Super Bowl XLVI marks the 5^th Super Bowl rematch and the third rematch of Super Bowl Quarterbacks.

The Pittsburgh Steelers and Dallas Cowboys have matched up three times – with Terry Bradshaw and Roger Staubach meeting two of those times.  The Cowboys have met the Bills twice – with Troy Aikman meeting Jim Kelly twice.  There have also been two each of Dolphins/Redskins and Bengals/49ers tilts.

The news for Tom Brady is not good.  In the first two rematches of Super Bowl quarterbacks, the same man won both games: Bradshaw and Aikman won.  For the man with 3 Super Bowl rings, the thought of losing another Super Bowl to Eli Manning – the man who has a ring already against Brady’s 18-1 Patriots – must be as much a driver as the pursuit of his favorite ring, “the next one.”

On the other hand, the news for the Patriots is not quite as grim, albeit not good.  Of the rematches, the Cowboys have won 1 of the 3 games, and the Dolphins and Redskins each split.  The Cowboys victory in  Super Bowl XXX was the most recent split of rematches.  So there is some hope.

Overall it shakes down like this:

Pittsburgh  2 (Bradshaw – 2) – Dallas 1 (Staubach – 0)

Miami 1 – Washington 1

Dallas 2 (Aikman – 2) – Buffalo 0 (Kelly – 0)

San Francisco 2 – Cincinnati 0

We forget how dominant the Bills of the early 1990’s were because they just couldn’t seal the deal – their first visit a 1-point loss to the same New York Football Giants the New England Patriots will face in Super Bowl XLVI.   And here is where history repeats itself.  But for an improbable sequence of events in Super Bowl XLII, the Patriots would be coming into this rematch with history on their side and an historic season behind them.  Had Scott Norwood placed a kick true to the posts in Super Bowl XXV, the Bills would have done down as the 1990’s most dominant teams and they would have 1 Lombardi trophy to show for their remarkable run. 

In a game pairing the game’s best teams, the slightest error in judgment or execution over the course of a 60-minute game can be the deciding factor.  Will this third matchup of Super Bowl quarterbacks have a different result?  This is why the game is played.

Comments?(7)

A week or so ago, I wrote that it had been some 4-years since I was as excited as I was leading up to the AFC Championship game and for that I took some grief.  I decided this was something I wanted to explore.

15 or 20 so years ago, I was excited EVERY WEEK for that weeks' Patriots game.  It was never about wondering by how much they would win - it was about IF they'd win, it was about the game.  A childhood friend of mine is Cleveland born and bred - don't ask then how we are childhood friends, just accept it to be true.  Each week he bemoans the sorry state of the Browns, and every week I assure him of two things: 1) the only way to truly enjoy the really good times is to be a part of the bad; 2) just enjoy the game, that's what it is about.

Sure, over the last 10 years, it's been pretty easy to be a Patriots fan.  Sure there have been some amazing moments, but my second thought after Adam Vinatieri's kick parted the uprights as the clock expired in Super Bowl XXXVI, was that nothing would be the same again.  Before that moment, every Sunday more-or-less I could count on Sunday at 1.  Before that moment, you had to be in New England to get your hands on a t-shirt or jersey.  

I was excited EVERY week.  I remember the way the 2001 season progressed - in the aftermath of 9/11, that season was one of the most magical seasons I can remember.  I went to the Rams/Patriots tilt at the old Foxboro Stadium, telling my wife that this game would be the Patriots Super Bowl and feeling pretty good that although they lost that game, they played well and could've won.  Patriots fans were allowed to be homers, because the team were losers and it just didn't matter.  Now, we're lumped in with those detestable 49ers fans of the 1980s.  I went to see the Pats play in Cleveland last season, a game they shouldn't have lost, but did, and basically had to show my Massachusetts credentials to Browns fans so I could demonstrate I had a "right" to wear the gear.

So, yeah, I view it as a loss that it had been that long since I had been excited about watching a game.  No, I don't see myself as a "spoiled fan."  Fans of the Lions, Browns, et al. have never had a Super Bowl to cheer - they have however had NFL Championships to cheer.  They're in a down time.  At this point in their histories, now is the time the true fan is born - see someone wearing Browns gear, and you know they're a fan.  See someone wearing Pats gear, you have no idea - make them show you their credentials.  I'm beyond happy to have had the opportunity to witness what I have over the last 10 years - don't get me wrong.  I do miss, though, having that excitement that on Sunday at 1, my favorite team was going to play.  If your team is in a drought, man up and cheer them on.  When their time comes, it will make that glory that much more wonderful.

I can't wait for kick off next Sunday.  I'm excited to see my team play in the Super Bowl.  I make no apologies for it - I haven't earned it, but I invested when stock was low and I'm sure as hell taking advantage of my stock options.  When your team's stock is low, BUY BUY BUY.  It makes the payoff that much more sweet.

Comments?(1)

So, I'm a glutton for punishment.  Super Bowl XLII proved to me that ANYTHING can happen.  Can you say "David Tyree?"  Back then, all of the computer models had the Patriots winning...and winning pretty big.  In the simulations in which the Giants won, it was because of smothering defense in a low scoring game.  They didn't say it couldn't happen, they just said it was not likely to happen.  Guess what?  It happened.

So, I went back to WhatIfSports and decided to run a few simulations of the big game.  First, though, I went to Fairy Tale land.  

Billy Cundiff makes his ill-fated Field Goal attempt to bring the AFC Championship into overtime, where the Ravens advance to the Super Bowl

In my 1 simulation of a Giants/Ravens superbowl, the Ravens win 32-26.  

To play make believe just a little more, let's just pretend Kyle Williams held onto the ball just enough for the 49ers to advance.  They too would've been beaten by the Ravens in my simulation, 14-12.  

Baltimore fans, it seems had the Ravens advanced - they would be holding the trophy next Sunday night in the world according to Mo.

For you 49ers fans, though, you need to cut Mr. Williams some slack - as noted above, they would've barely lost to the Ravens, but in my 1 simulation, they lost again the Patriots 37-30.  

So, WhatIfSports runs a gob of simulations, tallies them and gives a thumbnail of the game.  In their simulations, New England wins 55% of the time by an average of 27 - 25.   My 1 simulation of the game had New England winning 48-42.  I stopped at 1 simulation with that score - not going to jinx myself.    I thought it would be pretty cool to see how everyone else's simulations work out.  Go to http://www.whatifsports.com/beyondtheboxscore/default.asp?article=2011NFL_SuperBowlXLVI and simulate the game.  

Be honest: run the sim once and post the score.   

Comments?(2)

The flyover Air Force C5 after Stephen Tyler "sang" the National Anthem:

And just in case you're wondering...here's the view from inside:

Comments?(2)

Get yourself an inexpensive, Chinese knockoff Billy Cundiff jersey or for a few more dollars, you can have an authentic Kyle Williams jersey

Perhaps you'd prefer a little fine china for your Ravens Super Bowl party - an alternate version available for 49ers fans.

And this one is my favorite, something every Pats fan should have: A Billy Cundiff autographed picture - complete with COA.  Or perhaps for that Giants fan in your life, an autographed Kyle Williams rookie card.

As a free bonus gift for wandering into the Tavern this evening, one one screen we have replays of Williams' fumbles and on the other a replay of the missed Cundiff kick.

But wait, that's not all.  Because Mr. Felber is one of the powers that be here, I figure I should at least play my part in exposing the nefarious dark secret behind the missed field goal: we've gone from a Super Bowl "wardrobe malfunction" to a "Scoreboard malfunction."  You decide.

Comments?(2)

Comments?(7)

The last time I was this excited about a football game was approximately…4 years ago.  Couldn’t wait…tick…tick…tick…then a few hours later, some unknown receiver – a special teams guy no one knew – caught a ball on his helmet, despite having Rodney Harrison draped on him like a scarf, and the rest as they say is history.  So despite my enthusiasm, I have to fall back on my traditional New England roots and remember that while this is not the New England Patriots team I grew up with, I am still a Boston sports fan and bad stuff seems to happen to us at the most inopportune time. 

Bucky Dent goes deep,  phantom calls on Sugar Bear Hamilton, Bill Buckner, Aaron Boone, David Tyree, Joseph Addai…yes, even the Patriots have become what the Red Sox were for so long: the team that gets so close then…  It’s been 4 years since that Super Bowl.  5 years since THAT AFC championship game.  A lifetime since that call on Sugar Bear ended the Super Bowl run of the best Patriots team up to that point.

And yes, it was 10 years ago this past week that the most amazing thing in Boston sports – probably ever – happened.  One of those odd-ball calls went OUR way: what the hell is a “tuck?”  David Patten getting literally knocked out, with possession of the ball, and out of bounds.  All kinds of weird things going on in the sporting universe.  Even the Red Sox have won a World Series…or two…  it’s like something has been seriously amiss in the universe.  And yes, even the Celtics and B’s got into the act, but the C’s have never really been considered a loveable loser, and the B’s – they got close a few times, but never really the heartbreak the Sox and Pats had.  Super Bowl XLII reset the sporting world back on it’s apparently usual and customary axis, most recently demonstrated with the conclusion of the 2011 baseball season…ok, usual and customary as far as Boston is concerned.

Sunday at 3PM, the Patriots have the opportunity to knock that axis back off its tilt – at least to some degree.  They would still have to win everything – and think of it, winning everything on the field Peyton Manning made possible, on the field of their decade long arch rival – to truly demonstrate the axis has shifted, but honestly to get to the AFC title game this year is a victory in and of itself – coming out of the bye with 2 straight losses, they were 5-3.  Hardly a ringing endorsement.  A win tomorrow would obviously be reason to celebrate – and I don’t think any Pats fan thinks it’s a foregone conclusion, I’m pretty sure most of us have had whatever remained of the cocky swagger knocked out of us over the last few years. 

And when I say an axis shift requires a Super Bowl championship, I’m not saying I will not be happy with this season if they don’t win…or even get to the Super Bowl.  I’m saying I’ve enjoyed the ride, I love watching my team play in January, and I’m hopeful.  Fact is, anything – good or bad - can happen: a helmet catch, a tuck, a phantom holding call…who knows.  All I know is that I’m excited.  And I like that feeling.

Comments?(14)

[Scene: a darkened, colonial-influenced tavern with the look and feel of 1960’s vintage sylings.  A lone spotlight illuminates a single speaker sitting on a stool in space created by moving cocktail tables to the side.]

It’s that time of year again – Festivus – where we air our grievances and display our feats of strength.  It is a time for sharing: sharing our grievances, specifically.  Well, the feats of strength, too, but I’m a big fan of airing grievances. 

2011 has been wonderful fodder for these grievances, personified by my friend Siri.  We can’t get along at all, yet I find I take her with me everywhere.  Welcome to the annual Festivus celebration at Mo’s Tavern, and allow me to introduce my co-host, Siri.  Welcome Siri. 

“I’m not sure what you said.”

Of course not.  In the absence of official fan polling on the airing of grievances, Siri and I will compile some of the worst, in our opinion, 2011 had to offer.  Siri, what do you think was the biggest disappointment of 2011?

“It doesn’t really matter what I think.”  Well, it kind of does – we’re, like, putting a show together here.  You don’t really give me many answers, Siri.

“Ok, one of these places matching “Answers” isn’t far from you:

Morrison Funeral Home – 8.3 miles

Jesus is the Answer Ministry – 33 miles

Christ is the Answer – 30 miles

Answer is Fitness – 35 miles.”

Although I am curious about the logic behind providing a funeral home as an “answer,” in the interest of speeding this along, I think I’ll just talk about some of my grievances.

Now, I’m pretty transparent about my sports, so it’s not hard to imagine what my #1 grievance would be about…unless you’re Siri.  Case in point, Siri, what would be my number one disappointment of the year? “I don’t know what you mean by [that]”  Of course you don’t.  “Sorry, I don’t understand, ‘Of course you don’t’”  My biggest disappointment was the 2011 Red Sox.  “I don’t understand.”  Allow me to explain.

This was a team that was by most accounts destined to return to the World Series.  Remove the first and last months of the season, and they were the best team in baseball going away.  Individual contributors waxed and waned, but as a group, for most of the season, this team was living up to the hype.  BUT, there was this pesky little concept hanging out there called “finishing.”  When you just barely need two hands with which to count wins for the month of September, there’s a big problem.  Losing game 162, put the finishing touches on a season of discontent.  In the intervening time, we’ve seen the manager part ways with the team amid what could only be considered character assassination attempts, the General Manager who with said manager brought 2 World Series to the team bolted to the Cubs for an apparently as of yet undecided compensation back to the Sox, and the closer bolt to the Phillies apparently without so much as talking to the team.  Maybe Jose Canseco is available to close.  “I don’t understand ‘Maybe Jose Canseco is available to close’.” 

That’s probably the first intelligent thing you’ve said to me.  “I don’t understand.”

You know what I don’t understand, Siri?  I don’t understand how a group of adults can consistently fail to do the right thing by children.  I don’t understand how a grown man can say he saw another adult molesting a child in the shower and fail to affirmatively do something about it.  Imagine what Penn State would look like right now if one person – just one – had done the right thing.  From the outside it would look very similar to the way it looked 6 months ago, reputation in tact.  Fact is, one way or another and sooner or later the organization will have to do the right thing – it’s just a shame that the adults in the conversation could not see beyond their own perceived self interest to do the right thing.

“I don’t know what you mean.”  I’m talking about Penn State.  “State College, Pennsylvania is 431 miles from you.  Would you like directions?” 

[Throws phone across the floor]  I’m sure Siri isn’t intentionally obtuse, she’s just programmed that way. 

I wish I could generate enough interest to complain about college sports, like the Sooners disappointing season, but I just can’t.  College sports just don’t interest me, never have, but I do appreciate that for a great many the college game is the only game that really matters.  I’m too much of a homer to complain too bitterly about the Phillies’ season ending as it did or the way the Eagles’ season has unfolded, and too much a hater to do anything but giggle my butt off about the Colts season or about the results of LbJ taking his talents to South Beach.  I wish I could say that I have a grievance with the loss of half the NBA season – but I don’t.  Didn’t even know they weren’t playing to be honest. 

What I do have a grievance with is a guy like Ndamukong Suh channeling Albert Haynesworth and stomping on an opponent, on Thanksgiving no less.  What he doesn’t get is that one moment can define a career – it’s the one thing people outside of Detroit will remember about the guy.   Fans of the Lions finally have a bright spot, a reason to watch football every week, and Suh misbehaves his way onto the naughty list.  Dumb.  And if nothing else, Detroit deserves better.   For good measure, I’ll throw Ryan Braun onto the Festivus grievances because he’s clearly a dummy too. 

Feats of strength are not my forte either, really.  I like to find the negative, finding the positive is always so damn cheesy.  “What kind of cheese would you like?”  When you think about it though, sport by its very nature is a ying/yang thing.  For every 16-0 Patriots, there’s a 0-16 Lions; the undefeated Packers lose the same week the winless Colts win.  For every Tim Thomas, there’s a Roberto Luongo.  Just kind of works out like that.

One of the things I have always said has been that as much as I hate the Yankees laundry, I don’t hate the guys wearing it.  It’s for that reason that I can give up a little love for Derek Jeter for his 3,000^th hit.  This is a man who has played the game at a high level with integrity and class for a long time and I couldn’t be happier that such a man reached his milestone.  As for his teammate, Mr Rodriguez, I wouldn’t give him the time of day, but Jeter has demonstrated time and again he is not only a quality player, but a quality person.

In case I hadn’t already mentioned it, I’m a homer.  The Boston Bruins going to a Game 7 in each of their playoff series to beat one of the best goal tenders in the game on his home ice and make him look like an AHL wash out in the process truly has to be one of the years biggest feats of strength.  With that win, the Bruins became the 4^th Boston franchise to win their league’s championship in 6-years, capping off the most amazing 10-year run for the city of Boston and probably in the history of professional sports in this country.  Yeah, so the Bruins get the nod for one of my feats of strength this year.

And the last feat of strength I can dish out really has to be the Packers’ title defense season.  This is a team that got strong and made the plays when it mattered last year and rode that crest to the Super Bowl.  How did they follow it up?  By coming damn close to undefeated.  I don’t know if I buy into the “its good to lose and get the pressure of an undefeated season off your back” business.  I mean, these are players who just want to play.  The media hypes pressure, the fans feel it.  I’m not so sure athletes feel it.  Look it’s a great story line, but I don’t know that the players are all that into story line.  Fact is, that we may have all seen a team come within 1:30 of being undefeated recently – pressure?  I don’t know.  What I do know is that the Packers are the odds on favorite to win the Lombardi trophy again because of the way they’ve defended it this year.

I hope you all enjoy your Festivus, and all those other holidays that may be happening.  Raise your Festivus pole, celebrate your strengths, get those grievances off your chest so they don’t bog you down going forward and have a wonderful rest of the year.  Happy holidays from Steve Grogan, Drew Bledsoe and Tom Brady.

Comments?(13)

So here’s my thing.  It’s a little off the beaten path, I admit it, but you know how when you mow your lawn you follow the same path all the time?  You know you do.  It’s a thing of beauty, a masterstroke, true art.

I used to have this thing down pat.  One part of the yard was straight back and forth, in long stripes.  Then the other part I had this cool yin/yang thing rocking with the flower bed and the big-ass fir tree making up opposite sides of the symbol.  It looked pretty cool.   I would sometimes finish, and go to the second floor of the house to look out the window at it, just to make sure it looked right.

Then I get this idea to plant some arborvitae by the street – I call them the “Original Six” as I’ve since expanded the lot by another group, the expansion shrubs.  So that threw off my juju by a little bit.  I had to now go around something and mess with the pattern.  This wasn’t too onerous, but then I decided to build a shed.  Now I’ve got this big square box right in the middle of my long stripes.  What to do with that?  Now I’ve got this Utah shape I have to deal with.  Add into this mess a swing set, a bunch of trees cut down, and a new stockade fence and I have completely ruined my mowing-mojo.   There’s a regular and normal pattern in every yard, and it is up to us to bring it out.  It’s doing Gods work.

Its not like I have ballpark quality turf – I have grass where I don’t want it, and clover, Bermuda grass, and other weeds where I do want grass – its just that I’ve always appreciated a well mowed lawn.  If you go to Fenway Park, you’ll see these intersecting patterns or the hanging Sox logo.  What I wouldn’t give to have that action.   Instead, I own a postage stamp of crab grass that looks moderately manicured when freshly mowed. 

I know you think about it.  You do the same freaking thing, and don’t deny it.  You’re out there walking around planning out your path, what it will look like and making sure you hit everything.  It’s an unspoken truth, unspoken until I break the silence.  Sure, we can advertise Massengil and Trojans on prime time television, but we just can’t have the conversation about our lawns.  And I don’t mean about grubs, or the pros and cons of Round Up Ready turf.  I mean the artistic, right brained stuff – the artist in each one of us, because it is art.  Your significant other wants to take you to the Guggenheim, you just want the front lawn to look good, and she tells you that you just don’t appreciate art.  A well executed double play – THAT’S art.  A linebacker blitz to the quarterback – THAT’S ART.  A quality mowing pattern in your front yard – THAT’S art.  A crucifix in a jar of urine?  Um, no.  Not art.   Yeah, and it’s me that just doesn’t get art.  No, we appreciate art – it’s YOU that doesn’t get it.  I don’t need to spend $45 plus cab fair to go to a building with a bunch of paintings within. 

Most of us don’t have “a guy” doing our lawn for us: fact is if you’ve got someone mowing your lawn for you, then you’re probably getting your nails done too.  I think it’s a guy thing to want to get out there – we’ll rationalize how much a riding mower would save over having someone else to do the lawn before we’d allow someone else to do it for us: “as long as I have this for 20 years and mow 25 times a year, it’ll completely pay for itself…”

We spend that time and money because it’s a contribution to the arts.  We spread chemicals because our yard demands it.  Art demands it.  We demand it.  

Comments?(11)

In the last decade, the four major sports franchises in Greater Boston have won a combined seven championships. In the last six-years, each team in their respective sport has won that sports' championship: Beginning with the Patriots in 2005, Red Sox in 2007, Celtics in 2008, and capped off with the Bruins' 2011 Stanley Cup Championship.

It had been 15 years since the Boston Celtics had won the 1986 NBA title when the Patriots 2001 season came to the most unlikeliest of conclusions in Super Bowl XXXVI. In the intervening time, the Red Sox had gone to the World Series, the Celtics had returned to the finals, the Bruins had gone to the Stanley Cup finals twice, and the Patriots having gone to the Super Bowl. 5-separate attempts at a championship in 15-years and failing each time. In the last ten years, however, the Patriots have gone to the Super Bowl 4-times, the Red Sox to the World Series twice, and the Celtics and Bruins each making an appearance in their finals. 8-trips to the championship in 10-years; 7-trophies to show for the effort.

With the Bruins' Stanley Cup, Boston becomes the city to gain the championship in the 4-major sports in the shortest span of time. To be fair, not all cities have a franchise in the NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB, but of those that do, New York (with 2 baseball teams, 2 football teams, a basketball team, and 2 hockey teams) had held that honor with a championship in all four sports over an 11-year period. In all, there are but 12-such cities hosting franchises from the four major sports: Detroit went 34-years for all four to win it all, Chicago 24-years, and Philadelphia 20-years. The other cities host at least one team that has never won.

Consider what it means to host the champion of a given sport. There are 30 baseball teams, 32 football teams, 30 hockey teams and 30 basketball teams, and each sport holds a tiered playoff system of at least three rounds. For any two teams from a given city to reign as champion is a special feat. Becoming "Champion" involves skill and resolve, but also more than a little luck. Consider the infamous "tuck rule" game in the 2001 playoffs between the Patriots and Raiders or a Canadiens' shot bouncing off Zdano Chara's skate instead of into the net in the first round of the 2011 playoffs or Dave Roberts' steal of second base in game 4 of the 2004 ALCS. If those events change, the outcome of that years' and that sports' champion changes with it.

So what are the chances of a city hosting all four champions? As of this writing, Las Vegas has not begun prognosticating for hockey, but has for the other three sports. Bearing in mind the betting odds aren't representative of anything other than what gamblers are willing to wager, case in point: the odds at the beginning of the NHL season had the Bruins at 20/1 to win the Stanley Cup. The city with the best apparent betting-line odds for winning the World Series, Super Bowl and the NBA title: Boston. The Red Sox are currently pegged at 4/1 odds of winning the 2011 World Series, the Patriots are 5/1 favorites to win Super Bowl XLVI, and the Celtics are 8/1 favorites to win the NBA title in 2012. Of the 12 cities with all four sports, only the Phillies are the odds on favorites to win the World Series (5/2 odds), and Miami is the odds on favorite at winning the NBA in 2012. According to Vegas, though, Boston has the best chance at running the table. Of course, it's the city with a head start.

http://www.footballlocks.com/nfl_futures_odds.shtml

http://www.vegasinsider.com/mlb/odds/futures/

http://www.vegasinsider.com/nba/odds/futures/

http://www.businessinsider.com/smug-jerks-from-boston-they-have-every-right-2011-6

Comments?(0)

Super Bowl XLVI marks the 5^th Super Bowl rematch and the third rematch of Super Bowl Quarterbacks.

The Pittsburgh Steelers and Dallas Cowboys have matched up three times – with Terry Bradshaw and Roger Staubach meeting two of those times.  The Cowboys have met the Bills twice – with Troy Aikman meeting Jim Kelly twice.  There have also been two each of Dolphins/Redskins and Bengals/49ers tilts.

The news for Tom Brady is not good.  In the first two rematches of Super Bowl quarterbacks, the same man won both games: Bradshaw and Aikman won.  For the man with 3 Super Bowl rings, the thought of losing another Super Bowl to Eli Manning – the man who has a ring already against Brady’s 18-1 Patriots – must be as much a driver as the pursuit of his favorite ring, “the next one.”

On the other hand, the news for the Patriots is not quite as grim, albeit not good.  Of the rematches, the Cowboys have won 1 of the 3 games, and the Dolphins and Redskins each split.  The Cowboys victory in  Super Bowl XXX was the most recent split of rematches.  So there is some hope.

Overall it shakes down like this:

Pittsburgh  2 (Bradshaw – 2) – Dallas 1 (Staubach – 0)

Miami 1 – Washington 1

Dallas 2 (Aikman – 2) – Buffalo 0 (Kelly – 0)

San Francisco 2 – Cincinnati 0

We forget how dominant the Bills of the early 1990’s were because they just couldn’t seal the deal – their first visit a 1-point loss to the same New York Football Giants the New England Patriots will face in Super Bowl XLVI.   And here is where history repeats itself.  But for an improbable sequence of events in Super Bowl XLII, the Patriots would be coming into this rematch with history on their side and an historic season behind them.  Had Scott Norwood placed a kick true to the posts in Super Bowl XXV, the Bills would have done down as the 1990’s most dominant teams and they would have 1 Lombardi trophy to show for their remarkable run. 

In a game pairing the game’s best teams, the slightest error in judgment or execution over the course of a 60-minute game can be the deciding factor.  Will this third matchup of Super Bowl quarterbacks have a different result?  This is why the game is played.

Comments?(7)

A week or so ago, I wrote that it had been some 4-years since I was as excited as I was leading up to the AFC Championship game and for that I took some grief.  I decided this was something I wanted to explore.

15 or 20 so years ago, I was excited EVERY WEEK for that weeks' Patriots game.  It was never about wondering by how much they would win - it was about IF they'd win, it was about the game.  A childhood friend of mine is Cleveland born and bred - don't ask then how we are childhood friends, just accept it to be true.  Each week he bemoans the sorry state of the Browns, and every week I assure him of two things: 1) the only way to truly enjoy the really good times is to be a part of the bad; 2) just enjoy the game, that's what it is about.

Sure, over the last 10 years, it's been pretty easy to be a Patriots fan.  Sure there have been some amazing moments, but my second thought after Adam Vinatieri's kick parted the uprights as the clock expired in Super Bowl XXXVI, was that nothing would be the same again.  Before that moment, every Sunday more-or-less I could count on Sunday at 1.  Before that moment, you had to be in New England to get your hands on a t-shirt or jersey.  

I was excited EVERY week.  I remember the way the 2001 season progressed - in the aftermath of 9/11, that season was one of the most magical seasons I can remember.  I went to the Rams/Patriots tilt at the old Foxboro Stadium, telling my wife that this game would be the Patriots Super Bowl and feeling pretty good that although they lost that game, they played well and could've won.  Patriots fans were allowed to be homers, because the team were losers and it just didn't matter.  Now, we're lumped in with those detestable 49ers fans of the 1980s.  I went to see the Pats play in Cleveland last season, a game they shouldn't have lost, but did, and basically had to show my Massachusetts credentials to Browns fans so I could demonstrate I had a "right" to wear the gear.

So, yeah, I view it as a loss that it had been that long since I had been excited about watching a game.  No, I don't see myself as a "spoiled fan."  Fans of the Lions, Browns, et al. have never had a Super Bowl to cheer - they have however had NFL Championships to cheer.  They're in a down time.  At this point in their histories, now is the time the true fan is born - see someone wearing Browns gear, and you know they're a fan.  See someone wearing Pats gear, you have no idea - make them show you their credentials.  I'm beyond happy to have had the opportunity to witness what I have over the last 10 years - don't get me wrong.  I do miss, though, having that excitement that on Sunday at 1, my favorite team was going to play.  If your team is in a drought, man up and cheer them on.  When their time comes, it will make that glory that much more wonderful.

I can't wait for kick off next Sunday.  I'm excited to see my team play in the Super Bowl.  I make no apologies for it - I haven't earned it, but I invested when stock was low and I'm sure as hell taking advantage of my stock options.  When your team's stock is low, BUY BUY BUY.  It makes the payoff that much more sweet.

Comments?(1)

So, I'm a glutton for punishment.  Super Bowl XLII proved to me that ANYTHING can happen.  Can you say "David Tyree?"  Back then, all of the computer models had the Patriots winning...and winning pretty big.  In the simulations in which the Giants won, it was because of smothering defense in a low scoring game.  They didn't say it couldn't happen, they just said it was not likely to happen.  Guess what?  It happened.

So, I went back to WhatIfSports and decided to run a few simulations of the big game.  First, though, I went to Fairy Tale land.  

Billy Cundiff makes his ill-fated Field Goal attempt to bring the AFC Championship into overtime, where the Ravens advance to the Super Bowl

In my 1 simulation of a Giants/Ravens superbowl, the Ravens win 32-26.  

To play make believe just a little more, let's just pretend Kyle Williams held onto the ball just enough for the 49ers to advance.  They too would've been beaten by the Ravens in my simulation, 14-12.  

Baltimore fans, it seems had the Ravens advanced - they would be holding the trophy next Sunday night in the world according to Mo.

For you 49ers fans, though, you need to cut Mr. Williams some slack - as noted above, they would've barely lost to the Ravens, but in my 1 simulation, they lost again the Patriots 37-30.  

So, WhatIfSports runs a gob of simulations, tallies them and gives a thumbnail of the game.  In their simulations, New England wins 55% of the time by an average of 27 - 25.   My 1 simulation of the game had New England winning 48-42.  I stopped at 1 simulation with that score - not going to jinx myself.    I thought it would be pretty cool to see how everyone else's simulations work out.  Go to http://www.whatifsports.com/beyondtheboxscore/default.asp?article=2011NFL_SuperBowlXLVI and simulate the game.  

Be honest: run the sim once and post the score.   

Comments?(2)

The flyover Air Force C5 after Stephen Tyler "sang" the National Anthem:

And just in case you're wondering...here's the view from inside:

Comments?(2)

Get yourself an inexpensive, Chinese knockoff Billy Cundiff jersey or for a few more dollars, you can have an authentic Kyle Williams jersey

Perhaps you'd prefer a little fine china for your Ravens Super Bowl party - an alternate version available for 49ers fans.

And this one is my favorite, something every Pats fan should have: A Billy Cundiff autographed picture - complete with COA.  Or perhaps for that Giants fan in your life, an autographed Kyle Williams rookie card.

As a free bonus gift for wandering into the Tavern this evening, one one screen we have replays of Williams' fumbles and on the other a replay of the missed Cundiff kick.

But wait, that's not all.  Because Mr. Felber is one of the powers that be here, I figure I should at least play my part in exposing the nefarious dark secret behind the missed field goal: we've gone from a Super Bowl "wardrobe malfunction" to a "Scoreboard malfunction."  You decide.

Comments?(2)

Comments?(7)

The last time I was this excited about a football game was approximately…4 years ago.  Couldn’t wait…tick…tick…tick…then a few hours later, some unknown receiver – a special teams guy no one knew – caught a ball on his helmet, despite having Rodney Harrison draped on him like a scarf, and the rest as they say is history.  So despite my enthusiasm, I have to fall back on my traditional New England roots and remember that while this is not the New England Patriots team I grew up with, I am still a Boston sports fan and bad stuff seems to happen to us at the most inopportune time. 

Bucky Dent goes deep,  phantom calls on Sugar Bear Hamilton, Bill Buckner, Aaron Boone, David Tyree, Joseph Addai…yes, even the Patriots have become what the Red Sox were for so long: the team that gets so close then…  It’s been 4 years since that Super Bowl.  5 years since THAT AFC championship game.  A lifetime since that call on Sugar Bear ended the Super Bowl run of the best Patriots team up to that point.

And yes, it was 10 years ago this past week that the most amazing thing in Boston sports – probably ever – happened.  One of those odd-ball calls went OUR way: what the hell is a “tuck?”  David Patten getting literally knocked out, with possession of the ball, and out of bounds.  All kinds of weird things going on in the sporting universe.  Even the Red Sox have won a World Series…or two…  it’s like something has been seriously amiss in the universe.  And yes, even the Celtics and B’s got into the act, but the C’s have never really been considered a loveable loser, and the B’s – they got close a few times, but never really the heartbreak the Sox and Pats had.  Super Bowl XLII reset the sporting world back on it’s apparently usual and customary axis, most recently demonstrated with the conclusion of the 2011 baseball season…ok, usual and customary as far as Boston is concerned.

Sunday at 3PM, the Patriots have the opportunity to knock that axis back off its tilt – at least to some degree.  They would still have to win everything – and think of it, winning everything on the field Peyton Manning made possible, on the field of their decade long arch rival – to truly demonstrate the axis has shifted, but honestly to get to the AFC title game this year is a victory in and of itself – coming out of the bye with 2 straight losses, they were 5-3.  Hardly a ringing endorsement.  A win tomorrow would obviously be reason to celebrate – and I don’t think any Pats fan thinks it’s a foregone conclusion, I’m pretty sure most of us have had whatever remained of the cocky swagger knocked out of us over the last few years. 

And when I say an axis shift requires a Super Bowl championship, I’m not saying I will not be happy with this season if they don’t win…or even get to the Super Bowl.  I’m saying I’ve enjoyed the ride, I love watching my team play in January, and I’m hopeful.  Fact is, anything – good or bad - can happen: a helmet catch, a tuck, a phantom holding call…who knows.  All I know is that I’m excited.  And I like that feeling.

Comments?(14)

[Scene: a darkened, colonial-influenced tavern with the look and feel of 1960’s vintage sylings.  A lone spotlight illuminates a single speaker sitting on a stool in space created by moving cocktail tables to the side.]

It’s that time of year again – Festivus – where we air our grievances and display our feats of strength.  It is a time for sharing: sharing our grievances, specifically.  Well, the feats of strength, too, but I’m a big fan of airing grievances. 

2011 has been wonderful fodder for these grievances, personified by my friend Siri.  We can’t get along at all, yet I find I take her with me everywhere.  Welcome to the annual Festivus celebration at Mo’s Tavern, and allow me to introduce my co-host, Siri.  Welcome Siri. 

“I’m not sure what you said.”

Of course not.  In the absence of official fan polling on the airing of grievances, Siri and I will compile some of the worst, in our opinion, 2011 had to offer.  Siri, what do you think was the biggest disappointment of 2011?

“It doesn’t really matter what I think.”  Well, it kind of does – we’re, like, putting a show together here.  You don’t really give me many answers, Siri.

“Ok, one of these places matching “Answers” isn’t far from you:

Morrison Funeral Home – 8.3 miles

Jesus is the Answer Ministry – 33 miles

Christ is the Answer – 30 miles

Answer is Fitness – 35 miles.”

Although I am curious about the logic behind providing a funeral home as an “answer,” in the interest of speeding this along, I think I’ll just talk about some of my grievances.

Now, I’m pretty transparent about my sports, so it’s not hard to imagine what my #1 grievance would be about…unless you’re Siri.  Case in point, Siri, what would be my number one disappointment of the year? “I don’t know what you mean by [that]”  Of course you don’t.  “Sorry, I don’t understand, ‘Of course you don’t’”  My biggest disappointment was the 2011 Red Sox.  “I don’t understand.”  Allow me to explain.

This was a team that was by most accounts destined to return to the World Series.  Remove the first and last months of the season, and they were the best team in baseball going away.  Individual contributors waxed and waned, but as a group, for most of the season, this team was living up to the hype.  BUT, there was this pesky little concept hanging out there called “finishing.”  When you just barely need two hands with which to count wins for the month of September, there’s a big problem.  Losing game 162, put the finishing touches on a season of discontent.  In the intervening time, we’ve seen the manager part ways with the team amid what could only be considered character assassination attempts, the General Manager who with said manager brought 2 World Series to the team bolted to the Cubs for an apparently as of yet undecided compensation back to the Sox, and the closer bolt to the Phillies apparently without so much as talking to the team.  Maybe Jose Canseco is available to close.  “I don’t understand ‘Maybe Jose Canseco is available to close’.” 

That’s probably the first intelligent thing you’ve said to me.  “I don’t understand.”

You know what I don’t understand, Siri?  I don’t understand how a group of adults can consistently fail to do the right thing by children.  I don’t understand how a grown man can say he saw another adult molesting a child in the shower and fail to affirmatively do something about it.  Imagine what Penn State would look like right now if one person – just one – had done the right thing.  From the outside it would look very similar to the way it looked 6 months ago, reputation in tact.  Fact is, one way or another and sooner or later the organization will have to do the right thing – it’s just a shame that the adults in the conversation could not see beyond their own perceived self interest to do the right thing.

“I don’t know what you mean.”  I’m talking about Penn State.  “State College, Pennsylvania is 431 miles from you.  Would you like directions?” 

[Throws phone across the floor]  I’m sure Siri isn’t intentionally obtuse, she’s just programmed that way. 

I wish I could generate enough interest to complain about college sports, like the Sooners disappointing season, but I just can’t.  College sports just don’t interest me, never have, but I do appreciate that for a great many the college game is the only game that really matters.  I’m too much of a homer to complain too bitterly about the Phillies’ season ending as it did or the way the Eagles’ season has unfolded, and too much a hater to do anything but giggle my butt off about the Colts season or about the results of LbJ taking his talents to South Beach.  I wish I could say that I have a grievance with the loss of half the NBA season – but I don’t.  Didn’t even know they weren’t playing to be honest. 

What I do have a grievance with is a guy like Ndamukong Suh channeling Albert Haynesworth and stomping on an opponent, on Thanksgiving no less.  What he doesn’t get is that one moment can define a career – it’s the one thing people outside of Detroit will remember about the guy.   Fans of the Lions finally have a bright spot, a reason to watch football every week, and Suh misbehaves his way onto the naughty list.  Dumb.  And if nothing else, Detroit deserves better.   For good measure, I’ll throw Ryan Braun onto the Festivus grievances because he’s clearly a dummy too. 

Feats of strength are not my forte either, really.  I like to find the negative, finding the positive is always so damn cheesy.  “What kind of cheese would you like?”  When you think about it though, sport by its very nature is a ying/yang thing.  For every 16-0 Patriots, there’s a 0-16 Lions; the undefeated Packers lose the same week the winless Colts win.  For every Tim Thomas, there’s a Roberto Luongo.  Just kind of works out like that.

One of the things I have always said has been that as much as I hate the Yankees laundry, I don’t hate the guys wearing it.  It’s for that reason that I can give up a little love for Derek Jeter for his 3,000^th hit.  This is a man who has played the game at a high level with integrity and class for a long time and I couldn’t be happier that such a man reached his milestone.  As for his teammate, Mr Rodriguez, I wouldn’t give him the time of day, but Jeter has demonstrated time and again he is not only a quality player, but a quality person.

In case I hadn’t already mentioned it, I’m a homer.  The Boston Bruins going to a Game 7 in each of their playoff series to beat one of the best goal tenders in the game on his home ice and make him look like an AHL wash out in the process truly has to be one of the years biggest feats of strength.  With that win, the Bruins became the 4^th Boston franchise to win their league’s championship in 6-years, capping off the most amazing 10-year run for the city of Boston and probably in the history of professional sports in this country.  Yeah, so the Bruins get the nod for one of my feats of strength this year.

And the last feat of strength I can dish out really has to be the Packers’ title defense season.  This is a team that got strong and made the plays when it mattered last year and rode that crest to the Super Bowl.  How did they follow it up?  By coming damn close to undefeated.  I don’t know if I buy into the “its good to lose and get the pressure of an undefeated season off your back” business.  I mean, these are players who just want to play.  The media hypes pressure, the fans feel it.  I’m not so sure athletes feel it.  Look it’s a great story line, but I don’t know that the players are all that into story line.  Fact is, that we may have all seen a team come within 1:30 of being undefeated recently – pressure?  I don’t know.  What I do know is that the Packers are the odds on favorite to win the Lombardi trophy again because of the way they’ve defended it this year.

I hope you all enjoy your Festivus, and all those other holidays that may be happening.  Raise your Festivus pole, celebrate your strengths, get those grievances off your chest so they don’t bog you down going forward and have a wonderful rest of the year.  Happy holidays from Steve Grogan, Drew Bledsoe and Tom Brady.

Comments?(13)

So here’s my thing.  It’s a little off the beaten path, I admit it, but you know how when you mow your lawn you follow the same path all the time?  You know you do.  It’s a thing of beauty, a masterstroke, true art.

I used to have this thing down pat.  One part of the yard was straight back and forth, in long stripes.  Then the other part I had this cool yin/yang thing rocking with the flower bed and the big-ass fir tree making up opposite sides of the symbol.  It looked pretty cool.   I would sometimes finish, and go to the second floor of the house to look out the window at it, just to make sure it looked right.

Then I get this idea to plant some arborvitae by the street – I call them the “Original Six” as I’ve since expanded the lot by another group, the expansion shrubs.  So that threw off my juju by a little bit.  I had to now go around something and mess with the pattern.  This wasn’t too onerous, but then I decided to build a shed.  Now I’ve got this big square box right in the middle of my long stripes.  What to do with that?  Now I’ve got this Utah shape I have to deal with.  Add into this mess a swing set, a bunch of trees cut down, and a new stockade fence and I have completely ruined my mowing-mojo.   There’s a regular and normal pattern in every yard, and it is up to us to bring it out.  It’s doing Gods work.

Its not like I have ballpark quality turf – I have grass where I don’t want it, and clover, Bermuda grass, and other weeds where I do want grass – its just that I’ve always appreciated a well mowed lawn.  If you go to Fenway Park, you’ll see these intersecting patterns or the hanging Sox logo.  What I wouldn’t give to have that action.   Instead, I own a postage stamp of crab grass that looks moderately manicured when freshly mowed. 

I know you think about it.  You do the same freaking thing, and don’t deny it.  You’re out there walking around planning out your path, what it will look like and making sure you hit everything.  It’s an unspoken truth, unspoken until I break the silence.  Sure, we can advertise Massengil and Trojans on prime time television, but we just can’t have the conversation about our lawns.  And I don’t mean about grubs, or the pros and cons of Round Up Ready turf.  I mean the artistic, right brained stuff – the artist in each one of us, because it is art.  Your significant other wants to take you to the Guggenheim, you just want the front lawn to look good, and she tells you that you just don’t appreciate art.  A well executed double play – THAT’S art.  A linebacker blitz to the quarterback – THAT’S ART.  A quality mowing pattern in your front yard – THAT’S art.  A crucifix in a jar of urine?  Um, no.  Not art.   Yeah, and it’s me that just doesn’t get art.  No, we appreciate art – it’s YOU that doesn’t get it.  I don’t need to spend $45 plus cab fair to go to a building with a bunch of paintings within. 

Most of us don’t have “a guy” doing our lawn for us: fact is if you’ve got someone mowing your lawn for you, then you’re probably getting your nails done too.  I think it’s a guy thing to want to get out there – we’ll rationalize how much a riding mower would save over having someone else to do the lawn before we’d allow someone else to do it for us: “as long as I have this for 20 years and mow 25 times a year, it’ll completely pay for itself…”

We spend that time and money because it’s a contribution to the arts.  We spread chemicals because our yard demands it.  Art demands it.  We demand it.  

Comments?(11)

In the last decade, the four major sports franchises in Greater Boston have won a combined seven championships. In the last six-years, each team in their respective sport has won that sports' championship: Beginning with the Patriots in 2005, Red Sox in 2007, Celtics in 2008, and capped off with the Bruins' 2011 Stanley Cup Championship.

It had been 15 years since the Boston Celtics had won the 1986 NBA title when the Patriots 2001 season came to the most unlikeliest of conclusions in Super Bowl XXXVI. In the intervening time, the Red Sox had gone to the World Series, the Celtics had returned to the finals, the Bruins had gone to the Stanley Cup finals twice, and the Patriots having gone to the Super Bowl. 5-separate attempts at a championship in 15-years and failing each time. In the last ten years, however, the Patriots have gone to the Super Bowl 4-times, the Red Sox to the World Series twice, and the Celtics and Bruins each making an appearance in their finals. 8-trips to the championship in 10-years; 7-trophies to show for the effort.

With the Bruins' Stanley Cup, Boston becomes the city to gain the championship in the 4-major sports in the shortest span of time. To be fair, not all cities have a franchise in the NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB, but of those that do, New York (with 2 baseball teams, 2 football teams, a basketball team, and 2 hockey teams) had held that honor with a championship in all four sports over an 11-year period. In all, there are but 12-such cities hosting franchises from the four major sports: Detroit went 34-years for all four to win it all, Chicago 24-years, and Philadelphia 20-years. The other cities host at least one team that has never won.

Consider what it means to host the champion of a given sport. There are 30 baseball teams, 32 football teams, 30 hockey teams and 30 basketball teams, and each sport holds a tiered playoff system of at least three rounds. For any two teams from a given city to reign as champion is a special feat. Becoming "Champion" involves skill and resolve, but also more than a little luck. Consider the infamous "tuck rule" game in the 2001 playoffs between the Patriots and Raiders or a Canadiens' shot bouncing off Zdano Chara's skate instead of into the net in the first round of the 2011 playoffs or Dave Roberts' steal of second base in game 4 of the 2004 ALCS. If those events change, the outcome of that years' and that sports' champion changes with it.

So what are the chances of a city hosting all four champions? As of this writing, Las Vegas has not begun prognosticating for hockey, but has for the other three sports. Bearing in mind the betting odds aren't representative of anything other than what gamblers are willing to wager, case in point: the odds at the beginning of the NHL season had the Bruins at 20/1 to win the Stanley Cup. The city with the best apparent betting-line odds for winning the World Series, Super Bowl and the NBA title: Boston. The Red Sox are currently pegged at 4/1 odds of winning the 2011 World Series, the Patriots are 5/1 favorites to win Super Bowl XLVI, and the Celtics are 8/1 favorites to win the NBA title in 2012. Of the 12 cities with all four sports, only the Phillies are the odds on favorites to win the World Series (5/2 odds), and Miami is the odds on favorite at winning the NBA in 2012. According to Vegas, though, Boston has the best chance at running the table. Of course, it's the city with a head start.

http://www.footballlocks.com/nfl_futures_odds.shtml

http://www.vegasinsider.com/mlb/odds/futures/

http://www.vegasinsider.com/nba/odds/futures/

http://www.businessinsider.com/smug-jerks-from-boston-they-have-every-right-2011-6

Comments?(0)