Last night, Auburn defeated Oregon 22-19 to win the BCS National Championship. Here are some completely biased opinions from last night’s game:
The majority of ESPN employees do not know how to pronounce Oregon.
- It’s Ore-gun, guys. Not Ore-ay-gone.
There needs to be a playoff system.
- Sure, sure. Both defenses played well. Nick Fairley scares me, but c’mon. This was supposed to be a transcendent meeting between two of the sport’s most advanced offensive systems. Each team averaged over 300 rushing yards per game (The Jets lead the NFL with 169 yards per game). But what we got was a sloppy, albeit exciting, effort—due, in no small part, to the 36-day break between the championship and each team’s last game.
- With a playoff, teams go into the championship in full stride, and there won’t be an undefeated group of Horned Frogs sitting at home.
But … TCU would have lost this game.
- It didn’t look that way at the beginning, but, in the end, somehow—unfortunately—the BCS didn’t totally fuck everything up.
You had to be there.
- It was a great ending, but for three-quarters of the game, I clicked through links and monitored in-game reactions (damn you, Quickish), rather than actually watching the game. Had I been in Tucson, this section would read, “OMG! Best Night of My Life. Best Sporting Event of All-Time. And (Arguably) the Best Four Hours in the History of Humankind. My Life is Complete!”
The most important play of the game possibly shouldn’t have happened … twice.
- Did I hedge that enough? Michael Dyer’s 37-yard run to put Auburn in position for a game-winning field goal happened only after a surreal moment where everyone on the field stopped playing for one second, thinking Dyer had been tackled. Only, Dyer’s coaches screamed that he wasn’t down and his legs started spinning like a cartoon, shuttling him an extra 20 yards down field.
- But was he down?
People really like football. A lot.
- Last night’s game was the highest-rated cable program. Ever.
Brent Musburger is a natural corporate shill.
- Somehow, he wasn’t paid to say this:
There is some redemption for the Ducks.
- Don’t worry, guys, you easily would’ve won if the game was played in the dark. And, as Bill Simmons tweeted:
Congrats to Auburn for winning the 2011 title. And congrats in advance to Oregon for winning it retroactively in 2013.
Amateur collegiate-athletics photos lend themselves really well to childhood nursery rhymes.
- Goodnight Moon.
Did you watch? Did you fall asleep before the end? What did you think of the game? Let us know.
—Photo via AP
I say “Ore-gun.” I also, without fail, say “Or-i-gone Trail.” Why?