Scribbler's 11th Hour Post of the Week: The Cultural and Historical Importance of Cam Newton's Super Bowl Appearance

The easy post would be to talk about the upcoming golden anniversary of the Super Bowl--or at least that's the post that most would expect coming from the unapologetic football enthusiast.  So I could easily ramble on and on about the matchup between two former No. 1 overall picks in Peyton Manning (1998) and Cam Newton (2011).  Building up the drama between the No. 1 scoring offense (Carolina) and the No. 1 overall defense (Denver) is a cakewalk.  Highlighting that this is the third straight time that both of the No. 1 teams from each conference are facing each other in the Super Bowl is child's play.  I could even salivate over the fact that Cam Newton could end up being the third quarterback in NFL history along with Joe Namath and Joe Montana to win a college national championship and a Super Bowl.  However, as we are two days into Black History Month, what is even more interesting to me is that Cam Newton could be the first Black starting quarterback in NFL history to win a college national championship and a Super Bowl.  Let's be clear: I love Peyton Manning as a person, a football genius, an excellent ambassador for the NFL and the epitome of good sportsmanship.  If he were playing anybody else, then maybe I'd be rooting for him.  Nevertheless, I have decided to cheer for the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl 50 for the following multilayered reason: a victory for Cam Newton would not only be the first Super Bowl win for the Carolina Panthers franchise, but it would also be another triumph in the rich legacy of Black history as well as the American cultural and historical narrative.  As the late, great James Brown once said, "In order for me to get down, I got to get in deep..."

Scribbler's Recap: NFL Conference Championship Weekend

Whelp, despite being perfect during the Divisional Round, I just can't get all of my picks right every single week.  Glass half full moment though: some poor guy out there bet on the Patriots and Cardinals and his old lady set her Jesus to the side to cuss him out for pissing away her emergency stash for her Newports.  Anyway, since we as avid football fanatics are forced to wait two weeks before the last and most important game of the NFL season, I am not making my highly-anticipated Super Bowl prediction until next Tuesday.  In fact, I'm strongly considering not even doing a typical prediction post, but I'll see how I feel by then.  However, do not fret as I am here to 1) provide a more extensive recap of the AFC and NFC Championships than I have with the other playoff games and 2) help all five of you with your growing case of #FOFSE (Fear of Football Season Ending).  Let's not waste any more time, good people...

Scribbler's Predictions: 2015 AFC and NFC Championships

So we all know the reason why I went 4-for-4 with my picks this weekend: that God-forsaken team who plays in Landover didn't have a game to blow.  Let's quickly recap what will probably be the best weekend of the playoffs--although I said the same thing last year about the Packers-Seahawks game and the Super Bowl may have been on par, so don't put all your stock in a potential "prisoner of the moment" declaration.  The Chiefs might have been a secure Knile Davis carry and a missed Marcus Peters INT away from upsetting the Patriots, but that's a strong might.  Two things about the Packers: 1) I am 85.1 percent certain that Aaron Rodgers has a particular Tupac Shakur song on repeat before every big game, and 2) the Packers would probably go to the Super Bowl every year if they didn't either have to play the Cardinals in Glendale in overtime games or play the NFC West period--a division that has knocked them out of the playoffs four straight years.  Pete Carroll, Russell Wilson and the Seahawks do not concede quietly or easily and it always makes for an entertaining game and a boost in respect for their competitive spirit, but you can't turn the ball over, not take field goals when you already don't have the momentum, mismanage the clock, miss field goals when you do take them and go into halftime down 31-0 to a team like the Panthers.  Finally, the Steelers wish they had as sure handed of a Fitzgerald as the Cardinals as they were moving the ball en route to a potential TD that could've give them an eight-point lead.  Gotta love a weekend when even the game that looked like you could run a few errands during the second half ended up being a nail biter.  Nevertheless, more losers are weeded out as the conference championships are upon us and we move another step closer to the golden anniversary of the Super Bowl.  More important, you get to read the slightly-above-average-informed opinion that means the most to you.  Contain yourself, you faithful subscriber you...

Scribbler's Predictions: 2015 NFL Divisional Playoff Games

So I nearly went a perfect four for four with my picks no thanks to the home team.  (No, Captain Kirk...I in fact did not like that.)  Outside of history being made as all four road teams won the Wild Card round for the first time ever and all of the "better" quarterbacks winning their games, allow me to sum up each game in one sentence a piece.  Any quarterback that has ever played for the Browns automatically brings bad ju-ju, so although Brian Hoyer did a decent job this year as the starter, the Texans should've expected that outcome in his first playoff start and need a franchise quarterback ASAPington.  Jeremy Hill, Vontaze Burfict, Adam Jones and the Cincinnati Bungles might just get Marvin Lewis aka  "Blarty Schottenheimer" (a term coined by the big homie James F. Hines, Jr.) fired.  Ray Finkle taught us about the life-and-death significance of laces out, so hopefully there is no Lois Einhorn in Blair Walsh's future--or Jeff Locke's for that matter.  Finally, I am about 99.52 percent sure that DeSean Jackson's jersey number actually represents his football IQ score as he continues his personal crusade against planes and pylons, while slugs, snails and pond water could probably score against the Skins' run defense.  Okay, rant over...time for the teams who still count...