Sweepstakes?

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After the 62-7 domestic violence that occurred between the Saints and Colts this past weekend, I think it's evident that we are in full fledged tanking mode for a few teams. You may have heard the common phrase "Suck for Luck" which refers to teams trying NOT to win in hopes of landing the supposed can't miss Stanford QB who is expected to be the #1 pick. Players will constantly announce that they won't throw games being that a lot of them have performance based incentives in their contracts. Management, on the other hand, will say the same thing but their actions can prove otherwise. It's clear the Colts entire organization gave up on the season (also the reason I will bet they won't ever cover a spread this year) and Miami is still playing hard but it's head scratching how you manage to lose a game when you're up 15 points under 4 minutes to play. Lose your starting QB for the year? We'll play the backup even though there are a handful of veteran free agent QBs better. This usually occurs in the NBA but now that the NFL has a rookie wage scale, the #1 pick is again coveted. I haven't seen this blatant an attempt since the Spurs sat David Robinson down for the entire season and landed Tim Duncan. There's only 16 games in the NFL and no ping pong balls to determine the order. Lowest number wins and it looks like a few are content to stay on zero to see if they can get lucky (bad pun). Only downside is Luck may not be as good as they think. There's no recent evidence of #1 QBs being busts though....right?

I thought streaking died when Will Ferrel went on a naked jog down the street in Old School...this college senior found a creative way to bring it back (he still went to jail though). (slight issue with the blog video...linkage to youtube below)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g325BVLWm8U

Home Stretch

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I'll go on the record and admit that this years MLB Playoffs has been one of the best in recent memory...at least that's what I keep hearing. I don't recall ever getting this many "did you just see that" texts in years prior. I tuned in to watch the opening game of the World Series between the St. Louis Cardinals and Texas Rangers to try and see what all the hype was about. It should be noted that by tuned in...I really mean I flipped back and forth between the game and Survivor on DVR until the 8th inning and it was still close so I watched from then on. My lasting impression of the game, ironically, was questioning why we need refs/umpires in baseball. There isn't that much going on and with the pitch tracker and "hot spot" camera that debuted, I don't see the need for some potbellied bloke calling balls and strikes. I'm almost certain that's not MLB's goal.



What's wrong with this sentence? (aside from the incorrect punctuation and structure) Donovan McNabb was traded WITHIN the division from the Eagles to the Redskins...benched for Rex Grossman (who just got benched for Jon Beck), traded to the Vikings and subsequently benched for rookie Christian Ponder. Next Stop: Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio

Red Headed Step Child

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Stepping cautiously to not sound completely insensitive to those affected by the looming work stoppage of the NBA, it's evident that nobody cares...or at least not that much. Perhaps it's due to the fact that the NFL has just gone through this and most fans who follow both sports aren't interested in following back to back lockouts of billion dollar corporations. Or perhaps, like me, it's because the most watched sport is back in full swing. The NBA lockout is like having 2 kids. One of them just dropped out of high school and the other is working on their doctorate at an Ivy league school on a full scholarship. Guess who won't get talked about much to your co-workers at lunch. And yes, I'm fully aware that comparison is evidence that I should never have any off-spring of my own.

With the Detroit Lions now being 5-0 to date, it brings about this question. How are the decisions made on which cities are uplifted when a team is doing well? When New Orleans was rolling, there were mini Katrina documentaries before each game. Now the Lions are (supposedly) reviving the american car industry with all the blue collar workers making Fords wearing their Barry Sanders throwback jerseys. Why don't we get the documentary on the San Francisco's residents being inspired and renovating the golden gate bridge or Buffalo fans...well, I have no idea what there is in Buffalo so we'll just exclude them for now. The point is, I want the 5 minute Bob Costas monologue on whatever team is playing. All cities can be uplifted to a different level by their team doing well. Some just have a different starting point.

No words for this video. Although, I do think I'd have some words for whoever designed the route we'd take during this race.

What Comes To Mind?

We're 25% of the way through the NFL season and that's enough to formulate an opinion on the goings on to date. Here is how I see it thus far...

1)Green Bay – The REAL Dream team
2)New Orleans - The only team that can keep pace with Green Bay in scoring
3)Detroit – Megatron nickname is starting to make sense for Calvin Johnson
4)Houston – The Loss of A. Johnson for a few weeks might be an issue
5)Baltimore - Rey Lewis isn't the reason for success, but he'll take the credit
6)New England - Defense couldn't stop a nosebleed
7)San Diego - Destined for a first round playoff loss
8)Tampa Bay - They win ugly...but they are winning and that's what counts
9)Buffalo – Check back in a month. I suspect they might slide several spots
10)NY Giants - The Best Manning in football today....
11)Washington - Rex Grossman will eventually be...well, Rex Grossman
12)Tennessee - Matt Hasselbeck carrying the team on his bad back
13)Atlanta - Aside from Dallas, quite possibly the most overrated team
14)Oakland - Could make some noise if they ran the ball 80% of the time.
15)NY Jets - The formula should have Sanchez throwing as little as possible
16)Dal – Goes wherever Romo drives them. Sometimes, it's in reverse.
17)SF - Coaching staff's only request to Alex Smith, "Don't be a Hero".
18)Pittsburgh - Looks like everybody got old over the summer
19)Philly - Can't block, can't tackle...other than that, things are perfect
20)Chicago - When your punt and kick returners are your 2 best receivers....
21)Cincy - Defense is playoff worthy. Offense is college bowl game worthy
22)Vikings - I don't think the record reflects the talent
23)Cleveland - Looks like the Madden Curse may be back in town
24)Jacksonville - I'll put it this way, you can get a lower level seat for $40
25)Den - The fans THINK they want Tebow....they will get their wish shortly
26)Ari - Bad News, they are 1-3. Good news, 7 wins could win you the division
27)Car - Cam will be rookie of the year, while leading them to a 4-12 record
28)Sea - T. Jackson is making it hard for future SWAC qb's to get drafted
29)Kansas City - Starting TE/WR/S on injured reserve. That sums it up
30)Indy - Without manning, 0-16 a real possibility
31)St. Louis - Was supposed to be the breakout team of the NFC West
32)Miami - Your #1 seed in the "Suck for Luck" sweepstakes


This video shows why family day at the ball park isn't the best idea no matter what country. I need to brush up on my foreign languages...but I believe what she says translates loosely to "Sit yo ragglyazz down"