Commissioner Santa Goodell took a break from suspending Pac-Man Jones last week and scurried down our chimneys bearing gifts to be cherished. Along with his elfin NFL schedulers, he befriended us with the most entertaining Week 17 ever.
Nearly every game had playoff implications.
Usually we roll into the final week of the season with most games meaning nothing at all. Teams already in the playoffs inevitably rest their starters or play them for only a half as we’re left with a Sunday about as meaningful as the Roady’s Humanitarian Bowl.
Not this year.
Giants-Vikes, Chicago-Houston, Tampa-Oakland, Carolina-New Orleans, Falcons-Rams, Jax-Baltimore, Dolphins-Jets, Cowboys-Eagles and Broncos-Chargers all had significant, playoff implications, the last three of which were fierce division rivals. Win and you’re in. Lose and it means your job, Messrs. Mangini and Shanahan. If only the final week of every season could mean so much. Even the hapless Lions were playing a meaningful game.
Sports bars around the nation were packed with rabid fans in their team colors, their eyes lit up like kids in front of a Christmas tree. I frequented two such establishments that particular Sunday, one for the early games and another for the late. The crowds did not disappoint.
As you might imagine, fans came out in droves, spending what little Christmas money they had left on warm beer, greasy wings and shucked oysters. On Pats fans, on Steelers, on Fish fans and G-Men. Heck, that Giants game didn’t even mean anything and their fans were still as rabid as ever. Guess they were marking their territory. Steelers fans were abnormally reserved that day, hard hats and all, as they saw their wunderkind Roethlisberger carted off the field with a concussion. And Eagles fans were their normal selves. They had every right to be after beating the Cowboys into submission. If you’ve never had the (dis)pleasure of witnessing a drunk, Philly fan in action when his team is beating another, I suggest you go to a local zoo and watch a tiger at feeding time for comparable imagery.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers were ashamedly relegated to one of the smaller screens. Keep in mind, I live in Florida. Management must have known Gruden and his cast of underachievers would lose their fourth straight to a thirteen-point underdog and wave their playoff hopes good-bye in the process.
After a home loss to the Chargers in Week 16, Jon Gruden joked that he ‘still had some friends in Philly.’ He definitely does now as that Tampa loss gave Philly fans the momentum they needed to pretend they actually loved Donovan McNabb for a day. After two Cowboy turnovers at the end of the first half, I actually saw one Cowboys fan take one of those aluminum napkin dispensers off his table and smash it on the floor. Friends… liquor and your team underachieving do not mix.
I was pretty upset about my Bucs coughing one, er… I mean four games, up but I didn’t resort to hurling metal objects around a crowded room. Rather, I have chosen to auction my fandom off to another football team much more deserving. This franchise appears as interested in keeping its fan base as they do in putting a winning product on the field.
As we proceeded to the next sports bar, Cowboys fans, now down by 31 with only the off-season in sight, were walking around with their heads held low. I actually saw one Cowboys fan ask a Redskins fan for a hug, which he promptly offered. Shortly thereafter, when the Cowboys fan ran off to the restroom, the Skins fan whispered to me “it couldn’t happen to a nicer group of fans.”
Dolphins fans had forgotten about Dan Marino for the briefest of moments and were besides themselves with glee, still in disbelief that their new man, Chad, was leading them to a three seed and a home playoff win, only one year after going 1-15.
Once again, the NFL is king. This year brought us two incredible rookie quarterbacks, no clear cut MVP but plenty of worthy candidates and a batch of refreshing and successful, new coaches instead of the same old retreads. And this weekend brings us the playoffs in all their glory. It promises to be another great post-season. As we ring in the new year, we’ll soon ring in another Super Bowl champion.
Happy holidays, all.
