Sportsmeat

Apparently our Dear Leader learned his TV speaking techniques from Tom Jackson. He is absolutely choking the invisible man. "Ya see ... the Broncos defense ... they need to learn to stop being so partisan. They need to come together ... as one ... and support the war. If they don't ... it validates everything the terrorists stand for ... Yeah ... he he ... he he."

OK, so I don't do political commentary well.

I hate blog posts that say either of two things: (1) sorry I haven’t posted in forever, or (2) I can’t think of anything about which to write. So I hate half of this post. Sorry I haven’t posted in forever. However, there are a million things about which to write.

I’ll spit out a couple quick hits, perhaps to start a discussion:

• Ryan Howard is the NL MVP, whether the Phillies make the playoffs or lose every one of their remaining games. The only way he isn’t is if Albert Pujols hits a homer in every remaining game. So, I’d only give Pujols about a 15% chance of winning. No Met should be in the discussion.

• Ohio State is the best team in college football, and its not very close. They are much much better than Notre Dame.

• Nice to see Andy Roddick pack up his racket and leave before the fourth set began on Sunday. Don’t get me wrong, Federer’s great, but Roddick doesn’t have 1/10th the heart of his coach.

• DIRECTV NFL Sunday Ticket is simply the best thing ever. The ability to watch every single game cannot be understated. Among other things I noted on Sunday:

• How ‘bout those Jets, EJ? I know Coles had the numbers, but Cotchery (sp?) was the guy that I saw repeatedly making plays.
• The Ravens look like they may be the team that took the biggest leap during the offseason. Its only one game, but that defense is still tough, and Jamal Lewis looked like the player he was 3 years ago.
• The hit on Trent Green was dirty. But it wasn’t so vicious as to warrant a suspension (the result was worse than the hit itself, if that makes any sense).
• Carolina tends to sh*t the bed early in every season. I don’t get it – I feel like Fox is one of the top 5 coaches in the league, so why can’t he get them going?
• I predict that Steven Jackson will be in the top 3 in rushing when the year is done. Larry Johnson (2 new starting tackles, no Al Saunders or Dick Vermeil) will not. More on Vermeil below.
• I watched the opening drive of the Cowboys-Jags game, and I thought that my prediction to leave them out of the playoffs was a mistake. Then, Drew Bledsoe happened. During the offseason, when so many experts picked the ‘Boys to win the Super Bowl, I kept saying to myself, “But ... don’t they still have Drew Bledsoe starting?” They do, though it might not be for long. However, this team is no better than .500 with him at QB.

I want to write about 10 pages on the Manning Bowl, but I’ll leave it at this:

• As a Giants fan, I’m incredibly heartened by the offensive line play – they were opening gaping holes for Tiki and Jacobs, and Eli didn’t get touched.
• Penalties (some valid, but two big ones (Burress’ “crackback” and Carter’s interference) were not) killed them. Incidentally, how can you get called for a hit at the knees when your shoulder pad hits the defender's shoulder pad? Perplexing...
• Eli (still) needs to improve his accuracy. Especially with balls flying high on him.
• The defense played an average game. Good against the run, but little pressure on Manning.
• And finally, anyone who says that Peyton Manning is not the best quarterback alive simply does not know what he’s talking about. He made so many plays – many of them on the move – that if he were replaced by an average quarterback, that Giants win that game by at least two touchdowns. He was especially brilliant on third downs, which absolutely took the air out of the Giants' D. Repeatedly. I like Tom Brady, but there should not even be a "Who's the best QB" debate.
• I’m just hoping that the above bullet points put us high on the google search rankings for “gaping holes” and “balls flying high.”
  

And that was just the quick hitters. Now onto the one topic I wanted to actually write about – last night’s game between the Raiders and Chargers. As 27-0 games go, this was one of the more entertaining ones. Again, since I’m running long, I’ll go with bullets:

• Dick Vermeil was in the booth (with Brad Nessler and Jaws), and I have to give him a pretty high rating. I am always impressed when a color guy points out something that, as a football fan of 20 years, I didn’t know. Vermeil had about 4 of those moments in the first half. Plus, his comments simply demonstrate that he’s a “football guy.” He gets excited about the nuances and coaching moves in the game (not just by the big hits and long bombs). Plus, he seems more schooled in TV than Jaws, even though Jaws has about 15 years of on-air experience (though, to be fair, I know Vermeil was a commentator for awhile too). I’d take Vermeil over Bill Maas or Dan Dierdorf every day of the week and twice on Sunday (since they play the most football on Sunday). Plus, you never know when the waterworks will start.
  
• In the second half, my governor (gulp), Arnold came on. After being welcomed, he immediately said something to the effect of “Isn’t this wonderful? Art Shell is back as the coach, and the team is putting on quite a performance. Its miraculous!” This was when the Raiders were down 13-0, and had about 40 yards of total offense. (I’m not sure of the exact quote – I’m sure it will be up on youtube soon). As he was saying that, you could see Jaws ever-so-slightly shake his head in disbelief. Classic.
  
• Arnold brought along a firefighter from the Bay Area who had joined the relief effort at ground zero five years ago. After a few questions, Nessler did the customary “you are the true hero here” speech, a sentiment with which I agree. As Nessler was wrapping up his tribute, though (and at this point, the “action” on the field didn’t really matter), the Raiders punted. Under his breath (with Nessler still speaking) Vermeil mumbles “Wow! What a punt!”
  
• That punt was one of 4 consecutive punts that Vermeil praised. He’s a real punting aficionado, apparently. He should have seen the Giants-Eagles matchup back in ’98. Brad Maynard would have knocked his socks off.
  
• The Raiders put in one of the worst performances I’ve ever seen. At no point during that game was there any danger whatsoever of them scoring. None. Every pass play was like a jailbreak. Seeing Shawn Merriman lining up across from Robert Gallery and Aaron Brooks is like seeing a nature film where a crocodile is planted near the edge of a river and two birds step up to take a drink of water. You know what’s coming, and it ain’t gonna be pretty.
  
• Speaking of Merriman, I think that we need to pass the torch of “Scariest Guy in the NFL” to him. I imagine it was previously with Ray Lewis or Jerry Porter, but if I had to choose one person to NOT step into the UFC octagon with, it would be him. That dude is ferocious (and to risk being struck down by lightning, I’d say he’s the closest thing to LT since LT).
  

Whew, I guess I’ll leave it like that. Eagles-Giants next week is big for both teams. Let’s get some chatter going!