NBA Preview: Lots of Heat on TV

Another week.....another slate of NBA games on National TV (NBA TV doesn't count since I don't get it).....pretty thin slate of stuff but out of the 4 games.....this is the order of interest I have in these games......

4- Bulls vs. Cavs Friday ESPN

The Bulls are off to a pedestrian start. The Bulls have just lost tonight, snapping the Bucks 4-game losing streak. So far, the Bulls haven't done much to follow up on nearly pulling off the biggest upset of the Playoffs.

The Cavs have sleep-walked to a 12-5 start in their we better win a championship to show LeBron he has the best chance by staying in Ohio.

3- Heat vs. Nuggets Thursday TNT

Dwayne Wade is one of the best players in the league...but the Heat on back to back nights is overkill. The last time the Heat were on TV they lost to an inferior Wizards team.

The Nuggets are in the lead in a competitive Northwest division and will be looking to get some distance from their competition.

2- Heat vs. Lakers Friday ESPN

Two chances to watch the Heat....if you miss them Thursday all you have to do is wait another day.

The Lakers are neck and neck with the Suns in the Pacific and should be in good shape to win playing against a Heat team on the back end of a back-to-back

1- Celtics vs. Spurs Thursday TNT

Out of the four games, this match-up is the most likely to be a finals preview. On an unrelated note, this game is the only one of the four involving a player on my fantasy team (Tim Duncan)......in an attempt to help me get one step closer to going undefeated (5-0) at this point......ahhh the uninspirin-ness of early December NBA Action.....It's Amazing

Well, off to watching more episodes of Reaper (I can always count on Hulu to find a show to get hooked on every few months) and reading the book Baseball Between the Numbers that I got in the mail today.

Sports/Music Crossover: Foo Fighters

So...I was channel surfing last night before I went to bed and VH1 was doing a story-tellers episode with the Foo Fighters involved.......y'all know what this means........time to cross-pollinate sports and music based on some Foo Fighters songs

"Exhausted"--Media Coverage of Tim Tebow

Ok I get it, Tim Tebow is the greatest college football player....he's won Heismans.......national championships (possibly another in the pipelines)......and apparently he's a decent human being (as far as we know).......its just the media's love affair with this guy is something that's gotten beyond even the John Madden/Brett Favre zone........well he's graduating to the NFL so this over saturation either move up another level if he makes it in the NFL or transfers on a yet to be determined freshman in 2010.

"No Way Back"- Steve Kragthorpe

It's official, Steve Kragthorpe is not being retained as the coach at Louisville. Kragthorpe's time at Louisville ranks a 12 on the epic fail scale. He inherited a Louisville team that had legit elite status/national title hopes when he arrived in '07....he failed to even place them in a bowl game....they've become doormats in the Big East and their window for greatness was slammed shut in 3 short years. Honestly I don't see him head coaching for a BCS conference team for a long time (if ever).

"The Pretender"-Oklahoma State/ Georgia Tech

Both teams had chances at a BCS berth coming into today and could help themselves a lot by pulling wins over bitter rivals in down seasons. Instead, both teams failed to step up in their big rivalry games and showed themselves as elite pretenders.

"Low"--Rice

The performance of their defense. Granted Rice dropped to 2-10 this year and were playing a Houston squad that has been putting up video game statistics against their Conference USA opposition. With that being said, giving up 59 in one half is so bad that most teams couldn't give up that many even if they tried. It's insane to think about....Houston scored 8 touchdowns in the first half....one touchdown every 3:45.........not the best way to finish out the season.

"Long Road To Ruin"-- Whoever takes the Notre Dame Job

Are you a successful college coach in high demand? Are you tired of winning all those games.....well we got the job for you. In 4-6 years you can go on your Long Road To Ruin by coaching a Notre Dame team that won't win more than 7 of these new fangled games a year. Also, your epic fail has its own tv contract with NBC........I can't wait for their TV contract to not get renewed

"Up In Arms"--The BCS establishment to anyone suggesting they go to a playoff system

Not sure which is more absurd.......that College Football is the ONLY organized sport at any level without a playoff......or the BCS has gotten so self-conscious about the venom spewed towards them for the ineptness of their system....that they set up a Twitter account to spread the propaganda about how complicated a playoff would be

"Home"--Tiger Woods

How much trouble and controversy can surround a person who has an incident outside their home...say hitting the fire hydrant outside their home....and what if said person was the most dominant player in a fringe sport such as golf.....well we've definitely got the answer to this in the last couple days.

It's been bizarre seeing this story go from Tiger Woods was in a car accident to the soap opera of his wife busting out the windows to let Woods out to the couple both declining to talk to the cops to this becoming a TMZ hot topic.

In two short days this story has gone to the Twilight Zone (not the TV show......this refers to stories that are beaten into the ground that are unavoidable)......in other words expect this to be the first and last time I reference this event.

"Breakout"--Oklahoma City Thunder

If last night is any indication, 09-10 looks to be a breakout season for the team formerly known as the Sonics. The Thunder have been improving exponentially since they fired P. J. Carlesimo.....its not like any of his player tried to choke him (again)....its just that this team was a joke until they cleaned house, fired Carlesimo and he had to go back to covering games for TNT.

The Thunder look to be in the playoff hunt this year. They probably won't win it all this year but they will get some playoff experience under their belt. With Kevin Durant to build around, a solid young core, several draft picks and lots of cap room....If they play it smart they could have a Portland-esque nucleus with the sky as the limit.

"Next Year"-- Auburn

Close but no cigar....Next Year is how long Auburn will need to wait for another chance to take down Alabama and to spoil a prospective championship bid.

Bucks/Thunder Running Post: Second Half

7:54 Second half is about to start in the next few minutes.......the Bucks have stayed in it by shooting well from beyond the arc and getting large contributions off the bench....so they've stayed close despite only 2 points from Jennings.....the announcing team gives us the second of 100 reminders that Jennings didn't score in the 1st quarter of the game where he dropped 55

7:57 Considering these teams have changed a lot in the last couple years i'm not sure much can be drawn from this but.....OKC hasn't beaten the Bucks since '07

7:58 Durant nails a 3 with the shot clock running down......ouch

7:59 Bucks have come out of the gate looking turrible

8:00 Off to commercials and one of those Dos Equis commercials with the most interesting man in the world.......these commercials are definitely one of my pet peeves....especially the one where they state that he had an awkward moment just to see what it feels like....coming from someone whose life is a compilation of awkward moments....can't help but take some offense to it.

8:02 Durant Comparison Tally: Gervin 3 Malone 2......i'll move it up to 3.5 since the latest Gervin comparison came with a video montage.

8:03 Thunder on an 18-4 run....nothings going right currently

8:04 Seriously why do they let Gadzuric shoot the ball? 3 times a game is too much

8:05 Can't help but think there is some Ewing theory potential in Redd. The Bucks were rolling when Redd was injured and look to be headed to 0-3 with him back....

8:08 The Bucks are playing so bad right now.....I doubt they could beat a D-League team right now

8:10 Is it too much to ask that the BUCKS MAKE A SINGLE BASKET....... apparently it is

8:13 Discussion quickly turns to the Nets-Kings game and talking about how the Kings game was the Nets best chance for a win considering they play the Lakers on Sunday....selling the Kings short.....the Kings have bounced back.....sure they are 6-8 but they are showing signs of life and are anything but an easy out

8:15 Congratulations Bucks....it took you 6+ minutes to make a basket.....and then another one a minute later....now the broadcasters can stop talking about all time offensive futility records....however, there is still the issue of being down 14 points

8:16 Bucks are 2 for 17 in the third quarter.....even David Eckstein thinks that is terrible

8:18 Well, we know what it takes for Redd to make a shot in this game....questionable goaltending calls against Kevin Durant

8:21 Only the 3rd quarter and the they're out of the game but hey they are on the way up conversations are beginning.....

8:24 Jennings has only amassed 3 points so far....it's easy to see that Durant has clearly outplayed Jennings tonight

8:25 Thankfully, the third quarter is over.....there is absolutely nothing good to say about the last 12 minutes of this game....78-63 Thunder

8:29 The 4th quarter is about to start and with that a cliche-ridden interview with Thunder coach Scott Brooks

8:30 Even when the Bucks do something right....they do something wrong. Hakim Warrick gets the dunk but hangs on the rim too much and picks up a technical.

8:31 The conversation of the broadcast has shifted to what the Thunder will do next summer and even led to the suggestion of moving their draft picks for a free agent......

8:35 Jennings drills a 3 the Bucks have it down to 10....he's starting to get into a rhythm...but is it too little too late?

8:36 They just showed a commercial for the new Twilight commercial...grrrhhhh.....IS IT TOO MUCH TO ASK TO GO MORE THAN 5 MINUTES WITHOUT TWILIGHT BEING REFERENCED.......even if you want to avoid it you can't.....

8:40 ESPN just showed a graphic showing free throws in the second half....20 for the Thunder...6 for the Bucks....haven't seen a discrepancy that large since the Los Angeles Donahys played the Kings in the 2002 Western Conference Finals

8:41 Let the past-player comparisons continue: Jennings name is used in the same sentence as Nick Van Exel and Tiny Archibald....within seconds of each other

8:43 Bucks struggling to get a defensive stop and struggling to get the deficit into single figures..

8:45 Durant grabs offensive board out of nowhere dunks it .....Thunder up by 17......

8:48 The Bucks look like they've given up while the Thunder are still playing like the game is on the line....i'm pretty sure this isn't sitting well with Scott Skiles

8:49 Harden drills a 3 and the Thunder get the lead over 20 for the first time and follow it up with a Westbrook dunk

8:53 Now if only Andrew Bogut could go more than a game without getting injured....maybe the Bucks could have made this a game

8:55 ESPN cuts to a sign from one of fans....Bucks get struck on ESPN.......Sad But True

8:58 Ahh....Garbage Time...at this point just running out the string until the clock runs out

Well...this game came to an end (finally) with the Thunder coming away with an 108-90 win. This drops the Bucks to 8-6. Even though its been a rough week for the Bucks....I still feel good about them long term. Sure, Jennings has struggled the last few days but he's still young....hes showing plenty of promise in his first 14 games. Still gotta keep things in perspective and realize that even with the losing streak....the Bucks are still much better off than they have been for the last couple decades.

Bucks/Thunder Running Post: First Half

Well, the timing for me + games on TV on this weekend is opportunistically slanted towards the running diary format of blogging. Tonight's occasion. ESPN airing the Bucks-Thunder game on ESPN. Looking forward to it for a few reasons. Obviously the Bucks being involved is one. Second, this is my first chance to watch a complete game where Brandon Jennings plays. Since i'm not a big enough of an NBA fan to get any league package (baseball is the only sport i'll do that for).....the only stuff i've seen from him is through highlight clips/sportscenter, etc.

Also, playing against the team Kevin Durant plays for is another interesting sub-plot. I'm not crazy enough to believe that these are the two best teams in the league.....but they definitely qualify as two of the most interesting (and up and coming teams).........

6:15 And the countdown begins....25 minutes to tip off.....ESPN celebrates it by showing a clip of Kevin Durant reading a piece of paper.......somehow I find this more interesting than the Wizards-Heat game that is still going on.......unless Earl Boykins scores a bunch of points the next five minutes..this game will do little to affect the evening.

6:17 Earl Boykins...hero of the short (by NBA standard) people......according to ESPN...Boykins is the shortest player to score 30 in a game......if he wants to make a name for himself further he should enter the slam dunk competition and become the shortest player to do that....take that Spud Webb

6:18 I'm still stoked that ESPN thought enough about the tonight's game to pre-empt another game (Phoenix-Minnesota) in order to show the Bucks. Usually when the Bucks are involved in something like this...they are the team not being shown

6:21 ESPN shows first footage of the teams shooting around.....shows Jennings and Durant......for now back to Miami and Washington going through the motions.

6:22 Fun Fact: The UFL season is over and some team from Vegas won the championship......This poses the question of if you were the best team in a league that only shows games on Versus....did it actually happen?

6:27 It looks like Chris Kaman's breakout season was not meant to be. The 23-10 machine seems to be regressing to his career norms as his fg% for the year has dipped below his career numbers.....that 23-10 has regressed to 19-8 and Griffin's comeback is on the horizon.......this information (courtesy of Clips Nation) puts his spot on my fantasy team in a little bit of jeopardy.

6:32 ESPN may not solve the pressing problems that may save the world.........but they'll settle for speculating on why Earl Boykins plays for a different team every year.

6:34 Wizards 94 Heat 84...time for some inane studio chatter

6:36 Jennings getting some press for starting in the All-Star Game......They even went to the point of mentioning a player that's not named Jennings or Durant (as they talked about Jeff Green for about 2.5 seconds)

6:38 Say what you will about the circumstances that led to Oklahoma City getting a team (I say Clay Bennett is not a great person) but its good to see that Oklahoma City is coming out to support their team....they showed a shot at the crowd and there's not an empty seat to be found.....so we at least know we're not watching an Los Angeles Dodgers game.

6:40 Right when I slam the Dodgers, the arena plays the song (don't know the name of it) but I know its the same one played at Dodger stadium after the Dodgers hit a home run.

6:42 Durant gets first blood starts game off with dunk.....countered by Carlos Delfino..yes the Bucks have players other than Brandon Jennings...they're just not as good.

6:43 Delfino is en-fuego....for about 10 seconds he was single handedly outscoring the Thunder.

6:44 Gadzuric is getting schooled on the boards.....in other news all days end in Y and the sky is still blue

6:46 Ilyasoya has been having a nice year but physically.....no match for Kevin Durant

6:47 Jennings on the bench....Ridnour in the game.. 14-9 Thunder

6:48 Gadzuric attempted to make a shot....this never ends well...well at least Gadzuric is going to the bench for awhile as well

6:50 Hakim Warrick botches a dunk attempt in an awesomely horribly way...epic fail

6:51 First TV Timeout 16-9 Thunder....hopefully the Bucks can bounce back from a rough start

6:53 Durant draws comparison to George Gervin by the ESPN team....considering i'm too young to ever watch him play...not sure if that's a good thing or just a backhanded compliment

6:55 Delfino busts out another three..singlehandedly keeping them in it....Ridnour 3 tie game

6:56 Delfino actually misses a shot......Durant gets another comparison to another player from the 80s (Moses Malone)

6:57 Good thing i'm not involved in a drinking game where I have to take a drink every time Durant is compared to a player who was in the NBA before he was even born.....anyone doing this will probably be passed out by half time

7:02 Delfino has now scored 13 of 22 Milwaukee Points......Durant has now been compared to Moses Malone and George Gervin twice each.

7:04 Jennings gets on the scoreboard for first time.

7:07 I wonder if the Thunder will get another big name player to complement Durant in the summer of '10. The Thunder are on the way up have a solid core and the cap room to bring in a star. Also, first quarter draws to an end 31-26 Thunder.

7:11 Ahh the mandatory interview with the Head Coach...why do they even bother?

7:13 Jennings just draws the first of 200 mandatory comparisions to A.I.

7:15 Ilyasoya looking strong getting offensive boards....has gotten a couple second chance buckets...timeout...35-32 Thunder

7:18 ESPN shows clip of Michigan State losing to Florida in basketball and calling Florida's win as an upset.....while Florida was unranked and Michigan State is #2, tough to see Florida as the David pulling an upset when they've won national titles this decade.

7:21 Despite a slow start by Jennings game is tied thanks to strong starts by Delfino, Ilyasoya and Ridnour......Jennings ain't gonna be quiet all game so it's good to see the Bucks stay competitive even with not all going as planned

7:23 Ilyasoya steals ball takes it distance for dunk.....

7:23 Bucks running on all cylinders right now...Jennings sinks a jumper 46-40 Bucks.

7:25 Candidate of the day to get their coaching reputation tarnished in 4-6 short years......Er I mean take that prestigious job at Notre Dame....Brian Billick

7:30 Durant connects on back end of alley-oop to fire up crowd...Bucks counter with bucket 48-44 Bucks

7: 36 Harden knocks down a trey....the Thunder take the lead back and the Bucks go on to turn the ball over.....no bueno

7:38 First half ends with Durant not getting a shot off before the buzzer 51-50 Thunder

Game has been as good as advertised for the first half.....i'll have the second half running post up after the game

Steak and Football Day Diary/Live Blog: Second Half

Well, the Second Half should be starting soon. The Packers are up 13-7 at this point but the lead should be significantly larger by this point. I'm not too crazy about the Packers settling for field goals. But it could be worse, I could be a Lions fan.

11:21 Seriously with 256 total yards to 81 and it's only 13-7?

11:22 Woodson pick...third of the Day........it's interesting Stafford doesn't play as well when the other team isn't the Cleveland Browns.

11:23 Well for now....it's being challenged by the Lions....we'll see what happens after some commercials.

11:29 Wow what a way to capitalize. I like that they went for it on 4th and 2 I just don't like that Rodgers ended up getting sacked and fumbled.

11:33 Packers are stuck inside their own 10 again.....Jordy is having a turrible game on special teams.

11:36 Rodgers hits driver with another long pass....the last time they did this the drive ended in the Packers only touchdown....hopefully that trend continues...will it....we'll see

11:39 In the Red Zone for the 4th time thanks to a good catch by Jordy

11:41 TOUCHDOWN!!!!!!! Driver helps Rodgers finish what they started. Rodgers was under pressure and had a half-second window to get the ball to Driver. 20-7 Packers.

11:47 I've ranted about commercials I don't like enough today so i'll talk about one that I do like. The Miller Lite commercial that passes itself off as one of those Dating Websites for the first 20 seconds as the guy rants about finding the one and then he makes googly eyes over a Miller Lite....someone needs to put the E-Harmonies of the world in their place.

11:51 Stafford nearly got picked off for a 4th time. Still doing a pretty good Jay Cutler impersonation though.

11:52 Wide Right. Packers Ball. Still 20-7

11:54 We're not even out of the 3rd quarter yet and Rodgers has kept his 4-game streak alive of passing for 300+ yards against the Lions.

11:55 Rodgers to Jones for his 4th of the year.....27-7 Packers

11:57 So Joe Buck and Troy Aikman don't know who votes on the Turducken award or whatever the name of that Turkey thing is......seriously Joe you broadcast games for a living and have been calling games for FOX forever and Troy in addition to being a broadcaster you played for the Cowboys who always play on Thanksgiving.........your guys' job is to give people insight on these types of things..

12:02 The Lions punting unit makes it 80th appearance of the day

12:06 You know the game is getting out of hand when the broadcasting team is talking about their Fantasy Football teams. Knowing that Joe Buck's fantasy team is 2-8ish.

12:09 Stafford completes a 47-yard pass to Northcutt, now in the Red Zone.....they are starting to show some signs of life.

12:13 Packers D Bends but doesn't break on D--2nd and goal from the 1--three incomplete passes--Packers ball still 27-7.

12:15 And that is why you DO NOT RUN FROM YOUR OWN 1 YARD LINE.....At least McCarthy was smart enough to challenge.....27-9 is better than 27-14

12:21 33-yard return by Northcutt.....not great for the packers special teams but they've definitely done worse

12:24 Stafford converts on 4th down and find themselves back in the Red Zone.

12:26 Lions convert on 3rd.....between this game and S.F. Game I do have long-term concern about the Packers finishing off opponents.....they may be able to get away with it against these teams but they can't be pulling this off against playoff-caliber opposition.

12:28 Field goal unit coming on for Detroit 27-12 Pack 5 minutes left.

12:31 Packers were playing for onside but don't get it .....good to see Woodson get a chance to return a kick

12:32 Cut away to the Silverdome.....sorta disturbing that it only sold for $583,000 the clip they just showed on TV it looked disturbing seeing it as pretty much an abandoned property.

12:34 Packers run on 3rd and 3 to the surprise of no-one. 3 and out for the Packers 27-12 Pack 4 minutes left....no timeouts for the Lions.

12:36 Stafford throws a pick-six to Woodson. 4th Pick overall, 2nd pick for Woodson. 34-12 Packers

12:41 You know the game is pretty much over: When the broadcasting team talks about how the losing team (Lions) will be good at some unspecified point. While the Lions are terrible this year....this actually comes with sound reasoning....Stafford has shown signs of eventually justifying his #1 pick status.......give it a couple years and there's a solid chance he'll turn the Millen era into nothing more than a bad memory.

12:45 McCarthy is now 2 for 2 on challenges for the day

12:49 You know the game is decided when: Matt Flynn is on the field. This earns the Captain Obvious statement that Packers Back QBs don't get much playing time.

12:52 Well it's official......the game is over the Packers beat the Lions 34-12.

This obviously helps the Packers. They've now won three straight losing to Tampa and have moved to 7-4. There obvious a lot more football to be played.....as much as i've liked the Diary/Running Blog format thing.....the end of it comes now (for now)..

Not really feeling the Cowboys-Raiders (unless McFadden has a big game and leads my fantasy team to victory). I don't get NFL Network so I can't watch the Giants-Broncos from my lap top.........Plus I have about a few thousand calories to shove down my throat between now and the end of the day.

Steak and Football Day Diary/Live Blog: First Half

Trying something new for the holiday. In light of there being football, the Packers playing at 9:30 and not having to go in to work today....I decided to try a live blog about the sports action today

9:19 Forgot that watching Fox Pre-Game means Frank Caliendo and his lame John Madden impersonation. Hes giving a bad name to the what i'm thankful holiday line.....with a lame plug-in for the show Strahan is on (Brothers) that will be lucky to make it out of the first season...to add insult to injury hes picking the Lions

9:22 Not football related but I'm less than one second into reading the stuff on my Google Reader List (one of the more under-rated tools of Gmail in my opinion) and Allen Iverson is already considering un-retiring. Seriously.....hes been "retired" for day. I'm not surprised about this development but c'mon even Brett Favre pretends to retire for at least a few months.

9:27 Ahh the loveliness of a Joe Buck broadcast....telling us stuff I already know....you think I don't know its key that the Packers overcome injuries to Kampman and Harris...thank you captain obvious

9:31 A bit of a discrepancy....they had some anonymous studio person briefly talking about the games that mentioned this was the 20th Thanksgiving meeting between the Packers and Lions...then they cut away to Buck and Aikman who say its the 19th Thanksgiving meeting...someone's right....someone's wrong.....this is definitely a Wikipedia moment.

9:37 Filtered through Wikipedia Packers are 12-18-2 all time on Thanksgiving and 6-11-1 against the Lions meaning this is the 19th match-up

9:37 Not the best way to start a game.....Jordy Nelson starts by fumbling the kick return and letting the Lions start at the Green Bay 20......no bueno.

9:39 Really...that passes for roughing the passer these days? C'mon Matthews barely touched Stafford

9:40 Really does anyone actually use the phrase "He went to Jared" in real life. Does this line actually work. It seemed odd to me the first time. Seriously, the first few times I had to sit through an insufferable he went to jared commercial I thought it was just a bad Subway commercial.

9:42 Not even 2 minutes in and the Lions have a touchdown. Thanks a lot Jordy.

9:46 At least this kickoff wasn't fumbled. Another minute into the game another penalty. Who do they think they are, The Oakland Raiders?

9:56 Not a good sign. The Packers had a drive for 8 minutes and all they get is a lousy missed field goal. We could be in for a long game.

9:59 Could we be seeing Mike Martz try to get a spin-off to the greatest show on turf? I've stumbled across a couple articles with rumors (mainly) about him being interested in Buffalo and one article about him possibly being the Bears coach.

10:03 The Packers actually did something good. Clutch 3 ard 4 interception by Nick Collins. The Packers need to capitalize on this and tie the game.

10:05 While I do like what i've seen out of Ryan Grant the last few weeks....It seems that the play-calling has been a bit too conservative early on....this almost cost them the game against San Francisco...don't want it to cost them today.

10:07 Just as I say that Rodgers goes downfield and BOOM....68 yard completion to Driver...inside the Detroit 10....also like to mention that I like what I see out of the O-Line so far..playing a lot better today than most of the season....Rodgers would have had all day to make that pass.

10:10 Donald Lee scores his 1st TD in epic fashion leaping over a couple of Lions defenders. Joe Buck just dropped the useful nugget of this being Rodgers 30th career red zone TD Pass (vs. 1 interception).

10:15 Packers just lucked out. Kevin Smith had plenty of room to run and trips over. They go on to convert on 3rd down so it they didn't luck out that much.

10:22 Packers stuck at their own 4.....own 6 now facing a 3 rd and 8 they need to step up again on this play.

10:23 Clutch 3rd down play Rodgers was on the ropes a little bit throws it where only Jones can get it First Down.

10:30 The Lions have now committed penalties on back-to-back plays. Last time I remember seeing that was a few years ago when the Raiders and Packers played...the Raiders had 1st downs nullified by penalties...three plays in a row

10:34 Packers fall just short of getting in end zone. Crosby actually makes field goal 10-7 Packers.

10:34 Radio Shack has gotten into the early lead for most insufferable Black Friday jingle.......it looks like i'll have let's all go to shack fridays stuck in my head...whether I want it or not.

10:39 Another third down play...another interception

10:44 Ahh...The Two Minute Warning...Packers in the Red Zone....Need to punch it in before the half

10:46 Ok, whose idea was it to put one of the Wilson brothers on an AT & T commercial and to air it every five minutes? Really, the phone coverage of Akron, Ohio and Tempe, Arizona does absolutely nothing for me.

10:50 Fox plugging American Idol and about how it's changed music (they just forget to mention that its changing music for worse)

10:51 Packers fail to capitalize inside the Lions 10 (again) time for the field goal unit to make another appearance. 13-7 Pack.

10:57 Lions in last ditch attempt before the half :09 remaining...thrown out of bounds

10:59 First Half ends with Clay Matthews chasing Stafford across the field and finally sacking him.

Hmm...time for half time and to step away from the computer a little bit.....be back with my second half observations when the teams get back on the field

The Vent: 11-25 Edition

A few days have passed.....a few more things to Vent about that bug me for one reason or another.

5- Allen Iverson Retirement

This one is more of a pre-emptive Vent If/When Iverson decides to un-retire. Based on past bitter experience (Brett Favre...cough...cough) and the less than stellar way he went out in Memphis, I have a sinking feeling we will be hearing speculation/rumors about un-retirement in the next few years.

Considering that there were teams drawing interest in him.....if the right situation comes along and a team is willing to let him be the #1 option instead of a Sixth Man......this has potential to become an over-hyped story in the next few years.

4-Dike Vitale Really Likes Duke Basketball

I made the mistake of channel surfing and leaving the TV on the ESPN broadcast of the Duke-Arizona State game. This game happened to have Dick Vitale on the broadcast team. While i'll give Vitale credit for actually being passionate about college basketball (Joe Buck could learn a lesson or two) Vitale loses said credit for falling head over hells in love with a chronically unlikeable Duke team. He wasn't on his A-Game for this stuff tonight but he was in his normal gushing mode about how impressive and classy Duke basketball is. Plus c'mon being a fan of Duke basketball is too easy.......i'd be more impressed if someone gave the same fawning treatment to their football team.

3-The Happy Gilmore Ruling

Canadian Courts + Adam Sandler Movies = Illegal

So the Canadian Courts Think that

A) I'm pretty sure the "Happy Gilmore" swing played a secondary (if any) role in the incident leading up to the lawsuit: I'm pretty sure its more related to some of the other facts such as:

they brought along 28 cans of beer, a bottle of tequila, and “some marijuana.” After nine holes, Mr. Hayter, bought more beer.

By this point, Hayter was sloshed enough to be practicing power slides in the golf cart, and “nearly drove into a pond,” according to the court documents.

On the 16th hole, Hayter sliced his tee shot into the woods. He hit a second tee shot, which “dribbled up the fairway.” At that point, his golfing buddies, not surprisingly, started to walk down the fairway toward their respective balls. But Hayter wasn’t done. He teed up a third ball and took a running start before swinging at the ball – your classic Happy Gilmore swing.

The ball struck Alan Bezanson in the wrist.

In summation, one of the few chances to apply Adam Sandler movies to real life is ruined because of a bunch of drunken idiots. Also, what are they going to do next....make golf carts illegal? I may not be a lawyer but I took the LSAT enough times (twice) to smell a frivolous lawsuit when I see one. Seriously, power slides, almost driving the cart into a pond, hard liquor plus a side of reefer....by this point anything should have been expected.....including but not limited to Adam Sandler re-enactments gone horribly wrong.

2- Charlie Weis--Talking About Stanford

This one is about missed opportunities (and for once i'm not talking about Notre Dame's on field performance). We had a golden opportunity for the college football equivalent to Jim Mora's playoffs rant. I stumbled across it on ESPNews and there were a couple YouTube clips......It's pretty epic and ranks high on the unintentional comedy scale. The thing that is bugging me is it's not getting the legendary status it deserves. Pretty much, Weis is in the press conference and everyone wants to ask him about Jimmy Clausen/State of the Union/the injuries from his bar fight and Weis is responding to everything by saying "We're talking about Stanford".....all in all an epic stone-walling of the press....it's moments like this that almost make me sad he's going to be out a head coaching gig on Monday.

Seriously the NFL has the market on press clips from Diddly Poo, To Playoffs?!, To You Play To Win The Game.........Charlie Weis could redeem himself from his mediocre stint at Notre Dame by becoming immortalized for talking about Stanford............

1-ABC

This one's not sports related but something I need to get off my chest. The last four weeks i've gotten hooked into their new show V (which takes the lead over Flash Forward in strongest Lost-replacement for ABC...Flash Forward isn't a bad show....the story is just too slow) anyways V has built itself up for a few episodes and the story is starting to get good. Then we get to the end of the episode and they're not coming back until March......c'mon if your gonna take a few months off at least give us more than a month of episodes first.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!