One Second

It has sure been a while, and there have been a ton of thoughts and links I have wanted to share but never quite got around to it. But speaking of getting caught up in the things that are not as important in life, this article will touch you to the point where you should reprioritize everything. Remember to spend time with your family, folks. Everything else comes and goes, but we stick with our family forever.

Christmas for Sports Geeks

Championship Sunday!

The Patriots 21-12 victory over the Chargers came despite a three interception day from a banged up Tom Brady, while the even more banged up Chargers settled for four field goals without their top two redzone performers in LT and Gates fully healthy.

The Giants 23, Packers 20 game at Lambaeu was just something else. A temperature of NEGATIVE TWO degrees with a wind chill of NEGATIVE TWENTY FOUR. My freezer is a temperature of -10. That is, the players would have been better off playing in gigantic freezer. It was warmer in the North Pole, which was well into positive temperature. Of course, there was a helluva game played, which ended in overtime after a Brett Favre interception led to a 47-yard field goal after the Giants missed their previous two potential game winners.

The analysis on this great day in sports is endless, so I am not even going to bother adding to it. Rather, just know that if you could only choose one day out of the year to watch football, today was it.

Bolts Shock Colts

With Philip Rivers and LT going down with injuries, Billy Volek and Darren Sproles led the way as the San Deigo Super Chargers stunned the defending champions in Indianapolis, 28-24.

I thought the Seahawks could win...

Twins Marry

This would make a great Bollywood flick.

Oh Matt, you so funny 7

From the Seattle Times' Jerry Brewer:

Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck plans to have some fun with Holmgren's return. Earlier this week, when asked if he knew Holmgren had his own street, Hasselbeck said, "Holmgren Way? I think there's a Hooters there, isn't there? I'm trying to get a T-shirt that says 'Hooters on Holmgren.' That'd be awesome."

On Thursday, I visited the Hooters for lunch and to see if any of those T-shirts existed. While I was eating, Hasselbeck called the restaurant and asked if someone could get 40 "Hooters on Holmgren" shirts printed. A manager said he'd make the order right away.

Well, that's one way of preserving a legacy.

Pull of FNL

Exactly one year ago I declared NBC's Friday Night Lights the best show on television. It has been a pleasant surprise that the show is surviving, and considering that it keeps on getting better, people are starting to take notice.

Esquire's Chuck Klosterman writes:

Friday Night Lights is such a brilliant, effective TV show that -- sometimes -- I don’t enjoy watching it. Very often, I will feel on the verge of tears throughout an entire episode; it is the most emotionally manipulative show ever made. Part of it has to do with its brilliant use of music; if you play Explosions in the Sky loud enough, the process of hanging drywall can be a life-altering experience. But the larger reason Friday Night Lights is so moving is the way it taps into all the conservative impulses most mediacentric intellectuals try to ignore. The show’s moral code is so traditional and pure that it borders on cliché. It’s reactionary in the best possible way.

LSU

The Louisiana State University finally got the opportunity to win the BCS national championship, and did so decisively in its own back yard, handily defeating Ohio State 38-24. Unfortunately, the BCS title game has yet to ever live up to the hype, leaving everyone to complain about how the college football championship system remains severely flawed.

Seahawks 35, Redskins 14

I never really knew why they called it Wild Card weekend. I think I now know.

• All eight teams played this past weekend led at some point in their single elimination playoff showdowns. The Seahawks and Jaguars had to come from behind in the fourth quarter Saturday while the Giants and Chargers gave up early scores before taking control and advancing.
• The Seahawks were up 13-0 after three quarters of utter dominance. While the banged up Matt Hasselbeck was not his best, the defense was pressuring Todd Collins to the point where he was completely ineffective.
• In the fourth quarter, the Seahawks defense decided to ease back on the blitzes that were so effective, allowing Collins to execute a touchdown drive. Hasselbeck started to press and forced a couple throws, and an interception resulted in another Collins touchdown pass. 14-13, just like that.
• The ensuing kickoff featured the ball getting caught in the wind. Nate Burleson and Josh Wilson both misjudged the kickoff, and the ball sailed over both their heads, where the Redskins recovered and appeared to be well on their way to scoring an unbelievable 21 consecutive points in a mere five minutes. Thankfully, by rule, the ball is dead at the point of recovery. The Seahawks defense made yet another stand, and the Redskins missed the field goal.
• The missed chip shot turned out to be a big swing in momentum, as Hasselbeck stormed down the field and hit DeAndre James Hackett on a play that they had never run before for the go-ahead touchdown. Marcus Pollard catcheds the two-point conversion. 21-14, Seattle.
• Now that he is down with time running out, Collins starts to force passes. Marcus Trufant picks off a pass that sails in the air. Santana Moss could have made the tackle and kept their hopes alive but he gave up on the play and Trufant makes a couple cool jukes and returns it 78 yards for the score to seal the win. Jordan Babineaux adds another pick-six to make it a 21-point victory. Yes, I know the irony is incredible.
• Much of the story before and after the game was the Redskins rallying together after the death of stud starting safety Sean Taylor, number 21.
• But now the story becomes Mike Holgren, Matt Hasselbeck, and the Seattle Seahawks traveling to Lambeau Field in Green Bay to take on Brett Favre and the Green Bay Packers.
• The first thing Matt Hasselbeck said when he came to the podium at the post game press conference was, "I'll just say it right now. We want the ball, and we're gonna score," cracking a smile. The room burst into laughter.

Puncher's Chance

Let's say the Seahawks beat the Skins, and then, in Round 2, somebody shocks the Cowboys and Favre completely self-destructs. Seattle can't win consecutive road games against 13-3 teams, but a home-road-home run isn't impossible, right? By the way, this feels like the 27th straight year that the poor Seattle fans have talked themselves into the whole, "I know we're not that good, but if X happens, and Y happens, and Z happens, we might be able to sneak into the Super Bowl!" It's becoming a January tradition right up there with Vince Carter getting hurt and Fox kicking off a new season of "American Idol."

- ESPN's Bill Simmons

2007 Year in Review

Time indeed flies by. Check out the 2006 review here.

January

• Florida upsets Ohio State to win the BCS Championship Game.
• Where were you when Tony Romo dropped the ball?
• In what may have been the most overhyped story, David Beckham signs with the LA Galaxy for a supposed $250 million.
• Allen Iverson is traded to the Denver Nuggets.
• The Chargers hand a playoff game to the Patriots, then say that they will retain Marty as head coach before later firing him and replacing him with Norv Turner. We are still waiting to see how this plays out.
• 24 debuts its worst season by nuking Santa Clarita.
• Championship Sunday never fails to dissappoint. Colts 38, Pats 34 in a instant classic.

February

• Super Bowl XLI: Indianapolis Colts 29, Chicago Bears 17
• The NBA All-Star Game in Las Vegas turns out to be a disaster.

March

• The most lucrative NFL free agency signing period kicks off, with most teams having tens of millions of dollars to throw at players under the new collective bargaining agreement and high salary cap.

April

• The Florida Gators defeat the Ohio State Buckeyes for the national championship...again. This time in basketball, of course.
• Looking back on the NFL Draft, the biggest move had nothing to do with any rookie as it was the Patriots trading a fourth round pick for Randy Moss in the steal of the century.

May

• The Golden State Warriors stun the Dallas Mavericks in the first round, as a number 8 seed upsets a number one seed in the NBA Playoffs for the first time in a seven game series.
• The Chicago Bulls sweep the Miami Heat in the first round.
• Portland and Seattle win the top two picks (Greg Oden and Kevin Durant) in the NBA Draft lottery.
• Steve Nash's bloody nose became the perfect image to represent an intense playoff series between the Suns and Spurs. In a later game, Robert Horry's hard foul on Nash caused Stoudemire and Diaw to run off the bench, resulting in costly suspensions that may have cost them the series and championship.
• Kobe Bryant goes on ESPN radio and demands a trade from the Lakers.

June

• LeBron James singlehandedly beats the Detroit Pistons in another stunning playoff series upset, bringing his Cavs to the NBA Finals.
• The San Antonio Spurs sweep the Cleveland Cavaliers in route to their fourth NBA championship.
• The Anaheim Ducks win the Stanley Cup. I live in Orange County, and no one seemed to really notice, let alone care.
• The NBA Draft is also highlighted by a couple of superstar trades, as the Boston Celtics acquire Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett in the same week.

July

• Tim Donaghy betting scandal.
• Michael Vick dogfighting scandal.
• Steroids in baseball scandal.

August

• Harry Potter lives!
• Barry Bonds sets the home run record with number 756

September

• Spygate: The Patriots are exposed and punished as cheaters as they begin to route opponents every week.

October

• The Boston Red Sox sweep the Colorado Rockies to win the World Series.

November

• Super Bowl 41.5: Patriots 41, Colts 31. The talk of the Pats going undefeated suddenly gets serious.

December

• The New England Patriots become the first to finish the NFL season 16-0.

Are the Lakers for real?

J.A. Adande says so.

Orlando

It has been a while, and there is a ton of newsworthy topics I could address on my return home.

I choose to focus on a particular portion of my trip to Orlando, Florida at Epcot Center in Disney World. It was while walking by a Mickey Christmas show in which I heard the lyric "a savior is born" in concert. I must admit that I was quite surprised to hear these great words that are synonymous with the upcoming Christmas holiday. It has become a old cliche, but the true meaning of Christmas has gotten lost in the midst of the commercialism, materialism, and overall business of the holiday season. And yet I was to be reminded of the true meaning of Christmas at Disney World, of all places. Well now, that is really something.

On a side note, if you have not been to Disney World, you need to go. Everyone, no matter what their age, must someday shell out and experience it.

I was not going to pass up a chance to see the up and coming Orlando Magic while there, so a couple of notes on their game against Utah:

• The most overheard statement in the NBA is "Dwight Howard is a beast!" The thing is that he really is one, and you appreciate that a lot more in person up close. The guy can literally go up and grab the ball 13 feet in the air without breaking a sweat.
• Carlos Boozer is also a beast. I mean, he is one strong man who you do not want to bump into in a dark alley. He just has that look, like "you do not want to mess with me, or even give me the wrong look or else I am going to kick your ass." The guy who I wisely picked No.1 in my fantasy league has not disappointed, and impressed me with his aggressiveness and strength in bullying defenders on his way to the basket, leading the Utah Jazz to a big road victory.
• Carlos BOOZEr and Ronnie BREWER are on the same team. And they live and play in Salt Lake City, Utah. You cannot make this stuff up.
• Reason #620 why NBA games are so much better in person: Dwight Howard did the Soldier Boy dance during pregame warmups.
• J.J. Redick got a loud ovation from the crowd when he finally entered the game in the fourth quarter. Then you could sense the anticipation as he made a sweet play for a layup and spotted up for a three. The rookie is such a fan favorite, it is a wonder why he does not get more playing time.
• The Magic are a good team, and will likely remain at the top of the East. This is not just because they are so good, but rather because there is no one else. Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkulo are good scorers, but they should not be anyone's primary playmakers like they are currently in Orlando. They both were ineffective in the fourth quarter, and until the Magic develop some type of go-to playmaker guy who can take over in pressure situations in crunch times, they will fall in the intense playoffs.
• For $118 million, Rashard Lewis cannot play defense and should not disappear in the fourth quarter.
• No one can stop Dwight Howard, just like no one could stop Shaq in his prime. Howard has yet to learn how to pass out of double and triple teams, and his jump shot is still developing. But he is on pace to become a future hall of famer and finish as one of the greatest big men of all time.

This is the point in which I am supposed to crack some corny/hilarious (depending on your mood/) jokes regarding the whole Jessica Simpson with Tony Romo and Terrell Owens (!?) love debacle before launching into a classic tirade about the sadness of Jamie Lynn Spears' teenage pregnancy and how it is representative of the overall decline in America's moral standards. But you already knew that.

So I was sorting through my batch of e-mails over the past week, and decided that these few great links sent from a couple even greater friends were too hilarious to pass up.

The 10 Funniest Charles Barkley Moments From Inside The NBA

Paul Brogan Video Log #2 - Suggestions for President

Paul Brogan Video Log #3 - Holiday Hos

Scandalous Sonics

Sam Smith writes a column for MSNBC blasting Seattle Sonics management. Essentially, the new ownership group blew up the franchise, trading away its top two star players in the hopes of cutting costs and investing for a better team in the years to come, when the team will probably be in Oklahoma by then. Mean, but brilliant.

Hopefully, someone will try to Save Our Sonics, like Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Steve Balmer.

Everett Walks

This is such a great story to hear:

Kevin Everett is walking on his own at a Houston rehab center, the latest significant progress by the Buffalo Bills tight end in his remarkable recovery from a serious spinal cord injury.

Read more...

Oh Matt, you so funny 6

The NFL is doing commercials of 240 players, and they have recorded interviews asking players when they knew they arrived in the NFL. Matt Hasselbeck does not quite answer the exact question, but he sure is funny.

MNF: Patriots 27, Ravens 24

There was a lot I wanted to write about last night's MNF classic, but ESPN.com's Page 2 writer Greg Easterbrook did it all on his weekly Tuesday Morning Quarterback column:

What was Baltimore defensive coordinator Rex Ryan trying to do, ice the snapper? Baltimore led New England 24-20 with 1:48 remaining, and the Patriots were facing fourth-and-1; New England rushed up to the line to quick-snap, as the Patriots often do on fourth-and-1; the Ravens' defense expected a quick snap, was in position, and stopped the runner for a loss. Game over, Baltimore wins! But seemingly one second before the snap, Ryan called a timeout, so the play didn't count. Why did Ryan call a timeout? Beats me, the Ravens were in perfect position. New England ran another fourth-and-1 play and again lost yardage -- again it appeared as though Baltimore had won the game. But the zebras called a false start, a penalty that cannot be declined. (The whistle sounds on a false start, and the whistle ends the play.) New England converted on fourth-and-6. Then, four snaps later, Tom Brady threw incomplete on fourth down, and for the third time it appeared Baltimore had won! But the zebras called defensive holding, and you know what happened after that.

After the game, several Ravens complained that the officials -- who called 13 penalties against Baltimore, four against New England -- favored the Patriots. Losing teams often claim that the officials favored the winners; was there favoritism here? The defensive holding on fourth down with 55 seconds remaining was inarguable; the officials had to flag it. Ravens nickelback Jamaine Winborne theatrically removed his helmet after the call, and the officials could have flagged him for that, but they did not. But after Jabar Gaffney caught the touchdown pass that put the Flying Elvii in the lead with 44 seconds left, the zebras flagged Ravens linebacker Bart Scott twice for unsportsmanlike conduct -- once when he said something to an official and a second time when he picked up the flag and hurled it into the crowd. This was a stupid, stupid move. The very rare double-unsportsmanlike conduct penalty essentially awarded the game to New England; adding the encroachment penalty on the PAT, the Patriots kicked off from the Baltimore 35, drilling an easy touchback and preventing Baltimore's strong return game from creating good field position for the Ravens' final drive. The officials are not unaware of New England's record, and the widespread belief -- regardless whether this belief is grounded in fact -- is that the league wants the Patriots to finish undefeated. Excessively penalizing Baltimore in the final minute, in a manner that strongly aided New England, was at best a lapse by the officiating crew and at worst strange.

Ravens cornerback Samari Rolle said after the game that head linesman Phil McKinnely repeatedly called him "boy" in the game's closing minutes, a racial insult when spoken by a white person to an African-American. From the sound of things, Rolle was jawing with McKinnely, which even a veteran player such as Rolle should not do. But officials should never jaw with or insult players, either. If McKinnely did use a racial insult against Rolle, during the same game-deciding moments when the officials were favoring New England (so far, McKinnely has not commented on this), that would have been highly unprofessional and would call into question whether the officiating crew was neutral.

These things said, Baltimore has itself to blame for the loss -- or perhaps, New England has its superior line play to credit for the win.

Plus, add in that Baltimore was outcoached in this game, which has happened a lot this season. In the high-pressure final two minutes, three Ravens (Scott, Rolle and Winborne) lost their cool, while no Patriot lost his cool; that's good coaching by New England and bad coaching by Baltimore. Not only did Baltimore defensive coordinator Ryan call the strange timeout that erased what would have been the game-winning down, but New England moved 73 yards in 15 plays on its final drive, and on 12 of those 15 plays, Baltimore rushed only three. Three-man rushes can work if they are a change-up tactic; if you rush three for down after down, a good quarterback like Brady will eat your defense for lunch. In effect, the Ravens went into the prevent defense at the 3:30 mark, and it's well-established that the only thing the prevent defense prevents is punts. This bad tactical decision by Ryan was doubly vexing because New England's touchdown to tie the score at 17 in the third quarter also came against a three-man rush, so it's not as though the look was working.

Week 13: Lofa Tatupu!

Seattle Seahawks 28, Philadelphia 24 - Lofa Tatupu intercepted A.J. Feely THREE times, including one to end the Eagles potentially game winning drive to finish the game in the final seconds. The USC alum has been the best defensive player for the Hawks, who have quietly won four consecutive games.

UPDATE: Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren was asked what did he say to Tatupu after the game saving interception:

“I said I think you are our leading receiver today. He asked if he could take another week off, because he did not practice this week because of an injury. I said 'No, I love you and thank you for the win but you are practicing next week.'”

Paul Allen

Sports Illustrated has a great feature of Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. We often read about Bill Gates and his wealth, so it is quite a nice change to see how fellow billionaire Paul Allen handles his cash, most notably with the purchases of the NBA's Portland TrailBlazers and the NFL's Seattle Seahawks.

Leno Writers Fired?

Everyone who knows anything about me knows about my love for The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, with its comedic approach in updating its viewers about what is going on in the mainstream world of politics and pop culture. We finally found out what is going on with Leno and the writers' strike here, but as usual be advised that as with most news now a days, the actual truth is skewed and unknown. The way I interpret the details of the strike, it seems the writers are justified in going after a bigger piece of the pie that they are so heavily involved in producing anyway. Whatever the case, the bottom line is that the writers strike is eventually going to start hurting everyone, from those without jobs to the corporations losing ratings, down to the viewers as we lose our shows in the next month or so. Late night television was the first to go, and soon big time shows such as 24 are going to have to be postponed or canceled all together.