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DownloadAssorted Rants, Rumblings and Ruminations from the Mind of a “So-Called” Expert
Enough already, I get it! Blake Griffin can jump really high. There is no need for you to continue to show me the same dunk over and over and over again!!!
There has always been something that has bothered me about “great plays” and that is we often judge the result more than the effort. Of course this is the basis for using advanced statistics to better evaluate future performance, but that is a topic for another day, in a differently titled column.
So Blake Griffin is an explosive athlete that can jump really high and make a windmill motion with his arm. I think it is fair to say that jumping in the manner he did while keeping in control as Kendrick Perkins had the unfortunate fate to be in the right place at the wrong time made the athletic feat that much more spectacular. But what propelled the play to be put in an infinite loop on highlight reels everywhere was the fact that not only did Griffin enact a windmill motion with his arm, he was holding a basketball and propelled it downward several inches through a rim 18 inches in diameter while cameras were rolling. That is, it was the result, two points in a professional basketball game that put the finishing touch on the play we have now seen more than Janet Jackson’s wardrobe malfunction (second reference in two weeks, I really need to be more up on pop culture to increase my metaphorical capability).
I feel the same way when it comes to baseball highlights, web gems if you will. One game, Austin Jackson goes back, feels the warning track, finds the fence, times his leap perfectly, extends his glove a foot behind the wall and the ball nestles into the webbing of his mitt and he makes a phenomenal snow cone catch, robbing his opponent of a home run but the next day, he does the exact same thing, but the ball is hit just a little higher and the play of the year is now a nice try by Austin Jackson.
I understand, we are a results oriented society, more interested in how many than how.
Perhaps the most blatant example of this in the past couple of weeks was Mario Manningham’s sideline grab during the New York Giants’ Super Bowl winning drive last Sunday. Obviously, it was a phenomenal play, but it was the timing more so than the athletic nature of the catch itself that still has Cris Collinsworth gushing. To be honest, my opinion is the throw was a superior athletic play than the catch. Eli Manning put the ball in the only place it could have been caught in bounds by his receiver. I would venture to say that if the same play had happened in a non-descript regular season game, it may not have even made the highlights unless it led to a game winning score or was thrown by Tim Tebow. But because of the enormity of the moment, and rightfully so, it is going to be archived as one of the greatest catches of all time. At least that is what Collinsworth says.
Speaking of the Super Bowl, I thought I would share my take. Most of the talk has been about another fourth quarter comeback by Eli, the aforementioned grab, Ahmad Bradshaw’s falling backwards into the end zone after the Patriots ceded him a touchdown he did not want to score, Gisele’s calling out of the Patriots' receivers for a case of the dropsies and Rob Gronkowski’s dance moves at a post-game party thrown by the non-victorious squad. Personally, I think the game was decided very early by two plays.
The first was New England’s initial play from scrimmage where Tom Brady faded back into the end zone, was under some but not heavy pressure and heaved the pigskin 60 yards downfield, to a spot where the referee was the closest human being to the point it hit the ground. By rule, of course, this was a safety, giving the Giants a two point lead and the ball, not to mentioned throwing millions into a tizzy as they now were screwed out of the better squares in their football pool, or were suddenly in contention as now 2, 5 and 9 were now more likely to win. Iroically, circumstances resulted in a conventional 21-17 final, but for awhile, those holding the less likely combinations were in the running.
The second play that I feel went a long ways towards determining the games’ final outcome was towards the end of the first quarter, on the drive ensuing the safety, the Patriots had the Giants third and three from their eleven, assured of at least a field goal. Manning completed a pass to Victor Cruz, enough for the first down, but cornerback Sterling Moore, who was last season knocking the ball from Lee Evans, sending the Patriots into the Super Bowl, stripped Cruz of possession and subsequently recovered the loose ball. The problem was, eleven more of Moore’s teammates were on the field at the time and the rules only permit ten, so instead of turning the Giants over in the red zone, the Pats gave Eli and friends a new life and a few surprise bucks to those hoping Brady would be shut out and Lawrence Tynes would kick three first quarter field goals, making their 9 for the Giants, 0 for the Patriots square a winner. Two plays later, Manning found Cruz again, this time in the end zone for a touchdown.
The reason I feel these two plays were crucial was it was my opinion that the best chance the Patriots had to win was getting off to a good start, forcing the Giants to play from behind early, which would help Belichick’s defense (when they remembered how many guys were allowed on the field) neutralize some of the matchup issues. The safety not only tacked on two points for New York, it gave them the ball again, which also kept Gronkowski on the sideline for most of the first quarter, which could not have helped his ankle. Then when the team had the chance to still gain some early momentum by recovering the red zone fumble, it was obviously nullified by penalty.
As it turns out, my premise itself was not entirely accurate as the Patriots indeed still had a very good chance to win despite letting the Giants capture the momentum and an early lead. Their defense played better than expected, which to me was a bit of a surprise, in fact, forcing two more fumbles with only eleven men on the field, but being unable to recover. And Ms. Bundchen was correct, the receivers did her husband no favors.
But at the end of the day, the better team made the plays necessary to win a championship.
Congratulations to the New York Football Giants.{jcomments on}
A few weeks ago, I mentioned that some personal circumstances have led me to residing in my sister and brother-in-law’s basement. It has been fine. I had forgotten normal people have to do things like shuffle cars in the driveway, share bathrooms and empty the clothes dryer so other people can use it. While I am still far from normal, I am once again doing some more normal things.
For the first time in my nearly 49 years on this planet, I live in the same house as a dog. Yup, me and Skippy have become good buddies. Skippy is a mutt, mostly Maltese that wanders downstairs a couple of times a day to see how I am doing. I have known Skippy for a couple of years as I regularly visited my niece and nephew, to whom I am affectionately known as Unkey. But the pup and I have taken our relationship to a new level as I take him for walks and we hang out together.
The other day, I had a bit of an epiphany as a result of my new living arrangements. I am totally convinced I am a complete slob because I grew up without a dog in the house. Before moving in, if I missed the basket with my fudgesicle stick, I didn’t care, I’d get it when I had to take the garbage out. Now, I have images of the Skippster finding the stick, chewing on it and splintering open his cute little mouth. As part of my routine to limit my caloric intake, I enjoy a few sugar free mints throughout the course of the evening. Until recently, my desk would be covered with little pieces of plastic wrapper with a minty aroma. Now, all I can see is the little guy choking on my candy covering.
I pick up clothes (most of the time), I make my bed (more than I used to) and in general am a tad neater, all because of my furry friend. Don’t get me wrong, you don’t become Felix Unger overnight after being Oscar Madison your whole life, but Skippy is (slowly) making me change my ways. Now if he can only do something about the utter mess that is my PC desktop screen.
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It is almost here, Super Bowl Sunday. It is no secret I am a card carrying member of Patriots’ Nation. I have been to two Super Bowls and had tickets for a third. Keeping in mind the whole slob thing, I splashed acid on my face the week before Super Bowl XXXVI and had to not only miss the Pats defeating the Greatest Show on Turf, but Mardi Gras as well. I managed to go without incident the week preceding Super Bowl XXXVIII so I was in attendance for the victory over the Panthers, though to this day I have yet to see Janet Jackson’s nipple. My view was not all that great. Then a couple of years ago, I ventured out to Glendale hoping to see history and the first 19-0 season in NFL history. I think I mentioned last week that I still cannot listen to Tom Petty.
Of course I feel the Patriots are going to win Sunday, but I am admittedly looking at things through my Flying Elvis colored glasses. Objectively, the Giants have the more balanced, and likely better squad. As well as Eli Manning has been playing, and as good as Hakeem Nicks and Victor Cruz are, Tom Brady and his friends Wes Welker, Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkowksi are the superior unit. However, the Giants D is far superior to the Pats D, so much so that the difference between the Pats offense and the Giants defense is less than the difference between the G-Men offense and the Patriots defense. On paper, the matchup edge of the respective units goes to the New York Football Giants.
But the game is not played on paper and New England has something New York does not: Tom Terrific. To me, Brady is the football equivalent of Roy Halladay. Regardless of the opposition, Halladay has the ability to toss a 4-hit shutout every time he toes the rubber. Brady is similar in that when he is on, he can carve up any secondary. Of course, when Halladay winds up, he does not have to worry about four or five 300-plus pound beasts looking to clock him. This is my sole concern; the Giants defensive line is outstanding. When Mathias Kiwanuka, who I had the pleasure of witnessing terrorize ACC quarterbacks while at Boston College, is your weak link, your chain is pretty strong. But here we have a saying, in Bill we Trust, so I am confident Coach Belichick will devise a game plan to keep the hounds off of Brady long enough so he can do his surgical imitation and pick apart the Giants.
Assuming this happens and New England scores early and often, the porous Patriots defense suddenly becomes a bit better. As a unit, the D is historically bad for a Super Bowl team, but they do have some excellent players. Now force the Giants into a game of catch up, and the rest of the eleven can play a scheme and become a better unit, perhaps even rattling Eli a bit, though I am not counting on that.
At the end of the day, I see Brady having a game only certain players can turn in and the Patriots evening their record in the big game against the Giants. I will not pretend that it avenges David Tyree’s helmet grab, but maybe I will be able to listen to Tom Petty again. That said, if they lose, not listening to a Madonna song is not a problem.
Patriots 37 Giants 23
Enjoy the game.
{jcomments on}
It has been a strange year to be a New England Patriots fan. Coming into the season, we really did not know what to expect, especially since the past several seasons have ended in a rather disappointing manner. Last season, Rex Ryan and the rival Jets stunned Bill Belichick’s squad and the year prior, Ray Rice scampered 80 yards on the first play from scrimmage, setting the tone for a long day. Both games were in friendly Foxboro. The year before that Tom Brady went down in the first game of the season and the Matt Cassell led Pats missed out on the playoffs via a tiebreaker. If you forget what happened the season before that, crawl out from under the rock where you have been living and turn on ESPN or the NFL Network ( I was at the game and still cannot listen to a Tom Petty song even though he is one of my favorite musicians).
Back in September, the feeling was the Patriots’ defense would be quite vulnerable but would gel and come together by season’s end. The fact the team had a perceived soft schedule fed into this notion. They may lose a couple games along the way, but the schedule and division were both weak so the team would make the playoffs and by season’s end, the defense would be playoff-ready.
It is pretty funny to hearken back and remember the biggest story once training camp opened was Chad Ochocinco looking for a roommate who owned a Wii console a requisite to apply (which ruled me out). That said, why do I think he is going to catch a TD in the Super Bowl?
The season progressed according to plan, as the defense indeed showed some growth, but injuries tempered their effectiveness. Actually, it can be argued that the team’s name should be the New Englan Patriots, since they really don’t have a D.
But yet, next weekend, they will be playing one more game.
The main reason is Belichick is zagging while everyone else is zigging. The present rules really favor a team with multiple speedy receivers as defensive backs can barely make contact in coverage and heaven forbid a defensive lineman sack the quarterback without making sure there was no flag for an illegal hit. The thing is, instead of building an offense with talented wideouts, Belichick has opted to deploy two tight ends and a diminutive slot receiver. Most weeks, teams have to game plan a means to thwart multiple deep threats. When facing the Patriots, teams need to figure out a way to take away a couple of tight ends with extraordinary physical skills in Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez while hoping Wes Welker and Brady are somehow not on the same page. Thus far, not too many have been successful.
The regular season went as expected, though the loss of emerging pass rusher Andre Carter really dampened things. It was appearing as though the defense was beginning to resemble a typical Belichick group, one which could take advantage of the opposition playing from behind. Additionally, injuries to the secondary forced Julian Edelman to do his best Troy Brown impression and play defensive back.
After avoiding wild card weekend, New England was blessed with a gift from heaven as they got to face Tim Tebow, I mean the Denver Broncos again instead of a Pittsburgh Steeler team that was a more difficult matchup. If the Pats win, we fans should thank Rashard Mendenhall for missing the wild card game. Denver proved to be no match as after all, when Tebow thanks the Lord, Belichick says “you’re welcome.”
Last week, the Patriots enjoyed some serious luck, not only on the missed field goal by Billy Cundiff but also on the near game-winning touchdown pass to Lee Evans. I am honestly surprised there has not been more of an uproar whether or not that was a touchdown. It sure looked to me like he had it long enough, but then, what is a touchdown and what is not is more complicated than the new overtime rules.
Right now, the Patriots are about a field goal favorite. I personally see the game as more of a pick ‘em. This assumes Gronkowski is able to play and Edelman is not tasked with checking the likes of Victor Cruz or Mario Manningham. If Gronk is not 100 percent or injuries force Edelman into pass coverage, the edge goes to Eli Manning and the New York football Giants. If this is the case, it will take a near perfect performance from Brady and some breaks from the Patriots ‘efense to avenge ruining the perfect season.
Hmm, I just realized something. This little essay is a microcosm of the Pats’ season. When I decided to write on the topic, I was not sure where it would go. Though this is supposed to be a stream of conscious type column, giving me some leeway to go in any direction, it never quite materialized as I had hoped. I mean, at the end of the day, it got the job done and accomplished its ultimate goal, but it seems empty. There should have been more funny one-liners or descriptive stories designed to emote a reaction. There is nothing wrong with workmanlike, but just like entertaining puts butts in the seasons, it also puts eyeballs on the monitor.
Here’s hoping that next week’s column is engaging, thrilling and concludes with an exciting finish.{jcomments on}