so until someone beats him-Ward is the Super Middleweight champion to me.

Before I begin to write about why Roc Nation may have overpaid for Ward,let's discuss his positives.
Ward is extremely skilled technically,is arguably the most talented non Mayweather fighter in the game,was willing to fight top competition in the Super Six and could be favored against anyone under 168 pounds.
Clearly,Andre Ward is a talented fighter and has some value in the game of boxing.

Here's my problems with Andre Ward- Doesn't like to fight a lot (2 fights in last three years and none in 2014),Doesn't like to fight outside of his hometown in Oakland against top notch opposition (Only his decision win over Carl Froch in Atlantic City was outside of Oakland),is dull inside the ring and has only ever stopped one world class opponent-the soft jawed Chad Dawson,so his fights tend to be tedious and one sided decision wins.

Ward also doesn't appear to have a ton of fights waiting for him either.
The top 160 pounders have fights among themselves that they can get done-Gennady Golovkin,Canelo Alvarez,Miguel Cotto may have a mini round-robin coming up soon as well as being in position in case Floyd Mayweather wants a middleweight belt.
The top 168 pounders are fighters that Ward has already beaten (Carl Froch) or bring little mainstream recognition (James DeGale,George Groves,or the Dirrell brothers) and a move up to 175 for Sergey Kovalev brings danger,while Adonis Stevenson would have the HBO/Showtime problems to deal with.

All things considered,it seems to me that Roc Nation might have been paying a lot of money for a fighter that doesn't always like to fight,is not a draw outside of Oakland and has few guys to fight.
In other words-Look for a few Andre Ward lopsided decisions against top 10-20 style opponents in your viewing future.
In my opinion,that money might have been better spent elsewhere on more exciting fighters to build into attractions despite the ability of Andre Ward...

Back later with the Devils vs Islanders