Playoff data, and other notes...

Shouldn't be too hard to put together some numbers on regular playoff games vs. the Super Bowl. For my stories in TGS over the past few weeks, I compiled all sorts of numbers, though I'll have to do some extra mixing and matching. Off the top of my head, it seems as if at least half of the overall playoff games are decided by double-digit margins. In recent years, the better games seem to have come in the wild card round, though that wasn't necessarily the case this season. And, in a departure from the '80s and early '90s, the Super Bolws have become better games in recent years, though like all mini-trends that could turn around on a dime.

The division round seemed to be a little more competitive this season than the wild card games or the conference title matchups, but even in that 2nd round, 2 of the 4 games were decided by double-digit margins.

Whatever, I am "footballed out," and look forward to focusing full attention on college (not NBA) hoops and baseball, and, what the heck, even the Winter Olympics in the coming weeks and months. The latter should at least get me watching hockey again. As a last personal thought on Denver's loss yesterday, a part of me feels good that the "fan" in me still cares about wins and losses. Though the emotional ups and downs I used to experience following the Broncos have long since disappeared, they still seem to be the only pro sports team still capable of stirring my passions. It changed some after winning those Super Bowls in the late '90s, and probably for the better (for me). Now I just feel good, for whatever reasons stir sports fans, when Denver wins, but the losses don't linger.

The Broncos have turned out to be a good team to support for the past several decades, too. Ever since that first winning season in 1973, Denver has mostly been in the hunt, with only a handful of sub-.500 years (6-8 in '75, 2-7 in the strike year of '82, which as a byproduct gave the Broncos a high-enough draft pick to trade for Elway, 5-11 in 1990, 7-9 in 1994, after which Wade Phillips was fired and Shanahan was hired, and 6-10 in 1999, the year after the two Super Bowls). That's only five sub-.500 campaigns in 33 seasons, only 4 in the last 30, and the byproduct of two of those seasons helped Denver land Elway and Shanahan. Even if they haven't won more than two Super Bowls, that's quite a good mark, and the Broncos are usually in the hunt, and I go into most seasons thinking the team has a legitimate shot. In an era of parity, such consistency is unique, and it is all the more special for old-time fans who remember the dark early days of the AFL. Long ago, Lou Saban at least got the Broncos moving in the right direction, and Ralston, Miller, Reeves, and Shanahan (not Phillips, though he did get the Broncos into the wild card for 1 of his 2 years as coach) all did a little more than their predecessors.

As I look ahead to next year, for Denver things look optimistic as usual. The core of the team figures to stay intact, and Shanahan has generally done an admirable job in the free agent market. Plummer seems set for another few years of being an effective QB, and I suspect Ashley Lelie, based on a couple of those catches yesterday, is about ready to burst upon the scene as a primo wideout. Bailey should still be a difference maker on defense, and who knows, maybe the searing memory of the Steeler loss will fuel Denver in 2006, much like that playoff loss to the Jags nine years ago seemed to fuel the '97 and '98 Super Bowl winners. Gary Kubiak's apparent hiring by the Texans as their head coach is a potential concern, since he had much to do with Plummer's turnaround this seaosn. Also, I long suspected Kubiak was being groomed to eventually replace Shanahan, but Mike is a long way from retiring. That appears to be a minor issue, however. Otherwise, I'd say things are looking pretty good for next year. Not sure where the ride will end in 2006, but it should be fun.

(More notes on the mostly-obscure NFL coaching hires coming soon).

Still, glad yesterday is over, and the capper for a miserable sports day was watching the most selfish, egotistical athlete of our generation, Kobe, drill the Raptors for 81 last night. Never mind the accomplishment, which in an era of team sports might have been a low point, Kobe calling for the ball, shooting at will, badgering refs for not calling fouls, badgering teammates for not passing him the ball, and all the while Toronto doing nothing special to either deny Kobe the ball, or help out on him defensively.

In a league full of egomaniacs, Kobe is singular, and to think that a player could be so marginalized amongst his mostly primadonna peers, because he is SUCH a primadonna, is almost mind-boggling. Kobe lives in his own little world, his comments narcissistic beyond belief. I can't believe some of the stuff that comes out of his mouth, and Phil Jackson's book (which I read on the tarmac at Atlanta Airport during an ice storm last January) confirmed the unbelievable nightmare of dealing with this guy an everyday basis. His post-game press conference last night was sickening, made more so by the fawning L.A. sports anchors. "Kobe seems in awe of himself!," said one excitedly, but it was not said in a derogatory way. The star-gazing, hero-worshipping L.A. crowd exacerbates the whole thing even more, feeding his already over-saturated ego. Remember, these are the same star-gazing fans that gave him a standing ovation last year in his first L.A. game after the rape charges.

We know that NBA players cannot stand him, and the chance of another star player ever wishing to play with him are almost nil. He treats people with disdain, there are many nightmarish stories about the personal behavior of Kobe and his wife, and their treatment of employees, etc. As Phil Jackson said in his book, Kobe is "disconnected." The only good thing about him might have been Jelly Bean Joe and the Philadelphia connection, but natives of the Quaker City and its environs should hardly consider him one of their own, given that he spent most of his youth in Italy, and his short stay Phila was just a pit stop for his climb to the top of ego-domain. He has no use for Philly any longer, and for him it might as well have been New Yropk, Chicago, or Detroit. Cities and locales don't matter, unless it's L.A., for Kobe is about Kobe, always has been, always will.

I'm not sure if he's still estanged from Jelly Bean Joe or not (I know that he was for a while, and might still be), so if any of the Philly bloggers have a soft spot for Kobe just because of Jelly Bean Joe, you might want to reconsider. The new Lakers can beat woeful teams like the Raptors, and Kobe can score all the points he wants, but they are no longer a title contender mainly because of this insufferable egomaniac.