Lou Pickney's Online Commentary
The Manning Machine
Monday
January 12, 2004
He may have shared the NFL's Most Valuable Player award, but let there be no mistake: there is no better quarterback in the NFL today than the Indianapolis Colts' Peyton Manning. What he did yesterday against the Kansas City Chiefs, in an incredibly hostile road environment, was nothing short of spectacular. The Colts reminded me of a team on "cheat week" straight out of Tecmo Super Bowl. Just unstoppable on offense. I was afraid that Scott Massey had
pulled a Todd MacCullough on me with his prediction that if Donte Hall took back a punt or kickoff for a touchdown, the Chiefs would win. But Manning would not be denied.
|  | Peyton Manning is in his 6th NFL season.
|
This weekend will be tough, though. Bill Belichick has always been able to find ways to put the hurt on Manning (one of the few reasons I was glad that the Patriots and Colts were placed in separate divisions in the 2002 NFL realignment), and the pressure will be on this week. But Manning has officially reached his prime, and if he could perform at a peak level in Kansas City, he could do it anywhere. That would be like producing a flawless newscast with three Executive Meddlers there trying to stop you. Manning has just an incredible, once-in-a-decade (if not more) ability to read the defense and call the perfect audible.
Yesterday it was hate mail about my NFL picks -- today it was hate mail about my prediction on DraftKing.com on who the Buffalo Bills will take in the first round of the NFL draft. As if the Bills should be expected to do the logical thing after last year's debacle (taking an injured running back in the first round despite Travis Henry coming off of a breakthrough 2002 season). It doesn't bother me, but it strikes me as funny that people would actually take the time to bust balls on a complete stranger for something as mundane as projecting that the Bills would draft Texas DT Marcus Tubbs at the #13 spot.
I was all set to write a scathing rebuke toward the Minnesota Vikings in this paragraph about how they not only allowed two teams to skip them in the 2003 Draft (Jacksonville and Carolina), but how they also passed on DE Terrell Suggs to take lesser-touted Kevin Williams. But upon checking the stats, I discovered that Williams, a standout at Oklahoma State, put up comparable numbers to Suggs (Williams had 10½ sacks to Suggs' 12 in Baltimore). But talk about ballsy -- had Williams been a bust (and they could've easily had him five picks lower had they successfully been able to trade down), they would've been mocked like the Tampa Bay Bucs were for taking LB Broderick Thomas in the 1989 Draft.
|  | | "He's smiling at you, Beavis." |
What I'm going to perhaps miss most of all about the Titans next season is not getting to see the smirking mug shot of Gary Anderson anymore when time rolls around for field goals and extra points. Did you know that he first came into the league in 1982?!? To put that in perspective, Terrell Suggs was born on October 11, 1982. Can't Anderson pull a Roger Clemens and give it just one more year? Seriously, check out that picture. Is he really Dick Clark's son? Scott Massey and I came to that conclusion during the 2004 playoffs. Maybe ABC should hire him for a Central Time Zone ball drop in Minneapolis or something on New Year's Eve. Can we make that a reality? I'd chip in $5 to make it happen.
I'm shocked at how the song "You Promised Me" by In-Grid has stayed so popular on the mainstream dance music charts for so long. I really like it, but the riff in there sounds like something stolen from a piece of transition music intended for the HBO show Curb Your Enthusiasm. If you don't know what I'm talking about, just go along with me on this one. It's not the norm on the Billboard Dance playlist (but there it is amongst the rest).
In an interesting note, this cute chick singer named Milky is listed in the Top 15 on the Party 93.1 most played songs list. I've had up a promo postcard of her hanging up at work for months that I got promoting a concert she had upcoming at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas (which took place after my visit there this past August). It's cool to see in one of those "I knew about her way back when" kind of deals.
|
