Seriously, guys, y’all are attending the Super Bowl, all expenses PAID. Get the heck over yourselves and enjoy the first Super Bowl played by what are in essence the two most storied franchises in the game.
Still, I am hearing less whining about Dallas than I did about Atlanta 11 years ago, and Dallas is experiencing a MUCH worse weather situation than Atlanta did in January 2000. Chalk it up to another, “Atlanta never gets a fair shake” moment. (And y’all know we don’t!)
With that being said, playing the Super Bowl in Dallas, or Indianapolis, or New Jersey (that’s right, New York, it’s being played in New Jersey) is stupid and counterproductive to the NFL’s mission of how to handle their Crown Jewel. The Super Bowl is about showing off the NFL’s product to the world, and when you do something like that, you want it to be viewed in the best light possible, both on the field and off of it. To ensure that is the case, the Super Bowl should never be played in the current weather conditions facing Dallas-Fort Worth this week.
The Super Bowl should only be played in the current NFL cities of Miami, Tampa, New Orleans, San Diego, Glendale (Phoenix), and soon, Los Angeles (as soon as Los Angeles builds their new stadium of course). That’s it. Those six cities are the only acceptable cities in which to hold the Super Bowl. All of the cities do well with large events, and five of the six are great cities in which to spend a week before the game (sorry, Tampa, you’re the odd duck out).
The Super Bowl played in a city in an ice storm is bad enough. Imagine what the actual game would be like, how sloppy it would be, or if it would even be played at all due to “public safety concerns,” if it were played in a city going through an ice storm but in a stadium without a roof. Wait a tick, we don’t have to imagine it, as that very scenario could very well be upon us soon enough.
Roger Goodell, end the madness that is cold-weather Super Bowls!
At the very least, it saves us fans from having to read copy from bitter NFL writers who are pissed that they missed their tee times, or gasp, couldn’t even play a round because of the weather.
Get the ESPN cameras ready - it’s Signing Day!
Today is Signing Day all around College Football. Signing Day is akin to NFL Draft Day, and is just as serious, if not more so, to the fans, alumni, and boosters of the College Football teams throughout the nation. During this time of the year much is written about how “wrong” it is for grown men (and women) to obsess over 17 and 18 year-old kids, and where those poor, exploited children decide to play football in college.
And to those who say or print that I have to ask: How is obsessing over Signing Day any more or less “wrong” than all of the people who obsess over where 20, 21, and 22 year old barely-men end up being drafted to teams in the NFL?
Most of the sports media members who disparage College Football fans for “obsessing” over Signing Day are usually NFL writers, or have a background writing for NFL teams. They have no problem feeding the NFL Draft “obsession” their NFL readers have, yet take this hypocritical stance about Signing Day and the football fans who care about it. Like a three or four year difference in the age of the players makes it more “wrong” for fans to be excited for Signing Day as opposed to the NFL Draft.
It could be argued that Signing Day is a much better option for the players than NFL Draft Day. On Signing Day, the players choose where they will be going. On NFL Draft Day, they are told where they are going. On Signing Day, if programs like Alabama or Texas covet a player, that player can choose to join those winning programs. On NFL Draft Day, if the player is one of the most talented college football players in the country, they are picked to join a team like the Buffalo Bills or the Oakland Raiders, teams that are run poorly by their owners and front offices, and are stuck with those loser teams for up to five years in economically depressed cities that their populations are fleeing.
What sounds better? Choosing to live in great college towns like Athens, GA or Austin, TX, or being told you must live in Buffalo, NY? Yes, those players are paid handsomely, but they are consigned to terrible organizations with no chance of winning anything important, and believe it or not, it is actually hard to be on a team that never wins. No matter how much money you’re being paid, you didn’t choose to be on that team in the first place.
So, NFL Fan who doesn’t pay much attention to college football, but obsesses over NFL Draft Day as much as CFB fans obsess over Signing Day, you’re no better and no different. And if you’re reading some idiot writer telling you that you are, he or she is a full of crap hypocrite.
Today in History
On 02 February 1967, the American Basketball Association was founded with former Minneapolis Lakers great George Mikan as Commissioner. While the ultimate purpose of the ABA was to force the NBA to merge with the upstart league (four teams did merge with the NBA: the San Antonio Spurs, New Jersey Nets, Denver Nuggets, and Indiana Pacers), the league found a place in the hearts of fans much like the American Football Conference once did.
The ABA was flashy and fun with it’s red, white, and blue ball compared to the staid and conservative NBA. The ABA introduced the three-point line to professional basketball, as well as the Slam Dunk Contest to All-Star Weekend. The ABA also pioneered the idea of regional teams that played home games in different cities of the same regions, like the Carolina Cougars. The league sported exciting stars with cool nicknames like Julius “Dr. J” Erving and George “The Iceman” Gervin, and those stars went on to NBA stardom as well; bringing their “above the rim” style of play with them to the NBA when the ABA folded in 1976.
TV Dinner
Now that football season has wound up and the Super Bowl is upon us, just like it is a good time to catch up on films we missed during the season, so it is a good time to catch up on television shows that we should be watching that we can’t for a variety of reasons, whether they be work-related, or if you’re like me and don’t have any of the premium pay cable channels like HBO or Showtime where many of the great shows are to be found nowadays.
After the Falcons were embarrassed by the Packers last month, I decided to forego watching my daily dose of sports programming for the week as the last thing I wanted to do was be reminded of my team’s obliteration. So I fired up my MacBook and got into my Netflix account to see what was available for InstantWatch, which just may be the greatest internet application of all time. I found that Netflix had the first two seasons of Dexter available to watch on my computer or through my Xbox360 (or a Wii or PS3 if you happen to have those gaming consoles).
I watched the first episode of the first season of Dexter and I was hooked. This show is excellent in so many different ways, from the performances to the writing, which are all superb. But what reeled me in was the perverse sense of humor the show possesses. I love dark comedy. Dark comedy is such a hard concept to pull off that just about no one tries anymore. But in Dexter, they’ve found the magic to make it work.
Dexter Morgan is a serial killer who only kills murderers who happen to escape justice in his city (Miami). He also happens to be a blood spatter expert for the local police department.
That’s all I want to tell you. Any more information than that would totally ruin the experience of finding and experiencing the darkly comic wonders of Dexter on your own.
Rent the first season or watch it on Netflix. You will not be sorry you did so.
Smart Quote
This quote is appropriate, I think, in light of the current struggle to keep freedoms from being taken away by our own Government.
Freedom is a fragile thing and is never more than one generation away from extinction. It is not ours by inheritance; it must be fought for and defended constantly by each generation, for it comes only once to a people. Those who have known freedom and then lost it have never known it again.
Ronald Reagan, Gubernatorial Inauguration Speech, 1967.
Hey, Check This Out!
I am a BIG fan of the “re-cut” interwebs meme. This take on whom I believe is the greatest single television character ever makes me laugh every time I watch it. It’s also faux-inspiring, because the video uses the wonderful music from the end of The Shawshank Redemption.
For enjoyment purposes, I present y’all with… George.
Follow me on Twitter at @UGABugKiller.
ed to be controversy surrounding Philly's (do it already!) soon-to-be-franchised quarterback. Like a magician, the fickle finger of bad PR had you looking at the parties for a fight or a gun, only to strike whe
re you least expected: Dallas' city council. City councilman and mayor pro temp Dwaine Caraway decided to give Vick the keys to the city. I'll say that again: the mayor pro temp of Dallas gave the quarterback of the Philadelphia Eagles the keys to the city. You'll note the key words. That's a lot like Vice President Spiro Agnew giving Soviet Premier Khrushchev the Presidential Freedom Medal. Just to head off any outrage, I'm not equating Vick with a Soviet dictator or Councilman Caraway with an embezzler, I'm just trying to show the authority he had to give out the keys to the city and the effect it will have on morale in both Dallas and Philly. This is pretty much the sentiment of Dallas' actual mayor, who says the ceremony isn't official. Personally, I'm pretty happy about it. I think Vick should bring that brass ring home to Philly and hang it from the goalpost every time we play the Cowboys. On the other hand, at this point all this bad press is officially no longer Vick's fault, and even he has to get a good chuckle out of this one.
the dust has begun to settle on the Juan Castillo decision, Reid put the finishing touches on the coaching staff, hiring Johnnie Lynn to be the new secondary/cornerbacks coach, Mike Zordich to secondary/safeties coach, and Mike Caldwell to be linebackers coach. The hirings came along with other title/position shifts of existing staff and the addition of two former Eagles. Pre-McNabb and post-Hoying QB Doug Pederson is the new quarterbacks coach, and needs-no-introduction Duce Staley is the special teams quality control coach. I guess internships do turn into full-time jobs after all. Duuuuuuuuce!
