FAN: Cold Weather Super Bowl

I still read Peter King's Monday Morning Quarterback just because I like to stay kind of up-to-date with the NFL during the off season. It gives me a little information besides the crawlers and headlines I read.

One thing he's been super negative about is the cold weather Super Bowl in New York or New Jersey. His main point that he keeps harping on - and it's everybody's point that doesn't like the idea - is that OMG it might be -20 and snowing and people paid $4000 for tickets and what will they DOOOOO for 4 hours out in the cold....

Are you effing kidding me? Really? You have to be effing kidding me, right? The Super Bowl is two weeks after Championship Weekend. So for the Conference Title Games you could be in Chicago, Green Bay, Buffalo, Cleveland..... Puhlease! How could 2 weeks make any difference in the world? It's a crap shoot you moron. New York fans don't know weather like Buffalo and Cleveland fans.

You know what it really means? Real fans instead of corporate idiots who don't know Brett Favre from Brett Michaels will be at the game. Buffalo season ticket holders go to 8 home games and probably 5 or 6 of them are in very cold weather. If you're "tough" enough to want to blow four large on tickets, you better be tough enough to sit outside in whatever weather could present itself.

The second game I went to at Heinz Field was with Still A Colt for a MNF game against the Colts. I was tailgating with the Genco crew and we started around 3 PM and it was 36 degrees. At 12:30 AM when we were crossing the river on the Gateway Clipper it was 20 degrees. That's 9.5 hours outside with the bulk of it below freezing. Were we cold? Yes. Were we dying? No! We were dressed for it.......and the beers didn't hurt either. Those were good times.

FAN: The Immaculate Drive

After a week of soaking it all in, there are still good stories coming out about the final drive of the Super Bowl. Peter King wrote a good article (for once) and gave credit all the way around - but still takes a shot at an anonymous Steelers fan in an airport, stinking Bostonite that he is. I think the thing I enjoyed most this week was watching Showtime's Inside the NFL which dedicated the entire hour to the big game. NFL Film's version was shown and then dissected. I read all the things Holmes supposedly said leading up to the final catch but you get to relive them in realtime thanks to NFL Films. As soon as Fitzgerald scored, Holmes started screaming they needed to "dare to be great" and exclaimed "I dare to be great". He walked over to Ben and told him he wanted the ball before going out on the field. Then, it seemed like he was reminding him before every snap. They interviewed Holmes in his house and he seemed very gracious and humble. He talked about kid's choices and wanting to be a role model, but something about him just tells me if offered a big rolled fatty at a party he'd take it in two seconds. My only issue with Showtime's version of the HBO staple is Warren Sapp. He says such stupid things you have to wonder about his IQ. Phil Simms said that the extended halftime was good for the Cardinals because it allowed them more time to get over the shock of the potential 14 point swing due to James Harrison's pick six. Good point. Sapp chimed in that he thought it was better for Pittsburgh because Harrison needed more time to rest after the return. Huh? It was a 100 yard dash, not a 5k. If he thinks the extra 10 minutes of Super Bowl halftime allowed Silverback to be his normal self in the second half, he's dumber than I originally thought.

FAN: Rooney: "We'll Make Room"

What a quote from the platform from Dan Rooney. He was asked if there was room in the trophy case for number six. There were some great lines after the game. I watched NFL Network's wrap up show and Ben came out to join the group. When Deion Sanders brought up Warren Sapp's comment about the video camera, Ben just laughed. Warren tried to tell Ben what his angle was on that complaint and Ben said, "thats ok, now I have memories. I'll send you a copy." Good stuff. This game was like many other games this year. Relaxed at one point with a decent lead, then biting nails, then cursing and throwing, then crazy celebration followed by a little more nail biting. Wow. Santonio Holmes catch was just slightly better than Ben's throw. Slightly. The throw was crazy. When he released it I thought it could never be caught. A few random musings and then I need to hit the hay. Bruce Springstein sucked. What the heck with the ref coming out and throwing a flag? In my opinion, he hurt his street cred worse than Aerosmith did by sharing the stage with N'Sync. Worst quote of the night was from Bruce: "Step away from the Guacamole and put the chicken fingers down!" What? Anyway, Silverback got a little crazy on that one dude...what was that all about? Hartwig was quiet most of the season and on one of the biggest plays of the game he yanks a guy down. Another long play was brought back for holding and it was really far away from the play, I can't remember who or when. The Cardinal's nosetackle is a monster. I didn't like it or appreciate it when Al Michaels made reference to Mike Holmgren thinking "here we go again" or something like that when the 6th or 7th Card's penalty came in. What are the refs supposed to do, not call them? I bet by the end of the game he was wishing he never said it because we had huge calls against us as well. Stilladog hit the nail on the head early, they came out running. Fan also hit the nail on the head - for while they tried to get a running game going, it amounted to nothing. I also did a pretty damn good job of predicting the score. I picked 27-24, only 1 point off. They had no answer for Santonio on the hitch. Nada. He was beating that rookie like a rented mule. The Fitzgerald TD was a thing of beauty. Did you see the replay of how both deep safeties went to the sidelines initially? Wow. It's hard not to like the Cardinals. I don't have a shred of animosity towards them like I did the Seachikens. I think because we all like Whiz, Grimmy....Warner.... Did Warner's wife have some work done? She looks better now than she did in 1999. Money is a wonderful thing.

FAN: Steelers Will Stop The Cardinals

I think I now know what Dick will do. After having "Dick Do" in my head for the past few days, I tried to find the best picture I could of a "DickDue". I think this one suffices. DOesn't he look like Jim "The Anvil" Neidheart from the glory days of the WWF? Anyway, after reading a bunch of opinions, I'm not sure enough credence has been given to muscling their receivers at the line of scrimmage in an effort to disrupt Kurt's timing. Everything they seem to do is 3 step drops and him blindly throwing the ball through a window. I think maybe we need to time these things perfectly....every so often in an obvious passing situation (read every down) knock their heads off on the line while sending our normal four. Maybe have six DBs in when we do this and have cover two while we try to knock them off the line. I don't know....I'm not an X,O guy at all. I just think if you're playing a timing offense you have to make them drop a pancake every once in a while. Also, I'm not sure these guys have ever faced the hitters we have back there. Maybe in the first quarter we can play off of them if we pin them deep and give them some room to make some underneath catches....then hit'em with our missiles. Another thing I thought of is the element of surprise. Nobody gets to Warner on blitzes. Maybe we don't blitz a single time until their first critical drive of the game, even if it's not until the third quarter. Let their linemen think we won't be coming all day...then unleash the hounds as they're back on their heels for a series. I think on offense, we do nothing different. They aren't good enough on defense that we have to change anything. I start running Parker and don't stop him until they do. Then, we can start throwing on first down to keep them guessing. I honestly can't see them stopping our offense, but I've only seen about five of their games this year. I don't think they can put up more than 24 points on the league's best defense. I think we'll put up 27. That's my score 27-24.....and I think Warner will have the ball in his hands with a chance to win the game late. In grand fashion, we'll force a turnover and the game will end with us kneeling.

FAN: Warren Sapp is a .....Well, Sap

We're done. We're going to lose the Super Bowl. It's over. Why you ask? Didn't you watch Showtime's Inside The NFL tonight? Warren thinks the team isn't focused. Why? Because Kurt Warner got off his team plane in a suit and looking focused. Ben Roethlisberger got off his team plane holding a camcorder. Now, while I agree with Pittgirl's assessment today at haveagoodsandwich.org, what in the heck does it have to do, Warren, with how a game will turn out more than a few days away? What a giant (and I mean giant) idiot. Every person to the man on the panel tried to get him to elaborate and he raised his eyebrows like "how dare you challenge me" and said "that's your quarterback right there, that's your quarterback....and he's got a camera....looks to me like he's on vacation." Go ahead, take a long silent pause here to think about how ridiculous pregame coverage has become. Ladies and gentlemen, we're not debating how healthy Hines Ward will be. We're not debating if Larry Foote will leave the field so Troy can slide down further in the box. We're not discussing if Fitzgerald will be a decoy and Boldin will have a monster game. We're not discussing if the Steelers are aware Warner has been sacked on blitzes only 8 times all year. We're not discussing if the best way to throw Warner off kilter is to hold up his receivers at the line for 1 full second to screw up the timing. We're discussing how Ben Roethlisberger chose to exit the plane. Stay tuned for the second half of our broadcast ladies and gentlemen, as we'll get hair coloring tips from Skippy Reed. What if the poor guy's mother said "Ben, what's it like getting off the plane and seeing the throng of people waiting to see the team?" I'm being drawn into it, I'm trying to pull a Covey.....I'm looking for the unknown "what if....." that makes sense of it....Ugh!

FAN: Steelers Super Again

I feel the need to pay tribute to Pittgirl tonight. I'm going to do my own version of What They're Really Thinking. I hope you enjoy. I don't have many things to say about the game other than there is nothing in the world as fun as beating the tar out of the hated Ravens. Nothing. Well, maybe sex....but this is a close second. I will try the humorous route and allow Stilladog to bring the real analysis. Enjoy.

Second Choice was "I need to drop a few pounds"

Second Choice was "Hi Mom, Told you I'd be easy to spot!"

Second Choice Was "Denzell ain't got shit on me"

Second Choice Was "Live Long and Prosper"

Doesn't Need Second Choice

Second Choice Was "Super Bowl means LESBIANS!"

Second Choice Was "The missing young man was last seen entering Heinz field around 5:00 PM EST on Sunday January 18th"

Second Choice was "Lower....Lower, Mitch.....Lower"

Sink Your Teeth Into This

Marv Albert "backed" into the role of the best announcer for the Super Bowl by showing some emotion during the Eli Manning to David Tyree pitch and catch....something Joe Buck failed to do. Awful Announcing sunk their teeth into this story and did a great job as I was thinking the same thing while watching. I work with a die-hard Giant's fan and he swore on Monday morning the announcing was slanted against the G-Men. Marv's version definitely had more bite. Sorry.

Slantedamus 19-0

Hey! I predicted this Monday at lunch and got a big laugh.

Belichick Cements Biggest AssClown Ever

I hate him. Hate him, hate him.....hate him. He is so smug. So not gracious. He is...Bill Belimort. If Karma does exist, it showed tonight as the New York Football Giants held the Patriots in check on defense and then delivered the knockout punch with less than 40 seconds to play to win Super Bowl 42. I was kind of happy for Plax. I was happy for Strahan and Osi. That's about it though.....unless you count me thinking it's funny that Tiki slammed the entire organization last year basically. Some random thoughts:

Belichick is such as asshole for not staying out there for the final play. He knew damn well they put one second back on the clock. The ref told him while they were at the middle of the field.

What was Peyton Manning wearing? Could he look cool just once? He's either in his uniform, his ugly gym shorts or dressed like The Captain from Captain and Tennille. He's like a Harvard frat brother or something. When your brother is in the Super Bowl and you are going to watch, you don't have to dress like a banker on a casual Friday...mmmm'K?

The pressure was relentless. I loved seeing Brady get hit and hit often. I'm so sick of watching his games when everything goes his way. America was tired of it. Didn't you just know they were going to score a TD with 3 minutes to go? That's why I hate him.

Did you see the national voting for best Dynasty of all time? The 70's Steelers got 29% of the vote. The 2000 Patriots were last at 14%. I think the 80's Niner's were second. Can't remember the ordering of 60's Packers and 90's Cowboys. First and last was all that mattered to me.

I think if Belimort didn't coach the Patriots they would be liked a lot more by fans of other NFL teams.

Eli stepped up and had a really really solid game. Holy cow are the talking heads going to eat crow tomorrow. Everyone thought the game would swallow him whole.

What a superb game for football fan to watch. One of the most competitive games I can remember watching.

The Giants front 7 is going to be good for a long time, even when Mike hangs them up. Even if that ends up being tomorrow.

Best commercial? Charlie Brown getting the Coke. Tom Petty? Meh.

Well Well Well

Roger seems to be Roger Dodger on this subject, does't he? The cCommissioner asked the Patriots about it and they denied it. Well, that's good enough for me! What percentage of prisoners in the clink would tell you they didn't do anything either? Here's what I think: I think there was an elaborate scheme and it was all documented and filed and when Goodell found it, he destroyed it so people would keep watching football and not be disgusted by it. If people thought there was espionage going on, they might tune out, so Roger dove on the grenade and will now keep defending his decision. What we need now is for a disgruntled ex-employee to come out and come out hard. Also, the idiots that say it only helps with teams they play twice are just that.....idiots. How many times do former coordinators become head coaches? How many times do they take their systems with them? Thank You! If they tape a guy one season and the next season he is a head coach in their division, the information becomes invaluable. I predict in the next year, we're going to learn a lot more about this. Go Giants!

26 from 51

No, no and no. Boomer said some things that made me feel bad for Rex Grossman, his family and his friends. He said "Awful Rex" showed up or something to that effect - but he did use the word "awful". The other guys were measured in their responses but Boomer was not and this was BEFORE the two picks. My thoughts are that 10 years ago, maybe more like 15, we wouldn't have seen that on national TV during halftime. We could have heard it on an ESPN opinion type show or AM radio sports talk....but not during halftime of the big game itself. He could have said inconsistent or inexperienced under pressure - but he chose the low road. What does that have to do with 26 and 51? Well, I went back and did some research wondering if Rex Grossman was potentially the QB with the worst reputation that ever played in the big game. There have been 51 starting QBs in the Super Bowl and only 26 winning QBs out of the 51. I'll run down the list of the 26 winners first and then we'll see how Rex stacks up against the guys that never got the ring. It would be too hard for me to put the two lists together but it's crying to be done (Still A Dog?). Maybe Dog can give us the list from 1 to 51 in order if he had to choose today his starter. It's going to be hard as Steeler fans to place Big Ben in that list because his legacy is just beginning (hopefully). Clearly, there will be QBs that never won the game on this list who are far superior to some who did win. Obvious examples would be where to rank Dan Marino and Fran Tarkenton. They absolutely rank higher than your Doug Williams and Jim McMahons. Dog has been around a few (a lot?) more years than me so he saw all of these guys play. The ranking of the 26 winners is just my opinion. If you disagree, please don't thorw QB ratings at me as they mean nothing comparing QB's from different eras. Those guys threw less passes and didn't dink and dunk to raise their completion percentages. Here goes:

(Player/SB Played/SB Won)
01. Montana 4/4
02. Bradshaw 4/4
03. Elway 5/3
04. Favre 2/1
05. Starr 2/2
06. Brady 3/3 (Future Pending)
07. Young 1/1
08. Staubach 4/2
09. Aikman 3/3
10. Manning 1/1 (Future Pending)
11. Namath 1/1
12. Dawson 2/1
13. Griese 3/2
14. Warner 2/1
15. Simms 1/1
16. Theismann 2/1
17. Stabler 1/1
18. Plunkett 2/2
19. Roethlisberger (Future Pending) 1/1
20. McMahon 1/1
21. Hostetler 1/1
22. Johnson 1/1
23. Dilfer 1/1
24. Williams 1/1
25. Rypien 1/1
26. Morral/Unitas - Didn't Rank - Morral Started, Unitas Finished

That was really hard because some of them are great and some of them are very efficient and had long careers. I have no idea what I based those rankings on other than a gut feeling and watching most of them play. Some had outstanding receivers most of their careers like Bradshaw and Montana while people like Tom Brady went into Super Bowls with far less fire power and still won. I have little doubt that Steve Young could have won 4 SBs had he played there the same years Montana did. I feel the same way about Brett Favre had he played for the Steelers in the 70's. What can I say, this is my list.


Of the 25 Losers, I have the following, again - according to me only:

01. Marino 1
02. Unitas 1
03. Kelly 4
04. Tarkenton 3
05. Boomer 1
06. Gannon 1
07. Hasselbeck 1
08. Bledsoe 1
09. McNabb 1
10. McNair 1
11. Anderson 1
12. Jaworski 1
13. Chandler 1
14. O'Donnell 1
15. Delhomme 1
16. Lamonica 1
17. Morton 2
18. Kilmer 1
19. Collins 1
20. Humphries 1
21. Grogan 1
22. Grossman 1
23. Ferragamo 1
24. Woodley 1
25. Kapp 1

I don't know a lot about some of these guys that were 0-1 in the Super Bowl, so maybe Dog can expand on them a little. I may have placed them all far too low. Who knows? After doing the losers, I looked at some of their stats and I only made 2 or 3 adjustments to my list so I think I did pretty good. So, what I set out to see was how all other SB QBs stacked up against Rex Grossman. I don't think he was the worst ever. Ten years from now he may move far up the list if he has a better than average career. Wow. Dog, do some homework and take us 'oldschool'. You up to sorting the combined list for us?

Hilarious SB XLI Spoof

Check this out! Thanks Still A South for the link contribution. Use the link on the spoof page to see last year's equivalent when it was The Stillers.