Entry tags:
mostly football
It was not a very good football weekend.
First,![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
adelagia and I went to one of the most boring football games I've ever watched, in 514384570145°F heat. The Huskies were playing the Sacramento State Hornets. I'd gotten the tickets through work for $20 each, and even though they were at the 300 level, they had a great view of the field. They were someone's season tickets, and they'd also paid for cushions for the seats, so at least my butt wasn't sore in addition to drenched by the time we left (this is all sounding rather shady, but I'm going to valiantly press on). The only problem was that the seats were on the north side, which was the side that got the BLAZING HOT SUN ALL AFTERNOON. If I had applied olive oil instead of sunscreen I would have been burnt to a crisp.
Anyway, I favored the Huskies in the match, because they're my local team. I went to UCLA and would support the Bruins over any competitor, but otherwise the Huskies are cool. I think it's because at the height of my college days UW wasn't much competition (still aren't... AP poll currently has UCLA ranked #10 and USC #6, while the Huskies are unranked), and I have always liked their colors (very important stuff). However, I don't like them so much that I would rather see them win than see a good game, and it was not a good game. UW won 49-0, which is ridiculous. We left in the third quarter and they had already scored those 49 points.
Initially neither team looked very good, but then the talent difference made itself obvious. I mean, really, Sacramento State? I didn't even know that was a school, much less a school that would play in our division. (OK, forced to do some research, I have now learned that Sac State is California State University, Sacramento, and they aren't in our division. They're in the FCS, formerly known as Division I-AA, while the PAC-12 is in the FBS, formerly known as Division I-A. I then looked up when FBS schools played FCS schools, and I guess you can request it in your scheduling -- not sure of the specific rules. But apparently, the FBS team gets an almost-guaranteed win, while the FCS team gets cash. Kinda seems dirty and unkosher doesn't it? :/ Here's an article from 2010 wondering whether these matches should be banned permanently. Given that it's 2015 and I just saw such a game, I guess the answer isn't yes.)
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Then there was the heartbreaking Seahawks game. Unlike almost every pre-game prediction I saw, I was really nervous about this one. We were without Kam Chancellor, the Rams always play us tough on their home turf, Jeff Fisher is a tricksy devil, and expectations for the Seahawks this season are again through the roof.
If Kam had played, I have no doubt the Hawks would have won. There were so many ridiculous missed tackles he wouldn't have let happen. Their final touchdown, with Dion Bailey tripping over his own feet? Ugh. I really, really wanted Dion to do well, not just for his own sake, but because the team needed him to step up. And, well, it was bad.
However, I don't think the team can or should give in to Kam's demands. If we pay him, the line in front of Schneider's door is going to be 50 players deep, each threatening to hold out if they don't get a raise. And Michael Bennett will be first in line.
That said, it was a really tough environment and a tough game, with Russell seemingly getting sacked at will (see, Russell? You had to have your millions, money that could have been spent on more decent O-linemen to protect you. But nooooooo) by the Rams' insanely talented front 7... and we still lost by only a field goal, in overtime. Thinking about it that way, it wasn't so bad, I guess. Hey, I'm trying to stay positive here! (Also, what if Hauschka hadn't messed up that kickoff or squib or onside or whatever it was? Or what if Marshawn had been able to get that 1 yard? The fact he didn't makes me feel slightly better about the Super Bowl, actually. It was no sure thing that he would have scored if he'd been given the ball, and if we'd run it the clock would have been ticking down, so he probably would have only gotten 1 more chance.)
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The silver lining in all this? My D/ST team in ESPN Fantasy is the Rams. LOL. So I did decently there.
My D/ST team in Yahoo Fantasy is the Seahawks, and I got a ton of points from them, too.
I don't have much of a shot of winning my matchup this week on ESPN -- I should have played DeAndre Hopkins, who got freaking 23.8 points, or even Percy Harvin, who got 14.8 points, instead of stupid Odell Backham Jr., who only got 4.4 points -- but I am already mathematically guaranteed to win my Yahoo matchup, and potentially could even get the week's high score, assuming my remaining players don't completely suck.
The problem is, two of my remaining Yahoo players are on my competitor's team on ESPN, so if I win one, I pretty much can't win the other.
lol fantasy football.
=========
Apparently New Zealand has banned its first book in 22 years, a YA novel that has too much sex and profanity. You can guess what just shot to the top of my "to be read" list.
First,
adelagia and I went to one of the most boring football games I've ever watched, in 514384570145°F heat. The Huskies were playing the Sacramento State Hornets. I'd gotten the tickets through work for $20 each, and even though they were at the 300 level, they had a great view of the field. They were someone's season tickets, and they'd also paid for cushions for the seats, so at least my butt wasn't sore in addition to drenched by the time we left (this is all sounding rather shady, but I'm going to valiantly press on). The only problem was that the seats were on the north side, which was the side that got the BLAZING HOT SUN ALL AFTERNOON. If I had applied olive oil instead of sunscreen I would have been burnt to a crisp.Anyway, I favored the Huskies in the match, because they're my local team. I went to UCLA and would support the Bruins over any competitor, but otherwise the Huskies are cool. I think it's because at the height of my college days UW wasn't much competition (still aren't... AP poll currently has UCLA ranked #10 and USC #6, while the Huskies are unranked), and I have always liked their colors (very important stuff). However, I don't like them so much that I would rather see them win than see a good game, and it was not a good game. UW won 49-0, which is ridiculous. We left in the third quarter and they had already scored those 49 points.
Initially neither team looked very good, but then the talent difference made itself obvious. I mean, really, Sacramento State? I didn't even know that was a school, much less a school that would play in our division. (OK, forced to do some research, I have now learned that Sac State is California State University, Sacramento, and they aren't in our division. They're in the FCS, formerly known as Division I-AA, while the PAC-12 is in the FBS, formerly known as Division I-A. I then looked up when FBS schools played FCS schools, and I guess you can request it in your scheduling -- not sure of the specific rules. But apparently, the FBS team gets an almost-guaranteed win, while the FCS team gets cash. Kinda seems dirty and unkosher doesn't it? :/ Here's an article from 2010 wondering whether these matches should be banned permanently. Given that it's 2015 and I just saw such a game, I guess the answer isn't yes.)
=========
Then there was the heartbreaking Seahawks game. Unlike almost every pre-game prediction I saw, I was really nervous about this one. We were without Kam Chancellor, the Rams always play us tough on their home turf, Jeff Fisher is a tricksy devil, and expectations for the Seahawks this season are again through the roof.
If Kam had played, I have no doubt the Hawks would have won. There were so many ridiculous missed tackles he wouldn't have let happen. Their final touchdown, with Dion Bailey tripping over his own feet? Ugh. I really, really wanted Dion to do well, not just for his own sake, but because the team needed him to step up. And, well, it was bad.
However, I don't think the team can or should give in to Kam's demands. If we pay him, the line in front of Schneider's door is going to be 50 players deep, each threatening to hold out if they don't get a raise. And Michael Bennett will be first in line.
That said, it was a really tough environment and a tough game, with Russell seemingly getting sacked at will (see, Russell? You had to have your millions, money that could have been spent on more decent O-linemen to protect you. But nooooooo) by the Rams' insanely talented front 7... and we still lost by only a field goal, in overtime. Thinking about it that way, it wasn't so bad, I guess. Hey, I'm trying to stay positive here! (Also, what if Hauschka hadn't messed up that kickoff or squib or onside or whatever it was? Or what if Marshawn had been able to get that 1 yard? The fact he didn't makes me feel slightly better about the Super Bowl, actually. It was no sure thing that he would have scored if he'd been given the ball, and if we'd run it the clock would have been ticking down, so he probably would have only gotten 1 more chance.)
=========
The silver lining in all this? My D/ST team in ESPN Fantasy is the Rams. LOL. So I did decently there.
My D/ST team in Yahoo Fantasy is the Seahawks, and I got a ton of points from them, too.
I don't have much of a shot of winning my matchup this week on ESPN -- I should have played DeAndre Hopkins, who got freaking 23.8 points, or even Percy Harvin, who got 14.8 points, instead of stupid Odell Backham Jr., who only got 4.4 points -- but I am already mathematically guaranteed to win my Yahoo matchup, and potentially could even get the week's high score, assuming my remaining players don't completely suck.
The problem is, two of my remaining Yahoo players are on my competitor's team on ESPN, so if I win one, I pretty much can't win the other.
lol fantasy football.
=========
Apparently New Zealand has banned its first book in 22 years, a YA novel that has too much sex and profanity. You can guess what just shot to the top of my "to be read" list.