The Sports Guru

**Peyton Manning is not of this earth.  He has to be a cyborg, or at least an alien from another planet.  Has any player, in any sport, ever, been less happy about winning a championship?  I just rememeber the sheer joy and elation on John Elway’s face when he won his first title.  Yea, it did take John alot longer, but still, a subtle fist pump and a smile.  That was it.  Then yesterday during the ‘party’ in the RCA dome Manning barely raised his voice in conjoling the crowd.  What happened to a Mark Madsen-esque dance, or the horrible rap last season by some no name Steeler?  He just cannot be human to have that little of a reaction towards winning that elusive title.  Rumor has it Peyton was studying film in preperation for next year after the game….

Calm down, Peyton, it’s just the Super Bowl

**With apologies to Ravens and Steelers fans everywhere, Bob Sanders is the best safety in football, period.  Just look at the way the Colts’ defense playes with and without Sanders in the lineup.  The Colts D doesn’t have to play at an elite level for Indy to have success and with Sanders they are good enough to get it done.

**Speaking of safeties, congrats to John Lynch for winning the Bart Starr Award.  The award goes to a player who best exemplifies great character and leadership off the field.  A deserving honor for Lynch, who has found new life in Denver after being dumped by Jon Gruden in Tampa.  On a down note, if the Broncos are committed to Lynch again next season an upgrade is needed on the other side, where Nick Ferguson just isn’t getting it done.  Lynch is still effective at the line of scrimmage, but is a liabilty in coverage.  Ferguson plays a similar style, which puts alot of pressure on the corners.  The Broncos need to draft, or pick up in free agency, a safety with great cover skills to sure up the defensive back-field.

Congrats to Lynch, though the Broncos need to upgrade

**The ratings are out, and Super Bowl XLI was the third most watched television show ever, falling behind the finale of M.A.S.H. and Super Bowl XXX between Dallas and Pittsburgh.  It’s not surprising, since Chicago is one of the largest T.V. markets, and the Bears have one of the largest fan bases in sports.  Ironically, the most ‘TIVO’d’ moment of the game was a Bud commercial.  Priorities, people, priorities.

**A Guru Hat Tip to the NFL for getting it right.  Rumor has it the league is going to institue a new rule making players that are suspended for steriods ineligible for the Pro Bowl.  The ‘Merriman Rule’, as I will call it, should be annouonced sometime in March.  All parties seem to be in agreement that celebrating the season of a player caught cheating is the wrong message to send.  I applaude the NFL for once again being ahead of the curve when it comes to doing what is right.

Next year, cheater’s like Merriman won’t be in Hawaii

**The best 7 hours in radio have to be Mike and Mike in the Morning followed by Colin Cowherd on ESPNRadio.  Golic and Greenberg have developed a chemistry and raport seldom seen anymore on radio becuase it take time to obtain.  The two have been together since 1999 and are still going strong.  Cowherd, who replaced Tony Kornheiser two years ago is brash and opinionated, but his take is fresh becuase it goes against the East Coast bias that is so prevalent in national sports talk.  If you are getting a bit tired of the Jim Rome gig, take a listen to Cowherd, you won’t be disappointed.

Technorati Tags: Peyton Manning, Super Bowl XLI, Shawne Merriman, John Lynch, Mike and Mike in the Morning, Colin Cowherd

photos courtesy of NFL.com and DenverBroncos.com

If you are already going through NFL withdrawl(sure, the Pro Bowl is still to come, but come on…)fear not, because the odds-makers have published their favorites to win Super Bowl XLII in Arizona next year.The Chargers and Colts lead the way at 6-1, while our beloved Broncos check in at 15-1.  The Bears are the favorite NFC team, at 8-1.

Looking for a long shot??  An amazing 8 teams, including the Browns, Raiders and Texans sit at 100-1 in early wagering.  Here is the entire list –

San Diego Chargers  6-1  
Indianapolis Colts 6-1  
Chicago Bears  8-1  
New England Patriots 8-1  
Baltimore Ravens  12-1  
Cincinnati Bengals  15-1  
Dallas Cowboys 15-1  
Denver Broncos 15-1  
Philadelphia Eagles  15-1  
Pittsburgh Steelers 15-1  
Carolina Panthers  18-1  
New Orleans Saints 20-1  
Seattle Seahawks 20-1  
New York Giants  25-1  
New York Jets  30-1  
Jacksonville Jaguars 30-1  
Kansas City Chiefs 30-1  
Miami Dolphins  40-1  
Tennessee Titans  40-1  
Washington Redskins  50-1  
Arizona Cardinals 50-1  
Atlanta Falcons  50-1  
Buffalo Bills  50-1  
St. Louis Rams  50-1  
Cleveland Browns  100-1  
Detroit Lions 100-1  
Green Bay Packers 100-1  
Houston Texans 100-1  
Minnesota Vikings  100-1  
Oakland Raiders  100-1  
San Francisco 49ers 100-1  
Tampa Bay Buccanneers  100-1

Technorati Tags: Super Bowl odds

A new thing I am going to do here at the MHR.  Every day I will have a few things I know are true, a feature I’ll call <b>”Guru Truisms”</b>, tidbits from the day before in the world of sports that form truths in my head about football, and the sports world in general.  Hey, we need something to help us get through the abyss that is the NFL off-season…Here are a few of these truisms after a sloppy Super Bowl XLI.

– The only time the people were quiet at the party I was at was during the commercials.  What a disappointment they were, by the way, and if I had to pick a “winner” it would go to GoDaddy.com.  Anytime there is a hot chick getting blasted with water by other hot chicks they win.

– Not to pat myself on the back, but once again I nearly nailed the final score, and was right one target about Rex Grossman.  In the biggest moment of his life he came up awfully small.  He was off target all night and his two fumbled snaps were completely unacceptable.  Tell me again which team plays outside in Chicago and which team plays in a dome, because I couldn’t tell.<br>

– Is it just me, or would Thomas Jones look great with a horse on the side of his helmet next season?  I don’t know what the Bears are going to end up doing about their running back situation, but it is a safe bet the odd man out WON’T be the #4 pick in the draft a few years ago.  If Jones is available I would seriously think about trading my 2nd Round pick to get him, similar to Javon Walker last season.

– A Guru Salute to Prince, who put on the best halftime show I have seen in quite some time.  In the rain, with pyrotechnics going off everywhere, and a marching band, his performance was flawless, and was nothing less that I would expect from a Rock icon.  On a side not, it was nice to see someone from the United States perform at our biggest sporting event’s half time show.  No offense to Paul McCartney, the Rolling Stones or U2, but we do have some legendary musical talent from this country without lining up Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson.  Nice job to the NFL to get someone who is mature enough for the stage while still being relevent to the music scene.

– I caught about 3 minutes of the pre-game, and immediately turned it off when it was a feature on Boomer Esiason and Shannon Sharpe getting a ride with the USAF Thunderbirds.  What the hell do the Thunderbirds have to do with the Super Bowl?  Sure, I know the “pre-game” is just a function of the network’s attempt to recoup the ransom the NFL charges for rights to it’s games, but come on.  There has to be something relating to the game that they can cover, like Rex Grossman’s mother’s favorite hobbies.

– I really don’t like the Colts that much but I can’t help but feel good for Tony Dungy.  Here’s a guy that does it right and has his whole career.  Watching him celebrate after everything he has been through the past 12 months brought a smile to my face.  I would love to say the same for Peyton Manning, but because his family is so damn annoying I can’t bring myself to do it.  Dammit Archie, just go away.

– We discovered a new sports phenominon so far in 2007.  To get “Ginned” is the act of running back the opening kickoff for a touchdown in a championship game before getting thoroughly dominated the rest of the way.  Named after Ted Ginn, Jr, whose run back against Florida ended with a foot injury during the celebration, and opend the can of whoop ass that was to follow.  Last night it was Devin Hestor, who electrified with his 97 yard return.  Two “Ginn” jobs in less tha a month, impressive and it has to be some sort of record.<br>
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–How great was it to see a Super Bowl game played in bad weather?  I mean, to me this opens up a Pandora’s box of possibilities.  When I awoke this morning the thermostat in my car read minus-4 degrees.  Think about it, a Super Bowl in frigid temperatures.  I think all 32 cities should be free game to go after this game.  It just felt more like a football game when two teams from the upper mid-west were battling it out on a sloppy field.  Nice to see the uniforms get dirty for once.

Photos courtesy of NFL.com

Technorati Tags: Super Bowl, Indianpolis Colts, Chicago Bears, Tony Dungy, Rex Grossman, Devin Hester, Ted Ginn

Here it is, a cleaned up, slimmed down SportsGuru.com.  I hope you like it.  Upgraded to the latest version of Wordpress, the site is more stable, and more visually appealing in my honest opinion.  What do you think?  Contact me and let me know at TheGuru@thesportsguru.com!