WARNING: NSFW LANGUAGE IN THIS TEXT. WHAT FOLLOWS IS AN UNEDITED, ENRAGED RANT THAT ORIGINALLY WAS WRITTEN IN THE FORM OF 3 EMAILS. JUST A SAMPLE OF WHAT BENGALS FANS GO THROUGH ON A WEEK TO WEEK BASIS. ENJOY. Continue reading →
I Was There
In some ways it is ironic that the first post on this website that will have anything to do with baseball has nothing whatsoever to do with statistics. As far as baseball has been concerned, I have always been a numbers guy. I generally try to apply a calculated reasoning to everything that’s going on in a game to the point where at times outcomes become secondary. I cannot stand it when managers attempt to “leave their mark” on a baseball game; all too often that “mark” is simply in the form of an “L” the players and fans of that organization didn’t necessarily deserve.* I believe in the normalization of numbers, and the use of line drive percentage and batting average on balls in play over “batting average with less than 2 outs after the 7th inning during a full moon.” I know that just because Ty Wigginton HAD hit a home run in Yankee Stadium and David Wright had NOT a few years ago was not a reasonable argument as to why Wigginton was the better solution to the Mets’ 3rd base woes. While on a game to game basis there is certainly an extraordinary amount of luck involved in the decision, it is comforting to me that in general the difference between good baseball teams and bad ones are their relative abilities to perform the three fundamental acts of the sport: pitching, hitting, and defending, as opposed to the ubiquitous yet indefinable “grit,” “hustle,” and “edge.” Over the course of 162 games we learn who the best baseball teams are. Continue reading →
Just a tad jealous here…
then again, I was actually there… 
why chad is underappreciated:
basically chad, instead of taking more money, had part of his new promotional contract with motorola include the company buying 1200 tickets so that the bengals could avoid a blackout by virtue of not getting a sellout in their game vs houston this weekend. name me another player who does that. motorola will now give out the 600 pairs of tickets tomorrow for free. also, don’t hold your breath on espn covering this story, since it isn’t negative and doesn’t involve anything where trent dilfer can go nuts about how selfish diva wide receivers are. chad just wants the fans to be able to see the show, his words, not mine, on sunday. just check out his ustreams to verify
NFL Picks and ‘icks – Week 6!
If you all aren’t excited about the heat being generated by this NFL season, well, then there must be something wrong with you. As has been pointed out by numerous publications this week, we have more undefeated teams remaining in the NFL at this stage of the season than at any other time in the league’s history. Parity, it is being said, may not be dead, but at the very least it has taken a sabbatical this year allowing us to dismiss epically sorry squads like the Rams, Browns, Bucs, et al in order to focus on the plethora of truly elite teams. When you can count the teams that are worse than the lowly – and make no mistake, they are still lowly – Detroit Lions on more than one hand, well, something funny is going on. All of this funny business has resulted in some truly excellent NFL teams, and should lead to some outstanding football through the rest of the regular season and into the playoffs. I, for one, approve, as I don’t give two craps about parity within an NFL season. I’m all for season to season parity so that the balance of power is constantly cycling, but within a single season I don’t need a wild and crazy mix of 9-7 teams vying for a title. I want the 14-2 49ers vs. the 13-3 Cowboys like the early ’90’s, dammit! (Not really those teams, please, but you get the idea) I want some elite teams! Well, we’ve got ‘em. Speaking of elite, this week’s ‘ick certainly qualifies. More on her later. So, without further ado – and in honor of Mike and the Maddog having a mini-reunion today from 1pm-2pm – let’s look at some picks for a week 6 in the league where they PLAY…
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FOR PAY. Continue reading →
NFL Picks and ‘icks Week 5
Hello again, allow me to re-introduce myself. This week has been a sadly slow week for the B Flow, with nary an NFL Lesson or College Football Pick or Coed to be found on our humble site. I promise it was not due to my college selections going a remarkable 0-5, nor my NFL picks also suffering a less than impressive fate. Nay, I was bit by a bug related to the H1N1, only of the standard human variety. Fortunately, this problem is receding a bit more quickly than my hairline, so I should be good to go for Phebe’s on Sunday…and Picks and ‘icks right now!!! (No, Taco Bell, I don’t want a “backjack taco” or whatever that is, please stop showing the commercial) Sorry, anyway, this week’s ‘ick is a not so long but not so short time crush Malin Ackerman. Check her out, she’s, she’s ok. If you’re the creepy type, you could also always google her. No, I won’t link to that. Anyway, as predicted, my selections last week did not go well. I was not comfortable with many lines, and Vegas had their vengeance. Very well. This week, I strike back! I like a lot of these lines, and will be putting my money where my mouth is once again this week, so let’s get to it! It’s a week 5, people, a week 5 where we begin to start sorting out the contenders (Baltimore, what?) from the pretenders (Bengals? Who said that?), the elite (Colts?) from the plebian (sigh, Tennessee), and the fun (Texans) from the boring (Arizona). It is a week 5 in the league…
where they play…
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FOR PAY. Continue reading →
I promise I will write something today
I’ve been pretty sick the past few days so am once again behind on posting, but reading this article this morning just enraged me:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/adam_duerson/10/09/week.5/index.html
really, adam duerson, of all of the negative things you could say about the bengals at this point – and there are plenty – the one thing you could NOT say is that they lack “mental toughness.” this is a team that has yet to play a single game particularly well, and yet is 3-1 because they have gritted out 3 victories in the closing seconds. thats what mental toughness in football is, adam duerson, in case you werent aware. its driving down the field 96 yards against denver, 90 whatever yards against pittsburgh, and 70 yards vs cleveland with time running out to win a game you perhaps should not have won. a team that wasnt mentally strong certainly would not have recovered from that crushing defeat to denver week 1 to post 3 in a row, esp starting in green bay. clearly duerson didnt even watch that game, as he noted “without antwan odoms’ 5 sack day a packers victory was just as likely.” what does that even mean, adam duerson? should i go back and say “without jake delhommes 5 assinine turnovers the cardinals never would have even made the super bowl?” “without tom brady setting nfl passing records the pats never would have even gone 16-0?” hes not talking about “without some random bounce,” hes literally saying, “without many of the game defining plays in that game the game quite likely could have played out differently.” what a f’ing moron. seriously, f you, adam duerson. you have all of the intelligence of a dingbat.
the sad thing is, even rational beings are quite sure baltimore is going to romp cincinnati this wknd -perhaps myself included – so duerson is going to go home sunday night all smug like he knew what was going on the whole time. correlation does not necessitate causation, however, and clearly duersons fantasy skewed logic is just ridiculous. glad he understands how “mentally tough” the ravens are after losing their one close game of the season. not saying they arent, but based on what has happened thusfar, just about the ONLY thing the bengals have shown to be superior to the ravens in is in their mental strength. again, in case you didnt notice, the ravens dropped a 4th down pass they had to have – didnt see chad or laveraneous or caldwell dropping the 4th downs the bengals needed now did we?
NFL Picks and ‘icks – Week 4
A lot of people made a lot of money last week. This is Vegas’ week to strike back. A quick peek over at Chad Millman’s blog – a must read if you are a casual bettor – tells you that Vegas is unhappy with how much money is being made calling favorites to cover this season, so now they’re going to make you pay for it. And take a look at these lines, you can tell. I just ran through the whole thing and let’s be honest, there aren’t a lot of gimmies out there this week. San Fran should smoke St. Louis even without Gore, right? No problem. Well, what if they had to cover 9.5? Exactly. This week’s ‘ick is Hot Clicks’ hottest click in some time, so without further ado, let’s get to the picks and keep our momentum rolling!!!! (Yes, there will be more snaps of Esti interspersed throughout…) Turn up your Primetime music, pop open your beer, because the weather outside…is starting to get a little colder. The leaves in the trees…are starting to change color. The NFL is starting to take shape, so it’s time for a week 4, a week 4 in the league…where they play…
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FOR PAY. Continue reading →
GUEST POST! – Confessions from THAT GUY in Your Fantasy League, by MB
Confessions from THAT GUY in Your Fantasy League (by MB, unedited by Admin)
Check all that apply. There is a guy in your fantasy league who:
-Drafted all of the touted rookie running backs this year expecting one of them to turn into Adrian Peterson
-Sprinted to his laptop to put in a bid for Mario Manningham on the waiver wire MID-GAME when the Giants played the Cowboys
-Has drafted Vernon Davis every year, rationalizing that this will be the year that he “turns it on”
-Has never drafted Brian Westbrook because a younger 4th round-caliber back was also available in that spot
-Has offered you Felix Jones and Mike Sims-Walker for Anquan Boldin and Brandon Jacobs, not because he thinks he is hosing you, but because he really thinks it’s a fair deal Continue reading →
