???

Is this really a Thing? Seriously?

A Time For War

So, what this I'm hearing about now?
We are not sending troops to fight ISIL, but we really are, maybe... with a coalition that hasn't coalesced yet.. or something like that?

Just leave these people alone to be dealt with by their own, and let's stop playing their videos and maybe they'll stop beheading people and go back to gassing children in Syria, instead... See? That way nobody gets worked up over the latest recasting of the World's longest running theater act.

In Defense Of Ray Rice

We all saw the video of Ray Rice knocking out his lady and dragging her out of the elevator. That wasn't a very nice thing to see.
What we did not see was what occurred up to that point that led to this, but we do have a clue that his lady was already in shrew mode by the way she turned on him in the elevator, where he responded with a sharp strike of the hand. A single strike. Not a beating. What Chris Brown did to Rihanna was a beating.

No, I'm not going to defend a man striking his lady,...  yet at the same time we need to call a lady out when she's in full psycho-mode and 'pushing all the buttons'.
Can we all agree that both participants are wrong here?  Both are being disrespectful and abusive of their domestic partner.

So, yeah... In this situation, it's politically incorrect to say that she's 'asking for it'... so I'll just go ahead and say that she is definitely inviting a harsh reaction from a man she's is treating harshly.

There are abusive men out there, truly abusive men (and women), but I'm not seeing that here. I'm seeing a young couple who have communication issues and need to do better with conflict resolution.

To call Ray Rice a domestic abuser/wife beater is to downplay the really abusive assholes, who use violence (or threat of) to control their relationship. I've known a few women who were beaten because dinner wasn't tasty enough, the house wasn't clean enough, or the laundry not ironed properly.

I want to know how many NFL owners, ESPN writers, or TMZ reporters have ever reacted harshly to harsh treatment by their lady, and those that have, and I KNOW some indeed have, by what right do you continue to earn a living in your profession while Ray Rice is denied his?

The pontificating, hypocritical double standard is appalling, if you ask me...

Fantasy

Do any of you play Fantasy Football? This is my third year doing it and it's been a lot of fun. The league I'm in is pretty deep compared to other leagues I've seen, with 14 teams this year.
(Hat Tip: the league is managed by the  longtime commenter to this page, Robert. I don't think Robert blogs anymore.)

Due to it's depth, I think it pays to think outside the box to find talent at depth. There are only so many studs to go around at any position, after all.

Some different thinking that I've done:

The (Non) Receiver: Last year, I drafted Devin Hester at WR. I knew he wasn't going to catch any balls and was worthless as a receiver when all he did was return kicks... but return yards score the same as receiving yards. Hester was only played on 1% of the leagues last year (according to Yahoo), but he returned 1700 yards for me in fantasy, plus a TD. He produced better points than most top tier WRs.

Running Backs: There are only a few good, reliable, stud RB's in the top tier. After AP, Forte, Charles, McCoy and Lynch are off the boards, it doesn't really matter too much any more because whoever you choose is gonna get hurt anyway (Eddie Lacy!! LOL, who wasted a first round pick on that? see? now you know what I'm talking about...)
Better off finding that ace WR, or a second one, before pulling the lever on Lacy, or anybody else that was left. After the studs, the rest of the featured RBs are basically interchangeable in my opinion. Fill up your WR corps, or one of the less than six receiving TEs before going for your first RB (who you will have to replace due to injury anyway).

Defense/ST: I took one in the mid-rounds, locking up Seattle (guaranteed fantasy points every week), while others were looking for the next WR remnant that was going to suck anyway.

Kicker: I only carry one. On the bye week I'll plug the hole with a free agent. Same thing with D/ST.

Probably makes no sense, but I took a chance with Robert Woods. A WR with the Bills. He didn't land on anybody's radar and sits on less than 1% of the leagues (according to Yahoo). His rookie year caught for 500 yards or so, but he moves up the depth chart this season to be the #1 WR option for the Bills.
I'm thinkin he might be that 1000 yard/100 catch WR that nobody saw coming, and might provide some depth in case one of my leaders goes down in the stretch.
That... and he's from Gardena, CA.
A Homie!!!
Born and raised there, graduated from the very small (400 student) Catholic high school located in my old neighborhood, that my brother attended.
Gotta go with the homie, ya know?
Gotta go with the homie.

Are You Ready For Some Football???

Kyle Orton is.

Orton Sticks It To The Man

Kyle Orton beats the NFL system

IRVING, Texas – Kyle Orton has done something few players in the NFL get to do: beat the system.

The Cowboys cut Orton on July 15 not long after the veteran backup quarterback told the Cowboys he would be coming to training camp. On Friday, Orton agreed to a deal with the Buffalo Bills, according to ESPN’s James Walker.
Orton spent most of the offseason hoping to retire, except the Cowboys would have come after $3.4 million in signing-bonus money he received in 2012 and ’13 had he decided to give up the game. He skipped the voluntary offseason program, skipped a physical before the mandatory minicamp and failed to report to the minicamp altogether. The moves would have cost Orton roughly $150,000 in fines form the Cowboys if he returned.
When he was facing fines of $30,000 a day if he skipped training camp, Orton told the Cowboys he would be in Oxnard, California. And then the Cowboys cut him, giving the backup job to Brandon Weeden.
Now he is with the Buffalo Bills and will start the season as E.J. Manuel's backup. Perhaps he starts if Manuel struggles. And he did not have to go through a day of training camp.
There is nothing the Cowboys can do to recoup Orton’s bonus money since they cut him. They decided they did not want a player who was not fully committed around the team and didn’t want risk him getting hurt after not doing a thing in the offseason.
My belief was that Orton wanted to retire. From all accounts, he was doing next to nothing to get ready for the season.
Be mad at Orton all you want, but teams rarely, if ever, show loyalty to players. Remember, we did see DeMarcus Ware at AT&T Stadium the other night in a Denver Broncos uniform. Players don’t need to be loyal to anybody but themselves.
In the stalemate between Jerry Jones and Orton, Orton won.

I've been watching this dance over the past six months because I've always liked Kyle Orton.
He wasn't the flashiest Quarterback and he didn't have one of the larger arms, but he knew how to play tough football, and he played it well. ( I think he beat the Packers every time he met them while in a Bears uniform).

Good to see one of the working men of the NFL shove it up his owner's ass for a change.

Hey!

Yeah, still here. I guess it's this ISIS thing. I feel compelled to write about it, but I really don't want to, so I stare at the screen, type a few characters, and walk away...

Instead, I'm choosing to walk away from the ISIS topic. We pay other people to think about them so I don't have to.
Now, where do I go to get last month back?