TK Strikes Again

Whatever takes the attention off of what you say Tony, I guess

So, here I was, on a Monday night, settled on my couch, 4 pack of Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA, ready to watch my fantasy team take 5th place in ouR league (I know, I know, my mother could not be prouder) and of course, a little Monday Night Football. I had hoped that since this was the last Monday night game of the year TK would be on his A game, that he would have burn the candle at both ends researching for this game instead of polishing his Aaron Rodgers/Brett Favre comparisons. I should have wished my car had crapped out on me on my way home.

So here’s the setting, 4th quarter, the Packers and Bears are tied at 17 with Green Bay driving deep into Chicago territory. The Pack get the ball down to the 20 yard line of Chicago and trot out Crosby to try a 38 yard field goal. Crosby lines up, ball’s snapped, hold is down, kick is up……AND IT’S BLOCKED (amazingly not Favre’s fault). Immediately there is jubilation amongst the Chicago crowd while Tirico and Jaws utter a couple wows in stunned amazement. So what does our boy TK say? “This is what they do, this is how they score, their defense does everything for them for years and years.”

Now, I do not pretend that I am perfect, nor am I a paid football analyst for ESPN. I understand that TK probably does not have access to ESPN.com like I do, but I would expect a man who gets paid close to $2 million to do MNF to do a little bleeping research. TK believes that the Bears defense carries that team (or does everything for it), and while compared to the offense (which has finished higher than 26th once since 2002) they are the 2000 Ravens, it is far from the truth. Here are the rankings by yardage of the Bears’ defenses since 2002 through this season prior to tonight’s game; 25th, 14th, 21st, 2nd, 5th, 28th, 14th. Wow, two top 10 defenses and three defenses that ranked in the 20s? That’s elite, that’s what has allowed the Bears to reach the playoffs twice in that same time period.

For some reason–I don’t know if it’s because of what they did in 2006, the 1985 season, or lack of oxygen–media types such as TK have spoken about the Bears’ defense as though it has had this run of greatness this decade–well, at least for years and years. It’s been okay, respectable, top 5 twice, two other times in the top 15, but it has hardly performed at a level that would validate such high praise. I mean, should we laud the Ravens’ QB play prior to this season while we are at it? I know, let’s talk about how awesome the Bucs’ unis were before the change in the middle of last decade. For Christmas TK, I hope you get access to that ESPN.com.

How to make Tony Kornheiser sound intelligent

The current state of Monday Night Football

Normally I find Tony Kornheiser to be a nuisance on Monday Night Football, where he constantly comes off as the chess geek trying to fit in with the high school jock, with his timid statements about football that require Ron Jaworski’s validation. Usually the points are at best bad and at worst ridiculous. But this past Monday was quite different. Ron Jaworski, known as a great X’s and O’s guy, made Kornheiser sound as though he knows what he is talking about.

During the 2nd quarter of the Eagles/Browns game, the Eagles drove inside the Cleveland 10 yard line to the 8. After a 1 yard run on first down and an incomplete pass on second, the Eagles went to their bag of tricks and put WR Desean Jackson under center. He promptly threw an interception in the end zone. Following the turnover, Kornheiser asked Jaworski a question that probably most people watching the game were wondering, why resort to a trick play when you had racked up 192 yards of offense up to that point through the first 23 minutes of the game? Jaws responded, “because they thought it would work”.

Wow. So according to a man who was a quarterback in the NFL for 17 seasons, who is a paid football analyst, a team calls a play with the expectation it will work? Huh, never thought of it that way, what great insight. I always thought that every once in awhile there would be this exchange between a team’s head coach and its offensive coordinator:

HC: “Okay, what are we going with?”

OC: “Running Willie off the tackle.”

HC: “Think it will work?”

OC: “No.”

HC: “Alright let’s do it.”

Glad to have that resolved, though I was really hoping that Kornheiser would follow with “do quarterbacks throw passes with the hopes that it will be a completion?”.

Along with his in-depth analysis, Jaws also gave us his take on the media and its tendency to speculate too much. This happened when Kornheiser went on one of his usual endless discussions (a discussion that usually involves Kornheiser thinking out loud and Mike Tirico attempting to keep the focus on the game), this one about the known fact that Romeo Crennel is hot the seat in Cleveland and that “they” say that Marty Schottenheimer may be on Cleveland’s radar to become the next head coach. This started to tick Jaws off and he confronted Kornheiser about “who they are”, followed by a rant about how the media speculates too much and has a tendency to create stories.

I have to say that fully agree with Jaws on this one, the media does speculate too much. I mean, look at the clown who got on ESPN 950 earlier this year in March and made the proclamation that the Randy Moss deal with the Patriots was “falling apart”, and this was according to “the rumor mill” and “people he spoke with”. Pot meet kettle.

Ummm, Did Drew Brees Get That Thing Removed?

So this has nothing to do with Maine, but I am the editor dammit and I will post it anyways.

Watching Monday Night Football in glorious HD tonight, they showed a close-up of Drew Brees on the sidelines after the Saints second touchdown. The birthmark on his right cheek, which is always conspicuously absent in pictures and commercials, looks like it has been removed. Notice the giant looking stitch in the middle of it. Was the thing cancerous? Has it always looked like that?

Election Day Links

Get out and vote, no matter how long the line is. Or if your town transferred everything to computers in the past year and you have to re-register. Or any other excuse. Go vote.

NFL

The Steelers won the battle 23-6, but may have lost the war, as Ben Roethlisberger left with an injured throwing shoulder. Byron Leftwich had quite a homecoming.

Jim Zorn’s team looked unorganized and out of sync in the fourth quarter, invoking memories of opening night’s clock management issues.

Brady Quinn gets three days to prepare for his first start.

NBA

The Sixers hammered the Sacramento Kings.

The Magic tamed the Bulls 96-93, but the Magic are still strugg-a-ling

The short-handed and emotionally unstable Pistons plowed over the Bobcats, and Larry Brown is already whining.

GSW hoops ran out of gas in the fourth quarter falling to the Memphis Grizzlies.

Cleveland came into Dallas and won big.

MLB

Matt Holliday is selling his Denver-area home.

My Seattle area sources tell me that Raul Ibanez will NOT be back in Seattle, and that he may look to play closer to his Florida home. Tampa Bay, the Marlins, how about Atlanta? The Braves might be a good fit for Ibanez, but the Rays will be looking for a bat to replace Cliff Floyd and Rocco Baldelli in all likelihood. If Ibanez takes a Luis Gonzalez type deal, he could play for the Marlins, but he surely is worth more than that . I am going to guess Tampa for the win, Atlanta for the Place, and the Marlins for the Show. The Mariners are also very interested in Red Sox bench coach Brad Mills to be thier new manager, and he is number one on their list.

NCAAF

Oklahoma will be without their best pass-rusher for three weeks according to what Bob Stoops told me yesterday in the BIG XII media telconference. Yes, the Central Maine Sports Blog broke a story. No, no one credited us with anything. I do have the proof however, go here, and go to about the 6:30 mark. The stories about this are timestamped 2 hours after this teleconference.

Tuesday Morning "Soaked" Quick Hitters

Well another chapter in Bud Selig career has been written but this time he made the correct decision to suspend the game but sure can be questioned why it was started in the 1st place. The Philadelphia sky opened up in the 4th inning causing Bed Selig to be forced to suspend Game 5 in the 6th inning. Shane Victorino had a 2 run hit in the 1st inning for the Phillies 2 runs and Scott Kazmir held them down after that. Carlos Pena had a hand on both Tampa Bay runs, scoring on Longoria’s single in the 3rd inning and driving in BJ Upton in the driving rain in the top of the 6th. The game is scheduled to be resumed tonight at 8 PM, weather permitting.

The Tennessee Titans took solid control of the AFC clearly being head and shoulder pads above the competition. The Titans used a 17 point 4 quarter to top the Indianapolis Colts…who by the way are in deep trouble. The Titans win 31 – 21.

Tuesday Morning Quick Hitters

Boston Red Sox ace Jon Lester pitched like the ace he is and Jed Lowrie got a single to drive home Jason Bay in an amazing 9th inning to propel the Red Sox to the ALCS by beating the California Angels 3 – 2.

The Tampa Bay Rays finish off the Chicago White Sox with a 6 – 2 win in Chicago. This sets up a Boston Red Sox vs Tampa Bay Rays American League Championship Series.

Reggie Bush had 2 huge returns for TDs, but the Saints could not outlast the Minnesota Vikings, Vikes win in New Orleans 30 – 27.

Brian Westbrook broke ribs in his return game.

LIVE Sports Vortex at Chicago Dogs TONIGHT!

Join us TONIGHT LIVE at Chicago Dogs for Monday Night Football! Joey P will have Philly Cheese Steak specials, hot dog deals, beer specials and you never know what else. If you come down to Chicago Dogs with a picture of Jessica Simpson, you will get a free hot dog. If you are a man, and come DRESSED as Jessica, you will get a free combo meal…if you choose the latter, please avoid the Vortex! Join us on Talkshoe ONLY Tonight so…maybe the salty language returns.

Chicago Dogs 285 Route 1 Scarborough