I’m not really feeling the snark this week, for obvious reasons, so let’s just jump into this week’s column.
TMQ believes the 3-4 defense is just a fad, and teams will revert to the 4-3 sooner or later. It takes TMQ 746 words to say this.
Highlight from the stats of the week: “The Lions have lost 22 consecutive road games and now threaten the record of 24 consecutive road losses held by — the Lions.”
Ivelisse is also just kind of okay looking. You know, TMQ used to pick cheerleaders who were not only attractive, but also had some intellectual heft to them. What gives, Gregg?
Sweet and sour plays: Kansas City vs. San Francisco, New England vs. Buffalo (and Tennessee vs. Giants), Pittsburgh vs. Tampa, Buffalo vs. New England again, New Orleans vs. Atlanta, Miami vs. Jets.
NPR no longer stands for anything; it’s just “NPR”, not “National Public Radio”. Same with BP, KFC, ESPN, AARP, etc.
The new Meadowlands stadium is widely hated, according to an unscientific survey of friends of TMQ.
Going back to cheerleaders for a minute, Gregg Easterbrook believes that cheerleaders are being exploited. Not because they’re cheerleaders, or because many of them are scantily clad; no, the problem is that they aren’t being paid for their work. Cheerleaders typically get $50 – $100 per game, and nothing for rehearsals, personal appearances, calender sales, sales of their photos through the NFL.com shop, etc. WCD finds ourselves agreeing with TMQ’s position here; yes, pay the cheerleaders!
Christmas creep. Jersey Bowl. Puzzling plays in the Raiders-Cardinals and Seattle-San Diego games. A ridiculous extended parallel (complete with a quiz, the lazy man’s way of filling column space) between Tom Brady and Samson (the one in the Bible).
Should youth football be banned? TMQ’s answer; don’t let kids under the age of 12 play tackle football.
Devin Hester’s success in returning kicks is due to excellent blocking. And it’s hard to win a game when you accumulate 18 penalties. Ridiculous disclaimer of the week: Bridgestone Tires.
More creep. Crabtree curse. Sparta Trojans. Stop Me Before I Blitz Again!
Yes, Michael Vick looks good, but the teams he’s played against so far have a combined record of 10-28 since 2009.
In concussion related news, TMQ notes that there’s a new kind of mouth guard on the market, which gives a dentist quality fit at a price lower than a dentist fitted guard.
The Colts are back in form. I was hoping we’d be able to get through a season without Colts worship.
Chicken-<salad> punts. Manly-men drives. Wasteful spending on bodyguards (again, Rick Perry makes an appearance).
TMQ is probably the only sports column that would engage in Large Hadron Collider bashing.
Damn! I missed the Indiana University of Pennsylvania – Slippery Rock game! I also missed the Otterbein – Heidleberg game. I wonder if they serve beer at the latter?
College football: style over substance, cupcake watch, chicken-<salad> punts.
Reader comments: Notre Dame and allowing fifth year students to play. Someone else took issue with last week’s comment about Reggie Bush and “nothing ethically wrong”. Counterpoint on military flyovers from a naval aviator. Madden as training tool. NCAA manuals for download. And lots more concussion discussion.
Tune in next week, when we’ll hear TMQ break Ralph Wilson’s balls over the fact that O.J. Simpson’s name is still on the wall of the Buffalo Bills stadium. Really. I’m not making that up.