Chris Cooley (recounting a pre-game speech by Gibbs)
Joe Gibbs describing why playing against Pittsburg would be tough in 2006. “Russ Grimm believes in a lot of the same things we do. Tough, physical, smart. Up here, hey, ya gotta have a pair.”
Don Warren
He was a hard-nosed player. He was a fierce, fierce competitor. He wouldn’t let injuries knock him down at all. He was a guy that I saw get punched in the eye, get stitches, and get carted off the field. He had blood rolling down his face, had stitches, and within 10 minutes, you look in the huddle, and he’s right back next to you. He’s a fierce competitor, and just a tough guy.”
Joe Bugel
“The Super Hog has been Russ Grimm,” Bugel said on the day of his retirement. “He has ended up being a heck of a football coach, and I loved coaching him. He was allergic to the weight room, he was allergic to conditioning, but liked him because he had the ugliest body I’ve ever seen, and he was a good football player.”
When you combine those 3 quotes you find a guy who didn’t look pretty playing, played hurt, played smart, played physical, was coachable and “had a pair.” When you form a core group of players like that…you win 3 Super Bowls. Congrats Russ.
Who dat? Dat be the Super Bowl champions? No…really? For the past 2 weeks I’ve told anyone who asked for my opinion that the Colts would win the game. In fact, I told my co-workers this morning the Colts would win by 2 touchdowns. I mean…it’s hard not to believe that if Tony Dungy believes it. But, I guess I drank the Saint’s Kool-Aid for breakfast because I’m officially going on record as picking the Saints to win the game.
Picking the Saints definitely puts me in the minority as most of the experts are picking the Colts; even most of the celebrities are picking the Colts. But hey, I’m in good company…if the Saints are good enough for Phyllis Diller, they’re good enough for me! Grateful Dead guitarist Bob Weir (what’s that guy been smoking) even picks the same final score as I do…Saints 30 Colts 28. Who cares what the “experts” think with all their breaking down game film and well-informed information? I feel like I’m in good company with Phyllis and Bob.
It’s tough to pick against Peyton Manning, he may be the best I ever saw. The key to game will come early, with the Saints needing to do 1 of 2 things. The Saints need to come up with a couple of stops early, or if not, they need to answer the Colts scores. The Saints falling behind early would not be a good recipe for winning. Hopefully, Gregg Williams will bring a solid defensive game plan to the table and try to create some confusion for Manning…something that is not easy to do. I’m predicting a Joseph Addai fumble at some point in this game to swing things in the Saints favor.
So there you have it…put some Jambalaya in the crock pot, cue up ‘When the Saints Go Marching In’ and enjoy the game. Maybe I’ll cruise on over to Orlando this week and see Drew Brees at Disneyworld.
Happy birthday Roberto Alomar. Roberto played 3 seasons at 2B for the Orioles from 1996-98. Robbie was a switch hitter who wore #12. During his O’s tenure Robbie batted .310 with 50HR’s and 210 RBI’s. Robbie made the All-Star team all the 3 years as an Oriole and won the Gold Glove twice. Robbie narrowly missed first ballot introduction to the Hall of Fame recently, missing by just 8 votes…I expect to see him voted in next year. In retirement Robbie has kept a fairly low profile besides the whole AIDS thing. I don’t know about that but the joke back in the day was Robbie spits and Brady swallows. Happy 42nd Mr. Alomar.
Happy birthday Fred Lynn. Fred played 4 season for the O’s from 1985-88. An center fielder who wore #19, Fred was known to sacrifice his body running into the outfield walls to make amazing catches. During his O’s tenure Fred batted .265 with 87 HR’s and 232 RBI’s. Fred was traded to the Tigers at the trading deadline in 88’ for Chris Hoiles. For his career Fred was a 9 time All-Star, won 4 Gold Gloves and was the first player to win the ROY and MVP awards in the same season. In retirement Fred has devoted much of his time to charity work. Happy 58th Mr. Lynn.
Happy birthday Melvin Mora. Melvin played 10 seasons for the Orioles from 2000-09. Melvin came to the Orioles in a trade with the Mets in exchange for Mike Bordick. Initially a utility player, Melvin settled into the 3B in 2004 and wound up appearing in more games there in an Orioles uniform…other than some Robinson guy. During his O’s tenure Melvin batted .280 with 158 HR’s and 662 RBI’s. Melvin’s best season came in 2004 when he batted .340-27-104. Melvin recently signed with the Colorado Rockies. Happy 38th Mr. Mora.
Happy birthday Scott Erickson. Scott played 7 seasons for the O’s from 1995-02. A tall(6’4”) righty who wore #19, Scott came to the Orioles in a trade with the Twins. During his O’s tenure Scott won 79 games and had a 4.73 ERA. His best season came in 97’ when he went 16-7 with a 3.69 ERA. Scott didn’t make any All-Star teams or win any Cy Young’s as an Oriole…but he was on People magazines most beautiful list of 2000. In retirement Scott married television reporter Lisa Guerrero and started a production company. Happy 42nd Mr. Erickson.
I’ve chosen one my favorite all-time bands for today’s edition of “Music Monday,” Better Than Ezra. My first memories of BTE are from 1995 when I first heard ‘Good’ on WHFS. I remember driving in my car and horribly singing the lines “aha, it was good living with you, aha.” At the time BTE had already been making music for 7 years and they are still going strong today, after 22 years. ‘Good’ was the first and only #1 song for BTE (to date,) but the truth of the matter is, as “good” as ‘Good’ was…BTE has gotten better with age.
BTE has released 7 studio albums to date and in my opinion they started really hitting their stride with album #4 Closer. Don’t get me wrong BTE’s first 3 albums rocked, including the underrated How Does You’re Garden Grow? However, Closer is on a different level and it’s one of my desert island albums…it’s also an album that my 5 year old has been enjoying lately, we’re wearing out ‘Misunderstood.’
In addition to churning out great albums, BTE still tours regularly. They are a bad ass live band with their shows featuring various covers and medleys. My wife and I never miss a chance to see BTE. It’s no surprise that our 5 year old loves BTE…it was his first concert…when he was still in his mommy’s tummy.
The past couple weeks have been very good to BTE, they are natives of New Orleans and huge Saints fans…so they got that going for them, which is nice. In addition, Taylor Swift (a big BTE fan) performed a cover of their song ‘Breathless’ on the Hope For Haiti Now Telethon.
I recommend all of BTE’s music, but you can start your BTE collection by purchasing some of the tunes listed below. GO SAINTS!
PS- 15 years later I’m still singing “aha, it was good,” and I still sound horrible.
My favorite TV show currently airing is Friday Night Lights (FNL.) A spin-off of the movie by the same name, FNL expands on the characters of the small rural town of Dillon, TX, where football is everything.
Peter Berg was the director of the movie and adapted it for the small screen. One of the things I dig about Peter is that he is a big Redskins fan. One of the shows main characters is a fullback that drinks a lot of beer, lives in a trailer and is named…Riggins. The name of Peter’s production company that produces FNL is named 44Productions.
The writing and story lines in FNL are some of the best on TV today. The show is also blessed to have a group of great young actors who are given lots of freedom to ad-lib from the script. One particular actor, Zach Gilford, who plays Matt Saracen had one of the most amazing acting jobs I’ve seen on TV earlier this season. In an episode entitled “The Son,” Matt deals with losing a father he never really knew…and struggles with how he should remember and honor a man he didn’t like. Incredible job.
Other great young actors include Taylor Kitsch, Aimee Teegarden and Minka Kelly. The show has a lot of hot chicks pass thru it, which doesn’t hurt it’s standing with me. Coach Taylor is played by Kyle Chandler, when I hear some of his locker room speeches I want to go out and play.
FNL is currently running its 4th season on DirecTV. It will start airing on NBC in late April. I recommend you tune in to watch and get Seasons 1-3 on DVD to catch up.
