In the wake of last night’s COACHFAIL in the Pats-Colts game, the universe and its mom have been leveling unvarnished invective at Bill Belichick. Rightly so, at first blush; with a few seconds before the 2 minute warning and protecting a dwindling 34-28 lead, Belichick opted to go for it on 4th and 2… from New England’s own 28 yard line. The try failed by a slim margin, the Colts took over, and Peyton Manning calmly guided his team to the winning touchdown with 13 seconds to play. Ballgame.

(Wanna get away?)

So, yeah. Going for it and failing from the hinterlands of Obvious Punt Territory - soon to become the USA’s 51st state -  and watching the game slip away immediately afterwards is an unforgivably bad decision, yes? Well, not so much. Contrary to immediate intuition, it was, in fact, the Patriots’ best chance at winning the game.

Read more…

The Indianapolis Colts’ home field, Lucas Oil Stadium, was on fire last night during the Colts-Patriots game.

Literally.

After the Colts’ first touchdown of the game, fireworks inside the stadium caught the playing field on fire.

(What an unsightly bare patch)

Video after the jump.

Read more…

Gorgeous piece by graphic designer Ken Carbone at FastCompany.com as he tries to one-up helmet logo designs of three NFL teams: the New England Patriots, Washington Redskins and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Excerpt:

Among the weakest designs are the Washington Redskins and Tampa Bay Buccaneers , whose visually complicated logos become a graphic mess when televised and, I imagine, even if you’re sitting on the fifty-yard line.

Carbone’s effort? Mixed.

His stunning success was this amazing re-design of the Redskins’ helmet, which he partly attributes to visiting the Art of the Samurai: Japanese Arms and Armor exhibit at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

After the jump, his attempts at improving the Pats’ and Bucs’ hard candy shells. Read more…

Ever wonder which of your favorite athletes will be unavailable to sign autographs in Heaven? In case you were planning on hobnobbing with Tom Brady up there, think again. According to one North Carolina church, he’ll be hanging out in the other pace. And they don’t mean Newark.

According to the Amazing Grace Baptist Church (Canton, N.C.) Brady, along with several other athletes, are headed to straight to hell. In Brady’s case, it’s chiefly because he “has an unwed child,” and “commits fornication.” But that’s nothing compared to Joakim Noah, who, says the church, is going to hell because he “Has long hair, which is disobedient to the Word of God.”

I’ve been meaning to get it trimmed. Who knew that a long wait at Supercuts would result in eternal damnation? Read more…

For those who can’t bear to subject themselves to the NBC studio shows, what with Football Night in America being so overproduced it makes T-Pain seem “gritty” by comparison, you probably missed Rodney Harrison continuing his crusade to turn himself into the court jester of today’s crop of NFL television analysts*.

(”Plus, dude, purple totally clashes with the uniform.”)

In this instance, Tom Brady had just thrown a pass in the pocket when he was hit in the knee by Terrell Suggs (and rather lightly at that), prompting a 15-yard roughing the passer flag at Brady’s demonstrative request. Afterward, Harrison took what should have been an interesting debate about the new NFL rules protecting the quarterback in the pocket and instead turned into an OMG controversy about just Harrison, Brady, and “manhood.” Oh, great. Awesome. Video of the play in question and Harrison’s “controversial” remark after the break.

Read more…

When Junior Seau said he retired to spend more time with his kids, of course he really meant cavorting with rodeo clowns and an enraged bull. Who wouldn’t do that if they were thinking of making a possible NFL comeback later this season?

I guess one’s resume is never complete without “Guest Rodeo Clown” somewhere in there. OK. But how do you explain to Belichick that you won’t be able to help during the playoff run because you have hoofprints on your ass? Video, of course, following the jump. Read more…

You may recall the Tom Brady-Gisele Bundchen wedding, v 2.0, this past April which featured an open bar, monkeys and intermittent gunplay. Two members of the paparazzi who hid in the jungle taking photos on the sly said that security guards hired by Brady tried to muscle them for their cameras, and then shot at them when they ran for it.

The photographers, Yuri Cortez and Carlos Avi, have filed a $1 million lawsuit against Brady and his bride over the incident. The claim that Brady hired a security force that wasn’t properly trained, and that the whole thing too closely resembled various scenes from “Romancing the Stone.” Anyway, here’s Brady’s reaction this morning:

Read more…

Usually, Tony Romo saves his worst for last, shining as the season begins but falling apart in December and January. But hey, last night was kind of a big game - it was the first “official” game at the new Cowboys Stadium, and it was a national TV audience against the arch-rival New York Giants. So I guess you can’t blame Romo for reverting to his late-season form and throwing up all over himself in the Cowboys’ 33-31 loss.

Romo threw three picks - including one that was returned for a touchdown - and generally looked more spooked than a race horse that’s just been hit with a firecracker. But despite this, the Cowboys actually led late, and it looked like Dallas might pull out an improbable victory. Read more…

All this week, one of the top stories in college football was about the resurgence of the University of Miami football program after their Labor Day victory over Florida State. They were ranked in the Top 25 for seemingly the first time since Bernie Kosar was behind center, and people were talking about how head coach Randy Shannon had turned the moribund program back into players on the national stage.

Which meant only one thing: The ‘Canes were due to crash and burn last night on ESPN against Georgia Tech. After all, they would certainly be dealing with a team-wide outbreak of swollen heads after their “program changing” win against the Seminoles. Plus, they would have to deal with the Yellow Jackets’ screwy triple option offense, which is tough under any circumstances. All the signs were there for a total meltdown: in fact, it had to happen.

Read more…

• Michelle Wie has her own blog where she can showcase some of her off-course talents - such as art work and wearing leopard & leather outfits.

• No one circles the wagons like the Buffalo Bills - mainly because they keep putting themselves in disastrous situations.

• A Nigerian soccer player tries to earn a roster spot by smuggling heroin.

• A furious female Canadian boxer decides to beat up some British soldiers because they were “being gay” on the dance floor.

• Successful sales of a 5,000-calorie burger fills minor league team’s coffers, clogs minor league fans’ arteries.

Read more…