Conan vs. Jay: Historic Confrontation

How epic has this battle been between Jay Leno, Conan O'Brien, and NBC?

It's been very entertaining to say the least, and considering how much not only Jay and Conan are talking about it on their own shows -- which isn't surprising -- but how much play it's getting on every other late night show (and just about every place else), this is turning into an unprecedented feud.

Ratings are skyrocketing, late night shows have gone from "over saturated" to "can't miss", and Jay Leno has gone from killing a network to inadvertently saving it (by being a first rate pud and kicking Conan to the curb, thus allowing NBC to restore an eventual lineup of regular programming in Leno's current 9pm central time slot) all within a span of a few months.

It makes me wish I was able to stay up to see all the shenanigans.

So Jay will go back to his old slot, Conan will get a settlement deal, then resurface on Fox against Jay, and hopefully kick his ass.

Sure has been fun to follow, from Conan's letter, to Kimmel's grilling of Leno, to countless jokes, impressions, and reactions to this one of a kind story, that certainly is far from over.

Yet Another Thud

Maybe I'm bad luck.

After a whole season of staying home for Eagles games, and either watching them on network TV, following along with an internet gamecast, or catching occasional live cut-ins on the NFL Network's Redzone channel -- a piece of brilliance that deserves a hundred blog posts singing its praises -- the last two weeks, I decided to go out to an establishment to cheer on my beloved (and perennially disappointing) Iggles.

Each of the last two weeks, including last night, they've had their ass handed to them on a silver (with blue star) platter.

Before these past two weeks, the previous time I went out to watch the Iggles was in last year's NFC Championship game in Arizona. That was a more crushing defeat. I had belief in that game. They were VERY close to advancing to the Super Bowl...where they probably would have choked again, but that's a different story.

I went into last week's regular season finale still believing this Iggles team had a chance this year. All they needed was a road win in Dallas, and they'd be 12-4 (pretty impressive), have a two-seed (a week off, then at least one home game), and a legitimate shot at reaching the Super Bowl.

But, after watching them get shallacked 24-0, which ended up giving them the six-seed (three straight road games, starting right back in big-D, or Arlington, or wherever the hell they put that monstrosity of a stadium), I lost all hope. ALL of it.

Not once all week did I feel any excitement about the wild card game. Not once did I feel any hope that they could turn it around and get on a run like last year -- when they reached the NFC title game also as a six-seed.

And, my plan all along yesterday was to sit at home on a Saturday night, drink a few beers, pause the DVR, and start watching the game after the kids went to bed so they wouldn't have to see or hear my frustration with what I fully expected to be another loss to the hated Cowboys.

My brother called me mid-afternoon yesterday and said he and several of his buddies, that I've hung with numerous times over the years for various football games of yore, were going to a new sports bar in Aurora to watch the game, and wanted to know if I was interested.

After some debate, I figured that it would probably be the last chance I'd get to go cheer on my team at a place like that -- which is always more fun than watching it alone at your house -- so I decided to go.

I don't want to say it was a mistake, because I did have a good time sharing misery with the rest of the group -- who, surprisingly carries a good assortment of Eagles fans (rare for us in Illinois) -- but, it certainly was a letdown watching another thud last night from the guys in green.

In fact, we were paying more attention to the bar's main event, the Blackhawks game (it was a Chris Chelios establishment) as they roared out to a 5-1 lead in their game -- a game they would eventually lose in a shootout.

That's just it though. I never got all that upset last night. Sure, we were disappointed, but I knew it was coming. I never had faith after last week. The team is a mess. None of their wins came against a playoff team. They were suddenly racked with injuries, they looked listless on defense, abandoned the running game (surprise!) and seemed to have lost whatever mojo they built while rattling off their six game win streak heading into week 17.

So, as I sit here on the morning after yet another Iggles season that has ended without a Super Bowl ring, I'm starting to get disturbingly used to these final chapters, and it's not even getting me that upset anymore.

The Phillies title in 2008 I'm sure has taken away some of that frustration, but the more I see McNabb, or Andy Reid, who, yes, have been there for what has unquestionably been the most successful run the franchise has ever known, the more it becomes apparent that these two, working together, are just not good enough to be great...if that makes any sense. They're good enough to be good. Plain and simple. They're not good enough to go all the way.

Maybe it's time for one of them to go. Or both.

I've seen this movie too many times, and the ending is the same every year.

The fact that it's not even getting me that upset anymore is what is troubling me the most.

Spring training is just 38 days away.

Yo, Adrian...You Did It!

This is the love of my life. Meet Adrian Peterson.

Going into the final night of the fantasy football season, as I mentioned in my previous post, I needed 20 points from Adrian to win my fantasy league.

Heading into halftime of the Vikings game in Chicago, Peterson was barely recognizeable. I wasn't even sure if he was playing.

The Adrian Peterson of the Bears was threatening to have a better game, and he's only had seven carries all year.

Okay, that was a bit of an exaggeration, but you get my point. My A.P. wasn't even a factor, and I nearly went to bed. Nearly wet the bed, too.

Then, in the second half, Peterson got going. Two touchdowns and over 90 rushing yards later, I'm the champion of the Cutler's Farts Cure Cancer league by a 126-122 total, and what a sweet feeling it is.

Thanks to A.P., and to Mason Crosby, for hitting a 50+ yard field goal on Sunday, giving me an extra two points. Thanks to the 49er defense, that I picked up this week, for stuffing the Lions to the tune of 21 points.

I'd better stop. I'm about to break into press conference mode again.

And, the Bears actually won the game, giving the Iggles a chance to earn the two-seed in the East if they can just win Sunday in Dallas.

Piece of cake, right? It's not like the Iggles have ever let me down before, right? Right?

Yo, Adrian!

So, it comes down to this...

In my fantasy football league -- I know, I've already bored you to tears -- I need Adrian Peterson of the Vikings to score 20 points for me tonight, and I'm the champ.

91 or more yards and two touchdowns. 141 yards and one touchdown. No yards, but 10 two-point conversions.

Whatever works.

I'm going up against one Andy Behrens, who happens to be one of the fanasy sports experts on Yahoo, and was one of my friends in high school. Naturally, he's been in the top spot of our league for most of the season -- he'd better be, right? -- so to beat him would be a definite feat.

I mean, it must have taken an expert to know Roddy freakin' White would have a HUGE day yesterday, or that Brent Celek would get 121 receiving yards and a touchdown. Behrens has been killing it in our league all year, and he put up another 122 points yesterday.

But, I'm still hanging around.

I've hS the second best team all season, and after each of our bye weeks passed -- and our point totals from our "idle" lineups were higher than ANY of the four playoff teams that were playing -- we each won our semi-final games handily, so this matchup is the right one.

Our point total this weekend is higher than the two teams fighting it our for third place, too.

And, while I could be spouting venom at Coach Caldwell in Indy for resting his starters -- including my tight end, Dallas Clark -- possibly costing my team the points I'll need to pull off this upset win, I'm actually feeling pretty good about things, even if I lose after tonight.

I put just about my best team out there this week, have scored over 100 points, and have a shot going into the final game of our season. Couldn't ask for much more. Plus, I've already made money, so that's helping as well.

And, geek that I am, I've been having press conferences with myself all season.

The one last night went something like this...

"...We'll, what can you do, you know? Andy's got a tough, tough football team. You can't play defense in the Fantasy Football League. You just have to put the best lineup out there and hope for the best. I'm proud of my guys. They gave a tremendous effort today, and we have a chance. That's all I can ask as a head coach."

Not sure if I'll have the Gatorade shower late tonight -- I hope not, because by the time the game ends, I'll probably be in bed, and I'd hate to sleep in a bed soaked in Red G2 -- but there's no shame in finishing 2nd to a Fantasy Football guru.

"We gave it 110%. That's all I can ask as a head coach."

Now, go get 'em A.P.! Mikey needs a new pair of shoes.

Enjoy The Yule Log

A sincere wish for everyone out there to have a terrific Christmas. My gift to the millions of my readers will be more frequent blogging, very soon.

I promise.

Happy Holidays!

Eagles Punch Out Giants

Nothing like a well constructed animated .gif that I'm eager to share, to help jolt me out of my blogging laziness.

Found this on an Eagles fan forum the morning after a wild 45-38 win by the beloved Iggles.

The win over the Giants didn't quite happen on the Jersey Shore -- like the real video above did, on the show of the same name, at least -- but it was close enough.

Gotta love Andy Reid doing the chest bump with Desean Jackson. Nice to see Reid has recognized that actually bumping his chest with D-Jax's chest might propel Desean into next week, so he's going with a (slightly) less destructive backside bump.

Keep it goin' boys.

Tiger's Errant Drive

Now it's making sense. Hottie wife thinks you're having an affair, so after she confronts you -- and possibly beats up on you a bit -- you hop in the SUV to get away from her at 2:30 a.m., only she is coming after you with one of your 5-irons.

She grips it and rips it, smashing out the back window with one good wallop, which startles you so much, you floor it, taking out a fire hydrant and landing you into a tree.

Since you were probably making a fast escape from the house, there was no thought of buckling up, so you get your face bloodied (although I've read some reports that are claiming there was no blood on the steering wheel, which would indicate Elin did most of the damage, not the crash).

No statement, no interview with the police, yet (it's been postponed not once, but twice), and rumors of a Tiger affair gaining steam by the second. True or not, Elin could be looking at a domestic abuse charge.

And maybe a spot on the LPGA tour.