NFL Nuggets:

• When you see quotes about “bucks stopping with him”, you know without looking someone asked Jerry Jones about his coaches.
  •  “Disappointed is not the word. There’s no question that we were given an opportunity, there were things we could have taken advantage of,” Jones said.
    • It doesn’t help that the league essentially apologized for the two tripping calls in the Patriots loss.
  • It is important to note that of their five losses, four have come against Green Bay (8-3), New Orleans (9-2), Minnesota (8-3) and New England (10-1).

• In advance of playing the Browns Sunday, Mike Tomlin has decided to keep Devlin Hodges at QB.
  • Probably just to keep Mason Rudolph alive & off the field.
  • I look forward to next week when Hodges is replaced by a guy with an even whiter name.

• Speaking of white names, the Lions are down to one healthy quarterback — undrafted rookie David Blough — as last week’s starter Jeff Driskel is day-to-day with a sore back.
  • TE Logan Thomas is the emergency backup, as he played QB at Virginia Tech before switching positions.
  • When asked about the team’s interest in free agent Colin Kaepernick, coach Matt Patricia  said again the club attended his workout earlier this month in Georgia, but wouldn’t expand on the team’s interest in him.
    • Detroit had also inquired about veteran Josh Johnson, who the Lions cut in favor of Driskel in September, but Johnson is signed with the XFL and Patricia was “not really sure the details of what happened with that.”

Finally, the Hall of Fame released their list of 25 semi-finalists for the expanded 2020 class.  

• There are three in their first year of eligibility:
  • safety Troy Polamalu
  • wide receiver Reggie Wayne
  • linebacker Patrick Willis
• Everyone else listed at their site has been eligible before.
  • Four players – Carl Banks, Fred Taylor, Ricky Watters, and Bryant Young – are veterans whose eligibility recently expired but are included this time due to the expanded nature of the vote.

The NFL’s Centennial Celebration will have a special Centennial Hall of Fame Class that will be comprised of 20 members in 2020. The group will include five Modern-Era players to come from the list announced today in addition to 10 Seniors (a player who has been retired for more than 25 seasons), three Contributors (an individual other than a player or coach) and two Coaches.

Tonight’s sports:

• NHL:
  • Stars at Blackhawks – 8:00PM | NBCSN / Sportsnet
• NBA:
  • Clippers vs. Mavericks – 8:30PM | TSN / NBA TV
  • Wizards at Nuggets – 9:00PM | Sportsnet1
• NCAA:
  • Football:
    • Western Michigan at Northern Illinois – 7:00PM | ESPNU
  • Basketball:
    • Central Michigan at DePaul – 8:00PM | FS1
    • Maui Invitational:
      • Dayton vs. Virginia Tech | 8 p.m. | ESPN / TSN3
      • Kansas vs. BYU | 10:30 p.m. | ESPN / TSN3

We are facing a bus strike in Vancouver tomorrow. Standing around & drinking coffee is expected to drop by 15%. Somehow it’s not the worst thing to happen yet this week.