Super Bowl pick

If you're just joining us, I'm 3-1 ATS (Against the Spread, for you non-gambling perverts) in the past 4 Super Bowls. I had Pittsburgh - 3 1/2 over Seattle in 2005-06. I was correct in '07, taking the Colts -9 1/2. I was right two years ago taking the Giants +14 against the Patriots. (Have I mentioned lately that the Giants won the Super Bowl?) And I was wrong last year in taking Pittsburgh -7 over Arizona. So, we're hoping to get back on the right (Super) track, and I think the right play here is Saints, + 5 1/2.

I think the Colts will win the game, and I wouldn't be surprised if they covered the spread too. But on paper, we haven't had a Super Bowl this evenly matched in a while, and I just think 5 1/2 is a good value. Though it's only a slight lean. Also, in a contrarian play, I like "under" the posted total of 57. Wacky things happen in Super Bowls, so I don't think a shootout is quite the lock it seems to be.

On a personal note, I'll be feeling the most relaxed I've felt going into a Super Bowl in 7 years, as this is the first time since 2002-03's Bucs-Raiders matchup in which I don't really have a dog in the fight. No, I'm not a Panthers, Eagles, Colts, Giants, and Steelers fan; my amount of desire of course varied game-to-game on which team I wanted to see win. But I had my reasons each time.

So, this one should just be fun to watch, and I think of all 32 teams, it's the perfect matchup if you don't care who wins either. Though if I had to choose, I'd go for the Colts, as I'd like to see Manning take his rightful place among the greatest quarterbacks of all-time.

Enjoy the game, and we'll see what happens!

Grammatical Nuisance of the Season

I'd like to point out that Super Bowl is two words, not one run-on term. I am confident the vast majority of people already know this, but I've seen even die-hard sports fans write it as "superbowl." I don't think it's because they're any less intelligent; just that they probably haven't seen it written correctly, or taken notice of the right way.

So, go easy on these folks...but now they know, and no longer have an excuse.

Thanks for the laughs, Conan

I felt like I should throw in my final thoughts on the Conan-NBC-Leno triple threat match, so here they are. Conan's last show was fantastic, and his farewell speech was classy, interesting, and even inspiring. He really took the high road in this whole thing, and I'll certainly miss watching him...at least until he signs on with another network, which can't be far off. (I've heard it's 9 months, in his contract.)

Thanks for all the good times Conan, you're the best in the business.

And with this, I'm back on the "shoot" side again

This Conan clip was the first, at least that I've heard of, that was pulled from the air, by both NBC and Hulu. Thanks to the Huffington Post for having it.

As you read in my prior post, my main hang-up with the legitimacy of the NBC screwing Conan story was that they weren't censoring anything. Well, now they are, so I'm back to believing the feud is legit.

Favre/Leno revisited

I'll begin with a link today...Czabe's friend Skip Oliva does a great job of expanding my initial snap comparison of Jay Leno to Brett Favre.

Also today, after hearing from my good friend Andrew, I'm starting to lean towards thinking a lot of this feud, among Conan, Leno, and NBC, is planned. If I can go heavy on wrestling terms now - as after all, I do believe life imitates wrestling almost as much as it imitates Seinfeld, which is an awful lot - this whole thing could be a work. (Originally, I was 90% sure it was a shoot.)

In really thinking about it, who benefits the most from the fued? NBC. They're playing the heel here, yet they're in charge and making the most money off of the situation. Both shows' ratings are up since the controversy began. And with all the sniping from Conan and Leno, both at each other and at NBC, wouldn't NBC be able to silence them if they wanted to? Take them off the air completely, stop them from making any jokes at NBC's expense, or at the very least, have final edit of what jokes/skits make air? This thing is starting to smell.

Or maybe it started out as a shoot, and NBC is turning it into a work after the fact. At this point wouldn't that be their best move? Maybe they'll call the whole musical chairs thing off and keep Conan and Leno where they are. It takes more intelligence and guts to reverse-field on a terrible idea than to go through with it...and with the bump in ratings Conan and Leno have been experiencing since the controversy started, they could really be turning a negavite into a positive. Plus, NBC could pretend it was a work all along even if it wasn't, and not look so stupid.

I'm not convinced of any of this...I'm maybe 60% sure at best that it's all a work. But this thing could get interesting. Stay tuned!

Long overdue

It was about time they finally made a movie about the life and times of David Eckstein.

No word on when the sequel, entitiled "Grinder," will be released.

Have you heard about this, have you seen this?

It has occurred to me that Jay Leno is the new Brett Favre: Gets catered to, can't make up his mind about retiring, doesn't know when it's time to step aside, and makes the situation uncomfortable for everyone involved. (One difference though, Brett Favre is the better comedian of the two.)

Stay strong, Conan.

Dawson's Creek*

Former Expo, Cub, Red Sox, and Marlin Andre Dawson was voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame today. With seven seasons of an under .305 OBP (.323 OBP for his career), I'm lukewarm on his selection. Though I think it does give hope to fans of two superior position players of the same era, Tim Raines and Don Mattingly, on their future chances.

*Yes, I realize Dawson's Creek makes no sense in relation to Andre Dawson and is not a clever pun. But really, when am I going to get another chance to title a post thusly?

Movie pitch

A sassy mother has to take her two kids all the way across Canada in just 3 days, to make it to her husband's rap concert. But there is only one who knows the shortcuts to get there in time...and he's not even human! Starring Ice Cube, Queen Latifah, and introducing Mark Eaton as the Abominable Snowman, in...

Are We There, Yeti?

NFL Gallimaufry

Some thoughts on yesterday's action...

*The 2009 Giants sure had their struggles, but I thought they had a lot more pride and fight than what they showed. However, I am strangely not that bothered by this loss for two reasons: One, I had already pretty much written them off after the Eagles loss a couple weeks ago. And two, if they don't even bother to show up in an elimination game, at home against a 6-win opponent, then they obviously don't care. And if they don't care, why should I? So 2009 is a loss, but I am confident that Jerry Reese will make the kind of offseason moves it takes to get back on track for next year. (Defensive Coordinator Bill Sheridan being fired is one obvious move.) I think I can live off of the 2007 championship, the greatest in the history of sports, for a year or two longer...but I would love to see another title run in the near future.

*I'm very disappointed in the Colts for not being interested in winning at home against the Jets. It's one thing if you're 10-0 and you've clinched the division, and you rest some starters with six games still left in the regular season. But at 14-0, and leading 9-3 at halftime, just 90 minutes away from a perfect season, they take their foot off the gas? I wonder how many more times the Colts have to go perfect the first 12 to 14 weeks, ease up for the rest of the regular season, then lose in the divisional round, before they learn? And correct me if I'm wrong, but the one year they did win it all, 2006, didn't they go 12-4 and play hard through the end of the regular season?

*If there's any team that knows how to get their fans' hopes up, only to crush them in a new creative way every season, it's the Jets. So, with this team in control of its playoff destiny, I look for them to come from ahead to lose to the Bengals on Sunday night. Maybe by a missed field goal, stupid personal foul, or a Sanchez pick-six. Hey, they're the Jets, they'll probably find a way that's none of the above! So as you can see I suddenly find myself being very anti-Jets, as I feel they don't deserve to be in this position, especially at the expense of Pittsburgh - a team that actually can do something in the playofffs if healthy. But, as Clint Eastwood says in Unforgiven, "Deserving ain't got nothing to do with it."

*As for the Steelers, they do need a win plus a lot of help...but they should have thought of that while they were losing to the Raiders and Browns a few weeks ago.

It should be an intriguing final weekend of the regular season. And coming soon, 2009 NFL Preview revisited.