The Houston Texans stunned the Indianapolis Colts in Week 1, so Gregg Easterbrook wonders if Armageddon isn't far behind - ESPN

Tuesday morning quarterback is worth reading every week, if for no other reason then you get goofy analysis like this:

Announcers and sports writers exaggerate the frequency or effectiveness of blitzing partly because they want plays to be exciting, and blitzes do produce exciting results, though often for the offense. The other factor is "observer's bias." Psychological studies find that we usually see what we expect to see, filtering out any contrary evidence. If high numbers of blitzes were a formula for consistent victory, everybody would be blitzing all the time. That's not what happens. Defensive coordinators know that blitzes often produce big plays for the offense. Sports writers and sports announcers seem to take note only when a blitz produces a sack or interception. When the blitz backfires, they filter that out.

Here's an example of the blitzing double-edged sword. Leading 7-3 late in the second quarter, the tastefully named Gregg Williams called a safety blitz, which produced a Favre interception. Still leading 7-3 on the next Minnesota possession, Williams called the same blitz, which Favre this time recognized. The result was a 33-yard completion to Visanthe Shiancoe, setting up the Vikings' sole touchdown.

Ohio State looms as benchmark game for Miami - ESPN

Hurricanes want revenge. What will motivate the Buckeyes to not have a let-down the way they have against Texas and USC in recent years?

LeBron React: Never Has Being a Sports Fan Felt So Stupid -- The Sports Section

This is what happens when it's all about the money:

That trust felt broken tonight. Not because LeBron James went to the Heat, even though he referred to his destination as "South Beach," not "the Miami Heat and their fans." Not because LeBron James didn't go to the Knicks, even though of all the cities he mentioned enjoying during this free agent "courtship," New York was the one he omitted. Not even because LeBron was so, so cruel to Cleveland, not once thanking the fans who made him into what he was, the fans who have to wonder if their absurd investment in their sports franchises will ever be rewarded. No, tonight, it felt like everyone involved — LeBron, ESPN, Bing, the University of Phoenix, Stuart Scott, the man who once chastised fans for having the audacity to boo, Jim freaking Gray — treated the millions of people watching like stupid, mindless consumers, empty lemmings ready to follow Sport into the abyss. Here, here are the Boys & Girls Club props. Here, here is your search engine. Here, here is your online college, Here, here is your Athletic Hero. Eat. Eat. Consume. You like it. You love it. You'll always come back for more.

FiveThirtyEight: Politics Done Right: Did LeBron James Just Cost Himself $150 Million?

God, I hope so...

Cavs owner says LeBron James quit in playoffs - NBA - Yahoo! Sports

Everyone hates Lebron! After 30 years of watching the NBA, this is the first time I've ever wanted to root for the Lakers.

LOLcat Media Studies 1: LeBron James | HiLobrow

Awesome job, everyone:

Mind The Gap

I've been too busy to blog lately. Busy may not be the right word. Call it: occupied. I've been too occupied lately with other thoughts and concerns to blog, or care that I wasn't blogging. So it goes.

But things are slowly starting to turn around; slowly. And I have an interview in Boulder next week which is better than a punch in the neck. So. Anyway.

What did I miss?

The Superbowl

The Giants played a great game, no doubt about it. But it was the defense that made it all possible by holding the Patriots in check long enough for Eli and Co. to gain their footing. I think we saw two things: The Giants defense were the only team that could match-up with the Pat's offensive line (unlike say, the Packers and the Cowboys) and going undefeated is just too hard. What would have happened had the Patriots lost that game to Indianapolis way back in the middle of the season? Would they trade an undefeated season for the championship?

Lost is Back

The first two episodes have been more than entertaining. They've actually been really good. And perhaps it's because I've been watching them casually: unspoiled and unobsessed - and just letting things happen. The new characters are interesting as are all the flashbacks and flashforwards. John Locke continues to be the heart and soul of the show and Ben can still manipulate anyone and everyone whenever he chooses. It will be interesting to see what happens when the present catches up to the future (or will it be the past?)

Movies

I watched a bunch of new movies last weekend (on DVD), all of which were entertaining without being anything to get too excited about: Bourne Ultimatum, Knocked Up, Ocean's 13, and The Kingdom.

Actually the Bourne movie probably is worth another look for two fairly obvious reasons. One is the crazy overlap trick it pulls off where the first half of the movie takes place during the third act of the Bourne Supremacy. It's also interesting to think about Bourne as a character: a person who only exists when he is in motion, whose entire life is defined by his context and his enemies. When he is at rest he disappears from himself; becomes a nameless figure floating, floating, floating. Desire-less and free.

That's it for now.

NFL Playoffs Round 2

The Saturday games were a testament to the power of over-dogs. We already knew that the Patriots were pretty awesome, but just how awesome are the Green Bay Packers? I think they just might be very, very awesome, and with the Cowboys out of the way we could see Brett Favre doing his John Elway impersonation in the Super Bowl.

The Sunday games were all about the grit and determination of road underdogs overcoming adversity, et cetera and so on.

Next week, the Saturday winners should crush the Sunday winners and in convincing fashion.

Other thoughts:

• The Chargers did an amazing job against Peyton, taking away his arsenal of weapons and forcing him to go with his last option every time.
• The Colts missed Marvin. A lot.
• The turnovers and red zone misses came from the fact that they could not run the ball.
• The Chargers offensive line is the real star of the team. Who knew that it was them and not LT and Rivers et al. Apparently anyone can look like a superstar behind those guys.
• Rivers is a jerk who will unravel against the Pats.
• The Cowboys on the other hand are a team of superstars. They needed T.O. healthy in order to win.
• Romo's play was meaningless.
• Eli Manning played the game of his career and didn't put up big numbers.
• I still can't figure out the Giants. When they win, it doesn't make sense and when they lose it doesn't make sense. Mostly it's just too painful to watch the faces of Coughlin and Manning as they betray their every though and emotion.
  
• I won't say anything against T.O. for crying. I've seen my team go down in flames enough times to know how he feels.
  

Championship Second Half

An almost brilliant start to the second half.

After a great defensive stop, they completely blow the game with a failed blocked punt. You can see after that play, that the Buckeyes have just given up. So have I, and I'm switching it off.

Better luck next year.

Update
------------------
Final score LSU 38 OSU 24

The second quarter just killed the Buckeyes.

Championship Halftime

At 24-10 at half, the game is probably over. In the 2nd quarter, the Buckeyes made every possible bad decision they could:

• Robiskie drops a touchdown in the end zone.
• The blocked field goal when they should have run a fake.
• Not running the ball enough when Wells is ripping one long run after another.
• Allowing Boeckman to throw long.
• Ghostly personal foul penalties from the homer-friendly referees.
• Over pursuit against yet another spread offense.
• Kicking field goals when you must score points.
  

You can blame the players if you want, but I think Tressel misread what was happening when they had the early lead.

Buckeye Championship Series

It's the big game tonight between OSU and LSU for the National Championship. I don't know if the Buckeyes will win - I've been through too many disappointments and surprises to be able to predict these things - but I do think they'll play better than expected and make us proud.

According to Dan Wetzel at Yahoo, Coach Tressel has been getting back to basics and working the team hard with a lot of contact, hitting and weight-lifting. Sounds very 300. They've also had a 10 p.m. curfew while in New Orleans.

Maybe that's good. It's been a back and forth argument for as long as I can remember: if the team is too relaxed, they don't show up ready to play, if the team works too hard, they play tight and don't execute properly. It may be a lot of psychological hum-bug. In all likelihood the team that can do a better job pushing around the other guys will win.

Either way, I'm looking forward to the game and seeing what these two teams can do. LSU is very intriguing as a Michigan style SEC team, a home over-dog, and a two loss juggernaut.

Go Mountaineers!

So, West Virginia, the team that lost to Pittsburgh, goes out and annihilates Oklahoma, champions of the Big 12. Well good for them: they played hard for their interim coach and redeemed themselves to a certain degree.

On the other hand, Oklahoma had already beaten a highly ranked Missouri team just after the Tigers had beaten the previously undefeated Kansas Jayhawks (who play tonight in the Orange Bowl). What did they have to prove?

Meanwhile, Missouri, bumped from the BCS, blows out their (less than stellar) SEC opponent Arkansas. The Razorbacks, if you'll recall, are one of the TWO teams that beat LSU so their highlight reel was already full.

LSU as we all know are playing in the exhibition game that decides the national championship. This was decided not by the fact that they won a lot of games but because of the losses mentioned above at the end of the season. LSU will play Ohio State who earlier this year lost at home to Illinois and was considered D.O.A. for a top BCS birth.

In case you missed it, Illinois was humiliated by USC in the Rose Bowl.

USC of course thinks they deserve a share of the title but no one should let them forget that they already lost to Stanford, a team that went 4-8 and lost to the Worst. Notre Dame team. Ever. So USC is out.

Among Notre Dame's many losses was a 38-0 drubbing by Michigan who as everyone knows defeated the defending BCS champs Florida on New Year's day. Michigan of course began their season with a home loss to the defending Division I-AA National Champions Appalachian State.

App. State defended their title earlier this month by beating Delaware 49-21 (at the division I-AA level, aka, the "Championsip Division," they don't play exhibition games to decide the championship, they have an actual tournament).

So what's it all mean? Go Mountaineers!

The Patriots are the Greatest of All Time

There, I said it.

Football fans outside of Boston have been going through the five stages of grief with regard to the success of the Patriots this year: Anger (they cheat!), Denial (yeah, but they haven't won the Super Bowl yet), Bargaining (please let the Colts win the AFC, please, please), Depression (why even bother having the playoffs if the Pats are just going to win anyway?), etc., etc.

It is now time for Acceptance. As King Kaufman writes:

The Patriots haven't won the Super Bowl, but as far as the regular season goes, they haven't matched the '72 Dolphins, they've blown them out of the water.

The '72 Dolphins played a ridiculously easy schedule. They played two games against teams that had winning records, and both of those teams, the Giants and the Kansas City Chiefs, went 8-6. There were six teams in the league, excluding the Dolphins, that had a better record than anybody Miami played. Eight of the 26 teams in the NFL went to the playoffs in those days. The Dolphins didn't play any of the other seven.

Nowadays 12 of 32 teams go to the playoffs, and this year's Patriots played six of the 11 others, plus a game against the Cleveland Browns, who went 10-6 and missed the postseason on a tiebreaker. The Pats played two of the top three teams in the league by won-loss record -- excluding themselves. They played three of the top five and five of the top 10.

The Patriots regular season run against the Colts, Steelers, Cowboys, Giants, etc. was pretty dang impressive.

Now, let's all hope they choke in the playoffs and we get some good games.

Bowl Roundup: Thanks M!ch!gan!

The Capital One Bowl in Orlando was by far the best of the bowls as Michigan overcame 4 turnovers to beat Florida 41-35. Not only did we finally get to see the offense that we all thought the Wolverines would have coming into the season, but they did the Big Ten football world proud by beating an SEC power, beating the defending BCS Champs, beating the Heisman Trophy winner, and winning one for their coach.

Ohio State and Michigan may be hated rivals during the regular season, but when it comes to the bowls, I always root for the Big Ten.

Other thoughts:

• Wisconsin played well enough to win but couldn't get it done against the Volunteers.
• USC would have made a case for a split championship if they hadn't been playing an overachieving Illinois team that really had no business in the BCS.
  
• Poor Hawaii. 12-0 against a host of second tier teams doesn't look so good now.
• Illinois's spread option offense was doomed once they were playing from behind. The inability of their defense to stop USC in the first quarter just fed the blowout. When they beat Ohio State it was with good defense, ball control, and clock management.
  
• The Heisman trophy winner has lost in the following bowl game three straight years (Tim Tebow, Troy Smith, Reggie Bush).
• Once again, Texas Tech makes a mockery of the game of football. Entertaining though.
• I didn't see the game, but it didn't seem like Arkansas and Darren McFadden had much to play for. Missouri got some redemption and McFadden still ran for 100 yards.
• In upcoming games, I like Oklahoma to crush West Virginia, and Virginia Tech to beat Kansas in a barn-burner.
• P.S. I'll take the SEC and Pac-10 seriously when they have to travel out of their respective regions for post-season games. The best thing about a playoff system would be seeing USC travel to Columbus or the Gators in the Big House for games in late December.
  

Thoughts on the BCS championship:

• The OSU - LSU game will be decided in the trenches. Line play and quarter back pressure will be the key for both teams in an old school, smash mouth kind of game.
• If LSU scores more than 20, OSU will have a hard time keeping up.
• If OSU keeps the game close, LSU will not like to see overtime (again).
• If linebacker James Laurenitis gets a turnover, the Buckeye defense can win the game.
• If quarterback Todd Boeckman throws an interception (or worse yet, fumbles on a sack), the Buckeye offense can lose the game.
• Beanie Wells is the OSU X-factor. He must be able to get into the secondary and break out for long runs.
  

Buckeyes 62 Gators 49

Yes, I know this wasn't the National Championship (of basketball, or football for that matter). For the most part this is a pretty meaningless rematch of two teams in the midst of rebuilding. And yes, all of the good players for both teams have moved on to the NBA. But as a Buckeye fan, I'll take what I can get. Revenge is a dish best served cold, with a side dish of pettiness.

NFL Week 15 Rankings

I haven't updated my rankings since Week 10, so what I thought I would do this time around is just look at the last 5 weeks and see who is hot and who is not. One, it's good to know who is playing well as we gear up for the playoffs and, two, it's interesting to see how teams are playing now that the weather is turning cold and nasty.

The results are pretty surprising, and point toward the possibility of some exciting upsets in the early rounds. The Steelers and Giants both look like they may make early exits, while the Vikings and Chargers could make runs. The Jags and Bucs have both quietly moved into position to play spoiler. The Patriots are still the team to beat, but teams are beginning to figure them out and make them look mortal again (what happens to their 16-0 record if they're finally upset in the second round by, oh, say, Jacksonville?). And lest we forget, the Cowboys and Packers are still the elite in the NFC and the Colts are still the defending Superbowl champs (and winners of their last 5).

I was beginning to get bored by the season and the prospect of the Patriots blowing everyone out, but this list gives me hope that something interesting could still happen. The only thing that scares me now is the prospect of the Chargers putting up 51 points against the Browns in the first round. Cleveland needs to steal that #4 spot from Pittsburgh and hope it snows in what would then be a potential match-up with the Jaguars.

1. Minnesota Vikings 5-0 (NFC #6 Seed)
2. New England Patriots 5-0 (AFC #1)
3. San Diego Chargers 4-1 (AFC #3)
4. Jacksonville Jaguars 4-1 (AFC #5)
5. Tampa Bay Buccaneers 4-1 (NFC #4)
6. Indianapolis Colts 5-0 (AFC #2)
7. Green Bay Packers 4-1 (NFC #2)
8. Dallas Cowboys 4-1 (NFC #1)
9. New Orleans Saints 3-2
10. Seattle Seahawks 4-1 (NFC #3)
11. Houston Texans 3-2
12. Cleveland Browns 4-1 (AFC #6)
13. Denver Broncos 2-3
14. Cincinnati Bengals 2-3
15. Washington Persons 2-3
16. Philadelphia Eagles 2-3
17. Chicago Bears 1-4
18. Arizona Cardinals 2-3
19. Pittsburgh Steelers 2-3 (AFC #4)
20. New York Jets 2-3
21. St. Louis Rams 2-3
22. New York Giants 3-2 (NFC #5)
23. Oakland Raiders 2-3
24. San Francisco 49ers 2-3
25. Tennessee Titans 2-3
26. Baltimore Ravens 0-5
27. Buffalo Bills 2-3
28. Carolina Panthers 2-3
29. Miami Dolphins 1-4
30. Detroit Lions 0-5
31. Kansas City Chefs 0-5
32. Atlanta Falcons 0-5

College Football: BCS Selections

Bad news for the Buckeyes.

After winning the Big Ten, defeating Michigan, and getting a spot in the Rose Bowl, the rest of the college football world imploded. Now they'll be forced to play LSU on their home turf in the so-called National Championship game. Bah!

Nevermind the fact that a traditional matchup against USC would make for a much more entertaining game, now we'll have to spend the next month hearing about the supernatural speed and strength of the SEC. Gag.

The Bucks best hope is that LSU focus on Florida's 41-14 win a year ago and that they come into the game as an over-confident over-dog.

Tressel will need to game plan the heck out of this thing, give the offense some new wrinkles to play with, and hope that the defense can hold 'em under 21 points.

Otherwise, Ohio State and its reputation will again become the unfortunate victims of the BCS and its farcical championship.

College Football Week 12

As all Ohio State fans know, the season always comes down to one thing: Just Beat Michigan.

Did we lose to the Gators last year in the National Championship? Yes, but we beat Michigan.

Did we lose to a scrappy Illinois team last week and dash our hopes at another title? Yes, but we beat Michigan.

11-1 and in the end the team was holding roses between their teeth. Next stop Pasadena. There really isn't anything better than that. Particularly in a cold-rainy Michigan stadium where no one could pass the ball, much less stand up, and the game fell to Beany Wells's 200+ yards. Sure Henne was hurt, but Hart wasn't and he played like a jerk; trash-talking on every play and getting nowhere. Boeckman completed his regression to the mean, demonstrating that for most of the season he'd far outplayed his talent. If you want to seek the real Boeckman look at the games he played against MSU and Illinois. At any rate, 14-3 was your final and it looked like one of those games from the Woody v. Bo era where Hayes and the Buckeyes ran out of the power-I on every down.

In other news:

• LSU, Kansas, Missouri, and West Virginia are your top contenders for the BCS. Which is funny because West Virginia was the first team to supposedly drop out of the contention when they lost to South Florida (remember them?)
• Oklahoma and Oregon are out.
• Notre Dame finally found a team that's even worse than they are and beat Duke rather soundly.
• Colorado State wins! Sure, Georgia Southern, but we'll take it.
  

NFL Rankings Week 10

Kubler-Ross Edition

Acceptance Division - These teams will be OK
1. New England
2. Pittsburgh
3. Indianapolis
4. Green Bay
5. Dallas

Depression Division - These teams will never be good enough. Why bother?
6. Seattle
7. Tennessee
8. New York Giants
9. San Diego
10. Tampa Bay

Bargaining Division - If they finish strongly, catch some breaks, they might make the playoffs. Maybe. Please?
11. Jacksonville
12. Philadelphia
13. Detroit
14. Cleveland
15. Arizona

Anger Division - Why are they so lousy! Arrrgghhh!
16. Washington
17. New Orleans
18. Houston
19. Minnesota
20. Cincinnati
21. Buffalo
22. Carolina

Denial Division - It just doesn't seem possible that these teams could be so bad.
23. Oakland
24. Chicago
25. Kansas City
26. Baltimore
27. Atlanta
28. New York Jets
29. Miami
30. Denver
31. St. Louis
32. San Francisco

College Football Week 11

Oh well. It's disappointing, but the Buckeyes had to lose eventually. They'd been playing too well for too long. And whether it was the lack of competition, or a good team that overachieved, the fact that they rose as high as they did is something of an achievement and a surprise. But on Saturday it was Illinois that did everything right, played physically, and made the most of breaks and opportunities. 28-21.

For OSU it's a story of "if only"s:

• If only, the fumble on Illinois's first scoring drive had been called correctly.
• If only, Boeckman hadn't thrown 3 interceptions on 3 bad and poorly planned throws.
• If only, the vaunted Buckeye defense had made any worthwhile stops on 3rd down.

Illinois ran the spread offense almost as well as Florida did in the BCS game. The only surprise was that Laurenitis or one of the DBs weren't set up to spy the quarterback and running back on that same delay option draw play they kept running in the 4th.

But the good news is that the pressure's off and now the SEC and Big 12 and PAC 10 can go back to whining about the BCS. For Big 10 fans, the loss allows things to go back to normal:

Next week, Ohio State will play Michigan with the Big 10 title at stake, and a chance to play in the Rose Bowl. That's all we really care about anyway.

(Meanwhile, Colorado State lost again, this time to New Mexico -- will the season never end?).