SILENCE! I KILL YOU!

A, C, Flegm....

This is the funniest shit I've seen in a while

Eagles Lose....But Win

Yeah there is no column for moral victories in the NFL standings. And yes, the Eagles are now globbed together with the 4skins, Vikings, Bears, Cardinals and Saints at 5-6, staring up at Detroit and NY for the two NFC wild-card spots.

Yet, I cannot help but get the feeling that the Eagles can use this game as a springboard. The Cards lost a brutal OT game...the Lions are practically in a free-fall; the Saints inconsistent.....the Vikings romped over the Giants today and the Bears got a huge lift with an unreal OT-win at Soldier Field against the Broncos...Washington? they dominated the second-half statistically against the Buccaneers, but 6 turnovers??? hoo-boy....I don't fear the 'Skins...and the Giants? how do lay a stinker like they just laid at home against the Viking in late November? Could another late-season collapse be looming? One can only hope.

As for the Eagles....if they continue to play like they did against the Patriots....they will win out, just like last year, and finish 10-6. The only problem with that is that it won't be enough to win the NFC East, because the 'Boys have the East locked up.

Sunday Follies

Well the rest of the NFC dorked it up, so if the Eagles can pull off a stunner....they'll really be looking good. And if they can't muster enough to be the Patriots (as just about everyone expects) well then, not much harm done.

The Giants (7-4) got rocked by Minnesota (5-6) 41-10 thanks to three "picks sixes" by Eli
Washington (5-6) couldn't hang onto the ball enough to beat Tampon Bay (7-4)
And Detroit (6-5) dropped their third straight to Green Bay (10-1) on Thanksgiving Day

The only down news is that the Saints (5-6) have climbed back into contention by clobbering the Carolina Panthers 31-6.

Arizona is in there too, playing right now and since their opponent is the once-again-woeful 49ers, I expect the Cards to be right in the thick of things going down the stretch as well.

That Good Ole' Easy Feel(ey)ing

Its official, both McNabb and backup/starting safety Quintin Mikell were downgraded to OUT for the Patriots game Sunday night.

Here's a question, why not play the game Belicheat always plays and just say they're a game-time decision and then decided announce just before kickoff.....
The bad part: it probably is not going to make much difference. The Patriots are playing on a different level from the rest of the NFL right now.
The good part: perhaps the coaching staff won't rely purely on McNabb to carry the team and will come up with an inventive, balanced attack to counter the Patriots.
The ugly: what do we do if Feeley leads us in knocking off the Pats?

Expand Your Mind and Feed the Hungry

Feel like testing your vocab and assisting in donations to the U.N. Food Program?
Go here: Free Rice.com

A bunch of sponsors offer to donate 10 grains of rice for every word you get correct. Okay, 10 grain whoopee....but when the daily total soars in the hundreds of millions....that adds up...so do your part and expand your vocabulary.

I've made it Vocab Level 43 unassisted....but I always seem to get one that stumps me and sends me back to Level 42 or I get a little string of truly obscure words and I drop down....and then I have to fight my way back up....it can be surprising addictive

Thanksgiving Whiteout

Holy crap!

Had some serious snow on Thanksgiving! Turkey day started about 10AM for me. I looked out the window and was stunned....there was a good 6-8 inches on the ground.
So first things first, I had to don some warm clothes so I clear some space for the boys to do their "business"
See what I mean? That's like a sheer white cliff for a dachshund.

Then I got to shoveling out the driveway and alley. Put the plucky (read cheap) little snowblower we have to work. But in honesty...its almost easier to shovel...almost....
Click here to see the video
Here is a picture of the view out the back after I shoveled a space for the boyos...
I learned a very powerful lesson a few minutes later when it started to snow again. Shoveling snow in Misawa is like farting into a hurricane. Within minutes the drive/alley was coated again.
Want to see what a typical snow-day is for us. Click here to see the video we took of the backyard a few hours later. That trench I dug for the boys? Filled in. The Pachinko parlor "out back" all but invisible. Its the same perspective as the picture above. Swear.

A White Thanksgiving

Now, I've heard of dreaming of a white Christmas, but I don't remember too many "white Thanksgivings"....and if we're "lucky" we may just get one here in Misawa. Have a few inches of the jolly white stuff already on the ground and its snowing heavy at the present time.

More later once the sun comes up...and I can take some pictures

Dachshund Break

Ok, taking a little break from Call of Duty 4, which is about as good a first-person shooter as there is, and is the current game sucking away my time. And YES, the game really does look just like this. Its not some special video.

Figured I'd throw a couple pics of the boys out there
This is the 'hey bitch, turn on the heat, it's friggin' cold in here' look from D.J.

Turning the tables on Zaar. He always goes into empty boxes if we leave them open and on the. And then he'll deliberately leave him ball in there and beg us to go get it...So after convincing him that that is his job, we turn it upright on him. HA!
How could you NOT give a treat to a dog that handsome? Of course, that's exactly what he's counting on....

84 Minutes for Drunk Driving? - That's Some Bullshit

Caught drinking and driving not once BUT TWICE, and the Lil Miss Mean Girl, Lindsey Lohan, gets 84 minutes in jail?

WOW, What a life-altering experience that must've been. I am sure the dull white walls were really closing in on her. She didn't even have to don a DOC Jumpsuit...that wouldn't that have been a photo-op.

What is this world coming to? All those Don't Drive and Drive message public service announcements, all those horrible stories....and people who do it OVER AND OVER AND OVER just walk. Oh sorry. They walk out after less time in the clink than people spending suffering through their atrocious movies.

The biggest sign of progress? She spent two more minutes in jail than fellow drunk skank teabagger Nicole Richie....Maybe the LA County Jail should just take them all to a matinee showing of the Love Bug after their morning of rigorous in-processing? At least then they get to spend an actual afternoon in detention.

Let's Not get Too Hasty

I appreciate a win as much as the rest of Eagles nation, but I think the demeanor of the coverage is appropriate - it was a nice win, a HUGE, potentially season-saving win, but it doesn't suddenly mean the Eagles have arrived.

Let's face it. There is the potential for an equally GI-normous letdown next Sunday when the 0-fer Dolphins limp into the Linc. Who the F wants to a face a win-less team at this point in the season?

NOBODY! Ask the Saints. At some point, pride kicks in and the team comes up with a respectable effort (though they really should've beaten the Bills yesterday, oh well, oops).

Think the Boo-birds were bad Sunday Night vs Dallas? What happens if McNabb coughs up another cheap fumble to Jason Taylor? Or the special teams isn't and the Birds finds themselves looking up at a winless team in November at home? Yikes....

Look, I don't expect any of that to happen. If this Eagles team is going to do anything, they need to stomp on Miami, get to .500 and then try and summon an angel to help them defeat the Patriots...

But back to Sunday, my satellite coverage was spotty but AFN replayed the Eagles games last night, so I got see some of it on my nice big widescreen TV instead of streaming to my computer monitor (which ain't so small either).

Did anyone notice:
- The effectiveness of the offense with a finally healthy L.J. Smith in the line-up. Westbrook was his usual phenomenal self, but its hard to ignore a 4 TD performance by McNabb and 3 for 3 TD ratio inside the redzone in the first game that L.J. was out there for a significant period (and by that I mean consistently, every series, not just spot duty.). Not saying he's the magic pill that made the O go, but his presence helped. For whatever reason, the Birds got it done when they needed to.

- The plays by the up-to-now-invisible Darren Howard on the goal-line in the 4th quarter? He was in the run to the right (tackle made by Howard, Bunk, Patt and Co), he was in the Portis dive to the goal-line where he got stood up, fumbled and snatched it back before it got away, and he was the guy who penetrated the line and dragged Portis down on the the running play to the right. Somehow, he was all over the place. Does that mean I think he's not a stiff. Umm no, he hasn't played anywhere near close to contract, and he'll be gone after the season...but...it was nice to see him show up and be accounted for...

Gut Check Win in Washington

Hoo-boy....had to sweat one out in Washington this morning. Oh jeez. I tell you what


Things I liked:
- Goal-line D....stiffened when it needed to....down 22-20, the Redskins had at least 7 plays inside the 10 and couldn't punch it in. Heck, it was only a spectacular save by Portis that prevented the Skins from coughing up a fumble. Anyway, holding them to a FG was HUGE. Score 25-20 after that, and a couple plays later, Brian Westbrook is taking a screen-pass to the house for a 26-25 lead.

- Brian Westbrook. Best all-round back in the NFL right now. Period. He just tied Thurman Thomas and Wilbert Montgomery for the having the most games (9) with both a rushing and a receiving touchdown. That a Hall of Fame player and the Eagles all-time leading rusher. That is pretty good company. 183 total yards and 3 touchdowns. Not only did he give my fantasy team a huge boost, his performance today may be a catalyst for the Eagles to sustain some momentum. We've got winless Miami next week.
Image courtesy AP
- More aggressive play-calling in the second half. With Carlos Rogers out and Fred Smoot visibly limping around, the Eagles played timid in the first half. And it showed. The Eagles were down 15-7 at the half and looked pretty frickin' bad. In the second half, the Eagles began taking some shots. Not all of them worked, but they don't ALL NEED TO. Its set a tone, it tells the opposition they can't just cluster the line of scrimmage and play the short pass.

What I didn't like:
Donovan McNabb's inaccuracy. Weird to criticize a guy who goes 20/28 for 250 and 4 TDs, but there were critical plays in the game where Don just looked bad. The pass to Celek on the 3rd possession. Wide open TE...could've set up a scoring opportunity - easy - but whoops! Horrible throw and BOOM goes the punt. There were also a few of McNabb's patented gopher balls thrown in there. It may be nit-picking because we won...but seriously....It was very frustrating.

McNabb's almost game-choking fumble, Jeez oh man, another criticism of the QB? Yup...the defense hadn't done DICK. Nothing to stop the 4skins. And with the Skins up 22-20 and driving, the Eagles force a fumble by Ladell Betts at their own 25. Woohoo, Eagles ball and hope springs eternal.

Next play - McNabb scrambling around and coughs up a cheap fumble...To give the ball RIGHT BACK after that shit. DAMMIT. The Defense managed to hold (see above) them to a FG, but I tell you what, that could've been a killer. A real game-killer. It wasn't, but it almost was.

Will James....holy shit dude. YOU SUCK....James boasted about being a starter in the off-season, but it looks more like he's the second coming of Izel "Toast" Jenkins.

Wings Clipped

Sorry my computer crashed as I was typing up my response to last night flop-ola against the Cowboys.

Donovan and the Eagles picked a helluva night to lay a turd. I guess all that energy from the big intro really didn't translate into execution.

My primary questions:
- Where have all the playmakers gone? Did everyone but Lito and Westbrook take the night off?
- Was Reid really not distracted by his family situation? Did that truly not also affect the team?
- How many games until the chants for Kolb become deafening?
- This was a total team defeat - no aspect of the team played well. But McNabb deserves his fair share of the blame for two horrendous plays (starting the game with a fumble, and nullifying our only INT (by Lito which snubbed out a Cowboys drive) by throwing a retarded pass three plays later (and re-igniting the Cowboys drive)).

The Eagles are not going to pull this one out folks. Last night was their chance to get back into the race, put their stamp on McNabb's claim that the NFC "runs through Philadelphia." Well, he was right about one thing. It DID run through Philly, problem, it kept right on running out the gates and jumped on the Cowboys' bus to the airport.

Gameday!

Been up for hours.....for some reason I got up at about midnight (game doesn't start locally until after 10AM) and have been up ever since.

Colts-Pats game was good. Disappointing in that the Patriots came back to win.
Minnesota stomped all over the Chargers...thanks to Adrian Peterson, who rushed for an NFL single- game-day record of 296 yards....hmm, makes me appreciate the Eagles D a little bit more, since we effectively shut AP down last week.

More later

Thoughts on Dallas Week and other things

Lots of talk this week about the Eagles season being on the line Sunday Night against Dallas. And to be honest, as much as I hate to say that any game in the first half of the season is a absolute must-win....I have to agree.

The Eagles are 3-4, the Cowboys 6-1 (Giants 6-2, Redskins 4-3)...A loss against the Cowpukes on Sunday, at home, would put the Eagles in a near-insurmountable hole: 4 games behind the 'Boys, with 8 to play and 0-3 (including 2 homes losses) against the NFC East. Even for an devout football optimist like myself...that is a bridge too far (as far as playoff hope goes).

But I tell you what. Dawkins will be back and that alone should give the Eagles an injection of emotion and energy. And another thing, 4-4, just two games back of the front-running Cowboys and Giants, with 8 to play....sounds a whole lot better doesn't it? Dawkins return will allow "Q" to return his special teams captaincy, so hopefully, those teams get a boost on Sunday Night as well. And let's face it - the Eagles will need to bring their "A" game in every facet to prevail in their biggest game of the year (so far). Well to be honest, they need to win Sunday just so that they get to have "big games" later in the season.

In other news:
The Eagles ended the Matt McCoy experiment this week. No big impact there. The idjit decided to level Minnesota's punter in the third quarter last Sunday, just as the Eagles were poised to take-over inside Viking's territory after nice defensive hold that forced the Vikes to punt from their own end-zone. So instead of taking possession at the Vikings 45, the Eagles were pushed back to their own 40. And Dawk was pissed. The cameras followed his raggin' out McCoy and then yelling "FUCK" on the sidelines after the call. Now Westbrook bailed McCoy out by delivering a 25yd+ screen on the next play, but the damage was done. More telling, no one, and I mean NO ONE, came to his defense. Dawkins was on 950 AM talk radio the next day discussing the "message" the coaches were sending. MESSAGE RECEIVED.

Of more concern - both of coach Andy Reid's sons are going to be spending some time in jail now. AR missed practice on Thursday to attend his sons' sentencing. Both got 23-month sentences. And judge laid in the Reid household as well: A judge who sentenced Philadelphia Eagles coach Andy Reid's sons to jail on Thursday likened the coach's home to "a drug emporium" and questioned whether his adult sons should live there, given their drug problems.

Look, I don't give a crap about his private life. But I worry that this is going to be a distraction to the head coach right before the biggest game of the year. I mean, if we get out-coached, out-smarted, and do what we've done in our losses this year (you know the mantra: a stubborn lack of adjustments, poor clock-management, wasted time-outs) - then I don't know how there would be any other conclusion to come to other than: Andy Reid is distracted and perhaps he needs to step aside or shed some duties. The burden must be incredible. But I am not all that comfortable with the idea that my football hopes (as well as those of the greater Philadelphia metropolitan region) rest on a mind troubled by the drug-addled downfall of two of the head coach's sons.