All things sporting [3]

I almost turned it off when the Falcons went 28-3 up. That was a spectacular comeback.

My awareness of college football has been mostly peripheral for a really long time, but now that I'm attending a school that has a program (and a FBS program at that) I'm paying a bit more attention. A few years ago Maryland joined the Big Ten Conference, which is one of the most competitive, and because we're in the east division we have to regularly go up against Michigan, Ohio State, and Penn State. I'm sure the sweet TV deal dollars help make up for it though.

But anyway, the season starts with out-of-conference games, and Maryland's opener was on the road at Texas. I wasn't expecting much (and apparently neither were the bookies), but Maryland pulled off a huge upset and won 51-41. I'm reluctant to get too excited 'cause Maryland is far from a football powerhouse but I was already planning to attend a game this semester and it's nice to have reason to feel a bit more optimistic. But I'd still rather attend one of the games where they're not playing Michigan or Penn State.

Can't say I've ever been big into college football. The games always seem one-sided, at least the ones I have watched.

Missed all the Vikings preseason games, but it sounds like they're still having the same problems that they did last year.

So back in January the Cowboys lost to the Packers in the playoffs as a result of giving Aaron Rodgers the ball back with enough time for him to lead the Packers to a game-winning score. Now we play them again and the Cowboys, after doing great at running down the clock during an already eight minute drive, decide to pass on second down in the red zone (stopping the clock since it was an incompletion). They got a touchdown, but they left more than a minute on the clock and, obviously, that was enough time for Rodgers to respond in kind. Did we learn nothing? It's not like the Cowboys defense was playing in such a way as to inspire greatly increased confidence.

Credit to Rodgers for being one of the all-time great QBs, but that was one hell of a boneheaded play call.

If I much watch football, I prefer to watch college ball simply because they are still capable of making mistakes you rarely see in professional players. Makes the game much more interesting. More like a battle rather than a seige.

The blowouts that result from what you describe have been entertaining at times, though generally I prefer more competitive games. And unfortunately Maryland was on the receiving end of such a blowout by Ohio State this weekend, though in their defense the Terps are down to their third string quarterback already. Not like they had much of a chance against Ohio State even before that, though.

I don't mean blowouts so much as reversals. Blowouts are boring.

What a day for World Cup qualifying. It's not like the US are ever serious contenders, but it's still disappointing to not have them go through, especially since we're in an easy confederation (that nonetheless has 3.5 spots). We didn't deserve to go through today, though. I haven't been following the qualifiers for other continents as closely but I was surprised to hear about the Netherlands and Chile not making it through. Especially since Chile was tearing it up in the Copa America Centenario last year.

On the other hand, I'm delighted that Iceland has made it in. They were one of the highlights of Euro 2016 and I look forward to seeing them in action again.

Not a happy chappy.

Vikings are 10-2 now, on an 8 game winning streak (I think). I was too nervous to watch the game today.

Best of luck to the Vikings and I hope you enjoy the rest of the season, bungo! The Ravens might manage a wild card slot but I'm not particularly optimistic for the Cowboys, though I was glad they won on Thursday night.

City won again. Play united next week could be the title decider.

Don't get too confident, I remember 1996 and 1997. (Newcastle fan)

Great win by City. Moaninho crying over spilled milk as usual.

Listen to the guy at the 3min mark. lol.

https://www.si.com/nfl/2018/01/04/super-bowl-52-lii-playoff-predictions

The people in this state NEED to temper their expectations. The Vikings will NOT make it to the super bowl. It has nothing to do with "the curse" but everything to do with this team facing a non-competitive field in the NFC north and winning against mostly weak teams during the regular season. They lost to the Steelers and the Panthers this season. There's a pretty good chance they'll be facing the Panthers next Sunday.

But seriously, if it were the Vikings vs. the Patriots, I don't care if the Vikings have home field advantage, they haven't got a fucking prayer.

This is coming from someone who likes the Vikings. But it just seems like, for most of the fans in this state, they've already won the fucking super bowl.

Eldorion wrote:

Pretty amazing/lucky play. But I still can't believe that that's considered a touchdown. All you've gotta do is touch the pylon, or "break the plane of the goal line." Sometimes I think this sport is such a joke.

edit: I really like that you can slow down youtube. Watching that at .5 and .25 speed is pretty nifty.

I've got 20 bucks on the Vikes not making it to the Super Bowl. We'll see what happens tomorrow!

Never would have known you can slow down youtube otherwise, that's pretty nice.

I've got no problem with this being considered a touchdown since he maintained control of the ball all the way to the ground.

Not looking good for the Vikings. Couldn't maintain the 17 point lead going into the second half, and haven't been able to get any additional points. Even if they were to win today, it spells a disaster against the Eagles, and a humiliating defeat at home against the Cheatriots if they made it to the Super Bowl.

ahahahahahahahahahahaha holy shit

playoffs redeemed

Revenge of the Journeyman Quarterbacks

Early game:



Late game:

It's like the Mile High Miracle all over again. The Ravens were objectively not the better team in that one but the football gods looked down and smiled.

Diggs being from Maryland just makes it even cooler. Good luck, Vikings! As a Cowboys fan I'd root for you against the Eagles anyway, but that was a magical finish.

Also the most bizarre PAT "attempt" I've ever seen. Poor Saints players being dragged back onto the field.

With two minutes to go I got depressed and stopped watching. I didn't watch the first half out of fear, and then seeing the score going into the second half I decided to turn it on. With about 2 minutes left in the 4th I became depressed and turned it off and went to bed. Damn it, should have stuck it out. But as a Vikings fan there's only so much teasing and hurt you can take over the years. Jesus Christ, that second half was fucking brutal.

It's an amazing play, for sure, but what is with Saints player who was about to tackle Diggs? He goes under him? To avoid a pass interference call maybe? I'd say they got really lucky in those last few seconds. It's a good throw, and I'm thinking the original play was to go out for a FG attempt.

All I can take away from this is that the Vikings win when I'm not watching, and lose when I am watching.

Yeah, half the Vikings sideline was yelling at Diggs to step out of bounds as soon as he caught the ball, but the Saints safety who ducked under him (I assume to avoid the PI call, though I think he underestimated how high Diggs would jump too) ended up taking out the cornerback, so there was no one to stop him from sprinting into the end zone.

Luck certainly played a role, but the fact that the Vikings' D was able to shut out the Saints for two and a half quarters made it possible in the first place. Hell of a finish in any event. Much better than the snoozers on Saturday, and after the end of the Jags-Steelers game earlier it was nice to see some competent clock management.