Packers At Bears – The NFL Sun Comes Out Again Trash Talk

Trash Talk is back baybee! The NFL season starts for real tonight with the first game of the league’s centennial season. And, proving that even Roger Goodell and the NFL can occasionally get something right, the season starts with the Packers at the Bears. On Soldier field. Now that is a start to the season.

Honestly, the Bears are at home, and are probably, overall, the far better team. But the Cheesers have that Rodgers guy. If Green Bay’s O-Line can hold, they have a chance. If not, they don’t. It is pretty much that simple. Even a couple of Khalil Mackers to Aaron Rodgers will slow the Cheese train down. But, either way, it is one hell of a season opener.

There are a myriad of additional games on tap for Saturday in the college ranks, and Sunday, in the pro ranks. Not to mention the timeless speed of the Italian Grand Prix at Monza. Last weekend at Spa was a sensational race at, perhaps, the most beautiful circuit on the Circus calendar. Monza is not far behind, even if it is not the same as it once was with the feared steep banking.

So, Saturday is a big day here at Casa de bmaz as our daughter is coming home in the afternoon after six months on work assignment in India. We are extremely excited, but will try to get some more content up in the morning. If not, now you know why. The NFL sun is coming out starting tonight at Soldier Field. So the official Trash Talk season opening music is Sun King by The Cult. It is one truly kick ass song. Let’s rock and roll peoples!

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92 replies
  1. orionATL says:

    Lord, Lord, this is just brute, core nfl history. **

    for reasons that made no sense given where I lived, I loved the Packers. I still have a soft spot for them.

    but those games – the photos in the newspapers in the library – just brute, stand’em up, knock’em down football. forget October glory, I most remember cold and mud as the season wore on.

    https://chicago.suntimes.com/2018/9/9/18480088/here-are-5-of-the-most-memorable-games-of-the-bears-packers-rivalry

    ** 198 games since November, 1921.
    https://www.footballdb.com/teams/nfl/chicago-bears/teamvsteam?

    • bmaz says:

      I was born and raised (summers aside) in Phoenix. But we had no NFL team, so every kid picked their favorite. Green Bay, at Lombardi’s demand, drafted a very slippery running back/return specialist out of ASU in 1966 and Green Bay thus became my favorite team. Also, they won a lot back then, so it made it easier to cheer for them. They have remained, always, my favorite team, even after the Cardinals moved to AZ. There is just something about the Packers. The small town, the public ownership, the ethos. All of it. It is a brutal sport, but you have to love Green Bay.

      • orionATL says:

        i liked winners, no doubt, and as I got older the small town collective ownership registered strongly, but I think it was the green and gold uniforms – honestly. and I still think they’re the most bee-u-tiful. even after i threw them over for a fifteen year affair with the burgundy and gold.

        • bmaz says:

          The Packers consistency of uniform in the age of flashiness is also very appealing. In that regard, it was announced in the last couple of days that the Chargers will be using their old style powder blue jerseys in at least six games this year, which is a very good thing. Those are some of the most gorgeous unis ever.

        • orionATL says:

          yes. very nice. i hope the trend continues away from glitter, glitter.

          and after that the teams can fix that silly, artsy swoosh design some have on their helmets, e.g., the falcons, broncos, Seahawks, eagles, patriots, titans, bills. and just for controversy I’ll throw in provisionally two other bird teams, the Cardinals and ravens.

        • Rick Ryan says:

          I only just heard about this, and I was a Packers fan even back then: in 1994 they were very, very close to changing the color scheme, specifically replacing the yellow “gold” with metallic gold a la Notre Dame. The board had approved it and everything was ready to go, until Ron Wolf got cold feet at the last second.

          His stated reasoning for backing out doesn’t entirely make sense to me (they couldn’t, you know, also get better players?), but I for one am glad they stayed the way they are. What I’m picturing in my head looks really drab and dull in practice, and I don’t think that’s just my deep and irrational hatred of Notre Dame talking. Plus, those twice-a-year games against the Buc’s and their late-’90s pewter-and-reds would’ve looked like someone spilled a bunch of Christmas ornaments. Don’t fix what ain’t broken, people.

        • J R in WV says:

          I have always enjoyed seeing the Stealers when they wear their old uniforms; do not understand why they don’t wear them always!

          Have always loved the Pack, but when I went away to college the first time in 1968, discovered to my amaze that the Redskins used the small liberals arts school’s campus as the summer camp. So Jurgenson was on campus, along with all the supporting cast.

          I loved the Iggles comeback against the Racial Slurs this Sunday afternoon. It was the first game I could see. I watched a little of the NYG Dallas game, Dallas is a real machine this year, but I hate both those teams, so didn’t pay a lot of attention.

          Loved watching Army giving Michigan a little more ground game than they could handle, firmly believe the Refs gave that game to Michigan after Army won it … not a big army fan, was in the Navy myself but was drafted in ’70 and enlisted to avoid ‘Nam as a grumt. Times were diff back then.

      • Mutaman says:

        “drafted a very slippery running back/return specialist out of ASU in 1966”

        The late great Travis Williams. Has a little place in the heart of every Packer fan.

  2. Peterr says:

    Rivalry memory . . . While in seminary, two families across the hall from each other in the seminary apartments decided to host a double Monday night football party when the Bears played the Cheese. I spent much of the first half cooking brats on the grill outside in the Bears apartment, just listening to the back-and-forth of the game. During the second half, I bounced between the two apartments. Standing in the hallway was funny, as it would be quiet as a play began and then cheers erupt from one apartment and groans from the other.

    • orionATL says:

      I love this story. I can just hear the symphony of the groaning couches.

      I do have a question though based on another fun u. story about how one of my sons met his wife:

      was the keg near the grill and brats? 😂

  3. P J Evans says:

    In other forms of trash talk, I just read this:

    Speaking of hurt feelings and defensive anger, Devin Nunes is suing Fusion GPS and Campaign for Accountability, alleging harassment and intimidation against him because irony is dead. Also RICO violations because political research and people filing ethics complaints is racketeering???

    https://www.wonkette.com/devin-nunes-drops-suit-against-own-constituents-to-spend-more-time-suing-the-ricos
    https://www.techdirt.com%2Farticles/20190904/16354242924/devin-nunes-drops-one-ridiculous-lawsuit-only-to-file-another-one.shtml

  4. Eureka says:

    Awesome track, bmaz. Just what the night needed.

    There was a great football story last Saturday, an epic day for Georgia State, who defied sundry expectations to defeat the 26-point-favorite Tennessee Vols at Neyland, the first home opener loss for UT since 1983:

    Tennessee football loss to Georgia State is worst in UT Vols modern era
    https://www.theleafchronicle.com/story/sports/columnists/university-of-tennessee/john-adams/2019/08/31/tennessee-georgia-state-football-ut-vols-jeremy-pruitt-worst-loss/2096758001

    Calling it an “upset” doesn’t do it justice. This was the worst loss in the modern era of Tennessee football.

    Tennessee lost to Rutgers in 1979, but that Rutgers team finished 8-3. A loss to 4-8 Wyoming in 2008 was worse than that.

    But this was worse. Much worse.

    You need to know the history to realize how bad.

    Tennessee started playing football in 1891. Georgia State didn’t get into the football business until 2010. But UT’s 119-year head start wasn’t a factor on this afternoon.

    More perspective: The Panthers ended a 2-10 season in 2018 on a seven-game losing streak. They lost their only game to a Power-5 conference opponent (N.C. State) by 34 points, and eight of their losses were by 14 points or more — usually a lot more.

    When they opened their season against the Vols, they already had been tabbed to finish last in the Sun Belt’s East Division.

    Given that background, it’s no mystery why UT was a 26-point favorite. But it never looked the part in what qualified as a dreadful opening act for a team expected to be much improved after finishing 5-7 last season.

    Someone made a great shirt: https://twitter.com/buckheadlawyer/status/1167955563327741952

    But the biggest dig– and one I don’t understand– was that UT had paid GA State 950k to come play the game. I’ve clearly missed some college football trends: what is this paying teams to come play thing?

    • P J Evans says:

      I wonder if the idea is that scheduling a team that they expect to lose means that team won’t draw many paying watchers, so they have to guarantee a check for the weaker team.
      (I really don’t get why college football should be considered anything other than farm teams for the NFL. But I went to a school that was something like NCAA Division II, at best, and which actually demoted football to a club sport for some years.)

    • orionATL says:

      my wife yelled at me that ga. state had beat tennessee. unbelievable!

      this business of a powerful team with a chance of high ranking scheduling pushovers for it’s first game has been going on for some years. the idea is avoid an upset of a good team whose players aren’t yet ready that could ruin the season.

      that deal for the first game (or two) of the season involves guaranteed money – cold, hard cash in a range from many $100k’s to mills for allowing it’s players to be mauled by powerhouse u. then cash is allegedly spread thruout pushover u.’s athletics program.

      https://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2016/6/22/11648368/scheduling-cupcake-guarantee-games-cost

      • Eureka says:

        THANK YOU orion and Tracy Lynn: in all of the mentions of this cash, no one appended that or any other term and I had looked all over for an explanation, and everywhere the reason was just assumed. No clues given!

        • orionATL says:

          and thank you, eureka, for the excellent article from the news-sentinel. I like it when a sports columnist tells it like it is without being mean.

          it annoyed me all last year that the ajc columnists, fine writers all, began every column by excusing the falcons sorry play by noting their early loss of 3 key defensive players. overtime it became clear that that was just b.s. looking at the coaches’ and the GM’s performance would have been more informative. the only reason New England (with an 8-5 record) won the super bowl was coach bill belichik, not qb tom terrific.

          this year the gloves are finally coming off, but fairly and analytically:

          https://www.ajc.com/blog/mark-bradley/football-outsiders-ranks-the-falcons-the-nfl/D8jlgE06FtI0sB3jNmRNFP/

          coaching is IT in football; the best coaches win; it’s organizational skills as well as knowledge of offense/defense and devising clever sets of plays.

    • Rick Ryan says:

      Paying for cupcake games is actually even more of an issue in college basketball, where because of the substantially smaller rosters and resources required to field a team, Div. 1 schools can find willing partners to buy cupcake games against from not only lower-div. NCAA schools, but NAIA schools, and sometimes even lower ones. The NCAA finally had to crack down a few years ago because Div. 1, tournament-caliber teams were scheduling games against these tiny, usually faith-based “colleges” with enrollments of literally 100 people, and beating them by literally 100 points sometimes.

      Not to mention, some of those tiny “schools” appeared to have been set up for the express purpose of collecting those cupcake checks (in football too).

      Of course, as with scheduling FCS/Div. 2 cupcakes, there’s always the chance that it will backfire, and losing to an NAIA team is even more epically hilarious.

      • Eureka says:

        Thanks for the additional background (& links to read)– it makes sense of something I had casually noticed in hearing match-ups: the profusion of those Saint Doe the Immaculate of East Bumble schools.

        I suppose the FedSoc and The Family are behind those, too, somehow (~sarcasm).

        **taps forehead** Can’t ever take your eyes off the ball…

      • P J Evans says:

        On the other hand, there are schools like Wayland Baptist, which, while small, really do have good basketball teams. (Their women’s team, the Flying Queens, is in the Naismith Hall of Fame.)

    • Eureka says:

      There was a UT-related human interest story yesterday; very sweet, if doused in southern baptist (-adjacent) patriarchy and capitalist overkill– topics I will skip for now because why wallow in our real sociopolitical problems on this Sunday.

      Of course they lost again Saturday, to BYU:

      “Just heard a neighbor scream I AINT GOING TO CHURCH TOMORROW in case you wanted to know how things are going in Tennessee right now. #BYUvsTENN”
      https://twitter.com/AllanBell247/status/1170530374721646592

      And that was out of Nashville, not even Knoxvegas.

      (To orion’s comment on coaching, that certainly covers UT lately– these are not the Phil Fulmer or Johnny Majors years, that’s for sure.)

      The sweet story is here, where you can see a picture of a little boy’s homemade fan-shirt effort:

      He was bullied for his homemade University of Tennessee T-shirt. The school just made it an official design
      https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/07/us/bullied-student-university-of-tennessee-shirt-trnd/index.html

      UT turned it into a real shirt, and seeing their version compared to the child’s version is a bit of a heart-softener.

    • orionATL says:

      spot on analysis.

      ga. state coach said this would do wonders for his team’s climb up (in recruitment, no doubt), but I think he was astounded too.

      i would not want to be a member of that coaching squad this week in. better not to go for gas or groceries in knoxville :).

    • Eureka says:

      Well as per the giant THANK YOU above, all your sports-talk exposure saved my last nerve on what is really a very amusing topic.

      I am reminded now of all the “Rocky bottom!” “Rocky bottom!” comments (dejected Vols fan twitter was a fun read).

  5. posaune says:

    Thank you, bmaz! I needed a trash talk to scroll through, and you delivered right on time! Oh, and congrats on getting daughter back for a while!

    • bmaz says:

      Did I mention she is bringing her new beau, who she met in her previous billet in Boston, home with her? Yikes, this ought be fun!

        • P J Evans says:

          I wonder if it was like that for my older niece’s husband. They met in college (married 15 years next month).

        • Eureka says:

          Well, back in the last century* my husband (we met at work) was nervous (they don’t necessarily say they are nervous; they do talk about it a bit more than they do other plans) though he had no real reason to be, and I relayed various reassurances (from my mom, lol), and there were other reasons not to be nervous. But he was. I think it’s just how that goes…’cliches are cliches because they are true’ and all that.

          A little bit of anticipatory anxiety is good for sports, tests, and family meetings that may ultimately see long marriages, as in the case of your niece.

          *before e.g. this and this

        • bmaz says:

          He too was shipped by their company to India. We have “met” him on a couple of video things, and he seems extremely nice. Mrs. bmaz has decreed that I shall be on my best behavior. How good that is is probably a better question. I think it will all be good though!

        • Peterr says:

          Other poor choices . . .

          “Gotta love those Patriots, right, Mr. Bmaz?”

          “That Gloria Allred sure is a great lawyer.”

        • Mooser says:

          My first meetings with my prospective FIL were, well, I guess “fraught” would cover it. But as the years passed I became less fraughtened of the old fellow.
          Of course, having a Jewish son-in-law gave him somebody to share his passion for his favorite team, the National Hebrews.

  6. quebecois says:

    Bittersweet victory for Leclerc in Spa. Anthoine hubert’s death has shaken many of the new drivers who had raced against him. I read Lando Norris is in bad shape this week. Monza will once again see Ferrari dominating, high speed tracks favour that big red engine.

      • quebecois says:

        Vettel is not doing well either, he really should go for a break.””Some people think Formula One is too safe and too boring,” Vettel said. “But I would rather have boring Formula One championships forever and bring Anthoine back.”

    • orionATL says:

      I didn’t see the game only “watched” it on espn internet, but I did wonder if the g.bay defensive coaching team didn’t have tubisky’s (and his offensive coaches’) number toward the end of the game as bad as things went with only a t.d. needed.

      in today’s pro football a 7 point lead with 1:15 left to play isn’t worth a pitcher of warm spit, to coin a phrase 😁.

  7. Mooser says:

    It having been a good growing season in Washington State, I expect the, your, my Seattle Seahawks to win the Super Bowl.

  8. Leonard Grossman says:

    Most memorable game I ever saw was Bears-Packers in 1978. It was 4 below zero. Sitting in the old north stands with a friend from England who had never seen American football.
    I don’t remember the score, but the Bears won. My friend loved it. Maybe that had to do with the thermos I had filled with half coffee/half Southern Comfort.

    • AitchD says:

      I went to only one pro game, last game of the regular season, at Pitt Stadium, 1958, Pittsburgh Steelers and Chicago Cardinals. Bobby Layne (minimalist shoulder pads, no face guard) set the single-game passing yardage record, held up for nearly 40 years until Neil O’Donnell set a new one. Very cold afternoon, I wished I had some of what Layne was nipping.

      Two weeks later, the revolution was in fact televised, Colts and Giants, overtime. Everyone saw it in prime time during Xmas break.

  9. scribe says:

    Following last week’s catastrophe at Spa, and in advance of Monza, the SZ has a commentary on the core of racing: danger, titled “death as co-driver”. You can find it here: https://www.sueddeutsche.de/sport/motorsport-tod-formel-1-hubert-1.4589425
    The first paragraph is almost poetic and the second, too; I’ll give it a try. My translation may not be “accurate” like your high school (or college, more likely) German teacher would grade it, but I will grab the sense for you.

    Before the F1 race at Monza it has to be clear: however much motorsport tries to optimize the racetracks, it can never outfox the danger of death at speeds of 300 km/h.

    Der Tod als Beifahrer

    One has to fight themselves [a path] through the botanica in the Royal Park of Monza, to get a fuller appreciation for how Formula 1 once was, in a way the drivers tomorrow cannot experience, not if they want to see their hotel room in the evening. Off to the side of today’s track one encounters the old vertical curves, the “Curva sopraelevata di Monza”. Surrounded with rich green and bathed in the fragrance of the forest, it gives the appearance of having made a pact with Nature, as a concrete witness to a time, poured to resist falling into ruin. The old vertical curves tell stories of human frivolity, of the defiance of Death. And also there, of how closely and always Death is interwoven with motorsport. It is totally irrelevant how much man tries to optimize technology and tracks, intending to exert total control at uncontrollable speeds.

    Monza’s vertical curves were built in 1922, renovated in 1954; 4 times the pilots of Formula 1 circled here. On tires almost a small as a moped’s. The drivers wore no seat belts, leather caps instead of helmets. In 1961 they thundered for the last time through the curves which, close up looked as imposing as prison walls. Count Berghe von Trips crashed here at the entrance to the Parabolica Curve – his Ferrari smashed against the wire retaining fence before the spectators. 15 were killed and another 60 injured. Berghe von Trips was ejected from his racer, broke his neck, died immediately. Monza cost a number of racers their lives, including Italy’s national hero Alberto Ascari. In 1962 F1 lost its daring for the insanity of racing through the vertical curves. The course was still fast as ever. In 1970 Jochen Rindt also died at Monza.

    The commentary goes on to talk about how Formula is thinking about maybe modifying the track at Spa in the wake of last week’s fatality. It took place at the exit from the “Eau Rouge” curve, a place made famous over the years; Jacques Villenueve’s autograph cards bore “I survived Eau Rouge”. Some drivers think it’s already too easy, that it’s lost its terror. Spa’s manager is waiting on the results of the investigation to make any decision.

    I go back to my comment of last week, about the pissing contest over conditions at Pocono and whether Indy Car will go back, some younger drivers saying it’s too dangerous and Mario Andretti calling them out, saying “Pocono is not for sissies”, that the drivers willing to accept the risk have a good relationship with the track. No one wants to see a fatality, but if you want to win, you have to take the risk.

    And have Death as your co-driver.

    I’ll have more trash, later, but I wanted to give the SZ piece the time and space it deserved.

  10. Molly Pitcher says:

    bmaz,

    That is a CAL quarterback you are lauding, in Arron Rogers. Go Bears !!

    Mitch Trubisky is the perfect name for a Chicago quarterback, hahahaha

  11. orionATL says:

    😁.

    also there is no date (at least that I could find) on the editorial which makes it a tad confusing given Mitch’s identical stonewalling in fall 2016, but I’m glad to see a Kentucky paper taking it to moscow mitch.

    • jo6pac says:

      Well that theater is now closed down and back to the chuckie theater.

      9ers by 10

      I don’t have any way to watch Monza so I read about tomorrow morning.

    • Rick Ryan says:

      I’m half convinced he realized some time over the spring/summer just what an enormous clusterwhoops the Raiders are and decided he had to GTFO ASAP, and concluded his only way out was to act like an insane jerkwad until the team couldn’t stand him anymore, Jimmy Butler style.

      • P J Evans says:

        He shouldn’t have signed that contract in the first place, if he didn’t want to play for them. I assume that a player as great as he thinks he is, could do that without losing as much time and money as he already has.

  12. Eureka says:

    In today’s version of sometimes the hell-circle gives way to poetry: anyone following the news (e.g.) all over Rayne’s twitter (see Marcy’s last rt, too): I happened to notice that the founding manager of Garbage turned up in the comment streams here and there (not having anything to do with the band, just bearing witness, as an individual, like the rest of us), and there is a song for all that:

    Garbage– Subhuman:

    Burn down all your idols
    Destroy your idols
    Create a scene
    There goes all your reason
    It’s helter skelter
    It’s not a dream

    Come down from the altar
    Remove your blindfold
    What do you see
    Nothing left to do here
    There’s nothing new here
    It’s all the same

    You’re going down, down, down
    How low can you go?
    You’re going down, down, down
    How low can you go?
    You’re going down, down, down

    How low can you go?

    Rest of the lyrics are pretty spot-on as well…

  13. scribe says:

    This AB to Patsies is not surprising. I look at the helmet controversy as a bit of signaling. First AB bitches about his helmet and not liking the new ones, then Biebs pops up complaining about his. In other words, signaling they’re on the same team or they should be. Can’t be tampering if it’s one player on one team talking about another player on another team.
    And then there was the funkiness around how the Patsies reworked Biebs’ contract, managing to leave a lot of cap room.
    Almost like they had planned this.
    Recall, my Stillers had a list of teams they would not trade AB to – AFC North and Patsies. So AB had to find a way out of Pittsburgh and then another way to New England. He, and Rosenhaus, followed an old model Rosenhaus developed 15 or so years ago when he repped T.O. You’ll recall, T.O. was a major player in the Iggles run to the SB (which they lost to the Pats due to Andy Reid’s Clock Management). Then, over the following summer, he made himself into an enormous cancer. I recall him holding out from training camp, holding court for the press while doing situps in his south Jersey driveway and talking shit about the Iggles and, more specifically, his contract. T.O. wanted to go to Dallas.
    Ultimately, the Iggles had enough and sent him down the road to Jerryworld. (Didn’t get him back to the SB, BTW.)
    I recall it well – the day the Iggles sent T.O. to Dallas rolled into a hot summer night. There is no “hot summer night” like the ones you get in the [former, now paved-over] swamps of South Philadelphia. I had tickets to see that night’s Phils game at home v. the Giants. It was a time when both teams were good and the stadium was packed. The Barry Bonds farewell tour, highlighted by numerous banners highlighting the advantages of PEDs, syringes, etc. (Classy, for Philly.) Place was rocking and the game hadn’t even started yet.
    And then some guy comes out of the tunnel into the lower-deck stands kinda behind home plate. This guy had to have gone that afternoon to the store where they sell NFL jerseys, the ones where you could get the number and name you want while you wait. He went and bought and wore into Citizen’s Bank Park a spanking-new Dallas White jersey with the number 81 and Owens on it.
    (I can almost hear the guy in the store: “you sure? You really want this?” This is a stadium where a Mets fan was beaten to death once. No other team is hated more in Philly than Dallas. Think Snow Bowl. Think Bounty Bowl.)
    The place erupts. Boos, catcalls you name it – so loud my ears hurt. We’re talking standing behind a jet engine loud.
    As this goes on – and it goes on for what seemed like the proverbial eternity – the guy in the jersey stops his progress down the steps, raises his head, spreads is arms wide and does his best “I’m king of the World!” pose, soaking in the attention and egging on the crowd. It was time for his closeup and he was determined to make the most of it. I can see he’s holding his arms fully extended, hands palms up and curling his fingers the way you do when you’re saying “bring it”.
    And the Philly crowd brought it. Boy, did they bring it.
    Guy lived, BTW.

    But that’s what this AB drama has been all about. He wants attention and wants to get it so badly. He’s got a YouTube up now, where he’s running around his back yard flapping his arms and screaming “I’m free”, then talking on the phone to a woman (presumably his mom) who tells him “I told you it would work out”.

    In other words, it was a put-up job which punked the Raiders, intentionally, so he could get to New England.

    I’m saying, someone needs to put a bounty on him.

    • Bay State Librul says:

      Breaking out of NYC NFL Headquarters…

      “Commissioner Goodell announced a reward of up to $1 million for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of Bill Belichick, currently one of the NFL’s most wanted—and most prolific—cheating criminals, for his alleged involvement in the signing of Antonio Brown.
      According to officials, the Patriots will do anything to capture a 7th Super Bowl. In addition, the NFL have slapped a $500,000 fine for player tampering, and have refused the Patriots request to display the banner “Patriots Way” on tonight’s game with the Steelers.”

      Any information should be directed to Scribe @Trash Talk.com

  14. bmaz says:

    Jeebus, what a start to the season. Nick Foles is already out for Jacksonville with a left shoulder injury, and Pat Mahomes hurt his leg, but is still playing (already thrown for over 300 yards). The Ravens are absolutely mauling the Dolphins 42-3. And the games are still in the first half.

      • bmaz says:

        Think it is the high school JV team. Now 52-10 ooof. Also, despite all the offseason hype, the Browns are getting clobbered by the Titans.

    • Peterr says:

      Fans in KC are not at all pleased that CBS cut away in the 4th quarter once Mahomes was pulled “to show a more competitive game” (Browns v Titans). Several minutes later, after Chefs fans no doubt flooded the network and especially their local affiliate with calls, the stated rationale from the Boys in the Studio for shifting away from the game was “a production truck losing power.”

      My mind immediately went to “Bull Durham,” where in the midst of a losing streak, veteran catcher Crash Davis led a bunch of up-and-coming players on a late-night trip to the field of their next game. “We need a rainout to break this streak” and he turns on the sprinkler system. Instant rain out.

      I would not be surprised if an executive producer called down to the truck: “send an intern to unplug the power – we gotta cut away from this game.”

      • Peterr says:

        The local CBS affiliate led their local evening news with “It’s not our fault! We’re as angry as you are!!1!”

    • Eureka says:

      Well that was like starting a fire with damp wood, just had to let it see some sun. Eagles started to spark here and there even before DJax’s 1st TD. 2nd half was great.

      Bummer for Foles, sounds like Mahomes is alright.

      ETA: which reminds me, when I was click-baited over to ESPN several days ago for the nekkid Eagles O-Line, bold prediction was that Kittehs might go 10-6. Don’t wanna start an intra blawg war tho…

        • Eureka says:

          Wow.

          We got switched to that game for bonus coverage at two mins left regular time, so saw the whole harrowing end.

          Solomon split the EW baby lol.

          Pour one out for the footballs olds like Fitzgerald.

          Also Jordan Hicks is a good kid, saw he got some tackle action in the OT.

        • bmaz says:

          It was so ugly for the first three quarters. And, yet, they looked great in the 4th and overtime. Overall, still ugly, but something positive to build on.

    • P J Evans says:

      Foles has a broken collarbone. (Yesterday they were saying dislocated sterno-clavicular joint, posterior dislocation, as in the collarbone got pushed back behind the sternum. That also would require surgery.)

  15. jo6pac says:

    Well 9ers and bucs is a Really Bad Game by both teams.
    I’m going to open some cheap whine and smoke some Mary Jane in hopes something will be better;-)

    Looks like KC is starting off just like I thought they might.

    • bmaz says:

      It is no uglier than the Cardinals. Jesus. On a positive note, Leclerc won for the second week in a row in the Italian, and all the Tifosi are smiling.

        • bmaz says:

          About exactly how I feel about the Cards tie. They were total dogshit for three quarters, but looked very promising in fourth quarter comeback and overtime. Could have been worse, and looked like it was going to be.

    • Eureka says:

      LOL I didn’t know the jinx was in, or I wouldn’t have mentioned ESPN’s bold prediction hot-take. Still can come true-ish tho.

  16. scribe says:

    Well, that turned out about how I thought it would: no way the Lions would win, and the Patsies winning, too.

    Both Iggles (after a slow first half) and Owboys came out HOT. G-Men actually played well, just that the Owboys were on another level. Nice to see Replacement Eli getting in at the end, and moving the ball nicely. Iggles and Owboys looks to be a hell of a pair of games, 10/20 in Jerryworld and 12/22 (Merry Christmas!) in Philthydelphia. (Hoping for snow….)

    One of the 76ers got busted for brawling in the parking lot at the Linc yesterday. Would that they played that hard on the court.

    The Pats-Stillers was predictable though I thought it would have been a little more competitive. The Stillers rolled such a stinker I switched over to reruns on the old-tv-show channel before halftime.

    I will say, though, I was a little shocked by the tie in AZ. I figured Spidey was somehow gonna pull out the win, but then no one could stop the clock and that was that.

    And the Sawx fired Dave Dombrowski. I thought he was supposed to be a baseball genius or something…. Do the lawn furniture impression, Sawx: after Labor Day, get folded up and put away for the winter.

    To be fair to the Sawx, and I think I noted this here before, that clubhouse was badly split all year, and along racial/ethnic lines. Recall, when they got their ceremonial trip to the White House (a newish tradition I have little positive feeling for), the white guys went and the Hispanic and black guys didn’t. I understand politics and I understand disagreeing about them, but if you’re that split maybe you ought to have had a team sit-down in advance to all get the air cleared. That split was a symptom, not a cause. Moving on, Mookie Betts will test the free-agent market and get some handsome offers. He will likely not stay in Boston, though the Fox guys calling Saturday’s game made the interesting observation on how Fenway’s right field and he were made for each other. RF in Fenway is so expansive, it really takes 2 center fielders to play the outfield there, one in center and one in right. And that’s really what Mookie is. JD Martinez would be an idiot to opt out this year (he has an opt-out after each year remaining on his contract). He is 32, not getting any younger, and pretty much a DH (though a good one). He holds about $60mil in guaranteed money in his hands right now. With baseball owners colluding against signing older free agents in favor of giving younger players deals, which while seemingly sizeable are not as big as older free agents have gotten (Harper and Trout excepted), he will not get nearly as much in the open market if he exercises the opt-out. I say he milks the contract Dombrowski gave him and send him a bottle of champagne or a fruit basket or candlesticks every year in thanks for rolling Sawx ownership into giving him generational wealth.

    Can someone professional take over running the Tigers? It’s an embarrassment to the game to see a grand, storied franchise so bad. As of Saturday night they had 99 losses already. The Orioles, it’s not as embarrassing. Remember, before they moved to the Charm City in ’54 and got good for a while, they were the St. Louis Browns. As such, they were the AL’s competition to the NL’s Phillies of that era (post-WWI through ’50s) for worst-run, worst-record, most hapless team. So they’re kind of reverting to form. And the Royals are going to be sold by the former Walmart executive who’s owned them since the turn of the century, who ran them like a Walmart – extracting every penny from every nook and cranny to stuff his pockets with, customers (and staff) be damned. Thank heavens. Now if we could just get someone to straighten out the Pirates, who suffer similarly under their management.

    Amen. Someone please put a bounty on Antonio Brown, for the good of the game.

    • Bay State Librul says:

      Is this caper a “conspiracy” or “collusion”
      Time to call Rusty Hadin in @ Don’t fuck with Big Babies (Clemens).com
      Is Hadin a contract specialist?
      Rumor has it that Oakland will sue and the Patsies will be “on hold”
      Ratings are high sky at Boston Talk Radio.

    • Bay State Librul says:

      Mookie has become an astute businessman, his IPO will be a delicious
      bidding war.

      “It doesn’t really matter who’s there. It’s going to be the same answer,” Betts said. “Nothing’s going to change. This is proof that this is a business. I love it here, but definitely it’s still a business.”

      My favorite is Bogie who signed with the Sox, and is having a banner year.

      Mookie might become the next Johnny Damon, that bastard.

      I want Theo back!

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