In
This Issue:
Overall
Standings
This
week, last week. Next week, this week.
In a familiar FBH pattern, our early pack of leaders has begun
to establish some breathing room over the larger group of AFCs (average
frustrated chumps) who are trying to figure out which teams to rely
upon in this wacky season. Our FPA’s (football picking artists)
– current leader Rob “Mystery” Tringali,
runner up Jame “Chiachi Power” Howell
and Bob “I’ve got to get back to my friends, now”
Shupp representing the group in third place – are already
“negging” the rest of us. Rob, leads by 4 games and there
are only ten FBH-ers within 10 games of the top. (If you noticed our
references to the new dating bible, “The Game” give yourself
extra credit.)
Then again,
nine of you, earned 9-5 records last weekend, so the mojo is circulating
out there somewhere.
Well, so
much for making a charge last week. After improving to 5 wins in the
most recent attempt, my personal odyssey continues. So, I’ve
gone to a new methodology for the upcoming week. I’ve just made
my picks, and they largely make no sense to me. This is probably a
good sign.
You might
notice a couple of additional names on the standings chart this time
around. I think we’ve got everyone now. We got Uncle
Bob fully credentialed and added Emma The Cat on
there, too. Yes, Emma is back this season after finishing her rookie
year in third place.
High
Tech-xas
Too much information
To paraphrase Chico Esquela: “Technology has been berry,
berry good to me.” I know a few of you out there have DirecTV
and the NFL Sunday ticket. The Sunday ticket has been a godsend for
those of us who are thousands of miles removed from our favorite teams
and you’ve heard Ralph and me wax near-poetic
about the happiness we feel every Sunday at the prospect of being
able to watch our Mighty Jets (not that the actual viewing itself
always generates the same happiness).
The newest innovation
is the “Game Mix” channel that displays 8 games at once.
Like Tony Kornheiser, you may be saying, “Hey, I get confused
using Picture in Picture – forget 8 games at once.” I
hear you. In our quest to be a value-added presence in your lives,
we turned the LBFBHHQ into a testing laboratory and did some experimentation.
We did have
the advantage of borrowing the projector from work so we had a 4’
x 7’ image to work with. That’s a 96” diagonal screen.
On an image that covers the entire wall, you could pretty much make
out what was going on in the individual games – not that you
could necessarily see player numbers. Without the prominent scores
displayed under each window, you’d be lost. This is not going
to work for the average TV set up at home unless you can get the recliner
right in front of the tube, then use binoculars.
DirecTV
could help us out a little by redesigning their display. They could
make the games slightly larger by converting some of the lost “real
estate” around the edges of the current layout. This still might
not really help regular-sized TVs much either. They may have to back
off to 4 or 6 games at once.
The second
issue is the only sound is NFL films music. Being able to listen to
your main game would help immensely with keeping your bearings.
Ultimately,
we found it most useful for catching up with other games while the
Jets game was on commercial. We were able to conveniently monitor
when our commercial breaks were over while seeing if our fantasy players
were scoring in other action; that was a nice feature.
But things
are about to get better. A few days ago, my personal electronics advisor,
Senor Jame, was just showing me some new technology
that is going to change the experience. Components that incorporate
multiple TV tuners (like 6 or 8) are a reality. This means you can
choose the channels you’re watching and, I’m expecting,
the configuration of the display. So if you want to watch the Cowboys
with the sound and monitor the “Red Zone” channel, a baseball
game, a Lifetime movie, and your fantasy stats from the Internet,
you’ll be able to do that.
Sounds like
we have to get back to the lab…
NFL
Happenings
Just a quickie...
It's
still a few hours away from today's Jets-Bills game, so there's still
time to get this one in (for the sake of tradition):
THE
Buffalo Bills Suck Button
P
on the PP
No time to P
If you read last
week's issue of FBH, you know exactly who Wouter van Zutphen
is. Although, he could have been the German guy who invented the Atomic
Bomb had Kirk acted with his heart and saved the lovely Edith Keeler.
Unfortunately, the world will never know. Nice job, Captain. Thanks
for saving the world, again.
I
gotta run and watch some football on this NFL Sunday. The P on the
PP results will be back next time!
Extra
Points
Maybe the best 3 minutes in Football Happenings?
Before
I break my arm patting myself on the back for last week’s Cowboys/Eagles
prediction, I must confess I didn’t expect it to be quite the
butt whooping it turned out to be. But what a sweet win! Seeing Terrell
Owens moping like the spoiled brat he is almost made up for his taunting
antics on the Dallas star from his SF days.
[
The Jets win was nice as well. Vinny rules! Incidentally, I predicted
that victory, too. Hey, Tampa was undefeated at the time and we were
starting a 41-year old QB, so I should get some credit.
[
When Giants/Cowboys comes up on the schedule, it always makes me nostalgic.
One of the first transactions Miss Kimba and I had was a bet on the
first NY/Dallas game of 1984. Thanks to a Giants win, Kim had to take
me to the Dallas Zoo as my reward.
In recent
years, the game has had little more than rivalry going for it as both
teams had seen better days. But in the suddenly resurgent NFC East,
there are expectations going into this one. Thoroughbred Eli Manning
and the other skill players who have been assembled under Coach Tom
Coughlin are starting to believe they can contend instead of rebuild.
Drew Bledsoe’s renaissance, an off-season investment in defense,
and a conversion to Bill Parcells’s preferred 3-4 defensive
scheme has The Dallas metroplex dreaming of the post-season, as well.
The GiantBoys
have scored early and often, but their 3-1 record came after winning
3 games versus very beatable opponents with suspect defenses (Arizona,
NO, St. Louis). The one time they faced a playoff contender-quality
opponent, they lost.
Dallas has
looked uneven, even lucky at times in getting to 3-2. They could just
as easily be 5-0 or 1-4. Obviously, a team who can beat the defending
NFC champs, gets some automatic cachet.
The Giants
are better than we all expected when everyone broke training camp,
but they’ve still got more to prove. The Cowboys defense will
be a sticky wicket for Eli & Co.
Dallas has
to guard against “let down after a big victory syndrome”,
the possible loss of their starting RB, and, in general, show more
consistency.
Ultimately,
I project that both teams will play below their potential, but that
Dallas will have just a little more to draw from. I think Dallas wins
at home this week, but I expect it will be by less than a TD.
[
Man, 16 years old, $10 million in endorsements already in the bank,
the grace of a swan, the good looks of a teen model, and a 300+ yard
drive swing that might prove better than the one she emulated in developing
her own (some dude named Tiger Woods)…wow. You have to wonder
how in the world Michele Wie will handle the whirlwind
and just root that her soul will survive the inevitable bruising it’s
in for. (I suddenly felt slightly less compassionate when I just realized
I was already 27 when she was born…not that I’m proud
of it.)
[
Speaking of Tiger, he was on Conan O’Brien’s talk show
a couple of weeks back and when referring to Michael Jordan, Tiger
called him, “M”. To which Conan immediately stammered,
“Oh yeah, M…I meant to call him M…I call him M,
too.” Hilarious rejoinder by Conan but still a pretty cool look
into the inner sanctum of the elite athlete.
[
Birthday wishes go out to the EastEnd-Girl, Mellenhead.
Keep in mind that she was being born as Ron Swoboda was making a miraculous
diving catch in right-field that helped the Miracle Mets beat the
Orioles in the '69 World Series. Naturally, she grew up to be a Yankees
fan. I know, it doesn't make sense to me either. (Step off, ya wanker!)
