Champion Weekend

A few more thoughts with the Conference Championships coming up this Sunday, and the Bears about to assume their role as “bad guys in a sports movie” (yeah, I know, it’s another article almost exactly like the last one, but it’s at least two in two weeks…):

First off, I need to explain the reason behind Rex Grossman’s up-and-down regular season that has everyone so confused: LA Bias. No, it doesn’t have anything to do with the media. It’s one of the teams in our fantasy league from Wheaton. This is one of those truly rare fantasy teams that not only makes several questionable decisions every year, but also has at least one or two major injuries, always manages to get veterans right before their “wow, he’s really lost a step this year” season, frequently trades or cuts players right before they break out, and loses almost every close game…over the past two seasons, they’ve won two games and once had a twenty-four game losing streak, and they’ve actually been trying the entire time. Anyway, this season they traded for Grossman, as you may have guessed, right before the Miami game and the string of ugly performances that followed. And once our fantasy season ended, Rex was fine other than the Green Bay game. (Incidentally, the player they traded for him was Jamal Lewis, right before Brian Billick thought, "hey, we have a washed-up QB, no deep threats, and a 2,000-yard running back...hmm, maybe we should run the ball.")

I will say that the “unprepared” angle towards that game is not going to play well in Chicago, and that it’s obviously not preferred, but it’s kind of understandable. It’s like that class in high school where the teacher was buddies with everyone and you had mathematically clinched an A- by the final…seriously, how much did you study for that final? That’s what I thought. Anyway, if the Bears win it this year, that’s either going to be forgotten (it pretty much is already), or it may even contribute to Rex’s gunslinger/rock star image in a way.

Anyway, I think the quarterback from the Seattle game is pretty much what the Bears have got…he’ll make a few dumb throws per game, some of which he’ll get away with, he has a hard enough time holding on to the ball that I cringe every time he even gets close to getting tackled, and he gives you an excellent chance get 20-30 points against anybody. In other words, he’s the white Daunte Culpepper. I just threw up a little bit. In my mouth.

The Bears are as good of an offensive team as the Saints are. I am basing this off of the fact that the Bears scored more points than the Saints did over the course of the season. Ridiculous of me, I know.

I also haven’t heard this pointed out yet, but Reggie Bush has a little bit of a propensity for screwing up in big games…first the lateral against Texas, than the awful missed pitch against the Eagles (which he got away with since the Eagles didn’t do anything with it). He could be on his way to becoming the Peyton Manning of running backs. I actually think Reggie’s on his way to being a phenomenal sports character…he’s electrifying to watch and currently has good guy status for being involved in the Saints revival…but at the same time, he’s been involved in a ton of shady off-the-field stuff and is prone to boneheaded plays at critical times. He could end up being the signature player for the Saints franchise (which wouldn’t take that much), or he could mess up in a few playoff games, leave as a free agent, and become the most hated athlete in Louisiana. I could honestly see either happening. It probably doesn’t help his chances that he’s one of LA Bias’s keepers...

Speaking of Peyton Manning, I think this is the year the Colts finally knock off the Patriots. Even though the Colts-Patriots thing is a little bit played out, it’s interesting this year, because for the first time:
- The Colts are playing at home (in a playoff game).
- The Colts have Vinatieri…last time they had Mike Vanderjagt. There’s no way any Pats fan isn’t worried about that.
- And, most importantly, the Colts defense is actually (at the moment) playing as well or better than the Patriots. And since the Pats are one of the worst running teams in the playoffs, they can’t really even take advantage of them there.

And if the Patriots win again…with all of those factors in play…I’m going to have to accept that Tom Brady really is better than Peyton Manning. It’s the only way it’s going to happen.

Everyone have a great weekend, and good luck to all teams but the Saints…