SuperBowl Plot Lines

After a 16 week regular season and 3 rounds of playoffs only 2 teams remain the Colts and the Saints. The two best teams in football will meet 2 weeks from now in Miami in the SuperBowl. This will be the first time since 1993 when the Cowboys played the Bills that both #1 seeds will be playing each other and even though I am a Jets fan I couldn’t be happier about the match up.

Before I get to the SuperBowl itself I need to talk about what happened today.

First my Jets. Mark Sanchez played a solid game but for some reason we just couldn’t establish the run at all. Shonn Greene left the game early with an injury and that seemed to knock some life out of us. The gameplan of shutting down Wayne and Dallas worked for the most part and we forced the other receivers to make plays and they did. Collie and Garcon were both amazing.

It would have been nice to see the Jets in the SuperBowl but it just wasn’t our year. Next year Sanchez will be a little better and maybe we will add 1 more guy to the secondary to compliment Revis. Overall it was a good season with lots to build on.

As for the Vikings I couldn’t be happier with what happened to them today. Brett Favre got destroyed all game and never looked comfortable. Adrian Peterson fumbled so much that he was eventually replaced by Chester Taylor. The best part was how all the Vikings fans got strung along like this team was going to win and then they lost in overtime, its poetic really.

Never mind I lied. The best part of the game was Favre throwing that interception with under 20 seconds left. That play right there defines his whole career. He is a gunslinger aka a moron who tries to force everything and win it all on his own. That was the dumbest pass I have ever seen and it will haunt Favre forever. What makes it better is that if Favre chooses to retire, again, then that would mean his last play as a Packer, Jet and Viking would be an interception. There is a God.

Now for the Colts and Saints.

This SuperBowl is going to be an awesome game. You have 2 high powered offenses and 2 mediocre defences. The two best quarterbacks in the league are going to be facing off and there should be tonnes of scoring. It would take a miracle for this game to be boring.

There are a lot of really interesting plot twists for this game though:

Saints Try to Win #1

The New Orleans Saints have never won a SuperBowl. I remember back when I was a Saints fan my dad told me that I would never live long enough to see them win and now they are just 1 win away from losing the nickname the “Aints.”

Only 15 teams have never won a SuperBowl: Bills, Bengals, Titans, Chargers, Eagles, Vikings, Panthers, Falcons, Seahawks, Cardinals, Browns, Jags, Texans, Lions and of course the Saints. Of those 15 teams the Browns, Jags, Lions, Texans and Saints have never even played in a SuperBowl game. Well now that list will shrink to 4.

Meanwhile the Colts are trying to win their second SuperBowl in three years and establish themselves as the best team in football. For them this game would mean just another trophy in the case and just another stat to put on Peyton Manning’s Hall of Fame resume. That isn’t to say that it isn’t important for them it just lacks the impact that a Saints win has.

The City Needs This Win

New Orleans desperately needs this win. After Hurricane Katrina destroyed most of the city it was the Saints that helped rejuvenate the people. People rallied around the success of the Saints and saw the resurgence of the team as a sign that the city was resurging after the disaster. It is safe to say that no team means more to its city than the Saints do to New Orleans (with the possible exception of the Packers).

How much would it mean to the city of New Orleans if the Saints won the SuperBowl? Imagine the parade that will be held on Bourbon Street, it will be like Mardi Gras on crack. A city that was almost completely under water only 5 years ago will have come full circle and will be able to move on and be known for something other than a natural disaster.

Indianapolis on the other hand won 2 years ago and doesn’t need this as bad as New Orleans does. This is why 99% of North America will be cheering for the Saints. How could you not want them to win? There is no one on the team to hate and it would be such a feel good story.

The Archie Manning Angle

To the people of New Orleans Archie Manning is a hero. He was the quarterback of the Saints for 11 years and still has strong ties to the city. Archie is also the father of Peyton Manning. What does he do?

Does he cheer for Peyton and turn his back on his adopted hometown? Or does he root for the Saints and look like a terrible father? There is no real win-win here as clearly someone is going to be upset.

Archie came out after today’s game and said that he would support his son. "I'm pulling for the Colts 100 percent," Archie Manning said. "It's not even close." Even though he said this I still think he would be alright if the Saints won. He knows how much the victory would mean to the city and how much good it would do.

The 16-0 Discussion

It wasn’t long ago that both these teams were headed for 16-0 seasons. The Colts felt that 16-0 wasn’t important and opted to rest their starters to save them for the playoffs (worked out well) while the Saints went for 16-0 and failed. Two different philosophies and yet the very same outcome. Neither team finished undefeated and yet they are meeting in the SuperBowl.

This is a plot line I really don’t want to be covered greatly as it has already been beaten to death but knowing the sports journalism world there is a 0% chance this doesn’t get discussed as great length. “What if the Colts had played their starters in weeks 15 and 16?” There are way too many other good stories to focus on for this to become the major theme of the game.

No matter what happens this is going to be a great game. I am really excited about the fact that I don’t have a vested interest in who wins. Last year I was pulling for the Cardinals because I hate the Steelers but this year I can just sit back and enjoy the game for the football.

If the Colts win I will be happy because I like Manning and it would further cement his status as ‘best quarterback ever’ and if the Saints win I will be pumped for the city of New Orleans. Going into the playoffs all I wanted was the Vikings and Chargers to lose. Had those two teams met in the SuperBowl I probably wouldn’t have watched the game. Thankfully that didn’t happen and instead we are treated to a championship game with the two most deserving teams playing.

This game has all the potential to be a classic.

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One and Done is Killing the NBA

If you follow college basketball, even peripherally, then you know who John Wall is. If you don’t then here is some background info on him. Wall is a freshman guard at the University of Kentucky, the consensus #1 pick in the upcoming NBA draft and one of the most hyped college players of the past decade.

He is also 19 years old and in 5 months he will be a millionaire.

Wall is just one of many young men that will be leaving the NCAA after only year to enter the NBA draft and pursue their dream of becoming an NBA legend.

This may seem like a dream scenario for the NBA to have a guy like John Wall in their organization but in reality it is anything but. By allowing players like Wall to enter the NBA after only 1 year in the NCAA a flawed system has been created. This current system encourages players to leave school early thus rushing into a league that they, for the most part, are ill equipped to handle. The NBA season is much longer than the college season (82 games in the NBA vs 38 in NCAA) , the competition is much stronger and the room for error is much smaller.

In essence by allowing these players to join the NBA after only 1 year the league is ruining its “farm system” and diluting its talent pool with players who have no business being in the league. Players who stay in college longer generally have a better understanding of the game because they had more time to grow and mature as players. They also gain more experience and perspective which is invaluable when entering the NBA.

Yes there are guys like Tyreke Evans, Kevin Durant and Derrick Rose who made the jump to the NBA after only 1 year in school without skipping a beat, but for every exception to the rule there are 10 guys that prove the rule.

DeMar DeRozan (inconsistent), Jrue Holliday (averaging a 5 pts/game), BJ Mullens (scrub), JJ Hickson (career bench player), Kosta Koufas (awful), Donte Green (bench player), DeAndre Jordan, Bill Walker (playing in the D-League), Mike Conley Jr. (not as good as AI), Brandan Wright, Spencer Hawes (getting better but is still dusty), Thaddeus Young, Javaris Crittenton (soon to be in jail) and Daeqoan Cook (career highlight will be winning 3pt contest) were all freshmen when they were selected in the 1^st round of the NBA draft and so far they have proven to be ineffective NBA players.

Here are 2 steps the NBA should take to solve this problem:

1) 1) Allow potential NBA players to take “Basketball” as a major. If people can major in Art and Music why can’t someone major in Basketball? Let the courses be about the history of the game and about life as an NBA player. Kids could learn about the dangers of being young, rich and famous. This would better prepare players for the new challenges they will face once they enter the NBA.

2) 2) Make the minimum amount of time spent in college 2 years. This would put the NBA on par with the NFLs eligibility rules and it would force kids to actually have to go class. Maybe the kids would form a bond with the school and get some pride and want to stick around to win something like Tim Tebow did with Florida. This might encourage a few more kids to stay for 4 years and actually graduate which is supposed to be the ultimate goal of going to college is it not?

But does the NBA want to solve this problem? Do they care that the majority of ‘one and done’ kids are terrible or are they more focused on the ones that turn out to be great? Does the league mind that they are robbing these kids of a chance to get an education? God forbid someone get a career ending injury. What would they fall back on? I mean Mike Conley Jr. isn’t qualified to run a Dairy Queen let alone the Memphis Grizzlies offense.

As long as there are players like Rose, Evans, Durant and Wall out there the NBA will do their best to get them into the league as fast as possible. If that means that they are diluting their talent pool with unprepared and underdeveloped players then so be it.

I understand that the NBA is a business and that priority #1 is filling the seats but they need to recognize that they are hurting their own product. Attendance numbers are down across the board and that might have something to do with the amount of dusty players that are currently in the league. Yes guys like John Wall will bring out the fans but no one wants to see John Wall dribble around a bunch of teenagers who don’t understand how to play system basketball.

It must also be noted that a lot of people that watch the NBA also watch college basketball. People who follow college basketball are often more hardcore than your average NBA fan. Why is this important? Guys that stay at a school for 4 years, like Tyler Hansbrough, gather a following. UNC fans love him and I am sure that more than a few of them started paying attention to the Pacers once he got drafted by them.

But who got attached to Thaddeus Young? He was in and out of Georgia Tech in an instant. The man up and vanished like a fart in the wind. Now he is just another role player in the NBA, a 21 year old that could have been a legend at GT and gained a following that would have supported him into his NBA career. Instead the only people that were excited when he was drafted by the 76ers were his parents and maybe his buddies who figured they would get an Xbox out of it or something.

The NBA needs to smarten up and realize that the current system they have is flawed. It has some success but for the most part it creates too many problems. Change needs to be made and soon or else we might see a starting 5 of Conley Jr, DeRozan, Holliday, Hickson and Hawes. I shudder to even think of it.

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Cheap Shots

In case you haven't seen it yet here is a video of Patrice Cormier absolutely destroying Mikael Tam during a game on January 17th

The hit has started a heated debate about cheap shots in hockey and what is to be done about them. On one side are the people who argue that it is all part of the game and there is nothing that can be done because there will always be cheap shots. On the other side are the people who feel like Cormier should face a severe punishment from the league and should also face legal consequences as well.

Countless people have given their opinion on what should be done and how the league can crack down on hits like this but in the end there is only 1 way to stop cheap shots like this, keep your head up and pay attention.

99% of cheap shots in hockey occur when one player has their head down and isn't paying attention. Remember when Paul Kariya got lit up by Scott Stevens, head down. Or more recently when Zach Kassian laid out Matt Kennedy with a massive hit, not paying attention.

Parise Breaks Rule #1

Matt Stajan Getting Owned (head down)

Stajan Doesn't Learn His Lesson

Scott Stevens on Lindros (head down in the trolley tracks)

Here is Steve Downie Killing Dean McAmmond (notice how McAmmond watches his pass instead of paying attention to his surroundings).

Ask Eric Lindros, if you skate with your head down you are going to get killed. It is a simple truth.

When playing minor hockey one of the first lessons kids are taught is to always keep your head up and always be alert when you're on the ice. Well it seems like some of these kids never learned that lesson or maybe chose to ignore it because too often in hockey games today I see guys skating around with their heads down.

Should the coaches be blamed? Partially, but the main culprit is the NHL.

In an effort to try and make the game more exciting a bunch of new rule changes were implemented which opened up the ice and gave players more freedom to skate without worry of being interfered with. This initiative was spearheaded by Comissioner Gary Bettman in an attempt to make the game more appealing to Americans.

What has resulted is that now players feel like they can't be touched when they have the puck so they don't need to worry about the other guys on the ice. The end result is a bunch of smaller guys flying around the ice trying to deke the whole team with their heads down. This more often than not results in cheap shots because players take it upon themselves to hit guys who aren't paying attention.

By no means I am condoning this sort of play and my feelings don't apply to guys who hit from behind, go for the knees, or use their stick as a weapon. Those guys need to be dealt with because they are intending to injure someone. These other guys like Cormier and Kassian are just playing physical hockey and imposing their will on the other team by laying out morons who don't follow rule #1.

Now a message to all of those softies out there who cry, "if a guy has his head down you shouldn't hit him." Go play tennis or maybe try knitting. Hockey is a contact sports. Let me say that again so you fully understand me. Hockey is a contact sports. This means guys hit one another during the course of a game because it is part of the game.

When I played football in high school one of the guys on my own team would always hit me from behind during practice because I would stop and watch the play instead of actually being involved in the play. At first I would get real pissed off because we were on the same team but after getting laid out 3 or 4 times I got the message and it never happened again. Play until the whistle blows and always be alert, lessons for life right there.

Hockey is a fast paced game and if you don't always have your head in the game bad things can happen. It is a sport that is played at blinding speed by a bunch of mammoth men who have knives on their feet and sticks in their hands. If you step onto that sheet of ice and think for 1 second that you are invincible or that you won't get hit then you are an idiot.

You know the best way to stop cheap shots from happening? More cheap shots. Do you think Phil Kessel is going to try and skate through a whole team with his head down anymore after seeing what will happen to him? Hockey players may be stereotyped a morons but no one could watch the hits that have been doled out lately and not learned a lesson.

As for people saying that legal action should be taken against these guys they need to smarten up. It's hockey, that is just the way the game is played. Always has been and always will. Now if a guy hits another player with his stick well then that is a different story. That becomes assault with a weapon and intent to injure. There is no place for things like that in sports and legal action should be taken in those extremely rare cases. In terms of a guy leaving his feet to ring someones bell there is a system in place for dealing with that, it's called 2 minutes for charging.

No doubt Patrice Cormier will get a harsh sentence from the QMJHL due to the extraordinary amount of pressure the league is under from the media. I understand that they have to do something to appease the masses and Cormier will probably be made an example of but I don't really feel like there should be any consequences.

In the end the players will police themselves, as they have always done, and the game will continue as it is. Guys like Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin will never be touched much like Joe Sakic and Steve Yzerman before them had free passes but as for everyone else it is simple, keep your head up and be alert.

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Judging Success

With their win on Sunday over the Chargers the Jets earned the right to play the Colts in the AFC Championship. Needless to say I couldn't be more pumped about this fact but having said that if I was asked as a fan if I consider this season a success I would have to say no.

Were there a lot of positives that have come out of this season already? Yes, but when it comes to sports there is only 1 way to judge success and that is by championships won. If the Jets don't win the SuperBowl then this season wasn't a success.

This of course is only my belief and maybe I am expecting too much or maybe fans of other team expect so much less which rubs off on the team itself and allows them to label seasons where they didn't win it all a "success."

This is my main problem with Leaf fans.

In a recent article I chirped Leaf fans for cheering Curtis Joseph like he was some sort of hero when he never won anything for them. I got a tonne of emails about this and had people telling me I was a moron because Joseph led the Leafs to the playoffs in 4 straight seasons and is 4th all-time in regular season wins.

My response was simple: how many Stanley Cups did he win and how many Vezina trophies did he win?

The answer is 0.

Here is a man who never won a single award and never won a Stanley Cup. He won a lot of regular season games but was never good enough to take his team to the Cup Finals and win it all and was never the best goalie in the league. Therefore his career can be deemed impressive but not successful.

If you asked Joseph what his 2 goals were going into his NHL career I am 100% positive his response would be to win a Stanley Cup and a Vezina award. He achieved neither and I am sure that will bother him until the day he dies.

Yet Leaf fans will give him a standing ovation and treat him like a God simply because he took them to the playoffs.

When did the most stories franchise in hockey allow its expectations to sink so low? When did it become OK to simply just make the playoffs?

A sad day for the Toronto Maple Leafs and their fans really.

It isn't just the Leafs that have this problem however as in every major sport there are certain teams that have become so terrible and so downtrodden that they feel like making the playoffs is a success, or in severe cases having a winning record is a success.

Let me tell you right now that going 43-41 in the NBA is not a "successful" season. That is not good enough and should never be considered good enough under any circumstances. If fans start to believe that meager accomplishments like a winning record are good enough then the players will believe it as well and then everybody just starts aiming for mediocrity.

Back to the Jets.

While their current season may not be a success if they don't win the SuperBowl there are still a lot of positives to build on.

Mark Sanchez has done as well as anybody could have hoped for a rookie quarterback and a 3-4 defense that lost its nose tackle (Kris Jenkins) and still was ranked #1 overall is always a good thing. Revis emerged as the top shutdown corner in the league and Shonn Greene stepped up big time after Leon Washington went down.

So there were good things to talk about about unless they bring home the Lombardi trophy it will have all been for not.

This is the one thing I like about Yankees fans. They expect to win every year and are thoroughly disappointed if they don't. They may be obnoxious douchebags who are for the most part bandwagon fans but at least they don't settle for merely making the playoffs. Fans from other teams could learn something from them.

In the end it all comes down to how you as a fan define success. Do you define success by championships or by meager accomplishments? Do you judge players based on awards won or meaningless statistics like 'wins in the regular season?'

I refuse to settle for 2nd place and I don't think other people should be happy with 2nd place either. In the immortal words of Herm Edwards, "you play to win the game!"

Preach Herm. Preach

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J-E-T-S JETS! JETS! JETS!

"We ballers. Let's Go. People always hatin on u but we seem to prevail everytime just comin with the negativity and we will respond."

That is a tweet from Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis today after a 17-14 win over the San Diego Chargers. A win that almost nobody expected and that will send the Jets to Indianapolis to play the Colts next week in the AFC Championship.

Going into the game no one was giving the Jets much of a chance, as every single member of both the CBS and FOX pregame shows picked the Chargers to win. But in the end the Jets stuck with what had worked for them all year - running the ball and playing solid defense - and got the victory. It may not have been the most exciting game but they won and that is all that matters.

Shonn Green was the MVP today as he racked up 128 yards with 1 TD on 23 carries. His 53 yard run in the 3rd quarter broke the game open for the Jets and was the longest postseason scoring play in franchise history. Not to be forgotten is Mark Sanchez who played a solid game. He made the 1 mistake which ended up as an interception but other than that he did a good job protecting the ball and standing tall in the pocket. He didn't win us the game but he also didn't lose it for us which is all you can ask for from a young quarterback.

I was really worried after the 1st quarter as the Jets started the game four straight three-and-outs but then realized that they had played the worst quarter of football I had seen them play all year and they were only down 7-0. This was still a game up for grabs.

From there the Jets defense took over and showed a bend but not break will that forced the Chargers into kicking field goals. This would prove to be the key to the game as Nate Kaeding missed 3 field goals and cost his team the game.

It must also be mentioned that the Chargers made a lot of mental mistakes that hurt them in the end as they had 4 false start penalties, in their own stadium, and 2 personal fouls one of which was given to Vincent Jackson for kicking the challenge flag thrown by Rex Ryan after Jackson had made an unreal catch. If that penalty hadn't occurred and if Jackson had kept his cool the Chargers would have had the ball at the Jets 23 yard line instead of the 38. Only one way to describe that move by Jackson, bush league.

Staying on the topic of shitty attitudes I feel I must talk about Philips Rivers who is a Grade A douchebag. He is notorious for talking trash during the games and often gets really personal. He is also a really poor sport and often throws tantrums if he loses (like back in 2006 and 2007 when the Patriots beat the Chargers). Today he was at it again when he basically cried to the ref after Revis came down with an unreal interception. I hate Rivers and there is nothing better than watching him walk off the field after losing a playoff game. Keep racking up those regular season wins though buddy and you will be in the HOF in no time.

Since I am a Jets fan I am loving life right now. I was really worried about Rex Ryan as a coach mdiway through the season as he seemed fond of not using timeouts and being unable to manage the clock late in games. The Sanchise was another point of concern this season as he was throwing interceptions left and right but he has settled down as of late and seems poised and calm in the pocket making a lot of smart decisions.

What I love most about the fact that the Jets are going to the AFC Championship is how it validates them to all the people who were saying they only got in because teams rested their starters. Did the Bengals rest their starters in the Wild Card game? Did the Chargers rest their starters today? No, and the Jets shut them down completely and imposed their will on the ground.

Now the Jets get an opportunity to face the Colts again. Everyone remembers that it was the Jets that beat the Colts in Week 16 and brought an end to their perfect season. A game that spawned a huge debate about not just whether it was right or wrong to rest your starters but also whether the Colts should have gone for the perfect season.

The Jets took advantage of the fact that Peyton Manning was on the sidelines for the 2nd half and won the game keeping their season alive. Now they will have to play Manning for a full 4 quarters and see whether or not they are the better team.

Another wrinkle worth mentioning about the fact that the Jets won is that it upset the pattern that was developing so far in these playoffs. Before the 5th seed Jets knocked off the 2nd see Chargers all the top seeds were winning. Minnesota beat Dallas earlier in the afternoon and earned a shot to play the Saints in the NFC Championship. That game will be the 1st seed (Saints) vs the 2nd seed (Vikings).

In the AFC it will be the 1st seed (Colts) vs the 5th seed (Jets). So if the Chargers had won then it would have been the best teams in both conferences playing each other for a chance to go to the SuperBowl. Too bad the Jets ruined the pattern.

Jets Head Coach Rex Ryan said it best, "a match up that probably nobody wanted, but too bad."

Comments like these are nothing new for Ryan as he has become quit notorious for his brash comments to the media about how great his team is and about how underrated he feels they are. He even went as far as saying he thought the Jets should be the favorite to win the SuperBowl going into the playoffs. Some might say he was crazy but if you look at the way playoff games usually unfold then it really isn't that crazy.

The Jets are a team that plays great defense and runs the ball. These are the 2 most important aspects of the game when it comes to the playoffs. You need to be able to shut down your opponent and set the pace of the game with your rushing attack. The Jets can do both these things and proved it today by limiting the #1 ranked passing attack to just 14 points.

The only problem the Jets have is scoring a lot of points. Should the defense collapse for a quarter and give up 14 or 21 points then of course it will be hard for the Jets to come back as they really don't have that quick strike ability but let's just hope that doesn't happen.

I was planning on not mentioning this since I din't want to jynx it but I feel it deserves some discussion. I want to point out the lucky breaks that the Jets have gotten so far in these playoffs. So far through 2 games their opponents kickers have missed 6 field goals. 6! Shayne Graham missed 3 times in the Wild Card game last week and today Nate Kaeding missed 3 field goals. These are two of the top kickers in the game so the fact that they screwed up so badly is an absolute fluke. I will admit this and I am OK with it because it means that the Jets might be a team of destiny. I just hope the trend continues next week with Matt Stover.

So here we are. Down to 4 teams and the New York Jets are one of them. Rookie quarterback and a rookie head coach. They could break so many records if they win on Sunday and get to the SuperBowl most notable would be Rex Ryan getting a chance to break the curse of fat coaches not winning the SuperBowl.

I am pumped the Jets made it this far and the whole season has been a great success. Having said that I still think we can win it all and win our first SuperBowl since 1969 when Namath made "the guarantee." Now let me hear all the Jets fans out there:

J-E-T-S JETS! JETS! JETS!

Random YouTube Video (Courtesy of Bryan Cruse)