I've written some notes on the Super Bowl, which was played Sunday in Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis. They're some personal observations of things that interested me. Those of you who want more information, including a story with more details about the game, can check the Internet.
ONE
The New York Giants won the Super Bowl 21-17 over the New England Patriots. Giants quarterback Eli Manning, seen in the picture above, lead a fourth-quarter comeback and running back Ahmad Bradshaw scored the go-ahead touchdown with 57 seconds left in the game.
The Giants had beaten the Patriots 17-14 in the 1998 Super Bowl, thereby denying New England a perfect season.
Manning was the game's most valuable player. He had 20 completions of 40 passes for 296 yards and a touchdown. He also was the most valuable player in the 1998 Super Bowl.
TWO
From what I heard, people who visited Indy for the Super Bowl were very pleased with the layout of the venues. All close together and stuff. Because of that, I bet that Indy will host another Super Bowl within the next 10 years, if not before 2020.
For your information, the next three Super Bowls and their sites are: New Orleans, 2013; New York, 2014; and Phoenix 2015. Nothing else has been set after that.
THREE
Weather helped a lot. The week before the game, it seemed a lot more like early spring than midwinter. Last week, temperatures were often in the high 50s and not much rain fell.
(UPDATE, FEB. 11: About half an inch of snow fell the night before. Strong, cold winds were blowing. The high temperatures were in the lower 20s. I must admit: As for the weather, the Indianapolis area was lucky.)
Also, during the last two to three months, several manhole covers in several downtown Indy streets blew off. Luckily, none did the week before the Super Bowl and the day it was played.
FOUR
The people in the Indianapolis area were predominately cheering for the Giants, because Eli Manning is the younger brother of Colts quarterback Peyton Manning. It also cheered against the Patriots who had a strong rivalry with the Colts for the last decade.
FIVE
There was a slight controversy after the game. Gisele Bundchen is a Brazilian supermodel and the wife of Patriots quarterback Tom Brady.
After the game, a Giants fan yelled at her, "Eli owns your husband!" She was caught on video saying to a friend, "My husband cannot fucking throw the ball and catch the ball (at) the same time. I can't believe they (Patriot receivers) dropped the ball so many times."
I must give her credit for standing up for her man. But, on the other hand, she doesn't seem to be very bright or deep. I once read at my local library a cover story about her in Vanity Fair magazine. The author had to pad it to make her interesting.
SIX
I watched the game through the end of the third quarter, when the Patriots were ahead 17-15. I was getting tired and didn't want another cup of coffee. Plus I wasn't strongly emotionally invested in either team; I could wait until Monday morning to see the results.
I also was watching the game through a stream at NBCSports.com. However, it was sluggish and got stuck too many times.
I've had problems with viewing videos since I've been hooked up to the internet at my new apartment. I plan to check on how to speed it up.
SEVEN
I also bought a six-pace of beer Saturday,because Indiana doesn't have any retails sales of alcohol on Sundays. However, I didn't even drink one of them.
The Green Bay Packers won their fourth Super Bowl Sunday night in Texas as they defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers 31-25.
I've found, when I surfed the internet today, that this story at slate.com is a very good combination of review and commentary about the game. To read it, please click here.
I guess the halftime show, featuring the Black Eyed Peas, was abominable. If so, less said better. No more about it.
Also, more than 111 million Americans watched at least part of the game. That sets a record. The old one was about 106 million, set last year.
One last thing...
Today's Indianapolis Star said it would be 363 days until Super Bowl 46 (I'll be damned if I use Roman numerals for them).
Indianapolis is scheduled to host the game if the NFL players and owners agree to a new collective bargaining agreement . The current one is set to expire March 4.
If:
- All sides get to an agreement;
- There is no lockout;
- There will be a regular season during 2011;
- And the Super Bowl will be played;
Then I must prepare myself to be psychologically assaulted by boosterism from many...too many...of the locals.
I must make sure my mind will not be butthurt.
The line of appearances, that is.
Sometime between 6 and 6:30 tonight, the Super Bowl will kick off. About four hours later, there will be a National Football League champion.
Representing the National Football Conference is the Green Bay Packers. Representing the American Football Conference is the Pittsburgh Steelers.
As for news and comments about the Super Bowl, please look for it elsewhere. There's a lot of it on the Internet.
Instead, I want to iemphasize this fact: The AFC has been represented in three teams for eight straight years and nine of the last ten. Besides the Steelers, the others are the Indianapolis Colts, my home team, and the New England Patriots.
This is no coincidence. They are among the bestrun franchises in the league because the owners -- the Rooney family of the Steelers, Jim Irsay of the Colts, and Robert Kraft of the Patriots -- hire the best people they can for personnel and coaching.
AND THEN STAY THE HELL OUT OF THEIR WAY.
That's worth repeating.
AND THEY STAY THE HELL OUT OF THEIR WAY.
This is opposed to two types of owners of NFL franchises:
- Those who interfere to the point of micromanagement. Among them are Jerry Jones of the Dallas Cowboys, Al Davis of the Oakland Raiders and Dan Snyder of the Washington Redskins.
- Those who don't seem to care. Those include the Bidwell family of the Arizona Cardinals and the Brown family of the Cincinnati Bengals.
The Steelers have been among the premier franchises since Dan Rooney took over the franchise in the 1970s and moved it out of the Cardinals/Bengals situation. During that decade, they won four Super Bowls.
This is relatively new territory for the Indianapolis and New England but their glory days started when Kraft bought the Patriots in 1994 and Irsay took over the Colts from his father in 1997.
As for which team I favor, I won't mind if either of them wins. A sentimental favorite among many seems to be the Packers.
However, I'll be listening to the game on the radio. My television set went on the fritz and I can't get it fixed until later this week.
I had planned to rent a room in a nearby motel and watch the game there, but bad weather has come across central Indiana during the last week. Heavy snows and freezing rain have fallen, and they have made traveling a little too tricky for me.
I remember that the Super Bowl is only a game. That's why I'm not going to a motel to watch it. If I fall asleep during it and miss a great deal of it, I can find out the results by going on the internet.
I hope you remember that it's only a game, too.
Well, they halfway lucked into it and halfway played into it.
The Indianapolis Colts, my hometown team, will play the New York Jets Saturday night in the first round of the NFL's playoffs to see who goes to the Super Bowl.
They backed into the playoffs when the Jacksonville Jaguars, their biggest divisional rival, lost 34-17 to the Houston Texans. They played into it by defeating the Tennessee Titans 23-20 on an Adam Vinatieri field goal with no time left on the game clock.
I'm a little surprised that the Colts made the playoffs. They had suffered a boatload of injuries during the season; 17 players were on the injured reserve list.
And back on December 5, they stood 6-6 after a 38-35 loss to the Dallas Cowboys.
But they won four straight, including a 34-24 victory over the Jaguars. It was needed because the Jaguars beat them 31-28 earlier in the season. They also had two wins over the Titans.
As for Saturday night's game, I won't be surprised if the Jets win. They have the better team this season. Also, the Colts won -- as well as lost -- a lot of close games this year.
But I also won't be surprised if the Colts win it. Peyton Manning can pull something or anything out of his pocket to make sure of a victory.
But if they do win, they must go to Pittsburgh to play the Steelers on Jan. 15.
At the least, the Colts made it into the playoffs. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and New York Giants both had 10-6 records -- the same as the Colts, by the way -- but won't be in the playoffs because the Seattle Seahawks won the NFC West title -- with a 7-9 record. And division winners, no matter how bad they are, get into the playoffs.
Halfway through the 2010 season. I wanted to wait until every team has played at least eight games -- half of the regular 16-game schedule.
The hometown Indianapolis Colts are 5-3 and coming off a 26-24 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. Coming up are the Cincinnati Bengals Sunday in Indianapolis.
Up to 23 Colts have missed a total of 63 games because of injuries. Four of them -- strong safeties Melvin Bullitt and Bob Sanders, tight end Dallas Clark, and wide receiver Anthony Gonzales -- are out for the season. Running back Joseph Addai, linebacker Clint Sessions and Gary Brackett, and cornerback Jarraud Powers have missed a total of eight games.
All of the above named are big contributors to the team.
Wide receiver and problem child Terrell Owens has found a home with the Bengals and could give the Colts' defense problems.
After the Bengals, the Colts play their biggest nemesis -- The New England Patriots -- a week from Sunday in Foxboro, Mass. After that come the San Diego Chargers and a resurgent Oakland Raiders along with a rematch with division rivals the Jacksonville Jaguars and two games against the Tennessee Titans.
With this before them, though, the Colts should -- I repeat, should -- qualify for the layoffs. But don't be surprised if they miss them.
Of course, if Peyton Manning is injured and out for the season, the whole thing is kaput.
At least the Colts don't have the soap opera-like problems of the Minnesota Vikings and the Dallas Cowboys.
The Vikings had to go to Mississippi to cajole quarterback Brett Favre to return. They are now 3-5 and he has not looked good at times. But last week he led the Vikings to a 27-24 comeback victory over the Arizona Cardinals. If they had lost the game, they would've been 2-6 and head coach Brad Childress might have been fired.
It's been said that the players have little respect for their head coach, especially Favre, who calls most of his own plays against Childress' advice.
And Randy Moss, another wide receiver and problem child, was with the team for only four games. He was traded from the Patriots in October but was traded two weeks ago to the Tennessee. This gives Titans Titans Vince Young a long threat, which is something the team has lacked and something for the Colts to be concerned with.
The Cowboys were favored by some before the start of the season to play in the Super Bowl. However they're 1-7 and lost last Sunday night 41-7 to the New York Giants on national television. Some said the team had quit during that game. This record and the lack of effort led to the dismissal of head coach Wade Phillips and the elevation of offensive co-ordinator Jason Garrett to lead the team.
I'm sure this pains Cowboys owner/chief narcissist Jerry Jones because the Super Bowl will be played in Dallas' new billion-dollar stadium.
Western Michigan? Tulsa?
Notre Dame football fans, I tell you this: You ought to be ashamed of yourselves. These two teams are NOT great tests on the gridiron.
You ought to face this fact: the Fighting Irish are no longer a national football powerhouse and hasn't been one for the last few years. I don't know exactly why that happened, but one reason, I believe, is that it can no longer get premier players because of its strict academic requirements.
(It's not because football players are by nature stupid. But if you had a choice of spending most of your time practicing and playing football, as the professionals do, or dividing your time between going to classes and studying or football, the ones focused on football will have the advantage.
( I'm looking at you, Southeastern Conference schools. All of you, except for Vanderbilt, are not know for your academics. You continue and perpetuate the idea that in the South, "book larnin'" is for sissies and faggots.)
Notre Dame's record so far this season is 4-5. It lost -- yes, lost -- to Tulsa 28-27 last Saturday. It lost to Navy for the second straight year after a decades-long record of beating the Middies and also to a Michigan team that is down this season.
The Irish will now rest and recuperate until their next game November 13 against...Utah. Good luck , Irish. And after I wrote that sentence, I was surprised that I wished them good luck against Utah.
But Notre Dame fans still continue and want to think the Irish are a national powerhouse, and run off/fire any coach who doesn't get them a national title, let alone a Top Ten standing.
Face it: Your team is like Army and Navy. They're in Division I, the big boy category in college football, because of tradition. They ought to be in Division I-A.
They have faded, just like Ivy League football faded when the Big Ten came to prominence, and the Big Ten faded (for a while, though) when the SEC and the Pac-8 (now Pac-10) came into prominence.
As for the whole scene around the team, I have mixed feelings. Notre Dame football is like Jesus; the two of them are good in and of and by themselves, but some of their fans are among the biggest assholes you will ever meet.
That's especially noticeable for some Irish fans in the Indianapolis area. They react to critics and criticisms of the football team as if they're anti-Catholic.
There was the South Bend radio fool who said God gave Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio a heart attack for cheating against Notre Dame. If you want more details, click here for the details.
This is the kind of ignorant foolishness that some Irish fans would've believed back in the 1950s and early 1960s. I think he was kidding, but some people might've thought he wasn't.
(Michigan State, by the way, defeated Notre Dame 34-31 in overtime on Sept. 18.)
That outlook has much to do with the provincial and inward mentality -- parochial, in other words -- of midwestern Catholics. Surrounded by Protestants/heretics/non believers, they turn inward in fear of persecution or corruption by these influences outside their church.
I remind you that 50 years ago, when John Kennedy ran against Richard Nixon for president, many people wondered if Kennedy's loyalties would to be toward the United States or the Vatican. And 90 years ago, when the Ku Klux Klan dominated state politics, the Klan was known to be anti-Catholic, besides being anti-semitic and anti-black.
Notre Dame, although you lost to Tulsa, you might -- might -- go to a bowl. It won't be one of the big bowls, though, and you probably won't be going to any big bowls in the future.
NOTE: This is a post updated from one I wrote October 26. A few additions were needed to make it more relevant.
Since the National Football League is starting its full schedule -- Thursday's game between the Green Bay Packers and the New Orleans Saints was no more than an appetizer, compared to the full feast of games today -- many of the play-by-play announcers will be promoting their networks' shows.
Especially the bad ones.
I can imagine announcers like Joe Buck and Jim Nantz -- whose sense of selfimportance sprays right out of your televison set into your living room -- saying:
It's A. as Average Joe/Fat Schlub and and B. His Hot Wife and C as their Goofy/Annoying Neighbor in Generic Sitcom Title -- Tuesdays at 8, on CBS (or Fox).
As they say those words, I'm sure they think to themselves:
Oh God, take me now. It's bad enough that I have to waste time talking about a decent show during the broadcast. But promoting a bad one ... ?
And when I imagine them saying one thing about these shows and thinking a very different thing about them, I have a large case of schadenfreude.
Football season starts tonight. The high schools in central Indiana will have their first games of the season. College football will start in early September. Meanwhile the Colts have played two preseason games and will start the season in the middle of September.
I enjoy football the most of all spectator sports. But during the last few years, I began to have misgivings about it. And they have grown.
Football is the second most violent sport; boxing ranks below it. And with the speed and size and equipment used in the game, it's a miracle that no one has died during a game.
I repeat: During a game. But afterward, though ...
I read a story earlier this week in Deadspin.com, a sports website. It shows a connection between concussions that players have suffered during the game with ALS or ALS-like symptoms they suffer later in their lives. If you want to read the story, please click here.
After I read it, I began to have more than second or third or fourth thoughts about my love and support of football.
I also note this: Chris Henry was a wide receiver for Tennessee Titans. He died last year of injuries he suffered when he fell off a moving truck . His autopsy showed that he had suffered brain damage unrelated to the fall. And he was in his middle 20s.
I know that if I watch fewer games this season, that would stop such injuries; they injuries would come anyway. But still ... sometimes I don't want to give any kind of support or approval to a potentially deadly game.
I wrote this back in November 1993, after the Cleveland Browns released Bernie Kosar. He was the starting quarterback and, if I remember correctly, the most popular Brown since Jim Brown.
He and Bill Bellichek, then the Browns' head coach, were at odds. Bellichek wanted to control the offense, while Kosar wanted to do it.
I noted that as the death of individualism in professional football, and predicted that it would fade as a spectator sport because machine precision and violence would dominate the game.
Now 16 plus years later, the NFL is bigger than ever.
I liked the sport then and still do, mostly because I love to watch the patterns happen on the field during an individual play. Also, one of my dreams was to be a great halfback. But that never happened. I don't regret it, at least consciously. Whether I have a small regret unconsciously about it, I don't know. At least it doesn't break through to my consciousness.
A month later, I wrote this in my journal:
Pro football is not a microcosm of life any more than it's a symbol of war or peace or your Aunt Fannie's Pekinese pup. There are poetic types who can find a microcosm of life in a slice of cheese on a china plate, and if that helps them get through the day,l more power to them. But pro football is pro football and life is whatever the hell it is.
It's by Bob Carroll, from his book When the Grass Was Real: A History of the NFL and AFL.
I've updated my post on the Super Bowl. I've intermingled the new additions with the old ones.
If you want to read the revised post, please click here.
Here are some notes I want to post about yesterday's Super Bowl. If you want more complete reports, please read a newspaper, surf the net, or check the various broadcast media.
*
First, congratulations go to the New Orleans Saints for defeating the Indianapolis Colts 31-17.
The game definitely turned for the Saints when they recovered an onside kick to start the second half.
At the time, the Colts lead 10-6, but six plays after New Orleans recovered the ball, Saints quarterback Drew Brees hit running back Pierre Thomas for a 16-yard touchdown pass. That gave New Orleans a 13-10 lead and a momentum they kept throughout the rest of the game.If the Colts had recovered the kick and scored on that possession, they would've taken a 17-6 lead and probably would've won the game.
The kick was surprising and took guts to do. All praise must go to Saints head coach Sean Peyton for doing that. *Brees won the Most Valuable Player award for the game. He went 32 of 39 in passing for 288 yards and two touchdowns.
But I give the MVP award to the Saints' defense as a unit. It stymied the Colts' offense during the second half so much that Colts quarterback Peyton Manning never got his offense going.
Also, defensive back Tracy Porter returned an intercepted pass 74 years for a touchdown with 3:12 left in the game. That put the game out of reach of the Colts.
(Porter, by the way, went to Indiana University -- my alma mater.)
*
I had read and heard that the Saints played to win, while the Colts played not to lose.
If so, that's a big difference in approaches and mentalities.
It reminded me of the Notre Dame-Michigan State football game in 1966, when both teams were ranked high. Notre Dame kicked a field goal to tie the game 10-10, which was the final score.
And a local sports columnist started his colum about the game with this quote:
"Tie one for the Gipper."
*
The Super Bowl had anywhere between 106.5 million and 116.2 million viewers. If you wonder about the discrepancy, I can't find an accurate figure.
Whatever the exact figure is, it will be more than the 105.9 million viewers who watched the series finale of M*A*S*H in 1983.
(By the way, the United States has a population of 300 million plus. I wonder what the other people were watching or doing.)
*
I'm neither angry nor sad about the results. I follow the Colts, but I don't call myself a fan because fan is short for fanatic, and sure isn't me.
The results were a little disappointing, true,. But I remember a 9-6 loss to the Buffalo Bills in October 1997; the team has come a long way from that embarrassment.
*
Some Colts fans, I hear, said the second-half onside kick wasn't gentlemanly.I must remind them that it was a football game, not a golf match. Golf has as unwritten etiquette, such as players calling themselves on bad shots.Football is the third most violent sport I know. It's just above boxing and mixed martial arts.Besides, all's fair in love and war. Sports is very often compared to war. Football is the sport most like war.* I heard too, too many Colts fans piss, bitch and moan about the loss. No doubt it fed their feelings of persecution and inferiority, which can get thick around here.
Ah, yes -- worrying about what other people think. Such provincials -- or, more strongly, hicks.
They especially mentioned folks on the East Coast and what they thought.
But something tells me that a lot of folks in, say, New York or Boston go around wondering, "Hey -- I hope Indianapolis residents don't think badly of me."
*
I didn't watch the halftime show, which featured the classic rock band The Who. It was an important band in my youth and their work meant a lot -- especially the album Who's Next.
But when I glanced at the TV set and saw Roger Daltry's father and Elvis Costello's grandfather performing ... I just couldn't watch any more of it.
*
The picture at the top of this post was taken by a photographer for Associated Press and downloaded from the net. The child is Brees' son, Baylin.
Here are a few things I'll note about the recent NFL season, which will end Sunday with the Super Bowl.
*
The Indianapolis Colts, my hometown team, will play the New Orleans Saints Sunday evening in Miami. They are favored by 5 points as of the odds posted this morning.
After the Colts beat the New York Jets 30-17 in the AFC championship game, I didn't hear or read much complaining around here about their 27-12 loss to the Jets on Dec. 17, which ended their chances for an undefeated season.
But if they had lost in the playoffs, the noise would've been loud and long.
*
I knew that Peyton Manning, the Colts' quarterback, was very, very good. But this year I realized that he is brilliant.
The Colts have a terrible running game and new receivers. But they have a 16-2 record because of his efforts.
He definitely deserved the MVP award, which ought to be called Player Of The Year.
*
Outside the Indianapolis area, it seems the rest of the world will be cheering for the Saints to win because they seem to have broken through to excellence after many seasons of mediocrity.
Now some people cheer for a team. I wonder how many cheer against it. Colts fans cheer against the New England Patriots because of the recent history between the two teams.
Now I respect the Patriots' performance during the 2000s, so I don't cheer against them.
But I'm no better in some ways. I cheer against the Dallas Cowboys. It goes back to the 1970s, when they were called "America's Team" and the authoritarian Tom Landry was coaching them and the authoritarian Roger Staubach was their quarterback.
*
If I had credentials for Media Day, I would've talked with the offensive linemen of both teams. They rarely get attention, unless they let a quarterback get sacked.
They also are said to be, as a group, the most thoughtful, if not smartest, members of their teams.
And by the way ... offensive tackle is a misnomer. They don't tackle anyone.
*
The Who will be playing at halftime. I'm no nationalist, but I'd rather see an American band play, because our football is a sport usually confined to the United States. What the English call football, Americans call soccer.
*
I hope Brett Favre retires and takes his ego with him.
Here's how he ended his last three seasons:
- In 2010, as a quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings, he threw an interception against the Saints near the end of regulation in the NFC title game;
- In 2009, as a quarterback for the Jets, he threw an interception in the fourth quarter of the last game of the regular season with the playoffs on the line for the team;
- In 2008, as a quarterback for the Green Bay Packers, he threwan interception in overtime against the New York Giants in the NFC title game.
Combine those incidents with his to-play-or-not-to-play Hamlet-like attitude about the end of his career. I won't go into the details now; check the Internet for them. But I believe they're connected by his egotism.
*
One quarterback who is retiring is Kurt Warner, who last played for the Arizona Cardinals.
I found it interesting that he wore number 13 on his jersey. He's a devout Christian, and 13 is an unlucky number in Western civilization because that was the number of men at the Last Supper.
*
I'll be watching the Super Bowl and will cheer for the Colts. I could post about it, but I'll see.
*
Here are the scores of three games during the last weekend of the regular season:
- Dallas 24, Philadelphia Eagles 7;
- Jets, 37, Cincinnati Bengals 7;
- Packers 33, Cardinals 7.
By coincidence, these six teams played each other again during the first week of the playoffs. The scores were:
- Jets 24, Bengals 14;
- Cowboys 34, Eagles 14;
- Cardinals 51, Packers 45 (in overtime).
the winning touchdown
well, it wasn't.
santonio holmes, a wide receiver for the pittsburgh steelers, caught a 6-yard touchdown pass from ben roethlisberger in the corner of the end zone with 35 seconds left to play. that touchdown gave the steelers a 27-23 win over the arizona cardinals.
but it wasn't easy.
three cardinal defensive players surrounded holmes as he grabbed the pass. then he made sure both feet -- or at least the tiptoes of both feet -- were in bounds after he caught the ball. (for the record, a receiver must catch the ball with both feet in bounds for a complete pass in professional football.)
holmes' touchdown came after kurt warner threw a 64-yard touchdown pass to larry fitzgerald with 2:37 left to play. it gave arizona a 23-20 lead: its first of the game.
the cardinals were down 20-7 deficit at the end of the third quarter, but scored two touchdowns -- both of them warner passes to fitzgerald -- and a safety to make the game close, and therefore interesting.
for a change, the game was exciting. but it wasn't the best super bowl played. it was sloppy because many penalties. arizona had 11 of them for 106 yards while pittsburgh had 7 of them for 56 yards.
while holmes won the super bowl's most valuable player award -- he caught nine passes for 134 yards and the touchdown -- i believe he should've shared it with roethlisberger, who went 21-30 in passing and had 256 yards. that includes the touchdown to holmes. no roethlisberger pass, no holmes touchdown for the win.
run, harrison, run!
the most spectacular play came at the end of the second quarter. the cardinals were inside pittsburgh's 5-yard line when steeler linebacker james harrison -- by the way, no relation -- interecepted a warner pass and ran it back 100 yards for a touchdown as time expired. that put pittsburgh up 17-7 instead of a possible deficit of 14-10 to the cardinals if arizona had scored.
harrison's run was the longest single play in super bowl history.
for the last 5 to 10 yards, i could tell harrison was running out of gas.he practically stumbled into the end zone. and as he was going there i got a chuckle, because it's always entertaining to see big men run in the open field.
the victory of pittsburgh's sixth in the superbowl, which sets a record. it had been tied with the dallas cowboys and san francisco 49ers with five super bowl wins each.
and it was nice to see joe namath, of whom i've written before in this blog, brought the vince lombardi trophy to the victory stand after the game.
so ends the2008 serason of trhe national football league. in six months, though, training camps will open for all 32 teams. then they will start playing exhibition games. that will lead to the 2009 national football season.
and as i review this blog, football has been the only sport that i've written about.
so it goes. football is my favorite spectator sports. but i probably will write about other sports as the spirit moves me to do so.
a promise kept
joe namath, quarterback, university of alabama and most famously for the new york jets.
it was 40 years and 17 days ago -- the date was january 12, 1969 -- that joe (for this post, i'll call him that instead of the more formal namath) and the jets upset the baltimore colts 16-7 in super bowl iii.
(the picture at the top of this post is of joe leaving the field after the game.)
the colts were heavily favored and the representatives of the established (and establishment) national football league. the jets and especially joe were the representatives of the upstart american football league and some howled bloody murder when joe predicted that the jets would win the game.
it wasn't joe's performance in the super bowl that made me like him. oh, he had that twinkle in his eyes that you could imagine becoming a wink. he also had a winning smile.
but i came to enjoy him because of his sense of "irony," for lack of a better word: the knowledge that he didn't take his image that seriously. he could laugh at himself and his nickname of "broadway joe." i bet he didn't mind it, but he could take or leave it.
that was opposed to, say, o.j. simpson. i've heard a story that simpson was in paris and became upset that no one there recognized him. that could be expected, because american football -- isn't that popular in europe.
joe, on the other hand, if he had been in paris, wouldn't mind being recognized. but if he wasn't, he would'nt be upset about it.
joe's life after football hasn't been all great. divorces and problems with alcohol are two things that have plagued him.
but i don't know many people -- if any one at all -- who wish him ill.
*
i have no prediction for the super bowl. of the odds i've seen and the stories i've read, all favor pittsburgh.
i'm going to cheer for the steelers. but if the cardinals win, that would be all right with me.
however, i wish the powers that be would start the game sometime in the middle of the afternoon -- say 3 p.m. -- instead of at 6:20 p.m.
bruce springsteen will play at halftime of sunday's super bowl. if i remember correctly, the e street band -- which includes clarence clemons, miami steve van zandt, and max weinberg -- are scheduled to play with him.
i believe it'll be a short set, like it was when the rolling stones played.
i tried to look up on the internet the odds of what songs springsteen would play, but i couldn't find them.
i'm betting that they will play these three songs:
- born in the usa;
- working on a dream -- the latest single from his latest album, which was released for sale to the public today;
- and, of course, born to run -- more or less springsteen's theme song.
(for the record, the stones played start me up, rough justice, and -- hey, what else? -- satisfaction.)
here is a short recap from sunday's conference championship games in the nfl.
although i had wanted the philadelphia eagles to advance, the arizona cardinals defeated them 32-25. they now face the pittsburgh steelers, who beat the baltimore ravens 23-14.
pictured above are the two players who i consider the most valuable to their teams' victory.
at the left is steelers safety troy polamalu. he intercepted a pass with about four and a half minutes left in the game. then he ran it back 40 yards for a touchdown. that put pittsburgh definitely ahead.
at the right is cardinals wide receiver larry fitzgerald. he caught six passes in the first two quarters of the game. three of them went for touchdowns and arizona lead 24-6 at halftime. he went on to catch a total of nine passed for 152 yards.
i wanted to see philadelphia and pittsburgh advance because they are two of my favorite teams. since they won't, i'm going to cheer for the steelers.
i'm not sad that the eagles didn't advance. i won't be said if the cardinals win the super bowl.
here's an interesting sidelight:
during the 1944 nfl season, because so many players were in the military, both teams merged operations and played as one. they were called card-pitt, but went 0-10.
in 1945, both teams went their separate ways.
(picture borrowed from deadspin.com)
beth roethlisberger and donovan mcnabb
the early odds have philadelphia and pittsburgh winning their respective conference title games this sunday. the eagles are favored over arizona by three points. the steelers are favored over baltimore by five points.
and if both win, it'll be ironic.
not only will the eagles and steelers be playing for the national football league championship, they also will be playing for the unofficial and informal championship of the state of pennsylvania.
but they won't be playing in harrisburg or erie of any other neutral location. instead, they'll be playing in tampa, florida.
this reminds me of the comic sports novel semi-tough by dan jenkins, former sports illustrated writer. in it, the new york giants and new york jets play in the super bowl -- in los angeles.
truth and fiction come closer together. and life imitates art.
as i said before, it's ironic. the dictionary definition may not agree, but i'll go this time with alannis morrisette.
one
baltimore 13, tennessee 10
i'm not suprised that the ravens won the game.
but it's more like the titans beat themselves. they had three turnovers, including two fumbles inside the ravens' 20-yard line -- and one near the goal line!
also, the ravens' defense, lead by ray lewis, ed reed, and terrell suggs, just swarmed all over the titans' offense.
two
arizona 33, carolina 13
now, i AM surprised that the cardinals beat the panthers. and i'm VERY surprised by the point spread.
but jake delhomme, the quarterback for the panthers, committed six turnovers by himself. that includes five -- yes, five -- interceptions. those things will tend to beat a football team.
three
philadelphia 23, new york 11
before the game started, i had no favorite team. but as the game progressed, i started to favor the eagles because they made the nfc championship game from 2001 to 2004. back then, they were my second favorite nfl team; the colts were the first.
and i like donovan mcnabb, despite all the shit that's happened to him. that includes those campbell's soul commercials with his mother, and the accusation by rush limbaugh that he was unfairly favored by a liberal sports media.
four
pittsburgh 35, san diego 17
now, i was cheering for pittsburgh to win because they were one of my favorite teams back in the 1970s, when they had terry bradshaw, joe greene, and chuck noll. plus, you must consider the revenge factor, since the chargers beat the colts last week.
it was 10-7 chargers before the steelers scored three straight touchdowns that put them ahead. 28-10. from there on, they were playing out the clock.
five
three visiting teams won their playoffs games. the only home team to win was pittsburgh.
as for the games next sunday, this will be the first time the cardinals will be playing for a championship since 1948, when they were based in chicago and lost to the eagles 7-0.
interesting.
(by the way, they won their last championship over the same eagles back in 1947. the score of that game was 28-21. very interesting.)
the baltimore-pittsburgh game also will be interesting. both teams have very good defenses. and they strongly despise -- if not hate -- each other.
even though fall arrrived on september 22, i know that it's here for a while. the leaves on the trees have started to change color, and temperatures are falling -- the forecast tonight is for the low 40s.
and football is here.
because i live in the indianapolis area, i especially follow the colts. but i don't call myself a fan. fan is short for fanatic. no matter how the colts do, i don't get that emotionally involved with their wins and losses.
as much as i like professional football, i like college football more because of the passion involved. if you're a 180-pound running back and you're getting tackled by 250-pound defensive linemen -- AND YOU'RE NOT GETTING PAID FOR IT -- then you have a passion for the game.
