Television analyst and former NBA star Charles Barkley says ESPN is attempting the frame the narrative for Super Bowl 50 as "black (Carolina quarterback Cam Newton) versus white (Denver quarterback Peyton Manning, pictured), good versus evil."Peyton
Is this it for Peyton Manning?
It feels like it, right?
The stage, the swagger, the spotlight, all of it is the fitting sunset for the man they call The Sheriff.
It's a nickname borne out of respect and amazement. It connotes the ability to keep calm amid the pre snap confusion, and direct traffic amid the traffic jam.
Manning's Sheriff is more Andy Taylor than Wyatt Earp. He's the guy that controls the chaos without a gun - either actually on his hip or metaphorically hanging from his shoulder - by willing others to places of which they were not complete aware.
He's the man, and has been the face of the league. Argue all you want that Tom Brady is more accomplished and Aaron Rodgers is better, and that's a fine discussion, but it does not change Manning's place or presence as the most respected and beloved figure in America's most beloved pop culture endeavor.
So we go back to the question: Is this the last gunfight for America's Sheriff?
Like almost every issue before him in his Hall of Fame NFL career, Manning has handled that question with preparation and precision. He is not making this week about him and as to be expected, he is saying all the right things.
It's like that with our icons. (Again, this is not the GOAT discussion.)
We love that they are there, but we are fearful they may linger too long. For as great as the storyline of The Sheriff firing the game-winner Sunday night in his final game is, the storyline of Johnny Unitas in Chargers' powder blue or Babe Ruth in a Braves uniform is just moving in the opposite direction.
Because Peyton has given all of us so much - be it the joy of watching him, the amazement of watching him comeback from the neck injuries or the pure disbelief of knowing he's always prepared (the ultimate gridiron boy scout with more than a dash of MacGyver) - we are worried about his legacy. It's the least we can do for the trade off.
Heck, even you Manning bashers - arguably the smallest club in sports among non-Patriots backers and casual fans - have to admit that the greatness of the Patriots' run has been enhanced by Manning's presence across the field.
That Brady and Bill Belichick have sustained this dominance for 15 years going against Manning is the perfect foil to that chase for perfection.
Manning's exit could not be scripted in a more meaningful moment, and that he has not announced anything comes as no surprise.
He has never been the one, no matter his individual excellence to supersede or circumvent the ultimate goal int he ultimate team sport.
He would never do anything that short changes the overall mission, especially when that mission is winning a Super Bowl. And rest assured that he knows success in that mission adds another line to his resume in the discussions of legacy and lists.
So is this it for Peyton? We think yes. And we hope yes.
And in truth - while we want Cam to win - having Peyton Manning go out on top of the world would be something to behold.
As Barney Fife might say, "Right, Sheriff?"
Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning speaks to the media during Opening Night for the NFL Super Bowl 50 football game Monday, Feb. 1, 2016, in San Jose, Calif. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel) Super Bowl hype
Leave it to the NFL to create a hot ticket out of Super Bowl media day.
The longtime Media Tuesday was changed this year to the first Super Bowl Opening Night.
It's a predictable event in which players are asked about Star Wars characters and their favorite foods from a variety of 'media' folks, ranging from Peter King to a puppet to a guy dressed like Leprechaun dressed as a Denver Broncos season-ticket holder.
Of course, there are going to be some media folks who get bent out of shape by it. Whatever. (We know a handful things about the media BID-ness, and one of the lead-pipe certainties is the general public does not want to hear about the things that make the media's job difficult. Period. And it's especially true when media folks are being paid to cover the Super Bowl.)
There was very little news out of the event, which is to be expected.
What we gleaned included Thomas Davis discussing the 12 screws in his broken right arm. Manning dodging HGH questions. Cam
Newton spinning a great answer when being asked about the "LeBron James of quarterback" (a comparison we have been using for a while frankly), by asking, "what can't LeBron be the Cam Newton of power forwards." And of course, Panthers star corner Josh Norman made his appearance wearing a team-colored "Nacho Libre" mask to the event.
Of the course the number that popped out was that hundreds of fans paid almost $30 a seat to sit across the facility and watch the various news conferences.
Man, the NFL prints money.
NCAA President Mark Emmert gives a state of the NCAA speech at the organization's convention Thursday, Jan. 14, 2016, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Eric Gay) Missing the Mark
Mark Emmert somehow got a raise and an extension to run the NCAA through 2020.
This is the business version of Richard Nixon getting elected for a third term after the depths of the Watergate scandal were known.
Man, is there a more clear and important message in college sports than cash is king with Emmert getting an extension?
Pick an area that he supervises and tell us where college sports is better off other than the bottom line under Emmert's direction?
Public perception? That's laughable.
College sports equity? That's even funnier.
Enforcement and fairness? Wow, stop you;re making our sides hurt. Seriously, look at the awful and unbalanced rulings at Syracuse and SMU, the inaction at Louisville and UNC and the complete and total NCAA failure that was the Miami investigation.
Emmert may be the one man making a seven-figure salary to run a 10-figure business that needs zero vision. He is the chairman of the status quo, and the power brokers that run the powerful programs are completely content with that arrangement.
In fact, Emmert is completely comfortable being the punching bag for the public's and the media's outcries about the inequalities - for programs, athletes, schools, genders, you name it - in college sports.
And not unlike a poor man's Roger Goodell, Emmert takes the heat and keeps the distractions to a minimum.
He is a PR bullet-proof vest. He is a shield - some may say shill - for the powerful in the tug of war that meets somewhere in the center of the perplexing rectangle encompassed by March Madness, a tailgate down South, education and billions of dollars.
In that way, Emmert has excelled.
That's obviously why the power brokers in college sports want to retain him.
So the face of college sports remains the same, we just now have a better idea of his job description.
Mark Emmert got a three-extention as the NCAA president because he's happy to be the highest paid piñata in all of sports.
And he does it with a smile on his face as he shovels the misconceptions handed him by the guys really pulling the strings.
This and that
- SportsCenter is changing Monday morning. Rather than the replays that all of us have used as background chatter during the hustle and bustle that is the a.m. getting-ready process, ESPN is bringing a new, live SportsCenter a.m. starting at 7 in the morning. It's an effort to go after the Today show and programs of that ilk for sports fans.
- Speaking of ESPN changes, well, this one may not be groovy with most. Mike & Mike will connect with First Take - yes, Stephen A. and Skip Bayless - for the final part of their morning radio show to better bridge the ESPN programs. We do not see this being well received by longtime Mike & Mike fans.
- CBS and NBC each got five Thursday night games for 2016 and 2017. The networks agreed to pay the league $225 million per year. More importantly, the league also is shopping the streaming feed of those games, a place of untapped revenue for most of sports this side of ESPN3. The NFL Network will do simulcast of all of those as well as eight other Thursday night kickoffs. The NFL = ATM in today's TV dollars. And Jomo, this one is bubble-proof because of the channels are broadcast basic and the fact that being in the rotation gives a network the chance to be in the Super Bowl rotation, which is the Golden Goose of sports programming.
- Major props to the Mocs hoops machine that continued to roll Monday night. UTC scored 77 points in the second half. Gang, scoring 77 points in 20 minutes would be pretty efficient in a 5-on-none set of drills. To do it against a conference foe is staggering. (Side note: Remember UTC coach Matt McCall will be on Press Row today around 5:10 on ESPN 105.1 The Zone and here on timesfreepress.com.)
- A day from signing day and the moves are fast and furious. Alabama making waves. So too was Rashan Gary, the nation's top recruit who says he'll pick between Michigan and Clemson tomorrow.
- We will give the UT-Kentucky game a little attention tonight - and some play tomorrow - but we do not expect it to be that close. Bad match-up for the Vols considering their collective Mini-Me-ness.
- Speaking of college hoops, Duke is out of the top 25 for the first time since 2007.
Today's question
Today's Groundhog Day, and here's a very clever and well-written tidbit about Chattanooga Chuck calling for an early spring on the TFP website.
So, with that in mind, today's Rushmore is simple: Rushmore of Bill Murray movies. Go, and this one is a lot tougher than you may think.