Wow!  I could not believe what I saw today.  And the worst part about it is I live in Tampa.  Every neighbor I have just had to come and let me know who won the game as if I wasn’t watching it and already knew.

The Saints were up 17-0 before the half and then went completely scoreless from that point forward.  Tampa Bay rallied a 17 point comeback that took the game into overtime.  It wouldn’t have gone into overtime.  But as luck would have it, our kicker shanked another field goal. I’m not really mad at Garrett Hartley.  He has made 8 out of 10 attempts this year and was perfect last year.

But, what a time to miss.

Then, Tampa wins the coin toss, gets the ball, and that’s the game.

So, I could still get home field advantage.  And the Colts aren’t so scary anymore.  They lost tonight too.  It’s not like the whole world is going against me.  But, I just had to vent.

Thanks for being there.

Posted under NFL, New Orleans Saints

After a long leave of absence from Celebrity Advocate Today, I’ve finally returned to take my side on the issues of the day.  Why was I gone for so long?  I moved to Tampa.

That’s right!  I made the move to Tampa about two months ago and I’ve been enjoying the beaches and the weather.  It beats the below zero degrees weather I could get up in the D.C. area.

I’ve been getting the office together and making sure I stayed on top of my work.  Taking days off here and there, I’ve had a great time to say the least.  But, now I’ve come out of my absence to address the incident with the missing NFL players, Marquis Cooper and Corey Smith, and the third gentlemen, Will Bleakley.

My heart and prayers go out to the families of these three men.  With the Coast Guard giving up search confident that there are no survivors on the surface of the water, the glimmer of hope goes out on these families.  There could be a miracle.  They could be saved and we just don’t know it yet.  They could be somewhere somehow and they just don’t have the resources to get word to us.

Let’s hope.

But in the case that the Coast Guard is right and there are no survivors on the surface of the water, I want to extend my sorrows.  There are no words to comfort.  But, that you are not alone in your grief.

I wish Nick Schuyler a speedy recovery!

Posted under Corey Smith, Marquis Cooper, Nicky Schuyler, Will Bleakley

Wow, people can jump on someone quick for the smallest thing!  Donovan McNabb said that he didn’t know there was a rule stating that you can tie in football.  Ok, I admit that there is a W, L and T column that indicates Wins, Losses and Ties.  That should have been a clue.

But really, if you think about what pressure he was under at the time and the fact that there is an overtime, you can begin to cut McNabb a little break.  McNabb was hustling to win the game and not every rule was running through his mind, especially not the one that would have been most important.  Plus, it would seem that no one else on the team was thinking about the tie either because someone would have said something about it.  McNabb would have caught that and his game plan would have changed.

I think it’s easy to forget a rule and then not remember it when it’s most important.  I know McNabb knows the rule exists because he’s was in the NFL back in 2002 when the Falcons and the Steelers tied.  But, that happened quite a long time ago.  What a thing to bring back to memory when you are caught in a battle and you are trying to pull out a win!

So, I’m not hard on him.  He is still a great quarterback and who cares if he doesn’t remember a simple rule.  That’s why the NFL has referees.

Posted under Celebrity, Cincinnati Bengals, Donovan McNabb, NFL, Philadelphia Eagles

Last year, we wrapped up our NFL experience leaving it on a phenomenal tone. Eli Manning and the New York Giants earned their Super Bowl rings while stopping Tom Brady and the New England Patriots from putting together the first undefeated year since the 1972 Miami Dolphins. Brett Favre seemed to finally say goodbye to the NFL for good. And the Indianapolis Colts ended their season impressively with the threat of coming back strong this year.

So, what happened? It’s like everything was turned up-side-down yesterday when all eyes were watching the official beginning of the NFL 2008 season. Technically the season began Thursday when the New York Giants beat the Washington Redskins 16 to 7. And that would be about the only thing that seemed normal from the season opening.

Tom Brady appears to be out for the rest of the season. Taking what seemed to be a normal hit, he went down cradling his knee but no one has yet to know exactly what is wrong with him. A few rumors are circling, but I won’t add to it. I’ll just say that the only definite I’ve heard is that he is going to be out for awhile.

Last year, he led the Patriots to an undefeated season and straight to the Super Bowl where the wins finally ended. My favorite highlight of the many things said about him, Coach Belichick and the Patriots as a whole was that they were perfectionists. Well, it’s going to be interesting to see how well they fight back from adversity with the huge hit they took yesterday. Amazingly, they won the game anyway. Matt Cassel led the Patriots to a 17 to 10 win over the Kansas City Chiefs. Let’s see if he can keep filling those shoes!

Brett Favre led the New York Jets to a huge win over the Miami Dolphins. That’s right! You heard that right! Brett Favre no longer plays for the Green Bay Packers. He is now a New York Jet and he is winning games. We thought he was retired. But, he loves the game too much to leave. The most interesting switch is the bad blood that exists between Favre and the Packers. There used to be some love there. I didn’t get into the story because it just didn’t seem like something Celebrity Advocate should follow. But, the bad blood is there and now Favre is going to lead the Jets to plenty of victories.

But, the astonishing switch from last year to this is the loss Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts endured Sunday Night. It just didn’t seem like the Colts had showed up for the game since the last three consecutive seasons has seen the Colts being absolutely dominant during season openers. All I can say is this is a new year and I have an idea that I’m going to see plenty of new things.

Point in case, the Saints came out in their season opener with a 24 to 20 win against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Now, that’s my team if you want to know. And I couldn’t be more proud. All I’m saying is that I have had to put up with years of losing seasons and now I’ve finally got a good team I can enjoy watching win from time to time. Will they go to the playoffs? I’ll be cheering them to it.

It has to be said that the best play of the day had to come from the Carolina Panthers with their last play of the game 14 yard touchdown pass to win 26 to 24 over the San Diego Chargers. I was on the edge of my seat watching the action as it seemed that the Panthers just weren’t making good decisions. They waste a play. They have only 6 seconds left and that’s only enough time for one final play. Just when it seemed that time would run out and the Chargers would take the win, Jake Delhomme finds Dante Rosario in the end zone and it seemed like it took everyone forever to figure out the Panthers had scored. I saw it, but no one was saying anything. The announcers weren’t. The refs weren’t. It was like time was suspended and I was patiently waiting to make sure that I saw what I think I saw.

Without a doubt, that was the best play of the day! I’ve been waiting for the NFL all year and now it’s finally here. You know Celebrity Advocate will follow all the action.

Posted under Brett Favre, Carolina Panthers, Celebrity, Coach Belichich, Dante Rosario, Eli Manning, Green Bay Packers, Indianapolis Colts, Jake Delhomme, Kansas City Chiefs, Matt Cassel, Miami Dolphins, NFL, New England Patriots, New Orleans Saints, New York Giants, New York Jets, Peyton Manning, San Diego Chargers, Super Bowl, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tom Brady, Washington Redskins