Big Lead Sports Bar

9/08/2008

NEWS, NOTES, AND WEEK ONE THOUGHTS

First of all, I think the AFC should be declared wide open. The Patriots are left with a guy who hasn't started a game at QB since he was in high school in 1999. The Colts looked completely out of sync, Peyton Manning is riding the bike between posessions, and the team is starting a 2008 7th-round draft pick at center. Jacksonville, who's had a Bengal-esque run of late off the field, looked lethargic in their loss to Tennessee. San Diego stole defeat from the jaws of victory in a home loss to Carolina, who was playing without the teammate-beating Steve Smith. The rest of the AFC North looked atrocious. And all of a sudden, that once-feared Steelers schedule doesn't look quite as intimidating.
AFC teams on the upswing? Well, all of a sudden, the Jets have the best QB in the AFC North. Buffalo laid quite a smackdown on Seattle. And Tennessee might be a better team without Vince Young than with him. But as the sun rises on the first Monday morning after, keeping in mind just how early it is, I like our chances.
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A few emails...
--Mondesi's House Pens specialist Koz is looking for fantasy hockey managers:
"It's "head to head style" fantasy hockey on Yahoo, and we aren't playing for money but are looking for competitive managers. Have them email me (koz81@comcast.net) if they are interested."
--Passing this email along from Chris at Penn State. Can anyone shed some light?
"So, I was really surprised to see none other than Michel Therrien walking the sidelines at yesterday's Nittany Lions game. The rumor flying around the student section was that he was checking out the stadium for that Penguins-Flyers outdoor game we heard so much about last year. I was wondering if you had any scoop on why he was there."
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And the links...
--THE PIRATES MAKE HISTORY! That's 16 straight losing seasons in a row, tying the 1933-48 Philadelphia Phillies for the longest run of futility in professional sports history. It's been quite the fun ride. [Trib]
--Paul Zeise: The Pitt offense still needs to improve. Here, here. [PG]
--Lavar Arrington wishes a plague upon The Sports Cafe and Grille. Looks like he's staying busy in his retirement years. [Daily Collegian Online]
--ESPN's Steve Braband called the Brady injury... [Steve is Alive]
--...and Steely McGnome picked the score of the Steeler-Texan game...exactly. [Dug E. Fresh Rants]
--Did Vince Young quit on the Titans? Let's just say there's whispers... [Deadspin]
--Pitt's Scott McKillop was named Big East Defensive Player of the Week. 15 tackles, 2 hurries, and a pass breakup will do that. [Trib]
--Barry Sanders finally coming back to the Lions? Hopefully Tatum Bell won't steal his bags. [Sports Pickle]
--Pitt-Iowa is a noon kickoff on Saturday. [Pitt Blather]
--Yet another blogger takes Bob Smizik to task. [Hockey, Football & Stiletto Shoes]
--Your 2008-09 Penguin GameDay inspirations are revealed. [The PensBlog]
--Someone want to inform Patrick Ewing that it's probably not a good idea to wear shorts to your Hall of Fame induction? [Epic Carnival]
--My W&J Presidents are 1-0 after a 49-35 win at Oberlin. I expect many emails from washjeff.edu email addresses as a result of this mention. [Washjeff.edu]
--Which NFL team has the drunkest fans? According to this list, not the Steelers. [Latest Word]

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A few interesting college football lists from ESPN.com:

Upsets: The 10 biggest surprise wins of the BCS era (spoiler: Pitt made this one)

And a few fun links to close out the morning:

A Russian religious group is pushing for a South Park ban. [Wired]

5 Real World Criminals Who Were Certified Super-Villains [Cracked]

The 8 Best One-Punch Knockouts in Movie History [OMG Lists]

10 habits that bosses love and Warning signs it's time to quit [Yahoo!]

Got news? Email it to mondesishouse@gmail.com and get automatically entered in a drawing to win a copy of KC Joyner's new book, Blindsided.

2 comments:

Koz said...

I fixed my email. Sorry for the problems everyone. Email koz81 [AT] comcast.net if you're interested in fantasy hockey.

Eileen Flinn said...

My understanding is that one of Therrien's kids is looking at Penn State as a possible college choice.