Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Relentless negativity is not a sign that you are more realistic.

Something needs to be done about our bogus SCOTUS.

They think we are photo bombing their nice little lives.

The low info voters probably won’t even notice or remember by their next lap around the goldfish bowl.

Lick the third rail, it tastes like chocolate!

People really shouldn’t expect the government to help after they watched the GOP drown it in a bathtub.

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

Motto for the House: Flip 5 and lose none.

Boeing: repeatedly making the case for high speed rail.

If a good thing happens for a bad reason, it’s still a good thing.

Humiliatingly small and eclipsed by the derision of millions.

Narcissists are always shocked to discover other people have agency.

The desire to stay informed is directly at odds with the need to not be constantly enraged.

Michigan is a great lesson for Dems everywhere: when you have power…use it!

Republicans: The threats are dire, but my tickets are non-refundable!

All hail the time of the bunny!

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

There is no right way to do the wrong thing.

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

Not all heroes wear capes.

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

“Loving your country does not mean lying about its history.”

If you thought you’d already seen people saying the stupidest things possible on the internet, prepare yourselves.

When tyranny becomes law, rebellion becomes duty. ~Thomas Jefferson

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Reader Interactions

128Comments

  1. 1.

    Corner Stone

    There’s nothing quite like settling in for the home season opener and having the child determine that is the time to start verbally reciting his Algebra assignment. It’s not like I can discourage it or anything? I mean, amirite?

  3. 3.

    JPL

    There is a kick-off event at four for a local mayoral candidate, that I’m supporting. I just want the Falcons to be over by then. We are under a tropical storm warning, which means that we are getting wind gusts. Yesterday folks panicked and local stations were running out of gas. We are not anywhere near the storm, and if it keeps moving east, we’ll have little effects from it.

  5. 5.

    Corner Stone

    When I say “Throw It!” three times before you release the ball, I think you may be holding it a wee bit too long.

  6. 6.

    Corner Stone

    @JPL: He’s getting two for one because his mom’s over watching the game and he has guilted her into “helping” him. So neither of us can actually watch.

  9. 9.

    efgoldman

    @James Powell:

    I’m so old, I remember when Steelers/Browns was a rivalry.

    I’m so old, I remember when the Stillers were laughably awful and the Browns were in the NFL championship game – with Milt Plum at QB!

  10. 10.

    trollhattan

    Because of the shitty NFL’s shitty “home team” broadcast rules we get shitty San FranciscoSanta Clara, 130 miles distant, this afternoon. Because reasons. Oh, I suppose the interest in Seattle-Green Bay is barely there, who wants to see the NFC’s top two teams face off to begin the season?

    Only reason I could invent to watch SC-Carolina would be the pro debut of Stanford boy McCaffrey, Stanford being just up the road.

  13. 13.

    efgoldman

    @trollhattan:

    Because of the shitty NFL’s shitty “home team” broadcast rules we get shitty San FranciscoSanta Clara, 130 miles distant, this afternoon.

    Could be worse. Because the Pats were on Thursday night, we get the “your team’s rivals” game on CBS. AFC East battle of the midgets – JETS-JETS-JETS vs Bills.
    OTOH, on Fox we get a game between two teams (Eagles-Racial Slurs) just bad enough to be entertaining, Turnover machines.

  14. 14.

    Corner Stone

    JAX defense has definitely improved from last season but Tom “Charlie” Savage is making them look like an All-Pro squad.

  15. 15.

    efgoldman

    @James Powell:

    Now that LA has two NFL teams….

    NFL in Los Angeles? really?
    They have two bunches of guys in pads and helmets, who might show up some Sundays to run up and down a gridiron, They charge NFL prices, but it’s not NFL football.

  17. 17.

    trollhattan

    @James Powell:
    You were in TV football heaven for quite awhile and now the wheels have come off, especlally with those two teams. The only upside is you didn’t end up with the Raiders–can’t wait for them to decamp for Vegas, after which we’ll be down to just one not-home home team.

  19. 19.

    Damned at Random

    I feel awful for watching, because CTE, but I’ve watched the Steelers since I was 4 or 5 and my dad would give me sips of his beer. That’s a 50+ year habit and I’m too old and lazy to break it. Even if the QB is too rapey for my taste, I can cheer for Gay and Conner.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InVz1nB-zfk

  21. 21.

    James Powell

    @trollhattan:

    @gene108:

    The Raiders remain the most popular NFL team in Los Angeles. The two teams that play here are not even close. After the Raiders, the two most popular teams – based on anecdata and jersey sitings – are the Cowboys and the Steelers.

  23. 23.

    Kelly

    I’ve uncomfortable with watching due to concussions and the general awfulness of the NFL and NCAA bureaucracies. But Mom is in her 80’s and loves her TV sports. Watched Oregon beat Nebraska with her yesterday. I’ll be over regularly for the duration. As child fall weekends meant eating pot roast in front of football games with Granddad. He kept a small B/W set next to the color set and sometimes even had a third game on the radio.

  25. 25.

    raven

    There won’t be as many Falcon fans in Chicago this afternoon as there were in South Bend but there still will be a strong showing. GO DAWGS!!

  26. 26.

    trollhattan

    @James Powell:
    I believe it. First time they fled Oakland to watch their fans one would have thought they never left. Then, after Al extorted his way back north and…ta-da…invented the PSL the fans acted like it was their fault he left the first time, “We’ll never fail you again, Al!”

    Al’s vile spawn couldn’t extort his way to a new stadium from Alameda County and now has two seasons to pretend they’re not really leaving, to which the faithful will respond by showing up anyway. I think it’s something in the water.

  27. 27.

    FlyingToaster

    @Corner Stone: @JPL:

    You should buy him a violin.

    Seconded. Unless you’d prefer trumpet.

    [parent of a Suzuki violinist who needs to get her ass up from the sofa, off her iPad and practice already]

  28. 28.

    Corner Stone

    @Baud: My house came through ok except for some superficial wind damage, thanks. Several homes in the ex’s family were damaged or wiped out across the region.

  29. 29.

    gene108

    I don’t get what the Chargers hope to gain in LA. They will have a new stadium, that will struggle to sell out. Yeah, San Diego had an old stadium, but the NFL makes so much money, ticket sales are not driving team revenue. The NFL, unlike other sports, shares revenue from the TV contracts the league negotiates, whereas in MLB each team makes their own contract.

    I don’t get the math that drives that decision. Do the luxury boxes in a new stadium make that much money?

    I will also never understand the truly rich. If I was making a healthy profit, I would be content. I would not be constantly looking for ways grab more money, be relocating my team,

  30. 30.

    efgoldman

    @trollhattan:

    Al’s vile spawn couldn’t extort his way to a new stadium from Alameda County and now has two seasons to pretend they’re not really leaving

    People don’t remember because they’re now the most successful team in the league, but in the last years of the Sullivan ownership the Patriots were always threatening to leave for Hartford, Providence, Birmingham Alabama (!!) if they didn’t get their own stadium. In the end, they built and financed Gillette on their own.

  33. 33.

    trollhattan

    @gene108:
    Right there with you. Chargers were an original AFL franchise and San Diego is one of the state’s biggest metro areas. They have zero connection to LA, other than being division rivals while the Raiders were there. My takeaway: the Spanos family are dicks. (My time in Stockton reinforces that conclusion.)

  35. 35.

    The Dangerman

    @gene108:

    Does anyone in LA still care about the Rams?

    No.

    Will anyone care about the Chargers?

    Are you kidding?

    There are, and will be, far more Raiders fans in LA than will ever be for the returns of the Rams or Chargers. What the NFL was thinking by putting in a second and third professional football team in LA (after USC) is beyond me.

    ETA: After you get beyond the high end, pricey talent, USC might pay better.

  38. 38.

    trollhattan

    @The Dangerman:
    The media payoff makes the gate, etc. pale in comparison. Not capitalizing on the country’s #2 media market was a situation begging to be “fixed.”

  41. 41.

    HelenWheels

    Nobody will like me for saying this about your guilty pleasure:
    Spare me your ‘faux’ guilt because you’re aiding and abetting the NFL owners that are using these young men as cannon fodder for weekend ‘entertainment’. Its organized brutality, monetized destruction of the bodies and future of these men, often poor people of color.

  43. 43.

    misterpuff

    @trollhattan:

    Chargers were an original AFL franchise

    as the Los Angeles Chargers. The KC Chiefs were the Dallas Texans. They have always followed the money. Nothing is permanent in the Modern Economy.

  44. 44.

    SectionH

    @trollhattan: “My takeaway: the Spanos family are dicks.”

    You got that right. Spanos thought he could force SD taxpayers to build a new stadium for him. Turns out we just weren’t that into him.

  45. 45.

    trollhattan

    @misterpuff:
    So they were, moving south a year later. Did not know that. Reminds me of the Pilots lone season in Seattle before decamping for Milwaukee. Man, that was fast.

  46. 46.

    efgoldman

    @misterpuff:

    Nothing is permanent in the Modern Economy.

    The Brewers, Braves, Dodgers, Giants, Orioles, Nationals, Rangers, As, Colts, (football) Cardinals, Chargers, Rams, Titans, Chiefs, Clippers, Lakers, Bulls, Wizards, Thunder, Kings – at least – all moved at least once, and some more often, from their original “traditional” markets.

  52. 52.

    Sherparick

    There is also Colin Kapernick blacklist. I love Conservatives who love complaining about a few college campuses and political correctness as they support this kind of thing.

  53. 53.

    JMG

    In fairness to the original Chargers (owned by Barron Hilton of the hotel and credit card scions) and Chiefs, they were originally in cities that had an NFL franchise to which they were losing the AFL-NFL war very badly. They didn’t leave those burgs in the lurch as the 21st century Chargers just did this season.

  56. 56.

    Corner Stone

    Pretty good drive by Watson on Texans, to include one very bad call on JAX D and one suspect call. But, TD it is.

  57. 57.

    Ruckus

    @gene108:

    I will also never understand the truly rich. If I was making a healthy profit, I would be content. I would not be constantly looking for ways grab more money, be relocating my team,

    Well, after you make all the money, there is only one thing left, have more than someone else. You can already buy pretty much anything, and there are only so many days in the week to fondle all of your stuff, so…… Also owning and controlling a major sports team, moving it where ever you please? Well lets see, you get to control the lives of the people you’ve bought to get injured for you, if you are good you don’t have to pay for that, and people who hate you will still pay you money to watch your team play. Really what could be better for a self centered rich bastard?

  58. 58.

    Svensker

    @efgoldman:

    Welp, I’m a Jets fan in Toronto, so the only time we’re guaranteed to see a game is if they’re playing the Bills. Ugh. But it’s going to be a long, bad season for the NYJs.

  59. 59.

    trollhattan

    @Laura:

    And what’s the deal with that hair-dont!?!

    Right? Maybe he thought dad’s jumpsuits were too over-the-top and decided on a different “Hello, rich weirdo here” feature.

  61. 61.

    catclub

    I kick myself for still knowing the standings and results – some. But am ostly over watching.

    between concussions and wealthy owners conning money out of cities for stadia, there is not much to love. also racist.

  65. 65.

    HelenWheels

    @Ruckus:
    There you go, stirring up class consciousness and politicizing sports ;)
    Because watching men ruin their bodies and jeopardizing their future is fun.
    Like bull-fighting, its ‘entertainment’

  67. 67.

    catclub

    @Sherparick:

    There is also Colin Kapernick blacklist.

    Suppose there is a white football player who refuses to stand for the National Anthem because the US did not do enough to bring back POW’s. I suspect the owners would not blacklist that one. How about refusing to stand to protest abortion in the US?

  68. 68.

    Amanda in the South Bay

    This is exactly why the NFL is guaranteed to never die off-as long as *even* liberals and leftists still watch it (which to be fair, is like 90% of liberal/leftish men in their 30s and 40s on the internet it seems) it’ll never fade into NASCAR demographic levels.

  71. 71.

    Amir Khalid

    American sportsball team owners get to get to demand a billion dollar stadium from City Hall, pocket all the money it makes, and pick up and move to a more lucrative city anytime they want. How is this fair? Why do cities let themselves get rolled like this? If Fenway Sports Group were to pull this kind of nonsense with Liverpool City Council, or if the Glasers tried it with Manchester City Council, I’m pretty sure the public would be outraged.

  72. 72.

    Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho

    @Corner Stone: As one of your two friends on this blog, I’m glad to see you posting again. And glad you house was okay. Good for the kiddo to be taking his school stuff seriously, even as it’s inconvenient for you right at this moment.

    @Amir Khalid:

    Why do cities let themselves get rolled like this?

    American exceptionalism, at its finest. It would be funny to see that tried with a one of the Councils you mention.

  74. 74.

    trollhattan

    @catclub:
    The Michael Bennett situation is more compelling for me. At least he has the team’s support on kneeling during the anthem but the Vegas police thing is galling, made 10x worse by the moron union demanding the NFL “investigate” him, because reasons. What the everloving fuck are they trying to prove? Confess I love Black Santa, he’s a stand-up guy.

  75. 75.

    gene108

    @catclub:

    Conservatives, to their credit, have built a very powerful media noise machine. Too bad liberals did not think to spend decades and billions of dollars buying up media or creating new media outlets.

    Seems to be the big failing of liberalism is not appealing to billionaires to bank roll them and invest in ways to spread a liberal message.

    Edit: I am surprised liberals do as we’ll a state they do, given how badly the deck is stacked against them.

  76. 76.

    Just One More Canuck

    @trollhattan: Friends in Vancouver share season tickets to the Hawks and promised to take me to a game next time I’m out there in the fall. I grew up in Victoria (pre Seahawks – yes I’m old) so we got the Raiders and 49ers feeds when I was a kid

  77. 77.

    HelenWheels

    @Amanda in the South Bay: We don’t have any children; but if we did, I certainly would discourage mine from playing football. Although, if being hard-headed is genetic, my kid would probably find a rugby team, just to show me a thing or two about trying to control their life ;)

    I wonder if any of the parents here would actively want their adult son to play NFL?

  78. 78.

    trollhattan

    @Just One More Canuck:
    Nice, I love Victoria! Was a kid when Seattle landed the franchise, before that we were 50% Husky football, 25% Seafair races and 25% Sonics. AAA baseball was a summer distraction, little more. Seahawks proved Seattle was a football town above all else, although I was blown away when Portland played the Sounders last week in front of 52,000. That simply boggles.

  79. 79.

    Damned at Random

    I married a man who cannot stay awake for the duration of a football game. How did this happen?

  81. 81.

    HelenWheels

    @catclub: Thank you for bringing up the racist part of this. Because of the systemic racism in America, AA adult men make up about 6-8% of our population, but nearly 70% of NFL players. its almost like many other institutions are restricted, and one of the only places available to be a success is in sports. The rich owners give lip service to caring about their players, but actively tried to deny CTE.

  82. 82.

    gene108

    @Amir Khalid:

    American sportsball team owners get to get to demand a billion dollar stadium from City Hall, pocket all the money it makes, and pick up and move to a more lucrative city anytime they want. How is this fair? Why do cities let themselves get rolled like this? If Fenway Sports Group were to pull this kind of nonsense with Liverpool City Council, or if the Glasers tried it with Manchester City Council, I’m pretty sure the public would be outraged.

    Your loss is my gain. The citizens of the new city are usually happy to get a team, for example, when the Oilers moved from Houston to Nashville, people in Nashville are happy and the people in Houston are sad. The rest of the fans of other teams are just like, “sucks to you be Houston, glad it is not us”.

    Also, there was a court case Al Davis, owner of the Raiders won, that blocks any city from stopping a team from moving.

    It’s a stupid state of affairs.

    But it has been around for decades. The more famous move was in baseball, when the Brooklyn Dodgers moving to L,A. in the 1950’s, followed by cross-town rivals the New York Giants moving to San Francisco, a year later. The “bright side” was that MLB finally had teams west of the Mississippi River.

    But most of the recent moves serve no strategic purpose. It’s just owners looking to make money, or move a team to where they live, like what happened when the Seattle Sonics (NBA) were bought by an Oklahoma oilman, and moved to Oklahoma City.

  83. 83.

    trollhattan

    @gene108:
    I don’t know the details but the new stadium pantsing the Braves owner is in the midst of seems to have raised the chutzpah bar to the heavens.

    What drives me nuts is owners declaring that their current arena/stadium lacks the amenities demanded by…who, the league, the fans? They then proceed to build a new facility, preferably using the citizens’ money, that holds no more fans but slices out a bigger chunk of seats for luxury suites, which said public will never enjoy even once in their pathetic lives. They make up for the fewer seats for proles by adding the beloved personal seat license atop the ticket price.

  85. 85.

    eclare

    @trollhattan: What kills me about the new stadium are a couple of things (used to live in ATL). Number one, the stadium where they used to play was built in 1996 for the Olympics, it was a state of the art, beautiful stadium that was only 20 years old. Number two, the old stadium was accessible by public transport. The new stadium is not, and it is at the junction of two interstates that are parking lots for hours every day. Just ridiculous.

  87. 87.

    catclub

    @gene108:

    or move a team to where they live, like what happened when the Seattle Sonics

    ha ha. Once Seattle voted NOT to gift their local billionaire with a new stadium, they were dead to the NBA. Moving to OKC was a coincidence.

  88. 88.

    Barbara

    @Amanda in the South Bay: Well, I sort of still watch football, but not nearly as much as I used to. My son doesn’t watch it at all (nor does my husband). Last season marked the first time that the NFL marked a decrease in its television audience. Eventually, these signs of a plateau will become signs of decline. And it is absolutely true that many people (like me) won’t even consider letting their sons play football. There is no way the decline will be rapid, but the trend seems pretty clear.

  90. 90.

    SFAW

    @Svensker:

    But it’s going to be a long, bad season for the NYJs.

    I watched about three minutes of the fourth quarter, bracketed by Raymond dropping the ball when receiving Beefalo’s punt (although he did run it back to Buffalo territory at least), and McCown throwing an interception. Add that to the “right up there with the Butt Fumble” play where Harris’s interception runback was killed by his own teammate being thrown into him, and I’m thinking my Sundays are going to have a lot more free time this fall.

    Thank FSM that MacCagnan is continuing the tradition of drafting shitty QBs (not McCown, obviously) and Bowles is continuing the tradition of making Rich Kotite look like Belichick.

    Meanwhile, Terry Collins is still managing the Mets, Ray Ramirez is still their trainer, Kevin Long is still their “hitting” coach, and Mike Barwis is still “strength” coach/advisor. I tells ya, it’s a tough choice to figure out which team is more fucked. I could use the owner as tie-breaker, but I’m not sure whether Woody Johnson is better or worse than Jeffy Wilpon, and Woody is pretty fucking bad. Fuck.

  91. 91.

    Ruckus

    @Amir Khalid:
    A not insignificant portion of the citizenry has made their disgust known that a lot of cities/states have taken notice of how much tax revenue they have been giving up. This isn’t even one of those tax credits that our reps voted on, this is a straight up give away so that mayors/city council members can blow wind up each other’s skirts about how good they have made their unfair cities. It really is the same as drumpf putting his gold spray painted crosses up on the sides of buildings. Expensive bullshit that has not only no payoff but costs huge amounts of all our money, all for a little goose to their egos.

  93. 93.

    trollhattan

    @catclub:
    The coda is that a different Seattle billionaire then tried to snag the Kings to Seattle, at which point Stern got involved and basically stopped it from happening by brokering a sale to yet another billionaire, since the dude-bro owners had been shopping them around to the highest bidder, all of whom lived elsewhere. The last billionaire kept them here where they are housed in…ta-da…a shiny new arena.

    Whew, that was complicated!

  94. 94.

    HelenWheels

    @Ruckus: Maybe my snark didn’t come across as I’d meant it: I really enjoyed, and agreed with what you said about the owners and their relationship to wealth and players. This country is oligarchy from across so many institutions.

  95. 95.

    Corner Stone

    @Suzanne: Aside from the PTSD of four sleepless nights reliving every second of terror that was Hurricane Ike in 2008, I have to say we got off incredibly lucky.

  97. 97.

    Corner Stone

    And I have to say, I don’t know when the Aaron Rodgers truck commercial was filmed but there is a delicious irony to the theme jingle playing and his recently splitting from Olivia Munn.

  100. 100.

    gene108

    @Mike J:

    Yeah, that’s true, but U.S, sports culture is very, very local, in a way most other countries are not. You care more about your local pro- or big college team than you do about a national team, such as for the Olympics or World Cup.

    U.S. Olympic ice hockey team , for example, does not draw the same passion as NHL teams.

    I think it sets things up for an “us against them” mindset, where cities compete against each other for teams.

    Until this changes, teams will feel like they can hold cities hostage. If there was solidarity, you’d see change, but I guess that goes for a lot of other issues as well.

    I

  101. 101.

    Corner Stone

    @gene108:

    and the people in Houston are sad. The rest of the fans of other teams are just like, “sucks to you be Houston, glad it is not us”

    We weren’t sad. And I say that as a born and raised Luv Ya Blue fan. We hated the owner and wanted to shove our collective cowboy boot down his fucking throat. We eventually got a much better “owner” and a good franchise to support. Once the team moved to Nashville they were dead to me so just accepted a void there for a bit.

  102. 102.

    Jay Noble

    Why is it I always whenever I read “Alameda” in my head it’s pronounced with a Russian accent? ;-)

  103. 103.

    lgerard

    @SFAW:

    You forgot Dan Warthen “pitching coach”. The Mets are 25th in ERA.

    It is time for an extensive house cleaning, too bad it won’t reach as far as the real problem…..the Wilpons…the trump’s of MLB

  105. 105.

    Mike J

    @gene108:

    Yeah, that’s true, but U.S, sports culture is very, very local, in a way most other countries are not. You care more about your local pro- or big college team than you do about a national team, such as for the Olympics or World Cup.

    Ever been to Leicester? They seemed pretty psyched about local football.

  106. 106.

    Davebo

    @Corner Stone: Yeah, after a decade or so and coughing up 10 times what the prick Adams wanted to stay.

    Can’t really say McNair is a good owner. We’re stuck with “The Godfather” Rick Smith for a lifetime.

  107. 107.

    Corner Stone

    @Davebo: No guy rich enough to be an “owner” is ever going to be good to a city. They got that rich either by inheritance or pillaging millions of people in some financial way.
    But I just don’t get it at this point. Bill O’Brien is not an NFL caliber head coach and Rick Smith is not a GM. BO’B really thought Tom Savage was the answer at QB for a Texans team that should be ready to make a SuperBowl run this year? And then to platoon out at halftime to a rookie in the season opener?
    In any event, four TO’s and 10 sacks aren’t going to ever actually end up in a W. And that’s not knocking JAX as they played their ass off and did everything they needed to do to earn the W.

  108. 108.

    Davebo

    @Corner Stone: While I agree with you totally Bill O’Brien will be cut loose after this season or he’ll leave on his own if he manages to salvage the season and will be snapped up almost immediately by someone.

    I cringed when they put Watson in after half time behind that O-line. Don’t they remember Carr? And the defensive play today should put to rest any delusions of a super bowl run.

  109. 109.

    efgoldman

    @SFAW:

    I could use the owner as tie-breaker, but I’m not sure whether Woody Johnson is better or worse than Jeffy Wilpon,

    I thought Woody was busy trying to explain Apricot Asswipe to the Court of St James’.

  110. 110.

    efgoldman

    @Ruckus:

    Expensive bullshit that has not only no payoff but costs huge amounts of all our money, all for a little goose to their egos.

    For all the Pats hate out there, they built and financed Gillette on their own (a few million in nearby road improvements that were likely going to be done anyway).and pay several million in lieu of taxes to the town of Foxboro to cover extra police, etc. They also make it a point to provide stadium jobs to local kids.

  114. 114.

    Corner Stone

    @Davebo: I am not going to be too down on the Texans D play for today. I think they will gel over the next few games. It’s hard to make a lot of plays when your O turns it over 4 times and allows 10 sacks. Plus, Fournette really picked it up and put it down and there aren’t a lot of RB’s of that potential caliber.
    However, I don’t think JJ is ever going to be JJ again. And that’s why I think this is his last year as a Texan. He’ll go somewhere that’s a contender, maybe NFC. Cushing has lost a step and a half and Clowndog disappears for 6 games a season. The Texans D will be completely re-worked this offseason.

  115. 115.

    woodrowfan

    When people ask me why I am not a football fan I say.
    1. It bores me
    2. If I were I’d have to be a Bengal fan.

    The first reason bewilders them. The second they understand.

  117. 117.

    West of the Rockies (been a while)

    Having grown up in SoCal, I do follow the Rams… they’ve had some excellent teams over the decades, and, yes, some shitty seasons. Most teams have bad spells, including the Pats, Jets, 49ers, et al. Part of being a fan. For the Rams, today was a damn good day.

  119. 119.

    Ruckus

    @efgoldman:
    Like most things in the world, almost nothing is absolute. A lot of teams do decent things for the local economy but the bigger picture is that stadiums paid for by the public is money that could be better spent than giving some wealthy jack off a larger financial reward. Especially considering what professional football does to the vast majority of players. I’ve personally known 2 NFL pros, they both have very significant medical issues at a relatively young age.

  122. 122.

    zzyzx

    I successfully didn’t watch the Seahawks this week. It’s what I used to stave off winter depression but I can’t commit emotional cycles to something I can’t control with all of the other bad news going on right now. I might need them once the rain starts up as a distraction from that, but this year has been about abandoning things that used to be important to me in exchange for trying to make it through it.

  123. 123.

    eemom

    @HelenWheels:

    I think you are spot on. Paying lip service to “guilt” over the concussions, and then moving right the fuck into the same stupid obsessive banter they’ve been doing all their lives? Please.

    Frankly would have expected better from Cole, in the abstract….but as someone else noted, this proves why this shit is never going away.

    Back in ancient Rome, there were no doubt Coles feeling guilty about the christians.

  125. 125.

    SFAW

    @lgerard:

    You forgot Dan Warthen “pitching coach”. The Mets are 25th in ERA.

    I’m still not sure about Warthen. On the one hand, his pitchers never seem to get better after they make it to the Bigs — but that may be a result of Ray Ramirez (or Mike Barwis)-induced injuries. On the other hand too many of the pitchers have gotten hurt, and Warthen’s “abilities” may be contributing.

    On balance, I think Warthen is probably a negative, but my brother — who pays more attention to, and knows more about, this stuff, especially as concerns the Mets — thinks I might be too harsh in my assessment. In other words, wrong.

  126. 126.

    SFAW

    @HelenWheels:

    and don’t know everybody’s personalities yet :)

    There are a few exceptions, but basically, we’re all assholes.

    But our hearts are in the right place. [Well, except for OzarkHillbilly when he tells Quinerly “You suck.” He’s an incorrigible reprobate.]

  127. 127.

    SFAW

    @efgoldman:

    As a Jets fan, I should be ashamed to write this, but: Bob Kraft — although he is not without flaws — has been a pretty damn good owner. And Belichick, despite not being a shining example to the kids, personality-wise, is a truly great coach.

  128. 128.

    SFAW

    @efgoldman:

    I thought Woody was busy trying to explain Apricot Asswipe to the Court of St James’.

    Most of the damage Woody has done started years ago. But I bet he still finds time to continue to fuck up the team.

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