MNF: Eagles at the Redskins

I think there might not be any truer statement than: "Everyone loves a winner." I really think that might be the only way to understand the transformation of Michael Vick. Vick was once universally reviled for his dog fighting activities that landed him in jail and out the NFL. There was controversy and protests when he was released from prison and signed to the Eagles. You wouldn't have thought he would be considered the league MVP and generally turn around public opinion about him.

And then he began to win, and put on a dazzling performance on Monday Night Football. He put on a historic performance of 333 passing yrds, 4 tds, and then rushed for 2 tds. The game was over in the first 15 seconds when in the first play of the game, Vick gets an 88 yard touchdown pass. Redskins never had a shot, 59-28 win for the Eagles. Vick has had an amazing season with no interceptions throw yet and has the league's highest passer rating. They are now the hottest team in the NFL, which might last for a week or they ride it on to Dallas.

I personally have ambivalent feelings about Vick. I am disgusted by what he did but he did go to prison, serve his time, and has been a productive member of society ever since. I think he gains more friends with every win he accumulates but there are definitely people who will never look beyond the dog fighting episode. It is easier to love a winner, its easier to look over the flaws when there is scoring going on.

And here is an unintentionally funny/unfortunate thing to say: "We were like pitbulls, ready to get out of the cage." DeSean Jackson said that, not the best thing to say as a teammate of Michael Vick.

NFL Week 9

On the sexy back of Peyton Hillis, pictured above, the Browns stun the Patriots in a big win. Hillis had an amazing day where he just ran all over New England and kept the Brady offense from ever getting on the field to catch up. I'm very hopeful, perhaps too much, that if the Browns can get the win against the Jets; this could be the start of an epic play off run. They would obviously need help from Baltimore and Steelers but its not impossible. I need something to believe in! Patriots, I hope, will rebound and beat on the Steelers next week.

Texans lose another game, this time to the surging Chargers, and drops them to 4 and 4. The game against the Jaguars is really important, its basically a must win game if they want to have some control over their destiny. They did get a really awful call that cost them a touchdown, which would have turned the game in their favor. I'm not real optimistic right now, the defense is not performing well enough for them to win.

Wade Phillips gets fired, finally, after the Cowboys get utterly ruined by the Packers at home. I'm kinda sad about it, as I've enjoyed this era of the Cowboys constantly under performing. They will now get a good coach and turn things around, well maybe, Jerry Jones is still there...meddling around.

Everything is Bigger in Texas, even the loses

Jason Witten, here with his son, is the only thing I actually like about the Cowboys. I only really feel bad about their 1-5 season because he is a good guy, not to mention handsome.

So Monday Night Football has come and gone, but it had a major impact. Superbowl hopes were already on the ropes with their terrible start but NFC east rivals, Giants, k.o.ed them. The NY Giants sacked and broke their starting QB, Tony Romo, and thus broke their team. It doesn't take a lot for Cowboy fans to hate Giants fans but I would have to think that rivalry has gone from hate to flat out death wish on your family. The Giants not only kill your Superbowl dreams, but they also have the first official win your new billion dollar stadium from last year.

Its probably not smart to totally write them off, they are very talented or so I'm told. I just don't see Kitna being able to rally that team, which doesn't seem to have any leadership and Wade Phillips doesn't strike me as someone who inspires his team to greatness.

Oh well, Witten is still attractive.

In the World of Sports

Its been a rather dark day in the world of Sports, or well, it has been in the world of Tommy Sports.

All of my teams are doing rather badly...

Florida is on a losing streak that has been going on for three games now...

Texas got dropped out of the 25, then sparked to upset Nebraska, and then got beaten by Iowa State...

Notre Dame had a nice win streak and then got smashed by Navy, so at best, we are looking at a 6-6 season.

Ohio State was ranked number 1 in the nation, and then got punched by Wisconsin...

The NFL isn't going so bad, but I get more emotional about college games. The passion is higher cause every game matters and you have these kids' futures on the line.

Browns are underwhelming as always but scored a massively awesome upset in New Orleans on Sunday. This continues the streak of the Browns beating the Super Bowl Champion, somehow they always do it...Giants, Steelers, and now the Saints. Go Brownies! McCoy definitely seems to be doing well, which is a nice change from his pre-season play.

Denver has continued to slide and hit rock bottom on Sunday with a 59-17 loss at home to the Raiders. The very idea of a team losing by that margin in pro football is astounding, let alone it being the home team. I only really root for the team cause of Tebow but even I felt embarrassed. Tebow did get his first NFL regular season touchdown against the Jets, thats really cool.

Patriots keep rolling along, and managed to hold on for a road win in San Diego that was mostly due to the Charger's turn overs.

Texans were on a bye and are gearing up for their MNF with Indy, in Indy. A win there would give us fans some confidence in the team. Even if they are 4-2, they could easily be 2-4.

On a side not, I'm really tired of hearing about Big Ben, "alleged rapist", coming back to the NFL. I don't like them turning his return in some kind of redemption story, he fucked up. Can we move on and not go on about it like it some morality play?

Massacre

Thats basically what has happened to my various sports teams over the weekend: massacred.

College

Notre Dame: Everything seemed so golden with that win over Purdue, but its just been, very disappointing since then. Kelly's Irish are now 1-3, granted those three losses are all to top 25 ranked teams that are 4-0, but they could easily be 3-1 right now. The defense could not stop Robinson of Michigan for one drive to seal the game. Michigan State won in OT with a trick play. It has always seemed so very close, so very close. Stanford was a relatively close for the most of the game, like 19-6, and then it got blown open in the 4th quarter by Standford. I have faith Notre Dame will end the skid and win at Boston College this weekend, who just changed their starting QB, and give us something positive to look at.

Texas: Really Longhorns, did you really just lose to UCLA at home....unranked UCLA...and not just lost but got manhandled? Yes, so there goes one my favorites for being national champs...though that was a wanning belief. They haven't looked super beast all season long and it finally caught up to them. And its not like its going to be easier, cause its the annual Red River Shoot Out. The biggest game, usually, of Big 12 conference that pits Texas vs Oklahoma. Oklahoma escaped being upset by Cincinnati, Bearcats made too many stupid mistakes, so they are not some juggernaut coming into this. I hope Horns get some redemption by beating the Sooners and wash away that awful game.

Rolling Tide: Arkansas really almost did something that no other team has done in about...two years now: beat Alabama. They were leading and seemed to have it all in hand...and well Alabama shows why they are the best. The Tide rolls into Florida for one is the premier match up of SEC powers, and could be repeated later in the year in the SEC championship game. Florida, which has been not the Tebow powered machine it was last year, seems to be getting it together in time for this game. Meyer is going back to his old game plan back in 2006, which is a dual QB system. Brantley is the normal passer type and now we have "mini-Tebow" Trey Burton who throws and rushes in to score TD's. Go Gators.

And speaking of massacres....

Wisconsin and Ohio State put up over 70 points on their perspective opponents, who are little no nothing schools.

Big East is 1-11 against other FBS conferences, hard to say the WAC is any worse than them.

NFL

Brown Moment: Browns lost again, 0-3, and they were actually leading the Ravens....great.

Texas One Sided Shootout: Houston Texans were suppose to beat the Dallas Cowboys, or thats how the game went in my head. Cowboys, 0-2, were desperate and played very well. They took it to the Texans and took control of the game. It wasn't even close after awhile and Texans offense only manged a few measly points...really suck. Texans go to the Raiders Sunday, I expect a lot of fantasy points Schaub and Foster!

Colts gallop past Broncos: Once again, Manning and the Colts make me hate them even more by beating a team I enjoy. Broncos, who I only really like because they have Tebow, really had that game won. They just couldn't execute when they needed too, terrible red zone performance. The running game is nill but Orton does put up big numbers and drives them up and down the field. But it doesn't matter if you can go all 100 yards down the field, it only matters if you can get points. McDaniels went for it on 4th downs a lot, which is nice to see aggression, but they didn't convert a one. And Tebow is not seeing any action, he is down to the 3rd string for some reason and not being used in any packages....so not sure what McDaniels is up to.

Just keep scoring: When you can score, almost at will, who needs a defense? Patriots managed to beat the Bills mostly by out scoring them. The defense is young and needs a lot of work and needs it soon. Tom Brady looked a lot better this week than in the Jets game but its the Bill's defense. I have hopes the defense will continue to improve as the season goes on and the young players mature and develop. It can only get better.

My fantasy team is now 1-2, but I am hopefully for a turn around this weekend. I need a turn around, and tried to make the right changes.

And blogging about my life is pretty eh, since its mostly working all the time and then football on the weekends.

Football Review 2010 1

So its Week 1 of the NFL and Week 2 of NCAA Football, so lets discuss.

My Fantasy Football team won a close game this week, all thanks to the beastness of Adrian Foster. I took him after the third pre-season game and it has paid off and the Chiefs' sudden defense helped me hold on to win 94 to 92.

NCAA Football

Heart Broken: Notre Dame lost to Michigan in another classic game, which included a Notre Dame 95 yard touchdown to come back. It might be one loss but looking at the schedule it seems likely Notre Dame will get a few more in this tough run. So I feel like the season is gone, which maybe I was too hyped.

Stomped: Alabama basically stomped all over Penn State and shows that they are still the best team in all of college football.

It's all about the....OSUUUU: Ohio State took on Miami FL in a rematch of the 2002 national championship game. OSU won though it was mostly a very sloppy game with two Miami touchdowns from kick returns. There is a really hot defensive player of the Buckeyes, that I need to learn more about, arms like wow. Update: I found out who he is, Nathan Williams.

NFL

Heart Restored: I didn't think I would be able to get over the Notre Dame loss, it was really getting to me. But lo, the next best thing happened, the Texans upset the Colts. It has only happened once in the series between the divisional rivals and could herald two big storylines for the year. Will the Texans finally get to the play offs? I really hope so. Are the Colts doomed to a post Super Bowl Loss slump? I really hope so

Dynasty Not so Declined: The Patriots had a lot of questions coming into the year, with defensive and offensive line questions. The Bengals came with Super Bowl hopes and some growing buzz. The Patriots showed what it means to be an elite team and just a good team by tearing the Bengals apart. Of course since its week 1 we can't really be sure if the Patriots are back to their high status or the Bengals were overrated.

Debut?: Tim Tebow debuted in his hometown with 2 one yard runs....real nice use of him McDaniels. Though that makes his debut only marginally better than Sanchez' awful opening against the Ravens

LOL moment: The Cowboys are first and twenty with 20 seconds at the end of the half, they aren't anywhere close to scoring. They are only down 3 so really, just take the knee and end the half. No, they decide to be real clever and do a option hand off to their running back...who fumbles and the Redskins score a touchdown. I laughed for awhile.

And Browns: My favorite team to root for began the season with a loss....another Brown's season off to a roaring state.

Nike Knows....Tebow Sells

I really fucking wanted this shirt in time for the Bengals and Bronco's preseason game next weekend, and now its not going to happen. Part of Nike's first campaign with Tebow, they released that specialized show of his that sold out in 15 minutes and then released this shirt.

I wanted it cause its cool and been perfect for the game, of course they sell out of Mediums by the time I looked on Friday and now its totally gone. I doubt they will get anymore in time for me to get one here by the game, but I will keep checking.

Damn it.

Great Day in Football

Its Tom Brady's 33rd birthday today, So Happy Birthday to the best quarterback in the NFL currently. And yea, shove it Peyton Manning!

And in other news, someone named Farve might have retired, not a big deal.

The Best Weekend? part 1

So this came up yesterday when someone started chatting me up on Facebook, which is a feature I find to be annoying.

Him: Hey there, what are you doing this weekend? (This guy friended through mutual friends, so I don't know him that well)

Me: Oh I'm going to Columbus

Him: Oh what are you doing? (Though he probably knew what I was doing given where this conversation goes.)

Me: Going to Pride with some friends

Him: Oh thats like the best weekend

I kinda wanted to commit a hate crime, though since we are both gay it will just be a normal crime. I don't find Pride weekend to be the "best weekend" but I guess for some people it probably is. You have a sudden influx of hopefully attractive guys, a re-appearance of a once popular female singer from the 70's,80's, or 90's, and get to take in a parade. You also can dress like a slut in public and call it protest...or remembrance or something.

Not that I am one of these, "Oh Pride is awful and stupid." It has a point and it is usually a fun weekend. I just don't consider it the "best weekend."

The best weekend to me is the first weekend when you have college football on Saturday and then NFL on Sunday. I pretty much have my weekends set and I always at least have something to do, watch football. It usually ends up being a long weekend when you start getting college games on Thursday Night and NFL on Monday night.

This weekend is the second weekend of September, which is the second week of the College football season and the first week of the NFL.

I use a part 1 since I will do a post about Columbus after I get back, I can at least see where it rates.

Guess it was true

Brian Cushing, former USC Trojan and current Houston Texan, was suspended for four games this coming football season for breaking the NFL's steroid policy. Rumors about Cushing's steroid use have been going on since his days at USC, and this picture is often used to point to that. So he finally gets busted and will have to sit out for four games, and two of them are rather important games. One is with their intra-division rivals the Colts and one is the intra-state rivals the Cowboys. The Texans will definitely be hurting without him, he has been an incredibly play and was the rookie defensive player of the year.

I'm actually a fan of his, and it really doesn't change my opinion of him. I pretty much assume that steroids are used in pro sports to varying degrees; the nature of the beast now is to perform at a superman human level to justify the expense of money. I think it was an open secret as USC what was going on, Pete Carroll had to have noticed the dramatic improvement in size...or someone on the staff did. College has become the same kind of environment that the NFL is, its very much about making money.

Oh well, he's still hot.

NFL Casting Couch

Two stories recently make me wonder, what exactly is going on during the interview process for NFL . One story deals with round one draft choice Dez Bryant. It came out that Dolphins GM had asked Bryant whether his mother had been a prostitute and also rumored, I believe, he asked if his dad had been a pimp. What kind of ridiculous series of questions is that? I can't imagine Bryant felt very comfortable after that and is probably happier he got chosen by the Cowboys in the Draft.

Outsports then reported a story, that another draftee was asked about his sexual orientation. Geno Atkins was asked by the Bengals, who did pick him up, whether he was gay or not. Atkins doesn't say how he answered but guess the answer didn't bother the Bengals, which could either mean there is more social understanding in the NFL than some people assume or he is straight, heh.

With all the power that goes to these players, especially first round picks, its not surprising that the questions veer into incredibly personal areas. I think, at least in the Dolphins case, they could have done a background check and have found out if that was true or not. Teams don't need revelations about their players, though it probably not affect their playing status, it would effect ticket sales or endorsement deals.

Now I am curious to know what is being asked by these GMs or organizations about their players. The picture of Tebow, besides being hot, was used to illustrate a point. The questions really make me think that these young players get stripped down ala Hollywood Casting Couch. I don't remember much being made out of the interviewing process in previous years and it might be something that isn't discussed. I would like to know more but its all very secretive is seems like, wonder why...

Josh McDaniels and Tim Tebow: Juicy Love

I need to get some Broncos Tebow pictures soon, but its not bad to remember those Gator Glory Days...considering it might be all we have.

"I was jacked leaving that room. I didn't even want to visit another room. It was not enough time," Tebow said. "We were excited, we were enthusiastic. There was passion. It was just intense, and it was ball, and it was juice. The juice level in that room was high, and it was awesome." Via Denver Post.

Juice Level is high? Maybe its a Florida thing, I've never really heard someone use Juice as a gauge of excitement. I guess when you come from a state that depends mightly on Orange Juice for the economy, the word Juice comes to mean many things. I want to say its stupid but honestly, I want to start using Juice in more conversations like this. I do love the way Tim Tebow talks, his press conferences are enjoyable. He deifnitely has a Miss America way of speaking, not stupid but sorta too nice and too on script.

Pundits and Fans might not be happy with McDaniels with picking Tebow with a 1st round pick, and we won't really know Tebow's potential for some time. However he is paying off in terms of business, he has the fastest selling jersey of this year's draft class and already more than Sanchez's jersey from last year.

I want one.

We have a Quarterback

So after teasing Browns Fans through several rounds of the draft, the team finally selected Colt McCoy with the 85th pick overall. I was beginning to lose hope they were going to draft him since Holmgren did make a statement earlier Friday about how they had other picks to make. Of course, football is a lot like politics...no one ever really means what they say. So with building suspense and then adding a flourish of drama with Mac Brown, Texas Coach, making the announcement; the Browns got their franchise quarterback.

I'm overall pretty happy with the Browns draft, it was definitely better than the ones they have had the past couple of years. I doubt there will be a play off run this year but maybe we can at least get to 500. An interesting note, Jordan Shipley was drafted by the Bengals; so now the fantastic Texas scoring duo are on rival teams. Well you know what they say....Ohio is made for Lovers.

Draft Day! Sequel

Some the first round is done and done, and the big news coming out is that Tim Tebow was taken by the Broncos. The Broncos traded back in the first round for a second time to pick up Tebow with the 25th pick overall. I am most surprised it was the Broncos that took him, considering they have both Orton and took Brady Quinn in an off season trade. Apparently McDaniels, Bronco's coach, had some very strong feelings for Tebow. I can relate to that, I also have strong feelings for Tebow. The Bills were going to make a play for him in the second round but looks like they were taken him for granted. I'm somewhat torn about this, I really wanted Quinn to become the starter for the Broncos but now...ah...damn it.

Other points of interests.

Big 12, especially Oklahoma, had the most round pics with the SEC following after that. It definitely gives you an idea of where the power or high end talent is going and coming from in the NCAA football.

Jimmy Clausen is still in the draft, even though he was rated to be a top 10 talent and thought to have been gone in the first ten picks. He should go in the second round, if not in the beginning of it unless McCoy is grabbed first. I feel bad for the guy, you get all that hype and then it comes crashing down.

Should be a lot of fun trade deals going on today, like to see how the Browns continue to rebuild their team.

Draft Day!

So between the dry spell of the Super Bowl and the Pre Season, football fans get a brief respite with Draft Day....or Weekend really. I know some people bitch about the length of the Draft, no over 3 days, but I'm happy about it. I have something to watch again, and its allows for endless amounts of pointless sports punditry.

Major Story lines

Well to me anyway, I wanted to break down some story lines I care about coming into this Draft selection.

Browns: Another rebuilding season for the Browns, or well maybe not as badly as before. Mangini is in his second year, and Holmgren isn't new to running a team but few think they are on the path to success. They've made some major changes to the QB position, and there is definite speculation will draft another QB to be their future. The rest of the team is definitely in need for upgrading and it will be interesting to see how Holmgren begins to put his fingerprint on the team's direction.

I know its presumptuous to think that the Browns will be a play off team this year but the AFC North is influx. Steelers are looking at climbing out of hole with Big Ben out for at least 4 games. The Ravens look like the team to beat coming in, I have real doubts the Bengals will be able to repeat their last season sweep of the division. The Browns are on a four game win streak, maybe it will continue on.

AFC EAST: The Patriots look like they are in serious trouble of repeating their champion run of that division. The Jets have continued to gain talent and develop even further, Miami has also been making steady improvements since their one win season. The Bills seem to be the only team thats worse off than they were last year, but the draft could change that. The Patriots haven't made a lot of off season moves so far so the draft will be telling.

The Patriots are a dynasty for a reason: staying power and consistently good performance. They still have Brady and Belichick, so I still believe in them. They will just have to perform better than they did last year, which seems like it will be a guarantee. Brady will be healthier and better synced since being off a year, just hope Rex gets back as quickly as possible.

Tim Tebow: Whether you like him or not, Tim Tebow is the talk of the draft for various reasons. Everyone wants to know when he will go and who he will be drafted by. Most people think he won't go till the 2nd or 3rd round, though one expert said there was an 80% change he would go in the first. I hope the Patriots pick him up, Belichick would do great things with him. Apparently Urban Meyer, Tebow's college coach, is friends and talks with Belichick...so it seems like a definite possibility. Tebow on the Pats, two good things going together...one can dream.

Implications for the New NFL Season

So the schedule for the 2010 season of the NFL will be released tonight, but some news has already trickled out. Apparently, all the week 17 games will be divisional games. This will hopefully put an end to what happened a lot last year with the final games of the year really not mattering, because most teams had already clinched play off spots were not about to risk injuring their starters. Well most, we all saw what happened to Rex Welker of the Patriots during their game against the Texans that didn't really matter to the Patriots...and now he won't be back till sometime next season.

I think its a great change, I look forward to what the match ups for the end of the year will be. It won't fully solve the problem of teams resting and not really playing, but those divisional rivalries always lead to the most intense games of the season. I know in the AFC North: Browns, Bengals, Steelers and Ravens, none of those teams get along at all and none of the fans do either. So it will be especially nasty if the Browns were to ruin the chances of any of those teams, and vice versa. Though the idea of the Browns being on their way to a playoff spot is rich, so they will most likely play spoiler.

Browns to take first pick?

It could be a possibility according to ESPN, the Browns would then proceed to take Bradford as their first pick.

I like the Browns and root for them but seems like a bad idea. They have a lot of draft picks and should spend them on rebuilding the team overall and not get drawn into another season of quaterback drama.

Bradford is talented but so far the Brown's offense has been a blackhole that sucks up talent and spits out crap. I don't see advantage of spending all your capital on a QB and not address other issues like offensive line and receivers. Delhomme, though is eh at best, at least has experience in the NFL and is more likely to better handle pressure from NFL defense.

Bradford is not the end all be all, the Browns can get a good rookie QB without giving up picks.

No Big Ben Jerky?

Some late breaking news, due to Big Ben's "alleged" sexual assault of a girl in Miami, we will be denied the smoky, meaty flavor of Big Ben Jerky.

This is probably a good thing because with that mullet he was rocking and now beef jerky, he was dangerously getting red neck. I mean he is from Lima, Ohio...so maybe he is just returning to his roots.

Can the NFL Commissioner really punish him even more? Doubt it.

Another reason to dislike J.J.

I am not a fan of "America's Team", though Jason Whitten is a good guy. I find Jerry Jones to be obnoxious and this video just proves it. Whether you like Tim Tebow or not, its not really fair to the guy to get badmouthed and degraded by a drunk J.J. He just throws money at the problem, suppose spending billions of dollars to get one play off win was worth it...Not sure why you would go and bad mouth Bill Parcells, probably because he didn't bring JJ his coveted Superbowl win.

Money doesn't buy class it seems like...