NBA Changes Ahead SEC Needs to Change Schedule NFL Continues

by | Nov 26, 2019 | Sports in General

The Week That WasNBA Changes are ahead.  The NBA is talking about making to big changes to their regular season and playoffs.  The regular season needs a lot of help.  The playoffs seem to do pretty well but if they can do it right then changes could be good.   The SEC is getting annoying with scheduling what is basically a practice before the last game of the regular season.  It would be nice if the powers that be could do something about that.  I am not opposed to playing teams like this I am opposed to playing them this late in the season.

The NFL had a crazy weekend.  Games that should have been close were blowouts and then teams that you thought… Well I guess that happens just about every week in the NFL.

NFL Up and Down

The Eagles have pretty much taken themselves out of the playoff race.  The Steelers tried to get the Bengals a win and the Bengals said not thank you.  Not sure what team was playing the Jets but is did not resemble the Raiders.  I was watching the FOX pregame show and Colin Cowherd was talking about how the Cowboys were going to beat the Patriots.  Not only were they going to win but the Cowboys were going to win easily.  No surprise that it did not work out the way Cowherd thought it was going to.   More reasons that I would never bet on NFL games.  Well not bet any kind of meaning full money.  Things are just way too difficult to predict.

The penalties were announced for the mess that was Thursday night football helmet fiasco.  The only penalties that I did not agree with was that Mason Rudolph only got a fine and no suspension.  I thought he should have gotten suspended for at least one game for pulling on Myles Garrett’s helmet.  This has affected Rudolph significantly and it showed in his play on Sunday against the Bengals.  He was benched in the second half for poor play and looked like he was lost a lot of the time.

The Ravens and the 49ers look like they could be on a collision course.   Both teams are rolling though other teams.  Making teams look like they have no idea what they are doing.  When these two teams met in Super Bowl 47 San Francisco was the team with the hot dual threat quarterback and the Ravens were the team that wins with defense.  The teams are completely different teams now.  About the only thing that is the same is that John Harbaugh is still the coach of the Ravens.

Five biglakesports key NFL observations for the week

  1. San Francisco is really good.  Green Bay had been a decent team so far.  Except for their loss to San Diego L.A. Chargers a few weeks ago.  The Packers have either won or been in every game.  They were looking like one of the top teams in the NFL.  San Francisco made them  look like an average punching bag team in the NFL.  At this point the 49ers look like the top seed in the NFC.
  2. The Patriots are still the top of the AFC but it took some luck and a phantom tripping call for them to get the win.  Skill and luck is what gets teams to a win.  In this case the Patriots needed both.  It worked out on their side.  This game showed us two other things.  The Patriots offense is average at best.  Tom might be starting to think that if this is not his last year then next year really should be.  The other thing is that the Patriots defense is what is keeping them in games.  They held the Cowboys offense to 321 yards of total offense.  Pretty good since Dallas is averaging almost that much just in their passing game this year.  If the Patriots are going to contend for another championship it will be because of their defense not their offense this year.
  3. Jerry Jones Threatened Jason Garretts job after the loss to the Patriots.  While Jones always says some strange things this was really strange.  The Cowboys are still leading the NFC East and looking like they will make the playoffs.  Pretty sure that this will not work as a motivating factor but more of a worry by the coaching staff.  Rather than getting ready for the Bills.  Even if only in the back of their minds the coaching staff is worrying if they will have a job next year.  Since I am not a huge Cowboys fan.  All I can say is thank you Jerry.  We appreciate you.
  4. The Bengals moved one step closer to matching the 0 – 16 record of the Browns and Lions.  With the Jets and the Dolphins on their schedule they could still pull out a win.  I don’s see them beating the Browns or the Patriots.  The Jets and the Dolphins have both been playing better so the 0 – 16 dream for Cincinnati is real. Even if they do manage a win it looks like the Bengals will get the 1st pick in the draft. They will probably take Joe Burrow and you can’t blame them.  He is having a great season and they need a quarterback but pretty sure that will make the team picking second very happy since Chase Young will fall in their lap.
  5. In the You had one job category Dwayne Haskins just had to take one more snap in the victory formation and he would have his first win in the NFL.   He though the game was done so he was celebrating the win.  Luckily Case Keenum was paying attention and ran out on to the field to take that final snap.  It did not cost the Redskins the game.  It is really funny and a microcosm of the Redskins season.  The details are the difference between a playoff team and a team that picks in the the top ted of the draft.

 

NCAA Football Changes needed

I am getting really sick of seeing the coach speech.  It is always the same thing.  Coach speak is always the same.  They yell a lot and try to fire up the players.  A few times it was kind of interesting to see what they coaches say before a game.  Now that we know.  There is no need to see it anymore.  Really to all the stations that carry the games.  The Coach yell speech before the game.  We are over it.  You can move on to something else now.

Clemson was off the other teams in the top five won.  Not sure you should be able to call beating Western Carolina a win but at least Alabama had a practice game for Mac Jones to get ready for the Iron Bowl with Auburn.  Only two teams in the top ten lost this week.  Oregon and Penn State.  Penn State at least played Ohio State probably the best team in college football this year.  Oregon dropped a strange one against Arizona State when they decided not to play for three quarters and try for a come back win in the fourth quarter.  They almost got there but came up just short.

Five things of note in College Football

  1. The top five all won.  Except for Clemson who was on a bye week.  The Ohio State vs Penn State game was closer than people thought it would be so was the Georgia Vs. Texas A & M.  They both came out on the win side so it probably will not make a difference in the playoff rankings.  Next week things could shake up a bit
  2. The Oregon Loss has the PAC 12 is in huge trouble.  Especially since that loss was to Arizona State.  Nothing against Arizona State.  They are having a decent season.  Beating Oregon was great for them and possibly really bad for the PAC 12.  If Oregon beats Utah in the PAC 12 Companionship game then every team in the PAC 12 would have at least two losses.  That would set up a very likely situation where the PAC 12 is left out.  Again.
  3. The Big 12 is in an interesting spot.  Baylor was able to hold on to beat Texas so they still only have one loss.  Oklahoma played a close game against an average at best TCU team.  Oklahoma has to play Bedlam against Oklahoma State.  Baylor has a possible trap game against Kansas.  Kansas football has been a hot mess for a decade now.  They are trying and have lured Les Miles to be there coach. In his first season things have been difficult. The Jayhawks are 3 – 8.  Miles does bring a creative approach and a winning attitude.  He is going to be able to go all out in this game.  The Jayhawks have nothing to lose in this game and beating a top 20 teams would really put a feather in their cap for a bad season.   If Baylor falls for the trap and then beats Oklahoma in the Big 12 Championship game then the Big 12 would be out of the playoff for sure.
  4. It was nice of the NCAA to wrongly give OSU defensive lineman Chase Young that time off.  He responded with 9 tackles  3 sacks and 4 tackles for loss.  Nice way to come back from a suspension and announce your presence with authority.
  5. Biglakesports College Football Top Five: 1. LSU 2. Ohio State 3. Clemson 4. Georgia   5. Utah  The top four staying the same as last week.  The polls have Alabama at 5 but you really cant tell any thing from their win last week.  We will find out what they are with out Tua this Saturday when they play Auburn.

NBA Changes Ahead – About Time

This is huge that the NBA finally realizes that they have a problem.  NBA Changes have been need for a long time.   There has been a lot of people saying that the off season is more interesting than the NBA regular season.  Just by the way the teams treat the regular season you can tell that they do not see it as being very important.  As long as you get one of the playoff slots then it really just does not matter.  This is a major dis service to the fans that are shelling out huge money to go to a game. I get players needing a rest from time to time.  But there are off days built into the schedule.  If a player does not think that they can play 82 games if healthy they maybe they should think of giving back some of their pay.  That was just for fun.  I know that that not something that would ever happen.

Making changes is always difficult and a risk.  The NBA is is pulling in money now but this year things are not looking so great.  The Ratings on ESPN and TNT are down 16 percent this year.  That is more than just a seasonal anomaly in viewership.  Being proactive and changing things up as long as it is done right could make a huge different.  The changes could include an in season tournament,  Re seeding the teams after each round of the playoffs.  Those sound interesting and would have to see the final proposal to be sure.   Even if the league does come up with a plan for the NBA Changes the players union would have to approve the changes.  I am sure there is something in the CBA that would stipulate that.   At least they are putting things out there.

The players in the NBA can still be some major divas.  The Kwaii Leonard issue of sitting out and now the Kyrie Irving appears to be choosing to sit out some extra games.  He has a shoulder impingement that will prevent him from playing games against the Cavaliers and Celtics who just happen to be his former teams.  He really could be hurt but he should already be back from this injury.  It is just one of those things that makes me shake my head.

You can find last weeks post here

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