Feeling Randy

So I'm reading this link from CNN.SI about top football free agents (good news/bad news for this Rams fan, no Rams on the list. Soooo, half-full says at least we won't be losing any top players, half-empty says maybe that's because we don't have any top players).

Number two is Patriots WR Randy Moss. Blurb starts with,

Moss comes off his best season in half a decade and took a liking to the New England environment.

Which gets me thinking, Moss set the NFL record for TD's by a receiver last year. So, what did he do 5 years ago that was better than that? To my way of thinking Moss is coming off his best season ever!

I know, I know quibbling over sports writing is like quibbling over plot in a Jean Claude Van Damme movie, but still.

Football Gods v. God in Super Bowl MMVII

First things first. This is why I love the internet, check out this site. It's an actual Roman Numeral converter. Awesome.

Anyway, on with the show.

Every year I read articles like this about the NFL cracking down on churches showing the Super Bowl on large screen TVs.

A couple of interesting tidbits about this particular article. First, somehow sports bars are exempt from this rule but not churches? How'd that happen? Seriously? How has this passed by all the "cross bearers" in Congress? What an opportunity for face time. And where's Huck? Come on man, take up the cause. Get back in the game with this Hail Mary (yes, I wrote that). This whole thing practically writes itself, NFL v. Churches, NFL allows bars to show the game on the big screen but not churches, the angels (oops, I mean "angles") are endless. I mean this controversy could run on FOX in a continuous loop, Hannity and O'Reilly would fight a death match over who got more upset. How's this not a bigger deal?

The second part is why is the flock taking this lying down? Is the NFL so powerful that the church and church goers aren't challenging this? Why no boycotts, no letters, no outrage, no...anything? Normally, if you mess with church you get the horns*. Yet here, there's just a sort of...acceptance. I feel like I read an article everyday about how churches and/or religion is attacked/shortchanged and Dobson or some else is on the air face a fury on the attack. I mean, Bill O'Reilly had his whole "War on Christmas" gig based on the words "Happy Holidays" but the NFL giving the finger to churches is met with less than a shrug. This could be a whole new book for the "Culture Warrior" (man I never, ever get tired of that book cover). I'm just confused. This should be a marketing dis-ASTER for the NFL. No one, and I mean no one else shuts down church functions. Yet the NFL gets away with it year after year.

I honestly don't have an answer, not even a theory. I just bewildered.

By the way, I'm taking the Giants and the points (But I'm taking a huge risk that Manning doesn't fall apart. If he has one pick or less I'm good, two to five, I'm toast. But at least I'm not betting on the over-rated Brady, right Stalin?).

*Did you get the Jericho reference?

"Great coaches, that I know could have done this if they'd been given the opportunity.

Says Tony Dungy after he coached the Colts to victory last night in Super Bowl XLI referring to all the African-American coaches who came before him. Sums up what I love about Coach Dungy, how many people after accomplishing something like winning a Super Bowl, after having been fired by Tampa Bay and watching John Gruden win it the next year with Dungy's team (never a sour word about that - and where are the Bucs now?), taking years of abuse for not being able to win under pressure (which is why Tampa fired him, and he was taking heat for the same reasons over the last three years), standing on there, finally winning it all, and he says that lots of other coaches could have done the same thing if they had the opportunity. Just class all the way.

Dungy doesn't cuss, raise his voice or use threats to coach his team. He does craft great game plans (I disagree with Dungy, I think most coaches would have blown that game by feeling like they have to throw with Manning at QB, while Dungy settled into a running game that ate up clock and wore down the Bears D, even while Manning was clearly wanting to throw more - just great game management by Dungy), respect his players, and push them to participate in local events and charities. Coach Dungy is a man I would want my son to play for.

Quick side note, I think roman numerals should be abandoned after III, but that's just me.