Rule #17: Don't be a Hero...

Well, the season is now complete....

Somebody, remind me what we used to do before football season??? I'm drawing a blank here.

I'll tell you what I'm doing, I'm going to Las Vegas. You people can stay here and freeze to death.... (well, okay, those of you who live here in the frozen tundra upper midwest....Those of you in fun places like Texas and Florida, disregard.) Yep, when I'm through, they're gonna turn over the keys to the Mirage Hotel and Casino... I will break them.

Heh heh, yeah, whatever. Maybe I'll take a few hundred outta there and go home quietly... Lay on a few prop bets for next year... We'll see.

Well, obviously I was shocked by the Super Bowl result. Fun game to watch, though.

Sean Payton, you gotta hand it to him. He went on 4th, and even though he didn't get it, he managed the clock, managed the situation, and still got his field goal. Nicely done. Yeah, memo to Andy Reid and Brad Childress: THAT is how you manage and end-of-half/end-of-game scenario... Ugh.

Is this painful for Minnesota fan?? Knowing you pretty much should have beaten the Saints, and then seeing the Saints dismantle the Vikings???

I'll tell you what, Childress is no Sean Payton. He is not.

Call of the game HAD to be the onside kick, to open the second half. What a gutsy gutsy call. A monster. That's all or nothing, right there. You give the ball to Peyton Manning at the 40, nothing good is gonna happen.

I love that call. I do. You came all this way, why not go out there and try to win the game?!?!? You play to win the game!!!-Hermann Edwards.

Of course, if they DON'T get it, that is bad. Bad bad bad. Really though, Childress has to be the poster boy for "playing not to lose", which is very different than "playing to WIN." If Childress and the Vikings are there, does Childress make those calls?? NO effing way. Never happen.

Sean Payton gambled, and it worked. And I think it energized his team. I brought this up during the game, and was immediately told "Hey, you're dating yourself...", which is very true, but I distinctly recall Broncos-Redskins. Broncos jumped out to a 10-0 lead, and then it was all Redskins, turned into a blowout. And I had a funny feeling, but still, I just didn't think the Colts would lose. It was ten nothing, Colts in total control. Then the second quarter came... Then the onside recovery....

And still, I just figured the Colts would find a way. Peyton Manning is now 9-9 in postseason play.

I will tell you, Colts Fans, this one is going to hurt. This is gonna leave a skid mark on your heart, for the rest of your life. The Packers won it all in 96. And I didn't dare to believe. The team had been bad my whole life, literally. When they won that game, I was stunned, for days, I was in disbelief. And then there was acceptance.

So, now, the following year, I am believing. I am daring to dream! And I was younger then, and not so bitter, and cynical, and my employers hadn't beaten the life out of me yet... But anyway, then we go in to play the Broncos. We are heavy favorites. Broncos are a joke. I've already cleared a spot on my mantle for another Lombardi trophy... And we lost.

I'm still in heavy denial about that game. I've sort of cordoned that off with yellow crime scene tape. I just don't go there. Honestly, I'm sitting here right now, 13 years later, thinking "We REALLY didn't lose that game, did we??? Naaah, we couldn't have..."

My nephew was not alive for the Super Bowl win. And he's not little anymore. IN a couple years, he's going to Driver's Ed, okay.... So what, if he's really lucky, he'll be mid-30's, sitting in a bar, drunk off his ass, celebrating a Packer Super Bowl... the time goes by. There's been some tough tough losses these last 13 years.

Anyway, the good part is, we can STOP hearing about how Peyton Manning might be the greatest QB of all time. What an absurd argument. That's even more absurd than Kurt Warner NOT being in the Hall of Fame. If guys like Jim Kelly and Dan Marino and Fran Tarkenton are in the Hall, Warner has to be there. If he doesn't go, feel free to burn the place to the ground.

Peyton is great, but he's not the greatest ever. You might want to Wikipedia a guy named Joe Montana, and refresh your memory. Steve Young. Troy Aikman. Tom Brady. Terry Bradshaw. I mean, come on. Greatest ever? He has a ways to go before we throw him in that conversation....

BTW (that means "by the way", to you people who don't hang around message boards, or text, or whatever), how great was it to see Emmitt Smith and Jerry Rice go into the Hall of Fame. Wonderful. Those guys were very good. Ridiculous. Guys like Randy Moss and Terrell Owens and Chad Ochocinco need to look at Rice, put their pathetic diva acts aside, and just bow down to the greatness. Just bow down, and shut up. Chad Ochocinco isn't worthy to carry Jerry Rice's equipment bag...

Anyways, enjoy the offseason!!! Degenerate gamblers and football freaks, I salute you. It's been a fun season. I hope to see you all next year. God willing, we'll all still be here, we'll reload and try again!

Rule #1: Cardio

Rule #2: Double Tap.

If you have NO IDEA what I'm talking about, go rent "Zombieland". Great movie.

By the way, it's a COMEDY. Seriously, it's a comedy. Check it out.

Anyways, speaking of Zombies, Vikings Fans have to be in a lot of pain. Bill Simmons called it a level 1 Gut Punch Loss. I see it more as a "Baseball Bat To The Head" loss... The kind of loss that hits you in the head like a baseball bat, knocks you down... You come to, on the floor, head screaming, ears ringing... You're nauseous, and you're wondering "What just happened??"

I fear for my brother-in-law's safety. Although by now, they've taken the restraints off of him, and he's free to wander around the padded cell... He's still locked in, but, he's not strapped to a gurney anymore... We'll call that progress.

30 yard line, minute to go, 2 timeouts.... The winning field goal is about to be kicked, right???

12 men in the huddle??? Coming out of a timeout??? Seriously??? Ugh...

Minnesota, besides some glaring mistakes, really outplayed the Saints...
First Downs
Minnesota 31, Saints 15
3rd Down Efficiency
Minnesota 7-12 Saints 3-12
Total Yards
Minnesota 475, Saints 257

They lost, I know... But this doesn't bode well for the Saints. Favre Hating Nation can bash all they want, and that's fine... In the last 10 years, Brett Favre has a pile of brutal postseason losses on his resume. But really, I personally think the game was lost on the Peterson fumble at the end of the first half. Vikings are getting ready to go into the half 21-14... Instead, Peterson Fumble, half over. Saints get the 2nd half kickoff, go down the field, it's now Saints 21-14... That's a big missed touchdown...

Take Indy in this one, minus the 5. Two minutes into this game, everyone is going to say "Oh yeah, that's right, the Colts are pretty good, we all knew they'd win..."

I'd take the over, also. Over 56, I believe.

People are starting to try to make the case for the Saints. I dunno. They would need the perfect game, to win, I think.

As long as football is winding down, a quick Reality TV note: Survivor Heroes vs Villians is coming up, February 11th. I am psyched. I might be a little TOO excited to see this. The cast is off the hook. Should be epic. I didn't jump on the Jersey Shore, and now I fel like I missed something. Through the magic of DVR's, maybe I can catch up.

Later!