Feb. 4, 2008
CLICK FOR MORE BARCA BLOG – THE ARCHIVE
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 4- 4:14 PM
 |
|
| Somebody wake Tom Petty up for the second half of the Super Bowl. |
I haven’t updated the ol’ blog in a while… so today will be a mix of some Vanderbilt notes as well as my random thoughts of the Super Bowl.
*First, hats off to Coach Balcomb on getting her 300th SEC victory yesterday with a win at No. 14/17 Georgia.
And get this stat… the team currently holds a 5-2 record in conference, Balcomb’s best start in SEC play during her six seasons at Vanderbilt. This really stood out to me, especially since we have a young team and she has had some very talented squads in the past.
Also, another impressive number to chew on courtesy of our WBB sports info wiz Chris Weinman… VU held UGA to 3-for-19 from three-point range Sunday. In the last four games, Vanderbilt has held its opponents to a combined 8-of-62 from long distance (12.9%).
So, congrats to the team on the midseason turnaround and best of luck during the second portion of SEC play.
One final WBB note… if you haven’t purchased your tickets to the home game with Tennessee on February 17, you better hurry up. Tickets are almost sold out, so call 615.322.GOLD or click here.
*It was a good weekend overall for the basketball program, with the men’s team getting back on track against Auburn. In case you missed it on VUcommodores, I posted a YouTube clip of Jermaine Beal’s spectacular half court shot… Click here to see it.. and be sure to take a look at all of the other videos on our YouTube page!
*One of our biggest days of the year on VUcommodores is Wednesday… Football’s official national signing day. Bookmark this page to keep track of everything as it unfolds. We’ll start announcing the names of the signees early that morning, and will carry Coach Johnson’s press conferece live in All Access (free) at 4 p.m. CT that day.
*A baseball note. Saturday’s baseball banquet may be sold out, but we are planning to webcast the event live in All Access at 7 p.m. CT that night. Stay tuned. (Also, we just added a “countdown to first pitch” button of the baseball home page – only 18 days away!).
Okay.. now for my random notes about the Super Bowl, in no particular order.
1) That was an incredible ending and I was thrilled to see it unfold that way. The first three quarters were about as exciting as Tom Petty’s half time performance (I’ll get into that later)… but the final 15 minutes were truly amazing. From Eli coming through in the clutch, to some “no names” making big time catches on the grandest stage, to the Pats defense failing multiple times to kill the final drive… it was truly memorable. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t hate the Patriots. I like Tom Brady and the team, I just have no love for Bill Belichick.
2) Speaking of Belichick, my brother sent me this ESPN article about “Spy Gate” … it’s worth the read and makes it seem like NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has a lot of questions to answer.
3) I think it’s safe to say that the Tom Brady and Joe Montana comparisons cant be put to rest for now. In what was considered to be Brady’s most prolific offense in his four championship games, he could only muster 14 points, easily his worst SB performance.
Since both QB’s have played in four title games, let’s look at the numbers: Montana has thrown 13 TD’s to Brady’s 7, he has 142 more passing yards in 34 less attempts, and the biggest number, he has four rings in four tries which outdoes Brady’s three out of four. Throw in the fact that Montana led the Niners to first half blowouts in two of his wins against Denver and Miami, keeping him from piling up even more stats. Sure, Joe Cool was known for performing under pressure, but he also had the ability to put opponents away early, something Brady hasn’t done. In his previous three SBs, Brady did find a way to come through in crunch time, which is admirable, but to be honest, he wasn’t able to do it Sunday, something Montana would have never let happen.
Okay, enough of that.
4) Kudos to Tom Petty for the half time show. Look, I celebrate his entire catalog, but did he actually make a movement during his performance? Is he really still alive because I couldn’t tell. I love the guy and his music, but it’s a live performance… Do something, Tom!
I really think you could have just played his greatest hits CD over the loudspeakers and it would have been the same thing. He didn’t spice up the original versions, and didn’t try to work the crowd.. nothing.
They should have just played his CD and had a few guys up on stage playing the video game ‘Guitar Hero.’ That would have been electric, my friends. (By the way, I am addicted to that game.. and by gosh, I’m a showman when I play. I don’t care about the accuracy of the chords I hit.. I just care about rocking out, plain and simple).
5) Did you know Frank Caliendo does a John Madden impression? You’d never know it by watching Fox or TBS over the last few years.
6) Carlos Mencia… still not funny. Not even in a beer commercial, which is the cheapest way to get a laugh. Well done, Carlos. I’ve got Carrot Top on speed dial.
7) Speaking of beer, does Jeremy Shockey get a ring for drinking alcohol in the sky box? I loved that camera shot of him during the game with three drinks in front of him.
8) Oh, and congrats to Tiki Barber on his first championship. Errrr, wait.
9) Who decided that Joe Buck needs to be the “funny” guy in all of his commercials? I missed that board meeting. How about a commercial reuniting Deion Sanders and Tim McCarver instead (can we make that happen?)
10) Best commerical? That’s Easy. Nascar’s Carl Edwards and his spot for Claritin.
“Even if you don’t drive a 180 mph like I do, it’s still risky driving with an allergy medicine that can cause drowsiness.”
Nicely done, Carl. Maybe that explains your four “DNFs” in 2007.
11) With everything sponsored throughout the game, I was shocked to see that Fox didn’t take advantage of slapping a corporate sponsorship on the “Peyton Cam” they showed after every play. Did you know he’s related to Eli?
12) Best line of the night goes to my friend C, who predicted New England would win by three touchdowns:
“That was superb. I was wrong and it was worth it. I always liked Boston people better when they felt bitter and unlucky.”
13) Best line from a message board (found by my brother):
“I just realized that Jared Lorenzen is going to own a Super Bowl ring. He can also use it as a cookie cutter.”
Ouch, that’s just wrong. I thought a ring would be better to cut doughnut holes, instead. I should know.
14) One random TV side note… I was really enjoying all of the air time for the Baldwin family.
First, the writer’s strike ended Alec’s run on “30 Rock” for the time being, Daniel just left VH1’s “Celebrity Rehab,” plus it looks like Stephen will quit Trump’s Celebrity Apprentice next week (at least, that’s what I gathered from the preview).
What’s the world coming to? First, the Patriots do the unthinkable and ruin a perfect season, and now this.
15) Finally, the best reason for watching Fox right now is that American Idol is back in full swing. Nothing makes me happier than seeing the audition episodes. They never get old. This clip has been the highlight of the season so far. I will dedicate it to Eli and Peyton… “Brothers Forever”
