Sunday is usually the one day of the week that people can get a bunch of errands done, maybe clean up the house a little and sit back and watch some football. Well, I was able to get a couple of those done yesterday as I cleaned my place from top to bottom and watched hours of football. The errands were another story.
I wanted to do some groceries around South Keys despite the fact that I live downtown. I really just wanted to get in a nice Sunday morning drive and sort of relax after a tough week. Unfortunately, I hadn’t looked outside before leaving and as I was leaving my condo garage, I saw the Winter mixed bag that was awaiting. I quickly decided to just drive down the street and pull into that grocery store instead.
So, what does that say about me? I guess the first thing is that I hate winter with a passion and have no patience whatsoever with dealing with any of its harsh conditions. Second of all, I weigh all challenges vs. the need to take them on and more often than not, I just gracefully pass. It’s nice to do in real life, but not in professional sports.
Just in case you were unable to see the footage from the rest of the Eastern part of the United States or like living in your Ottawa bubble, the weather affected a lot of people in Eastern North America and, in turn, affected a lot of NFL games.
Everything is easier in September and October when fields are pristine and the weather is still somewhat warm, but the winter months make for some unique conditions and really test the championship caliber of a football player and a team.
For some, the weather really shows how good a football team really is. The New England Patriots showed us with a 36-7 drubbing of the Chicago Bears on the road. The field was covered with snow as a group of people had to shovel the snow off the lines every few minutes or so.
The score was a blowout to be sure, but the Patriots could have made even worse if they didn’t call off the dogs after the first half. A 33-0 score at halftime was enough even for Bill Belichick to show some mercy on a clearly weaker and unprepared Chicago Bears team.
On the other side, the weather exposed Mark Sanchez once again as the Jets struggled mightly to a 10-6 loss to the Dolphins. Maybe it has to do more with the fact that Sanchez just isn’t a very good quarterback to begin with, but it looks like Sanchez will struggle every time the weather becomes a factor and it won’t be something that he ever learns to deal with.
Despite being such a physical sport on the surface, football is a game that is played well by players that have a great mental side to them. The winter weather in November and December only reinforces how important it is to be more than just a physical specimen. I'll just stick with writing about them from a nice cushy indoor typing spot.