Pro Bowl thoughts

Roberto Ruiz-Maki

The NFC beat the AFC 55-41 in an extremely ugly game. What is the point of having the Pro Bowl the week before the Super Bowl? The Super Bowl is the biggest game of the year, and one of the best parts is having two full weeks to hype the game. For the second straight year, though, the NFL decided to have the Pro Bowl squeezed in between the conference championship games and the Super Bowl. Logically, this makes no sense. Not only are the players who should be representing the two top teams not involved (along with all the other players who come down with mysterious injuries during the week leading up to the Pro Bowl), but it detracts from the Super Bowl hype. Having two weeks to digest everything that is about to happen is excruciating, but the good kind of excruciating. Not only is the game hard to watch because neither team is really trying (tell me how, in a defense driven league, the scores seem straight out of a video game), but players are being more obnoxious than usual. At one point in the game, with the NFC leading 35-0, Steven Jackson took a hand-off and ran it in from 21 yards out; I became sick to my stomach while watching Jackson waltz around defenders while they played as if they didn't have enough money to get their jersey dry cleaned after the game.

The Pro Bowl is not a football contest, it means nothing to the players involved, and it is a disgrace to have it as the last football game played prior to the Super Bowl. The game used to be played after the Super Bowl, and that is where it belongs. Every player who wants to participate can do so, instead of leaving the players from the two best teams out of the game.

On a somewhat separate topic, the NFL does not have a site chosen for the Pro Bowl in 2012. Hawaii has payed four million dollars to have the game in Honolulu this year, and it has traditionally been held in Hawaii (every year since 1980 except last year, when it was held in Florida). Players have made it clear that if it is not held in Hawaii, they are less likely to go. The NFL should stop entertaining offers from other locations, and realize that the location that is best for them is Hawaii. Players view it as a vacation if it is in Hawaii, most players already live in Florida, so why take time out of their schedules to play another game there?

Go Packers.

Packers vs Bears, NFC championship recap

Roberto Ruiz-Maki

The Green Bay Packers will be representing the NFC in the Super Bowl on February 6^th against the Pittsburgh Steelers. (Writing the previous sentence sans all-caps was quite an accomplishment for any Packers fan, so I am proud of myself.)

In what was easily the biggest football game ever played at Soldier Field, the Packers prevailed over the Chicago Bears and their third string quarterback Caleb Hanie. After the first drive it seemed as if the Packers were going to run away with this game just as they did last week in Atlanta, but the offense stalled after scoring two touchdowns and went into the fourth quarter leading 14-0. With the Packers defense dominating Chicago up to that point, Packers fans were expecting to coast to an easy victory over their hated rival. Hanie wouldn't let that happen though; he led the Bears on two scoring drives to make it a game at 21-14. Chicago had the ball at midfield with two minutes remaining, and images of the NFC championship game against the New York Giants started to fill the minds of Packers fans. But Hanie threw an interception to Sam Shields with less than a minute to go, and the game was sealed in thrilling fashion for Green Bay.

The play of the game was when 345 pound (on a good day) BJ Raji intercepted a pass from Hanie and ran it back 18 yards for a touchdown, giving the Packers a 21-7 lead late in the fourth quarter. The player of the game, however, had to be the rookie Shields. Shields had four tackles, one sack, two interceptions, and a forced fumble in the game, with the other interception coming at the Green Bay three yard line with less than a minute left in the first half. Shields played years beyond his age, owning the last minute of each half.

After winning three straight road games in the playoffs, the Packers will travel to Arlington, Texas to play in the Super Bowl. The Packers, who have kept winning despite having 15 players on injured reserve (every other team in the history of the NFL with that many players on injured reserve has failed to win even half of their games), will be the first six seed to represent the NFC in the playoffs.

(Please read this next sentence as if it were capitalized.)

The Green Bay Packers will be representing the NFC in the Super Bowl on February 6^th!

Recap: Notre Dame 80 – Marquette 75

Ryan Ellerbusch

Looking for another 22-point repeat win over Notre Dame like the one just 12 days ago, Marquette  got off a hot start in the first-half before a strong second-half surge propelled the 16th ranked Fighting Irish over the Golden Eagles 80-75.

Darius Johnson-Odom led Marquette with 25 points and the Golden Eagles led by as much as 12 points before Marquette’s 61.5% shooting from the field in the first half cooled off drastically. From that point on, they shot just 30% in the second-half and Notre Dame cracked down defensively therefore slowing down Marquette’s aggressive offensive attack to squeak out the win. Once again, Marquette failed to hold a second-half lead on the road despite a 45-36 advantage at halftime. Notre Dame grabbed the lead for good with 10:28 remaining in the game, their first since the score was 2-0, when Ben Hansbrough drained a timely 3-pointer and finished with a game-high 28 points.

Marquette saw extended playing time from senior forward Joe Fulce who saw 17 minutes of action and tallied 10 points and 5 rebounds in place of Jae Crowder and Chris Otule who both fouled out in the game with four minutes remaining. Jimmy Butler also put together another consistent performance with 12 points and is just one point shy of scoring 1,000 career points in Marquette basketball history.

Marquette will look to slow down Kemba Walker and the 8th ranked UConn Huskies Tuesday Night at 8 p.m. when the Golden Eagles return to The Bradley Center. Marquette will look to feed off the energy from their home court crowd and get back to their winning ways.

Recap: Marquette 94 - DePaul 64

Ryan Ellerbusch

Last time Marquette faced DePaul, the Blue Demons were about to snap a 24-game losing streak in Big East play by beating the Golden Eagles 51-50. However, on Tuesday night Marquette made sure that debacle didn't happen again and were victorious this time to extend DePaul’s current conference losing streak to 18 games, their most recent conference win was last year’s matchup.

Darius Johnson-Odom and Jimmy Butler led the way for Marquette in the 30-point blowout win with 20 points apiece as the Golden Eagles combined to shoot 51.5% from the field. Butler and point guard Junior Cadougan also had four steals each, contributing to the 22 forced DePaul turnovers and a 40-10 Marquette advantage in points off turnovers. Jae Crowder had yet another big performance and played an all-around great game, contributing in many aspects on the stat sheets. Crowder tallied 18 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists, and 3 blocks on the night.

Marquette led 46-29 at halftime due in large part to a pair of 6-0 runs along with a 16-2 run to close out the first half. They later closed out the 94-64 win by converting at the free-throw line, playing strong defense, and cleaning the glass.

It was nice to see Marquette (13-6, 4-2 Big East) get back on track and beat the winless DePaul following their devastating 71-70 loss against Louisville on Saturday, in which they choked the game away in the closing minutes. Marquette on offense has seen their opponents play a 2-3 zone against them in nearly every game as of late and good shooting from the paint and three-point range will be the key in the upcoming games, all against ranked foes.

Notes:

- Washington Wizards rookie point guard, John Wall, was in attendance for the Marquette/DePaul game. He and Darius Johnson-Odom are both Raleigh, North Carolina natives.
- Junior Cadougan had to the leave the game temporarily in the first-half to have a band-aid placed above his left eyebrow where he had a cut. Luckily, he returned shortly thereafter.
- Vander Blue got back on track offensively tonight. Blue finished with 12 points on 5-6 shooting from the field and 2-3 from the charity stripe.

Response to Brett Favre's prediction

Roberto Ruiz-Maki

“I think they will win it all! I hope they do…. The receiving corps is the best ever, maybe, but Dom and the defense get the MVP award at this stage.”
Brett Favre told ESPN's Ed Werder this through email, and I am angry. This seems to me like Favre is saying that if the Packers don't win, the loss should be attributed to Aaron Rodgers (even though he says that Aaron is the best qb). What Favre said was an underhanded shot at Aaron Rodgers. There is no way for Rodgers to win now, because if he does win the Super Bowl, it is because he has possibly the best receivers ever, and his defense was incredible. If he loses though, he had all of the intangibles necessary to win, but he blew it (kind of like Favre in the 1997 Super Bowl). I find it very unsportsmanlike for Favre to do something like this, and it just tells me that he is still bitter over the break-up with the Packers. Look, Favre, the Packers went in a different direction, get over it.

I could be seeing this all wrong, the email could be 100% genuine and I would be getting mad over nothing, but what has Favre done since being let go that says that he wants the best for the Packers? He has openly stated that he wanted to get revenge on them, and show them that they made a mistake by locking him out. He wants Green Bay to want him back, to apologize for going with Rodgers when he still wanted to play. Am I really supposed to believe that he now wants Rodgers to succeed? I doubt it, and I hope every Packers fan is seeing through his veil.

On a separate note, I hope that Favre signs a one day contract with the Packers so that he can retire in the Green and Gold. It would be a shame if he decided to retire as a Viking just to take one last shot at Green Bay, though I see that as the likely scenario. Favre should retire as a Packer because we all cheered him every time he ran out of the home tunnel (and some diehards even cheered when he ran through the visitors).

Brett Favre series - Part 5

Roberto Ruiz-Maki

I have been tough on Brett Favre thus far, and it bothers me. When Favre would run onto that field on Sunday, fans would be filled with hope. When Favre would throw a touchdown and lift his hands in the air while sprinting all around the field in celebration, our heart rates would match his beat for beat. I will never forget the night that Favre was traded to the New York Jets because my heart shattered into a million pieces. While there will be many great memories of Favre, there will be too many sad ones to ignore.

Perhaps if I had seen Favre when he first started, my opinion would be different, and I would be a relentless advocate for his hall of fame plaque to read “Best Quarterback of All Time.” Alas, I was not born in an earlier year, and I instead injected myself into the Packers endless fan base in 1997, making my first experience the gut-wrenching loss to the Denver Broncos in the Super Bowl.

Already, Favre's records are starting to fall to Aaron Rodgers, his heir to the throne. Bart Starr paved the way for great Green Bay quarterbacks, and Brett Favre reignited those sparks 30 years later. The torch has now been passed to Aaron Rodgers, though things would have been very different if Favre had never stumbled into Green Bay as a young southern boy with NFL aspirations. There would be no tradition for Rodgers to uphold, and the grooming seasons that were so imperative to his growth would have never occurred.

The Green Bay that Rodgers inherited was much better off than the one that Favre received, and Rodgers has Favre to thank for that. I speak for every Packer fan when I say that I hope Rodgers can bring Green Bay to new heights, heights that even Favre could not achieve. I just hope that Rodgers also realizes the heart and soul that Favre left on that field in order to give him that opportunity.

This is the last part of the Favre series, and I hope that readers see that my goal is not to detract from Favre's legacy, but instead to bring it into a clearer view. Favre will always be remembered as the man who brought football back to Titletown. The only mistake Favre ever made was that instead of realizing his flaws and working to correct them, he decided that mistakes were bound to happen when someone played the game with the level of chaotic enthusiasm that he did; and because of that, we love him.

Packers vs. Falcons recap

Ryan Ellerbusch

While I don’t buy Troy Aikman’s comment that head coach Mike McCarthy is an “underrated playcaller,” the Packers’ offense was clicking both on the ground and through the air. Many fans are saying “Super Bowl or Bust” heading into the NFC Championship game behind an impressive defensive performance as well as the offensive fireworks.

Rookie sensation James Starks may be for real and despite rushing the ball 25 times for 66 yards, he had big runs at crucial times in the ballgame. This opened up the passing attack as the Packers gained 26 first downs, including 8 for 12 on third-down conversions. Rodgers was nearly unstoppable in and outside of the pocket avoiding sacks and completing 31 of 36 passes. Wide-receivers Jordy Nelson and James Jones both were targeted by Rodgers numerous times and had surprisingly big games with a touchdown apiece.

Sunday’s game in my opinion solidified Clay Matthews as the NFL Defensive Player of the Year with 2 sacks and a fumble recovery along with the play of Tramon Williams and Aaron Rodgers. Williams’ two interceptions, including one returned for a touchdown, and Rodgers’ 4 total touchdowns hopefully will prove to the NFL Pro Bowl committee that they deserve to be recognized by being named to the roster and not just as alternates.

Regarding special teams, the 102-yard kickoff return for a touchdown was unacceptable and devastating to watch. However, credit the Packers offense once again, Tim Masthay was not given a chance to punt all day and Mason Crosby nailed two of three field goals. To advance to the Super Bowl, winning the turnover margin will be the key for the Packers to punch their ticket to Dallas, Texas for Super Bowl XLV.