It's been awhile since I've had a chance to write something. I suppose I could have made time over Thanksgiving but for whatever reason I don't feel compelled to blog on the weekends.
December is upon us and now is the time when the men really separate themselves from the boys in the NFL season. The top teams have finally separated themselves: Atlanta, the Jets (maybe... I can't take them seriously), and New England. New Orleans seems to have things on the right track, and San Diego is making their usual late season run. The Bears are making a case to be taken seriously getting to 8-3 with an impressive win over Philadelphia. The NFC & AFC West divisions both pretty much stink, however the NFC Wild Card race should be good with the Saints at 8-3, and the Packers, Eagles, Giants, and Buccaneers at 7-4. 3 of the 7-4 teams lost last week, and 2 of them are going to have to make a push here in the last month to gain a playoff spot.
The Packers-Falcons game lived up to the hype with a close finish with Atlanta coming out on top. This clearly establishes the Falcons as the NFC's top team. Green Bay came up short in a frighteningly similar fashion on the road once again. They have lost 4 games this season, all 4 by 3 points, and those points have all come under 30 seconds in regulation or overtime. One way or the other it seems that they can't come up big on offense, defense, or special teams when the game is on the line. Even when Aaron Rodgers comes up big and leads the team on a 90 yard drive with 6 minutes to go and throws a game tying TD with 1 minute to go the special teams and defense makes it far to easy for Atlanta to kick a game winning FG.
Down the stretch the Packers play some winnable games (San Francisco this week and Detroit after that), with the last two being the key. I have the game a New England penciled in as a loss, but home games to the Giants and Bears the last two weeks of the year will determine whether they are moving on to the playoffs or staying home in January.
As far as the rest of the NFC I don't take any team lightly, however I am expecting one of the NFC East teams to falter, and Tampa Bay is a young team that has had a good season and a 10-6 season is definitely possible, however games against Atlanta & New Orleans will be true tests of how good they really are.
There is a lot of buzz about how bad the NFC West is and the likelihood that an 8-8 or even 7-9 record will win the division. Compared to the teams I previously mentioned who already have 7 wins and are fighting for their lives many people think something needs to be done to address the playoff format. I think everyone for the most part agrees that if you win your division you should make the playoffs, however a common suggestion is that the team with a better record gets the home game, not just the division winner. IE: Chicago wins NFC North with a 11-5 record. Green Bay goes 10-6 and squeaks in to the playoffs. Green Bay then goes on the road to play a 7-9 St Louis team in the first round. This seems unfair to many. I would be glad for the league to modify the playoff structure to accommodate this, however I've always said that you have no one to blame but yourselves for your record. No one should ever blame anyone else but themselves for what hand they are dealt in professional sports. You are paid to play 16 games, and what you do in those games determines your outcome for the season. You cannot do anything about what other teams do, and if you take care of business you will have nothing to complain about once January comes along.
The more I watch sports and see the fine line between winning and losing at the highest level the more I understand that the only thing that matters is the professional athletes themselves "manning up" and making plays when necessary. As Tom Hanks says in A League of Their Own: "It's supposed to be hard. If it wasn't hard, everyone would do it. The hard... is what makes it great."
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Bob Costas is the man
Sunday was the Packers "bye" which apparently means I can't think of much to write about. That and I've been pretty busy with work and stuff, but fortunately PBS played the second have of Ken Burns 10th Inning of "Baseball" last night. I am now finding out what happened in the past decade of the sport.
The reason I titled this post the way I did is because it is true. Sports writers and journalists tend to use hyperbole, exaggeration and over excitement a lot to get their points across and make names for themselves. I was barely born when he started broadcasting football, baseball, & basketball for NBC in the 80s, but I have a feeling that he didn't gain respect with ridiculous catch phrases and yelling over everyone else in the room. Whether it is the Olympics, Football Night in America, his work for MLB Network, or a 15 second interview with Ken Burns he manages to deliver an intelligent commentary on the subject. He is critical when he needs to be, but not disrespectful. And he offers a sense of perspective that is often overlooked. And since I am running out of things to say (maybe I am trying to be concise and profound like Bob... or not) here are a couple clips of great Bob Costas moments:
The 1996 Olympics Opening Cermony Most people probably know what is memorable about this. The Greatest. (Video is 8 minutes long... skip ahead to about 5:45 if you want)
Costas on Bonds I've said before I am not one to harp on the steroid users of the 90s-00s, but Costas really has a perspective on the situation which was much more realistic than most other Baseball Writers of America at the time. Now that the Mitchell Report came out everyone likes to act all high and mighty; Costas had it figured out long before that.
The reason I titled this post the way I did is because it is true. Sports writers and journalists tend to use hyperbole, exaggeration and over excitement a lot to get their points across and make names for themselves. I was barely born when he started broadcasting football, baseball, & basketball for NBC in the 80s, but I have a feeling that he didn't gain respect with ridiculous catch phrases and yelling over everyone else in the room. Whether it is the Olympics, Football Night in America, his work for MLB Network, or a 15 second interview with Ken Burns he manages to deliver an intelligent commentary on the subject. He is critical when he needs to be, but not disrespectful. And he offers a sense of perspective that is often overlooked. And since I am running out of things to say (maybe I am trying to be concise and profound like Bob... or not) here are a couple clips of great Bob Costas moments:
The 1996 Olympics Opening Cermony Most people probably know what is memorable about this. The Greatest. (Video is 8 minutes long... skip ahead to about 5:45 if you want)
Costas on Bonds I've said before I am not one to harp on the steroid users of the 90s-00s, but Costas really has a perspective on the situation which was much more realistic than most other Baseball Writers of America at the time. Now that the Mitchell Report came out everyone likes to act all high and mighty; Costas had it figured out long before that.
Monday, November 8, 2010
Lambeau Leap
Everyone in my family seems to love Clay Matthews. As we say, "he's a beast." I think he may generate the most texts back and forth of any player we have. This would be one of those plays that gets us excited.
I just wanted to point out Charles Woodson on this play. He and Hawk make the deflection, then he races down field to make sure Matthews takes it to the house to make his Lambeau Leap. He even throws his body at the last couple players chasing him down the field. It is pretty impressive to see a 13 year veteran, Heisman trophy winner & Defensive MVP fly down the field to put his body on the line to see a teammate score. Somehow I don't think Dallas has a lot of players who would do that.
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Top 100
Today was the conclusion of NFL Network's Top 100 greatest players of all time. I have very few arguments with most of the list. I am not that old, so I can't really argue with sports writers, analysts, personnel men, coaches, and players about who is the greatest. I feel though that I have an understanding about football and what it takes to be great, and I know who passes the "eye test."
The player who I probably admire the most in the top 10 is Reggie White. Yes, he was a Packer, and I saw him play up close and personal for 6 years as a kid. He was ranked the 7th greatest of all time. That is about right, although Lawrence Taylor was ranked 3, which I kind of questioned as compared to Reggie. The argument is that LT changed defense & impacted games in ways that had not been done before. My argument for Reggie is that he played the game the same way it had been played for 75 years and did it better than anyone ever has. Without question. When he played for Philadelphia (8 seasons) he had 124 sacks in 121 games. That is absurd. You do not average a sack per game in the NFL for 8 years. You just don't. Bruce Smith, who has the most sacks of all time (2 more than White), had 108 sacks in his most productive 8 years span (minus an injury plagued year at 28 years old). The thing that I remember about White is how is sacks came when it really mattered. Anyone can get 2, 3 sacks in the first half of a game, but Reggie would get them on 3rd and 3 with the game on the line. The other thing that separates Reggie White from anyone else that has played the game is that he did things that no one ever did before, and no one has ever done since. Deacon Jones slapped guys in the head to sack them, guys like Mean Joe Greene & Gino Marchetti didn't have to worry about roughing the passer & facemask penalties. Reggie White beat offensive linemen for 15 years in the NFL (and 2 years in the USFL) using power, speed, agility, and pure heart. He had no dirty tricks. He bull rushed, swim moved, and clubbed (a move that I have never seen anyone else do) his way to 198.5 sacks by just being plain better than anyone else. And he made everyone else around him better too. Brett Favre was the lovable southern boy superstar of the 90s Packers, but White made them a legitimate Super Bowl team. He commanded the respect of his teammates; offense, defense, young, old. He did not swear and act like a crazy person like you see a lot nowadays. You can find videos of him telling his teammates before the game to "kick some tail" and "dominate." This is a far cry from the profanity laced tirades that you hear now. I don't think we will ever see another player quite like the Minister of Defense.
The player who I probably admire the most in the top 10 is Reggie White. Yes, he was a Packer, and I saw him play up close and personal for 6 years as a kid. He was ranked the 7th greatest of all time. That is about right, although Lawrence Taylor was ranked 3, which I kind of questioned as compared to Reggie. The argument is that LT changed defense & impacted games in ways that had not been done before. My argument for Reggie is that he played the game the same way it had been played for 75 years and did it better than anyone ever has. Without question. When he played for Philadelphia (8 seasons) he had 124 sacks in 121 games. That is absurd. You do not average a sack per game in the NFL for 8 years. You just don't. Bruce Smith, who has the most sacks of all time (2 more than White), had 108 sacks in his most productive 8 years span (minus an injury plagued year at 28 years old). The thing that I remember about White is how is sacks came when it really mattered. Anyone can get 2, 3 sacks in the first half of a game, but Reggie would get them on 3rd and 3 with the game on the line. The other thing that separates Reggie White from anyone else that has played the game is that he did things that no one ever did before, and no one has ever done since. Deacon Jones slapped guys in the head to sack them, guys like Mean Joe Greene & Gino Marchetti didn't have to worry about roughing the passer & facemask penalties. Reggie White beat offensive linemen for 15 years in the NFL (and 2 years in the USFL) using power, speed, agility, and pure heart. He had no dirty tricks. He bull rushed, swim moved, and clubbed (a move that I have never seen anyone else do) his way to 198.5 sacks by just being plain better than anyone else. And he made everyone else around him better too. Brett Favre was the lovable southern boy superstar of the 90s Packers, but White made them a legitimate Super Bowl team. He commanded the respect of his teammates; offense, defense, young, old. He did not swear and act like a crazy person like you see a lot nowadays. You can find videos of him telling his teammates before the game to "kick some tail" and "dominate." This is a far cry from the profanity laced tirades that you hear now. I don't think we will ever see another player quite like the Minister of Defense.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Nothing important happened today...
OK so I guess since I am a blogger now (yikes) I should respond to comments.
First of all, the queen of blogging, My Mom, directed everyone here and looks like we got some good chatter in the comment section. I'm glad to see people were interested in this year's World Series.
Secondly, I (Patrick Jr) have written all the posts so far. At some point, when he is not changing diapers and working like crazy, Matthew (Asher's Dad) will probably contribute. Miz Boo is really hoping we can collaborate on a brothers themed sports blog (maybe with a name not quite as lame as "sports plus" at some point), so we'll see. Anyways, thanks to everyone for your comments on how wonderful my nephew is.
Cheryl - I'm not really a Boston basher. I respect the Patriots, Celtics, and Red Sox. I actually cheer for them in a lot of series, especially vs teams like the Yankees, Lakers, and I was really hoping the 07 Pats would have went 19-0. I just get sick of the East Coast media bias. Some people like to say it doesn't exist, but lets be realistic. Yankees vs. Red Sox in June gets more coverage on ESPN than then the World Series. That was my main point there. Like Sandy C. said, even in a documentary they seem to get more coverage than anyone else.
The thing about the Giants winning this year that everyone is talking about is how they were able to win without any huge stars, especially on the offensive end. The one thing I haven't heard anyone say yet is that this is such a contradiction to the '02 team (with Barry Bonds) that lost to the Angels. I am not a Barry Bonds basher and someone who likes to act holier than thou when it comes to steroids and that whole era of baseball, but it is fitting that the first team to bring a championship to San Francisco is a group of selfless guys and exceptional pitchers rather than hulking sluggers with inflated muscles and egos that just crank the ball out of the ballpark.
As far as the Favre situation is concerned I don't bash Brett or begrudge him for continuing to play. I'm not thrilled about it, and losing to him and the Vikings twice last year was brutal. But if I was 40 years old and someone wanted to pay me 16 million dollars to do what I loved, with minimal commitment to the organization, why not? It is not his fault, it is Vikings management's, and even more so, head coach Brad Childress's fault. You do not give a professional football team the impression that one player out of 53 is the key to your season, and that is what they have done two straight years with Favre. They are getting what they deserve this year. Do I think the Packers will win the Super Bowl this year? Probably not, but at least I know the coach & team have one goal in mind and are in this together.
Also, I have changed the design of this for now per the advice of Shelby who tells me the black/white is too hard to read.
First of all, the queen of blogging, My Mom, directed everyone here and looks like we got some good chatter in the comment section. I'm glad to see people were interested in this year's World Series.
Secondly, I (Patrick Jr) have written all the posts so far. At some point, when he is not changing diapers and working like crazy, Matthew (Asher's Dad) will probably contribute. Miz Boo is really hoping we can collaborate on a brothers themed sports blog (maybe with a name not quite as lame as "sports plus" at some point), so we'll see. Anyways, thanks to everyone for your comments on how wonderful my nephew is.
Cheryl - I'm not really a Boston basher. I respect the Patriots, Celtics, and Red Sox. I actually cheer for them in a lot of series, especially vs teams like the Yankees, Lakers, and I was really hoping the 07 Pats would have went 19-0. I just get sick of the East Coast media bias. Some people like to say it doesn't exist, but lets be realistic. Yankees vs. Red Sox in June gets more coverage on ESPN than then the World Series. That was my main point there. Like Sandy C. said, even in a documentary they seem to get more coverage than anyone else.
The thing about the Giants winning this year that everyone is talking about is how they were able to win without any huge stars, especially on the offensive end. The one thing I haven't heard anyone say yet is that this is such a contradiction to the '02 team (with Barry Bonds) that lost to the Angels. I am not a Barry Bonds basher and someone who likes to act holier than thou when it comes to steroids and that whole era of baseball, but it is fitting that the first team to bring a championship to San Francisco is a group of selfless guys and exceptional pitchers rather than hulking sluggers with inflated muscles and egos that just crank the ball out of the ballpark.
As far as the Favre situation is concerned I don't bash Brett or begrudge him for continuing to play. I'm not thrilled about it, and losing to him and the Vikings twice last year was brutal. But if I was 40 years old and someone wanted to pay me 16 million dollars to do what I loved, with minimal commitment to the organization, why not? It is not his fault, it is Vikings management's, and even more so, head coach Brad Childress's fault. You do not give a professional football team the impression that one player out of 53 is the key to your season, and that is what they have done two straight years with Favre. They are getting what they deserve this year. Do I think the Packers will win the Super Bowl this year? Probably not, but at least I know the coach & team have one goal in mind and are in this together.
Also, I have changed the design of this for now per the advice of Shelby who tells me the black/white is too hard to read.
Monday, November 1, 2010
November 1, 2010
Talk about an eventful day in sports.
I'm sure that Bud Selig and Major League Baseball is pretty thrilled with Randy Moss & Brad Childress right now...
It is amazing how for about 4 years all Brett Favre has wanted is to be able to throw to Moss and it lasted all of 4 games. Not that it is unusual for a situation to go south with Moss, but in 4 games? Obviously this was a power play by Childress who has totally lost this team. He begged Favre to come back, and less than half way through the season has butted head with the Hall of Fame quarterback. No one really thinks they are going to bench Brett so when this Moss situation arose he cut him to make it look like he is the man. No one is buying it. Childress is done. Should be sooner rather than later so they can implement Leslie Frazier as their head coach before another team gets ahold of him.
As far as the World Series goes, I guess I am proud of the Giants. I have talked trash about them all year because they really seemed to be a choking team to me during the regular season. They have no start players, no big RBI producers or OBP guys yet as they say pitching is key and their underrated bullpen as well as the studs at the top of the rotation carried them to a championship. The Rangers were a good story too, but it didn't seem like they had the attitude and guts to win it. Overall I am just glad we had a series without Boston, New York or Philadelphia.
I'm sure that Bud Selig and Major League Baseball is pretty thrilled with Randy Moss & Brad Childress right now...
It is amazing how for about 4 years all Brett Favre has wanted is to be able to throw to Moss and it lasted all of 4 games. Not that it is unusual for a situation to go south with Moss, but in 4 games? Obviously this was a power play by Childress who has totally lost this team. He begged Favre to come back, and less than half way through the season has butted head with the Hall of Fame quarterback. No one really thinks they are going to bench Brett so when this Moss situation arose he cut him to make it look like he is the man. No one is buying it. Childress is done. Should be sooner rather than later so they can implement Leslie Frazier as their head coach before another team gets ahold of him.
As far as the World Series goes, I guess I am proud of the Giants. I have talked trash about them all year because they really seemed to be a choking team to me during the regular season. They have no start players, no big RBI producers or OBP guys yet as they say pitching is key and their underrated bullpen as well as the studs at the top of the rotation carried them to a championship. The Rangers were a good story too, but it didn't seem like they had the attitude and guts to win it. Overall I am just glad we had a series without Boston, New York or Philadelphia.
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