Your Next President: John F. Kerry

Packers 28 - Redskins 14

This clinches it. Whether we find out officially late Tuesday night or in late December, the Packers (or, really, the Redskins) just ensured that Bush will be ousted. Thanks, boys!

Now, Brett did have 3 INTs, but he also threw a TD in his 33rd straight game. Al Harris did let Rod Gardner catch 2 TDs, but he also did pick Brunell off in the 4th quarter when it really mattered. And even though Ahman had a pretty lackluster performance, he did score 2 TDs. All in all, the game was kind of a wash. But a victory.

I was nervous when we started... er, stopping in the 2nd half. We scored 3 points on our first possession of the 2nd half, and then not a whole lot until the end of the game, when we were playing reactive football. I prefer it when we are proactive. Going for it on 4th and inches near the goal line early in the game is a good example. (It's also something I don't think Rossley would have called, so I'm still liking Coach Gimli making the calls on offense!)

We need the week off. We have to heal. I'm hoping we can be as successful after the bye this year as we were last year. We get to start fresh, since we're now .500 again.

Also of note in the NFC North: Both Minnesota and Detroit lost today. (Minnesota got pounded -- I'm hoping for a similar turnaround for them this year, too!)

A funny note about Harris: FOX showed a shot of him from behind in the first quarter, his dreadlocks streaming out from under the back of his helmet. Brett and I were eating lunch, and he pointed at the screen and said, "Look, that's mommy!"

Not About Parrots

With all of the spin that has surrounded the upcoming election, I'd be incredibly surprised if anyone is really informed anymore. Now is the perfect time to take a step back, outside this well-established swing state, even as far out as, say, Europe! The most refreshing point of view I've read in the past couple of weeks came from a surprising source: John Cleese.

In his posting, Cleese quotes Anatole Kaletsky's excellent article about democracy in yesterday's London Times. An excerpt:

The primary function of democracy is not to elect good leaders, since nobody can predict in advance how a politician will perform. It is to eject leaders who have manifestly failed. The ability to remove leaders who turn out to be corrupt, dangerous, outrageously dishonest or manifestly incompetent is the primary privilege and duty of any democracy. And if any leader in our lifetime deserved to be ejected by voters, regardless of their ideology or political persuasion, it is surely President Bush.

Also, one more observation regarding spin: The RNC is all about the negative ads now. Our television has been bombarded with images of wolves (representing the terrorists -- remember when monkey-boy couldn't stop calling them "the evildoers"? Ah, memories...), overinflated tallies of "misguided" votes on the Senate floor, and out-of-context quotes (the completely misunderstood "global test," terrorism as "a nuisance," and so on). Their only recent "warm-and-fuzzy" ad is some dripping chronicle of a young girl who got a hug from Bush and cried. By contrast, a couple of the mail ads we've recently gotten from the DNC and their latest commercial all have a positive, pro-Kerry message, featuring Kerry himself respectfully asking for our vote. Not that he hasn't attacked Bush, mind you, but considering how much he has to work with, I can't help but consider this taking the high road!

Quote of the Day from yesterday:

"We have the terrorists on the run...."

Um... yeah. Osama was on my television again last night. Nice work, monkey-boy.

Packers and Presidents

This is the best omen ever.

From this week's dope sheet on Packers.com:

Since voters elected Franklin Roosevelt to his first of four terms in 1932, the Redskins have forecasted the next President. Over the past 18 elections, a Redskins win the weekend before Election Day has preceded a win by the incumbent party. On the other hand, a Redskins loss before the vote has preceded a loss by the incumbent party.

Swing state, my ass! Wisconsin's pulling for Kerry this weekend!!!

Disenfranchised?

I'm getting to hate the idea of political polls before the election. I long for the days of the Pony Express, when we wouldn't know much about what was going on in Washington unless we'd actually seen a candidate out stumping his message for ourselves. Yes, I know, there were papers, but I am of the belief that I would not have read them.

Imagine: not even knowing for sure who was elected until days after the election! ...Oh, wait....

Anyway, in what I can only assume is an effort to further frustrate me personally, USA Today is posting Gallup's criteria for determining who is a "likely voter" in a quiz-type format on this page. Just seven little questions, but they're changing the way we all think, I can guarantee. For example, I was pissed to discover that, according to the way I answered my first time through, I am apparently not likely to vote... even though, on the last question, I ranked myself a 10, meaning I am someone who definitely will vote. I don't get it.

My mind bends (to the left, of course), trying to parse this information. How many of us are not likely voters, according to Gallup? Is it 50-50 among Kerry supporters and Bush supporters -- in which case this makes no difference -- or is there some subset of the nation that collectively would support one candidate over the other but is not being represented in any of Gallup's polls, simply because they're not considered likely to vote?!

But all of this serves to demonstrate my point: IT DOESN'T MATTER. In 2000, the polls had monkey-boy ahead by several points this many days before the election* but Gore won the popular vote... but monkey-boy won the electoral college.

So it doesn't matter.

Ow. Brain hurts.

200th Game

Packers 41 - Cowboys 20

Today marked Brett Favre's 200th career game. It was also his 195th consecutive start and his 31st consecutive game with a TD pass. Instead of tracking all of this here, though, I've discovered a page at Packers.com called Favre Watch that's doing it for me!

But speaking of TD passes, I must comment on a new and somewhat exciting trend we appear to have begun. For the second (victorious) week in a row, one of our running backs has a TD pass! Today, it was Tony Fisher, and last week it was Ahman Green. Now, I have to admit that in the Monday night debacle, I was extremely offended when the Titans pulled a trick play (McNair lateraled to Drew Bennett, who then threw a 26-yard TD pass) late in the game when they already had a more-than-comfortable lead on us. As a result, as excited as I was to see Ahman's pass last week, I was also cringing inside, knowing that we were basically doing the same thing to the Lions that had so embroiled me when it happened to us a week earlier. Fisher's pass was just as exciting, and didn't cause me as much turmoil, as I wouldn't say we had the game "in the bag" at the point when it occurred.

Another trend over the past two victories: Mike Sherman has been calling all the plays in to Brett. A couple weeks back, Tom Rossley had heart surgery (perhaps his heart exploded during or shortly after the Titans game), so he hasn't been around to perform his Offensive Coordinator duties. This leaves Sherman to handle that. Chris says the Packers should just let Brett call all the plays... and I agree that's a good idea for passing plays, but I don't know if I'd trust him to handle running downs. After all, in the end, we are a running team that uses the run to set up the pass. Our most dismal failures come when we find ourselves down by two or three scores in, say, the first quarter, and we need to scrap the runs and play catch-up by throwing the ball all over the field. This tends to cause trouble. What I see Rossley doing is attempting to maintain the runs early in the game, even when we are down, and even when the run is absolutely stuffed. It's the whole "scripting the first 15 plays" thing that I really don't get on board with. Anyway, I like what Sherman's been calling. Brett has something to do with it, too, though. At one point in the game, they showed the stat that he'd had 16 receptions to 10 different receivers.

I still don't love our defense. However, I really missed Grady Jackson. He came back today for the first time since he was injured in the opener at Carolina, and he made his presence known on several plays! Our corners and safeties still get beat, though, and with any team worth their salt passing, that will continue to haunt us. For now, I'm hoping that we can pull out a victory in D.C. next week just to make .500 by the middle of the season.

Man, I never would have thought I'd be saying that by this time this season.

Cromulent Avoision

See? Told ya' so.

It's been almost two weeks since my last post. It was bound to happen. Some things take precedence over maintaining an online presence:


Alexa Janel was born on Wednesday, October 13th, at 8:54pm. She's my baby girl. =)
© 2004 Andy Stoffels

Note: Her due date was today. Her mommy is of course more than happy that she arrived early!

In the meantime...

Packers 38 - Lions 10

I had almost forgotten what that felt like! Brett's Birthday celebration was allowed to occur without poor attitudes by his father and Chris. The Weis clan joined us early on Sunday so we could (as it turned out) enjoy the game together. They arrived about halfway into the first quarter. I had planned on joking when they arrived that the Lions were only up 17 - 0. That backfired, though, when Brett Favre drove the team 75 yards down the field and found Double-D in the end zone. It was 7 - 0 Pack when they got here.

The rest of the game showcased a much better Packers D than we've seen since the opener. Going into the game, our defense was ranked 31st in the NFL, and 30th against the run. Last time I checked, there were only 32 teams in the NFL. Nice, huh? In the second half of the game, we didn't let the Lions score at all. We're up to 21st overall now. At this rate, we'll be at #1 the week after the bye... =)

Oh, and here's another...

Site of the Day: Current Electoral Vote Predictor 2004

It's busy almost all the time, but it's worth the wait. This is an extremely informative, frequently-updated site. Its owner takes into account all of the latest polls done nationwide, and keeps track of who's ahead in the Electoral College. He admits he's pro-Kerry, but apart from a few Bush jokes here and there in the site's prose, it's a pretty even-handed presentation.

Worst... Game... Ever.

Packers 27 - Titans 48

There have never been so many points scored against the Packers at Lambeau field before. Ever.

I can't think of a single aspect of our game that wasn't flawed tonight. It's like we made nothing but mistakes. Our defense didn't make the game, I don't think. Every time we had a chance to get back in the game, we blew it. We had six turnovers. Brett threw two interceptions in a row. Double D lost a fumble. Chatman muffed a punt. It was the most painful thing I've watched in a long time.

Yes, Brett did have two TD passes -- both to Bubba, in fact. That's fine, but we're now coming to the point where the number of streaks that are continuing is being eclipsed by the number that are ending. That's not fine. It's really hard to be a fan right now.

Don't get me wrong: I remain an extremely stubborn fan. I will always root for the Packers, always love them. More and more, though, the team is turning into a laughing stock. There is a lack of respect for the Packers that is suddenly pevading the NFL, the media, and now even the fans. Last week, Jeremy Shockey showed his usual lack of respect twice -- only once did his behavior draw a flag. Tonight, the Titans twisted the knife with a lateral/TD pass when they were already up by 21 points. I know, it's a game. Still, it hurt. My biggest fear is that Lambeau is dying.

I hate that there's booing there. I hate that more than half of the fans left in the fourth quarter. I hate that so many of my predictions (fears) about this season have turned out to be true, while Brett's own predictions ("Super Bowl or bust" sticks in the mind) have not. I hate that I feel shame being a fan right now. I hate that I feel partly responsible -- as though, because I had negative thoughts, they became self-fulfilling prophecies.

Next week, we need to go to Detroit and play one of the teams I worried most about looking at our schedule this year. We lost to the other one last week. <-- See? Right there. If we lose next week, it will now be my fault. Not because I wrote it here, mind you, but because I thought it a few months ago.

I have decided, BTW, that all of this is President* Bush's fault. He's an asshole. He's a dumb asshole. He has ruined this country, and -- since the Packers are "the real America's Team" -- he has ruined all of us as a result. God only knows why most of the residents of Wisconsin are so fucking conservative. Maybe this relaization will spread and help Kerry clinch the state, and our 10 electoral votes will in turn win him the election. At least that would be a silver lining.

Pessimism

There are 6 minutes and 5 seconds left in the first quarter. We're at home. We're behind 17-0 to another 3-1 team. There is actually booing at Lambeau.

Oh, and Ahman has already fumbled... and you know that statistic.

I am not happy.

Brett's 35

Today, Brett turns 35. (That's Brett Favre, of course.) Some posit that his time is running out, but, as he is now the same age as my wife, I choose a more optimistic position! In celebration of this milestone, I present this story, which celebrates the legendary mystique of the holiest of holy places in the NFL... LAMBEAU FIELD.

BTW, if you didn't read that last part with Chris Berman's voice in your head, you just don't understand.

Also BTW, yes, of course I'm hoping the baby is born today! Imagine: One child with his name and the other with his birthday. I'm doing everything I can, but unfortunately it's not up to me.

Clusty?!?

Okay, well they could really have worked on a better name, but...

Site of the Day: Clusty

A new search engine which will no doubt rise in popularity and eventually challenge Google. I like the concept from a research standpoint. Reminds me a lot of Northern Light, which used to be an excellent search engine [from archive.org].

Jon Stewart Rocks

I love The Daily Show. Jon Stewart and his writers -- several of whom, as I learned from Jesse earlier today, are graduates from the UW -- are really just damn funny... and damn right.

Tonight, Rob Corddry argued that "there is an enormous gap between what John Kerry means and what the Republicans say he means." Jon, of course, objected, so Rob clarified: "John Kerry has had a really hard time being straightforward about admitting what the Republicans say he believes!"

Now that's funny.

It all stemmed, of course, from a discussion of the Republicans' death grip on Kerry's use of the phrase "global test" in the debate last week. They're all insisting that he meant that, before we go to war, we must get the approval of other countries; that we would be giving "countries like France" the power to veto it. Here it is in context:

JIM LEHRER: What is your position on the whole concept of preemptive war?

JOHN KERRY: The president always has the right, and always has had the right, for preemptive strike. That was a great doctrine throughout the Cold War. And it was always one of the things we argued about with respect to arms control.

No president, though all of American history, has ever ceded, and nor would I, the right to preempt in any way necessary to protect the United States of America.

But if and when you do it, Jim, you have to do it in a way that passes the test, that passes the global test where your countrymen, your people understand fully why you're doing what you're doing and you can prove to the world that you did it for legitimate reasons.

You be the judge.

Faces of Frustration

The Democratic National Committee has posted a video in which they have spliced together some our idiot president's most damning looks from last Thursday night's debate. It is from the DNC, so there's obviously a bias there, but come on: He's so unpresidential it's really just plain funny. Besides, it's not like they augmented the video to make him look different than he really looked during the debate!

Most interesting: I was actually able to "hear" most of these looks right over the radio. This also scares and depresses me.

What a Knockout

Packers 7 - Giants 14

This is getting scary.

For the second week in a row, Brett Favre was unable to finish a game. This time, he got knocked out with a concussion in the third quarter.

The good news: 1) He was still able to start the game, keeping that streak going (we're at 212, including the playoffs), and 2) miraculously, he kept his other streak going, too...

...After he was knocked down, he left the game for a few plays and Doug Pederson took over. He got us down to the 28, but with a 4th down and 5. Suddenly, in comes Brett. The crowd is excited, but somewhat apprehensive, too. I think everyone was afraid he was just there to try a hard count. Imagine everyone's excitement when he stepped back in the pocket and hauled off a 28-yard TD pass to Javon Walker!!! That's 29 straight games with a TD pass.

The bad news: He didn't come back after that. We're 1-3. Ahman fumbled. Our defense sucked. The only reason the score was so close was because Steve Christie missed three field goals. And at the end of the game, Craig Nall completed a huge pass down the field, but to the center of the field! Tick, tick, tick, bye.

Petulant Bush

I didn't watch the debate last night; I listened to it. I cannot believe how pissed off Bush sounded! He wasn't prepared, and it came across in his voice as clear as day. He stuttered and stammered (nothing new), and stumbled to answer the questions that were put to him, often choosing instead to continually insist that what he does is "hard work." I think he said that ten times throughout the debate... and not because anyone asked him, either! It came across to me like an excuse for why he's been such a shitty president! At one point, after Bush answered a question about his decision to invade Iraq, Kerry just absolutely slammed him, reminding everyone in America that Iraq didn't attack us on September 11th, 2001 -- Osama bin Laden did. Bush's response? "Of course I know Osama bin Laden attacked us! I know that!" All in a perturbed, petulant tone. Sounds real comforting, there, monkeyboy.

My jaw hit my chest a few times during the debate, in "shock and awe" over some of the things that were said. My favorite moment: Jim Lehrer asked Bush about his priorities of going after Saddam Hussein vs. going after bin Laden, and in his response, monkeyboy said, "Of course we're after Saddam Hussein -- I mean bin Laden." LOL!

There is no question in my mind that Kerry "won" this debate, but -- better still -- I think it's more significant that Bush once again displayed for an international audience his total and complete incompetence and an obvious lack of intelligence. He really is just a dumbass.