Space City Trash Talk
This week’s Trash Talk has to start with Houston Town. Space City.
It was the best of times:
It was the worst of times:
Although the last game was kind of one sided and a bit of a letdown, the Astros and Dodgers 2017 World Series was truly one for the ages. Games two and five were some of the most astounding baseball I have ever watched, World Series or otherwise. Baseball is unique among the major sports in America in that you can get up and get a snack, or go to the bathroom or whatever, and you likely won’t miss anything. It charmingly crawls along. Man, not in these games, they were white knuckle every second of the way. We here in Phoenix have always been a little smug that the 2001 World Series between the DBacks and Yankees was one of the best ever. And it was. But move over rover, 2017 has passed you by. Just wow. And the weird thing is, the Astros trade deadline acquisition of Justin Verlander really supercharged their late season run and through the AL playoffs, but he did not win a WS game. Anyway, wow, what a series. Baseball needs more of that.
In football, however, Houston has just been devastated this year. First, defensive studs JJ Watt and Whitney Mercilus were lost for the year. A league leading defense went immediately to only okay. But rookie QB Deshaun Watson was arguably, along with Carson Wentz, in the running for the league MVP award. He had a season line of 19 TD’s, only 8 interceptions and 1,699 yards for an overall QB rating of 103 in seven games. But it was not just the stats, it was the scintillating way he way doing it. Electric. And then he tore his ACL in a non-contact play in practice. The Texans won’t quit, and may even still have a chance in their division, but what a loss, both for them, the league and fans everywhere.
Okay, on to the games. In the student athlete area, UCLA got absolutely blown up by an unusually mediocre Utah team in Salt Lake, and on national TV, last night. Ugly. The Pac-12 is having a very weird year so far, but tonight’s tilt between USC and the very surprising Arizona Wildcats may be the biggest game of the regular season. Watch out for Arizona’s Khalil Tate. You probably don’t know his name, but you should. Take a look at what he has done so far this year, it is ridiculous. If he keeps it up, he will be in the Heisman race. This game is worth the watch just for him alone.
Penn State at the Sparty’s of Michigan State is interesting, I think PSU bounces back behind Saquon Barkley, but never sleep on Sparty. Indiana has an early 10-0 lead on Wisconsin, and that would be a shocking upset if they pull it off. Undoubtedly the best looking game is Oklahoma at Oklahoma State. You just never know what you will get from the Sooners. Their record isn’t bad, but hard to see LSU having anything for Alabama this year.
As to the Pros, The Jets made life easier on the Pats by easily taking out the Bills Thursday night. And the game was not nearly as close as the final 34-21 score. The aforementioned Houston Texans have the good fortune of facing the hapless Colts at home in Houston. That ought to get them a win and a 4-4 record to close out the first half of the season. What is up with Andrew Luck? He is not coming back this year (never really seemed like he was, but it is official now) and people are starting to whisper he may just be done. That would be a shame, truly hope he is back for next year. Kansas City at Dallas looks very interesting. The Chefs had a hiccup, are they back on track? the SNF game of Raiders at Fins looks pretty good too, but no idea how Miami will look after trading away their entire running game, Jay Ajayi, to Philly for a mid-round draft choice. That was a total head scratcher. Lastly, the Kittehs at Cheesers for Monday night will be interesting. Would be a hell of a lot more interesting with Aaron Rodgers though. Have to go with Detroit, but it is almost a must win for the Cheesers. Did the extra practice afforded by their bye week give Brett Hundley enough time to synch up with his offense? He sure wasn’t in their last game against the Saints.
Okay, that is it for this week. Eat some food, tilt a cold one and enjoy the games.
![[Photo: Annie Spratt via Unsplash]](https://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Books_AnnieSpratt-Unsplash_mod1-80x80.jpg)
Does anyone really care about WWE “entertainment” in fulls pads and weaponized helmets??!!! Football, pros and college, have killed the golden goose. When you look at the hundreds of billions of dollars sucked out of the economy by all corporatized sports (including the NCAA) and you see network political reporting that resembles fanatsy football programming, I am amazed that anyone with more than 3 functional brain cells can read this stuff without throwing up. And this is coming from a 70 year old baby boomer who grew up a sports fantatic who would watch Tiddlewinks competition if they wore jerseys and gave away championship trophies.
Yes, we like sports (including football) here, and always have, as you know.
I’m up for another round of birkins and dynasties with Rayne. Dynasties have been a no go zone for me, kind of if I can’t win then I don’t play pain that was a big part in my leaving town. I don’t want to think about it. Which is a feeling I believe the people in Michigan and Wisconsin feel about their vote hack. Much less having any outsiders talk about it.
How come when I think WS I see Kate Hudson?
If the CFP does not look t the how then Badgers did OK today. Not +5 ranking better…
Will the Storm Gods help MSU or PSU?
Some meaningful matchups in today’s remaining two time windows.
Don’t forget to Fall Back tonight unless you are somewhere sane where you don’t change ever – Arizona.
Wait!! You mean Kate Upton, right??? She is from Marcy’s neighborhood actually. And, yeah, we have not done that DST nonsense for a very long time. Pretty sure we did for a couple of years when I was a kid, and it did not get dark until like 9 or 10 at night. It was NOT helpful. Could be misremembering though.
ah, memories of Carter’s double DST, walking to the school bus stop under the stars. #GoStanford
Why is our Roving Reporter not at the Breeder’s Cup at Del Mar????
Hmm..right you are. I’m gonna take a Mulligan – I mean Hudson – on that one.
Bye week, Bye Jimmy.
You mentioned the trade of Ajayi, but not Jimmy G?
Belichick and Kraft made a poor decision voting for Trump.
Trading G is worse.
Brady cannot live on TB-12 alone.
They betrayed Jimmy for forty exercise and nutrition tablets.
Agree on the World Series being one for the ages. Really bummed it’s over and I have to wait until February for Gator Baseball to fire up again.
And there was team in UF uniforms in Missouri today, but I really can’t say that I recognize them. Ugh.
There were actual Gators in play today?? Who knew?
You notice I did not mention the craptastic Sun Devils of Todd Graham either.
Ooof. In some early scores, surprises are NC State leading #4 Clemson, little thought of this year West Virginia clocking Iowa State 20-3 and Iowa closing in on a 31-17 halftime lead over Ohio State. The last one would be truly beautiful, but bet the Buckeyes top the Hawkeyes in the end. Even in the weather there.
Sooooooo close. You were only off by 31.
What, I am Vegas gambling pro??
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
The weather is truly terrible in the mid-west, lots of rain and temps in the mid-40s. I can remember lots of November games in South Bend with weather like that and it’s miserable for the fans, too.
I continue my boycott of Notre Dame football, reinforced by the shithead decision of the medieval management to cut birth control medication from their health insurance. They seem more like The Handmaid’s Tale every day. Sadly the women of Notre Dame don’t mind being denied the
right to drivemedication they all use.You know, watching this OU – OSU game, I truly miss our old friend FreePatriot.
He would have been Boomer Soonering all day long.
And killing some of the trolls that have gathered under our bridge. Boy, is that missed. Trolls, and especially loquacious ones, are rampant under the bridges that lead here.
Amen.
The Miami Hurricanes may…..may……be better than I thought.
Could be. Next week against ND will be the real tell.
All in all a good day for the Badgers. Iowa and MSU came through. OK State came a few three pointers short (no not field goals). GA and AL were unlikely to lose.
AZ on way too late for this east coaster – even with a Fall back hour.
I think it will be a good game. I do not compliment the folks down south, at least not in football, too often. Also not particularly predisposed to running QB’s. But Tate may be special based on the early evidence.
That said, think Sam Darold and USC win tonight.
Game 5 may be the most exciting ball game I’ve ever seen. Multiple run leads kept swapping and the homers kept coming. A thriller diller through the 10th.
‘Skins are hurting. Something like 13 on the injury list this week, and some of them are subs. An example, their perennial pro bowl left tackle is out with a knee injury, his sub is out and his sub’s sub is out too. They finished the Dallas game last week at LT with a guard who had never played tackle before and who had been on the roster for two days. Four of five starting O linemen are out, and the two top TEs are too. D losses are not quite as bad, but include D line, linebacker, corners and safety, oh, and the kicker too. In all the Squawks at +7 seems not nearly enough. I’ve never seen an injury list like D.C.’s this year.
It’s a quiet week in the ‘Burgh, what with Martavis Bryant pinky-swearing on twitter that he’s gonna shut up and do what he’s told. Amazing what a demotion to the scout team topped with a benching will do to a prima donna. That, and watching JuJu Smith-Schuster go 97 frickin’ yards for the TD last week, Lions nipping at his heels all the way there. Martavis Bryant, please have a seat next to Wally Pipp. You two should get acquainted.
It’s bye week for the Stillers, so I have a chance to look up from my primary focus at some other football.
As to Cheatin’ Bill and his Cheating Cheaters trading Garop to the Niners, word I’ve heard is that it was not so simple as trading the future for forty vitamin pills a sunny Mexican beach (Patsies have their bye this week, too) and Giselle on Instagram. See, e.g., http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-5049807/Tom-Brady-shares-revealing-snap-supermodel-wife-Gisele.html Rather, it was driven by Garop’s pending status as an unrestricted free agent, his desire to actually play football, and (rumored) discontent on his part at being a lifetime backup. If Garop went away in free agency, the Pats would have gotten a compensatory third-round pick, rather than the Niners’ second-rounder they got in the trade. Because the Niners suck and are chasing the Browns for the first overall, their second-rounder was, effectively, two whole rounds higher than the compensatory. Garop will get to play in SF and might be able to cash in at the end of the season, assuming he lives that long. There’s a reason SF stinks; whether their O-line is enough to protect Garop that long is open to question. Of course, it’s not as bad as Indy, where ex-Pat Jacoby Brissett’s new favorite old TV show is “Run For Your Life”. Every Sunday. It’s said Garop saw the writing on the wall, that Biebs would be passing to Gronk & Co. for the next several years, and was unhappy about sitting on the sidelines that long. It’s also said that realization fed discontent. That Patsies’ management saw the same future, and felt the discontent, and brought in a Matt Cassel-clone to back up. From the Niners. In effect, the Pats got a backup and a 2nd round, for a better backup. Just that they didn’t include the backup coming from the Niners in the trade, likely to mitigate salary cap impact.
Hilariously, not only could the Browns not pull off a trade for Garop comparable to the Niners’ (they’re neck and neck for First Overall), but then they fucked up the trade they did make and blew up their organization from within. I’m talking about their experiment with intra-state commerce, in which they traded with the Bungles for QB AJ McCarron, then fucked up the paperwork and didn’t get it in to the League Office on time. The Browns’ excuse was that it was the Bungles’ fault. Allegedly, the Browns had done their end of the paperwork, sent it to the Bungles for them to complete and send to the League and assumed it was all taken care of. https://deadspin.com/report-the-browns-are-huge-idiots-who-didnt-file-paper-1820043876 The later reports I heard included that the Browns front office then started partying.
Needless to say, beyond the idiocy displayed in fucking up a trade (which was a lousy deal for the Browns to begin with), even a cursory look at that team’s management history tells even the most ignorant among us that the Cleveland team is ready for a receiver, or guardian if you will, to take over. “Receiver” , as in “receivership”, not as in “wide receiver”. Just to pick some, not all, of the low-hanging fruit, in the last 3 years or so the Browns have listened to the homeless guy living in the gutter in front of their office building and spent their first-round pick on Johnny Manziel. Who is now a civilian. Then they traded the second-overall in 2016 to Philly, passing on Carson Wentz (to Wentz’ great relief) and a couple other players (including a QB or two) tearing up the League. Brock Osweiler, who they gave a HUGE contract. IIRC, he’s now back in Denver. Joe Haden, 2x Pro Bowl CB and one of their captains, who they cut at the end of preseason. https://deadspin.com/joe-haden-no-longer-fit-in-with-the-browns-future-1798623824 Only to see the Steelers scoop him up in from among many suitors, because they “have a first-class organization”. http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-network-total-access/0ap3000000838448/Haden-Steelers-have-a-first-class-organization Haden is doing a very nice job in the ‘Burgh and he’s happy to be there. https://www.behindthesteelcurtain.com/nfl-pittsburgh-steelers-news/2017/10/17/16486646/steelers-news-joe-haden-just-happy-to-be-on-a-winning-team-browns-afc-north-super-bowl-nfl
And then there’s the message the Browns sent to their own team. First, they drafted their current QB with a high pick. He’s been flailing and they benched him. OK. Happens. Then they try to trade 2 high-round picks for a backup – McCarron – with arguably less cumulative game time than the guy they just benched. Then they start partying about pulling off the trade, only to have it all blow up in their face. If you were a player on that team, how would you feel about that? Motivated to play well, or to find a way out of town.
They will get to ruin another career, or shop another player out to be plucked by some other franchise when Josh Gordon comes off suspension in a couple weeks. Gordon, suspended for almost 3 years, was a Pro Bowl WR before. Other than a couple blog posts a couple years ago about him stocking up on Zig-Zags at some Cleveland-area convenience store, not much has been heard from him. It’s an open question whether he can still play. https://www.si.com/nfl/2017/11/01/josh-gordon-cleveland-browns-reinstated-suspension-mmqb-newsletter My take is that he’ll catch a few passes next month, then go into free agency (probably when the Browns release him). Then Cheatin’ Bill and his Cheating Cheaters will take him for a song with incentives. He, like fellow rope-burner LaGarrette Blount, will Get Religion in NE and give Biebs the next incarnation of Randy Moss.
Or the Steelers will trade him, even up, for Martavis Bryant. Bryant will disappear and Gordon will help Big Ben & Co. to another Lombardi.
As to the college game, after Iowa kicked Ohio State’s ass from here to Dubuque and back, and Sparty pulled out a win on a last second FG, I’m willing to bet the people who do the ranking will somehow find a way to put the Buckeyes in the top 4, and Penn State will wind up like 11th. The crackers who run the top end of college football have a perennial hard-on against Penn State and always seem to find a way to knock them down. Has been that way for decades. Alabama, Georgia, Clemson, Ohio State can do no wrong and can’t get knocked out of the top end regardless. And Penn State can’t get in. Which is a great reason for me to ignore college football. The games might not be fixed, but the rankings sure seem to be.
In other news, we see Verlander did not go to Disney World. Rather, he and Kate flew off to Italy and got married. You can see the pictures here: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-5050583/Kate-Upton-MLB-star-Justin-Verlander-tie-knot-Italy.html
I didn’t pay as much attention to the World Series as I might have, had the Yankees been there. But it was great baseball nonetheless. I just wish Darvish had plunked Gurriel. Game 7 or not (and the way Houston came out for Game 7 it was obvious they were going to win), Manfred and Torre screwed up handling Gurriel’s gestures about Darvish’s ethnicity. Considering how many Dodgers got plunked in Game 7, it would not have been out of line for Gurriel to take one in the ribs. The DH rule removed that kind of discipline from the game – pitchers who plunk the opposition (like the ‘stros’ pitchers did) no longer have to stand in the box on the receiving end. Similarly, jerks like Gurriel get off without facing chin music and get suspended for 5 games next spring. Lame.
I didn’t know it was possible for ruggers to get too drunk. https://deadspin.com/scottish-captain-two-others-kicked-off-team-in-middle-1820153899 Care to comment, EW?
According to Hoyle, (er, I mean Belichick) the trade was complicated with many layers (in code words, I am not discussing this mess).
Belichick is a fucking cheap prick… i.e. Hoyer will cost a measly 2017 — $476,000 salary; 2018 — $915,000 salary; 2019 — $2.8 million salary ($1.51 million fully guaranteed), with a $200,000 roster bonus on the fifth day of the league year and $1.5 million in incentives.
Money is not that complicated………..
In Re Blackball….
A Globe commenter:
Colin’s Lawyer: Mr. Goodell, were you aware of a conspiracy among owners in the NFL to keep Colin Kaepernick unsigned by any team?
Roger Goodell: The NFL has stated that why we urge players to stand for the National Anthem, we will not order them to do so.
Colin’s Lawyer: Mr. Goodell, Yes or No-Were you aware of a Conspiracy?
Roger Goodell: Any Team conspiring to tamper with footballs or filming signals of opposition teams will be punished with fines and loss of draft picks…Can I go home now?
Fly, Iggles, Fly.
Wentz upon a time?
Man, the early slate of games today are all just awful.
I enjoyed the Iggles game immensely, until CBS saw fit to “show a more competitive game”. Fortunately, that one turned out to be the Titans beating Baltimore, which helped my Stillers.
This Stillers fan smiles.
I tried watching all of the early slate at one point or another. They were all shit. Finally settled on Titans/Ravens because it was the closest and because i like watching Marriotta settler into being a very decent QB. And he is doing so.
Also, like to say that the sight of Giants fans wearing paper bags over their heads in the pouring rain was pretty amusing. Bad Eli is very bad.
Hmm…Jay Ajayi had 77 yards including a 50+ yard TD scamper for the Iggles yesterday. Drake and Williams for the Fins combined for 83 yards total for the Fins last night. Granted it was an air fest, but still…probably a lot about a decimated O-line for the Fins and a a very very good Iggles team than anything else, but thought I’d share anyway. I wanna see Iggles-Cowboys Nov 19 (and Dec 31).
I see the Cardinals kept the Niners #1 pick hopes alive – and got into a brawl over a hit that did not look to me that bad.
Can the Pack at home tame the Lions and keep hopes alive that Rogers can make it back for the playoffs? Uhh-did I say Iggles looking very good. Take the rest of the year off Aaron.