May I extend to you and yours a sincerely happy and enjoyable Super Bowl Sunday, the quintessential American almost-holiday. Weeks and months of preparation have led to this moment right here. To everyone that has some sort of vested emotional interest in this contest (be you Steeler or Packer fan), I truly hope you enjoy the game and have a good time tonight. Here are some short takes on the news of the day now that we've finished up our series on the Super Bowl preview.
-The Redskins are going to cut Santana Moss 5 days after the Super Bowl. I understand the move, and from reading that short piece on ESPN, it was agreed upon by both sides that this would happen when he restructured in 2009. I will never forget that Monday night in Dallas in 2005. I had the remote control in my right hand with the index finger on the power button when we ran the 4th and 15 play. Moss's TD convince me to at least keep watching a little longer. When he scored the 70 yard TD on the first play of the next drive, the jubilation in my voice probably woke up the entire neighborhood. Thank you, Santana, we will never forget you.
-Another large Pro Football Hall of Fame class will be inducted this year, as was announced yesterday. We're getting to a point now where players that I remember playing very well are getting inducted. Shannon Sharpe, Deion Sanders, Marshall Faulk, Richard Dent, Ed Sabol (the NFL Films guy), Les Richter, and Chris Hanburger, the former Redskin from the 60s and 70s. My trip to the HOF was one of the highlights of my early adulthood. For even the average football fan, this is a must-see. Nevertheless, I am still convinced that the admission standards for the Hall of Fame are too loose. When I think of Hall of Fame, I think of great, elite, changed the way the game is played. Now, I am not dogging the credentials of any of the inductees (even you, Deion), but I feel like the Baseball Hall of Fame standards are more in line with what a Hall of Fame induction should be. They take a lot of flack for being too strict, but it's a Hall of Fame. You can't just let any Tom, Dick, and Harry. Right now, the Pro Football HOF rules state that a minimum of 4, and no more than 7 can be inducted any year. I have no problem with the limit of 7, but a minimum of 4? Eventually you'll run out of "obvious names." Then what are you going to do?
-The Caps play the Penguins this afternoon in a Winter Classic rematch in Washington. The Caps have been very inconsistent, but a 5-2 win over division leading Tampa on Friday night might be the confidence boost they need. Right now, they trail the Pens by 5 points in the standings, and trail Tampa by 3. This is sort of the "forgotten" game in the Pittsburgh sports schedule today, which is saying something considering how rabid Pittsburgh is about their Penguins. Perhaps the Penguins today will think about this, "if we lose, they'll forget about it immediately, so let's do the Caps a favor today!" :-)
Alright, that's all I got. I'm off to Reston later to watch the big game with Caputo's Corner reader, KSo. Enjoy the food. Enjoy the fans. Enjoy the ads. Enjoy the game.
And, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, I would be remiss if I did not remind everyone that you do have work and/or school tomorrow morning. So do your homework and get your rest tonight, boys and girls. :-)
Yeah it sucks to have to get up tomorrow morning. They should play the SB at 3:30 OR make the day after a national holiday.
ReplyDeleteLata OR Moss. It's been fun watching you alligator balls and cry on the sidelines these past however many years it's been.
ReplyDeleteAs for the HOF inductees, I didn't know who the old-timers were, but the three I did know (Deion, Sharpe, and Faulk) are all HOFers in my book. And Ed Sabol obviously deserves to take his seat at the right hand of Lombardi the Father. He is, after all, the Metatron.
HOF selection in both sports has been notoriously ripped due to the political nature of the selection process ("he didn't grant me interviews, so I'm not voting for him," etc.), and the credibility of the Pro Football HOF suffered a tremendous blow when Joe Namath was inducted, though his situation speaks to the two modes of thought on HOF selection: statistics and memorability. Statistically, he's a veritable Vinny Testaverde - a decent to sometimes great QB that played for a while and compiled stats. Not HOF worthy by the first measure. Where he makes his impression, though, is in the "Peter King Zone," memorability. EVERYBODY who knows who Joe Namath is associates one image with him: post-Super Bowl III, arm in the air, index finger extended. Of course, the thing isn't called "Hall of Greatness" or "Hall of Excellence," but "Hall of Fame," and there might not be a more famous image of professional football in existence. Does that qualify an otherwise mediocre player for entry? Apparently it does, or at least it did in 1985. Peter King makes the same argument AGAINST Marvin Harrison, statistically the second-greatest wide receiver EVER. "What exactly is there...a signature catch, is there an incredible game, what is there about Marvin Harrison other than ridiculous incredible numbers..." says King. I like King, but this is just baffling. Nate Dunlevy at 18to88.com has done several excellent pieces dressing down King on this issue, and he takes the statistical approach (the so-called "chalk test") over the memorability approach. A lot of people remember Albert Haynesworth stomping on Andre Gurode's head - does that qualify him as a HOFer?
I guess my point in this rant is that the "standards" are non-existent. Voters use different criteria (and bias) to evaluate players differently, to the point that one of the most influential modern sports writers can doubt the HOF credentials of a clear-cut first-ballot HOFer. I think that's a bigger deal than any minimum number of annual inductees.
@AK Peter King said the same thing about Art Monk. Great overall statistical output, but no "signature moment." Game or catch. Eventually (10 years later) he caved and admitted he was wrong, so I don't see why he wouldn't do the same thing for Marvin. And you're absolutely right on the standards. As long as media people have votes, everyone will have different standards, no matter what sport. You can't tell me that Cal Ripken and Tony Gwynn did not deserve to be UNANIMOUS HOF first ballot guys, but everyone's got an agenda unfortunately.
ReplyDeleteOh yeah. Steelers 23, Packers 17. Explanation in Lattanzi Land.
ReplyDelete@AK - what you describe with the whole 'signature moment' thing is precisely the thing that Colin Cowherd tried to use as a reason why Jose Canseco should be in the Baseball HOF - that fame means 'famous' and therefore he should be there.
ReplyDeleteI have complained about HOF standards for some time on my various blogs, especially in Baseball and Football - about the unfairness of it as well as the ridiculous subjectivity of 'memorable moments' - I think AK has it just right with the example of Fat Albert stomping on Andre Gurode.