nicksaban

Ten(12) Piece Nuggets-College Football

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

It’s time to go football bowling.  We roll a perfect game with ten twelve strikes below.

  1.  It says here that the playoff committee got it exactly right and in the right order.  If Tennessee’s Hooker was healthy maybe they flip with Bama at five, but the point is moot for two reasons.  One, he isn’t.  Two, teams five and six aren’t in the top four regardless.
  2. Nick Saban’s campaign to enter the top four as the weekend’s bowling pins were falling his way was 1) his job, and 2) borderline groveling.  Comparing losses and near misses to another team’s “weaker wins” isn’t too becoming.  When Nick speaks, the media fawns.
  3. Another thing that isn’t becoming is Nick’s hair.  It’s dyed a near crimson tide red and fewer and fewer sit daily on his head.  Maybe old St Nick can gift Nick some plugs for his head similar in size to the ones he was making for his team.
  4. Clemson’s Dabo Swinney runs rapidly down the hill when his team enters the home field. It might be symbolic of the team’s direction. They lost two this year and could have easily lost two more. Former five-star Clemson quarterback DJ Uiagalelei entered the transfer portal yesterday after an up-and-down two seasons as the starter.  Promising freshman Cade Klubnik takes over.
  5. Clemson squares off in the Orange Bowl against Tennessee which is missing its aforementioned former starter as well.  It’s one orange-clad team vs another orange-clad team in the aptly named Orange Bowl.
  6. USC went from a top-four playoff-bound team to a team bound for the day after New Year’s Cotton Bowl against upstart Tulane in a mere 48 hours. The one PM Monday kickoff in Arlington Texas, where it’s usually around 31 degrees and sleeting that time of the year is sure to attract dozens of USC So Cal-based fans.  Lincoln Riley will need to care about defense for USC to ascend higher.
  7. Meanwhile, it is refreshing to hear Willie Fritz, HC of Tulane, say out loud that he is staying put.  Tulane hasn’t been relevant in decades and if he bolted for greener money pastures the Green Wave could return to irrelevancy for decades to come.
  8. Sometimes the grass isn’t always greener anyway.  Scott Frost found that out after leaving a similar upstart in UCF for Nebraska.  Billy Napier was the hot name a year ago from ULL.  He hasn’t gained too many fans after a year in Gainsville.
  9. It’s amusing to hear the “experts” tell us that a certain conference is down this year or that year.  This always happens when traditionally strong teams lose more games than the “experts” thought they would.  For example, the Big 12 is down a bit this year.  It is?  TCU is in the final four dance.  Oklahoma and Texas failed to live up to what the “experts” thought they would do.  Perception and perspective.
  10. The PAC 12 failed to secure a playoff berth.  Again.  Its been six long years since 2016 when the left coast last participated.  Washington lost in the semis that year to Bama 24-7.
  11. It’s Army v. Navy this Saturday.  It doesn’t get better than that.
  12. The futures lines are out.  Georgia is -185, Michigan +220, THE Ohio St +310, and TCU +1300 to win it all.  The value looks to be in Michigan and TCU as one of them will get to the final game.

It’ll be a December to remember.  Don’t believe us?  Ask Lexus.

And with the transitory inflation, if you need a loan to purchase one we’re betting Capital One will advertise a time or two that they’re here to help.

What’s in your wallet?

Hopefully, it’s a ticket on Michigan to win it all.

 

Ten Piece Nuggets-Random

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Ten days removed from the Thanksgiving holiday, we offer the Ten Nuggets deep-fried.  They’re deep with thought and might fry your mind.

  1.  The Cuomo brothers hit the unemployment line within weeks of one another and deservedly so.  They have a right to unemployment benefits, and apparently, they’re taking the Grate (on you) State of New York up on the opportunity per CNN.  They’ll need 24 feet to socially distance while in line.  First one brother, then six feet back is his ego, then the other brother and six feet back is his ego.
  2. CNN did a two-segment, 15-minute dive into what went wrong with Chris Cuomo and his waning days at CNN on Sunday.  It’s a self-aggrandizing network covering its self-aggrandizing show host’s downfall. Serial lier.  And, now comes another sexual misconduct complaint claim against him.  You’ve heard of like father, like son?  This one is like brother, like brother.  Our staff member that covered it is out 15 minutes of his life that he can’t get back.
  3. Jussie Smollett and Ghislaine Maxwell are on trial for two very different crimes.  Both are quite guilty and will be found so.  Smollett’s fake attack/bungled plan is laughable.  It was his worst acting job and he’s had a few.   And, it’s quite sad that he attempted to further divide a city and country with fake race allegations.  He’ll probably get a couple of years probation.  He should be made to pay back the city of Chicago every dime that they spent investigating this trash.
  4. Maxwell’s case has nothing funny about it.  You have to feel sad for the numerous young victims.  Kudos to four of them for having the courage to testify.  Adults taking advantage of the young is the lowest of the low.  She’ll get to serve some hard time that Jeffery Epstein was too much of a coward to face.
  5. Speaking with the Washington Times last week, Rep Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez dismissed the recent smash and grab allegations of “organized retail theft” as a hoax with not much evidence to back it up. “National retail groups last month estimated the annual losses to being in the tens of billions of dollars,” reported the AP.  “Respectfully, the Congresswoman has no idea what she is talking about. Both the data and stack of video evidence makes fairly clear that this is a growing problem in need of solutions,” said Jason Brewer, Retail Industry Leaders Association Senior VP.  In 2020 she was reelected with nearly 72% of the votes cast in the 14th district of the still Grate State of New York.  Let that sink in.
  6. You heard it here first.  Omicron will be the catalyst to turn the United States back into people who think rationally about the never-ending covid quagmire.  The hysteria has peaked and alternatives are beginning to emerge.  There’s way more to this than to line up like sheep and get a jab and think that’s the answer.  More coming this week.
  7. In the sports world, four is the number.  The NCAA playoff committee seeded Alabama, Michigan, Georgia, and Cincinnatti one through four, for a chance to win it all.  With all of the yearly fuss about who could and should get in, the results from the season and conference championship games usually work their way out.  Georgia is a surprisingly high eight-point favorite over Michigan, while Alabama opened as a 14 point choice over Cincinnati in the semi-finals.
  8. Since 2014 Nick Saban has led his Crimson Tide onto the playing field as an underdog a mere three times!  In each of these contests Bama won the game by 17 points or more.  Saban owns Kirby Smart too.  He’s 4- 0 vs. his former assistant.  Smart called Saturday’s 41-24 beatdown a “wake-up call.”
  9. Four is the number of losses that all four division leaders in the AFC have as the season reaches the 2/3rds mark.  This makes for some interesting games down the stretch starting tonight when Buffalo (7-4) tries to take the East Division lead back from New England(8-4).
  10. In the NFC North and South, the Packers and Bucs lead their divisions by a whopping four games already.  In the West, the Cardinals lead by two over the four-loss Rams who figure prominently in the wild card at a minimum.  In the East, the Cowboys have four losses and lead the division.  They play the suddenly hot Washington Football Team twice in the next three weeks.   A sweep would put the Pokes four games up.

Get back to work now.

 

 

The Music Never Stops

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

In the game of musical chairs when the music stops there is always one chair too few.  In the college football coaching version where the music never stops there is always one chair too many.

When a school’s AD tosses a contestant out (coach) he opens his chair.

This year it started as it always does, with the first open chair.  That was USC.

Others followed.  Washington State.  LSU.  TCU.  Washington St.  Virginia Tech.  Washington.  Florida. Temple.  Connecticut.  Louisiana Tech.

A few filled quickly in season.  Many others remain open.

But a few things stand out to this year’s game within the game.  One, the team names on the chairs seem bigger and more plentiful than usual.  Two, the cost to throw a chair into the game got more expensive.  Three, some bigger coaching names suddenly have moved on from big-time, coveted programs to other big-time, coveted programs.

What’s driving all of this?  Remember the tried and true answer to most any question?  Money.

Conference realignment is here again, and the rich are getting richer.  It’s called capitalism even though some purists resist the conference changes that bring more pocket change.

Lincoln Riley got the keys to a Lincoln and then some so to speak.  USC is reported to be buying both his homes in Norman for $500,000 over asking, adding up to a $1 million bonus; buying a $6 million home for their new head coach in Los Angeles; and allowing unlimited use of the private jet 24/7 for him and his family.

Those are just the perks.  Toss in a roughly $10 million/year salary and it’s good work if you can get it.

We’ll soon know what LSU is going to pay Brian Kelly to leave the sacred grounds where Touchdown Jesus keeps his eyes on things.  Our guess is it more salary than Riley with fewer perks.

And the bands play on.  Now the Oklahoma and Notre Dame jobs are open.

Riley was sitting on the doorstep of the playoffs till Saturday came and went.  Kelly got closer because of the Saturday outcomes and might have gotten in depending on this Saturday’s outcomes.

Never mind that, mine gold.  You can’t spell team without me.

The purists also don’t like the recent NIL deal.  Your name, image, and likeness can pay you money while playing college sports these days if you “earn” it.  Coaches mentor kids don’t they?  What’s good for the goose……….

There seems to be no supply chain shortage of coaches.  The NCAA, like the Feds, is printing money.  And, wage inflation is rampant.  Do you think ticket prices might go up some?

In college coaching musical chairs, the music never stops.  And there seems to always be an open chair.

Who gets the last laugh all of the way to the bank? Nick Saban.  His Alabama contract calls for him to be perpetually the highest-paid coach in all the land.  He doesn’t have to leave to chase the gold, it chases him.

Besides, he’d never leave, would he?

“Coach, you’ve got the Notre Dame AD holding on line one.”

 

 

A Taco, a Burger, and a Duck

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

When you watch a lot of the same type of programming you see a lot of the same commercials.

The intent is obvious.  Advertisers target their existing and potential customers by viewing habits and hit them with their best shot.

For example, if you’ve watched a lot of NCAA football this fall you’ve seen a lot of Taco Bell, Burger King, and AFLAC spots.  We repeat, a lot.

For no good reason this AM, we decided to dissect these three attempts at getting you out of your LayZBoy recliner and getting into your wallet.

First up we make a run for the border, although you shouldn’t say that anymore.  And, actually, that’s part of the point.   Taco Bell might be changing its image right before your eyes.

For years after it dropped that campaign, it attempted to shove too many “lipstick on a pig” creations down your throat all at a great value (read cheap) price surely ending in $.99. “Try our taco stuffed chalupa on a bun,” or something similarly unappealing like that.

Suddenly, they have the newly paired couple about to embrace on the beach, waves in the background, when the buoy falls over and makes the Taco Bell familiar gong sound.  Like Pavlov’s dogs, the female heads directly to the nearest Taco Bell.  When you need a taco, you need a taco, and you need it from Taco Bell.

It’s whimsical, its lifestyle, and it doesn’t trade on price.  If you have a brand that has value, why incessantly promote price?  Maybe Taco Bell’s brand had little value, and it’s now attempting to gain some.

We grade the initiative S for solid.

With Burger King, let’s flame broil the 30 seconds wasted straight away.  Let us count the ways.

The Burger King name limits the offerings that people will assign value to.  Quick, name another offering there besides the Whopper?  Subtly change the name already.  Think Popeyes.  It’s now calling itself Louisiana’s Kitchen more loudly by the year.

Second, change your corporate colors and uniforms.  This is a tough one.  But, if you keep doing the same things over and over again and you expect better results you define insanity someone once said.

Third, rework the mascot from head to toe.  Burger King, the character, is plastic-looking, intimidating to children, looks like Charlton Heston in Gray Lady Down, and provides no symbiotic connection.  Think Geico.  That gecko is tied at the hip to your home, boat, car, or motorcycle insurance.

And, lastly, stop offering your best product on sale every single day.  It’s not a sale anymore.  Two Whoppers for six bucks is the new price point.  Trading against yourself on price is a race to the bottom.  It’s one you can’t win, and if you do you lose anyway.

If the Home of the Whopper went out of business, would anyone notice?

We grade the initiative T for tired.  Very.

Speaking of kings, the king of football coaches, Nick Saban found 30 seconds here and there to trade in his crimson-colored wardrobe for a bright light blue blazer and shill for AFLAC.  Sometimes it’s he and the AFLAC duck, and sometimes Prime Time Neon Deion Sanders joins the two legends.

But just like how his defense can hit you directly in the jaw from the first play till the final whistle, Saban’s acting (or lack thereof) is something that you cannot unsee.  You focus on it, not the message.

When paired with the duck and its iconic quack of AFLAC, it does make an impression.  Goal number one is to get the audience to remember you.  Sometimes that’s good, and sometimes not so much.  Adding Sanders, who is now coaching too, looks downright uncomfortable on air.

And about that nasty blue color that overrides the entire spot-terrible.

Saban doesn’t need AFLAC’s money.   AFLAC doesn’t need Saban.

The duck isn’t lame, but the spot should be a lame duck.

We grade the initiative B for barn.  What?  As Mr. Wonderful would say on Shark Tank, “take the video out behind the barn and humanely dispose of it.”

And, now we’re set for the second-half kickoff.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Focus on the Process

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

When Nick Saban won his first NCAA National Championship in 2003 he did so with a defense that held a potent Oklahoma offense to 14 points while his LSU Tigers put up 21.  Seven of those 21 points scored were by his defense as DL Marcus Spears dropped into coverage, picked a hot route, and picked up seven on a rumble into the end zone.

Game by game in the season’s 14 games (one loss) Saban’s defense surrendered 7,13,7,10,6,19,7,7,10,3,14,24,13, and 14.  That’s 154 in all and an average of 11 per game.

Last evening Nick Saban won his seventh championship, the last six all with Alabama.  No one has won more championships in NCAA history.  In this one, his offense put up 52 and his defense gave up 24 to Ohio St.

Game by game in this season’s 13 games (all wins) Saban’s offense scored 38,52,63,41,48,41,63,42,55,52,52,31, and 52.  That’s 640 in all and an average of 49 per game.

Maybe you don’t think the game is changed.  “Defense wins championships,” you say.  The run-pass option(RPO) with an athletic QB and the spread offense with the same has indeed changed the game.

And, Saban realized this.  “It used to be that good defense beats a good offense. Good defense doesn’t beat good offense anymore,” Saban told ESPN last October 23rd.   “It’s just like last week. Georgia has as good a defense as we do an offense, and we scored 41 points on them [in a 41-24 Alabama win]. That’s not the way it used to be. It used to be if you had a good defense, other people weren’t going to score. You were always going to be in the game.”

“I’m telling you. It ain’t that way anymore.”

He adapted.  And, quickly.  Expect Bama to have four first-round players taken in the 2021 NFL draft.  All will be on offense.  Just three years ago they had four as well.  Three were on defense.

Years ago Bum Phillips said, “Don Shula could take his’ums and be your’ums, then he could take your’ums and be his’ums.”  He could have been speaking about Saban as well.

Give Sarkesian credit.  He maximized great offensive talent with beautiful, year-long scheming.  Give Kiffin credit.  Before Sarkesian he did the same.  But, give Saban the credit as he had the foresight to recruit fast cars with great turning radius’ and hand the keys over on offense to paid professional drivers.

Seven championships in the last 17 years make Saban the best ever.  But, how long can he keep the dynasty rolling?  His 2021 recruiting class, when it’s complete in February, will record the highest cumulative rating ever assigned by the major services that track these kids.  It’s going to be hard to slow the Tide’s roll.

Oh, and his coaching tree looks like a forest.  But, he keeps hiring winner after winner to his staff as well.  What’s the one constant through it all?  Nick Saban.

His uncle Lou Saban was still coaching in Division II when he passed at 82.  Yes, nothing is forever, but Saban will likely adapt and figure out that Father Time problem as well.

How?  It’s because he is forever preaching “focus on the process and the results will take care of themselves.”

And, his results speak for themselves.

 

 

 

Ten Piece Nuggets-Sports

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

On yesterday’s road trip to diversity, we got hungry.  The drive from Portland to Madison has 2000 mile markers and very few restaurants.  We yearned for nuggets.  You know the feeling.  It’s fast food for the sports-minded.  Have ten below on us.

  1.  The Pittsburgh Steelers blew a 14 point halftime lead and eventually fell to the visiting Washington Football Team last night on MNF.  The Steelers seldom lose at home, and have only lost one game in the 22 years prior at home when leading by 14 or more.  And, poof goes the last undefeated team in the NFL this year.  Don Shula (RIP) and his 1972 undefeated Miami Dolphins can rest easy for at least one more year.
  2.  After the Steelers’ loss who owns the longest winning streak in the NFL now? It’s the New Orleans Saints with nine and counting.  The New York Football Giants are next with four while the Washington Football Team is third with three.  In the NFL you are either getting better or getting run over.  Suddenly two NFC East teams have come alive.
  3. Washington Football Team coach Ron Rivera fought cancer this year. When he entered the then Redskins offices he fought incompetence, complacency, good ole boys, a talent void, and a losing culture.  He’s a bit old school, a fighter, and maybe the most underrated head coach in the league.  After a 1-5 start they stand at 5-7 with four games remaining. They have the 49ers, Seahawks, Panthers (his old team), and the Eagles left.  An 8-8 record certainly is within reach.
  4. The Minnesota Vikings also started 1-5.  At home this past Sunday they needed overtime to defeat the lowly Jacksonville Jaguars.  In the NFL they don’t count how, they count how many.  The Vikings evened their record at 6-6.  Head coach Mike Zimmer is a bit old school, a fighter, and maybe the most underrated head coach in the league.  Where have you heard that before?    The Bucs, Bears, Saints, and Lions are their final four down the regular-season stretch.  It’s a team no one would like to play if they get to the expanded playoff format.
  5.  Don’t look now but the New England Patriots are 6-6 after back to back wins with Cam Newton throwing for under a hundred yards in each of the games. The Rams, Dolphins, Bills, and Jets remain.  That’s a tall task with a shaky QB.  Does anyone doubt Bill Belichick can do it?  Computer simulations give the Patriots a 14% chance of making the playoffs.  Does Belichick even own a computer?
  6. One day after his ill-advised, all-out blitz failed to take down the opposing quarterback on the game-deciding play, New York Jets defensive coordinator Gregg Williams was sacked by coach Adam Gase in a Monday morning meeting that lasted nearly an hour.  DC Williams called the exact same aggressive and foolish play in the 2011 NFC Division Championship game sending the Saints to a last-second loss in San Fran.  At 0-12, Adam Gase will collect a paycheck for only four more weeks than the DC he fired yesterday.  Sam Darnold will need a new address too.  The Jets fell in love with Trevor Lawrence months ago.
  7. Who benefitted from Williams’s moronic call in 2011 in Candlestick Park?  Jim Harbaugh.  He was the AP Coach of the Year that year for San Francisco.  By 2014 he had worn out his welcome on the left coast and headed east to Ann Arbor, MI for a lot of green and greener pastures.  Fast forward to 2020 and Harbaugh is either in the beginning, middle, or end of the end as the Wolverines coach.  He’s 1-6 on the year and 0-5 lifetime against this weekend’s rival opponent THE Ohio St. Buckeyes.  THE is favored by a whopping 28 points.
  8. Harbaugh’s teams in college have won 68% of their games.  What percent of the games have his NFL teams won?  Sixty-eight percent.  It takes an unlikeable, polarizing guy to have to leave before he is asked to do so with that type of winning percentage.  That’s Harbaugh, khakis and all.  It says here that this is his last game at Michigan too.
  9.  Vegas loves it when the public sees the obvious.  Big favorites over bad teams are the best of the best for Sin City.  Last week there were four double-digit dogs in the NFL.  The Jets covered and blew the outright win on the aforementioned last play.  The Broncos covered easily.  The Giants won straight up.  And Cincinnati lost by 12 as an 11 point underdog.  There’s a reason there is so much marble and gold on The Strip.
  10. Speaking of which a few lines that are interesting, Coastal Carolina is favored by 13.5 at Troy.  Surely there is a letdown after the win over BYU at home with College GameDay present is there? Yes.   Bama is a 31.5 road favorite over Arkansas after they beatdown LSU.  Is there ever a letdown by a Nick Saban coached team? No.

You read.  You got fed.  Now, get busy.

What’s Important Now?

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Al Davis, the unconventional owner and GM of the Oakland Raiders from its first days in the Sixties, until his last days in the New Millenium, coined the phrase “Just Win, Baby!”  And his Raiders won and won.  Two Super Bowl wins and two more appearances with several coaches and ever-changing personnel in an ever-changing league bears that out.

Of course his baby son, Mark Davis, now principal owner and GM of his dad’s beloved Raiders might be the biggest winner in Raider Nation.  His dad turned a 50k investment in a fledgling upstart American Football League into an icon valued at well over 1.5 billion dollars.   That’s billion with a “b” if your 2.0x readers are around here somewhere.

Nick Saban, the six-time NCAA championship winner, and arguably(is it even really arguable?) the greatest coach in college football history, coined the phrase “focus on the process and the results will take care of themselves.”  His focus is such that his overall w/l record is 233-63-1.  His Bama record is 141-21 with six of the losses coming in year one as he quickly rebuilt the Crimson Tide.  His coaching tree is now a coaching forest and sprouting new saplings yearly.

Tyrone Willingham, the one time head coach of Stanford, then Notre Dame, and finally Washington, coined the acronym “WIN”.  He has gone on to explain that it stands for  “What’s Important Now?”  Of the three men, Davis, Saban, and Willingham, Tyrone has by far the most modest accomplishments.  He lost more games at the helm 88, than he won, 76.  Though, we point out that coaching at three fine universities is in and of itself success.

Why might we refer to Willingham, who stands in the shadow of these two unrelated but both hugely successful men, in the same post as them?  It’s because we feel like WIN-What’s Important Now is a clean, clear, and simple to use “words to live by.”  And live by them we try daily.

This writer was fortunate to hear the impressive Willingham speak well over a decade ago.  Meticulous in his dress, he meticulously outlined what WIN meant to him.  In short after he establishes a goal or goals for himself he asks what it takes to accomplish them.  From there he writes them down. Then he organizes them from which are the most important down to the least.  And, he revisits the list daily, resorting after either accomplishing some or evaluating others, in the ever-changing world that we live in.

Note, this list isn’t what is urgent in others minds.  Failure to plan on your part does not create an emergency (urgency) on mine.  Separating what is perceived as urgent from wha tis important seems critical.  Heck it sounds one heck of a lot like “focus on the process.”

Does this sound rather simple? In theory we think it is.  In application it requires dedication and passion.  Oh, and most of all it requires the “how.”  Once the “when” to do and “what” to do, are organized the “how” separates us.  The “how,” is Saban’s process.

Getting things done through others can be tough.  But if you don’t know what’s important now then they won’t either.  If they don’t, the agenda has no direction and the urgent replaces the process.

Willingham may not have been the most successful, but for us one evening, and to this day, he was the most inspirational.

Who doesn’t want to win?

WIN-What’s Important Now?