Chop’s Fives: Favourite NFL Quarterbacks

 After a few weeks of trying to keep a lockdown diary of sorts I ran out of steam. That was partly me failing to find the time to write stuff that probably wasn’t of much interest to anyone but future me but also the feeling of unrelenting sameness that came with trying to survive a pandemic. Things haven’t entirely improved but the faint glow of light is glimmering in the distance.

Meanwhile, I’ve continued with my bullshit on Twitter (where it’s quick to write stuff and you feel less obliged to make it lengthy) so I’ve something of a backlog of Top 5s I could share on here plus a whole other project I’ll explain in a separate post. 

If you’re still occasionally reading this blog then thanks for the patronage & apologies for the haphazard nature of updates. Let’s see how long I keep things going this time. 

I’m a long time NFL fan, having first seen the Super Bowl via Grandstand who showed the highlights of Super Bowl XVI in 1982. Almost forty years later I’m still staying up into the small hours to watch the season finale (even though I really don’t like the now undisputed greatest QB of all time). 

All that is a long lead up to my Top 5 favourite Quaterbacks. 

1. Joe Montana - Joe Montana was the winning QB in that very first game I watched. He lead the San Francisco 49ers to a 20-0 lead half time over the Cincinnati Bengals. The Bengals got back into things in the second half but Joe Cool stayed true to his nickname and helped ensure the Niners held on to win 26-21. Montana remained a top performer for many years as I watched more NFL and whilst I didn’t end up a 49er fan I always admired his ability & poise. 

2. Aaron Rodgers - I’ve recently converted to being a Green Bay Packers fan and A-Rod was part of the attraction. A remarkably talented QB who rarely turns the ball over. The fact he hasn’t won more Super Bowl rings (1 win, 1 loss so far) shows just how difficult it is to achieve. The Packers came mighty close to getting back to the big game this season and in doing so Rodgers claimed a 3rd NFL MVP of his career.

3. Russell Wilson - In my wilderness years (the period when I stopped following my first team and watched less of the sport as it went exclusively to Sky) Wilson was one of the bright sparks. A mobile quarterback who did as much with his feet as he did with his arm. Wilson is a little like Rodgers, hugely talented, genuinely nice guy and a little unlucky not to have won more. 

4. Joe Theismann - Joe was THE man who won me over to NFL and made me a Washington fan. Channel 4 began showing highlights during the strike shortened 1983 season. Theismann & that Washington team seemed to overcome all the odds to make it to the Super Bowl that year and I was hooked. Joe had bags of personality too, maybe not as talented as Montana but really gutsy.

5. Peyton Manning - The first quarterback to win a Super Bowl with two different franchises. Hugely talented and with a howitzer of an arm. 

Feel free to add your fives in the comments. 

Top 5 Sporting Events I attended

It seems there's some sort of ball kicking competition about to start so it feels like a good time to consider the greatest sporting events I've ever witnessed. If I was being completely factual it's possible this would actually just be a list of Fulham matches but to keep things interesting I've limited the football a bit and only allowed myself one Fulham entry.

1. Fulham 4 Juventus 1 (18/Mar/2010) - The 2010 Europa League run was the absolute peak of my years following the Fulham. It made the seasons watching us struggle, get relegated and reach the brink of extinction all worthwhile. There were plenty of games worthy of a mention, not least the final itself (even though we lost) but the home game against The Old Lady in the Round of 16 was undoubtedly the greatest football game I have ever seen in my life. Fulham were 3-1 down from the away leg in Turin and conceded another goal within 5 minutes of this match. At 4-1 down the game seemed up, there was no chance we could get back into this so the crowd relaxed a little, decided to just enjoy the fact we were playing one of the European greats and had a good old sing-song.

Fulham dusted themselves down as well. Bobby Zamora collected a cross from left back Konchesky, brushed aside World Cup winning captain Cannavaro and fired a bullet volley into the bottom corner of the net. Then Zoltan Gera was through on goal and seemed certain to score but Cannavaro fell over and took him down in the process. There was a pause then a red card for the Italian. Zamora sent the resultant free kick towards the top corner but somehow the big hand of 3rd choice goalie Chimenti managed to push it over the bar. The atmosphere was rocking now and before half time Gera made it 2-1 Fulham and opened the glimmer of hope a notch.

Fulham started the second spell at full pace. Damien Duff fired in a cross that glanced off a gold shirted arm. Gera whipped a fine penalty whipped into the bottom left corner and suddenly we were level on aggregate. A double somersault from Zolo who was then mobbed by the rest of the team. There was a lull during which Clint Dempsey joined the fray. With less than 10 minutes to go Dempsey received the ball on the edge of the box, his back to goal. He turned into space, leaned back a little and floated a chip towards goal. From where I was sitting everything happened in slow motion. The ball rose high into the air, it looked like Clint had over hit a cross but no ... it dropped down towards the top corner and, unbelievably, wonderfully, perfectly finds it's way into the net.

There was a cheer like no other I've heard at the Cottage or anywhere else. The noise of 25,000 people who cannot believe what they've just seen. Football is never like this. From 4-1 down to 5-4 up against one of the biggest teams in the world. It was a magical moment. I can't remember anything after the goal but the whistle eventually blew and we were through. There were more thrills to come in the Quarter & Semi finals but nothing would ever quite live up to this game.

Photo courtesy nicksarebi via http://flickr.com/photos/34517490@N00/4448255292 used under CC2.0 license

2. Olympic Rowing (1/Aug/2012) - The chance to attend one of the world's greatest sporting events isn't something that comes along very often so I was very excited when we managed to get a couple of tickets for a day at Eton Dorney to watch the Rowing. By sheer fluke this turned out to be the day Great Britain collected their first gold medal of the London Games. Heather Stanning and Helen Glover won the coxless pairs with a stunning performance that left their rivals literally in their wake. The atmosphere was incredible and got louder whenever there was a GB rower involved. British rowers also claimed a thrilling Bronze in the Men's eight and qualified for two finals (Alan Campbell went on to win single sculls bronze whilst George Nash & William Satch also won bronze in the coxless pair). We were back a few weeks later to see Paralympic rowing and I also got to spend a day at the Olympic Stadium to see Paralympic Athletics & Swimming but seeing GB win gold was a special moment.

3. England 33 South Africa 16 (14/Nov/1992) - Beyond one fairly shoddy lesson at school I hadn't played any rugby until we started a regular touch rugby session at work. That grew in popularity and resulted in us fielding a 15-a-side team for a few years. I had no clue of the rules and remember playing wing in one of my first games, receiving a pass, looking up to see some massive bloke running towards me and just chucking the ball into touch. As a club we were able to apply for tickets to test matches and a group of us went to Twickenham to see what would be my first non-sevens game. Unsurprisingly we got very drunk. Very very drunk. We played spoof beforehand, drank a bit more during the game and carried on afterwards as well. England won 33-16 in a really entertaining game of which I remember very little.

4. 81 Ashes: England draw with Australia (31-Aug-81) - This was my first test cricket match and the final day of an amazing test series that saw England win the Ashes and ignited my interest in the game. We made a late decision to go to The Oval after hearing tickets were still available and were listening to test match special on the drive up when Geoffrey Boycott lost his wicket with England only on 1. I'm not entirely sure why but Chris Tavare was a favourite of mine. He had a reputation for being a reliable if rather slow opening batsman and I think I admired his stubbornness. Typically he was also out before we were parked. Having made it in to the Oval things improved somewhat. Mike Gatting steadied the ship and wicket-keeper Alan Knott scored an impressive 70no (despite Dennis Lille's best efforts). Man of the series Ian Botham went lbw for a disappointing 16 but we held out to draw and ensure we didn't end an incredible test series on a downer. Not the most amazing game of cricket but a chance to feel slightly involved in what had been an incredible series.

5. Euro '96: England 1 Germany 1 (England lose 6-5 on penalties) - The country went mad for football in 1996. The St. George's cross was everywhere, Three Lions topped the charts and everyone believed this was going to be the year England finally won a major competition. I'd watched the group games at various friend's houses. A dour 1-1 draw with Switzerland, a 2-0 win over Scotland including a brilliant goal by Gazza, and a 4-1 romp over the Netherlands. I went to the quarter-final against Spain. That was a tense game in which neither side could break through but ended with a penalty shoot-out that saw Stuart Pearce lay the ghosts of 1990 to rest and Paul Gascoigne send us through. The semi-final was a repeat of the 1990 World Cup semi-final. Alan Shearer headed in after three minutes but the elation was short lived as Stefan Kuntz equalized less than 15 minutes later. In extra time Gazza almost won it for us but, with the goal gaping, was inches away from a Shearer cross. Penalties again. Both sides scored their first five kicks and the tension increased with every one. Sudden death meant there was nowhere to hide and it was England that finally flinched. Gareth Southgate had his penalty saved, Andreas Möller scored and it was all over.

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Top 5 Sporting Injuries (that I have had)

Just when I thought I'd have to miss a week someone mentions a topic to me (cheers Al) that I reckon I can knock off pretty quick. As a 40-something, overweight and balding man, I'm starting to come to grips with my own mortality. I've never been a naturally talented athlete. I enjoy playing sport and will always give my best but there has never been any danger that I'd go on to any significant level. I reckon I'm the worst player to have featured for my work's Football first team. I've also had a long running succession of failures to win singles Tennis matches. I'm good enough to compete, but not good enough to win. Despite that I enjoy partaking in sport and for most of my life have remained injury free. I think I was probably 30 before I picked up a serious injury. Now I can't go for more than a month without something going wrong.

1. Achilles tendonotis - Annoyingly this happened as I jogged from the pavilion onto the field. Thankfully I didn't rupture it but I've been suffering with this pain in my achilles tendon for over 18 months now. Finally starting to make progress with orthotic insoles (to help correct for my flat feet) and physio.

2. Fractured Wrist - Summer 6-a-side tournament went into the knockout stages and my team's game needed penalties. I can't remember who we had in goal for the group stages but for whatever reason I decided to take over for the spot kicks. Things were even, and I'd saved at least one, when one of my skinniest and lightweight pals stepped up to have a go. The shot was high (probably going to hit the crossbar at best) but I saved it with my outstretched left hand. Hurt like heck afterwards but I went back in goal for two more pens (relying on my feet with inevitable losing consequences). I was off to Holland the next day so my then girlfriend (now wife) was less than impressed that we had to spend 3 hours in A&E, and things didn't get better when the hospital confirmed a slight fracture and sent me home fully plastered up.

3. Broken Nose - Another Football injury. I got a bit carried away and found myself up front and looking for a goal. Got my head near a great cross (which must have been quite low, as anyone who has seen me jump will testify) but just as I was about to make contact felt a sharp pain and a saw brilliant white light. Defender had caught me with his elbow right on the end of my nose. Felt fine for 5 seconds before the gush of blood began streaming out. Another trip to A&E confirmed a fairly straight break that would "probably heal itself". It did though I like to think I've added a bit of rugged character to my looks.

4. Dislocated Finger - Rugby this time and a ridiculously minor injury. Playing a game of touch I grabbed an opposing players shirt but he jinked out of reach. This caused my fingers to snap together, which briefly hurt but didn't cause me any concern until it started swelling up a few hours later. This one just sorted itself out, though has left me with a wonky middle finger.

5. Bad Back - Not entirely sports related, an inflamed vertebrae left me in absolute agony and unable to walk for a couple of weeks. Brilliantly this coincided with the early stages of the 2002 World Cup so I had a very pleasant time confined to the house on some extremely powerful anti-inflammatories.

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Top 5 Greyhound racing colours

I'm not the biggest gambler in the world but I do enjoy the occasional flutter. Two quid on the first goalscorer or a fiver on some non-league club knocking us out of the cup. It won't make me a fortune but it can add a bit of fun to watching a game. I've been horse racing a couple of times but never yet made it to a greyhound race. The first time I watched dog racing on the telly I picked six consecutive winners. I was only about twelve but an inner voice told me I'd never come close to that again and I think I've avoided it for that very reason. Still, I like the use of uniform colours and numbers. They add something to the excitement of the race I can't quite explain.

1. Trap 6 (Black & White Stripes with Red numeral)

2. Trap 1 (Red with White numeral)

3. Trap 5 (Orange with Black numeral)

4. Trap 4 (Black with White numeral)

5. Trap 2 (Blue with White numeral)

Which leaves Trap 3 (White with Black numeral) outside my list.

And just room for a quick hat tip to Blur for using greyhound racing as the cover for their best album Parklife. They lose points though for using the American system on the back to number the tracks.

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