General

Shanoff’s W.U.C.: T.O. Was An Epic FAIL

Mar 5, 2009, 1:16 PM UTC

Today’s Calls: T.O. vs. T.O., MLB vs. WBC, Northwestern vs. Kentucky, SEC vs. Big 12, Mark Cuban vs. the Mavs, Dwyane Wade vs. Shaq, Mountain West vs. CFB Playoff and More.â†µâ†µThe Opening Pitch: T.O. was a FAIL in Dallas.â†µ

â†µâ†µNo Super Bowl ring. Not even close.â†µ

â†µâ†µNo playoff wins. (No playoffs AT ALL, last season.)â†µ

â†µâ†µNo locker-room chemistry.â†µ

â†µâ†µHe was brought in cynically by Jerry Jones — a talented WR, for sure, but as much about the idea of the biggest personality in the NFL in Big D as anything else. But you know what you are going to get with T.O.: Occasionally brilliant playmaking in between long sessions of what I once called “T.O.-nanism.”â†µ

â†µâ†µIt was always about T.O. first. Jones had to know that when he brought him in three seasons ago, and when Jones gave him that new contract last year with the $12M signing bonus that will now saddle the Cowboys with a $9M cap hit, and when T.O. helped derail the Cowboys’ season last fall.â†µ

â†µâ†µThe question isn’t: What took so long? The question is: Why did they ever bring him in in the first place? â†µ

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â†µWhere will T.O. end up? Dolphins? (Parcells reunion.) Giants? (T.O. in NYC? Ugh.) Vikings? (They need him. He'd hate it.)â†µ

â†µâ†µCBB Mania: I need to make you understand how big this is. Northwestern — never-been-to-the-NCAA-Tournament Northwestern — is now one win away from being one win away from a very strong case for making the NCAA Tournament. In March, this is as close as the program has been ... hmmm: ever?â†µ

â†µâ†µBubble Watching: The SEC deserves exactly one bid — whichever team wins the conference tournament. Period. (LSU? Wildly overrated. Kentucky? Please.)â†µ

â†µâ†µThe anti-SEC is the Big 12, which doesn’t have many great teams either, but their Big Three (Kansas, Oklahoma, Mizzou) are very very strong. Missouri’s win over Oklahoma last night is even more impressive than its win over Kansas several weeks ago.â†µ

â†µâ†µMLB: WBC Mania? Umm, no. I remember when the World Baseball Classic was going to be SO huge — the World Cup for baseball. Now, in just its second iteration, it is buzzless — even lame. What happened?â†µ

â†µâ†µ— Key players dropped out.â†µ

â†µâ†µ— Team USA fizzled in ‘06.â†µ

â†µâ†µ— Hey, is this going to mess up my fantasy team?â†µ

â†µâ†µThere are a smidgen of mildly interesting story lines: A-Rod repping the D.R., having never won anything meaningful in his career. ... Japan going for the repeat. ... Team USA with the poor man’s “Redeem Team” with a “Field of Dreamy” infield (Jeter, Wright, Pedroia, Rollins, Youkilis). ...â†µ

â†µâ†µBut, more than anything, we’re watching to see who gets hurt — which impacts the real games. When the lead chant isn’t “U! S! A!” but “Don’t! Get! Hurt!”, there is a fundamental problem.â†µ

â†µâ†µ(King Kaufman analyzed this brilliantly.)â†µ

â†µâ†µManny re-ups with Dodgers: We all knew this was coming, it simply had to be done on Manny Time. All it does is assure that the Dodgers will win the N.L. West and that Manny will have a monster, MVP-level year for them in the process.â†µ

â†µâ†µLatest A-Rod non-story: Ooh, A-Rod disrespected Derek Jeter!â†µ

â†µâ†µNo, he didn’t. It was more about wanting a guy like Jose Reyes to lead off, not about what position he would play in the field. But if A-Rod WAS actually presenting a sly commentary about the diminished skills of the Yankees’ captain, more power to him; Jeter isn’t a great shortstop right now; he certainly isn’t anywhere close to as good as Reyes.â†µ

â†µâ†µBut I’m quite sure if the Yankees traded for Reyes (guh!), Jeter would pout Reyes away from taking his place at short, just like he did with A-Rod, which remains the least “team-first” moment in the decade and a half Jeter has been with the Yankees.â†µ

â†µâ†µNBA Instant History: I’m even less impressed by the Mavs after their win over the Spurs than the previous effort-free loss that triggered that Mark Cuban tongue-lashing that presumably inspired them vs. San Antonio. What does it say about the team’s interest in winning consistently that it takes being yelled at by the owner to find any motivation?â†µ

â†µâ†µWade keeps rolling: If the Heat play like this every night, they could be a surprisingly strong factor in the East playoffs: Wade unstoppable again (35 pts, 16 ast). Beasley: 28 pts, 9 reb. Even Daequan Cook had 27 points. And Shaq fouled out. (For his part, Shaq was apparently more concerned with tweaking Stan Van Gundy than concentrating on the opponent at hand.)â†µ

â†µâ†µCarmelo is right: George Karl was wrong.â†µ

â†µâ†µHey, Kevin Durant slurpers: Kind of interesting that as soon as your boy sits out with an injury, the Thunder go on a three-game win streak. (Yes, I know last night was a win over the lowly Wiz, but at this point, perhaps the continuous winning without KD is more than a mere coincidence?)â†µ

â†µâ†µCFB: Playoff? That’s what the Mountain West proposes — an eight-team field, determined by a “Selection Committee.” Let’s ID why this is a non-starter, right from the start:â†µ

â†µâ†µ(1) Big Ten and Pac-10: Will NEVER accept it. Let me repeat: Nevereverneverevernever.â†µ

â†µâ†µ(2) Still delivers automatic bids to the six BCS conferences — oh, and did the Mountain West mention that under their plan, THEY get an automatic bid, too? (It’s actually a 10-team field, with the top 8 in a playoff and 9 vs. 10 in a “Tough Luck” Bowl — no potential for controversy THERE.)â†µ

â†µâ†µ(3) Here’s my biggest issue: It’s not an actual playoff. The first round isn’t 1 seed-vs-8 seed, 2-7, 3-6, 4-5; traditional bowl allegiances continue — the Pac-10 and Big Ten play each other in the Rose; the SEC champ goes to the Sugar.â†µ

â†µâ†µAnd, so, if unbeaten No. 1 USC plays unbeaten No. 2 Ohio State in the first round ... where do we go from there? That’s not a “quarterfinal”; that’s basically a “Plus-Two” — two rounds after the traditional bowls, featuring the Top 4 teams remaining.â†µ

â†µâ†µMore NFL moves: Ray Lewis is the opposite of T.O. ... Lewis is a leader. Lewis is a winner. Lewis’s team wanted him back. And he wanted to be back.â†µ

â†µâ†µNCAA Scandal-Watching: Unsurprising.â†µ

â†µâ†µThe Last Word: 22 deals, 47 players. That was the result of the NHL’s trade deadline, which should become the gold standard for all other leagues looking for trade-deadline excitement.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. â†µ

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