Yes, I'm aware I picked the Colts to win, and frankly, I feel like I had sound logic to rely on, but alas, that is why they play the games. I don't know that I really have the energy to go into all of my thoughts on the game, but for now I'll give you some bullet points.
-- The Saints won the game when they went for it on fourth down in the first half and didn't get it. Sean Payton is a gambler, and that onside kick to start the second half, aside from being perhaps the game's most crucial play, was a pretty clear manifestation of that. But once he showed his team that he was willing to risk the game on them, it was a signal to the players that they were going to get it done. They clearly relished the risk.
-- Lance Moore will not be remembered as the key player of this game, but he made the play of the game when he contorted his body to stretch for the two-point conversation after New Orleans took the lead in the fourth quarter.
-- Dwight Freeney was effective early, but by the third quarter it was clear that his ankle was affecting him. My guess is he was on so many cortizone shots that he couldn't even feel anything below his knee. He may not be walking for a while.
-- Despite that late pick, Peyton Manning actually played an exceptional game. He was 31 of 45 for 333 yards a touchdown and an interception.
-- Jim Caldwell was overwhelmed by the moment, as shown by the fact that he didn't call time out before the Colts' fourth down in the final minute.
-- The Saints executed an excellent Gatorade Dump on Sean Payton, who thoroughly enjoyed the shower.
-- The Colts lost because they had never been in a close game this season. When it came to crunch time, they had no idea how to react.
-- Reggie Wayne absolutely should have had that catch in the end zone at the end of the game.
-- I said early in the game that if Joseph Addai won MVP I would eat my hat. I came dangerously close to it.
-- This afternoon's Capitals-Penguins game, which featured Washington winning its 14th in a row by rallying to win in overtime on the strength of a hat trick by Alex Ovechkin was a better game than the Super Bowl.
That's all I got. This wasn't the best Super Bowl I've ever seen, but it was a pretty good one. And it was far closer than the two-touchdowns New Orleans eventually won by. What made it even better was that I have a fridge heavily stocked with Leinenkugel's Sunset Wheat as a result.
Tomorrow it's off to Philadelphia for team No. 31, the Flyers. As a result, I may not get a chance to post a story because I will probably be in transit, but if that's the case, I'll be sure to have it up on Tuesday.
When I was younger football was my first love and Super Bowl Sunday was essentially the holiest holiday of my religion. Now Yom Kippur has stolen that mantel -- sort of -- but Super Bowl Sunday still has a special feel about it even though I now can viscerally remember watching the last 15 of them. The Super Bowl doesn't feel like quite the rare event it once did now that I'm older -- after all it does happen every year -- but I still can get into it, particularly since the last decade or so of games has for the most part been pretty good, and once in a while a fucking life fucking changing event.
Of course, the Giants can't get there every year, but even though my rooting interest is pretty minimal and based on the least stringent of standards this time around, I'm pretty excited for what should be a fairly entertaining game.
Now for those of you who know me, in addition to sports I also get irrationally interested in the Oscars despite the fact they're almost always wrong. Still, Newsweek had a fairly accurate example of how the Super Bowl would appear cinematically depending on the auteur earlier this week, and for film minors like myself, it makes an awful lot of sense.
Now, Quentin Tarantino will probably never be involved in the Super Bowl. I don't think we could handle the blood, but the game can still be an inspiration for the film industry, apparently, as ESPN Magazine recently reported that numerous Hollywood executives have approached recently retired and future Hall of Famer Kurt Warner about the film rights to his life story. Yes, his meteoric rise from NFL has-been to elite superstar quarterback is only beaten by his sudden rise from grocery store stockboy to the MVP of Super Bowl XXXIV as far as inspiration quotient, and indeed, it is a great story despite all the talk about Jesus. And there is a lot of it.
But tagging along with him the whole time has been his wife, Brenda Warner, who aside from making a noted physical shift between Kurt's championship with the Rams a decade ago and his third visit to the big game last season with Arizona, has been noted for being awfully outspoken. Well this week she made have topped herself when she told ESPN Magazine that she wanted to be involved in the casting for the film about her husband's life. And who does she want to play Kurt?
Denzel Washington.
There is a disconnect here.
I don't know that there is the potential for any sentimental Hollywood magic this year, though the rise of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina certainly has some cache, but as far as who will win, well, that's a trickier question.
Going into this game I think I would have joined the chorus that seems to believe Indianapolis is simply the better team, and for the most part, I think they're right. In fact, given that in all 16 games the Colts have actually attempted to win this year they have, I think this has been a remarkably underappreciated team. Were it not for the front office and the coaching staff pulling starters against the Jets in Week 15 we might be talking about the first 19-0 team in history today.
Still, the Saints have been an offensive juggernaut most of this year, and while I think Peyton Manning is the more precise surgeon under center, Drew Brees leads an attack that is so potent almost no defense can stop it when it's running on full cylinders.
So essentially, tonight's game, in my mind, comes down to the defenses, since both offenses clearly can score. The Saints' defense is not a particularly great one, but they are opportunistic, and Darren Sharper is as good a ball hawk as they come. New Orleans could easily steal a turnover or two to turn the tide. Indy's defense is better, but with Dwight Freeney hobbled by a fairly severe ankle injury, despite the Colts' insistence and stonewalling all week, I don't for a second believe he's really going to be healthy enough to be a factor.
Although, it should be noted, Freeney was seen driving a golf cart yesterday for some reason. Still with him being unable to walk comfortably at media day this week, I have a hard time imagining him really have the explosiveness off the edge he usually provides, and that may make it open season on the Colts' secondary. And that gives the Saints a chance.
Still, as I look these two teams, I can't help the feeling that Peyton Manning is the brightest mind to play quarterback, maybe ever. And because of that the Colts may be less exciting to watch, but they're just, well, better. The Saints will score, and they will make a game of it. But I just can't see them pulling it off.
I was planning on spending most of this entry talking about a number of different things, including the preview I wrote for tonight's Blackhawks-Coyotes game. But last night that became only the second-most important item of hockey news this week.
Yeah. I know.
Most of you don't watch or care about hockey, which, frankly, you should. But whether or not you watch it doesn't change the fact that the Devils acquired Ilya Kovalchuk for the stretch run last night. Any way you want to cut it, New Jersey, rather uncharacteristically, threw the power structure of the Eastern Conference completely out of whack last night. Washington and Pittsburgh still have to be considered the elite teams that a trip to the Stanley Cup Finals runs through, but the Devils have thrust themselves into that discussion.
Kovalchuk, who has scored 50 goals in a season twice, something no Devil has ever done, adds a dynamic force the likes of which New Jersey has never had on offense, and with him and Zach Parise winging on the top line, and the Devils featuring the eternal Martin Broduer in net, suddenly this team is a balanced force to be reckoned with.
And personally, this excites me tremendously because I will be seeing Kovalchuk's third game with New Jersey on Monday in Philadelphia, and lo and behold, the tickets to Team No. 31 have arrived.
I know, going to the most evil sports city in America wearing the other team's colors in a sport typified by bruising play and violence may seem even dumber than completely ruining one of America's most historically cherished and popular boardgames. And no one would be stupid enough to do that. But I hardly think I'll be putting my life in my hands, and now that the Devils have made a move to truly throw them into the Stanley Cup discussion, I'm even more excited to make the trip.
In other news, the NFL released the logo for Super Bowl XLV, to be held next year in North Texas. It's a little too monolithic for my taste, but I ought to get used to it because rumor has it every Super Bowl logo will look like this going forward, with the only changes being the number and the stadium in the background.
The Super Bowl will never be held in Green Bay, so they won't have to worry about putting Lambeau Field in the background, but you all might want to take a second glance at my story on the Packers, which I updated earlier this week after coming across photos I completely forgot I had taken. The words are all the same, but new pictures abound so go take a look.
Finally, on a personal note -- and not the kind of personal note that involves sending a giant talking sausage to show your love on Valentine's Day -- the destruction of Giants Stadium has begun, and while I don't have the same emotional connection to this building that I do for Shea Stadium, it is still a place I have made countless memories. The building will certainly be an upgrade, but seeing pictures of the Giants' home torn down is still another reminder that my childhood is now long gone.
It's a maudlin thing to watch, but we all move on. And on the plus side, I now have a new stadium to see this fall that won't require a particularly long trip. I only wish the Giants could have given it a more proper sendoff.
Super Bowl XLIV is but two days away. My incorrect prediction is coming. Until then, enjoy your Friday, everyone.
I've been doing some thinking in regards to how I want this structured and I think for the purpose of maintaining the longevity of this blog, I'm only going to update with stories on Monday. Don't worry, I'll ramble on all the other days of the week -- you know, the days you see I have a new post up and then find that it's just me blathering on about something pointless.
In any event, Monday seems like a good choice because the rest of you are at work and no doubt are looking for a distraction, so here I am. As for once a week, well, I think it's necessary to stretch these things out since there are 122 teams, which seems like a lot, but over the span of 30 years, well, it ain't.
In fact, I'm not sure how, exactly, this will continue in the long run, but if you all keep reading, well, I'll keep writing. If any of you have any good ideas about how I should publish stories or otherwise effectively use this space, by all means, send them along.
In other news, there's this "Super" Bowl game on Sunday that you might have heard about. I'll make my entirely worthless and ineffective prediction later this week, but I can tell you right now that I've already made up my mind as to who I'm pulling for. This was tricky for me since this is the first time in five years that I've actually been to both cities in the Super Bowl without living in one of them.
Saints fans have suffered for decades and it would be nice to see them finally reach the top of the mountain. On the other hand, there is something to be said for appreciating excellence, and the Colts have been one of the League's model franchises of the past decade, to say nothing of the familial connection between Colts quarterback Peyton Manning and his brother Eli, who calls the signals for my Giants. That said, this is how I broke it down:
In my family vacation to New Orleans in 2001, I had a fantastic duck dish at NOLA, the best omelette of my life at Brennan's, and a perfect filet mignon, garlic mashed potatoes, creme brulee and bread pudding at Commander's Palace, a restaurant where I also sat in a seat once used by Ronald Reagan.
When covering the 2006 Women's Big Ten Basketball tournament at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, I had mediocre nacho cheese dip with torn bits of tortilla in the media room.
I've got some exciting news for all of you, and no, it's not the Blackhawks-Sharks Preview I have up this morning.
Yes, that's right. The next step on the journey is officially scheduled for Feb. 8, 2010, when I and the painfully coerced Bert Wyman will drive down to Philadelphia to see the Flyers face off with the Devils at Wachovia Center.
The showdown will be the 31st different team I've seen play a home game and so I'm officially calling it the "Mike Piazza Game", though I'm not sure how comfortable I am associating a hero of my teenage years with Philadelphia. I'll find some way to manage.
It will be my first new team of the year, which is good progress since I'm trying to get to six or so new ones before 2011. Of course, that will all depend on how my schedule breaks down. 2010 is already looking like an awfully expensive and busy year.
Stay tuned, though, a full update and a story will be up.... eventually.
In other news, I think we're going to get a pretty strong indicator of just how powerful Sports Illustrated is soon. And by that I mean the New Orleans Saints officially have no chance of winning the Super Bowl. Yes, the SI Cover Jinx doesn't always come through, but after knocking off the two teams featured on regional covers on Championship Sunday, this irrational superstition looks like it's on a roll. Fortunately for Drew Brees and company, there is still another issue set to come out before Super Bowl XLIV kicks off. I would expect a lot of people in the Bayou to hope their native son, Peyton Manning, gets some cover love before the big game.
I think it's hard to be surprised by the fact that the Saints and Colts will be facing off in the Super Bowl. And no, that's not because both the Jets and Vikings were on the cover of Sports Illustrated in their respective regions this week -- though I wouldn't entirely discount that I suppose.
New Orleans and Indianapolis were simply the best teams in the league for most of the year, even if both slowed down near the end of the season. Regardless, I do have some sympathy for the Jets, who, after they had taken a 17-6 lead late in the first half, I really started to believe they were going to win the game. But in an eerie similarity to their last AFC Championship appearance in 1998, one big pass play by a future Hall of Fame quarterback turned the tide for good.
As for the NFC, this was a great game marred by a drawn-out, booth-review and penalty-flag filled overtime that was fairly unsatisfying. For me, however, the highlight -- beyond Brett Favre throwing another pick on a potential conference-winning drive -- was when Joe Buck pointed out that the Vikings hadn't won an NFC Championship Game since their last Super Bowl appearance.
Keen insight.
So who's going to win Super Bowl XLIV? Hell, I don't know. Give me 13 days to think about it.
In the meantime, I hope you all can stand the wait. I'll have a full-fledged story up for you all tomorrow.
Though it should be noted that Sports Illustrated released regional covers this week, the SI cover jinx is a long-known old wives tale, and as the Jets shoot for an unlikely berth in their first Super Bowl since the last days of the Johnson administration, this could factor into their heads. Well, actually, the likelihood of that is pretty slim. But either way, for a group of fans as anxious as Jets fans are, it was just about the worst thing they could have seen ahead of this week's AFC Championship Game at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
Just about.
At least that's what I thought until my buddy Bert, who had been trying to convince me to take a spur of the moment trip to Indy this Sunday, showed me an e-mail that was sent to him and, presumably, other Jets fans today containing the image to the right. Now depending on what you read both teams have done this, and yes they are actually selling this already, but how on Earth could any of them feel comfortable tempting fate this way?
I know I wouldn't.
This is just asking for trouble, and with the second-biggest game in franchise history fast approaching, I think most Jets fans wish the NFL Shop could show a little less hubris. If Rex Ryan and company can't knock off the Colts on Sunday, I think they know where to place the blame.
I guess what we can assume from this is the Colts and Saints will probably be facing off in Miami on Feb. 7th.
