Definitely Not an Oscar Winning Performance

HBO is going to be showing the recent "Dream Match" boxing event, featuring Oscar DeLaHoya, in support of its coverage of the heavyweight title fight between champion Wladimir Klitschko and former champ Hasim Rahman. I won't be watching it.



You see, the DeLaHoya bout also features Manny Pacquiao, one of the top fighters in the sport, pound-for-pound, for the last decade or so. What the bout features is Pacquiao doing the pounding... and pounding... like a butcher pounds a cut of beef into a cubed steak. I did not watch the fight. I wasn't going to dish out my hard-earned money to see a fight that figured to be a mismatch. It was a mismatch, alright, and I figured the naturally bigger man, DeLaHoya, would be dictating the action and imposing his will. I was not the only one who thought this way. All of the experts were picking DeLaHoya.



But, "Pac Man" had other ideas about who would be taking the punishment. The fight was so one-sided in Pacquiao's favor that Oscar won only one round on one judge's scorecard. The other two judges had Pacquiao pitching a shutout, including a 10-8 round in round 7. For a round featuring no knockdowns to be scored 10-8, someone must have really gotten the crap beaten out of them. That someone was Oscar DeLaHoya.



In retrospect, the signs that DeLaHoya's skills had eroded and career path had declined were there. Coming into the Pacquiao fight, the "Golden Boy" had gone just 3-3 in his previous six bouts, fighting only 3 times in the previoius four years, since losing a challenge for Bernard Hopkins' world middleweight title in September of 2004. During that same time period, Pacquaio had fought 10 times, going 9-1 against strong competition that included three bouts with Erik Morales (one of them a loss that he avenged twice). For DeLaHoya to fight so infrequently in his mid-thirties is, in itself, a danger sign. Moreso, the declining quality of Oscar's results and his performances have been ignored because he remains the biggest money maker in the sport. If a big-name boxer wants to make the most money he can for a fight, he aims for Oscar DeLaHoya.

Honestly, I just don't get it with Oscar. I mean, he's handsome, smart, ambitious, wealthy, and still young, if you measure his 35 years against a lifetime. In boxing years, however, Oscar is at an advanced age. He is no longer fighting three or four times a year and is no longer keeping himself in prime boxing shape year-around. With his Golden Boy Productions being an unqualified success, DeLaHoya is calling the shots for most of the top fighters in the world. By promoting a few top boxing show per year, Oscar can make more money than most other fighters can inside the ring, with no risk to his health. Why did he need to even risk undertaking the grind of getting his body back in boxing shape, including getting down to the welterweight limit of 147 pounds? By all accounts, DeLaHoya has more money than he could ever spend. Did he really need another $22 million in the bank?

If you look back over boxing's history, there is a lesson to be learned that is surely universal to the sport (and to all sports): Know when to walk away. Don't be O.J. Simpson, no longer able to accelerate for the 49ers. Don't be Willie Mays, no longer able to adequately man center field for the Mets. Don't be Joe Louis versus Rocky Marciano. Don't be Roberto Duran versus Thomas Hearns. Don't be Sugar Ray Leonard versus Terry Norris (or, later, versus Hector Camacho). Don't be Muhammad Ali versus Larry Holmes and don't be Holmes versus Mike Tyson and don't be Tyson versus Lennox Lewis. It is a very difficult lesson for boxers to comprehend and assimilate. Marciano got it. Lewis got it. George Foreman, eventually, got it. I thought that Oscar DeLaHoya was smart enough to also get it. Instead, he got into the ring with a skilled, primed, and hungry champion in Pacquaio, who has always been something of an offensive boxing machine. And on that night, DeLaHoya got it, alright. He got taken into the woodshed and he got pounded!

He also got $22 million. But, he lost a lot more reputation-wise, if not health-wise. We can only hope we have seen the last of Oscar DeLaHoya, the prize fighter, in the ring. Because this was definitely not an Oscar winning performance. And, there is no glory in imitating a cubed steak.

For Poinsettia Bowl, Everything Came Up Roses

Let's play a quick game: Glance over the pairings in college football's upcoming bowl season. There are 34 bowls this year, meaning a record 68 teams get to extend their season for one more contest. Obviously, the best of these matchups are those that feature two teams that finished the regular season ranked in the top 25 of the final BCS poll. This year, 10 of the bowls feature a matchup of two such teams.

So, in our game, let's look at those 10 bowls and combine the rankings of the participating schools. The game with the lower total is the better bowl matchup. Naturally, the BCS Championship, matching #1 (Oklahoma) + #2 (Florida) for a grand total of 3 points, is the top matchup (and will be as long as the current system is in place). Of the other top tier bowls, there are some great pairings: The Sugar Bowl matches #4 (Alabama) + #6 (Utah) for 10 points. The Fiesta Bowl (Texas vs. Ohio State) and Rose Bowl (USC vs. Penn State) pairings both add up to 13 points. Those are the top 4 bowls for this year. As for the fifth-best matchup, that must surely belong to a prestigious bowl like the Orange or the Cotton, right?

How about the Poinsettia Bowl? This bowl, entering its fifth edition, is a little-sister bowl to the Holiday Bowl, which is played at the same venue, Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego. This is very similar to the Insight and Fiesta bowls in Arizona, though they don't share the same site. Well, for this year at least, little sister has grown up. The Poinsettia will present undefeated and ninth-ranked Boise State against TCU, which lost only to Oklahoma and Utah and finished #11 in the BCS. That's 20 points in our game, easily besting the totals for the big-sister Holiday Bowl (Oklahoma State vs. Oregon; 30 points), as well as the Orange (Cincinnati vs. Virginia Tech; 31 points), Cotton (Texas Tech vs. Mississippi; 32 points), Capital One (Georgia vs. Michigan State; 33 points), and Alamo (Missouri vs. Northwestern; 44 points) bowls.

How did it happen? How did the Poinsettia Bowl upstage the older-sister Holiday Bowl, as well as outflank the 28 other bowls to wind up with this great matchup; a real beaut of a game? I mean, the Poinsettia usually matches the #7 selection from the PAC 10 with the # 3 choice from the WAC. If you got Stanford vs. Fresno State for a matchup, you wouldn't be surprised. But, #9 vs. #11, including one of only three unbeaten teams in the nation? You're kidding, right?

The problem this year is that only five PAC 10 teams qualified for a bowl, leaving the Poinsettia with an open spot. There had been some scuttlebutt before last weekend's championship games, that the Humanitarian Bowl would invite undefeated Ball State, the presumed MAC champion, to play Boise State on the Broncos' home field. Ball State shot down the notion, reasoning that the Cardinals deserved better than for their bowl game to be on the road against a powerful, unbeaten squad. However, that reasoning surely sent the wrong message to the team, which went out and was upset by Buffalo in the MAC title game. The dream matchup was lost. [Ball State (12-1) will play in the GMAC Bowl against Tulsa (10-3), which was upset on its home field by East Carolina in the C-USA title game.]

So, Boise State was left looking for the best matchup it could get. With the Mountain West Conference being so strong at the top this year (in addition to 12-0 Utah, BYU finished 10-2 and is Las Vegas Bowl-bound), TCU "fell" all the way to the San Diego. When Poinsettia Bowl officials approached Boise State about taking on the Horned Frogs, the Broncos jumped at the chance. And an incredible matchup was born.

Seeding a National Football Playoffs

In my previous blog, I proposed setting up a playoffs to decide the national college football champion, using the champions of the 11 individual conferences, plus the top five at-large teams. Since then, the conference championship games have been played. We now know the identities of the 11 conference champions:



Florida outlasted Alabama to win the SEC. The Gators are 12-1.



Oklahoma had the highest BCS ranking of the three teams tied for first place in the Big 12's North Division. The Sooners throttled Missouri in the Big 12 title game and also finished 12-1.



Oregon State, which had the inside track to the Rose Bowl after beating USC earlier in the season, got a good whipping from Oregon in the Civil War. USC followed up by dusting off UCLA and the Trojans won the PAC 10 with an overall record of 11-1.



Virginia Tech capped a great comeback from four regular season losses, battering Boston College for their ninth victory and winning the ACC.



Penn State finished 11-1 and won the Big 10.



Cincinnati won the Big East. They came from behind to beat Hawaii and finished the regular season 11-2.



Utah polished off BYU to finish undefeated at 12-0 and win the Mountain West.



Boise State also had an unbeaten campaign at 12-0. The Broncos again won the WAC.



East Carolina upset Tulsa in Tulsa to claim the Conference USA crown.



Buffalo shocked previously undefeated Ball State and won the MAC title.



Troy came out on top in the Sun Belt Conference.



Going back to my previous blog and substituting, the five at-large entries would be Texas (11-1), Texas Tech (11-1), Alabama (12-1), Ohio State (10-2), and TCU (10-2). Seed these 16 teams according to their BCS standing (or Sagarin rating) and you get the following matchups for a national playoff (probable winners are assumed after the first round):



(First Round)

Oklahoma vs. Troy

Florida vs. Buffalo

Texas vs. East Carolina

Alabama vs. Virginia Tech

USC vs. Cincinnati

Utah vs. TCU

Texas Tech vs. Ohio State

Penn State vs. Boise State



(National Quarterfinals)

Oklahoma vs. Penn State

Florida vs. Ohio State

Texas vs. Utah

Alabama vs. USC



(National Semi-Finals)

Oklahoma vs. USC

Florida vs. Texas



(National Championship)

Florida vs. USC



Now, who couldn't get fired up over that?