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10/16/2017

Talkin' Baseball...the playoffs roll on....

[Posted Sunday p.m., before Dodgers-Cubs, Giants-Broncos.  The NFL gets short shrift but a ton of stuff happened late and your editor must move on.]

College Football Quiz:  Years before the BCS, and then CFP, came into existence, you really had two major polls, AP and UPI, and a few times they were split as to the national champion, which I thought was actually fun, but far more thought that it wasn’t.

So in 1990, we had joint champs.  AP anointed Colorado (11-1-1), while UPI tabbed Georgia Tech (12-0-1). Give me the coach, quarterback and leading rusher for both. Answer below.

Yankees – Indians

Game 5 was Wednesday after I posted last and just to complete the story, after Cleveland took the first two in the series, they went meekly, 1-0, 7-3, and 5-2 in Game 5, as Cleveland ace Corey Kluber, the probable Cy Young Award winner in the A.L., was ineffective a second straight outing, 3 runs in 3 2/3, while for the Yankees, CC Sabathia threw four scoreless before exiting in the fifth, having given up 2 in 4 1/3 while fanning 9...exactly what the Yankees needed from CC as they then handed it off to David Robertson (2 2/3 scoreless) and Aroldis Chapman (another 2) to complete a 5-2 win, powered by Didi Gregorius’ two home runs; Gregorius continuing to make fans forget Derek Jeter, which must irk Jeter to no end.  [It’s about Jeter’s brand and the loving coverage he has received here for 20+ years.  Didi, along with Judge, Sanchez and potentially others in the system, threaten the level of his ongoing exposure.]

So another incredibly bitter disappointment for Cleveland, who despite a record-setting season, once again fall short; their last World Series title being in 1948.

I won’t blame Cleveland fans, as was the case this past season, for waiting until September to show up to the ballpark next year.  One disappointment, choke, after another.  It’s an exciting, likeable team, but Mets fans know what this feels like.  In 1984 and ’85, we started our renaissance.  Two exciting seasons that fell short.  1986 was it. We had to close the deal then and we did.

Next year, Cleveland MUST win it all.  But now they have a potential Yankee juggernaut to deal with for years to come.

Yankees – Astros

Friday nights aren’t the best for me, as I’m working on that other column I do until late, but I did watch the entire Yankee game (sound off most of the time...while keeping track of Syracuse-Clemson) and no doubt, Houston’s Dallas Keuchel was masterful, throwing 7 innings of shutout ball, striking out 10, in the Astros’ 2-1 opening win, New York’s Greg Bird with their lone run on a solo moonshot off closer Ken Giles, who still picked up a 5-out save.  Masahiro Tanaka was just fine for the Yanks, allowing 2 runs in six innings.

But the Yankees had their chances, especially in the fifth when slumping Aaron Judge went to the plate with 1st and 2nd and two outs and lined a single to left, only to have Bird thrown out at the plate, barely, by Marwin Gonzalez on a strike.  Bird admitted later he didn’t get a good jump on it, with a short lead from second, despite it being a 3-2 pitch.

In the eighth inning, Didi Gregorius had 1st and 2nd and two outs and he was fanned by Giles.

Another exciting game.

As for Keuchel, he has become a Yankee killer.  4-2 in the regular season against them, but with a 1.41 ERA, the best in 60 years for an opposing pitcher.

In the playoffs, though, he now has two wins in two starts, 13 scoreless.

So overall, Keuchel’s ERA against New York is 1.09, and it’s not a small sample size, 58 2/3 innings.

One other note from Friday...the Yankees’ DH duo of Jacoby Ellsbury and Chase Headley was 0-for-20 in the playoffs thus far.  So Joe Girardi inserted Matt Holliday, who was 0-for-3, and then Ellsbury pinch-hit for him in the ninth and he made the last out...0-for-24. [0-for-27 after last night...jumping ahead.]

On to Saturday and Game 2, and it was the same script. Superb starting pitching, excitement, and another 2-1 Houston win to go up 2-0 as the series now heads to New York for Game 3 Monday.

Justin Verlander, the former Cy Young Award winner Houston acquired late from Detroit for just these moments was spectacular, a complete game, 124 pitch effort, giving up the lone run in the fifth and then mowing down the Yanks from there, striking out 13 and walking just one, seemingly improving as the game went on.  That, sports fans, is a stud.  It was just the 20th time in history that a pitcher fanned 13 in a postseason game and the first since Tim Lincecum did it in Game 1 of the 2010 NLDS.

Verlander was 5-0 in his five starts in September with Houston, 1.06 ERA, and he’s now 3-0 in the postseason, including a relief appearance in the ALDS series against Boston, with a 2.04 ERA.  Ergo, 8-0 in his eight appearances.  I’d say the Astros made a brilliant move.

But the Astros also won on Saturday thanks to the legs of Jose Altuve and the bat of Carlos Correa.

Correa homered off Yankee starter Luis Severino (4 innings, one run), to give Houston a 1-0 lead, and then after the Yankees tied it in the fifth, it remained scoreless until the bottom of the ninth when with Altuve on first, following a one-out single off closer Aroldis Chapman, Correa lined a hit into the right-field gap, where it was cut off well by Aaron Judge, but Judge then missed the cutoff man, it got to Didi Gregorius, as Altuve was flying all the way around the bases, and Gregorius’ throw short-hopped catcher Gary Sanchez. It was there in time to get Altuve, but Sanchez dropped it (it was a tough play) and Houston won it in dramatic fashion, thus enhancing the legend of Altuve in the process.

Yes, this is Altuve’s true national coming out party, the 3-time A.L. batting champ going 13-for-23 thus far in the postseason, .565.

Are the Yankees tough enough to come back again from down 2-0 like they were against Cleveland? The answer comes Monday. But the trio of Aaron Judge, Gary Sanchez and Didi Gregorius better do more than their 2-for-22 effort thus far.

Nationals – Cubs...Game 5

With the game 4-3 Washington after four, the Nats handed the ball to Max Scherzer, as good as there is in the game, but after getting Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo to lead off the top of the fifth, the roof caved in.  By the end of the frame, four runs had scored, two earned, and Washington trailed 7-4.  Watching here at home, I was stunned.

After all, four straight Cubs reached base in unconventional ways – an intentional walk, a strikeout with a passed ball, catcher interference and a hit batsman.  Baseball-reference.com has 2.73 million half-innings in its database.  None of them contain those four events in a half-inning – let alone from four consecutive hitters.  It happened in an entire game just five times. 

“It was bizarro world,” Cubs Manager Joe Maddon said.  “There’s no question about it.”

Washington would go on to lose 9-8.  Five years earlier to the night, the Nats had blown a 6-0 lead against St. Louis in that fifth game in 2012.

Barry Svrluga / Washington Post

“This Thursday evening started in the mist and ended in a mess, and the educated Washington fan could have told you that when he or she woke up.  The Washington Nationals played a game to extend their season. They lost that game. Their season is over. Those with strong stomachs, read further. The rest: See you in spring.

“By the standards of a normal town, the fashion in which all this happened at Nationals Park was bizarre – funhouse mirror weird, baseball as a Dali painting.  Here, in strait-laced Washington, it fits into the athletic fabric perfectly. The pattern, by now, is well-established.  Washington might be able to muster optimism on a morning such as Thursday. It might, over lunch, convince itself of this advantage or that.

“But get through the gate at the ballpark, and dread is so readily available.  The concessionaires slip it between the hot dog and the bun, mix it into the carbonated beverages, slide it into the programs. By now, babies here are born with it, ingrained....

“The Nationals failed to win a playoff series – again – the fourth time in the past six years they have reached this stage and taken a crowbar across the knees....

“On this night, everything we have learned about Washington sports over the past generation was reinforced, with arguments about whether the anguish caused by the Nationals now outdoes that caused by football’s Redskins, basketball’s Wizards or hockey’s Capitals.  Discuss amongst yourselves. We’ve got all winter.”

Here’s the bottom line for Washington sports fans.  The Redskins last won a Super Bowl in 1991 and haven’t played for a conference championship since.

The Washington Wizards (then the Bullets) won the NBA championship in 1978, reached the finals a year later, and haven’t returned to the conference finals since.

The 1997-98 Capitals made the Stanley Cup Finals and have three times finished with the best regular season record in the NHL.  Yet four times with the best player in franchise history, Alex Ovechkin, the Capitals have failed to reach the conference finals, four times losing a do-or-die game in which victory would have pushed them to that level.

Coupled with the Nationals’ futility, it is 69 seasons, between the four, without reaching a conference final.

The four Washington teams have now had 13 individual games that would have sent them into the conference final round and lost them all: One by the Wizards, two by the Redskins, four by the Nationals, and six by the Capitals.

Wednesday, Washington down 2-1 to Chicago, Stephen Strasburg had hurled a brilliant seven innings in a 5-0 win to send it to a fifth game.  It had been only 1-0 in the eighth, when Michael A. Taylor hit a grand slam.

But in Game 5, frustration and disaster reigned anew, including, trailing 9-8 in the bottom of the eighth when the Nats’ Jose Lobaton was picked off first by Cubs catcher Wilson Contreras, a play initially called safe by the umpire, only to have the Cubs ask for a video review, whereupon Lobaton was ruled out, Rizzo having the tag on him when Lobaton’s foot came off the bag.

Bryce Harper then struck out for the final out in the ninth, season over.  As Washington outfielder Jayson Werth said, “There were like 50 different things you could look at.”

Jayson Werth, who no doubt played his last game with Washington, the end of his seven-year, $126 million deal, an outrageous sum at the time for a so-so player, added, “It’s crazy to think we didn’t win that game.  This one’s tough. I love these guys.  I love this team.  To think that it’s over now, it’s tough to swallow.”

[For the record, of Werth’s seven seasons, he earned the contract about 2 ½ years of the 7, the rest of the time any $3 million outfielder could have done the same things he did.]

Dodgers – Cubs

The Dodgers took Game 1 on Saturday night in Los Angeles, 5-2, with Clayton Kershaw rather surprisingly being pulled for a pinch-hitter in the bottom of the fifth after he had gone five, allowing a two-run homer to Albert Almora Jr. in the fourth, which made it 2-0 at the time. The Dodgers had rallied to tie it in the bottom of the fifth, though this is where it stood when Kershaw’s position in the batting order came up.

To some it was the long beginning of a changing of the guard of sorts.  Kershaw had thrown 87 pitches and certainly there is no way he could have gone out in the sixth, but L.A. has a very deep bullpen (which allowed no hits and no walks the final four), and Kershaw has his balky back, and he frankly sucks in postseason play, especially if he’s on the mound in the seventh, when he has a 25.50 postseason ERA.

Kershaw has also been bitten by the homerun bug all year, giving up a career-high 23 over the season, including five in the last 27 2/3 in the regular season.  And then he allowed four solo shots in the Dodgers victory over the Diamondbacks in Game 1 of the NLDS.

Anyway, the Dodgers made a surprising decision before the series with Chicago started by shelving star shortstop Corey Seager for the NLCS, Seager having hurt his back in his last game against the Diamondbacks and it hadn’t improved enough for him to be able to play.

All Seager did this season was slam 22 homers and drive in 77, while batting .295.  He’s a leader in the clubhouse.

So Charlie Culbertson, who batted all of .154 in 15 games with L.A. this season, filled in and proceeded to double in the tying run and then scored another.

Yasiel Puig, though, was the real story with a booming double and a home run, with Chris Taylor’s solo shot in the sixth making it 3-2.

--One note outside the Championship Series, the Boston Red Sox fired manager John Farrell, who still had a year on his contract, despite steering a young team to back-to-back division titles.  Not unexpected, after the same team had consecutive first-round playoff defeats.

Boston needs a new face to replace the dour Farrell.  Prime-time television ratings on NESN dropped 15% over last year, David Ortiz’s final season, and management believes Farrell is partly responsible.  There was also the feeling he had lost the respect of the clubhouse.  David Price treated him with derision.

College Football Review

All that follows written prior to release of new AP Poll Sunday afternoon.

What a weekend it turned out to be...as in, Holy Cow!  [And what a shakeup we will see in the poll.]

--As alluded to above, I watched the Yankee game Friday night, but had No. 2 Clemson at Syracuse on the computer screen and I’m following the score (wanting Clemson because I want them in the CFP).

7-0 Syracuse...eh.  7-7...guess Clemson is settling in.  14-7 Syracuse...huh!  14-14...OK, no problem.  17-14 Syracuse...uh oh.  17-17...Clemson will pull it out.  24-17 Syracuse...no!  24-24...man, this shouldn’t be this close.  27-24 Syracuse...9:41  left.  C’mon, Tigers, get your freakin’ act together!!!

Alas, they didn’t.  27-24.  A stunner, but then Syracuse, now 4-3, has been 4-8, 4-8, 3-9 the past three seasons, yet seems to come up with one big effort a year, beating No. 17 Virginia Tech last season, for example.

Plus Syracuse is now a respectable 3-6 against the previous year’s national champion; Penn State (1987) and Michigan (1998).

Clemson was just outplayed, led by Orange QB Eric Dungey (20/32, 278, 3-0).  Yes, Clemson starting quarterback Kelly Bryant suffered a concussion late in the first half, having gone 12/17, 116, 0-0, but his backup, Zerrick Cooper wasn’t the problem (10/14, 88, 0-0).  It was the vaunted Clemson that was the culprit, giving up 270 yards in the first half alone.

So congratulations to second-year coach Dino Babers.  And now I’m looking at my Wake Forest Demon Deacons heading up to Syracuse later, having already booked a ‘W’ as part of my 6-6 minimum season for Wake, and I’m thinking, ‘Uh oh.’

Also Friday night, in another stunner, California (4-3), which had been 0-3 in the Pac-12, whipped 8 Washington State into submission, 37-3, for their first win in 14 years against a top 10 team.

Washington State had seven turnovers!  Heisman prospect Luke Faulk was picked off five times, and lost a fumble.  I mean that was the game in a nutshell.  Cal’s offense was no great shakes.  The Cougars even had a 1-yard punt in the first half that led to a 45-yard TD drive, and missed a field goal.  Bye-bye national title hopes Washington State.

--Saturday, 1 Alabama beat Arkansas (2-4) 41-9 to move to 7-0.

4 Georgia is 7-0 after blasting Missouri (1-5) 53-28, the Bulldogs outgaining the Tigers 696-312!  Georgia displayed a good passing game in this one, to go along with its super rushing attack.  Oh, that SEC title game is looking delicious. [Yes, as proven this week, I’m jumping ahead of myself.]

See Arizona State (3-3), which pulled off another shocking upset, “stunning” being the watchword for the weekend, 13-7 over No. 5 Washington (6-1), as the Huskies’ Jake Browning sucked; just 17 of 30 passing for 139 yards.  [Like I’ve been saying, you tell me who the top QB in the country is this year...or the No. 1 pick in next spring’s draft.  I can’t.]

Continuing...No. 6 TCU ran its record to 6-0 with a 26-6 win at Kansas State (3-3), holding the Wildcats to just 216 yards of offense.

7 Wisconsin is 6-0 after a 17-9 win over Purdue (3-3), as the Badgers continue to be led by freshman sensation Jonathan Taylor, who rushed for 219 yards, his third 200-yard performance of the year.

Suddenly, 9 Ohio State (6-1), after a season-opening loss to Oklahoma, is on such a roll they are very much back in the national title conversation, especially after all the upsets this week. This week the Buckeyes destroyed Nebraska (3-4) in Lincoln, 56-14, as J.T. Barrett was a stupendous 27/33, 325, 5-0, plus two TDs rushing.  Barrett, after this week, deserves the Heisman as much as anyone.  [But now way he’d be the top pick in the draft.]

Ohio State now has a week off before its gigantic showdown with Penn State, which was idle this week.

[One sidebar, just imagine how apoplectic Cornhuskers fans are these days; their once proud program in tatters.  They haven’t finished a season in the AP Top Ten since 2001, and haven’t had a season with fewer losses than 4 since 2003.]

10 Auburn (5-2) was beaten by LSU (5-2) in Baton Rouge 27-23, the Tigers erasing a 20-0 second-quarter deficit and probably saving Coach Ed Orgeron’s job in the process.

In other games of import....

In a very exciting contest (watch Miami football if you want excitement) the No. 11 Hurricanes (5-0) nipped Georgia Tech (3-2) 25-24 on Summit’s Michael Badgley’s last-second field goal (4 of 4 on the day), after Malik Rosier hooked up with Darrell Langham on a 28-yard pass play, fourth down or go home play,  with Langham, for the second straight week, making a spectacular grab for what proved to be the win, setting up Badgley for a chippie.

Georgia Tech is solid, their only loss a season-opening 42-41 defeat against Tennessee.

But Miami has become the true cardiac kids and it’s fun.  Rosier at quarterback is very raw, but extremely talented, NFL-like talent. He’s gutty.  And while Badgley’s game-winner was just from 24 yards out, it was a rainy, sloppy field and anything could have happened.  The Summit lad came through...it was pure.

Yes, this year, after Wake, Miami is my second team (Pitt being once again godawful).

13 USC is 6-1 after a nice 28-27 win over Utah (4-2), that coupled with the Washington and Washington State losses, suddenly finds the Trojans back in the hunt.  Sam Darnold was only 27 of 50 passing, but he did throw for 358 yards and three touchdowns without getting picked off.

But I guess I have to bring up the fact Utah would have won, having scored with 42 seconds left in the game, only the Utes went for the win and the two-point conversion and failed.  Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said his defense was spent, Darnold was on fire, and there was no way they were stopping the Trojans in overtime.  I admire the decision.

One more...for USC, Ronald Jones II is having a very solid year at running back.  He gained another 111 yards on just 17 carries.

17 Michigan (5-1) just got by Indiana (3-3) in Bloomington, 27-20 in overtime.  Indiana was trailing 20-10 late then rallied back, tying it as the clock ran out on a 46-yard Griffin Oakes field goal, only to have the Wolverines win it on their first drive in OT.

Indiana is a lot like Wake Forest in recent years. The Hoosiers aren’t bad, they just aren’t good (“Good” defined as Top 25 at season’s end, “Great” College Playoff final four).  I mean Indiana is 6-7 its last two seasons, having lost its two bowl games, and hasn’t had a winning season since 2007, but it seems like they are always just about to break through.

18 South Florida (6-0) is still undefeated after a 33-3 win over Cincinnati (2-4).  USF is 24-4 over its last 28.  Is it Big Bowl bound?  Quite possibly.  What sucks for its chances is its lousy schedule, though it does now have an intriguing showdown looming with No. 22 Central Florida (5-0), 63-21 winners over East Carolina (1-6) this week.  That’s Nov. 22.  Hmmm.

19 San Diego State fell to 6-1, 31-14 losers to Boise State (4-2) at home.  Bye-bye any shot at a major bowl for the Aztecs.

For 20 North Carolina State, now 6-1, it’s ‘Oh what could have been.’ The Wolfpack suffered a tough season-opening loss to South Carolina, 35-28, but have run the table since, including a 35-17 win over Pitt (2-5) in Pittsburgh, Nyheim Hines rushing for 135 yards on 16 carries, including an 83-yard TD scamper, plus he added a 92-yard punt return for a score.

But the next two weeks we’ll find out just how good N.C. State is, as after a bye week they travel to South Bend to face Notre Dame, before the biggie against Clemson at home Nov. 4. That is suddenly for the ACC Atlantic Division title.

[Speaking of South Carolina, they helped the Wolfpack by moving their record to 5-2 with a 15-9 win over Tennessee (3-3) in Knoxville.]

25 Navy lost its first to fall to 5-1, a tough 30-27 loss at Memphis (5-1), the Tigers riding the arm of Riley Ferguson (279 yards and three touchdowns), while Navy QB Zach Abbey countered with 146 yards rushing on 37 carries and three scores, but only 1 of 7 through the air.  Yes, the Midshipmen aren’t built to stage late comebacks.

A few more....

Boston College (3-4) had a nice upset win at Louisville (4-3), 45-42, as freshman running back A.J. Dillon went wild, 39 carries for 272 yards and four touchdowns.  Incredible performance, offsetting that of reigning Heisman Trophy quarterback Lamar Jackson, who threw for 332 yards and two touchdowns, and rushed for 180 yards and three more scores.

Florida State (2-3) beat Duke (4-3) 17-10, as freshman running back Cam Akers rushed for 115 yards.  After being the most heavily recruited running back in the land last year, the Seminoles are beginning to unleash him.

And Virginia is 5-1 after a 20-14 win at North Carolina, the Tar Heels a miserable 1-6.

But what’s this? Rutgers won a Big Ten game?!  35-24 at Illinois?!  It’s true.  Really true!

Okay, the Illini really blow (2-4), but Rutgers (also 2-4) had lost 16 Big Ten games in a row.  The question now is, “Is Illinois the worst Power Five team in the country?”

--And now your new AP Top 25 poll!

1. Alabama 7-0 (all 61 first-place votes)
2. Penn State 6-0...eh
3. Georgia 7-0...most deserving
4. TCU 6-0...out of nowhere, very much in CFP picture!
5. Wisconsin 6-0...not a fan
6. Ohio State 6-1...hey, the team is exciting...what the hell...no prob if final 4
7. Clemson 6-1
8. Miami 5-0...time for the fan base to return...you go, girls!
9. Oklahoma 5-1...more on them next time
10. Oklahoma State 5-1...rising from the dead
11. USC 6-1...cheerleaders still top shelf...uh oh, I’m being targeted....I do have my International Web Site Association license!  [Always look for the IWSA label for your assurance of web quality.]
12. Washington 6-1...down 7
13. Notre Dame 5-1...only because everyone else is getting beat
15. Washington State...down 7
T-16. North Carolina State 6-1...Awoo!  Awoo!  [They being the Wolfpack]
T-16. South Florida 6-0...looking “New Year’s Six” participant*
20. UCF 5-0...time to start paying attention
25. Memphis 5-1

*New Year’s Six a term used loosely, but one of the Group of Five schools, non-Power Five, will play in a major six bowl...Rose, Orange, Fiesta, Cotton, Fiesta or Peach...though this year those games are sprinkled from Dec. 29-Jan. 1. Last year, you’ll recall Western Michigan played in the Cotton Bowl against Wisconsin.  It’s a great move by the CFP to keep interest in the likes of USF and UCF, and Memphis, for that matter.

--Yes, I’ll take another stab at my own CFP ranking next time, having been obliterated this weekend with the rest of you.  [If you tell me you knew Clemson, Washington, and Wash State were all going down, you’re lying.]

--Finally, the NCAA on Friday said it could not conclude whether the University of North Carolina violated NCAA academic rules over a series of deficient “paper courses” taken by a sizable number of athletes over the course of nearly two decades.

So after a 3 ½-year investigation, Carolina skates free!  What a travesty.  Yes, the school long self-imposed penalties on the football program, and the scandal cost the job of former football coach Butch Davis, but no NCAA penalties?  As Dick Vitale would exclaim, “Are you kidding me?!”

Greg Sankey, the NCAA’s chief hearing officer and commissioner of the Southeastern Conference, said in a statement:

“While student-athletes likely benefited from the so-called ‘paper course’ offered by North Carolina, the information available in the record did not establish that the courses were solely created, offered and maintained as an orchestrated effort to benefit student-athletes.  The panel is troubled by the university’s shifting positions about whether academic fraud occurred on its campus and the credibility of the Cadwalader report [Ed. years earlier], which it distanced itself from after initially supporting the findings.  However, NCAA policy is clear. The NCAA defers to its member schools to determine whether academic fraud occurred and, ultimately, the panel is bound to making decisions within the rules set by the membership.”

The Raleigh News & Observer first broke the story in 2011 of the sham classes, one of the worst cases of academic fraud since Doctors Pons and Fleischman claimed to have discovered “cold fusion” in 1989, but I digress....[Recognizing maybe one or two might have an inkling what I’m referring to, our own Dr. Bortrum once sat next to Pons at dinner, and Bortrum just told me how Pons then stole a cab Bortrum and Lady Bortrum were waiting for.  When Bortrum protested, Pons said, “Ta-ta!”  Yes, Dr. Pons would have been a ‘Dirtball of the Year’ candidate had Bar Chat been around then.]

So where were we?  I was writing a ton about UNC’s fraud case back when it was a hot story, but the bottom line for today is the NCAA found only two violations, both of them committed by two academic employees at the heart of the case over their failure to cooperate with the NCAA.  One of them retired in 2012, the other indicted previously on felony fraud charges connected to the “paper classes.”

Half of those taking the classes were athletes, which was the ‘scandal,’ the two most represented sports football and men’s basketball.  Star football player Julius Peppers and hoops star Rashad McCants each took some of the classes, and with McCants being part of the 2005 NCAA basketball championship team, it was a huge deal when the story broke.  McCants claimed everyone in the athletic department knew of the classes.  Basketball coach Roy Williams and other players from the 2005 squad disputed this.

The key in terms of the NCAA is that while everyone knew the classes were bogus, they were offered to all students, not just athletes, so the NCAA really doesn’t have jurisdiction in such matters.

UNC hoops gets to keep all their championship banners, including the one from last season, which just went up at the Dean Dome.

NFL

--The big story in the NFL today is the injury to Aaron Rodgers, likely out for the season after suffering a broken collarbone, the Packers then losing 23-10 to the Vikings (4-2), Green Bay falling to 4-2, season over.  Period.  End of story. It’s brutal.

Cleveland is 0-6 after a 33-17 loss to Houston (3-3).

Detroit’s highly-paid Matthew Stafford committed five turnovers, three interceptions, two fumbles, and the Lions fell to 3-3, New Orleans (3-2) winning 52-38, as the Saints returned three of the TOs for scores.

The Raiders are off to a shocking 2-4 start after losing to the Chargers (2-4) 17-16, Oakland QB Derek Carr with a miserable effort, including two interceptions.

Washington is 3-2 after a 26-24 win over winless San Francisco (0-6).

Baltimore is 3-3 after a 27-24 loss in overtime to Chicago (2-4), as the Bears’ Jordan Howard had 167 yards on the ground.  But I cared about this one because Wake Forest’s Michael Campanaro had a 77-yard punt return for a touchdown to tie it for the Ravens at 24-24 with just 1:37 left.  [To be fair, I read a local report later and he apparently had a big drop as well.]

And the Steelers are now 4-2 after a clutch 19-13 win at Kansas City, thus handing the Chief (5-1) their first loss.  Le’Veon Bell is back, rushing to 179 yards and a touchdown, while Antonio Brown behaved long enough to catch eight of Ben Roethlisber’s passes for 155 yards and a score.

I keep telling Steelers Nation, don’t worry!  They’re the Bar Chat Pick to Click!  [That’s what has Jeff B. and the others upset.]

Atlanta lost a mini-shocker at home to the Dolphins 20-17, after the Falcons took a 17-0 lead at the half.  The Dolphins ‘D’ stiffened, though, and Jay Cutler tossed two TD passes; Miami 3-3, Atlanta 3-2.

--Lastly, my Jets (3-3) suffered a crushing defeat at home to New England (4-2) 24-17, the Jets playing their hearts out and getting royally screwed on an unbelievably bad call late.  With the score 24-24, tight end Austin Seferian-Jenkins caught a pass near the goal line, bobbled it slightly but clearly had possession as he hit the end zone.  But it was ruled a fumble, so a touchback for New England.

It was a call that Jets fans will remember a long time.  As analyst Dan Fouts, broadcasting the game, said, “One of the worst calls I’ve ever seen.”

After a three-and-out, the Jets got the ball back and kicked a field goal, but weren’t able to drive down the field for the tying score with their last possession.

God, I hate New England!

[More on this one next time...as commentary rolls in.  For now, I respect the boys more and more.  We’re on the right track.]

--The wheels officially came off the Giants’ bus, with the team forced to suspend cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, after it was revealed he got into it at halftime of their last game with Coach Ben McAdoo, and then on Wednesday, showed up at practice, only to leave shortly thereafter.

“He came in today, decided to leave,” McAdoo said.

But safety Landon Collins disputed McAdoo’s claim DRC had conversations Tuesday and Wednesday with the team. Collins claimed Rodgers-Cromartie did not leave the team, but was suspended by McAdoo after a disagreement.

According to WFAN’s Mike Francesa, Rodgers-Cromartie took off his pads at halftime of the Chargers game and declared he was done playing. Another Giant challenged him, leading to a  fight. But then the NFL Network claimed the other player was McAdoo.

We’ve known for a few weeks now that McAdoo had lost control of his 0-5 team, but this is as bad as I can ever remember seeing a local situation.

As Steve Politi of NJ.com put it, “All the receivers are injured. All the cornerbacks are revolting.  Your 2017 New York Football Giants, everyone!”

McAdoo, who really is a jerk, but was fortunate to have a 10-6 first season last year, then didn’t address the full team until Friday.

And one key cog left floundering is quarterback Eli Manning.  It’s clear his long goodbye has begun.

--Earlier, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel in New Orleans granted the league’s emergency request to set aside an injunction and ordered a district court in Texas to dismiss Ezekiel Elliott’s case. So the NFL re-imposed its six-game suspension on Elliott.

But Dallas had a bye this week and no telling, as yet, whether Elliott plays next week based on an appeal.

--Lastly, Colin Kaepernick filed a grievance against the NFL on Sunday stemming from his lack of employment.  Much more on this next BC. Expect some tweets this week from the White House.

NBA

The season commences Tuesday, and many are hoping that it isn’t Golden State vs. Cleveland in a fourth straight NBA Finals.

Oklahoma City, with new additions Paul George and Carmelo Anthony joining regular season MVP Russell Westbrook, will have something to say about who’s there in June.  Chris Paul joins James Harden in Houston.  Boston added Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward.

But if Isaiah Thomas can come back healthy in the second half of the season, if not sooner, it should be Warriors-Cavs again.

For the record, Sports Illustrated has these two in the end, Golden State prevailing in the Finals.  I have to be a wimp and select the Warriors as well.

Golf Balls

--41-year-old Pat Perez continued his resurgence with a win at the CIMB Classic at TPC Kuala Lumpur, a full PGA Tour event.  Perez, prior to the 2016-17 wraparound season, had one win in 376 starts on Tour, but now he has picked up his second (third career) in his last 25 starts.

Perez won handily, by four over Keegan Bradley, Bradley’s best finish since a second at the 2014 Arnold Palmer Invitational.

That’s what these fall events are good for.  Not just wins by the likes of Perez in a less than stellar field, but the chance for a Keegan Bradley to regain their confidence.  Many a player has then carried it forward into January and beyond, when for the bulk of golf fans, the real season begins.

Xander Schauffele, who burst on the scene in the FedEx Cup Playoffs, finished T-3 with Sung Kang of Korea.

--On the Champions Tour, they played the final event prior to the three-tournament season-ending playoffs for the Schwab Cup, the SAS Championship at Prestonwood CC, Cary, N.C., and Colin Montgomerie won it.  He could never win a PGA Tour event in the U.S. back in the day, but he’s found solid success with the post-50 crowd, this his sixth win. 

Wake Forest classmate Gary Hallberg was T-51, but barely finished out of the playoffs at 75.  Drat!

NASCAR

Dale Earnhardt Jr., out of nowhere, won the pole for today’s big race at Talladega, the first time he had ever done so, and as we dreamed of Junior crossing the finish line first in what has been a disappointing final campaign, he ended up seventh, which wasn’t bad but not good enough; Brad Keselowski taking it over Ryan Newman on a restart after more a few Big Ones down the stretch at this biggest track in the sport.

Premier League

Play resumed after a week off for World Cup qualifying round matches, and the star of the show was my favorite player outside Tottenham, Manchester City’s awesome Belgian, Kevin De Bruyne, who for a guy who didn’t score a goal received praise far and wide like I’ve never seen for his performance in a 7-2 blowout by MC over Stoke City.

From the Irish Independent:

“For 66 minutes, until Kevin De Bruyne took his leave to a rapturous standing ovation and the huge relief of everyone associated with a bludgeoned Stoke City, the sublime Belgian midfielder produced a performance of rarefied beauty, the orchestrator of a swashbuckling display from Manchester city that, at times, left you struggling to catch your breath....

“Stoke manager Mark Hughes claimed De Bruyne was ‘head and shoulders above anyone else in the Premier League’ and it is becoming increasingly hard to disagree.

“It was a minefield trying to pick a highlight. De Bruyne’s gorgeous low pass that must have covered 30-plus yards before racing into that space between a despairing Geoff Cameron and Jack Butland for Leroy Sane to steer home City’s sixth was the work of a master craftsman.

“But as good as the pass that cut open Stoke’s poor defense in the lead-up to City’s second in the 19th minute?  It will be watched and re-watched time and again this weekend and beyond, it was that good.  Stoke’s players thought De Bruyne was shaping to shoot when he collected Sane’s pass on the edge of the penalty area but the Belgian had other ideas and, with wonderful disguise, sent both the hapless Kurt Zouma and Kevin Wimmer one way while sliding a pass into the gaping hole he had created for himself.

“Sane was the grateful recipient and he had the simple task of squaring for Sterling to side-foot home.  (Manager Pep) Guardiola celebrated jubilantly from the touchline, hands above his head applauding, a beaming smile on his face.”

You have to look up De Bruyne’s play on Saturday. 

Meanwhile, the team that increasingly appears to be Man City’s main opponent for the PL title this season, Manchester United, played to a 0-0 draw at Liverpool, thanks to the superb play of Man U keeper David de Gea, despite Liverpool peppering the net with 19 shots.

In other games, Chelsea, the preseason favorite, shockingly lost for a third time, and to cellar-dweller Crystal Palace, 2-1, the first goals for CP after being shutout in their first seven!

Tottenham eked out a 1-0 win against Bournemouth at temporary home Wembley Stadium, the Spurs’ first win in four tries there, continuing their longstanding issues playing at Wembley, while they’ve won all four on the road.  Pretty remarkable that they haven’t figured the place out yet.  It’s definitely going to keep them from threatening the top come those final matches in May.

And Arsenal lost to upstart Watford, 2-1, Gunner fans already wanting manager Arsene Wenger’s head on a silver platter before this result.

As for Watford, they were 17th last year, barely above being relegated.  As Ronald Reagan would said, ‘Not bad, not bad at all.’

So the table after 8 of 38 games; Win-Draw-Loss...ties broken by goal differential

1. Manchester City 7 (W) 1 (D) 0 (L)...22 points
2. Manchester United 6-2-0...20
3. Tottenham 5-2-1...17
4. Watford 4-3-1...15
5. Chelsea 4-1-3...13
6. Arsenal 4-1-3...13
7. Burnley 3-4-1...13
8. Liverpool 3-4-1...13

--Re the World Cup, Johnny Mac and I are officially climbing aboard the Iceland train, or fishing vessel, hoping for fresh cod.

As for Team USA’s debacle against Trinidad and Tobago, the long hangover has begun, and as I noted last time, the repercussions will last for years.

We all now know that aside from 19-year-old Christian Pulisic, there is no “creative” talent on the team.  How is it that a nation of 320 million, with all the resources being spent on youth soccer, and ample professional opportunities for kids with talent in the sport, cannot produce more than one Pulisic?

And the U.S. stuck with aging veterans like Tim Howard and Clint Dempsey far too long.

Plus, shockingly, there was no urgency after the win over Panama, the team needing just a draw against T&T.  Coach Bruce Arena has already been let go.

I’m not getting into the youth soccer angle, but, yes, the coaching is awful.  And there’s something missing in the college game, as good as it is, that is keeping the best players from advancing much further than the MLS, which is inferior to the European Leagues, for starters.

As Dr. W. tells me, our players and coaches need to get experience in Europe, or bring their trainers and coaches here.  “We have no ability to break down a team that sits back to play defense and waits to counterattack.  [Lionel Messi being the best example of a player that can break a defense down.]  And that’s a result of poor coaching and training from the youth leagues up.  Our only ‘skill’ is the rare long ball that finds an open man or a set play where the ball falls on the head or foot of an unmarked player.”  And our defense blows.

[In the interests of full disclosure, Dr. W. is a Chelsea fan, so we have our own little rivalry in the Premier League...he’s not happy these days.  I’m kind of blah, not sensing my Spurs are truly elite.  We need our new home turf!]

As for the broadcaster of the 2018 World Cup, Fox Sports, a unit of 21st Centruy Fox, it paid $200 million for the U.S. English-language rights, with plans to be the highest production in Fox Sports history.  More than 350 hours of programming is planned, and tens of millions of dollars have been budgeted for production facilities in Moscow’s Red Square.

Now, without a doubt, there will be substantially lower viewership, which means less advertising revenue, and shortfalls in ratings guarantees.

Plus FIFA has been counting on Team USA to help grow the sport in an obviously vital market.  Now this.

Yes, hard-core fans, like yours truly, will be tuning in, but the casual fan?  No way.

Finally, yes, for those who follow such things closely, the U.S. still could have advanced were it not for Panama’s highly controversial 2-1 win over Costa Rica, and Honduras’ 3-2 win over Mexico, both passing the U.S. in the standings on these results.

The Panama game in particular hurts because they won it in the 87th minute on clearly a phantom goal, but it is impossible to overturn a call like this after the fact.

Stuff

--Tragic story in Antarctica, as reported by the BBC the other day. 

All but two Adelie penguin chicks have starved to death in their east Antarctic colony, in a breeding season described as ‘catastrophic’ by experts.

“It was caused by unusually high amounts of ice late in the season, meaning adults had to travel further for food.

“It is the second bad season in five years after no chicks survived in 2015.

“Conservation groups are calling for urgent action on a new marine protection area in the east Antarctic to protect the colony of about 36,000.”

What the World Wildlife Fund says it needs is a ban on krill fishing in the area, which would eliminate the penguins’ competition and help protect the species.

--Mark R., weighing in on the topic of ‘Man’ falling to No. 371 on the All-Species List, says this is “way tooooo high!”  His comments are being taken under advisement, seeing as he’s citing the likes of Harvey Weinstein, Anthony Weiner and Tim Murphy, while I’m focusing on genocide in Myanmar. He’s wondering if there should be a sub-species category.

A new “All-Species List” will be produced on that link by Tuesday morning.

One of the things I will consider is Mark R.’s recommendation on ‘Elk,’ that they are worthy of soaring up the list, given their massive size and intelligence (as opposed to ‘Moose’ and ‘Buffalo,’ the latter dumber than a snail darter).

--Brad K., who has serious bear issues (really) at his western New Jersey estate, passed this one along from the U.K.

“A British man’s heart stopped after he accidentally swallowed a 6-inch long Dover sole on a fishing trip in Boscombe, in southern England.

“The man, 28, who was not named, went into cardiac arrest after the fish jumped in his mouth, blocking his throat.  However, paramedics were able to clear his airway after drawing the sole free with forceps.”

Now lest you think how was it possible for a man in a boat to be saved by paramedics, my initial reaction as well, the man was fishing off a pier and his friend was performing CPR when the paramedics arrived.

And if you are thinking, yeah, but how did a fish leap into this guy’s mouth, the friend told officials the guy “had jokingly placed a fish he had just caught over his mouth. The sole then wriggled free and jumped in.”

I mean we’re talking when the paramedics got there, “The patient’s heart had already stopped.”  It was clear down the windpipe.  After six attempts at getting the fish out, with the aid of a Laryngoscope, “the fish finally came out in one piece. To the paramedic’s amazement, it was a whole Dover sole, measuring about 6 inches.”

Heck, I love Dover sole!  I want to know what pier it is you can just drop a line and catch one, as opposed to paying $157 for it as part of a 4-course pre-fixe at Le Bernardin in New York, one of the great restaurants for fish in the world.  [Just looked it up.]

Oh, back to the patient, because it’s not all about me, he “has since made a full recovery.”

--Back to the Dover sole at Le Bernardin, I reread the menu...there is a $29 supplement for it, so $186 prix fixe, before tips all-around and alcohol.  So before you’re finished, it adds up to about $4,200 per person.

Oh, back in the good old days of Wall Street and my large expense accounts, this was possible.  Quoth the raven, “Nevermore.”  [Actually, that was an Alan Parsons Project song, “The Raven,” as well as Mr. Poe’s line, but I’m veering off course.]

--In the second such incident in about a month, an elephant trampled Rohingya refugees to death Saturday, four of them, on top of two that died in September.  As if these poor people, fleeing Myanmar with literally nothing, don’t have enough problems.

So ‘Elephant,’ a perennial No. 2 on the “All-Species List,” has been placed on probation for one week.  This was a known elephant refuge and there are signs all over the place warning of them, so I can’t give Elephant anything harsher, yet.

Top 3 songs for the week 10/19/68:  #1 “Hey Jude” (The Beatles)  #2 “Fire” (The Crazy World of Arthur Brown)  #3 “Little Green Apple” (O.C. Smith...awesome tune...)...and...#4 “Harper Valley P.T.A.” (Jeanne C. Riley)  #5 “Girl Watcher” (The O’Kaysions)  #6 “Midnight Confessions” (The Grass Roots)  #7  “My Special Angel” (The Vogues...weak...)  #8 “I’ve Gotta Get Message To You” (The Bee Gees...back when they were a legit rock ‘n’ roll group...)  #9 “Over You” (Gary Puckett and the Union Gap...super  song...)  #10 “Say It Loud – I’m Black And I’m Proud” (James Brown)

College Football Quiz Answer: 1990, Colorado: Coach Bill McCartney. QB Darian Hagan. RB Eric Bieniemy (288-1,628-17 TD).  Georgia Tech: Coach Bobby Ross. QB: Shawn Jones. RB William Bell (161-891-5).  Neither Hagan or Jones accumulated big passing stats, so not worth bringing up any receivers (no offense, WRs and TEs). It was a different game, back then.

Next Bar Chat, Thursday.

 



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Bar Chat

10/16/2017

Talkin' Baseball...the playoffs roll on....

[Posted Sunday p.m., before Dodgers-Cubs, Giants-Broncos.  The NFL gets short shrift but a ton of stuff happened late and your editor must move on.]

College Football Quiz:  Years before the BCS, and then CFP, came into existence, you really had two major polls, AP and UPI, and a few times they were split as to the national champion, which I thought was actually fun, but far more thought that it wasn’t.

So in 1990, we had joint champs.  AP anointed Colorado (11-1-1), while UPI tabbed Georgia Tech (12-0-1). Give me the coach, quarterback and leading rusher for both. Answer below.

Yankees – Indians

Game 5 was Wednesday after I posted last and just to complete the story, after Cleveland took the first two in the series, they went meekly, 1-0, 7-3, and 5-2 in Game 5, as Cleveland ace Corey Kluber, the probable Cy Young Award winner in the A.L., was ineffective a second straight outing, 3 runs in 3 2/3, while for the Yankees, CC Sabathia threw four scoreless before exiting in the fifth, having given up 2 in 4 1/3 while fanning 9...exactly what the Yankees needed from CC as they then handed it off to David Robertson (2 2/3 scoreless) and Aroldis Chapman (another 2) to complete a 5-2 win, powered by Didi Gregorius’ two home runs; Gregorius continuing to make fans forget Derek Jeter, which must irk Jeter to no end.  [It’s about Jeter’s brand and the loving coverage he has received here for 20+ years.  Didi, along with Judge, Sanchez and potentially others in the system, threaten the level of his ongoing exposure.]

So another incredibly bitter disappointment for Cleveland, who despite a record-setting season, once again fall short; their last World Series title being in 1948.

I won’t blame Cleveland fans, as was the case this past season, for waiting until September to show up to the ballpark next year.  One disappointment, choke, after another.  It’s an exciting, likeable team, but Mets fans know what this feels like.  In 1984 and ’85, we started our renaissance.  Two exciting seasons that fell short.  1986 was it. We had to close the deal then and we did.

Next year, Cleveland MUST win it all.  But now they have a potential Yankee juggernaut to deal with for years to come.

Yankees – Astros

Friday nights aren’t the best for me, as I’m working on that other column I do until late, but I did watch the entire Yankee game (sound off most of the time...while keeping track of Syracuse-Clemson) and no doubt, Houston’s Dallas Keuchel was masterful, throwing 7 innings of shutout ball, striking out 10, in the Astros’ 2-1 opening win, New York’s Greg Bird with their lone run on a solo moonshot off closer Ken Giles, who still picked up a 5-out save.  Masahiro Tanaka was just fine for the Yanks, allowing 2 runs in six innings.

But the Yankees had their chances, especially in the fifth when slumping Aaron Judge went to the plate with 1st and 2nd and two outs and lined a single to left, only to have Bird thrown out at the plate, barely, by Marwin Gonzalez on a strike.  Bird admitted later he didn’t get a good jump on it, with a short lead from second, despite it being a 3-2 pitch.

In the eighth inning, Didi Gregorius had 1st and 2nd and two outs and he was fanned by Giles.

Another exciting game.

As for Keuchel, he has become a Yankee killer.  4-2 in the regular season against them, but with a 1.41 ERA, the best in 60 years for an opposing pitcher.

In the playoffs, though, he now has two wins in two starts, 13 scoreless.

So overall, Keuchel’s ERA against New York is 1.09, and it’s not a small sample size, 58 2/3 innings.

One other note from Friday...the Yankees’ DH duo of Jacoby Ellsbury and Chase Headley was 0-for-20 in the playoffs thus far.  So Joe Girardi inserted Matt Holliday, who was 0-for-3, and then Ellsbury pinch-hit for him in the ninth and he made the last out...0-for-24. [0-for-27 after last night...jumping ahead.]

On to Saturday and Game 2, and it was the same script. Superb starting pitching, excitement, and another 2-1 Houston win to go up 2-0 as the series now heads to New York for Game 3 Monday.

Justin Verlander, the former Cy Young Award winner Houston acquired late from Detroit for just these moments was spectacular, a complete game, 124 pitch effort, giving up the lone run in the fifth and then mowing down the Yanks from there, striking out 13 and walking just one, seemingly improving as the game went on.  That, sports fans, is a stud.  It was just the 20th time in history that a pitcher fanned 13 in a postseason game and the first since Tim Lincecum did it in Game 1 of the 2010 NLDS.

Verlander was 5-0 in his five starts in September with Houston, 1.06 ERA, and he’s now 3-0 in the postseason, including a relief appearance in the ALDS series against Boston, with a 2.04 ERA.  Ergo, 8-0 in his eight appearances.  I’d say the Astros made a brilliant move.

But the Astros also won on Saturday thanks to the legs of Jose Altuve and the bat of Carlos Correa.

Correa homered off Yankee starter Luis Severino (4 innings, one run), to give Houston a 1-0 lead, and then after the Yankees tied it in the fifth, it remained scoreless until the bottom of the ninth when with Altuve on first, following a one-out single off closer Aroldis Chapman, Correa lined a hit into the right-field gap, where it was cut off well by Aaron Judge, but Judge then missed the cutoff man, it got to Didi Gregorius, as Altuve was flying all the way around the bases, and Gregorius’ throw short-hopped catcher Gary Sanchez. It was there in time to get Altuve, but Sanchez dropped it (it was a tough play) and Houston won it in dramatic fashion, thus enhancing the legend of Altuve in the process.

Yes, this is Altuve’s true national coming out party, the 3-time A.L. batting champ going 13-for-23 thus far in the postseason, .565.

Are the Yankees tough enough to come back again from down 2-0 like they were against Cleveland? The answer comes Monday. But the trio of Aaron Judge, Gary Sanchez and Didi Gregorius better do more than their 2-for-22 effort thus far.

Nationals – Cubs...Game 5

With the game 4-3 Washington after four, the Nats handed the ball to Max Scherzer, as good as there is in the game, but after getting Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo to lead off the top of the fifth, the roof caved in.  By the end of the frame, four runs had scored, two earned, and Washington trailed 7-4.  Watching here at home, I was stunned.

After all, four straight Cubs reached base in unconventional ways – an intentional walk, a strikeout with a passed ball, catcher interference and a hit batsman.  Baseball-reference.com has 2.73 million half-innings in its database.  None of them contain those four events in a half-inning – let alone from four consecutive hitters.  It happened in an entire game just five times. 

“It was bizarro world,” Cubs Manager Joe Maddon said.  “There’s no question about it.”

Washington would go on to lose 9-8.  Five years earlier to the night, the Nats had blown a 6-0 lead against St. Louis in that fifth game in 2012.

Barry Svrluga / Washington Post

“This Thursday evening started in the mist and ended in a mess, and the educated Washington fan could have told you that when he or she woke up.  The Washington Nationals played a game to extend their season. They lost that game. Their season is over. Those with strong stomachs, read further. The rest: See you in spring.

“By the standards of a normal town, the fashion in which all this happened at Nationals Park was bizarre – funhouse mirror weird, baseball as a Dali painting.  Here, in strait-laced Washington, it fits into the athletic fabric perfectly. The pattern, by now, is well-established.  Washington might be able to muster optimism on a morning such as Thursday. It might, over lunch, convince itself of this advantage or that.

“But get through the gate at the ballpark, and dread is so readily available.  The concessionaires slip it between the hot dog and the bun, mix it into the carbonated beverages, slide it into the programs. By now, babies here are born with it, ingrained....

“The Nationals failed to win a playoff series – again – the fourth time in the past six years they have reached this stage and taken a crowbar across the knees....

“On this night, everything we have learned about Washington sports over the past generation was reinforced, with arguments about whether the anguish caused by the Nationals now outdoes that caused by football’s Redskins, basketball’s Wizards or hockey’s Capitals.  Discuss amongst yourselves. We’ve got all winter.”

Here’s the bottom line for Washington sports fans.  The Redskins last won a Super Bowl in 1991 and haven’t played for a conference championship since.

The Washington Wizards (then the Bullets) won the NBA championship in 1978, reached the finals a year later, and haven’t returned to the conference finals since.

The 1997-98 Capitals made the Stanley Cup Finals and have three times finished with the best regular season record in the NHL.  Yet four times with the best player in franchise history, Alex Ovechkin, the Capitals have failed to reach the conference finals, four times losing a do-or-die game in which victory would have pushed them to that level.

Coupled with the Nationals’ futility, it is 69 seasons, between the four, without reaching a conference final.

The four Washington teams have now had 13 individual games that would have sent them into the conference final round and lost them all: One by the Wizards, two by the Redskins, four by the Nationals, and six by the Capitals.

Wednesday, Washington down 2-1 to Chicago, Stephen Strasburg had hurled a brilliant seven innings in a 5-0 win to send it to a fifth game.  It had been only 1-0 in the eighth, when Michael A. Taylor hit a grand slam.

But in Game 5, frustration and disaster reigned anew, including, trailing 9-8 in the bottom of the eighth when the Nats’ Jose Lobaton was picked off first by Cubs catcher Wilson Contreras, a play initially called safe by the umpire, only to have the Cubs ask for a video review, whereupon Lobaton was ruled out, Rizzo having the tag on him when Lobaton’s foot came off the bag.

Bryce Harper then struck out for the final out in the ninth, season over.  As Washington outfielder Jayson Werth said, “There were like 50 different things you could look at.”

Jayson Werth, who no doubt played his last game with Washington, the end of his seven-year, $126 million deal, an outrageous sum at the time for a so-so player, added, “It’s crazy to think we didn’t win that game.  This one’s tough. I love these guys.  I love this team.  To think that it’s over now, it’s tough to swallow.”

[For the record, of Werth’s seven seasons, he earned the contract about 2 ½ years of the 7, the rest of the time any $3 million outfielder could have done the same things he did.]

Dodgers – Cubs

The Dodgers took Game 1 on Saturday night in Los Angeles, 5-2, with Clayton Kershaw rather surprisingly being pulled for a pinch-hitter in the bottom of the fifth after he had gone five, allowing a two-run homer to Albert Almora Jr. in the fourth, which made it 2-0 at the time. The Dodgers had rallied to tie it in the bottom of the fifth, though this is where it stood when Kershaw’s position in the batting order came up.

To some it was the long beginning of a changing of the guard of sorts.  Kershaw had thrown 87 pitches and certainly there is no way he could have gone out in the sixth, but L.A. has a very deep bullpen (which allowed no hits and no walks the final four), and Kershaw has his balky back, and he frankly sucks in postseason play, especially if he’s on the mound in the seventh, when he has a 25.50 postseason ERA.

Kershaw has also been bitten by the homerun bug all year, giving up a career-high 23 over the season, including five in the last 27 2/3 in the regular season.  And then he allowed four solo shots in the Dodgers victory over the Diamondbacks in Game 1 of the NLDS.

Anyway, the Dodgers made a surprising decision before the series with Chicago started by shelving star shortstop Corey Seager for the NLCS, Seager having hurt his back in his last game against the Diamondbacks and it hadn’t improved enough for him to be able to play.

All Seager did this season was slam 22 homers and drive in 77, while batting .295.  He’s a leader in the clubhouse.

So Charlie Culbertson, who batted all of .154 in 15 games with L.A. this season, filled in and proceeded to double in the tying run and then scored another.

Yasiel Puig, though, was the real story with a booming double and a home run, with Chris Taylor’s solo shot in the sixth making it 3-2.

--One note outside the Championship Series, the Boston Red Sox fired manager John Farrell, who still had a year on his contract, despite steering a young team to back-to-back division titles.  Not unexpected, after the same team had consecutive first-round playoff defeats.

Boston needs a new face to replace the dour Farrell.  Prime-time television ratings on NESN dropped 15% over last year, David Ortiz’s final season, and management believes Farrell is partly responsible.  There was also the feeling he had lost the respect of the clubhouse.  David Price treated him with derision.

College Football Review

All that follows written prior to release of new AP Poll Sunday afternoon.

What a weekend it turned out to be...as in, Holy Cow!  [And what a shakeup we will see in the poll.]

--As alluded to above, I watched the Yankee game Friday night, but had No. 2 Clemson at Syracuse on the computer screen and I’m following the score (wanting Clemson because I want them in the CFP).

7-0 Syracuse...eh.  7-7...guess Clemson is settling in.  14-7 Syracuse...huh!  14-14...OK, no problem.  17-14 Syracuse...uh oh.  17-17...Clemson will pull it out.  24-17 Syracuse...no!  24-24...man, this shouldn’t be this close.  27-24 Syracuse...9:41  left.  C’mon, Tigers, get your freakin’ act together!!!

Alas, they didn’t.  27-24.  A stunner, but then Syracuse, now 4-3, has been 4-8, 4-8, 3-9 the past three seasons, yet seems to come up with one big effort a year, beating No. 17 Virginia Tech last season, for example.

Plus Syracuse is now a respectable 3-6 against the previous year’s national champion; Penn State (1987) and Michigan (1998).

Clemson was just outplayed, led by Orange QB Eric Dungey (20/32, 278, 3-0).  Yes, Clemson starting quarterback Kelly Bryant suffered a concussion late in the first half, having gone 12/17, 116, 0-0, but his backup, Zerrick Cooper wasn’t the problem (10/14, 88, 0-0).  It was the vaunted Clemson that was the culprit, giving up 270 yards in the first half alone.

So congratulations to second-year coach Dino Babers.  And now I’m looking at my Wake Forest Demon Deacons heading up to Syracuse later, having already booked a ‘W’ as part of my 6-6 minimum season for Wake, and I’m thinking, ‘Uh oh.’

Also Friday night, in another stunner, California (4-3), which had been 0-3 in the Pac-12, whipped 8 Washington State into submission, 37-3, for their first win in 14 years against a top 10 team.

Washington State had seven turnovers!  Heisman prospect Luke Faulk was picked off five times, and lost a fumble.  I mean that was the game in a nutshell.  Cal’s offense was no great shakes.  The Cougars even had a 1-yard punt in the first half that led to a 45-yard TD drive, and missed a field goal.  Bye-bye national title hopes Washington State.

--Saturday, 1 Alabama beat Arkansas (2-4) 41-9 to move to 7-0.

4 Georgia is 7-0 after blasting Missouri (1-5) 53-28, the Bulldogs outgaining the Tigers 696-312!  Georgia displayed a good passing game in this one, to go along with its super rushing attack.  Oh, that SEC title game is looking delicious. [Yes, as proven this week, I’m jumping ahead of myself.]

See Arizona State (3-3), which pulled off another shocking upset, “stunning” being the watchword for the weekend, 13-7 over No. 5 Washington (6-1), as the Huskies’ Jake Browning sucked; just 17 of 30 passing for 139 yards.  [Like I’ve been saying, you tell me who the top QB in the country is this year...or the No. 1 pick in next spring’s draft.  I can’t.]

Continuing...No. 6 TCU ran its record to 6-0 with a 26-6 win at Kansas State (3-3), holding the Wildcats to just 216 yards of offense.

7 Wisconsin is 6-0 after a 17-9 win over Purdue (3-3), as the Badgers continue to be led by freshman sensation Jonathan Taylor, who rushed for 219 yards, his third 200-yard performance of the year.

Suddenly, 9 Ohio State (6-1), after a season-opening loss to Oklahoma, is on such a roll they are very much back in the national title conversation, especially after all the upsets this week. This week the Buckeyes destroyed Nebraska (3-4) in Lincoln, 56-14, as J.T. Barrett was a stupendous 27/33, 325, 5-0, plus two TDs rushing.  Barrett, after this week, deserves the Heisman as much as anyone.  [But now way he’d be the top pick in the draft.]

Ohio State now has a week off before its gigantic showdown with Penn State, which was idle this week.

[One sidebar, just imagine how apoplectic Cornhuskers fans are these days; their once proud program in tatters.  They haven’t finished a season in the AP Top Ten since 2001, and haven’t had a season with fewer losses than 4 since 2003.]

10 Auburn (5-2) was beaten by LSU (5-2) in Baton Rouge 27-23, the Tigers erasing a 20-0 second-quarter deficit and probably saving Coach Ed Orgeron’s job in the process.

In other games of import....

In a very exciting contest (watch Miami football if you want excitement) the No. 11 Hurricanes (5-0) nipped Georgia Tech (3-2) 25-24 on Summit’s Michael Badgley’s last-second field goal (4 of 4 on the day), after Malik Rosier hooked up with Darrell Langham on a 28-yard pass play, fourth down or go home play,  with Langham, for the second straight week, making a spectacular grab for what proved to be the win, setting up Badgley for a chippie.

Georgia Tech is solid, their only loss a season-opening 42-41 defeat against Tennessee.

But Miami has become the true cardiac kids and it’s fun.  Rosier at quarterback is very raw, but extremely talented, NFL-like talent. He’s gutty.  And while Badgley’s game-winner was just from 24 yards out, it was a rainy, sloppy field and anything could have happened.  The Summit lad came through...it was pure.

Yes, this year, after Wake, Miami is my second team (Pitt being once again godawful).

13 USC is 6-1 after a nice 28-27 win over Utah (4-2), that coupled with the Washington and Washington State losses, suddenly finds the Trojans back in the hunt.  Sam Darnold was only 27 of 50 passing, but he did throw for 358 yards and three touchdowns without getting picked off.

But I guess I have to bring up the fact Utah would have won, having scored with 42 seconds left in the game, only the Utes went for the win and the two-point conversion and failed.  Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said his defense was spent, Darnold was on fire, and there was no way they were stopping the Trojans in overtime.  I admire the decision.

One more...for USC, Ronald Jones II is having a very solid year at running back.  He gained another 111 yards on just 17 carries.

17 Michigan (5-1) just got by Indiana (3-3) in Bloomington, 27-20 in overtime.  Indiana was trailing 20-10 late then rallied back, tying it as the clock ran out on a 46-yard Griffin Oakes field goal, only to have the Wolverines win it on their first drive in OT.

Indiana is a lot like Wake Forest in recent years. The Hoosiers aren’t bad, they just aren’t good (“Good” defined as Top 25 at season’s end, “Great” College Playoff final four).  I mean Indiana is 6-7 its last two seasons, having lost its two bowl games, and hasn’t had a winning season since 2007, but it seems like they are always just about to break through.

18 South Florida (6-0) is still undefeated after a 33-3 win over Cincinnati (2-4).  USF is 24-4 over its last 28.  Is it Big Bowl bound?  Quite possibly.  What sucks for its chances is its lousy schedule, though it does now have an intriguing showdown looming with No. 22 Central Florida (5-0), 63-21 winners over East Carolina (1-6) this week.  That’s Nov. 22.  Hmmm.

19 San Diego State fell to 6-1, 31-14 losers to Boise State (4-2) at home.  Bye-bye any shot at a major bowl for the Aztecs.

For 20 North Carolina State, now 6-1, it’s ‘Oh what could have been.’ The Wolfpack suffered a tough season-opening loss to South Carolina, 35-28, but have run the table since, including a 35-17 win over Pitt (2-5) in Pittsburgh, Nyheim Hines rushing for 135 yards on 16 carries, including an 83-yard TD scamper, plus he added a 92-yard punt return for a score.

But the next two weeks we’ll find out just how good N.C. State is, as after a bye week they travel to South Bend to face Notre Dame, before the biggie against Clemson at home Nov. 4. That is suddenly for the ACC Atlantic Division title.

[Speaking of South Carolina, they helped the Wolfpack by moving their record to 5-2 with a 15-9 win over Tennessee (3-3) in Knoxville.]

25 Navy lost its first to fall to 5-1, a tough 30-27 loss at Memphis (5-1), the Tigers riding the arm of Riley Ferguson (279 yards and three touchdowns), while Navy QB Zach Abbey countered with 146 yards rushing on 37 carries and three scores, but only 1 of 7 through the air.  Yes, the Midshipmen aren’t built to stage late comebacks.

A few more....

Boston College (3-4) had a nice upset win at Louisville (4-3), 45-42, as freshman running back A.J. Dillon went wild, 39 carries for 272 yards and four touchdowns.  Incredible performance, offsetting that of reigning Heisman Trophy quarterback Lamar Jackson, who threw for 332 yards and two touchdowns, and rushed for 180 yards and three more scores.

Florida State (2-3) beat Duke (4-3) 17-10, as freshman running back Cam Akers rushed for 115 yards.  After being the most heavily recruited running back in the land last year, the Seminoles are beginning to unleash him.

And Virginia is 5-1 after a 20-14 win at North Carolina, the Tar Heels a miserable 1-6.

But what’s this? Rutgers won a Big Ten game?!  35-24 at Illinois?!  It’s true.  Really true!

Okay, the Illini really blow (2-4), but Rutgers (also 2-4) had lost 16 Big Ten games in a row.  The question now is, “Is Illinois the worst Power Five team in the country?”

--And now your new AP Top 25 poll!

1. Alabama 7-0 (all 61 first-place votes)
2. Penn State 6-0...eh
3. Georgia 7-0...most deserving
4. TCU 6-0...out of nowhere, very much in CFP picture!
5. Wisconsin 6-0...not a fan
6. Ohio State 6-1...hey, the team is exciting...what the hell...no prob if final 4
7. Clemson 6-1
8. Miami 5-0...time for the fan base to return...you go, girls!
9. Oklahoma 5-1...more on them next time
10. Oklahoma State 5-1...rising from the dead
11. USC 6-1...cheerleaders still top shelf...uh oh, I’m being targeted....I do have my International Web Site Association license!  [Always look for the IWSA label for your assurance of web quality.]
12. Washington 6-1...down 7
13. Notre Dame 5-1...only because everyone else is getting beat
15. Washington State...down 7
T-16. North Carolina State 6-1...Awoo!  Awoo!  [They being the Wolfpack]
T-16. South Florida 6-0...looking “New Year’s Six” participant*
20. UCF 5-0...time to start paying attention
25. Memphis 5-1

*New Year’s Six a term used loosely, but one of the Group of Five schools, non-Power Five, will play in a major six bowl...Rose, Orange, Fiesta, Cotton, Fiesta or Peach...though this year those games are sprinkled from Dec. 29-Jan. 1. Last year, you’ll recall Western Michigan played in the Cotton Bowl against Wisconsin.  It’s a great move by the CFP to keep interest in the likes of USF and UCF, and Memphis, for that matter.

--Yes, I’ll take another stab at my own CFP ranking next time, having been obliterated this weekend with the rest of you.  [If you tell me you knew Clemson, Washington, and Wash State were all going down, you’re lying.]

--Finally, the NCAA on Friday said it could not conclude whether the University of North Carolina violated NCAA academic rules over a series of deficient “paper courses” taken by a sizable number of athletes over the course of nearly two decades.

So after a 3 ½-year investigation, Carolina skates free!  What a travesty.  Yes, the school long self-imposed penalties on the football program, and the scandal cost the job of former football coach Butch Davis, but no NCAA penalties?  As Dick Vitale would exclaim, “Are you kidding me?!”

Greg Sankey, the NCAA’s chief hearing officer and commissioner of the Southeastern Conference, said in a statement:

“While student-athletes likely benefited from the so-called ‘paper course’ offered by North Carolina, the information available in the record did not establish that the courses were solely created, offered and maintained as an orchestrated effort to benefit student-athletes.  The panel is troubled by the university’s shifting positions about whether academic fraud occurred on its campus and the credibility of the Cadwalader report [Ed. years earlier], which it distanced itself from after initially supporting the findings.  However, NCAA policy is clear. The NCAA defers to its member schools to determine whether academic fraud occurred and, ultimately, the panel is bound to making decisions within the rules set by the membership.”

The Raleigh News & Observer first broke the story in 2011 of the sham classes, one of the worst cases of academic fraud since Doctors Pons and Fleischman claimed to have discovered “cold fusion” in 1989, but I digress....[Recognizing maybe one or two might have an inkling what I’m referring to, our own Dr. Bortrum once sat next to Pons at dinner, and Bortrum just told me how Pons then stole a cab Bortrum and Lady Bortrum were waiting for.  When Bortrum protested, Pons said, “Ta-ta!”  Yes, Dr. Pons would have been a ‘Dirtball of the Year’ candidate had Bar Chat been around then.]

So where were we?  I was writing a ton about UNC’s fraud case back when it was a hot story, but the bottom line for today is the NCAA found only two violations, both of them committed by two academic employees at the heart of the case over their failure to cooperate with the NCAA.  One of them retired in 2012, the other indicted previously on felony fraud charges connected to the “paper classes.”

Half of those taking the classes were athletes, which was the ‘scandal,’ the two most represented sports football and men’s basketball.  Star football player Julius Peppers and hoops star Rashad McCants each took some of the classes, and with McCants being part of the 2005 NCAA basketball championship team, it was a huge deal when the story broke.  McCants claimed everyone in the athletic department knew of the classes.  Basketball coach Roy Williams and other players from the 2005 squad disputed this.

The key in terms of the NCAA is that while everyone knew the classes were bogus, they were offered to all students, not just athletes, so the NCAA really doesn’t have jurisdiction in such matters.

UNC hoops gets to keep all their championship banners, including the one from last season, which just went up at the Dean Dome.

NFL

--The big story in the NFL today is the injury to Aaron Rodgers, likely out for the season after suffering a broken collarbone, the Packers then losing 23-10 to the Vikings (4-2), Green Bay falling to 4-2, season over.  Period.  End of story. It’s brutal.

Cleveland is 0-6 after a 33-17 loss to Houston (3-3).

Detroit’s highly-paid Matthew Stafford committed five turnovers, three interceptions, two fumbles, and the Lions fell to 3-3, New Orleans (3-2) winning 52-38, as the Saints returned three of the TOs for scores.

The Raiders are off to a shocking 2-4 start after losing to the Chargers (2-4) 17-16, Oakland QB Derek Carr with a miserable effort, including two interceptions.

Washington is 3-2 after a 26-24 win over winless San Francisco (0-6).

Baltimore is 3-3 after a 27-24 loss in overtime to Chicago (2-4), as the Bears’ Jordan Howard had 167 yards on the ground.  But I cared about this one because Wake Forest’s Michael Campanaro had a 77-yard punt return for a touchdown to tie it for the Ravens at 24-24 with just 1:37 left.  [To be fair, I read a local report later and he apparently had a big drop as well.]

And the Steelers are now 4-2 after a clutch 19-13 win at Kansas City, thus handing the Chief (5-1) their first loss.  Le’Veon Bell is back, rushing to 179 yards and a touchdown, while Antonio Brown behaved long enough to catch eight of Ben Roethlisber’s passes for 155 yards and a score.

I keep telling Steelers Nation, don’t worry!  They’re the Bar Chat Pick to Click!  [That’s what has Jeff B. and the others upset.]

Atlanta lost a mini-shocker at home to the Dolphins 20-17, after the Falcons took a 17-0 lead at the half.  The Dolphins ‘D’ stiffened, though, and Jay Cutler tossed two TD passes; Miami 3-3, Atlanta 3-2.

--Lastly, my Jets (3-3) suffered a crushing defeat at home to New England (4-2) 24-17, the Jets playing their hearts out and getting royally screwed on an unbelievably bad call late.  With the score 24-24, tight end Austin Seferian-Jenkins caught a pass near the goal line, bobbled it slightly but clearly had possession as he hit the end zone.  But it was ruled a fumble, so a touchback for New England.

It was a call that Jets fans will remember a long time.  As analyst Dan Fouts, broadcasting the game, said, “One of the worst calls I’ve ever seen.”

After a three-and-out, the Jets got the ball back and kicked a field goal, but weren’t able to drive down the field for the tying score with their last possession.

God, I hate New England!

[More on this one next time...as commentary rolls in.  For now, I respect the boys more and more.  We’re on the right track.]

--The wheels officially came off the Giants’ bus, with the team forced to suspend cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, after it was revealed he got into it at halftime of their last game with Coach Ben McAdoo, and then on Wednesday, showed up at practice, only to leave shortly thereafter.

“He came in today, decided to leave,” McAdoo said.

But safety Landon Collins disputed McAdoo’s claim DRC had conversations Tuesday and Wednesday with the team. Collins claimed Rodgers-Cromartie did not leave the team, but was suspended by McAdoo after a disagreement.

According to WFAN’s Mike Francesa, Rodgers-Cromartie took off his pads at halftime of the Chargers game and declared he was done playing. Another Giant challenged him, leading to a  fight. But then the NFL Network claimed the other player was McAdoo.

We’ve known for a few weeks now that McAdoo had lost control of his 0-5 team, but this is as bad as I can ever remember seeing a local situation.

As Steve Politi of NJ.com put it, “All the receivers are injured. All the cornerbacks are revolting.  Your 2017 New York Football Giants, everyone!”

McAdoo, who really is a jerk, but was fortunate to have a 10-6 first season last year, then didn’t address the full team until Friday.

And one key cog left floundering is quarterback Eli Manning.  It’s clear his long goodbye has begun.

--Earlier, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel in New Orleans granted the league’s emergency request to set aside an injunction and ordered a district court in Texas to dismiss Ezekiel Elliott’s case. So the NFL re-imposed its six-game suspension on Elliott.

But Dallas had a bye this week and no telling, as yet, whether Elliott plays next week based on an appeal.

--Lastly, Colin Kaepernick filed a grievance against the NFL on Sunday stemming from his lack of employment.  Much more on this next BC. Expect some tweets this week from the White House.

NBA

The season commences Tuesday, and many are hoping that it isn’t Golden State vs. Cleveland in a fourth straight NBA Finals.

Oklahoma City, with new additions Paul George and Carmelo Anthony joining regular season MVP Russell Westbrook, will have something to say about who’s there in June.  Chris Paul joins James Harden in Houston.  Boston added Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward.

But if Isaiah Thomas can come back healthy in the second half of the season, if not sooner, it should be Warriors-Cavs again.

For the record, Sports Illustrated has these two in the end, Golden State prevailing in the Finals.  I have to be a wimp and select the Warriors as well.

Golf Balls

--41-year-old Pat Perez continued his resurgence with a win at the CIMB Classic at TPC Kuala Lumpur, a full PGA Tour event.  Perez, prior to the 2016-17 wraparound season, had one win in 376 starts on Tour, but now he has picked up his second (third career) in his last 25 starts.

Perez won handily, by four over Keegan Bradley, Bradley’s best finish since a second at the 2014 Arnold Palmer Invitational.

That’s what these fall events are good for.  Not just wins by the likes of Perez in a less than stellar field, but the chance for a Keegan Bradley to regain their confidence.  Many a player has then carried it forward into January and beyond, when for the bulk of golf fans, the real season begins.

Xander Schauffele, who burst on the scene in the FedEx Cup Playoffs, finished T-3 with Sung Kang of Korea.

--On the Champions Tour, they played the final event prior to the three-tournament season-ending playoffs for the Schwab Cup, the SAS Championship at Prestonwood CC, Cary, N.C., and Colin Montgomerie won it.  He could never win a PGA Tour event in the U.S. back in the day, but he’s found solid success with the post-50 crowd, this his sixth win. 

Wake Forest classmate Gary Hallberg was T-51, but barely finished out of the playoffs at 75.  Drat!

NASCAR

Dale Earnhardt Jr., out of nowhere, won the pole for today’s big race at Talladega, the first time he had ever done so, and as we dreamed of Junior crossing the finish line first in what has been a disappointing final campaign, he ended up seventh, which wasn’t bad but not good enough; Brad Keselowski taking it over Ryan Newman on a restart after more a few Big Ones down the stretch at this biggest track in the sport.

Premier League

Play resumed after a week off for World Cup qualifying round matches, and the star of the show was my favorite player outside Tottenham, Manchester City’s awesome Belgian, Kevin De Bruyne, who for a guy who didn’t score a goal received praise far and wide like I’ve never seen for his performance in a 7-2 blowout by MC over Stoke City.

From the Irish Independent:

“For 66 minutes, until Kevin De Bruyne took his leave to a rapturous standing ovation and the huge relief of everyone associated with a bludgeoned Stoke City, the sublime Belgian midfielder produced a performance of rarefied beauty, the orchestrator of a swashbuckling display from Manchester city that, at times, left you struggling to catch your breath....

“Stoke manager Mark Hughes claimed De Bruyne was ‘head and shoulders above anyone else in the Premier League’ and it is becoming increasingly hard to disagree.

“It was a minefield trying to pick a highlight. De Bruyne’s gorgeous low pass that must have covered 30-plus yards before racing into that space between a despairing Geoff Cameron and Jack Butland for Leroy Sane to steer home City’s sixth was the work of a master craftsman.

“But as good as the pass that cut open Stoke’s poor defense in the lead-up to City’s second in the 19th minute?  It will be watched and re-watched time and again this weekend and beyond, it was that good.  Stoke’s players thought De Bruyne was shaping to shoot when he collected Sane’s pass on the edge of the penalty area but the Belgian had other ideas and, with wonderful disguise, sent both the hapless Kurt Zouma and Kevin Wimmer one way while sliding a pass into the gaping hole he had created for himself.

“Sane was the grateful recipient and he had the simple task of squaring for Sterling to side-foot home.  (Manager Pep) Guardiola celebrated jubilantly from the touchline, hands above his head applauding, a beaming smile on his face.”

You have to look up De Bruyne’s play on Saturday. 

Meanwhile, the team that increasingly appears to be Man City’s main opponent for the PL title this season, Manchester United, played to a 0-0 draw at Liverpool, thanks to the superb play of Man U keeper David de Gea, despite Liverpool peppering the net with 19 shots.

In other games, Chelsea, the preseason favorite, shockingly lost for a third time, and to cellar-dweller Crystal Palace, 2-1, the first goals for CP after being shutout in their first seven!

Tottenham eked out a 1-0 win against Bournemouth at temporary home Wembley Stadium, the Spurs’ first win in four tries there, continuing their longstanding issues playing at Wembley, while they’ve won all four on the road.  Pretty remarkable that they haven’t figured the place out yet.  It’s definitely going to keep them from threatening the top come those final matches in May.

And Arsenal lost to upstart Watford, 2-1, Gunner fans already wanting manager Arsene Wenger’s head on a silver platter before this result.

As for Watford, they were 17th last year, barely above being relegated.  As Ronald Reagan would said, ‘Not bad, not bad at all.’

So the table after 8 of 38 games; Win-Draw-Loss...ties broken by goal differential

1. Manchester City 7 (W) 1 (D) 0 (L)...22 points
2. Manchester United 6-2-0...20
3. Tottenham 5-2-1...17
4. Watford 4-3-1...15
5. Chelsea 4-1-3...13
6. Arsenal 4-1-3...13
7. Burnley 3-4-1...13
8. Liverpool 3-4-1...13

--Re the World Cup, Johnny Mac and I are officially climbing aboard the Iceland train, or fishing vessel, hoping for fresh cod.

As for Team USA’s debacle against Trinidad and Tobago, the long hangover has begun, and as I noted last time, the repercussions will last for years.

We all now know that aside from 19-year-old Christian Pulisic, there is no “creative” talent on the team.  How is it that a nation of 320 million, with all the resources being spent on youth soccer, and ample professional opportunities for kids with talent in the sport, cannot produce more than one Pulisic?

And the U.S. stuck with aging veterans like Tim Howard and Clint Dempsey far too long.

Plus, shockingly, there was no urgency after the win over Panama, the team needing just a draw against T&T.  Coach Bruce Arena has already been let go.

I’m not getting into the youth soccer angle, but, yes, the coaching is awful.  And there’s something missing in the college game, as good as it is, that is keeping the best players from advancing much further than the MLS, which is inferior to the European Leagues, for starters.

As Dr. W. tells me, our players and coaches need to get experience in Europe, or bring their trainers and coaches here.  “We have no ability to break down a team that sits back to play defense and waits to counterattack.  [Lionel Messi being the best example of a player that can break a defense down.]  And that’s a result of poor coaching and training from the youth leagues up.  Our only ‘skill’ is the rare long ball that finds an open man or a set play where the ball falls on the head or foot of an unmarked player.”  And our defense blows.

[In the interests of full disclosure, Dr. W. is a Chelsea fan, so we have our own little rivalry in the Premier League...he’s not happy these days.  I’m kind of blah, not sensing my Spurs are truly elite.  We need our new home turf!]

As for the broadcaster of the 2018 World Cup, Fox Sports, a unit of 21st Centruy Fox, it paid $200 million for the U.S. English-language rights, with plans to be the highest production in Fox Sports history.  More than 350 hours of programming is planned, and tens of millions of dollars have been budgeted for production facilities in Moscow’s Red Square.

Now, without a doubt, there will be substantially lower viewership, which means less advertising revenue, and shortfalls in ratings guarantees.

Plus FIFA has been counting on Team USA to help grow the sport in an obviously vital market.  Now this.

Yes, hard-core fans, like yours truly, will be tuning in, but the casual fan?  No way.

Finally, yes, for those who follow such things closely, the U.S. still could have advanced were it not for Panama’s highly controversial 2-1 win over Costa Rica, and Honduras’ 3-2 win over Mexico, both passing the U.S. in the standings on these results.

The Panama game in particular hurts because they won it in the 87th minute on clearly a phantom goal, but it is impossible to overturn a call like this after the fact.

Stuff

--Tragic story in Antarctica, as reported by the BBC the other day. 

All but two Adelie penguin chicks have starved to death in their east Antarctic colony, in a breeding season described as ‘catastrophic’ by experts.

“It was caused by unusually high amounts of ice late in the season, meaning adults had to travel further for food.

“It is the second bad season in five years after no chicks survived in 2015.

“Conservation groups are calling for urgent action on a new marine protection area in the east Antarctic to protect the colony of about 36,000.”

What the World Wildlife Fund says it needs is a ban on krill fishing in the area, which would eliminate the penguins’ competition and help protect the species.

--Mark R., weighing in on the topic of ‘Man’ falling to No. 371 on the All-Species List, says this is “way tooooo high!”  His comments are being taken under advisement, seeing as he’s citing the likes of Harvey Weinstein, Anthony Weiner and Tim Murphy, while I’m focusing on genocide in Myanmar. He’s wondering if there should be a sub-species category.

A new “All-Species List” will be produced on that link by Tuesday morning.

One of the things I will consider is Mark R.’s recommendation on ‘Elk,’ that they are worthy of soaring up the list, given their massive size and intelligence (as opposed to ‘Moose’ and ‘Buffalo,’ the latter dumber than a snail darter).

--Brad K., who has serious bear issues (really) at his western New Jersey estate, passed this one along from the U.K.

“A British man’s heart stopped after he accidentally swallowed a 6-inch long Dover sole on a fishing trip in Boscombe, in southern England.

“The man, 28, who was not named, went into cardiac arrest after the fish jumped in his mouth, blocking his throat.  However, paramedics were able to clear his airway after drawing the sole free with forceps.”

Now lest you think how was it possible for a man in a boat to be saved by paramedics, my initial reaction as well, the man was fishing off a pier and his friend was performing CPR when the paramedics arrived.

And if you are thinking, yeah, but how did a fish leap into this guy’s mouth, the friend told officials the guy “had jokingly placed a fish he had just caught over his mouth. The sole then wriggled free and jumped in.”

I mean we’re talking when the paramedics got there, “The patient’s heart had already stopped.”  It was clear down the windpipe.  After six attempts at getting the fish out, with the aid of a Laryngoscope, “the fish finally came out in one piece. To the paramedic’s amazement, it was a whole Dover sole, measuring about 6 inches.”

Heck, I love Dover sole!  I want to know what pier it is you can just drop a line and catch one, as opposed to paying $157 for it as part of a 4-course pre-fixe at Le Bernardin in New York, one of the great restaurants for fish in the world.  [Just looked it up.]

Oh, back to the patient, because it’s not all about me, he “has since made a full recovery.”

--Back to the Dover sole at Le Bernardin, I reread the menu...there is a $29 supplement for it, so $186 prix fixe, before tips all-around and alcohol.  So before you’re finished, it adds up to about $4,200 per person.

Oh, back in the good old days of Wall Street and my large expense accounts, this was possible.  Quoth the raven, “Nevermore.”  [Actually, that was an Alan Parsons Project song, “The Raven,” as well as Mr. Poe’s line, but I’m veering off course.]

--In the second such incident in about a month, an elephant trampled Rohingya refugees to death Saturday, four of them, on top of two that died in September.  As if these poor people, fleeing Myanmar with literally nothing, don’t have enough problems.

So ‘Elephant,’ a perennial No. 2 on the “All-Species List,” has been placed on probation for one week.  This was a known elephant refuge and there are signs all over the place warning of them, so I can’t give Elephant anything harsher, yet.

Top 3 songs for the week 10/19/68:  #1 “Hey Jude” (The Beatles)  #2 “Fire” (The Crazy World of Arthur Brown)  #3 “Little Green Apple” (O.C. Smith...awesome tune...)...and...#4 “Harper Valley P.T.A.” (Jeanne C. Riley)  #5 “Girl Watcher” (The O’Kaysions)  #6 “Midnight Confessions” (The Grass Roots)  #7  “My Special Angel” (The Vogues...weak...)  #8 “I’ve Gotta Get Message To You” (The Bee Gees...back when they were a legit rock ‘n’ roll group...)  #9 “Over You” (Gary Puckett and the Union Gap...super  song...)  #10 “Say It Loud – I’m Black And I’m Proud” (James Brown)

College Football Quiz Answer: 1990, Colorado: Coach Bill McCartney. QB Darian Hagan. RB Eric Bieniemy (288-1,628-17 TD).  Georgia Tech: Coach Bobby Ross. QB: Shawn Jones. RB William Bell (161-891-5).  Neither Hagan or Jones accumulated big passing stats, so not worth bringing up any receivers (no offense, WRs and TEs). It was a different game, back then.

Next Bar Chat, Thursday.