The best seat in the house is the view from the couch

2006 NFL Playoff Picks - Super Bowl XLI

Alright, I freely admit that I have completely slacked off since leaving Las Vegas last weekend. And, by “last weekend”, I obviously mean “ten days ago”. Sorry ‘bout that. Between catching up at work and dealing with feeling like crap for two weeks – not to mention the Aqua Teen Hunger Force Pipe Bombs yesterday – it’s been a little hectic. Again, sorry.

I’ve got a couple things to rant about here, before making the all important Super Bowl pick (I’m 5-5 for the playoffs right now, so it all comes down to this game). I also have taken these ten days to calm myself down from watching a complete and utter Patriots meltdown in the AFC Title Game, and that is something I never thought I would type about any team coached by Bill Belichick and/or quarterbacked by Tom Brady.

Anyway, follow along with me through some sports rants, some non-sports rants, and some random libelous/slanderous screaming…

(The beginning of this rant is slightly tedious, and really just my way of publicizing the horrible service with the Las Vegas Gray Line Shuttle, and the stupidity of Orbitz.com and America West Airlines. Luckily, there is one redeeming part of the story – it’s at the end, naturally)

I am appalled at the level of customer service in place today in many major companies, and even more so in many minor companies. Just as an example of both, take my return flight from Las Vegas to Boston on the 22^nd of January:

I booked my flight through Orbitz. I have used their service in the past, and have never had a major problem. The only issue I’ve ever had is that they have called my cell phone in the past to give me erroneous flight information – like last January when I got a recorded call telling me that my flight from Honolulu to Tokyo was on time and departing from Gate 13A. Unfortunately, I was flying from San Diego to Las Vegas, and I wasn’t even flying for another 37 hours. So I chalked it up to an “oops”.

This year, I got another recorded call about 6 hours before I was scheduled to leave Vegas telling me that my flight from McCarran to Phoenix airport had a gate change, and would be delayed approximately 8 minutes, but would leave by 7:35PM PST. I was scheduled to fly direct from Vegas to Boston at 11PM, so I ignored the call and figured it was another “oops”.

Three hours later, I got a call telling me that my flight from Phoenix to Boston was on time and scheduled to leave at 10:32PM. Now I was legitimately terrified, especially because the flight to Phoenix had already left McCarran. Although, if there’s one place in this country to be stranded because of an airline screw-up, I suppose Vegas is about as good as I could have hoped for.

I left the Harrah’s poker room, where I had been watching the aforementioned shitshow known as the AFC Title game, and headed for the luggage check area to get my bags and get to the shuttle pick-up spot. I got to the Gray Line Shuttle pick-up at 7:45PM for a scheduled 8:05 pickup.

And waited.

And waited.

And waited… At 8:15, a Grey Line Shuttle drove past, but didn’t allow for any pickups. “Drop-Off only” the driver yelled as he sped away.

Twenty minutes later, another Shuttle came past and dropped off its only passenger. I tried to board, but the driver yelled “No Pick Up!” I blocked her from closing the door so I could ask her to call the dispatcher. The dispatcher told me that my shuttle had indeed already come for the pick-up (huh?!?) and that I was not, in fact, at the spot. I tried to have the driver tell the dispatcher that no shuttle ever showed up, but since the driver spoke about six words of English, there was something lost in translation.

I walked to the house phone to call Grey Line directly. And this is where things went horribly wrong.

The Grey Line Dispatch “Manager”, decided to essentially give me a big “F-You”, told me that I was absolutely lying about the shuttle never showing, and that I was extremely rude to his second driver (the woman who spoke no English), and that I had threatened her. Wha?!? Believe me, if I ever threatened someone, they would certainly know about it.

After the Manager refused to give me his name and hung up on me – TWICE! – I finally just took a cab to the airport. All I wanted was to board my six hour overnight flight and go to sleep.

Not happening.

There were about 150 people in line at the America West/US Airways line at McCarran, but luckily, there was a nice lady at the front of the line sorting people into separate areas depending on destination.

“Where to?”

“Boston”

“Line A, to the left”

Line A had about twenty five people in it. I had a full suitcase and a full golf travel bag, about 95 pounds total. Whatever. I got in line and crossed my fingers.

And it was in Line A that I finally had a small bit of good luck. Getting into line just behind me were three beautiful girls from Philly (oxymoron, I know) returning from a long weekend in Vegas. Saints be praised! Something to look at to take my mind off the goddamned Shuttle.

Of course, that would require me figuring out a way to look behind me while walking forward and not seeming too creepy. And then, I got my “in”:

“I can’t believe it never showed up! How much do I owe you for the cab?”

Holy crap. You’ve got to be kidding. I’ve got a reason to converse with these attractive women for the next twenty minutes? Damnit – why am I not flying to Philly?

I took a shot in the dark:

“Excuse me, but I have to ask. It sounds like you had a shuttle that didn’t show up at your hotel. Am I right?”

“Um, yeah” (kinda scared that I figured that out from one statement)

“Let me guess… Grey Line Shuttle? Where were you staying, if you don’t mind me asking?” (Yes, I know… I would have been creeped out too)

“Yeah, it was. We were at Circus Circus. It was supposed to pick us up at 7:45. How’d you know?” (Probably wondering if I’d been stalking them all weekend leading up to one “chance” meeting…)

“They stiffed me too. Supposed to pick me up at Harrah’s at 8:05 – never showed. Guess we had the same bus. Maybe the driver decided to skip his whole run.”

Jackpot. Not only did I now have a corroborating story for my upcoming angry rant to the president of the company, but I also had a reason to talk with three gorgeous girls for the next twenty minutes. And I took full advantage, though sadly, it did not lead to anything more than a conversation and the obligatory “have a nice flight” when we separated in line. Sigh.

Finally, it was my turn to speak to the lady behind the counter, the America West employee who held my fate in her hands, the only one who could make sure I wasn’t bumped off my fligh… hey – what the hell? Why am I in the US Airways line? I’m not on US Airways…

I almost exploded, literally and figuratively. I’d had just about enough, and I was in no mood to argue with another person who was bound to call me a liar and ignore me. Luckily, the woman working for US Airways (God I wish I could remember her name, just so I could make sure to praise her for all her help…) was able to find out what had happened.

Apparently, America West reserves the right to cancel a flight at any time, without notifying their passengers. My flight to Boston was not only cancelled, but they no longer even offer that flight. I got bumped to a flight through Phoenix (that had left Vegas four hours earlier), but no one told me. I found out later that Orbitz had e-mailed me, though they did so only about four hours before my new flight was set to leave. Never bothered to call to tell me that I’d been bumped – only to tell me that a flight to Phoenix was slightly delayed. Unreal.

The nice lady got me on a US Air flight direct to Boston, I got on board, and was asleep before we took off.

So, I guess the entire purpose of this little diatribe (sorry if your eyes glazed over ten minutes ago) was simply to slam Gray Line Shuttles and America West Airlines, to praise the cute girls in line and the lady who helped me from US Air, and to have something to refer to whenever I need to explain why I will only take cabs in Vegas and never fly America West again…

That’s it, I’m spent. Let’s get to the pick and the analysis…

Super Bowl XLI – Colts (-7) @ BEARS (As if home team matters in this game…): Listen, as a Patriots fan, I’m 100% conflicted over this game. I would hate to see Peyton Manning finally win a Super Bowl – it will remove about 98% of the “ghosts” he has remaining from a lifetime of coming up short. But I also believe that if the team that eliminates your favorite team – which for me would be the Colts this year – is the team to win it all, then it lessens the blow just a little bit. At least I can say that my team lost to the best. So I’m trying to make this pick without letting personal feelings interfere, something I did far too little during the regular season.

I’m basing pick this on a couple of things. First, the “Happy to be there” factor. The Bears are ecstatic to be in the Super Bowl, but they were supposed to make it this year. There was no real competition in the NFC once the Eagles were dispatched, and as good as the Saints were, I mean, they were playing with house money all year long.

Indy, on the other hand, just dispatched with their biggest rival, in the most improbable way, to reach their first Super Bowl since the days of Johnny U. Their quarterback supposedly exorcised his demons by beating his nemesis on the biggest stage possible, and since no one expected them to make it this far as recently as two weeks ago, they are currently playing with house money (sorry to use the same cliché twice, but this is my first post since getting back from Vegas, so give me a little slack).

I equate it like this – remember back in 2003, when the Yankees made it to the World Series on the back of Aaron Boone? Well, I may have blacked that memory out of my subconscious, but I still remember the outcome – the Yankees were so wiped out, physically and mentally, after defeating their biggest rivals, that by the time the important games were played, they had nothing left to give.

Can’t you just see the same thing happening here, with the Colts having nothing left to give, but the Bears having absolutely nothing to lose? I mean, nobody is picking Chicago – nobody – shouldn’t that tell you something? This could be the first team to play the “nobody believed in us but the guys on our sidelines” card without having to invent the disrespect on their own.

And let’s not forget – Chicago has been a pretty good team all year long. Sure, their quarterback looked like he was more likely to piss himself at midfield than have a QB rating over 30 in some games, but the team just kept winning. They were 13-3 for a reason, and the reason is not only that the NFC was ridiculously mediocre this season.

Even with a middle-of-the-road quarterback like Rex Grossman, the Bears have the team to pull this off. Look at it this way – what wins football games? Running game and defense. Chicago has a far better defense than Indy, and with Indy’s relative inability to stop the run, Chicago’s running game could come up big. And the “X-Factor” in all big games – the special teams – gives a decided edge to the Bears (aside from The Most Clutch Kicker In NFL History).

If you listen to the “experts” around the country, there’s no reason to believe that the Colts won’t win this game, and win it easily. The NFC was awful all year. Grossman isn’t a Super Bowl Caliber quarterback. Manning is too hungry for the win. The storylines are all there.

But the relative quality of the NFC has nothing to do with this game. Trent Dilfer, Brad Johnson, and maybe even Ben Roethlisberger don’t look like Super Bowl Caliber quarterbacks, in retrospect. And Manning’s hunger, while undeniable, might just not be enough to take over this game.

I said in my Recap from McCarran Airport in Vegas that there was no way I could see myself picking the Colts to win this game, or at least not to cover. I still stand by that.

The Pick: BEARS 27, Colts 23

There. I did it. I went against convention, I picked the big underdog, and I have a clear conscience about it.

For the record, I’ll be sitting at home with a bunch of friends, enjoying the game on my TV, crossing my fingers that I’m right. I just don’t think I could deal with the words “Peyton Manning – Super Bowl Champion”.

And before I sign off, two programming notes.

First, since the NFL season is ending, and the NBA / NHL seasons both A) Suck B) Are Never-Ending C) All of the Above, I don’t know when I’ll next post. I’ll try not to make it two weeks – I might even live blog the NBA All Star Game (I mean, it’s in Vegas. It’s a requirement for me, no?) Otherwise, everything is going to lead up to this year’s MLB Season Preview. I’m not planning to cop out like I did on the NFL preview and just write a paragraph or two for each division. I’m planning another epic, 35,000 word, multi-section preview. So stay tuned.

Second, Blogger now allows me to use tags on every post for easier searching. Now, as much as I would like to make all of your lives easier, I don’t plan on going back through three and a half years of blogging to tag all of my old posts. I will, however, begin tagging all future posts as necessary. So, you’re welcome.

That’s it. 2,469 words are enough.

Lata.

Labels: Gray Line Shuttle Sucks, Las Vegas, NFL Picks, Super Bowl XLI

posted by Big D @ 8:56 PM