# NFL Week 1 **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [September 10, 2009, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-1/509569 "2009-09-10T16:25:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2009, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-1/509569/61 "2009-09-12T23:00:01Z")
Everyone does that, unfortunately. “Look at the blindside hit away from the play Hines Ward just made to that guy’s neck! And he’s smiling! What a terrific football player! What a great blocker!” It’s like the stupid Favre love. “Look how much fun he’s having out there, despite just throwing his 4th interception!” ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2009, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-1/509569/62 "2009-09-12T23:32:12Z")
> [@MHaye](#): > > Anybody got a good news site available to people not resident in the US to follow the game this season? I can’t read [NFL.com](http://NFL.com) because of the three layers of adverts that have appeared over about half the content. [cnnsi.com](http://cnnsi.com) or [espn.com](http://espn.com) should be better. If you sign up for any fantasy football site, you’ll probably like their coverage of games better. ---
**Author:** ![Southern\_Yankee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/southern_yankee/32/2800_2.png) [@Southern\_Yankee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Southern_Yankee)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2009, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-1/509569/63 "2009-09-12T23:56:03Z")
I’m going to the Panthers/Eagles game tomorrow. I’m cutting back from 8 games to 3 this year (mostly because my wife doesn’t appreciate me leaving her with the 3 young’ns 8 Sundays in Autumn…) I’m looking forward to getting back to the stadium, but honestly, I’m probably happier watching the games at home these days. I have a decent-size HD TV, with DVR so I can pause and replay at will; a comfortable sofa; and all the snacks/beverages I need without getting rooked with concession prices. Sure, you don’t have the ambiance of thousands of people who can’t stay in their seat for more than 5 minutes parading up and down the stairs, often blocking your view at crucial times in the game; or douchebags on their cell phones not paying attention; or the traffic, but still… ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2009, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-1/509569/64 "2009-09-13T01:25:02Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > Everyone does that, unfortunately. “Look at the blindside hit away from the play Hines Ward just made to that guy’s neck! And he’s smiling! What a terrific football player! What a great blocker!” > > It’s like the stupid Favre love. “Look how much fun he’s having out there, despite just throwing his 4th interception!” My favorite is the deification of Ben Toothlessburger. It never gets old hearing how heroic he is, playing through all those self induced dramas/injuries. Madden was particularly effusive in that regard. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2009, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-1/509569/65 "2009-09-13T01:39:04Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > Everyone does that, unfortunately. “Look at the blindside hit away from the play Hines Ward just made to that guy’s neck! And he’s smiling! What a terrific football player! What a great blocker!” > > It’s like the stupid Favre love. “Look how much fun he’s having out there, despite just throwing his 4th interception!” I love this. The Steelers folks are whining in **A\_D** ’s thread about how Al Michaels and Collinsworth were anti-Steelers. I felt like I had stepped into bizarro world. I think Collinsworth is one of the best, and deserving of the prime time slot. That’s pretty high praise coming from me; I despise most NFL announcers (though none more than Joe Buck and Dan Dierdorf). ---
**Author:** ![Chanteuse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de053/32.png) [@Chanteuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chanteuse)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2009, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-1/509569/66 "2009-09-13T03:32:45Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > I generally like Collinsworth too, until he engages in a Steeler blowfest like he did in the Titans game. No kidding. I mentioned to my daughter during the game that if any of the Steelers stopped moving suddenly, the commentators’ heads would go right up Steeler butt. Particularly Worthlessburger’s. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2009, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-1/509569/67 "2009-09-13T11:37:55Z")
> [@Hamlet](#): > > You’re mistaken. It’s 34 more hours until REAL football starts again. The Packers don’t play until Sunday night. Granted they don’t play a high caliber team, but rather a team that has been living on the fumes of one great season 34 years ago all but forgetting that, with that team, they should have had a dynasty instead of a one and done. But it will be a fun game to watch. Kinda like those Florida v. Florida College of Invalid Possums games in the first few weeks of college games. They must not teach math in the great white north. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2009, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-1/509569/68 "2009-09-13T12:14:04Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > I love this. The Steelers folks are whining in **A\_D** ’s thread about how Al Michaels and Collinsworth were anti-Steelers. I felt like I had stepped into bizarro world.’ I was willing to accept that you simply had a difference of opinion, or perhaps didn’t know that Collinsworth in particular, being an ex-Bengals great (to be charitable inasmuch as outside of Munoz Bengals greats do not exist), has had a hard-on for the Steelers for years. But then you went and said this: > [@](#): > > I think Collinsworth is one of the best, and deserving of the prime time slot. You are dead to me. Seriously? Collinsworth? Madden at his most senile was 100 times the announcer Collinsworth is. He’s the Joe Morgan of football. Lay down the pipe and step away from the TV. ---
**Author:** ![quixotic78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/3ab097/32.png) [@quixotic78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/quixotic78)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2009, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-1/509569/69 "2009-09-13T13:19:19Z")
> [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](#): > > You are dead to me. Seriously? Collinsworth? Madden at his most senile was 100 times the announcer Collinsworth is. He’s the Joe Morgan of football. Lay down the pipe and step away from the TV. Gentlemen, gentlemen, please. Can’t we all agree that they _both_ suck? ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2009, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-1/509569/70 "2009-09-13T13:32:20Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > I love this. The Steelers folks are whining in **A\_D** ’s thread about how Al Michaels and Collinsworth were anti-Steelers. I felt like I had stepped into bizarro world. > > I think Collinsworth is one of the best, and deserving of the prime time slot. > > That’s pretty high praise coming from me; I despise most NFL announcers (though none more than Joe Buck and Dan Dierdorf). Chris Collinsworth, in my opinion, has improved over his years in the booth, including in his ability to call a Steeler game in an unbiased fashion. When he first started, however, his years getting his ass handed to him as a Bengal in the AFC Central showed up whenever he called a Steeler game. As I said before, I thought he did a pretty good job calling last Thursday’s game, with a few exceptions. He called out several bad ref calls that went against the Steelers. I don’t know what Michaels deal is, but his calling of the Steelers superbowls this decade is a primary reason for this Stealer bullshit. A prime example, as I noted in the other thread, was his rooting for the Titans to throw a red flag on a forward pass by the Steelers where Ben didn’t come within 5 yards of the line of scrimmage. It was so bad that he had to correct himself when he came back after the commercial. Halfway through the last Superbowl, where I thought Madden even had toned down his shit, Michaels started with his “shades of 2005?” and “wonder what Mike Holmgren would have to say about that?” kind of commentary. I used to think he was a great sports announcer, but not anymore. By the way, I agree with you about Joe Buck - just awful. You should have heard his father call a football game - orders of magnitude worse. But Dan Dierdorf I thought was one of the better announcers, just because he seemed to love the game and he focused on aspects of the game that I enjoy. He also never appeared to have a bias towards any particular team. ---
**Author:** ![UncleNito](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/7cd45c/32.png) [@UncleNito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleNito)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2009, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-1/509569/71 "2009-09-13T13:38:13Z")
> [@Hamlet](#): > > You’re mistaken. It’s 34 more hours until REAL football starts again. The Packers don’t play until Sunday night. Granted they don’t play a high caliber team, but rather a team that has been living on the fumes of \*\*one great season 34 years ago \*\*all but forgetting that, with that team, they should have had a dynasty instead of a one and done. But it will be a fun game to watch. Kinda like those Florida v. Florida College of Invalid Possums games in the first few weeks of college games. Bolding added. **Hamlet** , I feel ya. I have a Bears-fan buddy who talks smack about games that took place when he was still in diapers. Then I remind him of Favre’s 9-game or whatever winning streak against the Bears in the '90s and he tells me to stop living in the past. But 1985, that one good year they had, wasn’t _that_ long ago. Looking forward to tonight, hoping Raji is OK and gets to play some. I’m a little apprehensive about the new defense, but they can’t be much worse than last year and Capers has a good first-season track record. ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2009, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-1/509569/72 "2009-09-13T14:52:04Z")
Why does Buck suck? I never noticed. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2009, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-1/509569/73 "2009-09-13T15:43:17Z")
> [@Bearflag70](#): > > Why does Buck suck? I never noticed. Mealy-mouthed. His feigned shock over the Randy Moss fake mooning incident made me throw up in my mouth a little bit. > [@](#): > > Chris Collinsworth, in my opinion, has improved over his years in the booth, including in his ability to call a Steeler game in an unbiased fashion. When he first started, however, his years getting his ass handed to him as a Bengal in the AFC Central showed up whenever he called a Steeler game. As I said before, I thought he did a pretty good job calling last Thursday’s game, with a few exceptions. He called out several bad ref calls that went against the Steelers. > > I don’t know what Michaels deal is, but his calling of the Steelers superbowls this decade is a primary reason for this Stealer bullshit. A prime example, as I noted in the other thread, was his rooting for the Titans to throw a red flag on a forward pass by the Steelers where Ben didn’t come within 5 yards of the line of scrimmage. It was so bad that he had to correct himself when he came back after the commercial. I didn’t watch much pro football until 2000 or so, so my experience with early Collinsworth is nonexistent. I like him because he stays focused (doesn’t start talking about the Giants’ big Week 11 matchup in Week 2), knows the game, and doesn’t do the most annoying thing football commentators can do- praise a boneheaded play when it comes to a good result (like making an interception six yards deep in the endzone and bringing it out despite not having an open running lane, then breaking a couple of tackles to take it to the house). He wasn’t rooting for the Titans to challenge; he was wondering why they hadn’t. It seemed to me like he just lost track of where the line of scrimmage was. Anyway, considering the officiating in the Seahawks-Steelers Super Bowl I can’t really fault Michaels for calling the officials out. ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2009, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-1/509569/74 "2009-09-13T15:44:23Z")
> [@Bearflag70](#): > > Why does Buck suck? I never noticed. [Exhibit A](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dmqGg6Ccvw): overreacting. ---
**Author:** ![Hamlet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hamlet/32/2818_2.png) [@Hamlet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamlet)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2009, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-1/509569/75 "2009-09-13T17:14:34Z")
And it begins… ---
**Author:** ![IAmNotSpartacus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@IAmNotSpartacus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IAmNotSpartacus)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2009, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-1/509569/76 "2009-09-13T17:43:44Z")
Might I cordially invite the NFL, Fox and CBS to all cordially go get fucked? My AM options for network viewing, this glorious First Sunday: MIN vs. CLE -or- NYJ vs. HOU Urgh. ---
**Author:** ![Rysto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecccb3/32.png) [@Rysto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysto)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2009, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-1/509569/77 "2009-09-13T18:06:44Z")
The rule that denied the Browns a touchdown is ridiculous. The receiver was back in bounds; what does it matter that he hadn’t got two feet on the ground yet? ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2009, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-1/509569/78 "2009-09-13T18:23:48Z")
Cribbs: great football player or the greatest football player? ---
**Author:** ![Hamlet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hamlet/32/2818_2.png) [@Hamlet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamlet)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2009, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-1/509569/79 "2009-09-13T18:42:37Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > Cribbs: great football player or the greatest football player? Greatest football player (on the Browns). Of course that’s not saying much. Seriously though, the Brownies looking good so far. Their defense is doing great keeping AD under wraps, and not giving Favre anything but dump offs. GO BROWNS!!! ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2009, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-1/509569/80 "2009-09-13T19:06:05Z")
Cold beer? Check Navajo tacos? Check Cardinals begin their return to the Super Bowl with a win over SF? Coming up in an hour! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-1/509569.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-1/509569.md?page=5)