DaveZdyrko.com

I just died. ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt just got pranked by Captain Janks of the Howard Stern Show who was pretending to be RB Brian Westbrook.

It may have only been in the preliminary round, but tonight’s Winter Olympics ice hockey match-up between Team USA and Canada was one of the best hockey games I’ve ever watched. It was action-packed and intense from the first drop of the puck and I was on the edge of my seat and shaking for much of the final period, particularly during Canada’s final two power plays, and didn’t exhale until one of the most amazing empty net goals I’ve ever seen by Ryan Kesler with 45 seconds to go.

Ryan Miller was playing out of his mind and the young Americans played lights out for the full 60 minutes — as did the Canadians. And not only was it easily one of the best hockey games I’ve ever watched, but it’s honestly up there with the likes of the Miami/OSU game, Texas/USC, and “Bird Steals The Ball”, as one of the best sporting events I’ve watched. Hopefully, Team USA will be able to build on this and come home with a medal. But even if they don’t, it won’t take away from just how enjoyable this game was — easily the most enjoyable program ever aired on MSNBC (who gets props for the lack of commercials that helped immensely with the intensity of the game).

The Super Bowl, while a decent enough game between two of the game’s best teams and two of the league’s best quarterbacks, honestly bored the Hell out of me. I believe part of it was because there weren’t really any big hits, amazing catches, or really big plays. Both the Colts and Saints seemed to drive at will and would only have drives stopped because of mistakes on their part, except for the goal line stand towards the end of the first half (only reason Colts didn’t score at the goal line at the end of the game was the ball went right through Wayne’s hands).

It’s almost as if both Brees and Manning were too good at finding the open receiver and too good at putting the ball right where the receiver could make the easy grab. There were no David Tyree catch-the-ball-off-your-helmet moments or ones where a player like Larry Fitzgerald just proved he was a man among boys. It was quality football between two fantastic offenses and a few defenses that made some huge plays every now and then — the TAINT (touchdown after interception) and the Freeney sack.

Maybe the bigger problem is that I liked both teams and honestly didn’t give two shits about who won the game. I was clapping for scores or big plays by either team and was mainly just hopping it was a close game throughout. My biggest disappointment was the TAINT that ended the game instead of the Colts being able to tie it and possibly put the SB into OT. I’m glad Brees got a ring and am extremely happy that the Saints won a SB for the first time ever. But, if they had lost I wouldn’t have really cared that much. I guess that’s what honestly bored me the most. It’s much easier to get excited if you really love one team or really hate the other. When you’re indifferent and just want a good football game, it’s hard to get all that emotional.

Oh, yeah, it also didn’t help that the ads mostly sucked and the half-time show was 30 years past due.

I really miss having DirecTV and NFL Sunday Ticket. I hope some day that you can get ST on ANY service provider because I simply cannot have DirecTV at my current residence so it’s not even an option. This is pissing me off something extra fierce today because I’m stuck with two completely horrible games yet again. On one channel, I have the option of watching the Pats v. Texans, which is particularly exciting today because Tom Brady has already been pulled and Brain Hoyer is playing QB. Yeah, quality NFL shit there. My 2nd option? It’s an exciting nail-biter! The Vikes are already up 24-0 on the Giants and it looks like it’s about to get worse and it’s not even half-time yet. Thank you, NFL, for making me watching these two piece of shit games that truly show off the quality of your product. Thank you!

Alright, so I’ve decided that I’m going to completely boycott all the bowl games, with the exception of any that my pitiful Hurricanes are playing in (kind of wish I boycotted that spanking UW gave us). I think it’s just gotten to the point where it’s obvious to everyone that the BCS doesn’t work and that we need a playoff in college football. The college football fans overwhelmingly agree with this, but the men in power don’t seem to care because they’re making a lot of money with the current system.

All the bitching and moaning by fans or the media just won’t change this, so I figure I ought to do the only thing I can do and stop supporting this travesty by continuing to watch the games. I’m sure I’ll miss out on a lot of excellent football, but I decided that it’d be hypocritical to complain about the system and then support it 100% by watching all the games religiously as I’ve done year in and year out. Complaining and continuing to support the broken system won’t help change things. Me personally not watching won’t, either but at least I will be doing the right thing.

Check out my Quick Hit blog about my thoughts on the Miami Dolphins drafting WVU QB Pat White in the 2nd round of this past weekend’s NFL Draft and why it has me super excited for the coming football season.

I’ve put together a little drinking game for the 2009 NFL Draft for my company @ QuickHit.com. Check it out and follow the rules if you truly want to enjoy tomorrow’s NFL Draft — it will be the same game that I will be playing with Brandon & Roger and we plan to be completely plastered before the end of the first round if not sooner!

The football team likely won’t produce a first day draft pick for the first time in ages, but at least the University of Miami has come out #1 in Playboy’s list of top Party Schools for 2009! I guess that’s better than nothing. It’s all about the “U”!

The news that KG will likely miss the playoffs practically ensures a seemingly inevitable title showdown between Lebron James and Kobe Bryant. While this saddens me as a Celtics fan that still had moderate to slim hopes of a repeat, it should be a great thing for the NBA and an exciting series to watch. The highly-touted Lakers versus Celtics match-up last year proved to be a bit of a letdown ratings-wise, but Lebron v Kobe should be able to get ratings on par with the Jordan era Bulls. If not, then the NBA’s funk might be even worse than thought.

The Baltimore Orioles’ dream of a perfect 162-0 season ended today with a 11-2 loss to the Evil Empire, dropping them to 2-1 and 1/2 game out of their one-time stranglehold on first place in the AL East. I guess I can take solace in the fact that this amazing first place and unbeaten run lasted much longer than I had ever dreamed of, but it’s still a sad day and pretty much ends the baseball season. At least the NFL draft and NBA & NHL playoffs are just around the corner!