All,

It's your humble founder of BCC here, reaching out to the community for advice. I don't make it to as many home games as I would like, usually one per season, and this week I'll be in Jacksonville for Sunday's game. My mother, who introduced me to football and bought season tickets when they first went on sale long ago, and I are going to be at the game.

As it's been a really long time since I've done a home game, I wanted to reach out and see where to go for the best pre-game festivites. We're staying by the Landing and heading toward the Stadium early. Any BCC'ers have a rocking tailgate that we can jump in on? What do you usually do before the game? Any advise or suggestions of what to do before the game?

-River City Rage

BigCatCountry@gmail.com

Baltimore Ravens (4-1)	GAME #7	Jacksonville Jaguars (1-5)
	VS.

I'm opening the thread a few hours early for the folks who can't bear to watch ESPN for the next 90 minutes.  Please note, any mentions of any Denver Bronco's quarterbacks by announcers will result in heavy drinking.  

Jaguars inactives: Chastin West, Courtney Greene, Jason Spitz, Eben Britton, Martin Rucker, Jarett Dillard, Nate Collins

Ravens inactives: Chris Carr, Tom Zbikowski, Anthony Allen, Dannell Ellerbe, Ben Grubbs, Lee Evans, Sergio Kindle

 Personally, I'm looking forward to seeing if Mike Sims-Walker brings any sort of spark to our pass catchers.  

For the "other" perspective, please visit our friends over at Baltimore Beat Down.

GO JAGUARS!

Here we go!!!!  Steelers coverage is here at Behind the Steel Curtain!

-Chris

Windy and wet day in Jacksonville today.  Discuss the game here!  Visit our friends at Cincy Jungle for Bengals commentary and insight.

GO JAGS!

Inactives

Jaguars - Derek Cox, Montell Owens, Courtney Greene, Jason Spitz, Aaron Kampman, Kassim Osgood, Zach Miller

Bengals - Kelly Jennings, Robert Sands, Dontay Moch, Clint Boling, Anthony Collins, Colin Cochart, Ryan Whalen

The Cardiac Cats reared their heads again, this time with a last minute win to defeat the Tennessee Titans 16-14.  I know Alfie and Company will have more to say, but let's discuss the win here and talk about the 4:00 game slate.  Tip of the hat to my friends at Music City Miracles for being such good opponents.

Quick Thoughts:

MJD looks to be in midseason form.  Screw the preseason.

Luke needs to be let out of the cage.  He's ready.

Deji is the real deal.

1-0 and beating a division opponent is all we could ask for.

UPDATED: Jaguars Inactives: Maurice Jones-Drew, Todd Bouman, John Matthews, Tiquan Underwood, Justin Durant, Justin Smiley, Aaron Morgan, Nate Collins

Redskins Inactives: Donovan McNabb (3rd QB), James Davis, Reed Doughty, Andre Brown, Kareem Moore, Erik Cook, Jammal Brown, Brian Orakpo

Happy Boxing Day everyone!  I hope everyone got everything they wanted for Christmas.  Me, I'm jonsing for a Jaguars win to round out my holiday adventures.  A Jaguars win and a Colts loss today would make for an awfully happy day.  I've added the open threads below, with an open thread set aside for the Colts-Raiders game.  Hopefully it's a good one.  

Mind you, the Jaguars need to take care of business at home against the Redskins, a team with nothing to play for but draft picks.  Maurice Jones-Drew is doubtful to play, as is Mike Sims-Walker, which means the Jaguars offense is dangerously thin on weapons.  If you've ever wanted to know what the Jaguars have in Jennings, today's the day.

Enjoy the Games and GO JAGS!!!

First Half Open Thread

Second Half Open Thread

Indianapolis Colts at Oakland Raiders Open Thread

Provided that the Jaguars took care of business against the Redskins (this was written before the game, obviously), here's an open thread for those of us chewing our fingernails with anticipation at the thought of the Raiders beating the Colts and the Jaguars securing the AFC South.  

Second Half Open Thread!

Open Thread for the first half: 

Enjoy!

Greetings,

I hate looking a week ahead when we've got a big game on Sunday, but I wanted to reach out to any Miami-Dade area fans who are looking for a place to watch the Jags-Colts game next Sunday.  For those of you who don't know me, I'm the founder of this humble site, currently in a sort of political-exile situation in South Florida and always looking to watch the games with people OTHER than Dolphins fans, which is all I find down here.

Anyhow, I was hoping the readers from the area might want to get together and meet at a venue of sorts and watch the game.  I'd propose the Sports Exchange in Coral Gables, but if there's demand for somewhere else, I'm happy to move it around.

If nobody chimes in, but wants to meet up, look for the guy at Sports Exchange in the Black Jones-Drew jersey.  It's probable that I'll be there this Sunday for the Raiders game, but I think for next weeks battle, an appearance in force might be fun.

If I recall correctly, I had some drinks with some BCC readers two seasons ago at the same place.  Jaguars v. Jets, after the Jaguars won, the bar comped us "tealquila" shots, which were both gross and fun.

Anyhow, if you'd like to meet up for the game, reply to this thread.

-Chris

Your humble "Blogfather" is stuck in the office, 15 days from election day, and feeling a little restless for tonights game.  This will be the first Jaguars game that I expect to be able to watch in its entirety so far this season (save for the Jags-Colts game, where I was in attendance).  To say I'm excited would be an understatement.

I figure there's got to be a few folks out there in similar positions that wanna talk up the game.  Here's an open thread for your enjoyment.  Also, shameless plug, Early Voting has begun in Florida.  You know what to do.

-Chris

With the 3rd day of the NFL Draft just around the corner, I decided to sneak a peek at Gene Smith's draft board and guess as to who the Jaguars add to the roster today.  Check out Gene's dream 3rd day below the jump.

Continue reading this post »

"I’m not trying to win a popularity contest. I’m about winning a Super Bowl," Smith said. "That’s not my goal to be bold. My goal is to improve the roster."

Just like with Derek Cox, I'm not going to sit here and bang my chest and criticize a pick that clearly indicates that the Jaguars front office knows way more about the players in this draft than I ever will.  Seriously, after what they did with Cox, can we really sit back and complain that we didn't get a player that we've heard of?  Has Gene's eye for talent evaluation while making the big decisions led us astray? 

Really, the biggest problem with this pick is that it's one that fans can't bang their chests about.  We don't know who this guy is, we've not seen the film, and the Jaguars scouts, despite the 2000-2008 drafts, have shown us that they can make a good call.  So the Jaguars are not declared the winners of the first round of the draft by a guy who's never stepped onto the Practice Field, big deal?  So 1010XL and the Times Union are going to rip the team apart.  So the Jaguars.com Message Boards are going to eat each other alive over how Gene let them down.  None of this matters until Derrick Harvey, Terrance Knighton, Tyson Alualu and Aaron Kampman line up and eat offensive linemen alive. 

I think everyone needs a stiff drink, a good night's sleep, and to think happy thoughts of quarterback sacks.  He must go down, he must go down hard.  Gene took a "big ugly" that he sees as someone who can contribute on day one.  He sees a guy who can get pressure on the quarterback and cause disruption.  He got it without having a 2nd round pick. 

Can we really complain?