Okay—we have our Super Bowl teams. Not the teams I wanted, but nonetheless these two were the winners. And winners they were, on the road and albeit under a veil of cloudiness which the National Football League must address in some capacity—sooner than later.
In the first game, the NFC Champions are the Los Angeles Rams. They came into New Orleans and withstood the Saints and the noise of the crowd reverberating inside the dome (see the tape over the earholes of LA QB Jared Goff to enable him to kinda hear the instructions from the coaches).
Yes, they were the beneficiaries of the worst non-call in the history of pro football when the Rams' DB ran directly into the New Orleans receiver, initiating helmet-to-helmet contact while never looking back towards the ball, striking the wide out before the ball reached the vicinity. That caused the Saints to settle for a field goal instead of the touchdown they might have had, and effectively ended the chance for New Orleans to win the game outright in regulation time. For in the overtime, Saints QB Drew Brees attempted some ill-advised throws which were unsuccessful, which handed the ball back to the Rams. On the ensuing drive, LA kicker Greg Zeurlein booted a 57 yard game-winning field goal, one that might have cleared the uprights from 67 yards away.
It was one heck of a contest, involving perhaps the two best teams in the NFC (I can hear the Eagles fans now-I know a case could be made for you being one of the two top teams as you lost to the Saints on an Interception which should have been a completion). The Rams defense sometimes known to be porous, controlled the line of scrimmage and held the Saints running game in check.
Rams Head Coach Sean McVay utilized a trick play whereby All-Pro punter Johny Hekker threw a strike for a completion on a fake punt attempt. Hekker attended Oregon State where he arrived as a walk-on to play quarterback. He had been a high school standout who took his school to the State Championship game. Special teams coach John Fassel, son of Jim Fassel, once the head coach for the New York Giants, knew what he had in Hekker, who is 6’5” tall. In his career, Hekker is now 12 for 20 throwing the ball in the NFL.
Do I feel for the Saints? Of course I do. But there really is no mechanism in the rules which allows for playing a game under protest—especially when there wasn’t a call made. Which leads me to believe that there needs to be a booth review challenge for each team on a down call. Or in the fourth quarter, the reviewers can stop the game for infractions that are overwhelming. In this instance there were two—the pass interference and the helmet-to-helmet hit. Otherwise, the referees will determine the outcome of games and do it unfairly, without help when they may need it most. The integrity of the game mandates that there be a way to eliminate such egregious mistakes. For those who thought that largely silent Commissioner Roger Goodell was going to intercede and make a decision to overrule the non-call, forget about it.
The nightcap pitted Bill Belichick, Tom Brady and company (a.k.a. the New England Patriots) against Andy Reid, Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs in the January cold of the western Missouri night. In an unprecedented second overtime affair, a first in the history of the National Football League, New England prevailed because they won the coin toss and held the ball the entire time until they scored the winning touchdown.
It was another heart throbbing game. It matched two renowned head coaches, just like the first game where McVay and the Saints’ Sean Payton matched wits. The Patriots ability to stifle Mahomes and the KC offense in the first half may have been where New England won the game. For if Mahomes and his mates had been able to get untracked earlier, then the Brady bunch might have had to play catch up all night.
In this game too, there were some weird penalties in the fourth quarter and a review which showed that punt returner Julian Edelman did not touch a rolling ball he never should have been near. That reversal took the Chiefs out of prime position to score and just like the Saints perhaps score a touchdown to win the game in regulation.
The CBS broadcast in the fourth quarter and overtime merely had play-by-play announcer Jim Nantz acting as lead in to retired official Gene Stenatore analyzing the calls and non-calls made by the all-star officiating crew; Stenatore moonlights as college basketball official and co-owns a sanitary supply store with this family in Pennsylvania. His explanations were dead on.
That was a prelude to the most amazing feat by former Dallas QB Tony Romo, who is and should be the lead CBS analyst. On the game winning drive, he correctly told us in clear terms what plays Brady would run, including n audible Brady called at the line of scrimmage. It was great theater to begin with, amplified by Romo’s keen insight.
I, too, feel the pain of the Chiefs’ fans. Until the overtime rules are changed, exciting players like Mahomes will be denied the chance to match a touchdown by their opponents, forcing the defense to stop the opponent or lose the game. That is not the way it should be.
My solution to this problem is to allow a kickoff by the team which scores the touchdown and then let the opposition attempt to score. If they are successful and kick the extra point, to tie, there is another round of plays starting at the opponents 40 yard line. The team with the ball can settle for a field goal, but if they score a TD, they must go for two points. That way, the team which goes second can win it outright by scoring a TD if there was only a field goal or win if they score a TD and the extra point attempt of the first team had failed and they score the extra two points. The game can go on like this, rotating which team starts first, until a winner is decided. A safety at any time by a team will win the game. That, NFL Competition Committee, will allow talented players like Patrick Mahomes to not sit idly by, without recourse to lead their team to an exciting victory.
An interesting sidelight to the Super Bowl. Edelman and McVay were opponents in college. Mc Vay was a standout high school quarterback in Georgia, winning the player of the year award. He went to Miami (Ohio), where a broken ankle derailed his career. He did make a couple of catches against Edelman’s Kent State Golden Flashes, where Edelman was the starting QB. The two squads split the four meetings between the schools while both were there.
A lot will be made about the Patriots’ incredible history, Belichck and Brady have achieved. No one matches the number of times that they have reached the Super Bowl. The fact that this was a subpar year for the Patriots in terms of wins doesn’t mean a thing. As long as Brady, Belichick and offensive coordinator Josh Mc Daniels are together, do not bet against New England.
I love McVay’s intensity and I really like the play of Goff. I think that if the Rams defensive line outplays the Patriots offensive line, LA will bother Brady and win. But if the Patriots shut down Aaron Donald and friends, this is New England’s game to win. And we have Nance, Romo and Stenatore again in the booth. I look forward to this clash.
In baseball, the Hall of Fame voting results were to my satisfaction. Mariano Rivera became the first unanimous selection. His credentials were undeniable, just like when he trotted in from the Yankees’ bullpen to the sounds of “Enter Sandman,” the game was over. The record holder for the most career saves, his legendary cutter the part of lore when it suddenly appeared while he was playing catch with fellow pitcher Ramiro Mendoza. Lights out as a set up man in 1996, he was destined for greatness once the Yankees moved him to the closer role. He personified dignity and class, but lurking within the deeply religious Panamanian was a burning desire to excel. Which he did. Again and again and again.
Mike Mussina deserves his spot in the Hall. Pitching for Baltimore and the Orioles in homer-friendly parks and against the toughest competition from within the AL East for his entire career, Mussina’s 270 wins showed how good he was. The Stanford graduate, who sometimes spoke in terms even the beat writers could not comprehend, was another fierce competitor. Although he won 20 games only once, and that was in his last season, there were very few pitchers during his time who could match his durability and success on the mound.
Roy Halliday split his career between Toronto and Philadelphia. A hard-throwing right hander, he was a winner through and through. To me, Halliday’s greatest feat was pitching a no hitter in the NL playoffs while with the Phillies. When he was on his game, he was fearless and no batter really wanted to face him.
Edgar Martinez came up with Seattle as a third baseman. While he was okay at the hot corner, Martinez could really hit. He was well-placed in the American League and became a fearsome designated hitter for the Mariners. To show how good he was, he hit over .600 versus Rivera, the best average against his fellow inductee.
Once more the controversy over the use of steroids became an issue when the totals for alleged users Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds did not reach 60% of the votes and seem likely not to attain the required 75% for entry into the Hall of Fame. Alex Rodriguez, a P.E.D. user who was caught and suspended, lamented about Clemens and Bonds in terms of his own candidacy.
My feeling is this—if the games counted, then the statistics count too. Which means that the players competed and succeeded, albeit with enhancements. Unless you were caught using a banned substance and served your suspension, no one knows for sure if you cheated—notwithstanding the incredible achievements players like Bonds and Clemens had in their later years. Looking at their bodies, one cannot walk away not believing that they took drugs to aid their careers.
I would not vote against Bonds or Clemens for the Hall of Fame. And while I, like other fans cheered A-Rod as a Yankee, his getting caught cannot help his cause among the writers. Because he will get compared to a shortstop like Derek Jeter, who amassed hits and World Series rings without being suspected of cheating.
Would I vote for A-Rod? Yes, I would. Do I believe the voters will vote him in? No. So he is left with a lot of money, and couple of nice gigs as an a analyst fo ESPN and FOX along with a serious relationship with the beautiful and talented Jennifer Lopez. Nice consolation prizes.
One more baseball item. If Mariano Rivera was voted into the Hall of Fame unanimously, what are the writers going to do when Derek Jeter is eligible in 2020? A generational talent, the captain of the New York Yankees ended his career sixth on the all-time hit list. How he can’t be voted in unanimously like Rivera will boggle my mind when that happens next year. Such is the subjectivity of Hall of Fame voting.
A report on Rutgers basketball. The men have won two straight games, raising their record to 3-6 in the Big Ten. I was in the RAC on Monday night when they defeated a slumping Nebraska team. Down 31-18, the Knights roared back into the game then dominated the second half. On Saturday they traveled to State College and defeated Penn State 64-60. The two road wins that Rutgers has are at Miami and now at Penn State, where the Nittany Lions give all teams fits. Up next is Indiana in Piscataway. Dare this team dream of three in a row?
The women ranked #14 in the latest poll. A trip to Iowa to face the #16 Hawkeyes resulted in the first conference loss. They will drop in the rankings for the Iowa defeat. A loss to Penn State on Sunday would move them out of the rankings.
How about the Golden State Warriors? The team is on fire, having defeated the Boston Celtics on the road to rack up their 10th straight win for the sixth season, tying them with the San Antonio Spurs for that distinction. One night it is Steph Curry leading the team; the next night either Klay Thompson or Kevin Durant is the top scorer. The team now has integrated DeMarcus Cousins into the offense, who has showed he can be dominant at the low post, which will make the sharpshooting trios of Curry, Thomson and Durant even more lethal. Add to the mix that Draymond Green is triggering the offense while minimizing his turnovers and that Shawn Livingston and Andre Iguodala are still providing quality minutes off the bench. Curry’s pronouncement that the team can play much better is downright scary for the rest of the NBA.
Finally, the Australian Open is over. The men’s winner is Novak Djokovic, a straight set victor over Rafael Nadal for his seventh win Down Under. Youngster Naomi Osaka, recently the U.S. Open champ, won her second consecutive Grand Slam title. Djokovic has his sights on Roger Federer’s 20 Grand Slam titles. Osaka is going to be a force for years to come. Both are good for tennis at this juncture.
The one sadness from the tournament was seeing Serena Williams fall apart after turning her ankle on a match point up 5-1 in the third set. Serena did not blame the loss on the ankle as she gamely tired to compete. However, it was clearly evident that as much as she tried, with the heart and determination of the champion she is, Serena could not will her body to victory. She made no excuses for her loss.
I wish ESPN commentator Cliff Drysdale had been more cognizant of Serena’s plight than he was. Karolina Pliskova did what she was supposed to do—take advantage of the situation. Pliskova played hard, fought off numerous match points and came out the winner.
Having injured myself numerous times playing tennis on a much lower level, the pain Serena suffered was real and can almost be debilitating. The mind wants to continue to play but the pain is a real deterrent. That she was even competitive at times was remarkable. Kudos to Serena.
No football this weekend. I need a break. Thankfully, on Saturday night we were at at dinner in Lambertville with college friends; I was able to miss the NHL All Star Game. Again. And I would rather do anything else then watch the NFL Pro Bowl on Sunday. Which I am certain I will do. Besides, I am into the performance of former Saint Mary’s basketball recruit Mahershala Ali in True Detective on HBO.
Such is the hectic life of a retired sports junkie.
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