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Eli gets his. Hey-yo Rick Bozich!

From December 5, 2006:

My guess is their reasoning had something to do with SEC tradition and the league’s record of producing quality NFL players. You know the names — quarterbacks who are turning the NFL upside down, like Rex Grossman, Eli Manning, Tim Couch, Eric Zeier and Heath Shuler.

PS. And what about Kentucky Athletics Director Mitch Barnhart in Peyton’s booth?

It looks like Woodson’s draft stock might be slipping a bit.

A month ago Peter King wrote: 

I think the first quarterback chosen in a good draft for quarterbacks next April will be Kentucky’s Andre’ Woodson, over Brian Brohm of Louisville and Matt Ryan of BC. All good choices, though. (Link)

However, today he added:

I think Matt Ryan, the Boston College quarterback, is starting to distance himself in scouts’ eyes from the two other top quarterback candidates, Andre Woodson of Kentucky and Brian Brohm of Louisville. Colt Brennan will have the eyes of the NFL on him in Hawaii’s bowl game against Georgia. Second-round mini-sleeper: Joe Flacco of Delaware, who’s got a big arm and could climb the ladder. (Link)

From Peter King’s Monday Morning Quarterback. (Link)

I wonder what Wayne Weaver, the Jags owner, thinks when he sees the Super Bowl champs come into town on a Monday night and the game draws 67,164, with tarped sections of seats that go unsold, and six days later Florida-Georgia draws 84,481. And I know those seats are tarped for all games, and the Jags could have sold more tickets for that game than they did, but the contrast is striking. It’s the one market in the league that takes a back seat, with an exclamation point, to the college game.

Every other journalist in the United States has sounded off on David Beckham’s arrival in Major League Soccer, so we shouldn’t have been too surprised to see his name pop up in this week’s edition of Dr. Z’s NFL Mailbag at SI.com. And considering nearly every old-guard sportswriter has denigrated Beckham, MLS, the sport, or all three, we shouldn’t have been surprised by Dr. Z’s decision to do so, too.

But does that mean it’s too much to ask that a writer of Dr. Z’s experience have at least an understanding of irony?

Here’s the good doctor’s take on Becks’ arrival:

[F]rom Jonas of San Francisco comes this question that all Americans must take seriously:

“Should the NFL be worried about MLS as competition now that Beckham has arrived? I mean, they do have a team in L.A., which the NFL can’t seem to do.”

You’re almost right there, Jonas. Except that the place they have chosen in which to showcase the Big B is Carson, Calif. And didn’t you read how the crowd of 27,000 in the Home Depot Center absolutely went wild, even though his team, the Galaxy, lost, 1-0.

“They got drilled,” My Flame Queen said. OK, honey. Let’s remember who tells the jokes around here. The serious part is that Hollywood turned out in a big way. I can see it now.

“Driver … driver … I believe you’ve driven right by Carson. We told you to turn right at the Plumbing Supplies sign.”

OK, ha ha, let’s get serious. Threatening to immediately eclipse Beckham in popularity is the Chicago Fire’s Cuauhtémoc Blanco, whose attributes, according to the AP report of his debut against Celtic AC Sunday, were his “stutter-step dribbles, change of direction and uncanny backward passes.”

OK, so only 15,719 showed up in Bridgeview, Ill., at Toyota Park, but that’s almost capacity, isn’t it?

“Toyota Park?” Linda says. “You think NFL players are tough enough to play a game in a car lot?” That does it. Time to move on.

While we were under the impression that the Los Angeles Galaxy playing in Carson, California, (or the Chicago Fire playing in Bridgeview, Illinois, or the FC Dallas playing in Frisco, Texas, or the New England Revolution playing in Foxborough, Massachusetts, or the New York Red Bulls playing in East Rutherford, New Jersey) was comparable to the New York Jets and New York Giants playing in East Rutherford (or the Dallas Cowboys playing in Irvin, Texas, or the Washington Redskins playing in Landover, Maryland, or the New England Patriots playing in Foxborough).

We must have been mistaken.

And then there’s the Toyota Park jab. Being fans of England’s Premier League, we’ve read more than our share of jokes about the names of MLS stadiums in the English press. (For what it’s worth, Dallas’ Pizza Hut Park, the Galaxy’s Home Depot Center and the Colorado Rapids’ Dicks Sporting Goods Park all attract much more ridicule than Chicago’s Toyota Park.) It’s certainly ironic that a nation that sees nothing funny about shirt-sponsors and turns a blind eye toward tradition-rich grounds like the Reebok Stadium, Emirates Stadium, and the JJB Stadium, amongst others, would find MLS’ corporate-themed stadiums hilarious.

And it’s doubly ironic for Dr. Z to take issue with Toyota Park given that he makes his living writing about athletes who play at [pause for deep breath] Qwest Field, Monster Field, McAfee Coliseum, Invesco Field, Qualcomm Stadium, Reliant Stadium, the Edward Jones Dome, the RCA Dome, Ford Field, Heinz Field, LP Field, Raymond James Stadium, Bank of America Stadium, FedEx Stadium, M&T Bank Stadium, Lincoln Financial Field, Gillette Field, and (we saved the best for last) the University of Phoenix Stadium [and exhale].

Perhaps next week’s mailbag will explain the inherent comedic value of ‘Toyota Park’. Or maybe The Flaming Redhead can simply give us a hilarious one-liner about each corporate stadium. That would be enough material for a whole column.

(And, yes, the question that prompted Dr. Z’s take on MLS was ridiculous. We love the league and the sport, but MLS doesn’t compete with the NFL. Major League Baseball and the National Basketball Association don’t compete with the NFL. It’s simply in a league of its own.)

Did the Colts face the toughest opposition ever on their road to the Super Bowl?  Well if that question is referring to the defensive prowess of their opposition, then the answer is yes. A quick check of the team defensive statistics shows that the Colts defeated the #1, #2, and #3 ranked defense in succession.  Additionally, these three teams allowed an average of 14.43 points per game.  Examining the Super Bowls winner’s path each of the last 5 years this average is over a point and a half lower than what any other team faced. (Statistics via ESPN.com)

*Wild Card Rounds were excluded in these averages.

2006 Colts defeated Kansas City #11 (19.7), Baltimore #1 (12.6), New England #2 (14.8), and Chicago #3 (15.9)

2005 Steelers defeated Cincinnati 22(21.9) Indianapolis #2 (15.4), Denver #3 (16.1), and Seattle #7 (16.9)

2004 New England defeated Indianapolis #22(21.9), Pittsburgh  #1 (15.7), and Philadelphia #2 (16.3)

2003 New England defeated Tennessee #13 (20.3), Indianapolis #20 (21.0), and Carolina #10 (19.0)

2002 Tampa Bay defeated San Francisco #14 (21.9), Philadelphia #4 (15.1), and Oakland #6 (19.0)

Deadspin has link up today, about William Perry who is working as a camouflage clothing pitchman (Big Camo Link).  However, there is no link to his other job, promoting Big Ass Fans, here in Lexington.

For more info on the company, here is a link to a Kentucky Kernel story, on the company and the controversy its name, along with the billboard below created.

It’s not quite “The Last Boy Scout,” but it’s still a bizarre story.

PORT ANGELES, Wash. A man who was cleaning his .45-caliber handgun and watching the Saints-Bears playoff game accidentally shot himself in the hand while celebrating a Reggie Bush touchdown. (Link)

Were sports fans forced to accept mediocrity in 2006?

After the World Series there was a lot written about whether the Cardinals were the worst World Series champ ever. (Example A and B) What I haven’t seen written is historically how did last year’s other champions the Steelers and Heat rank. This got me thinking were the Stealers, Heat, and Cardinals collectively the worst combination of championship teams ever?  My suspicions were that based on the aggregate winning percentage of the three teams last year would rank as either the worst year of champions of nearly the worst.

To test out my hypothesis I looked at the NFL, NBA, and MLB league results since 1990 and here is what I found.  Obviously the Cardinals had the worst record of any Word Series winning baseball team over the period.  They finished the season at 83-78, since 1990 the second worst team record wise to win the World Series was the 2000 New York Yankees 87-74.  In the NFL the 11-5 Steelers and the 2002 New England Patriots were the only teams with 5 losses to win the Super Bowl since 1990.  And in the NBA last year’s Miami Heat were only surpassed in losses by the 1995 Houston Rockets.

A look at overall records bears out that 2006 was collectively the worst year for champions since 1990. Furthermore by examining the composite winning percentages it becomes clear that not only was last year the worst but it was significantly worse than any other year over the period.

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The Chargers loss yesterday brought up some bad memories as a Kentucky Football fan.  Chargers safety Marlon McCree has been the NFL bright spot of all the players off the late 90’s Wildcats.  The former seventh round draft pick has had an outstanding career and I was pleased that he had found his way to such a good defensive team following his time in Houston.  Unfortunately yesterday he produced a play that immediately brought to mind Marty Moore’s 1993 Peach Bowl.  With just six minutes left and an eight point lead McCree intercepted Tom Brady. Had McCree just fallen on the ball it is doubtful that the Patriots would have had time to get two more possessions.