Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Man, this ain't good, either

One of Joey Porter’s Pit Bulls’ favorite authors, Raymond Chandler, wrote this description of Santa Ana winds:

“Those hot dry winds that come down through the mountain passes and curl your hair and make your nerves jump and your skin itch. On nights like that every booze party ends in a fight. Meek little wives feel the edge of the carving knife and study their husbands' necks. Anything can happen. ”

— Raymond Chandler, Red Wind

-----------------------------------

Sadly, Joey Porter’s Pit Bulls gotta agree with ol' Raymond ... and we must agree also with MJD, who wrote on "The Debriefing" on AOL Fanhouse that …

"I wanted to take a second and wish the best to those people
in Southern California whose homes
are, you know ... engulfed in flames right now.
May your local firemen be brave and strong, may all your stuff
be flame-retardant, and may the wind die down quickly,
or at least shift in the direction of a homeowner you really hate.

"And may someone, if they have the time and inclination
in this time of tragedy, please
see if you can't frame Norv Turner for arson."


Just as regrettably, we must agree with MJD, once again, on his contention that ...

“When you lose to Denver, even if it is on the road,
you get removed from the ‘Upper Echelon
of the AFC’ category, and your resumé goes
back into the ‘needs further review’ pile.
I don't make the rules. That's just the way it is.”


So, as disappointed as we are that the Steelers seem to be relegated to second-tier status, with two losses in their past three games, we've always maintained the nothing happens in a vacuum. With that in mind, yes, the Patriots-Colts storyline is a compelling one.

Everybody's speculating whether the Patriots can go undefeated. It says right here the Colts have just about as good a chance to go undefeated.

Joey Porter's Pit Bulls don't do power rankings -- pointless -- but our feeling is that the Colts remain the top team in the NFL, notwithstanding the Patriots' apparent invincibility. After all, the Colts also are undefeated at 6-0, and the Colts still are the reigning NFL champs. Until somebody knocks off their crown, they’re the champs. And, if anything, their defense is better than it was last year – even as the team at 6-0 is somehow flying under the radar, if that’s possible, given all the attention afforded the Patriots. Bob Cook wrote a good piece about this on MSNBC.com: Smashmouth Colts quietly dominant

That Nov. 4 matchup between the Colts and Patriots will be interesting, to say the least.

Also compelling is the Patriots-Dolphins storyline. All those guys from the undefeated '72 Dolphins squad must be looking balefully sideways at one another and saying, "Eh, I dunno, this may be the year." Maybe the worst part for them is, they positively, absolutely know that the 2007 Dolphins have ZERO chance of knocking off the Patriots – even though, as division rivals, the teams play twice – and even though last year’s Dolphins did, in fact, defeat the Patriots. Sunday's 49-28 thrashing by the Patriots of the Dolphs seemed to be Bill Belichick’s way of stating all this emphatically. It’s as if Belicheat were trying to make a statement: "Neither you nor the ghosts of the undefeated '72 team have any chance of stopping us." Prick. San Francisco Chronicle columnist Ray Ratto, columnist for the San FranciscoChronicle, noticed this too: Just winning isn't enough for Belichick's Patriots

Meanwhile, in ironic symmetry, the 2007 Dolphins appear to have just as good a chance of going 0-16 as their division rival Patriots have of going 16-0. Personally, we'd rather see the Dolphins go 0-16. That would be fun.

Dissa ‘n Datta
Over at AOL Fanhouse, J.J. Cooper evaluates the Steelers’ offensive line. Maybe offensive line coach Larry Zierlein should have spent less time watching video, and more time watching film? If you know what we mean, wink, wink. Just sayin'.

Non-football stuff …

  • Let’s all celebrate 50 years of Frisbees!
  • Mother Nature remains HOT and getting hotter!
  • Of course, all this doesn’t stop Bully Pulpit Blowhard Glenn Beck from gleefully exulting that “a lot of people who hate America” are losing homes in the California fires.
  • It’s hot down South, too, and awfully dry.
  • Well, if we’re going to have unfiltered sunlight all the time, we might as well make good use of it.
  • Speaking of hot, an ill wind blows in California, and this ain't cool at all.
  • These ill winds bode no good:

“The etymology of the word is Santana winds from the
Spanish vientos de Satán (or the winds of Satan,
Sanatanas being a rarer form of Satanás).
The orignal word is drawn from a native language of unknown origin.

"It takes a ‘devil wind’ to wreak havoc and destruction on a community and fire crews in the manner in which this fire persists.
Combine this ‘Devil wind’ with the literal phenom of
a firestorm, and a dangerous situation exists
across the Los Angeles basin, including in
Malibu and Topanga. Add near 100 degree temperatures,
no sleep, little food, water and no break and fire crews are suffering.”


In all sincerity,
Joey Porter's Pit Bulls extend our best wishes to the people of California.

This is California's Katrina.

Be safe.


1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Could think of a hundred jokes about the crazies who live in California and the fires, but this is too serious.
I have friends who went to San Diego for parents weekend this past Friday. Their daughter attends Univ. of San Diego. They are still there because they canceled flights yesterday. I think they are a little relieved because she didn’t want to leave her daughter there by herself. She’s a freshman, first time away from home, so far from the Burg. I would have a hard time leaving myself. I talked to her this afternoon, she said it’s just unbelievable.