So about two weeks ago, I'd been getting messages from the good folks at Arbitron, and they finally caught up with me a week ago. They talked about the system, I gave them some info, and I'm in for a week, starting today. They sent me the diary, the little survey on the back, some cash (new bills, even), the whole bit.
Yet I don't feel like I'm affecting anything.
See, in this market, there's the hip-hop station - and everyone else is playing for second. They say they're "number one with everybody" and they ARE. They've won the last two spring ratings books by four points. That's astronomical. The 500-pound gorilla down here is Equity Communications, and like any self-respecting radio conglomerate, they've got their hands in every genre.
I don't listen to the radio at home, partly because the reception is terrible. God alone knows what these walls are made of. I've usually got either some CDs playing or I'm listening to my MP3's on my MusicMatch jukebox. The only time I'll have the radio on is in my car. So this is going to be a very small sample.
We've got an independently owned rock station that's headquartered about a mile from work. Yes, it's as rare as you think it sounds. It actually plays stuff you wouldn't expect - you'll hear Philadelphia bands just as frequently as you would on the Philly stations. It has a reggae show on Sunday afternoons. It had a great book last fall, but fell back a bit in the spring. It's the other local station I listen to down here, so I'll try to give them a bump. Ratings talk in radio, and I figure every little bit helps.
Thursday, September 30, 2004
Tuesday, September 28, 2004
By The Pigskin Of Our Teeth, Week 3: Follow Me To Triage
YOU ARE LOOKING LIVE at the prettiest thing IN Detroit, Ford Field. They've had a Super Bowl in this city. Think about that for a minute. This is the NFC team I see the least, I think. Did Harrington just DROP the ball? I'm thinking he's a little frightened. Mike f'n Bartrum? First he gets face time in the Eagles' Chunky Soup commercial, now this? He's a LONG SNAPPER, for God's sake. Roy's been the second-best player on the field. He's gonna be scary good. They never mentioned on MNF last week that Donovan's wife was about to GIVE BIRTH. I'm not sure how you get "Roxy" from "Raquel" but whatever.
Can the Jaguars really make a habit out of this?
Haslett vs. Martz. How this didn't end in a tie, I'll never know. They let John Carney back in the country? You blow an extra point and probably cost your team a playoff berth in the process, then come back and hit two from 50-plus? Explain yourself, sir.
Keep in mind the Chiefs only lost three games all last season. What's changed? Nothing. And that may be the problem. Chew on that for a while.
This Week's Game That Shouldn't Have Been This Close: Vikings-Bears. No Urlacher, three injured secondary starters, a Florida quarterback, and you can only win by FIVE? You're doing it again, people... you're doing it again. Who IS the Bears' backup? I don't even know.
When they flashed the Falcons final I thought it was the Braves score. And this was before I found out they were THE SAME.
This Week It Sucks To Be: 1. Roy Jones Jr., 2. Any Chiefs defender, 3. Any Packers DB
SPEAKING OF. Man, think about the viewers who went from Cardinals-Falcons to THIS. Their heads probably exploded. I think I even missed the first score, or it happened right after the switchover. Have the Colts run the ball yet? A lot of this was just the receivers outrunning the secondaries, both of which were banged up though I doubt it would've mattered. Favre can still bring it, but the Colts' D was just a little bit better. How ironic - a rushing touchdown ends it.
You're letting me down, Quentin. I'll take Lelie's catch here slightly over Andre Johnson's only because this one was a touchdown.
This is uncharted territory for all of us. 1977's just before the Niners got good, and none of us are old enough to remember them ever being bad.
Was it really just two seasons ago? Gannon goes down and Rob bursts into tears. (I really need to razz him about this next time I talk to him, by the way.) There's at least 10 teams in this league Collins could start for. The Bucs have nothing on offense. Nothing. Ken Dilger isn't even good anymore.
Nice of them to keep the lights off at Pro Player to save power. That is one big fucking puddle, I must say. Seriously, did you see this shit? Are the Dolphins even the best team in Miami at this point? (A.J.'s still better than Brock Berlin, though.)
Remember the last time these two played on MNF and they BROUGHT THE COMEDY~~? Vinny throwing on the first three plays? Problematic. YOU'VE BEEN SACKED~~~~~
This Week's General Observation: The inside of an MRI machine
Fantasy Report
aPaXFL: Went against Sean's Baton Rouge Tigers, who have... Favre. 36.16. But Brad Johnson having to play catch-up and the Seahawks D blanking the Niners gave me a six-point win. Still, I have no confidence in my current crop of QB's or RB's, so I'm willing to deal. Manning didn't outscore any teams in this league...
tSC: I have Favre in this league. 113-44. Spear may not want to talk to me anytime soon. Favre by himself outscored both Butch AND Tyler, and Manning beat both of them plus Spear. I'm 2-1 in both leagues.
RANKINGS
TOP 3:
1. New England - DNP. DNM.
2. Seattle - Shutouts are hard
3. Philadelphia - Continuing mastery on road
BOTTOM 3:
30. Arizona - Kept Vick out of the end zone, at least
31. Miami - Surprised hurricanes haven't washed them away yet
32. San Francisco - Shutouts are hard
Can the Jaguars really make a habit out of this?
Haslett vs. Martz. How this didn't end in a tie, I'll never know. They let John Carney back in the country? You blow an extra point and probably cost your team a playoff berth in the process, then come back and hit two from 50-plus? Explain yourself, sir.
Keep in mind the Chiefs only lost three games all last season. What's changed? Nothing. And that may be the problem. Chew on that for a while.
This Week's Game That Shouldn't Have Been This Close: Vikings-Bears. No Urlacher, three injured secondary starters, a Florida quarterback, and you can only win by FIVE? You're doing it again, people... you're doing it again. Who IS the Bears' backup? I don't even know.
When they flashed the Falcons final I thought it was the Braves score. And this was before I found out they were THE SAME.
This Week It Sucks To Be: 1. Roy Jones Jr., 2. Any Chiefs defender, 3. Any Packers DB
SPEAKING OF. Man, think about the viewers who went from Cardinals-Falcons to THIS. Their heads probably exploded. I think I even missed the first score, or it happened right after the switchover. Have the Colts run the ball yet? A lot of this was just the receivers outrunning the secondaries, both of which were banged up though I doubt it would've mattered. Favre can still bring it, but the Colts' D was just a little bit better. How ironic - a rushing touchdown ends it.
You're letting me down, Quentin. I'll take Lelie's catch here slightly over Andre Johnson's only because this one was a touchdown.
This is uncharted territory for all of us. 1977's just before the Niners got good, and none of us are old enough to remember them ever being bad.
Was it really just two seasons ago? Gannon goes down and Rob bursts into tears. (I really need to razz him about this next time I talk to him, by the way.) There's at least 10 teams in this league Collins could start for. The Bucs have nothing on offense. Nothing. Ken Dilger isn't even good anymore.
Nice of them to keep the lights off at Pro Player to save power. That is one big fucking puddle, I must say. Seriously, did you see this shit? Are the Dolphins even the best team in Miami at this point? (A.J.'s still better than Brock Berlin, though.)
Remember the last time these two played on MNF and they BROUGHT THE COMEDY~~? Vinny throwing on the first three plays? Problematic. YOU'VE BEEN SACKED~~~~~
This Week's General Observation: The inside of an MRI machine
Fantasy Report
aPaXFL: Went against Sean's Baton Rouge Tigers, who have... Favre. 36.16. But Brad Johnson having to play catch-up and the Seahawks D blanking the Niners gave me a six-point win. Still, I have no confidence in my current crop of QB's or RB's, so I'm willing to deal. Manning didn't outscore any teams in this league...
tSC: I have Favre in this league. 113-44. Spear may not want to talk to me anytime soon. Favre by himself outscored both Butch AND Tyler, and Manning beat both of them plus Spear. I'm 2-1 in both leagues.
RANKINGS
TOP 3:
1. New England - DNP. DNM.
2. Seattle - Shutouts are hard
3. Philadelphia - Continuing mastery on road
BOTTOM 3:
30. Arizona - Kept Vick out of the end zone, at least
31. Miami - Surprised hurricanes haven't washed them away yet
32. San Francisco - Shutouts are hard
Friday, September 24, 2004
And This Time, Could You Let Me Know?
My parents have been out looking at houses. This, by itself, is nothing remarkable. It's like a hobby to them, looking at houses. Has been for years. They've actually gone out for the sole purpose of looking at houses that they have no intention of even considering thinking about buying. That's how insane this is.
But this time, they're thinking about moving.
STORY ALERT~ May 1995. I'm finishing up my junior year at college, and during finals week I talked to my parents and learned that I'll have to come home by myself. That meant packing my car (brown '83 Cavalier; originally Mom's) with the contents of my dorm room and driving two hours. During the conversation, nothing was said about a possible move. Nothing was even said about a trip to look at houses.
I get on the street to my house and there's a "For Sale" sign out front. I have no idea what's going on. My parents aren't home yet, so I unpacked the car and sat in the driveway, waiting for them. I think Mom got home first, and she got out of the car and I didn't say anything, but pointed to the sign. Turns out they'd mistakenly thought they'd told me.
Anyway, the house was sold a couple months later, but the house Mom and Dad were having built wouldn't be ready until February, and the buyers neded to be in at the end of October - like my dad, they were moving here because the husband had been transferred to McGuire Air Force Base. So we (including our sheepdog) spent Thanksgiving and Christmas in this tiny two-bedroom apartment.
The winter of 1995 was pretty bad and knocked construction behind schedule, so the house now wouldn't be finished until March. It was - just barely missing the Blizzard of '96.
And now they've both decided that the place is too big for the two of them, so I learned tonight that they've been looking into "adult communities." I think a lot of the stuff that happened this summer with the toilet flooding and everything that came out of that had a lot to do with it, plus it really is just a lot of house and property to manage that they don't even really use. When we first moved in, I thought it strange even then that they would move up to a bigger house when I was about to graduate from college and wasn't expecting to come back at all (I was still hopelessly optimistic that I'd actually, you know, get a job right out of college. I thought that still happened. I ended up staying in that house for five years after that.), so I end up being right eight years after the fact.
Ah, well. At least this time it won't be a surprise.
But this time, they're thinking about moving.
STORY ALERT~ May 1995. I'm finishing up my junior year at college, and during finals week I talked to my parents and learned that I'll have to come home by myself. That meant packing my car (brown '83 Cavalier; originally Mom's) with the contents of my dorm room and driving two hours. During the conversation, nothing was said about a possible move. Nothing was even said about a trip to look at houses.
I get on the street to my house and there's a "For Sale" sign out front. I have no idea what's going on. My parents aren't home yet, so I unpacked the car and sat in the driveway, waiting for them. I think Mom got home first, and she got out of the car and I didn't say anything, but pointed to the sign. Turns out they'd mistakenly thought they'd told me.
Anyway, the house was sold a couple months later, but the house Mom and Dad were having built wouldn't be ready until February, and the buyers neded to be in at the end of October - like my dad, they were moving here because the husband had been transferred to McGuire Air Force Base. So we (including our sheepdog) spent Thanksgiving and Christmas in this tiny two-bedroom apartment.
The winter of 1995 was pretty bad and knocked construction behind schedule, so the house now wouldn't be finished until March. It was - just barely missing the Blizzard of '96.
And now they've both decided that the place is too big for the two of them, so I learned tonight that they've been looking into "adult communities." I think a lot of the stuff that happened this summer with the toilet flooding and everything that came out of that had a lot to do with it, plus it really is just a lot of house and property to manage that they don't even really use. When we first moved in, I thought it strange even then that they would move up to a bigger house when I was about to graduate from college and wasn't expecting to come back at all (I was still hopelessly optimistic that I'd actually, you know, get a job right out of college. I thought that still happened. I ended up staying in that house for five years after that.), so I end up being right eight years after the fact.
Ah, well. At least this time it won't be a surprise.
Tuesday, September 21, 2004
By The Pigskin Of Our Teeth, Week 2: Quality Milkshakes Or Suffer The Consequences
YOU ARE LOOKING LIVE at Exit 16W off the New Jersey Turnpike, and if you stand in the right spot, you might recover a Redskins fumble. There is a Rutherford proper, FYI. What in the blue hell was going on here? Some D.C. columnist actually called the NFC East "wide open". Not after this display, it's not. Joe Gibbs teams didn't used to do this; then again, Joe Gibbs teams used to be intelligently constructed. Two good games in a row from Warner. Hold the phone, people. This is also This Week's Game That Shouldn't Have Been This Close, to get that out of the way.
We're starting a petition at the office that Roethlisberger must be referred to in the media as Ben Jones. Who's in?
PROTECT THE FOOTBALL. I can't imagine anyone having to sit through Broncos-Jags - just seemed like an exercise in tedium and agony. How is this team 2-0?
The Falcons beating the Rams was both surprising and not. Discuss.
Not one mention of Rex Grossman in the Bears' highlights. Odd. But who cares when you've got Mike Brown wrecking shop? PROTECT THE FOOTBALL. Then HE went down. How did this one happen?
Roy's wearing #11? What, are we back in the Run 'n' Shoot days where they had 19 wideouts on the roster?
This Week It Sucks To Be: 1. Dave Wannstedt, 2. Kellen Winslow II, 3. Brad Johnson, 4. A Washington Redskins offensive player, 5. A Baltimore Ravens offensive player.
So it's Patriots > Colts > Titans, then? Is that it? And the radio call on the Harper interception was HIGH-larious. "Mason's got it! No! Harper took it away from him! FUCK!" Okay, maybe I made that last bit up.
The Bills haven't visited the Raiders since '77? The Jets go there every damn year, it seems. I wonder when somebody realized the Rice streak was about to end.
What's the turnaround time for game film distribution? Because apparently the Browns and Cowboys decided that the Redskins-Giants game needed to be repeated. There wre damn near back-to-back picks at one point, which houls lead to a forced stoppage or something. I'm only harping on this because Vinny's been making the same mistakes for eighteen years. They're not gonna win with him. I honestly believe that. Also, who here knew before that that you could onside a free kick?
It's genuinely frightening how much Chris resembles Phil. PROTECT THE FOOTBALL.
Prophecy of the Week: "Caveat: no Brian Simmons or Deltha O'Neal, though." And who ran back an interception for a TD? Maguire killing the Dolphins' O-line throughout the second half was nutty. The old Bengals lose this game. No two ways about it. I think this Palmer kid's gonna be all right.
Why hasn't anyone started calling Reid "Mr. Monday Night" yet? Note to self: Consider starting L.J. Smith. All of a sudden, the Eagles' pass rush just exploded and they were chasing Daunte all over the field. This "settling for field goals" business isn't gonna help anyone. That wasn't Daunte that fumbled at the goal line; it was a member of the Washington Redskins. You HAVE to score touchdowns in this league. The game ended at that point. Before Gates complains, Moss did push the guy, though I will cop to some acting on Hood's part. I'm impresed that Donovan got that much drag on his moonwalk in cleats. How many false starts did the Vikings have? Would it have killed them to throw deep more than, oh, ONCE? Are you like me and was somehow expecting, I dunno, more points?
This Week's General Observation: PROTECT THE FOOTBALL. Duh.
Fantasy Report:
XLFaPa: Jeff KICKED MY ASS. Didn't he beat me in Week 2 LAST year, too? Brad Johnson: -1.32 points. That's all you need to know. With K2's injury, Jim Kleinsasser was dropped for Marcus Pollard.
tSC: As I told Rob, I doubted Emmitt's ability to duplicate last week's effort against the Patriots. Thanks to the Ravens' D playing like they should (20 pts.), the Saboteurs beat Rob like he owed us money, which he actually might ;)
RANKINGS~:
TOP 3:
1. New England - Who betta?
2. Seattle - Two road wins in two tough places
3. Philadelphia - Bend? Sure. Break? Nope
BOTTOM 3:
30. Miami - At least they still have the Heat
31. (tie) Arizona and San Francisco - "I would take the Under Armour team over the Cardinals and 49ers." - Robert Cressey, Cincinnati
We're starting a petition at the office that Roethlisberger must be referred to in the media as Ben Jones. Who's in?
PROTECT THE FOOTBALL. I can't imagine anyone having to sit through Broncos-Jags - just seemed like an exercise in tedium and agony. How is this team 2-0?
The Falcons beating the Rams was both surprising and not. Discuss.
Not one mention of Rex Grossman in the Bears' highlights. Odd. But who cares when you've got Mike Brown wrecking shop? PROTECT THE FOOTBALL. Then HE went down. How did this one happen?
Roy's wearing #11? What, are we back in the Run 'n' Shoot days where they had 19 wideouts on the roster?
This Week It Sucks To Be: 1. Dave Wannstedt, 2. Kellen Winslow II, 3. Brad Johnson, 4. A Washington Redskins offensive player, 5. A Baltimore Ravens offensive player.
So it's Patriots > Colts > Titans, then? Is that it? And the radio call on the Harper interception was HIGH-larious. "Mason's got it! No! Harper took it away from him! FUCK!" Okay, maybe I made that last bit up.
The Bills haven't visited the Raiders since '77? The Jets go there every damn year, it seems. I wonder when somebody realized the Rice streak was about to end.
What's the turnaround time for game film distribution? Because apparently the Browns and Cowboys decided that the Redskins-Giants game needed to be repeated. There wre damn near back-to-back picks at one point, which houls lead to a forced stoppage or something. I'm only harping on this because Vinny's been making the same mistakes for eighteen years. They're not gonna win with him. I honestly believe that. Also, who here knew before that that you could onside a free kick?
It's genuinely frightening how much Chris resembles Phil. PROTECT THE FOOTBALL.
Prophecy of the Week: "Caveat: no Brian Simmons or Deltha O'Neal, though." And who ran back an interception for a TD? Maguire killing the Dolphins' O-line throughout the second half was nutty. The old Bengals lose this game. No two ways about it. I think this Palmer kid's gonna be all right.
Why hasn't anyone started calling Reid "Mr. Monday Night" yet? Note to self: Consider starting L.J. Smith. All of a sudden, the Eagles' pass rush just exploded and they were chasing Daunte all over the field. This "settling for field goals" business isn't gonna help anyone. That wasn't Daunte that fumbled at the goal line; it was a member of the Washington Redskins. You HAVE to score touchdowns in this league. The game ended at that point. Before Gates complains, Moss did push the guy, though I will cop to some acting on Hood's part. I'm impresed that Donovan got that much drag on his moonwalk in cleats. How many false starts did the Vikings have? Would it have killed them to throw deep more than, oh, ONCE? Are you like me and was somehow expecting, I dunno, more points?
This Week's General Observation: PROTECT THE FOOTBALL. Duh.
Fantasy Report:
XLFaPa: Jeff KICKED MY ASS. Didn't he beat me in Week 2 LAST year, too? Brad Johnson: -1.32 points. That's all you need to know. With K2's injury, Jim Kleinsasser was dropped for Marcus Pollard.
tSC: As I told Rob, I doubted Emmitt's ability to duplicate last week's effort against the Patriots. Thanks to the Ravens' D playing like they should (20 pts.), the Saboteurs beat Rob like he owed us money, which he actually might ;)
RANKINGS~:
TOP 3:
1. New England - Who betta?
2. Seattle - Two road wins in two tough places
3. Philadelphia - Bend? Sure. Break? Nope
BOTTOM 3:
30. Miami - At least they still have the Heat
31. (tie) Arizona and San Francisco - "I would take the Under Armour team over the Cardinals and 49ers." - Robert Cressey, Cincinnati
Saturday, September 18, 2004
Wednesday, September 15, 2004
By The Pigskin Of Our Teeth: Week 1: Mildly Sexier Than Keith Olbermann
YOU ARE LOOKING LIVE at Brady's Razor in Lesser Boston, Massachusetts. Nice weather. Who knew turnovers in the red zone would become an unfortunate theme of the week. Dillon's going to make life so much easier for that team. Vanderjagt... MISSES? WTF? I suddenly miss Ralph Wiley again :( He HATED Vanderjagt.
Curtis Martin? Really? I still maintain that he is one of, if not the, most underrated players of this era. Palmer actually looked pretty good, but the Bengals' defense hurt them. Badly. Caveat: no Brian Simmons or Deltha O'Neal, though.
This Week It Sucks To Be: 1. Charles Rogers; 2. Mike Vanderjagt; 3. Brian Billick; 4. the guy who Leftwich burned on the last play.
Way to make an impact, Deion. *snickers* The Browns, unwilling to be schooled again, brought a 12-man front or something; I don't know what this was. Garcia looked sharp and controlled; Boller looked lost and confused. Thank God they don't play the Bears this year... that might have been the first game where negative points were scored.
Butch: "PROJECTED SEASON STATISTICS FOR JEROME BETTIS: 16 yards, 48 touchdowns. WHAT." And in retrospect, I should've been watching this instead of Bucs-Redskins, since things were happening here. 70's rivalries renewed! Old-time football! DUUUUUUUCE. Last-second field goals! This was football the way God intended.
Maybe Portis is just a damn good running back. You've been able to do this to Tampa for years, though. Well, when you have no pass rush, BLITZ! Dare I say they looked like the Eagles defense out there.
Can I just remind you, first of all, that last year the Eagles didn't have a wide receiver catch a touchdown pass until Week 9. Neidermayer? DEAD! Dean Wormer? DEAD! Jeff Feagles? DEAD! That second McNabb to Owens TD we're going to start calling the Air Hockey Pass, 'cause that's what it looked like. *hears "Eli" chant* How many passes did the Giants drop? CRASH! Welcome to the big leagues, kid.
This Week's Game That Shouldn't Have Been This Close: Falcons-49ers.
Fifty pass attempts? FIFTY? Vinny should NEVER throw fifty passes in a game. It's not because he's old, it's because he sucks. Now do you see why I'm not believing in this team?
Pat Summerall! And somehow we went from this to remembering Jimmy the Greek at work and trying to figure out who the Redskins' other quarterbacks were the year Doug Williams won the Super Bowl for them. (Jay Schroeder and who else? Anyone?) Every time they try to throw at Champ, something bad happens. Have you noticed that? He's covering Gonzalez. No, REALLY. Boy, the refs dropped the ball here, huh? How do you forget to mark off the yardage? I thought this was the same crew that blew the coin toss in that Thanksgiving game a few years ago but I've since been corrected. Is Quentin succeeding Alexander as the new "Mr. Sunday Night"? And now we've gone from Good Jake to Bad Jake. Course, the Chiefs can't stop either one...
Why, yes, the Packers ARE going to miss McKenzie. STOP GIVING GREEN THE BALL. ESPECIALLY ON PASS PLAYS. See the above comment on the Redskins blitzing the blue hell out of the Bucs and apply it here. Man, the Panthers' lines are just getting embarrassed. Who called this one? I sure didn't.
This Week's General Observation: As somebody (Jaworski?) predicted, the new enforcement of the 5-yard bump rules has actually helped the tight ends more than the wideouts.
Fantasy Report:
XFLaPa: Thankfully, Quentin Griffin did win the Broncos' RB job, and he led the way over Merc.
tSC: Lost to Air Force Blues by 1.43! Bettis rode my bench and ran for three scores on one yard. Then Favre had to complete a touchdown pass... TO GREEN. I'm physically angry right now.
(Mike Spears contributed to the Fantasy Report.)
Curtis Martin? Really? I still maintain that he is one of, if not the, most underrated players of this era. Palmer actually looked pretty good, but the Bengals' defense hurt them. Badly. Caveat: no Brian Simmons or Deltha O'Neal, though.
This Week It Sucks To Be: 1. Charles Rogers; 2. Mike Vanderjagt; 3. Brian Billick; 4. the guy who Leftwich burned on the last play.
Way to make an impact, Deion. *snickers* The Browns, unwilling to be schooled again, brought a 12-man front or something; I don't know what this was. Garcia looked sharp and controlled; Boller looked lost and confused. Thank God they don't play the Bears this year... that might have been the first game where negative points were scored.
Butch: "PROJECTED SEASON STATISTICS FOR JEROME BETTIS: 16 yards, 48 touchdowns. WHAT." And in retrospect, I should've been watching this instead of Bucs-Redskins, since things were happening here. 70's rivalries renewed! Old-time football! DUUUUUUUCE. Last-second field goals! This was football the way God intended.
Maybe Portis is just a damn good running back. You've been able to do this to Tampa for years, though. Well, when you have no pass rush, BLITZ! Dare I say they looked like the Eagles defense out there.
Can I just remind you, first of all, that last year the Eagles didn't have a wide receiver catch a touchdown pass until Week 9. Neidermayer? DEAD! Dean Wormer? DEAD! Jeff Feagles? DEAD! That second McNabb to Owens TD we're going to start calling the Air Hockey Pass, 'cause that's what it looked like. *hears "Eli" chant* How many passes did the Giants drop? CRASH! Welcome to the big leagues, kid.
This Week's Game That Shouldn't Have Been This Close: Falcons-49ers.
Fifty pass attempts? FIFTY? Vinny should NEVER throw fifty passes in a game. It's not because he's old, it's because he sucks. Now do you see why I'm not believing in this team?
Pat Summerall! And somehow we went from this to remembering Jimmy the Greek at work and trying to figure out who the Redskins' other quarterbacks were the year Doug Williams won the Super Bowl for them. (Jay Schroeder and who else? Anyone?) Every time they try to throw at Champ, something bad happens. Have you noticed that? He's covering Gonzalez. No, REALLY. Boy, the refs dropped the ball here, huh? How do you forget to mark off the yardage? I thought this was the same crew that blew the coin toss in that Thanksgiving game a few years ago but I've since been corrected. Is Quentin succeeding Alexander as the new "Mr. Sunday Night"? And now we've gone from Good Jake to Bad Jake. Course, the Chiefs can't stop either one...
Why, yes, the Packers ARE going to miss McKenzie. STOP GIVING GREEN THE BALL. ESPECIALLY ON PASS PLAYS. See the above comment on the Redskins blitzing the blue hell out of the Bucs and apply it here. Man, the Panthers' lines are just getting embarrassed. Who called this one? I sure didn't.
This Week's General Observation: As somebody (Jaworski?) predicted, the new enforcement of the 5-yard bump rules has actually helped the tight ends more than the wideouts.
Fantasy Report:
XFLaPa: Thankfully, Quentin Griffin did win the Broncos' RB job, and he led the way over Merc.
tSC: Lost to Air Force Blues by 1.43! Bettis rode my bench and ran for three scores on one yard. Then Favre had to complete a touchdown pass... TO GREEN. I'm physically angry right now.
(Mike Spears contributed to the Fantasy Report.)
Thursday, September 9, 2004
Fearful Forecast '04
So here it is. Bear in mind that the top five or so NFC teams are pretty much interchangeable, and none of them are better than the Patriots (and may not be better than the Colts, either)
NFC EAST
(3) Philadelphia - Birds going for broke
Washington - No pass rush, but at least they're not...
Dallas - When Vinny Testaverde is your quarterback... well, you all know the rest
N.Y. Giants - Eli's over/under: Week 9
NFC NORTH
(2) Minnesota - No pressure. Really! *rolls eyes*
(6) Green Bay - Favre/Green combo still dangerous
Detroit - Will make a move, but probably a year away still
Chicago - Is Lovie his real name?
NFC SOUTH
(4) Carolina - 3 D's (Delhomme, Davis, and defense) win four-way toss-up
New Orleans - We're gonna find out about Haslett... and I don't think it'll be pretty
Atlanta - Now to build the rest of the team
Tampa Bay - Too many losses to overcome
NFC WEST
(1) Seattle - How about winning some road games?
(5) St. Louis - Martz's last stand
San Francisco - WHA HAPPENED?
Arizona - I'll say it again: Dennis Green better be right about McCown
AFC EAST
(1) New England - This time, Pats improved after Super Bowl
N.Y. Jets - A healthy Pennington is key
Miami - I may be quarterback by Week 10 at this rate
Buffalo - Who knows, man... who knows
AFC NORTH
(4) Cincinnati - Why the hell not
Pittsburgh - Over/under on Rothlisberger: Week 13
Baltimore - Could face 11-man fronts. No, REALLY
Cleveland - Don't like this defense one bit
AFC SOUTH
(2) Indianapolis - But that D's stil a concern
(5) Tennessee - Titans reshuffling the deck
Jacksonville - Leftwich on move upwards
Houston - As is Carr
AFC WEST
(3) Denver - Champ will be worth the price paid
(6) Kansas City - Can Gunther pump life into defense?
Oakland - Over/under on QB controversy: Week 3
San Diego - LDT one step closer to DEATH
WILD CARD
Philadelphia over Green Bay; Carolina over St. Louis
Denver over KC; Tennessee over Cincinnati
DIVISIONAL PLAYOFFS
Philadelpha over Minnesota; Seattle over Carolina
New England over Tennessee; Indianapolis over Denver
CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS
Philadelphia over Seattle
New England over Indianapolis
SUPER BOWL 39
New England over Philadelphia
NFC EAST
(3) Philadelphia - Birds going for broke
Washington - No pass rush, but at least they're not...
Dallas - When Vinny Testaverde is your quarterback... well, you all know the rest
N.Y. Giants - Eli's over/under: Week 9
NFC NORTH
(2) Minnesota - No pressure. Really! *rolls eyes*
(6) Green Bay - Favre/Green combo still dangerous
Detroit - Will make a move, but probably a year away still
Chicago - Is Lovie his real name?
NFC SOUTH
(4) Carolina - 3 D's (Delhomme, Davis, and defense) win four-way toss-up
New Orleans - We're gonna find out about Haslett... and I don't think it'll be pretty
Atlanta - Now to build the rest of the team
Tampa Bay - Too many losses to overcome
NFC WEST
(1) Seattle - How about winning some road games?
(5) St. Louis - Martz's last stand
San Francisco - WHA HAPPENED?
Arizona - I'll say it again: Dennis Green better be right about McCown
AFC EAST
(1) New England - This time, Pats improved after Super Bowl
N.Y. Jets - A healthy Pennington is key
Miami - I may be quarterback by Week 10 at this rate
Buffalo - Who knows, man... who knows
AFC NORTH
(4) Cincinnati - Why the hell not
Pittsburgh - Over/under on Rothlisberger: Week 13
Baltimore - Could face 11-man fronts. No, REALLY
Cleveland - Don't like this defense one bit
AFC SOUTH
(2) Indianapolis - But that D's stil a concern
(5) Tennessee - Titans reshuffling the deck
Jacksonville - Leftwich on move upwards
Houston - As is Carr
AFC WEST
(3) Denver - Champ will be worth the price paid
(6) Kansas City - Can Gunther pump life into defense?
Oakland - Over/under on QB controversy: Week 3
San Diego - LDT one step closer to DEATH
WILD CARD
Philadelphia over Green Bay; Carolina over St. Louis
Denver over KC; Tennessee over Cincinnati
DIVISIONAL PLAYOFFS
Philadelpha over Minnesota; Seattle over Carolina
New England over Tennessee; Indianapolis over Denver
CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS
Philadelphia over Seattle
New England over Indianapolis
SUPER BOWL 39
New England over Philadelphia
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