nfl-general
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.
Is there anyone in the world who is not a Steelers fan who thinks the game was fairly officiated? That was one of the worst officiated games in the history of the NFL. Bill Leavy just took Dick Bavetta off the hook for worst official in a championship game.
Super Bowl Forty is in less then a week. Congratulations Mike Holmgren, and of course Ben Roethlisberger and the Boys from Pitt. How could we leave them out, right? And what about Shaun Alexander in Seattle. Maybe that twenty seven straight days of rain helped a little bit, right? Maybe it just might give the Hawks the mentality to rain all over Pittsburgh for sixty straight minutes of gratifying football.
Here’s my super bowl preview.
After nearly two weeks of waiting, the Super Bowl is almost here. And still there’s compelling reasons to pick both teams. Here are your (slightly less than scientific) picks for the Superbowl.
You can listen to accompanying podcast here.
There are several big holidays every year around the world. Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter, Valentine’s Day, and New Year’s Day are some to name. Then again, there are several “unofficial” days that people around the planet celebrate with utmost happiness. One of those unofficial holidays draws the biggest attention of any holiday besides Christmas. This holiday is called Super Bowl Sunday, and it’s shaping up to be a heck of a good one this year. No, there are no gifts to unwrap or turkeys to stuff, but there are soft drinks to drink and potato chips to eat. So on February the 5th, sit back and relax, let the Steelers and Seahawks do all the work. Trust me; it will be a heavy workload for them.
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The media continues to hype up the NFL beyond comprehension.
I have always mused that one of the main reasons the NFL is considered “America’s favorite sport” is because the games are only played once per week. If baseball or basketball had the same week-long build up that, say, a November game between the Bengals and Colts received, then I have no doubt that Yankees-Red Sox would out draw even the most attractive football tilt. This is not to take anything away from a Sunday at your local NFL stadium, which – like a Sunday afternoon at Fenway or Wrigley – continues to be Americana personified, but the media contributes too mightily to football’s current aura of supremacy.
The Steelers and Panthers are nice stories, but they will end in Seattle and Denver on Sunday.
So much for the dream of a perfect 11-0 playoff season – the Colts ruined all of that. Thanks a lot, Peyton! This week, we look at two great conference championship games, Steelers at Broncos, and Panthers at Seahawks.
You can listen to in depth analysis of this week’s picks as well as a discussion on our podcast or subscribe via this feed.