Super Bowl Preview

The Pope enjoys the Super Bowl like everyone else. While most people are focused on the Giants pass rush, Tom Brady, or 19-0 for the Patriots, the Pope is also focused on providing the world with his favorite recipe for Super Bowl Sunday. Here goes:

The Pope's famous Rotel dip >> Nothing is as good with a game on as a big bowl of rotel dip, with tortilla chips (preferably Tostitos Scoops). Here is the very simple recipe: 1 block of Velveeta (original, not any of that fat free sh*t), 2 cans of hot or regular Rotel brand chopped tomotoes, 1 log of sausage, jalepino juice, and tabasco sauce (and of course chips). First, you must brown the sausage in a pan. Cook completely, and make sure to drain as much grease off as you'd prefer. Use tabasco sauce on the meat while it cooks. Next, or really during the meat cooking, put the velveeta, 1.5 cans of Rotel, and about 1/4 cup of jalepino juice into a bowl. Melt the

velveeta in 3 minute intervals in the bowl, pausing to stir throughly after each 3 minute interval. After about 9 minutes of melting the cheese and rotel, its time to put the meat in. Stire, then microwave for 2 minutes twice, stirring after each 2 minute interval. Voila! Dip is ready to eat. Be careful how much tabasco sauce you use on the meat, especially if you buy hot sausage and hot rotel instead of regular for each. The jalepino juice will bring a kick also.

Official Holy Wager for the Super Bowl >>

The Pope has picked the Giants a lot this year on the road and been rewarded. A lot of people are picking the underdog, almost trying to will this to be a close game. The line has moved around a bit, but I agree with the masses. The Giants have a great sense of nothing to lose, and I think the Patriots D will be susceptible to Jacobs/Bradshaw/Burress. If Eli Manning plays well, which I think he will, the G Men will cover. The Giants are going to have to have a pass rush from hell to win though >> Patriots 28 Giants 24

My season record will be updated after the Super Bowl. You can view it in the upper left hand corner. I will summarize it next week. Enjoy the game!

Grizzlies Update - Roundtable with the Pope

The Pope has been doing more Holy things than blogging about the Memphis Grizzlies.However, the Pope recently had an opportunity to have a roundtable with a few Grizzlies insiders. Check it out:

THE POPE >> Thank you all for coming and being in my prescence to discuss the Memphis Grizzlies.

Jerry West, Chris Wallace, Pau Gasol, and Michael Heisley >> Thank you, your eminence (all together)

THE POPE >> Well, first thing is first. Who can explain the team's 10-27 start, the 4th worst record in the league.

ALL >> (silence)

THE POPE >> Well, since no one will step up, I will ask the owner of the team, Michael Heisley. Why the bad start?

Mike Heisley >> I cant figure it out. We have the premier player in the NBA in Pau Gusole, is that how you say his name? Gausel? Whatever his name is. He's so good in the paint that we aren't trading him unless Kobe or Lebron is involved in the deal.

THE POPE >> I doubt the player's name is Gusole or Gausel, and I also doubt that he is very good if you cannot even properly pronounce his name. Your team has other problems as well obviously.

Mike Heisley >> I'm still not trading him.

THE POPE >> Ok, moving along. Jerry West, do you have any thoughts to add?

Jerry West >> I tried to trade Pau Gasol about 20 times in my last two years in Memphis. There were some deals with Chicago nearly done, as well as some deals with the Clippers. Heck, I even had him traded back to Spain for two gallons of Sangria, but Heisley pulled the plug on every deal . . .

Pau Gasol >> Hayyyyyy, thats not fai . . .

Jerry West >> Pau, shut your mouth and sit down! Your eminence, Pau is a big part of the problem, but he's not the only reason.

THE POPE >> What other reasons are there Jerry?

Jerry West >> Brian Cardinal is a premier player in this league, but he hasnt played like it yet in the last 3 years. I know he is though. And we miss Eddie Jones, another premier player in the league.

THE POPE >> I haven't heard of either of them, so again, I doubt they are that good Mr. West. I assume you didnt sign either of these players to long term deals if they are no good?

Jerry West >> (silence) . . . Dont you think thats a bit like answering the question, "When did you stop beating your wife?" ?

THE POPE >> Perhaps. I think you have answered the question already though. Now, on to the current GM, Chris Wallace. Please shed some light on the subject of the Grizzlies.

Chris Wallace >> Mr. West, is it ok if I speak? (wispered) . . . ok . . . Your eminence, I think the move that Jerr . . .err, I mean I made to sign Darko Milicic is a big reason why this team is headed in the right direction.

THE POPE >> Right Direction? Mr. Wallace, is Hell a destination that you would consider "right"?

Chris Wallace >> HAHAHAHHA, good one your eminence. Uh, em, I think that the Grizzlies are getting better with Rudy Gay leading our team in scoring at 19 points per game.

THE POPE >> Im sure this Gay player is fantastic and happy likely. But is 2-8 in your last 10 games really getting better? Why can't someone simply answer my initial question, Why the bad start? Maybe I should just ask the three random Grizz fans I have waiting outside in the corridor.

Wallace, West, Gasol, Heisley >> NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

THE POPE >> Send the three fans in.

(3 fans enter the room)

THE POPE >> I have brought you each here to answer the question, why has the Memphis Grizzlies gotten off to such a bad start this season?

Fan #1 >> Pau sucks

Fan #2 >> Pau sucks

Fan #3 >> Pau sucks

Pau Gasol >> HaAYYY!!! I bust by butt for you guys . . .

Jerry West >> Shut up Pau, they're right.


Well, there you have it folks.

There are numerous things wrong with the Grizzlies. I think Pau is a factor certainly. He is fine offensively, but his defense is absolutely killing this team on the interior. He just doesn't work in the Iavaroni (or Calipari) style of basketball. Brian Cardinal may have been the worst signing in the history of the NBA. Milicic is not rebounding like we had hoped, only averaging 6 per game despite his 7 foot frame. Rudy Gay and Mike Miller are this team, but with only one player playing decent defense, averaging 100 per game means nothing, cuz we are averaging giving up 104.

Lets hope in the second half, that we can trade Pau, and Darko can improve, along with all our young guys (Lowry, Conley Jr., Gay, Hakim Warrick). If we can somehow get to 30 wins for the season (essentially going .500 the rest of the way) it would be a miracle. Im predicting 25-57 record, bettering last years by 3 games (>10%).

Monday Afternoon Mass

The weekend of football was pretty fantastic. Certainly I was rooting for the Colts and the Jaguars, who both lost, which put a slight damper on the weekend. But for a football lover, it was pretty good drama starting in Green Bay on Saturday to Dallas last night.

The Pope went 2-2 with his Holy Wagers, also correctly picking the upset by the Giants of the Cowboys, thus still netting +1 units for the weekend (see updated season tally in upper left hand corner link).

Instead of comments on games that you most certainly watched and/or read about, I will post what I think is the second best touchdown celebration of the entire season (second to Maurice Jones-Drew, in the post below). Brandon Jacobs takes out his celebratory feelings on the play clock. His weapon? The football:

Holy Wagers - NFL Divisional Round

Holy Wagers have not surfaced since Thanksgiving. Click in the upper left for the Pope's official record. The Pope plans to finish off the football season of Holy Wagers and see where he stands at the end of football, before beginning basketball. The NFL Divisional playoffs are here, and here are the Pope's Holy Wagers (note the new "Confidence" ranking of all 4 games. 4 is the highest confidence of these 4 games, while 1 is the lowest):

Colts -9 vs. Chargers - Peyton and the Colts are mostly healthy, and they just dont lose at home very often. San Diego's defense is nothing special, and on offense, stopping LT will make San Diego's offense sputter (ie. the Titans last week). Stopping LT is never easy of course, but the Colts defense will be up for the challenge. Pope's prediction: Colts 35 Chargers 20 [Confidence 3]

Patriots -13.5 vs Jaguars - The Jaguars are the hottest and most chic team in football. My question to those lovers - who have they beaten? Yes, winning at Pittsburgh twice is impressive. But how good is Pittsburgh? The team that lost to the Cardinals and the Broncos? The Steelers are not good, and the Jaguars arent ready to be a great team yet. Or cover. Pope's Prediction: Patriots 31 Jaguars 17 [Confidence 2]

Packers -7.5 vs. Seahawks - "We'll take the ball and we'll score". No, you want baldy. Its cold at Lambeau, and the Seahawks are abysmal on the road (3-5), while the Packers are great at home (7-1). This could be a close game, but I just dont think the Seahawks can run the ball, which will force a few turnovers in the passing game. Pope's prediction: Packers 28 Seahawks 20 [Confidence 1]

Giants +7.5 @ Cowboys - The Cowboys are a very good football team. But, the Giants have a few things on their side: a) Jessica Simpson b) 4 disruptive pass rushing defensive linemen c) 8-1 on the road this season d) Eli Manning has had two very good games in a row e) the Cowboys looked pathetic in their last game against the Redskins, a similar team to the Giants in many respects and finally d) The Giants this week are the MOST BLESSED WAGER OF THE WEEK. I think this will be the wild upset of the weekend, causing Jerry Jones to have to get 4 offseason BOTOX treatments to cover up this mess. Pope's prediction: Giants 31 Cowboys 28 (OT). [Confidence 4]

Three home favorites and one road dog. Thats a decent guess considering the home team has won about 72% of the divisional round games since 1992 (last year the home teams went 2-2, with San Diego and Baltimore both losing in the AFC). It certainly should be an interesting week of football.

And now (courtesy of Wes Scott) the Pope presents the best touchdown dance of the season, courtesy of Mr. Jones-Drew (in the middle of the video):

Back From Europe - Grab Bag

My apologies for not having posted since mid December. I have been busy with work, then out of the country the past few weeks. A lot as happened as we have started 2008. Here are a few observations:

The Titans made the playoffs but didnt make any "noise" like I predicted below. Despite holding LT and the Chargers to 40 yards rushing, the Titans were defeated 17-6. Two big factors helped us out in getting to the playoffs, the Browns losing to the Bengals in week 16, and the Colts laying down for us in week 17. We held the third tiebreaker over the Browns (record against common opponents - see my post below about help wanted Titans playoffs). The Browns had a much better offense than the Titans, but the bread and butter of this years team was a very physical brand of defense that nobody ran on. Our pass defense was strong as well, including our ability to pressure the quarterback. San Diego eliminated us from the playoffs with 17 points, obviously a victory for the Titans defense. Big offseason to dos: The defense must maintain by signing Haynesworth, Vince Young must continue to develop, and we must get some playmakers at WR.

Notre Dame football recruiting continues to shine, ranking the top class in college football on both rivals and scout.com. At the US Army All American game, which displays most of the top high school football talent in the US each year, Notre Dame had an astounding 14 committments in the game, a record. Highlighted on offense by Dayne Crist, top 5 QB, who connected with two Irish WR committs for 3 touchdowns in the game (Michael Floyd and John Goodman). On defense Darius Fleming (ILB) impressed, as well as less heralded defensive tackle Brandon Newman. We had a major decommittment, however, in Omar Hunter, who will likely sign with Florida, making two committments pulled from ND by Florida in 2 years. Omar is a stud DT, and is a major blow. However, overall talent on the Dline we are getting this year will be huge for our teams future depth. At this point, we need to maintain our current 22 committments, and hopefully add one or two more towards the finish (February 6th, signing day).

The NFL Playoffs are here. Look for my playoff edition of Holy Wagers from the Vatican in a post later today.