Friday, December 28, 2007

Friday 12/28 A.M. Quickie:
Giants, Pats, Wild Cards, Bowls, KG, More!

Today's Names to Know: Patriots, Giants, Titans, Browns, Vikings, Redskins, College Bowl Mania, Rich Rodriguez, Holiday Bowl, Bill Parcells, Amare Stoudemire, Kevin Garnett, Bobby Frasor, Dayton Flyers, More!

Patriots 19-0 Watch: 16-0 happens on Saturday night, the first time in NFL history a team will unbeaten in a 16-game season. That is, unless the Giants pull off a miracle.

My feeling is this: This game is WAY bigger than any playoff game the Giants might play. (Face it: The Giants aren't winning the NFC, let alone the Super Bowl.) Beating the Patriots tomorrow night ensures football immortality -- just ask the '85 Dolphins.

I just don't understand why the Giants aren't playing this game as if it IS their Super Bowl. It would be nice if they recognized that winning this is actually bigger than winning in the playoffs. It doesn't happen often, but it's the case this time.

I feel so obsessed about this point that I created a separate stand-alone post, directly beneath this one – or found through this link, including a guest appearance by uber-Giants fan Roger Director, author of the new book "I Dream In Blue."

More NFL This Weekend: I'm not even going to bother with making picks; not when all but four teams will be basically tanking -- playing not to get hurt or playing for draft position. Here are the four teams vying for a relatively meaningless 6th seed in the playoffs (neither is the 6-seed Super Bowl champ Steelers, don't kid yourself):

AFC: Titans vs. Browns. How can you not root for the Browns? (The entire AFC playoff bracket – the entire NFL playoff bracket – is a farce. No, Colts fans, your team isn't beating the Pats this year. "AFC runner-up" will actually be meaningful.)

NFC: Vikings vs. Redskins. How can you not root for the Redskins? (As much as you'd like to see Adrian Peterson in the playoffs – and make my preseason pick of the Vikings as a playoff team one of my finest predictions of 2007 – you can't deny the Sean Taylor Factor.)

Other than that, it will be interesting to see how the draft order shakes out.

Holiday Bowl: Texas beats Arizona State, 52-34, in another wild Holiday Bowl, including a crazy play where Mack Brown's stepson touched the ball on the sidelines, triggering a 12-minute review by officials, an overturned play and ultimately an ASU touchdown.

Awful Announcing has the video.
Sporting Orange has his MySpace page.

Weird plays aside, the win gives Texas momentum as a preseason Top 5 team in 2008. The question: Is Texas' outstanding RB Jamaal Charles coming back or jumping to the NFL?

College Bowl Mania!: Weekend Edition

Friday:
Champs Sports: BC vs. Michigan St. Expect points.
Texas: TCU vs. Houston. Regional appeal only.
Emerald: Maryland vs. Oregon St. Ehh: Pass.

Saturday:
Meineke Car Care: UConn vs. Wake. Underdog Bowl!
Liberty: UCF vs. Mississippi St. Smith vs. Sanders.
Alamo: Penn St vs. Texas A&M. Where's Mike Sherman?

Sunday:
Independence: Bama vs. Colorado. Bowl-Eligible Bowl!

CFB: West Virginia sues Rich Rodriguez over $4 million buyout. Rod's cronies seemed to imply that he didn't have to pay, so WVU is going to force the issue. Oh, he'll pay.

More NFL: Bill Parcells checks out Dolphins and attends his first practice, planning to "put a structure in place." No pressure or anything, though. Your future with the team is only riding on it.

NBA: Kevin Garnett is the leading vote-getter in All-Star balloting, ahead of last year's leader, LeBron. Nice to see fans recognizing Dwight Howard as worthy of starting; Tracy McGrady's inclusion, at the moment, as a starter in the West achieves the opposite effect.

Amare Stoudemire vs. Chris Kaman: In one of the most highly anticipated matchups of big men of the season, Amare (30 pts, 15 reb) got the best of Kaman (9 pts, 9 reb).

CBB: UNC beats Nevada, but loses reserve guard Bobby Frasor to a knee injury. Somehow, I think UNC will survive, but here's to a full recovery for Frasor.

CBB Weekend Preview: The Game of the Weekend is Pitt at Dayton. Don't be shocked when the Flyers beat the Panthers in Dayton.

More: Wisconsin at Texas, a good test for both teams. Tennessee at Gonzaga in Spokane is another Tournament-toughening game for both. Arizona at Memphis is yet another "name" game for the Tigers, who should roll.

Mid-Major Madness tonight: Butler at Southern Illinois. Despite SIU's .500 season, they still would represent a quality win for Butler, particularly on the road.

I will be posting all weekend and definitely on Monday, if you plan to drop by. If you won't be stopping by until after January 1, happy new year to you.

Save the Date if you live in NYC: Next Thursday, January 3. I will make my inglorious return to the podium for the Varsity Letters Reading Series. I am the opening act for Will Leitch, and the outstanding Dave Zirin is also in the lineup. Truly something not to be missed. I won't spoil what I'm reading, but I will say that it is based on work done on the blog and I am considering a "performance-art" component. Details: Thursday 1/3, Happy Ending, 302 Broome St. 8 p.m. FREE.

-- D.S.

5 comments:

Unknown said...

Dan, happy new year and thanks for the blog. I don't post comments that often but always read. Thanks for providing me with an entertaining start to my morning. Or sometimes, mid-morning.

James said...

The Browns should be resting up, too. The outcome of their game only matters if Indy and Tennessee tie.

John said...

Unless the Giants have invented a time machine to bring back (the original) LT, Mark Bavaro and Phil Simms they aren't winning this game. I think Coughlin gives his starters the first half (maybe less) to see if they can catch fire and jump out to a lead and if/when they can't, he sits them and starts worrying about the playoffs.

Boomhauertjs said...

Thanks Dan for giving some love to the UD Flyers, but did you have to give them the "Shanoff Kiss of Death" in picking them to upset Pitt?

Tim said...

Watched some of the Holiday Bowl last night. Had to turn off the sound, due to the annoying announcing of Brent Musberger. Does anyone actually like this guy's play-by-play? I typically like Herbstreit and wonder what he's done to get teamed with Musberger. Ugghh.

Just wondering if either Texas or ASU bothered to bring their defenses to this game. Once again, the Big 12 owns the Pac-10 in this game (and this from an Ore. State fan).

Happy New Year.