First off, despite my cheesy title, I want to say big ups to Neil for his devotion to the Lions. You have to be a serious fan to follow that kind of train wreck on a regular basis so, all kidding aside, you have my respect and appreciation.
Now on to the game. I watched part of the first half at the house and listened to the rest on the radio while driving to the in-laws. I truly think that, if the Lions were a BCS team, they would probably be ranked somewhere below Vanderbilt. There was no run blocking to speak of...but I won't go on about them.
The Titans had a few things they needed to take care of after their loss to the Jets. They had to re-establish a ground game that dominated at the line. They did that, but with the caveat that they were playing the Lions. They had to get the secondary back on track. They did that, but with the caveat that they were playing the Lions. They had to get Vince Young (Peace Be With Him) back into the swing of things because, let's face it, at some point Kerry Collins is going to revert back to the average player that he was before this season. They did that. I heard that Vince didn't look that great, but at least it was a set of active snaps, albeit against the Lions.
The Titans can leave the game with some restored confidence, but not too much. The long week off will help as they prepare for the Browns, who are a much better team than their record indicates. They have their fourth bye week after that when they play the Texans, followed up by the Steelers and the Colts. It is completely possible that the Titans will end up 15-1, but a 14-2 is more likely with 13-3 a worst case scenario. I myself would prefer to lose to the Steelers as a wake-up call before they reach the playoffs, but we'll see.
In other news, Frank Wycheck is still the worst color commentator in the NFL.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
I Hate Being Right All The Goddamn Time
My Patriots (note the "my") got their asses handed to them tonight by a team that's a legitimate contender for an NFL title. They play together, they have an extremely tough defense, they have weapons on offense and a quarterback that's been there and done that. They also are sick of getting beaten by the Patriots all the time in big games so they were supremely motivated to win this game. The Patriots were picked by a surprising amount of football analysts to win this game. I knew that it wasn't gonna happen but I could hope that I'd be wrong.
In the end, the Patriots defense couldn't get off the field and stop the Steelers. When they had the ball they couldn't get the big play or get a touchdown in the Red Zone (sound familiar?), meanwhile every time their opponent gets in the Red Zone they come away with a score (33 straight times at last count, I think). If you can't consistently stop anyone on defense and you can't score touchdowns inside the 20 instead of settling for field goals and you're team is loaded with backups and free agent band aids due to key injuries then you're not going to win regularly.
The Pittsburgh Steelers won 33 to 10 in Gillette Stadium (makes it 10x worse) and the Patriots were dominated on both ends of the field. They committed 5 turnovers and the Steelers had posession of the ball for 10 mintes more than they did on offense. Don't forget about the drops, the sacks and the missed field goal. Fuck!
I KNOW football, and I repeat: I know when I'm looking at a team with a legitimate chance to win an NFL championship (2001-02 Patriots) versus when I'm just seeing a mediocre team overachieving (2007-08 Patriots). The Patriots will be the latter provided they get back to winning due to the facts they've lost 2 of their last 3 games and the road to the playoffs is now completely covered in snow. Damn, I hate being right sometimes!One.
Thanksgiving and Other Bullshit
Rod Marinelli made a big deal before the Thanksgiving day game about how this was the Lions opportunity to show the world something and that they craved the spotlight because it was...you know, to tell you the truth I'm not sure because it was then that Marinelli rambled on about Twinkies and creamy middles and all that ridiculous bullshit. But, in the end the Lions did show the world something, that they were a team that was even worse than most people thought. They are a franchise in freefall, which is sort of ridiculous because it has seemed that way for almost an entire decade, and if we are brutally honest, for the last half century. Which begs the question how much farther can they fall? No matter how deep the descent there are always deeper places, sadder places, unfathomably horrible places for this team to sink. Thursday's game was just another bottom in a history littered with bottoms, and if that history teaches us anything it is that there will be many more bottoms to come. Which is frightening, but that is our reality and so we must face it.
Look, at the end of the day the Lions are the Lions and not a lot is going to change that and what it means, especially not in the near future. But what can change in the immediate future is this Lions tradition of just standing pat and saying "Well, we just need to give it some time." Well, guess what assholes? YOU'VE HAD FIFTY MOTHERFUCKING YEARS. There needs to be some level of accountability here, someone who says "You know what? This shit is beyond broken and we can't fix it from within." It needs somebody who understands that what's needed is a total house cleaning, not just a change in philosophies, but a complete and total reinvention of the franchise from the top on down. We need new leadership in every single area. We need front office people who know how to win, we need coaches who know what they are doing from day one, not positional coaches who might grow into the job because they have the right attitude, whatever the fuck that bullshit is. We need players who don't give a fuck that the Lions are losers, because they are winners and they won't be part of a team that stumbles and bumbles its way through a season. We need more than a change, we need a cleansing, and then when everything is torn down and ruined and broken, we can start over and build something, anything, other than what is there now, because what is there now is broken beyond repair and will never, ever be anything more than a shambling mess.
The Titans killed the Lions. Just fucking killed them. You know it. You all saw it. There's not a lot of need to break down the particulars. That game stands as its own statement, its own snapshot of everything that is the Detroit Lions. It's sad, and it's frustrating but it's also undeniably true. What do you do when that is your team? How do you come back next week for more? Well, you just do, because the funny thing about sports is this: you never really do know. You just don't. You may be right 99% of the time but then that 1% of the time happens and it is exciting as hell. It makes you feel giddy and makes you want to say fuck you to everyone who isn't a fan of your team. The best times are when that happens over the course of a season, like I experienced with the Tigers a couple of years ago. In those seasons, you look back and remember how you thought things would never change and now that they have you just sit back and smile and take the whole thing in. And when they start to fade again you remember what that felt like and you remember that next year is always different, that next week is always different. You never know when things are going to change, when that game will come when it all starts to turn around. You could be 0-12 or you could be 7-4, you could be a perennial loser or you could be a championship team on its last legs. You never know. The Lions could pull some weird shit out next week, fire everybody, finally get their shit together as an organization and stomp the shit out of someone and we'll all be going "Holy shit, where did that come from?" Or they could lose again. And again. Which they likely will, but fuck it man, that's all just the nature of the beast. The good with the bad. That's sports fandom. One makes the other. Otherwise its just hollow bullshit.
I know this a rambling mess of a post, but in between people quitting on their teams and my own team getting the shit stomped out of them, I just want everyone to look at their teams and ask themselves why they care? I mean, there is no good reason in the world to give the slightest fuck about sports. But if you're reading this you do anyway. It's not logical, it's not rational, it just is what it is, and I know that I can't walk away from that. No matter what. Shit happens, people get hurt, people get traded, people are disappointments, but at the end of the day you never know what's going to happen tomorrow. You may think you know, but who the fuck wants to be right? Not to get too hokey, but sports is about the journey man, it's about caring when your team wins because you've been there to see the shit get kicked out of them, and it's about caring when they fall back to earth because you are proud that they are your team and about what they did when they were on top. You suffer through the shit to get back to the top and on the way back down you never stop fighting to get back up there. Sports are dumb as shit, and sports fandom is even dumber, but fuck it, if you're a fan be a fucking fan. Stay there and bitch and moan and get mad about your team. Yell about the coaches, bitch about the owners, but don't just walk away from it and pretend it's not there just because you don't like what's going on. Because when they do start winning again you'll find that you don't identify with them anymore because you won't know them, and when that happens you'll just find yourself shrugging and halfheartedly trying to make yourself care again while everyone else around you is going nuts.
Look, I have barely seen the Lions do anything in my lifetime, but there have been flashes that I remember. I remember the Lions murdering the Cowboys to get their one and only playoff win of the last fifty years. I remember Barry Sanders going apeshit on Monday Night Football. And I know how fun it can be when that happens. I'm not going to quit on the Lions because I know that someday that shit could happen again. I don't see a clear path to that happening, and much of what I write and bitch about is because of that. I don't know how it's going to happen. I don't see it and that is depressing as hell, but it could happen and that's all that matters, even if the odds are ridiculously small. And that's what will always keep me coming back for more.
Look, at the end of the day the Lions are the Lions and not a lot is going to change that and what it means, especially not in the near future. But what can change in the immediate future is this Lions tradition of just standing pat and saying "Well, we just need to give it some time." Well, guess what assholes? YOU'VE HAD FIFTY MOTHERFUCKING YEARS. There needs to be some level of accountability here, someone who says "You know what? This shit is beyond broken and we can't fix it from within." It needs somebody who understands that what's needed is a total house cleaning, not just a change in philosophies, but a complete and total reinvention of the franchise from the top on down. We need new leadership in every single area. We need front office people who know how to win, we need coaches who know what they are doing from day one, not positional coaches who might grow into the job because they have the right attitude, whatever the fuck that bullshit is. We need players who don't give a fuck that the Lions are losers, because they are winners and they won't be part of a team that stumbles and bumbles its way through a season. We need more than a change, we need a cleansing, and then when everything is torn down and ruined and broken, we can start over and build something, anything, other than what is there now, because what is there now is broken beyond repair and will never, ever be anything more than a shambling mess.
The Titans killed the Lions. Just fucking killed them. You know it. You all saw it. There's not a lot of need to break down the particulars. That game stands as its own statement, its own snapshot of everything that is the Detroit Lions. It's sad, and it's frustrating but it's also undeniably true. What do you do when that is your team? How do you come back next week for more? Well, you just do, because the funny thing about sports is this: you never really do know. You just don't. You may be right 99% of the time but then that 1% of the time happens and it is exciting as hell. It makes you feel giddy and makes you want to say fuck you to everyone who isn't a fan of your team. The best times are when that happens over the course of a season, like I experienced with the Tigers a couple of years ago. In those seasons, you look back and remember how you thought things would never change and now that they have you just sit back and smile and take the whole thing in. And when they start to fade again you remember what that felt like and you remember that next year is always different, that next week is always different. You never know when things are going to change, when that game will come when it all starts to turn around. You could be 0-12 or you could be 7-4, you could be a perennial loser or you could be a championship team on its last legs. You never know. The Lions could pull some weird shit out next week, fire everybody, finally get their shit together as an organization and stomp the shit out of someone and we'll all be going "Holy shit, where did that come from?" Or they could lose again. And again. Which they likely will, but fuck it man, that's all just the nature of the beast. The good with the bad. That's sports fandom. One makes the other. Otherwise its just hollow bullshit.
I know this a rambling mess of a post, but in between people quitting on their teams and my own team getting the shit stomped out of them, I just want everyone to look at their teams and ask themselves why they care? I mean, there is no good reason in the world to give the slightest fuck about sports. But if you're reading this you do anyway. It's not logical, it's not rational, it just is what it is, and I know that I can't walk away from that. No matter what. Shit happens, people get hurt, people get traded, people are disappointments, but at the end of the day you never know what's going to happen tomorrow. You may think you know, but who the fuck wants to be right? Not to get too hokey, but sports is about the journey man, it's about caring when your team wins because you've been there to see the shit get kicked out of them, and it's about caring when they fall back to earth because you are proud that they are your team and about what they did when they were on top. You suffer through the shit to get back to the top and on the way back down you never stop fighting to get back up there. Sports are dumb as shit, and sports fandom is even dumber, but fuck it, if you're a fan be a fucking fan. Stay there and bitch and moan and get mad about your team. Yell about the coaches, bitch about the owners, but don't just walk away from it and pretend it's not there just because you don't like what's going on. Because when they do start winning again you'll find that you don't identify with them anymore because you won't know them, and when that happens you'll just find yourself shrugging and halfheartedly trying to make yourself care again while everyone else around you is going nuts.
Look, I have barely seen the Lions do anything in my lifetime, but there have been flashes that I remember. I remember the Lions murdering the Cowboys to get their one and only playoff win of the last fifty years. I remember Barry Sanders going apeshit on Monday Night Football. And I know how fun it can be when that happens. I'm not going to quit on the Lions because I know that someday that shit could happen again. I don't see a clear path to that happening, and much of what I write and bitch about is because of that. I don't know how it's going to happen. I don't see it and that is depressing as hell, but it could happen and that's all that matters, even if the odds are ridiculously small. And that's what will always keep me coming back for more.
Saturday, November 29, 2008
The One Where The Guy From Boston Makes Himself Seem Like An Even Bigger Asshole*
Apparently, I'm some whiny douchebag for complaining about my team being mediocre when they've been world beaters for most of the 00's? I don't see it. Sure, I can understand why someone who's a Browns, Lions, Raiders or a Bengals fan could think that I'm an asshole after hearing me complain about a team that'll probably win 10 games and make the playoffs. What I can't understand is them thinking that I'm not justified in doing so given the Patriots recent history. Sure Matt Cassell has thrown for 400 yards in back to back games, but they LOST one of those games in overtime to the Jets so big fuckin' deal.
The Patriots beat up on the Dolphins 48-28 last week and Matt Cassell had an excellent game for himself. The question is can he do it tomorrow when it really counts against a quality opponent? The Patriots defense is still getting it done with smoke and mirrors and the running game consists of Sammy Morris and cats from the end of the bench and the practice squad. Getting 10 wins and eeking out a playoff win in a season under those conditions is commendable...too bad this is all following a season where the Patriots went 16-0 and lost the Super Bowl on a last second touchdown leading this campaign to be all about redemption and a last shot at the Super Bowl title until the star quaterback suffered a season ending injury at the beginning of the season!
The Patriots have been 93-30 since the 2001 Super Bowl season including record setting winning streaks of 18 regular season wins (and 21 overall) from 2003-2004 and a record shattering 21 regular season wins from 2006-2008 (Sept. 21 vs. Miami) so excuse me if I don't get excited about my team being 7-4 considering Matt Cassell still doesn't feel comfortable throwing touchdowns in the Red Zone (13 TD's 8 INT's). The last time the Pats went 10-6 was 2005 and that season was widely regarded as a failure here in Boston. After that season, they went 12-4 and then 16-0 so while I've seen my Pats lose 4 times in 11 games this year, it took me two full seasons to seem them lose that much previously.
Look, I know football. I've seen great teams play before and I've seen mediocre ones that are overachieving. These Patriots are the latter. They are a team full of pride filled vets and some young talent that are putting up one hell of a fight but the inevitable truth is that they will run into a healthy contender and get their asses kicked. If the Patriots manage to pull this game off and Matt Cassell starts finding recievers inside the 20 for 6 rather than settling for field goals and the secondary somehow magically grows a few inches and improves their ball skills overnight then who knows? That doesn't change the fact that '08-'09 was all about the championship ring after the disappointing Super Bowl loss to the Giants.
That's how it is for the Red Sox (reload mode after losing 4-3 in the ALCS), that's how it is for the Celtics (15-2), that's how it is for the Patriots and now even the Boston Bruins (15-4-4). Strive for perfection...isn't that the mindset that every sports franchise wants their teams and fanbases to have rather than disgust and apathy? Why does that make me a whiny asshole/douchebag for pointing out the painfully obvious? Check me out @ Poisonous Paragraphs during the week.*The title of this blog is a veiled reference to the the names of the scripts/episodes of the popular NBC sitcom "Friends".
One.
Friday, November 28, 2008
Let us now give thanks
You know, things could be worse. Not much worse, I guess. But hey, at least we have three in the W column now, two of which are against probable playoff teams. After watching the Hell that poor, dear Neil goes through each week and the absolute pathetic display of bandwagon ditching that Dart Adams is pulling right now, I really have no reason to complain. Yes, my team sucks, but there are others who suck worse and you sure as shit won't see me turning my nose up at a potential playoff team rallying around an unknown backup QB simply because WE'RE ALL ABOUT THE RINGS or some other nonsensical bullshit that front running dick riders like to sell themselves on to cover up the fact that they suck as sports fans. But I digress...
Yesterday we celebrated Thanksgiving here in the U.S. and after watching the Lions get their shit pushed in on national TV I came to the conclusion that I have so much to be thankful for. Here are but a few of the countless blessings I have as a Raiders fan...
- I am thankful for Johnnie Lee Higgins. After being a horrid pile of shit his rookie year he is coming on strong and is the only real, legit playmaker this team has, scoring punt return TDs in back to back games. I can't remember the last time the Raiders return team had be on the edge of my seat. Of course, being that they are the Raiders, they seemingly can't find a way to get the ball into his hands on offense. That would make too much sense. His touchdown against Buffalo showed that he can make the big play, and the only thing Jamarcus really has shown that he is capable of doing consistently is throwing the ball really far. Seems like it could work. Oh well.
- I am thankful that Jamarcus Russell has shown some glimpses of being a decent NFL QB and that the dog shit O-line hasn't gotten him killed yet. It is way too early to start calling him a bust, but after watching Matt Ryan and Joe Flacco (two guys with even less experience than Jamarcus) lead their teams to winning records it does get easy to get a little antsy. Don't get me wrong, there have been times where Jamarcus has been beyond bad. Like Danny Wuerfful-level bad. He makes terrible decisions and overthrows too many wide open receivers. Yet there have been a few times where he'll make a play and I can start to see why they drafted him. Who knows? Add a couple decent WRs and he might make some noise next year.
- I am thankful for Kirk Morrison and Thomas Howard. I am lucky enough to get to watch two of the best linebackers in the league each week. I know Howard's numbers are down this year, but that sort of happens when you get 6 picks in a season. He is an absolute freak of nature and is starting to come into his own. I've said it before and I'll say it again: Kirk Morrison is the heart and soul of this defense. Granted, this defense sucks ass, but without Kirk they would be even worse. It's nice knowing that regardless of whether or not the rest of the team gives up, I can always count on these two to go out there and play their asses off.
- I am thankful for Nmandi Asomugha. Shutdown corners are few and far between and Al Davis better get off his fucking wallet this off season and lock Nmandi up long term. We're going to just pretend the whole Deangelo Hall thingie never happened. That money should have gone to Nmandi.
- I am thankful that Tom Cable will likely be back coaching the O-line next year, where he belongs.
- I am thankful that Jim Fassel has shown interest in the Raiders head coaching gig. Why would I be thankful for this? Because it means that an ACTUAL NFL head coach with ACTUAL head coaching experience who has achieved a small amount of ACTUAL success is interested in the worst head coaching job in professional sports. Fassel may not be the second coming of Lombardi, but he's probably the only ACTUAL head coach with low enough self esteem to work for Al Davis. Beggars can't be choosers, yo.
So yeah, that sums it up. Shit may look bad, but it can always be worse.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Thanksgiving with the Lions
The Lions have lost the last four games on Thanksgiving by an average of 20 points, and have lost by double digits in all four of those games. So I think we pretty much know what we're in store for this Thanksgiving, especially since the 0-11 Lions are playing the 10-1 Tennessee Titans.
Every year around this time I cringe because I know what's coming: the Lions will be embarrassed with everyone watching them and in the days leading up to that inevitable defeat there will be hoards of talking heads and braying jackasses on ESPN, on blogs and in newspaper columns screaming about how the Lions shouldn't be automatically given the early Thanksgiving game every year. Which to me is just unspeakably cruel. I mean, come on, what else do Lions fans have? Jesus, you people are fucking animals. We have the shittiest franchise year in and year out in the NFL, virtually every one of our can't miss prospects ends up either being too shitty for even the Lions, playing for somebody else after tanking it with the Lions, or sitting at home smoking weed and playing X-Box after, well, doing the same thing with the Lions. Hello, Charles Rogers! We have one playoff win in the last fifty years and our greatest run of sustained success during that time period came with Wayne Fontes as the head coach and Scott Mitchell as the quarterback. Our offensive line has been in shambles ever since our two best players on the line were paralyzed or killed by a runaway car, and that was more than fifteen years ago! We have a head coach who speaks in nonsensical gibberish, raving this week about twinkies and soft creamy middles after a reporter asked him a question about wanting the spotlight. Perhaps there is a .0000000000000000001% chance that old Rod is some sort of idiot savant, and inside of his seemingly inane babble there lies a gem of stunning genius, but I doubt it. Instead, I think I am pretty safe in making the assumption that Marinelli just forgot where he was and who he was talking to and began rambling about twinkies because Old Man Ford told him that if he held his shit together without pissing and shitting himself during a game he would give him all the twinkies he could handle.
So that's what we are stuck with as Lions fans, that is the twisted, fucked up saga we follow year after year after miserable year and still you want to take away our Thanksgiving game, the one thing that we have to actually be somewhat proud of, the only thing that represents even a whisper of tradition for us. You vicious assholes.
Look, we all know that the Lions are going to lose tomorrow. They just will, and they will likely lose by a lot. But that's hardly the point. You take this away from us and what do we have? Not one damn thing. We're just a free floating disaster of a franchise, rooted in nothing but our own misery and decay. Maybe we were worth something once, back when dudes all still wore hats to work and James Dean was the hot shit, but fuck, that was fifty years ago, and with every year that passes that all seems like something out of some musty old library or museum, barely remembered yellowed news stories buried in the archives. They aren't alive, they don't resonate in any way with us today. They might as well have happened in Narnia or Middle Earth or some other bullshit fairy land. But the Thanksgiving game is the one thing that's still there, the one thing that reminds us that somewhere buried beneath all the shit there's a franchise that still means something. Even if we don't know what it is, even if we can't touch it, can't feel it, can't understand it, it still means something. It's all we have left.
Anyway, as for the actual game, expect the Titans to run right over the Lions defense with both Chris Johnson and LenDale White. The Lions have been especially woeful against the run lately, and the Titans should be able to march right through them with stunning ease and efficiency. Throw in a couple of Kerry Collins touchdown passes following blown coverages by the Lions shitty linebackers and defensive backs and you have the recipe for a Titans scoring binge that the Lions won't be able to even come close to keeping up with.
Offensively, I expect the Lions to struggle even more than they have the last few weeks. The Titans front four, led by Albert Haynesworth and Kyle Vandenbosch, should be able to completely suffocate the Lions run game, leaving the offense in the hands of Daunte Culpepper again, and if Daunte has proven anything since his return it is that given the opportunity he will fuck up and fuck up badly. I expect that Calvin Johnson will be able to get deep for a big play maybe once, but Daunte will throw a couple of picks, probably fumble it at least once, and everyone will go home knowing exactly what they knew before the game: that the Lions are terrible and they are going to be terrible for the rest of the season and that there are no answers on this team or on the sidelines or in the front office. And the more I think about it, the more I realize I was wrong. We don't have just the one tradition left. We have two: Thanksgiving and the Lions being a shambling wreck of a team. If we have to put up with the latter, at least let us keep the former. Oh well, happy Thanksgiving, or Happy Thursday if you are Canadian or European or Martian or whatever.
Predicted Final Score: Titans 38, Lions 14
Monday, November 24, 2008
I Wish I Could Say I was Surprised, But...
17-0. The Lions finally broke through and beat the...oh shit, they lost? Again? 38-20? Oh for fuck's sake.
Only the Lions could lead a team 17-0, gain favorable field position on more than one occasion due to fumbles and mistakes by the other team and still end up losing by 18 points. I mean, every week it is something else, something ridiculous and horrible and unfair and this week it was the Lions looking like they not only were going to win but might actually run away with it only to end up being left naked and beaten on the side of the road, confused and afraid. Again.
The game featured a little bit of everything that has happened this season, from Calvin Johnson looking like a completely unstoppable superbeast to Calvin being inexplicably ignored for long stretches of the game causing even the dumbass announcers to start openly deriding the Lions for not getting him the fucking ball. There was the usual flash of hope which was, as always, overwhelmed in a sea of failure and ineptitude. There was Kevin Smith running the ball effectively only to be taken out of the game plan because once again the Lions had to play catch up. There was Daunte Culpepper making a couple of big throws only to fall apart and throw retarded interceptions later in the game. There was a defense which attacked at times and utterly disappeared at others. There were big plays from the other team which the Lions could never counter, and there was the sight of yet another 108 year old running back effortlessly gliding through the Lions defense. There was Rod Marinelli excited on the sideline and then angry and then depressed and then confused. There was Drew Stanton bounding onto the field just in time to get horribly concussed. And finally, there was the score at the end of the game and there was another Lions loss and there was me laughing and there was me shaking my head and there was me turning off the TV and saying fuck this shit.
Thursday the Lions play again in their annual Thanksgiving game and I will watch again and I will hope that they don't lose and I will start to get irrationally hopeful when it looks like they might have something going and then the game will be over and the Lions will have lost and then it will be on to the next week and then the next week and then the one after that and then the season will be over and every goddamn week the story will be the same. 0-16. We are only five games away and this really does seem like just the team to do it, doesn't it?
Friday, November 21, 2008
Just End The Season 2: Electric Boogaloo
The Patriots are 6-4 and in 3rd place in the AFC East. Do you know the last time the New England Patriots were 6-4? Probably 2002. The Patriots can't defend a kick return properly. Their RB and CB corps have been decimated. Adalius Thomas is out for the season. Their starting QB is out for more than just this season. They can't even threaten opposing defenses with the deep ball to one of the greatest offensive weapons in NFL history and to top it all off they can't throw touchdowns in the Red Zone. WTF? Is this America? We have a Black president, a man had a baby and is pregnant with another one and the Titans (sans Vince "Nervous Breakdown" Young) are undefeated. Is this an alternate universe or some shit?The Patriots play the once thought to be terrible Miami Dolphins for a shot at the AFC East lead. Who fuckin' cares? This is Boston. You either go to the Super Bowl and win the NFL Championship or fuck you very much. The Red Sox are about winning the 'chip. The Celtics are all about winning the 'chip. The Patriots? Who even cares? They want to limp to a 10 game win season and maybe eek out a playoff game win. Fuck that! This season was supposed to be about redemption and all we got was disappointment and complete mediocrity. This was the last season of the NFL Championship window and now it's gone.
Fuck Belichick's record after bye weeks. If you don't have the talent on the field or personnel to execute your game plan then does it even matter what you plan since it can't properly be put into action? Maybe you should've decided to pay someone besides just Tom Brady, huh? I hope this season just ends as soon as possible so I can focus on basketball season. Don't expect me back around here until the playoffs to write snarky posts. Read my thoughts about shit I actually enjoy writing about over @ Poisonous Paragraphs.
*Pees on the 2008-09 NFL schedule*
One.
You Mean They Still Have to Keep Playing?
It seems cruel to keep making the Lions play the games at this point. Just give the other team the win and let these dipshits stay home and go to shitty costume parties and steal each others drawers or whatever the fuck it is that they do. But no, the Lions have too much of that so called professional pride, enough to show up every week anyway, but apparently not enough to actually pull their shit together and win at least one damn game.
This week the Lions have Tampa Bay, which should be interesting if only because roughly half the Lions roster, their head coach, their defensive coordinator and even their new general manager, Martin Mayhew, are all former Bucs in one way or another. Which if you think about it is just sad. It really paints a picture of a lot of what has gone wrong for the Lions this season - aside from the mistakes and disasters of He Who Shall Not be Named that is. Rod Marinelli is so in love with his old franchise, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, that he has focused all his efforts on emulating them as much as possible, down to bringing in all of their old castoffs and leftovers, in terms of both coaches and personnel. Real coaches, real winners, don't slavishly follow along in the wake of more successful people and teams, hoping to somehow emulate whatever success they may have had. No, they do it on their own. They figure out what works, and what doesn't, and they add their own wrinkles to it, and their own players, ones that they have developed, not plucked from the dumpster of the more successful team. They take those new players and they take their own ideas, and they take those wrinkles that they got from the old and they blend it all together until finally they have something new, something that's theirs, and not some pale copy of a smarter and better coach. And that's one of the key reasons why we are here today, at 0-10, soon to be 0-11. Instead of figuring out how to win and how to inject his own thoughts and ideas into his team, Rod Marinelli is content to just try to make the Lions look as much like the Bucs as possible, and all that has gotten him and all that will continue to get him, is a team that looks and plays like the Junior Varsity version of the Bucs. Hell, it wouldn't surprise me if we found out that Marinelli just spends every night sitting at home, alone in only his diaper, watching on an endless loop the footage of the Bucs Super Bowl win, alternating between masturbating and crying until he drifts off to sleep.
Of course, on the other side, the Bucs have a Lions castoff of their own. Jeff Garcia sucked when he was the Lions, and at the time everyone thought that it was just the dénouement to what had been a fine career, the quiet final passage in a tale that was ready to come to a close. But no, it turns out that Garcia was still capable of being a productive NFL quarterback for a playoff caliber team, it was just that shit was so fucked up in Detroit that he, along with everybody else, looked like they were either 100 years old or in way over their heads. Sounds familiar, right? I am sure there will be many more Garcias to come in the upcoming years, guys who seemed like they were done or couldn't hack it in Detroit but who magically come alive elsewhere. But, for this weekend anyway, the only one who really matters is Garcia. I figure it is not only possible, but also extremely likely, that Garcia will have one of those days where he goes something like 35 of 40 for 350 yards and a few TD's. Mostly, it will be one of those dink and dunk fests that the Lions will flail about hopelessly trying to defend, and when the game is over everyone in Detroit will be wondering the same thing: where the fuck was this guy when he was with Detroit? But don't blame him. Blame the Lions, because it is clear that they have the opposite of the Midas Touch. I don't know, call it the Shit Touch.
Offensively, the Lions will likely be a little bit better this week if only because Daunte Culpepper has one more week in the system under his belt. That is not to say that the offense will be good, but there will again be stretches of competence. However, there will also probably be at least a few horrible, game altering mistakes, which coupled with Garcia's steady hand will likely be enough to give the Bucs the win. I know that they have an ancient, over the hill Warrick Dunn running the ball, but as the Lions have so often proved this season, especially the past couple of weeks, just about anyone who has at any time in their career been a legitimate NFL running back can and will run the ball all over their shitty defense. On the other hand, Kevin Smith looked pretty good at running back for the Lions last week against a pretty good defense, but I doubt that it will be enough to counter what the Bucs will be able to throw at the Lions pitiful defense.
The death march continues, I just hope Rod Marinelli has that Super Bowl game footage cued up for those lonely nights once he is unemployed and the Lions are on to their fiftieth fresh start or so of this decade. Perhaps he will be taken back into the arms of his beloved Tampa Bay Buccaneers. They can have him.
Predicted Final Score: Tampa Bay 31, Lions 21
Monday, November 17, 2008
The Detroit Death March
Every time it looks like the Lions are making progress, like they are finally capable of doing at least one thing right, ten other things happen that obliterate all that progress and just make it all seem like some cruel joke being played on Lions fans. Kevin Smith actually had a decent game running the ball and Daunte Culpepper looked pretty good for much of the first half. But then the defense, after a couple of early stops, remembered who they are and let the Panthers run wild on them, exactly the same way that Jacksonville did last week. And then Culpepper remembered that he was retired only a couple of weeks ago and shit the bed late in the fourth quarter.
This game was a weird combination of the last several the Lions have played. They managed to combine the games where they played over their heads, keeping them in it until the end, with the games where they got the shit kicked out of them. They played well in fits and starts, especially early, but as the game moved on, those little bouts of competence became stretched further and further apart and in the spaces between Carolina ran the ball all over them. It didn't matter who was in there, DeAngelo Williams or Jonathan Stewart, the Lions couldn't stop them, and when it came time for the Lions to answer back with a big play of their own Daunte Culpepper did the logical and very Lionesque thing to do and threw the ball right to a Carolina defensive back for a game killing interception. Welcome home Daunte, we're glad to have you, you're going to fit right in.
Of course, this season has become in exercise in absurdity and crushing disappointment and when Daunte threw that interception it was just the latest in a long line of farcical plays this season. If they put out a highlight DVD of this season, they might as well call it Faces of Death: Lions Edition, and it will be hidden in the back rooms of seedier video stores with all the porno flicks. Everyone who rents or buys one will walk out of the room with their head down, afraid and too ashamed to make eye contact with everyone else who wishes they would just get their perverted asses out of the store. I mean, what kind of a monster would want to relive this horror show of a season, this ongoing snuff film of a franchise? Shit, the last game of the season will probably end with Calvin Johnson getting choked to death on live television in a breath play accident while a diaper clad Rod Marinelli panics and tries to dispose of the body.
This shit is so beyond absurd that it has come around to being routine. Dudes running out the back of end zones without a care in the world, guys throwing bewildering interceptions at the worst times, Rod Marinelli pacing the sidelines with that WHAT THE FUCK JUST HAPPENED OH GOD I WISH I WAS STILL IN VIETNAM look on his face, Lions players giving morose interviews and quotes about how fucking bad they are, dudes publicly being excited for teammates when they manage to get the fuck out of town. It's all just routine at this point, weekly reminders that the Lions are so bad that the horrific and the nauseatingly bad are just mundane. These guys are fucking abominations and when the season ends they will officially have the worst eight year record in the history of the NFL. That says it all right there.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
A Tale of Two Halves
Will wonders never cease to be wonders. I actually got to watch the Titans play this week, thanks largely to living in the Jacksonville television market.
I relish the games when the Titans play the Jags. The teams have such a storied rivalry (well, as storied as you can have with an expansion team). The press conference in 1999 when Coach Fisher referred to Alltel Stadium as the Titans' second home field really started it off. The Jax folks have never forgotten that comment. Their radio coverage guys absolutely loathe the Titans with a level of disdain usually reserved for Klan members and pedophiles.
This game really showed how lucky the Titans are to be 10-0. During the first half, they looked absolutely terrible. Aside from a quick medium strike on the opening pass, the Titans offense was absolutely impotent. The Jags were all on top of Chris Johnson for most of his carries. LenDale White left due to a mystery injury. Kerry Collins looked as I expected Kerry Collins to look. The defense wasn't much better. Poor tackling dominated the first half. Chris Carr, who was stepping into the secondary for an injured teammate, was clearly out of his depth and the Jags knew it.
Of course, the Jags aren't very good. Actually they should rename the team "The Gator Alumni Team" since a number of their skill players were only drafted because they could sell tickets to the Gator Boosters that live in Jacksonville. Fred Taylor looked like a shadow of his former self. Maurice Jones-Drew isn't the same runner he was last year. A better team would have been up 21-3 at the end of the half because of Tennessee's surprisingly weak defensive performance. Instead, it was 7-3.
The second half showed what, I hope, are the real Titans. Collins was in command of the passing game. The line gave him plenty of protection. The Jags secondary couldn't catch up with Tennessee's receiver corps. The run game finally clicked. The Jags looked completely lost. Jack Del Rio, or Sledge Hammer as we refer to him in Gainesville, was absolutely livid. When you have a 1-4 home record in that town, I would be livid too.
The class play of the day was Justin Gage's celebration penalty. He scored a pretty average touchdown, he dropped to his knees facing away from the ref and put his hands on the head as if the ref was about to arrest him. The ref obliged by throwing the flag.
I relish the games when the Titans play the Jags. The teams have such a storied rivalry (well, as storied as you can have with an expansion team). The press conference in 1999 when Coach Fisher referred to Alltel Stadium as the Titans' second home field really started it off. The Jax folks have never forgotten that comment. Their radio coverage guys absolutely loathe the Titans with a level of disdain usually reserved for Klan members and pedophiles.
This game really showed how lucky the Titans are to be 10-0. During the first half, they looked absolutely terrible. Aside from a quick medium strike on the opening pass, the Titans offense was absolutely impotent. The Jags were all on top of Chris Johnson for most of his carries. LenDale White left due to a mystery injury. Kerry Collins looked as I expected Kerry Collins to look. The defense wasn't much better. Poor tackling dominated the first half. Chris Carr, who was stepping into the secondary for an injured teammate, was clearly out of his depth and the Jags knew it.
Of course, the Jags aren't very good. Actually they should rename the team "The Gator Alumni Team" since a number of their skill players were only drafted because they could sell tickets to the Gator Boosters that live in Jacksonville. Fred Taylor looked like a shadow of his former self. Maurice Jones-Drew isn't the same runner he was last year. A better team would have been up 21-3 at the end of the half because of Tennessee's surprisingly weak defensive performance. Instead, it was 7-3.
The second half showed what, I hope, are the real Titans. Collins was in command of the passing game. The line gave him plenty of protection. The Jags secondary couldn't catch up with Tennessee's receiver corps. The run game finally clicked. The Jags looked completely lost. Jack Del Rio, or Sledge Hammer as we refer to him in Gainesville, was absolutely livid. When you have a 1-4 home record in that town, I would be livid too.
The class play of the day was Justin Gage's celebration penalty. He scored a pretty average touchdown, he dropped to his knees facing away from the ref and put his hands on the head as if the ref was about to arrest him. The ref obliged by throwing the flag.
Friday, November 14, 2008
Can We Just Forfeit the Rest of the Season? Please?
Holy Lord. This game against Carolina looks like it has the serious potential to have Lions fans screaming HEAD FOR THE HILLS ONLY THE STRONG WILL SURVIVE, and that will likely be before halftime.
For starters, the Lions are going to go with Daunte Culpepper again this week. Now, I don't want to say that Daunte looked bad against the Jags last week, but the Lions would have been better off throwing Scott Bakula on the field like in Necessary Roughness. And I don't mean the character either, I mean the actual dude named Scott Bakula. At least it isn't Drew Stanton, although I am sure he will be thrown out there at some point too, just in time to hyperventilate and get murdered and ground into dust by Julius Peppers.
Speaking of Peppers, he should have a field day against the Lions. Not only is he going up against the Culpepper/Stanton Non-Dream Team, he will be lined up across from either Gosder Cherilus or my man Lennie Small. Okay, it will be Cherilus, I just haven't gotten a chance to mention Lennie in a while and it gave me an excuse. But anyway, back to the Peppers/Cherilus match up. This will probably be ugly. Cherilus is known as a better run blocker than pass blocker and this season he has looked about as much like a rookie as a rookie can look. I mean, for fuck's sake, he has even been pulled a time or two in favor of Lennie and as we all know, Lennie is legit retarded. About all Rod Marinelli would say this week about the match up was basically that at least it's later in the season, implying that if this were earlier in the year Peppers would get fourteen sacks and would strut off the field wearing Culpepper's or Stanton's head as a hat. Well thankfully, he will only get six or seven and instead of the head he will be forced to take just their arms which he will then proceed to use to beat them to death.
So, the offense has that going for them. How about the defense? Well, fuck it all, wouldn't you know that the defense is about to get the shit kicked out of them too? Dewayne White is hurt and out for this week. And while the defense has been bad with White in there, whenever he is out the defense goes from bad to apocalyptic. I half expect to see four horsemen glide effortlessly across the field sometime around the third quarter. Behold the pale rider, because these assholes are gonna die.
The Lions have been savaged by a host of inexperienced and/or shitty QB's this season, so of course I am filled with total dread that they are facing a veteran quarterback who has actually piloted his team to a Super Bowl in Jake Delhomme. And, yeah, I know that automatically doesn't mean he is any great shakes. I mean, Sexy Rexy over in Chicago did the same thing a couple of years back, but Delhomme is a hell of a lot better than the Sex Cannon, especially now that he is healthy, and Steve Smith will likely light the Lions secondary on fire on the receiving end of Delhomme's passes. Although, to be honest, I think it is about time Brian Kelly or Leigh Bodden or any of those worthless turds light themselves on fire like those Buddhist monks used to do in Vietnam.
Meanwhile, the Panthers pounding two headed running game will likely be able to walk right through the Lions shitty front seven all game long. The defensive line and linebackers are bad enough as it is, but besides Dewayne White being out, Ernie Sims and Cory Redding are also hobbled and while they should play, neither is 100%. Those are the only three players in the entire front seven worth a damn and with them the Lions are still hideously awful. Can you even imagine how bad it's going to be on Sunday. Jesus. This is going to be horrible.
Of course, the weekly tradition continues of the opposing team and coaches talking about how the Lions aren't really all that bad, just unlucky. This week it is Jake Delhomme giving us the old backhanded compliment. Thanks a lot Jake, it really means a lot. Just one of these weeks I want someone from the other team to be asked about the Lions and then to say something like "Shit, those loser assholes? They still have a team? We're gonna fuck them up so bad they'll have no choice but to just tear Ford Field down and declare it a crime scene. Fuck, I hope we don't get put on trial for war crimes, that's how bad it will be." Just be honest you assholes. This condescending pity party bullshit is just annoying as fuck. Oh well, maybe after the Lions get eviscerated this week that shit will stop. Then again, it will probably just get worse. The players will just start sounding dumber and dumber as they pretend to respect the Lions and the pre-game jackoffs will just get more and more annoying as they slit each other's throats to make the dumbest joke about how much the Lions suck dick. GOOD LORD WHEN WILL IT ALL END???
Predicted Final Score: OH, WHO FUCKING CARES?
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Shit's About to Get Dumb
What went wrong on Sunday? Everything. The offense was horrible, the defense was even worse, and there was even a blocked field goal in there just to make sure everyone knew that the Lions failure was total and team wide. From the second pass of the game by Daunte Culpepper, which resulted in an interception, to the Jags basically giving up in the fourth quarter, when they essentially decided to shower the Lions with pity instead of running the score up, it was clear that the Lions are still a long, long way from being truly competitive, a problem when you have yet to win a game and there are only seven left in the season.
So, all that's left is for me to ask the same goddamn question I've asked after every game in this horror show of a season: where do we go from here? It's clear that the Lions have hit the point where they are throwing everything against the wall and seeing what sticks. I mean, who else but a desperate madman would throw Daunte Culpepper out on the field after only three days of practice following an extended layoff due to his retirement? It's kind of astounding that he didn't pass out at halftime. About the only thing he could do was chuck it deep which worked one time on a bomb to Calvin Johnson which led to the Lions first score of the game, but that was it. He couldn't even manage little screen passes, or little roll out dump offs. His timing with the receivers was non-existent and it was clear that he was nowhere near ready. Unfortunately, the only other option was that asshole Drew Stanton.
Now I can't stand Drew Stanton. I think he's a wormy little prick. He looks like a date rapist, or like someone who gets too drunk and ends up getting a little too friendly with one of his frat brothers only to overcompensate for it the next morning by beating up some poor gay dude. I know I'm in the minority here among Lions fans who see Stanton as the plucky hometown underdog who can ignite the Lions with his scrappiness and heart and all that other bullshit that just means you're not good enough. I know everyone wants him to succeed, and maybe I will warm up to him later, but for now his being in the conversation at quarterback just depresses me. Of course, aside from my personal disdain(and okay I will admit it, my irrational disdain, but that is half the fun of being a sports fan, loving and hating rich dudes for no reason at all), there is also the fact that when he came in for Culpepper in the fourth quarter Stanton was not exactly a steadying influence. The dude was sacked five times and he looked like he was hyperventilating in the huddle. Not exactly inspiring.
But even if all the issues at quarterback were worked out and the Lions somehow were able to put someone out there who was on his way to Honolulu the team still would have lost because the defense...oh God the defense. The Jaguars were able to roll off one long, time consuming drive after another, just picking apart the Lions defense like it was some high school team they were scrimmaging against. Both Maurice Jones-Drew-Jones-Drew-Drew-Jones-Whatever and 400 year old Fred Taylor were able to run at will on the Lions shitty front seven and David Garrard was able to sit back and make plays like he was playing catch in the backyard. It was embarrassing and unfathomable how bad the defense looked. I mean, my God, you would think that they would have at least gotten lucky a couple of times, but no, they just flailed about like retards being taught the game for the first time, and the Jags rolled up 38 points in what was essentially three quarters. Had Jack Del Rio not taken pity on the Lions Jacksonville would have hit 50. It was that bad.
And so, where do we go from here? It is past the point of discussion about whether or not these assholes are horrible or not. They are and everyone knows it. Unfortunately the Lions won't even be able to suffer the rest of this apocalypse in relative anonymity, because with each game that they lose they will get more and more attention, and more and more pre-game shows will involve segments with a million jackasses crowing about the Lions being the first team ever to finish 0-16. We have been here before, in year one of the Millen era, and that was just horrible to sit through. If you'll remember that all culminated with Johnny Morton getting all bitchy and telling Jay Leno to kiss his ass on national television after the Lions finally won a game. That was just embarrassing and here we are, not even a decade later and it will only be worse this time. There are roughly a million shitty analysts now working for the networks, and each one of them is going to be falling all over themselves and each other to be able to make the shittiest joke about how bad the Lions are and all of them are going to have their dumbass opinions and blah, blah, blah, blah. It will be horrible and it will happen because the Lions aren't beating anybody. They just aren't. They gave it their best shot the last few weeks, couldn't get it done, and then the bottom fell out completely against Jacksonville. So far this season has been ugly and absurd. The next seven weeks are going to make that look like a Sunday picnic in the park. Shit's about to get dumb.
So, all that's left is for me to ask the same goddamn question I've asked after every game in this horror show of a season: where do we go from here? It's clear that the Lions have hit the point where they are throwing everything against the wall and seeing what sticks. I mean, who else but a desperate madman would throw Daunte Culpepper out on the field after only three days of practice following an extended layoff due to his retirement? It's kind of astounding that he didn't pass out at halftime. About the only thing he could do was chuck it deep which worked one time on a bomb to Calvin Johnson which led to the Lions first score of the game, but that was it. He couldn't even manage little screen passes, or little roll out dump offs. His timing with the receivers was non-existent and it was clear that he was nowhere near ready. Unfortunately, the only other option was that asshole Drew Stanton.
Now I can't stand Drew Stanton. I think he's a wormy little prick. He looks like a date rapist, or like someone who gets too drunk and ends up getting a little too friendly with one of his frat brothers only to overcompensate for it the next morning by beating up some poor gay dude. I know I'm in the minority here among Lions fans who see Stanton as the plucky hometown underdog who can ignite the Lions with his scrappiness and heart and all that other bullshit that just means you're not good enough. I know everyone wants him to succeed, and maybe I will warm up to him later, but for now his being in the conversation at quarterback just depresses me. Of course, aside from my personal disdain(and okay I will admit it, my irrational disdain, but that is half the fun of being a sports fan, loving and hating rich dudes for no reason at all), there is also the fact that when he came in for Culpepper in the fourth quarter Stanton was not exactly a steadying influence. The dude was sacked five times and he looked like he was hyperventilating in the huddle. Not exactly inspiring.
But even if all the issues at quarterback were worked out and the Lions somehow were able to put someone out there who was on his way to Honolulu the team still would have lost because the defense...oh God the defense. The Jaguars were able to roll off one long, time consuming drive after another, just picking apart the Lions defense like it was some high school team they were scrimmaging against. Both Maurice Jones-Drew-Jones-Drew-Drew-Jones-Whatever and 400 year old Fred Taylor were able to run at will on the Lions shitty front seven and David Garrard was able to sit back and make plays like he was playing catch in the backyard. It was embarrassing and unfathomable how bad the defense looked. I mean, my God, you would think that they would have at least gotten lucky a couple of times, but no, they just flailed about like retards being taught the game for the first time, and the Jags rolled up 38 points in what was essentially three quarters. Had Jack Del Rio not taken pity on the Lions Jacksonville would have hit 50. It was that bad.
And so, where do we go from here? It is past the point of discussion about whether or not these assholes are horrible or not. They are and everyone knows it. Unfortunately the Lions won't even be able to suffer the rest of this apocalypse in relative anonymity, because with each game that they lose they will get more and more attention, and more and more pre-game shows will involve segments with a million jackasses crowing about the Lions being the first team ever to finish 0-16. We have been here before, in year one of the Millen era, and that was just horrible to sit through. If you'll remember that all culminated with Johnny Morton getting all bitchy and telling Jay Leno to kiss his ass on national television after the Lions finally won a game. That was just embarrassing and here we are, not even a decade later and it will only be worse this time. There are roughly a million shitty analysts now working for the networks, and each one of them is going to be falling all over themselves and each other to be able to make the shittiest joke about how bad the Lions are and all of them are going to have their dumbass opinions and blah, blah, blah, blah. It will be horrible and it will happen because the Lions aren't beating anybody. They just aren't. They gave it their best shot the last few weeks, couldn't get it done, and then the bottom fell out completely against Jacksonville. So far this season has been ugly and absurd. The next seven weeks are going to make that look like a Sunday picnic in the park. Shit's about to get dumb.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Past the Point of No Return
"Slants don't beat you." That's what Lovie Smith said the other day, after his team got beaten by a team who can't pass very well. And just like the Buccaneers, the Falcons, and the goddamn motherfucking Indianapolis Colts of February 2007, they did it by throwing slants. But I suppose I should be used to that sort of thing by now. All last year, when the running game was falling flat on its ass, "we get off the bus running the football." When Rex Grossman was making a living by closing his eyes and hurling the ball almost vertically into the air, vaguely in the direction of a crowd of defenders, "Rex Grossman is still my quarterback." Once the season was basically lost, and it was clear that the guys who had been in the games to that point were utter bullshit, and that putting some of the guys who had been on the bench might be a good idea, if for no reason other than to see who to keep the next year? "We go with the players who give us the best chance to win." That's some Baghdad Bob shit right there.
Coach Smith is pretty much gone at this point. He was already too stubborn to ever admit that anything he ever does could possibly be wrong, and this was only complicated further when that fat new contract drove him insane with hubris. So here we are now, watching Ron Rivera work to fix what's been wrong with the Chargers' defense, while Lovie's Boy Bob Babich torpedoes the team with his diabolically psychotic need to stop the run by putting eight men in the box, even if it means leaving the other 90% of the field wide-ass open for Brian Griese and Dan
Orlovski to look goddamn Montana-esque in. We watch in horror as teams make easy adjustments in the second half, knowing that what the Bears do will not only be the exact same thing they did not just in the first half, but also in the previous eight entire games. We get to wonder what Brandon Lloyd to get in Lovie's infamous doghouse, to the point where even fully healthy as the team's only established receiver, he still has to sit on the sideline in street clothes. And we have to wonder if it was along the lines of what Mark Bradley did to get in the same doghouse to make him stay on the sideline for two years before finally getting cut, where's he's gone on to catch as many TDs for the Chiefs in three games as any Bears wideout has in nine games. It's become clear to me that either firing Lovie outright or someone putting their foot down and making him cut loose all of his old running dogs like Babich, Ron Turner, and Darryl Bu
t the thing is, it's pretty much far too late for anything to be done. A while back, I predicted that this would be some horrible downward spiral of a death-season for the Bears, and the more I think about it, I think that I subconsciously wanted that to happen. I remember telling someone after the Super Bowl that this was the first 13-3 conference champion to be headed into a rebuilding year. But the Bears' brain trust was too smugly satisfied to admit that Rex sucked or that the offensive line - being made up of old men and washed-up castoffs - rendered this a team built for nothing more than a one-year run, so they sat on their hands in the off season, with their only big move being trading Thomas Jones away for nothing, so they could start Turner's boy Cedric Benson. Then, a 7-9 year wasn't enough of a disaster to make anything change, and if they manage somehow to keep limping toward the playoffs this year, I'm in for another three to five years of pain. An apocalyptic 4-12 season was the only thing that could have ever fixed this team, and now, it's probably too late for anything like that to happen. And even then, this would be a massive reclamation project, which would be absolutely crippled under the weight of all the goddamn contracts they handed out like candy in the last year or so. And there were some real smooth moves in there, like Brian Urlacher getting an extension on a contract that would already end when he was in his seventies, inked after one of his worst years as a pro, or Tommie Harris getting Tommy Kelly money (lol Harpo) to play on the same legs and knees that left him unable to finish a season in two years. I think what I'm getting at here is that the 2008 Bears might finish with a winning record or even a division title, but as a whole, we are fuuuuuuucked, and in a roundabout way, it's because they might finish with a division title.The hurting never stops.
Heavens to Murgatroid!
I don't know why, even though he's on my team, I've always equated Martz with Snagglepuss. He's got this smug momma's boy demeanor on the sideline. His arrogance in taking a bajillion sacks for a chance at the longball, his wasting of timeouts, etc. makes me think he was one of those preppy kid in all those summer camp movies.
I've heard him speak in press conferences before and I know how he sounds, but everytime I read a quote from him he ends up sounding like this in my head.
So watching Samurai Mike yell down Snagglepuss Mike on electing to kick a field goal on a 4th-and-1 was one of the highlights of the game for me. It still doesn't help that we didn't win after mismanaging the clock to watch Michael Robinson get stuffed up the middle to the end the game.
I thought I saw a facemask on the play but it seemed like the referees were doing their best to fuck up the game for both sides so I was kind of whatever when I saw [NOT FRANK GORE] getting tackled in a play that had no chance.
What kept us in the game, however, was Snagglepuss's more balanced playcalling which was probably ordered by Singletary. Gore got got over 20 carries and it lessened the load for Shaun Hill who actually scrambled away from the rush and stayed compose when throwing the ball for most of the game (except when it mattered).
But for all of the goodwill I had given him for most of the game, the final minute is all on him. After the catch at the 2-yard line, he called for a spike but the team was in disarray trying to get lined up for a fucking snap. Inbetwen watching Jason Hill rdive for a near-TD and the 25-godawful seconds of watching the team try to line up properly for spike is pretty much the way the post-Debartolo era has been. And to make it even worse, almost in an outsmarting himself sort of way, he has fucking FRANK GORE LINED UP WIDE and calls an inside run with a special teams guy (and I love Robinson but my fucking God) for the final play of the game. They had two weeks to prepare and study video and the best money play was that. That play was like Martz giving the organization the middle finger for choosing Singletary over him: "So you want to run? I'll run that little morsel... right into Chike Okeafor even!"
This is the genius we signed up for. The man to help us bring the 49ers offense back to respectability. The guy who anointed the JT O'Sullivan as the QB to make us the "best offense in the history of the NFL".
And that's why we're 2-7.
Monday, November 10, 2008
Vinny Cerratto = Goofy
So in the scrap heap contract battle for DeAngelo Hall, the Redskins won, which was not surprising to me. And honestly, I don't have a problem with that. He's getting $500,000 for the rest of the year, and as outrageous as that sounds to me $25 per hour ass (which is also pretty good compared to many), it's a drop in the bucket compared to Al Davis giving him 8 mil for 8 games. DeAngelo is a Virginia Tech boy, so maybe the home cooking will get him righted in Washington, and he can be a competent third corner behind Carlos Rogers and Fred Smoot, allowing Shawn Springs, if he ever gets healthy, to fluctuate between corner and safety and help hold it all together.
But leave it to Vinny Cerratto to somehow still fuck this all up with his relentless retardation. The Skins, to make room for Hall, waived Leigh Torrance, the previous nickelback. Torrance is a third year player, was a decent enough third corner, although he's also the one who gave up that big pass to Donnie Avery, costing the Skins the Rams game, although he's also not the only one playing defense on that play, so I can't fault him entirely. But Torrance was a major player on special teams, and on top of that a great ambassador to the community. I don't really care about that so much, but when you have a pro football player who is smart and cares for people he doesn't even know, it's not a bad idea to keep them around for as long as they are useful, just to pull up the overall team public perception grade point average so to speak. Sitting well underneath Torrance on the depth chart is useless rookie cornerback Justin Tryon (4th round draft pick), who hasn't even really sniffed the field since he was regularly beat like the neighbor's dog in preseason action. Not to mention the fact the Redskins also have another thus far useless rookie in WR Malcolm Kelly, who has been inactive the entire season, having his knee drained like once a week, with the team holding out hope and not putting him on injured reserve, I guess hoping he'll make the field by the end of the year. Ridiculous.
When the Redskins cut veteran punter Derrick Frost in the preseason for rookie Durant Brooks, Frost, on his exit interviews, blasted the Skins and Cerratto for keeping all their draft picks, even if they didn't necessarily deserve it, to make it look like they had an better-than-ever draft. Of course, a few weeks later, the Redskins dug Ryan Plackemeier off the NFL punter scrap heap to replace a completely ineffective Durant Brooks. And really, other than like one reception by Devin Thomas and some good ball hawking plays by safety Chris Horton, this Redskin class of rookies has been completely unnoticeable.
I just found a book at my mom's house that I used to read to my oldest daughter when she was my middle daughter's age now, that I got again to read to the second kid. It's called The Princess Who Never Laughed, and it's a Disney book and has Goofy and his poor mom living in a kingdom where the King's daughter never laughs. They are broke, so Goofy goes in to the castle getting odd jobs to earn food or whatever, and he always fucks it up going home. His mom tells him how to fix it and he does exactly what she says, just fucking it up the next day. Like he drops all the eggs, so she says "put them in your hat." Next day, he gets a bucket of milk, and puts it in his hat, losing the milk. He pulls a fish on a string and carries a cow on his shoulders and all sorts of dumbass shit. The reason I bring this children's book up is because Vinny Cerratto is the football equivalent of Goofy. They have gotten high-profile free agents every year, and not gotten shit to show for it. It became obvious, from looking around the league at successful teams like the Patriots and Giants, that drafting was the way to go. So Goofy Cerratto drafted, and he's sticking to that new plan, even if it makes the team not as good as it could be. He will probably do this for a few years, and quality second-tier veterans will be cut so that useless fucking 23-year-olds can sit around on the bench, stoked that they're not on the practice squad like they should be. Eventually, it will get through to Cerratto that this is not the best path towards success either, and they'll start some new knee-jerk reactionary program that, if everything works out perfectly, will give me a just barely better-than-average team, hopefully in another NFL down year like this one, that I can mistakenly think might make some noise in the playoffs.
In the end of The Princess Who Never Laughed, Goofy makes the princess laugh for the first time ever with his incessant retardation, so the King invites him to live in the castle happily ever after. I am going to assume that the princess equals a Lombardi Trophy in this parallel, and Dan Snyder would be the King. Except Dan Snyder has already invited Cerratto to live in the castle, them having sleep overs with potential coaches for 18 hour interviews over peanut butter brownies and vanilla ice cream Dan Snyder's motherly house servant bakes in the commercial kitchen. So the princess doesn't even have to laugh in this version, which fucking sucks for me, the Redskins fan, who through a lifelong attachment of emotion to this team, has to pretend that this 6-3 team has a chance at being Super Bowl champion, when games like last Monday night's assault and battery by the Steelers expose that as nothing more than drunken delusions.
But leave it to Vinny Cerratto to somehow still fuck this all up with his relentless retardation. The Skins, to make room for Hall, waived Leigh Torrance, the previous nickelback. Torrance is a third year player, was a decent enough third corner, although he's also the one who gave up that big pass to Donnie Avery, costing the Skins the Rams game, although he's also not the only one playing defense on that play, so I can't fault him entirely. But Torrance was a major player on special teams, and on top of that a great ambassador to the community. I don't really care about that so much, but when you have a pro football player who is smart and cares for people he doesn't even know, it's not a bad idea to keep them around for as long as they are useful, just to pull up the overall team public perception grade point average so to speak. Sitting well underneath Torrance on the depth chart is useless rookie cornerback Justin Tryon (4th round draft pick), who hasn't even really sniffed the field since he was regularly beat like the neighbor's dog in preseason action. Not to mention the fact the Redskins also have another thus far useless rookie in WR Malcolm Kelly, who has been inactive the entire season, having his knee drained like once a week, with the team holding out hope and not putting him on injured reserve, I guess hoping he'll make the field by the end of the year. Ridiculous.
When the Redskins cut veteran punter Derrick Frost in the preseason for rookie Durant Brooks, Frost, on his exit interviews, blasted the Skins and Cerratto for keeping all their draft picks, even if they didn't necessarily deserve it, to make it look like they had an better-than-ever draft. Of course, a few weeks later, the Redskins dug Ryan Plackemeier off the NFL punter scrap heap to replace a completely ineffective Durant Brooks. And really, other than like one reception by Devin Thomas and some good ball hawking plays by safety Chris Horton, this Redskin class of rookies has been completely unnoticeable.
I just found a book at my mom's house that I used to read to my oldest daughter when she was my middle daughter's age now, that I got again to read to the second kid. It's called The Princess Who Never Laughed, and it's a Disney book and has Goofy and his poor mom living in a kingdom where the King's daughter never laughs. They are broke, so Goofy goes in to the castle getting odd jobs to earn food or whatever, and he always fucks it up going home. His mom tells him how to fix it and he does exactly what she says, just fucking it up the next day. Like he drops all the eggs, so she says "put them in your hat." Next day, he gets a bucket of milk, and puts it in his hat, losing the milk. He pulls a fish on a string and carries a cow on his shoulders and all sorts of dumbass shit. The reason I bring this children's book up is because Vinny Cerratto is the football equivalent of Goofy. They have gotten high-profile free agents every year, and not gotten shit to show for it. It became obvious, from looking around the league at successful teams like the Patriots and Giants, that drafting was the way to go. So Goofy Cerratto drafted, and he's sticking to that new plan, even if it makes the team not as good as it could be. He will probably do this for a few years, and quality second-tier veterans will be cut so that useless fucking 23-year-olds can sit around on the bench, stoked that they're not on the practice squad like they should be. Eventually, it will get through to Cerratto that this is not the best path towards success either, and they'll start some new knee-jerk reactionary program that, if everything works out perfectly, will give me a just barely better-than-average team, hopefully in another NFL down year like this one, that I can mistakenly think might make some noise in the playoffs.
In the end of The Princess Who Never Laughed, Goofy makes the princess laugh for the first time ever with his incessant retardation, so the King invites him to live in the castle happily ever after. I am going to assume that the princess equals a Lombardi Trophy in this parallel, and Dan Snyder would be the King. Except Dan Snyder has already invited Cerratto to live in the castle, them having sleep overs with potential coaches for 18 hour interviews over peanut butter brownies and vanilla ice cream Dan Snyder's motherly house servant bakes in the commercial kitchen. So the princess doesn't even have to laugh in this version, which fucking sucks for me, the Redskins fan, who through a lifelong attachment of emotion to this team, has to pretend that this 6-3 team has a chance at being Super Bowl champion, when games like last Monday night's assault and battery by the Steelers expose that as nothing more than drunken delusions.
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Ugh
Last time I posted I think the Bills were 5-1 and atop the AFC East. My account of what's happened since: Trent Edwards got shook. Since the concussion he's combined his careful habits (short passes) with JP Losman's careless ones (interceptions + fumbles). The rest of the team is not very good and also about 5 years old. I guess I should take the long view. We're building something? One day when we're fucking Canadian maybe we'll get to the playoffs?
I'm actually okay with losing to New England (kind of) because they are a better team but last week we lost to the Jets. And now the Jets are apparently beating teams by 89 points. If Brett Favre ends up in the playoffs I am going to punch Dick Jauron in the head. Also, he should learn how to throw a challenge flag in a timely manner, without trying to create any bullshit suspense.
I feel like such a cliche fairweather fan, but I seriously want to kill 90% of the team right now. I'll never turn on you, though, Beast Mode. Maybe we should let you quarterback for a while.
Have you ever been afraid to jinx something?
One of the many negative results of moving away from your hometown is you become an out of market fan. This means that, unless you want to get raped by Jimmy Kimmel and DirectTV or fork out an unreasonable amount of money for a shitty audio feed, you have to miss most of your team's games.
One of the many negative results of working in a public policy center affiliated with a former member of the United States Senate is that you get a tad bit busy during election time.
When these negative results combine, it means that I have watched exactly three minutes and forty eight seconds of the Titans this year. In the irony of ironies, those three minutes and forty eight seconds were watched at the Value City furniture store in Beachwood, Ohio while my fiancee and I looked for a couch. They had the Ravens that week and, because the Ravens used to be the Browns, that was the local CBS game in Cleveland that week.
So yeah, my team is 9-0 and I have absolutely no idea how they got there. I hear that this Chris Johnson kid is a pretty good running back. I've also heard that Vince (Peace Be With Him) is no longer the man in town. I thought Kerry Collins was coaching Pee Wee league in suburban Wichita, but what do I know?
Now that this election is over, hopefully I can contribute more and actually watch a game.
One of the many negative results of working in a public policy center affiliated with a former member of the United States Senate is that you get a tad bit busy during election time.
When these negative results combine, it means that I have watched exactly three minutes and forty eight seconds of the Titans this year. In the irony of ironies, those three minutes and forty eight seconds were watched at the Value City furniture store in Beachwood, Ohio while my fiancee and I looked for a couch. They had the Ravens that week and, because the Ravens used to be the Browns, that was the local CBS game in Cleveland that week.
So yeah, my team is 9-0 and I have absolutely no idea how they got there. I hear that this Chris Johnson kid is a pretty good running back. I've also heard that Vince (Peace Be With Him) is no longer the man in town. I thought Kerry Collins was coaching Pee Wee league in suburban Wichita, but what do I know?
Now that this election is over, hopefully I can contribute more and actually watch a game.
Saturday, November 8, 2008
I have a good feeling about tomorrow.
Seriously. Sure, the Titans are the only undefeated team in the NFL. Sure, they've got a really good defense, but the Bears offense has been inexplicably good this year, and the running game even seems like it's starting to get going again. And on offense, the Titans can run the hell out of the ball, but their passing game is almost worthless, with Kerry Collins doing that "game manager" thing that hasn't worked on a long-term basis since 1991 or so, and their best wideout being Justin Gage, a dude who wasn't even good enough to play receiver for the Chicago Bears, of all teams. And the Bears defense has struggled against the pass this year, (which shouldn't be a problem, since the Titans suck at that) but their run defense has been pretty damn good, and the little light seems to be coming on in Tommie Harris's head lately, so it could get way better soon. Seriously, things are meshing perfectly, working just right for the Bears to pull out the upset, and you know, this is a team that really could -
Oh. Oh dear god no.
Titans 17, Bears 6.
Oh. Oh dear god no.
Titans 17, Bears 6.
Friday, November 7, 2008
Dear Uncle Raven, Merry X-mas
I know it's early and all, and also odd being that we've never formally met or anything, but I felt compelled to give you something this year. Hope you like crap. Is D.C. the official non-extradition state for malcontent, over paid, over hyped and underachieving cornerbacks? Meangelo Hall will fit perfect in the Deion Sanders, Shawn Springs and Fred Smoot mold. Actually, knowing Al Davis, I would not be the least bit stunned to see Hall go ape shit the rest of the way. Oh well.
What's next, Vinny Testaverde?
Lions fans are approaching this week's game with an incredibly strange mixture of curiosity, hope and wide eyed terror. Dan Orlovsky's thumb has rendered him useless for the next few weeks - well, more than he normally is anyway, leaving the team in the hands of either frat boy asshole Drew Stanton or damaged Ferarri Daunte Culpepper. People are pretty sure that it is going to be Culpepper, which is both scary and hilarious, scary because he has only been in town for a week and has spent most of the season retired, hilarious because, well, this says an awful lot about how terrible Drew Stanton is, doesn't it?
Adding to this pending disaster is the fact that the Lions best offensive lineman, center Dominic Raiola, could miss the game with an injury of his own, something he hasn't done since showing up in Detroit in 2002. So, there is a very good chance that the Lions will go into Sunday's game against Jacksonville with a quarterback who hasn't played all year and has only been practicing with the Lions for a few days taking snaps from a center he has never worked with and who himself hasn't played all year. Yes, Andy McCollum is a veteran, but let's not pretend that this won't result in at least one hilariously botched exchange this week. Oh, and by the way, McCollum also has a finger that's broken in three places. JOY.
So, with all of this, Lions fans are pretty sure that Sunday could be even more apocalyptic than it normally is. But, Culpepper has been a good quarterback before which is something no one else on this team can say, and so Lions fans are hoping that maybe by some miracle, the last few years of his career will just melt away, his knee will finally be right, and his golden cannon of an arm will make Calvin Johnson look like Randy Moss. Images of those explosive Vikings offenses can't help but dance through our heads during these ridiculous and awful times. It's all we have left.
Thankfully, the Lions saving grace might just be the fact that Jacksonville looks like it is descending into chaos and civil war, with rumors that Mike Peterson will be suspended and that the team is only one argument away from Peterson and head coach Jack Del Rio settling things in the Thunderdome. The Jags are only 3-5 this season and it appears that it has finally gotten to them. They are not a team that is used to losing and their implosion might be the one thing that the Lions need to cravenly steal a victory before the season is out. Of course, it won't be because the Lions play particularly well, but we will take what we can get, and if that means Calvin Johnson scampering for a touchdown when the Jacksonville defenders start fighting each other on the field and Jack Del Rio is beaten by everyone on the sideline in a full scale revolt then so be it.
Still, Jacksonville is a much, much better team than the Lions. Sure they lost to the Bengals last week, who up until then had been the Lions only competition for the worst team in the league, but in my opinion that only makes it that much less likely that the Jags lose this week. They may be a huge disappointment, but it is incredibly doubtful that they would lose to the two worst teams in the league back to back. They still have more talent than Detroit and if things calm down just a bit this could be just the game they need to start to right the ship. If they see that and if they understand that then the Lions really don't stand much of a chance. If they are still caught up in petty bickering and civil strife, then there is a chance that the Lions can steal this one. We shall see.
Predicted Final Score: Jacksonville 24, Lions 23
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
IT HAS BEGUN
Peace out, Deangelo Hall. Hopefully you are but the first of many useless piles of shit dressed in Silver and Black that will soon be seeing the unemployment line. Javon Walker, Ronald Curry, Kwame Harris, Robert Gallery and Michael Huff, your asses are next. I fully realize that the Raiders will no doubt be in salary cap Hell for the next 80 years, but at this point I no longer care. I'd much rather they get their asses handed to them each week while sending a bunch of guys making jack shit who have no talent onto the field than watching them get their asses handed to them while sending a bunch of guys who make a shit load of money who have no talent out onto the field like they have been. Progress!
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Let Us Enjoy a Bye Week (post-MNF analysis)
I have been drinking in a public establishment, being I am of the low class type that no candidate speaks of regarding tax breaks and can't afford the satellite transmissions of football gameries into my own home. So forgive me any uncouth transgressions against anybody's emotion. I am an upset man... for multiple reasons.
First, let's address the blog, meaning this blog, which is a stupid fag blog that is the interdork equivalent of a second round draft pick yet to play a game in the NFL. I invisioned originally stupid fans of every team making stupid posts about their stupid fandom. That hasn't even come close to happening. Through the months, we always have some gung ho homos who are all about it, want to be admin, invite their friends or plug it in their other stupid assed blogs, but then nothing. So I'm just saying right now, this is my blog, until somebody takes it from me. Really the only competition is Harpo and Neil at this point, and Harpo is an admin because I know and love that stupid fucking lazy Mexican, and his heart is as pure as a Mexican postal worker's heart can be, and I trust him. Neil is just some dude who bitches a lot about how much his favorite team sucks, which is also what I invisioned for this blog. Except motherfuckers want to be clever and talk about other shit. Or they're too busy posting about 1500 posts a week on 17 different dork ass message boards to make a two sentence blog post, thinking it has to be a graduate essay or some shit. Well fuck you all. Every one of you in the sidebar is a piece of shit and will never amount to anything, except you probably will because we live in a world that rewards pieces of shit who suck but go through the motions more than people who are sad how the world sucks and go through their emotions. But still, fuck you. My dick is bigger; but even if not, it's made more children.
Now onto what I'm s'posed to speak upon... ORALE HOLMES! The Washington Redskins, my team from birth. They sucked tonight, exactly like I feared they would suck. I kicked it at a bar with some folks, and I was the last naive hope of optimism, but I knew in my heart they would lose. Probably the best moment was when I told the dude next to me, "Carlos Rogers interception right here, touchdown." Next fucking play, like five seconds later was when Roethlischilder threw it into Rogers' hands with a wide open field for 30 yards and he dropped it. We both were amused with my almost ESPN psychic ability, but nothing came from it. And it looked like that play shook Rogers. Because he was mostly known after that play for making tackles well down field after losing his man.
But what the fuck is up with the Redskins being in the red zone or inside the opponent's 40 (which should from now on will be considered the yellow zone) and never getting shit except field goals? I mean, I'm kinda glad Jason Campbell finally threw an interception tonight because maybe they'll start throwing downfield in an attempt to get touchdowns now. This has been the biggest offensive yards gaining piece of shit scoring team I've ever seen. I don't think the NFL dork bureau has made a point per offensive yard stat yet, but the Skins would be one of the lowest ranked teams in the past two decades if there was such a dork fucking stat.
The Redskins are 6-3, and there are two ways to look at this occasion. On the beer bottle half empty side, I can be like, "Man, they fucking have sucked, barely beating shitty assed teams and losing the only bonafide good teams they've faced. It is a sign of how shitty the NFL is that they are 6-3, and it is a farce that will eventually be exposed in a shameful manner that will cause me to beat my children for not picking up their Polly Pockets in a timely enough manner, whether that be by the end of the year or in the first round of the playoffs. But this team is a farce and will never amount to shit beyond the first Saturday of January, if they are lucky."
And then the optimistical fuckface inside of me can go, "Well, they've had a ton of injuries. The defense has not been up to snuff on the d-line, and the offense hasn't clicked entirely well yet. But they're still 6-3. Once they get the week off and work out some more kinks and hit their stride, they're gonna be tough. To be running on three cylinders and still be 6-3 is pretty fucking amazing. This is gonna be awesome. We peak right, and it's Super Bowl Sunday beeyotch!"
But I am naive if not anything, and the Skins played the Hall of Fame preseason game, then didn't get a bye week until the last week of byes. They are beat up, but one week off will make a huge difference. The rest of the year we have three home games, against the divisional rivals. I say we win two of those three, because fuck those faggots. Cowboys will not get that much better with Tony Homo, and we will beat one or the other of the Eagles and Giants. Other four games are road games, against the Ravens, Bengals, 49ers, and Seahawks. The Ravens are pretty much a home game, and plus fuck them. My man Hub will come by to watch that because he is a Ravens fan, and we are the paternal figures in earth hippie anarchist children-ridden families. I'm sure there will be venison chili or home slaughtered bacon or some bullshit cooking in the crock pot, and we will sit in the living room with the wood stove going, kids getting in the fucking way until we convince them it's not really that cold outside, why don't you go play on the swingset, and the ol' ladies will be making some sort of winter time homemade herbal cough syrup together in the kitchen. It will be good fun and the Skins will destroy our friendship for the afternoon. The 49ers are the last week (or next to last, I can't remember) and won't have shit to play for. Mike Singletary doesn't seem to be inspiring today's modern athlete, so the Skins should cruise through that one. Of the Bengals and Seahawks, as shitty as both teams are, either the Redskins will slip up against a Houshmadeeznuts-fired up Bengalis team, or the long flight west will cause them to stumble against the Seahoohas in a last tip of the hat to Mike Holmgren. So that's 5-2 in their last seven games, making them 11-5. That's playoff bound, albeit probably a wild card road game against either the shitty NFC North or West champion.
Going into the bye week, I can handle that. I will use the upcoming week off from worrying and excitement to create ways in my head they can win on the road in the divisional round of the NFC playoffs. Or I will look over the Giants crushing schedule and see how they will probably go 4-4 the last half of the season, including losing to the Skins, and the Skins will get a home game in the divisional round as opposed to travelling as a wild card team. As a fan, I have to use this week to psyche myself back up and imagine unpossible scenarios, which become entirely possible because of my psychic energy. I am lucky to be tied to a team emotionally that still has a good shot at this point. Nobody is dominant in the NFL, and fuck it, if anyone deserves to be an international superstar, it's Clinton Portis. My wife has already said if the Redskins make the playoffs, she and the kids will have to leave for the weekend, which works out good because usually the only time I do codeine anymore is when they're gone. I am ready for it.
First, let's address the blog, meaning this blog, which is a stupid fag blog that is the interdork equivalent of a second round draft pick yet to play a game in the NFL. I invisioned originally stupid fans of every team making stupid posts about their stupid fandom. That hasn't even come close to happening. Through the months, we always have some gung ho homos who are all about it, want to be admin, invite their friends or plug it in their other stupid assed blogs, but then nothing. So I'm just saying right now, this is my blog, until somebody takes it from me. Really the only competition is Harpo and Neil at this point, and Harpo is an admin because I know and love that stupid fucking lazy Mexican, and his heart is as pure as a Mexican postal worker's heart can be, and I trust him. Neil is just some dude who bitches a lot about how much his favorite team sucks, which is also what I invisioned for this blog. Except motherfuckers want to be clever and talk about other shit. Or they're too busy posting about 1500 posts a week on 17 different dork ass message boards to make a two sentence blog post, thinking it has to be a graduate essay or some shit. Well fuck you all. Every one of you in the sidebar is a piece of shit and will never amount to anything, except you probably will because we live in a world that rewards pieces of shit who suck but go through the motions more than people who are sad how the world sucks and go through their emotions. But still, fuck you. My dick is bigger; but even if not, it's made more children.
Now onto what I'm s'posed to speak upon... ORALE HOLMES! The Washington Redskins, my team from birth. They sucked tonight, exactly like I feared they would suck. I kicked it at a bar with some folks, and I was the last naive hope of optimism, but I knew in my heart they would lose. Probably the best moment was when I told the dude next to me, "Carlos Rogers interception right here, touchdown." Next fucking play, like five seconds later was when Roethlischilder threw it into Rogers' hands with a wide open field for 30 yards and he dropped it. We both were amused with my almost ESPN psychic ability, but nothing came from it. And it looked like that play shook Rogers. Because he was mostly known after that play for making tackles well down field after losing his man.
But what the fuck is up with the Redskins being in the red zone or inside the opponent's 40 (which should from now on will be considered the yellow zone) and never getting shit except field goals? I mean, I'm kinda glad Jason Campbell finally threw an interception tonight because maybe they'll start throwing downfield in an attempt to get touchdowns now. This has been the biggest offensive yards gaining piece of shit scoring team I've ever seen. I don't think the NFL dork bureau has made a point per offensive yard stat yet, but the Skins would be one of the lowest ranked teams in the past two decades if there was such a dork fucking stat.
The Redskins are 6-3, and there are two ways to look at this occasion. On the beer bottle half empty side, I can be like, "Man, they fucking have sucked, barely beating shitty assed teams and losing the only bonafide good teams they've faced. It is a sign of how shitty the NFL is that they are 6-3, and it is a farce that will eventually be exposed in a shameful manner that will cause me to beat my children for not picking up their Polly Pockets in a timely enough manner, whether that be by the end of the year or in the first round of the playoffs. But this team is a farce and will never amount to shit beyond the first Saturday of January, if they are lucky."
And then the optimistical fuckface inside of me can go, "Well, they've had a ton of injuries. The defense has not been up to snuff on the d-line, and the offense hasn't clicked entirely well yet. But they're still 6-3. Once they get the week off and work out some more kinks and hit their stride, they're gonna be tough. To be running on three cylinders and still be 6-3 is pretty fucking amazing. This is gonna be awesome. We peak right, and it's Super Bowl Sunday beeyotch!"
But I am naive if not anything, and the Skins played the Hall of Fame preseason game, then didn't get a bye week until the last week of byes. They are beat up, but one week off will make a huge difference. The rest of the year we have three home games, against the divisional rivals. I say we win two of those three, because fuck those faggots. Cowboys will not get that much better with Tony Homo, and we will beat one or the other of the Eagles and Giants. Other four games are road games, against the Ravens, Bengals, 49ers, and Seahawks. The Ravens are pretty much a home game, and plus fuck them. My man Hub will come by to watch that because he is a Ravens fan, and we are the paternal figures in earth hippie anarchist children-ridden families. I'm sure there will be venison chili or home slaughtered bacon or some bullshit cooking in the crock pot, and we will sit in the living room with the wood stove going, kids getting in the fucking way until we convince them it's not really that cold outside, why don't you go play on the swingset, and the ol' ladies will be making some sort of winter time homemade herbal cough syrup together in the kitchen. It will be good fun and the Skins will destroy our friendship for the afternoon. The 49ers are the last week (or next to last, I can't remember) and won't have shit to play for. Mike Singletary doesn't seem to be inspiring today's modern athlete, so the Skins should cruise through that one. Of the Bengals and Seahawks, as shitty as both teams are, either the Redskins will slip up against a Houshmadeeznuts-fired up Bengalis team, or the long flight west will cause them to stumble against the Seahoohas in a last tip of the hat to Mike Holmgren. So that's 5-2 in their last seven games, making them 11-5. That's playoff bound, albeit probably a wild card road game against either the shitty NFC North or West champion.
Going into the bye week, I can handle that. I will use the upcoming week off from worrying and excitement to create ways in my head they can win on the road in the divisional round of the NFC playoffs. Or I will look over the Giants crushing schedule and see how they will probably go 4-4 the last half of the season, including losing to the Skins, and the Skins will get a home game in the divisional round as opposed to travelling as a wild card team. As a fan, I have to use this week to psyche myself back up and imagine unpossible scenarios, which become entirely possible because of my psychic energy. I am lucky to be tied to a team emotionally that still has a good shot at this point. Nobody is dominant in the NFL, and fuck it, if anyone deserves to be an international superstar, it's Clinton Portis. My wife has already said if the Redskins make the playoffs, she and the kids will have to leave for the weekend, which works out good because usually the only time I do codeine anymore is when they're gone. I am ready for it.
Monday, November 3, 2008
0-8
The game against the Bears on Sunday started out just like most of the other ones this season, with the Lions fucking up and the other team opening up a quick double digit lead. But then a funny thing happened. Dan Orlovsky looked like he was a legitimate NFL quarterback and the defense decided to actually look like they were made up of professional athletes. The Lions outscored Chicago 23-3 the rest of the way and the Lions won the game. Wait. What? That was only the end of the first half? They still had to play the second half? Well fuck.
Once the second half started whatever magical potion the Lions had ingested, whatever pact with Satan they had made, wore off and Dan Orlovsky quickly realized that he was Dan Orlovsky. Meanwhile, the Bears had lost my boy Kyle Orton leading to the New Age of the Sex Cannon, and they still were able to erase the Lions lead and win 27-23. I mean, you can't have a team more where you want them than the Lions had on Sunday. They were up 23-13 at halftime, the Bears starting quarterback, the man who had torched them only a few weeks earlier, was injured and lost for the game, and there was the general sense from Bears fans that the roof had just collapsed. Well, leave it to the Lions to hold up the roof for just long enough for the Bears to squeak out one more win before the inevitable comedy of errors blows up in Chicago.
It's hard to take away anything positive from a game so heartbreaking. It finally seemed like the Lions were ready to pick up that first win of the season but when the game ended with the ball hitting the turf on a failed Hail Mary the progress made in the first half seemed suddenly far away and unreachable. And in a way that made it all that much worse. It was there. It really was. Calvin Johnson looked like a star, the stud that the Lions could lean on in order to have at least a respectable offense, if not an explosive one. Dan Orlovsky looked like he was blossoming from an afterthought soon to be forgotten completely once Daunte Culpepper showed up into a guy who could potentially keep the job for his own, and not just because there was no one else but because he had earned it. Kevin Smith managed to slash forward for enough yardage to keep the defense honest and as for the Lions defense they managed to keep the Bears from doing much of anything following the ugly start to the game. It was all there and then it was gone. And that can be worse than just seeing and accepting the sheer futility that the Lions had shown up to that point. At least then we knew what was going to happen. This time we were allowed to think "Hey, maybe these guys aren't so bad after all" only to be cruelly reminded that yes, they are.
So, where do we go from here? Well, not very far. The Lions will probably show flashes of competency the rest of the season and they may be able to even steal a win or two, but mostly they will sputter when it counts the most and they will lose a few by blowout and they will lose a few like they did against the Bears on Sunday. And through it all, Lions fans will look for stories to keep them interested, semblances of hope and intrigue that they can lean on in order to ride out the season without going completely insane and punching the family dog in the face. We've already got the question of who is going to be back next year and who will be playing and coaching in the Arena League or in prison or dead in a ditch or who the fuck cares, and we've got the further development of Calvin Johnson to watch. But now we've also got the curious case of Daunte Culpepper to keep an eye on.
The Lions just signed the erstwhile retired Culpepper and everyone is curious to see how ready he is to step in and play. Will he be able to start this season? And if so, will he be any good? Really, Culpepper hasn't done anything in four years, not since he exploded with the Vikings for 39 touchdowns in 2004 and led my Fantasy Football team to glory and a championship. And then he hurt his knee and turned into a limping pile of shit and since then he has bounced around conning teams who think that he still has a big arm so why not? But then he gets on the field, does nothing, and everyone remembers that he is washed up. That is why he had to retire at 31 after all, because everyone knew he was done and no one would offer him anything more than a one year deal to show up for training camp and probably get cut. As you can tell I'm really on board with Culpepper.
But the sad part is that Culpepper actually looks good in comparison to the shit heaps the Lions have at quarterback. He is like an old busted ass Ferrari that never runs right and which breaks down if you actually dare to take it out on the highway. You got it cheap from the neighbor who got rid of it after he wrecked it going too fast at two in the morning, drunk and stoned, and his wife made him dump it on you for pennies on the dollar. Now you just stare at it and think if you just get the right parts you might be able to get her as good as new again. Deep in your heart you know it's not going to happen. But you look at your driveway, you see the piece of shit you have been driving and you figure why not? Of course, that fucker is gonna break down on you after you've dumped a bunch of money into it, your wife is gonna scream at you and next year you're going to have to start all over again with either a new car or more likely, a hunk of shit you got for a good deal, and you'll be right back where you started. But fuck it, you've got a Ferrari for now and you are gonna dream big.
And that's what's left for Lions fans this season. We're gonna dream big, conjuring up ridiculous scenarios in which Culpepper returns to glory, Calvin Johnson finds a way to clone himself and the Cowboys lose every game the rest of the season and we get their number one overall pick and select Dick Butkus. That's all we've got.
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