So over the next three days I will summarize the first decade in all of the major sports that I follow. Today's group is the easiest to discuss. So here we go:
The decade in pro football and college football can be summarized with one word: parity. Though both entities had several champions, the diversity in the champions makes you feel good that the sport is going in the right direction. In college football, the decade started outwith Miami being the team to beat. Everyone started calling the school the "U" and it did not need any explanation. The next few years belonged to USC. They were in three consecutive championship games winning two of them. Then the SEC took over the decade. LSU won two titles(shared one with USC) and Florida won two. Ohio St. won one title and Texas won the game of the decade over USC. The decade will be known for two sophomores winning the Heisman. Tim Tebow and Mark Ingram. Tebow was a finalist three times. Two Oklahoma quarterbacks winning the award. Sam Bradford and Jason White. Carson Palmer, Matt Leinart, and Reggie Bush won it for USC. Troy Smith from Ohio St. Chris Weinke and Eric Crouch round out the list. In other words eight quarterbacks and two running backs. I think that Leinart is the player of the decade because he played in 3 straight championship games and ended the Heisman jinx. USC and Florida were the two best teams in the decade. USC won 7 straight conference championships. I give Pete Carroll the slight nod over Urban Meyer although Mack Brown and Jim Tressel deserve credit for putting their teams in championship contention every year.Same with Bob Stoops. Boise St. is the most under appreciated team of the decade. Michigan only defeated Ohio State once this decade which cost Coach Carr his job. We say goodbye to Coach Bowden. Coach Paterno is still going strong. Coach Fullmer at Tennessee is out of coaching too. So is Charlie Weis. This decade will be known for the creation of the spread offense and the wildcat. Every team ran some form of single back set. Coach Meyer and Coach Rodriguez deserves credit for making the offense so unstoppable. Great games of the decade. Michigan and Ohio State 3 years ago, Mississippi and Auburn going 8 overtimes. USC vs Texas. Kentucky and Florida. Oklahoma and Boise St. Miam and Florida St this year. Kentucky and LSU when LSU hit a 70 yard hail mary pass while Kentucky's crowd was running on the field in the back round. A crazy decade and hopefully in the new decade we will have a playoff to settle the championship. Having 5 teams undefeated at the end of a season is a joke. What the hell is the B.C.S.?
The NFL has had the same growth as College football. There were several champions but the decade was dominated by a few teams. The New England Patriots are the team of the decade with three championships and an unblemished regular season that was almost matched this past season. The decade started off with the St. Louis Rams as the dominant team. The rams were the second worse team in the decade of the 90's and started the 21st century like they were going to be around for entire decade. The Tampa Buccaneers won title which is crazy too. Seattle, Arizona and Chicago also played for rings. The Eagles played in 5 NFC championship games. winning only 1. The New York Giants played in two super Bowls, stunning New England in one and being trounced by Baltimore Ravens in the other. The Tennessee Titans played in a Super Bowl and so did the Oakland Raiders. Hard to believe that the Cowboy and Redskins did not play in the big game since they have played in a Super Bowl in every decade since the 70's. The 49ers were absent from the big game too. The Steelers won two rings in the decade. Indianapolis won one as well. We had great players in this decade. Tom Brady and Peyton Manning were the top two. Donovan Mcnabb and Ladanian Tomlinson are up there as well. Ray Lewis was the man on defense. Micheal Strahan was legendary. Brett Favre retired and came back and then retired and now is trying to lead another team to a title. Instant Replay became a part of all games in both college and pro football. We play a game in London every year now and the Cowboy opened up a super stadium that has a scoreboard that is enormous. Bill Bellicheck is the coach of the decade. Playing in four super bowls is a really great accomplishment. We lost Steve Mcnair which is horrible because he was the face of the south. Sean Taylor is another tragedy. Gene Upshaw and the NFL's Player's Union battles over the decade is what is creating a possible lockout in 2 years. A new Commissioner who does not take any crap. Chris Henry tragedy lately. Upshaw also dying days after finding out he had Cancer. The "tuck" rule that helped the Patriots win a playoff game. Bad officiating and players getting clocked when not looking on punts and turnovers. what a decade...more to come tomorrow
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