Well, my bad picking from the NFL playoffs seems to have carried over to March. I got the entire Southeast bracket wrong. 0-4, which is pretty embarrassing. But then, I realized that Bill Simmons gets paid tons of money to go 0-4 in the NFL Playoffs for one week a year, so I'm probably fine. Anyway, before the games starts tomorrow, the games which constitute the best weekend of March Madness, in my opinion, I'll share my thoughts.
= Yes, there were a ton of close games, but other than a glut of winning shots early on Day 1, like Matt Howard's put back and the shot by the Temple kid, and I guess the three by the Morehead State fellow, there were few actual buzzer beaters. The real storyline was mostly odd officiating and abhorrent fouls.
= Obviously the Butler/Pitt ending was the most controversial, but in reality, I'm happy it played out the way it did. If none of the fouls occured, the game ends 70-69 with Butler winning off a beautifully designed play. That's how it should have been. Butler deserved to win that game, and with the foul on Howard, they ended up winning. That said, Pitt's inability to ever go through has been horrible. They have been a great program for years, but really, they never do get the premier players, just a bunch of good ones. They need to get the Kemba Walker's of the world. Of course, they are in Pittsburgh, so that is a challenge.
= Quick officiating thoughts. I had no problem with the five second call. The Texas guy called an inexplicable timeout anyway. If he didn't they never would have even had to inbound the ball. Also, it isn't the refs fault they fouled Derrick Williams.
= I do have problems with two other calls though. I cannot understand why the refs didn't at least review the time left on the clock at the end of the Washington - UNC game. Since the game was in Charlotte, it wreaked of the refs wanting to get the fuck out of the arena with the least bit of work. The other was the backcourt violation on Scoop Jardine. It didn't really look like backcourt.
= Anyway, let's move forward. These games could be classics, but really, I think there are three good teams out there. OSU, Kansas and Duke. Since that is more good teams than last year, we are probably in for a good third weekend, this second weekend doesn't seem to be packing the same punch it normally does. OSU is a loaded team, and they built it perfectly on offense, surrounding Sullinger with shooters. If the shooters are on, the game is over. Duke is a team that, oddly for a Coach K team, I see the sum as less than their parts. They have all the talent of last years team, but let their opponent hang around. There was no way Michigan should have had a good look at a basket to tie the game. That was inexplicable how the Dukies let Michigan get back in that game.
= Kansas is a weird team. They resemble the 2008 title team, although are probably a bit less talented (which is fine, since the Final 4 in 2011 will probably not be as collectively good as the Final 4 in 2008 which was as loaded a Final 4 as I've ever seen). They don't blow teams out, but just execute better. They play solid each game, and make their opponent work for everything. If their opponent plays out of its mind, then they can be beat, but it is difficult. They also rebound fantastically. I've watched more NBA games this year than most, and the difference in play between the NCAA and NBA is more jarring than ever, but Kansas runs stuff that at least looks like NBA plays. Despite three notable early flameouts, Bill Self, in my opinion, is an exceedingly good coach.
= The Big East is a fraud. They probably are a good conference, and top to bottom, probably are the best, but they are not good come tournament time. If all rounds were best of seven, they would dominate, but a lot of their programs struggle in the tournament. Georgetown wasn't fully healthy, but this is the third time in four years they have lost early to a far lesser seed. Syracuse has been beaten by lesser seeds all too often since the 2003 title. I've already talked about Pitt. There is a great chance the Big East doesn't get a Final 4 team for the first time since 2006.
= The NCAA Tournament is really about coaching, and 2011 has hammered that point home. With Steve Fisher, Bill Self, Mike Krzyzewski, Roy Williams, Jim Calhoun and Billy Donovan, six of the remaining teams have title winning coaches. Three more have a coach who has coached a team to the title game (Thad Matta, John Calipari and Brad Stevens). If Rick Pitino's team didn't turn into a choking dog, and if Jim Boehiem did anything in the tournament again, the number of coaches who have coached in a title game could have been 11 out of 16 teams. Even more than the NFL, coaching in college matters.
= We need some overtimes. We've had one overtime game, and the game (Temple/SDSU) was really the most boring double overtime games in the history of this tournament. The middle weekend is usually good for a couple. The most likely suspect is probably Florida/BYU (who played a double overtime classic last year), or UCONN/SDSU (although I doubt I want to see SDSU in another overtime), or even the amazing 10/11 matchup in VCU and Florida St. However, my darkhose potential classic game is Duke and Arizona. I don't think anyone on Duke can stop Derrick Williams, especially not the laughably overrated Brothers Plumlee.
= I'm looking forward to this weekend anyway, becuase I love all sporting events that can go to midnight. That's probably half the reason I like Western Conference basketball so much more. Who doesn't love when the game goes into the next day. The NCAA starting games at 9:57 gets me so happy. There is guaranteed to be some post-midnight action.
Here are my updated picks:
East
(1) Ohio St. over (4) Kentucky
(2) UNC over (11) Marquette
(1) Ohio St. over (2) UNC
West
(1) Duke over (5) Arizona
(3) UCONN over (2) SDSU
(3) UCONN over (1) Duke
Southwest
(1) Kansas over (12) Richmond
(11) VCU over (10) Florida St.
(1) Kansas over (10) Florida St.
Southeast
(4) Wisconsin over (8) Butler
(2) Florida over (3) BYU
(4) Wisconsin over (2) Florida
Final 4
(E1) Ohio St. over (W3) UCONN
(SW1) Kansas over (SE4) Wisconsin
(SW1) Kansas over (E1) Ohio St.
Games that I am potentially really looking forward to see:
1.) Kansas/Ohio St. Final - getting the best two teams is always a treat. Getting two one seeds hasn't happened since 2008, and getting the best two teams really hasn't happened since 2005.
2.) UCONN/Duke Regional Final - they always play amazing games, like in the 1999 Championship game and the 2004 National Semifinal. Calhoun vs Krzyzewski is probably also the dickiest coaching matchup possible.
3.) BYU/Wisconsin or Butler Regional Final - I don't think BYU will beat Florida, but to see Jimmer Fredette against either one of two of the best defensive teams in the nation would be a treat. My guess is Bo Ryan and Brad Stevens would have something for Mr. Jimmer.
4.) OSU/UNC Regional Final - I picked it to happen, and I would love to see it mostly because I think the Tar Heels would get drummed like a seabass. Seeing Duke or UNC beaten down like Hitler at the end of Inglorious Basterds is a rare, but amazing treat. We saw it in 2009 when Villanova laid the wood to the Dukies, and in 2008, when Kansas guillotined Roy Williams. Seeing one of those go down is always fun, and this one will probably be just as fun.
5.) OSU/Duke Final 4 - See above, #4, about seeing douchey programs get annihilated.
Enjoy the Games.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Monday, March 21, 2011
The Rise (and Now Fall) of Rocky Top
The news came today, that Bruce Pearl had been fired as Head Men's Basketball coach at the University of Tennessee, mainly as a scapegoating move for his admitted involvement in lying the the NCAA Investigators in a larger case against the University's Basketball and Football teams. He was shoved out the door, despite the fact that the AD of the university still has his job after now ushering out a second coach in 15 months after violations (Lane Kiffin being the other one), causing great instability to the long-stable football program, and being part of a dual investigation into the practices of two of the program's teams. How he has his job, when by all accounts his performance has been far below Pearl's in amazing. Either way, Bruce Pearl is gone, and this ends a six-year saga of Tennessee Men's Basketball, by far the most successful six-year span in program history, fit with three trips to the Sweet Sixteen and a one-point loss in last year's regional final. Last year I wrote this post below about the great four year span of Tennessee Men's Basketball that had risen a horrible program into the elite of Men's Basketball and how the sky was the limit. That sky is now under a never-ending storm cloud, and with Bruce Pearl gone, I have to admit that I doubt Tennessee Men's Basketball reaches heights nearly this high anytime soon. I'm re-running the post now, with an updated section at the end with some final thoughts about Pearl.
(as a reminder, this was written after last season, before any infractions were announced publicly and before the 2010-2011 season).
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(as a reminder, this was written after last season, before any infractions were announced publicly and before the 2010-2011 season).
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The Transformation of Tennessee Basketball
It hit me the second Raymar Morgan hit his game winning free throw. It kept hitting me throughout the Duke-Baylor game. It still astounds me six hours later, as the final four is set, and god damnit Tom Izzo and Mike Krzyzsewksi are there again. What hit me? The stunning realization that I am distraught and saddened by Tennessee Volunteer basketball. I'll blame it on Bruce Pearl and his orange suits.
The last five years of Tennessee Volunteer basketball has by any conceivable measure the best five years in the history of the men's program. When Bruce Pearl took over the job in 2005, he was leading the second most popular basketball team in his own university. He took over an average team, with few real recruits, and somehow led them to a #2 seed in the 2006 tournament. No one really remembers that team, mainly because they lost in the second round to Witchita State, and the pursuits of George Mason have essentially whited-out every other significant fact of that tournament. (Hey, guess what, LSU was in the Final Four that year). However, it was the start of something. It felt good to be a Volunteer fan. I can still remember randomly looking at the AP rankings midway through the 2005-2006 season, and seeing the Volunteers at number 11, and just thinking, "What? Tennessee Basketball." Entering 2006-07 there was actual optimism, because the team had a duo of frosh Smiths (Ramar and JaJuan), and the two players that are responsible for the feeling that now festers inside of me: Chris Lofton and Wayne Chism.
The teams were memorable in 2006-2007 and 2007-2008 because they were actually very good. Back to back sweet sixteen appearances, one with a last second loss to Ohio State in the Oden year (a loss infinitely more heartbreaking than the loss today), and the next to Rick Pitino and a loaded Lousville squad. They had two than three Smiths, a scrappy white guy named Dane Bradshaw, and roamers like Duke Crews (what a porn name!), Josh Powell and Ryan Childress. They were good teams, fun teams, but flawed teams because the A1 recruits still don't truly want to come to Tennessee. 2008-2009 was different, because Lofton was gone, and so was the magic. They had to reload, and spent one middling year that amounted to nothing, but was immediately forgotten because of the exploits of the 2009-2010 team. That one magically got four of its players arrested, which led to the dismissal of the third Smith, Tyler, the team's best player. They then went on to band together and reach the Elite Eight for the first time since in the history of the program, and avenge the Ohio St. Sweet Sixteen loss from 2007. The team had new stars, like Scotty Hopson, Bobby Maze and J.P. Prince. But the binding was three men, Chris Lofton, Wayne Chism and Coach Pearl.
The first man in the trio is Coach Pearl, the man given the near Sisyphusian task of building Tennessee basketball into a major player. In one year, he had the team as a 2 seed. The next, one point away from beating the eventual runner-up in the Sweet 16. The next year having Tennessee ranked #1 for the first time ever, and two years later in the Elite Eight for the first time ever. Gifted with an infinite energy, and an uncanny ability to connect to his players (probably due to him being the only Division 1 coach to paint his chest and cheer in the student section for a Women's Game). Although, since he would have to be stoop to Calipari level shadiness to get major recruits, it is his brilliant coaching that has been his allowed the program to take flight. He has the singular ability to coach his team up for any game at any time. They are the nation's giant killers.
Time and time again, they randomly take huge bites out of the country's top teams. When Florida went back-to-back in 2005-06 and 2006-07, Tennessee beat them three times out of four. They were the only team to beat the Rose-led Memphis team in 2008 until Kansas needed a miracle to upend them in the Title Game, and they also did it in Memphis. Nothing drove this point home more than in the 2009-10 season, when Pearl coached his team up to beat the current #1 Kansas with six scholarship players and three walk-ons. Then, they beat Kentucky. Kansas and Kentucky lost a total of four games before the NCAA Tournament, and two of those were to Tennessee. Again, they came THIS close to knocking off Oden in 2007. There were no limits to Pearl. In the end, the program's inability to draw major recruits were his undoing. He was probably the best in-game head coach of the past five years, only beaten by Tommy Izzo. Bruce Pearl and his contagious smile and bashful behaviour masked a coaching genius, one that succeeded at finally pushing the rock over the hill.
Chism is next. The Chism era is now officially over, and what a whirlwind it was. He was the guy who like his coach, had a brilliant ability to come up huge in games. Izzo knew, so in what will be his final NCAA game, Chism was doubled and effectively taken out of the game, but look back one game, and Chism was the best player on a court that included the Player of the Year, Evan Turner. Chism was an uncontrollable player as a freshman on the memorable 2007 team. He had a maddening ability to jack up threes and wander far, far away from the basket. At times he could take over games, but he mostly was just a sideshow. That was until he did yoeman's work against Greg Oden, outscoring Oden in the 2007 Sweet 16 game. Every year he got better and better, and would just come up huge in major games. He finally was able to use his size and leverage, as he planted himself mainly under the basket, and contorted out lay-ups at every turn. It seemed that there was nothing Chism could not do. Hit a three? Yeah, he could do it. Block a shot? Yup. Wayne Chism's headband had a life of it own. Infamously fickle with the band of cloth, it somehow stayed on his increasingly rectuangular head until he decided mid-game to take it off. Headband off, headband on, behind the three point line or in the paint. Chism never failed to dissapoint, never failed to bring a smile to the Vols faithful. Chism will never suit up for Tennessee again, and if nothing else, that makes this loss hard to take. Never again will he launch a three or throw one down. However, the memories will stay forever.
Of course, that brings us to Lofton. Everything started and ended with Lofton. He was the greatest three-point shooter in team history, and probably the best big game shooter of the 2000s in college basketball. It never looked pretty, but his fall-back three point shot was a thing of beauty. It was him that keyed the 2005-06 resurgence, and him that made the 2006-2007 season the most memorable in Volunteer history. It started with his shot over 6'9" now superstar Kevin Durant to beat Texas. It was then his 30 points against eventual back-to-back Florida. There was no shot he could not hit, not any part of the court that was not outside his range. If it went up, it was probably going in. Chris Lofton was even a great help-defender and passer, the heart and soul of Tennessee's 2006-07 team. He was the man in Knoxville, the guy with the iron balls, able to launch up three's at a whim and make them all count. Yet, none of that mattered one year later after his dramatic senior year.
The question was inescapable. What was wrong with Chris Lofton? A pre-season All-American, Lofton was barely averaging 15 points per game, after crossing 20 ppg the season before. The team was having its best regular season ever, acheiving the #1 ranking for the first time in school history. They were finally major players in the regular season, but Chris was not the major reason why. They team was deeper and more talented, but not better because they did not have the same old Chris. We found out why after his senior season ended, it was because he battled cancer without even telling his teammates. Chris Lofton learned in May 2007 that he had cancer. At 21 he was supposed to be at his physical peak, but cancer does not discriminate. He was able to beat it, but it left him lifeless on the court and helpless off it. Only coach Bruce Pearl knew, and he valiantly kept the secret as he personally wanted to curse all the reporters who asked the question every fan was thinking, "What's wrong with Chris?" The fire just wasn't there, and in retrospect, it was there more than ever, but the opponent was cancer, not other teams. Chris beat cancer, but he also beat the odds, becoming a sports legend at Tennessee and not throwing, running or catching an oblong ball with laces. He was the biggest Tennessee sports hero since a certain QB named Manning. He was the heart and soul of the Tennessee resurgence. It all starts with him and his pure shot.
Tennessee is finally a team that will probably be in the top-25 for years and years to come. One day, Pearl will start landing major recruits, or at least major enough to get to that Final 4. It is only a matter of time, because he is too good of a coach and he is invested in seeing Tennessee reach glory (unlike a certain Mr. Calipari who is soulless enough to just leave a school he has a contract with in a mess of sanctions and stripped Final 4 seasons). Tennessee will never be Kansas or Kentucky, programs with great history and tradition, but it can easily be the next Michigan St. a program built by a coach and a coach only, one who rebuilt a program into a major power. The shot is there, and we have Wayne Chism and his headband, Bruce Pearl and his orange suits, and Chris Lofton and his big shot and bigger heart. Tennessee Basketball has come so far in five years, and the truth is in the pain caused by their losses.
Update (after Bruce Pearl's firing):
The comparison to Calipari is interesting. Bruce Pearl was guilty of second-degree violations (which really are only met with slaps on the wrist). However, Pearl is also guilty of lying, and that in the end sealed his fate. Unlike his buddy John Calipari, who has been guilty of first-degree infractions, multiple times playing players who were ineligible, has been honest in his shady practices. Calipari has made the final four twice, once with UMASS and the other with Memphis. That said, officially, he's never made it, as both of those two teams have had their records wiped out of the record books. Calipari has a job, and one of the highest-profile ones in the country. Explain that to me when looking at the Pearl situation.
Anyway, this makes the memories of the great Tennessee teams and games of the past six years all the more memorable. The wins over those great Florida teams. The heartbreaking loss to Greg Oden and Ohio St in 2007 (when a win would have all but clinched me winning one of my bracket pools in 2007). The win over undefeated Memphis in Memphis in 2008 which was followed with the No. 1 ranking. The magical run to the brink of the Final 4 after the suspension of the team's best player earlier. All of these amazing things were done with Bruce Pearl at the helm. It is not a far from ridiculous statement to say that Pearl's Tennessee program was the best in the country not to make the Final 4 over the last six years, with ones like Pitt close to it as well. Bruce Pearl really is Tennessee Men's Basketball. Pat Summit is that for women's, and obviously she's accomplished far more in terms of winning than Pearl has. That said, what Pearl has accomplished may be just as big.
Bruce Pearl has made Men's Basketball relevant at Tennessee. He energized the Knoxville faithful by being a great coach, but by also being the one coach that any Volunteer fan would get drunk with. He wore bright orange blazers against Kentucky. He painted his chest orange and stood in the student section of a women's game. He was able to convince Pat Summit to dress like a Cheerleader for a Men's game. He made a program that was invisible into an integral part of the Tennessee sports landscape. Bruce Pearl was fired, fairly or unfairly, but he, and what he did with his fearless players, best personified by Chris Lofton who fought cancer and an undefeated Memphis team and beat them both, will be fondly remembered by me and the millions that would pay anything to see Bruce, orange-chest-clad and all, one more time.
Update (after Bruce Pearl's firing):
The comparison to Calipari is interesting. Bruce Pearl was guilty of second-degree violations (which really are only met with slaps on the wrist). However, Pearl is also guilty of lying, and that in the end sealed his fate. Unlike his buddy John Calipari, who has been guilty of first-degree infractions, multiple times playing players who were ineligible, has been honest in his shady practices. Calipari has made the final four twice, once with UMASS and the other with Memphis. That said, officially, he's never made it, as both of those two teams have had their records wiped out of the record books. Calipari has a job, and one of the highest-profile ones in the country. Explain that to me when looking at the Pearl situation.
Anyway, this makes the memories of the great Tennessee teams and games of the past six years all the more memorable. The wins over those great Florida teams. The heartbreaking loss to Greg Oden and Ohio St in 2007 (when a win would have all but clinched me winning one of my bracket pools in 2007). The win over undefeated Memphis in Memphis in 2008 which was followed with the No. 1 ranking. The magical run to the brink of the Final 4 after the suspension of the team's best player earlier. All of these amazing things were done with Bruce Pearl at the helm. It is not a far from ridiculous statement to say that Pearl's Tennessee program was the best in the country not to make the Final 4 over the last six years, with ones like Pitt close to it as well. Bruce Pearl really is Tennessee Men's Basketball. Pat Summit is that for women's, and obviously she's accomplished far more in terms of winning than Pearl has. That said, what Pearl has accomplished may be just as big.
Bruce Pearl has made Men's Basketball relevant at Tennessee. He energized the Knoxville faithful by being a great coach, but by also being the one coach that any Volunteer fan would get drunk with. He wore bright orange blazers against Kentucky. He painted his chest orange and stood in the student section of a women's game. He was able to convince Pat Summit to dress like a Cheerleader for a Men's game. He made a program that was invisible into an integral part of the Tennessee sports landscape. Bruce Pearl was fired, fairly or unfairly, but he, and what he did with his fearless players, best personified by Chris Lofton who fought cancer and an undefeated Memphis team and beat them both, will be fondly remembered by me and the millions that would pay anything to see Bruce, orange-chest-clad and all, one more time.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Madness 2011: The Picks
Here we go. I'll do them in region order.
East
1st Round
(1) Ohio St. over (16) Whoever
(8) George Mason over (9) Villanova
(5) West Virginia over (12) Clemson
(4) Kentucky over (13) Princeton
(6) Xavier over (11) Marquette
(3) Syracuse over (14) Indiana St.
(7) Washington over (10) Georgia
(2) UNC over (15) Long Island
(yes, I will pick upsets eventually)
2nd Round
(1) Ohio St. over (8) George Mason
(5) West Virginia over (4) Kentucky
(3) Syracuse over (6) Xavier
(7) Washington over (2) UNC
West Region
1st Round
(1) Duke over (16) Hampton
(9) Tennessee over (8) Michigan
(5) Arizona over (12) Memphis
(4) Texas over (13) Oakland
(11) Missouri over (6) Cincinnati
(3) UCONN over (14) Bucknell
(7) Temple over (10) Penn St.
(2) San Diego St. over (15) Northern Co.
2nd Round
(1) Duke over (9) Tennessee
(4) Texas over (5) Arizona
(3) UCONN over (11) Missouri
(2) San Diego St. over (7) Temple
Southwest Region
1st Round
(1) Kansas over (16) Boston U.
(8) UNLV over (9) Illinois
(12) Richmond over (5) Vanderbilt
(4) Louisville over (13) Morehead St.
(6) Georgetown over (11) Whoever
(3) Purdue over (14) St. Peter's
(10) Florida St. over (7) Texas A&M
(2) Notre Dame over (15) Akron
2nd Round
(1) Kansas over (8) UNLV
(4) Louisville over (12) Richmond
(6) Georgetown over (3) Purdue
(2) Notre Dame over (10) Florida St.
Southeast Region
1st Round
(1) Pitt over (16) UNC Asheville
(8)Butler over (9) Old Dominion
(5) Kansas St. over (12) Utah St.
(4) Wisconsin over (13) Belmont
(6) St. John's over (11) Gonzaga
(3) BYU over (14) Wofford
(10) Michigan St. over (7) UCLA
(2) Florida over (15) UCSB
2nd Round
(1) Pitt over (8) Butler
(5) Kansas St. over (4) Wisconsin
(6) St. John's over (3) BYU
(10) Michigan St. over (2) Florida
Sweet 16
(E1) Ohio St. over (E5) West Virginia
(E3) Syracuse over (E7) Washington
(W4) Texas over (W1) Duke
(W2) San Diego St. over (W3) UCONN
(SW1) Kansas over (SW4) Louisville
(SW6) Georgetown over (SW2) Notre Dame
(SE1) Pitt over (SE5) Kansas St.
(SE10) Michigan St. over (SE6) St. John's
Elite 8
(E1) Ohio St. over (E3) Syracuse
(E4) Texas over (E2) San Diego St.
(SW1) Kansas over (SW6) Georgetown
(SE1) Pitt over (SE10) Michigan St.
Final 4
(E1) Ohio St. over (E4) Texas
(SW1) Kansas over (SE1) Pitt
(SW1) Kansas over (E1) Ohio St.
Champion:
Kansas Jayhawks
East
1st Round
(1) Ohio St. over (16) Whoever
(8) George Mason over (9) Villanova
(5) West Virginia over (12) Clemson
(4) Kentucky over (13) Princeton
(6) Xavier over (11) Marquette
(3) Syracuse over (14) Indiana St.
(7) Washington over (10) Georgia
(2) UNC over (15) Long Island
(yes, I will pick upsets eventually)
2nd Round
(1) Ohio St. over (8) George Mason
(5) West Virginia over (4) Kentucky
(3) Syracuse over (6) Xavier
(7) Washington over (2) UNC
West Region
1st Round
(1) Duke over (16) Hampton
(9) Tennessee over (8) Michigan
(5) Arizona over (12) Memphis
(4) Texas over (13) Oakland
(11) Missouri over (6) Cincinnati
(3) UCONN over (14) Bucknell
(7) Temple over (10) Penn St.
(2) San Diego St. over (15) Northern Co.
2nd Round
(1) Duke over (9) Tennessee
(4) Texas over (5) Arizona
(3) UCONN over (11) Missouri
(2) San Diego St. over (7) Temple
Southwest Region
1st Round
(1) Kansas over (16) Boston U.
(8) UNLV over (9) Illinois
(12) Richmond over (5) Vanderbilt
(4) Louisville over (13) Morehead St.
(6) Georgetown over (11) Whoever
(3) Purdue over (14) St. Peter's
(10) Florida St. over (7) Texas A&M
(2) Notre Dame over (15) Akron
2nd Round
(1) Kansas over (8) UNLV
(4) Louisville over (12) Richmond
(6) Georgetown over (3) Purdue
(2) Notre Dame over (10) Florida St.
Southeast Region
1st Round
(1) Pitt over (16) UNC Asheville
(8)Butler over (9) Old Dominion
(5) Kansas St. over (12) Utah St.
(4) Wisconsin over (13) Belmont
(6) St. John's over (11) Gonzaga
(3) BYU over (14) Wofford
(10) Michigan St. over (7) UCLA
(2) Florida over (15) UCSB
2nd Round
(1) Pitt over (8) Butler
(5) Kansas St. over (4) Wisconsin
(6) St. John's over (3) BYU
(10) Michigan St. over (2) Florida
Sweet 16
(E1) Ohio St. over (E5) West Virginia
(E3) Syracuse over (E7) Washington
(W4) Texas over (W1) Duke
(W2) San Diego St. over (W3) UCONN
(SW1) Kansas over (SW4) Louisville
(SW6) Georgetown over (SW2) Notre Dame
(SE1) Pitt over (SE5) Kansas St.
(SE10) Michigan St. over (SE6) St. John's
Elite 8
(E1) Ohio St. over (E3) Syracuse
(E4) Texas over (E2) San Diego St.
(SW1) Kansas over (SW6) Georgetown
(SE1) Pitt over (SE10) Michigan St.
Final 4
(E1) Ohio St. over (E4) Texas
(SW1) Kansas over (SE1) Pitt
(SW1) Kansas over (E1) Ohio St.
Champion:
Kansas Jayhawks
Monday, March 14, 2011
Madness 2011: Initial Bracket Thoughts
I'm not a huge college basketball fan. In fact, I've not watched a complete college game so far this year. That said, when March rolls along, much like the nicer weather, college basketball starts appearing more often in my life. This year is no different. I am ready for a fun three weekends of three-point shooting, pick and rolls, and zone defenses, and other things that make the quality of the college game a whole lot worse than the NBA, but the drama just as good. Anyway, the bracket this year has some interesting storylines all to its own. Here are my rambling thoughts on the bracket.
= The first thing that jumped out was the quality of the Southeast (the quarter that Pitt is the #1), and by that, I mean mostly how soft it is. They have, imo, the worst of all the 2's (Florida, a team way overranked), and due to Davies' suspension, the worst of the 3's. Honestly, they have the worst of the 4's, in Wisconsin, as well. Pittsburgh is famous for flaming out in the tournament under coach Jamie Dixon and even before that under Ben Howland. If they don't make it out this year, then they never will.
= Ohio St. can't be too happy with its draw given that it is the top overall seed. This is the second year the selection committee has loaded the region with the overall top seed. Last year Kansas got a brutal draw that was irrelevant since they lost to Northern Iowa. This time, they have a good 2-3-4-5-6-7. All of those teams have a shot. Ohio St. has a really good combination of inside/outside offense but they will need to be at their best.
= I won't be able to really talk about the legitimacy of VCU and UAB being included over the likes of Colorado and Alabama and Virginia Tech, but I will talk about how pissed off Jay Bilas was. He threw the biggest shit-fest over the whole thing, calling out everyone associated with the committee, saying it doesn't "pass the laugh test" (which really made no sense). He made it seem like the biggest snub in the history of the bracket bubble. Why all this drama for teams that have about a .02% chance of making it even to the Sweet 16? Lord knows, but to see Jay Bilas, one of the best, most intelligent, level-headed ESPN personalities, lose his shits was fun.
= I said this last year: "Kansas was my pick to win it all, and this is the last time I ever trust them. I had them winning it all in 2007 too. Of course, they won the following year, so this might bode well for the 2011 Jayhawks." I honestly predicted Kansas winning the 2011 title back in May 2010. Of course, it isn't really a prediction, nor am I going to pick them, but it is scary how consistent they are at screwing with my bracket one year and being really good the next.
= Is there nothing more grating than everyone saying "The Big East is the best conference by far." And this unfounded crap is only going to intensify now that the Big East got 11 bids. This is a conference that got 8 bids a year ago, and only two got to the sweet sixteen and only one got to the elite eight (West Virginia, a team that was not among the best Big East teams last year). Also, the Big East was a juggernaut in 2009. This is not the same thing. I don't see any great teams from the Big East. I'll be stunned if any of them win the title. In 2009, three of the one seeds were from the Big East, and out of their seven bids, five made the Sweet 16, four made the Elite Eight, and two made the Final Four. That's success. If the Big East fails again to come close in 2011, I think the "Big East is the SEC of basketball" needs to stop.
= Back to the draw. I'm not loving Duke's chances. First, they are out West. One seeds out west, especially those who don't come from the Western part of the country, are not usually very successful. Only UCONN as a one out West has come out of it, and that was in 2009. Strange thing about UCONN, which makes Duke's position more precarious, is that they are amazing out West. UCONN was in the West bracket in 1999, 2004 and 2009. Their results: Champions, Champions, Semifinals.
= Also, there is the Tennessee and Texas factor. Texas is a good team that went through a lull, but is, in my opinion, really underranked. They were in the conversation for a one or two seed a couple weeks ago. They can play. Then there is Tennessee, who has been extremely average for most of the second half of the season. That said, they have some big scalps on their mantle over the past four years. Bruce Pearl coaches that team up like no other. In the Florida Back-to-Back years, Tennessee beat Florida three out of four times. In 2007, they played Greg Oden's Ohio St. team in the Sweet 16 and lost by one. In 2010, Kentucky and Kansas had a combined three regular season losses, two of those were to Tennessee. Then, as a five seed they made the Elite Eight. Finally, this season, they beat Pitt and then beat Villanove when they were good. They are a team that can rise to the level of their opponent.
= Kansas should be worried about Louisville. Rick Pitino has NEVER lost in the Sweet 16 round. If he goes that far, he always makes at least the Elite Eight, which is a ridiculous statistic. Kansas and Louisville are slated to play in the Sweet 16. That said, Self is 5-2 in the Sweet 16 round, so something has to give, but I'm not liking Kansas' chances against Sir Rick Pitino.
Overall, this should be a fun tournament. There really is no great team, although Ohio St. is probably the closest. The tournament is really wide open, and there is a chance for some new blood in the Final Four. As always, it is March, let the madness begin.
I'll be back with picks later today or tomorrow. Part 2 of the India-venture coming later this week.
= The first thing that jumped out was the quality of the Southeast (the quarter that Pitt is the #1), and by that, I mean mostly how soft it is. They have, imo, the worst of all the 2's (Florida, a team way overranked), and due to Davies' suspension, the worst of the 3's. Honestly, they have the worst of the 4's, in Wisconsin, as well. Pittsburgh is famous for flaming out in the tournament under coach Jamie Dixon and even before that under Ben Howland. If they don't make it out this year, then they never will.
= Ohio St. can't be too happy with its draw given that it is the top overall seed. This is the second year the selection committee has loaded the region with the overall top seed. Last year Kansas got a brutal draw that was irrelevant since they lost to Northern Iowa. This time, they have a good 2-3-4-5-6-7. All of those teams have a shot. Ohio St. has a really good combination of inside/outside offense but they will need to be at their best.
= I won't be able to really talk about the legitimacy of VCU and UAB being included over the likes of Colorado and Alabama and Virginia Tech, but I will talk about how pissed off Jay Bilas was. He threw the biggest shit-fest over the whole thing, calling out everyone associated with the committee, saying it doesn't "pass the laugh test" (which really made no sense). He made it seem like the biggest snub in the history of the bracket bubble. Why all this drama for teams that have about a .02% chance of making it even to the Sweet 16? Lord knows, but to see Jay Bilas, one of the best, most intelligent, level-headed ESPN personalities, lose his shits was fun.
= I said this last year: "Kansas was my pick to win it all, and this is the last time I ever trust them. I had them winning it all in 2007 too. Of course, they won the following year, so this might bode well for the 2011 Jayhawks." I honestly predicted Kansas winning the 2011 title back in May 2010. Of course, it isn't really a prediction, nor am I going to pick them, but it is scary how consistent they are at screwing with my bracket one year and being really good the next.
= Is there nothing more grating than everyone saying "The Big East is the best conference by far." And this unfounded crap is only going to intensify now that the Big East got 11 bids. This is a conference that got 8 bids a year ago, and only two got to the sweet sixteen and only one got to the elite eight (West Virginia, a team that was not among the best Big East teams last year). Also, the Big East was a juggernaut in 2009. This is not the same thing. I don't see any great teams from the Big East. I'll be stunned if any of them win the title. In 2009, three of the one seeds were from the Big East, and out of their seven bids, five made the Sweet 16, four made the Elite Eight, and two made the Final Four. That's success. If the Big East fails again to come close in 2011, I think the "Big East is the SEC of basketball" needs to stop.
= Back to the draw. I'm not loving Duke's chances. First, they are out West. One seeds out west, especially those who don't come from the Western part of the country, are not usually very successful. Only UCONN as a one out West has come out of it, and that was in 2009. Strange thing about UCONN, which makes Duke's position more precarious, is that they are amazing out West. UCONN was in the West bracket in 1999, 2004 and 2009. Their results: Champions, Champions, Semifinals.
= Also, there is the Tennessee and Texas factor. Texas is a good team that went through a lull, but is, in my opinion, really underranked. They were in the conversation for a one or two seed a couple weeks ago. They can play. Then there is Tennessee, who has been extremely average for most of the second half of the season. That said, they have some big scalps on their mantle over the past four years. Bruce Pearl coaches that team up like no other. In the Florida Back-to-Back years, Tennessee beat Florida three out of four times. In 2007, they played Greg Oden's Ohio St. team in the Sweet 16 and lost by one. In 2010, Kentucky and Kansas had a combined three regular season losses, two of those were to Tennessee. Then, as a five seed they made the Elite Eight. Finally, this season, they beat Pitt and then beat Villanove when they were good. They are a team that can rise to the level of their opponent.
= Kansas should be worried about Louisville. Rick Pitino has NEVER lost in the Sweet 16 round. If he goes that far, he always makes at least the Elite Eight, which is a ridiculous statistic. Kansas and Louisville are slated to play in the Sweet 16. That said, Self is 5-2 in the Sweet 16 round, so something has to give, but I'm not liking Kansas' chances against Sir Rick Pitino.
Overall, this should be a fun tournament. There really is no great team, although Ohio St. is probably the closest. The tournament is really wide open, and there is a chance for some new blood in the Final Four. As always, it is March, let the madness begin.
I'll be back with picks later today or tomorrow. Part 2 of the India-venture coming later this week.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
I wanted to write this soon after I returned from India in January, but like too many things in my life, I pushed it aside for a while. No longer, say I. It is coming. Now. This is a review of what a wedding in India actually is, how great it can be, and a city that has an arcane "Everything closes by 11:30" rule, which is about is ridiculous as prohibition in the 1920's. Anyway, let's go. It is a piece just about the general goings on of a wedding in India in my family. The bride is my cousin, we'll call her Vinitha. She's marrying a man (had to clarify; you can never be too safe), who we'll call Tri-Name. Actually, we'll call him by his nickname Chinny, mainly because I don't know his actual name, as it has been told to me as Rohit or Joseph. Anyway, it takes place in Bangalore, a town that is no longer a town, overrun by globalization, and not exactly in a good way. It takes place between the days of December 24th and January 2nd. It's a good one (for me at least).
__________________________________________________________
India is a different place, a different world. Never more striking when you go there and leave the dead of winter behind. The second you land in India, and leave the cozy confines of the plane, you know immediately that you are in India. There is no combination of smell (not necessarily a bad smell, just a distinctive one) and heat quite like India, a personal welcome greeting that I can't stand, but can't stand to live without (otherwise, how would I know I'm there?). That slap in the face, or more pointedly, in the nose and sweat-glands, at least wakes you up, which is necessary when almost any international flight arrives and leaves India around 2am (India may sleep early, but their airports definitely don't). That smell of heat (yes, it smells) pervades throughout the airport complex in Bombay, so I was dreading my five hour layover, but the second I reached the newly completed Domestic Airport in Bombay, I realized this would be a different experience. It was clean, with high glass windows. It looked like any airport anywhere else in the world (believe me, if you had been to the old Bombay airport, which resembled a Econo Lodge, you would know what this would mean); and that was the second that I realized that this was no ordinary trip to India. No, this was something special. It started out with a surprise, and finished with a week a only partially remember.
When it was over, and my family and me were leaving for Mangalore, my parents childhood home, my grandmother's home that I spent countless summers as a child, I was already set to go back and do it all over again. I wanted every cousin I know to start getting married in India. I don't even care who it was to, or if they would make a happy couple (well, that's not exactly true - I would care after the wedding was over), I just wanted more. The experience was that great, that entertaining, that endless, that its inevitable end didn't even bring on sadness when it was over (yes, I'm the person that normally feels sad when things come to a close and can't just remember the good memories). It just brought on a longing to do it again, and it was horrible. But now, a month and a half later, it is a memory that will be unbreakable and perfect, a memory of a week gone by, a week that was worth living to its fullest, and Lord knows we did just that.
(before I continue, I need to interject that I had to edit what followed about 100 times in fear of it bringing about litigation and what impact the following would have for my image..... but remember India's not exactly a country where the fake ID business is booming, if you know what I mean)
After the long flight, long wait in Bombay, long drive from Bangalore's slightly overrated new airport, and long nap, I was ready to go to Midnight Mass (I arrived on Christmas Eve), meet my cousins who had already arrived in the preceding days, and get a good start in Bangalore. Little did I know that midnight mass was actually more like a pregame. It was one since that was actually far from the end of the night for the family, but also because the outdoor venue for midnight mass was a meeting space for the local mass. Throngs of random people, who could not have looked less Christian even if they were wearing a turbin or reciting Koran verses, descended upon the church that within four days would host a wedding, the wedding. They were drinking in the church courtyard, conversing with each other, basically planning the rest of the night. Although this drew the unending ire of my Aunt Carmel, who's about as religious as they come, I thought it was great. It was like going to mass in a stadium. All I was missing was the beer and hot dog, and of course, the game. It was so perfectly Indian, in its genuine state. No other country in the world would a mass of people just go to a church on Christmas Eve to hang out. In no other country would I be surprised that all of the non-Christians listened to the priests cries of "don't receive communion if you are not a Catholic" (easily a big upset - considering this is the same country that will have every one rush to the line to board the plane when they announce they are boarding rows 30-40). This is the India I suspected, and in all seriousness, missed. What came next wasn't.
Night One...... And it was a good start.
We next retired to my Aunt Carmel's house. Luckily, retiring meant just going to an after Christmas Mass party, and there are few better reasons to celebrate. I finally got to see the bride to be (another cousin), her fiancee (who didn't remember me, but then again I had only met him for about ten minutes a year and a half earlier), my cousin Andy, the bride-to-be's sister Smitha, their older brother and many more people that I won't name right now because I'm sure my incessant naming of random people is losing readers with each successive word. Mainly, I got to meet Vinitha's friends, a cast of characters that would do well in a sitcom, but in this case, the city of Bangalore was just fine. They were all foreign to me on day one, a swath of talls and shorts, thins and not-so-thins, and varying shades of authentic Brown. Within a week, I would know most of them by name, by occupation and by favorite drink. That's what happens when there's an occasion each night to attend to. That's what happens when you see the same people night after night; especially when you want to see those people night after night. If the company you keep is a measure of success, then Vinitha, you are a hall-of-famer. Around three, or four, or five, or basically the expiration of my ability to put off being susceptible to jetlag, I finally did "retire" to the upstairs of my Aunt's house, a place that I really had not been to in eleven fourteen years.
One of the best unintended results of this trip to India was the way it changed my Aunt's house in my life. For my first four trips to India, my Aunt's house, a block away from the noted, turning-too-uppity Bangalore Club, was my home in India, a place where I could be comforted by my Aunt, my Uncle and her kids. It was of intrigue, fun and more good memories that I regret having to forget as age hit. The past three trips to India, it wasn't my home, it wasn't a home. After my cousins from that house mostly moved out, got married (didn't get to go to those weddings, which is really what made this one so special) and had kids of their own, it became a slightly lonely place. I still went there, because I love my Aunt and Uncle, but it wasn't a place I could ever imagine staying or spending the night (sorry for this Auntie Carmel, but be sure this is no longer the case). Not anymore. It became a home for me again, and one that I embraced. It was fun to relive my childhood in that way, sleeping in her house, living in it, eating meals in it. The same places I crawled over, through and under when I was a toddler, I was now living in a decade and a half later, and it was great. Considering little else in the trip would resemble my times in India as a toddler (not that that was a problem), having this little trip back to the mid-90's was an unexpected, lovely surprise.
The next day was the official start of the wedding festivities in its most exact sense, with my cousin's roce (which will be explained in excruciating detail later) in my other cousins farm in the netherworlds of Bangalore, in the way that a netherworld would be a peaceful place that doesn't have 100,000 people milling around per square mile like Bangalore central. It was the first of a week that redefined just how much fun my mom's side of my family is, and just how great this age in all of our respective lives is. It was a perfect set-up, the perfect mix of ages. A perfect brew, that much like India's perfect brews. Both brews would proceed to be imbibed day after day after day (more exactly night after night after night).
Part 2 coming up later............ the roce and meaning of family (at least in a wedding situation), plus the evolution of Bangalore.
__________________________________________________________
A Wedding in India
Family, Fun and a City That Does Sleep
(Part 1 of 4)
Family, Fun and a City That Does Sleep
(Part 1 of 4)
India is a different place, a different world. Never more striking when you go there and leave the dead of winter behind. The second you land in India, and leave the cozy confines of the plane, you know immediately that you are in India. There is no combination of smell (not necessarily a bad smell, just a distinctive one) and heat quite like India, a personal welcome greeting that I can't stand, but can't stand to live without (otherwise, how would I know I'm there?). That slap in the face, or more pointedly, in the nose and sweat-glands, at least wakes you up, which is necessary when almost any international flight arrives and leaves India around 2am (India may sleep early, but their airports definitely don't). That smell of heat (yes, it smells) pervades throughout the airport complex in Bombay, so I was dreading my five hour layover, but the second I reached the newly completed Domestic Airport in Bombay, I realized this would be a different experience. It was clean, with high glass windows. It looked like any airport anywhere else in the world (believe me, if you had been to the old Bombay airport, which resembled a Econo Lodge, you would know what this would mean); and that was the second that I realized that this was no ordinary trip to India. No, this was something special. It started out with a surprise, and finished with a week a only partially remember.
When it was over, and my family and me were leaving for Mangalore, my parents childhood home, my grandmother's home that I spent countless summers as a child, I was already set to go back and do it all over again. I wanted every cousin I know to start getting married in India. I don't even care who it was to, or if they would make a happy couple (well, that's not exactly true - I would care after the wedding was over), I just wanted more. The experience was that great, that entertaining, that endless, that its inevitable end didn't even bring on sadness when it was over (yes, I'm the person that normally feels sad when things come to a close and can't just remember the good memories). It just brought on a longing to do it again, and it was horrible. But now, a month and a half later, it is a memory that will be unbreakable and perfect, a memory of a week gone by, a week that was worth living to its fullest, and Lord knows we did just that.
(before I continue, I need to interject that I had to edit what followed about 100 times in fear of it bringing about litigation and what impact the following would have for my image..... but remember India's not exactly a country where the fake ID business is booming, if you know what I mean)
After the long flight, long wait in Bombay, long drive from Bangalore's slightly overrated new airport, and long nap, I was ready to go to Midnight Mass (I arrived on Christmas Eve), meet my cousins who had already arrived in the preceding days, and get a good start in Bangalore. Little did I know that midnight mass was actually more like a pregame. It was one since that was actually far from the end of the night for the family, but also because the outdoor venue for midnight mass was a meeting space for the local mass. Throngs of random people, who could not have looked less Christian even if they were wearing a turbin or reciting Koran verses, descended upon the church that within four days would host a wedding, the wedding. They were drinking in the church courtyard, conversing with each other, basically planning the rest of the night. Although this drew the unending ire of my Aunt Carmel, who's about as religious as they come, I thought it was great. It was like going to mass in a stadium. All I was missing was the beer and hot dog, and of course, the game. It was so perfectly Indian, in its genuine state. No other country in the world would a mass of people just go to a church on Christmas Eve to hang out. In no other country would I be surprised that all of the non-Christians listened to the priests cries of "don't receive communion if you are not a Catholic" (easily a big upset - considering this is the same country that will have every one rush to the line to board the plane when they announce they are boarding rows 30-40). This is the India I suspected, and in all seriousness, missed. What came next wasn't.
Night One...... And it was a good start.
We next retired to my Aunt Carmel's house. Luckily, retiring meant just going to an after Christmas Mass party, and there are few better reasons to celebrate. I finally got to see the bride to be (another cousin), her fiancee (who didn't remember me, but then again I had only met him for about ten minutes a year and a half earlier), my cousin Andy, the bride-to-be's sister Smitha, their older brother and many more people that I won't name right now because I'm sure my incessant naming of random people is losing readers with each successive word. Mainly, I got to meet Vinitha's friends, a cast of characters that would do well in a sitcom, but in this case, the city of Bangalore was just fine. They were all foreign to me on day one, a swath of talls and shorts, thins and not-so-thins, and varying shades of authentic Brown. Within a week, I would know most of them by name, by occupation and by favorite drink. That's what happens when there's an occasion each night to attend to. That's what happens when you see the same people night after night; especially when you want to see those people night after night. If the company you keep is a measure of success, then Vinitha, you are a hall-of-famer. Around three, or four, or five, or basically the expiration of my ability to put off being susceptible to jetlag, I finally did "retire" to the upstairs of my Aunt's house, a place that I really had not been to in eleven fourteen years.
One of the best unintended results of this trip to India was the way it changed my Aunt's house in my life. For my first four trips to India, my Aunt's house, a block away from the noted, turning-too-uppity Bangalore Club, was my home in India, a place where I could be comforted by my Aunt, my Uncle and her kids. It was of intrigue, fun and more good memories that I regret having to forget as age hit. The past three trips to India, it wasn't my home, it wasn't a home. After my cousins from that house mostly moved out, got married (didn't get to go to those weddings, which is really what made this one so special) and had kids of their own, it became a slightly lonely place. I still went there, because I love my Aunt and Uncle, but it wasn't a place I could ever imagine staying or spending the night (sorry for this Auntie Carmel, but be sure this is no longer the case). Not anymore. It became a home for me again, and one that I embraced. It was fun to relive my childhood in that way, sleeping in her house, living in it, eating meals in it. The same places I crawled over, through and under when I was a toddler, I was now living in a decade and a half later, and it was great. Considering little else in the trip would resemble my times in India as a toddler (not that that was a problem), having this little trip back to the mid-90's was an unexpected, lovely surprise.
The next day was the official start of the wedding festivities in its most exact sense, with my cousin's roce (which will be explained in excruciating detail later) in my other cousins farm in the netherworlds of Bangalore, in the way that a netherworld would be a peaceful place that doesn't have 100,000 people milling around per square mile like Bangalore central. It was the first of a week that redefined just how much fun my mom's side of my family is, and just how great this age in all of our respective lives is. It was a perfect set-up, the perfect mix of ages. A perfect brew, that much like India's perfect brews. Both brews would proceed to be imbibed day after day after day (more exactly night after night after night).
Part 2 coming up later............ the roce and meaning of family (at least in a wedding situation), plus the evolution of Bangalore.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Melo-Drama
Carmelo Anthony is finally a New York Knick. Finally is an understatement, as Carmelo's "Will he, Won't he?" routine hijacked the New York Sports Talk Radio stations and stole every headline of every paper. For the last two weeks it was non-stop prediction and speculation about all things Carmelo. It is a great move for the Knicks, giving them a top-10 player along with a veteran point guard whose contract is set to expire right around the time that Chris Paul and Deron Williams become free agents. The Knicks did have to give up some nice pieces, but they kept their best young piece, rookie Landry Fields, and also got an underrated player in Corey Brewer from the Timberwolves. They are immediately a better team, and more importantly, a hot spot for basketball again. As a New Yorker, and a person actively hoping that the Miami Heat meet fiery endings to each season they employ one LeBron James, I love this move. I did not love, however, the horrible case of hypocrisy the Carmelo coverage illicited.
ESPN did cover the Carmelo coverage, to be sure. They did their due dilligence, leading off SportsCenter with Carmelo updates and had their different basketball minions (also known as analysts) makes some points, but there was a more apparent movement on ESPN and the other main sports networks the last couple of weeks. There was a movement to call the whole thing a headache and Carmelo a drama queen who couldn't make up his mind. Various ESPN personalities claimed that this was dragging and taking way too long and, of course, "can Carmelo make up his mind!!!" I heard this a lot. On ESPN. On SI.com. On WFAN Radio. This made me think: Where was all this concern and drama over the length of the situation when LeBron James was doing the exact same thing for basically a year from the beginning of the 2009-2010 season until his decision.
ESPN had a two hour SportsCenter for the sole purpose of previewing LeBron's Decision which was being broadcasted on ESPN, which was followed by a one hour SportsCenter reacting to the decision. ESPN spent most of the two-hour SportsCenter following the Cavaliers being eliminated by the Celtics talking about LeBron, a man who choked away another top-seed, and his future and not the Celtics and the brilliance of a team that would die for each other. ESPN spent approximately 20,000 hours covering LeBron and his decision, and not only never criticized the ridiculous amount of time spent covering one man's decision, they agreed to have a one hour special to announce news that could have been done in ten seconds. Really, ESPN? Spending two weeks talking five minutes per each SportsCenter about a top-10 player and a possible midseason Mega-Trade is nauseating and too-much, but spending the good parts of May, June and July, and ten hours on the decision day was fine (let alone the whole LeBron thing wreaking of unethical journalism)?
Then there's also the criticism of Carmelo. LeBron was criticized roundly and suffered a major image injury after the self-aggrandizing decision, but until it happened everyone was fine with him hijacking the NBA offseason. It was only until we saw the bastardized hour long special that everyone agreed that the whole thing was a dick move. In Carmelo's case, it looked like many media people thought it was a dick move before he made any decision. The whole time media personalities were begging Carmelo to finish it, to make a decision, for the Nuggets to hurry up the process, for Mikhail Prokhorov to stop trying to force the Knicks into giving up more (a genius move, by the way). Everyone showed impatience when Carmelo was privately going over his options. He didn't hijack the league. His team still did pretty well. However, when it was LeBron, he was basically given carte blanche by everyone until it was over, until we realized what a douche he had been.
Of course, LeBron is the star. LeBron is the icon of the NBA along with Kobe and Melo is in that next tier with Duncan, Durant, Griffin, Nash and others. That said, he's worthy of taking his time to make his decision about where to play. He's worth giving up five minutes per SportsCenter. No one was worth what LeBron did, except for LeBron (in the eyes of LeBron.... and ESPN). I have rarely seen a more obvious example of big-star bias at work and it really shows that unless you are willing to be a lap-dog for the media and self-promote yourself to no end (you know, like creating a twitter moniker called "KingJames") you aren't worth the media's time.
I hope Carmelo wins a ton in New York, and not only because it might be really fun to go to a Knicks game again. I hope Deron Williams or Chirs Paul joins up in two years and they form a more well-suited Big-3 than the one in Miami. That said, Carmelo's decision leads more credence to the theory that the NBA will be hijacked by Super Teams in the near future.
At the current rate, by 2014, the NBA will pretty much have five big teams in the biggest markets, and 25 shit ones. After seeing Wade, Bosh and LeBron pull off what they did the Super Team is really becoming a reality, especially after in Carmelo Anthony's wedding, Chris Paul said in his speech that him, Melo and Stoudamire would be playing together within three years. We are two-thirds of the way there. Top players are basically telling the league that they will only go to big markets, and it will become more relevant when Deron Williams leaves sleepy Utah and Chris Paul leaves New Orleans and Kevin Durant eventually leaves Oklahoma City, and Dwight Howard leaves Orlando for LA. The NBA will become an uncompetitive joke, even to a bigger extent than MLB, because there are no real undervalued skills like there are in baseball and individual players have a bigger impact in basketball. Free Agents just will not go to Utah, or Portland, or Sacramento. And drafted stars on these teams will leave at first sight of "freedom" for their quiet, little town. In the new collective bargaining agreement, the NBA and NBA Players Union better come to some sort of way of solving this issue, some way to keep players on their team, to not turn the NBA into the English Premier League. That said, let's hope that this super team keeps it up.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Love Springs Eternal
The picture was a cover of a Sports Illustrated issue in 2003. Tom Verducci wrote an article about the joys and beauties of Spring Training, one that was a lot better than the sap I am about to write down. Be warned, this might be my most overly-dramatic writing yet.
I can't dump them. I should. They aren't any good, they aren't talented. They have an owner that, albeit being a nice guy, has a "Good Ol' Boys Club" streak to him and has turned the franchise into a mess. They have few known players, and are roundly predicted to finish 5th in the NL Central, and considering Pittsburgh is basically a Triple-A team, that is basically a last place finish. Yet, I just can't dump them. The Astros mean too much to me, and that thought was banged home to me yesterday.
Valentine's day was interesting this year. No, it had nothing to do with any personal valentine I may or may not have, but more to do with its idyllic placement with a parallel event in the sports calendar. February 14th was the day that Pitchers & Catchers started reporting to their teams in baseball. My Astros reported to Kissammee, Florida, as did many other teams to their respective locations, and the long, arduous process known as the baseball season has started again. For the Astros, this is a time of great unease, with the owner putting the team up for sale, them cleaning house of big contracts, and having their two iconic players from the 2000s lacing it up for other NL teams. It is the best time to cut bait, to leave the Astros as my team, to go and look for another baseball partner, as I thought I might do last year when the news of Roy Oswalt's impending trade came about, but I just can't do it. Spring Training has taught me many things, but the most important is that Love is really eternal, in baseball, and hopefully in my life in the future.
It all starts over in Spring. Everything seems possible in my relationship with the Astros. The new beginning completely erases all the flaws that I know are there. I know the Astros can't hit worth a damn, and aren't great at fielding, and have little immediate help coming from the farm. I know all of this, but I don't know is if any of it is true. What if they suddenly can hit? What if they suddenly can field? What if Bill Hall and Clint Barmes can actually play relatively well? What if some unknown draft pick turns into the next Roy Oswalt (who was a 19th round pick in baseball's draft)? That is the beauty of baseball, the beauty of Spring Training; the "What If?" factor. What if this is the year that my team turns the corner and does what the Giants did last year, or the Tigers did in 2006? Just like the flowers, my team is about the be in bloom, and it may just be more beautiful than ever.
Like in quite a few marraiges (especially the ones to a sports team), they have a lot of time to disappoint me, to upset me and torment me. Hell, they can drive me crazy, but there was a reason I loved them in the first place, and that was what I relearn every spring. After the football season ends, the sports world turns quiet. Combine this with the darkness and cold of winter, and there really is nothing much to look forward to for those brief days after Super Bowl Sunday for a sports fan. However, that's when those four words enter into the minds of a baseball fan, the words that make one love their team all over again, and prepare themselves for the road ahead, no matter if it is filled with nights of anger and loathing, or nights of joy and laughter. "Pitchers and Catchers report," has a special place in the minds of a baseball fan, because it is the signal to start dreaming again, to start loving the team again, to start looking forward to the sun, the blue sky and the sounds of baseball in summer. It starts in Spring, when the four words come to mind.
The Houston Astros will be my team forever, and this Spring made me know it. I never thought I would be excited for Spring Training, excited to hear about how none of the Astros youngsters can hit, field or throw, and how this team is a lock to lose 90 games. Yet I was, and I am. I am as excited as I have been every year. I needed the break that the offseason gave me, but I am ready to commit myself to this team again, for another 8 months, for another 162 regular season games, another twenty or so Spring Training games and, God willing, some postseason games.
A sports fan is usually in a depressed state (about his teams, mind you, not in life in general - just wanted to point out that discrepancy, just in case anyone was worried that my overall emotional state was in despair and the 'Stros rescued me from a fiery end). More often than not, your team doesn't win, and if you get unlucky enough, your team might lose spectacularly, either in total embarrassment (like being a Pirates fan) or in some scarring way that leaves you in a shell (like the Colts with the exception of 2006). Few events have the power to lift a sports fan out of that depression that don't involve a playoff run or championship. For some it is the draft, which for NFL fans is almost like their Spring Training, where the opportunities seem endless. For me, it is Spring Training. It allows me to quickly get over football, which is usually hard given the ridiculous nature in which the Colts have in recent playoff years, and switch my attention to something that truly needs it: the Astros. Baseball teams need attention, they need time. 162 games is a lot to ask for, and you need to be willing to be there for them all (not exactly watch them all, but still take them all in) to be a true fan. It is a daunting task, but one that seems easy when the Pitchers & Catchers report, when a baseball fans' love springs eternal.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Pack'n It In
Well, after going 8-3 picking playoff games last year, I went 1-2 in my abbreviated playoff picks. That said, that was an interesting Super Bowl. I'll get out my rambling thoughts on Super Bowl XLV.
- How else would I start? Congratulations to the Green Bay Packers, Aaron Rodgers, Ted Thompson, Mike McCarthy, and the rest of the crew there. They were the better team on Sunday. They overcome some huge injuries, battled through three straight road games, and closed out one of the most resilient teams in the NFL to win it all. The Patriots in 2001 beat a Rams team looking to cement itself as a dynasty, and then they went on to be a dynasty themselves. You never know, history could be repeating itself.
- That said, most likely, history will not repeat itself. Today started the yearly round of "Team (insert Super Bowl Champion Here) is poised to dominate the league for years to come." I've heard it every year. It is never that easy. The Saints were poised to do it coming into this year, but weird things happen. You need luck to win the Super Bowl these days, and luck doesn't come around that often. Want proof? The Super Bowl Champion has not won a playoff game the following year since the 2004 New England Patriots, who won their Wild Card game in 2005. Want further proof? Other than the Patriots, the streak goes back to the 2000 Ravens, who won their Wild Card game. Other than the 2003-2004 Pats, the last team to make the conference title game the next year was the 1997-1998 Broncos. Repeating is damn hard.
- Same for Aaron Rodgers. Everyone wants to crown him the "Best QB in the world." However, let's backtrack 12 months, when Drew Brees finished a Super Bowl run where he didn't throw an interception over three games. Everyone then crowned him the best QB in the NFL. He then proceeded to throw 22 interceptions the next year, and although his team went 11-5, wasn't exactly "best QB in the NFL" material. That title is fleeting. There is always the flavor of the week. Aaron Rodgers should savor this moment, because however great he might be, and however young and talented the Packers might be, nothing is guaranteed. If you told Dan Marino after his one Super Bowl appearance in 1984 or Brett Favre after winning the Super Bowl with a loaded Packers team in 1996 that you would never win a ring (or in Marino's case, get to the Super Bowl) again, they would have laughed at you.
- It gets annoying when people bring up the drops killing Aaron Rodgers night. The only bad drop was James Jones' in what could have been a touchdown. Of course, if the DB used proper technique and batted the ball down instead of trying to make a play and get a pick, it is an easy incompletion. Also, its James Jones, who drops the ball as much as Big Ben drops trou. The others weren't as bad. Nelson followed up his bad drop with a 30-yard gain the next play, and his "drop" on the first drive was a really tough catch. Rodgers played about as well as his stats show, which is a great performance. But let's not act like this was Joe Montana going 22-28 for 5 tds against the league's best scoring defense in Super Bowl XXIV.
- I still stand by my pick. I think if the teams play 10 times, the Steelers win 6. Despite losing the turnover battle 3-0, and despite missing a field goal, the Steelers still had a drive to win the game. The Packers, like they have so many times this season, didn't really put a team away. The Packers did nothing in the 3rd quarter for the second straight game, and if Rashard Mendenhall doesn't fumble that ball (or if Johnson doesn't stand there like a statue instead of realizing the ball was fumbled), I think the Steelers score a TD there, and since Rodgers was 2 for his last 9 up to that point in the 2nd half, I'm not sure the Packers could have come back.
- One last Packers' slight. This talk of "Oh, they were so resilient, with all those players on IR!" is so grating. Other than Ryan Grant and Jermichael Finley, can anyone name the other players on IR? Were there any other starters? One was Nick Barnett, but how about the guy who Charlie Peprah replaced? Anyone know him? This wasn't analogous to the Colts situation. The Colts lost talented, important starters. If the Colts lost their version of Nick Barnett and Atari Bigby (know where he plays? He's one of those IR guys), they would not have gone anywhere near 10-6.
- Also, in no way was Super Bowl XLV a great game. It was a good game, and compared to the junk that happened on Super Sunday in the 80's, it was a major step up. It would have been great but that last drive for the Steelers fizzled out about instantly, making the ending anti-climactic. The game overall was quite sloppy. The Packers were dropping passes, then they couldn't block for Rodgers. The Steelers committed turnovers, then missed a field goal so badly I thought they had signed Vanderjagt. I've watched every Super Bowl multiple times from Super Bowl XXXIV to now (except for Super Bowl XXXV - Ravens vs Giants). I remember every detail from a lot of those games. I doubt I will remember much about this game five years from now. The game was like Super Bowl XXXIX, where despite it being a 3 point game, and the Eagles having the ball with a minute to go down a field goal, it wasn't all that good of a game.
- The Halftime show was a joke. First of all, Slash should never have agreed to appear on stage with the Black Eyed Peas. Then, it gets annoying when instead of singing four songs completely, they do a medley of 10 songs. The Who did the same thing last year, and it ruined it. Also, what happened to having fans on the field for the halftime show. They used to do this each year I can remember, but instead they just had lit up performers who basically added nothing to the show. I please hope this shows that going with a current act is not at all better than going with a bunch of 50-60 year olds from the past.
- With that in mind, I really hope for Super Bowl XLVI, they go with Van Halen. They're recording a new CD right now (the first with Roth since 1984), and are supposedly going on tour at some point this year. Not sure they would agree to it, but similar acts have done halftime. If they can't get them, or don't want them, I would also recommend Aerosmith (although it's been done already), the Eagles (at least one group of Eagles should get to the Super Bowl), or if they want to go modern, Rihanna.
- There was nothing more annoying that media members (specifically Peter King) complaining about the weather in Dallas. Peter King even complained that the city didn't buy enough snowplows. Does Peter King realize that this was the biggest snowstorm in about 20 years? That the normal temperature in February is far warmer, or that in a city with a crippled education, they might have better things to spend money on than snow-plows for a snowstorm that happens once every two decades. Honestly, the media members are getting an all-expense paid trip to Dallas to do work; work that includes hob-knobbing with radio stations, players and attending the Super Bowl. Millions of Americans would volunteer to do that "work", so stop complaining that the temperature wasn't 72, and you had to drive in, you know, 6 inches of snow.
- The seating mess was ridiculous. That Jerry Jones was setting up seating that apparently had its stability questioned months ago, and the NFL okayed it was crazy. Does Jerry Jones really care that much about setting an attendance record. I would never bring the Super Bowl back to Dallas just to shove it in Jerry Jones' self-aggrandizing face. Honeslty, Indianapolis will probably put on a good time, but people will complain about how small and un-Dallasy it is, but I guarantee that at least all the people who bought tickets will be able to attend.
Overall, it was not the most fun of NFL seasons for me. The Raiders going 8-8 was fun, but I'll dwell on their missed opportunities that could've had them make the playoffs. However, other than that, it was a disaster. The Colts were ravaged with injuries at a rate I have never seen before. The Patriots flew to a 14-2 record (although their loss to the Jets gave me a great moment). In the end, a team I don't particularly care for won the Super Bowl, but such is life. After a near perfect 2009 season for me (God, how I still am scarred by Super Bowl XLIV and what could have been), it all evened out. I just hope 2011 will be a little bit better. The odds are against it, since the Colts are trying to do something that no other team has ever done: play the Super Bowl in its home stadium. However, no team had won twelve or more games seven straight years either (or 6 years, or 5, or 4). The Colts proved that possible.
On the baseball.....
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Super Bowl XLV Pick
Super Bowl XLV
Green Bay Packers (-2.5) vs Pittsburgh Steelers
Not going to spend much time here. I'm a fan of defensive football (despite me liking the Colts), and teh Steelers are the best defense in the NFL. They have the best rush defense by far. They ahve the best pass rush in the NFL. They have a hall of famer at safety, and a corner playing hot (Ike Taylor). The Packers also had a great defense, but they played a much softer schedule. That said, forget the matchups. The Super Bowl is often about emotion. The Colts matched up really well with the Saints last year. Look how that turned out. No, the Super Bowl is about will.
The Packers are getting much love. Despite being a 6th seed in the weaker conference and barely holding off a 3rd string QB in the NFC Championship Game, they come in as favorites in the Super Bowl. The Steelers have an experienced team who's nucleus won the Super Bowl just two years ago. They have a quarterback who is 10-2 in the playoffs. They have the league's best defense and beat a better team more convincingly in the Championship Game than Green Bay did. So why exactly are the Packers favored? This isn't like 2005, when the 6th seeded Steelers were favorites against the Seahawks. No, the Steelers were in the far tougher conference and dominated a 14-3 Broncos team in Denver. This is different. This makes no sense.
Much of it is probably due to the Aaron Rodgers hype (again, despite a mediocre if not bad performance in the title game). People say "Rodgers in a dome.... this is perfect." And this idea is mainly built off their 48-21 beatdown of top-seeded Atlanta in the divisional round. However, and this is key, the Falcons defense, in the words of Bart Scott, "cannot stop a nosebleed." The Steelers are the toughest test the Packers will face on defense in the entire playoffs, more so than the Bears (and scoring 14 points, and none on offense in the second half, isn't exactly passing the test). Aaron Rodgers started 10 games this season, including the playoffs, against defenses in the top-half of the league. Here are his numbers.
Wk 1 @ PHI (W: 27-20) 19-31 181 yds 2 tds 2 ints
Wk 3 @ CHI (L: 17-20) 34-45 316 yds 1 td 1 int
Wk 5 @ WAS (L: 13-16) 27-46 292 yds 1 td 1 int
Wk 6 vs MIA (L: 20-23) 18-33 313 yds 1 td 1 int
Wk 8 @ NYJ (W: 9-0) 15-34 170 yds 0 tds 0 ints
Wk 16 vs NYG (W: 45-17) 25-37 404 yds 4 tds 0 ints
Wk 17 vs CHI (W: 10-3) 19-28 227 yds 1 td 1 int
WC @ PHI (W: 21-16) 18-27 180 yds 3 tds 0 ints
CON @ CHI (W: 21-14) 17-30 244 yds 0 tds 2 ints
His total stat line: 192-311 for 2329 yds and 13 tds and 8 ints for a passer rating of 89.4, which compared to his season one of 101.4 is not great. If you take out that win over the Giants, who showed no interest on offense or defense in playing that game, it becomes 167-274 for 1925 yds with 9 tds and 9 ints for a passer rating of 80.9. That won't cut it, especially since Pittsburgh's defense is better than all of those.
Another line I hear a lot is "the Packers can spread out the Steelers like the Patriots did." Wrong. What the Patriots did that day was special. Brady was on fire, and more importantly, the Pats were able to run the ball. You have to be able to spread the Steelers out and still run on them to make that work, and the Packers with their flaccid running game coupled with the Steelers great rush defense that is on a roll right now makes that a hard proposition. I don't see the Packers having nearly the same amount of success that the Patriots did back in Week 10.
On the other side of the ball, the Steelers can run on the Packers. Most teams can. Michael Turner didn't but the Eagles did and the Bears did. Also, when these two teams met last year, Roethlisberger shredded them. Of course, Rodgers shredded the Steelers as well, but that game was played without Troy Polamalu and Bryant McFadden (with Ryan Mundy and some random corner instead), while the Packers defense is largely the same. I like the Steelers on that side of the ball to have some success, or more properly, enough success.
I don't want to see Roethlisberger get hailed as a "winner" or whatever when he wins his third Super Bowl. In fact, if he does win that third, it can go in two ways. Either the media analysts will feel skeptical to put him on the same level as Manning (rightfully so) and devalue the rings argument in judging QBs, or they will go the opposite way and shove a guy who was up for debate as the greatest ever before Super Bowl XLIV into 3rd position. Either way, I would still rather see the Steelers win. They have the right mix of force, swagger and balls. They are the team that I wish I could root for (too late to start). They have the defense, the tough QB, and they are a bit undervalued.
The Pick............................................
Steelers 27 Packers 20 (PIT)
Green Bay Packers (-2.5) vs Pittsburgh Steelers
Not going to spend much time here. I'm a fan of defensive football (despite me liking the Colts), and teh Steelers are the best defense in the NFL. They have the best rush defense by far. They ahve the best pass rush in the NFL. They have a hall of famer at safety, and a corner playing hot (Ike Taylor). The Packers also had a great defense, but they played a much softer schedule. That said, forget the matchups. The Super Bowl is often about emotion. The Colts matched up really well with the Saints last year. Look how that turned out. No, the Super Bowl is about will.
The Packers are getting much love. Despite being a 6th seed in the weaker conference and barely holding off a 3rd string QB in the NFC Championship Game, they come in as favorites in the Super Bowl. The Steelers have an experienced team who's nucleus won the Super Bowl just two years ago. They have a quarterback who is 10-2 in the playoffs. They have the league's best defense and beat a better team more convincingly in the Championship Game than Green Bay did. So why exactly are the Packers favored? This isn't like 2005, when the 6th seeded Steelers were favorites against the Seahawks. No, the Steelers were in the far tougher conference and dominated a 14-3 Broncos team in Denver. This is different. This makes no sense.
Much of it is probably due to the Aaron Rodgers hype (again, despite a mediocre if not bad performance in the title game). People say "Rodgers in a dome.... this is perfect." And this idea is mainly built off their 48-21 beatdown of top-seeded Atlanta in the divisional round. However, and this is key, the Falcons defense, in the words of Bart Scott, "cannot stop a nosebleed." The Steelers are the toughest test the Packers will face on defense in the entire playoffs, more so than the Bears (and scoring 14 points, and none on offense in the second half, isn't exactly passing the test). Aaron Rodgers started 10 games this season, including the playoffs, against defenses in the top-half of the league. Here are his numbers.
Wk 1 @ PHI (W: 27-20) 19-31 181 yds 2 tds 2 ints
Wk 3 @ CHI (L: 17-20) 34-45 316 yds 1 td 1 int
Wk 5 @ WAS (L: 13-16) 27-46 292 yds 1 td 1 int
Wk 6 vs MIA (L: 20-23) 18-33 313 yds 1 td 1 int
Wk 8 @ NYJ (W: 9-0) 15-34 170 yds 0 tds 0 ints
Wk 16 vs NYG (W: 45-17) 25-37 404 yds 4 tds 0 ints
Wk 17 vs CHI (W: 10-3) 19-28 227 yds 1 td 1 int
WC @ PHI (W: 21-16) 18-27 180 yds 3 tds 0 ints
CON @ CHI (W: 21-14) 17-30 244 yds 0 tds 2 ints
His total stat line: 192-311 for 2329 yds and 13 tds and 8 ints for a passer rating of 89.4, which compared to his season one of 101.4 is not great. If you take out that win over the Giants, who showed no interest on offense or defense in playing that game, it becomes 167-274 for 1925 yds with 9 tds and 9 ints for a passer rating of 80.9. That won't cut it, especially since Pittsburgh's defense is better than all of those.
Another line I hear a lot is "the Packers can spread out the Steelers like the Patriots did." Wrong. What the Patriots did that day was special. Brady was on fire, and more importantly, the Pats were able to run the ball. You have to be able to spread the Steelers out and still run on them to make that work, and the Packers with their flaccid running game coupled with the Steelers great rush defense that is on a roll right now makes that a hard proposition. I don't see the Packers having nearly the same amount of success that the Patriots did back in Week 10.
On the other side of the ball, the Steelers can run on the Packers. Most teams can. Michael Turner didn't but the Eagles did and the Bears did. Also, when these two teams met last year, Roethlisberger shredded them. Of course, Rodgers shredded the Steelers as well, but that game was played without Troy Polamalu and Bryant McFadden (with Ryan Mundy and some random corner instead), while the Packers defense is largely the same. I like the Steelers on that side of the ball to have some success, or more properly, enough success.
I don't want to see Roethlisberger get hailed as a "winner" or whatever when he wins his third Super Bowl. In fact, if he does win that third, it can go in two ways. Either the media analysts will feel skeptical to put him on the same level as Manning (rightfully so) and devalue the rings argument in judging QBs, or they will go the opposite way and shove a guy who was up for debate as the greatest ever before Super Bowl XLIV into 3rd position. Either way, I would still rather see the Steelers win. They have the right mix of force, swagger and balls. They are the team that I wish I could root for (too late to start). They have the defense, the tough QB, and they are a bit undervalued.
The Pick............................................
Steelers 27 Packers 20 (PIT)
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Top 10 "Not In Our House" Playoff Games of the 2000s
These are the games that were close heading into the game. These were toss-up, or close to toss-up games heading in. The road teams were getting some buzz, getting some love. However, when the game was done, the game gave you the feeling of "There was no way they were losing at home today." These are the games that make you slap yourself for thinking the road team could win. These aren't just blowouts, games like the Raiders 27-0 win over Miami in 2000 or the Bucs 31-6 win over the 49ers in 2002. No, those games were obvious heading in. These were not, but after the performances of the home team, they should have been. Here are the Top-10 "Not In Our House" Playoff Performances of the 2000s.
10.) Steelers 35 Chargers 24, 2008 AFC Divisional
This was both a game that was not as close as the score indicated (it was 28-10 midway through the 4th quarter), and was in the balance at the two minute warning in the first half (10-7 Chargers lead). However, what took place in between those two events, where the Steelers outscored the Chargers 21-0 and ended any hope of the Chargers miracle run from 4-8 to the Divisional Playoffs continuing, was pure awesome football. The Chargers held the ball for exactly one play in the 4th quarter. The Steelers took the opening kick of the second half and drove for a touchdown (to make it 21-10). Then, after a long Darren Sproles kick return, the Steelers intercepted Philip Rivers on his next pass. They then were forced to punt, and the punt hit Eric Weddle in the helmet, which the Steelers then recovered, and ran out the clock in the quarter all the way to the one yard line. After a nice goal line stand by the Chargers, Rivers was sacked and the Chargers had top punt back. The Steelers this time put the game away. In the part in between, the Steelers ran 39 plays to the Chargers 4. Gained 177 yards to the Chargers -2. It was domination, and allowed the Steelers to go from playing a close game against a hot team late in the first half to easing through part one of their road to the title in 2008. Ben Roethlisberger showed why he was up to that point, the king of the 2004 QB Draft Class.
9.) Falcons 47 Rams 17, 2004 NFC Divisional
Despite being a #2 seed, there was reason to be skeptical of the Falcons. They had only outscored their opponents by 3 points through the season (mainly due to two losses - 56-10 to the Chiefs and 27-0 to the Buccaneers), and had been outgained. Nevermind the fact that the Rams were worse in all those numbers, the Rams in a dome was still a scary proposition. After trading TDs on the teams opening drives, everyone thought they were in for a shootout. They were, but one team did all the shooting. The Falcons ran for 327 yards, which is by far the most by any team in the 2000s. It was all three members of their DVD running attack (Dunn, Vick and Duckett). Dunn ran for 162 and 2 tds. Vick (who was a steady 12-16 for 82 yards and 2 tds passing) ran 8 times for 119 more yards. TJ Duckett put up 66 yards of his own. The Falcons, though, didn't stop by just throwing and running for scores. Allen Rossum returned a punt for a TD, and the Falcons, who lead the NFL in sacks in 2004, sacked Bulger four times including once for a safety. When it was all said and done, the Falcons had scored the last 26 points in the game, and had delivered the final KO to the Rams "Greatest Show on Turf" era (they haven't been back to the playoffs since). It was Michael Vick's best day in a Falcons' uniform, and for one day, the Georgia Dome was the hottest place in the NFL.
8.) Steelers 27 Ravens 10, 2001 AFC Divisional
2001 was the forgotten year in the Steelers-Ravens rivalry. The Ravens were the defending champs, and the Steelers had missed the playoffs three straight years. Those things were not going to continue. After going 13-3, the Steelers had to face their rival for the third time. The Steelers had lost to the Ravens in Heinz Field earlier that year, but this was no repeat. In Heinz Field's first playoff game, the terrible towels waved like they had never waved before. The Steel Curtain would have been envious of the defensive stats the Steelers put up. They limited the Ravens to 150 yards and just 7 first downs. They sacked QB Elvis Grbac 4 times, picked him off 3 more times, and held the Ravens to 22 yards rushing. The Steelers moved the ball with ease against the Ravens defense, and controlled the game from start to finish. There was no doubt who the best defensive team in the AFC was in 2001. This would be the start of a decade-long rivalry, and although there were two more memorable meetings in the playoffs later in the decade, neither could match the pure intensity and domination of this one. The Steelers laid the hammer down with a ferociousness that would make Jack Lambert wet, and that is a hard thing to do.
7.) Broncos 27 Patriots 13, 2005 AFC Divisional
The Patriots entered the game a tidy 10-0 in the playoffs under Belichick and Brady. The Broncos entered the game having not won in the playoffs since John Elway capped off his career in Super Bowl XXXIII. However, these were the new Broncos. With the league's third ranked defense and seventh ranked offense (and second best rushing attack) the Broncos were balanced. More importantly, the Broncos matched up beautifully against the Patriots, having beaten them soundly earlier in the year. The game did not start out too well for the Broncos, as they were being outplayed through most of the first half, and were lucky to be down just 3-0. However, they forced back-to-back fumbles, turned them into 10 points, and went into halftime up 10-3. In the second half, the Broncos set the new Mile High on fire. In what was easily the loudest, most energized game in Invesco Field history, they Broncos battered Brady repeatedly in the second half, and the hits, while not turning into any sacks, made their mark. Brady, to avoid being hit, lofted a pass into the end zone on 3rd and goal (with the Broncos up just 10-6). Champ Bailey picked it off, raced 99 yards, and one play later, it was 17-6, and the invincibility of the Patriots was over. The Broncos finished if off by going up 24-6, and the Patriots continued to make every mistake possible in the raucous stadium. Adam Vinatieri missed a field goal. Troy Brown muffed a punt. Tom Brady looked confused and looked absolutely Favrian, flinging the ball around. John Lynch capped the win with a juggling interception of Brady. It was the perfect way to end the Patriots reign.
6.) Colts 20 Ravens 3, 2009 AFC Divisional
The Colts record after resting their starters before a bye was not good (they had won games previously after just resting starters without the bye). In 2005 and 2007, the Colts lost their divisional round game at home, and the odd year curse would surely reappear against a Ravens team that throttled the Pats 33-14 in Foxboro, wouldn't it? After driving 62 yards on their first drive, and tying the game at 3, the Ravens looked ready to make it three straight home losses after byes, or at least make it interesting. However, that would be the last time the Ravens would even enter the red zone. Against a defense that made Tom Brady look like Jeff George the week before, Manning was great, hitting receivers in ungodly small windows time and time again. He engineered a perfect two minute drive to make it 17-3 right before half. It was pointless, since the Colts only needed 6. The Colts defense held the Ravens to 84 yards on their next 8 possessions. They turned the Ravens over 4 times in the game, held Ray Rice in check and were able to eliminate any possibility of the Ravens coming remotely close to beating them. In the first playoff game in Lucas Oil Stadium, the fans didn't know if the Colts from 2005 and 2007 would arrive. Luckily for them, the Colts who went 14-0 in the 14 games they tried in that year arrived, and the Colts dominated a team that had come in on a tremendous high.
5.) Bears 39 Saints 14, 2006 NFC Championship
The Saints were the sentimental favorite. Forget 2009, these were the miracle Saints. In the first year back in New Orleans, with a rookie coach and a QB who had a torn rotator cuff and labrum coming into the season, and a team that finished the 2005 season 3-13, the Saints were able to run out to a first round bye. The Bears did start the season 7-0, and led the NFC wire-to-wire (winning it by 3 games), but they had Rex Grossman at QB. It was Rex Grossman against Drew Brees. Luckily for Grossman, however, he had a defense and a running game on his side, as well as perfectly wintry Chicago conditions and a jacked up crowd in soldier field. When the Bears forced fumbles on back to back drives early, it was already a sign that there was no way the Bears were actually going to lose this game. The game was basically over when the Bears ran it 8 straight times with Thomas Jones, gained 66 yards and scored a TD to make the game 16-0. Drew Brees did throw for gobs of yards, and the Saints would make it interesting, but his safety resulting from an intentional grounding in the end zone would ice it. The Bears would pour on points as the snow intensified (along with the crowd). The Bears ended the game scoring 23 unanswered, running for 196 yards, sacking Drew Brees 3 times and forcing four turnovers against the league's top ranked offense. It was clinical efficiency by the NFC's best defense, and as they proved, best team.
4.) Colts 41 Broncos 10, 2003 AFC Wild Card
In Week 16, in a game that mattered, the Broncos went into Indianapolis and pummeled the Colts 31-17, outgaining them 465-183, rushing 54 times for 227 yards. It was pure domination. Couple that with the fact that Manning was 0-3 in the playoffs and the outcome of the Wild Card game seemed pretty obvious. It wasn't close at all. It was a blowout of epic porportions, but just the opposite way of the one-sided affair three weeks earlier. Peyton Manning got the playoff monkey off his back. The Colts didn't punt. The Colts didn't come close to punting. They racked up 479 yards. Peyton Manning didn't only win a playoff game, but tied an NFL record with four TD passes in the first half. The RCA Dome was basically a party zone for four quarters, with the Colts up 31-3 at halftime. Brandon Stokley caught 4 balls for 144 yards and 2 tds. Marvin added 7 catches for 133 yards and two more tds. Despite the Broncos actually running the ball pretty well, the Colts defense added to the fun, sacking Plummer twice, picking him off two more times and giving the ball back to the Colts offense that was about as perfect as any offense could be. In fact, as far as Manning was concerned, they were perfect, as Manning tossed up the second perfect passer rating in playoff history with a tidy line of 22-26 for 377 yards and 5 tds (more tds than incompletions). It might not have been Steve Young getting the monkey off his back with 6 tds in the Super Bowl, but Peyton Manning was on top of the world, and the RCA Dome was witnessing offense better than it had ever been played.
3.) Seahawks 34 Panthers 14, 2005 NFC Championship
The Seahawks were criminally underrated, despite outscoring their opponents 452-271 and having the NFL's best offense. The Panthers were a tad overrated after their 29-21 win in Chicago the week earlier and the sickening brilliance of Steve Smith. That said, there is no better explanation as to the domination of this game more than Steve Smith. Smith had 22 catches for 302 yards and 3 tds in his first two playoff games in 2005. In the Title Game, he had 5 catches for 33 yards (with just one coming in the first half). The Seahawks employed a weird moving zone to stop Steve Smith, and with him eliminated, the Panthers could do nothing. The Seahawks shut down the Panthers, giving up one punt return for a TD and a garbage time td (when the score was 34-7). In the process they picked off Delhomme three times and limited the Panthers to 36 yards rushing on 12 carries. On offense, they were just as amazing. Hasselbeck was brilliant, going 20-28 with two tds. Shaun Alexander, against the 4th ranked rush defense, put up 132 yards and two tds. However, three things defined the domination the Seahawks laid on everyone's favorite underdog team. First, was Seneca Wallace's amazing over the shoulder catch on the Seahawks first TD drive. Next was Walter Jones blocking Mike Rucker about driving him about 20 yards downfield. Finally, was the Qwest Field crowd. For three straight hours, the place was as loud as the boeing factory about 40 miles away. That was the loudest crowd I have ever heard in an NFL game, and it seemed to impact both teams. The Panthers seemed star-struck and overwhelmed. The Seahawks played with a never-ending passion and in the end were able to hoist the Halas trophy in front of the loudest 12th man ever.
2.) Patriots 20 Colts 3, 2004 AFC Divisional
This one hurt. This game happened before I knew that offenses, no matter how great, how explosive, were stoppable. The 2004 Colts were the best offense I had seen in my life. I hadn't been cognizant of the NFL enough from 1999-2001 to fully enjoy the Greatest Show on Turf, so the 2004 Colts were the team that opened my eyes to how great an offense can be. With their performance in this game, the 2004 Patriots opened my eyes to just how great a defense can be. This is the game that forever made me love defensive football. Losing in this game didn't hurt as a Colts fan. We were outclassed, outdone by a defense that wouldn't let their team lose (plus a running game that allowed the Pats to hold the ball for nearly 40 minutes). Manning played well, but his running game, run defense, and receivers let him down. Brady played well, but the true star was Corey Dillon. Brought to New England because he wanted a shot at even getting to the playoffs (something he never had done until then), Dillon ran for 144 yards and a game sealing TD. The game was actually close at halftime (6-3), and the turning point was when Tony Dungy punted on the Pats 49 on 4th and 1 on the Colts possession to start the second half. The Patriots went 87 yards for a TD (which took eight minutes off the clock), forced a quick punt, and then drove 94 yards for a TD (which took seven minutes), making the game 20-3. It was the most dominating 20 minute stretch in the Patriots dynasty, as they cooly finished off the team many predicted to upset the Patriots. The fans made the stadium into a winter wonderland, as for once, Gillette was rocking and ready to go. The stadium that is now notorious for it providing a lack of a home-field advantage was as loud as any. However, the most memorable image is Bill Belichick, right after the game ended, calmly dusting off his hands, telling evreryone "our work is done." There was no way the Colts were beating the Patriots that day.
1.) Vikings 34 Cowboys 3, 2009 NFC Divisional
The Cowboys were the hottest team in the NFL entering the divisional round of the playoffs. Sure, the Chargers had won eleven straight, but they rested their starters. The Cowboys had outscored their last three opponents 75-14. They had finally won a playoff game. They had the #2 offense in terms of yards. The Vikings were 12-4, and more importantly, were 8-0 in the Metrodome, but the team had to overcome the drama of a chilly relationship between Chilly and Favre at the end of the season, and a 3-3 finish. The game started with the Cowboys picking up yards, but in field goal range, Ray Edwards sacked Romo, who fumbled. The Vikings recovered. After trading punts, Brett Favre lofted a perfect pass to Sidney Rice, just past a Cowboys DB. The Vikings were up 7-0, and the game was already over. In one of the loudest stadiums, the Vikings faithful were louder than the Superdome crowd that would get all the love in the 2009 postseason. Tony Romo could do nothing against a pass rush that resembled the Giants in Super Bowl XLII. The main star was Ray Edwards, who sacked Romo three times, but Jared Allen chipped in with another, and the DTs shut down the Cowboys supposed three-headed monster and added a sack of their own. By the second half, the pressure from the d-line and the crowd had Romo ducking and flinching even before getting hit.
On the other side of the ball, the Vikings were on fire. Adrian Peterson was held in check. Sidney Rice, however, was not. The recipient of three touchdowns from Brett Favre, Sidney Rice ran through, over, around and past the Cowboys #2 ranked scoring defense. It was a sight to behold. Brett Favre added a 4th touchdown (a personal playoff record) late in the contest to make it 34-3, which was questioned as running it up the next day. It is the playoffs. There is no running it up there. The Vikings knew this and poured it on. In a game where despite having the superior record and being undefeated at home, the Vikings were only three point favorites and picked by many to lose (10 out of 12 ESPN experts picked the Vikings to go down), the Vikings were in complete control the whole time. Their defense kicked the crap out of the Cowboys in every way. The crowd was loving it, and so were the millions of Cowboys-Haters nationally. Just when people thought the Cowboys had changed, and that this year would be different, they were hammered in the most fun way possible. At least in 2010 they got creamed in the divisional round, and not Week 17 like the year earlier. It was Brett Favre's last amazing day, and boy was it amazing. With his performance, the crowd's noise, and the unrelenting pressure, there was no team in the NFL that could have gone into the Metrodome that day and hung close.
More Super Bowl stuff to come.
10.) Steelers 35 Chargers 24, 2008 AFC Divisional
This was both a game that was not as close as the score indicated (it was 28-10 midway through the 4th quarter), and was in the balance at the two minute warning in the first half (10-7 Chargers lead). However, what took place in between those two events, where the Steelers outscored the Chargers 21-0 and ended any hope of the Chargers miracle run from 4-8 to the Divisional Playoffs continuing, was pure awesome football. The Chargers held the ball for exactly one play in the 4th quarter. The Steelers took the opening kick of the second half and drove for a touchdown (to make it 21-10). Then, after a long Darren Sproles kick return, the Steelers intercepted Philip Rivers on his next pass. They then were forced to punt, and the punt hit Eric Weddle in the helmet, which the Steelers then recovered, and ran out the clock in the quarter all the way to the one yard line. After a nice goal line stand by the Chargers, Rivers was sacked and the Chargers had top punt back. The Steelers this time put the game away. In the part in between, the Steelers ran 39 plays to the Chargers 4. Gained 177 yards to the Chargers -2. It was domination, and allowed the Steelers to go from playing a close game against a hot team late in the first half to easing through part one of their road to the title in 2008. Ben Roethlisberger showed why he was up to that point, the king of the 2004 QB Draft Class.
9.) Falcons 47 Rams 17, 2004 NFC Divisional
Despite being a #2 seed, there was reason to be skeptical of the Falcons. They had only outscored their opponents by 3 points through the season (mainly due to two losses - 56-10 to the Chiefs and 27-0 to the Buccaneers), and had been outgained. Nevermind the fact that the Rams were worse in all those numbers, the Rams in a dome was still a scary proposition. After trading TDs on the teams opening drives, everyone thought they were in for a shootout. They were, but one team did all the shooting. The Falcons ran for 327 yards, which is by far the most by any team in the 2000s. It was all three members of their DVD running attack (Dunn, Vick and Duckett). Dunn ran for 162 and 2 tds. Vick (who was a steady 12-16 for 82 yards and 2 tds passing) ran 8 times for 119 more yards. TJ Duckett put up 66 yards of his own. The Falcons, though, didn't stop by just throwing and running for scores. Allen Rossum returned a punt for a TD, and the Falcons, who lead the NFL in sacks in 2004, sacked Bulger four times including once for a safety. When it was all said and done, the Falcons had scored the last 26 points in the game, and had delivered the final KO to the Rams "Greatest Show on Turf" era (they haven't been back to the playoffs since). It was Michael Vick's best day in a Falcons' uniform, and for one day, the Georgia Dome was the hottest place in the NFL.
8.) Steelers 27 Ravens 10, 2001 AFC Divisional
2001 was the forgotten year in the Steelers-Ravens rivalry. The Ravens were the defending champs, and the Steelers had missed the playoffs three straight years. Those things were not going to continue. After going 13-3, the Steelers had to face their rival for the third time. The Steelers had lost to the Ravens in Heinz Field earlier that year, but this was no repeat. In Heinz Field's first playoff game, the terrible towels waved like they had never waved before. The Steel Curtain would have been envious of the defensive stats the Steelers put up. They limited the Ravens to 150 yards and just 7 first downs. They sacked QB Elvis Grbac 4 times, picked him off 3 more times, and held the Ravens to 22 yards rushing. The Steelers moved the ball with ease against the Ravens defense, and controlled the game from start to finish. There was no doubt who the best defensive team in the AFC was in 2001. This would be the start of a decade-long rivalry, and although there were two more memorable meetings in the playoffs later in the decade, neither could match the pure intensity and domination of this one. The Steelers laid the hammer down with a ferociousness that would make Jack Lambert wet, and that is a hard thing to do.
7.) Broncos 27 Patriots 13, 2005 AFC Divisional
The Patriots entered the game a tidy 10-0 in the playoffs under Belichick and Brady. The Broncos entered the game having not won in the playoffs since John Elway capped off his career in Super Bowl XXXIII. However, these were the new Broncos. With the league's third ranked defense and seventh ranked offense (and second best rushing attack) the Broncos were balanced. More importantly, the Broncos matched up beautifully against the Patriots, having beaten them soundly earlier in the year. The game did not start out too well for the Broncos, as they were being outplayed through most of the first half, and were lucky to be down just 3-0. However, they forced back-to-back fumbles, turned them into 10 points, and went into halftime up 10-3. In the second half, the Broncos set the new Mile High on fire. In what was easily the loudest, most energized game in Invesco Field history, they Broncos battered Brady repeatedly in the second half, and the hits, while not turning into any sacks, made their mark. Brady, to avoid being hit, lofted a pass into the end zone on 3rd and goal (with the Broncos up just 10-6). Champ Bailey picked it off, raced 99 yards, and one play later, it was 17-6, and the invincibility of the Patriots was over. The Broncos finished if off by going up 24-6, and the Patriots continued to make every mistake possible in the raucous stadium. Adam Vinatieri missed a field goal. Troy Brown muffed a punt. Tom Brady looked confused and looked absolutely Favrian, flinging the ball around. John Lynch capped the win with a juggling interception of Brady. It was the perfect way to end the Patriots reign.
6.) Colts 20 Ravens 3, 2009 AFC Divisional
The Colts record after resting their starters before a bye was not good (they had won games previously after just resting starters without the bye). In 2005 and 2007, the Colts lost their divisional round game at home, and the odd year curse would surely reappear against a Ravens team that throttled the Pats 33-14 in Foxboro, wouldn't it? After driving 62 yards on their first drive, and tying the game at 3, the Ravens looked ready to make it three straight home losses after byes, or at least make it interesting. However, that would be the last time the Ravens would even enter the red zone. Against a defense that made Tom Brady look like Jeff George the week before, Manning was great, hitting receivers in ungodly small windows time and time again. He engineered a perfect two minute drive to make it 17-3 right before half. It was pointless, since the Colts only needed 6. The Colts defense held the Ravens to 84 yards on their next 8 possessions. They turned the Ravens over 4 times in the game, held Ray Rice in check and were able to eliminate any possibility of the Ravens coming remotely close to beating them. In the first playoff game in Lucas Oil Stadium, the fans didn't know if the Colts from 2005 and 2007 would arrive. Luckily for them, the Colts who went 14-0 in the 14 games they tried in that year arrived, and the Colts dominated a team that had come in on a tremendous high.
5.) Bears 39 Saints 14, 2006 NFC Championship
The Saints were the sentimental favorite. Forget 2009, these were the miracle Saints. In the first year back in New Orleans, with a rookie coach and a QB who had a torn rotator cuff and labrum coming into the season, and a team that finished the 2005 season 3-13, the Saints were able to run out to a first round bye. The Bears did start the season 7-0, and led the NFC wire-to-wire (winning it by 3 games), but they had Rex Grossman at QB. It was Rex Grossman against Drew Brees. Luckily for Grossman, however, he had a defense and a running game on his side, as well as perfectly wintry Chicago conditions and a jacked up crowd in soldier field. When the Bears forced fumbles on back to back drives early, it was already a sign that there was no way the Bears were actually going to lose this game. The game was basically over when the Bears ran it 8 straight times with Thomas Jones, gained 66 yards and scored a TD to make the game 16-0. Drew Brees did throw for gobs of yards, and the Saints would make it interesting, but his safety resulting from an intentional grounding in the end zone would ice it. The Bears would pour on points as the snow intensified (along with the crowd). The Bears ended the game scoring 23 unanswered, running for 196 yards, sacking Drew Brees 3 times and forcing four turnovers against the league's top ranked offense. It was clinical efficiency by the NFC's best defense, and as they proved, best team.
4.) Colts 41 Broncos 10, 2003 AFC Wild Card
In Week 16, in a game that mattered, the Broncos went into Indianapolis and pummeled the Colts 31-17, outgaining them 465-183, rushing 54 times for 227 yards. It was pure domination. Couple that with the fact that Manning was 0-3 in the playoffs and the outcome of the Wild Card game seemed pretty obvious. It wasn't close at all. It was a blowout of epic porportions, but just the opposite way of the one-sided affair three weeks earlier. Peyton Manning got the playoff monkey off his back. The Colts didn't punt. The Colts didn't come close to punting. They racked up 479 yards. Peyton Manning didn't only win a playoff game, but tied an NFL record with four TD passes in the first half. The RCA Dome was basically a party zone for four quarters, with the Colts up 31-3 at halftime. Brandon Stokley caught 4 balls for 144 yards and 2 tds. Marvin added 7 catches for 133 yards and two more tds. Despite the Broncos actually running the ball pretty well, the Colts defense added to the fun, sacking Plummer twice, picking him off two more times and giving the ball back to the Colts offense that was about as perfect as any offense could be. In fact, as far as Manning was concerned, they were perfect, as Manning tossed up the second perfect passer rating in playoff history with a tidy line of 22-26 for 377 yards and 5 tds (more tds than incompletions). It might not have been Steve Young getting the monkey off his back with 6 tds in the Super Bowl, but Peyton Manning was on top of the world, and the RCA Dome was witnessing offense better than it had ever been played.
3.) Seahawks 34 Panthers 14, 2005 NFC Championship
The Seahawks were criminally underrated, despite outscoring their opponents 452-271 and having the NFL's best offense. The Panthers were a tad overrated after their 29-21 win in Chicago the week earlier and the sickening brilliance of Steve Smith. That said, there is no better explanation as to the domination of this game more than Steve Smith. Smith had 22 catches for 302 yards and 3 tds in his first two playoff games in 2005. In the Title Game, he had 5 catches for 33 yards (with just one coming in the first half). The Seahawks employed a weird moving zone to stop Steve Smith, and with him eliminated, the Panthers could do nothing. The Seahawks shut down the Panthers, giving up one punt return for a TD and a garbage time td (when the score was 34-7). In the process they picked off Delhomme three times and limited the Panthers to 36 yards rushing on 12 carries. On offense, they were just as amazing. Hasselbeck was brilliant, going 20-28 with two tds. Shaun Alexander, against the 4th ranked rush defense, put up 132 yards and two tds. However, three things defined the domination the Seahawks laid on everyone's favorite underdog team. First, was Seneca Wallace's amazing over the shoulder catch on the Seahawks first TD drive. Next was Walter Jones blocking Mike Rucker about driving him about 20 yards downfield. Finally, was the Qwest Field crowd. For three straight hours, the place was as loud as the boeing factory about 40 miles away. That was the loudest crowd I have ever heard in an NFL game, and it seemed to impact both teams. The Panthers seemed star-struck and overwhelmed. The Seahawks played with a never-ending passion and in the end were able to hoist the Halas trophy in front of the loudest 12th man ever.
2.) Patriots 20 Colts 3, 2004 AFC Divisional
This one hurt. This game happened before I knew that offenses, no matter how great, how explosive, were stoppable. The 2004 Colts were the best offense I had seen in my life. I hadn't been cognizant of the NFL enough from 1999-2001 to fully enjoy the Greatest Show on Turf, so the 2004 Colts were the team that opened my eyes to how great an offense can be. With their performance in this game, the 2004 Patriots opened my eyes to just how great a defense can be. This is the game that forever made me love defensive football. Losing in this game didn't hurt as a Colts fan. We were outclassed, outdone by a defense that wouldn't let their team lose (plus a running game that allowed the Pats to hold the ball for nearly 40 minutes). Manning played well, but his running game, run defense, and receivers let him down. Brady played well, but the true star was Corey Dillon. Brought to New England because he wanted a shot at even getting to the playoffs (something he never had done until then), Dillon ran for 144 yards and a game sealing TD. The game was actually close at halftime (6-3), and the turning point was when Tony Dungy punted on the Pats 49 on 4th and 1 on the Colts possession to start the second half. The Patriots went 87 yards for a TD (which took eight minutes off the clock), forced a quick punt, and then drove 94 yards for a TD (which took seven minutes), making the game 20-3. It was the most dominating 20 minute stretch in the Patriots dynasty, as they cooly finished off the team many predicted to upset the Patriots. The fans made the stadium into a winter wonderland, as for once, Gillette was rocking and ready to go. The stadium that is now notorious for it providing a lack of a home-field advantage was as loud as any. However, the most memorable image is Bill Belichick, right after the game ended, calmly dusting off his hands, telling evreryone "our work is done." There was no way the Colts were beating the Patriots that day.
1.) Vikings 34 Cowboys 3, 2009 NFC Divisional
The Cowboys were the hottest team in the NFL entering the divisional round of the playoffs. Sure, the Chargers had won eleven straight, but they rested their starters. The Cowboys had outscored their last three opponents 75-14. They had finally won a playoff game. They had the #2 offense in terms of yards. The Vikings were 12-4, and more importantly, were 8-0 in the Metrodome, but the team had to overcome the drama of a chilly relationship between Chilly and Favre at the end of the season, and a 3-3 finish. The game started with the Cowboys picking up yards, but in field goal range, Ray Edwards sacked Romo, who fumbled. The Vikings recovered. After trading punts, Brett Favre lofted a perfect pass to Sidney Rice, just past a Cowboys DB. The Vikings were up 7-0, and the game was already over. In one of the loudest stadiums, the Vikings faithful were louder than the Superdome crowd that would get all the love in the 2009 postseason. Tony Romo could do nothing against a pass rush that resembled the Giants in Super Bowl XLII. The main star was Ray Edwards, who sacked Romo three times, but Jared Allen chipped in with another, and the DTs shut down the Cowboys supposed three-headed monster and added a sack of their own. By the second half, the pressure from the d-line and the crowd had Romo ducking and flinching even before getting hit.
On the other side of the ball, the Vikings were on fire. Adrian Peterson was held in check. Sidney Rice, however, was not. The recipient of three touchdowns from Brett Favre, Sidney Rice ran through, over, around and past the Cowboys #2 ranked scoring defense. It was a sight to behold. Brett Favre added a 4th touchdown (a personal playoff record) late in the contest to make it 34-3, which was questioned as running it up the next day. It is the playoffs. There is no running it up there. The Vikings knew this and poured it on. In a game where despite having the superior record and being undefeated at home, the Vikings were only three point favorites and picked by many to lose (10 out of 12 ESPN experts picked the Vikings to go down), the Vikings were in complete control the whole time. Their defense kicked the crap out of the Cowboys in every way. The crowd was loving it, and so were the millions of Cowboys-Haters nationally. Just when people thought the Cowboys had changed, and that this year would be different, they were hammered in the most fun way possible. At least in 2010 they got creamed in the divisional round, and not Week 17 like the year earlier. It was Brett Favre's last amazing day, and boy was it amazing. With his performance, the crowd's noise, and the unrelenting pressure, there was no team in the NFL that could have gone into the Metrodome that day and hung close.
More Super Bowl stuff to come.
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