Classics

I don't know who writes the sports headlines at Comcast.net, but somebody should send him (or her) a Webster's Dictionary as an early Christmas gift. Using the word "classic" to describe last night's Monday Night Football clash between the Saints and the Vikings makes about as much sense as kicking to Reggie Bush after he returns two straight punts for touchdowns. Yes, the Vikings won on a last-minute field goal less than two minutes after Saints' kicker Martin Gramatica missed a 46-yarder. And, yes, the oft-criticized Bush had two astounding touchdowns on punt returns and might have had a third if he had not slipped to the turf as he cut back across the field. The Vikings' points came in equally unconventional fashion, as they scored on a blocked field goal and a pass thrown by Chester Taylor, who normally finds himself clearing space for Adrian Peterson.

You want to call it dramatic, that's fine with me. Vikings coach Brad Childress probably saved his job, and Gramatica probably lost his. The thrill of Bush's returns was complemented by several hi-def hits and blocks in the second half. One of those hits knocked Minnesota QB Gus Frerotte out of the game after he completed a pass to Bernard Berrian for 36 yards. Frerotte returned one play later and marched his team to the end zone.

So there were some great plays, some big hits, but I can't think of one reason to call it a classic, something that would stand the test of time. Last week's MNF game pitted hated rivals Pittsburgh and Baltimore battling for the top of the AFC North. As the defenses dominated, the result seemed more a question of survival than execution. There were a lot of penalties and punts, but that was more a testament to the strength of the defenses than the offenses' ineptitude. The main question in last night's game was how many plays could make the blooper reel.

New Orleans did not attempt a punt in the first half because three straight possessions ended in turnovers. One of the two fumbles that the Saints did not lose came when Drew Brees wasn't ready for the snap on a shotgun formation; since the ball hit him in the shin, it probably wouldn't have mattered if he was. The Saints best scoring opportunites came as Bush awaited Minnesota's punts; and for some reason, the Vikes kept kicking to him. Minnesota punted a total of seven times, including five in a row in the second half. Neither team rushed for more than 60 yards on the night. Throw in the oddity that referee Ed Hochuli has become and you've got yourself a football game as envisioned by Tim Burton: oddly beautiful and compelling, but eerily unsettling because something is just not quite right.

The only reason I watched to the end was because of a very entertaining Yahoo Sports Live Blog. I'm not a bettor, but I'm guessing most of the others people who stuck it out were waiting to see if New Orleans could cover the three point spread. Better luck next week, for all of us, I hope.

Playoff Pleather

Oh, what a weekend! If I were a radio talk show host, I would say that I don't know if we are going to have time to cover everything that happened. Especially when you throw in the two-hour, one inch of snow, school delay this morning.

Let's start with the NFL. For a while in the first game, I thought I was watching a snowy rerun of the Ravens-Colts game the week before. Then I guess somebody told the teams they were allowed to score touchdowns, and the Bears listened a little better than the Saints. Pretty impressive watching Chicago run Thomas Jones eight straight times for the first TD of the day late in the first half, but equally impressive seeing Drew Brees march his team right back down the field to answer.

Reggie Bush strutted his stuff just a little too much for my liking when he turned to taunt the Bears' defense at the end of his fabulous 88-yard touchdown catch and run in the beginning of the third. And his flip into the end zone reminded me of the showy Superman TD dive he took just over a year ago against Texas in the Rose Bowl. His opponent got the last laugh in that game and this one as well.

The Saints wisely stacked their defense against the run in the second half and Chicago QB Rex Grossman failed to take advantage, going two-for-eight, until he caught fire late in the third period and completed four straight to put the Bears in the end zone and up by nine. The defense took over from there, forcing a fumble, an interception and two turnovers on downs. Thus endeth the Saints' magical journey.

Game Two gave CBS announcer Jim Nantz almost more drama than he could handle. I won't rehash the details, but when Peyton Manning broke the huddle to start the Colts' final drive, Nantz intoned, "This drive could change Peyton Manning's life," as if we hadn't been listening to the proclamations of every other pigskinhead for the last two weeks. Not much to say about Manning other than he rallied his team to the biggest comeback in playoff history and delivered in the clutch.

So the games were fun even if they didn't exactly stick to Hollywood studio scripts. The Saints couldn't continue to heal their battered and abandoned hometown, and the winning Colts' score wasn't Manning's or Adam Vinatieri's but Joseph Addai's. For me the greatest drama was whether Bill Belichik's trademark cutoff sweatshrt would survive. The way he kept clutching at the collar, I thought he was going to rip it right down the middle (okay, substitute hoped for thought, to make that last sentence more accurate).

So, who's ready for two weeks of mind-numbing Super Bowl overcoverage? As I wrote earlier, we got a dusting of snow yesterday and more is supposed to be on the way later in the week, which sets up two of my most hated media phenomena: local news team snow hype and Super Bowl mania.

The matchup is almost perfect for the media machines. The white-hatted heroes led by their heroic quarterback versus one of the most venerable franchises in NFL history, personified by the All-Pro middle linebacker Brian Urlacher. Seriously, what's the over-under on Dick Butkus references for the next two weeks, about a billion? Which is also the number of emails Bill Simmons is going to receive this week.

Next up, college basketball, including this week's Top 10 Poll.