TYBEE BEACHCOMBER | DEC 2018 39
‘Tis the season for ... sports! Welcome back fans of the Sports Teaser
(pretty sure I have enough fingers to count you all). It’s December and
that means the onslaught of college bowl games, some hoops, some
hockey and a lot of Christmas Parties (and headaches). It’s the most
wonderful time of the year, or something like that. Let’s get on with it,
shall we?
Of course we are close to the end of the regular season in college
football and for the most part, the teams that we talked about at the
beginning of the year are right there in the middle of it still. That will
probably change by the time you read this, but Alabama, Clemson, Notre
Dame and Michigan are the 4 playoff teams as of Nov. 9. Georgia and
Oklahoma are the next 2 and a few others like West Virginia and Ohio
State are still in contention. The way I see it, only 5 teams in this bunch
control their own destinies if they win out. They are the top 4 currently
and Georgia. If Alabama or Georgia wins out then that team would get
in along with Clemson, Notre Dame and Michigan (assuming all of them
win out as well).
We do know that Bama and UGA will play December 1 in Atlanta for
the SEC Championship. That was determined after Bama beat LSU and
UGA beat Kentucky, making it the earliest in the season that we have
known the championship matchup since its creation in 1992. If only it is
as competitive as the National Championship game last year, we will be
in for a great game (Editor’s note: GO DAWGS!). For you Georgia fans, the
team’s post-season destination will most likely be the College Football
Playoff if they win out, including beating Alabama, or a New Year’s six
game if they win out but lose to Alabama. Maybe the Sugar vs Oklahoma,
maybe UCF in the Peach or something not as stellar should they lose
more than one of their last four, but let’s not talk about that. At least it
won’t be Shreveport, Memphis or Birmingham like during the dark days
of Ray Goff and Jim Donnan! We are in for a great rest of the college
football season, bowl games and the playoff. And then, poof, it will all be
over and we’ll be waiting for September all over again.
The NFL is a little more than half way through the season at this writing
and the elite 4 teams seem to be KC, New England, New Orleans and the
LA Rams. Pittsburgh and the LA Chargers seem to be coming on the AFC
while Philly, Chicago and Minnesota will try to challenge in the NFC. And
don’t count out Atlanta after 3 straight wins and the offense seemingly
humming again. But DO count out Jacksonville; what a disaster. Nah,
they didn’t need to draft a QB last spring, Blake Bortles is fine.
Baseball just concluded and what a great season the Atlanta Braves
had with a 90 win campaign. Everyone agrees that they were a year
ahead of schedule and should be a team to be reckoned with for many
years to come with their abundance of youth. With a few more arms both
starting and in the bullpen and maybe a power hitter, watch out! It was
great to have some watchable baseball in September and October for
sure. The Red Sox won 108 games and then went 11-3 in the playoffs to
win it all and it wasn’t even that close it seemed. Pitchers and catchers
report in just a few months!
College and pro basketball have both tipped off. It looks like Duke,
Kansas, Kentucky and Gonzaga are the teams to beat... surprised??
In the NBA, well ... hmmmm ... they just need to start the season on
Christmas Day and play 60 games or so. That being said, let’s talk about
hoops after Christmas, cool?
Happy Holidays to all and enjoy the gift of sports this season. See ya
in January, brrrrr.
SPORTS TEASER
By George Hassell