Late night wrapup

OK, so there's a few things going on....here's a summary.

Michigan football

Michigan's got their new head coach. Rich Rodriguez is making the jump from West Virginia, and will be taking over at TTUN. It's not official yet, but it's "official"....RR told his team already that he'd be leaving.

Just think about it....if West Virginia had beat Pitt, WVA would have been in the National Championship against Ohio State. Rodriguez would have become Jim Tressel's bitch for one night only. Now, he gets that honor once a year.

Cleveland Browns/AFC North

Three months ago, they were "the worst team in the NFL". Now their Magic Number to get into the playoffs stands at one. One Browns win (against either 5-9 Cincinnati or 4-10 San Francisco) or one Tennessee loss (against either the 3-11 New York Jets or 12-2 Indianapolis Colts) and the Browns are in.

But that's not enough, and the prospects are potentially better than a mere playoff berth.

Cleveland is now tied atop the AFC North with the Pittsburgh Steelers at 9-5. The Steelers hold the tiebreaker, so the Browns need to win it outright. Pittsburgh has a somewhat easy schedule too (at 3-11 St. Louis and at 4-10 Baltimore), but I wouldn't count anything out yet. Aside from a brief spurt in the 4th quarter today, Pittsburgh has not looked good for a few weeks. Plus, their last two games are both on the road....the Steelers are 4-2 away from home (including losses to other non-playoff teams like Arizona, Denver and the Jets).

Two weeks ago, the Steelers had a 2-game lead (and the tiebreaker) with 4 games to play. They began printing "AFC North Champiopns" t-shirts. Tonight, the suicide hotline in western PA has a busy signal.

If the Steelers end up losing the division to the Browns, it will be the biggest embarrassment to their franchise in a long, long time. Even making the playoffs will not cover that stench.

And I'm loving every minute of it.

Troy Smith

I hate the Ravens, and I don't want to see them win much. But they're going to win more and more now that they have found their new QB.

With two minutes to play in the game, Smith started his first potential game-winning drive at his own 40 yard line. Three beautiful passes later, he had Baltimore at the Miami 21. With 8 seconds left, Smith had Baltimore at the half-yard line, facing a fourth-and-goal. Brian Billick then turned into a giant pussy and sent in the kicking team. The Ravens tied the game, then blew it in OT.

Seriously, you've got a mobile QB and a great RB in Willis McGahee. You're 18 inches away from a touchdown against the worst team in the NFL. You're not going to the playoffs. Why the hell would you go for a tie?

Rather than show some balls, the Ravens did what they do best this year...they found a way to lose. Billick led the way by lacking any courage whatsoever, and the Ravens defense followed suit, allowing a long TD pass in OT to give the Fins their first win, and officially turn the Ravens into the NFL's laughingstock.

Troy Smith deserves better than you, Billick.

The BBC

I came close to scoring tickets to see the National Championship. But no, I will not be in Louisiana for that event. Instead, I'll be running the show at Damon's Grill in Canton, Ohio. It's actually pretty cool to be the event coordinator at a restaurant with multiple 10-foot screens on a night like that....and getting paid to do it.

If you'll be near Canton, come on in. We've got a live radio broadcast before the game, a sporting goods store coming in to give away prizes, and a beer vendor setting up shop with some good specials. Before the game (3pm-7pm) we'll have beer and appetizers at half-price.

Prior to that night, I'll be all over the place. Two weeks from today, I'll be front-row in the end zone at the Browns/Niners game. Three days later, I'm off to Vegas, baby, Vegas! Heading out there for a little vaca with the girlfriend. Tix were pretty cheap, and I'll get to add a few thousand SkyMiles points.

In the meantime, the blogging will continue on a daily basis again. Part two of the bowl preview is tomorrow morning!

Thanks,
Jeff