Why do NFL officials have to explain the overtime rules?

While watching the Cowboys/Steelers OT game last weekend, I got a little annoyed by the fact that the official was forced to awkwardly attempt to explain the overtime rules to the players and crowd before the coin flip.  I couldn't find a video of it, but here's a clip of a similar circumstance from last year's Giants/49ers playoff game:

Why does this happen?  I sort of get why they did it for the fans when the rule was brand new, but it's not new anymore.  And if the players somehow aren't aware, they don't deserve an explanation.  You don't see this in any other sports.  The umpires at a baseball game don't announce before extra innings that if the home team takes the lead the game is over.  NBA refs don't explain that the extra period only lasts 5 minutes.  And it doesn't happen at other points in NFL games; you don't see referees grabbing the microphone at the two-minute warning to announce that all replays reviews will now happen automatically.  The rules are the rules, everybody knows them.  Announcing them before overtime is just dumb.

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Memo to young women in bars: Part II

A while ago I wrote a post in which I tried to educate the 20-something female population about the concept of "buying rounds."  Today I am going to expand on that a little:

Even if you and your friends aren't good enough friends to buy drinks for each other, and you insist on each paying for just your own drink with your own credit card every time you order, that doesn't mean you have to all order separately as well.

Last night a a girl walked up to my bar holding her card out (I do give her credit for being ready to pay though; rather than digging through her bag for twenty minutes after I make the drink as if she had no idea that some sort of currency exchange would be necessary in order to acquire said drink) and ordered a pomegranate margarita with salt.  Meanwhile, her friend stood quietly behind her.  Once I made the drink and swiped her credit card she stepped to the side, then her friend moved in and said "I'll have the same thing."  I laughed (probably a little too obnoxiously) and repeated the process.

I promise it's easier for both you and me if the two of you (or even 3 or 4) order your drinks together, it'll save us all some time and effort.  Also, when you're sitting at the bar and you've finished your cocktail, it's ok to get another one if you like.  Or you can go home if you want to. You don't have to feel obligated to stay there for another hour and chat away with your friends with empty glasses in front of you.

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Paul Pierce's 40 point game is even more amazing than you think

The Captain salutes the crowd after his 40th point.

When Paul Pierce drained the second of back to back three pointers with 2:30 to go in the first quarter yesterday, my buddy in the seat next to me at the Garden turned and said "I think he's going to have a good night."  As you've probably heard by now, Pierce became just the 2nd player in Celtics history over the age of 35 to score 40 points in a game (Larry Bird did it in a double overtime contest in 1992).  But, Pierce's achievement goes way beyond just that.

Since Bird's 49 point effort 20 years ago, just 5 other players 35 or older have scored at least 40 points in an NBA game: Michael Jordan, Clyde Drexler, Karl Malone, Reggie Miller, and Shaquille O'Neal.  That's it.  Not a bad list for Pierce to join.

If that's not impressive enough, Pierce scored his 40 points while taking just 16 shots (13-16 FG, 8-8 FT, 6-7 3PT).  In the last 3 seasons there have been 85 forty point games in the NBA.  Pierce's is the only one with 16 or fewer field goal attempts.  The last player to put up 40 with such efficiency was Amare Stoudemire in March of 2010.  In the past 10+ years there have only been 5 forty point games where the player took 16 or fewer shots, and since 1985 (as far back as basketball-reference.com tracks) it has happened a total of just 13 times.  Factoring in Pierce's age makes the accomplishment even more significant, none of the other 12 players were older than 30.

Is it possible Pierce is the oldest player in NBA history to score 40 on so few field goal attempts?  I don't have the research power to figure that out.  If you're reading this and you happen to work for Espn or Elias (or The Wall Street Journal?), please give me a hand.

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Awesome Old Song of the Week: "I Wanna be Rich" by Calloway

In 1990 two brothers who went by their last name, "Calloway," had their one and only major hit.  As far as stereotypical late 80's/early 90's pop music goes, I Wanna be Rich fits the mold perfectly.  The lyrics are also spectacularly uncreative; as a 13 year old I remember being very unimpressed by "I spend my money on lottery; my favorite number is 1 2 3..."  But the tune is catchy and it has a nice happy vibe to it; almost a reggae/steel kettle drums type of sound that makes you feel like you're on vacation in the Caribbean.

I wonder if this song was enough for the Calloway brothers to reach their self proclaimed financial goals?  I think I bought the cassette single, but their cut of that .99 cents probably didn't get it done.

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The Tebometer is back!

After a 4 week hiatus, Tim Tebow got back on the field for the Jets last night, and threw one pass.  He did not complete it, ending his streak of 5 consecutive completions (over a span of 5 games), and dropping his career passing percentage down to 47.9%.  Tebow's 0-1 performance earned him a passer rating of 39.6.  Amazingly, starter Mark Sanchez's line of 13-28 for 131 yards, 1 TD, and 4 interceptions was bad enough to receive an ever lower rating, 32.6.  It was the second time this season that Tebow went 0-1, but arguably had a better game than Sanchez.



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Clearly I jinxed the Pats. But it's no big deal.

Last week I posted something called "Writing about the Patriots/Bray's amazingness is getting pretty redundant."  I listed several impressive stats and streaks that they were on, most of which ended or became much less impressive last night.  I should have seen it coming.  Everyone was finally on the Pats bandwagon this week, pretty much the entire sports world was calling them the best team in the NFL.  What I expected to happen to Notre Dame several weeks ago is what did happen to New England yesterday.

But that's ok.  After playing as badly as they possibly could for more than a half, the Patriots erased a 28 point deficit in less than a quarter against on of the best teams (and defenses) in the NFL.  I had this exchange with one of the co-founders of Cosby Sweaters (and a fellow Pats fan) on facebook last night:

Me: "Not real bothered by the loss.  The comeback was good enough, and now they got their crap game out of the way."

CS Mike: "Exactly. Tonight was the game they usually play on Super Bowl Sunday against the Giants. Now it's out of their system."

I think this sums up perfectly the current state of affairs in Foxboro.

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Recycle Sunday 7.0

Highlights from the blog since the the last recycle Sunday:

Even though I wish it wasn't true, the 2012 USA Basketball Team would beat the 1992 "Dream Team."

The technology in my watch makes me think we should have solar powered cars by now.

It bothers me that many Olympic events involve losing a game to "win" the silver medal.

If it looks like a duck, and it quacks like a duck, sometimes in means Bartolo Colon used steroids.

The Olympic runner with fake legs got upset when he lost at the Paralympics to a runner with better fake legs.

Remember last summer when the Washington Nationals decided they didn't want to win the World Series?

I discovered a record streak of 20 consecutive winning seasons by Boston's 4 major sports teams.  The Wall Street Journal decided it was worth mentioning.

If you were a vendor at Fenway Park, what product would you most like to sell walking up and down the aisles?

If you ever go up to a restaurant employee and say "I can't find my waitress," please make sure you have at least looked first.

For kids in school these days, writing "research papers" has got to be kind of a joke compared to what it used to be like.

Even though I hate the concept (because it doesn't really exist), I was kind of amused when a women at the bar asked me to make her an "anorexic margarita."

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