Dead Zone

There was an interesting debate over at Music City Miracles about whether the Titans should re-sign Albert Haynesworth. I'm still on the fence. He has been dominant the past two years, but injuries have cost him. Unlike in 2007, the defense wasn't terrible when he was out due to injury this year. The $13 million annual salary that the story references is daunting. I dunno.

Since the football season is for all intents and purposes over, what's next? I can't get excited about the Senior Bowl, East-West Shrine Game, and other such nonsense. I know the Titans will certainly draft a "football player" with the 30th pick in April's draft. That's about it.

So what do I do during this dark time? I suppose I could write about non-sports related items.

We could do Zach on Literature. I just finished reading Steve Martin's book, Born Standing Up. I can take the lessons learned from Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers, the short version being that most "geniuses" in any field have amassed 10,000 hours of practice. Martin spent more than a decade perfecting his craft, and eventually was the top stand-up comic. I can't defend his career choices of late, like the Pink Panther sequel that no one wants to see yet will probably gross $50 million. Hey, the man's got to eat. It's a good lesson about sticking to what you think works even though it may take a while to sow the seeds of success.

I'm currently reading Larry Felser's The Birth of the New NFL. The book focuses on the years when the AFL and NFL decided to merge. It's interesting to read that while Al Davis was commissioner of the AFL, Chiefs owner Lamar Hunt went behind Davis's back to ensure that the merger went through. Until the first common draft in 1967, NFL and AFL teams would draft the same players and bid on them.

I could do Zach on Beer. That's an overdue subject. My current favorite is Trader Joe's 2008 Vintage Ale. It reminds me of the Belgian Ale Cosendonk. Now, it's not quite as good, but the TJ's is $4.99 and Cosendonk goes for $7.99. I like the dark, sweet but not too sweet ales. Of course this beer is high gravity (not sure of the exact alcohol content), so it's better to sip. Naturally, the more affordable Trader Joes alcohol choices like the Two Buck Chuck leads one to consume them slightly faster than is prudent.

My Wii Fit is calling me. I've almost unlocked all of the exercises. I'm even enjoying the hula hoop challenge.

Draft status not improving

Are congrats in order for Chase Daniel's performance at the East-West Shrine game yesterday? He went 2-9 and had one passing yard. That's .11 yards per attempt. Even Ryan Leaf never pulled that off. Looking quickly at the box score, because a quick look is all it deserves, I'd say that there weren't a lot of first-day picks on the rosters.

Something to think about when watching today's Bizarro World NFC Championship game. The Cardinals last won an NFL title in 1948. They were the Chicago White Sox of the NFL at the time, playing in Comiskey Park on the South Side. The Philadelphia Eagles last won an NFL title in 1960. In both cases, their uniforms probably looked better than the current incarnations.

I need a new hat. The Titans hat I got at the stadium at the Colts game last year (I haven't forgotten your drop, Brandon Jones) is getting a little overused. I don't know what's more embarrassing. Last weekend's loss, or the fact that 99% of Atlantans have no idea that the Titans were even in the playoffs.

Shameless self-promotion: I'm about to post part four of Weekend of My Discontent.

Wednesday Thoughts

Scott Pioli signed on to be the GM of the Kansas City Chiefs. Is that really a step up from his power-sharing arrangement with Bill Belichick? The Chiefs must have a solid foundation of young players. I do recall in the early 90s when I lived in Kansas City that the fans were starved for a winner and got one with Marty Schottenheimer. I thought that Pioli's first move would be to fire Herm Edwards, aka mister "We Can Build on This!"

Thoughts on the NFC Championship: I know the media has already given the Eagles the bye to the Super Bowl. I say, not so fast. The Eagles didn't have to worry about Plaxico Burress last Sunday, therefore they teed off on the Giants run game and that was that. This weekend, their goal will be to bottle up Larry Fitzgerald, who's put on a performance reminiscent of Steve Smith for the Panthers in the 2005 playoffs. It's rare for one player to lift his team to victory, like Chris Johnson did for the Titans until Ed Reed tried to tear him in half. The Eagles have to shut down Fitzgerald and contain the resurgent Cardinal run game, which is performing like the Colt run D in their 2006 playoff run. Both teams have been inconsistent and are overdue for a stinker, like another team I'll talk about in a moment. Hopefully we'll see both of them at their best, but most likely one will perform above expectations and take a very unlikely NFC Championship.

Thoughts on the AFC Championship: Steelers, see what Chris Johnson did against the Ravens. Try to emulate that. A noteble state from the game is that the Ravens had 30 rushing attempts for 50 yards. That's called sticking with your game plan. Flacco, who has deservedly earned a reputation for not making the big mistake in the playoffs, will come back to Pittsburgh, where he couldn't beat Tyler Palko for the starting QB job. Now he gets to face the number one defense on a very cold day. I want to say Steelers all the way, but the Ravens have a way of pulling these games out. Please let my instincts be wrong this time.

The Braves finally got to overpay a pitcher when they signed Derek Lowe to a four-year deal worth $15 million a year. How many names can be spelled more ways than Derek/Derrick/Derreck? The Braves added three pitchers at age 32 and beyond. There's nothing scarier to fans than an old, injury-prone pitcher. This year's tepid free agent market in baseball has been a non-stop yawn fest to date.

When to let go, and when to take responsibility

Proving that I haven’t gotten over last Saturday’s game (just ask my voice), I have been compiling a song list to cover my feelings. I am listening to all of the songs in my iPod in alphabetical order (current song: Famous Polka by They Might Be Giants), and while I’ve been at it, I have come up with a few playlists and songs to delete. Here’s Titans’ postmortem song list:

Countless Backs of Sad Losers: Jesus Lizard

Falling to Pieces: Faith No More

Loser: Beck

Happiness Train: The Sugar Bears (How did that get in there? I can’t help but love that song.)

I’m a Loser: Beatles

Farewell to the King: Linus of Hollywood

Finale: Tom Hedden (NFL Films music)

Find a Way to Say Goodbye: Blue Rodeo

The Ravens are a bunch of thoughtless, criminal assholes whose lives are empty pathetic shells except for football, which they happen to be very good at: Toby Keith

I would say I am progressing well. And that’s the way I stay until I am reminded that the Cardinals are still alive in the playoffs.

A personal item reminded me that there are failures not Titan-related that I am very much responsible for. I am taking a set of courses to get a certificate in Web development at Emory. I take a class that's either one or two days long, then I get a test. I have to pass the test with a 75% or better. There are two attempts. This allows me to recount all of the dreams I've had over the past decade in which I'm about to take a test and am not prepared.

I took the Dreamweaver course last December. I've been using Dreamweaver for a couple of years, so I thought the class and the test would be a cinch. I took the test a couple of days after the class was over so I'd be fresh. I scored a 37 out of 50. That's a 74%. I knew from previous history that each test contains a good percentage of the same questions. I took it again immediately. I felt better, but when the score came out, I got a 74% again. Are you kidding me? My penalty was to audit the class and take the test again. I didn't want to do that, so I avoided it for the past few weeks. Today I took my medicine and called the office. Yep, I have to audit the class. It's happening the following two Saturdays. I suppose it's a good thing that the Titans lost, so now I can take these classes over and try to forward my career.

I'm trying to figure out the failure hierarchy. Failing is bad. Failing others is really bad. Failing yourself is the worst. I've already had to audit one class, and I'm not even into the "tough" classes. It almost makes me miss those dreams.

To the pain

There are worse feelings in the world, but I can't think of any right now.

On a cold, blustery night, I walked up a hill and didn't feel a thing. My dad and I reviewed the 20 or so plays that, had they turned out differently, the result could have been favorable. I tried for a long time to compare the feeling to something not sports-related. The best comparison was losing my job last August. I was in the same fog at the time. It could have been 24 hours or a week before it really hit me.

In the case of the job, things did end favorably. I was employed again within three weeks. This game's going to take until September at least.

"I hate football!" I yelled repeatedly during the fourth quarter as the football gods continuously showed me signs that it was not the Titans' night. My love for football and the Titans manifested itself in a fierce rage. I yelled at the top of my lungs for the entire game. I said things that my friends would recognize if they were with me for games like the AFC Championship game against the Raiders. Yeah, they would have pissed themselves. I yelled at the Ravens, the Titans, the refs, the fans standing in front of me who left before the final Titan drive. Ultimately, it mattered not. It's just loving that much that's scary. It's the uncontrollable frenzy it causes at moments like a rare home playoff game that's slipping away.

I have a unique memory of the 2001 loss to the Ravens. 2001 was a difficult year. Any year where being alive at the end of the year being top of your "Pro" list on December 31 is that way. It started with the loss to the Ravens and continued with the worst championship games and Super Bowl in my recollection. Later that year I found out what real struggle was like when I spent nearly three weeks in a medically induced coma. I had to fight to distinguish hallucination from reality before I could fight for my life. September 11 helped clear things up a bit. At the end of the year, I defeated the staph infection in a battle about a thousand times tougher than any Ravens/Titans game. Maybe football was a little less important.

Last night I found out that I'm still emotionally involved.

The Ravens have to be happy that they selected John Harbaugh instead of Jason Garrett. Garrett looks like that rookie pitcher who gets figured out his second time through the league. Challenging a Bo Scaife catch that was the difference between a 46-yard field goal and a 51-yard attempt was something a veteran coach might not do. Look at Sunday's challenges, almost all lost, for comparison. When Derrick Mason caught a low pass later in the quarter, he called a quick run play before the Titans could react and challenge. The Titans did not lose to inferior coaching.

I thought about changing my blog to Zach on Puppies because sports can be too harsh. The pain of defeat is a lot worse than the glow of victory. That's easy to say when victory is elusive.

As a Titan fan who can't fathom next September, I can intellectually consider that the team may bring back all 22 starters from this year. Then I think of the Missouri Tigers, who brought back most of their major contributors from last year and had a setback. Nothing's guaranteed, folks. Enjoy the moment, like fans in Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Arizona, and Philadelphia are.

Less than 24 hours

Before going on a typical anti-Ravens rant, I'll talk about a new challenge. The hardest part about watching last weekend's wild card game was the commercial breaks. During the regular season, the magic of the Red Zone Channel on Direct TV was always there. When there's one game on, there's VH1 Classic.

The Don Funk Sports Bar has all the channels. VH1 Classic was showing 2009 videos in 2009, which basically was 2009 videos, from the early 80s through the early 90s, in order of song title. We waited for at least an hour for Maneater to come on. The alphabet can be frustrating.

I have almost exactly as many songs in my iPod as were in the video spectacular. So I'm listening through all of my songs, 1905 in all, from A to Z. I'm listening to "Crosseyed" by Brendon Benson, song number 300. If I get through 50 songs a day I'll be done before the Super Bowl.

Where were we? Titan fans are outraged that Steve McNair is doing a charity event for the Ravens in Nashville. For Titan fans, they would be outraged more only if McNair had the Raven logo tattooed on his forehead.

I heard a few comments from the underprepared Fox team at the BCS Mythical Championship game about Florida hitting the A gap to get pressure on Sam Bradford. It worked. That's where the Ravens are going to bring it. Amano and Harris will double Ngata and that will leave the middle open for a Ray Lewis or Bart Scott. It's too bad that the Titans don't have that sweet option shovel pass play that Florida ran a few times and Oklahoma never figured out how to defend. Do they watch film?

One thing I noticed about Sam Bradford is that he knows how to throw a screen pass. He hit Chris Brown (oddly with the same name and number as the guy who tormented Titan fans with his annual injuries) in stride down the sideline for a huge gain. Chris Johnson fights the ball too much to be a real threat on screens. Who knows, maybe he'll surprise us like when Justin Gage got popped by Troy Polamalu in the end zone and held onto the ball.

I knew that Dave Ball and Kevin Mawae were out, but David Thornton missed practice as well yesterday. I haven't heard if he's going to play. Ed Reed missed practice for the Ravens but he's playing.

Here's your final rivalry story of the week. It encapsulates everything I've been saying all week. Happy Saturday, folks.

Two days

This is a scenario that I haven't seen before. Oklahoma calls a timeout before a punt attempt. There's a full commercial break. Then Oklahoma's called for a false start. Then Florida calls a timeout. Finally, Oklahoma punts and Florida runs into the punter. I could have used a couple of additional commercials.

Neither team looks like a champion tonight. Jeff Fisher'd be up 13-7 at the half, this much I know. Oklahoma blew two chances inside the ten and Florida couldn't sustain drives. It's a weird game, typical of teams that haven't played in more than a month. Why do they need such a long amount of time off? It's not like they're going to classes this week.

I know the Titans don't like to take wideouts with their first round pick, but if Percy Harvin is available next April when Tennessee is on the clock, they should take him. A Desean Jackson-type punt returner and receiver would give the team one more playmaker (giving them two).

Other than David Ball probably being a scratch on Saturday, I haven't seen anything new on the game today. After spending an hour in traffic coming home (it usually takes me 20 minutes), I wondered if I'd prefer Atlanta traffic or watching a replay of the 2001 playoff game against the Ravens wedged between Ray Lewis and Tony Siragusa. It's a coin flip.

January is a big month in Titans history. January 7 was the date of the Ravens fiasco. January 8 was the Music City Miracle. January 10 was the date of the loss in New England when McNair threw the fourth down moon ball that Drew Bennett couldn't catch. We're about ten days away from the anniversary of the destruction at Oakland and the amazing victory that I couldn't watch at Jacksonville for the one and only Super Bowl appearance. It's good to make new January memories. The past few years have been rather bleak.

Could you imagine the package Miami could put together with Teabow as QB? I know the coach responsible for the Wildcat will probably be gone in a couple of years, but the RB as QB play is here to stay.

Three days, suckas

There are three days to the epic Titans/Ravens playoff game. Fact of the day is that the Keith Bulluck, Jevon Kearse, and Craig Hentrich are the three remaining Titans who played in the 2001 playoff game. In short, that means the 2001 rematch talk is just that. I doubt that too many Ravens remain from that game. They probably have more former Titans than Ravens who played back then. So what does that leave us?

Are Haynesworth and Vanden Bosch 100%? Neither guy has played in four weeks. We won't know until kickoff, and although the Ravens' offensive line is far from elite, they're better than the unit the Titans' second-string dominated in the Steeler game.

Is Rob Bironas ready for the playoffs? Al Del Greco better be hiding in a basement somewhere. He was the single biggest Titan killer in the 2001 game, the biggest choke job by a kicker since a guy named Lin Elliott played for the Chiefs in 1995.

The rain should have passed by the 3:30 kickoff. The field probably will be wet, which doesn't give either team much of an advantage.

The last time the Titans won a playoff game, I had been married for less than three months. Now I've been married for less than 63 months. Can you say overdue?

Four days and counting

I took a break from my divisional playoff obsession to fill out some paperwork. Yep, I'm about to become a full-time employee at the place where I've worked as a contractor since September. This is a place where my sports obsession is supported instead of tolerated. I haven't put up anything in Columbia blue in my work area or made the picture of Cortland Finnegan obliterating Ben Roethlisberger my desktop background.

Ken Mawae is out for Saturday. At least we think he is. In his place will start seconed-year player Leroy Harris. Harris was a healthy scratch in all 16 games as a rookie and started his first game two weeks ago. Calling the offensive line signals against a tough defensive line won't be easy.

Oh yeah, if the paperwork clears in time, my first paid holiday as a full-timer will be Martin Luther King Jr. day, or in the football-obsessed world, the day after the AFC and NFC Championship games. The stars are aligning for me.

Clarification on Flacco

Because I like being married and the couch ain't too comfy, let me clarify. The Joe Flacco as Titan MVP comment belongs to my entrepreneur, athlete, and writer of a wife. I like to think that I helped coax the full statement out of her, but no court on earth would side with me.

Kick in the gut redux

January 7, 2001 was the day of the Adelphia Colesium massacre. This is the day when the Titans had 23 first downs to the Ravens' six. Yet it was the Ravens who emerged victorious 24-10. Today's Tennessean was nice enough to show a recap in pictures, including Ray Lewis's seizure dance after his game-clinching touchdown. You don't get over a loss like that too easily. The Titans were clearly the best team in the NFL, and when your team is called the Tennessee Titans, being the best team in the league doesn't happen too often.

Current media reaction seems to be pro-Ravens. I don't blame them. The Titans haven't played a real game since December 21. I believe the majority of writers thought a different outcome was going to occur that day. The Ravens got five turnovers in Sunday's game. Am I supposed to wave the white towel of surrender? From what I hear, the Titans will give away some kind of Titan Towel before the game. Tell me, has any team been intimidated by fans waving a towel? Besides, the Steelers own the towel territory and they are welcome to keep it. I'm just going to yell my head off until I sound like Brett Michaels after a concert.

Am I supposed to be shaking in my booties because the Titans barely beat the Ravens earlier this year? Joe Flacco will be the Titan MVP just like he was in the earlier game.

Home field advantage

My beware the home team mantra bore fruit. It never hurts to play in front of the home crowd. It also doesn't hurt for your opponent to travel across the country. It also helps if you play better than your opponent.

The Falcons were mighty when they established an early lead with throws from Matt Ryan to Roddy White (I assume they have another receiver) and running later with Michael Turner, who's like a fast version of LenDale White. This is not a team built to make a big comeback. They made one but were not able to make the second. Down 14-3, Matty Ice rallied the troops to a 17-14 lead. The offense then sputtered for most of the second half, turning the ball over twice, giving up a touchdown and a safety. It would be hard for any defense, let alone the Falcons, to hold the Cardinals to one first down as they expired the remaining time outs. On third and 16 Keith Brooking mysteriously decided to rush Warner, who already had a linebacker approaching him, leaving Stephen Spach wide open. If you give up a 22-yard pass to a third-string tight end, you deserve to lose. But that's what happens when you're down six points and the clock's ticking.

The Colts were the writers' darlings all week. A nine-game winning streak for a road wild card team is nearly unheard of. Peyton Manning was MVP and the stars were aligned for a Mannings Super Bowl. The national media forgot a few things:

The Colts can't run the ball.
The Colts have a small, fast defense that can wear down.
Peyton dances like a chess club kid at the prom when there's pressure.

The Chargers and the Colts were similar teams during the regular season. The Chargers lost almost all of their close games and the Colts won theirs. No one seemed to remember that the Chargers beat the Colts in Indy with a backup QB and RB leading the game-winning drive. That was an even more improbable drive than Eli and the Miracles in the Super Bowl.

The Colts' vaunted offense did nothing in the second half, save one pass when the Chargers decided to not cover Reggie Wayne. Happens to the best of us. Plays like that make me salivate at the opportunity for the Chargers to come to Nashville next week. LaDainian Tomlinson was "fine" according to the always-on-top-of-things (read: useless) sideline reporter. He didn't play a snap in the second half. No matter. Darren Sproles, who made himself a few million last night, had more than 300 total yards and scored the winning TD. The Chargers made it interesting by turning the ball over twice in the end zone, but it was the Colts being unable to make third and 2 that ended the game. Instead of running the ball, Manning backpedaled and was sacked when a linebacker came in unblocked. Getting in field goal range was a snap and it was a matter of the Chargers winning the coin toss.

So the Titans will face the Chargers or the Ravens. The Ravens ended the dream season of 2000. The Chargers threw all over the Titans in the second half of last year's Wild Card win. I believe with a fully stocked defensive line and a bit of Johnson and White, it doesn't matter.

They did it

Utah put the beat-down on Alabama last night. Unlike previous David over Goliath stories, like when Boise State beat Oklahoma two years ago and West Virginia's defeat of Georgia in the Sugar Bowl three years ago, this was a decisive victory. When Utah took a 21-0 lead, there was a feeling of dread, that the big boys would make a run and the Utes would have to hold on. Alabama doesn't have a come-from-behind offense yet. They aren't built for it. It wasn't that Utah won, they seemed to have superior athletes where it mattered. I do want Alabama receiver Julio Jones on my fantasy team when he goes pro, though.

The announcers acted like Utah was a mid-level high school team going against Bear Bryant's finest. That was the predictable angle. I always hear about the top announcers like Chris Collinsworth and how much game prep he does. Most of the announcers at the bowl games I watched seemed to hold on to one angle and not do much in the way of analysis. At the Alamo Bowl the announcers were on Northwestern's jock as soon as the game was 7-0. Last night Daryl Johnston and Kenny Albert played the "I'm stunned" card for three hours.

Florida and Oklahoma will play for the crystal trophy, but Utah's the only team that will finish undefeated. The system can't take that away from them.

A couple of notes regarding today's games: When the matchups were first set, everyone loved Atlanta and Indy in the Saturday wild card games. I've noticed that there has been an undercurrent of support for the Cardinals and Chargers. Don't discount the home team. Every year, especially after the Steelers' run in 2006, the fifth and sixth seeds get a little too much love in the opening round. Sure, wild card teams have won titles twice in the past three years. Before that, it happened three times ever. Don't sleep on the home teams this weekend.

Resolute

Here are some of my 2009 sports resolutions:

It's time for me to go "all in" regarding the Titans. I'm going to be uber nervous at the divisional playoff game with memories of blown leads and missed field goals. They have the talent to win it all, and they also are not good enough to win if they play poorly.

I will believe in Kenny Williams and his off-season moves. It seems like he's trying to have it both ways by maintaining his lineup core of Konerko, Thome, and Dye while mixing in some youngsters and stocking the minor league system. Jon Danks and Gavin Floyd came through in a big way, and a Lance Broadway or Clayton Richard's going to have to exceed expectations for a return playoff trip. Jerry Owens and Josh Fields are going to have to overcome a year of minor-league seasoning and injuries.

If I'm sticking around in my fantasy leagues, I'm in it to win it. I need to assess whether I have time to be involved enough to be competitive and keep it fun.

I want to see more games in person in 2008. Whether I go to a Sox game in Chicago or even check out the Braves' single-A team in Rome, I'd like to have a few new sports experiences. Getting to a college football game or two would be a lot of fun.

Relax and enjoy it when my teams do well and understand when they do not that I have virtually zero impact. I'm just along for the ride. Sometimes I overemphasize the negative (like Missouri's defense) and forget to enjoy the positive, like the Titans getting home-field advantage for the second time in franchise history. The White Sox were a playoff team last year but it felt like they finished in last with the way they tormented their fans in the final month. Results are what matters, not style points. OK, style points do matter if you're in college football.

Finally, congrats to Vanderbilt for winning their first bowl game in 43 years. The SEC really took it to the ACC last year. Boston College and Georgia Tech were probably the second and third best team in the conference and they lost to teams that finished 7-6 and 8-5. Where's Duke when you need 'em? Actually Vandy lost to Duke and Wake Forest, yet they had enough luck and timing to beat a pretty solid BC team.