Playoffs? PLAYOFFS? Yes, NFL Playoffs

[Ed Anger]

What the fuck. I though you was a Raider guy. Abandon Al, Dark Lord of the Sith? Fag.

[Sophie Scholl]

Still a Raider fan.  The Raiders are the shitty team I inherited being a fan of, and will be stuck a fan of forever.  The Browns are the shitty team I chose to be a fan of, and am under less obligation to remain a fan of.  There's no leaving the Raider Nation except in a bodybag.  Al's crazies hunt down apostates.

[Ed Anger]

Well at least you didn't pick up a hot team, like Tim does with college teams.

[Neil]

Return man is such a streaky position though, you know?

[Sophie Scholl]

They've been my backburner team since the beginning of the Derek Anderson rising like a phoenix from the ashes of Charlie Frye 07 Season.  I was really happy with what they managed to accomplish this season in terms of building a solid foundation and looking like they were headed in the right direction, a welcome change from the eternal craziness that is Raiderland.  Alas, the Browns seem hellbent on fucking it up.  I didn't like the Holmgren hire, I don't like the lowballing of Cribbs, and I have a feeling Mangini will get canned.  Not good signs at all in my opinion.

Meanwhile, the Kool Aid continues to flow at Raider HQ, as Al's muppet John Herrera has mocked Rich Gannon for reaching out to the team to offer his assistance in any capacity they need.  They also signed off on Jamarcus going to Vegas and skipping the final team meeting to get there, saying he was excused and there for a legitimate reason.  They will never, ever, ever get better as long as Al is in charge.  Every year I hold out some hope till usually The Draft.  This year, I can't even last that long.  Stupid bastards.

To Neil:  It is to some degree, but he's been successful for a few years now.  Also, he's more than simply a return man, though that is where his primary worth comes from.  Hopefully they manage to keep him around and happy and don't go all Hester on him and change his duties because they pay him more.

[Ed Anger]

After listening to Rich Gannon on CBS, I'd tell him to take a hike too. He sounds like a pompus knowitall.

[Barrister]

He seems okay on Sirius NFL Radio. 

[Neil]

Well, the Browns did beat the Steelers this year, which is their Superbowl.

[Sophie Scholl]

Mangini is staying on!  Now to offer Cribbs a legit pay raise and I'll be a happy little Brownie fan.

[Neil]

Vernon Davis, the outstanding 49ers tight end (and the subject of Singletary's best rant as a coach) is going to be the honourary captain of the US Men's Olympic curling team.

I would like to know how BB and kat feel about this.

[Barrister]

Vernon Davis, the outstanding 49ers tight end (and the subject of Singletary's best rant as a coach) is going to be the honourary captain of the US Men's Olympic curling team.

I would like to know how BB and kat feel about this.

Well I guess if your country doesn't have any curlers that have any name recognition (or talent), then you need to import some name recognition from other sports.

Of course for Canada the name Kevin Martin is enough.

[Neil]

Well I guess if your country doesn't have any curlers that have any name recognition (or talent), then you need to import some name recognition from other sports.

Of course for Canada the name Kevin Martin is enough.

It's interesting the way many countries try and make 'all-star' rinks, while Canadians play for the honour.

My parents actually spent a whole week-and-change in Edmonton for the Olympic qualifiers.

[CountDeMoney]

Fans flagged for excessive paranoia
Ravens say they're not worried about officials in Patriot game

As everyone around here knows, Baltimore is the home office for paranoid football fans.
Each Sunday when the Ravens take the field, their fans are consumed with one singular thought: How will the refs hose us this time?
See, with Ravens fans, it's never a question of whether their team is going to get hosed. It's just a question of how bad the hosing will be.
Will it be a major soul-sucking hosing like the one the Ravens got in their 27-14 loss to the Green Bay Packers, when they were penalized so often you'd have thought it was snowing yellow flags?
Or will it just be your garden-variety hosing, a key call here or there that kills a touchdown pass by Joe Flacco or a big sack by Ray Lewis?
Which brings us to this Sunday's playoff game between the Ravens and New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium, and a certain quarterback long thought to be protected by the officials.
If you've been listening to local sports-talk radio or reading Internet message boards, you know that the paranoia about Tom Brady and the refs has reached a fever pitch.
To hear these fans tell it, Brady will get his usual velvet-ropes treatment from the officials.
He'll give another Emmy-winning performance and flop to the ground if a Ravens pass rusher so much as gives him a hard look, and the ref will immediately reach for his flag.
And when Brady isn't getting the calls because he's Tom Brady, superstar quarterback and fair-haired boy of the NFL, Bill Belichick will get the calls because he's, well, Bill Belichick.
He's the Hooded Genius with the three Super Bowl rings, the scowling Yoda of the Gridiron in front of whom game officials quake and the entire league - maybe with the exception of Rex Ryan - genuflects.
Fortunately for them, the Ravens aren't getting caught up in all this doom and gloom about the officials, especially as it relates to how they'll go after Brady.
At Wednesday's media session at the Castle, Ravens coach John Harbaugh was asked by a Boston reporter about the Ravens' 27-21 loss to the Patriots earlier this season.
That was the game the Ravens drew two controversial personal fouls for hits on Brady, prompting Lewis to say the calls were "embarrassing to the game."
"Given how the last game was officiated up there," the Boston guy asked, "how concerned are you about your team's ability to be aggressive?"
Harbaugh looked at him the way you would look at a fly that just landed in your milkshake.
"Uh," he said finally, "we'll be our natural aggressive self and we'll play. I'm not concerned about that at all."
Sure, Harbaugh doesn't give you a whole lot at these media sessions. He gives you a lot of cliches and coach-speak as every other head coach in the NFL does. But you didn't have to read between the lines with that quote.
What he meant is that the Ravens plan to go after Brady hard. They plan to come at him from every direction and smack him every chance they get - within the rules.
And if they're worried that Brady will get special treatment from the refs, they sure do a good job of hiding it.
"You gotta just play football," linebacker Jarret Johnson said. "You can't worry about the penalties. It's just gonna slow you down, and he's gonna carve you up.
"You definitely want to be mindful when you're around him. But you can't be worried about penalties."
If the Ravens have a shot at Brady and worry too much about flags, defensive end Trevor Pryce said, "you'd take your aggression away. And if you take away how we play the game, what are we? We're the Lions."
Ouch. Up in Detroit, they're stapling that one to the bulletin board right now.
Of course, I don't expect any of this to ease the minds of Ravens fans, who have paranoia in their DNA. But I think the Ravens will find a way to get to Brady without flags flying all over the place.
In fact, with wide receiver Wes Welker out and the Patriots' defense struggling all season against the run, I think the Ravens have an excellent chance to come out of this game with a win.
I make the final score Ravens 21, Patriots 17.
Unless I'm being delusional. Which isn't that far from paranoid when you get right down to it.

[katmai]

Vernon Davis, the outstanding 49ers tight end (and the subject of Singletary's best rant as a coach) is going to be the honourary captain of the US Men's Olympic curling team.

I would like to know how BB and kat feel about this.

I thought curling was only for women

[Neil]

Vernon Davis, the outstanding 49ers tight end (and the subject of Singletary's best rant as a coach) is going to be the honourary captain of the US Men's Olympic curling team.

I would like to know how BB and kat feel about this.

I thought curling was only for women

You are wrong.  Men are actually much better curlers than women.