Monday's Heroes Part II

Hey peeps, and anyone else checking in. If this is your first visit, see Monday's Heroes Part I for a rundown on what Monday's are about. A special hey goes to Ms. Hazel Mae.

Did anyone catch yesterday's Cowboys/Chiefs game? Was that something or what? I am not poking fun at Hazel...would I do that? The only reason I bring up the 31 to 28 COWBOYS victory is because we start in Dallas for this weeks Hazies...NFL style.

Drew Bledsoe, I usually ask Hazel to send some good karma Bledsoe's way...I didn't expect her to this week - not against her Kansas City Chiefs; but what a damn game for Bledsoe. He looked shaky at times, he got lucky a few other times, he made a few bad decisions, but when it came down to it - he made some big plays, he took advantage of his opportunities, and he drove them down the field for a game winning TD. Oh yeah, he also went 22/34, for 332 yards and 3 TDs. Not that I'm rubbing it in or anything Hazel...I swear.

Terry Glenn had 6 catches for 138 yards and 1 TD, while adding another TD on a six yard TD run. Glenn came up big for the Cowboys when they needed him - scoring the TD that brought the Cowboys back from 14 - 3, Bledsoe kept looking for him on 3rd downs...in short, Glenn was a game breaker. I'm not rubbing it in...seriously...I was going to nominate Marion Barber - but that might be pushing it a little. Right Hazel?

Larry Johnson of the Chiefs (not that I'm sucking up to Hazel) gets a Hazie. I have to admit that he shredded the Cowboys yesterday... 26 carries for 143 yards and 3 TDs. Johnson looked unstoppable at times. I wonder who K.C. trades Priest Holmes to.

Rudi Johnson of the Bengals rushed 30 times for 169 yards and a TD in helping the Bengals pull out a victory against the Browns. What made the perfomance all the more impressive was that with the weather conditions on Sunday - both teams focused on stuffing the run. Not a great game for Palmer...but Rudi saved the day.

Tom Brady of the Patriots served notice yesterday - don't count the Patriots out. The best big game QB of our era torched a very good Buffalo defence yesterday. Brady went 29/38 for 329 yards and 2 TDs - he added a TD run for good measure. Watch out Indy...Brady is going to lead the Patriots into your home...and he's gonna beat you - AGAIN. The best QB in the NFL - period.

Speaking of the Colts...Peyton has to be mentioned this week. 24/36 for 324 yards and 2 TDs in Jacksonville is worth a Hazie. He made a very good defence look very ordinary for about 3 quarters. Marvin Harrison gets a Hazie for catching 6 balls for 137 yards and 2 TDs. Have I mentioned that Brady is gonna get the Colts?

While great performances against the 49ers are to be expected, and don't usually get singled out for a Hazie...Matt Hasselbeck's performance yesterday was something else - going 21/25 for 226 and 4 TDs. The completion percentage and the 4 TDs got my attention.

Chris Chambers of the Dolphins pulled in 8 passes for 121 yards and 2 TDs to lead the surprising Dolphins to a victory over the highly regarded San Diego Chargers. Come to think of it, give the whole team an award for that win...I hate to say I told you so, but Clark Judge of CBS Sportsline agrees with me that the Chargers aren't all that - I think I said that Marty Schottenheimer will never lead a team to a Super Bowl victory.

Samkon Gado of the Packers set a team record for rushing yards in a game by a rookie - 29 rushes for 171 yards and a 64 yard TD run...works for me.

Other notables include - Jerome Bettis of the Steelers, Ronde Barber of the Bucs - 6 tackles, 1 sack and 1 INT, Ryan Moats of the Eagles, Dominick Davis of the Texans, Trent Green of the Chiefs (I swear I'm not rubbing it in Hazel - If I was, I would nominate Tynes in the Not So Heroic section - but I won't).

EUROPEAN SOCCER
I know many of you (the 20+ confirmed regular readers) don't care about what happens in the world of soccer; especially league games, but...Adriano of Inter Milan had a monster game against hated rivals A.C. Milan. Adriano scored two goals in Inter's 3-2 win...may not sound like much - but in the world of Italian soccer (Serie A) - its as good as it gets.

SURVIVOR
Yes, its on par with WWE...but I admit it, I'm hooked on Survivor - always have been. For those of you that watched this season - how about that Danni? Smart, well-spoken, seemingly very nice and genuine, beautiful AND a Chiefs fan...remind you of anyone? I'll let you make the connection.

But she won Survivor this season and pocketed a cool million! She did it against some pretty nasty people...she adapted, overcame and won them over...again, remind you of anyone? Hint: A Chiefs fan...beautiful...McFly? Hello? McFly?

LEAFS WIN...LEAFS WIN...LEAFS WIN - that should make Hazel smile. The Leafs beat Anaheim tonight without Eric Lindros and Eddie Belfour in the lineup. I just like saying Leafs win...eat your hearts out Bruins fans.


NOT-SO-HEROIC
I hate to say it...it will likely be the ONLY time I say this. I was saddened to see that during last week's Champions League game between Benfica and Manchester United, the fans at the Stadium of Light mercilessly booed and taunted one of their own. The fans were on young Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo all night - what was even more saddening was to see Ronaldo salute the fans with the finger when he left the game. Ronaldo is young and emotional...he gets a pass on this one - the fans in Lisbon do not, come next summer in Germany they will be loving the young man. Bad form on both sides.

The cartel better known as FIFA pulled a major boner in seedings for the 2006 World Cup. In the past, seedings for the World Cup were based on a number of factors - previous results from World Cups and other major tournaments (ie. Copa America and Euro tournament) - but this time around they switched it up and based it largely on results from previous two World Cups. So Italy who is not currently ranked in FIFA's top 10 and France who hasn't done a thing in years get seeded - while Portugal (who have made a living out of bitch-slapping England) and the Netherlands who are both in Top 10, get second seed status. I guess it wouldn't surprise you if I said that Italy and France were big money leagues in Europe.

By the way for American soccer fans - don't believe the crap that you are in the group of death with Italy, Crotia and the Ivory Coast. The Groups of Death are C and D - the teams coming out of those groups should be Argentina, the Netherlands, Mexico and Portugal - four of the top 9 teams in the world to play in knockout round.

That about wraps it up for tonight - what's on tap for the rest of the week?

The Economics of RAMADA - I'm not letting it go...the Red Sox will wind up with Tejada and Ramirez.

World Cup Bracket Prediction - The first round should be easy...the knockout stage is where the fun starts. Here's a hint...I have Portugal winning the World Cup. I don't know vs whom...but Figo raises the Trophy next year.

That about wraps things up for this entry. Have a great one peeps - please register your vote on yahoo poll...wanna know what kind of pull Hazel STILL has in Canada? The newest member on the site wrote:

"My name is mike and i go to ryerson university...I watched hazel everyday on sportsnet and i looked everywhere for a site or a club...

A year and a half removed from Canadian airwaves and Hazel still has "peeps" in Canada thinking...way to go Hazel! Memo to NESN - get yourselves an agreement with our cable providers...we'll buy NESN.

Hazel, if you are indeed checking in...hope things are groovy in your world.

Song of the Night on Hazelspeeps - primarily for the nasty people at the Stadium of Light in Lisbon and their love/hate relationship with Cristiano Ronaldo...for fans of the Dallas Cowboys who watched the last few minutes of the Cowboys/Chiefs game (I swear Hazel...I'm not rubbing it in...I won't mention it again)...for Pats fans and media (not Hazel of course) who were writing this team off a few weeks ago...even Danni who nervously watched the votes going her way last night - I give you

Breathe - Telepopmusik


Peesth Out!