Save the Saints (and other stuff)...

I wanted to put this email at the top. There isn’t much I can do beyond this and a segment, but it does suck for Saints fans. Put yourself in their shoes for a moment and read this:

Dear Bob,

I am writing to you in support of the New Orleans Saints. As a lifelong Saints fan, I’m appalled by Benson’s actions following Hurricane Katrina. In our time of need, he’s trying to take away one of the only things we can find joy in – our beloved Saints. While everyone is speculating about where the team will end up, no one is really bringing to light the dirty things Benson is doing in New Orleans.

Benson is attempting to break his lease on the Saints Metairie, La. practice facility – a lease which costs him a whopping $1 annually. He claims the facility was damaged by Hurricane Katrina and later “trashed” by National Guard troops and FEMA workers. This simply isn’t true and the following link will provide you with a news story from our local CBS affiliate which proves the building has no damage and is virtually spotless: TV STORY

I haven’t seen anyone in the national media do a story on this, and they really should. People should know the truth about what’s really going on in New Orleans, and Tom Benson should be exposed for the ways he is trying to take our team away from us. I hope you will consider my story idea.

Many Thanks,
Dennis Labure
River Ridge, La.

Good luck, Saints fans. That isn’t fair or right.



White Sox win in 14 …

Geoff Blum, in his first Series at-bat, hit a home run off reliever Ezequiel Astacio with two out in the 14th inning to vault the Sox a 7-5 victory before a stunned sellout crowd of 42,848 fans at Minute Maid Park.

The Sox, with a 3-0 lead in this best-of-seven Series and a seven-game winning streak, can wrap up the Series as soon as Wednesday night. All 21 teams who had a 3-0 lead in the Series have won the championship, including 18 in four games.

The Sox won in a Series record five hours, 41 minutes. The 14-inning game tied the longest in Series history, as Boston and Brooklyn played 14 innings in Game 2 of the 1916 Series. The 17 pitchers used by the Sox and Houston set a Series record, and the nine used by the Sox also set a Series record. A record 43 players were used.

Swoopes is out of the closet …

Eagles sign Jose Cortez …

McNeal strug-gel-ling in Aggieland …

Guerin off to a slow start …

FC Dallas hires a dude who can sell them tickets …they hope…

First and foremost, Hitchcock was brought in to boost season ticket sales.
Based on his salesmanship in the league, Hitchcock might be the guy to do just that.
In eight years of MLS ticket sales, Hitchcock has earned the MLS Sales Director of the Year award three times, and the 2000 Commissioner's New Business Leadership Award. He comes to the club after selling for D.C. United (1998-2000), Colorado (2000-03) and Los Angeles (2003-05).

The LA Galaxy -- playing in the Home Depot Center, a soccer-specific stadium similar to Pizza Hut Park -- led MLS in 2005 attendance average (24,204).

TV Note: If you love the fight, and the UFC, please check out the replay of this week’s Ultimate Fighter 2 on Thursday night at 10pm on Spike TV. Dude, Luke (above) and Sammy put together a fight that I thought was tremendous. Awesome stuff. Read this review if you want it spoiled …

TV Note #2: Looks like the rat I smelled on Survivor is being pursued elsewhere (thanks to p1 Fred):

TV Guide: Did Danni really recognize Gary as a former football player, or did you guys tip her off?

Jeff Probst:
We never divulge information to the castaways about each other. She knew exactly who he was. In an interview before the game started, she talked about how her father had a photo of him and how she once visited [his alma mater] Central Michigan University, where they have a huge shrine to him.

Sure, Jeff. Whatever you say.

TV Note #3: Over There wraps up its one and only season tonight according to USA Today …

The cable series premiered to more than 4 million viewers after a wave of publicity resulting from speculation about public backlash and the involvement of noted producer Steven Bochco, who created the series with Chris Gerolmo.

But the numbers tailed off to fewer than 2 million, and the young adults prized by advertisers dropped to close to 1 million for later episodes. The series follows a group of Army soldiers in Iraq and their families at home.

Despite the ratings, FX president John Landgraf says he remains proud of Over There and hasn't made a final decision about its future. "I feel really good about it creatively. It's a tough show and at times a very darkly truthful show," he says.

"Chris and Steven did a really good job of developing their characters over the long haul. The last run of episodes is quite moving," Landgraf says. But "the ratings are probably below the level of sustainability from our standpoint."

Not the true spirit of streaks …

STREAK INTACT: Falcons offensive tackle Todd Weiner extended his streak of consecutive starts to 49 by playing the first snap, but Barry Stokes played most of the first half at Weiner's right tackle spot. Weiner has an arm injury.

Gregg Easterbrook’s fine TMQB …Of course, I have not listed these like I should this season. Please forgive me.

Someone asked me yesterday how USC claims to be going for a 3-peat, and yet we clearly remember LSU spanking OU in 2003 for the national title. Well, according to this , USC is actually going for a 4-peat. Not confusing at all…

Once again, Liverpool is underachieving …WHY?

Back when I had the time (before I had this blog), I used to love the video games. Especially, my beloved SOCOM. But, you may recall, playing online meant dealing with the cussing, over-the-top 14 year old gamer on line. Don’t believe me? Watch this …but with your volume down, and your discretion on…

college football t-shirts and the comedy that goes with them…

Colin sent me this development:

Bob, my buddy emailed me and told me to read this month's questionaire for the ticket chick. Specifically the question about Pete Rose. I got severe tired head after reading this answer. I've heard you guys talk about this before, so I thought you'd get a kick out of this, I cut and pasted her response......How can we talk about Pete Rose when we have troops in Iraq?

Should Pete Rose be in the Hall of Fame?

Her answer--"Once our troops are all home and safe then I’ll tell you whether or not a cheater should be allowed in the Hall of Fame…"

Power down.

He’s not making it up. Click Here for SaRatta …oh, dear.

Should Pete Rose be in the Hall of Fame? Once our troops are all home and safe then I’ll tell you whether or not a cheater should be allowed in the Hall of Fame…

Star Wars giggle …

Another 1920’s glossary …

Here are a few email-worthy “GNG’s”:

Bob and Dan,

Several of my old college buddies and I met in Chicago last weekend to go to the BYU/Notre Dame game on Saturday. We all got in Friday and wanted to check out downtown Chicago. After dinner, we walked around for a while, but none of us knew the area so we weren’t sure what to do. We noticed that there were carriage rides being offered. At first we laughed about taking a ride, but eventually decided to do it. Let me reiterate that none of us knew the area and it was cold that night. The carriage ride last about 45 minutes and we were able to see a lot of downtown Chicago as well as Lake Michigan. The ride was a little cold, so of course we had to share the blankets that were available on the carriage. I’ve got to admit, it all felt a little gay. Everyone that we passed by sure looked at us as if we were gay.

By the way, after the carriage ride we all enjoyed ice cream sundaes together.

BRAD ANDRUS

And, then this one with a visual aid:

Hey boys,

I know this one is pretty easy to determine, but I just had to send this to you. A group of friends and I were hanging out in downtown Ft Worth at a place called 8.0's where they have a 60 oz margarita. Ideally made for parties of women who sit around talking about Oparh and how Dr Phil thinks their husband is a terrible person and what not.

Anyway these two dudes sitting at the table next to us, who by the way look really manly in there Harley Davidson tee-shirts and ungroomed goatees, ordered one of these drinks. At first I thought that surly one of them got it on a bet to see how quickly he could down the sucker, but no. The waitress brought them two straws and they sipped on it together for the next 30 min or so, and then to make matters worse they ordered another. Because I could not believe what I saw, I had the girl sitting next to me take a picture with her camera phone.

I know you have discussed this situation before, but come on. When you see such a shocking event you just have to share it with the whole city.

The picture is attached. Sorry for the poor quality, we had to take it in such a way to where they didn't notice. But you can get the jest of it.

Thanks
P1 Symons

Genius! And here is some good Cowboys thinking from Jeremiah (Ontario?):

As much criticism that Roy Williams has gotten when he seems to blow a coverage at a crucial point in the game (vs. Redskins, Giants), and perhaps rightfully so, it only seems fair to commend him equally when the Dallas defense has such a stellar performance, like they did last week against Seattle, not to mention overall in the last 17 quarters of play. If it is appropriate to fault him particularly in a game like the one against the Giants where the defense played phenomenally but it seemed like he went brain dead at the end of the 4th quarter, then it seems only fair to commend him particularly for not getting stupid at the end of last week’s game. Likewise, it seems fair, not only to criticize him for blown coverage, but also to commend him for trying to make a play to change the outcome of the game—the caused fumble at goal line against the Giants and especially the interception against Seattle.

• Although, at this point the potential return of Billy Cundiff seems like the 2nd coming of Nick Lowery, let’s not jump off the deep end here. Although Billy was great within 40 yards, he missed some clutch kicks last season that were especially crippling to a team that struggled to score touchdowns. Now, here is Cundiff, returning from an serious injury, who perhaps hasn’t as much as kicked his dog in the ass since preseason. Granted, even that might be better than the job Cortez was doing, however I wonder is he the best Dallas can do? Was it Morten Anderson who snuck in a plug with Al Gifford on Monday Night indicating his interest in playing again? He was a pretty good kicker, and I wouldn’t imagine that anyone would be worried him losing a “step” in his old age since his ability would be clear in a few practices—either he can make the kicks or he cannot. Why aren’t we hearing anything about potential here coming from the Cowboys, which such a dire need glaringly apparent.

Jeremiah T. Vance

Week 6 Turnovers (winners are listed with turnover margin):

Car E, Dal E, Chi -1, Balt +2, Cin +3, TB +1, Jax +3, Atl +1, KC +3, SD +1, Den E, Buf +1, Sea -1, Ind +3

Week 6 totals: 9-2-3 82%
Season totals: 57-18-13 76% (lowest numbers in years)

Records for teams that finish:

+5 = 8-0 100%
+4 = 5-0 100%
+3 = 9-1 90%
+2 = 13-5 72%
+1 = 22-12 65%

Dallas’ results prove nothing whatsoever:

W - SD +1
L - Was +2
W - SF E
L - Oak -1
W - Phi -1
W – NYG E

Do 100 yard Rushers impact winning versus losing?

Teams that had 100 yard rushers in week 6:
TB W, ATL W, SD W, DEN W, Buf W, NYJ L, Sea (Alexander) W, Sea (Morris) W, Ind W

Week 6 record for teams with 100 yard rushers: 8-1
Season total: 37-6 86%

You might be saying, "Bob, didn't we just complete week 7?" Yes. Those numbers come tomorrow...