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It all started with the traditional Selection Sunday when the 68-team field was revealed.

Who made it. Who didn’t. Who are the #1 seeded teams. Who plays whom and where do they play? It begins with a pair of play-in games Tuesday and Wednesday before the action involving 64 schools begins Thursday, capped with the Final Four in the first week of April.

The Sunday show featured analysis, over-analysis, intense questions over why some teams like North Carolina got in, and some, such as West Virginia did not.

It’s the same every year, but it’s different because they’re always talking about different schools.

This year, the number one seeds are Auburn, Duke, Houston and Florida.  No one has a problem with that.

It’s all pretty exciting, and it’s a wonderful time of the year in sports.  Many of those who watch have their own group of people where you fill in your brackets and hope for the best. By the way, the odds of picking all 63 games correctly are 1 in 9.2 quintillion.

That seems tough to do. Just sayin’.

As the games begin, there will be buzzer-beaters, shocking upsets, and matchups involving great coaches who have great reputations.

When the Final Four comes around, after all the craziness, you will find that most of the teams still standing come from among the top four seeds in each region.

Once upon a time, in a different life, there were 24 and 25 teams in the tournament.

The regions were named East, Southeast, Midwest, and West. Schools from those areas only played where they came from until the Final Four. Now, they mix it up and with so many in the field, you find St.John’s playing the first two rounds in Providence in the West Region. Go figure.  If a conference, say the Atlantic Coast, had five teams represented it was a big story. This year, the Southeastern Conference has 14.

Many of them may have a losing record in conference play, but they have been dominant playing teams from outside the conference. That’s where they will start when the ball gets rolling.

I have no idea who will win, make the Final Four, or advance deep into the tournament.

It’s the old story, it’s not the better team that wins, but who plays better that day.

As a broadcaster, this was one of the thrilling and grueling weeks of the year.

I  would watch the Sunday show, learn pairings, then wait for the call later that night to find out my assignment. Then the fun would begin. If I had a Thursday, Saturday region, I had to request plane reservations quickly, leaving on Tuesday. If I were assigned to a Friday and Sunday matchup I had the luxury of an extra day to prepare and get things done.

Monday and Tuesday before departure, I would do a deep dive into the 8 teams I would be covering. I would have to learn about some obscure schools in those days. The information wasn’t that easy to find.

Wednesday and Thursday are the toughest days for any announcer covering the NCAA Championship. My day would start at 9am and finish at 9pm. Eight schools would have practice sessions, followed by a news conference by the head coach. I would jump from the court to a back room at the arena to watch the players and hear the coach, then return to the court for when the next team took the floor. Preparation for these games were all about getting an understanding in rapid fashion, not only who the players were and how they performed on the court, but human interest stories about them and the school in general as to their history in the sport. A lot to do in a short period of time.

Practice was critical, not so much as learning how a team played, but who the players were. Put a number with a name. If they had names on the backs of their practice uniforms so much the better. But many of the smaller and far less prominent schools did not. We always joked between us that we hoped we didn’t get a “directional” school such as SE Louisiana, or NE Missouri State, which often had no names on their uniforms.

Don’t get me wrong. We’re not talking about grueling and frenzied work like in the construction field or anything serious. This was fun stuff. Actually, I never called what I did work.

Our crew would meet after the full day of action and coaches’ interviews and go over each of the four games upcoming the next day. There would be no time available the next morning when the production crew would have to get to the arena early and do what they had to do.

The next day was upon us and we would broadcast four games, starting around noon with a doubleheader. Following a break of about two hours we’d be at it again with the final two games starting at 7pm and ending around 11pm.

So those two days, the practice sessions, the head coach interviews, and the four games of the first round were the biggest challenge any of us faced.

The next day was an abbreviated version of the first practice day. Now there were four teams to cover and coaches’ interviews dealing with the upcoming second round contests. The following day the two second round games were played.

Week two of March Madness was not as furious to cover with the four teams in the Sweet 16 and then Elite Eght round involved.

So, following a doubleheader on either Thursday or Friday and a regional final on Saturday or Sunday, one of the Final Four entries would be established.

I’ve gone into detail on the prep for the first two weeks to indicate how much time and effort the broadcasters spend as you, the viewer, go back and forth using your remote to relax and  enjoy the great action while sitting on your ottoman.

Often my assignment for the second week would involve a totally different region so it became necessary to learn four new teams from the first week of play.

One year, I was teamed with the legendary analyst Billy Packer for the first round while the lead play-by-play announcer, Jim Nantz handled the studio coverage, which he did so well. He would join Billy the second week and I would be given a different partner.

We were assigned a Thursday night game in Salt Lake City, Utah, then traveled by private plane to Baton Rouge, Louisiana the next morning for a doubleheader to be played Saturday, only to board another private flight to Minneapolis early on Sunday to broadcast two games that same day. How hectic do you think that was?

Five games in four days in three cities, none close to the other.

These experiences are what I remember more than the games I broadcast.

I can hardly remember them all or most of them because there were so many and they become a blur. I even covered many tournament games involving Syracuse, my Alma Mater.

Readers may wonder how difficult it was not to root for the Orange, or did I really become a big fan?

The answer is simple. There were so many facts to be aware of for both schools, and the demand to concentrate intently on the action to make sure the calls were correct, that it was impossible to sit back and root for your school, even though I naturally wanted them to win.

So, March Madness is here and it’s one big circus of competition involving drama, surprises, and wonderful stories of the people involved.

It all winds up with a national championship for someone. The nets get cut down after the final game and there are memories galore for so many.

For those who broadcast the games, the term March Madness couldn’t be a better way to sum it all up.

The post March Madness Is Upon Us appeared first on Dick Stockton.

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For all those out there who watch televised sports of any kind, I wonder if they realize how those pictures appear on screen and who decides what they see?

We take for granted that the action shown will give us the best possible view, including the reaction shots that follow.

I spent my entire TV career either upstairs in a broadcast booth, or in the case of basketball, at a table court side.

But the real action takes place inside a production truck located outside the stadium or arena. That’s where the folks who actually put the broadcast on the air do their thing.

There is a producer, director, technical director, audio man, and countless others in charge of video taping possible replays that follow the live action that is initially shown.

We’re going to only deal with the director here because he is the one man who decides what pictures you see. He’s the one who faces a vast wall of screens showing what each cameraman, (as few as 7 and as many as 20 or so) has focused on, and which one of these shots will be called out to actually go on the air.

It is a lightning fast experience, resembling what sounds very much like an auctioneer does when he’s chanting the rapid change in bids for an item that’s on sale.

If you think about how quickly shots change in any sport that comes to mind, that’s what the activity is in the production truck.

I’ve been blessed working with some of the best ever, and believe me, a good director makes your job so much easier. Here are some of those, who are all in the broadcasting Hall of Fame.

The first one was Harry Coyle, who directed 36 World Series for NBC beginning with the very first one telecast in 1947.  He was the man calling the shots for that network’s regular season Game of the Week, as well as nearly 30 All-Star Games.

He was the director, of course, when I joined the NBC team for the 1975 World Series, and is responsible for one of the iconic pictures showing Carlton Fisk using his arms, willing his line drive down the left field line to be a fair ball, and when it was, leaping with joy as he started down the first base line with the game winning home run in the 6th game. As the fortunate one to call that dramatic homer, I know better than anyone that it was the pictures chosen by Harry Coyle that made the moment memorable forever.

The exultation by Fisk was a reaction shot that was taped and shown after the actual home run that people remember. It was Harry Coyle, who decided in advance to place a camera inside the left field scoreboard, enabling the view from left field that made it so special.

A camera inside a scoreboard had never been done before. A true genius of his profession.

Sandy Grossman was a director for CBS Sports for 10 Super Bowls, 18 NBA Finals, five Stanley Cup finals and Olympic events. He won eight Emmy Awards for his directing and was a true innovator.

He was the main man for all of CBS’ NBA coverage, and I had the honor of working with Sandy when I served as lead announcer for the hoops coverage in the early 80’s until NBC took over the contract in 1990.

He was also the lead NFL director and worked with the network’s #1 team of Pat Summerall and John Madden. The connection between Madden and Grossman played, I believe, the major role in Madden’s tremendous success using the telestrator, which were the drawings on-screen that brought out John’s explanation of a play.

Madden also communicated with Sandy via the talk-back button between plays that set up what John wanted to focus on next. The talk back button made it possible for the coach, as he was known, to talk to the director without it going out over the air.

In the hours before a broadcast, and during the pre-game warmups, Grossman instructed his cameramen to be on the lookout for unusual happenings that might be of value, especially if the game became a blowout. Sandy Grossman and John Madden were at work way before the opening kickoff.

Besides never missing a beat in covering an NBA game when I was on the mike, Sandy was the first director to show immediate close-up reaction shots of other players and coaches, as well as the crowd, after a particular play or a key foul.

Grossman also was the first to use music going to a commercial which lent an air of theatrics to a sports telecast.

I miss Sandy, another Hall of Famer, who passed away in 2014.

Still with us is Bob Fishman, another CBS great who just retired in 2022 after becoming the trademark director of the Final Four NCAA Basketball Championship and countless other sports achievements.

He was in the production truck for 39 Final Fours, 27 U.S. Open Tennis tournaments, 21 Daytona 500’s, and other events such as the Belmont Stakes, MLB and NFL Playoffs, and the great figure-skating competition in the Olympics. He also was the director of the NFL Today, the legendary pre-game show in its early years.

Fishman never missed live action on the field of play, not always an easy thing to do, and refined the art of capturing the emotion in every sport he covered.

Do you remember Tonya Harding, in tears, after discovering her laces broke on her skate at the Lillehammer Olympics in 1992?

How about Jim Valvano’s crazy sprint on the floor of the NCAA men’s championship after his N.C. State Wolfpack improbably won the national title in 1983?

To delver further into the list of Bob Fishman’s achievements would be never-ending.

But I recall a personal time. Bob was the director when I teamed up with Jim Kaat for CBS’ backup Baseball Game of the Week. Bob underwent a bone marrow transplant after he was diagnosed with non-Hodgins lymphoma that nearly took his life.

He missed the 1990 Final Four, but in ultra-courageous fashion came back to direct our baseball coverage. Accompanied by his remarkable wife, Margaret, and draped in tubes connecting what it seemed all over his body, I often would fly with them to the site of our game. We would watch the Friday night game before our Saturday afternoon broadcast.

But Bob would retire early to get rest and store up energy for the upcoming telecast.

Those moments are what I remember the most about Bob Fishman.

He will turn 77 at the end of the month.

He’s not yet in the Hall of Fame of directors, but he has plenty of years to go on what has been a terrific career as sports director,  Rich Russo just completed his fifth Super Bowl for Fox Sports.

Russo, along with producer Richie Zyontz, finished a season to remember launching the broadcasting career of Tom Brady. Whatever Brady gained in going through his rookie year in the booth, he was blessed working with a duo that excelled in creating the right atmosphere for the super-knowledgeable and uber-intelliegent Brady to make progress. They both got the job done with a remarkable low key and pressure free culture. It is a trademark of Rich Russo as well as the other directors I have saluted.

Russo has learned from the likes of Sandy Grossman and Bob Fishman as others will learn from Rich Russo. Keeping calm and being patient go hand in hand in calling the shots of games that are often frenetic.

All of those revealed here have that trait as they peer over all of the screens and rapidly choose the next picture you see when you watch the games.

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Time for a little fun.

There are sayings and phrases that you hear every day that everyone knows what you’re talking about. But when you really examine what they are, and look at them in a purely literal way, well, you may wonder what they REALLY mean.

Let’s examine a bunch of them.

IT IS WHAT IT IS.
But, what IS it, anyway?

TO MAKE A LONG STORY SHORT.
Most of the time that means it’s a story that goes on a lot longer.

THAT’S ON MY BUCKET LIST.
We all know it comes from the 2007 film The Bucket List.
It’s about a list of things to do before you “kick the bucket”.
I don’t think there’s a line from a movie that’s used more than that?

WE’LL TAKE A RAIN CHECK.
We know it’s a baseball term but what if the weather has nothing to do with it?

LONG TIME NO SEE.
No one would ever simply say “I haven’t seen you in a while”.

SAME OLD, SAME OLD.
Is what you’ve been doing that old?

SIX OF ONE, HALF A DOZEN OF ANOTHER.
That works if you’re good at math.

I HAVE A LAUNDRY LIST OF THINGS TO DO.
Is it always about sheets, pillowcases, shirts, and towels?

PICK YOUR POISON.
Who wants to make that choice? I’d rather not.

HERE TODAY, GONE TOMORROW.
What if it’s still here tomorrow.

IT’S THE ONLY WAY TO GO
Whatever it is, believe me, there’s always more than one way to go.

KILL TWO BIRDS WITH ONE STONE.
We always say we’re doing it, but isn’t it practically impossible to do?

NO PAIN, NO GAIN
Really, does it have to hurt?

WHATEVER.
I really have no answer to what you’re saying.

UNDER THE WEATHER.
So, if I’m not feeling well, what does it have to do with the weather, and how far under am I?

IT’S SUCH A SMALL WORLD.
You know that’s not the case so why do you say it?

EVERY NOW AND THEN.
In other words, not very often.

WE SHOULD GET ON THE PLANE.
Isn’t it better to get IN the plane? Getting on the plane won’t go well once it starts to move. Besides, no one ever says “Get on the car”.

Then, of course, there are the sports phrases we hear that make us roll our eyes.

THEY WANT TO GET OFF TO A GOOD START.
Really, I thought they wanted to fall behind early.

HE CAME TO PLAY.
I know he’s performed very well, but didn’t everyone else come to play as well?

THERE’S NO QUIT IN HIM.
Again, he’s battled back, but who out there has really quit?

HE’S A COMPETITOR.
As opposed to everyone else who just goes through the motions.

THEY CAN SMELL IT NOW.
They’re on the way to win, but what does that really smell like?

THEY CAN’T AFFORD TO MAKE THOSE KIND OF MISTAKES.
Sure they can, if they’re out to lose.

HE HAS ALL THE INTANGIBLES.
Not only is it hard to enumerate, it’s hard to spell.

THIS IS A CRITICAL PLAY COMING UP.
It sure is, until the next one comes along.

WE WON BECAUSE WE’RE A FAMILY.
But when we lose, we don’t speak to each other.

There are so many others we hear and use in everyday life and in sports.
I welcome our loyal readers to offer their contributions and they’ll appear at some point given proper credit.

Super Bowl Sunday is long gone, but there was another sports happening that day that bears recognition.

Hubie Brown, one of the great TV expert-analysts, broadcast his final game that afternoon when the Milwaukee Bucks hosted the Philadelphia 76ers.

The telecast was a salute to Brown, who, at the age of 91, that’s right, 91, wrapped up a coaching and announcing career that spanned well over half a decade.

Brown was my partner for the last two years of CBS’ national coverage of the NBA.

That was back in 1990. We then teamed up for several seasons on TNT.

I have written about Hubie in a past column or two, and cited his remarkable consistency in preparing, teaching, and delivering on television, precisely the way he did as a two-time NBA Coach of the Year. He led the Atlanta Hawks, New York Knicks and Memphis Grizzlies in the NBA and won an ABA championship with the Kentucky Colonels.

He gave 100% as a coach demanding the same from his players, and gave 100% in every game he broadcast.

You couldn’t fail to get an education in basketball when you listened to him, and I am proud to have had the honor of sitting with him courtside.

But the viewers were the real winners as they listened to the unwavering way he broke down the game every time he took to the air.

But if you step away for a moment, and think of anyone in any field working before an audience at the age of 91, you would have to shake your head in utter amazement at that achievement.

That’s what I think about.

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Kudos to the National Hockey League for reviving the dying tradition of the All-Star Game.

It was once a mid-season gem that saw memorable moments performed by memorable stars who were proud to be selected and proud to actually play.

That all went away. It began with baseball. At one time, players wearing their team uniforms on the field together were out to try to win for their league.

The Home Run Derby, invented by ESPN and held the day before the game became more popular than the contest itself and as it turned out, also changed the way baseball has largely been played. It’s all about the home run……or as we now witness, all about strikeouts and pathetically low batting averages.

But this season, the NHL launched a tournament named 4 Nations Face-Off.

It proved to be a fiercely competitive and riveting round-robin.

The United States, Canada, Finland, and Sweden were represented by NHL players from those nations who played for their country.  Teammates from NHL teams were battling each other wearing the colors of their native nation. It was beautiful to watch.

With the added fever pitch due to issues outside of sports involving Canada and the U.S. the matchups took on added flavor. The American team defeated the Canadians 3-1 in their initial meeting, spiced by boos of the respective national anthems by the crowd.

The two nations faced each other in the final showdown, with Canada capturing a meaningful title, 3-2, on an overtime goal by perhaps the best all-around player in the game, Connor McDavid. It was a contest worthy of a seventh game of a Stanley Cup Final and a pride bursting forth that was equal or better than the best we have seen in the Olympics.

Compare that scene to the NBA version of the All-Star Game which has sadly become an outright joke. The game itself, which I was honored to broadcast for nine seasons on CBS, has diminished beyond recognition. It became such an embarrassment last season with the stars merely going through the motions, that a new format was adopted this time around. The 2025 abomination was divided into international, young stars and veteran stars teams. A winning Rising Stars team from their own tournament was also included. The first to score 40 points in those mini-games would win. Those contests went pretty fast. Everything now has been reduced to tournaments. After a while they all lose their significance. How many gimmicks are enough?

The Lakers’ LeBron James, still playing at a high level at the incredible age of 40, announced he would not participate so he could get more rest.

This isn’t solely aimed at LeBron, but star players in all the pro sports appreciate being cited as all-stars and all-pros, but they don’t want to extend themselves and perform before their fans. Can you spell selfish?

So we’ll end this diatribe the way we started. Hats off to hockey. They made the term “All-Star Game” mean something once again.

Here’s something earth-shattering. The New York Yankees will now be permitted to wear facial hair.  Stop the presses (an old-fashioned term that is long gone).

George Steinbrenner, who bought the Yankees in 1973, declared three years later that his players would be clean-shaven. No more mustaches, mutton chops, and beards of any kind. But times have changed (ya think?)

Now, George’s son Hal, the current owner, will allow well-groomed beards.

I’m so relieved. Perhaps someone in the know whispered to Hal that the Yankees were no longer able to sign prominent free agents because facial hair was disallowed.

I really don’t know.

So the 2025 version of the Yankees will have a new look.

UConn’s men’s basketball team entered this season seeking to win its third consecutive NCAA championship.

Dan Hurley, their vocal and often high-strung head coach turned down an offer from the NBA LA Lakers to stay at Storrs (Conn.) and try to win their third straight.

But it doesn’t look like it’ll happen. The Huskies are 18-9, having suffered three losses in a row after starting the season 4-0, They never have looked the part of a national championship contender. Hurley has had his troubles, often criticizing officials on the court and in post-game comments. He has also claimed he cannot coach this team as hard as he’s coached some of his other squads.

He told one official, “don’t turn your back on me, I’m the best coach in the sport”.

Two things. One, it seems Dan Hurley prefers to blame others instead of accepting responsibility. The second is that he’s not the best coach in the sport.

Rick Pitino is.

As I’ve said before, Pitino has had a checkered past, to say the least, when it comes to morals and circumventing rules. But as a basketball coach, there is none better.

Once a national power, St. John’s faced a decade of mediocrity before Pitino came aboard last season. He had won national titles at Kentucky and Louisville, and took Providence to the Final Four before that. He was the first coach to lead three different teams to the Final Four, and is the only coach to win it all at two different schools.

He was fired at Louisville amid a federal investigation involving bribes and recruits.

He was later exonerated of these charges and returned to coaching at Iona in 2023.

Last season, his first at St.John’s, not an easy school to recruit. He finished 20-13.

This season, the Red Storm lead the Big East, have a 24-4 record after beating UConn for the second time, and are ranked in the nation’s Top 10.

Pitino is a brilliant coach and there’s no telling how far St.John’s can go in the upcoming March Madness.

To put it simply, he’s the best.

Finally, the big NFL free-agent question? Where will Aaron Rodgers wind up?

I was skeptical of his signing with the Jets, which was borne out decisively.

It was a bad move then, and it would be a bad move now for a team to go with what is now a 41-year old future Hall of Famer, but a present day risk.

Again I ask, what is the upside for any team? Now, I believe there could be a market for Rodgers as a backup, in case of injury to a starter.  But there’s no way he’ll go for that.

Is there a chance Aaron Rodgers may decide to retire after it’s said and done?

I think yes.

Time will tell.

The post Multi-Sport Potpourri appeared first on Dick Stockton.

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I’ve never seen someone more scrutinized than Tom Brady has been in his first year in the broadcast booth.

No surprise considering who he is and what he accomplished as a player.

From day one, practically everyone from social media critics,  to ex-players in similar roles, to the average viewer, took his temperature on a week-to-week basis, analyzing and often over-analyzing how Tom did on yesterday’s Fox broadcast.

More often than not, those who voiced their opinions, particularly those who were negative, many times extremely so, carried with them an agenda.

I know this to be true.

This column is not about a defense of Brady’s first season in a new role.

He doesn’t need that.

As a matter of fact, I believe he doesn’t warrant anyone to defend him.

Tom Brady, in my view, had a remarkably successful debut in his a totally new career in 2024.

I admit I had a somewhat personal role in seeing through his development.

But before the cries emerge of my own partiality and inability to be objective, let me say that I will stake my reputation as a 50-year network broadcaster on my assessment of Tom Brady.

Did he knock it out of the park from day one as the expert-analyst with play-by-play man Kevin Burkhardt on Fox’ lead NFL announce team?

No, not at all.

Did he make mistakes on occasion on facts, pronunciation and word usage?

Yes, he did.

I will say this. Tom Brady tackled his first year as a TV broadcaster in the same fashion he prepared and went about his role as the quarterback on the New England Patriots, leading them to six Super Bowl titles, then winning another with the Tampa Bay Bucs.

I know he got ready for each game the same way he did on the field with the exception of not physically executing plays.

He got better as the season progressed.  He needed the reps to become more comfortable seeing the game from a different perspective, and getting used to what it’s like to actually broadcast a game. That means standing next to a partner, watching the many TV screens or monitors on the table, using the telestrator, which is learning to use that pen that draws circles and diagrams plays, wearing a headset where you hear your partner and the producer and director in the production truck down below. It means getting a feel for what you say and when you say it.

You get the idea.

I’ve been there, of course, and fortunately no one analyzed my first season, or the others who had to go through the same evolution.

Believe me, no one ever went through the intense evaluation Brady did.

Not John Madden, not Al Michaels, not Chris Collinsworth, not Jim Nantz, not anyone.

Everyone had to find his footing. Some did better than others.

CBS’ Tony Romo was hailed as a brilliant new football voice when he started. He deserved it. I happen to like Romo as a broadcaster, but the practice of predicting plays can wear thin, and the danger of over-talking is a killer.

Brady’s chemistry with Burkhardt is exceptional, which is never guaranteed, but makes for a comfortable listen.

If you actually listen to the things Brady says, you can hear his preparation, his imaginative way of describing plays, people, and situations.

To hear him implore the Lions to call a timeout because he sees that Detroit has 12 men on the field is something I’ve never heard from anyone.

To describe Vic Fangio’s Eagles defensive effort as “death by a thousand cuts” is a novel way to describe their style. To discuss, first hand, how it feels to be in a Super Bowl, and what it’s like to lose is authentic, to say the least.

To describe one of the better running backs in the league having “small hands” as the reason for his problems fumbling the ball is brutally honest and shows how deep Brady goes in getting ready to broadcast a game.

He knows that improvement is not about game to game, but season to season.

He is already looking forward to next year, answering those cynics who never believed he would not take this on for more than one shot.

There have been those who vocally claim he cannot properly do his job without attending production meetings with coaches and players, due to his position as a part-owner with the Las Vegas Raiders.

Here’s my answer, and I’ll let you in on a secret.

Coaches and players tell you little in those production meetings. They never talk about their strategy. They never honestly assess their true feelings and size up their own players, and they certainly never talk about the weaknesses of the team they are playing and where they can take advantage. Everyone on the opposing team are superstars.

But when Tom Brady looks at the tape of the teams he will cover, he sees it all, and knows what he sees. He doesn’t need to ask anyone to learn anything.

How about conflict of interest charges with Brady calling a game?

Hogwash.

When you’re in the booth, all you think about is doing the best job you can.

You’re not thinking of any other role you have, or the thing fans think about when they’re watching a game.

The concentration factor is immense.

I expressed my thought that Tom Brady didn’t require anyone to defend his work.

But as I proceeded with my view of his maiden season as an announcer, I found it was impossible to avoid the questions that would ultimately pop up.

Most of the viewers are not aware of the naysayers who are either jealous of the man’s success in life, or enjoy putting someone down.

The great Al Michaels addressed that mentality during the season.

In our business, there is a “gotcha” mentality.  There are those who wait for an error and pounce on it.

In Tom Brady’s case it goes with the territory.  He is unfazed about the critics, and it’s understandable. He has been used to defenses trying to take his head off in a 23-year career that produced greatness.

Now, he is determined to become one of the best to do what he has started in a second career. With impeccable preparation, incredible intelligence, and the experience of simply doing the job, he has a chance to become one of the best ever, if not the very best.

I, for one, won’t be surprised if that happens.

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After a grueling 18-week regular season and three weeks of playoffs, the two teams left standing to battle it out in the Super Bowl are the two-time defending champion Kansas City Chiefs, and the Philadelphia Eagles.

The Chiefs certainly are no surprise since they will have been there five of out of the last six times when they face the Eagles in New Orleans a week from Sunday.

But there were questions about KC because they escaped with close-call victories practically every week and never looked liked a dominant force.

Yet the way they won, including the AFC championship game against the Buffalo Bills, is precisely what champions need to be.

As for the Eagles, they turned around a woeful beginning and steamrolled the rest of the way with a recipe that has never failed football teams of any level in the sport.

Running the ball and playing brilliant defense.

There’s a lesson here about reacting too early in a season about a team’s chances.

Philly was 2-2 before they decided on their formula for success.

Their only defeat the rest of the way was to the Washington Commanders who they vanquished by 32 points in the NFC title matchup.

A word about the losers in the NFL’s conference championship battles.

There can be no more of a sharp contrast between the Commanders and the Bills who came within one game of getting to the big show.

Washington was one of the big losers in the league a year ago. They won only 4 games and were plagued by many years of feeble ownership by Dan Snyder who had only six playoff
appearances and two playoff wins during his 24 years owning the club.

A toxic culture in the workplace and other improprieties forced Snyder to sell the team.

The new hierarchy brought in former Falcons head coach Dan Quinn and they drafted quarterback Jayden Daniels of LSU with their first draft pick.

The two were magical in their first season.  The Commanders went 12-5 and earned a playoff spot. Daniels, showing a poise that went beyond reason, played like the Rookie of the Year he will easily become when the season awards are revealed.

Daniels’ playoff run was remarkable. After leading the Commanders to a road victory at division champion Tampa Bay, he shredded the defense of the top-seeded Lions who were the favorites to finally get to a Super Bowl that has eluded them forever.

In his third road start in post-season, Daniels once again performed like a seasoned veteran against the Eagles. The problem was, the team, as a whole, were not up to the challenge, turning the ball over four times and losing their composure with near fights and costly major penalties. All of that helped the Eagles score 55 points, the most ever scored in a conference title game.

But Washington has a future. They have a young franchise quarterback, and valuable playoff experience to be a force in the league.

For the Bills, who lost another playoff nail-biter to the Chiefs, it was pure heartbreak.

The look on the face of their superb QB, Josh Allen, told the story.

The teams have clashed in the playoffs four times in the past five years and KC has come out on top each time.

The Bills have been knocking at the door perennially since Allen came on the scene but they can’t push through. You would naturally wonder how many more chances they have to break through, eventually the window closes. But as long as they have a healthy Josh Allen they have that possibility. But it doesn’t look promising at this point.

The AFC final, pitting Allen and the Bills, against Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs was Super Bowl worthy. Two great quarterbacks leading their teams.

Back and forth it went, with KC holding a 3-point lead with 3:33remaining and Buffalo with the ball.

The Bills quest to hang in ended a 4th down Chiefs blitz that forced Allen to scamper, then hurry his throw that fell incomplete to Dalton Kincaid, a tight end. Kincaid had a chance to make a catch inches from the ground. He didn’t. It was a rushed play created by the Kansas City defense which defined the 2024 version of the Chiefs.

Playing without super big-names on attack and coming up with the big plays at the big moments for the defense, the Chiefs were able to find a way to win throughout the season. When you continually have to scramble to come out ahead, it becomes a way of life for a team’s success. The Kansas City Chiefs mastered that art in spades.

And while the talk will go on for awhile as to whether Josh Allen or the Ravens’ Lamar Jackson as to who is the league’s Most Valuable Player, let’s not forget a man named Patrick Mahomes, the quarterback of these Chiefs through these amazing years, who is the pivotal figure in the Chiefs bid to become the first team in history to capture three consecutive Super Bowl championships.

While we’re on the subject of who is Most Valuable, has anyone considered Saquon Barkley? The MVP award usually goes to a quarterback, but Barkley may be the reason the Philadelphia Eagles have a chance to win it all against the team they lost to a couple of years ago.

The first time he touched the ball last Sunday, Barkley ran 60 yards for a touchdown that put the Eagles ahead for good. He wound up with 118 yards and 3 touchdowns. It’s what the ex-Giant has done all year. He became only the ninth player in NFL history to exceed 2,000 yards rushing for a season. He needed only 101 yards to break the all-time record set by the Rams Eric Dickerson but was rested by head coach Nick Sirianni in the final game with nothing at stake for the Eagles. It was the right move. Records are nice, but Super Bowl rings are better. Had Barkley been injured in that final game, the Eagles title  chances would have gone down the drain.

The New York Giants are getting considerable heat for letting Barkley go, especially to a rival team in their own division. But they couldn’t agree on contract terms and Barkley eventually signed with Philly. The fact is, the Giants were not going to be playoff contenders even with Barkley having the season he had. That wouldn’t have been likely considering the numerous problems the team had this year.

It’s just coincidental Saquon Barkley had a monstrous campaign.

In many ways the Giants are taking an unfair rap.

Along with the running ability of QB Jalen Hurts who played one of his best games amid injury concerns to his left leg, the Eagles are always a threat because of those two, and their defense, the best in the league.

The Super Bowl matchup shapes up as a great one on paper.

There are two obvious issues that will be talked about for the next two weeks, and will not vary.

How will the Chiefs deal with Saquon Barkley and the dual threat of Jalen Hurts?

How will the Eagles solve the perplexing problem of a quarterback who seems to always have the answer: Patrick Mahomes?

More on the big one, as well as my assessment of Tom Brady’s first year in a broadcast booth, next time we meet.

The post And then there were two… appeared first on Dick Stockton.

Three days of high-level football marked the sports calendar the past week and when the dust cleared we were left with the final four in the NFL and a new champion in college football.

Let’s start with the new king of the college game which no longer is a contrast to the professionals. College football is a junior version of the pros. Millions of dollars are thrown around to players who now can transfer almost at whim and more than once as well. The rules of changing teams is a common and dizzying routine.

It used to be you needed a scorecard to determine the athletes by their numbers. Now, even a scorecard won’t help you decipher where a player came from.

Nonetheless, the Ohio State Buckeyes are the champions of the sport.

They defeated Notre Dame, 34-23 in a battle that started out brilliantly for the Irish with an 18-play opening drive for a touchdown. Then OSU went on a long roll. They led 31-7 halfway through the third quarter. But ND woke up and challenged with a pair of TD’s converting for 2 points both times. But the Buckeyes held on.

Down by 8, and forcing Ohio State into a 3d and 11 at their own 34 with 2:45 remaining,  quarterback Will Howard threw to Jeremiah Smith for a 56 yard gain and that was that.

Their hero was running back Quinshon Judkins who rushed for 100 yards and 3 touchdowns.

Notre Dame wrapped up a banner season at 14-2, and Ohio State bounced back from an embarrassing loss to Michigan to go on a a tear and capture their first national title in 10 years.

The loss to the mediocre Wolverines was the fourth in a row for head coach Ryan Day who might have lost is job had he not taken the Buckeyes all the way.

Perhaps there might be a lesson to be learned. Don’t hang your hat on one game, one loss, as humiliating as it may seem.

Losing to Michigan was a bad game for Ohio State, but they were always a championship contender. They lost to Oregon early in the year, then crushed the #1 Ducks in the playoffs where they played their best football of the season.

Remember, Notre Dame had one of those setbacks, to Northern Illinois back in the second game of the season. Didn’t they respond nicely the rest of the way?

In the pro payoffs there was one huge shocker.

The top-seeded Detroit Lions were unceremoniously knocked out of the NFC post-season derby by the Washington Commanders who won only 4 games last season and were considered one of the hapless outfits in the league.

But if you’re bad enough, and have a shot at grabbing a quarterback in the draft who can start to turn the fortunes around, you can begin a reversal to at least become more respectable.

Well, the Commanders not only became respectable in one year, they developed into a forced to be reckoned with. That’s due to their selection of  LSU’s Jayden Daniels to hopefully become their franchise quarterback.

It’s taken him one season. The rookie did things no one imagined or expected.

It’s never an automatic thing. You have to choose the right guy, with the right skills, and the right stuff that goes beyond running an offense.

Still, it was highly unlikely, as good as he played, that they would upend a team with a purpose. The purpose of getting over the hump and finally earning a spot in the Super Bowl.

The Lions were built to do just that in 2024. They had all the ingredients.

Despite some brutal injuries to their defensive unit, they found enough ways to win 15 games, the best record in the NFC, and home field advantage throughout.

Perhaps one of their two defeats in the regular year was a possible tip-off to San ultimate issue in the post-season. With four games remaining, the Lions were beaten by the Buffalo Bills at home, 48-42. It was only their second loss since week 2, and it was against one of the powers of the league. But Buffalo tacked on 48 points against the Lions, who scored 42 of their own, but still fell short.

That wouldn’t be the case against Washington would it? Of course not. Until it was.

I predicted a Detroit victory against a team that was 12-5 in their turnaround season.

It’s rare that an upstart group not only wins one, but two road games against a division champion in the playoffs, especially one with only a Super Bowl appearance the only thing missing from their resume.

The Lions couldn’t stop the rookie quarterback and while they managed enough points on the board to win in most circumstances, they turned the ball over too many times to win. The final score was 45-31, and after it was over, the Commodores first-year head coach Dan Quinn had some rare comments about his young leader.

He said Jayden Daniels had a different poise about him than most. That he was a rare competitor, that in those special moments, if he were a basketball player, he would want the last shot in the game. A player who makes great decisions.

I can’t remember when I’ve seen something like I witnessed in that stunning surprise.

So hail to the Redskins, sorry, Commodores, as they play the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC championship and the chance to make the jump to the Super Bowl.

You would think Washington would face the same obstacles this week against the Eagles, a team with a Super Bowl DNA, a division champion, and the home field edge.

That still might be the case, but there are questions about Philly going in.

First of all, the Eagles suffered one of their three setbacks against the Commodores. It was late in the year, game 15, when Washington won at home 36-33.

The Commodores seemed to grow up fast , winning their final 5, including that triumph over Philly.

All eyes will be on Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts, who has been fighting injuries all season and suffered one to his left leg that forced him to wear a brace from the third quarter on in the victory over the LA Rams. He finished the contest, but was hobbling, and his health, particularly as a QB who can run and elude defenders, will be critical.

The success against LA was helped by a pair of damaging turnovers, and the spectacular runs of Saquon Barkley who gained over 100 yards 11 times in 2024, including a mind-boggling 255 yards against those same Rams in week 11.

In last week’s playoff battle in the gusty winds and snow against the Rams, the boys from the west coast put up a fight but those turnovers ruined any chance they had and that Barkley fellow dashed for touchdown runs of 78 and 62 yards, finishing with 205 yards on the ground.

Not bad for a player who was allowed by the New York Giants to sign with a division rival.

The Commodores will have to find a way to make Barkley a mortal running back, and score points against the league’s finest defensive unit.

A tall task indeed. Maybe I’ll get burned again, but if Hurts can play and be effective, I have to like Philly. If Hurts is hampered, I’ve got that Washington bandwagon to climb aboard. If it slows down enough.

Going into last week’s NFL games, the clear gem was the collision between the Bills and the red-hot Baltimore Ravens, featuring the two favorites for MVP, quarterbacks Josh Allen of the Bills , and the Ravens’ Lamar Jackson.

The final score was close, 27-25. The Bills ended up on top, and again, in virtually every game, turnovers told the tale. The Ravens committed three, the Bills none. Enough said.

I know picking games is fun for readers. The reason I have been reluctant over the years is because anyone can be right. Your next door neighbor who doesn’t follow sports can be on the money. It takes no expertise. No one, even a team’s coach, knows for sure that his team will wind up on top. He hopes. But he really doesn’t know.

The better team doesn’t necessarily win games. The team that plays better does.

If you can answer this question before a game, you are an automatic genius.

The question is, who will turn over the ball, and when will they do it?

Answer that, and you can become wealthy.

So it’s the Bills playing in Kansas City against the Chiefs, and the Washingtons facing the Birds of Philly for the third time.

The Chiefs who are trying to win a third consecutive Super Bowl have won the close games all year. They have found a way to win regardless of the circumstances.

In my view, teams that win tight games are far more dangerous than those who blow out their opponent. Big winners just pile it on against desperate foes.

Kansas City and Philadelphia victories would bring about a rematch from two years ago.

How can I go with those two?  It would end this column with a dud.

So I’ll go out on a not-so-big limb.

I’ll go with the Bills over the Chiefs. And the Eagles to end the Commodores Cinderella dream.

I have no idea if I’ll be right. But if you tell me when the turnovers will come and where?

Well, then I’m confident in going two-for-two.

The post Three Intense Days appeared first on Dick Stockton.

Is there anything I’ve never seen in an NFL game?

I’m asked that question frequently. On the field I believe I’ve seen it all.

But last weekend I witnessed something I’m sure no one has ever seen.

AJ Brown, the wide receiver for the Philadelphia Eagles was sitting on the bench actually READING A BOOK!

I don’t know whether he had to read it during as game to make sure he had enough time to make sure he returned it in time to the library.

Whatever, Brown was reading “Inner Excellence”, a self-help book that dealt with things you can’t control, but being fully engaged can make you enjoy the challenges in your path.

The pages had hi-lites  with a yellow marker, and phrases underlined with a blue pen.

When I saw those shots, alertly caught by Fox Sports director Rich Russo, I jumped to the conclusion that the scene represented the biggest moment of the Wild-Card weekend of the NFL playoffs.

Yes, a player sitting and reading a book was more captivating than the games that had been played to open the league’s post-season play.

On Saturday and Sunday, the four games were consistent in lacking toe-to-toe competition and thrilling finishes.

The survivors both days dominated, and the challengers who fell by the wayside never really indicated they were fighting hard enough to show they belonged in the playoffs.

The Houston Texans spoiled Jim Harbaugh’s return to the NFL post-season with the LA Chargers after leading Michigan to the national championship in last season’s College Football Playoffs.

The Chargers have underachieved recently, but with a franchise quarterback in Justin Herbert, the Chargers always seem to have an opportunity. But Herbert threw a career-high 4 interceptions and the Texans, the AFC South champs, advanced.

In a game that had the possible makings of a super matchup, the Baltimore Ravens dominated the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Steelers had lost their last 4 regular season games after a 10-3 start, and had the Black and Gold could finally reverse their downward turn, maybe they could give the Ravens a run for their money. But it never happened. The Steelers rarely had the ball and rarely moved the ball. Baltimore won and provided a powerful exhibition of consistently gaining big chunks of yardage running the ball, tied in with the spectacular play of quarterback Lamar Jackson.

Jackson appears headed for his second consecutive MVP award, with only Bills QB Josh Allen in his way. Jackson is amazingly quick and fast. He can beat you inside and outside, and amazingly doesn’t make mistakes throwing from in the pocket or on the run.

But what makes this tremendous attack work is that running back, Derrick Henry. He’s found a second life with the Ravens after years at Tennessee, and looks to me to be the hardest back to bring down since the fabulous Jim Brown of the 50’s and 60’s. Believe me, that is saying a mouthful, and I believe it.

The Ravens are a definite Super Bowl contender and will play the Buffalo Bills next week in Buffalo in what is unquestionably a classic on paper.

I always say on paper, because even games like this can get away from one of the teams and turn into a clunker.

But not likely.

The Bills crushed the Denver Broncos who at least found a quarterback to build with, rookie Bo Nix.

So in one of the AFC’s Divisional collisions, it’ll be that showdown between Baltimore and Buffalo.

It’s a fight between the two MVP contenders Jackson and Allen.

What more can you ask?  Remember, the Most Valuable Player Award is based on the regular season, so this game won’t have a bearing. If the votes aren’t all in, who knows?

Allen is on the brink of leading his team to the promised land.

Do I have to make a pick? You know predictions are foolish. Who knows who will play better? Okay, I’ll choose the Bills. But I’m not comfortable.

Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs got a first round bye, and after a much-needed week of rest for the veteran two-time Super Bowl champs, will deal with Houston.

I don’t see much of a game there.

Looking ahead to Kansas City versus the survivor of the Ravens and Bills is kind of like the way the AFC figured to be weeks ago.

An aside about the Steelers who have never had a losing season in Mike Tomlin’s 18 years as head coach. But he has been unable to lead them to any kind of playoff success in recent years. He’s dropped 9 of his last 12 post-season games and talk of Tomlin’s ouster blossomed again big-time.

The Steelers have had only 3 head coaches in the past 56 years. They’ve won six Lombardi trophies, but none since 2008.

Tomlin will be retained. That’s no surprise considering the organization that I know well. The issue may not be Tomlin, as it is veteran quarterback Russell Wilson, who few figured would get to the playoffs this season.

The Steelers haven’t had a QB since Ben Roethlisberger. Until they find one, they won’t advance far.

I’m almost saving the best for last.

Not all the wild card games were a dud.

The Washington Commanders, laughing stocks not long ago, defeated the NFC South division winners Tampa Bay Bucs to move on to a meeting with top-seeded Detroit.

Rookie Jayden Daniels, who has looked like a seasoned pro practically all year guided Washington to their first playoff win since 2006.

A game-winning field goal at the buzzer decided it.

Daniels will be the league’s Rookie of the Year, but it’s unlikely he can extend his magic against the Lions who have been positioned as the #1 NFC entry all year.

Re-winding to the start of all this, with AJ Brown reading his book on the Eagles bench.

He could do it because Philly kept the Green Bay Packers at arm’s length.

Brown was out to avoid boredom.

The Eagles will face the Rams who demolished the Vikings after the game was moved to Arizona after the massive  wildfires ripped through the Los Angeles area forcing the contest to be moved. Sam Darnold who performed beyond expectations all season was turned into a pumpkin by the LA defense, sacking him nine times including a fumble returned for a touchdown and an interception.

The Rams were almost perfect in beating Minnesota, but I have a theory about this. Just as Texas, off kilter in escaping Arizona State, rebounded and played far better in falling short against Ohio State, it’s a tall order for a team to play up to the level the Rams played against the Vikes then do it again next time out.

That’s why I believe the Eagles, playing in the colder climes of Philadelphia, will oust the Rams and advance to the conference championship against the Lions.

Does that not whet the appetite? Eagles at Lions in the NFC title matchup and either the Bills or Ravens at Chiefs in the AFC.  Winners head to the big one.

Now let’s see if all that pans out.

Earlier I wrote that I was nearly saving the best for last.

That’s because a champion will be crowned when Ohio State plays Notre Dame for the national college title.

The Fighting Irish are one step from capturing their first national crown since 1988.

Once upon a time, Notre Dame was the symbol of college football excellence.

They were perennial champions or contenders.

They’ve played terrific football, but so have the Buckeyes who were banished after losing to the huge underdog and hated-rival Michigan in their annual tussle.

Ohio State avenged an earlier one-point setback to #1 Oregon to get to this game.

Notre Dame’s defense has been their backbone, but the Buckeyes will complete their comeback from that embarrassing loss to the Wolverines and wear the mantle of champs once more.

Hey, this is a great time of year if you like football of any kind.

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