The Jinx
I know I'm slippin' again as far as posting to this thing, but as sports fans know, superstition can sometimes take over where rational thought used to live. I would look much better if I had come on here and predicted a Giants win over Tampa Bay, then another one over Dallas and a third one over the Pack. Then I could say "I told you so" and it would be here, documented as proof.
Well I didn't, so I can't. But I did.
I knew we (yes "we", sue me) were going to beat Tampa Bay. I'm not sure how a 9-7 team who was my first survival pool victim in Week 1 (by Seattle) managed to be favored over the Giants, but it happened. And most people picked Tampa Bay to win. Not only did people pick the Bucs, but I had to listen all week about Joey Galloway and Ike Hilliard and how they would abuse the Giants' secondary and about how Jeff Garcia had our number. In hindsight, it's disgusting. Anyone who picked Tampa should be ashamed of themselves.
I went over the Dallas thing in my last post. I thought it was a toss-up, but I felt like we had a chance. It's hard to beat a single team three times in one season, and Tony Romo, for all those keeping score, is not John Elway. He's not even Elisp Manning (holder of three playoff wins to Romo's zero).
Can we relax on Romeo for a while? Cowboys QB, dating whoever he wants, etc., etc. That's great. Notch the belt Tony. We're all rooting for you there, but the guy threw his first-ever NFL pass Week 6 of last season. He didn't get a start until Week 8. The guy has been an NFL starter for only a year and a half. Does everyone forget this?
The first game where he played a major role was in relief of Drew Bledsoe in Week 7 last season. He threw three picks and lost...to the Giants. Not everyone can come on in relief of Drew Bledsoe and immediately become a Hall of Famer. It just looks that way because of Drew Bledsoe.
In Week 13 last season, Romo and the Cowboys beat the Giants. His QB rating was 58.1 that game.
In the final five games of 2006, Romo had ratings of 58, 58, 113, 45 and 111. He started 10 games and made the Pro Bowl because the NFC sucks. You don't even have to be alive to make the NFC Pro Bowl team.
Sure he had a better year this year, but he still won a game in which he threw five picks, choked badly against the Eagles in Week 15 and came up anything but big in the game against the Pats. If Tony Romo had an older brother, let's say Carlo, and he was an all-time great and won his Super Bowl ring and was contractually obligated to be in every commercial that airs on Sundays, Tony would be a notch below Elisp right now.
Don't forget, in two playoff games, Tony has dropped the snap on a game-winning field goal attempt and gone 18-for-36 with a 64.7 rating before lofting an interception into the end zone with nine seconds left.
Two playoff games, two final plays: Fumbling a snap to botch a field goal; throwing an INT into the end zone. Cowboys fans, please, insert your own "That's my quarterback" joke here. It'll make you feel better.
NFC Championship Game: Giants at Packers.
Again, for some reason, no one gave the Giants a shot. Except, of course, for New Haven Register gambling writer Dan Nowak. Right after the Giants took care of the Cowboys, I called Dan to talk smack for picking against the G-Men for the second week in a row. Apparently I wasn't the only one.
Dan then hopped on the bandwagon and picked the Giants to beat Green Bay, in my opinion, to jinx the Gints. I asked him to reconsider, momentarily contemplating changing his column that was to appear in last Sunday's paper, something along the lines of "Packers 41, Giants 0." But the G-Men survived the Curse of Nowak (I can't say the same for a number of horses over the last few months) and reached the Super Bowl, the Super Rematch. Another chapter in New York vs. Boston, or technically, New Jersey vs. Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine.
(Side note: Can the Red Sox please change their name to New England also? You guys have Vermont Day and Maine Day and then you bring that freakin' trophy to New Haven and Hartford to show it off. It's enough already with the Red Sox Nation. Let's see how that nation holds up when times get tough. How's Raider Nation doing right now? Didn't think so.)
Everyone was saying it was going to be too cold for the Giants and then there's Brett Favre and Lambeau Field and blah blah blah. Enough with Brett Favre. He's been covered ad nauseum so I won't add to it. But he throws picks. And he throws them in big spots. There's your ballgame.
Since the advent of HD, I can't say that I ever wished I was NOT watching a game in high def, but seeing Tom Coughlin's face on a regular set was enough for me. I can only imagine that puss in HD. You must have been able to see blood vessels.
He looked like Larry Fine after 50 takes because Moe couldn't get the slap right. Did anyone else think he was going to have to go straight to the hospital after the game, maybe even at halftime? Now he's going to Arizona for the Super Bowl. Lambeau to Arizona. He'll probably evaporate.
You know how some boxers just get the crap beat out of them in a fight but they hold on and gut it out and finally get the win but you know they'll never be the same again? That game had to take a couple years off of Tom's career, which isn't going to be that much longer anyway.
All in all, I'm a happy guy right now. My teams are doing well. The Celtics are cruising, the Bruins are in the playoff mix, the G-Men are going to the Super Bowl, the Mets are at least a contender every year (a far, far cry from the 90s), the Dukies are in the Top 5 and Notre Dame football is nowhere in sight. I'll explain my allegiances in a future blog. Just putting them out there so you know where I stand.
I'll get to my Super Bowl analysis as we get closer to the game. Notice I didn't say "expert" analysis. There are no experts, remember that. Nobody knows anything.
That's why games are played on a field, not in a studio in Bristol.
Well I didn't, so I can't. But I did.
I knew we (yes "we", sue me) were going to beat Tampa Bay. I'm not sure how a 9-7 team who was my first survival pool victim in Week 1 (by Seattle) managed to be favored over the Giants, but it happened. And most people picked Tampa Bay to win. Not only did people pick the Bucs, but I had to listen all week about Joey Galloway and Ike Hilliard and how they would abuse the Giants' secondary and about how Jeff Garcia had our number. In hindsight, it's disgusting. Anyone who picked Tampa should be ashamed of themselves.
I went over the Dallas thing in my last post. I thought it was a toss-up, but I felt like we had a chance. It's hard to beat a single team three times in one season, and Tony Romo, for all those keeping score, is not John Elway. He's not even Elisp Manning (holder of three playoff wins to Romo's zero).
Can we relax on Romeo for a while? Cowboys QB, dating whoever he wants, etc., etc. That's great. Notch the belt Tony. We're all rooting for you there, but the guy threw his first-ever NFL pass Week 6 of last season. He didn't get a start until Week 8. The guy has been an NFL starter for only a year and a half. Does everyone forget this?
The first game where he played a major role was in relief of Drew Bledsoe in Week 7 last season. He threw three picks and lost...to the Giants. Not everyone can come on in relief of Drew Bledsoe and immediately become a Hall of Famer. It just looks that way because of Drew Bledsoe.
In Week 13 last season, Romo and the Cowboys beat the Giants. His QB rating was 58.1 that game.
In the final five games of 2006, Romo had ratings of 58, 58, 113, 45 and 111. He started 10 games and made the Pro Bowl because the NFC sucks. You don't even have to be alive to make the NFC Pro Bowl team.
Sure he had a better year this year, but he still won a game in which he threw five picks, choked badly against the Eagles in Week 15 and came up anything but big in the game against the Pats. If Tony Romo had an older brother, let's say Carlo, and he was an all-time great and won his Super Bowl ring and was contractually obligated to be in every commercial that airs on Sundays, Tony would be a notch below Elisp right now.
Don't forget, in two playoff games, Tony has dropped the snap on a game-winning field goal attempt and gone 18-for-36 with a 64.7 rating before lofting an interception into the end zone with nine seconds left.
Two playoff games, two final plays: Fumbling a snap to botch a field goal; throwing an INT into the end zone. Cowboys fans, please, insert your own "That's my quarterback" joke here. It'll make you feel better.
NFC Championship Game: Giants at Packers.
Again, for some reason, no one gave the Giants a shot. Except, of course, for New Haven Register gambling writer Dan Nowak. Right after the Giants took care of the Cowboys, I called Dan to talk smack for picking against the G-Men for the second week in a row. Apparently I wasn't the only one.
Dan then hopped on the bandwagon and picked the Giants to beat Green Bay, in my opinion, to jinx the Gints. I asked him to reconsider, momentarily contemplating changing his column that was to appear in last Sunday's paper, something along the lines of "Packers 41, Giants 0." But the G-Men survived the Curse of Nowak (I can't say the same for a number of horses over the last few months) and reached the Super Bowl, the Super Rematch. Another chapter in New York vs. Boston, or technically, New Jersey vs. Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine.
(Side note: Can the Red Sox please change their name to New England also? You guys have Vermont Day and Maine Day and then you bring that freakin' trophy to New Haven and Hartford to show it off. It's enough already with the Red Sox Nation. Let's see how that nation holds up when times get tough. How's Raider Nation doing right now? Didn't think so.)
Everyone was saying it was going to be too cold for the Giants and then there's Brett Favre and Lambeau Field and blah blah blah. Enough with Brett Favre. He's been covered ad nauseum so I won't add to it. But he throws picks. And he throws them in big spots. There's your ballgame.
Since the advent of HD, I can't say that I ever wished I was NOT watching a game in high def, but seeing Tom Coughlin's face on a regular set was enough for me. I can only imagine that puss in HD. You must have been able to see blood vessels.
He looked like Larry Fine after 50 takes because Moe couldn't get the slap right. Did anyone else think he was going to have to go straight to the hospital after the game, maybe even at halftime? Now he's going to Arizona for the Super Bowl. Lambeau to Arizona. He'll probably evaporate.
You know how some boxers just get the crap beat out of them in a fight but they hold on and gut it out and finally get the win but you know they'll never be the same again? That game had to take a couple years off of Tom's career, which isn't going to be that much longer anyway.
All in all, I'm a happy guy right now. My teams are doing well. The Celtics are cruising, the Bruins are in the playoff mix, the G-Men are going to the Super Bowl, the Mets are at least a contender every year (a far, far cry from the 90s), the Dukies are in the Top 5 and Notre Dame football is nowhere in sight. I'll explain my allegiances in a future blog. Just putting them out there so you know where I stand.
I'll get to my Super Bowl analysis as we get closer to the game. Notice I didn't say "expert" analysis. There are no experts, remember that. Nobody knows anything.
That's why games are played on a field, not in a studio in Bristol.
posted by Mike W at
12:04 AM
3 Comments:
You know you have a problem when you remember your week 1 victim from a survival pool
You know you have a problem when your survival pool lasts one week...
You didn't mention Elisp's celebration as Tynes made the FG in OT. Let me recap:
Manning ran off the sideline, arms wide open. Perhaps to embrace a strong bond with an offensive lineman, perhaps even a trusted wide receiver. No, when Eli reached the middle of the field he realized there was not a single teammate there to embrace him....except the holder on field goals. I could think of anything more embarrassing and depressing, but no one seems to have picked up on it.
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