SB Nation User Blog: craig in calgary

June 25th, 2010

craig in calgary — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 21:35:56 -0000

I did some math today. Assuming the Doc trade goes through (Looks like a foregone conclusion) and assuming he is the opening day starter (also a pretty good asumption) and assuming he pitches every 5th day (Can't see them going on short days rest in the spring) and assuming he stays healthy (Geeez, there is alot of assumptions), Doc will pitch June 25th, 2010

I've never been to a Blujays game. What an unbelieveable first game that would be. I'm thinking BBB roadtrip! I realize many of you live in Toronto already and there wouldn't need to be a road trip, and I realize there is others already planning to go to Colorado. I'm just throwing this out there that this would be a great time, and I'm already planning the trip with a buddy. Thoughts? The more the merrier!

Is it Wednesday yet??!?!?!?

Summary of Kansas City Chiefs Power Rankings - Week 14 edition

craig in calgary — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 22:31:56 -0000

Good afternoon AP!

Welcome to the Week 14 edition of the KC Chiefs Power rankings summary.

After back-to-back divisional asskickings, the Chiefs have continued their downward spiral down the rankings...but there is relief in the horizon! This week we face the ~~Toronto~~ Buffalo Bills which is a winnable game and then in 2 more weeks we face the Eric Mangini-led Cleveland Browns. These 2 games IMO are must wins if we are to say this year has been a success...ESPECIALLY the Cleveland game. I'm not sure my fandom can survive Erin Mangini losses in back-to-back years.

Anyhoo, on to the rankings...

Spoiler Alert: Not alot of nice things are said about Matt Cassel

CNNSI - Don Banks - 28 (Previous Week 27)

Silver linings are few and far between for the Chiefs this season. It's hard to identify a strength to build on, given that only Oakland and Cleveland have scored fewer points in the AFC than Kansas City's 196, and nobody in the conference has allowed as many points as the Chiefs' 326. Plenty of work still to be done for Scott Pioli and Todd Haley.

ESPN - Paul Kuharsky- 28 (Previous Week 27)

The Chiefs are reeling after a 31-point home loss to Denver

FOX Sports - Adrian Hasenmayer - 28 (Previous Week 27)

Back-to-back wins over the Raiders and Steelers may have given them hope. But getting crushed by a combined 87-27 the last two weeks by the Chargers and Broncos returned the Chiefs to their reality that they are still likely two years from having a shot to compete for a playoff spot

CBS Sportsline - Pete Prisco - 28 (Previous Week 26)

Is Matt Cassel the answer? He sure doesn't look like it. The Chiefs might have made a mistake.

NFL Fanhouse - 29 (Previous Week 24)

A lot of people -- myself included -- thought the Chiefs were a little underrated and potentially poised to play late-season spoiler against some lesser quality opponents on the schedule. But KC debunked that silly myth with a beating at the hands of the Broncos Sunday in a game that saw franchise QB Matt Cassel lob up a 14.2 (!) passer rating en route to being yanked from the game for Brodie Croyle

WalterFootball - 28 (Previous Week 27)

Easily one of the saddest displays I've ever seen. The Chiefs looked completely horrible on both sides of the line of scrimmage against the Broncos. Denver was pushing Kansas City's linemen around so easily it looked like a high school team was trying to battle an NFL squad.

By the way, if you haven't noticed, Matt Cassel hasn't taken as many sacks lately. That's because he's now trying to get rid of the ball as quickly as possible rather than get hurt.

Cassel was never good to begin with, but it looks like Scott Pioli and Todd Haley have ruined him. He's been sacked so much that he's past the Marc Bulger Threshold, which is the barrier where a quarterback begins to think, "Aww, f*** it, I don't care if this pass is intercepted, I just don't want to be sacked again."

So its almost a consensus that the Chiefs are the 28th best team in football right now, not sure I can argue with them. Well thanks for reading.

GOOOOOOOOOO CHIEFS

Craig

Summary of Kansas City Chiefs Power Rankings - Week 12 edition

craig in calgary — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:48:01 -0000

(Ed. Note by Joel: Bumped up the time a little bit. These were originally posted a little earlier this evening.)

Good afternoon AP!

Welcome to the Week 12 edition of the KC Chiefs Power rankings summary. I didn't do one last week due to unforseen work committments, but they are back. Chiefs are starting to slowly work their way up the rankings due to winning two in a row and 3 out of 5. A win over the Charges might even propel them into the teens! Woooooo.

This might be my favourite football weekend all year. We have thanksgiving games, a Chiefs/Chargers game and the Grey Cup featuring my beloved Saskatchewan Roughriders! GO RIDERS!

You'll notice on the above picture there is a marriage proposal on the scoreboard from a Charger fan named "John". I wonder its everyones favourite BFTB Blogger Obviousman? I hope him and his husband are very happy together. That comment will probably keep me off the frontpage, but I regret nothing...NOTHING!

Anyhoo, on to the rankings...

CNNSI - Don Banks - 24 (Previous Week 27)

I'm wracking my brain trying to figure out how I visited Chiefs training camp this year and don't remember even hearing about second-year linebacker Andy Studebaker, who had two interceptions and four tackles in that upset of the Steelers, which doubled as his first NFL start. It's a great name for a linebacker, although I shudder to think what Chris Berman will do with it in highlight clips.

ESPN - Paul Kuharsky- 26 (Previous Week 27)

They hope to look back at the win over the Steelers as a catalyst

FOX Sports - Adrian Hasenmayer - 27 (Previous Week 27)

Nice to see Todd Haley's bunch get rewarded for battling hard all season long despite their record. Now the Chiefs have something to build on: KC's first two-game winning streak since October 2007. THIS WEEK: vs. Chargers (7-3)

CBS Sportsline - Pete Prisco - 26 (Previous Week 26)

They're on a two-game winning streak. Beating the Steelers is a big step for this young team. The Chiefs are improving.

NFL Fanhouse - 21 (Previous Week 25)

Reasons to give Thanks: Larry Johnson is gone, but the lightning-fast Jamaal Charles took a kick return and a shovel pass to the house. Dwayne Bowe is suspended, but Chris Chambers set up their game-winner. Their trick plays are working and they just upset the defending champs in a fantastic game. So, yeah, there's still plenty to be thankful for.

WalterFootball - 26 (Previous Week 28)

I'm pretty sure every single SportsCenter and sports highlight anchor said of Kansas City's game-winning field goal in overtime, "Ryan Succop, Mr. Irrelevant, was not so irrelevant here! Hwahwahwahwahwahwa!"

Someone please shoot me now.

Well thanks for reading, I'm going to end the post with a pole:

Poll

Who rushes for more yards on Sunday?

Jamaal Charles

528 votes

Ladainian Tomlinson

165 votes

693 votes | Poll has closed

Has you seen Whitlock's picture on Twitter?

craig in calgary — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 23:24:18 -0000

Has you seen Whitlock's picture on Twitter?

Wow.

Relationship advice: Don't tell your Girfriend that she looks like Kurt Cobain.

craig in calgary — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 17:58:55 -0000

Relationship advice:

Don't tell your Girfriend that she looks like Kurt Cobain.

California Redwoods - Las Vegas Loco's UFL Gameday open Thread

craig in calgary — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 01:50:39 -0000

Good evening AP!!!

If you are all like me, you've been waiting for this marquee matchup of the Redwoods and the Loco's for weeks! Well tonight is the night! In 3 short hours we'll know who has the pleasure of meeting Florida in the UFL Championship game. I AM SO FREAKING EXCITED I CAN HARDLY STAND IT. I haven't been this excited since the Okotoks Dogs battled the High River Muskrats in the Calgary Junior B hockey bonspiel.

California RB Cory Ross, who leads the UFL in rushing, will be looking for some revenge against a Las Vegas defense that held him to a season low 49 yards rushing on 16 attempts in their first match-up. Locos QB JP Losman is having a very solid season for Las Vegas, passing for nearly 250 yards a game, while throwing for eight touchdowns and completing 62% of his passes.

Anyways, if needed I will put up a couple of overflow threads if needed. We'll probably keep these threads under 1000 comments as they start to slow down after that and I know we all have alot to say.

GOOOOOOOOOO REDWOODS!!!!!

(I want the Redwoods to win but I have a couple Loco's on my UFL Fantasy football roster. Adam Bergen is my TE and my QB is JP Losman the undisputed best player in FF - Eeeeeeee)

See you in the thread,

Craig

I sure miss this guy

craig in calgary — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 23:33:27 -0000

I sure miss this guy

Jared Allen might still be my favourite NFL'er.
This clip is freaking classic

Peter King is a dick.

craig in calgary — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 18:29:37 -0000

Peter King is a dick.

You've got a choice, viewers of Kansas City. Your PBS affiliate is showing "A Walk in the Sun,'' a movie about the randomness of war set in WWII, at 3 p.m. local time. In other words, there might be better ways to spend a Sunday afternoon.

Prediction: Oakland Raiders 24, Kansas City Chiefs 11

Summary of Kansas City Chiefs Power Rankings - Week 10 edition

craig in calgary — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 19:51:44 -0000

Good afternoon AP and Happy Remembrance day fellow Canadians!

Well its Raider week. I attached a picture of DJ performing the reverse cowboy on Jamarcus the Hutt. Hopefully we'll see alot more of this in the Blackhole this weekend. The Chiefs need a laugher, no brainer, call off the wolves type of win, and Oakland is the place for it to happen.

Spoiler alert, the fine people over at Walter football don't have very nice things to say about our ~~golf~~ football coach.

Anyhoo, on to the rankings...

CNNSI - Don Banks - 29 (Previous Week 28)

I'm giving the Chiefs props this week for two things: Playing it close (at least offensively) against Jacksonville on the road, and cutting their losses with running back Larry Johnson. On his way out of K.C., L.J. bemoaned the tough Kansas City media. If K.C. passes for a tough market, let's hope Johnson signs with Philadelphia, Washington or New York in his next NFL incarnation.

ESPN - Paul Kuharsky- 28 (Previous Week 28)

The Chiefs helped cure the Jaguars' pass-rush problems in their loss at Jacksonville.

FOX Sports - Adrian Hasenmayer - 29 (Previous Week 29)

FIRST-HALF BLESSING: Despite some early struggles, QB Matt Cassel has shown grit minus big-time talent around him, and hard-nosed head coach Todd Haley will keep cutting off any cancer cells like LJ

CBS Sportsline - Pete Prisco - 27 (Previous Week 26)

Larry Johnson is gone, but does it matter? This isn't a good team right now, with or without him. So why keep him?

WalterFootball - 29 (Previous Week 28)

For weeks, I've been saying that Todd Haley is a moron. Now, I have scientific proof.

With Larry Johnson out, Haley finally was forced into starting Jamaal Charles, the most talented running back on his roster by a mile. Haley even went on to compliment Charles during the week, saying that Charles was finally "getting it."

Despite all of this, Charles had nine touches (6 carries, 36 yards; 3 catches, 19 rec. yards).

But here's my scientific proof: The Chiefs had 12 drives in this game. On seven of those possessions, Charles either touched the ball or was targeted with a pass. That means that he wasn't involved in the offense in those other five drives.

Here's the breakdown:

On the seven drives that Charles saw the ball go his way, Kansas City scored 20 points and averaged an amazing 35.7 yards per possession.

On the five drives that Charles didn't get a touch or a target, Kansas City scored three points and averaged a laughable 8.4 yards per possession.

It's official: TODD HALEY IS CLUELESS AND DOESN'T KNOW HOW TO COACH FOOTBALL. Sure, he did a great job coordinating the Cardinals last year, but that wasn't exactly difficult because he had Kurt Warner, Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin.

If you're reading this and know a Chiefs fan, please send this link around to spread the word about Haley's ineptness. He must not be allowed to coach another game.

SBNation - Matt O'Brien - 28 (Previous week 28)

The Chiefs claimed former Chargers wideout Chris Chambers off waivers, at least in part to gain whatever insight they can into San Diego's offensive playbook. Somehow our bloggers doubt this will be the difference between who will win in their upcoming rematch.

So there you have it. Chiefs are unfortunately trending downward, both a result of their poor play and other previous winless teams finally getting off the schneid.

Thanks again for reading,

Craig in Calgary

Walter Football Chiefs/Jags review

craig in calgary — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 21:20:17 -0000

Walter Football Chiefs/Jags review

It's amazing that the Chiefs covered this game. I had them at +6.5, but I'll admit that they had no business beating the number. In fact, at one point in the live in-games thread on the forum, I promised that I would call Matt Cassel the "Backdoor Bandit II" if he covered the spread at the very end. Sure enough, Backdoor Bandit II found Chris Chambers twice for touchdowns in the fourth quarter with the help of a recovered onsides kick.

Despite what the final score may say, this contest was a blowout dominated by the host. Jacksonville was 9-of-16 on third downs and out-gained Kansas City, 426-301. The Jaguars also won the time-of-possession battle by 16 minutes.

Jacksonville ran easily on the Chiefs. On most plays, the offensive line completely blew up Kansas City's defensive front. It looked like professionals were trying to open up holes against Sun Belt college players. Maurice Jones-Drew rushed for 97 yards and a touchdown on 29 carries, while Rashad Jennings vultured away a score on a 28-yard scamper. It's good to see that Jack Del Rio and Dirk Koetter actually remembered to run the ball this week.

The star for the Jaguars was Mike Sims-Walker, who rebounded off a poor week by catching six balls for 147 yards and a touchdown. David Garrard went 18-of-27 for 264 yards and that score.

The Backdoor Bandit II's numbers look solid (23-of-39, 262 yards, 2 TDs), but a lot of that was junk yardage at the end when the Chiefs were down 24-6. Backdoor Bandit II took three sacks as well. That doesn't sound like a lot, but remember that the Jaguars had just five sacks on the year coming into this contest.

As mentioned, Chambers caught both touchdowns. That was very fluky, as Chambers (3 catches, 70 yards) had only four targets, most of which were late in the game.

Dwayne Bowe and Lance Long led the squad with 74 yards each. Long shockingly had eight receptions, taking over as the slot receiver for the recently cut Bobby Engram.

Todd Haley is officially an idiot. With Larry Johnson out, Haley was forced to move the more-talented Jamaal Charles into the lineup. Last week, Haley said that Charles was finally "getting it." Apparently not. Charles led the Chiefs with six carries, gaining 36 yards in the process. Haley, himself, obviously isn't getting it yet, and it looks like he never will.