The Sports Thread.

That's right. The losers swept last round while the champions struggled.

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Everyone I know picked the Tigers...except me. Hah!

Cowboys were pretty hilarious to watch first quarter.

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Kevin Youkilis is now a Yankee.

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His name is pronounced

YOU KILL US

^ Pretty much, yeah. ^

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It'll be pretty funny when he returns to Fenway, because we'll never know which fans are Youk-ing and which ones are booing.

Are we supposed to be surprised in this era of the fact that an athlete is signed with the biggest rival?

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Notre Dame game was pretty great to watch.

lol

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I liked the part where Alabama scored against Notre Dame's unbeatable defense.
7 - 0
and again.
14 - 0
and again.
21 - 0
and again.
28 - 0
and again.
35 - 0
and again.
42 - 7oh hey look we scored

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lol Notre Dame

More like Notre SHAME *kneeslap*

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This was truthfully San Franscisco's game to lose, and they came pretty damn close to doing so. Being down 17-0 in the second quarter, I was a bit unsure if they could come back against the Falcons, but it wasn't a total shock that they did. Keep in mind that Atlanta blew a 20-point lead against the Seahawks a week ago, and clearly from watching this game they did not go much to fix their defensive woes.

The one stat that pops out to me when reviewing this game is not yards, penalties, or time of possession, but rather turnovers. The Falcons defense did very little to pressure Kaepernick in a way that forced him to make poor decisions. On the other side of the ball, the 49ers did good work as far as sending different defensive packages at Atlanta once they made adjustments entering halftime. It paid off immediately on Atlanta's first possession of the 3rd quarter with an interception, and then again late in the same quarter on a fumble recovery.

Once the 49ers began clicking on offense, Atlanta had no answer on defense; It became a one-sided game very quickly, and the fact that Atlanta could not score in the second half after dominating the first is a testament to the defensive effort by San Francisco. Frank Gore had a solid day on the ground, especially in the second half (2 TDs), and Colin Kaepernick (16/21, 233 yds, 1 TD) held everything together in the passing game and managed the offense efficiently.

For the 49ers, they finally reached the Superbowl for the first time since 1994, and they did it the hard way, having to outscore Green Bay in a shootout, and then again with a 17-0 deficit and their backs up against the wall. For Atlanta, they should be happy that they survived this far into the playoffs considering the shoddy effort from their defense that became their achilles heel in back-to-back games. Now we wait to see who will advance in the AFC championship game...

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I think you are the biggest American Football fan on this site.

lol that is very possible, but I had help with this too.




What seemed like a game the Patriots should have won considering the hype over their dynamic offense turned into a defensive showcase for the Ravens, and a physical breakdown of the entire New England secondary. For long stretches of the second half the Ravens' receivers were simply too fast for the defense of New England to keep up with, and the accuracy of Flacco behind the pocket crippled any chance of the secondary being able to force turnovers. Despite his best efforts, Brady struggled to ever get the offense clicking like it had for most of the season. In a game where both sides had a good chance of winning, the Ravens pulled out all the stops and out-manned the Patriots in every aspect, offensively and defensively.

Physicality was the name of the game here, with the Ravens manhandling the Pats on both sides of the ball. Anything the Patriots could deal out on hits, Baltimore returned tenfold. On offense, the Ravens showed no fear in the ability of the Pats defensive line and played smash-mouth football when they had to. The passing game played aggressively as well, with Joe Flacco completing passes to players on the verge of being slammed by cornerbacks, and for the most part did get smashed after catching the ball but managed to hang on.

Defensively the Ravens had all the answers, forcing a fumble and recovering in New England territory, and a tip-drill interception played perfectly deep in their own territory. Brady was limited in what he could do, and the running game was never able to get much in the way of yards to keep the pressure off of the passing game. In the end, the Patriots showed their age as a team while the Ravens flashed their youth and just overwhelmed New England.

For the Ravens, it's fitting that in Ray Lewis' final season he reaches the Superbowl for the second time, and first since 2000. The rest of the team should be proud as well, for they finally move on to the Superbowl after so many chances that came up just short. For the Patriots, what can be said? They are showing their age and their lack of physicality on offense and defense. Considering the numbers that they put up this season, it's understandable that they would be upset with this turnout.

i'll stop being such a football nerd now

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Nah, you don't have to stop. Everything I know about current American Football is because of you.

If only you'd post about Rugby, and not Gridiron :{

The Baltimore Ravens beat the San Francisco 49ers to win Super Bowl XLVII.
34-31



And now I await Ayumi's review.

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DAT GAME
DAT NEAR COMEBACK
DAT ENDING
DAT HALFTIME HYPE
DAT SECOND HALF
DAT 4TH QUARTER
DAT FLACCO
DAT RAY LEWIS EMOTION
DAT EVERYTHING

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DAT GAME WAS LIGHTS OUT

...no, literally.

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Is it weird that I wasn't hyped by the Superbowl but I was by the Lakers' win at Detroit?
Anyway, good job Ravens! Way to end a career for Ray Lewis :3

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