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I should post about the Colts in the playoffs. I think I am supposed to.  But it isn't much of a post. I don't like to talk much about important stuff before it happens. I have an unfortunate habit of being right about things, and I don't want to blow it for my guys by jinxing the monkey shit out of them. Sorry I cussed. Time to put my game-face on. Time for all of you to put your game-faces on. Time for this guy's game-face.
Bruce
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Are you ready for some panic?
The defensive line hasn't been completely healthy for 4  weeks and I am not even including Freeney.
Tony Dungy is leaving after the season and local media can't stop talking about it. The owner is offering everything in his bag of tricks, including more money and regular use of his private jet, to keep him. I wonder if that is distracting to a team that unquestionably adores its coach.
We still have no strongside backer to speak of. As much as I want to see Sessions get a chance to start there, Hagler seems to have done enough to keep the spot and I can't disagree. Halger is small, though, and the Chargers will spend all day tomorrow running counters against Josh Thomas to suck him inside and Halger will be one on one with some giant, corn-fed, All-Big Ten pulling guard and every time it happens I am going to pee myself a little.
Special Teams is bad, real bad. Vinatieri, widely believed to be the best kicker in the game, has been shaky from more then 40. Hunter Smith, the third string quarterback, has been having problems with holding placekicks. Bad enough they are looking for someone else. His punting has been good, but the coverage has been so bad his average is way down.
ST coverage is so bad they are bringing back former special teamers to help out. Look for Hagler, Jackson, and former Special Teams captain Robert Mathis to make appearances.
The only team that has stood in our way in the last 5 years just soundly beat a VERY GOOD Jacksonville team to extend their undefeated season and secure a chance at the AFC Championship game. They seem to be a team of destiny and roll over people with undaunted vigor. I have NEVER seen a quarterback get at as much time as Tom Brady has this year.
Oh, and we haven't even played the Chargers and LADANIAN TOMLINSON yet.
fuck.
So tomorrow I am going up to Indy with El Cucaracha. Hot Tub is going to the IU game. God bless the guy, if there was anybody I wanted to go to the last game in the Hoosier Dome with (yes I said the fucking HOOSIER DOME because that is its real name), and it couldn't be The Tub, it would be El Racha. I met the guy in 1st grade. They wouldn't let us be in the same class together after that. We made the dumber kids feel bad. Twenty years later he is still a badass. Great straight-line speed. Scholar, gentleman, and the heart of a lion. We once had to break his ribs to knock him out of a pick-up game of football. It was a glorious moment. He got married to a woman who actually understands him and she convinced him to drink skim milk, which was good for a guy who drinks a gallon a day. He eats fewer cheeseburgers now, which is probably good for his acne and his Heinz 57 addiction.
...
You know, I am glad I won't be watching the playoff games alone. I think if I was at the Dome alone and the Colts lost I wouldn't give a shit. I think if I was at home alone and they won I wouldn't give a shit. I think the trick to loving sports is sharing the love. I think the best memories of sports are shared memories. The kind that good friends remember a little differently. I still remember last season when Jack and Shooter and the fellas came over for the Super Bowl and we cooked all day and it rained all day in Miami. It was Bears weather and all signs point to No and Hester ran back the opener. It was shit city and we were all holding on to the same ragged edge. Then the skies opened up and God brought down the rain to wash all the crap away.
 Apple Bowl 2004: (left to right) Bruce Paine, El Cucaracha, Gib
I will try to send updates on what I see at the game to the comments section via Jack, no promises.
Lets go Colts.
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2 Comments
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2008 Cubs Preview
Too bad about today, Bruce Paine. I like the 2004 picture of the football game--nice touch.
Every year during the first weekend in october there is a festival in our hometown. Everybody comes home for it. So after I graduated high school, I started going out to the field we played little league on and I would paint a football field in the outfield (and part of the infield) with a giant roller. Everybody would come out at 8 pm and we would pick teams and play. Full contact, no pads. One rule: If you don't want to go all out you don't have to, no one is going to give you shit for it, but you CANNOT get upset if you get your ass knocked off by someone who is. There are lots of fond memories of it. It died out a few years ago when one of the older guys who is well respected put his foot down and said, "you know what, we came this far without and threatening injuries, it is time to stop." This is a picture from the last game and El Cucaracha actually gets his ribs broken about two plays after this.