Views from the Nosebleeds: 2016 NFL Divisional Round

As much as I love the NFL, there is nothing worse than investing so much time and energy into watching as many games as possible over 17 weeks only to have a letdown in the playoffs--and that's beyond the Raiders getting handled by the Texans last week.  (Yup...still salty.)  With the Wild Card Weekend games being decided by an average of 19 points, last week was highly disappointing and hopes were high for better showings in the Divisional Round.  However, the first half of the weekend wasn't shaping up to be much better and it appeared the same thing might happen in the second half.  Nevertheless, by 11:30 p.m. Sunday night, avid football fans had been treated to two competitive contests this weekend, including what could be the best game of the playoffs depending on who ends up in Houston...

Views from the Nosebleeds: 2016 NFL Regular Season, Week 12

Although I looked forward to family coming from Pennsylvania and enjoying Mrs. Scribbler's scrumptuous cooking, one of the biggest incentives to toiling through purchasing a car note's worth of food and almost passing out from heat and exhaustion while grocery shopping was being the stereotypical patriarch and watching Thanksgiving Day football all day long.  However, despite not being a card-carrying Skins fan anymore but still having plenty of residual Burgundy and Gold blood running through me, "Dallas Week" still annoyed me because normally-grating Cowboys fans become even more insufferable--especially when their team is not only winning this year, but also have the league's best record.  In fact, I was bewildered in finding out three of my family members are Cowboys fans, but they're the less obnoxious types who I can tolerate more than the vast majority of them.  (I still need holy oil for our doorpost.)  Unfortunately, I swear I heard a janitor once the clock struck triple zeros, saw an "F" by the score and I wasn't pleased--knowing the onslaught of incessant trash talking was on the horizon in what hasn't felt like a true rivalry since the early 90s. As much as I could stall, let's address the inevitable...

Views from the Nosebleeds: 2016 NFL Regular Season, Week 11

Although I had to correct Big Dadi Scribbler on a few historical facts--he thought the Browns played in the NFC at some point since the AFL-NFL merger when they've always been in the AFC--I had an intriguing conversation with him about old school football.  As a football, softball and track and field star for Coolidge High School in Northwest D.C., one of the things he noted was how rough defensive backs were against receivers--so much that one of the biggest reasons wideouts would get alligator arms was because of the ferocious hand checking before a lot of the illegal contact rules were imposed.  In fact, he started off as a receiver before making the transition to defense, a welcomed change in which he inflicted the same abuse on opposing receivers he endured on offense.  However, perhaps the most interesting facts I never knew about my dad when constantly hearing how legendary he was as an athlete was he was also a kicker and a punter, forcing several touchbacks on kickoffs and leading the league in net punting average one season.  Considering Week 11's struggle kicking as eleven misfires led to the most amount of failed extra points in a week since 1966, I'm sure several teams would've loved to have a sure-footed boot like the Scribbler patriarch.  Now that I've done at least two or three shameless plugs for dear old dad in one calendar year, let's discuss some new school football...

Views from the Nosebleeds: 2016 NFL Regular Season, Week 10

Frankly, I don't show frequent love to NFL place kickers because, like many football fanatics, I tend not to regard them as "real" football players.  I often hate how a game can swing on the foot of a guy who only comes out for kickoffs, extra points and field goals--especially with the tough year kickers are having since the extra point extension to the 15-yard line last season.  Well, if you ask Chiefs play-by-play announcer Mitch Holthus--who has long been one of my favorite radio network announcers--Cairo Santos might as well have been Moses, King David and Jesus Christ rolled into one.  When their visit to Carolina was primed for overtime tied at 17, Panthers receiver Kelvin Benjamin handed Marcus Peters and the Chiefs' opportunistic defense an early Christmas present via a fumble on Carolina's 24-yard line with only 20 seconds remaining in regulation.  As Santos nailed the first walk-off of his career, Holthus' call was one for the ages:

This would be the biggest kick for Santos...and all of Brazil holds its breath...17-17...it's now four seconds they're saying left in the game...ball in the center of the field...on a 37-yard attempt...placement is down...Santos' kick...he lines it up AND THAT BABY IS RIGHT DOWN THE MIDDLE!  É SULCÉ É BOA!  É SULCÉ É BOA!  AND ALL OF BRAZIL AND THE CHIEFS KINGDOM REJOICES WITH AN INCREDIBLE, IMPROBABLE VICTORY ON THE ROAD!

First and foremost, thank God I kept my TuneIn Premium subscription because I wouldn't have located this audio otherwise.  Second, when I do something even remotely as amazing as that, I need Mitch Holthus on speed dial and speaking Portuguese is purely optional   Third, that's the best radio call I've heard since 98.5 The Hub color analyst Scott Zolak gave us, "BRADY'S BACK!  THAT'S YOUR QUARTERBACK!  WHO LEFT THE BUILDING?!?!  UNICORNS!  SHOW PONIES!  WHERE'S THE BEEF?!?!"  With that, fellow pigskin enthusiasts, let's recap Week 10...

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 3

Frankly, this week's intro to "Views from the Nosebleeds" was going to be a potential snoozer about the NFL's slight decline in ratings.  However, when I saw this picture of Rashad Ross, DeSean Jackson, Niles Paul (one of five team captains) and Greg Toler with their fist raised during the National Anthem before their NFC East matchup with the Giants, I strongly considered becoming a fan of Washington's NFL team again.  In a September 25 Washington Post article, head coach Jay Gruden's "haven't had that issue here" comments were reiterated along with this emphasis on the team's connection to the military: "[The team has] a ton of respect for what goes on for our country with those people.  And for three minutes, for us to take our helmet off and stand up and give respect is how we treat it here with the Redskins."  On the flip side, Ross insisted, "It's nothing against the National Anthem.  It never was against it.  It's about all these killings that's going on that aren't right."  Jackson, who Ross acknowledged as spearheading the move, said this after the game: 

We felt like there's a lot going on out there in our country now.  We feel like we have an opportunity to be seen and be heard.  We just want to support our people in a time of crisis like this where you have a lot of tragic situations, a lot of people losing their family members due to senseless killings by these police officers and things like that.  We just wanted to make a stand, and I think just really putting our fists up and supporting our culture is something important.

Although this is what the NFL's most disliked player in Colin Kaepernick has been trying to communicate to the rest of America for over a month now, I am proud to see more and more brothers--who comprise nearly 69 percent of the NFL's player population--echoing the pertinence of his sentiment and standing in solidarity.  I am more elated to see someone like Jackson--one of the team's most prominent players who once caught flack for his association with gang members back in his hometown of Los Angeles as a member of the Eagles--be a leader and effectively use his platform to help raise awareness of this social epidemic.  I hope they keep it going and contribute in other ways like Kaepernick, but this is a fantastic beginning from a small but passionate fraction of the home team.  Now that's how you introduce a spirited Week 3 in the NFL and the first two topics continue the trend...