Home » Archives » January 2007 » Bleary-Eyed, Sneezy-Nosed Sports Rant
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01/22/2007: "Bleary-Eyed, Sneezy-Nosed Sports Rant"
I was sick as a dawg this weekend (still am ... 
), so my sports viewing was 1) skewed 90° by lying on the couch and 2) in and out between naps. But I still saw some interesting things ...
- We knew that the Chicago - New Orleans game would come down to whether Drew Brees could win it or Rex Grossman could not lose it. Give props to Rex for doing just enough to get the job done. He was essentially invisible save the one drive immediately after Brees' incredibly dumb safety. The Bears' D stepped it up, and Deuce McAllister apparently got lost on his way to the stadium. Except for one more entry on the Reggie Bush Highlight Reel, it was a blowout. The Bears have a mighty big challenge coming, though ...
- Unfortunately, the aforementioned Mr. Bush chose the biggest stage of his professional career to pull a stunt that was, frankly, bush. His extended taunt/somersault/dance exhibition was the kind of crap I'd expect to see from some of the ghetto punks that come out of Miami, not USC. If he'd have stayed in school another year, I'd like to have seen him pull that stunt in the Rose Bowl against Michigan. Pete Carroll would have kicked his sorry ass. Let's hope he got the earful he richly deserved from Sean Payton.
- Speaking of USC, the Raiders dipped into Carroll's staff to name their new head coach. Lane Kiffin, who was the playcaller for the Trojan offense, will be the youngest head coach in recent NFL history when he takes over the Silver and Black in the fall. This is an interesting selection on a lot of levels. We know that Al Davis likes young offensive minds, and took a run at SC Assistant Head Coach Steve Sarkisian, who they presumed would bring along Kiffin. When Sark took his name out of the running, they settles for Kiffin. Lane would seem to have a mighty large task ahead, taking over the worst team in the league that has been essentially adrift for two decades. At 31, he's younger than some of his players, and is only 10 separated from his time as the quarterback for Fresno State. It's a pretty big leap from college assistant coach to pro head coach, and it could get ugly. But he has no where to go but up, I suppose, and will probably be welcomed back into the USC family when he gets the boot in 18 months. Good luck, Kiff - you'll need it ...
- If you turned in a script that looked like the Colts - Patriots game, you'd get tossed out of the producers office. And yet, that's exactly what happened - right down to the Hollywood finish. Hell - when's the last time you saw three offensive linemen score touchdowns? Lots will be said about this one, and I'll leave it to others to dissect. One thing stands out, though. When the Colts scored early in the third to pull within 2 points at 21-19, the commentators all decried the decision to go for two. They made it, of course. Think of this, though - let's say they kick instead to make it 21-20. That means after the Colts' late TD the score is 37-34. Think Tom Brady's decision to try and squeeze in that last pass would have been colored had he been going for a tying field goal instead of a touchdown? Damn right ...
