This is not a tag line!
football
Still alive!
Jan 15th
It’s been a long time coming but I’m finally posting again! Lots of things have happened since last time I posted so I guess I should summarize a little bit…
First, of course, I’d like to wish everyone a very happy New Year and lots of happiness and health for 2006 (and beyond)!
Then, I’d like to congratulate the Denver Broncos for their divisional playoff win over the New England Patriots. It had been a long time since they last won a playoff game and it’s nice to see them advance to the AFC championship for the first time in 7 years. While I haven’t blogged about it this season, I have been following their play (like I always do) and I was extremely pleased with the way they handled the end of the season to secure a second seed (bye and home game, baby!). Of course, while it’s a nice achievement, there is still two games to play and win before they can be where they want to be. But, first thing first, they’re going to have a tough game next week against a very good Pittsburgh team (sorry, Sylvain, but I hope they’ll beat the Steelers soundly and advance to the Superbowl).
So what have I been up to? As mentioned in my last post, I spent a month in France. It was really nice and relaxing to be able to come back home after having stayed in the US for more than a year and a half. I got to spent some quality time with family and friends and that’s something which importance is easy to underestimate. It was also really nice to finally go back to the Alps and snowboard on some real mountains (despite the now traditional lack of snow of the early season). The only trouble spot with that trip was the fact that, while tweaking my board settings, I forgot to screw all the screws tight of one my bindings which basically got removed from the board the first time I applied some pressure to it on the slopes… End result: a nice fall with my binding still attached to my leg but free from the board, making my left leg hit the edge of the board which cut through my just recently bought pants and a still-not-healed gash on my shin.
I also got upgraded on the return trip after giving up my seat on my originally scheduled overbooked flight and I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t wish to always fly business. 
I’m also starting to get a better understanding of the JBoss Portal code base so I should become more productive soon. I have also been looking for a new place to live in visiting lots of houses and it’s taken up a lot of my free time. Hopefully, everything will slow down soon and I’ll be able to blog some more. 
Colts 49 – Broncos 24
Jan 9th
I’m not quite sure what to say about this one… In almost a perfect replica of last year wild card game, the Broncos got eliminated after failing to win a single playoff game. I’m not sure what they need to do in order to get over it. Their defense wasn’t much better than last year and their offense just marginally so. At least this time, they showed that they could play some in the second half but it was too little too late.
There’s always next year, I guess, but with these Broncos, it seems like the years are just repeats of the previous ones: start good, get in a mid-season funk, manage to scrap a couple of badly needed victories to make it to the playoffs and then be one-and-out… What’s needed? I don’t know. Probably more consistence. A defense that makes big plays and gets turnovers when it needs to do so. An offense that stops shooting themselves in the foot (though to be fair, the offense played OK today, the defense just couldn’t stop Manning).
What do I look forward for next year? Plummer will be in his third year in the system and that will hopefully translate into a better grasp of the system and less mistakes. Lelie is growing but Smith might not come back and the other receivers are not there yet. Putzier is developing into a nice tight-end but can still get better. Bell will hopefully stay healthy and provide the running attack that’s been missing at times this year. It was the first year under Coyer’s system on the defense front with a lot of new players and injuries so hopefully, they’ll get better next year. But what I want mostly is a team that stops being great in September when it doesn’t mean much but gets the job done when December comes. A team that stops being tantalizing close but gets it done when it matters. I’m not asking for a Superbowl victory (though it would be nice) but at least a win of the division like I know they can and win a playoff game or two at last and get it over with with this Elway thing.
Beautiful from the album 3.. 6.. 9 Seconds of Light [EP] by Belle & Sebastian
NFL/FFL Week 12
Dec 4th
I didn’t post about week 11 because, well, I only really care about the Broncos and they were on bye two weeks ago. Also, I won my FFL game and that was that.
Week 12 wasn’t as nice, unfortunately. The Broncos lost in heartbreaking fashion at home, in the snow. To add insult to injury, they lost to the Raiders! For the second time this season, they lost the game when they had the opportunity to kick the winning field goal in the last minute of the game…
However, this was a game they should have put away way before that ill-fated field goal. When you lead by 11 with 13:26 remaining in the 4th quarter, you’re supposed to put the opponent away if you have any post-season aspirations, that is. Instead, the defense surrendered two touchdowns and Darius Watts failed to catch a Plummer pass in the end zone for what would have probably been the winning touchdown with 36 seconds remaining…
The biggest disappointment for me was the poor game played by Champ Bailey. I keep hearing the guy is good but all I know is that each time I saw him play, he got beat pretty bad by (granted, above average) receivers. Jerry Porter and Kerry Collins victimized Bailey for big plays and that probably won the Raiders the game.
Then again, maybe I jinx the Broncos. It seems that almost every time I’m able to watch them play on TV, they loose. 
On the FFL front, I managed to loose to a guy who’s not even playing anymore! My players did Ok but overall under-achieved while his guys lit up the scoreboard: he managed to score 71 points without running backs or tight end! Maybe I was over-confident? Anyway, no big deal, my season is pretty much done for and it’s probably not going be any better this week, my opponent having Brees (which hopefully won’t have a big game against the Broncos), Harrison, Owens, Alexander, Martin, Gonzalez, Vanderjagt and Baltimore. How’s that for a team?
Space (I Believe In) from the album Trompe Le Monde by Pixies
NFL/FFL Week 10
Nov 16th
I was commenting in my last post that I hoped that my FFL team could exert a vengeance of sorts over Robert for the comment he made. Well, I’m happy to report that they pulled through and landed me my third win of the year despite a strong finish (I was more than 50 points ahead entering Monday’s night game with all my players done and Robert’s team, Feta Cheese, still having McNabb and Philly’s defense to play).
The Broncos didn’t play this week so nothing to report on that front. I just hope that there won’t be a let down after the bye week against New Orleans, a team they should beat.
NFL/ FFL Week 9
Nov 10th
What can I say? The Broncos won in a convincing way with a strong performance by Plummer. Congratulations to Rod Smith for becoming the recipient of all the notable receiving records in Broncos history!
On the FFL front, I lost again. I was leading before Monday’s night game with three players still to play (Culpepper, Wayne and Robinson) while my opponent had Manning and Clark (one of Indy’s TE). Manning had too strong a game while Culpepper was just good and that was it.
Speaking of my opponent, I played Patrick Burleson this week. Not only did he beat me at FFL, but he also dissed me on his blog by forgetting me when he talked about the post-postgreSQL seminar dinner, despite overwhelming evidence of my being there! 
(for those who don’t know me, that’s me on the far left, Patrick being at the far right; picture taken by Erin Mulder, Brian McCallister, though present at the dinner, had already left by the time the picture was taken).
I also see that Robert posted a comment on Patrick’s entry about him only talking about important people… I wish I could say I will make him eat his words as we battle in week 10 in our fantasy league but I’m not quite sure my Cassoulet Farts are up to the challenge!
NFL/FFL Week 7-8
Nov 1st
FFL-counting games are not done yet for this week but unless a miracle happens, I’m not going to win this week again: I’m down 48-93 with two of my players against one of his still to play. I didn’t notice that my kicker was on bye today and Culpepper had his first bad game of the year. My players did OK but all of my opponents’ had huge days (except for the Arizona’s defense)…
I had managed to scrap a win last week but that was no feat since my opponent seems to have given playing up…
On the NFL, the Broncos lost their second game in row: after being thoroughly dominated by Cincinnati last Monday night, they played poorly despite a stellar performance by Rod Smith this week to lose again at home against Atlanta. The defense didn’t seem to have an answer for Michael Vick who ran wild for 115 yards, while Plummer made costly mistakes… Hopefully, they’ll manage to win next week against a not-to-be-sneered-at Houston team. The playoff future which looked rosy after the big win against Oakland two weeks ago is turning out bleak in a repeat of the previous seasons. Broncos: pretenders or contenders? The jury is still out.
Fake Garden from the album NOIR ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK II by Yuki Kajiura
NFL/FFL Week 6
Oct 19th
Well, there’s been some improvement on the FFL front but you’d think that leading by ten with both my opponent and me still having one player to go (I had Bruce and she had Faulk), I would manage more than a tie! I again got several players who got me no points this week (Dunn, L.G. Smith and yes, Bruce). I decided not to start Dillon this week because I didn’t think that he would play that much not having practiced all week and all. I was right, on the other hand, in not starting Roy Williams (though Bruce didn’t end up raking me more points)… My players are too inconsistent and I never know what to expect. The only bright spot is Culpepper. I had lots of players on bye last week so I had to scramble a bit to get a decent line up. I also managed to grab Droughns (the new featured running back for the Broncos) off the waivers so I’m pretty happy about that. We’ll see how things shape up but I’m not too confident I can turn my season around. We’ll see.
The really good (at least for me) football news, on the other hand, is that Denver won convincingly (dare I say ‘routed’? ) against arch-rivals Oakland at Oakland. For the second time in a row, the running game worked really well. As is starting to become usual as well, Plummer made up for his early mistake (four incomplete passes followed by an interception on the fifth attempt to open the game) by playing quite well the rest of the game, throwing 3 TDs and not turning the ball over. In the past, such an early mistake would have (as it happened several times before) given the momentum to the Raiders but the Denver defense excelled once again only allowing a field goal after the turnover despite the really short field. Ashley Lelie also got his long touchdown, which is also starting to be quite a familiar sight. Should the Broncos keep their current focus and not look ahead too much and keep playing one game at a time, they have a chance to go far. However, they should NOT take a struggling Cincinnati team, looking to make a statement on Monday night, lightly.
Full OF Stars from the album Ether Song by Turin Brakes
NFL/FFL week 5
Oct 13th
In a rather untypical fashion for me during football season, I wasn’t able to follow football action this week. I was away for the long week-end with a couple of friends. I therefore don’t have much to say except that I am pleased about the fact that the Broncos won against Carolina and that they seem to have found a way to revive their running game. Ashley Lelie seems to begin performing like they thought he would, coming up with big plays in the fourth quarter to cement Denver’s victories three weeks in a row.
On the FFL front, I was playing Robert’s Feta Cheese team this week. As he mentions in his weblog, the contest resulted in another defeat for me despite managing to score quite a bit of points this time. Problem is that my receivers didn’t perform at all this week: Harrison continues to be disappointing while Roy Williams got hurt netting me 2 points between them.
At this point, with a record of 1-4, I’m not quite sure what to do. I have the second highest score this week, meaning that playing against anyone else in the league, I would have won. Overall, my team has scored the second highest number of points but I have the worse record. For that matter, one of the guys in our league doesn’t seem to be playing anymore since he hasn’t changed his line up in a while despite having players on bye and yet his team has a better record than I do! :’(
This week doesn’t look too good either: my opponent has some serious players and my best performers (apart from Culpepper) are on bye or hurt. I had to scramble to find a kicker, defense and receivers. I don’t think I will play Williams this week since he might not be healthy enough. I’m not holding my breath. My team, the Cassoulet Farts (renamed from their early name of Cassoulet Power) was originally supposed to defend the honor of this traditional French dish but seems now to just focus on the after effects…
Francesca from the album Francesca by Special Needs
NFL/FFL Week 4
Oct 5th
Another week, another FFL defeat. This is all the more disappoiting because, before looking at the actual results, I thought I had won: I was down 10 points entering Monday Night’s game with Baltimore’s defense and kicker (Matt Stover) still to play for me while my opponent was already done.
I knew it was going to come down to the wire but when Stover hit a 50 yarder (which is worth 5 points in our league), I started to relax some more. Then I thought I had clinched the victory when B.J. Sams, the rookie punt returner for Baltimore, returned a punt for a touchdown. You see, in all the previous leagues I had played, special team plays count towards the accumulated defense score. So I naively thought that the returned punt all but gave me the victory. Wrong! It turns out that our current league doesn’t work that way. So instead of scoring 7, Baltimore’s defense only scored 1 while Stover racked me a total of 8 points. Adding that up gives you 9, one short of my opponent! Bummer…
On the plus side, Denver won their fourth game grinding a victory past Tampa Bay in another offensive struggle. Fortunately, they managed to get the running game going when it mattered most in the fourth quarter, leading by 3 and needing to chew up the clock. I’m not real happy with the way they’re playing (especially when it comes to their traditionally dominant running game) but they’re showing great resilience and the defense is pretty good. Most importantly, they’re finding ways to winning close games (they would have won against Jacksonville were it not for that infamous fumble). If they can find a way to muster more efficiency on offense, they’ll be pretty damn hard to beat.
NFL/FFL Week 3
Sep 28th
The Broncos won in Denver against San Diego. A win is a win but the Broncos couldn’t run at all against a not-so-good Chargers’ defense. On the plus side, Plummer played really well and Lelie contributed a huge play, a 33-yard touchdown on fourth-and-nine. However, Griffin couldn’t get anywhere. He finished with 7 yards on 12 carries and only his yardage on the last couple of touches. Not only was he not productive but he also fumbled (third time in three weeks) leading to San Diego’s lone touchdown. This doesn’t bode well for the rest of the season. Hopefully, this was just a fluke…
This is also problematic for me as well since I started Griffin which actually led me to losing points… I also picked up Roy Williams during the week but forgot to change my lineup. My receivers did OK but not great (Harrison and Bruce). My second running back, Clinton Portis, ended up not scoring either thus gaining me not enough points to make up for my deficit and I dropped my second game in a row, sitting not too pretty at 1-2 right now. Oh well… I picked up Reggie Wayne as well this week so I might be getting more production out of my receivers in the coming weeks. I need to get some more points at the running back position as well. Hopefully, Griffin will regain the confidence he seems to have lost. Not sure if I will keep playing him right now. I’ll see.
