Sez Me …

We should have known better. I’m an idiot for not guessing that making sense out of the College Football Playoffs would be about as pleasurable as getting a colonoscopy with a rusted rake left out in the snow.

As far back as I can remember — and those of us over 50 know this Unsocial Media’s Generation’s memory goes back a week — I’ve been shouting from the rooftops that we must have a college football playoff.

(Although I will admit to not spending much time on rooftops lately, now that TV antennas have gone the way of the carburetor.)

A four-team tournament was a good start, but obviously not large enough. When it went to 12, it appeared to be the ideal number. Those who bitched over not making the final four now were going to get a chance to prove themselves on the field of play.

The big deal today is Notre Dame being left out of the top 12, with James Madison and Tulane getting in because the system allows conference champions. Notre Dame is independent, thus no conference — in football only.

This is a real shame.

As you know, I’m no fan of the Irish. Up to this minute, they’ve been privileged beyond belief. Both ND and Miami finished with 10-2 records, but the Irish lost to the Hurricanes in the opener, and by the time the selection committee made its final list, it took head-to-head into account. Which is the way it should be, when both teams finish with the same records.

Pouting Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua, whose school has chosen not to appear in a menial (for them) bowl game, says few schools ever have had a more successful run than ND.

The programs the Irish beat in that 10-game span had an overall record of 55-65. Historic.

Despite all that, ND was one of the few teams that seemed capable of winning the national title. It certainly belonged in over Alabama, but the SEC has special powers.

The Irish will be in it soon enough. I suspect the tournament will balloon to 16 teams. The problem now is that with NIL and rampant portal transferring, we have parity as we’ve never had it before. And that’s not a good thing. It will be much harder for the James Madisons of the world to make it.

But this isn’t basketball. It doesn’t deserve to be in.

The Dukes lost 28-14 to Louisville, their only power conference opponent (and not a good one). And they’re a three-touchdown underdog to Oregon in the tournament. Notre Dame and Oregon would be close.

But that’s just too damn bad. …

Indiana’s Curt Cignetti is the most dour head football coach at any level I’ve seen. You can sit this guy down in front of “Blazing Saddles” and he’s watching “Camille.” …

Curt isn’t winning the national title, but he’s done a helluva job at Bob Knight’s school. Come to think of it, he’s Bob without the chair. …

The Eagles’ Nick Sirianni, who is leaning at the tape as the worst head coach to win a Super Bowl, worked all week with the Philly offense. Jalen Hurts had a 31.2 passer rating vs. the NFL Team That Used To Be Here on Monday night. Smokey Gaines, where are you? That’s 31.2 more than a dead man. …

Daiyan Henley tackling Tony Jefferson after his overtime pick vs. the Eagles was wise. But because it was OT, even if Jefferson had fumbled it away and Philly recovered, the game would have been over. No extra possessions allowed in OT. …

Philip Rivers, 44, who last played football in 2020, should stay as far away from the NFL as humanly possible, perhaps have another child. Alas, he can’t help himself. …

Philip has been signed by the Colts, moving his Hall of Fame eligibility up five more years — which could mean a few more kids. …

But he’s going to play. Probably Sunday. You know that. …

In fact, I’m certain Philip eventually will become the first great-grandfather to play in The League. …

Philip has to be in better shape than Justin Herbert, no? …

Jim Harbaugh is right. Herbert is a superhero. …

Patrick Mahomes is a great quarterback. But he is a lousy quarterback under pressure. Always has been. Except there’s more pressure now. Still, if the Judases give him time to throw Sunday, adios J’s. …

With that offensive line protecting Herbert the way Sarajevo cops guarded Archduke Franz Ferdinand, it remains a wonder the Judases can win a game. But it’s December, when defense matters. …

Told you. Joe Burrow is Andrew Luck waiting to happen. …

The only games the NFL should play on Christmas Day are the ones the athletes and coaches bought for the kids to open. …

Todd Bowles, we know you can cuss. Try coaching better before driving the bus over your players. …

Bill Johnston, for 39 years publicist for the NFL Team That Used To Be Here, and serving for the last nine with the Padres, is retiring. He learned from the best, Rick Smith, a bulldog, and Bill had that attitude as he battled relentlessly beside wife Ramona through her two-decade battle with Huntington’s Disease. One of the finest men I’ve known. …

Sherrone Moore has been fired as Michigan’s football coach because of an inappropriate relationship with a staff member. Sherrone then lost it and got thrown in stir for stalking and home invasion. Lane Kiffin still has time to change his mind and go to Ann Arbor. …

The Michigan job is near the top. Great history. Unlimited resources. …

USC’s Makai Lemon was the best receiver I saw all year. So he won the Biletnikoff Award. Amazing. Others agreed with me. …

The Padres have signed reliever Daison Acosta. Now there’s one with some teeth. …

The Padres and Diamondbacks will meet in Mexico City April 25 and 26? Why? Plenty of Mexican food here, and Richardson’s in Phoenix is the best Mexican in America. OK, international games are stupid. …

Now in his second year in the Fox booth, Tom Brady is getting better as he tries to earn all of that 10-year, $375 million salary. It’s what happens when Bill Belichick tells him what to say. …

Happens every week. During Steelers-Ravens, the officials screwed the Ravens into Fort McHenry. …

Officials finally got something right. They called 19 accepted penalties on the pathetic Falcons Thursday night vs. the Bucs. Atlanta still won. …

Hey, Bicycle Mayor and His Ham & Eggers: Have you taken a ride south on Kettner toward the I-5 South onramp, featuring the Rick Schloss bump? Hope you have four-wheel drive. What a disgrace. Welcome to San Diego, rental car users. …

Jeff Kent was a good baseball player. I never considered him a Hall of Famer. Still don’t. …

Army-Navy. Fastest game. As though Randy Jones were pitching. …

I was at the 1990 World Cup in Italy, which, I believe, makes me eligible for the FIFA Peace Prize. …

How can whistles be that clean?

Two labor unions and a child care advocacy group on Friday filed a proposed countywide sales-tax hike they’ve dubbed the Protect San Diego County’s Health & Safety Act with the county Registrar of Voters in hopes of making the November 2026 ballot. 

The proposed half-cent sales tax measure – which would raise a projected $360 million annually – aims to fund health care, child care, solutions to the Tijuana River sewage crisis and public safety. 

The Service Employees International Union Local 221, child care advocacy group Children First San Diego and Cal Fire Local 2881 expect to start collecting signatures next month.  

“We’re taking urgent action on the biggest health and safety threats San Diego County is facing – Tijuana River toxic sewage, strained 911 response, working families losing healthcare, childcare, and even the basic food they need to survive,” SEIU 221 President Crystal Irving wrote in a statement. “Our coalition is determined to give voters the power to choose a safer, healthier future and starting soon we’ll be out in every community gathering signatures and working with neighbors to protect San Diego County families.”  

Proposed ballot language submitted to the Registrar of Voters Friday describes a slew of causes that proponents aim to support with a half-cent sales-tax increase. Up to 60 percent of funding – the equivalent of $261 million annually – could back child care and health services for children, health care for uninsured or underinsured people, food aid including staffing for CalFresh eligibility workers in the county, in-home health services and affordable health care. 

Nearly 23 percent – or roughly $81 million annually – would go toward combating the Tijuana sewage crisis, with at least 20 percent of this share of funds directed toward infrastructure projects to “stop sewage flows from Tijuana into the United States or through the Tijuana River Valley.” The measure says the funding could also address related health issues and protect local waters from pollution. 

Nearly 18 percent – or almost $63 million annually – could back public safety services, wildfire prevention and crisis response.  

Proponents also capped administrative costs at 1.5 percent, or about $5 million annually. 

The proposed measure also calls for an 11-member citizens oversight committee to conduct annual audits and bars spending on politicians’ salaries, lobbyist contracts or government office renovations. 

The citizen-backed effort is separate from the subcommittee work that county Board Chair Terra Lawson-Remer and Vice Chair Monica Montgomery Steppe are queuing up to hash out ways the county might bring in. The county faces an estimated $300 million annual budget hit tied to federal cuts. The county is set to hire and pay consultants up to $500,000 as part of that effort to conduct polling and research on potential measures to raise taxes and other possible ways to increase revenues that may require changes to other policies. 

In a Friday statement, Lawson-Remer lauded the proposed citizen measure. 

“This San Diego County Health & Safety citizens initiative offers a key tool that voters could choose to support in order to defend our community and our values: to keep our water clean, to keep our hospitals open, and to make sure firefighters and first responders have the resources they need when the next wildfire hits,” Lawson-Remer wrote. “When Washington walks away, our community refuses to look the other way.” 

The decision to proceed with a citizens’ measure doesn’t rule out a potential future measure pushed by county supervisors. Yet Lawson-Remer’s quick endorsement shows she’s eager to see a citizens’ group push a measure forward that only requires a simple majority for a ballot victory. 

The coalition behind it will face an uphill battle to persuade skeptical voters already facing an avalanche of rising costs – and to get on the ballot in the first place. 

Courtney Baltiyskyy of Children First San Diego said the coalition expects to hit the streets in January to try to collect at least 140,000 signatures. They’ll need to deliver at least 102,923 valid signatures to get on next November’s ballot. 

The county coalition also expects to have some competition next November.  

The coalition that includes Laborers Local Union 89, Carpenters Union Local 619, and Rebuild SoCal are rallying behind a one-cent sales tax hike for city of San Diego for infrastructure repairs, wildfire prevention, pipe repairs for clean water and more.  

Both coalitions have recently circulated polls testing voters’ appetite for separate city and county measures and shared some intel.  

Their intel-sharing follows the November 2024 demise of Measures E and G, separate city and countywide sales-tax proposals. San Diego politicos are skeptical voters would support two sales-tax hikes.  

The results of an initial poll of city voters conducted around Labor Day on the city measure suggested both city and county measures suggested a challenging climate for proposed tax increases. 

Results obtained by Voice of San Diego show 57 percent of the 776 voters polled said they thought the county was on the wrong track and 60 percent said the same of the city.   

Baltiyskyy said Friday the countywide coalition believes it has a path to victory – and that support for it will grow as voters and local organizations learn more.