everything that's on my mind
(as if there's not already enough people doing this)Monday, January 23, 2006
The two Jakes
It wasn't a good weekend to have a quarterback named Jake. Both Denver's Jake Plummer and Carolina's Jake Delhomme were ineffective as they lost in the championship games.
I did not watch the NFC game as closely because I just didn't care. I guess I wanted Carolina to win - although I'm not sure why. But it appeared that Seattle had little problem with Carolina's offense on their way to a 34-14 win.
The AFC game was the one I cared about. There's not really a team in the NFL that I consider "my team", so I usually pick a team each year that I hope wins the Super Bowl. I've sort of latched onto the Patriots the last few years - mainly because I always wanted them to beat Indianapolis, who I don't care for due to my dislike of Peyton Manning. So, this year it was Pittsburgh who took at Indianapolis, so I'm pretty much with them the rest of the way. I thought if one of the road teams was going to win, it might be Carlolina - based primarily on the talking heads saying they are the "hot team." But instead, it was the Steelers, who, just like last week against the Colts, jumped all over the Broncos early and then just maintained the lead for the rest of the game. Jake Plummer helped a little, too, with 4 turnovers.
So, I'll be looking forward to Super Bowl and seeing if Pittsburgh can keep it going.
The unbeatens
It was also not a good weekend to be undefeated in college basketball. Pitt lost early Saturday, followed by Duke, then later Florida.
I wasn't surprised by any of them, but if I would've picked one to remain unbeaten, it would've been - of course - Duke. I didn't know much about Georgetown, having not seen them play or heard much about them so far this year. They were unranked, probably due to a weak schedule and no quality wins (which, of course, has now changed).
However, I looked at their schedule before the game on Saturday, and while they hadn't really beaten anyone of consequence, they did have three "good losses" (if there's such a thing.) After an early season loss to Vanderbilt, they'd had three other losses - all on the road, all less than 10 points, and all against ranked opponents. They'd lost to West Virginia, and to two teams who've been in the top 10 most of the season - Illinois and Connecticut. That, coupled with the facts that they were playing at home and that most people give Duke their best shot (especially when they're still undefeated), led me to believe Duke could easily lose the game.
What surprised me, though, was how they lost. Basically, nobody except J.J. Redick showed up. The defense was horrible. They simply could not stop Georgetown from scoring. The Hoyas shot 67% in the first half, and 62% for the game, in the 87-84 win. Of course, that's easy to do when 4 out of every 5 shots is a layup. Duke actually shot 52% for the game. It's not very often that they'll shoot 52% and lose. That's practically unheard of. Shelden Williams was non-existent on offense (4 points), and Paulus had a couple of late turnovers - including one on the last play with Duke down three. Redick played great as usual, putting up 41 points for the second time this season (previously against Texas). But he had no help, and Duke was down 14 at the half and couldn't recover. Coach K made the following comments:
I did not watch the NFC game as closely because I just didn't care. I guess I wanted Carolina to win - although I'm not sure why. But it appeared that Seattle had little problem with Carolina's offense on their way to a 34-14 win.
The AFC game was the one I cared about. There's not really a team in the NFL that I consider "my team", so I usually pick a team each year that I hope wins the Super Bowl. I've sort of latched onto the Patriots the last few years - mainly because I always wanted them to beat Indianapolis, who I don't care for due to my dislike of Peyton Manning. So, this year it was Pittsburgh who took at Indianapolis, so I'm pretty much with them the rest of the way. I thought if one of the road teams was going to win, it might be Carlolina - based primarily on the talking heads saying they are the "hot team." But instead, it was the Steelers, who, just like last week against the Colts, jumped all over the Broncos early and then just maintained the lead for the rest of the game. Jake Plummer helped a little, too, with 4 turnovers.
So, I'll be looking forward to Super Bowl and seeing if Pittsburgh can keep it going.
The unbeatens
It was also not a good weekend to be undefeated in college basketball. Pitt lost early Saturday, followed by Duke, then later Florida.
I wasn't surprised by any of them, but if I would've picked one to remain unbeaten, it would've been - of course - Duke. I didn't know much about Georgetown, having not seen them play or heard much about them so far this year. They were unranked, probably due to a weak schedule and no quality wins (which, of course, has now changed).
However, I looked at their schedule before the game on Saturday, and while they hadn't really beaten anyone of consequence, they did have three "good losses" (if there's such a thing.) After an early season loss to Vanderbilt, they'd had three other losses - all on the road, all less than 10 points, and all against ranked opponents. They'd lost to West Virginia, and to two teams who've been in the top 10 most of the season - Illinois and Connecticut. That, coupled with the facts that they were playing at home and that most people give Duke their best shot (especially when they're still undefeated), led me to believe Duke could easily lose the game.
What surprised me, though, was how they lost. Basically, nobody except J.J. Redick showed up. The defense was horrible. They simply could not stop Georgetown from scoring. The Hoyas shot 67% in the first half, and 62% for the game, in the 87-84 win. Of course, that's easy to do when 4 out of every 5 shots is a layup. Duke actually shot 52% for the game. It's not very often that they'll shoot 52% and lose. That's practically unheard of. Shelden Williams was non-existent on offense (4 points), and Paulus had a couple of late turnovers - including one on the last play with Duke down three. Redick played great as usual, putting up 41 points for the second time this season (previously against Texas). But he had no help, and Duke was down 14 at the half and couldn't recover. Coach K made the following comments:
All of a sudden we do J.J. watching, where we're watching J.J. play. We might as well get tickets and sit behind the bench. And no one else is doing anything out there.With a little better defense, especially in the first half, they would be 18-0. Instead, now it's off to Virginia Tech, where they hope to avoid a second straight loss. And maybe now all of the idiot talking heads can stop talking about Duke or anyone else going undefeated. What did I say last week?
We were not worthy of our jerseys, our Duke jerseys, in the first half.
Comments:
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Greg--
I found your blog through Elrod--I didn't know there were any other Harding grad/Duke fans out there!
I've enjoyed reading your posts on the Blue Devils. I've put up a few of my own since November--come on over and check them out.
It's going to be a bumpy road, but I hope we're both celebrating a Duke title come April in Indy.
Go Blue Devils! Go Bisons!
Post a Comment
I found your blog through Elrod--I didn't know there were any other Harding grad/Duke fans out there!
I've enjoyed reading your posts on the Blue Devils. I've put up a few of my own since November--come on over and check them out.
It's going to be a bumpy road, but I hope we're both celebrating a Duke title come April in Indy.
Go Blue Devils! Go Bisons!
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