NFL Thoughts: Post-Super Bowl stuff

-Ever read ESPN.com's Tuesday Morning Quarterback? I've just started reading his stuff the past couple of months and although he can get a bit long winded he also can hit the proverbial nail on the head at times. His criticism of the monopoly that Direct TV has on NFL game viewership is right on. Why should I have to pay $200 every year just so I can watch the Ram's games. The NFL is huge but TMQ is right that it would be even bigger if most fans could actually watch the games they wanted on Sunday.

- The past couple of years have been odd in that the Colts and Steelers were two teams that I would have bet money against winning the Super Bowl 3 quarters of the way through the season. The 2005 Steelers looked like they weren't even going to make the playoffs and the 2006 Colts defense was the laughing-stock of the league. Then both teams go on playoff binges and come out Super Bowl champs. Go figure. That tells me that this has become a league where there are no absolutes.

- One note on the Pats/Colts AFC championship game. I have a friend who's a semi-Patriot fan (and yes we're still friends. Come on I'm not that superficial....yet). Anyway, he was whining about the roughing the passer penalty that helped put the Colts closer to the goal line for their winning score. It was barely shown on replay but clearly shows the Patriot defensive player grazing the head of Manning with his hand/arm. Should it have been a penalty considering he barely touched him. I don't think so. Could you call it a penalty based soley on the interpretation of the rule. Absolutely. It's one of those calls that shouldn't be made based on common sense. However the ironic thing about the crying coming from New England fans concerning this is that they are contradicting themselves and showing themselves to be hypocrites. When the Patriots benefited from the "tuck rule" in the 2002 playoff game against the Raiders (you remember the game where Brady essentially fumbles the ball, the Raiders recover, the game is over---but wait the strict interpretation of the rule says Brady was attempting to tuck it and his hand was moving forward, so Ta-Da--Patriots hang onto the ball and ultimately win the game--yeah that game) many New England fans tried to quell the outrage over what common sense said should have been a fumble by saying, "that's the rule--rules are rules". They jumped on the technicality of that rule so fast it made your head spin. So the next time a Patriot fan tries to whine about the roughing the passer penalty against the Colts, just tell them "rules are rules".