It gets dark so damn early now. Not like winter, when the short days and standard time combine to give you that depressing pitch-darkness at 5 p.m. That's just depressing. We're not nearly there yet.
But I brought a football to my friend Justin's place last Sunday, figuring we could chuck it around after the 4 o'clock games ended. I hadn't yet noticed that it is now too dark to throw a football outdoors at 7:15 p.m. That's a bummer.
So is trying to cook in the dark. I live to grill, but we don't have lights in our yard, so dinner gets cooked in the dark. My wife's flashlight appears not to have been used in a while. I changed the batteries, but that sucker is weak. But it all worked out. They're turkey burgers, anyway. Left over from Monday night's tailgate at the U2 concert in Foxborough. Nittany Wife doesn't eat red meat, so I've gotten used to subbing turkey for beef. It's not so bad. Actually, was craving fried chicken tonight, but the only thing worse than wasting money is wasting food, so out of the freezer the turkey burgers came. And there was bacon in there, too. Turkey burgers cooked on a charcoal fire and covered with cheddar and bacon are actually pretty damned good.
And here's the bright side (literally) of grilling in the dark: the charcoal fire looks positively bad-ass in the dark, especially as flames pour out of a chimney starter and the metal sides of that baby glow red.
Speaking of U2: Monday night's show was my first U2 show. I bought the tickets for the wife, who likes U2 a lot more than I do (I think they're really good, but really overrated, too), but also calls Snow Patrol, which opened up, her favorite band. Those Irish lads acquitted themselves quite well Monday night -- their last night on the tour. Of all the people I know who went to one of the two Foxborough shows, none really knew Snow Patrol, but all were impressed. I don't love them. I'm a fan by marriage. But I was happy for them. They're talented and very good.
And speaking of grilling, I think I'll be in tailgate heaven next weekend. I'll be heading with some friends to Kansas City for the Giants-Chiefs game. Arrowhead Stadium is reputed to be the pinnacle of the tailgate. I don't see how it could be better than Giants Stadium, but I'm keeping an open mind.
Anyway, it won't be about the gameday tailgate. It's all about the American Royal Barbecue competition. I'm hoping my new status as an official NFL blogger gets me and the boys in the trenches with one of the barbecue teams. I WILL cover this with the respect it deserves.
And, by the way -- the word is spelled "B-A-R-B-E-C-U-E." Just becauses "BBQ" is an acceptable abbreviation does not make "barbeque" an acceptable spelling. It's not. It's barbecue. My position on this matter shall be considered inflexible.
As for the Giants, tomorrow will be the first time I will have to travel to a sports bar to see them -- and hope that said sports bar will show the game with the stupid Patriots playing at the same time. I'm supposed to cover the game for the blog, and I won't be able to see it at home because I don't have Sunday Ticket. It's going to be an annoying enterprise. Thank goodness the Giants have three crappy opponents coming up, because they are awfully banged-up, especially on defense.
CRAPPY COMMERCIALS
Nothing could be worse than those "money you could be saving by switching to Geico commercials," but these Dennis Leary Ford truck commercials are pretty close -- not because of Dennis Leary. Dennis Leary is great. Because all they are are Dennis Leary talking about trucks -- and not saying anything interesting -- while all his words appear on the screen around pictures of Ford trucks. One of the most annoying things in the world is having someone read to you. You know, as an adult. If you're still 5 years old, it's kind of nice having your mom or dad read you a story. If you're 36, you don't need Dennis Leary reading you a script about Ford trucks that you can read yourself.
SYRACUSE FOOTBALL REVISITED -- WITH GRAMMAR LESSON
I decided tonight that Twitter is not for me, but I did follow the Syracuse-Maine game on Twitter, and the Orange is now ahead 41-17. So we don't have to spend the week shaking our heads that we can't even get an easy win against a Division I-AA team. But clearly we have a long way to go. Well, we know that. But it's even longer.
"The Orange is ahead? Hey Phil, don't you mean the Orange are ahead? They're a team. That's plural, right?"
Could be. The English use plural pronouns and verb forms in all instance when referring to teams, bands and other organizations. "Chelsea have a match with Arsenal this weekend." "Cream are reuniting for a tour." They're consistent.
Americans are not. They outsmart themselves. They'll say things like, "The Orange have to play better." But they would never say, "Syracuse have to play better." They'd use "has." This makes no sense. Both of those nouns are singular, and both refer to the exact same thing -- a football team. That could be seen as singular -- it's a team, a thing -- or plural -- it's 80 players. But it appears we're not smart enough to decide which, because you'll hear grammatical disasters during sports reports: "Notre Dame loses their first game of the year." So Notre Dame is both singular ("loses") and plural ("their") in the same sentence.
Sports Illustrated for years has applied a policy of treating teams with collectively singular nicknames (Orange, Cardinal, Heat, etc.) as singular. The Syracuse newspapers have done the same since Chancellor Nancy Cantor pissed on the heads of SU alumni by deciding that our beloved Orangemen were now "The Orange." Both, however, are a little lax in their enforcement of this policy. SI, in particular, does a good job of editing its feature stories but is loaded with errors in its "departments." Maybe I'm just anal, but it's a little disappointing.
NIGHT COLLEGE SCORES
Syracuse gives up a late touchdown -- would like to see the Maine necks stepped on a little harder -- but wins 41-24. I'll take it but would have preferred it not be so nerve-wracking for so long. Just a reminder that we're not that far removed yet from being the team that's been one of the worst in the nation the last four years. Are we headed in the right direction? Absolutely. But it's going to take a lot of time. More than one season.
Ditto for St. Anselm. They're not going to get pushed around by anyone but the best teams in the league anymore, but I hoped we'd see them at least slow down Merrimack today. Didn't happen. Couldn't stop the run at all, and couldn't match the offensive output. Nothing much more to say.
Meanwhile I think I'd better hide anything in the house that's black and yellow, lest the wife light it on fire. Penn State is spitting the bit against the Hawkeyes for the second straight year, this time at home. I've got my own problems, and this isn't one of them. Were I a Penn State fan, however, I'd be eating broken glass right now. They're giving this game away.
That's enough for tonight.
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Yankees and Red S*x in the Home Stretch
Admit it. The season series means a little to you. The Red S*x won the first eight games they played against the Yankees this year, and all you could hope for was that the Yankees would stop the bleeding and find a way to contend for a wild card.
One ridiculous post-All Star run by the Bronx Bombers, however, changed all that, and our goals changed: we hoped the Yankees, once on the outside looking in, could maintain their firm grip on first place and that, most of all, they were not a bully team. Meaning: as good as they looked against everyone else, we hoped they wouldn't get punched in the mouth and go back into their shell when the Red S*x came calling.
Our fears were assuaged and then some. The Yankees won six out of seven over two series in August, with Alex Rodriguez delivering key home runs in the 15-inning classic at Yankee Stadium and the tight affair 48 hours later. We knew then that we were in first place to stay, and, almost as delicious, that we had sent the Red S*x reeling. We knew -- we know -- that true redemption for all that has gone wrong the last eight years can only be earned in October, but for the time, things couldn't be much better.
Then something happened: the Red Sox turned themselves around and became the hottest team in baseball, with the starting pitching that was so shaky in those seven games straightening itself out and the team dominating at home even more than before. Meanwhile, the Yankees' kept winning, but at a slower pace, and with the starting pitching outside of CC Sabathia looking as shaky as ever. A.J. Burnett never came close to matching his performance that Friday night against the Red S*x, Andy Pettitte's shoulder got sore, and Joba Chamberlain went from being unreliable to being effectively the biggest threat to the Yankees' prosperity.
So we entered this weekend with this: it's probably too late for the Red S*x to catch us for the division title, and even if they do, we're in the playoffs, but a poor performance against the Red Sox this weekend would have left us with serious doubts about the Yankees' prospects of getting through the American League's postseason gantlet.
So, after two wins in two games at the Stadium this weekend, is everything okey dokey? Not exactly. Sabathia was wonderful today, but he was awesome last year and the year before in the regular season for Milwaukee and Cleveland, respectively. His postseasons, however, have left something to desire. Like Alex Rodriguez, he is going to have to shine in October. And surely last night's performance, as good as it was, does not erase all doubts about Chamberlain. He is not yet an effective starting pitcher. He has the talent to be one, and I'm willing to wait. He's only 23. But I don't know that he's going to help us turn a 2-1 series lead into a 3-1 lead in a playoff series. And Burnett with his inconsistency and Pettitte with his shoulder will remain question marks at least until they pitch well against the AL Central champ in the ALDS.
So what does this weekend mean? It's for bragging rights, and little else. Red S*x fans got to whoop it up as much as ever when they were 8-0 against the Yankees. That massive lead has all but evaporated. If the Yankees finish off another sweep tomorrow night, they will have tied the season series, 9-9. It will be meaningless comepared to anything that happens in October, but it will assure that those eight losses will never be a source of humiliation for us again. The games may count the same, but I'll take them during the pennant race over the early season any day.
One ridiculous post-All Star run by the Bronx Bombers, however, changed all that, and our goals changed: we hoped the Yankees, once on the outside looking in, could maintain their firm grip on first place and that, most of all, they were not a bully team. Meaning: as good as they looked against everyone else, we hoped they wouldn't get punched in the mouth and go back into their shell when the Red S*x came calling.
Our fears were assuaged and then some. The Yankees won six out of seven over two series in August, with Alex Rodriguez delivering key home runs in the 15-inning classic at Yankee Stadium and the tight affair 48 hours later. We knew then that we were in first place to stay, and, almost as delicious, that we had sent the Red S*x reeling. We knew -- we know -- that true redemption for all that has gone wrong the last eight years can only be earned in October, but for the time, things couldn't be much better.
Then something happened: the Red Sox turned themselves around and became the hottest team in baseball, with the starting pitching that was so shaky in those seven games straightening itself out and the team dominating at home even more than before. Meanwhile, the Yankees' kept winning, but at a slower pace, and with the starting pitching outside of CC Sabathia looking as shaky as ever. A.J. Burnett never came close to matching his performance that Friday night against the Red S*x, Andy Pettitte's shoulder got sore, and Joba Chamberlain went from being unreliable to being effectively the biggest threat to the Yankees' prosperity.
So we entered this weekend with this: it's probably too late for the Red S*x to catch us for the division title, and even if they do, we're in the playoffs, but a poor performance against the Red Sox this weekend would have left us with serious doubts about the Yankees' prospects of getting through the American League's postseason gantlet.
So, after two wins in two games at the Stadium this weekend, is everything okey dokey? Not exactly. Sabathia was wonderful today, but he was awesome last year and the year before in the regular season for Milwaukee and Cleveland, respectively. His postseasons, however, have left something to desire. Like Alex Rodriguez, he is going to have to shine in October. And surely last night's performance, as good as it was, does not erase all doubts about Chamberlain. He is not yet an effective starting pitcher. He has the talent to be one, and I'm willing to wait. He's only 23. But I don't know that he's going to help us turn a 2-1 series lead into a 3-1 lead in a playoff series. And Burnett with his inconsistency and Pettitte with his shoulder will remain question marks at least until they pitch well against the AL Central champ in the ALDS.
So what does this weekend mean? It's for bragging rights, and little else. Red S*x fans got to whoop it up as much as ever when they were 8-0 against the Yankees. That massive lead has all but evaporated. If the Yankees finish off another sweep tomorrow night, they will have tied the season series, 9-9. It will be meaningless comepared to anything that happens in October, but it will assure that those eight losses will never be a source of humiliation for us again. The games may count the same, but I'll take them during the pennant race over the early season any day.
A Football-And-Beer Saturday (Redundant)
I'm not sure about this Twitter crap. I've been doing it for less than 30 minutes and already think I dislike it. My attention span may be shorter than Milton Bradley's temper, but I still don't think 140 characters is going to hold my thoughts on anything. If there's a way that I can use Twitter to promote both this blog and my OFFICIAL NFL.COM GIANTS BLOG (and I'll get you all the URL as soon as I'm permitted to do so), I will. But I'm not writing 140-character columns. I'm not contributing to the dumbing-down of our nation.
So here's everything that's on my mind right now, and I'll cover each as succinctly as possible: Syracuse football, The Yankees' and Red Sox' playoff prospects (and, to some extent, their current series), the Giants, their injuries, my blogging about them and my impending trip to see them in Kansas City, St. Anselm football's disappointing loss today, U2, grilling in the fall and Entourage. That's enough of a list.
SYRACUSE FOOTBALL
This is freaking me out. I didn't care a whit about the Penn State game. I knew we weren't winning that, and, frankly, was pretty happy not to get annihilated. A 28-7 loss is nothing to be proud of, but at least the Nittany Wife doesn't have an "Oh, you poor thing" look on her face when I come home after 28-7.
But the fact that we are not only sweating out a game against Maine but TRAILING in the third quarter is infuriating. Overtime loss at home against Minnesota? Hey, plenty of reason for optimism. Lose to Penn State? Lot of very good teams will lose to Penn State by 21 points this year. Three-point win after near-collapse vs. Northwestern? We can't be upset about any win against a BCS-conference team. Not after the last four years.
But we're now in danger of losing at home against a Division I-AA team. I don't think I'm betraying any greed when I say that I think we have a right to expect better than that. A loss against South Florida next week may be inevitable, but it will be forgiven if the honeymoon is still going on. If Doug Marrone and Greg Paulus want it to continue, they'd better win this game tonight. In regulation. By at least a touchdown.
So here's everything that's on my mind right now, and I'll cover each as succinctly as possible: Syracuse football, The Yankees' and Red Sox' playoff prospects (and, to some extent, their current series), the Giants, their injuries, my blogging about them and my impending trip to see them in Kansas City, St. Anselm football's disappointing loss today, U2, grilling in the fall and Entourage. That's enough of a list.
SYRACUSE FOOTBALL
This is freaking me out. I didn't care a whit about the Penn State game. I knew we weren't winning that, and, frankly, was pretty happy not to get annihilated. A 28-7 loss is nothing to be proud of, but at least the Nittany Wife doesn't have an "Oh, you poor thing" look on her face when I come home after 28-7.
But the fact that we are not only sweating out a game against Maine but TRAILING in the third quarter is infuriating. Overtime loss at home against Minnesota? Hey, plenty of reason for optimism. Lose to Penn State? Lot of very good teams will lose to Penn State by 21 points this year. Three-point win after near-collapse vs. Northwestern? We can't be upset about any win against a BCS-conference team. Not after the last four years.
But we're now in danger of losing at home against a Division I-AA team. I don't think I'm betraying any greed when I say that I think we have a right to expect better than that. A loss against South Florida next week may be inevitable, but it will be forgiven if the honeymoon is still going on. If Doug Marrone and Greg Paulus want it to continue, they'd better win this game tonight. In regulation. By at least a touchdown.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
I was just about to roast Chris Berman on this site for mistaking the term "LP." I thought I heard Berman say, in relation to LP Field, "I got about 400 LPs -- pounds." Of course, that would be LBs. But, upon further review, the ruling is that Berman actually said he has 400 LPs -- albums."
Right on.
But if you're looking for an ESPN talker to say something stupid, just wait. Not a minute later, he followed Marisol Castro's weather forcast by saying that hey, if there's that much rain in the forecast, he could just nickname the weathergirl "Parasol."
Nice job, Chris. A parasol is used to block sun, not rain. Hence the name "parasol," meaning, literally, "for the sun." You'd think an Ivy Leaguer would know this.
In more important news, my career as an official NFL blogger of Giants football begins today. I'll have the URL for you as soon as I know it for sure. Preview should be up (very personal in nature, but I actually do talk football in it) today, and I'll be back after the game with three key observations on Big Blue.
LET'S GO GIANTS!
Right on.
But if you're looking for an ESPN talker to say something stupid, just wait. Not a minute later, he followed Marisol Castro's weather forcast by saying that hey, if there's that much rain in the forecast, he could just nickname the weathergirl "Parasol."
Nice job, Chris. A parasol is used to block sun, not rain. Hence the name "parasol," meaning, literally, "for the sun." You'd think an Ivy Leaguer would know this.
In more important news, my career as an official NFL blogger of Giants football begins today. I'll have the URL for you as soon as I know it for sure. Preview should be up (very personal in nature, but I actually do talk football in it) today, and I'll be back after the game with three key observations on Big Blue.
LET'S GO GIANTS!
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