You’re going to have to forgive me if I come across as something other than joyous in the direct aftermath of Charlie Strong landing a win over a “top-10 team” on Saturday.
Two months ago, it was easy to get swept away in a win over a team like Notre Dame because of the hope that can sometimes exist in the best-case scenario of the unknown. Hell, I was out in the world openly giving people permission to dream big.
If you fast-forward to the present, it’s much harder to give into that same hope after a win over Baylor because the hope that once overflowed has disappeared because that unknown has revealed itself to be mostly a waste of another season.
With a 4-4 record and the best-case scenario including a bowl game that might be meaningless outside of the extra practices that it would provide, no one is in the mood to dream.
At least not about this current team.
With four games to go this season for the Longhorns, the reality is that there’s a single gimmie left on the schedule (Kansas, I think) and three games that rate essentially as coin-flip scenarios (at Texas Tech, vs. West Virginia and vs. TCU). None of those games look the least bit imposing, but that’s exactly the same type of thing you’d say about the Longhorns.
As hard as Strong’s team played on Saturday, can anyone say with certainty that his players will respond the same way next week in Lubbock? It’ll be two below-average teams playing for potential lower-level bowl positioning and a little bit of bragging rights.
In the meantime, it’s impossible to not keep at least one eye focused on how each game impacts the fate of Strong, who was handed a bit of a lifeline from his players over the weekend. Yet, that looming cloud that follows Strong around like the air of disappointment chases Charlie Brown has created an atmosphere that makes writing about this team very difficult when it wins.
Nothing is going to wipe the truth that confronts this program each time it plays the rest of the season.
This is what college football purgatory looks and feels like.
No. 2– D’Onta special season ...
If junior running back D’Onta Foreman does nothing but hits his average in the final four regular-season games, he’s on pace to rush for 1,737 yards in 11 games.
That would rank as the fifth-greatest season in the history of a program that has churned out standout tailbacks at a dizzying rate over the last 50 years.
At his best, Jamaal Charles never posted a 1,700-yard season. Neither did Roosevelt Leaks. Or anyone not named Ricky, Cedric or Earl, and he’s only seven yards behind Earl Campbell’s Heisman Trophy pace.
Of course, that’s if Foreman hits his average in these final four games, one of which includes a Texas Tech game that might give up 200 yards to Foreman next week … in the first half.
It’s amazing to think that he’s on this kind of pace because it was just a little over a month ago when he was sharing the starting job with Chris Warren, but we’re watching one of the truly great individual seasons in Texas history.
I’m not sure I thought it was possible back when he was sharing snaps with Warren, but if he hits the 100-yard mark in every game this season, he has to be a favorite to win the Doak Walker Award.
You’d have to think it would either be Foreman, San Diego State’s Donnel Pumphrey or Florida State’s Dalvin Cook at this point.
No. 3 – Maybe Malik needed a little tough love ...
You just know last week wasn’t easy for sophomore linebacker Malik Jefferson.
Although Charlie Strong was quick to say that Jefferson wasn’t benched a week ago against Kansas State in Manhattan … he was benched. Not only that, but the preseason Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year lost his starting job to Tim Cole … for about five minutes.
It didn’t take long on Saturday before Strong put his much-maligned linebacker on the field and for the first time all season, Jefferson looked like he cut everything loose and just played some damn football.
The result: a team-best 10 tackles (8 solo), two sacks, 2.5 tackles for loss and generally speaking, he played like the player everyone thought he was when the season started.
I think it’s easy to forget the stress that’s placed on some of these players, but Jefferson has had to carry a lot of weight since he arrived in Austin and it’s probably fair to state that he didn’t arrive ready to own all of the weight that comes from such incredible expectations. Of all the players on the team, he probably wears the scarlet letter of its failings as much as anyone because he’s freaking Malik Jefferson, the only five-star prospect on the field.
Therefore, I can imagine what it was like last week when he found himself behind a player on the depth chart that he knows he’s better than, but whatever emotion he channeled this week to fuel his play, it turned him into the best version of himself that we’ve seen this season.
It makes me think two things going into this week.
a. Keep grinding, Malik.
b. Put him on the scout team in practice, Charlie.
No. 4– The most frustrating things about this season ...
If you had let me watch nothing but Big 12 football before the season started, I would have told you this is a conference just begging for some team to take advantage of its Charmin-like softness.
Let’s just keep it real … any of Mack Brown’s teams from 1998-2009 would have easily won this weak version of the Big 12, most of them in dominating fashion. Hell, it’s possible that his last team in 2013 could have competed with this outfit of teams.
Perhaps the biggest proof of how down the conference is this season was on display Saturday at DKR when Baylor looked more like a team that might be struggling to qualify for a bowl if it hadn’t been playing cupcakes all season than a legit top-10 team.
Oklahoma is probably going to walk away with Bob Stoops’ 423rd Big 12 championship, but that’s because every usual suspect in the conference is a shell of its best self and the Longhorns aren’t in any kind of shape to take advantage of it.
No. 5– Scattershooting on the Longhorns ...
… Is it Dede Westbrook vs. D’Onta Foreman for Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year?
… You can make a case that Anthony Wheeler’s forced fumble as Baylor was going in for a two-score lead early in the fourth quarter was a job-saver for Charlie Strong. That’s the second straight week Wheeler has forced a fumble to keep his team in the game. Who knows? Maybe he’ll keep his starting job …
… I get the feeling that John Bonney is going to start the rest of the season, unless he gets hurt. Hell, Davante Davis didn’t even get in the game for a single play on Saturday. Is it possible to have a doghouse under the doghouse? If so, that’s where I feel like we’ll find Davis.
… Pat Mahomes averages 439 passing yards per game. Unlike Baylor on Saturday, I doubt the Tech coaches forget that the Longhorns defense’s biggest weakness is defending the pass.
… Maybe I’m just being negative, but I found the decision to play Tyrone Swoopes as the team’s No. 2 tailback was a bit of an indictment on Kyle Porter. If Chris Warren or Kirk Johnson are healthy, I have to think that Porter is No. 4 on the depth chart
… Seth Russell might have run for a lot of yards on Saturday, but I didn’t think he looked anything close to an NFL quarterback, let alone a potential first-round draft pick. That’s just silly.
… It seems pretty clear that Armanti Foreman is the No. 1 receiver on the team right now. Guessing who is No. 2 is a week to week exercise.
… Sterlin Gilbert has to get Devin Duvernay more touches … period.
No. 6 – Buy or sell …
BUY or SELL: The Baylor win bought Charlie another year?
(Sell) Only if it is followed with four more wins. I haven’t sensed from anyone that anything changed on Saturday, as everyone that follows the team knows the roller coaster might have a few more ups and downs in it.
BUY or SELL: The rumor from several respected posters within the last 24 hours on Strong not being happy here, wanting out and that a mutual parting of ways has been agreed to after the season is true?
(Sell) This is just my opinion, but I don’t know that he loves it here, but he knows that if he doesn’t make it in Austin, it’s likely that he never receives another opportunity quite like the one he has now. He isn’t gonna just agree to go away.
BUY or SELL: 7 wins in the regular season plus a bowl win and he's back?
(Sell) It would be one thing if the obvious candidate (Tom Herman) wasn’t right down the road, but I think the people that matter know this is a poorly coached team.
BUY or SELL: If Charlie stays and concentrates on fixing the defense we'll see a favorable change from this season to next?
(Sell) That’s exactly the kind of thing people said about the offense a year ago and yet here we were a week ago, watching a 3-4 team after seven games for the third straight year. It’s time for everyone stop using their hope as an enabling device for giving the benefit of the doubt to someone who hasn’t earned it.
BUY or SELL: The media is overreacting once again to a single game and in reality Charlie is gone unless he wins out?
(Buy) What media is overreacting?
BUY or SELL: Coach Strong reads Orangebloods?
(Sell) He’s not a website reader, but I think he likes to know what’s being said about his team in a general sense.
BUY or SELL: D'Onta sets a personal single game rushing record in Lubbock?
(Buy) Ricky’s single-game record is in danger.
BUY or SELL: Charlie is right, whoever the coach is, this will be a 10-win team in 2017?
(Sell) Good grief, it’s time for everyone around here, from the fans to the head coach, to stop thinking this outfit is close to anything but slightly above average on its best day. I don’t even know if this team can win away from home. Double good grief.
BUY or SELL: Texas' offensive resurgence this year is less about a new offensive coordinator and more about having a competent QB for the first time in years?
(Sell) Shane Buechele would not be this good, this fast under Shawn Watson.
BUY or SELL: Texas wins easily in Lubbock next weekend because Tech has no defense to speak of and Patrick Mahomes is injured, plus he will be still upset that his dad was arrested for DWI after the game on Saturday?
(Sell) I expect Mahomes to play and play quite motivated.
BUY or SELL: The recent WSJ article on Baylor is effectively the nail in the coffin for Art Briles' career?
(Sell) I have too little faith in college athletics to believe that.
No. 7 – College Football randomness ...
… If I had a vote that mattered …
1. Alabama
2. Michigan
3. Washington
4. Clemson
5. Louisville
6. Ohio State
7. Texas A&M
8. Wisconsin
9. Nebraska
10. Oklahoma
… Big 12 Power Poll
1. Oklahoma
2. Oklahoma State
3. West Virginia
4. pick a team
5. pick a team
6. pick a team
7. pick a team
8. pick a team
9. Iowa State
10. Kansas
… I’ll admit it, I chose sleep over the second half of Clemson/Florida State and the rest of the late action on Saturday night. I haven’t even bothered to watch the highlights. Nice win, Tigers.
… It feels like there are six teams that are contenders at the moment and another 20 that want to pretend that they are contenders.
… I have Ohio State in that group of six, but I believe that might be confirmation bias speaking.
… Nebraska earned more respect from me in a loss in Madison than in any win it has had this season. The Buckeyes better be careful this weekend.
… West Virginia was exposed.
… If you’re going to take a fourth quarter lead over Louisville, don’t leave nearly two minutes on the clock for Lamar Jackson. You’re doing it wrong at that point.
… Florida beat Georgia by two touchdowns this weekend and that didn’t move my meter at all. Outside of Alabama this season in the SEC … meh.
No. 8 – You like Dak...
It was a game the Cowboys tried to five away.
It was a game the Cowboys refused to let get away from them.
Man, it wasn't perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but the Cowboys found a way to get it done and put two games between them and the Eagles in the standings.
At the forefront of the win was Dak Prescott, who looked like Cinderella at about 30 minutes after midnight for much of this game, but he put the pieces together in the fourth quarter,
Hell, even Jason Garrett put a positive touch on the game by refusing to settle for three points in overtime.
Damn that felt good.
No. 9 – Eternal Randomness of the Spotty Sports Mind …
… Scattershooting on week right in the NFL:
a. Tom Brady put the Bills in their place. The Patriots might not be unbeatable, but that team is too much to handle for most. The Bills are one of those teams in the “most” category.
b. I’d be pissed if I was Cam Newton, too. At some point, the officials have to quit looking at his size and giving defenders the benefit of the doubt when they break rules designed to protect quarterbacks.
c. If the Cleveland Browns can’t beat Ryan Fitzpatrick at home, I’m not sure that team is beating anyone.
d. What we know about Houston is that if it plays a very, very good NFL team, it’s going to get smoked. If it plays an average to below-average NFL team, it’s going to win. On Sunday, the Texans played an average NFL team and won. Rinse, wash and repeat. I hate that it’s that simple, but it is. Honestly, I found a lot of this game to be unwatchable.
e. Russell Wilson has been a marginal player for much of the season because he hasn’t been able to use his feet/legs to create plays. So, what happens when he’s not able to run around like a young man any longer?
f. It’s been awhile since I looked at Andrew Luck and saw anything other than Matt Stafford 2.0. Great quarterbacks are supposed to lift up the play of those around them, but I just don’t see a lot of that in the Colts.
g. Seabass ain’t Seabass any more.
h. Get better, Wade Phillips.
i. Aaron Rodgers was pretty sensational on Sunday and it still wasn’t good enough to get a win in Atlanta. Man, it’s a weird year in the NFL.
... The World Series is headed back to Cleveland and I have a sneaking feeling that this thing is going seven games.Some fanbase is going to have its heart ripped out this week.
… John Smoltz is a hell of a broadcaster.
… With his team off to a 3-0 start, Russell Westbrook is averaging 38.6 points, 12.3 rebounds and 11.6 assists.
… My favorite Joel Embiid moment from the weekend
… Kind of a “handle your business” weekend in the EPL as the top four all earned three points in rather impressive fashion over the weekend.
… No, Pep, Sergio Aguero is not as good in the box as Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar. Stop with the silliness.
... The home teams ruled the day in the MLS playoffs on Sunday, but nowhere was that statement true more than in Seattle, as FC Dallas might be in a hole it cannot climb out of.
No. 10 - And finally …
Nine days until election day. I can’t take any more election anything. Please hurry up and be over with. Please. Pretty please.
Two months ago, it was easy to get swept away in a win over a team like Notre Dame because of the hope that can sometimes exist in the best-case scenario of the unknown. Hell, I was out in the world openly giving people permission to dream big.
If you fast-forward to the present, it’s much harder to give into that same hope after a win over Baylor because the hope that once overflowed has disappeared because that unknown has revealed itself to be mostly a waste of another season.
With a 4-4 record and the best-case scenario including a bowl game that might be meaningless outside of the extra practices that it would provide, no one is in the mood to dream.
At least not about this current team.
With four games to go this season for the Longhorns, the reality is that there’s a single gimmie left on the schedule (Kansas, I think) and three games that rate essentially as coin-flip scenarios (at Texas Tech, vs. West Virginia and vs. TCU). None of those games look the least bit imposing, but that’s exactly the same type of thing you’d say about the Longhorns.
As hard as Strong’s team played on Saturday, can anyone say with certainty that his players will respond the same way next week in Lubbock? It’ll be two below-average teams playing for potential lower-level bowl positioning and a little bit of bragging rights.
In the meantime, it’s impossible to not keep at least one eye focused on how each game impacts the fate of Strong, who was handed a bit of a lifeline from his players over the weekend. Yet, that looming cloud that follows Strong around like the air of disappointment chases Charlie Brown has created an atmosphere that makes writing about this team very difficult when it wins.
Nothing is going to wipe the truth that confronts this program each time it plays the rest of the season.
This is what college football purgatory looks and feels like.
No. 2– D’Onta special season ...
If junior running back D’Onta Foreman does nothing but hits his average in the final four regular-season games, he’s on pace to rush for 1,737 yards in 11 games.
That would rank as the fifth-greatest season in the history of a program that has churned out standout tailbacks at a dizzying rate over the last 50 years.
At his best, Jamaal Charles never posted a 1,700-yard season. Neither did Roosevelt Leaks. Or anyone not named Ricky, Cedric or Earl, and he’s only seven yards behind Earl Campbell’s Heisman Trophy pace.
Of course, that’s if Foreman hits his average in these final four games, one of which includes a Texas Tech game that might give up 200 yards to Foreman next week … in the first half.
It’s amazing to think that he’s on this kind of pace because it was just a little over a month ago when he was sharing the starting job with Chris Warren, but we’re watching one of the truly great individual seasons in Texas history.
I’m not sure I thought it was possible back when he was sharing snaps with Warren, but if he hits the 100-yard mark in every game this season, he has to be a favorite to win the Doak Walker Award.
You’d have to think it would either be Foreman, San Diego State’s Donnel Pumphrey or Florida State’s Dalvin Cook at this point.
No. 3 – Maybe Malik needed a little tough love ...
You just know last week wasn’t easy for sophomore linebacker Malik Jefferson.
Although Charlie Strong was quick to say that Jefferson wasn’t benched a week ago against Kansas State in Manhattan … he was benched. Not only that, but the preseason Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year lost his starting job to Tim Cole … for about five minutes.
It didn’t take long on Saturday before Strong put his much-maligned linebacker on the field and for the first time all season, Jefferson looked like he cut everything loose and just played some damn football.
The result: a team-best 10 tackles (8 solo), two sacks, 2.5 tackles for loss and generally speaking, he played like the player everyone thought he was when the season started.
I think it’s easy to forget the stress that’s placed on some of these players, but Jefferson has had to carry a lot of weight since he arrived in Austin and it’s probably fair to state that he didn’t arrive ready to own all of the weight that comes from such incredible expectations. Of all the players on the team, he probably wears the scarlet letter of its failings as much as anyone because he’s freaking Malik Jefferson, the only five-star prospect on the field.
Therefore, I can imagine what it was like last week when he found himself behind a player on the depth chart that he knows he’s better than, but whatever emotion he channeled this week to fuel his play, it turned him into the best version of himself that we’ve seen this season.
It makes me think two things going into this week.
a. Keep grinding, Malik.
b. Put him on the scout team in practice, Charlie.
No. 4– The most frustrating things about this season ...
If you had let me watch nothing but Big 12 football before the season started, I would have told you this is a conference just begging for some team to take advantage of its Charmin-like softness.
Let’s just keep it real … any of Mack Brown’s teams from 1998-2009 would have easily won this weak version of the Big 12, most of them in dominating fashion. Hell, it’s possible that his last team in 2013 could have competed with this outfit of teams.
Perhaps the biggest proof of how down the conference is this season was on display Saturday at DKR when Baylor looked more like a team that might be struggling to qualify for a bowl if it hadn’t been playing cupcakes all season than a legit top-10 team.
Oklahoma is probably going to walk away with Bob Stoops’ 423rd Big 12 championship, but that’s because every usual suspect in the conference is a shell of its best self and the Longhorns aren’t in any kind of shape to take advantage of it.
No. 5– Scattershooting on the Longhorns ...
… Is it Dede Westbrook vs. D’Onta Foreman for Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year?
… You can make a case that Anthony Wheeler’s forced fumble as Baylor was going in for a two-score lead early in the fourth quarter was a job-saver for Charlie Strong. That’s the second straight week Wheeler has forced a fumble to keep his team in the game. Who knows? Maybe he’ll keep his starting job …
… I get the feeling that John Bonney is going to start the rest of the season, unless he gets hurt. Hell, Davante Davis didn’t even get in the game for a single play on Saturday. Is it possible to have a doghouse under the doghouse? If so, that’s where I feel like we’ll find Davis.
… Pat Mahomes averages 439 passing yards per game. Unlike Baylor on Saturday, I doubt the Tech coaches forget that the Longhorns defense’s biggest weakness is defending the pass.
… Maybe I’m just being negative, but I found the decision to play Tyrone Swoopes as the team’s No. 2 tailback was a bit of an indictment on Kyle Porter. If Chris Warren or Kirk Johnson are healthy, I have to think that Porter is No. 4 on the depth chart
… Seth Russell might have run for a lot of yards on Saturday, but I didn’t think he looked anything close to an NFL quarterback, let alone a potential first-round draft pick. That’s just silly.
… It seems pretty clear that Armanti Foreman is the No. 1 receiver on the team right now. Guessing who is No. 2 is a week to week exercise.
… Sterlin Gilbert has to get Devin Duvernay more touches … period.
No. 6 – Buy or sell …
BUY or SELL: The Baylor win bought Charlie another year?
(Sell) Only if it is followed with four more wins. I haven’t sensed from anyone that anything changed on Saturday, as everyone that follows the team knows the roller coaster might have a few more ups and downs in it.
BUY or SELL: The rumor from several respected posters within the last 24 hours on Strong not being happy here, wanting out and that a mutual parting of ways has been agreed to after the season is true?
(Sell) This is just my opinion, but I don’t know that he loves it here, but he knows that if he doesn’t make it in Austin, it’s likely that he never receives another opportunity quite like the one he has now. He isn’t gonna just agree to go away.
BUY or SELL: 7 wins in the regular season plus a bowl win and he's back?
(Sell) It would be one thing if the obvious candidate (Tom Herman) wasn’t right down the road, but I think the people that matter know this is a poorly coached team.
BUY or SELL: If Charlie stays and concentrates on fixing the defense we'll see a favorable change from this season to next?
(Sell) That’s exactly the kind of thing people said about the offense a year ago and yet here we were a week ago, watching a 3-4 team after seven games for the third straight year. It’s time for everyone stop using their hope as an enabling device for giving the benefit of the doubt to someone who hasn’t earned it.
BUY or SELL: The media is overreacting once again to a single game and in reality Charlie is gone unless he wins out?
(Buy) What media is overreacting?
BUY or SELL: Coach Strong reads Orangebloods?
(Sell) He’s not a website reader, but I think he likes to know what’s being said about his team in a general sense.
BUY or SELL: D'Onta sets a personal single game rushing record in Lubbock?
(Buy) Ricky’s single-game record is in danger.
BUY or SELL: Charlie is right, whoever the coach is, this will be a 10-win team in 2017?
(Sell) Good grief, it’s time for everyone around here, from the fans to the head coach, to stop thinking this outfit is close to anything but slightly above average on its best day. I don’t even know if this team can win away from home. Double good grief.
BUY or SELL: Texas' offensive resurgence this year is less about a new offensive coordinator and more about having a competent QB for the first time in years?
(Sell) Shane Buechele would not be this good, this fast under Shawn Watson.
BUY or SELL: Texas wins easily in Lubbock next weekend because Tech has no defense to speak of and Patrick Mahomes is injured, plus he will be still upset that his dad was arrested for DWI after the game on Saturday?
(Sell) I expect Mahomes to play and play quite motivated.
BUY or SELL: The recent WSJ article on Baylor is effectively the nail in the coffin for Art Briles' career?
(Sell) I have too little faith in college athletics to believe that.
No. 7 – College Football randomness ...
… If I had a vote that mattered …
1. Alabama
2. Michigan
3. Washington
4. Clemson
5. Louisville
6. Ohio State
7. Texas A&M
8. Wisconsin
9. Nebraska
10. Oklahoma
… Big 12 Power Poll
1. Oklahoma
2. Oklahoma State
3. West Virginia
4. pick a team
5. pick a team
6. pick a team
7. pick a team
8. pick a team
9. Iowa State
10. Kansas
… I’ll admit it, I chose sleep over the second half of Clemson/Florida State and the rest of the late action on Saturday night. I haven’t even bothered to watch the highlights. Nice win, Tigers.
… It feels like there are six teams that are contenders at the moment and another 20 that want to pretend that they are contenders.
… I have Ohio State in that group of six, but I believe that might be confirmation bias speaking.
… Nebraska earned more respect from me in a loss in Madison than in any win it has had this season. The Buckeyes better be careful this weekend.
… West Virginia was exposed.
… If you’re going to take a fourth quarter lead over Louisville, don’t leave nearly two minutes on the clock for Lamar Jackson. You’re doing it wrong at that point.
… Florida beat Georgia by two touchdowns this weekend and that didn’t move my meter at all. Outside of Alabama this season in the SEC … meh.
No. 8 – You like Dak...
It was a game the Cowboys tried to five away.
It was a game the Cowboys refused to let get away from them.
Man, it wasn't perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but the Cowboys found a way to get it done and put two games between them and the Eagles in the standings.
At the forefront of the win was Dak Prescott, who looked like Cinderella at about 30 minutes after midnight for much of this game, but he put the pieces together in the fourth quarter,
Hell, even Jason Garrett put a positive touch on the game by refusing to settle for three points in overtime.
Damn that felt good.
No. 9 – Eternal Randomness of the Spotty Sports Mind …
… Scattershooting on week right in the NFL:
a. Tom Brady put the Bills in their place. The Patriots might not be unbeatable, but that team is too much to handle for most. The Bills are one of those teams in the “most” category.
b. I’d be pissed if I was Cam Newton, too. At some point, the officials have to quit looking at his size and giving defenders the benefit of the doubt when they break rules designed to protect quarterbacks.
c. If the Cleveland Browns can’t beat Ryan Fitzpatrick at home, I’m not sure that team is beating anyone.
d. What we know about Houston is that if it plays a very, very good NFL team, it’s going to get smoked. If it plays an average to below-average NFL team, it’s going to win. On Sunday, the Texans played an average NFL team and won. Rinse, wash and repeat. I hate that it’s that simple, but it is. Honestly, I found a lot of this game to be unwatchable.
e. Russell Wilson has been a marginal player for much of the season because he hasn’t been able to use his feet/legs to create plays. So, what happens when he’s not able to run around like a young man any longer?
f. It’s been awhile since I looked at Andrew Luck and saw anything other than Matt Stafford 2.0. Great quarterbacks are supposed to lift up the play of those around them, but I just don’t see a lot of that in the Colts.
g. Seabass ain’t Seabass any more.
h. Get better, Wade Phillips.
i. Aaron Rodgers was pretty sensational on Sunday and it still wasn’t good enough to get a win in Atlanta. Man, it’s a weird year in the NFL.
... The World Series is headed back to Cleveland and I have a sneaking feeling that this thing is going seven games.Some fanbase is going to have its heart ripped out this week.
… John Smoltz is a hell of a broadcaster.
… With his team off to a 3-0 start, Russell Westbrook is averaging 38.6 points, 12.3 rebounds and 11.6 assists.
… My favorite Joel Embiid moment from the weekend
… Kind of a “handle your business” weekend in the EPL as the top four all earned three points in rather impressive fashion over the weekend.
… No, Pep, Sergio Aguero is not as good in the box as Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar. Stop with the silliness.
... The home teams ruled the day in the MLS playoffs on Sunday, but nowhere was that statement true more than in Seattle, as FC Dallas might be in a hole it cannot climb out of.
No. 10 - And finally …
Nine days until election day. I can’t take any more election anything. Please hurry up and be over with. Please. Pretty please.
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