A few thoughts on the Patriots - Steelers Game

Here are a few thoughts from last night's game:

• Bill Belichick is a great coach, the best in the game. Not only because of his game strategy, but because he takes average players and gets the absolute most out of them. His teams play with discipline, as a team instead of as individuals. I think that's the key to his success. Take any player out of the equation and he replaces him and continues to win. They lose Gronk, they win. Take out Brady, they win. And so on.
• Terry Bradshaw was right - Mike Tomlin is not a great coach. His teams sometimes lack discipline and his game plans are very questionable. I don't think discipline was a problem last night, though; I think poor strategy was. He must be a good coach, because he's reached two Super Bowls, but he's had really good teams. Once again, he was completely outcoached by Belichick. I don't think that will ever change.
• The NFL needs to change its rules and allow the quarterback and receivers to get hit. I don't know what I'm watching, but it isn't football. How can a quarterback not throw for 300 yards with these rules? When teams can win with almost no running plays, that's not football. When a receiver gets hit, or touched, and a penalty is called, that's not football. Every passing record that gets broken in modern times is meaningless and should come with an asterisk.
• Speaking of rule changes, stop letting receivers wear gloves. They're all like Spider-Man out there, reaching out with one hand and making amazing catches because the ball sticks to the glove like glue. And yet, some of them still manage to drop the ball. Again, how can records not get broken when the quarterback can't be hit, the receivers can't get hit, and they wear Spider-Man gloves?
• Tom Brady is very good, but I think he's greatly benefitted from today's rules, as well as from his coach and system. He's very accurate. But see how Brady flinches every time someone gets close to him? I believe if you swap him and Aaron Rodgers, Rodgers with the Patriots would win a Super Bowl almost ever year while Brady would have the nervous system of Barney Fife after getting knocked around like a piñata in Green Bay. Every time he's out, Belichick replaces him with an average or below-average quarterback and just keeps on winning. But, no matter what anyone thinks about him as a quarterback, Brady appears to be a genuinely nice guy and a fantastic role model, which really is more important than anything that happens on the field. 
• I like Ben Roethlisberger because he's a good clutch quarterback, extremely tough, and could have played back when quarterbacks got hit. He is not a really good quarterback on the level of Brady or Aaron Rodgers. Still, aside from Rodgers, I think Big Ben is who I'd want leading my team because of his toughness.
• I miss Troy Polamalu. That guy was so fun to watch.
• The Patriots are not a dynasty, no matter how many times Phil Simms says they are. Winning 1 Super Bowl in the past 12 years, which is what the Patriots have done, does not make you a dynasty. The best regular season team in the league, yes. But not a dynasty.

Several weeks ago I predicted that the Patriots would win the Super Bowl, and it looks like I may be right. The only good thing about this is that I usually get a good chuckle out of Belichick's press conferences. I love the way he handles reporters, especially when they ask stupid questions. No one since Steven Wright has gotten so many laughs (from me, at least) from such a deadpan delivery.

So congratulations to Patriots fans - you have the best coach in the game, you play together as a team and deserved to win last night. As for us Steelers fans, we'll dry our tears with our Terrible Towels and hope that some changes are made.

Dear Adam West...

My birthday was a couple of weeks ago, and among my gifts from my wife were two books that I really wanted:

I'm looking forward to reading the Norm MacDonald book. The latest episode of Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee has him in it, and I had tears in my eyes from laughing when I watched it last night.

The other book, Back to the Batcave, is one I've wanted for a long time. My wife got it on Amazon, but then I mentioned that I was going to read it, sell it, and then buy a signed copy on Adamwest.com. So then she bought me a signed copy, which I'm glad she told me before I ordered one. But, I supposed there's nothing wrong with having two copies of Adam West's signed book.

Last night, I did something I've never done before: I wrote a letter to a celebrity. I felt like Marcia Brady writing to Davy Jones. I sent an email to the Adam West site telling him how much my son and I like Batman and that I'm enjoying his book. I included a link to a newspaper column I wrote about Batman three years ago, mentioning that it got picked up by MeTV.

Now, I don't expect to hear back from Adam West, and I certainly don't expect him to stop by my  house like Davy Jones did on the Brady Bunch. But it would be pretty cool if he did.