Monday: Vegas bailed out by late Patriot money; Cameron Indoor losing its edge?; The other Manning — typical ‘Skins?
I DON’T HAVE A TON TO ADD ABOUT THE SUPER BOWL — great game, you saw it, and there are a million other places you can go for coverage of that. My initial thought was that Vegas was going to take a bath on New York’s 21-17 victory, because everybody (including me) seemed to be on the Giants, but it turns out a lot of late money came in on New England. “The late rush was on the Patriots, which bailed us out,” said Jimmy Vaccaro, director of sports operations at Lucky’s Race & Sports Book in Las Vegas. “The general public was in love with this Giants team, and you found out a reason why they’ve been riding them for the past eight weeks.”
IS THE CAMERON INDOOR STADIUM MYSTIQUE DISSIPATING? Miami comes into the storied arena and upsets the Blue Devils, 78-74, on a floor where Duke had a 45-game winning streak snapped by Florida State earlier this year. It was reported two weeks ago that students aren’t snapping up tickets nearly as lustily as they used to. The team now, too, is looking for that hustle edge that’s long been its trademark.
“A Duke team should play with energy for 40 minutes,” coach Mike Krzyzewski says. “Or 45. You go outside right now and look at the banners. There are quite a few of them up there. They are not won without energy, without hunger, with no complacency and with people really wanting it. We’ve wanted it a lot and we’ve won a lot. We’re supposed to play hard and with energy all the time. They should be givens.”
WE DIDN’T REALLY GET INTO THIS ON FRIDAY, BUT I’D LIKE TO AT SOME POINT. Adam Schefter reports that if Peyton Manning is released, the Redskins are expected to pursue him. My first thought is, hey, great! Redskins fans’ll love that! But I’ve been thinking about it more, and now I’m not so sure. I mean, isn’t this kind of the Redskins’ problem? Deion…McNabb…Jason Taylor…signing after signing of “name” guys on the wrong side of their prime. I really hope Manning’s got more in the tank — he’s a lot of fun to watch — but you have to wonder if signing him might just keep the ‘Skins stuck in their rut.
Dorian Finney-Smith is back in the saddle.
MORE COLLEGE HOOPS
-The Hokies got a much-needed win over Clemson on Saturday, and the best news is that Dorian Finney-Smith broke his 0-for-25 shooting slump with a 5-for-8 performance. Tech plays at Miami on Thursday and hosts Boston College on Sunday.
-Virginia hosts Wake Forest on Wednesday and travels to UNC on Saturday.
IT WOULDN’T BE MISSED
NFL commish Roger Goodell didn’t like this year’s Pro Bowl: “We’re either going to have to improve the quality of what we’re doing in the Pro Bowl or consider other changes or even considering eliminating the game if that’s the kind of quality game we’re going to provide,” he says. “I know players love to be in Hawaii but we have to start with the quality of what we’re doing.”
WEIRD NEWS
-Shopping for a new rug? Avoid the pattern on your left. Studies have shown it can make you seasick.
NAME THAT TUNE
How high? Real high ’cause I’m just so fly
A young lovable, hugable type of guy
And everything is to the back with a little slack
‘Cause inside-out is wiggity, wiggity, wiggity wack
February 6, 2012 - 8:35 AM
For all of those who complain about Cassell not being a packed cavern of craziness, the insight into Cameron’s empty seats should be a wake up call. It’s not just the ‘fans’, it’s the students who aren’t even bothering to attend.
For those that haven’t attended games in Cameron, it is as ideally situated for TV as could be designed. I don’t know if that’s coincidence or design, but the actual atmosphere in the arena is not what you see on TV.
Kudos to DFS for breaking out of his slump. He’s a freshman, it happens. People like to ignore that fact, but he will end up being a great player by the time his career at VT ends. Lots of people didn’t appreciate Deron Washington’s finer points until well after he was gone, either.
The SB was clearly a game of defense battle. Tuck was a man-beast last night. Either team offense really were impressive, except for that incredible catch by Manningham that, Pat Forde called studly, stood the Patriots’ challenge. I truly thought and felt on the last Giants’ drive, it was just Eli’s time. I even proclaimed it on Twitter before The Drive began. It was a game that could have gone either way.
I thought after seeing a pair of Brady’s passes being dropped, it would be the difference.
Now, as for Peyton Manning, all I can say the Joe Montana’s stories should serve as a cautionary tale. Remember the infamous 1991 NFC championship game when the Giants broke Montana’s thumb? And then Steve Young took over for the Niners? Montana was never the same after that, and he pretty much bombed at the Chiefs before retiring. I truly feel that Peyton should retire. The injury to his neck is not worth the risk of the wrong sack that could potentially cripple him. He has a twin and a wife to think about. He need to put his ego aside and step down. If he has that edge he wants to burn, maybe he could go into coaching. He would be an excellent tutor, IMHO.
Great game last night. Close games instead of blow-outs over the past few years have revived what I thought was a stale bit of business. Still, despite the quality of the game, the hype is over the top. Madonna halftime show? I didn’t watch it. The kids reaction to it? “Thank God it’s over.” Best commercial-VW fat dog and Star Wars.
The Cameron mistique is still there, this just isn’t the best Duke team to play there in a few years. The Plumlees are good, but niether one of them is Kyle Singler. I think this was said on the blog last week. This is a good Duke team, not a great Duke team. UNC is still the team to beat. FSU is probably the second best team in the league right now. Despite losing to BC and Wake, I still think that the Hokies are not the worst team in the ACC.
The Redskins need a QB of the future not a guy on the downside of his career. Peyton may or may not have afew good years left in him, but the odds are that his best playing days are behind him. It’s a fools errand if the ‘Skins go after him.
Don’t even look at the picture of the rug. I got dizzy just typing this.
I really didn’t care who won the B, just glad it was a good game worth watching.
I don’t see Peyton going to the Skins. Heard on the radio the other day that he and his wife have a condo on South Beach and he wouldn’t mind going to the Fins.
It’s interesting that Snyder is following the pattern that Steinbrenner followed for several years – buy a name player even though his best days are behind him. As a long time Orioles fan, I can’t say I have any sympathy for Redskins fans. Join the club of having owners who use the team to squeeze dollars from the fans, while never ever caring how the team performs.
Speaking of the O’s, they’ve dealt Jeremy Guthrie to the Rockies this morning for two middling pitchers (Jason Hammel and Matt Lindstrom). So, Buck, “Wada” ya gonna do about your opening day starter now?
Surprised no one’s picked up the song yet…Jump Jump by Kriss Kross…
Cameron has lost it’s zeal a tad, I was very surprised to see the Canes win that game. And after watching VT eek out the win against Clemson, I think I misjudged the winnable games a bit, and maybe VT will have some trouble down in Miami with the Canes at 5-3 in the league.
And, VT did their best to try to lose that game against Clemson, with the Tigers storming back in the second half. If Clemson hits just 1 additional three, they win. The win for VT is good, but they’ve still got a slew of problems.
O.J. scores.
On Peyton, I think he ends up somewhere else but I’m not sure what kind of impact he’ll have when he moves. I don’t think he will end up in Washington though. I’ve heard Miami and Arizona as possible destinations. I also read he wants to stay in the AFC so that would lean toward Miami.
I saw an ad for the Hokies next basketball game in the RT yesterday. I’m not suprised by the ad for tickets but I am suprised that Tech had to include the halftime act in the ad to draw interest. You can say what you want about Duke but I don’t think they’ve ever had to advertise a juggler to get people to a game. It’s pretty sad if your fans are thinking should we go to the game this weekend? Well is the unicycle girl going to be there? No it’s a juggler. Oh, well that might be interesting. What’s next maybe fire breather for an opening act and free palm readers in the concourse!
AM breaking out Jump by Kriss Kross. What ever happened to those kids? Maybe we’ll see them at halftime during a Tech game soon!
Sorry OJ didn’t see your post before hitting submit.
One thing about Duke is the lack of fan favorites. The Plumlees don’t seem to be well like by anyone. Kelly is a good player but one who is kind of forgetable after the game. Curry is not his brother or his dad and Rivers is not Kyrie Irving. That said, tickets for the average fan to see a game in Cameron are still selling for over $200 bucks with the UNC game averaging around $1000 a seat.
Agree with HokieAl on the halftime show. I was playing Soltiare on my tablet while it was going on. Maybe peeked at the Tv a couple of time, but I wasn’t paying attention to it.
The VW commercial was among the best, and so was the Coca-Cola one with the polar bears. Awesomeness!
The VW commercial shows they don’t need to “sexify” to sell their products like the others have.
Then there were trailers for movies that have me completely stoked. GI Joe, The Avengers, John Carter (I’m sure they went off from Edgar Rice Burrough’s “Princess of Mars”), but want to see it nonetheless, and Battleship! I had a kick out of Travis’ tweet about The Lorax’s trailer.
“Hang Down your Head Tom Brady, Hang Down your Head and….” Kingston Trio. no idea on song but still like to play. Commercials. You can have your dogs, doritos and Darth-I`ll take the girl selling some kind of flowers- twolips maybe-in the 1st quarter. I would have bought seasons tickets to UVA women`s soccer from her. Question? Had Bradshaw just stayed on 1 yard line untouched, How long would the clock have run. When would refs step in?. Late in the game so Jim Beam and I missed Al`s and Chris` thoughts, if they had one.
Del Boca Washington may strike again. Hopefully Peyton will kick things off right and go all out on fancy tip calculators.
The Skins lack of football smarts has really turned them into that kid whose lack of music knowledge always makes him the last one to catch on to the good bands. Look out if you see Dan Snyder in the hallways, he’ll try to tell you about this awesome new band he’s found called “Green Day.”
By the way, seemed like an overwhelming amount of dogs in commercials last night. Not complaining, thoroughly enjoyed the barking version of the Imperial March.
Travis I agree about the dogs but one commercial I haven’t seen anyone talking about was the Hyundai Cheetah commercial. I thought it was awesome. I thought they were going to be showing how fast the car was and then the Cheetah turned on the guy who opened the gate. The best part was that’s exactly what I was thinking should happen but I didn’t expect it to happen!
I lived near Durham for years back in the 90′s and never paid more than face value for a scalped ticket. Granted, I didn’t go there for UNC games, but I went for UMd games, and never ever paid more than face value for a ticket. Tickets were readily available outside of the arena, too. that was when Duke was at their peak, too.
I look for Dan Snyder to be so intrigued by the Peyton-Eli brother vs. brother thing that he’ll throw enough money at this thing to get the deal done…hope I’m wrong though. With his track record on paying too much money for zero ability left in the tanks (see Bruce Smith, Jason Taylor, Donovan McNabb,Deon Sanders) Peyton will probably be in the Burgundy and gold soon. Would love to see the Skins pursue the Heisman kid from Baylor…Don’t know if he would fit their system or become a bust like some of the other Heismans in the past but at the least would be entertaining.
Comment on Tech’s game sat.. I don’t know who’s idea it was to take the air out of the B’ball at the 7:00 min. mark but they should rethink that strategy. Erick Green is not Phil Ford with the 4 corners. RT lost it last Friday AM. All post I tried after about 2:00 PM went to an error page. It wasn’t on my end.
The O’s opening day pitcher ….
Britton ….Arrieta or Matusz ??? wow …
What are us O’s fans in store for this year ?……
By the way ..The Orrie is slowing down and so is “The Material Girl ”
Mediocre performance by her ..Stage show ok except ?
I think that Duke is overachieving this year. UNC haven’t been very impressive all season long. FSU is the ultimate surprise team, however, I am not reading too much in them. They play 4 seniors as starters, they are experienced, and they have depth.
I was entertained by watching the Hoos and Noles playing. It was a slobber-knocker of a game, but the Noles prevailed.
I also read somewhere the ACC is going to include all 14 teams in the postseason tourney. I think that’s absolutely ridiculous.
I think the one thing overlooked in the Bradshaw Td was that they were going to tackle him into the endzone with him being that close. Why take a chance on a fumble when he did it earlier in the game?
The Peyton Manning to the Deadskins potential was the primary topic of discussion and hilarity at the Rick H. Super Bowl party (by the way, none of you all made it, what’s up with that?). Good old Danny Boy never should cease to amaze anybody. Why doesn’t Danny just go after Joe Namath? He’s probably got a good quarter or two left in him.
Decent game, I suppose, we were more focused on how our individual fantasy players were doing, if we had any left, in this game. I really don’t get into the Big Game all that much. I’m just not the NFL type.
I did think some of the commercials were good. My fave was the beer fetching dog. I’d have mine do that, except he weighs about as much as a bottle of beer – but he’s as mean as a snake. I was disappointed that Ferris was shortened. I highly recommend the longer version on You Tube (sorry, too lazy to link it).
It was nice of Clemson to pull a VT Saturday – fall behind early, fall short in the claw back attempt. I still thing Tech can get to a surprising 8-8 in ACC play. 2 are in the books, and the remaining 4 homers are winnable, for sure. That just leaves stealing a couple roadies – Miami (coming off the win at Duke helps) and Clemson are the most likely. Probably won’t happen, but it could.
I was very impressed with the crowd Saturday. I figured the fans would just mail it in the rest of the season.
I’m with Goodell, ditch the Pro Bowl. I can’t say that I’ve ever watched enough of all of them combined to count as a full game – and I’m 40′something years old. The ONLY all-star type game that has any meaning is baseball. It is the only sport where you can really team up guys from different teams and have a quality product. Being a mid-season affair also adds to it.
Gotta disagree with some of my fellow bloggers on the halftime show. Madonna is hot. Do you not realize how old that chick is? She’s 53. She looks way better than most 23 year olds.
Wow I actually agree with BBAT on something. I understand the desire to run out the clock but the sure TD is the way to go. Anything can happen on the next play, a fumble, a blocked FG. If you’re defense can’t stop someone from going 80 yards in 56 seconds then you don’t deserve to win.
Crooked Road I don’t doubt your story but it’s a known fact that tickets for games that matter go for a heafty price at Cameron. You wont see a game that matters for anywhere near face value unless it’s a last minute deal and the scalper doesn’t have a choice. With the after market tools like stubhub now, scalpers don’t have to stand outside like they used to. Some still do but not as many.
OG, I like that Hyundai cheetah ad too, it was not what I expected and that made it a good one. Another car ad I really liked was the Suzuki Kazashi ad with the sled dog team, that was just funny to me. Most of the ads were ho-hum though…so thankfully the game held a decent level of intrigue the whole way through.
The real question though, what was on everyone’s party platter for the food?? We had homemade hot wings and fried onions, sausage balls, chips with salsa and dip, a veggie/cheese/turkey stick tray, some fresh-baked cookies, and of course beer! It was a heck of a gameday spread for us, and the leftovers are making for some good eating for a couple days too…
Name That Tune
Kris Kross “Jump”
The last 5 minutes of the VT game got me to thinking about previous seasons when we’ve seen it beofre. Seth tries to milk the clock to protect lead but it takes the offense completely out of their flow, followed by bad shots as the shot clock runs out with a made basket on the other end of the floor. This year’s team is too inexperienced to expect them to change pace like that at the end of the game.
I’m with The Orrie and other suffering O’s fans. I always liked Guthrie. He always gave the O’s great effort, even if he seemed to have the bad luck of pitching on the nights when the offense was nil. He lost a ot of one 1-0 and 2-0 games. He’s an innings eater and they will miss that. Not that Guthrie was a true Number 1 starter, but without him, there is nobody I’m confident in. Britton and Arrieta were good early, but struggled later. If Matusz can return to 2010 form then there are 3 guys who can win games, but they wouldn’t be #1 or 2 on most AL teams.
Part of me think the Patriots let Bradshaw score the TD so they could get the ball quickly and let Brady do his stuff. How else do one explain the ease which Bradshaw scored?
Trevor, I think they let him score, since they gave up the first down and knew that without a quick score, the Giants could run the clock down and either punch it in for a TD or kick a game-winning field goal, and leave just a couple seconds on the clock. Bradshaw scoring was the only reason the Pats even had a chance to win on that hail mary…
HokieAl, those last 5 minutes of the game on Saturday are not just unique to Tech. That is the way about 95% of college coaches do things.
Just like the vast majority of college football coaches that like to play the “prevent” us from winning defense at the end of a game.
I just don’t get it – if a high tempo basketball offense got you ahead, or pressure defense, why stop? If blitzing the socks off a QB got you ahead, or short passes or outside runs, why stop?
It’s that old saying, ‘dance with the one that brung you’ that nobody seems to understand. Tech doesn’t hold a monopoly on it, for sure. Its just overpaid coaches that do.
Trevor – they did let him score.
http://espn.go.com/blog/afcnorth/post/_/id/41988/patriots-were-right-in-allowing-touchdown
As for a 14-team tournament, I don’t see a problem as long as it doesn’t morph into the Big East’s double-bye monstrosity. Your top two teams each get a bye and the remaining 12 have to play in the first round. For example, if Pitt and Syracuse were in the ACC this year with their current conference records and the season ended today, you would have a first round of:
#8 Pitt vs. #9 Maryland. Winner plays #1 Syracuse
#5 NC State vs. #12 Wake
#4 Duke vs. #13 GT
#3 FSU vs. #14 BC
#6 UVA vs. #11 VT
#7 Miami vs. #10 Clemson. Winner plays #2 UNC
No extra days added because it’s just two extra games.
Hey what was the result of the National Anthem last night? I timed it at 1:34.01 so I know it was close.
Also just saw the article with the new VHSL proposal. So how does Franklin County end up with all the schools in Bedford and Lynchburg instead of the schools in Martinsville and Danville? I see an argument coming on that one.
O.G. — Yep, that one was a push. I really thought Clarkson was buzzing through those notes, too, but it’s just not easy to go under with that bad boy.
Well, it makes sense that the Pats let Bradshaw score. Brady had his share of 4th quarter comebacks, but it simply wasn’t to be. Heck of a game for the defense.
As for the National Anthem, I was told that Miss Deaf America was going to be performing it in American Sign Language, but much to my wife’s disappointment, it wasn’t broadcast at all. And, I don’t know if any of you Hokies’ fans remember, my wife have performed the National Anthem in sign language before Tech games few years ago.
I’m actually surprised that Vegas broke even on the Super Bowl. As late as mid-season, various sportsbooks were offering odds of 80-1 and even 100-1 on the Giants winning the Super Bowl
RP — And don’t forget those people who like the long-shot props. First penalty to be intentional grounding: 66 to 1. First score to be a safety: 75 to 1 in some books. Both cashed on one play.
Dallas will snatch Peyton Manning, it is a no brainer. Jerry Jones can pull it off. The Super Bowl was only one play from having a different result. Welker catches the ball, the Pats win it. Not convinced Eli is in the elite until he is in 5 super bowls.
The commercials were terrible. Ralph is right, the girl selling the flowers was the best one. All of the others were junk, pure and simple junk.
Eli Manning is one of the best quarterbacks in football.
The pro game is built around having a good quarterback.
The college game is not so much about passing, and a good running game is important in the college game.
The Super Bowl was a good game, very entertaining.
I don’t think you could make a better commercial than the Clint Eastwood one for Chrysler. I loved the Eminem one last year, but this was even better. I’m not a Chrysler guy, but I loved the commercial. Heck, to me it was a commercial about America.
I was actually a bit perturbed about the Chrysler ad, but mainly because Clint Eastwood did Gran Torino a couple years back, where he played a retired Ford worker. But I suppose Ford didn’t need to run a sort of ‘thanks for the bailout’ ad…but that’s neither here nor there. It was a well done ad, and anything that can help preserve some good jobs and maybe bring back more manufacturing capacity…especially into decimated places like Detroit, Michigan, Ohio, and the surrounding rust belt areas is a good thing.
I wasn’t bothered by the logo at all with Eastwood’s commercial. His choice for ‘Gran Torino’ was probably a roll of the dice. Maybe there was some connection with the neighborhoods in the suburbs of Detroit, I don’t know or care. The film could have been titled ‘Challenger’ about a ’73 Hemi model and it would have been the same movie. He could have done a commercial for Cheez Whiz and I would have been as moved as I was. I’ll never own another Chrysler product as long as I lived – been there, suffered through that – but that was one hell of a commercial, just as was Eminem’s last year.
I’ll agree with you on multiple counts CR. I read some of the backdrop to the film, and they originally wanted to do it near the Twin Cities, but movie incentives from Michigan lured them there. The odd thing about the flick was that Eastwood’s character was that he purported to install the steering column on the car, but the closest plant that built the Torino was 2 hours away from Highland Park in Ohio. Good movie, but factually screwy…I would have liked it better had they not had such large plot holes in it (but what movie doesn’t have plot holes a truck could drive through?).
But for Chrysler products, I’ve owned 2 and both were junk…and I likewise won’t do it again. I’ve had great fortune from my Fords, I’ve owned them since my first truck. But oddly enough, my favorite Nacsar drivers were all GM guys…I honestly have no idea what car they might drive now, I haven’t watched a race on TV in years, and the cars all look the same now anyway. At least in the 80′s and some of the 90′s you could tell a Chevy was a Chevy, a Ford was a Ford, a Pontiac was a Pontiac, and then there were the couple folks who ran Buick Regals, which were mighty distinctive too.
But now, Dirty Harry in a Cheez Whiz ad? Now that would be cool. …you’ve got to ask yourself one question: Do I feel cheezy? Well, do ya, punk?