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193Comments

  4. 4.

    raven

    @Violet: Even more wow when you know how far down the Colts were. And if you haven’t seen Luck’s td on the fumble. . . you will!

  13. 13.

    Suffern ACE

    Neither of these announcers appears to have watched a football highlight reel since week 3.

  15. 15.

    PsiFighter37

    Unreal…Indianapolis has no business winning this game. When you have the ball in this era of ludicrous offense, you have to keep scoring points.

    Mainly feel bad for Alex Smith, because he didn’t do anything to lose this game. That said, Andrew Luck…even though he was off, proving how dangerous he is. Hard to believe they basically got Peyton and Luck for 3 decades. I wish my Jets could have that kind of quarterback situation.

  17. 17.

    RareSanity

    As a Falcon fan, I can only say that I do not like being put in the position of rooting for the Philadelphia Eagles…but since they are playing the Saints, the opponent of my rival is my friend.

    I hope the Iggles put up 100 points on the Saints and then get their asses handed to them next week.

  19. 19.

    jharp

    To any Kansas City Chiefs fans. My condolences and what an amazing game.

    Big Colts fan. Live close to Lucas Oil.

    But have long liked the Chiefs. Back to the Len Dawson, Ed Podolak, Jan Stenereud and days. And was it Charlie Taylor?

    Damn. Should have taken my son to the game. Less than $100 per ticket. Last one I passed on was the Patriots at Colts when the Colts made another amazing comeback.

    And likely would have gone but hunkering down for the blizzard and had to send my sone back to college as it is supposed to get really bad. Like 12 inches of snow and minus 22

  20. 20.

    Yatsuno

    I’m mostly indifferent, but a friend is an Iggles fan so I’m leaning that way slightly.

    Walked the length of a hallway today. And not a small one.

  23. 23.

    RareSanity

    @Yatsuno:

    Good for you..you’re on your way!

    I’ve been mostly absent from here for the past 2 weeks, but I’ve read through some old threads…good to hear your progressing well on your recovery.

  27. 27.

    Vance Maverick

    Why is the standard “French” transliteration “Geaux”? This would be pronounced Zho. “Gau”, “Gaux”, even “Gueau(x)” might work. Is it that they don’t look French enough?

  28. 28.

    Violet

    They’re showing the starting lineup for the Saints. Who’s this Jed Collins? He’s cute!

  33. 33.

    RareSanity

    @raven:

    Yep.

    I was ecstatic…until he issued a statement adamantly denying it.

    There’s no way he leaves without getting fired, or not having his contract renewed. He knows he’ll never get another job at Div 1-A school.

  35. 35.

    indycat32

    @jharp: I was at the Pats game. I think I spent the entire second half with my eyes closed and my fingers in my ears.

  39. 39.

    RareSanity

    @raven:

    That’s the kind place he needs to be in charge of.

    If Duke and Stanford can compete, there’s no reason Georgia Tech can’t do it as well. We’re talking about a program that won a National Championship in 1991.

  44. 44.

    FlipYrWhig

    @PsiFighter37: that intentional grounding call wrecked the entire endgame for KC. I still don’t know how you call a timeout immediately following the 2-minute warning. But that’s Andy Reid for you. Inexplicable final moments.

  46. 46.

    RareSanity

    @raven:

    Ha…that was awesome!

    That exchange makes me think that there may have been more truth to Johnson wanting to leave than his statement would have us to believe.

    At least I can hope…

  50. 50.

    Violet

    @Liberty60: Interesting article. This was my favorite part:

    You know what else really blows? Wall Street.

    Yeah, baby. Glad to see it in a mainstream publication.

  52. 52.

    raven

    @RareSanity: I was in Tampa for the Illini-Clemson bowl game that day. People can bitch all they want about the bowls being spread out too much but driving out of Florida after all those games played at one time was a stone bummer!

  53. 53.

    raven

    @RareSanity: I was in Tampa for the Illini-Clemson bowl game that day. People can bitch all they want about the bowls being spread out too much but driving out of Florida after all those games played at one time was a stone bummer!

  55. 55.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @Yatsuno:

    Gratz on the stroll.

    Yes, I’m utterly indifferent about these games. Just determining who the Seachickens will eventually peck to death.

  56. 56.

    CaseyL

    @Yatsuno: You are bookin’, babe! Major congrats!

    Funny thing about the Colts-Chiefs game. I’d just come back from hiking and checked with my neighbors to see if they were watching. No, they said, the Colts were getting blown out, so they turned off the game. They went out to dinner, I tuned in and watched the Colts win it. Gonna rag my nabes when they get back from dinner, heh!

    Saints-Eagles: No contest; my Seahawks know how to dismantle the Saints, but have never played the Eagles. So I’ll root for the Saints.

  57. 57.

    GHayduke (formerly lojasmo)

    @Yatsuno:

    Don’t give a shit about football.

    Way OT: I always find it funny that I drive, by far, the worst car in our household.

    Union thug wife just got a lightly used Chevy Cruze. Son drives her former car (2006 vue) I picked up a 1996 Subaru Legacy in Seattle (thanks, Yats, for the ride) and drove it home this summer. I’ve put about $1500 into it to make it sturdy and sound (It cost $2225…basically the price of a downpayment on a new car).

    Don’t get me wrong…I love the damn thing, and It does exactly what I want it to (gets through slippery and deep snow like a champ, while still allowing it to be tail-happy when I want it to) but i just am repeatedly amused that I’m driving a shit car.

    This summer I’m putting coilovers and a beefy RSB on the thing. Should be a real hoot.

    Hope I don’t end up in a farmer’s field.

  67. 67.

    jharp

    @drkrick:

    Yep. Otis Taylor. Thanks. He was one of my favorite players. And I remember a great Chiefs/Raiders rivalry back in those days.

    And Jan Stenereud was the only soccer style kicker back then, right?

  68. 68.

    Gravenstone

    Seeing a trial balloon that Steven Seagal might make a run for AZ governor. As if that poor state wasn’t already a mess.

  70. 70.

    jharp

    @indycat32:

    I passed on that one and will never forget it.

    Tix were $300 each and my business was shaky at the time.

    It has been quite a run for the Colts the past decade. (Ex Browns fan who relocated circa 1998).

  72. 72.

    Gravenstone

    @Violet: Fortunately Arpaio should be shuffling off the mortal coil some day soon. Being 80+ and an inveterate asshole has to be pushing him close to the edge.

  73. 73.

    Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again)

    @jharp:

    And Jan Stenereud was the only soccer style kicker back then, right?

    Nope. Pete Gogolak was the first soccer-style kicker. He preceded Stenerud by three years. Pete’s brother, Charlie, was kicking a year before Stenerud went pro, too.

  75. 75.

    Suffern ACE

    @Gravenstone: he’s older than john McCain.

    Sadly, that police force is probably 3 generations deep in Arapio successors. As long as someone on that force is willing to go make the extra effort to falsely arrest politicians, I don’t see anyone controlling it.

  76. 76.

    indycat32

    @jharp: I had season tickets that year, but gave them up after the first year at Lucas Oil. Going to the game alone isn’t nearly as much fun as watching on TV with family and friends.

  80. 80.

    Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again)

    @jharp:

    He was a bit…small…to play anything but placekicker. :D

    I just checked, and found that Garo Yepremian became a pro in 1966, also a year ahead of Stenerud.

    I’ll say, though, that Stenerud was the best of that early group of sidewinders- IMO, anyway.

  90. 90.

    Schlemizel

    There are a small handful of NFL teams I care about – I cheer for their humiliation as often as possible. KC is one of those teams.

    The tears . . . they taste like honey . . . my god they are sweet

  93. 93.

    Schlemizel

    BTW – will the Taints cause any life altering injuries this playoff season or will the publicity over their past behavior inhibit them from really crippling players?

  97. 97.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @raven: From the guy who still complains about Charles Martin? The Saints were doing this quite recently.

    ETA: And on the Saints part, it was team policy.

  99. 99.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Baud: I don’t fault Vikes fans for being upset. They don’t get many shots at the Super Bowl.

    ETA: I do, however, fault Vikes fans for being Vikes fans.

  100. 100.

    indycat32

    @jharp: $640 for one season ticket and that was nowhere near club seats. That was two car payments and I just couldn’t see it. Jim Irsay has enough money, he didn’t need mine too.

  103. 103.

    Violet

    I had to step away from the TV for awhile. Just got back. This is a really close game from looking at the score. Is it playing that way?

  105. 105.

    Schlemizel

    @Baud:

    Tell that to the guys who will have physical problems the rest of their lives because they were targeted. The game eats men alive without goons going out of their way to cause damage.

  107. 107.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Baud: Exactly, that is why when they got close and the Saints bounty policy was a part of them losing in the NFC Championship game, I don’t fault Vikes fans for carrying a grudge for a while.

  108. 108.

    trollhattan

    @raven:

    Garden and Gun?! Quite the concept, reminds me of the gun and doll show that used to come here annually.

  110. 110.

    Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again)

    @raven:

    My, my, this reaction over a game that your Bears won! I’d just hate to see what wrath would emerge if the subject of a certain touchdown pass thrown by Don Majkowski was raised.

  112. 112.

    raven

    Most of the players who were the targets of questionable hits by the Saints, including Brett Favre and Kurt Warner, claimed the bounties were merely part of the game.[7] However, several former players interviewed by Sports Illustrated said that while payments for good hits and sacks were indeed considered part of the game, bounties for intentionally injuring opponents violated an unwritten code.
    However on July 26, 2012, Vilma and seven witnesses from the Saints testified in front of a federal judge in New Orleans that Goodell got his facts wrong, and there was no bounty scheme. [8] At least one legal expert agreed that Goodell had overstepped his authority. [9]

  116. 116.

    Baud

    @raven:

    I remember the bounty investigation became a bit of a clusterfuck after the coaches were suspended. Not sure exactly how it all shook out.

  121. 121.

    kindness

    I can’t believe the Chiefs lost. They owned the Eagles the first half. I want the Saints to win this one because I want them to face Seattle next week.

    Go Niners!

  122. 122.

    Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again)

    @raven:

    I heard somewhere that there’s a bonus clause in Cutler’s new contract that gives him a pretty new training bra.

  128. 128.

    Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again)

    @raven:

    I’ll take a gay quarterback who gets the job done any day over one who leaves a game because he broke one of his Lee Press-On Nails.

  131. 131.

    Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again)

    @raven:

    Maybe I will. Is it wrong?

    You know I kid. I reserve the real spiteful stuff for the Vikings and their fans, as should we all.

  133. 133.

    Spike

    How many more years will it take Andy Reid to figure out that 2nd half timeouts are worth more than 5 yards?

  135. 135.

    ? Martin

    We’ll be watching SF at Green Bay tomorrow. Neighbor is a former 49er cheerleader and at this moment she’s thankful to no longer be one. Supposed to be high of 3, low of -19, and a moderate chance of snow.

  140. 140.

    Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again)

    @raven:

    I don’t know if either team is mediocre- I think they both suffered through some pretty key injuries. Before Rodgers went down, I thought the Packers looked good to roll through with only one more loss (in Detroit on Thanksgiving). I thought the Bears had the stuff to make it as a wildcard team, but then Peanut Tillman went down.

  141. 141.

    Baud

    I like this new power game the Saints are featuring.

    ETA: Would still like another TD. D has given up some last minute touchdowns this year. Don’t want to put them in that position again.

  146. 146.

    Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again)

    @raven:

    That wasn’t Cobb, that was John Kuhn getting a chip block on Julius Peppers. He doesn’t get that block, then Rodgers is sacked before Cobb clears Conte.

  148. 148.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @efgoldman: Damn right. I used to play in a rugby tournament in Green Bay in January. My team played in regular kit. Shirt, shorts, and socks. Damn, that was cold.

  151. 151.

    Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again)

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    That’s nuts. Neither football nor its English parent were meant to be played in the weather typical of the northern tier of the U.S. in January or February. Hell, the weather for the Ice Bowl was atypical for Green Bay on New Years Eve. The schedule has been getting stretched in the wrong direction.

  152. 152.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @efgoldman: No, I didn’t like it. I was a pretty boy skill player. My hands would be so cold that on the few occasions that the ball did get out to me I had to try to catch it with my forearms and chest. Also, I blocked a “punt” during one game in the tournament one year. It was like getting hit in the face with a rock – blood everywhere from my lips and nose. That was actually kind of cool – later, at the party.

  153. 153.

    Gin & Tonic

    @efgoldman: Like Yatsuno, I was always in the band

    Although I’d imagine at -19 or whatever, keeping, say, a clarinet from freezing to your lips would be quite a chore.

  155. 155.

    jharp

    @indycat32:

    Very fun time to be a Colts fan. My family and I have really enjoyed the Colts since moving to central Indiana in the late 90’s.

    And my son has had had Peyton Manning sign a football and his “game day jersey” football card.

  156. 156.

    Yatsuno

    @efgoldman: Heh. Wuss. Freeze your damn lips to the mouthpiece like a real brass player.

    @Gin & Tonic:

    Although I’d imagine at -19 or whatever, keeping, say, a clarinet from freezing to your lips would be quite a chore.

    Clarinets have it easy. The only thing that could really freeze is the reed, and if that is constantly in your mouth it’ll be fine. Brass players though, we got it rough. My mouthpiece froze to my face once. That was NOT fun.

  157. 157.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @raven: Nope. I played in college (and as a small D-III we weren’t ever going against a school like that) and at Ft Sill and in Germany while in the Army.

  162. 162.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Yatsuno: Interesting. I’ve not played either, but my daughter played clarinet for a while (before going double-reed) and my son trumpet, and just from observing the embouchure I’d have thought it would be harder for a brass mouthpiece to freeze in place.

  163. 163.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @raven: It’s a fun game. If I lived in a bigger city, I would look for a club with an over-40 team. And probably move inside to play flanker instead of wing.

  165. 165.

    raven

    @Omnes Omnibus: Actually the Blind Pigs are the alum team. With the rods on my spine it wasn’t a game for me but I was a “social” member back in my drankin days.

  166. 166.

    Suffern ACE

    @jharp: enjoy your run while you have it. The farm it was traded for the unproductive Trent Richardson. Your team will be treading water for a bit.

  167. 167.

    Amir Khalid

    @dedc79:
    I don’t know what your American football was like before television came along, but it seems designed for commercial breaks. A head coach decides the tactics for each play and then communicates it to the players on the field. The ball goes dead at the end of the play, and then the officials gather to make a ruling on what happened. Every change of possession requires the substitution of all 22 players on the field. When all this has to happen at the end of every play, of course there’s time for commercials, time that that the broadcaster gets to sell for a lot of money.

    As I remember, the American broadcaster for the 1994 World Cup, in proper football, wanted the matches played in quarters rather than halves so that it could sell time in three commercial breaks per match rather than just one. To its credit, FIFA said no.

  168. 168.

    RareSanity

    @efgoldman:

    If it was up to me, they’d have outlawed domes (for football or baseball) before the first one was built.

    The only people that speak positively of “playing in the elements” are media types and fans…usually the fans are the ones located in areas where there is no choice but to play in said “elements”. I have a hard time believing you’d hear much about fans in San Diego or Miami talking about how upset they are that their teams don’t play “in the elements”.

    The only time you hear players talking positively about it is when they are playing it up for fans or media types. Playing in “the elements” absolutely sucks…all of your extremities hurt, you can’t think straight, the ball is hard and slick, and it makes breathing more difficult.

    I’d take 80 degrees and sunny…or a dome…every day of the week, and twice on Sunday…as it were.

  169. 169.

    Yatsuno

    @Gin & Tonic: There is no metal on the mouthpiece of the clarinet except for maybe the ligature. Brass mouthpieces are all metal, that sucks the heat away like no one’s business. And the lips can’t really generate enough heat to keep the brass mouthpiece from freezing. The end result is when it’s butt ass cold playing brass ain’t fun.

    There is a cheat however. I used to keep my tuba mouthpiece in my mouth. Yes that is possible.

    @efgoldman: Plastic mouthpieces sound like shit. When I was section leader I specifically forbade them.

    And the Iggles just took the lead back!

  172. 172.

    Baud

    Lordy. Well, enough time for Brees. If the Saints don’t win, they really don’t deserve to win.

  174. 174.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Gin & Tonic: Lips stick too. Or so I am told. At one Thanksgiving dinner with my family, a straw poll indicated that every female family member had tested the tongue on metal thing. None of the male family members had. The results were exactly the opposite with licking a nine volt battery’s posts. I am not sure what this says.

  182. 182.

    RareSanity

    @Amir Khalid:

    It’s a little of both.

    The game lends itself well to television because there is a natural stoppage after each play, as opposed to the constant motion of soccer, basketball, or hockey. In addition, the American networks pay billions of dollars for the broadcast rights for both professional and college football.

    There is only one reason broadcasters pay money for anything…to air programs, which allow them show commercials.

    It is still my theory that the nature of soccer…and it not being friendly to commercial breaks…is the reason it will never see any large scale television adoption in the US. It’s not enough for US broadcasters just to have billboards all over the field and patches all over the players…there must be commercials.

    Even NASCAR races have commercial breaks…that’s just how it works in the US.

  189. 189.

    Suffern ACE

    sigh. Like most people, I’ve always wanted to move to Philadelphia. I hope the city makes it though this rare, unexpected loss.

  190. 190.

    Tripod

    @raven:

    That Chiefs offense is over rated because Stram was mic’d and Dawson had a long career on HBO, but damn, that defense was something else. In addition to Bell and Buchanan, Willie Lanier, Curly Culp and Emmitt Thomas are all in the Hall of Fame.

  191. 191.

    Amir Khalid

    @RareSanity:
    That’s definitely true of US broadcasters. But European, Asian and (I think) African broadcasters never even considered demanding for their commercial benefit that football be played in quarters. Partly because the sport is thus, as you say; but also partly because the legacy broadcasters on these continents were state-owned and not so dependent on commercials, so that the weight of tradition doesn’t allow the commercial broadcasters who’ve come up in the past few decades to demand it either.

  193. 193.

    Radio One

    the ultimate fate for the Philadelphia Eagles is that they will be a fairly consistent good football team that will never win the Super Bowl in our own lifetimes or in our children’s lifetimes.

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