Month: February 2016

The Tackle: 16 Years Later

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January 30th, 2000. Super Bowl XXXIV. The night of “The Tackle”. The evening Mike Jones never paid for a drink again in any St. Louis bar.

My dad and I were nervous. Steve McNair and the Tennessee Titans were like the boxer that wouldn’t go down. The St. Louis Rams had outlasted the Titans to this point without completely finishing them off. Jevon Kearse had done his best to rip Kurt Warner’s head off all night, but the Rams were a step in front. The Rams were up 23-16, and McNair was going to drive down the field like there was no defense, only doors that kept opening with short smart and timely passes. Whether it was a handoff to Eddie George or a slant that the Rams didn’t see because they were in prevent mode, the Titans were charging.

In addition to this stressful moment, my best friend Josh wouldn’t put the guitar down. He was in that “I want to be the next Stevie Ray Vaughn” stage where’d he pick up a guitar, strum about 3/4 of a song, struggle and then start over. All night, he wouldn’t put the instrument down. My dad must have thought about tossing him through the window(it was a short fall).

Finally, as McNair started the final march, my dad said, “Okay, Josh, that’s enough. Seriously” I’ve never seen my friend so shell shocked but my dad was right. This was important. My dad and I never saw a Super Bowl team before. I’d only been following this team for five years, freshly scrubbing off the bandwagon paint from my clothing. We couldn’t believe what was happening. St. Louis was in denial for the past four months, thinking they were politely stuck in some fever dream that wasn’t ready to end yet. Warner had been marking up cans of corn in a grocery store a short time ago, and Dick “Glass Case of Emotion” Vermeil hadn’t led a team here since the Eagles years and years before. The Titans, led by the young(and actually good) Jeff Fisher, were tenacious and wanted to shock the world, defeating the Greatest Show on Turf.

After scoring 49 points against the Minnesota Vikings and barely squeaking by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Rams had done just enough to stay ahead tonight. Or did they?

McNair, suddenly was more elusive than ever before. Kevin Carter and D’Marco Farr couldn’t find him, reach him or chase him down in time. He rolled out and found Kevin Dyson streaking across the field, towards the end zone on a slant that couldn’t be denied. Linebacker Mike Jones, in an interview with Fox Sports, said the defense was running a base 77, which was a cover defense. It was a man to man setup, but a bracket coverage where the safety dictated the play. Jones said he was lined up to stop the tight end, but had his eyes on Dyson the entire time. When he stopped him, tackling him in perfect form, wrapping his legs and having Dyson fall like a tree, it was before the one yard line. To Dyson, it was just another tackle. To the rest of the coaches, players and the city of St. Louis it was the football equivalent of a closer in baseball firing the final strike past the hitter to seal the championship.

When it happened, my dad and I sprung up in elation but had to temper it to make sure it was actually a stop and the game was over. When it was over and Jones had saved the game for the Rams, it was party time. Honestly, all I could focus on was not falling down the stairs which were a short leap away. For the first time in St. Louis, a Super Bowl was in our possession. No matter what has happened since, I will never forget that furiously entertaining fall and winter of football in St. Louis. Warner coming out of nowhere to lead the way with Marshall Faulk driving the car with wingmen Issac Bruce and Torry Holt. I’ll never Jones, a formerly respected yet widely unknown linebacker, being the last line of defense.

The banners can be taken down, but the tackle will never fall. Roger Goodell can slam St. Louis with every possible greedy lying manipulative move, but he can’t take this away. He can hand the extra 100 million to California dreaming teams like San Diego(which is the biggest slap in the face to St. Louis ever) but he can’t demolish memories.

16 years ago, Mike Jones made the tackle and the Rams won the Super Bowl. It may sting now and sit in a bitter corner inside your heart but it should never waver or go away.

Bret Hart fights to make cancer tap out

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When he was in his prime wrestling condition in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s, Bret Hart would grab his opponents legs and twist the body over and crouch over them while pulling the legs back. The opponent would to have submit or literally act like a spider and crawl out of there. In the end, Hart got his enemies to tap out. These days, he is fighting hard to make cancer tap out but he can’t exactly wrestle it.

The aging wrestler is battling prostate cancer, as he notified people of in a lengthy Facebook post.

 

It is with great remorse that I feel compelled to speak truthfully to my friends, family and my millions of fans around…

Posted by Bret Hart on Monday, February 1, 2016

Hart will undergo surgery this month to remove the cancer and hopefully rise again, like he once did in the ring. A charismatic performer inside the ring and someone who made it a point to see his fans outside the ring, Hart is easy to root for. Wrestling has plenty of bad guys but Hart isn’t one of them.

He bled for his sport, as he acknowledged in the FB post. He suffered numerous concussions and underwent several surgeries near the end of his career. Wrestling may be viewed as fake and a theatrical act, and it is, but that doesn’t mean the body doesn’t take a particular glutton of punishment. Hart has given his fair share over the years and is still standing.

Hart deserves a win. He’s faced tragedy on all fronts.  His brother and fellow wrestler Owen died tragically in the ring 17 years ago due to a rigging accident. He was only 34 years old and just had a birthday 16 days before. Owen had planned to get out wrestling and had money set aside.

There is never a guarantee when someone faces surgery and cancer. It’s an uphill battle. When it comes to Hart, he’s faced plenty of adversaries and mountains of pain in his life as an entertainer. Here’s to hoping he can climb into the ring one last time and take this villain out.

Here’s to hoping he can get cancer to tap out.

Amir Khan is a stepping stone for Canelo

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On May 7th, The Pride of Mexico, Canelo Alvarez, will take on challenger Amir Khan. I expect this fight to be competitive for 3-4 rounds before Canelo takes over and demolishes Khan.

Here are a few reasons:

First, Canelo is the better fighter and can’t be stopped right now. He has evolved from a mere puncher into something else. A boxer with speed, precision, power and an ability to be patient when the opening bell rings. He has 46 wins, 32 knockouts and has only lost to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in a one sided school session. Canelo may fall again but it won’t be to Khan.

Second, Khan has one real skill and that’s speed. It will work for a few rounds while Canelo sets the table, finds his pace and creates lanes of attack. Once Canelo finds Khan and lands a few hefty shots on that glass jar, the fight will take a turn for the worse. If Lamont Petersen and Danny Garcia had their way with Khan, Canelo won’t find much trouble this May.

It’s not a one sided fight. Khan isn’t a bad fighter and is a the perfect stepping stone for Canelo before his big fall bout with Russian mega puncher Gennady Golovkin, who is undefeated and carries a 99 percent knockout rate into an easy pick up bout this spring. Khan isn’t a pushover for the chamo, but not ultimately someone who carries a real shot of rupturing the Mexican’s future endeavors.

Khan has won a few fights in a row and recently beat STL’s own Devon Alexander, but he steps into a different zone with Canelo. He wanted a payday with a big champ and after getting denied by Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez will invite King Khan to be beaten up and take home a nice paycheck for it.

This May bout is about keeping Canelo warm and showing the boxing fans some class in giving him a worthy opponent for his annual Cinco De Mayo clash. While Khan is worthy, he won’t last past the sixth round. Once the atom bomb fists of Alvarez find him and get in the range, the fight will come to an end. Khan doesn’t back down and has the heart of a lion and each men like to trade so it will quick yet explosive.

While it may not go the distance, fighters like Canelo and Golovkin are bringing back the explosive heyday of boxing. Big hard punching yet smart fighters who are marketable. A Canelo fight may not seem like a must buy to casual fans but he is quickly becoming a highly entertaining fighter and someone who could own the sport by the end of 2016.

Catch his latest step on May 7th.