Weekly Picks

It's going to be very difficult now to have a 9-2 playoffs, but I am going to try.

san francisco -2 CAROLINA
Sometimes young up and coming teams need to lose to a veteran team in the playoffs before they can make their own ascension.

SEATTLE -8 new orleans
Just because the home field and the cold weather isn't a guarantee of success it doesn't mean it never works.

indianapolis +7 1/2 NEW ENGLAND
I think New England is going to win this game, but the Colts offense can put enough points on the board to keep this close, unless Luck plays like he did in the first half against the Chiefs.

BEST BET
DENVER -10 san diego
This spread is about 3 more points than I had hoped to lay, but the fact that the Chargers won this last meeting, and got lucky two weeks in a row means that Denver is probably going to pound them.

Last Week: 2-2 (3 pointa)
Season: 45-44 (36 points)
Best Bets: 1-0 (6-12)
Home Favorites: 0-2 (19-20)
Home Underdogs: 0-0 (2-1)
Road Favorites: 1-0 (12-11)
Road Underdogs: 1-0 (12-12)

ForkGate

Soon New York Mayor Bill de Blasio will issue a mandate requiring all New Yorkers to eat pizza with a knife and fork. Hizzoner visited a Staten Island pizza place, and he went to Goodfella's (good choice) but the problem is, he ate his pizza with utensils.
Nothing could be less New York, and this is the guy running the city.
The Mayor tried to say this practice is common in his ancestral homeland and folding the pizza and eating with your hands is a strictly American thing.
He's a liar, a moron and a dictator. And now he has offended my ancestral homeland.

I Hate the Eagles, But I Love the Eagles Cheerleaders

Two left over notes from the Eagles game I went to with Billy a couple weeks ago, and they both involve cheerleaders.

First, the very hot Casey, came into our suite during the second quarter to pose for pictures. As best I can tell, only the teenage son of one of the executives took her up on her offer. I wanted to, for no other reason than to be able to add the "stupid things I do because they'd make good blog posts" tag to this post, but I demurred because Bill had been worried about acting professionally among his co-workers.

Also, if you're a grown man and you take a picture with a cheerleader, there's no way to avoid looking creepy. And it seems like a self-admission that hugging up on her is the closest you'll ever get to a woman's vagina.

During halftime of the game Rachel Washburn was honored. She recently returned from her second tour of duty in Afghanistan where she served as an Army intelligence officer with a special ops combat unit.

Reaction Shots

The great thing about the internet is that it gives a home to so much content we might never have seen before. But even with all that increased content, and increased access, there are still some things that are usually off limits, such locker rooms and team meetings. But recently we've gotten some good glimpses behind the scenes.

Let's start with the Wisconsin Badgers football team watching the Packers beat the Bears in the last game of the regular season, specifically the moment of Randall Cobb's game-winning touchdown catch.



Next, we go inside the San Diego Chargers locker room after they survived the final regular season against Kansas City's backup to earn a spot in the playoffs against the Cincinnati Bengals. When Mike McCoy finishes talking you can hear a player say "we owe Cincy" and one mocks the "who dey" chant. Clearly this motivated the Bengals to kick the Chargers asses.



The coolest of these is Ric Flair speaking to the San Francisco 49ers the night before their game against the Packers. Entrance music and all.



But my favorite one is from an NBATV show following the Toronto Raptors. Here you can see their initial reaction to the Rudy Gay trade, which also sent Quincy Acy and Aaron Gray to Sacramento.

Song of the Week

"Runaway" - Steve Means
I heard this song in a store an absolutely loved it. I don't know anything about this guy because he doesn't even have a Wikipedia page. There isn't even a real youtube video version of this song.

The Things We Do For TON

The poker site I use, Ultimate Poker (benefactors of my $1000 score), is owned by the same company as UFC, as the name would indicate.
Because the site is newly opened to NJ players, and UFC 169 is in New Jersey it only makes that it would give away some tickets to the event to online players.
UFC and Ultimate Poker went big, putting 1,000 pairs of tickets on the line. There are quite a lot of ways to win including winning pretty much any tournament on the site in January, or some random draws on their Facebook page and lots of other ways. Each of the Ultimate Pros had 3 pairs to give away to twitter followers who do certain things like make a video, or do something for charity, or say what you would do with a million dollars.
None of those was up my alley, so I went after Brent Hanks.
He was awarding tickets for the best joke tweeted with the hashtag "makeBrentlaugh."

But here's the problem: UFC 169 is February 1st. The same day as Duke's first trip to the Carrier Dome to play Syracuse. So I can't go. So I will give the tickets* to my only other friend who follows UFC.

You're welcome big TON.

*-assuming there is no fine print about the tickets being non-transferrable. *-assuming if anything cool happens he takes pictures and does a guest post about it.

The NFL is Poop - Wild Card Playoffs

Fuck the Cold
I only wish I had a little more confidence in my knowledge of just how overrated home field advantage is in the NFL, especially when it comes to the weather. Three outdoor games this week, and all three games were won by the road team, from the warmer climate that was supposed to be affected by the bad weather. That doesn't mean every bad weather game will be won by a road team for a Southern city, it just means that there are a million factors in determining which teams win football games, and even in the playoffs, the cold is probably in the bottom 100,000.

Which Leads Me to the Most Important Factor in Wins and Losses
In the NFL you need a quarterback who can make plays when the game is on the line. It can be with his legs, like Colin Kaepernick's 11 yard scramble on 3rd and 8 that put the 49ers in field goal position. Or it can be with his legs and his arm like Aaron Rodgers's brilliant escape and fire on 4th and 2 to Randall Cobb early in the 4th quarter that set up the touchdown that gave Green Bay the lead. Both these quarterbacks played brilliantly in this game and the only reason Rodgers lost is because his supporting case just wasn't up to snuff.

And When Your Quarterback Plays Badly, You Lose
Andy Dalton picked the wrong time to put up an absolute stinker. The Bengals actually led this game 10-7 at the half, and after a Bengals 3-and-out, San Diego scored a touchdown to take a 14-10 lead. The game was still very much in reach but then Dalton fumbled on a long run when he dove headfirst, not feet first, meaning the ball was live and the ground could cause a fumble. (RGIII did the exact same thing earlier this season.)

Then Dalton threw interceptions on the next two series (he now has 1 TD and 6 INTs in three playoff games). But San Diego still led only 20-10 and the Bengals had the ball at San Diego's 41 with under 5 minutes to go. Yes, the situation was dire, but on 4th and 3, they should have gone for the 3 yards, and taken a field goal if it were available. Instead they went deep, missed, and ended their chances to win, with 5 minutes left.

Game of the Week
Indianapolis Colts 45 Kansas City Chiefs 44
One of the greatest, most exciting, craziest games I've ever seen. It's now the second biggest comeback in playoff history after the famous Bills-Oilers game.
In order to score 35 points in one half of football everything needs to go your way, like this fumble that bounced right to Andrew Luck for the touchdown that gave the Colts the lead.

But even besides that he played a great game, got just enough collapse out of the KC defense and led his team to a huge memorable victory.

I do kind of weep for Alex Smith here. He is known as a game manager, and more derisively as Captain Checkdown, but he played a great game, 4 TDs, 0 INTs, 378 yards, a few nice deep balls (a 79-yarder to Donnie Avery), and basically a hell of a game, but his team failed him.

Shoveling It In
One of Alex Smith's other touchdowns lack the artistry of his beautiful bomb to Donnie Avery, but still accounted for 6 points. It was a back-handed shovel pass to fullback Anthony Sherman. But that wasn't the only shovel pass I saw. Andy Dalton hit a big one to Giovanni Bernard as well. And I am pretty sure I saw a couple others over the weekend. It's a pretty risky pass, but cool when it works.

Picture of the Week
Ladarius Green makes a great leaping catch over Chris Crocker (he's 6'6", Crocker is 5'11") for a touchdown.

Game of Next Week
Indianapolis Colts at New England Patriots
There's no such thing as momentum but that doesn't mean the team "on a roll" never wins. Confidence does matter though and if Andrew Luck is feeling good he could fling the ball around. But he's going to have to find a different receiver because you know Belichick is going to clamp down on TY Hilton.

If the Super Bowl Were Played Today
Denver Broncos 31 Seattle Seahawks 17
Nothing much changed this week, as expected. But this week is when we separate the contenders from the pretenders, so this space could change.

Mrs. Poop in 15 Years

This new Old Spice ad may seem kind of creepy to some, but to Mrs. Poop and maybe other mothers who don't like their sons getting older, it really hits home.

Weekly Picks

A bad regular season is over but I will make up for it by nailing 9 of the 11 playoff games. I hope.

PHILADELPHIA -2 1/2 new Orleans
I believe a lot of what people are attributing to the Eagles as a 9-7 was at the beginning of the season with Vick, and even Barkley. Since Foles has taken over he has been mostly great. And there is serious reason to be concerned about the Saints on the road in cold conditions.

CINCINNATI -6 1/2 san diego
I just really like the Bengals this year and think they are a serious threat for the Super Bowl. (For the record: I'm going chalk with Denver over Seattle in the Super Bowl). I don't like the Chargers, even at their best I don't think they are better than the Bengals and they will have a hard time being at their best on the road in the cold.

san Francisco -2 1/2 GREEN BAY
I don't think the cold will hurt the 49ers as much as people think it will. The Packers might be more used to it but it will still be cold. And if the weather does have a serious impact on the way the game is played, that might actually favor the 9ers and Kaepernick as opposed to Rodgers who needs to throw it around.

BEST BET
kansas city +1 1/2 [corrected] INDIANAPOLIS
I'm picking the Chiefs here just because they lost to the Colts a few weeks back. Those things tend to even out.

Last Week: 2-3 (1 point)
Season: 43-42 (33 points)
Best Bets: 0-1 (5-12)
Home Favorites: 1-1 (19-18)
Home Underdogs: 0-0 (2-1)
Road Favorites: 0-1 (11-11)
Road Underdogs: 1-1 (11-12)

Happy New Year

2013 was a great year for the Poop. In addition to all the great sporting events, I also started a new job for more money and a shorter easier commute.
Chase started first grade, learned to swim and tie his shoes. And he made his first best friend, and now spends every day at his buddy's house playing video games. That's what childhood should be.
Julian started the year in his terrible 2s and ended them as one of the smartest, funniest, cutest kids, I've ever seen.
Mrs. Poop has overseen it all while herself changing to a new role at work and helping many parents learn to care for their newborns.
The goals for 2014: buy a house and go to Disney World (shhh! it's a secret), if we can avoid serious illness and add a few other memorable experiences in there too, it should be another great year.

Song of the Week

"Stay the Night" - Zedd
The last awesome dance song from the super-producer who brought you "Clarity."
It continues a recent trend where the DJ/producer (David Guetta, Avicii) gets credit for the song and the singer (in this case Hayley Williams from Paramore) gets second billing, or no billing at all.
If this is the first song you hear today, your 2014 is off to a pretty good start.

The NFL is Poop - Week 17

The Fickle Field Goal of Fate
With the collapse of the Miami Dolphins and the Baltimore Ravens, the San Diego Chargers controlled their own future. Beat the Chiefs, make the playoffs, lose and the 8-8 Steelers get in. Oh yeah, the Chiefs were also sitting many of their starters.
But that might have actually worked against San Diego, as motivated KC backups, Chase Daniel and Knile Davis, led the Chiefs to a 24-14 4th quarter lead.
The Chargers bounced back from that to tie the game but Daniel led a great drive to get KC into position for a 41-yard field goal attempt from Ryan Succop. A very makeable field goal, with two teams' playoffs hopes on the line.
And he missed.

But here's the rub: the NFL admits the referees missed a penalty on the Chargers on that play. It should have been an illegal procedure penalty for lining up 7 men on one side of the formation.
So they played on and the Chargers starter OT with a 9 and a half minute possession ending in a field goal. The Chiefs couldn't match it and the game was over. But we'll see these two teams again this week.

The Refs Almost Blew This One Too
With the Eagles lead 24-16 and the Cowboys driving to tie it up late in the 4th quarter the refs made an error even more egregious. After a 33-yard catch and run Jason Witten was tackled in the middle of the field, the play clock was somehow only reset to 25 seconds, instead of 40. The Cowboys couldn't get off the play in time and were penalized 15 yards. Thankfully this mistake didn't change the game too much, because the Cowboys scored anyway (on a 4th and 9 play). But they missed the 2-point conversion attempt. hey did get another chance but Kyle Orton did his best Tony Romo impression and threw an interception on the first pass of what could have been the drive to make the playoffs.
So the Eagles go to the playoffs, the Cowboys go home, but this time they don't have Tony Romo to blame. At least not for this loss.

Game of the Week
Green Bay Packers 33 Chicago Bears 28
How did he get so open? That's the question every Bears fan is asking after a sure victory and home playoff game was ripped from their hands. 4th and 8, 46 seconds left, 28-27 lead for the Bears, Aaron Rodgers scrambles, buys some time, and Randall Cobb sneaks away from the Bears secondary, Rodgers fires one, and its a 48-yard touchdown pass for the win.
I actually think there may be some karmic justice in this one as the Bears played horribly at times this season and probably didn't deserve his spot, with the stinker they put up last week in Philadelphia.
The Packers on the other hand were 5-2 when Rodgers got hurt, and went 0-4-1 in the first 5 games without him (including the game he got injured in, because he threw only 2 passes). So I'm a little more excited to watch them, even at 8-7-1 then I would be watching another lackluster Cutler performance.

Game of Next Week
Kansas City Chiefs at Indianapolis Colts
All four games this week are actually pretty interesting, but I favor this one because it's a rematch of a Colts blowout win from a weeks ago. I think the Chiefs will get their revenge.

A Brief Rant About the Redskins
Mike Shanahan deserved to be fired. I don't think he is a horrible coach but I know his son is. Kyle Shanahan's play-calling was a big reason for RGIII's regression this season. And the Redskins weren't only bad on offense.
They gave up 478 points, only Minnesota's 480 was worse. They had a historically bad special teams, 3rd worst in history covering punt returns, and 3 touchdowns among all that return yardage. Plus they turned it over 34 times. Shanahan blamed his poor performance (double digit losses in 3 of 4 seasons) on the salary cap penalties the Redskins were hit with.
Hopefully his replacement will be the beneficiary of salary cap space, a healthy quarterback and a good offensive coordinator.
He will not however reap the benefit of the 2nd pick in the draft which will go to the Rams as part of the RGIII trade.

Black Monday
Four other coaches were fired in the NFL's annual season-ending purge.
Leslie Frazier is a horrible coach but I don't think his team, with those lousy quarterbacks, would have done any better with Vince Lombardi.
Greg Schiano is a college coach whose micro-managing control everything nature was never going to work in the NFL. Jim Schwartz is another moron, but he may have been done in by talented players who just didn't play smart at the key times. Maybe the next coach can reach these guys.
If any fired coach deserved to keep his job it was probably Rob Chudzinski who wasn't given enough time (about 355 days) to build something in Cleveland.
I have no problem with Rex Ryan and Mike Smith keeping their jobs based on past success, but what has Jason Garrett ever done?

Picture of the Week
San Francisco 49ers linebakcer Dan Skuta rips off Andre Ellington's shoe and sock while trying to make a tackle.

If the Super Bowl Were Played Today
Denver Broncos 34 Seattle Seahawks 21
After everything has shaken out during the regular season these two teams are clearly the best.

Love is Blind

Brought together by a mutual love of education former Phoenix Suns point guard and current Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson is married to Michelle Rhee, the former head of Washington DC public schools.

Snap, Crackle, Pop

We've been chronicling gruesome sports injuries (that's your hint squeamish Poopheads) for many years here at the Poop and nothing may ever top the Kevin Ware injury in terms of national scope because it occurred in the NCAA Tournament with millions of people watching.
But, in terms of stature of athlete, Anderson Silva, unquestionably the greatest fighter in UFC history, is the biggest star we've ever cataloged in this space.
In his rematch fight with Chris Weidman, in an effort to regain the middleweight title he gave away in March by hot-dogging, Silva, lost the first round, and then early in the second round threw a leg kick. Weidman, who ate several leg kicks in the first fight, check the kick with his shin, and Silva's leg fractured.

Here's the moment of impact:

Here you can see the bone flopping around in his leg:

Immediately Silva went down in agony:

Immediately this was compared to the Corey Hill injury because it happened in exactly the same way, but in that fight, Hill was hopping around and Joe Rogan was screaming "STOP THE FIGHT!!!"

And again, this happened to a huge star in a title fight on a PPV bought by a million people.

Silva broke his fibula and tibia and immediately had them both surgically repaired. He's 38 and will be 39 (April 14) by the time he'll be healthy enough to fight again. I fully expect him to come back, fight once more next summer/fall and rematch Weidman about a year from now. But I wouldn't be shocked if the last image of this great champion is him lying on the mat screaming in agony as his lower leg hung loosely inside his skin. But it would be very sad.

Weekly Picks

My hot streak continues, 14-6 in the last 4 weeks, unfortunately missed the last two best bets. Some interesting games here, as I am always suspicious of the team that needs the win vs. the team that has nothing to play for. Desire doesn't always translate.

carolina -6 1/2 ATLANTA
The Panthers should be motivated to try here and even if they don't they should still beat the Falcons by a TD.

jacksonville +11 1/2 INDIANAPOLIS
Colts can potentially improve their playoff position with a win here, but the Jags have been frisky and I think this spread should be pretty easy to cover.

NEW ORLEANS -12 1/2 tampa bay
The Saints lost last week in a tough one to the Panthers and now they are coming home. Also they need to win to keep the Cardinals out of the playoffs and I just know that is going to happen.

kansas city +9 1/2 SAN DIEGO
The Chiefs are the only team that is locked into its seed right now. They have nothing to play for and the Chargers do have an outside shot. But the Chiefs don't want to limp in the playoffs after two straight blowouts and Andy Reid is just stupid enough to play his best players for a good portion of the game.

BEST BET
TENNESSEE -6 houston
Not sure why I am doing this except that I actually think the most predictable games are the ones with two teams that have nothing to play for. I figure it should be also easy to predict how Houston will play since they've been horrible even when they have been trying.

Last Week: 4-1 (3 points)
Season: 41-39 (32 points)
Best Bets: 0-1 (5-11)
Home Favorites: 1-0 (18-17)
Home Underdogs: 1-0 (2-1)
Road Favorites: 1-1 (11-10)
Road Underdogs: 1-0 (10-11)

The Christmas Spirit

WestJet Airlines decided to do something really nice for some of their passengers this holiday season. They set up a booth in the Toronto and Hamilton airports, and when their passengers checked in, they told Santa what they wanted for Christmas.
While the flights were in the air, WestJet employees went shopping and bought the presents that were requested, and when the passengers arrived in Calgary their gifts were on the conveyor belt.



Believe it or not some people are actually complaining about this video saying that this was all a publicity stunt by the airline, or that this just feeds into the naked consumerism that has overtaken the holiday.
If this video brought either one of those thoughts to your head, before it brought a smile to your face or a tear to your eye, then you are way more cynical, and much more in need of holiday spirit than the people at WestJet.

Merry Christmas To All

Except the Jews, who should just enjoy the Chinese food and stay away from "Grudge Match" it looks horrible.

I doubt this is authentic, but it's a funny joke either way.

Song of the Week

"Jesus" - Kem featuring Patti LaBelle and Ron Isley
Three of my favorite singers singing about one of my favorite guys.
Occasionally I struggle with gospel music because I don't know whether the song is about a cute boy, or about Jesus. I think this one is pretty clear.

The NFL is Poop - Week 16

Incredbile
Peyton Manning broke one of the most important single-season records for a quarterback by hitting Julius Thomas for his 51st touchdown of the year. This week he can, if he plays enough, pass Drew Brees for the single-season yardage record as well, he only needs 267 yards.
I know Manning is a product of his system, they let him throw, a lot. But he isn't David Klingler at the University of Houston. Manning is leading a great NFL team, a leading Super Bowl contender, winning games first, and putting up gaudy passing numbers while doing it. The fact that he is 37, after a major injury and a team change, makes what he is doing even more remarkable. I've often criticized him for his frequent failures in the playoffs, but no matter what happens this year we all have to be in awe of how great a quarterback he is this year, and for all the seasons before.

He'll Break Your Heart
Matthew Stafford is one of those quarterbacks (Jay Cutler and Tony Romo also come to mind) who has great talent and often uses it to make great plays and win games. But seemingly just as often, his mistakes lead to his team's ruin. This time Detroit led the lowly Giants 20-13 with 5 minutes left. A win would have given the Lions a chance to play the Vikings with a win giving them the division title (though they didn't know that at the time). In need of a first down Stafford threw a bad pass (maybe the decision wasn't as bad as the execution) and it was returned for a touchdown to tie the game.
The Giants won on a field goal in overtime to eliminate the Lions.
The Lions lost 5 of their last six games despite holding fourth quarter leads in all of them. Surely the blame can be spread around (even the great Calvin Johnson dropped passes), but I'm not really sure Matthew Stafford will ever be able to lead a team deep into the playoffs.

What a Difference a Year Makes
Last year the Arizona Cardinals went into Seattle and suffered the worst shutout defeat in NFL history, 58-0. They turned the ball over 8 times and allowed two 100-yard rushers. Russell Wilson completed only 7 passes for 148 yards, and barely played. This year, in a full game, Wilson got even fewer yards, 108, as the Cardinals beat the seemingly invincible-at-home Seahawks 17-10, despite 4 interceptions by Carson Palmer. Seattle got nothing done against the Cardinals defense and certainly cast doubt on their ability to run through the NFC playoffs, simply by dominating on their home field.
But someone else will likely have to be the ones to follow the Cardinals blueprint for success in Seattle, because the Cards need to beat San Francisco at home, and have the Saints lose to the ExpensiveCornPrices, in New Orleans.
Not likely, so it is a shame such a good team will likely miss the playoffs while the dreck in the other two NFC divisions will make it in.

Game of the Week
Pittsburgh Steelers 38 Green Bay Packers 31
This game featured one of the weirdest plays I've ever seen. A blocked field goal, touched by about four Steelers before being knocked out of bounds was given back to the Packers at the 2 yard line setting up a touchdown. I think Ryan Clark did actually possess the ball, so it was a bad call, but he was an idiot for trying to lateral in that situation.

But the fun didn't end there, not by a long shot.
The Steelers did not let that play hurt them though, Roethlisberger drove right down the field for a TD, and the Packers next play from scrimmage was a Matt Flynn pick-6. Steelers up 31-21 entering the 4th quarter.
After the Packers tied the game on their next two possessions and had the ball again, but Matt Flynn fumbled, setting up a short field goal attempt by the Steelers. But the Packers were offside, giving the Steelers the chance to score a touchdown, and kill more time.
No way the Packers could come back from this, right? But they almost did, thanks to a 70-yard kick return. But this time it was on offside penalty (on the 1!!!!!) that cost them 5 yards, and 10 seconds. For some reason Matt Flynn did not get the play off fast enough (he blames the official, wasting 7 seconds, and giving them only one chance from the 6, which they didn't convert.
The win kept the Steelers playoff hopes alive (though they need a lot of help), and it didn't hurt the Packers who just need to win to get in.

Game of Next Week
Philadelphia Eagles at Dallas Cowboys
I know both teams are pretty bad/inconsistent but one of them is going to host a playoff game. No Tony Romo, but I wouldn't write off the Cowboys just yet. Though, if the Eagles can capture any of what they had against the Bears, they will run through Dallas like a hot knife through butter, and could be a scary team in the playoffs.

Picture of the Week
Houston Texans Cheerleaders dressed up for Christmas. I suppose you would call this look "Naughty Santa." What can I say, I'm a sucker for cheerleaders in costume.

A Brief Rant About the Redskins
2 starts for Kirk Cousins, 2 1-point losses. It's not his fault the defense absolutely sucks and can't contain Tony Romo or cover the Dallas receivers, once Romo starts to scramble. There's no excuse for allowing two long 4th down conversions on that final drive.
But there's also no excuse for the pitiful 4 plays the Redskins ran when they had a chance, and a little bit of time, to kick a field goal for the win, but those 4 plays were as bad as I've seen. And Kyle Shanahan deserves the blame, and he will get it, as he will surely be fired on December 30th.

If the Super Bowl Were Played Today
Denver Broncos 37 Arizona Cardinals 13
If the Cardinals can go into Seattle and win they can beat any NFC team, anywhere, right now. But they likely won't get the chance to show what they can do.

If You Had the Bears and 42 Points...YOU LOST!

2013 was a great year in the life of The Poop especially as it regards all the awesome sporting events I went to. There was the Rangers game in the amazing seats, the Jon Jones title fight, the Home Run Derby, the field passes at CitiField, Chase's first Knicks game, the last appearance by Syracuse in the Big East Tournament, and of course the Final Four in Atlanta, which I went to with my best friend Billy. A fitting way to end the year was enjoying a game in style. Since Billy is a bigwig at a company with a suite he asked for the tickets to the Bears game.
He donned his Walter Payton jersey, and I wore a Bears shirt to support my buddy and we entered into enemy territory.

It's a good picture, but a little too much light behind us darkened our faces.

Note: While Eagles fans get a bad rep, and they may have been tailgating all day, we didn't get hassled at all for wearing Bears gear. Obviously no one in the corporate suite is going to do that, and we didn't go to the concourse or hang out in the parking lot, but we saw a lot of other Bears fans in full regalia and Eagles fans said nothing. Not to say it never happens, but the idea that I heard from many people that if I wear a Bears shirt, I'm going to get attacked by an angry mob, is totally untrue.

The suite was really nice, you walk in and there's hot food on the right and snacks and stuff on the right and seats in front. 2 rows of 6 seats and then some high tables that you can also sit at and watch the game.

Had it been cold, the suite would have provided a little respite from the weather but not too much. But it was a very comfortable 50-something degree night. I didn't even wear a jacket.

Note: we felt very VIP with our laminated tickets.

Let's start with the food, I started with a cheesesteak (the meat, onions and cheese are in separate compartments and you cobble together your own sandwich) because when in Rome...

Then I had the paella.

The fridge was fully stocked. And they actually brought the champagne around towards the end of the game.

There were soft pretzels.

And popcorn. I took the bucket, but don't worry I left those cups for other people.

And for dessert there were gingerbread men and a yule log. Pretty cool.

At the end of the game there was still an entire tray of gingerbread men still left so I took a couple home. The suite attendant offered to give us any other leftover food because otherwise she'd have to throw it away. She was literally thinking "what am I going to do with all this paella?"

The food was great, but then the game started. From the 30-yard line, we had a great view of one of the worst ass-kickings I've ever seen. The Bears couldn't move the ball, and every time the Eagles had the ball, they scored. There seemed a moment where the game could have turned, down 24-3 the Bears forced a Lesean McCoy fumble and recovered near midfield. A touchdown there would have at least made it a game, but it was overturned on replay.

When Jay Cutler got picked off and it was returned for a touchdown to make it 47-11 with 8 minutes left we decided to bail out. As soon as we left the stadium we heard a roar, the Eagles had scored again to make it 54-11. I hate to leave early but it was late and I had a long drive ahead of me.

On that drive home I heard an old DMX song, with a line I had never quite understood. It refers to a very popular line of Reeboks, which I later learned had been commonly referred to by the price they cost, after tax. The shoes sold for 49.99, when you added New York's old 8.25% tax rate ($4.12) you got...54-11.