By Kevin Lonnquist
Publisher
Welcome to another edition of Single Digit Flashback. Playing off Baylor’s new and popular tradition of awarding numbers 0-9 to those deserving players who have become leaders on the team.
This past Friday we lost one of the giants in the film and stage industry in the great Christopher Plummer. But you can’t argue with someone who lived a wonderful 91 years. He was versatile, brilliant and quite the charmer.
Versatility was shown because he could handle roles in Shakespeare to playing a diabolical TV evangelist in the failed 1987 movie version of Dragnet to playing Klingon General Chang in the Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. The ironic part of him playing Chang was that character would quote Shakespeare.
Here’s an example of that.
But like you the RJB remembers Plummer for playing Captain Georg von Trapp in the 1965 blockbuster musical The Sound of Music. So as a So Long, Farewell, auf Wiedersehen, Good-bye to the movie patriarch of the von Trapp family, we give you Plummer singing his solo of Edelweiss written by Rogers and Hammerstein in that Academy Award decorated film. Plummer was 36 at the time.
>0. While Baylor’s march to the NCAA tournament is an apparent formality and all that’s left to debate is whether or not it’s going to be the No. 1 overall seed, we might be living in a world where the tournament is missing the Blue Bloods: Kentucky, Duke, North Carolina and Kansas.
Let that settle in. There’s a possibility this could happen. And come Monday when the new rankings are released, none of them could be in it.
All four are having rough seasons. Kentucky is really bad with a young team that commits a lot of turnovers and doesn’t shoot it from the perimeter very well. I don’t like Duke’s chances for similar reasons (isn’t it interesting that that two programs that dove deep into the one-and-done recruiting philosophy are struggling). Kentucky is 5-12. The Wildcats are going to have to win the SEC tournament to make it. Duke is 7-7 and could get on a run. But I also believe it’s going to take the Blue Devils doing the same like the Kentucky and win the ACC tournament.
North Carolina (12-6) and Kansas (12-7) have the better chances. But each is really beatable. North Carolina is not very good defensively and will sometimes roll out an offensive performance that will make you scratch your head. The Tar Heels scored 50 in a recent loss to Clemson. UNC doesn’t score 50 points.
I’ve been over Kansas’ scoring issues in past discussions. And that’s really the problem with Bill Self’s team. The Jayhawks don’t do anything really well. If you look at the current Big 12 standings, KU is in 6th place. Typically, that will get you into the tournament. Honestly, Kansas would have to slide more to miss the dance. Still, the Jayhawks need to pick it up.
>1. On the Saturday ESPN College GameDay segment about conferences heading toward their postseason tournaments in March, the topic switched to whether every team in every league would go to its tournament or opt out.
It’s a real thing. And I could see programs suffering through miserable seasons shut it down when the regular season ends in either late February or early March.
And that’s a disservice to the rest of the teams in the leagues who will move forward and play. Jay Bilas made the point that if the programs made a commitment to find a way to play the season, they owe it to themselves and their leagues to play in the tournament. You can’t just come up with the rationale of “We’re worried about the safety and health of our team.’’ That would be disingenuous. That would also be using COVID-19 as cover. If programs really felt their health and safety were at stake, they should have opted out earlier in the season. We saw a couple of women’s teams do it in Duke and SMU.
Should be something to watch next month.
>2. Had Baylor played TCU on Saturday, the Bears (17-0, 9-0) would have begun the second half of the Big 12 season. However, they are at the midway point with a 3-game lead over West Virginia (13-5, 6-3).
If the Bears can get the other nine games in, they would be home for six games: TCU, Texas, West Virginia, Iowa State, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech. They would play at only West Virginia, Oklahoma and Kansas (Baylor is done with Kansas State). You see how this schedule falls in their favor with twice as many homes games. It’s literally house money for the Bears. West Virginia is really the only team chasing Baylor. Texas is now out of the race with four losses.
West Virginia still has to travel to Texas, Texas Tech, Kansas and as mentioned above, Baylor. You like the Mountaineers’ chances to sweep all that? West Virginia visits Texas Tech for Big Monday. A loss to the Red Raiders “unofficially” means this regular season championship race is over. It’s a matter of Baylor playing out the string.
>3. As much as there has been a spirited debate about The Hail Mary when Drew Pearson caught the touchdown pass for the Cowboys to beat the Vikings in the 1975 playoff game at the Old Met, I will tip my cap to Pearson who finally made the Pro Football Hall of Fame after so many misses including his heartbreaker in 2020. Pearson finally made it this past Saturday. His honor was way overdue. Pearson was the last member of the all-1970s team to make the HOF. Indeed his numbers (489-7,822, 48TD) would make you go meh by today’s standards. But that was a different game back then when it was more balanced and teams were led by 1,000-yard rushers. I’m happy for him and for you Cowboys fans who championed his fight to get to Canton, OH for the past 33 years. He’ll be inducted in early August. Here’s a pretty cool story of how Pearson received the news.
>4. The Big 12 preseason baseball poll was released not long ago. Baylor was picked 8th out of nine teams (Iowa State doesn’t play). It makes sense because Baylor lost so much firepower from its lineup. But it doesn’t make sense because Steve Rodriguez’s program has so much pitching returning including closer Luke Boyd and his whole weekend starting rotation. This is a club that may start out slow. However, if the pitching is as deep as you think it is, then you’re always going to give yourself a chance. I’ll have a season preview on Feb. 19 in the Blitz when the Bears open against Jacksonville State that weekend.
>5. Whether you loathe him or love him, the one thing you have to do with Tom Brady is respect him. The GOAT played in his hard-to-fathom 10th Super Bowl and won his seventh as Tampa Bay dominated Kansas City in Super Bowl LV, 31-9. Individually, Brady has won more Super Bowls than every NFL franchise. Indeed, his new franchise just won its second. I think what makes this title more intriguing to me is that he did it somewhere else. Nothing against what New England created for the last two decades. Everybody would love to do what the Patriots did. However, I think you appreciate Brady’s greatness because his leadership transcended elsewhere. I’ve seen the haters on social media try to downplay this accomplishment with cheating, officiating help and you name it. But those are people who are simply bitter. When you are driven to succeed, you can accomplish anything. Not bad for a guy who was a 6th round draft choice.
>6. You’ve read on this site and heard on the SicEmSportsCasts that if your QB is your 1, then your defensive line is your 1A. If you’re really good there, you’re always going to have a chance to win. Tampa Bay’s 1A was brilliant against Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes. From the opening possession to Mahomes throwing an interception in the end zone on his last play, the Buccaneers defensive front was the most entertaining part of this game. Granted Kansas City was missing its two starting tackles, but when you can push the pocket and cause countless duress, it will suffocate even the most explosive offenses. Kansas City’s was deemed unstoppable. Consider it stopped. Cold! And I’ve mentioned a time or two, I’ve put equal value to hurries as sacks because they accomplish the same thing. The QB is doing something he doesn’t want to do. However, I don’t think I’ve seen a stat line where a QB was hurried 24 times (that’s the last number I saw) and hit eight times to go along with three sacks. What that defensive front did was pure Michelangelo!
And we made it. Through all of the trials, delays and doubts amid the pandemic, the 2020 high school, college and NFL seasons were successfully completed. When this country sets its mind on wanting to do something, we’re pretty good at it.
>7. Even though the 2020 college football season was definitely a challenge to complete, one topic that was nice to not discuss was Baylor’s continued weak non-conference schedule. Of course, the Bears were supposed to open up with Ole Miss on Labor Day weekend at Houston’s NRG Stadium. That never happened. But looking ahead to 2021, this kind of schedule is the one I’ve always favored. Not in the order, but you get your exhibition game that counts (Texas Southern), you play a better D1 team that will push a little bit but one that should be handled (at Texas State) and then you meet a team that’s presumably your equal that should tell you how good you really are (BYU). In fact Baylor’s 2022 (Louisiana Tech, at BYU, Texas State) and 2023 (Texas State, Utah at Louisiana Tech) schedules are going to be even better.
>8. The final recruiting rankings for Baylor’s 2021 class is in the books. The Bears finished No. 55 by Rivals. That’s five spots ahead of where they were for the 2020 class (No. 60). Of course, this class would have been different had it held on to a few including Byron Murphy. However, I did like the way things finished. Keep in mind that the transfers and PWOs do not impact the ratings.
>9. You did know that Baylor’s one lost fumble was a great stat (Trestan Ebner muffed punt vs. Kansas State) in 2020. But did you know the five total fumbles were the lowest any point going back to the 2013 season? Sure, that makes sense. But even if Baylor played a standard 12-game schedule and then a 13th with a bowl, it still likely was going to be the lowest. Prior to this season, the cleanest team in that category was the 2014 Big 12 Champion and Cotton Bowl team that had 16 fumbles and lost only five.
Now, a look at other Baylor sports…
>No. 4 Baylor men's tennis (9-1) battled to a 4-1 win over No. 9 Texas A&M (2-1) Sunday at the SMU Tennis Complex to punch its ticket to the ITA National Team Indoor Championship.
After dropping the doubles point, the Bears came back strong with four-straight singles victories to clinch the match. Three of the singles wins were in straight sets and two were against ranked opponents.
The Bears improved to 20-0 all-time at the ITA Kick-Off Weekend and booked its 10th trip to the national event. The Bears (9-1) are headed to the ITA National Team Indoor Championship in Champaign, Ill that will run Feb. 12-14 with a three-match guarantee.
>No. 9 Baylor equestrian (1-1) edged No. 7 TCU (3-1) at the Willis Family Equestrian Center on Saturday with a final tally of 10-9. Baylor will take on Fresno State on Thursday, February 18 in a neutral-site Big 12 matchup, hosted by TCU.
>Baylor women's golf remained perfect for the 2020-21 season by sweeping the team and individual titles at the Trinity Forest Invitational. BU shot 1-under-par 287 in Tuesday's final round to claim a 13-shot victory, while redshirt freshman Hannah Karg shot a final-round 4-under 68 to win medalist honors by one stroke at 5-under 211.
The title was the Bears' fourth in as many tournaments during the 2020-21 season, following the Schooner Fall Classic, the Betsy Rawls Longhorn Invitational and the Cowgirl Classic. BU players have also won individual titles at all four events, with Gurleen Kaur winning at the Schooner and Longhorn, Elodie Chapelet winning at the Cowgirl and Karg winning at Trinity Forest.
Baylor (-1) claimed head-to-head victories over Oklahoma State (+15), Texas (+27), Kansas State (+39), Texas Tech (+40), SMU (+42), Tulsa (+43), UTSA (+44), Washington (+52), Nebraska (+52), BYU (+54), Chattanooga (+64), Memphis (+68) and Missouri State (+65).
Baylor has nearly three weeks to prepare for its next event, the ICON Invitational, which runs Feb. 22-23 at The Woodlands (Texas) Country Club.
>Baylor won its third-straight match with a 5-2 win over Texas A&M at the Mitchell Tennis Center, Sunday. The No. 20-ranked Bears took the doubles point and picked up four wins on the singles court to improve to 7-1 on the season. Baylor hosts North Texas Friday at Noon at the Hurd Tennis Center.
Let’s make it a great week!
Publisher
Welcome to another edition of Single Digit Flashback. Playing off Baylor’s new and popular tradition of awarding numbers 0-9 to those deserving players who have become leaders on the team.
This past Friday we lost one of the giants in the film and stage industry in the great Christopher Plummer. But you can’t argue with someone who lived a wonderful 91 years. He was versatile, brilliant and quite the charmer.
Versatility was shown because he could handle roles in Shakespeare to playing a diabolical TV evangelist in the failed 1987 movie version of Dragnet to playing Klingon General Chang in the Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. The ironic part of him playing Chang was that character would quote Shakespeare.
Here’s an example of that.
But like you the RJB remembers Plummer for playing Captain Georg von Trapp in the 1965 blockbuster musical The Sound of Music. So as a So Long, Farewell, auf Wiedersehen, Good-bye to the movie patriarch of the von Trapp family, we give you Plummer singing his solo of Edelweiss written by Rogers and Hammerstein in that Academy Award decorated film. Plummer was 36 at the time.
>0. While Baylor’s march to the NCAA tournament is an apparent formality and all that’s left to debate is whether or not it’s going to be the No. 1 overall seed, we might be living in a world where the tournament is missing the Blue Bloods: Kentucky, Duke, North Carolina and Kansas.
Let that settle in. There’s a possibility this could happen. And come Monday when the new rankings are released, none of them could be in it.
All four are having rough seasons. Kentucky is really bad with a young team that commits a lot of turnovers and doesn’t shoot it from the perimeter very well. I don’t like Duke’s chances for similar reasons (isn’t it interesting that that two programs that dove deep into the one-and-done recruiting philosophy are struggling). Kentucky is 5-12. The Wildcats are going to have to win the SEC tournament to make it. Duke is 7-7 and could get on a run. But I also believe it’s going to take the Blue Devils doing the same like the Kentucky and win the ACC tournament.
North Carolina (12-6) and Kansas (12-7) have the better chances. But each is really beatable. North Carolina is not very good defensively and will sometimes roll out an offensive performance that will make you scratch your head. The Tar Heels scored 50 in a recent loss to Clemson. UNC doesn’t score 50 points.
I’ve been over Kansas’ scoring issues in past discussions. And that’s really the problem with Bill Self’s team. The Jayhawks don’t do anything really well. If you look at the current Big 12 standings, KU is in 6th place. Typically, that will get you into the tournament. Honestly, Kansas would have to slide more to miss the dance. Still, the Jayhawks need to pick it up.
>1. On the Saturday ESPN College GameDay segment about conferences heading toward their postseason tournaments in March, the topic switched to whether every team in every league would go to its tournament or opt out.
It’s a real thing. And I could see programs suffering through miserable seasons shut it down when the regular season ends in either late February or early March.
And that’s a disservice to the rest of the teams in the leagues who will move forward and play. Jay Bilas made the point that if the programs made a commitment to find a way to play the season, they owe it to themselves and their leagues to play in the tournament. You can’t just come up with the rationale of “We’re worried about the safety and health of our team.’’ That would be disingenuous. That would also be using COVID-19 as cover. If programs really felt their health and safety were at stake, they should have opted out earlier in the season. We saw a couple of women’s teams do it in Duke and SMU.
Should be something to watch next month.
>2. Had Baylor played TCU on Saturday, the Bears (17-0, 9-0) would have begun the second half of the Big 12 season. However, they are at the midway point with a 3-game lead over West Virginia (13-5, 6-3).
If the Bears can get the other nine games in, they would be home for six games: TCU, Texas, West Virginia, Iowa State, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech. They would play at only West Virginia, Oklahoma and Kansas (Baylor is done with Kansas State). You see how this schedule falls in their favor with twice as many homes games. It’s literally house money for the Bears. West Virginia is really the only team chasing Baylor. Texas is now out of the race with four losses.
West Virginia still has to travel to Texas, Texas Tech, Kansas and as mentioned above, Baylor. You like the Mountaineers’ chances to sweep all that? West Virginia visits Texas Tech for Big Monday. A loss to the Red Raiders “unofficially” means this regular season championship race is over. It’s a matter of Baylor playing out the string.
>3. As much as there has been a spirited debate about The Hail Mary when Drew Pearson caught the touchdown pass for the Cowboys to beat the Vikings in the 1975 playoff game at the Old Met, I will tip my cap to Pearson who finally made the Pro Football Hall of Fame after so many misses including his heartbreaker in 2020. Pearson finally made it this past Saturday. His honor was way overdue. Pearson was the last member of the all-1970s team to make the HOF. Indeed his numbers (489-7,822, 48TD) would make you go meh by today’s standards. But that was a different game back then when it was more balanced and teams were led by 1,000-yard rushers. I’m happy for him and for you Cowboys fans who championed his fight to get to Canton, OH for the past 33 years. He’ll be inducted in early August. Here’s a pretty cool story of how Pearson received the news.
>4. The Big 12 preseason baseball poll was released not long ago. Baylor was picked 8th out of nine teams (Iowa State doesn’t play). It makes sense because Baylor lost so much firepower from its lineup. But it doesn’t make sense because Steve Rodriguez’s program has so much pitching returning including closer Luke Boyd and his whole weekend starting rotation. This is a club that may start out slow. However, if the pitching is as deep as you think it is, then you’re always going to give yourself a chance. I’ll have a season preview on Feb. 19 in the Blitz when the Bears open against Jacksonville State that weekend.
>5. Whether you loathe him or love him, the one thing you have to do with Tom Brady is respect him. The GOAT played in his hard-to-fathom 10th Super Bowl and won his seventh as Tampa Bay dominated Kansas City in Super Bowl LV, 31-9. Individually, Brady has won more Super Bowls than every NFL franchise. Indeed, his new franchise just won its second. I think what makes this title more intriguing to me is that he did it somewhere else. Nothing against what New England created for the last two decades. Everybody would love to do what the Patriots did. However, I think you appreciate Brady’s greatness because his leadership transcended elsewhere. I’ve seen the haters on social media try to downplay this accomplishment with cheating, officiating help and you name it. But those are people who are simply bitter. When you are driven to succeed, you can accomplish anything. Not bad for a guy who was a 6th round draft choice.
>6. You’ve read on this site and heard on the SicEmSportsCasts that if your QB is your 1, then your defensive line is your 1A. If you’re really good there, you’re always going to have a chance to win. Tampa Bay’s 1A was brilliant against Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes. From the opening possession to Mahomes throwing an interception in the end zone on his last play, the Buccaneers defensive front was the most entertaining part of this game. Granted Kansas City was missing its two starting tackles, but when you can push the pocket and cause countless duress, it will suffocate even the most explosive offenses. Kansas City’s was deemed unstoppable. Consider it stopped. Cold! And I’ve mentioned a time or two, I’ve put equal value to hurries as sacks because they accomplish the same thing. The QB is doing something he doesn’t want to do. However, I don’t think I’ve seen a stat line where a QB was hurried 24 times (that’s the last number I saw) and hit eight times to go along with three sacks. What that defensive front did was pure Michelangelo!
And we made it. Through all of the trials, delays and doubts amid the pandemic, the 2020 high school, college and NFL seasons were successfully completed. When this country sets its mind on wanting to do something, we’re pretty good at it.
>7. Even though the 2020 college football season was definitely a challenge to complete, one topic that was nice to not discuss was Baylor’s continued weak non-conference schedule. Of course, the Bears were supposed to open up with Ole Miss on Labor Day weekend at Houston’s NRG Stadium. That never happened. But looking ahead to 2021, this kind of schedule is the one I’ve always favored. Not in the order, but you get your exhibition game that counts (Texas Southern), you play a better D1 team that will push a little bit but one that should be handled (at Texas State) and then you meet a team that’s presumably your equal that should tell you how good you really are (BYU). In fact Baylor’s 2022 (Louisiana Tech, at BYU, Texas State) and 2023 (Texas State, Utah at Louisiana Tech) schedules are going to be even better.
>8. The final recruiting rankings for Baylor’s 2021 class is in the books. The Bears finished No. 55 by Rivals. That’s five spots ahead of where they were for the 2020 class (No. 60). Of course, this class would have been different had it held on to a few including Byron Murphy. However, I did like the way things finished. Keep in mind that the transfers and PWOs do not impact the ratings.
>9. You did know that Baylor’s one lost fumble was a great stat (Trestan Ebner muffed punt vs. Kansas State) in 2020. But did you know the five total fumbles were the lowest any point going back to the 2013 season? Sure, that makes sense. But even if Baylor played a standard 12-game schedule and then a 13th with a bowl, it still likely was going to be the lowest. Prior to this season, the cleanest team in that category was the 2014 Big 12 Champion and Cotton Bowl team that had 16 fumbles and lost only five.
Now, a look at other Baylor sports…
>No. 4 Baylor men's tennis (9-1) battled to a 4-1 win over No. 9 Texas A&M (2-1) Sunday at the SMU Tennis Complex to punch its ticket to the ITA National Team Indoor Championship.
After dropping the doubles point, the Bears came back strong with four-straight singles victories to clinch the match. Three of the singles wins were in straight sets and two were against ranked opponents.
The Bears improved to 20-0 all-time at the ITA Kick-Off Weekend and booked its 10th trip to the national event. The Bears (9-1) are headed to the ITA National Team Indoor Championship in Champaign, Ill that will run Feb. 12-14 with a three-match guarantee.
>No. 9 Baylor equestrian (1-1) edged No. 7 TCU (3-1) at the Willis Family Equestrian Center on Saturday with a final tally of 10-9. Baylor will take on Fresno State on Thursday, February 18 in a neutral-site Big 12 matchup, hosted by TCU.
>Baylor women's golf remained perfect for the 2020-21 season by sweeping the team and individual titles at the Trinity Forest Invitational. BU shot 1-under-par 287 in Tuesday's final round to claim a 13-shot victory, while redshirt freshman Hannah Karg shot a final-round 4-under 68 to win medalist honors by one stroke at 5-under 211.
The title was the Bears' fourth in as many tournaments during the 2020-21 season, following the Schooner Fall Classic, the Betsy Rawls Longhorn Invitational and the Cowgirl Classic. BU players have also won individual titles at all four events, with Gurleen Kaur winning at the Schooner and Longhorn, Elodie Chapelet winning at the Cowgirl and Karg winning at Trinity Forest.
Baylor (-1) claimed head-to-head victories over Oklahoma State (+15), Texas (+27), Kansas State (+39), Texas Tech (+40), SMU (+42), Tulsa (+43), UTSA (+44), Washington (+52), Nebraska (+52), BYU (+54), Chattanooga (+64), Memphis (+68) and Missouri State (+65).
Baylor has nearly three weeks to prepare for its next event, the ICON Invitational, which runs Feb. 22-23 at The Woodlands (Texas) Country Club.
>Baylor won its third-straight match with a 5-2 win over Texas A&M at the Mitchell Tennis Center, Sunday. The No. 20-ranked Bears took the doubles point and picked up four wins on the singles court to improve to 7-1 on the season. Baylor hosts North Texas Friday at Noon at the Hurd Tennis Center.
Let’s make it a great week!
