What? No NFL thread? There is now!

[YLGuy]

Sorry but your post made me think of this:

by George Carlin
Baseball is different from any other sport, very different. For instance, in most sports you score points or goals; in baseball you score runs. In most sports the ball, or object, is put in play by the offensive team; in baseball the defensive team puts the ball in play, and only the defense is allowed to touch the ball. In fact, in baseball if an offensive player touches the ball intentionally, he's out; sometimes unintentionally, he's out.

Also: in football,basketball, soccer, volleyball, and all sports played with a ball, you score with the ball and in baseball the ball prevents you from scoring.

In most sports the team is run by a coach; in baseball the team is run by a manager. And only in baseball does the manager or coach wear the same clothing the players do. If you'd ever seen John Madden in his Oakland Raiders uniform,you'd know the reason for this custom.

Now, I've mentioned football. Baseball & football are the two most popular spectator sports in this country. And as such, it seems they ought to be able to tell us something about ourselves and our values.

I enjoy comparing baseball and football:

Baseball is a nineteenth-century pastoral game.
Football is a twentieth-century technological struggle.

Baseball is played on a diamond, in a park.The baseball park!
Football is played on a gridiron, in a stadium, sometimes called Soldier Field or War Memorial Stadium.

Baseball begins in the spring, the season of new life.
Football begins in the fall, when everything's dying.

In football you wear a helmet.
In baseball you wear a cap.

Football is concerned with downs - what down is it?
Baseball is concerned with ups - who's up?

In football you receive a penalty.
In baseball you make an error.

In football the specialist comes in to kick.
In baseball the specialist comes in to relieve somebody.

Football has hitting, clipping, spearing, piling on, personal fouls, late hitting and unnecessary roughness.
Baseball has the sacrifice.

Football is played in any kind of weather: rain, snow, sleet, hail, fog...
In baseball, if it rains, we don't go out to play.

Baseball has the seventh inning stretch.
Football has the two minute warning.

Baseball has no time limit: we don't know when it's gonna end - might have extra innings.
Football is rigidly timed, and it will end even if we've got to go to sudden death.

In baseball, during the game, in the stands, there's kind of a picnic feeling; emotions may run high or low, but there's not too much unpleasantness.
In football, during the game in the stands, you can be sure that at least twenty-seven times you're capable of taking the life of a fellow human being.

And finally, the objectives of the two games are completely different:

In football the object is for the quarterback, also known as the field general, to be on target with his aerial assault, riddling the defense by hitting his receivers with deadly accuracy in spite of the blitz, even if he has to use shotgun. With short bullet passes and long bombs, he marches his troops into enemy territory, balancing this aerial assault with a sustained ground attack that punches holes in the forward wall of the enemy's defensive line.

In baseball the object is to go home! And to be safe! - I hope I'll be safe at home!

[MooseMom]

Any Week One thoughts?

What happened to the Steelers?  Panic in Pittsburgh!

The Colts are unrecognizable without Peyton Manning.

The Bears dealt with the Falcons in a way I didn't expect.  I'm curious to see how they handle the Saints next week.

The Lions win!  Hope that's the first of many victories.

Kyle Orton is looking pretty awful right now for the Broncos.  Another ex-Bear, though...Rex Grossman...had a good game.

Tony Romo had a bad night.  What a shame.

[YLGuy]

Glad I am not a Raiders or Broncos fan living on the east coast.  It is 10:15 here and there is still over 9 minutes left in the game.

[HouseOfDialysis]

And the Lions are UNDEFEATED!

[cattlekid]

And so are the Packers 

And the Lions are UNDEFEATED!

[lmunchkin]

Yes Sir, the LIONS are UNDEFEATED!  I told you they would be good this year!  I strongly believe they will be in the Play-offs. (GO TITANS)

Titans squeaked by Bronco's, but last week against Baltimore was very impressive, yet totally unexpected!!   (GO TITANS)

New England got bumbed off by Bills, wow!    (GO TITANS)

Packers beat Bears, so Yes they are UNDEFEATED too.   (GO TITANS)

lmunchkin

[YLGuy]

Dallas just won with 6 field goals. 

[MooseMom]

Dallas just won with 6 field goals. 

I had one of my premonitions, and I told my husband that Dallas would get their field goal to win the game and that the media would slobber all over Tony Romo as a result.  That was before he completed his 3rd and 21 pass.  I was right, too.

Wow...the Bills beat the Patriots! 

Oh my, the Bears sucked.  I have to say that Chicago sports talk radio is FABULOUS after a loss.  An ex 1985 Bear does some commentary, and OMG, he absolutely blasted the team.  He actually called them "Smurfs". hahahahahaha!  It was brilliant!

[cattlekid]

Oh yes, ESPN1000 was a treat to listen to yesterday, especially as a Packers fan.   

I had one of my premonitions, and I told my husband that Dallas would get their field goal to win the game and that the media would slobber all over Tony Romo as a result.  That was before he completed his 3rd and 21 pass.  I was right, too.

Wow...the Bills beat the Patriots! 

Oh my, the Bears sucked.  I have to say that Chicago sports talk radio is FABULOUS after a loss.  An ex 1985 Bear does some commentary, and OMG, he absolutely blasted the team.  He actually called them "Smurfs". hahahahahaha!  It was brilliant!

[HouseOfDialysis]

And, YES, the LIONS are STILL UNDEFEATED!

[YLGuy]

Thank you Lions for an awesome comeback.  The Cowgirls LOSE!  The mighty Eagles fall.  That leaves the New York Football Giants tied for 1st place with the skins.

[cattlekid]

And so are the Packers.   

And, YES, the LIONS are STILL UNDEFEATED!

[HouseOfDialysis]

Thanksgiving may well decide who wins the NFC North.

[MooseMom]

I've seen the Cowgirls' epic FAIL seven times now, repeated over and over on all of the sports programs.  What a delightful day!

[CebuShan]

For me, it will always be the 49ers. Who or lose. I have a close friend associated with the team. Then there is whatever team my husband's cousin happens to be coaching (Mike Shanahan). I could have tried to be a Bears fan when we first moved out here if it weren't for Ditka. Actually, I really don't "follow" football all that much. I just check the standings once in a while & cheer when the Bears lose!

[aharris2]

TEBOW!!!

What an exciting (and improbable) finish last week. And it took me until that finish to get it to stream on my computer - in a 2" x 3" window.

Tomorrow, Broncos vs Detroit @ 4:05pm televised on FOX. I can't wait. Hopefully I will still be happy at this time tomorrow. (Sorry HOD)

[YLGuy]

http://tebowing.com/


 

[harley08]

Sorry but hoping the Steelers take another Super Bowl, love my football

[MooseMom]

Hey y'all, this has been a fabulous NFL season so far with so many things to talk about!  I've missed our football chats.

I was just finishing digesting the news about the Texans' Matt Schaub when Jay Cutler gets an boo-boo.  Anyone have any thoughts on how these two teams will cope? 

The Titans really needed a win to capitalize on Houston's misfortunes, but gee, their QB goes down, too! 

I am in two minds about Vince Young who replaced yet another downed QB, Michael Vick.  He scrambles well and doesn't panic in third-down situations, but he looked pretty rusty to me.  I hope he has learned to fare better psychologically.

The Colts truly are non-existent without Manning.

[YLGuy]

The Giants have a bunch of rookie LB's too so that may have made him look a little better.

[MooseMom]

Yeah, that's true.  We're getting into that part of the season where injuries start mounting up.  Every team is having to use the "Next Guy Up!" mantra.

[CebuShan]

Go Niners! Can you say Superbowl?!

[cattlekid]

Cutler going down with a boo-boo is about the best thing to happen to the Bears and the worst thing to happen to the Packers.  Caleb Hainie tried to come through for the Bears in the clutch last year during the NFC Championship game and all Cutler could do on the sidelines was ride the bike and look petulant.  Cutler is not a leader by any sense of the word.  I hope that Caleb Hainie has a stellar few games and Cutler slinks away during the off-season to some other team in disgrace.  But wait....as a Packers fan, maybe I should hope that the Bears keep Cutler around?   

What I'm really hoping is that the Pack goes undefeated this year -- 16-0 would be an awesome accomplishment!  20 more quarters!   

I was just finishing digesting the news about the Texans' Matt Schaub when Jay Cutler gets an boo-boo.  Anyone have any thoughts on how these two teams will cope?

[Gerald Lively]

When the 49ers beat the Lions, Lion coach wet his pants, then I wet mine.  But the Niners, true to form, led me to the precipice and lost to the Falcons.  Whatever!  Aaron Rodgers is from here (Chico), at least he is doing well.
Go somebody!

[MooseMom]

Cattlekid, I can't say that I'm a Bears' fan as I am not from this area, but living here, I hear a lot of Bears' sports talk.  I don't really understand why the media has caught this "Cutler isn't tough enough" narrative.  None of his coaches or teammates have ever thought that.  I mean, the guy has type 1 diabetes and has to check his blood sugar constantly throughout each game, yet he plays on and somehow manages to work within a very intricate Mike Martz offensive scheme.

He DOES have "jerk face", though!   He has that sleepy-eyed, jerk face look about him, but you know what they say about judging a book by its cover.

The Bears have more offensive weapons this year, so all Haney has to do is manage the game.  For some reason, Martz has never really thought much of Haney, but Haney is who he has, so Martz had better start designing an offense with Haney at the helm.  Devin Hester never really worked out as a reliable wide receiver, but he is still a very potent kickoff returner, so that is a valuable weapon.  Matt Forte is pretty much the best at what he does, so Haney doesn't have to be Cutler in order to win.  The Bears have a very easy next few games, all against the AFC West, so I see them making the playoffs with relative ease.  I might be wrong, though.  I can't wait to see them vs the Pack, although it is possible that GB will be resting their starters in that final game of the season.