Super Sunday

I'm still not over that Super Bowl game on Sunday. It may have been the most exciting I've ever seen - and I've seen just about all of them. But what I'll never get over is that the Arizona Cardinals were not only in the game, but almost won it. This is a team that went through the regular season beating only the worst of teams. If they played a good team, they lost. They lost their final four games and none of them were close. Going into the playoffs, I had them pegged as the worst NFL playoff team ever. What happened! Beating Atlanta at home wasn't too big of a surprise, but knocking Carolina out was a major upset. I'm not sure it the Cardinals played that well, or the Panthers played that poorly, but whatever it was, it still went down as a Cardinals win. When they beat the Eagles, that really convinced me that they had somehow turned the corner and were now a very good playoff team. I don't know what happened during the regular season, but the regular season Cardinals and the playoff Cardinals were two different teams. I guess the old saying "On any given Sunday" is true.

Eagles downfall

I can't quite put my finger on why the Eagles lost on Sunday. It was simply an incredible game. At halftime, I had already put this one in the loss column. They were down 18 points and looked simply pitiful both on offense and defense. McNabb missed wide open receivers and the Cardinals were shredding the Eagle defenst the entire half. But something must have happened at halftime because the Eagles were a completely different team in the second half. The defense stopped the Cardinals with several three-and-outs, while McNabb started hitting receivers in stride for big gains. What was so frustrating was that as soon as the Eagles completed the comeback and took the lead, they let the Cardinals go right back down the field to score with under three minutes left. The Eagles got the ball back with just under three minutes remaining, and although I like McMabb, this has always been his weakness. He just can't guide his team down the fiield for a last minute touchdown. How many times do you see teams just glide down the field in the last two minutes because the other team is playing the vaunted prevent defense. You can explain that to me 100 times and I'll never understand why teams use it. But in the Eagles case, it doesn't matter. McNabb is not a last minute heroic quarterback like John Elway or Roger Staubach was. I'll take McNabb because I think he's amont the top six or seven quarterbacks in the league. But he will not pull off a last minute victory for his team. He never has and I'm guessing he never will.

How bout them Eagles! What a win. Not only did they get to the NFC championship game this Sunday, but they eliminated the Super Bowl champion Giants at the same time. A double bonanza!! I'm beginning to smell it - another Philly championship. Could it be? Could the Eagles win the Super Bowl just a few months after the Phillies ended the Philly championship drought? I'm probably jumping the gun a little, but I can't help it.
The Eagles defense has been incredible, and it's defense that wins. Of course, the Steelers and Ravens also have great defenses. So it may be way too soon to chalk up a Super Bowl victory for the Eagles. Even this Sunday's game against the Cardinals will be no cake walk. The Eagles crushed the Cardinals on Thanksgiving night, but remember, that was at Lincoln Financial Field and the Cards had to come to the East Coast, which had not been too good for them until Carolina on Saturday. At home, the Cardinals are a good team. But I'm still picking the Eagles. A better defense wins out in the playoffs and the Eagles have a much better defense than the Cardinals.
As far as the AFC game is concerned, I think the Ravens are a better defensive team (but not by much) right now. But the Steelers are a better all around team with a lot more playoff experience. I'm going to go with the Steelers. An all-Pennsylvania Super Bowl would certainly be something to look forward to.

Beat the Giants

Okay, I'll admit it, I never believed the Eagles would get into the playoffs, let alone get past the first round. After the Bengals game, I was trying to figure out if the Eagles could win any of their remaining games. I figured they could beat Cleveland, but that was about it. But the turnaround for this team was just amazing. The win against the Giants came out of nowhere. They not only won that game, they dominated the Giants. That certainly bodes will for this weekend's game. But I'm not buying my Super Bowl tickets just yet. The Eagle team that played Cincinnati and Baltimore might still rear its ugly head. If that team shows up on Sunday, it will be the Giants' day. The Eagles didn't even play that well (offensively) against the Vikings. I just think the Eagles were just a little less bad than the Vikings.
By the way, I noticed that Major League Baseball has launched a new cable channel. This past weekend they were showing all of the World Series games once again. I watched quite a bit of it. I could watch the Phillies win the World Series over and over again. Maybe now that the Phillies broke through and won a championship for Philadelphia, the Eagles might be able to make it two titles in one year. After that, could the Flyers make it a hat trick?

Both of my parents were Penn State graduates, so when I was growing up, I got a big dose of Penn State football each week. We'd turn the radio on every week to hear the game, and two or three of their games were on TV. But they were both die hard Penn State football fans, and if I wanted to continue to live there as I was growing up , I'd better be one too. So that's what happened, I became a big Penn State football fan. That's why watching yesterday's Rose Bowl was so discouraging. The final score was 38-24, but that sounds a lot closer than it really was. USC scored at will on the Penn State defense until the score was 38-7 early in the second half. After that, it was just watching the clock wind down to zero.
Well, the good news is that the Eagles are still alive. I still can't quite believe what happned last Sunday. The Bucs and either the Bears or Vikings had to lose for the Eagles to even have a shot at the playoffs. When the Bucks and Bears lost, the Eagles went on to embarass the Dallas Cowboys, which is always a good thing whether the playoffs are on the line or not. Poor Tony Romo just couldn't catch a break. It'll take him the entire offseason to recover from the whoopin' the Eagles gave him and his stinkin' Cowboy teammates. When or lose this week against the Vikings, the season was still a good one after whipping the Cowboys and knocking them out of the playoffs.

I'm, baaaaack!

Hi. Due to some technical difficulties, I've been away for awhile. But I'm back, just a few short weeks after the Phillies won the World Series. After 25 years without a Philadelphia championship, this was absolutely GREATTTT!!!!! The feeling of a world championship in one of the four major sports franchises will keep me warm all winter as I set the thermostat to 60 degrees to save oil.
Somehow, a championship for the Phillies has taken some of the pressure of rooting for any other team. The Eagles are no better than a .500 team (maybe worse after losing to the Bengals of all teams), but that's all right because the Phillies won the World Series. The Sixers are better, but they too just lost to a 1-8 team (The Minnisota Timberwolves) last night so that might not be as good as I hoped. But that's all right because the Phillies won the World Series. And the Flyers, who knows. One week they look like they could bring home a Stanley Cup, then the next it looks like they won't even make the playoffs. But that's all right because the Phillies won the World Series.
There is a new team in Berks County, the Berks County Wild, which will begin their semi-pro football season next year playing their home games at Kutztown University. After the Raptors winked out of existence a couple of years ago, I find it hard to believe that the Wild will make an economic go of it with the economy as it is right now. I guess it's worth a try, but I don't see it happening.

Olympic spirit

By the time the Summer Olympics come around, I forget how much I enjoyed the last one. It's the one time that I can enjoy sports like swimming, gymnastics, volleyball and other "minor" sports. I enjoy them because I have someone to root for. I find myself wraped up in the games, so much so that I stay up past midnight to see if the U.S. gynnastics teams can get a medal. I don't care a whit about gymnastics any other time. But during the Olympics, I'm practically screaming at the TV in excitement. How can you not get excited when the U.S. swimmer in the relay event came back from a full body length to to pull out the gold by a split second. Who can't get excited about watching Michael Phelps winnining five gold medals in these Olympics and becoming the Olympian with the most career gold medals. He can break the record for most Olympic golds in one Olympics if he wins gold in his final three events. I know I'll be rooting hard for him. it's a great sports story.
Even cycling was somewhat exciting when six competitors were neck and neck at the end after a 20 kilometer race. And in that instance there wasn't even an American involved in the race.
I'm just astounded by the amount of Olympci coverage NBC is giving us this year. During the week, three hours in the morning and at least four at night, then six hours in the afternoon and five more at night during the weekend. Then there is coverage on CNBC, MSNBC and the USA network late at night and early in the morning. There aren't too many Olympic sports that isn't getting at least a little coverage. I watch Olympic handball on one of those channels. I thought handball was plated with two competitors hitting the ball against the wall. This handball was a team sport with a full team of players passing off to each other at an amazing speed trying to throw the ball past a goalie and into the goal. That was something I've never seen before.
Then next week, just when you start to get a little bored with it all, the track and field events begin with a U.S. competitor competing in just about evey event. If they're taking enough steroids, they have a great chance of winning. (Sorry track fans! I just couldn't help myself).
I'm a big believer in the Olympics and the Olympic spirit. For two weeks athletes from over 200 nations don't care about anyone's religion or politics. You see athletes from China and the U.S. congratulating each other after a competition. That's what the Olympics are all about.