AFC Title Game Notebook

I had time on Sunday to jot some notes as I watched the AFC title game contested between the Baltimore Ravens and the New England Patriots. Now I'm going to write all that stuff again right here. It must have been really good stuff.

First Quarter
3:51 - The Patriots are going to win. (I didn't think of keeping notes of the game until this point. Don't worry, you didn't miss anything.)
3:41 - Patriots quarterback Tom Brady is intercepted. I went looking for art to illustrate this column and was surprised to find I don't have any Tom Brady cards. So I pulled an image from a book I have.
3:25 - Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco finds a guy wide open for 42 yards. I still say the Patriots will win. By the way, when you type 'Flacco', it feels like a misspelled word.
1:57 - I love that architectural feature of Gillette Stadium, the iron arch that spans an opening on one end of the field. So cool. It's shown in the lower center-right of this link.
1:51 - "Blindside" guy, Michael Oher, just rolled his ankle. Bet he didn't see that one coming.
PATRIOTS 3, RAVENS 0

Second Quarter
14:27 - Baltimore was lucky to be in that spot, 4th and 1 on the New England 3, and they didn't go for the first down/touchdown. They may not get back there again - you never know. The Patriots appear to be the better team, so Baltimore should have gone for it. Again, the Pats will win.
RAVENS 3, PATRIOTS 3

12:53 - Looks like Brady is just a touch off, just missing his guys.
12:01 - Brady finally hits a tight end right, Rob Gronkowski, on the button.
10:57 - It's always a relief to not see a head inside those helmets that go rolling around on the field.
10:35 - BenJarvus Green-Ellis, whose head was not inside the helmet that was just on the ground, executes a nifty run for a touchdown. Got the handoff, hesitated, found his blocks, and then ran, nearly untouched, for a 7-yard score.
PATRIOTS 10, RAVENS 3

6:42 - Looking at Flacco, I'm wondering who were the best players to wear the number 5 in the NFL? It's not that common for playmakers. Paul Hornung comes to mind.
RAVENS 10, PATRIOTS 10

I like the Verizon commercial that features R2-D2 - pretty clever. "It's like a million dollars in gas."

3:00 - PATRIOTS 13, RAVENS 10
3:00 - The fact is, New England's defense has not been outstanding this year. Baltimore may be good enough to make this a game.

Third Quarter
9:06 - PATRIOTS 16, RAVENS 10. (I was thinking, but didn't note, that this would be when New England begins to pull away for an easy win. Hmmm.)
3:38 - I think the Ravens' receiver, Torrey Smith, was out of bounds and they are reviewing the play right now. It's 16-16 pending the review.
RAVENS 17, PATRIOTS 16

A Masters commercial in January? In other words, CBS doesn't have the Super Bowl this year. They last had it in 2010 (Saints 31, Colts 17) and will have it next year (Seahawks 81, Broncos 6).
3:36 - The ensuing kickoff return is fumbled by Danny Woodhead and recovered by Baltimore. Kathy says, "Uh-oh. Your team is going to pot."
1:41 - CBS keeps showing Woodhead on the bench between each Ravens play.
0:50 - Baltimore field goal is good.
RAVENS 20, PATRIOTS 16

Fourth quarter
12:19 - Quarterback sneak and Brady is into the end zone for a go-ahead TD - unless it is overturned. And it is.
11:29 - Brady up and over for a touchdown. Patriots get to keep that one.
PATRIOTS 23, RAVENS 20

It's turnover time.
7:22 - And there it is. Flacco gets picked by Brandon Spikes.
7:07 - And the Patriots give it right back. Brady gets picked by Jimmy Smith.
4:55 - The Ravens are in field goal range.
2:55 - It's 4th and 6 on Patriots 33 and the Ravens are going for it. Or not. Time out is called. They do go for it but Flacco's pass is incomplete. The Patriots wind up taking over on downs.

I just CAN NOT take the new Hawaii Five-O seriously. Neither does Steve McGarrett.  The real one.
2:18 - Did the Ravens get anything out of Anquan Boldin today? Answer: Yes. Six catches for 101 yards.
1:44 - Here is the game. New England just executed a nifty three-and-out, so the Ravens have one more shot at it.
1:20 - On a 3rd and 5, a pass completed to, who else, Anquan Boldin. Thirteen yards to the Ravens 39 and a first down.
1:05 - Mayo on Rice, a recipe for an incomplete pass.
0:50 - On a 3rd and 1 from the 48, Flacco completes a pass to Boldin who tears down the sideline to the 23 yard line. Boldin got 60 yards here in this last series, so that's why it seemed he hadn't done much when I asked the question earlier.
0:23 - Pass incomplete to Lee Evans in the end zone. Looked like a TD to me.
0:15 - Field goal attempt to tie the game is - - - NO GOOD. Are you kidding me? Welcome to Scott Norwood's world, Billy Cundiff. Unreal.
Final: PATRIOTS 23, RAVENS 20

Later, the Giants beat the 49ers in overtime to win the NFC title. So to sum up the Super Bowl semi-finals: one missed field goal, one made field goal, and two Harbaughs out.

Finally

Our long national nightmare is over. The ugliest uniform in the NFL is no more. The Buffalo Bills return to a more classic, ye classy, look for 2011.

Providing there is a season, of course.

Give It A Rest

It is way too early to start talking about the Super Bowl. And it has been too early to start talking about it since it was determined last Sunday who would be playing the game a week from this Sunday. It takes two weeks to get there and for two weeks there are no games, but the talk is everywhere.

This bothers my internal clock. Since early September, the NFL has conditioned us for a steady stream of football delivered in regular, weekly doses. They come on Sunday. Oh, there's the odd Thursday game to accommodate a network and there's the Monday night game. But they only serve to prove the point. Those games feel different and odd and out of kilter because they are. They aren't on Sunday. Some playoff games are on Saturday, but that's OK because it's the playoffs and you expect the schedule to be different for the playoffs.

But now the flow is interrupted. There will be no NFL football on this coming Sunday prior to the Super Bowl. But you are thinking about the Pro Bowl Game and saying to yourself, "There is a game, the Pro Bowl." Yes, well, the Pro Bowl, the all-star game for football, is just not the same. I asked a friend today, who is perhaps the most enthusiastic football fan I know, if he watched the Pro Bowl. I assumed I would hear a resounding yes. Instead, he made a face. "Ray Lewis can't sack the quarterback!" he said as he shook his head. To keep players from getting hurt, they change the rules a bit and it turns the game into something other than a real contest of football. It's more an exhibition. He doesn't watch. So, like I said, there is no football this weekend.

All Favre, All The Time

It is probably a myth that fierce Nordic explorers of yore would burn their ship once they were ashore in a new land in order to prevent retreat. Today's NFL namesakes, the Vikings, have commenced burning the team ship with a third of the season to play and everyone still on board. Talk about poor clock management!

Just a few plays away from last year's Super Bowl, Minnesota has fired the coach, Brad Childress, as of Monday. What has gone wrong? ESPN.com's Gregg Easterbrook has a thought:

"Surely, the Vikings' problem is that they have not bowed low enough before Brett Favre! Childress only drove to the airport to pick him up. Why didn't he offer to fold Favre's laundry too? If only the Minnesota Vikings would show Favre some respect!

Favre leads the league with 17 interceptions -- and maybe he wouldn't be throwing to the wrong place so often if he'd bothered to attend training camp for the past two seasons. Favre also has lost five fumbles; 22 turnovers in 10 games by the starting quarterback would doom any NFL team. The Vikings are last in the NFL in turnover differential -- and Adrian Peterson hasn't fumbled this season! Yet Childress is scapegoated while Favre floats above it all. The Metrodome crowd chanted, "FIRE CHILDRESS!" They should have chanted, "PROTECT THE FOOTBALL!"

In 2007, Green Bay wanted to be rid of Favre because the team was sick of his attitude, which boils down to: me, me, me and have I mentioned me? Sunday, Green Bay's judgment was vindicated in emphatic fashion.

In 2008, Favre single-handedly blew up the New York Jets, leading to a fired head coach and bitter recriminations all around. In 2010, Favre has blown up the Vikings, with a fired head coach and bitter recriminations all around. This must be some inexplicable coincidence -- it can't have anything to do with Brett Favre."

Cool Image Of The Moment

Here's a logo from Down Under. Melbourne plays in the Australian Rules football league.

I saw this logo at Brand New, one of my favorite sites. The designers there seem to think this is too busy and are generally critical.

I'm no expert, but I know what I like and I like this. I am especially fond of the interlocking M, F, and C in the red field at the top.

Tim Tebow, Straight-Arrow, Hated

From the Orlando Sentinel:

"These are the sins of Tim Tebow: He is nice to strangers. He's never been arrested. His body is not a canvas of unsightly tattoos. He sometimes uses the word "freak" as a euphemism for the F-bomb because he doesn't curse. He is one of the greatest football players in college football history.

How anyone can stand him is anybody's guess.

The venom spews daily, in the anonymity of blog posts, in cyberspace hate groups, in the voices of callers from Alabama to Alaska. Tim Tebow, party pinata. Everybody take a whack.

The chaos that surrounds Tebow is baffling. He is the most polarizing athlete of this generation, for reasons that remain murky."

Tebow is a guy who, for me, I had no strong opinion about one way or the other. But now I cannot help but root for him, despite my antipathy for the Broncos, because of the sheer amount of baseless antipathy that a vast number of people seem to have for him.

There are real questions about his level of talent and the development of his skills. But for those questions there is an impending and unforgiving exam about to be administered. It will be proctored by the coaching staff in Denver and defenses all over the NFL will have red markers at the ready for any wrong or incomplete answers. Everybody will know whether he can play at the pro level soon enough.

But there is one question that won't be found on the gridiron: What is it about straight-arrows that drives some people bonkers?

OK, NOW They Tell Us

The 2006 Super Bowl featured the Pittsburgh Steelers and, my favorite team, the Seattle Seahawks. Pittsburgh wound up winning the game 21-10, but it was fairly close throughout and Seattle had chances that they did not take advantage of. There was also this matter of a questionable call or two that, were they not made, would have helped the Seahawks fortunes.

Well, now one NFL official, in Seattle's camp this week for a rules session, admits that he made mistakes in that Super Bowl. There's no way to really know, but it's conceivable that the Seahawks might have had a 17-14 lead in the fourth quarter if the calls weren't made.

Honestly, I glad for him for telling the truth and I think this will close that chapter, which still irritates Seattle fans.

Sure would have been nice to win that game.

Cool Image Of The Moment

NFL training camps are open all over the place, which doesn't mean much, but at this point this is as good a time as any to post the NFL shield.

This version is old school, having been in use from 1960 to 1969. The font is particularly interesting.

Our allegiance here at Central Standard is to the Seattle Seahawks. That is odd for a Missourian, I understand, but I have my reasons.

They've a new coach and staff and a bunch of new players. There is no telling if they will be any good, but they have only won 9 games over the last two seasons, so it is hoped that they will be improved over that.

But baseball remains in force throughout the land, though few pay attention. It's a shame, but there it is.

My Wife On Sports

My lovely bride was flicking through the channels tonight while the Olympics were in commercial or something. She stopped at WGN out of Chicago which was showing the NBA game between the hometown Bulls and the New York Knicks.

About 30 seconds into it she said, "Why don't I take this seriously? Major League Baseball I do and pro football I do. But not pro basketball."

Her comment is almost a straight line, but it's all too true. I'm a sports fan and I don't take the NBA all that seriously. I think it's just a notch above pro wrestling.

unManning or Manning?

I sort of covered myself with my Super Bowl pick by saying the Colts would win . . . unless the Saints did. Boy, was that spot on. I'm like The Amazing Kreskin.

Honestly, though, right before I said that, I said that I didn't think the Saints could stop Indy QB Peyton Manning and, obviously, they did. I think that was the big story from the ballgame, the New Orleans defense. Manning was very unManning-like, unless you think that all the accolades that had been heaped on him of late were misplaced and that he really is like the guy who used to lose to Tom Brady every year. In that case, he was Manning-like and his only championship still is against a Chicago Bears team quarterbacked by whats-his-name.

Today was another day in the string of Valentine goodies my wife is treating me to each day. She is an extra special lady, in case you are curious. There have been chocolates and ball cards and a CD. And socks. I needed socks. Anyway, she's celebrating 14 days of Valentine's by giving a gift each of the days leading to the 14th. She seems to be enjoying herself and I know I am! "remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive." Acts 20:35

It was also hamburger night. After work I went to the fitness center at the hospital and then went home. After a shower, I made hamburgers. This is probably no big deal to you, but I really like hamburgers and would just as soon have a hamburger as most anything you could name. Go ahead and try it. Name something and I will bet I like a hamburger better. This may only be interesting to me.

After dinner, '24'. After several episodes of laying groundwork and plodding along in workman like fashion, Jack and Renee got busy. My bride and I were commenting about this very thing tonight and I said, "It's about time for it to get going. They are still climbing (like a roller coaster)." About 60 seconds later there was a flurry of stabbing and shooting. The natural order of things was restored.

The Roman Numeral Game: Colts-Saints

The championship of the National Football League will be determined Sunday in a one-game playoff. Some people insist on calling this game the Super Bowl. They also number the Super Bowl games and I think they do this to keep track of them. For example, if I asked you who won Super Bowl XXII, you would immediately know the answer because they numbered it. In Roman numerals. What a great system. For the Romans.

This year's Super Bowl, the XLIVth one, pits the Indianapolis Colts against the New Orleans Saints. This is what we know for sure. We also know that the game will be made up of Running Plays. Or Passing Plays. And that is football. I don't want to sound like I don't appreciate football, what with it's wide variety of action. You know, a run OR a pass. The possibilities are two!

I pick the Colts. There will be many whose hearts will be with the Saints because they have been horrible for about 92 percent of the years of their existence and because Nawlins was about scrubbed off the face of the earth a few years ago when Nazi Bush built a huge hurricane in the shop at Camp David and launched it at New Orleans using the space shuttle. This is why we are in debt.

But, as compelling as that story may be, I don't think the Saints can stop Indy quarterback Peyton Manning. He is like a Terminator/RoboCop that fires footballs. He has a computer for a brain. He knows what you are doing right now. And he will not let you stop him from throwing footballs to other Horseshoe-Helmeted Athletes. He will win.

Unless the Saints do.

Warner Done?

Watching Kurt Warner has been a fun ride.

Following that '99 St. Louis Rams team, dubbed 'The Greatest Show on Turf', was an adventure every week as they lit up the scoreboard with Warner at quarterback.

His life's story, stocking shelves at the grocery store, playing arena football, catching on with the Rams, becoming the starter when Trent Green got hurt and winning the Super Bowl, is a tale that defies belief. In fact, it's a good thing it's true, because it's too corny for fiction.

And since St. Louis he's had a great career, a Hall of Fame career, according to some. But the ride may soon be over.

From ESPN.com -

It'll be because it's become nine parts job and one part fun.

"Not the Sundays," he says. "The three hours on Sundays are still fun. But it's the whole week, the whole commitment, the ability to sustain it to your fullest, day in and day out.

"You feel the pressure. You have a game that isn't that great and people are like, 'What's wrong with Warner?' That wears on you. You don't have the joy and the fun and satisfaction of having one of those great games because everybody expects you to have one of those games. You never get to exhale."

Warner still hasn't made the decision and, maybe, he'll return.

But if he doesn't, it's been a great ride.

New Seahawk in Seattle

Pete Carroll, a very successful college football coach, will take over the Seahawks as head coach. Carroll has had previous NFL experience with mixed results.

I'm hopeful the Seahawks are on the road to recovery now. They have floundered for the past two years. It was unclear to me that they were headed the right direction after Mike Holmgren left.

Random Baseball Thoughts. And Football.

I said it was random.

All kinds of stuff going on that are interesting in the last 72 hours or so.

Matt Holliday was retained by the St. Louis Cardinals after testing the free agent market. Keeping him in the fold was huge for the Cards. It is huge because he offers good protection in the lineup for Albert Pujols and relieves some of the pressure off Ryan Ludwick. Keeping him allows the Cards to try a kid at third, David Freese, who won't be as pressured to deliver right away.

The addition of Brad Penny to the rotation deepens an already pretty good staff that may just need a bit of bullpen help to be well rounded. Would like to see John Smoltz stick around for another year.

St. Louis looks like a good bet to defend it's Division title.

Andre Dawson was elected to Baseball's Hall of Fame. Not much to say other than 'Hawk' is probably a worthy selection. He was, for nearly a decade, as good a player in the game as you could ask for. He did everything well and you have to wonder what he might have been with healthy knees.

Randy Johnson called it a day by announcing his retirement from baseball. Is he the greatest left-handed pitcher ever? Some think so. Five years from now we should be talking about his Hall of Fame selection.

Mike Shanahan goes to Washington to coach the Redskins. This is interesting on many levels. First, Shanahan was very successful in Denver for many years but there is a school of thought that coaches are less effective as they age. Second, the owner of the Redskins is a meddler who WILL NOT let his football people alone to run the team. And the coach he just hired is extremely hands on and desires control. They are making nice right now, but stay tuned. Third, the Redskins are a franchise that matters. The Yankees and Red Sox matter. The Lakers and Celtics matter. The Cowboys and Patriots matter. So do the Redskins and it's irrelevant if you are a fan of them or not. What happens with the Redskins will be watched closely.

And Charlie Weis to Kansas City? Very cool. I'm not a Chiefs fan, never have been, except when I was. For two years KC had Joe Montana and I liked them then. I was living in Ft. Worth at the time and it was nice to follow someone besides the Cowboys.

I like this Weis deal and despite his mediocre run as a head coach at Notre Dame, he has a track record of success as an offensive coordinator in the NFL. I like this move by Scott Pioli a lot.

I'm reading Cal Ripken Jr.'s autobiography which I got at Christmas. There is a lot that goes into making a career in major league baseball and Ripken's book lets us in on it. It's not splashy, but neither is the author. The book has his personality - it gets the job done.

Class and Sportsmanship

What would cause a high school football player with breakaway speed to pull up five yards short of a touchdown and take a knee after he'd outrun all the opposition? The answer has to do with sportsmanship and class in response to heart-breaking tragedy. You may have seen this story on your local news, but it's worth telling, or re-telling, as the case may be. Read about it here.

Play Ball!

Tomorrow is the Day of Love and no guy should have to be reminded of what this day holds.

Yes, tomorrow pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training for the St. Louis Cardinals. Some other squads have already begun and by next week all the teams will have started. Camp always begins with the pitchers and catchers, but there are always a few position players around who like to get going early.

But, sadly, though the season has not yet begun, another steroid scandal has rocked the sport. Team trainers for the Pittsburgh Pirates were caught NOT giving any steroids to Pirate players. Confronted with these allegations, they admitted they haven't given Pittsburgh ballplayers ANY steroids for decades. Said one, "We think it's why Barry left! He wanted to be a winner." Bonds, a free agent, is expected to sign with a Leavenworth squad sometime in the next year.

The Dodgers moved their spring training home to Arizona after 60 years at Vero Beach, Florida. It was an emotional move which has now, not surprisingly, been a little more expensive in these troubled economic times. To overcome the shortfall the Dodgers applied for some stimulus money from the federal government, but were initially turned down. However, when President Obama was told that the Dodger players were all union members, he said they could have whatever they wanted AND that the Caterpillar guy would give them or their families jobs if they want. "No Union member left behind!" said the president.

And finally, ESPN will cover a lot of baseball games this year, that is, as long as football doesn't interfere. Once football training camp starts in July there will be lots of coverage of football practice (Practice?), and some footage of Bret Favre crying and reports about the Manning brothers goofing around like real brothers or something, while their football playing dad says, "Boys, take it outside!"

Of course, they will still show the home runs and the fights.

It Occurs To Me, Super Bowl Edition

The NFL title game, commonly known as the Super Bowl, will kick off in about 90 minutes. I have no idea who will win, but God does. In fact, He knows precisely who will win and what the score will be. In fact, it was ordered at the foundation of the world.

I listen to sports radio frequently and I've noticed something this week that goes on during other weeks before big games. As soon as the matchup is known, one team, in this case the Steelers, is immediately determined to be favored. A couple of days later, people begin talking about how the other team, in this case the Cardinals, could actually pull off the upset. A couple of days after that, all the talk is that the initial favored team probably will win, but anything could happen. And then what happens usually is the team favored at the beginning wins the game.

And today, I think Pittsburgh will win because I think they are a more complete, deeper squad. I'd like to see the Cardinals, and specifically, Kurt Warner win.

We'll have the Lord's Supper at church tonight and I'll go and hear the story of redemption again which is good for my soul. When I get home, another story, one about a football championship will be told me, the ending already in God's hand.

Though different stories and different values, I'll like them both.

Football Cardinals

There was a brief time in the late 70's when I was interested in the St. Louis football Cardinals. They were generally referred to as the St. Louis football Cardinals because of the historically successful baseball franchise in town with the same nickname. The 'football' part distinguished which Cardinals one was referring to. Sometimes they were also called the Gridbirds which I like.

The Gridbirds of those days were competitive, high-flying and a lot of fun as coached by Don Coryell. Coryell was of the Ernie Zampesi school of aerial offensive attack. There were even a couple of years when they made the playoffs, though they had no success there.

By and large, though, I didn't ever get too attached to them, they were rarely successful and eventually, as we know, they moved to Arizona. The NFL expanded in 1976 and I began following one of the fresh franchises, the Seattle Seahawks, who, unlike the Gridbirds, have actually competed in conference title games and have been to a Super Bowl.

All that windiness aside, I think I'm pulling for the Cardinals today, even though they are division rivals of the Seahawks. I am really pulling for Kurt Warner, their quarterback. Warner, a Christian, is the former QB for the Super Bowl winning Rams team of St. Louis.

The game is on as I write and I have no idea how it will go, but I'd like to see Kurt Warner and that Gridbird helmet advance.

115. Vikings, 'Skins, 'Hawks and Zorn

Number One Son graduated from Parkview High School last spring and during his four years in school he never saw the varsity football team win a game. In fact, the losing steak went all the way back to October 2002. Fifty-eight games in a row. Three senior classes, ’06, ’07, and ’08 never saw their squad win.

And finally the streak ended last Friday night. The victory came against one of the city teams, Hillcrest, in a double-overtime thriller, 39-36. Congrats to the Parkview Vikings.

And in Seahawk-related stories, original Seattle QB and former QB coach Jim Zorn is tearing it up as the newly-minted head coach of the Washington Redskins. This past weekend saw the ‘Skins beat the class of the NFC, the Dallas Cowboys, 26-24.

This from the Seattle Times – “A few weeks ago, there was doubt whether Zorn was the right guy to replace Joe Gibbs. Now, he's off to a great start, including being 1-0 against Washington's biggest rival and ending a 1-for-12 skid at Texas Stadium.”

The Redskins are 3-1 while Zorn’s old team languishes at 1-2. Thankfully, the Seahawks are not out of the race in the mediocre NFC West.

Hey! How about Jim Zorn’s new team hooking up with his old team in the playoffs? At the beginning of the year that seemed impossible. Now? It’s possible.