Jim Szoke's Sports Blog

Super Week XLII

The only time I've covered, or ever wanted to cover a Super Bowl, was when the Panthers played the Patriots in Super Bowl 38.  Just my luck, Houston was the host city that year.  Not that there's anything wrong with Houston.  But when you think Super Bowl, Miami, San Diego, or Arizona are the more typical destinations.  I challenge you to find enough interesting things to do for nine days in Houston.  By day six, we had already visited the brisket restaurant that literally fires red-hot biscuits from out of the kitchen to willing recipients.  After that, the final three days were a letdown.   

Media week is highlighted by it's own version of Super Tuesday, when thousands of reporters take the field to interview every player about every last thing you can imagine.  The hype is surreal and has already begun for Super Bowl 42. The Patriots arrived in Glendale on Sunday, and many of the important questions have already been asked.  Tom Brady has been quizzed about Gisele.  Bill Belichick revealed that his favorite Tom Petty song is Free Fallin'.  In other news, the New York Giants will also play in the game.

The Patriots will likely complete their run and break the hearts of the '72 Dolphins by going (19-0) and take away Miami's distinction as having played the only perfect season.  This will eliminate one item from Don Shula's "Bucket List" which is to continually remind anybody who will listen that he coached the greatest team ever.  It would not be a huge upset to me if the Giants not only make a game of it, but have a chance to win it in the fourth quarter.  They only lost by three points in their matchup in Week-17, yet they are a 12-point underdog for this one.

Tiger Woods says that 13 years into his pro golf career, he is just warming up.  Last weekend's victory at the Buick Invitational was his 62nd, tying him for fourth all-time with Arnold Palmer.  Next up, Ben Hogan's 64, then Jack Nicklaus' 73, with the all-time mark of 82 being held by Sam Snead.  Woods has beaten the field in 16 of his last 32 PGA events, with no signs of a viable competitor on the horizon.    

Roger Clemens refuses to shut up.  After waiting 10 days to respond to his name littering the Mitchell Report on performance enhancing drugs, Clemens can't stop himself now.  He and his agent have put out a 44-page report filled with 38 charts.  Their conclusion is that the split-fingered fastball, not HGH and steroids led to Clemens' pitching longevity.  Sylvester Stallone beat them to the punch in saying that HGH is not a big deal and will be available over the counter within 10 years.  Thank you, Dr. Balboa.

There's No Crying in Football

It was a great mix of upsets and traditional NFL powers advancing through this weekend's playoff games.  Saturday was as expected with New England and Green Bay winning at home, while Sunday was the opposite, with Indianapolis and Dallas upset.  The hobbling Chargers have won eight straight games, but would appear to have little chance of hanging a loss on the Patriots.  The Giants will give the Packers a run for their money though, with a fierce pass rush, a snow plow type running back in Brandon Jacobs, and having won nine consecutive road games. 

No, the Dallas Cowboys did not lose because Tony Romo went to Mexico with Jessica Simpson.  He played no worse than the rest of his teammates, and nobody gave tight end, Jason Witten any grief for going on the same trip.  Still, it showed an incredible lack of public relations judgement by everybody involved to put the quarterback into a position to have to defend himself.  And now, Jessica has firmly entrenched herself as the Yoko Ono of the NFC's top seeded team.  Still can't figure out Terrell Owens, who has gone from laughing at Romo's relationship with Simpson to now crying in defense of his teammate.   

My college football insider pals, Mel Kiper Jr. from espn.com and Dennis Dodd from cbssportsline.com both tell me that we will never see a college football playoff.  They say it's too involved with each conference and each bowl locked into seperate multi-year deals.  In the interim, a final four of sorts with the plus-one format would be a positive step.  While matching up the top two teams for a BCS title game is better than what we had 10 years ago, it's becoming increasingly difficult to decide who the two should be.  I think Southern Cal would have beaten either LSU or Ohio State. 

I don't think the Panthers are that far off from being a post-season caliber team again in 2008.  Both lines need help, along with a quality second wide receiver, a banging running back to team with DeAngelo Williams and safety help should all be on the list.  If Jake Delhomme is indeed recovered from elbow surgery, the biggest problem will have been addressed.  For John Fox haters, the Giants' Tom Coughlin was in similar standing at the beginning of the season, and now look where they are.  Patience.

Sandra and I drove to my hometown in Northeast Ohio this past weekend.  The Pro Football Hall of Fame is literally right off I-77 in Canton, Ohio.  I had forgotten how unimpressive the building was to look at from the outside.   My junior high school has more curb appeal.  Despite having grown up 30 minutes from the hall and broadcasting the Panthers first-ever preseason game from there, I still have not been inside.  If I can trick Sandra into thinking their is a Coach outlet store inside the gift shop, I might get to actually stop one of these times.