The Tampa Bay Buccaneers fired coach Jon “Chucky” Gruden and GM Bruce Allen. The Bucs are my home team, in that they are the NFL team closest to my home. The move seems to have surprised quite a few people in the area. ESPN is reporting that replacements are already in the works.

The surprising firings of Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Jon Gruden and general manager Bruce Allen are expected to yield the quick hiring of Raheem Morris as head coach and Mark Dominik as general manager, according to multiple sources.

According to a source, a news conference could be held as early as Saturday.

I’ve never been a Gruden fan or detractor. In fact I follow the Bucs solely because their games are the ones I get to watch every week.

The number of planets that needed to align for the Eagles to get into the playoffs was too great. Or at least that’s what I thought yesterday morning. Here is how things stood:

Either the Vikings or the Bears had to lose. The first game to conclude had the Vikings over the Giants by 1 point 20-19. One possibility lost. But a few minutes later the Bears would lose to the Texans who were just 7-8 going in to the day. Hurdle one crossed.

The other must happen was Tampa Bay losing. They were playing the 4-11 Oakland Raiders. At home. They lost. Hurdle two.

In addition to those unlikely events the Eagles also had to win their final game. Despite what had happened earlier in the day the Eagles still had to get past Romo, TO, and the rest of their rivals from Dallas. They didn’t just beat them, they embarrassed them. 44-6 in a game that looked like only one team showed up. It wasn’t all due to bad play from the Cowboys, the Eagle defense played an outstanding game. And the third hurdle was crossed.

I wasn’t sure any one of those three things would happen. Two of the three would have shocked me. All three? I wouldn’t have bet on that with someone else’s money. But they’re in the playoffs. Next week they face the Minnesota Vikings — 4:30 on Fox.

Let’s see if they can surprise me again.

Michael Spurlock is the new hero of Tampa Bay. Up until a few minutes ago, the Buccaneers were the only team in the NFL that had never run a kick back for a touchdown. Spurlock’s 90 yard return has ended that drought.

The 10-0 Patriots vs. The 5-5 Eagles. You do the math.

UPDATE: 1:22 into the game. Interception. Down 7-0 already.

SHOCK: The Lead? THE LEAD? 21-17 with 2 minutes to go in the half.

FINAL: 31-28 was not nearly as bad as I feared it would be.

For the first time since I was seven (1963) Navy has beaten Notre Dame. The final 48-46 in three overtimes.

The Hot Wing Conspiracy Fantasy Football League is looking for one more manager. We’d prefer someone we can all beat up on, but will take pretty much anyone. If you’re interested drop me an email (lakelandjim at gmail dot com) and I’ll send you the information.

Peyton Manning, Tony Dungy and the Indianapolis Colts win Super Bowl XLI 29-17 over the Chicago Bears.

At times it looked like the football’s had received a corporate sponsorship from K-Y Jelly. Six fumbles and three picks kept field direction changing. But after falling behind from the opening kickoff, returned 92 yards by Chicago’s Devin Hester, the Colts took the lead half way through the 2nd quarter and held on (literally) for the win.

Manning took the MVP award, and while much was made of the fact that two African-American head coaches were facing off in the championship, Coach Dungy made the point that they were also two committed Christians.

Football’s a wrap (not counting the Pro Bowl) which can only mean one thing — It’s less than two weeks until Pitchers and Catchers report!!

With kickoff in just over an hour, here are a few of the sites on my blogroll and around the blogisphere that have posted their Super Bowl predictions.

In The Bullpen (Chad Evans) — Colts 23 – Bears 16
The Jawa Report (Mike Pechar) — Bears 33 – Colts 32
Captain’s Quarters (Ed Morrissey) Colts 31 – Bears 24
MediaShuffle — Colts 23 – Bears 17
Babalu Blog (George Moneo) — Bears 34 – Colts 16

The Bears will be leaving snowy Chicago for sunny South Florida as they beat the New Orleans Saints 39-14. I can take a small measure of satisfaction in this after the Saints took my Eagles out of the playoff race last weekend. Next up — The Colts and Pats are just about ready to set the other half of Super Bowl XLI.

UPDATE: The Colts pull of the biggest championship comeback to beat the Patriots 38-34. They erased an 18 point deficit (21-3) to take their spot in Miami.

Super Bowl XLI — February 4th.

I haven’t posted anything since the First Cup post this morning. Excuses?

Let me tell you a story.

A man went to his neighbor and asked if he could borrow his ax. The neighbor told him, “I’m sorry. I can’t lend you my ax. I have to make soup.”

The man was curious, “what does you having to make soup have to do with me not being able to borrow your ax?”

“Nothing”, the neighbor replied, “but if I don’t want to lend you my ax, one excuse is as good as another.”

Mine for this evening:
Shampooing the carpets
Playing around with the bRight & Early Forum
Working on another project similar, but unrelated, to the Blogiversary Database which should be announced soon.
Watching the Gators pound on the Buckeyes.

Take your pick.

Eagles — Giants. It started off ugly. The Giants scored early and kept the Eagles deep in their end of the field. Then Brian Westbrook had an amazing run for a touchdown to tie it.

The Eagles just intercepted!

The Eagles only manage a field goal off the interception, but go up 10-7. New York comes back, but is stopped on third and goal and tie it back up with a field goal of their own.

Eagles score inside of two minutes to go in the 1st half. 17-10 Eagles.

HALFTIME

To busy watching to post any updates. With under six minutes left in the game the Giants tie the game 20-20.

2:00 MINUTE WARNING — Still tied, the Eagles have the ball and are driving. They’re at the outer edge of Akers’ range. I’d feel a lot better if they were a lot closer.

David Akiers, 38 yard field goal, 3 seconds on the clock.

Eagles Win 23-20

What is with the butt-ugly black pants with the white stripe that some of the NFL officiating crews are wearing? I’m just asking.