UUOTD-Saturday

Today, sadly, marked the end of football season, with today's Pro Bowl in Hawaii. I didn't watch it. Nonetheless, we now have an off-season full of mini-camps, free agency, and the draft. It won't be long until training camps open in August.

Today's last game also continued a trend: ugly uniforms at the Pro Bowl. These may not have been the worst ones the NFL has slapped on these guys. However, these are pretty bad. The watermarks under the front of the jerseys have got to go. They look like most countries' paper money. I don't want to see stars or some tropical design under the front of the jersey. Just give me a number and maybe a team name, and I'm fine with it.

Also, the patches make the uniform look a little busy. We don't need the team name on the front and the logo on the side. We already know what team he plays for. The Pro Bowl logo looks a little like the Survivor logo, but they didn't use brown as the color. The patches on the jersey make it look too busy, and make it look too much like NFL Europe. Which German beer is going to sponsor the teams next year?

Tiki Barber is pictured here in his last game. These jerseys were a cruel joke to play on him.

Not A Bum

Poor Wade Phillips. He has always had to follow in the footsteps of his colorful and famous father, former Houston Oilers coach Bum Phillips. Wade has actually coached longer in the NFL than his father. He also has an above average record as a head coach in Denver and Buffalo.

I applaud Jerry Jones for hiring a coach based on his coaching ability, and not his ability to sell tickets or draw TV cameras. This is not a sexy hire, but this team does not need a sexy name for this hire. This is a coach hungry to prove that he should not have been fired from two NFL jobs, and one that has been successful everywhere he has been. The Cowboys are a team that should be better than 9-7.

I hope this works out. I don't expect a train wreck, but I'm not sure if greatness is in the future.

Ugly Uniform of the Day

Indianapolis is blessed with a Super Bowl champion with cool uniforms. That city is also cursed with a basketball team with ugly uniforms.

The Pacers' duds are simply that: dud. The mustard yellow and pinstripes are putrid. They're even worse on the road, when they have pinstripes on top of navy blue. They tried to go old-school when they moved into their new retro arena. It hasn't worked. The arena is great, but the uniforms are not.

Eye-gouge rating: one

Blech!

The Yanks Are Coming

This week, NHL owners Tom Hicks of the Dallas Stars, and George Gillett of the Montreal Canadiens, announced their intention to buy the Liverpool club of the English Premier League. For those of us on this side of the pond, that is a soccer team. In England, they play football, and are five-time European champions.

This is a big deal. Slowly but surely, American owners are taking over franchises in the EPL. Tampa Bay Buccaneers owner Malcolm Glazer owns Manchester United, the most popular team in the world, and Cleveland Browns owner Randy Lerner has purchased Aston Villa.

This is a good marriage. American money invested in English clubs can't help but improve the quality of the best league in the world.

It's not fair to compare English soccer with pro sports in the US. However, it's a cool thing. I don't know enough about it to have a favorite team. If one of those clubs wants me as a fan, I'm available, for a price.

What's Taking Jerry So Long?

It's slowed down a lot here at the old blog, but Jerry Jones is still looking for a coach.

Today, Bears defensive coordinator Ron Rivera visited Valley Ranch. Tomorrow, Colts quarterbacks coach/assistant head coach Jim Caldwell is scheduled to interview with Jerry.

I think Norv Turner becomes the new coach, with Jason Garrett as offensive coordinator, and Todd Bowles gets promoted to defensive coordinator.

Go ahead and pull the trigger, if that's what you're going to do, Jerry.

Above Zero

Belated congratulations to the Iona Gaels, on their first victory of the season. Last Saturday, Iona defeated Easy Rider, 69-57. There are no more winless teams in Division I college basketball.

Actually, the school is called Rider. Maybe I should call them Red Rider.

Iona is now 1-22.

NCAA Tournament Projections

Latest edition of NCAA tournament projections, based on AP and Coaches polls, and the latest RPI..

San Antonio Regional
(1st-2nd rounds-New Orleans)
1) Florida
16)Central Conn St/Marist

8) Clemson
9) Texas Tech

(1st-2nd rounds-Spokane)
5) Southern Illinois
12)Davidson

4) Oregon
13)Texas A&M-Corpus Christi

(1st-2nd rounds-Columbus)
6) Indiana
11)Arkansas

3) Kansas
14)Vermont

(1st-2nd rounds-Lexington)
6) Notre Dame
11)Maryland

2) Memphis
15)Long Beach State


East Rutherford Regional

(1st-2nd rounds-Lexington)
1) Ohio State
16)East Tennessee State

8) Gonzaga
9) West Virginia

(1st-2nd rounds-Sacramento)
5) USC
12)Xavier

4) Nevada
13)Holy Cross

(1st-2nd rounds-Chicago)
6) Texas
11)Tennessee

3) Marquette
14)South Alabama

(1st-2nd rounds-Winston-Salem)
7) Stanford
10)BYU

2) North Carolina
15)Delaware State


San Jose Regional

(1st-2nd rounds-Sacramento)
1) UCLA
16)Weber State

8) UNLV
9) Creighton

(1st-2nd rounds-Winston-Salem)
5) Alabama
12)Virginia

4) Duke
13)UMass

(1st-2nd rounds-Buffalo)
6) Georgetown
11)Michigan State

3) Butler
14)Akron

(1st-2nd rounds-New Orleans)
7) Vanderbilt
10)Boston College

2) Texas A&M
15)Penn


St. Louis Regional

(1st-2nd rounds-Chicago)
1) Wisconsin
16)Jackson State

8) Villanova
9) Virginia Tech

(1st-2nd rounds-Lexington)
5) Washington State
12)Illinois

4) Oklahoma State
13)Winthrop

(1st-2nd rounds-Spokane)
6) Kentucky
11)Purdue

3) Air Force
14)Oral Roberts

(1st-2nd rounds-Buffalo)
7) Florida State
10)Kansas State

2) Pittsburgh
15)Austin Peay

Super Bowl Musings

Super Bowl XLI is in the books. The Colts held off the Bears, 29-17. This was neither the best nor the worst Super Bowl ever played. This is the first Super Bowl win for the Colts since moving to Indianapolis in 1984.

If not for the opening kickoff return for a touchdown by Devin Hester, the Bears would have gotten their butts kicked. The Colts were a much better team.

The rain absolutely ruined the game. The players were fumbling all over the field, and the spectators didn't pay Super Bowl prices to sit in the slop. Plus, the NFL's corporate backers couldn't have been real happy to entertain clients in that mess. I wouldn't be surprised to see the NFL only award the Super Bowl to domes from now on.

There were a lot of nervous people in Las Vegas. The over/under line on the game was 47. The Colts led 29-17, and had a chance to add a meaningless score during the last two minutes. Coach Tony Dungy isn't going to run up the score on anyone, much less his friend Lovie Smith. So, he went for it on 4th down, the Colts missed, and didn't score. The game ended with the 29-17 score. Those who bet the under won. Those who bet the over lost. It's a good thing I don't bet on football, because I would have taken the over.

Adam Vinatieri now has four Super Bowl rings. He needs one more to tie Charles Haley for the record for most Super Bowl rings by one player.

That's it for now. Congratulations to the Colts. They earned it!