CrabAppleLane Blog II

Seems the Oakland Raiders have serious competition for the Most Dysfunctional NFL Team. Love the headline from Sporting News:

In Cleveland, GM Mess Leaves Brown Stains

I make the Raiders a slight favorite to take that title by year's end. The Tom Cable wife/girlfriend/assistant abuse scandal should trump almost anything the buffoons in Cleveland can do. I have to go with the team whose head coach likes to punch everyone. Teams in Washington DC, Tampa, St Louis, Kansas City, and Detroit are mere pretenders. And, NO, I do not miss the days when the Saints were perennial contenders for that title. Thanks for asking.

A few years ago, I marveled at a Korean man who finally passed his driver's license exam after 271 failures. I thought then that Korea should have just issued him a lifetime bus ticket and quit wasting everyone's time. I didn't think that could be topped. I should never think that. A Korean woman finally passed hers after 949 failures. If that's going to be topped, my money is on it being someone from Korea. Wonder what kind of insurance rate she will get.

Quote of the Day

That team that spent $50 million more than any other team, that team with three sure Hall of Famers and as many as four others, that team that bought Milwaukee's best pitcher and Anaheim's best hitter and Toronto's No. 2 starter and Boston's favorite Idiot and the most expensive player in the history of baseball and so on, that team will win the World Series, and spray champagne on each other, and they will tell you that they won because they came together as a group and kept pulling themselves off the ground and didn't listen to the doubters.

Joe Posnanski, Sports Illustrated

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: "Always leave room for assumption!"

Congratulations to the Yankees.

A paragraph from ESPN's Jayson Stark in a somewhat contradictory article says everything about Major League Baseball that concerns everyone not from New York, Boston, or Los Angeles about the game.

We understand this is no tale of some plucky underdog battling to this place against all odds. This was a $208-million baseball team we're talking about. This was a team that paid its four infielders alone more money ($81.225 million) than 16 of the other 29 franchises paid their WHOLE TEAM. This was a team that had spent nearly $1.8 billion hard-earned Steinbrenner-family dollars in between trips to the Canyon of Heroes.

That they can spend that kind of money on players AND still make a huge profit gives them an unfair advantage. That isn't a startling revelation, I know. That baseball can do nothing about it is eventually going to kill the goose that lays the Yankees Golden Eggs.

Later in the article, Stark says this:

But contrary to popular belief, it's never dollars alone that make that happen. You need talent. You need brains. And you need people -- people who understand what winning is all about, what leadership is all about, what being a teammate is all about.

What a silly thing to say. It's the dollars that gets the talent, that gets the brains, that gets the people, that gets the leaders, that builds the stadium, that buys the championship for the franchise that George built. It starts and ends with the money. In a true free market, competitors go out of business when they no longer can compete. In professional sports, they move to another city. Cities don't have the money to welcome those franchises like they once did and I think most of them are a little tired of being used that way. Baseball has issues that aren't going away any time soon but I suppose it's good to be a Yankee fan.

Quote of the Day

We play the game the right way.

Derek Jeter, New York Yankees

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: "Fox's Little Voice: I will never again call for a forward pass."

I've never heard of a 4D film but I surely want to see this one. We've only been to the museum once and we're both dying to go again. Next time we're in the city ...

The headline says "Rumors fly of a postseason strike". I doubt it. The twit writer, Mike Florio, is the only person floating that one.

Today's QOTD came to me as I read about how UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown paid West Wing writers to help him with a speech before Congress. Not the actual West Wing, the television show West Wing. The thing about Havel wasn't his very own words (He's a playwright), although they're wonderful, it was his perspective and humility that wowed Congress. In my opinion, paying people to throw American references into a speech kind of misses the point of having foreign leaders speak before Congress.

Quote of the Day

My advisers advised me to speak on this important occasion in Czech. I don't know why. Perhaps they wanted you to enjoy the sweet sounds of my mother tongue.

President Václav Havel, Czech Republic

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: "Next week we head down to New Orleans to take on the Saints, in a big matchup. The Saints are (6-0) facing the Atlanta Falcons on Monday Night Football. They could be facing an undefeated team, or hopefully in our case (6-1). But whatever the case maybe, I know the Panthers can pull out a win."

Not a very good performance last night by the Saints although it's a W just the same. The offensive line is giving up too many hits on Drew Brees. There's more than a little concern at left tackle, Jermond Bushrod. After shutting down the Giants Osi Umenyiora, who I thought was one of the best, Jason Taylor of the Dolphins and John Abraham of the Falcons both gave him a lot of trouble. Both teams made too many mistakes. Both can play better.

I'm also compelled to make an observation about the officiating. It's getting pretty bad and I don't know why. Most of the time, officials are in good position to see the plays. Some of the infractions that were called last night were pretty ticky tacky and some of the most blatant ones were no calls. An important Saints drive was kept alive by a defensive holding call which was pretty minor. A long Falcons touchdown pass to Roddy White should have been offensive pass interference. I'm also concerned about some very slow whistles once forward progress has been stopped. I don't know what their mandate from the league is but I don't know anyone who is happy with the officiating this season.

Another division game for the Saints coming up this week. Carolina played a good game this week against the Cardinals and they beat the Saints twice last year with essentially the same players. Not an easy out.

Big game in Tuscaloosa against the Crimson Tide this week for the LSU Tigers. A win would change their season into something else.

I find myself very concerned about events in the Florida-Georgia game this past Saturday. The eye-gouging was scary. What was he thinking? That he was going to emerge from the pile and raise that guy's eyeballs up to the crowd? The punishment (Half-game suspension for a game your team is favored by 100) meted out by Urban Meyer was inadequate. He should be suspended for the rest of the year or even thrown off the team. And this, from Heisman Trophy winner and leader of the team, Tim Tebow:

I don't think that we did anything in that game that they didn't do.

The Southeastern Conference needs to look at suspending that series or penalizing both programs somehow.

My two fantasy teams are both in tailspin mode. After a 5-0 start, one is 5-3. After a 6-0 start, the other is 6-2.

Quote of the Day

I don't think we played that great today

Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: "Good morning Panther faithful and welcome to the Monday Morning Optimist; and boy oh boy, do we have a lot to be optimistic about this week!"

Fun game in the SuperDome tonight. The Falcons are the Saints oldest and fiercest rival. They've played 79 times. Falcons lead the series, 44-35. They know each other very well. The records don't mean much. Atlanta and New Orleans have been rivals since before the Civil War. They were the two biggest cities in the old south. It's all good fun, though, and an economic boost for both. Saints fans travel to Atlanta in large numbers for the games in the Georgia Dome and Falcons fans travel to New Orleans in large numbers for games in the SuperDome. I looked into tickets for tonight's game. Bring your big wallets, Falcons fans.

I feel for Aaron Rodgers. He will always be unfavorably compared to his predecessor, Brett Favre. The Packers didn't make the playoffs last season just one year after almost getting to the Super Bowl with Favre and they've lost two high-profile games to the Favre-led Vikings this season. He's a terrific quarterback playing behind probably the worst offensive line in the NFL. Favre is playing behind one of the best. Not a fair comparison. Surround Favre with a mediocre team, like the Jets, and the results are different. Brett finagled his way into a perfect situation. Good for him. Aaron's time will come ... if he survives. Vikings look very tough.

Good thing New York has the Yankees because the Giants and Jets are disintegrating. They're both pretty good against the Raiders, though.

Quote of the Day

Our second favorite team -- whoever is playing the Falcons.

Glen Helmstetter, Atlanta, GA

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: "On a related note, I'm officially listed as "out" for Monday Night Football."

Jes pics today. Inspiration tomorrow, I hope.

Christmas Tree Farm - Bush, LA - November 1, 2009

Whippoorwill Grove - Bush, LA - November 1, 2009

Hemphill Road - Bush, LA - November 1, 2009

Hemphill Road - Bush, LA - November 1, 2009

Quote of the Day

And she handed me twenty dollars for a two fifty fare
She said, "Harry, keep the change"

Harry Chapin, Taxi

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: "Yep, the eternal Dirty Bird optimist is a little down heading into this one. It's going to be a heckuva lot closer when it's in our dome, but after seeing the Giants get dismantled in the Big Easy, I can't pretend we're going to stop these guys from scoring."

Excellent articles on Billy Cannon at ESPN and at The Boston Globe. The ESPN piece is the longer read but well worth the time. I first saw Billy Cannon as an Oakland Raider on TV in the old AFL in the 60s. He played tight end for owner/coach Al Davis back when Davis was still sane. I was a Raider fan then because there were no New Orleans Saints yet and NBC featured the Raiders almost every week here. Billy Cannon's legend was 100 feet tall in Louisiana at the time. He had led LSU to one football national championship in 1958 and to within a whisker of another in 1959. By far, the most famous play in storied LSU football history is his punt return against Ole Miss on Halloween night 50 years ago tonight. That was a Saturday night, too. The ESPN piece has a video of that fabulous play. Amazing even 50 years later.

Billy Cannon played at LSU in 1957, 1958, and 1959 as a sophomore, junior, and senior. Freshmen didn't play then. He played behind LSU and Green Bay Packer legend, Jim Taylor, in 1957, and was in the same backfield as LSU and Kansas City Chief legend, Johnny Robinson, in 1958-59. He played both ways. At 6'2", 215-220, Billy was big for a running back and even bigger for a defensive back, especially in college, at that time. At 9.4 in the 100 yard dash (Weren't using 40 yard dashes then), he was ridiculously fast for a college football player of that era. He was also very strong. Threw the shot put for the track team. Size, speed, strength, he had it all. Won the Heisman Trophy in 1959. The Halloween night punt return is said to have clinched it.

His trouble with the law broke a lot of hearts in Louisiana. To some, it was a betrayal. They need their legends to be 100 feet tall and pristine. To me, it was disappointment. I couldn't read all of the stuff that came out about the trouble he got himself into. I know the basics but I don't care to know any more than that.

I'm glad to see he's found peace and is a part of the LSU family again. His legend may not be 100 feet tall any more but it's at least 98 feet tall and the restoration is almost complete. Good on you, Billy. GEAUX Tigers.

LSU plays old rival, Tulane, tonight for the 50th anniversary of that legendary return, and the series is going to go on the shelf for a while. It's not much of a rivalry any more and I won't miss it. LSU has taken a path to big time athletics and is one of the premier programs in the country in all sports. Tulane has taken a different path. They dabble in athletics just enough to maintain their Division One status but not enough to be serious. I'm sure LSU would have loved to schedule Ole Miss for tonight but the game is in Oxford this year and Ole Miss is more than a little sick of hearing about that play. :)

Quote of the Day

I think it's the time or the moment that makes a great play stand up. But it was a lot of fun doing it.

Billy Cannon

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: "God, it would be good for the Tigers to have a boring ol' skull-dragging this week versus Tulane. The Green Wave are terrible and it might not be all that meaningful a football rivalry anymore, but it would be good just to see the Tigers flex their muscles against a team we know they can do it against."

Once again, I wonder why artists, their tour companies, and the venues on their scheduled tours put up with TicketMaster. I understand why fans do. They have no choice. On top of my ticket prices, I was charged these fees:

• Facility Charge US $2.00 per ticket
• Convenience Charge US $10.55 per ticket
• Order Processing Fee US $4.10
• TicketFast Delivery US $2.50

Years ago, before TicketMaster, the City of New Orleans imposed a 5% "Amusement Tax" on special events. It kept events away in droves. I think the Amusement Tax has since been repealed. 5%. The fees listed above represent about 25% of the purchase. These are tickets I printed on my own printer. Cost me $2.50 to use my own paper and ink. I just don't understand why the venues and artists can't get together and do this. They could lower prices and keep more of the profits. Not a big fan of TicketMaster here.

Quote of the Day

The Birds will be fine -- until Drew Brees gets out of his car.

Jeff Schultz, Atlanta Journal Constitution

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: "Couple the NFL's most prolific offense against an Atlanta defense that made Tony Romo look like Troy Aikman on Sunday and it's a recipe for a long night in the Big Easy (and we're not talking about those type of fun nights on Bourbon Street that involve a lot of boozing, beads and another "B" we can't talk about on a family blog)"

Cliff Lee --- WOW. He looked all that Yankee mystique right in the eye ... and spit. Watch the video at that link if you didn't see the game. Guy's got ice water in his veins.

The first paragraph of a Sporting News piece:

The NFL has no reason to fear anything Major League Baseball does. Ever. Even a World Series that features MLB's most popular team can't put a significant dent in football's audience. Yet for some reason the NFL is caving by not scheduling a Sunday night game this week to go against Game Four of the World Series.

They're right, of course, but I like that the NFL is yielding the stage.

I don't know that Malcolm Gladwell's New Yorker article started it but the concern over NFL players with significant head trauma has picked up considerably. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell testified before Congress yesterday. Some of the testimony heard yesterday doesn't make any sense. From the MSNBC article:

Gay Culverhouse, former president of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, said NFL team doctors are not advocates for the players and called for an independent neurologist to be on the sidelines.

The problem isn't the doctors in those instances. It's the players. Doctors need truthful information from their patients. The patients/players know there is a guy on the bench just waiting for a chance to take his job. He is likely to say or do whatever he thinks will keep him in the game. An independent doctor isn't likely to get any more truthful information than the team doctor but I'm not opposed to having more than one doctor, a specialist in concussions, on the sidelines. A second opinion is always valuable. I'm all for making the game safer. More study and more data is needed. Congress should perhaps tone down their wrath. Threats from Maxine Waters aren't helping. Want wrath? Outlaw football.

Today's QOTD is about the Cincinnati Bengals Carson Palmer. He completed 20 of 24 passes and had 5 touchdowns. Four incomplete passes, five touchdowns. Man, what happened to the Bears?

Quote of the Day

If your QB has a game where he throws for more touchdowns than incompletions, he's had a good day.

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: "Which is the more impressive victory, the Saints' 48-27 over the New York Giants, who had the NFL's No. 1 defense going into last week's game, or this Sunday's win over the Dolphins? New Orleans has now scored 46 or more points three times in six games."

I like 'em both but the win versus the Dolphins was awesome. -Rob

While the talk of the town here is the Saints, there are other sports being played. The New Orleans Hornets open their season tonight in San Antonio. The Hornets were fairly quiet in the ridiculously short offseason and I doubt they gained any ground on the top teams. They figure to be in the second tier of playoff teams again.

I just don't know what Major League Baseball is thinking by starting a World Series this late in October. A lot of their cities start getting get cold, rainy, and even snowy this time of year. Did you see that football game in New England (Foxboro, MA), a few weeks ago? Shortening their season would probably mean shortening their revenue stream. I get that but, still, their showcase event should be played in better conditions than these two very deserving teams and all baseball fans will get. That's too bad. And

Quote of the Day

But the Saints this season aren't that team, the one that knows how to prosper only when the wind is at its back and the opponent has been doubled over by a gut punch.

John DeShazier, Times-Picayune

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: "But while the dopey Wrangler jeans spokesman's career won't come to its end in Green Bay, it didn't start there, either: He entered the league way back in 1991 as a second-round draft pick of the Falcons. Apparently their coach, Jerry Glanville, had been in the bathroom or something when it was time for them to pick, and he hated the guy so much that he declared the only way Favre would see the field was if now-forgotten starter Chris Miller died in a plane crash."

Smarter and more eloquent people than I have weighed in on that Northwest Airlines flight that flew past their destination the other day but I think I'll add that today's QOTD gives me ZERO comfort. I love to fly even though I don't get to do it much. The incident won't give me pause because I feel certain that it's isolated and even more certain that it will be forcefully addressed. Still, I'm a little concerned that the only things mentioned here are that what they did was "strictly against the airline's flight deck policies and violations of that policy will result in termination" and that "they were under investigation for possible revocation of their licenses". I'm sorry but this seems a little more serious than that to me.

Quote of the Day

The pilots said there was a concentrated period of discussion where they did not monitor the airplane or calls from (controllers).

National Transportation Safety Board

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: "Sometimes after a tough loss, like the Falcons 37-21 day at Dallas, I find myself trying to get in the heads of players. I focus more on mental toughness than in-game decision making. I'm fascinated by professional athletes who, in the wake of plays good and bad, can refocus on the next pitch, snap or shot. With football's weekly opera and buildup we're left with the additional variables of time."

For the first time this season, the Saints faced a team that had a charge in them. The Dolphins had won their last two games, had an extra week to rest and prepare for a home game, had the Saints coming in after a tough game with the Giants, and had a great game plan early. They got after Drew Brees, confused him and the offensive line into interceptions and sacks, and jumped out to a big 24-3 lead that most fans thought would only get bigger. The home crowd was sensing blowout. The "at home" crowd (Mainly me) was sensing that, too. Then, a break, a fumble, a touchdown just before the half, and there was life. The Dolphins will be talking about their meltdown all week but the truth of the matter is ... they were gassed by the end of the 3rd quarter. All that energy and enthusiasm on full display in the first half was gone. They had nothing left. The Saints have outscored their opponents, 74-12, in the 4th quarter, including yesterday's 22-0 fourth quarter. It wasn't the best game they've played this year by a longshot but it was easily their best win. First division game next week against the Falcons on Monday night in the SuperDome. The joint will be jumpin'. GEAUX Saints.

There was a play in yesterday's Vikings-Steelers game that just left my jaw on the floor. Adrian Peterson was led right into a defensive back on a pass play. The defender had all of the advantages. The play was right in front of him. Peterson ran over him, stepped on him, and went for another 20 yards or so. Amazing. That guy can play. (Update: 5:30PM): Found it on YouTube below. Enjoy it while it's there. Probably going to be taken down.

On the fantasy football front, both of my teams still have a chance but I need a medium game from the Eagles defense and special teams and a great game from Clinton Portis. Up by 11 and done in one game, I need to keep the Eagles D/ST under that. Down by 24 in the other with Portis and the same Eagles D/ST, I need them to combine for 25 but I'd like to see most of it come from Portis. Doubt I'll watch it.

Quote of the Day

And yet here are the Saints. They played an imperfect game, but left with a perfect record.

Gene Wojciechowski, ESPN.com

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: "Sometimes life gives you lemons and you slip on the peels, stab yourself in the hand trying to slice them in half and spray yourself in the eyes with lemon juice, turning you into a bleeding, blinded mess of agony that yearns for the sweet solace of a non-citrus death. This would be one of those times."

The Saints are in Miami for a game with the Dolphins today. The game plan for both teams is rather simple. For the Dolphins, the plan is to run the ball and keep the Saints offense off the field. Peyton Manning and the Colts only needed 15 minutes to ring up 27 points and the offensively-challenged Jets duplicated the feat in 26 minutes. For the Saints, the goal is to get the Dolphins offense off the field a few times early in the game and get ahead. The clock is only the Dolphins' friend today if they're ahead or at least close. I guess I need to say it every week. If the Saints take care of the ball, they'll take care of the Dolphins. Oh, and one more thing:

Today's QOTD (I love that "Make them stop throwing the ball!!!" bit) is on the same website that has this gem:

There were some questionable calls that impacted the game and while I hate to "go there" ...

Whine about the refs on one hand and then advocate dirty play on the other. I suppose it's better than complaining about the perfect playing conditions in Dome stadiums to the point of suggesting they should be banned but only after your team lays an egg.

I offer one from my ride yesterday. This is the Bogue Falaya.

Bogue Falaya - October 24, 2009

Quote of the Day

After the first thirty-eight touchdowns I would have just sent someone to hit Brees every play, high/low/late/more than once! doesn't matter. Make them stop throwing the ball!!!

Jesse Bartolis

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: "You want to gain respect and make a statement about yourself Miami, win this game. This is a game you can win, go get it done."

The weather was just too perfect. Decided to load up the bikes and hit the St Tammany Trace from another point today. This time, we started in Covington.

St Tammany Trace - Covington, LA - October 24, 2009