Stars On a Sunday Afternoon

Image by pxl:pshr via FlickrOn the Sunday before the Packers and Steelers meet in the Super Bowl, what was on TV?  You could have watched a rerun of the men's Australian Open tennis final on ESPN 2, unless you actually stayed up in the middle of the night to watch it live.  There was an NBA doubleheader on ABC featuring the same teams you'll be likely to see come playoff time (Heat-Thunder, Celtics-Lakers).  On CBS, it was the Farmers Insurance Open, where Bubba Watson held off a challenge by Phil Mickelson to win the PGA Tour event, with Tiger Woods nowhere in sight.

Or you could have been watching the NHL All-Star Game from Raleigh, North Carolina on Versus.  In the league's latest attempt to create interest in the game, having lost Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins to an injury, they ditched the usual East vs. West setup and let two team captains--Niklas Lidstrom of the Detroit Red Wings and Eric Staahl of the Carolina Hurricanes--pick the rosters as if this were a pickup game in gym class.

Team Lidstrom and Team Staahl (sounds like something out of the "Twilight" movies) then went out on the RBC Center ice and proceeded to score 21 goals as quickly and cleanly as possible (no checking, please), with Team Lidstrom winning the game 11-10.  This was not your typical NHL game.  It was a joke, set up for our entertainment as much as Don Cherry's outfits on "Coach's Corner".

After that game was over, it was time for the NFL Pro Bowl on Fox.  This is the only all-star game we know of that takes place after the regular season, so you have the spectacle of players who didn't make the Super Bowl suiting up for one last game in sunny Hawaii.  Like the NHL game, there's plenty of offense and hardly any defense. Can you feel the envy, football fans?

The only things about the game that were remotely memorable were that (A) the NFC scored 42 points in the first half on its way to a 55-35 win over the AFC, and (B) the Minnesota Vikings' Adrian Peterson scored his career record-setting fourth Pro Bowl touchdown.  By that time, you might have been more interested in "Ax Men" and "Pawn Stars" on History.

Even though these games were merely the appetizer to the big event next week, there are worse ways to spend a Sunday.

A Blue Collar Super Bowl

Image by Getty Images via @daylifeThe Green Bay Packers and Pittsburgh Steelers, two of the NFL's most storied and popular franchises who have won nine Super Bowl titles between themselves, will try for a tenth in Arlington, Texas two weeks from now.

The Packers won the NFC championship in Chicago with a 21-14 victory over the Bears, in their first playoff meeting since 1941.  Green Bay, behind quarterback Aaron Rodgers and their defense, kept the Bears behind the eight ball for most of the game.  It didn't help matters for Chicago when starting quarterback Jay Cutler went out with a knee injury and his replacement Todd Collins got booed off the field, leaving third-stringer Caleb Hanie to mount what turned out to be a failed fourth-quarter comeback

The Steelers beat the New York Jets 24-19, winning the AFC championship before the home fans in Pittsburgh.  Again, as in the other game, it was defense and a big lead that carried the Steelers for most of the game before they staved off a second half Jets comeback.  New York still hasn't made the Super Bowl since the Joe Namath era.

All right, who had the Steelers and the Packers as the final two?  Both teams had unspectacular regular seasons, but Pittsburgh managed to win their division and play at home during the playoffs while Green Bay did not.  The Packers had to beat Atlanta, Philadelphia and Chicago on the road as the sixth seed, and did so impressively.

So, cheeseheads and Terrible Towels, unite!  Let the hype begin.

Wild In The Middle

Image via WikipediaThe Minnesota Wild are reaching the NHL's All-Star break as a team at the crossroads:  With the team being one point out of playoff contention, they are not bad enough to call it a season.  Yet they're not good enough to really take off and join the league's elite.

This inconsistency manifests itself whenever the Wild give up big leads or mess up doable scoring chances (particularly on the power play).  The fact that they have a better record on the road (they won their last two games in Calgary and Edmonton) than at home does not sit well with the paying customers at Xcel Energy Center, which has resulted in the streak of sellouts being broken for the first time since the franchise was founded.

It's not all coach Todd Richards' fault, having to make do with the players he's got.  For every Pierre-Marc Bouchard that returns to the lineup from a concussion, there's having to raid the minor league team in Houston for goaltending help after Jose Theodore, Niklas Backstrom and Josh Harding get hurt at one point or another.  Plus there are some players who are just not working out.

But such is the nature of how many teams are competing for the eight Western Conference playoff spots, that whoever is on top today might be on the bottom tomorrow.  The Wild will use the rest of the season to not be caught standing in the NHL's version of musical chairs.

Notes From The Bowl Season

Image via WikipediaThe 35th and final bowl game of the college football season ended Monday night with Auburn defeating Oregon 22-19 in the closing seconds to take home the BCS National Championship at Glendale, Arizona.  It was a great game for those of us with cable and satellite, while those of you without either were probably stuck with "The Bachelor" or "How I Met Your Mother".  The game was also one more example of how the best talent in college football has migrated to the South, with Auburn being the fifth consecutive SEC school to win a national title.  Oh, and they also happened to have this year's Heisman Trophy winner, quarterback Cam Newton.  How he won it is another story.

The Big Ten Plus Two did not fare well during bowl season, with only Iowa, Illinois and Ohio State winning their games.  Michigan, Wisconsin, Michigan State and Northwestern went 0-for-New Year's Day.  Nebraska prepared for its entry into the conference by losing the Holiday Bowl to Washington.  So the Cornhuskers should fit right in.

Ron Franklin, who had been calling college sports on ESPN for over two decades, was let go by the network.  He was pulled from the radio broadcast of the Fiesta Bowl for making condescending comments to a female sideline reporter.  This type of attitude is not unusual among those who work for the "Worldwide Leader In Sports".  Remember when Tony Kornheiser of "Pardon the Interruption" was suspended for remarks he made on his radio show about Hannah Storm's attire?  This would all be so much more believable if ESPN's coverage of women's sports weren't relegated to ESPN 2 or ESPNU instead of its main channel.  As for the use of sideline reporters, it was a pretty good idea while it lasted.  Now it's just an excuse for networks to put a pretty face on to impart what little information they could give beyond coaches' cliches and other restrictions.

Cooperstown, You Are Hereby Circled

Image via WikipediaBert Blyleven, the former major league pitcher who waited 13 years to get into the Baseball Hall of Fame, finally got in on the 14th try Wednesday. 

He joins Roberto Alomar, a 12-time All-Star second baseman, as the only candidates who got enough votes from members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America for induction.  What's noteworthy is that Rafael Palmeiro and Mark McGwire, who were accused of using performance enhancing drugs during what we now call the Steroid Era, were passed over this time.

The statistics indicate Blyleven should have been inducted sooner than he was.  In 22 seasons, beginning with the Minnesota Twins and ending with the California (now Los Angeles) Angels from 1970 to 1993, his record was 287-250.  He had 3,701 strikeouts, 60 shutouts, and a lifetime ERA of 3.31.  He was part of two World Series championship teams with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1979 and the Twins in 1987.

What gave the baseball writers pause was that Blyleven won no Cy Young awards, had one 20-win season (1973), and that much of his career was spent playing for mediocre teams.

Since retiring as a player, Blyleven has been a TV analyst for Twins games on Fox Sports North.  He has mastered the art of using the telestrator, which he employs for circling sign-waving Twins fans during games.  He is also known for reminding viewers that his birthday is in April.

Come July 24, when the Hall of Fame induction ceremonies are held, Blyleven can stop campaigning for the one thing he's waited so long for.  It's his turn to get circled.

Vikings Dealt a Bad Hand

Image via WikipediaWhen the NFL season started, the Minnesota Vikings went "all in" on the chance of getting to a Super Bowl that was denied them last year.  It ended with their being kicked out of the casino shirtless, homeless and broke.

The Vikings finished tied with the Detroit Lions for last in the NFC North at 6-10.  Brett Favre's storied career ended badly on and off the field.  Tavaris Jackson hurt himself running into Adrian Peterson, prompting third-string Joe Webb to start the final two games.  Percy Harvin had migraine headaches.

Brad Childress was replaced as head coach by Leslie Frazier, who got the "interim" tag taken off after a surprise victory at Philadelphia.

Then there was the odyssey caused by the Metrodome roof failing to hold more than a foot of snow, sending the Vikings to Detroit one week to play the New York Giants, then the University of Minnesota to play outdoors on a Monday night against the division champion Chicago Bears.  Then they had to wait until the following Tuesday to play the Eagles in Philadelphia, due to an East Coast blizzard.

With the Vikings putting on a full court press to get a new stadium of their own, the timing of the roof collapse could not have been more fortuitous.  Some people were surprised to learn of how many non-football Metrodome events had to be moved or canceled because the roof won't be repaired for months.

The Vikings need so many things besides a place to play next season--labor negotiations permitting:  A new starting quarterback.  A general manager who isn't named Zygi Wilf.  Help in the draft and free agency.  But what they need most is to stop watching reruns of the World Series of Poker.

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In a year which saw Michael Vick go from prison inmate to MVP candidate, Donovan McNabb getting benched in Washington, Randy Moss playing for three different teams, a 7-9 division champion in Seattle, and the NFL taking hard hits more seriously, our pre-playoff Super Bowl matchup is New Orleans Saints vs. New England Patriots.