Here is your free Friday Snack for Score Atlanta's Around the Dial! Grab yourself a copy at metro-Atlanta QuikTrip, Kroger and Blockbuster!
With both NFL conferences holding their championships on the same day, all of the big guns came out for the coverage. CBS had the AFC and spent most of the telecast reminding everyone that Super Bowl would be airing on the EYE network this year. The Colts rallied to knock off the Jets for the AFC crown and CBS’s postgame was spent mostly discussing Peyton Manning, and rightfully so. Manning, having won his fourth MVP award this season, has a chance to earn his second Super Bowl title in the last four years. Last week on Score Atlanta Sports Sunday, (Sundays on Sports Radio 790 The Zone, 1-4 p.m.), Brian Jones and I got into a debate over whether or not Manning had passed Tom Brady as preeminent quarterback of this generation. Brady has the ring count in his favor with 3 and he had one MVP, but I argued that Peyton has 4 MVP trophies and one ring and he’s favored to earn his second. I also noted that Peyton never had the defensive talent that Brady did and Manning turns his receivers into superstars, see Collie and Garcon this year. Several callers argued that Manning had Harrison and Reggie Wayne, but I countered that Brady has/had Welker and Moss and Stallworth among others. It was an interesting debate and one that I think will not be one after next week, when Peyton Manning wins his second Super Bowl title. And I think Manning is more likely to reach another Super Bowl before Brady will, which would even the ring count out at 3-3 and then the MVPs would be in play, ending the discussion.
On FOX, the NFC title was decided when the Vikings turned the ball over six times and the officials awarded a few fishy calls to the New Orleans Saints as Drew Brees and Co. punched the Saints first ever trip to the Super Bowl. After rolling my eyes about 900 times during the game when Joe Buck and Troy Aikman kept referring to Brett Favre as “a legend” among other things, Favre threw a late interception when his team was trying to get into position to win the game in regulation. In overtime, the Saints were the beneficiaries of two eye-rubbing, jaw-droppingly “interesting” calls by the officials, first on a phantom pass interference penalty where replays showed no contact was involved and another on a “catch” by a Saints wide receiver where the ball wasn’t truly secured when the player went to the ground. In neither case did Buck or Aikman say anything about it; perhaps they were just ready for the game to be over? After the game, the talk was all about New Orleans going to the Super Bowl and how far the city had come since Hurricane Katrina. Come on guys, that is a lousy angle. That was your angle back in 2006 when the Saints made the NFC championship game, yet lost to Chicago. If the Saints lose the Super Bowl, then make it back to the NFC title game in three years, will that still be the focus? Let’s move on please; get some fresh angles.
If you haven’t caught The Mark Fox Show, that airs Sunday nights on SportSouth (as well as several other times during the week) please watch it next Sunday. I’m not certain I saw anything as funny as Chuck Dowdle’s performance on this week’s edition. Dowdle does a fine job with Fox, who seems to be adjusting to life as a big-time basketball coach. Dowdle is kind of like that crazy uncle that always seems to entertain at any Christmas gathering or family reunion, though you are glad he’s just your uncle and you get to leave after 30 minutes. I’m not certain I could take much more of the campiness that Dowdle provides in thirty minutes, but he certainly is good for a laugh and helps ease Fox into a joke or two.
Finally, for the second time in three weeks, Norcross High School will host some of the country’s top basketball talent. This weekend, the Blue Devils will host the Second Annual Marriott Invitational, including five local teams and three from across the southeast. The teams participating include, Norcross, Centennial, Greater Atlanta Christian School, Berkmar, Daniel High School (SC), Quality Education Academy (NC) and Greene County High School (AL). Greene County is ranked No.2 in Alabama’s AAA rankings while Daniel is No.1 in South Carolina’s AAA class. Quality Education Academy features four players nationally ranked by recruiting services. For ticket information and to find the pairings, visit www.norcrossbasketball.com.
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