Archive for November, 2008

Reason #1,321 Not To Bet On Football

Mix in a failed hook and ladder play with a touchdown that is ruled a touchdown, confirmed to be a touchdown, then somehow is no longer a touchdown, and what do have? 66 million lost by the poor bastards who had the Steelers minus 4.5pts. I don’t gamble on football any longer but if I did, I would have had the Steelers. Not because I thought the Steelers were going to cover, I didn’t even know the line until the next day after researching it. No, I would have had the Steelers because this is the type of shit that happens to a team I gambled on.

This game did give me a terrible flashback to Monday Sept 22, 1997. The Steelers were getting 2.5 pts against the Jags. After holding the Jags to a late field goal, the Steelers got the ball back inside 2 minutes trailing 21-23. This was all good as I had the Steelers plus 2.5pts. The Steelers lined up for a last second field goal. No big deal, I don’t care if they make it or miss it. I’m a winner, winner, chicken dinner. The only thing that could make me a loser is if the Jags block the FG with no time left and return it for a touchdown. That will never happen. Oops. This was the famous clip you see where Cowher almost tackled the defender on the sideline. I always wondered if I would have still lost that bet if Cowher had actually tackled Chris Hudson?

Cheers and Hail

This Is Kind Of Cooley

During the Redskins bye week I flew up to my old stomping grounds in Northern VA. Over a couple of beers at the Ashburn Pub, I interviewed Chris Cooley. OK… the interview didn’t exactly go down that way, Chris answered my questions thru a series of emails. The beer will come at a later date when I show Chris and Tanner who the real king of bar Olympics is. Here is my exclusive with CC.
FP: They’re filming a major motion picture “The Chris Cooley Story”, which actors play these roles?
CC: Chris- I was Ogre from Revenge of the Nerds for Halloween, so probably that guy.
Tanner- Probably have to say….Omar Epps
Christy- We would make Jessica Alba dye her hair and she could play Christy
Zorn- Steve Largent
Dan Snyder- Tom Cruise

FP: Who would you say that you are more like, Harry or Lloyd? Why?
CC: Obviously I am more like Harry, just look at us.

FP: Have you or a teammate ever been laid on the 50 yd line @ FedEx field?
CC: I can’t speak for anyone else on the team, but I have never done such a thing at FedEx.

FP: Do you have any superstitions that you do on game days?
CC: I don’t really have any superstitions but I still get stupid pre-game jitters. This is like the 15th game this year of being nervous. It’s probably awesome for my health.

FP: Ben Roethlisburger is upset that Redskin’s cheerleaders stretch in front of the visiting teams locker room. What kind of stuff do other teams pull when you are at their stadium?
CC: In Dallas they turn off the AC in our locker room so its always about 90 degrees in there when we’re getting ready.

FP: Are you any good @ bar Olympics? (foosball, darts, pool etc?)
CC: I am amazing at bar Olympics. I have a dart board, pool table, air hockey, and ping pong in my basement. Unstoppable.

FP: I want to wear a cup when I’m playing wiffleball with my 3 year old, why don’t NFL players wear cups? You got helmets, elbows and knees flying around your junk.
CC: Its just not comfortable to run in a cup. I have never taken a big shot down there in all of high school, college, or the NFL. So why start now?

FP: What is your biggest fear?
CC: I’m not really afraid of anything. I don’t like super natural things.

FP: When you and Tanner came up with the idea for the blog, did you imagine that it would be this popular? (1.7 million hits in 8 months).
CC: When we started this we didn’t have any goals or expectations. We just did it to have fun and that’s what we’ve been doing ever since.

FP: My blog is getting 20-30 hits per day, compared to your 20,000 per, would you consider posting a picture of your right nut on my blog for a couple hours?
CC: Take a picture of your own nut and see the boost it gets. If your still at 20-30 after that….

FP: You are in a Fantasy Football League with other Skins players who don’t know a damn thing about Fantasy Football. Are you playing in any other leagues that are more competitive?
CC: I’m too busy to keep up on more than one league right now. I wish I had time cause I love fantasy sports but I just don’t.

FP: This is a long standing debate in our household, Aerosmith or Van Halen?
CC: Both awesome…Van Halen (yeah!)

FP: You’re an avid collector of sports cards, what is the one card in your collection that you could never part with?
CC: I have a John Elway rookie that I’ve had since I was ten. Its still in the screw down case that I got the day I bought the card for 4 dollars. That’s one you won’t see on Ebay.

FP: What does it say on your tombstone?
CC: Nothing special man. What ever my kids want to throw on there will probably be cool.

FP: Describe what the Dallas/Redskins rivalry means to you. Did Gibbs and Buges do a great job of instilling the history of this rivalry into the players?
CC: All of the NFC East opponents are tough. But for some reason I hate Dallas more than any other team in the NFL. Gibbs and Bugle are great coaches but they didn’t have to do any work making this more of a rivalry. It is just one of those natural things.

I want to thank Chris for taking the time to answer a bunch of stupid questions from a random fan who follows his blog (nice way of saying “borderline stalker”). I also want to thank Tanner Cooley, whom I’ve never met, yet always goes above and beyond for me. Thank you both, you guys are “BADASS”.

Cheers and Hail

Hail To The Burgundy And Gold

Having been a fan of the Redskins for over 30 years I have seen a lot of players come and go. With the salary cap, free agency, and the fact the average NFL player’s career only lasts 4 season, players are gone before you know it.

Fatpickle: I Heart The Redskins

I am 34 years old and I have spent all my life building a relationship with the Redskins. To say we have had our ups and downs would be an understatement. But in the end, they are my oldest and dearest friend. Here is a little history of our relationship.

I also got to do cool things like toss the Football with Mark Rypein, Ricky Sanders, and Gary Clark. I can still remember like it was yesterday hitting Ricky on a post pattern. Many of the players were awesome, I do remember some that were not. It’s amazing that I spent many days at Redskins Park, but I never saw Joe Gibbs. I guess he was always hard at work. My favorite memory by far was the day that I snuck onto the field and filmed practice. It was Super Bowl week before the Denver game in 87. Gibbs was always worried about spies, so I’m unsure how I was able to film 10 minutes of practice before getting kicked out. I later got the chance to ask Dexter Manley what he was going to do to John Elway in the Super Bowl. “I’m gonna kill him” Dexter replied. Sorry Cooley Bros.

I am lucky enough to be married to the greatest Wife and Mom in the world. Rebecca and I were high school sweethearts and we have been together for the better part of 18 years. We have a 4 year old son, 3 cats, and we lead the perfect life. All except for one thing, Rebecca is a Cowboy fan. So for a couple times each year things can get pretty tense. I’m happy that the Redskins have gotten the better part of the Cowboys the past couple years. My wife and son have taught me a few things. I don’t need to yell and scream obscenities while watching the game. The silent tirade I have in my head works just fine. Betting on the Skins and an over is probably not a good idea, the little man needs new shoes and to eat. A 24 hour period to be in a bad mood and get over a loss is enough, no need to be angry the whole week.

Mrs. Pickle: I Heart The Cowboys

Randy?

Randy taught me to love the Cowboys when I was young. I didn’t know much about them then, but I was learning to enjoy the competition, to share a common bond with someone special and to celebrate a win. And, I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t know much about them now, especially compared to Fatpickle who claims to know everything there is to know about his team. He can recite stats about the game and players (past and present) and has become a self-proclaimed addict to a certain Redskins’s blog.

Porkboy46: Crazy About Them Cowboys

Looks like Romo hit the buffet on the bye week!

When it comes to the rivalry, just seeing the colors gets me all fired up! Blue and silver, burgundy and gold! I love to watch to watch old VHS tapes of them (I have every game between the two on tape since 91). Some are great, some very bad, but all are classic! Just watching the uniforms against each other on Madden gets me psyched up, nothing I love more!

LAST SKINS GAME FOR ROGER STAUBACH, he leads them to 14 points in the last 2 minutes to win the game and knock the skins out of the playoffs. That was the last game of the season, the winning team won the division and the loser went home!THANKSGIVING 1996, the boys are supposed to be out of gas and Emmitt Smith is on the downside. But, Emmitt goes wild for 3 touchdowns!

Listen, if you don’t have respect for your greatest rival then its not much of a rivalry. There were times when I was young and my brother Mike would tape pages from the Washington Post up on my ceiling after a big Skins win! During the 87 strike game the Cowboys lost, and I lost a bet. That meant that I had to burn my favorite Dallas t-shirt right after the game! There have been great days on both sides of the ball. Like Chris Cooley scoring 3 TD’s as he ran over the entire Dallas secondary to blow out the Boy’s on their way to the playoffs. That game brought the rivalry back from the dead! Santana Moss’s 2 TD’s in the closing minutes on Monday night in Texas Stadium to win 14 - 13!How about ” THE RIGGO DRILL?” THE SKINS RUNNING THE SAME PLAY OVER RANDY WHITE TEN TIMES TO RUN OUT THE CLOCK IN THE NFC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME!! Many Skins said that the Super Bowl was a letdown after the Dallas game the week before!

Porkboy46