NFL fans know Robert Kraft is the owner of the New England Patriots. Pretty much everybody else knows he's also uber-rich, as in billionaire. Probably several times over.
And getting richer every day. As the honcho of the Kraft food empire, see mac and cheese, mayo, and a slew of other products folks buy every day by the millions, the money continues to pour in.
Yet it would appear Mr. Kraft is dumber than a brick in another respect.
How else to explain him getting caught up in a prostitution and/or "human trafficking" sting?
Yes, I get it. Men have their "needs", even old guys like Kraft. And given his wife died a while back, nobody would begrudge him if wanted to "get a little on the side" to satisfy his libido.
Stop right there.
How, pray tell, could he have possibly have wound up in this predicament? Sure, he denies any involvement, and he's innocent until proven guilty, just like everybody else. Time will tell -- maybe.
Just for the sake of argument, and perhaps stupidity, something yours truly excels at, let's just say he actually did it.
But this would he so colossally dumb, if true.
Consider. Your average billionaire has all kinds of contacts and connects. He/she can pick up a phone and call somebody to get most anything done.
It only seems logical then, that he would have somebody on his list that could facilitate getting in touch with a high-class call girl agency. They're out there, and very discreet as well.
And now a word from our sponsors. It's a lie. A blatant one. Some golf club company claims if you buy their latest and greatest driver, you'll never miss a fairway again. Guaranteed. Here's my question. Why aren't the touring pros, the best in the world, using it? They miss fairways all the time. Yet this "magic" club is foolproof, even for your average duffer? Please. What kind of idiot would fall for a advertising spiel like this?
Back to Bob.
Though I wouldn't know from personal experience, not being a billionaire, I'm pretty sure the above-mentioned "agencies" can provide Grade A cuisine for any man willing to pay enough for it. Beautiful women that will do anything to please/gratify a client.
And what can it cost? A few grand a pop? Definitely way out of my league, but chump change to a billionaire. Somebody like Kraft could have a different "companion", all equally gorgeous, every day/night of the year, if he wished.
Even if he had the stamina to "go" every night, 365 a year, at, say, $5000 a throw, add it up and it's still under two million bucks. Did I mention chump change in the world of a billionaire? Good grief, he probably makes a lot more than that every week through his food empire.
So why, tell me WHY, would somebody in his position, with infinite resources, stoop to going to a sleazy massage parlor looking to hook up for fun and games? Those are precisely the kind of places the vice squad boys and girls love to bust.
And it appears he got busted indeed. Sure, he and his high powered lawyers will probably figure a way out of it. Such is "justice", or the lack thereof, in America of late. Got enough dough, and you probably buy yourself a break from the law. Happens all the time, unless children, large quantities of drugs, or the dreaded "national security" come into play.
But had the mac and cheese man spent a few bucks he could easily afford for "steak" in the first place, instead of settling for "hamburger helper", he wouldn't be in this mess.
Dumb.
Dumb.
Dumb.
Friday, February 22, 2019
Wednesday, February 20, 2019
Down go the Dukies
So much for being #1. Coach K's boys just got ran out of their own building by cross-town rival North Carolina. You can't get thrashed by 16 points on your home court (or anywhere else for that matter) and expect to be considered the top team in the country. And it only got worse for the Blue Devils. Star play Zion Williamson, once considered the shoo-in #1 pick in the next NBA draft, went down with a knee injury, severity unknown. If he's out for any length of time, particularly when the NCAA tourney starts, Duke has NO shot. And if the injury is bad enough, who knows what it will do to his draft stock? Not good.
So that would seem to beg the question -- who is #1?
Tennessee was there for a while -- until they got throttled by Kentucky.
Virginia? They're pretty good but they always fold in the tournament.
Tiny little Gonzaga from the great northwest? They've historically been the little engine that stalls on the way up the mountain.
Michigan? Nah. Though they improbably made it to the title game last year, they're not good enough.
Nor is Michigan State.
Kansas always lurks, but they don't appear to be the real deal this year either.
Same with Louisville.
Once perennial powerhouses like UCLA and Arizona haven't made any noise in a long time.
It just goes to show you all this ranking stuff is a bunch of hooey in the first place. It doesn't matter one iota once the tournament field is set. Whoever wins THAT will be #1. Period.
And this year, it's shaping up to be a total crap shoot.
Any number of teams could get hot and pull it off. That's not even considering the injury factor. Ya never know about that stuff. See Duke above.
I'ms still rooting for the Zags (Bulldogs). What an incredible story it would be if a little school like that could become champions.
But do I think it will happen?
Nope.
Fingers crossed, though......
So that would seem to beg the question -- who is #1?
Tennessee was there for a while -- until they got throttled by Kentucky.
Virginia? They're pretty good but they always fold in the tournament.
Tiny little Gonzaga from the great northwest? They've historically been the little engine that stalls on the way up the mountain.
Michigan? Nah. Though they improbably made it to the title game last year, they're not good enough.
Nor is Michigan State.
Kansas always lurks, but they don't appear to be the real deal this year either.
Same with Louisville.
Once perennial powerhouses like UCLA and Arizona haven't made any noise in a long time.
It just goes to show you all this ranking stuff is a bunch of hooey in the first place. It doesn't matter one iota once the tournament field is set. Whoever wins THAT will be #1. Period.
And this year, it's shaping up to be a total crap shoot.
Any number of teams could get hot and pull it off. That's not even considering the injury factor. Ya never know about that stuff. See Duke above.
I'ms still rooting for the Zags (Bulldogs). What an incredible story it would be if a little school like that could become champions.
But do I think it will happen?
Nope.
Fingers crossed, though......
Saturday, February 16, 2019
The insanity continues
Here we have a professional golfer. Between the PGA, European, Asian, and other tours, not to mention the "minor leagues", there's certainly an abundance of them.
See said golfer playing a tournament -- not a major -- just your average tourney, in California.
See him a whopping ten strokes back -- tied for 55th place, not quite through his second round of play, and hoping to make the cut. Barely.
If you were watching the tournament at home, would you expect to be bombarded by coverage of this guy?
Of course not. But this particular golfer's name is Eldrick Tont Woods, sometimes known as Tiger.
The insanity of the media, not to mention the hordes of lemmings faithfully following him around continues.
He's not even in the Top Ten of the rankings.
He's won a grand total of one -- count it -- ONE tournament in the last five years. Not a major at that.
But STILL they faun over him. Replay, after replay, after replay. Everything always revolves around Tiger. See Tiger drive. See Tiger putt. See Tiger eat a banana. See Tiger chat with his caddie. See Tiger scratch his rear end. Tiger, Tiger, Tiger mania is everywhere. It's like they WANT him to win. They NEED him to win.
And never mind the 54 other golfers that are ahead of him. The TV crews can't go more than 2 minutes without showing Eldrick on the air.
When any round is over, apparently Congress passed a law saying it's mandatory the media televise a live interview with Tiger.
Wake up in the middle of the night, flip on ESPN for a recap of the day's sports, and what will you see?
More Tiger highlights. Tiger eagled this hole and birdied that one. They don't show the viewer the holes he butchered in between to be so far back on the scoreboard.
There are those that continue to say Eldrick Tont Woods was/is good for golf. They wouldn't tune in if he weren't playing.
I'm quite the opposite. I find any tourney infinitely more interesting when he's NOT entered in it, or the final two rounds of one where he didn't make the cut.
Because when that happens the TV coverage is more evenly spread around among the top contenders, as it should be.
To boot, of late Woods appears to only play maybe once a month or so, cherry-picking his tournaments at venues he prefers, while the rest of the pros are grinding it out week after week here, there, and everywhere.
You can bet he'll go into hibernation a few weeks before the Masters in April, preparing himself for the conditions at Augusta National.
And I wouldn't be surprised if the media somehow found a way to televise a documentary of Eldrick's said preparations, while all the other superior golfers the world over are ignored while actually playing live action.
I won't even get into his serial infidelity as a husband. Or his temper-tantrum throwing infantile behavior on the course when things don't go his way. Or claiming to have walked an entire course while playing on a broken leg. Ridiculous, but the suckers bought it.
Yet in spite of his boorish behavior and self-entitled attitude over the years, I tried, I really tried to warm up to the guy.
But I can/t.
The more the media attempts to jam him down my throat, the more I come to dislike him. If they would only be impartial about it, I likely wouldn't harbor such feelings.
I, for one, will be SO glad when the time comes and Eldrick Tont is no longer relevant, as in so bad even the media can't spin the proverbial gold from his game of straw.
Game "better" with Tiger in it? Pshaw. It's decidedly worse, much worse, because of the blatant bias.
See said golfer playing a tournament -- not a major -- just your average tourney, in California.
See him a whopping ten strokes back -- tied for 55th place, not quite through his second round of play, and hoping to make the cut. Barely.
If you were watching the tournament at home, would you expect to be bombarded by coverage of this guy?
Of course not. But this particular golfer's name is Eldrick Tont Woods, sometimes known as Tiger.
The insanity of the media, not to mention the hordes of lemmings faithfully following him around continues.
He's not even in the Top Ten of the rankings.
He's won a grand total of one -- count it -- ONE tournament in the last five years. Not a major at that.
But STILL they faun over him. Replay, after replay, after replay. Everything always revolves around Tiger. See Tiger drive. See Tiger putt. See Tiger eat a banana. See Tiger chat with his caddie. See Tiger scratch his rear end. Tiger, Tiger, Tiger mania is everywhere. It's like they WANT him to win. They NEED him to win.
And never mind the 54 other golfers that are ahead of him. The TV crews can't go more than 2 minutes without showing Eldrick on the air.
When any round is over, apparently Congress passed a law saying it's mandatory the media televise a live interview with Tiger.
Wake up in the middle of the night, flip on ESPN for a recap of the day's sports, and what will you see?
More Tiger highlights. Tiger eagled this hole and birdied that one. They don't show the viewer the holes he butchered in between to be so far back on the scoreboard.
There are those that continue to say Eldrick Tont Woods was/is good for golf. They wouldn't tune in if he weren't playing.
I'm quite the opposite. I find any tourney infinitely more interesting when he's NOT entered in it, or the final two rounds of one where he didn't make the cut.
Because when that happens the TV coverage is more evenly spread around among the top contenders, as it should be.
To boot, of late Woods appears to only play maybe once a month or so, cherry-picking his tournaments at venues he prefers, while the rest of the pros are grinding it out week after week here, there, and everywhere.
You can bet he'll go into hibernation a few weeks before the Masters in April, preparing himself for the conditions at Augusta National.
And I wouldn't be surprised if the media somehow found a way to televise a documentary of Eldrick's said preparations, while all the other superior golfers the world over are ignored while actually playing live action.
I won't even get into his serial infidelity as a husband. Or his temper-tantrum throwing infantile behavior on the course when things don't go his way. Or claiming to have walked an entire course while playing on a broken leg. Ridiculous, but the suckers bought it.
Yet in spite of his boorish behavior and self-entitled attitude over the years, I tried, I really tried to warm up to the guy.
But I can/t.
The more the media attempts to jam him down my throat, the more I come to dislike him. If they would only be impartial about it, I likely wouldn't harbor such feelings.
I, for one, will be SO glad when the time comes and Eldrick Tont is no longer relevant, as in so bad even the media can't spin the proverbial gold from his game of straw.
Game "better" with Tiger in it? Pshaw. It's decidedly worse, much worse, because of the blatant bias.
Sunday, February 3, 2019
Patriots Super Bowl champs -- again
It probably shouldn't have come as much of a surprise to most football fans. After all, the New England Patriots WERE favored, though just slightly, to win another Super Bowl over the LA Rams.
And so they did. What WAS surprising was how both defenses were so effective. In what most, including yours truly, thought would be a high-scoring affair, it was anything but. A final score of 13-3 bears that out. Defense pretty much ruled.
Hats off to defensive coordinator Brian Flores of the Pats. Holding the high-octane offense of the Rams to a mere field goal was impressive indeed. Rumors have it Flores will depart next year to take over the head-coaching job of the Miami Dolphins. Sure, he'll get a huge raise in pay -- welcome to the multi-millionaire club -- but last time I looked the Dolphins were still in the same division as the Pats. Which means they have no chance of winning it.
New England is amazing in that way. They just keep getting it done with guys most football fans never heard of, besides Tom Brady, of course. Running back Sony Michel was Rams' running back Todd Gurley's back-up at Georgia, but look who's hoisting the Lombardi Trophy now. Receiver Julian Edelman isn't tall, fast, or tough. But he drives defenders with the scat routes he runs and catches he makes.
Quick, name somebody on the Pats defense, or offensive line, for that matter. Betcha can't. None jumps out as a "notable" but together they play superbly as a team. That's coaching.
One need look no further than the current head coach of the Detroit Lions. Under Bill Belichick's tutelage, Matt Patricia was highly successful as the defensive coordinator for the Patriots.
One he got to Motown, he fell flat on his face, racking up a 6-10 record in his rookie season. And it surely doesn't look like the Lions will be any better next year. Same with Detroit general manager Bob Quinn, another former Patriot employee. True, he was only a measly scout in New England, but the Lions' "brain trust", and I use that term with tongue planted firmly in cheek, somehow came to the genius conclusion that Quinn had the credentials to be a general manager. As a scout, this guy knew about as much about negotiating player contracts and salary caps as your average legal assistant would know about arguing a case in front of the Supreme Court. Is it any wonder he's crashed and burned so badly?
But in contrast to New England, that's the Detroit way. Hire an incompetent, and stick by him for years. It took the Lions eight -- count em -- EIGHT years to realize buffoon Matt Millen running the franchise was a bad idea.
Nevertheless, all hail the New England Patriots, Super Bowl champions -- again. They get to have another parade while 31 other NFL teams don't.
Is anybody really surprised?
And so they did. What WAS surprising was how both defenses were so effective. In what most, including yours truly, thought would be a high-scoring affair, it was anything but. A final score of 13-3 bears that out. Defense pretty much ruled.
Hats off to defensive coordinator Brian Flores of the Pats. Holding the high-octane offense of the Rams to a mere field goal was impressive indeed. Rumors have it Flores will depart next year to take over the head-coaching job of the Miami Dolphins. Sure, he'll get a huge raise in pay -- welcome to the multi-millionaire club -- but last time I looked the Dolphins were still in the same division as the Pats. Which means they have no chance of winning it.
New England is amazing in that way. They just keep getting it done with guys most football fans never heard of, besides Tom Brady, of course. Running back Sony Michel was Rams' running back Todd Gurley's back-up at Georgia, but look who's hoisting the Lombardi Trophy now. Receiver Julian Edelman isn't tall, fast, or tough. But he drives defenders with the scat routes he runs and catches he makes.
Quick, name somebody on the Pats defense, or offensive line, for that matter. Betcha can't. None jumps out as a "notable" but together they play superbly as a team. That's coaching.
One need look no further than the current head coach of the Detroit Lions. Under Bill Belichick's tutelage, Matt Patricia was highly successful as the defensive coordinator for the Patriots.
One he got to Motown, he fell flat on his face, racking up a 6-10 record in his rookie season. And it surely doesn't look like the Lions will be any better next year. Same with Detroit general manager Bob Quinn, another former Patriot employee. True, he was only a measly scout in New England, but the Lions' "brain trust", and I use that term with tongue planted firmly in cheek, somehow came to the genius conclusion that Quinn had the credentials to be a general manager. As a scout, this guy knew about as much about negotiating player contracts and salary caps as your average legal assistant would know about arguing a case in front of the Supreme Court. Is it any wonder he's crashed and burned so badly?
But in contrast to New England, that's the Detroit way. Hire an incompetent, and stick by him for years. It took the Lions eight -- count em -- EIGHT years to realize buffoon Matt Millen running the franchise was a bad idea.
Nevertheless, all hail the New England Patriots, Super Bowl champions -- again. They get to have another parade while 31 other NFL teams don't.
Is anybody really surprised?
Tuesday, January 22, 2019
Hero worshiping fools
There was a time many years back when many golf fans and pundits would bet on Tiger Woods to win any particular tournament over the rest of the entire field.
And it wasn't a bad bet. From the late 90s to maybe 2008, Woods had the most dominant decade the golf world had even seen, seemingly winning damn near everything.
But that was then. Fast forward. Now is a lot different.
Eldrick Tont has won a grand total of one tournament in the past five years. It just happened to be the last one of the prior golf season.
Yet fools persist. Some have the audacity -- see stupid -- to think taking Woods over the entire field today is a decent bet.
The various world golf rankings have dear Tiger somewhere between #10 and #20. And they want to take THIS guy over the entire field? HAHAHAHAHAHA.
A much more appropriate bet would be wagering on if Eldrick will make the cut in any tournament. That's about a coin flip these days.
Former NY Yankees relief pitcher Mariano Rivera is another example of duh getting in the way of common sense.
Soon to be up for Hall of Fame consideration, some geniuses think he might be the first guy to score 100% on the first ballot of Hall voters.
Please.
The dude was a relief pitcher. Granted, a very good one, but still very limited in his abilities. He was only good for pitching one inning -- two tops. He never had to bat, or run the bases, or field anything other than the occasional ground ball back to the pitcher's mound. Truly a one dimensional player with little stamina at that.
Yet again, fools persist. Somehow they've come to the mind-numbing conclusion that this guy is more worthy of Cooperstown than the likes of Babe Ruth, Stan Musial, or Ty Cobb, the very first inductee. But none of them got 100% of the votes. What are these people smoking anyway?
To boot, how in the HELL did Cal Ripken Jr. receive the highest percentage of votes ever? There was nothing spectacular about him. Pretty good fielder, decent hitter, average arm, and no speed to speak of. He just played a long time, breaking Lou Gehrig's "Iron Man" record. And he wouldn't have done that if his daddy hadn't been his manager for so many years with the Baltimore Orioles. Ripken often played while he was hurt, to the detriment of the team. No other manager would have allowed that.
It's the whole "hero" thing. Everybody's a hero these days. Cops for merely doing their jobs. And OMG, anybody in the military. Heroes all. They're handing out medals faster than your average Olympics.
Case in point. Not long ago, yours truly worked alongside a guy that used to be in the US Navy. He enlisted to serve his country, and hopefully get to sail hither and yon seeing parts of the world he would never have a chance of seeing otherwise. He was in for four years.
And never set foot on a ship.
Nope, according to my bud, he wound up doing most of his time in Norfolk -- he called it "No-f-ck" Virginia, at a big naval base there.
So while others were in the "sea-going" Navy, by his account he was in the "golf-playing" Navy.
And still he received various medals, another regular "hero", which he laughs about to this day.
Heroes, heroes, everywhere.
Everybody's the greatest -- until the next one comes along in about 15 minutes.
It not only takes away from those that are truly deserving of the honor, but is getting so watered down as to be sickening.
And it wasn't a bad bet. From the late 90s to maybe 2008, Woods had the most dominant decade the golf world had even seen, seemingly winning damn near everything.
But that was then. Fast forward. Now is a lot different.
Eldrick Tont has won a grand total of one tournament in the past five years. It just happened to be the last one of the prior golf season.
Yet fools persist. Some have the audacity -- see stupid -- to think taking Woods over the entire field today is a decent bet.
The various world golf rankings have dear Tiger somewhere between #10 and #20. And they want to take THIS guy over the entire field? HAHAHAHAHAHA.
A much more appropriate bet would be wagering on if Eldrick will make the cut in any tournament. That's about a coin flip these days.
Former NY Yankees relief pitcher Mariano Rivera is another example of duh getting in the way of common sense.
Soon to be up for Hall of Fame consideration, some geniuses think he might be the first guy to score 100% on the first ballot of Hall voters.
Please.
The dude was a relief pitcher. Granted, a very good one, but still very limited in his abilities. He was only good for pitching one inning -- two tops. He never had to bat, or run the bases, or field anything other than the occasional ground ball back to the pitcher's mound. Truly a one dimensional player with little stamina at that.
Yet again, fools persist. Somehow they've come to the mind-numbing conclusion that this guy is more worthy of Cooperstown than the likes of Babe Ruth, Stan Musial, or Ty Cobb, the very first inductee. But none of them got 100% of the votes. What are these people smoking anyway?
To boot, how in the HELL did Cal Ripken Jr. receive the highest percentage of votes ever? There was nothing spectacular about him. Pretty good fielder, decent hitter, average arm, and no speed to speak of. He just played a long time, breaking Lou Gehrig's "Iron Man" record. And he wouldn't have done that if his daddy hadn't been his manager for so many years with the Baltimore Orioles. Ripken often played while he was hurt, to the detriment of the team. No other manager would have allowed that.
It's the whole "hero" thing. Everybody's a hero these days. Cops for merely doing their jobs. And OMG, anybody in the military. Heroes all. They're handing out medals faster than your average Olympics.
Case in point. Not long ago, yours truly worked alongside a guy that used to be in the US Navy. He enlisted to serve his country, and hopefully get to sail hither and yon seeing parts of the world he would never have a chance of seeing otherwise. He was in for four years.
And never set foot on a ship.
Nope, according to my bud, he wound up doing most of his time in Norfolk -- he called it "No-f-ck" Virginia, at a big naval base there.
So while others were in the "sea-going" Navy, by his account he was in the "golf-playing" Navy.
And still he received various medals, another regular "hero", which he laughs about to this day.
Heroes, heroes, everywhere.
Everybody's the greatest -- until the next one comes along in about 15 minutes.
It not only takes away from those that are truly deserving of the honor, but is getting so watered down as to be sickening.
Sunday, January 20, 2019
NFL playoff results
Two games. Both went into overtime. Pretty weird. Both visiting teams won. Weirder yet.
In the NFC contest, one thing was for sure. An Irish head coach named Sean was going to win. Also the same was going to lose.
And the New Orleans Saints got jobbed. Ripped off. About as close to cheating as you can get.
With a chance to put the game away, Drew Brees lofted a pass to running back Alvin Kamara, and Kamara got blasted -- before the ball got there by an LA Rams defensive back. It was blatant. Obvious. But no flag.
How in the world can the supposed "best" officials in the league have missed it? Sean Payton and his crew have every reason to be pissed. You'd think in a game of this magnitude, the refs could at least get it right on such an "in your face" play. Good grief, Stevie Wonder could have seen that foul.
Well OK, maybe those things happen once in a while. And all credit to the Rams place kicker, one Greg Zuerlein. With a chance to officially win the game, he nailed a whopping 57 yard field goal. To boot, no pun intended, it was even more impressive considering the ball was about as high as the top of the goalposts when it sailed through. That kick would have been good from 70 yards, maybe 75. A colossal boot it was. It's only a matter of time before the current field goal record of 64 yards falls. A team just has to be in the right position, at the right time of the game. Just before the half, or towards the end like this one.
So the Rams head to the Super Bowl, and good for them. In a few days everybody will forget about the blown call, except maybe the Saints. But it doesn't matter. What's done is done. They will face.....
The New England Patriots, who damn near needed a miracle themselves to squeak by the KC Chiefs. Between Tom Brady and his receivers, they were quite un-Patriot like. See the Pats up 7-0 getting ready to score another TD. And Brady makes a bone-headed throw into the end zone where his pass was intercepted.
As the game went on and KC finally got something going, it looked for the longest time as if that pick would come back to haunt #12 and the Pats. Maybe cost them the game. Also, his receivers kept having the ball go through their hands winding up being intercepted as well. And who's that tight end of the Pats with the hands of stone? Betcha he won't be there next year.
Still, when crunch time was on -- as in OT, old #12 pulled another rabbit out of his hat. He marched the Pats down for the winning TD. Game over.
Yet that also didn't seem fair. OK, the Pats won the coin toss and elected to receive in OT. Of course they did.
Thing is, the Chiefs and QB Patrick Mahomes never even got the ball. It's a weird rule in the NFL. If the team that initially has the ball scores a TD, it's game over. But if they only get a field goal, the other team gets a chance to tie or win the game. How can that possibly be righteous? In this case, it all boiled down to the fifty-fifty chance of winning a coin flip. So like Sean Payton, Chiefs head coach Andy Reid probably isn't too happy right about now either.Maybe the powers that be in the NFL will finally get their heads out of their arses and see now dumb this rule is. And change it.
Nevertheless,it will be the New England Patriots squaring off against the LA Rams in the Super Bowl in Atlanta.
And a dandy of a game it should be.
Bring it on.
In the NFC contest, one thing was for sure. An Irish head coach named Sean was going to win. Also the same was going to lose.
And the New Orleans Saints got jobbed. Ripped off. About as close to cheating as you can get.
With a chance to put the game away, Drew Brees lofted a pass to running back Alvin Kamara, and Kamara got blasted -- before the ball got there by an LA Rams defensive back. It was blatant. Obvious. But no flag.
How in the world can the supposed "best" officials in the league have missed it? Sean Payton and his crew have every reason to be pissed. You'd think in a game of this magnitude, the refs could at least get it right on such an "in your face" play. Good grief, Stevie Wonder could have seen that foul.
Well OK, maybe those things happen once in a while. And all credit to the Rams place kicker, one Greg Zuerlein. With a chance to officially win the game, he nailed a whopping 57 yard field goal. To boot, no pun intended, it was even more impressive considering the ball was about as high as the top of the goalposts when it sailed through. That kick would have been good from 70 yards, maybe 75. A colossal boot it was. It's only a matter of time before the current field goal record of 64 yards falls. A team just has to be in the right position, at the right time of the game. Just before the half, or towards the end like this one.
So the Rams head to the Super Bowl, and good for them. In a few days everybody will forget about the blown call, except maybe the Saints. But it doesn't matter. What's done is done. They will face.....
The New England Patriots, who damn near needed a miracle themselves to squeak by the KC Chiefs. Between Tom Brady and his receivers, they were quite un-Patriot like. See the Pats up 7-0 getting ready to score another TD. And Brady makes a bone-headed throw into the end zone where his pass was intercepted.
As the game went on and KC finally got something going, it looked for the longest time as if that pick would come back to haunt #12 and the Pats. Maybe cost them the game. Also, his receivers kept having the ball go through their hands winding up being intercepted as well. And who's that tight end of the Pats with the hands of stone? Betcha he won't be there next year.
Still, when crunch time was on -- as in OT, old #12 pulled another rabbit out of his hat. He marched the Pats down for the winning TD. Game over.
Yet that also didn't seem fair. OK, the Pats won the coin toss and elected to receive in OT. Of course they did.
Thing is, the Chiefs and QB Patrick Mahomes never even got the ball. It's a weird rule in the NFL. If the team that initially has the ball scores a TD, it's game over. But if they only get a field goal, the other team gets a chance to tie or win the game. How can that possibly be righteous? In this case, it all boiled down to the fifty-fifty chance of winning a coin flip. So like Sean Payton, Chiefs head coach Andy Reid probably isn't too happy right about now either.Maybe the powers that be in the NFL will finally get their heads out of their arses and see now dumb this rule is. And change it.
Nevertheless,it will be the New England Patriots squaring off against the LA Rams in the Super Bowl in Atlanta.
And a dandy of a game it should be.
Bring it on.
Wednesday, January 16, 2019
NFL playoffs
To no great surprise, the top two seeds in each conference have made it to the finals. And a couple of good games they should be indeed.
New England @ Kansas City.
A tough call. Young KC quarterback Patrick Mahomes has been quite the sensation all year, even among the runners for MVP. And the Chiefs ARE playing at home, at probably the loudest stadium in the entire league. An offensive dynamo to be sure. Lots of points.
But they also give up lots of points. Not so good on the defensive side.
Once again, Bellichick, Brady and Co. seem to be getting it done with smoke and mirrors. Who is this Tony Michel running back that nobody ever heard of before? For that matter, only the Pats could make stars out of receivers like Julian Edelman and Chris Hogan. Quick, name anybody on New England's defense. I can't, but they seem to get the job done. That's some seriously good coaching.
Given home field is a 3 point advantage, the bookies listing KC as 3 point favorite means they consider the teams even otherwise.
And, as mentioned above, KC is a mighty tough place for any visiting team to play.
Still, it's Brady and it's the conference finals. Against a rookie on the other side.
Bet against the Pats at your own peril. I like them to prevail in this contest.
And now a word from our sponsors.
While channel surfing various sports shows, yours truly came across an ad from Tata Technologies. Not sure what product they produce, but given a name like that, my first guess would be some sort of push-up bras or breast implants. Would seem to make sense, but no time for that nonsense. Click.
LA Rams @ New Orleans Saints.
Lots of similarities to the AFC contest. A young hotshot QB in Jerod Goff going up against the wily old veteran Drew Brees. Both offenses can score a ton of points. And once again, the Vegas wise guys have the home team as a 3 point favorite.
Another tough call. But despite the Rams having arguably the best defensive player in the league in Aaron Donald, truly a beast on the D-line, the Saints are capable of playing some serious team defense. And the Rams have shown a few chinks in their armor in recent weeks.
Gimme the Saints to win, but not sure if they'll cover. Think it will be a close one, the proverbial nail biter, maybe even a last second field goal deciding it.
Nonetheless, these are four REALLY good teams -- nary a pretender in the bunch -- slugging it out. And that's the way it should be.
Bring it on.
New England @ Kansas City.
A tough call. Young KC quarterback Patrick Mahomes has been quite the sensation all year, even among the runners for MVP. And the Chiefs ARE playing at home, at probably the loudest stadium in the entire league. An offensive dynamo to be sure. Lots of points.
But they also give up lots of points. Not so good on the defensive side.
Once again, Bellichick, Brady and Co. seem to be getting it done with smoke and mirrors. Who is this Tony Michel running back that nobody ever heard of before? For that matter, only the Pats could make stars out of receivers like Julian Edelman and Chris Hogan. Quick, name anybody on New England's defense. I can't, but they seem to get the job done. That's some seriously good coaching.
Given home field is a 3 point advantage, the bookies listing KC as 3 point favorite means they consider the teams even otherwise.
And, as mentioned above, KC is a mighty tough place for any visiting team to play.
Still, it's Brady and it's the conference finals. Against a rookie on the other side.
Bet against the Pats at your own peril. I like them to prevail in this contest.
And now a word from our sponsors.
While channel surfing various sports shows, yours truly came across an ad from Tata Technologies. Not sure what product they produce, but given a name like that, my first guess would be some sort of push-up bras or breast implants. Would seem to make sense, but no time for that nonsense. Click.
LA Rams @ New Orleans Saints.
Lots of similarities to the AFC contest. A young hotshot QB in Jerod Goff going up against the wily old veteran Drew Brees. Both offenses can score a ton of points. And once again, the Vegas wise guys have the home team as a 3 point favorite.
Another tough call. But despite the Rams having arguably the best defensive player in the league in Aaron Donald, truly a beast on the D-line, the Saints are capable of playing some serious team defense. And the Rams have shown a few chinks in their armor in recent weeks.
Gimme the Saints to win, but not sure if they'll cover. Think it will be a close one, the proverbial nail biter, maybe even a last second field goal deciding it.
Nonetheless, these are four REALLY good teams -- nary a pretender in the bunch -- slugging it out. And that's the way it should be.
Bring it on.
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