Plenty of storylines in tomorrow’s Championship games. In the AFC, we have the best current QB rivalry with Peyton Manning vs. Tom Brady. We also have a rematch of several previous playoff matchups between the Colts and Patriots. In the NFC, we have the cinderella Saints, America’s Team, marching in with an improbable one season turnaround from the chaos of Hurricane Katrina and a 3-13 season. We also have my beloved Chicago Bears making their first appearance in the NFC Championship in 19 years. In fact, this is the first time I can remember the Bears being in this round. Before I become fully entrenched on my couch tomorrow, lets get some predictions out of the way.
Patriots/Colts: This game is a struggle between history and current perceptions. History has taught us that Peyton can’t play in the playoffs, and Tom Brady can’t make a mistake. So far, Peyton has not had a great set of playoff games, but then again, neither has Tom Brady. History tells us that the Patriots dominate the Colts, but the Horseshoes have won two straight regular season games over the Pats. History tells us the Colts D is weak, but they have had a strong playoffs performances. History probably would say the Pats will win this game, but if you’ve been paying attention, you’d see that the Colts are the better team right now. The dominating Colts safeties are going to confuse and annoy Tom Brady all day. Peyton will get his stroke back once back in the RCA Dome and get Marvin and Reggie involved early and often. I’m predicting 312 yards and 3 TD and no INT from Peyton on Sunday, and he finally gets his monkey off his back. At the end of the game they’ll be an awkward hug at midfield between Manning and Brady, except this time, Peyton’s going to have on this huge grin while Bill Bilichick spontaneously combusts in his raggedy grey sweatshirt. Colts -3 over Pats. Score: Colts 31 Patriots 17
Saints/Bears:The anticipation for this game is a lot different than when the Cubs reached the NLCS in 2003. In 2003, the Cubs were favored by a wide margin to defeat the Florida Marlins. We had everything going for us. We had two of the hottest pitchers in the game, Mark Prior and Kerry Wood, set to pitch games 6 & 7 while the Cubs held a 3-2 lead in the series. There was no way we could lose. Even if they got by Prior, they won’t fool Woody. Well, we all remember what happened so I won’t even get into it. For tomorrow’s game, yeah, sure, we’re favored by 2.5 points in Vegas, but it’s no giddy anticipation I’m feeling. It’s anxiety and nervousness. While most people will point to Rex as the sole source of my nervousness, they’d also be forgetting about the losses suffered on the defensive side of the ball that have left the Bears far from their midseason, impenetrable selves. And now we have to host America’s sweetheart, the Saints. What a wonderful story the Saints are. It really is too bad that we’ll be the team vilified for putting an end to their magical season. Drew Brees, in my opinion, should’ve gotten more consideration for MVP, but I don’t see the Saints beating the Bears in Soldier Field in January in the cold and snow. Brees isn’t built for it, Bush isn’t built for it, the Saints aren’t built for it. But the Bears are. As long as the Bears D can contain Deuce and Reggie on the ground and T.J. and Benson can make good gains, the Bears will win. There it is, the key to the game, the running attack. I can feel a great game coming from Urlacher and he will carry the D on his back (like in the Arizona game) if he has to. We’re sorry to break your hearts Saints, we truly are, but at least we won’t beat you at home. Bears -2.5 over Saints. Score: Bears 24 Saints 16
It’s been a few days since the four hour, two night season premier, so this won’t be too long. Couple of thoughts so far (warning, don’t read if you haven’t watched):
Since when is Chloe all responsible and stuff?
How did Milo get promoted so fast? And he needs to chill out.
I get this feeling Maurice is either going to mess everything up something serious, or pull out a crazy move and save the day. Not sure which one yet.
I was kind of excited to see “Kumar” in the first episodes and even though he was a terrorist and I wanted him to die, I wanted him to stick around a little longer.
The Chinese must’ve messed Jack up cause I’ve never seen him so tentative.
How did Wayne Palmer get elected already? In real life, we’ve had only one President since 24 went on the air. On 24, we’ve had 4 now.
That was an awesome maneuver when Jack bit that guy and “draculaed” him.
Damn Curtis for putting Jack into that situation. Damn him.
That was fantastic TV at the end of the fourth episode when Jack was laying in the grass after shooting Curtis and then saw the mushroom cloud rise up. He is going to be so pissed. The days of the pussyfied Jack Bauer are gone. Jack the bad ass is coming back.
Right now I’m placing the over/under on the total number of suitcase nukes the terrorists will set off at 3. They had 4 and have set one off (but you already knew that).
It was hard to watch and listen to Jack Bauer claiming he couldn’t do it anymore. Like I said, the Chinese must’ve messed him up something fierce.
I wonder if Kim is going to be in this season at all?
I guess that’s all for now. I will continue to look forward to every Monday night well into May (or is it June?). I’m excited to get the old Jack back and see some ass kicking.
“The city of Los Angeles honored Jack Bauer for the countless times he saved the city by naming a street after him. However, every single person who walked across the street ending up falling dead. It seems no one crosses Jack Bauer and lives.”
After my big day at Beaver Creek on Saturday and the Bears game Sunday, I was looking forward to a nice, leisurely day at Breckenridge. And quite honestly, so were my muscles. I was still sore from all the powder on Saturday, and groomers appeared to be my best option and best friend.
Chris and Chloe picked me up at 6:30 and we made great time to the mountain. We decided to take the new BreckConnect Gondola to the base of Peak 8 for the first time. The new gondola is equipped with very spacious cabins and covers a decent amount of ground in a short time. Of course, the views were spectacular. The parking was still $10 though, which would’ve been fine if the gondola started early, but it didn’t start until 8:30, meaning we didn’t get to the base until 8:45. This would’ve made a big deal on a normally busy day, but on this day, it made no difference.
Despite the holiday and school closings for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Breckenridge was surprisingly desolate. I mean, it literally felt abandoned at times. My hypothesis as to the reason for this bizarre phenomenon was the bitter cold. I think the warmest it got all day was only a few degrees above zero, and was definitely below zero when we arrived. We all prepared well and braved the cold and had a spectacular day. Chris and I had some great runs on Frosty’s Freeway, Gold King, Cashier, and Briar Rose. In fact, on a few runs on Cashier and Briar Rose, we had the whole run of groomed corduroy all to ourselves.
Considering the forecasted cold and anticipated crowds for the holiday, Breckenridge was fantastic. There was no new snow, but my legs actually thanked me for that. Instead, I got to work on my turns on groomed terrain while carrying some pretty exciting speed and share a terrific day with friends. Definitely a top five day for the year.
Last weeks playoff action provided plenty of action and plenty of surprises. We’ll start at the top.
The Colts/Ravensgame, which I predicted would be the best game of the weekend, fizzled with a combined seven field goals and no touchdowns. I could’ve foreseen the Ravens not scoring a single touchdown, but even against the mighty Ravens defense, I thought Peyton would throw at least one TD. Unfortunately, that moment never came and the game became the worst of the weekend. The Colts got some unexpected good news, however, when they found out Peyton can struggle in the playoffs and still emerge victorious. The Colts much discussed defense again turned in a solid performance, and of course Adam Vinatieri was worth his weight in gold. One disappointing aspect of the game was the reported fan behavior towards anything Colts in the stadium. Look, the Indy fans didn’t steal your team and players on the field weren’t even in the league when the team moved. You got a new team and they’ve won a Super Bowl more recently than Indy. Get over it. Anyway, I didn’t pick the score, but I picked the Colts. Dave 1-0. Colts MVP: Adam Vinatieri Ravens MVP: Ed Reed
The Eagles/Saintsgame was a more competitive game because of Brian Westbrook, the guy I identified as being essential in the Eagles pulling off the upset. Deuce was a monster all day, and Reggie really looks like he’s turned the corner in his career and is going to be a more consistently great player. Garcia & Co. did their best and really put forth a valiant effort, but the Saints and the home crowd was really too much. It was a closer game than I anticipated, but I still took the Saints to win. Dave 2-0. Eagles MVP: Brian Westbrook Saints MVP: Deuce McAllister
In of course the most anticipated game of the weekend for me, the Bears pulled out a victory to reach the NFC Championship Game for the first time since 1988. This was an especially exciting event because I was only six years old when that happened. Now that I am old enough to remember, the game was extremely important to me, especially after the heartbreak the Panthers caused me last year. I could’ve done without the overtime, as my heart was pounding, but I’ll take a victory any way I can. Anyway, except for that one fumble (which Rex should’ve known better and just gotten rid of the ball, but that’s besides the point), Rex played a very solid game. In fact, Rex threw for more yards than any of the other seven quarterbacks playing last week. The Bears D continued their streak of disappointing appearances, proving how much they miss Tommie Harris and Mike Brown. Bernard Berrian played a tremendous game, including that beautiful pass from Rex for a TD. T.J. backed us up with two scores, but in my mind, the true star of the game was Rasheed Davis. He didn’t score, but came up with a huge catch from in the first quarter when Rex didn’t exactly put it in a spot where only Rasheed could catch it. On top of that, he also had a huge catch in overtime to get Gould in position. The Bears are still my Super Bowl team. Of course I picked them to win, so that brings me to 3-0. Seahwaks MVP: Shaun Alexander Bears MVP: Rasheed Davis
Finally, the Patriots/Chargers game provided not only excitement, but a little bit of contraversy. To weigh in on the whole L.T./Pats spat, I’m kind of on the fence on this one. For one, L.T. is right. Dancing and stomping on a team’s logo after beating a team on their own home field is disrespectful, as was them imitating Shawne Merriman’s sack dance. As classy as the Patriots portray themselves to be, in truth it appears they think they’re better than everyone else and surely showed poor judgement. On the other hand, the cheating, steroid injecting, disgrace of a Pro-Bowler Merriman told a pep rally in San Diego he was going to “hit Tom Brady in the mouth.” If you’re stupid enough to take steroids in today’s NFL and think you won’t get caught, you’re going to put a pretty big spotlight on yourself. As does doing a roid-rage induced dance after every sack. And then to call out the NFL’s so called “golden boy”, man, you’re just asking for it at this point. What I don’t understand is why the normally classy Tomlinson is taking such a strong stand behind such an embarrassment. I understand you stick up for your teammates and you have to “defend the house”, but this whole thing has really grown out of control, and it’s probably the media’s fault (like always). In short, yes, the Patriots were jerks, but blown out of proportion. Although I did love that jab at the Pats, “…and maybe it comes from their head coach.” Anyway, there was a game played, right? Three things killed the Chargers, in my mind. First, going for it on fourth and eleven in the first instead of kicking a field goal. Second, the fumble after the interception. Lastly, the challenge of the fumble after the interception. Two out three were Marty’s fault. Gee, I wonder why this guy has a losing playoff record. Patriots pull off the big upset, and Dave drops to 3-1 for the weekend. Patriots MVP: Marty Schottenheimer Chargers MVP: LaDanian Tomlinson
Can you say 16″? For my first day at “The Beav” this season and 17th overall, I could.
At first when I looked at the morning snow report, I thought it was an error. How could Keystone get one inch, Vail seven inches, and Beaver Creek sixteen? Since Missy and I had spent the night in Frisco, it was only going to be about a forty minute drive to the Bear Lot at Beaver Creek. We packed up quickly after waking and got on the road.
The weather in Frisco was amazingly clear, but it seemed as soon as we passed into Eagle County, the snow started coming down. By the time we were descending down Vail Pass, you could start to see how B.C. got so much snow. After hitting Avon, we drove toward the Bear Lot when we discovered the enormous line waiting to get in. It seemed so much snow came down, they didn’t have enough time to plow all the snow our of the parking lot, so it was filling up quicker than expected. I heard a few days later that they actually closed the parking lots and wouldn’t let anyone else in. The backup was so great, the buses that take you from Bear Lot to Beaver Creek Village were running behind, so we decided to walk the short distance to Lower Beaver Creek Mountain Express Lift.
Immediately after touching down from the lift, I wanted to jump into the powder. You could just see it all around you, untouched, pristine powder. I sat down, strapped in my back foot into my binding, and plowed ahead. During my first run, I could hear screams of delight all around me as my fellow riders hollered their pleasure out loud. And with good reason. All day, I was consistently riding through knee deep fluff. It got crowded semi-early and the most obvious powder in the middle of the runs were skied out by ten. At that time, huge mounds of snow moguls began to appear all over the mountain. I rode one or two runs through those snow moguls, expecting more wide open terrain. At that time, I realized a little creativity could go a long way.
I jumped into the trees on the east side of Gold Dust around 10:30am and had my best run of the day. The trees were spread out enough to keep speed without having to make dramatic, speed killing turns, while tight enough to keep out the novices. It was a completely virgin stash. By the end of the run, I was speechless. I couldn’t believe I actually found and experienced that run.
Some other highlights of the day included: Latigo, Centennial, Raven Ridge and Harrier.
Snow-wise, it was the best day of the season…by far. Finding the stashes took a little bit of creativity, but by no means was it difficult. In fact, I am no longer comparing it to other days this season. I’m comparing it to the top ride days of my entire life.
It’s really hard to be scared of the Seattle Seahawks when their quarterbacks willingly pose for a picture like this: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/dayart/20040908/226hawksportraits07_qbacks.jpg
I feel embarrassed for them.
Compare that wimpy image with this classic shot of Urlacher after taking down the evil Brett Favre: http://hamnd.50megs.com/images/urlacher.jpg
I don’t think Brian’s afraid. And in Urlacher we trust.
“The Bears are who we THOUGHT THEY WERE!” In honor of the Bears playoff game and impending victory this weekend, I wanted to dust off a recent instant classic: Dennis Green’s postgame meltdown after the Bears improbable victory on Monday night this season. Here’s the link on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2UtBdFQh4k
Of course, no coach meltdown post would be complete without Jim Mora’s “Playoffs?!?!?” rant: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qwq7BYOnDrM
And to complete it, here’s a coach meltdown medley: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HyzTzwTFgcs&mode=related&search=
I missed getting my picks up last week, so I wanted to make sure I got the second round up nice and early. I think every game this weekend will be a good one, so it’s going to be a shame I’m going to have to miss at least some of them so I can go riding. But hey, that’s what TiVo’s for. Home teams are 4-0 so far these playoffs, but I’m picking at least one upset this round. Here are my thoughts on the four games this weekend:
Colts/Ravens-Old Baltimore vs. New Baltimore. Offense vs. Defense. Peyton vs. Ray. This game could be billed so many different ways and I think it may be the best game of the weekend. Too bad I’m going to miss at least the first half while I’m driving back from Beaver Creek. Like I said before, TiVo. First of all, if Larry Johnson couldn’t run against the Colts D, Jamal Lewis won’t. On the other hand, if Kansas City’s defense could throw Peyton into fits in Indy, imagine what the Ravens will do to him in Baltimore. I think this game is going to be incredibly close and could come down to the final play of the game, but I’m going with the upset on this one. Colts 24 Ravens 21
Eagles/Saints-Remember New Orleans’ first home game this season against the Falcons? It didn’t matter if the Saints played the AFC Pro Bowl team, they were not going to be denied that night. Same thing is going to happen on Saturday night as the NFC’s two Cinderella teams clash for the right to move on. Jeff Garcia has done a marvelous job leading the McNabbless Eagles, but time’s up. With or without Sheppard, Drew Brees is going to pick Philly apart. The Saints simply have too many options. The only way I see the Eagles moving on is with a humongous game from Brian Westbrook. Saints 31 Eagles 20.
Seahawks/Bears-Gee, I wonder who I’m going to pick for this game??? Seriously though, I think Chicago’s sportswriters and talk show hosts are freaking out over nothing. You have to look at precedent for Rex. The last time Rex had a horrible game followed by a bye week, he had a great game with 2 TD’s against the 49ers. This is from Lovie and the rest of the staff having two solid weeks to review film, work on mechanics and practice checking down his receivers. Yes, the Bears defense is hurting without Harris and Brown, but the Seahawks secondary is hurting as well. It’s not going to be a complete blowout like earlier in the season, but Bears win. Bears 30 Seahawks 20
Patriots/Chargers-I’m not buying into the whole Brady thing this year. Not with the team he’s leading right now. It’s a big difference to stop Chad Pennington, Leon Washington and the rest of the New York Jets, as opposed to Phillip Rivers, LT, Antonio Gates and the Chargers. And I haven’t even talked about the Chargers defense yet. Brady’s not going to have the time to make his smart throws when Shawne Merriman comes roiding down on him. Yes, I know the Patriots playoff record with Brady under center. But I’ve also watched LT play, and I don’t think New England has an answer. The Chargers are the most complete team in the playoffs, and the only one without a glaring weakness. It’ll be close, but no cigar for the Pats. Chargers 35 Patriots 31
Saturday was my second day at Vail this season and my fifteenth overall. The snow has been falling in Colorado and Vail certainly benefited from the weather. On Saturday, Jeff, Kevin, Mike, Josh and myself drove up to Vail after spending the night in Frisco. We awoke to reports of five new inches in the last 24 hours and a foot in the last 48. We arrived in time to grab third chair. Not too shabby.
Right way I could tell the snow was sticky. At first, I think everyone, including myself, kind of doubted that assessment. We would find out later. We immediately headed for the back bowls. Our first run was spent weaving in between The Slot and Headwall in Sun Up Bowl. Right away we could tell the powder was plentiful, and we were in a popular area. We could always head to less popular areas of the mountain for hidden powder. But it seemed for the time being, we wouldn’t have to do that much searching. Easily plowing through deeps up to the tops of my boots and knowing it was only the beginning gave me goosebumps.
Kevin, as we had just previously found out, hadn’t skied in around 6 years. Since both those runs that we were black diamonds, it proved rather difficult. He gave us the go ahead to leave him behind so he could adjust, so we hopped onto Sun Up Lift and traveled to China Bowl.
On our way to the Orient Express Lift, we again weaved between Genghis Khan, Dragons Teeth and Jade Glade. The powder was a bit deeper and we knew we had to get to Siberia Bowl as quickly as possible. The Orient Express always takes awhile and your anticipation really has a chance to rise during that time. By the time we reached the top, I couldn’t wait to traverse to Siberia.
Except only the snow was too sticky for any snowboarders to make the long catwalk all the way to Siberia Bowl. Mike and I, the two boarders, unstrapped and had to skate the whole distance. By the time we slid into the very edge of Siberia at Gorky Park, all I wanted to do was lie down and breath. I couldn’t rest for long, especially since all the skiers had been patiently waiting for the two of us, and we knew incredible powder was before us. I strapped me left foot back onto my board we took off down the mountain.
The snow was fantastic. I was easily making fresh tracks in knee deep powder. Occasionally, I ever stumbled into some snow almost up to my hips. I had been anticipating and dreaming of this moment all week. I am completely addicted to back bowl powder. All four of us were shouting, hooting and hollering our way through the snow, and when we would take breaks to breath, we would just smile at each other. “Incredible.” “Awesome.” “Unbelievable.” “Amazing.”
I tried to get enough speed to get back to the lift in one shot so I wouldn’t have to skate some more, so I rode down into Rasputin’s Revengebut I still couldn’t do it. At that chairlift, Mike and I decided that even though the powder in Siberia Bowl was completely amazing, the snow was was too sticky and we didn’t have the energy to consistently make the trip there and back. Jeff and Josh understood, and besides, there was plenty of powder in China Bowl with easy chairlift access.
We did two more runs in China Bowl before heading over to Blue Sky for two runs. By that time, it was completely skied out, and you couldn’t go anywhere without running into moguls. When we went back to the back bowls, the crowds had arrived, and the powder was gone. By this point, our legs were pretty much gone, so we finished off with one more run down Riva Ridge on the front side and called it a day.
Overall, defintely in the top three overall this season, but because the snow was so sticky, I hesitate to give it number one status. Otherwise, the snow really was that good.
