Tuesday Football Rundown

Time is money, so we're jumping right in:

1. This is hilarious. For people to suggest that he did this because he's betting on the games is even funnier. It seems there are better ways to alter the outcome than taking out the QB. I've watched it a few times and I just don't see how what the ref did can be seen as anything other than a ref losing his mind momentarily. Where's the fine??



2. Kellen Winslow may be coming out of his pocket for his mouth. Winslow is not happy about how the Cleveland Brown treated him following his three day hospitalization with a staph infection, a problem the Browns have been trying to sweep under the locker room floor. They should have known they were going to have an issue if this guy got it. He's a "freakin'" soldier, after all. Maybe now they'll try to figure out why it's happening instead of trying to hide it. Staph infections? Seriously, that's just gross . . . and Winslow's entirely too pretty for all that.

3. Let's call this one "more like 'sucking' Broncos." Monday Night Football featured a blowout courtesy of the New England Patriots, who whooped up on the Denver Broncos 41-7. Were the Pats looking to prove on the premier stage that they still got it even without their golden boy? I think so.

4. Adam "Pacman" Jones has entered alcohol rehab. I believe that means one of two things: a) he (or his people) reads the blog, and/or b) he's coming back to the NFL. "Both a) and b)" is also an acceptable answer.

5. Looks like we're going all football, all the time today. The morning-after death knell tolled again, and this time its victim is San Francisco 49ers coach Mike Nolan. Apparently, he wasn't going to be fired:

Earlier Monday, [49ers VP Jed York] had said Nolan's job was safe for the time being."What changed," he said later, "was there were numerous reports (that Nolan would be fired) that were a distraction."

That may be one of the weakest excuses I've ever heard for firing someone. So Nolan's job was safe until people started saying his job wasn't safe, at which point his job became not safe and was in fact in extreme danger. Nice.

6. Try to catch the ESPN commercial with Dwight Howard and Tracy McGrady (and some others you probably wouldn't know) featuring new additions to the team RV. If I can find it online, I will post it. Good stuff.

Show Me Some Skin

Some things I've been musing over the past few days:

1. Chris Cooley, tight end for the Washington Redskins, has his own blog which is apparently pretty decent. Cooley had a game this Sunday but wanted to do a post before his game, so he hurriedly posted a picture of what he thought was just his play book. Unfortunately, in his haste, he included a little too much "fore red skin" (why did I just see that PTI stole my joke??). So not only did Cooley catch flak from his coach for posting a page from the play book, but now we all know . . . a little too much about him. Hopefully he has learned that a 2" x 2" digital camera screen is short on detail (no pun intended). You can click here to see the picture, but I'd wait until you get home because it's definitely NSFW (not safe for work). I would have put this up for MYSM next week, but most of you wouldn't be smiling . . . Cooley apologized for the exposure, but I feel like we deserve some kind of an explanation for the conduct itself. (Update: And here it is). Hilarious.
   
   
2. The NFL referee who botched the call that let the Denver Broncos back in (and eventually win) their game against the San Diego Chargers on Sunday has received a downgrade from the NFL for his mistake. They say this means he could receive less pay or even be terminated when he comes up for review. Gee whiz. Ed Hochuli is a veteran ref who made a really bad call - accidentally, not purposely. Bad calls happen, but it's not like he wasn't working within the rules nor was he trying to ruin the game. I'm happy to see his brethren rallying around him in his hour of need. Had his call come at a less pivotal point in the game, then obviously his mistake wouldn't have mattered as much. So, yeah, he blew it, and yeah, it sucks for the San Diego Chargers, but as Norv Turner said, the score will always be 39-38. Let's move on.
   
   
3. Baltimore Ravens QB Troy Smith has been cleared to work out following a severe case of tonsilitis that cause him to lose 20 pounds. The Ravens doctor added, however, that he was never critically ill and his health was never in danger. He's still on antibiotics and will likely need his tonsils removed, but probably won't have the procedure until the end of the season. Wow, all that from tonsilitis? I had tonsilitis when I was a babe (as in young, not "hot"), but I can't imagine it being that bad. I'd say losing 20 pounds when you're sick is sufficiently serious even if he wasn't "critically ill." Poor guy. To go from Heisman Trophy winner to having to compete for a starting QB spot has to be a tough transition over a two-year span. Although there are a lot of great things about being a professional athlete, the fact that it can all be over in an instant is definitely not one of them. Here's hoping he surpasses the expectations of this latest batch of naysayers.

4. Speaking of competing for a starting spot, the Tennessee Titans have decided to stick with the veteran Kerry Collins as their QB, potentially even after Vince Young is able to return. Coach Jeff Fisher says he'll stick with Collins as long as the Titans keep winning. I can't say that I blame him, and maybe this will be actually be good for Young, giving him more time to collect his thoughts. (With every day that goes by, I am increasingly happy that I don't have a fantasy football team this year . . .)

5. You may have noticed that I haven't mentioned O.J. Simspon's Las Vegas trial at all. That's because I'm just really not interested anymore (although I expressly reserve the right to blog about this if something interesting happens). As I've said in previous posts on Mr. Simpson, it's probably about time the Juice got squeezed, but with folks like this testifying for the prosecution, (and check out this other great court performance) one can't be too sure. For some reason, I have a feeling he'll be cleared again, but whether he does time or doesn't, he has already been punished. Living on the outside knowing that everyone believes you've killed your wife and won't have anything to do with you because of it is prison - only you never get to leave. I know lawyers aren't taught to believe this, but the courtroom is not the only place where justice is served.
   

6. Monday Night Football scored a ratings coup for cable TV with its Cowboys vs. Eagles showing taking the crown as the top-watched cable program of all time. Of course, they could have had bigger ratings if they were on network TV so those who can't afford cable could have watched it, but that's of no import to the Not Free League. A story for another day . . .
   

PnC Is Ready For Some FOOTBALL!

What a weekend. Camp Obama (which will be sending me to a battleground near you!). The Sarah Palin interview with Charlie Gibson. Tina Fey knocking her impression of Palin out of the park on Saturday Night Live . . .



Michael Phelps, uh, hosting SNL . . .

And sports. Where should we start?
I'll go in order (sorta) of occurrence:

So I was all excited for my first planned real college football viewing of the season, featuring Ohio State and USC, and I have to say I was pretty disappointed. It wasn't much of a contest from what I saw, so I got into conversation with a friend during much of it . . . unless someone was getting hit - hard! Well, I don't think this game will affect the Trojans because you can't get much higher than #1, but it wasn't entirely clear where Ohio State would rank because they lost to #1. Maybe they're #2 . . . maybe not. Maybe #13. I've seen the 100,000 comments from OSU fans on ESPN.com so I'm not trying to get hate comments from those who stumbled on this page from Google, but even they have to admit that was fairly unwatchable. This was on the premier national stage, so I'm sure the glare hurt worse, but they found a disappointed bedfellow in . . .

Michigan vs. Notre Dame. All you need to know is that the Wolverines had 7 fumbles, 6 turnovers, which resulted in 3 touchdowns for Notre Dame. Yes, it was mucky and nasty, as it was in a lot of parts of the country on Saturday, but they were both playing in the same conditions. It's funny (not "haha") that this used to be a huge rivalry, even outside of South Bend and Ann Arbor. I was just thinking yesterday that these programs aren't really relevant anymore except to their students and alum. Allegedly, they're both rebuilding (the Fightin' Irish
perhaps moreso than the waning Wolverines). But how long is that going to take?

Freak accident at the game: Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis had both his MCL and ACL torn when his defensive end crashed into him on the sidelines following a block. I always wondered if people ever got seriously injured standing that close, and now I know. Not as much outcry about this as there was for Tom Brady. I think it was a dirty hit. . .Unlike that weakling Brady who decided to succumb to the knife*, Weis says he's going to forego surgery (for now) so he can remain in the danger zone they call the sidelines, proving there's no "i" in coach, either . . .

Pro football. I like to end on a good note so let's start with the Detroit Lions vs. Green Bay Packers. Not a good week for the State of Michigan (in sports, anyway -- the Tigers just lost a doubleheader, too, to the Chicago White Sox). Unfortunately, being a Michigan team wasn't the only similarity the Lions had to the Wolverines. After coming back against the Packers in the second half, and going up 25-24 late in the game, the Lions -- or should I say Jon Kitna -- threw 3 interceptions in the last 5 minutes of the game. Even better, the three interceptions came in about 3 minutes - no, I'm not kidding. Two straight weeks facing young (or un-tested) QB's in Matt Ryan and Aaron Rodgers, and two straight bad losses. But they still manage to sell out every week. I might compare this to the phenomenon of voting for the same regime and expecting a different result . . . but I digress.

Speaking of Brett Favre, or teams that used to feature him, the NY Jets game against the New England Patriots was supposed to be very interesting a week ago. Brett vs. Tom, like an early Christmas gift. Alas, it didn't pan out that way, and to be honest, this game was ho-hum at best. I tried to watch it in real-time, and failed, then tried to DVR it, and couldn't get through it again. As not-interesting as it was, the Patriots are 2-0, and Matt Cassel has now started and won his first game since high school. I wonder when they'll start the predictions about them matching the '72 Miami Dolphins . . .

Interesting ending to the Denver Broncos game vs. the San Diego Chargers. End result is two last second losses and an 0-2 record for the Chargers. With about a minute or so left in the game, down by 8 points, around the 10 yard line, Broncos QB Jay Cutler clearly fumbles the ball (he'd already dropped it once a few minutes earlier), and the Chargers recovered it. But the ref blew the whistle (I couldn't hear it but he confessed to it) which deaded the ball at the 10 yard line. Saved by the whistle. Then Cutler threw a TD to WR ER (Eddie Royal), which meant the Broncos were only down by one. Then, I saw the unbelievable - really, even the other Broncos were surprised. Broncos coach Mike Shanahan and Cutler call for a two-point conversion for the win, at home, rather than just going for the extra point, which would have tied the game. In basketball, sometimes they'll go for the 3-pointer for the win rather than the two-point field goal if they have a better look at the former. But in football, since the extra point is pretty much a given, and every single game is so precious (as Chargers coach Norv Turner's post-game interview so aptly "alluded"), going for the conversion is pretty risky. But they went for it, and they converted it, with another pass from Cutler to Royal. The commentators alternated between Shanahan was "playing with the house's money" (i.e., they pressed their luck after they'd already lucked up with the bad call) and that the coach was showing his confidence in his team, more specifically, in Cutler. I agree. Whether they converted or didn't, knowing coach would bet the house on you has to do good things to the self-esteem. Smart man. All I know is that Shanahan has instantly earned my respect, because if they don't convert that, the secret service may have needed to return to Mile High Stadium to get him out of there. Or maybe the fans are nicer in Denver than they are in the rest of the country. Either way, people would have been pissed. . .but they won, so they're not (and to anyone who regularly bets for/against the Broncos, now you know). This just proves yet again that the only difference between a bad idea and a good idea is whether it worked. Kudos to Cutler, again, for keeping the party going under the circumstances. . .

Eli Manning and the NY Giants beat the St. Louis Rams. zzzzz. Which leads me to the real point of this post . . .


BRING ON MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL!






*Severe sarcasm, in case you're new here.

MNF Quickie: Young Shines, Receivers Look Tarnished

I didn't catch all of the Tennessee Titans v. Denver Broncos Monday Night Football game, but I saw on Sports Center that Titans receivers dropped four easy passes that could have helped them win the game. I did see their QB Vince Young's two interceptions, but he ended up with 305 yards passing, which was a career high for him.

With a good offensive line, better defensive line, and better receivers (yeah, pretty much another team), I think he'd get more credit as a good QB than he does right now. He gets some credit, but I think folks are sleeping on him. He even has a great QB name.

After the game when reporters questioned him about the dropped passes by receivers, he said that he wasn't going to stop throwing it to them just because they dropped them, and that he has confidence that they'll catch them.

Displaying confidence in teammates who obviously went a long way to help him lose this game? I like that.

Broncos, Schmoncos. It's All About the "Creek"

Jack Elway, son of John Elway, the Super Bowl winning, likable former quarterback for the Denver Broncos, is going to have an interesting year. It turns out his famous pops will be his QB coach this upcoming season. Apparently the apple didn't fall far from the tree when it came to talent. This season can go one of two ways for young Jack: really fun or suck miserably.

I recall one time, among many, when my dad took an active interest in my sports. He took it upon himself to build an apparatus in the front yard for me to practice on at 6 in the morning. Now, I am not a morning person; never have been, not sure I ever will be. So that lasted about three days, and I think my mom got more use out of it than I did. We have since moved out of that house but that apparatus still lives on. At the same time, I was also receiving pages of barely legible legal pad scribbles which he slid under my door, detailing (and hyperbolizing) the status of my "game." Just recently, he has been telling a story about how he would take my TV out of my room if I lost, but it seems I'd remember if that ever happened (that goes for having my TV taken - and losing). If he had been my coach, too, I'm not sure we would be speaking today.

I don't know what kind of kid Jack is, but somehow, I think this could be way more cool to other kids than it will be for him.

Then again, how many people can say they were coached in high school by one of the best there ever was? Despite my comments above, I realize now that my dad was just teaching me the discipline and work ethic that enabled him to be successful at everything from Division I basketball to winning cases. He may not be John Elway, but in my eyes (and in his own eyes, if you know him), he was better. And let's be honest: if he didn't come to every match and write me a note afterward, I would have been looking for him to get his feedback. Hey, teenagers are complex people.

So the moral of the story is this: Just suck it up, Jack! Suck it up! It'll all be worth it when you get that Super Bowl ring . . . or pass the bar.