Week One - Some things never change!

An interesting kickoff week to be sure. There were plenty of upsets and some big injuries. It was great to see real NFL football back in season because preseason games were starting to seem like kissing your sister. Without further ado, here are my thoughts on some notable events in week one:

Brady and the Patriots - Too bad for Tom Terrific and all those who have him as their fantasy quarterback. Brady had 14 fewer points than Jamarcus Russell who had 17 and he's not going to get any more. No, I am not trading! Anyway, he is out for the year and I think that the Pat's will not be as dominant as last year but they were not going to be anyway. They will still likely win their division, but this sure opens things up in the AFC.

Peyton Manning and the Colts - Lame Lame Lame! Peyton's little brother looked so much better it is pitiful. It looks like someone sewed some kryptonite in his friggin undies! He was not confident and indecisive. I think it is directly attributable to not playing in any preseason games. This whole theory that veterans don't need to play in the preseason is bullshit.

The Chargers. You knew it was coming, dear Charger fans. Again, Lame! I don't know who the F*&K is calling the plays there but if LT tries to shove his nose up one more O-lineman's ass, he is going to have to buy them flowers first. When they send him outside he gets big gains, so that offensive genius Norv Turner sends him right at the center's ass time after time. My 6 year old son was wondering what they were thinking! I am not sure about Norv being a genius, but from my experience when he coached the Raiders I can say that he is offensive!

This team is another classic example of sitting their starters in the preseason. They looked totally out of sync in the first half and only started to pull their heads out toward the end of the game. Had they put a few drives in over the last few weeks they would have put 7 or 14 more on the board and probably would have won the game.

Shawn Fucking Merriman - I really hate to be right, but last week I predicted that he would be ineffective and 2 tackles total pretty much defines that. I thought he would last only a few games and it was only one. If he was really a team player he would have gotten the surgery a long time ago and been ready to return sometime late this season - for a playoff run that likely won't happen now. He is a friggin moron.

The Raiders - Man did that stink! It seems that the fued between Kiffin and Al Davis/Rob Ryan is in full swing. Rumors have it that Ryan is sandbagging the D to get Kiffin fired. I am trying to get a hold of my source close to the team to confirm this. Anyway, the defense was pathetic - idiotically pathetic. That waste of money named DeAngelo Hall got burned to a crisp by a rookie - LAME! They threw on him all night with ease and there were only 4 blitzes called by Ryan in nearly 60 plays. How dumb is that.

Jamarcus is a total rookie and lost that fumble when we really needed that score. Other than that he did pretty good for a rookie - at least he had no picks. That kid has a friggin cannon, that's for sure.

Anyway, the Raiders played about as bad as a team can play on defense and made just enough stupid mistakes to get totally steamrolled by the fucking Broncos. We'll see this week if it was the Raiders being that bad or the Broncos being that good after we see how many points the Broncos beat the Chargers by.

Favre - Holy Shit! How lucky is this guy? That first TD was awesome - a great play action pass - he still has an arm! But that second TD pass on 4th and long was a total joke. It reminded me of that Monday night game after his dad died and he was throwing that crap all over against the Raiders and they would all fall into someone's arms by total luck. He just basically heaved that ball up as a glorified punt and got a TD instead. Amazing. I think that the lipstick will wear off this pig soon...

Beers

As many of you know my favorite beer is generally Bud Light, with a smattering of beers like Stone Brewing, Guiness, and other meaty beers. So it is with some anticipation that we await the new Budweiser American Ale. The strange thing about this beer is that they have been marketing the shit out of it and we have not been able to find it yet. So, your challenge, gentle readers, is to get out there and find some and post some reviews. I have a strange feeling that it will suck, kind of like Sam Adams light or something like that. With any luck it will be good, but it is unlikely.

Oh, for you who live in San Diego, you really need to go to the Stone Brewery facility in Escondido. It totally kicks ass for a great place to drink beer although the food is a bit foofy for my taste. My only gripe with the place is that you can't get any Stone beer you want on tap at any time. It seems that they only pour from the tap what they are in the middle of bottling at that time or something so if you want Oaked Arrogant Bastard you are more than likely going to get it from a bottle. Sad...

Its a New Year - At Last!

Greetings gentle readers!

It has been quite a while since my last post. The combination of a lousy Raiders season and my uncle's untimely passing diminished my enthusiasm for the effort. Well, I have been getting some vibes that it is time to blog anew and I am sure that it is that picture of my uncle on the wall behind me that is delivering the message: IT'S FOOTBALL SEASON!

So much has happened since the last post - there is no way I can cover it all. I will just hit on a few high (low)lights:

Brett Favre

What the f*&k is going on with him?? As long time readers will recall, I begged him to retiree before last season. For those of you still blinded by last year's miracle season for Brett, the previous outing in 2006 was dreadful. He was near the bottom in almost every category - he was washed up. He did some of the same "maybe I will, maybe I won't" shit after the end of that year as well and decided to come back - for one more year. OK, I will give it to him - that was a good call as he had a great year. But what a friggin idiot! He could go out almost on top and erase the memory of 2006 from the minds of football fans everywhere. A good deal if there ever was one - 38 years old and riding high.

So he retires, right? Wrong! Even after parades and the rest, the schmuck has the nerve to try to come back. The team was moving on - I don't blame them. They even offered him some $$ to be some sort of mascot or something. He should have taken it. He went to the Jets - the Jets! He is going to get killed out there and the Jets will be lucky to hit .500. All I can say is that this guy is an egomaniac. Pull your head out Brett!

The Chargers, LT and Merriman

If I were a Charger fan, I would have burned my LT jersey in effigy! That little pouty faced baby hurt his wittle knee and sat on the bench pouting. "If I can't play then I just want to go home" was written all over his face. While his teammates were getting their asses handed to them in the playoffs, he can't even root along. Real football players have been seen rooting from stretchers and ambulances, but LT is in his own little world.

Making it worse, he did not even have enough of an injury to require significant surgery! WTF? So now we are about to start the season and he has not seen any action that would require actual contact with other players since he wussed out last year. Do you think that knee is ready for the bottom of the pile? Hmm, let's see.... He is in year 7 of his career I think and RB's last an average of 4 years so.... hey! He's done! I predict that his lack of attention to his injury is going to take that half step that he had on defenses away and he will be a shadow of his former self. Well at least the bolts have Turne...oops!

Worse still might be the biggest idiot in the league, with THE dumbest routine in the world, Shawn "my brain could not power a nightlight" Merriman. So he learns last year - yes, last year, that he has not one but two torn ligaments. He piddle paddles along all off season thinking that the magic pixie dust fairy will notice his stupid dancing and come by and fix his knee. Well guess what - pixie dust never comes despite his efforts at stupid dancing. Now the season is upon him and he is told by 4 doctors that he needs surgery and that playing will certainly make it worse and possibly make it career ending for him. Easy choice for a guy whose contract is up after the end of NEXT season, right? You get fixed up this year - root from the sidelines - and come back ready to go next year. (Of course a real team player would have hit the knife in January and been ready to play in October) What does he say? "I will play until I can't". What a dumb f*&k! Here's my prediction: He will be ineffective, every offensive lineman who has had to watch him do his stupid dance over and over will be eyeing that knee, and he won't last but a few games at best. I guess they don't hire guys like him for their brains...

Gene Upshaw

What a loss! One of the greatest Raiders ever! I remember him from when I was a teenager with all that tape on his arms and he was awesome. I must say that this whole Pancreatic cancer thing is bad mojo as a good friend is also dealing with it now. Every one of the idiots like the ones noted above should kiss Gene's ass because he made it possible for morons to become millionaires in the NFL.

Beers

Sad as it may be, Bud is not longer an American company. Sold out they did, making the largest beer maker in the country a foreign owned corporation. I blame George Bush - you heard it here! If the stupid idiot had not gone on a drunken tax cutting and spending binge, perhaps the dollar would be worth something as opposed to nearly nothing now. Makes our big companies awful cheap!

If there is one silver lining, the buyer is the brewer of Stella Artois which is a fine beer. Perhaps one day the dollar will be worth enough to buy the brand back....

Week 14 - Sorry for the Delay

Yes, it has been several weeks since I last posted. My bad. I don't have any excuses other than a great football and beer man who was very close to me passed away last month and for some reason blogging just seemed to take a back seat for a while. My Uncle John was only a week shy of 56 years old when he passed away of cancer. He and I went golfing and fishing in October - he drove us to June Lake - and there was a lot of beer and football that weekend. John had been diagnosed the week before, so he held off on the beer but consumed copious amounts of football, fishing, and plain old jackassery with the rest of us. It is strange for me to watch him go. Several of us spent the last few days of his life with him and his kids at his bedside. I even got a chance to watch his last football games with him on the Sunday before he died. He was surprised at just how bad the Eagles and Redskins were that week. As I recall, he said that both teams played like donkey dicks. That about summed it up as this was not the world's best played game - at least during the stretch that we watched. No friggin defense at all - both teams had 100+ yard runners. Anyway, my Uncle John is now above us, with a beer in hand watching live football all day every day. Actually, I am sure he will toss in some NBA and MLB here and there, but football was #1. I miss him a lot already and will take the avuncular guidance he gave me forward and pass it on. Now - back to The Blog Raiders I gotta start out with the Raiders as this was a notable week for The Nation. Since appearing in the Super Bowl in 2003 - note that date Charger homers - the Raiders have won precious few games against AFC west rivals, with the last win coming in Denver on a snowy Monday night when Ronald Curry made that spectacular catch in the end zone. SEVENTEEN straight losses to division opponents - until now. We have now won TWO STRAIGHT! Yeah now! Off the Schneid! The Raiders may have squeaked past KC, but this was in KC, until this season a really hard place to win. The Silver and Black handed Denver their asses by 14 points and it sure was nice to run one right up ol' Shanahan's ass! Squeal like a Pig Mikey! Another Raider development was the appearance of Jamarcus Russel - at last. Coach Kiffin may be just teasing us, but he gave the kid two series' to show his stuff and he did as well as one could hope. His passes looked confident and crisp and I have a feeling that he can throw the ball harder than Brees and Rivers put together. He is HUGE in the pocket and I hope and pray that he lives up to half of his promise. You heard it here first - the Raiders will beat the Packers in Lambeau. Do you know why? As of today, Brett's hand is still tingling and he does not have his full grip. Aaron Rodgers, who did so well last week, injured his hammie in practice on Tuesday and is out for two weeks. They have no third QB and picked a guy up just now to fill in. I predict that Brett will start to preserve his record, but will not be effective and without Brett (and Aaron) they are sunk. The Raider D will pick off the new guy of he tries to throw and our newly energized run defense with hold off any running attack that the 30th ranked Packers rushing attack can muster. Chargers Looks like the Chargers are doing better. Who could have predicted that if you give the ball to #21 you will win games? Not Norv earlier this year. Rivers had a game that on paper looked good, but anyone who saw him play would disagree. Yes, he had a long TD pass, but he looks unsteady in the pocket and really should learn how to properly throw the ball away. He scares me and if I were AJ Smith I would be looking for help in this area. Of course, Aj is an idiot, so he will make more stupid decisions for the bolt fans. The bolts have the division all but locked up, but all it will take is a few bad passes by Rivers to take away the running game and the bolts are sunk. Patriots The pats are not invincible. Say that again to yourself and try to make yourself believe it. I think that the Pats have way more than 9 lives, because it seems like they used up a dozen or more on Monday night. Who the fuck called that time out from the Raven's bench? that cost the game. I think that the NFL should revisit that rule as it seems to be distorting games. If you give Brady and Co. enough chances they will kill you every time. The key to winning is to apply pressure to Brady, cover all the hot routes, make sure that you don't get burned in a screen, and hope that Moss has a bad game. If you get all of that Right AND score like 40 points, you have a shot. Beer I gotta give it up for my Uncle John on this post, as he was a Budweiser drinker. He was not so much into all the other wacky flavors of Bud (light, ice, dry, etc) and stuck to the Red White and Blue for the most part. He enjoyed many other beers and I have personally seen him drink any number of Mexican beers in our trips south of the border fishing. One of my favorite anecdotes about he and I drinking beer relates to our shared love of astronomy. his house is at about 4500 feet above Palm Desert and the sky there is very dark. From my late teens into my 30's I spent a lot of time out there with our scopes observing, photographing, and generally enjoying the heavens. We founded the Golfing Astronomer Musician's Association during these years as a way to buy more scopes and beer. Anyway, in the winter it got quite cold out at his house and it was always new moon when we would use the scopes so it was also quite dark. We would run into problems remembering whose beer was whose as it was so dark and we devised a way to tell by turning our tabs one way or the other so that you could identify your beer by feel - even with gloves. I started turning my tab to the left (9:00 position) back in 1982 or so and still do that to each and every of the thousands of beers I have drank since. I do it as a habit that, now that John is gone, will be a silent reminder of him while I drink beer. John always took the 3:00 position and my next door neighbor, with whom I have drank quite a few beers, adopted the 3:00 position 6 or 7 years back. Of course, if you turn it all the way to 12:00, you have a chovie guard, but that's another story. So if you see me turn my tab to 9:00, you now know where that came from.

Week 8 - The Big Game

It seems that San Diego is finished smoldering and considering the magnitude of the fires, it all went pretty well. This is except for those unlucky folks who lost everything - that has got to suck mightily. At least LT's running hill was spared....

This should be a somewhat interesting week, even though the focus in pretty much on one game, likely a preview of the AFC championship game. I think that the oddsmakers are being generous to Indy with only a 5 point spread for the Pats. Perhaps the networks want them to keep it close so people tune in to the game even though we all know the outcome. I predict that the Pats will win by over 10 points.

Back to week 8...

Brett Fu@#*)ng Favre - Yes, Denver sucks and Green Bay pointed that out with a W on Monday night. But how about that pass in OT? That guy still has a rocket and he dropped a perfect pass on that long TD play. The only thing that I am starting to regret is that Brett is having a good enough year to consider staying on for another. Brett, if you read my blog, and I know that you do, please take advantage of your current success to go out on top...

Running up the score - I am sure that the Colts felt pretty damn bitchin after rolling over Carolina by 24 points - not a bad display! The Bolts thought it was wimpy and kept their starters in long enough to win by 25. Wow, that's impressive! NOT! both of these teams were shown just how to run up the score by Mr. Fuck Off League, Coach Bellicheck. He won the game by FORTY FIVE POINTS! What? Wow, the 2nd string must have been in the game a while, right? WRONG! Brady played until the lead was 38 points - the 2nd string QB came in with 8 minutes left and only threw 3 of the 41 passes for NE! I think that Bill has a little chip on his shoulder and my guess is that he wants to lodge it up Tony Dungee's ass on Sunday.

The London Bog - what the fuck was the NFL thinking sending a regular season game across the pond? That game was pathetic for a couple of reasons. First, the field was shitty. It seems that bad grass goes along with bad teeth over there. And what was up with the markings on the field rubbing off on anyone who fell onto them? Somehow that does not seem to happen over here. The other shitty part of this game was the fact that the G-Men could not score any points on Miami! Miami people! The Raiders scored 5 , count them, 5 TDs on Miami - in Miami! The Giants are losers.

Daunte is DONE - I just saw on the wires that Kiffin is pulling Daunte, can't score outside of Florida, Culpepper from the starting job. He put McCown back in - hmm, that's encouraging! I agree that Daunte is a bust. He can't see farther than 5 yards downfield it seems and has a tendency to fumble. He also has thrown picks on game winning drives in the last two games. He's done. But McCown? Why not toss the kid in there and see how he does? He has to get in there sometime? I guess since the Raiders are only 2 games out of 1st place in the division, he has some delusions that we have a playoff opportunity. Insane, yes, but for a first year coach you have got to convince the boss (AD) that there is hope.


Beers

This is the time of year when seasonal beers start to appear. My wonderful wife bought some Octoberfest beers recently, apparently because it's October. The beer was passable, but unremarkable. I just don't understand seasonal beer! Do the ingredients in beer have some sort of season that requires them to be produced at certain times of the year? It's not like brewers everywhere wait for that one full moon in autumn to see if the beer flower will appear so they can harvest it's nectar or something. Last time I checked, all beer ingredients are grown whenever and can be stored until needed.

So if the production of beer is not seasonal, should the consumption of beer change seasonally? Should I change the type of beer I drink based on the month or season? Fuck no, I say! This makes not sense, almost like my favorite line when I need to get out of something and I tell the undesired inviter that I have to change the air in my tires to get all that summer air out and put in fall air. Yes, some people just stand there puzzled wondering if they too need to change the air in their tires and wondering how much their mechanic will charge them.

The point is that there are no seasons for beer drinking - every season has its advantages. Summertime begs for icechests full of beer by the pool or at the river. Fall means football, and the only concession that I could give to seasonal drinking is that consumption goes up from September to January on Sundays. Winter beer drinking is when you use the cooler cup to protect your hand, not the beer. Spring brings warmer weather and a return to drinking outside, perhaps in the cul de sac on a Friday night.

So you can keep your seasonal beers. Every season is a good beer drinking season.

Week 7 - All Fired Up

It has been a strange week here in San Diego, so this week's entry will be brief. The firestorm had direct impacts on me at my work, where the agency that I work for suffered a number of losses and had about 20% of our service area turned to ash. My home was out of harm's way for the most part, although we did get an evacuation warning, but never an order. If this is going to happen every 4 years perhaps we should reschedule it for election year instead - that was the misery of the election season can be punctuated by massive devastation from fires rather than Americans electing a moron to the Oval Office as has happened twice in a row now....

On to football

4th Round Pick - the Raiders shopped and shopped Randy Moss around and the BEST offer they got was a 4th round pick. Hello? This guy is leading the league in nearly every receiving category! I guess if your QB can stand there in the pocket with nary a grass stain on his knee and hurl them up for you all day you have a better chance than on a team that gave up 72 sacks last year. Randy is showing some drive to actually go and get the ball, which was not in evidence when he wore the Silver and Black. At this point the Pats are still unbeatable.

Daunte's Inferno - while it was not all his fault, he gets a lot of the blame for the Raider's loss. It seemed that his vision was limited to 5 or 6 yards down field - every pass was to the outlet receiver from the backfield. The few times he did launch it it worked well - why not do it again, moron? One other thing, as you are driving down for the game winning FG attempt, ball security is not kind of important, it is the only fucking thing you need to focus on. That last pick was a killer.


Beers

I have spent a little time contemplating the right beer for a firestorm and there are a number of factors. How well will the beer wash the ashes out of your mouth? How will it travel with all of your belongings in the back of a truck? What is the availability of more on a moment's notice when people are making a run on the 7-11? Finally, which beer can you drink in sufficient quantity to always have a fire hose in hand, just in case the flames come too close? Based on these considerations, I have ruled out fancy beers and microbrews because they fail in items 2 &3. Bottled beer in general does not travel in as compact a space per unit volume than does cans, so they are out. And when it comes to availability, you got to select what is available at 7-11. The winner (no surprise): Bud Light. Yes, it was rigged....

Week 6 - Just Tackle #21!

Many things occurred last week that were expected and a bunch of stuff happened that was not - oh wait a minute - it all went as expected! The only surprise was a guy older than me tossing a huge TD pass and then springing up to the arms of an O lineman! While I personally wish some things went the other way, many were perfectly awesome! Peyton Manning - watching his femur break over and over on tape reminded me of the Theisman incident so long ago. I knew it was gross, but I had to keep watching and watching and watching! It was like that scene out of Fast Times at Ridgemont High - you know the one! It was hard not to watch it over and over and over................ uh - er - ugh - hmmm - oh, that was just a dream! Phew, Peyton is intact and was on a bye. It is strange for a Raider fan to hate the Manning family as much as Charger fans, but somehow they just grate on me. His non-stop friggin commercials don't help. America's Team - I am not talking about the Cowboys here folks - it's new England. If you are an undefeated team and you let another team waltz into your stadium and put up 48 points you had better hand over the friggin tiara! I drove past the stadium in Arlington and from where I was looking that place is a shithole - in fact, from what I have seen of most of Texas, the whole place is a shithole! I think that it is time for America's team to move somewhere else!. Wait a minute, most of the greater Boston area is a shithole too! I think that there is room in the East Bay for America's team, since even though they suck they still outsell both the Boys and the Pats in NFL merchandise nationwide. With respect to the Patriots all I have to say is Fuck - Wow - Only several broken femurs can stop them.... Vinnie Fucking Testaverde! I bagged on him last week, or more specifically the team that chose him, and boy did he perform. I saw that long pass and it was sweet! I think he met the DB on that pass in the parking lot because he bailed on that coverage like a whore in church. Hey, a win is a win - let's see how long 43 year old bones can take the pounding! Vikings - I never thought I would be writing about the purple menace, but I have to lay it out for Adrian Peterson. Where the heck was the much acclaimed Chicago defense? I gotta say that this guy is the best RB that I have seen come out in some time, and the last will be mentioned later. He's a rookie and he is leading the league in rushing - in Minnesota! Who would have guessed The Vikes have a losing record (take that Steve-o) but if they canput some players around this guy, they may have something. NEWS FLASH - Cincinnati officially sucks! The only thing worse is the NFC East. Other than the Pats, the remaining 3 teams have a COMBINED TWO WINS! The Raiders have won the same number! It's no wonder the Pats get into the playoffs all the time... The Saints - Drew Brees is dusting off his shittiness (is that a word - it fits if not) and they are starting to look like the just might have a chance at possibly coming around. I think I hedged like a presidential candidate there. Seriously, they had a nice W last week and did not look like dog shit as they had every other week. I felt so bad for them as the City was rising on their tide and it was looking like they were going to need to have some FEMA bags on their heads again.... the chargers - yeah, I am here to take it - the bolts beat the Raiders again - 8 in a row. FUCK. Did I say FUCK? Oh yeah, I did. Just tackle # 21. You got that Rob Ryan, defensive fucking genius? Just tackle # 21! Just tackle # 21. Just tackle # 21. Game over! What else do they have? Gates - perhaps. .....(sound of crickets chirping).... There's nothing but LT people! Sure , AJ brought in a new guy from Miami who drops more than he catches, but that is next week! Culpepper just fucked the dog here but Ryan and the defense should shoulder most of the blame. I gotta hand it to Norv - LT set him straight in their little talk - "give me the ball Norv or I will run your head so far up AJ's ass you will see Al Davis again"! FUCK! Asses kicked again! Beers Wheat Beer Sucks. Yes, you heard it first here - wheat beer sucks. Please see my earlier posts on (1) fruit in beer and (2) filtering beer and you can only deduce that wheat beer sucks. Let's review: It's cloudy. That means that it is not properly filtered. It is generally served with a fucking lemon wedge which violates the fruit in beer rule. Two strikes and you are close to out, but you still have some pitches coming your way. the third strike is the fact that it is made of wheat. Wheat? Isn't that for bread and Wheaties? beer is made of Barley, Hops and for us Bud drinkers, a bit of rice. Wheat is not part of it. I appreciate the fine folks that have only wheat to make some beer, and in this I refer to home brewed African beers that use pots of water, old wheat, and wild yeasts to make something, anything, to get a buzz from. I will give it up to someone who has no choice but to make beer from wheat to consume wheat beer, but those of you with a choice should know better... On another note, I would like to give a shout out to my wife who, despite the fact that only one male Charger fan in my neighborhood was man enough to attend, she put out a spread for the aforementioned game and even had a girlfriend over to watch my Raiders get their asses handed to them, again. I was not the cheeriest guy during the game as you may predict, and their recitals of passages from People Magazine during the game did not help. Anyway, I have two more games left on my contract this year, so contact me with games you think would be good for a football party. Thanks Sheri!

Week 5 - Raiders in 1st Place!

Yeah, it is a cheaply won title, due in large part to our bye week, but mostly to the stupid play of the Doncos. But it has been a few years since us Raider fans have been able to say that and depending on what happens on Sunday, it may be a while again. You know, you don't have to come in first in your division to win a Super Bowl as the Silver and Black have proven in the past.

I spent the weekend drinking beer and fishing in the Sierras and our TV coverage was weak, so I did not even watch a single complete game - shocking isn't it. It was pointed out to me by others in attendance that I could watch any game on the NFL network during the week, but could not get back out on that boat on June Lake from Escondido. We got periodic updates, but essentially missed most of the games completely. I am certain that this won't happen again this year.

Here's my recap of selected games:

Cowboys - This game I actually did see most of and I have to say that the friggin 'boys are about as big a pretender as any team that has ever stumbled their way to 5-0. How many complete fuck ups can your QB do and you still win the game? Granted, if you play a team whose offense could not get past the Escondido High School JV team, perhaps you have a chance. the worst thing was the friggin MNF announcers who had their lips planted so tightly on the Bill's collective sphincters that they really looked stupid when Buffalo lost, because they had already anointed the Bill's rookie QB as the next coming. Granted, he did OK for a newb but get your tongue out of his ass Kornheiser, or is that why you got that name?

Carolina - OK, you are 3-2 but you are killing off QBs faster than Ricky Williams snaps bong loads. This is the team that brought David Carr on board from the Texans where he was sacked like one BILLION times and now he gets injured? Has Carolina taken QB abuse to a new level? OK, fine, you need a new backup....let's see, who should we look for. I know, how about Vinnie Fucking Testaverde? There are people who can legally drink in all states that were born AFTER he left college! The guy was drafted in 1987! He is older than me! Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, over? I heard that Marino said he could still chuck a ball, and since he is now on Weight Watchers he may be a better choice!

Chargers - It seems that LT had a little sit down with the Norvinator and told him how the dog wags the tail, or at least that is how it was reported in the SD Union tribune. I don't know about you, but any time your RB needs to get the Coach into a closed room to tell him to give the ball to the NFL MVP all I can say is it's time for a new Coach! Even though I had wished for a tie game, I would have taken some satisfaction watching Shanahan squirm on the sidelines getting kick after kick to his balls (if I could get only one shot - I would prefer to put shortie on a stool so I could get proper extension as I sent his prostate a little gift from his scrotum). Sorry, I digress, but that guy pisses me off in a big way! I hope to see his season go down in ruin.

I know some of your Raider Haters who read this are looking forward to this weekend as you expect the FIRST PLACE Raiders to lose big to the Chargers, but get a grip. Last week was an anomaly - you got lucky with a bad Denver team. Let's take a closer look: The first drive I will concede - not too shabby, but the second touchdown was a gift on a special teams play. At that point Jay Cutler had to Throw and you got a pick and it was all downhill from there. Good win for you, but when you add that to the collapse - at home - against KC, I don't see this as a trend.

The Raiders are coming in a bit hobbled as two defensive linemen, Gerrard and Burgess, will not play. But Dominic Rhodes will be there and Culpepper will certainly look to hit some slants as Donnie Edwards is not there to tackle anyone. Some dumbass on my football pool posted a poll wondering how big the point differential will be and the lowest number is 21 - I can assure you that if the Raiders do not win, and I think that they will, the will certainly cover the spread which varies between 9.5 and 10 at this point.

Beers

Something happened the other day that surprised me. I know that I like Bud Light and that it is generally better than Coors Light and Miller Lite, but I never really expected the lesser two beer brands to throw in the towel and merge! When you get down to it, are these beers really that different? Sure Bud Light is best, but Miller Lite has more taste....oh yeah, more BAD taste. OK, I will give you that - Miller Lite tastes bad, but certainly their advertising campaigns could make up for that - you know the ones with the More Taste League commissioner appearing as people try to drink? Oh yeah, that was stupid too. Well you would think that Coors Light would do better, even though it is not as good as Bud Light, right? C'mon, how about some marketing to overcome the foul taste of beer that should be refrigerated at all times that the 7-11 clerk left out in the heat? How about the SECOND year of stupid jokes on coaches by fake spliced in hecklers from the press corps - now that's funny - once - last year.

You have read here on a number of occasions how I prefer Bud Light over all for day to day consumption, but I thought I was just a guy with a preference, not predicting the need for all other major brands to gang together because they just can't compete. I think that this is bad overall, because without competition the commercials can only get worse......