Larry Brown Sports

That’s what you get when you leave Antonio Pierce in charge of the dresscode — players wearing all-black. So, as Tom Coughlin instructed Pierce to choose the wardrobe, New York arrived in Arizona looking like a bunch of secret service men. Pierce said black suits are what you wear for business — I guess he’s never been to a funeral. Perhaps his choice of garb is only underscoring the fact that the Giants will be buried on Sunday.

It’s nice to see that the Giants are attempting to be all about the business, assuming the role typically reserved for New England. Only problem is that you can’t out-Patriot the Patriots; they practically invented the team unity, humble pie, business-like approach to big games. Though this type of focus is right on for the Giants, unfortunately it’s coming at the wrong time. Doesn’t seem to be bothering Plaxico Burress however, as he’s predicting a 23-17 Giants win. Yeah, I’d like to see the Pats held to 17 points in warm weather. Now that would truly be deserving of a championship. But getting back to those black suits, it could be worse; you could’ve had Rex Grossman wearing purple — now that’s bad.

Considering the Bears lost the Super Bowl 29-17 and the Sex Cannon threw 2 interceptions including one returned for a touchdown, I thought it would be cool to reset what I wrote about him recently.

On January 17th, prior to the conference championship games, I asked the question: what would winning the Super Bowl mean for each of the remaining quarterbacks? Here’s what I had to say about Rex Grossman:

photo courtesy The Big Lead

Absolutely nothing. In time, his winning a ring will be forgotten. The backup will still be the favorite quarterback in what ever city he plays for the rest of his career. He is far too inconsistent to ever be free of criticism, regardless of having a Super Bowl notch on his belt. It probably will give him 3 more years before the Bears consider drafting another quarterback. Still, he could get a ring and still hear cries that Griese should be starting in mini-camp.

Clearly the Bears lost the game – largely in part to the poor play of the Sex Cannon – and it didn’t take long for the bench Grossman chants to start up. Every TV show I’ve watched today and every radio show I’ve listened to has questioned whether or not Rex Grossman is good enough to be the Bears quarterback of the future. Many pundits have already began to say that the Bears should bring in Jeff Garcia. Additionally, the ESPN SportsNation poll today asked the question: Who should be the starting quarterback for the Bears next year?

My personal favorite was John Mullin of the Chicago Tribune who graded the quarterback performance as a D-

Rex Grossman completed 6 of 8 passes in the first half, one for a touchdown. But his stumble and mishandled snap in the third quarter were disasters, and an ill-advised heave toward Muhsin Muhammad early in the fourth quarter was intercepted by Kelvin Hayden and returned for a touchdown to end any real chance of a comeback. His poor throw to Bernard Berrian was picked off one possession later. Two interceptions and two dropped snaps.

He may not have won the Super Bowl, but I knew a long time ago that there would be a controversy in Chicago over the off-season.

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Since the Super Bowl has grown to be the nuts of parties – incorporating all fields of the entertainment industry into one full week of festivities – I thought it would be interesting to explore the economic impact of the Spring Break out. Here are some great notes the Sports Business Professor, Rick Horrow, who writes for foxsports.com, points out in his Weekly Sports Dollar

South Florida — the region generated over $400 million of economic impact, 1,200 parties, 1,000 private jet landings, and favorable mentions on television to 232 countries in 33 languages. The National Retail Federation predicted nearly $9 billion in retail and overall spending as a consequence of Super Bowl XLI

Umm yeah, that’s like a lot of money and stuff. Over $400 million in economic impact? That’s more than the GDP of 10 countries in the world according to the International Monetary Fund. What is it about certain events that people start spending out of control unlike any other time in the year?

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According to an article passed along to me by the legendary John Ramey that appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle,

“In North Carolina, four men are collecting signatures for a petition that would seek national-holiday status for the Super Bowl.”

 This is bleepin’ brilliant!  

Seriously, it’s news items like this that make you wonder what we’ve been thinking the past 40 years. 

“That official day off would be observed on a Monday, in the grand American tradition of the three-day weekend — and in recognition of the debilitating Sunday excess of unhealthy food, strong beverage, televised sporting violence, relentless commercialism and not a small amount of gambling. No need to call in sick if the office is closed.”

If you are a man, and you are not in favor of this, you need to relocate your nut sack.  If you are a woman, and you are not in favor of this, you need a man in your life.   

To join the cause, visit SuperBowlMonday.com and sign the petition. 

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Tom Brady (New England) - Absolutely cements his legacy as the greatest quarterback to ever play the game. Would have won more with less offensive talent surrounding him than potentially any other quarterback in Super Bowl history; Maroney’s a rookie, Dillon’s old and splits carries, and not one of the receivers ever had success in the NFL until this year. In fact, the Patriots did not have 1 Pro Bowler offensively, including even Brady. He would have led the Patriots to road victories over the #1 and #3 seeds. Would join Joe Montana and Terry Bradshaw as only quarterbacks in history to win 4 Super Bowls. Would have a shot at winning his 3rd Super Bowl MVP (tying Montana for most ever).

Drew Brees (New Orleans) - Will go down as the greatest single free-agent acquisition in the history of the game. Will receive personal vindication for being let go by the Chargers. Can be an average-pretty good quarterback for the rest of his career and it won’t matter; Will never have to replicate his regular season performance/statistics again. Will not be fully appreciated and understood until several years down the line. The significance of his win will greatly depend on the eventual history of the Saints franchise and how the city of New Orleans develops. Given time, Brees can go down as the biggest hero and savior that ever played in the NFL.

Peyton Manning (Indianapolis) - There is no player in the NFL that would benefit more from winning the Super Bowl than Peyton Manning. Would absolutely validate all his regular season accomplishments and gaudy statistics. No longer could his entire body of work be marred by the trepidation of never having won in the clutch. In fact, how well or poorly Manning plays is wholly insignificant ironically. Should Manning continue his playoff awfulness (1TD/5INT in 2 games) and finish with 2 TDs and 10 INTs, it would be completely ignored. All that matters is that Peyton gets the ring. The proverbial monkey will have been lifted from his back, and all doubters will have been quieted.

Rex Grossman (Chicago) - Absolutely nothing. In time, his winning a ring will be forgotten. The backup will still be the favorite quarterback in what ever city he plays for the rest of his career. He is far too inconsistent to ever be free of criticism, regardless of having a Super Bowl notch on his belt. It probably will give him 3 more years before the Bears consider drafting another quarterback. Still, he could get a ring and still hear cries that Griese should be starting in mini-camp.

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