BACK IN BUSINESS!

Here it is over two weeks into 2o07 and what have you got from "Bitterness"? Nada, nil, bupkiss. The big goose egg. Oh wait, of course you have had some sort of half-hearted promise of a new lil' sumpin', sumpin' on the horizon, but so far that has amounted to nothing. You probably thought their shoud have been a better Boxing Day blog, containing more info on the 82nd annual "Bitterness is a Fish You Can Catch Boxing Day Bonanza and Clam Bake", that's for darned sure. You had to have been slightly, and rightly, disappointed in the Boxing Day blog that did print. Those of you searching for more Yakov Smirnoff pictures, and you know who you are, have been left out in the cold. And I'm sure many of you were left staring at your computer screen, scrolling to find the week 17 NFL picks hidden somewhere. But alas, you found no picks, no answers, no pink fluffy bunnies to make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Travesty. Blasphemy. Erroneous on all counts! Preposterousnessity! You were so seething mad, you made up words for Pete's sake! And now you check, in passing, just to see if there is a new post. But no, there were none. The checking became less frequent, slowly you became bored with the chore of it all. But then, BAM! Without warning, here it is back with news, notes and what-have-yous, for those that still care to be members of "Bitterness Nation". And I assure the big surprise is in the offing and shall be here forthwith, post haste! But right now we have bigger fish to fry. There's a lot to get to. And this is for you, the loyal readers of Bitterness is a Fish You Can Catch, who stick with us throught thick and thin. So here we go, on with the show:

NFL Playoffs
-- There is not a single NFL pregame show worth watching. They all make me want to jam butter knives in my ears. Seriously when they decide which former players they want, do they just put a bunch of names in of incoherent and unintelligent afro-american former players and pick? I mean that "Boom goes the Dynamite" kid is better than Shannon Sharpe at doing highlights.

-- Okay, I don't like, in fact I down right loathe, the Dallas Cowboys, but if I could play a little devil's advocate on the whole Tony Romo debacle. Romo, will now be mentioned in the same breath as Bill Buckner, another unfairly blamed man. You see in both Buckner and Romo's cases they cannot be fully blamed for losing their respective playoff games. For the Buckner analysis, get a few brews in me, and I will tell ya all about it, but right now let's focus on the 'Boys. Here are some things to consider:
1) If Martin Grammatica at least tries to block that cornerback, then Romo, may have scored a touchdown, or at least picked up a first down.
2) This gave the Seahawks the ball at like the one-yard line, and if the Cowboys had stopped them and forced a three and out there was still a chance to get the ball back in field goal range, but they didn't.
3) Would have been bold, but what if Parcells had gone for it on fourth? A quick snap QB sneak, three more downs, game over right?
Well what's done, is done, it is what it is. Tony Romo you seem like a nice guy, but you had a lot of media hype and you play for the Cowboys, so it's predetermined that I hate you and will revel in your misery.

-- Most useless stat of the opening weekend: New England hasn't lost a home playoff game since 1979. While it seems impressive, I've been a Patriots fan for, well, all my life and I can attest that they didn't host many playoff games between 1979 and 1996. While still impressive that they haven't lost at home since 1996, how bout qualifying the stat? I looked it up and for the record number of home playoff games for the Patriots from 1979 to 1996: 0.

-- I'm a Pats fan, but I'm so sick of everyone talking about Belichik and Brady being experienced and how they've only lost one playoff game together. Well, okay, but going into Denver last year, they hadn't lost any, soooo....?

-- Isn't it weird that the Chiefs made the Playoffs?

-- All four home teams win in the opening weekend, has that ever happened in the 6-team format. Obviously it couldn't have happened in the 5-team format, there weren't four games.

-- Ravens-Colts, now that was a game for the ages. If you like field goals you'll love Ravens-Colts!

-- Maybe it's becuase they are the Saints and we just can't imagine them being this good. But they ARE really, really good!

-- Although I really can't harp on 1985 much these day as a Patriots fan, I somehow just found myself vehemently rooting against the Bears?

-- There is not any way that the Patriots deserved to win in San Diego. For the record though, and I am biased, I think Antonio Gates did make the catch and fumble. The Chargers handed that game to New England on a silver platter. They had them dead to rights and couldn't come up with the knockout blow. Stupid penalties and drops will kill ya every time. As for the LT incident, I know it's upsetting and frustrating to see a team celebrating on your home turf, but let it go. If Shawne Merriman wants to show up the other team when he makes a sack, then he has to expect it to come back at him, that's the price you pay. And I know you Patriots haters out there are probably saying how unclassy it was, but if someone had done the little Giants jump shot on there field after a big win, you would have been all for it, laughing your ass of, so before you hop up on your high horse, remeber sometimes you gotta a look at things from both sides ya bunch of hypocrites. Best comparison to this I've seen, Mike Greenberg on Mike and Mike saying that if in 1985, if the Patriots had won and done the Super Bowl Shuffle at midfield, they would be totally within their right. Was it classy, no, but their athletes. So the Patriots aren't classy, oh well. But LT, if you want to be mad at someone, be mad a Marty Schottenheimer for not getting you the ball more.

-- A Marty Schottenheimer. Seriously why would you not just shove LT right down New England's throat? Do it until they prove they can consistently stop it. He's only the best player in football for crying out loud! And what the heck was the big idea of going for it on fourth and eleven? Doesn't seem high percentage to me. Okay, so the winds in your face and you think little Nicky Kaeding can't hit, how 'bout trying to pin New England back instead. Worse comes to worse they get it at the twenty, 15 yards back from where they ended up getting it.

-- Andy Reid, hindsight's 20-20 I know, but you gotta go for it on fourth down, rather than giving the ball back to one the best offenses in the league.

-- Speaking of hypocrites....Peter King very diappointed in LT's display after the game defending the Patriots right to imitate the Merriman dance. Yes the same Peter King who was up in arms when David Carr did the Giants jump shot (stupidest celebration in history of celebrations) at the Meadowlands some time ago. Interesting? Now granted, it's a little different, Carr's was during the game and they lost, but still seems hypocritical.
--All I'm saying if you want to showboat when you do something, you have to expect at some point to have the table turned on you. I remember Jerome Bettis little fire dance after like every run and when the Pats played them in the playoffs, one of them mocked it after stuffing Bettis for a loss. Bettis was a non-factor in that game but proceeded to dance, and as such, should expect it thrown back in his face when applicable.

Resolutions:
-- I am gonna hold off on printing my resolutions, because I want to dedicate a whole blog and give it the attention it needs.

College Hoops:
-- I loooooooooovve college basketball. And I love how a lot of the "Mid-Majors" are mentioned with the big dogs.

-- Tough enough start to the Big East schedule for Syracuse? Pitt, Marquette, Villanova? Dang. But they made it out of those three with a 2-1 record.

-- Jitter why haven't you made shirts that say "Drexellent", yet? I think it'll catch on quick. That's it! Next road trip to the city of Brotherly Love, I'm bringin' 'em, we'll make a killing!

-- Here's my midseason Elite Eight Teams (I have done know research or looked at records or stats of any sort): Oregon, UCLA, Ohio State, Kansas, Wisconsin, Marquette, Creighton, and Florida. I know I really went out on a limb.
-- Well two years ago I had everyone watching out for the Catamounts of Vermont and sure enough that's who SU drew and lost to. Last year I warned of Oral Roberts and the Great Danes of Albany and while they didn't win, proved feisty. So who's in the running this year? How 'bout Albany, Davidson, Appalachian St., Wichita State (although they may have a bit too much pub), Oral Roberts, Old Dominion, UMASS, and Hofstra. I don't really know what I'm talking about, so this could change at any time.
-- Yeah UMASS!
-- Gotta love the Dukies falling to Virginia Tech, am I right?!
-- I don't know if Greg Oden's really that good. I mean he's no Greg Ostertag.
-- Favorite player not playing for a hoops team in New York..... Blake Ahearn, Missourri State.

Entertainment:
-- Check out My Boys on TBS, it's not half bad! I like it.
-- Babel won best movie at the Golden Globes. I will never see this movie, but from what I've read it was not that good. Just a long-winded, trying to be artsy load of crap. But who knows.
-- The Office pulls ahead of How I met Your Mother in the TV Show BCS after a better last episode.
-- Shows I haven't ever watched a full episode of that have me intrigued: Lost, House, 24. I heard they're not bad.
-- If you haven't seen Little Miss Sunshine yet, then get on it! It's brilliant!
-- The wait continues for the Head of the Class DVD set.

News:
-- Saddam Hussein is dead, or is he....??? Oh, actually he is.
-- The best way to get our troops out of the Middle East?? Send thousands more over there, of course! Good idea Prez, I don't know why I didn't think of it.
-- Winter is finally here. Woo-hoo.

That's all for now, stay tuned for the big announcement right around the corner.