EY's Rants and Raves

Arizona and Pittsburgh in the Super Bowl. Pittsburgh does not surprise me in the least, but I still can't get AZ and I've watched all or part of each of their playoff games. Yes Edgerrin James has actually played in these games, as opposed to half-assing it and sulking like he's done most of the season. Why? Because this is where he proves to OTHER TEAMS that he's still a valuable back and deserves a spot on a roster that is not based in Phoenix. How's that for a team mate? Kurt Warner is Kurt Warner, a good guy and a good quarterback. Who for most of the year has faced some porous defenses. With AZ in the SB, I'd kinda been rooting for Baltimore today. I think the Ravens would rip the Cards and their newfound ability to play football to shreds.

I think I'd said I'd watch a ARI vs PIT Super Bowl at the hizzy. I'm not sure.

Years ago, in college, someone in my dorm complained in a meeting about "people who boil themselves awake". As she said this, she shot an evil look to me. I gave her a blank look in return. Hey, there were 2 other showers on our side of the floor. And it's not like you'd have to get up THAT early back then to beat me to the bathroom.

So nearly 20 years later and I can tell Ms. Margo that I'm still at it, but I might have found just the thing to change my water-wasting ways. I've noticed that the shower is my biggest chunk of time spent getting ready in the morning. Longer, even, than drying my hair. My current hairstyle requires careful drying in sections with different brushes and not the flip-my-head-over-and-hope-for-the-best that has been my MO for quite some time. And I still spend more time in the shower. Washing my hair doesn't really take THAT long. Neither does shaving my legs. No, I know what the culprit is: I like to just stand under the flow of very hot water and warm up while I come alive. In Margo's parlance (which I find to be quite accurate) "boiling myself awake". I need all the time I can in the morning and the boiling is going to have to be cut down. I'm drinking more coffee on the way to work, so I hope that will compensate.

On Saturdays, though....there will be a boil order in effect.

You'd think with Miami getting into the playoffs, I'd have been blogging about the NFL a lot more than I have. I've come up with numerous posts in my head, only to have them evaporate when I sit down to type them in. Such is the fate of writers on all subjects, I suppose.

Now that it's down to four teams, my random NFL thoughts are....

• Yes, I'm quite thrilled that MIA went from being a one loss team to the playoffs, even if it was one and done. I hope they draft well and next year is better. Wish I could say I believe more in Chad Pennington, but after the 4 INT debacle against the Ravens, I just can't feel great about him.
• Dallas self-destructs again. Shocking. Maybe Jerry Jones should take the guys out for some team building exercises.
  
• I simply cannot believe that Arizona is for real. I watched Atlanta self-destruct and saw more than I expected from the Desert Wrens, but couldn't be bothered to watch the game against Carolina. Apparently, I should have and maybe I'd understand how on earth they're in the NFC championship game. I still feel that if playing a "real team", they'll self-destruct unless the other team does so first.
• I'm dreaming of an All-PA Super Bowl. Of course, if this happens, I won't go to any SB parties so that I can focus on the game. Which, really doesn't bother me any. I can go to good parties (and parties not on a school night, for that matter) any time of year. There's only one Super Bowl.
• I realized today that thanks to me being a lazy, lie-a-bed idiot and scheduling my return flight from visiting a friend in the mid-afternoon next Sunday, I will miss ALL of the NFC championship game and probably the first part of the AFC game.
  
• If the SB is Arizona and Pittsburgh, I'll probably go to a party, not get really hammered, expect a decent game, root for Pittsburgh (who, while not one of my absolute favorite teams, I have liked since 1976).
• If the SB is Arizona and Baltimore, I may watch this at home. I cannot in any atom of my brain conceive of how Arizona would not get ripped to shreds by Ray Lewis and Company. I'd have to watch that one.
• If the SB is Philly and Pittsburgh, I'll watch the game at home, expect a really good game, root for Pittsburgh (who, while not one of my absolute favorite teams, I have liked since 1976), but not feel bad if Philly won.
• If the SB is Philly and Baltimore, I might end up at the party and would hope for the best. That pairing should be really good and I might end up watching it at home. Tough call. Philly would have to play perfectly mistake-free, which I think they can do. Philly's D will be rough for Flacco. They ARE the #4 defense in the NFL (BAL is #3, PIT is #2 ARI is #16). Not too shabby.
• I wish the officials would pick ONE rule for how where the ball is influences the play. Breaks the plane for touchdowns, first downs and touchbacks should apply to line of scrimmage for passing (not the QB's body) and some other arcane play I can't remember now.
• Retire Brett. You too, JoePa.
• No matter what they're playing for, I can't root for Florida. I don't care that them winning the "national championship" looked good for the SEC. Uh, these folks are Arkansas's RIVALS, dude. I was happy to see Alabama lose because I think Nick Saban is a ego-ridden snake. I have a similar opinion of Urban Meyer and would have loved to see him get completely kicked by Oklahoma. Of course, OU and Utah are vastly different teams. Not much shame in losing to OU. Maybe it's like property values. If someone builds a very large house next to you, you feel a little sad about your domicile, but your property value will go up. Hmmmm. Yeah, I pondered that a bit. I still hate Florida. I still will not cheer for them for any reason.
  

I feel like that's the sign I should have worn last week. Started a new job and I haven't been "brand new" to a company in over 13 years. In fact, I'm rather accustomed to being a wise, sage expert in my field. Ain't got that at the new gig. However, everyone is extremely nice and welcoming and no one seems to expect me to leap tall buildings in a single bound. I volunteered to do something that would help both the team mate I'm working with and help expose me to material I need to become VERY familiar with. I was reminded by team mate that there was no rush, that I was welcome to complete the task, but there was no rush.

It was rare that my former boss at Big Faceless ever asked for anything that wasn't a rush. It's not that he was a bad planner or a pointy-haired idiot, it's that the requests usually started way upstream by someone who WAS in a rush or was a bad planner, but also a Big Wig.

So I'm curious about how this week will go. When no one is giving me a break because it's no longer my first week. I'm not someone who can sit and be bored. I start to surf. Which, I'm quite sure at The New Gig is not smiled on. I suppose I'll see.....

As we end the first part of the season and move toward the playoffs.....

• ESPN headine "Browns Want Pioli Decision Thursday". Hey, folks in Cleveland, Scott Pioli has good job, an owner who supports him and a great relationship with his coach. You have a franchise that is struggling mightily. Should YOU be the one making demands?
• "The Ultimate Leader".....Leading the Broncos no more.
• Thomas Jones, a QB is not like a RB. You can't switch them out play by play. Well, you CAN, but it's very disruptive and doesn't build a sense of leadership and having a Field General. I'm sure you were all over the idea of getting Favre in August. If you didn't know then that he (as well as any QB) runs the risk of throwing interceptions to make plays happen, you haven't been watching many NFL games. On his 3 interceptions against MIA, how many receivers were covered? How many defensive guys did you block to give Brett a clear shot? Didn't think so.
• Brett.....retire. Stay that way. We love you and you'll be a first balloter to Canton. Don't drag it out.
• Dallas, your problem is not your special teams coach. Your problem is that your marquee players don't realize this is a team sport, not their own personal 17 week PR junket. That your owner is not willing to A) stay out or B) enforce some rules doesn't help either. Mr. Jones, you and Al Davis are getting more similar, not less. His team's record over the past few years has been, ahem, dismal. You want that? Keep up your good work.
• Good luck Mike Singletary. I hope you really do stick with the fundamentals. MIA notwithstanding, that's what wins games.
  
• I hope you bought your team something really nice for Christmas, John Fox.
• Chad Pennington, I've been wrong about you. I thought you were a joke on the Jets and was not happy when you got moved to Miami. I did feel sorry for how you were treated, but hoped that you'd just warm the bench for my team. Instead, you've been a leader, you've put away the turmoil of the pre-season and I loved your quote after the Jets game, about how the game was not retribution and that the only great win was a Super Bowl win. You're a good egg.

Labels: football