5 Minutes for Blogging, Jan. 4
I trust that everyone is having a nice weekend…
1. KURT WARNER STRENGTHENS HIS HALL OF FAME CREDENTIALS: In Arizona’s 30-24 victory over Atlanta Saturday in an NFC Wildcard game, Warner passed for 271 yards and two touchdowns and took another step closer to Canton. It was fun to watch Warner perform on the postseason stage for the first time in nearly seven years — specifically this was his first game in the NFL tournament since Feb. 3, 2002, when the Rams lost to New England in the 36th Super Bowl. It was the eighth postseason game of Warner’s career, and he boosted his Hall of Fame case.
Some numbers:
* Warner is 6-2 as a postseason starter.
* Among the QBs who have started a minimum eight postseason games, Warner’s average of 311.5 yards passing per games ranks No. 1. Those postseason numbers, provided by STATS LLC, only go back to 1970.
* Among QBs who have started a minimum of eight postseason games, Warner’s passer rating of 92.5 ranks second only to Joe Montana (95.6) since 1970.
* Among those with at least eight starts, Warner ranks fourth in yards per attempt (8.31), fifth in completion percentage (62.7) and sixth in the percentage of passes that go for touchdowns (5.7).
* Warner still holds the record for most yards passing in a Super Bowl (414) and was the MVP of Super Bowl 34. The bottom line: Warner has been one of the best postseason performers of his era. Or any era, actually.
2. UTAH SHOULD BE NO. 1: It won’t happen, of course, because voters go for the brand names, the BCS conference kingpins, and they’re just waiting to crown the winner of Florida vs. Oklahoma. The Utes are from the Mountain West, which might as well be Siberia. And I’m just as bad as anybody; I assumed Utah would lose to Alabama in the Sugar Bowl, so there was no put the Utes into the debate for No. 1. Wrong, wrong, wrong. And shouldn’t all objective-minded voters hit the reset button on their brain and reevaluate this instead of automatically tapping Florida or OU as No. 1? Shouldn’t there at least be some thoughtful deliberation? After playing a virtual road game and taking Alabama apart 31-17 in the SEC-friendly Sugar Bowl, why wouldn’t Utah have a legit claim to No. 1? This is the only D-1 team that will finish the season with an undefeated record. Utah has beaten three teams currently ranked in the top 16, and another victim, Oregon State, will likely finish in the Top 25. (Oregon State is the only team to topple USC this season.) The Utes have handled every challenge. They defeated five bowl teams, and won on the road at Michigan and at Air Force. Skeptics will say, OK, put Utah in the SEC or the Big 12 South or the Pac 10 and none of this happens. They’d never survive the schedule. Look, I don’t deal in hypotheticals. All I know is this: only one team stands alone, unbeaten. And that team, Utah, hasn’t exactly played a cupcake schedule.
3. LA RUSSA AND DE WITT HAVE DIFFERENT VIEWS OF CHRIS CARPENTER: Can the Cardinals count on their ace to return from pitching-arm nerve difficulties and make 30, 35 starts? Or should they find another starting pitcher, just in case? The manager and the owner don’t see it the same way. Penciling in Carpenter for 30+ starts and assuming it will happen is “not how you go about it,” La Russa said. “That’s not the attitude that I have, or (pitching coach) Dave Duncan has.” The manager and pitching coach want to be sure about Carpenter’s health and won’t assume anything.
DeWitt, however, seems to be counting on Carpenter for now. “All of the reports are good on Carpenter,” DeWitt said on our Team 1380 radio show. “It’s pretty hard to say ‘Well, I’m going to sign someone in case he can’t start.’ I don’t think a lot of clubs would want to be in a position of having six starting pitchers, counting on six being starting pitchers. If Carpenter can’t go, sure, we’ll need to get out into the market to bolster our pitching. And we were going to do that, anyway. But at this point in time, to go out and find someone to replace Carpenter when we think the odds are good that he’ll be a starting pitcher for us…let’s face it, you can’t really replace a Chris Carpenter. And to replace him now, well, we think there’s a good chance he’ll start.”
4. WILL MATT RYAN AND JOE FLACCO CHANGE THE WAY NFL COACHES OPERATE?: Usually, it takes a while to break in a rookie QB, and they often struggle through the usual growing pains. NFL head coaches are reluctant to throw them into the fire. But Atlanta drafted Ryan third overall last April, plugged him into the lineup, and won 11 games for a dramatic turnabout. Flacco, Baltimore’s first-round pick, played with great poise in giving the Ravens a good passing attack to go with the defense and running game. The kids were fearless. With so many attractive QB prospects likely to be available in the 2009 draft — Georgia’s Matthew Stafford, Oklahoma’s Sam Bradford and Ball State’s Nate Davis among them — will more NFL teams take the plunge with rookie QBs? How about the Rams? (I don’t think so).
5. PERSONAL NOTE: I COULD USE A HOME REMEDY: I have a lousy cold, with lots of congestion. I can’t stop coughing; I can’t get a good night’s sleep. Any suggestions? Are you holding any secret cures that were passed down from your great grandmother? Give it up! LOL. Thanks.
-Bernie
I would agree with you on Utah. They handled Alabama better than Florida did, and played a non-conference schedule including Oregon State and Michigan….I wish Mizzou had the guts to have two teams like that on their non-conference schedule…and no bull about how the Big XII already provides such a difficult schedule. Please, people. As a fan, I want to see them play anyone, anywhere, anytime. That is the kind of attitude we can use at Mizzou. Not the attitude of the players going against KU that this game really does not matter so much, no big deal if we lose, etc…and there were quotes to that affect, however astoundingly sickening that fact may be. Mizzou was soft this year..any team that “brought it”, Mizzou could not handle. I know some of you are under the allusion that Buffalo and Nevada were top tier teams, but I got news for ya’…they weren’t! Sure, I know Michigan wasn’t so tough this year, but if you have them on your schedule, there is a pretty damn good chance they will be a daggum good team far more often than not.
Bernie,
You’re high. Warner doesn’t make the HoF…especially on the strength of only 8 playoff games.
Nice guy, nice quarterback. HoF’r? No.
Sorry if this is repeated, I didn’t read all posts, I need a headache cure. Try vapo-rub on the bottom of your feet. after about 5- 10 minutes it should be in your system and you’ll be sleeping in no time!
Ether works quicker.
One thought on Ryan (which I can’t take credit for because I heard it somewhere else, I think PTI). He played in a pro-style offense at B.C., and this made him much closer to being ready for the NFL than a lot of other guys in the so called “speciality offensives”. The only problem I had with that (and still do) is that would only make sense if he played against pro-style defenses as well, to which I have no idea how true that is. Still, it’s an intriquing thought that is worthy of some discussion.
Warner has proven himself in the playoffs to be sure. I don’t think he quite has the resume that most HOF voters would want to see despite what he has accomplished in his career…and that is a shame really.
As to the cold:
For night: 1 shot Ezra Brooks, 1 lemon squeeze, and fill ‘er up 8 oz of green tea.
2 one-a-day vitamin tablets.
Daytime:
Same as above, twice a day, but add 3 Excedrin twice a day in morning and 1pm, and stay in bed with the window open and comforters on.
…and a hot shower inhaling GENTLY the water through your nose and snorting it in and blowing it back out at least once. Do the farmer’s blow often to get that booger deposit out. Be careful when inhaling not to get the stuff downpipe or you will suffer a huge choking fit that will make your eyeballs the size of the Goodyear blimp.
Sorry, last post regarding colds and illnesses…
Farmer blows into the sink or shower everyday and often will eject that gunk that holds those germs that cause colds and flu.
Never take a flu shot. If you get the flu and you haven’t gotten a flu shot, suck it up and take it. Your body will build the defenses to last you through your lifetime thereafter.
Someone will now want to prosecute me for practicing medicine without a license…
S–t, sorry, another post.
One and one-half days of the regimen posted 4 posts up will solve your cold.
Bohunk gyspy cure. Modern day no less.
Hey Bernie,
I just can’t get on that Warner for HoF bandwagon. I mean, look at the receivers that he was throwing to during his “good years”; Holt, Bruce, Fitzgerald, Boldin, Proehl. Any QB with those receivers and a fairly decent O-line is going to succeed. Also, you can’t deny that defense is what will win games in most cases (rams v. vikings playoff game is an exception, though Rams V. Bucs is a prime example). When he played for the giants, he was not up to HoF standards, neither was his time playing for the cardinals prior to this year.