Oct
29
2006
Heather, one of the bartenders here at Champps today, used to work at the Original Steakhouse and Sports Theatre in Durham. She and Reece both told me that it’s now closed. Apparently, the Florida-based owners weren’t making the kind of money they wanted to make from the place, so they shut it down.
The amazing thing, Reece told me, is that the owners left everything behind — projectors, screens, equipment, all of it. Someone could move in there right now and create a whole new pub. That’s what the Varsity Ale House down the street did when they remodeled an abandoned Damon’s and took over the place. I wouldn’t be surprised to see that place just pick up and move a block if the timing’s right…
Fred Taylor is down on the turf after a hard hit. My decision to start Maurice Jones-Drew may yet pay off…
Oct
29
2006
So I’m chatting with a guy named Reece who quietly admitted to me that he’s a Raiders fan. He wasn’t so quiet when he said it was the worst Raiders team that he’s seen in 20 years.
Reece told me that he went to Alabama A&M and knows a fellow A&M alum named John Stallworth, who now owns a computer company in Huntsville, near the NASA offices, that employs about 500 people. John’s doing okay for himself…
Reece also said that his friend Sonja comes from a family of Redskins fans in Charlotte who never let go of their season tickets to ‘Skins games. At a recent family reunion, Sonja’s family stood up before dinner, said the Lord’s Prayer… and then sang “Hail to the Redskins” all the way through before eating. Any minute now, I’m expecting an email from Chris Mottram asking for Sonja’s phone number…
Guess what? The Bears scored again. They’re just rubbing it in now. The halftime score is 41-0, Chicago over SF. I bet Marv Albert would pay good money to get dominated like that…
Oct
29
2006
…I hope you remembered to take your Paxil today, because you’re gonna need it. The Bears are up 31-0 less than 20 minutes into the game.
Meanwhile in Cincinnati, Ocho-Cinqo has made good on half of his promise so far, and apparently, those salsa lessons he’s getting from Emmitt Smith are paying off. Cincinnati’s up 14-6 with 6:00 left in the 2nd quarter.
The Saints, on the other hand, are letting me down big time. Midway through the 2nd quarter, Baltimore is beating them by two touchdowns, and Reggie Bush has already laid the ball on the ground once. Sometimes, the bad guys get away with it…
Oct
29
2006
This morning on Sunday NFL Countdown, Chris Mortensen reported that Cedric Benson would get more carries than Thomas Jones today. When I heard that, I decided to bench Jones and start Maurice Jones-Drew on my fantasy team.
So of course, Thomas Jones scores a touchdown in the first quarter against the 49ers.
The guy sitting next to me is already telling one of his buddies about it on the phone. Of course, he also told me drafting Peyton Manning ahead of Willie Parker wasn’t a mistake, and that was true last week. If I get a TD from Jones-Drew and big days from Muhsin Muhammad and Bernard Berrian, I might let it slide. This time. Maybe I just need to stop listening to the so-called experts and stick with my horses…
Oct
29
2006
When I said I was throwing caution to the wind, I wasn’t kidding…
Champps in general is always a good spot to watch a game, but not a good spot for me personally. I’ve been to two different Champps in the last two years — I’m at the one at Southpoint in Durham today — and both times, the Steelers lost.
Here’s why today is different.
In both those losses, the Steelers started Tommy Maddox against the Ravens. Today, Ben Roethlisberger will likely start against the Raiders. It has nothing to do with Champps, and I intend to prove it by hanging out here this afternoon.
Blogging will be light until the Steelers game starts later today, but I’m sure I’ll have a few things to say about the first set of games soon. In the meantime, I think I want to get some more of that Sam Adams Winter Lager. It’s not as good as the Octoberfest, but it’s not bad…
Oct
29
2006
Set your clocks back? Good. Let’s talk some football.
More clashes between the AFC North and NFC South take place today, as Baltimore visits New Orleans and Atlanta travels to Cincinnati. I’ve already talked about how torn I am over these games, as the only thing that directly helps my teams is a Falcons loss. Besides, I did pick the Bengals to win the division, and I’d like to get more than the obvious picks (Indianapolis and Chicago) right this year…
The Steelers travel to Oakland to face the Raiders today in a late-afternoon game, and the overwhelming feeling among Pittsburgh fans and writers is that everyone just wants to get this game over with. The Raiders may not be winless anymore, thanks to a visit from a demoralized Arizona Cardinals team last week, but that doesn’t make them a good team. The Steelers are perfectly capable of winning this one, and they must win it, because if they don’t, they can kiss any hope of a playoff berth goodbye. Everything’s a must-win until they get back on top of the AFC North.
Finally, the Carolina Panthers and Dallas Cowboys finish the day with a Sunday night game in Charlotte. Here’s my preview of that game. A Panthers win and a Falcons loss puts Carolina back in second place in the division going into its bye week. Both teams are coming off a loss and will be fighting hard for a W, so this should be a fun one to watch. I’m planning on liveblogging that one at the FanHouse tonight, and I’ll provide a link when it goes live.
Oh, and DeAngelo Williams and Thomas Davis are gametime decisions. The latter is more important, since John Fox and Dan Henning appear to have lost hope in their running game…
Of course, a Steelers-Raiders liveblog will be right here. I’m thinking of throwing caution to the wind in my choice of pubs today. Stop back here later as I prove that Stevie Wonder was right when he sang, “Superstition ain’t the way.”
Oct
28
2006
For the last several weeks over at the FanHouse, I’ve been writing little articles about the history of our glorious game of American Football. They’re labeled “Football History 101,” and since I can’t seem to get the boys at AOL to give me my own FanHouse category, I figured I might as well link to those articles here so that more people can read them:
Today’s Football History 101 article breaks away from the American game and focuses on something completely different — International Rules Football. I think it’s interesting, but I’m weird that way. Still, you might want to check it out, as it could be a fun viewing alternative to that big quarterback duel between Seneca Wallace and Andrew Walter (oooh, pinch me) a week from this Monday.
Oct
27
2006
I’ve missed a lot of stuff here this week. I even missed my usual Wednesday Blurbs. Good thing the NFL FanHouse has my back…
That’s just a taste of what’s going on at the NFL FanHouse this week. They’re probably writing stuff about your team, too. Go check ‘em out…
Oct
27
2006
The World Indoor Football League now officially defines “World” as “Georgia and Florida.” Harry Pierce, owner of the Rome Renegades and Raleigh Reb… oh, wait, Carolina Bombers, has announced he’s folding both teams and getting out of the indoor football game.
Sorry, Raleigh. No indoor football for you next spring.
Pierce, of course, was the one who convinced the American Indoor Football League’s southern division teams to break away and create their own league, which tried to attract other teams from other leagues. With Pierce giving up the ghost, the new league is down to four teams: the Augusta Spartans, the Columbus (Georgia) Lions, the Daytona Beach Thunder and the Osceola Ghostriders. Where they go from here is anyone’s guess.
Watching the teams at this level of football is like watching a train wreck. You want to turn away and get on with your life, but you just can’t, because the simultaneous levels of dedication and ugliness here are just so bloody fascinating. The sad thing is that most of these team owners are all stuck in copycat leagues that have pretty much no chance of ever dethroning the original Arena Football League. Sure, some leagues may find a little regional success, like United Indoor Football or the new Continental Indoor Football League, which was formerly the Great Lakes Indoor Football League. Others, though, still think they can duplicate the success of the AFL, and they’ll create any shady business plan they can to achieve that end.
These people and almost anyone who follows them are pretty much delusional. If these people want to promote a sport, they should choose one that people might actually pay to see. Like Futsal. A pro Futsal league might be fun to watch. Steve Smith might even take his youth soccer kids to a game. There’s a fun little cross-promotional opportunity that no indoor football league could ever get. Man, I wish I had some actual money…
Oh, and the AIFL is now the AIFA. Just so you know.
Oct
26
2006
Stop me if you’ve heard this one.
An NFC team loses the Super Bowl, goes into the following season as a favorite to contend for the conference title yet again, and wouldn’t you know it? Everyone gets hurt.
Take a look at the Seattle Seahawks. Matt Hasselbeck sprains his knee. Shaun Alexander breaks his foot. Bobby Engram struggles with Graves’ disease, a nasty condition that nearly killed my mom two decades ago. Sure, Steve Hutchinson is healthy, but guess what? He’s a Viking now.
Sound familiar, Panthers fans? Remember in 2004, the year after Carolina’s Super Bowl loss to New England, when Steve Smith broke his leg, Stephen Davis busted up his knee, DeShaun Foster got his collarbone whacked, Kris Jenkins tore an ACL, and a decimated offensive line was forced to start some guy named Matt Willig, who was the O-line equivalent of Ryan Leaf?
Welcome to the post-Super Bowl blahs, ‘06 Seahawks. Have a seat here next to the ‘04 Panthers. Let me introduce you to the ‘05 Eagles. It’s not your fault, really. Those are just the breaks in this particular decade. Have a drink with us. You may need it after watching Seneca Wallace and Mo Morris for a while…
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