Happy New Year! Late posting today, but I wanted to comment on two things:
(1) NFL: OK, the Chiefs making the playoffs (or, more accurately, the Broncos completely muffing the playoffs) was a shocker. And though there's no doubt that KC earned it (with by far the toughest Week 17 matchup of any AFC Wild Card contender), Denver completely crapped the bed on this one. KC fans must be thrilled.
Over in the NFC, there might not have been much drama after the Giants clinched the No. 6 spot on Saturday, so how awesome was the Lions-Cowboys result?
(A) The Cowboys swipe the mantle from the Giants for "Least Momentum Heading Into the Playoffs." (B) The Lions manage to bungle the one thing – top draft position – that they really needed. Even when they win, they lose. Unbelievable. I think it's official that rooting for the Lions is the worst fan position in the NFL.
(2) New Year's Day Bowls: As I've said before, the Arkansas-Wisconsin game is a proxy for the BCS title game:
If SEC tops Big Ten, it's one more piece of data that the Big Ten sucked this season and the SEC was terrific. If Big Ten tops SEC, the Big Ten has been underrated and
Rose Bowl: I'm torn. As a Big Ten alum, I almost always root for Big Ten teams in bowl matchups. And I absolutely hate USC. But as a
Fiesta Bowl: How can you NOT be rooting for Cinderella non-BCS team
Join in the comments for your bowl-day observations and analysis. Like me, I assume you're parked in front of the TV, too. Happy New Year!
UPDATE (5:45 p.m.): OK, so Wisconsing beating Arkansas (in what can only be described as one of the least entertaining bowl games I've ever watched) is a huge win for the Big Ten -- and erodes at least a bit of SEC haughtiness from the Bowl Season (and BCS title game).After all, wasn't Wisconsin supposed to be vastly overrated? Weren't they supposed to be hardly a "quality win" for Michigan, let alone Michigan's "best" win of the season? New reality: Wisco just beat an Arkansas team that was the 3rd-best team in the SEC and one that many (including me) had thought extremely highly of.
It's Wisconsin's first (and only) quality win of the season, but suddenly makes Michigan's win over Wisconsin that much more impressive. (Nevermind that still only makes 1.5 quality wins for Michigan this season -- better-than-we-thought Wisconsin and worse-than-we-thought Notre Dame. But certainly fodder for the argument that the Big Ten isn't being dragged down by Wisconsin being overrated. (God, I'm going to miss college football until next September.)
-- D.S.
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29 comments:
You missed the tragic death of Broncos CB Darrent Williams who was killed in a drive by shooting early this morning.
Why was it that when Cory Lidle died there was round the clock coverage and now with Darrent Williams there's barely a mention on TV or the Internet. Is it just due to an overabundance of Sports related stories today or should the race card be thrown out there????
I think it's official that rooting for the Lions is the worst fan position in the NFL.
Sadly, I've known this my entire life.
What caused all the attention with Lidle was the fact that a plane crashed into a NYC building, that story had legs well before anyone knew it was Cory Lidle.
Is it just due to an overabundance of Sports related stories today or should the race card be thrown out there????
Stop it. When Corey Stringer died, there was round the clock coverage. Before they knew it was Corey Lidle in the plane, a lot of the news organizations covered it becuase it was a reminder of 9/11 (the whole plane flying into a building). It's people like you who prevent any real race issues from being discussed by irresponsibly throwing out the race card.
Dan, a lot of people are not rooting for Boise State. Those people realize that Boise State will be blown out by Oklahoma because they do not belong with the big schools. Oklahoma is a much better team than the 2004 Pitt team that played Utah. One big reason Boise State is playing in this game is that they didn't play anyone this year. A lot of people in America don't root for teams taking the easy route.
Dennis Green becomes the first coaching casualty. No real surprise here.
No mention of the team that lost the most (besides Denver)? C'mon, the Chiefs were the LAST team the Colts wanted to face in the first round (before someone says something about San Diego, they couldn't meet in the first round).
The Colts only hope is that they have a slim lead at the end of the game and Herm Edwards' clock management skills become a factor.
Who wants to play a Shanoff game?
"Which playoff teams would trade their starting QB straight up for Brett Favre for the postseason?"
Chicago: In a heartbeat.
Dallas: Parcells would think about it, considering Romo's recent play.
Philly: No, got to stick with the Ewing Theory/Hot Hand of Garcia.
Seattle: Probably not. Although Holmgren would be tempted.
New Orleans: Doubtful
Giants: I think they would
Chargers: They'd consider it (Rivers is essentially a playoffs rookie), but ultimately wouldn't
Colts: Uh, no.
Pats: Uh, no.
Chiefs: If they didn't have Damon Huard sitting behind Trent Green, they'd think long and hard about this one.*
Ravens: Only if they were concerned about McNair breaking down.
Jets: Only if they were concerned about Pennington breaking down.
*Then again, how hard could it be to simply hand off to Larry Johnson every play?
...sigh, it's going to be tough seeing Brett in a jacket and tie next year.
Jim Mora Jr is now out in Atlanta. Willingham will probably be feeling some pressure this coming season at Washington.
Prediction: If Washington doesn't make a bowl next season, Willingham out, Mora in
The last 2 active NFL deaths were during/after SF @ DEN (Williams & Herrion). They probably shouldn't play each other any more.
Very sad. Hopefully it winds up being random violence and Williams will get buried with peace and dignity. RIP.
Wow, that was quick work on Mora. Atlanta must've wanted to make sure they could get to Green first.
You've got to mention the Bengals' choke job somewhere. I'm sure Houshmandzadeh is mouthing off somewhere about how they are still the best team in the AFC despite their 8-8 record. Maybe Ray will send him a ticket to the Ravens' game so Housh can sniff the playoffs.
Things aren't looking good for the SEC right now.
PoSU 20, Tennessee 10 with just over a minute left.
Wisconsin 17, Arkansas 7 just before halftime.
Auburn 17, Nebraska 14 with 6:44 remaining in the game.
...and Auburn just fumbled the ball. To quote George Takei, OH MY.
A lot of people in America don't root for teams taking the easy route.
If it were so easy... well, you know the rest.
Dan, please stop implying that only an idiot could believe Michigan worthy of the BCS game. They were wrothy. Admit it. Only, so was UF--and there had to be a choice.
That said, go USC, since it would make this next week much less annoying assuming Arkansas gets beat. The combination of Arkansas losing, Tennessee losing, and Michigan winning would send ESPN into a death spiral of "should a victorious UF even be considered the champs" that might send me on a 10-state murder run.
Just want to say that Erin Andrews is looking even hotter than usual today!
Hey, just wanted to let everybody know that the Rose Bowl is on, since ABC and ESPN did a really lousy job in promoting it.
And...the Big 10 seems like it was vastly underrated. That, or Tennessee and Arkansas just had really bad games today.
And where the hell was that Lions team all year?
I feel something ... a presence I haven't felt in a long time ...
Good lord, it's optimistic Detroit Lions fans! Well there's only one way to deal with this ...
Matt Millen isn't going anywhere.
The replay officials got it wrong. The ball was loose and on its way out when Jarrett's knee hit the ground
wow... 6 inches and that would have been game over.
All I can sit here and do is think about him, and others like him who made seemingly one-time terrible decisions.
Do we know that he did make a terrible decision? I really haven't read a lot about it--just wondering.
OK, Dwayne Jarrett is kind of a punk, but someone needs to get Musberger a stress ball to squeeze.
It's clear now. There is only one real conference: the Pac-10.
Y'all do realize what this means, right?
The BCS worked.
The BCS worked.
Only if UF doesn't get blown out. I don't think they will, but if they do... well, then I guess that would just prove that there really was no good choice to face OSU.
AGREED! AGREED!
2 loss teams don't deserve shit. Especially not a shot at the national title.
If such a thing were to occur, it would only be under a playoff.
'and the whole season is a playoff' remember?
hey daveg...
Those people realize that Boise State will be blown out by Oklahoma because they do not belong with the big schools.
How does that taste? Bitter?
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