Congratulations to the NFL for getting this season to the Super Bowl. Let’s admit it – that wasn’t a given back in September. Interesting games yesterday – SU’s take:
- SU still does not understand Green Bay’s logic late in the 4th quarter to not go for the touchdown there and settle for the field goal. You have Aaron Rodgers at QB who is having an MVP season. You are not guaranteed to get the ball back again, and even if you do, you may have to go 60 – 70 yards with about 30 seconds and no timeouts. SU says the better play is try for the touchdown on 4th down, and if you don’t make it, you still have 3 timeouts, the 2-minute warning and the Bucs inside the 10-yard line. SU would question if the analytics guide even says you kick the field goal there. Rodgers did not exactly support the coach in his post-game comments.
- While Brady had 3 interceptions in the 2nd half, SU felt that most of them were equivalent to a punt on 3rd down. None were deep inside Tampa Bay territory. As Brady was on the SU fantasy team this year, I must say that I have been rooting for him in the playoffs. It’s a great story – you have to admit it whether you like him or not.
- Kansas City will be tough to beat in the Super Bowl but Tampa Bay’s defense has played progressively better each round of the playoffs. They are well coached. Should be a competitive game. SU says the “home field” in Tampa is overblown as in most Super Bowls, the crowd is made up of business partners and not the locals. At a reduced level, not sure it’s a factor but makes for a nice story.
The Yankees are making a bid for an all-recovery starting rotation in 2021. You have Severino coming back from Tommy John surgery, this new guy from the Pirates who has had Tommy John twice, and Kluber who has a different arm problem. Cashman is rolling the dice as he has some youngsters waiting in the wings to pick up the slack if anyone falters physically. I mean, that never happens with the Yankees right? Paging James Paxton.
What is going on in the NBA? You can never watch a game with a full line-up available. SU is not clear if it’s a case of resting your stars or COVID exposure. I watch the Miami Heat games and they always have 2-3 starters out every game. Just strange.
SU was bummed to see Michigan shut down all sports for 2 weeks due to COVID. They are a projected #1 seed in the NCAAs and tremendously fun to watch. Juwan Howard is making a name for himself as a coach and the NBA will be going after him in a couple of years for sure. They don’t have the best players but they are as unselfish of a team that you will ever see. They all buy into the system – make the extra pass – and play tough defense.
The men’s and women’s tennis tours are quarantining in Australia. Pretty tough. 4 weeks in their hotels with no practice time on the courts. Players are worried about injury once they emerge and the tournament starts. The players are getting abused in the Australian media for complaining but SU gets it.
Recent home Neflix/Amazon viewing:
- Bridgerton – on Netflix. SU says OK – got better towards the end
- Night Manager – that was really good. One season.
- Tiger Woods documentary on HBO – part 1 was good, part 2 was enough already. Too much on the women although I guess there were so many, you needed the time to cover them all.
- Big Sky (ABC) – started out well – got a little too contrived for me
Per usual, feel free to share other selections with the intergalactic subscriber base.
Sports Update Intergalactic 
I have no idea how Tom Brady does it. Yes, the defense has been outstanding (some coaches are just better as coordinators than head coaches) but he has brought the mentality to that team that winning is the only option. He has shown them how to win (which normally was by not throwing 3 interceptions a game… but that somehow worked yesterday). That pass at the end of the first half was thrown perfectly. A great series to end the half and pretty much end the game.
Just amazing that any player could go to 10 Super Bowls.
In regard to Green Bay’s decision to kick… in watching the three prior plays it appeared that Rogers easily could have gain important yardage if not run into the end zone. Maybe those three passes were his “LeBron’s leaving Cleveland moment” (first time) when he suspiciously (and allegedly) stopped trying vs. the Celtics.
I believe that Aaron Rodgers is done in Green Bay. Forget the MVP season and two trips in a row to the NFC Championship Game. This relationship is over as the coach and the front office want to start the Jordan Love era.
Rodgers is a California guy and he may be interested in finishing out his career back home in SF or some other place. Green Bay did draft a QB in the first round last year so you may right on this.
Brady was able to remain in the pocket, hardly have to move laterally. Why ? His line protected him tremendously and he had the vision down field as well as being able to plant his back foot and throw the ball. How often did you see Mahones stay in the pocket and plant his back foot and make the throw. Though I hope Tampa bay wins how do you defend a QB who can throw the ball from any contorted positions of his body and can also run the ball effectively? They also appear to have the fastest player running with the ball in the league. Yes he fumbled a big one on the 1 yard line, but it was quickly forgotten with some of his great runs and pass catches. KC has too many weapons to lose. Their defense against Buffalo was impactful enough to dominate. Its all going to boil down to whether Brady has the same amount of time as he had against Green Bay. Toss in playing in their home stadium can’t hurt either. I’m going with 31-27 KC in the Super Bowl. as Tampa bay throws a late touchdown pass and then KC just runs out the clock after a failed on-side kick.
The NBA only interests me if the Knicks are relevant. So far they are. If thy can obtain a star… not a super star… just a star without a freakin ego that would be great. BTW…. are there any stars out there without an ego? We know that almost every super star has large egos.
Tennis is Australia? Any relevant male Americans playing? If not then does it matter?