In an effort to keep myself relatively regular on this site, I’m going to try and post a new series called “Monday Notebook”, in which I post a few thoughts about the weekend’s happenings. This may not last longer than a week, but hey, it’s worth a try.
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I love football. I don’t write about it at all on this site, but I really do love it. Especially when I win money by betting on it. Such was the case yesterday when I put down $10 on Mise-O-Jeu (that’s Pro-Line to anyone outside of Quebec). I was waiting on pins and needles last night for Peyton to beat up on little brother Eli, and big brother didn’t disappoint, leading the Colts to a 38-14 braining of the Giants. $100, thank you very much! Nice way to end the week, or start the week, depending on if you think Sunday is the end or start of a new week.
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Which leads me to my next point:
GOOD LORD THE NFC SUCKS!!!!!
It feels like it’s been this way forever, but perhaps this year bring new highs (or lows,as it were) for the NFC. Last week started off as well as the NFC could have hoped…posting a 1-1 record, except that win was against the Browns, who, if they aren’t the worst team in the league, are the second worst team. Forget that the Buccanneers barely beat the Browns IN TAMPA, a win is a win. I guess. Things took a nosedive for the NFC this week though. The AFC stomped the inferior conference, posting a 5-1 record in week 2. But, as in week 1, the NFC’s lone win came against the Buffalo Bills, who are in fierce competition with the Browns for the title of worst team in the league. Really, NFC? I know these things are cyclical, but geez.
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Do you think the Vikings are regretting waiting all that time for old man Favre to come back? He’s been absolutely horrific through two games this season and will probably eclipse the number of interceptions he threw last year by the quarter-season mark this year. He looks finished, and it could be a very long season for the Vikings and their fans. Everyone knew this was coming, and it appears as though Favre should have went out on a high after last year’s NFC Championship game. Still, we can’t count him out just yet. He’s defied so many odds through his career that it wouldn’t surprise me to see him fire 4 touchdown passes next week and shut everyone up, at least for the next 7 days.
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I giggled like a little school girl when Derelle Revis came out and called Randy Moss a slouch last week. It’s sort of like calling Alex Ovechkin a 3rd line checker. It’s stupid, and wrong. Needless to say, Moss made Revis look like the slouch with a stunning one-handed catch which he made look completely and utterly routine. If that wasn’t funny enough, Revis pulled up with a sore hammy on the play, and left the game. As if the millions of people watching will all fall for it in unison! “Oh, if he hadn’t hurt himself, he totally would have made that play!” Right. Where have we seen embarassed athletes pull up lame before after being thoroughly burned?
How about when Michael Johnson pulled up lame against Donovan Bailey in a one-on-one 200M race. Johnson essentially gave up as Bailey widened the gap.
How about Jose Canseco pretending to hurt his knee as some 7 footer cleans his clock (watch him grab his knee after the fight). You got your heinie kicked, Jose. A bum stick didn’t make you lose. You made you lose.
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Congrats to Blue Jays outfielder Jose Bautista, who took over the team’s single season home run record, bumping George Bell to 2nd place. Bell held the record since 1987, which is quite a while considering in the 23 yeras since the record was set, MLB saw its record book written and rewritten a few times by chemical-addled beasts. Bautista clubbed his 49th homer, which may actually mean something today, if you believe Selig when he says the steroid era is over (haw haw!). Of course, it goes without saying that Bautista is a pending free agent, and debate will rage as to whether or not the Jays can or should keep him. When a guy has a 50+ home run season, you’d think you’d do your best to try and hang on to him. But this being Major League Baseball, we can be sure of two things:
1- Bautista will be compensated far more than he’s worth for his one magical (yet ultimately worthless season since his team stinks);
2- The Blue Jays will make the wrong decision. They always do.
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I’m surprised that the Atlanta Braves have hung on this long. Once Chipper Jones went down with a season-ending injury, I thought they’d be toast. The Phillies, predictably have overtaken them after getting over injury woes of their own, but because the National League is weak (they must be hanging out with the NFC), they’ve managed to cling to the wild card and hold a 3-game lead. As much as I hate the Braves for monopolizing the NL East for years while the Expos were circling the drain, I hope they can make it to the post season and give Bobby Cox the send off he deserves, this being his final season on the bench. Cox has been managing the Braves for nearly a quarter century, unheard of in pro sports today. Good on him, I say.
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If the whole “elite defenseman” thing doesn’t work out for Habs rearguard Andrei Markov, he may consider a career in stand-up. He had two quotes from Saturday’s Montreal Gazette (story by Dave Stubbs) that had me in stitches. We knew he had a pretty good sense of humour, but I guess since his English is continually improving we are getting to hear more of it.
Maybe he was poking fun at us lazy North Americans, but he said that since he’s now a Canadian citizen, he’s not working 7 days a week to rehab his knee, but “I’m a Canadian now, I’m working five days.”
When asked about his future, Markov said: “It’s too early to talk about that. Nobody knows what’s going to happen tomorrow. I just want to focus on my rehab, try to wake up every day and see my smile in the mirror”
Just another reason to get him signed to an extension as soon as possible once it’s sure that he’s healthy.
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Lastly, if you haven’t read Bob McKenzie’s latest blog about his relationship with Pat Burns, I HIGHLY recommend it. You won’t regret it.
