It was inevitable and of course deserving to praise Tom Brady to infinity and beyond. No one was in any mood Sunday night at about 6:30 to temper any enthusiasm for Buzz Lightyear. He was going to his 10th Super Bowl in the past 19 years. At age 43.
His new team had just won three playoff games on the road, against higher-seeded teams, culminating in Sunday’s 31-26 W at Lambeau. Buzz beats Aaron! That was the script and we were sticking to it.
Care for a nay-say?
Brady threw three picks in the first 18 minutes of the 2nd half. They almost cost his team the game. Brady accounted for 10 2nd-half points, but 7 of them came on a 1-play 8-yard “drive’’ after a Packers fumble.
You could say Brady “led’’ the Bucs to a victory. Or you could suggest the Packers sealed their own fate with (1) an egregiously bad defense on the Bucs final offensive play of the 1st half; and (2) two confounding decisions late in the 4th, by Rodgers and his coach Matt LaFleur.
Brady played half a great game. That was enough. And he deserves all the praise. But some of it Sunday was simply for Being Tom. I heard exactly one TV head say anything remotely objective after the game: Something about the cold temperature affecting Brady’s arm strength as the game wore on. Everything else was gush.
Meantime, on 4th down from the Pack’s 39, with six seconds left in the 1st half, someone on the home sideline thought it was a good idea to play single coverage on a Bucs wide receiver.
Brady had one play, in that moment. Or should have. Throw a Hail Mary and start praying. Instead, he got a corner singled up on Scotty Miller and made a capable throw. Why Green Bay didn’t line up seven guys at the 5-yard line with one order – Keep the ball in front of you – is almost too easy a question.
Then when the Packers had a 1st down at the Tampa 8, trailing 31-23 late, Rodgers on 1st down decided to avoid running into a daylight-filled gap on the Bucs left side. Woulda been a touchdown. Instead, he threw incomplete to Davante Adams, into triple coverage in the middle of the field.
Then on 4th down from the 8, with 2:05 to play, LaFleur took the ball out of Rodgers’ right hand. Think about that. The guy’s going to be MVP, he’s had arguably the best season of his HOF career. The field goal still leaves you needing a TD to win. You don’t risk your season on. . . Aaron Rodgers?
You waiting for Joe Montana to suit up? For Brady to switch sides?
Great for Tom Brady. All-time classy and clutch. I hope he wins another ring. But he got a lot of help Sunday from the home team.
Now, then. . .
NO HOFers THIS YEAR? That’s what the polls suggest. The Hall announcement will come Tuesday night. At least three folks who try to predict the vote are saying only Curt Schilling has a chance to get the requisite 75 percent. And Schilling was a long shot before we discovered he supported the Jan. 6 Capitol mob.
From the stats-driven website FiveThirtyEight:
No player has a realistic chance of getting elected this year. Schilling, Bonds and Clemens are projected to finish in the 60s, while Rolen, Helton, Vizquel and Wagner make up the second tier at around 50 percent.
Ultimately, this year’s Hall of Fame election may be most important for how it sets up future elections. The non-election of Schilling, Bonds and Clemens sets up genuine suspense about whether they will ever be inducted, considering that 2022 will be their final appearance on the BBWAA ballot. Meanwhile, massive gains by Rolen, Helton and their ilk would put them on track to be inducted as soon as 2023, a notion that seemed ridiculous after their unimpressive debuts just a few years ago.
I voted for Schilling. It was the toughest decision I’ve made in 22 years casting a Hall vote. And it had nothing to do with his politics. I’ve come to decide that voting on sports honors will be one facet of my life that will not be governed in the least by politics. I think Schilling is a creep. I also think he’s entitled to be a creep.
I almost skipped him because he’s a borderline HOFer.
He was low on career wins and high on ERA. I try to discount a candidate’s postseason numbers, because postseason numbers are skewed by a guy’s participation, or lack thereof. So Schilling’s impressive Octobers (11-2, 2.23, 19 starts) aren’t much of a factor for me.
A couple New Age stats sold me: ERA+, which takes ballpark effects into account; and WAR. Schilling’s WAR was 26th-best all time among pitchers. Only Clemens’ was better, among pitchers not in the Hall.
I like Schilling’s big strikeout numbers, indicating he was a dominant pitcher. I appreciated his guts. He always took the ball.
I also voted for Omar Vizquel. Eleven Gold Gloves, 2,877 hits, better offensive numbers across the board (except SBs) than Ozzie Smith.
Per usual, no votes for Juicers Row.
MLB SHOULD INVESTIGATE THE PITTSBURGH PIRATES. The Players Association already has two grievances pending against the team, for years of pocketing its considerable rev-sharing cash. Last March, association chief Tony Clark said, “We view revenue-sharing recipients who remain in that perpetual rebuilding mode as a concern.’’
Sunday, the Pirates traded their best pitcher, Jameson Taillon, to the Yankees for a couple rows worth of bus riders. The Bucs had the worst record in baseball last year, 19-41. They’re odds-on to do it again this year. Anyone who still roots for the sorry, no-account Pirates is an enabling fool.
If ever there were a need for relegation in U.S. pro sports. . .
They used to be My Pirates Who Suck. Now they’re someone else’s perpetual misery. I ditched ‘em two years ago, after 55 seasons of fandom. (Fie on!) the Pirates and their cheap owner, Bob (Nutting From Nutting Leaves) Nutting.
WHY IS THIS? The name “Chiefs’’ is OK, the name “Redskins’’ is not. Tomahawk chanting is OK at Arrowhead Stadium. And, of course, at Florida State and in Atlanta, for the Braves. Selective political correctness, it seems to me, won’t change many hearts and minds on the subject.
ANOTHER LIFE MYSTERY: Are defensive backs never taught to look back for the ball? How can you break up a pass you don’t see coming? I understand that turning one’s head slows one down. But why, more often than not, do DBs almost never try to locate the ball?
WHILE I’M AT IT. . . Is it too much to ask that players paid lots for defending against the pass also be able to catch the ball with some effectiveness? Do corners and safeties lead the football world in drops? I think they do.
Doc, you sure you’re not Bernie Sanders, shivering through the Inauguration?
REDS TINY TRADES. . . They picked up a few relievers in the past couple days. I’d look up their names, but, I dunno, why?
The Club is going to lose Bauer. They’ve already shipped out Iglesias, Bradley and DeSclafani. To this point, they’ve replaced them with two Perezes. OK.
I guess the Reds figure the Central is so awash in lameness, they can win it without opening their lately cob-webbed wallet. They might be right about that. And truthfully, not many other clubs are doing much of anything, either. Does that make you feel good about ’21? Are you ordering season tickets?
Far be it from me to tell any team how to spend its money. But boom-bust doesn’t work in pro sports. One-year spending jags are not much of a strategy, unless you’re already stacked and simply filling holes. And so we ask again:
What’s the plan?
In 33 years here, this is my biggest disappointment: There is rarely any splash. The Reds and Bengals just sort of plod along. Fans disliked Jim Bowden as a person. I loved him as a GM. Bowden splashed. It was fun to be a Reds fan when Bowden ran things.
Bowden decimated the minor leagues. To me, that was a fair price to pay for the short window of winning he created. The talent he brought to l’il ol’ Cincinnati: Schourek, Harnisch, Gant, Bret Boone, Kevin Mitchell, Brantley, Shaw, Casey-for-Dave Burba. Deion. David Wells at the trade deadline. Davey Johnson. Et cetera.
We won’t see Bowden’s like again, probably. Not in conservative River City. A few Perezes, though. Awesome.
TUNE O’ THE DAY. . . Because I’m impossibly old and it is winter, I spent a few hours in the basement, cleaning LPs. (That’s a "record'', kids. A vinyl disc.) Invariably, this leads me to play cuts I haven’t heard in decades: An obscure Stones tune called Dance (Part 1) though there is no Part 2. BJ Thomas’ The Eyes of a New York Woman. Cat Stevens’ Where Do The Children Play.
Who, Doc?
Bruce’s It’s Hard to be a Saint, Southside Johnny’s Tell Me That Our Love’s Still Strong. And this one.
Source link
