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Hello all, and I hope everyone had a good Christmas. Here are a couple of holiday pictures. The first is obviously myself and my cat, Madison. The second is the pile of LEGO I got for Christmas - 37 sets total!I hope to see everyone New Year's Eve and New Years' Day - we are planning a blind vodka taste test (blind during the tasting, not afterwards)!
Marc Nelson Jr.
Supreme Allied Commander
We Three Jerks
The Brahma Bull, Jamal Lewis, made the Browns his bitch again yesterday, rushing for 205 yards in the Ravens 35 - 0 victory in Cleveland. Lewis, who was rested for the final 8:23 of the game, brought his two game total against the Browns to 500 rushing yards. His performance puts him just 153 yards away from Eric Dickerson's 2,105 single season rushing record, and only a mere 48 yards away from 2,000, something only 4 players in NFL history have been able to do (Dickerson, Barry Sanders, Terrel Davis and O.J. Simpson). Plus, he's got the Steelers next week, with the playoffs on the line and the Steel Curtain looking pretty threadbare these days.I'm just about ready to give Lewis the MVP award this year. Especially after watching Payton Manning and the oh-so-close Colts Offense get shut down in the second half of their home loss to the Denver Broncos last night. Not only that, but Manning, McNabb and Jason White have all made me about as sick of quarterbacks as I've ever been. Without the 5-11, 240 lb Lewis, the Ravens would be the Pittsburgh Steelers of the AFC North. Third string QB Anthony Wright has been playing superbly, primarily because the Ravens have saddled up their horse every game. With the Brahma Bull getting so many carriers, (he leads the league with 360) defenses have to play Wright honest, and as long as he can avoid mistakes, the Ravens are in every ball game they play.
Don't get me wrong, I know how vital the Ravens D is to the success of the team, but they haven't shown up every week (see the Seattle game), and it was Lewis and the O that were able to hang a whole bunch of points on a couple of oppenents.
If Lewis doesn't get the MVP, I'm giving him the MVC -- Most Valuable Clydsdale.
Oh, and one more thing, Lewis is our age.
Tony
The Eagles stumbled on their way to locking up the division and home field advantage throughout the playoffs, with an overtime loss Sunday to the 49ers. Now the road to the Super Bowl will probably go through St. Louis instead of Philadelphia, and the Eagles will not have the luxury of forcing the domed Rams to play in Phila in January. The Eagles must now beat the Skins on the road and hope the Rams lose to the Lions in Detroit.You can blame McNabb, who threw a pick on the opening drive in overtime that set up the 49ers game winning field goal. You can even blame the Eagles D, who allowed the hapless 49ers to stay in the game, despite T.O. breaking his left collar bone, an injury that puts him out for the remainder of the season. But we all know the truth: The Eagles already tested the patience of the Football Gods with their black jerseys a number of weeks ago, but this week they coupled the black numbers with their green pants. That was the last straw for the gods, and the Eagles' fashion faux pas will probably cost them a trip to the Super Bowl.
Beware, for the Football Gods are vengeful gods.
Tony
Penn State football coach Joe Paterno is planning on sticking around. The coach, who will turn 77 shortly, has no plans on leaving and is currently in the midst of recruiting his next class. Now, I understand how big Paterno is and everything that he's done for that school, but the team finished 3-9 this year and 1-7 in the Big Ten. The only wins came against Temple, Kent State and Indiana. It's time for JoPa to make a graceful exit, before the usually friendly crowd at Happy Valley starts booing him unmercifully.But even if you don't think on the field performance is enough (which it is), check out this little morsle from the AP article linked to in this post.:
The first, and worst, of a series of off-field troubles came last spring when Anwar Phillips was arrested and charged with sexually assaulting a female student on campus. A jury over the summer found him innocent, but when the details were made public in the spring Paterno was vilified for allowing Phillips to play in the Capital One Bowl, two weeks after Phillips had been expelled from the university.
During the summer and fall, seven more current and former players were arrested or cited, including redshirt freshman Maurice Humphrey, the team's No. 2 receiver. On the day after the season ended, Humphrey was charged with aggravated assault, simple assault, harassment and criminal mischief for an alleged on-campus assault. He was temporarily expelled from the university earlier this month.
Paterno's whole appeal, outside of winning, has been that he's a disciplinarian who molds boys into men and prepares them for the world. He's not even doing that anymore. As Don Meredith might say, "Turn out the lights, the party's over."
In other coaching news, former NFL quarterback Jim Harbaugh has agreed to be the head football coach at San Diego College, a small Catholic school overlooking Mission Bay. This is bad news guys, not for Harbaugh, but for us. We are now so old that guys who were in their prime during our adolescence are coaching.
Oh, the humanity!
Tony
The Delaware Blue Hens captured the NCAA Division I-AA championship last night, in a 40-0 defeat of Colgate. Delaware finished the season 15-1, including playoffs. Yes, playoffs. Now, I don't want to spend this blog post ranting about the BCS, there's really no mystery about how I feel about that unmitigated piece of garbage. So, I'll focus on something positive for a change. While watching the highlights of this game on Sportscenter this morning (I had Christmas Shopping I had to attend to last night) I found myself smiling. Each time I saw a Delaware player score a touchdown, he quietly handed the ball to the ref, gave a couple of high fives to his teammates and then got back to the game. There were no dances, no phone calls, no Sharpies, not even a spiking of the ball. And this team was in the midst of winning a National Championship, on live nationwide television. And they were not only destroying Colgate, but were on their way to the first shutout ever in a I-AA Chapionship. And yet, restraint, humility and dignity were all on display.If these kids can behave like grown men, why can't the grown men in the NFL behave that way? Is it the money, the fame, or the fact that nobody ever tells these guys no?
Jim Haslett excused Joe Horn's behavior last Sunday by saying he's "only 32." I really hope Haslett and Horn were watching last night, and I hope each one of them felt about two inches high after watching the Delaware players behave with such grace.
Tony
Marc
Marc
Ending weeks of feverish speculation, New York Giants head coach Jim Fassel was told today he would be let go at the end of the season, in a meeting with management that Fassel had requested. The Giants, who blew a 24 point lead in a playoff game with the 49ers last year, fell well below expectations this year. They are currently in the midst of a six game losing streak and are last in the NFC East. Fassel requested and will be allowed to coach the remaining two games on the Giants schedule.Fassel, who was an offensive coordinator with the Arizona Cardinals before he came to New York, is expected to find work next year, possibly with those same Cardinals. Regardless of the outcome of the two remaining games, Fassel will finish his career in New York as the third-winningest coach in franchise history. Although his career in New York included a Super Bowl appearance three years ago (where they were summarily destroyed by the Baltimore Ravens), Fassel was under pressure almost from the minute this season started. The team suffered a number of early injuries, including Tight End Jeremy Shockey, and attendence began to suffer toward the end of the season.
The Giants are looking at a number of replacements, including LSU coach Nick Saban, former Jaguars coach Tom Coughlin, and the Patriots' two coordinators: Romeo Crennel and Charlie Weis. Coughlin, Crennel and Weis were Giants assistants under Bill Parcells.
Tony
New Orleans Saints WR Joe Horn, after catching the second of four touchdowns in the Saints beat down of the New York Giants on Sunday night, lifted the padding around the goal post and pulled out a planted cell phone, which he then pretended to dial and talk on. The stunt, which drew the ire of many, including broadcaster Paul Maguire, was conceived a week ago and discussed on a radio show the night before the game. It was not Horn's first instance with ridiculous end zone celebration this year. Earlier in the season Horn pretended to take out a machine gun and shoot two teammates, who dutifully fell to the ground. Horn, who in a USA Today interview last year about Terrell Owens' Sharpie stunt promised never to do such a thing, was chastised by his coach on the sidelines, but will receive no fine from the team. The league, however, is expected to fine or suspend him.
Even more disturbing then the call was the interview on the 6 pm Sportscenter with Dan Patrick where Horn took turns laughing off the stunt, offering bland and unfelt apologies for it and taking jabs at the league for not being any fun. While Patrick prodded, former Cowboys Wide Receiver and full time athlete fellator Michael Irving laughed it up with Horn and agreeded that no one, including the oppossing Giants, had been offended by the "phone call." The Giants, who have been in the tank so long that they wouldn't have cared if Horn had squeezed out a Cleveland Steamer on Jim Fossel's face, probably weren't offended. But lots of other people were, including myself, Kornheiser, Wilbon, Jaws, Dan Patrick, Sean Salisbury, inumerable sports writers and most importantly the majority of football fans.
Horn's stunt, which he claimed was designed to bring fun into the league, was in reality designed to lift the profile of Joe Horn. It has nothing to do with the Ickey Shuffle, the Dirty Bird or the Skins' Fun Bunch end zone cirlce. Those were all fun and mostly clever end zone celebrations that whole cities were able to get behind. They were also dances of good, Super Bowl-bound teams, something the Saints are certainly not.
In an attempt to find the silver lining, I should note that New York Jets coach Herm Edwards was so outraged by the stunt that he called the commissioner to voice his disgust. Edwards, however, is a dying breed of coaches who simply will not tolerate this kind of reprehensible behavior. New Orleans coach Jim Haslett, on the other hand, has looked the other way after his camera-ready sidline scolding of Horn, saying this about Horn in a Monday press conference: "He'll learn. He's only 32." Great, looks like I'm clear to be a dickhead at work for another 8 years.
Look, this is out of hand. The league should stiffen penalties to include suspension, as millionaire athletes wipe their asses with the $10,000 fine that will most likely be levied against Horn. In a sense, however, the league is helpless and the problem is much bigger than Horn and T.O. In fact, earlier on Sunday, T.J. Duckett, after scoring the lone Falcons touchdown in their 38 to 7 beating at the hands of the Colts, celebrated with a dance in the end zone, at a time when the oh-so-out-of-it Falcons were down by 25 points.
Undisciplined, over-paid, over-indulged athletes will continue to do and say whatever they want (see Lewis, Ray; Bryant, Kobe), as long as there are sycophantic hangers-on. It permeates the culture, and it's not going away. It is, dare I say, the Orndoff Principle as unstoppable force.
As Charleton Heston would say: My God.
Tony
Senator John Breaux (D-LA) has announced that he will not seek reelection next year, marking the fifth Democratic Senator to announce such plans. The other four are Presidential Candidate John Edwards (D-NC), former candidate Bob Graham (D-FL), Ernest "Fritz" Hollings (D-SC) and Zell Miller (D-GA). All five Senators hail from the south, a region where Democrats have been slipping in recent years. Further, all five seats are considered up for grabs or Republican locks, and if convential wisdom holds true, by January 2005 Republicans will be within easy reach of the 60 votes needed to prevent Democratic filibusters.Beyond the effect these decisions have on Senate buisness, the departures deliver a blow to a party who has been out of power for almost four years.
The only hope the Democrats may be able to cling to is a recent trend of voters deliberately splitting their ticket in order to produce divided government. According to authors V. Lance Tarrance, Walter De Vries and Donna L. Mosher, whose book Checked and Balanced (I have a copy) outlines this emerging phenomenon, there is a significant number of voters who purposefully split their ticket to prevent one-party rule. If the trend holds, Democrats may benefit. However, my guess is that divided government is a lot more attractive during peacetime, when political debate is dominated by how and where to spend taxpayer money. Now that foreign policy and homeland security are the two biggest issues, people may look for unified government to prevent gridlock, rather than encourage it. Something to chew on.
Tony
"We designed a gold jersey last year to wear when teams in hot weather cities make us wear black," Rooney said. "We showed it to the NFL, and they told us we could wear the jerseys at home, but not away ... so we never went through with it."But now, the NFL allows teams to wear alternate jerseys on the road if the home team wears white - setting the stage for this abomination:
"We would have worn them with the gold pants," Rooney said, "and I know what you're thinking ... but, trust me, the gold on gold went well together."Well, the Steelers have been playing like my 10th grade JV team, now they can look like them too.
Marc
But seriously, folks... In his post Tuesday, T-Bone linked to a very perceptive piece by Bill Kristol, who is rapidly approaching George Will op-ed god status. Kristol warns Republicans against misunderestimating Howard Dean, and makes a persuasive case for Dean's potential angle of attack:
But Dean will emphasize that he has never ruled out the use of force (including unilaterally). Indeed, he will say, he believes in military strength so strongly that he thinks we should increase the size of the Army by a division or two. It's Bush, Dean will point out, who's trying to deal with the new, post-Sept. 11 world with a pre-Sept. 11 military.There is daylight to the right of Bush on foreign policy. Dean has already hinted at his willingness to attack (rhetorically) Saudi Arabia for their lunatic anti-Semitism and support of terrorist organizations.
I think the real opportunity that Kristol points out is Dean's chance to make specific calls for strengthening the military - two more light infantry divisions, 100,000 more soldiers, whatever. What is Bush's rationale for NOT strengthening the military? Whatever happened to the two-war standard (the doctrine that the US military would be able to fight two medium-level wars at once)?
Kristol also points out Bush's potential vulnerability on the issue of the deficit and the LBJ-like spending by the GOP. Jeff Jacoby highlights some of the worst excesses in the Boston Globe (link from Danno):
-$325,000 for the construction of a swimming pool in Salinas, Calif.And one more reason to line up the City Council and shoot them down like dogs (link via Liz):
-$220,000 for the New Mexico Retail Association in Albuquerque
-$1.8 million for the Women's World Cup tournament
Marc
The Heisman trophy award presentation is tonight, and the odds on favorite is Oklahoma Quarterback Jason White, whose otherwise quality season was marred by a disastrous outing against Kansas State in last week's Big XII championship. The other top candidates are Pitt's WR Larry Fitzgerald, Running Back Chris Perry of Michigan, and Ole Miss QB Eli Manning.Wilbon takes a look at why nobody cares about the Heisman anymore. His answer basically boils down to a list of names:
Winners from 1974-1988 -- Ohio State's Archie Griffin (twice), Tony Dorsett, Earl Campbell, Billy Sims, Charles White, George Rogers, Marcus Allen, Herschel Walker, Mike Rozier, Doug Flutie, Bo Jackson, Vinny Testaverde, Tim Brown, Barry Sanders.
Winners from 1989 -- Andre Ware, Ty Detmer, Desmond Howard, Gino Torretta, Charlie Ward, Rashaan Salaam, Eddie George, Danny Wuerffel, Charles Woodson, Ricky Williams, Ron Dayne, Chris Weinke, Eric Crouch, Carson Palmer.
Tony
