Winter Storm Special
That's right folks, down here in Austin, Texas we're getting our "once every 5 years or so" winter storm. Couple that with NFL playoffs, a 4-hour season premier of 24 and some college basketball sprinkled in and you've got one hell of a 3-day weekend.
Let's start with some notes from the NFL - some surprises and some not-so-surprises in this past weekend's games.
- You gotta love the parity in the NFL these days - all 4 games this weekend were good games that came down to a few plays at the end.
- Let's see, the Colts defense shuts down 2 pretty decent running teams in 2 consecutive playoff games - while Peyton Manning is throwing 5 INTs for every TD. This is like Bizzaro World Colts football right now.
- Although I think Grossman played pretty darn well, I was less than impressed with Chicago and Seattle as a whole - I'm still scratching my head on how the Seahawks managed to lose that game.
- What a game between the Saints and the Eagles - tell me you guys wouldn't want to see that game played a few times. And Reggie Bush CONTINUES to get praise and accolades showered on him - even when he plays seemingly mediocre games. That game was all about Deuce McCallister. I guess once you're a golden boy, you're always a golden boy - is it me or is he one of the only NFL players who, right now, doesn't have to do a whole lot for people to drool all over him...still makes me sick.
- Let's see, Tom Brady throws 3 INTs, Tomlinson has another dominating performance and the Patriots only rush for 51 yards...and the Chargers STILL lose???? There is definitely something to the Marty Ball curse. Right it down, he will not be coaching in San Diego next year - they had no business losing that game. And why in the world did LT only touch the ball 5 times in the second half. 5 TIMES!!!??? Are you insane?? He's the best player on the field and he was shredding the Patriots throughout the first half. Unreal.
- Now let's look at next week's conference championship games.
New Orleans at Chicago:
The first thing we have to point out here is that the Saints, a dome team, will be traveling to play at Soldier Field in January...that's going to be tough. Hopefully they'll get some decent weather for the game. Nevertheless, the Saints are 6-2 on the road as compared with 5-4 at home this year - this may actually work in their favor. Sean Payton, who's been close to brilliant so far this year, will have to come up with a pretty creative game plan to battle that stifling Chicago defense. The good news for the Saints is a couple of key injuries with the Bears' starting D-line may prove to provide the edge they need. Look for New Orleans to run Deuce early and often. I still say they should be using Bush more sparingly, but also in more "strategic" ways. And on the flip side of the ball, rest assured that the Saints will create a game plan that keeps plenty of pressure on Grossman. If they can keep from giving up the big plays (35+ yards) to the Bears they will be in this game. At the end of the day, I think Payton is a better coach than Lovie Smith and I know Brees is a better QB so I'm going with the Saints to continue the road to destiny and edge out the Bears in Chicago.
New England at Indianapolis:
Boy this sounds familiar doesn't it? The good news for Peyton and company is that they are finally playing a playoff game against the Pats at home. Look, I know the Patriots have Brady and Bellichek, but this team just isn't as good as the past playoff teams out of New England - they had no business winning that game against the Chargers this past weekend. But the thing of it is, they know how to win close games in the playoffs - look at all of their super bowls - they were all around 3-point games with 2 of the victories coming with last-second field goals. With all of that said, I just can't shake the feeling that Peyton is due for a big game after the past 2. Even with those lackluster performances, Indy has found ways to win and that's all that really matters. I think this team has "grown" a bit over this year and these last two games. I'll look for Peyton to exact his revenge on Brady and finally get over the hump of getting that team to the super bowl. I'll say Indy by a touchdown.
WARNING: IF YOU ARE A 24 FAN AND HAVE NOT WATCHED THE 2 EPISODE, 4-HOUR SEASON PREMIER - DO NOT READ ON:
All I can really say is WOW!!! What a start to what's sure to be another fantastic season. As expected, they spent the first 2 hours setting the stage and introducing the major players. Jack's already been released from a Chinese prison (where he's endured unspeakable torture), given over to terrorists (again with the torture thing), escaped and is now back in the CTU game.
I must say, I was shocked (and a little saddened) to see Curtis Manning take a bullet - senseless death, but it was clear Jack had no choice. And can you blame Curtis really? Given what Assahd (sp?) did to his guys back in the day, we'd be pissed too. Nevertheless, he was one of my favorites - and you know Jack liked him a lot too.
And then, finally, the nuke going off was a shocker - especially so early in the season. I'd say as far as Jack Bauer is concerned and given what he's already gone through in short amount of time...it's on like donkey kong. I can see him going on a tour de ass whoopin' here without rules or guidelines. Hold on 24 fans, it's about to get very interesting.
College Basketball - Game of the Year:
If you happened to catch the Texas/Okie State game last night than you know what I'm talking about. If you missed it, you missed the game of the year. Triple Overtime (NOTE: Texas had to come back in the final seconds to put this game into the multiple overtimes). Kevin Durant was brilliant - unfortunately Mario Bogan was just a little bit more brilliant. Note to Texas defenders, you may want to put a body or two on the guy who has 37 points as he's heaving the last second shot. I remember thinking, if they let this guy shoot from anywhere it's going in. Sure enough...
Tough loss for the Horns - there were a number of times when the Cowboys got second and third chance points throughout the overtimes; you can certainly look at that right there as a key reason why they lost.
This Texas team is VERY good. They don't get much press (except for Durant) and they're not getting a lot of love from the polls, but that's OK. The good news about college basketball is that the polls are not as controversial as they are in football. This team continues to improve and DJ Augustine is a spark plug - as the analysts said last night, this Texas team is not a team anyone wants to face come March - especially if they continue to improve they way they are.
I'll look for the Horns to go 12-4 in conference play dropping a game to the Jayhawks and splitting the series with the aggies - with one more random loss in there. The Big 12 is a tough conference this year with lots of good talent between the middle and top of the league - should be a great winter.
That's all I got this week folks. Stay warm and stay safe this week. We'll do it again next week.
Let's start with some notes from the NFL - some surprises and some not-so-surprises in this past weekend's games.
- You gotta love the parity in the NFL these days - all 4 games this weekend were good games that came down to a few plays at the end.
- Let's see, the Colts defense shuts down 2 pretty decent running teams in 2 consecutive playoff games - while Peyton Manning is throwing 5 INTs for every TD. This is like Bizzaro World Colts football right now.
- Although I think Grossman played pretty darn well, I was less than impressed with Chicago and Seattle as a whole - I'm still scratching my head on how the Seahawks managed to lose that game.
- What a game between the Saints and the Eagles - tell me you guys wouldn't want to see that game played a few times. And Reggie Bush CONTINUES to get praise and accolades showered on him - even when he plays seemingly mediocre games. That game was all about Deuce McCallister. I guess once you're a golden boy, you're always a golden boy - is it me or is he one of the only NFL players who, right now, doesn't have to do a whole lot for people to drool all over him...still makes me sick.
- Let's see, Tom Brady throws 3 INTs, Tomlinson has another dominating performance and the Patriots only rush for 51 yards...and the Chargers STILL lose???? There is definitely something to the Marty Ball curse. Right it down, he will not be coaching in San Diego next year - they had no business losing that game. And why in the world did LT only touch the ball 5 times in the second half. 5 TIMES!!!??? Are you insane?? He's the best player on the field and he was shredding the Patriots throughout the first half. Unreal.
- Now let's look at next week's conference championship games.
New Orleans at Chicago:
The first thing we have to point out here is that the Saints, a dome team, will be traveling to play at Soldier Field in January...that's going to be tough. Hopefully they'll get some decent weather for the game. Nevertheless, the Saints are 6-2 on the road as compared with 5-4 at home this year - this may actually work in their favor. Sean Payton, who's been close to brilliant so far this year, will have to come up with a pretty creative game plan to battle that stifling Chicago defense. The good news for the Saints is a couple of key injuries with the Bears' starting D-line may prove to provide the edge they need. Look for New Orleans to run Deuce early and often. I still say they should be using Bush more sparingly, but also in more "strategic" ways. And on the flip side of the ball, rest assured that the Saints will create a game plan that keeps plenty of pressure on Grossman. If they can keep from giving up the big plays (35+ yards) to the Bears they will be in this game. At the end of the day, I think Payton is a better coach than Lovie Smith and I know Brees is a better QB so I'm going with the Saints to continue the road to destiny and edge out the Bears in Chicago.
New England at Indianapolis:
Boy this sounds familiar doesn't it? The good news for Peyton and company is that they are finally playing a playoff game against the Pats at home. Look, I know the Patriots have Brady and Bellichek, but this team just isn't as good as the past playoff teams out of New England - they had no business winning that game against the Chargers this past weekend. But the thing of it is, they know how to win close games in the playoffs - look at all of their super bowls - they were all around 3-point games with 2 of the victories coming with last-second field goals. With all of that said, I just can't shake the feeling that Peyton is due for a big game after the past 2. Even with those lackluster performances, Indy has found ways to win and that's all that really matters. I think this team has "grown" a bit over this year and these last two games. I'll look for Peyton to exact his revenge on Brady and finally get over the hump of getting that team to the super bowl. I'll say Indy by a touchdown.
WARNING: IF YOU ARE A 24 FAN AND HAVE NOT WATCHED THE 2 EPISODE, 4-HOUR SEASON PREMIER - DO NOT READ ON:
All I can really say is WOW!!! What a start to what's sure to be another fantastic season. As expected, they spent the first 2 hours setting the stage and introducing the major players. Jack's already been released from a Chinese prison (where he's endured unspeakable torture), given over to terrorists (again with the torture thing), escaped and is now back in the CTU game.
I must say, I was shocked (and a little saddened) to see Curtis Manning take a bullet - senseless death, but it was clear Jack had no choice. And can you blame Curtis really? Given what Assahd (sp?) did to his guys back in the day, we'd be pissed too. Nevertheless, he was one of my favorites - and you know Jack liked him a lot too.
And then, finally, the nuke going off was a shocker - especially so early in the season. I'd say as far as Jack Bauer is concerned and given what he's already gone through in short amount of time...it's on like donkey kong. I can see him going on a tour de ass whoopin' here without rules or guidelines. Hold on 24 fans, it's about to get very interesting.
College Basketball - Game of the Year:
If you happened to catch the Texas/Okie State game last night than you know what I'm talking about. If you missed it, you missed the game of the year. Triple Overtime (NOTE: Texas had to come back in the final seconds to put this game into the multiple overtimes). Kevin Durant was brilliant - unfortunately Mario Bogan was just a little bit more brilliant. Note to Texas defenders, you may want to put a body or two on the guy who has 37 points as he's heaving the last second shot. I remember thinking, if they let this guy shoot from anywhere it's going in. Sure enough...
Tough loss for the Horns - there were a number of times when the Cowboys got second and third chance points throughout the overtimes; you can certainly look at that right there as a key reason why they lost.
This Texas team is VERY good. They don't get much press (except for Durant) and they're not getting a lot of love from the polls, but that's OK. The good news about college basketball is that the polls are not as controversial as they are in football. This team continues to improve and DJ Augustine is a spark plug - as the analysts said last night, this Texas team is not a team anyone wants to face come March - especially if they continue to improve they way they are.
I'll look for the Horns to go 12-4 in conference play dropping a game to the Jayhawks and splitting the series with the aggies - with one more random loss in there. The Big 12 is a tough conference this year with lots of good talent between the middle and top of the league - should be a great winter.
That's all I got this week folks. Stay warm and stay safe this week. We'll do it again next week.
posted by The Bearden Wonder at 8:49 AM
3 comments
