Road To Super Bowl, 2011. You Can Pretend To Know About The NFL!

thanks. Appreciated.

This Cutler story is growing hair.

Meantime, I'm torn. I was following some damned blog through the packers bears game (no tv) and someone posted - I think, as the person didn't name him - that Rodgers was acting concussed, given his sharpness at the start and his unsharpness later on in the game.. Well, you know bloggers, they'll say anything.

Actually it was a pretty good blog, less goofy/inflammatory than many. Alas, I didn't save the link so I'll never find it again unless I can flash on the bloggers names.

Never mind acting concussed, it's difficult to play in cold weather - but now Rodgers has a sore shoulder. Which doesn't sound serious yet.
Whatever blog I was following, a lot of participants agreed it was weird, given the Bears' play, that Green Bay didn't stack up more points. The shoulder, from a hit, could explain all that.

I'm thinking the Steelers may win.
I'm for the Packers.

I went to bed, not feeling too well, before the end of the Steelers/Jets game.
It seems to me that both of the winning teams yesterday got off to a strong offensive start. In the 2nd half of each game, the defense of the losing teams stiffened, But it was too little, too late.
Aaron is showing himself to be an awesome find for the Packers while Ben and the Steelers know how to win.
It will be, I think, a battle of defenses.
Stay tuned tomorrow for a post entitled "A Babble of A2K'ers."

If the Superbowl could be the best two out of three, I would be comfortable with my pick of the Steelers. But, just one game - Could go any way.

Aaron seemed fine mentally, I think it was mostly the cold. He's said that he prefers domes/ warmer weather... he likes the whole mystique of the frozen tundra but he doesn't like the actual frozen tundra much.

That would fit with being sharpest right at the very beginning (all warmed up, no contact with cold hard dirt yet).

The Cutler thing is weird, I feel bad for the guy. I think he made a good decision to get out, obviously Hanie did a better job than he'd been doing. That was selfless and realistic, not weak or heartless or any of the weird things that have been bandied about. He was hurt enough that he couldn't play well. So he did his best and gave it one more try (after the half), then sat down. Already heartbreaking for him, and then to have everyone pile on? I definitely feel bad for him.

Thanks for that, Ehbeth. I have my decoder ring on, but I am getting a busy signal.

Me too. I know he is not your most social qb, but he has weathered a lot of hits. Meantime, M. Drew Jones getting death threats, I gather. (Chihuahua!!)

I can see it with my mac - someone with a pc can help you work it.

http://tinyurl.com/4feqnvv

So how do yall who actually follow football come down on the Cutler debate?

He was sacked 50 times this season, which I think was the highest amount in pro football. He seems to hold onto the ball too long, throw into multiple coverage, but FWIW has an an arm like cannon.

He has a sprained MCL, but he didn't 'look' or act hurt on the sidelines while standing on his bad leg. So the poor perception of his pain and injury is/was part of why some people didn't cut him slack. In this age of instant critics, a bunch of other pros (whose season was over), Tweeted and texted that had no fire or passion or courage.

Personally, I think he was ineffective and doubt he will overcome his poor perception as time goes on no matter what. He seems to draw fire even back when he was with Denver as some sort of slacker.

I think I already said but I can't remember where now...

I think what it comes down to is not that he couldn't handle the pain but that he couldn't play well with the injury. He couldn't plant, which meant he couldn't throw well. Once he realized that -- after arguing for continuing, and giving it one last try after the half to see if he'd be able to do it -- he took himself out, because he wasn't able to benefit the team in his current condition.

That seems legit and I really feel badly for him that on top of the heartbreak of losing this game, people are questioning his toughness and piling on.

The Super Bowl will not be televised today.
It is next Sunday.
Players from each team have been disciplined regarding trash talking tweets.
Damn it.

apparently the NFC won the league's annual lame attempt at an all-star game...

Pallamalou raises bedbugs

He's a tough jackass

Did any of y'all read the Donald Driver article on ESPN's website? Hard to read that without becoming a Packer fan next week.

I hadn't seen it, but that made me go look it up... awwww....

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/playoffs/2010/columns/story?id=6069357

He was my daughter's favorite player when she was a toddler -- she'd do a happy dance if "Donnie" caught a pass.

Tidbit of news re football results and heart health -
http://yourlife.usatoday.com/health/medical/heartdisease/story/2011/01/Study-A-sports-loss-can-influence-heart-health/43124296/1?csp=34news

A clip from the article -
Study: A sports loss can influence heart health
By Janice Lloyd, USA TODAY Updated Jan 31, 2011 7:22 PM | | 2

An emotional loss in the Super Bowl may be hazardous to a fan's health, a study suggests.

Cardiac death rates increased in Los Angeles County after the Los Angeles Rams lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 1980 Super Bowl, according to the study in Monday's journal Clinical Cardiology. Unlike a previous study that linked World Cup soccer game losses to cardiac deaths, most of them in men, the new study showed that death rates increased more for women (27%) vs. men (15%) and older people (22%). Overall death rates also increased, but the cardiac death increases were the most dramatic.
"The higher rates of female deaths surprised us," says lead author Robert Kloner, a physician and professor at the University of Southern California. "More women are becoming avid sports fans, but some people suggested we think about the interaction between men and women. If a man gets angry and upset (about the loss), that's going to upset a partner."
/end clip

Sounds a bit contrived to me, but maybe there's something to it.