The NFL Thread 9

[Rockroi]

Wow... I didn't realize many people here were just so sensitive. Ser Possum, PLEASE, don't claim you were giving a fair and balanced observation of the game. You weren't. You were complaining that the ref's were blowing the game for your team. You made some paltry attempt to seem balanced by saying "The Pats appear to be moving the ball well" and try to claim that shows something? Why can't you just admit it: you were very angry at your team for laying down against the Pats; you're pissed that your team could not stop the Pats and decided you would engage in the time-honored tradition of blaming the refs for the Pats' success.

THEN- amazingly -you say I lack reading comprehension skills AND THEN POST ALL THE "NON-CALLS" the Pats benefited from. That is CLASSIC avoiding giving credit where credit is due. But I am the one with reading comprehension problems. Got it.

I'd like to THANK Rockroi fror (sic) cherry picking various parts of various quotes to gloat over. quotes of mine specifically that had nothing to do with the actual Bears/Patriots gamne (sic) and attribute them to the fact that I might have been making excuses or justifications for something I wasn't even TRYING to do. So in this case, possum's right. His reading comprehension FAILS.

Okay, look, sorry that I "cherry picked" the quotes that made my point. The only alternative would have been to repost 7 pages of text. Sorry about that. To make it up to you I will now re-post EVERY SINGLE POST in that stream wherein the author stated EITHER that 1) the Pats would not be effected by the weather or 2) the Pats would proceed to roll all over the Bears. In other words, I will re-post all the posts where the author made a correct prediction...

(cricket chirps) (tumbleweed blows by)

Thank you.

Possum, would you agree that you and I were probably the two loudest Bears fans this week? Would you agree that even if we did predict a Bears win, it came with a lot of "x and y need to happens"? I don't recall, at least for myself outright calling for a Bears win...

You didn't and I never said you did. But you wanted to; you tried so very hard to ride that fence between "supporting your team" and "not actually taking a stand." Because by not making a prediction you NEVER have to come on these boards and eat crow. Its the best way to be a fan here. Its much harder to be a fan, say "I think my team will win..." and then hope your team can back you up (at 9-3 this should have been easy). But to do THAT would then open you up to have to admit when you lose that you were wrong. You know- when 4th and 2 fails and you have to get eaten up here? Or when David Tyree makes the catch of the century? Or when Manning wins the AFC Championship game and finally banishes the Belichick oppression?

By not standing up and being bold you can claim to be objective when you clearly are not); claim that you were fair and balanced (when you are not) and jump all over me... when I NEVER pretend to be anything but a loud, brash, articulate fan of my team.

[Maithanet]

So, this Skins team is finding new ways to sink into misery. I really hope we don't go 5-11, because we are significantly better than we were last year (4-12), and our record should reflect that.

Jaime, I turned the game off after it looked like we failed to convert on 4th down. But apparently the throw to Armstrong was a first down after all, and the commentators didn't see it. That's some bad work on their part. I remember when I happened that I thought he had made the line of gain, and apparently he had.

Some calls didn't go our way, but frankly when you execute as badly as we did, you have no excuses. We failed to complete an extra point, a 24 and a 34 yard field goal. Unless you are way better than the other team, I should expect to lose that game.

Special teams failure always feels like it's own special kind of misery. Anyone agree [Chargers fans? Too soon?]

Rock, you're coming across as angry that the Bears fans thought they might beat your team. Nothing that I remember in the last week I could describe as shit-talking or calling the Pats out.

[Jaxom 1974]

Wow... I didn't realize many people here were just so sensitive. Ser Possum, PLEASE, don't claim you were giving a fair and balanced observation of the game. You weren't. You were complaining that the ref's were blowing the game for your team. You made some paltry attempt to seem balanced by saying "The Pats appear to be moving the ball well" and try to claim that shows something? Why can't you just admit it: you were very angry at your team for laying down against the Pats; you're pissed that your team could not stop the Pats and decided you would engage in the time-honored tradition of blaming the refs for the Pats' success.

THEN- amazingly -you say I lack reading comprehension skills AND THEN POST ALL THE "NON-CALLS" the Pats benefited from. That is CLASSIC avoiding giving credit where credit is due. But I am the one with reading comprehension problems. Got it.

Okay, look, sorry that I "cherry picked" the quotes that made my point. The only alternative would have been to repost 7 pages of text. Sorry about that. To make it up to you I will now re-post EVERY SINGLE POST in that stream wherein the author stated EITHER that 1) the Pats would not be effected by the weather or 2) the Pats would proceed to roll all over the Bears. In other words, I will re-post all the posts where the author made a correct prediction...

Thank you.

You didn't and I never said you did. But you wanted to; you tried so very hard to ride that fence between "supporting your team" and "not actually taking a stand." Because by not making a prediction you NEVER have to come on these boards and eat crow. Its the best way to be a fan here. Its much harder to be a fan, say "I think my team will win..." and then hope your team can back you up (at 9-3 this should have been easy). But to do THAT would then open you up to have to admit when you lose that you were wrong. You know- when 4th and 2 fails and you have to get eaten up here? Or when David Tyree makes the catch of the century? Or when Manning wins the AFC Championship game and finally banishes the Belichick oppression?

By not standing up and being bold you can claim to be objective when you clearly are not); claim that you were fair and balanced (when you are not) and jump all over me... when I NEVER pretend to be anything but a loud, brash, articulate fan of my team.

Wow. Epic FAIL at reading comprehension. AGAIN. The quotes you "cherry picked" from me to gloat and crow about had NOTHING to do with the actual Bears/Pats game. THAT was my point. I brought up a discussion that had gone on the radio a few days earlier regarding whether football, as a whole, not the Bears/Pats game should always be played indoors to ensure a level playing field where you get to see the best athletes in one of the greatest games ever ply their trade without worrying about the elements. Somehow you seem to have decided that that meant I had to be referring to the debacle that was the Bears/Patriots game.

Oh, and for the record, I might have hemmed and hawed over wanting my team to win yesterday and not making a definitive prediction, but I think my posts during the gmae expressed my utter embarrasment to be a Bears fan yesterday and I would never avoid coming here and saying I was wrong if I had made bold predictions. I've eaten crow in the past. I will again someday. I also happen to think if the Bears had won yesterday, we'd see a classier amount of "told you so's" from the Bears fans, but that's just an opinion. Since we lost, I don't get to test that hypothesis.

[arrowfan]

Possum, would you agree that you and I were probably the two loudest Bears fans this week? Would you agree that even if we did predict a Bears win, it came with a lot of "x and y need to happens"? I don't recall, at least for myself outright calling for a Bears win...

Hey, don't forget me! I predicted a Bears win... and I'm a Packer fan. Doh! My rational was that the Bears top 5 ranked defense would at least keep the game competitive allowing for the Bears (rather anemic) offense to get opportunistic versus the Pats 31st ranked defense. But, that requires the Bears to actually show up to play which they did not.

What is clear to me: The Pats have a fairly young team yet they consistently show up to play with hunger, form, and accuracy. Coaching. It doesn't hurt to have the best QB in the line up either! And, maybe more importantly, protect him with a decent O-line and a real running game. Any team which has their QB as one of the team's leading rushers (hint: Pack) can never be sure of winning.

With remaining games vs GB, MIA, BUF, Pats will win div and home field throughout playoffs . I don't see any AFC team knocking them off the superbowl path, they are too well coached to be caught off guard. PIT at NE in AFC championship will be quite a nice game though.

[Lord O' Bones]

I will re-post all the posts where the author made a correct prediction...

Hey!

It's like you don't love me anymore...

[Trebla]

Rock, you're coming across as angry that the Bears fans thought they might beat your team. Nothing that I remember in the last week I could describe as shit-talking or calling the Pats out.

Audacity of hope, indeed. :P

[Rockroi]

Two things:

1. Lord of Bones:

Hey!

It's like you don't love me anymore...

In my defense, you were not making a prediction as much as you were expounding on a philosophical point that weather is part of the game and should not be removed. And I agree. However, you did not say that the Pats were going to win in the manner they won. (more on that in a second).

2:

Rock, you're coming across as angry that the Bears fans thought they might beat your team. Nothing that I remember in the last week I could describe as shit-talking or calling the Pats out.

I never said that people were predicting the Bears would win (one did, but a Packers fan). I NEVER played the "lack of respect" card. My point was that ALL (and it was basically all) the talk was how the elements would play this HUGE roll in the game; and that almost without exception, that roll would be in support of the Bears. The talk was that the weather would help the Bears and hamper the Pats.

Lord of Bones' point was that the fact that the weather played a part in the game SHOULD NOT make people not appreciate the aesthetic that the weather adds to the game.

What I was pointing out was that the Pats were 100% unaffected by the snow, and that nobody (including me) made that prediction. Do you want to know my prediction? Here was what it was:

The Pats would win an ugly, low scoring game; that the weather would be a HUGE factor; that the conditions actually favored the Bears; that the Bears would make one critical turnover and the Pats would capitalize. Pats 17, Bears 10. That was my prediction.

What have we learned?

My point was NOT that everyone on this board are idiots. No. My point was that the Pats do not adhere to our views of parity, competition and physics. WHO THE FUCK THROWS FOR 300 YARDS IN A BLIZZARD!!???!!?? My point was that we can all hypothesize on what will and could happen. And the Pats just blow the doors off all that.

So don't take this so personally. Everyone was wrong. And any debate on Chicago radio on the weather were rendered moot because the weather did not matter. It matters to teams who need excuses (much like blaming the refs - WHICH I DO EVERY TIME I TALK ABOUT THE TYREE CATCH!!!!).

That was what I was saying. I'm glad we had this talk.

[Kalbear]

To be fair, Rock's prediction was 'scared about what was going to happen' and Stego was quaking in his proverbial boots, so all the talk about what was going to happen in definites was pretty much on the side of Rock and being pessimistic.

So really, Rockroi is ranting and saying IN YOUR FACE to...Rockroi.

[Rockroi]

And one prediction of my own:

Everyone is talking about Sal Alossi- the conditioning coach for the Jets who tripped the Miami player. And that guy should be suspended. No doubt.

Here is my prediction: Look for somebody to post SOMEWHERE the 2003 AFC Championship game. During that game -I think it was the first Ty Law INT - Manning was throwing to Harrison when Law INT'd the Ball on the Pats sideline. When the ball was thrown, Harrison was heading for the sidelines and when the ball was INT'd his momentum carried him out of bounds - right into the Pats bench. As Harrison turned around to get back on the field to (potentially) tackle Law ...

... and was met by Bill Belichick. Belichick blatantly stood between Harrison and the field... when Harrison attempted to step aside of Belichick, Belichick OBVIOUSLY moved to stay in Harrison's way... TWICE!!!!

Look for somebody to post that somewhere. I am just saying.

[Lord O' Bones]

God damn, I love this thread.

[Rockroi]

So really, Rockroi is ranting and saying IN YOUR FACE to...Rockroi.

I am saying in your face to everyone, and I am part of everyone. We were all wrong. The Patriots do not adhere to ... anything, frankly.

I am also saying in your face to the Jets but that's because I love watching train wrecks. Brutal, highly predictable train wrecks.

And Jaxom, how could I possibly hate the man who gave me one of my sigs?

[Maithanet]

And one prediction of my own:

Everyone is talking about Sal Alossi- the conditioning coach for the Jets who tripped the Miami player. And that guy should be suspended. No doubt.

Here is my prediction: Look for somebody to post SOMEWHERE the 2003 AFC Championship game. During that game -I think it was the first Ty Law INT - Manning was throwing to Harrison when Law INT'd the Ball on the Pats sideline. When the ball was thrown, Harrison was heading for the sidelines and when the ball was INT'd his momentum carried him out of bounds - right into the Pats bench. As Harrison turned around to get back on the field to (potentially) tackle Law ...

... and was met by Bill Belichick. Belichick blatantly stood between Harrison and the field... when Harrison attempted to step aside of Belichick, Belichick OBVIOUSLY moved to stay in Harrison's way... TWICE!!!!

Look for somebody to post that somewhere. I am just saying.

I think that Alossi should be suspended or banned from the game, and that the Jets should be fined on top of it. Fining Alossi doesn't make a lot of sense, because in order for it to be something he could actually pay, it would look like a paltry sum compared to the player fines.

Rock, I don't exactly see your point. I didn't know that story, but it seems pretty relevant to this situation (off field interference with the game, and how that sort of thing is punished). Now, the league obviously isn't going to suspend Belicheck for the Super Bowl, it would be crazy to do so. But why shouldn't that be discussed? Or are you just pointing out that you are better at sportstalk than the talking heads? Because that can be a fun game; I certainly enjoy beating in-game commentators to the punch about relevant football examples. Although these days, it is getting to be like fish in the barrel.

[awesome possum]

Did you not call me out this week?

Real men admit when they were wrong. (They don't whine that they did not like the manner in which they were shown up.)

What am I wrong about exactly? And, since apparently you lack reading comprehension skills as well, I have repeatedly said those non-calls would not have affected the outcome of the game.

Possum, would you agree that you and I were probably the two loudest Bears fans this week? Would you agree that even if we did predict a Bears win, it came with a lot of "x and y need to happens"? I don't recall, at least for myself outright calling for a Bears win...

I agree. I believe my prediction was that if the Pats scored more than 21 points, they were going to win. Of course, this prediction hinged on the possibility that the Bears offense showed up to actually play. Talk about a team that prides itself on being a "cold weather franchise" looking anything but.

Wow... I didn't realize many people here were just so sensitive. Ser Possum, PLEASE, don't claim you were giving a fair and balanced observation of the game. You weren't. You were complaining that the ref's were blowing the game for your team. You made some paltry attempt to seem balanced by saying "The Pats appear to be moving the ball well" and try to claim that shows something? Why can't you just admit it: you were very angry at your team for laying down against the Pats; you're pissed that your team could not stop the Pats and decided you would engage in the time-honored tradition of blaming the refs for the Pats' success.

THEN- amazingly -you say I lack reading comprehension skills AND THEN POST ALL THE "NON-CALLS" the Pats benefited from. That is CLASSIC avoiding giving credit where credit is due. But I am the one with reading comprehension problems. Got it.

Hey Rock, maybe you should take these amazing mind-reading powers you have which allow you to see exactly what I was thinking when I wrote my posts, and use them to instead read and comprehend posts.

Also, you should pick one or the other: the victim sports fan or the douche sports fan. You can't be both.

I also happen to think if the Bears had won yesterday, we'd see a classier amount of "told you so's" from the Bears fans, but that's just an opinion. Since we lost, I don't get to test that hypothesis.

Pretty much this. If the Bears had won, my reaction would have been something like,

"Holy shit, the Bears won! The Bears won!! But more importantly, the Packers lost! Wooooo, we practically have the NFC North locked up!!!"

As opposed to:

"Hahaha Pats fans, IN YOUR FACE!!! You guys suck donkey scrotum and I hope your mothers get herpes!!!"

[Rockroi]

Rock, I don't exactly see your point. I didn't know that story, but it seems pretty relevant to this situation (off field interference with the game, and how that sort of thing is punished). Now, the league obviously isn't going to suspend Belicheck for the Super Bowl, it would be crazy to do so. But why shouldn't that be discussed? Or are you just pointing out that you are better at sportstalk than the talking heads? Because that can be a fun game; I certainly enjoy beating in-game commentators to the punch about relevant football examples. Although these days, it is getting to be like fish in the barrel.

Maithanet:

I never said it wasn't relevant. Quite the opposite: I am saying that somebody is going to say, "Well, if what Alosi did was wrong... than what do you have to say about THIS (insert corny 1950's horror movie music - DUN DUN DUNNNN!!!!)" and that is a legit point. It SHOULD be discussed.

And this illustrates something else (sorry to bring thus back up): but people read stuff in my posts that IS NOT THERE! I apparently need to type more (or less) because people are saying stuff that is not there. At all.

[Rockroi]

Hey Rock, maybe you should take these amazing mind-reading powers you have which allow you to see exactly what I was thinking when I wrote my posts, and use them to instead read and comprehend posts.

Good point. Hey, lets apply it:

I believe my prediction was that if the Pats scored more than 21 points,

Okay. Find me the post where you said that Pats would score 21 points. And find me it once we knew it would be snowing at game-time. (and even if that were true- you were still off by 2 TDs. I'm just saying). See, its not that I need mind-reading powers: YOU need to actually make these predictions. You NEVER stated that the Pats would score 21 points. You want that to be true: you WANT to appear like you were being even-handed and open-minded. But the reality is that you did not do this. YOU WANT that after-the-fact, but its not the truth.

Also, you should pick one or the other: the victim sports fan or the douche sports fan. You can't be both.

Or I could be the sports fan that engages in needless name-calling. But somebody already seems to have that covered.

"Hahaha Pats fans, IN YOUR FACE!!! You guys suck donkey scrotum and I hope your mothers get herpes!!!"

I ... didn't even MENTION Bears fans. Not once. I mentioned EVERYONE! I made no distinction between the fan and the statement. I just included it all. Sorry this somehow equated to me "rubbing your nose in it."

I'm sorry if pointing out facts somehow is equated to gloating. Or wishing VDs on your mom.

But to be fair, I do hope Jets fans suck actual donkey scrotum.

[Maithanet]

And this illustrates something else (sorry to bring thus back up): but people read stuff in my posts that IS NOT THERE! I apparently need to type more (or less) because people are saying stuff that is not there. At all.

Ok, I agree, and I'll be interested to see a video on what Belichek did in that situation. I think the problem is that when we are working on an all-text format, it is very difficult to be understood with a "just saying" comment.

[Mexal]

This argument sucks.

I think we need a different topic. Lets talk about the Falcons. They are pretty quietly (at least on this board) playing extremely good football. Matt Ryan is putting up great numbers and White/Turner are beasts. It looks like all that film Ryan studied in the offseason of Manning/Brady is paying off. Not only are they pretty consistent, but Ryan has the cool nickname of Matty Ice.

Also, on the other side of the coin, how about Brees near the lead in interceptions. He still has a load of weapons but this year, his decision making isn't as strong as the last few. I wonder what has changed. Is he facing more pressure? He's a small QB so maybe he isn't seeing the field as well as usually does?

[awesome possum]

Okay. Find me the post where you said that Pats would score 21 points. And find me it once we knew it would be snowing at game-time. (and even if that were true- you were still off by 2 TDs. I'm just saying). See, its not that I need mind-reading powers: YOU need to actually make these predictions. You NEVER stated that the Pats would score 21 points. You want that to be true: you WANT to appear like you were being even-handed and open-minded. But the reality is that you did not do this. YOU WANT that after-the-fact, but its not the truth.

Wow... really? I mean, really? From the previous thread, Post #231, my prediction for the game:

The weather forecast for Chicago this weekend is 22 degrees, with 50% chance of snow and 30 mph winds from the NNW. That's Bears football right there, but the Patriots aren't strangers to conditions like that so it's not like it gives Chicago a huge advantage.

With Logan Mankins back in the lineup the Pats' running game has new life. My fear is the Bears D will shut down the running game and try to make Brady beat them through the air, which he can do easily. Even if it's dinks and dunks, he's proven in the past that he'll gladly march down a field on short passes.

I think the Pats will put up 20-28 points. If its 21 or lower, the Bears have it. If it's 24 or higher, the Pats take this one.

So I was WRONG. My prediction was OFF, by about 8 points, but still mostly right on TARGET.

I ... didn't even MENTION Bears fans. Not once. I mentioned EVERYONE! I made no distinction between the fan and the statement. I just included it all. Sorry this somehow equated to me "rubbing your nose in it."

I'm sorry if pointing out facts somehow is equated to gloating. Or wishing VDs on your mom.

The portion of the post was a response to Jax, not to you. And I love my hyperbole. I never leave home without it!

But to be fair, I do hope Jets fans suck actual donkey scrotum.

Well, here's the closest thing, and something we can all come together to enjoy:

As the Jets take a step closer to total implosion.

[arrowfan]

This argument sucks.

I totally agree. It's like ok, guys get a hotel room for fucks sake!

Still, I'm just happy to have seen at least one snowglobe game. Too bad it wasn't at high noon, because it looked pretty gloomy out there with only the stadium lights to fend of the snow and swirling winds. But to be sure, snow games don't mean "bad" football (I mean overall). The Pats came out and passing and running no problem. Awwww, it was beauteous. Too bad the Bears didn't make a game of it, but I still watched the entire game.

Falcons. Yes, they're our best hope to defeat these raging(and ranting)Patriots. Great team balance.

[Rockroi]

Well, here's the closest thing, and something we can all come together to enjoy:

As the Jets take a step closer to total implosion.

Like I said... I like watching brutal, completely predictable train wrecks. If only we could have predicted that the Sanchize would not be able to play up to a level that would allow the Jets to actually win games? Who could EVER have predicted that the Jets D would begin to sour about how poorly the Jets O has been playing? Who could EVER have predicted that Rex Ryan's antics would backfire? Who could EVER have predicted that Sanchez would not be able to rise to the occasion and begin to throw up wayyyyyyyy too many INTs?

I mean, the next thing you are going to tell me is that LT is going to disappear in the playoffs.

LT's yards per carry pre bye week: 5.3 yards per carry (92 carries for 490 yards)

LT's yards per carry post bye week: 3.3 yards per carry (103 carries for 347 yards)

My God. If only we could somehow predict this stuff in advance.