Tom and Peyton don’t defend one another, so this latest Patriots-Colts Game of the Century can’t be about Brady vs. Manning. It’s really about Belichick vs. Manning. It’s about the Revenge of Fourth And 2. It’s about the Colts beating the Patriots five of the last six times they’ve met. It’s about the young Patriots defense. It’s about Bill Polian hating the Patriots the way the Patriots hate the Jets. It’s about perennial conference kingpins deciding who’ll get home field if they meet again when it counts in January.Since this is written by Shank, you already know the real answer:
There will be no ignoring the obvious in this space. I’m riding sidecar with the dumbed-down story line, the lowest common denominator. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. This game is all about Brady vs. Manning. Football’s 18-12 Overture comes to Gillette.Little surprise; this column looks enough like the one he wrote last year.
Lazy, predictable & boring pretty much sums it up, doesn't it?
Gotta give Shank credit for a genuinely clever line - Football's 18-12 Overture. Other than that, ehh.
ReplyDeleteHe probably stole the line from somewhere.
ReplyDeleteWait! He did!
http://www.bengals.com/news/article-1/18-12-overture-gives-Bengals-a-classic/b2d6e7ca-d916-427c-b4b6-73168bfeac31
18-12 might be referring to Manning # vs. Brady #
ReplyDeleteg
You mean there were two major problems with this column? Great find, mike!
ReplyDeleteAnon - this was definitely lifted. There's a six day span between the Bengals (11/15) & Shank's (11/21) column dates.
This belongs on the stone tablets of Shank commandments. Never attribute to Shank cleverness that might be better described as, um, lack of attribution to someone else, or a competing column written on the same day.