Backtime Dateline: Providence

Woke up this morning, the first day of December, to a "dusting" of snow in Providence - a cold kick in the gut to tell me that college basketball season is upon us.

It was a nice reminiscence to see four Dunkin' Donuts establishments between the gate at the airport and the hotel. In fact the hotel was about 100 feet from the Dunkin' Donuts Center, the site of the PC/Mississippi State hoops game, making it the easiest work commute of this or any other year.

I haven't been in The Ocean State in close to 10 years. I had a number of good times back in the day on Providence College hoops games, and of course the most miserable professional experience of my life, in production of the first X-Games in the summer of 1995.

I swore I'd never do the event again until they asked again, and in 1998 I spent 3 more miserable weeks on the event before swearing it off for good. They managed to ruin both Newport RI and San Diego CA trips. In an ironic twist, my former roommate, who is more of a baseball nut than I am, is now in charge of something called X-Games Global. Godspeed.

Despite all of the upheaval in college conference positioning, The Big East offices of course remain in Providence, where Dave Gavitt organized seven northeast basketball schools in 1979.

In an ironic twist, that was the same year ESPN was launched. Nobody possibly could have envisioned the type of growth that would take place on either front, and a lot would go hand-in-hand. Though now, the Big East is fighting for survival and/or relevance. And one would have to wonder if the Providence headquarters is the right fit for the future of the new Big East.

But then again, the basketball schools that forged the Big East still remain: Georgetown, St. John's, UConn, Providence, Seton Hall and Villanova. So maybe they can survive on that level, even with football driving the bus.

The Big East did well to hire network programming honcho Mike Aresco as Commissioner, but it may be too little too late. The Big East may find themselves in the same boat as the Republican Party, re-brand to survive.

And that would likely mean a move to New York or Philadelphia or even Cincinnati, and the end of an era.

Like A Bridgewater Over Trouble

Louisville's season didn't finish with they type of glory they were hoping for. They were blown out at Syracuse and had a disastrous home loss to UConn. The quest for an undefeated season went up in smoke, but the BCS Bowl bid was still alive, if they could take the season finale' at Rutgers.

Full disclosure: Syracuse is the alma mater and Rutgers is the home state team, but Backtime's been on the Louisville bandwagon for almost all of 2012. Mostly because of sophomore QB Teddy Bridgewater.

Bridgewater is the counterpart to Texas A&M's Johnny Manziel. While Manziel is a slasher, Bridgewater is a surgeon. And both are tougher and bolder than any 19 year-old could realistically expect to be.

Last night, Bridgewater came out in the cold New Jersey night with a cast on his non-throwing wrist, which made it impossible to take snaps from center or play-action. He had a sprained ankle that made planting and throwing just as hard.

So what remained was Bridgewater's guts and guile (and some needed subbing from backup QB Will Stein), as Louisville erased a 14-3 halftime deficit. They climbed on his back in the 2nd half and delivered with a game-winning drive and a 20-17 win.

If you saw Bridgewater's line, you never would've known anything was amiss: 20-28, 263 yards, 2 TD and 1 INT. After the game, Offensive Coordinator Shawn Watson descended from the coaches' booth to emotionally show his appreciation.

And with all the talk this week of Head Coach Charlie Strong leaving for richer pastures, the team wasn't distracted. They were focused on The Orange Bowl, which just happens to be played in Teddy Bridgewater's hometown.

The opportunities for Charlie Strong will continue to be there. But you'd have to think he's not going anywhere (yet). Not when he can coach Bridgewater for one more year.

It's A Human-Eat-Human World

For three seasons, The Walking Dead has focused on the human stories amidst a zombie apocalypse. While the show sometimes wanders (much like a "walker") into the melodramatic, with overzealous family ties and love triangles, we always knew who the real bad guys were.

But now the zombies have gone beyond extras, they're more like mosquitos that either bite or are swatted away. The survivors' real enemies are other survivors, battling Lord Of The Flies style for the few inches of safe haven remaining on earth.

The past episode, the week before the highly-anticipated Season 3 Mid-Season Finale, titled "When The Dead Come Knocking" was by far the most gruesome and tense hour so far. People from Rick's "Team Prison" and The Governor's "Woodbury" have finally intersected. The toughest badasses left on earth are colliding off each other in Darwin's petri dish.

Lines of human courtesy have been crossed and the body count will surely mount further as a result. If you're a backwoods scrounger and get thrown to the herd, that's on you.

It's gotten to the point where every new "living" character is reminiscent of the nameless crew member on the Star Trek Enterprise away team, and you just know they're the next to get it. But as we've learned, no character is safe in this world, even if they're listed early in the opening credits.

Historical Tipping Point: The 2013 MLB Hall Of Fame Ballot

If the Sosa/McGwire home run chase of 1998 was "Chasing History," then 15 years later the MLB Hall Of Fame ballot should be subtitled "Confronting History." Or we can do a reality series, "Men Of A Certain Age." However you slice it, baseball's recent murky past is coming back to the spotlight.

While they were still playing, the 2013 first-timers were a who's who list:

Barry Bonds
Roger Clemens
Sammy Sosa
Mike Piazza

Now what is the threshold for these guys to be denied? Criminal implication? Perjury? Mitchell Report? Court of public opinion?

We all suspect who was dirty. Does anyone really think that Sammy Sosa and Mike Piazza were clean? But America is about innocent until proven guilty - but by what measure? Just because Clemens and Bonds were cause celebre doesn't mean that other guys from that era get to sneak in under the radar, right?

I consider myself a baseball purist, which essentially means that baseball is my favorite sport. Steroids can't ruin it, competitive imbalance can't ruin it (I'm a Yankee fan after all), Bud Selig can't even ruin it.

I am not a Hall Of Fame voter, but my instincts are to let them all in. The games happened, the numbers exist, we watched them with our own eyes. They will always be viewed with some scrutiny for their alleged actions, but on the field they defined their era. That goes for McGwire and Palmeiro too.

But I do have one bit of finger-pointing for the Baseball Writers Association of America. Before any of these guys go in, you have to make things right with this guy:

As a baseball "purist" I have to say the 13 years passing over Jack Morris is a sham. What does a guy have to do? He was the ace starter on 3 World Series champs ('84 Tigers, '91 Twins, '92 Jays), was the winningest pitcher of the 1980s, and pitched the clutchest Game 7 in recent World Series history with 10 shutout innings against the Braves in 1991.

Critics will point to a career ERA of 3.90, which is heavily inflated after his last 2 seasons in the league before retiring at age 39.

Morris passes the smell test with flying colors. And the fact he doesn't stink is a big plus too.

Backtime Walkabout: Tallahassee

I was working at ABC in the aftermath of the 2000 election. While the Bush and Gore legal teams duked it out, I had acquaintances that were stuck in Tallahassee for a month, setting up live shots every day in front of this building.

Tallahassee is kind of an odd capital for a state with the expanse of Florida; geographically it doesn't make any sense. But it does have the deep south's taste for football. There are nods to the 'Noles wherever you go, even at my touchdown in Tallahassee.

I would warm potential recruits that the BMW listed underneath the sign is not part of the deal, at least I don't think it is.

Gauging the morale down here is a little strange too. They love the Seminoles and their 10 blowout wins, but are bitterly disappointed by the two 2nd Half collapses on the other side of the ledger versus  NC State and Florida.

Now Florida State needs to finish off 6-6 Georgia Tech in the ACC Championship game to go to the Orange Bowl. They are a 2-TD favorite.

But I'm in town for the hoops. Florida State had a monumental season last year, knocking off Duke and North Carolina on back-to-back days to win their first ACC Championship. They host #21 Minnesota tonight in a tasty ACC/Big Ten showdown.

Things I Left in Planes, Hotel Rooms, and Rental Cars

I often wonder if my travel misplacements would ever have warranted its own category on $25,000 Pyramid. There are six slots on the board, so I'll simply list some items before I rummage through the lost and found.

6. The book I'm reading

Very frustrating. I fall asleep on a flight and slide it in the seat back in front of me, then forget it when we deplane. Hopefully it's not a hardcover. Although it lightens the load in the backpack, that's real money wasted on a replacement.

The legal pad is tougher to deal with since it's got all my homework. So I label the front with my name and number. But I'm not quite bold enough to leave it with the smiling brunette flight attendant.

5. Shaving Kit

Once in a while a game ends late, I go out for some drinks, and manage to grab 2-4 hours sleep before a flight home. Sometimes I just collect the room and throw it in the suitcase, but forget what's on the bathroom sink.

4. My Hat

I have to wear a hat if I'm spending significant time outdoors to protect my most valuable asset from the elements. But once I get inside a plane, car, hotel room, or meeting, I forget about it. All my baseball caps are swag, so they're a dime a dozen. But my true haberdashery, the essential piece to my my producer uniform is always tough to swallow.

Sunglasses are along the same lines. I try and keep mine in a case or use the straps so they stay around your neck.

3. Cell Phone Charger

This is, by a mile, the most common item.

Here's a tip. Every hotel you check into, tell them you lost your charger. They will go into the back office and come out with a huge moving box full of them. Find your match and take your pick.

2. The Jacket

For years I've been traveling from Savannah to some Big 12 wintry outpost. But late October is the worst. It will still be high 70s at home but 30s on the road. Once you take off a jacket and have to carry it, invariably you will lose it.

In the last 5 years I've had two top-notch network jackets that are lightweight yet warm. One I left in the Ford Field press box in Detroit, one somewhere in the Syracuse airport. These are irreplaceable and I spent hours of my life trying to retrieve them to no avail.

1. Electronic Accessories

Thankfully, I have never left behind my Garmin GPS. I have a routine for that, like I do when I leave the house, checking thermostats and alarms. 

But last week I changed rental cars in Houston and I left my leather pouch full of chargers, USBs, and ear buds in the previous car. The killer was the MacBook power pack. By the time I replaced everything (or at least everything I needed) it was over $100. 

That's alright, I got Best Buy on retainer.

Can I expense any of these items? Not directly, it's the cost of doing business in my chosen profession.

Johnny Football: Alone on Heisman Island

The Johnny Football Show rolled on in the season finale at Texas A&M, but not without a brief detour. Late in the first quarter, our hero went down after a tackle and grabbed his knee, and 90,000 went silent and absolutely still.

And the producer of the national TV broadcast swallowed his headset mic wondering how he was going to fill the next 3 hours.

But alas it was just another plot point in Johnny Football, the movie. Manziel came back and did his usual thing: 439 total offense, 5 total TD. And despite the failed attempt for a TD reception, like the failed PAT attempt the week before, it appears that nobody's going to catch him for the Heisman.

It's not that Johnny Manziel doesn't have the Heisman numbers, he certainly does. He's the single biggest impact player on any team in college football. But Heisman voters have been cool to freshmen in the past. But in 2012, who could you vote over him?

Notre Dame's Manti Te'o? Maybe. He is the best player on a tough as nails, possible national champion defense. But he isn't the best defensive player in the country, not even the best LB. That would be the Dawgs' Jarvis Jones y'all.

Kansas State's Collin Klein finishes up with Texas. But the late-season debacle at Baylor (who were obviously protecting last year's trophy) will be stuck in the voters' heads. While Manziel's season only got better as the stakes got higher, beating Alabama on the road and taking the magic carpet ride from there. The night of The Home Depot College Football Awards is Manziel's 20th birthday. The Heisman is two days later.

The Aggies' regular season is over. Manziel can't lose ground on the Heisman. And it doesn't appear that anyone else can win it.