Was I Born to be a Sports Writer or What?

You may or may not have read my post regarding my predictions for this past weekends NFL playoff games. If you did, you would notice that the teams I picked to win went 1-3. That is the only figure I need to assure me that I was born to analyze and write about sports at the highest level. You see us sports writers, whether we are aspiring to be or have already reached the top of the profession, have one thing in common... we don't know jack. We like to think we do and we try our best to get it right, but the reality is that not most, but all of us know just as much as the average Joe that watches the games from his couch or the guy who blows thousands of dollars a year gambling trying to pick these games. The only difference is that I can put my insight into words and on paper better then you, and I may know more in general about the teams and the players and history and blah, blah, blah. The time I spend reading about sports, studying players and watching games absolutely sickens me, and it's times like this weekend that show how worthless all that time I spend is.

I raved about Ben Roethlisberger and how much better-equipped he was to succeed this weekend against playoff virgin David Garrard and what happens? Well neither played particularly well, but Ben throws three awful first half interceptions, and while he was fantastic in the second half, it was Garrard who led the Jags to victory in the final minute with an incredible 32- yard run on 4th and two. I underestimate the Seahawks at home and go for the feel good story of the Redskins, only to see exactly why Todd Collins hadn't made an NFL start in 10 years prior to this December. I trash Eli and his lack of success in big games, and compare Jeff Garcia to Steve Young with regards to his poise and accuracy, but as it turned out, Eli played flawlessly for three quarters, especially during the game clinching 15 play, 92-yard drive in the fourth quarter. Garcia, on the other hand, played the way he did in Detroit and Cleveland, which subsequently got him benched in two cities who are allergic to good quarterbacks.

So how'd I do this weekend? Well, I have another confession to make. I'm a huge Vince Young fan, and you can underline the word huge. Think of High School Musical and how much America's youth loves it, double their obsession, and you have how much I love VY (weird comparison I know, but I just saw a commercial for the play on ice and figured what the heck). Whenever the guy is on the field, I always believe whole-heartedly that his team is going to win, and despite his struggles yesterday and for much of this season, I will feel the same way when next year rolls around. I was this close to going out on a whim and picking Young and the Titans to upset the Chargers yesterday, a pick that would've made me 0 for the weekend. What's worse is that I probably would've picked them next weekend in New England had they won because I would think 'Hey, Young single handedly beat that unbeatable USC team in college, why can't he beat the unbeatable Patriots? He can, and I'm taking 'em!" That's how my brain works people, and lucky for me, this apple doesn't fall too far from the sports writers tree.

DTM