Seasons End New Year’s Trash

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Happy New Year folks! As we celebrate the start of the new year of 2012, we also today reach the end of the NFL regular season, and there are some big games on tap. So let’s get down to the nitty gritty. Also, ring in the new year with a little Jerry Jeff Walker. Don’t hear to much about Jerry Jeff anymore, but hot damn, he was, and is, really good.

No game is, nor could ever be, as big as the Tebowl between Baby Jesus and the man who wrongfully had Baby Jesus’ position at the start of the season, Kyle Orton. Really, the entire game is only between Tebow and Orton, or so it seems from the week’w worth of blather at ESPN. In all seriousness though, it truly is pretty compelling theater. The Chefs can play, as they demonstrated by rolling the Pack in the only loss for the Cheese of the year. And you know Orton would love to pound the Donkos and keep them and Baby Jesus out of the playoffs. For Denver, if they win they are in; if they lose they are not (well, unless Oakland loses to the Bolts, in which case the Donks would still win the division with a lousy 8-8 record). Simple. I would take the Chefs pretty easily here, but the game is at Mile High, and that matters. Still gonna go with the KC BBQ, but Tebow will play his heart out; Baby Jesus is nothing if not a gamer. That leaves the AFC West division championship, and its playoff berth up to the Rayduhs and Bolts game, where the edge has to ride with Carson Palmer and the ghost of Al Davis, in the Black Hole, over the Bolt who are just done (as is Norval, finally, it would appear).

The other win or go home game that is must see theater is the ‘Boys at the Gents in the NBC Sunday Night finale. Winner takes the NFC East and moves on to the playoffs, loser is toast. Here, too, the game is a tale of two quarterbacks Good/Bad Eli and Tony Romeo. They are both like Gump’s damn box of chocolates, you never know what your are gonna get; consistently inconsistent and all over the road. Romo does have a bruised up hand from the Eagles game, but no way he does not play, and a pretty fair bet he plays well. Everything points to the Giants here, including them playing at home, but I am going with a ‘Boys upset.

Ray Lewis and the Ravens are in Cincy for a key game for both teams. The Ravens lock up their division with a win, and a first round home game (and homefield throughout if the Pats lose to the Bills) in the process, which is key because the Ravens have been a bad road team this year. The Bengals, on the other hand are young and hungry for a wildcard spot, which they would nail down with a win. This could be a great game, no idea who wins it, but either way it is hard to see the Patsies losing to Buffalo when the number one seed is still on the line.

Then we have the “lose or go home” game. Colts at Jags. Both these teams have been woeful for the season, although the Not-Peytons have a shocking two game winning streak going. The problem for the Colts is, of course, a win against the Jags might well put them out of Luck. Andrew Luck that is. Thing is, Jags may well want another QB in the draft and have nothing to gain with a win either. Jacksonville has already fired its coach, Jack Del Rio, and the franchise was just sold. In short, they are a mess. This will be a really interesting game to see who loses the best and how.

The last of the killer klashes this week is another Black and Blue grudge match, this time between the Kitties and the Cheese. The Pack has nothing to play for having already wrapped up the NFC top seed and home field throughout the playoffs. If Rodgers plays at all, it will likely not be much. Look for Matt Flynn to get most of the time behind center, with Graham Harrell getting a little game experience too. The Kitties, however, need to win to keep the fifth seed, which could mean the difference between playing the Giants/Cowboys winner or the Saints. That is healthy motivation. Lions should win this one, but if they do, it will be their first win on the Frozen Tundra in 20 years.

Titans at the Texans also has some playoff implication, but not many. Titans slim hopes for making the postseason show depend on a win against the Texans, and a LOT of help. Texans get Andre Johnson back and that is good because they need to get some game chemistry between him and young TJ Yeats before the playoffs begin. I rate this as a toss-up. The rest of the teams are pretty much just playing out the string.

We will either update or, more likely, just put up a new thread for all the college bowl extravaganza starting Monday. So, let us all take a Tee Bow, and raise a frosty. Commence trashing!

Emptywheel’s Christmas Eve Mega Football Trash Talk

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[Okay, for the most sacred honor and ritual, yes the meet and greet of Halas’ Bears and Lambeau’s Packers on the hallowed Tundra, I have cavalierly re-upped Trash Talk to the top of the totem pole pecking order until the conclusion of the sacred event]

Hey there Wheelies and Wheelettes, it’s Christmas Eve Day!! And that can mean only one thing; yep, Emptywheel’s Christmas Eve Mega Football Trash Talk!

Since the NFL decided to move all but one of its Christmas Day normal Sunday slate of games up a day to give most in the league Christmas off and with their families, we have a full schedule of games today. And, unless The Most Transparent President In The History Of The Universe decides to autopen the NDAA and spring the big kahuna of signing statements today, there is not a heck of a lot else going on. So, to the Game Cave Batman!

The biggest game of the weekend, by just a slight margin, is the battle of the New Yorks which, of course, takes place in New Jersey. Marcy and her family are already in a passionate discussion over whether this means Bad Eli Manning and Mistake Mark Sanchez share the same locker and pass notes to each other. This is a huge game though; the winner likely goes to the playoff, and the loser likely stays home. And it really is for bragging rights in New York City. It is a grudge match, and it does count. Big time; one of these teams is going to be eaten alive in the tabloids. I think it comes down to Eli versus Revis Island and Bart Scott and the Jet bruisers. If the Jets get hard pressure on Eli, Jets win; if not they don’t. No clue who comes out of this alive.

The other game nearly as big is Eagles and Cowboys. Iggles are starting to get healthy and gel, even if it is almost surely too late. They are technically still in the playoff hunt though, have pride on their mind and hate the Cowboys. So, another NFC East grudge match. DeMarco Murray is done for the year, and Felix Jones will play, but is hurting. Other than Jones, Dallas has Sammy Morris. If they do not generate a solid running game, Philly is gonna win this. Even though the game is in at Jerry’s House in Big D, I think the Iggles win it.

ATTENTION! Update: Oh my. My ears were hot, burning if you will, whilst I was away at brunch. I think I have discovered why! It doth seem I neglected to cover the big Kitties versus Bolts clash in Motown. I have thus shat upon both Marcy AND Randiego. Not good. so, here we go: Uh, the Bolts are visiting Matthew Stafford, Megatron and Suh, Suh, Suhshie at Ford Field. This is indeed a top shelf game; the Kitties have a ton of young, if somewhat undisciplined, talent trying to keep the ship righted and sailing for the playoffs after last week’s win over the Rayduhs. They need a win in their last two games to get there, but have to go to Lambeau next week. The Bolts are, improbably, making yet another save Norval’s ass surge in December. With the TeDonks getting circled up in Boofalo, the Chargers would be in the thick of the hunt in the AFC West with a win. A lot on the line, and two exciting offenses. That makes for a great game. Ryan Matthews is on a roll for the Chargers, but the Lions are down to a wounded Kevin Smith at running back. That is the difference. Kitties gonna have to win on the Tundra methinks.

It will not be on national TeeVee, but the Niners-Squawks game may turn out to be very good. Seattle has really come on hard down the stretch, and shockingly Tavaris Jackson is playing at a very high level lately. San Fran defense probably too tough, but this may approach a toss up since it is in the Emerald City. And, of course, we have another week of Tebowmania. This week, Baby Jesus and the Donkos visit the suddenly hapless Bills. Don’t think the wagons can get circled enough to stop the Tebow train, but Brian Dawkins is likely out, and he is the real glue for the Denver defense. That makes it a real ballgame; a toss-up if you will.

The other two first class matchups are on Sunday Night and Monday Night Football respectively. First up for SNF on NBC is the most famous rivalry in football history, yep it’s the Bears and Packers on the Frozen Tundra at Lambeau. Really, what more could a football fan want for Christmas than Bears/Packers on a winter night, with steam coming out of the facemasks like dragons, from the Shrine in titletown? If you look up football in the dictionary, that is what they got. I would say Da Bears might make this an upset if they had Cutler and Matt Forte, but they do not and I doubt the Cheese is going to sleep two weeks in a row. Not to say the Pack does not have issue though, their two most critical O-linemen are out, as is Greg Jennings. Still, hard to see GB losing this.

Lastly, the MNF game has some post Christmas firepower on tap for us. Dirty Birds at Saints in Nawlins. Matt Ryan and the Falcons need one more win to lock up a wildcard spot; the Saints are playing for a possible first round bye. And Drew Breeeeeees is closing in on Marino’s yardage record and Brady’s TD record for a season. That and home field will prove too much for the Falcons.

Let the games and Christmas cheer begin!

From Me, Marcy and Jim White, Merry Christmas to one an all, and thanks to one and all for your support and participation here at the Emptywheel blog. You are the best gifts of all.

Early Christmas Trash: Running With The Devils

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Well, you might not know it, but there is a HUGE bowl game tonight! Yes, it is the Grandaddy The All Except All The Others, the Maaco Las Vegas Bowl. From, of all places, Las Vegas! And in this fascinating game, my team, the Arizona State Sun Devils have the pleasure of getting their asses whipped up one side and down the other, by my team, the Boise State Broncos.

We have talked about both of these teams enough this year that there is nothing shocking to report for tonight’s game. Boise is 11-1, with only a one point last second loss to a very good TCU team blemishing their record. Kellen Moore and crew are well coached by Chris Peterson and their defense is bigger and faster than given credit for. The Devils also have a very good quarterback, Brock Osweiller and a couple of excellent receivers. Their running game and middle and deep defense are all very spotty and suspect though. They had good personnel in those areas, but were decimated by injuries in practice before the season started. ASU has a problem with speed, and Boise has got that in spades. The only hope is that the Devils pull one out of their rear for coach Dennis Erickson in his final game. I would not bet a plug nickel on that though. Game starts at 8 pm EST and is on ESPN.

Also tonight is the NFL Network Thursday offering, this week with Houston at the Indianapolis NotQuitePeytons. The Colts are coming off their first win of the year, and actually played a solid game last week. But the Texans have been holding their own and growing with rookie TJ Yeats taking over at QB for the injured Matts Schaub and Leinart. If Indy can play tough defense, they might have a chance at home. But I doubt it, Houston’s running game, led by Arian foster, is too much.

We will likely scare up some new Trash for Saturday’s NFL extravaganza, but for now hoop it up here!

Tebowling For Columbine Trash

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Not since Michael Moore’s 2002 epic “Bowling For Columbine” has life in Denver been under such a national microscope. But even that is nothing compared to Tebowmania! which is running wild and rampant in the Mile High City. And good lawdy, here comes Mr. Bundchen himself, Bieber Brady, to town. That is a LOT of awesomeness in one city, much less on one football field.

Before we get to the specifics of the Big Tebowl at Mile High, there is actually a game tonight, Scribe’s Dallas Cowboys at the Tampa Bay Sucs, er, Bucs. DeMarco Murray is done for the year for the ‘Boys, but they are hoping Felix Jones will return to the form of his early promise and pick up the slack. Despite the deflating loss to Eli and the Giants last week, Dallas still controls their own destiny for the division title if they win out, including over the Giants in NY on the last Sunday. That is a tall order, but they shouldn’t have any problems with Tampa tonight. Game is on NFL Network. Oh, also, if you are colorblind and can thus handle the “grass” from Boise State’s field, the Famous Idaho Potatoes Bowl is on ESPN with a scintillating matchup between Ohio and Utah State.

But the game of the century, of course, is in Denver where Bill Bel and the Patsies come a callin. Despite the intense hype and Tebowmania! across the nation, the NFL and NBC have refused to flex the game to the Sunday Night Football slot. Apparently CBS pitched a hissy fit and Robert Kraft did too, because he didn’t want it to be any colder and more hostile than necessary and he wanted to leave town earlier in the day. So some people, tragically like me for instance, will have it blacked out (because the fucking Cardinals have a home game at same time versus the woeful Brownies. Bleech). The rational side of me says “don’t be an idiot bmaz, Brady and Gronk are gonna run up the board on the offense challenged Broncos”. But Denver plays really tough team defense, it’s December, colder than shit and at Mile High Stadium. Marcy has pointed out off blog that the Pats have a history of issues at Mile High against the Donkos. Just to give you an idea, Elway was 9-0 against New England and is going for 10-0 as a GM. Denver is the only team in the league Tom Brady has a losing record against (record is shockingly 1-6). The other things is, the Pats have a defense that even Tebow may be able to throw on. I have no idea in the world how this sucker will go, but it is, by far, not only the best game of the week, but one of the more interesting in a while. Baby Jesus is gonna have to play like Superman (see: Kinks video above; here is a live version from 1979. The Kinks are freaking killer; one of the most under-appreciated and most important rock bands ever) to win this. But Tebow seems to have the possibility and potential in him to do Superman like deeds, so exciting to see!

I will add a few more things in a few minutes, refresh and check back!

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.

The Price of NCAA Trash

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I have been having a pretty interesting discussion off blog with Gulf Coast Pirate about the coaching carousel and big money in college football. The long and short is that his team, the Houston Cougars, has a hot young coach, and my team, the ASU Sun Devils, needs one. Enrollment wise, ASU is in the top five in size, has surprisingly good research and business sponsorship, fantastic facilities for football including a nearly 80,000 seat stadium that, with healthy attendance (especially full attendance) is a gold mine for cash flow. Oh, and starting in less than 30 days, we have our full share of this:

The Pac-10 — soon to officially become the Pac-12 — has agreed to a 12-year television contract with ESPN and Fox that will more than triple its media rights fees and be the most valuable for any conference in college sports.

The contract, which will begin with the 2012-13 season, will be worth more than $225 million per year — or $2.7 billion over the life of the deal, Sports Business Daily and The Associated Press reported on Tuesday.

Why does all this matter? Because hot young coaches, Like Houston’s Kevin Sumlin, do not come cheap. The former coach at ASU, Dennis Erickson, was making in the vicinity of $1.25 mil/yr. ASU was making backchannel offers to Sumlin reportedly in the vicinity of $2.5-3 mil/yr. Several key locals thought they had their man, and were all set to fly to Houston to make it official after the Cougars’ league championship game against Southern Mississippi today. But noooooo, the damn Aggies from Texas A&M up and fired their perfectly good coach, Mike Sherman, and they are hot to trot over Sumlin. Reportedly, the new asking price for Sumlin is now starting in the $3.5-4 mil/yr range. ASU has already bailed on that race.

The interesting dynamic here is that it is certainly not that ASU doesn’t have the money and facilities to compete with A&M; they do in spades. Not to mention that, while you may not beat them every year, ASU can easily be very competitive with USC and Oregon every year. The chances of consistent success are WAY better at a place like ASU in the Pac than they are at A&M where they have deteriorating facilities and will never consistently complete in the top tier of the SEC. Yet ASU threw in the towel. Why? I am not sure yet. Mostly, I think, we just have a crappy and weak AD, Lisa Love. Love should be toast along with Erickson to be honest.

Now the point here is not to pitch ASU as a destination, but just to show how wild the money in college football really is. It is easy to scoff at the giant sums of money paid to a coach like Kevin Sumlin to move jobs, especially in light of the skyrocketing tuition for students, depressed salaries for educators, and general costs of education. But, that said, the difference between 50,000 and 78,000 butts in seats at Sun Devil Stadium for fall Saturday nights is one hell of a lot of money. And huge for the local downtown economy too. So, yeah, when you really count the money it brings in, it is probably worth it. Not to mention that I live in a state with many idiots; there is a big and positive buzz about how UofA scored by hiring Rich Rod and how they were going to overtake ASU in football (they OWN our ass in basketball already, and most other asses in the Pac too). That cannot maintain (and never has in modern history), the Devils must do something!

So, onto the games!! Houston and Southern Miss for the Conference USA Championship (hey Brett, are you there?) is already underway on ABC. USM is actually a decent team (their coach, Larry Fedora also on the ASU list by the way), but Houston is going to move to 13-0 here and get a BCS bid. Baylor plays the Whorens for whatever title is at stake; go RGIII. The Georgia Gawgs are a good team, but LSU will run over them for the SEC crown. The glam pick is for the Sooners to upset Okie State in Big-12, I don’t think so. Lastly, the best game of the day (actually, this one at night, is the inaugural Big-10.2 Championship between Michigan State and Wisconsin. Sparty beat the Badgers at the end of the game on a bogus play earlier in the year. Even though this is in Lansing, I think Russell Wison, Monte Ball and the Badger Boys win in a great game.

I will add in some pros stuff in a bit. The music this week is by a little known guy, except in music circles, Jerry Riopelle. He was, still is I guess, really good. For bmaz trivia buffs, I think the girl with him in the duet and playing guitar, though not positive (it is bad video copy and has been a LONG time) is Llory McDonald, who I went to high school with and knew pretty well.

Make some Trash noise, will ya?

Fast Trash

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Um, okay, couple of MAJOR problems here. First is the issue of the illegitimate Trash appearing on this blog. and the musical selection for the same? Holy crap, I just do not know how I can work under such conditions. So, it turns out that Detroit had Nickleback, while The Cheese that is Green Bay had an actual quarterback. Like a Honey Badger, Aaron RoDgers don’t care, he just carve you up like Thanksgiving turkey.

Today there are already great games on. I was just talking to Marcy and, during the phone call, there were claims of both good and bad touchdowns in the Big Blue/Ohio game. Yeah, the Buckfucks do not even rate being referred to as Ohio State any more. Michigan gonna do the Hokey Pokey on dem Buckeyes.

Soon the JoePas will be taking on Russell Wilson and the somewhat inconsistent Badgers. There is a side of me that would not mind the young kids who are the Penn State team winning this game and shoving it in the face of a lot of hyperventilated crap. But the football side of me thinks Wilson and the Badgers are a lot better team. I will go with that.

Also, this weekend is the final ring in The Circus. Yes, it is the Brazilian Grand Prix. Sebastian Vettel has now broken the impossible record, and claimed his 15th pole for the season. the previous record was taken by a ground effects car that simply had an unfair advantage on the other teams in the field; Vettel’s record is straight up. It is something special, along the lines of a Triple Crown winner, except for being the top one ever. Truly special. Hats off to young Vettel. Yes, his equipment has been superior, but still so was that of his teammate, Mark Webber, and Vettel has wiped the floor not only with competitors, but Webber as well. I will not say “unparalleled” in the history of motorsport, but is there are parallels, there are damn few of them. It is really something special. There was Fangio, Clark (even if cut short), Senna and then Schumacher. For Vettel to come on the heels so quickly after an all time legend like Schumi is unreal. Again, hats off.

I am apoplectic on a couple of stories, and one of them involves newly appointed Penn State “investigator” Louis Freeh. As to the other, has anybody else noticed the similarity between Dominique Strauss-Kahn and Emilio Largo (also “Eric the Red” for It Takes a Thief fans)? I am, disappointingly, but predictably, off in the tall grass trying to figure out what in the world is going on in both. So this is a placeholder for all the Lugnuts that are the Wheelhouse to lay down some shameful Trash in the meantime. Do not disappoint people!

Trash it up, and further analysis will likely follow later! Also, to cleanse the palate of that fucking Nickleback crap, please enjoy some early Bob Seger System.

Tricksy Turkey Day Trash with Nickelback!

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I’m officially launching a pre-emptive sneak attack on Turkey Day Trash because tomorrow, the undefeated Green Bay Packers come to the Lion’s Den to be feasted. And to neutralize Packers loyalists in these parts–yeah, I mean you, bmaz and Phred–I’m rolling out the Detroit Kitties’ secret weapon.

Nickelback!

Read more →

Trash Regurgitated

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Okay, I am going out on a limb here and moving trash up in the queue until tonights game, and any afterbirth, is over. Then either Marcy or I will return it to the bottom of the barrel where it was rescued from! Mostly, I wanted to post up this wonderful Norman Rockwell image, because it represents the greatness that is America!
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THE BCS sucks, but it has a literal monopoly on major college football. It operates with the blessing of the NCAA, yet serves as a giant restraint of trade upon NCAA member schools and to the virtual exclusion of those schools which are not fortunate enough to have already bought their way into the six “BCS Conferences”. The single premise justifying this infernal setup has been that the BCS formula results in a true national championship between the two truly top teams and the best lineup for the four “BCS Bowls”, the Rose, Fiesta, Sugar and Orange.

The lineups for the games have never been necessarily that great though and, although much of the time the championship game seems to have the right two teams, it has certainly been nowhere near consistent in that regard. Friday and Saturday night blew it all to shit. First, Oklahoma State, the number 2 BCS ranked team got got beat by a very mediocre Iowa State. Then number 3 Oregon got licked by Tommy Trojan and Oklahoma got the RGIII treatment from Baylor. BOOM! The BCS rankings are in shambles, the nation is looking at another putrid rematch of that pitiful 9-6 LSU/Alabama game from earlier in the year and no telling how crappy the four named bowls will end up. There is even growing talk that the weak sister of the poor, Notre Dame, should be given a BCS bowl berth; which, although providing absolutely shitty football, always is a moneymaker.

Please, make it all stop. Now. This is the one place where I would be happy to have the idiots in the US Congress intervene. Go to it boys. End. This. Madness. Now!

Oh, hey, a shout out to Gulf Coast Pirate’s Houston Cougars, who ran up another big win against SMU to move to 11-0 for the year and will try to make it 12-0 with a season closing win over Tulsa. The Cougars deserve a nice BCS berth, they are exciting to watch. And, under protest, must also mention the confounded Wolvereenies, who actually looked competent on both sides of the ball in a big, really huge, win over Nebraska. This Brady Hoke may be the right guy in Ann Arbor, and residents/former residents there should thank the nice folks in San Diego!

On to more pleasant things where every team has the the option to play the games to win the games and take their chances in the playoffs. The NFL. Going to open the discussion with Cincinnati at Baltimore. The Bengals may not have won against the Stillers, but they sure held their own, as did rookie QB Andy Dalton. But they get another smash mouth perennial playoff division opponent today in the Ravens. Both teams are playing great defense and have competent, but far from flashy offenses. Like with the Stillers, look for the Ravens to win, but could really be a great game. Sheriff Ed Reed, meet Duelin Dalton. But in Duelin’s favor today, one cat he will not be meeting is Ray Ray Lewis, who, as Marcy commented, hasn’t missed a game in almost a Favre. But the Ravens still have Terrell Suggs and Reed, and that is a lot.

Bolts at Bears may well be the best game – potentially anyway – on the schedule this week. The Bears are clicking, the Bolts are hurting; but this is the time of year San Diego usually pours it on. Also interesting again is Carolina at Kitties. Can Cam shaft the Lions? Detroit has really fallen back to earth and one of the huge reasons has to be the nearly complete absence of a running game without Jahvid Best. Detroit should win this, but I dunno. The Iggies go visit the Gents in the “meh” game of the week, although I suppose Philly could open the door some for Dallas if they knock off Eli. Oh, and the ‘Boys are at the Skins where Sexy Rexy is baaaack. Grossman does give Washington the best chance to win (also best chance to implode), but hard to see that they have anything for Dallas at this point.

Oh, and the CheesePack tries to stay undefeated against the Buccos. Go Pack Go!! Don’t you just love the Little Jets Whiner?!

Well, there is a lot to discuss even though this is a football only Trash week, so get to jawing.

Jets, Pats & Other Pro Trash

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I promised new Trash for the NFL Sunday slate, and dammit I’m gonna deliver. Plus a certain Ms. Wheel is just dying to predict the Jets, Jets, Jets are gonna whup up all over the Patsies. And who am I to deny the forum for that? So buckle up for takeoff Wheel pilots!

In all seriousness, the Pats in New Yawk, er New Joisey, is really the most interesting game of the week for several reasons. There is the conference rivalry, the fact it really may determine the conference champion, the whole Bill Belichick/Jets tension from long ago, and the fact that both teams are in a way weaker posture than they figured to be and are desperate for some street cred. Frankly, the latter may, shockingly, apply even more to Bieber and cohorts than the Jets at this point; even the invincible Pats offense is looking like it is missing a couple of cylinders lately. And, say what you will about them, the Jets have firmed up the backbone and Revis Island is gobbling up ground again. You all know the players by now (except Bill Bel sent Fat Albert Haynesworth packing to TB), so no need to go through that again. I have no idea how to call this one, but am excited to see what happens. It is the Sunday Night Football game, so we all get to watch together.

Damn near as good, ought to be the old time Black & Blue Division match between the Lions and Bears. This one is at Soldier Field and, believe it or not, Cutler and Da Bears have been very solid of late. When Cutler can stay on his feet, and is not being an idiot, he is very good and so are the Bears. Detroit has the line to put the sometimes Jello Jay on his ass though, and they better if they want a chance to win. Make no mistake, the Lions need the win, because they have the Packers twice, Chargers, Raiders and Saints left on the schedule. Not a piece of cake from here on out. This will be a real good test of where Matt Stafford, MegaTron and the Boy Named Suh are.

Also in the first rate category is Giants at 49ers. Good Eli has been prevalent of late (of course he always beats the Pats), and the Gents have looked mean. But next to the mercurial Cheeseheads, the Niners have been far and away the most consistent NFC team this year. Again, another great test heading into the final stretch of the year. We will learn a lot about San Francisco; if they pull out another win, then they really are legit.

Saints at the Dirty Birds in Hot’Lanta also shapes up to be a very good game. New Orleans has not been very good on the road this year, and Atlanta can be a tough venue. Stillers at Bengals is yet another tell tale matchup. I was a little shocked Pittsburgh did not dispatch Baltimore last week, so how they bounce back on the road in Cinci will be a good measure. Also be interesting to see how the so far unflappable rookie Andy Dalton holds up against the Steel Curtain. Good times await!

Honorable mentions this week go out to the Bills at ‘Boys and Tebows at the Chefs. Also the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, but it will be over by the time anybody sees this, unless you are up very early in the morning (if you are, tune in to Speed TV, Abu Dhabi is a nice circuit).

Prepare for takeoff! By the way, I saw the tour, and indeed maybe the exact concert if that is Pauley Pavilion, the video above was taken from in 1976. It was completely killer.

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