Nfl 2010

[R_of_G]

Last year I suggested that each city have a Battle of the Bands, and that winning Band goes as far as the team does. THAT would be worth watching, a couple of working bands playing on the biggest stage of their lives and if they nail it, they earn new found recognition. I'd actually make it a point to watch.

Very interesting proposal. The network covering the Super Bowl could make a reality show following some of the bands in each citiy as the playoffs begin. People love reality shows. Personally, my "reality television" consists of sports and music. The rest is fiction.

As it is, with superstar acts, you pretty much know it's gonna suck...a mash up of smoke and lights and spectacle, and/or 30 sec snippets of 30 year old classics that the performers no longer "feel" and likely can't sing (Daltrey?)!

Yeah, and the way they do it, with some of the material being pre-recorded insures a sad event for me. Either because, as you point out, some of the material just seems dated and phoned in, it's also sad to see someone I respect like Springsteen agree to play along with the "fake live" thing. That band can certainly play it right live every time and a good live sound engineer can make it sound right no matter how big the event.

I've been to much bigger and louder concerts than the Super Bowl and the sound was just fine as are thousands of live recordings and broadcasts made by thousands of different sound engineers.

If they're going to make a performer do that, do it to the Black Eyed Peas. How many people respect them anyway? They're popular because they're derivative. Incidentally, I read recently that they're being sued yet again for copyright infringement, this time by George Clinton. I've heard it. He's right. I hope he wins.

Heck, if Green Bay brought it's best band, we could be seeing the Rev up there!

That I'd watch.

[marnold***]

Heck, if Green Bay brought it's best band, we could be seeing the Rev up there!

'Cept I'm a Lions fan

[pedalbuilder***]

Just keep Big Ben out of the nightclubs for the next two weeks.

Seriously. Well - so far he's been well-behaved (link), but we'll see how long it lasts. I can't imagine all of this success right after his 'punishment' is going to help him mature any. The upside? It's kind of fun to cheer on the team, while also quietly hoping for a big, nasty hit on ol' Number 7!

[MAXIFUNK]

The upside? It's kind of fun to cheer on the team, while also quietly hoping for a big, nasty hit on ol' Number 7!

WTH REALLY MY GOD MAN ARE YOU SURE YOUR FROM THE BURGH OR DID MOVE THERE AS ADULT!!!!! LMAO

I took my terrible towels to work today to harass all the JETS fans who were talking smack to me all last week even though I did not talk any at all. "TODAY WAS A GOOD DAY" in my best Ice Cube voice. LOL

[pedalbuilder***]

WTH REALLY MY GOD MAN ARE YOU SURE YOUR FROM THE BURGH OR DID MOVE THERE AS ADULT!!!!! LMAO

ha. Yeah - I know, I know. I'm still all in for the Steelers, and I think the country is about to see just what a veteran, twice-champion core can do to an upstart team, but if Ben takes some hits along the way - well . . . I call that karma.

[MAXIFUNK]

ha. Yeah - I know, I know. I'm still all in for the Steelers, and I think the country is about to see just what a veteran, twice-champion core can do to an upstart team, but if Ben takes some hits along the way - well . . . I call that karma.

Well yeah Ben has made it hard for people to like him over the past few years.
What part of the burgh are you from?

[pedalbuilder***]

Well yeah Ben has made it hard for people to like him over the past few years.
What part of the burgh are you from?

Well, technically speaking I'm from Arizona (Tucson). We moved out here 8 years ago. I have family from here and with no football team growing up it was the Steelers all the way. Funny story - this was where we watched the games when I was growing up since I couldn't get into the proper bars: http://www.casamolina.com/ - the bar in that restaurant is also famously a Paul McCartney hangout when he lived outside of town.

I'm in Highland Park, right by the zoo. Used to be Lawrenceville, and I have a house there that I'm rehabbing so I hope to be back over there by this summer. How about you?

[kidsmoke*]

curious what people think of the recent AP awards. Brady takes offensive player of the year and Belichick takes Coach of the year.
disclaimer...I'm a Patriots Fan.

Clearly the numbers are there to put them in the running, but even as a fan, the way they went out raises questions for me. Brady looked as unprepared and unqualified as I've EVER seen him....ducking away from phantom rushers? Given his proven track record up to that moment, seems to me, even if he just simply had a bad day, there's more to it. The team wasn't prepared for the opponent on that given day. To me, that means the game plan was bad. And that falls on the coaches, especially when you're playing the same team for the 3rd time in 3 months. So either Belichick failed, or Ryan somehow caught lightning in a bottle..

I feel Ryan arguably deserved it. Given the challenges he faced with his team, and with his opponents. He proved himself the better chess player, or maybe he just took some video......

I'm admittedly NOT a student of the game, just a fan. Curious to hear others opinions.

[pedalbuilder***]

Yeah - I tend to agree with you, Tio. But I think the purpose of handing out the awards before the Super Bowl is to emphasize regular season performance in which case I think the choices are correct. In a perfect world I'd like to see these awards reflect post-season performance more and to do that they have to be done after the Steelers win the Super Bowl this weekend.

[Eric***]

Not sure. I am with PB that I think regular-season awards should be about the regular season. In fact, I would love it if a coach who went 8-8 with no talent won the award, but I realize it will never happen. But I digress...

If I had to pick someone, I would probably pick Mike McCarthy? I was amazed that he held the team together, quite honestly -- I thought the Packers were 100% done. Second place would be Peyton Manning, though his assistant Jim Caldwell didn't help him very much.

[Beerman***]

I wouldn't easily dismiss Raheem Morris from Tampa. He did a fine job with some young talent and will likely be a threat team for the next few years.
This article makes some good points but it's all moot now.
For the record, I'm a Saints guy so I have no real love for the Bucs but do have respect.

[R_of_G]

I wouldn't easily dismiss Raheem Morris from Tampa. He did a fine job with some young talent and will likely be a threat team for the next few years.

Though a lifelong Jets' fan, I moved to Tampa 19 years ago and adopted the Bucs as my NFC team. I think Coach Morris did a spectacular job as head coach this year getting the league's youngest team to believe in itself and put up 10 wins after winning only 3 games the previous season.

It appears to me that the future looks bright for the Bucs if they can make some smart moves in the next few off-seasons to address a few key needs.

What amuses me is that the one criticism I do often hear/read about Morris is that as both Head Coach and Defensive Coordinator he's not giving enough attention to being DC and the defense is suffering as a result. It amuses me because he lost out on this award to Bellichick who is also HC and DC for the Pats, a team with a defense that trails the Bucs' defense in just about every statistical category.

[marnold***]

My man Suh is Pepsi ROY! He's a baaaaaaaaad man!

[R_of_G]

My man Suh is Pepsi ROY! He's a baaaaaaaaad man!

Probably the most easily predictable Rookie of the Year in a long time. It took Suh about five seconds to adjust to the NFL game. Barring injuries, he should be a dominant force in the league for many years.

[MAXIFUNK]

Well, technically speaking I'm from Arizona (Tucson). We moved out here 8 years ago. I have family from here and with no football team growing up it was the Steelers all the way. Funny story - this was where we watched the games when I was growing up since I couldn't get into the proper bars: http://www.casamolina.com/ - the bar in that restaurant is also famously a Paul McCartney hangout when he lived outside of town.

I'm in Highland Park, right by the zoo. Used to be Lawrenceville, and I have a house there that I'm rehabbing so I hope to be back over there by this summer. How about you?

I grew up on the south side but have lived in LA since 1989.

[sunvalleylaw]

Go Packers, I guess. Not that fired up about the big game. i have to do some writing for work, so I will have it on to dull the pain of working on Sunday. Maybe it will be a good game.

[R_of_G]

My primary interest in watching the game is that I'm not sure when we'll see NFL football again, so I may as well watch one last game. It has the potential to be a good game even though I have no particular interest in either team. Hopefully it's entertaining.

[R_of_G]

Back to the subject of the season's individual awards, I am a bit unhappy with Michael Vick being named "Comeback Player of the Year."

My objection is not because of my feelings for what Vick did. I wasn't the judge on his case or the commissioner of the league so my feelings on his past actions aren't relevant. Whether I like it or not, he served the time he was given and took the second chance he got with the league.

My objection lies in the fact that this was not Vick's "comeback" season, last season was. Yes, last season he was a third-string QB with the Eagles and only got onto the field in rare specialty packages designed to capitalize on his skill-set while this year he won a starting job. I have nothing but praise for the way Vick played the position of QB this year, but it seems to me as if the award to Vick is really being given for a two-year cycle of behavior/performance.

So, like LL Cool J said... "Don't call it a comeback, I've been here for years."

Now, how much more pre-game until some actual football? Oh, only 5 hours left!

[Eric***]

My objection lies in the fact that this was not Vick's "comeback" season, last season was. Yes, last season he was a third-string QB with the Eagles and only got onto the field in rare specialty packages designed to capitalize on his skill-set while this year he won a starting job. I have nothing but praise for the way Vick played the position of QB this year, but it seems to me as if the award to Vick is really being given for a two-year cycle of behavior/performance.

So, like LL Cool J said... "Don't call it a comeback, I've been here for years."

I suppose this gets into the eternal debate of what each award means, like the ever-present MVP discussion. I think perhaps Vick deserved the NBA award of most improved player this year, rather than comeback. Still, you could make the argument that his comeback was not complete until this year; he had fallen to such depths recently and had not yet played on as high a level as he did this year. I think that if such an argument were made, you could probably sell me on that without too much work.

I was a definite Vick doubter this year, so I congratulate him on having a great season (I know this is beside your point, R_of_G). I really want to see how he does next year, as he may have run out of tricks, which is why he was much less effective near the end of this season. I think the Eagles were wise to franchise him this year, in case it turns out that teams have figured out a way to limit his success.