Weekend Round-Up

Ok guys, I'm alive. Promise. It was tough to post during homecoming weekend because I: a. didn't bring my laptop with me, and b. was only able watch two of the four relevant games to this blog (way to be cheap and not have cable Jeremey/Stephen). However, the long weekend was nice, and I do have plenty to talk about, so strap in...we'll take this team-by-team (saving the best for last with regards to recent performance).

Redskins lose to Carolina 20-17:

Terrible. This was one I wasn't able to watch. Thanks to my trusty Blackberry (that I almost threw against the wall), I saw that we managed to play an ugly game, at least according to the ESPN gamecast. I saw lots of fumbles, lots of sacks, and no Chris Cooley. That is not a combination for winning. To make matters worse, Phillip Daniels and Chris Samuels both appear to have suffered reasonably significant injuries. Wonderful. Any momentum (and there wasn't much) coming out of the win against the Bucs is now gone, and we'll be lucky to compete against the lowly Chiefs this weeked. God help us all. Can we just take this season out back and shoot it already? We could put ourselves out of our own misery.

Caps fall in Detroit 3-2, then poop their pants in the third period for the fourth straight game and lose to the Devils in a shootout.

More terrible in some ways because unlike the Skins, they have no business playing this way. I wasn't able to watch the Detroit game, but I did watch last night. As much as I hate Nylander, maybe Boudreau needs to send a message to Boyd Gordon about late game penalties. The lacka of dissaprine is no good. We're tied with Tampa for the division lead for God's sake. Jose Theodore looks spectacular at times and overmatched at others, but the blueline is KILLING us. I don't know that I've seen such terrible play out of Tom Poti in his now 2+ years in Washington. We have no elite defensemen right now. Not good. I have confidence that they'll turn things around, as they've been in games despite their own stupidity, but Gabby's got to start preaching accountability to the boys in red.

And finally, Hokies take BC behind the woodshed instead of playing down to their opponent.

Maybe it was the three consecutive regular season losses to the Eagles. Maybe it was the fact that I radiate amazingness and was present in Lane Stadium for the dominance. Maybe Bryan Stinespring has finally decided to keep his head out of his butt and call a football game. Maybe Tyrod Taylor is a legit QB. I don't know that these are all the reasons why we won on Saturday, but I think they all made a difference (especially point #2). Now after seeing this team in person, I know that they have the ability to be special. N*%#$ C#*@#& special (yeah, I'm not saying those words)? I don't know...maybe. I don't think we'll win out. I've said it over and over, but we have the ABILITY to win out. Tyrod looks poised, accurate and confident under pressure, as evidenced by his touchdown pass to Danny Coale in the first quarter. Ryan Williams truly is a monster, and should be the '09 version of Bo Jackson in Tecmo. Coale and Boykin look legit, and Ed Wang even brocked werr on Saturday. He graded at 89 percent...wow. Guess those sumo lessons are paying off.

Bud Foster decided to go ahead and sacrifice that calf. His name was Dave Shinske. Master of Ceremonies for that ordeal was Nekos Brown, who was all over the place. Rashad Carmichael, like I've been saying all year is legit, and Kam Chancellor managed to not mess anything up either. Overall the defense looked great. If Tech plays with that sense of urgency for the rest of the season, the sky is the limit.

Overall, a so-so weekend for FFODC teams. The Caps can buy a break right now, but the Skins can't. The Hokies look really good, but must be consistent from week to week. I'll be back tonight with a Hokie surprise that I hope you guys will like. Until then, try not to burn all your Redskins' stuff.

Week Six: God I Hate Matt Ryan

Can we please just fast forward to tomorrow at noon? How I hate thee, Boston College. Let me count the ways:

1. Doug Flutie. Doug Flutie. Doug Flutie.


2. Matt Ryan and his stupid pass to win a game that they didn't deserve.


3. Matt Ryan for having a good first season in the NFL. I hope he breaks his leg this year. Nice Champs Sports Bowl ring, joke.


4. Jeff Jagodzinski. Nice unemployment check, joke.


5. Rich Gunnell. Is this dude in his seventh year? He always seems to do something against us.


6. Brenden Hill for dancing to Sweet Caroline while down by 20. Wait...


7. Their stupid 27 "superfans" that wear those awful yellow T-shirts. Decide on a secondary color idiots.


8. Steve Aponovicious. If I hear an announcer call this kid Sid Vicious one more time, someone is getting suplexed.


9. They're from Boston. Say your 'r's.


10. They have "history" in their program, but they're in no way historical.

I need help from our home viewers out there. Over/Under on how many times they show/refer to the Hail Mary pass AND the lucky play from '07: 7. Please let me know how this shakes out, as I'll be in the stands, screaming my face off. I'll miss Doc Walker on Raycom soooo much (vomit). Luckily, we're right behind the opposing bench this week, so the BC chumps might actually be able to make out what I'm saying. Whether what I yell is discernable by a human, sober ear is another question in and of itself.

I hear that BC has a good pass defense and a 92-year-old freshman quarterback that did OK against Northeastern...I think. I don't care. Apparently #2 is a pretty solid back, averaging 4.7 YPC. I don't care. The Hokies should be spitting mad on Saturday morning. Bud Foster should sacrifice a fatted calf and paint his players' faces with the blood. Bryan Stinespring should continue to stay out of Tyrod Taylor's way. This game is huge...believe me, but it's a game that the Hokies SHOULD win handily. They should be ready to prove the doubters wrong, and tune up for Georgia Tech. The crowd will be charged, even for a noon game, and Tech has lost the last three regular season matchups against BC.

Channel the 2005 Defense:

Hokies 31
Eagles 10

Bonus pick of the week: Josh Oglesby goes for his first 100 yard game, Tyrod throws for <>

Let's Go.

The Villain Series: Hokies Hate Matty Ice

I hate to admit this, but I got this idea from ESPN/Heather Dinich, and think it’s actually pretty cool. I’m going to take a look at each of the teams I cover (or claim to) and determine who best fits the role of their current villain. I’m also going to do a specific post for Hokie Football AND Basketball, because I think you can argue that there are good ones for each sport. In order to get villain status, you have to have pissed off the fan base well beyond the norm. Things like UVA’s third-string corner spouting off at the mouth or Sean Glennon throwing predictable interceptions aren’t enough for pure villain status. Here we go.

Current Villain: Matt Ryan, Boston College QB

I know, I know, Ryan has gone onto the NFL and we still beat his Eagles for an ACC championship, but none of that matters when it comes to my loathing for #12. Ryan was not a major player on the national stage before his senior season in 2007, but Hokie fans knew him well. Ryan went 16/29 for 174 yards and 2 touchdowns, leading BC to a 22-3 victory in the 2006 meeting between the Hokies and Eagles. That wasn’t enough for Matt. The following year, the Hokie defense solved the BC offensive line to the tune of three sacks, two interceptions and one fumble. Only one problem with that performance: with 11 seconds left, Chris Ellis failed to reach Ryan before he could air out a 24 yard touchdown pass to Andre Callender in the rain. That night, according to everyone at ESPN and the 16 BC football fans still in Chestnut Hill, Ryan was dubbed ‘Matty Ice’ (vomit) and was destined to lead the Eagles to the national championship game. He was the next coming of Doug Flutie, and the best thing since sliced bread…until he shit the bed the next week against Florida State. Ryan went on to lose the ACC Championship to that same Virginia Tech team, throwing for 305 yards, but no touchdowns and two interceptions. To make matters worse for Ryan, he was embarrased by the outstanding (but rare) play of Sean Glennon, who tossed three touchdowns in the game (on his way to MVP honors). Both of Ryan's INTs led to Hokie touchdowns and Blacksburg rejoiced. However, there was one problem after that game: Tech realized that had they won the previous meeting against BC, they would have finished 12-1 and earned a spot in the national championship game against Ohio State. However, Ryan got his final laugh and the Hokies finished the regular season at #3 in the BCS standings.

On top of all this, Ryan accomplished something that nobody that has ever watched a Boston College football game thought possible. He has officially put up a highlight to rival Doug Flutie’s fabled ‘Hail Mary’ play against Miami, and in-turn makes Tech fans want to puke at the sight of him. Last season’s regular season game (which coincided with Ryan’s NFL bye week) showed Ryan at least 20 times in the first half alone, and I almost smashed my TV with a baseball bat. Ask my wife…she can vouch. Along with Ryan, Jeff Jagodzinski has to be included as a villain, as he claimed "The fans will not be a factor" and "we just came from Notre Dame, the crowd will not effect us” prior to the 2007 regular season contest. Hokie fans started a facebook group called “Lane Stadium Will Make You DEAF Jagodzinski” and had over 7000 members in its first day of existence. That evening brought out a crazier environment in Lane Stadium than I had ever seen. I am still proud to have been a part of it as I sit here today. It still stings that we didn’t get the last laugh with a win that night though.

Also Receiving Votes: Jim Weaver, Bryan Stinespring, Les Miles, Calvin Johnson, Skip Holtz, Todd Reesing

Next: Redskins Villains