Talking NFL

Before we begin with the Peyton bashing, let’s take care of a few remaining blog comments from this weekend, so we can clear the deck for the Colts fans (and believe me, we are preparing for an onslaught. As we speak, the tech geeks over at 451press are warming up the old WOPR for the extra bandwith, just in case). Speaking of which:

2007-1-14 @ 9:01:07 pm, from Dennis D:

“I just had to ask, do you know if the Glorify the Past website crashed, or is it now checking to see from what zip code I’m coming in from? My guess is that it didn’t crash, but detected that I was from Superbowl Town (aka Boston) and I was therefore blocked from entering the site just a few minutes ago.”

Funny you should mention that, Dennis. Apparently the GTP site did go down last night. I was a bit concerned, given the nature of the game, so I sent an email to make sure everyone was OK. I got the following reply today:

Dear Brian,

Thanks for your inquiry. Unfortunately, the GTP site unexpectedly crashed with with 3:46 left in the 4th quarter of yesterday’s game. We apologize for the inconvienence.

We’re happy to report that the situation has been resolved, and we are already making preparations for next season. Hope to see you then!

Sincerely,

Marty Schottenheimer, Director of Technical Support

Well, thanks Marty, but do us all a favor and don’t quit your day job (uhhhh, on second thought…).

2007-1-15 @ 2:01:23 am, from nrek619:

“the Bolts might of lost today, but you still suck…and the Chargers still rule!!”

(1) Yes, they did. (2) Maybe, and (3)…(I’m doing the Michael Wilbon thing again)…no.

Grade, Mr. Blutarsky? Zero…point…zero.

2007-1-15 @ 9:01:35 am, from The Moose over at The Sports Docs:

“I agree 100%. As much as I think LT is a phenomenal player, he came across as very much the cry-baby after the game.

I cannot stand the one-ups-manship that goes on and the Pats have never been that classy in my eye (see my blog entry) but at the same time…they WON…so get over it.

Shake hands. Move on.

PS- I hope Drayton Florence got his ass whooped in the showers.”

I’m going to agree with all of the above, save for the Pats not being classy (well, of course I’m going to argue THAT point!). Here’s the thing:

When it comes to respect and class in the NFL, there’s 2 times it’s brought up in the media as an issue: before the game, and after the game. There’s a full week before the game where these guys are hammered by reporters with questions about such-and-such team’s QB, RB, WR, coach, etc. Belichick ORDERS his guys during the week to not give ONE sound bite that could be misconstrued as disrespectful, which is why you hear such beauties from the coach during the year like, “I think David Carr is pretty good at everything.” (December 11, 2006).

Now, does he believe that? Of course not! What he wants to say is, “I can’t believe David Carr is still a starting QB in this league! Come 1pm Sunday, we’re turning that guy into a human pinata.” But just in case, he’s going to bite his tounge, and spray BS compliments all week long. Ask yourself this; if you were forced to compare the likes of David Carr, Joey Harrington, and Samkon Gado to the likes of Troy Aikman, Steve Young and Barry Sanders on a regular basis, would that drive you nuts after a while? Personally, I’d want to slap a photographer around come playoff time.

Then there’s the matter of trash-talk DURING the game, which nobody ever talks about. Ever wonder why? You think the stuff that GTP was throwing at me was bad? That’s a choir song compared to what these guys are dishing out, but nobody really talks about that, because it’s all in ‘the heat of the battle’. Well, after a week of ass-kissing, these guys get 3 hours of violence mixed with lines like “I’m gonna take your (bleep) and (bleep) the (bleep) out of it. Then I’m gonna take a meat thermometer and (bleep) in the (bleeping), while (bleeping) (bleep) kidney (bleep) sheep (bleep) into (bleep) cream pudding!”

Now after all that, when they win against possibly the toughest playoff opponent they’ve faced in 6 years, if they want to dance a jig, I’m OK with that. Should they keep it to their locker-room? Probably, yes. But, I’m going to cut them some slack.

However, some other people aren’t going to, like Karen Guregian at the Boston Herald, who apparently doubles as a wet nurse. Look lady; you’ve never played pro football, and neither have I. So neither one of us can understand what these guys go through on Sunday. At any given moment, they could be critically injured or maimed for our viewing enjoyment. So after the game, if they don’t follow Miss Manners etiquette guidelines, that’s OK by me. If it’s too much for you & your high horse, that’s fine; go back to serving tea and crumpets or whatever the heck it is you do besides write one-sided poo-poo articles about your home team.

Aaargh! I hate getting fired up about dumb stuff like this! Actually, I take it back, I love it.

Thanks for all the postings, guys. Keep ‘em coming.

Chargers, Patriots, class, Karen Guregian, Boston Herald