Tag: sports

The Bullies of IU

38-3 against Alabama. 56-22 against Oregon… and it wasn’t that close. At one point early in the third quarter, it was 49-7.

Whatever Curt Cignetti is doing at Indiana is going to be the basis of dozens of books on leadership and team-building.

Oregon had more than 50 4- and 5-star recruits on its roster. Alabama had more than 40.

Indiana has three. And they’re not just beating the teams with superior talent, they’re obliterating them.

Sometimes, it’s not about the talent. Sometimes, its about who is willing to work harder, who is more disciplined, and who is willing to devote themselves to the team and to the mission.

It’s downright inspirational. Watch, learn, and apply.

Big Bear likes to say no one is having more fun than us. And that’s true. But I say, no one is going to work harder or work smarter.

Speaking of which, the first draft of the sequel to Probability Zero is already finished. Gemini 3 Pro gives it a technical rigor of 9.9 compared to PZ’s 9.7 and The Selfish Gene‘s 1.5. If you’re a science or math PhD or you’ve got a Master’s in STEM and you want to review the early draft, please shoot me an email with TFG in the subject. I’ll send out 20 of them for comments and suggestions.

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They Should Have Fired Lamar

I cannot believe the Baltimore Ravens fired John Harbaugh. What he did with Lamar Jackson bordered on the miraculous, although Jackson certainly merits credit for being far more coachable and more willing to work on improving as a quarterback than anyone ever imagined possible.

Harbaugh will have another head-coaching job within two weeks, and quite possibly before the end of the weekend. The Ravens aren’t going deep into the playoffs with Lamar, in fact, they may not see the playoffs again while he is their quarterback.

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It’s Got to Change

Those ratings should assure that the G5 problem will be fixed one way or another. I like the idea of splitting the CFB division between Power Four and Group of Five conferences. Give the G5 their own playoff. More good games, more good teams get a chance to play for something viable, it’s a win for everyone.

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More NCAAF Drama

The University of Michigan just unexpectedly fired its head football coach. And the police are involved, f.

The University of Michigan has fired Sherrone Moore following an investigation into a situation that transpired within and outside the football building, sources tell OutKick.

Coming off a season that ended with a loss to Ohio State, the Wolverines’ administration had been looking into alleged allegations levied against the coach. Over the past few weeks, Board of Regent members have met numerous times to discuss the allegations levied against the coach, which violate university policy.

Wednesday night, Sherrone Moore was detained in Saline, Michigan, and then subsequently handed over to police in Pittsfield Township, pertaining to an investigation that is now tied to the relationship.

Multiple sources tell OutKick that once the school found out about an alleged extramarital affair with a staffer through an outside tip, a decision was made to launch an investigation.

“U-M head football coach Sherrone Moore has been terminated, with cause, effective immediately. Following a university investigation, credible evidence was found that Coach Moore engaged in an inappropriate relationship with a staff member. This conduct constitutes a clear violation of University policy, and U-M maintains zero tolerance for such behavior,” AD Warde Manual announced.

It looks like Indiana and Ohio State are going to be cleaning up in the transfer portal soon.

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The Ultimate Comeback

Every man over the age of 40 is going to be backing the Colts for the rest of this season:

Stuck at EverBank Stadium, and waiting for a new charter home with mechanical issues sending the team plane in for repairs, Colts coach Shane Steichen and GM Chris Ballard were staring down a quarterback situation in apparent disrepair.

Starter Daniel Jones, already playing through a fractured fibula, had sustained a season-ending torn Achilles hours earlier, in what became a blowout loss to the Jaguars. Then, in the locker room postgame, rookie sixth-rounder Riley Leonard—who’d put together an admirable, hope-provoking three quarters—revealed to coaches the pain he felt in a knee that he tweaked during the second half.

Former first-rounder Anthony Richardson, who underwent orbital surgery in late October after a freak accident with a resistance band, was already shelved with no timetable for return. Veteran Brett Rypien was stashed on the practice squad. The Colts, quite simply, were long on problems and short on answers at the game’s most important position.

“What about Rivers?” Steichen asked, in the bowels of the stadium.

Ballard, taken aback, responded, “Would he do it?”

And thus began a wild 48 hours that brought eight-time Pro Bowl quarterback Philip Rivers, a veteran of 17 NFL seasons, back to pro football after a five-year retirement.

Success, needless to say, is unlikely. Joe Flacco may have come off his couch and played quite credibly to hold down the fort for Joe Burrows, but he’d only been out for a few months. Rivers has been retired for FIVE YEARS.

That being said, the fact that he’s been coaching and working out with pre-draft QBs does mean that he’s been mentally engaged with the game and knows he can still throw it. As for the rest, well, let’s hope we get to see for ourselves.

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KOC Looks Wiser Today

ITEM: 16 23 163 69.6 7.1 3 0 21 4 129.2

ITEM: Daniel Jones fell to the turf in Jacksonville with an apparent Achilles tendon tear in his right leg. The Colts are in a mess because sometime on Monday an MRI is expected to confirm Jones suffered the season-ending injury and needs surgery.

The Vikings are 5-8. The Colts are 8-5. JJ McCarthy will likely be available for the last four games of the season. Daniel Jones will not be. It’s now possible, if not necessarily likely, that the Vikings will finish with a better record than the Colts.

Those of us who have been metaphorically murdering Kwesi and openly wondering if KOC had completely lost both his quarterback-whispering abilities and his marbles must admit that despite all of the travails of this season, their joint decision to roll with Nine instead of Darnold, Jones, and Rodgers might not have been quite as completely insane as it looked last week.

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The End of the College Bowl Game

It appears to be upon us, courtesy of the College Football Playoff committee’s bizarre decision to include Alabama and exclude Notre Dame.

On Sunday, the Fighting Irish were snubbed for the College Football Playoff, as the selection committee opted to put Miami in over them. It was a controversial decision that left many scratching their heads, but the Hurricanes did beat Notre Dame head-to-head earlier in the season.

Soon after being left out of the CFP, Notre Dame announced it would not be participating in a bowl this season.

The statement is below:

As a team, we’ve decided to withdraw our name for consideration for a bowl game following the 2025 season.

We appreciate all the support from our families and fans, and we’re hoping to bring the 12th national title to South Bend in 2026

-The 2025 Notre Dame Football Team.

Rather than have one more game and a month of extra practices, the Irish are essentially taking their ball and going home.

I have no problem with the team and its coaches deciding that playing in the Kraft Bleu Cheese Ranch Bowl or whatever it’s called this year isn’t worth the investment of time required. A 10-2 team that is quite obviously one of the best 12 teams in the country expects to be playing for a national title. It deserves to be playing for a national title.

Some observers have pointed out, quite reasonably, that this is a consequence of Notre Dame’s own decision not to join a conference. And it is, and that’s correct. But there is no duty to play in a lesser game that counts for nothing, and this, too, is a consequence of the committee’s actions.

Alabama got their shot last night. They blew it. Why they should be given another shot, over teams like Notre Dame and Vanderbilt, makes no sense to me. I have no problem with James Madison getting in; they did their part and they won their conference. But why the committee thinks anyone wants to see Alabama go to Oklahoma, again, and presumably lose there, again, is beyond me.

Notre Dame lost two games to teams in the playoffs by a combined 4 points. Alabama lost two games to two teams in the playoffs by a combined 23 points, plus to an unranked team by 14 points. As I said yesterday, Alabama should not have been included.

And now, a feeble attempt to protect the non-tradition of conference championship games, the entire bowl tradition is now in jeopardy. Because Notre Dame will not be the only team to decline a bowl; the Big 12 is already having to strongarm two of its teams with playoff aspirations to get them to participate in the bowls to which they’ll be invited.

I don’t have anything against Alabama. I didn’t even follow college football during the Saban years and I’ve never been an SEC guy. But I don’t like seeing other teams getting only one shot at glory when another gets three.

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Fixing College Football Conference Championships

The conference championship games were always stupid and should obviously be abolished in light of the way they now generate less revenue than the playoff games and create unnecessary complications for the College Football Playoff. Here is the correct way to determine a college football conference championship in these days of large conferences where all the teams can’t play each other every season.

  1. Conference championships are determined by the conference records.
  2. If two or more teams are tied with the same conference record, the team with the better overall record shall prevail.
  3. If two or more teams are tied with the same conference record and overall record, the head-to-head winner shall prevail.
  4. If two or more teams are tied with the same conference record and overall record and they did not play that season, or the result of the head-to-head game was a tie, the team that has gone longer since last winning the conference championship shall be declared the conference champion.
  5. If two or more teams are tied with the same conference record and overall record and they did not play that season, or the result of the head-to-head game was a tie, and one of the teams joined the conference from a different conference since 2020, the “last conference championship” calculation shall be based on its most recent championship in its previous conference.

In other words, if Minnesota and Washington were to finish in a tie for the Big 10 conference championship next year, Minnesota would be crowned the conference champion since its last conference championship was in 1960, while Washington’s last conference championship was in 2023.

That’s fair, reasonable, and most importantly, respectful of tradition and good for the sport. Look at how the entire country is excited about seeing Indiana being in the Big 10 mix for a change instead of Michigan. And look at how much everyone enjoys seeing new teams in the mix instead of the same six teams taking turns winning the national championship.

This will also permit the CFB to guarantee more spots to conference champions, which is desirable. I’d prefer to see 8 being reserved for conference champions, with 8 at-large invites. March Madness proves that everyone likes to see a dark horse or two included.

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    Alabama Should Be Out

    I’m not militant about the College Football Playoff one way or another, and I’d prefer to see the so-called “conference championship games” dropped from the schedules. But I do have one opinion, and that is Alabama absolutely does not deserve to be in the playoff.

    To lose so comprehensively and finish with -3 rushing yards means you are not a viable contender.

    UPDATE: I did NOT expect Indiana to beat Ohio State after being forced to settle for three FG attempts, and missing one, on their first three trips into scoring territory. And I think that if Ryan Day had coached like the Duke head coach did to upset Virginia for the ACC title, Ohio State would have won. The risk-averse NFL approach is correct on average, but in a big game, you have to coach to win, not to avoid losing.

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