Bowling baby
OK, we are not going to list the bowl games here. It makes the 5-at-10 obscenely long.
You can find the entry list and the ballot here.
Rules are simple. Email your picks. Get the most points. Win stuff.
Here's the field as we have it so far, and gang, there's been record interest to this point, so look for your name and if you do not see it, email me again. Deal? Deal.
Here's what we have: 5-at-10, Mrs. 5-at-10, Lil 5-at-10, Gary M., LionScot, CommodoreScot, Alejandro (Where's Alejandro Sr.?), Mark W., Dawg 747, Tom P., Bryan C., Spud, Spy, Andy O., Ellis M., Ernie C., Big Brained Listener Hal, Ted P., Weena, Gus Sucks, Jason G., Jason T., Chris B., Chris J., Brent R., Mike R., Thompson1, Thompson2, Thompson3, scole023, TrueBeliever, ThatIKnow, WarEagle22, Big Al, Mike C., Sheila, Greg B., Will C., Justin S., Josh P., Mark J., Dave L., Terry A., Skip S., Matt J., Bill T., Bo C., and Richard J.
Are we missing any? If you have not entered, why not?
As Bluto told us in the fraternity life documentary that is "Animal House," "Grab a brew, don't cost nothin'" friends.
We will make our first swipe at Fab 4 bowl picks (from this weekend to next Wednesday) and share our complete Bowling for Bowls of Bowl Game Success (Bowler Optional) entry Friday. (Side note: Those may or may not be our Fab 4 picks of course because things change. Plus, who knows which player will be the next to say thanks but no thanks to the honor to risk their NFL earning future for a chance to play in Memphis for an iPod, a Sweatshirt, a commemorative belt buckle and a $200 gift card from FedEx. #BowlSwag
Atlanta Falcons head coach Dan Quinn reacts in the first half of an NFL football game against the Cleveland Browns, Sunday, Nov. 11, 2018, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/David Richard)NFL four count
We have a few NFL things to discuss.
One, the Thursday night game is going to be fun. And meaningful as the winner of the Chiefs-Chargers could grab hold of the AFC West and possible home-field advantage. (Side note: Anyone else wondering what would happen if the Chargers are hosting the AFC title game in a 35,000-seat stadium and still do not sell out?)
Two, somewhere Le'Veon Bell - and all agents of NFL players - are smiling. According to this report, the NFL salary cap will grow by at least $10 million next year. CHA-Ching. As the NFL noted in the story, the salary cap has grown 40 percent since 2014. It's also roughly 150 percent more than the $75 million it was in 2003. Somewhere Lawrence Taylor is crying in his beer. Or his cocaine. To each his own of course.
Three, Dan Quinn was speaking on the Falcons earlier this week. Some of his quotes: "As we're sitting here at Week 15, we have four wins. So you'd better believe we're evaluating everything and doing anything to get it right." You think so, doctor. Blending two and three, it makes you wonder which team wasted a better year in a championship window, Atlanta or Pittsburgh. We'll ask again below.
Four, speaking of the Chiefs, the NFL MVP odds have shifted back to Mr. Mahomes, if you're nasty, and it is every bit the two-player race the Heisman was. . Patrick Mahomes is a -125 favorite (bet $125 to win $100) and Drew Brees is next at +$100 (bet $100 to win $100). Philip Rivers is next at 16-to-1, followed by Todd Gurley, Jared Goff, Aaron Donald and Andrew Luck at 33-to-1.
30-for-30 dejection
I blame myself. I got my hopes up for the "42-to-1" 30-for-30 on the Buster Douglas upset of Mike Tyson.
For those of us at a certain age, it was a seminal, where-were-you sports moment. One of three no-doubt moments in or around sports for those of us 45-and-older that you know exactly where you were. (The U.S over the U.S.S.R., Magic Johnson announcing he had HIV and O.J. Bronco chase were the others. Sure you can make other arguments of your favorites or the ones you had emotional ties to - The Buckner Game, the Kick Six, Gibson off Eckersley, et al. - but those first four are no-debating.)
Now add in the fact that even more than Tiger Woods, Mike Tyson is the most dominant in his sport that we have ever seen and he still left so much on the table and so many of us wanting more from him. He is on the short list of the all-time greats who are also among the all-time disappointments for myriad reasons. (Tiger's on that list too. Maybe a Sandy Koufax because of injuries too.)
So we were stoked to learn more about the Buster Douglas upset that started Tyson's epic downfall.
And the 30-for-30 directed by Jeremy Schaap fell miles short of our expectation. Heck, I learned more about Buster - especially post-fight Buster Douglas - from random Schaap interviews on the four-letter network than I did in the actual 30-for-30.
Was it entertaining? Yeah, I guess so. The clips of the old fight footage - especially of Tyson - was great and made me remember how much I really liked to watch boxing back in the day. It also reminded me how great boxing was when heavyweights were relevant, and the Douglas-Tyson fight was filled with Rocky-esque exchanges.
But the backstory and the details that turn OK-to-pretty good 30-for-30s into great ones were lacking. We all knew that his mom died less than a month before the fight. We all knew the underdog. There were some details about his relationship with his dad, but the holes were glaring.
Also, there was very little on Tyson's pre-fight stuff other than the well know story of the corner man forgetting the cold piece of metal corners used to limit swelling. Maybe that was because there is already a Tyson 30-for-30, but considering the resources available at ESPN, they should have pulled the strings to get Tyson on camera, right?
How much better would that entire thing have been with even a 30-second new clip of Tyson talking about how that loss changed his life and 30 more seconds on how unready he was for that fight?
It also did not help the "42-to-1" that it followed the Bobby Knight 30-for-30 that was excellent.
Thoughts?
This and that
- Here's a 30-for-30 side note too: There will be a documentary on Deion Sanders' double dip with the Braves and Falcons and one of the best water cooler dumps ever when Sanders poured the cooler on Tim McCarver.
- Follow up on something yesterday that made me do a double take. Todd McShay had his Mock Draft 1.0 out this morning. He listed Arizona as the team with the first pick. Well, everything else we have seen - including this draft list from NFL.com - has San Francisco with the No. 1 overall pick.
- Got up this morning, and this happens a fair amount in the darkness of our quiet home as we do our 5-at-10 research, but we were given pause on Twitter this morning. Does this happen to you? You see the list of trending topics like earthquakes and other topics each morning. Occasionally there will be a famous name who is older and the first thought is, "Did so-and-so die?" Today it was Bob Barker, but he was celebrating his 95th birthday.
- TSSAA voted to add lacrosse for boys and girls as sanctioned sports in Tennessee. This will be a big mover in Hamilton County friends, believe me. With the number of private schools and several area public schools such as Signal, Sequatchie and several others already with programs, this will be big from the jump around these parts. Also of note, as the number of kids and families saying no thanks to football continues to grow, the lacrosse alternative could become more and more popular.
- You know we are likely to pay attention to some gambling news, and this one certainly counts. Two professional gamblers/poker players made a 30-day isolation bet for $100,000. The isolated gambler - Rich Alati - had to spend 30 days in a dark room without any interaction with humans or technology other than the other bettor - Rory Young - bringing him food. On Monday, Young bought out the final 10 days of the bet for $62,400.
- While we are here, this story could have turned out much worse. Here's the video of a little boy totting a monster backlog being chased by a turkey. (Side note: For some reason, school everywhere - including the 5-at-10 tots' school - must be passing out concrete blocks to be put in those backpacks. Buckets those things are bulky and heavy.) First, know this: Turkeys are mean as heck. Period. If the driver had not swerved to distract the bird, it would have been gotten bad. It could have been a really fowl scene. (Sorry, Chas.)
Today's question
Which way Wednesday, we'll start here.
Which game-show host got the most out of their movie role, Richard Dawson in "Running Man" or Bob Barker in "Happy Gilmore" gang?
Which team wasted a better year in a championship window, Atlanta or Pittsburgh?
For $100,000 could you spend 30 days by yourself in a dark room without human or technological contact?
Which sports figure gets the all-time No. 12 jersey on this 12/12 - day of dozens?
If we offered a list of nominees for the Rushmore of Dozens, which on would not make it: Dozen eggs. Dozen donuts, Dozen Pro V1s, Dozen roses, Cheaper by the Dozen, Dirty Dozen (this one is there friends), "A dime a dozen" and Baker's dozen. Discuss.
It's also national ding-a-ling day. No other comments needed there.
On this day in 1930, baseball rules were overhauled, including changing the rule of a ball bouncing into the stands becomes a ground-rule double. Before it was a home run. Washington, D.C. was established as our nation's capital on this day in 1800.
Mike Golic is 56 today. Congrats big guy. We miss you and the other Mike. We're not a fan of Golic or Wingo if we're going to be honest here.
Man, one of our all time personal favorites - Mr. Frank Sinatra - would have been 103 today. Dude was a dude friends.
In fact, considering that he had Chairman of the Board and Ol' Blue Eyes as two hoss nicknames, who else makes the Rushmore of multiple all-time nicknames. (We think Babe Ruth - the Babe and the Sultan of Swat - will be there too.)
Go and remember the contest and the mailbag.