In professional sports, the margin between winning and losing is razor thin. Often, it is the team that plays to win versus not to lose, that ends up on top. And it is this characteristic that makes the Superbowl win of the New Orleans Saints so impressive.
Head Coach Sean Payton (shown here) and Defensive Coordinator Gregg Williams earned my admiration and respect with the go for it attitude they showed. Payton’s on side kick call to open the 2nd half was the call of the season! And don’t give me any of that lucky bounce nonsense. Luck is the combination of preparation and opportunity arriving at the same time. I may buy into a little bit of karmic intervention as well, but it’s interesting that unprepared and/or bad teams never seem to get the breaks. Payton’s Saints practiced that onsides kick for two weeks before succeeding and Williams’ blitzing defense resulted in the winning pick six only after weeks of watching tendencies in film study. The Saints were supposed to get worn down by Colt perfection, instead they outscored Indy 31-7 in quarters 2, 3 and 4 and are partying on Bourbon Street!
On the flip side, the other Peyton is getting destroyed. What is it with people these days?!? Don’t get me wrong, I took some pleasure in watching the four time MVP, golden boy quarterback throw the interception that sealed the game for the Saints, but don’t blame it all on Manning. Peyton Manning is a GREAT quarterback, will go down as one of the best ever and every team in the NFL (except maybe New England) whether they’re led by Brees, McNabb, Romo or Rivers would trade their QB straight up for Manning. The Colts were undone by being conservative and playing not to lose. They’ll spend the offseason kicking themselves and wondering what might have been.
Play to win folks; there’s a reason they say, “to the aggressor go the spoils!”
For those of you who looked at the 13 and 0 Indianapolis Colts and New Orleans Saints and 11 and 1 Minnesota Vikings and claimed NFL parody was dead, not so fast my friends! The NFL playoff picture is a wild ride as we go into Week 17 with only one seed set in the NFC race and with multiple 8 win teams battling for the two AFC wild card slots. In addition, three games this week, the Eagles-Cowboys, Cardinals-Packers and Jets-Bengals could be preludes to first round playoff match-ups.
In between taking swipes at Tiger Woods and his nine, I mean eleven, man is it up to an even dozen women?!?, pundits are expounding on the annual December swoon that descends upon the Dallas Cowboys. Swoon, shwoon; I’m not buying it at all! Last season the Cowboys went 1-3 in December, horrible right? Of course all four of the teams they played were playoff teams and three made their respective Conference Championships. This year the Boys are oh and 2 losing to the New York Giants in the Meadowlands and the San Diego Chargers yesterday. Both teams were expected to contend this year and the Chargers are riding an eight game winning streak. On the horizon for the Cowboys are the 13 and oh New Orleans Saints in the Superdome which doesn’t look real good for the Cowboys either. Long story short, I look at the schedule the Cowboys are playing and don’t buy into the swoon theory.
Get the Welcome Wagon Ready: 
It finally is here! The day that the villanous dog killer Michael Vick rejoins the NFL, this time as a Philadelphia Eagle. 
This week, Florida Head Coach Urban Meyer signed a six-year, $24 million contract. He will be the highest paid coach in the SEC in 2009. When Alabama lured Nick Saban out of the NFL with an enormous compensation package, the nation sighed in disbelief—aghast at the total package. Well, that’s the going rate for a sure thing these days. And if a coaching hire reaches the lofty expectations of a perennial national title contender, it’s a good idea to make sure he’ll be sticking around. $24 Million over six years for Meyer–worth every penny.
Steve McNair was laid to rest Saturday. The former quarterback of the Tennessee Titans (formerly the Houston Oilers) and Baltimore Ravens was widely loved and respected as evidenced by the huge turnout for his memorial service by celebrities and fans alike. Ever since he was chosen third in the 1995 draft by the Houston Oilers after coming out of Division I-AA school Alcorn State, McNair has been synonomous with perserverence and toughness on the football field. He is well respected for these attributes and definitely should be based on his well documented NFL career.
