Hello everyone, welcome to another edition of Life, Love? Sport (Bullcrap Edition). It is the last column before the new year and boy do we have a ton to discuss and break down before the LLS goes on hiatus for the rest of 2007. If you didn’t see the Patriots-Ravens classic matchup on Monday night, you missed a hell of a game. Also, if you happened to miss the new BCS bowl games, good for you. I’ll mention a little somethin’ somethin’ on the NBA, perhaps. You’re going to have to read on to find out.
It has been a crazy few weeks in the NFL. Not only have the Dolphins stayed on course to finish an entire season 0-16, but the Patriots just need to win out to complete the best season in franchise history. The Monday night game against Baltimore was just further proof that the Pats will complete the journey and stand alone in their pursuit of perfection. To be honest, they sucked.
But when it came down to the last three minutes, they pulled enough tricks outta their asses to pull off the victory and send Baltimore fans scrambling for the exits. As nerve-racking as it was to watch the game, I couldn’t help but chuckle when Bart Scott went ape-shit at a referee at the end of the game. Not only did he give the ref the business, but he proceeded to throw the penalty flag into the stands. Whoever caught that souvenir must be the happiest person in the world. At the end of the day it came down to this: Kyle Boller plays for the Ravens, while Tom Terrific plays for the Patriots. Moving on.
If I had to choose a team from the NFC for which to cheer for, I would probably pick the Minnesota Vikings. I still remember when Adrian Peterson and Rhett Bomar were Parade high school All-Americans (yeah I read Parade, you wanna fight about it?). I followed Peterson all the way from Oklahoma and I’ll be damned if I stopped now. Also, Tavaris Jackson is the man.
Now back, to the college football scene. How insane was last weekend? West Virginia losing to Pitt? Garbage! Missouri losing to Oklahoma? Smelly garbage! LSU making the title game? Filthy garbage!! With two exclamation points! That is how strongly I feel about the current stock of BCS bowl games.
On a better note, we get to see a decent game with USF matched up with my favorite team, the Ducks of Oregon. With their new quarterback Justin Roper sporting a Mohawk, the nation will settle one debate once and for all: which QB has the best hairdo? Matt Grothe or Roper? Or perhaps someone else will come in and steal the crown – you never know in the competitive world of hairdos.
But in all seriousness, who here among us believes that Illinois will hang with USC? That game will be over before Isiah “Juice” Williams steps on the field. By the way, isn’t Juice the most fitting nickname ever given to an athlete? I mean, it just works. I love it. Also, good luck to Hawaii trying to hang 10 with the Georgia Bulldogs. Not that I don’t love me some Colt Brennan, but that poor guy will be on the ground more often than a victim on “CSI.” I’d tell you about the other game, but the teams aren’t interesting enough for me to know off the top of my head. That’s how badly the BCS messed up this year; regular sports fans like myself are finding themselves underwhelmed by the choices in games. What a terrible conclusion to a historic season that started with Appalachian State beating Michigan at their own house.
To finish off this year in style, I’m bringing back something retro, the list! This week’s list will cover things I’d like to see happen next year (as always, in no particular order of preference):
1. Dolphins finishing 0-16. Nothing will make me happier than seeing Cam Cameron try to explain to his fans what happened. Sort of like when he tried to explain the rationale behind picking Ted Ginn Jr. over Brady Quinn (if there’s a joke in their Cam, I still don’t get it).
2. Coco Crisp ending up with the New York Yankees. If only to make the Yankee fans feel the misery of a .240 season from their center fielder.
3. Johan Santana with the Red Sox. All I want for Hanukkah is Santana in a Red Sox uniform (and some apple cider).
4. Celtics and Bruins win their respective championships. Nothing would signal the end of the world more than the Bruins and the Celtics doing well at the same time.
Final Fact:
Mickey Lolich, who pitched for 16 years, hit his only home run in his first World Series game (1968).
Maystrovsky’s article appears weekly.Maystrovsky is a member of the class of 2009.
