New England Patriots [3-1] vs. San Diego Chargers [2-3] (Sunday 8:15 p.m., NBC)
Why it’s good football: Well, this year it’s not the best football ever, honestly, but last year? Whew, this would have been a great matchup! So maybe the best thing about this game is watching to see which team that was supposed to be good this year is better than the other.
Why are they not so hot this year? Tom Brady was knocked out of the season with a knee injury in the first game of the year, and the Patriots season came tumbling after. (Though it seems Tom may be tying the knot with Gisele any day now, so his year doesn’t seem to be as bad as his team’s thus far.) As for the Chargers, well, they’ve had a lot of bad luck with officiating thus far, and Ladanian Tomlinson, their star running back, has been off to a slow start.
Why you might care:
Lots of teams have been wearing throwback jerseys this year, so maybe the Chargers will, too. And, I’m sorry, but these are just the prettiest football uniforms ever.
Don't get your dirty handprint on my uniform.
Football is just like Pop Culture!
It’s not exactly a girly tv show, but it was a movie, and a book, and it’s one of my favorite analogies.
Randy Moss is totally Seabiscuit! Seabiscuit was the award-winning racehorse in the 1930s-40s. The book is by Laura Hillenbrand. I loved. The movie starred Tobey Maguire. I only watched the first five minutes. Not because it was a bad movie necessarily (because I don’t know if it was–I didn’t watch it), but because my favorite parts of the book that were the ones that dealt with the psychology of the horse himself. The movie couldn’t possibly have done anything similar unless there was some Beverly Hills Chihuahua/Mr. Ed-type action happening. So anyway, let me tell you about Seabiscuit. He was an extremely talented racer, very fast and very much aware of his own skill. (Yes, it’s true. It’s in the book!) Apparently he also liked messing with the heads of the other horses and would run at a slow pace so that the other horses thought they were going to win, and then he’d pull ahead in the last couple of steps and break their hearts. According to the book, several horses had to stop racing altogether because their hearts were broken after dealing with Seabiscuit’s antics. Of course, in general if the competition was not at a level that Seabiscuit deemed adequate, he just wouldn’t try at all, and he’d lose races he should have won because he just didn’t feel like the races were worth his energy.
Randy Moss is the same sort of athlete! He’s considered one of the most talented wide receivers in the league today, and some say in the history of football. (If you keep statements like this really vague, that makes them more true. Fact.) He’s tall, and he can jump, and he’s fast, and when he’s playing at his best, it’s a thing of athletic beauty. However, when he doesn’t feel his team’s level of play is high enough, he checks out. Randy was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings and played well for them for a while, but he had conflicts with his co-receiver Cris Carter and ended up heading to Oakland. In Oakland he was miserable and so played miserably. What does that mean? Well, receivers have set routes that they are supposed to run each play, depending on what the coach/QB calls. On his worst days, Randy wouldn’t run the routes. He’d stop or he’d jog. If the ball was thrown over his head, he’d just watch it go instead of making the kind of leaping catches he was clearly able to make. Plus he was grumpy with the press and likely grumpy with other players. Not good.
Now, last year, Randy was traded to the New England Patriots. Many assumed that Randy would be the same lazy, cranky player that he’d become everywhere else he went. But the Patriots were exceptionally good, and Tom Brady was the QB of his dreams, and so Randy thrived. Brady threw him the ball often, and Randy scored scads and scads of touchdowns. And they won every single regular season game together. And then they won all of their playoff games. And then they lost the Super Bowl. Oops. But then 2008 was the year! Super Bowl! Huge numbers! And then Brady was hurt in the first game. Double Oops.
Question now, how will Randy react to playing with a new, non-Brady QB? They’ve already lost to the Miami Dolphins this year, so what happens if they keep losing? Does Randy Moss turn into the same old slacker, or is his winning spirit going to carry over from last year? My bet? Well, I’ll just say that Seabiscuit would probably just trot it out.
Boyfriend/Husband/Dad/Other will be so impressed!
Conversation Starters:
- The Chargers are giving up 25.8 points a game this year. What happened to their defense?
-Do you have LT (Ladanian Tomlinson) on your fantasy team this year? Killing you so far, right? At least you didn’t pick a Brady and Moss tandem! Hahaha.
Fun Fact:
-The Patriots’ first four games of 2008 were played against teams whose 2007 records were a combined 14-50. They’ve lost one game so far (to the Dolphins who were 1-15 last year). The Chargers’ first five games of 2008 were played against opponents whose 2007 records were a combined 23-57. They’ve lost three of these games. New England has already had a bye week this year, which accounts for having played only four games thus far.
Player Pronunciation:
Matt Cassel (NE): mat ka-suhl
Nate Kaeding (SD): nāt kā-ding
Cute football player(s) of the week:
Wes Welker, New England Patriots wide receiver
Wes Welker is a stallion. (Or just insert some other, more clever horse pun here.)
