Irish Trojan in Tennessee

Jim Kelly for Congress?

By Brendan Loy

Former Buffalo Bills quarterback Jim Kelly is reportedly considering a run for Congress as a Republican.

Let's see: he can serve in the House for four years, run for Hillary Clinton's Senate seat in 2012, win in a stunning upset, make a national name for himself, and then in 2016, when President Obama is termed out...

...can you say Kelly-Norwood '16?

You may scoff, but the ticket has some major built-in political advantages. First of all, they'd win the normally Democratic state of New York in a landslide, by uniting nostalgic Bills fans and grateful Giants fans. And secondly, they'd have no problems motivating the conservative base. After all, nobody knows how to aim for the right like Scott Norwood! It'd be a vast wide-right wing conspiracy!

:P

(Hat tip: Hugging Harold Reynolds. To all my Buffalo readers, including my wife, I apologize. I couldn't resist.)

Hitler is a Cowboys fan

By Brendan Loy

Robert Cox of Asgard Press (the people who make those vintage college-football calendars, which y'all bought $150 worth of in December) sent me this video last Thursday. It's a bit dated, as it was obviously made before the Super Bowl, but it's still freakin' funny, if you ask me. (Warning: subtitled profanity!)

Heh.

And while we're on the topic of funny, vulgar, YouTubey goodness: if you haven't seen them already, Sarah Silverman's Matt Damon video and Jimmy Kimmel's Ben Affleck rebuttal are pretty f***in' funny. Again, though: Warning! Bleeped-but-obvious profanity. Not recommended for the workplace. :)

Tennessee news

By Brendan Loy

Three items of news today (or in one case, yesterday) concerning the Volunteer State. First, as you may already have heard, Georgia has declared war on Tennessee -- er, legislatively speaking -- in a border dispute over water. To arms! Fear, fire, foes, awake!! The Georgians are coming, the Georgians are coming!!!

Second, the epidemic of Tennessee coaches getting divorced continues, as Titans coach Jeff Fisher is divorcing his wife of 21 years. Vicky Fulmer, you may want to get a lawyer, just in case. ;) No, but seriously, that's sad. Divorce sucks.

Last but not least, Lady Vols superstar Candace Parker is skipping her senior season to go pro.

Nobody's perfect

By Brendan Loy

Giants 17, Patriots 14, final. Wow!

Turns out Plaxico Burress gave the Pats' offense too much credit!

Somewhere, the '72 Dolphins are drinking champagne right now.

Liveblog thread below.

P.S. Now, can Obama pull a Giant-sized upset against Tuesday's overwhelming favorite?

P.P.S. I just had a thought. Forget Maria Shriver. Forget Al Gore and John Edwards. Barack Obama needs Eli Manning's endorsement. If Eli were to publicly endorse him in the next 24 hours, Obama would win the New York primary in a landslide. ;)

Super Bowl open thread

By Brendan Loy

Super Bowl XLII is underway. Leave your comments on the game -- and/or the ads -- here. I may post occasional updates as well.

UPDATE: A rather surprising halftime score of 7-3 in favor of the Patriots. If the Pats put it together in the second half, the Giants will rue their failure to get a touchdown on either of their two red-zone opportunities.

Nothing terribly memorable on the ad front, IMHO, though the Budweiser Clydsdale ad was cute, as usual.

Did anyone else in a Super Tuesday state get an Obama ad during the local block of ads immediately after the first half ended? There are no national political ads during the Super Bowl, by Fox's decree, but Obama bought an ad from the local affiliate here in East Tennessee.

UPDATE 2: 10-7 Giants with 11 minutes left!

UPDATE 3: Patriots re-take the lead, 14-10, with 2:42 to go. Giants ball, all three timeouts remaiing.

UPDATE 4: After the Play. Of. The. Century. by Eli Manning and David Tyree ... TOUCHDOWN GIANTS!!

Now, can Tom Brady lead New England down the field in 35 seconds to put them in position for a game-tying, perfect-season-saving field goal? Or will we see the biggest upset since Super Bowl III?

UPDATE 5: GIANTS WIN!!!

17-14, final. Wow!

P.S. Is this a good omen for Obama? :)

UPDATE 6: Back-to-back Super Bowl MVPs for the Manning brothers!

P.P.S. About that Obama ad, it was indeed run in 24 23 states (plus D.C.) during the local affiliates' halftime ad block. The cost was around $250,000. Here it is:

Here's the list of states: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Utah, Virginia and Washington, plus the District of Columbia.

Super Bowl & Super Tuesday

By Brendan Loy

I've un-"bumped" my Super Tuesday Prediction Contest post for now, but just a reminder, you can enter the contest here.

Meanwhile, there's another "Super" event today. I'm not having a formal prediction contest, but feel free to leave your predictions for the Super Bowl in comments. I'm going to say... um... Patriots 42, Giants 31.

Apropos of which...

Vizu.com: Opinion Polls & Market Research

Man-crush 101

By Brendan Loy

Who's your man crush? (Hat tip: BK.)

Will the Pats lose? Will the Giants freeze?

By Brendan Loy

Undefeated New England leads San Diego, 14-12 heading into the fourth quarter of the AFC title game.

Meanwhile, the Packers and Giants are set to kick off at 6:30 PM EST at balmy Lambeau Field in Green Bay. The temperature is hovering around zero, with wind chills in the negative-20s, and they're expected to drop. It could be Ice Bowl II.

UPDATE: The Patriots won, 21-12, and the Giants prevailed in overtime, 23-20. So it'll be New York (13-6) vs. New England (18-0) in the Super Bowl -- the unstoppable unbeatens vs. a wild-card team, the #5 seed in the NFC, led by Peyton Manning's little brother. Hmm... would a Giants win be the biggest upset since Super Bowl III?

Carroll mum on NFL rumors

By Brendan Loy

Pete Carroll isn't talking about the ongoing speculation concerning his possible return to the NFL with either the Atlanta Falcons or the Washington Redskins. But the Associated Press asserts that the Falcons' hiring of Tom Dimitroff as general manager last weekend "likely will end [owner Arthur] Blank's possible interest in Southern Cal coach Pete Carroll. Carroll has said he would have interest in an NFL job only if given the authority in personnel decisions."

Meanwhile, USC linebakers coach Ken Norton will remain at Troy instead of defecting to his alma mater, UCLA, which had tried to woo him across town. "I'm flattered," he said of the Bruins' interest. "They'll always be a team in my heart . I feel real good about Rick Neuheisel and what he's going to do there. ... The timing just wasn't right. I'm really appreciative of what Pete Carroll has done for me over here, and my business is not finished."

Titans fire Chow

By Brendan Loy

Norm Chow, you're fired.

Clearly, the Titans hate Asian people. ;)

Bolts earn right to face Pats

By Brendan Loy

The defending champion Colts lost to the Chargers this afternoon, so it'll be San Diego that visits New England next Sunday to try and stop the undefeated Patriots from reaching the Super Bowl.

The last divisional playoff game is underway now, with the Cowboys and Giants tied 7-7. Winner gets the Packers.

UPDATE: Giants win. So Eli is the Manning who makes it further into the postseason. It'll be New York at Green Bay and San Diego at New England in next weekend's NFC and AFC championship games.

16-0, three to go

By Brendan Loy

The Packers routed the Seahawks at snowy Lambeau Field earlier this evening, earning a spot in the NFC championship game against either the Cowboys or the Giants. Now, all eyes turn to the AFC as the Patriots try to remain unbeaten against Jacksonville. Winner gets either Indianapolis or San Diego.

UPDATE: Make that 17-0, two to go. Pats win.

Pete Carroll to the Atlanta Falcons?

By Brendan Loy

It's January, which means it's Pete-Carroll-to-the-NFL rumor season. This time, though, it sounds like there may actually be something to the rumors:

USC coach Pete Carroll is interested in the Atlanta Falcons' head coach opening and is expected to speak with Atlanta owner Arthur Blank via phone Wednesday, sources at the American Football Coaches Convention in Anaheim told ESPN's Joe Schad.

Blank is expected to offer full control of personnel decisions to Carroll and the sources said that is what intrigues Carroll most.

DAMN YOU, BOBBY PETRINO!!!

(Hat tip: BK.)

P.S. Reaction from around the Trojansphere:

Student Body Right: "Let’s face it, at some point the guy will jump back to the NFL, it seems inevitable, but… Atlanta? Maybe the single worst job in the league right now? Seems a little nutty, if you ask me."

AOL Fanhouse: "It's... interesting to speculate why Carroll would leave a gravy job at USC for a massive rebuilding project in Atlanta."

Conquest Chronicles: "I am a little shocked that the Falcons would even entertain going after another college coach, regardless of [the coach's] success, after the whole Petrino mess. I have said before that I think Pete Carroll will end up back in the NFL but I'm not sure this is right fit for him. ... [But] I think this might the time for him to go. This is an itch he really wants to scratch and you will only get so many opportunities to make the move back into the NFL. Don't get me wrong I want to keep him as long as we can but we need to be realistic that sooner or later this will probably happen."

TrojanWire: "Miami, San Diego, San Francisco, Arizona and Houston have all courted the man, but so far no team has been able to woo him back over. ... [But now Atlanta] is supposedly offering what Pete wants most: full control of all personnel decisions for the Falcons. ... Pete has been quoted saying he'll 'never return' to the NFL, but who knows...if the conditions are right, any man has his price -- even Pete."

Scott Wolf: "About two weeks ago, I  spoke to Carroll about the Falcons job and he was not bullish on it or the organization." And later, a quote from the USC sports information department: "There's nothing going on, no reason to even talk about it." Yeah right -- "Nothing going on . . . except an interview with the Atlanta Falcons today," Wolf adds.

Quinn takes first NFL snaps

By Brendan Loy

Brady Quinn made his NFL debut today. (Hat tip: Scott F.)

Now Quinn's Cleveland Browns, who beat the 49ers 20-7, are waiting and hoping the Colts beat the Titans, thus securing the Browns a playoff berth in place of Vince Young and LenDale White's Titans.

The Patriots are 16-0

By Brendan Loy

New England 38, New York 35, final.

Patriots/Giants game underway

By David K.

Amidst the college bowl games, the potentially historic NFL game between the New England Patriots and the New York Giants is currently underway.  The powers-that-be at the NFL conveniently came to their senses earlier this week, and it is being broadcast on both NBC and CBS along with the much-maligned NFL Network.  It's the same feed for all three, so it doesn't really matter which one you pick (commercials are the same too, so you're stuck with the same annoying commercials, no flipping between, although you could swap to the Alamo Bowl to watch JoePa's 500th game).

Despite speculation that one or both teams might rest their starters, it appears all the big guns are out for both teams, and it's paid off so far for the Giants, as they have a 7-0 lead part way through the first quarter.

UPDATE: It's been a battle so far but the Giants are still on top 21-16 thanks to some great plays and a few mistakes by the Patriots as we go to the half.

Pats to go for 16-0 on NBC and CBS

By Brendan Loy

The NFL Network's broadcast of Saturday's potentially historic Patriots-Giants game will be simulcast on both NBC and CBS.

14-0 vs. 0-14 game thwarted as Fins win

By Brendan Loy

Alas, next week's Patriots-Dolphins game in Foxboro won't be a showdown between a 14-0 team gunning for the NFL's first-ever 16-0 season and an 0-14 team trying to avoid its first-ever 0-16 season. The Patriots held up their end, winning 20-10 over the Jets, but the Dolphins didn't, beating the Ravens to improve to 1-13.

Patriots move to 13-0, Dolphins to 0-13

By Brendan Loy

The New England Patriots are 13-0 after a 34-13 win over the AFC North-leading Pittsburgh Steelers tonight -- and with the 3-10 Jets and 0-13 Dolphins coming to Foxboro the next two weeks, it looks extremely likely that Tom Brady & co. will be 15-0 when they head to the Meadowlands for their December 29 regular-season finale against the 9-4 Giants.

P.S. As we marvel at the Patriots' run toward the second unbeaten season in NFL history -- and the first 16-0 season -- let's not give short shrift to the aforementioned Dolphins' run at the first 0-16 season in NFL history. (Tampa Bay went 0-14 in 1976. No other team has gone winless for a full season in the modern era.)

Miami was routed 38-17 by Buffalo today, and is now three losses away from going 0-16. And the second of those games, as noted above, is at undefeated New England. The others are at home against Baltimore (4-9) next Sunday and Cincinnati (5-8) in three weeks.

The bitter irony for Fins fans, of course, is that it was the Dolphins who went an undefeated 14-0 in 1972, the very accomplishment the Patriots are now trying to surpass, even as the Dolphins try desperately to avoid the polar-opposite "accomplishment." If Miami comes to Foxboro with a 0-14 record to face the 14-0 Patriots in two weeks -- each having already tied the record, and looking to break it (or looking not to break it, in Miami's case) -- that historical coincidence will be a major topic of discussion. Especially once Tom Brady throws five touchdown passes in the first quarter, leaving the announcers with nothing to do for the rest of the game but wax nostalgic and talk about historical implications. Heh.

Patriots win, Peterson dazzles

By Brendan Loy

The unbeaten New England Patriots defeated the now-once-beaten Indianapolis Colts in "perhaps the NFL's biggest regular-season game ever" today, 24-20, rallying from a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit on the strength of two Tom Brady touchdown passes in a four-minute span. The Pats are now 9-0.

Meanwhile, Vikings rookie Adrian Peterson, formerly of the Oklahoma Sooners, set the NFL single-game rushing record with 296 yards. Wow.

Leinart out for season

By Brendan Loy

Former USC star Matt Leinart, now of the Arizona Cardinals, will miss the rest of the season due to a broken collarbone.

Whether the injury will interfere with his ability to bed various celebrities has not been disclosed. :)

Speaking of the NFL, did you see that Cowboys-Bills game on Monday night? I only caught the ending (switching over right after the Yankees lost), but good lord, what a crazy ending it was. Indeed, it had to be nuttiest Monday Night Football game since Leinart's Cardinals almost beat the Super Bowl-bound, "they are who we thought they were" Bears. Anyway, you can watch the Dallas-Buffalo highlights on YouTube here.

Football meets futból

By David K.