Curt Cignetti, a big winner at James Madison before taking Indiana to football prominence — and the nation’s hottest coaching property after his No. 3 Hoosiers knocked off Oregon — wasn’t hired by a major program until he was 61. Now his name is being prematurely tossed around as a leading candidate to fill Penn State’s vacancy.
Cignetti is a role model for late bloomers.
Point counterpoint: Take the over in Sunday’s Commanders-Cowboys game.
Ratings bust: North Carolina’s drawing power under Bill Belichick has receded so far so fast that ESPN is passing on Virginia’s Oct. 25 visit to Chapel Hill. The game is being moved to the kids’ table — the ACC Network.
Rest assured: Without a game Saturday, Navy’s football team could be spending the week basking in its 6-0 start. But there’s no basking in Annapolis now, is there?
Ticking down: This year’s Heisman watch — analog or digital — hasn’t been much to look at.
Bottom line: Schools paying millions upon millions to fired football coaches and then pleading financial hardship is the definition of chutzpah.
Collegiate chaos: Can’t prove that Penn State’s knee-jerk dismissal of James Franklin came about when the administration cravenly caved to big donors with short fuses. But it’s not a stretch imagining that’s how it went down. Boosters and officials behind big-time college athletics — football especially — are certifiable, and becoming even more so as the money grows.
Buffaloed: The Bills just dropped a pair of games, while their four wins are against teams with a combined 3-21 record. This presents a tricky conundrum for NFL insiders trying to assess how wrong they may be about Buffalo’s Super Bowl prospects.
Destiny: Nobody doubts — do they? — that the Chiefs will be one half of the next Super Bowl matchup. Under Andy Reid, and assuming Patrick Mahomes stays healthy, Kansas City is the most composed, confident championship-caliber 3-3 team that’s ever been.
Pace of play: The pitch clock has had the biggest impact of any baseball rule change. It’s made the three-hour game as rare as a well-executed sacrifice bunt.
Moneyball: Even the richest franchises need to make smart personnel choices, but the Dodgers’ payroll is as big as the payrolls for the bottom six MLB teams combined.
Silly stuff: As for those odd little dances the Dodgers do after reaching on a hit, could the players be auditioning for Banana Ball?
Tid-bit: A franchise I never would have envisioned carrying the NBA’s top payroll this season is the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Follow the money: Mike Shildt says one reason he stepped down as the Padres’ manager were the death threats from gamblers. Meanwhile, the MLB Network constantly runs ads for online betting sites.
Picked-up piece: Before this season, in the history of the NFL, there were four field goals of 60 or more yards. Going into Thursday night’s game, there had already been four this season. Kickers are making 71.3% of their attempts from 50 yards and longer. The percentage will fall off as fair weather gives way to wind, cold and rain.
Bob Molinaro is a former Virginian-Pilot sports columnist. His Weekly Briefing runs Fridays in The Pilot and Daily Press. He can be reached at bob5molinaro@gmail.com and via Twitter@BobMolinaro.
