Tuesday Afternoon Linebacker

On the day his pops shows up to watch a game in person, Bucs’ QB Brian Griese turns in one of his worst performances of the year. And how about them Gators? Yeah. Well. Um. Anyway. Go Bulls, oh wait. At least the Thunderers made a game of it right? Well, no. Not a good weekend here at TALB HQ. The Bucs didn’t deserve to win that game, so it was not a great feeling afterwards. Hopefully next week will be better all around.

Pitt-Man!
Carnell who? But seriously, it is good to see the old Pitt-man getting some work. Some people don’t like him. I don’t have anything against the man as a player. His personal life, well that’s another matter. Having the challenge of sitting down behind a rookie seems to have lit a fire under the veteran and we now just might have a, dare we say it, dangerous running attack here in Tampa. Can you belie it, the Bucs are 4th in the league in rushing (total yards and yards per game). And then there’s Griese. Oh boy. This guy just needs to settle down a little. Stop trying to Favre it all the time and just run out of bounds or toss it away. The defense is playing at a high level, special teams are getting the job done, and we have a top-notch rushing attack; so why try to force the ball Brian? In the end it is games like this that define a playoff team. How do you respond when things don’t go your way. When the plays just aren’t working. When maybe you’ve overlooked an opponent while thinking of bigger and better things. The bottom line is that even before the controversial TD/not TD to end the game (more below) the Bucs were not really playing well enough to win. in a just world, after witnessing the ineptitude by both teams in all phases of the game, the football gods would have awarded a loss to BOTH sides and called it a day.

Let’s take a second to talk about the big controversy from the game; Pollard’s “catch”. When you’ve watched a lot of football on TV, you get a feel for where things are in relation to the camera. And also where the lines are in relation to the various side-line lurkers. So even without seeing a where a player lands due to people in the way, you can pretty much figure out if it was good or not. And when Pollard went sliding down near the end zone sideline my first reaction was “no catch”. Which is a pretty good indicator. Replays of course bear this out. He had the ball in his hands, but not secured, before his knee slid across the line. Which under the latest NFL rules means the pass was incomplete. Thanks to the genius of Tivo I was able to slow-mo the slow-mo and confirm that the player was not in control of the ball before he touched the out-of-bounds line. So, for all the gnashing of teeth (I’m talking to you Peter King) is for naught. The man was out and the pass was incomplete, get over it. The “Best Bucs Blog” has a couple of good pictures illustrating that the catch was not a catch.

EmBAMArassed
In this space just one week ago TALB, prophetically it would seem, warned that the Gators were ripe for defeat. And lo it came to pass that our boys in Blue and Orange were mightily rended asunder by the Tide of Crimson. Total ownage. I can’t remember the last time the Gators were humiliated like that, wait, yes I can. It was this little game known as the Fiesta Bowl. I think we all know what happened there. Alabama needs to be given all the credit they are due from this win. For us Gators fans though, there is some light at the end of the tunnel. All we have to do is run the table in the conference and we’ll (very likely) get another crack at the Tide in Atlanta. Beyond that, what else is there to say that hasn’t be covered already? The team will bounce back from this defeat. And hopefully they will learn something from it as well. At least TTNHBC is not happy with the outcome and will drill the players accordingly.

Respectable, But A Loss Is A Loss
The Bulls bandwagon went a little off track over the weekend. Those who dared dream the impossible dream had to take a step back and see just where the Bulls stand. Sure, they destroyed last week’s #9 team, but that was Louisville. This was Miami (not the one in Ohio). TALB was unable to see the game (despite being in South Florida for the weekend), but recaps indicate that the Bulls actually might have had a chance. Five turnovers to the Canes is not the winning formula. A team like that takes those and makes points out of them. Miami was able to convert two of the turnovers into 10 points. If you were to flip those 10 points around, the score becomes a 17-all tie. You can’t really do that, but at least take the 10 points down from Miami and the score is a more manageable 17-7 contest. Which is respectable. USF should have been run out of town by the Canes, but they held their own in the face of the turnovers. Bravo to the Bulls. If this keeps up, in the next couple of years we may have to start talking about the “Big Four” schools in Florida.

Tagliabue, You’re It
- So, the Jets picked up the most ancient quarterback to ever stride upon the gridiron. Okay, Vinny’s not really the oldest, but he’s damn close. Oh, and he’s slated to be the backup for the immortal Brooks Bolliger. So, what was my point again? Oh yeah, old guy playing football. It’s funny.
- With the success (at the gate) of this past weekend’s epic tilt between the Cardinals and 49ers in Mexico City, the NFL has begun the process of talking about more foreign soil regular season games. And though there has been no official (or otherwise) mention of such a thing, speculation already has the Bucs traveling to London next year. Though, from reading all about how fans of the “Reds” feel about the Glazers, it might be best to keep his football concern out of their reach. TALB thinks this is a horrible idea. Mexico City is one thing, but London or Tokyo is another. Consider the travel time, the disruption in routine, and then (as the Trib points out) the fact that one team has to lose a home date. It’s one thing for the Cardinals to drop a home date, but I’m thinking this won’t get much traction among teams with sold-out stadiums and season ticket waiting lists.

5 (Brain Cells) And Out
Some guy over at CNNSI has a column called, “Five And Out”. In a recent installment he analyzes the present and future of the Big East conference. Of course, the conversation eventually turns to USF and what they (and their big win last week) mean to the conference. He then lays out this gem of a sentence “I went over to the South Florida campus off Dale Mabry Boulevard”. First, USF is off of Fowler, not Dale Mabry. Second, it’s Dale Mabry Highway. The Highway/Blvd thing, fine, he’s not from around here. But to mix up Dale with Fowler, to me that shows that either he doesn’t care now about trying to remember what happened a few years ago, or he didn’t care then to pay enough attention to where he was. Of course, the Bulls do suit up at RayJay which is on Dale. Or, could it be that four years ago the Bulls had their football offices at HCC maybe? I think it’s more likely that this guy is just a hack and doesn’t care.

BMOC
USC 38, ASU 28
How good is USC? On the one hand, you could say they are starting to show signs of weakness. This marks the second game in a row where the Trojans fell behind early and had to make a comeback. On the other hand, this is the second game in a row where the Trojans were able to mount a comeback from a pretty good deficit. At this point I don’t see them losing until a possible Rose Bowl collision for the mythical National Championship.
Michigan 34, Michigan State 31
Mid-west football. Ho hum. Oh wait, 34-31?!? WTF? For the Big 11, that’s darn near a shoot-out.
Louisville 61, Fl. Atlantic 10
The Cardinals bounced back from their stunning defeat last week. For what it’s worth, the Cardinals are half-way through a “directional” series where they face USF, Florida Atlantic (a stretch I know), North Carolina, and West Virginia. TALB is bored sometimes.
LSU 37, Miss. St. 7
In the Katrina Bowl (too soon?), the Tigers too the Bulldogs to task. I guess having a city drowned is more motivating than having your casinos trashed.

Clowned
After a heady week of practice as a result of the victory in Week 3, the Thunderers came crashing down to Earth this week. All on the foot of Neil Rackers. Even the league leading Bengals’ defense was no match for the previously unheralded kicker from Arizona. He booted six field goals and an extra point in the game. The Thunderers went to bed on Sunday night fairly confident with a double-digit lead. The 23 point outburst by the opposing kicker was, well, a kick in the butt. After Monday night’s action, the final score was Ass-Clowns 72, Thunderers 59. The lads now fall to 1-3-0 on the season with only faint hopes of making the four-team playoff field.

Running Items
Rose Bowl
USC vs. Virginia Tech
Same as last week.

Super Bowl XL
Colts vs. Bucs
Looking at the standings it is hard to choose any other team from the NFC to make it to Motor City. The Falcons and Eagles maybe, but who else? Redskins? I think not. Every team in the NFC West and North is at .500 or below, so they’re not factors. Maybe next week I’ll toss the Giants in there just to stir the pot a little.

Next Week: Collective bargaining, what’s up with the Patriots, and who knows what else.