womenwatchingfootball

Is it just me or does there seem to be no excitement surrounding the Super Bowl this year? Maybe it’s just because my team isn’t there and there isn’t the wall to wall coverage that I’m used to. Maybe not.

The teams just aren’t getting people excited this year. I’m sure all the Steeler fans are going crazy but the big teams aren’t there. There are no good stories. There’s nothing to grab your attention.

People talk about the Cardinals and their Cinderella story but let’s face it, they are still the Cardinals. Every time they came east this year, they went home with their tails between their legs after taking another beating.

Hopefully the excitement will come back in the next 2 days. Kickoff is about 47 hours away.

The second week before the Super Bowl is such a boring week. Nothing exciting really happens. Actually, the league discourages teams from making any major announcements this week as not to detract from the game.

Most of the news is players deciding not to go to the ProBowl and those who will replace them. I believe this is the last year for the game to be in Hawaii so anyone selected should really jump on the chance.

Towards the end of the season, people were saying that it could be a Manning brother matchup in the big game. Now, the only place you see the Mannings are in the Oreo commercials with the Williams sisters.

Another big story is what songs Bruce Springsteen will play during the halftime show. It’s a highly guarded secret apparently and everyone is throwing their 2 cents in on this one. Hopefully he’ll go with the classics and not anything new that no one really knows.

We are moving ever slowly towards the big game that will end the 2008 season. On paper, it’s not the best game but it’s the one we get and if you are a fan, you will watch and talk about it the next day.

It’s finally official, Herman Edwards is now the former head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs. I don’t think this firing is much of a surprise to anyone.

Edwards was with the Chiefs for 3 seasons. His first season they went 9-7 and lost a wild card playoff game. Not too bad, on paper.

The second season the Chiefs went 4-12 and didn’t even come in last place in their own division. Dismal, to say the least. People were surprised he wasn’t fired after last season.

This season, the Chiefs went 2-14. They did come in last place in the AFC west. People were surprised when he didn’t get the ax the day after the season was over.

Then the Chiefs hired former Patriots executive Scott Pioli as GM and Edwards still wasn’t fired right away. Today, the team decided “to go in another direction”. Both sides, being very PC, claimed it was such a difficult decision.

There is no timeline for replacing Edwards. Once again, stay tuned to see what happens.

You just might have the chance. There’s going to be a new reality show on Spike where the winner gets to go to training camp with the Dallas Cowboys. The show will be hosted by Michael Irvin.

To qualify to be on the show, they are looking for former players that never got the chance for some reason or another. As with most reality shows, the better your story, the better chance you have of making the show.

The way it looks now, they want to pit 6 receivers and 6 defensive backs. If you were kicked off the Biggest Loser, you won’t get your chance to be an offensive lineman. I guess they figure that those 2 skill positions are known mostly for trash talking and it would make for good television.

I’m guessing there will be a lot of former and current players that will make appearances on the show. If Tony Romo throws the passes one week, I’m sure it would help the ratings.

The show has yet to have a name but it will be on Spike, the man channel. If the winner happens to get a roster spot, they would get the rookie salary of $300,000. Training camp salary is $1,000 a week. The experience is priceless. 

The 2 week wait for the Super Bowl seems like an eternity. It’s even worse if your team is playing in the big game.

We’ve reached the mid week stretch of week 1 and there’s just nothing going on. There was the Jets hiring but mostly now, there’s coordinators being hired and fired and that’s about it.

The only other action going on right now is the annual tradition of players pulling out of the Pro Bowl and other’s being named to replace them. OK, no one really cares because no one watches the Pro Bowl anyway.

Now we’ll just have to wait for the weekend when both teams will fly into Tampa Bay and some action will start. The championship games have been talked to death and we need something new going on. I can’t wait.

The Jets finally announced their new head coach on Monday. The hired former Raven defensive coordinator, Rex Ryan. They had to wait until the Ravens were eliminated from the playoffs to make the announcement.

This is starting to get repetitive but Rex Ryan is the son of former NFL coach Buddy Ryan. I guess the best way to get a head coaching job is to be the son of a coach. There seems to be a theme here this off season.

His twin brother is Rob Ryan, the defensive coordinator for the Cleveland Browns. It looks like defensive coaching runs in the family. Could I be the first to say that if the brothers came together in New York, it could open the door for Romeo Crennel to rejoin his BFF, Mangini, in Cleveland?

Stay tuned, I have a feeling this off season is just getting started.

I know I’m a day late but the second game got over and it was almost 10PM here and I was beat and went to sleep.

The matchup is set for Super Bowl XLIII (check out my post on Roman numerals). The Arizona Cardinals will be taking on the Pittsburgh Steelers. Yes, the same Arizona Cardinals that I ripped before the playoffs started as not worthy to even be in the playoffs.

The Cardinals jumped out to an early lead in the first half and let it slip away in the second half, actually trailing for a while. The Eagles almost pulled it out but couldn’t. So, the Cardinals head to Tampa.

In the AFC game, the Steelers outlasted the Ravens. It was close but a Steeler interception for a touchdown late, sealed it. It was a very rough game from the opening kickoff until the very end. Late in the game, Willis McGahee was carted off the field after a vicious hit. Both players were down for a while but McGahee got the worst of it.

Now, we start the 2 week wait until February 1st and the Super Bowl. It’s definately the longest 2 weeks, especially if your team is playing in the big game.

Tomorrow is the day that the AFC and NFC Champions will be crowned and those 2 teams will be headed to Tampa Bay and the Super Bowl.

I remember last year’s championships like they were last week. Both games had frigid temperatures, scary cold actually. The Patriots won to bring them to 18-0 for the season. Then, the Giants beat the Packers in what was actually the frozen tundra that day. That was also Brett Favre’s last game in a Packer uniform.

One game could be cold tomorrow. Baltimore is at Pittsburgh for the AFC Championship. Those 100 fifth graders in MA that I have mentioned before will once again be rooting for the Ravens. There is also a very big Steeler fan that lives in my town. His whole truck is covered in Steelers stuff.

The NFC Championship has the Eagles visiting the Cardinals. This game should not have cold weather being a factor. With all the trouble the Cardinals had selling out the first game, this one sold out in 6 minutes.

I just realized something, 3 of the 4 remaining teams have birds as mascots. I wonder if that’s ever happened before. Maybe if I have some time, I’ll check it out.

So, go out and get some snacks. The games start at around 3PM eastern time tomorrow. It’s supposed to snow here so I’ll be planted on the couch watching the games. Just wish I would have been watching my team.

That was a surprise to me. Most coaches are fired the first couple of days after the season is done. Tampa Bay head coach Jon Gruden and GM Bruce Allen were both fired today.

The Bucs finished 9-7 and out of the playoffs after starting 9-3. One more win this season would have given them a wild card spot.

Gruden did win a Super Bowl with the Bucs and was the youngest head coach to win a Super Bowl. Ironically, he defeated the Raiders who he also coached the previous season.

The story just got more interesting than I originally thought. It seems that ownership had called some players in to get their opinions on Gruden. Needless to say, the opinions could not have been that positive. Although he is considered a top notch coach, his players just don’t like him.

I’m guessing if they were winning more, attitudes would be a little different. Well, let the speculation begin about the next head coach. Next season there will be atleast 10 new head coaches in the NFL. The coaches are getting younger too, which is also ironic for Gruden.

The luckiest man in the NFL was announced today. The Lions hired Tennessee defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz to be their next coach.

Why is he the luckiest man in the NFL? He’s taking over a team that went 0-16 this season. They have the first overall pick in the draft and there’s really no where to go but up.

Schwartz has been the defensive coordinator in Tennessee for the last 8 seasons. He said he is looking forward to the challenge he will face in Detroit. He is the sixth new head coach hired this off-season.

All eyes will be on the Lions to see if they can turn things around.