This week we saw -

Pike called up from the nether worlds to take command beside his highly effective offensive line and teammates.

BTW – That would be Tony Pike of the Carolina Panthers. Not Captain Pike of Star Trek but hey, I could not resist.

The Panthers burned through Matt Moore and Jimmy Clausen and finally called Pike to get him some playing time because , well, just because.

With seemingly ever star name either out or on the bench, this team is really hurting.

But honestly, I can’t decide who is hurting more. Panthers, Bills or Cowboys.

The Bills proved that they stink no matter what country they are in.

They Cowboys proved that there is no low too low for them to go this year.
















If I were Jason Garrett, and thank god I’m not, I’d be worried.

Hey Jason, here is a tip from a devoted Redskins fan. Keep calling up those wonderful passing plays!

And on a more positive note.

The Browns took it to Uncle Bill and the Pats! (I actually picked that one in my pickem league)























I know, everyone else was baffled too.

The Redskins didn’t lose.

And I am still winning the division in both my leagues thanks in part to my being able to (unbelievably) pick up Jacob Tamme off of waivers this week. If he is still available in yours, he is definitely worth a consideration.


!!! UPDATE !!!

Cowboys dot Com site goes down due to registration failure !!!

Default Network Solutions page with two kids playing soccer is shown instead of all the wonderful personnel and player headlines !!!

Ha ! Ha ! Ha !

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Quote of the day

Every year there tends to be some trend

- Eric Mangini









It comes from this article at Comcast Sports where a prediction was made that we could see a return of the dreaded "single wing" formation which they claim is a next step evolution of the "wildcat" and predicated with having a QB like Jim Thorpe who can run, throw, block and handle the physical punishment inherent with all those responsibilities.

Perhaps someone like Tim Tebow would be a good choice?

Talk of the wildcat and the single wing was the #1 topic of 5 trends to watch.

#3 was the use of cheap inexpensive second string QB's to back up the high priced starting star QB's.

Of course, one probably does not want your high priced star QB trying to be Jim Thorpe, so perhaps get the second stringer to do it...

Can anybody say Michael Vick and the Eagles?

The number #2 topic was the use of unbalanced lines. It seemed that the basis of this was more on injuries and needing to adapt. However, I've heard the Skins talk about using two TE at the same time. Perhaps a variation of the unbalanced line and the single-wing/wildcat formation would be cool to watch?

#4 was The second 400-carry rusher since the 2001 season. And we all know who they are talking about...

I just do not see this as a trend? But it is ironic that this could happen in a league that is seeing more and more running back by committee.

What's #5? You'll just have to read the article to find out...

But back to Eric, (hint, I do not see him getting the benefits of #5)

Sorry Eric, the only trend I see in Cleveland is 4 wins, then 5 wins, then could we possibly be more excited with the possibility of (6) wins in 2010?

Gee, he had a quote a couple years ago which may come back to haunt him...

I thank you guys for having the vision to make me your head coach

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I want to play the game where you put things on and hit

I found this article on Yahoo sports and so much of it reminded me of High School.

From the quotes, to the silly mind games coaches played, to the few coaches and players who truly loved the game for what it is.

I remember the day I recruited one of my best friends to play high school ball. He never had played football before but thought it would be fun to try. He had done some wrestling and did OK at that but wanted to try a new sport, so football it was.

When the coaches asked him why he wanted to try out and play he said...

"I like pain".

To that they all said "lineman".

Congratulations.

And Good luck.

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We want your brain...

NFL to Players: Please Donate Your Brains.

OK, so not to be little this too much, I do realize that this is important for players and the NFL....

But, exactly what are they trying to do here and shouldn't studies such as this be expanded to include other sports, owners, coaches and even fans?

And shouldn't the effects of drugs and other factors be taken into consideration?

And what about just excessive stress and all the "stress relief" products out on the market?

Such as this one...



After all, lets look at some of the symptoms of brain injury...

Any brain function can be disrupted by brain trauma:

excessive sleepiness,
inattention,
difficulty concentrating,
impaired memory,
faulty judgment,
depression,
irritability,
emotional outbursts,
disturbed sleep,
diminished libido,
difficulty switching between two tasks,
and slowed thinking.

This could explain a lot.

Based on symptoms alone, I think we could apply this study to any number of "bad" Teams, Coaches, Owners and yes even fans...

Such as...

The Cleveland Browns.

The New Jersey Nets.

The Washington Nationals.

Mike Martz.

I'm sure people could think of at least a few others.

And of course, sometimes the players are their own worst enemies...

Here are two examples...

One from this past weekend where Flozell Adams shows how to tackle Marion Barber...


And this classic Redskin Moment...





Makes you wonder...What were they thinking!!!

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Leap Frog Commentary...

The Jets play Leap Frog with MJD!












Obama bows to the world!





And Leonard Nimoys Children








(yes that is his teams name)

blows past me






(Santa's Little Helpers)
in the standings of my commished league and snaps my 4 game win streak and
2 week sweep of all my leagues!


The Redskins learn how to block and Ladell Betts has his best game in years!
In fact, it has been so long since he was the featured back that he was quoted...

"I was just joking on the way over here (post game interview), I didn't remember how to get to this room," Betts said with a smile.

Speaking of the Redskins, We can strike another potential coach off the list...
Gruden has accepted a multi-year contract to stay in the broadcast booth...
But as the Stupid Sports Blog pointed out...


















Someone please get them a table or limit viewing to just the head and shoulders!!!









And on the CBS NFL pregame show the announcers were doing a bit where players and personnel were being beamed (AKA Star Trek) to other teams. They ended the bit beaming Cowher to the Browns....

Cowher half screaming, half laughing, was quoted as "BEAM ME BACK!"

So, even though I lost, All this made for a highly illogical and wonderful Fantasy Football Week!

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Things I learned this past week...

Chinese symbol for knowledge




The Flu sucks. (I actually already knew this)

Our Family Practice sucks too. (Ditto on the knowledge thingy)

Seems they only give anti-viral medication (heck, just about any for that matter) to drug addicts, cancer patients, and enhanced athletes.
They call it their "high risk" policy.
Their best advice for folks/families who ALREADY HAVE THE FLU is to get a flu shot.
Never mind having kids (including a three year old) isn't risky enough already...

Speaking of high risk drugged athletes. . .
I heard that up to 12 players on the Cleveland Browns caught the flu and that the Browns were going to catch a break and be allowed a player roster exemption. . .

Nonsense! We all know the Browns can't catch!
Especially when it comes to anything related to pigskins...

The only thing worse than having the flu is having multiple people in the same family having it at the same time.

The only thing worse than having multiple family members sick at the same time is being sick with the flu at the same time as throwing out your back so you can't move.

There is a GOD.

Mercifully, he has spared me the worst of this last bit of knowledge for the moment, but I do still have the bad back and the start of a cough.

GOD has a sense of humor.
So it only hurts when I cough, or laugh...
I just know he is waiting until I get over the back thingy until I get what everybody else has.

We were actually torn on the whole flu shot thingy...

- Partly because of number 2 above...
- Partly because there is a part of me who believes in the pound of dirt theory...
- Partly because my wife and I see stuff like this on the news... and think once again about #2.
- Partly because it was only a few short years ago that I got my first flu shot ever, (my wife was either expecting and or we had a new born), but the flu shots that year were not for what ended up being the most prevalent variation and I got it anyway.

You probably are getting very tired of me RANTING . . .
Too Bad!

If my FF team (Santas Helpers) can pick a week to under achieve. They will.
As of right now I am 5 points behind and have two defensive players and Chris Cooley playing tonight.

If you take a chronically bad performing FF team (Pariahs) and decide to play spoiler and accept trades from others who go raiding, you actually might get a better team and start winning...
I now have Big Ben, AP, Sproles and Vincent Jackson.
As of right now I am amazingly 18 points ahead going into tonight.
I have Cooley (notice a pattern) and he has Maclin left to play.

I'll stop for now but I'll be back!

Promise.

In the meanwhile, Be Good. Do Well. Have Fun.

And stay away from evil medicine hoarding family practitioners!

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