Cowher Power, NCB Rankings, Blue Team

I am exhausted. Last time I checked, I thought the song went "it's the freakin' weekend, baby I'm 'bout to have me some fun." Instead, this past weekend went "it's the freakin' weekend? Crap." No offense to anyone, as I had great company for the weekend, but I am more tired on Monday than I was on Friday. Why? Um, did you happen to watch any sports this weekend? Whew.

Let's start with the NFL. Boring Seattle/Washington game, of course. Denver and the Pats was frustrating to watch. And Sunday was downright ridonkulous. Honestly, I am having trouble coming to terms with New England's loss. I feel like they handed Denver the game in a pretty package. Between NE and the officiating (more on this later), it was impossible to feel like Denver really went out and won the game. But, they did and they advance. The Broncs are pretty good...I guess.

I became a Steelers fan on Sunday. I like Indy alright and would like to see Peyton win a ring. But the calls in that game were awful. I asked my dad after the Polamalu interception was overturned if that was the worst call in NFL history. He said probably not, but tarheelpwin couldn't come up with one that was worse. Luckily, we won't remember that game for the referee's gaffe (after reviewing the play!). Luckily we won't remember Jerome Bettis' career for his fumble on the two yard-line either. Ernest Byner's fumble in the AFC title game for the Cleveland Browns against Denver is the most infamous goal-line fumble in my lifetime; I may have forgotten it if Big Ben doesn't make the tackle of his life on Nick Harper. I was indifferent on who won this game before it started, but the crap going against Pittsburgh (four gawd-awful calls, etc.) made me a Steelers fan for a day. I may make a list of the wierdness of this game at some point. Chief said after the melee was over that it was the best NFL game he'd ever seen...I do think it was certainly the wackiest.

Finally, the Panfers won. Enough of the '85 Bears versus the '05 Bears talk, it's not remotely close. It really hurts that Foster is out and Peppers, etc are banged up; however, the Panthers are used to adversity, so if anyone can fight through it, it's them. Furthermore, there were some horrendous calls both ways in this game as well. Adding that to those in the NE/Denver and Pitt/Indy games, and it was a LONG weekend for NFL officials. I honestly do not harp on officials that often, but I debated writing this entire segment about this weekend's errors. However, that takes away from the spectacular play at the most elite level in the post-season.

In other news, has anyone looked at the new college basketball rankings for this week? For the sake of brevity, I cannot believe the inflated ranking of certain teams. Louisville, North Carolina, Gonzaga, Boston College & Maryland are all waaaaay overranked this week. I don't want to bash the ACC, but seriously, this is bad. Have any of these voters seen BC so far? Pulease. And Carolina will be lucky to be .500 in the league. Maryland may pull things together; heck, all three of these teams might. Nonetheless, they do not deserve their lofty status at this time. As an opinionist, I would vote based partly on performance thus far and partly based on the big picture for a team. For instance, I would not vote North Carolina that high b/c 1) lost to Illinois, biggest game so far, 2) Kentucky was biggest win and they suck, 3) their schedule will dictate a disappointing record in the end. However, Michigan St, a 4-loss team, has lost to quality competition on neutral/road courts and will be fine come March. Anyway...

The Blue Team did not show up this weekend. Need a win this week, it's a winnable game, but will not come easy. For that matter, the next three are winnable and should be won if this is to be an elite team. Period. I'll have on the lucky boxers.

(with rhythm)

Aye-girl-you-make-my-whis-tle-blow

Peace.