Jared W. Smith

In my various journeys around the Internet(s) this weekend, I did manage to trip up on a few things that bothered me…

• Classic Bush: He appoints an anti-contraception advocate to the head of Office of Population Affairs. I just don’t know what to say anymore. It just speaks for itself, I think (and hope).
• In yet another sign Bill O’Reilly is losing his mind, he somehow manages to say that gaming will be the end of the United States in an epic attempt at reasoning that only Bill O’Reilly can accomplish. C’mon, O’Reilly — are things really as bad as you claim?
• The PS3 launch was utterly ridiculous on so many fronts, ranging from Sony shipping ~200,000 for the U.S. only to the violence at launch time. Amazing what people go through and how much they spend on eBay for such a terrible piece of hardware. Sony has botched this one, bigtime.
• Rep. Charlie Rangel wants the draft to come back. Amazing how the folks in power — i.e. biggest proponents of the war — cower up when they think of the possibility of their sons and daughters going to war involuntarily…honestly, the reaction isn’t really surprising.
• If you believe Steve Ballmer, expect a flurry of patent infringement cases against Linux distributions that aren’t SuSE very soon…
• Finally…how can police get rid of ten codes?!? I talk to my friends in radio-speak and ten codes all the time. I’m sure I look like a giant doofus in front of, well, everyone, but hey…

So the Chargers just capped a comeback from 17 down to beat the Broncos 35-24 in Denver, claiming sole possession of first place in the AFC West. LT had four touchdowns, and it was the first time an NFL team had come back from 17 down to win in two straight games. Very impressive. I would feel a lot better about this game had Igor Olshansky not lost his damn mind and thrown a left and right hook on Tom Nalen on the Broncos’ last drive of the game. This helped move the Broncos up to the 50 yard line and put them in serious striking distance. Then, Drayton Florence incurred a defensive delay of game penalty by not letting Rod Smith get up. So, here we are: 1st and 5 for the Broncos with 20 something seconds left. I’m sitting in my chair IMming profanities to Ale and Chris, clearly dismayed over the situation. Then, like a flash of light from $deity, Shaun Phillips chases down Jake Plummer, gets the sack, and Plummer coughs it up. The Broncos, in yet another epic moment of scatterbrained lunacy, recover the fumble in-bounds. Had the ball gone out of bounds, they would’ve been back far, sure, but had another shot. Instead, the clock runs out, and the Chargers win. Whew. Congrats once again to LaDainian Tomlinson. He’ll obliterate the touchdown record and a lot more this year, I think. What a great player and — most importantly — a great guy. Rest assured the Tomlinson jersey is making an appearance on the CofC campus tomorrow.

This was a great win for San Diego, especially considering the Colts lost for the first time this year to Tony Romo and the Cowboys, bringing the Chargers within a game of the #1 seed in the AFC…not baaaad. (Speaking of Romo, have you seen Drew Bledsoe’s Blog? TOO hilarious!)

The Panthers defense pulled out a perfecto today, blanking the St. Louis Rams’ vaunted offense 15-0. Carolina’s offense was wildly inconsistent as per usual. DeShaun Foster left the game with an injury (it was only a matter of time). DeAngelo Williams ran for 114 yards and is making a serious case to be the featured back in Carolina. Steve Smith had a touchdown. Ho, hum. Haha. I can’t say enough about this defense, though, giving Marc Bulger one hell of a day. The Rams are done, especially without Orlando Pace. With New Orleans being torched by the Bengals today and the Falcons losing their fourth straight, the Panthers suddenly find themselves with a slight advantage in the NFC South (they have the head-to-head advantage over New Orleans having beaten the Saints earlier this year).

This was a terrible weekend for injuries (and Ale’s fantasy teams) as Donovan McNabb tore his right ACL, ending his season, and Brett Favre has a nerve problem in his elbow, which could threaten his consecutive starts streak. LaMont Jordan’s also done for the Raiders as he tore his MCL as well.

More great blogs tomorrow, including a fantastic Word 2007 feature and praise for more oldschool Ryan Farish.