The Sixth Cents VIII

It's been three whole weeks since I've done one of these posts and I think that was a little long. At first I tried the every week thing and I just couldn't get enough material. Then I tried just two per month, but that will leave an occasional three week gap like this one and you all will miss out on some fascinating stories. SO, I'll revamp it one more time (hopefully the last time) and you'll be getting my six cents every other week. Without wasting any more of your time, here you go...
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1. Taking the Bus to the Detroit Zoo to see the Seababies and Zebras
Super Bowl XL is in the books and I am now 5-0 against the spread here at Cap's On Tap. It's too bad I haven't followed my own advice and gambled on these games, I could be working my way towards being debt free.

Much like the media beat the "Jerome Bettis is from Detroit" angle to death, they are now running the "referees screwed over Seattle" angle into the ground. Finally today somebody said it was bogus on ESPN.com. Thank you. Here are my random thoughts on the game...

-Holding a defensive player away with a stiff arm, while the ball is in the air, in order to catch a pass is called "offensive pass interference." Period. If that had been a Steelers cornerback holding off Jackson in exactly the same way, you would have wanted a penalty called for you.

-Roethlisberger may or may not have crossed the plane on his second quarter touchdown run, even he doesn't know for sure (as he admitted on Letterman Monday night.) The bottom line is that there was no conclusive video evidence to suggest otherwise and they had to uphold the ruling. Had the call on the field been down at the one inch mark, I think it would have held up too. Just too close to call. BUT, 4th and an inch, down 3-0 in the Super Bowl, Cowher has Ben punch that in with a QB sneak on the next play so it's a moot point, quit crying.

-I think the holding penalty was the only questionable decision, although, the Seattle lineman did hook the Pittsburgh pass rusher's are and bring him to the turf. We all know holding could be called on every play, it just doesn't always happen that way. Generally speaking you can get away with it if you don't tackle the guy.

-The Seahawks just didn't play well enough. The interception was horrible; they should have been getting at least three points on that drive. The flag on Hasslebeck was crap, but the pick would hold up and Pittsburgh likely would have scored anyways.

-Seattle didn't get Alexander, the league MVP, involved enough in the game plan. Yes, he had nearly 100 yards, but does anyone even remember any of them?

-There were entirely too many dropped passes, including at least 42 drops by Jerramy Stevens, who had been running his yapper earlier in the week. Get these guys some stick'em!

-I told you Pittsburgh had the edge on special teams, but even I didn't think it'd be this lopsided. Josh Brown missed two field goals. Tom Rouen had a nice 50.2 yards per punt average, but four of his six kicks went for touchbacks. Seriously man, 49.2 is still great, AND your opponent gets 76 less yards out of the deal. Less=more. What a concept. ESPN.com calculates Net Punting Average incorrectly (they had Rouen at 44.8) as they chose not to factor in the 80 yards he gave up from touchbacks. With those, he only averaged 31.5 yards per punt...terrible. Finally, Antwan Randle El had more yards in his two punt returns than Peter Warrick could come up with in four attempts. Any time a small Big Ten school guy outclasses a big time ACC school guy, I am pleased. Yay Gods.

-Mike Holmgren should get two huge fines. One by the NFL for his comments about the officiating on Monday in front of Seahawks fans at a rally. The other by his front office for completely blowing the two-minute drill at the end of BOTH HALVES. Two words to describe the reason he won that Super Bowl in Green Bay: Brett Farve.
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2. Hey look Kobe, you scored 81 points...you're still no daisy
It's no secret that I like Kobe Bryant about as much as Doc Holliday liked Johnny Ringo. As impressive as his dropping 81 was a couple weeks ago, I have a hard time believing that Michael Jordan couldn't have sprung for 90 or more in today's NBA. The bottom line is that the Lakers are not that great of a team and that they need Kobe to score 40 every night in order to win games. When the Lakers play against teams that have above average defenders, they will slow him down enough to force the rest of the those no-talent ass clowns to knock down shots. I can't wait to see the Clippers eliminate the Lakers in the first round of the playoffs.

In other NBA news, the Bulls continue to free-fall after finishing with the third best record in the Eastern Conference last year. I think they needed Eddy Curry more than they thought. As it stands, they have nobody that can score in the post, but they have 12 point guards on the roster. Still no word on what team I will pledge allegiance to, so until then, I will continue to ignore the NBA. Everyone else is doing it...
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3. Welcome to another addition of....Tepee talk
I wasn't too happy when the Coco Crisp trade went through with Boston. It's not so bad that we gave up a consistent player like him with speed on the bases and great range in the outfield for (essentially) a career platoon outfielder with off the field issues (Jason Michaels from Philadelphia.) It's not even so bad that Boston refused to give up Count Chocula or Frankenberry in return. My problem is that we have taken our major league leading bullpen and dropped our three best middle/late inning guys for next to nothing. Howry, Rhodes and Riske....all gone. And this is going to help us compete in the AL Central, which just so happened to be the best pitching division in baseball a year ago? I think not.

In other news, there is supposedly a World Baseball Classic starting in a couple of weeks. I think I'll hit the snooze button. Wake me up when we get to April Fool's Day.
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4. The Round Ball Report
Here are some goings on in that sport that most American's choose to ignore, kind of like how you ignore the drunk and slightly white trash family member that makes an ass of himself at family gatherings. And yes, that is a picture of Heather Mitts. No, she has nothing to do with this post, she's just hot, and a soccer player....

I am officially on the roster for MM Arsenal, a club soccer team that I refereed on numerous occasions last summer. They are a very talented side and have chosen to move out of the Glenview League and into the Northwest Suburban Soccer League starting this spring. The competition in this league is tough and I'm a little nervous for camp to start in a couple of weeks. We are currently on the lookout for a home field and a new coach, so if you have any leads, let me know!

The United States will take on Japan Friday night at 11:00 PM EST in World Cup tune up match on ESPN2. It will be the first real competition after tieing Canada 0-0 and drubbing Norway 5-0 in January. Freddy Adu was sent home to D.C. United and his chances of making the roster for Germany this summer are pretty much over. For those that say they won't, but might sneak a glimpse of the action on Friday, don't be surprised if we are losing. Japan is a quality team and we are missing all of our foreign based players...the roster is entirely comprised of MLS talent. That's kind of an oxymoron, isn't it? MLS talent. I kid because I care.

Speaking of which, be on the lookout in Bridgeview, IL for the new soccer specific stadium that the Chicago Fire is building. It's going to be gorgeous. I also may be dumping my old team, D.C. United, if I get the job I'm currently talking with the Fire about. Yes, this would be the third different MLS team I've supported in the league's 10 seasons including United and the Columbus Crew. Go where the money is. That's how I roll.
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5. The 2006 Winter Olympic Games
I hear they are in Italy. That's all I got. Back to you Bob.
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6. The Miami of Ohio State University
The Miami Hockey team WAS ranked #1 in the nation last week, but dropped a tough one to Alaska-Fairbanks on Friday night before coming back with a 2-1 victory on Saturday. They still checked in at #2 as Minnesota jumped on top of the NCAA. The Redhawks will be off this weekend, but will host the Buckeyes on Valentine's Day before finishing the season with a road series against Michigan State and a home-and-home series against Bowling Green.

The Miami hoops team is 12-8 overall, but sitting in third place at 9-3 in the MAC East after winning three straight against Ohio, Bowling Green and Buffalo, which are the three teams below them in the division race. This comes on the heels of losing three straight to Western Michigan, Kent State, and Akron. The latter two are above Miami in the MAC East and Western sits in second place in the West behind Northern Illinois.

The Buckeyes are in a three-way tie with Indiana and Michigan State for fourth in the Big Ten at 5-3 (16-3 overall) and are ranked #17 in the country. They will take on #22 Michigan and #9 Illinois later this week, two teams above them in the standings.

Wally World - Szczerbiak was traded to Boston and the Celtics still blow. Yes, Wally is definitely overpaid for what he does. They need to get him on a team that has four guys who play defense so he doesn't have to.

And finally, Big Ben is a Super Bowl Champion. Congrats playa.