The New Orleans Saints Will Stay Home Another Playoff Season.

 Any time a team has to depend on another team losing to win a division or make the playoffs, you know they are in deep trouble and failed to take care of their own business.  That describes the Saint's season with one game left to play.  The larger problem for the NFL is no team in the Saint's division deserves a chance to play in the playoffs with their horrible records.  

The best Tampa Bay can finish is 9-8, a poor won-lost record and not suited to be given a second chance.  But money, not competition rule in the NFL.  As for the Saint's season, it was a wait and see season from the very beginning for reasons expressed in earlier Politidose commentary before the season even started.  New Orleans sports writers never saw it coming in their preseason predictions.  And after all the talk about the Saint's good defensive play they still lack consistent good defensive play.  

And when the regular season ends next week, the NFL will continue it's low ratio of teams with a winning record and the Saints will not be one of them.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio

This commentary written by Joe Lorio

LSU Defeats Purdue In The Citrus Bowl 63-7.

It took place near the Magic Kingdom as LSU started the new year off on the right foot with a big win against an overwhelmed Purdue football team who did not belong on the same football field.  A win is a win but don't be carried away LSU fans, contrary to what some sports writers in Baton Rouge think.  It is not a road map to determine the outcome of the 2023 regular season and how the Tigers will perform.

LSU's national championship team in 2019 should have taught that lesson after the tragic two seasons of 2020 and 2021 which ended in the firing of the national championship coach.  Moving the goal post has also become a favorite of sports writers who credit teams with a 10 win season when they win their 10th game in a bowl game.  Records are actually based on the regular season of 12 games.  That is how playoff teams are selected and conference championships are matched up.  The hype gives sports writers something to write about but does not change the regular season's record.  

And for the record book, LSU ended it's regular season with a 9-3 record.  That is progress and something to build on in 2023.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio

 

Another Huge First For "Politidose" Commentary As State and National Opinion Writers Play Catch Up.

 Staff writer Tyler Bridges in a New Orleans Advocate column of 12/25 titled, "One Lap To Go" tells his readers how well the State of Louisiana has done on the watch of Governor John B. Edwards, especially on the state's fiscal matters.  And national AP congressional correspondent Lisa Mascaro on page 6A of the same issue explains how the democratic controlled congress accomplished so much since January 6, 2021.

And if it all sounded familiar, it's because you read it here first in "Politidose" commentary in 2015 and 2016 before Edwards took office and in December of 2020 and January of 2021 before President Biden took office.  The success of Edwards and Biden's administrations could be predicted beforehand because of precedent by past democratic administrations.

The past and present record is clear how democratic administrations are better at governing and especially concerning fiscal matters and it has all been explained in past "Politidose" commentaries for the past 10 years.  There is no such thing as a conservative GOP party on fiscal matters and their past  record is proof.  But opinion writers continue to enable them on the issue.  

So, my fellow Americans, reject all the hype of the GOP and their enablers and stay tuned to "Politidose" commentary for your daily dose of political commentary.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio

What Will The New Year Bring: Past, Present and Future.

The present year of 2022 comes to an end in just a few more days.  It will mark 23 full months of the Biden administration and the democratic controlled congress. (Feb. 2021-Dec. 2022).  The year closes out on a positive note with legislation that avoids a national Railroad strike, the Respect for Marriage Act, a long term spending bill that prevents a government shutdown and finances the government thru the fiscal year that ends 9/30/23, lower inflation for November year to year, the consumer confidence index up for December and a third quarter GDP of 3.2%, up from the 2.9% reported earlier. And a record number of jobs added to the economy in the first 23 months.

Those 23 months also produced positive legislation for the country and its people, lower unemployment at historical levels, an economy where consumers continue to spend despite inflation because they have jobs and are making progress with rising wages.  Deficit spending decreased 50% to $1.4 Trillion compared to $2.7 trillion in Trump's last fiscal year.  Total federal spending also decreased 8% at $6.2 trillion compared to $6.8 trillion in Trump's last fiscal year.  Following the information given by Scientists, COVID was brought under control.  

The negative voices and their enablers who preached doom and gloom thru out 2022 and were predicting an economic recession in the third quarter were wrong on everything concerning the economy and job creation.  Politidose commentary in December 2020 and January 2021 predicted how the Biden administration would turn the economy around when the Trump/GOP failed so dramatically.  

So, what can we project and or look for in the new year 2023 and beyond?  The President will have a divided congress, the negative voices are still predicting an economic recession sometime in 2023 and supports the FEDS raising interest rates high and fast which could harm the economy, create loss jobs and higher unemployment in order to cool off a economy that is working beyond their belief.  They are willing to do that because they want to harm the President's policies that are working.  And so far, the FEDS. agree with them by their own actions.  The GOP who takes control of the U.S. Houe in January has already stated how they will oppose the President's future plans.

Those are the two greatest threats to the well being of the economy in 2023 along with the GOP's threat  to oppose climate change and the President's economic policies.  But precedent tells us that democratic administrations are better at governing during hard times as well as good times so this writer believes President Biden and his administration is the best answer to the problems the new year will bring.  They were the only sane voices on the economy for the past 23 months and will continue the tradition that democratic policies are not based on the belief the economy has to be weakened and accept higher unemployment and the loss of jobs to control inflation.  That is a corrupt ideology dogma proven to be wrong, unacceptable and dangerous.

It was progressive policies that put the economy where it is today and it will be progressive policies that will continue to move the country and its people in the right direction in the future.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio

The Final CFP Rankings Are Released.

And the final rankings are:  Georgia #1, Michigan #2, TCU #3 and Ohio State #4.  That is the way it should be because those 4 teams have the best won-loss record in the rankings.  The CFP ranking committee made the right judgement because it is so elementary.  Unfortunately, in this writer's opinion, they erred in the #5 ranking with Alabama and the #6 ranking with Tennessee.

Tennessee should have been ranked higher than Alabama because they defeated Bama during the regular season and played 3 of the top 4 teams in the SEC.  They beat two, LSU and Alabama and lost to Georgia.  Alabama played two of the top 4 teams losing both games to LSU and Tennessee.  Both Alabama and Tennessee had an overall winning record of 10-2.  LSU and Alabama finished tied in the SEC west with a 6-2 record but LSU won the West because they beat Alabama during the regular season.  The SEC understands how important that factor plays out, but the CFP ranking committee does not.

Tulane finished ranked 16th and LSU 17th.  Tulane will go to the Cotton Bowl and LSU will go to the Citrus Bowl.  The final rankings will not please everyone and the committee's criteria for ranking is still flawed, but this writer thinks the rankings of the top 4 teams speaks loud and clear.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio 

Georgia Defeats LSU 50-30, Wins SEC Championship.

 The Bulldogs from Georgia kept their undefeated record intact Saturday night with a resounding win over the Tigers of LSU.  The game featured a Georgia offense move the ball on LSU's defense at will much like the Aggies from Texas did the week before.  In doing so put more points on the board than any LSU opponent this season.  The final CFP rankings should keep Georgia in the #1 rated position and the Tigers will finish somewhere in the bottom ten positions.

It is this writers opinion LSU finished the last 4 games in a regressive position, just the opposite from its first 9 games.  LSU beat Arkansas 13-10, beat UAB, lost to Texas A&M and Georgia.  Their offense regressed in 3 of those games and their offense averaged 26.7 points per game compared to their regular games that averaged 32.5 points per game.  

LSU lost something in that 4 game stretch, probably due in part to the quality of coaching from Arkansas, Texas A&M and Georgia.  Arkansas's defense did the best job controling LSU's offense and quarterback Daniels.  A&M and Georgia simply dominated LSU's defense.  The Tigers will now play in the Fiesta Bowl if the reports are accurate and will have another opportunity to win another game.  

When all is said and done, the first season under a new coaching staff will have passed and the only thing it tells us at this stage is that LSU's season made progress over the last two seasons.  Every thing else is speculation.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio

The BCS College Football Playoff System Has To Be Changed.

The nature of sports is winning and therefore a team's won-loss record is the defining factor.  That all changed some years ago when conferences split into divisions.  The team with the best record in the conference may not win the conference championship.  That's because the leaders of each division have to play each other for the championship even though one team may have a poor record.  In other words, even though all teams play the same number of games and therefore have the same chance, a team with a poor record is given a second chance.  That in itself goes against competition.  

The CFP committee makes the selection even worse by their own process of how to rank the teams by using a number of criteria they impose on teams who have the same won-loss record.  The problem is once you get away from a won-loss record, the criteria used is flawed and worthless.  For instance, lets look at what Baton Rouge sports writer Scott Rabalais reported in a Times Picayune New Orleans Advocate article 11/25, the day before LSU played Texas A&M as follows:  COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN BOB CORRIGAN SAID LSU's STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE AND BETTER LOOKING DEFENCE ESPECIALLY IN THE WAKE OF USC's SHOOTOUT WIN AGAINST UCLA ON SATURDAY WERE THE DIFFERENCE IN LSU's FAVOR.  I THINK SOME OF THE COMMITTEE MEMBERS WANTED TO SEE A LITTLE MORE FROM USC's DEFENSE, AND THE OVERALL STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE FOR LSU DROVE THE DAY.

The commissioner's comment and criteria used about LSU's defense was destroyed the very next day when Texas A&M destroyed LSU's defense and the Aggies had only won one SEC game at that time and had an overall losing record.  Plus a so called shootout in the USC-UCLA game has no value.  Saying the overall strength of LSU's schedule was a factor is a fairy tale criteria.  

When choosing playoff teams rankings and getting away from the win-loss record you have to make up faulty criteria for judging what team to put ahead of another team.  This writer believes that playoff teams should be teams that won something and with the best won-loss record.  Losers have no right to a second chance because all teams have the opportunity to win during the regular season and play the same number of games.  If they don't win they go home and try again next year.  The same thing can be said about rematches.  The loser does not deserve another try, that is not competition.  If the loser wins the rematch it proves nothing because they will have played two games and each would have won one.    

The BCS and college football playoff committee are talking about a greater expansion to the playoffs.  It will get worse because there will be more teams and losers rewarded with a playoff berth and the criteria will become more of a fairy tale than it is now.  This writer believes the teams that have the best won-loss record should be the only ones in the playoffs and every year it is usually only 5 or 6 teams that have the best won-loss record.  It will be interesting to see how the committee handles and rates the teams in its final poll coming out this week.  Any surprises will not be surprises.  And that really says it all.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio 

The U.S. Economy, Job Creation and The Unemployment Rate for November 2022.

The U.S. Labor Department reported the economy added 263,000 jobs in November and the unemployment rate came in at 3.7%, same as in October.  It was the 22nd straight month of positive job growth and continues to shock the negative voices who for the past year were predicting doom and gloom, recession and spectacular job losses.  Bloomington and many Wall Street elites were projecting the job numbers to come in around 190,000. 

The Department also reported October inflation came in at 6%, down from year over year rise of last September.  Wages were up 5.1% in November from the same time last year.  Meanwhile, the Commerce Department reported the 3rd quarter GDP was up 2.9% instead of the earlier reported 2.6%.  It was another good economic report that still confuses the uninformed and the negative voices who want to see the Biden administration fail.  Consumer spending in October rose 0.8% over September and continues to be strong.

The year 2022 will be a year of continued economic growth led by consumer spending and the President's economic policies that have worked for the country and its people.  Too bad the media has given so much time to the negative voices and failed its responsibility to fully inform the American people of the good economic news that continues to take place.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio 

Evaluating LSU's First Football Season Under Head Coach Brian Kelly.

 Objectivity is the honest way understanding a team's progress or regression and it is not just a one year thing.  Some LSU sports writers reported their thoughts on evaluating the team during the year but that more or less was to file a story for the newspapers.  Now that the regular season is over, we know the facts to make an objective evaluation.

We do know that this year's team made progress from the last two years when LSU played 500 ball.  This year's team had an overall winning record of 9-3 and a 6-2 record in SEC play and won the West division.  Last year's team finished with a 3-5 record and was last tied with Auburn in the West.  LSU will now play Georgia on Saturday for the SEC championship.  Those are accomplishments and improvements that can be checked with facts and can be seen on the field.  

How do you balance that improvement against the following?  LSU beat three teams with an overall winning record, Alabama, Ole Miss and Miss. State, (4 if you count Southern).  They beat only one team in the SEC with a winning record, Alabama;  They beat 5 teams in the SEC with a break even or losing record, Miss. State 4-4, Ole Miss. 4-4, Auburn 2-6, Florida 3-5, and Ark. 3-5.  They lost to Tennessee 6-2 and Texas A&M 2-6.  Out of the 7 teams in the SEC West, LSU and Alabama were the only two teams with a winning record within the SEC.  Beside Southern, LSU also played two other teams not up to par with the SEC, New Mexico and UAB. 

How should LSU's schedule be rated?  There has always been talk about certain teams playing a weak schedule.  Would LSU's schedule be rated strong, average or on the weak side?  They beat only one team that had an overall winning record and a winning record in the SEC, Alabama by one point.  Having the many teams in the SEC West with break even and losing records, can that division be called a strong division this past football season?  

Out of the 14 teams in the SEC's two divisions, only 4 teams had a winning record in SEC play.  Georgia and Tennessee in the East and LSU and Alabama in the West.  Tennessee played three of those teams and defeated two, Alabama and LSU.  Georgia played one, Tennessee and defeated them.  LSU played Tennessee and Alabama beating Alabama and losing to Tennessee.  Alabama played two of those teams, LSU and Tennessee and lost both games.  Obviously, Tennessee was dealt the strongest hand but still defeated two of the three they played.  Ten of the 14 teams had a break even or losing record in SEC play.  Do the numbers represent a strong SEC conference in 2022?  The numbers indicate a good debate could take place on the subject.

This writer is of the opinion that LSU's schedule would be rated no higher than average and that the objective evaluation indicates that the team has made much progress from the past two years and still has a way to go before they become a consistent winning team.  This years progress represents only one year and those talking about a College Football Playoff position got ahead of themselves.  One season is not a track record, it is an indication of what might come to be.

The unknown part of evaluating LSU's progress is, what role if any did the weak SEC teams play in LSU's success.  Everyone has their own answer, but it is an area that is unclear.  What we do know is that LSU is an improved team over the past two seasons and that fans now see some hope of good things to come.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio 

P.S. Stay tuned to the coming commentary concerning the CFP ranking of the top teams which this writer thinks needs to be changed.  

Texas A&M Defeats LSU 38-23, Ends LSU's College Football Playoff Hopes.

 College Station was not kind to the LSU Tigers Saturday night as the Aggies offense dominated LSU's defense all night beginning with their first possession which ended with a touchdown after a time consuming drive.  The Aggies ended the regular season with an overall record of 5-7 and a SEC record of 2-6.  The Tigers ended their regular season with a 9-3 record and a SEC record of 6-2 and won the SEC west.

The loss ended any chance of LSU making the playoffs once again even though some thought they could do so with two losses.  So the Tigers are now off to the SEC championship game with undefeated Georgia next week to decide the winner of this years SEC title.  LSU ended the regular season Saturday night like they ended the first game of the season, with a loss.  The only difference was Saturday's loss was fatal for the Tigers playoff hopes, the first loss was not.

This writer believes that when the LSU coaching staff review the film of the game to evaluate what took place, they will conclude that the Aggies were a better prepared team than the Tigers and misjudged the offensive capabilities of the Aggies.  The Aggies offensive game plans took LSU's Perkins out of the game most of the night.

The next Politidose commentary will provide information to help evaluate LSU's first season under coach Brian Kelly and what the future might hold for the Tigers football fortunes down the road.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio

Note:  This writer believes LSU has some veery good running backs and should use them more and Quarterback Dainels less to run the ball.