soccer10k

If he didn't point at Urlacher, Bush wouldn't have sprinted the whole way to the endzone. He would have let up anyway. Players let up all the time when they have the defense beat by 10 yards. Do you want to flag them for letting up and delaying the game as well? And doing the flip didn't take any more time off the clock than simply running into the end zone would have. Either way the ground has to be covered whether it's jumping into the air and doing a flip or simply running. Time would have come off the clock anyway. And in the endzone, his dance took about 4 seconds. I would hardly call that excessive celebration.

I think if the Raiders made that trade (Moss, Porter and the #1 overall for Vick and the #10 overall) I would seriously consider picking another team to root for.

Only Paul Tagliabue or Joe Buck are allowed to disapprove of immature behavior? My apologies. It's the playoffs. It's not "just" a game. It's win and move on or lose and go home. I'm happy with the outcome. Reggie will be watching the Super Bowl from his couch at home. I'll shut up now. By just a game I meant it's football. Football is a sport and games are played. By saying "it's just a game" I wasn't differentiating between the playoffs and regular season. Football is a game and generally you have fun playing a game. That's what Reggie Bush was doing.

They don't do the crap Bush did. Everybody in the league does some sort of celebration, that's completely different from pointing at your opponent on the way into the end zone and doing the flip. Dance all you want, that's part of the game. Flipping into the end zone is not. So dancing after you sack a quarterback is not taunting, but doing a flip into the end zone is? Sounds like quite the double standard there, not to mention that "dancing" really is not a part of the game at all. I've watched Chris Harris and Thomas Jones taunting the other team in other games. I didn't like it when they did it. But, I'm relieved they weren't so juvenile to do a flip into the endzone while the team was losing. A celebration after the catch is much more different than delaying a game so you can show off on National TV that you know how to do a somersault. I lost some respect for the guy. And I'm glad the guy who did it was on the losing end of the ball game. I'd like to see less selfish play on the field. Delaying the game, are you kidding me right now? How on earth did Bush delay the game by somersaulting into the endzone? His somersault probably caused FOX to show the play a few more times but that doesn't prevent play from continuing on the field.

Are there any terms for the Floyd deal money-wise.

If he had to apologize to his coach about it, then that means even he knows he shouldn't have done it. The leaping I don't care about, the pointing was the thing that got to me. And I'm pretty sure got to Colston as Urlacher unloaded on him shortly after. (On an incompletion none the less.) I know. I said that the finger pointing by Bush was wrong - which he apologized for. But there was nothing wrong with the rest of his celebration.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/lester_munson/01/22/tank.johnson/index.html?cnn=yes Unfortunatly, this Moran is a Packers fan, I believe. I just find it hilarious that the judge's name is actually Moran. Is he a Cardinals fan too?

That move is stupid IMO, you screw it up one time, and one time is all it takes, and you are paralyzed for life. It probably won't happen to Bush, because he is so athletic, but what about some younger kid trying to emulate it? Why would anyone want to emulate looking like an idiot in front of millions of viewers? This is a team sport, not an individual sport. Somersaults into the endzone is a selfish individual activity. Did Drew Brees do a cartwheel after throwing the ball to Bush? Did the offensive line do back flips for giving Brees time to find Bush wide open? Did the other receiver that made the pick allowing Bush to get open do a handstand? Did any of the Bears do somersaults on their TD runs? Reggie's somersault didn't even give the Saints the lead. They never got the lead. The Saints scored zero points after the somersault. There was a missed field goal that could have given them the lead, but 40+ yard field goals in outdoor stadiums are not "gimme's" unless your name is Gould. Did the somersault have any impact in the Bears defense shutting the Saints down for the rest of the game? I sure hope so. I get so tired of watching clowns who make millions treat the game like it's their own individual arena. Jeez, are you Paul Tagliabue or something? Maybe Joe Buck? Reggie Bush was having fun - something you generally do when you're playing a game. Now, the only thing that I think Bush did wrong is something you didn't even bring up - the pointing back at Urlacher while he was running to the endzone. And he even admitted he shouldn't have done that to Sean Payton immediately after the play on the sideline. So he somersaulted into the endzone. Who cares? That's not taunting. So he did a little dance in the endzone after he scored. Who cares? It's not a big deal. It's not like he went to a Bears logo and dance on it. It's not like he mocked anybody on the Bears or pointed to anybody while doing the dance. It was a big TD that brought them within 2 points after being down 16. I don't understand why so many people are bitching and moaning about this. He was having fun out there and had just scored on an 88 yard touchdown catch. This isn't a wide receiver celebrating a short catch to pick up a first down with his team down a couple scores. This isn't a defensive back celebrating a big hit on a play that picked up a first down. It was a huge touchdown run and Bush was having fun. People getting outraged over stupid little incidents like this is exactly the reason why the NFL is nicknamed the No Fun League. If the Bears don't like what Bush did, then hit him harder the next time he touches the ball.

They were saying on the news last night that Tank was cleared to go. Provided he leaves his guns and marijuana at home of course.

I wouldn't say they exactly shut down the Patriots running game. The first running play that I can remember was a 40 yard scamper on a play that the Bears run quit well with both Jones and Benson. They have improved their D tremendously since the end of the regular season, but all it takes is one missed tackle or one well timed block to break a big run. Run the ball early to open up the field for Grossman. And he needs to hit his tight ends often. They also need to throw that slant route over the middle. That is Grossman's best ball. All he said was that they shut down Maroney. Maroney had 8 carries for 13 yards. Dillon got free for 2 or 3 big plays, but the biggest one was the carry on 4th and 1, which is always a risk for a huge play because of everybody at the line (if you break through the line, it's a huge run). The Colts still held the Patriots as a team under 100 yards, which for the Colts is a massive accomplishment (and one that's been done 3 weeks in a row). The Colts won't shut down the Bears running, but the Bears probably won't be able to live off the running game almost exclusively like some teams did to the Colts in the regular season. Even still, Faulk only had four carries and that's not enough to judge a performace stopping somebody. Dillon had 7 for 48 (and 7 carries isn't enough to judge a performance either) but one of them was the 35 yard run. Without that he's got 6 for 13. It's the same thing as if somebody has 12 carries for 100 yards with a 75 yard run. It doesn't mean he had a good game. Also a majority of those rushing yards were in the first half. The Colts running defense has been solid in the playoffs.

1. Please no Ron Mexico. 2. If you are going to go after him, don't trade the #1 pick. Keep it and take Calvin Johnson so Vick actually has somebody to throw the ball to.

World Cup Final. ETA: That's for the world part.

Not to mention a game that he would have 2 weeks to prepare for.

Excellent decision. He will likely be in or near the top five Heisman candidates preseason and should be guaranteed a first round selection next year if he repeats his numbers. I think that's highly debatable. Brohm, Ainge, Henne, and Booty are all likely to go ahead of him. The last spread QB taken in the first round was Losman and he's been very mediocre in the pros, not leading a lot of credence to spread offense QB's translating their collegiate success to the pro game. A lot will depend on team needs (how many QBs go in the first round) and who declares/has a good season. Assuming Brennan repeats, he'll be behind Brohm for sure. Henne and Ainge are potentially susceptible to having less than standout years. Henne I'm not completely sold on (a lot of that offense seems to be Mike Hart) and Ainge will be without a true threat at receiver for the early portion of the year with our three top receivers leaving and the current crop talented but all with a year or less of experience. Also, I don't think its a guarantee Booty leaves early. Brennan could be anywhere from the second to the fifth QB taken. Minor detail but Booty will be a senior next year so he won't have the option of leaving early.

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h184/soccer10k/Wojo.jpg

Wojciechowski ESPN.com article On the home page it's entitled "My Kool-Aid tastes like crow" and he addresses his questioning of the Bears and mentioned the press conference moment between himself and Lovie. Figured you Bears fans would like it.

Yep, he said it. The safety, IMO, was a direct result of the Saints completely disregarding the need to run the ball. They ran 4 times in the 2nd half, and 3 times in the 2nd quarter (not including the Brees scramble). And this was when the game was 6-0 and 16-14. Still very manageable for the Saints. Really no reason for everybody on the Dline to be able to pin back when you are at your 5 yard line, because they know you aren't gonna run the ball. Those passes deep in their own end were not good calls, agreed. Part of all this is the experience factor too. Lovie went to the playoffs last year---that whole team did---and pretty much got plastered by a more experienced club. It makes a difference. You know what to expect the 2nd time around. And by "more experienced club" you must mean "Steve Smith".

The longest Cubs game thread this year was on opening day and had 1729 posts - almost 400 less than this one currently has. The Super Bowl thread is going to be insane.

I got no problem with the Bears being dogs. :) Seems like everyone's had us losing all year long, so I suppose it's only fitting that it remains the same for the big one. We play better when everyone's doubting us, like I said before the Saints game. I prefer it this way. Let the national pundits pick against us once again! I don't think it's as much a slight against the Bears but a slight against the NFC in general. No matter who ended up representing each conference in the Super Bowl, the AFC was going to be favored. Well, maybe not the Chiefs or Jets but who knows.

And by angry I meant happy. I swear. :D

Early line as per sportsbook.com is Indy (-7). I think Indy's favored by too much.

Done.

Manning is a better QB stats-wise but him saying Brady is better than Manning is the same thing as saying Montana is better than Marino. A lot of people have QB's like Elway/Montana/Bradshaw/etc. as better than Marino because they won Super Bowl(s) and Marino didn't. But if you just look at the stats you won't get an argument that Marino is the best ever.

EDIT: Wrong thread.

huh, last I checked the Bears had Urlacher and Briggs He was talking about the Colts dipstick. by both sides I thought he meant both defensive units? Dipstick? Still sour over the beating today i see. LOL. Grow up. You need a serious beating with a humble stick. Smack talk is fine for pre-game, but once the game is done, simple sportsmanship suggests that someone should be gracious in defeat and humble in victory. I'm not runnin around calling people dipsticks. Just saying. Of course not, you prefer the term [expletive].