NHL Preview

hello and welcome to this special edition of this blog, known as the season preview for the 2017-2018 NHL season. In case you're wondering, I don't believe that I have ever put out such a thing for hockey before, so without further ado, let's get to it.

Atlantic Division
The  Tampa Bay Lightning have been the undisputed class of the division for the last several years, except they haven't won a division title to show for it. Last year, Steven Stamkos, their all-star caliber center, missed nearly all of the regular season with a knee injury. This season, he returns to playing caliber, with some help alongside too. Forward Nikita Kucherov alongside defensemen Victor Hedman round out this dominant trio, and Goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy should keep out enough pucks out of the back of the net.  Elsewhere, Toronto looks to make a run for the division, Montreal still has Carey Price, and Boston still has Brad Marchand. Florida, Ottawa, Buffalo, and Detroit look to round out the division.

Metropolitan Division
Let's be honest, this is the Penguins' division to lose, as they have won the Stanley Cup the last two seasons. Washington will make a valiant effort, only to come up short (as usual). The other participants in the division are in pretty much a crapshoot to see who will get positions 3-8. Columbus appears to have the inside track. Then some have Carolina to have a lock on fourth, but I don't think so.  I think it will come down to either NY Rangers or New Jersey. Then I have the Islanders, Canes, and Flyers.

Central Division
This division is up for grabs as usual and will probably come down to the final week to settle it. This time however it'll be Nashville, proving that their Western Conference crown was no fluke. Chicago takes home second, and for third, I'll go with Minnesota. St. Louis, Dallas, Winnipeg, and Colorado takes the rest of the division.

Pacific Division
Everyone's chic pick to grab the bull by the horns is Edmonton, but yet again, I am here to say "pump your brakes", as I think Anaheim takes the division. Then comes Edmonton, then Los Angeles. I have San Jose coming in fourth, with Calgary, Vancouver, Arizona, and Vegas coming in last.


PLAYOFFS
TB over NYR
TOR over MTL
PIT over BOS
CBJ over WSH
NSH over STL
CHI over MIN
ANA over SJ
EDM over LA

TB over TOR
CBJ over PIT
CHI over NSH
EDM over ANA

TB over CBJ
EDM over CHI

TB over EDM

Come on, you didn't think I wasn't going to have a homer pick for the Stanley Cup Final did you??

Week 3 picks and other stuff

Greetings everyone, and as you can probably tell by now, the world did not come to an end last night. Just like it didn't end in 1988, and 1999, and 2002, and 2012. So there you are, and here I am.

Last week when I gave my thoughts on the Dolphins-Chargers contest in suburban Los Angeles, I made this comment regarding the Chargers:

Ever wonder what the Tampa Bay Rays would look like as an NFL team? This is it. Similar color scheme, similar apathetic markets, similar less-than-ideal home stadia. At least the Chargers will have a new home eventually, and will stay put this time.

Well a couple of things happened this week. First, the Rays' lord and savior Joe Maddon returned to the Trop with his defending champion Chicago Cubs, and fans showed up to the Trop in droves, to the tune of 25,000. The sad news however, was that they were pretty much all Cubs fans. Which led me to draw this conclusion about baseball in Tampa/St. Petersburg: yeah, we like baseball, we just don't like our team. That fact did not go unnoticed by Rays players either.

Rays "ace" Chris Archer in particular, was less than pleased. And local sportswriter Tom Jones, who isn't the biggest fan of this region to begin with, was quite negative about the atmosphere. It was not a very pleasing sight to see to those who have "fought" tooth and nail to make this Rays franchise work.

Here's my painful truth about the Rays; the fact that they're in St. Pete is the main reason nobody likes them. Tampa has never really given a shit about St. Pete, and to a somewhat smaller extent, vice versa. The late sportscaster Chris Thomas used to say that there's no unity in this community. He was right fifteen years ago, and he's right now. The Howard Frankland Bridge connects Tampa to the northern reaches of St. Pete, and everyone hates driving on it. Build a new ballpark closer to Tampa, and you may get more fans.  Of course, local leadership has been dragging their knuckles over it, and according to a recent poll, residents couldn't care less.

Enough about bad baseball though. The second thing regarding the earlier quote I posted regarding last week came down yesterday, and it's a doozy. Yahoo Sports posted an article that stated the NFL was considering bringing the Chargers back to San Diego. This from a longtime NFL reporter who spoke with a local sports talker there (more on THAT in a bit). However, league sources were quick to shut down said rumor almost as soon as it was mentioned.

My thoughts on this: this was likely a knee-jerk overreaction to the crowd in Carson for the game last week, a crowd that was nearly split 50/50 between Chargers fans and Dolphins fans. In fact it was so divisive, some couldn't even tell who he crowd was cheering for (kinda like Cubs-Rays as I alluded to earlier). So, the initial reaction would be, "Oh great, it isn't going to work in LA, let's go back to San Diego." Knowing that, one particular ratings-starved sports talk host in San Diego may get a hold of an NFL reporter who has heard rumors of a potential return to San Diego, put him on his show, and stir the pot so to speak. How would I speculate this? Because said radio host used to work in Tampa, an he's so awful I've named him the patron saint of shitty sports talk. Thank God he got himself run out of town.


Now for my Week 3 preview. Last week I went 11-5, and for a third straight week, missed the Thursday night game, so I currently have a record of 23-9. Not bad, but room for improvement.

Baltimore at Jacksonville  London
Ah yes, the Jags' annual trip to Wembley occurs early this season. Their reward? Undefeated Baltimore, who quite honestly hasn't been tested yet; and they won't this week either. Blake Bortles reverted to the Bortles we have come to know and loathe last week against Tennessee, and the Kitty Cats were blown out. This week, at least try to run Leonard Fournette as much as possible, it won't be good enough to win but at least you won't run the risk of that inevitable soul-crushing pick from Bortles.

Ravens over Jaguars

Tampa Bay at Minnesota
Last week, I turned some heads by picking against the Bucs, and they rewarded me with a stellar defensive effort reminiscent of those great Buc defenses of the late 90s/early 00s. This week, they make their first of hopefully two visits to Minneapolis this season, and they got a break when Sam Bradford was ruled out due to a knee issue. His replacement? Case Keenum, who has only torched the Bucs the last two games he's faced them as a member of the Rams. Uh-oh. Kwon Alexander is out for Tampa with a hammy issue. Double uh-oh. Rest easy though, for this is a deeper Bucs defense than in years past. However, I'm worried about Dalvin Cook AND if the Buc offense is at full throttle.  Picking the opponent worked last week. Hopefully it will again this week.

Vikings over Buccaneers 

Miami at NY Jets
Ok, I admit, the Fins got lucky last week at San Diego Carson. That's been their M.O. since last season though, thrilling, heart-stopping, last-minute victories. I doubt they'll need one this week, but these are the Jets...

Dolphins over Jets

Rest of Sunday's games:
Eagles over Giants
Patriots over Texans
Steelers over Bears
Broncos over Bills
Browns over Colts
Lions over Falcons
Saints over Panthers
Packers over Bengals
Chiefs over Chargers
Titans over Seahawks

Sunday Night (Oakland at Washington)
How exactly did Washington get a Sunday Night game this season? Did Dan Snyder gripe to the right people? Was Mia Khalifa involved? Ok I digress. Meanwhile, let's check in on Beast Mode, shall we?

Dude! Marshawn is TURNT! I think he had too much Skittles in the locker room at halftime. All kidding aside, how fun will it be to see him do this again in Landover?

Raiders over Redskins

Monday Night (Dallas at Arizona)

Those who thought Arizona was going to win the NFC West this season (raises hand) my want to reconsider. They let one slip away at Detroit then needed overtime to beat the Colts. This is their home opener, but since it's against a Cowboys team licking their wounds from last week's blowout to Denver, it won't feel like it. Look for Dallas to take out some frustration out on the Cards.

Cowboys over Cardinals

So to review:

BAL

MIN

MIA

PHI

NE

PIT

DEN

CLE

DET

NO

GB

KC

TEN

OAK

DAL

See y'all on Twitter. Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

It's Been Too Long

Good morning, and with football season back in full swing, I figured I'd dust off the old blog and start writing again. Now before you (won't) ask, "where have you been?" let me say that the last month has been something else to say August 17. It was caused by hypertension and high cholesterol; my BP was running over 200/115. Hell, I should be dead in all honesty but the good Lord put on his best Braun Strowman (WWE Superstar, for those who don't know) and said, "I'M NOT FINISHED WITH YOU!!!!" After about a week in the hospital, I came back home, my left side totally messed up. I was put on BP meds and I'm happy to say my BP is lower. I just need to watch my diet from here on out, which means more fruits and vegetables. Junk food has been cut out completely, as well as (much as it pains me to do so) soda.

With all that, I missed firing this back up in the preseason. I thought about bringing this back last for last weekend, but there was something else that got in the way; Hurricane Irma. So instead of blogging, I was watching non-stop storm coverage from the local news. My family got incredibly lucky; power never went out and we were only without cable for about eighteen hours. Most folks down here weren't as fortunate however. In fact, there are still places in greater Tampa Bay area without power, and with the heat we've had this week, that isn't good. Anyone who has spent a tangible amount of time living in Florida will know that air conditioning isn't a luxury, it's a necessity. It's gonna be awhile before the Sunshine State returns to somewhat normal, but after Irma, we are indeed #FloridaStrong. Now let's hope this new storm in the Atlantic (Maria) stays the hell away from us.

Now to football. As I stated earlier, Irma washed  me out last week (as well as the Bucs and Dolphins), so my picks were made in a tweet. Last week : 12-3 (losses being New England, Cincinnati, and Houston). I lost the TNF game this week. Lesson learned: don't pick the Bengals. Now for this week
.

Chicago at Tampa Bay
 Season opener for the Bucs, who were this season's "Hard Knocks" feature. New additions (Desean Jackson one of them) has made their offense on paper look elite. One thing though, they didn't look that way most of the preseason. Doug Martin (leading rusher) is suspended for three games for PED use. /furthermore, Mike Glennon, former Bucs starter, now starts for Chicago. How much of an asset  (he was under Dirk Koetter for one season) he'll be isn't sure. Bears got a bad break with Kyle Long listed as out for the game, but I have a sneaky feeling; I don't think the Bucs are as good as advertised, and I don't believe the DieBears are as bad as advertised. Not a lot of people I know at going to like this, but...

...in an "I hope I'm wrong" Upset Special,
Bears over Bucs

New England at New Orleans
Poor Saints, they got embarrassed at Minnesota on Monday night, and Adrian Peterson is already unhappy. Even worse, they get an angry Patriots team some thought would run the table...OOPS!

Pats over Saints

Rest of the early games:

Panthers over Bills
Titans over Jags
Ravens over Browns
Chiefs over Eagles
Steelers over Vikings
Cardinals over Colts


Miami at San Diego Los Angeles Chargers
Ah yes, the Chargers, the NFL's orphan team. They bolted (pun!) San Diego in hopes of greener pastures in LA, hoping to share their own stadium in Carson with the Raiders. Alas, that fell through, and now they're forced to play second fiddle to the Rams when their obscenely expensive digs in Inglewood opens in 2020. In the meantime, they will play in Carson; at a soccer stadium that barely seats 30K, and those games won't even sell out I bet. Ever wonder what the Tampa Bay Rays would look like as an NFL team? This is it. Similar color scheme, similar apathetic markets, similar less-than-ideal home stadia. At least the Chargers will have a new home eventually, and will stay put this time.

By the way, the Dolphins are kinda good,

Dolphins over Chargers

Rest of the late games:

Raiders over Jets
Cowboys over Broncos
Rams over Washington
Seahawks over 49ers

Sunday Night (GB at ATL)
Hey, it's the third grand opening of the new Mercedes-Benz stadium in Atlanta. The facility is nice, and already holds a record; largest ever crowd for a Major League Soccer game (70K and change for yesterday's match between Atlanta United and Orlando City). Plus, rumor has it that the "oculus" at the top of the stadium will be open for tonight. In fact all that's missing from it is a statue commemorating that 28-3 lead in the Super Bowl before...well, you know.
As for tonight, this is the game of the week. Falcons looked a little sluggish in Chcago last week. I doubt they will tonight.

Falcons over Packers

Monday Night:

Home opener for the Giants as they host Detroit. Call me cooky, but I actually believe in this Lions team. I kinda wish more football fans did. As for the Giants, Odell Beckham, Jr. could be in action. This is a tough game to pick. Heart kinda wants me to go Lions, but in New Jersey?

Giants over Lions

to recap:
CHI
NE
CAR
TN
BAL
KC
PIT
AZ
MIA
OAK
DAL
LAR
SEA
ATL
NYG

Enjoy the games!

Is It Almost Summer Already?

Greetings for the first time on this platform in over a month. And given the date that I am typing this, Feliz Cinco de Mayo! Sorry, my laptop keyboard is unable to type accent marks or the upside down exclamation point, so excuse the improper use of the Spanish language. It is, though, 5th of May...and a Friday, so PLEASE...celebrate responsibly if you so choose to do so.

And since it is now being the month of May, Justin Timberlake, that means that summer is just around the corner. Unless you're in Florida, where summer has a six-week head start, and here in Florida, the month of April was hotter than a Winghouse Girl fighting a forest fire (more on the fire part in a moment). Of course, it's not absurd in the least that it would be naturally warmer in Florida than the rest of the country this time of year, but in the Tampa Bay region at least, it felt more like late-May/early-June than mid-to-late April. Seriously, 96 for a high on April 29? That isn't beach weather, that's try to avoid a heat stroke at all costs weather. I recall visiting Weather Underground's website last week and there were unofficial weather stations that were recording temperatures in the triple digits. Triple. Freaking. Digits.

Not to mention, Florida has had a substantial lack of rain this spring. April showers bringing May flowers? Not this year. In fact, today the National Weather Service released its latest drought report for Florida, and it isn't good. A significant portion north and west of Lake Okeechobee is now under an extreme drought condition, and most of Central and Southwest Florida is under a severe drought.

And with the lack of rain comes the outbreak of wildfires, and just a couple of weeks ago, some significant wildfires forced evacuations in the southwest part of the state. But the fires near Naples and north of Okeechobee weren't the worst ones. That one belongs to the Okefenokee Swamp area, straddling the Florida-Georgia line (no, not country music's version of Nickelback) near Jacksonville. Officials throughout the state have issued burn bans in practically every county in peninsular Florida except in metro Jacksonville and metro South Florida.

The good news? The season of afternoon thundershowers should be arriving shortly, which could quench most of this state with some badly needed rain. Just as long as there are no major hurricanes threatening the state summer...

That's all I have for now. It's nearing 2am here but I'll be back with the next few days with more to write.

Until next time...

Bony Scribe

What I learned from the first weekend of the tournament.

Good morning. As those of you who follow college basketball obviously know by now, we have reached the Sweet 16, and although there are some usual suspects in said Sweet 16, there are a few glaring omissions, most notably Duke and defending champion Villanova.

North Carolina made it, and in doing so became the only team from the ACC left. Wake Forest got dumped in the First Four, and Miami and Virginia Tech were bounced Thursday/Friday. But this weekend was one big Crying Jordan for ACC faithful. Notre Dame? Bounced by West Virginia. Virginia? Throttled by Florida. Louisville? Bamboozled by Meeechigan. Finally there's Duke, who got henpecked by...South Carolina???

A few words about the Gamecocks: no, I am not a fan. If I had to choose between them and Clemson, 101 times out of 100 it would be Clemson. And don't get me started on their coach; Frank Martin.

(chicagonow.com)

Dude is the modern day version of Bobby Knight. Screaming, ranting, raving, and overall just being an a*****e to his players. When he left K-State (presumably because him and AD John Currie did not see eye to eye), I thought to myself, "great, now Kansas State can be rootable once again." (I'm no fan of Kansas, either). Until I realized that he was at South Carolina. Poop. I was hoping they would miss the tournament altogether. Now they're in the Sweet 16, where they haven't been since 1973. Their tournament legacy can be summed up in two seasons; 1997 and 1998 where as #2 and #3 seeds, they lost to Coppin State and Richmond. El-Oh-Bleeping-El.

Their reward for beating the Dookies? Baylor. Uggggggh. The athletic program NOBODY likes. Let's take a look at their recent stellar basketball history, shall we? Hoo boy. And that's just hoops. Football? Holy cow. I'd need two weeks to go over every single thing wrong with that outfit, so here's some articles from Deadspin about how mismanaged their Athletic Department is.

And yes, their chancellor is the same Ken Starr who was independent counsel during the Clinton Impeachment hearings.

But enough about USC South Carolina and Baylor, here's what else we learned from the first weekend of play:

There were no real Cinderellas. Only one twelve seed (a 30-win Middle Tennessee squad) won their first round game. Only one double-digit seed (Xavier) made the Sweet 16. Speaking of Xavier, uh, Florida State, what happened? Three of the four #1 seeds made it past this weekend; the aforementioned Villanova being the lone casualty; to Wisconsin.

Oh, and you filled out a bracket, it probably looks like this:

Oops...

Be that is it may, the Madness starts up again this Thursday night. Suffice to say if you're a fan of Arizona, Kansas, and North Carolina right now, you have to like your chances of getting to Glendale. As for the East region, now that Duke and Nova are out, could it be possible that FLORIDA makes the Final Four???

I have my fingers crossed.



CT

March Madness, But Winter Ain't Dead Yet

Greetings everyone, spring is just around the corner which means two things: the NCAA College Basketball Tournament and warmer weather.  Yes, there are more than just two (Spring Training, Daylight Savings Time, etc.), but for the purposes of this post, I'm choosing to focus on these.

March Madness is Here

First, college basketball. Anyone and everyone who follows sports (and some who don't) usually takes time to fill in a bracket for the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. Some also fill out a bracket for the women's tournament, but let's be honest; women's basketball is a one team show and has been for a few years now. Every tournament is practically the UConn Invitational because the Connecticut Huskies women's basketball team has won an insane 105 consecutive games. So that tournament is a foregone conclusion. The men is somewhat a different story...somewhat.

More often than not, schools that reach the Final Four (TM) are the usual suspects; Kentucky, Kansas, Louisville, North Carolina, Duke, usually a Big Ten team, sometimes a Pac-12 team, a Big East team, and every once in a blue moon a Cinderella mid-major squad (George Mason in 2006). Admittedly I have not watched much college basketball this season. I'm over the Duke-UNC rivalry for the most part; which wasn't the bane of my college hoops fandom in my younger years, but was quite significant. Back in those days (mid-to-late 80s) Duke quite wasn't the behemoth of the program that they are now under Coach Krzyzewski; growing up in St. Pauls, NC is was more UNC vs NC State; Dean Smith vs Jim Valvano. No don't get me wrong, Smith and Coach K was quite the rivalry (which at this point was just starting to warm up), but for some reason it was the late Valvano (and his infectious, gregarious personality) that was second fiddle to the Dean. Winning that title at Albuquerque in 1983 certainly helped. But it wasn't until Duke had their Final Four run in 1986 and NC State's fall from grace amidst scandal soon thereafter that Duke-UNC garnered all the attention.

But I digress...

So no, I haven't watched much college basketball this year. I did attend one game: South Florida hosting South Carolina. God the Bulls were horrible this year. How horrible? Well, this happened. Aside from that being the most Tampa thing to happen to a college basketball team, that's about as rock bottom as you can get.

Speaking of Tampa, and going back to my earlier rant, remember when University of Tampa beat NC State??? Good times (and I think what was the beginning of the end of the Valvano era in Raleigh).

Anyway, before this post goes completely off the rails, here are what few observations I made about what sporatic college basketball I did watch:

The Big Ten Tournament was played in Washington DC; nowhere near their Midwest fan base; as a wink and a nod to Maryland. The ACC Tournament was held in Brooklyn. First time they've been in the northeast. So you have the Big Ten in ACC country and the ACC in traditional Big East country. Not to mention, Northwestern...NORTHWESTERN...had their best record in school history and punched their first ever ticket to the men's tournament. And the Ivy League had a conference tournament for the first time ever. 

Speaking of the Tournament, Amway Center in Orlando is a site for this weekend's action. Four teams from Florida made the field and three of them are playing in Orlando: Florida, Florida State, and Florida Gulf Coast. Also coming to Orlando, my favorite mid-major school: UNCW! My thoughts on the bracket:

• Florida doesn't make it out of Orlando
• UNCW reaches New York and the Sweet 16, they have to beat UVa first.
• Wichita State was woefully underseeded and Illinois State got screwed.
• In fact, if you were a mid-major that didn't win their conference tournament, you were screwed royally. Just ask Monmouth.

The team I have winning it all: Kentucky. Total homer pick for my daughter (who turns 18 on Friday and I am freaking out about it). Speaking of who, she got a prom dress this past weekend...and a prom date! Her dress is blue and blue looks very good on her; makes me wish she can go to college where she lives in Lexington and become a Wildcat...hmmm...maybe I can do something in the future to make that happen...but I digress.

But I have Kentucky beating defending champion Villanova in...Phoenix this year. Hold up, I had to Google that info. Is it too late to double check my bracket to take a closer look at Arizona?  Ok, just one change to make; I replaced Nova with Arizona. So Kentucky will beat Arizona to win the title. And since the Final is being held in Arizona, the weather should be nice to be out and about...which brings me to...

Winter Ain't Dead Yet

As I am writing this, the northeast is getting ready to get hammered by a very late winter storm. And the good folks at the Weather Channel has given in the name of Stella...can you imagine hearing Marlon Brando shouting "HEY STELLA!!!!" out his window as he's stuck inside during this snowstorm (of course if winter storms were named back in the day). Definitely no streetcar named desire for this one. The one before Stella was named Reggie. Sorry, when I think of Reggie, I don't think of blizzard conditions in the middle of February; I think of Mr. October himself, Reggie Jackson. Well, winter weather does happen in October so...maybe it fits???

Anyway, and I'm sure I have mentioned this in a previous post, but naming winter storms are dumb. The NWS doesn't do it, so they aren't official anyway. However, in the interests of me poking fun at the Weather Channel's policy of doing so, I have created my own naming list of winter storms:

Achoo (because you sneeze in winter)

Blyad' (a Russian profanity)

Carbonate (Han Solo was frozen in it)

Dingbat (who I think folks at TWC are for doing this)
Electra (bc Carmen got pretty cold after marrying Dennis Rodman)

Fahrvergnugen (just a cool sounding name)
Gossamer... (just hair and sneakers)
Hasenpfeffer (another cool sounding name, right Yosemite Sam?)
Icanteven (seriously, I can't even with these)
Jackfrost (fitting)
Kringle (again, fitting)
Labrador (it's cold in Canada, eh?)
Margie (this one's personal)
Nincompoop (again, a foolish practice)
OMG (more like SNOWMG, am I right?)
Poo (bc winter weather is really shitty)
Rapscallion (slides off the tongue nicely)
Scuzzlebutt (South Park yeti)
Toejam (I thought about using Trump, but I didn't want to get too political. Still, gross)
Vick (or Vap-O Rub, to clear those dripping nostrils)
Wingding (seriously, have you seen the wingding font?)
Yahtzee (bc that's what you wind up playing when you have no electricity in an icestorm)

Hope this made you laugh, a little.

Well, I have to get ready to do some training here shortly for a new venture I am partaking in. Some life changes are on the way; hopefully for the better. In the meantime, enjoy the basketball and stay warm!

CT

Super Bowl Aftermath: Poor Atlanta

Greetings once again. I'm back to give you my thoughts on an unprecedented Super Bowl that took place Sunday evening. One which saw the first overtime in Super Bowl history, and arguably the biggest single-game choke in championship history.

First half of the game was virtually all Atlanta. Matt Ryan was on fire, they were running the ball, the front four of the Falcons defense got to Brady. It was unlike what we have seen in previous Super Bowls regarding the Patriots in the Belichick/Brady era. It was 21-3 at half and it seemed like this was going to be another Super Bowl blowout.

Then Lady Gaga stole the show at halftime, one of the better halftime performances we have ever seen (though nothing will top Prince in the rain in Miami ten years ago). Joe Buck, Fox broadcaster, did make one interesting point as the second half began; the Falcons had gone nearly an hour without an offensive possession before halftime.

That factor didn't seem like much of a big deal when in the Falcons second possession of the third quarter, they scored a touchdown to make it 28-3. After that, reports on social media came out the President Trump left his Super Bowl party at Mar-a-Lago, likely in disgust not only with the outcome of the game (he is friends with Brady and Patriots owner Robert Kraft), but with the bevvy of commercials which seemed like an indirect "bleep you" to him and his policies enacted since he took Office.

All of a sudden, it seemed like the Patriots had one of those moments that you would see in the WWE where the fan favorite comes alive out of nowhere after being down and out, and begins to rally. They got a touchdown, but missed the PAT. Then they got a FG. Suddenly it's a two possession game, and also the Falcons offense began to sputter. Then a fumble recovery, followed by another touchdown and a two-point conversion. One possession game. Then the turning point:

After a ridiculous catch by Julio Jones put the Falcons on the NE 22 with about four minutes left, the Falcons seemed in prime position to finish off the Patriots. Then a curious play call that led to Matt Ryan getting sacked for a loss of ten. Then an offensive holding penalty that knocked them back ten yards further. Instead of a game-sealing field goal they wound up punting with a little more than two minutes left.

Brady put together a critical drive helped by what was the opposite of the David Tyree catch that befell them in Super Bowl XLII, Julian Edelman's catch off a deflection that, had it not been for the leg of Robert Alford, would have been an incomplete pass. They would tie the game with a touchdown and another two-point conversion, and the Atlanta collapse was complete. Falcons did have one last possession in regulation, but two costly timeouts taken in the third quarter and an unsuccessful challenge off the Edelman catch left them with no time to stop the clock, so we had the first overtime period in Super Bowl history.

Patriots won the toss, methodically drove down the field, and won the game on a two yard James White touchdown. Completing not only the greatest comeback in Super Bowl history, but also arguably the most epic choke in championship game history.

And to be honest, it couldn't happen to a better city or fanbase. As a fan of the Magic, Bucs and Gators, it's easy to dislike that city from a sports standpoint; Hawks, UGA, and of course the Pigeons, not to mention this city lost not one but TWO NHL teams, and the Braves, or should I say Barves, are just annoying (and they stole FSU's tomahawk chop). Their only championship came in 1995 against a team from that (until recently) was just as cursed with bad sports luck, Cleveland.

Let's face it, Atlanta (and probably Georgia as well) has taken loss after loss after loss, ever since General Sherman ran roughshot through Georgia in the Civil War. I already told you about their two hockey team failures. Jimmy Carter was a one-term president. The Hawks have never reached the NBA Finals since coming to Atlanta from St. Louis. They did host the Olympics (somehow), but the legacy of those games was marred by a terrorist attack. And the Braves hoodwinked the taxpayers of Cobb County into building them a new ballpark, even though their perfectly good now former home was merely twenty years old. Plus, Ryan Seacrest is from Atlanta, and on a personal note, I was born there; thankfully my father pulled up the stakes and relocated to Orlando within a year.

When someone brings up the question "which area has the most forlorn fanbase in all of sports?" The answer shouldn't be Cleveland, or Buffalo, or even San Diego. But Atlanta. Fair-weather fans? Check. Lack of titles? Check. Shady stadium deals? Check.

It isn't like the city has NOTHING going for them though; their film industry is vibrant, more so than Florida's (you taking notes, Gov. Voldemoort?). And of course, there is Coca-Cola (and even they tried to screw that up) and Chick-fil-A (which is still closed on Sundays) as well as many other major corporations based there. But as far as the Falcons are concerned, many football fans (who are sick and tired of the Patriots) have this to say to them:

Congratulations to the Patriots, and now we wait for next season.

CT

PS: I wonder if anyone has seen Tom Brady's Super Bowl jersey?

I'm back writing

Seriously, I need to do this more often...

Anyway, I'm back writing to give you some thoughts here and there about what's been happening the last couple of weeks. No, not all of this will be political (thank God), but I will touch on a couple of matters. Anyway, let me begin with last weekend.

For those of you who live in and around the Tampa area, you know what last Satruday was, for those who aren't, humor me here. Every year around this time (usually the week before the Super Bowl) there is a gigantic civic event here called Gasparilla, which is basically a faux invasion of pirates into downtown Tampa. Along with this pirate invasion is a huge parade, with beads and floats and a LOT of booze being drank.

Usually the weather for this event is Chamber of Commerce-like; sunny, dry, and around 70 degrees F. This year? Not so much. Overcast and cool (cold for Florida standards); temperatures didn't reach 60, which for the Tampa area is rather unusual even for January. Anyway, despite all of that; I still managed to get a sunburn (sorry, for some reason I can't load this pic onto this computer from my phone right now). Somewhat alarming when you consider 1) the temperature and 2) no sun. UV rays are nothing to mess with; I'll save my global warming rant for another time however; probably this summer. Anyway, I did have fun (without drinking), albeit most of the things I wanted to do via my social media platforms (twitter, facebook, Instagram) were a no-go; 300,000 people along a two to three-mile (?) stretch of Bayshore Blvd as well as Downtown Tampa meant (for me at least) a lot of data being transferred from everyone's mobile devices, and I got squeezed. Uggh.

Whether I go next year remains to be seen. I was flat-out pooped at the end of the night and I slept for at least twelve hours thereafter.

Spiraling Out Of Control

Ok. I don't like to bring up politics on this blog (hell, it's mostly sports; but not everone likes sports), but after these past two weeks I'm inclined to give my thoughts on what has happened. Especially the past week. We are two weeks into the Trump administration and somehow, the sky has not fallen; yet. I say yet because there has been so much consternation regarding Trump's executive orders (Muslim ban; re-enforcement of the "global gag rule", etc), it seems like the whole country is about to explode at a moment's notice. I have to wonder to myself if this was how living in the 60's was like under Johnson (Civil Rights Act) and Nixon (Vietnam Conflict).

I voted for neither Trump nor Clinton (Evan McMullin) in November. So suffice to say, I'm not in favor of what has been going on; at least not in favor of the way Trump has been going about doing business. And yes, I have lost "friends" back in NC for it. Mostly because I took a shot at Robeson County for being naïve; after Hurricane Matthew flooded out Lumberton, Trump paid a visit and helped distribute water and other needs. Did he have to? No. But you know what that was in my opinion? A cuss-fired infernal PR move to try to sway the votes of otherwise heavily-democratic-leaning county. And guess what? It worked. Trump won RobCo because those narrow-minded country bumpkins up there (I can say that; I lived there) thought Trump's PR move gave them the impression he was a man of God. News flash: he isn't. You've been duped.

Anyway, I'm digressing into the Dark Side of the Force, so allow me to get back. This past week, there was quite the riot in Berkeley because Milo Yiannopoulos, an editor at notorious right-wing website Breitbart, was scheduled to speak on the campus at the University of California there. Given that California is one of the more (if not most) liberal state in the US, some probably knew that this was a risky idea. And it was. Milo cancelled the speech out of fear for his own safety, and the FBI is now investigating the mayor of Berkeley for inciting a riot.

Was this disgraceful? Absolutely. Regardless of what side of the Aisle you fall on. I thought that our Nation was supposed to promote an open exchange of beliefs and ideas. If you disagreed, then you disagreed. But resorting to violence to prevent these exchange of ideas/opinions from taking place? Deplorable (no pun intended). If you're going to protest, all you need to do is make sure a) your voices are heard and b) you have acknowledgement that said protest is taking place. There is a right way and a wrong way to do things here. The wrong way is blocking streets and setting things afire, destroying property, fighting and causing bodily harm. Yeah it may get you headline news, but it hurts your cause in the long run, whatever cause that may be. But, it's just one snapshot of how things are spiraling out of control. Hopefully, peace will be restored this weekend as Trump takes the weekend off in Mar-a-Lago.

Other Weird Things

Went to the Lightning home game Thursday against the Ottawa Senators, and it struck me how bizarre things seemed to be from that game as opposed to most any other game the past two seasons at Amalie Arena. First, the team itself is having an awful year; last place in the Eastern Conference and third-worst in the league. This after two seasons where they reached the Stanley Cup Final and the Eastern Conference Final. Second, the anthems that were performed Thursday night. The young girl who sang "O, Canada" botched the lyrics a couple of times, but got through it. What was more striking was the "Star-Spangled Banner". Sonya Bryson sang, and nailed it as usual, but Kristof, organist at Amalie Arena, changed it up quite a bit. It was played at a much lower key than usual; rather somber to be honest. Furthermore, it was somewhat slower in tempo. I asked on twitter if it was indeed Kristof on organ that night, and one follower said that indeed it was. Just bizarre. Also bizarre, it seems like more and more people are selling their tickets to games. That's sad. Last two seasons, Lightning hockey was appointment watching. Not so much this year.

Super Bowl

Hard to believe, but tomorrow is Super Sunday, and for the first time ever I really couldn't care less. I don't like the Patriots. I don't like the Falcons. I may not even watch the game if you could believe that. Though if the Pats do win, which I think they will, I'd like to see the look on Roger Goodell's face when he hands Robert Kraft the Lombardi trophy. After suspending Tom Brady after the deflategate scandal, I can only imagine the Pats' win would be one big ol' "Bleep You" to Goodell.

I think I've written enough for one day. Hope to be back again soon. Take care.

CT