Monday, November 23, 2009

Wow, what a weekend!

The Word of the Day is Legendary.

First off, I'm going to introduce a new weekly feature to Word On The Farm. It's called Tweet of the Week. No, it's not going to be a random tweet that I found most entertaining. It's going to be self-serving, a tweet that is a reference to anything that I post on my Twitter account that I find to be the most influential to my 51 followers. (Shameless plug - Please feel free to follow me on Twitter at @LynchCats. I post on more than just sports and poker on there. Want to get to know the man? Follow me there.) A little bit of backstory on this tweet. I believe this was Saturday morning, I was sitting at work, when Mark Schlereth (@markschlereth) posted a tweet referring to himself as Stink, speaking in "fourth person" - his nickname. Trey Wingo (@wingoz) suggested that he find a way to go "fifth person". Being the innovative mind that I am, here was my post, attached as a re-tweet with Trey Wingo's response:

@wingoz EXCELLENT POINT RT @LynchCats What if he goes Rock Hoover? Fictional Character = 5th person? @markschlereth see if you can go 5th person
9:13 AM Nov 21st from web

A little while later, my suggestion was realized.

@markschlereth There aint no messin with the Hoov. And the Hoov is about to go wheels up in a few. 5th person?
9:17 AM Nov 21st from UberTwitter

Enough said.

Congratulations to Jimmie Johnson for becoming the first driver in NASCAR history to win four consecutive Sprint Cup titles. How classy was it to see drivers like Mark Martin, Jeff Gordon, and Brian Vickers to come up and congratulate him during his post-race interview. And Johnson is one of the great ambassadors of the sport, always celebrating the fans and his crew.

Brett Favre, 40 year old MVP? Say it isn't so. This is probably the best Brett Favre has ever looked, and that says something about the three-time Most Valuable Player. I mean, this gunslinger is putting up numbers that would make anyone jealous.

What a great day in the NFL yesterday. Six outstanding finishes in the final minutes of games. The Colts defense steps up and picks off Joe Flacco as the Ravens are driving for the game winning score. Oakland scoring the tying touchdown, then forcing a fumble on the ensuing kickoff and kicking the game winning field goal against Cincinnati. Dallas finding some offense out of a tree and scoring the game's winning touchdown with less than five minutes left against Washington. Ryan Succop (2009's Mr. Irrelevant) kicking the game winning field goal against Pittsburgh after Chris Chambers takes a catch and run down the field for 61 yards. Jacksonville scoring the game winning touchdown against Buffalo with a few minutes left, overcoming Terrell Owens' best game as a Bill with 197 yards receiving. The New York Giants driving and scoring the game winning field goal in overtime after Atlanta came back from 14 down to tie it.

And then there was Matthew Stafford. The Lions and Browns both came into the game at 1-9. I fully expected this game to be a snorefest. I wish I hadn't been saddled with the Bills/Jaguars or Giants/Falcons, because this Lions/Browns game might have been the game of the year. The game comes down to the final play, eight seconds left, Matthew Stafford getting absolutely pummeled while throwing a Hail Mary, and Hank Poteat throwing Calvin Johnson down in front of the referee forcing them to throw a rare pass interference flag on a hail mary, negating the game ending interception. Then, for some inexplicable reason, Cleveland CALLS A TIMEOUT, allowing Stafford to come back onto the field without missing a play. So what happens next? Eric Mangini becomes Karma's latest bitch, as Stafford finds a seam and throws the game winning touchdown with no time left.

Kudos to Kurt Warner for having the foresight to take himself out of the game after being hit in the head in the second quarter yesterday. The NFL has had a real problem with concussions being in the spotlight over the last few years, so Warner taking himself out was one of the smartest things I've seen in a long time. Pittsburgh should follow his lead and hold out Ben Roethlisberger as long as necessary to keep him healthy for the foreseeable future. And if I'm the Philadelphia Eagles, Brian Westbrook is done for the season, not just for three or four weeks. They need to see if LeSean McCoy is the answer at running back for the future, or if they have another kid who can come in and do the job.

Kiss Charlie Weis' career at Notre Dame over, and I think he even realizes it. And he's right. 6-5 is not good enough for Notre Dame, not when the schedule screamed for 10-2.

How putrid are the New Jersey Nets? Thirteen straight losses to start the season, with a very realistic chance to start an NBA record 0-18? I think Lawrence Frank is gone by the end of the week.

Northeastern University is ending its' football program after 73 years. A sad day for college football, and college sports in general. Granted, Northeastern isn't an FCS power, but it's still sad.

Congratulations to Real Salt Lake for winning the MLS cup in just their fifth year of existence. I wish I cared about soccer to care about this.

Condolences to Daniel Negreanu for the passing of his mother last night. Don't know the guy personally, but I know he is one of the great promoters of poker, and from what I hear is becoming quite the golfer as well.

NFL Power Rankings:
1. New Orleans (10-0). I can't give any specific reasons why I'm picking New Orleans over Indianapolis. Probably because Indy has struggled to win the last two weeks over New England and Baltimore. HUGE game next Monday against New England.

2. Indianapolis (10-0). Have looked ugly in close wins over New England and Baltimore. Need to step up their game to remain undefeated.

3. Minnesota (9-1). Brett Favre has clearly been the MVP this year. Apologies to Drew Brees, Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Chris Johnson, et al.

4. New England (7-3). Probably playing the best football out of anyone right now. One dumb Bill Belichick decision away from being 8-2 and one game back of Indy for top seed in AFC.

5. San Diego (7-3). Three and a half games behind Denver just four weeks ago. Didn't we see this story just last year?

NFL Bottom Five:
32. Tampa Bay (1-9). I just can't penalize Cleveland after the game of the year.

31. St. Louis (1-9). Started following Steven Jackson (@sj39) on Twitter. Too bad he has no offensive help around him.

30. Cleveland (1-9). This was the first sign of life from the Browns all year.

29. Washington (3-7). Offense is just plain offensive. I can't put Detroit behind the Redskins.

28. Oakland (3-7). Win over Cincinnati aside, I still think they would lose to Detroit on a neutral field. Thus, can't put Detroit here either.

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