Tapping The Keg Podcast Episode 74

Tapping The Keg podcast episode 74 gracing the airwaves with Mitch and Charlie (Hi) per usual. We get into with talking about whether Favoring tweets between the opposite sex is flirting along with discussing what a favorite is and a BuzzFeed discussion. Moving from that, we touch on Seattle's Super Bowl win plus Charlie overreacts about the NFC's dominance while both of us fan the flames on dynasty talk for Seattle. We move on to the Milwaukee Bucks where the topics include Ersan Ilyasova wanting out, LARRY SANDERS! and flu talk. Next up is whether Pau Gasol will get traded to Phoenix as well as possibly moving Danny Granger there. We finish up with Joel Embiid talking about staying another year and a recommendation for Vanderpump Rules.

PS: The audio gets a little screwy in the last 10 minutes or so. My computer was acting up. Not too bad, but just a couple random jumps.

Mitch and Charlie.  

Slow Down on Seahawks Dynasty Discussion

We are always quick to jump the gun about everything and anything in today's society.  We always need to rush to calling something 'The best thing ever.'  There were multiple things that were called 'The best thing ever' which was completely laughable.  First, the National Anthem was 'Best Anthem Ever' which I agree pretty good but Whitney Houston will forever and always be the queen for it. Second, Bruno Mars was 'Best Halftime Ever.' Third, people called Seattle's defense, 'Best defense ever.'  Everything went over-the-top and now people are ready to talk dynasty with the Seahawks.

Dynasty is about as awkward as the word 'moist.'  It is so easy to anoint a team 'one with dynasty potential' when they are filled with young players, and things get weird when they do not fill their dynasty aspirations. Seattle has a second-year quarterback, Richard Sherman is still a young player along with other members of Legion of Boom. Bobby Wagner and Bruce Irvin are both very young while their receiving core are all mostly guys under the age of 30. The table seems set for them to run through the National Football League in the next couple years and become of the most hated team in the country. It is not all that simple as things change rapidly in the NFL. 

First of all, there will be some players that get more money from another team. While General Manager Jon Schneider comes from the Ted Thompson tree, he does things differently than him. Although Schneider will probably be reasonable about who gets major money on this team. Sherman's contract is up in 2015 and Russell Wilson is due in 2016 are the two biggest ones, but there will be smaller ones where Seattle just lets them go wander around in the league. Michael Bennett is a great example. He had a big year and a smaller contract that is due up this spring. He will net major money this offseason with his big season this year with Seattle. They do not have a bank of money to preserve this team for another year, and that will keep happening in the years to come. 

Second, major injuries are something Seattle avoided for the most part this season. Imagine if Sherman got a high ankle sprain in the Divisional Round of the playoffs against New Orleans? He is not playing against San Francisco, and Seattle probably does not win that game. Marshawn Lynch played a full season, same goes for Wilson and most of their big named defensive players remain healthy as well. There was not one stretch in the season where we were talking about Seattle's injuries. All it takes is one year for everything to go completely haywire with multiple injuries with major players. 

Third, I think due to his boyish looks, people think Pete Carroll is a young coach. He is not. Carroll became the third oldest coach to win a Super Bowl at age 62. How many coaches really push well into their 70's? Answer: Not many of them. I believe George Halas and Marv Levy are the only two coaches to coach until age 72. This means Wilson is likely having another coach in his quarterback career versus having Carroll for all of it.  Carroll likely has an over/under of eight years left coaching in the NFL. Even with his youthful exuberance, there will be a time where everything slows down again for Carroll where things are not fun anymore for him. 

I remember Green Bay getting called a potential dynasty with all their young talent, and they have not made it past the divisional round since their Super Bowl win. Seattle needs one more Super Bowl either next year or the year after to get talked about as a dynasty. Right now, it is just a conversation to keep sports radio hosts talking about the NFL for one more day.

Charlie. 

Seahawks Dominate in first Super Bowl Victory

Growing up in the 90's, I remember my parents telling me as I started to understand football, 'Super Bowl is
the biggest game of the year, but usually, it is not as good as some of the other ones.' What they said held true as many games were blowouts and out of reach by the fourth quarter. Since 2000, there were only a couple games where blowouts happened yet all in all, most games had been close and entertaining as hell. The game on Sunday was not. Seattle destroyed Denver, 43-8, in a rout of all senses of the word as Seattle came up big defensively once again, their offense and special teams added big plays plus why this was the only way Peyton Manning's legacy could get hurt.

Seattle's defense is the most feared in the National Football League. Seahawks made their team with unorthodox players and made it work to the best of their abilities. Legion of Boom along with mean pass rushers. Seattle's defense could have won MVP as a unit as Deadspin's Barry Petchesky pointed out this morning. This team had everything working against one of the best quarterbacks of all-time. I felt like Kam Chancellor set the tone early on with a huge, clean hit on Demaryius Thomas in the first couple plays of the game. They harassed Manning all game long with big rushes from Cliff Avril and others forcing a couple Manning turnovers.

One of the game-changing plays was Malcolm Smith picking off a pass returning for a touchdown. People forget Smith made the interception when Richard Sherman deflected the ball against Michael Crabtree in the NFC Championship Game. Manning had drove Denver down to the 40 yard line with the Broncos down 15-0. Even though it was 3rd and 11 when Manning threw the pick, it seems like they would at least get a field goal attempt out of this drive. Yet Smith picked him off an errant throw that Avril disrupted leading to Seattle being up by 20+ points, something no one saw coming at 5:25 pm on Sunday.

Russell Wilson is a young quarterback. People forget this because he acts like a 10 year veteran. He could have played out of control and seemed too big for the moment although that did not happen. Wilson played great on Sunday with a great game including two touchdowns. Darrell Bevell, Seattle's offensive coordinator, called a great game for Wilson early on. He did not have him do too much and stayed consistent with short runs. Given Marshawn Lynch was not really a factor on Sunday, Seattle needed Wilson to be resilient and he did just that on Sunday.

Seattle gave up a lion's share to get Percy Harvin on their team giving three draft picks. He only played three games this season, but he made it count on Sunday with a tremendous all-around performance. On the second play of the game for Seattle's offense, Harvin ran a fly sweep going for 30 yards immediately pushing the Seahawks down in scoring position. As the second half was set to begin with Seattle having a 22-point lead, Denver tried to keep the ball away from Harvin and did not work as he scooped up the ball near the ten taking it to paydirt to lead off the second half. This was the exclamation point in the Seahawks ass-kicking of Denver, and Harvin made sure Seattle would win this game.

I wrote on Monday that this game would have nothing to do with Manning's legacy unless he has a horrible game. By numbers, Manning did not have a horrible game as he threw for 280 yards and had 34 completions, a Super Bowl record, yet this felt like a horrible Manning game. The reason being is he threw a pick-six changing the outlook of the game as well as turn the ball over early to ensure Seattle's first touchdown of the game. He was responsible as anyone for this game being 22-0 at halftime. While he could not helped Harvin's kick return or Thomas' fumble, Manning struggled mightily for the first time this season leading to an offseason of questions.

Final thought on this game is there was nothing clearer than the NFC being the better conference than the AFC. Seattle-San Francisco felt like a Super Bowl game versus this one. AFC all year lived off smoke and mirrors of some of the better teams with bigger names than anyone in the NFC. Seattle's dominance will be remembered for a long time, and finally after 35 years of ineptitude, Seattle has a championship for the Pacific Northwest.

Charlie.

Sportandfashion-news Super Bowl Preview: 9.) Seahawks-Broncos Prediction

Yes, Super Bowl week is finally here. We will be sick of everything by Friday night yelling PLAY THE DAMN GAME, but it is only right to be excited about it for the first couple days. As we have done in years past, we will be numbering our Super Bowl coverage and then posting a big link dump on Saturday so you have it all at your fingertips before the big game. 

We have finally made it to the prediction time. I mean I could do it in one swift motion and make a quick prediction yet I am not about that life. At the very least, I need to put out some analysis as to who can be difference makers in this game. I a this is stuff are blatently obvious while a couple of them are not really talked about much at all deserving more credit.  

Peyton Manning is the biggest player in this game. No matter how much Richard Sherman talks or Marshawn Lynch does not, Manning is the biggest player in the game. If he were to have 350 yards with four touchdowns against Legion of Boom, one of the best secondary groups, it would be one of the greatest Super Bowl performances of all-time. The question is how will Manning get to 300 yards? It will not be with the deep ball rather delivering body blows throughout the game. 

Deep balls should not be a part of Denver's game on Sunday. Unless Manning truly believes Demaryius Thomas can get past by Sherman and others, there is no reason for him to unleash the cannon against this secondary. Eric Decker should be heavily involved with the slot more so than Wes Welker. Decker is a big dude that can handle the physicality of Seattle's secondary while I do not believe Welker can handle Seattle's secondary. Any of the loaded Broncos stable of receivers can be factors in the game yet it need to be executed right with them grinding them to core. 

There is a little too much being made about Denver's ability to stop the run. Terrance Knighton has been a revelation in the last couple of weeks, but do people realize Marshawn Lynch gives no shits how good a team is against the rush. It is rare Lynch gets shut down, and the added motivation from all of the hoopla from this week will drive him. LaGarrette Blount is not Marshawn Lynch, let's get that straight right now. Denver's rush defense has given up 15 touchdowns which ranks 23rd overall in the NFL. This tells me Denver does not excel at the goal line or tackling at times. Also worth nothing, people do not run ball very much on Denver. Why that is, probably due to a weak secondary and a better rush defense, but they have not seen a player like Lynch.  

Seattle does not have a group of receivers like Denver, but they can have a massive impact on this game. Let's remember Percy Harvin will be a factor in this game. I cannot think of one player on Denver's secondary that can keep up with him. Chris Harris went out with an ACL injury two weeks ago. Champ Bailey cannot play the slot against this team with Harvin and will likely struggle dealing with Doug Baldwin Jr./Golden Tate, both quick receivers. While the rushing attack is Seattle's strong point, they could exploit this Denver defense with their quickness. Obviously, Russell Wilson needs to get them the ball to make this all happen but it seems like the opportunity will be there. 

As for Wilson, he needs to play in control early and often. People might forget given his poise and his demeanor that he is a two-year professional, not a 10 year veteran. If Russell comes out a little tight like he did against San Francisco, it could get ugly with Manning staring him down on the other sideline versus Colin Kaepernick and a team who had more trouble scoring than I have in the City of Milwaukee. This is the job of Darrell Bevell too as he needs to keep Wilson in situations where he is not taking risks at least in the first quarter. If he were to outplay Manning whether they win or lose, it would build to his legacy and might anoint him the best young quarterback which might be hyperbole to its highest degree. 

Defense wins championships no matter what the sport. That is something I have heard since the days of TGIF on ABC. Seattle is the better defense, and one that can make a play when they need it the most. Seahawks get it done on offense with a steady diet of Lynch and Wilson then a Kam Chancellor picking off Manning late to seal the game for Seattle.  Seahawks 30-24 

Charlie.  

Tapping The Keg Podcast: Episode 73

For whatever this is worth, I will file this under Super Bowl preview. As you can see SoundCloud has a new interface, let me know if you like it because they still have the old one as well. Personally, I LOVE it.  Mitch and I (Charlie) spend the first 10 minutes or so talking about the other stuff with the Super Bowl, food, halftime performance, etc. We spend the next 15-20 minutes on the Super Bowl itself breaking down Seattle and Denver's respective chances to win. Our discussion moves to the Bucks where we talk Giannis Antetokounmpo's 'Rising Star' nomination and a little NBA Draft talk. We discuss All-Star reserves as well before moving to some Grammy's discussion because why not? This podcast goes in about 17 directions, but really fun.

Charlie.

Sportandfashion-news Super Bowl Preview: 5.) Hush Money Lynch

Yes, Super Bowl week is finally here. We will be sick of everything by Friday night yelling PLAY THE DAMN GAME, but it is only right to be excited about it for the first couple days. As we have done in years past, we will be numbering our Super Bowl coverage and then posting a big link dump on Saturday so you have it all at your fingertips before the big game. 

Since arriving at Seattle from Buffalo, people have gotten to know Marshawn Lynch. People talk about his fondness for Skittles, his beasty run against New Orleans that sparked his nickname 'Beast Mode' and taking the phrase into the next level plus being an all-around monster as a running back. Seattle is a team full of talkers, but when it comes to Lynch, he remains quiet. People are demanding answers from Lynch as he really is not talking to many people during the media blitz of the Super Bowl, and Lynch is not giving them to people. This upsets people for some reason proving once again, everyone is a hypocrite.

Lynch does not owe anybody, anything. I get some of these people are trying to work on a story for Lynch, but why is it a big deal?  A guy does not want to speak with the media, so what? Does it really make him a bad person? It feels like judging by all the articles, and some of the criticism, there is a privilege nature regarding professional athletes and their involvement with the media. Social media is probably to blame for this one. We get tweets and Facebook posts about everything in a person's life therefore meaning there is an expectation for athletes to say something to media and others.

 Marshawn refuses to open up with anyone besides NFL.com's Michael Silver whom wrote a great piece about Lynch. That's perfectly okay. Usually cross sports comparisons do not work, but this really was not a problem during the NBA Finals when San Antonio Spurs Kawhi Leonard did not really say much at all to anybody. People thought it was weird Leonard did not have much to say, but the topic deceased to be much of anything. I really have no idea why this was a top story yesterday, and a continued story today. Lynch is his own person. It goes back to theme we have on Sportandfashion-news with athletes recognizing they are not robots.

For  today's media session, Lynch brought his fullback Michael Robinson whom had some fun with answering questions for Marshawn. A move that I feel Lynch and Robinson likely planned to ruffled more feathers in the media in an attempt to create a bigger distaste for Lynch's feeling towards the media. What's interesting is these same people that I do not think Marshawn enjoys can twist things to make Marshawn look like a bad guy when there is no real evidence of that right now. At least Lynch is not talking down to people, he just does not want to be there and he is openly honest with everyone. What's wrong with that?

The best part of it all is the opposite end of the spectrum of this with the likes of Richard Sherman and Jermichael Finley's of the world where people give these guys a hard time for talking about everything and anything. They tell them to settle down, and stop giving quotes to the opposition, it is absolutely mesmerizing. Most of the time, they are having fun, or in Sherman's case, he tries to build the brand of Richard Sherman, the football player. People will judge Sherman and Finley based off just their comments to the media which is utterly ridiculous.

Now the hope has to be Lynch wins Super Bowl MVP. I feel like the National Football League will do everything possible to avoid Lynch winning the MVP award but if he goes for 200 yards with a couple touchdowns, the NFL will have no choice, and it would be great. My favorite would not be if Lynch says nothing in this hypothetical, but if he starts just talking everyone's ear off trolling the world.

Charlie.

Sportandfashion-news Super Bowl Preview: 4.) Weather So Cold yet So Hot Right Now

Yes, Super Bowl week is finally here. We will be sick of everything by Friday night yelling PLAY THE DAMN GAME, but it is only right to be excited about it for the first couple days. As we have done in years past, we will be numbering our Super Bowl coverage and then posting a big link dump on Saturday so you have it all at your fingertips before the big game. 

Every year it seems like there is a stretch where people do nothing but talk about the weather. For us in the Midwest, it usually occurs when a big winter storm rolls in, on Monday and Tuesday of this week it was colder here than in Rome, Alaska or on the other side of the coin, when an unbearable heatwave happened in the dog days of summer. Hell even our friends in the Southeastern part of the state are dealing with unprecidented snowfall leaving major cities and states in flux. Weather is one of the main conversations about Super Bowl Sunday, and even though for the game itself, the topic is overblown, it brings up interesting points for the future.

For the game, the weather topic is much ado about nothing if it is just cold out there. 38 degrees will not really make the fan experience great, but for the game itself, people will not use 'Well if they played in the dome, this game could have been completely different.'  The only way Seattle-Denver's Super Bowl gets ruined if they have torrential downpours of freezing rain. Snow is not the worst thing because flurries do not really affect the game unless we have a situation like Detroit-Philadelphia this December. Freezing rain is the only thing where this game could get affected by weather. The whole idea of it just being 'cold' is another reason why Roger Goodell might be the Honey Badger and just not care about the fans or players, just the new opportunity.

In the first two days, this Super Bowl has went swimmingly. There have not been any complaints, and while the weather is cold, no real issues where the NFL's public relations staff needs to protect the shield. There are a few cold to coldish weather stadiums that could host a Super Bowl in years to come if Goodell wants to open that door. For example, two teams playing in this one could both be hosts as both would be great venues for a Super Bowl plus great cities. Washington D.C., Philadelphia and Baltimore all throw their name in the hat when it comes to 'colder weather' Super Bowl. Charlotte is another place where the Super Bowl could look to in the coming years. Basically if New York/New Jersey moves swimmingly, it opens the door for a many different options for the big game.

NFL is likely thanking their lucky stars the game is not in Atlanta. Currently, the biggest city in Georgia is dealing with two inches of snow and ice leaving cars stranded all over the highway. People had been waiting in their cars for over 12 hours. While I am not trying to trivialize something where deaths and injuries have happen,  more so a cold weather Super Bowl is not the worst thing during the week because these cities have the tools to handle bad weather. It is not Atlanta's fault whatsoever as this probably happens once every couple decades, but if this were to happen on a Super Bowl week, it would make it chaotic. Thoughts and prayers dealing with it though. Could not imagine trying to deal with snow when it is a complete rarity because it is a complete hassle even when I deal with it weekly.

I said this last year in preparation for last year's Super Bowl, but the weather gave us something else to talk about this game. Thankfully, Seattle-Denver is one of the better on paper Super Bowls of recent memory, but if this Super Bowl was a dud in terms of the teams, they would have added the weather as a main topic which the NFL has not really ever had during Super Bowl week.

Charlie.

Sportandfashion-news Super Bowl Preview: 3.) It's about Wisconsin, not Bret Bielema

Wisconsin Badgers football is known for pumping out solid National Football League players, but more so, they are the ones behind the scenes also known as offensive lineman. Sure they have a great deal of successful college running backs, but most of them, if not all of them, have failed to live up to expectations.  Wisconsin football produces many great cogs to important units but rarely do they produce a recognizable player to the casual fan.

Houston Texans defensive end JJ Watt is one of the few that come to mind. Recently, Russell Wilson and Montee Ball are two more, and both will play an active part in the Super Bowl this Sunday where 75+ million people will hear where they went to college, the University of Wisconsin (In Wilson's case, North Carolina State too, but you get the point). It should be about the school, but currently, their former coach now at Arkansas, is trying to make it about himself versus the university.

Best of luck to these four Uncommon men next week #BeUncommon pic.twitter.com/43IhSefFaQ
— Bret Bielema (@BretBielema) January 22, 2014

This is a recruiting tactic without question, and something Bielema needs to do with National Signing Day being a mere month away with some change. Additionally, SEC more than any conference in America wants to show their recruits that their coach can get them to the National Football League versus another coach in the SEC. Frankly, it is dumb luck Bielema has four players in the Super Bowl. If New England and San Francisco were the two teams in the Super Bowl, want to guess how many former players Bielema would have in the Super Bowl?  Zero.

I would be curious to hear Ball, Wilson, Chris Margos and O'Brien Schofield's thoughts on Bielema promoting these guys to a program that is not Wisconsin. These guys do not have any ties to Arkansas football. There is a complete understanding that this is 'recruiting 101', but at the same time, there is a sense of exploitation by Bielema here. Interesting enough, Bielema retweeted information about Chris Borland, a guy whom only played three years under him, not even the full four which might be even more awkward seeing as he really did shine as a 3-4 linebacker this season.

All of this being said, it is a great stage for Wisconsin Football and Bielema to a smaller degree. For the first time ever, a Wisconsin quarterback will lead a team into a Super Bowl. It is crazy to think with all the great running backs Wisconsin produced over the past two decades that Ball will be the second running back to be in a Super Bowl with Ron Dayne getting there as well his rookie season. It is always important for an university's football team to have star players in the NFL. It builds the brand more than anything else because the pitch can be 'At Wisconsin, you can be the next Russell Wilson/JJ Watt/Montee Ball.' And that's why this is so important to Madison.

For the former coach, he needs to reflect on the glory days because right now, Alex Collins is his only saving grace at Arkansas.

Charlie.

Sportandfashion-news Super Bowl Preview: 2.) Pete Carroll's Rare Opportunity for Greatness

Yes, Super Bowl week is finally here. We will be sick of everything by Friday night yelling PLAY THE DAMN GAME, but it is only right to be excited about it for the first couple days. As we have done in years past, we will be numbering our Super Bowl coverage and then posting a big link dump on Saturday so you have it all at your fingertips before the big game. 

Pete Carroll is an oddity. He is not the usual head coach in National Football League as he went from being an NFL coach twice in the 1990's to an extremely successful at USC where Carroll won a National Championship, made another National Championship appearance and won or shared six Pac-12 titles. He moved to the NFL where he is trying to be the first coach to win a Super Bowl and National Championship since the days of Barry Switzer and Jimmy Johnson. With a young team, Carroll might be poised to become of the greatest all-around coaches in football history.

There is a great and wonderful 'what if' when it comes to Johnson and Switzer. With Johnson, he had a fight with Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones causing him to step down after winning back-to-back Super Bowls. With that Dallas team in place, Johnson could have won two more championships in the mid-90's and maybe one more putting him into another echelon of coaches. Johnson did well in his second NFL head coaching stint with Miami Dolphins getting them to the playoffs three of the four years, but he had an aging Dan Marino and an aging roster. Johnson bolted once he saw this team would be heading towards a rebuilding phase. Miami has not recovered fully since which is bizarre to think about as Johnson last coached in 1999.

Like Johnson, Switzer is in this special fraternity as he had a National Championship with Oklahoma and a Super Bowl title with Dallas. Switzer was only 60 years old when he stepped down from being Dallas' head coach. But like Johnson in Miami a couple years later, Switzer saw the writing on the wall with an aging Cowboys plus an owner resting on the laurels of the old Cowboys team. If Jones rebuilt the Cowboys say more like what Green Bay did with Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers, who knows how Switzer gets remembered, but I am certain he is not known as the college coach that rode Jimmy's coattails.

 Neither Johnson nor Switzer had the road paved with gold like Carroll does right now with Seattle and their organization. If you want a good example of this, read NFL.com's Gregg Rosenthal's column on Monday about how this team is built for the long-term. Dynasty talk is a little foolish when the team has yet to win a Super Bowl. We can have the conversation if Seattle wins on Sunday, and it puts Carroll in perfect position to rule the roost in the coaching circles for at least the next half decade. The weird thing is this could put Carroll in complete rarefied air that we have yet to see in the NFL making this whole thing completely fascinating.

If you look at all of the NFL coaching greats, none of them have the resume like Carroll with the conference titles and the National Championship. Even Johnson does not really compare as he only spend four years with Miami versus Carroll's eight-year tenure. Furthermore Miami was an independent when Johnson coached there meaning Johnson does not carry the same accolades as Carroll.  If he can win multiple titles with Seattle, Carroll could become one of the best to ever coach the game of football which is a crazy thing to think about honestly given how much Carroll struggled as an NFL coach in the 90's.

The final part of this odyssey with Carroll is if it were not for Reggie Bush getting in trouble with the NCAA, and the NCAA still running things like an organized crime unit (They still are but not as strong, whatever), Carroll would probably be somewhere else in the NFL or continuing to build a legacy at USC. Everyone believed Pete wanted to get back to the NFL and picked an opportune time to leave with everything collapsing at Southern Cal but if that did not happen, I still think he leaves at some point in the not too distant future. But Carroll would not be with Seattle. He would not have a 'Pete Carroll coaching tree' which started with Gus Bradley and will likely continue with Darrell Bevell and Dan Quinn. He also would not be in control of the one of the youngest and most talented teams in the NFL. Who knows if Carroll gets his NFL redemption somewhere else.

When the game begins, a graphic will show up on FOX's broadcast about Carroll being only the third coach to lead a college and pro team to the championship game. It makes him a better coach than Nick Saban. Same goes for Steve Spurrier.  The jury is still out on Chip Kelly, but for now, Carroll stands alone with a couple people trying to emulate him in the coming years.

Charlie.

Sportandfashion-news Super Bowl Preview: 1.) Peyton Manning's Bizarre Legacy

Yes, Super Bowl week is finally here. We will be sick of everything by Friday night yelling PLAY THE DAMN GAME, but it is only right to be excited about it for the first couple days. As we have done in years past, we will be numbering our Super Bowl coverage and then posting a big link dump on Saturday so you have it all at your fingertips before the big game. 

Peyton Manning will go down as one of the most revered quarterbacks of National Football League history. Many people will point to his statistics as well as his overall regular season success, and will see him as one of the greatest quarterbacks to ever play the game. But the weird part about Manning is his noted playoff struggles that has only yielded one Super Bowl win in two appearances. People act like Manning's legacy will somehow be downgraded if he only wins one Super Bowl versus winning multiple ones. This is not accurate as Manning is playing with house money at this point of his career.

With the media today where everything is about 'now', people almost forget Manning won a Super Bowl against Chicago nine years ago.  The attitude is Manning is in a must-win situation this Sunday against Seattle Seahawks. It is not like he is Dan Marino here at the end of his career. It reminds me a great deal of Brett Favre in 2007 and 2009 where he already had one Super Bowl, but the importance of the second one put him in some other realm. The sole fact Manning will be in three Super Bowls no matter the result is impressive and deserves to be mentioned when people bring up the debate of the 'greatest quarterback.' Getting there is almost as hard as winning the Super Bowl.  Manning doing it with different teams, three different coaches deserves some credit.

Another big part of why this game does not matter for Manning's legacy is his near career-ending neck injury. There were people whom believed Manning would not be on a football field again after his neck injury cost him to miss the 2011 season. There were another group of people whom felt like even if Manning returned to the field, he would never be the same player. Denver's quarterback defied the odds of everyone, and put together two of the more stunning displays of passing in NFL history (Granted all of these stats will be inflated like home runs in late 90's in MLB, but I digress). People seemingly forget Manning suffered a serious injury and came back better than ever.

The only way a dent develops in Manning's legacy is if he plays an awful game on Super Bowl Sunday. If Manning throws three or more interceptions, fails to complete 50 percent of his passes and fumbles the ball away, I think people will point to that performance more so than his Super Bowl win due to the immediacy and everyone remembers a player's worst game versus their best one especially at a stage as humongous as the Super Bowl in New York/New Jersey area. Not to mention, the social media world likes to be assholes versus nice humans so there's that too. Manning playing poorly versus Manning's team losing the game are two entirely different things. If the first one happens, the second one would likely happen as well, but if Manning goes out there with a 300 yard performance in a losing effort, the only people rushing to throw darts at the quarterbacks are the ones whom enjoy low-hanging fruit.

There is a part of me that Manning does not buy into anything I just wrote in this blog post. Rather Manning wants this win so damn bad making sure everyone would shut the hell up about his legacy. While he will never do it, Manning should just do about 10 D-Generation X crotch chops if he wins this game.  The win would mean Manning joins the multiple Super Bowl winners club with Tom Brady, Troy Aikman, Joe Montana and John Elway plus a couple others. That's important to him, and he wants to silence the doubters that still exist yet Manning should know he already has his legacy sealed, this is just the cherry on top.

Charlie.

Tapping The Keg Podcast Episode 72:

Tapping The Keg returns again with Mitch Pratt and Charlie Tritschler discussing all things sports related and then some. We led off with talking about the young Oklahoma State freshman whom went as Lisa Ann's date to the AVN Awards. We move on to tread lightly in a little bit of Super Bowl talk with Seattle and Denver before moving on to discussing the prospect of the Milwaukee Bucks new arena and new owner. From there, we talk about Kevin Durant's hot couple of weeks. The program finishes with Milwaukee Brewers talk ranging from Ryan Braun's appearance at Brewers On-Deck to a HEATED discussion about Lyle Overbay and Juan Francisco.

Fail Mary Forgiveness.

My good buddy Doz told me at the bar in December he asked for a Russell Wilson shirt jersey for Christmas. Doz is as big of a Wisconsin Badgers fan as you will meet in the state of Wisconsin. But I scoffed at the idea. I could not believe he chose to support a team had a hand in screwing over Green Bay out of a win which could have affected the playoffs that year. Yes I still felt some bitterness towards that game. Some might call it over-the-top, and others might call it reasonable as I think all Packers fans can say they hope no other team goes through that fiasco.

Usually, I try to be a person who does not have a great deal of grudges because I feel like life is easier that way versus being mad at certain people, certain things for stupid reasons. Yet I harbored a grudge towards Seattle because the Fail Mary loss will forever and always be the most heartbreaking regular season loss until Green Bay loses out of a playoff spot on a last second drive (Sorry Chicago).  After nearly 17 months, I am finally over the game. All is forgiven and I will be cheering for Seattle in the upcoming Super Bowl. Honestly, I probably should be thanking San Francisco for beating Green Bay twice in the last two playoffs.

When Seattle-San Francisco met, it was obviously going to be a great game, but I usually like to pick a team 'I want to see win.' Only real case I could see where I would probably not do that is if two NFC North team played for the NFC title that were not Green Bay and if that happened, my life would probably be at sports rock bottom. San Francisco caused me more strife in the last couple years as a fan versus Seattle where one bad play went against Green Bay in the third game of the season in 2012. It is a long time to keep thinking about a loss, but really when you think about it, what's not to love about Seattle?

Let's start with the obvious answer of Richard Sherman, the man of the hour still 30 hours later. Hell I got fired up at the gym Monday watching the highlights of his final play and his comments afterwards. There is something great about a male or female athlete telling the world they are the best. He is an asshole on the field. But it seems like he is a nice guy off it and in my world, that's perfectly fine. If he was an all-around asshole, that's fine too. People are not perfect. Sooner we can let go of this bullshit notion that 'athletes need to be role models', the better our society will be as a whole. Sherman is a hell of a football player. People need to start acting like he is one of the best instead of just a guy that runs his mouth because he is much more than that.

The fact the entire Seattle Secondary are a group of six feet and over guys looking like MonSTARS on the football field is a revelation. People will try to create their own version of a Legion of Doom for years to come. Kam Chancellor is a complete force, and the fact he watches Sean Taylor highlights before each and every game makes me like him that much more.  Additionally, we have discussed Sherman and Chancellor before mentioning Earl Thomas, a player definitely on the right route to be one of the best players in the National Football League.

Admitting now, Pete Carroll really pissed me off during the Fail Mary game. But I loved Carroll in college. Forever, he was my number one 'I want to have a beer with this guy.' I still do. My dad and I talk about how great it would be to sit down and drink beers with Carroll. He just seems like a fun guy taking life one step at a time. The Seattle coach pisses people off because he gets overly excited on the field plus Carroll running away from USC amid a scandal. Sometimes in life, people need to snake it until they make it which is exactly what Carroll did in his life. Carroll is not even a snake rather a man taking advantage of an opportunity to get out before shit hits the fan.

As I spend the whole year watching Eddie Lacy bully his way through defenders, it makes you respect and watch Marshawn Lynch in different light too. Lynch defines the "Beast Mode" nickname perfectly. Seattle deserves a ton of credit for rebuilding his career after a tumultuous end in Buffalo to make him a great player for Seattle and a top five to seven running back in this league. Lynch is a bruiser and nothing is more fun than watching him bulldoze a couple members of the secondary as he heads into the end zone where Skittles are raining from the sky.

There is the one elephant in the likability of Seattle for some people and it is their weird PED accusations with Sherman and others getting in trouble for substances that were all 'Adderall.' Many people do not believe that too be true. I personally do not either. I have the belief that many NFL players are doing PEDs of some form, and people are burying the head in the sand. This is the steroid era of baseball all over again. I do not care honestly, just wish people would figure it out sooner rather than later. Seattle can pump themselves with PED's because I feel every other team is doing it in some form. While I have no basis for this theory, it is pretty clear what's going on.

The funniest part of Seattle is with all of the unlikable characters, they might have the most likable quarterback in the NFL. There are not many people saying bad words about Wilson the person. I might criticize how he plays, but even I am in a minority there.  I am actually surprised no one came down from a higher power to tell me I could not do it. With this team, it feels like they should have a Johnny Manziel at quarterback with his demeanor, but at least with Russ, people can say 'Man I hate all these Seahawks players but I LOVE RUSSELL WILSON.'  That's a common thing, and maybe it is a good thing. Cannot have a team being 100 percent hateable.

There you have it. I am done trying to hate Seattle. This is a likable team in my eyes. Ryan Braun's ruling really changed my option on sports figures and teams. Embracing the so-called 'bad guys' is fun as hell. It is much funner than believing in a morality code and some faux thing called 'class in sports.' Go Hawks, sorry it took me a Sherman outburst and a game against San Francisco for me to see the light. Cannot wait for Green Bay to take down Seattle in Fall 2014, it will be great.

Charlie.

Seattle Seahawks: Say Hello to the Bad Guys

Rivalries are great when they are unexpected. Three years ago if I were to tell you, Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers are going to be the fiercest rivals in the National Football League by 2013-2014, I would have been met with weird looks. NFC West used to be the laughingstock of the league, and now it plays host to the top billing of the NFL's scorecard.  Seattle added another chapter beating San Francisco 23-17 to earn a trip to New Jersey for the 48th Super Bowl.    

It is really easy to throw around statements full of hyperbole, but the second half of San Francisco-Seattle felt like the best football of the entire year. It had everything you wanted from a football game including a dramatic conclusion to the game. San Francisco started to drive the ball down with under four minutes left in the game and found themselves on Seattle's 30 yard line with under a minute left. Heartbreak was on its way for one of these teams, and when they needed it the most Seattle's defense stood big with their best player on the defense making an excellent play. 

Earlier in the week, we noted Colin Kaepernick appears to have a problem with vertical routes and
underthrowing them. We saw in both games against Seattle this season in the regular season that Kaepernick had this problem. He once again to the vertical route to win this football game, and Richard Sherman batted the ball away from Michael Crabtree leading to Malcolm Smith picking off the pass ending the game and clinching Seattle's first Super Bowl appearance since 2005-2006 season. Sherman made a stunning play leading to him bumping Crabtree afterwards and gesturing a choke signal to Kaepernick basically another day in the life of Sherman.  

Everyone now probably has an opinion on the former Stanford cornerback. Many people did before today. I said it when he started making the gestures that 'He is such a prick but dammit if I don't respect him.'  I still think he acts like a dick, but that's totally okay because that's his personality on the field. I doubt he acts that way off it.  Sherman's post game reaction drew all sorts of criticism, but this man is an animal. Crabtree and Sherman hate each other where this means so goddamn much to him. I find it hard to believe just yelling into a camera can classify a guy as a 'thug.'  What a world we live in. Sherman made the play of the year, and people still found a way to shit all over it. The fact Sherman is not a robot is the exact reason why you should love him. Sports is not supposed to be an uptight thing. We have fun watching sports, and Sherman is having a blast out there not giving one single f--k about any of you, remember that when you reach to type something dumb on social media.   

Enough about Sherman though, it was one play in a fantastic football game. Russell Wilson is a player I have been critical of in the last couple of weeks given his recent struggles. It seemed like once again Wilson could not make a play in this game minus this ridiculous scramble for a 53-yard gain to Doug Baldwin. The narrative appeared to be shifting and First Take desk was ready to deliver some #HotTakes about Wilson until he benefited from a free play as San Francisco jumped offsides. The former 'Pack full of Badgers' delivered a beautiful pass to Jermaine Kearse for the touchdown to give Seattle their first lead of the game again. Wilson made plays when Seattle needed it the most.  That's what good quarterbacks do, and it will be great to see him on the biggest stage in two weeks. 

Marshawn Lynch did not disappoint either in this game. He deserves a ton of credit for being the spark plug of this Seattle offense at the start of the second half. Seahawks did nothing in the first half, and it felt like San Francisco had out-matched them on both sides of the ball. Lynch really did not make his presence felt until busting out for a big 40 yard run for a touchdown. Mr. Skittles finished 109 yards on 22 carries giving him exactly a five yard average.  One thing is becoming clear in this rivalry whether they are playing in Seattle or San Francisco, Lynch finds a way to rush for a big number against the usually strong Niners rush defense, and that's a problem they need to solve in the coming years.  

Even though he played in a Super Bowl last year, can we all agree the big moment suffocated Kaepernick? He played great in the first half tearing up Seattle for 100 yards on the ground, he made a Favre-like pass for the touchdown to Anquan Boldin yet his fourth quarter was a complete disaster. It started with a strip sack as he rolled out near his own end zone holding the ball loosely only to have Seahawks linebacker Cliff Avril swat the ball out of Kaepernick's hands leading to Seahawks defensive end Michael Bennett making the recovery. Thankfully for the third-year quarterback, no harm happened from that turnover as Seattle could not get points on the following drive. But it kept getting worse for Kaepernick as he underthrew a ball on the sidelines leading to Kam Chancellor picking it off. Basically it was the same play Micah Hyde did not make two weeks ago. Excuse me while I drink cyanide.  We all know the last interception too. Three turnovers in 15 minutes is complete hell for any quarterback. People completely forget how well you played for the first 45. 

Seattle heads to the Super Bowl which is something people believed they would do in late November. Everyone about Seattle makes them the enemy to popular culture. They are brash, mouthy and everything Denver is not. It sets up beautiful for two weeks of great trash-talking fun. It should be tremendous. Related, I cannot wait until Seattle and San Francisco meet again. 

Charlie. 

RICHARD SHERMAN DA GAWD

Seattle beat San Francisco in a classic football game that pushed their rivalry forward and officially cements it as the best at least for next couple years. Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman made the play of the night when he found a way to bat the ball away from Michael Crabtree and then went off to FOX Sports Erin Andrews in a post game interview. It is arguably the best post game interview I have seen. Many have described it was 'Old School WWE promo' which is honestly accurate. We need to weave a way to get Sherman wrestling this summer. A couple of tweets of the people whom think Sherman was 'unclassy' or whatever that means.  (H/T @cjzero for video and GIF, guy is the best make sure you follow him)

Media is gonna destroy Sherman for that. The same media that complains that players are too scripted in interviews.
— Adam Hatlak (@Hatlaka) January 20, 2014

here come all the people with the "stay classy" bullshit…if you can't handle what he did good luck in life
— Seth (@SethKrueger) January 20, 2014

Seth gave me the idea of adding Richard Sherman's post game thoughts along with Colin Kaepernick's song from Beats by Dre enjoy.  

YouTube Doubler

Tapping The Keg Podcast Episode 71

Mitch Pratt and Charlie Tritschler taped yet another podcast where this week we talk about the density of people using social media, preview both Championship games starting with New England-Denver and then San Francisco-Seattle. We move on to discuss Joel Embiid who is the new 'pop star' of college basketball as Charlie likes to call him. It continues on to a Milwaukee Bucks hypothetical and then a conversation about Larry Sanders which includes why Milwaukeeans need to get behind him. We finish up the podcast talking about the Clayton Kershaw deal which somehow leads us to some quick words on Australian weather. Enjoy!

Charlie.

Divisional Round Recap: Seattle Beasts Through New Orleans

When New Orleans and Seattle met in early December for a big Monday Night Football matchup, many people thought it would be an exciting game going down to the end, but Seattle shut their entire team down like they were Jon Taffer dealing with a bar serving warm beer. They met again in the playoffs, and some people (Guilty) thought things might be different with how New Orleans looked the prior weekend in Philadelphia. Seattle showed why they were the number one seed in the NFC, a mean bruising running attack and a defense that does not quit ever.

New Orleans knows about Marshawn Lynch like we Packer fans know how Golden Tate never caught the football in the end zone. They still run back the tape of when Beast Mode was invented and how a 7-9 Seahawks team knocked off the 13-3 Saints. My assumption would be the Saints did not want a similar result this weekend, but Lynch did not have an iconic run in this game, he still was the difference for this Seattle team turning in one of the best performances of his season. Lynch went over 100 yards for the first time since November 10th against Atlanta. He basically provided everything for Seattle on Saturday afternoon. 

One of the things we see with running backs especially bruisers like Lynch, they tire out by the end of the year. FOX Sports John Lynch believes Marshawn needed an extra week giving him a much-needed rest, and boy, did it show. He looked like the best player on the field for the entire football game, and that is in no way a hyperbolic statement. Lynch will need to continue his power style because I do think there needs to be more of a concern about Russell Wilson. Once again, the Seahawks quarterback struggled to do anything really having only 100 yards with a 67.6 passer rating. Wilson needs to be better moving forward if Seattle wants to win their first Super Bowl in franchise history. While Seahawks' defense and Lynch are great, they will not be able to carry the load like this for the whole playoffs. 

Everyone trips over their own feet to tell you how good Seattle's defense. It is like every male that seen The Wolf of Wall Street imploring you to check out Margot Robbie. But like how attractive and talented Robbie is, Seattle's defense shined through in this one. They held one of the best offenses to zero points heading into the fourth quarter. Drew Brees, one of the most prolific quarterbacks in the last decade, had only 54 yards in the first half which was his lowest since 2006 against Carolina. Brees ended up with 300 yards which is impressive, but Seattle played mostly prevent style defense in the final quarter. This defense deserves every narrative they have already received, and what they will receive in the coming weeks.

Seattle averted a near disaster after not being able to recover an onside kick leading to New Orleans getting the ball back with 26 seconds left. Thankfully for Seattle, Marques Colston does not know the rules of football and the 10 second run-off ended the game. Seahawks are now one game away from heading back to the Super Bowl for the first time since 2005 and to get there, they will play their rival San Francisco. Seattle's wide receiver Doug Baldwin Jr. put it best. 

Wouldn't want it any other way...
— Doug Baldwin Jr (@DougBaldwinJr) January 12, 2014

Amen. 

Charlie.  

Divisional Round Playoff Picks

Everyone knows the dream matchup for the following Sunday... It would be Seattle-San Francisco and Denver-New England. This would make any casual fan of the NFL go from six to midnight. I could not even begin to fathom the ratings for each of these games so then here lies the questions, 'Who is the team that royally screws this thing up?'  That is the question I have been wondering all week. I cannot just put my
finger on who it will be honestly.

Saturday
New Orleans at Seattle 3:30 pm FOX - Here is the first case where I think our dream matchup could get ruined and no one thinks this is possible. People will point to the unreal secondary of Seattle and for good reason, they are one of the best ever. New Orleans predicates an offense off passing, passing and a random Mark Ingram appearance like a wild Snorlax appearing out of nowhere. It seems like the Saints are pissed off people believe they cannot win on the road.  They already won in Philly, but no one thinks New Orleans can do it again. Head coach Sean Payton is certainly going down with a fight blowing out speakers to emulate the sound and having a Seahawks logo in their practice facility.  New Orleans needs to limit mistakes if they want to win this game. It bite them hard in the game against Seattle the first time around, and if they stay composed New Orleans can win this game.

Seattle on the other hand comes in fresh. Bye weeks have not been the best thing for teams in the last couple of years, but with how physical the Seahawks play, a week off could be useful. Even though Percy Harvin will be back this week, people are forgetting how bad Russell Wilson has been as the season closed out. Harvin might help him, but since the New Orleans game, Wilson has been less than stellar. Also remember Seattle's offensive line is one of the worst in the NFL in terms of pass-blocking and this Saints team can get to Wilson. I am taking the Saints. Maybe I am looking too much into this one, but Seattle seems ripe for the upset. NO 23-21

Indianapolis at New England (-7.5) 7:15 pm CBS - This is a game where I could see things either being a complete blowout by New England or getting really weird. The reason for the blowout is Indianapolis' defense is goddamn awful. They do not have much going for them besides Robert Mathis. It is like a band with a good lead singer and just a bunch of mediocre guitarists and drums. Even with the bad weather, Tom Brady and their three-headed rushing attack could have a big day.

 It could get weird because Indianapolis since Andrew Luck has been their quarterback only seems to win in the most bizarre fashion. It is never a clear cut victory; something crazy always has to happen. This would be a defining win for Luck's career if he is able to take down Brady in the playoffs.  He will need to be perfect. New England's defense might not be great, but their offense cannot get extra opportunities. When I look at this game, I think we are getting an Indianapolis team that will be 'just happy to be there' and not really believing they can win this game. Patriots in a big way. NE 38-20

Sunday
San Francisco (-3) at Carolina 12:00 pm FOX - You want to see some hitting?  This is your game. Colin Kaepernick struggled their last meeting with only throwing for 99 yards and a couple turnovers. He will have to deal with a jacked up Carolina crowd, but he at least gets Michael Crabtree this time around which should be fun against these Carolina. Kaepernick always seems to have a little extra for the playoffs, and I think he rectifies the poor start from earlier in this season. One thing that would worry me if I were San Fran would be Frank Gore. He could be wearing down, and while Carolina's stout rush defense is tough to get through, Niners still need some Gore yards.

As for the Panthers, they are a team with many people experiencing the playoffs for the first time. It is extremely vital Carolina comes out in the first quarter, and just plays Panthers football. If they come out tight, let San Francisco get the early advantage, it might be curtains for this team. Cam Newton will have the largest microscope on him, and he needs not to force anything. One thing that will help is the fired up fanbase of Carolina. These folks have not seen a playoff game in quite some time, and they will be ready to help out the team as much as they can.  I like San Francisco in this one. It seems like the Niners are the hottest team in the league, and I will ride them to another round. SF 16-14

San Diego at Denver (-10) 3:30 pm CBS - Ever think sometimes the criticism is so severe on the guy that he will say 'F--- it, let's give them something else to talk about.'? That's how I feel about Peyton Manning. I cannot remember a time where he received so much shit for not winning the postseason. I mean it is well-documented, but at the same time, this seems a bit excessive. I have a feeling this will be an iconic Manning performance. Even though San Diego seemed to improved defensively in the last couple weeks, I still think this is a below average secondary that Manning can exploit. The reason Denver loses this game will not be Manning rather the defense therefore I expect a close game, but seriously, Manning is going to put everyone on notice. DEN 34-30

Charlie.

Tapping The Keg Podcast Episode 70

Tapping The Keg podcast returns from a two-week holiday break. We had a fun show as Mitch and I (Charlie) missed each other. We recap New Year's Eve a bit as we spent it together and why it might be a sign we are getting old. Sports get started as we talk about the Green Bay Packers in terms of the San Francisco game as well as talk about the future of this team. We preview all of the divisional round games and why no one is trustworthy. We head back to Wisconsin sports chatting about what's left for Wisconsin sports fans since Green Bay is done.  The podcast finishes talking about Jameis Winston, Loul Deng and all sorts of other conversations.

Charlie.