Not nearly as big of an NFL fan as I used to be. Maybe it's related to free agency and parity and all that. But it's mostly because, over the last 12 years, my career has been devoted so much to college football that the TV is usually off when Sunday rolls around.
But this year, and particularly the playoffs, was actually more compelling than usual for me. And it was largely because of the remarkable run by Aaron Rodgers and the Packers.
A No. 6 seed ripping through its first two playoff opponents (Philadelphia and Atlanta) on the road before sealing the deal with a win on the road in the NFC Championship? That stuff used to be unheard of.
Rodgers just blows me away with his quick release, his velocity and his almost stunning accuracy.
This guy says Rodgers might eventually outshine that Favre guy in Packers lore, and the notion doesn't seem ridiculous right now.
-- Never thought I'd side with Desmond Howard over Phil Simms in anything, but today is that day.
Simms is the best football analyst in the game today, and it might not even be close. Howard was a great player but is far from great as a member of ESPN's College GameDay lineup.
Apparently Simms went all crazy football dad on Howard last week as a result of Howard criticizing his son last season.
Here's the series of Tweets from Howard:
At NFL-Xperience and Phil Simms just threatened 2 hit me b/c I said his son was 1 of the worse [sic] QBs in the SEC. I told him "LET'S GO!" … I am DEAD serious about the Phil Simms thing. We all thought he was joking, but he kept going and said he wanted 2 take a swing at me!! … During the season we talked about the Tenn v LSU game and I said "u will see 3 of the worse [sic] QBs in the SEC" That's what Phil did not like. … It ended w/ police stepping in between so I could continue my appearance w/ fans.
It'd be one thing if Matt Simms went on to prove Howard wrong. But Howard's take wasn't exactly baseless given that Simms went 2-6 as the starter and was benched over the final month of the season.
-- We Americans, like, have a bit of a reputation, like, across the world for, like, you know, being depthless, unintelligent and uninformed and stuff.
Guessing Christina Aguilera's complete and total botching of our own national anthem won't exactly dispel those unflattering notions.
-- I've always been sort of turned off when bands lip-sync their halftime performances at the Super Bowl.
After suffering through last night's mini-set with the Black Eyed Peas, I'm now fully in favor of lip-syncing.
The choreography was good. The singing ... terribad.
-- Commercials were sort of hit and miss, as you'd expect. My vote for the best goes to the Doritos finger-licking bit.
Cool to see local scenery in the BMW ad.
-- Ken Tysiac of The Charlotte Observer says don't count the ACC out just yet.
Hey says this about Clemson's NCAA Tournament chances:
Contenders
Boston College, Clemson, Florida State, Maryland, Virginia Tech: The most likely candidate is Florida State, which has a stifling defense and a win over Duke. Boston College has a better RPI (41) than Florida State (55) but is fading. Clemson and Virginia Tech lack quality wins outside the ACC. Don't ever count out Gary Williams and Maryland.
-- Sixteen assists for Kendall Marshall in yesterday's rout of Florida State in Chapel Hill.
"I won't say it was a statement (for me), because we had a lot of great players play great," said Marshall, who also had nine points, three steals and three turnovers in a career-high 36 minutes. "John (Henson) and Harrison (Barnes) both had double-doubles ... we had a lot of great contributions off the bench. But as the point guard on this team, I do feel like I'm sort of the leader. And I have to be able to lead by example."
-- This column from the Richmond paper is several days old, but it's a good one on Brad Brownell.
"He wants to be involved with our everyday lives," said senior guard Demontez Stitt. "We can talk with him about anything. I can come in and talk about a movie date I just had with a girl. He wants us to be more comfortable with him as our coach, and at a friend level off the court."
College kids still go on movie dates? Who knew?
LW
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