Celebrate The Phillies Triumphant Return To 1st Place By Grabbing A Boob!

I'm fucking high on life right now. Wow. What a game.

(Hat tip to The Shibe Times)

NFL Week 1 Schedule

Football season is just 3 days away from starting! Just like last year, I will be posting the schedules and the links to the506 maps for the games each week. Also just like last year, the games I will be getting on cable here at Bloomsburg will be put in bold.

Thursday Night Kickoff

Minnesota Vikings vs. New Orleans Saints 8:30 (NBC - Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth)

Map of who gets what CBS game

Cincinnati Bengals vs. New England Patriots 1:00 (CBS - Jim Nantz and Phil Simms)
Indianapolis Colts vs. Houston Texans 1:00 (CBS - Greg Gumbel and Dan Dierdorf)
Oakland Raiders vs. Tennessee Titans 1:00 (CBS - Ian Eagle and Dan Fouts)
Denver Broncos vs. Jacksonville Jaguars 1:00 (CBS - Kevin Harlan and Solomon Wilcots)
Miami Dolphins vs. Buffalo Bills 1:00 (CBS - Gus Johnson and Steve Tasker)
Cleveland Browns vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers 1:00 (CBS - Spero Dedes and Rich Gannon)

Map of who gets what Fox early game

Carolina Panthers vs. New York Giants 1:00 (Fox - Kenny Albert, Daryl Johnston, and Tony Siragusa)
Atlanta Falcons and Pittsburgh Steelers 1:00 (Fox - Dick Stockton, Jim Mora, Jr., and Charles Davis)
Detroit Lions vs. Chicago Bears 1:00 (Fox - Thom Brennaman and Brian Billick)

Map of who gets what Fox late game

Green Bay Packers vs. Philadelphia Eagles 4:15 (Fox - Joe Buck and Troy Aikman)
San Francisco 49ers vs. Seattle Seahawks 4:15 (Fox - Sam Rosen and Tim Ryan)
Arizona Cardinals vs. St. Louis Rams 4:15 (Fox - Ron Pitts and John Lynch)

Sunday Night Football

Dallas Cowboys vs. Washington Redskins 8:20 (NBC - Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth)

Monday Night Football

Baltimore Ravens vs. New York Jets 7:00 (ESPN - Mike Tirico, Ron Jaworski, and Jon Gruden)
San Diego Chargers vs. Kansas City Chiefs 10:15 (ESPN - Brad Nessler and Trent Dilfer)

Eagles Turn A Scrapheap Linebacker Into A Starting Offensive Guard

I'm beginning to really like Howie Roseman. This is his 1st year as Eagles GM but he certainly knows what he is doing. At the very least, he is one bad ass wheeler and dealer. A couple of months ago, Howie Roseman dealt useless scrapheap linebacker Joe Mays to the Denver Broncos for RB J.J. Arrington with the condition that should Arrington be cut this season, the Broncos would compensate the Eagles with a 6th round draft pick. Earlier today, the Eagles cut J.J. Arrington. The Eagles then turned to the Cardinals, waved a 6th round draft pick in their face, and the Cardinals responded by giving us offensive guard Reggie Wells, who has been a solid offensive line starter for the Arizona Cardinals for the past 7 seasons but lost a starting job this pre-season to Alan Faneca.

The 6th round draft picks cancel each other out, J.J. Arrington was not good enough to make the team, and you are left with the Eagles swapping an at-best back-up linebacker for a starting offensive guard, something that the Eagles bloody well needed. All in all a very good trade for the Eagles. The only question now is what will become of the guy who was originally penciled in at that position, Stacy Andrews? Per Adam Schefter, Andrews is on the chopping block. And with the way Roseman has been dealing these past few months, I fully expect the Eagles to trade Stacy Andrews to the Jets for Darrelle Revis.*

*Slight hyperbole

2010 NFL Football Season Predictions

Over the past week or so, I have become a bit of a psychic on Twitter. The number of things I correctly predicted, including a game-winning touchdown catch by Riley Cooper 2 minutes before it happened, is beginning to scare me. That being said, do not be surprised if all these predictions are right. Then again, don't be surprised if I just jinx myself and I put up an embarrassing 0 fer. I'll make my division picks, followed by wild card picks, followed by conference championship predictions and Super Bowl predictions.

NFC

East: The NFC East is one of the more interesting divisions this year. The Redskins acquired Donovan McNabb, the Giants maintained a relative status quo after last year's major disappointment, the Eagles overhauled everything on the field after a decent season that was soured by the last 2 games, and the Cowboys maintained a relative status quo. McNabb needs weapons to function. Redskins lack weapons. This division will come down to the Eagles, Cowboys, and Giants. This one pains me. NFC East Champion: Dallas Cowboys

North: The moment that the Bears find Jay Cutler a coach who does not treat him like a pocket passer is the moment I can begin to take the Bears seriously. This division is a 2-team race between the Vikings and the Packers. Aaron Rodgers is entering the prime of his career, whereas Favre is well past his. Vikings are being ravaged by injuries; Packers are not (yet, anyway). Adrian Peterson fumbles too much. NFC North Champion: Green Bay Packers

South: The Bucs suck. The Panthers could be a sleeper team. The Falcons could challenge for the title. The Madden curse could rear its ugly head on Drew Brees. I don't see any of these teams really stepping up and overtaking the Saints in this division. NFC South Champion: New Orleans Saints

West: The Rams are terrible. The Cardinals might be starting Derek Anderson this year. The Seahawks are terrible and getting more terrible. The 49ers are mediocre. A mediocre 8-8 record is all it will take to win this wholly pathetic divison. NFC West Champion: San Francisco 49ers

AFC

East: Anyone of 3 teams could conceivably win this division. The Bills are pathetic, but New England, the Jets, and Miami are all decent, football squads. Mark Sanchez is entering a 2nd year with a great defense to once again bail him out of his mediocre QB play. Ever since, 18-1, the New England Patriots have never felt the same with Brady and Belichick. Then again, Brady did have a knee injury that put him out all of 2008. I think Chad Henne and the Dolphins are going to surprise a few people this year. AFC East Champion: Miami Dolphins

North: The second that Big Ben learns to control Little Ben is the second that the Steelers will be much better off in life. His missing a 1/3 of the season is all the Steelers will need to knock them out of legitimate contention. The Browns better hope Colt McCoy can play in the NFL. The Ravens are a decent team, but Ray Lewis and Ed Reed are in the twilight of their career and I don't know how their bodies, with all the physicality they play with, will hold up over the course of a season in this stage of their career. I think people are honestly underestimating the Bengals. They have Chad Ochocinco, T.O. (granted it is not 2005, but the guy can still play football), and Jordan Shipley (who has been having an excellent pre-season) in the slot. The Bengals have the best QB, offense, and defense in this division. This division won't be as close as some people think it will be. AFC North Champions: Cincinnati Bengals

South: I doubted Peyton Manning last year.  I thought that his window had closed. I will not doubt Peyton Manning anymore. The rest of this division has no hope. AFC South Prediction: Indianapolis Colts

West: With the release of JaMarcus Russell, the Oakland Raiders are instantly 1,000% better. Jason Campbell has always been some sort of enigma for me. Everytime I see him I get the feeling that he has potential to be an NFL QB but the constant change of coach he had endured throughout his entire football career was taking a toll on him and bringing it down. Granted, there is another chance this change is no better, but I think this total change of scenery might be good, provided Tom Cable does not get fired this year. The Broncos will fool everyone into thinking they are great at the start of the year......and will end the year trying Tim Tebow as starting QB. The Chiefs are meh. Contrary to what everyone on ESPN thought in 2008, Matt Cassel is not a great QB. The Chargers lost LT, but have been able to win with LT declining the past year or 2. Norv Turner needs to be fired yesterday. AFC West Champion: San Diego Chargers

NFC Wildcard

Philadelphia Eagles and Minnesota Vikings

AFC Wildcard

New York Jets and Baltimore Ravens

NFC Championship

Green Bay Packers vs. New Orleans Saints

AFC Championship

Indianapolis Colts vs. Cincinnati Bengals

Super Bowl XLV

Green Bay Packers vs. Indianapolis Colts

Super Bowl XLV Champion

Indianapolis Colts.

Peyton Manning will get his 2nd Super Bowl ring in Arlington, Texas and Jerry Jones won't even live out his lifelong dream of seeing the Cowboys play a Super Bowl home game.

Tomorrow's Pre-Season Game Will Feature Sean McDermott Locked In A Battle Of Wits With....Whoa! That Can't Be Right!

There is unorthodox play-calling, and then there is the Jets gameplan for tomorrow night's final pre-season against the Philadelphia Eagles. The Jets normal offensive coordinator will experience somewhat of a night off tomorrow night. No, not because he is going to be dealing with back-ups and bubble players, but because he will be sharing time as the Jets offensive coordinator tomorrow night, instead of doing it alone like normal. His co-offensive coordinator, you ask? Mark Sancehz! Yes, it is that Mark Sanchez. Yes, this is apparently a serious deal with Rex Ryan. From ESPN New York.

The idea, of course, is to expose Sanchez to a different aspect of the game, giving him a coach's perspective on why and how certain plays are called. It's a clever way of doing things. Ryan said he used to do it in Baltimore on defense, letting LB Ray Lewis and S Ed Reed call plays in the preseason. They gave it up, he said, when they realized it's not as easy as it looks.

While I think this might be a good idea in theory, I am curious as to how it will play out. Some players are fighting for their job and if they look bad because Mark Sanchez called a slant route instead of a run up the middle on 3rd and 1, I am not sure if said players will be too pleased that their future came down to Mark Sanchez calling a bad play. Then again, watching it from an Eagles perspective could be downright hilarious. Hey, if nothing else, at least this will prevent the game from being a total snoozer as most 4th pre-season games are, right?

Pre-Season Week 4 Schedule

Good news: It is the last week of pre-season football! Bad news: It is the most dull game of the bunch! The Eagles are facing the Jets this week, in a tradition that dates back as far as I can remember. If it is Week 4 of the pre-season, it is the Philadelphia Eagles and the New York Jets. Roster spots are on the line for the Eagles, but I am not sure if you are going to see anyone start play in this game that will be a Week 1 starter, unless Todd Herremans or Jamaal Jackson treat this game as an extra rehab game and are then chosen to start Week 1 against Green Bay. So now, without further ado, the pre-season Week 4 schedule!

Thursday, September 2

Buffalo Bills vs. Detroit Lions 6:30
Cincinnati Bengals vs. Indianapolis Colts 7:00
New England Patriots vs. New York Giants 7:00 (NFL Network)
Carolina Panthers vs. Pittsburgh Steelers 7:30
New York Jets vs. Philadelphia Eagles 7:30
Atlanta Falcons vs. Jacksonville Jaguars 7:30
Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Houston Texans 8:00
New Orleans Saints vs. Tennessee Titans 8:00
Chicago Bears vs. Cleveland Browns 8:00
Denver Broncos vs. Minnesota Vikings 8:00
Miami Dolphins vs. Dallas Cowboys 8:00
Green Bay Packers vs. Kansas City Chiefs 8:00
Baltimore Ravens vs. St. Louis Rams 8:00
San Diego Chargers vs. San Francisco 49ers 10:00
Washington Redskins vs. Arizona Cardinals 10:00 (NFL Network)
Seattle Seahawks vs. Oakland Raiders 10:00

Eagles Minor Trade Inspires My Fantasy Football Team Name

Admittedly I have never played fantasy football before, but when an increasing curiosity combined with an invite to join SSR's Fantasy League Invitational earlier this evening, I decided to join the club and play fantasy football for the first time this year. Now, as with every fantasy football team, there needs to be a clever name. Well, I guess there does not need to be, but if you ever want to be taken seriously, you need to be kind of clever with your name, pr so that's how it seems. My team name: Calvin And Hobbs. Given that the other 2 options I thought of were "Corn On The Kolb" and "Riley Cooper's Amazing Good Looks," I am confident I made the right decision with team name.

Anyway, the Calvin And Hobbs back story. Yesterday the Philadelphia Eagles made a minor move that normally would not gain much note at all. They traded the 200th pick in the 2010 draft, Charles Scott, for the 201st pick in the 2010 draft, Jorrick Calvin. Scott had no chance of making the Eagles and Calvin had no chance of making the Cardinals, so in that respect, the trade sort of makes sense. But here is the kicker. Jorrick Calvin is a cornerback. It just so happens that one of the Eagles starting CBs this year is Ellis Hobbs. Thus, 2 of the Eagles CBs are Calvin and Hobbs.

For the sake of the Eagles defense, I just hope that the Calvin and Hobbes comparisons ends here.