Divisional Round Recap

Seahawks Collapse: I have long thought the Seahawks were a really boring team to watch. No one on the team excites me but I think I’m their good luck charm. I watched the first couple of minutes then had to run all over town chasing materials for a baby nursery. Doesn’t my wife know it’s playoff football? When I returned home the field was covered in snow and the Packers had completely taken over the game. This isn’t a BCS Championship Game involving Ohio State, so I felt spotting the Seahawks a 14-point lead would be a bad idea. That was certainly wrong and good luck to the Packers in the next round. I’m going to save my thoughts on Brett Favre for a later post.

Jim Nantz: It’s one thing to hear a local radio guy opine on the greatness of the home team. It’s something else to hear Mr. Masters himself broadcast a national game of his favorite team. I admit that I absolutely hate the Patriots so I notice when announcers, and more often refs, love them too much. (I also hate the Chargers so the AFC Championship game is going to be like watching women’s basketball for me.) I did not watch the entire Jaguars vs. Patriots game but what I did see and hear was the president of the Patriots Fan Club in the CBS booth. Very early in the game the Jaguars scored and Nantz, at the top of his lungs, was screaming that the Patriots needed to challenge the call. It wasn’t the usual chatter you hear from a national broadcaster wondering if a play in the first quarter was worth a challenge. In fact, I’m pretty sure Nantz opened the booth window and yelled some colorful 4-letter words at Belichick for not throwing the challenge hankie during the commercial break. This was only one example but throughout the game I thought the broadcasters were at a Patriots tailgate party swearing the refs were against the Patriots and every call went the way of the Jaguars. Great work Mr. Nantz!

Rodney Harrison: I’ve established that I did not watch the entire game but based on what I did watch I would have guessed Harrison was the NFL Man of the Year. I could care less if this guy has an interception. Can someone mention that this guy is routinely voted the dirtiest player in the NFL? If he played for the Oakland Raiders (a team I strongly dislike by the way) he would be banned from the league. Not just for his steroid suspension earlier this year but for his repeated dirty play. Based on the way he plays, the way his team congratulates him and the way the announcers speak glowingly about him I would guess he gets paid, not by the tackle, but by the personal foul. I feel bad for people that have never watched football and watch the way he is celebrated and think that’s the way the game is supposed to be played. Don’t be surprised if in 10-15 years a new group of players lives off of the cheap shot and dirty play thanks to watching Harrison and noticing that he is so well thought of by the media.

Philip Rivers: The NFL Playoffs are unfulfilling for me. There are so many players left that I cannot stand. Rivers is #1 on that list. Ever since I saw him trash talk Jay Cutler on Christmas Eve I believe the devil has a special spot reserved for him in that place that’s really warm. Has anyone ever seen a NFL quarterback trash-talk the other team’s quarterback from the other side of the field in a blowout? And to top it all off Rivers flat out sucks. Somehow he has found a way to be worse with quarterback “genius” Norv Turner to boot. It takes someone special to make a genius look completely unqualified but Rivers has found a way. Today further adds to the Rivers legacy. He may have played well, I don’t really know. What I do know is that backup Billy Volek drove them 80+ yards down the field for the game-winning touchdown in the 4th quarter. Then what do you know? At the end of the game Rivers was trash-talking with the Colts fans. Stay classy San Diego’s own Philip Rivers.

Tony Romo: I have found out how I can get wives to watch a football game. Too bad I did not know this yesterday! The trick is to have the gossip magazines talk about the star player the week before the game. If I had a dollar for every time my wife mentioned Jessica Simpson during today’s game my bank account would be doing very well. Anyway, there was a ton of talk about whether Romo should have gone to Mexico during the bye week. Personally, I could care less. The bigger problem is that he went down there with Simpson and her dad. That is unacceptable and if Romo doesn’t watch out the dad might ruin his career too. What is Romo’s problem? With all of the hot girls in Dallas he has no reason to date the one with a dad on a leash and all that other baggage.

Channel Surfing: During halftime of one of the games I went channel surfing. Big mistake. I came across a women’s basketball game and thought it would be fun to implement something a friend does: Don’t change the channel until a basket is scored. About 6 minutes later I was still watching the game. It was unwatchable. To call it basketball is an insult to James Naismith and anyone else that cares about the game. Would the media please quit telling me women’s basketball is exciting and full of world-class athletes? If I’m not mistaken, reputable journalists need multiple sources before going with a story. Political correctness should never trump integrity.