Back with a blog on this Tuesday night. Just a few thoughts to chew on:
On this whole "Deflate Gate" thing: Look, I get that the Patriots are polarizing, and that everyone looks for a reason to hate the Patriots after Spygate. But guys, the national media is blowing this completely out of proportion. The shame of this whole thing is that the two best teams, playing for the ultimate prize, are going to take a backseat to this because the media's got to have something to write about.
Tell me, how is it that "Deflate Gate" is now bigger than Ray Rice? I get that the Patriots aren't exactly the cleanest franchise in the world, but I mean, come on. A bunch of footballs deflated by the Patriots (allegedly) is now seen as bigger than Ray Rice punching his then-fiancee in an elevator, are you kidding me? If anything, I think the NFL's handling of the Ray Rice thing is much, much more concerning than this.
If it sounds like I'm exonerating the Patriots completely, no I'm not. No doubt there are some shady things going on with that franchise, most namely Roger Goodell showing up at Gillette Stadium during the playoffs with a Boston hat on (he and Pats owner Robert Kraft are good friends, as most who follow the NFL know). I am saying that the sports media and NFL fans, especially the ones who hate the Patriots are letting this thing get way out of hand.
As far as the Super Bowl goes, I'm picking the Patriots to win it. It's awfully hard to repeat, Gronkowski is healthy and I don't think Seattle has an answer for him, and I think the Patriots will use "Deflate Gate" as just more ammunition. I like the Patriots in their Super Bowl specialty, winning by a field goal, 23-20 (each of their previous three Super Bowl wins have been by a field goal).
The notion of parity in the NFL is a myth, by the way. It used to be that any team could win, but not anymore. Those four teams that played on championship Sunday were clearly the class of the NFL and it wouldn't surprise me if those four teams are right back there again next season.
One last thing on this Super Bowl: don't be fooled by Seattle calling themselves the "12th Man," they aren't the real 12th Man. Texas A&M has trademark on that and every time Seattle raises that 12 flag, they pay royalties to Texas A&M.
Head Coach Mike Riley and the Nebraska football program had a big Tuesday of recruiting, which included keeping Omaha Central defensive end Daishon Neal in-state and away from Michigan. It is huge on a couple of different levels, not the least of which is keeping the best players in your own state. As a bonus, they managed to keep him away from Michigan's golden boy, Harbaugh.
Well, I should slightly correct myself: Michigan hurt their chances by saying something really stupid during the recruiting process, which Neal and his father revealed during an interview on Omaha sports radio Tuesday morning.
"Michigan was a powerhouse," Neal's father said. "They stormed us, but they made one bad statement in the room. He (referring to Michigan assistant Greg Mattison, who was the assistant who made the trip to Omaha) said, 'without football, Daishon wouldn't be able to go to Michigan. Like we couldn't afford to send him there or get him academically (in)."
Neal would later say that he believed that the Michigan recruiter basically called him stupid to his face. As the story goes, it didn't take long for Mattison to be kicked out of the household.
Look, I have Detroit connections. Michigan is a fine school by all accounts, and certainly overall is a better school than Nebraska. But you don't bring that crap into a living room and try and stuff it down a recruit's throat, no matter how truthful it may be. The last thing you want to do is make a recruit look stupid.
There are a lot of things that former UT HFC Mack Brown was subpar in, including coaching, but the one thing he would have NEVER done on a recruiting trip (to my knowledge) would be essentially to call a guy stupid to his face. Besides, while Michigan is a fine school it certainly is no Rice; I know because I live in Houston and it is EXTREMELY difficult to get into Rice. For my Nebraska peeps who would like to listen to the full interview, you can do so here: https://soundcloud.com/liquid-shane-o/jan-27-seg-5-with-omaha-central-de-daishon-neal-sticks-with-nebraska
The Huskers also got a commitment from Spring, Texas DB Willie Sykes today. What's interesting about him is that Sykes earned first team All-Texas honors from TexasFootball.com, but the only other school that was after him was Washington State.
On the Rockets: Fairly pivotal game with the Mavs tomorrow, I'd say. Win that game and they're 2.5 ahead of Dallas and they already have two wins in their back pocket against the Mavs...and a tiebreaker could be critical for home court down the road. For the record, I'd say the Mavs are the best chance the Rockets have to win a playoff series right now. Not that they would, but I think it's their best shot.
Bad loss for Nebrasketball tonight. They had a real chance to get a big win tonight at Michigan and came out timid and uninspired. It's a good thing I had stuff to do tonight so I didn't have to watch 90 percent of that debacle.
Until next time....
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