Four Stories

The NFC and AFC Championship games will be planned on Sunday. This means that at the end of the day weekend we will have our Super Bowl match up ready to go. The nice thing about this year is that we are pretty much guaranteed to have two great stories fall into our laps for Super Sunday.

1. The New York Giants – It’s the emergence of Manning…but no the Manning that you are thinking of…the OTHER Manning…Eli. Not only has he led his team to the NFC Championship but his last two games have, arguably, been the two best games of his career. If he’s able to make it to the Super Bowl, wouldn’t it be a great photo-op to have Eli Manning settling into the pocket and completing a 22-yard TD pass while his brother Peyton cheers him on from the luxury boxes?

2. The San Diego Chargers – A team that started the season 5-5 before rattling off eight consecutive victories to get to the AFC title game. They have one of the best running backs in the game in Ladainian Tomlinson; a young, yet fiery, quarterback in Philip Rivers; a couple of solid wide receivers. That being said, almost all of those players are hurt…and they’re going up against the NFL’s best team…who just so happens to be 17-0 on the season thus far. The Chargers could be the team that had a rough start, figured things out, went to the AFC Championship and took down the giant.

3. The Green Bay Packers – Brett Favre. Need I say more? We have been sitting back waiting for this guy to retire for the past seven years yet he continues to come back. A couple of seasons ago, particularly during his 2005 campaign, I really thought that Favre had become one of those players that we hate to see – a great player that stuck around just a season too long. Well, Sir Brett of the Tundra has guided the Pack to 13 wins during 2007 and got them back to the NFC title game. Could this be the “last Hurrah!” for Brett? I doubt it…but if he wins the big one, that would be a heck of a way to go out.

4. The New England Patriots – The pursuit of perfection. I remember when I was a little kid and I saw the old ’72 Dolphins clinking their glasses and remembering the good ol’ days of their perfect season. Well, the Pats are looking to better the ‘Phins. Bill Belichick, Tom Brady and the crew are looking to become one of the best teams in NFL history, and certainly put up the best record. That being said, I have never seen a team more focused than New England. They have set their sights high but have not underestimated anyone. They play with a purpose that is unmatched by anyone I have ever seen.

As for my picks? Well, I'm taking the favorites...the Packers and the Patriots.

Manning and the Giants have had a great run but the Packers are just too strong - on both sides of the ball. I think it will be a close game and will probably come down to a big play in the fourth quarter. That's the main reason that I like the Packers though. Favre has been there too many times and has too much experience to let the moment get to him. Eli's time will come one day...it just won't be Sunday.

Tom Brady just has way too many weapons (Randy Moss, Ben Watson, Wes Welker...I really could keep going on). If Rivers, Tomlinson and tight end Antonio Gates cannot play, then it should be a good, old-fashioned Boston Massacre. Even if the Bolts were playing at 100%, I'd have a tough time picking them over the Pats.

Well, just like those smug old men who wear the old Miami Dolphins uniforms, I’ll have my champagne ready to go at the end of the day. Because regardless of the outcome of either one of these championship games, we are going to have two great story lines for Super Bowl Sunday!

Have a good weekend!

Back to the Blog

Well, I’m just now getting back into the swing of things after “my long winter’s nap” of the holiday season. A lot has been going on over the past couple of weeks that we haven’t had the opportunity to talk about. Therefore, over the next week or so we’re going to be tackling some of those issues.

Things to look forward to:
-Tom Glavine putting back on a Braves uniform
-LSU capturing college football’s national title
-Goose Gossage getting into the Hall of Fame
-Tony Romo and Jessica Simpson

And most recently (as in today), the start of the second round of the NFL Playoffs.

So, here’s where we are: Lady Cheek is out with some of her girls tonight, so you know what that means for me – a night of rotting my mind and teeth! I’ve decided to turn this afternoon and evening into a nice little NFL Football Day (which I don’t do very often). But Brett Favre and Tom Brady are playing today. It’s a big day.

So, without further delay, a nice little NFL Day Diary…

8:12 p.m.: The New England Patriots, and their 16-0 record, just kicked off to the Jacksonville Jaguars.

8:19: J-ville is going for it on fourth down on their first drive?!...AND they got it?! Holy crap! Talk about setting a tone.

8:23: Jacksonville just scored a touchdown on a crazy pass play from Garrard to Matt Jones. Are we about to see the Pats fall?!

8:29: Brady’s first five-step drop…SACKED. All Jags, all the time!

8:30: The Pats pick up 33-yards on a short pass to Laurence Maroney.

8:32: Brady says we’re going for it on fourth down too. I’ll show you David Garrrrrard! And…got it.

I’m betting that the punter for the Patriots just used that little phone that they keep on the sidelines to call across the field to the Jaguars’ punter and say, “Seriously dude, we should just go home.”

8:34: Touchdown Ben Watson! Alright…Go Dawgs.

8:40: Okay, I can already tell that this is going to be a short diary. There has been roughly four seconds of actual football over the six minutes. The commercial breaks are going to kill me.

8:43: Garrard fumbles and the Pats recover…here we go. And just to throw it out there, Brady and the Patriots are just grueling to play defense against. They just find ways to get first downs over and over again.

8:46: End of the first quarter. 7-7.

Jimmy Johnson is in one of the new Coors Light commercials. You know, the ones that have the guys in the press conferences asking the stupid questions. I want someone to try to convince me that it wouldn’t be a good idea to just tie Johnson to a chair toss him off a bridge. Seriously, just try.

8:50: The Pats just stuck it into the endzone on the first play of the second quarter…and back to commercials…

And ah yes, our first erectile dysfunction commercial. It just wouldn’t be NFL Football without one. I love it when the guy starts talking about the side effects. Sure you might not be able to walk again, and you’ll probably vomit after each meal while you eventually go deaf and blind…but hey, when your wife is ready to go, you’ll be ready.

8:53: The Pats kickoff, tackle the Jags on their own 5-yard line and then we are back to the commercials…

Big Brother 9?! Are they still actually making this show? Who’s watching this stuff? Speaking of television shows...we’re also going to have to talk a little bit about what has been happening in the television world. That’s another entry for another day but just add that to the list.

9:03: Okay, I just watched the Jaguars drive the length of the field as if to say, “We will NOT go quietly into the night.” Brady and Bill Belichick don’t look amused.

9:09: CBS just showed us the passing stats in the game so far. Garrard – 11-12, 141 yards and two TDs; Brady – 7-7, 81 yards and one TD. This can’t last that long, can it? And with a player down, we’ll go to commercial…

A new movie called 10,000 B.C. is coming out in March. From what I gathered from the trailer, it’s pretty much all mammoths and saber-tooth tigers. Is there anyone of note in this movie? IMDb says, “No.” I mean, when you’re making a movie about that time period you have to know that there isn’t going to be a lot of clothing. The casting director HAS to go to the producers and say, “Listen, we have to get Jessica Alba in this movie, pony up!”

9:18: We’re at the 2-minute warning and there has been one incomplete pass so far…IN THE GAME.

9:25: The Patriots kicker goes wide right on a field goal attempt before the end of the second half. Only time will tell if that comes back to bite the Pats.

9:31: Halftime. 14-14. Pretty good ball game. I’ll have to stick around for the second half.

Well, the CBS crew is putting me to sleep so I am going to wrap this thing up. I’ll be writing more throughout the week. Don’t be a stranger.

My Charlie Brown Christmas

With so much to talk about in the sports world right now, what with the Mitchell Report being released, college football's most prominent coaches changing schools and the New England Patriots still looking for that perfect season, it's nice to know that I can still take a break from it all and enjoy a little Charlie Brown during the Christmas season. Here's a great version performed by Zach Braff and the rest of the gang from Scrubs.

Merry Christmas!

Rivalry Time

Michigan hosted hated adversary Ohio State this past weekend for the opportunity to represent the Big Ten conference in the Rose Bowl in January. This rivalry doesn’t need anything to make it a great match-up. It has been for years. It's not the only good rivalry out there though.

We have plenty of rivalry games lined up for our viewing pleasure this weekend as well. That got me to thinking about some of the great rivalries of all-time: Ali-Frazier, Yankees-Red Sox, Donald Trump-Rosie O’Donnell.

Some of my personal favorite rivalries are taking place this week. What do I like about these games? Everything. They have emotion. Fans would sometimes toss out an entire season as long as they could have their team win this one game. They have great names like “The Duel in the Desert,” “The Red River Shootout,” and “The World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party.” They even have great names for their trophies like Paul Bunyan’s Axe, the Sweet Sioux Tomahawk and the Beehive Boot.

There are so many great games to choose from but here are a couple of my favorites:

Best Name: The Backyard Brawl (West Virginia vs. Pittsburgh). It was tough for me not to pick The World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party for this one but I decided to go with The Brawl. This one isn’t this weekend…it’s next, but it’s still a great name. Frankly, this game just sounds cool – The Backyard Brawl – you pretty much have to be the toughest teams in the area to call your game this. West Virginia and Pittsburgh first locked up for The Brawl in 1895.

Best Trophy: The Floyd of Rosedale (Iowa vs. Minnesota). The Big Ten has a bunch of great trophies but this is my favorite for a couple reasons. First, it’s a trophy with a 21-inch bronze pig on the top of it. I mean, come on! It’s a giant pig-trophy. The other thing that makes this trophy great is that in its first year, in 1935, the governors of the two states actually bet their state’s prize-winning hog on this game. This was in the north, people!

(The more that I think about this topic the more I think this could take over its own blog entry. We may have to devote an entire day to talking about the great trophies of college football.)

Best overall game: The Iron Bowl. It’s the annual grudge match between Auburn and Alabama (okay, I’m a little biased because I’m from the South). The Crimson Tide own a 38-32 advantage in the series with the lone tie coming in 1907. Auburn has won the last five contests though. This is one of my favorites because there is such a passionate hatred between these two teams. In the state of Alabama, you grow up cheering for either Alabama or Auburn. Cheering for both is completely unheard of.

Thanksgiving night there is also a great game – with possible Rose Bowl implications: Southern Cal vs. Arizona State. I’ll be tuning in with the best part of Thanksgiving with me…no, not friends and family…a big sandwich filled with leftover turkey!

Have a great Thanksgiving everyone!

Problems With A Playoff

One of my favorite debates in sports is the topic of a playoff system in college football. Why? – Because it’s a never-ending struggle. We’ll probably still be arguing about it 30 years from now.

Currently, people are more upset with the BCS system than Donald Trump is with Rosie O’Donnell. Everyone thinks that a playoff system needs to be in place. They claim that there is just too much controversy out there – too many politics. I think that they’re wrong.

Let’s look at what it would take to build a payoff system (we’ll try to keep this as simple as possible and just work with the logistics of the actual setup).

First, we’ll need to decide on how many teams make this playoff system. A 64-team field is almost out of the question seeing as there are only 119 teams in Division I-A football. Half the field can’t make the playoffs. A four-team playoff seems too small and wouldn’t suffice for what the pundits want. Eight seems to be the number that pleases most people. So, we’ll go with eight for the moment.

Now, we have to decide if conference champions get an automatic bid into the playoffs. If so, which conferences? I think we’d have to be looking at the Big 10, Big 12, SEC, ACC, Pac-10 and Big East. That’s only six…which two do you add in after that? The MAC? The WAC? Who knows? You’re going to leave someone out. And what happens when a 7-5 Baylor squeaks into the Big 12 title game and it happens to be their day? Then we have a playoff that includes a team ranked 40th in the country. (Keep in mind that this system would also make non-conference football games completely and totally irrelevant.)

Another fact to keep in mind: Notre Dame is independent. Does that mean that they don’t get the chance to play for a title. I’m actually okay with that. Moving on…

So, let’s say that we just run with the six power-conferences. We have to fill those last two spots. How do we decide on those two teams? I guess we’d have to leave it up to a selection committee. There are more than a dozen one and two-loss teams out there right now that will not win their respective conference and a still-undefeated Hawaii team to contend with. You’re talking about some BIG schools, with BIG boosters, who like to throw around BIG dollars. Now, if you don’t think politics are going to get involved in that process then you’re crazy.

Do we simply extend the field to 16 teams? If we do then we are going to be running into the same problems when we get to the three-loss teams. Possibly even more. The Southeastern Conference has seven teams in the BCS Top 25 – You have to think that more than three of them could make a case for this hypothetical tourney.

We all enjoy our college sports and college football seems to be our first love. When we talk about it we use words like “heritage” and “tradition.” There is a certain amount of tradition that goes into the Bowl System. People love talking about that year the team won the Sugar Bowl or the Cotton Bowl or the EricCheek.blogspot.com Bowl (I’m trying to convince everyone that this bowl needs to take place in 2010).

The system isn’t perfect. We all know this. One of the things that makes collegiate football so great, though, is that we argue about it. We constantly enter into debate with friends, co-workers and the “experts” sitting three seats to our right at the local watering hole. So go tell your buddy he’s a moron…heck, come tell me I’m an idiot. I welcome the conversation.

Off Topic For the Off Week

I was discussing this topic with a couple of buddies the other day and was actually surprised to find that we had many of the same answers. So, I pose to you: What are the greatest inventions of your lifetime?

First, we need to set a few parameters:
--This list will have no particular order. I’m not in the business of ranking.
--We won’t be using exact dates. It’s just too hard to find out when things were patented or first appeared on the market to the general public.
--We’re going to essentially look at 1980 as a starting point. That was the year that I was born, plus it’s just a good round number to start at.
--We are going to look at an approximate time when things became overwhelmingly popular. I understand that AT&T was talking with the FCC about cellular phones as early as the 1940’s but we’re going to be calling the birth of cell phones the early 1990’s (when Zach Morris started using his).
--We will also be discussing our “favorite” inventions, not necessarily the “best” inventions. I know that their have been great advances in the fields of technology and medicine over the past 25 years but that doesn’t negate the fact that at least 70% of my television viewing is ESPN.
--The internet as a whole cannot be mentioned because it has changed the world in way that no other invention has. The creation of the internet ranks up there with penicillin and the wheel.

So, let’s get this list started (at least the first seven that I can really think of):

-Digital Camera
The ability to take pictures, look at them, decide that the way that you were standing made you look fat, erase the picture, then take it again...all without using any film at all? Sorority girls across the country went berserk the day that they got their first digital camera.

-Cellular Phone
Don’t get me wrong, I still find this item evasively obtrusive. That being said, I don’t know how I ever found people in a crowd before I owned one. I even remember the moment that I figured out that cell phones were genius…July 4, 1998. I borrowed my dad’s cell to track down my friends at Lenox Mall so we could watch the fireworks. Now, I freak out if my cell leaves my pocket for more than five minutes.

-DV-R / TiVo
I’m not going to lie to you – I got in late on this phenomenon. I hooked up a DV-R in my house for the first time just a little less than a year ago. I was told how great it would be and even knew how great it would be. It turned out that it was even better. I don’t miss my favorite shows anymore. I don’t even miss the crap that I don’t want to see.

-High Definition Television
Going along the same lines, HD-TV. Just unbelievable. Action shows are absurd and sporting events are ridiculous. I remember watching The Masters in HD on CBS with my buddy O.C for the first time. We could have actually caddied for the players from our living rooms. We could read breaks in the green from the couch.

-The iPod (and for that matter…digital music)
I jumped on this bandwagon late too. My buddy Billy and I went to a bar in downtown Athens the other night (before Guster took stage at The Georgia Theatre). We started discussing the concept of digital music and realized that this was just an absurdly great concept. It just changed the way everyone listens to music. No tapes. No CD’s. No wires. No anything. Plus, iPods kind of look like they should have come from another planet, making them infinitely more cool.

-The yellow first down marker
I think that people underestimate this one. This invention single-handedly changed the game of football for women. Tell me, did you ever try to watch a football game with your girlfriend BEFORE the yellow line was developed? Of course you didn’t. Because she couldn’t figure out what was going on and didn’t want to be a part of it. Now she has a point of reference. If nothing else, she can chime in on crucial third downs and give you the ol’, “I don’t know, honey. I don’t think he got the first down.” She’s happy because you’re letting her participate and you’re happy because you think that your girl knows something about football. In the end, everyone’s a winner.

-ESPN
When I was eight years old, my parents made the great purchase of cable television. It took me a while to peruse all the channels but then one faithful day I discovered ESPN. Sports, all the time? It was amazing. The monumental discovery was made one morning when I got up to eat breakfast before school and stumbled upon SportsCenter. Back then it was a 30-minute show that ran on repeat for approximately 5 hours (this is not an exaggeration). SportsCenter immediately became my viewing choice before school. It’s as important to me as Good Morning America is to old people.

So, there they are. The best stuff to come around over the past 25 years. If you agree, great. If you don't, then I just don't know what to say...I've given everything that makes up our daily lives (except for video games which is an entirely seperate conversation all together).

The sports world is about to hit a pretty exciting couple of weeks coming up. We have professional football in full-stride, college football closing in on the "rivalry" weeks, the World Series, and hocke and basketball about to get under way.

Brace yourselves!

Three Of These Things Aren't Like The Others...

There were some big upsets this weekend. Colorado knocked off #3 Oklahoma, the Tiger-Plainsman-War Eagles of Auburn defeated #4 Florida (on the road and at night no less), Kansas State popped #7 Texas, Maryland took care of the “wood-choppin’” boys from #10 Rutgers and the Ramblin’ Wreck beat the #13 Clemson Tigers.

These were all good things that made for a great week in college football. It also made for an odd looking AP poll come Sunday afternoon. I mean, let’s look at your top five:

1. LSU
2. USC
3. California
4. Ohio State
5. Wisconsin

Okay, I’ll buy into that. That seems like it could be a top five on any given year over the past decade or so. But then…

6. South Florida
7. Boston College
8. Kentucky

These three schools are like those three random freshman girls who show up for their first big fraternity party of the year. They look great on the surface – they’re trendy and no one really knows anything about them so they have that “air of mystery” going for them. The thing is, they’ve just been nursing on beers so far and not really hitting the “hard stuff.”

Boston College, you did beat, a then ranked #15, Georgia Tech in Atlanta a couple weeks ago but we found out that the Jackets, despite beating Clemson, are not nearly as good as we all thought. That’s pretty much it…that’s all you’ve accomplished.

Kentucky, you beat Louisville a few weeks back when we thought that they would be vying for trip to the National Title Game…then the Cardinals fell to Syracuse and we all said, “Whoa, whoa, whoa! These guys can play offense but their defense is just dreadful.” The win the Wildcats had at Arkansas was decent but they still gave up a lot of yards and 29 points.

South Florida…hmmm…you’re like the leader of the trio. You actually have some things going for you. You went into Auburn and beat them and then this past weekend you beat the speedsters that were #5 West Virginia. I’ve got to admit, you’re looking kind of hot right now.

Well, ladies, the bar just ran out of beer so if you want to continue to hang out then you’re going to have to turn it up a notch. It’s nothing but mind erasers and tequila shots from here on.

The first half of Boston College’s schedule isn’t exactly a gauntlet. They have gone through Wake Forest, NC State and Georgia Tech in conference and have tangled with Army and UMass over the past two weeks. They have Bowling Green and Notre Dame (and don’t even get me started on the Irish right now) for the next two. They should have a 7-0 start. Then it’s time to line up the shots – at Virginia Tech, Florida State, at Maryland, at Clemson, and Miami. Yowza!

Kentucky has played some stellar offense and has put up at least a 40-spot in each of their first five games but the Wildcats are about to hit it hard. This week, on Thursday night, the cats travel to #11 South Carolina. They’ll follow that up by hosting top-ranked LSU and #9 Florida. Later on they have to go to Athens to take on the Dogs and then host Tennessee. Yikes!

What I’m saying is that as good as those girls looked entering the party, we all know that they are going to end up doing too many shots, get trampled on the dance floor, break the heel on their left shoe, tear their shirts and end up throwing up all over themselves…they’ll end up back in obscurity.

The only thing that frightens me is that South Florida might end up looking great at the end of the night (like the girl who just calls a cab for her sloppy friends and then heads back up to the bar). The rest of South Florida’s schedule looks like this:

-at Florida Atlantic
-Central Florida
-at #21 Rutgers
-at UConn
-#20 Cincinnati
-at Syracuse
-Louisville
-at Pittsburgh

This isn’t tough. South Florida could do this. Their toughest game is at Rutgers. They have Louisville at home and Cincinnati is ranked despite not having played anyone at all. South Florida may be sitting there at the end of the season with an undefeated record.

Is the nation going to be okay with South Florida playing for a National Title if they run the table? I’m just not okay with it at this point.

The Betting Man Update:
Week 4: 1-4
Overall: 8-12 (I really need to turn this ship around soon.)

Pics of the week:

It was a beautiful day for football in Utah this past weekend.

Mike Flynt, 59, plays linebacker for Sul Ross State...Now that's old man strength.

Hey Coach Stoops, how did your Sooner's look this week?

SEC fans everywhere were cheering for Auburn.