The Old Fashioned… 3-Point Play 10/13/15

The Bucket

The football program’s modus operandi for 2015 in Ann Arbor, MI was supposed to be all about rebuilding while also bolstering the program’s recruiting efforts for success in, possibly, years two and three. The incoming head coach, one who just spent his previous four years in the NFL masterminding trips to three consecutive NFC conference championship games and a hard fought loss in the Super Bowl, was facing enormous expectations from a fan base that had very little to root about during the majority of the BCS era.

As coach Harbaugh embarked on the 2015 season the initial win-loss discussion hovered around the likelihood of going .500 with the outgoing coach’s players. Brady Hoke’s recruiting efforts typically graded out as Top 20 classes, but the 2014 campaign failed to trend in a positive direction and resulted in a dismal 5-7 record. Thousands of Midwesterners took Harbaugh’s Michigan coaching debut loss to Utah on the road on a Thursday night like a middleweight prospect’s camp reacts after their man’s first step up to world class competition and gets nailed flush with his first big shot – and casually shakes it off.

This is the Block M, and normally the Wolverines would be expected to emerge victorious against the Utes, but Utah’s unis now feature a patch that is indicative it too belongs to one of college football’s power conferences. The 7-point loss which included three costly Jake Rudock INT’s never seemed to be accepted as a moral victory; Coach Harbaugh and his staff and his kids just moved on to the next week.
Who knew the ensuing Saturday’s win would serve as that young hungry middleweight’s first left jab before a fierce combination of heavier left hooks, crosses and upper cuts that would put any wily gate-keeper opponent on the ground writhing in pain?

Since that first loss Harbaugh has taken his team on a dominating 5-game win streak that includes three consecutive shut outs, and a 20-quarter stretch where his defense has surrendered 14 points while the team posted 160 of its own. The Wolverines now sit ranked at #12 in the country, poised to restore its sibling relationship with its in-state rival, the seventh-ranked Michigan State Spartans, back to what it is supposed to be October 17th in Ann Arbor.

Michigan will enter the game heavily favored, but MSU’s QB

is a NFL prospect with an opportunity to improve his stock by leading his team to a victory against a highly touted offense. Moreover, Spartan coach Dantonio can ill afford to squander the momentum or any perceived edge in the recruiting game MSU has gained by beating Michigan six of the last seven games.
I am going with the steadily improving Jake Rudock and the punishing defense for a resounding win, sending Sparty back to the bottom bunk bed once again.

The NFL’s Cincinnati Bengals (5-0), the AFC North leading Bengals, have officially matured into free roaming full-grown adult tigers. Maybe the Seattle Seahawks are showing the after effects of advancing so far through the NFC bracket the past few seasons. Maybe Seattle is resting on its laurels after earning a ring, a Super Bowl Champions banner, and things are different after several key players were rewarded with lucrative deals. Maybe.

However, by uncharacteristically recovering from such a large deficit at home this past Sunday, in front of its desperate fans, and snatching a victory from a team that has just underwent the transformation the Bengals are badly looking for puts any visiting playoff team on notice that young Simba is no longer roaming the jungle in Cincinnati in 2015.

Now, the NFL is only about end results not all of the endless conjecture, and the Marvin Lewis and Andy Dalton head coach-QB pairing will only be a real thing if the Bengals take a few snaps from the victory formation as Paul Brown Stadium’s game clocks wind down to 00:00:00. A win in the Wild Card and divisional rounds are realistic goals for this well balanced team with elite playmakers on both sides of the ball, but advancing beyond the AFC Conference Championship will undoubtedly remain too tall of an order for Marvin and the Red Rifle this year.

The And 1

The intention for The Old Fashioned… 3 Point Play (or TOF3PP by the third post) is to discuss two items from the world of sports, and a single topic from pop culture or mainstream America – i.e. a movie, a TV series, an awards show, leaked pics/video from a celebrity’s cell phone, or a new mixtape. I guess that is the proper term to use when referring to an album nowadays… we’re really going with “tape” when it wasn’t even the last format in widespread use????

I would add a quick review of the recently released stirring, highly entertaining motion picture Sicario starring Emily Blunt that also included solid performances by both Josh Brolin and Benicio Del Toro. However, I will touch on a third sport topic this time around. Well actually an entire sport itself, one that is often largely disregarded as a major sport, if not altogether: Boxing.

Yes boxing.

Boxing has been there for me as several of my favorite professional franchises have continuously struggled to gain a solid footing in their respective leagues. The NFL, MLB, NBA and even my college programs. Hell, even Dale Earnhardt, Jr. has rarely found his way into the winner’s circle in NASCAR (I support him as he is a noted Redskins fan).

Boxing was there during the firing/retiring of coaches and the subsequent incompetent replacements. Boxing was there during terrible and costly free agency acquisitions and other ill-advised personnel moves.

Boxing was there during the questionable handling of Grant Hill’s ankle in Detroit; RG III’s knee in the playoff game up 14-0 versus Seattle.

Boxing was there when Mitch McGary had some substance abuse, or use, issues and then up and decided to forego the rest of his eligibility at Michigan.

Boxing was there for me when Tom Cruise had a string of box office flops, and boxing is here now as I eagerly await a proper… mixtape… from one of my favorite all-time emcees, my man Busta Rhymes!

A lot of former boxing fans I know only tune in on an irregular basis, gauge the status of the game on one underwhelming overpriced PPV fight, and then continue to obliviously ask with arms flailing: Where’s the next great American heavyweight champion?

I no longer bother pointing out he’s playing on Sundays (MNF and TNF too) with either a hand in the ground coming off the edge to collect a sack-fumble inside the opposing team’s 20-yard line, or he’s running down the seam stiff arming 5’11” 190 pound DB’s for 40-yard TD receptions.

I do question whether these folks have actually devoted any time to the ongoing #FREEBOXINGFORALL campaign where the future of the game is being propped up by Premier Boxing Champions, and can be found on PBC broadcasts on NBC, ESPN, TRU TV (an interesting choice there), SPIKE, FOX Sports 1’s Toe-to-Toe Tuesdays and others.

The PBC is essentially boxing’s equivalent of Marvel Studios’ TV network properties like The Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Agent Carter; PBC’s free bouts are typically tied in to a big time Saturday matchup on a premium channel by being aired Friday night or Saturday and Sunday afternoon. The move seems sensible yet it took years to get there. Many of Showtime’s and HBO’s bigger names have made at least one appearance on a PBC telecast, and initial reports indicated some consideration was given to Floyd’s 49th bout being the main event for a PBC card… a plausible move in hindsight.

Now that I have another platform I will make yet another plea for people to give boxing a tenth shot, there is plenty of time for folks to come back in the tent. Please check YouTube or PBC’s website and watch the replays of some explosive KO’s. Two that immediately come to mind are Peter Quillin’s destructive 5th round stoppage of the willing Michael Zerafa in mid-September, or long-time cruiserweight champ Marco Huck’s stunning upset loss to Krzsztof Glowacki by 11th round KO (ignore the name and check out the action).

I could name half a dozen more great PBC performances by fighters average boxing fans would not recognize, but does a fighter have to be a known commodity for viewers to enjoy a great KO? Or, am I just to believe every single MMA fighter in the world is a household name?
If I am asking for way too much of your time please simply Google Gabriel Bracero’s (I didn’t know him either) October 10th gruesome single punch 41-seconds into the first round that dismantled Danny O’Connor to see an instant front runner for KO of the Year.

Now that MLB’s playoffs are underway and my Detroit Tigers are absent from the field for the first time in years, and the return of skipper Brad Ausmus has already been confirmed… again, boxing is there for me.

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