Frightened Irish – The Day After

I’m not saying anybody can play with Alabama (except for Johnny Football), but I was certainly looking for more out of Notre Dame in the BCS Championship game last night.

I missed the first seven minutes of the game and, thanks to DVR technology, had a chance to rerun the early part of the game during the commercial break that followed another ‘Bama TD that made it 21-0. And I’m upset that I’ve missed basically the whole game, and there’s still five minutes left in the first quarter!  The Elephants ran over, through and by ND in what was more of speed mismatch than a physical one.

Then I thought about my friends who were in Miami, made the effort to get to the game, bought the three-night hotel package, game tickets, etc. and what do they have to show for it?   A T-shirt from Joe’s Stone Crab in South Beach.

What a BLOWOUT! – maybe that’s what the “B” in BCS now should stand for. No way the best two teams in the country were there last night. One, but not two.  The ND aura got into the BCS machine again. I saw Alabama’s offensive line in person at Cowboys Stadium back in August. They were impressive then against Michigan, and they were still bulldozing people through the back of the end zone last night.

Maybe ‘Bama should seek membership in the NFC South.

In other news and notes:

• By the way, the Crimson Tide made the Aggies look EVEN better last night. When you’re hot, you’re hot! And speaking of offensive lines, the Ags had a pretty good one.
• Anybody notice that the NHL is back in business and trying to start the season within a week? Now there’s a league that’s in trouble.
• Mark Cuban’s mad at NBA game officials again. Bonuses should be going out to the refs from the NBA office any day now.
• Frogs are on their way to Stillwater to take on Oklahoma State on Wednesday night. OSU is the only team in the Big 12 Conference that has four players ranked among the league’s top 20 in scoring.   We’re on the air at 6:30 p.m. on the TCU Sport Network. One note:  Our radio home for men’s basketball Big 12 games is 570 AM KLIF and KTCU-FM 88.7 and, of course, gofrogs.com via the All Access pass.
• TCU’s J.J. Henry was in Maui at the Tournament of Champions this past weekend where the wind was so strong in Kapalua that players could barely stand, and golf balls were being blown off the green before players could get up there to mark their ball. Putts were being blown two feet offline! Some of the craziest TV golf I’ve ever watched.
• Finally, the line of week already is what ND head coach Brian Kelly said in his walk-off interview at halftime when asked what will help his team in the 2^nd half:  “I don’t know, maybe Alabama won’t come back out, that would help.” Gotta give Coach Kelly props for being a straight-up guy!

More tomorrow from Eskimo Joe’s in Stillwater.

Kick ‘Em High!

Some new year thoughts

Happy New Year, Everybody!

People are asking me, which team do I like tonight in the National Championship Game???? The answer is WHAT do I like — and that's defense on both sides of the ball. Notre Dame doesn't like to give up touchdowns on the ground, just two all year. And Alabama's D has kept them in every game, except for when they were trying to corral Johnny Football. We'll see how good ND's defense is tonight after three quarters of getting pounded on by that ‘Bama O-Line that impressed me when I saw them in person the first week of the season against Michigan.  Alabama 20 Notre Dame 13.

Random New Year Thoughts:
TCU Football weathered the Storm of 2012 and is well-positioned to compete for the Big 12 title and beyond in 2013. Ten out of 11 starters returning on defense sunnies up the outlook, don’t you think?

• Those bemoaning TCU’s bowl loss to Michigan State might want to stop and think about how many times the Frogs have won one-point games, and for that matter, really close games the last several years. You can’t win ‘em all. But it was really fun at Boise in 2011!
• TCU Basketball tipped off their Big 12 gauntlet at home last Saturday against Texas Tech. Although things didn’t go the way the Frogs wanted, they will surprise a few teams before we get to the middle of March. You watch.
• Look out, here comes the TCU Baseball Season! The first home game is February 22^nd against Cal-State Fullerton. Be prepared for a fun first year in the Big 12.
• Cowboys missed the playoffs again.  Are you really surprised?
• Texas A&M’s Johnny Football surely impressed this year and changed the way people look at Aggie Football. Now, let’s see a repeat performance with a rebuilt offensive line next year. It only gets tougher from here and the Heisman adds an extra bull’s eye to No. 2’s uniform.
• By the way, the Aggies went back to an early-1970s look with the two stripes on the shoulder in a tip of the cap to former head coach Emory Bellard, Bubba Bean and Ed Simonini. Like it.
  
  Kick ‘Em High!