Better Late Than Never
Let’s see, the Wednesday before the Big Game I had surgery on my knee. Percoset’s a hell of a drug, let me tell ya. Then when I got back to work I had to cover a pretty crappy overnight shift. So, my posting in general has been lacking. But on to football.
Super Bowl XLI
The MVP vote was rigged. It was rigged from the moment the Colts won the AFC. So long as Peyton Manning had a decent day and the Colts won, he would be named MVP. Regardless of the performance of any other player on the field. Don’t take that as the usual TALB hate for Manning. Take it as my opinion based on watching the game. If you take the definition of Most Valuable Player at face value; meaning the player most responsible for the outcome of the game; Rex Grossman has a legitimate argument for the MVP award. But in the more common definition the MVP goes to the player who performed the best on the winning team. In this case Manning comes in behind Joseph Addai, Dominic Rhodes, the Colts’ D-Line, or their defensive backfield. Manning was just average, while the runners kept drives going and pounded at the tiring Bears’ defense.
Other than that bit of controversy, I’d say the game was boring. The Bears should have asked the Buckeyes just how great it is to return the opening kick of a championship game for a touchdown. About the only exciting part was watching the Bears try to comeback, only to be thwarted by the resurgent Colts defense.
And the commercials sucked out loud.
Pro Bowl
TALB didn’t watch the Pro Bowl. Why would I? Why should anyone? The game is watered down. Many of the star players either don’t show up at all or mail it in after a week of lounging in the sun. Most especially the players from the Super Bowl. How about a suggestion from your friends at TALB?
Move the Pro Bowl to the week between the conference championships and the Super Bowl. The Super Bowl players won’t go of course, but that’s almost a sure thing as it is now. And then also hold it at the site of next year’s Super Bowl. Hawaii is nice, but fans aren’t likely to go JUST for the Pro Bowl. But if it’s in Tampa or Atlanta or Houston, people might just take a road trip or a $69 flight.
What’s The Time? Time To Get 14 More Ill Plays
The terrible rules from 2006 that robbed each team of at least one drive per game have been
sent back into the depths of Hell from which they came. The NCAA rules poobahs did enact some other changes meant to speed up the game; such as shortening the play clock in certain situations.
Though I’m sure the Ohio State Buckeyes are glad the Gators didn’t get 7 more plays to run on offense. And maybe even more grateful that they didn’t have to run 7 more plays against our defense.
The NFL “Off Season”
There is no longer any offseason in the NFL. Once the Pro Bowl ends the team building work begins. For your viewing pleasure, the 2007 cap room
figures for each team (the page says 2006, but some numbers in the list jibe with others I’ve seen for this year). Our hometown Pewter Pirates have about $15M to spend. While the champion Colts entered the offseason with a mere $200,000.
Reports are that Peyton has restructured to save the team about $8M this year. The late season surprise Tennessee Titans have a whopping $37.5M of cap space to spend.
Looking at the numbers some things pop out. For the first time under the Ried administration, the Eagles are on the lower end of the cap chart. Is $3.6M enough to keep a guy like Jeff Garcia around AND sign draft picks and other free agents? The Panthers are looking at a rough year if they can’t make something happen to widen that $1.8M opening. And the Bears are sitting pretty with a Super Bowl runner up team and nearly $17M in cap space.
Running Items
Super Bowl XLII
Next year the NFL will take their show to University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona on February 3, 2008. Site of the most recently completed college football “National Championship” game. Who will compete? The Colts are either going to be a juggernaut or age and the years of effort to get this far will catch up with them. I give them maybe a 40-60 shot to appear. The Titans in the AFC look like they could make some noise.
On the NFC side, who knows. If the Bears can spend the offseason getting Rex Grossman in shape, they can make another run for sure. You can’t count out the Eagles ever; well at least until McNabb goes down. The Saints may not be one-hit wonders like the Falcons. Seattle’s fate depends on if St. Louis and San Francisco turn out to be duds or build on their success from 2006. And here at home, hope springs eternal that our Bucs can turn things around.
With that said, the first TALB prediction to play in Glendale is…
Titans vs Bears
Plus-One Bowl
Until they come up with a better name, I’m sticking with this…
For the 2007 season, the BCS National Championship will be held at the Superdome in New Orleans. At this stage of the game, all the media is atwitter over USC. Which is fine. They ended well (except for the UCLA game), and have a solid core of experienced players. Other commentators are down on Florida because of the large number of seniors and juniors that departed. However, if you watched any Gator football this past season you know that a lot freshmen saw a lot of playing time. We’re not as young as we look. And Tebow was not unleashed at all.
Next Time
When will next time be? I don’t know. Maybe after the draft. Maybe not even until camp starts. But we’ll see. Only six months to go until the season starts up again.
