Timing is Everything, Even in Football

Did he cross? Didn't he cross? Who recovered? Was it Pig Ben? Was it Ikaika Alama-Francis? Was it Jesus?

By now, everybody knows that the line judge called it a touchdown in live action and blew the play dead as his arms went up. Tony Sparano challenged it and, it looked to me, like it was clearly a fumble. Then Gene Steratore, the head official, ruled that it was, in fact a fumble, but that there was no video evidence as to who recovered the ball. Thus, the ball was Pittsburgh's ball on about the 1 foot line and it was fourth down.

We've all been over the minutiae of the call. I'll admit it was one of the stranger calls I've seen, but just because it was strange doesn't mean it was wrong. Yet, I understand the Dolphins and their fans feeling that they got jobbed. I would probably be on their side if the timing were different. If that call was made with the clock showing 0:30 rather than 2:30, I'd feel like the Dolphins had no chance.

But that wasn't the case. The Dolphins got the ball back with 2:28 left in the game. They had one time out left, they would receive a kickoff from the worst kicker-offer in the entire NFL. And they were working against a Steelers defense decimated by injuries to key players, Aaron Smith and LaMarr Woodley.

So, what did they do? I'll let the official NFL gamebook do the talking:

J.Reed kicks 67 yards from PIT 30 to MIA 3. P.Cobbs to MIA 29 for 26 yards (R.Mundy; K.Lewis).

Miami Dolphins at 2:26, (1st play from scrimmage 2:19)

1-10-MIA 29 (2:19) R.Brown up the middle to MIA 31 for 2 yards (J.Harrison).

2-8-MIA 31 (2:03) (No Huddle, Shotgun) C.Henne pass incomplete short middle to A.Fasano.

Two-Minute Warning

3-8-MIA 31 (1:58) (Shotgun) C.Henne pass short left to L.Polite to MIA 33 for 2 yards (W.Gay).
4-6-MIA 33 (1:33) (No Huddle, Shotgun) C.Henne pass incomplete short right to R.Brown (J.Worilds).

Miami has a really good kicker who can hit figgies from 50 yards. They have one of the best, strongest receivers in the league in Brandon Marshall. They have an electric guy in Davone Bess. And they pick up 4 yards without even trying to get the ball to either one of those guys? You cannot be serious.

To say nothing of squandering two idiotic turnovers by the Steelers which gave the Dolphins the ball at the Steelers 22 and the Steelers 13, respectively, before even four minutes had elapsed in the game.

The Dolphins want to be considered an elite team. Then prove it. Elite teams take advantage of any breaks they get - turnovers, flukey bounces, weird calls. Nobody even remembers the Tuck Rule if the Patriots don't win the Super Bowl that year. Nobody remembers the Helmet Catch if the Giants don't go on to win that Super Bowl. The Dolphins didn't take advantage of two heinous turnovers to put the Steelers in a big hole early. Shame on them.

Elite teams also overcome some bad calls from time to time. Do you think Justin Beiber would have failed to move his team into field goal range? Would Manning the Greater? The Dolphins are good, but they've got a ways to go to be considered elite. You want to be elite? That's when you prove that you are. Even against a defense as good as the Steelers.

While I'm here, let's take a moment to revel in the Steelers' D's performance. The big knock on them last year was that they couldn't close out games, hold other teams down when they had the lead, in the 4th quarter. Well, they did just that on Sunday, on the road, in the heat, without the glue that holds the D together (Smith) and one of the most disruptive players in the league. For what it's worth, that was an impressive performance on the last defensive series.

Meanwhile, this guy just added another bullet point to his Hall of Fame resume. All alone at fourth all time for most consecutive games with a catch, and now in second place on the Steelers list with touchdowns, behind only the magnificent Franco Harris.

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup Means Good Eats

A few years ago, while traveling around Patagonia, I tried the local staple of pumpkin soup at just about every restaurant, from the most upscale to the combo convenience store/restaurant. It was wonderful stuff. The best was in El Chalten, Argentina and the chef/owner was Chippo. The wind had kicked up and the temperature was dropping outside. Chippo's wife brought a big bowl of this rich, creamy, rustic, delicious goodness. I was in love.

In our efforts to replicate it, we discovered that it works best to actually use butternut squash, rather than pumpkin. Beyond which, I'm not sure that the Argentines mean pumpkin in the "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" kinda way. At any rate, here's my version of Patagonian Pumpkin soup, also known as Roasted Butternut Squash Soup, just in time for Halloween.

You will need:
two butternut squashes, peeled, seeded and cubed
two small to medium sized sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
two carrots, peeled and cubed
1 or 2 cloves of garlic, smashed
handful of thyme sprigs
3 cups chicken stock (preferably homemade, but you can use a box or two of supermarket stock if you're not in the habit of making stock) [also, you can use more or less stock, depending on how thick or thin you prefer your soups]
1/4 pint of heavy cream (you don't need much cream, just a touch to really finish it)

The Prep:
The prep on this is really easy. Clean and dice all the veg, toss them with olive oil, the smashed garlic and the thyme sprigs. Spread out on cookie sheets. You want to have just one layer, so I usually have to use two cookie sheets. Add salt and pepper and roast at 350 degrees for about an hour. Check it after 45 minutes - it can roast faster depending on the size of your dice. You want it to be the veg to be really soft. If they're not, give it another 5 or 10 minutes.

The finish:
Run the roasted veggies through the food processor and then add to simmering chicken stock. You're almost done. I usually run the soup through the blender one more time. The food processor doesn't get the soup creamy enough and you don't want this to be chunky at all -- you're after a really creamy, smooth texture. So, it's a little messy and kinda time consuming to blend unless you have an immersion blender (food gadget lust), but it's worth it. I think that changing the texture alters the flavor, taking it from delicious to sublime.

Once blended, check for salt, stir in about 1/4 pint of heavy cream and let it simmer for another 10 minutes before serving.

It's a simple, elegant soup. I like it with some really good, crusty bread. Today, for the Steelers-Dolphins tilt, I'm serving it with bread from Breadworks.

Today's Growler: Church Brew Works Octoberfest. Easy. Easy like Sunday mornin', yeaaahh.