The Official End of the NFL Season

Well, this year's NFL season has mercifully come to an end with the NFC beating the AFC in yesterday's Pro Bowl. I didn't watch one second of the game but if you want to read about it, you can do so here.

As for me, I'm more the looking forward type. So, in the immortal words of Mark McGuire, I'm not here to talk about the past, I'm here to talk about the future. And the future looks bright with Tom Brady (or Matt Cassel) leading the way.

Best Super Bowl Ever?

Since Sunday a lot of national writers have come out and said that the Steelers victory over the Cardinals was the best Super Bowl ever, including one Peter King. I'm not buying it and think that this is just an over reaction to an entertaining game. In fact, I think that writers who are calling this the greatest game ever should probably turn their press passes in and try a different career path.

Here's are a few of my reasons:

Too much controversy: Just like the Steelers' Super Bowl win a few years ago, too much controvery surrounds this game. From the two challenges thrown by Cardinals head coach Ken Wisenhunt (both of which were overturned), to the James Harrison interception return for a touchdown, to the "fumble" by Kurt Warner and even the game winning catch, which I clearly think was, in fact, a touchdown. Each of those plays could have gone the other way and some of them probably should have.

The officiating: How can you overturn one fumble by Kurt Warner earlier in the game by going to instant replay and then not even review an almost identical play a few minutes later with the game on the line? The NFL has yet to give a good explanation for this other than to say that someone up in the replay booth said the play was a fumble. Okay, then, why was the Santonio Holmes touchdown catch reviewed on the field by the referees? It makes no sense to me.

The coaching: Wisenhunt's decision not to recieve the ball to start the game was really odd. Would you rather have your questionable defense on the field to start the Super Bowl or your explosive offense? Hmmm, let me think about this one. Also, why was Larry Fitzgerald nearly invisible until the last 12 minutes of the game? Here's an idea for you: try to get your best reciever involved early in the game.

The officiating, part deux: Were there enough penalties and play stopages for you? But I'm not even going to get into specific calls that they did make. Instead, what about the two that they didn't make. First, on the Harrison interception for a touchdown, you have an Arizona player clearly getting blocked in the back right near an official. That non call changed the game, in case you didn't realize. Second, after Holmes' catch to put the Steelers up with 35 seconds left, he does some cockamammy touchdown dance and then uses the ball as a prop, which should be an automatic 15 yard penalty. I think the official was too busy celebrating with the Steelers to throw the flag, though.

So please spare me the talk about the greatest Super Bowl ever. This was an entertaining game with an amazing finish but it doesn't stand up to the Patriots first Super Bowl in 2001. This was right after 9/11 and we had the Patriots being introduced as a team, U2 as the halftime show, Ty Law picking of Warner for a clean TD, the Patriots defense completely shutting down Marshall Faulk and the so called greatest show on turf, Tom Brady securing his place in history as one of the youngest Super Bowl MVP's, the original "we shocked the world" game, and a last minute drive by the Patriots where John Madden repeatedly said that the Patriots should just run out the clock and go into overtime as Adma Vinatieri is making a last second field goal to win the sport's biggest game.

You know what? As much as it pains me, I'd even go as far as to say that last year's Super Bowl was even better for the sheer magnitude of what it meant. You had an 18-0 behemoth coming in against a hot New York Giants team that somehow found a way to shut down the Patriots' record setting offense, while making big play after big play to score the winning touchdown in the last minute of the game.

Anyway, here are some of the highlights from the game. Pay attention at the 3:16 mark for the illegal block in the back. This is also where you can see Fitzgerlad coming down the sidelines and getting blocked by his teammates on his own sideline. Way to cost your team the Super Bowl, guys.

Manny Being Manny (Again)

Wow, a lot has changed in the last 24 hours. Last we knew, Manny Ramirez was contemplating a two year $45 million offer from the Los Angeles Dodgers, the only team bidding for his services. Not only that but this offer has been on the table since mid November. As the market has dried up and teams are searching for bargain basement prices for proven stars, Manny's stance hasn't changed. He's still looking for a four or five year deal at $25 million at year. Yeah, I knew he was crazy when he played in Boston but apparently he's moved on to completely insane, too.

Overnight, the Dodgers began wising up, offered Manny a one year deal for $25 million and gave him a 48 hour deadline to accept or reject the offer. He took about 8.6 seconds to reject the offer. Gotta love Manny. While the rest of America is in the worst economic slump since the Great Depression and players like Jason Varitek, Jon Garland, Andy Pettite and others are taking huge paycuts, Manny is sticking by his original contract demand of at least four years. Meanwhile, guys like Adam Dunn, Kenn Griffey Jr. and Bobby Abreu can't even get minor league deals and an invitation to spring training.

But the beauty of it all is that this sets Manny up to be totally screwed in the next few weeks. The only team that appears to be remotely interested is only making a one year offer. The other team that has shown marginal interest are the San Francisco Giants. The Giants have no one else to hit on their team and Manny would surely loaf after about three games in the Bay Area.

A few weeks ago I sort of lazily predicted that Manny would end up with the Kansas City Royals for around nine million next year. Right now, that doesn't seem so crazy.

And the Winner Is. . .

Well, Super Bowl XLIII is finally over and the Steelers have their record breaking sixth Lombardi Trophy. Oh, wait, the Cardinals won? Oh, hey congratulations to them on their first Super Bowl win. Hmm, so the Steelers did win? Are you sure? In addition to the wild shoot out that we witnessed in the fourth quarter, there is also a bit of controvery and it appears that for the second time in four years, Pittsburgh has come out on top of a game that had some questionable calls.

Anyway, here are just a few thoughts on the Super Bowl as I wonder if Kurt Warner might have been able to pull off a last second touchdown with five seconds remaining and the ball on the Steelers 29 yard line:

As it relates to the last play by the Cardinals where the official on the field ruled it a fumble by Warner, I'm not sure what happened. When the play first happened, I called it a fumble. When they showed it on the replay, I was even more convinced that it was a fumble. The rule is that a coach can not challenge any play in the last two minutes of the game because any close or potentially controversial call is automatically reviewed. So on a play that Warner appears to be clearly moving his arm forward, fumbles the ball and it's recovered by the opposing team in the last ten seconds of the NFL's biggest game, there is no review. Can you please explain to me how that makes sense?

And if you're Arizona head coach Ken Wisenhunt, how do you not charge onto the field and demand a stop in the play so that the referees can get the call correct? Instead, you choose to just stand there and get screwed over.

I also don't understand how 11 Arizona Cardinals can't chase down James Harrison on his 100 yard interception return. That was a poor display of effort by those guys. I just don't understand how someone with mediocre speed can break away from the pack. Where are the Cardinals' wide receivers, tight ends and their running back on the return? Seriously, check out the photo to the left. Why isn't 81 involved in the play at all on the run back? He's only five yards away from him. Are you telling me that he couldn't catch him from behind? And as far as Harrison goes, how do the referees allow him to stay in the game in the fourth quarter after throwing several punches at one of the Cardinals during a punt?

If you watch the Super Bowl for the commercials, you've got to be disappointed. Being in marketing and advertising, I don't understand how an agency could come in, pitch some ridiculous concept and have people agree that these commercials are good. Perhaps that's why some of these companies are also making layoffs, going into bankrupty and begging for a government handout.

Before the Steelers go and enshrine Super Bowl MVP Santonio Holmes into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, let's not forget that he was caught with marijuana earlier this year and has admitted smoking it. I'm not sure how he's avoided a suspension by the NFL but he now has something in common with Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps.

I don't see the Cardinals making a return trip to the Super Bowl any time soon. I have to imagine that their division will be tougher next year, with Seattle, San Francisco and St. Louis all making offseason changes and brining in new draft picks. And while their run to the Super Bowl was fun to watch, I don't see that they can catch lightning in a bottle two years in a row.

Watching Ben Rothlesberger play quarterback has me wondering how long he'll be in this league. I have no clue how he escaped the grasp of the Arizona defense on numerous plays but that same kind of sand lot scrambling will eventually lead to a serious injury and that's a fact. Rothlesberger is now the second youngest quarterback to ever win two Super Bowl's, which is bested only by Tom Bray's three in his first five years.

As I'm typing this post, Curt Schilling is on WEEI radio talking about the Steelers victory. Apparently he's a big Steelers fan from his days in Philadelphia. Listening to him talk has made me decide that I don't want him back if he decides to pitch next year. Seriously, just keep you mouth shut for once, Curt.

Anyway, congratulations to the Steelers. You persevered all year and were able to beat two of the worst playoff teams to ever appear in the post season in San Diego (division winner at 8-8) and Arizona (division winner at 9-7) while miraculously avoiding having to play the likes of New England, Indianapolis, and New York- it pains me to say the Giants but do you really think the Jets are any threat to the Steelers?

My Super Bowl Prediction

I've finally broken down the offenses and defenses of both the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Arizona Cardinals. I've studied film of the special teams players for each Super Bowl representative, as well as their running games, wide reciever play and how they each use their tight ends to camoflage screen passes. I've analyzed the coaching careers for both Mike Tomlin and Ken Wisenhunt, how they came into the league, whom they were mentored by, where they got their breaks and how they like their coffee. I've even taken it a step further and looked at the ownership and fan base of each team, how they play on the road, in good weather, in bad weather and what time of day each team plays their best. But you know what? None of it means squat.

All you need to know is that while the Arizona Cardinals are gearing up for the biggest game of their lives, the Pittsburgh Steelers are still looking in their rear view mirror at the New England Patriots. How else do you explain the t-shirt to the left? Because everyone knows that you still have to go through the Patriots to be considered the best. This is similar to the feeling of winning the World Series and not beating the Yankees in the process. It's just not the same.

So while the Steelers are laughing at Tom Brady and the Patriots and planning their Super Bowl parade, I believe that Larry Fitzgerald, Anquan Boldin, Kurt Warner and the Edge will be the ones laughing at the end. Screw the stats, screw the defense, screw the fact that Kurt Warner is one of the most over rated players ever, screw the fact that the Cardinals haven't been here before, screw the fact that they'll be considered the worst Super Bowl winner ever, I'm picking them.

Final Score:
Arizona Cardinals 38
Pittsburgh Steerls 21

Jason Varitek Gets Screwed, Stays With Sox

According to the Boston Globe, Jason Varitek finally agreed to sign with the Red Sox today for one year and an option for the second year. Like there was ever any doubt. Where else would a 37 year old catcher coming off of a year in which he hit .220 go? I wrote last week how dumb Varitek and snake agent Scott Boras were for turning down arbitration where he would have likely made around $11 million next year alone. If Varitek plays out both years for the Sox and makes the full value of the contract, he'll basically be making the same amount in two years that he would have made in just one year had he accepted arbitration.

Do I love this move? Not really. I would have liked to have seen the Sox cut ties with him and go out and sign a younger guy for less money. I have no doubt that Varitek contributed to the Red Sox winning two World Series title this decade but let's face it: aging catchers don't get better and last year was probably the beginning of the end for Varitek. So what are we in for this year? Is he going to be worse than last year, especially now that he's basically playing for less money? I'm not a betting man but even I'd put a little money on him being worse next year.

I also hate the argument that says that the pitching staff would suffer if we didn't have Varitek. Did anyone ever think that maybe they'd be better with someone else calling games? Maybe Daisuke Matsuzaka wouldn't walk so many people with someone else calling the shots or maybe Josh Beckett would be more consistent. But those arguments are never mentioned, only that the pitching staff would fall apart without Varitek. So the Captain is back for at least another year and while I'm glad that he's back, I'll be the first one to boo him if he can't get his average above the Mendoza line next year.

Oh, and do you think that Boras should be making any commission off of this deal, knowing that Varitek should have accepted arbitration and be making $11 million?

It's Time to Trade Tom Brady

Last week I wrote an article about how it may be time to trade Tom Brady. My, how things have changed. Today, I'm writing about it being time to trade Tom Brady. There's no ifs, ands or buts about it- he's got to go. I've analyzed this situation from a lot of different angles and I was finally pushed over the edge by one Thomas Edward Brady, Jr. Since going down with a season ending injury in the first quarter of the first game, Brady has pretty much disappeared. Well, except for the fact that we learned that he likes rare art and he also got engaged. And neither of those topics has me very excited to see number 12 back in a Patriots uniform come next year.

All of this leads up to the event that has pushed me from being a Tom Brady sycophant to a staunch Matt Cassel supporter: Brady did a radio interview. Seems pretty simple, right? The guy is entitled to do radio interviews. But do you think this interview took place on local sports station WEEI where he does a quarterback hour with Boomer Esiason during the season? Nope. Okay then, it must have been some radio station near his home in California, right? Nope. In fact, the radio interview took place on a radio station in Canada. So we hear virtually nothing from Brady the entire season and then he surfaces in Canada! He's kidding, right? He's pretty much fallen off the face of the earth since his injury and then he spurns the entire Boston media market for a radio interview in Canada?

Anyway, the most egregious part of the whole story is that he was also pushing some special sports medicine cream called Myo-med, which is ironically a banned substance by the NFL. In addition to the odd fact that Brady was on the radio station in Canada, I'm also confused as to why people in Canada would care about Tom Brady?

So there you have it. In the year since losing the Super Bowl in a crushing defeat to the Giants, Brady basically has closed the door on his football career. First it was the art exhibits with Gisele, the public events with Eli Manning, wearing a Yankees cap and his numeruos photo shoots for Calvin Klein and Stetson. In addition, during the NFL's biggest week, where do you think Brady is? If you guessed working on his rehab back at Foxboro in an attempt to come back at 128.7 percent next year while working on his deep ball then you would be completely wrong. If you guessed in Mexico with Gisele, then you're getting warmer. Apparently Brady likes all of the countries just to the North and South of America.

Anyway, doing this interview was too much. It's time for this to end. I'll take Matt Cassel any day of the week over Brady and twice on Sunday because, in the immortal words of Bill Parcells, "Football players play football." And I think it's becoming increasingly apparent that Tom Brady is no longer a football player.