Broadcasters piss me off - Brotherly Love Edition

I (along with everyone else in the fucking world) realize that Tiki and Ronde Barber are brothers. They have been brothers their entire careers, they have played against each other before. They are so deep into their careers that one of them is about to retire. So, what I'm saying is, it no longer needs to be pointed out over and over and over and over and over again that they are brothers. It is a somewhat interesting footnote that maybe deserves a mention before the game. It does not need to be mentioned every time one of them touches the ball. It is not particularly interesting that Ronde, a safety, tackles his brother Tiki, a running back. It's actually kind of expected. Maybe, if Ronde had intercepted Eli Manning, and Tiki had tackled him, I could excuse a comment to the effect that we expected to see Barber tackling Barber, but the other way around. But that's about it. They're brothers, they both play football, get over it.

Also, on the subject of football player's family members, I don't need to see them in the stands even once, but when you go to them after just about every play (or god forbid, interview them in the stands), it's extremely annoying.

NFL Week 8

Last week was my first losing week at 6-7, which could have gone the other way had I not picked the Cowboys (a mistake I won't make this week). But I'm still doing ok overall at 63-37. Nice to see this morning that Ron Jaworski has given up on those ridiculous new glasses he's been wearing lately. Anyway, I plan on being undefeated this week, but hopefully I'll lose the Cowboys Panthers game where I just can't convince myself to pick Dallas since I'm obviously picking Dallas with their QB of the future, Tony Romo.

Jacksonville at Philadelphia - Jacksonville doesn't play in Philadelphia much and they're pretty banged up at the moment. I like the Eagles at home, though this is another one I wouldn't mind losing.

Atlanta at Cincinnati - I'd like to pick the Falcons in an upset here, but I just can't quite bring myself to do it, I like the Bengals.

Arizona at Green Bay - Bad vs. bad, I'll take the home team, the Packers.

Houston at Tennessee - Both teams suck, and both have won games they probably shouldn't have, but I'll take the Texans in a mild upset.

Seattle at Kansas City - I almost picked the Seahawks here just because they win whenever I pick against them, but without Shaun Alexander and Matt Hasselback, I like the Chiefs.

Baltimore at New Orleans - I could see the Ravens winning this game, but I really like the new look Saints, I'll take them at home.

Tampa Bay at New York Giants - Another game I wouldn't mind losing so much, I'll take the Giants.

San Francisco at Chicago - Chicago will lose sooner or later, but not this week.

St. Louis at San Diego - I like the Chargers at home coming off a tough loss.

New York Jets at Cleveland - I'm not sure why the Browns are favored here, but I'll take the Jets anyway.

Indianapolis at Denver - Denver looks good so far, but I don't think they can score enough points to keep up with the Colts.

Pittsburgh at Oakland - It's hard enough to believe the Raiders won a single game, I can't see them actually winning two in a row.

Dallas at Carolina - I hope Romo comes out and wins his first start, but I just don't see it, I like the Panthers 27 - 17 Obviously, Romo is the next Joe Montana, so I'll pick the Cowboys here, 35 - 14.

New England at Minnesota - The Patriots have already been upset once in prime time this season, I don't think it's going to happen again this week. I like the Patriots, 21-13.

Happy Somethingorother*

Apparently, Friday was the anniversary of this blog, but I forgot about it, and now since I'm lazy and can't think of what to say about it, I'll just repost what I posted last year at this time.

A year ago today, I started this blog with this post, which wasn't very interesting, but whatever. At the time I wasn't expecting anyone to read it, and I didn't really know what I was doing it for, I just knew that I had this BlogThis! button on my Google toolbar that I wanted to try out. I figured if I kept posting at all that it would become a more personal kind of journal. What actually happened was that as I read other people's blogs, I realized that I wasn't the only person in the world who didn't worship George Bush, so my frustration with the people who do really become the focus of most of my posts. Also, since it was right before the election, that magnified it for me. And of course after the ridiculous results of that election, my frustration only grew, so it was nice to share my thoughts with people who felt the same way, since at the time, there didn't seem to be enough of us. Not enough to get rid of the idiot, anyway. Now, it seems that things may be turning back towards a more reasonable, less ignorant attitude, and I like to take credit for that.

Anyway, I thought I should post something to commemorate this occasion. Please feel free to send gifts.**

* I refuse to use silly made up words like blogiversary.
** Or cash.

TV - Sunday

Way too much to cover on Sunday, I may have to split this up over several days . Also, with all the TV posts, I forgot to post my week 7 picks, but I did make them. Since the games are already in progress, I'll just run them down here without any comment:

San Diego over Kansas City
Grren Bay over Miami
New York Jets over Detroit
Pittsburgh over Atlanta
Philadelphia over Tampa Bay
New England over Buffalo
Jacksonville over Houston
Cincinnati over Carolina
Denver over Cleveland
Arizona over Oakland, 27-13
Seattle over Minnesota
Indianapolis over Washington
Dallas over New York Giants 17-13.

Now on to the TV:

Desperate Housewives - Started out as a very good show with a good mix of comedy, drama and just enough mystery. Last season it really went downhill as the new mystery sucked in comparison to the original one, and it seemed like the writers don't know what to do with the characters. I like it better so far this season, but it still leaves a lot to be desired. I particulary hate how they handle Tom and Lynette, who are good characters, but the plotlines they put them in consistently suck ass. I may follow the Toast's lead of giving up on this show if it doesn't improve.

Curb Your Enthusiasm - I love Larry David. Even listening to him on some of the bonus features on the Seinfeld DVDs is hilarious. And it's nice to have a good smart comedy where they can use the word cunt (or "beloved cunt" as it were). The only complaint I have about this show is the short, short, short 10 episodes seasons, and the long gaps between. At this point, I don't even know if it is coming back.

Rome - Having taken Latin in high school and going to competitions, where my particular field of expertise was Roman History (yes, I was a geek, but my brother was a bigger geek, so I was overshadowed), I was excited when I saw the first previews for this. Everything on HBO is good, and this had subject matter I was particularly interested in. It hasn't quite been as good as I had hoped, but it is very good. They do a good job of covering some pretty big historical moments while focusing on pretty ordinary people. The one thing I think they don't do particulary well is give a sense of how much time goes by between events.

Entourage - I didn't expect much from this show when it premiered, but per my policy of watching anything that HBO puts on, I gave it a chance. I first I didn't think much of it, but it grew on me pretty quickly. They get some good guest stars and the plots are always interesting. One thing that bugs me is it seems like these guys are living far above their means, Aquaman or no.

Big Love - I have a hard enough time understanding religous people in general, much less freakishly religous people like these who mold their entire existence around their beliefs. So I was worried that I wouldn't be able to relate to this show. However, it has done a good job of making this family interesting and likeable, despite their unusual living arrangements. This isn't quite as good as shows that preceeded it, like Carnivale and Six Feet Under, but it's defintely worth watching.

Deadwood - Excellent show. Actually, I guess it's technically over, but they're supposed to wrap it up with a couple of movies, so I included it anyway. Great, great characters, interesting plot and setting, I just wish it would continue. The only complaint I have with the show is similar to my complaint about The Shield, they spent the first few episodes making Al seem like about the most horrible person you can imagine, then they have since turned him into something different and likeable, despite his major flaws.

The Sopranos - not what it once was, but it's still a good show. As a matter of fact, I get tired of hearing this complaint about the show. No show that has been on that long can ever live up to its early days. I still think there are a lot of interesting things going on here, especially with Christopher. Hopefully, they'll be able to end it well.

The 4400 - The premise is great, but the writers don't seem to know where they're going with it. Sometimes they seem to want to be a serial drama, and others, they seem to want to be an episodic drama with a separate plotline that gets resloved each week. They introduce something one week, then pretend like it never happened a couple of weeks later. It's really annoying at times. The acting is also pretty awful, it definitely looks like a cable show. Having said all that, they ended the season with a pretty good episode, and I hope they'll be able to pick it up from there and fo a little better with it.

Seems like I'm missing something, but I can't think of what it might be. What do you guys think of these shows? Anything else I should be watching on Sundays?

Update:

The Wire - I knew I was missing something. I can't believe I left this off. I just started watching this a month or so ago, and I'm now caught up to current episodes. This is one of the best shows on TV. The characters are great, from McNulty, all the way down to Bodie, everyone has a lot of depth. The dialgue is great, though I don't know if I believe that no one in Baltimore says "the police" or " a policeman" and instead goes with "a police" or that anyone in 2006 still uses the word "mope." But I'll never know for sure, because one thing this show has made me realize is that I never want to go to Baltimore. I've heard that this is supposed to be the last season, but I really hope that isn't true. This show is excellent.

TV - Miscellaneous

There's nothing on on Saturday, so I'm doing a few miscellaneous shows tonight.

The Simpsons - Still a great show, but I don't watch it regularly. I just put it on my DVR and watch an episode whenever. There are plenty I still haven't seen, and even most of the ones I have seen are good to watch again.

Big Brother - This is the one show I watch that I really can't give any good reason why. I've watched it since the first season and never stopped. No reason really.

The Apprentice - I've watched all of these also. Some are good, some are bad. When it first came on, I thought it would be awful, but watched the first episode just to see, and pretty immeadiately got hooked on it somehow. Should be interesting to see how it handles the move to L.A.

Real World/Road Rules Challenge - I hate all these people and their apparently jobless, no purpose lives. Who can spend weeks at a time away from home a couple of times a year like all these morons do? They're all crazy and I like to watch them argue with each other.

Everybody Hates Chris - I forgot this one on Monday. It's good, but not great. Has some really funny moments occaisionally, and is pretty solid overall. This is the only show I watch on the CW. I probably wouldn't miss it at all if it was gone, but I like Chris Rock, and the kid they've got playing him does a good job.

The Daily Show/The Colbert Report - With all the new shows on, I really haven't had time to watch these lately. I even had to take them off my DVR schedule, because they're on so many times a day they're always causing conflicts in my scheduling. But they're still both great shows, and I catch them when I can. When three or four of the shows I watch get canceled, I'll probably start watching them regularly again.

Extreme Engineering - I started watching this back when they covered imaginary stuff, like the tunnel from New York to Paris, or the Sky City or the Bering Strait bridge. I guess they ran out of those, because now they just cover actual projects. I usually watch these during commercials of sporting events or if I just have the TV on in the background when I'm doing something else.

Seinfeld - Best comedy ever, by far. I still watch reruns quite a bit. This is the only non-current show I'm mentioning, just because it's worth it.


I think that's about it. I probably missed something, but that's all I can think of at the moment. Since all the HBO shows are on Sunday (along with a few others) and I watch most of them, I've got a lot left still to cover.

Studio 60 Was Better When It First Came Out

Since this seems to be an all TV blog this wee...funny (as usual) article in The Onion.

TV - Friday

Battlestar Galactica - A close second to Lost for best show on TV. I meant to watch the miniseries when it came on, but I forgot about it by the time it aired, then when I remembered, I could only seem to get my DVR to find Part 2, so I didn't watch it from the beginning. That was probably better, anyway. Since I got to watch the entire first 2 seasons all at once without having to worry about cliffhangers and stuff. Tonight's episode should be good. Whatever happens, they need to get off the planet pretty quickly, because it's a better show when they're in space. Outside of some Star Trek, space themed TV shows (Space: Above and Beyond, Earth 2, etc.) have always been pretty bad, so it's nice to see it handled well. They do a particularly good job with the space battles, realizing the different ways the ships would manuever in the zero gravity. The characters are all really good, and the plots are consistently good, except when they try to take a more peripheral subject and make it the focus of an episode. Like the one with the black market, or the hostage crisis. Also, TV shows should never, ever, ever try to make up their own sports, because they always look stupid.

Real Time with Bill Maher - I don't watch this regularly anymore, because it tends to be the same thing over and over again, but I always put it on my DVR and watch it occaiosionally. It still has some pretty funny parts now and then, and they do get some good guests.

Psych - This one is on USA, so I'm not sure how I even started watching it. It's not bad, but Dule Hill deserves to be on a much better show. If this was on another night, I probably wouldn't bother with it, but since there's not much for competition, I watched all the episodes so far. I don't know if I'll have time to keep up with it when it returns in January.

Anything else on Fridays? I don't think there is. There's also not much on on Saturdays, so maybe tomorrow I'll cover some miscellaneous shows that I don't know what night they'll be on, or that are on multiple nights, or that I don't watch regularly, but still enjoy.

TV - Thursday

These seem to be my most popular posts in quite some time. Unfortunately, I'm running out of days.

Survivor - I watched most of the first season, just because everyone was watching and talking about it, but after that, I didn't watch the next few. Somehow or other, I picked it back up and have watched ever since. It's still the best reality/contest type show, but I don't think I'd miss it all that much if it was gone. But as long as it's on, I'll keep watching. One major gripe I have about it (but not as much since I got the DVR) is that it's on Thursdays all season, then they do the finale on Sunday. I watch other things on Sunday, pick one night and stick with it.

My Name is Earl - I don't know if it's just because Seinfeld was the best show ever, or that all the comedies since have sucked ass, but I haven't watched any comedies regularly since Seinfeld ended. When this show came on, I didn't expect it to change that. And after watching the first few episodes, I didn't really change my opinion much, but somewhere along the line, this show really grew on me. It's not great by any means, but it's always funny and has some great moments. Joy and Crabman are very funny.

The Office - I had seen the British version a handful of times and thought it was great, but I didn't think they could translate it very well. I didn't like the first episode all that much, but after that, it really took off, and obviously I was wrong. This show is the best comedy on TV right now. Not that that's all that impressive. Hopefully they'll be able to successfully navigate through the sexual tension minefield without screwing it up. I wasn't sure they could do that after the finale last season, but they've done well with it so fat this season.

Six Degrees - I really hoped this show would be very good, since it's from JJ Abrams. But at this point, that's really the only reason I'm watching it. It has some potential, but I'm not optimistic that it's really going to go anywhere, and certainly won't be anywhere near as good as Alias or Lost. Also, they really need to call it One Degree based on how close these people all are after only a few episodes. I expect by next season, instead of a bunch of people vaguely connected, it will be more like Melrose Place with them all living in the same building and sleeping with each other. There is a little mystery to the plot also, with Mae's character and her past. If that turns out to be something interesting, the show could be much better.

ER - No, of course I don't watch this crap anymore. I just wanted to take a minute to point out that I think it's ridiculous that this show is still on. I hear it is having a resurgence this season. Must be new people watching that missed when they were driving tanks into the building and dropping helicopters on people. Also, I'm tired of them advertising every episode as if it is a special event, or pretending that any guest star they get is suddenly some kind of legend. Also, nothing good ever happened on this show, it was always one depressing moment after another. This has also ruined me for all medical dramas for who knows how long.

Ok, that's it for Thursday, what do you think? Anything I'm missing?

TV - Wednesday

Probably my favorite night of television. Although, that's because my favorite show is on, and if it was the only thing on, it would probably still be my favorite night.

Jericho - This is the new show that I looked forward to the most. I've always liked reading post apoctalyptic type fiction, and this looked like a show that might be able to translate it to TV pretty well. So far I really like it, though it's not quite as good as I had hoped. I think the focus is too much on Skeet Ulrich, and him saving everything, when it needs to be more of an ensemble. Also, all the things they're going through so far in each week's plots aren't written terribly well. The characters are pretty good, especially the mysterious Mr. Hawkins. And I think the show will only improve as we find out more of his story.

Lost - Best show on TV. The only thing bad about it is reading all the crap on the internet from people who think it's too slow. When they answer all the questions, the show will be over, so I'm glad they're taking their time. As long as what they are putting on each week is interesting (and to me it definitely is), I'm happy. Obviously my opinion of it is subject to change if the series concluded with too many unanswered or poorly resolved questions. But currently, it's great. I started watching in the first season just because of all the hype, and because there wasn't much on that night, then really got hooked when they did Locke's first flashback. That's another thing that people need to stop bitching about. The flashbacks. They've been a part of the show since the beginning, and they're a big part of what makes it so great. I can't believe anyone thinks they take anything away from the show. I'm really looking forward to tonight's episode as it looks like we'll see a lot of Locke, who is probably my favorite character, and we'll probably find out what happened to Eko, who I also really like. I want to know all the answers as much as anyone else, but apparently unlike most everyone else, I'm really enjoying the journey to get to them.

The Nine - So far, this is probably my favorite new show. The mystery, and the connections the characters have with each other makes it very compelling. What actually happened in the bank will obviously make or break the show, but I have high hopes so far.

South Park - I didn't watch this regularly untill just recently, and I really don't know how I managed that. Obviously, it's hilarious. Missing it all these years, though, makes sure that there's usually an episode on my DVR that I haven't seen. Hopefully, though, they're not losing it, after horrible back to back episodes last season (Al Gore and Oprah). The World of Warcraft one was very good, even though I don't play any of those stupid games.

Ok, so what did I miss? What do you guys think of my Wednesday lineup?

TV - Tuesday

I'll continue this series even though no one is paying any attention.

Friday Night Lights - This is still pretty new, so I don't know if it will stand up for the whole season, but so far I really like it. It has some good characters and the rabid football fans should provide some interesting plotlines. The one glaring weakness in this show so far was the horribly scripted football game. Just too much unrealistic drama and ridiculousness. Hopefully, that won't keep up during the whole season. I think there'll be another game to start the show tonight, so we should be able to find out pretty quickly. They really could have told the exact same story plotwise in the pilot without making the game so ridiculous.

Boston Legal - I'm not much for lawyer (or doctor or cop) shows these days, but this one is really good. William Shatner and James Spader are excellent, and there are a lot of other good characters as well. The dialogue is very good and the plots, though predictable, are entertaining. As a bonus, they frequently take shots at the Bush administration.

Nip/Tuck - If you're not watching any of FX's dramas, you're really missing out. This is probably my least favorite of the three, but it's very good anyway. A lot of interesting, if unbelievable, plots and some very likeable characters. The one thing that really bugs me about this show is both of the main characters, rich successful plastic surgeons, are supposedly in love with the same woman, who is in no way loveable, and horribly ugly on top of that, which makes it a little unbelievable. I didn't watch this when it first started, but I watched the end of last season, then caught up with reruns before the beginning of this season. Now, I'll watch anything FX puts on (much like HBO) just in case it's as good as what they currently offer.

Rescue Me - Another show I didn't watch from the beginning, but after watching Nip/Tuck, and having watched The Shield from the beginning, I figured this was probably pretty good also. And it is. One of the best shows on TV. All the characters are great, though I hope to god they're not realistic or represenative of New York firefighters. Because if they are, those are some horribly repressed, afraid to be themselves, bigoted, drunken motherfuckers. If you're not watching this, you really should give it a chance.

The Shield - I saw the previews for this show and meant to watch it, but completely forgot about it by the time it started. But, I happened to be flipping around and caught a rerun of the premiere the night after it started. I stopped on it without knowing what it was because it was so filthy, I couldn't believe it was on regular cable. That's one of the things that makes FX's shows so great, they curse, show nudity, and have adult situations. Not quite the leeway that HBO has, but much better then a network. The only things I haven't liked about the show are that they started in the first episode making Mackey a really, really bad guy (which was one of the reasons I liked it so much), then ever since, they've been trying to make him likeable, which they clearly showed him not to be in the premiere. Oh, and what the fuck ever happened to Tevan?

I think that's it for Tuesday. Anything I'm missing out on? Anyone have any opinions of the above shows?

TV - Monday

I had a really long post about the TV shows I watch on Monday, as the first part of a series on all the TV I watch, but then when I tried to copy it somewhere to save it in case there was any problem posting, Blogger (which sucks) deleted it. So, if you're ever selecting a bunch of text in the BlogThis! window, don't hit the up arrow once it's all selected, because it conveniently deletes it, and apparently undo doesn't undo this particular feature. So, anyway, I'll just post a few quick thoughts about each show and if there is any discussion, I can go into the detail I had intended in comments.

Prison Break - Good show, lost a lot of steam after the LONG break last season, and relying too much on close calls. Has come back strong this season. The addition of the guy from Invasion (thank god that got canceled) was a great one. They still focus too much on the "they almost get caught, but don't" formula, but it's working well this season.

Heroes - Good show, has a lot of potential. Hiro is great. They need to make the cheeleader's story more interesting, which it looks like they did at the end of last week's episode. Hopefully, the stoty will be good enough to support a good premise.

Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip - Started great. I really like the West Wing (and Sports Night for the week or so I watched before it got the axe), so I expected to like this too. Bradley Whitford and Matthew Perry are excellent, particularly because I never feel like I'm watching Josh Lymon or Chandler Bing. I think they need to make sure they don't focus too much on the love story and they'll be ok. Oh, and make the fictional show funnier or stay away from showing it to us. Especially that joke from last week that was horrible and not at all funny. Oh, and no one gives a shit about the life of a netwrok president, no matter what skeletons are in her closet.

24 - I finally started watching this last season, and watched the previous 4 seasons during the fifth season. It's very predictable and formulaic, but still manages to be compelling. I really liked the end of last season. I can't wait to see how Jack manages to kill a billion Chinese people before saving the US from certain destruction, while dealing with personal issues at the same time. Good show.

So, what do you guys think about the shows above? Anything else I should be watching on Mondays?

Let's Go Mets

Looking good early in Game 2 for the Mets. Delgado crushed it to left center for a 3-0 lead, and it looks like they might be able to chase Carpenter early.

NFL Week 6

I was 10-4 last week, which brings me up to 48-26 overall, which isn't too bad. However, I still haven't won the pool, so this week I'm picking some upsets.

Cincinnati at Tampa Bay - The Bengals are good, and the Bucs are bad. Homefield isn't nearly enough to close the gap, I like the Bengals.

New York Giants at Atlanta - Seems like I always get the Giants wrong, so I'll go against my gut a little and pick them to win on the road.

Tennessee at Washington - Despite their impressive performance against the Colts, the Titans are just awful, and Washington seems to have gotten things back on track a little with Portis, despite last week's loss to the Giants. I'll take the Redskins.

Houston at Dallas - Dallas needs to bounce back from a tough loss on the road, and also beat the only team in the league that they have never beaten. I don't see any problem doing either of those, I'll take the Cowboys.

Carolina at Baltimore - I think Carolina has things going in the right direction after a rough start, and I think Baltimore was exposed a bit against Denver last week. I like the Panthers in the upset.

Buffalo at Detroit - Buffalo should and probably will win this game, but for some reason, I just don't like the Bills this year. I'll take the Lions in the upset.

Seattle at St. Louis - I still don't like the Seahawks for some reason I just can't quite put my finger on, and after I was miserably wrong about them against the Giants, I meant to not be stubborn about it. But, I can't help it. I like St. Louis to win with Alexander still out (last I heard anyway).

Philadelphia at New Orleans - I would really like to see the Saints pull this one out, but I really don't see it happening, I'll take the Eagles.

Miami at New York Jets - The Jets have lost a couple of tough games. A squeaker and a blowout, this is the perfect game for them to get things back on track, I'll take New York.

Kansas City at Pittsburgh - Last week I picked the Steelers because I didn't think they could lose three in a row. So I was wrong about that, but I really, really don't think they can lose four in a row, so I'll try it again and take Pittsburgh.

San Diego at San Francisco - San Diego is looking good, and San Francisco isn't that good, I'll take the Chargers.

Oakland at Denver - Oakland sucks. How do you turn Randy Moss into a player that I have to bench on my fantasy team? I'll take the Broncos, 31-7.

Chicago at Arizona - Chicago looks really good. I don't think they can win them all, but they certainly won't stumble this week. I'll take the Bears, 32-14.

NFL Week 5

I was 8-6 again last week, which sucks. But I still have an overall record of 38-22, so that's not too bad.

Miami at New England - Miami sucks, I'll take the Patriots.

Tampa Bay at New Orleans - Tampa sucked even before they had to go to a rookie QB, give me the Saints.

Washington at New York Giants - I like Washington in an upset, though I don't really have any good reason why.

Buffalo at Chicago - The Bears really look good, I don't see them having any problem with the Bills at home.

St. Louis at Green Bay - Brett Favre is done, I'll take the Rams.

Cleveland at Carolina - I think Carolina is ready to get it rolling, and the Browns suck, I'll take the Panthers.

Tennessee at Indianapolis - Good team vs. awful team, I'll take the Colts.

Detroit at Minnesota - Detroit sucks, I like the Vikings.

Kansas City at Arizona - I'm not sure how Kansas City manages 41 points against anyone with no receivers and no quarterback, but they did, and I think they can get enough somehow to beat the Cards.

Oakland at San Francisco - This takes me back to the '89 World Series, featuring the two Bay area teams. Maybe there will be an earthquake that will swallow up these two awful teams so we don't have to watch them anymore. The coin landed on heads, I'll take the 49ers.

New York Jets at Jacksonville - Jacksonville has been playing well but still finding a way to lose. Same for the Jets. If this was in New York, I'd be tempted to pick the Jets, but here, I like the Jags.

Dallas at Philadelphia - Philadelphia has looked good, but against bad teams, and they're pretty banged up. The Eagles have lost 6 or 7 division games in a row, I'll take the Cowboys, and they'd better fucking win.

Pittsburgh at San Diego - I really should pick the Chargers at home, but I just can't see the Steelers losing three in a row, I'll take Pittsburgh, 20-13.

Baltimore at Denver - Baltimore has been impressive this season so far, I'll take them in a close one, 24-21.

If you use my picks to win your office pool, make sure to forward me a portion of your winnings. Check out this handy site which has maps showing what games are showing around the country. Notice the emptiness around my house in the vast sea of red that represents everyone else in the country getting the Dallas/Philadelphia game for the FOX Doubleheader game 2.

Sports Talk Idiot of the Week: Tony Boselli

With honorable mention going to Frank Frangie.

I was listening to the Frank Frangie Show (with Tony Boselli) this morning, and they were talking about the Jets/Jaguars game this weekend. Frank threw out some theory about how the thought the Jets must just be spent after the emotional loss last week to the Colts. As I was wondering exactly why the Jets would be any more spent than the Jaguars, who also lost a close game at the end, Boselli chimes in to tell us exactly that. Apparently, since the Jets hung in and almost won against a team they had no business beating, but then came up short, that sort of takes the wind out of their sails. The Jaguars, on the other hand, played very well, yet still lost to a team they should have beaten, which according to the Boselli theory, just pisses them off. I'm glad he cleared that up.

This is stupid for a couple of reasons. First, both the Jaguars and the Jets are 2-2, and are trailing early in their divisions. Actually, Jacksonville is two games back, where the Jets are only 1 game back. Anyway, both teams being in similar positions would indicate to me that they would both react similarly to a loss. Second, it's stupid because, if you must advance some idiotic theory about why the Jaguars are better off after their tough loss than the Jets after their tough loss, the argument is simple to make. The Jaguars lost on the road and now get to come home. The Jets lost at home and now have to go on the road.

I occaisionally like it when the Jaguars do well, since I live here. But, it's crap like this that makes me really want to see them lose. Too many idiots on local radio. I wonder if I could still be a Cowboy fan if I had to live in Dallas, and listen to all the local idiots' thoughts on them. I think that might be tough as well.

'Cocaine' takes a hit

Stupid, stupid, stupid. Why do people insist on being so fucking stupid? They put out this drink and call it cocaine, at least in part because they hope it will generate controversy and free advertising, and idiots like this councilman line up to give it that free publicity.

"We will not be silent in the face of this," [Councilman James] Sanders said. "Yes, there is a danger we're going to give him advertisement, but at the same time, what would happen to our conscience if we did not speak up?"

Oh, I can answer that one...nothing, absolutely nothing. Unless of course your conscience is troubled by people drinking perfectly legal energy drinks. And of course, if it is, not speaking up would be more helpful since the drink wouldn't get so much attention.

And, of course, since a councilman can't be depended on for any kind of logical thought, we'll have to go to a mildy famous deli owner who often appears on David Letterman, Rupert Jee, in order to get a reasonable opinion.

So long as it's not hurting anyone, I see no reason not to sell it.

Right. Exactly. This should really go without saying. Especially considering that there are plenty of drinks sold that ultimately do hurt people that would need to be a lot higher up the list than this energy drink if we're going to start banning shit.

At a City Hall news conference, [Councilman James Sanders] said the drink's name and claims it contains a massive amount of "energy" send the wrong message to young people, who may think the actual drug was OK to use.

If young people can make that leap, then they're honestly too fucking stupid to concern ourselves with, and will fuck their lives up in countless other ways whether this drink is available under this name or not. By the way, it's probably not a good idea for kids to be drinking a lot of these drinks anyway. But I think I'd rather my kid be addicted to Cocaine, the drink, than cocaine, the drug. I think I'll just try to raise my son to stay away from both.