Nothing Stops A Party In New Orleans
Ms. Mae’ s on Napolean Street is one of my favorite bars in New Orleans. Not only is this place open 24 hours a day, but most drinks cost between $1 and $1.50 while top shelf liquor goes for a mere $2.50. That’s pretty good deal when you are in college.
Only those who have lived in New Orleans and frequented such establishments could possibly understand the following item from Tuesday’s New Orleans Times Picayune:
Blaze damages Uptown barroom
Fire started next door to Miss Mae’s
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
From staff reportsA three-alarm fire damaged popular nightspot Miss Mae’s at Napoleon Avenue and Magazine Street on Monday night.
Fire officials believe the fire started next door at Cafe Bayard and jumped the 18-inch gap between the buildings, according to Chief Glenn Trainor of the New Orleans Fire Department. The owner, Marc LoCasio, was in the 1905-circa cafe building at the time and called 911 to report the fire at 9:07 p.m. The extent of the damage to that building was unclear.
Fire officials say they had some resistance from bar patrons who were reluctant to evacuate because they were watching the Saints game.
Most of the damage was confined to dead space between the walls and between the first-floor ceiling and second floor, Trainor said.
The fire was declared under control at 10:15 p.m., Trainor said.
He said there were no injuries to bar patrons or to firefighters.
In New Orleans, NOTHING stops a party.
Oh the things you can find on Youtube…
Looking for some football stuff, I came across this gem. Too good not to share.
I Love Famous People
It’s possible that I’m too easily amused these days, but am I the only one who finds this guy to be hilarious?
Led Zeppelin to reunite!
The BBC reports that legendary rockers Led Zeppelin will reunite for a concert to honor the late Ahmet Ertegun, founder of Atlantic Records. The 3 surviving original members are singer Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page and bassist John Paul Jones. They will be joined on stage by late drummer John Bonham’s son Jason.
I’m a big music fan (and if Fred Wilson can blog about music so can I) and this is big news. In my book, Led Zeppelin is one of the two best bands to ever hit the stage and a return appearance is monumental.
Coincidentally, the other band I consider worthy of “all-time best” status, the Meters, also reunited in 2006. I was lucky enough to see multiple shows on their reunion tour and am really glad that I was able to see them with my own two eyes (and ears). Somehow I suspect the Zeppelin tickets will be tougher to come by.
More Fantasy Football Tidbits
While the Saints/Colts game on Thursday was a nice appetizer, the opening Sunday of NFL regular season action is a veritable feast for the senses (Truthfully, I missed most of the Saints/Colts game for the August Capital soiree, so this is my first real dose of football anyway). Not only will it be my first to chance to see the latest edition my Redskins in the second Joe Gibbs era, but I’ll get to see if my fantasy football team is as good as I think it might be.
Here are some things I’ll be looking for tomorrow:
Denver at Buffalo: I do like Jay Cutler’s long term prospects but I think he’ll have some struggles, as most young quarterbacks do. I wouldn’t take him this year as my starter, and he’s being drafted in most leagues as a starter. I drafted Travis Henry despite the fact that Henry has had some injury issues in the past and Mike Shanahan has often been borderline bi-polar with his running back depth chart in the past. Still, I expect Henry to have a huge year in Denver’s system which has been good to average running backs. Henry is much better than average.
My fellow Tulane alum J.P. Losman does not have the mental makeup of a franchise quarterback but he certainly has the physical tools. He does throw a great deep ball and has a great deep ball receiver in Lee Evans. Evans should put up big numbers this season. I like Marshawn Lynch’s skillset, but the running game looks like its not quite ready for primetime. I do like the Bills move to stick the massive Derrick Dockery next to the emerging Jason Peters, but they haven’t jelled yet, and that will hamper Lynch’s production.
Pittsburgh at Cleveland: I’ve professed my man-love for Big Ben previously, but I haven’t mentioned that I think that Santonio Holmes will emerge as Big Ben’s big play threat (say that 5 times fast!). Holmes and Hines Ward will put up big numbers in this system and Heath Miller will finally emerge as a fantasy stud tight end.
Jamal Lewis will have a mini-resurgence this season as Cleveland’s offensive line appears to be much improved and very physical. However, they have major issues at the quarterback position and that will stall the progress of the very talented Braylon Edwards and Kellen Winslow. It will be interesting to see how quickly we’ll see Brady Quinn and how effective he’ll be when he does play.
Philadelphia at Green Bay: Donovan McNabb will remind folks very quickly that he’s one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. He and the perennially underrated Brian Westbrook will put up big points for fantasy owners. Kevin Curtis is a big sleeper in my mind as he’ll quickly become McNabb’s favorite big play threat.
You can’t ever rule out Brett Fav-rah, but who have they put around him? They don’t have 1 NFL caliber running back on their roster and besides Donald Driver, it’s not clear who you can count on at wide receiver. I wouldn’t want any Packers on my fantasy roster.
Carolina at St. Louis: For whatever reason, I don’t like either of these teams. They have a lot of talent on their rosters but something seems to be missing. I don’t like either Jake Delhomme or David Carr in Carolina and don’t think they have any wide receiver who takes a defenses attention off of Steve Smith. I also can’t understand why Deangelo Williams doesn’t have more of a role.
You obviously have to love Steven Jackson, but Torry Holt’s injury scares me and Issac Bruce is another year older. Jackson’s backup, rookie Brian Leonard is a really good football player and might eat into Jackson’s totals. That might actually benefit Jackson in the long run as he’ll take less of a beating each week.
Atlanta at Minnesota: Upset special. People expect the Falcons to be a disaster this season. However, those people underestimate Bobby Petrino. I would bet that Atlanta’s offense is borderline explosive within a few weeks and expect Jerious Norwood to be putting up big numbers in the near future. Alge Crumpler will see a decrease in production because Michael Vick looked for him exclusively. A few Falcons receivers will surprise because…they’ll be open.
I’ve covered the Vikings previously and I think this is a franchise in trouble. Brad Childress has really dug himself a hole and I think this team might quit on him half way through the season. The Tarvaris Jackson to Bobby Wade combination scares no one and this team will waste Adrian Peterson who really looks like Eric Dickerson reincarnate. Bobby Wade will however put up decent numbers because, hey, someone has to catch passes.
New England at NY Jets: I don’t think any of the Patriots receivers are going to be the fantasy stars that many expect, nor do I think Tom Brady’s stat line will look any different than it has in years past. Much of what makes Brady an elite quarterback is his ability to see the field. He doesn’t have favorite receivers, he throws it to the open guy. Laurence Maroney will be the beneficiary of all the attention on the wideouts. He’ll have a huge year.
Thomas Jones will disappoint while Leon Washington is an interesting sleeper. He’s got that big play ability that the Jets need and they’d be wise to make sure he touches the ball. Both Laverneus Coles and Jerricho Cotchery will be solid fantasy starters.
Miami at Washington: Sure I’m biased, but I expect Washington to be a much improved team this season. Quite simply, it’s unwise to bet against Joe Gibbs. Laron Landry and Sean Taylor will be “lights out” no defense and London Fletcher-Baker and Rocky McIntosh add athleticism and playmaking to the linebacking corps. I expect Jason Campbell to do pretty well and Chris Cooley to be the 2nd best tight end this season. Will Clinton Portis stay healthy and is he still an elite running back? We’ll see.
Miami’s offense will be a trainwreck this season. Trent Green is finished and the offensive line is terrible. No one worth watching here.
Tennessee at Jacksonville: This game features a number of interesting players. I drafted Maurice Jones-Drew with the 10th pick in the first round with Reggie Bush still on the board. I don’t think folks realize just how good Jones-Drew really is. He’ll put up big numbers for many years to come.
Vince Young is the real deal. He’ll struggle against Jacksonville’s defense, but it appears he’s everything Michael Vick was supposed to be, and more importantly, a winner. Lendale White is also a sleeper I was happy to draft. I’m certainly concerned that he’s both fat and lazy, but there’s no doubt that he’s supremely talented. With defensive ends needing to hold their lanes to contain Vince Young, White will put up big numbers running between the tackles. He knows how to find the end zone, and we know that’s a key in fantasy football. Bo Scaife is also an interesting sleeper candidate. I expect the Titans to surprise a lot of people this season.
Kansas City at Houston: The Chiefs are another team that looks like a trainwreck. In the last two years they’ve lost a top notch offensive coordinator, their veteran quarterback and two hall of fame offensive lineman. Larry Johnson is a great running back, but his numbers will suffer from defenses keying on him and it’s inevitable that he’ll wear down after a historic number of touches over the past two seasons.
Houston is interesting. Matt Schaub will help Andre Johnson break out and I still think Ahman Green has a little left in the tank. Green could have a pretty good fantasy season in the Texans’ run game. Jacoby Jones is an interesting sleeper, but probably won’t break out until next season.
Detroit at Oakland: Detroit will throw the ball all over the field and be entertaining. I can’t wait to see Calvin Johnson, who will at some point tear up the league. Roy Williams will put up great numbers with a talent like Johnson on the other side of the field negating double teams.
Lamont Jordan will have a very strong year for Oakland. He’s a huge value considering how late he’s being drafted in most leagues. I’m not sure how Josh McCown keeps getting jobs in the NFL. He reminds me of Rob Johnson, who looked the part but was never close to getting the mental part down. Both guys look great throwing the ball in shorts but are absolutely horrible when facing a live pass rush.
Chicago at San Diego: I’m not sure I like any of the Bears this season. I think Rex Grossman is talented but don’t want to deal with his inconsistencies. Cedric Benson is extremely overrated.
I don’t think I need to tell anyone about LT. He’s good. Philip Rivers and Antonio Gates, both of whom I drafted, will put up monster numbers playing for Norv Turner. Vincent Jackson is an interesting target and Turner will get him matched up one on one and into the end zone. Michael Turner is a really good running back stuck behind a legend. If you play in a keeper league, he’s worth a roster spot for next year when he leaves in free agency.
Tampa Bay at Seattle: I don’t like either of these teams. Shaun Alexander is overrated and Matt Hasselback is more solid than spectacular.
I hate Jon Gruden. I really dislike him. He understands x’s and o’s, but not football players. He does have more talent on offense than he’s had to date with the Buccaneers but I think he’ll screw it up. I’d take Cadilac Williams as my 3rd running back buts he’s being drafted higher than that in just about every league. Jeff Garcia is known for short efficient passing. Joey Galloway is known for being a deep ball specialist. Only Gruden puts these two together.
NY Giants at Dallas: It’s my duty to hate these two teams. Eli Manning is overrated. Brandon Jacobs is great, but I’m curious to see if he can handle a full load. I think the Giants are going to quit on Tom Coughlin at some point this season.
Dallas has a lot of talent on both sides of the ball. Tony Romo really impresses me and he has a special talent at wide receiver in Terrell Owens. I think T.O. has a big year with Romo throwing him the ball early and often. I really like Marion Barber. He’s much better than Julius Jones.
Baltimore at Cincinnati: I can’t decide if I like Willis MacGahee or not. I know I’d like him a lot more if Jonathan Ogden was playing.
Carson Palmer is a great quarterback, but TJ Whosyourmama is a better fantasy wide receiver than the more loquacious Chad Johnson. Rudi Johnson is a safe bet and will get a fantasy owner 1200 yards and 12 tds.
Arizona at San Francisco: I like Matt Leinart, Anquan Boldin and Larry Fitzgerald alot. Boldin in particular is underrated and Ken Whisenhunt will put him in position to fulfill his potential. I think Edgerrin James may be running out of gas and Marcel Shipp may not be good enough. This team is probably one offensive lineman and a playmaking running back away from being scary.
San Francisco is in for a little disappointment. I think both Frank Gore and Alex Smith will regress without Norv Turner.
Fantasy Football: Betting on Quarterbacks with Upside
In the wonderful world of fantasy football, I’m a big believer in drafting for value and depth at key positions. As such, I usually let the top ranked quarterbacks go by and draft guys who I believe are undervalued. This season, I’m very excited about my quarterback depth chart of Ben Roethlisberger, Philip Rivers and Jon Kitna.
I’m so excited about my trio that I’ve bet my friend Douglas Rutherford that two of the three signal callers will be amongst the top 5 scoring quarterbacks at the end of this season. (It was a $100 bet with 5-1 odds, which in retrospect wasn’t good enough odds considering what an injury could do to my chances). Considering death, taxes and Peyton Manning finishing the year as the highest scoring quarterback are the only locks in life, let me explain my thinking.
Ben Roethlisberger is the most underappreciated football player in the NFL today. Sure, he threw 23 interceptions last year, far too many, but isn’t it obvious that last season was the exception and not the rule? Surely, most folks who have a near death experience via a motorcycle accident, an appendectomy and then get knocked out cold and concussed within a 3 month span can be forgiven for ONLY throwing for 3500+ yards in an NFL season.
What’s remarkable is that the general consensus of fantasy football prognosticators doesn’t consider Roethlisberger a top 10 quarterback this season. I find this generally remarkable because Big Ben is a top 10 quarterback of ALL-TIME in both quarterback rating and winning percentage, two leading indicators of quarterback success.
If you grant that perhaps that last season was the outlier in Big Ben’s 3 full seasons, and the statistics would clearly agree with that assessment, then Roethlisberger’s other two seasons would leave him with the highest career quarterback rating in league history. Considering that the quarterback rating is a compilation of statistics (and fantasy football is played with statistics) and you factor in a new offense designed to increase Big Ben’s autonomy at the line of scrimmage while spreading the field and throwing more often, I think Roethlisberger is the fantasy surprise of the year with a great chance to finish in the top 5.
Second on my depth chart is Philip Rivers. Rivers is entering his second full season as a starter and his first with offensive guru Norv Turner. While Turner is that guy who is great in a supporting role but terrible as the head man in charge, there is no doubt that every offense and quarterback Turner gets his hands on puts up huge numbers (49ers quarterback Alex Smith will regress this season without Turner’s guidance). Rivers was one of 3 quarterbacks in the NFL last year to throw for 20+ touchdowns with less than 10 interceptions (22 TDs, 9 INTs with Peyton Manning and Marc Bulger being the others). Rivers has the accuracy, poise and the ability to mentally process his reads on the football field with such efficiency that further improvement is inevitable with experience.
Given another year of experience and Turner guiding the offensive gameplan, I think Rivers is poised to take his play up a notch from last year and a season approaching 30 TDs would not surprise me. However, the legendary LaDainian Tomlinson puts up yards and scores touchdowns at a clip rarely seen in NFL history and could eat into Rivers fantasy totals. Regardless, if he hasn’t already, Rivers will enter the league’s elite stable of franchise quarterbacks and could put up monster numbers. Rivers is also a candidate to outperform his expectations by a wide margin.
Third on my depth chart is Jon Kitna. Kitna isn’t the most talented quarterback, but he’s a smart, accurate veteran who is the trigger man in Mad Mike Martz’ offense. Martz loves the passing game more than any offensive mind in league history and his offenses routinely finish in the top 5 in passing statistics. Kitna threw for 4200 yards and 21 Tds (22 INTs as well) last season. Given that Kitna will have another year in the system and with the addition of the freakish Calvin Johnson it’s easy to see how he could improve on those numbers. If we assume that Calvin Johnson is worth a few touchdowns and yards by himself a 4500 yard, 25+ TD season is within reach. Those numbers could also challenge for fantasy supremacy.
While none of my 3 quarterbacks are in any prognosticators top 5 lists, I’d be shocked if at least 1 of these 3 did not end up in the top 5. Will 2 of them crack that level? We’ll see. Doug will either get his $100 or I’ll be taking $500 of his poker winnings.
Brad Childress Doesn’t Know Quarterbacks
The Minnesota Vikings, given recent developments in the effort to build a new revenue-producing stadium as well as the Minnesota bridge collapse, have financial concerns (relatively speaking of course). The Vikings may have to fire Brad Childress and eat the remaining $8 million on his contract as well as commit additional dollars to a new coach, which would only add to those woes.
And it says here that the Minnesota Vikings will be looking for a new head coach after the 2007 season. As we have gone over here at Misunderestimated Again, the quarterback position is critical to a franchise’s success and the Vikings, under the leadership of Brad Childress, have made a comedy of errors with their quarterback personnel moves. Shockingly, Childress has a reputation as a quarterback guru. It says here that reputation is more perception than reality.
The first thing Childress did after being hired in 2006 was to note that the Vikings were a contender and had a franchise quarterback in Daunte Culpepper.
Childress said he thinks the Vikings are close to being a Super Bowl contender. There has been speculation that the club could part with quarterback Daunte Culpepper this offseason. Culpepper is recovering from a season-ending knee injury, and he is among the four Vikings players charged with three misdemeanors each stemming from the boat cruise. He, like his teammates, has pleaded not guilty. The Vikings’ resurgence from a 2-5 start came with Brad Johnson, not Culpepper, at quarterback.
But Childress today called Culpepper a “franchise quarterback” and said Culpepper “fits right in with all the things we’ll do.” Childress said he already had checked with Culpepper’s doctors about the quarterback’s recovery from his knee surgery and had gotten Culpepper’s phone number from Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb.
Promptly after saying that, Childress shipped Culpepper off to the Miami Dolphins. As Culpepper appears to be making a comeback with Raiders, this may or may not turn out to have been a good move. We’ll just say the jury is out.
Childress then announced that veteran Brad Johnson would be his starting quarterback. Johnson had experience with the WCO and had helped the Vikings resurgence in 2005, but Childress failed to realize that Johnson had no more gas left in the tank. Johnson had a horrific year and was benched after only throwing 9 touchdowns against 15 interceptions and 9 fumbles. Ouch. Strike 1.
Childress had hand picked a backup quarterback in Mike McMahon. Childress had spent over a year working directly with McMahon when both were with the Philadelphia Eagles and signed McMahon to a 2 year, $2 million contract with a $400K signing bonus. A contract of that size suggested that McMahon was to be paid on the level of the highest paid backup quarterbacks in the NFL. Despite that, McMahon was so awful in the 2006 preseason that the Vikings waived him before the season started leaving the Vikings with a salary cap burden and without a proven backup quarterback. Strike 2.
Without a proven backup, the Vikings were forced to make a move. So the Vikes traded defensive tackle prospect C.J. Mosely and a draft pick to the NY Jets for the relatively unproven Brooks Bollinger. Childress knew Bollinger from their common history at the University of Wisconsin and four days after acquiring Bollinger, Childress rewarded him with a 2 year, $2.2 million contract extention, surpassing the amount they gave to McMahon. (Never mind the fact that Bollinger was already under contract and hadn’t done anything to deserve a contract extension) Yet this preseason, Bollinger stunk up the joint so badly that it quickly became apparent that he wouldn’t be a reliable backup quarterback either. Strike 3.
(To make matters worse, Mosely had 3 sacks in his last preseason game and by all accounts is a player on the rise)
But it doesn’t end with 3 measly strikes.
Because the Vikings yet again didn’t have a viable backup quarterback, they were again forced to make a last minute trade for help. Last week they sent a 6th round draft choice to the Eagles for backup Kelly Holcomb. Holcomb is instantly the most credible quarterback on the Vikings roster, but no one could expect to him to be suitably up to speed having been with a different team until a week before the season. As Holcomb himself just noted:
“I am with a new team, I don’t know how guys run routes. Every guy is a little different with his steps. The running backs, one guy is going to be wide. One guy is going to be a little tighter. You try to all get it the same.”
Strike 4.
Which brings us back to Bollinger. The addition of Holcomb gave the Vikings 4 quarterbacks on their roster, counting 7th round draft pick Tyler Thigpen. Thigpen had been a bright spot in training camp and looked to be a good prospect. While the smart move would have been to waive the now unnecessary Bollinger, Childress managed to make two mistakes in one move. He not only kept Bollinger on the roster but he telegraphed his intent in doing so.
Childress exposed Thigpen to the waiver process. And in the process of doing so, he noted that if he lost Thigpen, “[Childress would] be sick”. Guess what happened? The Kansas City Chiefs claimed Thigpen. Strike 5.
And now we are at Childress’ last and greatest hope: Tarvaris Jackson. Jackson, a 2nd round draft pick in 2006, is a intriguing physical prospect, but didn’t start any Division 1-A college football games and has two completely underwhelming starts on his NFL resume. Because Childress always thinks he knows which quarterbacks he wants, the Vikings traded two 3rd round picks to move up in the second round of the 2006 NFL draft to take Jackson. Just two days ago, ESPN the Magazine quoted an anonymous scout as saying:
There’s not much chance that Tarvaris Jackson will get it done. He’s never been a good quarterback on any level. How’s he going to complete the tough pass on third and long in the pros when he never did it in college? Even the greatest quarterbacks struggle and Jackson isn’t a great quarterback. It blows my mind that they are putting him in there without any fallback guy.
And this is the quarterback on which Brad Childress has staked his career. Could this be strike 6?
Just to recap, that’s a 2nd round pick (Jackson), two 3rd round picks (traded for the pick that became Jackson), two sixth round picks (one for Holcomb and one for Bollinger) one 7th round pick (Thigpen), a promising prospect (Mosely) and two contract extensions and there’s still no sure thing at any spot on the Vikings quarterback depth chart.
Truthfully, there are also serious doubts about Childress’ use of personnel (outside of quarterbacks), his offensive philosophy, his communications skills and his leadership (which could be an entirely separate blog post full of additional criticism). Those doubts alone are enough to cause an NFL franchise to move in another direction, but when will Childress get a quarterback decision right? I don’t think Zygi Wilf will give him another year to find out?
Who Knew Foot Tapping Was A Crime?
Someone asked me the other day if I had ever had someone next to me in an airport bathroom stall tap his foot towards me. While it’s possible that I’ve just never considered looking for that sort of thing, I’m reasonably sure that nothing like that has ever happened near me. Furthermore, I can’t imagine that if two men were engaging in some sort of sexual behavior in an airport bathroom stall near me that I wouldn’t have at least seen or heard something. After all, I think I’m pretty savvy and airport bathroom stalls aren’t exactly spacious.
And I’ve done quite a bit of traveling over the past 5 years.
So even if this sort of thing does occur, why on earth do we have law enforcement resources devoted towards stopping it? I mean besides making Larry Craig, yet another scandal-ridden Republican, the butt of jokes. Arianna Huffington was smart enough to ask the question and I don’t really have anything to add to her well thought out argument. If “9-11 changed everything”, why aren’t we focused on real threats?
To further the point, I’ve been on 2 round trips in the past 2 weeks. That’s 4 trips through airport security, and I can report that:
1) Not once did I put my liquids/gels/hair products in plastic bags and I never took them out of my carry-on. They remained in my bag and I was never stopped or questioned.
2) On one of the trips I walked through security without ever showing anyone my driver’s license. I didn’t deliberately try to sneak by anyone, but it was clear after the fact that someone somewhere didn’t do their job.
Now, the good news is….I’m not a terrorist. (As a side note, I’m also unfortunately aware that the asinine rule regarding putting gels and liquids into plastic bags has absolutely no impact on anyone’s safety) But wouldn’t that cop patrolling the men’s room have been better served making sure everyone’s ID gets checked before clearing security?