I don’t know if it’s the obsession with politics I’ve developed over the past five years, but I’ve grown to despise the Redskins. I now root for the Giants and Cowboys — two other teams I hate — when they play against the Skins (EDIT: and only when they play the Redskins).
Consider this an open thread.
Linkmeister
Okay, you’re officially dead to me. ;)
Seriously, the Giants and Cowboys? Gack! I remember listening to the Skins when they had Bobby Mitchell and Sonny Jurgensen playing for them and not much else.
General Winfield Stuck
Anybody that roots for the Cowboys anytime needs to see a doctor STAT, IMO.
demkat620
@General Winfield Stuck: Yes. As an Iggles fan, that is never acceptable.
The only thing to root for in that game is injuries.
freelancer
@General Winfield Stuck:
Seconded. My idiot brother loved the Cowboys growing up, but now he’s recovered and is a fair weather Bears fan.
freelancer
@demkat620:
sigh. Nobody feels bad for us Philly fans, because they make it to the NFC championship almost every damned year. Be nice if they could capitalize on that just once.
jwb
Routing for the Cowboys??? Really Doug, if you don’t have honest mitigating circumstances, such as having lived in Dallas at some point in your life, that’s a serious condition. You should seek immediate medical attention.
demkat620
@freelancer: Well, now Donny Mac has cracked ribs. :(
Kevin Kolb prolly to start next week. Cause you know, their other QB ain’t available.
anonevent
Speaking as a Cowboys fan, the Redskins owner is the only person I know that makes Jerry Jones look like a good guy.
JK
Not every resident of Wyoming loves Dick Cheney
The Cheney International Center became part of the University of Wyoming campus Thursday over the objections of protesters who carried signs in opposition.
At least 100 people who were opposed to naming the building for former Vice President Dick Cheney stood near the back of a stone plaza during the dedication ceremony.
Their signs bore words like “Got freedom?” and “This is What a Terrorist Looks Like” next to a photo of Cheney.
They criticized Cheney for his support of the Iraq war and for interrogation methods that many regard as too violent…
UW student Meg Lanker, 25, helped organize the protest. “For a man who’s suspected of sanctioning torture internationally (and) of international war crimes, to build a building and name it after him is comparable to naming a domestic violence building for O.J. Simpson,” she said.
h/t wyomingnews.com/articles/2009/09/11/local_news_updates/20local_09-11-09.txt
freelancer
Depeche Mode – Corrupt
Almost as good as “Dream On”.
General Winfield Stuck
@demkat620:
Demkat. was it you who gave us a link to watch nfl games streamed from some site? If it was, could you give the link again. If not, then disregard.
gbear
My vote is for just hating football altogether. Why do people ruin their autumns like this? I root for these overpaid jocks to get arrested for doing moronic shit.
Ash Can
What the hell is wrong with the Redskins? DC is the most segregated city I’ve ever seen — and being a Chicagoan, I know from segregated — yet the ‘Skins are one of the few things that truly unite everyone in that weird-ass city, at least for a few hours every weekend. I learned to appreciate the ‘Skins for that alone; kicking the Cowboys’ precious little asses was just a bonus.
Brick Oven Bill
There was this naïve lady who wore a Cowboys jacket into that part of Oakland Stadium where the rowdy people gather by the goal. She had her kids with her.
The Oakland fans then ripped the jacket from her body and lit it on fire. Then they put out the fire by pissing on the jacket.
This is a true story. So be wary if you are a visitor at a Raiders game DougJ. I would also argue to be wary about walking around Oakland in general. Here is an interesting interactive chart of Oakland crime statistics.
West of the Cascades
How can anyone in Western NY root for the Cowboys or Giants?
Roger Moore
Don’t think of it as rooting for the Giants or Cowboys. Think of it as rooting against the Skins. It will make life easier for you.
@gbear:
I like football OK, but I can’t care too much about the NFL. The NFL has been giving Los Angeles residents the finger since 1995, and it makes it very hard for me to care one way or the other about the league.
demkat620
@General Winfield Stuck: Sorry not me. But I think I heard something about them being free from nfl.com.
@freelancer: I can’t wait until 9:00 PM!
jl
I dunno, here in northern California we do not see much of the professional version, so I no longer have much involvement in watching these American Football sporting contests. There is one team, which I dimly remember used to do well, but the people who knew about how football worked were removed because of some kind of unethical behavior. Why an exception was made for them remains a mystery to me. This franchise now seems to be a front for promoting obscure commercial real estate deals.
The other franchise (I won’t call it a team, or an organization in the usual sense of the term) seems to have become a violent dysfunctional gang run by a secret society of eldery crazy men. I will say no more lest some one come by and punch me in the face. (Even Cole only punches in the neck, so you can see how ruthless they are).
So…. yeah… I kind of remember this American Football. Let’s see. Pointy ball, striped field. Theodore Roosevelt threatened to ban it as excessively hazardous. It has big semi-pro league operating out of the universities… which I remember has one heroic team that I used to refer to as the ‘gritty little Bruins’ who bravely opposed a rich and boorish crosstown rival that supports itself with a line of fine men’s accoutrements in drug stores. All very foggy now.
Oh, right. hot cheerleaders. Yeah, I still watch them with interest from time to time.
Anything else I should know about it?
DougJ
How can anyone in Western NY root for the Cowboys or Giants?
Only when they play against the Redskins.
Andy K
@freelancer:
Don’t delude yourself into thinking that trend began when the Eagles started going to and losing championship games. It’s hard to respect “fans” who will piss and moan over the most trivial matters. Kevin Curtis dropped a pass today? CUT HIM NOW! Need I remind you that it was at an Eagles’ home game that the crowd booed Santa Claus?
Don’t get me wrong: I’ve got nothing against the franchise itself, or any of their players. Just the so-called fans.
DougJ
I would also argue to be wary about walking around Oakland in general.
I lived in Oaktown for a year, my friend (albeit in Rockridge).
jl
I think I lost interest when the Los Angeles team started playing in St Louis. It’s such a complicated game, and I grew too old and weak minded to keep track.
Now I watch it and think: why don’t those kids get off that lawn? They are tearing it up, some one’s wife is sick, and Mr. Wilson has to get up early to go to work.
Shane Stringer
Skins, Cowboys, Giants, who can tell them apart, anyway? They’re all just NFC teams, doomed to be the Washington Generals to whatever team rises to the top of the real football league, the AFC.
jl
@DougJ: I think there is an ordinance against more than two Raider’s team members, or any single owner, or single coach, congregating in Oakland without a note from their probation officer. I’ve heard there are constitutional issues involved, but as soon as they get those straightened out, Oakand will be much safer.
burnspbesq
WTF was up with Serena last night? Now that was one ugly meltdown.
joe from Lowell
When I lived in DC, there was a show on Sunday mornings titled “Redskins Wives.”
Kimmy enjoys fine wine and long walks on the beach with her husband, safety Nohands Dropsalot. She’s writing a cookbook for charity. Today, she’s going to show us how to make her patented fudge cake.
Every damn week.
DougJ
WTF was up with Serena last night?
The players don’t like it when they get called for a foot fault, especially at that juncture of the match.
The Grand Panjandrum
Yay! We’re number 37! Funny music video about healthcare in USA.
burnspbesq
I’m not sure why – maybe it has to do with giving Glen Reynolds tenure – but I passionately hate everything about the University of Tennessee. As a result, I really enjoyed UCLA’s goal-line stand to win the game last night.
namekarB
Agreed. We do have some awesome baseball though. I enjoy the Sacramento Rivercats. Cheap tickets. Cheap parking. Easy to get in and out and haven’t got a clue who the players are on either team. Lots of fun though.
Laura W Darling
@The Grand Panjandrum: I believe your daughters are needed. Clean up in aisle Stuck:
balloon-juice.com/?p=26781#comment-1367228
joe from Lowell
When I was a kid, my father would occasionally take me to a Patriots game.
Because no matter how hard you try, you can’t give away a ticket to see the 1982 Patriots play the 1982 Baltimore Colts in Shaefer Stadium in the freezing rain.
Hey, you want to watch the Pats play the Colts?
Ah, gee, Gene, I’d love to, but…uh…I…uh…
arguingwithsignposts
So Phil isn’t here, right? As a former C’boys fan, I have to say that the Steelers are alright. Jerry Jones sucks.
jl
@namekarB: Agreed, the baseball is good, and there is a glimmer of medium term hope for basketball.
Baseball is good. At least the Giants have some drama this year, and I have not given up hope.
I remember the Raiduhs had a chance to play in some rock quarry down in Southern California, and they should have taken it. Good environment for their fans.
BTW, the Raider fandome underwent a horrifying transformation after they moved to LA. Seemed like mainly lunatics in LA were interested, and mainly lunatics where interested in driving down from Northern California to see them. The critical mass of lunatics has dominated their fan base ever since. Not really sure since it has been several years since I went to see a game.
There might a future for the Raiduhs in pro-wrestling. That’s a thought. I’ll send Al a Raidah-gram and see what he thinks of it.
Chad N Freude
@Brick Oven Bill: Well, Jerry Brown used to be the mayor of Oakland. That explains everything.
Max
@Brick Oven Bill: I don’t believe that story. I live in Oakland, just up the hill from the Coliseum, and crime isn’t any better or worse than a lot of areas in California. California, as a whole, has high crime in the cities, especially auto theft and gang activity, in relation to other states.
OT – I am watching the replay of the Jay-Z concert from Madison Square Garden, on the Fuse channel, and its really good. Any of you Jay-Z fans on BJ should check it out. It’s got a lot more replays. It’s a 9-11 charity concert and he’s joined by Kayne, Beyonce, Mary J, Rihanna and John Mayer.
joe from Lowell
I like to imagine that there is a sort of bond between Raiders fans and goths in Oakland.
The black, the spikes, the makeup, the medieval imagery – not to mention to overriding depression and sense of impending doom.
Andy K
@joe from Lowell:
Funny thing about that name…I really got into the NFL in ’72, and always knew it as Foxboro Stadium up until it became Sullivan Stadium.
Do you use that as a way to distinguish between a real Pats fan and a johnny-come-lately?
jl
@namekarB: Oops, I see I didn’t read carefully enough. Minor league ball in California is a good game. They are getting a little too cutesy with the names in AAA though. When the Isotopes play the Raniers, do they serve radioactive beer?
As for single A, when the Storm plays the Blaze, that sounds too much like rollerderby. One team was recently cursed with the name ‘Nuts’. And there is a ’66ers’ from Southern California from that hideous Inland Empire mess that should have remained a desert. What does ’66ers’ mean? Does that mean Route 66’ers? I guess so, but anything happen on Route 66 in San Bernardino? Other than old TV shows?
geg6
STEELERS! And if I must root for another team (which, incidentally, is difficult when your team is the bestest ever with the most awesome ownership in history), I always choose my compadres at the other end of the turnpike. IGGLES! Cowboys? Seriously? LOL! That said, I decided to make chili for the first time since spring sprang. That’s how I know it’s football season.
General Winfield Stuck
Interesting clip at C&L from Obama’s Minnesota speech yesterday on the PO. Pretty strong language about pursuing the PO, with whatever it takes. Talking like this and then not pursuing the reconciliation process would damage Obama quite a bit with the base, IMHO.
scroll video to about 2 minute mark, for PO stuff.
Leelee for Obama
@General Winfield Stuck: Yeah, I watched him and he sounded really committed to the PO to me. I’ve been trying to come up with an alternative and haven’t quite gotten there yet. I don’t think Obama has either. I think he’ll push hard for it.
smiley
@joe from Lowell: OK, maybe. I thimk she thought that one would have the guts to do that to the defending champion.
demkat620
Need I remind you, that Santa Clause needed to be booed? He was drunk.
Linkmeister
@jl: What is it with this thread? First Doug disses the Redskins, and now I find out you’re a fan of the hated, loathed and despised Giants? It’s 47 years later and I still remember the 1962 playoffs, not to mention Thomson’s home run in 1951.
And yes, your guys are beating my guys today.
The Moar You Know
@jl: The only way that I’m ever watching pro football again will be if the day comes when the NFL holds a press conference to showcase the skulls of John and Denise York, boiled and stripped clean of their foul flesh and mounted on pikes, for what they’ve done to MY favorite football team, the one from MY former hometown (I live in SoCal out of necessity, not choice).
Gutted and ruined, and as you’ve mentioned, nothing more to the Yorks than a vehicle to pursue unworkable real estate deals and extortionate tax breaks from nearby cities hoping to get a chance at glory by being assoicated with what USED to be the best football team on the planet, bar none.
Damn the Yorks. Damn them to hell.
Max
Still Jay-Z related….
I can’t hear the Jay-Z brush your shoulder off song without laughing about all the PUMA’s screaming about how Obama was dissin’ Hilary when he did it during the primaries.
Hehehe.
If you’re feelin’ like a pimp….
geg6
demkat620: I can vouch for that. My good friend Tim was there at that game and he said that Santa was trashed. You gotta admit, though, that booing Santa just sounds bad, no matter what the reality was. And honestly, I don’t mind how vociferous Iggles fans are. After all, they booed Sarah Palin at a Flyers game. That was awesome. Also.
smiley
@smiley: That should have been NO one would have the guts…
J.A.F. Rusty Shackleford
@General Winfield Stuck:
Won’t Reconciliation allow for too much to be stripped out of the bill?
jl
Glad to see I didn’t start the Oakland crime discussion on this thread.
As for the problems, I do recall that Oakland panicked about all the African-Americans that moved there during WWII. Their solution was to take an early ‘Southern Strategy’ of malign neglect and control of certain populations. I remember reading that Oakland actually recruited police officers from the south right after WWII, since it was assumed that they would know how to handle the situation.
I think freeway route planning, am community redevelopment scams, that, always coincedentally split off and ghettho-ized minority neighborhoods from the rest of the community, also played a role.
So, bad decisions decades ago still have an effect. There are historical reasons and decades old mistakes that explain why Oakland sticks out like a sore thumb in crime statistics from surrounding communities that also have substantial minority populations.
But if people want to make ancient California and Jerry Brown jokes, go ahead, whatever. I heard most of them back when I was like, 6 or 7, traveling in less advanced parts of the country.
MattF
I’ve been living in the DC area since 1980, and at that time the Skins were worth hating, if that was your thing. But not anymore; the Skins are just mediocre, and have been for– what– twenty-five years? A long time. Since, um, Doug Williams– and what year was that? I used to know who was on the team– now I couldn’t name a single one.
Steeplejack
Dude, on any scale of cosmic douchebaggery, the Redskins are the least offensive of those three teams, and to include them all on the same scale it needs to be logarithmic to fit the Cowboys on one end and the Giants and ‘Skins at the other. ‘Nuff said.
MikeJ
Racist team names are always worth hating.
smiley
Saints beat the Lions!!! The Colosseum must be a bummer right now. I hate it when the home team loses.
Incertus
@demkat620: As a Saints fan, I have a difficult time feeling bad about that circumstance, since they play each other next week. And I was really hoping Payton would try to get Brees a piece of the most td passes in a game record, considering that 6 in a game only ties him for the Saints record.
The Grand Panjandrum
@Laura W Darling: Thanks. That is one of my pet peeves. But GWS is right about Phil being a whiny ass.
This thread really is a disappointment. Finding out we have so many Cowboy fans here is like finding out someone you care about works in a whore house. It’s not the end of the world, but dayamn.
Incertus
@MikeJ: Agreed. And Snyder is passing up a ton of money in new merchandise sales by refusing to change it. I really don’t understand it.
jl
@Linkmeister: I admit I am cranky. Sorry. Weather cleared up here, so I will go outside and and cheer up.
I like the As too. I like both the Giants and the As. I like pretty much any and all baseball and basketball. If there is a good game, I will watch it, and root for a good game.
I didn’t know that A versus Giants fidelity was a problem in the Bay Area. I guess I better watch out, since I go to both Giants and As games, and have gone to River Cats, Grizzlies and Nuts games and have had a great time.
My main concern is whether the beer is cold and food is good, and always on the watch out for some gimmick freebie, which adds spice and drama.
When I lived in Southern California, I went to Dodgers games, and even ate their goofy dodgerdogs. I cannot tell certain people up here, but I did not spend a single second hating on the Dodgers (which may be an unforgivable sin in certain SF Bay quarters).
Team loyalty comes into basketball, but the Warriors and Kings situation is painful, and I will not discuss it.
But don’t let me bother anyone, I am going outside to cheer up. This thread is about this mysterious American Football, I don’t want to fuss it up. When we have pro ball here again, I will review about how it works and be able to discuss it.
Linkmeister
@jl: I’m no As fan! I’m a Dodgers fan!
Sheesh. ;)
Laura W Darling
@The Grand Panjandrum:
I’m sorry I’ve let you down again.
I KID!
jl
@Linkmeister: Dodgers are A-OK with me.
Incertus
By the way, how have I managed to live these forty years and not know cornhole was a game?
General Winfield Stuck
@J.A.F. Rusty Shackleford:
That’s the risk. Everything is up in the air with the recon. process, and is highly dependent on what the parliamentarian rules on each element. Or, does the Byrd rule apply to this or that section, and is it budget related. The rules for this process are so arcane that even the Senators don;t know what could happen. It could mean just funding for a PO gets thru, without the bill itself, or maybe a skeleton of a PO. But it could also mean that MORE gets thru that dems want. IOW”S its a risk and what comes out the other end is anybody’s guess especially with the PO> That’s why it’s a last resort option, I suspect.
IndyLib
Where I grew up the saying was, “I’m rooting for the Broncos and whoever is playing Dallas today”. Dallas was not particularly well liked in S. Colorado, though they had quite a following in New Mexico.
Betsy
@MikeJ:
Hear hear. I cannot BELIEVE the team still has that name in this day and age. It would be like having a team named the Washington Wetbacks, or the San Diego Spics. It’s just disgusting.
freelancer
@demkat620:
I’m catching up slowly. I’m two episodes behind, but thanks to surfthechannel.com, I’m getting there.
Whoever asked for NFL feeds, a pretty reliable site is atdhe.net
Simonee
@The Moar You Know:
No love for Jed York? He’s been known to keep in touch with Uncle Eddie and seems wayyy more committed than the Dorks.
Persia
@MikeJ: This. They change their name to something that doesn’t make me cringe any time I hear it, maybe I’ll think about rotting for them. Or at least not rooting against them every. Damn. Time.
Demo Woman
Federer just beat Djokovic in three sets. Did anyone watch the next to last point? If not you will be able to see it on the news later tonight.
demkat620
@Incertus: I am more than a little worried about Brees lighting up the eagles secondary.
And if McNabb doesn’t play, look out. Could be real bad.
Leelee for Obama
@Demo Woman: That was awesome! What a shot!
burnspbesq
@The Grand Panjandrum:
This thread really is a disappointment. Finding out we have so many Cowboy fans here is like finding out someone you care about works in a whore house.
Could be worse. They could all be Tarheels, or Real Madrid fans.
Sean
Rooting for the Cowpies is like rooting for the Yankees: never acceptable.
Go Skins (even though you sucked ass today)
Redshirt
I’m on this bandwagon. I want to root for the Redskins – I have a ton of friends from the DC area (VA and MD really) – but I cannot root for a team named “Redskins”. It boggles my mind that this is allowed, and is proof there is some kind of mind numbing voodoo ray that covers Washington DC and forces people to do its Master’s bidding.
Also, Washington looked terrible today, yet managed to make it a close game. NFC football folks!
To point: Why has the NFC been so pathetic now for so long? There’s no structural reason one league should be better than another, yet, here we are, where the Super Bowl is like the AFC Pro Bowl game, with a few, terrible exceptions.
HRA
“How can anyone in Western NY root for the Cowboys or Giants?”
I was wondering about it until Doug said he had lived in CA. IOW he must be new to WNY.
Go Bills Go Steelers
hamletta
@Redshirt: You may be right about the voodoo ray. I’m from DC (MD, really), and my nice, flaming liberal, non-racist mom will not hear about changing the name of her team: “Ma, you could possibly defend something like ‘Braves’ or ‘Chiefs,’ but ‘Redskins’? It’s like ‘Wetbacks’ or ‘Spics’!”
Her eyes just glaze over. Then she mumbles something about “braaaains.”
Cowcharge
You want to sum up football? 25 million people unemployed, and Michael Vick isn’t one of them.
Geoduck
Ditto all the comments about the Washington Racist Slurs. Any other ethnic group, that damn name would have been changed thirty freaking years ago, but a frightening number of people on both sides of the political divide still evidently think that pissing on Native Americans is A-OK.
bubba
From your own link. img12.imageshack.us/i/1ig.jpg/
Nuff said.
Andy K
@demkat620:
That would earn him a standing ovation at any Black and Blue division stadium even had he been drunk. But he wasn’t.
Yutsano
*ahem*
GO SEACHICKENS!!!
28-0 baby.
Alan in SF
Damned if I didn’t grow up in DC as a hardcore Skins fan, hating the Giants and Cowboys above all else. I still hate them, but now I too hope for them to not just beat but humiliate the Skins. Is it the political cheese & k street whores in the lux boxes, or is it just daniel snyder?