Exile on Waveland

I'm telling you, the Colts aren't winning in Oakland. It wouldn't stun me if they get dominated. Most likely, McFadden/Bush will run all over them, they'll fall behind pretty big, make a come back, but fall just short. I've seen this game before. The Colts stink on the road. Their defense is especially bad on the road. With Collie now out, the offense is likely to struggle (hopefully there is no return of the interception-prone Manning, but that seems possible). Heck the Colts barely won the last time they were in Oakland, with a much better team and a much worse Raiders team.

This. But I'm sure we'll blow one of the final two games and McCarthy will stay. It seems to me that McCarthy really has a built in excuse with all the injuries. I think I heard Hub Arkush say you guys had 6 starters on IR, and 3 of the backups that filled those spots are on IR? And that's not even including Aaron Rodgers missing the Pats game. Something like that....that's nuts. Meanwhile the Bears starters have missed a total of 3 games due to injury. Tinoisamoa has missed 2, and Cutler missed 1. Is that really true? Wow. The Colts key contributors list goes like this: Addai has missed 8 games Gary Brackett missed 4 Donald Brown missed 3 Austin Collie has missed 5 (and got knocked out of 2-3 more early) Kavell Connor has missed 4 (key backup and starting linebacker now) Brody Eldridge missed 2 (starting tight end) Pierre Garcon missed 2 Mike Hart missed 5 due to injury (runningback who would have started all those games) Kelvin Hayden missed 2 Charlie Johnson missed 1 Antonio Johnson missed 2 Jacob Lacey missed 4 Jamey Richard missed 1 Clint Session has missed 9 Justin Tryon missed 4 And the IR players Melvin Bullitt missed the entire season (starter last year) Dallas Clark has missed 8 games Cody Glenn has missed 3 (special teams starter) Anthony Gonzalez has missed 12 Ramon Humber has missed 12 (special teams starter) Devin Moore has missed 10 games (kickoff returner) Jerraud Powers has missed 4 games Bob Sanders has missed 13 games Tom Santi missed the season (would have started a lot at TE this year) Jamie Silva missed the season (special teams starter and would have been starter at safety this year after Sanders and Bullitt were lost by game 1) Kevin Thomas missed the season (would have been 3rd corner) I didn't try to go too deeply into the reserve DB's because it was too hard to figure out who was starting when. For example, the Colts have lost 8 safeties so far this year. Several people have blamed the cover 2 scheme on it because it's emphasis on small, fast players inevitably leads to more injuries. That might have some effect but I doubt it does to that degree. I wonder if Packer fans are trying to blame their injuries on anything in particular. I'm a Colt fan and knew all that. However, it's still pretty stunning to see listed out. Not to be overly pedantic, but Melvin Bullitt did play four games this year before being placed on IR. Now, he played so poorly that he didn't necessarily help the team, but he didn't miss the entire season.

The Colts will lose in Oakland, don't worry.

It's a bummer Spurs drew Milan. You have me excited. This is what I get for posting when I wake up hungover. Sorry. Move along, nothing to see here . . .

Real-Spurs could be interesting too. Especially considering Spurs form in the Champions League and Rafael van der Vaart just switching from Real. Though, obviously, Real are rather heavy favorites I'd say. EDIT: I'm a drunken fool. AC Milan not Real; oh well, some big team from some country south of England. They're all the same, right?

Great deal; quite the bargain. And, just from an irrational fan's perspective, it really is great to have Wood back.

Stay away from Titans offensive players. We've failed to score a touchdown for two straight games now and we really haven't come close. Think the Colts defense is bad enough that the 4 touchdowns the Titans scored against them don't count? On the road? Yeah, they're that bad.

Zonal marking is the ish. Must read for soccer fans.

Randy Wells, Carlos Silva, Ted Lilly and Ryan Dempster are an amazing array of talent? Because all of them pitched better after getting under Rothschild's tutelage than before. Not to mention guys like Joe Borowski, Matt Clement, Glendon Rusch and Jerome Williams Matt Clement was a really talented guy. Talent/stuff was never the problem.

What are you talking about? Have you seen a basketball game before? Rush just tried to draw a charge. That's an attack? Since I'm in the Bulls thread, I have to say they were impressive. They should win the division easy, and, with a better shooting guard/perimeter scorer, could be a threat to the top three East teams.

Holy crap. Awful.

So . . . Crawford is just a little better than Turco at this point.

Remember when Scott didn't fight? I like this better.

I think that's the worst part. With a bolder/stronger color, the logo is fine, if a little bland. But the color is terrible.

Just awful. Leaders/Legends is atrocious. I honestly can't help but thinking it's a practical joke (I know it's not). Who thought that was OK? Yeesh. The new logo is ugly, though I'd say mainly because of the color scheme. With a better color, it would just be bland. We're the Big Ten: three yards and a cloud of dust! And our logo is ninny light blue? Really? I like the idea of the awards being named after Big Ten greats, but two names seems overkill. It's a sop to ensure every team is represented. At worst, I'd say the awards are a good idea poorly executed. Which is way, way better than the awful division names and ugly logo.

Anyone know why it's only the 5th place EPL team that goes to the Europa League this coming year? The last couple years the EPL has gotten 5th-7th in. The Premiership gets three spots. They are first reserved for the fifth place league team, the FA Cup winner, and the Kiddie Cup winner. If either, or both, of the cup winners already qualified for the Champions or Europa League (i.e., finished in the top-5 of the league), then the sixth and seventh place teams qualify for Europa. Last year Chelsea won the FA Cup and Manchester United the Carling, and as both qualified for the Champions League, Aston Villa (sixth) and Liverpool (seventh*) qualified for Europa. *It pains me to write seventh after the Reds.

My lasting memory of game 1 is Dusty choosing to face Mike Lowell with Guthrie rather than face Lenny Harris with Dave Veres. [expletive] Dusty in the ass with a flaming iron rod. Yup. That and Sosa's homerun are about the only things I remember. That move pretty much encapsulates all that's wrong with Dusty. What a moran.

I'm actually quite happy with this move. Considering the money Dunn got, one-year, $10-million sounds like a good deal for Pena. He's also a buy-low candidate, as, even despite his age, I expect him to rebound a bit (low BABIP, moving to the NL Central and all). I do wish there was a team option for a second year, but that's picking nits. The Cubs likely upgraded at first -- obviously only for the very short term -- and did not pay a ton to do so.

Damn. Cubs games on the radio will never be the same for me. If anyone deserved to see the Cubs win a World Series, it was him (though I suppose none of us are terribly surprised it didn't happen). RIP

Here's a fun exercise: try to find 15 sites in the state of Rhode Island to host games, plus sites for training grounds. All within the state border. What a stupid idea. When do the vote rolls go public? Yup. They gave the World Cup to Connecticut. Except Connecticut is bigger. And has over twice as many people. But has 500x less money (no, really). Come on, I was shocked and disappointed as well but this could be a pretty neat event. Sure, I think they'll spend lavishly and it will be "neat." I just don't think the World Cup should be aiming for "neat."

Here's a fun exercise: try to find 15 sites in the state of Rhode Island to host games, plus sites for training grounds. All within the state border. What a stupid idea. When do the vote rolls go public? Yup. They gave the World Cup to Connecticut. Except Connecticut is bigger. And has over twice as many people.

You know, I actually suspect you're right. It's risky because there could be an oil bust or something. But I bet the stadiums (and even practice facilities) get built, with air conditioning, and function pretty well. I think the players dying of heat stroke idea is hyperbolic and over played (probably knowingly so). The problem is, even if so, that doesn't answer the dozens of other questions surrounding Qatar. That's the reason it's so irresponsible.

It's just so irresponsible. South Africa was risky. Brazil was risky. Russia is risky. But I undstand all of those. Qatar goes beyond risky into irresponsible. The political climate, the size, the weather, the infrastructure, the money (surely we all just learned how quickly wealth can dissipate), etc. It's just an awful decision that can only have been based on two things (i) butterfly chasing and/or (ii) bribes. Edit: I forgot to mention travel. I was kind of hoping to attend every World Cup the rest of my life (perhaps optimistic; perhaps not), but who really wants to go to Qatar? I sure don't. For as expensive as it would be, I can't see it being worth it. I could see going to Israel and Egypt or something, and just flying into Qatar for a game or two. But, if you do that, you're touristing out-of-country and missing most the World Cup, which I love watching. So . . . figures to be the perfect World Cup to watch from the comfort of my own home. Doubt I'll be alone in that sentiment.

While this was my prediction, I can't help but be in shock. I expected it, but was still stunned to hear the word "Qatar" (and "Russia" for that matter, but less so). FIFA has dispensed with any attempt to outwardly appear incorruptible. What a disgrace. Qatar has the potential to be an utter nightmare -- it could work well, sure, but it could also be a disaster of epic porportions.

Halfway to being right on both my predictions. FIFA is going to chase the butterflies. The butterflies aren't in competent, uncorrupt, developed countries like England and the United States. The butterflies are in (the bribing countries) Russia and Qatar.