Goodbye, 2004.
Goodbye, 2004. Goodbye to the best year of my short life.
I don’t think I’m alone here in saying that I wasn’t really looking forward to the end of 2004. Even though I knew it to be impossible, there was still some small part of me, somewhere buried deep in my heart, that wanted the ball to get stuck with one second on the countdown. To have the Earth freeze on it’s axis right at that moment, even if that would result in catastrophic loss of gravity all around the planet. Well so what – at least time would stand still, and the year that redefined my life would never end.
So I’m getting sentimental – so shoot me. But try to tell me that 2004 wasn’t the best year ever in sports, at least in the greater New England region. Six states, and the population of countless others Nationwide, were able to revel in team successes like never before. We were able to claim membership in an elite club of championship fans, and able to put generations of heartache and devastating loss to bed.
If you’re reading this from one of the states that we passed along the way (Missouri, North Carolina, Indiana, California, Tennessee, and of course, New York), then this year will probably not last long in your “Fuzzy Memories” album. But I make no apologies for my happiness; I’ve waited too damned long to start placating other fans just because my teams finally made it to the Promised Land.
There are others in the Boston sports community that will tell you that 1986 was the best year ever. A year that saw the Sox in the Series, the Pats in the Super Bowl, the bruins in the playoffs and the Celtics winning another title. A year that had Bird, McHale, Neely, Bourque, Parish, Grogan, Boggs, Evans, Rice, etc. all in their primes. Imagine that.
Now, remember that only one of those teams captured a title. And while the Patriots were close, and the Sox were closer, only the Celtics could seal the deal.
This year, we all got what we wanted. This year, dreams came true. This year was Next Year.
Who knows what Next Year might actually bring…
OK, just give me a second to clear up my eyes here… ah, must be allergies or something.
Onto the Quick Thoughts for Week 17 of the NFL season…
§ Do you realize how close we came to having the opportunity to bet against Mike Tice, Drew Bledsoe, Jake Plummer AND the Jim Haslet/Aaron Brooks super-quinella in the first round of the playoffs?!? As it is, we still get Tice and Plummer, plus the added bonus of Mike Martz and the lame duck Jets. But God, this week almost led to the greatest betting opportunity of all-time! I would have re-upped just for the shot at making these bets!
§ 146-100-10. Almost made it to 50 over .500. So close. Well, at least I can take solace in the fact that I was better than just about every “expert” handicapper I’ve see so far…
§ Worse playoff team – Jets, Rams, Vikings, Seahawks? Honestly, I can’t decide. The Jets got in because the Bills lost – no other reason. The Vikings got in because the Panthers lost. The Rams got in by actually winning (shock!) and the Seahawks were actually locked in a couple weeks ago, but only got the NFC West title because the Falcons were on cruise control. And we actually have to watch these teams play? Even worse – either the Rams or the Seahawks WILL advance to the second round? Can’t they just tie at 0-0 and have a double forfeit?
§ So Mike Martz, after yesterday’ 450yds, 3TD, 2INT day for Marc Bulger, is the QB position still holding your team hostage…?
§ Which team is happier about the Panthers and Bills faltering, the Colts or the Packers?
§ I’ve gotta admit, Drew Bledsoe’s comment yesterday (“If we couldn’t beat a team of second-stringers who had nothing to play for, then we probably didn’t deserve to get in”) was dead on. Couldn’t have said it any better myself Drew.
§ OK, I had a long IM conversation with my buddy Vinny yesterday regarding the Jets and their lack of playoff chances. Unfortunately, in the middle of it, my computer crashed and I lost the entire first half of the conversation (no great loss – it was essentially Vinny yelling at me for my anti-Jets stance, and me trying to throw numbers back at him). Luckily, I was able to salvage the second half of the conversation…
OK, as I was saying before the dogs had to go out and the computer crashed...
Yes, the Jets have 10 wins. 7 came against teams under .500.
They went 2-4 against other playoff teams, and one of those wins was against Seattle, who is about the least deserving playoff team ever.
While you can run the ball well, Pennington clearly isn't healthy yet. San Diego is a very good team, and is better than they were when you two played in Week 2. Don't forget - Brees only had one legit receiver back then; they got McCardell a few weeks later.
I'm not saying they're a bad team. I'm saying that they made the playoffs only because the Bills slipped up. The Jets don't belong here.
This is going to end up like the Celtics in '02. The team doesn't belong in the postseason, but somehow they back their way in, and might even advance a round (though I doubt it with the Jets). Unfortunately, they don't really have a complete team, and now that they've made the postseason, they'll consider it a victory and not address the problems.
Making the playoffs is probably the worst thing that could've happened to the Jets this year. So good luck with San Diego, and if they make it to the second round, I'll be praying for them against the Steelers. God knows I'd rather the Pats played at home vs. New York than on the road against Pittsburgh.
Yes, I referenced the Celtics in a rant about the Jets. It will never happen again.
§ Congratulations to Eli Manning and the New York Giants for finally pulling off a win. Looks like big brother isn’t the only Manning that can lead a 4th-quarter comeback…
§ Finally got a chance to sit down and watch the Red Sox “Faith Rewarded” DVD created by NESN. Amazing. Just a perfect DVD. Well produced, well filmed, and certainly with a better ending than last year’s. Watching it now, after all is said and done, some of the quotes during the season are stunning. Like Johnny Damon after the ALCS’ Game 2 saying that Game 3 was a must-win because “The Yankees just don’t lose four in a row…”
And now it’s time for my favorite and least-favorite part of the posting, all wrapped up into one neat little ball. “Things I Actually Said”. We’ll do one for each month, because I certainly made enough mistakes to fill an entire post by themselves…
You see, most people can just shrug off mistakes with a simple “I don’t remember saying that…” because they’re smart enough not to put it in writing. But yours truly, well, let’s just say that “smart enough” is not a term that has been applied to me in a long time. Must be the beer…
1) January 28th: Super Bowl Preview - “We can expect to watch a nice boring 12-9 or so game. I wouldn't be surprised if the only touchdowns scored were on defense or special teams… Final Score Prediction? Pats 27, Cats 13.” Oh yeah, dead on there…
2) February 5th: Lots of choices in this column, but let’s stick with this one – “Heading for the biggest disappointment: Peyton Manning... No way Manning duplicates this past year, or his playoff success. The word is out on how to stop him.” Well, I was half right; he didn’t duplicate 2003… (Also could have used the entire paragraph in which I explained my pick of the Redskins as 2004 NFC Champions).
3) March 15th: I didn’t write a whole lot in March, but I did write a few truly stupid things… “… And my 2004 Final Four: Duke, Kentucky, Pittsburgh and Southern Illinois. These are three great teams and a team that is playing very good basketball.” Naturally, the Final Four consisted of UCONN, Duke, OK State and Georgia Tech. Great insight there D…
4) April 8th: MLB Preview column. Let’s just say this entire column was one big “Oops”. Although I did get the ALCS and half of the awards right…
5) May 19th: On MLB trade rumors - “St. Louis is by no means done, but with Houston and Chicago battling for supremacy, I don’t see the Cardinals making a big-time run this year…” Nah, they didn’t make a run at all.
6) June 21st: June was a relatively mistake-free month for me. Of course, the fact that I only posted three times certainly helped… “The Red Sox don’t look like they’ll be catching the Yankees anytime soon (yes, I admitted it. But if you ever bring it up again, I’ll deny everything).”
7) July 28th: Hey, I actually got one right! “…and if Jason Giambi’s “intestinal parasites” don’t go away (c’mon everybody, don’t be naïve. He needs a reason to cover for his decline from coming off the steroids. It’s pretty obvious. The trip to Japan let him claim foreign illness, and he’s off scot-free)…”
8) August 11th: 2004 NFL Preview column – No actual quotes, but which prediction do you think was worse: The Redskins to win the NFC, the Chargers to go 5-11 and fire Marty Schottenheimer, or the Steelers to be 7-9 and miss the playoffs? Actually, I did say that if Pittsburgh wanted to win fast, they’d play Ben Roethlisberger immediately. Wow - I just spelled Roethlisberger and Schottenheimer correctly twice in the same paragraph, but I think my spellchecker just exploded…
9) September 22nd: Keep in mind - at this point of the season, the Red Sox had almost clinched the Wild Card… “I KNOW the Red Sox will be lucky to see the second round of the playoffs, the way the past week has looked… the pitching had better come around, and fast, or else this team has no shot of overtaking the Yankees…”
10) October 13th & 14th: Two different quotes, same basic theme. 13th: “…now that it’s painfully (and I mean PAINFULLY... I’m physically ill right now) obvious that Boston's not winning this series, how long do you think it is before Pedro begins whipping fastballs at various Yankees’ heads…” 14th: “0-2 (Gulp). And like that, it was over.” It just feels good to know that I was THAT wrong.
November and December were relatively mistake-free, and it’s still too early to see if predictions will end up very good or very, very bad. One thing is certain – I’ll keep making mistakes, and you’ll keep getting a good laugh out of them.
Later this week I’ll write up an NFL regular season recap and playoff predictions update. As for upcoming stuff, well I personally can’t wait for about mid-March when I get to write my 2005 MLB Preview column – be forewarned, it’s probably going to run over 10,000 words. So get a nice drink, relax on the couch, and prepare for a long, long, Red Sox love-fest.
Lata.
posted by Big D @ 10:17 AM
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