It's that time. We need to talk some pro sports action.
Let's just begin with the heartbeat of the sports world right now: NFL playoffs football.
This weekend saw my Falcons stumble when it counted yet again. As if last year's Super Bowl didn't ruin my taste for the sport, this year's offense was abysmal and lacked big plays when they needed them. Then again, at least we didn't have Brett Hundley running around.
The Patriots (yuck) won yet again, and the formerly yuck Jaguars made a statement against Big Ben and the Steelers. Good for Jacksonville, because they are the one team over the past 20 years that could have been mistaken in the wins/loss category for the Browns.
That leaves just one other game to discuss - the Vikings and Saints. I have an affinity for Drew Brees and the Saints, so I cheer for them more often than not. I always admired the way that Brees and the organization helped New Orleans as a city rebound from Hurricane Katrina. I've been to the Big Easy once, and I loved it, so they will always hold a pocket in my heart. Plus, they all but ended the career of the other Brett in NFL quarterbacking history.
The Vikings were all set to do what the Vikings do best - let down their fans on national television. But then a rookie safety decided to show all the youth football players in the world how not to tackle a receiver who has caught a ball and helplessly sits in the air. Rather than either tackling Stephon Diggs to the ground or even wrapping him up and waiting for teammates to tackle him in bounds, which would have ended the game, (or even letting him go out of bounds and the Vikings attempt a 50-yard field goal), the safety decided to duck his head down and dive in a random direction like a glitched defender in Madden or Tecmo Super Bowl. He whiffed - by a mile - and the Vikings got the biggest playoff win in recent memory. It wasn't so much Diggs and his backup QB, though, as it was the mistake from the 21-year-old safety wearing black and gold.
I read a fantastic joke on Facebook immediately after the game: Tom Brady, Case Keenum, Blake Bortles and Nick Foles (all the QBs left in the playoffs) walk into a bar. The bartender looks at Brady and says, "Who are they?" Brady responds oh-so-cleverly, "My competition for a sixth ring." And both Brady and the bartender laugh uncontrollably until February when the Patriots yet again hoist the Lombardi Trophy.
Which makes me wonder, if Bill Belichick wins his sixth Super Bowl, can we just rename the trophy after him? I am not a fan of Brady, but Belichick is the best coach in the history of football. That can hardly be argued anymore. The game today is so much more advanced than it was in the 1950s, '60s, '70s, '80s or even the '90s. Whether you're a fan of Lombardi, Noll, Landry, Shula, Walsh, Gibbs or Parcells - Belichick is the best.
"But Deflategate! Spygate! Whatever-gate!" Doesn't matter. Belichick routinely made the best QB in the history of the game - Peyton Manning - look pedestrian. He lost his own quarterback in the first quarter of the first game of the 2008 season and still went on to win 11 games with former Mr. Irrelevant Matt Cassell at the helm (another reason Brady is overrated. Hall of Famer, yes, but still overrated). No offseason roster moves happen in New England without Belichick's approval. He's traded away Super Bowl heroes and All-Pros for second- and third-round draft picks. And yet he wins, and wins, and wins. Be angry at football PSIs that no one would be able to tell the difference about if they held one, be angry that they recorded opposing team's practices as if other NFL, college and even high school teams didn't do it - it doesn't matter. Belichick has coached at the toughest time to coach in football history - 32 teams, sophisticated passing offenses, defenses hampered by penalties aimed to assist offenses and stringent salary caps - and he has five (soon to be six) titles and has now reached 12 conference championships in 17 seasons. That is unheard of.
Alright, now that I've got all of that off my chest, I've run out of time. Last two items I need to get off my checklist: Over-The-Back is not a foul in basketball. Please, parents of prep players, stop bellying for the penalty. It is a body/blocking call if they impede by pushing or holding the other player from their position, not if they simply jump higher with their hands reaching over and grabbing the ball first.
Also, it is just 27 days until the pitchers and catchers of the Mets report to Spring Training. Cleveland and Milwaukee are 29 days out. Carry on, comrades.
- Adam Krebs is a reporter for the Monroe Times and longs for the next time he can mow his yard instead of shovel his driveway. He can be reached at akrebs@themonroetimes.net. His column is usually published Mondays.
Let's just begin with the heartbeat of the sports world right now: NFL playoffs football.
This weekend saw my Falcons stumble when it counted yet again. As if last year's Super Bowl didn't ruin my taste for the sport, this year's offense was abysmal and lacked big plays when they needed them. Then again, at least we didn't have Brett Hundley running around.
The Patriots (yuck) won yet again, and the formerly yuck Jaguars made a statement against Big Ben and the Steelers. Good for Jacksonville, because they are the one team over the past 20 years that could have been mistaken in the wins/loss category for the Browns.
That leaves just one other game to discuss - the Vikings and Saints. I have an affinity for Drew Brees and the Saints, so I cheer for them more often than not. I always admired the way that Brees and the organization helped New Orleans as a city rebound from Hurricane Katrina. I've been to the Big Easy once, and I loved it, so they will always hold a pocket in my heart. Plus, they all but ended the career of the other Brett in NFL quarterbacking history.
The Vikings were all set to do what the Vikings do best - let down their fans on national television. But then a rookie safety decided to show all the youth football players in the world how not to tackle a receiver who has caught a ball and helplessly sits in the air. Rather than either tackling Stephon Diggs to the ground or even wrapping him up and waiting for teammates to tackle him in bounds, which would have ended the game, (or even letting him go out of bounds and the Vikings attempt a 50-yard field goal), the safety decided to duck his head down and dive in a random direction like a glitched defender in Madden or Tecmo Super Bowl. He whiffed - by a mile - and the Vikings got the biggest playoff win in recent memory. It wasn't so much Diggs and his backup QB, though, as it was the mistake from the 21-year-old safety wearing black and gold.
I read a fantastic joke on Facebook immediately after the game: Tom Brady, Case Keenum, Blake Bortles and Nick Foles (all the QBs left in the playoffs) walk into a bar. The bartender looks at Brady and says, "Who are they?" Brady responds oh-so-cleverly, "My competition for a sixth ring." And both Brady and the bartender laugh uncontrollably until February when the Patriots yet again hoist the Lombardi Trophy.
Which makes me wonder, if Bill Belichick wins his sixth Super Bowl, can we just rename the trophy after him? I am not a fan of Brady, but Belichick is the best coach in the history of football. That can hardly be argued anymore. The game today is so much more advanced than it was in the 1950s, '60s, '70s, '80s or even the '90s. Whether you're a fan of Lombardi, Noll, Landry, Shula, Walsh, Gibbs or Parcells - Belichick is the best.
"But Deflategate! Spygate! Whatever-gate!" Doesn't matter. Belichick routinely made the best QB in the history of the game - Peyton Manning - look pedestrian. He lost his own quarterback in the first quarter of the first game of the 2008 season and still went on to win 11 games with former Mr. Irrelevant Matt Cassell at the helm (another reason Brady is overrated. Hall of Famer, yes, but still overrated). No offseason roster moves happen in New England without Belichick's approval. He's traded away Super Bowl heroes and All-Pros for second- and third-round draft picks. And yet he wins, and wins, and wins. Be angry at football PSIs that no one would be able to tell the difference about if they held one, be angry that they recorded opposing team's practices as if other NFL, college and even high school teams didn't do it - it doesn't matter. Belichick has coached at the toughest time to coach in football history - 32 teams, sophisticated passing offenses, defenses hampered by penalties aimed to assist offenses and stringent salary caps - and he has five (soon to be six) titles and has now reached 12 conference championships in 17 seasons. That is unheard of.
Alright, now that I've got all of that off my chest, I've run out of time. Last two items I need to get off my checklist: Over-The-Back is not a foul in basketball. Please, parents of prep players, stop bellying for the penalty. It is a body/blocking call if they impede by pushing or holding the other player from their position, not if they simply jump higher with their hands reaching over and grabbing the ball first.
Also, it is just 27 days until the pitchers and catchers of the Mets report to Spring Training. Cleveland and Milwaukee are 29 days out. Carry on, comrades.
- Adam Krebs is a reporter for the Monroe Times and longs for the next time he can mow his yard instead of shovel his driveway. He can be reached at akrebs@themonroetimes.net. His column is usually published Mondays.
