We Are the Champions!

My friend Nolan (one of The Boys) is just about the only person that I have ever spoken to who can actually say he's an arena football fan. Yes, that's right, arena football. Personally, as much as I like real football, I can't get on board with the arena version. The poor league is trying so hard to promote it and make it a legitimate league in this country - I mean they've got an arsenal of John Elway, Ron Jaworski, and freaking Bon Jovi people! What about that doesn't make you want to watch arena football? I've tried to watch a full game but failed miserably. The game is so fast that you can't keep up with it. You look away for two seconds and someone has already scored a touchdown. The scores more closely resemble college basketball than the NFL. A running game and this thing called defense barely exist. The only amusing thing is that sometimes a player brutally crashes into the sides of the arena field and some drunk idiot gets clobbered along with him. But no matter what, Nolan remains a fan of his hometown Philadelphia Soul (Bon Jovi is a part-owner...get it...he's got...soul). Well Bon Jovi my friend, let me tell you that my buddy is doing everything he can to promote your team. Check this out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsTSXqFbhmg

There you go Jovi - we don't care if its a Boston bar, or its baseball that we're watching...Nolan will wear his darn Soul hat. But Nolan also gets props for finally getting himself some sort of Boston sports clothing and becoming probably the only person in Sonny's to proudly wear a Dustin Pedroia shirt. I got a Youklis shirt after discovering that strangely enough, we are kind of connected. My family is originally from Cincinnati though we left when I was only 7. Youklis is also from Cincinnati and just this year my dad told me that he'd grown up with Kevin's dad and funny enough, played on softball teams with him. Then I find out that they lived in the same area as I did as a kid and he went to the same high school that I would have if I'd stayed past elementary school. Then to top it off, I find out that my childhood friend's husband was one of his best friends in high school - he was the quarterback of the football team and Kevin was the big baseball star. In light of us basically being from the same stock, I always root hard for him and decided he should be my first j-shirt purchase. My next one is an Ellsbury. We returned to Sonny's on Sunday night following the Red Sox amazing sweep of the Rockies and it was so much fun. Championship one, done. Now onto number two....

The State of the Babies

Ahhh, everything is as it should be...I am winning again. Wins in both leagues this week, again cementing me in a comfortable second place in the Boy's league. Everyone performed nicely this week - Peyton got himself a bunch of touchdown passes, Reggie Wayne finally had that sick game I've been waiting for, and my rock, Willie Parker, again had over 100 yards. Add to that a nasty beatdown of the Redskins by my Pats defense and it all added up. We only have eight members in this league so we've started to play everyone the second time. Next week I have what should be a hard matchup with Jon Kitna's Rabies (yes, its the Rabies vs. the Babies), though funny enough he's not even starting Kitna anymore. He picked up Derek Anderson so we've discussed that they really should get their name changed to Derek Anderson's Blandersons. Its all we could come up with.

I also finally, FINALLY, got my big numbers from Brees and Colston in my Dad's league. I knew they'd come around at some point and they both had huge games. I picked up the Titans defense this week because I'd had to drop the Chargers on their bye week and someone snagged them before I could get back there. I'd had the Redskins last week but I made the smart decision not to keep them this week because they were playing the Pats, and well, we see how that turned out.

This Week's Favorite Things About the NFL:

1. Shaun Alexander is a nice person. He came into my office last week! He's really good looking in person actually and shorter than I'd have thought. Still a big guy though. I was pleasantly surprised to hear that he was very nice to my friend who walked him to his meeting and even commented on how the security guard had given him a bottle of water really quickly. I love it when celebrities act like humans.


2. Peyton Manning and Tom Brady, on the same day, at the same time, became the first quarterbacks ever to beat all 31 teams. I love this stuff, I think that is just incredible. Granted there have only been 32 teams for a few years now, but still, its pretty amazing. To add to it, Brett Favre can do the same thing next week.


3. Which leads me to...how awesome, again, is Brett Favre. That Monday night game was great all the way through, but to win with an overtime touchdown pass over one of the better corners in the game is top notch. Vinny Testiverde's dad is still rockin it at 38.


3. The newest addition to my sports wardrobe. Yes, I realize it is a completely a-hole shirt, but I come from Philly and Boston...I'm an a-hole. It will arrive just in time for Pats-Colts this weekend.

Random Thought of the Week

I don't think anyone who reads this is in the Writer's Guild, but if anyone is listening, please don't go on strike. Please don't cause tons of young, poorer people than you to lose their jobs or their pay for a couple weeks or the overtime they desperately need for you to make more millions. I get it, I know that there are issues to be dealt with and that the big studio corporations can be total d*cks but really, it just sucks. My job might literally come to a halt. All these 22 year old PAs making $500 a week will just get nothing. So you can make more money than you already do...as in much more than us. Can't we all just get along????

Thanks for reading! Pats vs. Colts this Sunday - its a big showdown! I'm sure I'll have lots to say!

The Father-Daughter Matchup

Work was painfully boring this week. My office is in a weird lull period where we just finished up a busy time and are about to go into another busy time, so I spent a lot of time watching TV, baseball games, and surfing the internet. Therefore my head is in all sorts of places this week.

I think I watched too much ESPN. I have a television with cable at my desk at work (you know, because I work in TV) and a couple of months ago I realized that on the west coast, NFL Live airs at 1pm, which happens to be when I take lunch. I started just watching that while I ate and then got into the habit of leaving it on for a while afterward in the background. Then earlier this week I had a dream that I went out on a date with this guy I really liked, who randomly had a baby that also came on the date. I think the mother had died. I woke up thinking, who was that guy, I think it was someone I know. I later figured out it was Tony Reali - the guy who hosts Around the Horn and makes occasional appearance on PTI. Like I said, I think I watch too much ESPN.

I know that in an earlier post I kind of bashed the NFL's new line of women's apparel, but I did make one disovery this week that quite excited me - that Reebok is now making a women's size Bill Belichick grey Patriots hoodie! Anyone who knows the NFL knows that Coach Belichick wears this hoodie almost every week and last season several of the boys purchased them. I am so tempted. Now I just need the Writer's Guild to not go on strike so that I can actually continue to have a job to go to every day.

Luckily, with all this time I had last week, I had the chance to really watch this ALCS series, which was a complete emotional rollercoaster. The Sox can be so torturous, though luckily I am new to really being interested in baseball and haven't had to suffer this for my whole life unlike some of my other friends. But man, I get it. Every game was a challenge and I really was doubting it would happen, but my friends, the Red Sox are going to the World Series! It sucks that the games start at 5pm here, because now I will be forced to watch game one and two in the office while I embarrass myself incoherently screaming at the TV. I try to stop but its hard! I can't decide how I feel about the Rockies. Part of me thinks that they have been lucky and haven't had to match up against a team like the Red Sox yet in the playoffs (apologies to the Diamondbacks and Phillies but I think its true), and the other part is completely frightened of them and their destiny-filled postseason. We all know that Boston fans also know a lot about that fate and destiny stuff.


The State of the Babies

It was a big week this week - the first time my dad and I played each other in fantasy. To say he was excited would be a massive understatement, considering the text I got midday Friday:

"I am favored and u r going down. Reading your blog when u get
trashed by the old man will be a hoot. By the way I now have a
Blackberry so it will be easier to text smack to you. Love Dad"

Now that is a throwdown challenge if I have ever heard one! I was happy though because I text my dad many times on Sundays and then usually don't hear back until I get woken up at 5am by my cell phone, which means he isn't responding until the next day at 8am. I had no doubt that this week we'd text-war all of Sunday.

It is true that according to our website preview, my dad was favored, but only slightly, by something like 8 total points. That basically meant it was wide open. Here is the roster comparison, with my team first and the edge player in bold:

• QB - Drew Brees vs. Matt Hasselbeck
• WRs - Kevin Curtis, Marques Colston, & Dwayne Bowe vs. Reggie Wayne, Jericho Cotchery, & Donte Stallworth
• RBs - Larry Johnson & Brandon Jacobs vs. Marion Barber & Frank Gore
• TE - Chris Cooley vs. Eric Johnson
• K - Kris Brown vs. David Akers
• D - Redskins vs. Jaguars

So yeah, I could see where my dad would have a slight statistical edge but really, any of those players can have an up week or down week easily. The morning started out quite pleasantly. At about 10:30 I got a text from my dad - "U r going to kill me." I hadn't even checked yet but at the time, I was up on him 36-1, mostly due to the Redskins defense! But I am smart enough to know that nothing is close to decided that early. Through the day I was leading by 6-12 points. Drew Brees had a great game, and Brandon Jacobs, replacing my beloved hurt Sammy Morris, ran for over 100 yards and 2 TDs. But again my Achilles heel was my stupid receivers. Completely mediocre days for Kevin Curtis and Marques Colston (who I think I'm close to dropping - thoughts?) and a decent-ish day for Dwayne Bowe. To top it off I got no production from Chris Cooley, who before now had been on a great run. We really didn't watch much of the Pittsburgh-Denver game at night due to baseball, so I didn't look at what had happened until the end. And the score was 94-93, favoring my dad, with my players done and his defense yet to play.

Final score after the Monday night game - 111 to 93. Congrats, Dad. The student has yet to overcome the teacher.


This week's NOT AT ALL Favorite Things About the NFL (I hate to be negative, but a lot of things are bothering me):

1. The deafening silence that the Eagles' heartbreaking loss has caused. The game that the Eagles played was flat-out depressing. Do they not understand how to score a touchdown??? Three drives ending in field goals is not ok. You don't win games like that in this league. The officiating was also incredibly suspect, even though usually Ed Hochuli is one of the best, but there were some weird calls. But if you ask me, you should never put your team in a position to have a game come down to referrees. Score points. The season is over for them, considering the strength of their division. I just watched a full several minute highlights package on NFL Primetime and they didn't even talk about the Eagles, they only talked about how awesome the Bears are. Barf.

2. That the rest of the NFC East all won on Sunday, and all have winning records. Every team I just despise.

3. There are too many injuries this year and its scary. Maybe we say this every year but the number of relatively severe injuries to marquee players is getting out of control. This weekend Matt Schaub and Ronnie Brown among others got hurt enough to leave games permanently.

4. People getting pissy at the Patriots for scoring more 2nd half points in Miami. Give me a freaking break. They are a football team and they are there to play, not sit around waiting for the game to end. Everyone knows that crazy things can happen at any time - I mean look at the way Houston scored all those points in the 4th quarter with their 2nd stringer! Its not their fault that no one can stop them. You don't want them to score more points, then make them stop.

Random Thought of the Week

Considering that this blog is mostly read by people who know me already (I'm not quite egotistical enough to think that strangers are checking it out), I had to put this video clip in. Many of you have seen it, but many of you have not. I have a twin, and she's a French pop star.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=ceSxEjwXHcM

We Do Mess With Texas

I am sure many people are tired of hearing about the Patriots-Cowboys "Duel in Dallas" game but seeing as its basically all I have thought about all week, I don't care. I couldn't help but dedicate this week's entry to the game. It was a very interesting week in the NFL, that is for sure.

First us poor football fans were made to suffer through Dallas' six turnover, come from behind, last second win in Buffalo on Monday night, a game that literally made my blood boil. Being also an Eagles fan, I HATE the Cowboys. I hate them with a passion I don't think I have for any other team. I was angry after that win. I know some people are saying, oh we should be so IMPRESSED by Tony Romo that he could turn the ball over so much and still find a way to win. On what planet should I be impressed?? If Dallas had been playing a good team, even a slightly better team, there is no way that would have happened.

Then of course no week could go by without some sort of T.O. event, and we were forced to sit through a week of intense media scrutiny about his infamous letter, stating that he would not answer any questions until after the game and that we should "get our popcorn ready." Impressive.

To add to all this, Peter King appears on Inside the NFL on Wednesday night and says that Wade Phillips made comments to him about feeling like the Patriots had a black mark on their success due to the spying controversy. Then Phillips later denies saying it. Good work, Wade. That is exactly what you need - for the Patriots to get angry again. Hasn't anyone learned yet that the Pats love to be the underdog, they love to be told they aren't good enough? They use it, they feed off of it. I have heard a lot of commentary on this issue through the week, and the thing that struck me was that not one journalist even considered the idea that Phillips had been misquoted by PK. You do not mess with PK.

And you know what else you do not do? YOU DO NOT MESS WITH THE PATRIOTS. The game was a rout, a gem, a clinic in how to be the best team in football. I'll even give Dallas a bit of credit and admit that they did not play a bad game. Romo and T.O.'s stats were quite respectable and they only committed one turnover (the inevitable "Romover," as The Boys are now calling his interceptions), which can be commended after such a mess of a game last week and considering the level of pressure they were under. But respectable wasn't going to cut it. The Patriots are absolutely frightening and Tommy Brady is going to finally win his league MVP this year.

The Boys and I have been noticing that since the whole Spygate thing happened, Chris Collinsworth and a few other notable commentators have seemed almost mad at the Pats. They begrudgingly admitted they were good but always had this tinge of anger. Well Sunday night there was none of that anymore, there was only shock and awe and the admission that this may be the best team that anyone has seen in the NFL in years. I don't particularly like that people are starting to seriously talk about them going 16-0 - I am just too superstitious - but how can I fault them for bringing the idea up after that game? Maybe we'll lose to Indy, maybe we'll fall to our divisional nemesis at Miami (there's something about Dolphins Stadium) but maybe we won't. All I know right now is that Tom Brady is on pace for 56 touchdown passes and a 72% completion rating (both would be league records), and that Randy Moss is leading the league in touchdowns caught (8), and that our two "other" receivers both had over 100 yards in Dallas, and that the team is on pace to score the most points EVER in a season. That is all I know.


The State of the Babies

Not a good week for the Babies, my friends, not a good week. Mental note for next year - PAY ATTENTION TO WHAT WEEKS YOUR PLAYERS ARE ON BYE! This week I was missing a substantial amount of my team - Peyton Manning, Reggie Wayne, Brandon Marshall, Willie Parker, and my best backup RB Marshawn Lynch. Adding to that, my beloved Andre Johnson is still hurt. So it was time to make some moves. My backup QB had been David Garrard, who is playing well but doesn't get a whole lot of points. Midweek I found that Eli Manning had been dropped from someone else's team so I am going start him this week. Baby Manning has actually been pretty solid and they are playing Atlanta this week. The receiver position became a bit more of a problem because I was missing not one but two starters. Since I refuse to drop Johnson, I was forced to start Bernard Berrian (ok he didn't turn out that bad) and find someone else, who ended up being Jerry Porter (who stank). It was a best available situation and I wasn't expecting much. I also had to find another running back and again landed in a best available situation, which became DeShawn Wynn, who actually scored as well. But this was all to no avail. I had absolutely no expectation to win the game, which was unfortunate timing because this was the week that I went up against the other 5-0 team, Silence of the Rams. He's got LT and that was all he needed to absolutely trounce me. I know he is reading this so hats off to you - you've managed to unseat the girl.

My Dad's league Babies are getting incredibly frustrating, and for different reasons this week. I had very low expectations considering Deion Branch got hurt, which was such a disappointment, and the fact that I'd just had such low production so far from all of my other offensive "stars." This week some of them actually woke up! LJ had a great game, and Steve Smith and Marques Colston both caught TDs. And of course, I draw the guy who has Adrian Peterson. All 40 points of Adrian Peterson. To add to the suckfest, Vince Young again gets me zero points and then gets hurt, and Brees finally has a decent day. I scored the 3rd highest amount of points in the 12-person league and I still lost. UGH! This weekend my dad and I are playing each other for the first time ever. Smack talk has already begun.


This Week's Favorite Things About the NFL

1. Not many people may care about this, but for my female readers, Tom Brady is the new face of Stetson. HOT




2. Vinny! Vinny! Vinny! 43 year old Vinny Testiverde joins Carolina 4 days ago, ends up starting and wins against a good Arizona team. Check out PK's Monday Morning Quarterback this week for the story of how this all happened, its the feel-good sports story of the season so far if you ask me.

3. It was Old Man Week in the NFL. Quarterbacks playing this week - Vinny Testiverde (1987 draft, last started in since 2004) Kurt Warner (1999 MVP), Gus Ferrotte (1994 draft), Kerry Collins (1995 draft), Trent Dilfer (1994) and Jeff Garcia (undrafted in 94), Damon Huard (1996), and Brett Farve (1991) in their normal roles, all giving a beat down to quarterbacks of tomorrow (Vince Young, Carson Palmer, and Jason Campbell respectively). It ain't good but at least it provides some entertainment.

4. Tony Romo's post-game press conference. Couldn't someone from the Dallas PR team at least have grabbed Romo before he went out and turned his collar out? Romo looked like a zit-covered 17 year old in his dad's shirt. Cut to Tom Brady, perfectly coiffed in a designer suit. Don't even try, Tony, don't even try...(yes, I know, I'm biased. I promise further blogs will not be so Brady-focused)

Random Thought of the Week

Airfare is the biggest mystery on earth. Can someone please explain to me why it now costs so much to travel? I just want to go home to Philadelphia over Christmas, and a coach seat, with stops on both segments, is costing $700 and up. $700! I should be able to fly to Europe for that, not between two major metropolitan areas in the U.S. Half of my friends can't even afford to go home this year. It is so depressing.

Thanks again for reading and see you next week!

Life Without Daddy

Last weekend my parents came to visit me in LA from Philadelphia and since the NBC night game happened to be an Eagles game, we thought it would be fun to cook dinner for The Boys and watch the game all together. The Eagles took a devastating loss (sigh) that made the night completely depressing in the end, but at least the chili was good (great recipe, Mom!). My parents love to talk, which is probably where I get it from, and also love to share childhood stories about our family whenever possible. Its endearing but of course provides an ample amount of embarrassment for me. As we watched the NBC halftime show last week, my dad couldn't help but share a story about me and noted ex-player and commentator, the Chris Collinsworth.

I was born in Cincinnati in 1982, when Collinsworth was a star on the Cincinnati Bengals. He was young and a Pro-Bowler, and from what my mom has indicated to me, a full-on heartthrob at the time. When I was only a few months old, my mom found out that Collinsworth was making a personal appearance at an electronics store in our area, and for some strange reason decided that it would be fun to go meet him and take a Polaroid with the baby. Yes folks, a Polaroid...it was the early 80's. I can't quite figure out why my parents wanted to go because never once when I was a kid did they ever let us go to something like this, you know, when I would have been old enough to actually say hello. In any case, they showed up only to find a giant line. They attempted the line but soon realized the absurdity of waiting hours to take one picture of their tiny baby with some football player and left. The story should end there. But, as my dad told it last weekend, as they packed me up to go, they realized that something had happened to my diaper and I had somehow peed all over my dad as he'd held me in line! The moral of the story is that had that line not been so annoyingly long, I would have peed on Chris Collinsworth. But thank the lord, I didn't. Someone up there liked me enough at 3 months to say, no Lisa, you will not have to suffer hearing about that time you peed on Chris Collinsworth for the rest of your life. I rarely get these sort of breaks, so I really appreciate it!

This story led me to think about other random connections I might have to the NFL. There weren't many. I went to high school with a current NFL player named Bryan Scott. He was our big sports star and I knew him very casually from being a cheerleader and singing in the school choir with him. He was just a very talented guy and incredibly nice. He went on to play at Penn State and was drafted as a safety to the Falcons a few years ago. Now he's playing for the Bills, I think mostly doing special teams.

The only other thing I could come up with was the time I was less than 5 feet from Tom Brady's unborn child. Bridget Moynihan happened to be in my office and was a few months pregnant. She walked right by me and I could care less that it was her, I just wanted to see the bump! Ok that kind of makes me sound like some sort of crazy-stalker-babynapper person. I'm not, by the way, I just love Tom Brady, a lot. Something happens to me when I see him and I am unable to function. I really wish Bridget would stop making him look like such a dead beat. She's chosen to conveniently ignore the fact that she got pregnant after they had broken up and that she is significantly older than him (maybe even older than she says she is), and had told friends that she wanted a family now. By many accounts that is why they broke up!!! So now I am supposed to believe that a 36 year old woman accidentally got pregnant by her ex-boyfriend who had already told her he wasn't ready for kids? After several years together, wouldn't they have the whole birth control thing down? Then she gets pregnant, moves to LA, and ends up selling photos of her and John Edward Thomas Moynihan to OK Magazine, who makes the cover headline, "Life Without Daddy." Does anyone ever think about the child when they do these things? He's going to see that someday. She's the one who chose to move 3000 miles away, and if that is what she felt was best for her then anyone can support that, but she knows that Tom can't move. And yes, I know that Tommy spent most of the pregnancy traipsing around with Gisele, and I would have preferred them stay low-profile too, but don't use the kid as ammunition for your own fight. You might hate Daddy, but he doesn't even know Daddy.


Now on to The State of the Babies.

I went 1-1 this week in my leagues - winning easily in the Boys' league and losing, but not too badly, in my Dad's league. Both of my defenses were stars - New England and San Diego - but particularly in my Dad's league I think I need some major offensive upgrades. I am pretty close to benching Marques Colston, particularly considering I am now benching Dwayne Bowe, who many people are calling the most impressive offensive rookie right now. I also went back to starting LJ instead of Sammy Morris but that backfired. Sammy had another 100 yards; LJ is officially dead to me. The only significant move I made this week was picking up Michael Pittman of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on my Dad's league Babies. He looked good replacing Cadillac Williams last week but he didn't do much either this week and now is also injured and out maybe 6 weeks. Poor Cad. I had a hard time even watching his injury happen - his knee literally went the wrong way. They are saying its career-threatening. It is just always sad when you hear that about such a young, promising player.

I finally got to start Vince Young this week. I am a big Drew Brees proponent and I don't believe his problems are all his fault, but I had to try Vince instead. Once we went into negative points it was time. I am still amazed at how I got VY. My Dad's league has 12 people in it and everyone but me drafted two quarterbacks. I am still unsure as to why I didn't. When I realized that Brees was on bye last week I also noticed that someone was offering Young up for trade. I offered Brandon Marshall for him and for some odd reason the guy accepted. He must have been pretty desperate for receivers. Of course I missed the fact that my new QB was also on bye the same week...leading to last week's Trent Green debacle. Well this was kind of a debacle as well because even though the Titans won, VY threw 3 interceptions and there went all his points. I am not pleased.

I'm still very happy with the Boys' league Babies and I think I am going to remain in first place again this week. No one scores me a ridiculous amount of points but everyone is solid. Of course I have yet to be hit by the bye week and that comes this week. I lose Peyton, I lose Reggie Wayne, Brandon Marshall, and Willie Parker. I am in big trouble because this week is the battle royale of me versus the Silence of the Rams, the only other 5-0 team in the league. Ut-oh.


Week 5's Favorite Things About the NFL

1. Ricky Williams is applying for reinstatement again and a Denver group trying to legalize marijuana in Colorado put up a billboard encouraging Williams to come play in Denver. Hilarious. Somehow I don't think Mike Shanahan was pleased by that. I also hear that Ricky is mulling the idea of putting out a yoga DVD. I will buy that.

2. I didn't see this game but these sort of events just fascinate me - Houston kicker Kris Brown became the first kicker ever to kick 3 field goals over 54 yards, including the game winner! Its amazing to start that he would even be called on to do so (not a great offensive performance for Houston clearly) but the fact that anyone could make all of those kicks is pretty incredible. This is why we watch.

3. At the Angels-Red Sox ALDS game on Sunday afternoon, I finally found someone wearing the I HATE PEYTON MANNING t-shirt that was sold on the street near Fenway park last year. On the back it says ELI SUCKS TOO. I have been hunting for one of these shirts for months! I don't really hate Peyton but its a great shirt. Check it out...

4. This guy. Enough said.

Random Thought of the Week

Usually I would keep this spot open for something non-sports related but since I went to a special event this weekend, I can't help but talk about the Red Sox ALDS sweep that I saw this weekend. What a great game. When you get back-to-back home runs out of your two power hitters, there isn't much more you can ask for. My friends and I ran down to the dugout area for the last inning and celebrated with the tons of Sox fans also in attendance. I am blown away by the fact that in 2007, both the Red Sox and the Patriots have come to SoCal for playoff games and I have been able to see both of them. I will never forget either game. I was pleasantly surprised about how nice Angel Stadium is - easy, not too pricey parking, decent food, lots of bathrooms - very fan-friendly.

Thanks again for reading...I'll back for a very exciting week 6 including the big showdown of Dallas versus New England. I can't even bear to talk about last nights Dallas experience, so we'll just leave it with the thought that the Patriots better CRUSH them.