The Fix Is In!
The title makes sense to anyone who attended the gala Super Bowl watching event at Casa de Gax. For the rest of you, it will become clear in just a few moments. I must say that the game itself was boring. Which is probably why I spent most of my time “tending” the keg. Hey, those eighty 12 ounce servings aren’t going to drink themselves you know. Even the commercials were meh for the most part. I’m sure glad the par-tay was rocking.
Jobbed
In case you missed it, the Steelers won 21-10 over the Seahawks. The officiating was consistent, to say the least, with the rest of the postseason. Which is to say that the officiating was terrible. Darrell Jackson for pass interference, you have to be kidding me. He barely touches the guy and gets called while he had to shake off some illegal contact before entering the end zone, but that wasn’t called. I think that all of the raises that the officials received after their little walk out a couple years ago should be rolled back until they can get their ‘ish together. Bah!
Which is unfortunate for everyone. Steelers fans and players will be plagued by “but the refs…” conditionals until they can win another championship. And it’s not even the Steelers’ fault. Which is the worst thing. The Steelers won four road games to win the World Championship, that is a great accomplishment. But the question in a lot of peoples’ minds will be “did they really?” And we’ll never know because the officiating crew decided that they needed to impact the game. Something is going to have to be done about this before the start of next season. The refs are out of control.
And if you’re the Seahawks what do you make of this game? You played well enough to win. You did everything in your power to get the job done. And some guys in striped shirts basically take it all away. And you know that TALB has spoken on many occasions about the futility of complaining about officiating. But in this case it is hard not to fixate on it. It is not as if the calls were close or judgement. Calling Hasselbeck for a personal foul for tackling the ball carrier. Ay carumba!
All season the NFL was fixated on a team of destiny. A team that would roll through the playoffs and reach Detroit to become champions. That team was, it turned out, the Pittsburgh Steelers. Not the famed Indianapolis Chokes. 2004’s team of destiny came through to win the championship for 2005. So if you believe in such things, pick the Chokes in your early XLI pool.
Breath Of A Salesman: Super Bowl Edition
The clear winner, at least at la Casa, was the FedEx spot (scroll down, “Stick”) from early in the game. As always, Bud Light came through with some quality ads, with TALB’s favorite being the one with the disappearing fridge. Careerbuilder.com twisted their monkey spot from last year adding the jackass angle, good times. Go Daddy tried, but failed to make an impression.
2006 Questions: NFL
Obviously, the Steelers are going to be heavily favored to be in the mix in the AFC. And you can never count out the Patriots or Colts. Will Cincinnati be a one-hit wonder? And can San Diego get out of their slump and get back to where they were in 2004? Are the Dolphins 2006’s surprise AFC contender?
In the NFC who is going to rise to the top? Seattle should be back strong and hungry to get another shot. Tampa Bay and Chicago need to show the league that they are for real. Will Carolina lick their wounds and get back to the top or just slink away? Is Green Bay in the middle of a rebuilding period, or was 3-13 an aberration? Can Mike Vick become a pocket passer first and runner second? If not, the Falcons are doomed. Can Philadelphia rise again?
2006 Questions: Colleges
Will USF be back in the bowl picture? Can the Gators capitalize on their end of season success and earn a trip to Arizona? Is FSU that bad? Or that good? What’s up with Miami? Will Texas and USC rebound from draft-day losses and once again reach the promised land? Are you getting tired of this format?
… Go Marching In
The NFL has announced that the New Orleans Saints will return to the Superdome on September 24th against the Falcons. The Saints will spend the preseason and the first two weeks on the road.
Running Items
WTF?
JB, Terry, Howie, and Jimmy… is no more. James Brown will be moving to CBS next year. No word yet on who will take his spot on Fox’s popular pre-game show. Though Terry Bradshaw has energy and spunk, the few times they let him call highlights he’s seemed confused and not able to keep up with the action. JB was more of an anchor, and TALB thinks they should stick to type for that spot. As much as I despise Joe Buck, he’d probably do okay in that spot. But he probably won’t want to give up the baseball playoffs anytime soon. Chris Myers might do the trick, and he already works for FOX Sports.
Worst. Call. Ever.
Is there just one?
Super Bowl XLI
Bucs vs. Patriots
Why the hell not? And by the way, this time last year, I picked the Steelers and Vikings. Got it half right, not to shabby eh?
Off-Season and Next Year
I’ve updated Kof 2006 with a couple more thoughts that came to me since it was posted.
The Bucs 2005 Post-Season Post-Mortem is coming along, give me a couple weeks. Though it is quickly degenerating in a salary cap analysis more than anything. Which might just say something about the state of the NFL today.
TALB will be back in early March to take a look at the start of Free Agency and the Combine.
And after the draft (April 29-30) I’ll come around again to go over that along with any big free agency news.
Then I’ll see you again just before camp starts and we can discuss the upcoming season.
The regular column will resume for the last week of the NFL preseason (around the end of August or early September).
For next year I want to add a few new things to spice up the old girl. The first thing I’m considering is a weekly “Non-Football Item” that will focus on some idiotic or funny thing that happened in another sport that week. Also looking at doing some kind of Photochop/Caption item each week. I’ll take a picture from Sunday’s action and either ‘chop it up somehow (I’m getting better) or post it and you, my faithful readers, can apply funny captions. Suggestions are always welcome.
And I’m truly looking for additional input for the column. I’m sure you all have something you’d love to say, but might not have the outlet. Or if you do have a blog, it might not fit with your “theme”. So feel free to latch on to TALB and become a contributing author. It can be as regular as you want it to be. No pressure.
So ends year two of the Tuesday Afternoon Linebacker. Next year should be better than ever. I might even nail down a consistent format to use throughout the season. Or not. Goodnight and good luck.
