Tramel's ScissorTales: Fiesta Bowl travelblog shows weather isn't the Valley of the Sun
OSU guard Josh Sills didn’t know what to expect from the Fiesta Bowl weather. He’s from Ohio, by way of West Virginia, and never had been to Arizona.
Sills talked to teammate Cade Bennett, who hails from the Phoenix suburb of Scottsdale.
“He said that it was going to be really nice and sunny and warm and that kind of thing,” Sills said. “And we come out to practice yesterday, and I think it was 45 degrees and absolutely pouring rain. So I kind of gave him a little bit of crap.”
We can forgive the Fiesta Bowl weather. Even the locals are taken aback.
Temperatures haven’t climbed out of the 50s all week and won’t until long past the OSU-Notre Dame game Saturday. In the mornings and evenings, the temperatures have dropped into the 40s.
With virtually-constant cloud cover, the Valley of the Sun is not living up to its name.
“Sorry the weather is lousy here in beautiful Arizona,” a local wrote me this week. “It’s been perfect for three straight months.”
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That’s OK. We understand.
Besides, there are worse things than 54-degree days in such a beautiful setting.
And it’s not like Phoenix is San Diego, with the same weather every day. Scottsdale’s average December high is 68, not 88.
It’s just that back in Oklahoma, we’ve been living through a bunch of days in the 70s. When you get to Phoenix, you expect it to be warmer, not colder.
“I had some guys who didn’t bring anything but shorts,” said Richetti Jones, who played on OSU’s 2011 Fiesta Bowl team and now is Mike Gundy’s director of player development. Jones called the Scottsdale weather “fall Oklahoma. Right there on the cusp of where we know it’s about to start getting cold again. That’s where we are.”
It happens. When we were here in January 2016, the weather was even worse. Cold and rainy. Camelback Inn employees covered some of their giant cacti with plastic bags, trying to stave off freezing damage.
And truthfully, the weather never gets bad enough so that you can’t enjoy the atmosphere, especially at the Camelback.
I didn’t even leave the property Wednesday. After going over to the media workroom to participate in Zoom conferences with OSU and Notre Dame players, I went back to our room, and Trish the Dish and I strolled around the Camelback.
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The grounds are so meticulously cared for, it reminds me of what everyone says about Augusta National. Flowers and plants and grass pristinely growing, with nary a thing out of place.
And the firepits spread around the Camelback compound are even more enticing when the temps are around 50.
While I worked Wednesday afternoon, the Dish went to the spa and got one of those warm-honey treatments. She spent probably 3½ hours at the spa and said it was divine.
Later, we took another walk – the Dish wanted some photos at sunset – and we ended up in the media hospitality room, where they offer drinks and snacks. We chatted with some of the press corps from Oklahoma.
We told everyone about our two-story suite and invited them to watch OU-Oregon with us. They actually took us up on the offer at halftime. By then, I had gone over to one of the Camelback restaurants and got takeout guacamole and salsa, which is about all we needed for dinner after a good lunch at the hotel.’
Soon enough, the game, the party and the night were gone. The sun would return, but without the heat associated with Phoenix. That’s OK. This is a heck of a place, even when it’s hotter in Oklahoma.
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Notre Dame’s Jack Coan a transfer success
Jack Coan grew up on Long Island, east of New York City, wanting to play at Notre Dame. And indeed, Coan was headed to South Bend. To play lacrosse.
Saturday, Coan will quarterback the Fighting Irish in the Fiesta Bowl against OSU. But he took a detour from Sayville to South Bend, from lacrosse to football.
Coan was a quarterback at Wisconsin for four years, including starting the 2019 season, when he led the Badgers to the Rose Bowl.
So after Coan sat out the 2020 season due to injury, then decided to transfer, he was quite thrilled when the Fighting Irish came calling, needing a quarterback to succeed Ian Book.
“It was always sort of my dream to come play football here at Notre Dame,” Coan said this week. “When I was in the transfer portal and Notre Dame came around and offered me to come here, it sort of just felt like it was meant to be. So every day just feels like a blessing to be here. And I'm just super excited for this last opportunity.”
Coan is not a superstar quarterback. He’s solid. Makes few mistakes. Coan completed 69.6 percent of his 2019 passes for Wisconsin and 67.6 percent of his 2021 passes for Notre Dame. Coan threw 18 touchdowns and five interceptions in 2019; 20 and five in 2021.
Coan is consistent.
“Everything that we thought we were getting in Jack, we underestimated,” said Notre Dame offensive coordinator Tommy Rees, himself a former Irish quarterback. “He was more than we thought we were getting … from an intangible standpoint and a personality standpoint, leadership, being the guy in the room, being the guy in front of the offense.”
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In this new transfer portal age, some quarterbacks make big waves. Joe Burrow from Ohio State to Louisiana State. Justin Fields from Georgia to Ohio State. Jalen Hurts from Alabama to OU.
But truth is, there are as many transfers whose stories don’t end well as transfers whose stories do.
Last off-season, Athlon ranked the top 10 quarterback transfers for the 2021 season. Coan was ranked fifth. No. 1, McKenzie Milton from Central Florida to Florida State, was in and out of the lineup. No. 2, Charlie Brewer from Baylor to Utah, was given the job and then beaten out. No. 3, Bailey Zappe from Houston Baptist to Western Kentucky, was great. No. 4, Tyler Shough from Oregon to Texas Tech, was just OK, then was injured.
So you never know.
“I was looking for a place that I could compete to play,” Coan said. “And then after that, I was just looking for the best program. Obviously, Notre Dame presented that opportunity, and I was hoping they would when I was sort of looking, and I think it worked out great.
“A lot of positives came out of it for me as far as playing on a great football team, meeting a bunch of new friends and having great teammates and a new coaching staff, gaining more knowledge about football and so on. So, for me, it was a win/win. It was a blessing. I'm sure some other people might not have as good of experiences; but for me, it was great.”
Quarterback transfers can be dicey. Starting quarterbacks are expected to be leaders. But they just got to town; hard to exert too much leadership if you haven’t even learned all the names of your teammates.
“I'd say the main key for me was just putting my head down and working as hard as I could,” Coan said. “I felt like, at first, you have to lead by example before you can become that vocal guy in the locker room.
“And I think it's sort of just getting out of your comfort zone. You go from a place in Wisconsin where you're sort of one of the main guys and you know everybody, everyone knows you, you're great friends with everyone. Then you come here and nobody knows you; nobody knows anything about you. So it's just getting out of your comfort zone, trying to meet new guys, put yourself out there and talk to guys and seeing what their story is, and so on.”
Count Coan as a success story in the pantheon of transfer quarterbacks. It can be even more successful with a Fiesta Bowl victory.
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NFL predictions & playoff percentages
With two weeks left in the National Football League regular season, 24 of the 32 teams retain playoff hopes. That’s what a 17-game schedule and a 14-team playoff field will do.
Next week at this time will be Scenario City. If Team X, Team Y and Team Z win, Team X is in. If Team Q, Team W and Team C win, Team Y is in. That sort of thing.
But this week, there are too many scenarios to worry about. So it comes down to percentages. What are the odds certain teams get in?
We can start with the divisions. Four divisions have been decided: AFC West (Kansas City), NFC East (Dallas), NFC South (Tampa Bay) and NFC North (Green Bay).
So here are the percentages of the other divisions, according to the statistical gurus at fivethirtyeight.com.
AFC North: Cincinnati 73%, Baltimore 11%, Cleveland 11%, Pittsburgh 6%.
AFC South: Tennessee 88%, Indianapolis 12%.
AFC East: Buffalo 89%, New England 11%.
NFC West: Los Angeles 77%, Arizona 23%.
The only teams that have secured playoff berths without clinching the division are the Rams and Cardinals. So here are the playoff percentages for the remaining teams.
AFC: Buffalo 98%, Indianapolis 97%, Tennessee 97%, New England 94%, Cincinnati 80%, Los Angeles 33%, Miami 32%, Baltimore 30%, Las Vegas 16%, Pittsburgh 12%, Cleveland 11%, Denver 0.1%.
NFC: San Francisco 75%, Philadelphia 68%, New Orleans 36%, Minnesota 13%, Washington 7%, Atlanta 2%.
Let’s get to the predictions:
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Falcons at Bills: Buffalo 32-10. Somehow, Atlanta has stayed in the playoff hunt. Well, not somehow. An easy schedule. The Falcons’ best wins are over Miami and New Orleans.
Giants at Bears: Chicago 23-14. Most think New York will keep coach Joe Judge and Chicago will fire Matt Nagy. But I’ve got a lot more confidence in Nagy than I do Judge.
Chiefs at Bengals: Kansas City 27-20. Cincinnati is hot. But KC is hotter, so the AFC North tightens.
Dolphins at Titans: Tennessee 22-10. The Titans remain in the running for the No. 1 seed in the AFC.
Raiders at Colts: Indianapolis 25-17. Amazingly, Vegas still is in the playoff hunt despite a season of tragedy and scandal. But the schedule is rough; Colts, then Chargers.
Jaguars at Patriots: New England 27-7. Jacksonville is just what the Patriots need to solidify a playoff berth.
Buccaneers at Jetropolitans: Tampa Bay 41-0. The NFL has been known for its parity going on 50 years. But it never has solved the Tom Brady/Jets dilemma.
Eagles at Washingtons: Philadelphia 24-14. One more win likely gets the Eagles into the playoffs. Philly finishes against Dallas, which could be resting starters.
Rams at Ravens: Los Angeles 30-20. Baltimore is a valiant but crippled team. Meanwhile, the Rams are soaring.
Broncos at Chargers: Los Angeles 24-11. Denver’s playoff hopes are on life support. The Broncos have to beat the Chargers and Chiefs, then have seven go a particular way.
Texans at 49ers: San Francisco 21-16. Houston has been playing well, and 49er quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo has a torn thumb ligament. But still.
Cardinals at Cowboys: Dallas 28-20. This could be playoff preview, which Dallas wouldn’t mind. Arizona has cratered.
Panthers at Saints: New Orleans 19-14. Carolina plans to start Sam Darnold at quarterback, while Saints coach Sean Payton declines to name a starter. After Ian Book’s performance Monday night, maybe New Orleans will go quarterback-free.
Lions at Seahawks: Detroit 18-17. Seattle is ready for this miserable season to be over.
Vikings at Packers: Green Bay 33-23. A loss to Green Bay eliminates Minnesota from the playoffs.
Browns at Steelers: Cleveland 23-17. Another playoff elimination game. Good news for the Browns; despite Baker Mayfield’s troubles, Cleveland still has the quarterback edge.
Last week: 9-6. Season: 150-86-1.
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Mailbag: Bowl game opt-outs
College football players skipping bowl games remains wildly unpopular with fans but is increasing dramatically among players.
Mark: "I have zero tolerance for the opt-out players. I can’t believe they practice or work out probably 300 days a year to play 14 games and then opt out of one of them. Was it Brett Favre that said, ‘They pay me to practice. I play the games for free.’? Would be curious to know what Will Grier thinks about opting out. I’m pretty sure he opted out of West Virginia’s bowl game to get ready for the draft. Been in the NFL for three years and I think he’s appeared in two games. A QBR of 33.2. Might have been fun to be a star in one more college game after all.”
Tramel: It’s actually a valid point. I fully support players skipping out on their teams, since we have a culture of coaches skipping out on their teams. The system has declared – bowl games don’t matter. But I did wonder what Sooners like Nik Bonitto and Brian Asamoah, Perrion Winfrey and Isaiah Thoams, thought while watching the Alamo Bowl. Sure looked like fun if you’re a football player.
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The List: NFL broadcasting teams
The death of John Madden this week caused much recollection of Madden’s impact on the NFL. Madden was great in the broadcast booth, across multiple networks and multiple broadcast partners.
Here are my five favorite NFL broadcasting teams ever:
5. Marv Albert and Paul Maguire
They never rose to even No. 1 at NBC in their seven years together, 1988-94. But Maguire was a fabulous analyst, with charm and crankiness and the best sense of humor in NFL broadcast history. Albert in the last 20 years has become something of a cartoon character, but there was a time when he was simply great, and not just at the NBA.
4. Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth
The gold standard these days. They make NBC’s Sunday Night Football the best game production in all of sports. Michaels remains an iconic voice, more than 40 years into the business. And Collinsworth is the best analyst going these days, telling you things you didn’t know – quickly – with a pleasant personality.
3. Jack Buck and Hank Stram
For years, Buck and Stram called Monday Night Football on the radio. And it was sublime. The iconic Buck, known for baseball but whose gravelly voice worked on any field of play, with the staccato-voiced Stram telling you what had just happened and what was about to happen, long before Tony Romo was a gleam in CBS’ eye. “It’s-open-left-Jack-it’s-open-left,” Stram would say, and “here goes Dorsett left” Buck would respond.
2. Pat Summerall and John Madden
I’ve got nothing bad to say about Madden. Other than this. Sometimes we focus so much on Madden, we overlook the great Summerall. Pat Summerall was the voice of the NFL. What a career. A player from 1952-61. Then a broadcaster for almost 50 years. Summerall called games for CBS from 1962-93, then for Fox from 1994-2002, with some occasional assignments after that. The voice of Summerall still rings through my head, declaring it’s a late Sunday afternoon in autumn, and a big football game is about to commence. And Madden was great, as everyone knows.
1. Frank Gifford, Don Meredith & Howard Cosell
They were together on Monday Night Football from 1971-73 and 1977-83. In some ways, it seems a lot more than those 10 years. In some ways, it seems a lot less. The chemistry made no sense. The folksy but biting Meredith, the original iconic Dallas Cowboys quarterback-turned-broadcaster, with Cosell, the hate-him-or-hate-him New York commentator who didn’t seem to know much about counter plays or zone defenses, but who knew society and what were the hot topics of the day. With Gifford serving as moderator, Cosell and Meredith would banter with each other – or separately – and America would watch. Great matchup or sorry game, it didn’t matter. It was must-see TV. Cosell would pontificate about some huge issue, then Meredith would point out that Tom Landry was picking his nose. Their last broadcast together was 38 years ago, and yet their status as the best is stronger than ever.
Berry Tramel: Berry can be reached at 405-760-8080 or at btramel@oklahoman.com. He can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including FM-98.1. Support his work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Fiesta Bowl travelblog shows weather isn't Valley of the Sun
