Super Bowl XLV Can't Come Soon Enough

It's been 13 years since my favorite football team played in a Super Bowl. In those years, this event has apparently become an insufferable, never-ending hype fest.

For Packers and Steelers fans, Sunday can't get here fast enough to satisfy.

Both teams are practicing indoors in preparation for Sunday's game. This alone has become a ridiculous story, in that the freaking game is being played indoors. Why wouldn't you want to practice inside for a game that is inside? Seems so simple to me that I can't believe the media is making such a big deal out of this.

The Packers and Steelers play similar 3-4 defenses. Dom Capers used to work for the Steelers. Mike McCarthy is from Pittsburgh.

Did you know Brett Favre used to play for the Packers?

Planes landed Monday with the teams on board. Players got off the plane in cowboy hats with jeans on and occasional belt buckles. NFL Network on-air people seemed surprised to see Charles Woodson get out of the Packers plane.

"Oh, there's Charles Woodson!"

Of course, it would have been news if Woodson hadn't been in the plane.

The point of this rant?

Nothing, really. Just pointing out that the media -- largely ESPN and NFL Network -- will make you loathe the biggest event in sports if you allow them to.

I haven't said much about this game for a couple reasons. For starters, I didn't think the Minnesotans who read this blog needed two weeks of reminders about how the Packers are going to take a shot at their 13th world championship. Secondly, I've been trying my damndest to avoid getting too excited about this game before it was actually close.

Now it's close, and I can't stand the hype!

On the bright side, it's close.

That means the hype will end, and the game will be played. Consider yourself guaranteed of one thing: One of the biggest factors in this game will be something no one has given nearly enough publicity to in the run-up. We're all talking about the quarterbacks and the defenses, and while they're important, it virtually assures that someone like James Starks, Rashard Mendenhall, Tim Masthay, Jeremy Kapinos, or Mason Crosby will play a huge role in determining the outcome.

Look at last year. Everyone worried about the Saints slowing Peyton Manning down, and the biggest moment in the game was determined by the size of Sean Payton's stones.

Tebow Bashing Suddenly Stylish

For four years, Tim Tebow was as close to perfect as you could be. He was treated like the second coming at Florida, and his play only justified more and more attention. A Heisman and two BCS titles later, Tebow is preparing to take the next step in his football career.

The move to the NFL is going to prove much bumpier than his jump from high school to college football was.

That said, this is getting a little ridiculous. From Sporting News Today:

Florida QB Tim Tebow’s mechanics have been well documented this week, but his mental struggles were apparen Wednesday. He was consistently late on throws, specifically on deep routes. He struggled to locate receivers at the top of his dropback, and he double-clutched almost every time before throwing downfield, telegraphing his passes.

They're not the only ones.

ESPN's Todd McShay has assailed Tebow on live television multiple times this week, making it abundantly clear that he doesn't think Tebow has a snowball's chance on South Beach of making it as a quarterback.

Really? In January? The draft isn't even for three months!

If you want a voice of reason, just check out the work of Greg Bedard.

Don't pay much attention to the reports ripping Florida QB Tim Tebow. Everyone knew it was going to be a bit a process for him to adapt to the pro game, and it will be. But he has the arm strength, he just needs to tighten up his delivery a little bit and make quicker decisions.

I'm not saying Tebow is going to be a great NFL quarterback. Honestly, I don't know.

That's the point, though. Neither does anyone else.

McShay might sound confident on the air, but he's been wrong before. So has everyone else who has tried to break down players in the draft. It's an insanely inexact science.

So why is McShay so anxious to go on the air and rip into Tebow as a potential NFL player three months prior to the draft, and nearly eight months before he could play in a real NFL game?

It's all about moving the proverbial needle. There is one player in this draft who moves that needle. It's not Terrence Cody. It's not Eric Berry or Sam Bradford, either.

That player is Tim Tebow.

It's a double-edged sword. The attention helps him advance himself as a person, but it also can hinder his perception as a player. The more people break him down, the more work he has to do to build himself up in terms of his football skills.

The insistence on immediate reactions and needle-moving conversations is completely understandable, given the world we live in now. Unfortunately, what we're seeing with Tebow is the byproduct of four years of overexposure and hero worship from a portion of the football media.

Makes perfect sense, frankly, that people would try to tear him down at some point.

GARY THORNE: THE 'OTHER' GREAT HOCKEY VOICE

As I grew into a hockey fan during the 1990s, there were two voices that became synonymous with the game.

One of them is still doing a great job calling NHL games.

The other is now the play-by-play voice of the Baltimore Orioles.

Seems a bit unfair, eh?

Gary Thorne has spent many, many years at ABC/ESPN, and he's kept on as the good soldier even as the Disney properties have decided to virtually ignore his favorite sport. Now, the only hockey he gets is the Frozen Four, which amounts to three games a year.

FanHouse colleague Susan Slusser writes about the Oakland A's as her "real job", and she had a chance to chat with Thorne over the weekend, as the A's hosted the Baltimore Orioles.

"I miss the hell out of it," he told FanHouse when the Orioles visited Oakland to play the A's this weekend. "There's nothing like it, a month and a half of the last man standing."

Not only does he miss it, but it misses him. I love Mike Emrick, the other benchmark of hockey play-by-play. He's fantastic, and I wouldn't trade him for virtually anyone. However, if there was a person living today that I'd trade Emrick for, it would be Thorne.

To me, it would be akin to being a football general manager and dealing Peyton Manning for Tom Brady. How could you screw that up?

For those who may be unfamiliar, here are some of Thorne's greatest calls, starting with the biggest goal legendary Red Wing Steve Yzerman may have ever scored.



Who can forget Mark Messier Guarantee Night in 1994?



Thorne also called the last game before the season-cancelling NHL lockout: Game 7 of the 2004 Stanley Cup Finals.



More recently, Thorne had the honor of calling the Frozen Four final between Boston University and Miami.



Someone get this guy a hockey job, for crying out loud.

ROB DIBBLE: STILL A JACKASS

Some of you may remember former major-league pitcher Rob Dibble.

The fiery reliever spent seven seasons in the bigs, and has been able to cultivate a career for himself in broadcasting.

While co-hosting the old Dan Patrick Show (the one that used to be on ESPN, that is), Dibble made a name for himself by blasting anyone who dared share an opinion about baseball without having played the game at a high level.

Since he got canned at ESPN, I haven't had the misfortune of hearing much from him.

When the baseball season started in April, my free preview of MLB Extra Innings allowed me to discover Dibble working Nationals games. Not surprisingly, he is still a jackass.

ESPN.com columnist Rob Neyer, who was a many-times guest and great friend of my old radio show, noted Dibble's displeasure with a called third strike during Randy Johnson's 300th win last week, which came against the Nationals.

Really, I just wanted an excuse to write about Rob Dibble. For years, I was less than a fan of his work at various networks. So you can imagine my shock, when I realized that I sort of like him in his current role with the Nationals. Yes, he's still a blowhard who believes that if you didn't play the game, you don't know anything about it. But he's got a good voice, he's quite a bit smarter than you probably think, and he's not been pulling his punches while the Nationals have become the biggest joke in the game.

Hardly a cheap shot. In fact, everything Neyer wrote about Dibble and wonderfully competent partner Bob Carpenter was accurate.

Dibble, naturally, went off. He did it on Twitter, as noted by The Big Lead.


I'll admit some bias in this case. Neyer was great to me for a number of years.

However, anyone who knows anything about baseball media also knows that Neyer has been around the pro game longer than Dibble has, and he's written more really good stuff about the game than Dibble could ever hope to read (assuming, of course, that Dibble bothers to read stuff other people write about baseball).

Oh, and most people also know that Rob Dibble is a richard. Always has been, and always will be.

I've never bought into the elitist argument that you have to play a sport at a high level to know anything about it. The fact that one of the best managers in baseball is former journeyman player Terry Francona -- and former small-college player Bill Belichick is one of the most accomplished coaches in all of the NFL -- should help you understand how this works.

Dibble can continue to wage a useless war against good people if he wants to, but since he works for the Nationals now, it's doubtful anyone will pay attention.

EMMITT SMITH APPARENTLY OWED SEX

Via PFT comes this lovely piece of video.

Maybe ESPN doesn't believe in camera cues. More likely, Emmitt Smith just gets so into the music that he forgets what he's doing, while simultaneously not realizing that he's, you know, on live television.