I’ve always thought Franco Harris was wildly overrated as a running back, but he was a four-time Super Bowl champion so there’s that. RIP Franco Harris RIP Franco Harris The immaculate reception happened 50 years ago this week. pic.twitter.com/T9FXJPvs3y — McNeil (@Reflog_18) December 21, 2022 Read more →
EppsNet Archive: Super Bowl
Which is More Important — Education or Super Bowl LVI?
Schools in Inglewood, CA shut down completely for more than 400 days due to COVID-19, eventually reopening in a “hybrid” model of in-person and distance learning. Kids can be deprived of an education, but in February 2022, Los Angeles will host Super Bowl LVI, mashing more than 100,000 ticket-holders together (plus I don’t know how many ushers, food vendors and other support staff) in a mostly enclosed Inglewood, CA stadium. Draw your own conclusions. Read more →
My Boyhood Sports Icons Are Dying: Jake Scott
Jake Scott was a free safety best known for his work with the Miami Dolphins. Scott was a key member of the 1972 Dolphins’ undefeated season, and the championship teams of Super Bowl VII and VIII. He was a legendary closer and finisher, a punishing tackler and a superb pass defender. He had 35 interceptions in six seasons with Miami, most in team history, and also holds the career interceptions record at the University of Georgia. Scott was a five-time Pro Bowl selection, twice a first team All-Pro and was voted MVP of Super Bowl VII, a 14-7 win over the Washington Redskins in which he had two interceptions. RIP Jake Scott Read more →
My Boyhood Sports Icons Are Dying: Jim Kiick
Jim Kiick was a running back, primarily with the Miami Dolphins, from 1968 to 1977. He played in three Super Bowls, winning two, and scored the decisive touchdown in Super Bowl VII, a 14-7 victory over the Washington Redskins that capped off an undefeated 17-0 swason. He is the Dolphins’ fourth all-time leading rusher. Kiick had been suffering from dementia and living in an assisted care center for several years prior to his death. RIP Jim Kiick Read more →
More People I’m Sick Unto Death Of: Second-Guessers
I spent my lunch hour listening to co-workers second guess the Panthers offensive play-calling in yesterday’s Super Bowl. I don’t like second-guessers, for a couple of reasons. Once a game is over, it’s easy to say the team that lost should have done something different. Feel free to advance any theory you want since there’s no way to wind back the clock and falsify it. It’s like taking a test when you already know the answers. It gives you an opportunity to make yourself sound smarter than the people who had to take the test without knowing the answers. What are the odds that someone with his fat ass parked on a sofa watching the game really came up with a better play-calling strategy than the coaching staff of a team with 17 wins and 1 loss? Read more →
Super Bowl 50: The Cam Newton Karma Game
You probably know people like Cam Newton, co-workers maybe, who like to call attention to themselves — Look at me! Look what I did! — and like to rub your nose in it when things aren’t going well for you. I don’t like people like that. I don’t think a choreographed activity has to take place every time you make a first down. I saw a game this year where Newton threw a screen pass to a receiver, who ran 50 yards with it for a touchdown. Newton ran all the way to the end zone to perform a choreographed celebration, not with his teammates, but standing all by himself. Look at me! And he really hadn’t done anything. He threw a screen pass. He came out for Super Bowl warm-ups wearing gold cleats. Look at me! I’m wearing gold cleats! After the game, he ungraciously answered a handful of… Read more →
Yes, I’m Ready for the Big Game!
People keep asking me, “Lightning, are you ready for the Big Game?” OF COURSE I’M READY FOR THE BIG GAME! Look at me … how could I be any more ready than I already am?! P.S. Wake me up if there are any pug commercials this year. — Lightning Read more →
The 12th Man
The home crowd of the Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks is known as The 12th Man. Isn’t this awfully sexist? Doesn’t it marginalize female Seahawk fans? Wouldn’t The 12th Person be a more appropriate appellation? I’m surprised there isn’t more outrage over this. It seems like the kind of thing that someone should be really bent out of shape about. Read more →
Replacement Refs Are Just What the Sport Needs
I hope the NFL keeps replacement refs around forever. I hope they bring in a new batch of them every season. I hope they bring in replacement refs for the replacement refs. Why do people think the “real” refs are actually good? Was last night’s Seattle-Green Bay game really worse than the “Tuck Rule”? Was it worse than 2006 when the “real” refs cost the Seahawks the Super Bowl? Sports fans are the biggest cretins on the planet. When their team wins, they gloat, usually in the first person: We won! We beat those guys! There are no bigger mental and emotional retards than people who refer to sports teams in the first person. It’s an inability to separate fantasy from reality. (Imagine a Roger Federer fan screaming, “I just won Wimbledon!” When ther team loses, they blame it on one of two things: 1) Bad coaching; 2) Bad officiating.… Read more →
Saints 31, Colts 17
OK, but I’m more of a college football fan so here’s a picture of Reggie Bush at USC: Read more →
EppsNet Music Review: Springsteen Halftime Show
What year did Asbury Park come out — 1973? Man, that was a great album. So Springsteen must be what now — 60? He looks great, with his hair transplants and cosmetic surgery, shilling his new album on the Bridgestone Halftime Show. Bruce Springsteen — authentic blue-collar friend of the American working man! I couldn’t even watch it . . . Read more →