Super Bowl Edition

Well,  here we are 2 days away from the biggest game of the year.  Super Bowl 46..That's right GOLDY Don't do Roman Numerals!  This game has 3 story lines going in to it and ALL are very interesting.

FIRST--Rematch of Super Bowl 42 is very interesting and both teams are headed in to the game in very different situations than they did 5 years ago...The Giants are the hottest team coming in and the Patriots LOOK like the underdog....Let me Emphasize LOOK like the underdog. Last time Bill Bellichek and Tammy Brady were dared to throw the ball deep by the G-men D and the Patriots over confidence ultimately led to their missed perfect season.  This time The Giants seem UNBELIEVABLY confident that they are that much better this time.  Will the Master Game Planner Billy B dare the G-men to come after Tammy with that nasty front 4 "NASCAR" Package?

SECOND---Will Gronk's (Seriously this might be the dumbest nickname in sports next to ManRam) ankle be healed in time for him to be effective enough to not only run his routes but also be able to chip the ends of the Giants?  Last year we were worried if Tom Coughlins face would ever heal after the CHAPPING of a lifetime in GB, and yes...the jury is still out on it, but lets go with yeah it healed.  Gronkowski's (yep couldn't do the nickname again) injury is a high ankle sprain and those don't heal quick.  Yes he will be able to move straight ahead, but he wont be able to cut.  That's okay because it isn't his game, that is Aaron Hernandez job.  The biggest effect it may have is in his blocking and chipping of those pas rushers.

Finally THIRD---Peyton Manning is cleared to play, or is he, and where..............WAIT WHAT?

Peyton isnt even playing in the Super Bowl and his story is overshadowing the entire game.  He wont be a Colt...He will be a Colt...He is going to retire...he is cleared to play...Who knows?  All of this is more fascinating than the big game and I am going to tell you why.....

Peyton is the BEST QB of our time and we all need to know what is happening with him.  I know you are going to ask, " If Eli is paying for another ring and Tom Brady is playing in his 5th Super Bowl how can you say Peyton is the best?"  Let me point out to you that Peyton played in 2 Super Bowls and he is 1-1.  (Eli Down)  Tom Brady is very very good and I have mentioned my respect for his ability, but when he went down week 1 in 2008, Matt Cassell was able to lead the team to an 11-5 record teh same way Matt Flynn was able to put up Aaron Rodgers like numbers in week 17.  The system.  The system allows them to be as good as they are, and no I am not saying Rodgers and Brady are that replaceable but part of their success is based on the system they play in.  Peyton was lost and the Colts were AWFUL!!  (Brady down).  I know we can give all the hypotheticals in the world, but I promise that if you give Peyton the defenses Brady had instead of his messes, He has more than 3 Super Bowls....

Prediction Time---I believe that the Giants D is too over confident.  I believe that they wont get to Brady as much as they think (That Pats o-line is pretty darn good)...I believe that the "System" Brady runs is too quick to get sacked that much and that Giant Secondary is average at best.....I also believe teh Patriots real Defense shows up and there is just no way to cover Nicks, Manningham, Cruz, Boss and stop Bradshaw and Jacobs from running....

Giants---23
Patriots---21

What do you think?  Who is gonna win?  Am I wrong about Peyton?  Why?

GOLDY

CATCHING UP ON A FEW STORIES...

As many of the patrons here at Goldy's know, ye ole tender is a huge Ravens fan and had to take a couple days to get over that loss Sunday.  In doing so I have fallen behind on a couple of sports stories for the week.  SO here is a roundup of what has happened since Sunday.....

The Super Bowl is Set......


Super bowl 46 is set now as we have a tremendous rematch between the New York Football Giants and the New England Patriots.  Both teams were involved in Super Bowl 42 as the Underdog Giants came back to beat the UNDEFEATED Patriots 17-14, led by "the Catch" by David Tyree.  Both of these teams had to earn their spots this year though as both were pushed to the brink by their Conference Championship opponents.  The Patriots were able to escape with an AFC Championship when Baltimore's Lee Evans was unable to use his 9 yr veteran know how and hold on to the game winning TD pass from Flacco, and then Billy Cundiff's missed 32 yd FG.  Plain and simple the Patriots were out played this game, but as they always seem to do, they made one more play then their opponent and earned a victory.  The Giants were taken to overtime by the "feel good" San Francisco 49ers and came out victorious after the Niners Punt returner Williams fumbled for the second time in the game.  The 49ers were over matched by the UNBELIEVABLE play of the Giants Defensive line.  However, Jim Harbaugh's team showed that their defense is absolutely legit with their game play.  In the end this weekend proved that Special Teams is DAMN important!!!

The Tigers add a PRINCE!


I honestly tried to find the sign Prince used as his name through the 90's but couldn't get it added. Scott Boras has done it again!  Somehow got a ridiculous deal from a mystery team in a big player's free agent year.  The Nationals, Rangers and Orioles (honestly this is laughable) were the team names we heard coming down to the wire with everyone convinced DC was going to have a permanent royal resident.  Out of nowhere (and one week after GM Dave Dombrowski said no chance) the Tigers come in and offer a STUPID 9 yr $214 Million contract to the largest Vegetarian anyone has ever seen.  Now I do believe the addition makes sense for the Tigers based only on V-Mart's injury, and I honestly do not think the $23.1 mill per year is ridiculous (its what the market bares people), but the 9 years is ABSURD!!!  I said the same about Pujols' 10yr deal, and I know Prince is only 27, but 9 yrs is just stupid....I mean hello has anyone read the Mayan calendar....Seriously though it seems crazy to me that 9 yrs is agreeable to anyone.  Now the other issue is that they are going to move "The Chunky Drunk Monkey" Miguel Cabrera back to 3rd base where, even when he was in shape, wasn't very good.   My guess is the Tigers have decided that defense isnt that important on the infield, yep Prince is average at best too, and that they will just hit a HR for every error they commit....Then again when your rotation includes Verlander, Fister and Scherzer not many balls are going to get hit anyway.....

The Death of a Legend...


Coaching Great Joe Paterno died Monday at the age of 85 after complications from Lung Cancer.  Joe Pa was the symbol for what was right about college football for so long, and I hope that is what he will be remembered for most.  Joe Pa embodied that University like so few coaches do when they are done.( Bear Bryant, Tom Osborne, Bobby Bowden to name a few) Joe was asked why he was still coaching at his age and his response was simple, and telling, "My idol has always been Bear Bryant.  He died so quickly after he retired, that I am afraid of the same fate."  Well he wasn't afforded the chance to retire...he was fired 3 months ago amid a scandal that will ravage the University and shook everyone to their core.  Coach Paterno has more wins than any coach in Division 1 Football history (409), and coached for an unprecedented 46 seasons.  He transformed the town of State College and built an UNBELIEVABLE program at Penn State.  I honestly hope that is how he is always remembered because he deserves that.....RIP Joe Pa

NFL PLAYOFFS..NFC CHAMPIONSHIP EDITION

This morning I am going to cover the New York Football Giants and this evening the 49ers.  I will make my pick with the 49ers analysis tonight.  Here we go.....

NEW YORK GIANTS

This team has really played some of the best football in the NFL the last 4 weeks.  With 2 weeks left they were 7-7 and no one knew which Giants team would ever show up.  Then sexy Rexy opened his big mouth and Tom Coughlins team has gone on an amazing run, starting with the Jets and now leading them into the NFC championship game.  This wasn't a cake walk either for them as they had to defeat the Cowboys on the last day to win the division and get in to the playoffs, and then went on to beat up the Falcons (showing once again that Matty Ice left all his big game wins at BC).  Last week may have been the game thought that was most impressive as they went in to Green Bay ( with Tom Coughlins fact lubed up with high doses of vaseline this time) and rolled the defending Super Bowl Champ Green Bay Packers, who oh by the way were 15-1!!  They simply out played the defending champs especially on OFFENSE!!!

I know that the big story for the G-men has been the play of their defense, and especially that pass rush (Jason Pierre-Paul may get defensive player of the year), but Eli Manning has become an elite QB this year with the way he has led the Giants offense.  With the emergence of Victor Cruz as a deadly receiving threat, and Hakeem Nicks playing out of his mind Eli has been simply outstanding all season.  He has cut down on the turnovers in a big way and has that offense clicking on all cylinders.  Now before anyone goes off an says he benefits from that 2 headed monster of a running attack, you better check yo self fool!!  (Sorry I get gangsta sometimes)  That vaunted running attack was TERRIBLE during the regular season.  They barely avg 3.4 yes per carry and were almost non existent all together in all 7 Giant losses.  I do believe that their playoff success running the ball has been set up by the way Eli and those receivers have been playing. 

Now they have to go to San Francisco and try to carve their way back to the Super Bowl against the "feel good team of the year"in the 49ers.  These 2 teams met in the regular season with the Niners coming out on top 27-20.  The thing to remember is that that game should have been tied when Eli layed out a beautiful pass to Mario Manningham, who got behind the defense, and he simply didn't catch the ball.  Victor Cruz and that running game hadnt emerged as weapons yet either that week.  None the less the 49ers still held on to win.  With that said let me point something out AGAIN...

Giants last Super Bowl year
Regular season---NE 38 NYG 35
SUPER BOWL---NE 14 NYG 17

THIS YEAR
Regular season GB 38 NYG 35
Playoffs--GB 20 NYG 37

Regular season 49ers 27 NYG 20
Playoffs?????

Tom Coughlin gets his team ready to play, and makes adjustments, better than almost any coach in the NFL.(whether Giany fans admit it or not..how bad did they want him fired by week 6)  Can he pull it off one more time to get to his second Super Bowl ( as many as the immortsl Bill Parcells went to in NY)?  Is Eli ready to cement his place as the only Manning brother with 2 Super Bowl rings?  The biggest question of all is..can this Giants team play as consistently as they have the last 4 weeks when they have been one of the most inconsistent teams in the NFC all year?  We will see Sunday at 630 pm..1230 hawaiin...

One more thing to think about.  We have seen something very VERY similar to this Giants run before...a team that squeaks in to the playoffs on the last day of the season... whose QB is playing lights out...whose running game has become a huge weapon in the playoffs...whose defense has been phenomenal...whose regular season record was 9-7.....

Yep, you guessed it, Last years GREEN BAY PACKERS......

WHAT DO YOU THINK THE GIANTS CHANCES ARE?  WHAT DO YOR FRIENDS THINK?