sports: February 2008 Archives

I haven't been talking much about SU basketball, and no entries here, but it's been a pretty interesting Big East season. Again this year, there's a lot of parity, with Georgetown flirting with the top 10, and a whole bevy of teams nipping at the tail end of the top 25. Syracuse finds itself on the bubble again this year too--they beat Georgetown today in what the Sports Leader is describing as a "mild upset" but they got creamed by cellar dweller South Florida this week (they were helped today by the fact that UConn got taken to the limit by USF, though). With 9 losses, they probably have to win 4 of their next 5 and win at least 1 or maybe 2 games in the Big East tourney to have a legitimate shot.

It's a fun team to watch, and I think next year is going to be even better. They've had season-ending injuries in the backcourt, and are starting and playing mostly first-year players right now, and you can see them learning. Sometimes that learning is painful, but I'm guessing that with next year's recruits added to this mix, SU will probably rip off a string of deep NCAA runs. This year? If they make it, it'll be by the skin of their teeth, and I can't imagine they'd be much higher than an 8 or 9. They're a fun group to watch, but it'll be even more fun once they learn to win consistently.

That's all.

It was not a pretty game by any measure, save perhaps for the Giants' defensive linemen's performance. But I'll say this for Super Bowl XLII: I was on the edge of the couch for most of the 4th quarter, and the game was a live one until the second-to-last tick of the clock.

Once again, I don't think that a Manning deserved to win the MVP. My MVP? Syracuse University's own David Tyree, who:

• caught Manning's first touchdown


• caught Manning's crazy Tarkentonian scrambly hail mary


• and most importantly, Tyree dropped the flutterball that almost got picked off--had he caught it, short of the first down, they would have lost a bunch of time, and had trouble setting up the offense.

I am a little sorry that Merc won't have any company in Perfectville, and I'm even more sorry that Junior Seau didn't get a ring, but it's hard to feel sorry watching the SuperPats catch an elbow to the chops like that.

That's all. See you in the autumn, NFL.

1. Mercury Morris vanishes, maybe forever

2. No more tv/radio spots talking about the Super Bowl without being allowed (I guess) to use the actual phrase Super Bowl™

3. 359 sweet, sweet days until the next Super Bowl Media Monday, where all the B-list media outlets compete with one another to be the most "viral." This year? Congratulations to TV Azteca for being the biggest jackasses of a pretty jackassy bunch

4. No more wondering why the hell the freakin SUPER BOWL needs (a) a red carpet, or (b) Ryan Seacrest to stand on it. I know that FOX is the king of irrelevant and intrusive cross-product advertisement, but isn't American Idol already the most popular show on TV?

5. Hey, those wacky! crazy! Super Bowl commercials!

Last year at this time, I cared, since my Bars made it to the Super Bowl for the first time since I was in high school. But as a result, I think I'm even more cynical this year about how shallow and vapid these 2 weeks leading up to the game actually are. I just have no patience for the fifteenth story about the point spread moving from 13 to 12.5, or Tom Brady's phantom sprain, or Eli Manning's magical transformation from schlub to star in 3-4 games, or worst of all, stories about the repetitiveness of the stories. Ugh. Play the damn game already.

That's all.