Mo Egger

Mo Egger

Mo Egger delivers his unique take on sports on Cincinnati's ESPN 1530!Full Bio

 

Loosely Connected Thoughts: Hey, I Recognize That Coach From Last Night!

The last time I did a blog entry, I wrote it from my home office in the West End with a promise to update this space more regularly. 

This morning, I'm sitting at an empty desk that's surrounded by boxes of stuff in the basement of a home I've just moved into on the west side, wondering if it's worth explaining why I didn't blog yesterday.

A long explanation is likely not necessary. Moving sucks, and anyone who's ever done it knows precisely how much.

*I spent much of last night's college football title tilt unpacking and half-watching.  Unlike many, I was all-in on Clemson/Alabama Part IV, mainly because I never tire of great games.

Unfortunately Tigers 44 Tid 16 was not a great game, sending me to my boxes of stuff and the places the stuff needed to be put. The game was anything but great, as a matter of fact.  Nick Saban wore his best Marvin Lewis expression during the game while Trevor Lawrence did his best Canton-bound NFL quarterback impression throwing to someone named Justyn Ross, who was doing things I wish I'd watch John Ross do at the next level.

The snoozer of a game was disappointment, not simply because it was a blowout, but because the entire rather ho-hum college football season was a run-up to an inevitable rematch that was supposed to at least yield a great title game.

If we're gonna get the same two teams over and over again, the games better at least be good.

*Day-late NFL playoff thoughts after a productive gambling weekend that would've been way, way more productive had Sebastian Janikowski not gotten injured....

The young, offensive-minded Coach of the Year candidate on the Chicago sideline got too cute on a key two-point conversion, then stood there and allowed the Eagles to run 40 seconds off the clock that could've come in handy when his team regained possession. Common sense, or lack thereof, is independent of which side of the ball your expertise lies.

If John Harbaugh kept Lamar Jackson in the game because he genuinely felt the rookie was the man best-equipped to bring his team back from down 20 points, so be it. If he stayed with Lamar instead of Joe Flacco because he was worried about the long term problems making a move would create, then that's coaching malpractice.

I trust Bill O'Brien in a playoff game only slightly less than I'd trust Marvin Lewis. 

*Hey, if Cliff Kingsbury looked like Cliff Clavin, would he be such a hot NFL commodity?

*There's something fun about large men moving stuff into your new home as you stand and yell f-bombs at the TV. This is what was happening at my new digs as UC played ECU on Saturday. 

It was maddening.  The Cats couldn't make a three, couldn't drain a free thrown, and couldn't protect the ball against a team that provided almost no defensive resistance. Add in lousy defense, and another Cane Broome disappearing act, and UC got what it deserved: a bad loss that will reverberate for a while.

UC had zero bad losses two years ago and despite a fantastic record, was banished to a six seed.

This team is not as good as that one.

*Simple formula I: Naji Marshall and Quentin Goodin have to be great, or XU won't be superior opponents. Goodin was so un-great against Marquette that his coach decided that his team - which lacks depth - was better off playing half the game without him.

*Simple formula II: if John Calipari's team is going to defend the three with the same effort they showed on Saturday, the Wildcats are going to lose to inferior opponents like the one that beat them in Tuscaloosa.

What about me, updating my blog. Here's something else I wrote.

Catch radio shows at 12:00 and 3:05 on ESPN1530. Listen to both here

Follow me on Twitter: @MoEgger1530.

Email me: mo@espn1530.com

(Photo: Getty Images)


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