My New Favorite Blog

I recently discovered The "Blog" of "Unnecessary" Quotation Marks on the USA Today Pop Candy Blog. I practically laugh out loud every time I read it. Cracks me up!

On a sad note, I learned today of the passing of Chef Tell. I had almost forgotten about him until I read of his untimely death. He was the first television chef I remember seeing. If not for him, we might not have Rachael Ray, Alton Brown, Paula Deen, Giada De Laurentiis, Martin Yan. I could go on. I was also saddened by the death of Robert Goulet. Definitely a class act.

Unlike certain other individuals who shall go unnamed. Individuals who go for it on fourth down in the fourth quarter when they're already up 38 points. Individuals who throw 35 yard passes in the fourth quarter when it's obvious to all involved that the other team is no threat whatsoever, and every other team in the NFL would have been rushing every play in order to run the clock down (especially when it was equally apparent that they could rush virtually at will). I know there will be others who will disagree. I know there will be others who will say it's sour grapes and I'm just upset my team was embarassed. I am upset. It was embarassing. Doesn't change my opinion of certain people's actions. Many players and coaches are showing a lot of class saying that they have no problem with what was done and that it was simply a competetive team playing hard ball. Do I believe for one second that those people feel that way and believe in their hearts what they are saying? Not for one second.

Pats O-Line

Ok, I'm watching Skins pre-game. I'm seeing something that I've noticed over the past week of watching coverage of the Pats leading up to today's game. Aside from the media being up Brady's ass, they keep talking about how wonderful the offensive line is at protecting him. Well, what I've noticed is that everyone is so friggin' afraid of Moss, Welker and Stallworth that they double cover them. Guess what? That means there's no one left to rush the QB! They're showing a slo-mo replay praising the Pats O-line, and there's only 3 guys rushing! Well, of course they'll give the QB great protection if they're double covering every rusher... Even the devastated line of the Skins could protect Campbell against the wonderful incredible Patriots if they were allowed to put 2 linemen against every Pats lineman. Ugh!

Crabcakes v. Lobster

Well, tomorrow afternoon, the 4-2 Washington Redskins take on the unbeaten New England Patriots. Yes, we all know how wonderful Tom Brady is. He is the end-all, be-all of National Football League QBs. At least, that's how the media talks about him. I'd rather they were just up front about it, invited Tom into the broadcast booth, bent over and kissed his ass. At least it would be honest. Personally, I don't have a problem with him. I just have a problem with how far up his butt the broadcasters are.

But I digress. I have a bet with my brother-in-law on tomorrow's game. If the Pats win, then the next time he and my sister are in town, we buy Maryland crabcakes. If the Skins win, they send up Lobsters. I doubt I'll win, but I'm hoping. The primary key to the game will be our offensive line. Having sustained at least five injuries to the O-line in the first six games, we're pretty beat up. If we can stay healthy throughout the game and play like a real, professional football team, we have a fighting chance. I know our defense can match up with the Pats offense. It's just a matter of playing a full 4 quarters and not giving up. Secondary needs to jam the receivers at the line. Andre Carter needs to break through to Brady. Sean Taylor needs an interception or two, and needs to put the fear of God into anyone coming over the middle. But the biggest difference-maker in the game will be how our front line plays. If they can protect Campbell, and open up some holes for Portis & Betts, we have a shot. If we play like we did in the fourth quarter against NYG and the Packers, we might as well forfeit the game now and take another bye week to get healthy. BUT... if we control the line of scrimmage on offense, keep Brady off the field and cover the receivers, we can take down the mighty gods of the AFC and show the NFL what this team is capable of.

Rest In Peace, John Henry

Well, it's a good thing Chrissy and I went to Kentucky when we did. After a long struggle with failing health, including dehydration and kidney failure, John Henry was euthanized last night at 7:00 pm. It was a unanimous decision that was made by his caretakers when he stopped responding to medical care. I was glad I got to meet the old man. He was truly a champion.

"There is something about the outside of a horse that is good for the inside of a man" - Winston Churchill

#1 Passing Offense My Ass...

Much was made of the vaunted passing game of the Lions going in to yesterday's game. But when we reached gametime, the Skins shut down the Lions' entire offense. The Defense held the Lions' offense to 144 total! Only 76 of that was in the air! We held the Lions to 11 first downs. The Lions were 1-10 on 3rd down conversions. One 3rd down conversion in the whole game!! We got 5 sacks on Kitna, including 1 for a safety (not that it's really hard to sack a QB who moves slower than Tippy Turtle). We forced 4 fumbles (didn't recover any of them, though) and had 2 interceptions, one for a TD. Then, our offense finally clicked, too. In a major way. Jason Campbell was 23 for 29 for 248 yards. Despite the fact that our #1 receiver (Moss) was out with an injured hamstring and our #2 (Randle El) went out at the half with the same, Campbell spread the ball around to 8 different receivers.

Speaking of receivers, I have to follow up on my rant yesterday. On the depth chart, Brandon Lloyd is supposed to be the #3 receiver. Moss is out with an injury, so who do they put up opposite Randle El? James Thrash (not that I have anything against Thrash - I don't). But then Randle El goes out at the half, so you figure Lloyd will go in then, right? Wrong. He did actually make it into the game on one play (that I saw) and caught a pass for 9 yards. But they even passed to McCardell twice, and he had only been with the team for six days! There has to be something else going on there. For some reason, Gibbs or Saunders must be pissed off at Lloyd and they're keeping him out. I wish they would just come out and say it. They didn't seem to have a problem bashing Archuleta and Arrington in a roundabout way when they were having problems with them. But they keep saying they want Lloyd involved, but it's hard to be involved from the sideline. Even the commentators in pre-game show were noticing his lack of presence on the field. I just don't get it.

Ok. Enough. The bottom line is, we won 34-3. If we can keep up this level of play, or even close, we have a good shot at shutting down Favre & the Packers this weekend. Go Skins!!

Go Skins!

Well, it's coming up on gametime and it was just announced that Santana Moss is inactive for the game. McCardell & Caldwell will be in, though. More importantly, hopefully that means Brandon Lloyd will get some game time. I don't know why I've taken a shine to Lloyd, but I really want to see him do well. Maybe it's because he seems like such an underdog to me. He's constantly criticized for making too much money and not making enough of a contribution to the team. The problem with that is that it's very difficult to make a contribution when you're not on the field! Gibbs is always saying how much he likes Brandon and thinks the world of him and really wants to see him pulling his weight, but then Lloyd sits on the sideline! Ok, I know we have Moss and Antwaan Randle El, but shit. Put in a 3- or 4-receiver set. While Randle El and Moss are getting double covered, throw to Lloyd. But we consistently put in 2 receivers then run the ball. So much was made of the vaunted Al Saunders offense when he got here, but I've mostly seen the standard Gibbs running attack. Believe me, I understand the need to run the ball. It's like using the jab in boxing to set up the power shots -- you pound away at the line, eat up the clock, force the D to bring in players to stop the run, then you take a shot downfield. I get it. It's just frustrating for me to see Lloyd (or any player, really) criticized for not producing when he's not getting the opportunity to produce.

Ok, I'll get off the soapbox now. Key for the game today - Skins' secondary. Kitna's on a roll, Lions have the #1 pass offense in the league (though that may be a bit misleading*) and the Lions' receivers are huge. The Skins' secondary is going to have to step up and keep the Lions from completing passes. The D-Line is going to have to get pressure on Kitna. Also, the D-Line can not let the 31st-ranked run offense get any yardage against us! But the key is going to be the 1-on-1 coverage of the Resdkins' corners against the Lions' receivers.

Finally, as previously promised, here's a link to my pictures from the Miami game. I found that Photobucket allows direct links, unlike Kodak Gallery. It also allows apparently unlimited uploads, unlike flickr. Kodak does have better photo editing, though, so that remains my primary photo site.

Go Skins!!

*Thus far, the Lions' offense has been up against the 18th, 29th, 17th and 19th-ranked pass defenses (Raiders, Vikings, Eagles and Bears respectively) that have a collective 5-11 record.

Happy Birthday Julie!

We must have said about 15 times in the past 24 hours, "We have to call Julie to wish her a happy birthday." Of course, we got sidetracked by various things and didn't realize that we hadn't called her until about 10:30, at which point, it was too late to call. Ah well. Happy Birthday!

Almost Forgot

Actually, since I'm posting this the next day, I guess I did forget... Anyway, with regard to our Kentucky trip. I forgot one of the best parts. When we were on our tour, our tour guide Shaun took us to this little store called Wallace Station. There, had the most unbelievable bourbon chocolate ice cream! That's right, I said 'bourbon'! In ice cream! In chocolate ice cream! Yummy!!

Horse Porn

Well... Last Tuesday, Chrissy was looking on the web for updates on a horse named John Henry. He is a 32-year old horse (over 100 in human years) who lives at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, KY. Chrissy had been wanting to go see him at some point and he has been having some health issues recently (no wonder!), so she turns to me and says, "What would you think about going to see John Henry this weekend?" Now, anyone who know Chrissy knows that she likes to plan things out. She's not a big fly-by-the-seat-of-her-pants kinda gal. For once, we didn't have anything planned, so I said, "Why not?" So we made arrangements to leave work early on Friday and hit the road! We stayed in Charleston, WV on Friday night, got up in the morning and headed to Lexington. We went to the Horse Park on Saturday, stayed in Lexington Saturday night, and drove home on Sunday. A lot of driving, but well worth it!

At the Horse Park on Saturday, we went to the Hall of Champions, where John Henry currently resides. My wife is so cute. She made little gift bags for John and all the other horses in the Hall of Champions, as well as for the staff of the Hall. She figured that the horses get gifts all the time, and the people get ignored. She's right, too. The staff was tickled pink! Each of the horses got 3 apples, 3 carrots and some peppermints (horses love them - who knew?). John Henry also got a few bananas and a box of chocolate covered donuts. His doctor has pretty much said he can have whatever he wants, if it gets him to eat, and he loves them! The staff there was wonderful. They talked to us and answered all our questions. They even gave John some of our donuts while we were there talking to them! He's a bit of an ornery, grumpy old man, though, so we didn't get to pet him. He has a tendency to bite. After their presentation, we did get to pet Gypsy Supreme and Western Dreamer a little, though.

In the afternoon, we went on a tour of horse farms. Shaun, our guide, was very knowledgeable and very funny. He took us to several of the horse farms in the area. At one of the farms, there were several young (3-year old or so) thoroughbreds in their stalls and we got to walk right up to them and pet them! They were so sweet!! Our favorite was Fantasyafield. She was such a sweet baby. I think everyone on the bus was ready to take her home. Sean called the owner to see what they would want for her and was told that they had already turned down an offer of $150k. If we were Powerball rich, we would have brought her home.

I know, I know... What in the Hell does this have to do with Horse Porn? Ok. On our tour, we were taken to several horse farms. One of them was WinStar Farm. Some of the greatest living throughbreds alive are there for breeding. One of them, Tiznow, apparently doesn't like going in to the breeding process cold, as it were. With horses at this level, if they don't like something, it doesn't get done. So what happens when Tiznow is supposed to breed? You got it. They have to show him video of two other matings first. Ergo, the title of this post.

So, in any case, I think that's about it. I'll be posting a link for pictures of the whole thing at some point. I'm sure I've forgotten about some things, but that's the short version!