Could the bye week have come at a better time for the Bengals? Sitting at 5-2, first place in the AFC North, coming off a 45-10 thrashing of the Bears, and having the Ravens and Steelers on the horizon; perfect time for a week off. Remember back in 2005 when everyone (well, everyone in Cincinnati) wondered what the team would look like if they only had a defense to match their offense? Well, we found out on Sunday. Anyone thought the Bengals would be 5-2 after Week 7? I certain didn't; I had them down for 6 wins total after the Week 1 loss to the Broncos. But after the bye, they've got Baltimore, at Pittsburgh, at Oakland, Cleveland. Going to Pittsburgh's going to be tough, but I don't think going 3-1 in the stretch is out of the question (although it might be now that I've mentioned it). After that, they finish up Detroit, at Minnesota, at San Diego, Kansas City, at New York Jets; 4-1, 3-2 at the worst. I'd live with 12-4 or 11-5 and an AFC North title, wouldn't you?
I'm torn about the current success UC football is having. On one hand, I love seeing college football excitement in Cincinnati. On the other hand, its making UC fans (of which I know plenty) as insufferable as OSU fans (of which I also know plenty). The reality is that UC won't get the national recognition it thinks it deserves (whether it actually does or not) because they're still relatively new to being a winning program, and history matters a great deal in college football (one of the sport's major drawbacks). UC die-hards all want to see the Bearcats in the BCS Championship game, but I just don't see it happening. An absolutely ridiculous set of circumstances would have to happen for that to occur. In no particular order, the following would have to happen:
-Between Florida and Alabama, one has to not make the SEC Championship game (Alabama being the most likely candidate, since Florida looks pretty safe in the East), and the other has to lose in the SEC Championship game. Of course, the catch here is that the team most likely to cause this scenario to play out is LSU, who's currently ranked #9 in the BCS. If the Tigers were to win out, which would require them going on the road at Alabama and at Mississippi, and avenge an their only loss to Florida in the SEC Championship game, there's no doubt in my mind that they'd make the BCS title game. And if either Florida or Alabama win the SEC, they'd pretty much be guaranteed a shot at the BCS title, even with a loss. What I'm getting at is that the SEC Championship winner (unless everyone loses from here on out and someone completely random wins the title) has a lock one of the top 2 BCS spots.
-After the SEC mess, Texas has to not win the Big 12. Given the BCS's history, it wouldn't surprise me if a 1-loss Texas team made the championship game if they still won the Big 12 title. So losing this week to Oklahoma State wouldn't eliminate them; losing to a junk team from the Big 12 North would.
-Iowa has to lose. Yeah, I know Big Ten + BCS bowl game = FAIL, but Iowa's ranked above UC right now, everyone loves them, and if they won out, they'd have wins at Penn State, at Wisconsin, and at Ohio State. That's pretty good.
-USC has to lose again. A one-loss USC would trump an undefeated UC, TCU, Boise State. and probably Iowa simply because they're USC (history, remember?). This week at Oregon is the best chance of this happening, but recent history suggests that it won't since they've already lost to a Pac-10 team this year.
-TCU and Boise State have to lose. Boise State's been there and done that before in BCS bowl games, and they don't have another hard game on their schedule. TCU still has to play Utah, but that game's at home, and they just crushed BYU in Provo, so I don't think it'll be a problem for them (sidenote: how much is TCU loving the fact that Virginia, while still terrible, has salvaged some semblance of a potentially respectable season? While its still not a great win, it looks a lot better now than it did in September.). I truly think that one of these teams would get a shot at the BCS title this year over UC because the BCS brass would want to see them get crushed by an SEC team so they could say, "See? Told ya so!"
If all those things happen, you could see UC play for the BCS title. But I'm not holding my breath.
Moving away from football, the World Series starts tonight, Phillies vs. Yankees. Hmm. Either the Yankees win their 27th championship or the Phillies go back-to-back. Neither outcome is desirable. Going back to football.
Virginia is currently a 7 point favorite over Duke this weekend. That line is complete joke. Duke's having their best season in, like, forever, and they can put up a ton of points. Duke's 4-3 and looking to make a bowl game, and they have 3 winnable games left (at Virginia, at North Carolina, and Wake Forest). Virginia is 3-4 and this is the only winnable game left. Duke's playing for something, Virginia isn't. Virginia loses to Duke in back-to-back season, and Al Groh will somehow manage to keep his job. Astounding.
Current random sports obsession- college volleyball. Can't get enough of it. I mentioned it last year during the Olympics, and I'm still watching it (the women's game is on now, the men play in the spring). If you're bailing on the World Series like me, I suggest you check out Ohio State at Penn State tonight on the Big Ten Network. Penn State's the #1 team in the country, the 2-time defending National Champion, and riding an 80+ game win streak. Needless to say, they're good.
Okay, I've wasted enough time. In the words of President Bartlett, "Break's over."
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Monday, October 19, 2009
Say "What" Again!!!
Got an invite to Google Wave from my friend in the Pacific Northwest, Honester Ciphers, but I wasn't exactly sure what Google Wave was for. This video was helpful.
Oh, I'm sorry, did I break your concentration?
Oh, I'm sorry, did I break your concentration?
The Sky Is Falling!
That's it, its over, time to pack it in. Okay, maybe not. We don't handle success very well here.
The Bengals lost to the Texans on Sunday 28-17 in a game where the Bengals D completely disappeared in the second half. I chalk that up to the lack of pass rush on Matt Schaub, which was due to large part to injures to Antwon Odom and Domata Peko. Push rush was a major problem last year and seemed to be righted this season. Now, I don't know. Rookie Michael Johnson, who was a beast in college at Georgia Tech, is going to need to step up fast. And since neither tight end can seem to hold onto the ball, Chase Coffman might need to step up fast as well.
Speaking of Georgia Tech, thanks to their victory of Virginia Tech on Saturday, Virginia is currently in first place in the ACC Coastal Division, sitting at 2-0 in conference play, the only team in the Coastal without a conference loss. Sure, they still have to play Georgia Tech, Miami, and Virginia Tech, but for now (and at least another week, since Georgia Tech is going to Charlottesville this week and the worst that can happen is they lose and remained tied), the Virginia Cavaliers are a first place team. I told you the sky is falling.
Alabama is hands-down the best team in the country right now and Mark Ingram should be leader in the Heisman clubhouse. Not that any of it means anything in the middle of October.
A six-part docu-series on IFC debuted last night called Monty Python: Almost the Truth (The Lawyers Cut). I haven't seen it yet, but from the reviews, its looks really good. IFC's also showing a lot of old Monty Python stuff right now as well, which is always a good thing.
After it was referenced in last week's episode of Castle, I saw The Sting again for the first time in a while on one of HBO channels over the weekend. Is there a better con-man movie? I don't think so. I think people tend to gravitate toward Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid when then think of Robert Redford and Paul Newman. I like The Sting better.
Finally, my thoughts on the so-called Balloon Boy and his family. I have to admit, when this story first broke, I didn't care about it. I didn't care that some kid in Colorado might be flying away in some balloon. I didn't care when the balloon was found sans kid and it was thought that the kid might have fallen to his death. And I didn't care when it was discovered that the kid was just hiding in the attic the whole time. But now that its been revealed (allegedly) that this thing was a complete hoax, I'm all in on this story. Faking a missing child situation with an accidental launch of balloon contraption in an effort to leverage yourself your own reality show after you've already appeared on a reality show? There's nothing about that that isn't awesome (you know, in a completely deranged sort of way). The sheriff in this case needs to be right. These allegation have to be true; I think I'll be crushed if they aren't. Its the reality show angle that pushes this story over the edge. This was all (allegedly) a publicity stunt? Really? What part of making people think your kid may have floated away on a balloon would a reality television producer look at and say, "Yup, those people need to be on television more often."? People have done some crazy shit to get their own reality show, but fake sending your kid up in a balloon is a whole new level of crazy. The sky is falling indeed.
The Bengals lost to the Texans on Sunday 28-17 in a game where the Bengals D completely disappeared in the second half. I chalk that up to the lack of pass rush on Matt Schaub, which was due to large part to injures to Antwon Odom and Domata Peko. Push rush was a major problem last year and seemed to be righted this season. Now, I don't know. Rookie Michael Johnson, who was a beast in college at Georgia Tech, is going to need to step up fast. And since neither tight end can seem to hold onto the ball, Chase Coffman might need to step up fast as well.
Speaking of Georgia Tech, thanks to their victory of Virginia Tech on Saturday, Virginia is currently in first place in the ACC Coastal Division, sitting at 2-0 in conference play, the only team in the Coastal without a conference loss. Sure, they still have to play Georgia Tech, Miami, and Virginia Tech, but for now (and at least another week, since Georgia Tech is going to Charlottesville this week and the worst that can happen is they lose and remained tied), the Virginia Cavaliers are a first place team. I told you the sky is falling.
Alabama is hands-down the best team in the country right now and Mark Ingram should be leader in the Heisman clubhouse. Not that any of it means anything in the middle of October.
A six-part docu-series on IFC debuted last night called Monty Python: Almost the Truth (The Lawyers Cut). I haven't seen it yet, but from the reviews, its looks really good. IFC's also showing a lot of old Monty Python stuff right now as well, which is always a good thing.
After it was referenced in last week's episode of Castle, I saw The Sting again for the first time in a while on one of HBO channels over the weekend. Is there a better con-man movie? I don't think so. I think people tend to gravitate toward Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid when then think of Robert Redford and Paul Newman. I like The Sting better.
Finally, my thoughts on the so-called Balloon Boy and his family. I have to admit, when this story first broke, I didn't care about it. I didn't care that some kid in Colorado might be flying away in some balloon. I didn't care when the balloon was found sans kid and it was thought that the kid might have fallen to his death. And I didn't care when it was discovered that the kid was just hiding in the attic the whole time. But now that its been revealed (allegedly) that this thing was a complete hoax, I'm all in on this story. Faking a missing child situation with an accidental launch of balloon contraption in an effort to leverage yourself your own reality show after you've already appeared on a reality show? There's nothing about that that isn't awesome (you know, in a completely deranged sort of way). The sheriff in this case needs to be right. These allegation have to be true; I think I'll be crushed if they aren't. Its the reality show angle that pushes this story over the edge. This was all (allegedly) a publicity stunt? Really? What part of making people think your kid may have floated away on a balloon would a reality television producer look at and say, "Yup, those people need to be on television more often."? People have done some crazy shit to get their own reality show, but fake sending your kid up in a balloon is a whole new level of crazy. The sky is falling indeed.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
In Praise Of Soccer
This is just awesome:
(It gets good around the 0:22 mark).
I have no idea what they're saying in the clip, but the passion and the joy is undeniable. You can tell how much a World Cup berth means to them; I'm sure they partied throughout the night in Honduras. Did anyone celebrate when the US clinched a World Cup berth? Yeah, didn't think so.
(It gets good around the 0:22 mark).
I have no idea what they're saying in the clip, but the passion and the joy is undeniable. You can tell how much a World Cup berth means to them; I'm sure they partied throughout the night in Honduras. Did anyone celebrate when the US clinched a World Cup berth? Yeah, didn't think so.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Enough With The Cardic Cats
Another week, another Bengals game decided in the last 60 seconds. Is it getting old? YES. Please, for the love of God, can we get a game that isn't a nail biter? There's no way I can take this every week for the rest of the season. Okay, that's a lie. Obviously, if they go 15-1, I'll take it every day of the week and twice on Sunday. If they win division, I'll take it. Hell, if they just make the damn playoffs, I'll take it. Because then, it'll be all worth it. But right now, as its happening, it sucks. But they're winning, so it doesn't suck that bad. In fact, the more I think about it, we're really got nothing to complain about. Four straight wins, including going 3-0 the first time through the division, and sitting in first place? That's more than anyone here could have asked for after Week 5.
But seriously, I'm already over the "Cardiac Cats" moniker that's been bestowed on the Bengals. I was over it before it started. I love Gus Johnson (I've watched this video at least 35 times), but we really didn't need that nickname.
Perhaps I spoke to soon about the demise of the Moeller High School football program. They thumped Elder last Friday and are currently ranked as the top team in Cincinnati (though they're nowhere to be found on the current USA Today Super 25 rankings, which have St. X at #10, again showing the utter uselessness of trying to rank high school teams nationally). This now makes the season ending St. X-Moeller match up ginormous (and yeah, I'm stoked that "ginormous" is in the spell-checker). Clearly the rivalry isn't dead. My bad.
The more I watch Modern Family, the more I'm thinking that its the best new show of the season. You should be watching it.
I'm in 3 fantasy football leagues this season. Last week, I scored 153.98 points in one league, which is a shitload of points (especially given that its a 16-team league, which is a shitload of teams). In another league, I scored 36 points. Sometimes I hate fantasy football. This is one of those time.
Another awesome 30 for 30 documentary aired tonight, on Baltimore losing the Colts then gaining the Ravens (nee Browns) as told through the eyes of the Colts Marching Band, which continued to play and perform for the 12 years Baltimore didn't have a team. As I said, it was excellent, but I would have liked to have see more on the getting-a-team-by-stealing-someone-else's angle since that's exactly how they lost their first team. For all the hate I throw on Cleveland (all of which is totally deserved), I really did feel bad for the Browns fans when the team left for Baltimore. There should be football in Cleveland (even if they can "win" a game where their quarterback only completes 2 passes, 3 if you include the interception) and there should be football in Baltimore. But it shouldn't have gone down like it did. Given that the film was about Baltimore and its fans, that fact was mentioned but obviously glossed over and not covered in depth.
I've often thought about what it would be like to lose a sports franchise (a major one, that is; I'm not counting the Rockers, Mighty Ducks, Jungle Kats, Silverbacks, Stuff, etc. of the world in this conversation). Obviously, the Reds weren't ever going anyway. But the Bengals were are different story. I remember when it was thought at Mike Brown might move the team out of Cincinnati, back in 1993 or so. Wasn't he in talks with St. Louis, who ultimately got the Rams out of Los Angeles? I seem to recall that. Anyway, I can't even imagine what that would have been like. What would I have done as a fan? I don't know. I certainly wouldn't follow the team to the new city (I'd be betraying my hometown) and I could never just adopt a random new team to cheer for (because those fans are the ones that bother me the most). Are there any other options? I doubt I would stop watching the NFL altogether, but you never know. At the very least, it would probably make playing fantasy football easier.
But seriously, I'm already over the "Cardiac Cats" moniker that's been bestowed on the Bengals. I was over it before it started. I love Gus Johnson (I've watched this video at least 35 times), but we really didn't need that nickname.
Perhaps I spoke to soon about the demise of the Moeller High School football program. They thumped Elder last Friday and are currently ranked as the top team in Cincinnati (though they're nowhere to be found on the current USA Today Super 25 rankings, which have St. X at #10, again showing the utter uselessness of trying to rank high school teams nationally). This now makes the season ending St. X-Moeller match up ginormous (and yeah, I'm stoked that "ginormous" is in the spell-checker). Clearly the rivalry isn't dead. My bad.
The more I watch Modern Family, the more I'm thinking that its the best new show of the season. You should be watching it.
I'm in 3 fantasy football leagues this season. Last week, I scored 153.98 points in one league, which is a shitload of points (especially given that its a 16-team league, which is a shitload of teams). In another league, I scored 36 points. Sometimes I hate fantasy football. This is one of those time.
Another awesome 30 for 30 documentary aired tonight, on Baltimore losing the Colts then gaining the Ravens (nee Browns) as told through the eyes of the Colts Marching Band, which continued to play and perform for the 12 years Baltimore didn't have a team. As I said, it was excellent, but I would have liked to have see more on the getting-a-team-by-stealing-someone-else's angle since that's exactly how they lost their first team. For all the hate I throw on Cleveland (all of which is totally deserved), I really did feel bad for the Browns fans when the team left for Baltimore. There should be football in Cleveland (even if they can "win" a game where their quarterback only completes 2 passes, 3 if you include the interception) and there should be football in Baltimore. But it shouldn't have gone down like it did. Given that the film was about Baltimore and its fans, that fact was mentioned but obviously glossed over and not covered in depth.
I've often thought about what it would be like to lose a sports franchise (a major one, that is; I'm not counting the Rockers, Mighty Ducks, Jungle Kats, Silverbacks, Stuff, etc. of the world in this conversation). Obviously, the Reds weren't ever going anyway. But the Bengals were are different story. I remember when it was thought at Mike Brown might move the team out of Cincinnati, back in 1993 or so. Wasn't he in talks with St. Louis, who ultimately got the Rams out of Los Angeles? I seem to recall that. Anyway, I can't even imagine what that would have been like. What would I have done as a fan? I don't know. I certainly wouldn't follow the team to the new city (I'd be betraying my hometown) and I could never just adopt a random new team to cheer for (because those fans are the ones that bother me the most). Are there any other options? I doubt I would stop watching the NFL altogether, but you never know. At the very least, it would probably make playing fantasy football easier.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
O Captain, My Captain
Caught the last half of Dead Poet's Society yesterday evening (on VH1 Classic, of all channels). A great movie, one of my favorites. Then later in the night, it was referenced in How I Met Your Mother. Clearly, its a sign. For what, I don't know, but a sign none the less.
Had a solid weekend for beating rival teams. St. X beat Elder on Friday, Virginia (shockingly) beat North Carolina on Saturday, and the Bengals beat the Browns on Sunday. Is it sad that I thought the biggest win of the three was St. X? Elder is clearly X's biggest football rival right now, but it wasn't always that way. In fact, when I was in school, Elder probably ranked 3rd in terms of GCL rivalries, behind Moeller and LaSalle. Moeller was the powerhouse back in the day, LaSalle was the "King of the Road" game, and Elder was just Elder. But now, Elder's the #1 rival, dwarfing both Moeller and LaSalle. Funny how it is.
Speaking of funny, how the hell did Virginia pull off a victory? Is Carolina just that bad? As much as I would have loved to see Groh go 0-12, its always nice to beat Carolina, especially when its a year where they were supposed to be good and the Hoos are so bad.
Note to the Bengals- have a game won or lost before the final minute of regulation/overtime. Please.
Apparently, the baseball regular season ended on Sunday. I can't remember ever being less enthused about a baseball postseason than this one. I read a stat yesterday that said since August 23 (ie- the last 6 weeks of the season), the Reds were 27-13, the best in baseball. They finished 78-84, 4th place in the NL Central, 13 games out. Does this mean we (Reds fans) should be excited for next year? Does one's finish to the previous season have any real bearing on one's performance next? Some say "yes." Look at the Bengals; they were miserable last season, but they managed to finish strong and win their last 3 games. Now, they're 3-1 and tied for first place in the AFC North. Sure, its a tenuous 3-1 (they could be 4-0 as easily as they could be 1-3), but 3-1 is 3-1 at the quarter pole. So maybe there's some reason to hope next spring.
All signs point to Ken Griffey, Jr. retiring from baseball. He got a huge standing ovation from the Seattle fans on Sunday was even carried off the field by his teammates at the end of the game. Its tough to come back from getting carried off the field. I've made my thoughts known on Ken Griffey, Jr. He was the best player I ever saw (and will ever see). If this was his last year, he'll be headlining the Hall of Fame class in 2014, the first year of his eligibility.
I'm incredibly stoked for ESPN's 30 for 30 series that starts tonight. Hands down, this looks like the coolest thing ESPN's ever done. 30 documentaries by 30 filmmakers covering topics from the past 30 years (since this is ESPN's 30th anniversary). Its a complete 360 from the"me, me, me" 25th anniversary celebration, which is a good thing. The subject list for 30 for 30 just looks incredible. Tonight's doc is about the trade of Wayne Gretzky from Edmonton to Los Angeles, done by Peter Berg (director/producer of Friday Night Lights, both the movie and the TV show). I plan to watch all 30 films, but I'm particularly interested in the ones on Allen Iverson, Reggie Miller and the Knicks, fantasy sports, Terry Fox, and June 17, 1994. Again, this just looks so cool.
In other TV recommendation news, you should be watching Modern Family, Glee, and FlashForward. All good, in completely different ways.
Final thought- I read from a friend that the ideal frequency for chest compressions during CPR is 100 bpm, which happens to be the same tempo for both Stayin' Alive and Another One Bites The Dust. Now THAT'S a sign.
Had a solid weekend for beating rival teams. St. X beat Elder on Friday, Virginia (shockingly) beat North Carolina on Saturday, and the Bengals beat the Browns on Sunday. Is it sad that I thought the biggest win of the three was St. X? Elder is clearly X's biggest football rival right now, but it wasn't always that way. In fact, when I was in school, Elder probably ranked 3rd in terms of GCL rivalries, behind Moeller and LaSalle. Moeller was the powerhouse back in the day, LaSalle was the "King of the Road" game, and Elder was just Elder. But now, Elder's the #1 rival, dwarfing both Moeller and LaSalle. Funny how it is.
Speaking of funny, how the hell did Virginia pull off a victory? Is Carolina just that bad? As much as I would have loved to see Groh go 0-12, its always nice to beat Carolina, especially when its a year where they were supposed to be good and the Hoos are so bad.
Note to the Bengals- have a game won or lost before the final minute of regulation/overtime. Please.
Apparently, the baseball regular season ended on Sunday. I can't remember ever being less enthused about a baseball postseason than this one. I read a stat yesterday that said since August 23 (ie- the last 6 weeks of the season), the Reds were 27-13, the best in baseball. They finished 78-84, 4th place in the NL Central, 13 games out. Does this mean we (Reds fans) should be excited for next year? Does one's finish to the previous season have any real bearing on one's performance next? Some say "yes." Look at the Bengals; they were miserable last season, but they managed to finish strong and win their last 3 games. Now, they're 3-1 and tied for first place in the AFC North. Sure, its a tenuous 3-1 (they could be 4-0 as easily as they could be 1-3), but 3-1 is 3-1 at the quarter pole. So maybe there's some reason to hope next spring.
All signs point to Ken Griffey, Jr. retiring from baseball. He got a huge standing ovation from the Seattle fans on Sunday was even carried off the field by his teammates at the end of the game. Its tough to come back from getting carried off the field. I've made my thoughts known on Ken Griffey, Jr. He was the best player I ever saw (and will ever see). If this was his last year, he'll be headlining the Hall of Fame class in 2014, the first year of his eligibility.
I'm incredibly stoked for ESPN's 30 for 30 series that starts tonight. Hands down, this looks like the coolest thing ESPN's ever done. 30 documentaries by 30 filmmakers covering topics from the past 30 years (since this is ESPN's 30th anniversary). Its a complete 360 from the"me, me, me" 25th anniversary celebration, which is a good thing. The subject list for 30 for 30 just looks incredible. Tonight's doc is about the trade of Wayne Gretzky from Edmonton to Los Angeles, done by Peter Berg (director/producer of Friday Night Lights, both the movie and the TV show). I plan to watch all 30 films, but I'm particularly interested in the ones on Allen Iverson, Reggie Miller and the Knicks, fantasy sports, Terry Fox, and June 17, 1994. Again, this just looks so cool.
In other TV recommendation news, you should be watching Modern Family, Glee, and FlashForward. All good, in completely different ways.
Final thought- I read from a friend that the ideal frequency for chest compressions during CPR is 100 bpm, which happens to be the same tempo for both Stayin' Alive and Another One Bites The Dust. Now THAT'S a sign.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Greatest Prediction Ever
This just has to be heard to be believed.
Second at-bat, 3-1 count, fastball, home run, left-center, 2nd deck. That's just awesome.
This is now my favorite sports play prediction of all time, replacing Snoop Dogg. I wish I could find the video, but it went something like this: USC was down in the red zone and Snoop, a big USC fan, was being interviewed on camera behind the end zone the Trojans were driving toward. The interviewer asked Snoop, who coaches (or at least, coached at the time) his son's peewee football team, what play he would call next. Snoop responded with something to the effect of, "hand it off to my boy LenDale White for the touchdown and then flip the ball to Coach Snoop." On the next play, USC handed it off to LenDale White, who scored, then flipped the ball to Snoop, still standing next to the interviewer and cameraman. They immediately cut back to Snoop, who proceeded to strike the Heisman pose. It was pretty cool. But calling a guy's first career homerun down to the when (second at-bat), how (fastball on 3-1), and where (left-center, 2nd deck) is just crazy (okay, so it just missed the 2nd deck; its still incredible).
Second at-bat, 3-1 count, fastball, home run, left-center, 2nd deck. That's just awesome.
This is now my favorite sports play prediction of all time, replacing Snoop Dogg. I wish I could find the video, but it went something like this: USC was down in the red zone and Snoop, a big USC fan, was being interviewed on camera behind the end zone the Trojans were driving toward. The interviewer asked Snoop, who coaches (or at least, coached at the time) his son's peewee football team, what play he would call next. Snoop responded with something to the effect of, "hand it off to my boy LenDale White for the touchdown and then flip the ball to Coach Snoop." On the next play, USC handed it off to LenDale White, who scored, then flipped the ball to Snoop, still standing next to the interviewer and cameraman. They immediately cut back to Snoop, who proceeded to strike the Heisman pose. It was pretty cool. But calling a guy's first career homerun down to the when (second at-bat), how (fastball on 3-1), and where (left-center, 2nd deck) is just crazy (okay, so it just missed the 2nd deck; its still incredible).
Monday, September 28, 2009
It's Been A Long Time Comin'
Bengals 23, Steelers 20.
Not going to lie, that felt good. It wasn't easy (seriously, -10 yards in the 1st quarter?), but a win's a win, especially against a division opponent and especially against Pittsburgh. I jumped out of my seat when Brian Leonard dove for the first down on 4th and 10 (as I noted on Facebook, Leonard should eat for free this week in town for that play). I let out a scream when Carson Palmer found Andre Caldwell in the end zone with 14 seconds left. And I, along with everyone else in Cincinnati, cringed in fear for a moment thinking that 14 seconds was too much time to leave on the clock. But there was no "Immaculate Deflection Part II" this week (fuckin' Brandon Stokley). Who Dey indeed.
After Sunday's game, is there any question that the offense should go no-huddle/modified hurry-up all the time? It was the only time they were able to move the ball down field and score (or at least be in position to score). Isn't the no-huddle offense what we used to win the division in 2005? Curious....
Virginia was on a bye this week. And yet, I think they still found a way to lose. I kinda hope they did; I had Bye Week (-7.5) over the Hoos.
Speaking of college football, it was proven again this weekend that the polls are completely meaningless. Ole Miss, Penn State, Cal.... no one knows anything when it comes to ranking teams this early in the season, they even admit to it, and yet they still do it. As I've said before, I don't think there should be a single poll until about halfway through the season. Crazy idea- give teams time to actually *do* something before trying to rank them. Insanity, I know.
Finished Dan Brown's new book The Lost Symbol over the weekend. Its not the worst book I've ever read, but all that means is that I've read some really bad books. Its a shameless Da Vinci Code ripoff. That's right, Dan Brown ripped off himself. The story, the pacing, the characters, the character's motivations, the twists, its almost shot-for-shot from The Da Vinci Code. And like all other Dan Brown books, it completely falls apart at the end. He clearly to put a lot time in to researching the locations he uses in his books (be it The Vatican, Paris, or, in this case, Washington, D.C.) and tying it all into a conspiracy-theory filled story, but he seems to be completely lost when it comes to wrapping it up in the end. Probably only worth reading for curiosities sake (and because everyone else in the world will be reading it).
Not going to lie, that felt good. It wasn't easy (seriously, -10 yards in the 1st quarter?), but a win's a win, especially against a division opponent and especially against Pittsburgh. I jumped out of my seat when Brian Leonard dove for the first down on 4th and 10 (as I noted on Facebook, Leonard should eat for free this week in town for that play). I let out a scream when Carson Palmer found Andre Caldwell in the end zone with 14 seconds left. And I, along with everyone else in Cincinnati, cringed in fear for a moment thinking that 14 seconds was too much time to leave on the clock. But there was no "Immaculate Deflection Part II" this week (fuckin' Brandon Stokley). Who Dey indeed.
After Sunday's game, is there any question that the offense should go no-huddle/modified hurry-up all the time? It was the only time they were able to move the ball down field and score (or at least be in position to score). Isn't the no-huddle offense what we used to win the division in 2005? Curious....
Virginia was on a bye this week. And yet, I think they still found a way to lose. I kinda hope they did; I had Bye Week (-7.5) over the Hoos.
Speaking of college football, it was proven again this weekend that the polls are completely meaningless. Ole Miss, Penn State, Cal.... no one knows anything when it comes to ranking teams this early in the season, they even admit to it, and yet they still do it. As I've said before, I don't think there should be a single poll until about halfway through the season. Crazy idea- give teams time to actually *do* something before trying to rank them. Insanity, I know.
Finished Dan Brown's new book The Lost Symbol over the weekend. Its not the worst book I've ever read, but all that means is that I've read some really bad books. Its a shameless Da Vinci Code ripoff. That's right, Dan Brown ripped off himself. The story, the pacing, the characters, the character's motivations, the twists, its almost shot-for-shot from The Da Vinci Code. And like all other Dan Brown books, it completely falls apart at the end. He clearly to put a lot time in to researching the locations he uses in his books (be it The Vatican, Paris, or, in this case, Washington, D.C.) and tying it all into a conspiracy-theory filled story, but he seems to be completely lost when it comes to wrapping it up in the end. Probably only worth reading for curiosities sake (and because everyone else in the world will be reading it).
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
The De-Evolution Of Dance
Proof that the good old days weren't always that good. This is physically painful to watch:
For all the crap we give disco, how is this any better?
For all the crap we give disco, how is this any better?
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