What happens when 200,000 people decide to play hooky and attend the Baltimore Ravens Victory Parade and Celebration?
Well, for one thing: In a city with a population of 600K, the unemployment rate rises significantly.
The national guard is called out.
Traffic is blocked
Security Breaches Occur
People do crazy things
And division rival fans come out to enjoy the festivities – and – apply a little perspective.
As much as I despise the Steelers, this last one is my favorite.
Gardiners Furniture, of Baltimore, offered customers free furniture if the Raven returned either opening half kickoff for a TD.
If such a kick return happened, all furniture bought between Jan. 31 and 3 p.m. on game day would be refunded for free.
Such a return had not happened in fifty years, so they thought it was a pretty safe promotion.
And then Jones opened the second half with a 108-yard kick return.
No Worries:
Just after the history return, the store posted on its Facebook page: “That was amazing! Furniture is FREE! If you made a purchase this weekend, it’s your lucky day. Go Ravens!”
Even though the odds were in their favor, the store management took out on insurance policy to cover – just in case.
If you believe the bookies, the Green Bay Packers will win the Super Bowl.
Of course they ALL picked the Giants to win last year before the season started. 😉
NOT!
That is why they play the game! Nobody knows. And if you are the gambling type of fan, you can put your money where your mouth is and try and win some big money.
I bet more than one Giants fan did last year. BTW, the bookies have them at 18:1 this year. So go for it. They are not going to repeat!
If you where the betting type, which team do you think is the surest bet?
Which team is the best risk/reward ?
Personally, I think the Bears, Falcons and the Lions are most interesting bets at 24:1
So are the 49ers and Texans at 12:1
Sorry, I just can’t route for any other NFC East team other than the Redskins.
They are 65:1 to win it all.
| TEAM | ODDS |
| Green Bay Packers | 5.3 |
| New England Patriots | 6.2 |
| Houston Texans | 12.5 |
| Philadelphia Eagles | 12.5 |
| San Francisco 49ers | 12.5 |
| New Orleans Saints | 16.5 |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | 17 |
| Baltimore Ravens | 17.5 |
| New York Giants | 18 |
| Denver Broncos | 21 |
| San Diego Chargers | 22.5 |
| Atlanta Falcons | 23.5 |
| Chicago Bears | 24.5 |
| Dallas Cowboys | 24.5 |
| Detroit Lions | 24.5 |
| New York Jets | 28.5 |
| Carolina Panthers | 41 |
| Cincinnati Bengals | 41 |
| Kansas City Chiefs | 45.5 |
| Seattle Seahawks | 62 |
| Buffalo Bills | 65.5 |
| Washington Redskins | 65.5 |
| Arizona Cardinals | 75.5 |
| Tennessee Titans | 85.5 |
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 95.5 |
| Saint Louis Rams | 100 |
| Oakland Raiders | 110 |
| Miami Dolphins | 125 |
| Indianapolis Colts | 150 |
| Minnesota Vikings | 180 |
| Jacksonville Jaguars | 210 |
| Cleveland Browns | 250 |
Whitney Houston sang a beautiful rendition of the Anthem at Super Bowl XXV. Which was coincidentally won by the Giants.
RIP Whitney.
I realize security at major, televised, sporting events such as the Super Bowl is a requirement. But what do you think? Is this necessary?
This seems to be the wave of the future to me. The Government and First Responder Organizations have increasingly taken a “take all precautions necessary” and “use all available resources” approach to public safety. Recently I have also seen reports of thousands of military drones coming back to the states because of the wars ending overseas. The military has already requested FAA cooperation regarding shared airspace for these drones. Most for training purposes, but I imagine it is only a matter of time before we see them scouting events such as this.
Justin Tuck pressured Tom Brady in his own end-zone during the first quarter of the Super Bowl forcing Brady to throw the ball away. The officials awarded the Giants a safety and the score was 2 – 0 Giants.
This one play changed not only the whole game but, more importantly, the final minutes of the 4th quarter. And yes, some of you might argue that the officials should get the MVP award . . . 😉
With less than 4 minutes to go the Giants were down 15 – 17. They only needed to kill time and score a field goal to win the game. Once they got inside the Patriots 30 yard line, they were only concerned about killing time.
Had they been down by 13 – 17, they would have NEEDED that touchdown to potentially win the game. Their entire attitude, play calling and strategy would have been different.
Of course,thanks to an almost brilliant defensive call, the Giants ended up failing to run out the clock effectively and only scoring the field goal by running it in for a TD. Belichick would have most likely used this same strategy if he thought the chances of the Giants scoring a TD were good. And from inside the 10 yard line, this might have been a reasonable thought.
So with 57 seconds left and the score now in the Giants favor 20 – 17, all the Bradiots would have to do is march 50 or 60 yards down the field to score a tying field goal instead of 80 yards and a TD and send the game into overtime.
Of course there is no telling what would have happened but still, that safety changed the entire complexity of the game and the final minutes of the Super Bowl.
First of all, I’d like to welcome some recent, as in new, followers, Ray Melendez and Michael Zosh. As far as I can tell, they both hail from the land of Giants, which is OK since that team is in the Super Bowl and we (the Redskins already beat them – Twice!). Oh and According To Jewels, but Jewels seems to be from Philadelphia (shudder). But hey, nobodies perfect. . . 😉
So last week I predicted the following record breaking events for this super bowl.
1) Overtime
2) Longest Scoring Play (100+yards)
3) Biggest come from behind wind (10+ point deficit)
And since my prognosticator friend Sam already picked the Bradiots, and, more importantly – my wife and subsequent in laws, are also New Yorkers, I have no reservations picking the Giants. Only one slight problem. When I think of big sleazy come from behind victories, I think Brady. Not Eli. But hey, I’ve been wrong before.
So how about a final score?
Giants 26
Bradiots 23
And yes that is with an overtime win. Hey, it could happen.
Now, for the much anticipated final results of the “I Lost A Tim Tebow Tattoo Contest”
I meticulously went through all blog comments and likes on facebook to come up with a winner.
Both the wife’s designs, the first misspelled one and the spell check enabled one tied for second. Though, one person did suggest fixing the spelling.
And the winner, with a come from behind victory, is . . .
Thanks to everyone who voted!!!
“So, do you think it is OK to be charged a $89 service fee just to be told yup, we installed the furnace wrong?”
This is the question I asked the repairman when he was here fixing our furnace vent. He kind of chuckled and said no.
“Well that is what the guy who came out over the weekend said and then proceeded to inform me that he could not fix it and would have to schedule your visit. Oh, and the dispatch lady wasn’t much more helpful either.”
Repairman: “Really”
“So, who would you call to complain?” (I was trying to get the regional office manager’s direct line)
Repairman: “I would go to corporate, the national office. They don’t like being called by the big guys.”
“OK, thanks.”
This is exactly what I had planned on doing the next day from work.
I never got the chance. My wife called me that very next morning saying the furnace people called and heard that I was charged a service fee and that it was totally wrong. We would be receiving a full refund check in the mail.
Seems Mr. Repairguy who came out to re-install , fix, our vent pipe was a pretty nice guy and made an excellent messenger.
Nobody, not even hall of fame coaches like being called by the big guns.
Last week the Washington Post ran a series of articles and stories from the Redskins last super bowl run 20 years ago. Within those articles are several great player and coaches interviews. This following excerpt is from Coach Gibbs.
Enjoy!
Joe Gibbs: A lot of people don’t know this, but Jack Kent Cooke was none too happy with me after that preseason. … I get a call from the office: “Mr. Cooke wants to meet with you.” I’m thinkin’, “In preseason? This has never happened before.”
He starts right up. “Hey, look, I think we’ve messed up here,” he said. “We’ve got too many old players. Our football team is going downhill.” He goes into a tirade with me about the problems with the football team.
Now, I didn’t usually get this agitated with Mr. Cooke because I respected him a great deal. But that’s one of the few times I did get heated. I started into my own tirade, defending my guys. “We have a good football team,” I said. We went around and around, raised voices, the whole thing. … Finally, he said, “Listen, me and you are going to cool off, go upstairs and have a coffee and talk this out.” And we did.
Then we started winning games. And we won more games. And he never said anything to me again. I always thought we had great conversations. He was never afraid to give you his opinion, which I liked.
Yes folks, it has been twenty years since the Redskins have won a super bowl. January 26, 1992 to be exact, over the Buffalo Bills.
Twenty long agonizing years.
During this span, the Redskins have managed to defeat the eventual super bowl winner at least once in four different seasons. (2010 Green Bay, 2007 Giants, 2003 Pats, and 2000 Ravens).
If the Giants win this year, the Redskins will have the distinction of accomplishing this amazing feat a league leading 5 times!
I actually do want the Giants to win. Yes, for bragging rights, but because I really don’t like Brady or the Patriots all that much.
I could mention other trivia like a former under-achieving Redskin player (Devin Thomas) is about to play in and probably win a super bowl ring.
But I won’t. Oh wait . . . I just did 😦
I’m just so glad that Haynesworth isn’t one name getting a ring this year!
Anyway, I think this this Super Bowl will be one for the record books. So, which records will be set, or broken?
I doubt it will be the lowest scoring winner – 14 points.
Or the lowest scoring looser – 3 points.
Considering the Patriots and Brady are playing, many people would not blame me for picking something like most passing yards (Kurt Warner – 414yds, TD’s or Points.
But I won’t.
No, I am going for 3 different possible scenarios.
Lets start with the least likely (perhaps).
With kick-offs going into the end zone, wouldn’t it be great to see somebody run it out and go all the way for a TD in a Super Bowl!
And last but not least:
The Redskins set that record during Super Bowl XXII in 1988 when they fell behind Denver 10 – 0 only to totally blow them away 42 – 10.
Actually that record setting come from behind point deficit was during one of the most explosive Super Bowls ever!
The following records were set:
The Redskins set the following Super Bowl records in the victory over Denver:
Both teams combined to set the following records:
Ah, those were the days!
Mark had a Super Brothers Bowl
Will had Patriots and 49ers
Alaina just did not want the Patriots.
Genna did not care.
Eric wanted Patriots and 49ers
I wanted Giants and Ravens
My wife, she said it was going to be the Giants and Patriots in the Super Bowl.
Fumbled Returns 