In
This Issue:
Week
Six Standings
Crash goes the
leader!
What a strange week it's been. While the Boston Red Sox may have discovered
a new way to break the hearts of their fans (c'mon, beating the Yankees
like they did is nice, but unless they win the World Series, it's
meaningless), 
FBH's
3 most loyal and life-long Yankee fans became the Top 3 people in
our standings! How weird is that? Those of us, me included, who went
9-5 and thought they had a really good week were terribly mistaken
when that record gets compared to the man in first place Ron
"Bloomberg" Hade, who posted a very nice 12-2.
(the Yankees Ron Bloomberg was the first DH in the Major Leagues.)
Also going 12-2 this past week to catapult himself into the Top 5
was Ken "Kevin" Brown. Ron is joined at
the top of the pack by fellow Yankees fanatics and FBH's best Mother/Daughter
combo Mrs. Cap'n Dom "DiMaggio" and Ellen
"Dave Righetti" Raimondo, both of whom posted 10-4's
last week. (ok, Dom DiMaggio actually played for Boston, but it
works well in this context.) And let's not forget Angelo
"Wally Pipp" Forgione who sits in a tie for 3rd
and also went 10-4 last week. Ralph "Houk" Shupp
rounds out the Top 5. (Ralph Houk: Yankee Catcher and Manager)
Also deserving
mention this week was none other than James "Jay"
Howell and his completely out of left field record of 11-3.
(Jay Howell was a Yankee from 1982-84, look it up.)
Dishonorable
Mention this week must go out to Ken "Ron" Davis
(Ron Davis, Yankee Pitcher 1978-81) who was tied for first
before his league worst 4-10 last week.
The FBH
basement is currently being haunted by ghosts of FBH past. Neither
Mark&Hope or Mike Forst have
actually been heard from in 2004, but we've included them in the fun
this year assuming they would join us late, and assigned them the
Home Teams until they reappear. If they glance at the standings before
they return, we may never hear from them again.
Among the
living still trying to escape our haunted cellar are Doug
"Bird" Manuel (Doug Bird, Yankee Pitcher 1980-81)
and Pete "Appleton" Blasevick (Pete
Appleton, Yankee Pitcher 1933 (pitched 2 innings as a Yankee, and
the only "Pete" I could find)). And what would a Yankee-themed
article be without mentioning a Yogi? Thankfully, our Yogi
is also banging on the cellar door, trying to escape the bottom of
the FBH barrel.
The
Game of the Millennium
There's gonna be a showdown!
Something that hasn’t happened in over 30 years will take place
this weekend. For the first time since October 28, 1973, when the
6-0 Los Angeles Rams played the 6-0 Minnesota Vikings, two undefeated
NFL teams will square off this late in the season.
You
know how long ago that was? The Rams still bore white horns on their
helmets. The Vikes were the eventual NFC Champs that season and went
on to play Miami in Super Bowl VIII. That’s right, I said eight!
(btw – Super Bowl XXXIX (thirty-nine for you non-Romans) is
coming up at the end of this season). I think that even pre-dates
The NFL Today” with Mussberger, George and Cross. Who was doing
pre-game then, Lee Leonard and Bryant Gumbel? Lindsay Nelson? Ronald
Reagan? The “You Gotta Believe” Mets were still recovering
from losing World Series Game 7 to Reggie Jackson and the A’s.
I was in Mrs. Gabriel’s 6th grade class, the last one to graduate
from Sherman School (which was named after a Civil War general, kids
– not as some believe, a Jets offensive lineman) in Cranford.
That is a long, long, time ago.
This is
a matchup that should be hyped like crazy; yet, there is a decided
lack of buzz surrounding Sunday’s AFC East showdown between
the 5-0 Jets vs. the 5-0 Patriots. And why is that? Some speculate
that everyone has been concentrating on baseball or politics or what’s
happening on The Apprentice.
Balderdash!
The reason this game isn’t getting more hype is plain and simple
-- it is just ignorant discrimination against the Jets and I, for
one, will have none of it. In fact, I’m declaring this weekend’s
battle of the unbeatens –– “The Game of the Millennium.”
That’s right, I called it.
And why
shouldn’t it be? The Jets are 5-0 for the first and maybe last
time in my lifetime. I’m not about to cheapen the moment by
qualifying on a technicality about the records of their opponents
or some other rot. There are exactly 3 undefeated teams in football
and we’ve got one. In this age of “any given Sunday”
winning five straight is an accomplishment.
The Pats
have their pedigree, two Super Bowl rings in the past three years
and a 20 game winning streak, so I don’t have to defend their
reputation. But, despite the implicit message carried by the game’s
6 ½-point spread, the Pats aren’t exactly playing pushovers:
J
The Jets were a playoff team in 2001, 2002 and had the talent
to go back in 2003 had they not lost QB Chad Pennington on the eve
of the season and started 0-4. They reached the AFC championship
game in 1998 and narrowly missed the playoffs in 1997, 1999, and
2000. This team has been a playoff team 4 of the past 7 years and
an annual contender in one of the NFL’s toughest divisions.
There is no “apologizing” for them.
E
Much of the Patriots'
success has come at home, where they have won 14 straight games
counting playoffs. But that won't intimidate the Jets, who are 5-1
at New England since 1998 and are the last visiting team to win
there with a 30-17 victory on Dec. 22, 2002.
T
Even in the year
the Pats won their first Super Bowl (2001), the Jets beat them at
Foxboro. In front of “The Boys” and everything. You
may recall it was the game wherein Mo Lewis became the Pats’
MVP by ending Bledsoe’s season and necessitating a battlefield
promotion to Tom Brady.
S
In the last meeting
between the teams (last December @NY), the Pats won 21-16 on the
strength of five interceptions, one for a TD, one that set up a
TD (on the game’s second play), one in the end zone, and one
stopping the final Jets drive to tie the score. On Pennington’s
worst day as a pro, the Jets were still in position to win in the
final minutes against the eventual Super Bowl champs.
But enough about
the Jets/Pats head-to-head, there are plenty more reasons to believe
in the Jets:
G
This team is built on solid ground. Coach Herman Edwards
and his fine staff of assistants breed confidence and cool under
pressure. Perhaps there is no hype about this game because the Jets
are not freaking out – they don’t see being 5-0 as an
aberration.
O
And I’m picking up on that vibe myself. I haven’t
been nervous about the team at all this year – which is reminiscent
of rooting for The Cowboys in the early 1990’s when they won
Lombardi Trophies in 3 of 4 seasons.
J
New Defensive Coordinator Donnie Henderson, former
DB coach for Baltimore, has improved the team’s performance
and FS Erik Coleman has earned Defensive Rookie of the Month honors
and DE John Abraham has earned Defensive Player of the Week honors
(and kept straight off the field).
E
The Jets are the least-penalized team in the NFL since
Coach Edwards took over in 2001.
T
The Jets have the least giveaways and are second in
+/- differential in the NFL since Edwards took over. (The Jets are
also an AFC-best +9 this season).
S
The Jets even employ an assistant coach to monitor
time outs, extra point tries, and supervise clock management. They
are prepared and cool under fire.
So when
I predict a Jets victory this weekend, and an end to New England’s
record streak, suddenly, those words don’t seem all that bold,
now do they? GO JETS!
Scattershooting
with Kenny D.
Baseball Happenings?
I’ve always had a tremendous amount of respect for Bill
Parcells as a game coach. But a couple of weeks ago he made one of
the worst calls I’ve ever seen. The Cowboys faced the Giants,
trailing by 6, and had a fourth and a long one on their own 43 yard
line, with 10:30 or so left in the game. You punt it and pin them
deep, right? Wrong. Instead we go for it, get stuffed, and the game
is over. Giants need 1 play to get in field goal range and about 3
to get in the end zone, game over. Worst coaching decision I can remember,
although I do recall Tom Landry in his latter years forgetting what
down it was. But that wasn’t on purpose.
This writer wonders if the Football Happenings Picks page was
purchased in a sale of used voting machines from the state of Florida,
or perhaps there's some 'hanging chad' gumming up the works. How else
could I have been tied for first place last week and now I'm 8 games
out???
I went to the Dallas - Pittsburgh game last week and it
was an instant classic. I went into the game wondering how Dallas
could be a 3 point favorite instead of about a 4 point underdog, what
with the Steelers at 4-1 with young phenom Ben Roethlisberger at the
helm and the Cowboys secondary in a shambles. The Cowboys actually
played an excellent game (they better have after the Giant debacle
the week before) and were in position to win when Richie Anderson
caused Vinny to fumble and the cause was lost. I have to give credit
to the Steeler fans, as they showed up en masse and tried to be as
vocal as possible. They made their point but we were able to shut
them out for the most part. To their credit, I’m guessing there
were probably 12,000 Steeler fans there, and 11,950 of em had Steeler
jerseys on! Better yet, the jerseys stretched back all the way to
the 70’s. I saw Franco Harris, John Stallworth, LC Greenwood,
and Lynn Swann. I saw Rod Woodson, Jerome Bettis, rookie Troy Polamalu,
and others. Nice unity.
[Ken
wasn't the only one to notice the overabundance of Steeler fans at
last week's game. The Dallas Morning News had some interesting quotes
from surprised residents]:
DMN
sportswriter Frank Luksa: "It was the most I ever saw.
It was a very unusual sight."
Roger
Staubach: "I was flabbergasted."
Former
Cowboy Cliff Harris: "I was really shocked and confused.
Either there were a lot of Steeler fans at the game or some Cowboys
season ticket holders are closet Steeler fans."
Former
Cowboys Executive Gil Brandt: "I've never seen it as pronounced
as that. It reminds me of our days in the Cotton Bowl when we would
sell 12,000 tickets and 6,000 of them would be for the visiting
team."
A Cowboys
spokesman reports that as many as 15,000 tickets for each home game
are held back, and assumes that Pittsburgh fans simply did the best
job of buying those tickets. What if the late former Cowboys GM Tex
Schramm had still been alive...??
Staubach:
"He would have demanded to know where the tickets came
from."
Luksa: "He would have been furious."
Brandt: "He would have thrown up."
As
a long suffering fan of the Houston Astros, I have to comment on their
miraculous path to the wild card, past the Braves, and into the NLCS.
Suffice it to say it’s been amazing (21 wins in their last 22
home games) and it’s let some future hall of famers (Biggio,
Bagwell) get the ‘playoff monkey’ off their back. Hats
off to them whether they go all the way or not. (Seriously though,
wouldn’t an Astros/Red Sox World Series be appropriate? And
the Cubs could probably work the concessions!)
Gotta
love that Boston was able to finally beat the Yankees when it counted,
but the way in which they did it (coming back from a 3-0 deficit)
was amazing. It couldn’t have happened to a nicer, overpriced,
overhyped, underpitchingstaffed, bunch of prima donnas and their owner.
(Sorry to Yankee fans, I vent because I think there needs to be a
salary cap in baseball so the Yankees can’t try to buy themselves
the best team every year. Look for Carlos Beltran and Pedro Martinez
in Yankee uniforms next year.)
Quick hits on
the baseball playoffs:
Carlos
Beltran is unbelievable. As much for his acrobatic defensive play
as for his penchant for clutch home runs. And when he doesn’t
homer he hits a line drive off the wall.
With apologies
to Vlad Guerrero, Beltran, Manny Ramirez, and Bob Uecker, Albert
Pujols is quite simply the best hitter in baseball. If you watch
him you get the feeling that just about any pitch can go over the
fence. For the Astros’ sake I keep hoping he pulls a hamstring
rounding first on one of his homers.
Best sign
in the stands – ‘This space for RENTeria’
in game 6 of the NLCS. Edgar Renteria held up his end of the bargain
with a 3 for 5 outing and 3 sparkling defensive plays.
P
on the PP
Our next President?
Topical and silly.
The two trademarks of the PPP. Last week I was able to combine the
two and still manage to get a grip on the way y'all are feeling politically
in 2004. Apathy is still in vogue, but many of you voiced some serious
opinions. Take a look...
Alex
Bunting: "I think Roy and Bob is a better slate, with Bob in
charge of vice."
Dave
Schwade: "I should vote for myself, but I'd just push the button
rather than commit troops on the ground. Global, nuclear war isn't
a good, friendly neighbor policy. Thus, of course I vote for the Olsen
Twins. Roy and Ralph are out because they're way too busy with FBH
and fantasy football. Don't want to overload them on silly stuff,
such as protecting our arses from nutty terrorist attacks."
Alex
Bunting on NFL officiating: "We have about five officials already
on the football field, why not another called the Motorola man. He
can take a position out of the way and be equipped with a phone link
to the upstairs television watcher umpire. There is nothing more embarrassing
than everybody in America knowing you have screwed up and you going
on insisting you were right. The other item is the poor cornerback
trying to defend against a seven foot receiver who gets paid ten times
as much as he does and all the rules seem to favor the scorer. Besides
pushing off with their hands they have a way of leaping up for the
ball and pushing off with the buttocks that I find just as illegal
as using the hands. Also I see nothing wrong with hand contact if
it isn't holding. How else can a corner back know where the receiver
is and still look for the ball? You're also right, Roy, in that offensive
and defensive holding deserves to be equally penalized. Again it favors
the offense.
Scott
Conner: "As an Independent, I vote for Abbott & Costello!"
Bob
Shupp: "I have a "Gumby For President" bumper sticker,
but that was for the '84 election. Glad to see he's running again.
Also, to clarify last week's comment, I typed "1987" when
I meant to type "1967" Sorry for the confusion, and I'm
sorry that I made you all worry about my mental capacity.
Dick
Vanek (voting for the R&R Boys): "With all your FBH experience
who else?"
Mellenhead:
"Write in vote: Joie and Michael"
Mikey
Joyce: "Definitely correct to list Tom first as President and
Dane as VP"
Jeff
Vanek: "Come on, the R & R ticket has proven over time that
there is no "we" in team. Paul K, I'm still maturing up
in Lake Orion, Michigan with lovely wife Anne and 3 great kids, Andrew(10
years old), Dave (8 years old), and Haley Marie (4 yrs old)."
Tom
Schwade: "GIVE WAR A CHANCE. DON'T ELECT A TRAITOR. WE ARE AT
WAR WITH ISLAMIC FASCISTS AND WE ARE THE BEST TEAM TO DEFEAT THIS
MENACE, BECAUSE TOM & DAVE HAVE INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS EVERY
NIGHT (WITH OUR WIVES). I'M TOM SCHWADE AND I APPROVED THIS MESSAGE."
Angelo
Forgione: "TU vs. RU = PU .It's a shame that this treasured rivalry
is probably finito! I think Gumby's condition should exclude him from
the race; I fear he would invoke the use of the Elastic Clause far
too often as Chief Executive."
Yogi
Yeager: "Ok, I am going to all visitors in an attempt kick start
my record and blast into first place!!!"
John
Schwade: "Why did Julius Peppers run out of gas on the 3 yard
line? Because his conditioning program consists of dancing in Nelly
videos. I suggest he switch to Richard Simmons' "Sweatin' with
the Oldies. I'm John Schwade, and I approved this message."
So
who do YOU think our next President and Vice President should be?
With 9 votes, you selected Roy and Ralph! Whoo hoo!
You like us, you REALLY like us!
But wait, we all know that the "popular" vote doesn't make
us a winner. Based on a ridiculous system that was conjured up over
200 years ago, the actual winner of this poll is Gumby and
Pokey with just 5 votes. Roy and I are challenging the decision
not to have an official recount and we contend that Pokey ate many
of our votes. We'll be taking this to court, so stay tuned. (For the
record, The Olsen Twins got 4 votes, Tom
and Dave got 2 and Kobe and Shaq also got
2 votes.)
BTW:
Congratulations to the 7 people who predicted a St. Louis vs. Boston
World Series.
Extra
Points
Most Hurried 3 minutes in Football Happenings
Since I last mentioned Rutgers, the Knights have won two more games,
a come from behind win over Vandy and an ugly yet effective homecoming
game 16-6 win over the Temple Owls. (“Hoot! Hoot!”) Our
heroes are now 4-2 for the first time in over 10 years. For the second
straight Saturday, they will be featured on “The Big East Game
of the Week” versus Pittsburgh. TBEGOTW is a national broadcast
so, oddly enough, I was able to watch RU last week in the comfort
of my own Dallas home on Channel 52. Okay, it’s not the feature
game on ABC, but you know we’re coming up in the world when
we’re at least winning the programming battle over “Simon
& Simon” reruns.
[
If
you’re not hip to it, check out this wonder of the Internet.
Team public relations departments are now making the press guides
available through their team sites. For example, Here's the link to
the Jets PR department -- http://www.newyorkjets.com/news/index.php?sections_id=26
and here’s the one for Rutgers -- http://www.scarletknights.com/football/news/preview.htm.
Wait, do my eyes deceive me? Is that The Commish in funny wig on page
5 of the RU guide “This is Rutgers Football”? Is that
also Bob the Drummer (#11) showing his boobies? And Dane Schwade?
And Samuel L. Jackson in front?
[ Happy belated
Birthday to Miss Ellen and Steve V.
and Karl Wallinger who all celebrated over the past
week. Love to all!
Coming
Next Week: Our 7th Annual Halloween Costume Issue !!
