*the funniest sports moment from the weekend was watching Steelers rookie WR Limas Sweed   drop a perfectly thrown deep ball from Ben Roethlisberger, fake a couple of injuries to stay on the ground, then get up only to be booed viciously by his home crowd. Man up next time butterfingers.

 *Jake Delhomme’s record-setting craptastic performance in this year’s playoffs wasn’t quite challenged by the under throws of Donovan McNabb, but damn if no. 5 didn’t do his best.

 *Congrats to Kurt Warner. In all the talk about nonsense like how he bakes cookies and goes to church every Sunday, the real story here is that this is one of the toughest guys in the game, somebody who can take big hits and not change his downfield focus a bit.  In both this offense and during his time in St. Loo he endured a lot of pressure due to the depth of WR routes and the lack of TE patterns, and he still is one of the better pass throwers in the league. This Super Bowl holds a rare quality in that I won’t mind seeing either team win.

 *great game between the Louisville Cards and Pitt on Saturday. In the past you would see Louisville get down under Paterno and seemingly get too nervous to act. Their current crop of players is a little bolder and a little more enduring under pressure.   Should be something to keep an eye on in the tourney.  And for fans of great defense, make sure to watch this Sunday as they face off against Boehim’s Orange in Syracuse.

 *In all the talk about the hard-hitting that went on in the Steelers/Ravens game (which was amazing if you’re a fan of good defenses) it was especially noteworthy that it might have been Ray Lewis’ last game in a Ravens uniform. He was out there hitting hard and throwing players around, but his ability to fill lanes on run defense has been a little bit lacking for a few years now. It’ll be interesting to see which of their three free agent linebackers they bring back. 

 *Hilariously, after all the undue praise and press spent talking about Joe Flacco (who had practically nothing to do with the Ravens’ run to the conference championship) there’s been a lack of talk about just how bad his throws were against a good defense.  Presumably there’s an explanation for why the media is so enamored with a guy with such mediocre numbers and below average accuracy.   And to be clear it wasn’t all his fault, since the Ravens had no running threat for much of the game and committed a few odd penalties (as well as having some bad calls against them) .  It would just be nice to see some sort of balance.

 *Rickey Henderson was voted in last week to the Hall of Fame.. and it wasn’t unanimous. In fact 28 people didn’t vote for him. This includes the 2 writers who refuse to vote for any modern player because of steroids. Getting in also on his last attempt was Red Sox great Jim Rice. Somehow, Rice’s stats weren’t good enough to be voted in for the first 14 tries, but this year did the trick. In discussing the cause, certain writers pointed out that Rice’s relationship with the sports media was a large part of his problem. What does it say about the people who make up the profession of sports journalists that they (A) don’t unanimously approve the greatest leadoff hitter of all time and (b) are willing to leave people out just because of how they treated the media? It’s always an odd contradiction that the same people who talk constantly about how athletes should be more appreciate of fans aren’t themselves more appreciative of the athletes who give them something to talk about.

*Somehow Peyton Manning won the MVP, despite the Titans’ Albert Haynesworth clearly having the best season of any player in football. considering the makeup of the media, however, I should probably be glad Brett Favre didn’t win.

Haynesworth was the clear MVP

*Speaking of Brett, Thomas Jones finally came out and said what a myrid of Favre’s teammates have no doubt felt in the past.

Days after the Jets’ 1-4 finish left them out of the playoffs and helped trigger Eric Mangini’s firing as coach, running back Thomas Jones blasted Favre’s final-game performance and suggested the QB’s play — nine interceptions and only two touchdown passes in the final five games — called for his benching.

“We’re a team and we win together … but at the same time, you can’t turn the ball over and expect to win,” the former Bears back told a New York City radio station. Favre threw three interceptions in the season-ending 24-17 loss to Miami that clinched the AFC East for the Dolphins.

“If somebody is not playing well, they need to come out of the game,” Jones told Hot 97 FM. “You’re jeopardizing the whole team because you’re having a bad day. To me, that’s not fair to everybody else. You’re not the only one. So when you get to the wire and somebody is just giving the game up, I mean, it’s just not [fair].”

Link

Somehow Favre’s actual postseason stats and performances have been overwhelmed by this imaginary legacy of his as a “gunslinger”. In reality the legacy should be of a careless qb with horrible decision making and a lot of downright awful clutch performances,especially in the playoffs. Meanwhile, off the field, Favre’s behavior was downright anti-social, a hilarious contradiction to the Wranglers jeans-wearing every man ESPN and Peter King (who I assume will be Favre’s biographer) never seem to tire of.

“There was a lot of resentment in the room about him,” a Jets player told Newsday yesterday. He requested anonymity because team owner Woody Johnson has stated publicly that Favre is welcome to return next season if he wants to. (Favre reportedly will take until the end of February to decide about returning.)

The 39-year-old quarterback is not as welcome with his teammates, according to this veteran. After the Jets traded for Favre Aug. 6, the sure Hall of Famer made no effort to ingratiate himself with the already assembled team, the veteran said. He said Favre spent most of his down time at the practice facility in an office specially designated for him near the equipment room, not with teammates in the locker room, even after the media departed.

“He never socialized with us, never went to dinner with anyone,” the player said. Asked to describe Favre in a word, he said: “Distant.”

The laughable part about the social behavior of course is how differently Favre would have been treated if he were say.. Barry Bonds. In fact we don’t have to guess how Bonds would have been treated (or most any black athlete for that matter) because we have actual examples. Sports Illustrated, for example, spent 16 years insulting Barry Bonds (I’m Barry Bonds and You’re Not) for things like being distant from teammates and having extra amenities at his locker (he has a bigger chair than the other players!). So why would Barry be vilified while the pill-popping redneck gets a pass for having an entirely separate office to work from? Probably for the same reason Bonds was roasted for his poor post-season performances until the World Series run he made with the Giants. Or for the same reason he was criticized for declining left-field play in his old age while Favre was voted to the 2008-2009 Pro Bowl despite leading the league in interceptions (and having a drastically inflated TD total due to one early 6 td performance against the Cards). Or for the same reason Barry’s performance enhancer use is a front page story every day but Favre’s dependency on prescription pills is a tale of the triumphant spirit of the human heart. Or for the same reason Roger Clemens got a pass despite extreme late-career bumps in pitching stats until the Mitchell Report was finally released.

You know, no reason at all.

*Tavaris Jackson might be the least accurate qb since Jay Schroeder. Just horrible. I did enjoy seeing him yell at Matt Birk late in the 4th qtr of the Vikings’ playoff loss to tha Iggles, when a shotgun snap by the center was down at Jackson’s ankles. As if that’s the reason your team was losing? Learn to throw a slant pattern, Tavaris. For what it’s worth Tavaris finished the game 15-35 with 164 yds, 0 tds and a pick.

*Enjoy a clip from Eddie Bravo, Rubber Guard master

*Don Nelson continues to get a national pass as he ruins the Warriors yet again. Stephen Jackson wants out, and the Mercury News continues to do a great job dissecting Nellie’s good ol’ insidious nature. Even “friend” Chris Mullin is not exempt from Nellie’s selfishness. In further hilarious Dubs news, some people are actually shocked at all of Corey Maggette’s shortcomings, as if they weren’t readily apparent by anyone who spent more than 10 minutes watching a Clippers game, as Corey flailed at a passing offensive player 10 feet away from him before idly standing by as the other team either scored or got an offensive rebound. Meanwhile, using such play as an excuse, Nellie is no longer even coaching the defense, deftly setting up his exit right after getting his extension.