Militarized Trash Talk

/41 Comments/in , /by

When Dwight Eisenhower warned of the creeping military-industrial complex, little did he know it would invade even the football trash talk of the liberal blog set. But, yet, here we are this week all soldiered up.

That is because the big story today is the Army/Navy game. The reason I say Army/Navy is the big story is because I refuse to discuss the sham going on at the Downtown Athletic Club in New York where the Heisman Trophy is going to be handed to a professional athlete who is also a petty thief; Cam Newton ought to be disqualified as ineligible to compete instead of playing for a national championship and receiving the Heisman. The NCAA and the BCS are both corrupt and sick jokes.

As to the game itself, it looks like a fair fight for once. The Midshipmen have won eight in a row over the Black Knights, many of the games not even close (Navy has outscored Army 89-6 over the last three games). But his year both teams have had good seasons and are going bowling, with Navy to the Poinsettia Bowl and Army to the Armed Services Bowl. The Black Knights are ranked ninth in the country in rushing (260 yards per game) and tied for 12th in turnover margin at plus-one per game. But Navy is on a roll behind senior quarterback Ricky Dobbs and the vaunted triple option offense has been grinding over opponents. There is also the measure of the common opponent both teams played this year; Navy crushed Notre Dame, while teh fighting Irish fairly easily dispatched Army. So, prediction here is another solid victory by Navy, but Army may finally at least be able to get in the endzone for the first time in four years.

PROS: There are only four games of real interest this weekend: Giants at Vikes, Pats at Bears, Iggles at Dallas and Chefs at Bolts. The Giants have had an up and down year, but seem to be generally getting things together down the stretch. Bad Eli has been a turnover machine and, of course, the Vikes have the king of turnover machines, the Geezer himself. But the Geezer is hurt, can he play? Will he start? Of course he will, that is what he does. But I would not be surprised if he is ineffective and sits down after about a quarter; especially considering that Tavaris jackson has been okay in relief the last couple of weeks (although not nearly as good as the scores of those games would lead you to believe). This should really be an interesting game; for the most part, the Vikes have played better than their poor record indicates, but they are nowhere near last year’s team. The Vikings are at home and want to finish off the season on an up note; the Giants are actually playing for playoff positioning. Toss up!

Bieber Brady and the Pats invade Soldier Field to visit Urlacher and Da Bears. Urlacher has already said the Bears are a better team. That is the kiss of death against Belichick and Brady, not to mention that Belichick has the young Pats defense finally coached up and playing solid. Pats look good in this one.

Eagles at Owboys would look to be a blowout for the Eagles. But not so fast, Dallas has been playing a LOT smarter and better since Jason Garrett took over for Wade Phillips, and Dallas has a strange way of driving the Iggles crazy and beating them, ev en when the Iggles are superior. Cowboys rookie wide receiver Dez Bryant is out for the season and Asante Samuel is questionable for the Eagles; both are huge. Edge here still has to go to Philly, but you never know.

Lastly, but maybe most importantly, is the Chiefs at the Chargers. The Chefs, at 8-4, have a two game lead over the 6-6 Bolts and KC won the first meeting earlier this year. So, if KC wins this one, the Bolts run of division crowns is over. San Diego, however, is on its usual end of the year tear they always go on before Norval takes a crap in a playoff game. Phil rivers is tearing up passing records this year and Matt Cassell is likely out after undergoing an appendectomy Wednesday. That is enough of a blow to put this game solidly in the Chargers favor.

So, that is it for this week trash it up. The musical selection is from the first Jefferson Starship album, Dragonfly. I have been listening to this old wax on the turntable the last week and had forgotten just how good of an album it really was. The track here is All Fly Away, which is one of the lsser known ones, but simply a killer song.

image_print
41 replies
  1. bobschacht says:

    I see that the Army vs. Navy game has started. Meh. What I’d pay to see is, say, Army vs. Taliban. That would be a much better way to take out our aggressive impulses, in lieu of that useless exercise we’re currently doing over in AfPak. The Taliban could even be offered a share of the gate, as long as they didn’t muck things up with any car bombs. And we might have to clarify with them that if they should win the game (heaven forbid), that would NOT mean that they get title to the stadium.

    And Army would have to be told that the game ENDS after 4 quarters, so if, heaven forbid, they are losing at the end of the 4th quarter, they do NOT get to add another quarter to try to even the score.

    Bob in AZ

  3. emptywheel says:

    Here’s my sports weekend. You know how I’ve been timing my trips back to People’s Republic of Ann Arbor so as to avoid football games? Well I had no choice ant this week’s timing, but I figured in december i’d be fine. No football. In december, right?

    Uh. Except for if they schedule a hockey game in the fecking Big House. Cause then even more people fit in the stadium which is just blocks from all the key mover’s hot spots.

  4. Mauimom says:

    Hey, I heard on my local ESPN station that the Giants’ plane was grounded in KC, unable to get into Mpls because of snow.

    This should be interesting.

  5. Peterr says:

    You know things are bad when bmaz the Defense Attorney writes this:

    I refuse to discuss the sham going on at the Downtown Athletic Club in New York where the Heisman Trophy is going to be handed to a professional athlete who is also a petty thief; Cam Newton ought to be disqualified as ineligible to compete instead of playing for a national championship and receiving the Heisman.

    I quite agree with you, bmaz, but I’m surprised at your willingness to skip that whole due process thingie.

    ;-)

    As for KC vs SD, there’s a chunk of the sports media here in KC that ould give lessons to the Obama Booster Club about 11-dimensional chess. “You know, it was just laproscopic surgery, so Cassell *could* be ready to play but the coach is just playing with the Chargers’ heads. Let’s give Brodie all the snaps with the starters this week in practice, and make them think that Cassell’s out of it.”

      • BayStateLibrul says:

        Make one for Clemens and it’s a deal.

        No mention of Hot Stove deals…

        John Henry empties his wallet for Adrian and Crawford. Give a Dang Dang for
        the Hedge Funds.
        Sox need to trade Lackey and Dice-K and pick up a catcher.
        Varitek handles pitchers, but sucks as a batter.

  8. PJEvans says:

    The friend who was going to Buttonwillow wrote me that his team finished 93rd (out of more than 160). Not sure what the ‘2 BS penalty points’ are about, though. They were off the track for several hours, or they’d hav finished higher, I think.

  9. burnt says:

    We’ve had just about 16″ at the airport here in Miniappleohs. However, we’ve had almost no snow in the past two hours. I think the Giants will be able to sneak into the city in time for the game.

    It’s straight up winter wonderland here. Bittersweet and I were riding around on our bicycles earlier in the day and we had a magical time (Nokian tires are the best. Carbide rules). Minneapolis is stunningly beautiful during and after a snowstorm. I know our fair-weather friends might be hard to persuade but it really is fabulous here at the moment.

    It really is great living in a place with four honest seasons. It’s too bad our NFL warriors won’t be outside experiencing the weather. I wish the Giants had to play at the old Met tomorrow–that would be a serious game.

    Cheers, firepups.

  10. radiofreewill says:

    Oh bmaz! That shade of green looks bad on you!

    Newton really is this year’s man amongst boys – a veritable titan on the gridiron – just like you would expect on any team that runs the table in the SEC!

    I just can’t see the bird-bodies of Oregon going all four quarters with the plow horses of Auburn.

    I’m thinking 55-21.

    • fiver says:

      Talk about having the air let out of the stadium. Apparently an inflatable roof doesn’t work too well with a few holes in it.

      • bobschacht says:

        A few holes don’t matter. You have to have holes just to let people in and out of the stadium. But inflatables are not built to support weight much in excess of the roof material itself. Of course, some excess is required so that, for example, if it rains, the roof won’t collapse. But accumulated snow is too much.

        Even rigid structures can only take so much snow. Here in Flagstaff last winter, with record snow falls, several flat-roofed structures collapsed under the accumulated snow mass. That’s why in snowy areas you see a prevalence of peaked roofs (A-frame) with steep angles, the better to help gravity slough off excessive snow mass. Maybe the contours of the inflatable roof need to be modified, along with heater elements to promote melting and run-off.

        Bob in AZ

    • croghan27 says:

      Not only collapsed, but I hear the MN state police are looking for a certain QB with the suspicion that he engineering the deflation in order to give himself time to recover from his bum wing injury to continue his consecutive starting streak.

      Reports say a man with his arm in a sling wearing blue jeans was seen limping away from the scene.

  13. BayStateLibrul says:

    Another Clemens, at AAA this year

    “Koby Clemens, 1B, Astros farm system — Nobody took him in the Rule 5 draft, but that wasn’t surprising. The 24-year-old Clemens hit 26 homers
    and knocked in 85 runs while hitting .241 at Double A, but he struck out 143 times in 452 at-bats. Astros manager Brad Mills raved about him, though. “I saw him hit a home run through this incredibly stiff wind during an intrasquad game at spring training last year,’’ Mills said. “He’s got power.’’ Clemens played first base last season for the first time after being used as catcher/third baseman. The Astros still believe he can be a Brandon Inge type of player and he will get to play at Triple A in 2011.” Globule

      • BayStateLibrul says:

        Naw. I hope Kirby gives it a whirl. When the Sox have rain delays, they
        replay his 20K strike out performance against Seattle. I liked him way
        back when. It’s when he turned into a flaming arshole, that’s when the tide turned…
        I like people who tell the truth….

      • BayStateLibrul says:

        Do you think I Clemenate too much?

        Clemenate (KLEM-a-nayt), verb, to hate an athlete in an entirely healthy, fun sports way (rather than hating them in a crazed, stalking, loaded gun, insane sort of way).

    • bobschacht says:

      And the quarterback doing the most for the Arizona Cardinals today is—

      Kyle Orton! Thanks, Kyle. Mighty generous of you.

      Meanwhile, John Skelton didn’t actually do too bad.

      Bob in AZ

    • scribe says:

      Seems to me those INT returns for touchdowns count for 6 points, just like the offensive ones do.

      Plus, Polamalu’s hair flying all over as he runs one back is a sight worthy of beholding.

  15. JohnLopresti says:

    I think niners coach might have to take a vehicle which travels beyond starship velocity in the near afterseason. He is going to need the Key to the Highway, like Muddy, and Little Walter, if he*s going to leave SF, after one season. The tune Grace contributed to lodging in my musical muse this week involved the amazing rhythm guitar work in a collaboration effort she did with MickJ. Although in rock genre, the electric guitar picking and strumming borders on the sort of classical music riffs that would give pause even to the respected Julian Bream. That coach is going to be looking for shelter, and might do well to write Grace and ask how she did it, when she knew that ship, too, was going to weigh anchor.

    • BayStateLibrul says:

      Brady has silenced his critics. The entire team is delivering body blows to the Bears.
      BTW, Edelman is dating a model too, see his hair do?

      • dakine01 says:

        Well, Da Bears did win the second half 7 – 3. But that doesn’t help too much

        And the Fins just beat the J-E-T-S Jets Jets Jets in Joisey. I guess this means Ryan will be proclaiming the J-E-T-S Jets Jets Jets as the greatest team evah.

  18. emptywheel says:

    Checking in from people’s republic. Still. Figured we could pack while it snowed and blowed. But that means I missed all the games.

    Was it snowy @ soldier field??

    • bobschacht says:

      As scribe sez, yes, it was snowy. But it didn’t seem to matter to Brady, who dismantled Da Bears so thoroughly that they became Da Bores because, basically, they couldn’t do anything. I think Brady took them to a taxidermist to finish the job.

      Bob in AZ

  19. scribe says:

    Very. Had to sweep off the snow to see the chalk.

    In other news, as predicted in the pre-season, there is the sound of Death around the J-E-T-S. I had the opportunity to listen to their postgame interviews on he car radio tonight and they are in the process of imploding. We’re talking shatter-the-space-time-continuum-and-throw-shards-from-here-to-infinity-and-beyond level implosion. I would not be surprised if the J-E-T-S JETS JETS JETS get to watch all the playoffs on TV at home.

    After an assistant tripped a Dolphin running by – during a play.

  21. rosalind says:

    uh oh: Pacific Beach fight may involve Chargers players

    A man in his 20s was hospitalized Monday after a street fight involving several people, possibly including Chargers players, in Pacific Beach…The victim, who suffered facial and head injuries, was in a medically-induced coma at a hospital, police said.

    San Diego police Capt. Chris Ball said Chargers players were apparently present during the incident, which involved at least half a dozen people. Ball declined to identify the players, saying the incident is under investigation.

Comments are closed.