Random Ramblings

It's Saturday and the last week has seen some incredible and not-so-incredible occurrences. In the last seven days, we've had the NFL Hall of Fame elections, the Super Bowl, the NBA All-Star teams, the start of the Winter Olympics and the tragic death of luger Nodar Kumaritashvili, and my brain needs to get this stuff out so I can do things like remember to get a Valentine's Day card for my wife.

First of all, let's start with the Super Bowl. Crappy commercials notwithstanding, it was an entertaining Super Bowl unless you live in Indiana or are a member of the Manning family (though I think Cooper will get over the loss before the rest of the family will).

I found it interesting that one of the first video clips CBS showed in their preview was one of Archie Manning being planted in the turf by an opponent. I couldn't figure out if that was that a good omen (a Manning QB being hit) or a bad one (a Saints QB being hit) for Who Dat Nation?

By the way, when did every team's fan base become a "nation"? Is this one more thing stolen from Native Americans, or are sports fans become more delusional, thinking that their team has a national following? Some teams are worthy of it, given their widespread appeal: Yankees, Red Sox, Cowboys, and the Lakers all fit the bill. But if I hear someone use the term "Anteater Nation" to describe fans of UC Irvine's powerhouse volleyball team, I'm writing my Congresswoman.

Every time they award the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award, it gets a little dusty in my house. RIP Sweetness, the greatest football player ever.

Even though Chicago didn't come near playing in it, Bear fans still got tweaked by the events of and surrounding the Super Bowl. As if a season that started with the potential of the playoffs as a seeming reality and ended with Jay Cutler leading the league in "Favres"...err, I mean totally stupid interceptions, a coordinator search that made the Bears the laughingstock of the NFL and the terrible death of Gaines Adams, we couldn't even enjoy the final weekend of the season as just impartial football fans. First, Richard Dent, a key member of the famed 46 defense and owner of 137.5 career sacks, gets hosed by the Hall of Fame voters, then the Colts tie a Bear record (longest touchdown drive in SB history) and after the Saints win, Chicago gets the title of "franchise that tanked enough to let Peyton Manning win a title." And, lest we forget, there's the Boostmobile commercial where the '85 Bears reprised the "Super Bowl Shuffle." (Perhaps why the HOF voters passed on Dent after all.) I shall now claw my eyes out.

As well as the Saints played and as great a job as they did executing (and as good a game as Sean Payton called), I think if Pierre Garçon doesn't drop that pass in the 2nd quarter, Indy is celebrating another title and Manning's legacy as an all-time great is secure. Indy was up 10-3 at that juncture and the Saints hadn't shown they were anywhere near capable of slowing the Colts down. If he caught it, Garçon gets at least to the 45 and the Colts are rolling to the end zone again. That drop allowed the Saints defense to catch their breath and settle down.

By the way, what was up with The Who at halftime? I know the NFL doesn't ever want a repeat of the Justin Timberlake-Janet Jackson wardrobe malfunction, but does it mean they're going to go with geriatric halftime performers from now until the end of time? I can't believe everyone didn't get rich off the "Will Pete Townshend smash his guitar at the end of the performance" prop bet? The guy needed some HGH just to hold it up and play it, no WAY was he going to be able to swing it with enough force to smash it.

How difficult is it to find an act closer to their prime that won't embarrass the NFL? It sucked to hear "Wake Up" by Arcade Fire playing on the stadium PA when Simms and Nantz were talking towards the end of halftime because it made me think of about a hundred musical acts I would have rather seen than Daltrey and Co.

It's impossible to look back at the Super Bowl without talking about Manning and his legacy. This loss, if he never wins another title, is huge in how he'll be viewed over time. I was jotting down notes as I was watching the game and as he came out for the drive that eventually ended in the pick-six, I wrote, "5:35 remaining, Colts trailing by 7. Manning is ready to join the elite once and for all." It could hardly have been scripted any better for him. The NFL MVP, a year after his long-time coach retired, unquestioned leader of the Colts, consensus best quarterback in the league who was going to lead his team to a 4th quarter comeback in the Super Bowl. Instead, he throws the title-killing interception and that's what people will remember about that game 20 years from now. It won't matter that Hank Baskett tried to field an onside kick with his face mask or that Reggie Wayne crapped the bed in the same city where he played college ball or that the Colts' staff lost their balls at the end of the first half, giving the Saints a shot at a field goal and some serious momentum. Nope. It is a better (and easier) story to write that Manning came up short when it mattered most...again.

I watched the opening of the Winter Olympics last night. It was a decent ceremony, and the lighting of the torch never fails to give me goose bumps, but I needed a few Red Bulls to get through the middle part of the ceremony, the part where the host country tells its story or, as I call it, the part that sucks balls.

I get the fact that the hosts spend ridiculous amounts of money to put on the Games and they have earned the right to brag about themselves, but making the world sit through it to see the lighting of the torch is a bit like Adam Sandler right before he sings "Love Stinks" in "The Wedding Singer" - 'I have the microphone SO YOU WILL LISTEN TO EVERY DAMN WORD I HAVE TO SAY!' I would sing the praises of NBC if they just included a countdown timer to when the flame would enter the arena for the next Olympics. Seriously, does any true sports fan enjoy anything about the opening ceremonies apart from the parade of athletes, the carrying in of the Olympic flag, and the lighting of the cauldron? If I want to know the history of the host nation, I have a set of encyclopedias that work just fine, thank you.

As far as the lighting was concerned, I thought it was fine, even with the technical malfunction. It was perfectly Canadian that they had four people light it instead of just one. The choices were good too. Obviously, Gretzky had to be involved. Who else could have been the final recipient of the flame? I thought it was very cool they included Steve Nash, even if one of his MVP's should belong to Kobe.

It wasn't an all-time lighting, though. I don't think anything will top the archer lighting the cauldron in Barcelona in '92 with a flaming arrow - that still gives me chills (Rafer Johnson in '84 was outstanding too). It

And another thing, can't NBC offer a real-time Olympics channel? I didn't mind having to stay up late to watch events from the Beijing games because they were halfway around the world and nowhere near my time zone. But these games are in the Pacific, so why can't I watch the thing live at 6:00? Instead, I have to wait a few hours, and nearly get put to sleep by appropriately named "Landscape of Dreams" segment of the show, barely staying awake for the big moment.

Of course, every time I started to get really annoyed by the show, I would see a picture of or hear a mention of Nodar Kumaritashvili and his devastating

Finally, the death of Kumaritashvili is about as sad a thing as you'll ever find in sports. Living here in the US, we occasionally give attention to an unusual human interest story about an Olympian, but by and large most of the focus is on the athletes we expect to contend for and win medals. It is easy to overlook the fact that for an overwhelming majority of athletes participating, merely competing is a tremendous achievement, an accomplishment they will cherish for as long as they live.

Kumaritashvili was about to have that experience of a lifetime. He was practicing, getting ready to do his best in his sport's biggest showcase, to compete, to be an Olympian. At 21, he was on the verge of an experience about which he would be able to tell his children and grandchildren, something he would be able to look back at proudly. Instead, his life was snuffed out because of an accident, a miscalculation (and some bizarre construction on the luge course) and we are left to wonder why.

Death is a sad occasion for us, almost regardless of circumstances. But to see a young man with his dreams nearly within his grasp die at an event that "calls upon the youths of the world to assemble" (and I mean, literally, see, as NBC has shown the footage of his fatal crash) truly defines tragic. One could say he died doing something he loved, but I don't imagine that lessening the pain his family must be feeling right now.

If there is anything to be gleaned from this horrible accident, hopefully it will allow me and anyone else following the Olympics to put the events in their proper perspective if just for a little while. If Lindsey Vonn can't perform at her best because of her injured shin and doesn't win gold, fans shouldn't be distraught. If current world champion Kim Yu-na doesn't win her figure skating competition, her fans shouldn't be devastated. And if Canada doesn't win hockey gold, a nation shouldn't be in mourning. If the death of Nodar Kumaritashvili does nothing else, I hope it allows us to use those terms for when they truly matter and find more appropriate ones to apply to the games we watch and play.