College FB Week 1; A Few Predictions; Mr. Warrior; Useless Exhibitions
Enough complaining about NIL, the transfer portal, the House Settlement and conference realignment. Let the games begin!
Week 1 of the College Football season is upon us with a full set of games this weekend. The best matchups are: Georgia at Clemson, Miami at Florida, and Notre Dame at Texas A&M on Saturday, and LSU at USC on Sunday.
Locally, Stanford hosts TCU Friday night and Cal entertains UC Davis on Saturday.
Last week--officially known as "Week 0"--featured a handful of games, the most important of which was played in Ireland, where we got a big upset right out of the gate. No. 10 Florida State, still smarting from being denied a spot in the College Football Playoff last season, promptly fell on its face, losing 24-21 to Georgia Tech.
Speaking of the playoff, here are the teams we pick to make the new 12-team format:
Oregon (Big Ten Champ)
Georgia (SEC Champ)
Utah (Big 12 Champ)
Clemson (ACC Champ)
Ohio State
Ole Miss
Alabama
Penn State
Texas
Notre Dame
Michigan
Memphis (Group of Five)
We're impressed with Dan Lanning's crew up in Eugene and have tabbed them for the No. 1 CFP seed after beating Ohio State for the Big 10 title. We like Georgia to beat Oregon in the national championship game and Ducks' QB Dillon Gabriel to win the Heisman.
Of course, we venture to make these predictions knowing full well that they are highly unlikely to materialize. There will be upsets galore, one or more surprise teams, and Heisman candidates that come out of the woodwork.
All of which is what makes college football the best sport on the planet.
Mr. Warrior: A great man passed away last week. Al Attles, who represented the Warriors for over 60 years as a player, player-coach, full-time head coach, general manager, administrator and community ambassador, was the epitome of class.
The distinguished, deep-voiced, well-dressed gentleman was a kind, gentle spirit off the court. He didn't smoke, didn't drink, never uttered a profanity, treated people with respect.
On the court, he was known as "the Destroyer." He made the Warriors as a fifth-round pick out of obscure North Carolina A&T and became one of the league's top defensive players.
They didn't have All-Defensive teams back then, but if they did, Attles would've been a regular member. He'd guard anyone and everyone--Bob Cousy, Jerry West, Oscar Robertson, Hal Greer, Lenny Wilkins.
"He wasn't dirty," Wilkins said. 'He was just on you like a glove, the whole time. He took pride in that. He wasn't a guy to start any fights."
But he finished a lot of them. And his teammates knew he always had their back.
When Attles accepted the Warriors' head coaching job in 1971, he became the first black man to hold that position in a major professional sport.
He employed an unorthodox system in which he regularly played 10 or 11 men. His 1975 team, featuring Rick Barry and a bunch of role players, won the NBA championship in a four-game sweep over the heavily favored Washington Bullets.
I admired Attles from afar for many years, before finally meeting him when we taught a class together at Stanford with famed New York Times sportswriter Leonard Koppett.
Attles knew all about me and the ABL. He couldn't have been warmer, more welcoming, and more enthusiastic about spending the evening together.
He also offered some very astute insights on the ABL. I wish we'd had the benefit of his advice and wisdom when we were battling the WNBA for survival.
Ironically, Al's best performance as a player came on the same night teammate Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points in Hershey, PA on March 2, 1962.
In that game, Attles made all eight of his field goal attempts and his only free throw.
No one noticed. As only Attles could do, for years afterward, he'd smile and say, "Wilt and I combined for 117."
RIP, Mr. Warrior.
Useless Exhibitions: Is there anything more unnecessary than NFL exhibition games?
Fans are ripped off by having to pay full price for meaningless contests. No one cares who wins. And for the teams, the only thing that matters is getting through the game without any injuries to key players.
NFL exhibition games are an abomination, a bad joke.
Just start the "real" season with the first game, like they do in college football.
Correction: Thanks to Ramsay Wiesenfeld for giving us the correct total on Cal's Olympic medalists as compiled by the Cal athletic department.
Golden Bear athletes, alums and affiliates won 23 medals, not 17. I should know better than to trust the NCAA's list.
This brings the ACC's total down to 29, not 91 as reported by the NCAA, after Stanford and Cal medalists are subtracted.
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