I had no idea

"NFL lifts TV blackout for Pro Bowl"

 

I didn't know that they had one.  And I guess the fact that it will be in Miami next year might mean that I can't watch the game that I don't already watch.

and finally

I loved the way EPSN's axis broke down this play.  Its self explanatory, and shows how Fitzgerald got his long TD.

 

Its nice to know that my geekiness is validated by ESPN.

Super bowl point #3

This was a key play on the final drive.  I think Holmes went for 20 to set the Steelers up in great position.

 

Technically speaking the offensive lineman who is playing tackle is not at the line of scrimmage, and therefore there are not 7 players on the line, and this is an illegal formation.  The guard next to him is similarly far back, but he's obscured by the tackle.

There should have been a 5-yard penalty.

almost missed Superbowl point #2

On Harrison's TD run, take a look at the two players that are spot shadowed.  The one to the left is Fitzgerald - who made the tackle (and neatly saved the TD).  The one on the right is Antrel Rolle.  Fitzgerald actually runs into Rolle, and is hindered in his attempt to get to Harrison.  Rolle is standing on the white part of the sideline, which is technically not allowed.  And dumb in any case.

 

So, if you want to argue that the game was won or lost on this play, then credit Rolle with the TD-producing block!

almost missed points in the SuperBowl #1

I wanted to pick up a couple of points in things I saw in last Sunday's big game...

 

First off, there was the near-TD by Big Ben on the first drive.  What the officials missed was that the offensive lineman was pulling Ben into the endzone.  There is a specific rule prohibiting "helping" a runner to move the ball forward.  It is allowable for the lineman to knock someone out of the way to clear a path.  It is not allowable for him to pull the runner forward.

 

speaking of the marlins

They had this artist rendering of the new ballpark to be built at the old Orange Bowl site.

 

Now, I'm certain this will be a *very* expensive proposition.  In a severe recession, why is there any plan to spend billions to build a ball park for millionares?

 

And while I'm at it, one of the promised amenities was a youth field, that I think was supposed to be suitable for both soccer and baseball.  Do you see that in the rendering?  And just where would that go on this property?

 

And what are those buildings all around the site?  More shops, restaurants, and office buildings.

 

Yeah, that's what we need.  More places to not spend our money.

 

How about if they just stay at Dolphins Stadium for now.  I, for one, would be okay if they replaced the grass with field turf (the artificial rubbery stuff) because it would allow them to easily move between baseball and football configurations and have the field remain in good condition (ie, no dirt infield for football) for all the teams that play there.

Weird

I went out to the Marlins fan fest today.  I was amused at something I saw...

 

Yeah, so you've got a stadium with literally hundreds of bathrooms, and you have to bring in a port-o-pottie for everyone to use during fan fest.

 

[fans weren't allowed anywhere but on the field; in an odd way this makes sense -ed]

Parcells

According to a report on ESPN, Stephen Ross made a modification to Parcells' contract to allow him leave at any time if he so chooses, and he gets to take the money with him for the remainder of the contract.

 

How much of this is true is anyone's guess (other than these two and Parcells' agent).   But if it is true, it might be a nice compromise.  Parcells wanted to work for Wayne and had an out in his contract if he sold the team.  So far things look good between the new owner and him.  By changing the contract, Ross made an argument for Parcells to stay - "You're running a good football operation, and I don't want you to think that I'm going to force you to stay under contract.  Now lets get to business."

 

And Parcells gets his ego stroked.  If things continue to go well, he stays.  If he feels Ross isn't playing fair, or is meddling, he leaves.

 

Intriguing.

Have you visited Fins Radio?

Okay, so we have a lot of fun talking Dolphins football.  And we get some good guests.

 

We're building a sort of viral marketing effort to get people interested.  Right now, I'm building some videos featuring some great moments in interviews.  I'll be adding to it over time....

 

Check out http://youtube.com/finsradio to watch them

Top ads

Not that we recommend any of these products, because they are not our advertisers.

But, as a gesture of goodwill (and the sincere hope that they'll thank me by contributing to my paypal account), here are my top 3:

#3


#2


And our #1


And yes, that is my grandmother chasing after her pet ostrich.

D'oh! I mean whoohoo... ?

The SuperBowl was an entertaining affair.  Pittsburgh looked totally in control, and Arizona stormed back and took the lead with just over two minutes left.  And we were left with a good drive that scored the winning points.  And for the second consecutive season we had a nail-biter that went down to the wire with the winning team scoring with mere ticks left.  And, really, that's something like 8 consectuive superbowls that were close, hard fought battles.

 

Ya gotta love it.

 

Now, I'll admit I was rooting for the Cardinals.  The underdog, the team that hadn't won squat.  3 players from "The U."  I wasn't a passionate fan about it.  I was more neutral in the whole affair.

 

And I noticed that the officials in the game kept up the fine tradition they had all year of making blunders in the game.  Sure, they called more holding than they ever had in the past.  And they were generally on top of things and got many calls right (even if it was on review).   But, it cetainly seemed to me that if you were wearing red, you were in the wrong no matter what. 

 

And if I were a Cards fan, I'd have a legitmate beef with the outcome:

* Harrison should have been ejected for his punk move.  You can't hit a guy like he did

* There was a db who was *taking swings* at Boldin after he took him out of bounds.  He, too, should have been ejected.

* On the 100 yard return, there was a blatant clip that went uncalled.  AND I still think Harrison was down before he crossed the plane.  His head and left elbow were on the ground, before his right arm carried the ball acorss (imagine if instead of a 14-point swing, it was only a 3 point swing).

* The roughing the passer on Arizona late was dubious, and there were at least 2 on Pittsburgh that were more blatant at other points in the game that went uncalled.

* And finally, the "fumble" by Warner at the end didn't look so much like a fumble to me; and the fact that the refs didn't even review it sure made it *look like* "the fix was in" for Pittsburgh.

 

Ah well....such is life in the NFL.

Need a wideout?

Everyone remembers that the Dolphins took Eddie Moore instead of Anquan Boldin .... but do you remember 2006?  Miami - under Saban - had Chris Chambers and Marty Booker as wideouts.  And with the #16 pick, Miami selects Jason Allen, who still wallows as the fifth or sixth db on the team.

 

And on the board - selected 9 slots later - was a receiver from *THE* Ohio State University by the name of Santonio Holmes.  You know, the guy who took home the SuperBowl MVP last night.

 

Sure, they got Derek Hagan in a later round, but he's technically no longer in the league.

 

And they tried to make up for it by drafting Ted Ginn from the same school the following year.  But, it was too little, too late.  Now if Ginn winds up winning the SuperBowl MVP next year - or even being in the top 5 receiving - I'll rescind this statement. 

Porn interrupted Super Bowl

PHOENIX (AP) - A Tucson television station's broadcast of the Super Bowl on Sunday was interrupted for some viewers by about 10 seconds of pornographic material, the station said.

KVOA TV in Tucson released a statement saying that the only viewers who were able to see the material were those who receive the channel through Comcast cable.

The station said it will investigate the incident.

"When the NBC feed of the Super Bowl was transmitted from KVOA to local cable providers and through over-the-air antennas, there was no pornographic material," KVOA president and general manager Gary Nielsen said in a statement.

The KVOA statement said the station was dismayed and disappointed that some Comcast customers and their families were subjected to the material.

"KVOA will continue to investigate what happened to our clean signal and make sure our viewers get answers," Nielsen said in the statement.

Comcast spokeswoman Tracy Baumgartner confirmed that the company's standard feed was interrupted during the Super Bowl, although she said its high definition feed was not.

Baumgartner said engineers were investigating Sunday night.

Tucson media outlets reported that they received calls from irate viewers about the pornographic material.

Joel Hilander of Tucson told The Associated Press that he and his young children saw the clip.

"I couldn't believe it. And I couldn't believe that my children were watching it either," Hilander said.

He said the interruption came just after the Arizona Cardinals' Larry Fitzgerald scored on a long touchdown reception during the final minutes of the game.

http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/9166854/TV-station-says-porn-clip-interrupted-Super-Bowl?MSNHPHMA