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Vol.
8 No. 6 - Oct. 8, 2003
Football Happenings
(
or... Arnold? Governor? Really? ) |
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Current Standings at a glance
as of 10-08-2003
|
Name |
W |
L |
T |
Pct |
GB |
1 |
John
Kardel |
44 |
26 |
4 |
.629 |
- |
| 2 |
Mrs.
Cap'n Dom |
41 |
29 |
4 |
.586 |
3 |
3 |
Michelle
Brown |
41 |
29 |
4 |
.586 |
3 |
4 |
Dave
Schwade |
40 |
30 |
4 |
.571 |
4 |
4 |
Mike
Hogg |
40 |
30 |
4 |
.571 |
4 |
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In
This Issue:
Current
Standings
Total
Monday Night Recall
If you didn't see the end of this Monday's night football
game, you missed out on a piece of history. Never before in
the NFL has a team been down by 21 points with 4 minutes left
come back to win the game. That's any game, ever,
not just on a Monday night. It was an amazing display that Peyton
and the Colts put on in the final minutes and thru the OT. Tampa
Bay's well documented defense was all they're cracked up to
be for 55 minutes, but in the final 5 minutes, when it counted
most, they were completely physically spent. As was I.
I watch every MNF game to it's conclusion, then sit down and
get to work on the Standings for FBH so they'll be available
for y'all by Tuesday morning. Never, I repeat, NEVER do I ever
assume the outcome of the game and start my calculating of records
BEFORE the clock hits :00 on Monday night. But I was tired,
I wanted to get a head start, and when TB scored on an INT to
make it 35-14 with 5:06 remaining, I went ahead and assumed,
making an ass, not of "u", but of "me".
An hour later, my records were a mess and I was half asleep
trying to make sense of them. I made a few mistakes when I originally
posted the Standings, but nothing very glaring, and after being
told of an error or two, I went back and re-did everything.
What you see today is completely accurate and official (until
I find another mistake).
This
could be one of the toughest seasons yet for picking games.
After 5 weeks, only 16 of our group of 49 can boast a record
of .500 or better. That's sad. But it might explain why two
of our perennial cellar-dwellers, John "Conan the
Groparian" Kardel and Dave "The Gropinator"
Schwade, can currently be found in the Top 5. (The
3 game lead that JPK currently holds is further proof of the
ineptitude of the group as a whole.) Right up there with these
two is our Scottish mate Mike "Giant-boy II"
Hogg who got to watch Live as his beloved S.F. Giants
fell to yet another Cinderella team in the post-season. Maybe
that glass slipper will fit Barry next year.
John
had better stick to his winning ways if he hopes to keep his
place up there. Because there are a couple of Bad Mother...(Shut
Your Mouth!) no, no, no,... I was going to say "Mothers",
hot on his trail. If Mrs. Cap'n Dom and Michelle
Brown (both of whom are Moms, both won QTR1 division
$$) keep it up, we may have to have a special Mother's Day Issue
soon. When they can post records of 6-7-1 and 5-8-1 respectively
and STILL be in a tie for 2nd place, you know they have something
going for them. Watch out for these two!
In
a rare week, we had no one score 10 wins, but we had a few 10-game
losers. And Beth "Gray Davis" Wong
forced a mention here with her embarrassing 2-11-1 display in
Week 5. Cheer up Beth, the new Soldier Field looked pretty good
on TV, although I know it'll never be the same for those who
knew it when... Unfortunately the home team still sucks, that
hasn't changed.
We'd
like to welcome back Alex "The Governator"
Bunting who took some time off for health reasons to
start the season. Seeing his Default picks were dragging him
down, he's back to making his own terrible picks and has fixed
himself a cozy place in the FBH basement. His surprise bunk-mate
down there is this year's candidate for the "First-to-Worst"
award, Danny "Total Re-grope" Andren.
I suspect both these guys are just playing "possum"
and will be sub-leasing the cellar to someone else very soon.
Rush,
Rush, and More Rush
Oy vay! When will it end?
We got this comment from Dave Schwade
this week regarding the whole Rush Limbaugh situation:
 "I
know it would be too much to implore FBH to NOT comment on the
Rush controversy, so instead I implore you to keep the comments
to a minimum, as I will do.
Yes, Rush is a divisive
idiot, just like James Carville and his manly wife. The last
decade or so has seen too many folks sitting out on the extreme
of issues and getting air time because of it. That's what
ESPN wanted, that's what ESPN received.
For me the worst part
of all this nonsense is the diversion from football. I wish
Rush had left the point as "THE MEDIA HYPES PLAYERS."
I believe this is true: The media does it to sell the sport,
sell the players, and sell the NFL apparel - remember it's
not a game, it's a BUSINESS.
I think McNabb is over-rated
as a QB, and under-rated as a RB. The race card never should
have been played, the issue should have been the media's hyperbole
of EVERY PLAYER, ON EVERY DOWN, BEING THE BEST EVER, IN THAT
POSITION (annoying isn't it?). Most of these players are NOT
as good as players in the past. The league is watered down.
And now, the whole issue
is race. If you watched ESPN this morning, you watched all
the apologist crap. It was a more somber show than their show
after the September 11 attacks. Too bad it wasn't an honest
discussion about the media hype instead.
(Okay, so it wasn't a minimum,
but I didn't think you'd listen to me anyway.)"
[Sorry
Dave, but prepare for more Rush discussion below.]
I
totally agree with you, how scary is that? Which is why I kept
my comments to a single sentence. Sure, I could have gone off
for an hour all about the whole subject, but it's silly and
overblown. Aren't we past the "Black QB" thing anyway?
Who gives a sh** what color McNabb is? If he sucks, call him
out, but don't play the race card.
I'm
sick of Male WASP's pointing fingers at the issue of racism.
We started racism in the first place, and find ourselves at
the very bottom of the list of people who are discriminated
against. By continuing to bring it up, we are continuing the
myth that people should be judged based on color, religion,
etc. Enough already.
Rush
to Judgment
Roy's thoughts on Mr. Limbaugh
ESPN’s experiment with Rush Limbaugh has come to its inevitable
short-lived end when Limbaugh tendered his resignation last Wednesday
following racially charged comments he made on the air a week earlier.
(Who had four weeks in the pool?) Did ESPN really think this was
going to work?
ESPN’s
sibling ABC hired non-football guy Dennis Miller to work MNF and
many, myself included, applauded the move. The idea was to bring
an “everyman” element to the booth to complement play-by-play
and football analysis. The fan is a very large part of the game
and making the telecasts more accessible and entertaining is a noble
concept.
Bringing
Rush Limbaugh into the NFL Countdown mix was about entertainment
too, but Rush’s brand of entertainment has, I’m afraid,
a very narrow audience, especially where pro football is concerned.
"Joe
Lunch Pail" does not want to see Rush – he wants to see
Jimmy Kimmel or, preferably, that weathergirl. Let’s have
entertainment but, hey, don’t kill my morning beer buzz with
anything heavier than a passing reference to “Brian’s
Song” or the Jets-Broncos AFC Championship game.
In fact,
those who are looking for politics and social debate on Sunday morning
are watching Face the Nation, anyway. My guess is most of Rush’s
fans are busy Sunday mornings in their houses of worship, out shooting
something with their Charlton Heston autographed semi-automatic
weapon, or being fed through a tube.
He certainly
didn’t have a great deal of football knowledge to fall back
on. Then again, he’s used to pontification (without rebuttal)
without relying on that problematic substance behind his arguments.
But it goes beyond that.
Rush’s
game is polarizing factions. His “entertainment” is
creating an “us against them” scenario then name calling
and spewing arguments based on spurious premises and seriously-outdated
prejudices. His words ring hollow, even if you try to understand
his message, because there is no integrity present. Despite his
blustering, you don’t truly get the sense that even the man
speaking these words really believes it. He is a radio personality
in the truest sense.
The sad
fact is, he only cares about right wing politics enough to keep
the franchise going. His plan works because he operates in the fringes
of the lowest common denominator. He expects the worst from people
and the dittoheads deliver.
Rush is
an entertainer, not a philosopher or great thinker. He’s a
radio personality, an ex-DJ who didn’t even vote in a presidential
election until recently. His promo spots may say his show represents
equal time and an alternative viewpoint. The problem there is there’s
no substance, it’s all a facade – it sells advertising
time – and the franchise will continue as long as it’s
profitable. If you never realized it before, Rush and Howard Stern
are a lot alike.
Limbaugh’s
resignation comes on the heels of on-air comments he made last Sunday
that the Eagles performance is not surprising because Donovan McNabb
was overrated by the “liberal media” because they wanted
to see a Black quarterback be successful.
He was
subsequently unrepentant, not even trotting out the old “sorry
if I offended anyone” chestnut. Instead, as his defense he
offered that, “he must have been right given the amount of
reaction his comments created.” Huh? Using that twisted logic,
I suppose Hitler was right, too. Only an egomaniac that is dangerously
unaware and out of touch could even invent a concept so preposterous,
let alone use it as his prime defense.
Then again,
one of Rush’s prime crutches is the “if the thought
has been around a while, it must be true” – something
that carries a lot of weight with his prime audience, most of whom
are pining for the old days. (“Whatever happened to the way
it was? Whatever happened to my way?”)
Ultimately,
Limbaugh’s offense was being himself, which apparently, at
least in part, includes bringing hateful thoughts into play. What
Rush really means when he says “the liberal media” is
anyone who thinks differently than he does – the “them”
in “us and them.” I’m starting to think Rush’s
definition of “us” includes bigots and white racists.
It certainly includes the closed-minded. Perhaps he has spent a
little too long steeped in his own rhetoric and has irreversibly
gone over to the dark side.
I don’t
think ESPN counted on that.
My favorite comment on Rush now saying of the uproar his comments
made mean he must be right about something, came from a Dallas Morning
News sports reporter, when he said: "Leave it to Rush,
while being run out of town, to grab a baton and call it a parade".
NFL
Happenings
The week in pictures (and words)
I have
an odd request that I thought I'd throw out to the masses here at
FBH. A couple months ago, I filmed a TV commercial for the tech
school I recently graduated from here in Dallas. The Production
guy was impressed with me and told me that they were certain to
use me in one of their spots. He told me to get back to him in late
September for air-dates for my ad in Dallas. When I did, he informed
me that my spot was actually airing in Miami, Florida in October,
and wouldn't be on the air in Dallas until November. I know the
exact show dates/times I can be seen in Miami, and was wondering
if anyone here knows of someone who lives in the Miami area who
could possibly tape it for me.
Supposedly,
I can be seen during the Montel Williams Show on Fox-29 (10-11am)
in Miami on October 13 and 15. If you know someone who could tape
these shows for me, and send me the tape, it would be much appreciated!!
Please let me know if you can help me out. Thanks!
This Week's SportsChrome Contribution:
Just
what exactly are those things
players wear on their arms? |
Virginia
Tech runs away from Rutgers |
| 
Colts finish off a miracle comeback
|
Emmitt finishes off a terrible comeback |
Dolphins go 2-0 in Meadowlands |
McNabb escapes criticism, Redskins |
He Hate Me!! |
Ahhh nuts!! |
Jacksonville keeps SD winless |
Denver keeps KC lossless |
[ After
five weeks in Bob’s fantasy football league, Ralph
leads the pack, but there’s a showdown coming this weekend with
my team. (By the way, Ken and I are very happy to
have Daunte Culpepper on our fantasy football roster, despite his
unfortunate overrating.)
[
So Mr. Smith goes back to Dallas and leaves with a broken shoulder
blade, a separated shoulder and two eyes full of tears. Tony Dorsett’s
words still linger in the air. Emmitt, I’ll always love you,
but it looks like the real trash got taken out.
[
Speaking of the Cowboys, some local huffers are pronouncing Bill’s
Boys logical candidates for a 5-1 start and are even using the “P”
word (playoffs). True, Sunday’s visit from Eagles matches
up a lot better today on paper than it did before the season starts,
but Coach Parcells is warning there is a lot of rough road ahead,
and I tend to gravitate toward his expertise on such matters.
[
Jets coach Herm Edwards is still saying that the San Diego Chargers
once started 0-4 and made it to the Super Bowl. I hope this doesn’t
mean that, for his next miracle, he plans to replace 39-year old
QB Vinny Testaverde with 99-year old Dan Fouts.
[
Hey, can we get some love for my boy Roy The Lion Tamer? Get well
soon, big guy. (We Roys have to stick together.)
[
Check out this disgruntled Jet-fan... http://www.theganggreen.com/archive/show_story.php?id=267
[
Rutgers still losing to the good teams, but at least we’re
scoring. We hung 22 on Virginia Tech and 28 on Michigan State. Are
we finally making some progress?
[
How disgusting would it be if the Yankees crush the post-season
dreams of both the BoSox and the Cubbies? Don’t just dread
it, expect it.
In last week's P on the PP, we asked for
your predictions for a possible upcoming World Series match-up.
Out of the 31 responses we got, the overwhelming prediction is Yankees
vs. Cubs in the big showdown. The breakdown went like this:
Yankees:23,
Cubs:16, Marlins:9, A's:7, Braves:5, Giants:1, Red Sox:1, Twins:0
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