Gonna go across the board with this one on this Wednesday night:
As said before, this is predominantly a football blog so that is where I will start. It seems that around the National Football League, there are several guys who are at least considering restructuring their contracts. One of those guys is Peyton Manning.
On Manning, those who are friends with me on Facebook know I am not crazy about Manning coming back, and I'm even less of a fan of him coming back with Gary Kubiak in charge. The playoffs to me clearly showed that Peyton Manning can't do it anymore. The balls he throws barely get to his receivers anymore and yes, I know he was hurt in the playoff game vs the Colts, but his elevated age can only exacerbate the injuries he sustains. Moreover, Kubiak is a terrible head coach and I think Broncos fans will find that out rather quickly.
By coming back, Manning to me is risking his legacy by trying to do what I feel is very unlikely; win another ring. I could be wrong, but I don't think they are in the same stratosphere as the truly elite teams in the league; the Seahawks, the Packers, the Patriots. That said, if he is going to come back, I do agree that he should take a pay cut, especially if the Broncos are going to keep some of their free agents such as the two Thomases, Welker, Terrence Knighton, Rahim Moore.
Another quarterback could be looking at a restructured contract himself, that being Arizona's Carson Palmer according to Fox Sports Mike Jurecki. It's a smart move by Arizona if it happens, who signed Palmer to a 50 mil, 3 year contract right before he got hurt last year. If the Cardinals can rework some parts of his contract, it can save them some salary cap room. It wouldn't be the first time a Cardinal has restructured his deal; Larry Fitzgerald did it not too long ago.
As far as NFL releases go, the Lions releasing Reggie Bush surprises me initially but after thinking about it, it's not that big a surprise. He was hurt for much of last season, and the Lions found Joique Bell to be a very capable running back.
I am surprised however that the Packers cut A.J. Hawk, who was a viable defensive player for them. He's not Clay Matthews, but still, I'm surprised. I get that he's not the player he once was, and that it saves them salary cap room, but still, that's not some chump player that just went on the market.
Couple of basketball notes now: Baylor beat Iowa State tonight in Ames, a big win for the Bears; it's their first ever win in Hilton Coliseum. Iowa State is a weird team, just depends on which team shows up night to night. I didn't like some of their strategy at the end of the game, waiting 20 seconds to foul a player down six in the last minute of the game.
In the pros, Rockets beat the Clippers, the first time in seven tries that they've beat Lob City. It's about time that monkey got off their backs.
On baseball, it seems to me that Josh Hamilton just can't stay away from drugs. He has attempted to stay sober since coming back to the big leagues after his first run in with drugs and alcohol, but according to CBS Sports' Jon Heyman, has had a relapse involving "at least cocaine."
Meanwhile, the Washington Nationals' Bryce Harper, the outspoken 22 year old star, made his long-term intentions clear Wednesday, that he's "going to bring a title to D.C., no matter what." We know this guy can talk the talk, now we're going to see if he can walk the walk. That team is talented enough to win 95 to 100 games, easily.
And finally, it appears that "Big Papi" David Ortiz is not a fan of the new pace of the game rules to try to speed up baseball, one of which includes that players must keep a foot in the batter's box at all times. Ortiz called the rules, "bullshit."
Honestly, I can't disagree. The new commissioner has been in office a very short time, and already I'm not a fan of what he's trying to do (granted, I'm not a fan of any of the major professional sports commissioners to begin with). It seems to me that the new commissioner is trying to appeal to the casual fan who rarely watches the game, when the game is fine as it is.
Until next time...
Wednesday, February 25, 2015
Wednesday, February 18, 2015
Ash Wednesday thoughts 2/18/15
Happy Ash Wednesday (for those who celebrate it) to everyone, from a very cold Alabama Gulf Coast. It's been a good week down here, except the weather refuses to warm up. I have basketball thoughts, but first and foremost this is a football blog, so I'll start there.
The biggest news out of the Nebraska football program in the last week is the departure of Nebraska's defensive backs coach, Charlton Warren, to North Carolina. Couple things about this:
1. Can you imagine the revolving door the Nebraska defensive backs have been through; this will be the 5th defensive backs coach Nebraska has had in the last six seasons. That is not a good way to build continuity.
2. The loss hurts, mainly because he was Nebraska's best recruiter. As a matter of fact, he was recently ranked in the top 10 of Big 10 football recruiters. He was especially great for recruiting talent in the SEC footprint; Nebraska got a couple of players from there in this class mainly due to him.
3. For those freaking out about Riley and Nebraska not being able to keep him, settle down already. This is a case of who Warren knows as well as where he is from. Warren knows Fedora from his days at Air Force, and he is from Atlanta so with this move he is much closer to home. As with some things in business, it's not about what you know sometimes, but about who you know. Riley said Monday I believe that he will make Warren's replacement a very high priority...and I hope he puts his money where his mouth is, so to speak.
As I said, I'm in Gulf Shores, AL this week so I found it interesting that the Crimson Tide actually profited in money this fiscal year; $53 million to be exact. Meanwhile, their cross-state rival Auburn's football program made money, but the athletic program as a whole lost money.
Meanwhile, 14 West Virginia athletic coaches commit recruiting violations, yet no postseason ban for the Mountaineers after the NCAA "probed" them. Thanks a lot, NCAA.
Speaking of the NCAA, Mississippi State athletic director Scott Stricklin had some interesting ideas Wednesday; take away the long college football tradition of redshirting and give a player five years of eligibility. Or, make all freshmen ineligible unless they meet certain high school standards and if they do, they get that fifth year. This comes on the heels of several conference commissioners advocating making all freshmen ineligible.
From the National Football League, some tidbits: The Cardinals sign Larry Fitzgerald to a restructured two year deal. Now, if the Cardinals could just find a quarterback....
Meanwhile, Lovie Smith in Tampa Bay is "comfortable" making Jameis Winston the face of Buccaneer football. Good luck with that, Lovie. I've thought all along that he will be a bust.
Rex Ryan in Buffalo says addressing his QB situation is a priority. No crap, Rex. That's the only thing missing from a potential Bills run to the playoffs.
Speaking of Rex, his former team is looking at Josh McCown according to reports. Man, how many mediocre to terrible QBs can the Jets be looking at? They were looking at Ryan Fitzpatrick recently. If the Bills are looking at McCown too as reports indicate...yeah, good luck with that.
Another year, another salary cap increase for the NFL. Last year, it went up about $10 mil, this year it's going up about $7 to $10 mil.
Couple of basketball thoughts now. Duke-North Carolina rivalry resumes tonight...without Dick Vitale. Good. He talks about anything but the game.
Kentuck extends its undefeated season last night, but I think it might be best for them to lose prior to the NCAAs. There's a reason why no team has gone undefeated since Indiana in the 70s...too hard to do. The added pressure of the tourney would hurt as well.
Big game in Stillwater tonight for a pair of ranked teams (Iowa State and Oklahoma State), but especially for Oklahoma State after they got smacked around pretty good by TCU.
And finally, my pro team, the Rockets search for a point guard continues. They are interested in Phoenix guard Goran Dragic but the asking price would be high for a guy who would probabl be a rental player...probably a pick and two players.
Until next time.....
The biggest news out of the Nebraska football program in the last week is the departure of Nebraska's defensive backs coach, Charlton Warren, to North Carolina. Couple things about this:
1. Can you imagine the revolving door the Nebraska defensive backs have been through; this will be the 5th defensive backs coach Nebraska has had in the last six seasons. That is not a good way to build continuity.
2. The loss hurts, mainly because he was Nebraska's best recruiter. As a matter of fact, he was recently ranked in the top 10 of Big 10 football recruiters. He was especially great for recruiting talent in the SEC footprint; Nebraska got a couple of players from there in this class mainly due to him.
3. For those freaking out about Riley and Nebraska not being able to keep him, settle down already. This is a case of who Warren knows as well as where he is from. Warren knows Fedora from his days at Air Force, and he is from Atlanta so with this move he is much closer to home. As with some things in business, it's not about what you know sometimes, but about who you know. Riley said Monday I believe that he will make Warren's replacement a very high priority...and I hope he puts his money where his mouth is, so to speak.
As I said, I'm in Gulf Shores, AL this week so I found it interesting that the Crimson Tide actually profited in money this fiscal year; $53 million to be exact. Meanwhile, their cross-state rival Auburn's football program made money, but the athletic program as a whole lost money.
Meanwhile, 14 West Virginia athletic coaches commit recruiting violations, yet no postseason ban for the Mountaineers after the NCAA "probed" them. Thanks a lot, NCAA.
Speaking of the NCAA, Mississippi State athletic director Scott Stricklin had some interesting ideas Wednesday; take away the long college football tradition of redshirting and give a player five years of eligibility. Or, make all freshmen ineligible unless they meet certain high school standards and if they do, they get that fifth year. This comes on the heels of several conference commissioners advocating making all freshmen ineligible.
From the National Football League, some tidbits: The Cardinals sign Larry Fitzgerald to a restructured two year deal. Now, if the Cardinals could just find a quarterback....
Meanwhile, Lovie Smith in Tampa Bay is "comfortable" making Jameis Winston the face of Buccaneer football. Good luck with that, Lovie. I've thought all along that he will be a bust.
Rex Ryan in Buffalo says addressing his QB situation is a priority. No crap, Rex. That's the only thing missing from a potential Bills run to the playoffs.
Speaking of Rex, his former team is looking at Josh McCown according to reports. Man, how many mediocre to terrible QBs can the Jets be looking at? They were looking at Ryan Fitzpatrick recently. If the Bills are looking at McCown too as reports indicate...yeah, good luck with that.
Another year, another salary cap increase for the NFL. Last year, it went up about $10 mil, this year it's going up about $7 to $10 mil.
Couple of basketball thoughts now. Duke-North Carolina rivalry resumes tonight...without Dick Vitale. Good. He talks about anything but the game.
Kentuck extends its undefeated season last night, but I think it might be best for them to lose prior to the NCAAs. There's a reason why no team has gone undefeated since Indiana in the 70s...too hard to do. The added pressure of the tourney would hurt as well.
Big game in Stillwater tonight for a pair of ranked teams (Iowa State and Oklahoma State), but especially for Oklahoma State after they got smacked around pretty good by TCU.
And finally, my pro team, the Rockets search for a point guard continues. They are interested in Phoenix guard Goran Dragic but the asking price would be high for a guy who would probabl be a rental player...probably a pick and two players.
Until next time.....
Thursday, February 5, 2015
National Signing Day 2015
So, yesterday was National Signing Day for pretty much all of major college football. In a sense, it's almost become like college football's version of the NFL Draft with all the media hype that goes around it now. I admit, I don't follow NSD as much as some others, but I do have a few quick things to ponder on:
So, Auburn gets the #1 rated player in the country going into college, defensive end Byron Cowart, but Alabama gets the #1 rated recruiting class according to ESPN and 247Sports (USC got the #1 class according to Scout and Rivals). Obviously, the battle lines continue to be drawn in the Iron Bowl.
Saban continues to pick up talent like a machine, but Auburn now has Muschamp as their defensive coordinator and the #1 overall player in the country (who by the way plays defensive end). This should make for some good fodder when I make my yearly trip to Gulf Shores, Alabama in two weeks. There are a lot of snowbirds down there this time of year, but Auburn and Bama are still well represented.
In all seriousness, it's always fun to see those two go head-to-head in recruiting because that battle goes all year round. Alabama's class is usually more highly heralded ranking wise and they've got the credentials over the last six years (i.e. three national titles), but it's not like AU has shabby recruiting classes either; theirs usually get in the top 10.
Where I live (Houston), even though Texas and A&M aren't in the same conference anymore, they still have a lot of battles in recruiting. Texas came out with the higher rank in three of the four major services, but the rankings were pretty even in all of them.
What is intriguing about Charlie Strong's first full recruiting class is that Texas I think has eight players from out of state. I'm not going to state my opinion on whether it will or won't work out, as I'm just going to let it play out, but I think it's interesting to see. As I recall, when Brown was coach most of their talent came from inside the state.
I've touched on part of the Huskers' recruiting saga in a previous blog, but the Huskers ended up with 20 commits, which isn't as bad as it could have been considering Pelini attempted to blow the whole thing up when he left town. There were a couple of other players I would have liked to get (Willie Sykes of Spring flipped his commit to Arkansas at the last minute and we lost Atlanta area linebacker Terez Hall to Missouri), but other than that, I think Riley did fine for his first class. His classes need to get into the top 25 going forward though.
I do like that Riley is big on linemen though. Nebraska has fallen by the wayside especially on both lines over the years, and that is something that absolutely needs to be corrected, in addition to keeping the local talent in their own backyard (Daishon Neal helped with that part of the game).
Michigan meanwhile had a modest class of only 14 commits, and a ranking in the top 40 by most of the recruiting machines (I believe 247 has them just inside the top 50). To be fair, Harbaugh got a late start because of when Michigan hired him...which was right after the 49ers season ended.
That said, he is going to have to recruit at a much higher level if he wants to challenge Meyer in the Big 10 on a yearly basis. He's not going to be able to challenge Meyer with consistent classes rated like that.
He is set up for success early because of the talent Hoke left him (Hoke had top 10 recruiting classes in 2012 and 2013), but when that top rated talent leaves in a couple of years, Harbaugh will have to have recruited top level talent. Some coaches can get away with classes rated in the high 20s and low 30s (Gary Patterson at TCU develops the talent he gets on a regular basis, which makes him one of the best coaches in the game), but it's very rare.
On the Rockets: Dwight Howard out for at least a month. Not good. That said, they got a very nice win over Chicago and I hope they can stay afloat until Howard comes back. One final NBA note: Golden State and Atlanta have the two best records in the league and play on Friday night and it ISN'T on ESPN. Veeeeery smooth job promoting your league, NBA. Not.
Until next time....
So, Auburn gets the #1 rated player in the country going into college, defensive end Byron Cowart, but Alabama gets the #1 rated recruiting class according to ESPN and 247Sports (USC got the #1 class according to Scout and Rivals). Obviously, the battle lines continue to be drawn in the Iron Bowl.
Saban continues to pick up talent like a machine, but Auburn now has Muschamp as their defensive coordinator and the #1 overall player in the country (who by the way plays defensive end). This should make for some good fodder when I make my yearly trip to Gulf Shores, Alabama in two weeks. There are a lot of snowbirds down there this time of year, but Auburn and Bama are still well represented.
In all seriousness, it's always fun to see those two go head-to-head in recruiting because that battle goes all year round. Alabama's class is usually more highly heralded ranking wise and they've got the credentials over the last six years (i.e. three national titles), but it's not like AU has shabby recruiting classes either; theirs usually get in the top 10.
Where I live (Houston), even though Texas and A&M aren't in the same conference anymore, they still have a lot of battles in recruiting. Texas came out with the higher rank in three of the four major services, but the rankings were pretty even in all of them.
What is intriguing about Charlie Strong's first full recruiting class is that Texas I think has eight players from out of state. I'm not going to state my opinion on whether it will or won't work out, as I'm just going to let it play out, but I think it's interesting to see. As I recall, when Brown was coach most of their talent came from inside the state.
I've touched on part of the Huskers' recruiting saga in a previous blog, but the Huskers ended up with 20 commits, which isn't as bad as it could have been considering Pelini attempted to blow the whole thing up when he left town. There were a couple of other players I would have liked to get (Willie Sykes of Spring flipped his commit to Arkansas at the last minute and we lost Atlanta area linebacker Terez Hall to Missouri), but other than that, I think Riley did fine for his first class. His classes need to get into the top 25 going forward though.
I do like that Riley is big on linemen though. Nebraska has fallen by the wayside especially on both lines over the years, and that is something that absolutely needs to be corrected, in addition to keeping the local talent in their own backyard (Daishon Neal helped with that part of the game).
Michigan meanwhile had a modest class of only 14 commits, and a ranking in the top 40 by most of the recruiting machines (I believe 247 has them just inside the top 50). To be fair, Harbaugh got a late start because of when Michigan hired him...which was right after the 49ers season ended.
That said, he is going to have to recruit at a much higher level if he wants to challenge Meyer in the Big 10 on a yearly basis. He's not going to be able to challenge Meyer with consistent classes rated like that.
He is set up for success early because of the talent Hoke left him (Hoke had top 10 recruiting classes in 2012 and 2013), but when that top rated talent leaves in a couple of years, Harbaugh will have to have recruited top level talent. Some coaches can get away with classes rated in the high 20s and low 30s (Gary Patterson at TCU develops the talent he gets on a regular basis, which makes him one of the best coaches in the game), but it's very rare.
On the Rockets: Dwight Howard out for at least a month. Not good. That said, they got a very nice win over Chicago and I hope they can stay afloat until Howard comes back. One final NBA note: Golden State and Atlanta have the two best records in the league and play on Friday night and it ISN'T on ESPN. Veeeeery smooth job promoting your league, NBA. Not.
Until next time....
Monday, February 2, 2015
Super Bowl XLIX Recap: A Game That Changed Legacies Forever
February 1st, 2015. Super Bowl XLIX, University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale, Arizona. A game that will be remembered for all the right...and wrong...reasons. It was a game that will live forever in history, with an old champ returning to his throne after 10 years and dethroning the former champ in the process.
Oh wait, I almost forgot to say hello. Back with another blog post, and how can I not be after what transpired in Arizona yesterday?
So, about that game yesterday, let's be real and get straight to the point: Seattle had the game, and Carroll fumbled it away with that atrocious second down play call. There were other factors in the game, such as Seattle's defense not being able to stop anyone the entire fourth quarter, and Brady basically doing what he does best in crunch time. No, Seattle's defense is not completely exonerated.
But let's get it straight, what it comes down to is that Seattle was on the one yardline, second and goal, with the best running back in the game, and the Patriots weren't going to stop him.
And then Seattle called THAT play.
Thing is, it wasn't even the pass so much. It's who they threw the ball to. They threw the ball to a guy named Ricardo Lockette, who was not even close to being the best receiver on the field for Seattle that night. Unheralded Chris Matthews had gone over 100 yards for the night, and Jermaine Kearse had just made that ridiculously spectacular catch to put the Seahawks in position to win in the first place (and a guy who made the winning touchdown catch for Seattle in each of the last two conference title games). If they tried to match Kearse on Malcolm Butler, who just got burned, I could maybe understand.
But in the end, why even bother to do that when you have that freak #24 in the backfield? With three more tries to get it in, as determined as he was, there was no way he was going to be denied if they gave him the ball. Carroll has been trying to defend that play to the media since the game was over, but I think in his heart of hearts he knows he screwed up. His players were pissed too; there was a guest who came on the Jim Rome show earlier today and said the Seahawks defenders were visibly pissed walking off the field. They know what that meant.
Honestly, I guess I shouldn't be surprised by that Carroll made such a rash decision. Carroll was a riverboat gambler type at USC and he still is today. This is the same guy who, in the very same game, went for a pass on the goal line with six seconds to go, knowing that he might lose his chance at points. They scored, but he rolls the dice quite often. That said, there is a fine line between being a riverboat gambler and utter stupidity and I think Carroll crossed that proverbial line here. This was common sense.
Make no mistake about it though, this is a franchise crushing loss for Seattle and it is so because they had the game all but locked up. One yardline, for back to back championships with the best back in the league and they let it slip through their grasp. Now they are going to have to deal with the aftermath of a physical playoff run that took its toll on a lot of players.
Richard Sherman will have to reportedly undergo Tommy John surgery on his elbow that hampered him throughout the postseason. Jeremy Lane, who picked off Brady last night, will have to recover from a broken arm. There will be a hangover effect too, and Seattle has played a lot of football since this run started back in 2012. They played in back to back Super Bowls and played in the second round of the playoffs the year before that.
They have a very young nucleus (only a few players over the age of 30), but this is a franchise damaging defeat. It would have been that way for whichever team lost that game, but now Seattle has to start all over when they were so close to going back-to-back.
It's not that it can't be done; however, I am also interested to see how they handle things when they face a little adversity, and I didn't like what I saw at the end of the game last night with that fight. They might end up being the type of front-running team that feeds off success when things go well, but maybe they aren't so good at handling things after a loss.
By the way, this would have been a damaging loss for New England too had Seattle ended up winning, but for opposite reasons; because of the closing window for Brady to win another ring, because it would have been another heart-wrenching loss in a Super Bowl's closing seconds and for as great as Bill Belichick has been over his career, we would have raked him over the coals for not calling his timeouts before Seattle scored, if they had done so. And we would have been right to do that.
However, I think we'd be remiss not to give credit to Tom Brady for putting the Pats in position to win in the first place. Down 10 and staring down the Legion of Boom, Brady took them right down the field twice and made it look easy. The game really changed on that third and 14 conversion on the drive where the Patriots cut it to 24-21; that's when Brady started doing what he does best, basically clutch up and perform his best when the stakes are the highest.
I think on the Patriots side of things, they exorcised a lot of demons last night because it's been 10 years since they've been on top, and since then they've gotten close but haven't gotten over the hump until last night; in that span, they've lost twice to the Giants in Super Bowls and lost three other conference title games in that span. They not only finally got back on top but they beat the defending champs, with the most fearsome defense in the league to get it done.
One final note on the Super Bowl, this Patriots championship continues an incredible run for Boston's four major professional sports franchises, which have combined for nine world championships in the past 13 calendar years with the Patriots leading the way with four (MLB's Red Sox have three, the NBA's Celtics have one, and the NHL's Bruins have one as well). Not to mention that Boston is in the running to potentially host the 2024 Summer Olympics.
Couple of quick college basketball notes; I'll be interested to see what happens in both major Big Monday matchups. No. 3 Virginia is at No. 12 North Carolina, which is important in the sense that both of these teams lost tough games this past weekend to Duke and Louisville, respectively. Whoever loses tonight will be 0-2 on the weekend, and even though it can happen against good teams, 0-2 can be awfully difficult to overcome in the context of a conference title race.
In the Big 12, No. 11 Iowa State and No. 8 Kansas is very important as well; if Iowa State wants to at least share a conference crown, a win at Allen Fieldhouse, however unlikely, would go a long way towards doing so.
Until next time....
Oh wait, I almost forgot to say hello. Back with another blog post, and how can I not be after what transpired in Arizona yesterday?
So, about that game yesterday, let's be real and get straight to the point: Seattle had the game, and Carroll fumbled it away with that atrocious second down play call. There were other factors in the game, such as Seattle's defense not being able to stop anyone the entire fourth quarter, and Brady basically doing what he does best in crunch time. No, Seattle's defense is not completely exonerated.
But let's get it straight, what it comes down to is that Seattle was on the one yardline, second and goal, with the best running back in the game, and the Patriots weren't going to stop him.
And then Seattle called THAT play.
Thing is, it wasn't even the pass so much. It's who they threw the ball to. They threw the ball to a guy named Ricardo Lockette, who was not even close to being the best receiver on the field for Seattle that night. Unheralded Chris Matthews had gone over 100 yards for the night, and Jermaine Kearse had just made that ridiculously spectacular catch to put the Seahawks in position to win in the first place (and a guy who made the winning touchdown catch for Seattle in each of the last two conference title games). If they tried to match Kearse on Malcolm Butler, who just got burned, I could maybe understand.
But in the end, why even bother to do that when you have that freak #24 in the backfield? With three more tries to get it in, as determined as he was, there was no way he was going to be denied if they gave him the ball. Carroll has been trying to defend that play to the media since the game was over, but I think in his heart of hearts he knows he screwed up. His players were pissed too; there was a guest who came on the Jim Rome show earlier today and said the Seahawks defenders were visibly pissed walking off the field. They know what that meant.
Honestly, I guess I shouldn't be surprised by that Carroll made such a rash decision. Carroll was a riverboat gambler type at USC and he still is today. This is the same guy who, in the very same game, went for a pass on the goal line with six seconds to go, knowing that he might lose his chance at points. They scored, but he rolls the dice quite often. That said, there is a fine line between being a riverboat gambler and utter stupidity and I think Carroll crossed that proverbial line here. This was common sense.
Make no mistake about it though, this is a franchise crushing loss for Seattle and it is so because they had the game all but locked up. One yardline, for back to back championships with the best back in the league and they let it slip through their grasp. Now they are going to have to deal with the aftermath of a physical playoff run that took its toll on a lot of players.
Richard Sherman will have to reportedly undergo Tommy John surgery on his elbow that hampered him throughout the postseason. Jeremy Lane, who picked off Brady last night, will have to recover from a broken arm. There will be a hangover effect too, and Seattle has played a lot of football since this run started back in 2012. They played in back to back Super Bowls and played in the second round of the playoffs the year before that.
They have a very young nucleus (only a few players over the age of 30), but this is a franchise damaging defeat. It would have been that way for whichever team lost that game, but now Seattle has to start all over when they were so close to going back-to-back.
It's not that it can't be done; however, I am also interested to see how they handle things when they face a little adversity, and I didn't like what I saw at the end of the game last night with that fight. They might end up being the type of front-running team that feeds off success when things go well, but maybe they aren't so good at handling things after a loss.
By the way, this would have been a damaging loss for New England too had Seattle ended up winning, but for opposite reasons; because of the closing window for Brady to win another ring, because it would have been another heart-wrenching loss in a Super Bowl's closing seconds and for as great as Bill Belichick has been over his career, we would have raked him over the coals for not calling his timeouts before Seattle scored, if they had done so. And we would have been right to do that.
However, I think we'd be remiss not to give credit to Tom Brady for putting the Pats in position to win in the first place. Down 10 and staring down the Legion of Boom, Brady took them right down the field twice and made it look easy. The game really changed on that third and 14 conversion on the drive where the Patriots cut it to 24-21; that's when Brady started doing what he does best, basically clutch up and perform his best when the stakes are the highest.
I think on the Patriots side of things, they exorcised a lot of demons last night because it's been 10 years since they've been on top, and since then they've gotten close but haven't gotten over the hump until last night; in that span, they've lost twice to the Giants in Super Bowls and lost three other conference title games in that span. They not only finally got back on top but they beat the defending champs, with the most fearsome defense in the league to get it done.
One final note on the Super Bowl, this Patriots championship continues an incredible run for Boston's four major professional sports franchises, which have combined for nine world championships in the past 13 calendar years with the Patriots leading the way with four (MLB's Red Sox have three, the NBA's Celtics have one, and the NHL's Bruins have one as well). Not to mention that Boston is in the running to potentially host the 2024 Summer Olympics.
Couple of quick college basketball notes; I'll be interested to see what happens in both major Big Monday matchups. No. 3 Virginia is at No. 12 North Carolina, which is important in the sense that both of these teams lost tough games this past weekend to Duke and Louisville, respectively. Whoever loses tonight will be 0-2 on the weekend, and even though it can happen against good teams, 0-2 can be awfully difficult to overcome in the context of a conference title race.
In the Big 12, No. 11 Iowa State and No. 8 Kansas is very important as well; if Iowa State wants to at least share a conference crown, a win at Allen Fieldhouse, however unlikely, would go a long way towards doing so.
Until next time....
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