Kick Ass The NFL !
I’m in the hole at present as my girlfriend thought it appropriate to place me in the midst of a domestic situation that I thought I’d never be in the midst of after being divorced. For some inexplicable reason she felt that it was OK for her best friend to stay at my home while she’s in the midst of a separation from her boyfriend. Now in Britain we have a saying that ‘an Englishman’s home is his castle’ . And my house is my castle where my labrador (dog) Buster and I reside. The girlfriend normally visits over the weekend and that’s usually when we spend our time together. On the other hand I’ll spend one or two days out of the week at her home in Orlando which is an amicable agreement for us both. It makes it easier for myself as I work in the city itself. That being said I’m not entirely enamored with the present situation and the fact my girlfriend’s best friend will now live in my home . I made it abundantly clear that by the end of this month she has to be out of my home. My main reason behind this comes from the fact that I do not want a raving lunatic, this female’s boyfriend acting belligerent outside my home and creating the impression amongst my neighbors that the ghetto has come to this rather rural community in Central Florida. God knows I’m not looking to kick anyone’s ass but should it come to that then I guess his ass will have to kicked.
Speaking of ass kickings the NFL season having kicked off this past Thursday with a rather lackluster game between the two finalists from last year’s NFC championship game. The New Orleans Saints readily dispatched of the Brett Favre led Minnesota Vikings. All of the hype over this team merely points to the fact that all the talent in the world doesn’t make up for the lack of cohesiveness between Favre and his teammates. And for those arrogant idiot analysts who believe that because Favre merely has to turn up just prior to the off-season , having not participated in the team’s OTA’s and that makes the Vikings relevant to the postseason. It leads to the fact that those who tend to blow smoke up your ass tend to actually be the ones who are actually dealing in the acts of flatulence.
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Slide-show for your perusal .
Sunday’s games were somewhat littered with one or two surprises as the Oakland Raiders effectively seem to be carrying on a tradition of looking mediocre. Raiders’ faithful have now got to extremely disappointed with the lack of commitment shown by this team . I was once told by a patron as to how stout their defense was and that they were going to make great strides . Well the strides that they’re said to be showing are those where this Tom Cable coached team seems to be regressing. That defense is nowhere near as good as my colleague anticipated and it showed in the Raiders’ first game of the season. The 38-13 defeat suffered at the hands of the Tennessee Titans was enough to suggest that the team faces an uphill battle for the remainder of the season . Jeff Fisher’s team duly dispatched the Raiders with the utmost of ease but at the same time it augurs well for the Titans and their season .
The continued asinine hype about the Dallas Cowboys being a talented team counts for diddly squat merely because they finally were able to win their first playoff game in over a decade. Having done so I still find it ridiculous that the feeling is the Cowboys still remain the team to beat within the NFC . In quarterback , Tony Romo they have a good signal caller but he’s no team leader. This team is also ill disciplined and the so called coaching talents of Wade Phillips and offensive coordinator Jason Garrett has now come into question after a rather ridiculous congruence of events during their game (13-7) against the Washington Redskins at Fedex Field in Landover , Maryland. Donovan McNabb is now the Redskins’ signal caller with Mike Shanahan now succeeding Jim Zorn as the team’s coach. Redskins’ owner Daniel Snyder now has to see whether or not his team has finally turned the corner after their recent years in the doldrums.
Now as glamorous lavish as the NFC East has become the quality of the football being played there at times can be inconsistent . But much of the glamor has been due to the fact of the legacy of the teams within the division. But in the league where it’s about “the here and now and what have you done for me lately”. The truth is all of the hype and brouhaha counts for nothing when you’re simply dealing with all the hyperbole and there’s nothing of substance to show for it at all. The Cowboys have become the laughing stock of the league and for the crack addict analysts who are besotted with this team. Wake the fu_k up and try to make sense of what you’re witnessing in front of your eyes . Cowboys’ Stadium may well be playing host to Superbowl 45 (SB XLV) but I seriously doubt that the Cowboys will be NFC representatives for the NFL’s showcase event !
The AFC South has been the Indianapolis Colts’ fiefdom of choice for several years and this season it was thought to be no different. If there are to be challenged then it was felt that the challenge would be coming from the Tennessee Titans and the outside possibility that the Houston Texans might aspire to be worthy challengers to the Peyton Manning led Colts. Well on Sunday we saw that the Colts are susceptible when you throw the kitchen sink along with the baby and bath water at them.And the Texans’ Arian Foster showed why it is that the Colts aren’t always comfortable when that scenario is thrown up at them . I’ve read a number of posts written by discerning Colts’ fans and all that they tend to do is to wax on lyrically about this team where Manning is their vocal leader. And while no one is under any illusion that they have a great offense and receiving corps my question for these Colts’ fans is where the hell is their running game and that of a defense that actually comes to defend ? The Texans literally ripped though that team and its defense as if were the siege of Saigon ! Now I know that the Colts’ fans will make light of the game and simply say that it’s merely the first game of the season but when you’re blown out like that there’s got to be cause for concern for not Jim Caldwell but also his coaching staff . This team was outplayed in every facet of the game and it was very telling how lackluster the team’s performance was from start to finish. Don’t be fooled by 34-24 result as it the margin of victory could have been wider had the Texans taken advantage of all the chances that came their way.
The TO and Ochocinco roadshow hit the road in the Bengals’ first regular season game and low and behold the Cincinnati Bengals found out to their cost that the NFL’s answer to Laurel & Hardy were simply no match for a New England Patriots’ team that to many are flying under the radar as a presumptive favorite in the postseason. Tom Brady and his teammates literally laid waste to the coming out party for the duo. By the end of the third quarter the Patriots had what would prove to be an insurmountable margin with a 31-17 lead. The Bengals were anemic throughout much of the game and although Chad Ochocinco statistically contributed well to the team’s performance. The rest of the offense was mediocre and lethargic and it was very telling for Marvin Lewis and his coaching staff in-front of 68,000 fans at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Massachusetts. For the Bengals’ fans in attendance this can’t have been what they envisaged witnessing from their team . Not one to throw more kindling unto the fire but should the performances of the Bengals become even more mediocre and it could very well lead to Marvin Lewis becoming the first coaching casualty of the season before it reaches its midway point.
Well the season as it progress will still be under a cloud as it relates to the ongoing divergence of issues and the discord between the league and the players over the collective bargaining agreement. Commissioner Roger Goodell seems to be taking a wait and see approach as to how to deal with the players’ wish to be given a bigger slice of what appears to be an ever decreasing slice of a multi-billion dollar pie. NFL revenues overall has slipped 2% over this past season and with the uncertainty of the economy bring about a fall in league attendance all-round. It has to be said that the game of cat and mouse between the two parties seems to be a ticking time bomb waiting to explode. And the very fact that the players are prepared for what could be an unprecedented work stoppage leading to an owner and league initiated lockout for the 2011-12 season. It has to be said the calmer heads that one thought to be amongst the hierarchy of the league and that of the NFLPA led by DeMaurice Smith and union President Kevin Mawae seems to be nowhere to be seen. This is like looking for intelligent life amongst two parties and that of the Congress . And as we know within Congress common sense and intelligence has never been the norm on any level but yet you have a number of individuals calling for change. Change is good if it is said to be happening but that hasn’t been the case in terms of the merry go round we’ve had to undergo with each election cycle.
Whatever resolution that comes about should there be one between the NFL and NFLPA could be one where the fans will be the one who end up ultimately having to pay the price one way or another. If you don’t believe that to be the case then simply look for what transpires and the communiques that are forthcoming from either side ? It seems to that for image sake the two sides would rather have a pissing contest on display for public consumption. If that happens then it’s going to cost the league and the players all of the goodwill that they’ve built up over the years. It has been bad enough to see the idiocy that has taken place within baseball over the last decade and a half under the auspices of Bud Selig and Donald Fehr the former union (MLBPA) Executive Director. Now as Fehr is about to assume a similar position within the NHL it begs the question how much more irrelevant the sport now wishes to become ? Anyone with an ounce of common sense knows that Fehr and Selig were complicit with the subterfuge that was perpetrated upon the fans. And it’s not as if the financial well being of the NHL is now back in a healthy state to begin with. We’re now seeing situations arise where teams are now looking to circumvent the league’s mandated salary cap. And to an extent this was the same idiocy that brought about the labor dispute that led to the NHL lockout between the league and the players’ union (NHLPA).
The NFL season we all hope will be an entertaining one but at the same time I can’t help but feel that the tumult and turmoil that seems to be brewing between the league and the players could very well lead to us witnessing the idiocy and indecision we’ve now come to expect from the Congress and the political leadership in the country.
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Picture gallery for your perusal. By clicking on each frame you can see each picture in its original format.
With the first week of the NFL season having ended what if any was a big surprise in terms of the performances of the teams playing ? And how do you envisage the ongoing labor dispute between the league and the union ? Chime on in with a comment as to your thoughts .
NB: NFL results from week one . Click on the links provided to view.
Week 1 results .
Alan aka tophata 🙂 _ 🙂 _ 😦
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Esther Baxter
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Video vixen and aspiring model Janelle Stein
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Tophatal's Blog 
Hope I am not the first to comment cuz I ain’t nothing nice to say about the NFL except that the Steelers belong to it….It is beginning to sound like the Dems and the Reps…the blame game…course it isn’t as bad as the politicians….yet.
Still know that the players are overpaid and overhyped…much like our politicians…course thletes take more risks than our fatass politicians
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al clements
Who in hell really has anything nice to say about the NFL anymore ? I mean when you get a bunch of whining owners and players complaining about money. Is there really anything else to be said ? They now make the Dems and Republicans seem like a bunch of choirboys when they’re bickering.
😦
tophatal 🙂
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Sorry to hear about your domestic situation. Hopefully it’s resolved sooner than later! They are never fun to deal with 😦
What did you think about that salute the Vikings and Saints did before the game saying that they were united as one? I think your right there is a growing distance between the players and the owners… A lockout is coming, and the way I see it, the players have ALL the cards!
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chappy
It’s not my situation as such as it’s a friend’s but at the same time I’d never put myself in a place where I’d even think about raising my hand against a woman. Any guy who purports to be a man who does that is simply a fuc_ing coward !
I’ve got nothing against the players uniting to show solidarity like that. But what I do hate is the fact that they’re going to bitch and whine about money when they’ve got jobs and countless millions up and down the country are unemployed . If Goodell and Smith can’t sort things out like intelligent people then they’ve only got themselves to blame .
Can these two men simply be trusted to do the right thing ?
tophatal 🙂
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Dundee drama!
Remember, dude, going to jail for beating someone’s ass ain’t worth it.
Or is it?
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Chris Humpherys
If I’m gonna beat up on someone’s ass it’s going to have to be warranted. And as much as I hate any guy who raises their hand to a woman this guy might just be worth having his ass beat down.
Don’t know ’bout you but I hope Goodell and the owners sort their crap out real quick . A season without football is like trying to go celibate when you’re in a room filled with really hot chicks looking to get laid . Simply can’t be done now can it ?
Scary Movie actress Anna Faris looking real hot and sexy. Boy I’d nail that in a heartbeat !
tophatal 🙂 * 🙂
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Guys if there’s an NFL lockout what are you prepared to do ? Will you take up needlepoint or some other activity ? And no sex isn’t a part of the equation here LOL,LOL,LOL !!!
tophatal 🙂
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Any cop will tell you that a domestic disturbance is their most dangerous call.
Make sure to watch your back my friend.
As for football, let us all enjoy this season, because this may get ugly.
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aero
I don’t think that this guy is dumb enough to do something stupid . But if he is then he’ll be in for a rude awakening.
I’m going to enjoy the season but I do hope that Goodell the owners and the players can get their act together and don’t ruin the prospect of the fans being without the game next year. We’ve seen what labor stoppages ( baseball ___ hockey ) can do when it comes to sports as it takes time to build backup the lost goodwill amongst the fans.
If there’s no NFL next season then perhaps we can all sit around and stare at pictures of hot chicks such as Neve Campbell and Coco Austin ? Wha’d ya think about then ?
Nicole ‘Coco’ Austin
tophatal 🙂 * 🙂 * 😦
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I agree that nobody should ever hit a woman, it’s about the least manly thing to do ever! Have you ever heard this Brother Ali song? It’s always been one of my favorites! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TL0VORiYd6w
I hope the players can find a way to accept their millions and get out there and play. We will see though it sounds like it’s going to get uglier before an agreement is reached 🙂
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Great blog on the NFL . I love coming here and interacting with others. Sports is just what the doctor ordered. Keep up the great blog.
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Sports Zone Report
Thanks for chiming in with a comment as it’s greatly appreciated .
tophatal 🙂
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chappy 81
That’s the truth and what with the idiocy of the statement made by the Redskins’ Clinton Portis about women sports’ journalists ? Bear in mind that we also had the idiocy shown by the Jets’ players in their locker room concerning Inez Sainz. There was no need to subject her to those taunts merely because she was doing her job. These guys have female relatives and no doubt daughters , mothers , sisters , nieces and female acquaintances as well as wives.
TV Azteca’s sport’s journalist and part-time model Inez Sainz who was subjected to a torrent of sexual taunts from Jets’ players and members of the coaching staff when she was there on hand to interview Mark Sanchez . The team (front office) has now said that it will conduct sensitivity training amongst its staff and players after the incident and a formal apology was made to the tv station and the reporter.
Sainz looking real hot and sexy in a two piece bathing suit.
I’ve no real implicit faith that Goodell and Smith can do the right thing ! Both of these guys are literally having a pissing contest that will come at the expense of the fans. As it now stands several games will be blacked out this weekend as there won’t be enough fans in attendance at several games around the league.
I don’t think that either side actually realizes the impact and implicit dangers of what’s now going on within the game and the lowering attendance rates.
tophatal 🙂
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