In no particular order of chronology or importance...
Let's turn and burn...
1. I have a feeling twitter activity will be pretty low in the Ochocinco household for a week or two. Chad, I am impressed that you have already soaked in the Patriots' playbook and were where you needed to be on a late game situation play. Of course, you had a perfect pass thrown from Mr. Brady. Now, you have to concentrate a little harder on that key part of your job...the whole catching thing. You are at a place where they don't like losing ANY games. Period. They don't start the season hoping for a 10-6 season like those guys in Cincy. EVERY play is important. The system has shown it is successful over the years. You finally have a good chance to get to the big game. Don't blow it. We already know that off the field you are kind of wacky, but we still were under the impression you were a pretty good receiver. You had scapegoats in Cincy. You don't now, bro. And don't come back at me and say that your team scored on that drive anyway, so it was a push. There were 3 minutes left in the game when you finally scored. And what did you run out of at the end of the game? Time.
2. Solid article in Sporting News about Justin Verlander. My little tidbit pull from that article? He calls his own game. I thought that was amazing. I don't know the stats overall on what percentage of MLB pitchers call their own game, but it has to be less than 5%. To me, that is like Tiger Woods playing when he was good without a caddy. Verlander is the real deal. If my Phils choke somehow, I think I will be rooting for Detroit in the playoffs.
3. It is like Denard Robinson reads my rants. I say in preseason I have no idea of why he is not on any Heisman lists. Then he has kind of a slow start, so he continues to fly under the radar. This past week he accounts for 446 yards of offense, with four rushing TD's and over 200 yards rushing. Realize I am NOT saying he will win it. There is that whole him being a QB who can't pass very well thing. 8-17 with 2 interceptions...yeah...don't think that will fly, no pun intended. He is going to have a hard time beating Griffin from Baylor, let alone the rest of the field. Athlete? Yes. QB. Probably not. You guys would have to run the table for you to have a chance. Probably not going to happen.
4. Deion Sanders filed for divorce with his wife. Ummm...Ok. Here we go, I am just in the mood. Evidently, he is filing because she is not the strong Pil(l)ar he thought she was. Hee hee. Insiders are against the notion that it is because he is a fai...uhhh...nevermind on that one. Umm. Once the divorce goes through, he will once again be an island. Reporters tried to talk to Pilar, but she wasn't open. I want to add one about "shutdown corner," but nothing is popping in my head, and these rants always have to keep on moving.
5. I understand mathematics. I also understand football. I know that coaches have the little charts they carry around with them with the breakdown of situations, so they know when to go for a two point conversion. However, the Pitt/ ND game was an ugly enough game anyway up to this point, but I personally think that going for a two point conversion 2/3 of the way through the THIRD quarter when you are up 12-7 is just a little premature. There is a lot of football left, they have scored 7 points on you, and you are at home. Kind of glad you lost. Maybe you just knew you weren't going to score anymore and were maximizing it while you could. Anyway, I think sometimes this two point conversion just gets a little too much on a slippery slope over the years.
6. I know I sometimes make jokes about refs having bloody mary's before games with some of the games they call. Yes, I know they have to make instantaneous decisions. However. Did you see that blown call in the Syracuse/ Toledo game? I have no problem with a ref missing a call. We are human. But to get another slow motion look at it, and STILL say that it was good? Hilarious.
7. I watched it live and it was pretty freaking amazing. If you haven't seen Alabama's punt return for a touchdown against Arkansas this past week, you need to check it out. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2CJUuR3ypU
8. NBA training camp has been officially delayed. I am not bothered by this. Sure, I am a little nervous, but we have football right now. We still have the better energy college bball going to go shortly, and I don't really think I will miss the NBA until February of next year after football is done. Well, except for Christmas day. All that being said, as I am writing this take, I am kind of talking tough. I don't want an asterisk by who wins because it was a shortened season. Get it done, guys. Get it done. The players have shown flexibility, the owners aren't budging. Find mutual ground and get this shit done.
9. An Italian team has made Kobe an offer. If he signs elsewhere, THEN I know there is little hope.
10. JoePa was back on the sidelines. I am glad. LOVE that guy. Good to have you back by your guys, sir. Football should be saddened as a whole when you retire. And you got SCREWED in 1992, sir.
11. So you are telling me that Peyton is pretty much down for the count, but they won't put him on IR? What is this...hockey? Are the Colts holding out on us? You are not exactly staying in playoff contention presently. Are you going to surprise us and bring him back after you start 0-5?
12. I finally watched a UFC fight. OK. Actually, I needed to be somewhere at 10pm, and the place across the street had the fight for free and I needed a place to watch the end of the LSU-WVU game also. That being said, I did have interest in the fight. Rampage Jackson was the last old school fighter I knew before I stopped really caring about it. I watched the first 5 of them, but then kind of drifted off. Rampage was a name I remember though. Anyway, the fight was pretty much what I expected from the tape I had seen of Jones. As the rounds went by, it was obvious that Rampage just wanted to go the distance, and stay as far away from Jones as possible. He initially didn't have that plan and I respect him for that, but then he had the experience of what it was like when Jones took him down the first time. Punishment. Jackson danced and dodged best he could after miraculously getting out of the hold the first time, but the second time he went down, you knew it was over. I was most excited that a fight with crazy moves that I don't know ended in a very traditional headlock. As far as Jones go, that is one bad dude. His style is so complex, it is almost beautiful to watch. Rampage was backing off, but odd kicks from every angle continued to hurt him. Overall, decent fight (ok, maybe I am just used to the crap boxing fights of the last 10 years). One other point I would like to make on this topic. I like to take overall groups of interviews from sports and flow chart them and see what I get. I find it amazing that two of the most violent sports out there have the best interviews. Hockey players are almost always well spoken and classy. UFC and MMA the same. The interviews with those guys always raises my eyebrows of how top notch they sound. Hey, NBA and NFL, take note. Good stuff.
13. These two wildcard races in MLB have suddenly become really fun. As I am writing this, Tampa Bay could tie it up tonight with 2 left, while the Cards and Braves are separated by a game on their side. Two remarkable letdowns by the Braves and Red Sox. Maybe I am paying attention so much to them though to distract me from whatever the hell the Phillies are doing. Someone tell me that in baseball they have found a way to rest your starters or something. It is not just that they are losing-it is who they are losing to. Painful stuff.
14. I need to find a DeLorean and inside information on the next lightning storm. Clemson is 4-0. I am going to wear a polo with the collar unfolded tomorrow and put REO Speedwagon on my IPod.
15. The Yankees want Cashman back as GM next year. Talk about a weird job. It is basically a lot of luck. You are judged on championships, and have a job that pretty much entails someone saying "Here is $240 million, a list of the top free agents, a cell phone, and a calculator. Good luck. We can get you more money if you need it."
16. Good segue. I check out Moneyball first thing after work on Friday. I initially gave it an A-, but after letting it sink in a little, I will give it a B+. I think it was very well done. Since I love baseball, I am not sure if non-baseball people will dig it, meaning it will lose a lot of fans through that possibly. Brad Pitt did excellent in his role. Actually, the whole cast was nicely set up. The storyline did well at not talking down to baseball fans, but not rushing the non-fans. I docked it slightly for a couple inaccuracies, but overall the movie was pretty fact clean. I did walk out of the theater, and immediately google whether Jeremy Giambi was already on the squad when Brad Pitt "signs" him. He was. Troublesome, but not a deal breaker. Anyway, it is worth the movie loot. Go see it. I will let my buddy at his site do the full movie breakdown at some point. http://rockiesmovies.blogspot.com/ My final takes are this. Rounders is a great movie if you understand poker. It is a good movie if you don't. I think this was a "solid" movie if you don't understand baseball, but probably just above watchable if you don't. Also, it probably would have been a better plot...if the Oakland A's would have ever won the thing. They kind of pulled out the "Rocky is just going to go the distance, but not win the fight in the first one" concept, and pulled it off for the most part. I know it takes a while to make a movie (actually, I do-I worked one once), but it is kind of a shame that people are coming out of the theater and then saying "hey, I wonder how the Oakland A's are doing right now...what? 72-87? Are you saying the losses first, honey?" Bad timing. One other thing. Not much mention of Zito, Hudson, Moulder, or Tejada. I know the objective is to glorify the number crunching part of it, but those guys were pretty darn good that year. Hey, Jason Statham, this IS based on a true story. And none of the baseball players were in the batter's box in a chair.
17. Baffling story. Red Sox John Lackey is angry about an unknown media person sending an unknown text about an unknown personal topic. Kind of hard for me to feel bad for you, dude, with all of that information. Thanks.
18. Speaking of lightning storms and DeLoreans, I bet you Jason Hanson is thinking the same thing. Dude thinks it is 1992, and keeps looking over his shoulder for Barry. Good times for you right now, Jason. I hope you guys keep it going.
19. Tennessee's Kenny Britt is out for season with an ACL tear. Dude, get the surgery done, and now you have PLENTY of time for stripclubs, domestic disturbances, and whatever else your creative mind thinks you want to do. My rant would have more takes. Make me proud.
20. I feel like equilibrium is setting in now that the college football season has begun. Miami and FSU were being touted as two teams about to insert themselves back on the elite level. Meanwhile, Miami got busted, FSU has dropped a couple games....AND an FSU player was arrested Monday morning for doing something wrong. Yay. Things are back to normal.
21. In case you are missing the Redskins/ Cowboys game, which I am watching in between takes, you don't have to worry about this being broadcast on ESPN Classic as an "instant classic." It kind of looks like a good team with lots of injuries playing against a pretend 2-0 team. Yup. Kind of just like that. I just heard the words "the punting has been VERY good tonight." Yup.
22. Will Leitch from Deadspin beat me to this take. Buffalo is 3-0. Detroit is 3-0. Are there two other teams that people really don't dislike as much as these two teams? Detroit is a perennial loser that only had a flash when some #20 was running circles around 8 men in the box. Buffalo lost 4 STRAIGHT Super Bowls, had one of the most incredible plays ever in playoff history deny them a playoff win and extending their season, and would NOT be one of the cities to have a team if we erased the league and started over. Great stories.
23. I go to the coolest church in the world. Seriously. It is a non-denominational, rock concert like, most genuine non-assuming honest pastor...heaven, no pun intended. Anyway, they are having a singles retreat in late October. I think I might go. The places I presently meet chicks don't seem to be working, I am only in the grocery store for 25 minutes with my iPod on, and don't talk to anyone at the gym...and no one really randomly walks by my apartment who I could talk to...what the heck, right? If I meet anyone, I hope they understand that the Steelers play at 2pm on that Sunday. Is that bad that I already checked that? I will be honest. She might as well know what she is getting into, right?
24. Diana Nyad made 82 of the 103 miles from Cuba to Florida. Jellyfish got her. Shame. I am glad she is ok though. Couldn't she have gotten treatment on one of the rowboats defecting, and then carried on? Pansy. Just kidding.
25. Home. Awesome crowd. Potent offense. You think WVU is not a believer in SEC team speed these days? Thought so.
26. The Brewers win division for first time since 1982. I have already used the lightning storm and DeLorean joke twice already, so I will just say on this topic..."here's a little story, about Jack and Diane..."
27. Vick plays and then gets hurt again. Which will happen first? Michael Vick coming back, Vince Young saying something stupid, or me figuring out who the hell Mike Kafka is...
28. Orlando Brown died this week. My thoughts go out to your family. It is a shame you were most known for getting almost blinded by a flag, but...you were one badass dude.
29. The Yankees faked interest in Carl Crawford to drive the price up on the Red Sox. Talk about the opposite of Moneyball.
30. Something about the Dodgers being up for sale...yada yada yada...I just need to cover all of the stories sometimes. I feel no need to expand OR make jokes on this topic. Just mentioning it...
31. Rangers take the AL West, and the DBacks take the NL West. I feel pretty confident in saying that you can eliminate both of these teams from "players" for the World Series. One lacks pitching, and the other lacks hitting.
32. Bill Haas won the Tour Championship. Listen. I LOVE golf. I watch more golf than most. However, if I have to look up one more freaking person who wins a major or semi-major, I am going to call Kenny Britt to go out and drink. I don't want that. You don't want that. I like parity, but can we have some heavyweights please?
33. Exiled soccer coach Bradley is coaching Egypt now. There just has to be a joke there. HAS to be. Damn. If it was basketball, I was going to play the triangle offense card, but it is soccer...might come back to this one.
34. Anyone else have the feeling that Spurrier just wants to go throw to the most talented receiver in the nation himself? He has a well behaved kid who sucks, and a badly behaved one with the tools but not much of a head on his shoulders. Alshon Jeffery could go THIRD in the draft (Andrew Luck, Quinton Coples, and Jeffery are projected right now), and he is averaging 61 yards a game...not his fault. I would make a Corey Maggette joke (this is a tough joke to pull or understand, but think about it-there is a parallel. It is a Top Gun parallel-it is "inverted"), but this kid IS that good. Too bad.
35. Alfonso Soriano feels "mistreated" about hitting 7th. Chandler. Too many jokes. Seriously, dude. Keep talking though. We have room on the Artest, Ocho, DeShawn, Owens, Janikowski team. We always have time. Kenny Britt is our DH, but go out and DUI and I will put you in the mix.
36. Picks from the weekend. How did I do?
BYU/ Central Florida: Win
Mich/ SD State: Win
FSU/ Clemson: LOSS-just so you know, Manuel playing is the ONLY way I would have took this bet. If I was more than a consultant, I would have waited on this bet until game time.
Nevada/ Texas Tech: Win
Miss St./ Louisiana Tech: LOSS. Really?
Baylor/ Rice: Win
USC/ Ariz St.: LOSS. K. I will stop involving USC in my bets.
Bama/ Arkansas: Win Easiest one on the board, people.
So, 5-2, and a loss with a injury asterisk.
37. That's it. The work I didn't do tonight, I have to wake up at 5am and do it tomorrow. What did one shepherd say to the other shepherd? Let's get the flock out of here. Talk to you Thursday. NOW I'm done.
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