The Dragonator sets self on fire to protest rigged sporting events
"Danika Patrick got a new motor at Phoenix! Heh heh heh."
-The Sports Report, WBCR 1470am, 2 March 2013
Real race drivers can pick up their own trophy, not drown in it
I'm calling bullshit. She only "won" 1 Indycar race in her career (mechanics won it in the pits) as Indycar died and went bankrupt. She has never won a NASCAR race, usually qualifies in 30th position. TV ratings boost!!!!! When I attended a racing school in Daytona back in 1994, the owner/instructor told the class Dale EARNhart never had to put his car through tech inspection at the Daytona 500, which is pre-approved cheating. Dale was raking in $40-million/year or more in advertsing contracts, which NASCAR/Daytona Motorsport Group got a cut of. This was diring a dinner with Mike Joy, the ESPN sports commentator, who agreed with that observation. Looks like GoDaddy Girl is getting the same Don King treatment. Experts say all pro sports are rigged as to who wins the big games, and the teams share the payout so the "loser" teams don't get too butthurt. Pro teams get fined $100,000 after they refuse to play their 3 best players then lose a big game, "because their star players needed a vacation." College is perhaps the same way, including at UT. Gambling, TV advertising and team sales are multi-billion business. I wonder if that was Pat Head's big secret to success?
-The Dragonater
Knoxville News Gatekeeper and Associated Press tell yet another big stinkin pile of crap lie
21 February 2013
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Danica Patrick has won the Daytona 500 pole, becoming the first woman to secure the top spot for any race in NASCAR's top circuit.
Dan Ika lost her boobies -- can you help her find them?
It was the biggest achievement of her stock-car career.
"We have a lot more history to make and we're eager to do it," Patrick said.
Patrick went out eighth in the qualifying session Sunday and covered the 2½-mile superspeedway in 45.817 seconds, averaging 196.434 mph.
She waited about two hours as 37 fellow drivers tried to take her spot. Only four-time Cup champion Jeff Gordon even came close to knocking her off.
"That's a huge accomplishment," team owner and fellow driver Tony Stewart said. "It's not like it's been 15 or 20 years she's been trying to do this. It's her second trip to Daytona here in a Cup car. She's made history in the sport. That's stuff that we're proud of being a part of with her. It's something she should have a huge amount of pride in.
"It's never been done. There's only one person that can be the first to do anything. Doesn't matter how many do it after you do, accomplish that same goal. The first one that does always has that little bit more significance to it because you were the first."
Gordon was the only other driver who topped 196 mph in qualifying. He locked up the other guaranteed spot in next week's season-opening Daytona 500.
"It's great to be part of history," Gordon said. "I can say I was the fastest guy today."
The rest of the field will be set in duel qualifying races Thursday.
However the lineup unfolds, all drivers will line up behind Patrick's No. 10 Chevrolet SS for "The Great American Race."
Patrick joked about wanting to get Monday and Tuesday off, but then quickly realized her accomplishment likely will result in more attention and more demands.
"I feel a scheme coming on," she said. "I feel a plane coming. I feel nervous."
Patrick has been the talk of Speedweeks. Not only did she open up about her budding romance with fellow Sprint Cup rookie Ricky Stenhouse Jr., but she was considered the front-runner for the pole after turning the fastest laps in practice Saturday.
And she didn't disappoint.
She kept her car at or near the bottom of the famed track and gained ground on the straightaways, showing lots of power from a Hendrick Motorsports engine.
"It's easy to come down here in your first or second year as a driver and clip the apron trying to run too tight a line or do something and scrub speed off," Stewart said. "That's something she did an awesome job. Watching her lap, she runs so smooth. ... She did her job behind the wheel, for sure."
The result surely felt good for Patrick, especially considering the former IndyCar driver has mostly struggled in three NASCAR seasons. Her best finish in 10 Cup races is 17th, and she has one top-five in 58 starts in the second-tier Nationwide Series.
She raced part-time in 2010 and 2011 while still driving a full IndyCar slate. She switched solely to stock cars last season and finished 10th in the Nationwide standings.
She made the jump to Sprint Cup this season and will battle Stenhouse for Rookie of the Year honors.
But taking the pole will make her the talk of the town for another week. She also won the pole at Daytona for last year's Nationwide race.
This is considerably bigger.
The previous highest female qualifier in a Cup race was Janet Guthrie. She started ninth at Bristol and Talladega in 1977.
Patrick shattered that mark Sunday, putting her squarely in the spotlight for the next week. It's a position she's comfortable in, evidenced by her racing career, her television commercials and her sudden openness about her personal life.
"I think when pressure's on and when the spotlight's on, I feel like it ultimately ends up becoming some of my better moments and my better races and better results," Patrick said. "I don't know why that it. I'm grateful for it because the opposite of that would be I probably wouldn't be here today, I wouldn't be in the position I'm in. I guess thanks mom and dad. Thanks for the genetics. Thank you for all that.
"I just understand that if you put the hard work in before you go out there that you can have a little peace and a little peace of mind knowing that you've done everything you can and just let it happen."
Comments: Danica Patrick Daytona 500 Jokes Thread
I heard they brought Earnhardt Sr.'s special restrictor plates out of retirement for her. Wink, wink--nod, nod.
Can anyone spell R I G G E D ??
Doubting its the first pole she's ever been on top of...
sitting on the pole
will she have her left turn signal on the whole time?
Checking her oil 
Her tank is now full
Trying to erase the INDY fail by changing to NASCAR.
she acts like a big dumb slut for GoDaddy
hope she doesn't get rear ended to many times
I wouldn't mind hitting her rear end
Does this fire-suit make my butt look big???
The conspiracy mounts. Think about where sports are going. First the NFL with the Patriots winning the Super Bowl right after 9/11. Later it comes out that they were cheating to get it done. Then right after Hurricane Katrina hits New Orleans, the New Orleans Saints win the Super Bowl. Later it comes out that they too were cheating with their bounty program while the NFL turned a blind eye to illegal hits. Now Nascar follows suit. Do you really think that Danica won the pole? Of course not. The clock accidentally started keeping time a few tenths of a second after she started her time trial thus giving her a faster lap time. The proof will be that she will not lead even one lap. Sports have entered the realm of bullshit fantasy. There is no more realism in sports today. Let the chips fall where they may.
Nascar's ratings are sagging faster than a 50 year old biker chick's tits. So they rigged the clocks to put Danica on the pole in hopes of higher ratings. I would rather watch Danica pole dance than sit on the pole, personally. Maybe watching her sit on a pole would also be better.
A good driver based on what? You mean based on her inability to finish a race? Maybe based on her ability to crash a car. The truth of the matter is that she has never won a Nascar race. She has never even come close to contending for a championship. Plain and simple, she sucks. There are drivers who have lost their ride because they weren't productive enough yet are way better racers than Danica. Nascar is bullshit.
She will be guzzling so much fuel this year...I hope they have the catch-can ready.
A catch-can under her chin to catch all the cum she guzzles.
Don't get me wrong, I like Danica. I'd love to fuck her ass and shoot a couple loads down her throat. However, as far racing is concerned, she has no business in Nascar.
I'd love to watch Danica pole dance or sit on a pole. That would be pay-per-view worthy. She needs to stick to what she is good at and that is pleasing a man's cock.
Maybe they can have an in-car camera so that we can watch her shift gears. I'll be she handles that stick like a real pro! I wonder if her pussy gets wet when she gets too close to the outside wall on the track?
Danica might not be much of a driver but she sure is hot. She is hotter than most porn stars and prettier than most Hollywood actresses. What a delicious piece of ass! Yummy!!!
I can't believe all these big belly, toothless shitheads who are claiming only cheating allowed the stunningly beautiful Mrs. Patrick to take the pole because they are so very intimidated by a woman who can drive faster and better than they can. What a herd of gob smacked losers.
Cheating did it, period. You are the toothless idiot. Danica can suck a long hard one. I'll shoot a load up her ass or down her throat. That's about all she's good for.
7 Men Making Danica Patrick Pole Jokes On Twitter
Danica Patrick's the first woman on NASCAR's Pole. Sounds about right.
Danica Patrick first woman to secure a Daytona pole, though many employees of Lollipops Gentleman's Club contest this fact.
Does anyone else feel uncomfortable when major media outlets call Danica Patrick the pole sitter for this week's @NASCAR Daytona 500?
Why does nobody understand why I laugh when they say, "Danica Patrick took the pole."?
I'm sorry I can't resist anymore. It's kinda hilarious that Danica Patrick is the "pole sitter" for the Daytona 500
"So proud to have my daughter on the pole." -- Danica Patrick's dad
Danica Patrick's parents are failures in Chris Rock's eyes. "Keep your daughter off the pole!"
Some of the gags since have cemented the suspicion that of all the sports in the world, Nascar is the one with the brainiest fans.
This comment was removed by a moderator because it didn't abide by our community standards.
21 NSFW Danica Patrick Sitting On The Daytona 500 Pole Tweets
Cannot stand that no-talent cunt Danika Patrick! I hope she 'Earnharts' the wall next week. - Jennifer
by Brian Tuohy
How much of your life have you spent watching televised sports, attending games, talking about sports, listening to sports radio, checking websites for updated scores, and then taking in SportsCenter or another highlight show at the end of the day? How much of your thoughts have been consumed with the upcoming game? How many nights have you stayed awake wondering how your team blew that huge lead? How often have you reminisced about that impossible comeback win as if you played in the game? How much money have you emptied out of your pocket on tickets, DirectTV packages, bets, jerseys, hats, trading cards, autographs and overpriced beers over the course of your lifetime?
What if all of that time, emotion, and money has been wasted on a lie? What if the action on the field isn’t what it appears to be? What if you, and millions others like you, have been duped – outright lied to – by those franchises you hold so dear to your heart, all in the name of making an easy buck?
Well, my friend, it has happened. And although your name might not be “Mark”, you have certainly become one to those running the carnival known as professional sports.
When a win seems too good to be true - it is. When an impossible turn of events changes the course of a game - it is. When the story of an improbable underdog rises to the top like some sort of Hollywood screenplay - it is.
The leagues, hand-in-hand with the TV networks which pour billions of dollars into professional sports, have fixed their own games to squeeze every ounce of drama they can out of each season and to ensure you remain committed to their sport and glued to your TV.
This website is dedicated to shining the light into those dark corners and exposing professional sports leagues and their athletes for the money grubbing hypocrites they are. Some may call these sports conspiracy theories. I call them the truth.
DMG NASCRAP says Mission Accompliced!
DealsGapDragon.com
How do you rate Eslick and the 1200cc Buell's "win" over the Japanese 600s? None of the above 91%. It's a sad and pathetic joke. We are now, officially, a laughingstock. MotoGP World Champion Kevin Schwantz says, "It's interesting to see an 1150 cc winning the 600 class. It's a little bit funny."
The top points scorer in Superbike will cash a $3500 check in 2010 DMG Superbike. Which is the same amount paid to the Daytona 200 winner.
I paused and asked Roger Edmondson, as only one man who has known another man for twenty years can, "What the hell are you doing? Why are you getting back into motorcycle racing?"
From the expression on his face, Roger didn't appreciate my question, but he never looked away. He said, simply, almost sternly, "I have unfinished business in motorcycle racing." He glared at me for a few more seconds and then walked away, I think muttering a good-bye. Later came the still cloaked in mystery "purchase" of AMA Pro Racing and sad events which led to AMA Superbike racing in America devolving into a farce.
Post-sale, a smart businessman or entity might have tried to fuse the racing scene into one will behind them, the rising tide raises all craft approach. Not these guys.
Along the way, Edmondson's comments and the actions of DMG managed to offend nearly everyone but Erik Buell. He told some of the Japanese manufacturers, the ones who had invested to build the championship into one that, at times, rivaled WSBK, that they would now have little say in the running of the series, that DMG wasn't in the business of selling motorcycles (the latter words so unimaginably toxic in today's racing climate) and told the riders that they have the comfort zone of an insect in terms of track safety.
The resulting damage was so vast that there are still people today who are convinced that DMG only bought the Superbke series with an intent to destroy it, to silence those pesky riders, drive away the Japanese factories, to turn the Daytona 200 into some kind of club race, and position the series for a glorious return to Loudon.
If Edmondson really is gone (many people seem to be skeptical that he hasn't just moved to a puppeteer role) then the DMG folks may have an opportunity here for a possible second and very final chance at redemption. Where it should start on this journey is at the beginning.
The AMA should release all details of the sale of AMA Pro Racing assets to DMG. How much money they received, what was purchased and where that money is now. And if the AMA won't disclose this, then AMA members should demand of Rob Dingman, the AMA's President and CEO, an explanation of how the AMA could sell an asset which brought in nearly ten million dollars to the association and then just decide not to tell the members any details about it at all.
Cheat on Sunday, bankrupt on Monday. Buell Motorcycle Company officials thanked the company's customers, employees and dealers for an unforgettable ride, following today's announcement by Harley-Davidson, Inc. that it will discontinue the Buell product line as part of Harley-Davidson's crash business strategy to export US jobs and loot investors.
A wholly owned subsidiary of Harley-Davidson, Inc. since 1998, Buell Motorcycle Company was founded in 1983 by Erik Buell and produced more than 135,000 motorcycles. Over the past 26 years, Buell motorcycles won numerous design accolades and awards, and countless races and championships around the world, including the AMA Pro Daytona SportBike championship in 2009, competing agaisnt bikes half its size.
Buell will continue to supply parts to dealers to support racers who want to go racing next season. However, the racing support program and contingency will be discontinued. Fuck you Eslick.
The news that Harley was dropping two lineups came as the struggling manufacturer also said that its third-quarter income fell 84% to $26.5 million, or 11 cents a share, from $166.5 million, or 71 cents a share, a year ago.
In July 2008, Harley wasted $109 million buying MV Agusta, which will be sold at a massive loss to shareholders, rather than use that money to build a Buell factory. The Italian company produces the F4CC model that sells for $120,000 and includes a wristwatch. Good riddance.
NBA fines Spurs $250,000 for sending four healthy starters home before losing game
BRIAN MAHONEY
Associated Press
November 30, 2012
The NBA fined the San Antonio Spurs $250,000 on Friday for sending four players home Thursday before their game Thursday night in Miami.
Commissioner David Stern said in a statement that the Spurs "did a disservice to the league and our fans" when they didn't bring Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili or Danny Green to Miami for the final game of their six-game road trip.
"The result here is dictated by the totality of the facts in this case," Stern said. "The Spurs decided to make four of their top players unavailable for an early-season game that was the team's only regular-season visit to Miami. The team also did this without informing the Heat, the media, or the league office in a timely way."
Teams are required to report as soon as they know a player will not travel because of injury.
The league's statement said the Spurs were in violation of league policy reviewed with the board of governors in April 2010 against resting players in a manner "contrary to the best interests of the NBA."
After that meeting, Stern said owners had discussed the issue of sitting healthy players but that there was "no conclusion reached, other than a number of teams thought it should be at the sole discretion of the team, the coach, the general manager, and I think it's fair to say I agree with that, unless that discretion is abused."
The Heat rallied late to beat the Spurs 105-100.
Did Tiger Woods Problems Begin When He Befriended Michael Jordan?
The Examiner
By Brian Tuohy
Use your ← → (arrow) keys to browse more storiesNext Streeter Lecka/Getty Images We all know the wheels are falling off the Tiger Woods bandwagon at a record pace. The man has gone from the top of the sporting world to a punchline for a string of bad jokes. His marriage is in ruins, his image is shattered, and his marketability has vanished overnight.
As the revelations and rumors of numerous affairs mount with each passing day, another bombshell rumor—one that is far from being substantiated—has dropped: the story of Tiger's doctor being linked to performance enhancing substances.
What the hell happened to Tiger Woods?
How did a once fan-friendly face become yet another poster child for all that is wrong with modern athletes?
Perhaps, and I write this knowing full well that much of what follows is conjecture, perhaps Tiger's problem began when he became buddy-buddy with the likes of Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley.
In his heyday, Jordan was the NBA, the same as Tiger became the PGA. But Jordan was never a saint. As his reputation and fame grew, so did his ego. He quickly spun out of both the Chicago Bulls' and the NBA's control.
Jordan was womanizing behind his wife's back. Jordan had a serious gambling issue (one that I believe led directly to his first "retirement" that may have instead been a NBA mandated suspension in order to seek help for an addiction). Jordan was, in reality, a first class jack-ass.
But the NBA couldn't touch Jordan. They couldn't afford to. He meant too much money to too many corporations (Chevy, McDonalds, and Nike to name a few). He was the league's meal ticket and came at a time that the NBA deperately needed the attention he brought with each championship won.
The sports media as well refused to turn on MJ. Reporters needed access to him to get their puff pieces written. Jordan was known to kick reporters out of the locker room if they dared question him or show him in any sort of negative light. Jordan played them, and in return, everyone got what they wanted.
Sound anything like Tiger Woods?
So one day, Jordan and Tiger meet up thanks to Jordan's love of golfing. They become friends. Stories are exchanged. And once his divorce was finalized, a single Jordan begins to entertain Tiger.
Then Charles Barkley enters the scene. Barkley, too, befriends Tiger. Barkley himself has some gambling issues (of course, that isn't a "problem" for Barkley because, as he once said, he "can afford to lose $10 million gambling") and other related baggage (DUI, anyone?).
The pair introduce Tiger to the high life. The downfall has begun.
Soon rumors of Tiger's gambling begin. Nothing confirmed, but nothing necessarily illegal either. This wouldn't surprise anyone as Tiger is as competitive as any athlete out there, and its that competitiveness that drives many a gambler to his ruin.
Then the women come into the picture. Jordan, always the player, knows what fame and fortune can bring. Tiger, as we've all discovered, plays along.
What Tiger learns from Jordan and Barkley is how the fame game is really played. Jordan, being too big for the NBA to punish, becomes Tiger's role model. He may think, "if Jordan could do all this and not face any trouble from the NBA or the adoring media, what's gonna stop Tiger Woods?"
What Tiger fails to understand is that the media of 2009 is a far cry from the media of 20 years earlier. Jordan wasn't faced with the 24/7 coverage Tiger Woods now faces. And the PGA doesn't have the pull the combined forces of the NBA and NBC once did.
Tiger quickly learns that what may have been true for Jordan and Barkley, that they were "too big to fail," doesn't necessarily apply to him. But it's now too late. The cat's out of the bag, and Tiger's wrecked because of it.
I don't believe Tiger's not responsible for his own problems, but could Jordan and Barkley been the worst role models for Tiger to have? Could befriending them been the beginning of the his end?
Supreme Court allows NFL, Patriots to legally cheat by dismissing Spygate suit
The Examiner
by Brian Tuohy
The Supreme Court today decided not to hear the appeal in the lawsuit brought by disgruntled New York Jets fan Carl Mayer against the New England Patriots over the “Spygate” scandal. Mayer, a lawyer, was suing the Patriots on behalf of all Jets’ fans, seeking millions in damages for essentially cheating.
By not hearing this case, the Supreme Court not just upheld the lower court’s dismissal of Mayer’s suit, but in a very real sense helped prove that a league like the NFL could legally fix its own games.
What this case boiled down to was this: the Patriots “cheated” by improperly videotaping opposing teams’ coaching signals. They then used that knowledge to win more games. This was something the Patriots’ coaching staff participated in for years, likely dating to when Head Coach Bill Belichick started with the team in 2000.
The NFL finally “caught” Belichick and the Patriots in 2007. Both were subsequently fined: Belichick for $500,000 and the Patriots organization for $750,000 plus a first round draft pick. They have not won a championship since the Spygate scandal broke.
Mayer’s suit alleged that he and other Jets fans had been duped by the Patriots. He argued that they deserved their money back for the games between the two teams played at the Jets’ home stadium, the Meadowlands, because for those seven years, the playing field was clearly not level.
The lawsuit originally reached all the way to the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals. It was here that two revelations were made.
The first was that the Patriots’ lawyers argued that had Jets fans known the Patriots were cheating via this illegal videotaping system, they would have still purchased tickets to the games.
In essence, lawyers for the NFL stated that fans are such suckers for NFL football, cheating or not, they’ll purchase tickets to any game played.
Yet the larger, more important fact to come from the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals was this—as directly quoted from the precendential opinion of Circuit Judge Cowen: “At best, he [Mayer] possessed nothing more than a contractual right to a seat from which to watch an NFL game between the Jets and the Patriots, and this right was clearly honored.”
In other words, your NFL ticket gives you a license to see a NFL game. It doesn’t mean it has to be played by any specific rules, or that the rules must be enforced, or that the game has to be legitimate. If you paid good money and witnessed a rigged game—no matter—you paid to see a NFL game, and that is what they provided to you.
As Cowen also wrote, “Mayer possessed either a license or, at best, a contractual right to enter Giants Stadium and to have a seat from which to watch a professional football game. In the clear language of the ticket stub, ‘[t]his ticket only grants entry into the stadium and a spectator seat for the specified NFL game.’ Mayer actually was allowed to enter the stadium and witnessed the ‘specified NFL game[s]’ between the Jets and Patriots. He thereby suffered no cognizable injury to a legally protected right or interest.”
To make matters worse, Cowen concluded with this: “We do not condone the conduct on the part of the Patriots and the team’s head coach, and we likewise refrain from assessing whether the NFL’s sanctions (and its alleged destruction of the videotapes themselves) were otherwise appropriate. We further recognize that professional football, like other professional sports, is a multi-billion dollar business. In turn, ticket-holders and other fans may have legitimate issues with the manner in which they are treated….Significantly, our ruling also does not leave Mayer and other ticket-holders without any recourse. Instead, fans could speak out against the Patriots, their coach, and the NFL itself. In fact, they could even go so far as to refuse to purchase tickets or NFL-related merchandise….However, the one thing they cannot do is bring a legal action in a court of law. [emphasis in original].”
The Supreme Court upheld this decision. This is just further proof of how the NFL can mistreat its fans, perhaps even fix their own games, and legally get away with it.
Super Coincidence or Super Fixed?
X Factor
by Nick Fruscello
The Super Bowl. Is there a bigger event in sports today? The NFL is the most popular and most successful business in the sports world and their championship game is so popular its watched by millions around the world. It cost $3 million for a 30 second ad during the game. With this much focus and attention being drawn to one particular game, its important for the NFL to "put on a good show". In the 80's and 90's, it wasn't always a good game. There were quite a few blowouts. The Bears blowing out the Patriots 46-10, San Francisco blowing out the Broncos 55-10, then blowing out the Chargers 49-26, the Cowboys destroying the Bills 52-17... I think you get the idea. These games were over by halftime. The Super Bowl was getting to be known as the "Super Blowout". Nobody was watching by the second half and advertisers were not interested in buying ad time during the second half since less people would see it. The match ups were somewhat boring as well. What story was there behind San Diego vs San Francisco? They're both California teams... so what? Dallas and Buffalo... nothing in common, no story. There was hardly any story behind the match ups. Well that was until the 2001 season. Everything then magically changed.
St. Louis Rams vs New England Patriots 2001 - In wake of 9/11, the NFL decided to make the theme of the Super Bowl a "patriotic" one. This was the year of the infamous "tuck rule". Oh you know, that play where Brady does a pump fake, resets, gets hit, fumbles, Oakland recovers the fumble, Brady goes the sidelines and puts his head down, Belichick takes off his headset, Oakland gets ready for a kneel down... but suddenly the refs get together, review the play and say that the fumble was actually an incomplete pass. Uhhh yeah sure... The Patriots were allowed to keep the ball, they score a TD, win the game and then go onto the Super Bowl. The Patriots playing in the patriotic super bowl, what a coincidence! Not only that, but they go on to win with a last second 48 yard field goal. The whole nation (except St Louis) was so happy to see the Patriots do our our country proud by winning the Super Bowl!
Oakland Raiders vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers 2002 - The Raiders old coach Jon Gruden leaves Oakland and takes the head coaching job in Tampa. Less than a year later, wouldn't you know it, Gruden is facing his old team in the Super Bowl. What are the odds of that happening?
Carolina Panthers vs New England Patriots 2003 - The Patriots failed to make the playoffs in 2002, which gave some conspiracy theorists a reason to believe that what they did in 2001 was the work of the NFL especially with the whole "tuck rule" incident. Well that Pats make it back to the Super Bowl and its almost an exact replay of the game from two years ago. Ricky Proehl scores a late TD for the other team to tie it, Vinateri kicks a field goal to win it in the final seconds. Yay for "America's team" again.
New England Patriots vs Philadelphia Eagles 2004 - Not since the 70's Steelers have we seen 3 Super Bowl victories in 5 years. What a story it would be if "America's Team" the Patriots won 3 out of 4. They would be a dynasty and possibly the greatest team of all time!
Seattle Seahawks vs Pittsburgh Steelers 2005 - In this season the Super Bowl location is Detroit. Kind of an odd place for a big game, but not unprecedented, it was there in 1982. Wouldn't you know it though, future Hall of Famer and Steelers RB Jerome Bettis was born in Detroit and he let it be known that this was going to be his last year. What a way to go, winning the Super Bowl in your hometown. Going out on top! What a story!
Indianapolis Colts vs Chicago Bears 2006 - For the last several seasons, the Colts were one of the top teams in the league, but could never quite get over the hump. They had great regular season records and every year you would hear about Tony Dungy possibly being the first black head coach in the Super Bowl. Finally it was he year and wouldn't you know it, he would be coaching against another African American coach Lovie Smith. The two were already very good friends and would make history together by being the first two black head coaches in the Super Bowl with one of them being the first black coach to win the Super Bowl. Great feel good story!
New York Giants vs New England Patriots 2007 - It was discovered earlier in this season that "America's Team" was a fraud. They got caught cheating during their championship seasons and the public was outraged. Outraged that it happened and outraged that the NFL merely gave them a slap on the wrist when they were caught (They also destroyed the evidence of the cheating, which is very odd to say the least). People were starting to say that the cheating was the only reason they won. What could save the face of the NFL and the integrity of the league? Ohhh how about a 16-0 regular season without cheating? Then go into the Super Bowl 18-0 with the chance to be called the greatest team of all time. Unfortunately for the NFL, the Giants won the Super Bowl in the final minute causing the Patriots to go 18-1. But you know what? A team blowing their chance at perfection in the final minute of the last game is a huge story!
Pittsburgh Steelers vs Arizona Cardinals 2008 - When long time head coach Bill Cowher retired, the Steelers had a choice to make. Who do they make the next head coach? Current OC Ken Whisenhunt, offensive line coach Russ Grimm or Rooney Rule candidate Mike Tomlin. The Steelers, of course, went with Tomlin, while Whisenhunt and Grimm went off to the desert in Arizona. Wouldn't you know it, one year later, its Tomlin vs Whisenhunt and Grimm in the Super Bowl? What are the odds, right? Especially since the Cardinals hadn't even been to any type of championship game since 1947. The Steelers win, Tomlin shows the Rooney's they made the right choice and Pittsburgh is known as "Sixburgh".
New Orleans Saints vs Indianapolis Colts 2009 - In the Saints 42 year history, they have never even made it to the Super Bowl. They were the laughing stock of the league for decades. The "Aints", as they were called, only had one good player even worth mentioning and that was QB Archie Manning. He was the lone bright spot on a very dark franchise history. With Hurricane Katrina destroying the city of New Orleans it really is a fantastic story that this city was able to be rebuilt and recover. Wouldn't it be great though if the Saints actually went to the Super Bowl too? Heck, not only would it be great if they went to the Super Bowl, but what if they were to go up against Archie Manning's son, Peyton?! Wouldn't that be an awesome story?!
Pittsburgh Steelers vs Green Bay Packers 2010 - Green Bay's first round pick from 2005, Aaron Rodgers, didn't get to start in his first NFL game till 2008 thanks to the "evil" Brett Favre holding him down. At the beginning of the year, Favre wanted to give it one last go to win a Super Bowl before retiring. However the "evil" Favre wasn't very good, he lost to his old team twice, got injured numerous times, watched his consecutive games streak come to an end as well as his career. Meanwhile, in the city that the "evil" Favre used to dwell, a new hero comes to the light in the form of Aaron Rodgers, the guy Favre was trying to hold down. Rodgers first championship season is also Favre's last year. As Favre's light is extinguished, Rodgers light shines brightly through the NFL world as he offers more promise to Green Bay than the "evil" Favre ever did.
That's a pretty incredible span. 10 games in a row with an intriguing storyline. Half of them were decided by 4 points or less. Only one game was won by more than 14 points. With the exception of the Patriots lost perfect season, all of them are considered to be "happy endings", at least in the minds of the NFL/average American football fan with no interest in either team. A dynasty, history being made, going out on top, former allies matched up against one another. It was quite the decade huh?
I'm not saying that the NFL is "fixing" their games, but its naive to think this is all happening naturally. It went from being just two really good teams playing each other, most of the time it ended up in a blow out, to every game is really close and has an intriguing back story for the media to hype for two weeks prior to the game being played. The NFL needs this game to have it all and for the last 10 Super Bowls, it has. Coincidence or fixed? You tell me.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete