My Room Smells Like Betrayal

Excuse me, Mr. Pickle - Why are you, Clint and Justin getting the full blog post treatment on MRSLP, while this blog is limited to like 6 lines? Is it because I'm Polish? Did I do something to piss off "the family"? Was it all the cracks about the Chiefs? Sorry man, didn't know you were so sensitive. Just b/c your QB like to get down with skeletons doesn't mean you have to take it out on me. At least he hasn't become depressed and quit on the team, like our (ex)QB.

I could understand if this was Justin - he can't help it with his German ancestry. But all I ask is equal treatment for me and the people of my kind...

Could it happen?

The Astros have won 12 of 13, and are now only 4 games back of the Wild Card spot (0.5 games behind the Cardinals, by the way). I have no idea how they're doing it either. First Carlos Lee, our most consistent player this year, going down in early August. Then our starting pitchers (aside from Oswalt) start dropping like flies w/ nagging injuries. Then Ty Wigginton, who has been on a tear since Carlos Lee went down (12 HR's, 30+ RBI last month), is now out for 10+ days. Yet they keep winning.

In fact, two nights ago, a minor leaguer they had just called up and who was filling in for Wiggy hit the HR that won the game. Mark Saccamanno (no relation to Bob, Jay Reimenshnieder, Gomez, or any other of Kramer's friends for that matter) is winning games for us now? I'm speechless. I'm without speech. If the Astros make the playoffs, I'll be as blown away as anyone. Blown away, George. Blow-ow-ow-ownnnnn away...

The Tennesse Titans are good. Really Good. Seriously....

The best NFL team people refuse to believe is any good...the Titans

Despite an 8-8 record in 2006, and a 10-6 record last year w/ a playoff appearance, for whatever reason, people refuse to recognize the Titans as a team that is any good. I would bet that in any preseason publication or article anyone read, any radio or TV preseason prognostication, they picked the Titans to finish 3rd or last in their division (behind the Texans, a team we haven't lost to in 4 years!). Where is the love?

I open my ESPN the Magazine last week, and see that no less than 2 of their "experts" picked the Jacksonville Jaguars to go to the Super Bowl (they also picked the Titans to finish last in the division, but I digress). So, the Titans go out today and pretty much shut down the Jags, a game we could've won by 3 TD's if Vince hadn't played like dogshit. After the game I'm flipping around the tube, CBS, Fox, NBC, ESPN post-game shows, looking for any love given to the Titans for smacking down the "mighty" Jaguars, and I get nothing. I get more news about our shitty QB's injury than I do analysis of a game where the Titans defense let the Jaguars do absolutely nothing on offense, and where the Jaguars only scored a TD when Vince gifted an INT to them, giving them the ball inside the 20.

If the Jaguars are supposed to be so good, doesn't the fact that we beat their asses today mean that the Titans are pretty damn good too? Also, the Titans have played extremely tough against the perrenial Super Bowl favorite Colts the last 2 years, and we beat them in each of the last two years. The Titans can play with and beat the Big Boys, no question. If we can beat "Super Bowl" teams in that way, why aren't we considered a Super Bowl contender too? But outside of me, have you ever heard the words "super bowl" and the "Titans" uttered in the same sentence this year? Hell no.

Perhaps its the lack of "flash" on the team. The Titans don't put up great offensive numbers, and don't really have that one star player on offense that people wanna see. Well, maybe Vince Young was, his 1st year, when he actually used his athletic ability to help us win and didn't try to become a "pocket passer." But apparently for VY, based on watching all 16 games last year and week 1 today, those days are long gone. Damn shame.

But for Christ's sake, this team is good - really good! Seriously. I'd venture to say that the Titans Defense is as good as any team in the league. Vikings, Bears, Chargers - I'd put them up against those defenses any day. And the fact that they so often have to clean up the mess our pathetic QB so often leaves behind (i.e. INT's thrown deep in our own teritory, inoppurtune fumbles, countless 3 and outs, etc) and still manages to shut people down, shows just how good they are. And their Offensive Line just pushes people around all day long. If you can make Lendale White look good (1100 yards, 7TD's last year), then you know you've got something special. The only real glaring weaknesses in this squad is our QB and our WR. I'll grant you that those are two fairly major positions in football, but a great defense and a great offensive line will always give you a chance to win in the NFL.

And oh yeah, maybe we've found our "flashy" offensive star this year in the draft in the form of Running Back Chris Johnson, our 1st round pick our of East Carolina (of the shocking Va Tech and West Virginia wins this year). This dude could be a star. Like this year. Like now. He runs a 4.24 40 yard dash, but he's not just a sprinter, he looks like a good NFL RB. I have a feeling he'll compile a nice NFL highlight reel in no time, but for now, this is what 4.24 looked like when he played at ECU. This guy can play in the NFL. He played great today, showing bursts that looked Peterson-esque at times, en route to over 120 total yards and a TD (over 6 yards per carry too).

If Vince Young can rediscover what made him a good, winning QB in the first place, this team could be very dangerous this year. And if he doesn't, ah well. Kerry Collins, even if he is old, runs this offense better than VY right now anyway. This team, unlike most NFL teams, does not live or die w/ the QB - their Defense and Running game is what makes them good. If Vince can rediscover that magic, that'd be great, but if not, the Titans are still a playoff team. With some solid QB play (either VY or Kerry Collins), they are a Super Bowl team.

No, I'm not crazy...

Astros like Sweeps

In the last week, my Astros, who I've had an embattled relationship with this season, warmed my heart with back-to-back butt whoopins of our most hated division rivals. First, we took 3 straight from the Cardinals, then we went to Wrigley, home of the 1st place, best-record-in-the-NL Cubs, and swept them 3 straight. Damn it feels good. I don't know how they're doing it, but they've won 8 in a row now, and are only 1 game back of the Cardinals, and only 6 or so games back of the Wild Card in the NL. It's still a longshot to make the playoffs, but it feels good to see them playing so well at the end of the year after struggling through the middle of the season.

In other news, my favorite football player, Dimitar Berbatov, went to the dark side and signed w/ Manchester United. That's like Lance Berkman signing w/ the Yankees, or Chase Daniel transferring to KU - basically, a betrayal. I don't want to talk about it. Dimitar, you're dead to me now. I started liking Tottenham partly because I so liked watching you play, and now I'm committed - I'm not gonna abandon them now like you did. Freakin' traitor. Go Spurs!!

Who else can't wait for Football Season to start?????

Nope, this isn't the same as the last post I made - don't you see the extra question marks in the title?

But I'm talking about another type of football - I'm talking FUTBOL!!!! (Ok, I'm talking soccer...)



The English Premier League kicks off the season this weekend w/ a full slate of matches. I love watching soccer. Well, I love watching quality soccer, i.e., no MLS. If you have a chance, and you get the Fox Soccer Channel or Setanta Sports, flip on over this weekend and take in the first weekend of matches. Here's the lineup. No real great matchups, but Liverpool is always fun to watch. Same with the always powerful Manchester United. Along w/ Chelsea, they're basically the Yankees and RedSox of the EPL (obscene spending, constant attention), and I've grown to hate them as much...

My squad, Tottenham Hotspur, if coming off of a fairly disappointing season, but there were glimmers of hope in the 2nd half of the year, after they canned their manager and brought in Juande Ramos (the savior!) to salvage the season and get it back on track. We actually won the Carling Cup (a somewhat prestigious in-season tournament involving other English League teams). While they got rid of their top scorer from last year, Robbie Keane, they still have my boy, the electric and silky-smooth Dimitar Berbatov. Rumor has it that he wanted to go to ManU in the offseason, which pisses me off, but I'm gonna enjoy him playing for us while he's still here. Although I can't blame him for wanting to experience some more success with his level of talent. If Tottenham (I'll call them the "Spurs" on occasion) get off to a bad start, I wouldn't hate him (too much) if he pushes for a move to ManU in the January transfer window (aside from the offseason, the January transfer window is the only time teams can make moves during the season). But we've got a solid sqaud overall, great forwards in Berbatov and Darren Bent (even though some people think he's overrated, Bent's still got skillz - with a "z"), a plethora of exciting and talented midfielders, and a decent back line of defense. Defense is what killed us last year. We scored as many goals as the top clubs, but gave up just as many, thus the 1tth place finish (out of 20 teams).

As far as predictions go, you have to first understand something about the Premier League. Over the past several years, there's been the big four, and then everybody else. The big four - ManU, Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal - have finished in the top 4 of the league for several years running. They all have a bunch of talent, and they all spend a bunch of money. To say that another team will finish in the top 4 of the league is pretty much a long shot. Before Tottenham's 11th place finish last year, they finished just outside the top 4 for two straight years (5th in 2005 and 2006). Now I'm not saying that Tottenham will break into the top 4 this year, but if Berbatov stays and the defense get a bit better, with the plethora of new talent we brought in at the end of last year and in the offseason, and w/ Juande Ramos having a full season for his team to gel, I like the Spurs chances. At least they'll be one of the most exciting teams to watch, as they have been for the past 3 years (which is why I started liking them in the first place).

So if you've got some extra time this weekend, flip on over to Fox Soccer Channel and take in a bit of a match. It's not like there's anything else on between 9am and 2pm on Saturdays, so give it a shot. Maybe you'll grow to love it like I have over the past several seasons. But if not, I won't hate ya for it....

Who else can't wait for Football season to start?

I could also title this post "Ed Wade Can Go Straight to Hell, part 2," but I figured I'd go with a more positive note.

I'm so tired of watching the Astros constantly lose and underachieve. Ed "dickface" Wade made all these moves in the offseason trading away our young talent for a bunch of guys that were supposed to help us win now. Tejada. Valverde. Bourn. Matsui. A completely revamped bullpen. Problem is, almost everybody on the team (with the exception of Berkman, Lee and maybe Tejada) has greatly UNDERachieved and been a huge disappointment. So, dickface's gamble didn't pay off this year - no biggie. It's not as if dickface mortgaged our next 2-3 years of young talent to assemble this piece of shit team. Oh wait, that's EXACTLY what he did.

I'll keep watching and cheering for my 'Stros, cause they're my team, and I like torturing myself, but I just know that this team is gonna be really bad for the next several years. Damn shame.


So, like I said, who's ready for some football?























Mizzou and Illinois kick off the season in just over a month, and the NFL season is only about 6 weeks away. I can't wait!!

My NFL team, the Titans, are like the exact opposite of the Astros. The Titans management and coaching is awesome (see: Jeff Fisher); the Astros managment sucks (see, e.g. my last 2 blog posts). The Titans roster is filled with mainly with a bunch of no name young guys; the Astros are filled with a bunch of older guys (remember, we traded all of our young talent away!). The Astros are a bunch of horrendous underachievers; whereas nobody expected anything out of the Titans the last two seasons, and they pulled off 9-7 and 10-6 records with a bunch of OVERachievers. The Titans are strong and play as a team; the Astros players like to fight with their GM.

Vince Young. Albert Haynesworth. Kyle Vandenbosch. Alge Crumpler. Titans v. Chiefs Week 7. Chase Daniel. Jeremy Maclin. Chase Coffman. Mizzou vs. Kansas @ Arrowhead. Faurot Field. Tailgating. AHHHHHHHHH......I can't wait for football season to start!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ed Wade Can Go Straight to Hell...

I'm too frustrated/angry/tired/busy to expound on this too much now, but that dude with the evil little smile in the picture there is Astros GM Ed Wade. And he's a bitch.

Under his brief period of inept control, he has ruined my beloved Astros, not just for this year, but for many years to come. He sucks. Sad thing is, there were plenty of people out there who already knew he sucked before we hired him, and we still gave that douche-sack control of our team.

I'll expand on this further later on, but right now, I just wanted to express the constant feeling of sick-to-my-stomach-ness I get when I think about the stupid moves this asshole made over the past 6 months (and former GM Purpura's 2 year reign before that was pretty damn awful as well), and how its going to put my Astros in the hole for the forseeable future.

Also, he likes to pick fights with Astros pitchers. God, what a disaster.

Dear Ed Wade: