Here we are in the home stretch of a truncated COVID-driven, quarantine-riddled, upside-down, absent-fans football season where the usual suspects are lining themselves up to get to the finish line and qualify for the national championship Final Four.
Ohio State, Notre Dame, Alabama, and Clemson—the only loss amongst these traditional four titans of the turf being the classic game shutdown of Clemson by the Fighting Irish—are coming down to the wire. Clemson is likely to meet the Irish once more in the ACC championship game, having their top quarterback, Trevor Lawrence, quarantine-free, ready to take the reins. That game between Clemson and Notre Dame might well determine the Heisman Trophy winner with Lawrence facing off against Ian Book, the latest in a long line of great Irish quarterbacks.
Ohio State looks to close out the regular season undefeated if it can beat Michigan, and in so doing, signal perhaps the final game for coach Jim Harbaugh of the Wolverines. So agonizingly determined is Michigan to finally beat the Buckeyes, word is they are looking to bring in the only true Wolverine, Hugh Jackman, to get the coaching gig and get the job done. It couldn’t hurt.
The NFL is no less confusing with players testing positive and having to sit out games. So dire was the situation at Denver, losing all their quarterbacks, that it petitioned the league to allow them to use a strength coach at that position. Denied, they went with a taxi squad wide receiver. They lost badly.
Time was “on any given Sunday” meant any team in the NFL could beat any other team. Now a team doesn’t even know where or when it will be playing each week.
Take the Steelers and the Ravens for instance. Scheduled to play on Thanksgiving Night, COVID switched it to Sunday, then Tuesday and now Wednesday at 3:45 pm, the strange starting time to allow NBC to televise the tree lighting ceremony in Rockefeller Center later that evening, echoing Jimmy Durante’s famous line, “Everybody wants to get into the act.”
The best fans can hope for is to settle in their lazy boys, turn on their sets on Sundays at one and four and hope for the best. And the best is assuredly not to be with so many players out of action.
The Giants are all alone at the top of the NFL East, wonder of wonders. Starting off at 1-7, three straight wins have zoomed them to the top of the division. Will they stay there? The smart money says no. Too many good teams down the road yet.
And speaking of money, are any of you as tired as I am of seeing Terry Bradshaw and his silly briefcase of cash on the NFL pre-game show? It’s over, Terry. Take your four Super Bowl rings and retire before you lose all respect.
Stay well and safe, everybody, and have a happy holiday season.
Hut One…Hut Two…🏈🏈🏈
Coach Reese 
Hey Coach, thank you for the post. What a year in so many ways we could pen stories that could rival the long forgotten Encyclopedia Britannia. The CFP Committee has their work cut out for them should things tighten, although last week proved that the current rankings are agreed by most. That was not the case when they first came out and the pundits critiqued and opined on right and wrong rankings. I think agree or disagree would have served them better in my eyes. The NFL is getting pressed further and further each week to stay the course. As fans in our easy chairs we wish for their success to supplant our having to make another choice of what to stream on Netflix, Hulu, Prime, Vudu etc. My Fantasy Football team is in shambles. As for Terry I don’t get what it is all about of course I haven’t tried to understand either. It is concerning that he now has his own reality tv show. Is he that bored? Here’s to finishing strong both the college and pro football seasons. Cheers!
Many cogent points, Robert. I think the football season is just about over in college play. The pros may stretch their season a bit longer. COVID has us fighting for our way of life, doesn’t it. Education has taken a huge hit. All we can do is follow the science to get through all this. Stay well over there and best to all. Coach.