Tag Archives: indianapolis colts

With Huge Upset, the Saints Beat Indy 31-17 to Capture First Super Bowl

Posted on February 8, 2010 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – The Aints aren’t the Aints anymore. It took 43 years but the New Orleans Saints are finally champions of the football world. And to think, Mardi Gras starts in just eight days…

Drew Brees played brilliantly, the Saints defence came up big when it had to and cornerback Tracy Porter returned an interception 78 yards with just a little more than three minutes to play as the Who Dats upset the favored Indianapolis Colts 31-17 in Super Bowl XLIV.

With the score 24-17 and the Colts rallying, Porter picked off the great Peyton Manning on the Saints 22-yard line and returned it untouched to the end zone as the NFC champion Saints shocked the football world.

It was an amazing victory considering the Saints were lucky to beat the Minnesota Vikings 31-28 at home in the NFC championship game. Even though the Vikings had five turnovers, the Saints still needed overtime in the din of the Superdome to get to Miami for Super Bowl XLIV.

Then, last night in New Orleans, the Saints fell behind 10-0 in the first quarter, 10-6 at the half, and still stormed back to win going away.

Heading into the game, the Colts were five-point favourites, but many, including both The Coach and Dr. Sports here at www.rivercitysportsblog.com, believed the Colts had far too much firepower for the Saints and their No. 25-rated defence.

However, it was a timely defensive play that ultimately gave the Saints the victory.

“The interception was a result of great film study,” said Porter after the game. “We knew that on third-and-short they stack, and they like the outside release for the slant. It was great film study by me, a great jump and a great play.

“This means so much for New Orleans and the Saints organization. Words can’t describe how much this means for New Orleans. I’m a Louisiana native and this is big.”

The game MVP was, obviously, Brees and what a return to glory this was for the Saints QB. Given up by the San Diego Chargers three years ago, Brees joined the Saints and after putting up huge numbers for the past three seasons, he finally won a championship.

In the biggest game of his life, Brees went 32-for-39 for 268 yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions and a passer’s rating of 114.5.

“I always kind of dreamed of this moment,” said Brees, as he accepted his MVP award. “I believed it would happen and I knew that if we played as well as we could, we were prepared to be successful. This is so big for the community and for me and my family, I can barely put it into words.

“This means everything to New Orleans. We’re here because of their strength and everything they fought for the past few years. They’ve given us so much support, we owe it to our fans.”

The Colts put up more yardage (432 to 332) and had more first downs (23-20), but also had more penalties for more yardage (five for 45 yards as opposed to three for 19 for New Orleans) and Manning threw that one dagger-through-the-heart interception.

Manning finished 31-for-45 for 333 yards, one touchdown, one INT and a passer’s rating of just 88.5.

“I know how we felt three years ago when we won,” said a disappointed Manning afterward. “We’re disappointed but this is their night. This night belongs to Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints. It’s their field, they deserve the victory and they should be proud of what they’ve done.”

It was also another big game for Saints kicker garrett Hartley. The man whose field goal beat the Vikings in OT, became the first kicker in Super Bowl history to kick three field goals of plus-40 yards in a single Super Bowl. He had three-pointes of 46, 44 and 47 yards.”

There were 74,059 spectators inside Sun Life Stadium in Miami Gardens, about 25 miles north of Miami, and the vast majority of them were Saints fans. Amazingly, four hours before the game, as Saints fans walked the final three miles to the Stadium in a huge congregation, all you could hear was the cheer: “Who Dat?! Who Dat?! Who Dat Who Say Dey Gonna Beat Dem Saints!?”

After the game, it was a din, sheer bedlam, as New Orleans fans basked in the Saints first championship in 43 years of existence.

“This is a blessing to the City of New Orleans,” said Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma, who also had family caught in the recent earthquake devastation in Haiti. “I am so happy we were able to bring it to them.

“It is a dream come true. I cannot express what it means to win this game. It is absolutely a dream come true.”

Must admit, it was great just being in Sun Life Stadium (BTW, why doesn’t a Canadian company like Sun Life ever sponsor sports in Canada?), watching history.

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Final Numbers and Final Thoughts Before Super Bowl XLIV

Posted on February 7, 2010 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

FORT LAUDERDALE BEACH, Fla. – As Robert Randolph and the Family Band, the Barenaked Ladies and O.A.R. rocked the beach at Super Bowl Saturday Night, the ticket scalpers and bookies did what it is they do.

The 44th Super Bowl game for the championship of the National Football League will be played at 6 p.m. (EST) on Sunday evening as the NFC champion New Orleans Saints take on the AFC champion Indianapolis Colts. It’s Drew Brees vs. Peyton Manning. It’s 4,388 yards vs. 4,500 yards. It’s the No. 4 offence in the NFL against the No. 2 office in the NFL.

Taking everything into consideration, the Colts should win this football game. They have the better offence, the better defence (18th vs, the Saints at 25th) and, of course, Manning at quarterback.

And while we’ve selected the Colts to win by two touchdowns, we do have some concerns.

As we pointed out earlier this week, Scott Greene was named the head referee for this game. He’s been known to tinker, shall we say, with the outcome of games. The officials will play a major role in the game’s outcome.

As well, Vegas will have a say.

Clearly Vegas wants a close game. The point-spread runs from Indy minus-4 to Indy minus-5. So far, 70 per cent of the money bet on this game has been bet on the Saints. If the Colts win the game, but fail to cover the spread, Vegas stands to make a bundle.

As our Las Vegas gambling expert, Fort Rouge Ted, pointed out yesterday, “The Vegas books get to keep all the M/L wagers on the Saints (70 per cent) and P/S wagers on the Colts (66 per cent) and only pay out 30 per cent & 34 per cent respectively, all the while keeping their vig.  And if the defenses keep the score under 56 (that’s the current over-under), Vegas will make hundreds of millions of dollars.”

If the boys in Vegas want a close game and the head referee has been know to “keep it close,” in the past, it might not matter how much better than Colts are. This game just might be close.

* * *

TWO NFL LEGENDS IN TROUBLE AT WORK

Michael Irvin and Warren Sapp are having a bad weekend.

On Thursday, Irvin was charged in a civil law suit with the alleged rape of a woman at the Hard Rock Casino near Fort Lauderdale. It is not a criminal charge, but it was enough to force ESPN to dump Irvin from his radio show at ESPN 103-3 in Dallas.

He’s still working with the NFL Network and has filed a $100 million countersuit in Dallas County, Texas.

Meanwhile, another NFL Network star, former Tampa and Oakland defensive tackle, Warren Sapp, was arrested on Saturday afternoon and questioned by Miami Beach in an alleged domestic violence case at a Miami Beach hotel.

Sapp will not appear on the NFL network until network brass “review the matter.”

* * *

VIKINGS FANS URGE FAVRE TO COME BACK

After visiting with the greatest Viking fan of them all, Winnipeg’s Syd Davy, this afternoon at the Renaissance Hotel in Fort Lauderdale, it came to light that Vikings fans are willing to put their money where their mouths are.

The fans rented a billboard in Favre’s hometown of Hattiesburg, Miss., with the following message on it:

“Hey #4, do Minnesota fans love you and want you back next year? You Brettcha!”

“I had no idea what to expect,” Vikings fan Jay Tappe told the Hattiesburg American, after staring the campaign on Facebook. “We have enough to keep the billboard up for at least another week. We’ll try to keep it up for about a month. It’s crazy.”

Favre, 40, still hasn’t decided to return to the Vikings next season. He does have one year remaining on the two-year contract he signed with Minnesota. If he returns, it will be his 20th NFL season.

Meanwhile, Davy, 51, who is known as “100 per cent Cheese Free,” attended the annual Lee Steinberg Party yesterday and will be in full regalia with two of his lieutenants, at Sunday night’s Super Bowl XLIV.

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Dr. Sports Likes it Close. The Coach Likes Colts by Two Touchdowns.

Posted on February 5, 2010 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — There is an old story about former Dallas Cowboys linebacker Thomas (Hollywood) Henderson (there were a lot stories about Henderson), who played in three Super Bowl games.

Henderson was at a Cowboys practice in 1978, the year Dallas whipped Denver 27-10, when he turned the tables on the media.

“Hey, you guys,” he summoned. “Why do they call this the ultimate game? They’re going to do it again next year.”

It’s true. The winner of the Saints-Colts battle at Sun Life Stadium, just down the road in Miami Gardens on Sunday night, will only be champion for a year. This is, after all Super Bowl XLIV (44, for those who are tired of Roman Numerals). There will definitely be another one next year.

However, in order to keep up with the experts, we’ve called in Dr. Sports to pick us a winner. But as you’ll see, we don’t necessarily agree…

NFC Champion New Orleans Saints 15-3 vs. AFC Champion  Indianapolis Colts 16-2 (-5.5)

By Dr. Sports and The Coach

We’ll be shocked if the Saints come up with any way to contain Peyton Manning. He’s just on a completely different level right now. We’ve both been watching the NFL for more than 30 years (in the Coach’s case, more than 50 years) and we can’t remember any quarterback playing this well.

Making matters worse for the Saints, if they even figure out how to befuddle Manning for even a couple of series, they’re still going to have to worry about the run. New Orleans has surrendered at least 4.6 yards per carry in each of its past four games. Indianapolis, meanwhile, actually outrushed the Jets in the AFC Championship. If the Colts can get their running game going again, they won’t be punting much on Sunday.

There is a wild card in this game though. Scott Green is the head official on Sunday. He is the same crooked official from last year’s shady 11-10 San Diego at Pittsburgh game. Letting Green run this thing, is like letting Bernie Madoff invest your hard-earned cash.

For those who don’t remember, that game was one of the shadiest NFL games in league history. Pittsburgh, favoured by five, was up 11-10 when it kicked off to San Diego with a few seconds remaining. The Chargers, desperate to make a play, tried a few laterals. Troy Polamalu subsequently picked up a loose ball and ran it into the end zone, which would have covered the spread for Pittsburgh. As the players were running off the field, with the score 17-10, someone upstairs called for a review. The corrupt official then went to the replay “hood”.  When he finally emerged, he ruled that one of the laterals was an illegal forward pass even though it was clear that the lateral in question didn’t go forward, actually it went backwards by about seven yards (the NFL admitted as much afterward) which, according to him, meant that the play was dead and the points came off the board. I’m willing to bet – and I’m dead serious here – that someone from Vegas (or another outfit that had major interest in San Diego covering) told the official to leave the game as an 11-10 final.

What are we trying to say? Don’t trust the spread here.

Dr. Sports: Colts to win, but they won’t cover.

The Coach: (I don’t trust officials at all, but I don’t think they’re capable of fixing this one) Colts to win and cover — by two touchdowns.

The Doc went 169-97 overall on the season and 140-126 against the spread. The Coach finished 166-100 straight up and 142-124 against the spread.

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A Week In the Trenches at the Pro Bowl and Super Bowl.

Posted on February 4, 2010 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — The weather has been marginal, the interviews have mostly been dull and unless you make millions, the parties are for the rich and famous, not for the anonymous and untanned.

It’s a Miami Super Bowl: plenty of limos, all sorts of private jets, traffic that can drive you insane and scenery that does, indeed, make you crazy… if you know what I mean.

We’ve been here battling the good, the bad and the beautiful of the Pro Bowl and Super Bowl Week since last Thursday. No better time than now to put a few things into perspective.

1) There was no doubt in Tony Dungy’s voice yesterday. When the former head coach of the Indianapolis Colts was asked by radio host Dan Patrick if he thought his former team had what it takes to win Super Bowl XLIV, Dungy pulled no punches.

“I would be absolutely shocked if the Colts lose Sunday,” he said. “They haven’t lost a game yet this year that they were trying to win.”

I agree. I like the Colts by as many as three touchdowns.

2) There has only ben one actual “news” story this week and if it turns out that Colts defensive end Dwight Freeney can’t play on Sunday – although I still think he’ll play 15-20 plays, at least – Raheem Brock says he’s ready to step in.

In fact, Brock said on Wednesday that he and Rob Mathis will pick up the slack and fans won’t even notice that Freeney is missing.

That’s confident talk, but it just goes to show you the Colts are a very confident team.

3) New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees was asked on Wedensday if there was an extra load of pressure on the Saints because the team was representing more than just the City of New Orleans.

Brees said no, but I sense the Saints might be a tad nervous on Sunday.

“We don’t look at it as pressure,” Brees sad, trying to deflect the tone of the question. “We feel like we are playing for so much more than just to win a game for our organization or team, we’re playing for an entire city and region.

“And you could say for an entire country because there are still so many New Orleans natives who had to evacuate after Katrina who have not been able to move back yet. We know we have fans across the country who are pulling for us and rooting for us, fans who will eventually come back to New Orleans, but are just waiting for the right time. Whatever we can do to give them hope and raise their spirits, that’s what we want to do.”

4) New Orleans defensive co-ordinator, Gregg Williams, has apparently put a bounty on the head of Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning. Williams said his defence will go after Manning, hit him late if necessary, hope to hurt him and if not, put fear into his mind.

“When you put too much of that type of worry on a warrior’s mind, he doesn’t play all out,” Williams said. “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.”

Huh? Wha? “…you hope he doesn’t get back up and play again?”

Manning almost choked, laughing at the comments. On Monday night, during his news conference at the Marriott Harbour Beach Spa and Resort, Manning said he had no opinion about Williams’ comments.

“No, I don’t have an opinion at all,” Manning said. “Actually, until now, I hadn’t heard his remarks. I guess I’ve been playing long enough that I don’t have any reaction to comments like that.”

5) Colts QB Peyton Manning and Saints QB Drew Brees will get contract extensions before training camp starts in July.

Here’s what will likely happen. Brees will sign first. He’ll et a four-year $68 million extension, making him the highest-paid player in football. Then, Manning will sign a five-year $100 million deal.

Many experts feel that Manning will get less than $20 million per season. We believe otherwise. $20 million a year is the benchmark for Manning, the best quarterback today.

6) There is nothing we love more at Super Bowl time than proposition bets and a new series of props have emerged for Sunday’s Super Bowl XLIV.

Among them: How many times Reggie Bush’s girlfriend Kim Kardashian will be shown on the TV broadcast; How many times the broadcasters will refer to Hurricane Katrina; and an over-under on the number of players who are arrested the night before the game.

The big game goes Sunday at 5 p.m., CST. In Canada, it’s on CTV.

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Favre Spectacular. Rice Wonderful. Defence Solid. Vikings Ready for Post-Season.

Posted on January 4, 2010 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

MINNEAPOLIS — While the Indianapolis Colts were blown out again and the New Orleans Saints lost their third straight, the Minnesota Vikings prepared for the NFL post-season by destroying the New York Giants.

A final score of 44-7 is one thing. The surgical beauty of Sunday’s evisceration of the Jints was even more impressive, now that the post-season looms.

And there is no doubt that the Vikes are ready for the post-season. On Sunday, Favre completed 25 of 31 passes for 316 yards, four touchdowns, no interceptions and an eye-popping 148.7 passer rating. He was replaced by Tarvaris Jackson with the Vikings leading 41-0 with 4 minutes, 39 seconds left in the third quarter.

The four touchdown passes tied Favre’s season high, and it was the sixth time he’s thrown for 300-plus yards this season. Since the end of the first half at Chicago last Monday night, Favre put up 71 points in a little more than four quarters. He completed 46 of 62 passes for 601 yards, six touchdowns and no INTs.

Funny, but it appears the mainstream media has forgotten the bullshit story it created two weeks ago, suggesting there was dissent in Minnesota. The big numbers have chased the fiction away.

Meanwhile, Favre’s brilliance — along with the brilliance of Chester Taylor, Visanthe Shiancoe, Sidney Rice, Bernard Berrian, the offensive line and a defence that appears to be adjusting to the loss E.J. Henderson –  provided the Vikings faithful fans, the 65,000 that sell out Mall of America Field at the Metrodome every single week, with something to get all giddy about.

Now that’s professional sports.

There was no coaching scared, no worry that precious Brett might get his undies dirty. This wasn’t the candy-assed approach of the lily-livered Indianapolis Colts (have they returned the ticket money from Week 15′s dishonorable debacle yet?). Vikes head coach Brad Childress sent the playoff-bound Vikings out to win a football game on Sunday and he got all $12.5 million worth out of his 40-year-old quarterback.

“It would appear that we picked up right where we left off (in the second half in Chicago),” Favre said during his post-game news conference. “I thought that what we did at the start of the game was what we needed to do. I think it’s proof of what we are capable of doing. For whatever reason we have been inconsistent at times. I think there were 20 first downs in the first half and 22 in the second half of last week’s game. That’s 42 first downs in a game or so. Not that you would expect that all of the time, but that’s what we are capable of doing.”

Nobody is quite sure what some of the other playoff-bound teams are capable of doing. The Colts, the team that threw Game 15 and allowed the New York Jets to eliminate the Houston Texans from the playoffs, were just brutal for the second straight week. Fact is, the Colts were  lucky to get past such powerhouse teams as Jacksonville (the Colts beat the Jags 14-12 and 35-31), Miami, Baltimore, New England and San Francisco, it’s hard to imagine they’ll be ready for anyone in two weeks time.

In fact, by the time the Colts play a post-season game (on Jan. 16 or 17), they will not have won since Dec. 17.

Of course, it could be worse. The New Orleans Saints have lost three straight and when they play again on Jan. 16 or 17, they will not have won a game in five weeks. The Colts and Saints will essentially be starting a new season (and not just in the hyperbolic sense) when they play their next game.

Meanwhile, Philadelphia, Cincinnati and Arizona were dreadful this week, but while Arizona played nobody in the butt-kicking they took at home against Green Bay, the Eagles went all-out in the 24-0 shellacking they received in Dallas while the Bengals played all their stars in that 37-0 whooping they suffered in New York.

Right now, the best teams in the NFC are Minnesota, Dallas and Green Bay while the best teams in the AFC are San Diego, Baltimore and the Jets.

And if anybody suggests even for one second that the signing of Brett Favre was a mistake — no matter what happens in the playoffs — then that person knows absolutely nothing about football or professional sports. Favre is spectacular and the Vikings are great to watch.

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What Happens If….?

Posted on December 28, 2009 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

The decade of the 2000s or “The Aughts,” as they’ve been called, come to an end in about four days.

With that end, comes more questions than answers.

In fact, here are five questions, all starting with What Happens If….?

A brave new world awaits, old media panics, new media has a field day and if there is one thing we know, it’s this: Sports will change dramatically in the decade of the “Tens.”

So what happens if…

1) The Canadian Olympic Team doesn’t “win the podium” in Vancouver this February? With all the national, television-generated pre-Olympic hype, how badly will the traditional media treat our athletes if they don’t win every medal in every event. “I Believe,” it will get ugly.

2) The NHL’s non-traditional markets keep taking a beating? Tickets are now virtually free, the teams aren’t winning, there is limited interest, newspapers have stopped covering many of the teams on the road, Versus isn’t ESPN and there are often more empty seats than seats with butts in them. The NHL will look differently in five years if Bush’s recession doesn’t end.

3) The NHL’s non-traditional markets keep taking a beating? Will the NHL return to Winnipeg?

4) The CFL doesn’t get some new stadiums soon? Canad Inns Stadium in Winnipeg is a dump, Ivor Wynne Stadium in Hamilton is worse, Ottawa doesn’t have a stadium, Toronto doesn’t have a place to play and the east coast still doesn’t have a suitable stadium for CFL expansion. The biggest problem in the CFL is not fan-support or media-support, it’s government support. And without new stadiums, the league could be on its last legs.

5) The Indianapolis Colts never get it back? After having the gall to actually charge people money for that debacle on Sunday afternoon, Colts chicken-livered head coach Jim Caldwell (coaching scared is the worst thing a coach can ever do) doesn’t deserve to win another game. If you look around the NFL, buildings are seldom full anymore. I’ve been in Jacksonville and Tampa this season when there have been 25,000-30,000 empty seats. The NFL can claim record numbers of sellouts if it likes (I think “tickets distributed” is the term), but only the best teams truly sell out anymore. Indy was a team that sold out, but if I was a fan, I would be a lot more hesitant about buying tickets in the future. When coaches throw games in order to rest the stars — because they are afraid of injury — the premise of professional football goes out the window. What happened Sunday in Indianapolis was unprofessional. In a recession that appears as if it’s going to last for decades not months, that kind of unprofessional approach to the game could come back and bite a franchise in the ass.

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How Good is This Guy?

Posted on November 24, 2009 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

I knew it when I declared back in July that Brett Favre would indeed sign with the Minnesota Vikings (which, of course he did), but I must admit, after Sunday afternoon’s performance against the Seattle Seahawks not even I thought he’d be this good.

Sunday at Mall of America Field, Favre completed 22-of-25 passes (88 per cent) for 213 yards, no interceptions and four TDs as he led the Vikes to a 35-9 shellacking of the Seahawks. Those numbers are beyond remarkable. Eighty-eight per cent is the highest single-game percentage in Favre’s career. He threw touchdown passes to four different receivers — Sidney Rice, Visanthe Shiancoe, Bernard Berrian and Percy Harvin.

NFL.com reported that Favre’s previous career high was an 85.2 percent completion mark against Detroit on Sept. 20 of this year. But, amazingly, he has only completed at least 80 percent of his passes in a single game, two other times in his previous 18 seasons in the league.

Having had the opportunity to interview Favre (albeit in news conferences and scrums) on a number of occasions this season, I’ve concluded that the 40-year-old quarterback has reached a stage in his career in which every down is a bonus. As a result, he’s become more likable, more respected (if that’s possible) and perhaps even more skilled that he was when he was leading the Green Bay Packers to the Super Bowl.

In fact, on Sunday, Favre set an NFL record with his 22nd career game with at at least four touchdown passes. He and Dan Marino were tied at 21 each.

When Favre’s achievement was announced to the sellout crowd during the fourth quarter at the Metrodome on Sunday, he received a standing ovation and yet looked like a guy who had no idea what he’d done.

One gets the sense he no longer cares. At 40, he’s playing on perhaps the best team he’s ever seen — let alone been part of. In fact, if you base greatness on the number of weapons a team has, then Favre’s Minnesota Vikings might be the greatest team in the NFL today.

Frankly, it’s extremely unlikely even the unbeaten New Orleans Saints and Indianapolis Colts can claim to have seven of the most potent weapons in all of football, but Bret Favre can. In fact, does any team have more great offensive players than Minnesota: Favre, Harvin, Rice, Berrian, Peterson, Taylor and Shiancoe. No team in the NFL can touch that group.

The post-season is going to be fantastic.

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The Mainstream Media Lunacy Just Gets Crazier. At this Rate, we’ll Never Run Out of Things to Write About.

Posted on November 17, 2009 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

MINNEAPOLIS — We have a crisis of intelligence in this world. It seems that the more you read a newspaper, the dumber you get.

It was Thomas Jefferson who said: “As for what is not true, you will always find abundance in the newspapers,” and that has never been more evident than it has been this week.

And hey, it’s only Tuesday.

1) A headline in USA Today on Tuesday read: “NFL Replay: Fourth-Down call Stain on Belichick’s Record.”

Stain? What, are newspaper reporters doing now? Pouring tomato juice on people’s hoodies? A stain? It was a call late in a regular season game that ended up backfiring and costing the Patriots the game. A game. One game. Big effin’ deal. The Pats will still be no worse than 12-4 this season.

Stain? What kind of media-created bull-crap is that? A stain on Belichick’s record was the time he spent in Cleveland screwing up the Browns. Taking a chance on Tom Brady is not a stain. It’s not even a blip.

The Pats are 6-3 and still in first place. All that decision did was guarantee that when the two teams meet again in the AFC Championship game, the TV ratings will be right through the freakin’ roof.

2) The Ottawa Sun just cracks me up. This is the newspaper that either can’t get a trade rumour right or simply makes these rumours up.

I know that suggesting a newspaper makes things up is about the worst thing you can say, but goodness gracious, the trade rumours started in Ottawa would be comical if they weren’t so sad. These guys can’t even get a lie straight.

We’ve spent some time chronicling their errors, but let it go because it just got so silly. This week, however, we just couldn’t resist.

Now, for most of this season, the Ottawa Sun has been reporting – and I use the word reporting lightly – that the Chicago Blackhawks were on the verge of trading either Jonathan Toews or Patrick Kane or both. The Sun claimed the Hawks had a cap problem and needed  to move one of their stars. We’ve already called that rumour a crock.

Then, yesterday, word filtered out of Chicago that the Hawks were on the verge of signing both Toews and Kane  to new contracts. At least eight years each according to my source inside the Hawks.

Wow! How can one newspaper be so wrong so often and still sell copies of their newspaper? Are people that stupid? Or are they just looking for a good morning laugh?

3) Newspapers from coast-to-coast, desperate to write about some mundane NHL issue other than the copy to the headline: “The Leafs are Lousy Again,” have had a big month writing about head shots and all the horrible bodychecks being tossed out in the NHL.

NHL general managers are looking at the issue and might come down hard on the league’s headhunters. But there is one thing our newspaper-employed tall foreheads forgot. They forgot to ask an NHL GM who is an expert on the subject.

This week, before I did my radio hit with Eric Nelson on WCCO in Minneapolis, Eric’s guest was Minnesota Wild GM Chuck Fletcher. Fletcher said he didn’t much like checks to the head, but he also said the NHL will put the issue into perspective.

“During the course of the season there are about 46,000 bodychecks,” Fletcher pointed out. “In a bad year, 10 are head shots. We want them out of the game, but there isn’t a big panic over this. The numbers suggest there isn’t a problem at all.”

Of course, he’s right and the fearmongers with the truck loads of ink trying to make up stories where none exist are wrong. Again.

4) I just love Canada’s network TV weasels, don’t you?

According to Canadian Press:  “Canada’s largest private broadcaster laid out a scorched earth scenario Monday if it doesn’t get paid for its signals, suggesting more station closings and even yanking signals from cable.”

Wow! “Yanking signals from cable.” That means because nobody watches it now on cable, Canadians would be sure to watch it when the only way they can receive it is with rabbit ears.

“‘We are not going to be here operating conventional TV unless we can make a business of it,’ CTVglobemedia president Ivan Fecan told the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission.”

That makes sense. But why can’t you make a business of it? Is it because so few people actually watch it that selling overpriced commercial time is now damn near impossible?

I love listening to people like Fecan tell us that he’ll have to dump local television if he doesn’t get money from the cable companies. If Fecan gets money from the cable companies, this is how it will go: First he’ll line his owners pockets, then his pockets and then the pockets of his executive buddies. At that point, he’ll used what’s left over to go out and buy more shows from the United States that we already watch on U.S. stations.

How’s this for a response to that malarkey? Take your stupid signal off cable and let’s replace it with ESPN. I’d love to see ESPN HD on Channel 210 on my Shaw HD service.

I don’t know about most of you, but if CTV pulled the plug tomorrow, I wouldn’t miss it. In fact, just like CBC and its $1 billion per year in taxpayer-funded welfare, can’t say as I watch it now.

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Bombers Horrible in Banjo Bowl. Mike Kelly Should Be Glad He Doesn’t Own a Piano.

Posted on September 13, 2009 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

(About an hour after filing this, a solid source told me there is reason to believe Casey Printers is now on his way to Winnipeg. Kelly denies it, but maybe Bauer is starting to make his own moves.)

Minnesota Vikings head coach Brad Childress told a story to the St. Paul Pioneer Press. It’s one Winnipeg Blue Bombers head coach Mike Kelly (and probably even CEO Lyle Bauer) should consider:

Childress, whose Vikings looked outstanding in a 34-20 win at Cleveland on Sunday, was talking about the time during the 1980s when he was an offensive assistant coach with the Indianapolis Colts and Art Schlichter was his starting quarterback:

“This is a true story,” Chrildress said. “He (Schlichter) was with us one game. He was our starter. We cut him after the first game. We’re standing in there and just got our butts beat. It was awful. I’m like, ‘I don’t care if it’s the first game for a new staff or whatever. A beating is a beating.’ I’m trying to stay out of the way. I’m soaping up in the shower, and here comes Tom Lovat, who was at Green Bay for years. He was assistant head coach. He says, ‘Well, Bradley, let me tell you something.’ He had a great way about him, a great perspective. He goes on, ‘That game right there will make you damn glad you don’t own a piano, you know what I mean?’ I said, ‘No, Coach, I don’t really know.’ He says, ‘You ever move a piano? Those things are heavy as hell. If we keep playing like that, our butts will be moving. Makes you damn glad you don’t own a piano.’”

It was a wonderful story and yesterday, Kelly was in the same situation. His Blue Bombers fell to 3-7 on the season with an embarrassing 55-10 loss in the Banjo Bowl at Canad Inns Stadium.

It was so bad, my pal Dr. Sports from Hot 103 in Winnipeg called from the stadium to say, “Fold the team and tear down the stadium, it has reached rock bottom. This is the worst I’ve ever seen.”

Well, hopefully, the city will get to tear down the stadium soon and David Asper will build the team a new one at the University of Manitoba.

The Blue Bomber board of directors needs to clean house. Sooner, not later. The board should call in Asper, who will soon take over the team anyway, and let him assume the leadership responsibilities now.

Let’s not pull any punches, the board has been as big a disaster as Mike Kelly or any other failed coach. The board has been as big a disaster as Stefan Lefors or any other failed quarterback.

This franchise hasn’t won a Grey Cup in 19 years and it’s unlikely it will win one this year. In an eight-team league, every team should win at least one Grey Cup in 19 years just by having a little dumb luck.

It’s time for a wholesale change. And that doesn’t mean fire the coach. It means changing the culture of the franchise completely. It’s the only way to salvage what could soon become a very, very embarrassing year.

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Great effort by Arizona. Indy-San Diego was a Tim Donaghy special.

Posted on January 3, 2009 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

You have to hand it to old Kurt Warner. He did a wonderful job on Saturday to give the Arizona Cardinals a 30-24 victory over the Atlanta Falcons in the first game of the NFL’s Wild Card weekend. The old guy still has some big-time chops. 

 

Warner went 19-for-32 for 271 yards, two touchdowns and one interception and had a passer’s rating of 94.7 to lead the Cardinals to the first upset of the day.

 

With Larry Fitzgerald having a particularly good afternoon, catching six Warner passes for 101 yards and a 42-yard touchdown, the 9-7 Cards were full marks for their victory.

 

Can’t say the same about San Diego’s  23-17 win in OT against Indianapolis.

 

The National Football League should be ashamed of itself. There is very little doubt that Ron Winter’s officiating crew had San Diego to cover. If I ran a Vegas casino, I’d want an investigation. The officiating in overtime looked more suspicious than anything Tim Donaghy ever did in the NBA.

 

As I watched the replays and saw all the offensive holding on San Diego that was, of course, completely ignored, especially on that overtime drive, all I could think of was “How many of these officials had San Diego to win or San Diego to cover?” Sure glad I had the Chargers on one of my Sport Select tickets. Gentlemen, I appreciate the help.

 

I especially liked the phantom holding on that incomplete pass for a first down. Nice work. Oh yeah, and the defensive holding while the exact same defensive lineman, the one who was called for holding, was being, well, tackled. Brilliant stuff. 

 

Over the course of the game, San Diego had three penalties for 40 yards while Indy had nine for 74. More importantly, the Colts were assessed three key penalties on that one overtime drive. That’s fix city baby. That’s how you get an 8-8 team to beat a 12-4 team. 

 

In fact, that was just about the phoniest finish to an NFL playoff game I’ve ever seen. But, then again, here in Canada I’ll take the government’s money. Thanks boys. You’re crooked as hell and my wallet likes it.

 

 

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