The Headlines: Week 13...One Step Away

It comes down to the Civil War.

Oregon State survived against Arizona and is now one game away from that coveted Rose Bowl berth.

Not much to say but this is the clearest the picture has been all year in the race for the Roses.

If the Beavers lose next weekend to Oregon, then it's USC to the Rose Bowl. If Oregon State takes the Civil War, then off to Pasadena they go for the first time since 1965.

But what about the other bowl games the Pac-10 has tie-ins to? Let's take a look.

If Oregon State beats Oregon next week, then:

1) USC receives another BCS bid if it beats UCLA
2) California goes to the Holiday Bowl if it beats Washington
3) Oregon goes to the Sun Bowl
4) Arizona goes to either the Las Vegas Bowl or the Emerald Bowl if it beats Arizona State
5) If the Sun Devils win their last two games, then they can go to the Las Vegas Bowl or Emerald Bowl and the Wildcats go to the other game.
6) UCLA gets a bowl bid if it beats ASU and USC, but that's not going to happen.

If the Ducks beat the Beavers, then:
1) USC goes to the Rose Bowl
2) Oregon goes to the Holiday Bowl, via tiebreaker.
3) Oregon State goes to the Sun Bowl
4) Cal goes to the Emerald Bowl
5) Arizona goes to the Las Vegas Bowl, if it beats ASU
6) If the Sun Devils win their last two games, then they go to the Las Vegas Bowl and the Wildcats go to the Hawaii Bowl.
7) UCLA still won't receive a bowl bid.

The Pac-10 does have seven bowl tie-ins, but it looks like only six teams will get bids. The bowl that gets left out is the Pointsetta Bowl. If the Pac-10 sends two teams to the BCS, then the Hawai'i Bowl and the Poinsetta Bowl are left out of the Pac-10 equation.

Next week will clear this all up.

To the headlines:

• Arizona: Cats Skinned by Field Goal
  
• California: The Axe Comes Back to Berkeley
  
• Oregon State: Smelling the Roses
  
• Stanford: Bowl Bid Axed
  
• Washington: Winless Season Cometh
  
• Wazzu: Someone Had to Win
  

On the Hot Seat?

I don't know what's going to happen to Norv Turner. Will he be back for the San Diego Chargers next year? Will he not?

That all depends on who you believe, or if you believe Dean Spanos, who said today that Turner will be back next year.

Some believe that this is a warning and that Turner has been given the "kiss of death," meaning that he'll probably be gone if the Chargers fail to succeed (what success is now for this current team).

Some actually believe in Spanos's word and are hating it. Fans are ready to use Turner as the scapegoat for this (what many believe) underperforming and underachieving season. Hey, at least the fans aren't chanting "Marty" at games any more. (Or are they)?

Nobody knows for sure what this cryptic message sent by the Chargers front office means, except for maybe the Spanoses.

But Turner is in trouble.

Why?

Because having Spanos come out and publicily say that Turner will be back next year means that the team has conversations about axing the much maligned head coach.

There were discussions. There is (or was) doubt in Turner's abilities. And it had to come from somewhere (and that somewhere isn't from the fans' impatience with Turner).

For now, Spanos says Turner's their guy.

But what happens when the team finishes 7-9 or (wtf?!) 6-10. It totally could happen. The team could just tank the rest of the year.

Then what? This story and discussion is far from over.

The Evil Empire Strikes Again

BCS is coming back to Disney, but it won't be on ABC. ESPN has won the rights to the BCS and the national title game (sans The Rose Bowl) starting in 2011.

Add that to ESPN's lists of conquests, which also includes a 15 year deal with the SEC.

I kind of address why something like this is bad for sports when I talked about how ESPN shoved the lameass, not-so-exciting, did-anyone-other-than-old-white-guys-pay-attention-to-this Ryder Cup in the summer.

The same goes here. ESPN is slowly becoming a monopoly and is slowly becoming the place for sports and sports entertainment. I have no no problem of the "World Wide Leader in Sports." I do have a problem when it acts as if it (ESPN) should be the only place anyone can go to watch quality sporting events on television.

Again, it's all about the money. Sure, ESPN, in its own press release, sites that 86 percent of televisions in America have basic cable, which ESPN is on. But what about that other 14 percent? With the BCS exclusively on ESPN starting in 2011, it gets to charge higher fees to cable companies in order to carry ESPN, which in turn leads to higher cable bills for all of us.

But shouldn't everyone get to watch the biggest games of the year?

And even ESPN wants the rights to the English Premier League in the United States.

I am sure that ESPN won't stop until it has every major league signed to a deal that lets the network show their games.

In the world of television sports, ESPN is the Yankees. No, they're worst. They're the Yankees without the competition. Because ESPN has been branded as the sports network in America, other networks like Fox Sports or Comcast Sports have no chance of breaking through.

When the average American thinks sports they think baseball, football, cheerleaders and ESPN.

At least the Yankees lose every now and then. Maybe George Steinbrenner should ask ESPN president George Bodenheimer how the network does it. The Yankees could use the help.

The Passing of a Legend: Pete Newell

I don't know if there's a man that has meant more to California athletics than Pete Newell, who passed away today at the age of 93.

It's too bad that we only have his legacy now--and that the Berkeley campus is about 40 years removed from it.

Newell's name is the one that adorns the hardwood at Haas Pavilion (Harmon Gym). He's the one with a statue in the club room, tucked away in a corner (and after reading countless of stories about who Newell was, I think if there was any place for a statue honoring him to be placed anywhere at Cal, it'd be in the corner somewhere. He'd rather have no statue actually, and I'm sure of it, but if the university wanted to give him a statue, it was going to be in a corner).

Newell's the one who brought that 1959 NCAA championship banner to Cal. He's the one who led a team of no-names to that national title, beating Oscar Robertson's Cincinnati team in the Final Four and then the Jerry West-led West Virginia in the final. No one for the Bears in 1958-59 was named to the all-conference team, let alone garnered national attention individually.

But if there was anyone who stood for what Cal was during its glory days, it was two men--football coach Pappy Waldorf and Newell.

The thing is, Newell is probably not as revered as he should be. He left coaching after the 1960 season and then went on to run the athletic department during Cal's most turbulent time, all the way until 1968.

Maybe it's the times, especially with football and the angst over getting back to the Rose Bowl dominating the consciousness of the campus, but you hardly ever hear Newell's name mentioned amongst the students these days.

To many students who walk through the student gate and onto The Bench, Newell probably isn't even a second or third thought. He's just the guy whose name is on the floor in front of them.

Waldorf's greatness is reminded to Cal students almost every fall, with so much attention put on how Jeff Tedford is close to achieving Waldorf's stature.

But for Cal students, whenever they want to remember basketball greatness, they look back only about 15 years to Jason Kidd and his measly Sweet Sixteen apperance. There's no mention of 1959. No mention of the national title that watches over them in Haas Pavilion. Kidd was more recent and is a bigger name. Kidd's teams should attract that kind of misty-eyed romance of what Cal basketball was, should be and could be.

But Newell's teams should trump Kidd's bravato.

Newell won four consecutive conference titles before he retired. He beat UCLA's almost-holy coach, John Wooden, eight straight times before Newell was asked to step down by doctors for health reasons.

Newell dumbfounded the Wizard of Westwood. God do we wish we still had someone today that could do that.

But while the Bruins faithful look up to Wooden as they should, with a god-like awe, the students at Cal don't or didn't with Newell.

Maybe it's because Newell wasn't around as much as Wooden is. Maybe it's because Wooden's success came after Newell was done beating him. Maybe it's because Newell's team achieve things so great that it's hard to believe that a basketball team with the word "Bears" or "California" could have done what they did in 1959.

That stuff is all hearsay. It's meant for the history books and romantic illusions of a time that has since come and gone.

And though Newell's contributions to Cal and its students may have gone lost amongst this current crop of students, it should no longer be forgotten.

Cal will remember Newell tomorrow night at Haas Pavilion and finally, the current Cal community will know who he was. Who he is.

It's too bad that it's taken this long. But let's never forget his legacy and cheer his name once more, the way it was when he was the one on the sidelines.

The way it should be, whether he liked it or not.

Stories about Pete Newell:

• Daily Cal: Former Cal Basketball Coaching Great Pete Newell Dies at 93
  
• Associated Press: Former Cal coach Newell dies at 93
• San Francisco Chronicle: Pete Newell: Basketball coach and teacher dies
• Contra Costa Times: Coaching legend Pete Newell dead at 93
• Bruce Jenkins, Chronicle Sports Columnist: Great coach, Great man
  

The Week That Was Week 11 in the NFL

Hockey, lacrosse, soccer.

Those are the only sports that should have ties/draws.

American football, and especially the NFL, no ties. Please, let's not have any ties.

But that's what happened today between Philadelphia and Cincinnati. After 75 minutes, the two teams couldn't play out of a stalemate.

I agree with the basis for college football's overtime system, giving both teams a shot at scoring a touchdown and the first team that fails loses the game.

That should happen in the NFL also. However, I propose, unlike college football where the offensive team starts at their opponent's 25 yard-line, teams in the NFL should kickoff each possession.

That way it's kind of a real game. And the first team to not score, loses.

It's simple. It might take longer than 15 minutes. But it does take care of those pesky ties.

To the rest of the week:

• I guess the Titans are for real.
• Aaron Rodgers = Brett Favre (you kinda have to put Favre ahead after his Jets beat the Pats this week).
• Speaking of Rodgers, did the Packers just turn this season around?
• I feel for you Rod Marinelli. I really do.
• I still don't know how Denver does it.
• The Chargers are still superpowers Jim Nantz?

Extra Point:

Whoever wins the AFC West, god bless them, but I don't think they'll get that far.

The Broncos, where do I begin? How many times can you come up with fourth quarter miracles before they bite you in the ass?

The Chargers, are they really the most talented team in the League? Ron Rivera's defense looks a little more ferocious than Ted Cottrell's, but what happened to this offense? Where did all the scoring go?

It'll be one and done for the AFC West division winner--unless that team plays Baltimore in the playoffs.

MLS Says Thank You New York

Or maybe it really doesn't, but if I were a Major League Soccer executive, I'm thanking somebody for the New York Red Bulls' win over Real Salt Lake in the semifinals (I'm not calling it Western Conference Final, no thank you) of the MLS Cup.

MLS has taken great strides over the last few years. There are a bunch of soccer-specific stadiums, David Beckham still sells out grounds and the quality of play has gone up.

But the prospect of having Real Salt Lake play Columbus at the Home Depot Center next Sunday must have made MLS execs a little nervous.

The league is still trying to grow. It's still trying to gain respect. It's still trying to grow the fan base. So to have two teams from really small markets, really small cities, wouldn't have done too much to make the MLS Cup Final that interesting...to the average or casual sports fan.

Yes, the Crew won the Supporters Shield this year and are probably playing at top form right now, but it's Columbus. Sure Real Salt Lake plays some pretty soccer. But the club plays in Utah.

No one outside of those communities care for those clubs.

So thank you New York Red Bulls. At least, maybe, people might watch next Sunday. And the Red Bulls have an amazing star in Juan Pablo Angel.

I think that somewhere, a MLS executive is breathing a sigh of relief.

Maybe there'll be a little excitement in Carson, Calif., next Sunday.

The Headlines: Week 12...Coming Into Focus

My buddy who writes for The Daily Californian and went to yesterday's game between California and Oregon State called me while he was at a tailgate. Apparently he was impressed by the Beavers faithful. While there's nothing to do in Corvallis, Ore., the people sure did come out to Resar Stadium.

I would if I bled orange and black.

Oregon State is on the cusp of a Rose Bowl bid, their first since 1965. And with that, of course I expected the entire city of Corvallis to head out and support what was once a bumbling football program.

ABC showed shots of the Resar Stadium crowd holding up signs that said "We can smell the Roses" and something about going to The Rose Bowl for the first time since '65.

But that reminded of a thing the University of California did back in 2004. With the Bears ranked No. 4 in the country and coming off a win in The Big Game, the Cal book store started to sell Rose Bowl commemorative t-shirts.

Oops.

Needless to say, two weeks later, those shirts were selling for more than half off the regular price.

Oregon State fans should be excited. Their team's time has come. Two more wins and it's off to Pasadena.

If I were a Cal fan, I'd want that to happen. Because if the Beavers get to go to the Pac-10's promised land, then USC--still ranked in the top 10 in the BCS--will get a bid to another major bowl, leaving the Bears the (payout for) the Holiday Bowl.

And for me, San Diego is way better than El Paso.

But I wouldn't count on Oregon State winning out. Next week the Beavers play in Tuscon, Ariz., against the Wildcats.

And if you asked Cal, Tuscon is the place where Rose Bowl dreams go to die.

The Headlines:

• Arizona: Whatever Happened to That Defense?
  
• Arizona State: Snore
  
• Cal: Revenge Will Have to Wait
  
• Oregon: Masoli's Pretty Good
  
• Oregon State: Smells Like Roses
  
• Stanford: We Don't Believe in Stanford Football
  
• UCLA: Someone Had to Win
  
• USC: That's What I Call Revenge
  
• Washington: Is it Over Yet?
• Wazzu: Is it Over Yet? Part II
  

Cal's Rightful Place?

This one might be a week late, but this week also seems like a good time to talk about it.

You know, ever since 2003, when California last beat USC and put that silver bullet in the Trojans' BCS title hopes that year, the media--especially the national media--have loved the Bears chances against Southern California.

It seems like, every other year, when the Trojans look vulnerable, some in the national media pin Cal as the last great hope to knock USC off of its Pac-10 dynasty (well, it seems like it's always either the Bears or Oregon, which ever team is the glitzier pick that year).

The Bears/USC matchup has been on Saturday Night Football the last three years, with the game in 2006 as the national broadcast (and rightfully so). But Cal has only had a sniff at bringing immediate change to the conference, and that was in 2004, when Aaron Rodgers had the Bears at 1st and goal and he failed to complete a pass to give Cal the go-ahead score.

Ever since then, this pseudo-rivalry has clung to one game, 2003, when the Bears upset the Trojans. Sure, it was the game that put Jeff Tedford and California in the national spotlight. It helped that Cal went on to defeat Virginia Tech in a bowl game in 2003. But the gulf in class between the Bears and Trojans is as wide as the Pacific itself.

But why not Oregon State? Why not them? They never get put in the conversation. The Beavers have upset USC twice in the last three years. That equals the number of wins combined for Cal and Oregon ever since Jeff Tedford took over in Berkeley in 2002.

And if the Beavers win tomorrow and in win-out the rest of the year, they get to go to that Rose Bowl that Old Blues and Cal fans have been covetting since 1958.

It seems like the national media always puts its hat on Cal and gives that team a chance against USC. Maybe it's because Tedford does bring in talent, but not as much as USC does. Maybe because Tedford and is coaching staff is a quality one, but not as much as Pete Carroll's. Maybe it's because Tedford can get his team to beat teams that they're supposed to (most of the time).

But as the media, Cal and its fans cling to 2003, waiting for the year that 2003 will happen again, it never comes. The closest we all got was in 2004 for, when Rodgers was nine yards away.

The Cal section at the Coliseum last Saturday chanted "Yes We Can" everytime the Bears had the ball. But unlike the savvy, inspiring poltiical candidate that used that phrase to fuel a Presidential-winning campaign, the only time the Bears got in the end zone was when there was a flag on the field.

Cal fans can call upon the captivating rhetoric of the President-elect, have his pictures in the crowd and believe all it wants.

But believing that "Yes we can" doesn't guarntee wins. And believing that Cal can dethrone USC doesn't necessarily mean it's going to happen.

Not-So-Super Chargers

Yesterday's win for the Chargers should have showed everyone what the 2008 version of this storied franchise is--a shadow of what it has been the last few years.

And San Diego--unlike Indianapolis or New England, the other not-so-mighty AFC powers--doesn't really have an excuse for it.

If this really is the same team that we've seen the last couple of years, then it should still be the most talented, from No. 1 to 54. If this really is the same team, then we should be seeing quarterbacks eating dirt and offenses scared of taking the field against them. If this is really the same team, the rushing attack should be the most potent in The League.

But, for some reason, it's not. This group--the 2008 San Diego Chargers--are not good. Let me say it again--they are not good.

They're boring and inconsistent. They're lackluster and they lose to shitty teams while beating good ones. They let a team with a backups playing all around handle them in one half and stick around in another.

They're the 1970s Arsenal teams from the English Premier League, except there isn't much winning involved.

I think I might have said this awhile ago, but there's no fire in this team--there's no heart, and I don't care if Shawne Merriman isn't lining up on defense. That should not be an excuse as to why the 10 other regular starters are playing like they're back in high school.

There's no sense of urgency. The Chargers should have destroyed Kansas City at the Q on Sunday. There should have been no fourth quarter comeback; no two-point conversion attempt to decide the game.

I want to see the Chargers that destroyed New England earlier this season. I want to see the team that defeated the Colts in Indianapolis in the playoffs last year and the team that showed mettle and came back from a 1-3 start. I want to see the 14-2 football team.

I want to see that fire in their eyes and the killer instinct.

I want to see the real Chargers stand up. Because if they don't soon, then San Diego doesn't get the chance to see the Bolts choke in the playoffs again.

And I'd rather see that than this boring bullshit we get on Sundays.

The Headlines: Week 10...The Picture Clears Up

Last week we saw the picture for the Pac-10 title and its BCS bid be muddied. But the calendar has turned and November means that the picture gets sharper with each passing week.

And it has to, by definition of the schedule that we have in the Pac-10 in November.

And no one controls its destiny as much as California. Heading into this week, the Bears had games against the other one-less conference teams in consecutive weeks. A rematch of last year's epic battle at Autzen Stadium, a trip down to the Los Angeles Coliseum and then up to Corvallis with a meeting with Oregon State.

Well, Cal has one down, two more to go after dismissing Oregon after a sloppy affair in Berkeley.

Now, the road to the Rose Bowl goes through Southern California and it's a storyline that's been repeated for the last five years for Cal. Beat SC and (get closer to) smell(ing) the Roses.

And of course, it's the game everyone has been waiting for...even if Jeff Tedford won't admit it.

The Headlines:

• Arizona State: Oh So Close
  
• California: Bring on the Trojans
  
• Oregon: When It Rain...It Pours
  
• Oregon State: Double the Rodgers, Double the Fun
  
• USC: Sometimes, It is That Easy
• Stanford: Against Wazzu, Everyone is the Best Team Ever
  
• Washington: Poor Tyrone, Part II
  
• Washington State: Rest of Season Canceled
  

Sporting Politics

I a couple of weeks late on this, but with Chris Berman's interview of both Barack Obama and John McCain--this year's Presidential candidates--I had to talk about it.

First, Presidential candidates, especially this year, seem larger than life. And they want to get every vote possible, so to present themselves on a scale like Monday Night Football, the day before the Election, it doesn't surprise me.

It was like during the primaries, when the candidates from both parties made an appearance on a WWE program. Do you really think that professional wrestling fans follow Presidential politics?

Same with the average sports fan. Do they follow politics with the same fine-toothed comb the use to scrutinize their teams, their opponents and their favorite players?

I wouldn't think so.

But the similarities between politics and sport can be seen in all the sports analogies used to describe the campaign. For debates, there's a boxing allegory. I've seen political pundits use football terminology to describe the race for Electoral College votes. We have underdogs and favorites, upsets and blowout victories in politics, just like we do in sport.

And we have parties and tailgates for political events (debates and results-watching) just like we do for the big game.

I also have always said that the race for the presidency, with each state being accrued certain amount of "points," is the grandest game of all. It's the most important game, with analysis and pundits and fans for both candidates.

Tuesday, November 4th will be just as huge--if not bigger--than the Super Bowl or the World Cup. The world is watching, to see if the heavy favorite won't sleep at the wheel, or if the scrappy underdog can pull off the huge upset.

But the reason why I wrote this blog post wasn't to fulling understand the extent to which there's such a parallel between sport and politics.

It's to talk about how, at times, candidates will do anything to get a vote. Appearances on Monday Night Football, at NHL hockey games, at NASCAR events.

And even in sappy opening montages for the World Series.

Sure, baseball is as American as the Presidency itself. But, really Obama and McCain, did you guys have to lend your voices as narrators to FOX's really cheesy video before Game 1 of the World Series this year?

Maybe it's the true mixing of politics and sport. I see it as political pandering.