Just John

I think Bledsoe's futility in 2000 and the first couple of games in 01 under Belichick's system made the decision pretty easy once it was clear Brady was on the rise. Bledsoe was well past his prime his anyway, whereas Brady still has a few good years left right now. There has been nothing to indicate Brady was declining, only that he was getting better with more talent being put around him, so there's a huge difference between the Bledsoe situation and this one. Right now, the only concern with Brady is his knee, but didn't Carson Palmer come back from a similar injury and play pretty well? I couldn't see any reason to hop off the Brady train, especially when Cassel's gonna get some big FA offers after the season. Although, it would be funny to watch all the Patriot/Brady haters in another city embrace him if he did get shipped out.

1. How do you feel about the Dallas/Detroit tradition? How would you change it, if at all? The only thing I'd change is mandatory throwbacks. I don't care how shitty the games are if the teams play them in some sweet old-school unis. They did this for a few years, but they stopped for some reason, and the games seem a lot less interesting. Come on, how pumped would you be for TEN/DET if you knew the Titans were going to bust out the old Oilers powder blue unis? 2. Are there ten QBs in the league -right now- that you would take over Matt Ryan? If so, who? If not, does that blow your mind? Where do you rate him? I agree with the consensus that he's lower top 10 at this point, which is great for a rookie. Brady, the Manning bros, Roethlisberger, Rivers, and Brees are the only guys who strike me as decidedly better overall. Favre and Warner are having nice years, so they might go over Ryan for now, but I wouldn't take them over Ryan long-term. 3. Who is the best player in the AFC west? Nnamdi Asomugha shuts down half the field for Oakland. He leads the defense that keeps the Raiders in the game long enough for their offense to piss it away. Philip Rivers is very quietly having an excellent year despite some rough losses and LT providing very little compared to previous years. If the Chiefs had a decent QB, Gonzalez might be in consideration as well, given how he's played despite his terrible team. 4. Where does Donovan McNabb play next season? Probably somewhere in the NFC North. I would've thought Detroit before they signed Culpepper, but Chicago and Minnesota are two very realistic possibilities. There's an outside shot of him going to KC, but that's been looking less likely since it appears Thigpen could be a serviceable QB for them in the future, and they have more pressing needs like an O-Line and WRs. 5. Why does Seattle suck so bad? All their good players getting old, injured, or leaving.

The Sixers should be decent when Elton Brand gets back in a consistent rhythm and they continue to develop their chemistry. They should be one of the better teams in the East when it's all said and done. The Bucks and Heat are where the 8-seed tomato cans are at.

I can't believe Eddie Jordan got fired. Well, I kind of can, but that's a classic case of the coach being the scapegoat for everything. The guy has led healthy and not-so-healthy versions of this team to the playoffs. The Wiz might only have one win, but they seemed liked they were playing hard in most of their games. I can't imagine a new coach getting any more out of them. Eddie should find a job somewhere next season when more positions open up.

People are sleeping on the Panthers. If Delhomme keeps his head out of his ass, there as dangerous as anyone. With Muhammad back as the #2 WR, they look a lot like the 03 team that went to the SB. AFC: 1. Tennessee (15-1) 2. Pittsburgh (11-5) 3. NY Jets (11-5) 4. Denver (9-7) 5. Indianapolis (11-5) 6. New England (10-6) Record wise, it's almost impossible for the Titans to lose the top spot. I have them going 15-1, because those teams tend not to do very well in the post season. I think Pittsburgh will win the AFC if they don't sustain any more major injuries. Otherwise, I guess Tennessee could take it. The Pats would probably beat the Jets when Favre turns in his standard 2000s playoff performance. Denver will get killed by whoever they face. Pitt/Indy is probably the best game of the playoffs if it happens. Indy could be a major spoiler, but the Titans did shut them down earlier this year, so I'm still leaning Tennessee if those two meet up. NFC: 1. NY Giants (14-2) 2. Carolina (13-3) 3. Arizona (11-5) 4. Green Bay (9-7) 5. Tampa Bay (10-6) 6. Dallas (10-6) The Giants seem like the clear cut favorites here, but like I said, I'm not ready to count out the Panthers. We'll get a preview of this game in a couple weeks to see where Carolina's really at. I could see Zona crashing the party in the NFC title game, but it's a longer shot. Wildcards in the NFC look to be pretty inconsequential. There's no one like Indy who looks like they could win three on the road to make the SB.

Well, I won't say he had a great game, but Braylon Edwards deserves the blame for at least two of those incompletions. How the hell did that guy make the Pro Bowl last year?

Probably not. A lot of Europe to US flights go over the north pole (and some probably graze Alaskan airspace) because it's actually the shortest path. Remember the earth is more or less a sphere, so you have to think of flight paths relative to a globe as opposed to a flat map. Otherwise, I agree. Palin should go away forever, but she gives news outlets a lot to talk about, so I'm not counting on it.

04 LCS thread. "This is what happens when you walk a fucking faggot like Millar Mariano Rivera you piece of shit" etc.

Sadly, that's still better than the afternoon Seattle/Dallas game.

The O'Reilly segment is better. It's like a director's cut. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtxDs3Rk_vE

If the trade went through as originally proposed, I think it would be a good deal for both teams. Detroit desperately needs a shakeup to take it to the next level, and Denver would benefit by getting a decent big guy and by making Melo happy since he'd be the top guy again. If McDyess isn't going to play for Denver, they should scrap the deal, though.

Just think of it like a wrestler getting a new gimmick.

"Turn Turn Turn" - The Byrds

I'm waiting for them to announce open tryouts. You too could be an NFL player! New Orleans Saints auditioning kickers and punters by Mike Triplett, The Times-Picayune Wednesday October 29, 2008, 9:28 AM The Saints are auditioning several kickers and punters today, according to league sources. Among the candidates at kicker are Billy Cundiff, Aaron Elling, A.J. Haglund, Garrett Hartley and Dave Rayner. Cundiff and Elling worked out with the team earlier, the others are coming in today. At punter, they're looking at Josh Miller and Glenn Pakulak, among others. We'll keep trying to track down some more names, and check back here for bios on these players in a little while. I don't know who any of these people are, maybe they won the punt, pass and kick contest? Billy Cundiff's longest tenure was with the Cowboys a few years back. Dave Rayner kicked for the Chiefs not too long ago. I believe he was cut by the Packers beforehand. Josh Miller is a name that sounds familiar. I wanna say he was with the Pats at one point. I don't think there's any chance of these guys being a substantial improvement over whoever you just cut.

Bruce Smith, Shannon Sharpe, and Rod Woodson are no-brainers. You could make a case for each being the best ever at his position. Wouldn't necessarily agree on that for Smith and Sharpe, but they each have some big numbers in their favor. I totally forgot Cris Carter was eligible last year. It boggles the mind that he wasn't inducted easily. They have to put him in this year, right? I'd hate to be one of the judges for this thing, because looking over the list, there are so many deserving players, and limiting it to 7 is incredibly tough. Outside of those first four, I think I'd finish with Derrick Thomas, Russ Grimm, and Randall McDaniel. Atwater, Reed, Dawson, and Guy just miss the cut this year, but should all go in soon. It's a tough year to get in when Smith, Sharpe, and Woodson all become eligible at once.

I will. Normally, the hours for promotions like this are very inconvenient, but it works out pretty nicely with my schedule today. And selfishly, I'm glad the game was delayed again, because I probably wouldn't have been able to see it tonight. I'm already missing the first NBA game of the season.

Point taken! But I (and other here, obviously) would just to like to know what is and what is not acceptable behavior; why is one "worse" than the other? The new celebration rule this year (as I remember) is that you can't "go down" or something equally stupid as part of a celebration. So TO bending over for a mock sprint would violate this rule, while an upright Lambeau leap would be ok, I guess.

Yeah, as weird/bad as suspending the game after half an inning was, it would be even worse to say "Sorry, just kidding, that didn't count." Although it would be funny if they did do that, then the Rays came out and put up 8 or so in the "real" top of the sixth.

To be fair, though, without a hardcore conservative on the ticket (Ridge is pro-choice), McCain would be in even bigger trouble in Virginia, North Carolina, and Georgia right now. My vote (and probably many others) may still be up in the air if he picked Lieberman and acted like the John McCain of eight years ago, but sadly, there are a large number of people supporting him based entirely on Palin. He would a probably lose a similar number of votes with any VP choice he made.

If Kerry could win Pennsylvania, I don't see why Obama wouldn't. I guess you could make a case for the racist vote, but Pennsylvania has enough urban and liberal university areas where Obama should gain new voters to help offset that.

1. Not much. Maybe you see a little more inspiration like STL experienced after their coaching change, and playing a tomato can like the Seahawks could possibly boost their confidence with a win, but I don't think they'll win any more games than they would have previously. 2. I'll say no, only because Jacksonville isn't pulling away with the 2-spot in the AFC South. Indy is still a wildcard threat, even though they're clearly not as good as past years. 3. Maybe slightly more trouble than Indy due to every team in the division having a decent record, but they're not out of it by any means. I don't like them to break their playoff losing streak if they make it, though. 4. Probably not and no. The games don't draw, and anyone that's ever flown to Europe can tell you how much jet lag sucks. I couldn't imagine doing that while trying to maintain a pro-athlete workout plan. 5. Marc Bulger needs to keep his head out of his ass. The first few games saw him missing open throws, taking bad sacks, and throwing careless INT's. He's cut down on that lot in their two wins, and the defense has stepped up as well. The Patriots need to get pressure on Bulger to force him into making stupid mistakes like they did against Cutler.

What about Oilers/Bills 93 or that Lakers/Celtics Game 4 in the finals this year? Anything that keeps a score has potential for a remarkable comeback. I may be in the minority here, but I don't think the Rays are finished at all. To me, this felt like the Cardinals winning Game 5 off that Pujols HR against Houston. Everyone went nuts about it at the time, but then the Stros easily handled them in Game 6. For all the arguments about team psyche and momentum, we need to remember that in the end, it's just one game. The Rays got shut down at home in Game 1, and responded by winning three in a row, so I don't think this team is full of quitters who are going to buy into the "Oh, here comes the Boston comeback for the win" talk.

In Kansas City, it's the Chiefs by a lot. KU basketball and Mizzou football are probably second and third. The Royals are more of a sideshow attraction. Out here in Columbia, it's Mizzou everything, obviously. Cardinals baseball (sadly) is number two.

That's an odd signing. They already have a good 1-2 punch with Portis and Betts, so unless one of them got hurt, I don't get that move. Still not as bad as Dallas giving up a 1st and a 3rd for Roy Williams, though.

The thing is, that's obviously not the case for Salt Lake City. And tacking a Spanish word on to SLC of all places? Maybe I could get behind Real San Antonio or something, but Real Salt Lake is just weird. However, I will take that and FC Dallas over the LA Galaxy. Now, that's just straight bad.