Life and Stuff

I had originally planned to talk about the greatness of Brett Favre and how he just continues to defy the odds in my preface this week. However, something happened at about one in the morning early Monday, that I can not sit back and ignore. Therefore, I'm devoting my preface to him. Redskins DE Sean Taylor was shot inside his Miami area home Monday, the victim of an apparent burglary. The bullet penetrated the femoral artery in Taylor's leg, leading to significant blood loss in Taylor's body. He was rushed to a Miami area hospital where he soon lapsed into a coma and passed away early Tuesday morning. As a fan, it is easy to magnify the lives of our athletic heroes as larger than life, but in the grand scheme of things they are people just like us. No suspects have been named in this murder as of yet, but the saddest part of this whole ordeal is that we have lost a man who was quickly becoming the heart and soul of the Skins D, and at only 24, whose best years were clearly in front of him. Perhaps the saddest fact in this whole ordeal is that Taylor seemed to have officially shed his criminal past when his daughter was born 17 months ago. I bring this up because prior to that Taylor had numerous criminal convictions for drug possession and a now famous charge when he tried to steal an ATV from a Miami area store. I can only speculate on why this happened, but I believe that once you have a criminal record, it follows you for a lifetime regardless of the fact that you have sworn off of it for the good of your family. The person who did this may have sought revenge on Taylor for something he did to him, or he could have seen that a rich person lives in that house and he figured he could steal a few pricey artifacts. We'll probably never know for sure why this happened, but one thing he do know is that he have lost a man who was destined for greatness and far too young to die. He was a friend, a teammate, and a loving Father and Boyfriend to his Daughter and Girlfriend. Much like Tony Conigliaro, Redskin fans will always speculate what might have been. RIP Sean, you will be missed. Now then, a lot of bizarre things happened in the NFL last weekend, and while it is difficult to be funny in light of a tragedy, I will do my best to try to alleviate the sadness we all feel.

• I hope you all had a nice Thanksgiving. I ate so much that I had to put three notches in my belt before the end of the night. I also turned off all three game at the half because they were blowouts.

• Not much to say about the Pats/Eagles game expect that the Eagles may have provided a blueprint for the rest of the league to stop the Patriots offense.

• There's no truth to the rumor that the Steelers and Dolphins could not score the other night because the red zone was a pool of mud and difficult to find.

• Or that Matt Millen choked on a drumstick when he realized old man Favre was schooling his defense up and down the field.

• This week I would like to introduce a new feature to the column entitled "The Whoops Award." This week it goes to the Panther defense who were not set in a first quarter play against the Saints. By the time DB Ken Lucas realized it and starting frantically motioning for a timeout, it was too late and Drew Brees hit Devry Henderson for a 33 yard gain.

• A runner up for this award would be our friend Gus Ferrotte, who was forced into duty when Ram QB Marc Bulger was taken out of the game because of a minor concussion. on the last play of the game, Gus fumbled the snap at the goalline, giving the Seahawks a win. Good ol Gus never fails to provide me with a wealth of material, thanks buddy.

• Lots of candidates for "Moron of the week," but this only deserves honorable mention compared to what I'll tell you later. Chiefs coach Herman Edwards down by three in the waning moments of his game with the Raiders, elected to go for it on 4th and 1 from the Raider 23, when it would have been easier to play for the tie. Edwards elected to give the ball to rookie Colby Smith who was promptly stuffed.

• In defending his play call to the media, Edwards said, " We did it before, I figured we could make a yard but it didn't work out." This has been another obvious admission of guilt from the people who brought you duh.

• Congratulations to Bengals Wide Receiver Chad Johnson who became the team's all time leading receiver in their win against the Titans. This leads us to a new figure, called the "Quiz of the Week" The question, Can you name the man Johnson passed on the list? To answer the question, leave a comment on either my Blogger page or my Facebook page with your answer. People with correct answers will be mentioned in next week's blog by name so that they can gloat to their friends that they got a mention in a freelance writer's column. If you wish to protect your identity, please leave a made up name in the name box on the comment page, Good luck!

• Is it me, or does Peter King seem to have the personal cell phone numbers of everyone in the NFL?

• A strong defensive showing and a number of poor throws by Jason Campbell helped the Bucs beat the Skins

• I know that I've been critical of him in the past, but you've got to love Bucs coach John Gruden who was asked by a clueless sportswriter if he wanted to see what backup QB Bruce Gatskowski could do in a game situation. The writer must have been out to lunch when everyone who covered the game saw starter Jeff Garcia, the face of the offense I might add, leave the game with an injury. Gruden asked him if he was kidding and then pretended to leave the press conference. How is it that morons like this guy are making good money to ask tough questions and don't, while I'm struggling to find work and would be more than happy to give the fans what they want to hear?

• The Browns have won 5 0f 6, and with a remaining schedule that does not look too difficult, I think they'll be playoff bound.

• Memo to Eli Manning, next time throw to the guys in blue jerseys at home. There's no excuse for throwing 4 picks against the worst pass defense in the NFL!

• Yet another honorable mentioned for the whoops award is NBC's Keith Olbermann who during the highlights of the Chargers and Ravens called Willis Mc Gahee, Willis McGahay, and who referred to Shawne Merriman as Shane Merriman. Sometimes the jokes are just written for me.

• It is now time to hand out the "moron of the week award." This week it is a tie between Cardinals K Neil Rackers and Cardinals QB Kurt Warner. Rackers kicked a FG in overtime to give his team an apparent victory, but the team was whistled for a delay of game penalty backing them up 5 yards. He proceeded to miss the next kick and give the ball back to the 49's. The Cardinals got the ball back and Warner promptly fumbled in the end zone. A defender fell on it, and the Niners had themselves a gift win.

• The modern cardinal sin in the NFL is never kick to Devin Hester because he often returns kicks for touchdowns which he did again in helping to lead his team to a key win.

• Once again, I like to offer my prayers to the Redskins and the entire Taylor family for this awful tragedy. See you next week.

Due to the amount of schoolwork I currently have, Tuesday Morning Running Back will be delayed until at least Thursday so that I can concentrate on my schoolwork. I am currently struggling in my class and I need the time to do an accurate and well-researched paper in the next couple of days.' I apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. :(
Dan