I expected a good game between the Steelers and the Cardinals, but this year's Super Bowl was better than that. We got several memorable plays, including Santonio Holmes outstanding grab for the game winner. I suspect Kurt Warner made the Hall of Fame in a few years as well despite losing the game. NBC did a reasonably solid job on the broadcast, although no one seemed to grasp that the Steelers would have gotten at least one untimed down on the Harrison interception had he not reached the end zone because the half can't end on a penalty. Bruce Springsteen did as well as he could at simulating his show environment despite the limitations of a twelve minute window to perform in. As for the commercials, if this is the best the ad agencies have to offer it's time for some of their personnel to visit the career sites they were promoting. Only the Conan O'Brien Bud Light spot really made me chuckle at all, and the whole "look, cute horsies!" concept for Budweiser is more than a little played out. And Pepsi thinks McGruber is a funny idea?!
It's been a few weeks since I've mentioned my concept of the Knucklehead Postulate: People who are knuckleheads tend to remain knuckleheads. Preston Parker demonstrated Saturday that the concept remains accurate - three arrests for him now in three years. The latest, a DUI charge featuring Parker telling cops he'd "been around some weed earlier", should finish off his career at FSU. That means the Noles best returning weapons are wide receivers Taiwan Easterling and previous knucklehead Bert Reed along with running back Jermaine Thomas. That won't exactly have defenses staying up nights worrying this summer.
Florida ran into a motivated Tennessee team with a packed arena, and the results were disastrous. Twelve turnovers, two fouls on Calathes in the first three minutes, 0-4 at the line, countless missed or blocked layup attempts - if something bad could happen in the first half, it did. The Gators didn't quit, but there was no chance of digging out from under the worst 20 minutes they've played all year. UF will get the benefit of being the home team at the right time tomorrow, with South Carolina coming in for a 9PM tipoff revenge game after an emotional and impressive last second win at Kentucky.
I mentioned ten days ago that Bobby Knight was hinting about coming back to college coaching. Those comments appeared in a column by ancient Minnesota Star-Tribune columnist Sid Hartman. Now, a "mutual friend" tells ancient Atlanta Journal-Constituion columnist Furman Bisher that Knight wants to be the next coach at Georgia. Gee, I wonder who that source could possibly be? Knight was a great coach, but short term publicity is not what Georgia needs. A few years ago in a similar situation they decided to hire an older name and make a splash with Jim Harrick - at least Knight wouldn't embarass them as much as that did, but Anthony Grant or Brian Gregory would make a lot more sense.
Speculation swirled heading into the weekend that former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has put her name up for the open post of Pac-10 commissioner. This would be a really bad idea for everyone involved. The obviously polarizing nature of any political figure being appointed to a sports position aside, this is an awful idea because the Pac-10 needs a visionary leader in that job. Tom Hansen has been in charge there forever and has not evolved his thinking at all with the times. That's been an impediment to any playoff progress as well as leading to his conference having the worst TV package by far of any of the BCS leagues. Putting anyone who doesn't have a recent successful background in sports administration, television or both would be a major mistake for the Pac-10.
2 comments:
My "Knucklehead Postulate": Michael Phelps
While watching Big Ben last night I couldn't help but think that Tebow would be just as capable at running that type of offense in the pros. He made a lot of his biggest plays by being able to avoid going down and keeping the play alive long enough for someone to get open downfield. Roethlisberger might not have the accuracy of a Brady or Manning, but he makes plays when he has to and that's something I can see Tebow doing at the next level if he is used the right way. If Timmy can get on a team with a solid defense, I think he could be just as steady of a player as Roethlisberger. He won't go in the first round, so some team with a decent D is going to have a shot at him. It's a long way off, but it will be interesting to see how that plays out. It sure has worked out pretty well for the Steelers.
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