I’m missing it partly because I’m up at 6am for work tomorrow, but mostly because I’m ill, otherwise I’d happily be sleep deprived! I’m especially gutted because it looks like its going to be a cracking game (as most of them have been!). I can’t decide who to root for – I really like Tom Brady as a QB and because of how storied his career has been, how much he overcame to become “Tom-Terrific”; but as much as I like Brady, I really like Eli Manning’s ‘I don’t give a crap what you think’ attitude – especially with him being a QB in New York – home to sports prima-donnas and divas!

We all know that Brady is one of the greatest QB’s to grace the game, if not the greatest. Eli never seems to get the love he deserves from commentators, bloggers and so many people talking about the game. Obviously both teams have worked and played hard to get here – but it’s the QB’s I want to focus on – partly because that’s my position, partly because there’s some good stories there!

Brady is playing in his 5th Superbowl, with a chance to win his 4th ring; Eli in his 2nd Superbowl with a chance for his second ring, by taking down the same team as last time! If New England wins, Brady will become only the 3rd QB in history to win 4 rings, If New York wins, Eli will become only the 11th QB to win more than 1 ring, and he’ll be a ring ahead of his brother. Peyton, who is without doubt one of the greats of the game.

I love an underdog – how couldn’t I being Scottish!?! So I’m going to be rooting for the Giants – although I’ve no doubt though that either will have another Superbowl appearance in their career.

Tomorrow I’ll be trying to avoid Facebook, Twitter, Blogs, texts, emails, phonecalls and people until I’ve watched the game – we’ll see how that goes! In the meantime, you can read more about it from people more knowledgeable than me here: NFL Blogs or follow along on twitter hastag #SB46

If you’re watching tonight – enjoy the game – but don’t be telling me the score!

Peace Out

When I played before, I played quarterback and cornerback. I’m not sure where I’ll play this time – I certainly don’t have the speed that I used to to play CB, but linebacker might be an option – I’m definitely stronger than I was 11 years ago! I’m hoping though that I’ll be able to get up to scratch to play QB. I loved that role, I love the feeling of throwing a tight spiral and watching it float into the receivers hands, of calling the plays and making sure it happens. My only slight concern is how rusty I might be given how long it is since I played competitively. Who knows though, perhaps I won’t be the only rusty player, or perhaps I won’t be as rusty as I think I am!

It’ll be great to be playing sport again though, I’ve missed that. The banter, being on a team. It’ll be amazing to be a part of that again!

I’m not worried about any part of it – hoping that my good fortune of not breaking anything will continue (especially as I need my hands to take photos!) and that me being a Christian won’t rub anyone up the wrong way – I’m sure it won’t though!

Peace Out

I remember seeing great players such as Temuri Ketsbaia, Claudio Caniggia, Javier Artero, Rab Douglas, Neil McCann and many more. My favourite players over the years have been: Neil McCann, Juan Sara, Beto Carranza, Brian Irvine, Jim Duffy, Georgi Nemsadze, Morton Weighorst, Barry Smith, Fabian Caballero, Dariusz Adamczuk, Gerry Britton, Chic Charnley and Fabrizio Ravanelli.

The Dark Blues have a long and proud history in football – the 1960′s were the Golden years, winning the league once this decade and reaching the semi-finals of the European Cup (now the champions league) in the 62-63 season.

Sadly, the team has entered administration for the 2nd time in 7 years and again =, myself and all the other Dundee fans face the very real possibility of our team ceasing to exist. It is not a great place to be in, we survived last time, I hope we do again this time!

As part of the sanctions put on the team by the SFL, Dundee have been docked 25 points meaning that, if we do survive the financial aspect of administration, we still have a very hard task to stay in the 1st Division. Because of this, some fans are calling for all Dundee fans to boycott away games – in order to ‘force’ the league to reinstate at least some of the points. I think this is a terrible idea. Dundee cannot and should not be seen, by themselves or anyone else, as bullies who think they can force their wants and wishes on the league and other teams. We need the backing of other teams at this point and hitting their pockets with decreased ticket sales is not going to do that. We need to maintain what dignity we have left, what honour we have left and ride this out honestly and bravely.

My only complaints about the film would be that not enough was made of Oher’s background – use of more flashbacks could have been quite effective and would have made more of the turn-around in Oher’s life. In the film, Oher was made out to have no knowledge of Football and to be quite a passive player, in reality he already had experience of Football and knew what he was in for. Also, the opening section about LT would also have benefited from some expansion to set the scene for the importance of the left tackle (or right tackle if the QB is left handed) and why Oher’s protective instinct was an important attribute.

It’s definitely a moving story, whether you read the book or watch the film. And I would certainly recommend that you read the book, watch the film or both! Quinton Aaron is very good at playing Oher, Sandra Bullock is fantastic as Leanne Tuohy – it’s without doubt the best performance she’s ever given.

Being a Youthworker, I of course saw the potential benefits this movie could have for use with youth groups and classes to make them think about many issues that the film brings up – equality, class divide, inspiration, encouragment, determination etc etc

Go see it, enjoy, be moved, be encouraged and make sure you encourage others to see it!

Peace Out

The story of Michael Oher itself is an inspiring story, looking at how he came from practically nothing to being one of the starting linemen of the Baltimore Ravens.

I’ll say more about the film once I’ve actually seen it. I hope it stays true to the real story, there’s not really much that can be added to it in terms of drama and how people will treat each other. At just over 2 hours, it should be able to fit in a great deal of what the book covers. If you get the chance to read the book, take it, it’s definitely worth the read.

Peace Out

Peace Out

links to some of the stories about the signing:

Bears win Peppers Sweepstakes
Peppers/ Bears finalize deal
Shocker: Bears are the NFL’s big spenders

I’m looking forward to the game this year, it should be an outstanding shootout between two dominant offenses. I’ve tried to settle on the side of one of the teams, but I just can’t pick one team in thie game. On the one hand, the New Orleans Saints have a very romantic, compelling reason why we should support them – it’s their first Superbowl and they’re playing for a city that is trying to rebuild itself on the back of the devastation of Hurricane Katrina a few years ago. On the other Hand, the Indianapolis Colts are looking for their second ring in 4 years, and they have one of my favourite NFL players at the helm – Peyton Manning.

There are countless articles on the internet worth reading about this game, and its not even happened yet! At the bottom of this post are a few that I think stand out and give a good insight/ overview of what to expect tonight. You can also follow thing on twitter by watching the tag #SB44

Will you be watching? Enjoy the game!

Peace Out

Good links:

NFL Superbowl website
Social Media and the Superbowl
Factors to watch out for in tonights game
Will the Colts Superbowl experience be an asset?
Video: 10 greatest players without a Superbowl ring

enjoy the show folks!

Peace Out

Chris

Football Days

For the curious amongst you, the Jersey is a Georgia Bulldogs Vintage Jersey, number 34: Herschel Walker, a beast of a player!

To see some of his highlights, watch this:

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

peace out

Chris