Views from the Nosebleeds: Super Bowl LI Recap

For the first three quarters of Super Bowl LI, it seemed like the most entertaining aspect was Lady Gaga's halftime performance--and even that received mixed reviews.  On top of the Super Bowl commercials rivaling the bust statuses of Ryan Leaf and JaMarcus Russell sans three or four, it was looking like the high-flying Falcons were well on their way to a third consecutive postseason blowout victory and the first Super Bowl in franchise history.  As a football fan, I was deflated at returning to the 80s and 90s when playoff and Super Bowl beatdowns were par for the course because I enjoy competition.  However, leave it to Bill Belichick, Tom Brady and the Patriots to help save the day...

Views from the Nosebleeds Special Edition: Super Bowl LI Prediction

Everyone will salivate over the seventh Super Bowl appearance in the Bill Belichick-Tom Brady era ad nauseam.  Heck, folks are also already crowning Brady the best quarterback of all time over Joe Montana--although I'll wait until he wins to have that conversation.  However, here's a fun fact few people will mention: the NFC South is the only division where all four teams have been to a Super Bowl in the past 20 years and two of those teams have reigned victorious.  While the Patriots have dominated their division over the past 15 years, the Falcons have clawed their way through one of the toughest divisions in football to break an 18-year hiatus, looking to win the first championship in their 50-year history.  So of course, you've come here because you're expecting a prediction, right?!?!  Patience, my friends...analysis first, prediction last...

Views from the Nosebleeds: 2016 NFL Regular Season, Week 9

In another superb sports week, everyone else took a back seat to Major League Baseball and perhaps the best Game 7 in a World Series of all time.  Storming back from three games down, the Chicago Cubs broke their 108-yard curse with a thrilling 8-6 win over the Cleveland Indians, who now have the longest championship drought in baseball and the second longest drought in pro sports behind the Chicago/St. Louis/Phoenix/Arizona Cardinals NFL franchise.  Perhaps the next most interesting storyline was the long-awaited matchup between former teammates Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook in which KD's new team won convincingly over his old team, 122-96, and the 2014 MVP chipped in 39 points including seven three pointers.  Outside of Bill Belichick shipping Jamie Collins to the now 0-9 Browns, the biggest NFL news was the sudden departure of Vikings offensive coordinator Norv Turner, who had to contend with a change in direction of the offense reportedly including Pat Shurmur and Tony Sparano--two former NFL head coaches.  So while pro football wasn't king of the hill this week, the midway point of the 2016 season is  intriguing nonetheless as we'll see contenders and pretenders rise and fall...

Views from the Nosebleeds: 2016 NFL Regular Season, Week 8

If you're an avid sports fan, then this was your week.  Beginning of the World Series between the two franchises with the longest World Series championship droughts in the Cubs and Indians.  Beginning of the 2016-17 NBA regular season, which saw a loaded Warriors squad get their lunch money taken by the Tim Duncan-less Spurs to the tune of 129-100.  While very few people I know are checking for NHL action this early in the season, football nearly took a back seat in the midst of a smorgasbord of intriguing sports options until a Saturday night thriller in Tallahassee with No. 3 Clemson outlasting (now) No. 19 Florida State, 37-34.  Not to mention Fox being the beneficiary of a quadruple-header on Sunday between three back-to-back NFL contests and a do-or-die Game 5 of the World Series for the Cubs.  So during a weekend which featured eight games decided by eight points or less, three overtime games and the first consecutive weeks of back-to-back ties since Weeks 12 and 13 of the 1997 season, there was a lot to love and hate about Week 8...

Scribbler's Predictions: Super Bowl XLIX

So after having a bad case of the Bee Gees--and I don't mean Barry, Robin or Maurice--my planned summary of the AFC and NFC championship games couldn't get turned in on time last week.  Besides, there was only one game worth mentioning anyway in the improbable overtime thriller between the Packers and the Seahawks.  I usually don't watch non-Super Bowl games more than once, but being the largest comeback in any conference championship game and one of the greatest comebacks in NFL playoff history, I had to watch it again.  Conversely, I lost two-and-a-half hours of my life watching that debacle of a game now infamously known as "Deflategate" between the Patriots and some high school team from Indianapolis.  As far as I'm concerned, deflated footballs didn't matter since the Pats could've beaten the Colts with cement blocks tied to their ankles.  Anyway, we now have the two teams set to duke it out in Glendale, Arizona for Super Bowl XLIX, and there are many compelling smaller battles to explore within the bigger war.  Let's get at it, ladies and gents--well, it's probably more gents than ladies, but that's neither here nor there...