Take the victory

In my previous blog, I stated that the Patriots had not played anyone good to date. Since the Cowboys are in the NFC, can we be sure that they still have? It reminded me a little like the Missouri/Oklahoma finish, in that the underdog fought back to take the lead, then completely fell apart. Wade Phillips pulled the classic chicken NFL coach move, taking the 22-yard field goal instead of a fourth-down shot at a TD. I, of course, thought the move was brilliant. That's because I have Nick Folk, my NFL rookie of the year, on one of my fantasy teams.

There are times when my obsessive love for sports seems like a superfluous pursuit. Big games for Missouri and the Titans had me spending half of a very nice fall weekend watching TV. Is it the best use of my time? This morning was Black Monday at my company. There were serious cuts to be made, and while I felt my job was safe, I was going to see some of my work buddies for the last time. The cuts weren't as bad as expected, but a 20% drop in personnel isn't minor. Anyway, our VP came in and gave the little speech about the tough times and how we are going to pull out of it. After the meeting concluded, he noticed my Titans golf shirt. We talked briefly about the Bucs/Titans game. If it weren't for my Titan-themed cube and too-obvious fan love, he might not know my name. Every little bit counts.

There are times when my teams underperform yet win, I don't enjoy it a bit. Those days are over. In the AUFL, I have the third-fewest points but the team is 3-3. After two consecutive 11th-place finishes, any edge that gets me to the playoffs is welcome. My z17 team has scored about 100 fewer points than my z34 team. z17 is 5-1; z34 is 3-3. I'm looking forward to the karmic possibility of the Titans winning ugly at Houston next week. Hey, maybe they'll score a second offensive touchdown this week.

My dumb move of the week is clearly starting Vince Young over Derek Anderson. Young scored zero points. Anderson scored 34. Next week, I probably get to start Culpepper again.