I'm With Oakley

When Master Bates texted me to tell me that Charles Oakley had been ejected from Madison Square Garden and arrested, I thought he was messing with me. I thought Nails (who frequently tells me my favorite players have been traded, killed or photographed in bed with hookers) had put him up to it.
Unfortunately, it was another sad chapter in the sad story of the New York Knicks.

We will never know what truly happened, because there are such differing accounts, but clearly this went back a while, and rightly or wrongly security would keep an eye on Charles Oakley whenever he entered the Garden.

We don't know if Oakley was drunk, we don't know if he was abusive, we don't really know if Dolan ordered security to eject him.
We only know what we see on tape, which makes Oakley look pretty bad. He is physically assaulting the security personell and refusing to leave.

As the headline indicates, I am with Oakley on this one, but when you are in a private place, and security in charge asks you to leave, you have to leave. That's the law, and the decent thing to do.
Oakley resisted, which led to the ugly incident and his arrest.

But that's only one night. As a Knicks fan who has been subjected to years of mismanagement of the team by James Dolan, if anyone has to be banned from the arena for life it should be Dolan.

What Do You Give Me For? Carson Wentz and Prince Harry

This one comes from the mind of Julian who asked why Carson Wentz was on the cover of daddy's magazine and mommy's magazine.

Song of the Week

"Let Me Explain" - Bryson Tiller

He's Got To Be the Sickest Man in America Right Now

Two years ago Dan Quinn got a front row seat to one of the worst coaching decisions in Super Bowl history when Pete Carroll elected for a pass instead of a run on the one-yard.

Here's what I wrote about that move at the time:

"That was a terrible play call, absolutely the worst. How do you not try with Marshawn Lynch there, at least on second down, if it doesn't work call time out and then consider your options? Nothing else needs to be said about it, it was a terrible move, a risk he didn't need to take. There is no argument in favor of it. Even though the Patriots would know it was coming, their odds of stopping it were low."

Dan Quinn was the defensive coordinator of that team and now he can sympathize with his old boss, and if Pete Carroll had any class -- which I highly doubt -- he would have called his former employee to console him for making an even worse decision. Or maybe thank him for taking Carroll's name out of the memories of all football fans for making the biggest bonehead move at the worst possible time.

Julio Jones had just made a ridiculous sideline toe-tapping catch that would have and should have gone done as a nail in the Patriots coffin, putting the Falcons at the 22-yard-line with four minutes and 40 seconds to go.

Freeman lost a yard on first down. The clock ticked under 4 minutes, and the entire Falcons coaching staff had a simultaneous brain fart. They called for a pass. All they needed to do was run the ball twice, not fumble and kick a field goal and take a two-score lead with 3 and a half to go. You have to put their chances of being able to do that at close to 90%. Passing adds very little in terms of reward, but opens up to so much risk. Like an interception, or a sack!

Some of the blame of course goes to Ryan who needed to be aware and throw the ball away, but here's why the coaches deserve more blame: the idiots did it again. With a 53-yarder well within Matt Bryant's range, all they needed to do was hand off, get 5 yards, and feel secure. Instead, the passed again, disaster struck again and a holding penalty knocked them out of field goal range.

What happened next was amazing. Tom Brady, perhaps the best quarterback ever, led his team on two consecutive touchdown drives to win his 5th Super Bowl.

I don't dispute for a second that he is an amazing quarterback, capable of great things because of his physical gifts and his mental makeup.

I don't deny that curmudgeonly Bill Belichick is among the best coaches in NFL history.

And I can't argue that Julian Edelman's catch deserves a nickname because it belongs up there with "The Immaculate Reception" and "The Helmet Catch" as the luckiest, most improbable catches in football history.

But it's likely that none of these heroics would have been possible or relevant, if not for a completely and utterly stupid decision by the Falcons coaching staff led by Dan Quinn.

And it's not just once, this is the second time, the Patriots were gifted a chance to win a Super Bowl. They could be 3-4 in the Brady-Belichick era instead of 5-2.

The stupid coaching marred the game for me. While exciting and thrilling, the first overtime game in a Super Bowl, I can't call it a great game, because of the stupidity and ineptitude involved in it.

Greatness needs to have both teams playing great and making plays. Which is why I still favor Super Bowl XLIII, Steelers 27 Cardinals 23.

And Billy Can Climb Through the Window

The house where the Matthewses lived in Boy Meets World is for sale.

It's listed for $1.29m and it's actually is Studio City, California, not Philadelphia, which increases the value exponentially.
Unfortunately, because real life is not a television show, on the inside it looks nothing like the house were Cory and Eric grew up. Those rooms were of course sets on some lot at a TV studio.
But it would still be cool. If Billy were able to kick half a mil, and move to California, I'm sure were could get 300k JLeary.

To Storm or Not to Storm

Syracuse fans were criticized nationally for storming the court after the team's upset victory over then #6 Florida State.

The thinking goes, that yes, this year Florida State was having a better season than the Orange, but when you compare the histories of the programs, a win over Florida State should be expected.

That debate was rekindled, a little, today, when the Orange beat a top ten team at home for the second straight week, this time knocking off #9 Virginia.

This game had some added juice to it because it would have been Jim Boeheim's 1000th win had some wins not been forfeited as part of the NCAA's sanctions against the coach and the program.

I will say I agree with the old grumps that it is "beneath" Syracuse to charge the court after a win over Florida State.

But I charged the court after a big win over Georgetown, and I charged the field after Donovan McNabb's famous "throwback to Brominksi" victory over Virginia Tech. Both were indelible experiences of my college experiences and I don't blame the students one bit for wanting to have their own special memories.

Note: One of my favorite posts is about an NC State student who did the same. Please click if you don't remember the story.

Super Bowl Prop Bets

Every year I comb through the serious and the ridiculous to find prop bets to enjoy the Super Bowl more. I already picked the Patriots to win the game and cover the spread, here's my thoughts on almost everything.

Under 58 1/2
Everyone and their mother is going over in this thing but the Patriots have a pretty good defense and even more importantly, I think they know they need to keep the ball away from the Falcons, so they will try to chew up some clock and control the ball.

Matt Ryan MVP 5/2
Yeah, it's probably going to be Tom Brady. But he's basically 1 to 1. So Ryan pays 2.5x and probably is half as likely to win. It's a better price.

LeGarratte Blount First TD 8 to 1
It's always hard to pick a running back when two pass-oriented teams are on the field, but I have feeling the Patriots are going to try to run it.

Total QB sacks under 4
Neither team has a threatening pass rush and both passers like to get rid of it.

Tom Brady under 2 1/2 rushing yards
Seems drastically low, but this would have been a winner in 6 of his last 7 games. Even if he gets 4 yards, he could reverse that with two kneeldowns.

Length of first reception by Chris Hogan Over 11 1/2
He's not an underneath receiver

Julio Jones under 95 1/2 receiving yards
The Patriots try to make you beat them with someone other than your best player

And now, to the non-football

Luke Bryan will come out wearing blue jeans 1/2
No way a country star sings the National Anthem in a nice pair of dockers.

National Anthem under 1 minute 58 seconds
Luke Bryan seems like a no-nonsense kind of guy.

Lady Gaga's First Song: Edge of Glory 6/1
Internet rumors that it was going to be "Poker Face" but I don't believe anything I read on the internet.

Deflategate mentions over 1 1/2
It has to come up.

Coin toss
Heads, easy

Guest Performers during halftime show over 1/2
Isn't Lady Gaga like BFFs with Tony Bennett?

Red Gatorade Poured on winning coach 6/1
It is the best flavor, and a primary color for both teams.