Battle For Ohio

Get used to seeing this Browns fans. Anderson played well enough that Quinn is now Clipboard man.

Broken camera, check.  Chili Cook-off began on a good note.  While trying to take a picture Jesy’s dad accidentally hit the camera doing some sort of wild hand gesture.  Sadly, that ruins the best camera we have ever had, it took GREAT pictures.  Now we will have to use my crappy camera again, sigh.

Broken sunglasses, check.  It was the fumble on the kickoff.  The game was going horrible, after scoring 14 points quickly in the game I really thought that this was going to be the blow out that it SHOULD have been, but instead Cleveland hung around, and the Bengals had no desire to put them away.  I have never seen a team sleep walk that bad through a game, it was like no one, literally no one cared to win.  So, after the fumble I stood up and threw my sunglasses against the house and they shattered like Jake Lloyd’s dreams of acting after Phantom Menace.

Look like a jackass in front of friends and family, check.  Thankfully most people already know I am an emotionally high strung person, so I doubt it was much of a surprise when I got up and threw my sunglasses against the house, but it was still a dumb thing to do.  So to anyone that was there that had to see that I apologize, not my proudest moment, but unfortunately for you, I am what I am!

That is what is going on inside your stomach after eating chili!

Well it would appear that my associate already took care of covering the game, which is good, for a couple reasons.  One; I was at the annual Wenstrup Family Chili Cook-off.  Therefor I forgot to bring my note pad to take notes.  Two; I got so angry that I stopped watching the game in the fourth quarter.  When Palmer floated that ball to Chris Henry that should have been picked off I was done, I could not take anymore.  But there are a few things that I would like to touch on before I forget this game ever happened.

Bengals/Browns:

• Funny how Antwan Odom has disappeared since the Green Bay game, huh?  I tried to tell people that he was playing against a guy that was out of position and that he would not last.  George = smart.

• Guess the Bengals didn’t care about that soft coverage issue, because had Derek Anderson been more accurate and had more than one receiver that could catch, this game would have been so out of hand I would have had to drink.  Derek Anderson, the quarterback for the Browns had all day to thrown the ball.  Leon Hall and Jonathan Joseph are cornerbacks who looked like they didn’t want to cover anyone, just like the rest of the Bengals secondary.

• Why the hell did the Bengals stop running the ball.  Correction, why did the Bengals never even act like they wanted to run.  Cedric did end up with 19 rushes, which is alright, but isn’t this the guy that torched the Browns for 170+ the last time they played?  Just keep giving him the ball!

• To answer Andy, no this is not a playoff team, at least not if they keep playing this way.  You can’t play the worst team in the NFL that close if you want to show people that you are a playoff team.  Just watch next week against Baltimore.  That defense is going to swallow up all of Palmer’s mistakes.

• Kudos to the Browns.  I thought they had quit on Mangina, but they fought and battled and showed that they were desperate for a win.  The next match-up between these two teams will be quite interesting.

• Should I have been so mad knowing that this was a trap game?  Should I be so mad considering that the Bengals did in fact win?  Even now as I type this I am still angry and getting angrier.  Lets move on before I put my head through my monitor.

Reds:

• The Reds season is now over and I will dive deeper into them in an end of the year review, but for now there are some things that I would like to go over.

• Dick Pole was fired.  THANK GOD.  While he had one of the single greatest names I have ever seen, he was a terrible pitching coach.  The proof is all the talent we have at pitcher and all the mediocre results at best.  Hell, Homer Bailey had to get pitching advice from an outfielder in Triple A to learn to throw a split finger, which turned his season around.  Look at Cueto, Bailey and any other talented pitcher that has been called up.  They have mixed results at best and never seem to change to try to develop past where they were in the minors.  Thanks Dick for collecting a paycheck.

• They finished strong.  They end up 3 games below .500 and only 2 games out of third.  That is about where I thought they would be.  Had it not been for a dreadful July, who knows where this team would have been?

UC Football:

• For the first time all year we got to see a different side of UC, the running game.  Jacob Ramsey ran wild for 103 yards and three touchdowns.  Isaiah Pead also had a decent day going for 60 yards on just 5 carries.  Both men averaged over 8.5 yards per carry, Pead leading with an over 12 yard per carry average.  Amazing.

• Tony Pike and Mardy Gilyard had pedestrian days, but with the running game clicking so well they weren’t needed.

• The UC Defense is still giving up chunks of yardage.  This time it was through the air.  It seems that if they lock down one facet, like the running game, then they suffer greatly in the other area.  The defense is going to have to pick it up if they want to make a legitimate run at a national title.

• Next week against USF will be a TOUGH game and a very telling week for UC football.  USF has an awesome ground game with two different backs.  They will be able to control the ball, the time and the game if UC isn’t careful.  And everyone is learning the best way to beat UC is to keep the offense off the field.

Random NFL:

Is the "one purpose" to beat up assistant coaches? If so, mission accomplished.

• How horrible is Oakland?!  Response from you:  “How horrible are they?”  They are so horrible that the head coach is about to get arrested.  No, not for being a bad coach, although he is, he is going to get arrested for assaulting his assistant coach!

• I look like a genius because of the Jacksonville game!  They did exactly what I said they would do and the won.  I rock….

• Oops, guess that genius comment was a little premature.  New England was good enough to beat Baltimore.  I didn’t think New England had it together enough, I guess it is time to stop betting against New England again, damn.

• TO is still on the clock.  You can tell that Mount TO is just about to blow.  All it is going to take is one more game where he doesn’t catch a ball, or a touchdown I think.  I am so looking forward to it.  I am going to start making popcorn and finding what channel has his press conference on after the game.  Never have I been so intrigued by the Bills!

• Mark Sanchez is human, and who called that?  That’s right Andy and I did.  We are brilliant.  unfortunately the media is still going to suck the microphone like it is his cock every time they talk about him, but it was nice to see him come back down to Earth.

• HOW IS DENVER 4-0??!!??

Chili Cook-off:

• My chili didn’t even get second place.  A sad day, I thought I really had an award-winning chili.  But a big thank you goes out to the West Chester Fire Department who took time to come down and judge the chili!

• Congrats to my wife.  Halfway through chili cook-off I thought she was headed for a night draped around the toilet.  To her credit she recognized that she had flirted with the “danger drunk zone” and stopped.  The turning point could have been when Tommy spun her around the yard.

• Congrats to Aunt Karen who won the chili-cook off.  She might have over reacted a bit after the win, she screamed so loud that the police had to show up later due to neighbors calling, they thought some one was being brutally murdered.

• Congrats to Uncle Patrick who discovered how to properly wear a bicycle helmet.

• Congrats to Kevin for breaking my brand new wiffle ball bat.  I blame him because he was pitching, had he not thrown that wicked curve that caved in the end of my bat, we would have been fine.  Thanks a lot He-Man.

• Thanks to Cody, Randy and Dina, who were all good sports.  They were the only ones brave enough to show up in Cleveland Browns gear.  they were out numbered, but were good sports about putting up with all the Bengals fans.  Although, there were a couple times I though Randy might punch someone!

So there was my Sunday in a hand basket.  A good day all around, despite my temper and losing chili.  Maybe next year I will make something to make you all shit fire, that way if I don’t win I can at least laugh the next day when you all are sitting on the toliet all day!