A few sports related items

Back to this. Have a few ideas backed up, but here are some relatively fresh sports related ones.


--Ed Hoculi--

Ed Hoculi should be fired. It’s a simple statement with a mountain of truth. The fact of the matter is he blew a major call. Just as it appeared Denver had lost grip of its potentially tying or winning drive, and just as it appeared San Diego had gotten a hold of it, securing their own win, Denver just lost control for a second. The reason for this? Ed Hoculi saw a fumble as a forward pass. The chance of seeing this as a throw in real time is slim to none. So the ball hits the ground, and he blows the whistle. The thing is, everyone keeps moving. Sure, there are remarks from Cutler and gang that they stopped, just as any good boy scout would, but frankly that shouldn’t have mattered. The ball went securely into the hands of the San Diego defender, and he fell on it, getting tapped down. Even though the whistle had blown, the play had unofficially kept going. I know, it’s not official, but that’s how it should have been called. I know it’s easy for me to say it, and frankly that’s part of the reason why I’m doing it.

There are several counterpoints to this. One being San Diego still had an opportunity to stop them. And they did, really, they did. But the thing is, having something called like that against you, especially after it has time to sink in after the replay booth, is emotionally anti-climactic for the loser. It is such a huge loss of momentum. The player gets a feeling that no matter what they do, it will not matter because the system is against them. They could do everything right (like they did) and still end up the loser (uh, yeah). Besides, red zone stops usually rely on more luck than skill. That’s just the nature of the game. They also had a chance to stop the 2 pt conversion, as they probably should have, but again, I hate to hit the hammer of momentum,

Another counterpoint is San Diego had a chance to win it afterwards. Yeah, they did have a chance to score. They only had to go more than half the field. Let’s say they got it at their 40. That’s 60 yards for a touchdown, but you only need one point. There’s about half a minute left, and I think one timeout. It’s 20 yards to get to a 57 yard field goal. A field goal of that length is by no means a guarantee.

The last relevant counter point is that it is but one game in the season, and it is still very early yet. The other thing is, building early momentum is a great way to earn a playoff bid. The AFC West may come down to these two teams, the other two being lame ducks. This essentially gives Denver a leg up on the competition, while trying to bury San Diego alive.

And to everyone who says, well if they were really that much of a better team, they should have won by a bigger margin. Please, stop talking. These are the same people who claim the “patriots dynasty” as the greatest thing since sliced bread. News flash, every super bowl they have won was by exactly 3 points. The 60’s Packers, 70’s Steelers, 80’s 49ers, and 90’s Cowboys all found ways to bury their opponent eventually. Oh, but the salary cap. Yeah, every team has to deal with it. And before the salary cap, every team got to keep whatever player they wanted if they wanted to pay him. So that means, the best teams theoretically actually would have the most highly sought after and paid players. In a way, concentrating the talent at the top, I think, would make the feat of a dynasty more difficult, having to beat the best teams constantly in the playoffs.

I know, people have gushed over Hoculi. Sometimes I joke about people buying his jersey. But I look at it this way. Refs are like groundskeepers, their name only gets brought up when the job isn’t being done right. If the grass is shit, lets fire the groundskeeper, oh look, he has a name. Yeah, I know, refs have to make tough calls, but in general, what should be remembered about a game is the team, and the players, not that really awesome call the ref made. And besides, I never really saw anything special in the reffing abilities of Hoculi, just another zebra in stripes.

--Notre Dame--

Speaking of poor reffing, I’m still pissed about this. Last week, not this one which just passed, the one before, ND played SDSU, and for most of the game, SDSU was up. Yes, holy Notre Dame to lose to lowly San Diego State. Well, the stupid call is the SDSU running back ran the ball to about the goal line, some say he crossed, some say he didn’t, but around this time, he fumbled it, and the ball skirted forward and then back into the endzone. The call was this – The ball did not cross the goal line, therefore it was fumbled, and the defender got a touchback. So there’s two bad calls here. One, the non-touchdown; two, the non-safety. SDSU should have gotten one or the other, but got neither. Very next drive, Notre Dame scores quick and the game’s momentum quickly and abruptly shifts into ND’s hands. Wouldn’t it be a pity if Notre Dame honestly lost?


--Donovan McNabb--

Donovan McNabb, what has happened to you? I remember when you used to thrive in the second half. The running game wasn’t always there, and the defense kept us in it, so we had to throw to score, and you usually came up with what we needed. I specifically remember a certain Monday Night game, against the Giants. Up to this point, the Eagles had lost 9 straight games to the Giants, the last being an ugly playoff rout (before they themselves were routed by the Vikings). Down by more than 3 (I want to say the score was 3-9 at the time, but I don’t remember specifically, so I’m not going to commit to that) with less than five minutes to go, McNabb throws a perfect pass into the back corner of the end zone, receiver falling down, ball being drilled through the outer limits of coverage. I believe the receiver was tight end Chad Lewis, but I’m basing this on him being the only reliable receiver of the time. Plus, I’m pretty sure it wasn’t one of the wide outs of the time. But the point is, he has to win, and he does. I think the final was 10-9. The team needed him to carry the team then, and he had no problems shouldering the burden.

Somewhere along the lines, it fell apart. I personally think it was the NFC Championship game against the Bucs, the second one we went to. It was our first one at home, and everything, everyone, etc, said that the Eagles were not only going to win the game, but they were going to dominate. They almost came back to beat the Rams in the previous NFC Championship, who were almost at dynasty status, having one of the NFL’s all time great offenses. It was the last game at the Vet, the Bucs had done awful in cold weather (yeah, kind of an odd stat, but real) up to then, and had to face a particularly harsh Philly January. The team streak against the team was high, even containing then all pro Warren Sapp to simple amateur status. Everything changed. McNabb looked shell shocked. He didn’t know where to throw, or when. Sapp and Simeon Rice were in his face on an alternating basis, and cornerback Ronde Barber seemed to be all over the field. Despite all of that, it still was manageably close on the last Eagles possession. Then, Ronde Barber pick six.

I haven’t seen the same McNabb since then. He has good games here and there, and usually plays pretty well, if not great in the first 3 quarters. But when the game is on the line, nope, can’t do it. The man’s psyche had been shot. The man whom I imagined to be the next Elway when I was in high school, watching his comebacks as an early Eagle, and hearing of quite a few when he was backing the Syracuse Orangemen (a game against VT comes to mind), simply lost that comeback stuff. Up by 3 he fumbles a handoff to Westbrook, Cowboys score a TD on the ensuing drive. Next drive, only manages to complete a few short passes and get sacked. He even threw it short on 4th down (though I’m actually gonna blame this one on Reid, as it appeared that’s the way the play was designed). The end result, Eagles lose by 4, unable to fire last in the shootout.