By David J. Cohen
The 7th ranked Florida Gators defeated the Kentucky Wildcats 95-80 Saturday night. Florida dictated the style of play from the tip and dominated Kentucky in the second half. It was an impressive victory for the team that should turn some critics into believers of the “orange and blue.”
Super Bowl XL should have been Peyton Manning’s coming out party. Instead, he was watching like the rest of us. The Steelers were on a mission.
The New York Knicks are in some trouble. Kobe Bryant got the rebound off of a Channing Frye three and now Bryant is hustling down court with the basketball in his hands like there’s no tomorrow. But, wait. All of a sudden Jamal Crawford comes up behind Bryant and swats the ball away, but then underrated newcomer Smush Parker picks up the ball and jams the dunk. Ah, same old, same old. Kind of what the Knick’s season has been like. Down, up…..down.
Listen folks, I’m not saying that the refs called a great Super Bowl and that we should be praising the ground they walk on, but here’s the bottom line: Pittsburgh won the game. They did it fair and square.
By David J Cohen
On January 31st, Seahawks TE Jerramy Stevens made this “inflammatory” remark when asked about the Jerome Bettis story: “It’s a heartwarming story and all that, but it will be a sad day when he leaves without that trophy.” This made Steelers LB Joey Porter “thirsty for blood” (apparently he’s a vampire) and became the draw that was supposed to make the Seahawks and Steelers hate each other. Then it was finally Super Bowl Sunday, the game kicked off, and it wasn’t long before everyone outside of Pittsburgh fell asleep.
Even though Stevens’s quote was blown out of proportion, he did open his mouth, and since he is a “receiving” TE I have to say it: If you’re going to run your mouth, when the time finally comes to back up your words, CATCH THE DAMN BALL! Apparently he skipped training camp.
Ever since the glory days of the late 90’s with Juan Gonzalez, Ivan Rodriguez, and Rusty Greer at the helm, the Texas Rangers have gone south. Their pitching rotation in their division-winning 1998 season wasn’t even that good by today’s standards. Aside from 20-game winner Rick Helling (20-7) and a 19-11 Aaron Sele, the Rangers rotation seemed less than ordinary, with Darren Oliver going 6-7, Esteban Loaiza pitching to the tune of a 3-6 record, and #3 starter John Burkett hitting a 9-13 mark. Ever since then, the Rangers have had poor starting pitching.
Now, those days are gone…as are the faces of the organization. Ivan Rodriguez moved on to Florida; now, he plays in Detroit. Juan Gonzalez is still in the game, but he has all but dropped from the face of the earth. Rusty Greer has retired. John Wetteland (42 saves in ’98) has also retired. Yes, the pitching has gotten progressively worse. 2006 could be the year that all changes.
Despite my instinct to avoid the subject, I can’t help calling out a blatant misuse of the race card by one Donovan McNabb, quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles. Amid the 24-hour hype of Super Bowl XL on ESPN, McNabb reared his ugly (and oversized) head on SportsCenter with a hypocritical, one-sided analysis of his feud with Terrell Owens.
That is the extent of my expert analysis, but for a Super Bowl that was XL sized those few words sum up the entire game. The Pittsburgh Steelers made a few huge plays and the Seattle Seahawks made too many tiny mistakes.
By Sean Quinn
Trix may be for kids, but tricks are still for the NFL. Gadgets are for late-night infomercials on E-TV, The Technology Channel. So when talking to your colleagues tomorrow at the water cooler, don’t call Antwaan Randle El’s 43-yard touchdown throw to Hines Ward a gadget play, declare it a trick play.
I’ll come clean. I rooted for the Seahawks. I picked them to win and I wanted them to win. (Since I’m 1-4 in rooting interest in my last five Super Bowls, it probably doomed them. I’m sorry, Seattle fans.) However, that doesn’t change the fact that this Super Bowl was handed to the Pittsburgh Steelers.