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Now we get serious with the National Football League playoffs. The wild card games are over, and the four teams that spent last weekend with byes swing into action.
With the Vikings taking an early break, we will focus on Green Bay. The Packers will beat the Dallas Cowboys, but it could be a great game. Tony Romo is playing at the top of his game, and he gives the Cowboys a chance, but the game will be on the frigid turf at Green Bay, and I’m picking the Packers to win 31-20. Aaron Rodgers will benefit by the week off to recover from leg injuries, only some of them induced when he was stepped on by a Boy named Suh. On the other hand, if Rodgers is at all hampered by his leg problem, all bets are off.
That game will be at high noon on Sunday. The winner faces the winner of the Carolina-Seattle game, at 7:15 p.m. in Seattle, where I figure the defending Super Bowl champion Seahawks -- my favorite pro team to watch for three years -- will hammer Carolina 35-14. The Seahawks clicked into top form after a number of injuries on defense in midseason, and they are on a roll. Russell Wilson remains an unsung quarterback star, and he is aided by the presence of Marshawn Lynch, the best running back in the NFL. But beyond that, the Seahawks defense, and their fantastic camaraderie, are enough to win anyhow.
 Carolina, of course, is led by Cam Newton, one of the new breed of brilliant quarterbacks. I picked Carolina to beat Arizona, simply because Arizona was out of quarterbacks, and it was not a great game. It was not even a good game. Carolina managed to fall behind 14-13 at halftime, before winning 27-16. Carolina was ripe to be had, gaining only 198 passing and 188 rushing yards, but Arizona gained only 51 passing yards and 27 rushing yards. But if the Panthers don’t play enormously better on Saturday, the Seahawks may mathematically eliminate them by halftime.
In the AFL half, quarterbacks rule the scene also. Denver, with Peyton Manning, and New England, with Tom Brady, are rested and ready. Both could be good games. Even great games. In fact, I picked Baltimore with unsung Joe Flacco at QB and its awesome defense, to go into Pittsburgh and take out Ben Roethlisberger and the Steelers. Baltimore led 10-9 at the half, then ran away with a 30-17 victory. I think the Ravens will go into New England and stun the Patriots, too. Brady is brilliant, but I think he brilliance will be left sprawled a few times by Baltimore’s defense. I’m picking 24-17, Ravens.
That will be Saturday at 3:30, while Indianapolis goes to Denver for a 3:40 p.m. battle on Sunday. An old, and pretty trite, rivalry exists there because the Colts chose to not retain Manning, who found new life in Denver, while Indianapolis fell in love with Andrew Luck, who helped beat the Cincinnati Bengals 26-10 in another subpar game. Luck was 31-44 for 376 yards and one TD, but while Luck picked apart the erratic Bengals, I don’t envision him having the same success against the Broncos. I’m picking Denver to win 37-24.

The Ducks, and the Bucks

Strange game, this football. As you ponder how ridiculous it is that quarterbacks get too much credit for a team’s success and too much blame for a team’s failures, we have a year where quarterbacks get hurt and are replaced with backups who do a great job in helping teams succeed.
It happened with Ohio State, where a superstar quarterback went down for the whole season and was replaced by a freshman who promptly became the best quarterback in the Big Ten. Until, that is, the last game of the regular season when he goes down with an injury and the Buckeyes pull up Cordale  third-string quarterback as they dismantle Wisconsin in the Big Ten divisional championship game, and then pull off the biggest upset of the college season by eliminating No 1 Alabama in the Sugar Bowl.
To refresh, Cardale Jones, an unlikely looking QB who is an impatient power-runner disguised as a third-string quarterback, came out in the Big Ten championship tournament game and threw a 39-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter, then threw another one in the second quarter, and another in the third quarter as the Buckeyes buried Wisconsin 59-0. For the game, he was 12-17 passing for 257 yards and the three TDs, and had a quarterback rating of 255.8. Ezekial Elliott carried 20 times for 220 yards and two more touchdowns.
Then, it turned out, Ohio State was the biggest story in a phenomenal bowl week for the Big Ten. Underdogs in 10 match-ups, the Big Ten went 5-5. True, the Gophers played well for half the game, before bowing to Missouri 33-17 in the Citrus Bowl. But Michigan State made an incredible comeback to shock Baylor 42-41 in the Cotton Bowl, and Wisconsin staged a similar finish to beat Auburn 34-31 in overtime in the Outback Bowl.
That should have tipped us off, perhaps, but Alabama’s tradition and bluster made it seem unlikely. But Ohio State fell behind 21-6 in the second quarter, and it was almost time to look for something else to do. But Ohio State stormed back with four unanswered touchdowns, and then did more than just hang on against Alabama’s final rally. Instead, Elliott took off for an 85-yard run for his second TD of the day. And Ohio State beat Alabama 42-35. Cardale Jones was 18-35 for 243 yards and one TD, while Elliott again proved unstoppable with 230 yards on 20 runs, including the two TDs.
Now, by chance, Ohio State and its third-string quarterback will face a team with the best quarterback in the country -- Oregon, and Heisman Trophy winner Marcus Mariota -- Monday night in the first-ever Bowl Championship playoff final. Oregon, overlooked and underrated the last three years, went to the Rose Bowl in that radioactive olive green, which is the worst color of their multiple uniform styles in my opinion, and the Ducks whipped undefeated and defending National champion Florida State.
The score was 59-20, and what was a good, tough battle for much of the first half, with the Ducks leading the Seminoles 18-13, and the Seminoles defensive linemen were wheezing by the second quarter trying to keep up with Oregon’s rapid-fire, no-huddle offense. It became 25-20, then Oregon blew out the exhausted Florida State lads. The Ducks scored on two Mariota passes and a 58-yard fumble runback to finish a 27-point third quarter explosion, before scoring twice more in the fourth. The 59 points set a Rose Bowl record, and Mariota was 26-36 for 338 yards and two touchdowns, and he ran for another.
True, we get to come back a weekend later with the NFL’s American and National conference finals, which both should gain and deserve the national spotlight. And then, sometime after the flowers start to bloom, the Super Bowl. But this weekend, there are five huge football games to enjoy, and the fifth one -- the college guys -- might be the most intriguing. Oregon has been my favorite college team to watch for five years now, so I’m picking the Ducks to win the national title by 48-24.

Randolph Turns Future Over to Parents

During his long and incredibly successful coaching career at Duluth East, Mike Randolph has remained composed and unbothered by the frequent rumblings and grumblings by parents, staying focused on his desire to train and prepare his Greyhounds. But this season, he started off by asking for a meeting with parents of his prospective players, and then asking them whether they wanted him to keep coaching.

A coach, asking parents if they wanted him to stay? Unheard of.

East overcame a spirited and impressive Denfeld outfit to win 4-3 Monday night at Heritage Center, before a lively crowd that ventured out into the Great White and Frozen North. It was the 551st victory of Randolph’s career, but there’s a difference this time around.

Three years ago, East had a powerhouse, led by first linemates Dominic Toninato and coach’s son Jake Randolph. Both went off to play junior hockey, with Toninato coming to UMD after one junior year, and Randolph heading to Nebraska-Omaha after two years with the Omaha Lancers, the second as the league’s leading scorer.
Back home, speculation was that Mike Randolph would hang up the coaching so he could commute to Omaha and watch Jake play. There is nothing like watching your son play hockey, and even being the best and most successful coach in high school hockey can’t measure up. This fall, Mike Randolph quit teaching foiurth-graders at Stowe elementary in West Duluth, but he wanted to keep coaching.

“I told them that my son is just like their’s, and my interest in watching him play is just like their’s,” Randolph said. “Jake might play four years at Omaha, and that might be it, and I didn’t want to miss that. I have some great assistant coaches, who all played for me, and in comparing schedules I said I might go off to watch Omaha play and miss coaching maybe five or six games. I still enjoy coaching, but if the parents wanted to move in a different direction, I would have quit coaching.”

The parents gave Randolph a vote of confidence. “Granted, I wanted the best of both worlds,” said Randolph. “The message the parents gave me was they’d rather have me three-fourths of the time than someone else 100 percent of the time.”

As usual, the Greyhounds face the toughest schedule in the state, and with a young and inexperienced group, goals have not come easily, nor have victories. The Greyhounds are showing signs of improvement; after losing all three games in the Schwanns Cup, including a 7-1 rout at the hands of Edina, East beat Hopkins, and then Denfeld in a spirited 4-3 game. Next is Thursday against Grand Rapids, then Saturday at 3 p.m. at Heritage against Eden Prairie.

In a quest for consistency, Randolph is trying the team’s third goalie in sophomore Kirk Meirhoff, who has played three games now.

“Our guys have to learn how to win,” Randolph said. “We’ve got to keep our opponents down to one or two goals a game, and we’ve got to cut down on mistakes and penalties. Denfeld came at us, and this might be one of the best teams Kevin [Smalley] has had there. And I think it’s great that Marshall is going to move up to Double-A. I called Brendan [Flaherty] and congratulated him. Cloquet had some key players hurt early, but now they’re back and they’re a different team. This may be the best year for so many teams to be so good up here. I know Hermantown is good, too, and I just wish they’d move up to Double-A too.”

Randolph goes for victory No. 552 against Grand Rapids, but assistants Brendan Brooks, Dylan Mills and the rest of the assistants will be running the Greyhounds against Eden Prairie Saturday. Mike Randolph will be off to watch Nebraska-Omaha play Denver. And the Greyhound parents, possibly for the first time in the history of hockey parenting, both approve and appreciate Randolph more than ever.

Bigger Weekend?

The question this weekend is: Which team faces the bigger crossroads, the UMD men at North Dakota, or the UMD women playing at AMSOIL Arena against Bemidji State?

The Bulldogs men need to succeed at North Dakota to further their chances at winning the National Collegiate Hockey Conference title, and the Team Formerly Known as Fighting Sioux are the preseason NCHC favorite.

Ah, but the Bulldogs women are making their first appearance in six weeks, for their first games since learning that their iconic and legendary coach, Shannon Miller, has been informed her contract will not be renewed at the end of this season. The move puts the UMD administration in an awkward position, if UMD keeps winning and makes a run at its sixth NCAA title in a unified show of support for Miller -- the only coach the program has had in its 16 years. It also will be interesting to see if UMD draws any increase in fans for the two 3 p.m. games.