Sunday, February 04, 2007

Sunday 02/04 A.M. Quickie:
Super Bowl XLI Countdown

Super Bowl XLI: Here we go. What an interesting situation this year: Whether the Colts win or lose, the biggest storyline will be Peyton Manning. Hell, ESPN.com, the New York Post and everyone else can already have their headline written:

"Peyton's Place"

Now, that "Place" is either (1) his place among the elite QBs with a Super Bowl ring (if the Colts win) or (2) his place among the all-time biggest big-game chokers in football history.

The leads are written: "Peyton Manning won his first Super Bowl..." or "Peyton Manning screwed up his first Super Bowl."

This is not meant to dis the Bears, the rest of the Colts or the compelling coaching subplot, but no matter what the result, the biggest storyline will surround Manning.

Meanwhile, the ads are always a huge storyline, but I'm wondering this year if the "winner" in the USA Today "AdMeter" will have less impact than tracking which ad gets the most plays (or user votes) on YouTube tomorrow.

I'll have a live-comment post about the game starting after noon. And I will be pointing you to three variations on live-blogging, of increasing "mainstreamness":

*MJD at Deadspin.
*Will Leitch "glogging" at SportsLine.
*Kornheiser/Wilbon at the WashPost.

(I'm rescinding my recommendation to check out Tony K and Wilbon, because they won't actually be live-blogging, but dictating to someone who types in their commentary. I think that's lame. Don't glom onto "blogging," but then skip the part about actually doing it yourself. That's part of blogging's authenticity. Rather than "live-blogging," let's call it "live-dictating" or even "live commentary." But please don't call it a live-blog. That diminishes everyone else who is actually typing commentary themselves.)

More of today's biggest storylines:

Kobe trumps Gilbert: More points AND the win (on the road).

I'd like the NBA to consider having Kobe and Gil play a game of H-O-R-S-E during All-Star Weekend, each putting up $1 million of their own money and the winner giving it all to the charity of his choice.

(Gil created the template with that 3-point shooting contest against DeShawn Stevenson after Wiz practice last week.)

College Hoops Parity Watch: I'm happy to obsess over UNC's loss at NC State (which should take a lot of the oomph out of the argument that UNC is the favorite to win the NCAA title in March), but what about Iona winning its first game of the season?

Texas A&M is going to bust a lot of brackets: Do you think they are they the Final Four bandwagon team that beat Kansas at Kansas yesterday? Or do you think they are they this season's nouveau riche Top 10 team destined for an early-round fizzle. Undoubtedly, they will be the opposite of whatever you pick them to do in the bracket.

Meanwhile, what about the mayhem across the rest of the Top 25? Including UNC losing at NC St and Kansas losing for the first time at home to A&M, I don't think that there is a bigger representative day of this season's parity:

Oregon losing at USC? Oklahoma State losing at Colorado? VA Tech losing at BC? Notre Dame losing at SoFla? Clemson losing at GA Tech? Texas losing (at home) to Kansas State? Indiana losing at Iowa? UNLV getting crushed at BYU? (Obviously, a lot of the parity seems to come from home-court advantage.) Oh, and how about "UCLA 82, Oregon State 35?" Not parity, but: Yeesh.

(The team playing the best right now? Florida. Anyone else is a distant second. Now, mind you, that means squat for March.)

Pro Football Hall of Fame: The biggest scandal – Why does Michael Irvin make it in and Art Monk does not? It says a lot about the voters being dazzled by Irvin's in-career preening and post-career TV life, while Monk was quiet and dignified.

-- D.S.

20 comments:

Paul L Carter said...

"Why does Michael Irvin make it in and Art Monk does not?"

To a lesser degree, you could ask the same question of Paul Tagliabue.

Giddy said...

In 4 MORE seasons, Art Monk had only 3 more touchdowns and about 800 more yards receiving than Michael Irvin. Despite his antics, Irvin was without question one of the most significant pieces of that Cowboys "dynasty" (i hate that term). I'd hardly say it's a scandal that Monk didn't get in while Irvin did. For many years lots of people have thought Monk's record is more a product of his longevity as opposed to his talent or greatness. Unfortunate that he didn't get in? Yes. Scandal? Hardly.

MP said...

Every year Art Monk is not in, I wonder why.

Not to say that Irvin doesn't have a place in the Hall...he does, certainly. But it seems like the voters have some sort of grudge against Monk.

Was he a jackass as a player or something?

The Don said...

The biggest argument for Monk was that he held a lot of the major receiving records at one time. Irvin is also a beneficiary of the 'rising tide raises all ships' mentality of the HOF voters concerning championship teams. Had he had the numbers he did with Tampa Bay or Seattle, he would be another crackhead on probation or in jail, and certainly not in the Hall of Fame. Ironcially as well, Monk did not get that same consideration.

Unknown said...

Florida is playing the best...if by the best means the team that hasn't lost as recently. The rest aren't a distant second either. Losses happen. I still like Wisconsin and, yep, A&M.

(And actually, Ohio State with Oden and the emergence of Hunter may end up being a hell of a good matchup to Noah and Horford.)

Michael Irvin deserved to go into the Hall of Fame. There's no rule that says two WRs can't make it in the same year.
It's what you do on the field...true. But it is also about how your peers see you, and Irvin had lots of players and coaches speaking for him.
Art Monk can be dignified and quiet, if that's how you want to put it. But where are his teammates and coaches? I never hear anyone on tv, or read any articles from his supporters, pumping him for the HoF. And 'grizzled' and 'honest' journalists do not count.
Hell, I dont even know if his QB was Theismann or Williams or neither.

Dan Shanoff said...

And one of the best arguments for Monk is that he did it with (a) 3 different QBs and (b) none of whom will ever be in the Hall of Fame. Irvin did it with 1 QB who is a first-attempt Hall of Famer. (Oh, and one of the Top 3 RBs of all time keeping defenses honest.)

Not A Gunslinger said...

Art Monk will make it into the Hall of Fame next year, I think this was a case of the voters not wanting to put him in before Irvin, and they didn't want to put Michael in on the first year because of his off the field issues. Or maybe they were just penalizing him for his atrocious ESPN work. To me this looks like just another episode of HoF voters on a power trip and thinking they don't vote on if people should get in, but when.

Unknown said...

Maybe, Jason. It'll depend on who is coming eligible next year. Any sure-fire candidates?

Anonymous said...

art monk and irvin are a perfect reason why the bcs...er, nfl should implement a playoff system for hall entries

;)

Mega said...

So Shanoff, if Kobe somehow wins the MVP over Arenas this season, will we see the Quickie version of "Going Postal"??

Dan Shanoff said...

IDWT, that's a fair argument: Hey, I welcome TK and Wilbon into "blogging" (even though you get the sense they are doing it because either the Post thinks that blogging is important or the two of them think that they need to add "blogging" to their multimedia empire), but I just questioned how authentic it is if all they're doing is dictating commentary for someone else to post. What makes every "live-blog" I've read authentic (and entertaining) is that the person doing the analyzing is also doing the posting themselves. Of course they don't need my approval -- but I'm certainly allowed to call them out on what I perceive as an inauthentic label.

(By the way, note how I am not criticizing the content of what they are producing, but simply the label they throw on it in an attempt to be hip for the kids. I guess that's just my own semantic issues, but that doesn't make the criticism any less valid.)

Oh, and "my turf?" That's kind of hilarious. I actually love when anyone from mainstream media finally figures out what's going on online right now, particularly with blogs. I just get annoyed by it when it's superficial posturing, rather than an authentic interest.

But a fair point to raise, IDWT.

Unknown said...

Don't agree with all of that Dan. What's great about blogging, imo, is the uncensored, off-the-cuff takes on what is going on.
Whether someone is typing it for the two of them or not, that doesn't matter to me.
HOWEVER, if that typist turns out to also be an editor, then that's where the BS will be flying.
If you broke your hands, I would expect the quickie to go on without your hands, but still use your words. Gabe can type at 60 wpm by now right?

jhawkjjm said...

The top 10 team that will fizzle out early in the tournament...Kansas! Good that was crappy to watch. They just lack that killer instinct to finish a team off. They have the talent to make a run, but I don't know if they have the mindset to do it.

And don't read a whole lot into K-State knocking off Texas in Texas. K-State was shooting out of their minds from 3. Without that its Texas by double digits. But how do you not give the ball to Durant for the last shot to tie. Unbelievable.

pv845 said...

You talk about which A&M team will show up in the tourney. Closely related is which KU team will show up. The one that smashed FL and exposed how overrated they were or the one that lost, at home, to Oral Roberts.

Dan Shanoff said...

That's a great point, Rafael. Maybe I was too strident in my original take (surprise, surprise).

But don't you think that there's something about the actual act of typing that translates the same authentic, off-the-cuff voice to the blogging?

Dictating to someone who blogs for you? Isn't that effectively reading the transcript of a radio show?

Unknown said...

I could make the argument that what TK is doing is more authentic/entertaining than a blog. It's unrehearsed and TK likely isn't going to edit a comment in his head before he says it. I agree, as long as the typist is not an editor, I have no problem with it.

Dan Shanoff said...

Another good point, Andrew. I like that we can all agree to disagree along a spectrum, rather than black/white.

The heroin sheik said...

The one thing that I love about blogging is the fact that you can speak your mind without having to worry about getting in trouble for saying something stupid or vulgar. I think that TK doing this for the post is going to be censored on some level either internally because he knows what he can and can't say with his job or someone who he is dictating to will edit it for him.

Clearly the gators are the best team in the land right now but anything can happen in march. I doubt we will have as easy of a run as we did last year.

I think the problem with art monk is that he had to share a lot of receptions with I think sanders, clark, and brown. ( I think those were the other receivers when he was there) I am a cowboy fan and the only other receiver I can even remember form those super bowl teams was the TE jay novacek whereas monk always had another guy on the opposite side keeping the defenses from singling him out. Plus monk was the king of the short five yard out pass where irvin went over the middle and he took some ferocious beatings especially from the eagles. I think that irvin's self promotion has helped him get into the hall and monks quiet workmanlike attitude always kept him out of the spotlight. Regardless they both deserve to be in the hall.

Unknown said...

With every Texas loss and Ohio State win, you're getting a synopsis of the Oden v Durant argument.

Durant = KG : Lots of stats, no real wins

Oden = Solid stats, great defense. Wins.

Roge said...

This is what is so frustrating to me about our media today.

"Peyton's Place" Now, that "Place" is either (1) his place among the elite QBs with a Super Bowl ring (if the Colts win) or (2) his place among the all-time biggest big-game chokers in football history."

What about he's really good. Or, he still has MANY seasons left on what is clearly a great team so let's shut the hell up about where he stands all-time. This kind of stuff just really pisses me off. Stop trying for the biggest baddest tagline and just report what is happening.