Sporting Fools
Sporting Fools
Sporting Fools
Sporting Fools
The frequent and occasional humorous musings behind two of the World's greatest underappreciated sports minds.
Saturday, February 04, 2006
Super Bowl XL: 24+ Hours of Blog***This blog will be updated frequently until roughly 4 a.m. Sunday morning***
Ok, first things first, I'm just going to post links to interesting stories, random opinions and other fun things in this space. On Sunday I'm going to break this game down position-by-position and make my final pick.
8:38 p.m. Only three and a half more hours of work (Pittsburgh 28-21 right now).
My Favorite Super Bowl Story: Isaiah Kacyvenski, a man who grew up in an abusive household, has most recently learned to forgive his father, a former alcoholic who beat he and his siblings while abusing their mom.
During his senior year of high school his mom was killed in a car accident hours before his football playoff game (he played BTW) and despite living his life in poverty and abuse he kept his grades up long enough to earn an academic scholarship to Harvard and the rest is history.
Pretty inspiring....or at least I think it is. No offense to Jerome Bettis going home, but this is a story I would've loved someone, anyone of those ESPN talking heads to spend five minutes on [AP]
*****
7:37 p.m. I finally got a hold of a sheet of quotes from media day and I had to paste my two favorites.
First from Darrell Jackson: "People are expected to do X-Y-Z things," he said, "but I don't do X-Y-Z things. I'm Darrell Jackson, you know? I went to Florida. Nothing was ever given to me. I'm D-Jack."
Word D-Jack, I got love for you from the days of covering UF football....but what the hell are X-Y-Z things? Jeremy..wanna take a stab at this one?
Hines Ward: "Winning the Super Bowl would help me get solidified."
Huh? What could a trophy possibly do to you to get you soildified?
Forcing football players to talk seriously about such a silly event (in perspective of reality) is too easy to make fun of.
*****
7:15 p.m. Sorry for the delay (Seattle 23-20 BTW), but I had to watch FSU get fucked over by ACC officiating again and take a jog before coming into work. So I'm a little behind.
Let it Snow: Looks like an ol' winter storm will kick start the Super Bowl party tonight. [Free-Press]
According to the National Weather Service, snow is expected to begin falling in metro Detroit about 3 p.m. Saturday and continue through much of the night. The prediction also calls for temperatures to fall and winds to pick up.
Officials say they expect to have more than 400 people working to salt streets, clear roads and plow crosswalks. Among that number are some 200 volunteers from Wayne State University and 150 NFL contractors working to keep the area around the Motown Winter Blast clear of snow.
Seems a bit odd to have the "winter blast" clear of snow doesn't it?
Hall Has Moon, White, No Irvin: No real shockers in today's Hall of Fame announcements outside of Harry Carson, a most deserving inductee who told the Hall voters to fuck themselves after not getting in last year. I can't blame him. [Reuters]
Special props for John Madden, who beyond his work as an announcer is going to finally be remembered for being a GREAT football coach. He's done so much for this game and it's a crime it's taken this long to get him in. Thankfully Al Davis will be alive to see it (hopefully).
*****
11:02 a.m. -- After a solid 4 and a half hours of sleep I awoke in times to catch the NFL Films presentation of Super Bowl XIV (Rams-Steelers) on ESPN Classic's "40 hours of Super Bowl" which means there will be 20 hours of Super Bowl highlights not involving those cool NFL Films Super Bowl 30-minute packages.
Right now it's Seattle 20-17, but hell it'll change, it always does. But I know it's Super Bowl time because I watched the XIV highlight, it's a crucial must-see for me every year because it's the last Super Bowl I don't remember watching (I was three at the time) and the score for the films production is amazing, it hypes you up man....It's better than a Lil' Jon song. Not sure why that game compels me, I'm usually in denial that the Super Bowl actually existed before I was born, but my dad swears the game wasn't as close as NFL Films made it out to be.
He colud be right, especially considering the magic they did to spin the Jets' 1996 1-15 season into something inspiring.
More Useless Personal Info: I'm actually going to grab my breakfast (oatmeal, fresh fruit) and hit the bank before the FSU basketball game comes on (they are playing at Duke, it shouldn't take long). I'm also going to stop by Sports & Brems to see how they are holding up.
S&B is run by Jeremy and David, two State of Washingtonians who don't live in Washington. Jeremy is a journalism student in Arkansas I believe and David has went from Hawaii to Norfolk, making me think that Afghanistan might be his next posting site or he's pimpin' all over the world with LudaCris. Anyway they are good guys, nice guys who love their Seattle teams.
Jeremy takes these digs against the Seahawks real personal, not sure why, I hope he knows I'm doing it to make him get mad. I mean had I known they took it so personal, I'd have been railing on the Seahawks all year long! I feel cheated. Seriously I need to see what their plan of attack is for this game, I won't leave snide comments because it's rude to do that on other people's blogs. It's like walking into someone's house, laying on their couch and complaining about how uncomfortable it is.
Also I'll glance at the Super Bowl XV highlights, which are not at all exciting, but they feature Al Davis when he was a young 85.
*****
5:11 a.m. -- Just played a game of College Hoops and watched ShoBox on replay. I'm still feeling the Steelers, but the score is 24-17.
A Word on Windsor: Apparently Windsor, Canada is marketing itself as the "entertainment" town close to Detroit. Free of the Patriot Act and full of nudie bars and hedonistic pleasures.
This is liberal Canada, and, no, locals don't think the switch to a conservative government will change a thing. Legally if you want to parade down the main drag in Windsor topless, you're good. Does it happen?"Not in winter," says a Windsor cop.
Damn. [Seattle PI]
*****
3:07 a.m. -- Right now my pick is Steelers 27, Seahawks 20. I really feel like it's going to be a good game. I am dumping on Seattle quite a bit, but they are a good team. Are they AFC good? I don't know, but good is good. Plus there's always the possibility of Bill Cowher to mess things up.
Random Stupidity: Forbes Magazine says the more valuable team has won each Super Bowl since 1998. The Steelers are worth $820M and the Seahawks...$823M.
No Respect, Bah: 2 out of 3 people on the ESPNews panel picked Seattle, you know the team crying about its lack of respect from the media.
Cheap Plug: To my co-worker and all-around great guy Mike Cobb for his column on Joe Jurevicius and the relationship he has in his soul with his son Michael, who passed away after 10 weeks due to a severe birth disease. Jurevicius won the Super Bowl with the Buccaneers a few weeks before his son passed. [The Ledger]
Ok, first things first, I'm just going to post links to interesting stories, random opinions and other fun things in this space. On Sunday I'm going to break this game down position-by-position and make my final pick.
8:38 p.m. Only three and a half more hours of work (Pittsburgh 28-21 right now).
My Favorite Super Bowl Story: Isaiah Kacyvenski, a man who grew up in an abusive household, has most recently learned to forgive his father, a former alcoholic who beat he and his siblings while abusing their mom.
During his senior year of high school his mom was killed in a car accident hours before his football playoff game (he played BTW) and despite living his life in poverty and abuse he kept his grades up long enough to earn an academic scholarship to Harvard and the rest is history.
Pretty inspiring....or at least I think it is. No offense to Jerome Bettis going home, but this is a story I would've loved someone, anyone of those ESPN talking heads to spend five minutes on [AP]
*****
7:37 p.m. I finally got a hold of a sheet of quotes from media day and I had to paste my two favorites.
First from Darrell Jackson: "People are expected to do X-Y-Z things," he said, "but I don't do X-Y-Z things. I'm Darrell Jackson, you know? I went to Florida. Nothing was ever given to me. I'm D-Jack."
Word D-Jack, I got love for you from the days of covering UF football....but what the hell are X-Y-Z things? Jeremy..wanna take a stab at this one?
Hines Ward: "Winning the Super Bowl would help me get solidified."
Huh? What could a trophy possibly do to you to get you soildified?
Forcing football players to talk seriously about such a silly event (in perspective of reality) is too easy to make fun of.
*****
7:15 p.m. Sorry for the delay (Seattle 23-20 BTW), but I had to watch FSU get fucked over by ACC officiating again and take a jog before coming into work. So I'm a little behind.
Let it Snow: Looks like an ol' winter storm will kick start the Super Bowl party tonight. [Free-Press]
According to the National Weather Service, snow is expected to begin falling in metro Detroit about 3 p.m. Saturday and continue through much of the night. The prediction also calls for temperatures to fall and winds to pick up.
Officials say they expect to have more than 400 people working to salt streets, clear roads and plow crosswalks. Among that number are some 200 volunteers from Wayne State University and 150 NFL contractors working to keep the area around the Motown Winter Blast clear of snow.
Seems a bit odd to have the "winter blast" clear of snow doesn't it?
Hall Has Moon, White, No Irvin: No real shockers in today's Hall of Fame announcements outside of Harry Carson, a most deserving inductee who told the Hall voters to fuck themselves after not getting in last year. I can't blame him. [Reuters]
Special props for John Madden, who beyond his work as an announcer is going to finally be remembered for being a GREAT football coach. He's done so much for this game and it's a crime it's taken this long to get him in. Thankfully Al Davis will be alive to see it (hopefully).
*****
11:02 a.m. -- After a solid 4 and a half hours of sleep I awoke in times to catch the NFL Films presentation of Super Bowl XIV (Rams-Steelers) on ESPN Classic's "40 hours of Super Bowl" which means there will be 20 hours of Super Bowl highlights not involving those cool NFL Films Super Bowl 30-minute packages.
Right now it's Seattle 20-17, but hell it'll change, it always does. But I know it's Super Bowl time because I watched the XIV highlight, it's a crucial must-see for me every year because it's the last Super Bowl I don't remember watching (I was three at the time) and the score for the films production is amazing, it hypes you up man....It's better than a Lil' Jon song. Not sure why that game compels me, I'm usually in denial that the Super Bowl actually existed before I was born, but my dad swears the game wasn't as close as NFL Films made it out to be.
He colud be right, especially considering the magic they did to spin the Jets' 1996 1-15 season into something inspiring.
More Useless Personal Info: I'm actually going to grab my breakfast (oatmeal, fresh fruit) and hit the bank before the FSU basketball game comes on (they are playing at Duke, it shouldn't take long). I'm also going to stop by Sports & Brems to see how they are holding up.
S&B is run by Jeremy and David, two State of Washingtonians who don't live in Washington. Jeremy is a journalism student in Arkansas I believe and David has went from Hawaii to Norfolk, making me think that Afghanistan might be his next posting site or he's pimpin' all over the world with LudaCris. Anyway they are good guys, nice guys who love their Seattle teams.
Jeremy takes these digs against the Seahawks real personal, not sure why, I hope he knows I'm doing it to make him get mad. I mean had I known they took it so personal, I'd have been railing on the Seahawks all year long! I feel cheated. Seriously I need to see what their plan of attack is for this game, I won't leave snide comments because it's rude to do that on other people's blogs. It's like walking into someone's house, laying on their couch and complaining about how uncomfortable it is.
Also I'll glance at the Super Bowl XV highlights, which are not at all exciting, but they feature Al Davis when he was a young 85.
*****
5:11 a.m. -- Just played a game of College Hoops and watched ShoBox on replay. I'm still feeling the Steelers, but the score is 24-17.
A Word on Windsor: Apparently Windsor, Canada is marketing itself as the "entertainment" town close to Detroit. Free of the Patriot Act and full of nudie bars and hedonistic pleasures.
This is liberal Canada, and, no, locals don't think the switch to a conservative government will change a thing. Legally if you want to parade down the main drag in Windsor topless, you're good. Does it happen?"Not in winter," says a Windsor cop.
Damn. [Seattle PI]
*****
3:07 a.m. -- Right now my pick is Steelers 27, Seahawks 20. I really feel like it's going to be a good game. I am dumping on Seattle quite a bit, but they are a good team. Are they AFC good? I don't know, but good is good. Plus there's always the possibility of Bill Cowher to mess things up.
Random Stupidity: Forbes Magazine says the more valuable team has won each Super Bowl since 1998. The Steelers are worth $820M and the Seahawks...$823M.
No Respect, Bah: 2 out of 3 people on the ESPNews panel picked Seattle, you know the team crying about its lack of respect from the media.
Cheap Plug: To my co-worker and all-around great guy Mike Cobb for his column on Joe Jurevicius and the relationship he has in his soul with his son Michael, who passed away after 10 weeks due to a severe birth disease. Jurevicius won the Super Bowl with the Buccaneers a few weeks before his son passed. [The Ledger]
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
Super Bowl XL: The Opening ActThis my first post in preparation for XL. As you can tell I'm completely thrilled with this one so far. Both Pittsburgh and Seattle believe they are being disrespected, which is a first for the game. I mean surely SOMEONE has to be respected or maybe both teams are being respected and are just in denial about it.
The whole disrespect thing can only work in athletics. It doesn't even work in my industry at all. I couldn’t write a column about the editor or a fellow columnist disrespecting my skills. I couldn’t make myself into the underdog. Klosterman makes a similar point right here.
I have a weird feeling Cowher is going to fuck this up for the Steelers. Let's be honest, he’s a good coach in certain situations and this isn’t one of them. First of all his team is the favorite and given that the Detroit crowd will probably be around 75-25 in favor of the black and gold. It’s no secret that Cowher is 1-4 in AFC championship games at home and he desperately tried to lose the one he won. I have this feeling for two reasons:
1) He is completely bought into superstition by wearing white in the game which his team is the designated home team. It’s like he's trying to talk himself out of being the home coach. "I mean sure we have the majority of the fans and I could walk to Detroit from Pittsburgh, but hey we’re ROAD WARRIORS!".
2) He’s already trying to reduce media access to Ben Roethlisberger which will in turn make both player and coach uptight. My point on Cowher remains, he’s the sex panther cologne of coaches -- "he's good 50 percent of the time, every time".
And where is Seattle in this mess, oh yeah they are disrespected too because despite finishing 13-3 and winning the NFC Championship, people (where are these people by the way?) are saying they haven’t accomplished anything…and they are betting underdogs.
First point is correct, they haven’t accomplished anything, ok they won a conference title and got to the Super Bowl. Shoot the Chargers did that, with Stan Humphries at quarterback no less. Big fucking deal, win the game.
And don't try to act like football fans didn't want you to play in this game. Most fans, myself included, couldn’t give a shit about Seattle either way. Once the Jets were eliminated (back in week 1 for those of you who lost count), I just wanted to see good playoff football. The only team that America truly hated and didn’t want to see in the Super Bowl were the 3rd and 4th editions of the Buffalo Bills.
And even that might not get Seattle any respect, look at the '72 Dolphins. They didn't lose a game at all, won the AFC for the second consecutive year and would have shut out the Redskins if not for Garo Yepremian’s stupid ass. However, they also had the second easiest schedule in the league and a quarterback who couldn’t throw a pass for more than 20 yards. Ask 20 random fans who'd win a game between the '72 Dolphins and '89 49ers and 18 will say 49ers including myself.
It doesn't really matter if the game would be extremely close given the proper adjustments for weight and speed to make up the difference in time period, but the fact is people just liked the 49ers more. Joe Montana is a much cooler quarterback to like than Brian Griese. Ronnie Lott is a much cooler safety than Jake Scott. Fortunately no one's cooler than Yepremian.
If Seattle wins, they are the modern-day '72 Dolphins without the perfect record and shitty offense. They have a lot of the same components – strong running game, underrated defense, terrific offensive line, pathetic schedule.
So enjoy it while you can because if there is a god we'll have a nice sexy Super Bowl between the Colts and Cowboys. Until then both teams should quit whining.
And a side note to Jerome Bettis, no one believes you are 255 pounds, if you told me you were 355 pounds I wouldn’t believe that either. The same way I don't believe Kimo von Oeholffen's tackle of Carson Palmer was accidental. It was about as much of an accident as the Kennedy assassination.
So quit whining.
The whole disrespect thing can only work in athletics. It doesn't even work in my industry at all. I couldn’t write a column about the editor or a fellow columnist disrespecting my skills. I couldn’t make myself into the underdog. Klosterman makes a similar point right here.
I have a weird feeling Cowher is going to fuck this up for the Steelers. Let's be honest, he’s a good coach in certain situations and this isn’t one of them. First of all his team is the favorite and given that the Detroit crowd will probably be around 75-25 in favor of the black and gold. It’s no secret that Cowher is 1-4 in AFC championship games at home and he desperately tried to lose the one he won. I have this feeling for two reasons:
1) He is completely bought into superstition by wearing white in the game which his team is the designated home team. It’s like he's trying to talk himself out of being the home coach. "I mean sure we have the majority of the fans and I could walk to Detroit from Pittsburgh, but hey we’re ROAD WARRIORS!".
2) He’s already trying to reduce media access to Ben Roethlisberger which will in turn make both player and coach uptight. My point on Cowher remains, he’s the sex panther cologne of coaches -- "he's good 50 percent of the time, every time".
And where is Seattle in this mess, oh yeah they are disrespected too because despite finishing 13-3 and winning the NFC Championship, people (where are these people by the way?) are saying they haven’t accomplished anything…and they are betting underdogs.
First point is correct, they haven’t accomplished anything, ok they won a conference title and got to the Super Bowl. Shoot the Chargers did that, with Stan Humphries at quarterback no less. Big fucking deal, win the game.
And don't try to act like football fans didn't want you to play in this game. Most fans, myself included, couldn’t give a shit about Seattle either way. Once the Jets were eliminated (back in week 1 for those of you who lost count), I just wanted to see good playoff football. The only team that America truly hated and didn’t want to see in the Super Bowl were the 3rd and 4th editions of the Buffalo Bills.
And even that might not get Seattle any respect, look at the '72 Dolphins. They didn't lose a game at all, won the AFC for the second consecutive year and would have shut out the Redskins if not for Garo Yepremian’s stupid ass. However, they also had the second easiest schedule in the league and a quarterback who couldn’t throw a pass for more than 20 yards. Ask 20 random fans who'd win a game between the '72 Dolphins and '89 49ers and 18 will say 49ers including myself.
It doesn't really matter if the game would be extremely close given the proper adjustments for weight and speed to make up the difference in time period, but the fact is people just liked the 49ers more. Joe Montana is a much cooler quarterback to like than Brian Griese. Ronnie Lott is a much cooler safety than Jake Scott. Fortunately no one's cooler than Yepremian.
If Seattle wins, they are the modern-day '72 Dolphins without the perfect record and shitty offense. They have a lot of the same components – strong running game, underrated defense, terrific offensive line, pathetic schedule.
So enjoy it while you can because if there is a god we'll have a nice sexy Super Bowl between the Colts and Cowboys. Until then both teams should quit whining.
And a side note to Jerome Bettis, no one believes you are 255 pounds, if you told me you were 355 pounds I wouldn’t believe that either. The same way I don't believe Kimo von Oeholffen's tackle of Carson Palmer was accidental. It was about as much of an accident as the Kennedy assassination.
So quit whining.
