Big Ben's Broken Ribs

It’s been an entire week since the Superbowl where the Steelers won against the Cardinals. In that win in Tampa, Big Ben was playing with two broken ribs. Before the game, x-rays didn’t show any broken ribs, but after the game when Big Ben got a MRI the case was not the same. The MRI’s showed that he had two broken ribs. We knew ahead of time before the Superbowl game that Roethlisberger had some sort of rib/back injury.

Even though he didn’t know about the injury Roethlisberger knew that something was wrong. “Luckily, in the game, I didn't take any big hits to make ‘em hurt,” Roethlisberger told SI.com. “But I knew all along there was something wrong. There wouldn't have been anything that could have been done about fractured ribs anyway. It was just suck it up and play.”

This just shows you how Big Ben is a very committed to his team. He knew something was wrong ahead of time, but he sucked it up and played. The guy had two broken ribs. That takes some major balls. I remember the time when I sprained my ankle and couldn’t play soccer for a few days. Imagine how it feels to play with two broken ribs. The pain must have been bad. Just throwing the ball had to be very difficult for Roethlisberger. I’ve said before that Big Ben isn’t your favorite QB. He’s not a Peyton Manning or Tom Brady type of player, but he does one thing for his team and that is WIN. He doesn’t get fantasy players the points they want, but he does win and that is a lot in the NFL to be successful. If you can win, you will have a job in the NFL as a QB. If you also look at his past seasons, his best season was in 2007. He had 32 TD and 11 INT that season. His average TD’s in a season is 20 and INT’s is 13. So don’t expect him to get you lots of fantasy points, week in and week out. I got to give it to him that the guy can play and play well when he needs to.

I don’t know who I would take…Rivers with his injury game against the Pats or Roethlisberger’s broken ribs play in the Superbowl?

Don't mess with Superman's coach

This past week was recruiting week. The week where all colleges get most of their recruits signed. To get to the point, Lane Kiffin is the new first year coach at Tennessee. Kiffin was the offensive coordinator at USC with Pete Carroll as the head coach. After his days at USC, Kiffin got a job with the Raiders to be their head man…which didn’t turn out so well. Kiffin got fired this year after the team started the season out as 1-3 (5-15 overall with Raiders). This past season in college football, Tenn ousted their coach, Coach Phillip Fulmer after a bad season. In came Kiffin to take over as the head coach for the Vols.

Ever since signing as the head coach of the Vols, Kiffin has been rubbing people the wrong way. Kiffin has falsely accused Nick Saban and Urban Meyer of NCAA violations. At the football get together for his boosters, Kiffin told his boosters that Meyer cheated in getting their recruit Nu’Kesse Richardson. He said that Meyer called Richardson while he was visiting UT on a college visit. “Just so you know, when a recruit's on another campus, you can't call a recruit on another campus," Kiffin said. "I love the fact that Urban had to cheat and still didn't get him.” Well, guess what? That didn’t happen from the AD of Florida and Meyer did not break any rules according to NCAA rules.

Ok here comes my rant. Why would you open your mouth and brag already? Kiffin has not accomplished anything yet as a head coach. We saw what happened over at Oakland, and it didn’t end pretty. They hired a Cable guy over there that did much better than he did as the head coach (4-8, but his players looked inspired to play). Kiffin already got Richardson as one of his recruits, why would he bring up that Meyer was cheating in front of the boosters? Why even talk about? Are you trying to be over cocky? You already got the kid and just move on to spring football. You have more things to worry about that accusing people of things that you weren’t sure about. Be happy that the kid came to your school to make your team better. Be happy he didn't end up with Florida.

Do you (Kiffin) even know who you’re messing with? Urban Meyer isn’t just a mediocre head coach. He’s won the National Championship twice and help pit Utah on the map. Also he’s the head coach of Superman (Tebow). You don’t mess with Superman’s head coach. Can you believe what will happen when these two teams will meet next season? If Urban Meyer can and I think he will…he will curb stomp the Vols in their game and run up the score if he can. Hey remember last season’s game against Georgia. Meyer’s team beat them in a score of 49-10. One season after Coach Richt sent his entire team out to celebrate with the team in a touchdown dance. Come game week next season, I bet you the Meyer will use this to fuel his Gators. Circle your calendars folks…this is going to be a beat down for the Kif.

In closing, I believe people of any profession should be professional with the people you work with and compete with. If this cheating did happen, Kiffin should have dealt with this in a more professional matter and behind closed doors. If you look at it, Saban and Meyer are superior to Kiffin. They have the resume that Kiffin would love to have one day. You don’t mess with your superiors until you have proved something to them. So far Kiffin hasn’t even coached against them yet and should have kept quite. Be professional about it…that’s all I’m saying.

A Football team in Hartford, CT

Ladies and Gentlemen, this upcoming summer there will be a new football organization debuting. It’s not an extreme style of football debuting like the failed WWE venture called the XFL, but a league called the United Football League (UFL). The league is still in its initial planning process as we speak with gathering potential team markets for its teams and what not. The UFL is being organized by Michael Huyghue who will be the Commissioner of the league and who once was the Jacksonville Jaguars VP of personnel and investors from Wall Street and Google’s senior executive Tim Armstrong.

The league will play its games on Thursdays and Fridays starting in September and end with a Championship Game in late November. In its first season there will be up 6-8 teams competing in the league. The cities that will part take in the UFL’s first season in 2009 are…
• Hartford, CT
• Las Vegas, NV
• Loa Angeles, CA
• New York City, NY
• Orlando, FL
• San Francisco, CA
Potential other Markets:
• Salt Lake City, Utah
• Monterrey, Mexico

As of today, I have learned that Jim Fassel, former Giants head coach will be the head coach of the Las Vegas team in the UFL. Teams will have a salary cap in the league such as…
• Player’s salary cap: 20 Mill
• Team Coaching Staff Salary Cap: 3 Mill

In my opinion, I don’t know what to make of this new football league. It’s the first I’ve heard of it. I can’t say I like the idea or hate it, but I will need to wait and see what happens with it. I think it’s good for the NFL to have some competition, but will it really be a competitor with the NFL? The NFL is big now. We’ll have to wait and see. The league is still in its initial starting process and will take time to expand into something bigger. The NFL first was a small league back when it started off. If the league does what it need to which is make the audience aware of its product and advertise its main great players it could do well. Players who can’t get drafted into the NFL or get cut from the NFL can go the UFL instead going over the border to play in Canada in the CFL. Why should America lose its own talent to Canada? I think it’s about time that there will be a league for people who don’t get drafted or cut for a second chance. As we speak QB Chris Leak is playing in the CFL. Maybe some AFL players will play in the UFL instead of in the AFL. Not many players make it to the NFL from the AFL. That is because of the difference in the style of the game. The only position that has translated well from the AFL to NFL has only been QB. Now with the UFL starting up, those players have new options in playing actual football with 100 yards instead of a 50 yards field.

From a fan’s POV who lives near Hartford, CT. I’m kind of happy to hear about the news of CT getting a football team. Hartford once was a hockey city with the Hartford Whalers playing at the Hartford Civic Center back in the 90’s (1979-1997). Well, they left and we were left with a minor league hockey team (Hartford Wolfpack). We’re known for our hoops for both men and women’s and the Uconn football team is getting some attention with 3 bowl appearances (2-1) for the football team. The closest thing we have to a football team was and could’ve been the New England Patriots (once were going to relocate to Hartford, CT…which didn’t happen and never will). I think it’s about time for CT to get a football team and it could work. Many fans do show up to the college games and I believe people will show up to the UFL games as well. So next Fall, let’s fill the Rent in support of the UFL.

I wonder what other coaches will come to the UFL. Heck Jim Fassel has signed as a coach. What other coaches will sign on…Jon Gruden, Mike Shananhan…maybe not.

Why the Pro Bowl sucks

This weekend will be the official last week of actual football. There isn’t even Arena football this year (some people consider it football, but I don’t). This is the time where many men and some women as well, have to pack their bags until preseason until the summer for a glimpse of some football action. Before we can seal the deal on this season…let’s end the season with an All Star game known as the Pro Bowl. Are you serious? The NFL Pro Bowl is a joke and many will agree with me. I’ve stopped watching the NFL Pro Bowl since my freshmen year in high school because of a teacher’s thinking behind it. I asked my teacher if he was going to watch the Pro Bowl. He responded “No, why should I watch a game where nothing really matters in it?” He had a point. Ever since then I tried to watch the Pro Bowl, but I would lose interest after a quarter or two of the game. Then I finally stopped watching the game.

First off, every other major sport has its own All Star game. NHL, MLB, and NBA all have one. So what’s the difference with their All Star game? It’s not the last game in the entire football season. They’re all in the middle of the season. I’m not saying that the NFL Pro Bowl should be in the middle of the season, but move it to a different date. Well, guess what happened this year? They moved the game the week before the Superbowl. I like the move of the game, but not the move of its location. They’re gonna have the game be held at the location of the Superbowl which will be Miami next year. Why would you want to move it? They’ve held the game in Hawaii since the 1980’s…why change the location of the game? I understand that the game had different venues before Aloha Stadium, but playing the game in Hawaii distinguishes it as the Pro Bowl. NFL players all played in the Dolphins stadium before. That is something ordinary for them. Playing at Aloha stadium is something sacred, it’s special. It’s something new for those first timers going to their first Pro Bowl’s ever. It’s like you need to work you butt off in order to even play in that stadium.

So they moved the Pro Bowl a week before the Superbowl which is a great move, because the season should end with its greatest game as the finale. Hey what happens if a guy in the Pro Bowl who is gonna play in the Superbowl the week after gets injured…like a QB or WR? That’s a tough one. Hope no one gets injured next year who will be playing in the Superbowl.

Another thing that makes me not want to watch the Superbowl is that the game is just an exhibition game. The players are playing for nothing. In the other sports, their All Star games matter, because whichever conference wins the All Star game, that conference team gets home field advantage in the finals of its championship games. Which is a very big advantage in the NBA and NHL. I can’t see the NFL doing this with their All Star game (they already have selected the venue for every Superbowl in a few years advanced), but find a way to make the game matter to the players or something. Maybe the players playing the game would take the game more seriously. Just award the winning team with a check for winning the game and the losing team goes home empty. Also can the guys play the game like a real game? What is it with no blitzing or blocking the kicks on a field goal attempt? That is trash. In the preseason they all play hard in the game and actually block and what not. What makes the Pro Bowl any different? Make the game matter.

Warner...Hall of Famer or not?

Kurt Warner’s Superbowl loss last Sunday was tough, but I believe he’s grateful for the opportunity to just play in the game for his third time. Since the loss some people are wondering if Warner will get elected into the Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. Some people say yes and others say no. I’m going to divulge in this question and give you my two cents.

Warner was stocking grocery stores before he came to the NFL. The guy came from the bottom and worked his way up, paying his due. In 1998, Warner played in the AFL for the Iowa Barnstormers (now the NY Dragons) and led them to two Arena Bowl Championship games. In 1999, Warner signed with the Rams and was sent to NFL Europe (also to note, his back up was Jake Delhomme…now playing for the Panthers). So coming back from playing in Europe, Warner’s world was fine as backup to the Rams QB Trent Edwards… until Trent Edwards got injured in the preseason and Warner needed to step in. That year, Warner had a breakout season that no one saw coming. He threw for 4,353 yards and 41 TD’s. Later on Warner would lead the Rams to a Superbowl appearance playing the Titans. Warner and the Rams won by a yard (so to say). So the guy’s first actual season in the NFL, he wins his first Superbowl. The guy got the Rams to the Superbowl. Warner got the Rams their first Superbowl title ever. I don’t want to down grade Edwards, but if Trent Edwards was playing, I don’t think he could’ve led them to the Superbowl like Warner did.

In 2001, Warner led the Rams to the Superbowl again, this time against the New England Patriots. The Rams were 14-2 that season playing the Pats led by Tom Brady. The Rams were the heavy favorite. In his 365 passing yards and one passing TD and rushing TD, Warner fell short and lost. Many people were stunned, but the Rams didn’t play well because of the Pats D kept the Greatest show on Turf from not scoring any TD’s until the fourth quarter of the game. Where it became too late. The next season, Warner started his first three games losing. The season after that (2003) Warner gotten injured and Bulger came in as the new future QB of the Rams, replacing Warner. Warner would eventually go to the New York Giants to be Eli Manning’s teacher and got replaced by the rookie QB that same season because of poor play. In 2005, Warner signed a new contract with the Cardinals. The first few years with the Cardinals Warner had struggled a bit. When the Cards drafted Matt Leinart from USC Warner would be a great teacher to the young buck. Leinart started games the first four games in 07, but when he struggled, the Vet in Warner would step in to win the games that they needed. Leinart would be placed on IR and Warner had taken over the team. In the 07 season, Warner had thrown for 3,417 passing yards, 27 touchdown passes, and 89.8 passer rating were all his best since the 2001 season. The following season Leinart was named the starting QB, but that changed when Coach Whisenhunt started Warner at QB leading the team to its first Superbowl appearance since 61 yrs. Warner that season threw for 4,583 yards, 30 TD and 14 Int which was good enough to be him to the Pro Bowl.

Over his years playing, Warner has stacked up 182 TD’s, 114 Int’s, for a total of 28,591 yards. Warner has played in the NFL for total of 10 years from 1998 to 2008. Even though he was injured in between some seasons (with Rams) and or benched (Giants), the man deserves to be in the HOF. Why? The man bought two franchises that were in the dumps to the Superbowl. He led the Rams twice and the Cards once (in a 61 yr drought). That’s a big accomplishment from the QB who was working at a grocery store. Even though he played for 10 years, I believe his work should be looked at by his accomplishments…not by how many years he has played in the league. I’ve heard some people saying that Warner shouldn’t go into the HOF because of the years he was bad. Every QB has some bad times playing. People should look at his entire body of work, not just focus on the bad years when he was playing. Look at Brett Favre…are people still not going to induct him in the HOF because of all the INT he throws? No, because voters will look at his body of work, just as they should with Warner. Also people should look at his achievements (from Wikipedia)…
• Second Highest Completion Percentage, Career (Min. 1500 attempts) - 65.75%
• Highest Average Passing Yards Per Game, Career (Min. 100 games) - 261.2 yards/game
• Most Yards Passing, Super Bowl (Game) - 414 yards vs. Tennessee Titans (only QB to pass for 400+ yards in the Super Bowl; also owns 2nd and 3rd highest yardage total in Super Bowl with 377 against the Pittsburgh Steelers and 365 against the New England Patriots).
• Most Yards Passing, Super Bowl (Career) - 1,156 yards.
• Highest Rate of Games w/300+ Yards Passing (Min. 100 games played) - 45.2% (47/104)
• Most Consecutive Games w/300+ Yards Passing - 6 (tied w/Steve Young and Rich Gannon)
• Most Games with a Perfect Passer Rating, Career (regular season only) - 3 (tied w/Peyton Manning and Ben Roethlisberger)
• Only NFL quarterback to throw 40 touchdowns and win a Super Bowl in the same season (1999).
• Most Touchdown Passes in a Single Postseason - 11 (in 2009, tied w/Joe Montana, who did it in 1990)
• Most yards passing in a single postseason - 1147 (2009)
• 4 time selection to the NFL Pro Bowl (99,00,01,08)
• 2x AP NFL MVP (99,01)
• Superbowl MVP & Winner (2000)

If those credentials can’t get him in…then what will? The guy will be inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame whenever he retires.

Post Superbowl

Last night’s game was pretty decent, but not great like last yr’s game with the New England Patriots and New York Giants. From what I remember, that game was very competitive until the very end and people were watching on the edge of their seats. The game didn’t even come close to the greatness of last yr’s game at all. People are saying last night’s game was one of the best because of the ending. The ending of the game was great, but not the entire game. There were too many penalties from both teams which did play an effect on the game. I would like to say that the Steelers were the better team to beat the Cards and Homles deserved his MVP trophy. Ben was 21/30 with 1 TD and 1 Int whereas Holmes had 9 catches for 131 yards and one game changing TD catch…that seemed impossible.

My prediction was wrong and I’ll admit it. I picked the Cards to win. On offense the Cards were much better than the Steelers. Warner threw all around the Steelers with 377 yards total and 3 TD’s and 1 Int. The only reason the Steelers were able to march down the field was because of the poor D of the Cards. Holmes was running all over them with his 9 catch performance. They could not finish. If you have a great offense, but not a great defense that could not stop the opposing team…it’s a bad equation. That offense (Cards) will either get a big lead to win the game or the defense of the other team (Steelers) will make some stops to get the ball back where the Cards D couldn’t stop them on some possessions, which is what happened on there come back winning TD drive in the last possession of the game. Holmes caught four (I think, but could be wrong) clutch passes on the last drive to win the Superbowl. Arizona’s D just couldn’t stop the passing game of the Steelers. Even though the stats don’t show it, but Big Ben played well when he needed to. I said that Ben wasn’t your fantasy first rounder type of a QB, but when the time comes, he goes out there to get the win. He is 8-2 in the playoffs and has two rings now. I was very surprised how well the Steelers D could stop the running game of the Cards. Edge only had 33 yds of rushing. That aspect of the game hurt them a lot. You just can’t always throw against a great defense every time. You need the run to set up the pass.

Defensively, the Steelers looked a little lackluster in the game. Warner threw over 370 yds against them with Fitzgerald, Boldin, and Breston getting some key plays in the game. That 64 yd pass TD from Warner to Fitz showed how Haley exploited the Steelers D by having the number 1 and 2 receivers running an out pattern and Fitz in the slot, running a cross in the middle for the TD catch. Also I believe the Cards scored too quickly with too much time on the clock left for the Steelers to come back (2:37). I believed they should’ve ran a couple times and then set up that pass play, but I wasn’t calling the plays and I didn’t see what they guys up in boxes were looking at. I want to mention how well the O-line for the Cards was allowing 2 sacks and keep Warner protected to throw for 3 TD’s and 1 Int. They should get an honorable mention, but not Gandy.

What made the game…penalties. There were some that were questionable such as the roughing the passer in the 3rd quarter (I think). There were some that affected the game such as 3 holding calls against Gandy for the Cards. I believed Harrison was too much for Gandy in the trenches. There were a total of 18 penalties in the game where the Cards had 11 of those. Last yr’s Superbowl only had a total of 9 in the game.

In closing, the game was fun to watch, but not even close to where it ranks against the Pats and Giants game. Even the commercials weren’t as good, but fair. The only commercial that really stood out was the Cash4Gold. I better get on there and sell my gold for money with this economy. Seeing Ray Lewis doing ballet was priceless in the Sobe ad. The “I’m Good” PepsiMax was very comical. That Transformers spot was very good; the movie will be one of the must sees of this summer.

I have a dream...Post Superbowl Holiday

We all watch the greatest one day spectacular known as the Superbowl. After the Superbowl comes the dreaded Monday, where everyone has to go to work or like myself school. It really sucks to tell you the truth. The idea of knowing that Monday will be the day for all of us to go back and carry on with our lives. When I was younger I always wished that the Monday following Superbowl Sunday should be a day of for everyone. It should be its own holiday.
Many Americans watch the Superbowl every year. There is a reason why big companies spend 3 Million for a short 30 seconds ad, it’s because they know everyone is watching. If everyone is watching they know they’ll be marketing to every person in America with their eyes glued to the tube. Or some people go use the bathroom, which is a crime. Some people just watch the game for the commercials because they’re great and new. It’s not everyday where we see new ads, it’s the only time where we don’t need to change the channel to avoid the commercials. Also last years’ Superbowl which pitted the New York Giants against the New England Patriots, was the highest Superbowl watched (97.5 mill) and was ranked second behind the finale of M*A*S*H. You know Alan Alda was trembling. Superbowl XVI had a viewer rating of around 40 million. So from Superbowl XVI to Superbowl XLII, the viewership has been growing.
There is even a website called http://www.superbowlmonday.com/ which is petitioning to get the following Monday to be a national holiday. Hopefully Congress will give in, come on Obama make it happen. It could happen in our dreams, but never say never. It was Obama who wanted to see a playoff installed in college football…which I disagree with, we can discuss that on a later day. This is why the Monday after the big game should be a holiday. This can’t happen with any other sporting event. March Madness is not that big and the College Football’s National Championship game isn’t that big either (26 million viewers this yr). They don’t draw up the viewership like the Superbowl. I also watch hockey and like the sport even though people think it’s dying, but it doesn’t even deserve a day off after its final game of the Stanley Cup Finals. Unlike the Superbowl, it’s special. It’s special because it happens on one day alone where other sports like the NBA and NHL have up to 7 games to crown a champ and in the NFL it’s one and done to the road to its championship game. Come on and give in Congress. Stop making people call in sick the next day taking a day off where really they’re drunk from the night before watching the game or are really sick from eating themselves to death.