This Week’s Random Thoughts and Rants
Posted: January 7, 2010 Filed under: Random Rambling, Sporting Commentary Leave a comment »These were the top random thoughts that crossed my mind today:
Tiger Woods. Is he really gay? And if so, was his marriage and family, along with the women he has been linked to just a coverup? And if so, will the public forgive him for his “transgressions” as the public often does when a man reveals his true sexuality? And if so, will his sponsors forgive him too and come back? I don’t know of too many gay athletes with mega sponsorship deals, but maybe as Tiger’s father said so long ago, Tiger will change the world. And if he does, did it really have to be at the cost of his wife Elin, and his kids?
Netflix. Really? Is anyone else upset that Netflix has signed an agreement with Warner Brothers to delay new releases by 28 days so they can sell more DVDs? I know L and I have already cut our rental agreement with Netflix back to 1 rental at a time, but given how convenient Redbox is, if Netflix decides to take the same approach with other studios, Netflix may get cut from our budget entirely. This agreement seems like such a risky move given how tight family budgets have become in this economy, and most families are looking for any excuse to cut unneeded discretionary expenses. Will greed be the downfall of what used to be such a smart and savvy company?
The Bowl Season. Does anyone else think the bowl season is too long? With tonight’s national championship game looming, I am actually sitting on my computer rather than watching the pre-game with bated breath as I once used to. The excitement of the bowl season used to culminate with a crazy day of college football on New Year’s Day, and a night of championship football. Then it expanded to January 2… then January 3… and then this year’s ridiculuous schedule of a game every night (except for the NFL’s Sunday). January 7th for the national championship game? Really? I’ll be lucky if I make it to half. I just don’t care anymore.
Gilbert Arenas. I am sure this has been blogged and talked about to death, but what an idiot. When the Wizards signed Gilbert Arenas back in 2003 (which seems like yesterday sadly) I thought the Wizards were finally going to be a premiere team to compete in the Eastern Conference. As most of you know, he has been a complete disappointment, along with the Wizards as a whole (with the exception of beating the Bulls in the first round back in the ’04-’05 season – which has to go down as one of the more exciting sports moments I’ve experienced in person). And then he brings unloaded guns to the locker room. When David Sterns suspended him indefinitely yesterday, I didn’t care. As one caller put it on a local sports show recently, “it’s not as if we asked Gilbert to be a role model, even if the kids naturally gravitate to him. We just want him to act like a responsible citizen, not a 12 year old.” He hasn’t, and is a 12 year old. I say cut him and good riddance… may we void your contract on the nearest hibachi.
The Redskins. As most of you know, I love Washington sports, and I love the Redskins, for better or for worse. But I’m over it. I’m over the firing of Vinny. I’m over the hiring of Bruce Allen. I’m over Shanahan being named the head coach, and I’m over all of the ridiculous antics of such overpaid egos like Clinton Portis and Albert Haynesworth. As I said to my buddy yesterday, just effing win. Seriously, I don’t care who you draft, what your draft strategy is, what Shanahan’s record has been, or whatever analysis is required. Just shut up and win next season.
Nosey Neighbor. Finally, if your neighbor’s dog barks in the middle of the night when you normally never hear it, and then you ask them about it the next day because you were concerned that something nefarious might be going on, are you a nosey neighbor or a concerned neighbor? I’d like to think the latter, but could easily see being the former. I hope they think of us though as concerned neighbors. Anyway, that’s all for now. I’ve wasted enough time banging out my frustration on these keys and should probably get some work done tonight before I bore myself with the Texas-Alabama game. Thanks for listening.Posted via web from Daily Life Shorts
One and Done
Posted: December 14, 2009 Filed under: Fantasy Football, Sporting Commentary | Tags: Fantasy Football Leave a comment »One week of prep and thirteen weeks of dilligent management led to a complete lack of performance on my fantasy football team’s part yesterday. After the games I sat down with the teams looking for an explanation but my frustration was met with blank stares and quiet coughing.
“Live Action” which struggled all year with consistency had gone on a hot streak, lending me false hope for an underdog run to the championship, but despite our team captain, McNabb showing up, guns a-blazing with 24 points, and my D (the Eagles, ugh) scoring a whopping 18 with two defensive scores, the rest of the team (9 dudes) mustered 18 points… that’s right, 18 points! Pathetic. I raised hell for about 25 minutes, making references to their mothers, sisters, and family dogs, but that didn’t take away the “L” and it certainly didn’t make me feel any better. Steven Jackson did muster a weak apology, but it fell on deaf ears as I shut my laptop.
“Men of Steel”, my high flying team of superstars also fell short, though their combined efforts produced 25 more points than Live Actionless. Chris Johnson continued his prolific production with 3 TDs and over 150 yards of offense, but my #1 pick, Hollywood Brady managed only a meager 11 points. Tom cited the birth of his son, but being a new father myself, and knowing I could have done better myself, I told him that good looks, a stunning wife, and millions of dollars also meant he had a responsibility to his teams, as well as to his general manager, me, and as such I expected more production out of him. Alas, he shook off my criticism, and climbed into his fancy car, leaving me to answer to ownership (the wife) for our sudden departure from the playoffs and no chance of winning our entry fee back.
I met with ownership this morning and told her, “there’s always next year” but was told that witty cliches don’t buy diapers and that I will now need to take a second job in the offseason.
Thanks fellas… maybe next year.
Posted via web from Daily Life Shorts
Win Some, Lose Some
Posted: November 23, 2009 Filed under: Fantasy Football, Sporting Commentary Leave a comment »Tonight’s Monday Night Football game wraps up a week where I will have evenly split both my fantasy teams and “real life” football teams. The highlight of the weekend was Penn State’s thrashing of Michigan State up in East Lansing, the lowlight was the Redskins’ inability to score more than 6 points down in Dallas. In both cases, I was left frustrated.
In the case of Penn State, it was yet another game where Penn State’s offense chose to show up for one half of football, and left us fans shaking our heads about what could have been this season. Yes, we finished 10-2, but as my brother was very quick to point out (thanks Steve), what big wins did Penn State really have this season? The only two big games they had (at home I might add), they lost. And not just any loss, they collapsed. Where was this offense during those games? Where was that offensive line?
In the case of the Redskins, one week after showing signs of having an offense last week against Denver, they returned to their no-scoring ways down in Dallas, losing 7-6. You could not have asked the defense to play any better than they did, holding Dallas scoreless for most of the game. My biggest beef though from the game was the blatant bias that Troy Aikman showed in announcing the game with Joe Buck. When Troy told us viewers that Dallas was going to score at any moment because that’s the kind of team they are, I did NOT appreciate that little bit of “insight” he was providing. Anyway, I look forward to yet another week of second guessing and disappointed fans.
On the fantasy front, I’m about to pull of my 5th straight win in a league I started 0-6, a mere win away from making the playoffs, and am about to lose in the other league that will put me one loss away from missing the playoffs.
You win some, you lose some.
Posted via web from Daily Life Shorts
It’s Only a Game
Posted: September 27, 2009 Filed under: Sporting Commentary | Tags: Penn State, Redskins Leave a comment »It’s weekends like these where you must remind yourself that football is only a game and even though both of your teams have suffered humiliating losses the sun will still rise tomorrow. I’m not sure if the Redskins and Nittany Lions suffer from similar shortfalls but regardless of the cause, the outcome and end product on the field was the same – awful.
We had friends over last night for the game and by the end of the night it’s safe to say that I felt numb and sick to my stomach. Our O line was as expected – porous and inconsistent. Our secondary allowed too much of a buffer, a buffer they got away with te previous three weeks on pure athletic superiority alone. But on top of the known issues our skill players were just downright awful. It was so unlike Penn State in primetime for a whiteout crowd to play this way which is what left me so disoriented.
Follow an evening like that up with the Skins ending Detroit’s 18 game losing streak and you have one miserable football weekend. I will be shocked if Jim Zorn has a job here by Week 6 and can’t wait to listen to the guaranteed lynchmob tomorrow. Granted some of the issues lie on the players and not necessarily Campbell either. Players dropped balls, gave up on plays, ran their routes short, and that is not the coach’s or quarterback’s responsibility. There was no heart and that has the makings of a long season.
However, at the end of the day, I have my loving wife, my laughing 5 month old son, and a crazy dog… And after looking each of them in the eye following these losses I am very quickly reminded that it’s only a game. A frustrating game, but a game nonetheless.
Let’s see if I feel the same way next weekend.
Benching McNabb – Get Over It
Posted: November 1, 2010 | Author: Brad C | Filed under: Sporting Commentary | Leave a comment »I’m not quite sure why so many people are making such a big deal about the benching of McNabb at the end of the Redskin’s abysmal loss to the Lions yesterday. Am I the only person who heard last week various radio pundits discussing that Andy Reid benched McNabb as an Eagle as a method of motivating McNabb? And perhaps, given McNabb’s poor performance the during the past 5 games, a benching is just what he needed? I mean, going into the game, I was almost waiting for it to happen, and when it did, was not surprised.
So, knowing that perhaps this was Mike Shanahan’s attempt at motivating McNabb, why don’t we leave it at that? Why all of the doom and gloom talk? Why the second-guessing? Let’s face it. The Redskins are a mediocre team at best. Their offensive line is pathetic, which leads to a poor running attack and a quarterback who is fighting for his life almost every down. It doesn’t help when your center steps on your foot or ankle every other play, disrupting your already questionable timing. As much as I hate to say it, I’m glad we lost to the Lions, especially right before the bye week. You’ve gotten lucky too many times over the past few weeks and maybe you need some time to come back to the reality of the situation. Stew on it. Toss and turn at night. And then return to the practice field committed to do better. Because you know what? McNabb will be there ready to lead you and ready to welcome you. That’s more than you can say about half the team and half this town.