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What A Shocking Super Bowl Outcome

Well, as seen in my previous post, I had no idea the Giants were going to beat the Patriots. Soon after the conference championship games, I thought the Giants might have a chance, but then it became the chic pick to take the Giants over the Patriots. I came to my senses and picked one of the top two or three teams to ever play the game, or so I thought, to win in a romp.

More than anything, I listened to a Bill Simmons podcast on Friday, and he and his guest had me convinced this was a replay of Super Bowl XX between the Chicago Bears and the New England Patriots. This year’s version had the Patriots in the role of the Bears and the Giants were more like the 1985 Patriots, a team that peaked at the right time but was woefully unprepared to compete against a team of the ages. Well, that turned out to be bunk, but I was sold.

I’ve had a chance to watch a little bit of the post game coverage on the NFL Network and ESPN. My favorite quote so far came from Emmitt Smith on ESPN: “The strength of the Patriots team got debacled.” What? Did Emmitt Smith really turn the noun “debacle” into a verb? Priceless.

The guy could run the football like very few people ever have, but it’s painful to listen to him speak. It’s kind of like Marshall Faulk on the NFL Network. Marshall was a great football player, but he struggles mightily trying to improv through highlights or just simple pre- or post-game analysis. At least I get the occasional “debacled” gem. That’s what keeps me going.

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Final Thoughts Before The Super Bowl

I just can’t see the Giants staying too close in this game, much less winning it. Trust me, I’ll be rooting hard for the Giants, because I’m tired of the Patriots. Add these accusations of the Patriots taping Rams practices before Super Bowl XXXVI, and I feel comfortable rooting for the Giants.

I think Tom Brady is following this Joe Montana career path of not losing any Super Bowls. The Patriots are 18-0. How can they lose this game? I simply can’t see it happening. And I think it’ll start losing interest by halftime, with the Patriots up something like 24-7.

Okay, I’ll go ahead and predict the final score. I’ll say Patriots 41, Giants 24.

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Early AFC Championship Game Pick

It’s the Chargers traveling to New England to take on the Patriots to determine who represents the AFC in the Super Bowl. The Chargers made the same journey in week two of the regular season and lost 38-14. I think they’ll be lucky if they lose by much less than twenty four points again next weekend. I’m predicting something like 41-20, with the Patriots going on to cruise to victory in the Super Bowl.

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Oklahoma Got Drummed

West Virginia shellacked Oklahoma last night in the Fiesta Bowl, 48-28. Count me in the camp of people that thought Oklahoma would earn a 7 to 10 point victory and make the Big 12 proud. But as is becoming the trend, the perennial Big 12 champ let the conference down and got whooped in one of the year’s biggest bowls.

I generally root for the other Big 12 teams in the bowl season just to help the reputation of the conference. But I’ll openly admit that I don’t mind a bit if OU is the one taking a beating. And even though I’ve seen OU take their fare share of beatings in my day, it’s always surprising to watch someone just run through an OU defense. It looked like West Virginia had the three fastest guys on the field at any given time.

Bob Stoops is taking a little bit of heat for his onside kick call in the third quarter after OU scored a touchdown to cut their deficit to 20-15. It’s very convenient to judge that decision based on the results of the play, results that obviously were not available at the time of the decision-making. I don’t see anything fundamentally wrong with the decision. OU had all the momentum at that point, and West Virginia has the kind of offense that can erupt at any moment. With the OU offense, a not nearly as explosive offense, rolling, it made perfect sense to me that you would try to catch WVU sleeping and give your offense a shot at picking up OU’s first lead of the game.

The kick didn’t work out, and of course everyone pans the decision. While I understand it was a gamble, and it certainly wasn’t a no-brainer in favor of making that particular decision, Bob Stoops has earned the benefit of the doubt at this point. A blown onside kick didn’t allow the West Virginia offensive backfield to run roughshod over the OU defense, that’s for damn sure.

Oh, and does any school’s band like playing their team’s fight song more than the University of Oklahoma? I’m not kidding when I tell you that the band played the fight song during an official’s review in the second half. They played the fight song after a four yard completion. They played it, and played it, and played it. It got to be obnoxious, but it was also funny, so I’ll cut them some slack on that one. And when you’re getting your doors blown off on national television, as seems to happen to OU annually at this time of year, why not ask the band to try to get people fired up?

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An Amazing Catch

Did you see Adrian Arrington’s catch today in the Capital One Bowl? Arrington, a receiver for the University of Michigan, made a jaw-dropping one handed catch against Florida. Chad Henne, the Michigan quarterback, threw the ball deep down the field toward the sideline, and the Florida defender ended up between Arrington and the football. Arrington reached around the back of the defender with his right hand, tipped the ball toward himself, and secured it against his body with the same hand while tip-toeing down the sideline.

You will very rarely see a better catch in college football.

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How Can Missouri Win on Saturday?

I know Missouri is all the rage in college football this week, but how in the hell can they beat the Sooners on Saturday? It might sound absurd that I think a team with only one loss, Missouri, doesn’t have a chance against a two loss team, Oklahoma. But it’s the truth. Missouri doesn’t stand a chance. Their one loss is to Oklahoma, and Missouri hasn’t played big time college football in decades. And people are expecting them to beat a Bob Stoops-coached Oklahoma team in the Big 12 championship game? Bull-loney.

I guess exhibit A in an attack against my theory is the fact that Oklahoma lost the Big 12 championship game to Kansas State a few years back, when they had a birth in the national championship game to play for. They ended up backing into the championship game that year and got beat by LSU, but if they couldn’t find a way to beat K-State that year with that much to play for, how are they supposed to beat Missouri, when they probably won’t make it to the national championship game regardless? Well, one big difference is that Oklahoma was a huge favorite a few years ago. This year, everyone is talking about Missouri, wondering what a Missouri-West Virginia championship game would be like, and Oklahoma is just sitting there, under the radar.

I expect Oklahoma to win, and I expect them to win by at least ten points. Now, being that I’m a Longhorn, I would absolutely love to watch the Sooners get beat, but I just don’t see that happening. They’re the best team in the Big 12, and they’ve been the best team all season. I don’t see that changing on Saturday.

Posted in College Football | 3 Comments »