SB Nation User Blog: fpacheco

Patriots at Dolphins

fpacheco — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 18:10:33 -0000

Hey everybody,

Unfortunately,I won't be able to watch the Titans-Colts game this week (alive) because I'm traveling with to Miami with my brother, and we're going to the Dolphins-Pats game. I'll be a few seats over the tunnel where our beloved Patrtiots will come out (and in) and I was thinking about making a sign or something to show my love to Bill Bellichick and Co. Any ideas? It could be like "Going for it again, BB?". I know you are creative, specially when it's something that involves the New England Patriots, so any idea is welcomed. And also, if you see a guy with a Peyton Manning jersey on a Dolphins game near one of the tunnels, that's me! But I kinda doubt it because camera men will look for Dolphins-Pats fans, unless my sign is really funny haha.

Thanks a lot and go Colts!

Fantasy Football League

fpacheco — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 21:50:48 -0000

Hey everybody,

I'm organizing a Fantasy Football League on ESPN.com, and we need more participants. Anyone is invited to join, here's the link

http://games.espn.go.com/ffl/leagueoffice?leagueId=762420

It's named Costa Rica League .The draft is scheduled on Sunday at 9:15 pm eastern... Feel free to invite your friends or anyone.

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The TOP 10 Things We Colts Fans Hate The Most

fpacheco — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 23:29:06 -0000

As fans, it's natural to hate people, teams or circumstances. So, what are the things we Colts fans hate the most? Here are my top 10 rankings after the jump:

Number 10:

FAILS: Kenton Keith's hands, Gilbert Gardner's tackling, Jason David's covering, Nick Harper's return ability, etc.

This one is self-explanatory. Kenton Keith couldn't catch, as he showed us against the Charger's in 2007's divisional playoffs, even causing an interception...Gilbert Gardner was a FAIL the whole 2006 season and was one of the reasons we couldn't stop the run. Finally, Nick Harper's return ability...go near the sideline! There was nobody there! It was like Dungy's golder rule and you broke it! He was a very good corner and he still is...but that was a REAL FAIL... And these three players are the winners of the fail category.

We lost that game but at least we won the Super Bowl... That guy behind Gilbert couldn't even get there because of his butterfinger hands.

via blog.mlive.com

Number 9:

"Payton" Manning

A Colts article is never a Colts article (not counting Stampede Blue ones) without someone commenting something like: "OH YEAH PAYTON MANNING SUCKS!" "PAYTON MANNING CAN'T DO THIS!"... IT'S PEYTON! With an "E"! And he doesn't suck BTW, he's better than Toad Brady and Drew Breeze. And don't bring Matt Ryans to the conversation, he has only played one year...

This is the day Payton Manning won the Walter Peyton Man of the Year Award. Congratulations Payton!

via images.askmen.com

Number 8:

"This is the year the Colts take a step back..." "This is finally the year that the Colts don't go to the playoffs"... "This will be the year they don't win 12 games"...

It's getting old, and they say it every single year... It is not rated higher in my list because we have proved them wrong every year (knock on wood)... "They lost Edgerrin James", "We lost Cato June and Tarik Glenn", "Dwight Freeney is not going to be the same after foot surgery", "Peyton Manning's getting old", blablabla...Get over it, football analysts! It's not a controversial topic anymore!

FYI, he's a scientist, not a writer.

via graphics8.nytimes.com

Number 7:

The Tennessee Titans getting all of our former players

Nick Harper, Jake Scott, David Thornton, Ben Hartsock, Gilbert Gardner (that one you can keep him), COREY SIMON!, etc... Everytime we release a player or do not re-sign him, there's always a very good chance the Titans will sign him...At least those Marv rumors were apparently false.. I really hope so...

Forget Edgerrin James, this guy has been arguably (Tarik Glenn) our worst loss in years... At least we get to see him twice a year...Thanks Titans!

via upload.wikimedia.org

Number 6: Phillip Rivers

Why don't YOU complete the following sentence?

Phillip Rivers is a(n) "____________" (yes, you can say a bad word!...ok, ok...it can be more than one word)

Yeah, we're lucky this guy is not our QB!

via funnyhub.com

Nope, the previous picture was not just a "bad picture"; he IS that way!

via www.totalprosports.com

Number 5:

"Peyton Manning didn't win Super Bowl XLI, the Colts won because of their running game and inspired defense"

This worst thing is this one is actually true: Peyton Manning cannot do things by himself! Neither can Tom Brady, neither could Joe Montana or Johnny U. He did throw 5 picks in the first 2 playoff games, but I can assure you we couldn't have won with Jim Sorgi! Vinatieri scored all of our points against Baltimore, but Peyton was the one who drove the offense down to field goal range... And we are talking about going on the road, against NFL's best defense, and with a whole city hating you! I'm not even going to talk about the Patriots game, or the Colts winning 12 games that year despite the defense allowing 173 rushing yards per game. It's a team job, but we definitely needed (and still need) No. 18!

Do you really think the Colts could have won the Super Bowl with this guy, for example, behind center? I can hear you from here, and me neither. Maybe with him behind the other's team center...Oops!

via notqualifiedtocomment.com

Number 4:

DT luck...

Names say it all: Corey Simon, Booger McFarland, Montae Reagor, Quinn Pitcock, Ed Johnson... Polian says: "Hey! Let's take a risk and SIGN a star DT!"..."Hey! Let's trade a second round pick for Anthony McFarland!" "Let's draft this Ohio State DT with our 3rd round pick!" "GOOD! Our starting DT just made 10 tackles against the Bears!" "Let's trade for Buffalo's former 1st round pick!"...Yeah, it's been bad...At least we are looking good on that position this year(knock on wood, again)...Stay out of trouble, Big Ed!

Why doesn't Polian sign big-name free agents? Because we are still literally paying for that guy... At least No. 79 has been reliable (Knock on wood one more time)...Get well soon Raheem :)

via www.nfl.com.mx

Number 3:

Mike Vander[insert-your-favorite-one-here]

NFL's most accurate kicker, EVER! Yeah... If you could have just made that 46 yarder...Was it that hard for NFL's superheroic player? Was it because you were tired after playing O-line and MLB the whole game? Were you tired after stripping Jerome Bettis and running it downfield? Or were you just angry because you were better than Peyton and you deserved to be the starting QB? Don't worry Mikey, we all know you deserve it...And Polian's an idiot for cutting you...

Hey Mike, do you think your current team would accept Peyton Manning, Reggie Wayne and a 1st round pick in a trade for you? Maybe if we added Dwight Freeney?...Who is your current team, by the way?

via cdn.bleacherreport.com

Number 2:

"Tom Brady is better than Peyton Manning because...."

"...he has more rings", "...he can win big games" (yeah, the "big game talk" is included here), "...he is married to a supermodel", "...he was a 6th round pick and fought all the way up", "...he doesn't have pedigree", "he's 'hot'"...I'm not getting deep into this because it would unveil the typical Manning vs. Brady talk, but it had to be included in this post because we ALL think Peyton Manning is a better QB than Tom Brady...And we don't see SB rings as a way to measure abilty...and we think Peyton CAN win big games....and your wife doesn't determine how good you are...and it isn't our fault that Tom Brady sucked in college....and it isn't Peyton's fault that his father and brother played/play in the NFL too... So, in conclusion, this annoys us all, and that's why it is number two...

Hey, Peyton is hot too, right?

via blitzmagonline.com

Finally,

Number 1:

Injuries

We can talk about Tom Brady vs Manning as long as you want, or about Mike Vanderjagt, or whatever...but let's face it: injuries are what we hate the most! 2006: Corey Simon, Montae Reagor, Bob Sanders...2007: Dwight Freeney, Booger McFarland, Marvin Harrison, the rest of the D-line...2008: Bob Sanders, Ryan Lilja, Marlin Jackson, Gary Brackett, Joseph Addai, even Peyton Manning gave us a hard time last year! Injuries are usually one of our excuses when we talk about why we didn't win a Super Bowl, and of course they are a HUGE factor...That's why we hate them! And the toughest thing is when it's Saturday or early Sunday and the other teams are reporting ONE injury, and we have like 6 starters questionable for the game, other 5 banged up, plus the other 3 we already have on IR.That's the way it's been for a long time...

If this guy could stay healthy for 16 games...(Hey! Look who's there in the back. It's Quinn Pitcock! We could have given him Brett Favre's number...)

via bedullasports.com

So that's it...these are what I consider the 10 things we Colts fans hate the most...Do you agree with these? Would you add something else? Would you change the order of the rankings? Oh, and please, don't bring the Peyton Manning-Tom Brady discussion all over again...

Poll

What do we Colts fans hate the most?

Gilbert Gardner's tackling, Kenton Keith's hands, etc.

6 votes

"Payton" Manning

1 votes

"This is the year the Colts take a step back..."

42 votes

The Titans getting our former players

7 votes

Phillip Rivers

43 votes

"Peyton Manning didn't win Super Bowl XLI, the Colts won because of their running game and inspired defense"

5 votes

DT bad luck

10 votes

Mike Vanderjagt

14 votes

"Tom Brady is better than Manning because..."

179 votes

Injuries

116 votes

423 votes | Poll has closed

NFL.com's mediocre training camp preview

fpacheco — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 06:04:27 -0000

I just checked NFL.com's Colts training camp preview and found what in my opinion is a mediocre job.

Here's the link: http://www.nfl.com/trainingcamp/story?id=09000d5d81113675&template=with-video-with-comments&confirm=true

TOP POSITION BATTLE
Starter still needed in the slot The Colts like three-receiver packages, and the slot job appears to be open. Since Anthony Gonzalez is moving outside to replace released veteran Marvin Harrison, Pierre Garcon and Roy Hall are left to fight it out for the spot. Also keep an eye on outside linebacker, where Freddie Keiaho takes on Tyjuan Hagler for the starting job. Keiaho was cut during the offseason but re-signed, and Hagler couldn't stay healthy last season, missing seven games.

So...Since when is Keiaho starting? Was Tyjuan Hagler a starter last year (except for injury reasons)? Do they know anything about Phillip Wheeler? Did we cut Keiaho?

The rest of the information is "good", but by reading this, I infer that the guy who did this does not know anything about the Colts except for what he read 5 minutes ago. I'm not saying he needs to be an expert, but if you look for Colts' weaknesess and camp battles not only this year but almost every year, you'll find stuff about our LBs...And we've heard a lot about Phillip Wheeler and how he's expected to be a starter this year! It isn't that hard, specially when you work for NFL.com!

KC Joyner's new victim: Joe Addai

fpacheco — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 18:09:39 -0000

Just when we thought it was a personal KC Joyner vs Peyton Manning thing, this guy takes a shot on a second Colts player in one week...Here's what he said:

http://fifthdown.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/07/23/a-closer-look-at-addais-productivity/

In other words, it wasn’t Addai’s lack of productivity on busted plays that hindered him — he couldn’t get the ball up the field enough on plays he should have been able to. Some of that is probably attributable to a knee that required off-season surgery, but since the Colts were concerned enough to draft Donald Brown in the first round, I would consider Addai a risky fantasy prop at either the No. 1 or No. 2 running back slots on a roster.

What do you think? Does he hate the Colts? Is he actually true?

Poll

Do you know what a Football Scientist is?

Yes

9 votes

No

24 votes

It's just the opposite of a Lab Quarterback

16 votes

49 votes | Poll has closed

Colts WR/TE unit, 15th in the NFL

fpacheco — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 21:51:07 -0000

Check out what Adrian Hasenmayer from Fox Sports.com says about the NFL's WR/TE's units

Here's the link: http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/9787230/Positional-Power-Rankings:-WR/TE-packages

Quick ranks:

Can you believe it? I can't! I'd take Reggie-Gonzo-Clark-Garcon-Collie over many of those units! I obviously agree with the top 4, let's say the top 5, but come on!

The Texans unit is arguably as talented as ours! Andre Johnson has a little edge over Reggie (3 inches), but Clark's got an edge over Owen Daniels, and the rest is pretty even.
The Broncos' is talented but with Brandon Marshall they have disciplinary issues...
The Packers' is in fact very good, but not 7 spots above ours!
The Falcons is similar as ours...Roddy White<Reggie Tony Gonzalez(old)>Dallas Clark...
The Eagles! They've got talent, but that Cellek guy is NOT a top TE and the WRs are babies! They need experience!
The Bengals! Would you take Ocho Cinco over Reggie? I wouldn't, not even over Gonzo! Coles is a good WR, but Chris Henry did nothing last year and the TEs? Ben Utecht? He's not close to Dallas Clark.
The Steelers have a solid unit, they should be ranked higher too... They just need a 3rd WR to step up, and that could be Shaun McDonald
The Bucs'! That one is ridiculous! One year wonder Antonio Bryant and oft-injured Kellen Winslow...that's it! Michael Clayton? Dexter Jackson? Would you take this guys over ours?
The Cowboys...Roy Williams could be good, and of course Jason Witten is elite, but our unit is way better!

No.15, in my opinion, is not bad, it's RIDICULOUS! And most of this guy's analysis are based on how good the QB is or the O-line, and that shouldn't be a factor when you're ranking WR/TEs, don't you think?

Here's what he said about the Colts:

Where were you in 1995? Rockin' the grunge flannel, or in your Swingers heyday? That was also the last year the Colts put out a depth chart without Marvin Harrison. So what to make of Indy's receiving corps sans the future HOFer? Still solid, especially with Harrison's long-time dance partner Reggie Wayne in his athletic prime, coming off five straight 1,000-yard seasons and three Pro Bowls. Maybe Anthony Gonzalez can be Wayne's sidekick, but he doesn't have to be with tight end Dallas Clark already Peyton Manning's right-hand man. I'm not big on Indy's depth this year, but they have talent to develop eventually.

We HAVE DEPTH! Not many experience, but we do have a lot of depth...I really think we are a Top 10 unit at those positions...

What's your opinion?

Costa Rica 3 - US 1

fpacheco — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 04:54:27 -0000

This could be the most off topic post, ever! I Some of you may be asking what am I talking about, but I guess at least one or two of you did watch the game (at least the first minute and a half, before our first goal, HA!).

I think the game showed a superior home team, but that's not even close from meaning Costa Rica is a superior team overall. I think we're a great home team, played very offensively (more than expected), and had a good scheme and game plan. U.S.A. was a bit lost, felt the pressure not only in the first minutes of the game but before, when they entered the stadium; they just couldn't handle it. I was a very big mismatch in that sense. It was funny seeing Landon Donovan's ritual before shooting the penalty kick, and even in this kind of games he shows he's a heck of a player and a leader. In conclusion, United States is still a better team than Costa Rica, but we proved we are for real and a serious contender for participating in the World Cup. FIFA should give us a boost in the next rankings...

What do you think? Don't worry, I expect a lot of "I don't care" replies, lol.

GO COLTS! =)

Colts Website

fpacheco — Sat, 16 May 2009 18:11:10 -0000

I visit the Colts official website (colts.com) on a daily basis, as I imagine many of you do. And it is no secret that it just simply sucks, specially if you compare it to other teams' websites (see Jaguars, Dolphins, Ravens, etc). I know it isn't the most important thing or anything, but I'd really like to see an attractive and more easy to use site for all of us. For example, go to "Tickets" in the upper menu and try to click on "Manage your account".It's stupidly hard to do!

I've been wondering if we, as a group of Colts fans, could do something about it. Any ideas?

Poll

Do you like the Colts' website?

Yes

5 votes

No

46 votes

51 votes | Poll has closed

The Brett Favre Saga: Episode II

fpacheco — Mon, 04 May 2009 01:31:28 -0000

At first, I just thought the NFL nation was running out of topics so they brought the Favre saga again with the fact that the Jets had released him. Then they said he asked for that release twice, and that he had hired a personal trainer. Later came reports of a misterious plane going from Mississippi to Minnessota or something like that, but even at that point I just thought it was the media exagerating.

Here's what New York Daily News said today:

One NFL source insists Brett Favre can't peacefully retire until he finds a way to get revenge on the Packers. He wants back into the NFC North so he can face the Packers twice. The Bears traded for Jay Cutler and the Lions drafted Matthew Stafford. Hello, Minnesota. "Favre can't stand Green Bay," the source said. "He wants to play Green Bay and say, 'I told you so.' His bitterness is creating this. I think he's calling Minnesota. I think Minnesota is talking about this as we speak. You haven't heard the end of Favre. No way. He is bionic. As long as somebody will let him in, he will play."

Now I'm starting to think it could happen again, as it happened last year...If he wants, he'll come back and the media is not going to stop. I can remember last year all the Peter Kings and Pete Priscos talking about him and him and HIM, ALL DAY LONG. It was boring and frustrating, and now he has opened that door, again; and unless tomorrow is Thursday, September 10, the media is not going to shut up.

I also think the Lions could consider him, he could mentor Matt Stafford this year (better than he did with Kellen Clemens, I hope)...but they already have Daunte Culpepper and I'm not sure they'd like to bring that headache to town. Yes, that's what he has become: a HEADACHE! Not as big as a "T.O. headache", but he's old, takes a lot of risks (resulting in turnovers) and brings a lot of media attention to town, specially if you're going to play the Packers twice.

So, as we're approaching to the second episode of this saga, I'd like to hear your opinion.

Oh, and if you're asking what does this have to do with the Colts, just remember who's got all the career passing records...

Poll

What do you think of Brett Favre coming back?

He's a Hall of Famer, I'd love to see him coming back and getting his revenge against the Packers

55 votes

He's ruining his Hall of Fame career with the Packers, what an idiot! And, he's making it more dificult for Peyton to break his records!

49 votes

He's not coming back.

12 votes

I don't care...we already played the NFC North last year

13 votes

129 votes | Poll has closed

Gonzo interview, ESPN

fpacheco — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 22:22:33 -0000

Gonzo interview, ESPN

ESPN.com's Paul Kuharsky is saying Colts WR Anthony Gonzalez is a candidate for "breakout player for '09". Some people said he was a breakout player for 2008; and he was very reliable, but not a STAR. What do you think? Is he going to reach the 1000 this season?