Week 12 Knee Jerk Reactions

[ItsGood_ItsGood]

*The only people having a worse run than the Browns are the Dolphin's and Lemon Snicket's orphan children.

*I must confess, I never remember seeing Terry Robiskie in my life, but he doesn't look like I pictured him. Instead of looking like a football coach with an Eastern European surname, he looks M.L. Carr.

*And all day today he looked like M.L. when the ping pong balls didn't drop and the Celts lost out on Tim Duncan.

*In fairness to Robiskie, what do you say to your team after they've fallen behind by a TD 7 seconds into the game? "That's OK. It could've been worse"?

*But I can never recall a team getting beat so soundly congratulating themselves so much after so many plays. Aren't they aware how much they suck? The Browns were like American school kids, who score below Bora Bora on Standardized Achievement Tests, but rank #1 in the world in self-esteem.

*I've finally figured out what it takes to knock Joe Andruzzi out of a game: a 21-point lead. When they were taking him to the locker room just before the half, I knew it had to be just a precaution, because all his limbs were still attached. On a team full of tough guys, #63 is the Black Knight from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. ("Come back here and I'll bite you in the ass.")

*Does Kevin Faulk wear a big, red mouth guard, or are those Penny Candy Store wax lips?

*In the Kingdom of ItsGoodLand, jokes about Earthwind Moreland's name will be strictly forbidden. Unless they're actually funny. But "...Earthwind who? And Fire? ha ha ha" will be punishable by death. And jokes about Randall Gay will be decided by me on a case-by-case basis.

*By percentage, what is the success rate of players trying to fall on a loose ball? You'd think there is no easier thing to do in all of sports. You'd think that when a guy weighs 310, staying on your feet would be a bigger challenge. But when these guys try to flop on a fumble, they miss more often then Scott Rolen.

*It would take a cynic to point out that while Eugene Wilson played a damned fine game, his best tackle was on Rodney Harrison after his INT. So I won't.

*If anyone watches the tape of the game, look for this, and tell me if you see what I saw. In the second quarter, Troy Brown let a punt bounce, but it hit off a Patriots' [Patrick Pass?] ass and became a live ball. There was a short scramble while (naturally) several players tried to fall on it and missed. While the Clevelan players in the scrum started pointing toward the Pats endzone (as in "We recovered. Our ball going this way") Ryan Pontbriand was pointing the Patriots way. One of the Pats offensive players who was taking the field grabbed Pontbriand's arms from behind and switched his arms to point the way his teammates were. I guess he's either really dumb or exceptionally honest. Did anyone else witness this?

*The way Bud Selig needs to deal with the steroid problem, Paul Tagliabue has to deal with the issue of so many nondescript QBs with similar names. The Luke McCown/Cade McNown/Josh McCown situation has reached critcal mass.

*But in his first pro start, McCown became the fastest player in NFL history (I'm sorry...in the history of the National Football League) to have his loved ones sitting in the stands to become over exposed by the networks. The previous record was a tie between Susan Warner and former Pittsburgh QB Bubby Brister's ubiquitous parents.

*I like to think that at least one guy in the Pats huddle likes Lord of the Rings enough to have said "We ride now, for death, for ruin, for ROHAN!!!"
Damned if I wouldn't have.

 

[Annihilus]

*If anyone watches the tape of the game, look for this, and tell me if you see what I saw. In the second quarter, Troy Brown let a punt bounce, but it hit off a Patriots' [Patrick Pass?] ass and became a live ball. There was a short scramble while (naturally) several players tried to fall on it and missed. While the Clevelan players in the scrum started pointing toward the Pats endzone (as in "We recovered. Our ball going this way") Ryan Pontbriand was pointing the Patriots way. One of the Pats offensive players who was taking the field grabbed Pontbriand's arms from behind and switched his arms to point the way his teammates were. I guess he's either really dumb or exceptionally honest. Did anyone else witness this?

I saw that too, had to go back & 'check the tape' to see who it was though - it was #29, Earthwind Moreland.

Did you notice that Trev Alberts actually called him 'McClown' once? He quickly 're-said' his name correctly.

 

[bideau]

*If anyone watches the tape of the game, look for this, and tell me if you see what I saw. In the second quarter, Troy Brown let a punt bounce, but it hit off a Patriots' [Patrick Pass?] ass and became a live ball. There was a short scramble while (naturally) several players tried to fall on it and missed. While the Clevelan players in the scrum started pointing toward the Pats endzone (as in "We recovered. Our ball going this way") Ryan Pontbriand was pointing the Patriots way. One of the Pats offensive players who was taking the field grabbed Pontbriand's arms from behind and switched his arms to point the way his teammates were. I guess he's either really dumb or exceptionally honest. Did anyone else witness this?

Yup, I saw it too. I just figured he was fantasizing about playing for the Pats.

*But in his first pro start, McCown became the fastest player in NFL history (I'm sorry...in the history of the National Football League) to have his loved ones sitting in the stands to become over exposed by the networks. The previous record was a tie between Susan Warner and former Pittsburgh QB Bubby Brister's ubiquitous parents.

On the plus side, that's one fine looking mother he's got. Which is actually a little disturbing that I'm looking at a player's mother instead of his wife Of course, my son is older than some of the players in the NFL.

 

[Oedipus Tex]

And jokes about Randall Gay will be decided by me on a case-by-case basis.

Understandable, because you're an American. You need to understand that to a Brit, the humour of this name extends quite beyond the last name. All I know is that if I were a WR, and "Randy Gay" was after my a$$, I'd suddenly be a lot faster.

 

[Hawg73]

*I've finally figured out what it takes to knock Joe Andruzzi out of a game: a 21-point lead. When they were taking him to the locker room just before the half, I knew it had to be just a precaution, because all his limbs were still attached. On a team full of tough guys, #63 is the Black Knight from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. ("Come back here and I'll bite you in the ass.")

Every time I watch a Pats game and see what appears to be a significant injury I hold my breath and fear the worst and the worst almost never happens. With all due respect to Dan Klecko it seems like our guys almost never get.......one of those things...those serious injuries that I can't mention for superstitious reasons. It was good to see him, Traylor and Dillon back in there after getting banged up.

*It would take a cynic to point out that while Eugene Wilson played a damned fine game, his best tackle was on Rodney Harrison after his INT. So I won't.

Every time I hear somebody say that "McCown looked good!" I'll think of that rookie mistake and a few others that he shouldn't make before he we can know if he can be something, but that 2 play 90-something yard drive was something else.

Eugene Wilson is flying under the radar a bit this year but he was very solid in coverage yesterday and moving from corner to safety and back again can't be as easy as he is making it look.

*I like to think that at least one guy in the Pats huddle likes Lord of the Rings enough to have said "We ride now, for death, for ruin, for ROHAN!!!"
Damned if I wouldn't have.

Don't forget the other good stuff like "There may come a day of wolves and shattered shields when men forsake their friends, but it is not this day, for this day we FIGHT!"

I get so fired up when I hear that speech that the orcs wouldn't stand any better chance than the Browns did against the Pats.




And a few abbreviated random observations:

*Before we get too excited about pummeling Cleveland bear in mind that of their top 6 players, five of them didn't play. Take Brady, Graham, Bruschi, Seymour and Matt Light out of our lineup to get an idea how banged up they are.

* Rodney and Seymour both had monster games yesterday. If there is one guy on the team you know will never relent it is Harrison and Seymour finally had a chance to play against a sub-par LT yesterday and was absolutely all over the field.

* Brady's recent lack of accuracy continued yesterday. Not that we needed him to be perfect, but he was not even close to hitting a few wide open guys.

Still, he just missed a long bomb to Givens and on the very next play, bingo-- this time to Patten.

* Late in the game they showed a Browns fan sitting alone in an empty section of seats with his feet up and I flashed back to being able to do the same thing at Pats games a few years ago. Now you cant even stretch your arms without hitting people on both sides of you. Cripes, now I can't even get my hands on a ticket.

* Brady is a master of the post game press conference if not exactly Parcellian. He is way ahead of the questioners and gives them an honest answer without resorting to canned cliches or getting controversial and the fact that he smiles at almost each question probably helps. He is professor BB's prize pupil.

He even admitted that he saw Bethel hotdogging it on the return with a bemused explantion: "that's Bethel". Controversy defused.

* Admit it- you felt sorry for Cleveland yesterday, didn't you?

 

[Annihilus]

Re: Re: Week 12 Knee Jerk Reactions

*Before we get too excited about pummeling Cleveland bear in mind that of their top 6 players, five of them didn't play. Take Brady, Graham, Bruschi, Seymour and Matt Light out of our lineup to get an idea how banged up they are.

Amen Brother Hawg.

I'm actually kind of concerned about the caliber of play of these last few teams we've got on the schedule. I'm afraid that while some other playoff teams are busy playing tough competition in the stretch run, they'll be more battle hardened and used to tough opponents than our boys who just played the Browns and have the Bengals, 49ers and Miami left (who knows how the Jets will be).

The correllary is that it's nice to play those kind of teams for playoff seeding reasons - we'll see how it turns out.

Anyone watch the Eagles yesterday? They looked pretty damn impressive to me and a major concern to any team that gets them in the Superbowl (if they get past the NFC Championship game).

I would have felt sorry for Cleveland if their dumbass players weren't busy celebrating when they were down by 30 points.

 

[Oedipus Tex]

Re: Re: Week 12 Knee Jerk Reactions

Don't forget the other good stuff like "There may come a day of wolves and shattered shields when men forsake their friends, but it is not this day, for this day we FIGHT!"

I think he was referring specifically to the Rohan reference (Rohan Davey), but if I can help make your heart go pitter-pat, Hawgie, I'm happy to help:

Originally spoken in the shadow of the Black Gate by Aragorn son of Arathorn
Sons of Gondor! Of Rohan!

My brothers.

I see in your eyes the same fear that would take the heart of me.

A day may come when the courage of Men fails, when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship, but it is not this day.

An hour of wolves and shattered shields when the Age of Men comes crashing down, but it is not this day!

This day we fight!

By all that you hold dear on this good earth, I bid you stand, Men of the West!

By the way, the Extended edition of ROTK has an additional 50 minutes cut into it, bringing your total running time to 250 minutes, or 4 hours, 10 minutes.

That means the trilogy, in its final form, totals 681 minutes (208 FOTR, 223 TT, 250 ROTK), or 9 minutes shy of 11 1/2 hours. I'd heard rumors that the Ex-Ed of ROTK included the scouring of the Shire, but I don't think it can because the Ex-Ed gift scene in FOTR with Galadriel doesn't include giving Sam the soil.

Although, on second thought, don't they reprise the gift scene in TTT? Anyone remember if it's included there? My DVD is fritzing currently.

 

[Zombo]

I think the key thing to take away from this game is that Luke McCown is better than Rowan Davie.

You guys must be scared shitless about Brady getting injured that midget leading you into the postseason.

Zombo

 

[pookie]

I think the key thing to take away from this game is that Luke McCown is better than Rowan Davie.

You guys must be scared shitless about Brady getting injured that midget leading you into the postseason.

Zombo

6'2 - 245 lbs would hardly be considered a midget from a QB standpoint Zombo.

 

[Spinal Tap]

Davey looked better yesterday than he had in any of his pre-season stints. He was AWFUL in the pre-season. Yesterday, he was servicable. He threw a laser to Bethel Johnson.

 

[Annihilus]

6'2 - 245 lbs would hardly be considered a midget from a QB standpoint Zombo.

That's kind of what I was thinking, but didn't want to pile on their crushing defeat

Maybe their midgets are bigger in Ohio.....

 

[pookie]

Davey looked better yesterday than he had in any of his pre-season stints. He was AWFUL in the pre-season. Yesterday, he was servicable. He threw a laser to Bethel Johnson.

Ya. One thing is certain about Rohan. He has a very strong upper body and he THROWS HARD! Possibly he's not the brightest bulb in the circuit though.

 

[Hawg73]

Re: Re: Re: Week 12 Knee Jerk Reactions

I think he was referring specifically to the Rohan reference (Rohan Davey), but if I can help make your heart go pitter-pat, Hawgie, I'm happy to help:

By the way, the Extended edition of ROTK has an additional 50 minutes cut into it, bringing your total running time to 250 minutes, or 4 hours, 10 minutes.

That means the trilogy, in its final form, totals 681 minutes (208 FOTR, 223 TT, 250 ROTK), or 9 minutes shy of 11 1/2 hours. I'd heard rumors that the Ex-Ed of ROTK included the scouring of the Shire, but I don't think it can because the Ex-Ed gift scene in FOTR with Galadriel doesn't include giving Sam the soil.

Although, on second thought, don't they reprise the gift scene in TTT? Anyone remember if it's included there? My DVD is fritzing currently.

Thanks about the Rohan thing Oed, I completely missed it and was too lazy to look up the entire quote, but always like reading it again.

I hadn't heard of the additional footage of ROTK and look forward to seeing the whole thing. I'm saving my 3rd viewing for the whole enchilada.

I don't remember the Lady giving Samwise the soil, or any scouring of the Shire for book conformity purposes. I'm not a purist on much of anything and cut Jackson a ton of slack for the artistic license that he may have taken to sex it up a bit. I thought the Arwen/Aragon stuff was well done although some LOTR fans are ready to string him up for the heresy.

There is not much from the book version that I really missed, although I could pick nits if I really wanted to.

The man did a fantastic job. Better than I could have ever dreamed that anyone could have done with this, the real greatest story ever told.

Looking forward to a nice Saturday snowstorm when driving is impossible and I can watch the entire thing from beginning to end with the extra footage.

Oh, and a comment about Rohan (Davey) since Zombo is so very desperately grasping at straws. He might not be the most battle-hardened backup in history, but now that he has his helmet pulled down completely over his eyes it'll be damn near impossible for DBs to read where he is planning on going with the ball.

 

[Flagg the Wanderer]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Week 12 Knee Jerk Reactions

I don't remember the Lady giving Samwise the soil, or any scouring of the Shire for book conformity purposes. I'm not a purist on much of anything and cut Jackson a ton of slack for the artistic license that he may have taken to sex it up a bit. I thought the Arwen/Aragon stuff was well done although some LOTR fans are ready to string him up for the heresy.

I agree that he did a great job, but I think he DID put the scouring of the shire into the new edition.

If you go to the lordoftherings.net, you can view a trailer of the new footage. One of the things they focus on is the final confrontation with Sauruman, who warns of evil lurking in middle earth (after Sauron's fall).

He skimmed some details, and cut here and pasted there, but I *am* a purist when it comes to Tolkien, and I think Jackson's work was stellar. You're in for a good ride when the cast and crew debate the merits of adding this or that it, original books in hand. Jackson and Ian McKellan (Gandalf) are both Tolkien buffs, and I understand that several other cast members were, as well (Rhys-Davis, I think?)

 

[Pats247]

Re: Re: Re: Week 12 Knee Jerk Reactions

I'm actually kind of concerned about the caliber of play of these last few teams we've got on the schedule. I'm afraid that while some other playoff teams are busy playing tough competition in the stretch run, they'll be more battle hardened and used to tough opponents than our boys who just played the Browns and have the Bengals, 49ers and Miami left (who knows how the Jets will be).

I know what you are saying but I am not looking past Cincy at all.
They went into Baltimore and beat the Ravens, in my mind that is a pretty good win. I believe the Pats will score some points but this might be the week that the Pats thin secondary gets attacked - Chad Johnson is a tough cover (though I doubt he'll see much single coverage on Sunday.)

The Jets will be tough as well.

 

[dchester]

Re: Re: Re: Week 12 Knee Jerk Reactions

Anyone watch the Eagles yesterday? They looked pretty damn impressive to me and a major concern to any team that gets them in the Superbowl (if they get past the NFC Championship game).

That was the first time this year where I saw the Eagles playing and wasn't thinking, any good AFC team would kill them. They do seem to be getting better at the right time.
________
Town and Country

 

[Zombo]

No way Rohan is 6'2".

Looks 5'11 or 6' at the most.

I wonder what LSU has him "listed" at.

Zombo

 

[Kappy]

Don' confuse an apparent lack of a neck with being short: Rohan has been, and is built more like a linebacker than a QB.

The Pats have him listed at 6'2" 245.

The LSU 2001 Media Guide has him at 6'3" 239.

He is no midget.

 

[Hawg73]

Another thing Zombo fails to realize is that if Rohan had a normally proportioned neck then he would be about 6'6".

His neck has been officially measured at 5/8 of an inch long. He might never generate a defensive "blow to the head" penalty because his shoulder pads come up above his ears and will prevent anyone from getting to the helmet.

 

[Undertaker #59*]

I always picture this guy when I see Rohan: