Brett Favre Living Legend pre-game stuff out of the way. Packers with no rushing vs Broncos with no rushing defense on Monday Night. Packers aren’t good enough to be 5-1, but here they are. Broncos probably shouldn’t be 3-3, but they are. I’ve had 3 beers so far, so I’m ready.
Broncos lose fumble on Packers 1 yard line. Packers drive goes 98 yards, stalls on 1, settle for field goal. Packers offensive line beginning to put it to Broncos, though. Full disclosure: I’ve always liked Denver, but I don’t care for Shanahan. Deanna Favre in the booth, pumping her book. Favre gave up the drinking and skirt-chasing when she laid down the law, so I’m okay with that.
Packers discover running game before Broncos discover run defense. Favre fakes out his receivers by throwing into the flats to Champ Bailey. Deanna Favre shows some class by not complaining about Kornheiser’s oral servicing of her husband. On the other hand, Broncos fans seem not to remember the endless Elway encomia.
Packers to 1/2 yard line, movement. Happens again. Have to settle for field goal again. Meanwhile, Denver uses their 3rd time out, somehow gain three seconds in Packers’ third-down non-play. Now Packers call time out on third. 4th and 16. Hmmmm.
Finally, they mention Max McGee. Halftime.
It’s a quagmire. Duelling fouls, some of them nonexistent. Vince Vaughan has breast cancer. Who knew?
A Packer breaks 100 yards rushing.
Years and years ago, Suzy Kolber was cute in an okay I guess you can give me a blowjob kind of way.
Some Packers defensive player by the name of Bigby is keeping the Broncos in the game. He has dreds.
4th and 2 or 3. Under 2 minutes left. Denver must go. Can MNF keep it interesting? If Dennis Miller were here, it might be.
First down, Broncs. Helpfully, commentators note that this possession is critical to both the Packers and the Broncos. Another first for the Broncs. First and goal, Denver.
Two seconds elapse during pass play. They kick the field goal. Overtime.
Packers win toss. Favre, unable to stand Kornheiser’s nose up his ass any longer, launches 82 yard touchdown to complete shitty sports week for Denver fans.
Have another beer, it won’t be pretty.
All of these football teams are just fighting for the chance to lose to either the Colts or the Patriots.
Season’s long, JD. A lot depends on who’s still healthy at the end of the season.
Heh. 79 yards. Official throws great accidental block.
I agree. The season is long. But is there really any doubt how this season will end?
G*d I am so tired of the Favre-gasm. You just about want to send a note to ESPN toe tell Kornheiser and Favre to get a room.
Thank you, RC. I have to turn off the game. Between the Bronco bashing from Kornholio, the Favre encomiums (and now, his wife in the booth, taking attention away from the actual game), and the camera coverage (LOOK! CHEESEHEADS IN THE STANDS!), I’ve lost interest in football.
The way ESPN markets sports these days is ruining the games for me. What was once about teams is now about individual personalities. It’s tedious.
And seriously, is the pro-Green Bay bias on a game being played in Denver really wise?
I think ESPN should be banned from doing games. They can do the sportscenter and whatnot, but the way they turn games in to a MTV Video makes me violently ill.
I wish we could get Madden/Summerall back together. Did anyone call a better game than those two?
I say no.
Hell, this is nothing. Just imagine if Madden was calling this game.
Thank Allah that the 4-letter network only gets to ruin one game a week.
No one sucks up Farve like Chris Berman does… plus Berman insists that Tom Jackson make it a threesome even if Farve is having a four interception night
Berman is cheesier than a Wisconsin dairy orgy. The way he crams pop lyrics into every single fucking thing he does drives me batty. “Hey, a game was played in London! Pina Coladas at Trader Vick’s. Get it? Get it?”
But what’s with the PTI halftime thing? Topics: Peyton vs. Tom; Romo; and A-Rod.
What, did Joe Torre not take a crap this week?
Hey, did you guys know that the Red Sox won the world series this year?
Yeah, second time this century, I’m not kidding.
True story.
Did I interrupt the Favre-gasm?
Ah, of course not. A lovely montage of Brett and wife both being survivors!
Breast cancer, chemo, dangling between life and death…
Playing a kids game for several million dollars a year while thousands of people worship you like a god…..
survivors….
Brett Fav-ruh
This Favruh-gasm is the type of thing that I think actually takes away from him. It makes me want to change channels rather than watch him. I already know he is great, as any real sports fan knows. Getting hit over the head with it constantly is just overkill.
That’s why there’s the Falcons.
Anybody can beat the Falcons.
Except the Falcons.
So, worse, Favruh-gasms (a walking first-ballot HOFver, after all) or the chucklehead fans?
Nothing against any certain fan who might be still in posting range, of course…;D
From Florio’s live blog: “Tony is offering up to do pec exams on Brett. (And Tony might also volunteer to check Favre for testicular cancer as well. And an enlarged prostate.)”
What, no mention of the phantom holding call on Marshall, Dan?
Better to be on the 50 than the 3.
There’ve been several phantom calls, IMO. That was one.
Honestly, though, I was unable to watch much of the second half because of “grading” of “papers” that I had to do.
Mike Shanahan: mastermind.
I can’t be certain about this, but I’m pretty sure the Broncos had 5 offensive possessions tonight.
Had they scored TDs on all five, they’d still fall a TD short of the Patriot’s scoring average.
I think we should just forfeit the rest of the season and spend that time teaching the Broncos defensive line how to stop the run.
Bash Brett all ya want and rail against the network trying to make the most out of the turds the NFL tosses them for games…
No matter what that ending lived up to all the hype.
Uh, obviously JG likes this sort of stuff, but doesn’t this belong in the Pub?…
(Mostly I read PW on a palmtop these days — no legitimate work-connection — and I found this entry rather long and frustating, considering that I’d been under the impression that this sort of thing was what the Pub had been created for. Maybe I should look elsewhere for my daily dose of intelligent discussion….)
I wanna kiss Suzy Kolber…smak..smak..smakkity, smak, smak…
In the library.
howzat?
Well, I never had much hope for the Donkey’s this year (Jay Cutler???). In fact, I thought that it would have been better for them to lose against the Raiders – might have forced the necessary re-evaluation of ambitions, committments, priorities, and tactics. Instead, they pretend they are good, looking to bad calls and bad breaks as the reason they suck.
So, how does it feel for the “Farve-gasm” to correspond with a gut-punch like that to end the game? The grapes are sour in Denver. ESPN wasn’t “unwatchable” or “biased” when they all had collective “Elway-gy”?
Jay Cutler looks like he should hurry up and not miss his 10:00am Biology II class. Seriously, otherwise the bros back at the house are going to miss those notes.
I don’t think ESPN was broadcasting games back when Elway was playing, and I can say with some certainty that games played in Denver used to feature shots of the Denver crowd — not anybody wearing yellow and green.
No sour grapes here — the Broncos are so riddled with injury, and so bad against the run that they can’t get out of their own ways. Were I a Green Bay fan, I’d be a little worried that a team missing its starting running back, starting safety, and starting wide receiver — while playing with the 3rd string offensive line — nearly beat my team; and in fact should have, if Shanahan weren’t afraid of the end zone.
Anybody who watched that game last night would be sick. Not only was it all Brett all the time, but then it was Brett’s wife in the booth, and of course, the obligatory celebrity pushing a movie “dropping by.”
To his credit, Vince Vaughan seemed knowledgeable about football and was almost embarrassed to be interrupting the game telecast. Which, unfortunately, is more than I can say for Kornheiser.
He needs to go. Bring back Dan Fouts. Kornheiser is making games unwatchable — from his jock sniffer fawning over certain players to his ignorant dismissals of things it’s obvious he knows nothing about.
It’s like the game is an afterthought, and the telecast is one long series of commercials with some football stuffed in between.
At least Jaworski knows what he’s talking about, and has a passion for football. All Kornheiser wants to do is hear himself talk.
Hey, it could be worse. Olbermann is on another network. Then it’s decision time. Can I overlook the fact that I loathe this waste of protoplasm enough to enjoy a game I want to see?
For the terminally curious, my answer is no.
Challeron —
You are of course free to find material elsewhere.
All of you are, in fact. I just spend well over an hour deleting the overnight spam. Think that gets me in the “thinking” mood?
Fuck it. Please do find some other place to haunt. I’m tired of all the bitching. I’m through for the time being.
I had the luxury of watching the game at a bar with my best friend, drinking all the while. That way I didn’t have to listen to the commentary (which is hard enough to hear in that bar anyway, everyone talks over it), which is abysmal, the worst I’ve seen from any sports reporting “team.” They make me miss Madden, and I love to hate Madden.
I saw all the Favre love going, and though I’m a huge fan of the man, I thought it was ridiculous. I had no idea why they had his wife in the booth (as I said, couldn’t hear it), but she was there for more than a few minutes so that was too long. That means that instead of watching I drank and talked.
Having said that, there were lots of Green Bay fans there, so we were very noisy. I thought both teams could have played better, but I was disappointed in Green Bay (except for this discovery of a running game… who knew?). They made way too many mistakes. Still, the final pass to win the game was a great Favre moment.
Sports announcers in general spend too much time talking about things other than the game at hand. I think football is often best watched in a bar with the sound turned off. That way you don’t have to listen to idiots ramble on about nothing, and when there isn’t football on the screen you can find other things to do.
Jeff G – That opinion represents a definite minority around here, just sayin’
I got to eat breakfast with Coach Dungy and a couple hundred people this morning. What a great speaker and great person to have as our coach.
The little instrument in your hand is flashing football-texts and that’s somehow disturbing you?
Good Sir, your stinky, sticky, filthy palm is despicable! You filthy little stinker; having a palm like yours indicates probable employment at ESPN, where every palm cramps for Brett Favre. Kindly get a grip.
BTW, I think Favre looks very out of shape compared to everyone else on the field. It’s wonderful his wife made a full recovery but It’d so make my day if she’d just hurry up and blow me and stfu.
I’m with cranky-d, though in my case watching the game at the bar still means that I’m listening to idiots ramble on about nothing, though said idiots aren’t being paid to provide commentary ostensibly about football.
Another good alternative is watching the game at home with a good brew and a good soundtrack playing in place of the comment-taters. Or just skipping the game altogether (which, as a Vikings fan, is definitely better for my blood pressure and mental well-being).
Don’t let the bastards grind you down, Jeff. They’re all just a bunch of hypermasculine haters, anyhow.
What happened with the turing word thingy? Wouldn’t that guard against spam?
I think the problem with football commentary these days is they are not hypermasculine. Sports are all becoming chickafied, in an effort to draw viewership from the three-quarters of the population that are feminine. I mean, my God! the broadcast booth looked like they should have been on Oprah, not MNF.
Starting corners were playing for Denver, they failed to cover a rook and a oft injured second year player. O-Line, back and receivers (the scrubs) did just fine. A freak fumble and 2 blown coverages was the difference…
I’ve been watching the Broncos for a long time, and my thoughts are as follows:
–Kornheiser’s knob-slobbering over Favre was ridiculous. Keep in mind that Favre has the NFL record for interceptions as well as touchdowns because he’s so undisciplined. If Montana had been picked off that much, I doubt you’d hear anybody in the sports world making excuses for him they way they do for Favre. That said, hats off to Favre for finding the weak link of the defense–Dre Bly– when it mattered and exploiting it.
–Green Bay is in Wisconsin, cheeseheads. If your city is so fucking great, please go live there instead of in Denver–our traffic is bad enough. I swear to god about half the people in the stands were wearing green and gold. I guess that’s what we get for letting Bowlen put a parking lot over Mile High and taking away the home field advantage.
–This team’s struggles can be laid at the foot of one man–Mike Shanahan–and karma is proving to be a bitch. There’s plenty of talent on the team, but this is one of the most poorly-coached units I’ve ever seen in Denver, and I witnessed the Wade Phillips era(although I hear the Mac Speedie years were pretty awful). The defense can’t tackle, can’t cover, and can’t stop the run. The offense is great between the 20-yard-lines and a basket case in the red zone. This all started last season, when Plummer was set up for failure on a weekly basis by the coach so Shanny could have an excuse to get his hand-picked golden boy in the lineup (remember, he knifed Brister in the back to put in griese in 1999 and the team went a sparkling 5-11 as a result); Shanny’s conservative game plans put so much pressure on the defense to keep the team in games, thanks to a plethora of 3 and outs and field goals, that they were worn out by the middle of the year. And who got fired at the end of last year? The defensive coordinator and his staff, even though their scheming and planning was the only reason Denver won any games at all early in the year, and were forced to try and make chicken salad out of chicken shit when Cutler was put in. And suprise, suprise, the defense is worse than last year. You KNOW that Plummer is laughing his ass off in Montana right now.
I think it’s time for Shanahan to go. He got the job as a result of his relationship with Elway as much as his coaching ability, and we are seeing what happens when a coach gets too full of himself and thinks he can do no wrong. Except for running backs, the man can’t draft to save his life, his choice of coordinators is based more on media hype than actual ability, and it looks like teams have figured out his offense. So what good is he at this point?
Anybody who watched that game last night would be sick.
So there WAS a game last night. My TV Guide said there would be a game on Channel 12, but when I turned it on they were showing a Lifetime Original Movie about high school sweethearts and breast cancer.
I didn’t have to hear the commentary, and missed the pre-game commentary, well only sort of, my dad called me to tell me how disgusted he was with the commentary. He even went so far to actually suggest he would like to see Madden come back to Monday night, because while the man loved to talk up Brett Favre, at least he stuck with the football. He wouldn’t have stood for someone to be in the booth pushing her new book, or movie stars hanging around causing the game to be missed. Hell the world series of poker stays on better track than the coverage of last nights game.
I wrote ESPN to let them know how disgusted I was that it seemed like we were watching a tribute to Brett Favre/talk show more than we were watching a football game. Another thing I thought was funny is they did mention at least one of Elway’s records, but only because he was second to Favre in that list. The funny thing is it took Favre 17 years to get that record where Elway made it in 16… but you know that isn’t want the dumbass announcers were mentioning… just that, well you know, Favre is the greatest. I am not sure I will watch Monday night football again after the atrocity that was allowed to air last night, and that makes me mad. You see, the Broncos have 2 more games this year on Monday night and I am afraid of throwing my TV across the room if I have to watch something to blatantly biased again.
Good job ESPN you brought your Sunday night mediocrity to Monday night football and have pissed off one more fan. Oh well at least the NFL network gives me what I want.
My meta-analysis says:
1) Shanahan’s not your problem, your players are. After all, the only reason the O-line is any good is because all they do is chop block, thanks to the coaching.
2) Green Bay is not as good as their record indicates.
3) Favre is good. That is, when he’s not throwing 4 picks and fumbling a couple snaps a game.
4) Kornheiser, really, really, really needs to start covering equestrian or some suitable non-sport on ESPN.
5) Players’ wives should not be in the booth.
6) Ditto for actors, although Vince wasn’t nearly as annoying as I thought he’d be.
Anybody but football players and scantily clad cheerleaders is inappropriate for football. Period.
JD, you nailed it. It can’t be said much better. THAT is football.