Archive for January, 2009

Super Bowl XX MVP Richard Dent was denied in his fifth bid for enshrinement into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Dent, of course, was an integral cog of the ferocious Bears defense of the 80′s. All-time sacks leader Bruce Smith was selected in his first year of eligibility along with Wide receiver Bob Hayes, guard Randall McDaniel, linebacker Derrick Thomas, owner Ralph Wilson, and defensive back Rod Woodson to make up the Class of 2009 Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrinees. Dent’s time is definitely coming and I have no doubt that he will take his rightful place alongside [...]

Day vs Night.  Black (and gold) vs White (and red).  Luke Skywalker vs Darth Vader.  Offense vs Defense.   You might say that this game features contrasting styles.  The Steelers come in as the top defense from the regular season while the Cardinals come in with the second ranked passing offense and a Top 5 offense overall.  Arizona’s key to success in this improbable playoff run has been their defense. Meanwhile, Pittsburgh has been doing what they do best: playing great defense.  It’s time to stop with all of the hype and parties and get down to the business of crowning [...]

I’m glad to see that Michael Irvin and the folks over at Spike TV were inspired by my previous post proposing Bears Reality Shows.  I only wish I had thought of this one first.  Of all teams that could’ve used a reality show to get a wide receiver, it was the Chicago Bears last season.   The difference is, my post was a joke, but this is sadly not. Michael Irvin will host the yet-to-be-named show set to debut in the Spring on Spike TV, as 12 contestants compete for the right to join the Cowboys preseason roster.  For details, go [...]

They say the road to hell is paved with good intentions.  In the case of this 43rd edition of the Super Bowl, the road is paved with 43 strip clubs.  As Associated Press writer Mitch Stacy points out in this article picked up by chicagotribune.com, there is a unique symmetry to party center of the universe, Tampa, Florida , which boasts count ‘em 43 strip clubs, hosting Super Bowl XLIII.  Poor Mitch.  I wonder how he took the news that he’d have to write this piece.  Better yet, I wonder how his wife took the news. It doesn’t look like [...]

I was waiting for one of those human interest stories to come on at the end of the local news.  Maybe a segment on one of the sports talk radio shows ?  A story buried in the Sports section of the local tabloid?  Nothing.  Nada.  Zip.  Not one mention of one of the most historic days in Chicago’s history.  No stock footage of the Super Bowl Shuffle.  No “Where are they now?” stories about how fat William Perry has gotten or how thin the old “Black and Blues Brothers” offensive line has ended up.  No snapshots from the Superdome.  Nothing.  [...]

For those that might not have a strong rooting interest in the Super Bowl, office pools and other wagering opportunities bring added entertainment value to the Super Bowl.  Like many people, I buy “squares” for the Super Bowl (for entertainment purposes only, of course). In case you’re not well versed in “squares” or want to learn how to set up your own pool, check out this site.  You’ll select a square from a 10 x 10 grid.   After the teams and numbers have been assigned, you have your rooting interest. The last number of the score for each team represents [...]

What else do the Cardinals and  Pittsburgh Steelers have in common?  Both have posted winless seasons, but for both of them, it was an 0-10 season 64 years ago when the teams were merged into one due to a manpower shortage during WWII.  When the teams lock horns a week from Sunday, it will be in stark contrast to the 1944 season.  Neil Milbert had this posted on Tribune’s website. With many players off to military service during World War II and in an effort to reduce travel and other costs, the Chicago Cardinals and the Steelers merged their human [...]

Every once in a while, I worry that there might not be a good topic for my weekly LOWER THE BOOM post, but maybe I am naive to the foolishness of mankind and NFL wide receivers in particular.  Anquan Boldin addressed the media on Thursday to try to quell the noise surrounding his blowup during the critical game-changing 4th quarter drive of last Sunday’s NFC Championship game, where his Cardinals won the right to represent the NFC in Super Bowl XLIII. In case you’ve been sleeping under a rock, let me see if I can summarize.  The surprising Arizona Cardinals [...]