Say Cheese !

These are the moments that I treasure the most ....

The "fill in the blank" Bowl

Two nights ago, the New York Giants beat the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLVI. One Hundred Eleven Million people watched the game. Here are a few problems I have with the Super Bowl ...

• The name. We call it Super, even before it's played. A dozen or so of these games have been Super, but a lot of them have less than that. The game I watched Sunday was only "Super" for about 3 minutes ...
• The halftime show. I've only really liked three of them (U2, McCartney and Prince). Would it be ok if we talked, I don't know, football, during the halftime show, and air Madonna's performance on VH1 Classic or MTV2.
• The roman numerals. Let's stop numbering the game altogether. By numbering the games, the NFL is pretty much ignoring any champions that were crowned between 1920 and 1965.

If it were up to me, next year's scheduled game would be referred to as the 2012 NFL Championship Game instead of Super Bowl XLVII. And at halftime, we would leave the 80's pop stars in the Nice Price bin at Best Buy, show highlights of the first half, and give analysis of the second half.

I understand it's a chance for advertisers to reach out to over 100 million potential buyers, and I think that can still be done with all the commercials that are paid for, but I think it's time the focus go back to the game, and use the game to celebrate the league's rich history. The Cleveland Browns have never even made a Super Bowl, but did you know that they have won more NFL Championships than the Patriots?

2011 NFL Predictions

My apologies, these are three days late ....

I think the lockout will have a major effect on the quality of play this year. In my opinion, despite the excitement of seeing the Packers win the Super Bowl, I thought the play on the field in 2010 was poor (tackling, QB play), the officiating was bad, and the overall product was sometimes unwatchable. Expect to see more of that this year, especially early in the season. With that being said, I'm still excited for the season to start. Take these predictions with a grain of salt (don't know what that means), but I've only seen about 20 minutes of pre-season football this season.

NFC East

1) Eagles

2) Cowboys

3) Giants

4) Redskins

Expecting another big year from Vick (and no, not just because I own him in the Fugazzi). The Cowboys and Giants will be competitive, and the Redskins have maroon and yellow uniforms.

NFC North

1) Packers

2) Lions

3) Vikings

4) Bears

I think the lockout will have minimal effect on the teams that made few changes in the offseason, and keep in mind, the Packers have a 2nd place schedule. They may win 13 games. The Lions are on their way up, and Vikings won't be as bad as last year, and the Bears won't be as good as last year. Still will be a good division.

NFC South

1) Falcons

2) Saints

3) Bucs

4) Panthers

The Falcons will be solid, the Saints will be solid, I can't figure out the Bucs, and the Panthers will be terrible.

NFC West

1) Rams

2) Cardinals

3) 49ers

4) Seahawks

This division will be bad again, but I'm predicting the division winner will have 9 wins, instead of last year's 7.

AFC East

1) Jets

2) Patriots

3) Dolphins

4) Bills

The Jets and Patriots will be atop this division for awhile.

AFC North

1) Ravens

2) Steelers

3) Browns

4) Bengals

I think my Browns will be competitive, but I'm not ready to have them pass up the Steelers and/or Ravens yet. The Bengals will be the worst team in the league.

AFC South

1) Texans

2) Colts

3) Titans

4) Jaguars

I have absolutely no feel for this division whatsoever.

AFC West

1) Chargers

2) Chiefs

3) Broncos

4) Raiders

Chargers ..... and everyone else.

So .... the eight division winners will be the Eagles, Packers, Falcons, Rams, Jets, Ravens, Texans and Chargers. My pick for the four wild cards will be the Lions, Saints, Patriots and Steelers. You heard it here first. Lions, and no Colts.

NFC Playoff predictions

#3 seed Falcons over #6 seed Saints

#4 seed Rams over #5 seed Lions

#1 seed Packers over #4 seed Rams

#3 seed Falcons over #2 seed Eagles

#1 seed Packers over #3 seed Falcons for NFC Championship

AFC Playoff predictions

#6 seed Steelers over #3 seed Texans

#5 seed Patriots over #4 seed Chargers

#1 seed Ravens over #6 seed Steelers

#2 seed Jets over #5 seed Patriots

#2 seed Jets over #1 seed Ravens for AFC Championship

My Super Bowl Prediction

Packers over Jets, 27-17

Draft Day

Tomorrow is my favorite day of the year, or at least one of them. At noon, I will be hosting the 19th Fugazzi Fantasy Football League draft, and then tomorrow night, we will get together for the 4th annual Son of Fugazzi Fantasy Football League draft at Buffalo Wild Wings in West Allis.

Why, after 18 years, do I still get excited for essentially a kid's game ? It really has nothing to do with football, or the money that's on the line. It's the comradery. It's the idea of sharing a common interest with your best friends. 14 people, all with the same goal, and all the fun that comes with it.

When I started this in 1993, and for the next 15-16 years, I would prepare like crazy for draft day. I'd buy all the books. I'd take a ton of notes. I'd even dream about the goddamn thing. That stopped in 2009. And guess what happened? I won it all, for the first time ever. I would stress about drafting the perfect team, create charts, second guess myself, and nothing ever came of it. But in 2009, I did none of that, and won a championship. Ever since then, I've done nothing to prepare for the draft, but recall all the great draft day memories, and all the fun we've had following our teams the past 18 years.

I'm 35 now, and I've been following the league a long time. I know the players. I have a short list of sleepers, but the days of extensive research are over. Now, it's time for me to draft on my gut feeling, and enjoy the process.

This league is about getting together with Mike Moser and his son on a Sunday afternoon. This league is about Nick Korth talking smack. This league is about The Brothers Fefer putting their heads together to win another title. This league is about Tom Hnasko reminding me that I was an idiot in 1993. This league is about Jamie and Pat. This league is for my friends, and this league will be my daughter's league.

I never get enough sleep the night before. I hope that never changes.

OK, the Hall of Fame

OK, here's the thing ...

Everyone is stunned that I don't watch MLB's Hall of Fame ceremonies. This won't take long to explain. It's pretty simple, really.

I plan to take my family there one day. I can hear the questions now. "Daddy? Who has the most home runs all time?" Barry Bonds. "Let's go see his plaque." He doesn't have one. "Why?" He took steroids. "Well, who had the most hits of all time?" Pete Rose. "Can we see his plaque?" He doesn't have one, either, because he bet on baseball while he was a player and a manager.

Look, the Hall of Fame is a museum, and whether these guys belong in the hall can be debated all day, but they need to be represented in the museum. Not putting Bonds and Rose in the Hall of Fame is somewhat like denying that they even played. The bottom line is, Bonds was a hall of famer before he started juicing. He was an idiot, he cheated the game, but he's a hall of famer. When you create his plaque, say he took steroids, and that explains how a guy who never hit more than 47 homers somehow hit 73 in 2001, but put the guy in the museum, already. Same with Rose. Engrave the words "banned for life for gambling" on his plaque, but Rose is a hall of famer.

It's not the Hall of Clean, the Hall of Good, or the Hall of Values. We should put the best players on display, and tell their stories. Cobb was a racist dick. Ruth a fat drunk. All of these characters make up the fabric of this wonderful game.

And Bert Blyleven ? In my opinion, he's a hall of famer, but goddamn, if you've missed the cut 14 times, and finally make it, have you really made it ? What if they revoted the guys that made it every year, and if they miss one year, they take them out of the hall ?

The Hall of Fame voting should happen once. You're either a hall of famer, or you're not.

So, that's why I don't watch.