God's Own Crunk

Unlike the author, I have not spent a chunk of my life watching games Pele played in, but only because I haven’t gotten around to it:

I have a feeling that if I could somehow put all this together, could solve it like a jigsaw puzzle, it would give me a coherent picture of Pele, the priggishness and the greed and the generosity and the genius. On the other hand, to me, this stuff is all detritus, what’s washed up from the shipwreck of one of the most spectacular careers in sports. To Pele, who has been retired for 35 years — longer than he was ever a player, almost half his life — it’s memories. It’s his life.

via Pele and the Cult of Celebrity – Grantland.

“I think every stop that I’ve made — Senior Bowl, Combine and then Pro Day — I’ve shown that I can do it,” Weeden said. “I think I’ve interviewed well, I ran pretty well, I threw well. I’ve done everything at each stop to help myself. The more I talk to teams on a one-on-one basis and I do interviews and have sit-downs and stuff, age is a non-issue. Of course in the media and all, everybody talks about it. It’s a big issue. But I promise you, what I’m hearing from teams, unless they’re lying to me, it’s not an issue.”

It’s easy to see why Weeden wouldn’t feel like his age is an issue. The question is if it’s really true that NFL teams view it as a non-issue as well. Weeden may be onto something when he suggests that NFL personnel people who tell him it’s a non-issue could be lying to him.

via Brandon Weeden: “My age is a non-issue” | ProFootballTalk.

After following the Saints bounty-funtime for a day or so, I hope The League removes this franchise tag, all draft picks and a whole lot more:

A day after the Saints’ franchise was rocked to its foundation by news that defensive players received extra money to, among other things, inflict injuries on opponents, the Saints have earmarked a significantly larger pile of cash for a guy who plays offense.Jay Glazer of FOX reports that the Saints have applied the franchise tag to quarterback Drew Brees.A league source tells PFT that it’s the exclusive version of the tag, which prevents Brees from talking to any other teams — and which eliminates the risk of some other franchise offering Brees a huge contract and giving the Saints two first-round picks if the Saints choose not to match.

via Saints place exclusive franchise tag on Drew Brees | ProFootballTalk.

Interesting, funny, and I must admit – takes some minor stones to shit talk a guy’s wife just outside the luxury suites of a Super Bowl – Gisele keeps her cool and, better yet, has a point, which is quite interesting since most Patriots fans will blame this loss on … Wes Welker.

FWIW, Tom Brady won three Super Bowls before getting together with one of the world’s most beautiful women. Since then? He’s lost two. Next time he sees Tony Romo he might wants to ask him about how Jessica Simpson changed his career and the entire direction of the Cowboys’ franchise.

When Manning got the ball back, he went for the kill. His 38-yard toss to Mario Manningham was thrown to a well covered receiver into an impossibly tight window. Manningham’s catch was just as good as Manning’s throw.

via Eli cooler when it counted | ProFootballTalk.

I’m having a half-dozen friends over and making eight courses of food, enough to feed 30 comfortably – what can I say, when I’m nervous, I cook.

Fox is broadcasting the Manchester United/Chelsea match this morning, a nice touch for fans such as myself who can’t stomach 9 hours of NFLNet pregame coverage – I’ll flip over at noon and take in five hours of said coverage while I cook.

My girl Kelly Clarkson is doing the anthem, and Madonna’s doing the halftime show. She promised no nudity, and when asked about Lady Gaga and Britney Spears noted that unlike Spears, Gaga’s not “built like a brick shithouse,” which is the funniest thing Madonna’s said since Desperately Seeking Susan. 

I was up til one prepping my kitchen, and I was back up at 7 to begin the feast. Three hours in, I’m on a break and I’m ready for some football.

Indeed, trudat … GO GIANTS!

I guess I better learn this deck: