Random Thoughts - 12/06/04
Random thoughts while watching the best team in football do its thing…
- I can’t see any reason for the Patriots to be less than 6-point favorites for every one of their final four games (Cincy, Miami, Jets, SF).
- Best announcer’s line of the day, from Pats/Browns game: “And then, you see here, he dove right in-between Gay’s legs to try and grab the ball…” That might supplant Tim McCarver’s “I heard it hit wood!” Nah.
- Reason #374 why anyone but Philly in the NFC has no chance at winning the Super Bowl this year: The best match-up of the year, Packers @ Eagles, turned into the Donovan McNabb show before the end of the first quarter. The Packers are supposedly the second-best team in the NFC, and at one point they were down 44-3.
- Since many of you asked, here’s why McNabb is my MVP pick over Peyton Manning. Manning is on another planet right now, and if when he breaks Marino’s record, it will probably assure him of the award. But which numbers would you rather have thus far into the season: 262/385, 3621yds, 44TD, 9INT, 9-3 Record, 3rd Seed? OR… 256/393, 3356yds, 28TD, 5INT, 11-1 Record, 1st Seed? If you answered “B”, then you had better start throwing a little cred over to McNabb’s side of the argument. Nobody wins a Super Bowl in November and December. Win a big game on the road in January, Peyton, and then come talk to me. At least Donovan’s been in three straight NFC title games…
- Of course, then there’s Ben Roethlisberger and his 155/229, 1940yds, 14TD, 6INT, 10-0 Record. And he’s only eight months older than me. Ugh…
- Does anybody else realize that through 12 games, the New York Giants have thrown exactly zero TD’s to their starting wide receivers? And people wonder why I picked them to go 8-8…
- I changed three of my picks just before writing my weekly NFL column last week, Arizona(+6), Green Bay (+6), and Baltimore(-7). Oops. I also changed three picks in my office pool (no spread), and lost all three games. How quickly we go from 10-5 to 7-8…
- Waiver Wire Wonder for Week 14: Drew Bledsoe. No doubt he will be added in like 50% of the leagues around the country, with teams looking for a quick fix at QB down the stretch. 277/4/0 against a good defense will do that for a guy’s stock. With his upcoming schedule (Cleveland, @Cincy, @SF, Pittsburgh), it’s not a bad idea.
- No, my decision not to write about Barry Bonds’ name coming up in the BALCO / MLB Steroid talk was not simply pandering. I had already written about Jason Giambi’s admission of guilt, and the story would have pretty much been the same. In fact, the only difference is that Giambi came out and said “yes, I took it, and I knew what I was doing…” While Barry decided to cop out and drop the blame on his longtime “friend” and personal trainer Greg Anderson. And you know what sucks? By admitting guilt, Giambi will get blasted by the media, probably have his MVP stripped and his contract voided, Sheffield will get a pass, and Bonds will skate along with nothing more than public opinion against him, something he’s never cared about anyway.
- My choice not to write about Bonds was also made easier by the fact that I spent the weekend with three of my friends, Jay, Don, and Tex, playing poker both in a home game and at Foxwoods. Two of my friends (Tex and Don) suffered horrible beats to end their day. Jay ended up playing for about eight hours and finishing the day ahead. I left the poker tables ahead for the day, and finished the night down, all from one ridiculous blackjack table. It was so bad, that I lost multiple hands with 20’s, but won, twice, with a total of 2 (split aces, drew another ace on top)…
- I suppose I can’t complain about a bad run, considering the insanely good run I’ve been on since the live poker tournament just before Thanksgiving. Although I caught a bad night online last night, playing in six tournaments and finishing one spot short of the money in five of them, each to a beat on the turn or river. At least I won the sixth to finish even for the day.
- Here’s a quick idea of how my poker day at Foxwoods went:
§ Noon: Arrive, put name on list, and wait.
§ 1:15: Get called to table. Wait.
§ 2:20: Everyone else in my group finally gets called to their tables. I still wait for a playable hand.
§ 2:55: Bust out with a set of Jacks (JJ in the hole) to a straight on the turn.
§ 3:20: Bust out (again) with a set of Jacks (JJ in the hole) to a flush on the river.
§ 4:00: Double-up with a set of Kings. Finally.
§ 4:15: Double-up with a pair of sixes over a flush draw.
§ 5:00: Up $80. Decide to play slow and conserve funds.
§ 5:10: Forget that strategy. Laid down A-8 only to see a full house on the flop.
§ 6:00: Done. Go get dinner.
- Baseball Free Agency: Nothing to report. Biggest news of the week not involving steroids was Kenny Lofton getting traded from the Yankees to the Phillies for Felix Rodriguez. Real good back-page stuff for New Yorkers right there…
- Actually, that’s not right. Kendry Morales, a Cuban import that kind of flew under the radar, was signed by Anaheim this week. There was a ton of talk surrounding this guy last year, and suddenly he’s not on anybody’s “gotta have” list. Dunno, something tells me this kid might just be a star…
I actually had many, many more random thoughts for today, but they’ve suddenly disappeared. Anyway, you won’t hear from me before Thursday, as I’ve got a pretty busy week and I’ve just covered almost everything I can think of at the moment. Hopefully another story will break before the next post.
If not, you’ll get nothing and like it.
posted by Big D @ 10:51 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home