The Swamp

So the Broncos are -28 favorites over Jacksonville, the largest point spread in NFL history.

Denver Broncos ✔ @DenverBroncos
The #Broncos' 51 points in yesterday's win are as many points as the Jaguars have scored all season.
8:38 AM - 7 Oct 2013

Jacksonville Jaguars ✔ @jaguars Stay classy, Denver. RT @DenverBroncos: The #Broncos' 51 points in yesterday's win are as many points as the Jaguars have scored all season.
8:56 AM - 7 Oct 2013

Denver Broncos ✔ @DenverBroncos No shots, just stats. RT @jaguars: Stay classy, Denver. MT @DenverBroncos: #Broncos' 51 pts Sun. are as many as JAX has scored all season.

Jacksonville has also played a lot tougher schedule than the Broncos.

I'm going to make a decent sized bet on the Jags. This is a once in a generation chance to fade a number that big.

If I had to I would take the Jags too but I'd be really nervous about it.

I could see the Broncos removing all their key starters if they get a big lead, early. That could certainly help the Jags cover.

Julio Jones out for the season with a foot injury. Yikes, as bad as this week has been for Detroit sports fans, it's like 10 times worse for Atlanta.

They should trade Gonzalez back to Kansas City for one last chance at the Super Bowl.

degenerasian wrote:They should trade Gonzalez back to Kansas City for one last chance at the Super Bowl.

Rush noted that Denver hasn't played a tough schedule so far, but KC has played an even easier one - Jax/Philly/Giants/Dallas/Titans. I wouldn't make those Super Bowl reservations, yet.

They have two games against the Raiders and Chargers left though. They'll almost definitely make the playoffs.

sancarlos wrote:

degenerasian wrote:They should trade Gonzalez back to Kansas City for one last chance at the Super Bowl.

Rush noted that Denver hasn't played a tough schedule so far, but KC has played an even easier one - Jax/Philly/Giants/Dallas/Titans. I wouldn't make those Super Bowl reservations, yet.

It'll basically even out this weekend.

Pretty accurate summary of why I don't go to Bucs games. Well, this and the oppressive heat and humidity at 1:00 in Raymond James.

govmentchedda wrote:Pretty accurate summary of why I don't go to Bucs games. Well, this and the oppressive heat and humidity at 1:00 in Raymond James.

Couldn't have said it better myself.

As an older teen, a single guy in his 20s and even into my 30s, the commotion at the Ralph was a lot of fun. Took my son when he was 7 and you know, having to explain why the walk to the stadium resembled a scene from the reality show "How Drunk Can You Get?" made me decide not to take him back. And my daughter who's a big football fan? We've been to the expensive but relatively serene games here in Toronto.

And now that they are teens, I don't head to the games because of me. The traffic, the lineup to get in, the frisking, the washrooms that let fans experience the filth of the restrooms in a third world train station, the $10 beers... not very appealing.

But also worth mentioning (as the writer of the article did) is the behaviour of the fans. Not the majority who are decent folks letting off steam, but the guys who are one sip away from spewing. The feisty guys looking for a fight if you don't leap to your feet to shriek for the defence on every 3rd down, and I certainly don't miss the guy I saw with the tattoo of a klansman standing by a gallows that held a lynched black man.

Nope, none of that happens in basement.

Sadly, the behavior at many, if not all, NFL stadiums is getting worse and worse. I've been to 49er games in SF and Bronco games in Denver in recent years, and the drunken louts make it a not-very-fun experience. No way I'd take my daughter. And, don't get me started on Oakland. A friend offered to take me to a game a couple years ago, but noted that if I acknowledged myself as a Bronco fan, I probably wouldn't live to tell anybody about it.

I don't get it. Why cant a Thursday night NFL game be a perfectly clean atmosphere for an 8 yr old? Because the other 60,000 wouldn't want to go. The guy seems to wonder why the experience cant be as good as the Washington wizards? Why is the beer expensive? Never mind that the NFL already panders to its fans by letting them set up shop in their parking lots for 5 hours filing their stomachs so they don't have to buy anything in the stadium. This opinion is isht... in my opinion.

HaulCitgo wrote:I don't get it. Why cant a Thursday night NFL game be a perfectly clean atmosphere for an 8 yr old? Because the other 60,000 wouldn't want to go. The guy seems to wonder why the experience cant be as good as the Washington wizards? Why is the beer expensive? Never mind that the NFL already panders to its fans by letting them set up shop in their parking lots for 5 hours filing their stomachs so they don't have to buy anything in the stadium. This opinion is isht... in my opinion.

By "Panders" do you mean paying $30 for the privilege of drinking in the parking lot?

I think culture is the issue more than the NFL or its teams "pandering" to their fans. Even if they somehow banned tailgating in the parking lots, people will just drink elsewhere and go to the games. And in many cities there isn't necessarily a team-owned parking lot anyway, so it's not in their ability to stop anything. For whatever a lot of people like to get wasted and go to the games. It's kind of that "ultra" mentality that you see in some soccer cultures.

I'm in HaulCitgo's camp on this one.

You get what you pay for. There is no shortage of megalomaniacal soccermomming in that guy's article. You're taking your kid to an NFL game, not McDonalds Playland. Yes the adults that pay for the tickets are often mid-income yobs that are blowing off steam eight times per year, yes alcohol (and weed and who knows what else) are ever-present, yes there are fights in the stands, yes human beings are obnoxious to begin with, yes you piss in troughs. If you can't accept that or simply don't like it, don't attend, very simple.

Granted, the author does make a couple of worthy observations; fans of divisional opponents are by far the worst. At Soldier Field in Chicago it was (is) Packers people. Although at Candlestick the locals were the problem. Bear in mind that the fans of your team travel, too, and are vexing other people in other cities. Hey, I don't like that type of "fan" behavior either. I don't like some drunk five rows behind me screaming "Fuck you! Fuck you!" all night at something he's probably hallucinating. I don't like being around crowds all that much to begin with. But I never walk in to a crowd not knowing what to expect.

If you don't like that sort of goings on, don't go. You shouldn't. Why put yourself through it if the event will just disappoint you? That atmosphere is not for everyone. And I don't go for many of the same reasons. But, hey, there's a lot of places I don't go; I avoid public swimming pools and libraries on Saturday mornings because I don't want to deal with a screeching brood of kids running around out of control. Maybe that guy's screaming kid.

I gave up on attending 49ers games; Raiders games were out of the question in the first place. That's not the NFL's fault. That's not the teams' fault. It's their business model, not a service that caters to my ideals. It never crossed my mind to write an open letter to an NFL team portraying myself in pathos-soaked sentimental light.

I was watching a Bengals-Ravens game at Paul Brown Stadium and a lady bengal fan yelled "You fucking cleveland browns faggot!" every time Matt Stover came onto the field.

The Ravens won 34-3, so she had plenty to yell about.

At the last Lions home game, a guy a few rows back from me kept yelling "HEY CUTLER, YOU CAN'T DRINK WHISKEY! and "CUTLER HAS A RAVAGED, USELESS PENIS FROM HIS DIABETES!" And of course, whenever he threw an interception, "HEY CUTLER, BETTER CHECK YOUR INSULIN LEVELS!"

These lines were of course said repeatedly, and VERY LOUDLY. Not to pick on Detroit of course, this (and far worse) obviously occurs in every NFL stadium on Sunday afternoons.

Those are very weird disses.

brian wrote:Those are very weird disses.

Apparently, the cretin managed to do some research on diabetes. Because it's hi-larious to make fun of diseases.

I'm a season ticket holder for the Baltimore Ravens since 2008. My seats are on the 40-yard line, three rows from the top of the stadium.

I've taken my wife/kids to plenty of games, and only once needed to remind a neighbor of his language.

[/irony]

kranepool wrote:I'm a season ticket holder for the Baltimore Ravens since 2008. My seats are on the 40-yard line, three rows from the top of the stadium.

I've taken my wife/kids to plenty of games, and only once needed to remind a neighbor of his language.

[/irony]

Was he not cursing?

I was generally pretty decent when I was a Lions season ticket holder, but I'm not going to lie -- I probably scarred a kid for life after this botched PAT

It was like I had Tourette's for almost a minute. Closest I've ever been to an out of body experience. All of the pain of a lifetime of being a Lions fans just came to the surface for a minute. The kid's dad wasn't even upset -- just gave me an understanding (scared?) look.

I hope Cowher gets mad enough and throws Simms out of the booth.

I hope Cowher replaces Coughlin before 8pm tonight.

This Brandon Jacobs kid is good.

A little Lovie-esque clock management there to end the first half.

Tedy Bridgewater isn't worth losing a half of football. Snap judgment on a wobbly overthrow of a 15 yd in and broke notion.

Crazy to think that the Giants are 0-6, but crazier to think that they rode their defence to a Super Bowl title a few short years ago.

They tackle like they're playing flag football.

Pruitt wrote:Crazy to think that the Giants are 0-6, but crazier to think that they rode their defence to a Super Bowl title a few short years ago.

They tackle like they're playing flag football.

My Father-in-Law is a Giants fan and insisted the Giants would have a worse record than the Jets this year, and i fought him on that. Then again, he says that every year, including Giant Super Bowl seasons. Absolutely shocked thus far, and excitedly anticipating Kranepool's goat fellating video.

This is awful.

(OMG THE SOURCE!)

Brontoburglar wrote:This is awful.

(OMG THE SOURCE!)

Jesus. That's awful. I imagine the police are going to want to keep that Patterson asshole very separated from Peterson. I can't even think of the rage I'd feel if it were my son. An athlete of Peterson's size with that much rage? Shudder.

Apparently, the boy has passed away. Impossible to imagine what AP must be going through.

(And on a more cynical note, I'm kinda sick of the people on Twitter saying "There's no excuse to assault a 2-year-old child." Geez, you think doctor? Is that something that even needs to be expressed? "I'm gonna stick my neck out here and insist that taking another life is wrong." Strong take.

Tragic story, of course. This is a new part of it...

Deadspin wrote:A reporter whose own outlet isn't going with the story yet tells us this is a separate child, one not publicly known. The mother is a Sioux Falls woman who moved from the Twin Cities soon after the child was born, and believes the boy might be Peterson's, though no paternity test was done. (City Pages claims one was conducted recently.) The reporter also says Peterson has no contact with the woman or the child.

Fuck. That sucks. Feel so bad for Peterson. Hopefully Minnesota has a memorial before the game on Sunday and he takes as much time as he needs to recover, vikes aren't going anywhere this year, he should take a few weeks off. But you never know some people like to play through the pain (Favre and the loss of his dad)

Yeah, what an awful story. If sc's update about the child is true, well ... I don't really know how that changes it. If AP didn't know or believe the child was his, I guess that's better for him, but that's a pretty narrow silver lining.

Somehow it seems less personal that it's not that little boy we've seen AP playing with in the locker room (which I guess makes sense, age-wise). It's no less awful for that little boy and his family though.