NOT RELATED TO SPORTS

Black Keys Recording with Mos Def for their upcoming album "Blakroc" due out November 27th. 
Absolutely just pumping this because I am so excited about the album.  If you want to jump straight to the coolest stuff look to the 2:30 mark when Mos starts recording.

NBA SEASON 2009-2010

Yesterday was media day, and now 2-a-days start for most teams in preparation for the new season.  In honor of that...

(takes about 14 seconds to get going)

FROM THE LEGAL PAD WEEK 3

the "From The Legal Pad" series will be a somewhat organized collection of initial reactions. Warning: This is not meant for people with long attention spans.

Dirty Sanchez is the Real Deal

On Sunday Mark Sanchez became the first rookie quarterback to start and win his team's first three games of the season since 1969 when Greg Cook did it in Cincinnati.  Now Greg Cook suffered from a terrible series of career ending injuries, but that is neither here nor there.  Sanchez isn't doing anything extraordinary statistically, but he is bringing an enthusiasm and killer instinct to the position that has been absent in the Jets organization since Vinny and the Jets.  

Most importantly, the kid is rocking a smile, swagger and a KILLER 'stache.  Call me premature, but I'll throw out a "Broadway Joe, 2.0"



From Worst to First, From First to Worst

The Miami Dolphins played an unbelievable game against the Colts on Monday Night Football.  They kept the ball out of Peyton Manning's hands for nearly three-fourths of the game, ran their wildcat, and put themselves in a position to win.  Unfortunately, they were playing against Peyton Manning who has inexplicably returned from surgery better than he was before (take note, Tom Brady).  Things only got worse for Miami, who found out today they have lost Chad Pennington for the season.  Who is the back up?  Well for yesterday it was Chad Henne.  Good luck with all that Big Tuna - Pat White only has a learning curve as steep as Mt. Mitchell.  

UPDATE - More research has brought to my attention that Chad Henne is the man the Dolphins picked after PASSING on Matt Ryan.  Nice. 


Give Greg Lewis Credit

I am so sick of having to chomp down on the Favre Dollar Footlong every week.(thanks GP)  The guy's publicist has figured out a way to work up a story in, on, or about the 39 year old quarterback pretty much twice a week.  Well his 40th is a couple weeks away and now we get this "gem."  

Now I HATE Favre, but more than that I hate that Greg Lewis hasn't gotten enough credit for this catch.  The 29 year old receiver walked on to his college team, made the Eagles after going undrafted, and has busted his ass for everything his whole career.  Lewis turned another reckless Favre laser into one of the highlights of the year.  





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HAVA NAGILA

The Lions did it! Jim Schwartz delivered the first Detroit Lions victory since December 2007.  He was able to get it done on Yom Kippur as well.  If you ask me, sounds like some good ole fashioned Hebrew mysticism.
For those of you who believe in "thetans," maybe the Lions got some good vibes from your demi-god who was in attendance on Sunday.

Alright Tom, I haven't been alive for any of your good movies.  Less jokes, more autograph, I got a flea market to catch after the game.  

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SO I TRIED TO WATCH BROTHERS...

...and my DVR broke.  I was watching it with the hope of being able to write some funny review making fun of Strahan and his desperation.  It's not funny, it's not entertaining, it is not even worth mocking.  The (only) part that made me chuckle is Carl Weathers playing Michael's horn-dog dad.  So here is some classic Apollo Creed for you.


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CHILDREN OF THE POD NOSE PICKS: WEEK 3

Children of the Pod's resident NFL betting "experts" give you some of their picks for the week and explain why.  They are by NO means professional handicappers so you can't say we didn't warn you...

Bears (-2) at Seahawks
PAUL SAYS WHY: Take Hassel"I-broke-my"back away from this team they have no chance. Watching this offense with out him is like seeing your Grandfather slam a Viagra pill with his gin and tonic and than accidently getting a boner while he is cutting the turkey before Thanksgiving. Just f*cking awkward man. Why haven’t they gotten a legitimate back up quarterback?

49ers at Vikes (-7)
CHIP SAYS WHY:  Do you guys remember when Mike Singletary dropped his pants at halftime of the Seahawks game last season? It was his first game as a head coach, and he wasn't even full time yet!  The man who looked as though he was going to be a running joke for bloggers everywhere has created a winning mentality once again in San Fransisco.  It's a team based on toughness, looks like he really has shown them how to grow some balls.  (see what I did there?)

Steelers (-4) at Bengals
PAUL SAYS WHY: Bottom line the Steelers aren't losing to the "Who Deys."  Oh and did you see Hard Knocks? If you are too poor to afford the Sunday Package or HBO let me enlighten you, yes the Bengals are bad. So they beat Green Bay - big f'in big deal. Even a blind squirrel finds a nut.


Giants (-6.5) at Bucs
CHIP SAYS WHY: The Bucs D looks bad.  Real bad.  They have talent out there, but something isn't working.  Raheem The Dream has figured out a way to have Byron Leftwich be a fairly productive quarterback, but the defense keeps giving up 30+ points per game.  The Giants offense looks great right now with Eli and the Mannings - easy TD win for the G-Men.

Dolphins at Chargers (-6)
PAUL SAYS WHY:  I will bet against Norv Turner every time. I don’t care what the circumstances are. The guy just finds a way to lose time and time again. If Norv Turner was going against two quadriplegics in the Special Olympic high jump I would put my life savings that Norvy would win the bronze. He has to be the most over rated coach in the National Football League. I wouldn’t trust this guy to wipe Chip’s ass, and Chip doesn’t wipe his ass.

Colts at Cardinals (-2.5)

CHIP SAYS WHY: My pick of last week was absolutely washed down the tube when Kurt Warner decided he was going to beat me up and take all of my lunch money.  Seriously, the same guy who was riding around training camp on a segway decided to check out of the nursing home and come play football.  Colts played their asses off on in the heat of Miami on Monday, then travel to Arizona.  Love the Cards at home.

Panthers at Cowboys (-8.5)

PAUL SAYS WHY: How does Tony Romo get laid? He is that douche bag you see at the bar with the hot girl, and you can’t help but think there has to be something wrong with her. There is a reason he went Eastern Illinois. There is a reason he did not get drafted, and there is a reason he almost got cut until Quincy Jones was caught smoking a splif.

 This guy is not good and he never will be good. I don’t get the hype. Right now I don’t know who I would take Campbell or Romo. Somehow Tony Romo has charmed America. His smile and goofiness glamoured us all into forgetting that botched hold in the playoffs. Surprised Norv Turner didn’t draft him. 

Image Credit: The Sports Hernia

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IVAN DRAGO BUYS THE NETS, WILL FINANCE NEW BROOKLYN HOME

The news was broken this morning/afternoon and now it is really starting to sink in.  Here are some observations from around the web.


The NBA.com Bloggers are obviously racist and against the sale (check the first line - the Nyets? Seriously?)
Ball Don't Lie shows us that Congressmen in New Jersey are racist, bad with names, and against the sale.
The Baseline has been called out multiple times for expressing Red Scare paranoia that rivals Red Dawn


What about some good old-fashioned Rocky IV parallels?

"If he dies...he dies"

Seriously though, Mikhail Prokporov, the richest man in Russia, is coming overseas to try and take control of one of the more storied franchises in NBA/ABA history.  

He is trying to become the master in a sport currently dominated by Americans (just like Drago), much of his success came from advanced technology (just like Drago), and he used this success to try and advance himself in said American sport (well, Drago used performance enhancers - but you get the idea).  

Is Drago coming to New Jersey/Brooklyn with plans of world domination?  No way.  Is it all about the Benjamins?  This dude wipes his ass with 5000 Ruble notes. Where he does stray from the Drago comparison is the way he conducts himself socially. (via WDCW)

Prokhorov, who is 6-foot-6 and was an avid basketball player in his school days, is a fixture in glitzy European resorts and once was held in France for four days of questioning — but never charged — in a prostitution investigation. Even in Russia, he raises eyebrows for his penchant for private jets and a gorgeous entourage.


Well there you go Mikhail, or can I call you Mickey?  Welcome to the NBA, sounds like you will be right at home.

NO MORE FRICTION, NO MORE RESTRICTION

Raymond Felton and Nate Robinson, two of the Eastern Conference's B to B+ Point Guards signed one year deals last night/today.

(Via The Baseline)

Felton will simply sign the one-year, $5.5 million qualifying offer put forth by the Bobcats.

Bradbury [his agent] would not say just how far apart the two sides were on a deal, but it is believed that the team’s offer was in the range of the deal Marvin Williams got from the Hawks—a five-year deal worth $37.5 million, plus added money with incentives.

(Via Alan Hahn)
Nate Robinson will be signed to a one-year contract today and, according to a person with knowledge of the situation, Robinson, who was a restricted free agent who earlier this summer told the Knicks he had no interest in playing anywhere else, will get more than his $2.9M qualifying offer. There are also performance bonuses included in the deal.


Both of these players are personal favorites of mine, but the harsh reality is they fall under that category of "Likeable College Players Who Never Really Make The Leap."  Both players have the potential to be game changers at any time, but yet somehow over time have failed to really step forward as a team leader for an entire season.


These one year deals seem like band aids for both organizations - you keep your player for another year and see how he pans out.  Even if they do out-perform their value, they face the dreaded 2010 free agency pool where they fall far lower on teams' priority list than they do now.

BUSTER SPORTS

Check out Children of the Pod doing some scribbling for Buster Sports

TICK TOCK - HOOPS ARE COMING

September is about to wind down and then October hits.  The weather gets crisp, the football games get cold and the countdown to season Tip Off begins.  Here is a retro clip courtesy of Ball Don't Lie that started to remind me why I love the NBA.

FROM THE LEGAL PAD WEEK 002

the "From The Legal Pad" series will be a somewhat organized collection of initial reactions. Warning: This is not meant for people with long attention spans.

Jerryworld
Jerry Jones has always claimed the hole in the roof is so that God can watch down on the Cowboys.  I will argue that God was not paying attention last night - and it is not because of the unfortunate performance on the field.  I think that if God looked down and realized that he had Jerry Jones, John Madden, and George W. Bush in the same building - he might have taken some swift immediate action to correct some prior mistakes.

Frank Caliendo probably crapped his size 48 pants with joy when he saw this on television and immediately googled himself 4.8 billion times.  All of my attempts to grab a video or image of the two of them together just lead to images of his unfunny ass sweating and putting me seconds closer to dropping a toaster in the bathtub.  So you are stuck with this for now.



Drew Brees Is Playing Madden
Drew Brees picked up right where he left off at the end of last season - only now he appears to be even better. With a healthy O-Line, Brees is able to sit back and deliver the ball with the precision and accuracy of playing on "Rookie" level.  Hell, it even seems like his receivers were those computer-generated fake names that you get in Dynasty mode in future seasons.  Whatever is going on, Scarface is an early candidate for MVP and it would not surprise me if he refers to Devery Henderson and Lance Moore as "Y" and "B" in the huddle.



Ray Lewis and the News - Greatest Hits
I warned you that this was "somewhat organized"


and more...

Charlie Weis Thoughts From the Cutting Room Floor

Had some jokes that I was trying to turn into a post for Buster Sports today.  When Will Brinson published his Kiffin-Palin Tale of the Tape piece we received so much traffic that uploading became improbable.  Check out the Will's piece - it's great.  Unfortunately I am going to use the Children of the Pod to dump these half-developed jokes.  I'm sorry if you feel like the chick who got asked to Prom after my first girl said "No." Chances are, we'll probably still hook up anyway.

After the heart-wrenching loss to Michigan in the Big House. Charlie Weis is constantly finding himself under the microscope. Under the Microscope?  You obviously mean a hubble telescope.

Charlie Weis is starting to really feel the hot seat in South Bend. The good news for the next guy is the hot seat will be left niiiiiiiice and warm.

Notre Dame has dropped 6 straight home games to the Spartans – the worst home losing streak in Notre Dame Stadium history. ESPN’S Kirk Herbstreit called this one of the most Pressure Packed Games of Weis’ career… I don’t know whats more pressure packed, the game in south bend on Saturday or the area around Weis’ cock.

Matt Barkley Isn't Listening to Bill Withers

Sources are reporting that Matt Barkley will in fact be sitting out with an injured shoulder on Saturday for the Trojans matchup against the Washington Huskies. 

USC coach Pete Carroll said Thursday that Barkley is improving every day, and Carroll wants to give him as much time as possible to heal before ruling him out against Washington.  

A personal source of COTP reports that the treatment that Barkley is receiving is starting to cause a disctraction within the locker room.  I would also be disgruntled if I found out the hot-shot Newport Beach 19 year old was getting the Matt Leinart Rehab Treatment that the former USC signal caller enjoyed in 2008.

Peterson Still Ain't No Peyton

Adrian Peterson is quickly appearing more and more in NFL marketing campaigns and is arguably one of the "faces" of the NFL. And why not? Peterson, 24, has averaged over 100 yds/game every time he sets foot on an NFL field. His trophy case already holds a Pro Bowl MVP, Offensive ROY, and the NFL single game rushing record.

Most importantly, Peterson lacks much of the off-field drama that seems to shadow stars in the NFL. His most recent Nike commercial (below) is a huge hit and his MNF promo's seem to rival his Sportscenter spots from last year.


That all being said, he still has a long way to go before he reaches the marketability of Peyton Manning.  Peyton also had his ESPN's and NFL Network ads, but he also held down SOLID campaigns with Sprint, Mastercard, and DirectTV.  Peyton was so marketable at one point he had transcended the NFL and become a pop culture icon.

Part of being an athlete on "Pop Culture Status" means you host SNL, and that's where his best work took place...

EARGASM OF THE WEEK 2

Seriously. Give It a Listen... even if you don't like hip hop just start at the 1:00 mark.

A Few Days Late - But Best Image Yet

Santonio Holmes repping the Soon-To-Be-Starter in Philly.

"FROM THE LEGAL PAD" - WEEK 1. PART 001

the "From The Legal Pad" series will be a somewhat organized collection of initial reactions. Warning: This is not meant for people with long attention spans.


1. Pleasantly Surprised and Surprisingly Pleased with the competition level.  6 games decided by 6 points or less on Sunday/Thursday really brought some interesting spice into the day.  While some of the close games could have been expected (Bears-Packers), others seemed to be a bit more surprising (49ers-Cardinals).

2. COTP Endorsements Showed Up - I must say it is pretty rewarding to see my boy Flacco and the NFC North both showing up on Sunday.  Even the Lions were able to make things appear interesting.  Although he never found the end zone, Ochocinco Loco still had 89 yards on 5 catches and they would be singing a different tune in Cincinnati if it weren't for the backyard game of "500" that led to a Broncos victory.


Seriously, I think I saw that happen playing pickup football at Lacy Elementary


3. Who the HELL is Adam Schefter? - Okay this guy actually has a pretty impressive story, but still appears to be 75% as douche-y as I thought.  He graduated from Northwestern School of Journalism (tags: snob, douche), covered the Broncos for the Denver Post for 15 years where he "began a relationship with many Broncos athletes and coaches" (tags: reach-arounds, tummysticks) and began a reputation for always getting accurately inside players insider information.

In all seriousness, Schefter does even squeeze a little respect out of this snarky rant because of a survey done by USA Today in January 2009.  According to the survey (and Wikipedia) Adam Schefter edged ESPN's Chris Mortensen for best NFL Insider.  This occurred even though Schefter's information (on NFL Network) reaches less than half of the households that the Worldwide Eater devours.  After taking down the big dog in his own game, ESPN gobbled him up (suprise, suprise) and now Mort and Schef do insider gigs together.  Fireworks might fly between these two folks, and the COTP are anxiously awaiting with baited breath.

 

I wouldn't let him hold MY kid like this - but I still kinda respect him for now.

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BRADFORD'S CONSCIOUS KICKED IN...

If you had already won a Heisman Trophy, Big 12 Championship, was a for-sure NFL Draft pick and you got a chance to maybe rest until your professional career begins - wouldn't you be tempted? I bet Sam was, I bet when that Doc asked him what he thought and if he wanted to go into surgery he thought about it long and hard.

And that's when his conscious kicked in...

3 Reasons I Am EXTRA Excited for the NFL Season

As usual, in no particular order....

THE NFC NORTH SEEMS INTERESTING TO ME - While all realism points towards Matthew Stafford being eaten alive in the hell hole of the auto industry, something makes me think that he has enough weapons around him to cause some trouble a few times - and shaking the Lions hangover is only the beginning of the QB storyline.  The new QB arrivals (Favre, Cutler) will surely each have (at least) one semi-catastrophic meltdown and be hung out to dry by their fans...only to be re-embraced less than two weeks later for a miraculous comeback.  Oh yeah, and Aaron Rodgers has a chance to beat his mentor in his own house (Sunday, November 1 - circle it)

HANGING CHAD JOHNSON OCHOCINCO LOCO, once again, is back to being simultaneously obnoxious and entertaining.  As opposed to being just plain obnoxious.

EVERY TEAM HAS A CONCERN - May be a pessimistic outlook, but it's true.  The reason it is exciting is that there are no clear cut favorites right now.  That leaves a lot of room for teams to make statements early.  That doesn't necessarily mean those same teams will be in the Super Bowl (cough, cough, 2008 Titans) but it does mean that it will be entertaining to see who shows up.

I AM IN FOUR DIFFERENT FANTASY LEAGUES,  This of course is not one of the three reasons I am electing to share - but instead an anecdote that may explain in advance my bandwagon-ness of many different players and their fantasy production.  One school league, Two Hometown leagues, and one public league myself and 2 buddies hopped in that plays IDP's and has a QB/RB/TE/WR flex position on the roster.  It is looking tasty - I'll keep you updated on how the scoring turns out.

-- Chip
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Dubya Tee Eff?

Thanks so much to everyone who came up to Boone for Music on the Mountaintop. I've finally started to recover and will soon get back to writing. For now, one more unexplainable video with no commentary.