Blame Texas for no primetime
40 innings in 24 hours
Good morning, all! Here’s hoping your Labor Day weekend is off to a terrific start!
College football swings into full action this weekend and there is no bigger game than No. 1 Texas at No. 3 and defending national champion Ohio St. FOX will carry the big game, starting at noon today. So why in the name of big time college football is this game not on in primetime? You can blame Texas.
Apparently both FOX and Ohio St. wanted to move the game to primetime on Sunday, Aug. 31, especially when Texas came in at number 1 in the preseason polls for the first time ever. Texas nixed it, claiming moving the day and time of the game would upset its usual game-preparation routine.
Depending on what you read, as of this writing, Ohio St. is either a slight favorite or Texas. Some books also have the game a pick ‘em.
My pick? I’m going with Ohio St. That said it should be a dandy. I’m predicting the viewing audience will be huge, along the lines of at least 10M viewers. Had Texas given in to the Sunday night primetime start, the game might have doubled the viewers.
Among the other big college games on tap: No. 8 Alabama is at Florida St. on ABC at 3:30 p.m. and No. 4 Clemson is at No. 9 LSU also on ABC at 7:30. Let the fun begin.
Here are some other thoughts, as I ponder how the Yankees and Red Sox could have played 40 innings of baseball in less than 24 hours.
Yes, you read that correctly. Fifty-eight years ago today, the Yankees and Red Sox were finishing a marathon stretch of baseball. It was 1967 and the Red Sox were amazing the baseball world, having moved into first place. The once-proud Yankees were near the cellar, but Yankee Stadium was packed for a twi-night doubleheader on Aug. 29 with the first game starting at 6:00. The Yankees felt like the visiting team as three-quarters of the crowd in the historic stadium was rooting for the Red Sox. Boston captured the first game, but the second game went 20 innings. The contest did not end until 1:58 am, when Horace Clarke, who had an era named after him, singled to knock in the winning run in a 2-1 New York victory. The two clubs were back at it 12 hours later in a game that went 11 innings, resulting in a Boston win, 2-1, on a two-out solo home run by Carl Yastrzemski in the top of the 11th. The Red Sox took three of four from the Yankees and left town in first place by a game-and-a-half over the Twins and Tigers and 2 1/2 over the White Sox.
Kyle Schwarber really picked a good time to be a free agent after this season. Four home runs last night has the baseball world talking.
It’s ESPN’s Lee Corso’s last Gameday today. We wish him well.
Tough luck for the contending Padres. Xander Bogaerts is out for the season with a fractured foot injured after he fouled a ball off of it. I cannot tell you the number of times I have seen a batter foul a ball off of his foot, even with all the protection they wear.
That is going to do it for today’s newsletter. Have a great Saturday!
DAN