seffspeak

Winning a championship? Just a thing that happens

Thu, 03 May 2012 18:03:21 +0100

I love reading articles on teams well before a season begins, talking about whether they have done enough to finally get to the Super Bowl or the World Series or what have you.

Pundits and those alike talk about a team having the talent to win a title. They question whether the pieces of the puzzle are in place, whether the drive is there, whether they can finally beat that hated rival that has kept them from glory so many times.

But then comes the element(s) that no one can predict. In a nutshell, it's playing your best at the right time. But it's also injuries (or in this case, lack thereof), not just who you play but when you play them, forming team chemistry over the course of a season, and other events that transpire that no one can foresee coming.

This is not to say that you don't have to be a good team to win it all. In essence, sometimes it is as simple as just getting to the dance, regardless of whether you show up with the best-looking date or all alone. As long as you're there, you've got a chance to score a trophy.

People wouldn't peg you as a “genius” or an “expert” had you picked the New York Giants to win it all in 2011. Or Nostradamus had you tabbed the San Francisco Giants in 2010. Or a prodigy if you truly believed the New Orleans Saints – they of two previous franchise playoff wins in their history – would win Super Bowl XLIV following the 2009 campaign.

Make no mistake – those teams were good. Really good. But they weren't on many people's radars even when the postseason party came along or, in the case of the Saints, no one could have seen a potential perfect season in the making given two previous non-winning seasons.

Yet, the playoff matchups worked in their favor. They were playing with house money, playing with no regard for how anyone thought they would do. In the New York Giants' case, Vernon Davis' touchdown catch was the best thing that could have happened to them, because it meant they didn't have to travel to New Orleans to play a Saints team that has not only owned them but completed annihilated them in that process.

It was also bad news for the Packers when the Giants came calling, because New York was the one – and I still believe only – team that stood a chance to beat them. 37 points later, Green Bay's near-perfect season was history.

A year earlier, it was the Packers who squeaked into the postseason after going just 8-6 in their first 14 games. At 10-6 and playing as the No. 6 seed in the NFC – no sixth-seeded team in the NFC had ever reached the Super Bowl – a Lombardi Trophy didn't seem all that likely.

Four wins and one smoking-hot quarterback later, the Lombardi Trophy came home to Green Bay for the fourth time.

Now to be fair, the Packers were a chic pick to win it all in 2010. But let's be honest and ask ourselves, how many of those who picked them before the season would have had the guts to stay with that pick when they were 8-6? Very few? Try none.

That simply reinforces the point that even when a team is expected to win a championship and does, it never unfolds the way it's “supposed” to. Rarely does a team just waltz through an entire year and coast to a title. There are bumps in the road, unforeseen circumstances that make our opinions change on a weekly, sometimes even nightly, basis. That's the beauty of sports though, isn't it?

“Putting a ring on it” is a complicated process. Comparable to a girlfriend who has no idea she's about to become a fiancee and, ultimately, a wife. Or a two-day visit to Vegas that turns into a lifetime of great stories. The potential is there, but we don't know how it's going to go down. Life is indeed like a box of chocolates.

Musings on Baseball: Rain aids Yanks/Sox, Cards still get no love

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 05:43:31 +0100

Rainout May Aid Yankees and Red Sox

After two emotionally draining games – more specifically, Saturday's epic comeback by the Yankees and epic meltdown by the Red Sox – Sunday's rainout may have been the best possible result for both teams.

For the Yankees, it allows them to push back CC Sabathia to start the opener of a key three-game series in Texas, for which the Rangers will be without the services of Adrian Beltre. The rain has been nothing but bad news for Texas lately.

A year ago, it was a rainout of Game 6 of the World Series that allowed the Cardinals to start Chris Carpenter in Game 7. This time around, the Rangers needed a doubleheader Saturday, meaning little-used Scott Feldman will pitch the finale in the Yankees series.

For the Red Sox, it represents a rare day of peace after weeks of bludgeoning by the media of Bobby Valentine and his beleaguered club. Boston heads to lowly Minnesota, where it figures to play better away from the distractions of the disgruntled Fenway Park crowd.

Call it a gut feeling – and one I hope I'm wrong about – but with a day off, I think both teams regroup and refocus heading into key stretches.

Wait, Who Won the World Series again?

Sometimes I wonder myself. ESPN would lead you to believe the rest of the world stands still when the Yankees and Red Sox play. A big comeback by the Yankees is somehow enough to trump the 21^st perfect game in Major League history. A rainout of the rivalry is more important than any games actually played that day.

So it's easy to see how the casual fan could forget that the St. Louis Cardinals are still defending world champs. And picking up right where they left off in 2012.

You wouldn't know it unless you watched the unbiased MLB Network, but the Cards are 11-5 and leading the NL Central by four games. Still, no love from the Eastern Sports Programming Network.

More to the Cards' credit, they are winning when no one thought they could fill the holes left by Albert Pujols and Tony LaRussa. Carpenter is on the disabled list and Adam Wainwright has struggled mightily.

Enter Carlos Beltran and Kyle Lohse. Beltran has five home runs and three stolen bases already. Pujols is homerless in 16 games with the Angels. Lohse, once named the league's most mediocre pitcher by the Wall Street Journal, is 3-0 with a 0.99 ERA.

And very few people outside of St. Louis seem to notice.

Lee Was Wasted During 2007 ALCS

No, the Cleveland Indians weren't drinking beer in their clubhouse during that series like the Red Sox often did. The overachieving bunch was led by Sabathia and Fausto Carmona (er, Roberto Hernandez), while the offense was anchored by the likes of Grady Sizemore and Travis Hafner.

Often times, teams that make World Series runs have key rookie contributors or players they pick up in a trade or off waivers during the year. But it was perhaps the one player the Indians didn't use that could have made a difference in that series.

You see, there was a pitcher by the name of Cliff Lee that was toiling in the minors after posting a 5-8 record and a 6.29 ERA. He had struggled mightily after suffering an early-season injury, and I myself recall first-hand how bad he was when I saw him pitch against the Blue Jays in Toronto that summer (ironically, against his current teammate Roy Halladay).

Clearly, Lee was nowhere near the pitcher he is now. Yet, he obviously figured things out pretty quickly, because he won the Cy Young the next season. So could he have helped? Fact of the matter is, he couldn't have been much worse than Sabathia and Carmona that series, who really let the Tribe down.

Big CC was 0-2 with a 10.45 ERA in that series, while Carmona/Hernandez was 0-1 with a 16.50 ERA. Yet the Indians pushed the series to seven games, as Jake Westbrook stepped up big time. But five years later, we are left to wonder if Lee could have found his groove and helped Cleveland to the World Series.

All-Star Voting in April?

I always felt that the All-Star voting process was kind of a joke. It goes without saying that it is a popularity contest, but with the voting now starting in April, that is more true than ever.

The rule that each team must have one representative is also silly, because who in their right mind thinks the Padres, Athletics or Royals have any deserving players?

Personally, I'd like to see the league mix it up without robbing those teams' fans of seeing key contributors earn All-Star nods. But instead of sending players, why not send other important figures of the organization?

Dick Enberg should get the nod for the Padres. Anyone forced to sit through 162 games of paint-drying Padres baseball should be rewarded for his duties. Let Cubs president Theo Epstein go to Kansas City for his deft trade of Marlon Byrd to Epstein's old buddies in Boston. And my personal favorite, please let the lemonade-shaking Orioles vendor take his undying enthusiasm to Kaufman Stadium this summer.

Commish Outdoes Himself: Payton's Suspension Excessive; Where Was Belichick's?

Thu, 22 Mar 2012 19:05:54 +0100

At least today is a day where I do not feel alone.

I am joined now by tens, even hundreds of thousands of loyal Saints fans in my abhorrence of Roger Goodell. He has inflicted a black mark almost as thick as “Bountygate” has on the Saints franchise and the city of New Orleans.

Head coach Sean Payton has been suspended for one year, while defensive coordinator Gregg Williams – now in the same post with the St. Louis Rams – is out indefinitely. A franchise that brought so much joy to its city in winning its first Super Bowl in February 2010 is now looked upon as the evil stepchild of the NFL.

And yet, I can’t help but ask myself, in light of these heinous allegations: But did the Saints actually cheat? And the answer, of course, is no.

Your actions on the field can be sanctioned by the men in striped shirts (what are they called again?). Officials. If a player does something questionable that is not flagged during a game, the league can gladly fine him.

The issue at play is the morality, and in no ways am I defending what the Saints did. In the words of Seinfeld lawyer Jackie Chiles, it’s egregious, outrageous, preposterous. Ethically speaking, they have gone from Saints to Sinners.

Payton is ultimately responsible, as the one person on the team’s coaching staff above Williams, for putting a stop to it, and he didn’t. He deserves to be punished, although this unprecedented one-year suspension is excessive. Williams should be suspended for the season, not indefinitely.

But there are few out there that can argue that Sean Payton has been nothing short of a godsend to the city of New Orleans. There is not another city – save maybe for Green Bay – that is more closely tied to its football team than New Orleans, and if you didn’t feel good for the city and weren’t a Colts fan in 2010, you simply didn’t have a heart.

“Bountygate,” of course, is going to instantly draw comparisons to “Spygate” when you discuss recent NFL scandals. The New England Patriots were known to have been cheating not just in a season-opening game against the Jets in 2007, but for all of Bill Belichick’s tenure in New England, which began in 2000.

Want to talk about “integrity of the game,” commissioner? Three Lombardi Trophies under a black cloud smells of corruption and then some. The game’s supposed coaching genius somehow was the only person on the planet that “misinterpreted the rules” that everyone else in the business knows like the backs of their hands? Come on, now.

So what was Belichick’s punishment? Suspension? Stripped of those titles in question? Nope, just a slap on the wrist. Essentially, a fine and a draft pick, which is small potatoes to a team constantly drafting at the end of the first round. (For the record, in that 2008 draft, Goodell’s punishment was rendered useless because the Patriots actually owned the 49ers’ top selection, which they used on Pro Bowl linebacker Jerod Mayo.)

The way I see it, what the Patriots did was illegal and what the Saints did was immoral. The Patriots committed burglary, vandalism and theft while the Saints used their grandmothers’ handicap pass to get a conveniently-located parking pass. Immoral, but technically not illegal.

Again, I am not at all defending the Saints’ actions. The fans, while not abandoning their beloved team, need to realize that the team brass’ decision to sweep this under the rug was nothing short of appalling. But as many disgruntled radio-show callers have pointed out, New Orleans has become the scapegoat for a practice that has been ongoing for years, even decades, in the NFL.

Perhaps some would argue the same about the Patriots. “Spygate” was nothing more than a simple practice that teams do to gain a competitive edge. But filming a team’s walkthrough the day before the Super Bowl, which turned out to be one of the biggest upsets of all time? Common practice my you-know-what. And lest we forget, that happened more than five years before they were busted for anything.

Sean Payton, who has been one of the great poster-child coaches for the NFL, is suspended for a full season for turning a blind eye to Williams’ wrongdoings. Bill Belichick, disliked by virtually everyone outside the New England region, makes a mockery of the game and a flaw in the system for years and walks off scot-free. Roger Goodell, you have outdone even yourself this time.

Six Things I Miss About the Paul Tagliabue-run NFL

Wed, 14 Mar 2012 23:41:52 +0100

If you’ve read enough on here throughout the years, you know Roger Goodell is one of my least-favorite people on the planet. Paul Tagliabue is a saint, if only by comparison. Ever since Goodell’s reign of terror began in 2006, a number of things I cherished about the NFL have vanished, seemingly for good. Here are six of them:

WHEN FANS COULD SEE THE SUPER BOWLS THEY PURCHASED TICKETS FOR

If Roger Goodell were virtually anybody else in this world (short of, say, Barack Obama), he would be in jail for what he did to approximately 1,250 fans at last year's Super Bowl in Dallas.

The commissioner essentially sold a product to fans that didn't exist when those individuals were left out in the cold (literally, as temperatures dipped in Dallas) when New Cowboys Stadium was revealed to not have seats that were structurally sound, either relocating those ticket-holders to temporary seats or preventing them from seeing the game live altogether. (About a third of those 1,250 fans got a nice way of the backs of peoples heads and TV screens.)

False advertising is one thing, but false sales are another. Yes, Jerry Jones deserves much of the blame here as does the Texas Stadium Authority, but the ultimate burden falls on the man who wanted a Super Bowl so big – so Texas-sized, if you will – that he would stop at nothing to make sure it happened on his watch for a feather in his cap.

A refund or an offer to watch a future Super Bowl is peanuts for these fans, many of whom actually were there to see their teams (the Packers and the Steelers) play. The fact that this year's Super Bowl featured two of those teams' chief rivals didn't help matters.

It was an ugly scenario that an organization like the NFL should never endure, and the person at the top needs to be the one held accountable.

SATURDAY AFTERNOON FOOTBALL

Perhaps these were always more cherished memories for me because I got to enjoy them in the sunny confines of Florida over Winter Break, but there was something special and unique about Saturday afternoon games in December. Tagliabue would stagger a few games on the schedule and put them on Saturdays on CBS and Fox and occasionally ESPN to broaden our weekends.

Tiki Barber and Larry Johnson unleashed a Fantasy Football war on a Saturday in 2005 between playoff-hopefuls New York and Kansas City. Marquez Pope was involved in one of the most bizarre defensive plays ever seen in football in 2000 when the Raiders defensive back’s rain-soaked momentum carried him into the end zone while recovering a football for a critical safety in a game against Seattle.

And there was the rookie showdown between Big Ben and Eli that went down to the wire in 2004, when the Steelers incredulous season stayed intact in a 33-30 nailbiter.

But with the advent of the NFL Network and, more significantly, Thursday and Saturday Night football, Goodell wanted to make sure these games are the only ones in town outside of Sunday, and for those out west that can’t get the NFL Network on Time Warner, this is nothing short of a crying shame.

Bowl games have also expanded somewhat, meaning fewer Saturdays are now available anyway whereas in the past Tagliabue had more open dates to work with on the schedule.

NON-DIVISIONAL-CENTERED WEEK 17

This one really gets my goat. Some of the most legendary Week 17 finishes have come from non-divisional games. The idea of unknown Cardinals wide-receiver Nathan Poole being given the key to the city of Green Bay in 2003 is remarkable. His ridiculous game-winning touchdown catch that knocked Minnesota out of the playoffs and allowed the Packers in was nothing short of electrifying. I know because I happened to be watching with a Packers fan.

2006 had a wild and wacky finish thanks to the 49ers finishing off the Broncos in overtime, allowing the Chiefs, who had won a scintillating, virtual play-in game with Jacksonville earlier in the day, to reach the postseason. New England and Tennessee also staged a harrowing duel that had playoff implications.

But what really stings the most about this is, once again, the politician at the helm in Goodell wouldn’t really admit the real reason he made this change. He said it had to do with making sure there were more “meaningful” late-season games, but the reality is he lost a lot of ratings when the Colts eschewed their pursuit of 16-0 in 2009 against the Jets so that they could keep Peyton Manning off the snowy Buffalo field in Week 17. No perfection means lower ratings, and that is the bottom line for the NFL’s egomaniacal commissioner.

What the Colts did was not inexcusable. It was within their right as the league’s premier team to prioritize health over records. They reached the Super Bowl that season, coming up one win short of the ultimate prize, but Goodell only cared that the league could not potentially sell “Perfect Season” shirts after the 2009 regular season. And so, once again, the fans suffer.

NFL PRIMETIME

There is no question losing the best show on television hurts the most. Now, you might be asking, how could the commissioner possibly have been involved in this one?

Easy. NFL PrimeTime was called such because it was the prelude to ESPN’s Sunday Night Football, which always played second-fiddle to ABC’s Monday Night Football. Understandable, because tradition had always been that Monday Night Football was a massive event and the game’s biggest regular-season stage.

But as the TV contract, which of course is the biggest revenue-generator for the league, changed, so too did the landscape of great football scheduling as we know it. NBC now took over Sunday Night Football, meaning ESPN could not do its traditional highlight show, which had run for 19 seasons on the genius of Chris Berman and Tom Jackson’s brilliant chemistry.

That instead went to NBC and the NFL Network, and a cheap imitation version entitled “The Blitz” put to shame 19 years of wonderful television. Now, most viewers shudder as they listen to the overly sarcastic tandem of Dan Patrick and Keith Olbermann do highlights with some snarky analysis by Rodney Harrison mixed in.

Mondays are now reserved to watch snoozefests like San Diego-Jacksonville or St. Louis-Seattle, while NBC now has the right to be flexible late in the year and force-feed America an overdose of the Giants, Cowboys, Patriots, and Steelers.

And there is no great highlight show to temper any of this angst.

WHEN THE PRO BOWL WAS PLAYED AFTER THE SUPER BOWL

The only logic I can somewhat agree with Goodell on here is that the Super Bowl, being the ultimate game, should be just that – the ultimate game. Save the best for last, sure. In theory, it sounds nice. But what it does is further jeopardize a game that was already deemed meaningless by fans and players alike.

Believe it or not, there have been some enjoyable Pro Bowls in recent years, and the players that were selected actually treated the experience like one that may not have the joy of being a part of again.

Nowadays, playing it the week before the Super Bowl – during the wretched “Dark Week” created so the media can over-hype the Big Game – makes it so fans don't get to see arguably the best players, the ones participating on Super Bowl Sunday, in Honolulu.

And speaking of Honolulu, what a joke is was the one year when it was moved to the mainland U.S. I know because I was there, sitting in the rain in Miami as fans had no idea who or what to cheer for. Something just didn't feel right. I remember leaving early in the third period and seeing a Chargers player who had the same idea – linebacker Brandon Siler did not want to subject his friends and family to this mockery of a display of a football.

But additionally, with the Pro Bowl now moved up two weeks, you get far fewer stars who want to participate because they have been left less recuperation time from the regular season or playoffs. You also rob the conference championship game-losing coaches from getting a consolation prize for coming so close, as now the game is coached by the divisional round loser with the best record (so essentially the coach whose team pulled the biggest choke gets the free trip to Hawaii).

If you want to have any chance to see this game get any attention again, Roger, I suggest you put it back to after the Super Bowl, perhaps pay the players more money to participate (I'm not saying they need it, I'm just being a realist that money talks), and allow all players (not just ones that didn't reach the Super Bowl) to be a part of the festivities.

It may not improve things, but it certainly can't make them any worse.

THE UNIQUE SUPER BOWL LOGOS

This is really an underratedly large issue I have with the league. One of the coolest things about the Super Bowl, especially when your team isn’t playing in it, is the logo and the memorabilia available with each individual game. I always thought each Super Bowl had its own personality, and the logos reflected the originality of every year’s game being a little different in its own right.

More importantly, it gave each city a little bit of status to design something that reflects its connection to the game. It was also neat to see it painted on the field to give viewers a little bit of colorfulness and it was also kind of cool seeing the small patches on the players’ jerseys and helmets.

What has replaced this is a grisly, unoriginal and, frankly, phallic symbol that says exactly what Goodell is thinking: This game, and this league, is larger than life, and everybody knows it. The giant Lombardi Trophy protruding from a large globe-shaped design of the stadium where the game is being played makes it look more like it belongs on the cover an X-rated film than on football’s biggest stage.

I can’t wait until the 2015 season, when the Roman Numerals are condensed to one letter: “L”. That is fitting, because the NFL is the biggest loser here in making this switch.

New York Giants: The St. Louis Cardinals of football

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 21:49:30 +0100

I saw a Facebook post yesterday that had a picture of Eli Manning paying homage to the well-known Dos Equis ad for The Most Interesting Man in the World.

As the commercial's star says “I don't always drink beer, but when I do I prefer Dos Equis,” this photo said “I don't always get to the Super Bowl, but when I do, I beat the Patriots.”

Clever, indeed. And fitting, both for the New York Giants and their new baseball counterparts, the St. Louis Cardinals.

Last year's baseball darlings won a second championship in six years despite a less-than-stellar regular season, just as the Giants did this year in becoming the first 9-7 team to win the Super Bowl. For Big Blue, it was their second Super Bowl victory in five years.

David Freese is to Eli Manning what cheesecake is to dessert. Both proved their mettle in the clutch to cap improbable postseason runs. Though Freese was a newbie on the championship stage, his game-saving heroics almost equal that of Manning's two Super Bowl MVP awards.

When the Cardinals won their first World Series in 2006, they too set the bar as low as any team ever had in the regular season. An 83-78 record was good enough to win the NL Central, but bad enough to be the worst record by a World Series champion in modern history. Just like the 9-7 Giants.

But as if these teams' first 2000's title run weren't incredible enough, they saved the best for round two. The 2011 Cardinals more closely represented the 2007 Giants, just as the 06 Cards were more comparable to this year's G-Men.

St. Louis trailed by 10.5 games in the Wild Card race in late August, and spent the rest of the regular season playing virtual elimination games. They reached the playoffs on the season's last day, and never looked back.

The Giants were 7-7 but by good fortune of being in the tepid NFC East, were still alive on the season's final day. A win over division rival Dallas set them on their merry way.

Chris Carpenter proved he has ice water in his veins with his gutsy, three-hit shutout to give the Cardinals a 1-0 win in Game 5 of the NLDS against baseball's best team, the Philadelphia Phillies. The Giants showed their grit by withstanding the ferocious 49ers defense in the NFC Championship Game to win in overtime.

The World Series and Super Bowl this year were equally dramatic. Granted, Game 7 was a bit of a dud after perhaps the greatest game of all time in Game 6, but the World Series' first seven-game set since 2002 was well worth the price of admission.

Though Super Bowl XLVI didn't feature the circus-like offense that we've grown accustomed to this year, the season literally was in the air until the final Hail Mary fell incomplete, as the Giants capped yet another comeback win on football's biggest stage over the Patriots.

One has to wonder who will be living more of the high life these days, Freese or Manning? Granted, Eli was already a household name having won a previous Super Bowl, and being a star quarterback in New York isn't too shabby. But Freese's seeming emergence out of nowhere is always a compelling story, not to mention doing so in your hometown in front of baseball's best fans.

Resilient franchises, the Cards and Giants both celebrated their second title of the decade following a humbling trip to the finals in their previous appearances. The Giants were throttled by the Ravens in Super Bowl XXXV, 34-7, while the Cardinals were swept by the Red Sox in the 2004 Series. But with 11 World Series titles and four Super Bowl championships, St. Louis and New York still rank among their sports' elite franchises.

The Cardinals and Giants certainly don't always get to the big stage, but when they do, magic happens.

Super Bowl XLVI: History Repeats Itself

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 22:03:36 +0100

Line: Patriots by 2½

This isn’t a movie I wanted to watch again, but it’s the Super Bowl, so we give it our due diligence as American citizens. The Patriots and Giants at least figure to put on a heck of a show, just as they did four years ago in Glendale. Rather evenly matched, there are advantages and disadvantages for both clubs. A further look:

Quarterbacks – Tom Brady vs. Eli Manning

“I believe in Eli,” said Deion Sanders. Many people now do, but who isn’t convinced Tom Brady is going to seize the opportunity to finally join his idol Joe Montana? Both quarterbacks have the moxie to win in the fourth quarter, but Brady is rarely rattled, even though the Giants got after him in Super Bowl XLII. Despite Eli’s fourth-quarter heroics in 2011, no one is better with the game on the line than the Golden Boy Brady. Edge: PATRIOTS.

Running backs – Green-Ellis/Woodhead vs. Jacobs/Bradshaw

The thunder/lightning combo of Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw can be lethal when they get going. The Patriots don’t need to run much but were effective doing so in the AFC championship game. Both Giants backs can make the big play when they need to, giving them a slight advantage. Edge: GIANTS.

Receivers – Welker/Branch vs. Cruz/Nicks/Manningham

Perhaps no one is more underrated going into this game than Brady’s BFF Deion Branch. He gives the Patriots a vertical element many don’t feel they have. Welker is deadly from the slot and can beat teams deep. The Giants’ trio is also quite imposing, particularly the record-setting Cruz. Nicks did not play in the teams’ first meeting, but Manningham came up with a clutch touchdown reception in the fourth quarter. With New England’s secondary being even more suspect than the Giants’, New York gets the slight nod here. Edge: GIANTS.

Tight ends – Gronkowski/Hernandez vs. Jake Ballard

This one isn’t even close. Even if Rob Gronkowski’s ankle isn’t 100%, he and Hernandez are matchup nightmares for defenses. Both tight ends caught touchdowns in the first meeting and will be key this time around. Ballard also made two enormous catches in that game, including the winning score, but he does not present nearly the type of challenges that New England’s duo does. Edge: PATRIOTS.

Defensive line – Wilfork vs. JPP/Osi/Tuck

Vince Wilfork is a nightmare for interior linemen, but the front four of the Giants is ferocious. New York matches up well with New England because of their ability to get pressure on Brady without blitzing, and if the Giants get the lead this group could tee off. Edge: GIANTS.

Linebackers – Mayo/Spikes vs. Boley/Kiwanuka

Jerod Mayo and Brandon Spikes are fast and instinctive and capable of making plays in the passing game, even though Michael Boley and Mathias Kiwanuka are stout as well. The speed of New England’s linebackers, including Rob Ninkovich, could hinder the Giants’ running game. Edge: PATRIOTS.

Secondary – Arrington/Chung vs. Rolle/Webster/Phillips

Neither secondary is very dependable and struggles to prevent the big play. Julian Edelman, a natural wideout, could see time playing DB. New England’s secondary is opportunistic and New York’s is physical. But the veteran experience of the Giants’ defensive backs makes their impact potentially more prominent. Edge: GIANTS.

Special Teams

Both kickers are solid and both punters are dependable, while coverage teams are adequate. Danny Woodhead is an underrated returner despite a fumble last week, and Julian Edelman could potentially break one on punt return duties. Edge: PATRIOTS.

Coaching – Bill Belichick vs. Tom Coughlin

Some are wondering if Tom Coughlin will become a Hall of Fame coach with a win, but there is no doubt about Belichick. He could lead the Patriots to a winning season with a roster of high school players as long as Brady was still his quarterback. He even proved he can win without Brady when he did so with Matt Cassel. Any deficiencies the Patriots have, Belichick can mask. And weaknesses the Giants have, he can exploit. Coughlin is a good motivator and a smart coach, but he is no Belichick. Edge: PATRIOTS.

Intangibles

The revenge factor and the fact that the writing has seemingly been on the wall since the day the lockout was lifted heavily favor New England. Tom Brady is not likely to lose two straight Super Bowls, to the same team no less. He has a chance to finally join his idol Joe Montana in football lore, and having already played the Giants this year Belichick will make the necessary adjustments. Only eight players remain from the 2007 squad that lost to the Giants, but New England will be calm and collected because of their coach. The Pats have won 10 in a row, and seem to have that good karma that touches them just about every year going again. The notion of the Giants repeating their 2007 postseason gem seems to good to be true. Edge: PATRIOTS.

Prediction

As I said above, a franchise with so much good luck and karma losing two straight Super Bowls to the same team seems highly unlikely. The Giants will be in big trouble if their pass rush is ineffective, because like New England they have issues in the secondary. As good as New York’s receivers are, a slow start could doom the Giants. They play games close to the vest, and if we’ve learned anything from last week’s game, there is just too much that can go wrong against New England in a close game, even when considering what happened in Super Bowl XLII. The ultimate cherry on top would be Brady surpassing his idol Montana for most playoff wins in the city of one of his biggest rivals. Patriots 33, Giants 23.

Writing has been on the wall all year for Patriots; destiny begs in Indy

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 20:57:44 +0100

Even from the moment you realized the Super Bowl was being played in Indianapolis, you had to know that the Patriots would be in the mix.

Then, the lockout happened, giving an edge to all of last year’s top teams (New England had the NFL’s best mark at 14-2).

But then came Week 1, and Patriot fans could have booked their trips to Indianapolis. When the Dolphins predictably, and fruitlessly, ran a fade pattern on 4^th-and-goal at the 1 and Wes Welker followed with a back-breaking, 99-yard touchdown reception, the game, and frankly season, was over.

Virtually the same thing happened in Week 2, when yours truly yelled at Norv Turner through the TV set and begged him to kick the field goal on 4^th-and-goal at the 1 trailing New England by three in the second quarter. Instead, the NFL’s worst coach went for it, Mike Tolbert got stuffed, and the Patriots erased any doubt with another 99-yard touchdown drive.

New England was a mere 5-3 through eight games, and there was hope that maybe they had returned to earth. But one glance at their second-half schedule reminded you that there wasn’t another loss in sight.

They clobbered the hapless Jets, then when Matt Cassel broke his hand, they got to face one of the worst quarterbacks in NFL history in Kansas City’s Tyler Palko. A week later, rather than deal with the lethal Michael Vick, they got sad-sack Vince Young and, inevitably, another victory.

Their final five games? Try Dan Orlovsky, Rex Grossman, Tim Tebow, Matt Moore, and Ryan Fitzpatrick. That’s 5-0 without breaking a sweat. Their final record was 13-3, a mark Brady had not yet achieved. Thrice he had gone 14-2 and went 12-4 in 2006, but now he had a 13-3 for his resume as well.

However, nothing would top what happened in the playoffs. Perhaps we should have known even before the Patriots miraculously escaped the Ravens in the AFC title game that they were well on their way to the big game. It all started in Denver, with God’s other son, Tim Tebow.

Pittsburgh was a heavy favorite and loomed as New England’s divisional round opponent. That would have made things tricky for the Pats, as the Steelers dominated them in a 25-17 win in Week 8 that wasn’t as close as the score indicated. Surely, hope that New England would finally have to earn their way after not beating a team above .500 in the regular season.

But folks, we’re talking about the Patriots here. Tim Tebow made sure the magic carpet ride continued.

The league’s top pass defense was facing the league’s worst passer, perhaps in history. Ben Roethlisberger is a two-time Super Bowl champion, and the Broncos were an 8-8 team that had lost their last three games. So naturally, the absurd happened.

Tebow threw for 316 yards (a fitting number for him), including an 80-yard touchdown on the first play of overtime, and somehow, inexplicably, the defending AFC champs were gone. No rhyme or reason, other than it made life easier for New England.

Denver went to Foxborough thinking they had a chance, but that was wiped away less than two minutes into the game, and Tom Brady threw six touchdowns passes in a 45-10 demolition of one of the worst playoff teams of all time.

Once again, the Patriots hardly had to exert any effort against a mediocre team to reach the doorstep of the Super Bowl.

And we save the best for last, the AFC Championship Game.

A better team arrived in New England in the Ravens, but an intimidated one as well. Baltimore did everything but win the game, and again in fitting fashion, New England was aided by a one-time Buffalo Bill. Remember, the Bills franchise has been overly kind to the Patriots this past decade.

Lee Evans failed to secure what would have been the game-winning touchdown pass, as it was knocked away by undrafted, rookie free agent safety (yes, you read that right) Sterling Moore. The youngster Moore then deflected a third-down pass to force Baltimore into a chip-shot field goal to tie the game.

But remember, this is New England. An extra point isn’t even a chip-shot.

The Ravens bumbled their way into the attempt, and journeyman kicker Billy Cundiff channeled his inner-Ray Finkle and shanked the kick wide left with the laces out. While most Ravens fans were left in shock, I simply shook my head and muttered, “I knew it.”

Sure, it sounds pessimistic and bitter, but there is some vindication in knowing that you can see the signs in advance. The night prior to the game, I looked at the Patriots roster and wondered who would be Sunday’s unsung hero.

Tom Brady? Come on, been there done that. Rob Gronkowski? That’s too obvious. Even Wes Welker, Deion Branch, BenJarvus Green-Ellis, and Vince Wilfork were too unoriginal.

No, I pinpointed two defensive newbies – Mark Anderson and Moore. Anderson was a cast-off defensive end from Chicago and Houston despite solid production, and he made me feel smart with a sack on the game’s second possession as the Ravens failed to get a first down in their first two drives.

But Moore saved the best, and most painful, for last. The young man that couldn’t keep a job with the Raiders felt the divine spirit at just the right moment and made the play to send New England, and more importantly its obnoxious, spoiled, entitled fans to the city of their archrival to watch Tom Terrific join his idol Joe Montana in NFL lore.

We haven’t even played the Super Bowl yet, but lest we forget this is Brady’s final frontier of destiny, to avenge the Super Bowl XLII loss that cost New England its perfect* (please note the asterisk) season.

The Giants beating the Patriots in yet another Super Bowl? That doesn’t happen to the Golden Child. Bill Belichick remembers, adjusts, and defeats, especially his former employer. Bon Jovi will be there rooting on his buddy, too.

You can expect a perfectly symmetrical flip of the script, as I figure New England will win in the same fashion the Giants did in 2008. That sent thousands of “Patriots 19-0 Perfect Season” shirts to less fortunate youth in Nicaragua rather than fans parading the streets of Boston.

Gronkowski, high ankle sprain and all, will find a way to get it done. Danny Woodhead, Brandon Spikes, Zoltan Mesko, and Patrick Chung? I full expect at least one of those players to make a massive impact.

Don’t be surprised if longtime Patriot Kevin Faulk (for the record, the only New England player to pre-date Belichick) plays a key role on the field where he came up just short on Belichick’s infamous 4^th-and-2 gamble against the Colts in 2009.

Because remember, no matter the circumstances, the Patriots always get their retribution. Sorry, Giants fans. The writing has been on the wall since day one. Etched in stone, then written over with permanent marker.

Stunning similarities between 2007, 2011 Giants

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 21:27:15 +0100

If it feels like you are watching NFL reruns this January, you are not alone.

The Patriots and Giants are meeting in the Super Bowl (stop me if you’ve heard this one before), a week after both utilized epic goat-like performances by the Ravens and 49ers, respectively, to set up a rematch of Super Bowl XLII.

Minus the 19-0 subplot of 2007, New England returns to this showdown as a No. 1 seed while the Giants come in as a No. 4 this time (they were a wild card and No. 5 seed in ’07).

But the similarities don’t stop there. Not even close, at least for the Giants.

That Big Blue squad was 10-6, and at the time became just the second six-loss team to win the Super Bowl (Green Bay did it last year). If they win Super Bowl XLVI, they will become the first-ever 9-7 team to take home the Lombardi Trophy.

Both the ’07 and ’11 squads began 6-2 and had many people singing their praises. This year’s pinnacle of the first half was a 24-20, comeback victory over the same Patriots they will meet on February 5. But things started to go south, just as they did four seasons ago.

In 2007, the Giants put their 6-2 mark on the line against division rival Dallas, a team that had beaten them once already. The Cowboys put a stranglehold on the NFC East with a 31-20 win, and the Giants would ultimately settle for a wild card berth.

This year, their 6-2 mark turned into a 6-6 debacle in a hurry. They lost to San Francisco – who, like with Dallas in ’07, the Giants figured they would see again down the road – then followed that up with a home loss to the Eagles and a blowout loss in New Orleans.

Then came perhaps the ultimate symmetry. In Week 13, starting 6-6 in the face, the Giants welcomed in the 11-0 Green Bay Packers in an attempt to thwart their quest for perfection. It was similar to the 2007 finale, when the Giants, albeit in a meaningless game for them, hosted the 15-0 Patriots attempting to complete the perfect season.

In a hard-fought game against Green Bay, Mason Crosby drilled a last-second field goal to give the Packers a 38-35 win. Fittingly, that was the same score the Giants lost to the Patriots by on that Saturday night at the end of the 2007 season.

Both games proved to be wake-up calls for the G-Men. Everyone remembers their stellar postseason run in 2007 that began with a dominant win over Tampa Bay. This time, it was a season-saving, 37-34 victory in Dallas after New York trailed by 12 points late in the fourth quarter.

But just when it seemed same to assume the Giants were back, the Redskins came to town in Week 15. In 2007, Eli Manning had one of the worst games of his professional career, setting the NFL record for most incompletions in a game as the Giants lost to the Redskins, 22-10, and lost Jeremy Shockey to a broken leg in the process.

This time in Week 15, the Redskins came to town seeking a season-sweep. Indeed, they got it, as Manning threw three picks and the Giants lost. The score? 23-10. Eerie.

The season’s final two weeks were momentum-shifters for the Giants, much like Weeks 16 and 17 were in 2007. In ‘07, the Giants turned a 14-0 deficit in Buffalo into a 38-21 win in the snow. In ’11, Victor Cruz may have changed fate for good with a 99-yard touchdown reception as the Giants knocked off the Jets, 29-14.

In Week 17, rather than simply playing to prevent perfection this time, the Giants needed to win just to get in, and they rose to the occasion with a 31-14 win over the Cowboys to complete the season-sweep. This time they earned a home playoff game against an NFC South team, with Atlanta being their opponent rather than the Bucs.

A 24-2 drubbing of the Falcons sent New York to Green Bay to avenge an earlier loss to the conference’s top-seed, just as they went to Dallas in 2007 to avenge their two regular-season losses. The defense turned it up a notch, and the Packers never knew what hit them.

In a flash, their 15-1 season was gone, and the Giants were on their way to the NFC Championship Game with a 37-20 win. In 2007, they ended Dallas’ 13-3 dream season with a 21-17 upset.

And then there is the NFC Championship game parallel. In ’07, the Giants went to Lambeau to face a Packers team that had lost to way back in Week 2. In ’11, the Giants returned to San Francisco to try and avenge a 27-20 loss to the 49ers in Week 10.

Both times, celebration ensued as Lawrence Tynes hit overtime field goals to give Big Blue the George Halas Trophy. 23-20 over the Packers, and now 20-17 over the Niners.

And so now here we are again, with the Giants looking to capture another Super Bowl win over the favored New England Patriots. Last time, it was Manning to David Tyree to keep the drive alive, then Manning to Plaxico Burress to complete the epic finish.

As so many things have repeated themselves four years later, will history repeat itself once again in Indianapolis? We shall see.

Bug Selig briefs on baseball at WCBF

Sun, 22 Jan 2012 02:26:36 +0100

I was fortunate enough to get a couple minutes in a mini-scrum -- actually, just me and an LA Times writer -- with Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig at the World Children's Baseball Fair awards luncheon at the Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles. Selig touched on the potential purchase of the Dodgers and the Angels' Hot Stove moves this offseason:

(On Frank McCourt buying the team in 2004)

"Well it's interesting. The sport was never happy about it. It's manifested itself in so many ways. I'm really proud of what we've done, and I think that's contributed to it. There is intense interest in the Dodgers. [They] are one of the great signature franchises. Why there's more interest in it seven or eight years later, I'm not sure. But I can tell you now that there is intense interest. And I really do beileve... that there is another manifestation of being in the golden era. This sport is very popular. It's hitting places all over. It's been wonderful.

(On how TV rights have impacted the sport's popularity)

"I wouldn't doubt that at all. But the sport itself is so popular, that for a lot of reasons including TV that I think it's really a myriad of things, but that simply is one of the primary reasons."

(On how Pujols' addition changes the scope of the West Coast market in baseball)

"I like what's happened this winter. I think it's good for the sport. The American League West now has a very intense rivalry. And the more of that we can get, the better it is [for the sport]."

Championship Game picks; A Harbaugh Bowl looming?

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 20:18:27 +0100

We’ve reached the Final Four and perhaps more refreshingly, two of the league’s three offensive sideshows have been put to rest. The Saints and Packers and their circus-like attack will be home watching three teams at least built in large part on defense, while the one dragon left to slay resides in Foxborough. The Ravens and Giants are built to win on the road, but in championship weekend history, only twice have both road teams won (1992 and 1997). Still, from 1997-2005 at least one road team won each year, though it’s happened only twice in the past five seasons. Baltimore and New England have played close games in their history but haven’t met this season, while Giants-49ers is a rematch from Week 10, won by San Francisco, 27-20.

Last week: 3-1

Postseason: 5-3

Baltimore at New England (-7)

Analysis: These teams always play pretty tight games, so those predicting another Patriots playoff rout may be out of luck. Baltimore brings a defense, New England brings an offense, this much we know. What ultimately will decide the game is the other matchup, particularly Joe Flacco and how well his offensive line protects him. Ray Rice needs to have a big – nay, monstrous – day for the Ravens to win, but he’s done it before, most notably in the 2009 Wild Card victory for the Ravens. Baltimore might have trouble slowing down Patriots tight ends Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez, but a strong red-zone defense, solid run game, and sheer confidence will allow them to keep this one close throughout. Whether or not that results in a trip to Indianapolis remains to be seen. The pick: Ravens.

New York Giants at San Francisco (-2.5)

Analysis: In Week 10, the 6-2 Giants met the 7-1 49ers and people believed the 49ers would begin their descent to earth. Rather, it was the Giants who began a slide, falling 27-20, as San Francisco cruised to a 13-3 record while Big Blue needed a Week 17 win to get in at 9-7. New York is conjuring up memories of their 2007 title run, but they did not face a defense the caliber of the one they will see Sunday during that postseason. Frank Gore missed more than half of that first meeting, and with poor weather conditions expected, he could be the X-factor in a facet of the game the 49ers already expect to have an edge in. Eli Manning is on fire, but Alex Smith proved he can handle the playoff pressure, and if Gore gets going early, that neutralizes the Giants’ biggest strength, their pass rush. I expect this one to be close throughout, but the formula for success of a good run game and great defense favors the 49ers. This is the sixth rematch of a regular-season meeting, with the team that won the first meeting being 4-1 in those rematches thus far. The Giants are the lone exception, avenging a 38-35 loss to Green Bay at Lambeau last Sunday. The pick: 49ers.