Sports Medley: NFL Week 12 28 Nov 14

 Why Atlanta Loses: With Cleveland leading Atlanta 23 to 21 with 55 seconds left, Atlanta had the ball on Cleveland’s 35. Instead of trying to get a 1^st down by making 2 yards and then running the clock down so they could kick the field goal with virtually no time remaining, Atlanta first called a timeout generously stopping the clock for Cleveland, then, after talking it over, tried for a touchdown which they didn’t need to win the game, with a long pass that was incomplete. So with the game on the line on 4^th and 2, Atlanta was forced to kick a field goal to take a one point lead but leaving Cleveland 44 seconds, which was plenty of time for the Browns to drive well into Atlanta territory and kick the game winning field goal. This mystifying play-calling and clock management could explain why Atlanta is a constant underachiever, despite a team loaded with talent.

Heartwarming: Indianapolis wide receiver T. Y. Hilton weeping on national TV while talking about watching his baby being born.

Best Ever after two months?: I’ve seen every great NFL wide receiver since the Los Angeles Rams’ Elroy “Crazy Legs” Hirsch. Already, though, after only 2 months, New York Giants rookie wide receiver Odell Beckham, Jr. looks as if he will take his place with greats like Hirsch, Jerry Rice, Lynn Swann, Randy Moss, and all the others. He was becoming a legend even before he made a spectacular, leaping one-handed catch for a touchdown against Dallas on November 23 that NBC Analyst and former wide receiver Cris Collingsworth and Hall of Fame Coach Bill Parcels both said might be the best catch they ever saw.

Politically correct female sports interviewers:  Who decreed that hot babes who never held a football growing up should do all the on field interviews in today’s day and age? The Dodgers used to have an announcer named Jerry Doggett who was as good a post-game interviewer as ever lived. He took notes and would ask players about specific incidents in the game that always elicited interesting answers. Contrasted with Doggett and typical of the “penetrating” questions most of these Baywatch refugees (none of them are anything less than beautiful) ask, here’s a sampling of the inane queries asked by NBC’s Michelle Tafoya after the Dallas Cowboys-New York Giants game:

To Tony Romo, Dallas Quarterback: “Your 27^th game-winning drive in the 4^th quarter: what is it about those situations that you enjoy?”

To DeMarco Murray, Dallas running back: “This was a close one; down the stretch what was going through your mind?” There should be a law that any interviewer who asks an athlete in a post-game interview, a question anything like “what was running through your mind…” should be immediately cast where there’s weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Kobe, Jr. When the Cleveland Cavaliers lost to the San Antonio Spurs last week, LeBron James used a play he must have learned from Kobe Bryant. With 5 seconds left and Cleveland down by one, LeBron was dribbling the ball at half-court to take the last shot when he lost the dribble and the Spurs got the ball without Cleveland getting off a shot. That’s a game-losing play that Kobe has copyrighted, directly out of his playbook.

Jockspeak Dept: “I don’t think we got ahead of ourselves; I think the opposition got ahead of ourselves.” Jim Mora, UCLA head football coach.