Here’s What’s On the Super Bowl Line Fan Guys

Posted on February 3, 2012 by | 1 Comment

Some of you aren’t prepared for Sunday Night, when Super Bowl XLVI is over and one team is holding the Lombardi Trophy. Some of you aren’t ready for the consequences. Some of you aren’t ready to face reality and eat your own words. Basically, some of you are terrible fans who only know how to

If the Patriots win, here’s what the reality will be: Tom Brady will officially be in the ‘best ever’ category. The same Tom Brady that you can’t stand. The same Tom Brady that you call soft because he doesn’t like getting hit, guess what jabroni, no quarterback likes being hit. Quarterbacks are increasingly more successful when they aren’t hit, therefore they don’t like being hit. Montana and Bradshaw didn’t enjoy getting hit, and Brady could tie them with the most Super Bowl wins. You go out there and win 3-Super Bowls, about to play in your 5th, take a few hits, maintain the same great level of play for 11-years, take a few more hits and do it all over again and then tell me how it’s done. I’m interested to hear how you could do it better. You can barely throw a spiral on Madden, thread the needle between two defenders on a 25-yard post pattern and then talk to me.

Tom Brady – who you do nothing but call a pussy, gay, soft, and not as good as Aaron Rodgers – is on the brink of 4-Super Bowl victories. In today’s NFL, that is an extraordinary feat. Roethlisberger with two rings is impressive, four would be through the roof. Then what are you going to say fanguy? What can you possibly say? Oh yeah, you can still call the Patriots cheaters because of ‘Spy Gate.’ If that’s all you have, you don’t have much. And eventually you’re just going to have to shut up. The Patriots are within a hairs breathe of dynasty status. Belichick and Brady are about to go down as one of the best duos the game has ever seen. Yet, in my travels as I bounce around from place to place, all I hear is the Patriots suck. You can’t be serious? That’s not even remotely clever.

If the Giants win, here’s what the reality will be: I know you hate Eli Manning and I get it. He’s not the most likable guy. His body language sucks. He’s goofy, he always has a pouting look on his face with a chance of breaking down into tears; but the dude is killing it right now. Eli, who you don’t respect – is 60 minutes away from winning his 2nd Super Bowl. He would one-up his brother who you say is miles and miles better than Eli.

I bet you can’t begin to comprehend what that would be like. I’m sure it would suck for you to have to live in a world where Eli Manning is on his way to the Hall of Fame. You win two Super Bowls in the NFL, you’re in the Hall and it’s as simple as that. He’s tough as nails, he’s playing as good as any quarterback in the league (maybe better than Brady right now) and his play deserves respect. I know it’s difficult to cope with haters. You have to adapt. It can’t always be Aaron Rodgers and Ben Roesthlisberger. It can’t always be Drew Brees and Peyton Manning.

Break down the receivers and tell me who’s better? Break down the receivers and tell me who is really great? Victor Cruz has emerged as a force in the NFL, but no one knew his name a year ago. We always talk about #1 receivers. That a team must have a good #1 to be successful. Well, the Giants don’t have one. Manningham, Nicks, Cruz? Those guys are all #2′s on 20 other teams. Sorry, Eli has made these guys viable threats and if they don’t get big contracts with NY, they will elsewhere. You want to think Wes Welker is All-Pro, but he caught 96 passes in 3 years in Miami. Tom Brady makes Welker look invincible. Deion Branch went to Seattle and disappeared. Not including 2011, Branch caught for 3,450 yards in New England before he left to Seattle including when he came back in 2010. In his four in-between years with Seattle, the same Deion Branch caught for 2,347 yards. Are you telling me Brady doesn’t make him look good? Rob Gronkowski is nasty, but how many other teams use the same style offensive scheme as New England? The tight-end position is drastically changing in the NFL, contributed to guys like Gates and Gonzalez, but the Patriots are changing the game even further. That’s where coaching comes into play. Belichick has discovered that multiple tight-ends create tougher mismatches than big wide-receiver sets. And when plays aren’t directly designed for the tight-ends, extra blocking becomes implemented and Brady now has safety valves underneath. This is all predicated on coaching, it’s not an accident.

And it can’t always be cool, hip coaches like Mike Tomlin and McCarthy (who’s the most overrated coach in NFL history). This year you get two guys who are incapable of cracking a smile. Tom Coughlin will have his hands on hips making strange faces for 3.5 hours. And Bill Belichick is just too damn serious. Hoodie doesn’t show his teeth to the dentist. Hoodie has the personality of a rock, but he might be the best coach since Bill Walsh. Both of these coaches are top shelf. The sign of a great coach is not only how his team performs, but do they play hard every single play? Not one player from either of the two teams takes a play off. There’s something to be said for their disciplinarian approach in professional sports. It’s always been said that it doesn’t work, but Hoodie and Coughlin are proof that it does.

This is one of my favorite Super Bowls of all-time. It’s one of the most intriguing championship games in recent memory. Baseball and basketball are just a formality unless they reach a game 7. There’s a lot on the line. Historical implications are heavy. The NFL is a place where windows close quicker than they open. This could be New England’s last shot. The NFC, and the NFC East is not going anywhere either. I have officially overplayed and overhyped this game more than I ever wanted, but it’s a celebration of the great NFL season. And unlike other things..cough, cough, college football, this game is the way it should be. Both teams are deserving of the chance to win Super Bowl XLVI.

I already made the prediction against Vegas odds when they were at -3 for New England. Some books have now dropped it to -2.5. Here’s the prediction posted on 1/28/12, Super Bowl XLVI Prediction.

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The Commercials of the Super Bowl

Posted on February 1, 2012 by | Leave a comment

It’s the second level of the Super Bowl, it’s the incentive for women and weird guys who don’t like sports to watch the game, the commercials. It’s the most expensive 30-seconds, regurgitated with different faces and voices year after year attacking the same common thread, mass marketing. And when I say mass, that’s the number of people who will be watching these commercials. Last year, a record 111 million people watched the Super Bowl and this year is projected to be more.

The time vs. cost ratio is where the head-scratching begins. It’s a cost of somewhere in the 3.5 million range for each 30-second slot. First of all, 3.5 million for 30-seconds of time is an absolute joke. How many people do you know who make 3.5 million over the course of an entire year? And this 3.5 million, that once was a measly 1-1.5 million per, overnight has jumped to almost 4 for what overall purpose? Isn’t it just handshakes and business transactions so people will continue to have jobs? It’s invested funds, hidden beneath the giant pool of money. The money that doesn’t actually exist. It’s just bought and sold and traded back and forth and back and forth until some mogul eventually decides to cash out his retirement?

What’s the return on investment? If you’re a company like Coca-Cola, doesn’t the brand work for itself? We all know what Coke is, we all know where to get it and nothing has or is changing with Coke, right? It’s projected that Coca-Cola will spend 7 million for two commercials featuring those goddamn polar-bears. The same polar-bears that Coke has used since I was a kid. Again, nothing is changing except the hidden agenda which will be focused on social networking, big surprise. Twitter and Facebook have their hands involved, and they have likely bankrolled Coca-Cola and they will get their necessary kickbacks. I don’t know about you, but a couple cute polar-bears meandering around doesn’t make me thirsty for a soft drink, and I will remain a Pepsi drinker as long as I have the option.

What about the car commercials? All the major auto-makers are sure to smear their ad feces all over the place. A funny commercial involving a car and a dog and a baby isn’t going to entice me to buy a car Monday morning. And I don’t see where it does for the average American. Average being, middle-class with a mortgage, family and a few cars sitting in the driveway. Last year there was a commercial that featured an Audi A8, which is a $70,000 dollar vehicle. Let me take a stab at the theory, spend 6-7 million with the chances that of the 111 million people watching, 100 people will buy the car the next day? It seems the chances are pretty good. But then again, someone with the financial prowess to purchase such a car, probably doesn’t need a commercial to remind them that they prefer luxury.

You’re sure to get a few beer commercials, and probably some Doritos or Tostitos spots. Not that anyone will already be eating Doritos. Not that people won’t be drinking beer. You want something new, why doesn’t Jack Daniels throw in a good commercial? Think about all those millions of people drinking beer at the bars. Liquor costs more money and it gives businesses a larger gross profit, it’s a win/win situation. You know damn well if you’re drinking beer and a commercial for Patron airs, it will remind you that you want a shot of $10 tequila. But a car commercial isn’t reminding me that I need to buy a car tomorrow, no matter how much money I have in my bank account.

The problem is, it’s the same kind of commercials every year. I propose that we change the game a little bit. We need a commercial about the absurdity of the commercials. We need a commercial with some empty suit flushing wads of money down a toilet. Or he can jump off a bridge after his bonuses fail to kick in because he approved the decision to spend an inexplicable amount of money for 30-seconds. Give me hot, oiled up girls playing football on a trampoline the size of a football field and the sponsor is Johnson & Johnson? That’s entertaining. I’m not easily entertained. I am entertained by the actual reason for the commercials, that sometimes seems to become lost in the shuffle, the game. There is a football game to be played folks. And, ultimately, I wish it could be ONLY the football game.

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Brady & Belichick, Best Ever QB/Coach Combo?

Posted on January 30, 2012 by | Leave a comment

If the Patriots win, would Tom Brady and Bill Belichick be the best QB/coach combination of all-time? Could they be considered the best and/or one of the best now? And does it really mean anything at all?

Dynasties are almost impossible in today’s professional sports. Twenty to thirty years ago and beyond, the idea of a dynasty was normal. Lakers, Bulls, Celtics, Steelers, 49ers, Yankees and UCLA basketball quickly come to mind. Since the last Lakers run with Shaq and Kobe, I can’t think of another example of a dynastic run, other than New England. To have a dynasty, a team must have consistency, stability and obviously greatness. The aforementioned franchises are the model for those characteristics. And when I think of New England I think of same things. No one has been better over a 10-year stretch in the NFL than the Patriots.

Since 2009 and including the postseason, the Pats have won 39 games and lost just 13. The rest of the division has lost 80 games including the Jets two losses in ’09 and ’10 AFC Championships. It might have appeared the Jets were dominating their division because they appeared in consecutive title games, but they won 7 fewer games and lost 9 more over the same time-span. Buffalo and Miami aren’t even worthy to talk about considering they lost a combined 20 games this season. And in 2010, the Bills lost 12. There’s a stark difference in how some NFL franchises are ran compared to others. The Patriots might be the best run organization in all of sports, not just the NFL. And their winning percentage since 2001 is proof. New England has not had a season where they finished below .500 since 2000. It’s one of the most impressive runs in the history of sports. And if they win Super Bowl XLVI, they will have won 4 of 5 Super Bowls in 10 years.

There’s only a handful of other comparable organizations today in the NFL. Indianoplis and Pittsburgh have been on great runs, although Indianapolis is dead in the water. The Packers and Saints could go on great runs; however Indy, New Orleans and Green Bay all have the same amount of championships New England does put together, three. It begs the question to be asked: What truly makes a great franchise great? The coach, quarterback or combination of both or star players? You want to say ‘star-power,’ but after Tom Brady there isn’t another marketable star on the Patriots (Ochocinco is toast). Maybe greatness is all about the front-office by making strong personnel moves through drafts and free-agency. That’s something the Patriots do well. They have guys like you never heard of in college with names you can barely pronounce making big plays and playing football the way it’s supposed to be played. It’s actually quite refreshing and it makes you wish your team was just as good.

My only other comparison is San Francisco. But then again, Walsh implemented a system in the ‘west-coast offense’ that was new, complex and just about unstoppable, especially with the personnel Montana had…cough, cough Jerry Rice and a top-5 defense for almost ten consecutive years. In today’s era of the NFL where parity is supposed to rule, teams aren’t supposed to dominate. And whether the Patriots win or lose come Super Bowl Sunday, 5 appearances in 10 years is pretty special.

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The Super Bowl XLVI Prediction

Posted on January 28, 2012 by | Leave a comment

If there ever was something I loathe, that I probably never should, it’s the Super Bowl.

I hate that everyone throws a party for the Super Bowl. I hate that women watch it and ask me too many questions because they don’t understand football because they don’t watch sports. “Does the Super Bowl get an extra quarter because it’s the final game of the season?” No drunk broad, now here’s a roofie.

I hate the commercials, and I hate that people (mostly women) only watch the Super Bowl for the commercials. The next morning on every “news” channel, there will be some crappy top 10 commercials segment. Suits and ties all waddling through their office hallways discussing not the game, but the hilarious Bud Light commercial. Oh, and by the way, that Tom Brady sure played good didn’t he? Wink wink nudge nudge, high-five and ass-slap.

I hate the always shiity and overdone halftime show featuring musicians 30 years past their prime. I hate that everyone watches the Super Bowl because they feel compelled. If you’re going to waste my time at least give me more ‘wardrobe malfunctions.’

I hate those guys who pretend to watch the Super Bowl when really their only focus is beer pong, jagermeister and trying to impress women. I hate the two weeks of hype. I hate the proverbial fanguy who says, “well, my team beat __________ (

As for the game. “What if the game finishes in a tie, do they both win?” Here’s another roofie.

The Patriots are -3 favorites. For you girls who are just learning football, that means the Patriots are expected to win by at least 3 points. And if the Giants lose by either less than 3 or win, they beat the spread.

The obvious bet here is New York, right?

Think about it, Baltimore would’ve won if they would’ve continued slinging the rock to Anquan Boldin who was being covered by Juian Edelman. If Edelman gets stuck on the field for an extended period of time, Eli will expose the mismatch in which any of their receivers will torch Edelman. Then there’s Rob Gronkowski for New England. It takes an entire city to take that guy down. Who’s going to cover him?

Going back to their week #9 game when the Giants won 24-20, Gronkowski had 8 catches for 101 yards. Wes Welker caught 9 for 136 yards. Do the Giants bank on the ‘bend but don’t break’ philosophy? Holding New England to just 20 points doesn’t happen very much. In fact, it only happened two times during the season, the other team was Dallas. You got to think if you can hold Tom Brady to 20 points, you have a chance to win. The Giants proved that to be true, and Eli provided a game-winning drive back in early November. The Giants were 6-2 after week #9 and looked as good as anyone. And the same can be said for their current run. And the Giants defense is a little better than the Patriots. Eli is playing lights out. I think the Giants are fully capable of playing in a shootout kind of game. New England’s defense was poorly ranked in the regular season, but I don’t think numbers mean a whole lot in the playoffs. If they did, the #1 and #2 seeds would generally always play for the Championship games.

You got to think Tom Brady is preparing for this game with Super Bowl XLII revenge on his mind. Imagine if Eli Manning beats Brady twice? Just imagine for a minute if Eli wins his second Super Bowl? Eli would have one more ring than his brother! Eli would instantly be Hall of Fame worthy! If Tom Brady wins, he’ll be tied at the top with Montana and Bradshaw for most of all-time and Brady would have the most postseason victories over Montana. There is a lot riding on this game. Dynasty vs. legacy vs. the sands of time. The Super Bowl is a difficult place to find. Some players never get the opportunity to play in just one Super Bowl. It could be Brady’s last chance? The NFC isn’t going to get any easier for New York.

My prediction: I can’t bet against the New York football Giants. As long as the spread remains +3, that’s a number I can’t find a way to turn down. Not with the way the Giants are playing right now. As the cliche goes, I just want to see a great game, and I really think it will be one for the ages.

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The Death of Boxing and It’s Popular Competitor

Posted on January 26, 2012 by | Leave a comment

The death of boxing can be attributed to what? I’ve spent a lot of time attempting to figure it out with no such luck. Maybe it was the demise of the heavyweight? After Tyson bit off Holyfield’s ear, credibility might have diminished a little. People lose interest when marketing is bad, because there’s no one to commercialize and the people that can be, suck in the first place. Boxing never learned how to reinvent itself. Instead, you get force-fed rematch after rematch until you realize when the third, three-match comes around and it’s a split-decision, you just got jobbed out of almost $200 in pay-per-view fees.

Accessibility and boxing never fit together in the same sentence. Coverage was available, but the excitement in boxing, just like any other sports, lies in the sanctity of experiencing it live, i.e. the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, PGA Tour, Tennis, NASCAR, Soccer and every other sport that people follow. If someone wants to watch a game, they can. The NFL and Direct TV contracted a never-ending bankroll because people WILL always watch their favorite team play. Even if they don’t purchase the ticket for themselves, they go to the bars. Sixty-dollars is a lot to shell out for a main bout that could last all of 30-seconds. It’s a gamble America proved they got tired of taking. We all want to see Mayweather vs. Pacquiao, outside of that, there’s nothing else. Mayweather and Pac could resurrect the sport. A Bernard Hopkins vs. Chad Dawson rematch doesn’t do anything for anyone. The talent pool is weak and when separating weight-classes, the best are the best and no one else can compete. Andre Berto and Victor Ortiz are certain to have a rematch. Ortiz handed him his only loss, and Ortiz just lost to Mayweather in September. Pretend Berto beats Ortiz in the rematch, Berto will want Mayweather and Floyd will TKO him in less than 3 rounds, then what? The talent pool is weak.

UFC is the thing now. We are barbarians. MMA has brought us back to a place where man-vs.-man at his most inherent and pagan nature, has taken the country by storm. Two guys with lots of tattoo and thousands of shirts that look the exact same, fighting each other for the pure sake of, fighting each other. There’s a vast difference in boxing and MMA, boxing has a rich history that will forever be linked to Ali, Joe Louis, Rocky Marciano, Jake LaMotta, Frazier, Liston, Foreman, Sugar Ray Leonard, Jack Dempsey and Mike Tyson. MMA has a bunch of guys who look the same. Boxing is a technical chess-match. MMA is a few jabs and kicks ending with two guys wrestling on the ground. I know it’s much more involved than that, but there’s a general bore factor to watching guys on the mat playing the ‘overpowering and waiting’ game. I know MMA enthusiasts will tell me MMA is the best, most purest sport in America and that’s because those fans are essentially cavemen. As the players in the sport are all the same, the fans are also all the same. We all live vicariously through something. Maybe fans of MMA feel like badasses because they watch it. I don’t feel like a football player when I watch football. Maybe I just don’t get the sport. Maybe I’m a boxing purist and I just wish boxing would return to the glory it once was.

How long can MMA sustain the popularity it’s currently at? How much more room does it have for growth? There’s just a matter of time until the evil 4-letter word steps in and buys some ownership in UFC programming. Fox has already made a move to provide coverage. Will MMA ever become boring? Will the “newness” wear off? Will the talent pool thin out like it did in boxing? Most importantly, will the public remain loyal to the sport? Access will remain the top priority. And for Dana White, his savvy business methods have worked thus far to the tune of billions in profit. You want to learn about marketing prowess, White has a PhD and then some. One thing is for certain, as long as there are barbaric, homophobic, drunk, poorly-mannered and mildly-insecure 18-40 year old guys are guys alive in America, the MMA thing will continue to flourish.

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20 NFL Reasons Why ‘There’s Always Next Year’

Posted on January 24, 2012 by | Leave a comment

So the motto goes, “there’s always next year,” it’s seemingly always muttered from the mouths of drunk and desperate fanguys every year when their team officially goes down. It’s one of the most annoying phrases that could ever be said, yet it’s always said. As if the world is on its way to an abrupt end, and sports is the only criteria for the world to remain intact. The world can’t end, because “there’s always next year” for my beloved ___________ <—insert here, team.

Speaking of next year, not that I’m trying to rush through the Super Bowl, but I’m already thinking about next year. What could possibly happen next year? Let’s get after 20 possibilities that aren’t necessarily predictions, but loose ideas, thoughts, hopes and dreams for your team and the NFL in 2012.

20.) There will be at least two surprising teams, one from each conference. This year it was the 49ers, Broncos and Bengals. I had both San Francisco and Cincy winning a combined 8 games. And little did I know as the Niners were a Kyle Williams goof away from Super Bowl XLVI and Andy Dalton was better than advertised in his rookie season leading the Natti to a 9-7 Wildcard team. Next year, who could it be? Carolina? Miami? St. Louis? Oakland?

19.) Will Atlanta finally live up to their “potential” and win a playoff game or are the Falcons just consumed by false hopes and hype? Sooner or later, a teams’ time always comes to an end. Atlanta is dangerously flirting with irrelevance if they can’t break through. New Orleans isn’t going anywhere. And Carolina is only going to get better.

18.) The Philadelphia Eagles will be the team in 2012, they were supposed to be 2011. The Eagles kind of proved they have a wealth of talent after they finished strong at 8-8 after a miserable all-around season. If Mike Vick stays healthy, the Eagles are going deep.

17.) Peyton Manning will be somewhere other than Indianapolis. The question is where? Miami has expressed interest with the arrival of new head coach Joe Philbin, former Packers OC. You know the Redskins will think about Manning contingent on if they want “veteran leadership” or if they want to start fresh and draft a quarterback (Trade up for RG3 in the draft). It could be the Jets, and Arizona has also been rumored to be interested.

16.) Can the Lions have staying power, or was 2011 a one-year thing. Matt Stafford put up 5,000 yards and the Lions offense flourished, with Jahvid Best going down mid-season. And how many fines will Ndamukong Suh collect in 2012?

15.) Mike Shanahan will be fired if the Redskins don’t make the playoffs in 2012. Washington is extremely talented defensively, but they desperately need a quarterback. The best of Grossman AND Beck combined together, is still one of the worst QB’s in the league. They can’t and aren’t going to get the job done.

14.) There is no reason the San Diego Chargers shouldn’t win the AFC West. Norv Turner was awarded one more as head coach, and if not successful, he’s certain to be fired. Phillip Rivers had a down season. He missed Darren Sproles, who they should’ve never let go, and the offensive game-plans suffered setbacks throughout. Hey Norv, the homerun shot deep ball doesn’t always work.

13.) Mark Sanchez and Rex Ryan are on short leashes. The Jets franchise as a whole, is another 8-8 season away from cleaning house. Rex Ryan has to learn to shut-up. The guarantees don’t always work, especially if the guarantees are always exactly the same. It’s not sending your team a message. In fact, it’s really only bringing them down. Think of the pressure you’re contributing. And Sanchez has to wake up, or he’s finished. Which, he might already be, depending on where Peyton Manning travels.

12.) How will Jeff Fisher affect the St. Louis Rams as their new head coach? Fisher was the hottest coach on the market, and for what reasons? In his tenure at Tennessee, Fisher had 6-winning seasons and 6-losing seasons, but he was a foot from winning the Super Bowl via Kevin Dyson’s reach.

11.) How many, if any, quarterbacks will throw over 5,000 yards? This year it was Stafford, Brees and Brady – with the latter two breaking Marino’s 26-year old single-season passing record. In a quarterback/receiver driven league, we could be seeing just the beginning of 5,000 yards as the new 4,000 yards.

10.) The Houston Texans finally broke through for their first franchise playoff appearance and win under rookie QB T.J. Yates. How far could they have went if Matt Schaub never got hurt? What’s the pinnacle for the Texans? How much better can they get? In my opinion, they aren’t going anywhere for a long, long time.

9.) The Buffalo Bills started off hot and then turned into ‘not.’ Nobody circles the wagons better than the Bills, and nobody ever will. Only the Bills could start off 5-2 and finish with a record of 6-10. Not even Minnesota, St. Louis or Indianapolis would’ve done that if they started 5-2, and they were all 2-14. Buffalo just doesn’t like winning. Once they start winning, they’re incapable of keeping the momentum. It’s like they’re scared of success. But that’s all part of the culture of being lousy.

8.) Will anyone challenge San Francisco from the NFC West? If Arizona can improve on the road, they have a chance. In 2011 the Cards went 6-2 at home and 2-6 on the road. I don’t know if they’re anywhere close to the defense the 49ers have, but they have some talent on the other side of the ball. Kevin Kolb has to stay healthy and improve. 3-6 as a starter is not what the Cardinals handsomely paid him for.

7.) As long as Jerry Jones is alive and kicking, and GM of the Cowboys, Dallas is never going to win anything. Which will be the story for 2012. The term ‘there’s always next year’ doesn’t apply to Dallas. Because ‘next year’ simply means another year just like the one before. However, no one can smack talk Tony Romo. He sacked up through bruised ribs and a punctured lung with an immature Dez Bryant and injury hampered Miles Austin, to have his personal best season and solidify himself as a top 8 QB in the league.

6.) The Baltimore Ravens are closing in on losing their chance. If they were ever going to compete for a Super Bowl, it was this year, not 2012. The defense is getting older. Ray Lewis will be in his 17th year if he doesn’t retire. And Baltimore is eventually going to be forced to make a business decision about Lewis because he’s ultimately taking up a roster spot and you have to think his production will decline.

5.) How will Green Bay bounce back? I thought the Packers were flawed going into the 2011 playoffs and I’m proud to say I was right. They’re a finesse team that pretends to be hard because they’re in cold ass Green Bay. The gift is also their curse because the success in the great offense becomes limited against a tough defense and brutal weather conditions. Green Bay must get better defensively and find a viable running-back, or just do what they did in 2010 and excel through the playoffs as an underdog.

4.) Tim Tebow? It’s still a question that remains to be answered. He will start in 2012, but he has to improve with basic quarterback skills. 2011 was fun, exciting and amazing, but wins from one year don’t factor into the next.

3.) The Chicago Bears will be very dangerous. If Cutler stays healthy, and they franchise-tag/commit to Matt Forte like they should – watch out for this Chicago team. Jay Cutler is close to being one of the league’s “elite” quarterbacks. Before he went down the Bears were 7-3 and I think they would’ve made a run and ousted Detroit for a postseason berth. Do the right thing Chicago and sign Forte long-term.

2.) You might want to go ahead and start saying there’s always next year, already – Tampa Bay, Cleveland, Indianapolis, Seattle, St. Louis, Minnesota, Washington, NY Jets, Denver, Oakland, Buffalo and Jacksonville – I don’t see any of these teams going anywhere. Why? They don’t have security at the quarterback position. I’m not ready to anoint Andrew Luck taking the Colts to the playoffs because the entire team is bad. If Peyton was healthy this year, the Colts still wouldn’t have won 8 games. Not to forget, the Colts will have a new coach in place with a new GM.

1.) Who is the favorite in 2012? How about everyone except the teams I listed in the above paragraph? Out of the 32 teams, I can see 20 teams fighting for 12 playoff positions. I can see Green Bay, New Orleans, New England, Pittsburgh, Baltimore and NY Giants maintaining competitive teams. I don’t see San Francisco or Houston going anywhere. I like Philadelphia, Miami, Dallas, Atlanta, Cincinnati, San Diego, Chicago, Detroit and Tennessee all in the Wildcard hunt. Arizona, Carolina and Kansas City could also be surprisingly dangerous. The great thing is, the NFL is impossible to predict. But one thing is for sure, one one team will ever win, and everyone else will be stuck saying, “There’s always next year.”

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Super Bowl XLVI: The Opening Line

Posted on January 23, 2012 by | 1 Comment

How they got there?  Two very special coaches in Jim and John Harbaugh lost due to special teams. We spend so much time focuses and praising the great offensive and defensive players, that I think we tend to overlook, under-appreciate and take special teams for granted sometimes. Obviously, if it wasn’t an integral part of the game, Baltimore and San Francisco might have won. But those few mistakes were Super Bowl costly. I feel bad for Billy Cundiff and Kyle Williams because imagine how bad they feel? For the entire off-season, and until they have a chance (IF) they have a chance to redeem themselves, they will be thinking about what could’ve been. It’s brutal for a team to lose in the way Baltimroe and San Francisco did, and for it to happen twice in the same day, on Championship Sunday, was something that will remembered for a long time to come.

What I saw today, were four very good teams competing in two classic games that made this one of the best Championship Sundays I have ever seen. It was theater. It was drama. It was one of those days you were hoping that your wife or girlfriend would serve as your personal waitress and bring you beers throughout, so you didn’t have to get up at the risk of missing anything, even though the refrigerator is only four steps away. But you can’t script such things. It was just great TV to watch. It’s why the NFL is king. It’s why your facebook and twitter accounts were blowing up, and it’s why twitter was slow throughout the entire day.

At first glance, the rematch thing is kind of intriguing. The opening line from Vegas has New England as -3.5 favorites over the Giants in Indianapolis. Remember four years ago, the line was 14 points to the favor of the 18-0 Patriots. Of course, we all know how that turned out for Vegas and New England. This opening line is much more conservative this time around.

Storylines that you’re certain to become exhausted with before the Pro Bowl:
Eli Manning has a chance to eclipse his brother in Super Bowl championships, in his brother’s own stadium. Tom Brady has a chance to surpass Joe Montana in total playoff wins and tie Montana and Terry Bradshaw for most Super Bowl wins. In which we will have to consider Tom Brady as one of the best quarterbacks to ever play.

We live in a era of sports, and the criticism that surrounds sports, that championships are really all that matters. You can agree to disagree but if Lebron James never wins a title, can he really be considered any better than Shawn Kemp? “OH WELL GO LOOK AT HIS STATS,” says intoxicated fanguy.

Statistics are cool and all, but they all they do is help Vegas handicap sports and serve as a backbone for arguments for people like me. The Patriots had the 2nd worst defense in the NFL this season, what relevance did that have? When the Pats needed to step up and make a play, they did. San Francisco and Baltimore had top 5 defenses and they aren’t playing for the Super Bowl. You say defense win championships and you were profoundly proved wrong.

To hell with stats. What I’m looking for is ‘heart’ dammit! I want to see that fire in your belly. I want to see that will to win in the face of adversity. When all the walls are crumbling down, all the pressure is on the line and that moment comes, I want to see that “special” player, that “great” player make that final shot, hit that homerun, throw the winning touchdown pass and make the winning catch. I want to see something that I will remember. If Eli Manning wins another Super Bowl, I would instantly say he’s better than his brother. If Peyton Manning had half the heart Eli has, Peyton would’ve already had more than two rings. All you people who continue to label Eli Manning as a “crybaby,” go do what he did today. He was sacked 6 times and knocked down 75% of the time and he always got back up and made the plays he needed to make. Crybaby my ass, you go win that football game weenie. Tell me how it feels to wake up tomorrow morning. The same can be said for Tom Brady. As a quarterback Brady was unusually off but he still got after it. You call him a “pussy” but did you see him jump over and dive into the endzone on 4th and goal for a touchdown? Does Peyton Manning ever do that? Joe Montana would have never done that. You just don’t like Brady and Eli therefore you’re going to say “they suck,” and “they’re pussies.”

And I’m not going to fall into your ridiculous debate as you’re about to say, “Well, Trent Dilfer has a ring so does that make him equal to Peyton Manning?” No it doesn’t and you know it doesn’t. Robert Horry has seven NBA championship rings but is he better than Michael Jordan? Got the point now?

More storylines that you’re going to hate and a conclusion:
Tom Coughlin was about to be fired 6 weeks ago, remember that? And if the Patriots win, where does Belichick rank among the best coaches ever? The Giants ferocious defensive front-4 vs. a world-class O-Line. Gronkowski and the Pats drafting prowess, Bob Kraft and his late wife, Myra, the regular season week #9 match and how that will factor into the Super Bowl, the inevitable Brandon Jacobs and/or loud-mouth Giants linebacker SB win guarantee and more and more and more about the quarterbacks. And the commericals, and the parties, and the stupid goddamn people who ONLY watch the Super Bowl because it’s an excuse to party and be social.

In conclusion, be ready for a lot of hype, and hope the game will live up to the hype. Remember, at the end of the day it’s still just another football game. Only this game is increasingly more complicated because you make it out to be. I watch around 300 NFL games a year. All I want to do is watch this game with knowledgeable people, fast-forward through the commercials, skip the overrated halftime show and hope for another wardrobe malfunction and watch the rest of the game, with knowledgeable people.

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Giants vs. 49ers NFC Championship Preview

Posted on January 21, 2012 by | Leave a comment

At the beginning of the 2011 season, who thought these two teams would be competing for a chance to play in Super Bowl XLVI?

Not you, not me, not the “experts” who are paid a lot of money to recite the same exact thoughts every day i.e. -> (Green Bay, Green Bay, Green Bay with a sprinkle of New Orleans).

I did say ‘not me’ by the way. But then again, I don’t claim to be an expert. I’m just a fan like you, without the fanguy character flaws and lack of perspective.

“The Giants have key ingredients at all the skill positions and on no planet should this team not be in the playoff race in a very competitive NFC East. Great one-two punch at running-back, fast receivers and a very good O-Line keeps NY alive offensively. And defensively they just need to come together with more production from the starting linebackers because their line is always going to get after quarterbacks.
New York Giants 9-7″ – This was prediction for the Giants written before kickoff weekend. You can find it on the NFC East page under NFL Now.

As for San Francisco, I pegged them as a 4-12 to 6-10 team that would be building for a strong 2012 season. I liked Arizona or St. Louis to come out of the NFC West and goddamn was I wrong.

The NFC Championship game provides historical implications since some twenty-five years later from what could arguably be considered the “heyday” of American football. The Giants and 49ers is a “classic” “rivalry.” I don’t like the word classic and/or rivalry but this game is exactly that. By now you should know me well-enough to know that I am a proponent of the ‘here and now.’ I don’t spend a lot of time sorting out the past vs. present and finding myself stuck in the “glory days.” But this is an exception.

Today, just like 15-25 years ago, there are some very good quarterbacks and there’s some very average guys pretending to be quarterbacks. And there’s also some very good players all around the league. There is an undeniable and amazing wealth of talent that’s allowing and helping the NFL to prosper, but there is no Jerry Rice, who is probably the greatest to ever play. There is no Joe Montana. There is no Lawrence Taylor. There is no Bill Walsh and Bill Parcels. It’s a new breed of guys vying for glory. You substitute Eli in for Simms, Jacobs and Bradshaw are the new Morris and Anderson duo and although LT can never be substituted for anyone – Pierre-Paul works for the sake of the idea.

Again, for the sake of the idea, we’ll substitute Alex Smith in for Montana even though that’s a cruel joke and it could only work for hopeless romantic 49ers fans. Frank Gore for Roger Craig and the entire collection of receivers from both teams for Rice and John Taylor. And the offenses are ready to go.

I’m not satisfied with the offensive substitutions but it’s time to shift to the defensive side of the ball. In 1989 and ’90, both the Niners and Giants had top 5 defenses. And San Francisco maintained a top 5 defense from ’87-90 whereas the Giants were really good in ’85 and ’86. This year the 49ers had the 4th best regular season defense and the Giants currently have the 4th best defense in the playoffs. The Giants were 27th defensively during the regular season, but those numbers are flawed from giving up a ton of points in just about every game except the final two. It’s cliche, but there is something to be said about playing your best football at the end of the season and into the playoffs. The Giants defense is doing exactly that.

And then there’s the setting. The backdrop, the one and only Candlestick Park. There is nothing more beautiful than the shadow of the sun hovering over Canldestick on a late Sunday afternoon. Just the site brings me back to my childhood. All of my friends would be outside playing hide-and-seek or whatever and I was watching the 49ers and Montana.

That’s what this game brings, historical connotations between two unsuspecting teams against all the other preseason favorites. It’s a reminder of parity in the NFL. That a team like San Francisco can be terrible one season and have a chance at the ultimate prize the next. And for the Giants it’s a chance to remind people about resilience, if they haven’t already. The Giants were dead to rights with two weeks left in the season, and now they’re 60 minutes away from quieting the critics. And no one deserves to quiet them more than Eli Manning, who could eclipse his brother in championships won. And what about Tom Coughlin, who was on the brink of getting canned if the Giants didn’t make the playoffs?

It’s about perseverance and redemption for Alex Smith. The guy has already persevered through massive criticism from not holding up to the hype of his #1 draft pick in 2005. Smith was drafted over Aaron Rodgers, and many have been ready and already have anointed him as a “bust.” And now he’s playing at his highest level as a starting quarterback and he also has a chance to quiet the critics.

Whoever wins the game, it’s a great story. And whoever loses, it was a great story.

The 49ers are -2.5 favorite. I like San Francisco to barely cover. 23-20.

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Ravens vs. Patriots, AFC Championship Preview

Posted on January 20, 2012 by | Leave a comment

by Brandon Halsey
brandonhalsey@gettinAfterIt.com

The setting is somewhere in Massachusetts. Somewhere in-between Boston and Foxboro to be exact, a small bar that will remain nameless, not because of confidentiality, but because there actually isn’t such a thing. Just to keep it simple, it’s a dark basement bar on a street just like every other street. You walk the sidewalk until you see a difference in the lay of the land and the architecture highlighted from the dim light of the late-night street lamp. You walk down a series of 8 steps that finds yourself forced into a creaky door that sits to the right. The door is slightly ajar. And just as you’re about to push through the door, the musty smoke and the loud music and meaningless conversations present you with a comfortable welcome. It’s a bit like Cheers because everyone knows each other but this place is different. There’s no Norm to speak of and Ted Danson’s forehead doesn’t encapsulate the bar. And the waitresses are halfway covered in Patriots jerseys. I say halfway because the bar owner knows that sex appeal brings in the business. TV’s surround the bar inside and out and mixed in with the vintage pictures, autographed posters and sports memorabilia are larger TV’s on the walls. The faces all blend together as you part ways with the outside cold. As you work your way closer to the bar you overhear the patrons immediately to your right. Knowing that what they said is sure to be untrue you look around like your head is on a swivel and there they are chatting it up. By themselves they sit in a booth with a couple of pints and the patrons keep a soft distance knowing the magnitude of the circumstances that await. The most unsuspecting pairing you thought you’d ever see. Underneath the green-covered dim light of the booth table and below the cliche neon sign sits Tom Brady and Joe Flacco trading words.

Should you buy them a drink you wonder? And then you quickly dismiss that idea as being overly forward and insensitive. You wish you could somehow forget that it’s really them but you have to play it cool and keep the distance just as everyone else is doing. You just wonder, you can’t stop thinking about what that conversation must be like. You wish you could be that fly on the wall.

“Do you know how many Super Bowl rings I have with less talent?” Brady gratifyingly asks Flacco.
“I hope you know that my defense is going to bail me out once again,” Flacco responds after a few seconds of thought. “You aren’t going to be able to escape Ball So Hard University.”
Brady then quickly mumbles with a slight grin as he’s about to take a sip, “Does your wife really kiss you with that god-awful excuse of a mustache?”
“It’s a crowbar. It’s my playoff stache and you know what, you know you’re a real asshole Tom, what did I ever do to you?” cries Flacco.
“You give my position a bad name Joe,” Tom replies loud and clear looking Flacco directly in the eyes. “I do nothing but work my ass off with a bunch of white guys who wouldn’t be 3rd stringers on any other team. You have Boldin, Torrey Smith and Ray Rice as weapons. I have Gonk and Wesley…. Jesus man, I mean, did you see what Wes was before he came to New England? He caught a combined 96 passes in three years in Miami. If I had your cast of guys and that defense I would never lose. Don’t you get that?”
“You’re really going to be that like Tom? What about Tebow, you can’t say I’m any worse than Tebow?”
“Ugh, Joe, did you see what we did to Tebow last week?”
“C’mon Brady, you have Belichick.”
“Yeah, but you’ve been to the playoffs every season since you’ve been a starter, you aren’t exactly playing for a terrible teams yet the jury’s still not out. No one is convinced about you Joe and especially not me.”
“Look, I really can’t help it. I’m tall and people have given me a pass because of my height. I mean, you know how it is. People give you a pass because you’re Tom Brady and you bang super-models and throw touchdowns.”
“Yeah Joe, that’s because I, keywords, throw touchdowns. What has it ever mattered who I am sleeping with? At least I got around. You’ve been with the same girl for nine years, didn’t you ever get tired of the same old…..you know?” Brady hesitatingly asks Flacco.

Brady then looks around the room, then looks down at his watch and back up and around the room again. “I gotta go man, but real quick. Do you see that girl over there Joe? The one in the ruffled yellow-ish dress, holding a Bud Light by the expo?”
“Yes, and your point,” Flacco regrettably replies.
“Well, I’m going to prove to you why I’m so good at what I do. I am going to take that girl home, because that’s what a quarterback is supposed to do. And if I wasn’t as good as I am, I wouldn’t be able to do such a thing,” Brady said as he smiled and threw down twenty-five dollars and left Flacco with a half empty beer sitting by himself. That girl quickly vanished.

The spread dropped from 9 to 7 points since Monday morning, still in favor of the New England Patriots. Baltimore has the defense to give New England problems. Baltimore has the skill players to give New England problems. But Baltimore doesn’t have the quarterback that will give New England problems. After all is be said and done and the season is finished. You shouldn’t be surprised if Tom Brady is holding the Lombardi Trophy. After all the talk of Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees and Tim Tebow, Tom Brady still works as hard if not harder than he ever has in his career. Tom Brady is playing at another level. And though you might see this unconventional prose as completely in the favor of Brady, it’s also meant as an appreciation and serve as a reminder that you can’t forget about him. The difference in this game is Tom Brady. Sure, the Ravens can barely win against a 3rd string rookie quarterback, and may I stress the word ‘barely.’ Baltimore +7 is not going to happen. You want to believe that “defense wins championships” go ahead and drink the delusional Kool-Aid. Baltimore is the most overrated 12-4, 2nd seed playoff team in the history of the NFL. Jacoby Jones doesn’t muck a punt return and Houston wins. And lastly, and almost equally important as the greatness that is Tom Brady is the question mark that is Joe Flacco who can’t pick up the girl at the bar, and he won’t be able to pick up the win in Foxboro.

The purpose of the fictional dialogue of the absurd is to serve and provide you with imagination. In no way did this conversation actually take place.

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The 4 NFL Coaches Left

Posted on January 19, 2012 by | Leave a comment

by Brandon Halsey
brandonhalsey@gettinAfterIt.com

Building from last week when I took a look at the 8 quarterbacks remaining, this week we’re going to look at the final four coaches left in the playoffs. Each coach has their nuances and intricacies that makes them special. And obviously some a little more special than others.

Let’s just go ahead and get the idea out-of-the-way – Baltimore and San Francisco will probably not play each other in a Thanksgiving rematch for Super Bowl XLVI. I know the story would be amazing with the Harbaugh brothers vying for history. Never before have brothers competed against each other as head coaches in a Super Bowl. If it does somehow happen, be ready for exhausting and excruciating non-stop wall-to-wall coverage about it. The coverage will be so blanketing you will forget about the actual players involved. And if it does happen, I will be able to claim gettinAfterIt.com as the first media source that discussed the topic.

So here we go:

John Harbaugh is a terrific coach. Usually a head coach always has a great quarterback. Not in this case with Flacco. And yes I had to somehow burn Flacco and I won’t stop until he proves me wrong. This head coach, just like his 4th year rookie quarterback, wins because their defense stays consistent. You know the Ravens defense is always going to bring it. As a person, John is much different from his brother Jim. John was never an NFL player but he did play at Miami University where he was a defensive back. John went up through the ranks to find himself where he is now as one of the premier head coaches in the game. He’s had his Ravens in the playoffs every year since he started in 2008. As a person, John appears to be more laid back than his younger brother. But they’re both extremely competitive, which is clear in their hard work and approach to the game.

Jim Harbaugh is the wildcard of the two. Harbaugh’s demeanor is intriguing. His facial expressions are at times comedic. With Jim, you kind of wonder what’s going on inside his head. John seems more approachable whereas Jim seems like he could blow up at any minute. That’s one of Jim’s faults, if there’s such a thing as calling a strong competitive nature faulty. What Jim has done with the 49ers in one season, and the program that he built-in Stanford is inconceivable. My first thoughts about Jim going to San Francisco was 2-4 years until they would be contenders. Little did I, or anyone else know. In one season his impact has been far greater than anyone could have imagined, except Jim Harbaugh. The guy has an edge, drive and confidence that has pulsated through the entire 49ers organization. Especially with a guy like Alex Smith, who owes all the credit in the world to Jim Harbaugh because his career might have been finished if not for him.

Tom Coughlin is one of my favorite coaches in the NFL. This guy was on the brink of being canned. After Jack Del Rio got fired from the Jaguars, Coughlin rumors were actually floating around for him to go back to Jacksonville. Then, out of nowhere the Giants wake up and beat the Jets in week 16 to stay alive. Then they beat Dallas to win the division in the final week of the season. The Giants were dead to rights, and Coughlin either did or said something and what do you know, NFC Championship game. Coughlin is a disciplinarian. You can tell from his constant ‘hands-on-hips’ pose that he wears so well. The guy always has his hands on his hips with a face of angry bewilderment. Despite his antics that offer me good reasons to laugh out loud sometimes, Coughlin is a prime-time coach. And I almost feel foolish in thinking he was going to get fired if the Giants didn’t make the playoffs. Who else would the Giants get? People think the disciplinarian approach of coaching doesn’t work on professional athletes, but Coughlin is proof that it does. Every team is an extension of their coach. The resilience and willingness to never give up is exactly what the Giants are, and it’s all because of Tom Coughlin.

Bill Belichick aka “Hoodie” is the best coach in the NFL! Or is he? There’s something to be said about the quarterback/coach connection. Is Brady that good, or is he great because of Belichick? And vice-versa? It’s reminiscent of Bill Walsh with Joe Montana. Both Montana and Brady don’t and never have looked like athletes, but they’re the best two quarterbacks to ever play the game. We could go hypothetical scenarios all day, but you can’t dispute the reality that’s on the table. Belichick is a hardcore head coach. What other head coach would yell at Tom Brady after a bad throw? Belichick expects 100% accountability from everyone and it starts from the top, with himself. You don’t hear excuses, you don’t hear predictions and you never hear about his players not wanting to play for him. And if there is a guy that doesn’t want to be held accountable, see ya! I.E. Randy Moss. Belichick usually never finds himself behind the 8-ball and unprepared for a game. The Pats could be playing an 0-15 team in the final game of the year and Hoodie will be ready for the one good player that team has. One of the critical lessons I’ve learned, is to never bet against the Patriots as long as Belichick and Brady are around. And don’t be surprised if they are the last team standing on Super Bowl Sunday.

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