I don’t want to talk about sports. I’m 0-1-1 so far, the loss was a solid ass-whooping at home, and the Cards are sure beginning to look like a team that got lucky and good for a month.
Instead I want to rave about Capitalism: A Love Story. Go see it.
It wasn’t pretty, but the Bengals managed to actually win that cringeworthy game against the Browns. With the Ravens loss, guess who (dey) is now tied for 1st place in our division? :-D
@Ranger 3: I still remember when a lot of people thought the same thing of a guy named Bradshaw.
7.
Max
My Bills suck. Calling Time of Death on my hopes for the playoffs.
Direct TV is running a special for a sport called “NHL”. What is this “hockey” they speak of? I’m considering switching sports due to extreme disappointment.
Being from Buffalo originally, I guess I’d have to cheer for Sabres. However, I do live in Oakland, so maybe the Sharks are the way to go.
8.
robertdsc
I still remember when a lot of people thought the same thing of a guy named Bradshaw
I don’t think Bradshaw stunk it up in any of his Super Bowl wins like Rothlisberger did in SB XL.
Does Tunch get any special gear for game days? Is Lily caped out and ready to roll?
Well, Chargers fans hate to see Dennver go 4-0, but seeing Dallas lose is still a treat. I must say that NFL officials have vivid imaginations these days. Wow. Oh, well; less than an hour until the main show of the weekend. Sorry Cole, get your crying towel (color of your choice) ready.
12.
Martin
I wish the Angels wouldn’t do so well. They’re my local team so I feel compelled to support them, but they’re AL which is just evilness. If they sucked, it’d all be so much easier.
13.
Teak111
I hope your team is better then that pathetic attempt at music.
<a href=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDiCxhtGMhc” title=”San Diego SUPER Chargers”
Jets now tied for first in the AFC East with the Pats. Memo to Mark Sanchez: Lose the ‘stache, not the ball. Hopefully, Gang Green will fare better (a lot better) next week down in Miami.
On a more positive note, Giants go to 4-0! Woohoo!
15.
Just Some Fuckhead
@JenJen: A team that needed OT to beat the Browns?
16.
Teak111
Of course, if I had money of the game I would take the Steelers. Chargers are not playing well, have not won a regular season win in Pitt in a long time, Sunday night on the road, cool temperatures, D and O line are mediocre at best. Glad Mr. P isn’t playing.
Stick with the Sabres. The Sharks have a history of epic playoff fail, epitomized by last season when the were the top seed in the West and lost to Anaheim in the first round. They are the living, breathing embodiment of the Wilco song “I Am Trying to Break Your Heart.”
Max are you sure you want to choose the Sharks? They are the equivalent of the Bills of the 90s when it comes to playoffs. They have an ability to do really well in the regular season, but can’t come through in the big games when it matters.
@J.: Jets-Saints was the matchup of the week this week. Here’s hoping it’s Giants-Saints in two weeks–and that the outcome is the same. Maybe the Raiders can regress to the 70s and tear Eli’s arm off and beat him with it. Probably not.
Think of the designated hitter, which illustrates why opposition is a sensible reflex when tinkerers propose changing baseball.
It may be one of the only times in his or my lifetime when I’ve agreed with him.
Other tinkering I despise? Giving World Series home field advantage to the winner of the All Star Game. That’s utter nonsense. The game went 100 years alternating between NL and AL teams each year with no complaints.
Ha! I actually see the DH as job creator, as in creating jobs for aging players who are no longer athletic enough to stand for nine innings in right field.
27.
geg6
So far, so good.
28.
Bruuuuce
Mark S. @19: No, it’s just a distraction. The real Original Sin is in-season interleague play that counts in the standings.
29.
MikeBoyScout
Do my eyes deceive me, or might we be seeing a running game?
30.
ChrisB
@Bill H: There’s nothing better than watching the Cowboys lose.
You know how MLB has Gameday to “watch” the game as it goes along? The NFL has something similar called Game Center, in case you’re at work and away from a television.
It’s cruel and unusual punishment for BJ to be down during a Stillers’ game. I’m just sayin’.
33.
Moonbatting Average
So, the Denver Broncos…. Juggernaut? or Super Juggernaut? C’mon, even if you hate the Broncs, the DID beat the Cowboys! That’s something all reasonable people can agree is a good thing.
/prepares for the Broncos to start playing down to expectations
34.
MikeJ
I disagree completely. I think the database *can* establish a connection.
35.
Martin
What, is the DH the work of Satan?
Yes, yes it is.
Are pitchers such pussies they can’t swing a bat now and then?
36.
Max
@burnspbesq: Sabres it is! I just need to learn about hockey.
It looks like fun, so I’m excited for a new sport.
The DH rule is an abomination. If you cannot drag your sorry, tired ass out into the field to play a position, then get thee to a nursing home and make room for some young pup who can field their position.
Steelers are doing well, or at least winning!
The Saints are 4-0. I’m still kind of in shock about the whole thing. But given that they are a team that lives to squash the hopes and dreams of the faithful like so many bugs, I feel sure that there will be bitter disappointment down the road.
No doubt Rothlisberger is the greatest QB since Mark Rypien, or maybe even Trent Dilfer. Because we all know that crap QBs never win the Super Bowl.
39.
IndyLib
@Moonbatting Average:
I’m thrilled my Broncs won tonight, I hate Dallas. I still resent them going back to 1979.
I was really impressed with the Denver defense today (first game I’ve actually been able to watch here in Wisconsin). And I will admit that the offense is playing better than I had any reason to believe they would and a hell of a lot better than I predicted they were going to. I’m still not terribly impressed with Orton, he’s a mediocre quarterback, period. The touchdown by Marshall was a thing of beauty.
I’m stunned that we are 4-0. Needless to say I hope the Stillers keep their large lead against the Chargers.
Just wondering … is this a regional accent thing or has it got something to do with moonshine?
42.
Corner Stone
@Joel: I think Cole and his server have an ET/Elliott heartlink-thing going on.
Yeah, I went there.
43.
Crashman06
Philip Rivers looks like Marmalard from Animal House. That is all.
44.
Yutsano
@Corner Stone: This was enough to massively annoy me at work. And I need the distraction since our entire office is now covering for another division’s massive fuck-up. You have not lived until you cover tail for people you’ve never met and most likely never will and will most likely never even acknowledge your save. Sigh.
Plus the Seachickens got their tails kicked. Injuries are gonna be the death of me this year I just know it. At least Patrick Kearney’s still cute.
45.
jl
@gnomedad: I assumed it referred to the moonshine. Look how it has produced these strange delusions among the Steeler fans that the team will do something this year.
46.
jl
Tunch is extra cranky today. I bet one dollar bill on that.
@jl: I’m with you. Tunch is mad because Cole hasn’t posted his picture nearly as much as Cole has posted Lily’s.
48.
Yutsano
@asiangrrlMN: You assume Mr. Tunch is attached to such pettiness. I’m sure he is quite the enlightened feline and is above such human silliness as the taking of digital images. That or he’s plotting John’s death as we speak.
@Yutsano: Hey, fake-hubby #2! How are you? You are correct. Tunch would not deign to fucking up the server–he would just kill Cole as he (the latter) slept. What was I thinking?
Bill H, my answer would be, “We don’t know because it never happened.”
51.
burnspbesq
If only …
If there were promotion and relegation in baseball, Louisville, Durham, Sacramento, and Albuquerque would be in the majors next year. Washington, Pittsburgh, and Baltimore would be going down to triple-A, and there would be a one-game survival playoff tomorrow between Kansas City and Cleveland.
Cole’s FB team won! let us rejoice! I’ll be here more coherently, and less cynically tomorrow than I am today and right now, but I was a Philly fan in my burgeoning youth, and a Steelers fan 2nd just for the hell of it. This I’m happy to admit, yet I hate crowds and groupthink, so inevitably when the things I fight for succeed, I feel the nagging tug of reason and pragmatism pulling me and telling me to settle down. Hubris, as we’ve seen is a means to achieve failure.
Doubt should rule us all.
Night all, and may a flight of angels sing thee to thy rest.
Wow. Rereading that post, it seems appropriate to add:
freelancer +shitfaced
G’night.
54.
geg6
Damn, I tried to get in here all night. STILLERS! Oh, and screw all of you for thinking those of us who honor the greatest NFL team of all time by cheering them in the native PITTSBURGH accent have anything to do with moonshine or hollers or any sort of hillbilly stuff you might find in West by god Virginia. That is the same proud accent that turns the Giant Eagle grocery chain into “Jine Iggle” and our lovely center city as “Dahntahn.” Yinz don’t know anything. What a bunch of jagoffs.
I guess I’m the only person who likes the DH rule, who loves interleague play, and has no real problem with giving homefield to the All-Star game winner, though I don’t hold any brief for it either. I’m pretty meh on that. What I do hate? People who grump on and on about the purity of the game, as though we’re playing the same game Ty Cobb did. We’re not. The game evolves, and very often, improves as it does. It’s a far more interesting and entertaining sport now than it was in the 70s when I started watching it.
57.
Svensker
John, if you are paying someone for hosting your website, you seriously need to sue them for theft of service. Or something.
@Just Some Fuckhead: I said it wasn’t pretty, but a win is a win is a win. You’d prefer it had the Browns beaten the Bengals, something the Stillers couldn’t manage last week?
:-)
59.
Martin
You go Galt again
I think WordPress has gone Galt, instead.
60.
Morbo
The Chargers and my fantasy team both got Mendenhalled.
61.
horatius
In other news, bigfatburger’s team is at 2 and 2, the same as the Washington foreskins.
62.
Ken
@HRA: I can’t wait until Sunday when “my” Browns come up to Buffalo to play the Bills. That is going to one ugly-ass football game.
Maybe I’ll get a late morning tee-time.
63.
Martin
The game evolves, and very often, improves as it does.
The DH rule is not an improvement. Interleague play is, though.
One of the merits of baseball is that players needed to have flexibility in skills and teams needed to balance both offense and defense. A great shortstop might be a shitty hitter, or a good hitter might be a terrible fielder. Keeping the pitcher in the lineup was just part of that effort, and the DH rule does away with that. If it’s an improvement, why not just go all in to NFL attitudes with dedicated offensive and defensive players?
64.
Joel
@Yutsano: Living in Seattle, I can tell you that the real problem with the Seahawks is a lack of talent at QB1, RB1, RB2.
65.
Jim
@ Ranger 3
Ben is currently:
1st in the league in completion %.
2nd in yards per passing attempt
3rd in total yards
5th in passing attempts
6th in QB rating
Yep, he’s utterly mediocre, by all means put 9 in the box to shut down the Steelers.
66.
Ron
Watching Steelers games is going to drive me to cardiac arrest by the end of the season. I’d really really like to think that being up 28-0 in the 3rd quarter means you shouldn’t have to worry about overtime. And yet after the last San Diego TD it was a distinct possibility. One nice thing this game compared to a lot of the others. They can convert 3rd/4th and short! That was a nice change. As was having a real rushing game. Now if the Steelers can manage to not give up a gajillion points every 4th quarter maybe they will be taken seriously.
As for the stuff about Big Ben, I just have to laugh at the people who say he’s a “mediocre quarterback”. Yeah, he won Superbowl XL while playing pretty crappy. But he played pretty amazingly to GET them there. And yes, he takes a lot of sacks. I thought the reaction from the coaching staff summed it up pretty well. They know he’ll take sacks because he tries to extend plays, but so many GOOD things happen from his extending plays that they don’t want to “coach him out of it”. He may not be quite in the league of Peyton Manning or Tom Brady, but I think it’s safe to say he’s near the top of the next tier after them.
(Incidently his year was quite a year for QB’s. Big Ben, Philip Rivers, and Eli Manning)
Dude, 6th in rating isn’t all that great. That’s my point, actually. A guy who has a career rating in the 80’s isn’t the second coming of Steve Young. And QB rating is the best way to determine whether a given QB is actually good, and not just lucky to be around talented players.
Much has been made of the Cardinals unlikely run last year. And at this point it seems pretty clear that their run was a fluke. With the Steelers horrible performance monday night (win or not, they looked awful in the 4th quarter) it’s starting to look like the Cardinals weren’t the only the only team lucky to be there.
The Steelers are the worst championship team ever.
68.
Jim
@Ranger
Yeah, 6th out of 32 is utterly mediocre.
Ben’s career rating is 90 and that of course includes the 20% of it he spent recovering from a near fatal head injury and an emergency appendicitis.
There is obviously no way or point in trying to convince you Ben is better than utterly mediocre. I mean you point to Steve Young as a great QB, then talk about unnamed others who were lucky to be around talented players. Those 49er teams sure were talent poor, huh.
Likewise, if the Steelers were the worst championship ever, you must be a huge fan of the 2000 Ravens. Yep they sure did blow a big lead last night, but what did that have to do with Ben and his 129 rating? That’s right, nothing.
Hate on my friend, and again, please keep 9 in the box.
69.
Jim
Sorry, I posted too soon, I should have added:
Ben’s 6th overall in QB rating is a 98.1, you called that not all that great.
It’s coaching and a talented supporting cast along with Big Ben’s own talent that made the championship possible.
If you asked him, I’m sure Rothlisberger would be the first to agree that if the Pittsburgh O-line was weak, they never would have made it to the playoffs, much less win the SB.
A friend of mine put it this way: you can separate the true football fans from the dilettantes by the way they respond to a big play.
If they say ‘look at that run/throw/kick’, they’re not serious fans.
Serious fans say ‘did you see that block that let the QB throw/RB run/etc?’.
If they say ‘look at that run/throw/kick’, they’re not serious fans.
Serious fans say ‘did you see that block that let the QB throw/RB run/etc?’.
I think this is something of a canard. I can enjoy the run/throw/kick and be excited/in awe of the talent and skill while understanding that fundamental team work made that action possible.
I like watching pros such as Jaws, et al break down tape for me and show me the things I might not have caught in real time. That’s enjoyable to me. But it’s more enjoyable to see All Day crush some dude in his way, or see a QB throw a 40 yard beebee at someone’s fingertips.
Watching a 300 pound O-lineman pull right and KO a 250 pound LB is also good times AFAIC, but watching Jones-Drew squirt through that seal gap and break one for 60 yards is delightful.
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Ranger 3
My bold prediction… at the end of the game Big Ben will still be an utterly mediocre QB.
Linkmeister
Lightning Bolts v. Steeltown, huh?
r€nato
I don’t want to talk about sports. I’m 0-1-1 so far, the loss was a solid ass-whooping at home, and the Cards are sure beginning to look like a team that got lucky and good for a month.
Instead I want to rave about Capitalism: A Love Story. Go see it.
BDeevDad
Risking getting banned.
Cole when you move to San Diego, you can still root for Pittsburgh as there are plenty of New England fans already here.
JenJen
It wasn’t pretty, but the Bengals managed to actually win that cringeworthy game against the Browns. With the Ravens loss, guess who (dey) is now tied for 1st place in our division? :-D
The Grand Panjandrum
@Ranger 3: I still remember when a lot of people thought the same thing of a guy named Bradshaw.
Max
My Bills suck. Calling Time of Death on my hopes for the playoffs.
Direct TV is running a special for a sport called “NHL”. What is this “hockey” they speak of? I’m considering switching sports due to extreme disappointment.
Being from Buffalo originally, I guess I’d have to cheer for Sabres. However, I do live in Oakland, so maybe the Sharks are the way to go.
robertdsc
I don’t think Bradshaw stunk it up in any of his Super Bowl wins like Rothlisberger did in SB XL.
Does Tunch get any special gear for game days? Is Lily caped out and ready to roll?
asiangrrlMN
Let’s go Stillers!
And, I need some chill-out music to get me to Tuesday when the Twins take on the Tigers in the play-in game. My heart can’t take this!
HRA
Don’t know what to say about the Bills. So far the fans are still filling the stadium. That’s one good thing to say.
Team #2 for me has always been the Steelers – Bradshaw, Franco Harris, etc. were exciting. Go Steelers!
Bill H
Well, Chargers fans hate to see Dennver go 4-0, but seeing Dallas lose is still a treat. I must say that NFL officials have vivid imaginations these days. Wow. Oh, well; less than an hour until the main show of the weekend. Sorry Cole, get your crying towel (color of your choice) ready.
Martin
I wish the Angels wouldn’t do so well. They’re my local team so I feel compelled to support them, but they’re AL which is just evilness. If they sucked, it’d all be so much easier.
Teak111
I hope your team is better then that pathetic attempt at music.
<a href=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDiCxhtGMhc” title=”San Diego SUPER Chargers”
J.
So who at Sprint is on the Steelers’ payroll?
Jets now tied for first in the AFC East with the Pats. Memo to Mark Sanchez: Lose the ‘stache, not the ball. Hopefully, Gang Green will fare better (a lot better) next week down in Miami.
On a more positive note, Giants go to 4-0! Woohoo!
Just Some Fuckhead
@JenJen: A team that needed OT to beat the Browns?
Teak111
Of course, if I had money of the game I would take the Steelers. Chargers are not playing well, have not won a regular season win in Pitt in a long time, Sunday night on the road, cool temperatures, D and O line are mediocre at best. Glad Mr. P isn’t playing.
Teak111
This version is better.
burnspbesq
@Max:
Stick with the Sabres. The Sharks have a history of epic playoff fail, epitomized by last season when the were the top seed in the West and lost to Anaheim in the first round. They are the living, breathing embodiment of the Wilco song “I Am Trying to Break Your Heart.”
Mark S.
@Martin:
What, is the DH the work of Satan?
edmund dantes
Max are you sure you want to choose the Sharks? They are the equivalent of the Bills of the 90s when it comes to playoffs. They have an ability to do really well in the regular season, but can’t come through in the big games when it matters.
I’d suggest a different team. ;-)
Incertus
@J.: Jets-Saints was the matchup of the week this week. Here’s hoping it’s Giants-Saints in two weeks–and that the outcome is the same. Maybe the Raiders can regress to the 70s and tear Eli’s arm off and beat him with it. Probably not.
burnspbesq
@Mark S.:
Much worse. The DH was invented by Irving Kristol and perfected by Charles Krauthammer.
TheFountainHead
That was an excellent start.
Demo Woman
@Incertus: The Saints are playing great. Since I live in Atlanta, we need some Saint losses though.
Linkmeister
@burnspbesq: George Will opposes the DH:
It may be one of the only times in his or my lifetime when I’ve agreed with him.
Other tinkering I despise? Giving World Series home field advantage to the winner of the All Star Game. That’s utter nonsense. The game went 100 years alternating between NL and AL teams each year with no complaints.
Mark S.
@burnspbesq:
Ha! I actually see the DH as job creator, as in creating jobs for aging players who are no longer athletic enough to stand for nine innings in right field.
geg6
So far, so good.
Bruuuuce
Mark S. @19: No, it’s just a distraction. The real Original Sin is in-season interleague play that counts in the standings.
MikeBoyScout
Do my eyes deceive me, or might we be seeing a running game?
ChrisB
@Bill H: There’s nothing better than watching the Cowboys lose.
Linkmeister
You know how MLB has Gameday to “watch” the game as it goes along? The NFL has something similar called Game Center, in case you’re at work and away from a television.
asiangrrlMN
It’s cruel and unusual punishment for BJ to be down during a Stillers’ game. I’m just sayin’.
Moonbatting Average
So, the Denver Broncos…. Juggernaut? or Super Juggernaut? C’mon, even if you hate the Broncs, the DID beat the Cowboys! That’s something all reasonable people can agree is a good thing.
/prepares for the Broncos to start playing down to expectations
MikeJ
I disagree completely. I think the database *can* establish a connection.
Martin
Yes, yes it is.
Are pitchers such pussies they can’t swing a bat now and then?
Max
@burnspbesq: Sabres it is! I just need to learn about hockey.
It looks like fun, so I’m excited for a new sport.
madmommy
@Linkmeister:
The DH rule is an abomination. If you cannot drag your sorry, tired ass out into the field to play a position, then get thee to a nursing home and make room for some young pup who can field their position.
Steelers are doing well, or at least winning!
The Saints are 4-0. I’m still kind of in shock about the whole thing. But given that they are a team that lives to squash the hopes and dreams of the faithful like so many bugs, I feel sure that there will be bitter disappointment down the road.
Ranger 3
@The Grand Panjandrum:
No doubt Rothlisberger is the greatest QB since Mark Rypien, or maybe even Trent Dilfer. Because we all know that crap QBs never win the Super Bowl.
IndyLib
@Moonbatting Average:
I’m thrilled my Broncs won tonight, I hate Dallas. I still resent them going back to 1979.
I was really impressed with the Denver defense today (first game I’ve actually been able to watch here in Wisconsin). And I will admit that the offense is playing better than I had any reason to believe they would and a hell of a lot better than I predicted they were going to. I’m still not terribly impressed with Orton, he’s a mediocre quarterback, period. The touchdown by Marshall was a thing of beauty.
I’m stunned that we are 4-0. Needless to say I hope the Stillers keep their large lead against the Chargers.
Joel
Steelers don’t make it easy, eh?
gnomedad
@asiangrrlMN:
Just wondering … is this a regional accent thing or has it got something to do with moonshine?
Corner Stone
@Joel: I think Cole and his server have an ET/Elliott heartlink-thing going on.
Yeah, I went there.
Crashman06
Philip Rivers looks like Marmalard from Animal House. That is all.
Yutsano
@Corner Stone: This was enough to massively annoy me at work. And I need the distraction since our entire office is now covering for another division’s massive fuck-up. You have not lived until you cover tail for people you’ve never met and most likely never will and will most likely never even acknowledge your save. Sigh.
Plus the Seachickens got their tails kicked. Injuries are gonna be the death of me this year I just know it. At least Patrick Kearney’s still cute.
jl
@gnomedad: I assumed it referred to the moonshine. Look how it has produced these strange delusions among the Steeler fans that the team will do something this year.
jl
Tunch is extra cranky today. I bet one dollar bill on that.
asiangrrlMN
@gnomedad: Dunno. I just like saying it!
@jl: I’m with you. Tunch is mad because Cole hasn’t posted his picture nearly as much as Cole has posted Lily’s.
Yutsano
@asiangrrlMN: You assume Mr. Tunch is attached to such pettiness. I’m sure he is quite the enlightened feline and is above such human silliness as the taking of digital images. That or he’s plotting John’s death as we speak.
Bill H
Wehave now answered the immortal question, “How many Chargers does it take to tackle a Steeler?”
Answer, “More than three.”
asiangrrlMN
@Yutsano: Hey, fake-hubby #2! How are you? You are correct. Tunch would not deign to fucking up the server–he would just kill Cole as he (the latter) slept. What was I thinking?
Bill H, my answer would be, “We don’t know because it never happened.”
burnspbesq
If only …
If there were promotion and relegation in baseball, Louisville, Durham, Sacramento, and Albuquerque would be in the majors next year. Washington, Pittsburgh, and Baltimore would be going down to triple-A, and there would be a one-game survival playoff tomorrow between Kansas City and Cleveland.
I can dream, can’t I?
freelancer
Yay!
Cole’s FB team won! let us rejoice! I’ll be here more coherently, and less cynically tomorrow than I am today and right now, but I was a Philly fan in my burgeoning youth, and a Steelers fan 2nd just for the hell of it. This I’m happy to admit, yet I hate crowds and groupthink, so inevitably when the things I fight for succeed, I feel the nagging tug of reason and pragmatism pulling me and telling me to settle down. Hubris, as we’ve seen is a means to achieve failure.
Doubt should rule us all.
Night all, and may a flight of angels sing thee to thy rest.
freelancer
Wow. Rereading that post, it seems appropriate to add:
freelancer +shitfaced
G’night.
geg6
Damn, I tried to get in here all night. STILLERS! Oh, and screw all of you for thinking those of us who honor the greatest NFL team of all time by cheering them in the native PITTSBURGH accent have anything to do with moonshine or hollers or any sort of hillbilly stuff you might find in West by god Virginia. That is the same proud accent that turns the Giant Eagle grocery chain into “Jine Iggle” and our lovely center city as “Dahntahn.” Yinz don’t know anything. What a bunch of jagoffs.
J.
@Incertus: OUCH!
So John Cole, why no post in over 16 hours? You go Galt again or just overcome by the Steelers’ latest win?
Incertus
I guess I’m the only person who likes the DH rule, who loves interleague play, and has no real problem with giving homefield to the All-Star game winner, though I don’t hold any brief for it either. I’m pretty meh on that. What I do hate? People who grump on and on about the purity of the game, as though we’re playing the same game Ty Cobb did. We’re not. The game evolves, and very often, improves as it does. It’s a far more interesting and entertaining sport now than it was in the 70s when I started watching it.
Svensker
John, if you are paying someone for hosting your website, you seriously need to sue them for theft of service. Or something.
If the kitty needs feeding, put out the bowl. :)
JenJen
And… We’re back!
@Just Some Fuckhead: I said it wasn’t pretty, but a win is a win is a win. You’d prefer it had the Browns beaten the Bengals, something the Stillers couldn’t manage last week?
:-)
Martin
I think WordPress has gone Galt, instead.
Morbo
The Chargers and my fantasy team both got Mendenhalled.
horatius
In other news, bigfatburger’s team is at 2 and 2, the same as the Washington foreskins.
Ken
@HRA: I can’t wait until Sunday when “my” Browns come up to Buffalo to play the Bills. That is going to one ugly-ass football game.
Maybe I’ll get a late morning tee-time.
Martin
The DH rule is not an improvement. Interleague play is, though.
One of the merits of baseball is that players needed to have flexibility in skills and teams needed to balance both offense and defense. A great shortstop might be a shitty hitter, or a good hitter might be a terrible fielder. Keeping the pitcher in the lineup was just part of that effort, and the DH rule does away with that. If it’s an improvement, why not just go all in to NFL attitudes with dedicated offensive and defensive players?
Joel
@Yutsano: Living in Seattle, I can tell you that the real problem with the Seahawks is a lack of talent at QB1, RB1, RB2.
Jim
@ Ranger 3
Ben is currently:
1st in the league in completion %.
2nd in yards per passing attempt
3rd in total yards
5th in passing attempts
6th in QB rating
Yep, he’s utterly mediocre, by all means put 9 in the box to shut down the Steelers.
Ron
Watching Steelers games is going to drive me to cardiac arrest by the end of the season. I’d really really like to think that being up 28-0 in the 3rd quarter means you shouldn’t have to worry about overtime. And yet after the last San Diego TD it was a distinct possibility. One nice thing this game compared to a lot of the others. They can convert 3rd/4th and short! That was a nice change. As was having a real rushing game. Now if the Steelers can manage to not give up a gajillion points every 4th quarter maybe they will be taken seriously.
As for the stuff about Big Ben, I just have to laugh at the people who say he’s a “mediocre quarterback”. Yeah, he won Superbowl XL while playing pretty crappy. But he played pretty amazingly to GET them there. And yes, he takes a lot of sacks. I thought the reaction from the coaching staff summed it up pretty well. They know he’ll take sacks because he tries to extend plays, but so many GOOD things happen from his extending plays that they don’t want to “coach him out of it”. He may not be quite in the league of Peyton Manning or Tom Brady, but I think it’s safe to say he’s near the top of the next tier after them.
(Incidently his year was quite a year for QB’s. Big Ben, Philip Rivers, and Eli Manning)
Ranger 3
@Jim:
Dude, 6th in rating isn’t all that great. That’s my point, actually. A guy who has a career rating in the 80’s isn’t the second coming of Steve Young. And QB rating is the best way to determine whether a given QB is actually good, and not just lucky to be around talented players.
Much has been made of the Cardinals unlikely run last year. And at this point it seems pretty clear that their run was a fluke. With the Steelers horrible performance monday night (win or not, they looked awful in the 4th quarter) it’s starting to look like the Cardinals weren’t the only the only team lucky to be there.
The Steelers are the worst championship team ever.
Jim
@Ranger
Yeah, 6th out of 32 is utterly mediocre.
Ben’s career rating is 90 and that of course includes the 20% of it he spent recovering from a near fatal head injury and an emergency appendicitis.
There is obviously no way or point in trying to convince you Ben is better than utterly mediocre. I mean you point to Steve Young as a great QB, then talk about unnamed others who were lucky to be around talented players. Those 49er teams sure were talent poor, huh.
Likewise, if the Steelers were the worst championship ever, you must be a huge fan of the 2000 Ravens. Yep they sure did blow a big lead last night, but what did that have to do with Ben and his 129 rating? That’s right, nothing.
Hate on my friend, and again, please keep 9 in the box.
Jim
Sorry, I posted too soon, I should have added:
Ben’s 6th overall in QB rating is a 98.1, you called that not all that great.
Steve Young’s career QB rating is… 96.8.
Obama Death Panel Chairman (formerly glocksman)
@Jim:
It’s coaching and a talented supporting cast along with Big Ben’s own talent that made the championship possible.
If you asked him, I’m sure Rothlisberger would be the first to agree that if the Pittsburgh O-line was weak, they never would have made it to the playoffs, much less win the SB.
A friend of mine put it this way: you can separate the true football fans from the dilettantes by the way they respond to a big play.
If they say ‘look at that run/throw/kick’, they’re not serious fans.
Serious fans say ‘did you see that block that let the QB throw/RB run/etc?’.
Corner Stone
@Obama Death Panel Chairman (formerly glocksman):
I think this is something of a canard. I can enjoy the run/throw/kick and be excited/in awe of the talent and skill while understanding that fundamental team work made that action possible.
I like watching pros such as Jaws, et al break down tape for me and show me the things I might not have caught in real time. That’s enjoyable to me. But it’s more enjoyable to see All Day crush some dude in his way, or see a QB throw a 40 yard beebee at someone’s fingertips.
Watching a 300 pound O-lineman pull right and KO a 250 pound LB is also good times AFAIC, but watching Jones-Drew squirt through that seal gap and break one for 60 yards is delightful.