Halloween is today. If you’re anything like me, you came up with an awesome costume idea sometime in June, and thought, “Man, that’s awesome! And the best part of it is I have all this time to prepare it!”
And then, 4 months later, you realize the most you did was browse online and not buy anything because costumes are fucking expensive.
Well no fear! We here at the Footbawl Blog have compiled a list of last minute, NFL-themed costumes for you to wow your friends with! Read the list, look around the house, and see what you can scrounge up! Continue reading
Something I am starting to dislike about the world of sports analysis is that there are a lot of premade arguments. In any situation, there is a fallback defense that everyone accepts as truth. Today, we’re going to talk about the most recent premade argument: “Well, you want your quarterback to say that.”
We’re talking, of course, about quarterbacks defining themselves as the best at their position. Now, last year, before the start of the season, Eli Manning said he saw himself as an elite quarterback. And while many people had a field day with it, the defense popped up that Eli was almost forced to say it. I recall several analysts saying that it was a good thing Eli said it, that it gave Giants fans something to be proud of.
Eli Manning then went on to win his second Super Bowl, and he proved that no one should chuckle when he says things like this. Happy ending for everyone involved!
Except Joe Flacco.
So yesterday, Joe Flacco told a radio station that not only is he one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL, he is THE Best. Capital T, capital B, possibly other capital letters as well. He used the “as a quarterback, you have to think that” defense, and this morning I heard Mike Greenberg on ESPN’s Mike & Mike in the Morning say “you want to hear your quarterback say that.” He also went on to use that as proof the Ravens would win the Super Bowl, since Eli said something similar and then won. I’m not here to blast that kind of pitiful conjecture, so I’ll leave that one alone.
I am here to blast Joe Flacco, however, and the defense that he and others are hiding behind. Sure, confidence is good. And quarterbacks are not the only profession to use the “you have to think you’re the best” defense; rappers say it all the time too! But there’s a difference between rapping and playing football. Rapping is much more subjective, and there aren’t stats that accurately measure if a rapper is the best (I refuse to acknowledge “swag” as a unit of measurement). Joe Flacco has stats that can compare him to the top quarterbacks, and never throwing for more than 3600 yards and 25 TDs in a season is sort of telling in this case. On the bright side, though, his swag is probably out of control.
Eli’s Super Bowl MVP performance may lend credence to Flacco’s point. Perhaps that kind of confidence can help rally a team together. But there are some slight differences between Eli Manning and Joe Flacco. Manning had won a Super Bowl prior to his statement. He had earned a reputation for delivering in the clutch. He had made it to the Pro Bowl. Joe Flacco has had none of these things.
But he does have that sweet stache. So there's that.
It is the last of these that got my attention. Joe Flacco has never been acknowledged as one of the best quarterbacks in his conference. Not even the Pro Bowl in a year where all 3 voted quarterbacks declined to attend. In fact, he was passed by David Garrard that year. Some may argue that the Pro Bowl is a popularity contest, but the alternates aren’t voted by the fans. This was the league thinking that Joe Flacco didn’t deserve to make the Pro Bowl over David Garrard.
Another slight difference is that Eli was vague, while Flacco was annoyingly specific. Manning said he considered himself elite, a word that carries heavy connotation without actually specifying which quarterbacks Manning ranked himself ahead of. Flacco made everyone know for sure which quarterbacks he thought he outranked: everybody. Peyton Shmeyton. Drew Who. Tom “I Couldn’t Rhyme His First Name Humorously Enough But Come the Fuck On Everyone Knows He’s Better than Joe Fucking Flacco” Brady.
"You think you're the best? That's so adorable! I would take you out for ice cream, but I'll be busy preparing for the Super Bowl." - Tom Brady's actual quote (if he wanted me to love and respect him forever)
And the difference that probably only matters to me: Eli hadn’t been campaigning himself in the media before that interview. It seems that Flacco is always sensitive to questioning his skills as a quarterback. He’s always aggressively defending himself. “But Nate,” you say, “He’s only sensitive because he gets blasted in the media all the time!” That’s probably true, but you know what I take from that? If you’re getting blasted by the media all the time for your play, YOU’RE PROBABLY NOT THE BEST QUARTERBACK IN THE NFL. It’s not like every member in the media is out to get Joe Flacco. They’re voicing concerns because the Ravens are Super Bowl contenders every year but haven’t made it to the grand stage yet, and with their defense getting older every day, that window is closing.
Flacco may very well prove me wrong, and I won’t be upset if he does. I think the Ravens are a good, hard-working, dynamic team. But I don’t like quarterbacks rating themselves as best in the league without adequate proof, and I don’t like everyone defending him by saying, “He has to say it.” Sure, as a quarterback, he has to say it. Well, as a football blogger, I have to make fun of him as much as possible. Which includes flying to Baltimore and playing “You’re the Best Around” from Karate Kid every time he throws an interception.
Or hold up this sign!
When it comes down to it, only one NFL fanbase is truly happy at the end of the year. Sure, Texans fans can be happy with a playoff berth and win. Panthers fans can be happy they have a genetic freak with a Magic Johnson smile for a quarterback. Niners fans can be happy that Alex Smith isn’t the butt of as many jokes (enjoy it while it lasts!). But overall, only one fanbase can be truly happy with the way the season went, and of course those fuckers are from New York.
This guy. THIS GUY is happy now. Good job, Tom Brady. This is your fault.
The Giants pretty much played off of the Packers’ blueprint from last season, and that resulted in a win over Tom Brady and the Patriots in the Super Bowl. So while 31 other teams can rate their seasons in various degrees of success, only the Giants can truly say that 2011 was a successful season.
Except the Cardinals. Man that Kolb trade worked out great!
This is your 2011 Retrospective of the Super Bowl Champion New York Giants.
"Eli, would you say this is the highlight of your season?" "Um...fucking duh, Terry."
Team Highlight: This is obvious. But it wasn’t just the Super Bowl. It was the entire playoffs, especially shutting down the Falcons to the tune of 24-2. I don’t think we need to really analyze the way they dominated the postseason, but we can look at some of Eli Manning’s numbers: 1219 passing yards, 9 TDs, 1 INT. We’ll probably look at more of Eli’s numbers in the Team MVP section (SPOILER ALERT!).
Team Lowlight: For a team that won the Super Bowl, there were a good bit of lowlights this season. The smashing in the Superdome comes to mind, as does the two losses to the Redskins. But for my money, the worst game for the Giants was against the Seattle Seahawks at home. Not only did the Giants lose, they gave up 20 points in the 4th quarter and turned the ball over 5 times. Most notable of these turnovers was Brandon Browner’s 94 yard interception return. Eli had 3 interceptions, and if you told me after the game he would end up being the Super Bowl MVP, I would have assumed there was an earthquake during the Super Bowl and he was the only survivor.
"We were playing badly, and then I saw Nate from TFBB picked me as midseason MVP. That truly gave us the confidence to win the Super Bowl." YES HE REALLY SAID THAT.
Team MVP: Yeah, yeah, it’s Eli Manning. He had one of his best seasons, and it came in a year where the Giants defense wasn’t as dominant as some remember it being. They came on towards the end, but for most of the year the Giants were carried by Manning. Oh, and I want to take this opportunity to revisit my Midseason MVP Award. Picking Eli doesn’t look so stupid now, does it? Although, yes, it was incredibly stupid at the time. But who cares, I’m results obsessed!
Needs: Much like the lowlights, this is a championship team who has a lot of holes to fill. They had a terrible running game, and the blame can be placed on both the running backs and the lineman. So an upgrade at tackle, guard, and running back would help make the Giants’ passing game even more impressive. On the other end of the ball, they need secondary help. They were one of the worst teams against the pass last year, and getting a cornerback that teams aren’t forced to pick on would probably help a lot. Aaron Ross is probably going to be gone, which is actually good for the Giants because he was the one picked on the most last year. But they have to make sure that Terrell Thomas is healthy, and then decide whether to let him go or sign him and hope he’s the answer.
What’s in a Giants Fan’s Liquor Cabinet: Vodka and a lot of colorful mixers.
Not gonna lie, that looks delicious
That’s the image that came up when I googled “Giants drink.” Also in that search were a lot of appletinis. So it looks like Giants fans are going to take vodka and mix it with anything that’s red or orange. Also, in any of these drinks, this is absolutely mandatory:
Not sure why it's in an orange, but whatever.
Straight Cash Homey Meter:
...wait, what?
Hey, where’s Randy’s head? Well, it isn’t anywhere near New York, that’s for sure. Manningham is a free agent, yes. But I don’t think, even if they let him go, that they’re in the market for a field stretcher like him, especially when they have a younger version in Victor Cruz. Here’s the sad catch 22 in this Randy Moss debate: a lot of the really good teams that can contend for a title won’t really need him, and the only reason Randy wants to come back is to win a championship. Poor Randy.
Entirely Too Early Prediction for 2012: 10-6. The team will struggle at times, but Manning is going to continue to show why he’s a top quarterback in this league, and if they improve the running game, their offense will be spoken of in the same lines as the Packers, Saints, and Patriots. Either way, I like their chances to get back into the playoffs, but repeating is often tricky. But either way, this year was a success and I’m sure the money will be piling up!
And the award for worst 'shop goes to...
Hey, that’s where Randy’s head went! Get out of there!
Maybe Randy’s head will find a home next week, when we take our Straight Cash Homey Meter to the AFC North! Ben and some guests will be taking care of things next week, as I will be on vacation. Enjoy the weekend!
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If you watched the two week build-up to the Super Bowl, the game itself, or the aftermath, you are all too familiar with the word “legacy”. The fickle sports media, a group of people who change their mind about players on a day to day basis depending on the direction of the wind, would like you to believe that the sporting event that they are hyping this week is so important that it will change the way we feel about a player or coach…forever.
Except that isn’t even remotely true, is it? And for the record, it shouldn’t be. We shouldn’t have to decide how a player will be remembered forever before they are done playing, but yet ESPN and the NFL Network are obsessed with it. At the same time, we should at least have some respect for the past and acknowledge that it occurred. And the fact that it didn’t occur right this minute doesn’t make it irrelevant.
Exhibit A: Tom Brady.
Eric Wilbur “writes” for the Boston Globe. I put that word in quotes because perhaps a more accurate assessment for what he did in this article is take a dump all over his keyboard. This read likes the dude was pounding beers the whole game and just let loose with a cranky homer diatribe without even thinking. A win makes Tom Brady in the conversation for the greatest quarterback of all time with the likes of Joe Montana, and a loss now has him being compared to JIM FUCKING KELLY!
Is there really no middle ground? At all? Now look, I love those early 90’s Bills teams, but Kelly never closed the deal. Tom Brady has three Super Bowl rings and has put up some of the best statistical seasons of all time. If he loses the Super Bowls right away and then wins three towards the end of his career, we think about it much differently because we have a hard on for the moment. The safety was terrible, but his interception was a jump ball that he threw to maybe the best tight end in the game downfield one-on-one against a linebacker. Tom didn’t play great or even very good, but he played good enough to win. If Wes Welker catches that ball and they are able to run the clock out, is anyone killing Tom Brady in the press? The storyline becomes “Tom Brady wasn’t perfect, but he was gutty!” and everyone over reacts in the other direction.
Exhibit B: Eli Manning.
Let’s say Brady’s Hail Mary was successful. Let’s say the ball was batted up in the air and Gronk made a miracle catch. Should this change how we feel about Eli’s clutch drive? Nope. Would it have? Absolutely! A play where Eli was not even on the field could have changed his “legacy” forever. If he never won another Super Bowl the narrative would eventually settle into “well he got lucky with that one Tyree catch, it was a perfect storm” and we’d forget about the pinpoint pass he made to Mario Manningham, which was about as clutch as it gets. The “is he elite?” debate has been silenced (I admit, I was wrong) but in retrospect it was ridiculous from the get go. Eli is a different kind of animal all together. Before the season he wanted to be compared to Tom Brady, but that’s not the right comparison at all. He’s not a Rodgers or a Brees either. He’s probably not going to flirt with 50 touchdowns in a season and blow people’s minds. He’s going to put up above average stats in the regular season, occasionally have a real stinker of a game, but always be ready to go for any clutch situation. And there’s nothing wrong with that. He’s more Big Ben than Terrific Tom, and there’s nothing wrong with that either. There’s one thing that all of the guys I just mentioned have in common, including Eli…they are some of the best quarterbacks in the league. They just look a hell of a lot different doing it.
I don’t have a problem with speculating in sports, otherwise blogs like this probably wouldn’t exist, let’s just try to have a little more perspective. It’s impossible to remember every play of every Super Bowl, but that doesn’t mean we can’t at least try to be reasonable.
Anyway, we can all agree that Tony Romo will definitely never win the big one!
A few more random thoughts…
-Not a lot of talk about Antrel Rolle’s tip on New England’s last drive. If he doesn’t get a hand on that ball it looks like an easy catch for Deion Branch and there is a LOT of real estate behind him.
-Is Aaron Hernandez’ touchdown dance a “strip club making it rain” kind of thing, or something else altogether? I’m going to hire a hip intern to explain celebrations to me.
-Brandon Jacobs: shittiest cocky player in the league or cockiest shitty player?
-If you play in a close game, and you fumble the ball three times and you somehow get all three of them back, doesn’t it just feel like there is no way you can possibly lose?
-As I mentioned in a piece on Super Bowl prop bets last week, the over/under on the NBC broadcast showing the David Tyree catch was one. They went for almost the whole game without doing it, but then late in the game they showed it twice within the span of thirty seconds and that really had to set of a crazy series of events inLas Vegas.
Any thoughts on the game you want to get out of your system? Let us know in the comments section.
Chris Dorsey
Nate Raby
Joseph Kyle Schmidt
Ben Van Iten