Articles Of Impeachment?

Disney announced its quarterly earnings and ESPN's income declined 11% compared to last year. The drag on earnings and revenue from ESPN led to a quarterly miss of estimates for ESPN's parent company Disney.  Fortunately for Disney the company has made smart strategic moves in other arenas—buying Pixar, Star Wars, and Marvel among others—that have helped to defray the coming collapse of ESPN. 

ESPN is losing millions of subscribers and viewers that add up to billions of dollars a year in losses and is on the hook for tens of billions of dollars in sports rights costs in the years ahead.

Per Nielsen's most recent estimates ESPN now has 87,859,000 cable and satellite subscribers. That's a loss of over 13 million cable and satellite subscribers in the past several years, costing ESPN in the neighborhood of $1.3 billion dollars per year.

The network is in panic mode and desperate for relevance since its decision to become a social justice warrior network. ESPN has become MSESPN. 

According to The Washington Post, the network reached out to President Trump’s staff inviting him to fill out a bracket on camera, just as The World’s Most Dangerous Community Organizer had the past several years. The network recently received word that Trump declined. An ESPN spokesman said in a statement: “We expressed our interest to the White House in continuing the presidential bracket. They have respectfully declined.”

Andy Katz, the ESPN basketball analyst who conceived the idea, would have been disappointed if President Trump had accepted the offer.  He would have entered AMERICA in every bracket.

In other sports news, New England Patriots owner Bob Kraft said his Super Bowl Champion players are free to go to the White House to celebrate, or not.  Last week six members of the team joined Hillary Clinton among the people who won’t be going to the White House.

@washingtonpost Dont worry. Im sure @CNN will go wall to wall with Former Pres. Obama announcing his bracket.

— America Wins! (@stormchasn) February 16, 2017

Well we now know the first charge that will be on the Dem's Articles of Impeachment. https://t.co/g6NoEQl3UP

— (C)ody Penn-Dent (@codypd) February 15, 2017

Super Bowl XLIX: My Balls Are Perfect

Well, here we are.  The big day.  The day when the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots take to the field for Super Bowl XLIX.  Big whoop.

I don’t know how you feel about this year’s contest, but I for one, couldn’t be more disappointed in the teams that made it to Phoenix.  Honestly, you’ve got loudmouthed asses who think they are gods.  You’ve got the media who fall all over nut jobs like, well, you name the jerk…

My disappointment is not only with the two teams but the League as well.  They know damn good and well who is responsible for the underinflated footballs and yet are withholding that information until after the game as Commissioner Roger Goodell says, because “We want the truth.  That’s what I think our fans want.  That’s what our clubs want.  And so what we want to do is make sure we find the truth.  If there are violations of the rules, we take them seriously, particularly when they deal with the integrity of the game and the rules.”

How effing mealy-mouthed.

The NFL is full of cheaters and beaters.  That’s the problem. 

The fans deserve far better than what they are receiving.  I used to get excited about watching the game.  Hell, I was lucky enough to go to Super Bowl XXVIII in 1994 when the Cowboys beat the Bills in the Georgia Dome.

There is no such excitement at Casa de Curmudgeon today and there’s no Super Bowl Party as in years past. 

If my rationale is lacking consider these 26 disappointing facts about this year’s Super Bowl.

I Don’t Know Who Messed With My Balls But I Might Know A Guy Who Does

The Curious Case Of The Incredible Shrinking Balls

I realize I may be setting myself up for some pretty harsh criticism from Patriots fans, but I have to express my total disgust with a team that clearly doesn’t think they can win even a single game without cheating.

In a post I published on Sunday, January 18th, I wrote about the history of cheating by the New England Patriots.  Little did I know that very Sunday, the Patriots would be embroiled in yet another scandal on the gridiron.

The NFL, according to ESPN, found 11 of the 12 footballs New England provided for Sunday’s blowout of the Indianapolis Colts in the AFC Championship Game were underinflated by as much as two pounds per square inch of pressure.

Back on November 16, 2014 Indianapolis Colts safety Mike Adams twice intercepted QB Tom Brady and gave each of the balls to the Colts’ equipment manager to save over concerns that those balls were under-inflated according to ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter.  Sources confirm that the League was aware of the Colts’ concerns going into last Sunday’s AFC Championship game.

Monday morning following the game, Brady appeared on WEEI’s “Dennis and Callahan Show” feigning surprise that a deflated ball was even an issue.

“I have no idea,” Brady said as he laughed at the question. “I think I heard it all at this point…It’s ridiculous…Oh, God, that’s the last of my worries. I don’t even respond to stuff like that.”

Dan Wetzel over at Yahoo! Sports puts it right where it belongs:

“As for ‘[hearing] it all at this point,’ the implication is that Brady had never heard of a ball being under-inflated, let alone his. As such, the suggestion was just ridiculous. Like, say, the NFL accusing him of filling it with helium.”

“Through the years, Tom Brady has always been able to remain above whatever the latest fray [was] that engulfed the New England Patriots.” 

“Brady was the quarterback, perhaps teased for his fashion or footwear or occasionally awkward celebrations, but never much on issues of substance. He was the underdog turned megastar, likable and respectable and just oh so good.”

“Bill Belichick played the villain, the supposed win-at-all-costs genius under the ratty hoodie.  When allegations of underhandedness or unsportsmanlike play or anything else hit, it was all assumed to be Belichick’s orders, not Brady’s.”

In 2012, the Saints, after being found guilty of placing bounties on opposing players, Head Coach Sean Payton served a one-year suspension, defensive coordinator Gregg Williams got an indefinite suspension, assistant coach Joe Vitt got six games and general manager Mickey Loomis got eight games. They also forfeited two second-round draft picks and were fined.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has proven he has no stomach for meting out punishments to fit crimes like the brutal assault by Ray Rice on his fiancé. He suspiciously allowed the destruction of Belichick’s “Spygate” videotapes and now he faces yet another credibility problem with a franchise that is a repeat offender of NFL regulations.

He’d better grow a pair and not try to paper over this.  At the very least, Belichick and Brady should be suspended from the Super Bowl.  The club should be fined not thousands, but millions of dollars and they should not have any draft picks for the next two years.  The Patriots need to be taught a lesson.  Get their attention.  If you get their attention, you’ll get the attention of every other player, coach, general manager and owner in the NFL.  Maybe then this deplorable behavior will end.

Am I making a mountain out of flattened balls?  Jerry Rice, 2010 Pro Football Hall of Famer who played in the League for 20 years, had 1,549 career receptions, 22,895 career receiving yards and 197 career TD receptions has an opinion on the matter:

11 of 12 balls under-inflated can anyone spell cheating!!! #Just Saying
— Jerry Rice (@JerryRice) January 21, 2015

Wonder if there's a simultaneous Pats' internal investigation going on: Who was the slacker who didn't deflate the 12th ball? (j/k)
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) January 21, 2015

.@MikePereira on #DeflateGate: "this is cheating and something the league will deal with harshly" https://t.co/9xoTboX6N7
— AtTheBuzzer (@TheBuzzerOnFOX) January 21, 2015

AFC Championship: Indianapolis Colts Vs New England Patriots

The Colts visit Gillette Stadium tonight to take on the Pats.  Kickoff is 6:40 PM ET and airs on CBS.

The Colts are 0-3 in their previous meetings against New England.  QB Andrew Luck was intercepted 8 times in those three games.  The oddsmakers favor the Patriots by a touchdown.  They firmly believe that Brady and head coach Bill Belichick have a game plan that is unstoppable.

Granted, when New England defeated the Ravens, Belichick tied the great Tom Landry for the most postseason wins in NFL history and QB Tom Brady surpassed Joe Montana with 19 postseason victories.

Most oddsmakers and sports pundits favor the Patriots.  Their bias is palpable.  I will be rooting hard for the Colts because I can’t stand a cheater. 

Remember when Belichick was fined the league maximum of $500,000 in 2007 for what later came to be known as “Spygate”?  The Patriots were busted for illegally videotaping the defensive signals of opposing teams.  That practice had been in place for nearly a decade before Eric Mangini, a former New England defensive coordinator, dropped a dime to NFL Security.  Six of the tapes were handed over to Commissioner Roger Goodell and then were suspiciously destroyed.

They also violated the number of radio frequencies that could be used in order to steal signals from their opponent and then relay that information directly to Brady’s helmet.

I’m rooting for the Colts big time.  I like Andrew Luck and despise Tom Brady.  I detest Bill Belichick.  Why can't the guy find something more suitable to wear on the sidelines than a sloppy sweatshirt?  He’s worn a total of 8 different outfits every week for the past 10 years.  They say its “relaxed coach chic”.  I call it being an effing slob.

GO COLTS!

And because no football post would be complete without some pom-poms, please enjoy this photograph of  a lovely member of the Colts cheerleading squad.

Devil Baby Predictions

Hell-o.  I’m the Devil Baby that gave New Yorkers the fright of their life.  I know you’ve seen the viral video that’s been viewed more than 34 million times and counting.

Not unlike the day Lucifer decided to possess a woman’s toaster I, the spawn of The Unholy One who can make breakfast cereal speak in foul incantations and cause boiled eggs to be unrighteously runny, have visited upon this delightful blog to predict the outcome of today’s NFL Conference Championships.

Go ahead and make rude comments.  I’ll puke pea soup on you á la Linda Blair.

Pom Poms Rule The Sidelines

Fox is carrying the game between the New Orleans Saints and the Seattle Seahawks at 4:35 PM ET.  I’m rooting for the Saints.  Then CBS will air the contest between the Indianapolis Colts and the New England Patriots at 8:15 PM ET.  My hope is that the Colts pull off the win.

I have to work Saturday so I will miss the Saints’ game.  By the time I get home I will probably be able to join the Colts’ game somewhere near the end of the first quarter.

Sunday however, I am off and will be able to enjoy the game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Carolina Panthers.  Kickoff is 1:05 PM ET on Fox.  That game is followed by the match-up between the San Diego Chargers and the Denver Broncos.  CBS begins airing that game at 4:40 PM ET.

I’m pulling for the Panthers to scratch and claw their way to a win over the NI-NERS.  I like Peyton Manning.  He’s a good guy with a tremendous record as a quarterback so I'm picking the Broncos to win their game over the Chargers.

Them’s my picks and I’m sticking to ‘em.

Go Panthers!

Will The Panthers Prevail?

The Patriots’ QB, Tom Brady, is 13-4 on Monday Night Football.  The last time the Patriots were on the Carolina Panthers’ home turf was eight years ago.

On February 1, 2004 the Panthers and Patriots played in Super Bowl XXXVIII.  That was the game whose halftime show became controversial when Janet Jackson’s nipple became exposed during what was later called a “wardrobe malfunction”.

Jake Delhomme was the QB then.  Now the Panthers have Cam Newton.  The Panthers lost to the Patriots 32-29.  Two years later the Panthers upset Tom Brady and the Patriots 27-17.

Coming off a road victory in San Francisco against the 49ers, the Panthers are set to host their biggest game in years.

The fans are buzzing about the game and have been encouraged to wear black as the Panthers return to their black jerseys for the first time since Week 2 when they went up against the Buffalo Bills.

The Panthers average 33:48 time of possession per game, highest in the NFL.  Newton’s Completion Percentage has improved to 73.0; his First Down Percentage is up from last season to 40.3 and his Total Quarterback Rating has jumped to 83.4 percent.

Carolina has outscored its opponents 140-57 in its last five games pulling them to within one of the 7-2 Saints.  The oddsmakers are saying the Patriots will be playing the role of underdog for Monday night’s game.

The kickoff is at 8:40 PM and will be aired on ESPN.  I’m hoping for a good game with a victory against the powerful Patriots.  

Go Panthers!

P.S.:  If the Cats lose to the Pats, I fully expect to be ribbed by Proof and Odie, maybe even Stogie.  I’m ready guys.