I must come clean...

So for the past few weeks I have been having a horrible case of writers block. Perhaps it’s because for me this is one of the worst times of the sports season. No NFL, no baseball, NBA season at this point doesn’t excite me and college basketball is still a few weeks away from getting really exciting. It is with that I have decided to talk about one of my favorite sports. Professional Wrestling.

I know what a lot of you are thinking. Professional Wrestling is not a sport. Perhaps not but I love it none the less. I am coming clean to the whole world. I love professional wrestling. I’ve loved it since I was 10 years old and still love it. I love the athleticism. I love the larger than life personalities. I love watching the athleticism and genuinely not knowing what is going to happen. I get this from friends though. “But Pat. It’s fake.” True it is scripted but you know what else is “Fake?” Friends, Seinfeld, Law and Order SVU, The Office. My other favorite shows.

When I was little I even dreamed of being a professional wrestler. This was until I told my dad and he said, “In order to be a professional wrestler you have to be strong and stupid. You’re neither.” I still don’t know if that was a put down or a compliment. I remember watching Bret Hart when I was little. When my step-dad almost ran our car into his in Memphis on vacation, it too this day is still one of the greatest moments of my life. Getting to meet him and get a picture with him was the greatest thing for a wrestling fan. I remember in high school slopping down in front of the TV every Monday night to watch wrestling. It was always hard when the Raiders were on Monday Night Football. Do I watch the Raiders or watch Sting propel down from the rafters.

When I got to college I would watch it every Monday night with my friend Matt. Getting to go to my first live event and see a show in person still rates as one of the greatest experiences I’ve had with my dad and step-dad. Now as I get older sharing this passion with my 2 nephews. Remembering what it was like to be that age and dreaming of performing in front of thousands of people. Trying these moves on my friends. Playing the video games and once in a great while getting to go to a live show. I can’t wait for the day when I can share this with my nephews and hopefully someday my child. I have baseball and football icons. I loved watching Reggie Miller. None of these “athletes” though will ever compare in the same way to me as these other sports heroes growing up. The Hulk Hogans and Bret Harts. Triple H’s and Rocks. Kevin Nash and Sting. Maybe wrestling is fake, but the excitement, tears and laughter I have had for 20 years is not.

Ding Dong the Witch is Dead

So the "Man" couldn’t do it. Life is good again. All I have heard recently is how Peyton Manning is the greatest football player ever. Not the greatest quarterback of this era but EVER. Friends, people on the radio, articles. Blah, blah, blah. Peyton is King. “The Saints are a great story but let’s be real. They have no real chance. Peyton is playing the greatest football of his career. Peyton will win this game and cement his legacy as the Greatest”. Not the Colts will win this game. Peyton will win this game.

And then this happened.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xh5D_TMGwjk

I don’t think I’ve ever been as happy to see a quarterback throw an interception in my life. It’s not that I hate Peyton Manning. It’s not like he’s Eli. He’s a great quarterback. One of the best ever. I just get so tired of people thinking he’s the greatest thing since sliced bread. He’s been great in the regular season. Maybe the best. But championships are not won in the regular season. They are won in the post season where Manning has not been very good. He won a Super Bowl. But you know what? He has the same amount of championships as Trent Dilfer. (That was for you Topher) Let’s look at his post season stats. He’s 9-9 in post season games. He’s thrown 27 touchdowns but has also thrown 18 interceptions. His QB rating in those games? 87.5.

On Monday I heard 2 people on ESPN radio talking about Peyton. One of them said, “So do you think this game hurt Peyton’s Legacy.” The other said, “Not at all. Peyton didn’t hurt his legacy at all in this game. He didn’t do anything to tarnish his legacy.” WHAT! 2 words. Tracy Porter. I know, I know. I just got done writing an article about how Brett Favre is the man even though he threw an interception at the end of the game. Big difference is I’m not getting paid tons of money from ESPN to tell it how it is. That radio personality should have at least commented on the fact that the score was 24-17 Saints with just under 4 minutes left in the game. That was a pretty big interception. Yet, this play didn’t hurt his legacy at all? That’s garbage. And the personality that didn’t mention the interception is garbage. Make me wanna puke.

My main point is this. Peyton is a very good football player. I would still stay he’s one of the best to ever play the game. But let’s be honest. He’s no Tom Brady.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODlL8azAEKo

Super Bowl Dream Teams

With the greatest sporting event of the year a mere 3 days away, I decided to put together my All-Star Super Bowl Team. I only used players who have played in the last 10 Super Bowls. I also picked players based on their overall play in those games. I would love your thoughts on players that I may have missed or that you disagree with. I would also love to know which team you would pick to win and what the score would be.



AFC OFFENSE

QB: Tom Brady
RB: Jamal Lewis
FB: Dan Kreider
WR: Hines Ward
WR: Deion Branch
TE: Doug Jolley
LT: Matt Light
LG: Alan Faneca
C: Dan Koppen
RG: Joe Andruzzi
RT: Max Starks


AFC DEFENSE
DE: Aaron Smith
DT: Casey Hampton
DT: Richard Seymour
DE: Dwight Freeney
LB: Mike Vrabel
LB: Ray Lewis
LB: Teddy Bruschi
SS: Troy Polamalu
FS: Bob Sanders
CS: Asante Samuel
CS: Charles Woodson

K: Adam Vinatieri
P: Chris Gardocki
RET: Jermaine Lewis

Coach: Bill Bellicheck

NFC OFFENSE

QB: Kurt Warner
RB: Thomas Jones
FB: Mike Alstott
WR: Terrell Owens
WR: Larry Fitzgerald
TE: Kevin Boss
LT: Walter Jones
LG: Steve Hutchinson
C: Olin Kreutz
RG: Chris Snee
RT: Jon Runyan

NFC DEFENSE

DE: Michael Strahan

DT: Warren Sapp

DE: Simeon Rice

LB: Derrick Brooks

LB: Antonio Pierce

LB: Mike Jones

LB: Karlos Dansby

SS: John Lynch

FS: Dexter Jackson

CB: Marcus Trufant

CB: Ronde Barber

K: Jeff Wilkins

P: Tom Rouen

RET: Ron Dixon

Coach: Tom Coughlin

I still believe Favre is the man

So I knew as soon as the ball was intercepted that Favre was going to get all of the crap. Maybe he deserves it. They basically had the game won. All he needed to do was run the ball or at least throw it away. Longwell comes on and kicks a field goal and the Vikings are in the Super Bowl.
Of course it didn’t happen that way. For the 3rd time in 6 years Favre threw an interception at a crucial time at the end of a playoff game. All kinds of people are blaming the loss on Favre. I don’t see it that way though.

What I saw was so completely different. The man is 40. It’s not that old in lawyer years or youth ministry years or doctor years. In quarterback years it is. Without Favre there is no way they are in the NFC Championship game. Tarvaris Jackson is not getting them there. Sage Rosenfels is not getting them there. The rest of the team was trying to fumble the game away to the Saints and Favre kept bringing them back. I know the blame will fall to Favre but how about these other players. How about Harvin and Berrians 4th quarter fumbles. The 12th player who joined the huddle. The coverage team for allowing Pierre Thomas to gain 40 yards on the overtime kick return. Asher Allen’s holding call that gave the Saints a first down in overtime. Ben Leber getting a pass interference call in overtime. Favre deserves some blame but not all of it.

Also, there were 2 plays that will I will probally remember for the rest of my life and that make me appreciate Favre even more. During the 4th quarter Favre was leveled by two of the Saints. After Favre had gottened leveled he needed help to get off the field and a friend I was watching the game with said, “That’s it. Favre is done. No way he is coming back in the game.” At that moment I knew that Favre would be coming back. The only way I could see him not coming back in was if his leg had gotten completely ripped off. I truly believed he would back in but there was a small part of me that was really sad. “Is he really done. Is that the last time I will ever see him play in a game?" But then he did it. He got the ankle wrapped again and came back in. A few plays later Favre was leveled again but got the ball off to Percy Harvin. Favre was one of the only players to chase after the ball to try to recover it and got nailed again in the process. As a fan of Favre he has given me so many great memories and a few not so great. If he is done playing football I hope others will remember the toughness he showed throughout his career and not dwell on the interceptions he threw.

Chris Aderhold is the King of Sports Knowledge

I don't like being wrong. I don't believe anyone does. With that in mind I have to admit when I am wrong. In my last blog I mentioned how I had competed in a sports trivia competition with my friend Topher. We battled back and forth in this competition and ultimately Topher beat me. In my last article I might have hinted that I didn’t think some of the questions were fair. I would like to state here in front of the whole world that I was wrong. Whether or not I believed some of the questions were unfair and weren’t sports questions is beyond the point. The point is my good buddy Chris Aderhold beat me. He beat me fair and square. He had to answer the exact same answers as me and he answered more of them correct. The competition was to see who knew more about sports trivia. Topher beat me and therefore I am saying outright Chris Aderhold knows more about sports than myself. It was a great competition and was a ton of fun to compete in. Well done Chris.

I Need HELP

I would like to coach someday. I don’t care what sport it is or what age level it is. I guess I would prefer that it was one of the major sports since that’s what I know the most about. There is a small problem though. I haven’t played a lot of organized sports in my life. I have a passion for sports and am willing to learn. What I need though is help. What’s the best way to learn how to coach? Are there books I can read? Are their videos I can watch? Better yet is there someone out there who has a lot of time that would be willing to teach me how to be a coach. I need someone to teach me the very fundamentals of a sport. I think I could be a very good coach. So I am putting it out there to the world. Patrick Andera wants to coach! Is there anyone is willing to undertake this project of helping me get there?

I also wanted to comment on something exciting that happened to me recently. For the past few years I have had an argument with a friend of mine that I knew more about sports than him. After asking 3 different people to help come up with a trivia game to prove who was the best I finally find a friend who was willing to take the time to put together this contest. In front of a few (try 20) friends, myself and this acquaintance competed. We were neck and neck through the first half of the game. It was crazy how many questions we had the same answers for that were absolutely wrong. Then came my nemesis category. Sports Movies. I learned quickly that as much as I love sports I don’t know anything about sports movies. He smoked me in this category and I was never able to recover. He beat me fair and square and I have no problem saying he knows more about sports movies than me. It is still hard for me to believe he knew more about sports than me. But, as a good friend once told me, “Make plays and not excuses.” Christopher Clyde Aderhold, on that day you were better than me. You knew more about sports movies than I did. Congratulations sir. Thank you to Lindsay, Nicky, Gus, Matt, Mama Pitts and whoever else came up with the questions for the game. It was one of the most fun things I have ever done in my life. Topher, rematch someday?

72 Sporting Events to See

A few years ago I came across an article on ESPN.com from Jim Caple. It was his “101 things all sports fans must experience before they die.” I decided to come up with a list for myself that I would like to see before I die. I’m sure there are great sporting events that I missed. I would love to hear these and others peoples dream sporting events to see.


72 Little League World Series
71 Penn St football game during a white out
70 Texas High School football game in Odessa
69 USC/UCLA football from Coliseum
68 Boise St football game at home
67 Iron Bowl at Alabama
66 Texas/OU football game
65 Wisconsin Mens Hockey Game
64 Kentucky Derby
63 Masters
62 World Cup
61 Winter Olympics
60 Boxing match at MGM Grand
59 Daytona 500
58 Syracuse/St.Johns at MSG
57 Suns/Spurs in Phoniex
56 Argentina/Chile soccer game in Chile
55 Georgetown/Syracuse basketball at Carrier Dome
54 Orange Bowl
53 Dakota Marker Game from Coughlin
52 Tennessee/Florida football game at Knoxville
51 Red Wings/Black Hawks game in Joe Louis Arena
50 Bull Riding Championships in Vegas
49 Cowboys/Giants in Jersey
48 Wisconsin/Michigan State Basketball Game in Madison
47 NFL draft
46 Royal Rumble
45 Pro Bowl
44 Fiesta Bowl
43 OSU/OU in football at Stillwater
42 Hesiman Presentation
41 NBA All-Star game
40 Kentucky/Lousiville at Rupp
39 Wrestlemania
38 Pacers/Knicks at MSG
37 Saints game in Superdome
36 Raiders/Chargers in Oakland
35 College World Series
34 Notre Dame/USC football game at Notre Dame
33 Cowboys/Eagles in Cowboys Stadium
32 SEC Championship
31 Big 12 Championsip
30 World Series
29 Steelers/Ravens in Pittsburgh
28 Ohio St/Wisconsin game from the Horse Shoe
27 Sugar Bowl
26 Summer Olympics
25 Patriots/Colts from Gillete Stadium
24 Packers/Bears at Soldier Field
23 Cubs/Cardnials game at Wrigley
22 Lakers/Celtics at Staples
21 Raiders/Steelers at Heinz Field
20 Rose Bowl
19 Big 10 Mens bsketball tourney
18 ACC Mens basketball tourney
17 BSC National Championship
16 Super Bowl
15 Final Four game
14 Mens College Basketball Div 1 National Championship
13 Lakers/Cavs in Cleveland
12 Kansas Game at Allan Fieldhouse
11 Spring Training in Arizona
10 Raiders/Chiefs at Arrowhead
9 Packers/Vikings at Lambeau
8 Yankees/Red Sox at Fenway
7 Angels/A's at Angels Stadium
6 MLB All-Star Game
5 Ohio St/Michigan from the Big House
4 LSU night game at Death Valley
3 Nebraska/Colorado football in Lincoln
2 Duke/UNC at Cameron
1 Raiders/Broncos game from the Black Hole