What Did I Tell You?

Quinn's stinker (15-of-35 for 148 yards, including just 4-of-10 for 24 yards in the second half) shouldn't have surprised you. As predicted yesterday, Notre Dame's now lost nine straight bowl games, sort of like Duke's basketball team losing regional semifinals three of the last four years. Somewhere JJ Reddick is popping his collar.

Will Brady Quinn Pull a J.J. Reddick?

Remember the last time a supremely hyped athlete from a blue-blood university went up against a scrappy LSU team in a nationally-televised postseason game? I'm thinking about the 2006 NCAA basketball tournament, when top-seeded Duke and J.J. Reddick were upset by #4 LSU, leaving Reddick in tears and his draft stock plunging.

Now comes Brady Quinn of the ballyhooed Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Quinn's expected to be the Raiders' #1 pick in the 2007 NFL Draft, and he has certainly been overexposed in the mainstream media. Tonight he goes up against the stout defense of LSU in the Sugar Bowl. The parallels end there, though, because the Tigers are strong 8.5-point favorites in tonight's game instead of a heavy underdog like the '06 basketball squad.

Let's just say I wouldn't be surprised tonight to see Brady Quinn crying on the sideline as the clock ticks down.

Why There's No College Football Playoff

Phil Miller, a professor of Economics at Minnesota State University, Mankato, put together a nice post at The Sports Economist about the game theory strategies of Boise State at the end of last night's Fiesta Bowl. At the end, he squeezed in a couple paragraphs explaining why, even though last night's game proves (again) that the little guys can beat the big boys, we're not going to see a playoff system anytime soon.

Miller writes, "There are too many schools in D1 that have little shot in a reasonable playoff format who have a better shot at some kind of recognition (and cash) in the current bowl system. Their presidents can out-vote the presidents of the OU's and Texas's in the NCAA."

Here's how I responded in the comments of that blog:

I agree that a playoff is not forthcoming, but not for the reason you mentioned. This WSJ article described how, last year, 26 lower-tiered bowls distributed $64.36 million, for an average of $1.24 million per team.

Compare this to the following quote from the article: "BCS means money. The big BCS conferences get $14 million to $17 million if they have one team in one of the five bowls; a second team, an additional $4.5 million. Last year, the six conferences and Notre Dame received a total of $118 million."

It's clear that the conferences most likely to make a BCS bowl are the ones with the most to lose by going to a playoff, not the Boise States. Think about the recognition and money that George Mason University gained from its success in last year's NCAA basketball tournament. Imagine if Boise State beat not just Oklahoma, but also USC, Notre Dame and Ohio State to take the national championship. That is where the real money is.

Your NFL Network Update

As your primary source for updates on the continuing feud between the NFL Network and the cable companies, be advised that the Texas Bowl between Rutgers and Kansas State will be available on both Time Warner and Cablevision. As a public service, here's all you need to know:

Time Warner customers who subscribe to the "digital" package will receive free access to the NFL Network on channel 199 until Saturday at 8pm. This gives Time Warner subscribers the ability to watch both the Texas Bowl and the Insight Bowl (Texas Tech vs. Minnesota). The end of TWC's free access coincides with the start of the Giants-Redskins game. However, New York and Washington-area subscribers will be able to watch this game on free local television, as required by law.

Cablevision, on the other hand, is providing free access to the NFL Network only for the Texas Bowl. All Cablevision subscribers will be able to watch the game, not just digital subscribers. Channel listings are available here. Again, local fans of the Giants and Redskins will find the Saturday night game on regular TV.

A few items of note:
- The NFL Network's page describing this week's free access to its channel (the "freeview") contains at least one incorrect channel listing - for Cablevision. This could be a simple typo, or - conspiracy theory alert! - it could be the NFL Network making it more difficult to find the game in New Jersey, where Cablevision has a monopoly. Customers who can't find Rutgers on TV will blame the cable company, not the channel. We've already seen that New Jersey state politicians were planning to pressure Cablevision to include the NFL Network in its regular channel package until Cablevision agreed to show the Texas Bowl. The NFL could be sending Cablevision customers to the wrong channel so they get pissed and call their congressmen, who then stick it to Cablevision. Or it could just be a typo.


- If you clicked on the links above, you saw that Time Warner Cable is using NFL Network imagery on its website to promote the freeview but Cablevision is not. This bodes well for TWC subscribers who are willing to pay for the NFL Network. Time Warner's display of logos, fonts and other NFL-themed imagery is valuable advertising for the NFL Network, so this is likely a show of goodwill by TWC in its negotiations to permanently carry the channel. Expect the NFL Network to be available on Time Warner Cable in time for the 2007 season.


- The freeview is not available in high definition for TWC and Cablevision customers. I know this in the first case because I called Time Warner and asked, and in the second case because I am a Cablevision subscriber, so I can see that the channel they're reserving for the freeview is not an HD channel. I tried calling the NFL Network (310-840-4635) to find out whether the game is being filmed in HD, but the switchboard doesn't open until noon Eastern time. I'll find out and let you know. I believe that the NFL Network, a new cable channel looking for subscribers, would be smart enough to show its entire freeview in HD as a way to separate itself from crappy little startups like, oh, CBS, but I'm not yet sure.

Poor Ryan Leaf

Watching the awful Las Vegas Bowl between BYU and Oregon, we're told that Oregon QB Brady Leaf is the brother of failed Charger/Cowboy quarterback Ryan Leaf.

Back in February, we learned that the elder Leaf was taking the quarterback coach position at D-II West Texas A&M University. What we didn't know at the time was that Leaf was working for free. (Not that Leaf needed the money after getting $11.25 million to sign with San Diego in 1998.)

Anyway, Brent Musberger is pretty excited to let Ryan Leaf announce he's going to be paid for coaching at West Texas A&M next season. Is "quarterback coach" a newly salaried position in 2007? No. Has Leaf been promoted to offensive coordinator? Nope. Turns out Leaf will become the new men's golf coach.

" 'I am honored that I have been given this opportunity and to continue to be a part of this University at something other than a volunteer level,' said Lead. [sic!]"

Yep. Ryan Lead "will be expected to guide the team primarily in the areas of team building and leadership." For money!

Email Your Favorite Bowl President

As a public service, below are email addresses for the person in charge of each bowl game, to the extent available. Some interesting notes:

- The Armed Forces Bowl and Las Vegas Bowls are actually run by ESPN employees.

- Can we take a collection to buy the Hawaii Bowl a domain name? Hotmail is so 1990's.

- The Peach Bowl is run by the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce.

- The same guy who runs the Motor City Bowl in Detroit the day after Christmas is directing the International Bowl in Toronto on January 6.

Tickets may still be available!

AT&T COTTON BOWL CLASSIC
Rick Baker, President
rick@attcottonbowl.com

ALAMO BOWL
Derrick Fox, President/CEO
derrickf@alamobowl.com

ALLSTATE SUGAR BOWL
Paul J. Hoolahan, Executive Director
paulh@sugrbowl.gs.net

AUTOZONE LIBERTY BOWL
Steve Ehrhart, Executive Director
sehrhart@libertybowl.org

BCS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
John Junker, President & CEO
jjunker@fiestabowl.org

BELL HELICOPTER ARMED FORCES BOWL
Tom Starr, Executive Director
thomas.r.starr@espn.com

BRUT SUN BOWL
Bernie Olivas, Executive Director
bolivas@sunbowl.org

CHICK-FIL-A BOWL
Gary Stokan, President
gstokan@macoc.com

EMERALD BOWL
Gary Cavalli, Executive Director
gcavalli@emeraldbowl.org

FEDEX ORANGE BOWL
Keith R. Tribble, Chief Executive Officer
ktribble@orangebowl.org

GMAC BOWL
Frank Modarelli
frank@gmacbowl.com

GAYLORD HOTELS MUSIC CITY BOWL
Scott Ramsey, Executive Director
sramsey@nashvillesports.com

INSIGHT BOWL
John Junker, Executive Director
jjunker@fiestabowl.org

INTERNATIONAL BOWL
Ken Hoffman, Executive Director
loding@internationalbowl.org

MPC COMPUTERS BOWL
Gary Beck, Executive Director
beck@mpccomputersbowl.com

MOTOR CITY BOWL
Ken Hoffman, Executive Director
director@motorcitybowl.com

OUTBACK BOWL
James P. McVay, President/CEO
jimmcvay@outbackbowl.com

PACIFIC LIFE HOLIDAY BOWL
Bruce Binkowski, Executive Director
bink@holidaybowl.com

PETRO SUN INDEPENDENCE BOWL
Missy Setters, Executive Director
indybowl@independencebowl.org

PIONEER PURE VISION LAS VEGAS BOWL
Tina Kunzer-Murphy, Executive Director
tina.c.kunzermurphy@espn.com

R&L CARRIERS NEW ORLEANS BOWL
Billy Ferrante, Executive Director
bferrante@gnosf.org

ROSE BOWL
Mitch Dorger, CEO
mdorger@rosemail.org

SAN DIEGO COUNTY CREDIT UNION POINSETTIA BOWL
Bruce Binkowski, Executive Director
bink@holidaybowl.com

SHERATON HAWAII BOWL
Jim Donovan, Executive Director
jjdonovaniii@hotmail.com

TOSTITOS FIESTA BOWL
John Junker, President
jjunker@fiestabowl.org

TOYOTA GATOR BOWL
Richard Catlett, President
rcatman@gatorbowl.com

Noooooooooooo!

Gotta love the outstretched arms of Cal quarterback Nate Longshore as he watches the football roll sloooowly away after USC's Lawrence Jackson forced the fumble.