I think what it all came down to was one in-depth expose too few for Ladainian Tomlinson this past week. He’s got the Walter Peyton hill in his back yard and had the entire NFL color squad from coast to coast (minus the Boston area) shouting out the kind of thoughtful endorsements that would prompt even Deion Sanders to turn the volume down on his television prior to gameday. But of course it’s not about the quality of the first expose or whether the ego remains chubby by the last one. Shawn Merriman’s shriveled testes could absolutely agree with the notion that in the end, the San Diego Chargers simply could not garner enough praise leading up to this game, and for my money the blame for their losing falls squarely on the shoulders of Boomer Esiason. One commentator had the audacity to suggest that the Chargers wouldn’t win this one going away, and once word that everyone in the entire sporting press wasn’t backing them made its way into the huddle prior to kickoff, in my mind their collective psyche was rattled.
Patriots players made things even worse by performing Merriman’s “signature dance” at the 50 yardline once the final score was decided, which forced Tomlinson to break out of his squeaky-clean zone and venture onto the street. Justice wouldn’t be had in the heat of that moment, but he certainly had a sermon on the mount moment for all of us at the post game press conference, where he criticized the celebration and chastised the entire Patriots team for their lack of class, and suggested that it was most likely a character flaw passed down by their no-class head coach, Bill Belichick.
He makes a good point. And there certainly are lines that should never be crossed. Sure, win the game, have a chance at earning that championship ring Tomlinson wants so badly, but for God’s sake don’t clown on another man’s signature dance move! Is nothing sacred? David Givens did the same thing in the super bowl two years ago by imitating poor Terrell Owens’ touchdown wing-flapping routine,
and that was bad enough. You’d think that the Patriots would have learned from such mistakes, but as NFL MVP Touchdown Record Breaking All-Galaxy Star Running Back Ladanian Tomlinson points out, the Patriots have no class, and because of that, the sanctity of Shawn Merriman’s patented “Lights Out” celebration dance is gone forever.
Now a man of less maturity and character would most likely think that the moral of the story is not to have a “patented celebration dance” to begin with, therefore not opening oneself up to imminent heartbreak when a rival uses it against you. Well, Tomlinson isn’t the MVP for nothing, and everybody knows that from the Ickey Shuffle on, the gentleman’s rule was clear on such matters. The true wisdom in LT’s words today led me to wonder why Troy Brown didn’t have a dance move of his own to throw down after forcing the game-saving fumble on the interception play that should have iced the game for San Diego? Perhaps Troy Brown simply isn’t classy enough to have his own dance.
Most likely LT was more upset over losing than anything. It was a sad way to see one of the greatest single seasons by one player come to an end.
I’m sure that was the case, as he hadn’t been spoken to by his publicist or agent prior to steping up to the podium.
My initial take though, is that was the LT behind the handlers, and up until now he hadn’t had much of a reason to lose his cool. All the hype and a game his team SHOULD HAVE WON being lost like that…
The celebration at the 50 yard line isn’t as insulting as he took it to be, not in my mind…because the player’s dance they were imitating had mega hype coming in, praise by the ton, even though he was suspended for what Barry Bonds is hated for…a 2nd round left tackle handled him all day long.
So maybe Merriman shouldn’t have a dance move he’s know for…
I think that was the larger point I wanted to make here, and Tomlinson was merely a foil that allowed me to express my dislike of it for the first time.
My heart is still pounding after that game. Preview to the Colts game is in order, keeping in mind my #1 criticism of Billick following their loss this past weekend. The pats need to pound the ball consistently and definitely not come out 5-wide/shotgun!
I agree, the Patroits are classy, and as your picture with 3 rings speaks volumes. I think for once LT loss his cool. (PERIOD) For all the Bucs fans out there GO DUNGY, I mean go COLTS.
Thanks for the comment – here’s a piece of a debate I’m having over all this with a pro-LT fan:
http://www.squibkick.com/bears-with-defense-the-patriots-with-brady-lets-kick-field-goals/
Letting the civility go, and the result is satisfying…this must be how Celtics fans felt when Bill Russell was playing!
“bitch like a skirt????????????????????????????????????????????????????”
In New Hampshire if you call a guy a ‘skirt’, it’s the equivalent of calling him a ‘bitch’ in most other places. Other variations of the insult from past and present day venacular include ‘nancy’, ‘sissy’, ‘mama’s boy’, ‘pussy’ and so on…it basically implies that a man is acting like less of a man than he should be, and LT was doing just that in front of the microphones after the game.
The derogatory conontation towards women is unfortunate, but when I’m in full trash talking mode on the topic of sports, it’s a matter of letting the beast out of its cage once in a while or losing the beast altogether and ending up like those subdued sitcom fathers who were always getting unmaned in social situations that called for conversation about chop blocks rather than choped vegetables…
Now I’m not making any sense, but that’s alright…as long as I’m not a skirt.
I get it Al, but c’mon. You are implying that acting “less” than a man is acting like a woman. Are women “less” than men, Al? Is your sports instinct contradicting your polictical liberalism supporting folks like Nancy Palosi?
Nancy Pelosi doesn’t risk a seperated shoulder or torn ligaments in her knee every day at work. I’m a firm believer in a woman’s ability to do anything a man could do, given the same education and opportunities. When it comes to football, all this goes out the window. There’s an offensive lineman for the Giants whose younger sister is also great at the sport, and Hellen Hunt was once the ‘Quarterback Princess’…all good stuff, but let’s be real.
‘Acting less than a man’ within a league that is defined by a team led by Bill Belichick, in my opinion, can warrant calling Ladanian Tomlinson what I did for crying to the microphones after losing the game. Nobody is interested in the NFL MVP’s feelings on that level. Leave the bullshit in front of microphones for jerkoffs like Donald Trump and act like you play football for a living.
And to answer the question you asked…I’ll say this – – – Wearing a football uniform, women are indeed less than men. Dressed for a day of work in the nation’s capital, the opposite could very well be true, but then I’d be offending my male readers…all three of them.
Can’t have that.
Pat’s didn’t win..the Chargers lost the game. This is coming from a lifelong Chargers fan..even when they were in the AFL for the love of god. LT was just upset and therefore his words should be taken in that context. I frankly ignored them. I was more pissed that the “D” quit playing early at the end of the first half and the end of the game. The personal fouls cost us the game in many respects as well. I still say Marty can’t win the big one and he should accept half the blame as well..his time management skills sucked and he couldn’t calm the playoff-rookie yips outta Rivers…which I think is a major part of ol Marty’s job..keep your QB focused and in the game. Too many mistakes, while most seemed tiny, amounted to a loss which looked for most of the game like a win. Oh fucking well..when do pitchers and catchers report? 🙂
I see it differently in regards to Rivers, as several times during the game his receivers failed to come down with balls they should have been able to handle. On the 3 and out after the Pats tied it up, the second down pass was good enough for a first down, but was bobbled. Asante Samuel made an outstanding play on the 3rd down pass play, and one that is rarely made by other players.
I agree totally on Marty though, as his ridiculous challenge on the interception-fumble is really what lost the game. The Pats were in a prevent defense on that last drive, but even so, Rivers was able to make all three throws, only one was a poor decision (the 3 yarder on the second pass)…and WHAT IS UP WITH ANTONIO GATES?!?!?! The guy catches a ball on a crossing route with no defensive player within 10 yards of him and runs out of bounds for no reason, and then on the final drive he catches a pass about 6 feet from the sideline with time running out and he TURNS IN?!?!?!
This is the difference between the attitude that Tomlinson displayed after the game and the attitude on the Pats sideline every year I think, and it’s key. That decision by Gates to not try and drag the defensive back to the sideline (which he could have) and stop the clock wouldn’t be made by a Patriots player…and that’s on Marty. Athleticism only accomplishes so much on the football field. Awareness and preperation make up the difference. On that play, Gates wasn’t aware of the situation enough to realize that once he caught the ball, his #1 priority was to get out of bounds.
I think Rivers on that play in particular made a play close to the sideline, but was let down by his receiver. Not much gets said about all of this, but having watched the game two more times since Sunday, I’m left with a decent list of mistakes the Chargers made down the stretch, and almost all of them I can guarantee wouldn’t have been made by the Pats.
So it comes down to coaching in my mind, as San Diego was far more tallented it seemed throughout the game. The Chargers offensive line was able to push around the Pats defensive line like I haven’t seen this season. I honestly didn’t realize how powerfull your offensive line was…as they not only moved our guys, but were also consistently making plays on the second level…a perfect example of this would be the big gain on that screen play to Tomlinson where your (I believe it was) right tackle took Vrabel out of the play.
And that left tackle is something special! Broken hand and he keeps Seymour from closing off the edge several times during the game…
That’s the bright spot I think if I’m a Chargers fan…that the running game is so far beyond what some of the better units of the past few years (Kansas City, Minnesotta come to mind) in terms of power and consistency – I can’t see San Diego not kicking in teeth throughout next year as well.
One last point – – – on the touchdown in the first half…I can’t remember which one, but your left guard and tackle simply collapse that side of the defense…and as someone who watches football like I do, the Pats in particular, there wasn’t a single team we played this year that could do that. Jacksonville hosted the Pats in Florida in week 16 and came into the game with ridiculous numbers in the running game. Jones-Drew had a nice day, but on the 3rd and 1 yard or less, the Pats pushed the line back every time. That didn’t happen even once in the game on Sunday.
With that in mind, I’m relieved to be playing the Colts next weekend, and really hope that your Chargers can come into the playoffs next year beat up…because that was probably the toughest playoff game I’ve ever seen the Pats win.