Fever and football
by M. Stewart
My son was home from college the weekend before last, and he had a bad cold -- sneezing and coughing and honking. He left Sunday; by Thursday I knew I’d “caught” his cold. Nice catch, Stewart.
Tight chest, fever, then down for three days while the body fights off the bug, then the mucous. Everyone knows exactly what I mean.
When I get a bug I recall that little cartoon they showed us in elementary school health class: the one where red and white blood cells looked like little beans with eyes and legs. The invading virus was a bunch of black spidery things. It was a war.
More recently, my attention was drawn to an NPR story that carries video of a modern computer generated cartoon on the subject of viral infections. WARNING: If you look at this and get sick in the near future, it will be all you think about.
Changing the subject . . .
My prediction of a Steelers victory over the Vikings Sunday turned out righteous. As everyone expected, it was a great game with big plays. The most succinct summation is that the Vikings brought their A-game offense, but the Pittsburgh defense was better.
Brett Favre had his best game of the season, throwing 51 times for 34 receptions and 334 yards, but his offense scored just 10 points. (The other seven came on a kickoff return.) Minnesota’s offense was beaten by a defense that outscored it.
Pittsburgh’s Ben Roethlisberger had a mediocre day but still made big plays when needed. As Mike Tomlin alluded to in his post-game press conference, the Steelers had the ball for just 23 minutes, which put tremendous pressure on a defense that on this day was up to the task. Had the ball bounced a different way on a single play, the final outcome could have been different. It was that close.
Favre and head coach Brad Childress walked away from the game scratching their heads. And why not? The Vikings had played extremely well and lost because of two turnovers. Maybe it was falling from the ranks of the undefeated that made them seem overly shell-shocked in the post-game interviews. I guess they really thought they could beat the Steelers in a big game at Heinz Field. Well, they thought wrong.
Lastly, I'm wondering what Cleveland Browns fans are saying about their team. What's the answer? What can be done right now to shake things up?
My son was home from college the weekend before last, and he had a bad cold -- sneezing and coughing and honking. He left Sunday; by Thursday I knew I’d “caught” his cold. Nice catch, Stewart.
Tight chest, fever, then down for three days while the body fights off the bug, then the mucous. Everyone knows exactly what I mean.
When I get a bug I recall that little cartoon they showed us in elementary school health class: the one where red and white blood cells looked like little beans with eyes and legs. The invading virus was a bunch of black spidery things. It was a war.
More recently, my attention was drawn to an NPR story that carries video of a modern computer generated cartoon on the subject of viral infections. WARNING: If you look at this and get sick in the near future, it will be all you think about.
Changing the subject . . .
My prediction of a Steelers victory over the Vikings Sunday turned out righteous. As everyone expected, it was a great game with big plays. The most succinct summation is that the Vikings brought their A-game offense, but the Pittsburgh defense was better.
Brett Favre had his best game of the season, throwing 51 times for 34 receptions and 334 yards, but his offense scored just 10 points. (The other seven came on a kickoff return.) Minnesota’s offense was beaten by a defense that outscored it.
Pittsburgh’s Ben Roethlisberger had a mediocre day but still made big plays when needed. As Mike Tomlin alluded to in his post-game press conference, the Steelers had the ball for just 23 minutes, which put tremendous pressure on a defense that on this day was up to the task. Had the ball bounced a different way on a single play, the final outcome could have been different. It was that close.
Favre and head coach Brad Childress walked away from the game scratching their heads. And why not? The Vikings had played extremely well and lost because of two turnovers. Maybe it was falling from the ranks of the undefeated that made them seem overly shell-shocked in the post-game interviews. I guess they really thought they could beat the Steelers in a big game at Heinz Field. Well, they thought wrong.
Lastly, I'm wondering what Cleveland Browns fans are saying about their team. What's the answer? What can be done right now to shake things up?
posted by M. | 6:21 PM
7 Comments:
Been a Brown fan all my life and I really don't have anything to say. Nothing really to say at all. Honestly, this is the worst I have ever seen in my 35 years as a Browns fan. NO TALENT! All I can do is root for the Steelers to lose and that isn't happening. Guess i'll wait for the Cavs.
Dawg--
I always find it interesting that Browns fans "hate" the Steelers. As far as I can tell, Steelers fans don't hate the Browns. Go back a generation or two when the Browns always beat the Steelers, and even then Steelers fans didn't hate the Browns.
I guess that's the way it is with some people. If you have no self respect, you can't respect others. All you can do is envy and hate those who are successful.
I think the Browns need to shake things up quick, and the way to do that is to put Joshua Cribbs in a quarterback and see what happens. The defense is a bigger problem. Maybe Mangini can give bonuses for tackles and interceptions.
The Browns really messed up in my opinion. They had opportunities to deal either Quinn or Anderson at the beginning of the season, before the rest of the league saw how truly terrible they were.
Now both of Cleveland's QB's have zero trade value, and if you recall, Cleveland is paying both of them #1 quarterback money.
And by the looks of it, they'll probably draft another #1 QB in the 2010 draft.
Bad teams like the Browns stay bad for a reason - and that's due to bad decisions from the top-down.
The opposite is also true, which explains why teams like the Patriots, Steelers, and Colts are playoff contenders year after year.
Cleveland, pack up AGAIN and LEAVE! It makes OHIO look bad!
M,
I don't really agree that Steeler fans like us Browns fans. Being a 7th grader at a Pirate game in the 80's with a Browns shirt on having beer poured on me and food thrown at me by grown men, doesn't make me a believer. I went to the Browns-Steelers game this year and had very little trouble. A few idiots here and there, but not too bad. I think they kinda feel bad for us having such an awful team. Plus when the Browns left for Baltimore, I think the rivalry headed there too. Steeler fans hate Ravens fans because they compete with them. Browns can't compete.
Dawg--
I guess a lot of sports fans are like that, but not all. For example, I'm a big Steelers fan but I don't hate the Ravens. I respect them. Do I hope they lose when it affects the Steelers? Yes, but that's as far as it goes.
I think most Steelers fans want to see the Browns field a competitive team. Unfortunately, they have a long, long way to go.
The Browns problems come down to ownership. Randy Lerner fell in love with Mangini and hired him without performing and due diligence on the guy.
No easy answers.
As a Browns fan, I HATE the Steelers.
Matt, you are an exception to the majority. You are decent and fair and I can have a good debate with you.
However, Most of the Steelers fans I've known through the years turn into ignorant thugs when it comes to gameday. Don't know why.
I know a lot of Browns fans like that, too, but even they're becoming hard to find lately as the team sinks further into the morass of rudderless suck ownership put them in.
Anger has been replaced by indifference. That's the worst part.
Brian
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