Little elbow room on the bandwagon these days -- I could have used some of that on the red-eye back from SFO Sunday night.
The NFL does this all the time -- teams you think have no reason beating another team actually beating them. It happened in Kansas City, too.
Still, until Andre Caldwell fumbled that punt, there was no doubt in my mind the Bengals were going to win that game. Guess I was wrong.
That said, this team will still make the playoffs -- and still the No. 2 seed.
Their lack of scoring surprises me, but they did look like a different team without Cedric Benson and the threat of Chris Henry going deep.
Still, it's enough for three or four more wins, maybe even five (if they beat the teams they're supposed ot beat, Browns, Lions, Chiefs, Jets and steal one from San Diego or Detroit.)
* Funny how you can go from hero to goat as quickly as Caldwell has. And now, with Twitter, idiots can do more than boo -- they can directly yell at a player. Of course athletes never think they're going to fail when they sign up for Twitter or something similar, but when they do, that allows people to get right at them.
I will say, from what I saw, there were more positive messages to Caldwell than negative, but the nasty ones seem to last longer. But hey, there are some miserable people out there and they now have a new way to spread their misery -- and for some reason that makes 'em happy. Go figure.
* The Onion is the latest to take aim at the Bengals uniforms.
The Sports Design Blog returns to an old discussion -- but I disagree with the premise. The best part about the Bengals uniform, to me, is the helmet. The rest, as the Onion noted, is the problem (especially the stupid side panels)
That said, I think it would be cool just once to see the all-black with one of the blacks being a matte black. Oregon's matte black helmet the other week was awesome. The jumping tiger concept is the worst of the ones Sports Design Blog used, because it would be a weird two-headed Bengal tiger with no way to get rid of its waste.
* Concussions are this season's hot topic in the NFL -- and for good reason. It looks as if the NFL is going to change some of its policies with how they deal with concussions.
Last week I linked to a big AP story on concussions with 160 interviews. Josh Katzowitz has the responses from the five Bengals interviewed on his blog.
* As if Bengal fans needed another reason to dislike Steeler fans, there's this guy.
* I don't watch House (it's fine, just not among my rotation) but they did acknowledge last night that Omar Epps and Mike Tomlin could be twins.
* Projecting Jay Bruce in 2010.
* Interesting post about defense and Aaron Harang.
* If you're shopping for the Reds fan, check out Part I of the Redlegs Holiday Gift Guide. It was on Lot D last year, with the enemy this year, but still a good read..
* Curtis Granderson is shopping a TV show. He seems like a guy that would be good for that role.
* Good win for the Bearcats and another shot against a Top 25 team tonight.
* People still read newspapers, it's just there's not a way to make money -- or even break even -- on the horizon.
Of course, not as many people may be reading newspapers as the newspapers claim.
* A really interesting experiment with a news co-op in Chicago. Of course, as someone trying something similar, I like the non-profit model, but it does help when "O'Shea has raised a single $500,000 grant from the Chicago-based MacArthur Foundation"
So if there's anyone out there with a ton of money that wants to help Cnati.com, you can email me at ctrent@cnati.com.
* A really, really interesting deal between Microsoft and NewsCorp. I applaud Microsoft for paying for content -- but not sure it's wise for NewsCorp to avoid Google. Google's a big company to take on. And if you're in the business of disseminating information, if the choice is between being with or against Google, you want to be with 'em. (And I say that as a proud Google News contributor -- but I wouldn't mind them sending me some money.)
* I absolutely hate popcorn at the movies -- not because a medium bag is the nutritional equivalent of three quarter-pounders with a dozen scoops of butter -- but because it sells and even more than that, it's so loud when people eat it and I want to hear the movie, not you eating popcorn (and don't get me started on chewing gum...)
* An awesome flow chart on your fast food choices.
* I don't know if I'm proud or ashamed that I got 12 of 14 right on the M.A.S.K. quiz.
* Continuing my geek side, this video of Extreme Degobah.
* And more geek -- adidas' Star Wars line.
* Comic book heroes are recession-proof. Not the sexiest superpower, but helps at times. Like G.I. Joe, I guess, they battle COBRA (a little unemployment humor for all of us worried about health care).
* TV Guide talks to Wolowitz from the Big Bang Theory (or, you know, the guy who plays Wolowitz)
* One of the most underrated of the animated TV series, Daria, is coming to DVD in 2010.
* Sexism on the Disney Channel.
* Need a Christmas present for the music lover in your life? Summer's Kiss Records Afghan Whigs tribute CD and the SK T-shirt are on sale for just $10. A deal for some awesome music (that, yeah, I had a hand in -- a baby hand, but a hand nonetheless)
* Anyway, I hope everyone has a happy Thanksgiving. I'll be back Monday. My family starts coming in town today and if you can't spend time with your family, what good is unemployment?
The NFL does this all the time -- teams you think have no reason beating another team actually beating them. It happened in Kansas City, too.
Still, until Andre Caldwell fumbled that punt, there was no doubt in my mind the Bengals were going to win that game. Guess I was wrong.
That said, this team will still make the playoffs -- and still the No. 2 seed.
Their lack of scoring surprises me, but they did look like a different team without Cedric Benson and the threat of Chris Henry going deep.
Still, it's enough for three or four more wins, maybe even five (if they beat the teams they're supposed ot beat, Browns, Lions, Chiefs, Jets and steal one from San Diego or Detroit.)
* Funny how you can go from hero to goat as quickly as Caldwell has. And now, with Twitter, idiots can do more than boo -- they can directly yell at a player. Of course athletes never think they're going to fail when they sign up for Twitter or something similar, but when they do, that allows people to get right at them.
I will say, from what I saw, there were more positive messages to Caldwell than negative, but the nasty ones seem to last longer. But hey, there are some miserable people out there and they now have a new way to spread their misery -- and for some reason that makes 'em happy. Go figure.
* The Onion is the latest to take aim at the Bengals uniforms.
The Sports Design Blog returns to an old discussion -- but I disagree with the premise. The best part about the Bengals uniform, to me, is the helmet. The rest, as the Onion noted, is the problem (especially the stupid side panels)
That said, I think it would be cool just once to see the all-black with one of the blacks being a matte black. Oregon's matte black helmet the other week was awesome. The jumping tiger concept is the worst of the ones Sports Design Blog used, because it would be a weird two-headed Bengal tiger with no way to get rid of its waste.
* Concussions are this season's hot topic in the NFL -- and for good reason. It looks as if the NFL is going to change some of its policies with how they deal with concussions.
Last week I linked to a big AP story on concussions with 160 interviews. Josh Katzowitz has the responses from the five Bengals interviewed on his blog.
* As if Bengal fans needed another reason to dislike Steeler fans, there's this guy.
* I don't watch House (it's fine, just not among my rotation) but they did acknowledge last night that Omar Epps and Mike Tomlin could be twins.
* Projecting Jay Bruce in 2010.
* Interesting post about defense and Aaron Harang.
* If you're shopping for the Reds fan, check out Part I of the Redlegs Holiday Gift Guide. It was on Lot D last year, with the enemy this year, but still a good read..
* Curtis Granderson is shopping a TV show. He seems like a guy that would be good for that role.
* Good win for the Bearcats and another shot against a Top 25 team tonight.
* People still read newspapers, it's just there's not a way to make money -- or even break even -- on the horizon.
Of course, not as many people may be reading newspapers as the newspapers claim.
* A really interesting experiment with a news co-op in Chicago. Of course, as someone trying something similar, I like the non-profit model, but it does help when "O'Shea has raised a single $500,000 grant from the Chicago-based MacArthur Foundation"
So if there's anyone out there with a ton of money that wants to help Cnati.com, you can email me at ctrent@cnati.com.
* A really, really interesting deal between Microsoft and NewsCorp. I applaud Microsoft for paying for content -- but not sure it's wise for NewsCorp to avoid Google. Google's a big company to take on. And if you're in the business of disseminating information, if the choice is between being with or against Google, you want to be with 'em. (And I say that as a proud Google News contributor -- but I wouldn't mind them sending me some money.)
* I absolutely hate popcorn at the movies -- not because a medium bag is the nutritional equivalent of three quarter-pounders with a dozen scoops of butter -- but because it sells and even more than that, it's so loud when people eat it and I want to hear the movie, not you eating popcorn (and don't get me started on chewing gum...)
* An awesome flow chart on your fast food choices.
* I don't know if I'm proud or ashamed that I got 12 of 14 right on the M.A.S.K. quiz.
* Continuing my geek side, this video of Extreme Degobah.
* And more geek -- adidas' Star Wars line.
* Comic book heroes are recession-proof. Not the sexiest superpower, but helps at times. Like G.I. Joe, I guess, they battle COBRA (a little unemployment humor for all of us worried about health care).
* TV Guide talks to Wolowitz from the Big Bang Theory (or, you know, the guy who plays Wolowitz)
* One of the most underrated of the animated TV series, Daria, is coming to DVD in 2010.
* Sexism on the Disney Channel.
* Need a Christmas present for the music lover in your life? Summer's Kiss Records Afghan Whigs tribute CD and the SK T-shirt are on sale for just $10. A deal for some awesome music (that, yeah, I had a hand in -- a baby hand, but a hand nonetheless)
* Anyway, I hope everyone has a happy Thanksgiving. I'll be back Monday. My family starts coming in town today and if you can't spend time with your family, what good is unemployment?
If you combine the fielding stats with the Red's inability to score when Harang has pitched the last 2 years, he may be one of the most hard luck pitchers in baseball. I never can understand why Lance always mention how many wins he's had in the last 2 years. Like he has total control over that.
I think Jay Bruce takes a huge step forward this season. I was very skeptical before he was injured, I thought he'd be another Adam Dunn, but (even though it's a small sample size) Bruce looked like a much more mature hitter when he came back from injury.
CTrent, have you heard rumors about Richt losing his job in Georgia. Someone yesterday posted on face book that the Sporting News said Brian Kelley is leaving UC and it'll be fore Georgia or Notre Dame. I couldn't imagine Georgia canning Richt, but maybe I missed something.
Thanks for the mention, Trent! And I have a feeling I'll be buying some of those Star Wars shoes...taking the kids to see this next week--http://www.starwarsinconcert.com/