NFL Thoughts: Week 4

Week 4 thoughts to be posted soon.

NFL Thoughts: Week 3

Some belated thoughts on this past week's NFL action:



---Lost in all the hoopla about Donovan McNabb's resurgence and "stick it to his critics" performance was the fantastic game of my favorite player (and fellow alum of Snow College and Utah State University) Kevin Curtis. He had 200 freaking yards receiving in the first half! Curtis is fast and pretty sure handed so McNabb would do well to keep slinging it his way. Being a Rams fan, I am obviously a big supporter of Isaac Bruce, but I still think it was a mistake for them to re-sign Isaac instead of making Curtis their number 2 receiver. He wasn't going to stick around forever and remain the 3rd option. The Eagles figured he's a number 1 or 2 receiver and I agree. Naturally I'm biased with him having a similar background to me. I feel like I'm rooting for my brother in some ways. Still you can't ignore the fact that when the ball is thrown his way he produces.


---Speaking of the Rams, I'm thinking of wearing a bag over my head in my living room this week as I watch the game. It's getting pretty pathetic. I don't know what Linehan is doing to this team but I never thought there would be a day I'd actually be recalling the Mike Martz era with fondness. In fact I remember thinking to myself that Hell would have to freeze over first before that day would come. You know what?.... it's chilly but at least I have the minions of Lucifer to keep me company.







---Green Bay's Brett Favre is talking about how he's listening to coaches this season about taking care of the ball. It seems to be working. He's had a great first three games and the Pack are right now in control of the division. My question is why couldn't he buy into the whole "study film hard and play smart" attitude the past 5 years? I'm a big fan of Favre and I feel like he has always given it his all on the field but that his preparation and willingness to listen to coaches has been at times lacking. He's a Hall of Famer and granted he hasn't exactly been playing with fellow Hall members the past few years (sometimes he's tried to do too much to compensate) , but he I think he also has missed a coach like Holmgren who could reign him in a bit and demand a bit more focus. Anyway, I'm hoping Favre and the Packers keep it up. It's nice to see them winning.




---The Bears Lovie Smith is stubborn to a fault. Grossman should have been benched long ago. Griese is no savior but I think if Smith gives him the same loyalty he gave Grossman, he will prove a more steady QB. With the opportunistic defense that Chicago has, steady is what they need.





---The Patriots just might go undefeated this season. The one thing that burns me up though is the fact that they have a creampuff division year in and year out. They have six games with division cupcakes every year that are almost always automatic wins. Sure the Jets, Dolphins, or Bills might occasionally take a game. But it's rare and you know the serial killer (Belichick) just cackles maniacally in his secret room at home (where he stashes all cheating materials and few dead bodies) when he gets out the schedule and sees a division foe coming up.



---I'm not sure what to think of the Steelers or Cowboys. Good teams? Probably. Super Bowl contenders? I'm in wait and see mode.


---I don't think it's panic time yet for the Bengals and Chargers. However, if they lose their next games they ought to hit the red button. The Saints should have been hitting that button at halftime this past weekend.

NFL Thoughts: Week 2

A few musings about this week's action:


---Right about now folks are getting sick of the Belichick taping scandal. I could care less. It's not like it's a surprise that Belichick is an ass. He's not the only one cheating. Probably just the one that's doing it the most and with the most defiance about it. I had to laugh at the Commissioner's appearance on NBC tonight. He's smoking crack if he thinks Belichick is giving up any of their other cheating tapes. But you know none of it really matters. Cheating or not cheating, the Pats will be obliterating teams this year. The Chargers are the victims this week. But the NFL should be warned. The Patriots are going to own the league this year. Bastards. If they don't win every game by at least two TDs it will be a minor upset. I see them having a shot at an undefeated season and and then throttling their Super Bowl opponent. I hate them. I really hate them.

---It's really too bad that a there are a few teams out there that have championship quality teams but lack a top shelf QB. The Charger's Philip Rivers doesn't look quite ready to take his team to the promised land. I mean he could get there at some point but by the time he does the Chargers window may be closed. And the Bears and Lovie Smith are the only ones in America that believe Rex Grossman = championship. The delusion has to end soon right?

---The Titans impressed me. I've never been a Vince Young fan and I never will be, but I have to admit he has that "it" factor about him. I'm not sure what the hell I mean by that but he definitely has the ability to scare you in a tight game. And there aren't too many QBs out there that can do that. Their defense played Manning pretty tough too. They might just be a Wild Card contender in the AFC.

---I sure wish I had Tivoed the Browns/Bengals game. What does it say about the Bengals Defense that Cleveland hung 51 points on them? Are the Browns that much better with Anderson leading them? Or does the Bengals defense suck that bad? I'm leaning toward the latter. Still a fun game. Maybe the NFL channel will replay it this week.

---My Rams lose to San Fran. Again. They shoot themselves in the foot multiple times. Again. (sigh) ---When a division sucks as bad as the NFC West does, it just seems like such a waste.

---At least the Seahawks lost. Do I have to worry about the Cardinals now?

NFL Thoughts: Week 1

Some very brief thoughts about this past weekend's NFL action:

• 
  I loved the Cowboys/Giants game. I would have rather seen the Giants win the game and T.O. have zero catches or TDs but I'll take a high scoring game anyday of the week.

• Why do my Rams lose so many games they should win? Carolina played a decent game but the Rams sure helped them out a lot. Jackson fumbled twice killing key drive and Bulger was uncharacteristically innacurate. The defense is going to be enough of a challenge this year, we don't need the offense to become Bears/Ravens like.

• The Patriots spying techniques are no surprise. I bet there are many teams, if not all that try to steal coach's signs. That's why offensive coaches put ther play sheets over their mouths when talking to the QB. And by the way isn't that kind of dumb too? I mean what if you have a nice laminated play sheet and someone with a zoomed in lens gets a shot of your plays while you have it held up to your face? And I guess the whole point of holding it up in front of your face is because of the idea that defenses watch how long the coach talks when sending in the play. If it's short, it's a run. A pass play takes longer to signal in because the verbage is more complex. So if that's the case, don't the defenses now just see how long the coach keeps the card in front of his face? Depending on how long he talks behind the card, that will determine the play call right? How exactly does it help? I've watched the coaches and I doubt they are holding the card up longer than necessary just to fool defenses. They have too much else on their mind to get that smart.

• And by the way, the Patriots were everything I feared they would be. May they burn in hell. You have to wonder if Brady would have a couple more Super Bowl rings if they (meaning Bellichick) hadn't been so damn smug about themselves the past few years, thinking they could win with anybody that threw a uniform on for them. Now Brady has his own personal wet dream for an offense and I couldn't be sicker about it. Exuse me while I vomit.

• Paging Loving Smith......um....Rex Grossman sucks.......

• I was disappointed in the Saint's performance. That was not the Drew Brees I know.
  

• It's good to have the NFL back for another year in my life. I still have not bowed to the fantasy football addiction. Perhaps next year I'll give it a try. I just know that if I get into it, I'd be a psycho. Not that I'm normal anyway.

An Armchair NFL Preview

Before the season starts I thought I'd post my thoughts on how the division races will go.

AFC East

Who I think will win: NE Patriots
Who I want to win: Buff. Bills
The Skinny: Brady is still awesome and now he has weapons. Their defense will be tough too. The Jets may make a run which would be nice. The Patriots have had a free ride in this division for too long.

AFC North

Who I think will win: Cincinnati Bengals
Who I want to win: Bengals
The Skinny: I know Baltimore is the better pick here with a defense that never seems to decline but Billick has never recreated the offensive magic he had in Minnesota. Can you imagine how many games the Ravens would have won if they had the Bengals offense of the past two years. I like the Bengals to score a ton of points this year and hang on.

AFC South

Who I think will win: Ind. Colts
Who I want to win: Ind. Colts
Skinny: As long as Manning is running the ship they should be fine. The rest of this division is an enigma.


AFC West

Who I think will win: S.D. Chargers
Who I want to win: S. D. Chargers
Skinny: The Chargers may not win as many games as last year, but they should still take this division handily. Denver may chase them but I think Cutler is still a year or two shy of being ready for the big time

NFC East

Who I think will win: Phil. Eagles
Who I want to win: Phil. Eagles
Skinny: If McNabb can stay healthy I think they edge the Cowboys. If he goes down though all bets are off. I know Garcia led them last year to success but Kevin Kolb is a rookie and I wouldn't want to bet my life savings on him doing the same thing.

NFC North

Who I think will win: Chicago Bears
Who I want to win: Green Bay Packers
Skinny: Even if Grossman sucks again, Griese is a decent option for them. They should be good enough to slip by the Lions, Packers & Vikings who all should be better than they were last year.

NFC South

Who I think will win: N.O. Saints
Who I want to win: N.O. Saints
Skinny: How can you not like Drew Brees. He's a stud and if he can replicate last year they should torch some teams. Bush, McCallister & Colston give him options and if their defense can improve slightly they will be tough to beat.

NFC West

Who I think will win: Seattle Seahawks (dammit)
Who I want to win: St. Louis Rams
Skinny: My Rams need some serious improvement on defense and I hope the rookie Carriker can help out with that. Their offense should be fine but I've seen too many games that they should have won the past couple of years to pick them first. Seattle just does enough to handle this division. It's scary for me that the Cardinals and 49ers are getting better as well. Its been nice the past few years to count them out before they even played.

Still Here

Hey there. I've been negligent on my blog here and I apologize. I'm a dork. I have gone through some major career changes this summer. In fact, I'm just like Michael Vick with my career heading south faster than you can say federal penitentiary. Except I'm not going to jail, haven't tortured dogs to death, and I think I might be able to hit a 10 yard out pattern better than he can. Anyway, the blog has taken a backseat to my attempts to put bread (and pop tarts) on the table for my family. As soon as I get my head on straight, wait....check that.....that's not going to happen.....as soon as I get a little more time, I'll be back in force. I mean the football season's here for hell's sake. I've got to have somewhere to rant about stupid coaching decisions and the magnificence of Tory Holt.

The Utah Jazz: Just when I thought I was out....

....they pull me back in. I've been a Jazz fan since I was a kid in the days of Adrian Dantley (ouch). But for my own sanity I often keep them at arms length. Still, this season has been a pleasant surprise. Even with their late season meltdown they have kept me entertained with a hard-nosed 7 game series in Houston and now 2 great games against Golden State. I think they'll struggle in Oakland but whatever happens the rest of the post-season, I've got to find a way to enjoy it without going crazy.

A Couple of NFL Draft Thoughts

-Quinn, Quinn, Quinnn.....I wonder if JaMarcus Russell is pissed that even though he was the number one pick, Brady Quinn still managed to steal his thunder on draft day. Russell got his 15 minutes on the clock and then it was the Quinn show the rest of the day. I guess I'll chime in with my two cents and it probably echoes what other people have said. I don't know if Brady Quinn is going to be a bust or a star. I mean he's going to be playing the toughest position in all of sports so how can anyone really know. But what I do know is that Miami, Tampa, Washington, Minnesota, Houston, Buffalo, NY Jets, Green Bay, and Jacksonville, and yes even the Lions, are all going to feel pretty silly if he turns out to be a Pro-Bowler in the next couple of years and they are still searching for somebody that can hit a crossing pattern.

-The Patriots finally figured out they can't rely solely on Tom Brady anymore and subsequently they loaded their team up for next season. Meanwhile with the Colts losing defensive players at the same rate my hairline is receding (hyperspeed), why the hell did they use their first two picks on offensive players and ignore the defense? Maybe they really love the guys they got in the later rounds. Or maybe they have been suckered in by the fact that even though their defense sucked donkeys the entire 2006 season somehow they managed to pull it together for the post-season. I can't help but think they are fooling themselves.



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Tiger Woods: The Glaring Hole in his Resume

It's tough to criticize Tiger Wood's career. I mean he just might be the greatest golfer that ever lived. And if you don't agree with that statement (Ben Hogan, Bobby Jones, Jack Nicklaus lovers) then you at least have to admit that it's up for discussion. His record in major tournaments speaks for itself. He's won 12 of them and he's only 31 years old. If he played more tournaments a year (he takes quite a few off) his career tournament wins would be even sicker than it is currently. He's the greatest closer out there. If he's up in a tourney heading into Sunday you can forget about it. It's in the bag. Having said all this, if we wanted to nitpick (which I plan to do) there is one obvious area where Tiger Woods has failed. One place that he has yet to go. One striking statistic on his record that gives the naysayers a little ammunition when discussing the greatest golfer ever.

It's this: --Tiger Woods has never come from behind to win a major tournament. When he is behind going into the final day he has never won the Masters, U.S. Open, the British Open, or the PGA Championship. Look it up. He has always had the lead or a share of the lead.

Doesn't sound so bad does it? Well actually yes it does. When we measure greatness we tend to include that tiny matter of a champion being down and getting back up. Michael Jordan did it. Muhammad Ali did it. Joe Montana did it. It's the classic archetype. We love the story of the a champion who is down but not out. Unfortunately for us, as yesterday's Masters Tournament showed, Tiger Woods has yet to write that ending.

Still, his career is not finished. He has a few more entries to be made. I personally hope he fixes the rather gaping hole in his resume before he's done.

What if Pokey Chatman were a guy?

This LSU women's basketball coach scandal is very interesting. Interesting to me because I think about the idea of "what if it happened in the men's hoop game"? It would be story that is 100 times bigger. For those that aren't aware the former LSU's women's basketball coach, Pokey Chatman resigned under suspicious circumstances, and published reports are that those circumstances dealt with the fact that she was having sexual relations with a former player (while the player was on the team). Now LSU is in the women's Final Four. Think about if this was Florida's Billy Donovan that was accused of the same impropriety. We would be talking about nothing else! As it is, we hear about the LSU story but it's not really front page material. My guess is that has to do with the fact that people accept and even expect a certain amount of "gayness" in women's sports. Because of that we are glossing over the huge fact that Pokey Chatman was getting it on with one of her OWN players! Regardless of your feelings about homosexuality, coach/player intimate relations is a huge taboo and is an absolute outrage. She shouldn't have been able to resign with money still coming her way. She should have the book thrown at her. I don't care if she ever ends up partners or married to this player (who is an adult), it's still something that shouldn't occur in a team setting. If Billy Donovan did this he could never show his face again. Ever! Reports are out there that Pokey Chatman is basically in hiding over this. Sure she's facing some embarrassment and other negative press over this. In my mind she should be facing much worse.

Hoyas and Joe Theismann

-I was ecstatic about the Georgetown/North Carolina game. I've been a Hoya fan as far back as the Pat Ewing days and I absolutely loathe the North Carolina Tar Heels. People ask me how I can possibly like the Duke Blue Devils. I always respond the same way. "Because I hate NC". It's kinda of an either or with those teams. Anyway, I loved the game. I thought Hibbert and Jeff Green were the difference makers. I'm looking forward to the Ohio St. game.

- On a football note, I'm reading the rumors today that Joe Theismann is out at Monday Night Football. What? You mean the t.v. execs actually listened to fans and realized what almost all of us already knew (that Joe T sucked donkeys as a broadcaster). This piece of news makes my day.

Cinderella doesn't have to be a 15 seed

I keep hearing about how there are no Cinderella teams left this year in the NCAA tournament. I mean UNLV is the highest seed left and they are a #7. Still even though some mid-majors got respect in the tournament seeding (about time), that doesn't mean if they make it to the final four it won't be a "Cinderella"type story. Butler and Southern Illinois are great teams but a lot of us are still figuring out who they are. UNLV has name recognition but let's face it they haven't been in the national picture since the early 90's. And Vanderbilt, USC, Oregon, & Texas A&M may be from power conferences but they haven't been historically powerful basketball teams in those conferences by any stretch of the imagination. So in reality we have a whole lot of teams that have the opportunity to wear the glass slipper this coming weekend. I like that.

NCAA Tourney Thoughts: First Weekend

March Madness Thoughts:

1. I really whiffed on a few picks but I did get it right on 12 teams for the sweet 16. I had George Washington and Albany as sleeper Sweet 16 picks and both got crushed in the first round (Albany? I know...I know. I was on cold medication that day.... I was impaired) . I also should have seen a Duke exit in the first round. All the signs were there.

2. While the committee seems to have done a decent job on seeding they screwed up on seeding Duke at 6 and letting Stanford in at all, much less an 11 seed.

3. Xavier absolutely should have beaten Ohio St. but I'm still amazed that Gred Oden doesn't get called for a flagrant foul at the end of that game. It was right in front of the official. If it wasn't the final seconds of a game (officials get conservative at that time) it would probably have been a different story. Still, if Xavier makes a free throw we're not even talking about this.

March Madness: Armchair Bracketing

So my Alma mater, Utah State had a decent season this year (23-12) but again not good enough to make the Dance without a conference tourney championship. Oh well. I'll be rooting for two other home-state teams to do well (BYU, & Weber St) but honestly I'm not even picking them to make it out of the first round. My bracket looks like this:

Into the final 32:
Florida, Arizona, Butler, Maryland, Winthrop, Oregon, UNLV, Wisconsin, Kansas, Kentucky, Illinois, S. Illinois, Duke, Pitt, Indiana, UCLA, N. Carolina, Marquette, USC, Texas, George Washington, Washington St., B.C., Georgetown, Ohio St., Xavier, Tenn, Albany, Louisville, Texas A&M, Creighton, Memphis

Into the Sweet 16:
Florida, Butler, Oregon, Wisconsin, Kansas, S.Illinois, Pitt, Indiana, UCLA, N. Carolina, Texas, George Washington, Georgetown, Ohio St. , Albany, Texas A&M, Memphis

Elite Eight:
Florida, Oregon, Kansas, UCLA, N. Carolina, George Washington, Ohio St., Texas A&M,

Final Four:
Oregon, Kansas, N. Carolina, Texas A&M

Championship:
Kansas, N. Carolina

Champion: Kansas

NFL Free-Agent Thoughts.

The NFL offseason never fails to surprise me. There are always a few eyebrow raising guys that become cap casualties Joey Porter, Joe Horn, etc. Basically what teams are telling these guys is "you're good and we'd love to keep you but you cost too damn much". Essentially they are also telling them they can be replaced otherwise they'd cut somebody else or pay up. You can see why these guys will feel dissed. Nobody is cutting Payton Manning, Ladainian Tomlinson, Merriman, or Champ Bailey. At least not yet. So the only way you can make huge contracts in the NFL and stick around with the team who gave you that contract is to become irreplaceable. Any wonder why guys tend to be loyal to the dollar signs instead of teams these days? They learn from the best. NFL teams. It is what it is.

• My worst free agent nightmare came true with stud linebacker Adalius Thomas signing with the Patriots this week. What are the Patriots doing? I thought we had an understanding. They would continue to ignore needed areas on their team and sputter in the playoffs and I would continue to heave sighs of relief at the end of their seasons. It's worked two years running and now all of the sudden they wise up? Damn it.
  





• I've got mixed emotions on my Rams this offseason. Some of you may have read the several biased comments I've previously made towards free-agent wideout Kevin Curtis. I watched him when he was at my Alma maters, Snow College (J.C) & Utah State. He was the local guy who made good. My brother works with his brother so I would get updates and inside stories. I wanted him to do well in the worst way. When he landed with the Rams and had some breakout games in the past couple of years I had high hopes. But the Rams had two great receivers already in Torry Holt and Isacc Bruce. Curtis was always going to be the third guy. Here's what I don't understand: Bruce clearly hasn't lost it yet but he is aging and Curtis is younger. He's extremely fast and has good hands. He's short 5"11 but athletic and can go up and get balls. His brother indicated at the end of the season he had already packed up his house and moved away from St. Louis knowing that the Rams really had no interest in hanging onto him. What! I cannot figure this out. Now the Rams have signed Drew Bennett to play the slot receiver position Curtis had and I just don't get it. Curtis already had a good relationship with Marc Bulger and knew the offense. I know that Bennett is much taller and is a good receiver as well but still I can't help feeling that the Rams are letting a budding star slip through their fingers. Admittedly I am extremely prejudiced in favor of Curtis so I'm probably not thinking rationally about this. Bennett will probably work out just fine. But is he going to be ok with being a 3rd option?400 or 500 yards for the season if he's lucky? I wouldn't be. Curtis wasn't. Thing is now he may end up in Detroit with Mike Martz which isn't much of an improvement in his situation. They have Roy Williams and Mike Furrey (who had a breakout season and just signed a new contract with them) so Curtis could end up being the third wheel again. Depressing.

Paging Mr. Jones. You forgot to turn your brain on.

Some not-so shocking stuff from the newswire about the Tennessee Titan's All-Dumb Cornerback Pac-Man Jones. Apparently Jones during All-Star Weekend in Vegas got in trouble again at a nightclub (whenever he gets in trouble you can count on the words club and strippers being part of the story). He used over $80,000 in cash to shower strippers in what he called a "visual effect". Then the guy who's in charge of the strippers starts bagging all the cash and next thing you know a melee breaks out that ends in a shooting. I guess Pac-Man had no intention of tipping that well. He just wanted people to enjoy the sight of lots of cash. In other words he's staying true to what we have come to expect from "Mr. off-season nightmare". Ahh...you can't make up stuff like this.

Bolt Babies

It's amazing how adults can be so childlike at times. And I'm not talking about the innocence of childhood. The Schottenheimer firing in San Diego is another case of grown men acting like 10 year olds. Schottenheimer is fired because of dysfunctionality in his relationship with the General Manager A.J. Smith? What a couple of babies. Don't get me wrong, I'm not sure firing Mr. "Marty Ball" isn't such a bad thing. I mean the man has trouble winning in the post-season. It's a statistical fact. But come on, that ought to be the reason he is fired if any and not because he and the G.M. are immature dipsticks. It's pathetic. Oh well. I really need to get a grip if I'm thinking that maturity is going to become part of professional sports anytime soon.
So are the Chargers screwed next season with all the coaching changes that are coming? Who knows. This is a team that was capable of winning the Super Bowl the past two seasons. Instead they've failed to make the playoffs in 05 and been one and done this past season. Again, perhaps Marty Schottenheimer is a big part of that and a more game savy coach can take them to the next level. We'll see. At anyrate they still have A.J. Smith. And yeah he may be a good judge of talent. But he sure is an ass.

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".

NFL Thoughts: The Super Bowl

I'm not sure what was more disappointing, the Super Bowl commercials or the rain that messed up what could have been a good game. Not that I'm complaining about the results. I mean I wanted the Colts to win and they obliged. In fact they put a beat down on what was supposed to be a physically dominating Bears team. It's just that the rain caused it too be much more sloppy than it would have been otherwise and helped mute the Colt offense. The Bears played pretty decent against the pass but they were beat up on the ground pretty good. I just think the Bears miss Brown and Harris like the Colts missed Bob Sanders. And Sanders is one bad dude. The effect of Sanders is probably overstated and a bit of an exaggeration but its weird how the Colts turned into the best smash-mouth team of the post-season after he returned. I'm thinking the entire defense strapped Bob Sanders down, extracted some of his blood and then drank it down with a cookie. Hopefully one of those girl scout cookies that have coconut in them. I love those. Other thoughts:

-I hate squib kicks--they usually give the other team great field position and almost always backfire. But in this game I have to admit the Colts were smart to not kick it back to Devin Hester after he burned them for an opening kick TD. He's scary.

-Manning played pretty well considering the situation. After his first quarter interception he didn't try to do too much. With his defense playing well and knowing that the Bears were doing nothing on offense, he didn't get greedy or crazy. He let Addai, Rhodes and his offensive line kick the Bears defense around. And they did. I liked the idea of the two running backs getting the MVP. A case could be made for the offensive line as well. Manning got the MVP trophy but it was a great team effort that dominated the Bears defense.

-Rex Grossman was in effect a first year starter so it's hard to judge him too harshly this season. Still, the Bears have the team in place for multiple Super Bowl runs right now so their fans and his teammates are not going to have much more patience for some of his poor decisions. He had a great start to the season and then somewhere around mid-season he fell apart. Next year he needs to improve significantly or even the loyal (to a fault) Lovie Smith will be forced to yank him.

-I'm depressed already about the end of the season. And don't tell me the Pro-Bowl is still coming up because that only causes me to use four letter words and eat my fingers off.

-I kept picking the Colts to lose in the post-season and the wins kept coming. I think I've disocovered my strategy for St. Louis next season.--Go Rams 2007!

So I think I'll watch the Super Bowl

There's a little game this weekend I might just have to check out. For the first time since the 2000 season I finally have a team to root for. Not that I haven't had an interest in the big game since then but it's only been an interest in rooting against certain teams. Like the New England Patriots. It's just not as fun rooting agaiinst teams as it is rooting for teams. I've been pulling for the Colts in the AFC for several years now so this is a Super Bowl I can get into. Although it is slightly annoying how everyone I know seems to be rooting for the Colts even though they have no idea who the hell Ben Utecht, Cato June, or Rob Morris is. But that's the Super Bowl. It's a day where many Americans reserve the right to enjoy a football game without knowing what 4th down means or the difference between a punt and a field goal. So whatever.

Who wins this game then? I would love to say the Colts. But Isn't it crazy how almost all the "experts" on the networks and websites, newspapers, etc. are all picking the Colts? I mean this is the Super Bowl for hell's sake. Underdogs often come out on top. Besides which, wasn't it the Bears who 5 weeks into the season seemed like the Super Bowl favorite? Sure Rex Grossman had his struggles (as I've pointed out many times) but the Bears won 13 games and have the type of opportunistic defense which can bail out many mistakes. Plus Grossman can suck for 3 quarters but if he manages to connect on a couple of big plays, the Bears are in business. I just see a lot of advantages for Chicago. Special teams seem big. The Colts have given up a lot of big returns this year so I'm particularly worried about Devin Hester running wild on them. It just seems really weird that the Colts are this favored when prior to the playoffs nobody (including me) gave them a chance to even be here. Now they are a Touchdown favorite?! Did I mention I'm worried.
So even though a Colt victory would be nice for me, my gut says the Bears will make enough big plays to win it.