First things first: did any of you watch the end of that Florida-Oklahoma national championship game? I was woken up by a phone call in the fourth quarter, when the game was 14-all and the Gators were driving for a field goal, and I caught the end from there. I gotta say, it was pretty anticlimactic. I had the sound off (busy catching up on CES), but I just could not get into it. Florida hits the three. Oklahoma drives, easy-as-you-please, until a safety or whatever steals the ball out of a receiver's hands for the pick. Then Florida drives down the field, taking their sweet time, and scores a touchdown. I mean, the interception was a nice play (the receiver looked a little careless in slow-mo but not sure I would've done any better) but most of it was pretty lame considering the stakes. What did you think?
As for the NFL, I am incredibly heartened by the performance of the Arizona Cardinals. How can you not like the Cardinals? It's not like they've been dominating your favorite team your whole life. Two great things stand out about the franchise: one, when they knocked the Cowboys out of the '99 playoffs behind a young quarterback I liked named Jake Plummer, and the second being the incomparable Pat Tillman. Cardinals owner Bill Bidwill, of course, might as well own the Rockies the way he spends his money so freely. But really, the fans of the Cardinals are truly long-suffering and I'm so glad to see their diligence rewarded with a home NFC Championship game.
If you asked me about this year's Ravens team, I'd tell you they have a great defense, but that would just be a guess. Hey, look at that, they're No. 2 overall. That's number two to the Pittsburgh Steelers, who I hope blow them out next weekend. And I hope that, as always in the playoffs, they pull off some cool trick plays.
The other team in the final four is Philly's Eagles. The Eagles have been one of the best teams of the decade and it's impressive how good they've been over several years. But it'd be pretty lame if they ended up winning it all. I'll be pulling hard for a Cardinals-Steelers Super Bowl...which, with my luck, means we'll end up with a much lamer matchup.
6 comments:
I agree, the BCS "Championship" game was lame. I recorded it so I could watch it in it's entirety without having to endure the same terrible commercials over and over. I was glad that I had it recorded because I ended up fast-forwarding through much of the game. Tebow received a lot of accolades for his 4th quarter performance, but I would attribute much of that to an absolutely awful OU defense. Harvin was the real reason that they won that game. Anyway, I didn't have a dog in the fight, or I suppose it probably would've been more exciting. It's always good to see OU lose another BCS Bowl game though.
With regards to the NFL play-offs: I was shocked when I turned on the Panthers-Cardinals game in the 3rd quarter to see the Cardinals up 27-3. Jake Delhomme did a great Tony Romo impression and single-handedly destroyed the Panthers' chances of winning the game. If I were Julius Peppers (or anyone else on the team) I would be really pissed of at Delhomme after that stinker of a game.
I really like McNabb and the Eagles and I really hope they annihilate the Cardinals.
I actually picked Florida to win it all in the preseason and passionately hate the Sooners, so I was pleased with the result. But the BCS Championship game was just like the BCS itself: illegitimate, plodding, and underwhelming. That said, I have seen much more boring championship games in college football, including any game that ever has involved Ohio State. And speaking of Ohio State, since when has every college football team insisted on adopting the Big Ten's love of that deliberate, boring pace of play? I almost expect that kind of crap from an overmatched Bob Stoops squad now, but I thought Urban Meyer knew how to open it up. It's like it finally dawned on him in the fourth quarter that he had some speed sitting on the bench that he could use.
As for the NFL playoffs, the Cardinals are a great story and show that with the right coach, even weak talent can make a run. My congratulations to Ken Whisenhunt for turning it around there, although I could have lived without a resurrection of Kurt Warner's born-again antics. The Eagles are just weird - one minute they're benching McNabb, and the next minute he is placing calls from the opposing team's sidelines.
Baltimore is vintage Ravens 2000 - a stifling D and a quarterback who throws neither touchdowns nor interceptions. I enjoyed watching the Steelers stick it to Phillip Rivers yesterday. If I had to pick one team to win it all, they would be the obvious choice. Maybe an all-Pennsylavnia Super Bowl?
And is this Josh McDaniels hire for real?
I am glad you are back.
BTW we should have applied for the Broncos' two open jobs. I could have been the under-qualified head coach and you could have been the cool as a cucumber GM What do you think?
What second job opening? As ESPN reports:
"Bowlen said he changed his mind about hiring a general manager and indicated his top adviser, personnel chief Jim Goodman, would have an increased role instead.
"'I have no plans to hire anybody else,' Bowlen said."
my favorite things about the cardinals are kurt warners gloves.
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