General

Shanoff’s WUC: Bowls, Colts, Tiger, Lee, Mo

Dec 18, 2009, 1:24 PM UTC

Today’s Calls: Bowls vs. Bowl Sponsors, Peyton Manning vs. Fantasy Playoffs, Mike Shanahan vs. Jon Gruden, Mo Rivera vs. Derek Jeter, Colt McCoy vs. Tim Tebow, Tiger Woods vs. Tim Finchem, Bobby Knight vs. John Calipari, UNC vs. Texas and More.â†µâ†µThe Opening Pitch: Who says the economy is still in the tank? There are 34 bowls, starting this weekend, with title sponsors on almost every single one. And if GMAC can still afford one, who can’t? (Hey: And shouldn’t that be the Ally Bowl?)â†µ

â†µâ†µSpeaking of which: As with last year, you can thank your tax-funded financial-industry bailout dollars for Citi’s sponsorship of the Rose Bowl and, this year, the national-title game. They should technically call it “The Rose Bowl presented by You.”â†µ

â†µâ†µWe’ve got ...â†µ
â†µCheap pizza! (Little Ceasars, Papajohns.com)â†µ
â†µChicken AND steak! (Chik-fil-A, Outback)â†µ
â†µCar care! (Meineke, MAACO)â†µ
â†µInsurance! (Pacific Life, Allstate)â†µ
â†µState pride! (Texas, New Mexico)â†µ
â†µAdmirable character traits! (Insight, Independence)â†µ
â†µPotentially competing interests! (Humanitarian, Holiday)â†µ

â†µâ†µAnd a big welcome to rookie bowl title sponsor: Beef O’Brady’s!â†µ

â†µâ†µAnyway, in an annual tradition, after the jump see if you can match the sponsor to the bowl game. And, in a twist, try to spot the FAKE sponsor and bowl name. (Answers in the “Last Word” section at the bottom.)â†µ

â†µâ†µ(1) MAACOâ†µ
â†µ(2) Beef O’Brady’sâ†µ
â†µ(3) San Diego County Credit Unionâ†µ
â†µ(4) Little Ceasarsâ†µ
â†µ(5) AdvoCare V100â†µ
â†µ(6) AutoZoneâ†µ
â†µ(7) Yelpâ†µ
â†µ(8) Roady’sâ†µ
â†µ(9) Bell Helicopterâ†µ
â†µ(10) Konica Minoltaâ†µ

â†µâ†µ(a) Independenceâ†µ
â†µ(b) Armed Forcesâ†µ
â†µ(c) St. Petersburgâ†µ
â†µ(d) Libertyâ†µ
â†µ(e) Las Vegasâ†µ
â†µ(f) Skylineâ†µ
â†µ(g) Poinsettiaâ†µ
â†µ(h) Sponsor IS the bowl nameâ†µ
â†µ(i) Gatorâ†µ
â†µ(j) Humanitarian â†µ

â†µ

â†µSN's Athletes of the Year:â†µ

â†µâ†µPro: Mariano Rivera. I think Rivera is kind of an inspired choice for Pro AOY (it’s certainly more satisfying than Derek Jeter). I could make a strong case for Larry Fitzgerald, Drew Brees or Kobe ahead of Rivera, but it’s solid.â†µ

â†µâ†µCollege: Colt McCoy. In what can’t be a surprise to you, I would have picked Tim Tebow ahead of Colt McCoy as College AOY, because “year” includes the national title Tebow led Florida to in January, plus the year of mania that followed him. No college athlete was more prominent, scrutinized, compelling or successful.â†µ

â†µâ†µ(It’s a little hard to reconcile that Mark Ingram was named SN’s College Football POY, but Colt McCoy was the College Athlete of the Year.) By the way: Forget Tebow for a sec; I’d have picked Tyler Hansbrough over Colt McCoy.â†µ

â†µâ†µColts still perfect: Peyton had the offense clicking, and Iyer is right about the nasty Wayne-Clark combo. But the fact that the Jags could hang 31 on Indy should give Colts fans a bit of pause as they consider their chances at winning a title. (Forget 19-0; that’s an irrelevant distraction.) If the Jags can score 30+, what could the Saints do?â†µ

â†µâ†µNFL Draft Watch: The Jaguars are in a bind in the 2010 Draft. As last night showed, they really need immediate help on defense. But they think they need Tebow for marketing. What will put more fans in seats: Winning with defense or Tebow?â†µ

â†µâ†µFantasy Playoff Season: If you are in your fantasy league playoffs and started Peyton, Wayne, Clark, MJD or MSW, you’re off to a really good start. (I snuck in my league playoffs as the 4-seed; my season will likely hinge on Percy Harvin. Uh-oh.)â†µ

â†µâ†µNFL Week 15 Story Lines: National sympathy for the Bengals, who are mourning the death of teammate Chris Henry. At the same time, they have a rough game at 10-3 San Diego. With 3 games to play, Cincy has a 2-game lead in the AFC North, so winning this weekend isn’t critical to making the playoffs. Will they be inspired or distracted?â†µ

â†µâ†µMore:â†µ

â†µâ†µ• GOTW: Cowboys are desperate, but Saints are awesome.â†µ

â†µâ†µ• Steelers on ropes: MUST beat the Packers.â†µ

â†µâ†µ• AFC’s 7-6/6-7 scrum: MIA-TEN, ATL-NYJâ†µ

â†µâ†µNFL Week 15 Picks: Saints, Jets, Eagles, Texans, Pats, Ravens, Titans, Chiefs, Cardinals, Broncos, Chargers, Steelers, Seahawks, Vikings, Giants. (Last week: 10-6, year-to-date: 145-64.)â†µ

â†µâ†µCoaching Carousel: Redskins GM Vinny Cerrato is out (to much cheering from Skins fans), and Bruce Allen is in. Does that make Jon Gruden a lock for the Redskins coaching job? Dan Snyder certainly has the money to lure Gruden from the TV booth to the Skins sidelines. (But reports out of Denver are that Mike Shanahan is going to be the guy. Much less fun than Gruden.)â†µ

â†µâ†µTiger Watch: Not unsurprisingly, the PGA Tour honcho walked the line between over-confident “It’s all going to be fine!” and deferential “Tiger rules!” Here’s his real quote: ”“I don’t want to diminish his impact. He’s our No. 1 player, he’s our No. 1 star. He brings enormous attention to the sport, but we can move forward without him.”â†µ

â†µâ†µCollege football’s national championship game: Villanova vs. Montana, who have each survived playoff runs to make it to the 1-AA -- sorry, “FCS” -- title game. Should be a fun one tonight. Pick: Montanaâ†µ

â†µâ†µBig Ten expansion: No ND. Got that? Confirming what we already knew, Notre Dame doesn’t want to join. So don’t bother asking them. They really mean it. (So why are they even talking about it? Everyone had already assumed they weren’t interested, right?)â†µ

â†µâ†µBowl Mania! (Picks in bold)â†µ

â†µâ†µ• New Mexico: Fresno St vs. Wyomingâ†µ
â†µ• St. Petersburg: UCF vs. Rutgersâ†µ
â†µ• R&L Carriers New Orleans: So. Miss vs. Middle Tenn.â†µ

â†µâ†µBob Knight crushes John Calipari: “We’ve gotten into this situation where integrity is really lacking and that’s why I’m glad I’m not coaching. You see we’ve got a coach at Kentucky who put two schools on probation and he’s still coaching. I really don’t understand that.” I’m no Knight fan, but I give him credit for his willingness to tell it like it is. Everyone is gushing over UK this season; Knight brings a measure of reality.â†µ

â†µâ†µCBB Game of the Weekend: UNC-Texas, immediately followed by Gonzaga-Duke. That’s a fun way to spend 4 hours on Saturday afternoon. UNC has played a much more challenging non-conference schedule than Texas; this one puts the “UT” in litmus test.â†µ

â†µâ†µPrep Hoops: Anyone catch Northland’s 53-52 upset of No. 1-ranked (and leading cynical prep-hoops factory) Findlay last night? Northland has an Ohio State-bound kid named Jared Sullinger who was ri-di-cu-lous: 32 points (out of Northland’s 53) and 17 rebounds. He dominated Findlay. Most impressive: 10/10 FTs, including 2 in the final seconds to win the game.â†µ

â†µâ†µMLB Hot Stove: Cliff Lee seems genuinely shocked -- even disappointed -- that he was traded from Philly to Seattle. That should make Phillies fans pause from their Halladay triumphalism for just a minute to appreciate the critical boost that Lee gave them, particularly in the playoffs. Frankly, he set an insanely high standard for Halladay to match. But the fact is that the Phillies wouldn’t have gotten Halladay if they hadn’t been willing to send Lee to the Mariners.â†µ

â†µâ†µNBA Talking Points: If Shoals is right and the Blazers’ Jerryd Bayless is at the top of the list of players who should be traded, Portland could do worse than showcasing Bayless at his best -- which happened to be last night (career-high 29 in a win over Phoenix.)â†µ

â†µâ†µThe Last Word: Answers to the annual Bowl-Sponsor quiz!â†µ1-e, 2-c, 3-g, 4-h, 5-a, 6-d, 7-f, 8-j, 9-b, 10-i â†µ

â†µâ†µDan Shanoff writes The Wake-Up Call every weekday morning for SportingNews.com and blogs daily at DanShanoff.com. Got any comments, questions or feedback? Email Dan at shanofftsn-[at]-gmail-[dot]-com. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/danshanoff. â†µ

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