NFL WEEK TWELVE

So, Pittsburgh lost to Kansas City AND the Bengals lost to the Raiders? Ravens lost to Steelers and if the Browns were playing somewhere I’m sure they got embarrassed too? Rough week for the AFC North…

This would usually be the paragraph where I talk about Jay Cutler, but I would assume that anyone who watches football can fill in most of whatever space I have to cover here. But in case that’s not good enough for you…

The Bears are ___________________

Jay Cutler is ___________________

Need extra space? Turn this blog over for more room…

The 49ers are toy…and I’m upset because I had them finishing first in that division by a long shot…It’s clear now that the Arizona Cardinals own that division and there is no doubt that the 49ers have to be molded into a better team to win more games, or at least enough to qualify…I thought they could do it this year but at the end of the day they’re still too sloppy for the strategy that their coach hopes to enforce…The Seahawks are garbage and have a poorly put together team with the exception of a couple of good special teams players (Which will never win you championships) and Obviously the Rams were playing so poorly looking at offers from Rush Limbaugh. I’m not sure that it wouldn’t be funny as hell to let Ann Coulter fill in at halfback for a couple of plays, deny her shower access, and then see if she still holds the same stance on universal health care. I hope so…she’s a very handsome woman. I could make that prank happen if you gave me enough time. I’m sure Hillbloom would help…

Giants got ran and still won…They’ve decided to air it out the rest of the year and completely abandon the running game, neither of which will encourage their defense to show up on Sunday, but hey…whatever they think might work at this point would be great…but all joking set aside, if their defense doesn’t show up they’re not gonna need to be worried about anything because the postseason won’t be there for them.

Colts won another close one…Saints won another one that was not so close (they may have the best schedule in the league with the exception of the New England game next week) and they continued to cast a shadow over the opponent without exposing how mediocre their defense can be…

New England made a bad decision…to be perfectly honest with you, I thought they had it…and that only in retrospect is it a bad call. I thought he had the ball over the 30 yard line and that game was over. He could have punted, but he didn’t and it was a much better game because of that…

NE is still hard as hell. They’re still going to break you down bit by bit like they did to the Jets today and not let you in on any of it. And obviously it seems like I am trying to kiss my editor’s hind, but they are the real deal.

I am reluctant to pick anything this week, but pick I must: Here are the picks for week 12:

Dallas Cowboys 26, Oakland Raiders 24

Green Bay Packers 37, Detroit Lions 14

New York Giants 24, Denver Broncos 17

Miami Dolphins 34, Buffalo Bills 9

Jacksonville Jaguars 24, San Francisco 49ers 20

Minnesota Vikings 32, Chicago Bears 15

Carolina Panthers 27, New York Jets 10

Pittsburgh Steelers 17, Baltimore Ravens 15

San Diego Chargers 31, Kansas City Chiefs

Arizona Cardinals 47, Tennessee Titans 35

Cincinnati Bengals 28, Cleveland Browns 12

Atlanta Falcons 35, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 19

Seattle Seahawks 29, St. Louis Rams 7

Philadelphia Eagles 27, Washington Redskins 24

Indianapolis Colts 37, Houston Texans 32

New England Patriots 31, New Orleans Saints 23

So, if everything started right NOW, the Saints and the Vikes would have first round byes…And the Colts coupled with any one of 5 teams in the AFC.

Do I want to see a Colts / Saints Super Bowl? Not really…I mean, if they both finish undefeated, it would be impressive, but since there aren’t a lot of marquee players on each team (although a lot of those guys will be someday) it could actually turn out to be a boring game. Or one for the ages. I just want to make sure I predict both possibilities so I can be right no matter what.

However, I still have the Patriots beating the Saints in the Super Bowl 34-27.

For some weird reason (that’s probably enhanced by the fact that the Steelers lost to KC) I continue to force myself to believe that New England can do it, as much as I don’t want them to…as much as they probably don’t deserve it…right now I think that they could easily win the Super Bowl with everything they have going for them.

It’s turkey day on Thursday, make sure you have all of your poultry in place before I lose attention and end this sentence with nothing. What would be even worse is if I started another sentence with no intentions of finishing.

Happy Thanksgiving everybody…and I hope you get to spend it with your loved ones.

Meehan

NFL WEEK ELEVEN

First and foremost, I would like to apologize for these articles coming later and later in the week. The Christmas season is upon us and mine has started VERY early this year. I will try and do my best to have everything done and ready to read by Tuesday morning from now on…

Week Ten Recap:

Colts / Patriots game is obviously the talk of the week. In a game like that, accurate officiating is important because in the end it could come down to one play, and that’s really all I’m going to say about that.

Kinda disappointed that the Saints had the Rams give them a run for their money…I thought they were tougher than that but they looked extremely sloppy in that game.

Dick Juaron got fired. And yet somehow without him the Bills are even less interesting. Larry Johnson got signed by the Bengals, and regardless of whatever everybody says it’s a good move because Cedric Benson just got hurt.

Here are my predictions for week 11:

Carolina Panthers 26, Miami Dolphins 20

Indianapolis Colts 37, Baltimore Ravens 17

Dallas Cowboys 34, Washington Redskins 6

Detroit Lions 20, Cleveland Browns 3

Green Bay Packers 21, San Francisco 49ers 18

New Orleans Saints 44, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 24

Jacksonville Jaguars 24, Buffalo Bills 9

Minnesota Vikings 38, Seattle Seahawks 0

New England Patriots 35, New York Jets 22

New York Giants 28, Atlanta Falcons 24

Philadelphia Eagles 27, Chicago Bears 9

Cincinnati Bengals 38, Oakland Raiders 10

Pittsburgh Steelers 41, Kansas City Chiefs 17

Houston Texans 14, Tennessee Titans 13

San Diego Chargers 20, Denver Broncos 10

Arizona Cardinals 35, St. Louis Rams 11

Bye weeks end this week, so all 32 teams are playing, which equals more football for us to watch. I expect the Cowboys to really take out their frustrations as a result of the Green Bay game and I expect the Redskins to fall apart, and to have Jim Zorn fired by Monday.

Additionally, I look for Denver to keep losing and I look for San Diego to use that game as a platform to stay ahead of them the rest of the season. Bengals should have an easy week against Oakland and if they win that game they improve to 8-2. (!)

I look for the Giants to win at home against the Falcons. They can’t lose 5 in a row, the fifth being after a bye week. If they do, it’s over and one of the biggest collapses in the history of a franchise that’s had plenty.

And don’t rag on me for picking against the Bears. They’re terrible, and I’m really convinced the trade was a mistake…maybe for both teams.

I don’t believe any of the NFL’s elite teams will lose this week, as none of them have real serious challenges. Indy vs. Baltimore is close to it, but the Colts will figure it out and win that game.

Meehan

CHICAGO NOT GETTING THE OLYMPICS IN 2016

First of all, let me say that I was a huge supporter of Chicago making an attempt at getting the Olympics for 2016.

I think it would have been very could for the economy of our state, (although very likely most all of the tax money collected for something like that would have stayed in the Chicago area) and could have really put Chicago on the map as an international sports city.

But in all honesty, is there anybody out there who thought that this would really go down with all of the competition we were up against. Rio De Janeiro, Brazil? Let’s just say the bathrooms are a little cleaner here. Not that having a large population would exactly make it an ideal setting for the IOC to choose. In fact, here’s an excerpt from Rio’s Wikipedia page that might give one example why it might not be a good idea to have the Olympics there:

Rio has high crime rates, especially homicide, in poor areas dominated by drug lords, primarily in the North Zone.[80] As of 2007, the homicide rate of the greater metropolitan area stood at nearly 30 victims per week, with the majority of victims falling to mugging, stray bullets or narcoterrorism.[81][82] [83

I was really concerned about the reporters, journalists, and individuals that would be covering this spectacle in Rio, until I read this from the very next paragraph:

Rio de Janeiro's low paid and ill-equipped police are violent as well, it has been said.[85] In 2007, the police allegedly killed 1,330 people in the state,[86] an increase of 25 percent over 2006 when 1,063 people were killed, in 2003 that number plateaued at 1,195. In comparison the American police killed only 347 people in whole of the United States during 2006.[87][88] The average Rio policeman earns only R$874 a month or R$10,488 (around US$6,000) a year.[89]

Well, at least everybody will be safe.

And Tokyo? Hell, if we ever end up do getting the Olympics here, Tokyo would just as well find some way to steal it by placing holographic mirrors inside our borders, which we then would try to return, but will fill all the rebate paperwork out wrong which will in turn void the warranty. And then they would sit in the White House entertainment center for years not working. Everyone has to be good at something, I guess.

And it wasn’t like it was close. We didn’t even finish in the top 2. I bet Vegas even had odds for it. We were simply a horse waiting to be euthanized. I’m sure there will be nothing to worry about as we will no doubt be bidding for the 2012 games.

And when we did have the Olympics here last in Atlanta, what do you remember most from that 96 Olympics? The stunning firework explosions during the opening ceremonies? The USA dominating on the basketball floor? Of course not, you remember that Richard Jewell dude getting accused of setting off that bomb, having them raid his house, and in turn finding a shitload of porn on his computer, only to exonerate him. He probably wouldn’t have gone to the Olympics even if they were in Chicago, as he died in 2007.

In summation, it’s no big deal. A lot of my friends are die hard sports fans and the Olympics don’t mean anything. I don’t know one person who can honestly say they go and watch live track and field events. Nobody. Some of it is cool, but a lot of it is just is kind of an insult to the intelligence of normal adults. The shot put? Come on…

So congratulations to Rio De Janeiro and I wish them the best of luck in finding out where the fuck all of those people are going to park.

Meehan

A Lowbrow Article 2009 Update

I only wish that I could be this cool

It’s about time we talked about girls!

Music: New Releases 3/17/09

Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy: Beware (Drag City) – I’ll be seeing him in Iowa City today and will post a review later
The Donnas: Best Hits (Purple Feather)
Gomez: A New Tide (ATO)
Great Northern: Remind Me Where The Light Is (Eenie Meenie)
Kinetic Stereokids: Kid Moves (Overdraft)
Nick Lowe: Quiet Please…Best Of (Yep Roc)
Milke: Love Get Out Of My Way (Gulp Communications)
MSTRKRFT: Fist Of God (Dim Mak)
Night Jewel: Good Evening (Human Ear)
Reigns: The House On The Causeway (Monotreme)
Ultrachorus: “Words Kept Talking”/”Planetman” (So TM)
Wavves: Wavves (Fat Possum)

Music: New Releases 12/9/08

Mark Kozelek

Common – Universal Mind Control (Geffen)

Cat Power – Dark End of the Street

Headlights – Remixes

Stephen O’Malley – Keep An Eye Out

Mark Kozelek – The Finally Lp

Long Winters – Live at the Showbox DVD

Vampire Weekend “Kids Don’t Stand a Chance” 7″

REISSUES

James Brown – In the Jungle Groove (1986 comp) (vinyl-only) (Polydor/UMe)

Guns N’ Roses – Appetite for Destruction (1987) (vinyl only) (Interscope/UMe)

Jimi Hendrix – Electric Ladyland: Collector’s Edition (1968) (CD w/DVD) (Experience Hendrix)

Van Morrison – It’s Too Late to Stop Now (1974) (vinyl only) (Polydor/UMe)

Pavement – Brighten the Corners: Nicene Creedence Edition (1997) (two-disc remastered deluxe edition) (Matador)

Pink Floyd – Delicate Sound of Thunder (1988) (download only) (Capitol/EMI)

Queen – The Singles Collection (limited-edition, 13-disc set) (U.K. only) (EMI)

Diana Ross – Surrender: Expanded Edition (1971) (Hip-O Select)

The Who – Quadrophenia (1973) (vinyl only)

Get Up Kids – 4 Minute Mile (vinyl reissue)

Audio Book

Lou Reed – Pass Through the Fire:  The Collected Lyrics

Why I’m Not Voting

Why I’m Not Voting

By Ryan Meehan

OK, so by now everybody has selected a candidate to vote for in the upcoming election. And usually, I am the guy that encourages everybody to go out there and express their opinion. But, unfortunately…I have a confession to make…I’m not voting this year.

Friday edition of “Thursday Links”

I am sorry, but this commercial makes me giggle:

Dan Aykroyd has some thoughts on another Ghostbusters movie – Link

It sounds like Columbia Pictures is serious about making a new Ghostbusters movie – Link

Vote for the state of Oklahoma’s official rock song (there is a flaming lips song on the list – Link

Tim Kinsella playing a song by his band “Joan of Arc”, in a parking garage – Link

Time to thin out the herd

Taking a page from the annual “Darwin Awards” here is this weeks collection of idiots (as submitted in link form).

Man dials 911 to complain that his sub has no sauce – Link

Pickup truck thief loses truck to carjacker – Link

Parents forget 3 yr old daughter at airport (but not their 18 suitcases) – Link

Police follow gouge mark trail to find thieves of a 20ft section of railroad track – Link

Some people (of a lesser intelligence) still believe that the earth is flat – Link

Garfield minus Garfield

Today I made a great discovery that has provided me with some much needed entertainment. I found a website that removed Garfield from the Garfield comic strip. What a strange idea that turns out to be quite clever. Here is the description from the site:

“Who would have guessed that when you remove Garfield from the Garfield comic strips, the result is an even better comic about schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and the empty desperation of modern life? Friends, meet Jon Arbuckle. Let’s laugh and learn with him on a journey deep into the tortured mind of an isolated young everyman as he fights a losing battle against loneliness in a quiet American suburb.” ~from Garfieldminusgarfield.net

I have no clue how long this site has been around but you all need to check it out and maybe it will brighten you day a little.

Be Entertained – Link