Signed, Sealed, Delivered - It’s Tony’s! As everyone bar the most idiotic/homerific Bears fan predicted (Cecil Martin also?), Indy beat Chicago in, bar the score line, was a blow-out. The Bears took the lead as a result of the opening kick-off (Devin Hester, the Bears most prolific scorer this year), in an event that everyone knew would happen, but didn’t want to look too silly by declaring it prior to the game. The game was a complete washout, with the only thing missing being puddles of water, which, even if they were present, would undoubtedly have not prevented Dominic Rhodes and Joseph “Live and Let” Addai (Nod to Lee) running, and running, and running down the Bears throats. Rex Grossman is crap. I actually think he may be amongst the worst players in living memory to make the Super Bowl, let alone worst quarterback. I may be mistaken, but amongst Don Johnson’s inane (alcohol fuelled?) ramblings, he may have said that it’s because he’s young. Three years of preparation and one full season? The fact he’s not improved (throwing less than two interceptions a game would be an improvement) during the course of the season lead me to my aforementioned analysis. My favourite stat of Rex’s (regular) season is his rushing: Rush Attempts – 24. Longest Rush – 22. Total Yards Rushing – 2. LESS than 0.1 yards per rush. Rex-Bashing over… NFL Watch Can we PLEASE get good NFL Presenters/Commentators on a regular basis? Nick “The Panther” Halling sounded as wooden as Pinocchio, Don Johnson was the most cringeworthy ‘analyst’ I’ve ever seen – did anyone else shake their head in disbelief when he couldn’t remember if it was Cecil or Kevin who’d made a comment?, and I’m convinced some drugs (alcohol or otherwise) were in his system. Either that or he is as clueless as he came across. The Fan Zone element?! Who gave the go-ahead for this utter shambles? Similarly, the clip they showed demonstrating the Fan Zone ‘capabilities’ of a past game, saw the twits score a TD, with a British Panther fan coming across as unbelievable irritating as a Redskin fan. They were that bad. The Super Bowl happened. Is there REALLY likely to be any other news? Even the Bucs had a (very) slow news week! I did find it fairly amusing that ex-commissioner Paul Tagliabue was denied entry to the Hall of Fame. I’m not mentioning the Pro Bowl. The game itself was enjoyable, possibly moreso than Pittsburgh-Seattle, and saw “King” Peyton ascend his long awaited throne. FINALLY the “Is Peyton good enough” / “Brady or Manning” debates can stop. The key argument in Brady’s favour was his Super Bowl collection. Whilst Manning trails by two, the debate should be over. He has the stats. He has the ring. He has the Super Bowl MVP. Anything else? Now all we need is Randy & T.O to quit, and the media will have to find a new topic to cover for the next five years! And that’s it. The NFL is over for the year and nothing of note till the combine, or at the latest the Draft itself – both of which will include a welcome return to Wayne Maw’s columns. The Burger Flipper League starts shortly and undoubtedly will reach double figures for viewers. In Germany. I’m going to include a kind of plug here, so if you want to skip it, feel free…! Why not try the BAFL? The British American Football League? Games run from May – September (including playoffs) meaning after the draft, there is football you can go and watch in person. With more and more teams starting up, chances are you’ll find a team in your vicinity. Plug over – short and sweet! Gene Deckerhoff’s commentary gives me goosebumps – coupled with the “You Go Joe!” who can forget “Touchdown Tampa Bay, Derrick Brooks, the Most Valuable Player in the National Football League – we’re gonna win the Super Bowl!” – Next possible audio clip Paul?! Kudos on the commencement of posting video clips on this site. What is left to accomplish?? All I can say is I hope Anquan Boldin doesn’t benefit from Leinhart’s guaranteed improvement and that Messer’s Colston & Jones-Drew replicate their rookie years! (No offence Steve, it’s all business!) Now the season’s over, my Bucs UK FFL Draft preparations can really begin, now our esteemed commissioner has removed the trading block, despite threatening me with the removal of my 10th round pick…! Richard Lowe, January 2007