Current Connection Numero 5

I know you're getting tired of reading these current connection thingamabobs about football but I the NFL to be a quite simple topic to write about, for me at least. So let's begin shall we?

The savage vultures that is the media covering the classic quarterback controversies has once again stricken the locker room within the walls of  49er head quarters. The Niners of West Bay are no stranger to quarterback controversies. Towards the end of the 80s, the late Bill Walsh, head coaching great and pioneer of the west coast offense, began to take measures for having a suitable back-up quarterback to the all-time great, Joe Montana, who unfortunately developed a tendency to be injury prone. The Fighting Irish's finest, Golden Joe had already taken a team who once was the perennial door mat of the NFL, excluding the John Brodie and Y.A. Tittle years, to hoist the Lombardi trophy twice in the past 6 years but the team couldn't operate as efficiently without their on field general. Bill Walsh campaigned to find a suitable replacement when the time comes and what he saw was another future hall of famer in Steve Young. Young saw action occasionally during the Montana years as he watched Joe Cool take San Francisco to consecutive Superbowls in 88' and 89', but during the Niners' attempt at the unhearf-of threepeat in 90', Montana injured his throwing elbow on his last episode of 4th quarter heroics in 49ers garb. Thus ending the threepeat and the Montana era in San Francisco. Young took the reigns of the team and Montana left for Kansas City, taking along the 49ers fan base with him. Today, however, we have a similar "good" problem in West Bay.

 49ers quarterback Alex Smith, drafter first overall in the 05' draft, was finally clicking in San Francisco under Jim Harbaugh's mentorship. He had taken the Niners (along with the help of a superb defense) to a tight win against the favorite New Orleans Saints. Alex and the Niners went 13-3 that year in a return to excellence after 8 years of misery, making it to the doorstep of the Superbowl only to fall short due to two extremely untimely fumbles on part of special teams. Smith was having a good season and was ranked in the top 5 in quarterback rating. Although his numbers were exceptional, he was still criticized about being unable take over a game like other elite quarterbacks across the league. Everything changed against the St. Louis Rams when Alex was taken out of the game due to a concussion he suffered on a quarterback scramble. Colin Kaepernick stepped in and lead the San Francisco to a rare tie. Alex's chances of starting again seemed un-threatened until the Monday night game against the Chicago Bears. Alex was forced to sit out this game due to failing to be cleared by doctors to play. Colin Kaepernick in his 2nd season in the league was practically a rookie going against the #2 ranked Chicago defense. Chicago was expected to shut down San Francisco's offense but little to their knowledge, Colin was a sleeping lion awaiting to be unleashed upon the league. Colin slaughtered the Bears in a 32-7 rout under the bright lights of Monday Night. Since then Colin has started the past 2 weeks in a victory against the surging Saints at the deafening Mercedes Super Dome and a OT loss against the rising Rams at the Edward Jones Dome.

Jim Harbaugh's decision on starting quarterback was viewed as a stupendous success after Colin continued his stomping of the Saints but controversy arose once again after Colin made some foolish rookie mistakes against the Rams as the game was coming to a close. The 49ers OC called what looked like a triple option toss deep in Niner's territory. Instead of keeping the ball himself, Colin tossed the pigskin to receiver Teddy Ginn Jr. The ball flew about 2 feet out of Ginn's reach and was ruled a fumble since it fell behind the line of scrimage, becoming a lateral pass. Ram's rookie corner Janoris Jenkins recovered the fumble and instinctively scrambled into the endzone, allowing the Rams to tie the game and reach overtime. Colin was able to place the team in the position to win as he drove down the field in OT but he was let down by the struggling kicker, David Akers, who missed the 42 yard kick. The Rams, taking opportunity of great field position, sent out budding star kicker (if their could be a "star" kicker aside from Adam Vinateri) "Legatron" Greg Zuerlion. Zuerlion turned heads as he was able to boot 70+ yard kicks in warm ups which is especially impressive since the NFL record for longest kick is 63 yards, ironically tied by David Akers earlier this season. Zuerlion didn't disappoint with his chance of redemption after he missed the game winner earlier. San Francisco left with a loss to an obviously inferior Rams team. The media clambered around Harbaugh, pelting him with questions of whether Alex should start instead of Colin. Harbaugh, being the mad scientist that his is, again teased the media with the cliche,"going with the hot hand." Earlier this week, Harbaugh decided that Colin still has the "hot hand" and will once again start against the anemic Dolphins. The Niner's defense should be able to easily stomp out any spark from the Dolphin's offense, carrying Colin to another victory. The real decision comes in 2 weeks, when San Francisco travels to the frozen tundra of Foxborough, Massachusetts to challenge the currently 9-3 New England Patriots and super star quarterback, Tom Brady.

The decision of returning to the seasoned veteran or going to the future face of the franchise will continue to be up in the air according to the media until the end of the season. If Colin can take the Niners to where Alex couldn't last year, the Super Bowl, Harbaugh will be praised as a genius and if cannot, Harbaugh will be praised for doing what's best for the future. We're all living in Jim Harbaugh's world and the reporters are just pawns at his whim. They just don't know it and for how this affects me, I'm from the Bay. What goes down in the Bay, goes down in my house. Bye Bye

CURRENT CONNECTION NUMERO QUATRO (4)

 Well, I am sorry to disappoint you, but I am going to continue to write current connections relating to sports stories. I find them to be far easier to fabricate than your typical connection, for me at least. Now shall we begin? 

The Pittsburgh Steelers (6-3) narrowly edged out the Kansas City Chiefs (1-8) at home Monday in what was seemingly developing into a "trap" game for the Steelers (a trap game is where a far superior team falls to an immensely inferior team due to the former lowering their figurative guns and taking the day off). Although they may have came away with the victory, they may have lost all hopes of winning the division with the Baltimore Ravens lurking around the corner. "Big" Ben Roethlisberger was sandwiched by Justin Houston and Tamba Hali as he was stepping up into the pocket in an attempt to avoid the relentless pass rush of Kansas City. Roethlisberger crumbled to the ground under the weight of both of the 265 pound defenders in what seemed to be just another victory for the Chief's defense, until all of Steeler nation (which I am not a part of nor will I ever be) held their collective breathes as Big Ben made his way to the locker room  clutching his right shoulder and arm. The split-second play jeopardized the game and potentially the season for Pittsburgh, but Byron Leftwich was able to manage the team and lead them to a victory in overtime. 

News of Big Ben's injury was thought of only to have been a common shoulder sprain in the quarterback's throwing shoulder until light was shed upon the affliction on Tuesday morning. According to Ben and his medical examiners, the 6'4", 241 pound man under center has suffered an extraordinarily rare rib dislocation, an injury only seen once before in any professional sport which the first being a rugby player in '95. What really makes Steeler fans and NFL fans in general cringe just at the thought of is that the dislodged rib happens to be directed towards his aorta and if pressed upon, could puncture his lung and potentially kill the quarterback. The Steelers have obviously took precautionary measure and has ruled their quarterback out for Sunday night's game against their division rival, the Baltimore Ravens. 

The Ravens have lost a their own fair share of star player this season. Their 13 time Pro Bowl selection Inside lineback, Ray Lewis, tore his pectoral muscle earlier in the season and led some analysts to believe that the all time great may finally hang up the cleats on a phenomenal career. This, however, does not necessarily even the playing field for the two teams. Ray Lewis may have had a far greater career when compared to Roethlisberger but Ben happens to play a far more important position (quarterback > inside linebacker). The Baltimore Ravens should be a clear favorite for their next meeting with the Steelers but if that wasn't bad enough for Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh and Baltimore happen to face off again two weeks after the Sunday night game. If Baltimore can take advantage for the Steelers misfortunes, Baltimore should easily be able to win the division and secure a playoff spot along with a first round bye.

This sole injury may have a lasting effect on every team as the clubs begin to make their annual playoff push this December. The Steelers may make the playoffs but they should provide an easy target for any team they encounter on the road to the Super Bowl. Pittsburgh's shortcomings may leave the door open for any team to perhaps "fluke" their way into championship contention, but only time will tell. The Steelers season rests on the recovery time of Big Ben's ribs and as far as I am concerned, take your time Ben's ribs. We are in no hurry for your return. Love Baltimore.

Current Connection #tres (three for you white folk)

One of the most important events in human history happened to occur approximately 2 weeks ago and for the second time in the past three years! Of course I'm talking about the Champion San Francisco Giants winning the World Series. The World Champion Giants faced elimination 6 times on their road to the World Series and upon reaching the home stretch of their phenomenal post season to ultimately sweep the ALCS Champion Detriot Tigers.
The Giants climbed back from being down 0-2 in the Divisional Series against the Cincinnati Reds and down 1-3 in the Conference Series against the defending champion St. Louis Cardinals. People from every corner of the world counted the Giants out. A team that couldn't lead in the playoffs should not stand a chance against the ALCS Champions who swept their own advisarries, the Yankees.
The Giants backs were to the walls constantly. They kept getting knocked down and yet they got right back up swinging away. A little Rocky Balboa mentality goes a long way. The Giants would go on to capture their 2nd World Series since moving to San Francisco in '58 and along the way, inspiring millions to never give up no matter how impossible the task at hand may seem. I, being a former resisdent of the Bay, was also delighted to witness the Giants steamroll their way over the Tigers.

Current Connection thingamajigger 2

Well the 2012 Presidential Election is creeping up. Who you decide to elect or re-elect is your opinion and I am not here to try to convince you to follow a particular path. But what I am here tonight at approximately 12:51 Eastern Time to talk about 'why' we are voting for whoever. I have heard some particularly intelligent comments through face to face and online posts as of why they would or would not vote for so and so. I have came to notice that some people in this grand world of ours are or are not voting for so and so for all the wrong reasons. They vote not to reflect their own beliefs of Obamacare, the economy, gay rights, etc. I'm really tired goodnight... Zzz

9/11

AMERICA! September 11th, 2001 will go down in infamy in our nation's history. A date that still brings those who have lost loved ones to tears. America has not witnessed such an atrocity, a deliberate act of war against her children since the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941. Like 70 years ago, we cried for justice to be served. Like 70 years ago, we did not fall, but instead, we stood up. Like 70 years ago, America came out on top. U. S. A.! U. S. A.! U. S. A.! U. S. A.! U. S. A.! U. S. A.! U. S. A.!

1st book review of the year

The novel that I am reading now is The Stand by Stephen King. I know, I know Mrs. Gillmore, I was reading this book last year but, I quit reading it early January and only finished about half of the book. The book is in 3 parts and I have no idea approximately where I quit in the book. So I have decided to merely re-read the book in its entirety rather than mindlessly wander around within the pages. Now back to the book review itself. The style in which Stephen King wrote this book details the stories of multiple characters instead of picking one single person and sticking to them. He usually bounces around from person to person just about every chapter. The prologue begins with a man named Chapion along with his wife and child. Based in some sort of military outpost within America, Champion unknowingly opens Pandora's Box after he was able to defy the lock down fail safe of the base in case of an emergency. Champion contracts a strain of military grade 'super flu' being designed by the government as an agent of biological warfare presumably. Of course the super flu was not intentionally released but that to is unknown. (I was just wondering about that myself since the book gives no correlation of foul play but i suppose that that does not matter now.) The super flu itself consists of a staggering 99.7% mortality rate and since it is the constantly adapting and highly contagious flu, I can assure you that we are in for a fun ride. Chapion contracts the flu to his famliy. They escape in a vehicle and stumble on into a gas station outside of a bustling metropolis. Chapion is already dead so the gas station attendees call for medical assistance. The flu jumps from Chapion to the gas station employees and the medical professionals. They take Chapion's carcass to the hospital and you can add one and one together. King is now focusing in on about 4 different characters, 4 in which I can tell you will be a part of the .3% survivor club. One being a mute-deaf kid who miraculously learned how to read and write. He awoke in an one horse town and inside an Arkansan jail house. Another is a young lady who just broke the news of being preggers to her father. Third being a young man who finds himself locked up in a government experimentation lab and that probably has something to do to his ability to resist the flu. *wink wink* ;) Last but not least, a young man who recently put out a hit single and is living the good life of partying, drugs, alcohol and loose women until he finds out that he has spent himself into debt. That's all for now.

Current Connection thingamabob

As I am quite certain that you have most likely heard of the recent NFL replacement referee fiasco involving the Seattle Seahawks and the Green Bay Packers from some sort of news outlet. The most recent and cataclysmic fiasco was the result of miniature Hail Mary pass from Seattle's Russell Wilson intended for his 3rd year wide receiver, Golden Tate. The pass was broken up in the left corner of the Packer endzone and subsequently intercepted by M.D. Jennings, one of the many Packers in the vicinity. The play ,one of the worst decisions by the NFL since they allowed the Black Eyed Peas to perform in the Super Bowl (Have you seen that? It was harder to watch than the Colts last year... haha bad football humor), was ruled a simultaneous catch by both Jennings and Tate. NFL rules state that if a simultaneous catch were to occur between an offensive and defensive player, the ball would be awarded to the offense. According to the rules, Golden Tate should have a touchdown, and referees used this rule as an excuse for the horrid display by the men in stripes. There was no simultaneous catch. The pass was clearly picked off by M.D. Jennings, which would have ended the game at 12-7 Green Bay, but instead, consequently handed last year's 15-1 Packer's their second loss of the season in week 3 (Packer's dropped to 1-2). What makes this even worse is that the play was sent into the booth to be reviewed if that the play was or was not a touchdown. The booth confirmed after further examination that there was no credible evidence that the ball was indeed intercepted, although the interception was clear to the millions watching the game from home, including me. Hopefully this embarrassment will bring an end to the current NFL referee lockout and bring forth quality football back into the lives of the sport's loyal fans.

*Side note: I am extremely happy that the referees handed the win to the Seattle Seahawks. I made a bet that they would win the game against the Packers and against all odds. Fortunately for my sake, the poor refereeing handed the game to Seattle and twenty bucks into my pocket, even though I completely thought the play was horrible and that the Packers should have won. But I'm not complaining :).