The Week That Was 9/5/05 - 9/11/05 

 

ED: Poor-poor Lloyd.

 

MLB

 

ED: VP.com's favorite manager, Lloyd McClendon, is fired by the Pirates. I guess we alone will have to pick fights with Tony LaRussa now.

 

BB: After reading the wonderful wonderful wonderful Yahoo article on Julian Tavarez this weekend (where it detailed him trying to knock out Don Baylor with a rag of ether), I think someone will be picking fights with LaRussa soon enough.

 

ED: The Orioles send home PERFORMANCE ENHANCEMENT EXTRAORDINAIRE Rafael Palmeiro to "nurse his injured leg." Yeah, that's the reason they sent him home.

 

BB: He’s TESTING LIMITS, Ed. You live your life within the lines of “the law” and “not taking steroids”. Rafael Palmeiro does not. That is why he is still a hero to…people who live in a cave, I guess.

 

ED: Giants OF Barry Bonds may or may not have scuffled with former Giants P Jason Christiansen in June over the presence of one of Bonds' personal trainer in the Giants clubhouse.  Mmm, 'roid rage.

 

BB: Did Jeff Kent assemble a posse of middle relievers to take out Barry Bonds? Does anyone else think that is the funniest idea ever? COMPADRES DEL LOOGY!!!!

 

ED: Curt Schilling and his wife take in a family from New Orleans. God, hasn't that family suffered enough?

 

BB: Yes, I mean, first the skin cancer, then the ankle, and now some unsufferable street urchin?

 

ED: Your weekly cripple list includes: Nats 2B Junior Spivey (now done for the season with a broken wrist), Dodgers SS Cesar Izturis (now done for the season and most of next to get Tommy John surgery)

 

BB: I wish I could put money on Mark Bellhorn becoming a Dodger this offseason.

 

PR: You just want anything to get him off the Yankees so you can root for him again.

 

ED: PLAYA MOVEMENT!!! The Reds DFA P Ben Weber.  The Marlins sign P Paul Quantrill.

 

BB: And somehow Danny Graves is still unemployed. Life is not fair.

 

ED: Mariners SS Michael Morse is suspended 10 games for 'roiding. Morse states that he indeed took steroids in November of '03 to heal a leg injury and states that the 'roids were still in his system at the time of testing. Yeah. Right.

 

BB: Oh! It’s ok! He was just using it to heal an injury! And you know, the rules talk about how you’re not allowed to take steroids…at all. Oh.

 

PR: I enjoy that everyone is going along with and yet Raffy couldn’t come up with any half plausible excuse. I mean, honestly, if had said “yeah, it turns out that Viagra makes you test positive” everyone would have been “Oh, of COURSE!” Poor disrespected little blue pill.

 

ED: Twins P Kyle Lohse goes postal after getting pulled early in a shay start and beats Twins Manager Ron Gardenhire's door with a bat. Lohse may have hurt his finger in the process. God, I hope Lohse gets traded to the Cardinals.

 

BB: Lohse vs. Tavarez would be fun. I am sad that Gardenhire did not blame this on the crazy person on Lohse’s shoulder.

 

PR: Or sabermetrics.

 

ED: Phil hits me up with the good stuff: Former…uhh…Seinfeld extra Danny Tartabull is being sued by a California couple who claim he reneged on a real estate deal, then forcibly entered their Malibu home and refused to leave it, pay rent or allow the owners to come in to remove their possessions. I was going to ask why Tartabull was in Malibu but then I remembered his "acting career."  Silly me.

 

PR: “I PLAYED FOR THE YANKEES!!!! THE YANKEES!!! I AM A TRUE STAR!!!!”

 

CFL

ED: Player movement - the TiCats sign RB Jesse Lumsden, the Als sign WR Thyron Anderson, Edmonton signs RB Dahrran Diedrick.

 

ED:  Oh yeah, and this just to make Phil and Bill happy - Ottawa is close to signing BACHELOR!!! Jesse Palmer!

 

BB: Like I care about reality TV or Canada.

 

PR: Okay, with the exchange rate, does this mean Palmer will be closer or even further away from his Madden stats?

 

WEEK TWELVE!!!

 

ED: BC stomps Ottawa, 61-27.  Poor dead Beaver Feaver.

 

ED: Calgary holds off Edmonton, 16-11, in possibly the ugliest game ever played.

 

BB: You clearly have never watched Knicks basketball before.

 

PR: Or the Redskins vs. Bears.

 

ED: Hamilton is just barely edged by Toronto, 48-0.  God, if it wasn't for Texas keeping me from shooting people, I would have so given up on football this weekend.

 

ED: Saskatchewan tops Winnipeg, 19-17, thanks to Blue Bomber QB Kevin Glenn's best Danny McManus imitation.

 

NFL

 

ED: Jerry Rice retires. Well, it is a better option than playing for the Broncos this year.

 

ED: INJURIES!!! Out for Week 1: Steelers FATMAN Jerome Bettis (Gout? Hypertension? Who cares?)

 

BB: I am pretty sure Jerome Bettis was not the only player who was injured in week one but why ask why?

 

PR: Aww… well Will Petereson was sorta hurt as he told Tom Coughlin he thought he would be hurting the team if he started. So, of course, he was benched for the entire game. Now I know THAT will hurt his Madden ratings.

 

ED: PLAYER MOVEMENT!!! The Vikings sign WR Koren Robinson and release WR Kelly Campbell; the Steelers sign WR Quincy Morgan and release WR Lee Mays; the Packers sign TE Donald Lee and cut TE Ben Steele and RB Nick Luchey; the Jets sign OL Scott Gragg; the Broncos sign WR David Terrell; the Bucs sign KR Mark Jones; the Colts cut WR Troy Walters; the Dolphins sign CB Kiwaukee Thomas;

 

BB: The Vikings then waive Koren Robinson so they can sign him for next week. Got that? Right. I hear you gain two inches in the thin air of Denver, DT.

 

PR: The Giants also signed Chad Morton at some point in time that I missed. All I know is that I was giddy.

 

ED: The Saints officially wanted to move their home games to LSU's field. LSU however didn't want the Saints. So the Saints play coy and say that they elect to move their homes games to San Antonio instead of LSU. See!  The Saints rejected YOU, LSU!  The Saints rejected you!  So there!

 

PR: Probably the best part of all this is that the NFL really doesn’t want to let them play in San Antonio because they are afraid the games won’t sell out. THE NFL!!! THE PEOPLE’S LEAGUE!!!

 

ED: An appeals court rules that the Panthers must pay former CB Michael Swift $160K+ after he broke an ankle in training camp in 1999.

 

BB: Training camp joke…Rippa….paging Phil Rippa….

 

PR: Aww… I didn’t know George Seifert hated his players.

 

ED: Seahawks defensive coordinator Ray Rhodes will miss the 'Hawks opener against Jacksonville after being hospitalized for dizziness. Odds of the Seahawks winning their opening game goes through the roof.

 

PR: No no – it would take a lot more than that for them to pull out that victory.

 

ED: Broncos back-up QB Bradlee Van Pelt makes a Shanahan of himself at a Colorado State-Colorado game. Well, if you are going anywhere near the Colorado football team and don't get raped, being a Shanahan in public is a victory.

 

BB: I still can’t find an article that says what the “vulgarity” on his t-shirt said. Someone hook me up.

 

ED: A Denver coroner report reveals that 49er Thomas Herrion died of a heart attack. What? A three hundred pound man running around having a heart attack? I am aghast!

 

ED: Packers RB Ahman Green and Ravens CB Samari Rolle get nice little fines to avoid suspension for their off the field troubles.

 

WEEK ONE!!!

 

ED: TOM BRADY WALKS ON WATER! HEALS THE SICK! RAISES THE DEAD! BEATS AN AWFUL RAIDER TEAM ALL BY HIMSELF, 30-20. ALL HAIL BRADY!!!

 

BB: Well I mean Tom Brady did have a really good day. Not like the Pats defense did. Not like anyone else did.

 

ED: The Redskins out-bore the Bears 9-7.  Mmm, Super Bowl Redskins!

 

BB: BRING ON JASON CAMPBELL!!!

 

PR: This was still more entertaining that the Jets game. Highlight was Sammy Baugh basically wanting to charge out of the booth to complain about the hit on Ramsey.

 

ED: The Dolphins spank the Broncos 34-10.  Aww, good thing the Broncos draft so well, elsewise we'd think this would be a bad omen for their future.

 

BB: Well, it’s not like they needed that third round pick. 

 

ED: The Saints avenge all the Hurricane Katrina victims by edging the Panthers, 23-20.  Oh man, this won't be blown out of proportion at all.  Nope.  Not at all.

 

BB: So if John Carney misses that field goal, do more people die? How does this avenging work?

 

PR: HEY!!!! I am offended. That is really close to stealing my preview jokes.

 

ED:  The Jags thump Seattle, 26-14.  That really-really-really breaks my heart.

 

BB: SUPER BOWL CONTENDERS!!! RUNNING QUARTERBACK!!! GOTTA CHOP WOOD!!! None of these things are true.

 

ED: The Steelers kill the Titans, 34-7.  Yes, this means that Ben Worthlessberger is for real.  Yep.  No question about it.

 

PR: PERFECT PASSER RATING!!! (sure he only threw 11 times) PERFECT PASSER RATING!!!

 

BB: For some reason Worthlessberger made me think about both Worcestershire sauce and hamburgers and now Ed made me hungry. Damn you you old man.

 

ED: The Bengals top the Browns, 27-13.  God, I hate Ohio.

 

BB: Fortunately, so does the rest of the world.

 

ED:  The Bills handle the Texans, 22-7.  Oh, that had to have been the most boring game ever...well, no.  Not even the most boring game of the afternoon after I recall the Washington-Chicago game.  Stupid horrible NFL.

 

BB: The Texans should have just sent their second stringers out. That would’ve stopped the Bills in their tracks.

 

PR: My NFL Ticket hates me.

 

ED: The Chiefs DEFENSE!!!  IMPENETRABLE DEFENSE!!! whips the anemic offense of the Jets, 27-7.

 

BB: Chad Pennington did fumble 800 times and Laveraneus Coles did drop like three TD passes. So I wouldn’t jump too far on the Chiefs yet.

 

PR: At least Herman Edwards didn’t botch managing the clock… I think.

 

ED: DAUNTE CULPEPPER!!! becomes the greatest QB EVER now that Randy Moss is gone...yet the Vikings lose to the Bucs, 24-13.  Hmm, how could that be?

 

BB: Oh – um – uh – he’s still good in fantasy right?


PR: Why are you fantasizing about Daunte Culpepper? I mean, there is nothing wrong with it, if you are into that sort of thing. I was just caught unprepared by that statement.

 

ED: The Cowboys upset the Chargers, 28-24.  Mmm, peanut butter baths for fat men!

 

BB: Sweet sweet pool of peanut butter. Bill didn’t tell his heart doctor he was swimming laps in water, no sir.

 

ED: The 49ers stun the Rams, 28-25.  Mike Martz is still not a stupid coach.  Nope.  Not at all.

 

BB: HE’S TWO…he’s three points behind the worst team in football.

 

ED:  The Giants thrash the Cards, 42-19.  Oh yeah, I'm backing away from this.

 

BB: As Phil said – the first drive of the season was probably the best one. I also don’t think that our special teams will score 14 points a game so until Eli Manning is no longer stinky – we still are.

 

PR: I can’t even begin to explain easy it was to see that the Giants will never have a drive as perfect as their opening one yesterday. And I am bitter that Chris Berman actually ruined Willie Ponder’s TD for me because by the 4th time I heard him go “THINK ABOUT THIS!!!!!” I wanted to drive my car into the Bristol HQ

 

ED: The Lions outsexy the Packers, 17-3.  Bill is getting a fat paycheck from the Lions organization for not jinxing them, I bet.

 

BB: I am getting a fat paycheck from the Lions organization cause I am STRAIGHT! AS AN ARROW! I LIKE THE LADIES! AND BEER! AND SNOWBOARDING! WITH GIRLS IN BIKINIS ON TOP OF MOUNTAINS!

 

PR: …. ANNNNNDDDDD TWWWWWIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNSSSSSS!!!!!!!

 

ED: Colts-Ravens

 

BB: I just wanted to leave this as is.

 

PR: Hehehehe – the Ray Lewis waves the flag like a blooming idiot pretty much turned me off of the entire game. Granted, Joe Theisman repeatedly calling Paul McGwire a fool drew me back in. But then Mike Patrick screaming about how this was the greatest 3-0 game really put the nails into the coffin. Oh and a note to Patrick – my wife says you really need to pick a different color to dye your hair.

 

NCAA

ED: Two Central Michigan football players are charged with second degree murder and manslaughter raps for the fatal beating of a Michigan man. The Baltimore Ravens step up their scouting of the Central Michigan program.

 

ED:  TEXAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

BB: Hehehehe.

 

SOCCER

BB: England aren’t as good as Northern Ireland. English media does not notice.

 

PR: SACK THE SWEDE!!!! I did take some amusement in that in my CM game, Sven really was fired. (Poor little teams crapping out in EURO 04).

 

PR: Aww… Arsenal still is stinky this year and now Thierry Henry needs a month to get his groin right.

 

NBA

ED: Celtics patriarch Red Auerbach is hospitalized for an undisclosed health condition. He's 88 and smoked a whole lotta cigars. You figure it out.

 

BB: …auto-erotic asphyxiation?

 

PR: Does that mean Simmons…got stuck in Red’s mouth?

 

NHL

ED: Uh.  Yeah.

 

PR: Lots of old old defensemen retired.

 

OTHER

ED: Kim Clijsters wins the Women's U.S. Open championship, Roger Federer wins the Men's.  Now everyone can continue ignoring tennis again.

 

PR: And everyone can slash a minute off their commute into the City.

 

ED: Kurt Busch wins the Chevy Rock & Roll 400.  Jeff Gordon eliminated from the Nextel Cup Championship playoffs.  NASCAR seriously reconsidering fixing their races again in '06.

 

PR: Don’t say I didn’t warn them.

 

ED: Arizona Rattlers head coach Todd Shell resigns after getting arrested for coke charges. Butch Hobson chuckles.

 

PR: At first, I thought Ed was saying Butch Hobson was hired. Which would have meant that this story should have been the first one, not the last one.