What price victory?

This week, Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams (does he really need two "G"s in his ggiven name?) laid out a "total war" strategy that was much more Grant/Sherman than polite McClellan. And he spilled the beans over the airwaves of local station 104.5.

"The big thing is that he (Lil Archie) throws the ball so early that we're going to have to do a good job of finding ways to get to him and when we do get to him we're going to have to make sure he gets a couple 'remember me' shots when we get there."

And a little later...

"When you put too much of that type of worry on a warrior's mind, he doesn't play all out. If it happens, it happens. And the only thing you'd like for me to say is that if it happens you hope he doesn't get back up and play again."

So basically Williams is saying, "We don't care if we get penalized for dirty hits and lose some downs. We just want to see Curtis Painter getting some national face time instead of PM."

Now, I am a nonviolent man. And I am certainly no fan of Peyton Manning. But big games require bold strategy. And to quote a bold moment of Minneapolis radio, "This is not Detroit man, this is the Superbowl!"
Sean Payton offered to take a quarter of a million dollar pay cut in order to sign on Williams as a coach, and maybe this is the kind of chutzpah he saw back then.

The Commodore says....

"Good luck today over Kentucky!"

Going out in style....

It's official. Kurt is walking away from the game but I am pretty sure he won't be going back to stocking groceries. No, this sure bet Hall of Famer bowed out in style yesterday and it is well worth looking back on his movie-script career.
It's worth coming clean a little here: it took me a LONG time to warm up to football. I went to a high school without a football program, I was a basketball fan, and chess was about as athletic as I got. When the Oilers stadium debate came to a vote in Nashville, everyone in my family (except my sister who was a big football fan at the time, remember this was still when Peyton was gunslinging for Phil Fulmer) was opposed to allocating money for an NFL team. And even when the Oil...ne "Titans" began their incredible run for the Vince Lombardi trophy in early 2000, I was still skeptical. I remember distinctly the night of the Music City Miracle game. I was washing dishes at the cafe I worked at, waiting for my relief to come in, who was an hour late because he was actually AT THE GAME!
Anyway, point is, the first football game I ever actually watched on tv was Super Bowl 34...oh sorry Roman Empire enthusiasts, "XXXIV". And what a heartbreak Kurt Warner and the Rams delivered to us up in Nashville, although to be fair, the lethal injection was really delivered by Mike Jones. That was a tough end to the 2000 postseason for Titans fans, but recently I went back and watched clips of the game online, and what struck me ten years later is just how amazing Kurt Warner was. Few people have ever deserved a game MVP award more.
Do you know you holds the NFL record for most passing yards in a Super Bowl? Kurt Warner. You know who holds the second place record? Kurt Warner. How bout third place? Yep. Pretty amazing. Kurt Warner played in three Super Bowls, and he holds passing yard records for all three of them.
This is a guy who competed with Brett Favre for a quarterback spot with Green Bay, but he was released from training camp before the 1994 season started. Then he went back to Iowa and started stocking groceries. Then came the Arena League, where he became a star player for the Iowa Barnstormers. Then he did a stint with the NFL Europe and the Amsterdam Admirals. Even after being finally signed to the Saint Louis Rams, he spent a season as a third string quarter back and went into the 1999 season as a second stringer. People just did not believe this guy was NFL material.
Of course, Warner got his chance to start after Trent Green tore his ACL, and the rest is history, with Warner leading the Rams to a victory in the next Super Bowl. Pretty inspiring story.
Yet there was much more to follow. Warner led the Rams to another Super Bowl, where they fell to the emerging Brady/Belichick dynasty (audible groan inserted here). Then he did a stint with the Giants, before going to the Cardinals. And even though it looked like USC star Matt Leinart was going to take the head quarter back job away from Warner in 2007, ol' Kurt taught the Young Gun a thing or two over the next couple of seasons, earning his starting position back. Under Warner's leadership, the Cardinals made it all the way to Super Bowl 43 and within five points of a victory over the Steelers.
Speaking of Leinart, I wonder how Kurt felt watching a surreal reenactment of the 2006 Rose Bowl finale last November from the sidelines. Hmmm.
I am not gonna do any serious Peyton knocking here, but at least Kurt didn't do an Oreo commercial. And I love Brett Favre, but come on, when you retire, OWN IT! I don't think Kurt and I would ever be on the same side of a political argument, but the guy played heroic football. Like Favre, he made it pretty easy to cheer on whatever team he was gunning for. I am gonna miss him.

Bruce is Loose

It says something about my disillusionment with politics lately and the gutting of the democrats (yes i am using the small 'd') that I actually forgot the State of the Union address was on tonight. Watching it on rerun now....
Still more bummed I missed the Vandy/UT game; I love Bruce Pearl and his leadership, it's one of the best things to ever come along for Tennessee basketball. After the players' arrest scandal I appreciated the way Pearl stood up and attempted to shoulder (perhaps too much) responsibility for what happened. And then the uplifting win against top ranked Kansas did much to corral the troops and reinstate faith in the promise of this basketball program. UT couldn't overcome Vanderbilt tonight, even on home turf, but I am excited about both teams' impressive rankings and can't wait to see what these teams do in the remainder of the season. I can already smell March madness...

Bambas

This is a fine, fine salty snack from the holy land. Bambas are Israel's best selling snack, a semi-sweet, very salty peanut flavored goodie.

Blenheim's Ginger Ale

Man oh man, this is the real deal. Blenheim's is out of South Carolina, and it BITES! You really taste the ginger in this puppy. There is a bar in Athens GA whose signature drink is Blenheim's and Maker's Mark and it's a tough tipple to topple.

Appalachian State VS Michigan

I feel like I need to adopt a Carl Spackler-esque tone to deliver the phrase "Cinderella Story", but the 2007 game between Boone, North Carolina's Appalachian State Mountaineers and Michigan's Wolverines certainly qualifies as one. I believe it is still the only time a FCS division team has beaten a FBS team, a Big Ten one at that, and at home nonetheless! What an amazing day....And Boone is an amazing town so coast out on some of these good vibes...

Who Dat? Well, it might be your fomer star quarterback's son...

Man oh man am I happy for the Crescent City. And I predict that in the next two weeks, Archie Manning will be giving more interviews than Drew or Peyton. It was an emotional roller coaster of a game, but as someone with Southern Mississippi roots, I would have been ecstatic for either team to win. I know it's cold in Minnesota but man, the Favre bashing started pretty early up in Scandi-land! Where I'm from, and where Brett's from as well, you stand by a guy even when he makes bad plays; it's the great plays and the heroic leadership you take away from a game like last night's, not an inexplicable interception pass. Then again,for Vikings fans, having Brett as your quarterback must be as surreal as it would be to have Peyton play for the Titans. Wait whaaaaaaaat? Maybe I am on the something.....Nah to hell with that I love Vince Young. Sorry y'all, I love the Manning family but only as a family. Peyton is amazing but it's like watching the Terminator enter a police station....gets it done but for me pretty hard to root for. Oh and sorry Colts fans.....too many commercials!! That didn't help Tiger's karma...
Ok enough rambling. I hope the Saints close the deal on a historic season.

Martin's chips

Yes, Martin's. Anyone who has the distinction of being a native of south central Pennsylvania, where these chips are manufactured, misses them sorely when they leave the region. That's because they are only available locally, due to the lack of preservatives used in their cooking. Waffle cut bbq flavor, come on forget about it! Utz got nothing on these Keystone Krunchies. Thank you as always to Henry, who is from York, for hipping me to these as I drive back down 81. Tomorrow, it's a burger at Dude's drive in. More soon.