Jake Fine - Inside the Mind of Fine

Hype Down! Super Bowl Great Not Best (By Lars $)

In this day in age of Facebook chat, I-passes, and illegally downloading new movies to your home computer it easy to call the most recent Super Bowl the greatest of all-time. However, after closer consideration the epic battle between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Arizona Cardinals, while great, should not be considered the best Super Bowl ever. As thrilling as the last 8 minutes of the fourth quarter were, the first three and a half quarters were rather poorly played, and outside of James Harrison’s 100 yard interception return for a touchdown the game lack excitement. Not to mention that the officials were very involved in the game. I’m not saying that all of their calls were bad, but some were flat out terrible, and there were a lot of penalties called in general. Add the fact that the Cardinals final play was not reviewed on the field by the referee is unacceptable. Granted it was reviewed in the booth, but it his not his job to make that
close of a call at the biggest moment of the biggest game of the season. Besides that the fourth quarter was great, but there have been arguably better and more exciting fourth quarters than the one we saw this weekend.
Super Bowl XXXVIII between Carolina and New England featured 37 fourth quarter points, including touchdown plays of 33 and 85 yards by Carolina, three scores in the last 2 minutes and 51 seconds, and a last second game winning field goal by Adam Vinatieri. I would say an ending just as compelling as Super Bowl XLIII’s. However, great games are not based off of one quarter alone, but as the phrase “great game” would suggest, it is based off the whole game.
This leads me to argue that last year’s Super Bowl between the undefeated Patriots and surprising Giants is the greatest of all time. The Patriots were a Super Bowl victory away from becoming the greatest NFL team ever, this coming from a Dolphins fan. Taking into consideration the parity that we see around the league on a weekly the basis it would be astounding for a team to go 19-0, and the Patriots were that close. The Giants came into the game coming off possibly the greatest post season run in history, beating Tampa Bay on the road, then beating two 13-3 teams (Dallas and Green Bay) on the road in extreme conditions. Despite their success in getting to the Super Bowl not many people gave them the chance against the mighty Pats, but they delivered. Both teams defenses play terrifically, and both offenses answered the call in the fourth quarter when needed. The Giants last drive to win the game was a thing of beauty, and the best drive in Super
Bowl history. It is game that you will be telling your grandchildren you watched, this past Super Bowl, however, will most likely not be.
Back to analyzing the game. During the first quarter of the game my brother and I disagreed about how the Cardinals were running the offense. Pittsburgh’s defense was set up to minimize Larry Fitzgerald and take away the deep passes. So, Kurt Warner and his offense relied on short dump off passes to the running backs and a commitment to the running game. I was of the mind that this strategy was fine if they moved the ball and scored. My brother on the other hand thought that they were playing into the Steelers hands, and that Arizona needed it to be a shootout to win. In the end my brother seemed to be right, but I think Arizona’s problem was that they stuck with this strategy too long. Once it got late into the third quarter and they were trailing by 13 and the running game wasn’t working at all, they needed to switch gears. In the fourth quarter they finally did, which resulted in great performances by Warner and Fitzgerald, but it was too
late. As I am writing this I am hearing that the rumors are true that Todd Haley will become the next head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs, but his performance in the biggest game of his career has to be questioned. Just think about how hot of a commodity Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo became after last year dominating performance in the Super Bowl. In my opinion Todd Haley performance was closer to that of then Denver Broncos defensive coordinator Wade Phillips in Super Bowl XXIV. Going into that game Phillips was a top head coaching candidate throughout the league, but after the Broncos suffered a 55-10 drubbing at the hands of the 49ers it would be another four years before he finally became a head coach. Obviously, Scott Pioli has accomplished enough in this league to be trusted with this head coaching decision, so Chiefs fans don’t worry too much.

Random Thoughts:
- The NFC won the coin toss for the twelfth straight year this year. I’m not even going to try and think of the odds of that, but thats plain crazy. Despite winning the toss the NFC is 3-9 in those games. I guess the coin toss doesn’t mean that much after all.
- The teaming wearing their white jerseys have now five straight Super Bowls, which is good news for the NFC for they are scheduled to be the road team in next years Super Bowl. Unless the AFC team choses to wear white like the Steelers did for Super Bowl XL.
- I am a big fan of Bruce Springsteen’s music, but I must say that the highlight of the halftime performance was his crotch first slide into the camera. I’m still trying to decide which I liked more Janet Jackson’s nipple or The Boss’s package.
- Next season and the subsequent Super Bowl will be the final one of the decade, and the AFC wins the Super Bowl it will produce and interesting breakdown of champions throughout the decades. Starting in the 1970s, which was the first decade to have ten Super Bowls every decade has had a conference go 8-2 in the big game. The 70s the AFC went 8-2, in the 80s and 90s the NFC went 8-2 in each, and now so far in the 00s the AFC has gone 7-2 with a chance to complete the symmetry. In case you were wondering the first four Super Bowls were played in the 60s and were split 2-2 between the NFL(NFC) and AFL(AFC).
- In case you didn’t notice, Illinois State swept Southern Illinois in basketball this season
- Absurdly early prediction for Super Bowl XLIV: Giants vs. Chargers. Both teams get their best defensive players back, the Giants move on past Plaixco-gate, and San Diego just has too much talent not too reach the Super Bowl eventually.
 

Warming Up To The Ice

Allow me to begin today with one of the biggest clichés possible by quoting one of the most inspirational folk singers of all time, Bob Dylan who once said, “The times they are a-changin’,” and after last night it seems our ole’ pal Bobby is summing up the winter Chicago sports scene in a nut shell.  This weekend I got the chance to do what many others have done so already over the past few months- take in a Blackhawks game.  It is not often I feel obligated to talk about a game which ended in a one point deficit in favor of the road team, but it was hard not to take in the whole experience that was thrown at me for that three hour period.  I was anxious to arrive early in hopes of receiving my Patrick Sharp bobblehead to add to my collection.  Although much to my surprise, despite arriving about forty minutes prior to the puck being dropped, not only was I denied my bobblehead, but I was shocked to see that over 22,000 fans were already in their seats in anticipation.  Meaning one thing is clear- hockey is back in Chicago.

In no way do I pretend to be an expert on the sport or the NHL mainly because like so many others, my interest took a significant hit following the league’s lockout of 2004-05 season, it also didn’t help that our Chicago franchise had gone nearly a decade without even sniffing the postseason.  But like in so many other circumstances winning fixes a lot, yet it’s so much deeper than that.  Usually when attending games the crowd is predominantly males in the fortes brining their kids, but last night it was clear a majority of the seats were occupied by those in their twenties and thirties, a demographic that has been hard for the franchise to appeal to for some time.  Fueled by a youthful roster lead by Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, and Patrick Sharp, the Blackhawks have once again become relevant as their high tempo style of play has made the squad interesting and entertaining.

Although one of the biggest surprises is that my experience at last nights game was so far ahead of when I went to a Bulls game several weeks ago it wasn’t even funny.  Apparently I’m not the only one who thinks this because recently members inside the Bulls’ front office have stated that the team has lost a fair amount of season ticket holders because they simply would rather have a season package for Chicago’s greatest show on ice.  Even with all the hype surrounding Bulls top pick Derek Rose, many are making the switch.  This is a theme that might not change anytime soon with the two teams clearly heading in different directions, the ticket in Chicago this time of the season still brings you to the United Center, but for a much cooler game.  Until next time, keep your mind on the Fine side.

Sanchez Departure = Pissed Off Pete

Every year as soon as a national champ is crowned in college football we are almost instantaneously bombarded with the news of underclassmen expressing their intent to either return to school for another year or take their game to the next level by declaring for the draft.  Since the news is made mid-January, most of us take the word with a grain of salt, not thinking much of it, or at least not until March when the draft is really anyone talks about.  For me personally, I found Mark Sanchez’s press conference Thursday was quite interesting, but the best part had nothing to do with his future plans.

Usually with the press conferences the head coach will sit down and say the same generic message.  Either, “We enjoyed our time here and winning games with him…,” to something like, “I am excited to get him for another year.”  Although with Pete Carroll, that wasn’t the case as he was did not shy away from voicing his displeasure with the final decision Sanchez came to, “Mark is going against the grain, and he knows that.”  The most telling moment was after speaking with the press for several moments, Carroll barely acknowledging Sanchez at all providing only a pat on his shoulder as he headed towards the exit.  Carroll reportedly cut his Hawaii trip short so he could be at the press conference, but reportedly spent a lengthy period of time meeting with Sanchez late Wednesday, possibly doing all in his power to change his mind.

If you consider the options, Sanchez is making the right call, especially after Oklahoma’s Sam Bradford and Colt McCoy of Texas both chose to stay at school, leaving Georgia’s Matthew Stafford as the lone early challenge for Sanchez in the battle for first quarterback’s to be taken in the first round.  The potential big bucks could be there for the red shirt junior who tossed for over 3,200 yards and 34 TD’s, which is the second most in school history, despite it being his first full year as a starter.

When you think of USC you can’t help but think of the constant overstock of talent on the sidelines, even of the guys who never actually see the field.  So why make the big deal of one guys decides to go after money?  Carroll’s reaction could tell you everything you need to know concerning the Trojans’ QB situation for ’09.  It is almost funny to even consider especially how strong it was perceived once the highly touted recruit Mitch Mustain transferred from Arkansas to SC, but in the spring ball, the one time Mr. Football from the Razorback state failed to win the number 2 QB spot as Mustain got beaten out by a Freshman.

Now Carroll realizes what he has isn’t good enough and may already see his chance for a title next season already slipping away.  It’s not a question of weather or not USC will have talent, because anyone who knows anything about football will tell you they do, but with the big names they have already lost on defense like Rey Maualuga, Brian Cushing, and potentially even Taylor Mays, you will need to have steady play from the quarterback position in order to head to the title game.  What all this says to me is that once again the Trojans are bound for the Rose Bowl- again.  What would be a superb season by nearly anyone else’s standards has been reduced to a mere slap in the face for USC.  Which is why it is so infuriating for Carroll to watch his best QB desert him for the next level.  Until next time, keep your mind on the fine side.