BS: NFL 2007 R u ready for some football?

Subject: BS: NFL 2007 R u ready for some football?
From: gnu
Date: 05 Aug 07 - 03:16 PM

20:00h EDST. Saints and Steelers!

Belly bought Brandon, eh? Go Pats!

Subject: RE: BS: NFL 2007 R u ready for some football?
From: GUEST,Texas Guest
Date: 05 Aug 07 - 11:38 PM

I'm counting the days - GO IRISH!

Subject: RE: BS: NFL 2007 R u ready for some football?
From: gnu
Date: 07 Sep 07 - 11:06 AM

Wow. Manning was threading the needle last night! Excellent game.

Subject: RE: BS: NFL 2007 R u ready for some football?
From: Becca72
Date: 07 Sep 07 - 04:57 PM

A guy took his blonde girlfriend to her first football game. They had great seats right behind their team's bench. After the game, he asked her how she liked the experience.

"Oh, I really liked it," she replied, "especially the tight pants and
all the big muscles, but I just couldn't understand why they
were killing each other over 25 cents."

Dumbfounded, her date asked, "What do you mean?"

"Well, they flipped a coin, one team got it and then for the
rest of the game, all they kept screaming was: 'Get the quarterback! Get the quarterback!' I'm like...Helloooooo? It's only 25 cents!!!!"

Subject: RE: BS: NFL 2007 R u ready for some football?
From: gnu
Date: 07 Sep 07 - 07:00 PM

Hahahahahaha

Subject: RE: BS: NFL 2007 R u ready for some football?
From: Rapparee
Date: 08 Sep 07 - 01:16 PM

Shit, is it that time already?

Subject: RE: BS: NFL 2007 R u ready for some football?
From: Bobert
Date: 08 Sep 07 - 01:29 PM

Heck no, I ain't ready yet... It's been over 90 degrees here in the Blue Ridge Moutins fir the last two weeks... Ain't nuthin' crisp about 90 friggin' degrees and football is fir crisp to cold to cold ass weather...

But go Washington...

Bobert

Subject: RE: BS: NFL 2007 R u ready for some football?
From: gnu
Date: 10 Sep 07 - 11:00 AM

One of the Jets secondary said, "Randy Moss is an old man...." Hehehe....

Of course, imagine your first game in the NFL and seeing him lined up at ya. 4 catches for nearly 90 yards... before the TD.

Subject: RE: BS: NFL 2007 R u ready for some football?
From: Bee
Date: 10 Sep 07 - 11:38 AM

Becca, I am that blonde: I see that other people really enjoy watching this sport, but I do not understand it. It seems utterly boring to me.

I also bear a grudge because in the sixties they would pre-empt Doctor Who and Thierry le Fronde to show hours and hours of FOOTBALL!

Carry on fans! ;-p

Subject: RE: BS: NFL 2007 R u ready for some football?
From: Uncle_DaveO
Date: 10 Sep 07 - 11:47 AM

"Ready for some football?"   An emphatic NO!   I am a missionary non-athlete.

Dave Oesterreich

Subject: RE: BS: NFL 2007 R u ready for some football?
From: Becca72
Date: 11 Sep 07 - 11:09 AM

Bee,
I am a natural blond (I chose to become a redhead several years ago) and that is bascially how I feel about football, too. It takes too damned long to get anything done in that game!

Give me ice hockey any day of the week!

Go Habs!

Subject: RE: BS: NFL 2007 R u ready for some football?
From: Rapparee
Date: 11 Sep 07 - 12:07 PM

I am a natural blonde, except for the white fringe, and I say, "GO REHABS!!!"

Subject: RE: BS: NFL 2007 R u ready for some football?
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 11 Sep 07 - 01:18 PM

This may be the year for L. S. U.

Subject: RE: BS: NFL 2007 R u ready for some football?
From: Rapparee
Date: 11 Sep 07 - 03:32 PM

Notre Dame is 0 and 2. The End Times Are At Hand.

Subject: RE: BS: NFL 2007 R u ready for some football?
From: freightdawg
Date: 11 Sep 07 - 05:38 PM

The Vikings are undefeated!!!

(Can we end the season now, while we're ahead?)

The purple-pawed Freightdawg

Subject: RE: BS: NFL 2007 R u ready for some football?
From: Rapparee
Date: 11 Sep 07 - 11:43 PM

The Valparaiso University Vikings? Or do you mean the ones like Harald Bloodyaxe?

Subject: RE: BS: NFL 2007 R u ready for some football?
From: freightdawg
Date: 12 Sep 07 - 04:14 PM

Stick out your ankle so I can gnaw on it for awhile!

Hail to Carl Eller, Alan Page, Paul Krause and the real Purple People Eaters.

Freightdawg

Subject: RE: BS: NFL 2007 R u ready for some football?
From: Rapparee
Date: 12 Sep 07 - 04:52 PM

Weren't they picked up at the Minneapolis airport in some sort of police operation?

Subject: RE: BS: NFL 2007 R u ready for some football?
From: gnu
Date: 22 Oct 07 - 02:36 PM

BUFFALO? BUFFALO??!!!!!!!!!!!!! Arrrrgggghhhhh. It's fixed, man.

Subject: RE: BS: NFL 2007 R u ready for some football?
From: ranger1
Date: 22 Oct 07 - 02:41 PM

Gnu, my friend, ANY GIVEN SUNDAY!!!

And the Pats are 7-0! Woohoo! Unfortunately, the game I most want to see this season happens to be on the Sunday of the Getaway. Argh!

Subject: RE: BS: NFL 2007 R u ready for some football?
From: gnu
Date: 22 Oct 07 - 02:57 PM

The Pats were 7 before they got on the plane. But, at 1.05, I didn't bet them.... I put my $10 on the f*****g Ravens.... twice. My budget is soon gone.

Subject: RE: BS: NFL 2007 R u ready for some football?
From: gnu
Date: 28 Oct 07 - 10:22 AM

DET, MIN, STL, NYJ, TB AND GB (all by four points minimum). 439.09.

Subject: RE: BS: NFL 2007 R u ready for some football?
From: gnu
Date: 28 Oct 07 - 01:15 PM

Well, well, well... 90,000 plus at Wembley Stadium to watch the Giants and the Dolpins!! Over 90,000. And they are cheering the play!

Subject: RE: BS: NFL 2007 R u ready for some football?
From: ranger1
Date: 28 Oct 07 - 01:51 PM

Whose play?

Subject: RE: BS: NFL 2007 R u ready for some football?
From: gnu
Date: 28 Oct 07 - 02:35 PM

Both... The English like good play and cheer same. They have a bit different attitude. I am not saying they "cheer opponents", but they don't "boo" good play by oppenents the way some do here in NA.

I am just surprised that there are 90,000 plus in the stadium in the first place.

I did find it humourous that a world famous musician was shown on the screen applauding play and the announcers did not pick up on it. The had no idea WHO he was, fer Pete's sake!

Subject: RE: BS: NFL 2007 R u ready for some football?
From: Bobert
Date: 28 Oct 07 - 06:52 PM

I thought I was ready for some football but as I write this my beloved Washington Redskins, who I have rooted for going back some 50 years, are being not only being beaten, but embarassed, by the New England Patriots 300 to 0, 'er somethin' like that...

Heck with bombing Iran... Bomb Boston which has 2 of the 3 big sports locked up and working on the last one, basketball, as well...

B~

Subject: RE: BS: NFL 2007 R u ready for some football?
From: ranger1
Date: 28 Oct 07 - 09:29 PM

Go ahead, bomb Boston. The Pats don't play there anyway. Sorry the Pats gave your boys such a drubbing, Bobert. I think they're warming up for next week. I was happy to see one of my former fantasy players make the touchdown for the 'skins.

Subject: RE: BS: NFL 2007 R u ready for some football?
From: Rapparee
Date: 29 Oct 07 - 09:14 AM

I don't think the Cubs are doing real well right now and they probably won't be in the Super Bowel. Again.

Subject: RE: BS: NFL 2007 R u ready for some football?
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 29 Oct 07 - 09:47 AM

I think gnu's putting a slightly rosy image on the good sporting nature of English football crowds, when it's a team they care about playing. They don't come more partisan than a local Derby. But of course with that NFL thing I imagine there'd be no reason for many of the locals in the crowd to have any preference either way.

They put the highlights on TV after Match of the Day, but I couldn't raise the interest to watch more than a couple of minutes. That body armour and the Star Trek helmets... (Now if they put a big baseball match on at Lords or the Oval it might be a different matter. I'd be more likely to watch that than Cricket.)

Subject: RE: BS: NFL 2007 R u ready for some football?
From: Lonesome EJ
Date: 29 Oct 07 - 10:46 AM

Next Monday...Patriots versus Colts! The two best teams in the NFL are contending for bragging rights, and I'm predicting 34-31 Patriots.

Subject: RE: BS: NFL 2007 R u ready for some football?
From: gnu
Date: 29 Oct 07 - 10:58 AM

Imagine Gostkowski and Viniteri in a kickout!

Subject: RE: BS: NFL 2007 R u ready for some football?
From: Lonesome EJ
Date: 29 Oct 07 - 03:14 PM

All kinds of face-offs, gnu...Addai/Maroney. Manning/Brady. Moss/Wayne. I'm pumped.

Subject: RE: BS: NFL 2007 R u ready for some football?
From: PoppaGator
Date: 29 Oct 07 - 03:21 PM

It's been a very difficult month or more for me to be a sports fan, given my various allegiances: New York Mets (since my youth in New Jersey), Notre Dame (my alma mater), and the New Orleans Saints (irratonally and universallly beloved heroes of my adopted hometown).

I've adjusted. Baseball is over, so I can quit fretting about the Mets. The current edition of the Fighting Irish is so hopelessly inept that I've already given up on them; as far as I'm concerned, their current season might just as well be over, too. With no expectations, I can't be disappointed (not, at least, until next year).

So, I've written off two of my three teams. The good news for me and my homies is that, after a terrible start, THE SAINTS ARE BACK! The offense has regained its 2006 form, so inexplicably absent for the first four weeks, and the defense is better than ever. The NFC South title is well within reach, and thus the playoffs; there's still hope for topping last year's season, which ended with a loss in the NFC title game. This time, maybe the Saints will progress one game further into the postseason, and earn the right to play sacrificial lamb to the Pats or Colts in that big roman-numeral game...

Subject: RE: BS: NFL 2007 R u ready for some football?
From: gnu
Date: 29 Oct 07 - 03:45 PM

Hey, ya can't go wrong with Drew. He did one heck of a job last year leading The Saint's to the NFC Championship game. And, hey, hey, ya got John Owens at TE. ;-)

Oh... ah, my name is Gary John Owens. A bit more Irish, though.

Subject: RE: BS: NFL 2007 R u ready for some football?
From: gnu
Date: 04 Nov 07 - 04:50 PM

oooooo... I am all a tingle! Ain't this just about near the SB for NE and Indy fans? An Indy field goal on the first possession.... will NE major their second? First time this year they did not major the first. Already a nail biter!

Subject: RE: BS: NFL 2007 R u ready for some football?
From: Rapparee
Date: 04 Nov 07 - 06:19 PM

cheer cheer for old Notre Dame cough cough

Subject: RE: BS: NFL 2007 R u ready for some football?
From: PoppaGator
Date: 05 Nov 07 - 03:24 PM

Rapaire ~ can you make those letters any smaller?

Notre Dame has a long history of close association with the service academies. Until the 1970s, they shared the disctinction of being among the last surviving all-male post-secondary schools, and there has always been a feeling among these institutions that they share a common dedication to discipline and values-orientation.

The Army-Notre Dame rivalry was very important years ago, because it was through those games that Notre Dame first established itself in the national consicousness. But the university's relationship with the US Navy ~ and, by extension, with the Naval Academy ~ became closer and even more important during World War II, when the university provided classroom space and housing for huge Naval training programs. Since then, Notre Dame and Navy have met on the football field every year, while at the same time the Irish have played both Army and the Air Force Academy fairly regularly, but not annually.

While Navy had not (until this past weekend) won a single one of those annually meetings since Roger Staubach was an undergrad back in the early 1960s, they seemed always to put up a good fight, even an occasionally serious scare, before being finally overpowered sometime late in each year's game.

None of the three services academies is ever likely to attract any high-school athletes who feel they have a serious chance at striking it rich in professional fottbal, or indeed any pro sport. While they lack any such "blue-chip" players, the academies do enroll plenty of good athletes with highly positive "intangibles," e.g., very strong work ethics.

I didn't watch the game (was driving all day at the time), but I certainly saw the highlights Saturday night. Notre Dame would probably have pulled out a last-minute win to extend that ridiculous winning streak were it not for an absolutely incredible individual effort by a blitzing Navy defender who leapt into the air and flew over the heads of a couple of ND blockers to sack the quarterback. I've never seen anything like it, probably never will, and can only congratulate the kid and his teammates, all of whom undoubtedly performed at their very best, literally as well as metaphorically "over their heads."

And also, oh by the way, how 'bout them Saints?

Subject: RE: BS: NFL 2007 R u ready for some football?
From: Rapparee
Date: 05 Nov 07 - 04:52 PM

Yes, I can.

...cheer cheer for Old Notre...aw, the heck with it....

Subject: RE: BS: NFL 2007 R u ready for some football?
From: ranger1
Date: 01 Dec 07 - 09:42 PM

Woohoo! 11-0 and the AFL East clinched. Can't wait for Monday night's game! If you don't know my team, tough.

Subject: RE: BS: NFL 2007 R u ready for some football?
From: gnu
Date: 02 Dec 07 - 07:50 AM

And, since they beat The Colts, Payton don't look all shiney and clean. They are only rated at 1.60 against the Jags today, and, they are at home! Maybe he needs to give himself a pep talk, eh?

Of course, they DID lose to the Chargers... but, if "you" don't know Rap's team, you don't know the rest of the story.

GO PAT's!!

Subject: RE: BS: NFL 2007 R u ready for some football?
From: gnu
Date: 12 Jan 08 - 05:06 PM

Why are you reading this when one of the mose exciting games in ages is on?

Subject: RE: BS: NFL 2007 R u ready for some football?
From: bobad
Date: 12 Jan 08 - 06:28 PM

Football in the middle of January - that's just not right.

Now hockey OTOH, Wings vs. Sens tonight on HNIC - be there or be □

Subject: RE: BS: NFL 2007 R u ready for some football?
From: gnu
Date: 19 Jan 08 - 05:45 PM

Tom and Brett? Wouldn't that be a shootout! "Fuck Belli... just go out and sling it!" or "Coach, is that what you mean by a delayed PA screen?" Technician versus gunslinger, and the similarities far outweight the differences.

Or, say, Eli, and he wins over Tom? And gets some good commercials... not the cheesey crap like Payton.

Oh... true... I didn't mention whatshisname that plays for the team that has to do with horses... horses who bray like asses. Or is it horses? The team logo has nothing to do with horses. It's a lightening bolt. A "charge"? Maybe Amos or Bald Eagle or someone can tell us what the logo means.

Subject: RE: BS: NFL 2007 R u ready for some football?
From: GUEST
Date: 19 Jan 08 - 07:19 PM

Why do you americans call it football when you throw it more than you kick it. Soccer ,Australian rules, Gaelic football kick it all the time

Subject: RE: BS: NFL 2007 R u ready for some football?
From: Bobert
Date: 19 Jan 08 - 07:36 PM

Giants over Green Bay slightly
Pats over SanDiego big

Superbowl:

Pats over Giants by 10 points

Subject: RE: BS: NFL 2007 R u ready for some football?
From: Amos
Date: 20 Jan 08 - 12:18 AM

Bobert:

One thing you can count on is for the Chargers to lose when you ecxpect them to win. Since no-one expects them to win except those who know this secret, they might surprise you badly. They're kind of naughty about expectations that way...


Just in case, so you can't say I didn't warn ya, bud.



A

Subject: RE: BS: NFL 2007 R u ready for some football?
From: gnu
Date: 20 Jan 08 - 07:59 AM

Yup. SD is a great team and could go all the way. But, I don't know if I could listen to all the trash talk.

Subject: RE: BS: NFL 2007 R u ready for some football?
From: Bobert
Date: 20 Jan 08 - 09:19 AM

Hey, I would love to see the Chargers beat the Pats... The Pats ran the score up on my beloved Redskins and it would make my day...

B~

Subject: RE: BS: NFL 2007 R u ready for some football?
From: gnu
Date: 20 Jan 08 - 02:02 PM

I enjoyed watching the Skins, one of my fav teams, this year. They did well and I cheered for them in a lot of games. But, as a Maritimer, I was born a Pats fan. I was a Pats fan before Grogan broke a bone for the first time.

Ran up the score? Wellll, it is football. And, if thay had let up, someone would have said they were playing condescendingly.

I feel the same way about the Chargers trash talking about the video spying... I'd like to see the Pats run the score up their

Subject: RE: BS: NFL 2007 R u ready for some football?
From: gnu
Date: 21 Jan 08 - 07:15 AM

So far, so good, Bobert.

Subject: RE: BS: NFL 2007 R u ready for some football?
From: Bobert
Date: 21 Jan 08 - 09:29 AM

Yeah, 2 for 2 yesterday...

One left to go and all I hope for is a good game...

Subject: RE: BS: NFL 2007 R u ready for some football?
From: PoppaGator
Date: 21 Jan 08 - 02:24 PM

A Manning quarterbacking in the Super Bowl ~ and it's Eli!

Who'd of thunk it ?

One of my son's buddies in NYC, another twentysomething New Orleans kid, has been boasting for years that he had caught more passes from Eli Manning than anyone else in New York. That"s because he was the star pass-catching end on the St. George's Episcopal School sixth-grade team when Eli was throwing. (Eli spent just a year or two at that school before transferring back to Newman, the K-12 school where all three Manning brothers had outstanding high school sports careers.)

If Burris or Toomer hasn't already surpassed this kid's total number of receptions from Eli, one or both will probably do so soon ~ maybe in Arizona, two weeks from now...

Subject: RE: BS: NFL 2007 R u ready for some football?
From: gnu
Date: 21 Jan 08 - 02:33 PM

Well, if it's anything like the last one... 3 points. Manning threw 4 TDs. He is sometimes so iffy, I figured he would fold but he played the best game I have ever seen him play.

I think it will come down to the old saying, defense wins games, especially offensive defense. If the Giants defense can pressure Brady when he's on the field and if their offense can keep him off the field, they have more than a good chance to win. Their secondary sucks (kinda) but their line leads the league in sacks. If Jacobs can average 4 yards per carry and Strahan can close the gaps, to mention two examples, the Pats may have a problem. (Yes, I said it... if Strahan can close the gaps.)

Of course, the Pats do everything well. Especially the unsung heroes. A shining example is Evans. Not only can he carry, his lead blocking was amazing this season. I'd rather have Dick Butkus pissed at me than have to clear Evans off.

Hehehe. I wonder if Adam Vinteri likes all that money now? I'll bet Bill likes his bottom line... and not just the $$$. That kid can KICK!

Subject: RE: BS: NFL 2007 R u ready for some football?
From: gnu
Date: 21 Jan 08 - 02:46 PM

Um... sorry. I have fallen to the hype... please replace "Brady" with "the Pats offense" in my last post.

Subject: RE: BS: NFL 2007 R u ready for some football?
From: Raptor
Date: 22 Jan 08 - 11:58 AM

As a Niners fan I'm still crying.,

But the Giants and the Pats could both win and still be short of total wins needed to come close to my team in both Reg and playoffs.

Manning is a suck that refused to report to San Dieago when they were gonna draft him, And The patriots were cought Cheating in New York this year, so screw em both I'm cheering for the cheerleaders!

Raptor

Subject: RE: BS: NFL 2007 R u ready for some football?
From: Raptor
Date: 22 Jan 08 - 11:59 AM

And Tom Petty at the half!

Subject: RE: BS: NFL 2007 R u ready for some football?
From: gnu
Date: 22 Jan 08 - 03:57 PM

Tom Petty? No tits? That sucks.

Subject: RE: BS: NFL 2007 R u ready for some football?
From: PoppaGator
Date: 23 Jan 08 - 02:05 PM

Turns out that San Diego would have been just about as good a team for Eli to join as the Giants. From an exclusively on-the-field perspecitive, anyway.

In the long run, the New York market should greatly enhance his non-contract earnings (endorsements, advertising, etc.), and I suppose that was the basis of his decision. It was a gamble, though: the difficult media environment there nearly destroyed his career before he was able to establish himself. Looks now like he survived those first couple of difficult years well enough, but it might have gone differently, more like Rex Grossman's experience in Chicago.

Subject: RE: BS: NFL 2007 R u ready for some football?
From: gnu
Date: 24 Jan 08 - 03:00 AM

Yeah. They browbeat him bad. Now, he's the toast of the town. Perhaps the experience will benefit him in future.

Subject: RE: BS: NFL 2007 R u ready for some football?
From: gnu
Date: 03 Feb 08 - 01:46 PM

I see there's a lot of browbeating on another thread. And, it's worth reading for the chuckles - pretty funny stuff!

Unfortunately, most people don't understand the sport. THE sport. The ultimate combination of physical prowess, toughness, intelligence, strategy, teamwork...

Short of warfare and chess, no other game compares.

Are you ready for some football?

Subject: RE: BS: NFL 2007 R u ready for some football?
From: Raptor
Date: 03 Feb 08 - 09:42 PM

How bad was that LIP SINKED anthem?

How great was Tom.... (Petty not Brady) Best part of the worst superbowl I've ever seen! (out of 32 of them)

Raptor

Subject: RE: BS: NFL 2007 R u ready for some football?
From: GUEST
Date: 03 Feb 08 - 11:14 PM

It aint football

Subject: RE: BS: NFL 2007 R u ready for some football?
From: Sorcha
Date: 03 Feb 08 - 11:21 PM

Well, it might be football, but is it 'sport'? Hardly...it's Entertainment. The money, the behind the scenes finagaling, the spying, 'recruiting'....hardly sporting.

Subject: RE: BS: NFL 2007 R u ready for some football?
From: gnu
Date: 04 Feb 08 - 07:15 AM

Good game. Great halftime show.

Subject: RE: BS: NFL 2007 R u ready for some football?
From: Raptor
Date: 05 Feb 08 - 04:34 PM

Yes Sorcha it is a big business but that doesen't mean the product isn't sport just because more poeple enjoy it and advertisers realise that!

Subject: RE: BS: NFL 2007 R u ready for some football?
From: ranger1
Date: 06 Feb 08 - 10:23 AM

Sigh. It was a great game up until the last three minutes. I still don't think Eli Manning is all that. It was the Giants' defense that won that game, I think either Strahan or Tuck should have got MVP.

What I don't understand is why some people have to come in here and denigrate a sport that many people like just because they don't happen to like (or understand) it.

Subject: RE: BS: NFL 2007 R u ready for some football?
From: Midchuck
Date: 06 Feb 08 - 10:48 AM

What I don't understand is why some people have to come in here and denigrate a sport that many people like just because they don't happen to like (or understand) it.

Well....I think it tends to glorify sheer physical bulk, and a brutal sort of agressiveness, over good aerobic condition, coordination, and speed (except in running backs). Hard to keep the interest of a small fellow.

Also, the degree to which it's operated as a commercial enterprise rather than a sport approaches the absurd...but I suppose that isn't the fault of the sport itself.

Peter

Subject: RE: BS: NFL 2007 R u ready for some football?
From: Barry Finn
Date: 06 Feb 08 - 11:29 AM

I'm disgusted. I tried truly to attend a session, I couldn't give a shit about football. One place was closed & 4 others that I called (yes there are that many session in the Boston are that meet on the same days, the other days of the week are almost as packed) had canceled the sessions in lou (pun) of the SupperBowel.

Barry

Subject: RE: BS: NFL 2007 R u ready for some football?
From: gnu
Date: 06 Feb 08 - 01:16 PM

Peter... you just made Ranger1's point.

Subject: RE: BS: NFL 2007 R u ready for some football?
From: PoppaGator
Date: 06 Feb 08 - 04:12 PM

You can dislike and/or fail to understand American football; that's your prerogative. You can prefer one team to the other, certainly.

But to describe Sunday's contest as "the worst superbowl I've ever seen! (out of 32 of them)" is patently ridiculous. Unless, of course, you prefer blowouts to tightly contested games not decided until the final minute. Sounds to me like you were rooting for the favorite Pats (and probably had big money on the game), and you are mistaking your understandable personal disappointment for some kind of objective reflection upon the quality of the contest.

To the disinterested observer, this latest Super Bowl has to have qualified as one of the best ever, if not THE very finest.

It's true that the Giant's defensive team performed far above expectations and may deserve more credit than the offense. But anyone who denigrates Eli Manning's performance is simply exhibiting far too much prejudice to be taken seriously. Refusal-to-lose is perhaps the single most important qualification for greatness in any competitive sport, and Eli certainly exhibited that quality in spades as the clock was winding down.

Subject: RE: BS: NFL 2007 R u ready for some football?
From: ranger1
Date: 06 Feb 08 - 05:34 PM

I was rooting for the Patriots (I'm a New Englander), had no money on the game, and I know it's my own personal disappointment that's ccoloring the last three minutes of the game for me. I still don't think Eli Manning is all that. I also think that the Patriots got cocky and started believing the hooey of "best team ever." Any team can beat any other team, it's all in how much they want it. The Giants played a fantastic game and deservedly won. Doesn't make me any less bummed out about the results, though.

Just my opinion, and we all know about opinions...

Subject: RE: BS: NFL 2007 R u ready for some football?
From: PoppaGator
Date: 06 Feb 08 - 05:47 PM

Very gracious, Ranger1; thanks.

I think you're still wrong ~ just a little bit! ~ in hanging on to the opinion that the Patriots lost a game the "should" have won. Not so ~ on that day, the other team was just a little bit better. New England didn't "lose": New York won.

But your viewpoint is understandable, at least for now. Give it another few weeks and maybe you'll become a little more resigned and a little more objective.

It is undoubtedly unfair that this year's Patriot team will be remembered not so much for the 18 straight victories as for the one loss. They are still one of the greatest NFL teams ever ~ and I'm saying that NOT as a partisan but as a disinterested observer.

As for the younger Mr. Manning, he has proven himself to be a smart and accurate passer, an above-average manager of the game, and a very tough customer. That may not be "all that," but it's certainly most of it!

Subject: RE: BS: NFL 2007 R u ready for some football?
From: Raptor
Date: 06 Feb 08 - 07:27 PM

"to describe Sunday's contest as "the worst superbowl I've ever seen! (out of 32 of them)" is patently ridiculous. Unless, of course, you prefer blowouts to tightly contested games not decided until the final minute. Sounds to me like you were rooting for the favorite Pats (and probably had big money on the game), and you are mistaking your understandable personal disappointment for some kind of objective reflection upon the quality of the contest."


Actually as I said earlier I don't think either team should have been there. The patriots cheated and were caught in week three, and the Giants were the Last seed wildcard. Many teems are better than them. But as they say "on any given Sunday"... But you keep on guessing and making assumptions based on your guesses.

Subject: RE: BS: NFL 2007 R u ready for some football?
From: PoppaGator
Date: 07 Feb 08 - 02:59 PM

Many teams were better than the Giants earlier in the season. Once a team makes it into the playoffs, however, it's a whole new ballgame.

The Giants were the best team in January and February, when it really counted. Everyone else either lost so many regular season games that they failed to start the playoffs, or they lost to the Giants, or they lost to a team that either lost to the Giants or lost to some team that lost to the Pats or to the Giants. Got that?

Like it or not, the teams left standing to play against each other in the final game of any single-elimination tournament ARE the teams that belong there. You might like some other team, and even wish that they had performed to their perceived potential, but your team lost whereas the eventual champion did nothing but won.

Subject: RE: BS: NFL 2007 R u ready for some football?
From: Raptor
Date: 07 Feb 08 - 05:07 PM

"Got that?"

Whats with you?

"Like it or not, the teams left standing to play against each other in the final game of any single-elimination tournament ARE the teams that belong there. "

If playoffs were decided by a best out of seven Your Giants would be playing golf right now!

Your Giants got lucky and won by some fluke. If that upsets you, you need to deal with it or take up some other sport.

Sounds like you are bent out of shape that I called your quarterback a "a suck that refused to report to San Dieago when they were gonna draft him" But I wouldn't presume to guess as to why you have some problem with my comments nor do I give a fiddlers Fart.

If you want to bask in the Giants win, good for you, enjoy it! What I think shouldn't bother you at all.

Ease up or you'll bust a nut.

Subject: RE: BS: NFL 2007 R u ready for some football?
From: PoppaGator
Date: 07 Feb 08 - 05:38 PM

Yikes! I surely didn't mean to inspire such venom; it's just a game, after all.

I don't believe that the best-of-seven format has ever been applied to American football, a game that is played no more often than once a week for good reason.

Rightly or wrongly, and despite the well-known "any given Sunday" platitiude, each individual football game is generally seen as providing a definitive decision as to which team shall be considered the winner.

Would the Patriots win if the teams played again? Maybe so ~ after all, the game could hardly have been closer.

If it had been three minutes shorter, in fact, the Patriots would have won. (Those who bet on the Patriots plus the points would not have won, however ~ whole other discussion...)

When a contest is that close, and the winner is simply the last team to have the ball, it's easy to dismiss the winning play, the single play that makes a difference, as a "fluke." Had the Patriots' four-point lead held up, their final score could just as easily be dismissed as a "fluke."

The New England O-line's inability to protect Brady was certainly unexpected. It's hard to provide any explanation other than that the Giants defensive front was just that much better than their opponents that day.

Belichek's decision to call for a pass on 4th-and-13 was pretty unexpected, too. If you prefer to remember the game as a contest the the Pats lost (as opposed to one that the Giants won), you probably have to consider that coaching decision as the boneheaded turning point where the game was given away.

Subject: RE: BS: NFL 2007 R u ready for some football?
From: gnu
Date: 07 Feb 08 - 06:14 PM

"... you probably have to consider that coaching decision as the boneheaded turning point where the game was given away."

Well, there it is. And, that is the tip of the iceberg. Now, I am not gonna say it out loud, but, kinda makes me wonder.....

Subject: RE: BS: NFL 2007 R u ready for some football?
From: Raptor
Date: 08 Feb 08 - 12:19 AM

"inspire such venom"

What?

Subject: RE: BS: NFL 2007 R u ready for some football?
From: PeadarOfPortsmouth
Date: 08 Feb 08 - 09:28 AM

Raptor, just to clarify:

The Pats were caught cheating in week one against the Jets...within the first 10 minutes of the game. The video taping had NOTHING to do with their record/performance this season. They clearly deserved to be in SB-XLII.

Breaking the rules is breaking the rules. The punishment needs to be based on those rules:
* If an O-lineman is caught holding, the team loses 10 yards and then THE GAME CONTINUES.
* If a player is caught using performance enhancing drugs, he is suspended for four games, and then HIS CAREER CONTINUES
* The Pats were caught videotaping, so they lost their 1st Round draft pick, the team was fined $250,000 and Belichick was fined $500,000...the stiffest penalty EVER doled out in the NFL. And then you know what happened? THEIR SEASON CONTINUED.

As an unabashed Pats fan, I was sickened by the videotaping scandal (as I was with Rodney Harrison's use of HGH). And if more details come to light regarding Spygate from the latest allegations, I'll back the league 100% with whatever they hand out.

But the punishment for any violation must be determined by the governing body and within the standards of the league. So unless the league starts banning players for the rest of the season for breaking the rules, they can't exclude an undefeated team from the playoffs.

Frankly, to continue to try to diminish the Pats' accomplishment this year based on something that had no bearing on the results of the season is ridiculous.

Peter

Subject: RE: BS: NFL 2007 R u ready for some football?
From: PoppaGator
Date: 08 Feb 08 - 12:31 PM

"venom":

Sorry if I misinterpreted. I'm absolutely sure that if we were trading observations in person, perhaps over a few beers, everything would be pleasant. Both of us (all of us) have written things that may "read" more nastily on the page than they would have been heard in person. Should we have employed more "smiley's" and "LOL"s per paragraph?

I agree absolutely with Peter about the "cheating" red herring, by the way.

Subject: RE: BS: NFL 2007 R u ready for some football?
From: Raptor
Date: 08 Feb 08 - 02:07 PM

I'd rather drink beer and chat than be misinterpreted because of my lack of eliquince in words and spelling.

By the way I'm bitter by the underachievement of my Niners.

And for the record " ridiculous. " is my middle name!

Raptor

Subject: RE: BS: NFL 2007 R u ready for some football?
From: gnu
Date: 08 Feb 08 - 04:10 PM

Let's just set this "cheat" crap down. Every team did it. Bellybob had the guts to do it after the "initial" incident and after the order was issued from on high not to do it. Cost HIM a half million bucks. But, guess what... NOW, nobody else will video HIM and HIS staff... the best coaching staff that ever was. Do the simple arithmetics.

Now... for anyone who really believes Yankee football is all about brawn, put that in your pipe and smoke it. Fact of the matter is, short of warfare and chess, Yankee football is the ultimate game. It is played by extremely intelligent atheletes in extremely complex situations aided by extremely intelligent support staff.

I LOVE football (the real one, and Aussie Rules) and rugby and hockey and.... but, there is one game that engages the mind of the fan to the ultimate level... if you ain't ready for some football, stay on the porch with the little dogs. And stop barking at the big dogs.