Spooky Trash Talk

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Here it is Halloween already and we are in the eighth week of the NFL season. It all happens so fast. No trick or treating at Casa de bmaz, we are going out to see Bridge of Spies tonight. But before that will be some football, baseball and Formula One activity.

In the NCAA there was a barnburner gross game Thursday night between ASU and the Oregon Ducks, where the Quackers won 61-56. I only watched about half of it, but it was simply terrible football by both teams, and ASU needs to fire their worthless coach Todd Graham.

Other than that, it is really a pretty dead slate in the college ranks. Can the surprising Temple Owls remain undefeated and knock off Notre Dame? Unlikely, but there is always hope! Minnesota just lost their charismatic coach, Jerry Kill, to a medically necessitated retirement this week. Can the Gophers rise up the inspiration and emotion to beat Michigan at home? On paper, no; but it is a game I want to see. In the SEC, the only interesting matchup is Georgia at Florida. If this was in Athens, you might have more faith in the Dawgs pulling the upset. But not in the Swamp.

But there is baseball on Saturday too. Last night the Mets got back in the series with a solid win over the Royals. As giddy as Royals fans were after the stunning 2-0 start at home in Kaufman Stadium, the way New York took care of business last night has to be sobering. And, man, the Mets hit the ball relentlessly. There are two more games in New York before the teams would head back to KC for games 6, and if necessary, 7. The Royals need to steal one of these next two games, or they are in dire straights. And that may need to be Saturday night as I am not sure Edison Volquez, scheduled to start game 5 for KC, has another lights out performance in him after the week he has had with his father’s death and funeral.

In the NFL, the game of the week, indeed the game of the season so far, is, of course, the undefeated Packers at the Mile High home of the undefeated Broncos. Rodgers versus Manning. You would normally expect this kind of storied matchup to be an offensive dogfight to the death. But not this time. Denver’s defense is world class, AND Demarcus Ware is returning to the lineup. But Green Bay’s defense is better than average and the Bronco’s passing and running attacks have both been anemic so far this year. In short, this looks to be a closer and lower scoring game that you would expect. The Cheesers are clearly the better team top to bottom, but never sleep on the broncs at Mile High. Must see TV for Sunday Night.

Frankly, it is hard to think about any other game, but we must. The other anticipated matchup of the week is already over, and it was over early with Brady and Bel simply dismembering the Dolphins. Wow. The Jets at Raiders could be a surprisingly decent clash. I think there is something going on out there in Raider Nation, they are at least a decent team, on both sides of the ball, again. The other game of real interest is Bengals at Steelers. Big Ben looks to be back, and Cinci is on a roll. I am very tempted to take the Stillers here, but Big Ben is usually rusty his first game back from an injury. This will be a telling game about both teams though. The poor chaps in London are saddled with yet another foul smelling stinker, and will have to drink lots of pints to watch the Lions and Chiefs.

The F1 Circus is back for the rare back to back weekends of racing, having moved from Austin for the USGP down to the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriquez in Mexico City. This is actually pretty exciting, as F1 has not run a Mexican Grand Prix since 1992. Nigel Mansell dominated back in 1992, but there have been many memorable races at the old circuit. The first two practice sessions were uneven with a little weather affecting the process. Qualifying is at 2 pm EST and is, for some unknown reason, being carried on CNBC.

Well, there you have it, time to haunt this place and spook it up. Music this week is Spooky by Dusty Springfield.

Football and F1 Trash Talk

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No catchy title this week, but we do have some fantastic sports on tap. Football, World Series baseball, and the F1 Circus all right here in the USA. So let’s get to it.

Football: In the college ranks, the most significant game is arguably Texas A&M at Ole Miss. If the Aggies can get by the Rebels, there is a very good chance they will roll into the regular season final game on November 28th against LSU with a 10-1 record and a chance at real glory. And there is a similar chance LSU will be waiting for them in Baton Rouge undefeated. Ole Miss is no pushover though, especially at home. I’ll take the Aggies here.

Emptywheel asked me to address just exactly what the hell is going on in the PAC-12 this year. I have no real idea, what do you all think? Utah is the darling of the dance so far, but can it last? Well, the Utes have two potential roadblocks, a road game November 14 in Tucson against Rich Rod and the Cats. And then there is tonight’s game at USC. I smell a trap tonight in the Coliseum. Other than those two road traps, the Utes have UCLA and Colorado at home in the surprisingly comfy confines of Rice-Eccles Stadium, where they will be clear favorites. But, the real power in the PAC, if you ask me, is the Trees of Stanford. They should take care of the Washington Huskies today, and get both Oregon and Notre Dame at home in Palo Alto. That is a big time schedule, and on very favorable terms.

One final note before we hit the pros, heed should be paid to two small names that are kicking ass and taking names so far this year: First, the Temple Owls, who are at 7-0 for the first time in forever. Now they may not belong in the final four playoff picture, but you have to be happy for what they are doing. The second is the Memphis Tigers, who rolled up 66 points on a decent Tulsa team in Tulsa last night. They are well coached by Justin Fuente (watch out, this guy is going to get a much bigger job soon) and have an outstanding QB in Paxton Lynch. Memphis manhandled Ole Miss already this year, and if they get through the regular season undefeated, which is quite possible, they deserve to at least be considered for the playoff. Yes, so far, they really are that good.

In the pros, there are only a couple of games that matter. The Jets at the Patriots is one of them. Lot of noise both from and about the Jets. Please, just get out of here with that noise. Brady and Pats in Foxborough, buff said. The Cowboys will now be starting Matt Cassel in their big division game at the Giants. The Boys are starting to get healthier, and are coming off a bye week, but I will take Eli and the Gents here. Lastly, the Ravens are at the Cardinals for MNF. Baltimore is starting to get their legs back, but the Big Toaster in Phoenix is a very tough place to play, and the Cardinals need to make a statement after a disappointing road loss to the Steelers. Problem is, the Cardinals are absolutely horrible historically in big prime time games. I think it is a tossup, with, maybe, the slightest edge to the Cards. Could really be a good game to watch though.

Baseball: Welp, it is the Royals and the Mets in the World Series, which will inexplicably not start until Tuesday October 27. That is nuts, they need to get on with it. Who will be the Boys of November?

Formula One: The F1 circus is has set up shop in Austin for the week. I really need to get to the Circuit of the Americas one of these years, I have heard nothing but good things about the show there, even from my European friends. But this weekend, the weather predictions are rain, rain and more rain. That makes for great spectacle for TV viewers, less fun for actual race attendees. While Nico Rosberg was fast in the first practice, the second session of practice had to be cancelled because of rain. That is the first time an entire practice session was completely lost since 2004 when a typhoon interrupted the Japanese Grand Prix weekend. Frankly, with the remnants of Hurricane Patricia still afflicting the area, qualifying, currently set to go off at 12:30 pm EST today may be in jeopardy too. We shall see! Update: Practice three is actually underway, and the boys are really pushing it, potentially out of fear that qualifying gets scrubbed.

Music this weekend courtesy of the great Mose Allison. If you don’t know Mose, you should. Hoist a tall one and have some fun!

Down The Line Trash

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This post is by bmaz, moved on top of the stub I posted while he slept.

Yawwwn. I would not even be up right now and making the trash, but for a very real fear Marcy would again post up her beloved Tom Brady soft porn video. But that fear is strong and real, so here I am. A blog slave. [Edit update note: My friend and colleague from the Pure Michigan state thankfully spared us Brady pro.]

All the Emptywheel wrenches have big college games going this weekend. Well, strike that, one of us, Roving Reporter Rosalind, already had her joy Thursday night when the Stanford Trees flat out waxed the Bruins from Ucla.

First up: Padre Peterrrrrr’s (think pirate, liker “Arrrrrrrr)
Mighty Fighting Journalists of Northwestern versus Herky Hawkeye. This probably unpopular round here, but I am going to take the Hawks here in what looks to be a very good game. It really may be Iowa that is the untold story this year and not Northwestern. That said, if the Fighting Journalists win, even though at home, that would be huge.

Next would come the dreaded Michigan/Michigan State rivalry. Man, I thought the UofA versus ASU rivalry was harsh. But those Pure Michiganders are bonkers. Once Magic was defaced, you know that Bigrodent in Ann Arbor had to be. You knew that. This game is in the Big House. The line is 6.5, which seems high. I’ll take Michigan, but only because of the home field; Sparty is still a better team.

How is anybody going to be still awake when the important games come on today? Such as Number 8 Florida at Number 6 LSU? I do not think the change to Treon Harris as QB for the Gators is that huge of a problem for the Gators so much as I think the Tigers are just a better team. Jim White’s crew may box in Fournette, but if they do it will open up the rest of the field. This is in Baton Rouge though, so I’ll go with the home team.

Masaccio Ed has a bit of a game too. The Domers are hosting the Trojans in their yearly grudge match. Honest question, Notre Dame doesn’t let USC bring that giant white horse and Tommy Trojan shit do they? Cause I saw that at Sun Devil Stadium once…and their band plays that relentless song…and I have basically been halfway to homicidal ever since. Notre Dame has every possible factor in its favor right now. So I like USC here. I have no clue why. But I do not think the coach thing will hurt USC so much as motivate them.The core kids are used to coaching turnover and Cody Kessler is not just a good and smart quarterback, he is a senior, and he and the Trojans need this. I think they will get it.

But, wait! There’s more! The ASU Sun Devils visit the inhospitable ground of Utah’s Rice-Eccles Stadium. I would stay up for this game. The Utes are ranked Number 4 in the country and are an early darling in the NCAA football world. The Utes are big, fast and well coached by Kyle Whittingham. Whittingham took over when Urban Meyer left for Florida. Frankly, Whittingham may be a better coach than Urban. ASU has a crappy game day coach in Todd Graham. Runs a clean program, and is good at the PR shuck and jive, but he is really not so good by my eye on the actual game sideline genius thing. Still, ASU has, historically, had a thing for Utah. As in owning them, even when Utah is good. I will take the Devils here in the upset.

In the pros, every game this week seems exciting. Here in cactus country, there is big anticipation for Bruce Arians return, with the Cardinals, to Steeler land and Heinz Field. Tough game and place. Would not be surprised to see the Steelers win. But, the Cardinals are, and this is hard for me to say, pretty good on all sides of the ball. That’s as far as I am going to go. Don’t want to anger the Football Gods.

Then, of course, is the Pats at The Home Of The Asswipe #Deflategate Instigators. AKA the piss in their own pants snitch bitch Colts. Just a hunch, but I will take TOM BRADY in this one. How ya doin Roger Goodell?

And, then, there are the truly incredible games of the MLB playoffs. Wow, incredibly compelling. Unreal. Seriously great. Go Cubbies!

Music today by the one and only Stones Who Roll, with a chaser of the bearded boys of ZZ Top.

I’m placing this stub here until bmaz gets around to putting up Trash Talk. I literally begged him to get one up early so those of us worried about significant setbacks on far-better-than-expected seasons for our college team could work out our nerves. Michigan State v Michigan, but in the Big House so Vegas has the Wolverines winning. Florida wondering whether its great D will be able to stop LSU’s Leonard Fournette.

There are other games in the unpaid athlete league: Peterr’s Fighting Journalists look to rebound at home off their shellacking against a very good IA team. Ed’s Domers ought to have fun with a USC in transition. We can even talk about how Rosalind’s Trees turned into circus stuntsters.

But the really important games will be in Ann Arbor and Baton Rouge.

Pure Michigan Trash Talk

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Michigan’s official tourism and advertising campaign has been called “Pure Michigan” for a while now. They do some beautiful advertising that has commercials reaching nationwide, if not world wide. And so it is we go to Pure Michigan for this week’s trash talk. Because all the good ball is in Michigan this weekend.

First up in Pure Michigan is The Mighty Fighting Journalists of Northwestern at the Big House in Ann Arbor to take on obnoxious Coach Baggy Chinos and the Wolverweenies. Obviously, most Americans are properly rooting for the Journalists. Michigan got beat in week one when they went west to Rice-Eccles Stadium to visit Utah. Things did not turn out well for the Weens, but in hindsight it turns out that Utah is really good. Michigan has won all their games since then. Northwestern is undefeated and has been surprisingly good in getting there. The line favors Michigan by 10, and all the experts are picking them. I think 10 points is way too much with these two defensive minded teams (they rank one and two in defensive points allowed nationally), but no question Michigan is favored in the Big House. I think the game will come down to whether the Journalists can get Justin Jackson going on the ground. If they do, this could be an upset special. Frankly, the only other NCAA game of note is Cal at Utah. The last two undefeated teams in the Pac-12, and only one will leave still in that status. QB edge goes to Cal’s Jared Goff, but the Utes are awfully well coached and are at home. I’ll take the Utes.

The other Pure Michigan special this week is Cardinals at the Lions. The Battle of the Emptywheel Blog. The Kittehs are down on their luck, and got hosed at Seattle last week. The Cards got beat at home by the newly Todd Gurley invigorated Rams. The Cards were terribly off offensively. Much of that can obviously be attributed to St. Louis’ terrific defense, but it was more than that. Carson Palmer and the boys just never seemed in synch. I actually thought Detroit played a good game in Seattle and looked solid. It is still not clear they can keep Stafford from getting killed though, and that is not going to get any easier against the Cards defense. But the Lions have too much talent to lose every game, and they may well get off the snide this week in an upset.

Other games of interest in the NFL include Squawks at Bengals. This really could be a great game, and we are going to get a good glimpse as to whether Andy Dalton and the Bengals have really turned the corner this time. I think they have and beat the Squawks. Also the Rams visit the Tundra at Lambeau. The Rams are way better than you think, especially with Gurley untracked. But Lambeau, Rodgers and the Pack are a load I’m not sure St. Louis can overcome. Still, look for a great game. All the ESPN loud mouthed yokels are yammering about the Patriots at the Cowboys. This would have been worth the talk if Romo, Dez Bryant and a handful of others were not out for Dallas. But with a still pissed off Tom Brady, and Bill Bell coming off of an extra bye week to scheme? Yeah, good luck with that ‘Boys. Believe it or not, the Broncos at Raiders might also be pretty interesting.

The F1 Circus is in Sochi this weekend. There are still some rough edges on the young Sochi circuit. They barely got it ready for last year’s inaugural Russian Grand Prix. Far better this year, but still having growing pains. In spite of that, I really kind of Sochi. Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz had a nasty crash at Practice Three this morning, but has been pronounced okay at the hospital. Still, he will be held for observation, and will not join the grid tomorrow. Qualifying is going on as I write, with Rosberg and Hamilton fast, and Valterri Bottas and Vettel just behind as we reach the Q2 cutoff. Massa didn’t make Q3, but there is Bottas currently in P3. Bottas really clicks at Sochi, having made the podium last year. Massa, his Williams teammate, however, seems not to like Sochi. Was off the pace last year too. Weird.

Anyway, in other news Jeb! Bush did NOT, I repeat NOT, smoke weed with Bill Belichick in high school. Well, you know, of course not. Everybody knows Bill Bel smoked hash, not weed!

The Roger Goodell Fraud and Stupidity in Seattle’s End Zones

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Screen Shot 2015-10-05 at 10.57.28 PMMost all who read this blog already know the patent bogosity that is #Deflategate. But, Roger Goodell, on behalf of the entire National Football League, relentlessly and petulantly screams that not only is the ginned up horse manure worthy of occupying the NFL’s time, he and the NFL have seen fit to copiously waste the time of two different levels of the federal court system.

Even worse, they have either sought, or by their unyielding craven attitude, caused stipulations to be entered that the federal court system accelerate their cases while far more important criminal and civil cases wait. It is the epitome of arrogance and corporate hubris and personal narcissism.

Roger Goodell has consistently lectured all the rest of us, who do not make $44 million a year for being an incompetent jerk, that the whole ginned up, factually unsupported, steer manure that is #Deflategate is all “to protect the integrity of the league”.

What a load of horse manure. Has Roger Goodell seen what happened in the end zone at the end to the game in Seattle last night?? If the “integrity of the league” is not at issue with this type of blatant misapplication of the clear rules, and … what confirmation (or not!) by the NFL’s vaunted replay system (which is curiously not applied in many situations when it is dispositive), then what is?

Well, okay, THAT was really stupid and in complete contradiction of the crystal clear NFL rules. But hey, it is not like the referees could have looked at tape and done the honest thing to not hand the game on a platter to the Seahawks and skew the league for the entire year. Well, of course, they actually COULD HAVE done the right thing, but just did not. But beyond screwing the pooch, then the NFL’s stenographers at ESPN put up some former NFL referee expert™ to explain and cover for the patently obvious wrongful cow dung. Because that is what toadies do I guess.

Not exactly the first time, however, the NFL has willingly sanctioned and ratified stupidity in a Seattle Seahawks end zone that ended up screwing, and altering, the lives and seasons of teams and players across the league. No, of course, there was this intellectually insulting crap that occurred because Roger Goodell was too cheap to pay the referees and umpires in his league a few extra bucks (maybe if NFL paid more, they could get better, and full time, officials). Watch Goodell’s inglorious work in the 2012 game between Seattle and Green Bay:

So, the “integrity of the game” didn’t matter when Roger Goodell was trying to bust the game officials’ union for a cheap last couple of dollars. The “integrity of the game” apparently doesn’t matter to the NFL, or their apologists, over the sham that clearly occurred in Seattle last night. And Goodell and the NFL’s precious “integrity of the game” seems, to them, to be worth more than all other civil litigants in SDNY and the 2nd Circuit, even if there are serious civil rights and criminal cases that get shoved aside for their arrogance.

But Roger Goodell struts out like the $44 million a year arrogant peacock that he is and claims obsessively that a ginned up sting job the league ran on Tom Brady and the Patriots, that has absolutely no credible evidence to support it, was “necessary” for the “integrity of the game”.

The millions of dollars for an inherently biased, not to mention intellectually and legally incoherent, Ted Wells report, the waste of time, and acceleration before all other pending cases and controversies, including criminal cases with lives in the balance, of a federal judge in the Southern District of New York (SDNY)…that was in Roger Goodell’s “Integrity of the game”. They now waste time in the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, and on an accelerated basis – all on affirmative initial filings by Goodell and the NFL – that, too, is in the precious “integrity of the game” for Roger Goodell.

The only thing that does not seem to be within the “integrity of the game” for Roger Goodell and the NFL is actual integrity and sense of place for the game. What a clownshow Roger Goodell is, and is running for the vaunted NFL shield.

Hurricane Trash

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Apparently there is a big blowhard on the eastern seaboard (no, not talking about Rep. Peter King this time) and it goes by the moniker of Hurricane Joaquin. Another one of those storms of the century…or threats that are petering out…depending on who you believe and what hour of the day it is. Probably be easier to keep track of Mother Nature is Americans would quit gunning themselves down en masse. Anyway, football may be all wet in the east. In the meantime, cable news is all back to the same status quo idiotic conversation about guns. We are a profoundly stupid and insipid nation.

Two contests that may be affected are Alabama at Georgia and Notre Dame at Clemson. The latter sports two teams that are both flaky; don’t trust either one of them. The Tide and Dawgs could really be a great game though. Go Dawgs! In other games, Mississippi State at Texas A & M and Texas Tech could be interesting, and Baylor may use all the points available. ASU visits UCLA, where Josh Rosen and the Bruins will completely destroy the last remnants of what everyone thought would be a great Sun Devil team. But they suck, and that is why they play the games. Todd Graham is NOT a good coach. Get rid of him.

Jets and Fins and Giants at Bills may be affected by the Joaquin moisture. You’d think sloppy conditions would favor the defenses of Jets and Bills. The sleeper game may be the Vikings at Broncos. Adrian Peterson and the Vikes are starting to gel and the Donks, while 3-0, still have that uneasy feeling about them. The local team is hosting the Rams. Rams have a great defense, but the Cardinals are usually a tough nut to crack at home in the Big Toaster. Dallas and the ‘Aints may be a fair fight with no Romo and Bryant.

One other thing: The homestretch on the MLB season is pretty interesting. I really kind of hate that the “first round of the playoffs” is a one game series, but the excitement generated at the end of the season trying to get to that game has really proven awesome. The Astros hung 22 on the DBacks last night and solidified their position, the Angels kept their hope alive by edging the Rangers and the Cubbies ran their ace, Jake Arrieta out for a great performance that might well have earned him the Cy Young. Good stuff.

That’s it for today.

Green Bay TitleTown MNF Fall Is Here Trash Talk (NFL Week 3)

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Hi there lugnuts, it is time for another edition of Emptywheel’s Famous Trash Talk! I actually would have started this last night, and therefore had it up earlier this morning, but had to go out to dinner and my new iPhone 6S had been delivered and was waiting when I got home. So, you know, I had to play with that and get it set up.

Thing sure is pretty. The experience deteriorated after unboxing it though. Apparently many of the early units shipped with iOS 9 and there is a bug in that OS which cause many users to have their phones freeze up on them during the setup process. I was one of those, and a very frustrated one of those, until I called AT&T help. A lovely chap named Nate helped me through the fix, which literally took about half an hour on the phone guiding me through it all. Nate was great, and now the device is functioning beautifully. It really is a fantastic bit of electronic hardware. Today (if the tracking is accurate), my wife’s will be delivered and we will now know what to do for it too. So, a hassle at first, but pretty wowed by the product in action.

Okay, Trash Talk came, in one sense, a little early this week with my early morning post yesterday on the Patrick Kane alleged rape case in Buffalo. There are a couple of new developments. First, the Erie county DA, Frank Sedita, held a presser yesterday a few hours after I had posted. I was in court and did not see it, but here is, to me at least, the key takeaway via Michael McCann and SI:

Sedita’s revelation was the latest bizarre development in an investigation that now seems less likely than ever to result in the Chicago Blackhawks superstar being charged with any crime.

Sedita said that the bag—which had been identified by the lawyer for Kane’s accuser as proof that key evidence had been tampered with—had actually been given to the accuser’s mother when she accompanied her daughter to the hospital to have a rape test performed. She was the last known person to have the bag, he said, and it was used to store one of her daughter’s garments and not the contents of a rape test kit.

He then showed video to prove that no bag had ever been used to store the kit and to verify that the chain of custody for the evidence has always been secure.

If true, this case is dead. The only question is whether Sedita himself declines to go further, or whether he seeks the imprimatur of submitting it to a grand jury to likely decline to prosecute. McCann seems to believe it will be the former. If there is no positive evidence in the real rape kit, and the chain of custody is as Sedita has consistently stated from the start, then he probably should decline prosecution. Cases without a reasonable likelihood of conviction should not be brought, and they all too often are.

Okay, on to the games. F1 is in Suzuka Japan for the Japanese Grand Prix. Nico Rosberg took pole last night over Mercedes teammate Hamilton, with Bottas, Vettel, Massa and Raikkonen of the Williams and Ferrari teams alternating in P3 through P6. Red Bull’s Daniil Kvyat had a nasty crash, but seems to be okay. Suzuka is a great track, this could be a pretty interesting race.

As to the NCAA men, it is such a pitiful week’s schedule of games that the ESPN Game Day folks are holding fort in freaking Tucson, where Rich Rod and Arizona are hosting the UCLA Bruins and their wonder boy true frosh QB Josh Rosen. And hot damn! they have Arizona alum and southern Arizona guy Bob Baffert on the set. Excellent! UCLA looks to be a far better team. But DANGER WILL ROBINSON DANGER!this is exactly the kind of upset that very often happens down in Tucson when the Cats Bear Down. We shall see, but I take the Cats. The only other game worth squat is USC here against the Sun Devils in Tempe at night on ESPN. I actually have tickets to the game, but not sure I am going to be able to go. Neither the Trojans nor ASU appear to be as solid as was thought before the season started. I’ll take the Devils, but don’t feel good about it at all.

As to the Joes in the Pros, well, of course I am excited about the MNF game between the Chefs and Packers at Lambeau. Seriously, what is better than a rematch of Super Bowl 1 played under the lights on the not yet Frozen Tundra? Doesn’t get any better than that. The Chefs are going to do some cooking this year, but not in Mr. Rodgers’ neighborhood. Take the Pack.

Niners are coming to Phoenix, where the Cardinals are not usually very hospitable. And, shhhh! don’t tell anyone, but the Cards are getting close to having a run game. Not there yet, but getting closer. Bengals at Ravens is a critical game for the Northern Dirty Birds. Bengals looks more solid this year, but then they always do until they don’t (half ass tribute to the great Yogi Berra there). Falcons at the Cowboys will be interesting only because Romo and Dez Bryant are gone. Eagles at Jets interesting because everybody thought the Iggles would be 2-0 and the Jets Jets Jets 0-2 right about now, not the other way around.

Oh well, talk amongst yourselves and, always, rock and roll. Music this week by my new favorite band from down under, Boom! Bap! Pow!

Killer Football Is Trashing Its Real Capital

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So we are on to week two of Trash Talk for the nascent NFL season, and week three for the NCAA. There is a ton that could be unpacked as to the particular players, plays and whatnot but, as was the case with the first week, I have little inclination to do so anymore, at least not at great length. Maybe just a little later on, but there are more pressing matters at hand.

Football is hard to turn away from, it is great pageantry and spectacle. It is incredibly compelling sport. But the game is at a crossroad as to its deadly nature and its decimation of its real capital: the players. A stunning article came out yesterday from PBS Frontline:

A total of 87 out of 91 former NFL players have tested positive for the brain disease at the center of the debate over concussions in football, according to new figures from the nation’s largest brain bank focused on the study of traumatic head injury.

Researchers with the Department of Veterans Affairs and Boston University have now identified the degenerative disease known as chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, in 96 percent of NFL players that they’ve examined and in 79 percent of all football players. The disease is widely believed to stem from repetitive trauma to the head, and can lead to conditions such as memory loss, depression and dementia.

In total, the lab has found CTE in the brain tissue in 131 out of 165 individuals who, before their deaths, played football either professionally, semi-professionally, in college or in high school.

Wow. We have known for quite a while about CTE and its debilitating, and sometimes deadly, effects on football players. But the starkly presented facts portrayed in the PBS piece are really eye opening. And people are talking about it. It is in the regular news rotation at CNN this morning, and you know how muchit had to pain the programmers and producers at CNN a LOT to eat into their All Trump, All The Time philosophy.

But the NFL is being a good corporate citizen and proactively protecting their players, right? No, maybe not so much. While Roger Goodell and the NFL paint a happy face on their “improvements”, the real fact of the matter is that their “progress” is mostly just another Roger Goodell and NFL PR shitshow. Do take a look at the above trailer for the movie “Concussion” set to be released in December. It looks fantastic.

Again, from the PBS Frontline article we started out with:

The film, Concussion, starring Will Smith, traces the story of Bennet Omalu, who in 2005 shocked the football establishment with an article in the journal Neurosurgery detailing his discovery of CTE in the brain of former Pittsburgh Steelers center Mike Webster. At the VA lab and elsewhere, CTE has since been found in players such as Hall of Famer Junior Seau, former NFL Man of the Year Dave Duerson, and Colts tight end John Mackey, a past head of the player’s union.

While the story is not a new one, for the NFL, it represents a high-profile and potentially embarrassing cinematic interpretation of a period in which the league sought to refute research suggesting football may contribute to brain disease.

From 2003 to 2009, for example, the NFL’s now disbanded Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Committee concluded in a series of scientific papers that “no NFL player” had experienced chronic brain damage from repeat concussions, and that “Professional football players do not sustain frequent repetitive blows to the brain on a regular basis.”

In the case of Omalu, league doctors publicly assailed his research, and in a rare move, demanded a retraction of his study. When Omalu spoke to FRONTLINE about the incident for the 2013 documentary, League of Denial: The NFL’s Concussion Crisis, he said, “You can’t go against the NFL. They’ll squash you.”

“THEY WILL SQUASH YOU”. Yes, that is exactly the consistent message from the oh so “fan friendly” good ‘ole NFL of Roger Goodell, and the billionaire owner baby tyrants he works for. Little different than coal mine owners, the NFL cares primarily about their bottom line. First they look at the purse. This is why the Brady/NFLPA case is so important. And why Bountygate, Ray Rice and Adrian Peterson’s cases before it, were all so important. And, yes, even the disciplinary travails of James Harrison. They all reflect the ad hoc, arbitrary and capricious, and self serving nature of the treatment of labor by owners and management in the NFL.

You may see them only as millionaire malefactor petulant football players out doing bad things and think they deserve what they get. And maybe that is true in most cases. Ray Rice absolutely assaulted his fiancé and now wife Janay. Adrian Peterson, engaged in punishment of a child that was pretty common when I was a kid, but is entirely medieval by today’s standards.

Say what you will, where there is wildly disproportionate power between ownership/management and labor, and where there has been a collectively bargained agreement to protect labor, that must be jealously protected. That is exactly why Tom Brady is so critical. Brady is no gangster nor domestic abuser. He is the furthest thing from it; indeed, Brady is Mr. Clean Cut GQ All American. If Roger Goodell and the NFL he represents can arbitrarily, capriciously and imperiously take out Tom Brady – on trumped up junk with no credible evidentiary basis whatsoever – and can do so in a biased and unfair process, then all of labor loses. Not just high flying football players, but teachers, autoworkers, miners, and rank and file employees of all stripes and colors.

I digressed a little from today’s CTE issue, but the labor issue is intertwined. The players need more honesty, more protection, and more complete future medical coverage from the NFL because of the disease that is CTE. That, my friends, is a labor issue, and a huge one. And Roger Goodell and the NFL are already acting in bad faith in their “settlement” efforts as to long past players. It is simply pitiful.

So, what about this week? I dunno. The Broncos looked like toast through 7 of their first 8 quarters of the season. But, the Donks are 2-0. If Manning and Kubiak can find a mutual equilibrium, watch out, because Von Miller, Aqib Talib and the defense are some flat out ball hawks. Yak all you want about Peyton’s decline and fall, and maybe it is true. But do NOT sleep on these guys.

Cowboys, Gents or Iggles? Yeah, I have no clue there either.’Boys looked best week one, not sure I buy it. Why is RGIII still on the active roster of the Washington Professional Football Franchise? Seriously, the Washingtonians are like the Duggars of football; it is on public view, but it is all horrible. The Eagles? Hmmm, Chip Kelly’s troops better show up this week or else the great hype is dead.

Aaron Rodgers is a renaissance man (this is a fantastic article). Oh, and Go Pack! against those pesky Seasquawks. This time it is at Lambeau in title town. There are other games of note too, including, of course Bill Bel and the Brays at the Wagon Circling Bills. That is shaping up to be some big fun.

So, go whoop it up and have some fun. The game goes on, even if a reckoning is necessary. The music number today is First I Look At The Purse by the J. Geils Band, and is in honor of the craven Roger Goodell and the NFL I described above.

Beyond Deflategate: The NFL Season Begins

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Hi there! How ya doing! Because I have been oppressed with this Tom Brady porn bullshit from blog partner and sister, that Wheel person. Very ugly and unnecessary. But I am going to let it stand for all of posterity, not to mention both of our posteriors. Still, you have to wonder when enough is enough (like when she hijacked my last post).

I used to love her, but….

So, enough about yer local riff raff, and about #Deflategate (which was bullshit from the inception) let’s get on to the game at hand. That would be the Patriots versus the Steelers.

Yes, Brady has a giant chip on his shoulder. Yes the Pats are defending Superbowl champs and Big Ben and the Steelers are not. Nevertheless, this is one hell of a season opening game. In fact, it is pretty hard to imagine a better one under the circumstances. Say what you will about how any got there, there are only a precious few at the top of all time winners in the Super Bowl era. They include the Steelers and Pats. And, yes, the Steelers, for all the Pats glory in the last 15 years, are still winning that overall matchup. The 49ers, Packers, Cowboys and Gents are totally in there, but the more recent elite are pretty clear.

So, here we are. Steelers have Big Ben and….what? Ben Roethlisberger and Antonio Brown are as good a duo as you can get. But without Bell, who is suspended, in the backfield, that is going to place some extra pressure on the Steelers offense. A face Bill Belichick undoubtedly knows. By the same token, the Pats pass defense rests on a backfield without either Darrell Revis of Brandon Browner. Pretty easy to see Malcomb Butler continuing to become a stud above and beyond his one play Super Bowl XLIX heroics, but similarly hard to see there not being some early hiccups in that road. Would not want to be Butler on Antonio Brown tonight.

But will DeAngelo Williams, who will sub for Bell and Cody Wallace, who is subbing for center Maurkice Pouncey, be able to pick up the slack? Yes, I think so, but not nearly enough.

That said, the Patriots are without LeGarrette Blount, due to a one game suspension. I think that Dion Lewis (who is potentially breakout star) and Travaris Cadet will come out of nowhere to semi-carry the load. So, both sides have some issue at running back, but, hopefully, capable backups. I’d give a slight edge to the Pats, but by a VERY slight margin.

We all know the QB’s on these two respective teams. They are both great. Hard to see an edge here other than the psychological harden that Brady may have. But I am not putting that much in that, Ben will come to play too.

Comes down to defense. Call me crazy, and probably you should for this, but I think the Pats have the edge on the new, dick LeBeau-less, and untested, Steeler’s defense. Troy Polamalu and Ryan Clark ain’t walking through that tunnel. Especially so with the questions in the Pittsburgh offensive line. If there is a win here, that, and a pissed off Brady, are where I see it. And that is where I see it, the Steelers are good, but the Brady’s come out roaring and winning tonight. don’t make me regret this Deflators!

So, there you have it. #Deflategate is still a legal pile of dubious garbage manufactured, as is now even more clear, by an arbitrary and capricious, if not arrogantly craven, Roger Goddell and the NFL. We shall deal with that more later. For now, trash it up and let loose the dogs of football war.

And that is that. On top is an incredible Taiwanese animation on the latest ESPN slanted bunk trying to give cover to the NFL for #Deflategate. It’s really awesome. Lower is one of my newest favorite bands, this one from down under, specifically Perth, Boom! Bap! Pow! Yeah, that is their name, and they are killer.

The real football season is upon us folks, rip this joint.

Has bmaz Really Not Started Work on Trash Talk Yet? Oh No I Didn’t Want To Have To Do This…

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It seems bmaz is a bit rusty on Trash Talk, given that the SEASON starts in a less than 6 hours and there’s still no sign of a Trash Talk thread.

 

So I’m going to leave this here, in hopes it will give bmaz the proper urgency, especially now that he is an avowed Pats fan.

Update: bmaz has caught up to the rest of us, so we’ll move the trash-talking here.