Today’s Photo

OK, I’m cheating.  I didn’t take this photo (and neither did Jill).  It comes from the AP.

Number 85, Pierre Garçon is American-born of Haitian parents.  Yesterday he caught more passes than any receiver in AFC championship game history; 11 for 151 yards.  The record was nine.  

And then there is this, from the Palm Beach Post:

Even amid the bedlam of 67,650 screaming fans Sunday, that rang true. Dwight Lowery was one of a few Jets who took a shot at containing Garcon, the two of them fighting for something only one could have, yet even then, even amid the usual trash-talk, Lowery pulled Garcon aside.

“He said he was going to help me out with Haiti,” Garcon said. “He told me during the game, man. He said to get in contact with him and a couple of guys on their team.”

Intellectual Man vs. Instinctive Man

More broadly, the conference championships came down to Intellectual Man, in the person of Peyton, in one game, and Instinctive Man, in the person of Brett Favre, whose Vikings played the Saints in the other. For once, blessedly, Intellectual Man won the day. Instinctive Man, to be a little hard on him—though it’s my own view that you can never be too hard on Instinctive Man—cost his team a title for the second time in three years, throwing an interception (this one right across the grain of the play) that was not merely ill-timed, but dim-witted. Credit to Favre for getting them there, but let us have no doubt that he throws those things not because he thinks he should, but because he feels inside that he can, with predictable results.

Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker

Gopnik has another good line in referring to the Jets, “just when they needed the Audacity of Audacity. (Larger life-political lesson here, of course.)”

Yup, a little less audacity of hope and a little more audacity of audacity, that’s what we need.

Another idle thought

I wanted the Saints to win and I’ve never really been a Brett Favre fan, but my god the old guy sure made it dramatic in every way, didn’t he?

The Fifth Down Blog has the transcript of Favre’s postgame interview (scroll down past Coach Brad Childress).

Idle thought

The NFL overtime procedure is just wrong.

If it’s fair, why does the coin-flip winner ALWAYS take the ball?

(Because the coin flip winner wins two out of three times, that’s why.)

And though I wanted the Saints to win, last night’s overtime was awful.

In a finale that will be talked about for years, the New Orleans Saints won the coin flip to start overtime in the N.F.C. championship game against the Minnesota Vikings. The Saints’ offense moved the ball 39 yards, 17 of them through penalties, to get into field position for a game-winning field goal.

Above from The Fifth Down Blog, which has a discussion of overtime and some alternatives.

Hoops

Basketball was the brainchild of James Naismith, a Canadian who was teaching at a YMCA training school in Springfield [Massachusetts], which prepared young men to go out and be instructors in YMCAs. Naismith was teaching physical education, but the winters were cold in Massachusetts, and his students were frustrated that they couldn’t go outside. He wanted something physically challenging but that could be played indoors, in a relatively small space. He tried all kinds of new and old games, but nothing worked. Finally he remembered a game he had played as a kid in Canada, a game called Duck on a Rock. He took a few rules from that and adapted it into a game he called Basket Ball. He nailed peach baskets to the balcony on each side of the gym, but the baskets had solid bottoms, so if anyone managed to get the ball in the basket someone else had to climb up and get the ball down.

The Writer’s Almanac with Garrison Keillor

Predictable

A week ago on Facebook, my brother Lee predicted that the Cardinals, Ravens, Cowboys and Chargers would win this past weekend’s NFL playoff games. I commented that he would go 0 for 4.

He went 0 for 4.

And that’s why I’m the oldest brother.

BTW, I have it in writing dated September 11, 2009, that Mack predicted the Vikings to win it all this year.

Never bet against Mack.

Best line of the day, so far

“Jets punter Steve Weatherford needs heart surgery in the off-season but will play this week. Remember that before making a ‘kickers are wimps’ remark.”

The Fifth Down Blog – NYTimes.com

Got 44 minutes? It's enough for all four NFL games this weekend.

According to this report at the Wall Street Journal, NFL telecasts have 11 minutes of action (but 17 minutes of replays and 75 minutes of commercials).

Best line of the day

What a wonderfully ridiculous playoff game.

On Sunday, the Arizona Cardinals defeated the Green Bay Packers in a flashy, high-scoring overtime battle, 51-45. It was the kind of football contest you love if you eat Skittles for breakfast, meditate to K.C. & the Sunshine Band and think “Transformers 2″ is Oscar bait. And really, who isn’t that kind of person once in a while?

Jason Gay – WSJ.com

Drew Brees weighs in on NFL's Supreme Court case

Interesting op-ed from Drew Brees.

Idle Thought

The Valero Alamo Bowl, the Michigan State Sociopaths vs. the Texas Tech Psychopaths. Saturday. 8ET.

Trite Trophy

And the winner is … “Dial up a blitz.”

That nouveau football cliché beat out such stellar competition as “Take a shot down the field,” “It depends on the spot” and “Shy of the first down” to capture the 26th annual Trite Trophy, as awarded by Pittsburgh Post-Gazette columnist Gene Collier.

“Somewhere, somehow, defensive coordinators lost the ability to just call a blitz, order a blitz, signal a blitz, send in a blitz or even just blitz,” Collier wrote. “They suddenly were forced to ‘Dial up a blitz.’ It’s a beauty of a cliche, and it meets our ageless criteria: it’s meaningless, it’s everywhere, and I really, really hate it.

“It’s got multiple malignancies, such as the matter of when you do dial, whom do you call? Second, who dials anything any more? I mean as of, like, 1990, my grandmother and the Yanomamo Tribe of deepest Venezuela were the only people that still had that technology.”

Sideline Chatter | Seattle Times Newspaper

Idle thought

Urban Meyer is just another “it’s about me” jerk.

All this indecision couldn’t wait a week until the team’s season was over?

The Immaculate Reception

It was 37 years ago today. I still feel the pain.

It was a divisional playoff between the Oakland Raiders and the Pittsburgh Steelers. A few seconds left …

Harris, who was simply trailing the play, scooped up the ball (which had bounced 24 feet) and scored with 5 seconds remaining. It was the first playoff victory in the history of the Pittsburgh franchise and it began their glory days.

But the question was, did the ball bounce off Frenchy Fuqua, the Steelers intended receiver, or did it bounce off Jack Tatum, the Raiders defender. If Fuqua, it’s incomplete. Offensive deflections were not legal receptions at the time. If Tatum, or if both, then the completion is good. It took several minutes for the officials to decide.

And to this day no one is sure except Raiders fans and Steelers fans.

NFL Films calls it the greatest play in NFL history. For fans it was one of those indelible events that causes you to remember right where you were when it happened — driving on I-5 between L.A. and San Diego on the way from Oakland to Tucson for Christmas.

The rule was changed in 1978 to make passes deflected by any player legal.

Another provocative thought from Gladwell

Think about it: Virtually every parent now straps their children into expensive, specially engineered car seats in order to prevent them from injury in the exceedingly remote chance of an accident. That’s how safety-conscious parents have become. Do we really think those same parents are going to turn around a few years later and let that same child be hit in the head repeatedly at forces of upward of 100Gs in the name of entertainment? I mean, if your son wants to play Pop Warner in a few years, can you really tell me you’d let him do it?

Malcolm Gladwell-Bill Simmons III

Lobos

The University of New Mexico men’s basketball team is ranked 12th in the coaches poll and 13th in the AP poll. They are 12-0 on the year.

The six other undefeated teams are ranked 1 through 6 in both polls.

The F in NFL must stand for something other than Football

The NFL Players Association is offering to cover any fines that Bengals wide receiver Chad Ochocinco would incur for wearing Chris Henry’s No. 15 jersey during Sunday’s game versus San Diego, a source close to the situation said.

ESPN

The NFL would fine a player for wearing the number of another player — a player who died this week — in tribute.

Let me see “F,” what applicable words that begin with F might better be part of NFL?

I will remind you that the NFL played on the weekend of JFK’s assassination. Nothing has changed.

And yes, Ochocinco is a showboat, but that doesn’t mean this isn’t sincere — his teammate did die. And besides, pro football is a show, not a liturgical rite.

Last minute gift idea

Costco is selling two Super Bowl Upper Level End Zone Tickets including three nights at the JW Marriott and more.

All for just $5,999.99.

Gotta love that extra 99 cents.

Idle thought

The University of New Mexico men’s basketball team is ranked #19 in the AP poll out today. It’s the first time the Lobos have been in the Top 25 since the end of the 1998-1999 season. They are 10-0 this year so far.

OK Wally and Tom, when will we start hating Coach Alford? And why?

Name the Last 10 Heisman Trophy Winners

Type in their last names (in no particular order). You have three minutes. (No Googling.)

Name the Last 10 Heisman Trophy Winners

Fired Charlie Weis Cleans Out His Desk

The Onion – America’s Finest News Source

Best line about Tiger I've seen today

“If this was a scheme concocted by your handlers, get some new people. One of the reasons you’re in this mess is because your handlers helped you craft an image that wasn’t really you. Swearing on the golf course is you. Throwing clubs is you. A lot of people took issue with those offensive jokes you told GQ’s Charles Pierce in 1997; that was you, too. But if stepping away from golf is a calculated public relations stunt meant to generate some empathy, that means you’ve learned nothing from this entire ordeal.”

Jemele Hill – ESPN

Best line of the day, so far

Further proof that college football’s so-called postseason is a joke: Even the coaches treat it like one.

Can you imagine, say, Sean Payton quitting the unbeaten New Orleans Saints on the eve of the NFC Championship Game to take his “dream job” coaching the Dallas Cowboys?

Sideline Chatter

Referring of course to coach Brian Kelly leaving his undefeated Cincinnati team to take a new job.

The FCS semi-final games were not a joke. Villanova beat William and Mary 14-13 and Montana defeated Appalachian State 24-17. Both were exciting well-played games.

Manning and Saturday

A nice article about the relationships that make a good football team great — Manning and Saturday Have Kept Colts on Leading Edge.

Big Game

William and Mary (11-2) at Villanova (12-1)
ESPN2 6PM MT Today

Winner advances to the Division I Football Championship Subdivision National Championship next Friday against the winner of Appalachian State (11-2) @ Montana (13-0) tomorrow at 2PM MT on ESPN.

Championship? Playoffs? Unlike the Football Bowl Subdivision presidents, the presidents of the 145 FCS schools must want to be football factories.