The Super Bowl Edition

The 1972 Super Bowl, Super Bowl VI, was played at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans.  It was 39 degrees at kickoff and remains the coldest outdoor Super Bowl ever played.  Carol Channing, Ella Fitzgerald and Al Hirt were the halftime entertainment and I am sure they heated things up! Duane Thomas rushed for 95 yards and a touchdown leading the Cowboys to their first Super Bowl title.  When asked at the postgame conference “If he was that fast?” His dour response was “Evidently”.   Thomas was asked if the Super Bowl was the Ultimate game.  His response, “If it’s the Ultimate game, how come they’re playing it again next year?” His perspective is refreshing given the hysteria that has come to be associated with this game.

It is tortuous path that has led the Yard back to the Ram’s band wagon.  The Dallas playoff victory was sweet in how it played that day and in Yard history.  The win over the Saints was tainted but unchanged in its results.  And here come the hated Patriots.  The Boston Red Sox already ripped our guts out in the World Series. Rams do not like seeing Brady and company smarting off their loss in last year’s contest and rounding into a force of nature these playoffs.

Much has been made this past week about the vastly more experienced Patriots facing the youthful exuberant Jared Goff lead Rams and the rest of McVay’s kids.  This is only Goff’s second season as a starter and of course his first Super Bowl.  Tom the terrific is playing in his 9^th.  He has passed Joe Montana, Terry Bradshaw and all the legends from the early years.  The Patriot’s success has not endeared them to many.  When Brady began this vision quest to become the greatest, he was a second year QB playing in his first Super Bowl.  In Super Bowl XXXVI, the Patriots were two touchdown underdogs to HOF great Kurt Warner and the greatest show on turf.  The former 6^th round pick was not expected to be able to keep pace with the high-powered Ram offense.  Coach Belichick crafted a brilliant defense to stop the Rams squeezing them into a tight low scoring game.  Many argued it was the early days Patriot’s espionage.  Several Ram players recalled, Pat defenders calling out their plays at the line even though the plays by the Rams were only used in that game.  The Patriots were finally exposed and fined long afterwards in the New England vortex of obfuscation.

There is lots of history of 2^nd year quarterbacks winning their first Super Bowl.  So, although Goff could be intimidated by the spectacle and circumstance, he has had others succeed under similar pressures.  Besides Brady, Russell Wilson was a second-year starter for Seattle when they won the Big Game XLVIII.  Before Wilson, Big Ben had won his first Super Bowl in his second year.  The much-maligned Colin Kaepernick was all over the news this week without even taking a snap since 2016.  But he was leading the 49ers to victory in the 2012 Super Bowl in his second season before the lights went out at the Superdome.  The Ravens rallied to win and Kaepernick was out of football four years later.  Dan Marino played in his only Super Bowl in his second season.  Dandy would play another sixteen years, act in an Ace Ventura movie, get enshrined in Canton but never reach the game again. So, Goff is not in rarefied aid but the O2 might seem scarce at times under the lights.

If the Patriots win the game, they will tie the Pittsburgh Steelers for most titles.  It only took the Steelers eight Super Bowls for their six.  On the flip side, if the Patriots lose, they will become the all-time leader in Super Bowl losses.  They are in tie with the Broncs at five losses apiece in the Big Game.  Much has been made of the Patriots repeated Super Bowls.  They have been good, but they also reign over the AFC East. Since realignment in 2002, the Patriots have .764 winning percentage.  No other team is near .500.  The Patriots are .788 against the rest of the AFC least.  The Pats get to play the Jets, Dolphins and the Bills twice each year.  They always win the AFC East, usually get Home Field advantage and only must win two games at home to get the championship.  It is still remarkable and the envy of other fans everywhere.

Super Bowl weekend is one of the biggest weekends all year in Las Vegas.  New Years is always a fece fest on the strip and March Madness brings throngs for that first weekend of insanity.  But the Super Bowl, or the Big Game as it is known in Las Vegas brings in up to 300,000 revelers for the game.  It will be interesting to see when the Raiders get the Super Bowl in their new crib in 2025 or so.  It is hard to imagine how many people would come to Las Vegas when the actual game is here!  We also wondered if Las Vegas can call it the Super Bowl because this weekend it is The Big Game.  All the print and media ads for viewing parties, beer specials and even betting lines all reference The Big Game.  Several years ago the NFL cracked down on bars and restaurants advertising using their trademarked Super Bowl.  Maybe when the official game is here in Las Vegas, the Super Bowl name might show up with the teams.

The Dodgers have been relatively quiet this off season besides the salary purge swap with the Reds.  Kemp and Puig were not in the Dodgers future.  We are pretty sure that the Dodgers are not in the World Series without Matt Kemp last year.  When the Dodgers young Turks struggled or went on the DL, Kemp pounded out an All-Star first half.  He led when there were no leaders and kept the Dodgers in the mix until the team sprinted to the finish line.  He was a key to 2018 but not 2019.  Puig was never the same after his meteoric first few months in the major leagues.  The Dodgers received Homer Bailey arguably the worst value in pitching.  Homer posted a 1-14 record in 2018 and is scheduled to earn $23 million in 2019.  He is off the books after that, but we do not expect to see Mr. Bailey in Dodger blue anyways. 

Bryce Harper and Manny Machado remain unsigned.  That should change in the next ten days with the Phillies in hot pursuit of Harper and the White Sox Machado.  The Yard applauds the Dodgers for not pursuing either.  We are not sure if AJ Pollock is the answer but the last thing the Dodger needed was another left-handed bat and average glove.  Harper will have an impact for some team, but the Dodgers have plenty of impact players already.  They need another starter and catcher. Machado is a punk that no one should give a multiyear contract to, but someone will.

USC stayed with their man Clay Helton.  The Yard has shared our delight in Helton’s retention.  We surmise it will be a story throughout the season if the Trojans struggle again.  The tea leaves do not look good for the Cardinal and Gold.  The Baby Blue and Gold across town is not in much better shape but we do not think we are National Championship contenders.  USC fan always thinks that.  AD Swann and Helton hired offensive wiz Kliff Kingsbury to be their new offensive coordinator.  It was a cous of sorts for the Trojans and led them to a top 20 recruiting class especially at wide receiver.  After the signees were locked in, Kingsbury bolted USC for the head coaching gig for the Arizona Cardinals.  In the aftermath of that development, that locked in recruiting class is starting to fall apart.  With a season opener against a solid Fresno State team, a visit to South Bend and UW, 2019 will be challenging season to contend for anything for Troy.

OT: The three highest paid QB’s teams did not make the playoffs. Jimmy Garoppolo is at the top of the list at $37,000,000.  He is the former backup to Tom Brady traded to SF.  Of the top ten highest paid QB’s, only Drew Brees won a playoff game this season.  Brady checks in at #11 making $22mil.  The Rams can fill in other pieces because Goff is “only” making $7.6MIL.  Brady takes lower and deferred pay so Belichick and company and fill in the other pieces.  Matt Stafford and Derek Carr’s obscene compensation affects what steps that their teams can make to the playoffs. 

Money Line: Sharp bettors say never bet against Tom Brady and the Patriots.  Upon further review, they are only 3-5 Against the Spread in their last 8 Super Bowl.  And that includes the backdoor cover against Atlanta after trailing 28-3.  So, betting against the Patriots has been 60% successful.

Go Rams!  Bring in an LA Rams title for the first time.

Happy New Year

The college bowl season is always a mystery for prognosticators.  Some schools are just thrilled to be in any bowl game just tell us when and where.  Schools whose big dreams were dashed late in the season can end up in second tier bowls with little at stake but honor and a watch.  The week of bowl frivolity with the sponsors and bowl officials is not a big motivator for top performance.  The Michigan Wolverines were within a beat down in Columbus of being in the CFP Final Four.  The Buckeyes obliterated the Jim Harbaugh redemption tour.  Michigan went from a potential Orange Bowl to the Peach Bowl.  The Peach Bowl team showed up and Florida drubbed them as 7 point underdogs.  Wazu almost had the same fate battling a feisty Iowa team in the Alamo bowl after losing the Rose Bowl bid to rival UW.  Washington State had not been back to the Rose Bowl since the Ryan Leaf era.  Playing in the Alamo Dome on December 28, is not like playing in the Grand Daddy of them all at the historic Rose Bowl.  The Huskies shut down the two-point play for the win over the Cyclones.  The ISU fan base did put a hurt on the beer concession for a second consecutive bowl game after bankrupting the Busch Light concession at last year’s Liberty Bowl.  

With all of the upsets, surprises and story lines, Yard staff felt that the Boise State Boston College bowl game was the biggest story line.  It was the biggest game story because there was no game.  Boston College had taken a 7-0 lead but game officials pulled the plug as biblical weather rolled into the Dallas metro area.  The decision was made for the right reasons and the welfare of fans and players at the venerable Cotton Bowl stadium.  It was not The Cotton Bowl that was played at Jerry World Saturday night that was canceled. It was the First Responders Bowl at the original historic venue that was cancelled.  With all of the cost, fan travel, and lost revenue, it takes an Act of God to cancel a bowl game.  It would seem that it would at least take an act of Congress to cancel the First Responders bowl!  The First Responders rush into the calamity not away from it. The Cheez-IT Bowl, yes there is one of those, could have been cancelled with hardly a couch potato protest. First responders everywhere were shocked by the cancellation of their bowl because of inclement conditions.

Another story line throughout the bowl season is the number of players who opt out of their team’s bowl game to save themselves for the NFL draft.  In 2003, Miami Hurricane star Willis McGahee was a consensus top five pick in the draft.  Legions of Hurricanes were populating NFL rosters from those teams. The Hurricanes of 2000-2003 were one of the top programs in the country winning the national championship in 2002 at the Rose Bowl over Eric Crouch and Nebraska.  Marching into Phoenix for the 2003 Fiesta Bowl national championship game, riding a 34 game winning streak, Miami and McGahee seemed unstoppable.  They both were stopped that night by the Ohio State Buckeyes and a freshman named Maurice Clarett.  McGahee suffered a late game injury that would jeopardize his NFL career.  He was able to recover two years later and play for nearly a decade in the NFL but never got the first round payout.  It gave every future star player pause on the risk of an injury in a bowl game before getting that first NFL contract.  The 2003 Fiesta Bowl game was for the national championship.  WV Mountaineer Will Grier opted not to play in the 2019 Camping World Bowl and WV got pasted by Syracuse.  WV had higher aspirations when the season began and when they waned, it became about Grier’s aspirations. Syracuse was just happy to be there and romped.

Notre Dame had another fine season under Brian Kelly.  Notre Dame has had and will continue to have fine football seasons with Kelly as their head coach.  Going undefeated, is extremely difficult in any regular college football season. ND alumni has to get real about their expectations about pursuing another football championship.  Undefeated University of Central Florida would probably have given a better showing in the Cotton Bowl than the Irish did against Clemson.  Clemson had to suspend their best defensive lineman and the second stringer was better than any of ND’s starter O line.  Yard staff does not see many of the players on Clemson, Alabama or Oklahoma who even considered Notre Dame.  The Irish get their fair share of talent from the Midwest and the parochial schools but the SEC and ACC get most of the talent they pursue.  They are not concerned with splitting atoms at Clemson or Alabama, they are worrying about splitting the corner and the free safety on a fade route.  Notre Dame might not be splitting atoms either but they are a premier academic institution and have been since 1842.

College football did not arrive in South Bend until 1887. Their historic football pedigree was burnished during the Knute Rockne era that began in 1918.  These were the teams with the legends of George Gipp and the Four Horseman.  Rockne’s teams would win ND’s first three national championships and start the first national rivalry with USC.  Rockne was followed by Frank Leahy and after some down years Ara Parseghian.  Leahy won an astonishing 86% of the games over an 11- year career.  He had four national titles and six undefeated seasons.  Ten lost years after Leahy retired, the feisty Ara Parseghian arrived in 1964.  Ara restored order and added two more national championships and let Rudy dress for games.  There was the surprise Dan Devine era 1977 title when a hero evolved from a scrawny kid from New Eagle, PA named Joe Montana. Devine also let Rudy play in a game. There was the 1988 saliva filled championship from granny Lou Holtz.  It has now been over 30 years since the Irish have been even gotten close to a title.  Their fans have endured beat downs by Ohio State, LSU and even Oregon State.  That was before their two CFP appearances where they have been outscored 72-17.  Saturday’s performance was probably the worst.  They were a good team with a bad finish.  Post graduate fan recalibration needs be a course offered through the extension program for Alums and other ND fanatics.

Post Script: Much has been made of it but Clemson freshman QB Trevor Lawrence was spectacular in the Notre Dame game.  He was raining big play strikes all over the field against the Irish much heralded secondary.  Besides channeling Ronnie “Sunshine” Bass from Remember the Titans, he has been playing like Sunshine in leading this team.  He was the number one rated QB in the country last year coming out of HS.  He looks the part.  Alabama is much better than ND but Oklahoma rolled up 481 yards and 34 points on the vaunted ‘Bama defense.  Clemson has as explosive an offense as the Sooners and a much better defense.  Go Tigers!

The Rest of the Story: Miami senior Willis McGahee was a consensus top five NFL pick during the 2002 season.  Maurice Clarett was an upcoming Buckeye freshman.  Their paths crossed in the 2003 Fiesta Bowl as previously mentioned.  McGahee suffered a nearly career threatening injury that took him years to recover.  Clarett scored two touchdowns including the game winner in that Fiesta Bowl.  He was the toast of Columbus following the Buckeye’s upset.  Clarett declared himself for the NFL draft after the season even though the rules then and the rules now did not allow football players of his age to declare.  He fought the NFL and lost.  It has been known to happen. By 2004, Clarett was out of football and finally arrested in 2006 with four loaded guns in his SUV with Kevlar on.  McGahee would rush for almost 9,000 yards in the NFL.  Clarett would never rush for one.

Merry Christmas from the Yard

Each holiday season for nearly two decades, a group of aged, former gym mates, meet for a holiday dinner in the Pasadena area.  The gym is long gone but the spirit still flies.  I have written about it in the past but this year unfortunately, I was unable to attend because of my various business ventures.  The group is very USC centric which does not silence the Yard but if you have been watching college football rivalries, the USC-UCLA has been decidedly Trojan during the aforementioned decades.  This year the Bruins trounced the Trojans and flipped the game board.  UCLA coach Chip Kelly and the Bruins are on the rise with a young exciting team.  USC keeps mining their past with their coach and AD.  They have been doing that since Peter bolted to Seattle.  USC deserved to win by all measures.  It has been a tough 18 months at the original U and the only U for many.  The football team was incidental to the other University improprieties.  The football team could have helped diffuse the situation with another Rose Bowl run.  And it was right there until it was 5-7.  Thankfully for all Bruin fans, USC AD Lynn Swann is sticking with his man, Clay. I wish I could have been there to lend support to my boys from Troy during their troubling times. And damn, it really would have been a super fun dinner.  See you all next year!

Sports has always been a Yard tenant.  It is not just the passion for any event but the binary nature.  There is a result that defines the winner from the loser.  If you or your champion, it is rose petals and Clicquot.  If you are the lost, it is self-loathing and alcohol.  The Yard has been involved with several boozy, self-loathing moments over the years with our chosen teams. There is most likely alcohol on the champion side as well but loathing lite.  Championship events cannot end in a tie.  The tie-breaking events are called shootouts and sudden death.  It all resonates as impactful as it sounds when the winner has to be determined in overtime. With all due respect to these vigorous athletics, chess has the best OT strategy of any sport.  For purposes of this discussion, chess is a sport.  It is definitely not a hobby.  Defending World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen (Norway) and the challenger Fabiano Caruana (USA) battled through a 12 set tied match in the World Championships this past month.  Carlsen eventually won but all the buzz was if there would be the ultimate chess tie-breaker, Armageddon. That is the absolute coolest tiebreaker moniker ever.  I am not sure what happens but it sounds like it would involve Liam Neeson, in flowing robes, shouting, “Release the Cracken” and the competitors would have to battle primordial chess beasts to the finish to declare a champion.  It did not come to that but the Yard can only hope for it in the future.

NBA basketball is back on the rise in LA.  The Clippers have been successfully disappointing these past several years.  Since they ran off Donald Sterling and made a run to the conference finals, the Clippers have slowly sunk into irrelevance.  It was their time to seize the city with the Lakers mining the lottery draft. But they stumbled and bumbled while Blake Griffin was cold cocking the towel boy.  Chris Paul bolted for Houston.  DeAndre finally made it to Dallas and the rest of the Clipper abyss drifted from our conscience.  In 2018, the Clipper lineup does not boast a recognizable name.  The most known names are the coach and the owner.  But somehow, this team of castoffs and journeymen is among the conference elite at this time.  It should be noted that the Rockets are awful and the Warriors were lost for a bit but the Clips look like they have some staying power.  They need to act fast because the Lake show is coming on like Lebron James on a fast break.  The purple and gold probably does not have enough Cowboys to take out the Warriors this year but look out next year.  And Steph Curry, I am pretty sure Neil and Buzz made it to the moon and planted a flag but you have coffee with Kyrie Irving so he can share the world is flat discussion.  Better you lads focus on basketball rather than pontificate on hillbilly conspiracies.  Steph, another year at Davidson and they would have covered the Moon Landing.

Yard youth was a huge Ram fan.  Timmy Lawlor and I watched the Rams go down in defeat to the Minnesota Vikings about 12 times it seemed.  It was always a frozen day in MN and the Ram players looked like they wanted to be anywhere else but there.  The Vikings always won and then lost in the Super Bowl.  Roman Gabriel, Jack Snow, the Fearsome Foursome, we worshipped them all but they could never deliver.  The slow erosion of faith from the move to Anaheim before the eventual re-location to St. Louis helped erase the heart ache of being a Ram fan.  It was already painful enough being a Bruin fan.  The Lakers and Dodgers were only champions back in the day.  But slowly upon their return, the horned helmet legion has started to pull us back into the fray.  Yard staff wants to stave off the unquestioned loyalty vote until the Raiders get to LV and we see what up with dat.  After watching what the Chicago Bears did to the Rams on a cold night in Chicago, it was clear the vote did need to get pushed.  We are sending a scout team to the first Ram playoff game to vet this game changing staff vote.

In 2015, there was no Pro Football in LA.  And in 2016 when the Rams and Chargers both moved back to LA, some would say Pro Football still had not come back to LA with the Chargers storming to a 5-11 season and the Rams a stellar 4-12.  Both teams were playing in ill-suited stadiums by NFL standards but when you are not playing up to standards, who cares.  In 2018, both teams are among the elite in the NFL.  The Rams have been a team on the rise for two years now.  The Chargers have not been in the playoffs since 2013.  Phillip Rivers has always been among the elite but his team could just not seem to get over the top.  This year Rivers has lead this team to the top of the AFC.  With Thursday night’s miracle win in Kansas City, the Chargers clinched a playoff spot.  We hope they go far and for more reasons than the 6:1 bet we made on them winning the AFC.

We love Rivers fiery personality on the field.  He is a different person off the field as would be a devout Catholic father of eight with the 9^th due in March.  Rivers can be affable in interviews and off the field.  Once he comes out of the tunnel he is a seething, competitive ball of fire.  He barks at his teammates, the referees and opposing fans throughout the game.  He was taunting KC fans after their home favorite went down in the last second.  Some may not like it, but at the Yard, we love it.  You all can have Aaron Rodgers and his stoicism.  Rodgers may have more fans but Rivers has the Yard!  What else does someone need other than Yard karma!  Unfortunately, quite a bit but we love this feisty pro-creator!

The dumpster fire in Arizona has already been lit.  The D’backs were going to conquer the NL west with their sharp young lineup while snatching Zack Greinke from the Dodgers with a ridiculous contract just a few years back.  Much has been written about this in the Yard and it still stings.  If Zack had stayed, the Dodgers might have won a title possibly during these past two campaigns.  Playoff pitching for the Dodgers is the problem, not regular season pitching.  Grei    `nke is an Asperger’s genius on the mound whether it is the playoffs or the regular season.  He would be brilliant in October but he will never find out because he took the dough not the chance for a ring.  The first match was lit when the Snakes traded their heart to St. Louis in Adam Goldschmidt.  He was the most feared and consistent bat in the batting order.  Now Zack and company can fight the Giants and Padres for the race to the bottom.  Padres have the inside track but the Giants have some compelling resolution these past few 90 loss seasons.  And just like with the Trojans head coach, we can only hope the Giants keep Bruce Bochy around to help retreat the charge.  He has been excellent in that regard.

Extra Innings: The holidays are upon us and as usual we missed all of the Black days and most of the other days left to shop.  Jo at the Yard has become our elf to make magic happen with unique thoughts and American Express.  The craziest gift idea we have heard is the 23 and me. DNA testing for your friends and relatives for Christmas sounds down right creepy.  We are told these ads do not run in Arkansas and Appalachia. We really cannot think of a gift that is more invasive.  We all think the government is tracking our every move anyways but millions of us are giving it up and paying for it!  Does it sound like a great idea to give everyone DNA tests for Christmas and then wait for the fun discussing the results next year?