Friday, August 29, 2008

Living in special times

Here's a bevy of links starting with a very fun one from Cold Hard Football Facts (see guys, I can play nice!). They look at why Manning vs Brady is the best QB rivalry of all time. I would have liked to see how Elway and Marino stacked up on the list as well, but I don't remember them playing in the playoffs that often, so it probably wouldn't have rated anyway. No matter who you think is better, everyone from a Southie to a Hoosier will agree that the NFL is better than ever because we get to watch these two go at it. Can you believe that realignment robbed us from TWO Manning/Brady games every year?

ESPN ranks the fan bases. Indy? A middling 16th. I'm not arguing.

Don Banks makes his predictions. Um, don't you need a QB to win it all? I'm not convinced the Chargers have one.

Finally, thanks to my buddy Chad for this oldie but goodie from SNL. It has no relevance. It's just funny.

9 comments:

andyfest said...

Definitely agree with the top 5 (except maybe Philly) and 16 seems about right for Indy. Even during the Super Bowl season they had trouble selling out games until about half-way through the season if I remember right.

I disagree with the Lions at 31. The fans don't have much of a reason to show up for the games but I know a lot of people from up there and they love the Lions and love to talk about 'em. I'd put them in the 11-22 group somewhere I think.

Deshawn Zombie said...

That's not entirely accurate. They've sold out every game pretty easily since the Houston game in 2003.

Still, until recently Colts fans have been notoriously ignorant. I think we've turned the corner in that respect, however.

Bob M. said...

How could CHFF miss the titanic Gary Hogeboom/Bernie Kosar rivalry?

(I just took a stab at the QBs in the playoff game after the 1987 strike year.)

Didn't see whole lotta facts in their QB rivalry writeup--kind of a pansy fanboy piece for them. And maybe one of their least distorted ones! Leaving out Marino/Elway sounds odd. Maybe Marino/Kelly? At least they played twice a year for 7-8 years, no? Maybe in the playoffs too? Both HOFers. Their respective teams' quality probably negated a great rivalry, though.

We ARE lucky, though, and they got that right. If you look back over the years, often there was one dominant QB for a few years, maybe one in each conf; rarely were there two in the same conf for a solid decade, often meeting in both the regular season and the playoffs.

Deshawn Zombie said...

Great call on Marino/Kelly, although if we've already forgotten it, it doesn't really stand up does it?

shake'n'bake said...

Just a heads up on tomorrows draft. I'll be missing the draft for the epic Iowa-Maine showdown. If an odd number of teams show up feel free to boot me. I'll auto-rank real deep so nothing too goofy should happen from my picks.

Bob M. said...

Here's a mildly interesting read "as told to" by Charlie Weis. So Bill B gave Charlie Jr. his Pats apparel to keep him warm in that last game... that explains why I saw two hobos on the sideline.

http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/26406560/

Well, it's nice that there's somebody out there who likes BB as a human being and not just as a coach. But the fact that he needs defending at all is an issue itself. Frankly, my hope is that his coach persona is just a persona and he's a decent, caring human being behind it. But I'd be surprised.

Bob M. said...

Banks's Garrard photo and caption are very funny, but his 6-loss prediction for the Colts is nuts. Donald... which six games do you see them losing? Point them out and maybe indicate a likely score?

Ah, now you're down to 4 losses, eh? Maybe 3? I thought so. Glad I could help you out there.

Next?

Joel said...

I gotta say, I had a bit of a chuckle scrolling through that list of top fan bases, and finally reaching Jacksonville and seeing "Consecutive Sellouts: 0".

shake'n'bake said...

I don't see how Jacksonville isn't last. First and foremost for a fanbase should be filling the stadium on gameday.