Pro Football Trash Talk

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Yeah, we are in the doldrums between end of the college football season, start of the playoff and Super Bowl stretch for pro football and the start of the baseball season. Oh, and, of course, March Madness. Here is what I am having an, uncomfortably, hard time giving a darn about: the NBA.

Just as appropriate filler info, I used to “Love This Game”. No joke. I had Phoenix Suns season tickets since before the start of the Kevin Johnson/Tom Chambers years, straight through the Charles Barkley fun and into the after-period where the doldrums set in. Chuck was the icing on our cake, but the stadium was already a sellout and the team already a serious contender in the league championship well before he came. That said, there has never been, before or after, quite the excitement and buzz that Sir Charles brought. It was a magical time, even if it was second fiddle to Air Jordan and the Bulls (though by the slightest of margins in 1993). The point is, Jordan is gone, the Chuckster is gone, Magic and Bird are gone; it is all gone. There are only a couple of stars that have the panache and balls of the old crowd left in the league, such as Kobe Bryant and Dirk Nowitzsky. I would love to say there is a “new generation” taking over in the NBA. But, unless you consider Kobe the “new generation”, the new generation in the NBA is a bunch of self entitled, selfish, jerk punks like “King” LeBron James. Bleech.

Navy has brought the big battleship guns and beat Army (again) in a surprisingly hard fought and close battle of the armed forces. Congratulations Navy! Which brings us to the real Trash, pro football. The NFL! Yea!

Aaaaannnddd the big game today is, of course, the TEBOWL! That’s right T and the Bows take on Da Bears. Both teams come into the game with a 7-5 record and playoff aspirations. If there is a team in the league that has the defense to bust up the Baby Jesus train, it is the Bears. Urlacher and the boys are tough and disciplined. But the Broncos have been kicking ass and taking names on defense lately too, and Chicago will not have Jay Cutler or Matt Forte. That is bad news, Bears fans. Also, the game is at Mile High, which is a tough venue. Should be pretty interesting to see if the messiah can keep it up.

The Rayduhs, who are tied with the Tebows at the top of the AFC West, travel to The Frozen Tundra to visit Mr. Rodgers’ Neighborhood. Hard to pick against the Pack here, but Oakland is a pretty good team. Carson Palmer seems to be settling in, but running back Darren McFadden (right foot) and big-play receivers Jacoby Ford (left foot) and Denarius Moore (right foot) are all out. Combined with a porous pass defense, that spells trouble for the Raiders.

The other interesting game is the Cowboys and Giants. The ‘Boys are 7-5 and the Gents have slid to 6-6, but this game will be for the NFC East lead heading down the stretch, so it is critical. Romo has been playing pretty well lately, and rookie DeMarco Murray from Oklahoma is an emerging star at running back. The Giants have been all out of whack on both sides of the ball. The game is in the Big D. Everything seems to be lined up for a Dallas win. So I am taking the Giants here.

The Bills are out Randiego’s way to meet the Bolts. Both clubs have fallen off the face of the earth, and are at 5-7. Will be interesting to see which one actually wants to step up and win a game here. Maybe they can actually pull off a rare tie here; that would be fitting. Houston at Cinci will be a good test to see if the Bengals can capitalize on the Texans being without a first line QB and big play Andre Johnson. TJ Yeats kept the team in the game and won last week, this will be another good test of how he will hold up. The Kitties host the Vikings. Ponder has a touchy hip, but likely will start; Adrian Peterson is hobbled, but will also likely play after missing last week’s game. Suh, of course, is suspended and, hopefully, won’t crash his car on the way to the local sports bar to watch his team play. Detroit ought to be able to win this and get back on track. If not, stick a fork in them. Patsies are at the Skins and should make pretty easy work of that. The rest of the games are just not particularly noteworthy.

That is the rundown; make some noise in comments. Oh, and nothing has changed in Major League Baseball.

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60 replies
  1. scribe says:

    And my Stillers have already won.

    It’s a nice late fall -early winter day here and I’m going out in the fresh air.

  2. jo6pac says:

    Waiting to see what 9er team shows. Then again I’ll be kicking back with some red wine, smoked salmone so I might care to much as long as they win.

  4. nomolos says:

    Dropped our Celtics season tickets after McHale, Bird and Parish were done and the tattoos started appearing. We used to score every game but have now no interest at all in what now passes for basketball and Laker’s sodomizers were given a free pass.

    My Pats continue their march toward the playoffs leaving the pathetic jets and the foot fetishist coach in their wake.

    The Rugby Sevens in So Africa were wonderful this week with the All Blacks winning the final in the last two seconds. Looks like the Spurs are about to be cobbled by Stoke City. No pedophiles coaching over there.

  5. Starbuck says:

    When Bill Walton ( remember 76/77?) left for good, my interest in the NBA has seriously waned, except for a brief moment when Clyde Drexler was hot.

    Sic transit gloria mundi!

    So far as football, well, in spite of a cousin who had an excellent record playing for the UofO in Oregon, I simply can’t get into the game. Hours of watching hunched over men at scrimmage over and over again with a couple of guys running around the edges, punctuated with maybe some superb passes or interceptions, well, let’s say that if it wasn’t for these extra added moments, ennui would have set in long before 1/2 time.

    In spite of all that, having been raised in Chicago, I do have a warm spot for all the teams from Chi town, including (gulp!) the Bears!

    But I won’t watch them! Heavens, no! Gimme the Cubs or the WS any day.

    The stickler is that during season, I am inundated with game after game after game as the reward for attending family gatherings, even when we gather at a great place on the Oregon coast. Fist the pre-game, then game, then post then the next morning, the summing up just before that day’s pregame shows. Yeeach!

    Football is a narcotic, imo. (Running and hiding!)

  6. bmaz says:

    @Starbuck: Heh. Man, Suns games used to be just wildly fun. The games were fun, and while there were no titles won, the teams were good and played well together. The crowds were great; a lot of business got done there. But somewhere in the mid to late 90s, the play, not just of the Suns, but all of the NBA seemed to start degrading into chest pounding selfish me me me basketball. Not as fun to watch. At the same time, the music started going heavy hip hop and rap, and played so freaking loud you wanted to poke your ears out. Whole scene just not pleasant any more. The game just seems ugly to me now.

  7. scribe says:

    @bmaz: I’ve not been a real fan of basketball since, probably, the early 70s. But, setting that aside, my impression of the NBA has been that it’s not really basketball they’re playing. Indeed, John Wooden was on record a few years ago saying that the best basketball being played then was in the womens’ game. Basketball is a team sport, and what’s played in the NBA is not. I don’t know what’s ruined it, but it has been ruined nonetheless.

    I’d much rather watch hockey, thank you.

  8. jo6pac says:

    @scribe:

    I had season ticket for the warriors during Mullin, Hardway, and Mitch but left when they did. Then season tickets for the San Jose Laser and yes some of the best ball the game had to offer to bad the nba killed that league. The players made a living wage unlike the nba

  10. scribe says:

    Cheatin’ Bill gnashing his teeth and Sexy Rexy keeps going bombs away on the Patsies’ secondary.

    SKins 17, Patsies 14.

    Heh.

  12. Bay State Librul says:

    Re: Braun

    Bug Selig must be pissed.
    Give Bonds probation, and free Clemens from his chains….
    That’ll work.

  15. JohnLopresti says:

    It’s those tall centers and twin tower forwards that are difficult to confront as 400 lbs of brawn crashes in upon the brain, lofted elbows aimed like tuber armaments, oh, it is accidental coach zebra, honest, and like Jesse Ventura of the feather wrestling, implaccably funny, ponderous and of shaven pate. Danny Ainge, team player, coordination, smart zone, full court press, Walton donations to help underground railroading of the twin story in the news the same year as Ronald What’s His Middle Name Reagan got elected, Robert Parrish, Kevin McHale, Larry Bird, smart smart coaching; write a career advancement seminar based upon the expertise of coaching. Too much media. Barkley, lord, Lord Berkeley, hundreds of pounds of muscle, or is this an inaccurate search, famous idealist the search results tout. Off to pepys diary of the niners where healing is the current art. These guys are strong. I once knew a soccer coach, but only played on the beach soccer with economists from south america, where the stars display upside down depending on whether one faces the equator or the hemispheric line of demarcation.

  16. scribe says:

    Bieber just wings a pick in the end zone, throwing away the chance to go up by 14. Let’s see if Rex can return to his first-half form, instead of frickin’ running the ball every play for three yards and a cloud of dust.

  33. Starbuck says:

    The Suns were great fun, and great rivalry between Portland and Phoenix. I enjoyed the games for that reason, albeit via media, not in person.

    Charles Broccoli err, Barkley. I could never tell whether he belonged on the field or on the court. Such a brute, but he was a pretty nice guy.

    For Phoenix!

  35. scribe says:

    Pack disassembling the Ray-duhs.

    In other news, I was at the supermarket today and saw the year-end issue of Sports Illustrated on the racks, while waiting at the checkout. In this one, they awarded the Sportsman of the Year and Sportswoman of the Year to Coach K and Pat Summitt, respectively. I think these are not just nice gestures, but a recognition of their having done quite well by doing it the right way. Or, at least, on their record to date. (And they gave the recognition while Summitt is still here enough to appreciate it, unlike the HoF Veterans Committee voting in the late Ron Santo.) It seems that the way things go nowadays, in a year or two it’ll be revealed that they got their success through devouring kittens or some such bizarreness.

    Boy. The wheels really came off the Bills, huh?

    And now the Pack has put in the scrubs – before the 3Q is even over.

  37. Bay State Librul says:

    Brady made a great move admitting he screwed up on late interception.
    Wow… next week at 8 mile high stadium with Tebow.
    Pats usually have breathing issues…

  49. GulfCoastPirate says:

    My 96 year old Italian, Catholic, go to church every Sunday, mother-in-law (who still drives her own car by the way) was making sign of the crosses on the TV so Tebow would win. I’m not sure whether to laugh or cry. That was some comeback. What was Marion Barber thinking?

  50. burnt says:

    Came home from The Aster after consuming a Harriet Dark Abbey and a Rush River Winter Ale while Bittersweet had an O’Dell’s Mountain Standard. Turned on the television to find the Packers toying with the Raiders.

    They break away from the game to show us the Broncos down 10-0 late in the fourth. Praise Jeebus, the old NFC Central division is showing the current AFC West division how it is done. After a few more minutes of Raider pummeling we are shown Tebow throwing a touchdown pass. Then after a few more minutes of wondering when the umpires are going to call the game for the Pack because of the 10-run rule they break in yet again to show us a 59-yard field goal–broncos can kick at least the ones I rode when I was a ranch hand. After that it was clear who was going to win.

    Two months ago how many of us foresaw the Broncos alone atop the AFC West? Truly, these are the end times.

  55. Bay State Librul says:

    @scribe:

    Next week:

    God’s quarterback meets The Gronk

    It was written:

    The Pats are 8-15 at Denver

    Bring oxygen masks and a fatty.

  58. scribe says:

    @emptywheel: An interesting insight heard on a post-game wrapup show: Peyton Manning and his skills made it possible for the Colts to hide a lot of their weaknesses. Without Peyton, those are now exposed with the results for all to see. If it were not for Brady and his skills, we would be seeing much the same from the Patsies. He’s hiding a lot of their holes and weaknesses behind his skills.

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