Great Day of Football (Unless Your Team Lost)

December 1, 2013 @ admin → No Comments

Sunday smorgasbord: One institution of higher learning with an outstanding journalism school scored an impressive victory on Saturday. But enough about the University of Missouri. Northwestern University won, too — although beating Illinois is slightly less impressive for the Wildcats than beatingquarterback Johnny Manziel and Texas A&M was for the Tigers.

A photo of Minnesota Vikings cheerleaderes or Vikings running back Adrian Peterson? Decisions, decisions.

* A 37-34 victory means Northwestern finished the Big Ten Conference season with a 1-7 record. The triumph also ended a seven-game losing streak for the Wildcats (5-7). The Illini also finished 1-7 in the conference and 4-8 overall. Meaning NU holds a slight edge on the season in terms of victories and losses; certainly not in terms of expectations. Another season like this and NU coach Pat Fitzgerald could find himself on the hot seat. Illini coach Tim Beckman can only hope he has the chance to remain at Illinois after the success (OK, lack of it) that his tenure has provided (6-18 overall, 1-15 in conference) in two seasons.

* Enough about the University of Missouri? Not really. As a graduate of that school’s journalism program (yes, the standards were far easier to get into and out of the school long ago), it’s my guess that the Tigers’ 28-21 victory against Texas A&M (thereby qualifying for the Dec. 7 SEC title game) eased any sadness over the last Saturday in November not featuring the Tigers against Kansas University, Mizzou’s archrival before it left the Big 12 (or whatever the conference was called two years ago).

* Speaking of the SEC, Auburn’s 34-28 victory against previously undefeated and top-ranked Alabama came on a return of a missed field goal on the last play of the fourth quarter. It was reminiscent of Chicago Bears return ace Devin Hester’s 108-yard return against the New York Giants in 2006. Back in the day when a special-teams TD or two would be enough points for the Bears to win.

* Let’s see. Alabama went for a 57-yard field goal with one second left; that call led to defeat (as previously described). Trailing 42-41 with 32 seconds left, Michigan goes for a two-point conversion against undefeated Ohio State; the attempt fails. You can’t blame ‘Bama coach Nick Saban for trying to win. You can make a case against Michigan coach Brady Hoke for his decision — unless he thought he would be overmatched in overtime (in which case he is sending a terrible message to his team and its followers).

* Notre Dame falls to Stanford xx-xx and in all likelihood out of the top 25. What are the odds of the Irish ending up in a bowl game?

* Think the host Minnesota Vikings will try to run against the Chicago Bears’ NFL-worst rushing defense? Perhaps the fine folks at Bovada, (www.Bovada.lv, Twitter: @BovadaLV) are factoring some of that when they list Adrian Peterson as the 7/4 favorite to win the rushing crown this season. Odds for others: LeSean McCoy (Philadelphia) 2/1, Alfred Morris (Washington) 7/2; Marshawn Lynch (Seattle) 7/1; Jamaal Charles (Kansas City) 9/1.

* Michael Jordan and wife Yvette Prieto are expecting — a child rather than his Charlotte Bobcats to contend for an NBA title. So says US Weekly. It’s difficult to discern whether Jordan’s latest impending paternity at age 50 os a bigger surprise than the Bobcats (8-9) having a better record than the Chicago Bulls (7-8) at this point in the season.

* Speaking of the Bulls, their loss Saturday at Cleveland should not be considered an abberation. The Bulls have shown they are capable of losing to the worst team in the league (Utah) on the road. Which means when the Bulls return home Monday, they better start winning their games against bad teams — and it wouldn’t hurt to beat a few good ones if they want to reach the postseason.

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Here is where to go for a daily dose of non-gratuitous video (thanks to the exhausting efforts of the editorial and video departments at elliottharris.com that do not know the meaning of taking a day off and also might not know the meaning of “gratuitous” — not that anyone around here is complaining):