Thursday, February 28, 2008

Checking my shorts...

Bloggin', wondering whatever happened to Damon Bailey.

* ESPN announced Bobby Knight will be a new studio host for select college basketball shows around the network. I never thought this would be the General's cup of tea but I'm glad it is. You can never have enough analysts that shoot you straight. If he is half as entertaining as his press conferences were, we all are in for some fun! He will be college's version of Charles Barkley.

* I'm a bit surprised about all the "experts" that are dumping on Shaq and the Phoenix Suns. I know I'm in the minority on this, but I think it was a good trade for them. What they lacked was leadership, championship experience, and some defense, all things that the Big Cactus brings to the valley of the sun. Yes, his numbers have not been great in the first few games but once he gets fully healthy in a few weeks, most will be eating their words. Shaq feeds off of these naysayers and will have a big impact on the playoffs when the pace slows down to his forte. He was great in Miami when many thought he was out of gas and, I, for one, am not counting him out.

* The FBI took up the Roger Clemens case, told by the Justice Department to investigate whether he lied when he testified to Congress he never took performance-enhancing drugs. This just in...HE LIED!!!! Did anyone really buy his sorry excuse of a testimony. He made himself look like a jackass. He blamed everyone but his mother for doing 'roids but of course had no idea that they were doing it. He even threw his own wife under the bus. Nice husband. He and Brian McNamee, who is also a bad liar, should rot in the same cell together. Clemens will get what he deserves for wasting everyone's time and taxpayer money with this nonsense.

* On that note, can our esteemed politicians take their noses out of sports and concentrate on the real problems that are facing this country. I honestly care more about why I'm still paying over $3 for a gallon for gas instead of whether Roger Clemens took steroids. Aren't we still fighting a war that President Bush declared victory on over four years ago? I appreciate them trying to clean up sports but seriously, when you get our boys out of Iraq and get me paying $1.50 at the pump, I will gladly watch you grill athletes about their drug use. By the way, thanks for taking time out of the Barry Bonds case to sign off on our extra tax refund that is coming in May.

Sunday, February 10, 2008

Why the Giants won

First off, I can't be happier that the New England Patriots failed in their quest to become "the greatest team of all-time". For the record, I said all along that the Pats were not going to win the Super Bowl. But, I'm not here to gloat. There are some very basic answers to why the Patriots failed on the biggest stage in sports.

The Giants got to Tom Brady and made him work for everything they got. If you saw the games that NE almost lost, each team got to rattle Brady. He is not a fan of being hit and loses his cool when he gets popped in the mouth a few times.

How many times were they asked about perfection down the stretch of the season and the playoffs? Did you notice it has been a long time since they blew a team out like they did in September and October. Not only does that question get old, but then they start being a bit conservative which makes them prone to mistakes. The only reason they didn't lose in the regular season is that the Giants, Ravens, and Eagles made crucial mistakes at the end...far worse than the Pats. They were lucky to win those games. They didn't beat those teams, those teams beat themselves with stupid mistakes.

Pressure. They can say what they want, but they folded under the pressure of perfection. They played their worst game in two years against the Giants. If the elderly Pats defense can hold a team to 17 points, the Pats offense usually has that many by the middle of the second quarter. Their Super Bowl game plan was horrendous. They played not to lose and lost.

Lastly, they were the victims of karma. Call me crazy, but I just can't see a team that cheats like they did get rewarded at the end. Yes, they did cheat. $750,000 in fines means they did. What better way to get back at the Pats then to have them taste perfection only to rip it away from them when everyone is watching. You may not believe in the "higher power". Think about the 2007 Patriots. They were laughing their way to immortality until "something" drop kicked them off the ole karma train. Bill must believe, he couldn't even stay until the end!