Andy B Sports

The Seattle Seahawks, both a tremendous and fortunate team, advanced to their second straight Super Bowl overcoming the Green Bay Packers (28-22) in overtime.

In their bid to repeat as Super Bowl champions, in effect a semi -final game, Coach Pete Carroll and his “Seahawks” appeared through, trailing by TWELVE points late in the game.

However, the Seahawks rallied for an overtime win and now Carroll and the Seahawks are one victory away from repeating as champions.

Russell Wilson’s touchdown pass to Jermaine Kearse won the game in overtime. Last year Wilson and Kearse also combined on the decisive touchdown pass in the NFC Championship game win vs the San Francisco 49ers.

Coach Pete Carroll had to experience some deja vu in reverse, this time nearly as positive as the other was negative.

While coaching at The university of Southern California, Carroll and his team had a chance to win back to back titles and seemed virtually assured of doing so with a TWELVE point lead vs the University of Texas late in the 2005 championship game.

However, Texas rallied to win the game behind the exploits of quarterback Vince Young.

A postscript of sorts; some out there will compare the two games but only AndyB Sports will tell you that Dan Fouts, who did radio analysis in yesterday’s game and the same for television with the great college football broadcaster Keith Jackson in the 2005 title game, was part of both games.

Stay tuned here for interesting facts leading up to the 49th Super Bowl.

It is early in the AFC Championship game with New England Patriots leading the Indianapolis Colts (7-0). I predict the Patriots will win this game and go on to the Super Bowl vs the Seattle Seahawks. Though I am not thrilled to say this, I truly feel this will be Super Bowl win number 4 for both Tom Brady and Bill Belichick in New England.

The Patriots will go into the Super Bowl probably a field goal or so underdog.

The Pats in 2003 and 2004 were the last team to win back to back Super Bowl crowns and my prediction, barring injury, is they will prevent Seattle from doing the same 10 years later.

In the NFC title tilt earlier this afternoon, I was not so impressed with Seattle winning, as it was more Green Bay losing.

I just wanted to give an early Superbowl prediction–the Pats will win.

Kudos to the Atlanta Hawks, whose more than stellar (34-7) record exactly halfway through the usual endless and unusually surprise filled NBA season, has them well out in front in the weak NBA Eastern Conference.

However, let’s not make any parade plans in Atlanta as the Hawks are still a long shot to win the title.

Atlanta sports history is wrought with overall failure.

The Hawks first season in Atlanta was 1968-1969. The franchise moved to Atlanta from St. Louis, where they won one NBA title in 1958, led by the great player, Bob Pettit.

In their 46 seasons in Atlanta, they have never even made the NBA finals, going (1-8) in games and (0-2) in their only two semi-final appearances.

The baseball Braves despite 14 straight divisional titles in the completed seasons from (1991-2005),– (there was no completed season in 1994 due to a labor dispute, something weak fans have forgotten while more idealistic, albeit masochistic ones like me have not) won just one World Series in that span and for that matter, in 48 completed seasons in Atlanta from (1966-2014).

The NFL Falcons have made but one Super Bowl since joining the NFL as an expansion team for the start of the 1966 season, which was also the first season that ended with the Super Bowl.

They lost to the Denver Broncos in their only “Supe” appearance and this season is their 49th sans a Super Bowl victory.

Both NHL Atlanta incarnations have moved the Flames to Calgary and the Thrashers to Winnipeg. Neither expansion team won as much as a playoff series in 14 combined seasons in Atlanta.

In fairness, the hockey teams were expansion teams but adding it up in 157 completed seasons of Atlanta sports there has been but one championship.

There have been only 6 finals appearances, 5 by the Braves and in 109 combined seasons, the Falcons, Hawks, Flames and Thrashers only made the semi-finals 4 times, winning just one.

Maybe the Hawks will change some of that negative history this season.

Starting in 2004, the NFL scheduled the regular season Thursday night opener between the defending Super Bowl champion and a team deemed very competitive from the same conference.

This year was the first time that the two teams who met in the opening night game will meet in the conference championship game.

In that first game back on Thursday September 4th, the defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks routed the Green Bay Packers.

Now the two teams will meet in the NFC Championship game, also in Seattle, tomorrow.

It is the earlier championship game beginning at 3p.m. Eastern time and will be televised by the Fox Network.

Time flies as this will be the 21st consecutive telecast of the NFC Championship game by Fox, since it gained the rights beginning with the 1994 season.

It will be an interesting AFC East next season with the presence of former New York Jets’ coach Rex Ryan still in the division as the new coach of the Buffalo Bills.

Before guessing on how Ryan and the Bills will fare, no matter how educated or not educated it might be, let’s assess Rex Ryan’s coaching career and compare it with his father, Buddy Ryan.

Each won a Super Bowl title as an assistant coach, Buddy with the Jets and Rex with the Baltimore Ravens.

Buddy guided the Philadelphia Eagles to three consecutive playoff appearances from (188-1990) but failed to win a playoff game.

Rex and the Jets went to two consecutive conference title games (2009 and 2010), winning a combined four playoff games in the process.

There is such a fine line between victory and defeat in the NFL, if not in life, but to guess, I believe the Bills, an improved (9-7) team last season, would have continued to improve, no matter whom the coach.

With Ryan as their coach, I see no reason to change that GUESS.

This Sunday’s conference championship game is the third such meeting between the Indianapolis Colts and New England Patriots.

The first was after the 2003 season and was won by the Patriots at home.

In the 2006 season playoffs the teams again met for the AFC crown. This time the game was in Indianapolis and the game was won by the Colts, despite trailing by a (21-3) score at one point.

New England won divisional round games vs the Colts in both the 2004 and 2013 playoffs and thus holds a (3-1) edge in post season games between the teams.

Additionally the game Sunday will be the third one in which the current Colts kicker Adam Vinatieri faces his old team, the Pats, with whom he kicked on three Super Bowl winners.

He won in 2006 and lost last season.

The Ohio State University Buckeyes won their first national college football title since 2002 with a convincing (42-20) victory over the 6 point favorite Oregon Ducks.

Buckeyes running back Ezekiel Elliott was brilliant in all three must wins for Ohio State vs Wisconsin, Alabama and Oregon and quarterback Cardale Jones, who was third string at the beginning of the year, led the way for the offense.

Buckeyes’ coach Urban Meyer, who won his third title (he had two with Florida University, including one vs a favored Ohio State team), credited the defensive unit which held the high powered, Oregon Ducks to just 10 points in each half.

Oh how I suffered as an Ohio State fan from (1969-1975), when for the most part far better regular season Ohio State teams somehow missed winning the title.

I no longer root for Ohio State, but in perspective feel the following: TCU and perhaps Baylor deserved playoffs qualification ahead of Ohio State based on regular season performance.

However, given the chance in this the first year of a four team playoff, Ohio State deserved the title, as they won as roughly a touchdown underdog vs both Alabama and Oregon, the top two rated teams.

Ezekiel Elliot

I tried listening to some sports talk show radio hosts and their over the top affection and fawning about Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning. It is at times difficult to listen to. Their response to yesterday’s fourth home divisional round loss for Manning: win a second Super Bowl crown and then the “wolves” would disappear.

Manning, yet again, played horribly in a must win game and it is time for us “wolves” to howl not so much at Manning, who by any standard is a great quarterback and skilled in ways we can only dream, but at the perception of him by many in the media.

Much criticism has been rendered regarding the hitting failures by the likes of baseball greats, Ty Cobb, Ted Williams, Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez and even Willie Mays (never a W.S. home run) in post season or big games.

That may have some justification, but remember hitting a baseball successfully is the hardest thing to do in any sport, as being “victorious” with a hit 3 of 10 times had been considered very good and now can earn you beyond millions of dollars.

That is why Manning, with so many horrible games as a quarterback in big games and this from a guy, who frankly is quite a bit of a “pile on artist” when his team is comfortably ahead, is astounding and must bear him criticism.

Perhaps I was too moved by “The Man From Lamancha,” specifically the showstopping song “The Impossible Dream” about Don Quixote, and yes the historical facts not to “tilt” and likely “go tilt” as in pinball, one more time.

Manning is a great quarterback, but sports talk show hosts must face the facts that he has failed mightily in important games. Even a little acknowledgement of it would be a good first step. Nothing personal, but someone please tell ESPN radio’s Mike Lupica, one of the worst offenders on this topic—-Manning is a mere mortal.