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Weekend winners
Ryan Day. THE Coach of THE Ohio State faced more pressure than anyone in the first round of the first expanded college football playoff. There were even whispers that a one-and-done could have cost Day his job. Welp, Day leaned into that pressure — even sitting in with the GameDay crew with signs and banners calling for his headset behind him — and his team delivered big time for their coach in a one-sided 42-17 win over Tennessee.
Lamar Jackson. Jackson is a two-time MVP and likely a Hall of Famer if he retired Tuesday. But his career ledger is lacking in success in the postseason and against Baltimore's rival, the Pittsburgh Steelers. Saturday, Jackson took a giant leap to exorcise the Steelers demons. Is he ready to make a postseason charge in a brutal AFC? We'll see.
These Falcons. I know, I know, they still stink and inspire as much confidence as planning your retirement on a series of scratch-off lottery tickets, but Michael Penix Jr. won his first start, and Atlanta is now tied with Tampa Bay for first in the NFC South.
SNL. We had a rare comedy sighting on SNL over the weekend. SNL was once must-see TV. Truly. Now, I can't recall the last time I watched it live. Maybe when Eddie Murphy returned several years ago. But the year-ending bit where Weekend Update hosts Colin Jost and Michael Che write jokes for each other was funny.
Watching golf. When Tiger Woods is among the leaders, you know it's true.
Weekend losers
Golf better recognize the real void of star power it currently faces. Sure, the players are excellent, and Scottie Scheffler had one of the three or four best seasons in the modern era in 2024. But when the PNC is right there as the most fun tournament of the year just because Tiger and Charlie Woods are among the leaders, well, that should be pretty telling.
Society. Everything about the nightmarish story of the NYC man setting a woman on fire in the subway makes me ill.
Tennessee football. No, not just the Vols, who were worked in Columbus, but the Titans went to Indianapolis and trailed 38-7 before rallying to make the final score a deceiving 38-30. The Titans allowed more than 330 rushing yards and stacked three more INTs on their NFL-worst turnover total, which sits at 29.
The Raiders. Yep, a 19-14 win over Jacksonville certainly feels like a loss considering the quarterback-desperate Raiders went from projected No. 1 overall to No. 6. Side note: In the least surprising thing from the 2024 first round, Brock Bowers is an absolute stud. Did you know that the top four rookie leaders in receiving yards are Brian Thomas Jr. (LSU), Bowers (Georgia), Malik Nabors (LSU) and Ladd McConkey (Georgia)?
Bowling us over
Welp, the expanded playoff surely looked better on paper than it did over 36 or so hours Friday night into Sunday morning. That was extremely disappointing.
Moreover, it was bad TV. Who made it to the end of the UT game Saturday night?
All four favorites covered easily as the home heavy. The closest game score-wise was Notre Dame's 10-point win over Indiana, but that game was not that close either. The Irish led 27-3 with 4:50 to go before IU added a couple of cosmetic scores.
The landslides drew the ire of folks still miffed that SMU and IU got two of the final at large spots as Alabama and Ole Miss were left on the outside looking in.
And yes, Lane Kiffin was anything but shy about sharing his views about that on social media.
To me, the extra four entirely looked like they did not belong.
I'm to the point that I just wanted good games, you know?
As for the bowl contest, here are the top 10 with scores (out of a possible 27 points). I will post all the scores later this week.
Scott C — 26
Kevin Cr. — 24
Jeff P — 24
Drew — 24
Michael R — 24
Jason T — 23
DPJ — 23
Justin C — 23
DC22 — 22
Matt H — 22
Thanks for playing, and Scott only missed the first bowl game in the contest, so he's hit the last 10.
This and that
› We frequently look to post lists of big names and bigger accomplishments. This one counts, as Micah Parsons became just the sixth player in NFL history to have 50 sacks in his first four years. The others on that list (and remember sacks became an official stat in 1982) are pretty recognizable: Reggie White, Derrick Thomas, DeMarcus Ware, Dwight Freeney and JJ Watt.
› There are few gaffes like a "Wheel of Fortune" gaffe. Here's one that's up there.
› Nissan and Honda are planning a merger. Who knew?
› Here are the state grades for all the Hamilton County public schools. Not a good showing in my view, and these headlines — "Hamilton County Schools receive A-F letter grades from state, roughly a third get D or F" and "Superintendent Justin Robertson receives positive evaluation from Hamilton County school board" — were side-by-side on the TFP home page.
Today's questions
Weekend winners and losers. Go.
As for multiple choice Monday, let's do this:
Of the fan bases complaining about the first round of the playoff, what should the committee have done:
— Ole Miss over SMU
— Alabama over SMU
— South Carolina over SMU
— Anyone other than Indiana
— Other and specify.
As for today, Dec. 23, let's review:
There's not much. Eddie Vedder celebrates a birthday today. So does Susan Lucci.
So, let's get Christmas-y.
Rushmore of Christmas desserts.
Go.