Happy Birthday Tiger Woods

Happy Birthday Tiger Woods, the greatest golfer of our generation and possibly all time (still have to give the nod to the Golden Bear). He had a tough year, battled an addiction that his money grubbing wife did not give him any support. Got bashed in the media, but hey he is starting to turn it around on the golf course and its only a matter of time before he starts crushing majors and everyone wants him to endorse their product, we here at Diner Talk want Tiger to endorse our site and we are in the midst of contacting him. Happy 35 Tiger, keep killing it, and if you ever want to party come visit me at Partyland, MA or Jimmy at Gvegas, PA let us know.

Oh and its Queen James 29 i mean 26 birthday, but he sucks and know one cares cause he only responds to other celebrities on twitter.

Capital One Bowl Week Is Rediculous

                                        A hot box of rocks attending the Beef O Brady's Bowl in St. Pete

I love college football and I love to gamble, but I'm going to be honest, I HATE all the bowl games ESPN now sponsors with this stupid Capital One Bowl Week. They are saturating the market with meaning less college football games. Seriously if anyone turned on the horrid Beef O'Brady or what ever the hell its called bowl you know what I am talking about. Don't think there are too many bowls, digest this: From 1902 (First Rose Bowl) until 1971 (when the Fiesta Bowl was created, the last BCS bowl) there were only 10 bowl games, since then, 25 or so bowls have been creating including the BCS Championship Game (played at one of the four BCS stadiums but an entirely different game), with another bowl being added next year.

There are 35 bowls currently in place meaning 70 teams earn a bowl out of a possible 120 FBS teams,
now if my partyland educated math is correct that that is something like 58% of Football Bowl Subdivision making it to the "postseason". I honestly cant see how another bowl can be added and only teams with .500 records being allowed to participate.

Here are two solutions to this ever expanding dilemma, first is cutting the number of bowls and limiting the bowls (with the exception of the National Championship) to being played only on New Year's Day . This could definitely be possibility seeing how it is impossible for the Universities and ESPN to be making money of bowls like the Beef O Brady Bowl. How do we choose which bowls to eliminate, easy just keep the original 10 bowls add maybe 3-5 more for the hell of it and boom you have 15 somewhat meaningful bowls.

The second more sensible solution is add a playoff system, while this will take away all New Year's Day bowls, it will be ten times more exciting than the current layout. Set it up similar to how the FCS runs their playoff, except you can you current four bowl locations to play neutral site games. Start the playoffs right after conference championship weekend. Have 32 teams make the playoffs, auto bids for major conference winners, once eight teams remain play those games 4 games at the Current BCS stadiums (Rose Bowl, Orange Bowl, Sugar Bowl, Fiesta Bowl) with the final four and championship held at one of those four stadiums. While my idea is very rudimentary, it is a jumping off point and is definitely feasible. However it will never work because initially it will not make as much money as the current format does for ESPN and the NCAA.

Regardless of the solution it is only a matter of time, before people stop watching the bowls altogether, I mean even ESPN hosts think the current number of bowls is ridiculous and  no ESPN employee is supposed to bad mouth the Company.

****Tbred Prediction Notre Dame +3 tomorrow against the U, house money*******

League Fine's Jets $100k for 'TripGate,' ESPN has extensive coverage

ESPN NY:

The NFL has fined the New York Jets $100,000 for violating league rules in sideline tripping incident.

And that's all she wrote, folks. Case closed. One sentence. Can you imagine if this were the Patriots? The fuss this would generate? The fucking FBI would get involved...oh wait, that already happened. I guess thats just part of winning games and Super Bowls left and right...


*NOTE: since I posted this ESPN.com has lengthened their story on the Jets' fine. It is now a lengthy five paragraphs, two of which are one sentence long.

What is going on with the Jets?

Well, I just saw this on Barstool Sports Boston. Apparently more Michelle Ryan pictures have leaked and some of them are with an African-American male who resembles Darrelle Revis? Personally, I wasn't brave enough to check out the NSFW pictures. If that's what you're into, knock yourself out and let me know how that goes for you. I don't know what goes down on Revis Island, but I wouldn't touch it with a 10-foot pole.

Dez Bryant: G.O.A.T.?

I know it's way too early in his career, but last night Z and I were talking about how sick it would be if the Patriots were able to snag Justin Blackmon with what looks like will be the 15th or so pick in this year's draft (via Oakland thanks to the Richard Seymour trade, see "Kraft-Belichick genius" for more details). In our discussion I called Blackmon "Dez Bryant 2.0," which led to this discussion: Could Dez be the greatest receiver of all time?

In my opinion, only two things stand between Dez and G.O.A.T. status: his attitude and injuries. Obviously, injuries can happen to any player in any league, especially a receiver who plays in the same division as hard-hitting (and cheap-shot taking) cornerback Asante Samuel. While Bryant's ankle injury does not necessarily mean he is injury-prone (to my knowledge, he never had any notable injuries while at OSU), it is worth noting that Jerry Rice only once missed substantial time due to injury in his entire career, that coming in a severe knee injury he received in week one of the 1997 campaign. If Bryant can stay healthy, he certainly has the talent to be something special.

While Bryant has not been anything near the off-field distraction of say a T.O., he does at time appear to have a bit of an attitude. There was, of course, the situation in training camp where Bryant refused to carry Roy Williams' shoulder pads, a Cowboys rookie hazing tradition. But then again, Roy Williams sucks, so can you really blame him? Furthermore, it appeared at times that Bryant quit on some plays during his rookie season, and he become noticeably irked when the ball didn't come his direction in key situations. But hey, don't you want your star receiver to want the ball in big spots? Furthermore, one cannot really blame Bryant for becoming irritated amidst such a frsutrating season in Dallas. With the way the season has gone, everyone down there is becoming a bit restless. Those who weren't lost their job weeks ago.

To anyone who has seen Dez Bryant play football, it is obvious that he is a special talent and a physical specimen. He has everything you look for in a star receiver: great hands, incredible leaping ability, blazing speed and yes, even a little attitude. If Bryant can stay healthy he absolutely has a chance to be the greatest receiver of all time.

Follow Dez on twitter, @DEZ_88.

Classic

Nothing better than a sexist woman Helen Keller Jokes

Z on Sterger

I know my main man Jimmy just voiced his opinion on the whole Favre saga cumming (pun) to a close, but I wanna throw my two cents in here. First Goodell is a terrible commissioner and proves it week after week. However his hands are tied here, what is he supposed to do suspend Favre? The dude is headed for retirement no way he cums back next year, so essentially the only thing Goodell could do is fine him. Its like when you get pulled over for doing 95 in a 65 on RT 24 and the cop only gives you a "not wearing a seat belt ticket" cause you . Personally in both cases I think the guys in charge should let you go scot-free.
That brings me to my second point Brett Farve pisses me off, I get it its hard to give up a sport you played your whole life but cum on bro you're about to die and frankly you were never that good. You throw more stupid picks than anyone I've ever seen and listening to you talk makes me thank God every day that I'm from New Jersey and not bumblefuck, Mississippi.
Lastly, Jenn Sterger you are a hot box of rocks and I would love to bang you but honey there are better ways of becoming famous than ratting out famous athletes that show you their braciole. You clearly didn't want the police involved so you waited until the statue of limitations ran out, that way you can get all the attention without any of your dirty (and sexy) laundry being aired out.
 But even with his tiny dick and low IQ I would take Brett Favre in his prime over Eli

NFL continues to embarrass itself

Alas, chapters of the Brett Favre era keep coming to an end. First, the consecutive games streak, and now the NFL has concluded it's investigation regard the inappropriate text messages (aka dick pics) Brett Favre sent smokeshow Jenn Sterger when he was quarterback of the New York Jets. The NFLs final verdict: $50,000 fine for...wait for it...."failure to cooperate" with the league's investigation. What a fucking joke.

Clearly Favre sent this girl pictures of his dick. If he had nothing to hide, he would have cooperated with their investigation. This is just Goodell trying to protect Favre without losing his tough-guy image when it comes to penalizing players for personal conduct issues. Unfortunately here, he failed at doing both. Essentially, Goodell is saying we all know what Favre did, and we all know that given the precedent I have already set (see Ben Roethlisberger, etc.) I should be suspend him, but Favre is our golden boy who has taken enough big hits this year as it is.

In the end, everyone looks bad. Goodell looks like a jackass because he couldn't even come to a verdict on a pretty straight forward case. Farve looks like an asshole for not cooperating with the league. And Jenn Sterger...well, Jenn Sterger always looks good

Thanks anyways, Philly

If there is one thing I have learned over the years its this: Philadelphia is worthless. You can't count on them for anything. Well, that's not true. You can count on them for one thing: front-running fans who come out of the woodwork when their teams are good and throw everyone and everything involving their team under the bus the second they inevitably start to lose (because outside of the fluke 2008 Phillies, they always do). Let alone covering the spread -- a not unreasonable 14 points given the state of the two teams -- they couldn't even cheat their way into winning the game. Too bad were not all as smart as Cris Collinsworth who "could almost see this one coming."

Is there anyone else that would like to challenge TB12 for MVP?


Excuse me while I go swap Joe Webb for Mike Vick on my "Top Ten QBs right now" list.

**Editor's Note: Philly does actually have two redeeming qualities, Rocky and Cheesesteaks, other than that the city is a dump, I would take Newark over Philly any day of the week and twice on Sunday

See The Knicks

First and foremost ya boy correctly predicted the Knicks covering the spread tonight, chalk another one up to Tbred Predictions. Second, I don't care that the Knicks lost, they looked good, albeit missing a bunch of free ones from the line isn't. Raymond Felton continues to impress me, and deserves to be in the all-star game. Right now I would take him over Rajon Rondo. Call me an idiot but I know basketball, been around it my whole life. Yes Rondo is a better defender but honestly on offense he gives you nothing, zip, zilch, NADA. His assist totals are so high because he has a bunch of chuckers (really good shooters, but still chuckers) on his team, this means he one pass and swish from Allen or Pierce and boom he has a dime. Felton, runs the Knicks offense, he pushes the ball like a black Steve Nash, he runs the pick and roll with Amare like better than anyone in the game right now, and on top of that he scores, averaging 18 and change. And while stats don't tell the whole story, its ironic that Felton and Rondo average the same number of steals per game. But just suppose Felton and Rondo switch spots, Rondo would not considered a premiere guard on the Knicks, sorry its true cause he cant score, put Felton on the Celtics and you see pretty much the same production.

While I don't think you can lock up the Knicks as NBA Champs, they are proving that they're a dangerous team and you definitely don't wanna see them in a five game series (WHAT THEY GOT RID OF THAT??)

Jimmy Weighs in on Top QBs

I don't have the time to elaborate, but a bit of a fuss was made about Z's top 10 QB list, so to clarify here is mine. Keep in mind this is my Top 10 QBs right now, as in top 10 QBs I'd want to lead my team this season:

1. Tom Brady
2. Drew Brees
3. Peyton Manning
4. Aaron Rodgers
5. Phiilip Rivers
6. Mike Vick
7. Joe Flacco
8. Matt Ryan
9. Jay Cutler
10. Sam Bradford

I'm going to take a lot of heat on 9 and 10 so I will be back to defend them later.

Gov. Rendell has Redeemed the State of Pennsylvania -- almost

Ed Rendell would have been proud of the Philadelphia Eagles and Chicago
Cardinals, who played the 1948 NFL Championship Game in a blizzard.

As you all have probably heard by now, PA Governor Ed Rendell was extremely critical of the NFL's decision to move Sunday Night's Eagles-Vikings game to tonight due to inclement weather. The Democrat wasn't exactly soft-spoken in his criticisms, either. After calling the postponement "a joke" and declaring that "Vince Lombardi would be spinning in his grave" Rendell continued with this:

"My biggest beef is that this is part of what's happened in this country ... We've become a nation of wusses. The Chinese are kicking our butt in everything. If this was in China do you think the Chinese would have called off the game? People would have been marching down to the stadium, they would have walked and they would have been doing calculus on the way down."

Preach, thoroughbred, preach! I couldn't agree with Gov. Rendell more, quite honestly. On the same night that the Eagles were to host the Vikings, the New Jersey Devils hosted the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ. Simultaneously, the New York Islanders hosted the Montreal Canadiens in Nassau County on Long Island. The New York metro area got 2 feet of snow, in comparison Philadelphia got roughly a foot, and it was only about five inches at the scheduled game time of 8:20 PM.

Now I won't even get into the argument of "football is an outdoor sport, hockey is an indoor sport" because that is utter bullshit and everyone knows it. Just this year, the Patriots and Bears duked it out amidst a blizzard, however in hind sight the Bears probably wish they would have postponed or even canceled that one. I also won't turn this into a New York vs. Philadelphia debate, because as we all know New York wins that one 95 times out of 100 (with the 5 NY losses being the Giants vs. the Eagles). I will, however, investigate who is to blame for this embarrassment.

1. The City of Philadelphia -- It's the year 2010. We have snow plows, trucks full of salt and ash, and Doppler Radar that tell you when, where and how much snow is coming. You really can't clear the roads? Get it together man.
2. NBC -- If it wasn't for NBC, the game would have been played at 1:00 PM. Given that there were only five inches on the ground at 8:20, I think the conditions would have been just fine at 1:00, but that would cause NBC to lose a prime-time game. Can't do that, no, instead we'll just make history by having the first Tuesday NFL game since Bill Dudley was the MVP. (Never heard of him? Google him)
3. The Eagles -- Obviously, the Eagles have to have had some say in this. There is no way Roger Goodell wanted to move the game, and there is no way the Vikings wanted to stay in the miserable city of Philadelphia two extra days. Why would the Eagles want the game moved? Let's think about it. The Eagles game is built on speed. Mike Vick and DeSean Jackson just don't seem as intimidating when there are 50 MPH winds and nobody on the field can hold their footing. Also, you try tackling Adrian Peterson in a blizzard. That's hard enough when it's not snowing. Furthermore, think of the money the Eagles would have lost by having the game in a blizzard. Obviously Philly fans (since they're all, in the words of Gov. Rendell, wussies) aren't going to come out in strong numbers in a blizzard. That means the team will lose money on parking, concession sales, etc.
4. Brett Favre -- Ah, but it wouldn't be the NFL in 2010 without a Brett Favre subplot. As you probably know if you're reading this, because quite frankly I only think about 5 people at the most are reading this, Brett Favre was not cleared to play before Sunday night after suffering a concussion last Monday Night verse the Bears. Moving the game back two days gives the almighty Favre two extra days to stop seeing stars and possibly pass a concussion test. If anyone else follows Adam Schefter on twitter, you know this theory is now shot (or if it's true, it backfired) because Favre is inactive tonight. Still, on some level one has to feel the great gunslinger had his hand in all this somehow.
   

I'm sure the Chinese could conjure up some mathematical equation to figure out which of my theories is most accurate, but I'll just be content doing the American thing: crack open a few cold ones and put my money on Philly, even with the -15 spread. There's one thing I've learned in college, never bet against Andy Reid when he has extra time to prepare. Unless, of course, he's going against Belichick. But I learned that one in high school.

Michelle Beadle is a Hot Box of Rocks

Michelle Beadle is a smoke, she loves sports, and definitely can make a mean sandwich. Yeah she is kind old (35) but doesn't matter to me. One day she will retweet, cmon @ESPN_Michelle one time

PS. @ESPN_Ashley (Ashley McCloskey) is a smokeshow too
PPS. 100 bucks says Marcellus Wiley has banged both of them #tbredpredictions

You Us We Now

Knicks vs Dwanye Wade and his band of queers tonight. Now this game isn't gettin as much hype as the first meeting in the Garden probably because Knicks faltered in the second half, but I have a good feeling the Knicks show up to play, I'll take them plus +9. Lock it in. #tbredpredictions

Ps. Someone's ass needs to be dropped to night. I'm lookin at you Ronny Turiaf. I wanna see the Heat's child molester looking coach dangling from Amere's legs.

PPs. Can the Knicks bring back those uni's from the late 90s, things were straight thuggin.

Eli Manning Never Was, Is, or Will Be an Elite Quarterback

NJ.com

"It is the perfect debate for a sports bar — or, if you’re waiting out a blizzard-related travel delay, an airport: If you had to pick one quarterback to lead your team for the next eight years, who would it be?"

 Steve Politi, normally a decent columnist but his article today in the Star-Ledger was pathetic. He picks Aaron Rodgers as his QB of the future, aiite not a terrible choice but anyone else think that he is just caught up in AR no lube boning of the G-Men. He rules out TB12 only the greatest QB of our generation and Peyton Manning the second best QB of our generation because they are too old. You kidding me? In today's NFL QBs are protected more than the president, and both look great for being mid 30s. Politi decides to compare Eli to a bunch of QBs not named Brady or Peyton. He decides to that Eli is a top ten QB in the league. What a joke, this dope got lucky winning a Super Bowl, and is far from capable of leading the Giants on his own.

My unbiased top 10 list of best NFL QBs:
Tom Brady
Peyton Manning
Drew Brees
Aaron Rodgers

Philip Rivers
Matt Ryan
Mike Vick
Ben Roethlisberger
Joe Flacco
Matt Cassel


Eli falls in the 10-20 range. What makes all these QBs exceptional, is their ability to be great and make their teammates better, no matter what no names they play alongside. The only thing Eli makes great is the opposing D.

Fuck it, we'll do it live

My main man Willy (aka Z) and yours truly, Jimmy T-Bred, will be coming to you live right here on Diner Talk. Based out of Summit, NJ (primarily the Summit Diner), we will also be coming to you live from Fabulous G-Vegas, PA (Gettysburg College) and Partyland (Holy Cross). We will provide you with weekly NFL predictions as well as predictions from other major sporting events across the four major sports. Take 'em to Vegas, the T-Bred's are never wrong. Additionally, we will be blogging about anything and everything that crosses our minds so please feel free to drop us a line if you want to hear the T-Bred's opinions on any matter.

In conclusion, I'd like to give a big shout out to the role models who have inspired us: Ned's Younger Bro from Bros Like This Site, the good fellas at Bro Bible, and all the guys over at Barstool Sports.

EDIT: And of course, how could I have forgotten the best man on 1050 ESPN New York, the one and only Ryan Ruocco.

New Blog Come Get Some

New blog is up and running. It seems like everyone is bloggin now a days but me and my boy Jimmy, we are gonna be the best. Basically its only a matter of time before ESPN hires us cause combined we went 12-4 in picks this weekend. Chris Bermen still picks as the Swami and he hasn't had a winning week since Nam, probably because he never takes the Pats. Oh yeah eat at the #summit_diner its the best