Foil in the Oven

.....one month before Shannon Hoon's death



What an outstanding Weekend of sports. Between the Giants win, three other very exciting playoff games, and the Celtics win over Detroit, I don't really know what to do with myself or where to begin with this post. I guess I just need to dive right in.....

-It's amazing how much the last two weeks have changed my views on Tom Coughlin. Heading into week 17, I wanted Old Redface out. In my mind, he was going to march our starters out there to get waxed by the Patriots in a meaningless game, and then we would take our inconsistent, uninspired team on the road to Tampa for our third straight first round exit. I've just always felt like he didn't connect with the players, and that showed on the field. However, week 17 clearly showed that the players do respond to Redface, and the fact that this team has been able to take the next step in the playoffs this season means to me that any changes in the coaching staff would be a setback.


- I would just like to point out that Eli Manning was 20/27 with 2 touchdowns and no interceptions. Ben Roethlisberger threw three interceptions, and yet we don't hear anybody blaming him for his team's loss. If the Giants had lost, the spotlight would have gone straight to Manning despite the fact that he managed the game very efficiently. People would have been questioning his character, his ability to win big games, and whether or not he should be this team's long term quarterback. He's moving on to the second round of the playoffs, which is something the Steelers are not doing. He led his team to the playoffs last year, something that Ben Roethlisberger could not do. He led his team to the playoffs two years ago, something Philip Rivers could not do. Look, he may not have the fiery personality or the stoic stare (I tried finding a badass picture of him, it's impossible), but I can't argue with the results. Would I rather have Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, or Brett Favre (a younger Brett Favre I guess makes more sense here)? Of course. Would I be happier if the Giants had gotten Philip Rivers or Ben Roethlisberger? I can give a definitive no on this.

- In a world where all teams are playing at their best, Dallas is in my mind the unquestioned frontrunner in the NFC. They have a powerful, balanced offense and they can put all kinds of pressure on the quarterback. However, this seems to be the best time to catch the Cowboys and the worst time to catch the Giants. These teams play each other twice a year in the regular season and know each other inside and out, so everything is going to come down who can execute better in all three phases of the game.
I'm not going to say that I expect the Giants to win, but I think that they have a good shot, particularly if TO is unable to perform at a high level (This is huge, because we can't cover ANYBODY, but the future looks bright: Corey Webster made some big plays yesterday and Aaron Ross looks like he's going to be a stud).



- I can't stand the San Diego Chargers. I don't know what it is, but ever since last year when LaDainian told us that it is disrespectful to do another man's dance, I can't stand this team. They just seem like such a group of crybabies and loudmouths for a team that hasn't done much. What happened to the good old days of Stan Humphries, Shawn Jefferson, and Alfred Pupunu? And, personally, I think there is nothing better than when the winning team mocks an opposing players dance. I wanted the Titans to upset the Chargers yesterday, but unfortunately I'll have to wait another week to hear LaDainian crying at the podium again.

-Also, while we are on the subject, I'd like to thank Vincent Jackson for screwing everybody in fantasy football that picked him this year (myself included, albeit in a late round) and then rubbing it in our faces yesterday by having the kind of stats we were hoping he might get during the regular season.



-What is the deal with Marvin Harrison? The Colts have been so cryptic about this whole situation that I don't know what to think. He could be playing at 100 per cent this weekend or he could be dead, I really don't know. What I do know is that his health is the key to the Colts playoff success. If Harrison is able to perform, I really think that the Colts are capable of winning the super bowl. How can they be stopped? A cold weather game at Gillette Stadium may do it, but the Colts can run the ball just as well as the Patriots. It will be interesting to see how this all plays out. If Marv can't go, I give the Colts a zero per cent chance to take a win in Foxborough.




-I can't say enough about the Celtics' wins last week. They looked very sluggish against Houston, which is understandable after their road trip. However, as Tommy Heinsohn pointed out at the start of the night, a let down against the McGradyless Rockets would waste one of their wins from the road trip. The Rockets (particularly Bonzi Wells) were fired up, the Celts weren't on their game, it would have been an easy one to lose. In fact, most teams that were 26-3 would have just cut their losses and packed it in. But, this team found a way to pull it out. After Scott Pollard and Kendrick Perkins had both fouled out, KG put the team on his shoulders and simply willed them to victory. After the game, he gave a pretty badass quote: "I fed off this building. These fans in here are like sparkplugs. I just plugged in and that was it." These are the types of wins that will help to forge this group into a championship team.

- I was at the game Friday night against Memphis, and I can tell you that in person Ray Allen looked like he had Vertigo. He couldn't hit a shot anywhere (literally, his two points came on free throws in the last minute) and he threw about five passes out of bounds. Allen didn't play much better (9 points) against Detroit. However, with the emergence of Glen Davis and Tony Allen continuing to improve, this team was able to overcome the fact that one of their best scorers was in a slump. Tony Allen picked up the slack on Friday night, and Glen Davis was able to score 20 points in Saturday night's hard fought victory over the Pistons. Saturday night's victory was huge because the Celtics need to head into the playoffs knowing that they can win in Detroit.



If LSU wins tonight, I really will have a hard time finding fault with the BCS. In my mind, LSU is the best team in the country. I would love to see a playoff as much as anyone, but I realize that is just a fantasy at this point. A movement to a playoff system would be a HUGE change for college football, and it's not something that they will just install in the off-season. As far as the system itself is concerned, it's too bad that there were so many blowouts, but that's just the way that it will be in some years. You can't argue that Hawaii didn't belong in that game against Georgia because if teams like that were never allowed in, we all would have missed out on Boise State last year. My only real complaint is that Missouri was more deserving than Illinois of a BCS appearance.

There has been a lot of talk on television about a plus one game next year. That is a good idea, and an improvement over what we have now. But, it doesn't get rid of any of the problems. Who would play the winner of tonight's game in the plus one? USC? Georgia? West Virginia? Kansas? There's no way to know. I have enjoyed some of the bowls this year. The two New Years Eve games, in particular, were very exciting. I also enjoyed watching West Virgina beat up on OU (They should have had a circle beating of Rich Rodriguez after the game) because we got to see a lot of Noel Devine, who is going to be a star. Devine had some of the best high school highlight tapes that I have ever seen.




Here is a clip of Shannon Hoon's daughter, Nico, playing with Blind Melon in October. They are touring and kicking ass with Travis Warren on vocals (he gives a great message at the end of this).



.......................We'll have a lot more for you this week here at roomofzen, including another edition of oracle speaks and the babcock report, please e-mail the oracle with any questions comments or thoughts. Have a great week............