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Go Giants.

My school is filled to the brim with cocky, fair-weather Massholes in brand-spanking-new "Welker" jerseys who have been Pats fans "Forevah" but have no idea who Ben Coats was.

In fact, the "Ben Coats" test has hilariously exposed many a bandwagoner since I started using it.

It's Coates buddy

Now if they can tell you who Andre Tippett was and make funny faces when you mention Tony Eason then you've got some long term Pats fans.

Make sure you sing the Superbowl Shuffle around those people.

In non-super bowl news, and of interest to Canuckistan:

Commissioner announces Toronto plan for Bills
Associated Press


BUFFALO, N.Y. -- NFL commissioner Roger Goodell announced plans Friday for the Buffalo Bills to play an annual regular-season game in Toronto, starting this year.

The announcement came during Goodell's state of the league address during the Super Bowl festivities in Phoenix, and will make the Bills the NFL's first team to play annual regular-season games outside the United States.

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The Bills proposed the plan at the NFL owners meetings in October as part of their desire to expand their market to Toronto, Canada's largest city and financial capital, and located about a 90-minute drive from Buffalo.

Under the team's proposal, the Bills would play some preseason games and one annual regular-season game at the downtown Rogers Centre -- a domed stadium with a retractable roof -- through 2012.

A delegation of executives representing the Toronto Blue Jays and the Rogers Centre were scheduled to travel this week to meet with NFL officials at the Super Bowl.

CFL commissioner Mark Cohon is on board with the NFL playing games in his territory.

"I've been having good conversations with the league on this," Cohon told The Associated Press. Cohon, who is returning to Toronto after a brief vacation, added he'll wait to comment further until after Goodell makes his announcement.

It's not clear who the Bills opponent would be or when the game would be played because the NFL schedule will not be released until spring.

For the Bills, this is considered the small-market franchise's most ambitious attempt to secure its long-term future in Buffalo by tapping into Toronto's vast corporate base. The Bills, who count Toronto as part of their territory, attract an average of 15,000 Canadian fans to their home games, but have had little success establishing marketing deals and selling luxury suites with companies north of the border.

Playing annual games there would give the franchise a more immediate presence in a region that has a population of about 4.6 million.

NFL teams have played home games outside their community, but not to this international degree. The Packers previously split home games between Green Bay and Milwaukee, and the Chicago Bears played their 2002 home games at Champaign, Ill., because of renovations to Soldier Field.

And Buffalo playing in Toronto goes beyond the NFL's recent bid to play games annually outside the United States, after Miami played the New York Giants at London's Wembley Stadium this past season.

Goodell also announced Friday that San Diego and New Orleans will play each other in London next season.

The Bills have already received state and county approval to play in Toronto. The approval was necessary because of the team's lease with Ralph Wilson Stadium.

Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press

and of interest to the Englishmen:

Chargers, Saints to play in London in 2008
San Diego Chargers


The San Diego Chargers and New Orleans Saints will play in the second regular-season game ever played outside North America when they meet in Wembley Stadium in London, England on Sunday, Oct. 26, 2008. The game will be televised by CBS in the United States. The kickoff time will be announced at a later time. The game will be shown live in England, and will also be shown live or as a highlights package in nearly 200 additional countries.

“We’re proud to be chosen,” said Chargers President Dean Spanos. “This is another positive step in the effort to globalize our great sport. It’s an opportunity for the NFL to show off two of its marquee teams and some of its best players as well as a chance for the Chargers to expand our international fan base. In particular, it’s going to be good exposure for the team, our players and our city and another opportunity for our team to grow together. We’re looking forward to it.”

The announcement came during Goodell's state of the league address during the Super Bowl festivities in Phoenix, and will make the Bills the NFL's first team to play annual regular-season games outside the United States. More ... The Chargers-Saints game would be the third NFL regular-season game to be contested on foreign soil. In 2005, the San Francisco 49ers and Arizona Cardinals met in Mexico City’s Azteca Stadium and, last season, the Miami Dolphins and New York Giants played in London in Wembley Stadium.

The Oct. 26 contest (Week 8) will mark only the 10th regular season meeting between the Chargers and Saints. The Bolts lead the series 7-2 and won the last meeting, 43-17, in San Diego in 2004. The Saints, quarterbacked by former Charger Drew Brees, played in the NFC Championship Game in 2006. They are coming off a 7-9 record in 2007. The Chargers finished the 2007 season 11-5 and advanced to the AFC Championship Game.

To help compensate for the approximately 5,500 mile trip from San Diego to England, the Chargers have requested and expect the NFL to schedule the team to play a road game on the East Coast the week prior to help break up the trip. The team would then fly directly to England from their Week 7 game and spend the week there preparing for the game. The Chargers will have their bye following the Saints game.

“The trip itself will be the longest regular-season road trip in NFL history,” added Spanos. “We’ve asked the NFL for its support to schedule one of our East Coast road games on the weekend prior. Then, immediately following that game, our plan is to fly directly to England and spend the week going through our normal preparation schedule.”

The Chargers have played a total of four games overseas, however all four have been preseason contests. The Chargers played the St. Louis Cardinals in Tokyo, Japan in 1976; the Giants in Berlin, Germany in 1994; the Pittsburgh Steelers in Tokyo again in 1996, and the Denver Broncos in Sydney, Australia in 1999.

In October 2006, NFL owners voted to play up to two games outside of the United States every year through 2011. Wembley Stadium, the site of last season’s game between the New York Giants and Miami Dolphins, opened in 1923 and now has a seating capacity of 90,000. A crowd of 81,176 saw the Giants beat the Dolphins, 13-10.

Going off of the 2008 opponents, that means that the Week 7 Chargers matchup will be against either Pittsburgh, Buffalo, or Miami, if they want to keep the game on the East Coast. Probably Buffalo or Miami, since the Steelers stretch "east coast" a little bit.

Both are front page stories on NFL.com.

Hall OF Fame 2008: This Year They Didn't Fuck It Up

Fred Dean (DE Chargers 1975-1981, 49ers 1981-85) : for some strange reason, the idiot owner of the Chargers decided to trade the best pass rusher in the NFL, and at a time when his own team was within a whisker of going to the Super Bowl. The results? The 49ers got two Lombardi Trophies while the Chargers' defense went down the drain -even more so because the Chargers shipped Louie Kelcher and Gary "Big Hands" Johnson to the 49ers, too.

Darrell Green (CB Redskins 1983-2002) : the fact that a man could play corner for 20 YEARS is unbefuckinglievable.

Art Monk (WR Redskins 1980-1993, Jets, Eagles) : Look at his numbers and keep in mind that he racked up most of those yards when defenses were allowed to actually hit receivers.

Andre Tippett (LB Patriots 1982-93) : It's pretty disgraceful that Tippett wasn't put in the Hall sooner. His numbers were every bit as good as Lawrence Taylor's, considering that Tippett recovered from a blown out knee and was saddled with at best slightly above average teammates. The only other HoFer from the Patriots during Tippett's career was Mike Haynes -and he was traded to the Raiders in 1983.

Gary Zimmerman (OT Vikings, Broncos 1986-97) : Any player who can play Left Tackle (the hardest line position) as well as he did and as long as he did should be pretty much automatic for the Hall.

Emmitt Thomas (CB Chiefs 1966-78 ) : He was really before my time, but some of the old timers I spoke to last night think he was the best bump-and-run corner ever -and those who don't rank him #1 of all time rank him no lower than #3 behind Willie Brown and Mike Haynes. Bump-and-run requires not only incredible speed and agility, but a willingness to hit and be hit. The corner has to hit the receiver lined up opposite hard enough to delay him at least half a second AND knock him off his pattern. If he misses or doesn't hit hard enough, he's still expected to run with the receiver in man-to-man coverage (in other words, he's on his own). Thomas is now an assistant coach, taking over as HC for the Falcons when some schmuck bailed on the team with 3 games left on the schedule.


For once the numbskull sportswriters pulled their heads out of their asses and paid some long overdue attention to defensive players. I hope this trend continues.

So, yeah. Pro Bowl on Sunday. Since Brawl isn't coming out anymore, I might watch until the homers get pulled.

Congratulations to the New York Giants, as well. It's really a tremendous accomplishment.

This has been an awesome season, I think.

There were a lot of very good stories and not even just the final 2 threads finished in the Super Bowl.

*To start predictably though, the Patriots "Path to Perfection," record-setting offense and the nail-biting close wins they got along the way. A smaller but still big story was Randy Moss' rejuvenated career with the Patriots. But all for naught. The final chapter will read: David slew Goliath.

*Then the Giants, the winners of the Super Bowl BY THE FUCKING WAY. As it was so loudly advertised pre-game, they epitomized the "road-warrior." They set their own records, long may they stand -- they earned them especially after an 0-2 start and with the media on their and Eli's backs the whole way there. Their path through the season wasn't just marked by victory in the face of adversity on the field away from a home crowd, but against public opinion and the sports media. When you slay dragons though, people start to listen.
Oh, and back-to-back Manning MVP's in the Super Bowl.

That's the story but as for a play The Great Escape and The Impossible Catch as they're already being called here will go down in Super Bowl history as one of the most improbable and important too, occurring as they did in a game-winning drive. It may not have been a touchdown but then again the only 2 very obvious plays in my mind that stand out above this one, Dwight Clarks nab from Montanna to get the 49ers to the Super Bowl and Franco Harris' Immaculate Reception (or Innacurate Deception, etc. etc.) weren't either in the Super Bowl, the biggest of plays.

*Much to my chagrin, but props due where they be: Adrian Peterson breaking the single game rushing mark as a rookie. Fucking monster.

*The Chargers breaking out of their funk and ripping off a string of wins only to fall short under a slew of injuries. (not just offense, Jamal Williams was playing with a high-ankle sprain. Tack that onto LT's bad MCL, Phillip River's completely "gone" ACL and Antonio Gates' bad toe) edit: point in case, LT, Williams AND Gates won't even suit up for the Pro Bowl spots they earned. Sure they could've played hurt but as much respect as that earns, you're still not the same player, can't make the same cuts, can't shed the same blocks, etc.

*The Redskins going on a roll after the death of Sean Taylor.

*Brett Favre finding the fountain of youth. This was one of many stories though to be spoiled by the Giants.

*The Raiders sucked.



Of course, there are reasons not necessarily good that this season will be memorable as well.



*Michael Vick, convicted dog fighter. To think the the pick that chose him instead got San Diego a future hall-of-famer, Ladainian Tomlinson but to be frank, barring injury, a future 1st-ballot hall-of-famer at that. I digress though.

*Spygate and that ... that "win" against Baltimore by the Patriots. I probably won't be pissed so much at officiating ever again for a good while. Oh, and the league destroyed the Spygate material in the week leading up to Super Bowl XLII. A fucking two-shot of bullshit! Thank god the Giants beat the fuck out of Brady and the Pats in the Super Bowl or these injustices to the integrity of the game never would be recompensed.

*DON'T BRING YOUR GIRLFRIEND TO THE GAME IF SHE COULD BE CONSIDERED A CELEBRITY. Seriously, wtf. First Jessica Simpson and Tony Romo = epic choke then Brady chokes with Gisele Bundchen in the booth.

*Joe Gibbs' giving I-forget-who a win by calling 2 timeouts in a row to "ice" the kicker. Penalty + much shorter field goal = through the uprights. This right after Sean Taylor's death too. Bonehead coaching moment of this, a still young century.

*The Dolphins competing with the Patriots on the wrong side of the win-loss column. Made for very nice symmetry but they FUCKED IT ALL UP unfortunately.

For anyone interested, here's who's playing in the game tomorrow:

PITTSBURGH:

QB Ben Roethlisberger
G Alan Faneca (Starting)
DT Casey Hampton
OLB James Harrison (Starting)

CLEVELAND:

QB Derek Anderson
WR Braylon Edwards (Starting)
TE Kellen Winslow
T Joe Thomas
KR Josh Cribbs (Starting)

CINCINNATI:

WR T.J. Houshmandzadeh
WR Chad Johnson

BALTIMORE:

ILB Ray Lewis
FS Ed Reed (Starting)

INDIANAPOLIS:

QB Peyton Manning (Starting)
RB Joseph Addai (Starting)
WR Reggie Wayne (Starting)
C Jeff Saturday (Starting)

JACKSONVILLE:

RB Fred Taylor

TENNESSEE:

DE Kyle Vanden Bosch (Starting)
DT Albert Haynesworth (Starting)
K Rob Bironas (Starting)

HOUSTON:

ILB DeMeco Ryans (Starting)

NEW ENGLAND:

OT Matt Light (Starting)
G Logan Mankins (Starting)
C Dan Koppen
DT Vince Wilfork (Starting)
OLB Mike Vrabel (Starting)
CB Asante Samuel (Starting)

BUFFALO:

DE Aaron Schobel

NEW YORK JETS:

None

MIAMI:

None

SAN DIEGO:

FB Lorenzo Neal (Starting)
OT Marcus McNeill
G Kris Dielman
OLB Shawne Merriman
CB Antonio Cromartie
ST Kassim Osgood (Starting)

DENVER:

CB Champ Bailey (Starting)
SS John Lynch (Starting)

KANSAS CITY:

TE Tony Gonzalez (Starting)
DE Jared Allen (Starting)

OAKLAND:

P Shane Lechler

GREEN BAY:

WR Donald Driver
OT Chad Clifton
DE Aaron Kampman (Starting)
CB Al Harris (Starting)

MINNESOTA:

RB Adrian Peterson (Starting)
FB Tony Richardson (Starting)
G Steve Hutchinson (Starting)
C Matt Birk
DT Kevin Williams (Starting)
DT Pat Williams (Starting)
SS Darren Sharper (Starting)

DETROIT:

None

CHICAGO:

KR Devin Hester (Starting)
ST Brendon Ayanbadejo (Starting)

TAMPA BAY:

QB Jeff Garcia

NEW ORLEANS:

None

Carolina:

None

Atlanta:

None

For the record, the ENTIRE NFC South sent 1 Pro Bowler, an injury replacement for Brett Favre. Minnesota alone sent 7, including 6 starters.

DALLAS:

QB Tony Romo
RB Marion Barber
WR Terrell Owens (Starting)
TE Jason Witten (Starting)
OT Flozell Adams (Starting)
G Leonard Davis (Starting)
C Andre Gurode (Starting)
OLB DeMarcus Ware (Starting)
CB Terence Newman
FS Ken Hamlin (Starting)
SS Roy Williams
K Nick Folk (Starting)

NEW YORK GIANTS

DE Osi Umenyiora

WASHINGTON

TE Chris Cooley
OT Chris Samuels
LS Ethan Albright (Starting)

PHILADELPHIA

RB Brian Westbrook
G Shawn Andrews
DE Trent Cole

SEATTLE

QB Matt Hasselbeck (Starting) <- NOTE: The NFL website indicates that Hasselbeck will start over Romo, but this seems impossible. Could someone find this out?
OLB Julian Peterson (Starting)
ILB Lofa Tatupu (Starting)
CB Marcus Trufant (Starting)

ARIZONA

WR Larry Fitzgerald (Starting)
DT Darnell Dockett

SAN FRANCISCO

P Andy Lee (Starting)
ILB Patrick Willis

ST. LOUIS

WR Torry Holt

I know Miami sucked, but Jason Taylor didn't make the Pro Bowl? Wow.

He made it, but isn't playing due to injury/personal reason, according to the site.

Oh, I suppose that makes sense.

Does anyone remember last year's Pro Bowl with the fake punt and the punter got annhilated? He jumped right up, shook the guys hand for the good hit, and ran back to his sideline. One of the coolest plays I've ever seen.

I have some major issues with the NFC's Pro Bowl selections, as usual.

NFC: How is Umenyiora the ONLY Giant to go? I sure hope that Burress was selected but couldn't play due to his injuries. The ENTIRE COWBOYS TEAM is going, for crying out loud. And Lofa Tatupu over Patrick Willis?

Darnell DOCKETT? Over Tommie Harris?

John Lynch is still a starting All-Pro safety?

The AFC wasn't that bad, IMO. Some selections are definitely right, such as Ryans over Lewis as the starter. I don't like Houshamdzadeh, given some of the other receivers who could've made the trip, but it's hard to fault people for picking him.

How fitting that the only Fader to make the game was the punter. Must be from all the practice he gets.

I was about to make some comment about not including Sean Taylor on the list but then I went back and saw this would be the actual playing list.

On that note it looks like half of the Cowboy's offensive line is going and starting which is retarded. They were good but hardly great. Amongst other problems they had more flubbed snaps or toherwise poor snaps of any team in the NFL. Cripes when you start talking abotu needing two hands to count the number of mis-nsapped balls then the center should NOT be a starting Pro Bowler. Yes he is pretty damn good but Gurode cannot fucking snap in the shotgun for shit.

No other Giant was selected to go, including Burress.

And I think Lynch was actually originally an injury replacement for Bob Sanders.

Also, the number of Dallas players is ridiculous, I agree.

A lot of who goes, remember, is the size or your market. The two least popular teams in the league at this point are Buffalo and Jacksonville. Now, Buffalo did not have a good year, a trend of late, but not a good year regardless. Still, they sent one player, and injury replacement despite Brian Moorman's nationally televised shenanigans and the incredibly pliant defense.

Jacksonville, on the other hand, was a playoff team that knocked off the Steelers (4 pro bowlers). They had a prolific offense, with a quarterback who was intercepted three times all year and had the third best passer rating in the league. Not only was he not one of the three all-star quarterbacks, he wasn't even the first injury replacement. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy for Anderson and I'm glad he did what he did for the Browns, but Garrard had a superior season. He's perhaps the most glaring omission from the roster. In fact, the only Jaguar with a red jersey is Taylor, who, despite a better season than third-string back Joseph Addai, had to sneak in as an injury replacement for Parker.

It's going to be weird with Jim Zorn as the coach of the Redskins.

Mainly, I remember him as the starting QB for the Seatle Seahawks when they were first in the league. He was in an issue of Boy's Life I had courtesy of the Boy Scouts.

I think he's been with Seatle since then. Either as a player or assistant coach.

Fred Taylor's 1st Pro Bowl?! That's about as justified as giving LT the shaft in a year he got over 1000 yards rushing and 100 receptions.

edit: Asante Samuel's also a 1st time pro-bowler? He had 10 interceptions last year!

edit2: Well it seems both Fred Taylor's best year in rushing and that season LT got 1600 on the ground and 100 receptions was ALSO the year Priest Holmes got 27 TD's (a record surpassed by LT now ) and Jamal Williams got the most recent 2000 yard rushing season.

LT still got screwed though cause:

290 rushes for 1,591 yards, 14 td, & 38 catches for 314 yards and 0 td

By Clinton Portis doesn't outweigh:

313 rushes for 1,645 13TD's and 100 receptions for 725 yards and 4 TD's.

That year LT was the Chargers OFFENSE.

SPC Brungardt wrote:Fred Taylor's 1st Pro Bowl?! That's about as justified as giving LT the shaft in a year he got over 1000 yards rushing and 100 receptions.

edit: Asante Samuel's also a 1st time pro-bowler? He had 10 interceptions last year!

Fred Taylor's problem is that he plays in Jacksonville and everyone thinks he gets hurt all the time. I think he gets hurt alot but he's still racked up some impressive numbers. When he's healthy he can have some great days running the ball.

Tsyroc wrote:

SPC Brungardt wrote:Fred Taylor's 1st Pro Bowl?! That's about as justified as giving LT the shaft in a year he got over 1000 yards rushing and 100 receptions.

edit: Asante Samuel's also a 1st time pro-bowler? He had 10 interceptions last year!

Fred Taylor's problem is that he plays in Jacksonville and everyone thinks he gets hurt all the time. I think he gets hurt alot but he's still racked up some impressive numbers. When he's healthy he can have some great days running the ball.

That and looking at his careers stats he never has gotten TDs left and right.

It's just surprising, he's definitely one underrated back.

Dark Flame wrote: Does anyone remember last year's Pro Bowl with the fake punt and the punter got annhilated? He jumped right up, shook the guys hand for the good hit, and ran back to his sideline. One of the coolest plays I've ever seen.

It was Brian Moorman, and he was hit by Shawn Taylor. Moorman's a real sport, and he can move when he needs to. I don't believe he's ever failed to convert a punt fake for Buffalo.

Jason Peters also should have gone, but he received a sports hernia from blocking Osi Umenyiora. He pulled out and had surgery instead, and I believe was replaced by (door)Matt Light.