Yet Another QB Comparison

Here's two more QB's for comparison.

Player	YDS	RTG	TD	INT	COMP %	YPA
QB 1:	238	69.3	0	1	64.3 (27/42)	5.67
QB 2:	182	65.5	0	1	63.6 (21/33)	5.52

You'll find it amazing when QB 1 identified as Peyton Manning yesterday and QB 2 is Chad Pennington on Saturday. The Patriots basically turned Manning into Pennington. Check out their longest completions - Manning's was only for 18 yds where Pennington's was 30 yds.

You May Have Overlooked...

Since today is Martin Luther King Jr Day, I thought it might be appropriate to acknowledge some of the other famous people born on January 17. Of course, Martin Luther King Jr was born on January 15, but since that was a Saturday it's better that we celebrate on a work day so we don't have to do anything.

Here are some famous 1/17 birthdays (thanks to www.famousbirthdays.com)

Benjamin Franklin
Al Capone
James Earl Jones
Maury Povich
Muhammad Ali
Andy Kaufman
Jim Carrey
Kid Rock

Between all these guys, they founded Philadelphia, stole amazing amounts of money from the government, been in many well known movies, interviewed scores of pregnant teenagers, beaten up some of the best boxers in the world and slept with tons of women. That's quite a list of accomplishments, so here's to you, the "other" birthday boys today.

Faulty Logic, Starring Phil Mushnick

If you don't know Phil Mushnick, he writes a sports media criticism column for the New York Post. Most of the time it's either amusing or absurd. So here's some absurd.

In today's column he faults Mike and the Mad Dog for criticizing Joe Buck after reacting strongly to the Randy Moss fake mooning. The main point that the sports talk duo was making was that Joe Buck is on the FOX network, and other "disgusting acts" occur in their other programming. Mushnick says that Mike and the Mad Dog are in no position to criticize Buck for making those comments because also on WFAN is the Imus show, which can often be crude.

It's not like Mike and the Mad Dog were criticizing the Terrell Owens Monday Night Football opening or the Janet Jackson wardrobe malfunction. Here, they're talking about how an announcer was overreacting to something in poor taste, but really, it's not like he actually mooned the crowd, gave someone the finger or hit someone.

If we use the logic in the Mushnick article, he has no right to criticize Mike and the Mad Dog or Joe Buck because his paper printed, for example, a cover photo of a girl committing suicide last year.

What drives me most nuts about the New York Post is how sanctimonious it is, and worse, that people read it, agree with it, and pass judgement the way it does.

I Hate the Patriots

Don't ever underestimate the New England Patriots. That's the lesson that keeps getting beaten into me week after week while watching pro football. I would be very, very, very surprised if the Pats don't repeat as champs again. Yes, they lost at Pittsburgh earlier this year, but don't forget, Corey Dillon wasn't in the game. Things will fall into place next week, as Atlanta surprises Philly and the Steelers get knocked out.

Why do I hate the Patriots? Well, I have to admit, that hate is turning more and more into respect. But it all started because Belichek bolted from the Jets coaching job, took the Jet coordinators and a bunch of old Jet retread players and won the Super Bowl.

The Headline Should Read: Time Management Costs Jets Game

Poor Doug Brien. Everyone's going to blame him for the Jets playoff loss, but it wasn't really his fault. The offense only managed three points. Then there's the time management issue...

The Jets have a coach, Dick Curl, whose specialty is helping the head coach, Herman Edwards with time and clock management. With 1:37 remaining in the game, the Jets gained posession of the football after an interception at the Pittsburgh 36 yard line.

They get a first down on the first play, bringing the ball to the Pittsburgh 26. That's about a 45 yard field goal.

Let's go back to last week. In overtime, against the Jets, the San Diego Chargers had the ball at the Jets 22 yard line and ran three consecutive running plays right up the middle. They did this because they wanted to play it safe, and the Jets knew they would try to run, so they stacked the box and the Chargers gained about one or two yards. The result was that the San Diego kicker had to hit a 40 yard field goal, while they ought to have tried one pass to either score a TD or bring it a little closer to the end zone.

Now, back to the Steelers game. The stack the box because they know that now the Jets are in field goal range, they may play it safer. The Jets do exactly what the Chargers did -- leisurely allowing time to run out as they try to jam the ball up the middle. They were playing on the road in a stadium that is very difficult to kick in. They saw this exact scenario the week before. They do not even attempt to stretch the field. So was it any surprise that Doug Brien missed the second kick? In fact, with six seconds left, the Jets called a time out, then took a knee and called another time out with four seconds left!! What is going on? They have a separate coach for time management!

What a sour taste towards the end of a mostly well played game.

Mr. T Chia Head - Day 9

On the ninth day, the Lord said, "Let there be fuzz."

Two Wacky Items on the Channel 2 Noon News

Wacky Item #1
New Yorkers owe backtaxes for cigarettes they bought over the Internet. Do cigarette taxes apply for interstate commerce? If you buy from amazon.com there's no sales tax. Isn't it the merchant's responsibility to collect and pay the taxes? If the taxes do apply, isn't the internet merchant's responsibility to know about the taxes then collect them from the person? I thought in sales transactions merchants collected and paid the taxes. Oh well, guess I'll have to take a few days off from studying tax code.

Wacky Item #2
A story designed to just to play to people's fears. A man who is on a terror watch list made it onto a British Airways flight. They discovered the error and transferred the passengers to another flight after another security check. Interviews on the tv news had the passengers saying how scared they were. I understand he's on a watch list, but he's not a convicted or charged crook yet...

Need to Write a Story? Why Not Write a Story About the Coverage of a Story?

Of course, this post could also be called, "Want to write a blog post? Why not write a post about a story about a story?"

Another Product That Makes My Eleven Month Old iPod Seem Out of Date

iPod Shuffle. It doesn't even hold anywhere near the amount of songs that my 15 GB iPod does. But my 3G iPod seems old, like it has no storage space, and colorless. I am a slave to marketing.

Approximately Sixty Guys Who Are Glad The Yankees Got Johnson and the Mets Got Beltran

aka "The New York Jets"

Photoshop and Newspapers

Should a "news" paper really use Photoshop to create cover images? Here's the Jan 11 back page sports image from the NY Post. Just seems like a conflict of interest. With Photoshop, anything can happen! For example, I used Photoshop on my profile photo to make it look like I have a thumb.

Salary Scale

Am I the only one who finds it fairly amusing that Armstrong Williams got paid $240,000 to support the "No Child Left Behind" Act, but the Vice President only gets paid about $200,000 per year?

In a related story, who the hell is Armstrong Williams?

Next Time You're On Hold, Don't Say Anything Important

According to the NY Times, "your call may be monitored" means that even when you're put on hold, someone could be listening.

Approximately One Sentence About Each Piece of Media I've Consumed in the Last Few Weeks

House of Flying Daggers - An entertaining film but a bit melodramatic.

Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou - I liked Royal Tennenbaums better because the characters were deeper. On the other hand, I didn't like Rushmore, so take my opinion for what it's worth.

Simpsons Season 5 - Best. Season. Ever?

Elf - Cute, but I couldn't help feel like I was watching Will Ferrell act like a kid way too much.

Return of the King Extended Edition - 50 extra minutes to the theatrical cut. If you liked it the first time, you'll love the extended cut. If not, it's the same as the theatrical plus 50 minutes. What do you think?

U2 - How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb - They co-marketed this with the release of a U2 themed iPod. This is not their strongest work.

Linkin Park/Jay-Z Collision Course - A CD with only 6 songs (21 minutes)!! And the RIAA wonders why people steal music.

Metal Gear Solid 3 - Great video game. I wish I had more time. Not as confusing as MGS2 (at least, so far).

America by Jon Stewart - Just about every sentence in this book makes me laugh.

Meet the Fockers - Not as charming as the first. Funny enough, but not a classic.

Arrested Development Season 1 - This show is hilarious. Watch it.

Mr. T Chia Head - Day 6

Nothing to report. It looks the same as on Day 1. I think it's too cold and dark.

QB Comparison

Here are two QB's for playoff teams. One has been highly regarded this season, the other has been questioned quite a bit. Guess which is which.

Player	YDS	RTG	TD	INT	COMP %	GAMES
QB 1:	2673	91.0	16	9	65.4	13
QB 2:	2621	98.1	17	11	66.4	14

Who are these two QB's? Why they're former MAC all-stars, Chad Pennington (QB1) and Ben Roethlisberger (QB2)! Their numbers are quite close but for some reason Pennington is a dog while Roethlisberger is the next big thing. I guess the difference is in the yards per attempt -- 7.22 for Pennington and 8.89 for Roethlesberger. But overall, very similar numbers. If the Jets want to have any shot at winning, they need to take an early lead and force Roethlisberger to throw the ball. He has not had more than 25 passing attempts in any game.

Suddenly, this became an NFL blog

Did my life really become that boring???

NFL Playoffs Divisional Round

Whoa.

All the teams in the divisional round played in the regular season. Not to mention, they all played at the same venues they'll play at next weekend. In each case, the higher seed won the regular season match-up.

Week 1 Indianapolis (24) at New England (27)
Week 2 Minnesota (16) at Philadelphia (27)
Week 2 St. Louis (17) at Atlanta (34)
Week 14 NY Jets (6) at Pittsburgh (17)

Three Observations: Minnesota at Green Bay

I write these with 4:29 left in the game, Minnesota leading 31-17.

Observation #1 - Was tackling made illegal in Green Bay, WI? That's the only plausible explanation for the Packers defense. These guys couldn't tackle a grandmother.

Observation #2 - Yes, Brett Favre is a Hall of Fame QB, and everyone is due to have bad games. On the other hand, if a younger or less established player had the sort of game that Favre has had, there would be a lot more scrutiny about that player's abilities. Favre has been awful in this game, and completely careless. He's fortunate he's a veteran and one of the best, but this has been a dreadful performance on his part. Hopefully someone will also consult him regarding his dopey play right before the half, where on 3rd and 6 with about 20 seconds left, he scrambled for 5 yards, then tossed the ball carelessly into the end zone when he realized he wouldn't get the first down as he was chased out of bounds. Not only was it an illegal forward pass (with a five yard penalty) it could have easily been picked up by a defender (and it would have counted as an INT). They would have also had 4th and inches, which was probably a good situation to go for it at the end of the half, especially considering they were down 24-10.

Observation #3 - So Mike Sherman has lost two home playoff games at Lambeau Field. Two more than any other Packers coach ever. That's not something to be proud of.

Second Place is First Loser

The best thing about Shaun Alexander's complaint that the Seahawks' coaching staff "stabbed him in the back" by not allowing him to get the 2 rushing yards he needed to claim the NFL rushing title this year is that as he enters contract negotiations, teams can rub it in and say, "We'd give that money to the back with the most rushing yards, but not the second-most."