It seems as though I have once more forgotten to check the settings on the DeLorean because unbeknownst to me yesterday’s Conference Championship games have landed me smack dab back in 2007/2008, forced as I will be in two weeks time, to watch “Eli/Brady 2 – The Revenge.” But, unlike most sequels this actually has my interest in a sort of Godfather 2 or Rocky 2 screen classic way as opposed to the more recent and somewhat less riveting “Ghost Rider 2 –Sorry But We’re Broke” or “Underworld 4 – What In The Realm Of All That Is Unholy Are They Thinking, Stop Already We’ve Had Enough” incarnations that are keeping Netflix and that weird looking Orville Redenbacher guy out of the poorhouse. All that having been said - and I recognize that it was a mouthful – the next two weeks are about to become the longest fortnight for the NFL fan as the bobble-heads attempt to break down every angle to this script that has been four years in the making. Due largely, but not solely, to the hands of Kyle Williams and the feet of Billy Cundiff, we have been spared the Harbaugh Bowl and the endless journalistic Deep Throat meetings in cold parking lots at midnight as cub-scout reporters attempt to unveil which jersey the proud parents would be wearing in Indianapolis – Niners or Ravens or gasp… one of each! Instead, the ESPN/TSN versions of Woodward and Bernstein (I’m liking Kenny Mayne and Bob Ley in these roles) will be forced to don the floor length raincoat, tuck the Outside The Lines press pass into the hatband and spend 14 long days digging up dirty laundry on The Hoodie, examining the many shades of colour in Tom Coughlin’s face and searching in vain to discover “Where in the World is David Tyree?”

Photo: Contributed

It is probably a fairly safe bet that not many people who enjoy a small wager had the Giants and Patriots stenciled in as their pre-season Super Bowl picks and even if they did, by mid-season most would have found a new band-wagon to hop on, namely the Packers or Saints in the NFC or a ‘defense wins Championships’ sneer that generally accompanies a “Go Steelers” rant or a “You’re So Raven Ray Lewis Dirty Bird Dance.” But, still here we are. Somehow, the Patriots on the strength of their Vince Wilfork led defense and not the arm of He Who Would Be Beiber did just enough to book their ticket to Indy although, when Billy Cundiff hack-hooked that chip-shot FG for OT like a 24-handicapper on the first day of golf season, you had to know that even Dan Marino was sitting back in the CBS studio thinking – even Ray Finkle could have made that – “Laces Out.” Fact of the matter is Cundiff never should have been put in the situation. If Lee Evans, the Ravens WR who seems to be taking career advice from former Browns/Jets/Niners WR Braylon Edwards, could hold on to a perfect ball from Joe Flacco in the endzone, that cute-little-Billy-Cundiff-boy-next-door would have been about 13 yards closer, tacking on an extra point and we’d be spending today talking about how the’ nicer’ and ‘not-so-crazy’ Harbaugh gets to go to the Big Dance.

More power to the Ravens, led by the aforementioned 16-year veteran Ray Lewis who rallied around their kicker; “There is no one man who has ever lost a game. Don’t you ever drop your head; we win as a team, we lose as a team.” And that would be why he will be coming back next year for a 17th kick at the can. For my part, Cundiff officially became one of my favorite kickers of all time because he sacked up and greeted the media and owned his miss and didn’t try and slip out of the labyrinth of tunnels under Gillette Stadium built for the occasion when God forbid Tom Brady ever has a bad day or an illegitimate child. “It’s something that will be tough for a while. But I’ve got two kids; there are some lessons I need to teach them. First and foremost is to stand up and face the music and move on.” Amen to that brother.

Photo: Contributed

Meanwhile, all was not so well in the City by the Bay where it appears many of the Fans of the beloved 49ers do not share the generosity of spirit or giving in the way that punt returner Kyle Williams did on the day. If we could Quantum Leap for the briefest of moments back to a time of Haight Ashbury, a time of somewhat assisted enlightenment, of Scott McKenzian “flowers in your hair,” of poetry and music and free love. Do you see it, can you feel it? Good. Now blow it all to Hell and back because I am here to tell you that it is officially done and gone my friends. That San Francisco is history, reduced to rubble, paved over and replaced by a San Francisco responsible for an endless stream of… wait for it… death threats to Kyle Williams and his family. Don’t get me wrong, there are brain-dead idiot sports fanatics in every city, everywhere – a fact that we are all too aware of even here in BC – but there is no excuse for behaviour like this: “@KyleWilliams_10. I hope you, your wife, kids and family die, you deserve it.” This came from one @javpasquel (Javier Pasquel) and because there are no expectations of privacy with Twitter proves not only the authors grammatical shortcomings but also his remarkable stupidity and failure to grasp the legal significance of his actions. I first got the story from the Huffington Post and unfortunately Tweets like the one from Mr. Pasquel are abundant and one can only hope the resultant outrage at these so-called fans who dare to don the jerseys of Montana, Rice and Young (to name but a few) will lead to a greater understanding of the power and responsibility that comes with access to social media. If left unchecked our kids will only know Facebook as the place where their friends come to air their emotional dirty laundry and Twitter will be the haven of the bigots who enjoy the sport of Cyber-Hating their least favorite celebrity of the moment. Remember Mr.Pasquel, there is no Free Speech when you yell “Fire!” in a crowded theatre, there are only the repercussions of your actions so might I suggest that you think, before you drink, before you ink.

On a somewhat lighter note – David Tyree has been out of football since the end of the 2009 season which he spent with the Baltimore Ravens’ special teams. According to Bob Hohler at the Boston Globe, he is a devout family man who presently works with the Tepidus Group out of Staten Island and promotes nutritional supplements for a company known as Impax World, all the while spreading the Gospel message as he understands it. Of course, that message often involves him preaching a rather hateful anti-same sex marriage/child raising agenda but hey, if it works for Margaret Court then why not David Tyree? Good grief, should have stuck to looking for Carmen Sandiego or Waldo. ‘Til next week Kelowna, I’m outta here.