NFL Head-To-Head (Weak Four)

OK, sorry, but I skipped weak three because I wasn't home. Here's this week's picks:

Dave:
Browns over Ravens
Colts over Patriots
Broncos over Redskins
Falcons beat Panthers

Bonus Pick:
Dayton Flyers beat Drake

Jeff:
Pittsburgh over Cincinnati (even though I have Cedric Benson on my fantasy team.)
Dallas over Green Bay
Kansas City over Oakland (This week's "Who cares?" Bowl.)
Indianapolis over New England (Peyton for MVP. Oops. Peyton for second, 'cause Drew Brees is better.)

9 from 2005

For those of you who may have seen and enjoyed the movie "9," here is the You Tube version of the original short film by Shane Acker released in 2005 as a student project. Tim Burton saw the film and was so impressed by its artistic vision that he went on to produce the recent film of the same name.
I don't know that I want to do a full-on movie review of the feature-length version, but I will say this: It's a movie that fits in well with "The Matrix," "The 13th Floor," "Dark City," and "Terminator."
The difference is, this one's computer animated. Beautifully computer animated. It's so good, it's just fun to look at, even if you don't like the story.
Anyway, here's the original.

Why don't the Cleveland Browns ...

... hire a head coach and/or general manager away from the Steelers? The Steelers are the best team in the AFC North, and they are arguably the best team in the AFC. You don't get to the Super Bowl unless you beat the Steelers. And, the Browns are guaranteed to play them at least two, and probably three, times every year.
Russ Grimm was with the Steelers for many years. There's probably a few guys on the staff right now who have head coaching ability. Heck, Dick LeBeau was the Cincinnati Bengals head coach for a few years (although he may not like to be reminded of it.).
Instad, we get two consecutive coach/GM hires which, when you really look at it, are almost the same thing.
Why fire Romeo Crennel only to hire Eric Mangini? Trading one Belichick/Parcells defensive coach for another.
Why fire Phil Savage to hire George Kokinis? They both come from the Baltimore Ravens front office.
It seems to me, if the Browns were going to do what they did, they might as well have given a nod to stability for another year.
I still think they should have hired Marty Schottenheimer, but given their 1-6 start, anybody would have been better than the guys they did hire.

(And, by the way, did anybody else notice that Savage recently said the current regime "ruined" both quarterbacks he left them? I doubt Brady Quinn would even bring any kind of draft pick in a trade after all this.)

NFL Head-to-Head (Weak Two)

OK, here we go again, my pics vs. Dave's pics. Straight up, no point spreads or anything. Four picks a week.

Dave: (3-1 last week, but I have no idea if Troy beat Piqua or not.)
Browns over Bears
Packers over Vikings
Broncos over Ravens
Texans over Bills
Bonus Pick:
No Bengals are arrested over their Bye Week

Me: (3-1 last week, with two typos.)
Indianapolis beats San Francisco (Big surprise)
San Diego over Oakland (Another shock)
Minnesota over Green Bay (Favre winning in Lambeau did not used to be cause for a headline.)
Tennessee over Jacksonville (They gotta win eventually.)

NFL picks (This needs a snappy new title)

So, starting this week, Dave and I will square off in NFL picks. Here are the rules: each week, we pick the winner of four games. Whoever gets the most right, wins!

Jeff:
San Diego bears Kansas City (One former Marty Schottenheimer team beats another)
Redskins knock off the Eagles (Jim Zorn saves his job, until the day after the game, when the bye week begins.)
Pittsburgh beats Minnesota (Although both teams will probably get beaten up pretty badly.)
Packers pack away the Browns (and mail them to Abu Dabi!)

Dave:
Browns over Packers
Steelers over Vikings
Cardinals over Giants
Texans over 49ers
Bonus Pick:
Troy Trojans beat Piqua Indians

Something I am going to purchase

Evan Dorkin, of "Milk and Cheese." Jill Thompson, of "Scary Godmother." "Beasts of Burden." That link is to a web comic. The real thing is in stores now!

Don't be in a Rush

This may somewhat fly in the face of some of my recent posts, but it seems to me that if Rush Limbaugh wants to be part of an ownership group to buy the St. Louis Rams (who at one time were the Cleveland Rams, for the record) he should be examined not on the basis of his controversial on-air personality, but rather by how committed he would be to putting a winning team on the field and being a good steward of an NFL franchise.
(That was a really long sentence.)
To consider: Mark Cuban, George Steinbrenner, Marge Schott and Daniel Snyder have been controversial.
Bill Bidwell (losing for a looooong time) or Carl Pohlad and whoever the hell owned the Montreal Expos before they moved to Washington DC (both teams willingly scheduled for contraction by their owners in 2002) certainly have not always been good stewards of their franchises.
And, what about the political activity of Steelers owner Dan Rooney, who was named by President Obama as ambassador to Ireland after openly supporting Obama in the 2008 election?
If Limbaugh can be a good owner, he should be allowed to own the team. If he going to be like Rachel Phelps from the movie "Major League," he shouldn't.
(Boy "Major Leagues generated a lot of funny quotes. Probably more than Limbaugh, and he's been on the air for 20 years!)