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.

 

Bring Down The (Steel) Curtain

NOTE:  As I clicked on my desktop iMac to write this post, the news arrived that Mike Tomlin has elected to step down as Steelers Head Coach after 19 seasons on the job. Obviously, The Grandstander will need to comment on this in depth, but I will need to ruminate on it before writing it, so I will proceed with writing what I had been planning all morning - the end of the Steelers season at the hands of the Texans, and the first weekend of the NFL playoffs.

The Steelers season - and 

 Aaron Rodgers' career? - comes to an end.

It was with a great deal of disappointment, although perhaps it was also not a big surprise, to watch the Steelers lose 30-6 to the Houston Texans last night.  Houston had won nine games in a row, and had the best statistical defense in the NFL this season, and they showed it last night.  The Steelers were spotty throughout the season, had some bright moments, but when they came up against a really good team (Seattle, Chicago, Green Bay, Buffalo) they were on the wrong side of the scale.  The 10-7 regular season mark was, technically, a "winning" one, and that AFC North title is a legit one, but they were never destined to go far in the Playoffs, although I will say that the magnitude and the thoroughness of the Texans' win last night was a bit of a surprise.

We also certainly saw Aaron Rodgers' last game as a Steeler, and probably the last game of his Hall of Fame career.  As I stated on here a few days ago, the Rodgers of Pittsburgh was not the Rodgers of Green Bay, but he gave us some thrilling moments, and I, for one, will savor that fourth quarter performance against Baltimore in Week 18 as a memory of what a great quarterback is supposed to be.  

In his column in today's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette this morning, Joe Starkey said it best:

It’s also time for Aaron Rodgers to move on. He was better than expected this season and deserves credit for that. He served this city and this team well. But it’s better to leave a year too early than a year too late.

The Steelers should not even make an offer. They have to find their next quarterback. If they don’t have that guy next season, they should use Mason Rudolph as the bridge quarterback and give Will Howard a shot.

So the Steelers move on, and now they will be doing so without Mike Tomlin.  As stated above, The Grandstander will have his reflections on that particular development in the next day or two.

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Okay, so that Steelers game was a stinker (unless you live in Houston) any way you look at it, but how about the other five playoff games this past weekend?

Rams over Panthers, Bears over Packers, Bills over Jaguars, and 49ers over Eagles, three of which were won by the visiting team, were all terrific games that weren't decided until the last minutes of each game.  The fifth game, Patriots 16-Chargers 3, was not an edge-of-your-seat game like the others were, but it showcased, to me at least, a very good New England Patriots team, one that I predict will represent the AFC in the Super Bowl next month.

I can't wait for the for games this coming weekend, which I believe will go as follows:

• Broncos over Bills (FanDuel betting line Bills -1.5)
• Seahawks over 49ers (Seahawks -7.0)
• Patriots over Texans (Patriots -3.0)
• Bears over Rams (Rams -3.5)

My prediction are just on who I think will win the game outright.  When it comes time to place my wagers, if the spreads remain as they are, I believe that I would bet on Denver, Seattle, New England, and Chicago, but that could change as kickoffs approach.

One final note on New England.  Wasn't it great seeing TV shots of Bob Kraft in the Pats' owners' box on Sunday?  Haven't you missed those ever since Tom and Bill left the team?  I guess that we'll be in for more of them as the weeks go on.

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Again, watch this space in the  days ahead for The Grandstander's thoughts on Mike Tomlin's decision of today and for what this means for the future of the Steelers.