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...

Scribbler's Rave & Favorite Five: Super Bowl Edition

Although I'll give the nod to the Thanksgiving-Christmas holiday season being the most wonderful time of the year, Super Bowl Week has to be in the conversation for the most entertaining second fiddle.  I mean, what other major North American sporting event draws as much fanfare and drama as the Super Bowl before the 6:18-ish Sunday kickoff?  Maybe NBA All-Star Weekend in its heyday, but it still ain't the Super Bowl.  While it's rare for me to ever tell my readers to overlook any of my posts, please treat my earlier post about Super Bowl duds like a quarterback who threw an interception on his last drive.  Let's get to five Big Game Sunday Studs, i.e., my top five Super Bowls of all time...

Views from the Nosebleeds: 2016 NFL Conference Championships

Sans the second half of Divisional Round Weekend, the 2016-17 NFL Playoffs haven't been competitive.  However, in case you're like me and have been disappointed with many of these weak showings, perhaps the beginning of this edition of "Views from the Nosebleeds" will cheer you up as one guy has been the playoffs' saving grace.  For back-to-back weekends, saxophonist Mike Phillips performed his National "Saxthem" version of "The Star Spangled Banner" at the Georgia Dome, which I'm convinced gave the Falcons even more motivation to beat both visiting teams handily.  Not only were both renditions the best instrumental versions of the National Anthem performed at sporting events I've ever heard, but let me tell it, Phillips has turned two of the most memorable versions since the late, great Whitney Houston's stirring performance before Super Bowl XXV.  Granted, nobody compares to The Voice--I got goosebumps listening to it as I was typing this--but he showed up and showed off like few have done since '91.  Alas, since this isn't a music post, I guess we can talk about these beatdowns now...

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 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...