Thursday (number fascination) edition: Wha’ Happened?
Posted on December 27th, 2007 – 9:13 AMBy Michael Rand
As we noted late yesterday, the Patriots vs. Giants football contest will be shown not just on the NFL Network — available in 600 homes nationwide — but also on both NBC and CBS. The prevailing thought that brought this agreement into place seems to be that it would be a shame if all of America, home washing its collective hair on a Saturday night, would be a colder, less forgiving place if not everyone had a chance to see New England attempt to go 16-0 in a game that, otherwise, means absolutely nothing to either team. Can we be among the first to say, “Who cares?” If the Patriots lose this game, they’ll still be odds-on favorites to win the Super Bowl and those cranky old Dolphins will pop champagne. If the Patriots win the game, they still have three more games before anything meaningful is accomplished this season. We were going to make zero attempt to see this game on Saturday before the TV announcement. Now? We feel the same way. If it’s on somewhere we happen to be, as background, we won’t avert our eyes. But that’s about it. It’s probably going to be a blah game that tells us nothing about either team. The only reasons people are poised to watch are 1) It features teams from Boston and New York and therefore needs to be given State of the Union attention. Can we get this on the Oxygen Network and the Food Channel, too? 2) People have an unhealthy fascination with round numbers and streaks.
A couple other things about this: 1) We have a strange suspicion the Patriots are going to lose at some point in the playoffs. 2) Somewhere between the aggravating travel note and the space formerly reserved for field hockey updates, Peter King had an interesting comparison between the 72 Dolphins and 07 Patriots a couple weeks back. We didn’t realize Miami won all three playoff games (including the SB) by seven points or less, though to be sure that funny little play with the kicker in the Super Bowl influenced that stat (wait for the reaction that the end from a teammate. It never ceases to crack us up). And you youngsters out there might not realize they played professional football in 1972. But they did. In any event, it was interesting to see the numerical breakdown of how both teams did through 14 games, but it was an exercise in curiosity and not an end to the debate over which team is better. Different eras, cheerleader uniforms, different everything. It’s like comparing apples with baby wolverines. (If you’ve never read Sex Drugs and Cocoa Puffs, when are you going to look in the mirror and honestly assess where and when it all went wrong?)
Fasola-link! Best lawyer website biography ever.
13 Responses to "Thursday (number fascination) edition: Wha’ Happened?"
To be honest I am shocked that ESPN is not showing this game also. There must be an important bowl game on at that time. What about FOX? Is there anyway that the WB could get involved?
Im thinking the Disney Channel along with a dr. Seuss spin
See Tom bomb, see Moss and his loss.
Hannah Montana must be related to Joe, right? How isn’t she involved?
Since I am now returning from my vacation I would like to remind all that the Bears did in fact sweep the Packers this season and that the Vikings did what the Vikings always do.
Where is Denny when you need him:
“The Vikings are who we thought they were”.
On a side note I was again victorious in my fantasy football league. I would like to first thank Jesus(the Purple variety), Secondly I would like to thank Big Ben and Steven Jackson for all but wrapping up a win before the weekend was even here.
If you guys would like any pointers next season on how to win a fantasy football league, I may be writing a book, and you can expect as much if not more pedalling than Rocket.
Its a fair in the air
Its a game of much fame
Come one, come all, come big, come small
come watch the game thats boring to all
Come see Bradys Ladies
come see Bills thrills
come see the lesser Manning
get beaten and drilled.
jama — fair points, but you didn’t mention the season series between the Bears and Vikings. How did that turn out?
I don’t recall what happened in that series, I think it is a case of selective amnesia.
Here’s a question for you though. If you knew your team wasn’t going to make the playoffs would you want them to tank? I’m almost, almost, a little upset that the Bears won on Sunday. Is that bad of me?
Not in the NFL I wouldn’t be too upset. The guys at the top of the draft make too much money for not doing anything, and are just as likely to flop as the guys in the 10-20 range.
Besides, the higher the Bears pick, the more likely they are to take a QB who will likely be a bust.
If they win, they might fall to a position where they’ll look for more sure-fire help in other need areas, and wait until the 2nd round to take a QB who will likely be a bust.
I just hope they get the opportunity to take Cade McNown Jr.
Toonces
I partially agree with what you said. The problem is that you get to a point where the talent level does drop off. I would prefer that the Bears pick in that 10-15 range where there is still a lof of talent but the costs are much more manageable.
Dave MN
Cheap shots about the Bears QB situation are not needed around the holidays. Please withhold all cheap shots until after News Years. At that time I will be more able to handle the truth. I am hoping that the Bears can get Andre Woodson, which I am sure I will be regretting sometime around the year 2010.
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