Thanks to my buddy Keno Rick for the following idea. The man's an absolute genius when it comes to playing that game. He's got all the odds, statistics, tendencies, probabilities, and angles covered -- except maybe for picking the right numbers at the right time. Just a minor detail.
But as he pointed out -- it will be interesting to see what, if any sort of trouble the players from the Seahawks and Broncos manage to get into during the next two weeks leading up to the Super Bowl.
After all, for the most part -- we're talking about a bunch of twenty-somethings that are millionaires. Sure, depending on the position, all of them are either ridiculously big and strong, run fast, and/or can catch, throw, cover, tackle, kick, etc, with the best of them. Combined, these guys can play some serious football. Alas, many of them couldn't spell "cat" if you spotted them two consonants and a vowel. But dammit, they can hit.
So as Rick suggested -- besides the aforementioned money and lack of common sense -- throw in the added two weeks of the fame, hype, and adoration that comes with being Super Bowl bound. Stir in a a few nightclubs and season to taste with the ever-present assortment of bimbo condiments. Plop the whole thing down in New Jersey -- not exactly Amish country -- and somebody's bound to get in trouble.
Will another Ray Lewis emerge? You remember Ray. He retired a Super Bowl champion for the Baltimore Ravens after last year. What people tend to forget is Ray was once shoulder-pad deep in a double murder in the days surrounding a Super Bowl in Atlanta. He turned state's evidence on his two companions to get his own butt off the hook, and those two guys went to trial, but were acquitted. In the end, two men were stabbed to death but nobody was responsible. It's likely a lot of blood was splattered in the process, but the white suit Lewis was wearing that night was never found. Imagine that. Now Ray's a football commentator on a major network, and is likely counting down the days until he gets inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame. Something is wrong with that picture.
Of course, that's an extreme case.
But there are more subtle things at work. Consider the upcoming game between the Seahawks and Broncos. During the contest against New England, former Patriot/now Bronco wide receiver Wes Welker is facing scrutiny after his hit on Patriot defensive back Aqib Taliq sent him out of the game with a knee injury. This happened on a "pick" play. That's where two wide receivers criss-cross their patterns coming off the line of scrimmage and one of them obstructs/blocks/takes out the defensive back that was trying to cover the other wide receiver. The Broncos run it all the time. Technically, it's an illegal play, but most refs won't call it. Welker maintains Taliq getting injured was not intentional. Patriots' coach Bill Bellichick thinks quite the opposite. The only one that knows for sure is Welker, and I don't suspect we'll see him hooked up to a polygraph any time soon.
After the Seahawks -- 49ers match-up, Seattle defensive back Richard Sherman is also facing scrutiny over some of the verbal taunts directed towards San Fran receiver Michael Crabtree. First of all, Crabtree is hardly an angel himself. While a great player, he's also been known to talk a lot of smack and get in a few low blows himself.
Thing is, Sherman is different from most other defensive backs around the league. Rather than the usual 5-10, 5-11 variety, at 6-3, he can body-up with most opposing receivers. And he might well be the best "cover" cornerback in the entire league. Needless to say, millionaire receivers used to catching a bunch of balls for big yardage that find themselves shut down by Sherman probably don't like it much. So tempers are going to flare.
So are Welker and Sherman "cheap-shot" artists? I don't think so. But what's interesting is they will likely go head to head against each other a lot of times during the Super Bowl. Who will get the best of the other remains to be seen, but I suspect that match-up will be fun to watch.
And hey, it's the Seattle Seahawks against the Denver Broncos. Given the two weeks of party time leading up to the Super Bowl doesn't necessarily mean some of their players will get in trouble. These are civilized towns. Well, sort of.
If it was the Cincinnati Bengals set to face off against the Detroit Lions, this might take on a whole different look.
Had the Bengals remained true to form with their recent history, they might have to forfeit the Super Bowl because too many players were already in jail for one reason or another.
And if the Lions remained true to their own clueless history, instead of the team plane landing in New Jersey, it might wind up in New Guinea. Talk about a false start. Nevertheless, Dominic Raiola and Nate Burleson would find a way to mouth off while Ndamukong Suh was busy stomping a few natives just for kicks. Some of them would likely wander around wondering -- where the hell is the game?
Back in New Jersey, as the Super Bowl festivities got underway, they would want to know how come the Lions never showed up and what happened to them?
And THAT is exactly the same question Lions' fans have been asking themselves for over 50 years.
Seattle and Denver should make for a really good Super Bowl, though.
Let's hope they can stay out of trouble for the next two weeks.
We'll see.....
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