No theme this week instead just going to give a paragraph on a few sports stories.
Super Bowl of fun, man was that a fun game. I was visiting with my friends a lot during the game so I don't have a super deep breakdown served up, but it was entertaining as hell. The 49ers and Chiefs each played a great game. A few highlights, the bomb from Mahomes to Hill was a game changer. The 49ers defense was no joke till the 4th quarter. Kittle got robbed on the OPI call. Lots of good hitting, 49ers running game was good. Chiefs running game was better than expected. Just a well played, excellent, fun football game. The commercials were fine, halftime was fine. The food at our party was elite.
Wrasslin, I pay attention to college wrestling, I enjoy it a lot. Friday night when #1 Iowa hosted #2 Penn State it was the most watched wrestling telecast in the history of Big Ten Network. It was a dual meet that in the grand scheme really means nothing, yet it was watched by 342,955, and the most watched college athletics broadcast of the night. Throw in the fact that 15,900 people were in attendance, you got yourself some buzz. This season for Iowa could be special as they have the best wrestler in the country in Spencer Lee, and have guys ranked inside the top 8 at every weight class. Watching wrestling, especially Spencer Lee can be very fun, with lots of action and points. Some matches can get bogged down but when you get two really good guys it's entertaining. The Big Ten duals and NCAA Championships are going to awesome, plus it's an Olympic year so after NCAA's there will be trials in State College, PA, plus the actual Olympics in August. Give it a watch, you may enjoy it.
Hoop Dreams, since I stayed away from the NFL I decided to fill my time I would give Iowa hoops my time this winter. They have payed off, this year's team is very fun to watch and even when they struggle I don't get as frustrated as I used to. Now I may be maturing or perhaps this team is pretty good and you never know when they can turn it on. Sunday's game vs Illinois was outstanding to watch, as 2 good teams duked it out for 40 minutes, neither giving an inch. With watching more Iowa, I'm paying more attention to the Big Ten, and boy is this conference something. Wisconsin (who is ok) just beat Michigan State last weekend, Illinois is the shock of the conference with winning 7 in a row until losing at Iowa on Sunday. The league is so deep and anyone can give another team fits any night. It has been fun, and the conference tournament is going to be electric.
Astros Hirings, as we get closer to pitchers and catchers reporting, the Astros selected a manager and general manager this week. Dusty Baker was named manager, you might remember Dusty from his previous hits in San Francisco, Chicago, Cincinnati, and Washington. I for one like Dusty, I know Cubs fans hate him. Dusty was a good manager for the Giants in late 90's/early 00's, he did a good job of making sure the PEDs were well hidden. He did make a huge mistake in Game 6 or the World Series giving the gameball to Russ Ortiz after taking him out, but hey that's almost 20 years ago move on. Dusty will do good for Houston as he's a players manager, but he'll also bring the discipline that AJ Hinch apparently lacked. I know nothing about the GM, except he was from the Rays organization and it seems everyone worked for the Rays lately.
Dantonio Retirinio, in a move that was a little shocking, Michigan State head coach Mark Dantonio retired today. He has struggled since making the CFP in 2015, with 4 lackluster seasons that followed, plus a few brushes with the media over player behavior. After struggling in 2018, Dantonio reshuffled his offensive coaching staff, but that didn't work. I assume he was getting the ultimatum to fire his staff and start fresh and he didn't like that idea, so he decided to walk away. The timing is odd, since most of the big hires are done. I saw a couple names for the job are Luke Fickell and Pat Narduzzi, not sure if they'll abandon their players this late in the process. Spring workouts have just begun and getting an existing head coach to leave might be tough. I think a Jim Leonhard type might be the right fit for MSU, but they could look for an offensive minded coach since Dantonio was defensive guy. Perhaps they call up Joe Moorhead who was fired by Mississippi State, but hired to be the OC at Oregon, not sure what his fallout at Mississippi State was but maybe his message would work at Michigan State, especially after his success at Penn State.
That's all I got this week, we are getting close to Daytona, pitchers and catchers, plus March Madness, lots to talk about in the coming months. Follow me on twitter @derekbredeson.
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