I'm quite proud of what we did...so here it is.

We watched it at church. Our church invited friends and neighbors. We had tons of food and three big screens set up. It was fun. But here's the best parts(and the reason I'm bragging):

1. We blacked out offensive commercials. Yup. We had a dude in the back with his finger on a button. Sunday afternoon, I printed out a list of the commercials in the order they would appear. Because so many commercials are released ahead of time now, we had a pretty good idea which ones to black out... So all the stuff you had to sit through, or hope your kids didn't notice...we never even saw it. Awesome, right? But we did get to see the good commercials. ("Where's the cat?" LOL!)

2. For Halftime - we showed two video clips. (This one about how football points to something much greater, and this one about how Simon Peter experienced grace.) Then for the remainder of halftime we played "Scene-IT" 80's edition. We just played the video trivia questions on the screen and I threw a piece of candy to anyone who got an answer right. It was a blast and far better then whatever you all had to watch. Oh, and I read later about some singer flipping you the bird. I missed that too. :-)

Now for some commentary about those two reasons my watching experience was better than yours...

1. Offensive commercials - This really irks me. The NFL, NBC and yes, even the advertisers are total jerks for this. Can they not imagine when they are designing a "sex sells" commercial that parents might be watching football with their kids (ages 6-12). There were probably (at least, at minimum) a million children watching.

Seriously? Is this what these advertising company employees, commercial writers and directors, and company executives who ordered and approved and paid for the ads would want their own children to be watching? The sheer crassness of this offends me to the bone. It makes me wonder if they are even human. I think that we should all write letters to the offending companies and tell them that their offensive advertising GUARANTEES that we won't ever use their products. And then follow through. Do not support those advertisers. Jerks. I should be able to watch football with my ten year old son without having to cover his eyes.

2. Half-time performers that do something obscene. OK, so MIA or whoever flipping the camera the bird is the first incident since the wardrobe malfunction. It will happen again. And NBC is blaming the NFL who produces their own half-time shows ever since the wardrobe malfunction. (That half-time show was produced by MTV, surprise, surprise.) And the NFL is blaming NBC for not having better time-delay and censorship equipment. It will still happen again. The moron who flipped the bird is getting publicity and name recognition out of this. That benefit needs to be taken away.

I have a very simple solution for this problem. Have all performers sign a contract ahead of time. Think about it. For the performer, this is the single biggest audience they will EVER have. It's a huge opportunity for any singer to sell albums. So before allowing them to perform for half-time include in their contract a "no obscenity" clause that says that if they do anything obscene that they will pay for all fines and costs that their action costs. (for apologies that have to be issued, for FCC fines etc, the lawyers that have to deal with the FCC, the salaries of the guys that have to monitor the delay feed with their finger on the pixelate button etc...) In addition, if they do anything obscene they will have to give 5 million dollars to a children's charity AND 50% of all profit that performer earns for the next 12 months goes to a children's charity. And they will do 500 hours of community service for the children of incarcerated people.

If the NFL and NBC were serious they would do something like that. But they won't. Jerks.

In case you are wondering...

1. I'm reverting back to what my second favorite team was back when I was a kid...and going against my grown-up tradition of rooting for the NFC team or the underdog. I just can't root for the Giants in good conscience. So now I'm all in. Go Patriots!

2. This video and song was recorded early in 1986 as a response to the Chicago Bears Monster Hit Single...the Super Bowl Shuffle. So in this song the Patriots predict that they will beat the Bears in SuperBowl XX. Whoops. Bears won, 46-10.

I figure that unearthing this song and re-releasing it to the world will result in a Patriots victory this time! I mean, come on, Spenser can't be wrong!

In an earlier comments thread I predicted this rematch. I'm not sure who will win, but I'll go ahead and just say the Giants, to balance out all the Patriot-love.

Who do you think will win? Let us know in the comments.

I was 1-4 last weekend, although I didn't mind being wrong on a couple of those.

Grain of salt included, here are my predictions for this weekend's games.

New England over Denver
Houston over Baltimore
New Orleans over San Francisco
Green Bay over New York Giants

I'm still calling a Saints-Patriots Super Bowl.

At this point, I think even the Patriots better be careful underestimating Tebow.

Congratulations to the Broncos. Very few people thought that they would win against the Steelers. I had the Steelers making it to the Superbowl, actually. But I'm happy to be wrong.

I'm looking forward to next week - and fervently hoping for the nearly unthinkable: an AFC match-up between the Broncos and the Texans in Houston in two weeks.

Sports Illustrated has a rundown of some columnists' predictions of the playoff games that start today.

Here are mine:

FIRST ROUND
Bengals over Texans (even though I'll be rooting for Texans)
Steelers over Broncos (even though I'll be rooting for Broncos)
Saints over Lions
Falcons over Giants

SECOND ROUND
Ravens over Steelers (though I always root against the Ravens)
Patriots over Bengals
Saints over 49ers
Packers over Falcons (though I'd be rooting for the Falcons)

CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS
Saints over Packers
Patriots over Ravens (in a very, very tight game)

SUPER BOWL
Saints over Patriots (though of course I'd be rooting the other way)

Obviously if the first round doesn't go the way I'm predicting this weekend, the rest is all wonky.

It is neither a foregone conclusion that the Patriots will win because they're the 10-3 Patriots and are helmed by the game's greatest player nor a foregone conclusion that the Broncos will win because Tim Tebow is Jesus' favorite person. Let's look at some angles, here:

Pro Patriots

Belichick's defensive genius has not managed to work any wonders for the Patriots defense, but it sure has helped him craft offensive strategies against some of the better opposing D's. Broncos' defense is tough, but look for calculated compensation.

The Patriots offense is better than the Broncos defense, and it's way better than the Broncos offense. If it comes down to a shootout, Brady wins. And not just because Tebow isn't a shooter, really, but because Brady is Quick-Draw McGraw. And he's got Welker, Branch, Hernandez, the Gronk, et.al. at his quick-and-dirty disposal.

Also, while the Broncos are slow starters, so are the Patriots, kind of. They sort of slow cook a few drives and then start running up the score around the 2nd to 3rd quarters. So the bad news for the Broncos is that while Tebow is used to pulling out a win in the final quarter, that's about the time Brady and company are scoring 2, 3 touchdowns and a field goal. They're both big finishers, but Brady is more used to putting games away in the 4th than Tebow is to scraping them up out of the pit.

Broncos are riding the Tebow train all the way to rapturetown, but they are due for a loss. The magic can't go on forever. Can it?

Where the Patriots' worst-ranked defense tend to show some chops is against the running game and in the short field. And that's, for the most part, Tebow's offensive deal. Also, the Pats have had previous strategic success against running/scrambling QB's, as when they tore up their established defensive playbook and rearranged in the Super Bowl against the Eagles to keep Donovan McNabb constrained to the pocket. It worked. And it could work against Tebow, since he's not a sit back and spot the passer kind of QB.

Pro Broncos

Their D will do a better job against the Patriots all around then the Patriots D will do against Tebow. Even if the Pats do take that "hem him in like McNabb" approach, Tebow has the knack for making things happen against mediocre defenses. And the Patriots D is worse than mediocre. The secondary is pitiful. While the Pats may show some toughness in the short game, if they do decide to make Tebow pass, he will be poised to have his best success passing in his 8 games thus far against the worst-ranked D in the league. Have I mentioned that the Patriots have the worst-ranked defense in the league?

While the 7-1 with Tebow Broncos may be due for a loss, so are the 10-3 Patriots. If we're just playing the win/loss tides and turns, I mean.

Broncos have the matchup history on their side, as Denver is 4-1 against Belichick/Brady. And they're playing in Denver.

Tebow. God loves him. Aside from his divine favor, he comes alive in the 4th quarter, which is typically when the Patriots defense has gone from bad to worse.

My Prediction

I'm saying Patriots win, but not in a blow-out by any stretch. I'd say 20-10, maybe 27-17, 27-20 something like that.
I guess in a prediction you have to be more specific. I'll say 20-10, Patriots. But if the Broncos win, I won't be surprised for the reasons mentioned.

We're not a sports blog, so I apologize for flooding this place with sports posts the past few days.

That being said, I had to post this: it's been a long, long ten years, but today my Texans clinched the AFC South and their first ever playoff berth. They did it with a dramatic come from behind victory over the Cincinnati Bengals, capped off with a scoring drive led by our third string rookie quarterback. We were also helped by the Titans losing to the Saints.

It was an ugly win, but we'll take it. Congratulations Texans!!!

. . . or this is Divine Intervention baby!

Congratulations to Robert Griffin III, and to Baylor, for winning the Heisman trophy tonight.

My wife went to Baylor and so I've always been a disinterested fan of the school's football team. While we were dating we took in a few Baylor games back in the day and I've always hoped the team would do well. Of course, since eldest son and youngest daughter (and lots and lots of our shekels) started going there, I've become a very interested fan.

Last weekend we went to Waco to watch Baylor play UT. Robert Griffin III had a great game. It's not often that one gets to see greatness in person. Watching RG III play that night as the Bears trounced UT reminded me of when I got to see Lionel Messi play. That was a different sport, but the same display of transcendent talent.

Robert Griffin III is also, by all accounts, a fine young man off the field. My congratulations to him and to Baylor Nation!

From what I understand, Waco is going nuts with joy right now.

Great testimony from Troy Polamalu:

Tebow, Broncos do it again, beat Vikings 35-32:

"I know that I had a lot of help. Offensive line did a great job, and receivers stepped up and made me look a lot better than I really am," said Tebow, who completed 10 of 15 passes, his best percentage as an NFL starter, and posted a career-high passer rating of 149.3.

I'm not sure how long the Tebow train will roll, and I realize the Vikings aren't very good, and that the Broncos barely beat them. But this is really getting interesting.

A thought experiment for you (and perhaps a follow up to Jared's excellent post):

Q. What does God care about?

A. His glory.

I agree with many that thinking God is "with" one team over another in a sporting event is slippery territory. But I am wondering: is it possible that the Broncos winning is increasing God's glory, through the testimony of Tim Tebow?

Again, just a thought experiment. I'm reminded by characters in the Bible such as Joseph or Daniel, who were granted favor in their occupations because of their faithfulness to God.

And, no, I'm not saying Tebow is Joseph or Daniel. But he is a brother who is, from all appearances, remaining faithful and certainly faithfully proclaiming his love for the Lord.

Just wondering. Thoughts?

I like me some Kurt Warner (as a person -- my football loyalties always laid elsewhere, esp. when he and his Rams devastated my Titans in the Super Bowl), but I didn't like his recent advice to Tim Tebow:

I’d tell him, "Put down the boldness in regards to the words, and keep living the way you’re living. Let your teammates do the talking for you. Let them cheer on your testimony."

The idea behind this and other counsel to young master Tebow to lighten up on the Jesus talk is that talking about Jesus turns people off, so one should just be a good person instead. I've now seen both Christians and non-Christians suggest this approach.

There are a few problems with this advice:
1. It assumes Tim isn't already "being a good person."
2. It assumes one can simply imply the gospel with actions and it be understood.
3. It assumes that the gospel isn't offensive, really, but is made so through verbalizing it too much.

All of those assumptions are incorrect. Clearly for Tebow (who I respect and appreciate as a person -- my football loyalties lay elsewhere :-) which is a good thing since even though "he just wins," he's not a very good quarterback (yet?)) speaking the gospel and demonstrating its implications is not an either/or proposition. He rightly understands you cannot do one without the other.

I listened to a guest on Jim Rome's ESPN2 show yesterday say Tebow would commend his message more if he stopped talking about it and simply became a good football player. What all these folks appear to be saying is this: "Tebow turns people off by talking about his message so much." But what my ears hear is this: "Tebow's message makes me really uncomfortable and I don't like it, so I wish he'd just shut up and 'be nice'."

In fact, the Rome guest used the words "shoving it in our face," which is what offended parties often say about people who actually don't shove anything in anybody's face but merely talk most about what's most important to them. Last I heard, Tebow was not randomly showing up at people's homes and workplaces and cornering them with an evangelistic appeal. People are asking him questions, requesting interviews, wanting to hear what he has to say. And what Tebow has to say is directly influenced by the most direct influence on his life. Shouldn't this be true of everyone who claims Christ saved them?

What most of us seem ill-equipped to understand is a public figure so enamored with the love of Jesus he won't shut up about it. May his tribe increase, I say.

Tebow is apparently not the kind of star interested in paying Jesus some lip service when he wins a game or award. He's apparently a guy whose mouth is connected to the overflow of his heart.

The truth is that the gospel is a scandal. I wish brothers like Kurt Warner would factor that into their consideration. That people are blanching at Tebow's Christ-centered words is not because Tebow is offensive but because Christ is.

The truth is that faith comes by hearing, not by deducing through comfortable apprehension of good deeds. An implied gospel is a gospel fail.

(Oh, and that quote often attributed to St. Francis -- "Preach the gospel at all times; if necessary use words"? Yeah, he didn't say that. Or believe it.)

Whither, Vince Young? indeed.

Quaid. Your take on last two Young starts?

Holy Schlamoley . . . what a game!

This guy is defying all the experts. Who would have thought: a 95 yard drive with just minutes to go, and capped off with a Tebow scramble into the end-zone.

Broncos 17, Jets 13.

No, Eli Manning is not in the same class as Tom Brady, or big brother Peyton, or Aaron Rodgers, or even Ben Roethlisberger.

Here's what I think we saw:

Tom Brady had a terrible game. Alas, when giants stumble, and what-not. But a terrible game for Brady still involved coming back in the final minutes to essentially win the game. As in the Dallas game, the Pats needed their leader to stage a nailbiting comeback and Brady delivered. Even when he's off, he tends to end up being the guy who does his job.

In an off game for the greatest quarterback to ever play the game, his biggest mistake was being too good! What I mean is, his biggest mistake was winning the game too quickly.

Enter the Patriots' defense, which despite including the dude who leads the whole league in tackles (Jerod Mayo) is still the defense that leads the league in blowing ginormous chunks. So, what we had yesterday was Tom Brady snapping to life and winning the game too quickly, leaving us to trust a defense that could be improved by replacing everybody with some of those orange traffic barrels to hold back the Giants offense.

And the Giants offense isn't bad. But they're not great. 'Cept they were great yesterday because the Pats defense looks like cats chasing a laser pointer. Want some facts, Jack? Every single other quarterback the Patriots have played against this season, in both wins and losses, had a higher quarterback rating against the Patriots than Eli did yesterday.

What does this all mean? A few things:
Eli did a competent job, but let's not get crazy on this one.
The Patriots defense couldn't stop a nosebleed.
Tom Brady is human? We're looking into this. But yesterday he proved that even when he's off, he can be too on. Amazing.

Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near of which you will say, "I have no pleasure in them."
-- Ecclesiastes 12:1

Ah, youth! I remember, in the prime of my life, overflowing with the confidence and vigor of pure, automatic trust in my teenage athletic abilities, stepping into the huddle of one of our Saturday football games and saying to Mark, our all-time quarterback, "Just give me the ball. I will score." And Mark let loose a beauty of a pass -- few things look and feel so beautiful to a teenage football-playin' boy than a perfectly thrown pass in the dazzle of an autumn afternoon squirmish -- and I on the furious run brought it to safe harbor in my arms like a baby, racing past the staggered defense on skinny wheels, thirty yards, twenty yards -- he.could.go.all.the.way -- ten yards, five yards, touchdown. I did what I said I would, because I knew I could. Ah, youth!

But the evil days come, creeping in inch by inch, day by day, as metabolism sneaks out of the house overnight, easing the sports car out of the driveway and disappearing. Were I to enter that huddle this coming Saturday and speak with honesty, I should say, "Just give me the ball. I will run out of gas ten yards in, pull up with a muscle cramp, and collapse with two high ankle sprains."

I'm trying, really I am. But compared to the halcyon days of youth, the days have come in which I say, "I have no pleasure in them." Things creak when I get out of bed. I don't even know what they are.

Remember your Creator, the Teacher says. Remember him in your youth. Because youth is passing, fading. It is vanity, meaningless, chasing the wind. Even if you're fast, dude. So it is imperative, in the days of vim and vigor, to prepare for later now. Place your lasting joy in lasting things. Enjoy what you've got while you've got it, but set the termination of your affections on the treasure you cannot lose.

If you fail to prepare for later now, you will wind up a pathetic relic to the past. Before you know it, you're not reminiscing but lamenting. Do you wanna be that guy looking up time machines on the Internet and electrocuting your gonads, eating everybody's steak and ruining their lives? Or leaning against the wall of the high school hangout, a total creeper? They're not laughing with you; they're laughing at you, dude.

Ah, youth. Rejoice in it, for now. Rejoice in the Lord always.

Tom Brady played really well last night. In fact, he was brilliant. With Peyton Manning out for the season, he is indisputably the best active quarterback in the world right now (and even if Peyton wasn't hurt that would probably still be true).

That hurt to say. But truth hurts.

[That being said, see the reality check in the comments thread]

The new NFL season is about to kick off. Any thoughts on who will make it to the Superbowl this year? Leave your predictions in the comments.

It might make you feel better. Don't believe me? How about NFL Defensive Lineman Rosey Grier.



FYI - Grier played with the Giants from 1955 to 1962, during which he led the team to a NFL Championship in 1956 and the Eastern Conference Championship in 1958, 1959, 1961 and 1962. Grier was selected for the Pro Bowl in 1956 and 1960, and was named All-Pro at the defensive tackle position in 1956 and 1958–1962. Grier was traded in 1963 to the Los Angeles Rams. He was part of the "Fearsome Foursome", along with Deacon Jones, Merlin Olsen, and Lamar Lundy,often considered one of the best defensive lines in football history.
(Oh, and he also tackled Robert F. Kennedy's assassin. Now if that don't qualify you for the man card, I don't know what does.)


Still don't believe me AND Rosey Grier? Read the post below. If that won't convince you, nothing will. :gcryingsmiley: