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Thursday Link-Off: Time Warp

Your regular mid-week links were pushed back to today so I could push our Save Community campaign. There is a Phase 2 for that but it can wait until next week. For now, here are Alison Brie and Gillian Jacobs from Community.

By now, everyone has seen or heard Bob Costas’ interview of Jerry Sandusky. Was that a good idea to help his defense? (Sports Illustrated)

As I pointed out yesterday, NBC has pulled Community from the mid-season schedule. Here are the stages of Community grief. (Uproxx)

The NHL All-Star Game voting started this week. It’s time to begin Project Mayhem. (Puck Daddy)

After the jump, fun with Peter King, fun facts about Monty Python and the Holy Grail and the rejected Top Gear theme song. Continue reading →

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The Best of Occupy Tebow (Part 2)

The revolution will not be quieted until the media has learned its lesson. The media has been hot and cold on Tim Tebow and his inconsistent performances en route to a 2-1 record as a starter this season.  For over a week now, the people have taken to the comments section on an ESPN article on Tebow ostensibly to show what they really think of Tebow but in actuality to show ESPN and the media that they cannot dictate reality but actually have to report news accurately without an agenda..

After the jump, we have 25 more of the best comments from Occupy Tebow. Continue reading →

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The Best of Occupy Tebow

The revolution will not be televised but rather posted on the internet. The media has been championing Tim Tebow as a great winner and essentially promoting him as the second coming for the Denver Broncos. His first start this season was 57 minutes of poor play followed by a comeback. His second start was utter garbage. Only then the media figured out that Tebow wasn’t the be all and end all of quarterbacks. Now, the people have taken to the ESPN comments section on an anti-Tebow article to show what they really think of Tebow.

Hit the jump for 30 of the best comments from Occupy Tebow and find out what really is greater than Tebow. Continue reading →

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NFL Week 3 Picks

Week 2 was a much better week picking games as I didn’t lose any of my top 5 picks. It would have been nice if reality TV star person Jesse Holley had ran a little harder and dove into the end zone but the Cowboys actually winning that game was a nice and refreshing ending given how that game went. The Cowboys really should have lost the game.

The same thing that happened to the Cowboys pretty much happened to the Bills who managed to pull out a victory at the last minute over the Oakland Raiders. Sadly they didn’t cover the spread and it was just a push but given that that game was 21-3 at half for Oakland, I’ll take the result.

The Steelers, Bucs, and Bengals all cover the spread in games that mostly went the way I expected. The Steelers crushed the Seahawks while the scrappy Bucs managed to pull off the comeback win against a sad little Vikings team. I did expect for Cincinnati to win outright (and they probably should have) but covering the spread is pretty sweet. So far, two weeks into the season I am 4-4-2 for the games I feel best about and a dismal 11-17-4 for all games. On to more crappy picks!
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Sunday Link-Off: The Big Show

Last week was a busy week in the world. I started editing a ridiculously long Lowdown podcast. The new TV season started proper (by which I mean shows from networks other than CW started). Pre-season hockey kicked off and the Jets played a sold-out game in Winnipeg. And we were reminded that Poppy Montgomery is still around.

We all know Glee is an awful excuse for a show but have you ever really watched in depth enough to notice the depths of its ridiculousness? Someone watched the whole first season in two days so you don’t have to. (Progressive Boink)

We’ve all heard of the NFL Red Zone channel but not all of us have seen it. Apparently, it’s the greatest thing to happen to football since the invention of the forward pass. Here’s the behind the scenes story of the channel. (New York Times)

I seem to constantly be on a campaign against singers pretending to be social commentators. I do have some allies in my cause. Drew Magary recently wrote a column about how Lady Gaga isn’t really a self-help guru. (Deadspin)

After the jump, Carson Palmer’s new day job, pro wrestling’s newest stars and some special guests on the morning weather forecast. Continue reading →

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NFL Week 2 Power Rankings

Tom Brady broke Cam Newton’s record for most yards passing in the first two games of a season. (Jim Rogash/Getty Images)

The second weekend of NFL games brought what should have been a relatively easy gambling schedule but sadly, some teams *cough* Baltimore *cough* decided not to put forth their best effort. They will be appropriately docked in the Power Rankings.

Best game of the weekend was a toss up between Raiders @ Bills and Eagles @ Falcons. Personally, I really enjoyed the Bills comeback victory even though there was little to no defence in that game at all, particularly in the second half. The Bills scored a touchdown on every drive they had in the second half while giving back several to the Raiders. It was back and forth and the home team prevail. And that is exactly what happened in the Falcons game as well. I think the Eagles were the more impressive team but they really missed Vick in the fourth quarter. The Vick injury was among the flukiest injuries I have ever seen. He got hit lightly and while collapsing smoked his head into one of his offensive linemen. Bad break and hopefully he recovers quickly enough but this is eerily similar to how Kolb lost his job (kidding Kafka wasn’t bad but he’s no Vick either).

There were several impressive victories this weekend and with pardons to the Lions and Jets, the most impressive win of the weekend was New Orleans against Chicago. Most people would have predicted this win but the Saints really took apart the Bears and reaffirm my belief that they are among the elite in the league. Like I said earlier, the NFC South should be an exciting battle.

On to the Power Rankings!
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NFL Week 2 Drinking Game

If there’s one thing that goes perfectly with the #1 most watched sport in America, it’s alcohol. But one disappointing thing I found in Week 1 of the 2011 NFL season was a lack of drinking games that covered specific games. There were a couple of generic drinking games floating around the internet but nothing that covered the specifics of the games I was watching. So as an experiment, here is my take on an NFL drinking games with special rules for each game and each network. Continue reading →

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2011 NFL Week 2 Picks

I am not going to lie; I got absolutely crushed in Week 1. I wasn’t able to get anything going. I had a terrible feel for a lot of teams and a lot of teams really surprised me. Chicago was far, far more impressive than I ever thought they would be. The strong defensive performance wasn’t that surprising but Cutler performance was surprising. Chicago truly looked like a dominant team. It’s possible that I have significantly underrated them.

Additionally, Atlanta was an absolute disappointment. The Falcons looked brutal on all three aspects of the game. They were behind on special teams, defence and offence. The effort was so poor I am concerned about their ability to compete for the rest of the season. I still think they are making the playoffs but I feel a lot less secure about them this week than I did in the preseason.
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NFLWeek 1 Power Rankings

Are these Week 2 Power Rankings or Week 1 Power Rankings? I am going to say that they are Week 1 rankings because that is the week that has passed. Perhaps the proper way to say it would be Post Week 1 but that sounds stupid so we’ll stick with Week 1 Power Rankings and build from there.

The first weekend of NFL games brought a couple of good games, several unpredictable games and a handful of bad games. I think I will write that sentence again and again this season because every weekend you can say that. I really enjoyed watching the Saints @ Packers. It was worth it if you stuck it till the end to see an enormous goal line stop. The Packers defence were more ferocious on that play then the sharks In Shark Night 3D! I felt really bad for Ingram.

Best game of the weekend was hands down the Cowboys @ Jets game. That was fun even if it ruined me for work the next day. Dez Bryant looked good in the game and I thought the Cowboys had the game in hand but the Jets relied on their defence as they have all through the Mark Sanchez era. Creating two turnovers in the fourth quarter keeping the game close finally Nick Folk kicked a beauty to win it for New York.

Most impressive victory this weekend was Washington over the New York Giants. That took me by surprised. I knew Eli Manning wasn’t great but he was outplayed by Rex Grossman! I don’t expect Washington to keep this up but its looks like they are not as bad I thought they would be.

Anyway, I shall now overreact to Week 1 wins and losses and proceed to the Lowdown Power Rankings.
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Sunday Link-Off: Locked In

Welcome to the start of the 2011 NFL season. Of course, there are a few other things happening today. To kick things off, here’s Philadelphia Eagles cheerleader Stephanie Smith.

Let’s start off with some 9/11 themed links. An American reporter for Al Jazeera went to Texas for a 9/11 story. He got the sort of reaction that you’d expect from Texans. (Business Insider)

Michael Moore is a controversial man but he was never more controversial than at the 2003 Oscars. Here’s his story of his life after speaking out against the war in Iraq. (The Guardian)

Pulitzer Prize winning writer Buzz Bissinger breaks down the media whoring out the 9/11 anniversary to make a quick dollar. (Philadelphia Daily News)

After the jump, get ready for some football, lots of Harrison Ford and the return of DJ Steve Porter. Continue reading →