Category: Football

I’m on ESPN’s website and reading that Nebraska is going to be joining the Big Ten and that most of the other teams will be going to the PAC-10- including Texas, Texas A&M anc Colorado. Missouri is going to the Mountain West.

What the heck happened with the Big 12? Are the Big Ten and Pac-10 going to do the “super-conference” thing and have a championship game at the end of the year?

An interesting story for college football fans, I daresay…

UPDATE: This is a fascinating read about what college football could look like conference-wise in another 10 years.

Good.

I had doubts about whether Goodell would really crack down on him in this case. He largely proved me wrong. I’d have preferred an 8 game suspension. I also think the “good behavior” aspect of the punishment gives it less sting. Still, Roethlisberger hasn’t been convicted of any crime- yet the commissioner still chose to act. Not an insignificant precedent to set.

I guess it’s inevitable that in a league where athletic ability is prized above social maturity, there will be Roethlisbergers. It just means that the league has a responsibility to act as parent and discipline the child to make sure he learns what is acceptable behavior. The league did the right thing.

Hopefully, Roethlisberger learns the right lessons.

The Broncos drafted Tebow as a quarterback. That’s what they’re saying. That will be a disappointing pick. He was a good college QB because for 4 years he had superior talent around him. His receivers were faster and his running backs were better than the defenses they played against. The SEC championship game showed that when they finally ran into a team that could match their talent level. He’ll linger in the league, but not as a QB.

Donovan McNabb to the Redskins is interesting. The Eagles got worse for the next few years and McNabb likely shortened the remainder of his career by a year or two.

Hmmmmmmm.

Not sure what to think about this. I’ve always felt that the sudden death format was ‘fair’ enough. Everyone knows the rule going in- the defense knows it has to stop the opposing offense. It knows how far an offense has to go to be in field goal range for that team’s kicker. It’s put-up or shut-up time then. I’m not really sure what’s not ‘fair’ about that. I mean, is defense really that disadvantaged in OT?

Somewhere along the way it would be nice to get a definition of the word ‘fair’ because clearly, it means something different to everyone. One man’s fair is another man’s “Help! Help! I’m being repressed!” Perhaps it should be abolished from our dialect all together. Seems fair to me…

Anyway, meaningless rant aside, the new rule seems interesting. I wonder how long before it’s decided to just remove the “sudden death” all together and just play either an abbreviated quarter or a whole quarter.

While we were out I found the book The Blind Side which has been made into the movie by the same name. I read through the first chapter of the book- mainly because I couldn’t put it down.

That chapter recounts the final play of Joe Theisman’s career. For any fan of football during that time, it is likely a play that’s seared into the memory. It is still, 25 years later, The quintessential example of the unpredictable violence the games participants can be subjected to. I’ve only watched it once. That was enough. When I see a replay of it starting, I turn away until I know the replay is done.

The chapter steps through the play, describing in detail how the play unfolded. He breaks off the narrative to go into a great amount of detail about the affect Lawrence Taylor had on the game of professional football. He does this in an effort to offer a more complete explanation of what happened on the play. In effect, he is stating that this play is not the culmination of the 4 seconds it took for the play to unfold, but the previous 4 years of havoc which Taylor wrought on opposing teams’ offenses. It was because of LT that the term ‘blind side’ came into being in football. This sets up the remainder of the book. The whole chapter is a good read. I recommend finding the book just for that chapter.

The most interesting bit for me were the final words of the chapter.

Listening to the play as it was called on the radio, I can still recall the announcer (I think it was Frank Gifford) exclaiming how LT had jumped up from the pile waving frantically for the trainers to get on the field. As it turns out, his gesturing had nothing to with with the trainers.

LT wasn’t afraid of anything on the football field per se. But he was claustrophobic. When he tackled Joe Theisman on that play, he ended up near the bottom of the pile. That, coupled with knowing Theisman’s leg had snapped like a twig, kicked his claustrophia into overdrive.

His frantic behavior after the play had nothing to do with Theisman or the medical staff. It was all about fighting off the claustrophobia.

I just wanted dibs on the title. More thoughts in a few minutes…

OK. Postgame thoughts in no particular order:

• Not the best Super Bowl ever (still the Giants-Bills), but an excellent game from the 2 best regular seasons teams. Well worth watching until the end.
• I was happy to be wrong about this. Oddly, though, the game went like I thought it would, except reversed! The Colts started fast and petered out and the Saints just kept on keeping on. I was expecting that kind of game flow, but the roles to be reversed.
• Best quarterbacking in a Super Bowl that I can remember. I know Manning threw the interception at the end, but until then it really seemed like both QB’s had command of the game.
• The onside kick to open the 2nd half by the Saints has to be the best coaching call ever. Totally, completely unexpected. It pretty much ensures that no head coach will ever leave a Super Bowl locker room without reminding his team to watch for the onside kick.
• I thought the 2-point conversion was a little early- missing it meant that Colts could win with 2 field goals and there were still 6 minutes or so to go. I think it’s one of those calls that was vindicated by subsequent events.
• Another call vindicated (somewhat) by subsequent events was the 4th down call by the Saints at the end of the 1st half. I actually liked the call to go for it, but hated the play call. The tightend is always open down there. Always.
• I’m glad that the Saints won a Super Bowl, but really, the whole “How important is this to the city of N’Ollins?” bit is tiring. A football team winning a Super Bowl isn’t going to change the world or a city. 3 years from now, know one will even remember it. I know, now I’m just being racist…
• Not so much Super Bowl related- but my guess is that was Peyton’s swan song, so to speak. That team has a ton of games on their shoulders and after the season they had, this one is going to hurt. They’ll continue to be competitive, but I’ll be surprised if Manning makes it to another Super Bowl.

That’ll do. Congrats to the Saints. Once again, I’m not sure how I’ll make it through the next few months worth of sports seasons. They just suck when compared to the football season.

6 months to go for next season…

I’m sure y’all have been waiting anxiously for my annual Super Bowl predictions(disregard the fact that this is my first Super Bowl since I started blogging- all my previous Super Bowl predictions have been dead on accurate. Honest…)

Ahem, basically, after all the hoopla over who’s playing, who isn’t, who has the better coaching, who has the better experience, blah, blah, blah, this game comes down to one simple fact: the Colts haven’t lost when Manning has been on the field in the 4th quarter this year. I think the Saints can win if they play from in front. I think they have to be leading in the 4th quarter to have a shot. But even then, the Colts can still win. Additionally, the Colts ca (and will, if they do) win playing in front the whole game. That’s two paths to victory against one. Sorry Saints.

I’ll be rooting for a Saints win, but my head says they can’t.

Final score, 27-17 and Manning wins MVP.

This is ridiculous. Why don’t these guys just do rock-papers-scissors or something to determine possession? It seems like every 3rd play someone puts the ball on the ground.

Oh- and that’s a touchdown. Clearly crossed the goalline. 28-21 Saints when we come back from commercial.

UPDATE: HOLY CRAP!!! What the hell was THAT?!?!

A little of that “Favre Magic” I guess.

A “huge mistake” says Troy Aikman. Yeah, I’ll nominate that for understatement of the decade. OT here we come.

UPDATE II: The ‘Aints Saints are going to the Super Bowl, 31-28. Wow.

No complaining about Favre not getting it in OT. The game shouldn’t even have gone to OT. No way Favre retires now. Not with that as his last throw.

The two best teams from the regular season make it. I like the potential for this Super Bowl already. We’ll see what happens in two weeks.

Well, at least we don’t have to worry about a Jets Super Bowl. I wasn’t so sure early on, but the Colts really came through in the 2nd half here.

If Caldwell is smart, he’ll tell everyone it was his plan all along to unleash the Jets on the AFC Playoff landscape and them beat them in the Championship. It’s never to early to start building the “smarter-than-the-rest-of-the-world” mystique, a la Bill Belichik. Plus, Manning only has so many years left- might as well take advanage of it while he can.

Now if the Saints can handle the Vikings, we’ll really have something to look forward to.

I won’t say I’m totally surprised here. With the way the ‘Boys had been playing, they were due for a let down. Be that as it may, I still held out more hope than not they’d win so count me as disappointed.

Here’s a predicted theme for the postgame coverage (coming from someone who only caught a few minutes of the game in the 2nd quarter and then just checked the score in the 4th, 27-3 Vikings- so I’ve heard none of the game commentary): the Viking’s defense will talk about how they felt disrespected because nobody talked about them and how good they are for the past week. All the focus was on the Cowboy’s defense and how good they’d been. Blah blah blah.

Just wait, you’ll see.

UPDATE: Ah, there it is. Right from the Coach’s mouth. That was just the first article I read as well.

The football world has been abuzz for the past several days about Pete Carroll leaving USC to go to the Seattle Seahawks. Most of the opinions have a bewildered tone to them and they all seem to be, at best, skeptical that he’ll be successful there.

Someone I know who has a somewhat unique perspective of the football landscape made a statement about stuff like this awhile back. I guess we’ll get a chance to see how accurate those thoughts are. The gist is that we should expect USC to get some sanctions and or penalties for recruiting violations and Carroll left in order to avoid having to deal with said sanctions and an almost certain decline in talent.

Given the unexpected nature of Carroll’s resignation, I’d say it certainly seems plausible. Stay tuned.

Man, that was a disastrous 2nd quarter. I’m betting on the Eagles coming out on fire in the 2nd half. I’m not hoping for that, but I tend to think that’s the way this will play out.

It’ll just be a matter of whether the ‘Boys can hold them off.

UPDATE: That touchdown run might have finished this one. There’s still a lot of game to go with 5 minutes left in the 3rd, but the Eagles have to score now. The Comboys fumbling interceptions away isn’t too smart…

This game is going about like I expected. ‘Bama is playing with the right combination of emotion and discipline. They look like they expect to win the game while the Gators look like they thought they’d win the game. Big difference.

Tebow will look very human before this one is over. He’s had a fantastic college career- but let’s be honest, he’s had some of the best talent in the country to play with. He’s not a very good passing quarterback and if ‘Bama can continue to take away the running game or limit it’s effectiveness they’ll win convincingly. His Heisman hopes will be done after today.

That said, the way the game is going I still see a chance for Florida to compete in this game. If that’s going to happen, then it won’t be until after the half and the coaches have a chance to settle them down.

UPDATE: Hmmm. Tebow showed a little something there prior to the half. Could end up being a thriller yet. Count me as pleasantly surprised.

UPDATE 2: Looks like the Tide is starting to roll… 26-13 and driving.

LAST UPDATE: This game is done. It’s 32-13 with 13 minutes to play. Tebow can’t pass them back into this one. He’s not that kind of QB.

I didn’t see the end of the game- stopped watching in the 3rd quarter. So I missed the fireworks in the 4th quarter. Thanks to the wonders of the internet I’ve been able to read up on the game and I’ve decided that Belichik made a defensible call. If Manning hangs 17 points on your defense in the 4th quarter, including a near 80-yard drive in 1:47, then I think as a coach you have to be thinking that whether Manning gets it at his 30 or your 30, he’s going to drive for a touchdown. Conversely, a 2-yard conversion for an offense that’s rolled up 450 yards looks like real makeable.

Not a conventional call, but a defensible one.

UPDATE: Having read more opinions, plus listening to a nearly apoplectic Ted Johnson on the radio, I’ve come to the conclusion that this was right call. Understand, I’m not a Belichik apparatchik nor am I a Pats fan of any note.

Listening to all the callers and opinions, it seems to be nearly unanimous that had the Pats punted the outcome would be a done deal. Apparently Pats’ fans had forgotten the AFC championship game from a few years back, or other games where Manning had victimized them in quick strike fashion (I can think of another game where the Colts marched down and it took a goal line stand for the Pats to preserve the win.) Let alone the two previous 4th quarter touchdown drives from the game. Giving Manning the ball with almost 2 minutes to go, probably on his 30 with a timeout in hand are not odds you want to bet against. Much as he is reviled, Manning knows how to work in that situation and he has long since cast off his Pat’s hex.

I think Belichik made the call because it was his best chance to win. They had racked up over 450 yards of offense to that point. They’ve made 4th down conversions all year long. Indeed, they have one of the best offenses in the league. They had scored 34 points. Moving the ball was not an issue. Pressure was not an issue. The calculus was simple- he was confident they could get two yards, when they needed it, against anyone. Why give the ball back to Manning when they don’t have to? If (when in Belichik’s mind) they make, the game is over.

This move was the ultimate “aggressive” play calling move. Really, in that situation putting his defense back on the field is playing “not-to-lose” instead of for the win. He bucked conventional wisdom here, but his doing so doesn’t show lack of confidence in his defense or arrogance regarding his own play calling ablilities. It was a decision to give his team the best chance to win a game. That’s what good coaches do.

At long last, we won’t be talking about USC in a national title game. Maybe the pollsters will even boot them out of the top 10! Stanford 55- USC 21. The best part is that they it’s a total blowout. Not even competitive in the game. Guess everyone will have to find someone else to fawn over while the usual suspects all talk about how and when USC will reclaim their “magic” or whatever other adjective they decide on.

Looks like the National Championship game will be the SEC title game between Alabama and Florida. I like ‘Bama in this one. Can’t really give any tangible reasons, just my sense of things right now. Obviously keep that grain of salt handy…

It won’t be this year, but perhaps next year we’ll finally see Ohio St fall from grace as well. They’ve had a pretty long run up there at the top of college football. Too bad for Iowa.

I wonder if there’s a discernable pattern of programs rising to and falling from elite status. Just off the top of my head- there was Nebraska and Florida St in the 90’s, now USC and Ohio St in the 00′, Michigan had about a ten year run, seems to me Texas is at similar point. Probably a completely unquantifiable combination of recruiting talent, hunger of said talent based on the programs success, and strength of competition. Basically the sort of thing that an avid watchers ‘gut’ might get a feel for. But then, note that I’m only observing the pattern using hindsight rather than boldly predicting the fall of these programs. Along those lines I’d guess at problems for Penn St, Florida and Texas in the next season or so.

I didn’t get a chance to see any games yesterday due to familial obligations long in the works. In a nutshell, the kids spent a good part of the afternoon climbing on trucks and honking horns. Along with several hundred other kids. It was loud. I’m not sure if I actually got used to the horns, if all the compressed air got used up or if I lost most of my hearing by the end of the visit. The most impressive truck was the $780,000 wrecker. Yes, that’s right, $780,000. It was about 40 feet long and had a crane on it that could lift 60 tons. Basically, it could lift a semi out of a ditch without any trouble. Don’t think they’re with AAA. Nice piece of machinery.

Speaking of wreckers, looks like I got my wish from Washington. Of course, its not completely over for USC. If they win out we’ll be subjected to a steady drumbeat of scenarios that might make them the best team in the country. Ugh. Hopefully Oregon St. can step up when the time comes. Or maybe Arizona St. Or maybe they’ll lose a bowl game. Either way, 1 more loss will be a stake in the heart. If it comes sooner, that’s better in my book.

Florida is looking good. Tebow might not be a natural thrower, but he’s a winner in college football. I’m impressed that he’s chosen to stick around instead of going pro. Then again, maybe that just means he knows that he’s not really pro-material at QB. Yet.

Nothing else that’s really all that note worthy. Lots of teams that are starting as expected. Give it a couple more weeks. The season is still young.

Well, Miami smokes G.Tech last night 33-17. I didn’t watch the game but talking with Dad, who was watching, it sounds like the game was more lopsided than the score indicates. Great. Like we haven’t been here before. Miami playing the “We just want respect” card and blowing away treams that probably aren’t anywhere near as good as everyone thinks along the way.

The weekend is going to offer some bigtime entertainment potential: Florida vs. Tennessee, Texas vs Texas Tech, USC vs Washingon, Penn State vs Temple… oops. Might have to tune in for one of those. Assuming we get some reasonable coverage up this way.

Looks like USC pulled out a tight one against Ohio St, and Michigan squeaked by against ND.  Reading the artical about he Michigan win, apparently Weis made “questionable” calls for passes late in the game that fell incomplete and allowed Michigan to preserve time and TO’s.  Weis says they were trying to win the game and that an injury and Michigan stacking the line dictated that he throw the ball.  I’m not particularly a fan of this sort of flame-fanning by the press- so put me in Weis’s corner on this one.  I didn’t see the game, so I can’t say if ND was running rough-shod over Michigan or not.  My guess is not, or he would have continued running.  Weis isn’t a fool about this sort of thing.

As for the USC thing, all I can say is “great.”  Now we get to listen and read about how USC should be the #1 team in the country for the rest of the year.  Sombody please step up and beat these guys and put an end to this stuff now.  Plus, now we’ll have to hear about how great the “young Trojan QB” is and how he’s going to make “everyone foget about Mark Sanchez.”  Joy.

Looks like Washington is up next.  I can hope, but I doubt they’ll be the ones to stick a fork in this one.

Back in this post I made what seemed, to me anyway, the fairly obvious point that Michael Vick’s potential future success would not involve play at quarterback.  Well, in checking in at ESPN periodically it appears that the Eagles are bound and determined to make me eat crow.  Apparently, he is practicing as QB and looks to be McNabb’s backup.  My immediate reaction to this was… are they mad?

As always at this time of year, I get a little giddy about the prospect of the worst sports season coming to an end and the best sports season beginning.  I am an unabashed fan of football, both college and pro.  The only thing I don’t care for is all of the ridiculous media hype around it all.