I polled Twitter on what kind of drinking game activities should happen tonight during the State of the Union. I’ve aggregated responses, along with my own thoughts, into this State of the Union Drinking Bingo.
Prepare to be drunk by 8:15pm CST tonight.
That bright star? The afterburners from an F-18 Hornet after takeoff from the USS Carl Vinson.
Source: Navy News Service – Eye on the Fleet.
A lot of football around these parts lately, so let me stir things up… Again. I know I’m going to get the Haterade. I’m okay with that. I have opinions and they are ALWAYS right.
Let me gripe about a certain type of fan for a moment. These aren’t the fans that jump a bandwagon because a team wins the Superbowl, although I can go down that road too (I’m looking at you, Steelers and Patriots fans). These aren’t the fans that call themselves fans and can’t bring themselves to find a way to listen or watch their team on Sunday, instead choosing to go to brunch!
Nope… These are the fans that profess their love of players over teams.
Photo by Ryan Lejbak
This ain’t college people. Your dear player from your alma mater six years ago is now getting paid money to do his job on a pro level. Those teams are a conglomerate of players from many schools. It’s always good fodder internally among teammates. For instance, Ben Grubbs came from Auburn and Haloti Ngata came from Oregon. Better believe there was some internal team rivalry over the BCS Championship game.
But at the end of the day, they play as a professionally paid team of competitors.
I see this in big proportions in University towns like my own Austin, where college football is the name of the game and Texas players are supported vehemently.
Yes, we know Vince Young graduated from UT and led the Horns to a National Championship win. We also know he has sucked, overall, as an NFL player.
We know Ricky Williams was a Heisman trophy winner… but he’s also kinda sucked as a person since he went to the NFL.
Cam Newton? Yeah he won this years National Championship, but guess what Auburn fans… he’s a cheater and will have to send that Heisman trophy back, just as Reggie Bush had to. Just wait. But go ahead and root for the Bengals, who are likely to draft him (Carolina is already committed to Clausen, Denver is [foolishly] committed to Tim Tebow and the Bills have a great QB in Fitzpatrick leaving Cincy looking for answers at that position).
More so, when I see fans rooting for players instead of teams, it screams lack of information and real fandom. Now I know there are exceptions, but this is the perception that I see.
Look, we know you’re proud of your school and the players that have come from it. But that doesn’t make you an NFL fan once they get drafted. Get a spine, pick a team and stick with it.
Now… I face the firing squad. Bring it on. ;-)
With the AFC Divisional game – a.k.a. Armageddon – set to kickoff at 3:30 CST on Saturday, I have altered my daily routine a bit. Normally, I listen to 105.7 The Fan in Baltimore over the internet. This week, however, I’ve taken great interest in what Pittsburgh is saying about the Ravens-Steelers matchup. For this, I’ve been also listening in on Pittsburgh’s 93.7 The Fan.
The first thing I noticed is that they really aren’t talking about the game, for some reason. They have this unnatural obsession with Penn State Basketball and Penguins hockey. Bah! Penn State and the Pens aren’t in the post-season right now. The Steelers biggest game of the year is Saturday! Whatever.
The second thing I notice is that when they do talk about the Steelers, there is a tenor of fear and concern about the game. In contrast, Baltimore seems downright giddy about the matchup. Maybe that is because Baltimore already beat Pittsburgh at Heinz field and came damn close to beating them again at M&T Bank stadium.
This, of course, is the rubber match. Baltimore has no reason to think they can’t beat the Steelers and advance to the AFC Championship game.
And, if the Jets were to take care of business against their bitter rival, the Patriots, Baltimore would host that AFC Championship game at M&T Bank Stadium.
Nice.
Same fuck-ups in the same shit detail, workin’ out of the same shithouse kind of office. You people lack for personal growth, you know that?
-Lester Freamon, The Wire
I realize I’m a bit late on a 2010 wrap-up post but I don’t care… I’m a big sports fan. Sports is something that my life revolves around to a large degree. Here are my top sports memories (good and bad) of 2010. In no particular order.
World Cup soccer was at a fevered pitch around the world… and it wasn’t the Vuvuzelas… Or maybe it was. Regardless, the United States won Group C for the first time since 1930 with a 1-0-2 record, having knocked out Algeria and reaching a draw with England and Slovenia. They then lost to Ghana in the Group of 16 round ending early morning bar visits across the United States.
Photo by Kris Krug
Who’s Butler? No one really knew, despite the school having visited the tourney 10 times, before they made a stunning run through the tournament in March. The impressive upstart Bulldogs found themselves in the National Championship game where they were beaten by the Duke Blue Devils… as Duke tends to do.
To make this memorable Cinderella run, Butler had to run the gauntlet of UT El Paso, Murray State, Syracuse, K State and Michigan State. They finally lost to Duke 61-59 in a game that ended up much closer than anyone expected. The tourney raises the question (again) of why the BCS still refuses to go to a playoff system that would allow such a story to develop in football.
Photo by Brad Ward
The San Francisco Giants paid another visit to the World Series in 2010 and finally won it all against the Texas Rangers. They did it with dominating pitching carried on the arm of Tim Lincecum… who looks like something right out of a hipster bar on the East Side of Austin or Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
Photo by Randy Chiu
Okay… we’re not going to talk about that. So instead, we take a look at the recipient of such junk, former Jets sideline reporter Jenn Sterger. Hubba hubba hubba.
The Winter Olympics were not without tragedy, this year. Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili was killed in a practice run at British Columbia’s Whistler track when he lost control of his sled. The sled slid up the wall and he left the track hitting his head on a steel support pole. He was pronounced dead shortly afterwards.
Photo by Cheuk-man Kong
Speaking of the Olympics, Men’s Hockey was dramatic with a highly-viewed final between the USA and Canada. The USA tied the game on an empty net push just before the end of regulation and Goalie Ryan Miller had his breakout, playing stellar hockey throughout the tournament. On shootouts, however, Pittsburgh Penguin star (and Canadian) Sidney Crosby scored the game winning shot to hand Canada a 3-2 win. On his return to Pittsburgh, Crosby was booed at Carnegie Mellon Arena. It was kinda surreal and satisfying.
Photo by Allie from Vancouver
Mike Vick is back and bigger than ever. In 2010, he dominated the Washington Redskins on Nov 15, 59-28 putting up numbers that were both awesome and ridiculous. He put up 300+ passing yards, 50+ yards rushing, 4 passing TDs and 2 rushing TDs. The Skins looked downright pedestrian.
Former Cleveland Cavaliers stars Lebron James made a spectacle of ego by holding a much-ballyhooed press conference to announce his intentions to return to the Cavs, or sign a deal with the Heat or Knicks. He announced he was “taking his talent to South Beach” and the Cavaliers owner promptly melted down. As did the fans.
Photo by Keith Allison
The Ravens have reached the playoffs in 7 of the last 10 years, an astounding number considering the strength of the AFC North (and Central pre-2002) and the lack of offensive talent that has been pattern of the team for most of those 10 years.
In this year, 2010, the Ravens are 11-4 with a game left to play. With only the 3-win Cincinnati Bengals remaining in the regular season, it’s a good assumption that the team will end the regular season 12-4. That number is important for two reasons:
But as a Baltimore fan who has the good fortune of supporting a team going into their third consecutive playoff appearance with a third-year head coach and a third-year quarterback, I feel a bit like an Atlanta Braves fan.
The Atlanta Braves visited the postseason 14 consecutive times from 1991-2005 (excluding the 1994 strike-shortened year) and it became “normal” to Atlanta baseball fans. So normal, in fact, that Atlanta homegames in the postseason were often not well attended. Braves fans expected the postseason!
Here’s the problem with the Braves Nation though. They expected the playoffs but didn’t expect to win. The reason was… they only won the World Series once (1995)!
Yesterday, with a workman-like victory over the Browns, Ravens nation should have been ecstatic to get to the playoffs. Imagine what is happening in Kansas City right now with a Chiefs playoff clinch? What would happen in Buffalo if that team, that is so close to being competitive, actually visited the dance?
To us, the playoffs are meh. We’ve been here. We’ve done that. We’ve won division titles. We’ve made it as a wildcard team. We even won a Superbowl.
But we need another Superbowl. Soon. I can sympathize a bit with the Eagles who made it to the dance so many times in the middle of last decade, but struggled to reach the ultimate game (or win it).
I love the fact we’re in the playoffs but you’re going to have to give me more to get excited about because right now, it looks like a cliché road to the playoffs with another cliché cast of characters. It looks like the road, for Baltimore, will go through Indianapolis, Pittsburgh and New England… We’ve seen this story before. I need a different result.
I can’t believe I’ve only posted one entry on this blog since last year when I asked you to vote for my best photo of 2009. C’est la vie, I suppose. Maybe I’ll do better in 2011.
Anyways… since we’re coming up on the end of the year, I’ll ask again… Whichever photo you choose, I’ll have printed and hang in my apartment. What was my best photo of 2010? :)
