Sporting Fools
Sporting Fools
Sporting Fools
Sporting Fools
The frequent and occasional humorous musings behind two of the World's greatest underappreciated sports minds.
Monday, February 05, 2007
XLI: The Day After
It was a fun game. Mighty sloppy but still entertaining. I'm very happy for Coach Dungy and Peyton Manning. A well-earned Super Bowl trophy.
THE GOOD
-- My prop bets: I think I was around 16-5 on prop bets and cashed in nicely. The betting day started well for me when I hit a 3-to-1 bet on Hester scoring a touchdown. It only got better from there.
-- The Colts offensive line: Led by Jeff Saturday, the Colts offensive line walked the Bears "vaunted" front four like a dog and left them begging for food.
-- Joseph Addai/Dominick Rhodes: A ringing endorsement for the two-back system that fantasy football owners are disgusted by.
-- Bob Sanders: Some talking head described him as "the best pound-for-pound player in the NFL". Not sure why Sanders' ability is such a surprise. The kid was a baller at Iowa and even had a upper 90s rating on NCAA 2005, the second highest safety in the game behind Sean Taylor Miami S #26.
-- Katie Couric: I didn't watch much of pre-game, but my favorite evening news reporter looked good. She even had Shannon Sharpe gasping for something to say. Yeah I know she's 50. So what?
-- Prince: The halftime performance (along with the Florida A&M marching band) was terrific.
-- Tony Dungy: The perfect example of perseverence. The guy never complained when he was forced out of Tampa. He never asked anyone to cry for him. He handled numerous playoff defeats with a stoic class (as compared to jackass Bill Belichick) and his victory is one for the good people of the game who walk the talk.
THE BAD
-- Peyton Manning's Emotion: C'mon bro you just one the first champion of your underachieving football career, be happy. Or at least fake it for the media types like myself.
-- Billy Joel: Perfectly solid rendition of the national anthem but homeboy has aged about 95 years since 2000. He looks like he's been through a few wars.
-- The Bears "vaunted" defense: The Colts were roughly 24-of-25 on third-and-short situations and eventually the Colts' offensive line was abusing the Bears so bad that two of them were arrested for assualt following the game.
-- Chris Harris: Yeah, you might want to guard that Reggie Wayne guy...nevermind.
THE UGLY
-- Rex Grossman's second-half: He was perfectly fine for the first half and his numbers aren't too bad (20-of-28, 165, TD, 2 interceptions). The first interception was completely inexcusable as Grossman decided he was going to throw that pass regardless of coverage. It's a careless mistake you make in preseason, not the Super Bowl. The endless slipping, sliding and fumbled snaps are more of the 'Evil Rex' that the Bears have to control in the offseason.
-- Bears fans: Get off of Grossman. He took you to the Super Bowl which, in turn, is the only way Brian Griese will get there himself. He's a young quarterback and he's going to make young QB mistakes. Thankfully the Bears management crew isn't as impulsive.
-- The Weather: Doesn't rain in Miami all week, wouldn't stop raining on GameDay. I love outdoor Super Bowls but that sucks.
Now the season is over. But the draft is right around the corner and next week nothing will bring me more joy than watching Bill Belichick coach in the Pro Bowl. A concept I'm sure he hates.
Labels: Super Bowl XLI
Sunday, February 04, 2007
My XLI Prop BetsGrossman Completions Under 17.5
Grossman Interceptions Over 1.5
Brad Maynard Punt Over 53.5
Longest Reception to Berrian Over 22.5
Longest Reception to Muhammad Over 20.5
Rush & Rec. Yards by Jones Over 83.5
Rushing Yards by Benson Under 52.5
Solo Tackles by Urlacher Over 5
Rushing Yards by Grossman Under 1
Will Hester Score TD? Yes
Vinatieri Over 40-yard FG? Yes
Manning Completions Over 22.5
Longest Reception by Clark Over 19.5
Manning Passing Yards Over 269.5
Receiving Yards by Harrison Over 76.5
Receiving Yards by Wayne Under 75.5
Rush & Rec. Yards by Addai Over 80.5
Will Manning Throw Int? Yes
Addai's First Reception Over 6.5
1st Play From Scrimmage? Pass Play or Sack
Total Penalties? Under 11.5
Grossman Interceptions Over 1.5
Brad Maynard Punt Over 53.5
Longest Reception to Berrian Over 22.5
Longest Reception to Muhammad Over 20.5
Rush & Rec. Yards by Jones Over 83.5
Rushing Yards by Benson Under 52.5
Solo Tackles by Urlacher Over 5
Rushing Yards by Grossman Under 1
Will Hester Score TD? Yes
Vinatieri Over 40-yard FG? Yes
Manning Completions Over 22.5
Longest Reception by Clark Over 19.5
Manning Passing Yards Over 269.5
Receiving Yards by Harrison Over 76.5
Receiving Yards by Wayne Under 75.5
Rush & Rec. Yards by Addai Over 80.5
Will Manning Throw Int? Yes
Addai's First Reception Over 6.5
1st Play From Scrimmage? Pass Play or Sack
Total Penalties? Under 11.5
Labels: Gambling, Super Bowl XLI
The Super Bowl
It seems like just 13 days ago we were talking about this game and it's finally upon us. Bears or Colts, Bears or Colts, black coach or black coach, Volunteer or Gator, Brian Urlacher vs. Peyton Manning, Bob Sanders vs. Thomas Jones.
ESPN's uniform man breaks down the classic unis of both teams. Not surprisingly the Bears have a slight advantage because they have one of the best uniforms in all of sports. The Colts' uniforms are a beautiful mixture of modern and retro.
I want to go into a bit of the history of both teams.
The Bears are probably more of 'America's Team' than the Cowboys. The Bears better represent the majority of working class Americans. The harden navy blue uniforms, the salute to the past (The GSH permanent patch) and the hard-nosed history of greats like Gale Sayers, Walter Payton and of course Dick Butkus.
The franchise's high point had to come in 1985 when they shuffled their way to Super Bowl greatness, pounding the Patriots like the pathetic wild-card opponent they were and bitchslapping Tony Eason to the point of where he QUIT in the middle of the game. Way to hang in there Tony?
The Colts are also one of NFL's great franchises. Originating from Baltimore its safe to say that the 1958 Colts led by Johnny Unitas, Raymond Berry and Art Donovan is probably one of the top five pre-merger teams in history while the 1968 Colts were probably the most dominating Super Bowl runners-up ever.
The Baltimore/Indianapolis franchise has always been a bit underappreciated in my opinion. They were the signature franchise of possibly the greatest quarterback in NFL history and were probably the 3rd or 4th best team in the AFC in the 70s behind the Steelers, Dolphins and Raiders. The double overtime game against Oakland in the late 70s is still a classic. The Colts were also where coaching greats Don Shula and Weeb Eubank got their starts.
So who's my pick. That's easy. The Colts will win 30-20 and it'll be a very close game, probably coming down to no more than five plays. Will I be upset if the Bears win? Of course not. That's the beauty of this game, regardless of who wins, it will be a good thing.
ESPN's uniform man breaks down the classic unis of both teams. Not surprisingly the Bears have a slight advantage because they have one of the best uniforms in all of sports. The Colts' uniforms are a beautiful mixture of modern and retro.
I want to go into a bit of the history of both teams.
The Bears are probably more of 'America's Team' than the Cowboys. The Bears better represent the majority of working class Americans. The harden navy blue uniforms, the salute to the past (The GSH permanent patch) and the hard-nosed history of greats like Gale Sayers, Walter Payton and of course Dick Butkus.
The franchise's high point had to come in 1985 when they shuffled their way to Super Bowl greatness, pounding the Patriots like the pathetic wild-card opponent they were and bitchslapping Tony Eason to the point of where he QUIT in the middle of the game. Way to hang in there Tony?
The Colts are also one of NFL's great franchises. Originating from Baltimore its safe to say that the 1958 Colts led by Johnny Unitas, Raymond Berry and Art Donovan is probably one of the top five pre-merger teams in history while the 1968 Colts were probably the most dominating Super Bowl runners-up ever.
The Baltimore/Indianapolis franchise has always been a bit underappreciated in my opinion. They were the signature franchise of possibly the greatest quarterback in NFL history and were probably the 3rd or 4th best team in the AFC in the 70s behind the Steelers, Dolphins and Raiders. The double overtime game against Oakland in the late 70s is still a classic. The Colts were also where coaching greats Don Shula and Weeb Eubank got their starts.
So who's my pick. That's easy. The Colts will win 30-20 and it'll be a very close game, probably coming down to no more than five plays. Will I be upset if the Bears win? Of course not. That's the beauty of this game, regardless of who wins, it will be a good thing.
Labels: Super Bowl XLI
