Did U catch the National Championship last night?

[flintlock]

Well if you did, or didn't my favorite on-line sports writer Bill Simmons at espn.com http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/060105 has a segment he does from time to time. It's a real-time diary where he makes observations as the game progresses. He has a few thoughts on last night's football game that are truly funny.

Whenever there's talk about USC's head coach Pete Carroll, well it has special meaning for Patriot fans.

A few excerpts...

8:17 -- Highlight of the game so far: LeAnn Rimes belting out the National Anthem, followed by a cut to Matt Leinart with a pensive, "Have I had her yet?" look on his face. He's the best. We need to figure out a way to get him on the Jets next year.

8:23 -- Funny shot of Leinart warming up and wearing a conspicuous knee brace. After the Saints locked up the No. 2 pick, do you think Leinart went to USC's doctor and asked, "Can you give me the biggest, scariest looking knee brace you can find?"

8:37 -- Keith Jackson on Vince Young: "As an old defensive coach once said, 'He ain't got no handles,' but he led the country in passing this year."

(Um, does anyone on this plane speak jive? What just happened there?)

8:42 -- Fourth-and-2 at midfield, Texas goes for it and gets absolutely stuffed. That's quickly followed by our first promo for "Dancing With the Stars," featuring celebrities dancers like Jerry Rice, Stacey Keibler, George Hamilton, Tatum O'Neal ... and ESPN's own Kenny Mayne. I will now pop a champagne bottle directly into my right eye.

8:51 -- The Trojans go for it on fourth-and-1 from the Texas 18 ... and Leinart pulls a Scott Mitchell and botches the QB sneak for no gain. Texas ball. And yes, the decision-making in this game is already confirming something I already believed -- to coach a good college football team, you basically need two arms, two legs and a head. That qualifies you.

9:03 -- One more question: Has there ever been a national championship up for grabs between two schools that had hotter female fan bases? ABC could pan anywhere in the crowd right now and hit the proverbial jackpot. I need to start watching more college football. Seriously. Remind me next year.

9:04 -- Reggie Bush just makes me happy. I think I have a man-crush on him.

9:30 -- Leinart gets picked in the end zone to kill another USC drive. Either he's rattled by Lindsay Lohan's drug abuse/bulimia confession, or he's the next Scott Mitchell and we haven't fully realized it yet.

(So far, we've had a USC interception, fumble and failed quarterback sneak inside the Texas 20 ... good to see things haven't changed with Pete Carroll teams. I think I watched this game 20 times when he was coaching the Pats. Wait, why am I still bitter about this? We ripped off three Super Bowls as soon as he left. I need to let this go.)

(Nahhhhhh ...)

11:11 -- Young scrambles for 45 yards to the USC 20, giving him 150 yards on the night (and counting). Wow. This guy could throw like Costner's Dad in "Field of Dreams" and still thrive in the NFL. Unbelievable. He's killing USC. Now I would put him above Frye, Losman, Gus Frerotte, Brooks Bollinger, Kyle Orton, Mike McMahon, David Carr, Josh McCown, Joey Harrington, Patrick Ramsey, Kyle Boller and all the Detmers. And we're not even in the fourth quarter yet.

12:04 a.m. -- I'll tell ya, one of these times, Jackson and Fouts are going to realize that someone fumbled in this game when it actually happened. Law of averages.

Anyway, here's the setup: fourth-and-2, 2:11 remaining, USC on Texas' 45 and leading by five, with the logical move being a punt that would force Texas' offense to drive 85-90 yards in 120 seconds with a quarterback who hasn't completed a pass longer than 15 yards all game. The decision rests in the hands of Pete Carroll. For once, he does the logical thing -- goes for the game-ending first down, keeps Reggie Bush and his Heisman Trophy on the sideline, then runs a predictable dive play with LenDale White that falls short because everyone on the planet knew it was coming (including all 11 guys on the Texas defense). Wait, absolutely none of that was logical. Texas ball.

12:21 -- Young runs for the 2-point conversion. I now have him ranked above every NFL QB except for Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Carson Palmer. Good golly. We also had this exchange right after the conversion:

-- Jackson: "Only 19 seconds to play ... clock didn't move on that play."
-- Fouts: "That's an extra point, it's probably not going to ... "

As we see the Longhorns and their fans celebrating, ABC's cameras catch Leinart and Carroll hugging and Leinart whispering the words, "God, I wish I knew how to quit you!" All right, I made that up. But that's the only way this defeat could have been worse for USC fans.

12:25 -- Just a classic ending to Carroll's postgame interview with Todd Harris:

-- Harris: "At the very end of the game, you had a timeout, did you want to save one timeout if they had scored?"

-- Carroll (rattled): "Yeah, we had a little problem, we had to go for two right there ... but, eh, you know ... we didn't get it done."

(In the words of Brian Fantana, "Take it easy, Champ. Why don't you stop talking for awhile?")


There's more on the web site.

[Cole]

Do you have a version in just numbers?  I'd understand that better!

[flintlock]

I hope this helps...


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[Cole]

hahahaha.. much better, thanks.  he said man-crush. 

Still not gonna start watching sports though.

[Hopp]

The orange bowl was also pretty intense.

WOOT! GO PSU!

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