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At the Intersection of Sports and Culture

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NFL Football: On the 11th Day of Waiting

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When Jon (finally) allowed me to begin contributing, he emailed me an initial password with which to log in.  That night was Wednesday and the password was “BradSmith”.

Smith, dubbed by the New York Jets coaching staff “Mr. Everything”, responded in kind to the lofty responsibility of having a password named after him.  First, he took an early 2nd Half end-around and scooted, untouched, 53 yards into the end zone to give Gang Green a lead they would not give back.  It’s worth noting that he was, in fact, wearing two cleats for the entirety of the scoring play.  The same can not be said when B-16 took a short Cincy kickoff 89 yards to the funhouse.  About 50 yards from the end zone, Smith lost a shoe.  Seriously, he finished the return after kicking his cleat off and outrunning the last line of Bengal defenders in an athletic sock.

After finishing off the feckless Bengals 26-10, for the first time in my life, the Jets are 9-2, and will remain so for the next 11 days while the entire Northeast waits with held breath for next Monday night’s “Game Of The Year ” against the 9-2 Patriots, who devoured a feisty Lions squad 45-24.

Over the course of the coming week, next Monday’s game is going to receive its fair share of dissection. A lot will be said about the two quarterbacks. Mark Sanchez has been elusive, creative, and brilliant at times during his sophomore season. Tom Brady has a triple-figure passer rating and hair straight out of a Nickelback video. The Patriots offense is decidedly short on weapons, and it seems that’s the way they like it, having jettisoned one of the best deep-threat wide receivers in the history of the sport. Their register of non-household names just seems to keep rolling, racking up points like the scoreboard operator is the enemy.

See you next Monday night, football fans! Share your views.

NFL Thursday Night: Maybe It’s a Miami Thing

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Yesterday, I gave a view from the Heat/Suns game and wrote about how the fans in Miami do not support their basketball team like they should .  Last night, during the Dolphins Thursday Night Football game against the Bears, things became clearer to me.  Maybe it’s a Miami thing.

During the the second half of Chicago’s convincing 16-0 win over Miami, it became clear to TV viewers that Bears supporters in Sun Life Stadium were the much more vocal group.  This could have been a product of the game itself.  The Dolphins looked lost on offense and eventually wore down on defense.  The Bears were solid on both sides of the ball, especially on defense, where they sacked a hapless Tyler Thigpen 6 times. So Chicago did have much more to cheer about during the game.

However, why were there so many Bears fans in the stadium to begin with? Did a lot of Midwesterners travel down to South Florida for an early Thanksgiving break?  Are the Chicago Bears truly one of “America’s Teams” with a national fanbase?  Or, like with the Heat, do people in Miami have priorities that prevent them from supporting the Dolphins?

Share your views.

NFL Roundup: The Lights Went Out in New Jersey

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…and the same could be said for the NY Giants who were completely trounced by the lowly 1-7 Dallas Cowboys by a final score of 33-20.  Everyone was surprised by the outcome of yesterday’s game including the operators of the New Meadowlands Stadium, who, for their part, did all they could to ensure that the national TV audience would be unable to witness what was transpiring on the field.

Do not be alarmed, this is an actual image taken from yesterday’s Giants/Cowboys game at the New Meadowlands Stadium.  The blackout lasted for a mere 30 seconds or so before power was gradually restored throughout the stadium.  The game itself was delayed by a total of 12 minutes, which, was not nearly as long as the Giants would have liked considering the final score.

In other NFL news, the Mark Sanchez led Jets won their second overtime game in a row, defeating the Cleveland Browns by a score of 26-20.  The Patriots were able to stay atop the AFC East alongside the Jets with their 39-26 dismantling of the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday night.

What impressed you the most about Week 10 in the NFL?  Share your views!

NFL Week 9 Recap: A Sellout at the Oakland Coliseum

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For the first time since the 2009 season opener, the Oakland Raiders played before a sellout crowd today during their exciting 23-20 overtime victory over the AFC West leading Kansas City Chiefs.  With the win, the Raiders pull to within a game of the division lead but, after a week 10 bye, face a very difficult upcoming schedule (@Pit, Mia, @SD). Don’t bet against head coach Tom Cable, who remains the most frightening looking coach in professional sports.

In other AFC news, the Colts and Patriots both lost while the Jets were fortunate to escape Detroit with a win.  The Ravens took care of business at home against Miami while Pittsburgh prepares for a dreary Monday night contest in Cincinnati.  If, as expected, the Steelers hold serve against the Bengals tomorrow night, do they become the AFC favorites once again? Share your views.

NFL Week 9 Power Poll: An NFC Renaissance?

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We’re 8 weeks into the 2010 NFL season and right now the top 5 teams in the league are arguably all from the AFC (Pats, Jets, Steelers, Ravens, Colts).  So what does this mean for the NFC? Are the Giants really the best team in the conference?  Could the Falcons emerge as the top seed?  Are we buying into the magic going on in Tampa?

As we head into the second half of the season, two NFC teams, the Packers and Saints, deserve our careful attention.  GB finished strong last year and will soon get some key players back from injury.  Drew Brees will benefit from the return of a healthy Reggie Bush and down the stretch no defense is going to want to go up against the potent New Orleans offense.

Share your views.  Would people like to amend their preseason Superbowl picks?