Wednesday, September 20, 2006


So I was listening to ESPN radio on my way to the Wal-Mart today and the two guys who were arguing with each other or whatever it is that they do on their show were talking about how Morten Anderson is apparently coming back to the NFL to kick again, which they used initially as a jumping off poing for various "jokes" about NFL pensions and how nice it would be to have someone almost as old as them in the NFL, etc., and then they moved on to their more serious point which was that Anderson's return is just another sign of how bad kicking has become lately in the NFL. So, they wondered, why is that? Why has place-kicking sunk to such a sorry state? Well, it's because of specialization, of course. Back in the day when football players had actual balls and stuff it wasn't like you had some guy who just kicked, he also was the quarterback and the safety, too. And sometimes even the coach! Nowadays, you have guys who, I mean, all they have to do is kick, and so they just sit there on the sidelines and think about kicking, and that's why they suck at it. Because the more you have to think about one thing, the worse you become at it. Really, that's what they said. Obviously, this explains why pitchers are so much worse now than they used to be back when they also hit, and, you know, also why golfers used to be better before they had caddies.

Later, at work, on Sportscenter they did a little segment about how Rex Grossman is so awesome, which I have to admit made me geek out a little bit. As part of the segment they interviewed Desmond Clark, whom I'd never thought about too much before, but, seriously, the man has an incredibly beautiful beard, one whose power this fish-eyed photo of him completely fails to capture. Suddenly, I'm quite keen on Des, as Lovie called him in he Clevelend-from-Family-Guy-like voice on the radio the other day. I hope he has some really great games in the near future just so I can see some more of that beard on the TV and be insanely jealous.


Manning supplants Harris in the starting lineup.
Man, what with Des and his power beard suddenly becoming a legitimate threat at tight end and Bernard Berrian averageing a 40+ yard touchdown per game and Muhsin catching everything thrown in his vicinity and even John Gilmore, the backup tight end getting two touchdowns against Detroit, and now Manning starting only three games into the season, that draft is starting to look actually pretty great. I mean, I was never one of the haters, but I didn't really expect any of the draft picks on defense to make such an immediate impact. I just figured they would prevent something like a random-ass third stringer whose name I'd never heard before covering Steve "God" Smith in the playoffs again...

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