HEART: Intersecting Super Bowl Leftovers 2013 and Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day was this week. yippee. The Super Bowl was 2 weeks ago. There were all sorts speculation. Colin Kaepernick is unstoppable. Joe Flacco is elite, at least by his own account. Catchy Phrases: Hey diddle diddle Ray Rice up the middle. But there was something that was discounted. Something that is an intangible. Considering once again this past week was Valentine's Day, I will explain to you where the Super Bowl and Valentine's day intersect.

One does not usually associate Valentine's Day and football. Valentine's Day is rather a romantic, girly holiday. Football is considered a more masculine event. (Although I believe I usually make a case in the more neutral direction ;-) ) Football season in college is over after the first week in January. Super Bowl is played at the beginning of February.

Ponder (no pun intended, well maybe) for a minute the last game Bobby Bowden coached. Many former Bowden players were there to support and cheer him on. Christian Ponder was injured. E. J. Manual was starting. FSU was 6-6 going into the game with the West Virginia Mountaineers 9-3 and Noel Devine (considered to be unstoppable) ranked by the BCS 16th. FSU getting to play in the Gator Bowl was nothing short of a miracle. And, yes I was there. For me, it ranks tied for Number one of great football games I have seen in person (the other 2 are Jacksonville Jaguars: Scobee's 59 yard field Goal, and Mike Thomas Immaculate Deflection). It's Number 1 for several reasons. Mainly because it was Bowden's last game. I had watched Bobby Bowden since I could remember. Number 2, FSU was not supposed to win that game and they did. How is that possible? Heart. Yes, heart is sometimes considered girly. It's not. It can make a grown man cry. It can make a grown man win. I submit those FSU players left EVERYTHING on the field for 1 man: Bobby Bowden.

Fast forward to the 2012 NFL season. Joe Flacco coming into the season, rejected a contract offer for 16 million. RISKY. Cam Cameron, offensive coordinator, was fired after the loss to the Washington Redskins. Numerous reasons cited. My favorite being limited use of Ray Rice. Seriously? Ray Rice is money (except that one season he tanked my fantasy football). Ray Lewis tears his triceps muscle in the Dallas game in October. Tearing the triceps is largely considered a time laden injury. Terrell Suggs has surgery for an Achilles injury in May and returns to play in October. Another time laden injury. Early January, Ray Lewis announces his retirement. He had been on the Ravens team since it's inception. Had a Super Bowl ring. Widely considered one of the best ever at his position (side note: I always giggle a little bit when I think of the Ravens. The Jaguars beat them in a Monday Night Football game in 2011 in what amounted to a field goal game. The score was 12-7. Jaguars beat them with field goals only. *snicker* So tough they got beat with field goals.) I believe Ray Lewis' retirement catapulted the team through the playoffs and to a Super Bowl win. A Super Bowl win during which a 34 minute blackout in half of the Superdome, created a switch in momentum almost costing the game. A Super Bowl win that Jim Harbaugh and Colin Kaepernick, I believe, thought they could not lose. Yeah Joe Flacco was probably gunning for more money and we'll see how much he gets and how successful he is next year, but nothing can stop a team who plays for a coach or another player. You can't stop a team playing with their heart. You can't stop players who leave EVERYTHING on the field.

Speaking of heart, something we did not see last year in professional football was Tim Tebow. As much as I hate to admit it, you simply cannot discount him in any situation. The New York Jets have stopped the Tebow Train. Ultimately sealing their demise and his as well. He is being squelched. Why do I care? Because I guess I'm getting old and soft. Or maybe, I really want to see players play with their HEART.

MDK in the House

We MUST Protect This House

Stay Calm, Wear Black

Valentine's Day Reflection

Today's blog is a break from my normal football blog AKA rant. I apologize. But you know I am a girl, and sometimes I HAVE to act like one ;-) Hang tight. There will be a football reference or two or five.



This past week was Valentine's Day 2013. Not a day I normally find joy in celebrating. Why you might ask? Well, I've never been much for Valentine's Day since my parents took me to the IRS office on Valentine's Day when I was five. I never really had anyone make a fuss over me on that day anyway. I don't tend to want to be center of attention. So, no big loss.

When I was in college, I was dating someone and he proposed to me on Valentine's Day. Needless to say, we broke up 6 months later before the wedding. The reasons why we broke up are important. He wanted me to dress more risque i.e. shorter skirts, tighter tops. He wanted me to be thinner and said I was fat. I was 110 lbs. He wanted me to change church affiliations. He also wanted me to be a Florida Gator fan knowing I was a die hard Florida State Seminole. The bottom line is this: Don't change for a man. You are, barring some unforeseen felony, perfect the way you are now. A man should love you no matter what. Are there little things that can change, like changing the toilet paper roll? Yeah. Never change things that make you who you are.

So, obviously, I didn't marry him. Thank goodness. But it has indefinitely put a bad taste in my mouth for Valentine's Day. It also takes a load of pressure off my husband. My husband is also a Georgia Tech fan. My husband doesn't and hasn't ever tried to change me. He knows better. ;-)

MDK in the House

We Must Protect This House

Stay Calm, Wear Black.

My 3 Cents, Jaguars and Otherwise

Well. Change has been in the wind lately for the Jacksonville Jaguars. For me, it's as if the franchise is brand new to a certain point. The owner is new, by a year, the General Manager is new (YAAAAYYY), the head coach is new, new logo, and new uniforms. I believe it is/will be an exciting time for the Jaguars. I'm optimistic. However, that doesn't mean I expect them to go 16-0 next year. This year will more than likely be an evaluation of sorts. I expect the GM and HC to get a scheme down. My definition of scheme is somewhat vague. But, I believe that each NFL franchise has a way of doing things, a scheme: the players that are picked, the plays called, the coaches' philosophies. I don't think necessarily that any NFL player can be put on any team and they will be successful. I guess scheme also goes hand in hand with Identity. What will our Identity be? I don't know. But I can tell you I feel confident in the people making the decisions. Confident, in a way that I haven't been confident, in quite some time.

This is exciting for me personally because if you've read my blog you know that I'm from Jacksonville originally. I remember as a girl/teenager in the 80's all the talk about getting an NFL team. I leave in 1991 and 1993 the announcement comes. At the time living in Atlanta, I wasn't all that interested and to be quite frank, it wasn't big news there. Upon my return to Jacksonville in 2003, it took me until 2005 to "get it". So this is completely new for me and I'm excited. Naysayers AKA Haters beware.

And then there's FSU. *SIGH* They only seem to be going backwards. Lost to NC State, lost to Florida, won the ACC Championship??!!!! C'mon man!! You HAVE to beat Florida. HAVE TO. Now Jimbo has lost 6 of 9 assistants. The last being the offensive coordinator, James Coley. I kinda feel bad for the guy. Jimbo refused to relinquish play calling duties to him, which he promised he would within 5 yrs of becoming the head coach, so Coley takes a job with Miami. MIAMI??!! So Jimbo will start all over again. He loses a lot of scouting. And this is taking the shape of a perfect storm. Jimbo will once again be calling plays (probably all of them from the looks of it)-disaster. Jimbo's scouting abilities in regards to assistants-disaster.  Coach Trickett's son is the Quarterback this year barring any unforseen dark horses-disaster (unless Jameis Winston is ready). AND not selling out games again this year-disaster. And I won't even go into penalties. Don't look for me to relinquish the #RG (rebound girlfriend) status from behind his name anytime soon. He might need to be reminded that he's no Bobby.