— I‘m still trying to process this one; Bill Belichick didn’t get voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, in his first year of eligibility. Wow.
Belichick was 333-178 as an NFL head coach, won six Super Bowls, was an assistant coach with the Giants when they won two other Super Bowls. I figured this was a foregone conclusion, but off-field issues, like spying on opponents’ practices and filming opponents’ signals on the sidelines, are said to have been used against him in the voting.
Tom Brady gets into the Hall of Fame in 2028; will they make Belichick wait until then?
(By the way, I would’ve voted for him, as long as he let Ernie Adams introduce him in Canton).
— Buffalo Bills named offensive coordinator Joe Brady their new head coach; Brady has been with the Bills for four years, was OC the last two. Brady was an assistant coach at LSU when Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase were playing there.
Seven of nine candidates interviewed by Buffalo have a primarily offensive background.
— Denver Broncos fired their offensive coordinator and two other assistants Tuesday, two days after they lost the AFC title game 10-7 to New England.
Let’s be real; Sean Payton is the head coach/offensive coordinator; Joe Lombardi worked for Payton for 15 years, and he gets fired? Oh by the way, Denver’s QB broke his ankle and didn’t play last week. Thats no one’s fault, just bad luck.
— Other coaching news:
LA Chargers named former Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel their new OC.
Detroit Lions hired former Giants assistant Mike Kafka as an offensive assistant.
Tennessee Titans hired former Giants head coach Brian Daboll as offensive coordinator.
— Former QB Matt Ryan calls the shots now for the Falcons; interesting that he hired a new coach (Kevin Stefanski) before he hired a new general manager.
— In baseball, San Francisco Giants signed OF Harrison Bader for two years, $20.5M; Bader hit .277 last year, with a .796 OPS for two teams. He is a very good defensive outfielder.
— Astros Jose Altuve/Carlos Correa are bypassing the World Baseball Classic, supposedly because they couldn’t get insurance on their contracts for the tournament.
Correa will make $31M this year, Altuve $33M. Three years ago, Altuve broke his thumb in the WBC, when he was hit by a pitch. He played in only 90 games that year.
— Famous birthdays, January 28th:
Alan Alda, 90
Larvell Blanks, 76
Harley Jane Kozak, 69
Michael Cage, 64
Tom Hodson, 59
Jermaine Dye, 52
Mark Madsen, 50
Daunte Culpepper, 49
Andre Iguodala, 42
Hunter Renfroe, 34
Ke’Bryan Hayes, 29
Payton Pritchard, 28
— Michigan 75, Nebraska 72
Michigan was 19-23 on foul line, Nebraska 3-4
Nebraska led by 7 with 8:10 left in the game.
Cornhuskers were missing two starters, still led most of the night.
First loss of season for Nebraska, after a 20-0 start.
— Arkansas 83, Oklahoma 79
Oklahoma led by 13 with 6:43 left in first half.
Hogs shot 71.7% inside arc, 2-17 outside arc.
Arkansas won seven of its last nine games.
Oklahoma has lost seven in a row, after an 11-3 start.
— Saint Louis 79, George Washington 76
GW led by 15 late in the first half.
Billikens won their last 14 games, are 8-0 in A-14.
Saint Louis won despite going 11-22 on foul line.
— Ill-Chicago 76, Indiana State 74
Ill-Chicago scored on steal/layup with 0:01.8 left for the win.
Indiana State led by a hoop with 0:16 left in game.
Flames have won seven in a row, after a 5-10 start.
Ill-Chicago was +10 in turnovers (21-11).
— Indiana 72, Purdue 67
Coach DeVries wins his first game against the Hoosiers’ in-state rival.
Indiana shot 12-33 on the arc, 11-17 inside arc.
Purdue lost its last three games, after a 17-1 start.
— Miami OH 86, UMass 84
Miami is 21-0, one of two unbeatens (Arizona) in country
UMass led this game by 10, late in first half.
RedHawks were 28-38 on foul line, UMass 13-17
Miami is 21-0; here are their last three games:
W105-102 OT vs Buffalo
W 107-101 OT @ Kent State
W 86-84 vs UMass………I don’t think they’d get an at-large bid to NCAA’s; their non-league strength of schedule is #363, 3rd-easiest in country.
— Virginia 100, Notre Dame 97, 2OT
Notre Dame led 39-20 in first half, by 6 with 2:13 left in regulation.
6-9 frosh DeRidder scored 32 points, had 8 rebounds.
Virginia has won 12 of its last 14 games.
