Odds, Ends and Maria Sharapova

* Normally, I'd be shocked to see a list of Super Bowl teams that has the 2004 Patriots listed ahead of the 1991 Redskins, but with the media's love affair with Brady and Belichick still burning bright after they let the worst Colts team in four years handle them in the AFC Championship, nothing surprises me anymore.
Those '91 Skins would have throttled any of the Pats teams and a number of the teams ranked ahead of them on ESPN's inane list. The '86 Giants? They lost two games to non-playoff teams and had the 12th ranked defense in the NFL! But I guess we have to rank a New York team highly, because, after all, New York is the end-all, be-all of the entire sporting world. The '86 Giants. What a freakin' joke. Their inclusion at #8, along with the Pats at #9, make a mockery of these idiotic rankings, not that anything on Page 2 even has a chance of being remotely accurate. Dr. Z ranked the best teams of all-time a few years back and the '86 Giants didn't catch a whiff. (The '91 Skins were #5. I can't seem to find the link, mainly because the top hit on Google for "dr. z best teams all-time 1991 redskins" is some moron's site called "Chris's Sports Blog." Idiot doesn't even know how to use an apostrophe.
Maybe I'll rank the Super Bowl teams tomorrow, but I'll probably just complain more about the 2004 Patriots. They lost to a 4-12 Dolphins team in week 15 while fighting it out for homefield advantage, by the way. Oh, and they also won the Super Bowl because Donovan McNabb chokes like Mama Cass and vomits like Tara Reid after a regular ol' Tuesday. Sounds like one of the all-time best teams to me!
I just got finished talking about the rankings with CSB's resident UVA expert Spiro and now I'm even more furious than I was before. The '91 Redskins lost two games by five points, one in a meaningless week 16 game started by Jeff Rutledge after homefield was wrapped up (and they had a chance to win had lineman Mark Adickes not dropped a wide-open touchdown in the fourth quarter) and to Dallas in week 13 on the strength of a Cowboys end-of-half Hail Mary. They outscored opponents by 261 points, the second-best margin since the merger. Their opponents' winning percentage was .504, higher than every team above them except for the inexplicably-ranked '96 Packers. (Number six? Really?) Those 'Skins rolled through the playoffs and led the Bills 37-10 in the fourth quarter before Buffalo scored two meaningless touchdowns, one after an onside-kick. I won't bother ripping into the teams listed ahead of the Redskins (any moreso, that is), but it's a very fair statement to say that the 1991 Washington Redskins are much closer to being the best team of the Super Bowl era then they are to being the tenth best.

* Last night's State of the Union was one of the most thrilling television moments in history and it had nothing to do with Nancy Pelosi's blinking. For the first time ever, it was possible to accurately compare the HD quality of all four major networks. Since ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC all used the same pool camera for their network feed, viewers could flip between the channels to see which high-def looked the best.
It was, of course, a two-horse race between NBC and CBS, the only two of the "Big Four" to broadcast in 1080i. With my fellow HD-dork Falkow on the phone, we gave NBC the nod, with their crisp colors and rich blacks. The sound also seemed a bit better. CBS looked great as well, but the coloring and audio seemed a bit off, particularly on during the ovations.
Compared to NBC and CBS, ABC was a step down with their 720p broadcast. FOX, by far the worst of the four major networks in terms of HD quality - and all other quality for that matter - didn't even figure in the competition because they used an enhanced widescreen feed, instead of showing in true hi-def. It's miserable that FOX has the rights to most major sporting events because, of all the networks (cable included) they have the worst HD quality by far.

* Staying on the HD trek (which I try not to bring up often because you'll get meaningless posts like the few paragaraphs above), I'm disappointed ESPN isn't showing the Australian Open in high-def, because Maria Sharapova is so captivating in SD that I shudder to think about how little I'd get done during her matches if she was in HD.

* The ACC released its football schedule today, and Wake Forest has a fairly favorable slate. Considering this is the first time anybody has ever been excited about an upcoming football season in Winston-Salem, this doubtlessly means the team will struggle to a 3-9 record.
The Deacs get a break by not playing the presumptive ACC favorite Virginia Tech (who will, no doubt, begin 9-0 and then lose back-to-back games in November), Miami and Georgia Tech. Three home games follow the season-opener at Boston College, a stand which includes a visit by Nebraska.
The highlight of the schedule is a Thursday-night tilt with Florida State, during which the Seminoles will no doubt be trying to earn retribution for the pasting Wake handed them this season in Tallahassee. Oddly, the Deacs close their year at Vanderbilt on Thanksgiving weekend.
Wake also plays Army at home and then travels late in the season to Navy, a game at which I will hopefully be in attendance.

* Scott thinks we'll all be sick of the Super Bowl Shuffle by next Sunday, so he sends in this YouTube gem of the 1988 Florida State football team rapping. Keep a special eye out for Deion Sanders and the white guy with the bandana.