Y'know, I can't argue with any of that.
I'd like to see the Steelers win, but that won't happen. This isn't their year.
Posted by P.A. Breault at January 22, 2005 9:38 AMHarvey - the Falcons didn't play the Packers this year so I'm not sure what you're talking about.
The Packers lost to the Vikings in the playoffs but it was Farve's mistakes that really did them in that game.
Atlanta has much more than Vick, with a fantastic defense that's gotten better as the games get bigger and every kind of running threat that exists. If Vick can't scramble, you can't get to him fast, and he can throw the living shit out of that ball from the pocket. Whatever the conditions, he's still Superman and no one else on the field is. And he did smoke the Pack in the snow last year in Lambeau during the playoffs, 27-7. Beware of southerners in cold-weather games, remember Ricky Williams the first time he saw snow in person? 228 yards, two touchdowns.
Pittsburgh is better than you think, or remember from the earlier matchup. New England didn't get the job done with Seymour and Law and could easily be beaten without them. Ball control and great defense often beats everything else, as Lombardi, Gibbs, Parcells, and even Brian Billick can tell you, and while the Patsies have it too, the Steelers are even more intense and inspired on defense.
Plus I'm starting to hate the Pats, they are the new Yankees. Literally. I can't stand another year of Bruschi, Vrabel and their homeless coach (can they not get some decent clothes on the man, or at least something waterproof?) glopping up the airwaves with their irregularly shaped heads. Tom Brady may be a cool cat but I think there's some savant behavior going on there. He needs to lose the Jake Plummer look before he starts playing like the Snake.
Finally, those towels were pretty damn terrible in the '70s, and they have been powerful presences at some away games this year, and Heinz Field may afford more home field advantage than you expect. Don't dis the towel, you might live to regret it. . . . That said, logic dictates that you take the Pats and the points. I wouldn't, because I hate them, but it's logical. Go Steelers!
My dream is that the Steelers win the Super Bowl, the Cowboys get Phillip Rivers from the Chargers and get really good, and my childhood replays itself on the football field over the next decade or so. God willing.
Posted by Uncle Mikey at January 23, 2005 7:51 AMWell that was dumb. I meant to say take the Patsies and give the points, sorry, but either way I curse all of New England and especially Hobo Belichick. Someone slip that guy an Ecstasy, he needs to relax and smile like a human being more than he needs another Super Bowl ring.
Posted by Uncle Mikey at January 23, 2005 8:57 AMUncle Mike - I too grew up with cordoroy Levi's and a Bradshaw # 12 jersey from Sears. Those days are gone. Time to move on.
Philly's D is every bit as good as Tampa Bay's and the Bucs shut out the Falcons. I used to think the same way you do about Belichick's wardrobe but not any more. It is part of his mystique. All he cares about is football. Let the other guy be the fashion statement.
Actually, my favorite player was Jack Tatum of the Raiders, who hated Bradshaw, then Jack Ham of the Steelers, and I refuse to move on. Last year over Christmas I caught a replay of a Steeler/Cowboy Super Bowl and after watching it a while I realized there were more interesting people on those two teams, more men with distinct personalities, than there are in the whole league today, and for that matter the Raiders of the '70s had more personality than all of the major sport professional teams today put together.
I'm not at all sure Belichick is human, but he is a fine coach. Either way, you were right. Good picks.
Posted by Uncle Mikey at January 24, 2005 8:36 AMMy favorite was Ted Hendricks. Can you picture any player being called "the mad stork" today?