Plankton

I hated the TCM remake, but there's a whole lot less with the Friday the 13th movies to mess up. As long as Jason is hacking up teenagers at Camp Crystal Lake, I'm happy.

This was discussed after the game. They showed a replay and Flacco didn't step out. It was close, but he definitely did not step out. I'm surprised they didn't replay it during the game though.

Peyton wouldn't have been my vote for MVP, but IMO, he's one of several players this year who reasonably "deserved" it. I wouldn't have been upset with Michael Turner, Adrian Peterson, Chad Pennington, Philip Rivers, or James Harrison. Turner would have been my pick, but there's no clear winner like last year. You could make an argument for just about any of the major players who made it to the playoffs.

I believe that Cassel has said he wishes to stay with the Patriots. A week ago I would have said that it was just wishful thinking on his part as long as Tom Brady is in the picture, but if Brady's questionable for '09, I wouldn't be shocked if they cut their losses with him and went with the younger Cassel. It's an arguable move either way, but if both QBs can throw for about the same amount of yards on a good day, and one has health issues that could keep him out for a season, and the other is healthier and younger, I'd choose the healthier and younger QB. On the other hand, Cassel could easily be next year's Derek Anderson. Assuming Brady's healthy, he's probably the smarter and more conservative choice. But if his health is up in the air all the way to the preseason, it might be a lot riskier to let a guy like Cassel go.

I admire the fact that your sticking up for Crennel because whenever a team is free falling, the coach is the first to get thrown under the bus while players and GMs get the benefit of the doubt. I agree 100% that the Browns had a lot of problems that was out of Crennel's hands, but if Crennel can't find a way to work around those problems, then why would the Browns want to keep him as a head coach? The players gave up halfway through the season, and you expect a head coach to be able to light a fire under his team. Crennel couldn't do it. I think he's a good coach, and not every coach needs to have the I-think-I-smelled-a-fart-and-I'm-pretty-pissed-about-it Bill Cowher scowl, but some teams need a coach that will stick a foot up their asses when they need it (I can think of another particular Ohio team that is in the same position). Crennel's a good coach, but obviously not the one Cleveland needs. And there were also questionable decisions he made in games. In particular, early in the season, he called for a field goal instead of going for it on fourth down when they were too far behind with too little time left for that field goal to mean anything. He essentially threw the game away because, as he described later, he didn't want his team to be discouraged by not having a scoring drive. In short, he gave up so his team wouldn't feel bad. That's just stupid. Also, he's struggled against division teams. He has never beaten the Steelers, and if you're consistently losing against the same team twice a year, something's not working out. Crennel is a good coach and he hasn't been the entire problem (GM Phil Savage was first to be let go), but he wasn't working out in Cleveland. At a certain point, you have to make a judgment call and decide if this coach, good or not, is best for your team. And with his poor record, I think it's obvious that he wasn't working out.

I think I heard on PTI or Football Today that Tomlin said his starters will play, but of course that doesn't mean for the whole game. For the reasons Be gave, I'm guessing Roethlisberger will be out there for a half at most. I think it's a dumb move on his part because even if Leftwich is in the entire game, I'm guessing the Steelers will run the ball more for three reasons. First, without a reason to play, they're probably going to want their backups to get some playing time, but they're also going to want to wind the clock down to avoid any injuries and to stay fresher for next week (especially if some of their starters play the whole game). There's no use killing yourself just to get some playing time. Secondly, their running game has been bad lately (they average about 100 yards a game), and because the Browns have had such awful run defense (29th in the league), this will be a good week to get things on the right track. And lastly, they ran a lot against the Browns last time. Roethlisberger only had 20 attempts (14 completions) and Parker had 28 carries. It could really pay off if they want to see Leftwich throw a lot, but I'm going to guess that they'll be more interested in running the ball.

If you take away the 6 touchdown game against the Cardinals, Favre's year doesn't look anything more than solid. Thomas Jones has been the biggest impact player of that team, although to be fair, a lot of that has to do with Favre opening up the run for him. Either way, Favre over Rivers and Pennington is way off. Even for fan-voting, when you assume there will be some questionable choices, it's a hard sell. Peyton and Favre definitely made it on name value alone.

I like Steve Slaton over Ronnie Brown. When Brown has been good, he's been really good, but he's had 8 games with 50 or less rushing yards. Slaton's numbers are much better. And looking beyond the numbers, I'd say Slaton has had a higher impact for his team. If you take away the great story of the former 1-15 Dolphins being relevant again and the awesome wild cat offense, Ronnie Brown doesn't look much more impressive than Slaton. Not that I have a problem with Ronnie Brown being in it. He's certainly been a key player for the Dolphins and has had a great season. I just like Slaton a little bit better. It sucks that DeAngelo Williams didn't get in, but considering the competition, it makes sense. The NFC has a bunch of great RBs right now.

I would argue that Chris Johnson is a distant second place in the ROY race. Obviously Ryan is going to get it though.

Roethlisberger's in the discussion, but I don't think it goes much further than that. He has 12 INTs, which isn't that bad when you consider that 11 other QBs have the same amount or more. However, only four out of the 11 have less TDs (Flacco, Delhomme, Bulger, and Frerotte). They are also the only four players of the 11 to have less attempts. Every other QB of the 11 has more attempts and more TDs, and around the same amount of INTs (although, to be fair, Cutler, Frerotte, Brees, and Favre has 15, 15, 16, and 17, respectively, which is quite a bit more). (The other 11, if you are curious, are Peyton Manning, Aaron Rodgers, and Kurt Warner) That's just pure stats though, but like damshow said, Roethlisberger is good in clutch situations, but he hasn't been an overall great player like others have. If you're a Steelers fan, you love having him on your team because you can count on him in when things get tough, but MVP? Come on. He's not even the MVP of his own team. I'd give that to Harrison, who is the best player in the best defense in the league. And their defense is by far the biggest reason they're going to the playoffs when you consider the INTs (12) and sacks (41--which is over 30 more than Brees and Cutler) the offense has given up. Roethlisberger deserves credit for being able to overcome his and his offense's deficiencies in clutch situations, but he's not the MVP.

To be fair, no one on the Steelers has ever used the word "murder" to describe what they want to do to an opposing player. That's where my statement comes from. That's just semantics. It's not as if the Ravens literally want to murder someone on the field [insert easy Ray Lewis joke here]. When football players say they are going to hurt/murder someone on the field, there's not a mountain of difference in their intentions. The Ravens want to murder Steelers' players just as much as I want to literally strike my wife when I say I'm going to kick her ass in Mario Kart. It's arguable that either team is dirty, but if the basis for the Ravens being dirty is the use of the word "murder," then the argument is entirely too subjective.

If you're arguing that 18-0 trumps 17-0 even if the Patriots lost the 19th game, then you're arguing that the Superbowl is the most meaningless game of the year in terms of having the best season. And that's just silly.

Damn. This is one of the few prime time shows that I really enjoy. I just finished up season 1 last night and have been Tivoing season 2. I'd honestly hate to see it transition to a comic book because the actors made their characters. It just wouldn't be as likable. But if another network doesn't pick it up or a movie deal falls through, I guess I'll take what I can get just to see everything wrapped up. If they do a comic book, I hope they just tie up loose ends and let it rest instead of dragging it out.

You did. The last play was overturned.

Kent State's QB is starting to do the same thing. I'm not sure, but Josh Cribbs may have done the same thing when he was the QB there.

Considering how hesitant Mike Brown is to shake things up when the team is around the .500 mark, that would be more of a curse than a blessing.

At this point, that is honestly somewhat relieving. At least the defense is improving.

My wife hates that movie and refuses to watch it with me, but that mostly has to do with her being creeped out by the Muppets. She also hates Groundhog Day, so her movie opinions are clearly wrong.

Detroit still hasn't given up on Drew Stanton being their future starter, so I don't expect them to be hunting around for anything more than a backup. San Francisco will definitely be looking, and I think Minnesota would be stupid not to. A guy like Derek Anderson may be prone to taking too big of risks, but the Vikings don't need a guy who will lift the team on his shoulders, they just need someone who is a legitimate deep threat (which Anderson is) so that it opens up their running game for Adrian Peterson. I think the candidate fits the bill, so if they don't go for him, I'd be surprised. Chicago will probably shop around for a backup, but Orton has just about locked up another year as a starter. And even if Warner retires after this year, Arizona will probably be willing to start Leinart, so they'll be looking for a backup at most. And yeah, Tampa Bay is such a toss up. Who knows what QB they'll be interested in by the off season? I wouldn't be surprised to see the Rams looking either. And depending on Hasselbeck's health, the Seahawks might be as well. The way I see it, the teams that should be aggressively searching for a QB are San Francisco and Minnesota, with Tampa Bay being a big possibility as well.

I've been waiting for that book forever. In 2004, William Goldman promised to have it done by 2009, but he said in an interview a year ago, "I desperately want to write it, and I sit there and nothing happens and I get pissed at myself. I got lucky with The Princess Bride the first time, and I'd love to get lucky again." I need to read that book.

This week in football I heard on ESPN yesterday at work that Cassel's going to be a free agent in the off season. With Derek Anderson (probably) going to a different team too, it will be an interesting off season.

Even against the 30th ranked pass defense, it's impressive for Collins to throw for 289 (nearly 100 more than his best game before this week). His completion percentage was also about 75%, much higher than his average. It's good momentum going into some of their more challenging games (Steelers and Colts) at the end of the season. I'm not sure if I quite see them as a Superbowl team, but the arguments against them are becoming less and less each week.

I think a sequel to the Fifth Element would be good. I'm not a huge fan of the original, but I agree that the world is really intriguing. I'd love to see another Beetlejuice. He's such a great character that could be explored much more. As long as Tim Burton made it, I would be excited. Also, I always wanted to know what happened to Peter after the events of the original Dawn of the Dead. It would be interested to see where he and the zombified world was 30-some years later. And as far as journeymen go, I would be thrilled to either see a movie about Seth Gecko after the events from From Duck Til Dawn, or a movie about the Gecko brothers before the original.