Long Bombs



Notes on a football weekend:

--NFL: Bad. How does the defense not stop Ben Roethlisberger running? (See, Ben? Sports are better with a helmet.) How does Derek Anderson-- so strong for so many weeks, and so good in the first half-- throw two incomplete passes near the Steelers 35 (esp. with an 18-yard pass to Kellen Winslow, Jr. crammed in-between)? The Browns have had a very good year-- they're one stupid NFL rule/botched field goal away from being 6-3-- and I think they'll end up about 10-6, which is a quantum leap from the last three seasons. Still, it's clear Pittsburgh remains the Pistons to their Bulls, the Bulls to their Jazz, the Gators to their Gamecocks, the Seinfeld to their Newman. They'll probably sweep the other teams in their division, but they can't overcome the Black-and-Gold this year.

-- College ball: Some good, some bad, some a mixed bag (I'm a Hoosier, but my sister went to Northwestern, so it's a win-win for our family either way).

--Ha! And by that, I mean, ha!

--I'm really enjoying the new pre-game team on NBC's Sunday Night Football show. I never need to watch Michaels and Madden during the actual, snoozer games the network gets, but Bob Costas, Keith Olbermann, Peter King, former Gator Chris Collinsworth, Jerome Bettis and Tiki Barber are all a delight: smart, knoweldgeable guys who are funny and passionate without engaging in that mookish macho BS that ESPN can't seem to avoid these days. A few weeks ago, I suggested Costas was not as good a partner for Olbermann as Dan Patrick had been, and I still think that's true-- there's not that Martin-and-Sinatra, ping-pong rhythm that Sportscenter had a decade ago. Still, they seem to be growing more comfortable with each other, and Costas seems to enjoy being the wry, deadpan reactor to Olbermann's rants, jokes and surreal observations.

--Finally...Whether north, south, east or west; SEC, Big 10, ACC or Pac-10; AFC or NFC; red state or blue state; offense fan or defense fan...I think this is something we can all enjoy, isn't it?:

Comments

Greg said…
the Gators to their Gamecocks

Okay, now you're just baiting me.
Anonymous said…
I almost fell off the treadmill when I saw the Zookster talking about his win on ESPN--I was at the gym and didn't have my headphones in the TV jack, so I was squinting at the closed captions, thinking, "What? Zooky beat the #1 Buckeyes? That's nuts!"
Anonymous said…
Okay, now you're just baiting me.

Hey, don't spurrier him on, Cinephile.

(My apologies to pun-ters everywhere.)
Brian Doan said…
Jonathan,
I am baiting you, yes. (: But I'm sure your team will enjoy a good january at the capital one-poulon weedeater independence bowl or something.

Boolise,
I know-- it's a weird feeling to be happy for Ron Zook. Damn you, college foosball, and your ability to warp our emotions!
Greg said…
Hello - I think we can do better than that. I'm thinking maybe the Smead Laminated Folders/Segway America Bowl. There we shall crush our worthy, barely division 1-A opponent Rice, 22-21 on a last second safety as we cruise to a triumphant 7-6 record! Chant it with me: We're number 47! We're number 47! We're number 47!
Anonymous said…
Well, I don't know that I'd say I was happy for El Zooko, what with all that Apocalypse potential of him winning like that, but I did grin in the general direction of the various ungracious dingleberry OSU fans I've encountered of late. Schadenfreude can be a bee-yew-tee-ful thing.

Heh, I like your bowl idea, Jonathan. That leads me to wonder if there's any product they'd reject. "Welcome to Shreveport and the Kaopectate/Independence Bowl!" Maybe not. "Denver welcomes you to the Cialis/Mile High Bowl." That one, maybe. There's no subtlety in football.
Brian Doan said…
Well, the"poulon weedeater independence bowl" was one that my alma mater, Indiana, actually played in around '91 or '92, and its name will forever stick in my head as perhaps the most humiliating bowl name in history.

Boolise-- yes, it's never bad to laugh, guffaw and even cackle in the face of a Buckeyes fan. They're like Fighting Irish fans, but without the charm.
Greg said…
Well the Gamecocks beat West Virginia in the Carquest Bowl 24 -21 in 94 (I still have the t-shirt). Now it's the Champs Sports Bowl. And since we all hate the Buckeyes let me just say my Gamecocks beat them two years in a row in the prestigious Outback Bowl for the 2000 and 2001 seasons (28-7 and 31-28). The next year they won the National Championship and uh... um... we didn't.
Anonymous said…
Well, the "poulon weedeater independence bowl" was one that my alma mater, Indiana, actually played in around '91 or '92

No way! That's hilarious! Makes it sound like there's a quiet weedeater monopoly just outside Shreveport.
Brian Doan said…
I can't remember where the game was played, actually-- I think it might have been somewhere in Arizona. And that was the last bowl IU's been to in the years since, although I'm hoping for something this year, even with the lost to Northwestern.
cbd said…
I haven't been able to give much time to the NFL this season, but I did get to watch the NBC crew once. Much better than the ESPN wonks, who alternate between chest-thumping and simpering sentimentalism.

I watched most of the OSU-Illinois game. Very cool. Little doubt the Zooker learned from his mistakes at Florida. And Williams is fast becoming a very dangerous QB---he's getting smarter every week.
Brian Doan said…
Bradley,
"who alternate between chest-thumping and simpering sentimentalism."

That's the best description of ESPN I've ever heard.
Brian Doan said…
Bradley,
"who alternate between chest-thumping and simpering sentimentalism."

That's the best description of ESPN I've ever heard.

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