BS: NFL 2007 R u ready for some football?

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.