That Was The Weekend That Was

(Just how many of you will "get" the small pop cultural 1960's reference contained in the title of this post?)

This past weekend was primarily a sports weekend what with the NFL Divisional Round Playoffs being contested, but before that, I must write of what we did on Saturday afternoon at the Benedum Center in dahntahn Pittsburgh.

Yep, Linda and I, along with Sarah and Nick, took in the touring production of "Wicked".   It was the first time for Nick, the third time for Linda and Sarah, and the second time that I have seen this absolutely terrific stage musical.  Of course, while "Wicked" still rolls merrily along on Broadway in New York, millions of folks have been exposed to the show over the last two years by the movie version, a movie which, while quite entertaining, turned into a five hour, two part (released over two years), vanity project for director John M.Chu.  Yep, a play that lasts two hours and forty minutes, was made into a five hour movie that you had to wait two years to see in its entirety, but I digress.  Stage productions and theatrical movies are two different art forms and should be judged separately and on their own merits, but I will tell you that in this case, the stage production of "Wicked" is definitely better than the movie.

The current production, which runs through February 15 here in Pittsburgh, was simply spectacular.   Staging, costumes, the music, and the performances by the lead actors playing Elphaba and Glinda, Jesse Davidson and Zoe Jensen, were show stopping.  If you love musical theater and have the opportunity, please see this.

If you are interested, here is the FOUR STAR GRANDSTANDER WRITE-UP that I published back in January 2018, almost eight years to the day of seeing it this time.  You will see that I ended it by saying "Can't wait to see it again."  I'm so glad that the opportunity arose all these years later.

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Now for the football.

• Broncos 33 - Bills 30 in overtime.   The fact that this went into OT tells you what a close and terrific game it was, with multiple lead changes in the fourth quarter. Josh Allen did all that he could do in his Superman cape, but he also turned the ball over four times, including an interception in overtime.  Denver, no doubt, is a good and solid team, and there was a reason that they were the number one seed in the AFC.  While I am not a fan, especially of their bounty-hunting head coach, I feel badly for them that QB Bo Nix got injured on the next to last play of the game and will now miss the remainder of the playoffs.  For a team, any team, to come that far and get so close to winning it all only to have that happen is a damned shame.  And the Bills top it all off by firing their HC, Sean McDermott.  Considering that he got his team, which consisted of Josh Allen and a bunch of other guys, this far, that seems pretty severe to me.
• Seahawks 41 - 49'ers 6.  Okay, not all the games were good, and this one was a "Bob gets to bed early" game.  The Seahawks look very, very good.  I make them my pick to win the Super Bowl in three weeks.
• Patriots 28 - Texans 16.  When I watched the games last weekend, I said to Linda, the Pats looked like a Super Bowl team to me.  Their strong defense thoroughly throttled the CJ Stroud and the Texans.  This sets up an AFC title game in Denver between the Patriots and the Broncos, who, as noted, will be without their starting quarterback.  
• Rams 20 - Bears 17 in overtime. Another terrific game that featured an absolutely jaw dropping TD pass from Caleb Williams with time running out while he was being chased by about a million Rams defenders that tied the game and sent into OT.  Williams is terrific, but, like Allen the day before, he threw an interception in OT that led to the Rams win.

So, back on December, following an amazing Thursday night game that saw Seattle beat the Rams 38-37 on overtime, I made this post on Facebook:

How about that, sports fans?

One of my favorite sports days of the year is the Sunday of the AFC and NFC Championship games, and this year promises to be yet another great afternoon of viewing.  I reserve the right to change my mind as Sunday approaches, but right now, I think that Seattle and New England will win and set up a rematch of the Super Bowl of a few years back.  The one where New England won because Seattle chose NOT to give the ball to Marshawn Lynch on the one yard line to secure the win.

Oh, and we are back to seeing shots of Bob Kraft in the owner's box again.  At least he's abandoned those blue dress shirts with the white collars for a pretty cool jacket.

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And the Football Weekend isn't over yet, either.  Tonight Indiana goes for an improbable undefeated season and the College Football Playoff Championship when they face Miami.

We all know the story of Indiana's incredible season, and I can't imagine anyone who is not a Miami alumnus or a resident of south Florida not rooting for the Hoosiers tonight.  I know that both my wallet and I will be decked out in red cheering IU tonight, in spite of the dourness of HC Curt Cignetti.

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Finally, a bit of football nostalgia for all of us Steelers fans.  Last week marked the twentieth anniversary of this play:

It may well be one of Ben Roethlisberger's greatest plays ever, certainly among the Top Five or Ten of Big Ben's Greatest Hits, and it didn't involve him throwing a pass.

If you know, you know.