Tough to believe the season we love is coming to an end. The book will shortly close on NFL 2008, but before we turn our attention to Spring Training, March Madness and The Masters we’ll look back on the best and worst of another memorable season.
Pro Bowl weekend always brings joy to one victorious Logger and this year that honor goes to
Brian King, the 2008-09 Tom LOGbardi Trophy winner. From day one, BK came out of the gate strong, entertaining all of us with his quips and knowledge. The ’09 LOGbardi (an official Super Bowl XLIII Game Ball) will soon be sent to Chi-Town, where Brian will undoubtedly display it prominently on his mantle.
Without further ado, we present the best and worst from this campaign:
Best Game: I’ll go with the Atlanta’s 22-20 win over Chicago in Week 6. Every sign in Georgia was pointing to a Bear win as they took a 20-19 lead with 11 seconds to play. An out-of-bounds kickoff, a
Matt Ryan to
Michael Jenkins pass and a
Jason Elam field goal later, it was a two-point Falcon win that cost my Mom almost $500 because she had Atlanta in a 19-pool. So it may not have been
Grey Momma’s best game, but it was mine.
Worst Game: I go off the board here and select the Sun Bowl between Oregon State and Pittsburgh. Any game that finishes 3-0 or less gets this award, so if you know of any others from any other level of football, feel free to let me know. Until then, the Beavers take the pie for first place.
Best Story: As a fan of karma, I thought it was great to see the Chargers crush the Broncos in Week 17 and clinch the AFC West. After
Ed Hochuli’s botched call lost the game for San Diego in Week 2, it was only right.
Worst Story: While losing
Tom Brady on the first series of the year put a little damper on the Patriots season, the unfortunate over-proliferation of handguns is an issue that needs to be addressed. Jacksonville's
Richard Collier was attacked after leaving a nightclub, a clear indication he was hanging with the wrong crowd.
Plaxico Burress popped the Giants balloon in November when he
Cheddar Bob'd himself in the Big Apple. Somebody please do something!
Best Play: The Super Bowl game-winner from
Ben Roethlisberger to
Santonio Holmes gets the nod here. Setting, scenario and skill puts it to the top of the list and makes Holmes an MVP.
Best Cheerleaders: Take your pick, but I still lean toward the Redskins.
My Best Experience at Ford Field: Leaving the stadium after the Lions dropped to 0-15. Having to watch that team play in person ten times was quite possibly the most painful experience of my life.
My Second Best Experience at Ford Field: Watching the Lions/Buccaneers game with Super Bowl XXII MVP
Doug Williams. He was always one of my favorite players, from his days at the Bucs, to his time under center with the Oklahoma Outlaws and the Redskins. He’s a burly, friendly guy. When the Lions jumped out to a 17-0 first quarter lead on Tampa, I assured him all was okay by saying, “This is the Lions, Doug.” He responded, “You’re right.”
Best Post-Game Tirade: While
Rod Marinelli puzzled us with troubling analogies and personally called me out for not being qualified to question the effectiveness of the Tampa Two defense, this honor goes to
Mike Singletary. “I will not tolerate players who think it’s about them when it’s about the team… I would rather play with ten people and get penalized all the way until we gotta do something else than play with 11 when I know one of those people doesn’t want to be a part of this team. It is more about them than it is about the team. Cannot play with ‘em. Cannot win with ‘em. Cannot coach with ‘em. Can’t do it. I want winners. I want people that want to win.”
Biggest Disappointment for the LOG Editor: Not enough feedback from my readers. I need to address this issue moving forward and will have a better forum for conversation and discussion in 2009-10. Wow… will it really be 2010 next year?
Happy Birthday to
Barry Cutler, Louisa Moller, Cole Stanton, John Garofalo, Heather Fay Dawson and
Gary Coleman, who turns 41 this Sunday.
Have a great offseason and we’ll see you again in September!
Tommy L.
