Boxscore
| Game Summary (Earl Schmidt, NetFL Press) I get paid very well doing something I usually enjoy. There are, however, occasional games that I only report on under silent protest. Let me begin by being brutally honest. TB is quite the unsightly team, wholly outclassed in all aspects of the game by TH. OK, so not everyone who wears the uniform should be allowed to suit up. Such is most certainly the case for Jason Baker, the greatest goat this side of the fairytale land of satyrs, unicorns, pixies, and winning TB seasons. This journalist found himself maintaining sanity amidst the botched stumbling of Steve McNair and his sidekicks by drinking heavily and choking down moldy peanuts. Now, to TB's credit, they willingly subjected themselves to this game, knowing full well how it was likely to turn out, but I place a great deal of blame on TH for opting for this game over a likely more challenging foray against the Vienna Boy's Choir. Steve McNair noted, "We know it's going to be a hard-fought game when we play these clowns - tough, physical... It's important to win the physical football games because you put so much into it. We didn't do that today. Every time I looked up, I heard the crowd and I figured it was another turnover. It's tough to lose when you've worked all week. Mentally, you have to let it go." Jason Baker considered this when he said, "It really doesn't matter, I mean, we lost the game. I had full command of everything that was going on out there, just like I thought I would. I mean, again, you try to practice hard to try and prepare you for the game, but when you get in game situation, you have to take care of the little things and I think we didn't do that today TH has publically emasculated TB as though they were naught but a group of frenchmen on the battlefield, blitzing them by the tune of 31-30 in front of a jeering and hostile crowd. TH trails the all-time series 13-17 against TB. TH has a 2-10 regular season record. TB has a 9-3 regular season record (1-1 in this year's playoffs). Things went very well for the TH squad particularly on the defensive side of the ball last week as they racked up a combined 282 points, 149 on offense and 133 on defense. Eric Moulds with 21 points on offense and Asante Samuel with 28 points on defense were the top scorers. Things were not all roses, however. Said Coach/GM David Markfield, "I took exception to our execution on a few plays.. For one, Michael Myers was clearly showing some ill-effects from his intestinal parasite. Doc says that if he spent a little more time working off the flubber in his midsection than 'clubbing' and getting fat on the buck-a-bucket combo at the KFC, well, his medical list wouldn't read like a copy of 'War and Peace'. Back in my day, 'clubbing' was something untoward that you did to baby seals . As for those DST? They showed their ineptitude by amassing absolutely nothing over the course of the contest. Overall though, the Don't Euthanize After Disaster award - given to one blundering fool each week - was really difficult to decide on this go around. I promise the poor slob that I won't be taking away his livelihood. This week, the DEAD man in this game was Ben Roethlisberger. Though the game was already decided on the field, apparently neither team was done. David Markfield blathered, "Gosh... why are you even wasting my time looking for a comment about them? They're kinda like cockroaches - to be sure, they occasionally crawl out of the woodwork to be seen by all, but usually, they're lurking somewhere out of sight." In response, the TB coach noted, "I'm not saying that this is true, mind you, but I'm not saying it isn't. I heard tell that that owner of theirs has been kidnapping small children and selling them on the Chinese black market. Do I respect him? Does anyone?" | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||