September
23, 2007
JEFFREY FLANAGAN
TOP OF THE MORNIN'
- TOP OF THE MORNIN':
Flanagan:
Fox announcer sees similarities
in Chiefs and Vikings
Jayice Pearson,
who will be calling the Chiefs-Vikings
game today, sees a lot of similarities
between the two teams."They both
are kind of searching a little
at quarterback," Pearson said. "And
they both have very good running backs
but suspect receiving corps. They both
have offensive lines that haven't really
been performing.
"And they both have
defenses that are capable of playing
well."
The problem for the Vikings,
of course, is Arrowhead Stadium.
"It
doesn't matter who is at quarterback
for the Vikings," Pearson said, "they've
got to play well and play smart and
not take their team out of the game.
"To
win at Arrowhead, you've got to make
a couple of plays early to quiet the
crowd down and then manage the game
well. But if you let the crowd get
into it, and let the Chiefs defense
really start running around, you're
going to have a long day.
" Chiefs
fans are familiar with the formula:
Send in an unsuspecting NFC team, especially
a dome team, and Arrowhead tends to
have that team for lunch, regardless
of how well the Chiefs are playing.
"But
I'll say this: The Vikings do have
the defense to hang in a game at Arrowhead," Pearson
said. "They've got the two big guys
inside on defense, Pat and Kevin Williams.
They've got playmakers in the secondary.
"And
they could get a running game going.
Adrian Peterson is the real deal. He's
big. He's strong. He's fast. Those
factors give the Vikings a chance.
They just can't afford to get too far
behind early."
JC or Jayice?
You
may have noticed that quite often Jayice
Pearson's first name is shortened by
various publications to just "JC."
Even
Fox, his employer, identifies him as
JC Pearson in its news releases.
Which
is correct?
"Jayice is the name on
my birth certificate," Pearson said. "That's
the one I go by. But you know, it really
doesn't matter.
"People don't know
my name around the country, and it's
probably easier just to go with JC.
And people probably look at 'Jayice'
and say 'How the heck do I pronounce
that?' "
Longest game
Have you heard
that some folks in St. Louis are planning
on breaking the Guinness world record for
the longest baseball game?
The current record is
30 hours, 5 minutes and 27 seconds,
held by the Yankees and Red Sox. OK,
I made the last part up. The record is
actually held by the Alliance Times-Herald
Dragons and the Westco Knights. The
game was played in Alliance, Neb.,
and was won by the Dragons, 120-114.
The record-breaker
is expected to take place Oct. 13 and
14 in O'Fallon, Mo., and organizers
plan on playing a 32-hour game. Denny
Matthews will call the play-by-play.
OK, I made the last part up, too.
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