[2019 Season Theme]: Week 5 AND IT'S NO GOOD! IT'S NO GOOD!

Not only did the Rams lose, they lost to maybe my #3 team and the most beautiful QB of all time.

I noticed that when I watched the game, LA did well and when I didn't watch, they were typically stagnant at best. It was therefore my duty to not watch the Rams last drive, but I did tune in just in time for the reply of the FAILED Field Goal attempt.

All in all, it was a good night.

Oh Yeah, Football: Week One Wait, What?

So I changed up my Annual Summer Vacay, this year in Oregon, to come back to Houston early, on August 28th, and have some time off work to get things done. One of which was to finish my football spreadsheet in time for the season opener on the 7th, but some soggy douchebag named Harvey got in my way.

I was stranded in Portland until the 31st and might have been there longer had I not decided to just go back to Wisconsin, see the folks, and sleep in warm beds for free. I then got home on September 3rd to an apartment with damp carpets. It wasn't flood water, just rain water, but it still had to be fixed. So I had to clear out my carpeted rooms which had me living like a hoarder for a few days. But the carpets are clean, Bruno is happy, and things are getting back to normal.

I'm starting to enter data into my spreadsheet, but it's gonna take a while. I'm watching Denver trying to hold on to their lead against San Diego (sorry, I had enough trouble changing STL to LA last year, I'm not doing it again) but I'll probably go to bed soon. Packers won, the Texans lost, and my boyfriend kicked some Patriots ass on Thursday.

Going for Two: Week Fifteen Woah Woah Woah

Ok, the color rush has now gone too far. I can't figure out what they look like - citizens of Emerald City? My mother said that they looked like foosball figurines. And then I turned to NFL Memes, who had a good interpretation too.

Lettuce see who wins... One team may have to ketchup... if they do, they'd certainly cut the mustard. They would certainly relish that win sitting on their buns afterwards. Mayonnaise.

I stole the caption from here. Other interpretations are "grown men in footie pajamas," a Minions movie, Teletubbies, some old electric football game, Power Rangers, the board game Sorry, challenge flags vs penalty flags, Cheese vs Bloods,

Anyone color blind to red can barely tell the teams apart. As it turned out, mustard had the night, and somehow, I picked them to win, against the every one of my current calculations.

Going for Two: Week Thirteen Still Talking

I should post about other games today, and maybe I will, or maybe that will wait to tomorrow. I've been watching replays and reactions. Some considered it subdued, but Wayne Larrivee and Larry McCarren's commentary was only that if you have never heard them before. They're old-timers, they're been there through the good years in the Glory Days, the bad decades that followed, the comeback in the 90's, Rodgers' Super Bowl, and if you can't hear the excitement in their voices, well, maybe you need to read it.

One last un-timed play... scrambles to his left, under pressure, rolling right, he escapes! Right side looking, rainbows high and deep in to the end zone! And it is CAUGHT! CAUGHT FOR A TOUCHDOWN! A LEAPING TOUCHDOWN CATCH IS MADE AND THE PACKERS HAVE WON! Unbelievable. - The Packers Radio Network

The catch heard round the world.

The silence from the Lions radio announcer speaks more than the rest of the words. I don't really understand Portuguese, but I understand excitement, and this is definitely the best broadcast of what will be the play of the year. And now for the dramatization a 61 yard and season-saving throw of which I am glad to be on the good side. Don't forget to check out the video from the stands that showed the play from the side and just how close the ball got to the rafters.

It was an incredible moment for Packer fans. I can't remember just how many times I told my "where was I" moment about turning off the game to ease my stress level, seeing a promising Facebook comment, the 27 to 23 score, then turning the TV back on again in time to see the replay. My mother called me this weekend to relay the experience of her and my dad, and we just can't stop watching and sharing the videos.

Aaron Rodgers breathless interview at the end of the game showed that the difference in the psychological effect between a win and a loss is real, and this one is huge. An emotionally positive win can give a team the edge they need to win an upset the next week. On the other hand, a loss is complete in its devastation. There may be wins that count for more than others, but awarding partial points for losses only made my calculations less accurate. In fact, subtracting partial points for a loss can increase the accuracy for some of my calculations. The Packers have a lot of things to work on, but Dallas limps into town next week and I will be very surprised to see that Rodgers scowl for a while.

Going for Two: Week Twelve Scared Sh*tless

That was the feeling I got from Tom Brady and Bill Belichick's press conferences with ESPN. Tom Brady was talking about how the Denver defensive players were some of the best he's ever seen, and Belichick said, with a shaky voice, the team that plays the best will win. Between the lines, I could hear, "I'm really scared," and "I don't want to talk about this." They looked scared.

Today, Detroit beat the pants off of the Eagles, Carolina defeated Dallas, and Green Bay is up on Chicago. This is going to be a good football week.

Back to Football: Week Sixteen Unexpected Upsets

This was a bad week for me, starting with a Thursday Night Mistake. On Saturday, I went in to my local bar to get some advice from waitron N, who actually pays attention to football things. He convinced me to change my picks to go with San Diego and Indianapolis as additional upsets, but I wasn't convinced about Houston or Cincinnati. I nearly picked Kansas City too, but the change never got recorded in my spreadsheet. I must have gotten cold feed without remembering, because on Sunday, I thought I had picked them. It is the difference between 44% and 38% this week, so I'm going with the spreadsheet, unless someone presses me on it.

Hoo doggies was that San Francisco, San Diego game frustrating. Though the looks on Harbaugh and Kaepernick's faces - what do you mean we don't get to win this game by playing crappy football and getting lucky? - were pretty amusing in the end. But in during the game, I started wondering if N wasn't messing with me, cuz he knows that I'm keeping track and my all-too-valuable pride was on the line.  Anyway, it was alright - the Bolts came back and won in overtime. Now I'm wondering if SF should really be my second favorite team, but everything could change with a new coach next year.

Cut to Monday night, pretend other games didn't happen (WTF, Colts?) and we have N's "feeling" that Cincinnati would win. Listening to this game on the radio while en route to Little Rock, then watching the end at my motel, it seems like one of the most memorable games in Cincinnati Bengals history - certainly recent history, or this season, I have no idea because I don't really pay attention. It's always more exciting when your team needs the win to stay in the playoffs. It's a lot more special when you play a team that already clinched a spot in the playoffs, and was about to secure a first round bye. Make it a high scoring game and toss in some uncomfortable weather, and fans will always remember "where they were when..." So this week, N's feelings got 63% to my 38/44%. Paying attention FTW, I guess.

Back to Football: Week Fifteen The Most Boring Game

Alternate Title: Wherein I Learned that I Never Wrote about the Cardinals Before

I decided to watch the Cardinals vs. Rams game on Thursday, and was once again glad that I splurged for a better cable package, since the game was on the NFL Network. I got it on in time for the last few minutes of the first half, muted for the half-time crap, and then settled in to watch THE MOST BORING, DEPRESSING HALF OF FOOTBALL IMAGINABLE.

The Defensive game was pretty good, I guess, but who the hell cares? I picked Arizona because, even with Drew Stanton in to replace whatshisface, they were better than the Rams. And as the half went on, with the Rams going three and out, Cardinals going three and out, Rams going three and out, Cardinals getting a first down before going three and out, Rams going three and out, Cardinals getting a first down or two before a field goal, Rams going three and out, over and over, Drew Stanton is on the ground and Mr. Third String is warming up.

Could it be? The adequate back-up that could take Arizona, limping, to the Super Bowl, was, himself, limping? Yes, it was all too true. Limp, the Cardinals did, holding back the Rams in the Touchdown-less game so boring that I actually cheered when the Rams completed a passing play for a first down. Perhaps it is the last game Arizona wins this year, or perhaps San Francisco is a really bad team. For never was there a tale of more setback than of the Cardinals and their Quarterback.

Back to Football: Week Eight Sunday Morning

Thursday's game was an easy pick, making me 8 for 8 there. A game in London meant that the first game today started at 8:30 Central, or 6:30 Pacific. Fortunately, the teams playing were from the Eastern and Central time zones, so no one on the West Coast cared?

It was a much more competitive game than I thought it would be, since some player dubbed Megatron on Detroit was not starting against Atlanta. Late in the 4th, it was Atlanta up by 2, but checking the scores just now, I was very, very happy to see DET in bold and the word Final under the score. They won by a single point, and I am 2 for 2 in games played so far.

I'm off to get coffee and breakfast. I just hope Cincinnati and Seattle don't disappoint me again this week.

Back to Football: Week Seven Early

So now, I am seven for seven on Thursday picks. I watched the previews on nfl.com today and it didn't really help me make any decisions. I did decide to pick Pittsburgh over Houston, however, for a few reasons:

• Pittsburgh is at home
• Pittsburgh has lost enough games to make them pissed off enough to win
• I can't really trust Houston to win with any level of consistency yet

My Monday predictions are four for seven this year, so Houston has some hope there. Well, except that I've been four for four since week 3. 

Back to Football: Week Six Already

Just dropping in to note that I'm worried about Houston. They started out well last year, like this year, but then ended up at 2&14. I picked Indianapolis for tomorrow's game, but again, I kind of home I'm wrong, for Watt's sake.

Back to Football: PACKERS!

I was sitting at Tacos, seeing a few Packers posts on Facebook, so I asked, "Packers?" and a friend responded with, "Packers!!"

Indeed, Packers.



So I went home before the game began, but chatted with some guys outside a nearby addiction recovery center. A somewhat bitter 49ers fan explained that the Seahawks were "young killers" who were both "deadly" and "hungry".

I got home in time to see the opener and my absolute new favorite part of the game - the rosters. I listen for two things: players from OSU saying the all important definite article before their college name and strange things. Russell Wilson is from "a whole pack of badgers" and, I believe, Sam Shields, is from "The U".

First and 10 at the 2 minute warning of the first half, and I think the Seahawks will win. The young killers are just hungrier. Time to reprise my old spreadsheet.

Just checking in to say that I heard one of the commentators say "ameoba this".