Pumped up by a Piano

Sonics top Spurs

Yes, that headline is correct. It is no mistake. The Seattle Sonics snapped their 14 game losing streak against the defending champions, the San Antonio Spurs. I felt the way the Sonics celebrated only their 10th win of the season was as if they had just won a championship. I know this because rookie phenom Kevin Durant said, "It felt like we won a championship." Jokes aside, although the Spurs were without Tony Parker, rumor had it that their head coach Greg Popovich may have simply felt bad for his former assistant and current Sonics head coach P.J. Carlisemo and threw his buddy a badly needed win.

More importantly though, what does this say about the San Antonio Spurs? The champs are in cruise control, bouncing about in the bottom half of the western conference standings, and in third place in their own division. While the Spurs may just simply flip the switch and turn it on come playoff time, they definitely need to have their big three completely healthy to compete in the wildly competitive West.

Nail Brady

You know you want to.

The Smarter Sex

Newsweek has a very interesting read on a series of studies of IQ tests between males and females. Nothing overwhelming or groundbreaking is said here, but it does confirm my belief that the dumbest and smartest people on both end of the spectrum are men. The article goes on to say that women underestimate themselves while men have large egos. But you already knew that.

Mo Manning, Mo Money

Check out this article that made the front page of CNN Money.

According to Sports Illustrated, Peyton Manning pulled down a cool $11 million from sponsors thanks to his Super Bowl appearance last year. This article says that little brother Eli Manning has an opportunity to top that in the behemoth that is New York City, even though he is unlikely to win the game.

With the large markets of New England and New York competing in the big game, a 30-second commercial on FOX on Super Sunday is going for an average rate of $2.7 million, or $90,000 per second.

Remember the Seahawks

From ESPN's Hashmarks by Matt Mosley:

The Patriots have made it to town, but the Giants decided to spend an extra day in New York. They'll be arriving this afternoon. In case you haven't heard, Giants coach Tom Coughlin made a big production the other day about how no one remembers who loses the Super Bowl.

"Who lost the Super Bowl two years ago?" he asked his players.

It apparently took them a few minutes to come up with the Seahawks. His point is obvious: Let's not be satisfied with qualifying for the Super Bowl.

Coughlin's feeling a lot better since regaining most of the feeling in his face following the NFC Championshp Game. And yes, doctors were able to save his nose.

where amazing happens.

So I woke up today with absolutely nothing to do. This is a very awkward Sunday, the first Sunday without football in six months. Of course, the geniuses of the NBA decided to unleash a great doubleheader on this weekend in between Championship Sunday and the Super Bowl next week.

So I watched as the Boston Celtics visited the Orlando Magic in a matchup of two division leaders in the Eastern conference, as Rajon Rondo impressed me with his annoyingly good defense and quick plays, Dwight Howard dominated the paint, Rashard Lewis and Brian Cook (!) lead the Magic on a third quarter run, Ray Allen breaks out of his cold slump in time to hit three huge three-pointers late in the fourth quarter to lead a comeback, and Hedo Turkolu chucks up a prayer at the buzzer to break the tie and win the game.

I watched as the Cleveland Lebr-er, Cavaliers visited the Los Angeles Kob-er, Lakers. How great is the NBA's marketing in that they pit the top two basketball players in the world against each other on a perfect day to do so? Again, we saw another wild back and forth matchup that came down to the final possession.

The NBA is uncharateristically wide open, with Boston, Detroit, Orlando, and Cleveland each having realistic chances to represent the East, while the West is even more wide open with the top ten teams within seven games of each other. With the NFL practically in offseason mode already with one game to play, the NBA is about to hit their peak with the all-star game and the playoff race. Throw in a couple great games, and today I remember why I love this game.

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