Welp... yesterday sucked.
My mood on Monday, this time of year, is typically prefaced on the following:
1. Pats Win/Loss
2. Fantasy Football teams Win/Loss
3. If applicable Red Sox playoffs
4. If applicable Yankees playoffs
1 - Gay
2 - Eh
3 - Gay
4 - Gay
1. Man Brady looked bad... REAL bad. Nonetheless while watching did anyone think, 'man they are gonna blow this.' I figured they would eek it out as always. The Broncos played like the Pats - making plays down the stretch. There are a bunch of things you could point to, Pats secondary, Gostowski FG miss, few shitty calls by the refs, but this one goes on #12.
I heard Tom Curran before the year say it's a joy to watch this team practice and that he didn't think they'd trail all year (obviously an exaggeration to the talent of Brady & Moss but you get the point). What that comment means to me though is that they look sharp in practice. Brady is hitting his guys and they look good. Since his regular season performance is saying otherwise you really have to conclude that he's not yet over his leg as far as stepping into throws and not fearing for something happening.
I, knock on wood, haven't had any type of injury really ever. No broken bones, no stiches, no torn ligaments, no surgeries so I really can't say a whole lot. I'd be interested in hearing from anyone who has and if it took them awhile to get over that mental hurdle. Feel free to comment on this if you have.
You'd have to think he'll get back and this team will be ok. Again, it's about getting healthy/hot at the end of the year but man it sucks balls seeing him struggle out there. I watched the Sunday night game and as Peyton Manning walked through the tunnel to the game it was the first time I thought this to myself, "Peyton Manning, right now, is unequivocally, unquestionably better than Tom Brady." He's playing amazing. I don't want to steal any thunder. Peyton Manning talk is needed for another blog, but he's kicking Brady square in the teeth if we are talking 2009 performance.
Also part of me is happy to see McDaniels do well. I like seeing the Belichick umbrella succeed and I like seeing Jay Cutler look like what he is - a giant butt hole. I was listening to WEEI this morning and I guess McDaniels told Cutler "With this offense I can make a high school QB into an All-Pro." Matt Cassell - Check... Kyle Orton - Check
Jay Cutler - Eff you.
2. I won't bore you with fantasy football talk so my thoughts on to three & four..
3. & 4. I'm really not surprised the Red Sox lost this series. I did think they'd win game 3 and even game 4 but I wasn't feeling them this year. What gets me is you listen to WEEI and everyone just talks like these players will turn a dial and be fine for the postseason. Beckett wasn't throwing like a top of the rotation guy, the lineup was so prone to cold stretches, Ortiz can't be relied on anymore, and Papelbon has been a heart attack all year. What does 2003 have to do with now? What does last year have to do with now? Ortiz can't hit a fastball anymore, this lineup doesn't hold a candle to the 2003-2007 juggernauts. This Angels team was a lot better than the past few.
The other thing is when they lost, blew the game, I really wasn't that phased. Had a loss like this occurred pre 2004... my gahd, you'd be peeling me off the floor still. All that baggage really did wear away after 2004 and 2007.
As for the Yankees, as much as I'd like to have seen a Sox - Yankees ALCS, let's be real... The Yankees would have won this series in 5 or 6 games. They took 9 of the final 10 vs the Red Sox and in the last 3/4's of the year were easily the best team in baseball.
I will say though that the Angels - Yankees is much more of a toss up. I'd still probably say Yanks in 6 but they've had a tough time w/ LAA of A seemingly for the past 265 yrs.
My next blog should be really sweet, I don't want to give much away but I'm just waiting on a few more things before putting it together... stay tuned...
Monday, October 12, 2009
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Start of the Season means diiiiick
The beginning of the season, hell the first three quarters of the season aren't that critical. Sure you got to win your share of games but don't kill yourself if the team isn't looking super bowl worthy.
A few years ago any time the Patriots lost I'd be up in arms and I think most people are like this. When you lose, the season's over and your team is screwed. Then the next week you win and all is well again. Well unless you are someone like the Titans, who had super bowl aspirations before the season and are now 0-4, then you aren't yet fucked. Recent history is on your side and allow me to show you some of examples of who gets to the super bowl and why most of these teams go on to win it.
2005. Ok not everyone can remember each season but let's go back to 2005. Two words - Indianapolis Colts. They started out 13-0 and made the best undefeated push (at the time) since the 1998 Denver Broncos. This was gonna be Peyton Manning's time and nothing was going to stop them. At midseason they molestered the Patriots for the first time in I think 1.3 billion games and stomped them at that. I want to say 40-23 off the top of my head. Hang on let me check http://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/200511070nwe.htm. Nope I was wrong 40-21. The Colts finally lost to the Chargers then played out the stretch with Jim Sorgi getting most of the snaps.
Meanwhile the Pittsburgh Steelers had a three game losing streak towards the end of the year (including getting rahhlled by Indy) that put them at 7-5. They didn't know if they were going to make the playoffs. The Steelers went on to win the last 4 games of the year to claim the #6 seed in the AFC. This, however, wasn't your 9-7 happy to be here #6 seed. The Steelers speared Carson Palmer in the leg to start their wild card game and beat the Bengals.
That brought up their 2nd round game with the Colts. Now taking a step back and looking at this from a history point of view you had two teams that were always good but always shat the bed cuz their wuss coaches played more conservatively & not to lose. So what would give here? Would Cowher shit the bed like he always did or would it be Dungy and Manning. The answer in this game is that they would both do their best to shit the bed but a 2nd Year QB - Ben Roethlisberger - for once didn't allow Pitt to paint their sheets brown.
The Steelers jumped out on the Colts and as the game went on, the Colts, along with some lucky calls, scrapped pretty close to the Steelers. In a key possession down 3 pts at the end of the game Manning was sacked on a 4th down and the game pretty much seemed over. However the Steelers tried their best to give this away. I can't say it any better than that video. Check out from the 2:10 mark on. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFoT7FpEAcs&feature=related
Steelers sack, Cowher takes off the head set like they won, Bettis has the potentially worst fumble ever, and only the sickest, nastiest, off balance, slow qb tackle by Big Ben saves the day. Anyway the Steelers rode this momentum, beat the hell out of a shitty Broncos team and were able to win their first super bowl since Super Bowl XIV vs the Seahawks. Were the Steelers the best team all year? Nope. They got hot at the end when it counted.
2006. Who owned this year? Well early on no one played better than the Bears who came storming out the gate and had a defense/special teams unit like no one had ever seen http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYoApt68uhg. Is that actually Matt Leinart references, wtf?
The Chargers also were skinning babies out there going 14-2 that year followed by Baltimore at 13-3. Again, they don't give out Super Bowls for jumping out the gate early, you gotta finish strong.
The Colts had a super shitty defense. They had allowed I think close to 400 points and were if not dead last, then very close to last against the run http://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/clt/2006.htm. This is not a formula to winning championships. BUT, what happened? Bob Sanders came back, the Colts played tougher, Manning played like he wasn't a deer stuck in headlights and they were able to get to the AFC Championship game. A few gay calls against the Pats, a few lame Reche Caldwell drops, a tired slow Pats defense, and a failed 3rd down to Troy Brown got the Colts to the Super Bowl where they destroyed Sexy Rexy and the Bears. The hot team down the stretch yet again took it home.
2007. Ughhhh, not one I want to delve into too deeply. I really do try my best to be objective and not just a complete homer so here goes... wheeew... Ok, the Pats came out this year just stomping people and rubbing it in. Every game was 38-14 it seemed to begin with a 52-7 and 56-10 sprinkled in. At around week 9 or week 10 this team was playing better than any other team in NFL history. Sadly they don't give out Super Bowls at this time.
The Giants meanwhile got rolled badly mid-year by the Vikings and New York tabloids were calling for Eli to be benched and Coughlin to be fired http://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/200711250nyg.htm. The Giants kept plugging away and by season's end gave the undefeated Patriots a run for their money in the regular season finale. The Giants had nothing to play for in position but the NFL playoffs are all about momentum. They got rolling after this, waxed the Bucs, beat the queermo Cowboys, and then went into Green Bay to watch Favre throw a bunch of critical INT's like he always does.
Come the Super Bowl, yes the Patriots were 18-0 to the Giants 13-6 but what does the record really matter??? It doesn't. It means diiiiiiick. Now I still think the Patriots win that match-up 80% of the time but what was more important was that the Giants were peaking while the Pats had already played their best ball.
The end result - the Giants pass rush tosses the Patriots O-lines salad and they scrap out a 17-14 victory thanks to Asante Samuel having no hands and a lucky helmet catch (I'm sorry I can't finish this paragraph objectively anymore). God, FML that is a loss that will follow me to the grave. Moving on....
2008 - Ok so the Steelers were a pretty legit team all the way through so you are probably saying to yourself "Joe you pube your reference about records is a load of shit, the Steelers were a top 3 or 4 team all season." HOWEVER, who did they play in the super bowl???? Who was 30 some odd seconds from winning it??? The 9-7, week 16 47-7 loser, Arizona Cardinals. I honestly don't know how they sparked up this momentum but something about that painful beating made Larry Fitzgerald turn into a superhuman player. I will full out admit that I have a man crush on Fitz. If I were a chick or gay I'd be on that like white on rice. Anyways the Cardinals rode their hot receiver (this is getting gay unintentionally now) and defeated the Falcons, Panthers, and Eagles on their way to the Super Bowl.
So to wrap it up. I wouldn't put a ton on how your team is playing right now. Yes, you obviously need to win games to get into the playoffs but an occasional dud is really no big deal. The Pats lost to the Jets week 2? Who fucking cares? The media runs with it like the Jets are for real and the Pats run is over. Get outta here, if the Pats don't thrash the Jets next time and win this division by at least 3 games then I'd be shocked.
Oh and check out this link... http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=neumann/091002&sportCat=ncf ROLLLLLED!!!!!
thx to youtube, profootballreference, n espn for having awesome links
A few years ago any time the Patriots lost I'd be up in arms and I think most people are like this. When you lose, the season's over and your team is screwed. Then the next week you win and all is well again. Well unless you are someone like the Titans, who had super bowl aspirations before the season and are now 0-4, then you aren't yet fucked. Recent history is on your side and allow me to show you some of examples of who gets to the super bowl and why most of these teams go on to win it.
2005. Ok not everyone can remember each season but let's go back to 2005. Two words - Indianapolis Colts. They started out 13-0 and made the best undefeated push (at the time) since the 1998 Denver Broncos. This was gonna be Peyton Manning's time and nothing was going to stop them. At midseason they molestered the Patriots for the first time in I think 1.3 billion games and stomped them at that. I want to say 40-23 off the top of my head. Hang on let me check http://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/200511070nwe.htm. Nope I was wrong 40-21. The Colts finally lost to the Chargers then played out the stretch with Jim Sorgi getting most of the snaps.
Meanwhile the Pittsburgh Steelers had a three game losing streak towards the end of the year (including getting rahhlled by Indy) that put them at 7-5. They didn't know if they were going to make the playoffs. The Steelers went on to win the last 4 games of the year to claim the #6 seed in the AFC. This, however, wasn't your 9-7 happy to be here #6 seed. The Steelers speared Carson Palmer in the leg to start their wild card game and beat the Bengals.
That brought up their 2nd round game with the Colts. Now taking a step back and looking at this from a history point of view you had two teams that were always good but always shat the bed cuz their wuss coaches played more conservatively & not to lose. So what would give here? Would Cowher shit the bed like he always did or would it be Dungy and Manning. The answer in this game is that they would both do their best to shit the bed but a 2nd Year QB - Ben Roethlisberger - for once didn't allow Pitt to paint their sheets brown.
The Steelers jumped out on the Colts and as the game went on, the Colts, along with some lucky calls, scrapped pretty close to the Steelers. In a key possession down 3 pts at the end of the game Manning was sacked on a 4th down and the game pretty much seemed over. However the Steelers tried their best to give this away. I can't say it any better than that video. Check out from the 2:10 mark on. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFoT7FpEAcs&feature=related
Steelers sack, Cowher takes off the head set like they won, Bettis has the potentially worst fumble ever, and only the sickest, nastiest, off balance, slow qb tackle by Big Ben saves the day. Anyway the Steelers rode this momentum, beat the hell out of a shitty Broncos team and were able to win their first super bowl since Super Bowl XIV vs the Seahawks. Were the Steelers the best team all year? Nope. They got hot at the end when it counted.
2006. Who owned this year? Well early on no one played better than the Bears who came storming out the gate and had a defense/special teams unit like no one had ever seen http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYoApt68uhg. Is that actually Matt Leinart references, wtf?
The Chargers also were skinning babies out there going 14-2 that year followed by Baltimore at 13-3. Again, they don't give out Super Bowls for jumping out the gate early, you gotta finish strong.
The Colts had a super shitty defense. They had allowed I think close to 400 points and were if not dead last, then very close to last against the run http://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/clt/2006.htm. This is not a formula to winning championships. BUT, what happened? Bob Sanders came back, the Colts played tougher, Manning played like he wasn't a deer stuck in headlights and they were able to get to the AFC Championship game. A few gay calls against the Pats, a few lame Reche Caldwell drops, a tired slow Pats defense, and a failed 3rd down to Troy Brown got the Colts to the Super Bowl where they destroyed Sexy Rexy and the Bears. The hot team down the stretch yet again took it home.
2007. Ughhhh, not one I want to delve into too deeply. I really do try my best to be objective and not just a complete homer so here goes...
The Giants meanwhile got rolled badly mid-year by the Vikings and New York tabloids were calling for Eli to be benched and Coughlin to be fired http://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/200711250nyg.htm. The Giants kept plugging away and by season's end gave the undefeated Patriots a run for their money in the regular season finale. The Giants had nothing to play for in position but the NFL playoffs are all about momentum. They got rolling after this, waxed the Bucs, beat the queermo Cowboys, and then went into Green Bay to watch Favre throw a bunch of critical INT's like he always does.
Come the Super Bowl, yes the Patriots were 18-0 to the Giants 13-6 but what does the record really matter??? It doesn't. It means diiiiiiick. Now I still think the Patriots win that match-up 80% of the time but what was more important was that the Giants were peaking while the Pats had already played their best ball.
The end result - the Giants pass rush tosses the Patriots O-lines salad and they scrap out a 17-14 victory thanks to Asante Samuel having no hands and a lucky helmet catch (I'm sorry I can't finish this paragraph objectively anymore). God, FML that is a loss that will follow me to the grave. Moving on....
2008 - Ok so the Steelers were a pretty legit team all the way through so you are probably saying to yourself "Joe you pube your reference about records is a load of shit, the Steelers were a top 3 or 4 team all season." HOWEVER, who did they play in the super bowl???? Who was 30 some odd seconds from winning it??? The 9-7, week 16 47-7 loser, Arizona Cardinals. I honestly don't know how they sparked up this momentum but something about that painful beating made Larry Fitzgerald turn into a superhuman player. I will full out admit that I have a man crush on Fitz. If I were a chick or gay I'd be on that like white on rice. Anyways the Cardinals rode their hot receiver (this is getting gay unintentionally now) and defeated the Falcons, Panthers, and Eagles on their way to the Super Bowl.
So to wrap it up. I wouldn't put a ton on how your team is playing right now. Yes, you obviously need to win games to get into the playoffs but an occasional dud is really no big deal. The Pats lost to the Jets week 2? Who fucking cares? The media runs with it like the Jets are for real and the Pats run is over. Get outta here, if the Pats don't thrash the Jets next time and win this division by at least 3 games then I'd be shocked.
Oh and check out this link... http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=neumann/091002&sportCat=ncf ROLLLLLED!!!!!
thx to youtube, profootballreference, n espn for having awesome links
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Bloggin' It Up
People have told me before that I should write a sports blog so eff it... I'll give this a try. I'll update this every so often when something good goes through my dome or if something big goes on. It'll probably suck at first but maybe I'll find a groove as I go... I'll talk all sports but probably about 97.6% NFL cuz no other sport holds a candle..
The ALDS begins tomorrow night (Yeah I'm starting with the other 2.4%) and the Sox play in Anaheim games 1 & 2 so that means late start time - gay. Maybe it's just me but I'm not even close to as passionate about them as I was 5 yrs ago. To be honest, Sunday the Sox play, I believe at 12:00. I'd honestly rather watch the 1:00 football games and just flip to the sox during commercials. There are a few reasons:
1. Baseball is painfully slow compared to football's fast pace
2. The Red Sox are just a boring ho-hum team... I mean I like guys like Pedroia, Youkilus, and Bay but their personalities are about as exciting as aids.
3. Fantasy sports/picks/pools totally take the NFL to the next level of watchability
There is only one thing that can spark baseball for me right now... we all know what that is - Yankees vs. Sox ALCS!!! If that happens I'll jump back on board and claim I watched 156 of their games this season all the way through.
Back to football... few thoughts on the 2009 season so far - This season is a lot like 2004. The good teams are REAL good and the bad teams TOTALLY SUCK BALLS! If you're a betting man you ride the Colts, Giants, Saints, Patriots, Eagles, Ravens, Vikings, 49ers, etc OR bet against the Rams, Chiefs, Bucs, Browns, or Lions. In 2004 the Steelers were 15-1, Pats 14-2, Eagles 13-3, Chargers 12-4, Colts 12-4... same kind of thing lotta nasty teams, lotta shitty teams, fewer in the middle.
This is basically the anti-2002 where 80% of the league was 9-7 to 7-9 range. Don't believe me? www.profootballreference.com
Next point to mention - www.profootballreference.com <--- best.website.ever
Maybe this is the 14 year old in me speaking but there is something right about the 49ers being good again. Some franchises should just have a good team and carry themselves well - the 49ers are definitely one of those teams - welcome back.
The Patriots have won the past 2 games in the 2001-2004 fashion of grinding teams out and making more key plays. Not that the 2007 Pats way of beating people to death wasn't sweet but this makes me feel very confident come later in the year. Watching the Pats - esp in 03 & 04 EVERY damn close game you just KNEW they would pull out. Only exception was that wicked gay game vs. the Dolphins where Brady threw 17 picks and Troy Brown got roasted for the game winning TD. .. so 912 of 913 close games is still pretty good.
I still hate Peyton Manning, don't get me wrong, but that man is flat out filthy. Let's see if he can do this in January though.
Brett Favre has replaced John Edward as the biggest douche in the universe. Go away.
The Jets suck they'll finish 9-7 or 8-8 at best, mark it down.
Best nickname in the NFL???? Pocket Hercules is #1 followed by Megatron - both studs btw
Tony Romo is terrible.
That's all I got for now, effin flu is rolling me
But I just finished watching a new south park episode - pretty damn funny, good start to the season!
The ALDS begins tomorrow night (Yeah I'm starting with the other 2.4%) and the Sox play in Anaheim games 1 & 2 so that means late start time - gay. Maybe it's just me but I'm not even close to as passionate about them as I was 5 yrs ago. To be honest, Sunday the Sox play, I believe at 12:00. I'd honestly rather watch the 1:00 football games and just flip to the sox during commercials. There are a few reasons:
1. Baseball is painfully slow compared to football's fast pace
2. The Red Sox are just a boring ho-hum team... I mean I like guys like Pedroia, Youkilus, and Bay but their personalities are about as exciting as aids.
3. Fantasy sports/picks/pools totally take the NFL to the next level of watchability
There is only one thing that can spark baseball for me right now... we all know what that is - Yankees vs. Sox ALCS!!! If that happens I'll jump back on board and claim I watched 156 of their games this season all the way through.
Back to football... few thoughts on the 2009 season so far - This season is a lot like 2004. The good teams are REAL good and the bad teams TOTALLY SUCK BALLS! If you're a betting man you ride the Colts, Giants, Saints, Patriots, Eagles, Ravens, Vikings, 49ers, etc OR bet against the Rams, Chiefs, Bucs, Browns, or Lions. In 2004 the Steelers were 15-1, Pats 14-2, Eagles 13-3, Chargers 12-4, Colts 12-4... same kind of thing lotta nasty teams, lotta shitty teams, fewer in the middle.
This is basically the anti-2002 where 80% of the league was 9-7 to 7-9 range. Don't believe me? www.profootballreference.com
Next point to mention - www.profootballreference.com <--- best.website.ever
Maybe this is the 14 year old in me speaking but there is something right about the 49ers being good again. Some franchises should just have a good team and carry themselves well - the 49ers are definitely one of those teams - welcome back.
The Patriots have won the past 2 games in the 2001-2004 fashion of grinding teams out and making more key plays. Not that the 2007 Pats way of beating people to death wasn't sweet but this makes me feel very confident come later in the year. Watching the Pats - esp in 03 & 04 EVERY damn close game you just KNEW they would pull out. Only exception was that wicked gay game vs. the Dolphins where Brady threw 17 picks and Troy Brown got roasted for the game winning TD. .. so 912 of 913 close games is still pretty good.
I still hate Peyton Manning, don't get me wrong, but that man is flat out filthy. Let's see if he can do this in January though.
Brett Favre has replaced John Edward as the biggest douche in the universe. Go away.
The Jets suck they'll finish 9-7 or 8-8 at best, mark it down.
Best nickname in the NFL???? Pocket Hercules is #1 followed by Megatron - both studs btw
Tony Romo is terrible.
That's all I got for now, effin flu is rolling me
But I just finished watching a new south park episode - pretty damn funny, good start to the season!
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