NFL Quiz: 1) In Super Bowl XXXIII (after 1998 regular season), Denver defeated Atlanta 34-19. Who was Atlanta’s quarterback? 2) In Super Bowl XXXV (after 2000 reg. season), Baltimore defeated the Giants 34-7. Trent Dilfer was the Ravens’ QB. What other QB started 8 games for Baltimore that year? Answers below.
NFL Playoffs
Next weekend…
San Francisco at Atlanta…indoors, blows
Baltimore at New England…30ish, game time… hopefully some snow showers roll in
[By the way…the Denver cold front came in sooner than expected per my early forecast. I can only do so much. I have to worry about Syria, the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea, the freakin’ debt ceiling…not easy…]
The divisional round of games is as fine a sports weekend as you have all year (plus the weather blows so it’s not as if there are distractions at home). We also all agree the wild-card games sucked, but man, you can’t beat Ravens-Colts, Niners-Packers. [Oops…wrote that Sunday morning…before Seahawks-Falcons.]
Yes, San Francisco Coach Jim Harbaugh looks like a genius with his midseason switch at quarterback from Alex Smith to Colin Kaepernick. No doubt, too, after an early interception by Kaepernick against the Packers, there were many thinking Harbaugh made the wrong move.
But then Kaepernick went on to have one of the great playoff performances of all time, passing for 263 yards and two touchdowns, while rushing for a quarterback playoff record 181 yards and scoring runs of 20 and 56 yards as the 49ers rolled 45-31.
Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers was just so-so, 26/39, 257 and two touchdowns as the Packer defense gave up 579 yards.
As for Peyton Manning…Judy Battista / New York Times
“In Peyton Manning’s 15-year career, there has been a lone dent in his legacy.
“For all of his regular-season brilliance, Manning has, in all but one season, been unable to propel his team to the championship. Manning’s teams have gone to the postseason 12 times, but in seven of the previous 11 trips, Manning’s team has lost in their first playoff game.
“On Saturday, with a new team, in what he said feels like a different body, Manning met that fate again, this time in a gut-wrenching 38-35 loss in double overtime that sent the Baltimore Ravens to the AFC championship game for the second year in a row.
“With the game nearing the end of the first overtime, Manning rolled to his right to avoid pressure, then tried to throw across his body to the left. Much has been made about Manning’s arm strength since he had four neck operations last year, but this mistake was as much mental as it was physical. The pass wobbled, and the Ravens’ Corey Graham stepped in front of its intended target, Brandon Stokely. It was Graham’s second interception of the day – he returned the first for a touchdown – and this one set up the winning 47-yard field goal by the Ravens’ rookie kicker, Justin Tucker.”
It was a strange game in turns of some of the Broncos’ decision making, especially near the end of regulation when Manning audibled to a running play on third-and-7 rather than throw for the first, which the old Manning would have completed 90% of the time. So the Ravens got the ball one last time, down 35-28, and Joe Flacco once again torched the Denver secondary, this time for 70 yards to Jacoby Jones to send the game into OT.
But there was more to the game, like the Broncos’ Trindon Holliday, who became the first player in NFL playoff history to return both a punt (90 yards) and a kickoff (104) for scores, each the longest of its kind in postseason.
Manning goes to 9-11 in the postseason, 0-4 when the temperature is sub-40 degrees.
It also needs to be said that while many of us can’t stand Ray Lewis, you respect the hell out of his play and what a monster game he had…17 tackles, 10 solo…as he prolongs his career another week.
As for Seahawks-Falcons…there we were…end of first half…Seattle’s rookie quarterback Russell Wilson showing his inexperience in failing to manage the clock at the goal line and missing an opportunity to get at least three points. As it was Atlanta led 20-0. Game over. I took a halftime nap.
But Wilson came roaring back…as is his modus operandi we’ve quickly learned…and before you could say Rip Van Winkle, Seattle led 28-27 with just 31 seconds to go, but then Falcons QB Matt Ryan completed two long passes to set up a 49-yard Matt Bryant field goal with eight seconds left to cap off one of the great weekends in NFL playoff history.
Ryan was 24/35, 250, 3-2, 93.8, while the Falcons added 167 on the ground (6.4 avg.).
Back to Peyton Manning, he has four years left on a five-year, $96 million contract with 2013 and 2014 guaranteed. Tim Tebow has one playoff win with Denver…Peyton, none.
As for Texans-Patriots…I’m tired and need to finish this column and move on. But Houston put up a game fight, only to go down 41-28. They earned some respect for this one in my mind.
Should be great next Sunday! Just wish Atlanta didn’t have a dome and there was an icestorm.
–One other item from the past few days, the finding that former linebacker Junior Seau had a degenerative brain disease linked to repeated head trauma when he committed suicide last spring.
“The type of findings seen in Mr. Seau’s brain have been recently reported in autopsies of individuals with exposure to repetitive head injury, including professional and amateur athletes who played contact sports, individuals with multiple concussions, and veterans exposed to blast injury and other trauma.”
“Since C.T.E. (chronic traumatic encephalopathy) was diagnosed in the brain of the former Eagles defensive back Andre Waters after his suicide in 2006, the disease has been found in nearly every former player whose brain was examined posthumously. (C.T.E. can be diagnosed only posthumously.)
“Researchers at Boston University, who pioneered the study of C.T.E., have found it in 33 of the 34 brains of former NFL players they have examined.”
With each story to come out, I can’t imagine what some current football players, let alone those, let’s say, recently retired, are feeling. Like, ‘At what point does what I’ve been doing all these years start to kick in?’ I also can’t imagine what their wives and loved ones are thinking; every little change in behavior becomes magnified.
“There, there, dry your eyes. Have a nice hot toddy, maybe with some rum in it. It’s going to be all right. It’s not as bad as you think. Oh, it’s bad. Robert Griffin III really did rip up his knee very badly last Sunday.
“But the Redskins quarterback in 2020 will still be RG3.
“That’s a promise, or at least 95 percent of a promise. And in that distant season he will still be an excellent quarterback and still the key to the future.
“ ‘Kill the quarterback’ has been the central strategy of the NFL for generations. But they come back. Then some get hurt another time or two. But they seem to last forever. And, since the game ‘slows down’ the longer you play it, the better most of them become.
“The longevity of NFL quarterbacks is staggering, regardless of their size, playing style or injury history. Scrambling, agile quarterbacks such as John Elway, Steve Young, Roger Staubach, Joe Montana, Warren Moon, Fran Tarkenton, Brett Favre, Joe Theismann and Randall Cunningham were still exceptional starters – running judiciously but still crushing foes – when they were 38, 37, 37, 38, 41, 38, 40, 36 and 35.
“Once a quarterback has been identified as high-quality, like RG3, he has nine lives. Dan Marino, Kurt Warner, Dan Fouts, Donovan McNabb, John Unitas, Jim Kelly, John Hadl, Sonny Jurgensen and Terry Bradshaw were still their team’s starters when they were 38, 38, 36, 34, 37, 36, 35, 36 and 33. You think they didn’t get hurt? Most ended up covered with scars.
“Troy Aikman, driven out of the game by concussions, was still the Cowboys’ starter at 34. The most ‘bad knees’ quarterback ever, Joe Namath, was certainly inhibited by his limping legs. But he was still an effective starter at 31 and was still in the NFL at 34. Get a grip, folks.
“Just be patient, don’t rush him back. Will he be 100 percent himself again or only 90 or 95 percent? We can’t know. Will it be 2014 before he’s as rehabilitated as he’ll ever be? Maybe.
“But the idea that’s Griffin’s career is in jeopardy is ridiculous. He had knee surgery, not a lobotomy. He’ll be fine. History says so.”
Great column…but I also loved the debate on Saturday between Bill Cowher and Boomer Esiason; the latter blasting the ‘Skins for their handling of RG3 while Cowher vehemently defended Coach Mike Shanahan.
Give me a break. Boomer was spot on. I lost some respect for Cowher.
College Basketball Bits
–Games of interest the past few days….No more undefeateds! But first…
I’ve been following No. 16 San Diego State, of course, and for starters, the Mountain West is going to be as competitive a conference as there is in the country this year. I’d be ecstatic if the Aztecs lost only two conference games. They struggled the other day in a 65-62 win over Fresno State, though Jamaal Franklin, the 6-5 guard, I keep reminding you, had 20 points and 18 rebounds (plus a rather spectacular dunk you’ve all seen…or look it up). Then on Saturday, SDSU needed overtime to defeat Colorado State, 79-72, as Franklin had an off game, for him, 23 pts., 7 reb., but Chase Tapley, who hours before the game had a 101-degree fever, scored 12 points in OT. Speaking of which, SDSU is a startling 16-1 in their last 17 overtime games. [And thank you, NBCU, for broadcasting Mountain West games.]
Undefeated No. 1 Duke lost to No. 20 North Carolina State in Raleigh, 84-76. The Dukies were playing without Ryan Kelly, out indefinitely with a foot injury, and they have no depth. The Wolfpack, on the other hand, are finally playing to their potential and should rocket up the rankings from here. I’ll say by tourney time they are a 2-seed.
No. 12 Illinois (14-4, 1-3) fell to Wisconsin (12-4, 3-0) 74-51 as the Illini are going to plummet in the polls.
And in another important Big Ten contest, No. 5 Indiana (15-1, 3-0) defeated No. 8 Minnesota (15-2, 3-1) 88-81.
Earlier in the week, No. 4 Arizona suffered its first loss at Oregon, 70-66, in the Ducks’ new arena built with, guess who, Phil Knight’s money.
And then on Sunday, No. 15 Ohio State (13-3, 3-1) defeated No. 2 Michigan (16-1, 3-1) 56-53. That’s it. No more undefeateds. [Wyoming lost earlier in the week to Boise State.]
Very nice win for UConn (12-3, 2-1) over No. 17 Notre Dame (14-2, 2-1). Applications to ND are being withdrawn in droves.
Wake Forest blew a late lead for a second straight game but still prevailed, again, to go 2-1 in the ACC, this time a 75-72 win against Boston College, round one of the Editor’s contest vs. BC alum Steve D. for a free lunch. I saw at least three pieces this week discussing how Deacon Coach Jeff Bzdelik would be fired after another losing season but as Wake expert Chris K. (who attends virtually every game, home and away) told me…certainly 7 or 8 wins in the conference isn’t out of the question and it would be tough to unload a coach at that point, especially if the six freshmen currently in the rotation opt to all stay.
So the Deaconwear is moving to the “mediocre sports drawer,” up from the “loser drawer.” Other Deaconwear currently on the island of Yap in Micronesia has been given stand-by orders…it can be recalled at a moment’s notice. Still need a signature win over a top 20 team; which means Jan. 22 against N.C. State or Jan. 30 against Duke, both at home. Cue Al Michaels… “Do you believe in miracles?!” [Sorry, getting carried away…]
St. John’s Coach Steve Lavin is doing a helluva job recruiting, but his young squad is just 9-7, 1-3, after losing to No. 19 Georgetown, 67-51. Like, ah, can he coach…or just recruit?
Final Word on the Hall of Fame…for today…
“Could you imagine if drugs prevented anyone from getting into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? It would be the worst Hall of Fame ever. It’d be the size of a canoe. Most of your favorite bands wouldn’t be allowed near the place. You could have the induction ceremony at 8 a.m. and everyone would show up on time. The speeches would be bland.
“Thankfully, there’s no rule like this. And so voting for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame still sounds pretty fun. Voting for the Baseball Hall of Fame does not sound like fun. At least not anymore. It wasn’t so long ago that deciding who did and didn’t belong in the Baseball Hall of Fame could be a spirited argument about numbers and milestones and comparisons between eras. It was the kind of argument that you could have with your parents, and it might get contentious…but it was basically an amusing debate. Now it is not an amusing debate. Now it is a nauseating headache, to the point where people are wondering what the point is anymore….
“It’s a mess. That’s why Rock ‘n’ roll has it so easy. Rock ‘n’ roll loves a good mess. Long may it live.”
–Hall of Famer Goose Gossage: “What kind of a society and what kind of world are we living in where we reward these guys for cheating? What kind of message does that send? And you know what? If any of these guys ever get in, I probably will never go back to the Hall of Fame.”
And, “I think (the voters) sent them a statement that they didn’t get in, and nor should they ever get in. They’ve got to make an example (of Bonds and Clemens). If they let them into the Hall of Fame, they might as well forget about testing and everything else.”
But Gossage said of Mike Piazza, “I think you’ve got to vote him in…He’s got the numbers. But I’ll tell you this: If you are found to have used performance-enhancing drugs and you are in the Hall of Fame, the plaque ought to come down.”
–Speaking of Piazza, his autobiography is being released in a month and his biographer, veteran sports reporter Lonnie Wheeler, told Newsday that if Piazza engaged in PED use, it’s news to him.
“Anybody who’s looking for Mike’s answer to PED questions will find it here…I believe he’s clean.”
And, again, to those Piazza fans bitching about him getting 58% and not the required 75%, all 16 players who received between 50 and 70 percent of the vote their first time on the ballot eventually have gotten in.
Gary Carter only received 42% his first year. Carter made it in his sixth year.
“I love this idea that Roger Clemens was already a Hall of Famer before he is supposed to have gone to the needle in Toronto.
“Here were the last four seasons Clemens had with the Red Sox before he began the most statistically ridiculous finishing kick any starting pitcher has ever had:
“He was 11-14 in 1993, 9-7 in ’94, 10-5 in ’95, 10-13 in ’96.
“He is 33 years old at that point in his career and coming off four seasons when his won-loss record is 40-39.
“The Rocket, bless his heart, hasn’t won 200 games and the Red Sox don’t want him anymore and I would like to know on what planet he has punched a surefire ticket to Cooperstown at that point.
“Now he wants you to think the media did this to him.
Mr. Lupica makes a great (and needed) point re Rocket at that stage. I often forget myself he was under 200 wins then.
Jonathan Eig, a biographer of Lou Gehrig, had this bit in an article he wrote for the Wall Street Journal this weekend.
“In 1938, when he was only 35 years old and still at the peak of his game as the captain and first baseman of the New York Yankees, (Gehrig) began losing muscle to a disease called amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, popularly referred to today as Lou Gehrig’s Disease. ALS shuts down the nervous system so messages from the brain to the muscles don’t get through, and the muscles, like candle wax, melt away from disuse.
“Gehrig, according to research I conducted in writing his biography, began showing signs of muscle loss in spring training of 1938. He complained of blisters on his hands, probably because he was squeezing his bat too tight. He stumbled on the basepaths, almost certainly because the small muscles in his feet and lower legs were not sufficiently lifting his toes when he ran. Over the course of the season, he began to sense something was wrong, but he didn’t consult a doctor. (Most people with ALS don’t see a doctor in the first year.)
“He never missed a game and led the Yankees to a World Series that year, but he was disappointed by his statistics, which were far lower than his career averages. He hit .295, with 29 home runs and 114 RBIs. In 2001, Bonds hit .328, with 73 home runs and 177 RBIs. His team finished second in its division. Who had the better year? It’s not even close. With the possible exception of Jackie Robinson in 1947, Gehrig accomplished the most astonishing individual performance in the history of the game. He was, literally, a dying man, his muscles weakening by the day, as he led his team to a world championship.”
In 1937, Gehrig hit .351, 37-159, .473 OBP. In 1939 he started off 4-for 28 and hung it up, his last game being April 30. Two years later, June 2, 1941, he was dead at age 37.
Meanwhile, Major League Baseball announced plans to begin testing in-season for HGH and improved methods to track abnormal levels of testosterone.
But back to last week’s vote, sometimes it’s best to ‘wait 24 hours’ as I try to do on so many occasions in all manner of issues.
The initial reaction was that the Hall of Fame will never be the same, that the whole process is a joke, that the writers take themselves too seriously, etc.
Well some of the writers definitely do, but in the long run we’re only talking about 3-5 really controversial choices in coming years, including the next potentially 14 that Bonds and Clemens are on the ballot (and of course A-Rod). The rest will sort themselves out with little problem…men like McGwire and Sosa, who clearly just don’t belong. No one will care about their exclusion 20 years from now.
So you’re left with Bonds and Clemens, A-Rod, maybe Piazza and Bagwell as the most controversial. When you look at the automatics coming up in the next two years, like Maddux, Glavine, Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez; steroids has never been part of the conversation with them (and hopefully never surfaces).
Bonds and Clemens just happened to be in the sweet spot. But the Hall will go on maintaining its treasured spot for the baseball fan. I’ll still go to see Gehrig’s locker, and clips of Willie, Mickey and the Duke, and F.Robby, and admire Killebrew’s feats, let alone all the pitchers.
Sure, the voting process needs to be tweaked and include all the current Hall of Famers, and perhaps baseball broadcasters who’ve been in the game at least 15 years, something like that.
And the New York Times should allow their writers to vote! That’s a stupid policy. But their own Harvey Araton wrote an incredibly stupid piece blasting sportswriters having a say, noting that, horrors, some Hall of Famers make money selling their autographs Hall of Fame Weekend!!! Mr. Araton…you are now in the December file for “Jerk of the Year.”
This controversy, like so many others, will pass. Yes, it sucks that Bonds and his ilk have ruined the record book, but as Tony Soprano used to say, “Whaddya gonna do?” I know I’m ready for pitchers and catchers already.
One last item re baseball…Shu passed along the latest Vegas odds, via Bovada, that has the Pirates 50-1, which has Shu beyond excited, while my Mets are 75-1, which is as it should be.
But Toronto is the current favorite?! 15/2?! Yeah, I know they added a lot….oh, what the heck. The Angels and Dodgers are next at 17/2, while the Nationals are 9/1. Houston is last at 200/1. They should be 72,000/1. [At which point I’d put down $5.]
So it seems that Lance Armstrong, dirtball extraordinaire, is planning to admit to doping in an interview with Oprah to be broadcast Thursday night on her network, though conducted Monday in Armstrong’s home; however he may not get into details, such as those outlined in the 2012 report by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency that led to his being stripped of his seven Tour de France titles and banned for life from the sport.
“If Armstrong does confess, he is opening himself to more legal troubles than he has now. He has been named as a defendant in a federal whistle-blower case that contends that Armstrong and his associates on the United States Postal Service cycling team used taxpayer dollars to finance a systematic doping program. The government is considering joining that case as a plaintiff.”
And he could be subjecting himself to criminal charges, “including fraud, money laundering and drug trafficking. Another United States attorney’s office could reopen that investigation… although that is unlikely.”
“To the end Lance Armstrong, desperate to remain relevant, somehow is allowed to control his own narrative. So after all the lies from Armstrong from across all the years, lies about himself and about all those who dared to tell the truth about him, there comes one last one:
“That he still has something we want. To the end this guy thinks he can play the whole world for suckers….
“Really, the best part of this most recent narrative from Armstrong – originally leaked by him and his people as a way of testing the waters – was that he somehow has information about his own doping that the United States Anti-Doping Agency somehow needs. As if USADA needs more than the 1,000 pages on Armstrong that it already has.
“No matter. Armstrong leaks it that he’s thinking of confessing. Then one of his lawyers says no, no, no, that’s not true. And it is just more drama that has helped fuel Armstrong, along with his own competitiveness and all the drugs he was taking to stay ahead of the field, even as he told us for a decade and a half that he was the only clean guy in the race.
“As you watch Armstrong panhandle for redemption on Thursday night and dupe everybody all over again, remember something U.S. District Court Judge Kenneth Karas said once in a White Plains courtroom as he sent an Olympic sprinter named Marion Jones to jail for her own lies about performance-enhancing drugs.
“ ‘(It’s) a very difficult thing to believe that a top-notch athlete, knowing that a razor-thin margin makes the difference, would not be keenly aware and very careful about what he or she put in her body and the effects,’ Karas said that day, and then came with the money quote, that the idea that these athletes don’t know exactly what they are doing is a ‘worldwide lie.’
“Lance Armstrong is a bigger and better worldwide lie….
“Once Lance Armstrong, whose legend became so much bigger than the facts, was willing to say anything, hurt anybody, call people bitter or call them whores, who got in his way. Now he is willing to say anything to still make himself the hero of his own drama, the mythology he created and others helped create for him. That doesn’t make you a saint or an icon or a hero. It makes you a cornered rat.”
—Ted Ligety won his fourth World Cup giant slalom race of the season in Adelboden, Switzerland.
And in St. Anton, Austria, Alice McKennis of the United States earned her first World Cup victory by winning a downhill, with Lindsey Vonn sixth in her return following a month long absence. McKennis had never finished in the top three.
—Brian Kelly is staying at Notre Dame…so that makes two Kellys who got cold feet, Oregon’s Chip opting to return in spurning the NFL as well. Brian Kelly was up for the Eagles’ job.
–The NHL announced they will have a 48-game schedule in 99 days, ending April 27. Boy, that’s going to be grueling. For example, the Los Angeles Kings play back-to-back games seven times; 17 in the 31 days of March. The playoffs begin April 30.
—Greg Oden is planning a comeback…remember him? He was the No. 1 pick of the 2007 NBA draft by the Portland Trailblazers but due to a slew of injuries, including three microfracture surgeries, he has appeared in only 82 games.
Now, the Heat are supposedly interested even though Oden hasn’t played since Dec. 2009. Heck, he turns just 25 on Jan. 22.
–Congratulations to Miss New York, Mallory Hagan (no relation to former Colorado quarterback Darian Hagan…in case you were wondering), who became the first from the state to win the Miss America pageant since Vanessa Williams (oh baby) took the crown in 1984.
Nice story, too. Hagan left her native Alabama for New York at age 18 with $1,000 in her pocket and tried for the Miss New York title in 2010 and 2011 before winning last year. Ali Rogers, Miss South Carolina, was second and should Miss Hagan decide to do something very stupid, Miss Rogers would be willing to step right in and fulfill the duties.
Nice bikinis worn by the contestants, by the way….very, very nice.
Should any of the contestants wish to be an unpaid spokesperson for Bar Chat, they can contact the Editor.
–Uh oh…culture alert! A good friend is president of the Montclair, N.J. Art Museum and they’ve been running a big show for a museum their size… “Georgia O’Keeffe in New Mexico.”
Now I’m not a gigantic Georgia O’Keeffe fan, but I did go to her museum in Santa Fe, N.M., a number of years ago (in fact if I remember right, the same day the Mets’ Carlos Beltran looked at a called third strike in Game 7 of the NLCS against the Cards’ Adam Wainwright), but it’s impressive my friend and his associates could put together such a show here. And, in the off chance some of you who live in the area weren’t aware of this, it runs through next Sunday, Jan. 20. [Open Wed. thru Sunday.]
Montclair was the home to the great artist George Inness, whose work is on permanent display at the museum as well.
Top 3 songs for the week 1/13/62: #1 “The Twist” (Chubby Checker…was also #1 Sept. 1960) #2 “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” (The Tokens…Jeff B. and I have a disagreement on this one…) #3 “Peppermint Twist” (Joey Dee & the Starliters)…and…#4 “Can’t Help Falling In Love” (Elvis Presley…one of his top five…) #5 “I Know (You Don’t Love Me No More)” (Barbara George) #6 “Happy Birthday, Sweet Sixteen” (Neil Sedaka) #7 “Walk On By” (Leroy Van Dyke…had to look this up…a great country tune that crossed over…) #8 “Run To Him” (Bobby Vee) #9 “Unchain My Heart” (Ray Charles) #10 “When The Boy In Your Arms (Is The Boy In Your Heart)” (Connie Francis…when the girl in your arms is Kate Upton…just sayin’…)
NFL Quiz Answers: 1) Chris Chandler was Atlanta’s QB in SB XXXIII. 2) Trent Dilfer started 8 games in 2000 as well as the Super Bowl. Tony Banks (5-3) started the other 8.
