• Menu
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Before Header

  • About Us
  • Lexicon
  • Contact Us
  • Our Store
  • ↑
  • ↓
  • ←
  • →

Balloon Juice

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

When someone says they “love freedom”, rest assured they don’t mean yours.

Washington Post Catch and Kill, not noticeably better than the Enquirer’s.

A sufficient plurality of insane, greedy people can tank any democratic system ever devised, apparently.

Peak wingnut was a lie.

If you’re gonna whine, it’s time to resign!

Cancel the cowardly Times and Post and set up an equivalent monthly donation to ProPublica.

The Supreme Court cannot be allowed to become the ultimate, unaccountable arbiter of everything.

rich, arrogant assholes who equate luck with genius

Jesus, Mary, & Joseph how is that election even close?

You cannot shame the shameless.

Consistently wrong since 2002

It’s the corruption, stupid.

A democracy can’t function when people can’t distinguish facts from lies.

Beware of advice from anyone for whom Democrats are “they” and not “we.”

Second rate reporter says what?

We know you aren’t a Democrat but since you seem confused let me help you.

The fundamental promise of conservatism all over the world is a return to an idealized past that never existed.

“Jesus paying for the sins of everyone is an insult to those who paid for their own sins.”

Disappointing to see gov. newsom with his finger to the wind.

The party of Reagan has become the party of Putin.

There are times when telling just part of the truth is effectively a lie.

Give the craziest people you know everything they want and hope they don’t ask for more? Great plan.

My right to basic bodily autonomy is not on the table. that’s the new deal.

When do we start airlifting the women and children out of Texas?

Mobile Menu

  • Seattle Meet-up Post
  • 2025 Activism
  • Targeted Political Fundraising
  • Donate with Venmo, Zelle & PayPal
  • Site Feedback
  • War in Ukraine
  • Submit Photos to On the Road
  • Politics
  • On The Road
  • Open Threads
  • Topics
  • COVID-19
  • Authors
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Lexicon
  • Our Store
  • Politics
  • Open Threads
  • 2025 Activism
  • Garden Chats
  • On The Road
  • Targeted Fundraising!
You are here: Home / Open Threads / Open Thread

Open Thread

by Betty Cracker|  January 19, 201410:06 pm| 137 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads

FacebookTweetEmail

So, Broncos vs Seahawks in the Super Bowl. Please feel free to discuss whatever.

FacebookTweetEmail
Previous Post: « NFC Championship Open Thread
Next Post: Christie’s “Friends” Stand Behind Him »

Reader Interactions

137Comments

  1. 1.

    dmsilev

    January 19, 2014 at 10:08 pm

    Now watching season premiere of Sherlock. He’s alive…

    (Duh)

  2. 2.

    lamh36

    January 19, 2014 at 10:08 pm

    Time for #SherlockLives on PBS! Can’t wait to see how he survived the jump

  3. 3.

    YellowJournalism

    January 19, 2014 at 10:09 pm

    True Detective mini-marathon since I never got a chance to watch the pilot.

  4. 4.

    Corner Stone

    January 19, 2014 at 10:09 pm

    Working with a team that is +15 hours ahead of your time zone is not really great.

  5. 5.

    MomSense

    January 19, 2014 at 10:09 pm

    Sherlock!!

  6. 6.

    lamh36

    January 19, 2014 at 10:10 pm

    @dmsilev: great minds think alike :-)

  7. 7.

    dmsilev

    January 19, 2014 at 10:12 pm

    @lamh36: Indeed.

    I’ve managed to remain spoiler-free; I wonder what the trick was.

  8. 8.

    MikeJ

    January 19, 2014 at 10:13 pm

    @dmsilev: All the cool kids saw the last episode last week. I really didn’t think PBS was going to have anybody left to show it to.

  9. 9.

    SiubhanDuinne

    January 19, 2014 at 10:14 pm

    Newbie. How do I decide now between Seattle (where I have several friends, including most prominently Yutsy) and Denver (where I have some friends and a sister)? What’s the fan calculus here?

  10. 10.

    brendancalling

    January 19, 2014 at 10:14 pm

    I’m calling it Stoner Bowl.

  11. 11.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    January 19, 2014 at 10:14 pm

    Christie strikes me as the kind of guy who really appreciates advice from someone he can’t tell to fuck off

    “I conveyed the importance of the decisions he makes about the people around him and their qualification and their competence, including common sense,” said Mr. Langone, who called the politically motivated closure of lanes onto the George Washington Bridge “beyond the pale.”

    ETA: From Krugman http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com

  12. 12.

    YellowJournalism

    January 19, 2014 at 10:19 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: Well, they both legalized weed. Does Colorado have gay marriage? I lost track.

  13. 13.

    Roger Moore

    January 19, 2014 at 10:20 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    What’s the fan calculus here?

    I think the traditional approach is to pick the team with nicer uniforms. Either that or root for a good game rather than for one team or the other.

  14. 14.

    Corner Stone

    January 19, 2014 at 10:22 pm

    After watching Marshall Faulk talk some on the NFL network as an analyst, I am surprised he survived his time on the field.
    Because he seems like he was a down, deep, dirty, trash talking MF-er. And he’s a nasty piece of business.

  15. 15.

    Belafon

    January 19, 2014 at 10:23 pm

    @MikeJ: My wife has watched it online more than once, and took over the TV tonight to watch it. She won’t be alone.

  16. 16.

    Bonnie

    January 19, 2014 at 10:26 pm

    To quote the Pointer Sisters, “I’m So Excited!”

  17. 17.

    Corner Stone

    January 19, 2014 at 10:27 pm

    This little rat faced fuck. Don’t wear those stupid headphones to the podium! Scampernick for the loss!

  18. 18.

    siciliandish

    January 19, 2014 at 10:28 pm

    #WeedBowl

  19. 19.

    Botsplainer

    January 19, 2014 at 10:30 pm

    @MomSense:

    He’s even badder assed than ever.

  20. 20.

    Suzanne

    January 19, 2014 at 10:35 pm

    I’ve already heard Stoner Bowl, though I prefer Smokea Bowl.

    For this non-football fan, this already sounds WAAAAY more fun.

  21. 21.

    Betty Cracker

    January 19, 2014 at 10:35 pm

    I saw a crappy bootleg version of the first Sherlock episode online a couple of weeks ago. Now I’m watching it properly.

  22. 22.

    rda909

    January 19, 2014 at 10:35 pm

    Erin Andrews was really unprofessional in her post game accosting of Richard Sherman. He grew up in Compton in the land of Bloods and Crips, and just made the biggest play of his life, and she reacts all disgusted while he’s still hyper, from having just beat one-on-one, one of the best receivers and quarterbacks in the game. Basically, he still had his game face on and was totally jacked up.

    She’s acts all offended by his bluster. She should go back to her nice, polite privileged suburbs if she can’t handle dealing with the raw emotions of someone who came from squalor, and built himself up to the top of his field purely from extreme and consistent achievement. It’s an aggressive, violent sport, Erin. Go cover baseball if you can’t handle it.

  23. 23.

    MomSense

    January 19, 2014 at 10:36 pm

    @Botsplainer:

    Oh yeah! I’m a hopeless Cumberbitch for his Sherlock!

  24. 24.

    Corner Stone

    January 19, 2014 at 10:40 pm

    @rda909: You are pathetic.

  25. 25.

    pseudonymous in nc

    January 19, 2014 at 10:43 pm

    Given that Colorado and Washington both legalised pot, the NFL’s trademark-defending lawyers are going to have an entirely new set of targets for unauthorised use of the phrase ‘S*p*r B*wl’.

    @rda909:

    Erin Andrews was really unprofessional in her post game accosting of Richard Sherman.

    Agreed. QBs can generally switch from Game Mode to Interview Mode in five seconds, but it’s stupid to poke a microphone in the face of someone straight after a game-winning moment and expect them to do the same. Dear me.

  26. 26.

    gogol's wife

    January 19, 2014 at 10:44 pm

    @Botsplainer:

    We have to get up early in the morning so I just had to turn it off. GAAH! It’s so good! I wouldn’t have turned it off, but they’re supposed to repeat it later this week.

    Martin Freeman’s actual girlfriend is playing his girlfriend, and she’s a wonderful actress.

  27. 27.

    PsiFighter37

    January 19, 2014 at 10:45 pm

    Go Broncos. I love Seattle the city, but the football fans are stuck up as hell, self-important, and their defense is pretty much all on the juice.

    (not any BJ Seattle fans, mind you. Just the generic sense of inflated self-importance the 12th Man shit gives them)

  28. 28.

    DC

    January 19, 2014 at 10:48 pm

    Some of us DVR this shit to watch later. I hate you.

  29. 29.

    Suffern ACE

    January 19, 2014 at 10:49 pm

    Watching the Following after the NFC game. God, what awful dreck. Why would someone wind down the week watching women stabbed to death?

  30. 30.

    gwangung

    January 19, 2014 at 10:49 pm

    @PsiFighter37: Well, it come from a little overcompensation, so that’s not too far off the mark….

  31. 31.

    Cacti

    January 19, 2014 at 10:49 pm

    Obama becomes the first POTUS to acknowledge that pot is no more dangerous than alcohol.

    Actually a fairly big deal.

  32. 32.

    Arclite

    January 19, 2014 at 10:49 pm

    @dmsilev:

    Now watching season premiere of Sherlock. He’s alive…

    (Duh)

    NO FCKING SPOILERS!~!!

    (just kidding)

  33. 33.

    hitchhiker

    January 19, 2014 at 10:50 pm

    @PsiFighter37:

    Stuck up? lol, we’re all stunned at the very idea of success. The folks you see on television ain’t representative . . . most of us are clawing the tv, going what, What, WHAT??? We won???!! REALLY???!!!!

  34. 34.

    rda909

    January 19, 2014 at 10:50 pm

    @Corner Stone: Thanks for your constructive criticism.

  35. 35.

    gogol's wife

    January 19, 2014 at 10:52 pm

    @gogol’s wife:

    I haven’t felt like this since I had to walk out of an arena in which Bruce Springsteen was singing, because I had to go to work in the morning.

  36. 36.

    James E. Powell

    January 19, 2014 at 10:53 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    All other things be equal, I usually go with the team from the city that has never won the championship. In this case, that would be Seattle.

    There are many other methods, most of them irrational and unrelated to the game itself.

    You might rely on your own personal experience. For example, say if a person from one of the cities was rude to you. You might refuse to support that city’s team, even if the person who was rude to you doesn’t live there anymore. You could hate the coach, or one or more players for some perceived moral failing.

    You could despise the city or state because its voters failed to support your candidate or agenda. You could dislike the owner for his politics or for the way he made his billions. You might choose the city based on whether the conductor of the city’s orchestra was foreign born. You could go with uniform colors. You could go with famous things or people associated with the city.

  37. 37.

    PhilbertDesanex

    January 19, 2014 at 10:53 pm

    @rda909: Best interview all year! Hope they get some like that in the 420 Bowl

  38. 38.

    Calming influence

    January 19, 2014 at 10:54 pm

    Stoner Bowl, Weed Bowl, Smoke A Bowl; whatever you call it, it’s arguably an improvement over the traditional Drunk and Drive Bowl.

  39. 39.

    pseudonymous in nc

    January 19, 2014 at 11:01 pm

    @efgoldman:

    He’s a highly paid professional; he’s supposed to have more self-control than that.

    See, this is where I disagree. There’s this bullshit belief that you can have an extremely violent sport that somehow doesn’t fray at the seams because “highly paid professional” or something. You want a sport where people bash the shit out of each other, then you get what comes from training people to bash the shit out of each other in highly-paid professional ways.

  40. 40.

    p.a.

    January 19, 2014 at 11:02 pm

    re:Sherman. Excited and talking smack is one thing. Unhinged and spit-showering is another. Even Erin Andrews doesn’t deserve that.

  41. 41.

    Corner Stone

    January 19, 2014 at 11:02 pm

    @rda909: There’s not much that can help your stupidly skewed view of life.

  42. 42.

    rda909

    January 19, 2014 at 11:03 pm

    @efgoldman: The replay I saw seemed to show Crabtree instigating. Whatever. Sherman has risen to the level he’s at, and overcome the obstacles that he has, because of his intensity, so it’s hard to just turn it off immediately. Andrews could’ve reacted with laughter or simply gone onto another question and Sherman would’ve just gone along. Instead, she rolled her eyes with condescension. Sherman, based on his accomplishments, has earned more respect than Andrews showed him in that big moment in his life.

  43. 43.

    cyntax

    January 19, 2014 at 11:03 pm

    @efgoldman:

    He’s a highly paid professional; he’s supposed to have more self-control than that.

    I believe Lombardi had some advice for that sort of situation…

  44. 44.

    ruemara

    January 19, 2014 at 11:05 pm

    @Cacti: From him, it’s just words. Now if it was from groups of people you like, it would be important words, even if it doesn’t change anything and there’s no real plan.

  45. 45.

    kdaug

    January 19, 2014 at 11:06 pm

    @James E. Powell: Yep.

  46. 46.

    SiubhanDuinne

    January 19, 2014 at 11:06 pm

    @James E. Powell: I love the way you think! These are all completely rational ways to make a decision, and I will take them all under consideration between now and February 2nd.

    When I was married and living in Florida, my ex and I used to go to jai-alai games occasionally. He spent hours poring over previous records, how many rounds individual players had played that day and how tired they might be, and similar arcana, and wagered accordingly. I would choose lucky numbers or uniform colors, and place my own bets. More often than not, my method prevailed :-)

  47. 47.

    Rebecca Allen

    January 19, 2014 at 11:07 pm

    @brendancalling: Ha ha ha!!! Scott Lemieux of LGM noticed that too!

  48. 48.

    rda909

    January 19, 2014 at 11:08 pm

    @Corner Stone: Thank you again. You are a light in this cold, dark world. Bless your heart.

  49. 49.

    Cassidy

    January 19, 2014 at 11:09 pm

    @rda909: Is he doing his drunken lashing out thing again?

  50. 50.

    cyntax

    January 19, 2014 at 11:10 pm

    @Rebecca Allen:
    And Erik Loomis just pointed out that Jon Podhoretz is rooting for Denver.

    Sorry Broncos.

  51. 51.

    Bob In Portland

    January 19, 2014 at 11:11 pm

    @rda909: Sherman has looked like a jerk for a long time.

  52. 52.

    Bob In Portland

    January 19, 2014 at 11:11 pm

    @rda909: Sherman has looked like a jerk for a long time.

  53. 53.

    Heliopause

    January 19, 2014 at 11:12 pm

    @rda909:

    Richard Sherman is unquestionably the best corner in the league right now. He was the difference in the game today, barely targeted for 59.5 minutes and then making the game-ending play when he finally was. His bravado is comparable to Muhammed Ali’s, who is now a revered figure.

  54. 54.

    Corner Stone

    January 19, 2014 at 11:13 pm

    @rda909: Thank you. And I hope the Lord blesses your poor heart, as well.

  55. 55.

    gwangung

    January 19, 2014 at 11:15 pm

    @Heliopause: Not sure I’d go quite that far, but he’s extremely bright, can talk rings around most of the reporters trying to interview him, and backs up what his big mouth says.

  56. 56.

    cyntax

    January 19, 2014 at 11:15 pm

    Had to share more stuff from LGM:

    Note to the other 48 states: a state has never legalized marijuana and not immediately made the Super Bowl. You know how to direct your contributions now, Woody.

    ETA: Somehow I don’t think that will make it into the “Superbowl Facts” list.

  57. 57.

    James E. Powell

    January 19, 2014 at 11:16 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    I would choose lucky numbers or uniform colors, and place my own bets. More often than not, my method prevailed

    I stole the “foreign born conductors” thing from an episode of Cheers where Diane is consistently winning the football pool with similar methods.

  58. 58.

    rda909

    January 19, 2014 at 11:21 pm

    @Heliopause: Agreed. I mean, I wish he could be nice and polite for the suburban audiences, but he is who he is, and he is the best corner in league right now…there’s not much debate about that.

  59. 59.

    Corner Stone

    January 19, 2014 at 11:21 pm

    And I love Richard Sherman as a player. That dude brings it.
    And I actually don’t give a damn how he acted in his post game conf. He has to bring himself forward. That’s what makes him, himself.
    But don’t fucking tell me he can scream at someone after the game is over and she was the one who had the issue.
    Sorry. Not gonna wash. He’s a badass, and I dig his play. She did her job and he did what he does. Don’t talk shit otherwise.

  60. 60.

    piratedan

    January 19, 2014 at 11:23 pm

    @rda909: well Crabtree was walking across the end zone, away from the play and the resultant Seattle celebration. Sherman ran over, gave him a fanny pat and started to talk/yak/riff/confront. Crabtree responded by showing him in the face. You can believe that it was all nice and innocent and that Sherman was just going over to congratulate Crabtree on an excellent game, but I’m guessing that really wasn’t the case. Case in point, Sherman did the same thing last year after Seattle won on the road against the Redskins to their LT Trent Williams. He could have joined his teammates and celebrated with them, he chose to rub some salt in the wound.

    Sherman is an excellent corner and some folks say that you have to play the position as if it’s yourself against the other team and that every game is a test of your abilities/manhood/reputation (not much different than any other position imho) and he’s earned the right to talk smack because he’s backed it up, but imho, he’s not exactly the classiest fella on the field during and immediately after a game.

  61. 61.

    Chet

    January 19, 2014 at 11:23 pm

    @rda909: I’ll take “Soft Bigotry of Low Expectations” for $500, Alex.

    If it was a white redneck player who grew up in a Texas trailer park who acted like Sherman did, would you still be defending him and praising his “game face”?

  62. 62.

    Gin & Tonic

    January 19, 2014 at 11:24 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: Ah, jai-alai. Where the outcome of the match was about as random as the election results in Turkmenistan.

  63. 63.

    rda909

    January 19, 2014 at 11:26 pm

    @Corner Stone: Thank you for making the world a better place, each and every day.

  64. 64.

    Corner Stone

    January 19, 2014 at 11:26 pm

    “Big Man With Football”
    I love that.

  65. 65.

    rda909

    January 19, 2014 at 11:26 pm

    @Chet: Yes.

  66. 66.

    Corner Stone

    January 19, 2014 at 11:27 pm

    @rda909: It’s what I do, amigo. It’s what I do.
    You, on the other hand…less useful.

  67. 67.

    PsiFighter37

    January 19, 2014 at 11:28 pm

    @efgoldman: Professional athletes, for the most part, are man-children who have basically been groomed to be entertainers and nothing else. Them acting like ‘professionals’, whatever that means, is far from what I expect of them.

  68. 68.

    gwangung

    January 19, 2014 at 11:29 pm

    @PsiFighter37: Particularly when they get LOTS of positive reinforcement from fans and media for acting like they do.

  69. 69.

    burnspbesq

    January 19, 2014 at 11:33 pm

    @Corner Stone:

    Working with a team that is +15 hours ahead of your time zone is not really great.

    So your work week begins on Sunday night? Suck it up. At least you have work.

  70. 70.

    Corner Stone

    January 19, 2014 at 11:33 pm

    @PsiFighter37: How many do you know?

  71. 71.

    PsiFighter37

    January 19, 2014 at 11:34 pm

    @gwangung: Of course. Everyone enables these incredibly gifted physical specimens along the way, all in the name of the almighty Benjamins.

    Whole ‘nother discussion for another day, though. And I love sports just as much as your average red-blooded American male.

  72. 72.

    Omnes Omnibus

    January 19, 2014 at 11:34 pm

    @Chet: Hey, long time no see. What trolly goodness are you bringing to the table tonight? And since Romney left us as a political figure, who is backing your play?

  73. 73.

    Corner Stone

    January 19, 2014 at 11:35 pm

    @burnspbesq: My work week never stops. Thanks, though, parasite.

  74. 74.

    rda909

    January 19, 2014 at 11:36 pm

    @efgoldman: I was being distracted at that point, so didn’t see how that all played out, but did see Andrews interview him, and was struck by her immediate condescension toward him. That’s what annoyed me about how she treated him.

    I wish all players were like Barry Sanders, who would simply hand the ball over to the ref after a touchdown and not celebrate at all, but I’m understanding of people’s different backgrounds and personality types.

  75. 75.

    Corner Stone

    January 19, 2014 at 11:38 pm

    @rda909:

    I was being distracted at that point, so didn’t see how that all played out,

    So you don’t even know what you’re talking shit about, then?

  76. 76.

    rda909

    January 19, 2014 at 11:41 pm

    @Corner Stone: Okay, I will take your opinion and use it to inform my future decisions. You’ve helped me so much tonight, as you clearly have done for so many others.

  77. 77.

    Corner Stone

    January 19, 2014 at 11:42 pm

    @rda909: Thank you. I hope you can move forward and govern within the Spirit of Sandy.

  78. 78.

    rda909

    January 19, 2014 at 11:44 pm

    @Corner Stone: Look at you. You just keep, keep giving and trying to make my life better. I appreciate your existence so much.

  79. 79.

    Corner Stone

    January 19, 2014 at 11:44 pm

    Richard Sherman isn’t screaming at Steve Wyche.
    Does this make him a racist, or the worst racist ever in the NFL?

  80. 80.

    Cassidy

    January 19, 2014 at 11:45 pm

    @rda909: Just think of the good deed you’re doing. By distracting him, he’s now focusing his drunken rage at you and not physically assaulting his kid.

  81. 81.

    Corner Stone

    January 19, 2014 at 11:46 pm

    @rda909: I do. Lord in Heaven, and I pray He blesses your poor heart, I can but try.

  82. 82.

    Omnes Omnibus

    January 19, 2014 at 11:47 pm

    @rda909: How was Andrews unprofessional? She asked questions of a player just after a game. The player answered her questions (not in the style that I would have chosen, but that is a personal thing). What did she do wrong?

  83. 83.

    rda909

    January 19, 2014 at 11:52 pm

    @Cassidy: Sacrilege! My savior would never do such and thing. How dare you?!? Plus, he’s working so hard tonight with his foreign co-workers, obviously…contributing to society, unlike us poor saps commenting on the Internet just taking and taking.

  84. 84.

    Corner Stone

    January 19, 2014 at 11:53 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: Apparently she should not have asked a professional NFL player who attended Stanford, a question on the sideline after the end of an NFL game.
    So, a sideline reporter should not have reported…from the sideline.

  85. 85.

    Corner Stone

    January 19, 2014 at 11:55 pm

    @rda909: You and Cassidy make a really inspired pairing.
    I look forward to your debut release on iTunes.

  86. 86.

    Corner Stone

    January 19, 2014 at 11:58 pm

    “DoucheCanoe Sings the Blues”
    An enhanced limited EP.

  87. 87.

    Cassidy

    January 19, 2014 at 11:59 pm

    @rda909: I know, I know. It’s incredibly shocking to think that our dear CS of the [all too frequent] drunken rages might be capable of committing domestic violence, but that’s how bullies are. All that narcissism and impotence all rolled up into one little bundle; maybe he can become born again and find peace.

  88. 88.

    Omnes Omnibus

    January 19, 2014 at 11:59 pm

    @Corner Stone: Sherman behaved in a way that does not conform to my societal norms. I doubt I shall ask him to dinner. He was asked a question and responded in the heat of the moment. Andrews did her job and Sherman didn’t do anything wrong. I doubt that my lack of dinner invitation would trouble him. We exist in different social circles.

  89. 89.

    rda909

    January 19, 2014 at 11:59 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: He did his first aggressive answer, and she rolled her eyes and acted all disgusted and condescending toward him. Seemed uncalled for to me, considering he just had made that play and was on an adrenaline rush.

  90. 90.

    gwangung

    January 20, 2014 at 12:00 am

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    We exist in different social circles.

    He’s a fellow alum. Hm. Manners have seemed to have improved over the years.

  91. 91.

    Corner Stone

    January 20, 2014 at 12:01 am

    “DoucheCanoe Live! Featuring the hit single ‘I beat my wife'”

  92. 92.

    Corner Stone

    January 20, 2014 at 12:03 am

    @Omnes Omnibus: I don’t think either of them did anything wrong. he made the play, she asked, he answered and now here we are.

  93. 93.

    Suzanne

    January 20, 2014 at 12:04 am

    @SiubhanDuinne: I had an ex when I was in college who was a HUGE Raiders fan. When we met, I didn’t even know the rules of football, so he and his friends taught me, and I spent many hours watching games with them. They invited me to join their football pool, and I agreed. They asked me what team I wanted to pick, and I saw an issue of GQ on the coffee table with one of the Denver Broncos on it, and he was wearing a new uniform design that I liked. So I said that I wanted to pick the Broncos. My ex was SO UNBELIEVABLY PISSED and wouldn’t let me join the pool because he said my method was dumb and I should know better by now and blah blah blah. Anyway, we broke up, and the Broncos won the Super Bowl that year, and I would have won about $500.

  94. 94.

    Hal

    January 20, 2014 at 12:05 am

    I don’t follow football, but based on what I’m seeing on twitter, a mean black man said something to a white woman and now some people are all upset. But then again, twitter brings out the real dregs of society sometimes.

  95. 95.

    Omnes Omnibus

    January 20, 2014 at 12:06 am

    @Corner Stone: That is my take as well.

    @rda909: I will admit that here is a possibility that I missed a racial cue. But, if I did, you need to point it out to me.

  96. 96.

    Suzanne

    January 20, 2014 at 12:08 am

    @PsiFighter37: Strictly speaking, they aren’t professionals, as they don’t have a license to play football.

  97. 97.

    Omnes Omnibus

    January 20, 2014 at 12:11 am

    @Suzanne: Come on.

  98. 98.

    Roger Moore

    January 20, 2014 at 12:12 am

    @Suzanne:

    I had an ex when I was in college who was a HUGE Raiders fan.

    I guess that now you know something about football you won’t be making that mistake again.

  99. 99.

    Suzanne

    January 20, 2014 at 12:15 am

    @Omnes Omnibus:I know, I’m being pedantic. Bit it does bother me how that word has become devalued over time. Like, if you accept money to do something, you’re apparently considered a professional. That means hitmen are professionals.

    On second thought, hitmen DO make more money than I do….

  100. 100.

    Suzanne

    January 20, 2014 at 12:17 am

    @Roger Moore: Now that I know a bit about football, I know that all my relationships after that were/are with artists and/or nerds who have no interest in the game at all.

  101. 101.

    opiejeanne

    January 20, 2014 at 12:20 am

    @SiubhanDuinne: Me! I live there.

  102. 102.

    Annamal

    January 20, 2014 at 12:20 am

    *sigh* yet another earthquake here (6.2) , this one took out one of the gigantic eagle figures at Welligton Airport (Hobbit promotion).

    There’s something very surreal about a picture of a giant eagle slumped over a food stand.

    No huge damage or injuries or tsunamis though, so this probably counts as a win (except for Gandalf).

  103. 103.

    Yatsuno

    January 20, 2014 at 12:22 am

    @efgoldman:

    He went to Stanford, for cry-eye

    That’s kind of the breaking point for me. Yeah Erin Andrews is a twit but you’re going to get more heat for what you said than she will Richard. You graduated from one of the best schools in the country, and you have a brain. It probably was in football mode, but still Richard, you’re better than this.

    He had a second interview after the game. Much calmer and articulate, and he can rock a bowtie with the best of them.

  104. 104.

    Omnes Omnibus

    January 20, 2014 at 12:22 am

    @efgoldman: Don’t knock my side gig.

  105. 105.

    Cassidy

    January 20, 2014 at 12:26 am

    @Suzanne: How is getting paid to perform a task/ complete a job not considered being a professional?

  106. 106.

    Suzanne

    January 20, 2014 at 12:30 am

    @Cassidy: Technically, a professional has to have a license from a governing body to practice. Doctors, lawyers, architects, etc. The license was historically granted on the basis of education and/or internship. Nowadays, people often use it to refer to anyone who is paid to do a job, but that if you’re being precise, that isn’t what it means.

  107. 107.

    Cassidy

    January 20, 2014 at 12:36 am

    @Suzanne: I guess I just don’t understand how calling someone a professional devalues others.

  108. 108.

    Omnes Omnibus

    January 20, 2014 at 12:44 am

    @Suzanne: No, a professional is some one who does something for pay. No more no less.

  109. 109.

    Suzanne

    January 20, 2014 at 12:45 am

    @Cassidy: The word has become overused and now most people don’t know its meaning. The licensed professions were historically those that directly contributed to the health, safety, and welfare of the public and required a higher ethical standard. But now, in common usage, it’s just about getting paid, and the social responsibility and ethics aren’t really part of the meaning of the term anymore, which I consider a devaluation of the word. Playing sports for money would more accurately be called an occupation.

  110. 110.

    gwangung

    January 20, 2014 at 12:46 am

    Heh. FOlks should check out Michael Crabtree’s twitter feed…if I were him, I wouldnt be using the #fake hashtag….

  111. 111.

    Cassidy

    January 20, 2014 at 12:53 am

    @Suzanne: I think that’s a pretty narrow outlook and that devalues people who work hard. Not your intent, I get that, but I can think of a lot of jobs that aren’t “licensed”, but are filled with hard working people.

  112. 112.

    Joel

    January 20, 2014 at 12:54 am

    Go Hawks!!

  113. 113.

    LanceThruster

    January 20, 2014 at 12:55 am

    @James E. Powell:

    I like how you acknowledge the calculus need not make any sense.

  114. 114.

    Joel

    January 20, 2014 at 1:00 am

    @PsiFighter37: Two things: All fans are unconscionable douchebags. It’s part of being a fan.

    Another thing is that Peyton Manning is schilling for Papa Johns. Papa… Johns.

  115. 115.

    Suzanne

    January 20, 2014 at 1:02 am

    @Cassidy: That is the historical meaning of the word, and actually the technical “dictionary” definition. Strictly speaking, a professional does not give guarantees or warranties, because their license indicated that they had good character. I am certainly not saying that other people do not work hard, but a doctor or a structural engineer fucking up at work is a lot different than, say, a graphic designer fucking up at work. The original meaning of the term is useful and I believe that we have eroded its meaning because we came to consider the exchange of money as the most important thing, rather than education, training, and ethics. Occupations are also vital to society and differentiating between the two is not intended to imply disrespect.

  116. 116.

    Joel

    January 20, 2014 at 1:03 am

    I enjoyed the Sherman interview myself. He is nowhere near the shit talker that “Honey Nut Cheerios” Kevin Garnett is, though. The tragedy in all this is that Harbaughs “A man can be destroyed, but not defeated” quote will be forgotten.

  117. 117.

    opiejeanne

    January 20, 2014 at 1:04 am

    @Suzanne: and there used to be only three categories for the term “professional”: doctors, lawyers, and engineers. I don’t know when that expanded to include anyone with a license.

  118. 118.

    Joel

    January 20, 2014 at 1:06 am

    I will also add that I prefer a Richard Sherman out and out asshole to a Gitmo-loving dickbag like Drew Brees or a homicidal maniac like Aaron Hernandez or Marvin Harrison.

  119. 119.

    Suzanne

    January 20, 2014 at 1:08 am

    @opiejeanne: Yep. Over time, more and more occupations made the case that what they did directly impacted health, safety, and welfare of the public, and states started requiring their licensure.

  120. 120.

    SenyorDave

    January 20, 2014 at 1:08 am

    Guy just made the football biggest play of his life, helped his team to go to the Super Bowl, and the first thing this POS does is make the choke sign to another player. A classless piece of crap.

  121. 121.

    goblue72

    January 20, 2014 at 1:08 am

    As a Pats fan (living in Seattle), I’m looking forward to the Seachickens defense giving Manning fits. (and hoping to see the Manning Face by the end of it). Go Hawks!

  122. 122.

    SenyorDave

    January 20, 2014 at 1:11 am

    Judge a person how he or she wins and loses. By that measure Sherman is a fail.

  123. 123.

    Cassidy

    January 20, 2014 at 1:15 am

    @Suzanne: I don’t think you were. I also can’t help but think the original meaning was designed to keep the riff raff out of the country club.

  124. 124.

    Suzanne

    January 20, 2014 at 1:24 am

    @Cassidy: Perhaps. I still find it useful, however. Professionals are in fact expected to turn down money/work if they can’t do their work safely. Ultimately their first responsibility is supposed to be to society rather than to themselves. Apparently we don’t need a word for that anymore.

  125. 125.

    Omnes Omnibus

    January 20, 2014 at 1:27 am

    @Cassidy: Actually, it is the opposite. Professionals were looked down upon, while amateurs were revered. Social class thing. OTOH, it doesn’t surprise me that you don’t know this.

  126. 126.

    FlipYrWhig

    January 20, 2014 at 1:43 am

    @Omnes Omnibus: see for instance Downton Abbey, where the titled aristocrats needed to be persuaded it wasn’t a ghastly development for one of their daughters to marry a… [shudder] lawyer.

  127. 127.

    eric k

    January 20, 2014 at 1:58 am

    @piratedan:

    Uh your memory of last year is totally wrong. After the game Sherman and RG III were having a friendly conversation and the LT jumped in between them and started yelling at Sherman.

  128. 128.

    Joel

    January 20, 2014 at 2:02 am

    Are we really having a discussion as to the professional status of athletes?

    They’re (insufficiently) paid, they’re unionized, they’re professionals.

  129. 129.

    YellowJournalism

    January 20, 2014 at 2:49 am

    @Joel: You mean the majority who are not in the spotlight are insufficiently paid, especially if their bodies deteriorate as much as thy seem from playing the sport. The others (Ahem…A-Rod) may actually be overpaid and just need to make sure they manage their millions well to last into the later years.

  130. 130.

    Wally Ballou

    January 20, 2014 at 2:56 am

    @Omnes Omnibus: Same reason all the very best employers in fields like finance, art, media, etc. insist on unpaid internships. If you actually need to support yourself while networking and learning the ropes, you’re clearly NOCD.

  131. 131.

    Cassidy

    January 20, 2014 at 8:39 am

    @Omnes Omnibus: Really? Doctors, Lawyers, and Engineers were looked down on? Yeah, go sell that shit elsewhere.

  132. 132.

    Omnes Omnibus

    January 20, 2014 at 9:10 am

    @Cassidy: By the real powers that be? Yep.

  133. 133.

    WaterGirl

    January 20, 2014 at 10:25 am

    Seems pretty simple to me. There are professionals and there are licensed professionals. Just because you aren’t a licensed professional doesn’t mean you are not a professional.

  134. 134.

    Omnes Omnibus

    January 20, 2014 at 10:35 am

    @WaterGirl: Yeah, the conversation started to mix the amateur/professional difference and the concept of “learned professions.”

  135. 135.

    Cassidy

    January 20, 2014 at 10:59 am

    @Omnes Omnibus: That’s a different qualifier than what you implied.

  136. 136.

    Mnemosyne

    January 20, 2014 at 1:40 pm

    @Cassidy:

    Doctors, lawyers, and engineers are still looked down on by the aristocracy (or, as we call them in the US, the 1 Percenters) as being mere tradesmen who work for a living. Remember the story Howard Dean told about having to take his father out for a three-martini lunch in order to break the news that Dean was leaving the family business to go to medical school?

    That’s why the only one of the Romney spawn I have any respect for is the one who became a doctor. He had to buck a huge amount of family pressure to make that decision.

  137. 137.

    pseudonymous in nc

    January 20, 2014 at 7:21 pm

    @efgoldman:

    Funny, we’ve seen hundreds of these interviews in all sports; hell, even in-game interviews in hockey and baseball. I’ve never seen that kind of response before, have you?

    I’d like to see a few more of them, as opposed to the media-training week’s set of learned clichés. Like I said, it’s a violent sport and perhaps we ought to be exposed to a bit more Game Mentality.

    Oh, but he went to Stanford? Please, spare us that Huck Finn sivilize narrative.

Comments are closed.

Primary Sidebar

On The Road - lashonharangue - Along the Zambezi River [2 of 2] 8
Image by lashonharangue (7/8/25)

World Central Kitchen

Donate

Recent Comments

  • Ruckus on Sharing Is Caring Open Thread: Calls to Action (Jul 9, 2025 @ 1:54am)
  • Sister Inspired Revolver of Freedom on War for Ukraine Day 1,230: Another Early Morning Under Ukraine Wide Air Raid Alerts (Jul 9, 2025 @ 1:47am)
  • prostratedragon on Wisconsin Is A Reminder of Why We Should Never Give up (Jul 9, 2025 @ 1:45am)
  • prostratedragon on Wisconsin Is A Reminder of Why We Should Never Give up (Jul 9, 2025 @ 1:33am)
  • Msb on We Should All Be So Lucky (Jul 9, 2025 @ 1:31am)

Balloon Juice Posts

View by Topic
View by Author
View by Month & Year
View by Past Author

Featuring

Medium Cool
Artists in Our Midst
Authors in Our Midst
No Kings Protests June 14 2025

🎈Keep Balloon Juice Ad Free

Become a Balloon Juice Patreon
Donate with Venmo, Zelle or PayPal

Calling All Jackals

Site Feedback
Nominate a Rotating Tag
Submit Photos to On the Road
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Links)
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Posts)
Fix Nyms with Apostrophes

Social Media

Balloon Juice
WaterGirl
TaMara
John Cole
DougJ (aka NYT Pitchbot)
Betty Cracker
Tom Levenson
David Anderson
Major Major Major Major
DougJ NYT Pitchbot
mistermix

Keeping Track

Legal Challenges (Lawfare)
Republicans Fleeing Town Halls (TPM)
21 Letters (to Borrow or Steal)
Search Donations from a Brand

Feeling Defeated?  If We Give Up, It's Game Over

Site Footer

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Comment Policy
  • Our Authors
  • Blogroll
  • Our Artists
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2025 Dev Balloon Juice · All Rights Reserved · Powered by BizBudding Inc

Share this ArticleLike this article? Email it to a friend!

Email sent!