Here's a list of the top 50 sportscasters of all time. I puked in my mouth a little when i saw Harry Caray's name on the list at 18. Am I the only guy who thinks that Caray totally sucked at calling a baseball game. If getting drunk and saying people's birthdays are the standard for being in the top 50 then he should have been in at number 1.
http://www.insidesocal.com/tomhoffarth/archives/2009/01/the-whole-top-5.html
Here's a link on a training program on how to get to one hundred pushups. I haven't read this but there are a few of you who need to.
http://hundredpushups.com/index.html
Here's link where an Israeli plane blows up some scummy Hamas guys launching rockets from a schoolyard. You gotta love the moslems. Yup. This is the religion of peace alright.
http://rightwingvideo.com/?p=200
Here's something from a blog called Oddee. Its about odd stuff believe it or not and these are LEGO recreations of famous paintings in history.
http://www.oddee.com/item_96540.aspx
Here's a link to Right Wing News and the 10 worst quotes from the Daily Kos. The Daily Kos is a ultra liberal website that hopefully will be firebombed in the next 2-3 years. Read these quotes and try to convince me that liberals are tolerant and understanding and that conservatives are evil.
http://rightwingnews.com/mt331/2009/01/the_10_worst_quotesexcerpts_fr.php
Here's just a quick look at illegitimacy rates in America. The numbers were not of any surprise to me.
http://rightwingnews.com/mt331/2009/01/the_10_worst_quotesexcerpts_fr.php
Whose really to blame for the housing crisis. Hint: its not GWB.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123137220550562585.html
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Handicapping "Top Chef" part 2
After a rocky start Ariane has been bringing the heat. She has two elimination wins and one quickfire win. This is what you're going to here about the top four: they're all creative, they're all cool under pressure and they can all cook. If Ariane has one disadvantage to the other three, its that she is a caterer by trade and not a top trained chef. Still, she hasn't been on the brink of elimination since about week three. I have her at 5-1.
Here's the darkhorse, if you can call a guy getting 4-1 a darkhorse. Jeff hasn't won an elimination challenge or a quickfire but I do not believe he's been in the even close to elimination. His dishes are always well received. He's just missed winning a couple of times. If he has a draw back its that he always picks something that needs an incredible amount of prep time so he's just barely finishing at times and I think that has cost him. He'll be in the final four and then it will get real interesting.
Here's the darkhorse, if you can call a guy getting 4-1 a darkhorse. Jeff hasn't won an elimination challenge or a quickfire but I do not believe he's been in the even close to elimination. His dishes are always well received. He's just missed winning a couple of times. If he has a draw back its that he always picks something that needs an incredible amount of prep time so he's just barely finishing at times and I think that has cost him. He'll be in the final four and then it will get real interesting.
Fabio. The name says it all. He's Italian with the Mediterranean attitude to fit the bill and he can cook. He has been in the elimination group once, so when he misses, he can miss big. But he also hits it out of the park as his two elimination wins have proven. He's an outstanding chef. He's creative, funny and I sure he's a fan favorite so he'll be around til the last three weeks. 3-1.
Stefan is the man to beat. He's won a quickfire and two elimination challenges and hasn't even sniffed being eliminated. He's bold, confident and his creativity is heads and shoulders above the rest. You will start to see a lot of resentment as they get closer to the finish. His determination that this is a competition is what really separates him. He and Fabio are the Euros in this and right now they're pals but look for him to distance himself from Fabio when the chips are down. 2-1.
There you have it. The top nine as handicapped by the one, the only, The Duke. Enjoy.
The Hall of Fame and Ricky Henderson
Let me start by saying that Ricky Henderson is very deserving of the Hall. Jim Rice gets in on the pity clause. What a joke. Whenever a guy like Jim Rice is elected we should say he "Art Monked himself" into whichever hall they are being elected to.
Here's a collection of Ricky stories from Barstool Sports. Thanks to Jerry T for his hard work on this.
From BSS
Rickey the diplomat: When Rickey broke Lou Brock's all-time Stolen Base record, Brock had given up his own time to come to the game and stand next to Rickey for the presentation. Rickey addressed the crowd: “Lou Brock was a great base stealer, but today, I am the greatest of all-time.”
Rickey, friend to the little people: With the Mets in 1999, Rickey asked a teammate why there were so many reporters around and he was told the team had fired Tom Robson. "Who's he?" Rickey replied Robson was the Mets hitting coach.
Rickey the Wizard of Wall St. The A's accounting department was in a panic because their books were off by a million bucks. The source of the discrepancy was Rickey, who had taken a $1 million bonus check and instead of cashing it, framed it.
Rickey the Wizard of Wall St. Part II: He once held onto a bonus check rather than cash it because he was "waiting for the rates to go up."
Rickey the geographer: He once asked a teammate how long it would take to drive to the Dominican Republic.
Rickey the geography, Part II: His apartment had a "view of the Entire State Building."
Third person Rickey: He once left Padres GM Kevin Towers this voicemail: “This is Rickey calling on behalf of Rickey. Rickey wants to play baseball.”
Rickey the linguist: When he was looking for a seat on the Padres bus, Steve Finley said "You can sit anywhere you want. You've got tenure." To which Rickey replied “Ten years? Ricky’s been playing at least 16, 17 years.”
Classy Rickey: When he broke Ty Cobb's All Time Runs Scored record on a home run, he took full minute to round the bases then slid home.
Rickey the mathematician: When Ken Caminiti said that 50% of ballplayers were juicing, Rickey said “Well, Rickey’s not one of them, so that’s 49 percent right there.”
Gracious Rickey: At the end of his days with the Sox, Tom Werner offered him a car as a going away present and Rickey said he wanted John Henry's Mercedes. Not the same make and model. He wanted John Henry's car. So the team presented him with a red Thunderbird and when he saw it Rickey said "Who's ugly car is on the field?"
My all time favorite Rickey story that turns out not to be true even though I wish it was: Legend has it that when he was with the Mets, Rickey asked John Olerud why he wears a helmet in the field and Olerud explained how he had had an aneurysm and had to as a precaution. "Man," Rickey supposedly said, "I was with Toronto last year and we had a guy with the same thing!" And Olerud said "That would be me." Too bad both men deny it ever happened.
But a true story of Rickey, great teammate: His locker was next to Billy Beane's, but Beane got sent down to the minors. After a few months, Beane got called back up to the bigs. Six weeks after his call up Rickey said “Hey, man, where have you been? Haven’t seen you in awhile.”
Jerry says that he can't wait for Rickey's induction speech. That makes two of us.
Here's a collection of Ricky stories from Barstool Sports. Thanks to Jerry T for his hard work on this.
From BSS
Rickey the diplomat: When Rickey broke Lou Brock's all-time Stolen Base record, Brock had given up his own time to come to the game and stand next to Rickey for the presentation. Rickey addressed the crowd: “Lou Brock was a great base stealer, but today, I am the greatest of all-time.”
Rickey, friend to the little people: With the Mets in 1999, Rickey asked a teammate why there were so many reporters around and he was told the team had fired Tom Robson. "Who's he?" Rickey replied Robson was the Mets hitting coach.
Rickey the Wizard of Wall St. The A's accounting department was in a panic because their books were off by a million bucks. The source of the discrepancy was Rickey, who had taken a $1 million bonus check and instead of cashing it, framed it.
Rickey the Wizard of Wall St. Part II: He once held onto a bonus check rather than cash it because he was "waiting for the rates to go up."
Rickey the geographer: He once asked a teammate how long it would take to drive to the Dominican Republic.
Rickey the geography, Part II: His apartment had a "view of the Entire State Building."
Third person Rickey: He once left Padres GM Kevin Towers this voicemail: “This is Rickey calling on behalf of Rickey. Rickey wants to play baseball.”
Rickey the linguist: When he was looking for a seat on the Padres bus, Steve Finley said "You can sit anywhere you want. You've got tenure." To which Rickey replied “Ten years? Ricky’s been playing at least 16, 17 years.”
Classy Rickey: When he broke Ty Cobb's All Time Runs Scored record on a home run, he took full minute to round the bases then slid home.
Rickey the mathematician: When Ken Caminiti said that 50% of ballplayers were juicing, Rickey said “Well, Rickey’s not one of them, so that’s 49 percent right there.”
Gracious Rickey: At the end of his days with the Sox, Tom Werner offered him a car as a going away present and Rickey said he wanted John Henry's Mercedes. Not the same make and model. He wanted John Henry's car. So the team presented him with a red Thunderbird and when he saw it Rickey said "Who's ugly car is on the field?"
My all time favorite Rickey story that turns out not to be true even though I wish it was: Legend has it that when he was with the Mets, Rickey asked John Olerud why he wears a helmet in the field and Olerud explained how he had had an aneurysm and had to as a precaution. "Man," Rickey supposedly said, "I was with Toronto last year and we had a guy with the same thing!" And Olerud said "That would be me." Too bad both men deny it ever happened.
But a true story of Rickey, great teammate: His locker was next to Billy Beane's, but Beane got sent down to the minors. After a few months, Beane got called back up to the bigs. Six weeks after his call up Rickey said “Hey, man, where have you been? Haven’t seen you in awhile.”
Jerry says that he can't wait for Rickey's induction speech. That makes two of us.
Handicapping the 9 finalists on "Top Chef" part 1
This is it people. The final nine fry cooks on Bravo's "Top Chef" and I'm going to give you the odds on where to put your money. This of course is not how they will fair as Bravo does more elimination by gender then cooking ability but if they disregard gender then this is definitely an accurate description of the odds. Let me remind you that Gail is not on the show anymore this season. Something to do with getting married, blah, blah blah. Its too late Gail. The damage is done. The really hot girls were eliminated early with your help as you were to threatened by their beauty to judge their ability accurately. Padma is not threatened by any woman, unlike you Gail, who should be judging fast food and not world class cuisine.
This is Carla. I originally had her at a gazillion to one to win this competition but have since lowered those odds to 200-1. I'm not going to get into bios, what they do and where they're from, I'm just going to give you the lowdown as I've seen it with my keen yet so objective eye and what I've seen is that Carla can't cook and shouldn't be in the final nine. She's a nice lady yada yada. She hasn't won a single quickfire or elimination challenge. Her food is boring and uninspired and I hate her hair. 200-1.
This is Carla. I originally had her at a gazillion to one to win this competition but have since lowered those odds to 200-1. I'm not going to get into bios, what they do and where they're from, I'm just going to give you the lowdown as I've seen it with my keen yet so objective eye and what I've seen is that Carla can't cook and shouldn't be in the final nine. She's a nice lady yada yada. She hasn't won a single quickfire or elimination challenge. Her food is boring and uninspired and I hate her hair. 200-1.
This Jaime. She has lots of tattoos. She is a mean spirited wench and a lesbian. She's not a very good cook either. She has won one elimination challenge and no quickfires. She is abrasive, thinks she knows everything and I'm sure they will keep her on the show just for her attitude which will be a travesty. Quick sidebar: there are five women and four men left. The top four highest handicaps according to me are all women so we will see if the judges agree or if they let ratings dictate their decisions. Oh wait, its TV. Never mind. Anyway I have Jaime at 100-1. Nice pants
This is Leah. This is a very flattering picture of her. She's above average looking but this picture makes her look closer to a 10, which she isn't, then the 7 that she is. I have her at 75-1 but she could easily be 10-1. She's won an elimination challenge and two quickfires but something tells me that as this competition gets tougher with more pressure she is going to fold up like an ironing board at a dry cleaners. I just made that up. Pretty clever huh? She has a thing for Hosea and I'm sure she wants to give him some of her home cookin. Bada bump bump. 75-1.
This is Rhadika. She's a cute little chef of Indian (the country in Asia) descent. Rhadika has won each a quickfire and an elimination challenge but is always in the hunt at the end of the day. She has a little more originality then the above. She's calm under pressure has enough charm to win you over and takes criticism well. I have her at 25-1 but she could be 10-1 or better if the competition at the top of the ladder wasn't so stiff.
This is Hosea. I have him at 6-1. He's won two elimination challenges and one quickfire. He's a self taught chef which is pretty cool. Like Rhadika, he's original and pretty calm under pressure. One of the elimination challenges he won was after a fridge door had been left open and he had to redo his portion of the competition. The rest of the group helped him (I think Rhadika was also effected) but he really pulled it together to win that round. Because he hasn't had formal training, his thinking is really outside the box. 6-1.
Well, there's the first five who should be gone. Its not whether they leave in order, the purpose of this is to let you know who is going to win and I think I have a good idea so stay tuned for part 2.
Well, there's the first five who should be gone. Its not whether they leave in order, the purpose of this is to let you know who is going to win and I think I have a good idea so stay tuned for part 2.Monday, January 12, 2009
Its not "The Hall of Pretty Good"
The results for induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame come out today. There are really only two candidates worth mentioning who deserve to be elected, one of whom most certainly will be and that is Ricky Henderson.
I'm not going to make a debate about why Ricky should be in. His credentials as the greatest leadoff hitter in MLB history attest for themselves and he is a lock to be elected today.
That being said, lets talk about some of the other candidates for whom arguments are being made. The are Bert "be home" Blyleven, Andre Dawson, Jim Rice, Jack Morris and Lee Smith.
To me the first four are relatively easy arguments. None of them have the numbers that are worth of The Hall. Blyleven has 287 wins. That's a nice number but lets look as his career. He only won 20 games once. That's one more 20 win season than I have. He is 37 games over .500 for his career. That means he won 1.5 more games than he lost for a season for 22 years. Not even close in my book. Blyleven is a perfect example of a guy who was a decent pitcher/ballplayer who also stayed relatively healthy for a long time so that he amassed decent career numbers, but a dominant pitcher? Not even close. He wasn't an ace on any staff and although hitters knew he was above average, I don't think too many of them were afraid of him.
Morris is almost the opposite. A shorter career so less stellar numbers. A very pedestrian .390 ERA and only three 20 win seasons. Morris is best know for his great world series game against the Braves where he pitched a complete 10 inning shutout to clinch the series for the Twins. I still remember listening to that game on the radio and it was ultra thrilling and Morris had balls that clanked that night but if a decent career and one great game put you in the Hall then they'd better start adding on. He was intimidating on the mound and was the ace of the staff wherever he went but still the numbers just aren't there as attested by his ERA. He is 60 games over .500 for his career and struck out twice as many batters as he faced. Between Bert and Jack, if I was forced to vote for one (and by forced I mean a gun in my mouth or I'm dead and nothing less) I'd vote for Morris. A much stronger case can be made for him but I still don't think he is deserving.
The argument against Rice and Dawson is very simple. They don't have the numbers. Not even friggin close and if Dawson doesn't spend a few years in Chicago and Rice doesn't play in the softball park in Boston, their names aren't even going to be mentioned. Playing in media centers is always better for a players career and they get more accolades than they deserve (see Sandberg, Ryan) and these two guys are no exceptions. Between the two of them they only have 7 seasons of 30+ home runs. Seven. Ken Griffey Jr. has nine all by himself. This shouldn't even be an argument. They were good ball players. They weren't great even for the time they played and if Rice played in Kansas City and Dawson never leaves Montreal than I would be blogging about something else.
The case for Lee Smith is this. He was absolutely dominating as a pitcher in his time and was money in the bank. When Smith retired, he was the all time leader in saves and that record stood for several years. Like Goose Gossage, Smith didn't come into a game to face one man and get a save. He pitched in 50+ games 13 times in his career and pitched more than 70 innings 11 times in that span including 90+ innings six times and averaged one strike out per inning for his career. He is third on the all-time save list behind Trevor Hoffman and Mariano Rivera (http://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/SV_career.shtml) both of whom are still playing. Those numbers are worthy and Smith became the prototype for the relievers we see today. I would take Lee Smith in his prime over ANYONE who has been a reliever including the two guys mentioned. He was that good.
So good luck to everyone on the ballot today. I hope the voters use common sense and rational thought when making their selections. Afterall, this isn't Canton. Art Monk? Really?
I'm not going to make a debate about why Ricky should be in. His credentials as the greatest leadoff hitter in MLB history attest for themselves and he is a lock to be elected today.
That being said, lets talk about some of the other candidates for whom arguments are being made. The are Bert "be home" Blyleven, Andre Dawson, Jim Rice, Jack Morris and Lee Smith.
To me the first four are relatively easy arguments. None of them have the numbers that are worth of The Hall. Blyleven has 287 wins. That's a nice number but lets look as his career. He only won 20 games once. That's one more 20 win season than I have. He is 37 games over .500 for his career. That means he won 1.5 more games than he lost for a season for 22 years. Not even close in my book. Blyleven is a perfect example of a guy who was a decent pitcher/ballplayer who also stayed relatively healthy for a long time so that he amassed decent career numbers, but a dominant pitcher? Not even close. He wasn't an ace on any staff and although hitters knew he was above average, I don't think too many of them were afraid of him.
Morris is almost the opposite. A shorter career so less stellar numbers. A very pedestrian .390 ERA and only three 20 win seasons. Morris is best know for his great world series game against the Braves where he pitched a complete 10 inning shutout to clinch the series for the Twins. I still remember listening to that game on the radio and it was ultra thrilling and Morris had balls that clanked that night but if a decent career and one great game put you in the Hall then they'd better start adding on. He was intimidating on the mound and was the ace of the staff wherever he went but still the numbers just aren't there as attested by his ERA. He is 60 games over .500 for his career and struck out twice as many batters as he faced. Between Bert and Jack, if I was forced to vote for one (and by forced I mean a gun in my mouth or I'm dead and nothing less) I'd vote for Morris. A much stronger case can be made for him but I still don't think he is deserving.
The argument against Rice and Dawson is very simple. They don't have the numbers. Not even friggin close and if Dawson doesn't spend a few years in Chicago and Rice doesn't play in the softball park in Boston, their names aren't even going to be mentioned. Playing in media centers is always better for a players career and they get more accolades than they deserve (see Sandberg, Ryan) and these two guys are no exceptions. Between the two of them they only have 7 seasons of 30+ home runs. Seven. Ken Griffey Jr. has nine all by himself. This shouldn't even be an argument. They were good ball players. They weren't great even for the time they played and if Rice played in Kansas City and Dawson never leaves Montreal than I would be blogging about something else.
The case for Lee Smith is this. He was absolutely dominating as a pitcher in his time and was money in the bank. When Smith retired, he was the all time leader in saves and that record stood for several years. Like Goose Gossage, Smith didn't come into a game to face one man and get a save. He pitched in 50+ games 13 times in his career and pitched more than 70 innings 11 times in that span including 90+ innings six times and averaged one strike out per inning for his career. He is third on the all-time save list behind Trevor Hoffman and Mariano Rivera (http://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/SV_career.shtml) both of whom are still playing. Those numbers are worthy and Smith became the prototype for the relievers we see today. I would take Lee Smith in his prime over ANYONE who has been a reliever including the two guys mentioned. He was that good.
So good luck to everyone on the ballot today. I hope the voters use common sense and rational thought when making their selections. Afterall, this isn't Canton. Art Monk? Really?
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
A request for your next wife....
Dear Milk River Madman:
I happened to catch a portion of Ann Coulter's interview with Matt Lauer on the Today Show this morning and while God Bless Her for what she believes in I'm shit full of that cackling hen, screaming over the top, loud voice!
I can read her books all day.
I would never claim to have near the intellect to exchange barbs with her, nor would I.
Her arguments are well founded, and researched endlessly.
Most importantly, she's bold enough to point out the inequities in the horseshit liberal media and someone has too!
And she's Smokin Hot!!! I even like the Hooker boots!
But dammit Chip, when you finally get her alone, could you please address her delivery? It's to the point of distraction and lost appeal for me.
Thank you,
The Prodigy
I happened to catch a portion of Ann Coulter's interview with Matt Lauer on the Today Show this morning and while God Bless Her for what she believes in I'm shit full of that cackling hen, screaming over the top, loud voice!
I can read her books all day.
I would never claim to have near the intellect to exchange barbs with her, nor would I.
Her arguments are well founded, and researched endlessly.
Most importantly, she's bold enough to point out the inequities in the horseshit liberal media and someone has too!
And she's Smokin Hot!!! I even like the Hooker boots!
But dammit Chip, when you finally get her alone, could you please address her delivery? It's to the point of distraction and lost appeal for me.
Thank you,
The Prodigy
Monday, January 5, 2009
I hate to say I told you so. No wait, I love saying it.
Last week I predicted that the Chargers would beat the Colts. I'm not saying that I don't like the Colts. They're OK. Peyton is a great quarterback and his name will be mentioned in the "best ever" category when its all said and done but his playoff record is less than stellar. I pedestrian 7-8 with three of those wins coming in their superbowl season a couple of years ago. So what's up with him? A found the below article on a link through Barstool Sports. It was written Friday January 2. Virtually everything in this article is something that I've discussed with Dan at one point. Peyton is not a big game quarterback and the clock is ticking. Trent Dilfer, Brad Johnson, Kurt Warner, Bret Farvra, Doug Williams, Joe Namath and Jim Plunkett have all won a superbowl. The only person you can mention in the same breath as Peyton is Farvra and if he's continues on the path of psychotic self destruction (which I'm personally rooting for) then the only thing that will separate Peyton from this list is yards and touchdowns.
In the NFL, more than any other sport, Superbowls help define your career. Warner has as many superbowl victories, more appearances in the superbowl and more post season wins than Peyton Manning. Maybe Indy should be looking for a trade with Arizona in the off-season. Well, only if they want to win in the playoffs. From the Indianapolis Star.
We were talking on the radio, and I got to wondering:
What if the Colts somehow lose on Saturday? How will history treat them? How will we treat them?
After six straight seasons of 12 victories or more, but just one Super Bowl appearance/victory, what will their legacy be?
Now, before the multitudes attack, let me quickly add that I believe the Colts will win Saturday's game in San Diego. The Chargers are hot, but the Colts are hotter. The Chargers are playing better than earlier this season, but they're 0-5 against playoff teams. They dropped 52 on Denver, but as Broncos quarterback Jay Cutler said, "We can't stop anybody.'' San Diego is dangerous, especially if the Colts let Darren Sproles hurt them on special teams, but the bottom line is, they're wretched against the pass, meaning Peyton Manning should have a monster day.
(Oh, and a quick aside: I've been informed that in the first known example of bulletin-board material being provided by a vanquished team, the Chargers are using Cutler's San Diego loss observation as their rallying cry for this week. So we can't blame this one on Mike Vanderjagt. At least not without trying real hard.)
OK, then.
But let's play "what if . . .''
What if they lose?
What will be the ugly fallout?
I've written this before and I said it on the radio the other day and I'll write it again: They will cast themselves as the Atlanta Braves of the NFL. One great regular season after another, one postseason appearance after another, and just one championship to show for it.
Look at history. The only teams that have done what the Colts have done, stringing together all these double-digit-victory seasons, are the dynastic San Francisco 49ers and Dallas Cowboys.
Those teams won multiple Super Bowls. The Colts need to win multiple Super Bowls to fully validate and bring into focus the scope of this run of excellence.
And there's no excuse this time. No New England lying in wait. No dominant AFC team preparing to pounce on the unsuspecting Colts. No major Colts injuries, except for Gary Brackett's fractured fibula. No extended rest periods, providing the excuse that maybe they got rusty during the time off.
They will have to travel the hard road -- probably three road games unless Baltimore springs some surprises -- but this team has shown it can win on the road. Heaven knows, it hasn't handled home-field prosperity in the past.
In my addled mind, anything short of an appearance in the AFC Championship Game is a disappointing season. Ordinarily, I would say anything short of a Super Bowl would be a disappointment, but given how and where they started, how far they've come back and how hard it's going to be to reach the conference final, I'm willing to lower the bar just a bit.
But they've got to beat San Diego, at the very least.
And if they don't?
What will history say about Manning, at least at this point in his career? He will leave the game someday owning every statistical record, and for all we know, he might win a couple of more Super Bowls, but at this point, a loss would make him 7-8 in the postseason with some very ordinary numbers. That's not the record of a legendary quarterback. Call me crazy, but even at this point in his career, I'm not completely sure I trust Manning in the playoffs. Some games he's extraordinary; others he's very average.
What will history say about Tony Dungy? First, a loss would probably be his last game as the Colts coach. But his postseason record would move to 9-10. Clearly, Dungy is one of the all-time great coaches and his regular-season record with two franchises is beyond compare. Nobody, not a quarterback nor a coach, should be judged solely by his postseason accomplishments.
But how do you ignore 9-10 in the postseason? How do you ignore the one-and-dones in Tampa, the one-and-dones here against the Jets, Pittsburgh, San Diego and, perhaps again, San Diego?
The Colts now are playing for more than a chance to reach the Super Bowl; they're playing for their place in history. There may be more 12-win seasons, more postseason chances, but these kinds of runs don't last forever. So the question is what they do with this opportunity, as good an opportunity as they've ever had.
If they can run the football, even a little bit, even as a mere threat to keep the linebackers and safeties honest, they can go to Tampa. The record doesn't lie: Playoff teams that don't run don't go deep into the postseason. But, then, the record said teams with lousy run defenses don't win Super Bowls, so in 2006, the Colts' porous run defenders turned into the Monsters of the Midway.
San Diego beckons. And history awaits.
In the NFL, more than any other sport, Superbowls help define your career. Warner has as many superbowl victories, more appearances in the superbowl and more post season wins than Peyton Manning. Maybe Indy should be looking for a trade with Arizona in the off-season. Well, only if they want to win in the playoffs. From the Indianapolis Star.
We were talking on the radio, and I got to wondering:
What if the Colts somehow lose on Saturday? How will history treat them? How will we treat them?
After six straight seasons of 12 victories or more, but just one Super Bowl appearance/victory, what will their legacy be?
Now, before the multitudes attack, let me quickly add that I believe the Colts will win Saturday's game in San Diego. The Chargers are hot, but the Colts are hotter. The Chargers are playing better than earlier this season, but they're 0-5 against playoff teams. They dropped 52 on Denver, but as Broncos quarterback Jay Cutler said, "We can't stop anybody.'' San Diego is dangerous, especially if the Colts let Darren Sproles hurt them on special teams, but the bottom line is, they're wretched against the pass, meaning Peyton Manning should have a monster day.
(Oh, and a quick aside: I've been informed that in the first known example of bulletin-board material being provided by a vanquished team, the Chargers are using Cutler's San Diego loss observation as their rallying cry for this week. So we can't blame this one on Mike Vanderjagt. At least not without trying real hard.)
OK, then.
But let's play "what if . . .''
What if they lose?
What will be the ugly fallout?
I've written this before and I said it on the radio the other day and I'll write it again: They will cast themselves as the Atlanta Braves of the NFL. One great regular season after another, one postseason appearance after another, and just one championship to show for it.
Look at history. The only teams that have done what the Colts have done, stringing together all these double-digit-victory seasons, are the dynastic San Francisco 49ers and Dallas Cowboys.
Those teams won multiple Super Bowls. The Colts need to win multiple Super Bowls to fully validate and bring into focus the scope of this run of excellence.
And there's no excuse this time. No New England lying in wait. No dominant AFC team preparing to pounce on the unsuspecting Colts. No major Colts injuries, except for Gary Brackett's fractured fibula. No extended rest periods, providing the excuse that maybe they got rusty during the time off.
They will have to travel the hard road -- probably three road games unless Baltimore springs some surprises -- but this team has shown it can win on the road. Heaven knows, it hasn't handled home-field prosperity in the past.
In my addled mind, anything short of an appearance in the AFC Championship Game is a disappointing season. Ordinarily, I would say anything short of a Super Bowl would be a disappointment, but given how and where they started, how far they've come back and how hard it's going to be to reach the conference final, I'm willing to lower the bar just a bit.
But they've got to beat San Diego, at the very least.
And if they don't?
What will history say about Manning, at least at this point in his career? He will leave the game someday owning every statistical record, and for all we know, he might win a couple of more Super Bowls, but at this point, a loss would make him 7-8 in the postseason with some very ordinary numbers. That's not the record of a legendary quarterback. Call me crazy, but even at this point in his career, I'm not completely sure I trust Manning in the playoffs. Some games he's extraordinary; others he's very average.
What will history say about Tony Dungy? First, a loss would probably be his last game as the Colts coach. But his postseason record would move to 9-10. Clearly, Dungy is one of the all-time great coaches and his regular-season record with two franchises is beyond compare. Nobody, not a quarterback nor a coach, should be judged solely by his postseason accomplishments.
But how do you ignore 9-10 in the postseason? How do you ignore the one-and-dones in Tampa, the one-and-dones here against the Jets, Pittsburgh, San Diego and, perhaps again, San Diego?
The Colts now are playing for more than a chance to reach the Super Bowl; they're playing for their place in history. There may be more 12-win seasons, more postseason chances, but these kinds of runs don't last forever. So the question is what they do with this opportunity, as good an opportunity as they've ever had.
If they can run the football, even a little bit, even as a mere threat to keep the linebackers and safeties honest, they can go to Tampa. The record doesn't lie: Playoff teams that don't run don't go deep into the postseason. But, then, the record said teams with lousy run defenses don't win Super Bowls, so in 2006, the Colts' porous run defenders turned into the Monsters of the Midway.
San Diego beckons. And history awaits.
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