Things to look forward to tonight

The Super Bowl, of course, is one of the biggest sporting events in the year, and everyone looks forward to watching it. Or that's the impression I get. Somehow it seems that every year, there are overwhelming complaints. Perhaps it's just the world we live in, but it's either "the pregame commentators are bad" or "The game sucked" or "the half time show was terrible" or "the commercials weren't funny".OK, you whiners, here are some things you can look forward to during the game.

- Kickoff. No matter how bad the game might be, or how the nerves might play a role in some terrible football, the opening kick off, with all the flashbulbs gives me chills every time.

- The lights and guest stars of half time. Oh, you thought the half time show was about music? No, it's about flashing lights and people that you recognize. Who cares if the music sucks, look at the stage and is that Usher?

- Commentators having fun. All the analysts are in their last job of the season. They aren't even there for half time. You had better believe they have a case of senioritis. And maybe a case of beer.

- The commercials are still good. They have good production value, and there isn't much time spent on 3 Menards ads every commercial break like there is during, say, a Twins game. These commercials are new and fresh and generally wonderful, even if they don't get a chuckle every time.

So, go out there and enjoy it. If't not going to be perfect, because nothing ever is. It's still going to be fun, and you are going to be able to eat a lot of gross food you otherwise wouldn't. 

A Super Bowl prediction

First off, I am never picking a game to be bad again. They never are, no matter how much it seems they should be. I think the Giants will win, because that is the most annoying result possible, but also because the Patriots haven’t played any tough teams on the road or at a neutral site this season. 
Their offense goes through tight ends and is easily disrupted by a good D-Line and coverage LBs and a well played zone. Oh right, that’s what the Giants have. There isn't really a thing the Patriots should do about it either. Keep an extra guy into to block the active Giants line? Well, then that's fewer people to cover for the Giants secondary, and more attention can be paid to Hernandez and Gronkowski. It's going to be a tough matchup for New England on the offensive side of the ball. Also, the Giants have been playing better through the postseason, and I am inclined to go with the hot hand.

Despite what I said about the offense struggling against New York, the Pats will put points up. I am expecting a score in the neighborhood of 38-35.

I hate this Super Bowl

I hate the pending Super Bowl for three primary reasons. 1) The Patriots. 2) The Giants. 3) The Patriots playing the Giants. Oh? Expound? Surely.

1) As a Colts fan, the Patriots have been the biggest nemesis for the past decade or more. They are from Boston and were the first step in unleashing Boston sports arrogance to the masses. I mean, people used to LIKE Boston. Cheers! Now? Screw Boston. Screw the Patriots. Screw Tom Brady. Screw Bill Belichick. Screw their ruthless efficiency. I do not care for the New England Patriots.

2) Excuse me for saying it, but I am sick of the underdog. The underdog has lost it's luster, because in the NFL, the underdog wins a LOT. Look at the last 4 years. Three different times, a team that played Wild Card weekend made the Super Bowl, and twice, that team won. If the underdog can reach the Big Game 40% of the time, they aren't really an underdog, are they? And if they win that Super Bowl 2/3 times they make it, they aren't a freaking underdog! So I'm sorry, New York. You had a crappy season and got lucky in the end. That doesn't mean I can root for you.
Also, what about my being a Colts/Peyton Manning fan compels me to vote for Eli Manning? Just because Eli is Peyton's brother doesn't make him any less of a whiny twit who begged his way out of San Diego. What kind of douche wants to get out of San Diego?! You made Philip Rivers look good! So no, Eli, you and your Giants... no.

3) The networks really like to sell the Boston-New York rivalry when they get a chance, no matter the sport. It's compelling television, to be sure... if you are from Boston or New York. I'm sick of hearing about these teams. I feel ill that one of these two teams will be heralded as the best team in football all next season. I hate that the ticker tape parades and everything will last so much longer next year than they should, or at least, they will be covered in the media for much longer than they should be. I hate that this is a rematch, which is the most boring plot of any sporting event in the land. Just ask LSU and Alabama.

I hate this Super Bowl. But on the other hand, it's almost impossible for next year's game to be any worse than this. Bring on the bean dip!

NFL Computerized Power Ranks: Final

Another NFL season is in the books, and unfortunately my randomly picking dog got the outcome of the Super Bowl right, and the power ranks got it wrong. However, the power rank formula at least worked well enough to put the Packers on top to end the season, while the Steelers moved back to #3 and the Patriots got bumped up to #2. Everyone from #4 down stayed put.

There isn't much else to discuss with this season's final power ranks (other than if I will need to change my formula to adjust for a lockout next year) so let's take a closer look at the end of this NFL season. I think there were some bizarre things that happened over the past few weeks and playoffs...

First, I think these 2 scenarios have been brought up other places, but it is interesting to think about 2 seemingly random games that could have had an impact on the Super Bowl matchup. First, remember when Steve Johnson dropped that game winning pass in OT and then blamed God for it? That was against the Steelers. If he catches that pass, the Steelers would have been the 6 seed playing on the road in Indy and the Ravens would have had the bye. Let's assume the Steelers beat the Colts and the Jets beat the Chiefs. The Jets would have gone to Baltimore instead of New England and the Steelers would have gone to New England. The other key to the Super Bowl matchup was the Lions. Yes, the Lions. In Week 15, they won their first road game since October 2007 as part of an impressive 4 game win streak to end the season. In that game, they beat Tampa. If Tampa just would have beaten the Lions at home, they would have been the final wild card and the Packers would have been out of the playoffs.

Now, let's look at some odd playoff scenarios. Of course, we had the 7-9 Seahawks beat the defending Super Bowl Champs in the first round, but that has been discussed to death. An interesting side note to this is at that point, it was pretty much inevitable that the Packers would beat the Eagles, allowing the Bears to play Seattle in the 2nd round. The Bears seemed like one of the most undeserving #2 seeds in NFL history, mostly because of Cutler's moping, the Packers' injuries, and their very unimpressive way of winning games all season. It just seemed to make sense that they only needed to beat a 7-9 team at home in the snow to get to the NFC Championship game. Another interesting thing that happened this year is that both #1 seeds were ousted in the first round by the #6 seed that they beat earlier in the season. For the Falcons, they barely got past the Packers in Atlanta and the Packers answered by destroying them. For the Patriots, they absolutely embarrassed the Jets late in the season (the Jets beat them early on), the Jets spent all week trash talking, and somehow, someway, they go into Foxboro and knock out the clear favorite to win the Super Bowl heading into the playoffs.

Now, let's talk a little more about the Super Bowl Champs. The Packers had a very odd journey this year, plagued by injuries and disappointing losses. They were an early season Super Bowl favorite (Ryan and I both picked them to at least make it there), but they trailed the Bears in the NFC North almost all season. They also had 3 losses over the last 6 weeks (to #1 seeds Atlanta and New England and an awful Aaron Rodgers-less loss to the Lions) but won when it counted, beating the Giants and Bears to get into the playoffs with a 10-6 record. Since they were a preseason darling and won those last 2 clutch games, the Packers were given the "sleeper" benefit-of-the-doubt tag heading into the playoffs. Their matchup with Philly was seen as being able to go either way, partly because they beat the Eagles (with Kevin Kolb) in week 1. Heading into Atlanta, I think the Falcons' history was working against them and again, the Packers were perceived as having a mediocre to good chance at winning. I think the general consensus was with the Pack heading into the NFC Championship as well, because of all that was said about the Bears above. So incredibly (at least to me) the Packers were the favorite heading into the Super Bowl, despite being a 6 seed playing a 2 seed, having a 10-6 record, loaded with injuries, playing a team with 2 recent Super Bowl wins, and getting there by beating a bunch of NFC teams that laid down and died for them. And guess what? They won. And with that win, they tied the record for worst W-L record to win the Super Bowl, with the 1988 49ers, who also had a lot of injuries early in the season but got healthy late.

Speaking of those 1988 49ers, I found it pretty funny how undramatic the final drive by the Steelers in the Super Bowl was. If you can remember all the way back to Super Bowl XXIII, Joe Montana led the Niners on a 92 yard TD drive (when he only needed a field goal) with 34 seconds left to win the game. Ben Roethlisberger is no Montana, but the feeling in the stadium and by the announcers seemed pretty hopeless when the Steelers got the ball, needing a TD to win with 2 minutes to go. Sure, he had less time than Montana did, but even though I just said he is no Montana, just 2 years ago he led the Steelers to a win in Super Bowl XLIII with a game winning TD drive. Big Ben didn't disappoint the announcers or fans though, and before you knew it, Rodgers was taking his knee.

Here are the final power ranks:
1. Packers - 79.87
2. Patriots - 78.53
3. Steelers - 73.15
4. Ravens - 70.83
5. Jets - 69.93
6. Falcons - 69.71
7. Buccaneers - 64.42
8. Chargers - 61.31
9. Bears - 59.91
10. Lions - 58.82
11. Colts - 58.27
12. Giants - 54.90
13. Chiefs - 54.33
14. Eagles - 53.20
15. Saints - 52.46
16. Raiders - 51.67
17. Cowboys - 45.06
18. 49ers - 42.65
19. Rams - 42.01
20. Titans - 40.13
21. Texans - 39.63
22. Seahawks - 38.72
23. Dolphins - 37.15
24. Bengals - 36.25
25. Jaguars - 35.93
26. Redskins - 35.60
27. Vikings - 33.76
28. Cardinals - 33.09
29. Browns - 32.52
30. Bills - 32.05
31. Broncos - 27.69
32. Panthers - 24.58

Turnovers are, like, a big deal

Let's take a look at some of the stats from the Super Bowl yesterday:
Total Yards: Pittsburgh 387, Green Bay 338

Yards per carry: Pittsburgh 5.5, Green Bay 3.8

Time of Possession: Pittsburgh 33:25, Green Bay 26:35

With all of those stats, one thing is very clear. Pittsburgh dominated the game. If they keep running the ball, they will keep it out of Aaron Rodgers' hands and likely keep driving the field for more points.

Of course, there were these two stats that ran counter to that conclusion

Rushes: Pittsburgh 23, Green Bay 13

Turnovers: Pittsburgh 3, Green Bay 0

I'm not claiming to be a smart guy when it comes to football, but it seems pretty apparent that the Steelers would have been well served to keep the ball on the ground, especially as two of those 3 turnovers were interceptions. Either way, however, there is no doubt that the turnovers were the main issue in the game. While the Packers ended up the victors in north Texas this year, at least I will always know that they were physically beaten by the Steelers. Can I count that as my being right? No?
Oh well, congrats to Green Bay.

Any of these will be better than the Black Eyed Peas

I do not care for the Black Eyed Peas. But hey, Super Bowl!

Finally, the Super Bowl

I really don't have much to add from my prediction post last week, which is part of the problem for media members, I'm sure. Two whole weeks to fill sportscasts, ramping up to biggest sporting event in the American sports year, and the biggest stories are that the Packers had some logistical issues with the team photo, Hines Ward wore a cowboy hat and Ben Roethlisberger took his O-Line out to dinner. But all that said, I feel with the big game tomorrow, I must comment on it at least in brief.
- People are aking WAY too big a deal out of Maurkice Pouncey's injury. This is a team that went 3-1 with out their QB, kept winning without the defensive player of the year, and we are worried about a rookie center? I am not changing my pick. The Steelers are simply a better team than the Packers, and that will not change because Pouncey is out.
- I don't know when it happened, but at some point, the most annoying habit in sports coverage went from the media's obsession Brett Favre to the media's obsession with the media's obsession with Brett Favre. I mean, every time I see a Super Bowl article or prop bet or anything, there is always a "how many times will they mention Brett Favre?" reference. OK, we get it, the media is obsessed with Brett Favre. You can stop obsessing about the obsession. I think I just blew your mind, didn't I?
- I think Brett Keisel could get a gig promoting Gnomeo and Juliet. Never has a long flowing beard been less manly than when an animated movie comes out about little bearded men in a Shakespeare influenced movie.

Obligatory Super Bowl post OVER

New York is fine

The NFL decided a few days ago to put the 2014 Super Bowl in New York (well, New Jersey) and many are griping about the potential for inclement weather. Who cares? This is the game to decide the champion of the football world, not some sort of reward. The only way we can truly call this a neutral field game is if we keep moving it around without bias towards any team or region. Really, the only reason we can call it a neutral field up to this point is because New Orleans, Tampa and San Diego have only been to the Super Bowl once each.
So I say keep moving the game, keep putting it in cities where the weather might turn sour, just so long as there are hotels to put the people that want to see the game. I say Super Seattle in 2015. Who's with me?!

Tough break

I don't want to to tell you I told you so, but... I didn't. Well, I did if you talked to me in person, but I never wrote it up here. People told me frequently how they though the Colts would not only win, but would do so convincingly in the Super Bowl tonight. They would be stunned when I told them that I didn't think so. The Colts might win, but it certainly wouldn't be a blow out.
As it turned out, the Saints ended up winning outright. The various flaws that any analytical Colts fan saw with every game they played was still there. They couldn't play defense when they played an elite quarterback. They were lucky enough to avoid playing any really good  quarterbacks for most of the year. The best they have played, namely Tom Brady and Kurt Warner, were played at home or didn't have an elite ground game to go with them.
The Saints were able to exploit the Colts crappy defense, because they actually had an offense. When the nerves settled, they were able to pick apart the coverage linebackers (Clint Sessions was atrocious) and the cornerbacks struggled to wrap up on tackles. The offense was kept off the field for about two straight quarters because the Saints were completely able to dominate ball control.
Peyton Manning, no doubt, is the only thing keeping the Colts from being a 6-10 team. Unfortunately, this year, limited by less skilled wideouts, he has been forced to to throw into heavier coverages. That has meant a lot of interceptions, and that was the ultimate undoing tonight. Playing against an opportunistic defense only compounded the problem.
It was a wake up call to many people who thought the Colts were invincible going into the game. Hopefully it didn't give teams the blueprint for beating them the next couple of years. Oh well. I still have Purdue and the Twins. I'll get 'em eventually.

Stop it.

Excuse me, ESPN? Knock it off. Yes, it was a good game yesterday, but frankly, I can think of 2 games in the last ten years that were better than yesterday's game!
(Rams - Titans in 2000 and the Giants-Patriots, uh... last year. How short is your memory, ESPN?)
Also, what is wrong with Chad Forde's face? He looks like he's trying to say something nice about Vin Diesel's acting.

Good God give this man some oxygen

Ryan's Super Bowl Prediction

Much has been made of the Cardinals being the perennial doormat that somehow managed to make it to the Big Game. Now, the talking heads say, they are a different team. Well, sort of. They are still the doormats of the league, but now they are in a different league. They are now the "worst team to ever play in the Super Bowl". The last 9-7 team to make the Super Bowl in a non-strike year (not to mention the only other 9-7 team in a non-strike year) was the Los Angeles Rams in 1979. They also captured the imagination of America before they faced the Steelers. The Cardinals, like the '79 Rams, will lose 31-19.

Imagine...

if 5 years ago, someone told you we would live in a world in which the Red Sox and White Sox have won World Series, the Devil Rays have gone to the World Series, and the Arizona Cardinals are in the Super Bowl. Wow.

WOW

I'm not often given to superlatives, but this game certainly is up there as one of the greatest Super Bowls ever. Think of all the stories that will be retold for years.
- The mighty Patriots are felled by the up and coming Giants.
- Eli Manning comes to the Super Bowl a year after his brother makes his first trip (and earns his first victory).
- Eli Manning struggles early, but turns his team around and reels off an improbably run, getting the Giants to the Super Bowl.
- Manning leads the Giants on one of the greatest comeback drives ever, including phenomenal plays (that David Tyree catch is probably the best play I've ever seen).
- The Tom Brady led Patriots were at the Giants 20, down by 4, and Steve IMed me to say that the Giants had a .000002% chance of winning the game. There was still a chance.

I think, more than anything, this game will serve to make those mediocre Giants immortals. They play in New York. They stepped up in the playoffs and became unstoppable. They played in the best Super Bowl this decade. I can't believe that I was lucky enough to be around to see it.

UPDATE: If you had any question what play I was talking about, it was this one. Thanks to Ric-S for the tip.

Photo courtesy Fox Sports

Third Quarter rundown

So lets see, the Patriots can't do anything right, the Giants are playing like animals. If I had to pick an MVP right now, it would be Kawika Mitchell, who would be a line backer for the losing team. I would also speculate that he would be the first person named Kawika to win the Super Bowl MVP.
Steve brought up a good point in regards to the Patriots challenge. Interesting that they had such good photographic evidence of that play, no? Where's Arlen Spector now?
I have to admit, I laughed when I saw Alice Cooper in the middle of the road in that car commercial. Best one of the night.

Halftime report

Tom Petty was pretty unremarkable, except for the fact that he came out on a GIANT PHALLUS. Hilarious. With the beard, he kind of looked like a disheveled panhandler, out there playing the guitar trying to get people to give him a few dimes so he could buy more hooch. So, the beard is a massive improvement.

The 2nd quarter.

This may be the most exciting 7-3 game I've ever seen. Things started to happen, there were turnovers, stops, Tom Brady got his but kicked. It was great. I think that the Giants are clearly the better looking team, and the Patriots are only still in it because they are incredibly fortunate.
That being said, it's only a matter of time until the Patriots score three straight touchdowns.
I just noticed this now, but Bill Belichick is wearing his red sweatshirt, so you know this is a big deal game for him.
Speaking of coaches, it's pretty amazing that Steve Spagnuolo has seen more camera time than Tom Coughlin. Sure, he is leading the defense of a team holding back the best offense in years, but I still don't know the name of the D-Coordinator for the winning team. Spagnuolo needs to keep the pressure on Brady, particularly if "keep the pressure on" means "injure".
Lastly, the commercial with the rat coming out of the wall and beating the crap out of the guy was awesome.

The first quarter.

That was a pretty timid quarter, frankly. It seemed like everyone was afraid to hit. In fact, it seemed like the biggest hit was Lawrence Tynes knocking Laurence Maroney out of bounds. Thats what happens when Larrys collide.
Other than that, this had been a pretty dull game, very slow. Even Joe Buck sounds less interested than usual. Plaxico Burress looks really out of it.
Additionally, why do opponents always make stupid mistakes against the Patriots? You can't tell me that Antonio Pierce manhandled Ben Watson in the end zone because he was intimidated or something.
Weird quote of the quarter: "Ahmad Bradshaw has good escapability in the pocket," Troy Aikman. Which is great for a running back.

Pregame thoughts

Because I'll forget these two thoughts after the game starts...
1. Jordin Sparks probably outweighs her dad, former Giant Philippi. Not saying she's a big girl, but I seem to remember Philippi being tiny. That being said, she looked like she wanted to throw up.

2. Involved in the coin flip were Steve Young, Jerry Rice and Ronnie Lott. If I were Junior Seau, I would have said, "sure, you destroyed us in '95, but at least I'm not sitting next to Tom Jackson every week, or dancing on TV." If I were Junior Seau, I still wouldn't be clever.

UPDATED: To make sense.

For the love of all that's sane...

Ryan's not going to discuss the Johan Santana trade. I'm certainly not here to discuss who "won" the trade, or who "lost" the trade. Let me bring up two facts:
1. You're not going to trade a super-star for two super-stars. While this is the only possible trade that would pacify most Minnesota fans, it wasn't going to happen.
2. It's way too soon to decide all that stuff.

As a Twins fan, I’m sad Santana is no longer with the team. On the other hand, the writing was on the wall, probably starting back in late July/early August when the Twins traded Luis Castillo. There was so much gossip, so many rumors, and so much drama, that it’s almost a relief that it’s over--provided the trade goes through. (And it will. There’s no way that the Mets spend so much time and energy to not work out a contract, unless Santana and his agent go insane and ask for $40 million per year for 60 years…) I really have little opinion of the trade. I don’t know enough about the kids involved to know, and it seems no one is quite decided, although most seem to think the Mets got a pretty good deal. I thought about doing an analysis of the players involved, but I need to see them in the Twins system before I can say anything. I’ll get back to you in August. I still won’t analyze the trade, most likely, but I’ll have a better idea of who these kids are.

Ryan also said he wasn’t going to talk about the Super Bowl. I stand by my assessment from last week. Undefeated is pretty awesome, and I’d love to see it. Two factors keep me from rooting for the Patriots: I’m a big fan of the underdog, and Boston fans are insufferable. On the other hand, New York fans are insufferable, too. Pretty much no matter what happens, there will be insufferable east coast fans, and an amazing end to a season for one team. I’m not expected to pick a winner, am I? Oh, fine. Patriots. Final score: 27-14. (I really hope someone uses my completely random prediction to make a bet. Because I completely made them up based on zero analysis of the teams, their seasons, and whatever else one analyzes to predict football scores.)

In other news, I watched the NHL All-Star game Sunday. It was a fun game. With a different goalie in the first period, the West would’ve had a nicer chance at the game. It was 5-1 East winning, after the first period, but ended up being a very intense end of the game, for a final of 7-6. It makes one wonder if a different goalie in the first for the West could’ve changed the game, although my untrained eye saw the West feeling each other out as a team in the first, and the East jumping right in with teamwork. Hey, kids, teamwork counts!

Really, Ryan. Kirk Cameron? :shakes head: How ‘bout this absolutely hilarious picture from the NHL All-Star weekend?