Some Won't Get That They Mean The NFL Team

I'm pretty sure that an NFL linebacker won't be the first kind of bear many seeing that ad will think of.

Given the occasional message left in the comments of my YouTube videos, I can verify that it has long been true that both bears and bear lovers read comics.

I doubt that many will decide to pick up a ticket because they've been convinced by this ad that the con will be great for bear cruising. They probably already figured that without the ad.

I have to say, though, that having an NFL player is the biggest stretch I've seen in a long time for having a featured guest that doesn't suit the event. Which is disappointing. More than being located in the city instead of the suburbs, I thought this whole "the convention you deserve" cry meant one that focused more on the proper genres and media. At least he's apparently just there on Sunday and his for-pay autographs are for charity

Well, Now That The NFL Is Finished...

Hi. I'm Kevin H. and I'm a NY Jets fan.

(waits for the AA type response from the crowd)

I've been a NY Jets fan for as long as I can remember. It is a problem that tends to dominate so much of my day, until I have a moment of clarity (or the off-season hits).

The NY Jets were finally eliminated by the Indianapolis Colts, temporarily relieving or reducing my addiction to NFL product. Sure, the withdrawal symptoms will be rough in the coming weeks and months, probably leading to a relapse on Super Bowl Sunday and NFL Draft Weekend, but I'm going to enjoy the peace this brings me, one day at a time.

But, before I completely turn away, the a little Super Bowl ad promotion caught my eye. I got an e-mail about the CRASH THE SUPER BOWL commercial contest that Doritos is running. Apparently, since I occasionally cover sports here at SCHWAPP!!!, I made it on to the distribution list for asking bloggers to give some time and attention to it.

Now, I don't generally like to get involved in free advertising too much. But they went so far as to follow-up on the original e-mail to see if I might be interested in talking about this. That led me to take a look...and the fan-made commercials (competing for $5m prize) are pretty funny.

Below, I've attached a montage. I still haven't decided which I think is funniest, but I'll probably share a few of them (if not all six) on the blog during the course of the week. You can see all of them now, if you're impatient, by going to the CRASH THE SUPER BOWL site.

Because No One Asked For It: NFL Pro Bowl Picks

The NFL announced the Pro Bowl squads tonight, so I thought I'd share the picks from my last online ballot submitted (which I recorded to send into the ESPN Football Today podcast when they requested listener e-mails on the subject). Keep in mind, this was submitted about 2 weeks ago.

AFC QBs: Peyton Manning, Matt Schaub & Philip Rivers
NFC QBs: Aaron Rodgers (A-Rodg), Brett Favre & Drew Brees

AFC RBs: Cedric Benson, Chris Johnson & Ray Rice (though I think Rice would give CJ a run for his money if used properly (i.e. not McGahee-vultured))
Also, I know I'm a NY Jets fan , but Thomas Jones largely benefits from his blocking and is not nearly the all-around back that Rice & Johnson are.

NFC RBs: DeAngelo Williams, Adrian Peterson & Frank Gore (tough to find a back that really makes a case for being a dominant, consensus #1)

AFC WRs: Andre Johnson, Brandon Marshall, Reggie Wayne & Vincent Jackson (if I weren't a Jets fan, Wes Walker would have gotten it instead of Wayne, btw)
NFC WRs: DeSean Jackson, Larry Fitzgerald, Sidney Rice & Marques Colston (much like the NFC RBs, this is a middling field; Fitz & Colston are better WRs in all around skill, but DeSean has clearly outshone them this season)

AFC TEs: Heath Miller & Antonio Gates (btw: Chris Baker is on the ballot for the Pats; so criminal that it makes me want to just go over league rosters to make sure I'm not missing clearly more deserving players at other positions. Oh...and to be fair: Dustin Keller quits/alligator-arms more often than Randy Moss)
NFC TEs: Vernon Davis & Brent Celek

AFC Cs: Kevin Mawae & Nick Mangold
NFC Cs: John Sullivan & Jonathan Goodwin (more for their teams record (Vikings & Saints, respectively) than observed production)

AFC Ts: Joe Thomas, Michael Roos & Ryan Clady
NFC Ts: Joe Staley, Jermon Bushrod & Bryant McKinnie

AFC Gs: Alan Faneca, Vincent Manuwai, Eugene Amano
NFC Gs: Chris Snee, Steve Hutchison & Rich Incognito (Incognito just because I want to see a personal foul in the Pro Bowl)

AFC FBs: Le'Ron McClain (out of respect for his having begrudgingly accepted the role when he could start at RB on so many teams)
NFC FBs: Leonard Weaver

AFC SSs: Dawan Landry
NFC SSs: Adrian Wilson

AFC CBs: DARRELLE FREAKING REVIS, Nnamdi & Johnathan Joseph
AFC CBs: Charles Woodson, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie & Jabari Greer

AFC DEs: Robert Mathis, Richard Seymour & Mario Williams
NFC DEs: Jared Allen, Justin Tuck & Julius Peppers

AFC DTs: None. No one jumps out and Kris Jenkins was removed from the ballot due to injury.
NFC DTs: Sedrick Ellis, Pat Williams & Kevin Williams

AFC FSs: Jairus Byrd (breaking my unwritten rule of avoiding opposition players, but can't vote Rhodes based on how good I know he is instead of how he has played)
NFC FSs: Antrel Rolle

AFC ILBs: Bart Scott & David Harris
NFC ILBs: Jonathan Vilma & Patrick Willis

AFC OLBs: Elvis Dumervil, Terrell Suggs & LaMarr Woodley
NFC OLBs: DeMarcus Ware, Clay Matthews & Brian Orakpo

AFC KRs: Joshua Cribbs
NFC KRs: Percy Harvin

Jim Caldwell Is No Herm Edwards

Well, there goes that undefeated season. Funny thing is: there were a few comments before the game that seem to be contrary to the decisions the coach actually made during it.

Rachel Nichols had some interesting quotes from the coach and the QB. The links go to the original twitter posts that I grabbed them from.

From Jim Caldwell:

And yes, best outcome for Colts is to pile up a big lead early so he can just sit. Coach Caldwell says decision to be made "in flow of game"

In the flow of the game? I don't think pulling him in the middle of a competitive game with the outcome still completely in question is really a decision made in the flow of the game.

From Peyton Manning:

Clarifying Peyton's comments: I asked if he'd play thru 4th Q if outcome in doubt, his exact words:“I would certainly imagine so"

And, if it was in the flow of the game, I don't think he adequately prepared Peyton for it.

Sure, he left the game:

Manning also made it clear that if he gets tap on shoulder to sit, he will. He was too tactful to mention other QBs who might not.

But if you watched this game, Peyton looked either ready to cry or to punch his coach in the mouth. So I think it is pretty clear that the coach didn't prepare his best player for the scenarios he'd be removed from the game under. It seems obvious that there was more of a selected time for pulling players than a "in the flow of the game". Manning and others were pulled at about the most inconvenient time possible, so the only way "flow" mattered is if Caldwell had hoped to pull them even sooner if they were blowing out the Jets.

There was certainly no effort made to "play to win the game".

10 Reasons I Regret My Madden 10 Purchase

1. They still haven't seemed to get it to where hitting the button to toggle to another defensive player gives you control of the defender nearest to the ball or with the best angle to the ball carrier. Despite knowing this, I continue to make moves as if I was given control of the player I expected to get...only to have my defender embarrassingly flop to the ground away from the play.
2. I really don't see an improved presentation. Voiceovers are still choppy when they announce matchups. Non-game animations are still very obviously on a static loop. They've added some guy in a suit to introduce the halftime stats from other games. Whoop. Dee. Doo.
3. The AI for presenting proper commentary during the game has actually regressed. The halftime show just said Baltimore leads New York 21 to 21. Collinsworth remarked how Mark Sanchez was playing just like he has for years in the league.
4. They've added terrible, frustrating, time-wasting referee huddles on that are triggered even by obvious plays. It loses any charm and dramatic value it may have had when Dustin Keller catches the ball on the 5, trudges three steps into the end zone before being tackled and triggers the refs discussing if he was in or not.
5. So far, hard counts by my QB are 10-for-10 on triggering a false start if they cause anything to happen. 7 of the 10 coming in one game. That's patently ridiculous.
6. The soundtrack is disgustingly censored. "Jim" isn't allowed to be followed with "Beam". If I remember correctly, the word "dead" or "died" was censored out of Public Enemy's "Shut Em Down". The Cypress Hill track seemed to have the last word of every line by Sen Dog censored. I mean, what the (what the) is the point including songs that you are going to butcher that badly?
   
7. The soundtrack seems to largely be a mish-mashed greatest hits collection of various acts. This is admittedly the most nitpicky of my problems, but I really grew to appreciate their use of newer acts. There have honestly been songs on a Madden soundtrack 1-2 years before they got solid radio rotation.
8. In this day and age of the Wildcat, you still can't insert another offensive skill player into the 3rd QB spot on the depth chart. Brad Smith, for instance, has been used as a gimmick QB by the NY Jets even before the Wildcat. Heck, he and Cotchery were college QBs. I really don't get the point of limiting who can be slotted into those spots. This, also, goes for the inability to put a tackle-eligible player out on the field. Alright, I haven't tried that one on 10 yet, but if they didn't fix one problem, doubt they got the other.
9. It appears to really be designed for people making the most of the PS3's HD capabilities. HDTVs are generally widescreen which, I'm guessing, would allow a presentation that lets you see all of your receivers on the screen at once so that you can see coverage for short sideline routes. Sorry if laying out $300+ for my PS3 didn't leave me with a lot of money to upgrade the rest of my A/V setup, fellas.
10. And the most disappointing factor in my purchase: that the only reason I bought this product was because EA Sports has the exclusive NFL license. My continuing as their customer rewards them for that move, encourages them to continue renewing the license and dooms me to only have more lazy updates of this franchise to buy in the future. Oh, how I miss the ESPN NFL 2K franchise...

On a separate note, I'm kinda disgusted by EA's move to micro-purchases for add-ons. Thankfully, they're mostly for cheats I can live without.

I believe it is part of their moves to take some of the allure out of pirated copies. With other products, they are requiring confirmation codes from a purchased copy to validate your game and receive bits of the game they intentionally left off the hard copy product sold in stores.

With The Sims 3, it is a whole new town added to the game plus access to the Sims Store to purchase furniture, clothing, etc. With Madden, it is activating the Online Franchise mode and cheats for your franchise games. So far, there haven't been successful pirated copies of PS3 games that I'm aware of, so the only function this has specifically on the platform is preventing renters from participating in Online Franchises unless they pay $9.99 to EA. I guess that separates the wheat from the chaff when it comes to renters who want to join your online league; if they spent $9.99, they most likely won't be returning the game and disappearing from your franchise any time soon.

There are some benefits to micro-purchasing when it is done right, but so far it appears that EA is just seeing it as a better way to bleed their customers that cuts out the retailer completely without necessarily providing a cost reduction to the consumer. That never sits well with me.

Oh and FYI for the next time you bitch at a comic book thread being closed...

EA closed a thread saying Madden 10 sucked with the following message:

Everyone's opinion is different. Closing thread.

And I can't even seem to find a way to get to the post that shows the 10 reasons the guy thinks Madden sucks...

Football Sunday

So, Stephen Jackson is out this Sunday. Winslow is still inactive, despite having his suspension removed. And there are a ton of teams on bye weeks. Hope you all got your teams set in advance.

Rooting for my Jets today. Somehow, I don't think this guy (Tyler Thigpen) is going to beat them:


Though he just did get lucky with two passes, one being the great play Tony Gonzalez made to catch a ball while sandwiched between two defenders, stay on his feet and go another 3-4 yards into the end zone.

My teams are pretty well set for the week. When Terrell Owens is predicted to be your weakest player other than tight end, things are good.

But I'm going to take a few guesses at what the top fantasy performer at each position will be:

QB: Donovan McNabb - Atlanta isn't an outstanding defense, while the Eagles are coming off a bye, getting Westbrook and Curtis back.

QB Honorable Mention: While I'm tempted to go with either QB in the London game, I'd have to think Jason Campbell is going to do some good things. Same goes for both QBs in the Arizona/Carolina tilt. So McNabb-Campbell-LondonQBs-Delhomme.

RB: Clinton Portis - He's the obvious pick this week, but sometimes the obvious is still the right one. One of the top performing RBs in the league this season, going against one of the worst defenses in the league? Yeah...I'll take that.

RB Honorable Mention: If I could be sure which would get the right carries, I'd probably have picked one of the Titans RBs (most likely Chris Johnson). McGahee was, also, tough to pass up...as Oakland isn't a great rushing defense. Somehow, I think MJD will finish in the top 5.

WR: Santana Moss - Top 10 fantasy WR, bottom 5 fantasy defense...you do the math.

WR Honorable Mention: Steve Smith leads the also-rans. There should be enough yardage for the WRs of both teams in the Panthers/Cardinals game. Fitzgerald would be in this group, except for the fact that Boldin is back and the yardage might be just balanced enough to let others pass them. Like Andre Johnson and...well...no one else. OK, I'd possibly have put Roddy White up there, but I just saw an update that would make him too easy to pick.

TE: Mercedes Lewis - His last two games produced great for a TE. The receiving corps of the Jags is just ugly at the moment with injuries & suspensions. Going against the Browns, I expect him to get serious targets.

TE Honorable Mention: Dustin Keller & Jeremy Shockey. That's all I got. The TE position isn't sexy enough to type a paragraph about.

D/ST: Baltimore Ravens - Running game is back. Defense is still pretty good. Their weakness? Passing defense. Oakland offense's weakness? Passing offense. Yeah...the Ravens will do well.

D/ST Honorable Mention: Jets. KC can be atrocious on offense. Sacks are on the menu. Maybe even a turnover or two.

What do the rest of you think?

Fantasy Football Sunday

It's another one of those difficult weeks to pick your starting team.

• Romo: will he or won't he?
  
• Will Terrell Owens play like himself either way?
  
• Scheffler back from the groin injury?
  
• Colston & Shockey 100%?
  
• Have Kellen Winslow's balls shrunk back down to human size or close enough to let him play?
• Do you listen to analysts who say Forte will have a great game via the pass or stick with conventional wisdom?

I'll go back to watching the Saints/Panthers game. Glad I picked this one or else I would have missed Brian Billick calling the Saints' running back DOUCHE MCALLISTER. Classic.

All Day For Muscle Milk

Big fan of Adrian Peterson. Muscle Milk is part of my workout routine. So I got a kick out of seeing that he is the spokesperson for the product.


Now if All Day could stop underperforming for my fantasy football teams like he has for the last few weeks...

J-E-T-S JETS JETS JETS

Or "Reflections on Crappy Fantasy Football Predictions"

Let's review my earlier picks for today.

QB: Tony Romo
OK, he wound up being the 5th best performer at the position today. Wait...7th. Peyton finished above him, but I have no idea who adjusted up higher just now. Maybe Phillip Rivers.

Hold on...no...he tied for 6th. Peyton and Tony have the same ESPN score. Out of the finisher above him, only Brees and possibly McNabb could have honestly been projected to have such games. McNabb, though, had his top 2 WRs out, so that's a hard to guess would add up to being the league leader.

RB1 & RB2: Brian Westbrook & Marion Barber
Westbrook checks in at 5th with Barber tying for 3rd with Reggie Bush. Of course, Bush did his damage as a receiver. I stand by the idea that it'd be crazy to project Michael Turner or Willie Parker, for that matter, to be the top two RBs in the first week. This will play havoc with people's starting rosters next week.

RB/WR: LT
17th...and that was just amongst running backs. I believe he came in 28th amongst all RB/WR options, though. Figure you knock out the top four (because they'd be in your regular RB and WR spots), that still leaves him no better than 24th. Ugh. I put him in more because I really couldn't pick against him than because I thought he'd do well. I'll remember that next time...and just be embarrassed by him dominating that week.

WR1 & WR2: Terrell Owens & Braylon Edwards
Ugh. While Owens came in 4th nicely, the Cleveland offense never got on track. In fact, Edwards finished somewhere lower than 50th amongst WRs. My poo-poo-ing on Moss? He somehow still managed to come in 2nd despite Tom Brady's early/ugly exit. Mind you, he did almost all of that in the first half, with a goodly portion from Brady's arm.

TE: Kellen Winslow
Tied for 5th. I'm kicking myself for switching in McMichael (who still made the top 10) for Anthony Fasano in a few leagues. As a former Golden Domer, I always had an eye on him, heard he was clicking with Pennington and new that there was a shortage of good targets in Miami...but I'd never have expected 14 points.

No one would have predicted the TEs that came in above Winslow. Gates did tie Winslow, however.

D/ST: Vikings
Jury is still out. We'll update this one Monday night.

K: Josh Scobee
If the sucker didn't miss a shorter than 39yd long FG, he might have finished in a respectable spot. But no...he just HAD to miss that one. Kickers are nearly impossible to pick the best performers from prior to the games, but I sure screwed this one up.

So far, though, going over my many teams, only 3 of my nearly 30 teams are currently losing. That could potentially improve to only 2, but can, also, see it increase if a few opponents get inordinately good performances from their 1-2 stragglers.

How'd you do?

Ah...The First Sunday Of NFL 2008

I'm in about 25 (?) fantasy football leagues. They're like crack to me...especially the excitement of drafting (corny as that sounds).

As much as I'm into it, I think I'll post what I project to be the best starting fantasy lineup (using the ESPN traditional roster) for each Sunday. Feel free to post your own thoughts or rosters in the comments section:

QB: Tony Romo
The conventional wisdom says that Brady lights it up this weekend...and that is very possible. But they're playing a terrible Chiefs team that will give them little reason to need to put tons of points on the board. The Cowboys, however, are playing a Browns team with a questionable defense but an electric offense. Pacman Jones is too rusty to be a help in the first game, even if he is pressed into starting due to Terrence Newman's injury. The Browns score enough to keep the Cowboys offense needing to score to keep the lead comfortable.

In fact, I think that Donovan McNabb will, also, outshine Brady this weekend.

RB1: Brian Westbrook
Notice that I mentioned McNabb? He'll be giving Westbrook the ball via hand offs and passes so much of the day that the rest of the offense will be reintroducing themselves during every huddle to make sure he remembers they're out there. And Westbrook can be a beast...especially when going against a terrible defense like St. Louis.

RB2: Marion Barber
There will be enough scoring to go around in Cleveland. I'm thinking the Cowboys put 5 TDs up on the board. As long as Marion factors into 2 of them, it should help put him in this lofty spot.

RB/WR: LaDainian Tomlinson
As much as I think that LT can have a down day this afternoon, with Carolina having a good defense that can key on the run more than normal with Gates not starting, I can't honestly say that any third RB or WR is a safe bet to do better than him. It wouldn't just be bold to pick someone else here: it'd be stupid.

WR1: Terrell Owens
Even I'm tired of having to say how bananas the offensive output might just be in Cleveland.

WR2: Braylon Edwards
I'm, also, tired of saying I'm tired of having to say how bananas the offensive output might be in Cleveland.

Why not Randy Moss? Again, I expect the Patriots to have too little of a challenge to need to score a lot. Now that I think of it, with Brady having not played a preseason down, his timing might, also, be off with Moss for the first game or two. Still, if he does well, he just might come in under Owens and Edwards. Did I mention how bananas the offensive output might be in Cleveland? Because I'd hate to say it again if I already did.

TE: Kellen Winslow
Have to go with him or Witten here, really. But I've said enough about the offense in that game.

What I'd like to mention is a sleeper or two.

TE Runner-Up: Heath Miller
Big Ben has good chemistry with him and, while a respected tight end, might be able to slip under the radar enough with Houston having to cover Ward, Holmes & Parker.

TE Honorable Mention: Randy McMichael
Remember Randy? He was in the top 8 or 10 TEs for a bit when he was with Miami. Left for St. Louis. They have installed an Al Saunders offense; same offense that made Gonzalez and Cooley household names at TE. Bulger has shown some rapport with him on the field. I dumped an injured Ben Watson and sleepers like Zach Miller and Dustin Keller to throw him on a few of my teams. I'll let you know how that turns out.

D/ST: Minnesota Vikings
I'm not sold on Aaron Rodgers. The Vikings had a great rush defense last year and improved their pass rush this year. They are going to focus on stuffing a bad-hammy Ryan Grant and try to rush an inexperienced Rodgers into mistakes. Says right here that it pays off.

I expect the Patriots and Eagles to have really good defensive days, as well. Merriman being one bad step or hit away from being done has me too scared to claim the Chargers are going to do well. I think Carolina is a better challenge than the Packers, Chiefs or Rams, anyway.

K: Josh Scobee
Honestly? Who really cares? Predicting the best kicker for the week has worse odds of being right than you have at hitting Keeno in Las Vegas. There are so many variables involved. The Cowboys can possibly score 7 TDs, but if they kick no field goals, someone will beat Nick Folk. The Jaguars have a conservative offense and a tough defense. The Titans have a questionable offense and a tough defense. That suggests to me that the Jaguars will have good field position much of the day, probably a lead and a "just don't cough up the ball" approach on offense. That often makes for a busy kicker.

Then again, Phil Dawson might have to kick a FG or two in addition to the extra points in that Cleveland/Dallas game...

If you want some projections by actual professionals at the fantasy game, head over to ESPN. But I warn you: they have Michael Turner projected to be a top 5 fantasy scorer this weekend. He's not started a real game for Atlanta, has a rookie for a QB and is facing a potent offense that goes up against Atlanta's porous pass defense. Could they be right? Sure. But they're popping off enough "we want to say something wild and hope we're right so we look amazing" stuff that they might not be all that much better than an average schlub like me.

Oh, FYI: Steve Slaton is one helluva sleeper pick at RB. Not necessarily for this week, but I have him stashed away on many of my teams...including the SCHWAPP!!! league.

UPDATE 1:30pm: OK, so maybe ESPN wasn't crazy to predict 20pts from Michael Turner. First half isn't over and he already has 14 fantasy points.

UPDATE 1:40pm: As soon as I save the first update, Turner scores another TD and goes over 100yds...IN THE FIRST HALF. I bow to Matthew Berry & the ESPN fantasy football staff.

UPDATE 1:57pm: OK, maybe I was a little rash on that Randy Moss call. He still can finish as the third best receiver, possibly, but with 111yds and a TD before the half, it is looking less and less likely.

UPDATE 2:29pm: Just saw some highlights of Michael Turner. He's got that extra gear to throw it into when he gets in the open. Most backs his size get sucked up by safeties like a Hoover vacuum, but he actually put more separation between him and the defender on his long run. Looks like Matt Ryan is good enough already to keep defenses honest.

UPDATE 2:33pm: Not a football thing, but they just showed a ICE ROAD TRUCKERS commercial (I think that's the name). I think it says a lot about the current state of TV programming that a reality show about truckers is airing on THE HISTORY CHANNEL. What's their new tagline? THE HISTORY CHANNEL: HISTORY? THAT'S HISTORY! GO READ A BOOK IF WANT INFO ABOUT ACTUAL HISTORY?

UPDATE 2:52pm: OK, my picks are starting to look questionable. Westbrook is still fairly low at the moment, but figures to get a bunch of handoffs at this point, with the Eagles up 21-0. Scobee? 1 PAT.

Well, That Time Is Almost Upon Us

The NFL season is fast approaching. In addition to my comic book obsession, I'm pretty much a fantasy football addict.

Most years, I'm just in a ton of leagues with a large number of strangers. This year, it looks like I'll be in a few more leagues populated by friends and acquaintances. But why not add one more?

If you're a reader of this blog and dig the fantasy football scene, daddy-o, drop me a line over at schwapp.online at gmail.com. I'll throw something together and send out the invites.