The Oracle sees all:

Yesterday watching Sunday football many of us were made painfully
aware of 1 thing: the NFL wanted to see Peyton Manning and Brett Favre
in the super bowl. ESPN had been talking about it all week: Despite
the Jets having the largest media market of the four teams, and New
Orleans having a great story of a city reborn, Manning V. Favre would
be the biggest draw. The Colts did what San Diego should have (put
away the Jets and fat clown Rex Ryan). It was a hard fought battle the
first half, but everyone knows you can’t count entirely on:


1. Braylon Edwards to catch a ball in the open field


And


2. Wide receiver trick plays to make all of the important downfield passes


Peyton and the Colts stormed back and beat dirty Sanchez, covering the
8 point spread in the process. Pierre Garcon was the difference, as
Peyton avoided throwing near the Jets only exciting player (cornerback
Darelle Revis who was covering no. 1 WR Wayne).


Game 2 was different. It seemed like the Saints were playing against
not only the 11 Vikings on the field, but the referees and the NFL at
large. The Saints were called for 9 Penalties, resulting in 88 yards.
3 of the 9 were called on Incomplete 3rd downs, resulting in a new
series. One was called on a 4th down punt, keeping the Vikings drive
alive with a new series of downs. Twice those were debatable “roughing
the passer” calls. Even the announcers Buck and Aikman were skeptical
of the calls.


Still not convinced? Re-watch the game. How much face time does Favre
get? Favre is one of the first players shown on Camera after the
Saints win in OT. Favre is shown every 2.1 seconds.


The NFL wants people to feel bad for this old guy. When did they show
Brees on the ground after a tough hit? I didn’t see it. But they made
damn sure to replay every time Favre was hit. That guy flops more than
Vlade Divac, former flop KING.

Favre even pretended his ankle really
hurt at halftime, sitting on the trainers bench. “oh come on beagle,
he’s tough, maybe he really was hurt. Really? Were you watching the
same game I was? The game where no. 4 came out and played the second
half without a flinch? Where’s your hurt leg now? Here’s how it reads
in the NY Times the next day “They will remember Brett Favre, the
Vikings’ quarterback, battered by hard hits from Saints defenders,
coming back from an ankle injury to lead two second-half comebacks to
tie the score.”
Right. You tell me how a team who turns the ball over 5 times (3
fumbles lost, 2 interceptions) loses by only 3. I’ll wait.




Yesterday we also saw the emergence of two Oracles’, seers of the
future. The Indy game was blessed by Kyle Abraham, who successfully
texted me 2 DAYS BEFORE THE GAME “Colts 30, Jets 17”. He was right.
After he was, I revisited his other prediction. Saints 26, Vikings 17.
And while he was wrong by halftime, I knew maybe the margin (9) was
what he was seeing. So I placed a prop bet, saints to win by 7-10
points. He was wrong again when the Vikings scored with 5 minutes left
in the 4th, tying the game (7 point margin was now gone). Maybe what
he was seeing was Brees’ number “9”, as the difference in the game.
We’ll see what his predictions are for the superbowl. He is one of two
so far…


The second Oracle is the Saints kicker, Hartley. Have you heard about
this? Hartley and his dad confirmed that late Saturday night, Hartley
called his pop with a prediction “I’m going to hit the game winner,
from 42 yards out, right hashmark”. It happened, except from 40 yards
out. Saints won by 3. You can read about it here
(http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/25/sports/football/25nfc.html)
Armed with this knowledge, maybe Vegas and I wouldn’t have had the
Saints line at 3.5…