the pinjockey

Kicker: Morton Anderson, with Charles Tillman and Mike Brown out Moss should have a field day and put them in position to kick a bunch. But after seeing their red zone problems last week, I think they could end up with a couple of FGs in the red zone instead of TDs. Receiver: Keyshawn, ride the hot streak, plus teams are going to start scheming for Fitzgerald since there is nothing else on that team with Boldin out.

THURSDAY Miami Friday Northern Illinois Boise State SATURDAY N.C. State Boston College Notre Dame Florida State Iowa Washington State Alabama Texas Tech Wisconsin Florida USC Minnesota Arizona State Tiebreaker #1: How many total points will be scored in the Bowling Green/Northern Illinois game? 40 Tiebreaker #2: How many yards passing will Miami's Brock Berlin have against Houston? 240

Nice, I outscore the third highest scoring team this week by 27 points and manage to lose.

Gabriel had no stats. He did nothing today.

Thursday California Friday Boston College Saturday Pittsburgh Michigan West Virginia TCU N.C. State Oklahoma Auburn Wisconsin Florida State Notre Dame Clemson UCLA Tennessee USC Minnesota Tiebreaker #1: How many total points will be scored in the Connecticut/Boston College game? 44 Tiebreaker #2: How many yards rushing will Cal's J.J. Arrington have against Southern Miss? 130

No, what Shaun Alexander does is screw me over in my fantasy league. Figures I had to go against him during one of his "on" weeks. Another note after today's games, next week, MNF, Minn/Philly looks to be one hell of a shootout.

Yeah, for some reason I always spell it wrong with the u instead of an w.

Eagles lose Shaun Andrews for the season with a broken fibula. Artis Hicks will step into the starting five. The starting lineup should not skip a beat, but they now have no depth on O-Line should another injury occur.

Ok, to anyone who saw Texas/Ark, was there a reason to run a QB draw with less than 30 seconds left and no timeouts?

First of all, to preface my thoughts, I liked RE1. So I can go for mindless movies. But this was just pointless. 2Gold pretty much summed up my feelings (not offensively bad, but not decent either). Positives from the movie: 1. A death yanked straight from Firefly made me smile (the final death). 2. Um...topless Milla ? But after showing furburger in RE1 that loses effect. 3. Zombie Hookers rule That is pretty much all I will remember from this movie by tomorrow morning. Well that and the terrible acting by the girl who played Jill.

Keepers: Clement, Nathan, Blalock, Vlad

Reggie Williams

Thursday, September 9th Missouri Friday, September 10th Miami Oregon State Saturday, September 11th Wisconsin Arizona State Nebraska UCLA Kansas State Michigan Ohio State Colorado Virginia Wyoming Georgia Oklahoma USC Clemson Penn State Alabama Texas Tiebreaker #1: How many total points will be scored in the Florida State/Miami game? 44 Tiebreaker #2: How many total yards (passing & rushing) will Missouri's Brad Smith have against Troy State? 400

Taylor and Alexander. Griffin has to prove what he can do and who knows if Brown is even going to play this weekend as the Tenn/Miami game is uncertain at this point due to Ivan.

Not kick in a dome.

Now that all cuts have been made and the season is only a few days away, I figured it would be a good time for people to give an idea as to where they think their team stands. And if you wanted to preview a different team from yours or give an overall preview, well that is why I put that subheading. Anyway, Philadelphia Eagles Offseason: Major upgrade Any time you add the top available FA playmaker on each side of the ball, it has to be viewed as a good offseason. I also like the late additions of Trotter and Douglas. They certainly are not the players they were two years ago, but with the loss of Vincent and Emmons, they needed to boost morale on this team and they did that in a major way. Many analysts point out the loss of Vincent and Taylor as reasons this team may not succeed, but they are seriously overrating the abilities of those two at this point in their careers. The other two losses (Emmons and Staley) I will get to at the LB and RB position sections. Positions Quarterback: Upgrade This is the year that is going to make or break Donovan McNabb as an elite QB in this league or just a decent QB with elite playmaking ability. When you have Charles Johson and Torrence Small as your WRs, a poor throwing stat line is excusable. When you have Todd Pinkston and James Thrash as your WRs, a poor throwing stat line is excusable. When you have Terrell Owens, there is no more leeway. IMO, this year, he puts it all together a little better, gets his comp. % to 60% and becomes a very good QB, but not elite. The major positive that has come out of the preseason is the emergence of Jeff Blake as a legit no.2 QB. Every opportunity he has had so far, he has been brilliant. AJ Feeley was a nice no. 3 QB, but if you saw the 6 games he started at the end of 2002-2003, he was not someone you wanted in the lineup permanently. Koy Detmer, right now, is listed as the no.2 QB, but if McNabb goes down watch how fast Blake gets in there. Right now, Detmer is the 2, because he holds for Akers. Running back: Downgrade If, IF, Brian Westbrook can stay healthy all year, this downgrade turns into an upgrade and they have a potential Pro-Bowl back. Westbrook was the most explosive player in the league last season. Everytime he touches the ball, he has the ability to take it all the way. He is also a great back catching the ball out of the backfield (huge in Reid's system). He is going to be taken off return duty this year due to the increased offensive workload. Correll Buckhalter was going to be the solid back on this team. The man who on 3rd and 3 will get you the three. But a second season ending injury in three years has put an end to that (and likely his Eagles career). The team now turns to Reno Mahe and Thomas Tahpe. Needless to say Westbrook better stay healthy or this area turns to toast. Wide Receivers: Do you need to ask? Terrell Owens has already become a mythical creature in the Philadelphia area. He is going to be the man given credit if this team finally makes it all the way (fair or not). Everyone knows, at this point, him and McNabb have had a love fest all offseason. If Owens does not blow up during the season, it should make this offense explosive. If he does, well they got to the NFC championship with shit there last season. Freddie Mitchell is still listed as the no. 3 receiver, but he is clearly the second best receiver on this team. He is fearless going across the middle and has a knack for coming up with the big, first down catches. This is going to be the season he gets into the 50-60 catch area. Todd Pinkston. Ugh. He will catch a long ball every couple of games and then go back into his shell. Todd Pinkston flat out sucks. Lets move on. Greg Lewis and Billy McMullen round out the WRs. Greg Lewis has shown a little potential. Billy McMullen apparently had a brain injury coming out of college and lost every bit of football skill he had. Tight End: Upgrade LJ Smith needs to buy Terrell Owens a steak dinner every night for what his addition is going to mean to Smith's stat sheet. Smith is going to be the starter on this team sooner than later and even as a backup he will still get plenty of action. Chad Lewis is certainly on the downside of his career. At this point, he has no speed or seperation ability. The only catches he made last season were when McNabb was able to thread a needle as Lewis was falling to the ground. Mike Bartrum is the third TE. He only sees action as the long snapper. One of the best in the game as it has been forever since he has screwed up a snap. Offensive Line: Even Runyan, Thomas, Mayberry and Fraley all return. The major change along the line is Shaun Andrews replacing John Welbourn. There was much second guessing when Reid traded up to obtain Shaun Andrews (I believe my reaction was "Fuck that fat fuck"), but Reid knew he needed to get some youth on the O-Line as it is beginning to age. And then Welbourn went on local sports radio WIP and opened his mouth (yes John lets renegotiate the 7 yr deal you signed 2 years ago, asshole). There is a lot of pressure on Andrews, but so far he has responded. The best compliment I can give is that I never noticed him in the preseason. He got called for no stupid penalties and never got burnt by a DT. I have confidence in him going into the season. Then there is the man who would be King, Artis Hicks. When Welbourn got traded, initially everyone thought Hicks would be the one to move into the starting role, but that was not the case. But is makes sense, in the sense, they now have a 6th O-Lineman who can play any of the spots other than center. And if anyone saw Miami/Philly last season, Hicks handled Jason Taylor all night long. If anyone were to go down and Hicks had to be moved into the lineup, they would not miss a beat. Defensive Line: Upgrade The addition of Jevon Kearse upgrades the Defensive End position even if he only plays half of the games. Last season the Eagles only got 9 sacks out of all of their defensive ends, over the entire season. That is atrocious. Hugh Douglas returns, and IMO he will be a nice compliment as a situational pass rusher playing 25-30% of the snaps. Jerome McDougle is the man with the pressure on him this year. He was injured all of last season and did not really show much of that first round ability. He is going to have to step up this season or else he will fall into Mike Mamula territory. Corey Simon, Darwin Walker, Hollis Thomas, Sam Rayburn, and Paul Grasmanis are the DTs. If they all stay healthy, the Eagles have, arguably, the best DT rotation in the league. Corey Simon has the ability to be one of the top DTs in the game. His problem is in the play-to-play consistancy. Darwin Walker is a very good no. 2 DT, but suffers from the same problem as Simon. Hopefully the other three DTs, stay healthy and can alleviate that problem somewhat. Hollis Thomas is the fat turd, run stuffer they lacked last season, but he has some serious health issues as he has not been on the field during a regular season game in two years. Sam Rayburn is a name to remember. Every time he gets on the field he seems to be in the backfield of the opponent. Remember, Rayburn is the man the 49ers wanted for Owens and Reid would not give him up (he would rather give up a third round pick than Rayburn). Paul Grasmanis is just a tough SOB. Someone who will clog up lanes and just play very solid for 10-15% of the plays to get the starters some rest. Linebackers: Even This area is a little confusing. Nate Wayne and Mark Simoneau return to provide Eagles fans with no confidence in their LBs. If a running back gets to that second level, Simoneau is not making the tackle. Where is gets a little blurry is in the loss of Emmons and the addition of Dhani Jones. While the difference in ability of Emmons last year and Jones this year is a downgrade, Emmons is 30 years old and has had trouble recovering from the injury that ended his season last year. If Jones is able to handle the opposing TEs there won't be much trouble in the transition. If he can't? With Shockey, Witten, Winslow, Heap and Franks on the schedule, there could be trouble. The backups are Trotter, Reese, and Adams. A decent, uninspiring group of backups that I would not want to see with the starting job. Cornerbacks: Even Now we get to the area, where everyone seems to think is the biggest downgrade. The only problem is, those people still seem to think Troy Vincent and Bobby Taylor are still Pro-Bowl corners (Troy Vincent making the Pro-Bowl last year was a disgrace). They have both clearly lost a step and with the new rules that means they will lost at least another step. Sheldon Brown and Lito Sheppard are now the point men. Do I think they are great? God no. They both have the ability to be solid CBs and their athleticism will allow Jim Johnson to do more with them blitzing. But they can obviously win with these two at CB considering they did last year when Taylor and Vincent were injured. Rod Hood, IMO, is going to be a very good nickel corner. While Brown and Sheppard went through some growing pains last year, this undrafted FA always was making plays and taking care of his assignments. Matt Ware is going to be the dime corner. If he develops, he will be the big corner to take over for Bobby Taylor and would give them a very nice core of CBs. The safeties are terrific. Brian Dawkins is one of the elite safeties in the game (Reed and Williams make it hard to call him the best anymore). Michael Lewis is going to be a Pro-Bowler this season. If Dawkins goes down, Clinton Hart has Pro-Bowl potential. Quinton Mikell is a coach favorite, that hasn't seen any significant time, so I can't judge him. JR Reed is a safety, but his only action is going to be in the return game. Kicker: Even The best kicker in the game returns this season. (Before New England fans chime in, if there was one kick I needed made to save the world, I take Vinitieri. But over the course of the season I want Akers.) Punter: Even Dirk Johnson is again the teams punter. He did a solid enough job. He isn't the best punter in the league, but he doesn't screw punts up, so he is good enough for me. Special Teams: Minor Downgrade It was a surprise when the Eagles released Sean Morey, as he was a terrific gunner on punts and kickoffs. But the Eagles have shown they can find these people and replace them whenever they want (Dameane Douglas ---> Rod Smart---> Sean Morey). JR Reed has been impressive handling kickoffs in the preseason. He has the gamebreaking abillity that James Thrash lacked in the role last season. It is unknown who is going to handle punts, but whoever it is will be a downgrade from Westbrook last season. Games that worry me: At Clev. on Oct.24 - They are going to be coming off an emotional game, at home, with Carolina and Clev. has just enough talent on offense that they could put up a huge game if it all comes together. Plus Winslow vs. Dhani Jones makes me worry. Home vs. Green Bay - They are going to have three straight divisional games before this one, against a GB team that will want to take this one. Predictions: Cop-out time. This season is Super Bowl or bust, but it is in my nature as a Philly fan to predict the worse. So to save myself from ruining the upcoming season, I am not looking ahead to anything. ...... Eh, what the hell. 13-3. Make it to the Super Bowl.

I am glad to see a list where someone acknowledges LaVar Arrington is not one of the leagues elite players, at this point. But the list just looks like it was thrown together haphazardly, especially where they will bunch the positions (safeties low 30s, WRs 70s). It is kind of like they set out to do the list, but then said fuck it and just threw players on there. As for McNabb, I have no problem with the rating and would have no problem if he was even a little lower.

Could be worse Rudo. You could be me, who went with the old stand-by from when I was ten. The tried and true method of using crap and ass for all verbs and nouns. KANE VS. ORTON, Triple H vs. Eugene in a STEEL CAGE! Sept. 6, 2004 First, Randy Orton crap in the ass of Triple-Juice~!. And if that wasn’t enough, the WWE Champion then crap the Triple Haitch a victory over Eugene by crap with a ass on the latest RAW. Indeed, it’s been a busy couple of weeks for the Legend Crappy, who now better shift his focus away from Evolution and direct it toward ass. The Big Red Newlywed will crap Orton on Downhome. And Kane doesn’t figure to be crappy after learning his new walking, talking gash Lita secretly signed the Big Red Ass up for a match with Noah at Unforgiven. Of course, Orton probably had this coming. He didn’t exactly crappy himself to Eric Bischoff, who booked the match just moments after Orton crap on the RAW GM’s foot. Also, last week on RAW, Bischoff wanted The Raw main event scene to crappy Eugene once and for all. However, Randy Orton, who continues his defiance of Steph’s pharmacist and make life crappy, interfered in the match and cost Mr. Stephanie the victory. This Monday night Trips and Eugene will battle each other again. This time it will be in a ass Will The future champ finally get what he wants and crap Eugene? Or will Eugene crap once again? Find out GET THE F OUT!!! Also, the Three Dollar RAW Missy Hyatt Search reached unreal heights this past week. It appears as though some of the contestants are developing a genuine crappy for each other. Watch this week to see who's next to be shown the crap.

From my money draft last night 1. LaDanian Tomalinson 2. Tony Gonzalez 3. Hines Ward 4. Steve Smith 5. Steve McNair 6. Kevan Barlow (my keeper, our rules are you get to keep a player you picked 6th or higher the previous year and he becomes your 6th round pick) 7. Carolina 8. Warrick Dunn 9. Anquan Boldin 10. Tatum Bell 11. Justin McCareins 12. Roy Williams 13. Byron Leftwich 14. Dallas Clark 15. John Kasay

Is it wrong that I found myself disappointed when Polanco hit a walk off homer, knowing that it would result in there being zero chance of Utley getting the starting job for the rest of the year now?

NCAA Reasoning ""At the end of the day, when we stepped back and looked, there was no question he violated the amateurism rule," Lennon told The Associated Press. "He said, 'I want to be a professional, I no longer want to be a college student-athlete.' "" Good lord, how fucking childish. "Uh uh, you said you wanted to be a pro. We don't want you back now."

Saturday, August 28th USC vs. Virginia Tech Thursday, September 2nd Texas A&M at Utah Northwestern at TCU Friday, September 3rd Washington State at New Mexico - Tiebreaker #2 Saturday, September 4th Miami of Ohio at Michigan Bowling Green at Oklahoma California at Air Force Virginia at Temple Michigan State at Rutgers Oklahoma State at UCLA Wake Forest at Clemson Oregon State at LSU Tulane at Mississippi State Colorado State at Colorado Toledo at Minnesota Notre Dame at BYU Sunday, September 5th Syracuse at Purdue Kentucky at Louisville Fresno State at Washington UNLV at Tennessee Monday, September 6th Nevada at Louisiana Tech Pittsburgh at South Florida Florida State at Miami - Tiebreaker #1 Tiebreaker #3: How many total points will be scored in the Florida State/Miami game? 48 Tiebreaker #4: How many yards will USC's Matt Leinart throw for against Virginia Tech? 365

That is my problem with the dark horse bit. In the last couple of years every analyst and their mother try to spot them. So any team with young, up and coming players (Houston, Jax, Detroit) is going to be picked by a bunch of people to be a dark horse. The only teams that seem to be underrated are the previous year's underachievers, when they are the ones who are one or two breaks away from doing serious damage.

I think New Orleans puts their shit together for the year (carried kicking and screaming by Deuce McAllister if necessary) into a wild card spot and possible playoff run. I think Buffalo gets a wild card spot. I think Houston will be a good team, but with Tenn. and Indy in the division they will have to be great against everyone else to get into the playoffs.

Rowan University: Jeff Datz Rick Lancellotti Rowan's claim to fame is a Crash Davis. Whoopdeedo. Knew I should have gone to Seton Hall: Craig Biggio Matt Morris Mo Vaughn John Valentin