Some Random Thoughts on Sports this Monday Night

Both the Cowboy and Vikings seasons officially ended today

Towards the end of the off-season, most speculators believed that the Cowboys and the Vikings would be the two NFC Championship contestants come January. I gave a light and tentative endorsement to the Cowboy theory. I totally denied the Viking theory. It turns out that both teams are officially dead as of week 7 of the 2010 season.

Today, the MRIs revealed that Brett Favre has 2 fractures in his ankle and a chunk of bone & tendon that has ripped out of position. Get this, they have not officially ruled him out for Sunday’s game! BBAAAAHHHHAAA HHAAAAAAHAAHHAHAHA! That’s a funny joke. I get it.

Bullshit! Bull-fucking-shit! Brett’s career is now officially over. Call it quits. Just shut it down. Pack it in and call it a career. It is now over. He’s isn’t just officially out for this Sunday. He’s out for the rest of his life. The only thing that prevents us from calling a spade of a spade is pure media politics. In other words, denials and protestations to the contrary are absolute and complete bullshit.

Of course, this means Viks can pack it in and call it quits for the rest of 2010. They are officially no longer contenders, not that they were 27 hours ago either. Sure, they may go on to win 4-6 of their remaining games, but that will mean nothing in the playoff picture.

Then, as if things weren’t going badly enough for the Cowboys, catastrophe struck on ESPN Monday Night Football when Michael Boley sprinted through a gaping hole in the Cowboy offensive line and drove a chicken-winged Tony Romo into the artificial turf… hard. Tony suffered a broken clavicle bone in his left shoulder. He is expected to miss 8-10 games.

I categorically agree with owner Jerry Jones: There is no replacement for Tony Romo. The Cowboys may win 4 or 5 games down the stretch with Jon Kitna, but I seriously doubt it. Even if they do, it will mean poodly-squat in the playoff picture. The Cowboys are now officially done.

Hell widens its mouth for the Chargers

I am about two tens of a nanometer away from declaring the Chargers dead also. The only thing that prevents me from doing so is the presumed weakness of the AFC West. I think this presumption is extremely faulty. I am one tenth of a nanometer away from accepting the proposition that the Chiefs are the class of the West. I seriously doubt that the Chargers are going to have either a winning or a break-even record in 2010.

Early this afternoon, I heard Hacksaw Lee Hamilton raising hell over the Charger situation. He is not alone in raising hell, by any means, and his pain is genuine. He has been a Charger man for decades now. He drew a bulls-eye on the situation precisely and then said something very curious indeed. Hacksaw declared that he was thinking the unthinkable: The Chargers might not be a playoff team in 2010.

I laughed like hell at that line. Everything he had declared prior to that point pretty well proved that the Chargers were nothing resembling a playoff contender. Why soft-pedal the mandatory conclusion? Politics. It would be tough for such a prominent sports reporter in the San Diego area to hammer his favorite franchise so clearly on the air. It could cost him political capital. Better to sacrifice some honesty points, and appear loyal.

At this very moment, I am hearing Moochie spewing some horseshit about how the Chargers are still good enough to win the AFC West. No. You’re all wet there, coach. This has nothing to do with talent or the lack there of.

This has everything to do with labor strife. Hacksaw Lee Hamilton is correct, the Chargers have quit on A.J. Smith. Labor strife has reached a point now where the Charger players are playing selfishly to enlarge their stats and make a run at free agency with some other team. They are not playing to win.

Hell widens its mouth for the 49ers

I haven’t got the slightest idea of what is wrong with 49ers. I am inclined to blame Alex Smith, but that does not explain their inability to terminate last-minute game winning drives. They were supposed to have an elite defense. They have nothing of the kind. We have to look to Singletary for the reason why. Yes, he is one of the most respected dudes around, but something is seriously wrong with that defense.

I think the 49ers are also officially dead. If they make it to 8-8, it will be a miracle.

Giants vs Falcons in the NFC Championship?

I still believe the Saints and the Packers can factor in the NFC. However, it is getting clearer and clearer that the two most powerful football teams in the NFC are the New York Giants and the Atlanta Falcons. They are really starting to look good. They seem to be improving in every area, particularly in their ability to fight back into contention when they are down in the count.

I am really fucking sick of the East-Coast Bias

There is a clear law in sports: Your ranking is inversely proportional to your proximity to Bristol Connecticut. The closer you are to Bristol, the higher your ranking. The greater your distance, the lower your ranking.

As a UCLA graduate, I am no fan of Oregon, however, I cannot understand how they were cheated of the #1 ranking this week. How the hell did Auburn get it? How did they jump over Boise and Oregon? Ooooops! I forgot! Auburn is closer to Bristol than Eugene Oregon! That’s how they scored it. It is a clear-cut case of 100% pure unadulterated, unalloyed East-Coast Bias!

Let’s be clear: ESPN runs college football, both on their networks and ABC. Their impact on their BCS rankings is quantum. They are responsible for this travesty.

I love the World Series this year

Folks, I am not much of a fan of Baseball. I am no fan of the Rangers. I am no fan of the Giants. I am a life-long Dodger fan. With that said, I am going to watch every game of the series this year, and I am going to enjoy the fucking hell out of it.

Do you want to know why? ESPN has 982,288 tons of egg all over their collective face. I absolutely love the fact that the East Coast is shut-out of the World Series. ESPN analysts were utterly sure the Giants were (are) a team put together out of bubble-gum and duck-tape. They were also sure that the Rangers were no match for the mighty Yankees.

Why were they sure of this? Because Philly and NY are very close to Bristol Connecticut, that’s why. Their East Coast Bias was never stronger than in the run up to the World Series this year. They were so utterly sure that the Yanks would rematch with the Phillies this year it was pathetic. It made you wonder why they were even going to play the games.

I am so damn delighted that the Giants shoved a red-hot poker up ESPN’s arse that I am going to declare a temporary ban on my hatred for them. I am actually going to pull, gently, for the Giants. Again, ESPN’s bias is showing. They believe the Rangers will win the Series because Dallas is closer to Bristol than San Francisco.

Be assured, their logic is no better than that.

Quick thoughts about the pre-season

So the month of August is winding down to an end, and I realize that I have only blogged some 5 times during this month. It has been an incredibly busy time. I have been working late every night on a major project at work involving WPF, I took advantage of the Cash for Clunkers program, and I am preparing to buy my first shogun and townhome. Wow... that is a lot of stuff in just one month.

Item #1: Bulger breaks his right pinking finger. Well, here we go again. It has often been said Buger is a china doll. How many QBs have busted the pinkie finger on their passing hands taking snaps from a Pro-Bowl center? This is not a good sign. Our guys have not mastered the West Coast, and now we are loosing precious practice time necessary to get it right.

Item #2: Coach Cable busts his assistant's jaw. Well what can I say about this? The scuttlebutt says that Defensive assistant Randy Hanson is Al Davis's personal snitch. This is the dude who reported all of Lane Kiffen's sayings to Al Davis. Rumor has it that Mr. Hanson was continuing in this role under the Cable administration. Cable found out about the leak and busted Hanson's jaw. The X-Rays show a clean fracture. Yesterday, it was reported that Hanson is cooperating with the police and the police intend to question Cable about this incident. Wow... I do have a new found respect for Cable. This is a man's man. He's don't take no shit from his subordinates. Gotta feel bad for the Raider fans. Just as they appear to be getting it together, it seems to be coming unglued again.

Item #3: Tom Brady looks like shit in his return from the IR. The NFL Network showed split screen side-by-side comparisons of Brady throwing during his historical 2007 season and during the 2009 preseason. It is clear that Brady's movement and comfort level are not the same. Specifically, he is not planting and stepping into his throws correctly. Why? Because it hurts like hell, that's why. The results have been some wildly off-course throws sailing well over the head of Randy Moss.

Item #4: Brett Farve looks like shit in his first outting with the Vikings. Well... what can you say about this? He looks like a dead man walking. He looks like a guy with about 1,000 injuries. The debut was last Friday night at the Metrodome. It was terrible. On Saturday night, the Packers played the Panthers at home in Green Bay. The cheese-heads in the stands were waving signs saying "Cash for clunkers: The Vikings are paying Brett Farve." Rumor has it that there is now an insurgency in the locker room. Some Viks want Tavaris to be the QB.

Item #5: Kyle Orton looks like shit in his first two outings with the Broncos. I suppose owner Pat Bowlen will come to Shannahan on bent knee asking him to take his old job back at the end of the 2009 season. Orton looks obnoxiously bad. I mean he sunk up the joint like a dead skunk. Phil Simms son Chris should be the man for the Broncos this year.

Item #6: Tony Romo looks pretty damn fine in the Texas opener. I have to say that the Cowboys looked pretty damn fine destroying the Titans 30-10 in the grand opening of the new Taj Mahal of professional football. On the opening drive, the Cowboy starters jammed the football right down the throat of a starting Titan defense that was absolutely determined to stop them. The Titans weren't fooling around either. Dallas just knocked them off the line of scrimmage on running plays, and Romo made some tremendous throws in the passing game.

Item #7: Stafford is struggling a bit. I really like Matt Stafford. I really hope he will be the solution for the long suffering Lion fans. There is nothing I would like better than the Lions and the Rams to be the Miami and Atlanta of this 2009 season {except maybe for the Cardinals to win SB44}. May the meek inherit the NFL. Still, Matt is struggling right now. He's doing exactly what Mike Mayock said he was prone to do. He makes one sensational throw that takes your breath away. He then makes one bone-headed decision which results in an Interception. Matt Stafford may become the new Brett Farve. Detroit will accept that and embrace that if it happens. Brett Farve is better than anything they have had in 50 or 60 years.

Item #8: Sanchez looks pretty good: Sanchez has already been declared the opening day starter. I think it is a good decision. The Jets have one of the finest offensive lines in football. Mangold, Faneca, and Ferguson are the best left side of a line since Dalby, Upshaw and Shell. Sanchez's ass is covered. Let him learn how to play and prosper.

Item #7: It looks like Packers vs Dolphins in the Super Bowl.

If we look hard at the preseason results, the most outstanding teams early have been the Packers and the Dolphins. A strong nod should be given to the Colts and the Saints also. We know preseason football is largely meaningless because of the number of scrubs playing. However, 1-vs-1, these four teams have looked superior. If I was to call it I would say that the Saints face the Packers in the NFC Championship, and the Dolphins face the Colts in the AFC Championship.

Item #5: Ocho Cinco kicks pretty good. We know the Bengals occupy one of the smallest markets in the NFL. They might well also be in the poorest of the 32 NFL cities. I think the Bengals should save money and improve their special teams by letting Chad kick all the time.