NFL: Super Bowl Notes, and Other Amusements

Discussion in 'Free Thoughts' started by Tiassa, Jan 31, 2014.

  1. Tiassa Let us not launch the boat ... Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    37,884
    Flashback: Seahawks, 1983

    The preface, from Jenny at Yard Sale Bloodbath:

    I purchased this at what we now refer to as “the freak sale.” It was in a box of wacky pamphlets that were priced at a firm $1 each. This was the only one I decided was worth it. And let me tell you, I have definitely gotten my dollar’s worth of entertainment from this baby! It’s like the Bad ’80s Hair edition of Awkward Family Photos, crossed with Gallery of Regrettable Food: The Next Generation.

    And that really is a reasonable summary of what one sees.

    Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!


    Velveeta and wheat bread in Frosted Peanut Butter bars?

    Or, as Jenny noted: "Really, did everything just look wrong in the '80s?"

    Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!


    Yes, this is what childhood in Seattle looked like, circa 1983; horrifyingly familiar.

    One of the most interesting things of having lived through this period is to recall the affection with which we received such things, and contrast that to the derision in which we now hold them.

    Blast from the past.


    • • •​

    Update

    I was looking around to see if I had one of my occasional threads to post this in, instead finding this note from last year, in the wake of RG3's blown knee against the Seahawks in the Wildcard game:

    ... I still loathe the Denver Broncos, and had I my druthers, the 'Hawks would get the blue and orange on Super Bowl Sunday ....​

    So I was off by a year. But damn! I finally get my 'Hawks-Broncos Super Bowl. Whatever the outcome, this is the game I wanted, so ... yeah.
    ____________________

    Notes:

    Jenny. "Gridiron Gag-Me". Yard Sale Bloodbath. December 8, 2009. YardSaleBloodbath.com. January 31, 2014. http://www.yardsalebloodbath.com/2009/12/08/gridiron-gag-me/
     
  2. Guest Guest Advertisement



    to hide all adverts.
  3. brucep Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    4,098
    I'm a big football fan and a lifelong Trojan fan so I had a sneaky suspicion that coach Carroll would do something like this in Seattle. If the Hawks run the football they'll stuff the Broncos. The Hawks defense is coach Carroll personified. Do your job tackling monster. I'm picking the Seahawks to dominate the Broncos.
     
  4. Guest Guest Advertisement



    to hide all adverts.
  5. Tiassa Let us not launch the boat ... Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    37,884
    'Hawk Style, and Other Notes

    'Hawk Style

    There are always nifty local quirks associated with big events. A wine label, office towers lighting up in patterns, and all of that stuff.

    In truth, I'm not sure how many other teams could get this one, though:

    Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!


    BOE12: There's a reason they call this town Jet City.

    Colorado might have Lockheed, but what would the plane draw?

    For those interested, the flight tracking data is available for the 1,353 miles that brought the plane back to a direct travel distance of twenty-six miles on January 30, 2014; see FlightAware.

    In other news, while we're having some trouble finding the pictures from orbit—

    The Denver-Seattle aerospace rivalry goes on, but Seattle seems to have won the Superbowl 48 space race.

    Yes, the 12th Man has successfully colonized outer space.

    Not content to take control of the Empire State Building, or fly a 12th Man pattern across their entire state, Seahawks nation successful[ly] got a 12th Man flag aboard the International Space Station. Turns out American astronaut Mike Hopkins, currently aboard the ISS, isn't just a huge football fan. He was also the team captain of his Illinois University "Fighting Illini" football team.


    (Horvath)

    There are many things I adore about living in this little corner of the Universe. And this is just one of the many, many bonuses.

    We've been waiting so long. This is the big show; party on.

    • • •​

    I cannot permit myself to be so optimistic. Even if this wasn't a Super Bowl, this is still, in the minds of many Seahawks fans—and even some of the players—as a division rivalry game and a grudge match.

    I like the numbers, and I have much confidence in the Seahawks, but the intangibles for this one are way off any chart we might devise. The figures on paper don't always match up to what happens on the field.

    To the other, the nation's newly-energized hatred of the Seahawks only helps.
    ___________________

    Notes:

    Strutner, Suzy. "A Special Seahawks Plane Flew All Over Washington, Because That's How Seattle Rolls". The Huffington Post. February 1, 2014. HuffingtonPost.com. February 1, 2014. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/02/01/seahawks-plane_n_4705280.html

    FlightAware. "Boeing #12". January 30, 2014. FlightAware.com. February 1, 2014. http://flightaware.com/live/flight/BOE12

    Horvath, Brett. "Seahawks in Space: International Space Station flies 12th Man flag". CrossCut. January 30, 2014. CrossCut.com. February 1, 2014. http://crosscut.com/2014/01/30/humor/118550/seahawks-12th-man-space-station-super-bowl/
     
  6. Guest Guest Advertisement



    to hide all adverts.
  7. brucep Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    4,098
    It's football so stuff happens. If the Seahawks can run the football they'll dominate. I'm a Charger fan and Peyton has problems against physical teams with a strong defense who can control the clock. If it was the Chargers I'd be really skeptical. The nature of fandom and lots of bad times and bad leadership. I think the coach Carroll Seahawks will win this one. You a season ticket holder? I'd love to visit your stadium. Who knows I might.
     
  8. Tiassa Let us not launch the boat ... Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    37,884
    Trying to Build an Analysis .....

    That's a big if. The Beast does what he does, but what really blows my mind is that we made it this season with this offensive line. Okung has never really lived up to expectation; Giaccomini is a case study all his own; and then there's Sweezy, Carpenter, and McQuistan, who are all inconsistent; and will Jeanpierre be ready if Unger gets fragile?

    I mean, sure, I remember the days when a four yard average per carry meant you were getting 3-5 yards per run. For the Seahawks this season, they've shown both a consistent running game and the inconsistent sort where Lynch gets his average by busting a couple of huge runs.

    The question of domination is also the criterion. The front line needs to dominate.

    Then again, it's the Super Bowl, and with the added bonus of the opponent being the Denver Broncos. I would expect the OL to blaze, but so would I expect of Denver's DL.

    My early analysis is that running the defense through the corners is a plus in this game. There was the recent back-and-forth about whether Manning throws ducks, and everyone seems to be in agreement that he does. Of course, his ducks still get exactly where they need to be, and everyone seems to agree on that, too.

    What this creates, though, is an opportunity for the corners. Sherman's vertical is impressive, his range exceptional, and his precision almost scary. Throwing a duck instead of a spiral might make the difference between a completion, fingernail deflection, or interception.

    The obvious passing-game answer to this is to slant, dig, and drag. Don't run with the corners; create space in other ways.

    The challenge for Denver on that count is whether their receiving corps can endure the teeth-rattling, brain-injuring assault they will receive from the linebackers in exchange.

    And then there's Ball and Moreno. Despite being probable with a rib injury, if Moreno takes the field—and he will—he will play until he drops, and likely play well. And Montee Ball? I am more confident in our secondary against Manning and the receiving corps than I am that we will be able to quash the ground game. Sure, Ball averaged a respectable 4.7 per carry in limited play, and that number is down slightly in the postseason, but he's the one that worries me. When I see those postseason stats—22 carries, 95 yards, 4.3 average, with a long of 9 yards reminds that he can pull off the steady grind, the "smashmouth", the old-school 3-5 yards a carry. At 5'10, 215, he isn't the kind of smashmouther to simply smashmouth; he's the kind of smashmouther who slips through gaps with enough force that arm-tackling doesn't work. He ran a 4.6 at the Combine, and achieved a 4.5+ on Pro Day, but is better on the cut than calculating angles. To the other, he doesn't need a Beast-Mode seventy-yard touchdown; if he gets his 3-5 per carry, with a couple busts for fifteen to twenty yards, that will be enough to create havoc. As much as I hate to say it, he can be fragile, so the Seafense needs to hit him square and clean and hard every chance they get. Rattle him up. Drive him through the turf. They'll be after Moreno's ribs; they'll try to cut Manning in half to agitate his neck with the whip. And while I don't appreciate headshots at all, the guy has suffered a concussion, so hit him hard enough that he sees stars.

    A note to my international neighbors and others less familiar with American football: I know, it sounds brutal to the point of sinister, and borders on outright evil. This is a gladiator sport, and pretty much everyone involved, from the players to the fans, team owners and league officials, and even the future stars and their parents, knows. And we do it anyway. And, yes, pain and injury are not only part of the game, they're part of the plan. If a quarterback comes out wearing a flak jacket for his ribs, you hit him in the ribs until they break, he drops, or the game is over. If a guy has a history of concussions, you hit him as hard as you can and try to drive him into the field; last year Kam Chancellor knocked the holy living something or other out of Vernon Davis, drawing a penalty for what turned out to be a textbook proper hit. To the other, the impact rattled Davis enough to give him a concussion. You can damn well bet that from day one this season, every defender after Davis would be looking for the opportunity to rattle him that way again. Check the volume before you start the video:

    [video=youtube;fH1i1N1eENw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fH1i1N1eENw[/video]​

    But yes, every DB is looking for that exact opportunity to hit the receivers. It's ugly, it's brutal, and it's the way the game goes. And, yes, in a game like this, you exploit those opportunities. So, yes. As much as I hate to say it, rattle the hell out of Montee Ball. What you don't do, though, is aim high:

    Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!


    Harvin passed his concussion protocols after that one, but apparently failed them later. That is to say, he returned to the game, sustained what we thought was an arm or shoulder injury later, and the next day he was listed with a concussion.

    So, no. You don't dive through the knees; you don't aim for the head. But you hurt them as much as you can, and if that ends their game, good. If it ends their career, well, that's what everyone signed on for. As long as it's clean.

    I will note, though, that in realtime, we were all surprised that Davis got up at all after that hit.​

    Back to the analysis ....

    I'm still not a Carroll believer, yet. Recall the Atlanta game last season; the mistakes that made the vital difference were all on Pete Carroll. And while we certainly trust him in certain things, his occasional clock-management debacles and why-did-you-call-that-play moments are worrisome. And I occasionally wonder about his game plan insofar as not utilizing the tight ends enough, and his seeming reluctance to call a quick slant from the flanker. To wit, a play sequence I've never seen him call in Seattle:

    1st Down: Quick-slant flanker (4-6 yds)
    2nd Down: Single-back dive 3 hole (3-5 yds)
    3rd Down: Tight end shallow- or bubble-flat (4-10 yds)​

    The challenge of the quick-slant is that Wilson is shorter than most quarterbacks, and needs the sidestep drop to get the ball through that hole at about helmet or shoulder level to the DL. But Carroll doesn't even have that in his audible set, it seems, for strong-side defensive gap with an obvious weak-side stunt coming. And given Wilson's read ability, he can always use a sweep pitch as his safety valve if the strong side LB crashes.

    To the other, Carroll is the head coach, and I'm just a fan from a coaching family. There's only so subtle I can get.

    But that's the thing with the clock management and some of the playbook; it is enough to accept that Pete knows something we don't, but quite often we're also left, after the game, wondering what he thought that was.

    It's always good to know a team can still get there when they're not playing at peak, but we need peak performance tomorrow.
     
  9. Buddha12 Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    2,862
    Super bowl? They should call it the corporate bowl with all of the commercials that are going to be presented along with the hype of Bruno Mars, whoever he may be. Just think the game will last 4 hours but only one hour is actually when the players are playing. That means there's a 3 hour commercial period which I refuse to watch and won't be.
     
  10. Arne Saknussemm trying to figure it all out Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    1,353
    I don't think you love America, Buddha12. :bugeye:
     
  11. Tiassa Let us not launch the boat ... Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    37,884
    Added Bonus, it's Candlemas

    That's not quite accurate, especially if you were to say that to the guy suiting up with a flak jacket or his ribs. Or Percy Harvin, whose concussion took some time to manifest. Knowshawn Moreno will have to keep his ribs together throughout that game. The obligation to that one hour is usually a three to four hour engagement. And surviving to the final gun is part of the football game.

    In truth, I acutally thought it odd that Bethany Jean Clement, the food critic (and, admittedly, managing editor) of The Stranger was the one to post the snarky, yet sentimental and accurate argument about the strange phenomenon of disdaining the Super Bowl.

    Admittedly, it doesn't cover those in the Seattle area, such as a friend of mine, who say they refuse to watch the Super Bowl because of the black markets associated with it, namely the skin trade. Funny thing is that we've known this so-called "dark secret" about the Super Bowl for years, and it's only when it comes to her home town that she's suddenly ready to boycott it. Yeah, I get the sentiment, but I still bet you that she'll watch the game. (Oh, wait, in this case it's the domestic violence among the losing team's fans. I've been facebooked a few reasons to skip the Super Bowl, and I'm getting them confused; and no, not watching the Super Bowl isn't going to do much for domestic violence.)

    There are certianly reasons to disdain the Super Bowl, but inasmuch as we might complain about the commercialism, it's also a day that actually strengthens human relationships—sex trade human traffick and beaten domestic partners being obviously excepted—even if that relationship is rivalry.

    And, yes, the Super Bowl has succeeded in making advertising a must-watch spectacle. I hear the good-ol' down-home middle American folks from Anheuser-Busch are going to advocate for cross-species marriage. That ought to be something to see, and we would never see it without the Super Bowl.
    ____________________

    Notes:

    Clement, Bethany Jean. "Nobody cares that you don't care about the Super Bowl". Slog. January 31, 2014. Slog.TheStranger.com. February 2, 2014. http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/ar...cares-that-you-dont-care-about-the-super-bowl
     
  12. paddoboy Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    27,543
  13. Buddha12 Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    2,862
    Not really , I just don't like what football, American, has become for I remember when it was a SPORT not thugs going out and beating the tar out of others. Players use to be all under 200 lbs no matter what position, now look at the size of them. No I've just lost my like of the game not of America .....yet.

    [video=youtube;RZgBhyU4IvQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=RZgBhyU4IvQ[/video]

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=RZgBhyU4IvQ
     
  14. Buddha12 Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    2,862
     
  15. brucep Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    4,098
     
  16. brucep Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    4,098
    So it's 'your' purpose to show 'your' distaste for American football. Does anybody give a shit and why are you posting in this thread?
     
  17. brucep Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    4,098
     
  18. Tiassa Let us not launch the boat ... Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    37,884
    Holy shite

    This ... this isn't what I wanted. I wanted the Broncos to at least put up a fight.
     
  19. Bebelina kospla.com Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    5,036
    This is so boring. For how long will this hysteria continue? Twitter is flooded with stupid comments about Super Bowl this and Super Bowl that.
     
  20. Tiassa Let us not launch the boat ... Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    37,884
    The Obvious Point

    On behalf of the United States of America, I formally apologize to Bebelina for the lack of terrorism, child molestation, or other overt sins associated with the Super Bowl experience. We didn't mean to deprive you of entertainment.
     
  21. Tiassa Let us not launch the boat ... Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    37,884
    Comfortably Numb

    Early Reflections ....

    Okay, since this is the internet I must first disclaim that I am not referring to the medical condition.

    This Unfortunately Requisite Disclaimer made, the simple reality is that I'm in shock.

    The Seattle Seahawks are the Super Bowl champions.

    Let me try that again.

    The Seattle Seahawks have won the Super Bowl.

    Okay. That part I get.

    I can deal with it. Accept it. Accommodation and assimilation. All good.

    Where I'm still completely flustered is ... well ... I'm not sure I actually watched the Super Bowl.

    Look, as with any sport, there is the metaphorical notion that a team didn't have a chance from the outset. To the other, it's a metaphor. It's enough to say that Western Carolina didn't stand a chance against Auburn (final AUB 62 - 3 WCU) from the first snap, but, yes, it's a metaphor.

    When the snap passed Peyton Manning as he stepped left to audible, well, there is a massive semiotic value to what happened. From the literal first snap, Denver seemed beaten. That the metaphor exists under certain circumstances is one thing. What happened tonight was the literal version, and the shockwave is, indeed, numbing.

    During the third quarter—to be specific, after Percy Harvin's touchdown return to open the second half—I called my father, a former college football coach. The conversation went as follows.

    Dad: Hi [Tiassa], how are you?

    Tiassa: Hey ... I, uh ... I'll call you after the game, but I need a second to check in on something.

    Dad: What's that?

    Tiassa: Am I really seeing this?

    Dad: Yes, this is real. I ....

    [pause]​

    Tiassa: Yeah.

    [pause]​

    Dad: Okay.

    [pause]​

    Tiassa: Right.

    Dad: Talk to you later.

    Tiassa: Yeah, talk to you later.

    I can't claim to be an authority on football, but this was ... I don't know. Regardless of the various analyses, even in this thread, I could not possibly have told anyone, with a straight face, that the Seahawks would take a 22-0 lead into halftime, or that Peyton Manning and his center would screw up so badly as to cause a safety on the first play from scrimmage ... in the freakin' Super Bowl.

    For a number of years, I complained to friends that the Super Bowls weren't worth watching; repeated blowouts made it seem like a non-event, you know? And then there was SB XLII, with David Tyree's famous helmet catch, possibly the best Super Bowl ever. Indeed, longtime NFL Films founder, president, and voice, the late Steve Sabol, called it the best play in Super Bowl history.

    And it's true; the intervening league title games have been better, closer. Perhaps these things go in phases.

    Denver's record-setting regular-season offense at least spared itself the ignominy of being the first team to suffer a Super Bowl shutout as Manning took it 80 yards in six plays, ending the drive with a 14-yard TD pass to Thomas.

    (Davis)

    Even at that point, I thought it possible the Broncos could catch some momentum.

    But Nate Davis' recap for USA Today pretty much sums it up: "The Seahawks spent the final period in coronation mode." Indeed, his fourth-quarter summary might give the paragraph balance to the actual game, but the word count favors his considerations of the Seattle club's future.

    Champagne corks proceeded to pop in the Pacific Northwest, which had never experienced the joy of supporting a Super Bowl or World Series winner. The region spent the end of the Super Bowl comfortably in debate mode. How far will Russell Wilson go after winning 28 games in his first two seasons to break Ben Roethlisberger's record? Will this defense etch its name next to the great units in league history, or will it be a fleeting comet across the NFL sky?

    Most importantly, will a team constructed craftily by GM John Schneider be able to add more rings even as it faces the prospect of big-money contracts for Wilson, CB Richard Sherman, S Earl Thomas and LT Russell Okung, among others, in the near future? Those questions will be answered later, but it will be difficult for other organizations to copy the unique and ultra-competitive DNA Schneider and Pete Carroll have infused into this championship squad.

    Pre-game analyses almost proved irrelevant; the tone was ultimately set by the opening snap; hindsight is what it is, but this is also the first time I can recall that a team has literally been damned from the opening snap. While I'm quite sure we can scour the records for a precedent, this was a Super Bowl. In and of itself, that makes the notion perplexing.

    In my excitement, I was foolish enough to wonder if the look in Petyon Manning's eyes after that early disaster was the look of a leader broken. It's true, I was wrong. Instead, what we witnessed was a superstar, perhaps the best quarterback ever, growing more frustrated with each passing series, nearly begging to be told what he needed to do to turn this thing around.

    And he could have turned it around, if only they had known what to tell him. One of the great stories that will eventually emerge from this Super Bowl is the discussion of what was happening on the Denver sideline as the Universe seemed to unravel around them.

    Peyton Manning is simply that good. Had the Denver staff been able to figure out how to beat and then break the Seahawks' defense, they most certainly would have told him.

    The other great story, of course, will be just how Pete Carroll outfoxed John Fox. This wasn't a Super Bowl, it was an abbatoir.

    Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!


    MVP: Seattle LB Malcom Smith returns an interception 69 yards for a touchdown.
    (Photo: Jim O'Connor, USA Today)

    It's one of those times when I would be speechless, except I'm not.

    I can countenance the fact that my beloved Seattle Seahawks have just secured the Lombardi trophy.

    What I can't figure out is what the hell I just saw.
    ____________________

    Notes:

    Davis, Nate. "Super Bowl XLVIII: Quarterly analysis of Seahawks' 43-8 beating of Broncos". USA Today. February 2, 2014. USAToday.com. February 2, 2014. http://www.usatoday.com/story/sport...wl-seahawks-broncos-quarter-analysis/5166169/
     
  22. brucep Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    4,098
    I'm not surprised at all. You're surprised because you're a long suffering Seahawks fan. The Broncos did as well as they could. That was it. They got physically worked on every play. The physical ass whipping was what I was talking about so this wasn't 'boring' for me. That's the kind of football I like.
     
  23. brucep Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    4,098
    I'm hoping this Charger team gets there. That's the model where you physically dictate what's going to happen on the football field.
     

Share This Page