2695 replies to this topic

[LMontro]

Approaching blow-hard and self-absorbed but stopping just short of sanctimonious.
@SI_PeterKing

Perhaps he's warming up.

Probably saving his best stuff for MMQB. Have no fear, he will attach himself to this like a barnacle.

[Turrable]

Couldn't sleep, had nothing better to do. PRESENTING: PETER KING TRAGEDY BINGO

Edited by Turrable, 16 December 2012 - 04:43 AM.

[Corsi]

Bravo!

[Average Reds]

Holy shit that is outstanding.

[ifmanis5]

That was great. Will be even greater on Monday when most of those memes come true.

[Shelterdog]

"keyboard-smashingly stupid" is my new favorite term.

[dirtynine]

This is on KSK now (with credit given)... way to make us all look funny!

[BannedbyNYYFans.com]

Incredible. Well done!

[Dogman2]

Top notch effort.

Well done.

[drleather2001]

I am so proud.

[loshjott]

This is on KSK now (with credit given)... way to make us all look funny!

And the 2nd comment on that linked page is this:

Fuckin’ brand new Black Ops II disc is unreadable out of the box.

Makes me wanna choke a bitch.

[ifmanis5]

This is on KSK now (with credit given)... way to make us all look funny!

This thread is all growns up.

[E5 Yaz]

When the "post of the year" thread begins, let us not forget

[John Marzano Olympic Hero]

Well done, Turrable. Well done indeed.

[Turrable]

Holy shit, I'm speechless.

It was 4 am, I couldn't sleep, I had no idea anybody would actually find that funny.

I fucking love KSK too, wow.

[Mystic Merlin]

That's the kind of thing Oscar Wilde used to say.

[Reverend]

Holy shit, I'm speechless.

It was 4 am, I couldn't sleep, I had no idea anybody would actually find that funny.

I fucking love KSK too, wow.

Nice to see you get recognition for what is really some very excellent work.

"Kudos."

[Turrable]

"Kudos."

[Corsi]

Holy lord at his Lincoln-Goodell slavery anology.

[Smiling Joe Hesketh]

That is fantastic.

[John Marzano Olympic Hero]

Good lord. I don't think anyone in America would compare Goodell to Abe Lincoln, but leave it to Peter King.

[Trlicek's Whip]

This was A-mazing.

Some of my non-SoSH friends are beginning to understand why I hate Peter King so much, so I think they're ready for PK Bingo.

I've shared and Tweeted this for posterity

[drleather2001]

Peter King has heard your criticisms, and has responded thusly:

e. And for those who say to me, "Stick to sports,'' you've got the wrong guy. I won't be offended if you never click on this column again, or if you stop listening to me on radio or TV, or stop following me on Twitter. It's a free country, and we're not going to agree on everything. The media world has changed -- maybe for the better, maybe not. But it's different than the world was in 1989, when I was hired by Sports Illustrated.
A generation or two ago, a sportswriter covering the NFL might never have been asked for his opinion on anything -- he might have reported on the NFL and not been opinionated about it, but rather have been right down the middle on everything. I was hired by the magazine strictly to be a reporter and writer 23 years ago; that started to change with the advent of the internet a few years later.

Now, my job in this multi-media world is to report on events in a straightforward way in stories for Sports Illustrated -- as happened a couple of weeks ago with my cover story on the Colts -- and on NBC's Football Night in America, then to be a reporter with football opinions and personal opinions in this column and others on SI.com. And to do pretty much whatever I want on Twitter, keeping in mind my SI bosses asked me in 2009 to interact with readers for a few minutes every day. So that's my job. It's not everyone's job in this business, but it's mine. And I respect you if you think I do it poorly, or you disagree with me. It's also your option to skip over my rantings if you wish, particularly in a long column like this. There should be enough football in it for anyone. Your call.

A few things.

• In my less-than-expert like knowledge on the subject of journalism, it is not typically the job of a reporter to give their personal views or opinions. That's the job of a columnist. King is, in fact, a columnist, but he would prefer not to say so. I imagine this is because King, as always, wants to have his cake and eat it too: he wants to be viewed as an unbiased, scrupulous, reporter, but also wants to have the free reign of a columnist. All of this is a long-winded way of saying: if Peter King is, in fact, a Reporter, then no, it is not his "job" to report on his "personal opinions." That's exactly what a reporter isn't. Peter King's opinions aren't news that is fit to be reported.
• Also, it's really his "job" to say whatever he wants on twitter? I find that somewhat hard to believe. I'm sure SI simply doesn't care what he says, so long as it doesn't make SI look like racists or something, but a literal reading of King's statement makes it seem like the brass at SI pulled him in, sat him down, and said: "King. There's this thing called Twitter. All the young bucks are using it. Big stuff." And King said, "Ok. So you want me to 'tweet' about football stuff? Injuries and the like?" And the Head Honcho stood up, put his hands on the oak desk, leaned forward, and spoke through clenched teeth: "No, King. We want you to write anything you want. Got it? It's your JOB, King."
• And my favorite: "keeping in mind my SI bosses asked me in 2009 to interact with readers for a few minutes every day". As if "Keeping in contact with my readers" is synonymous with "Talk about stuff that's not related to sports." The two things are far from mutually exclusive.

In sum, I think King is so tone deaf that he doesn't realize that what he calls his "responsibilities" are, in fact, merely liberties that his position allows him to take advantage of.

Edited by drleather2001, 17 December 2012 - 09:59 AM.

[John Marzano Olympic Hero]

Leather, I think that you're right for the most part but a few things I mildly disagree with:

1. King is a hyrbid journalist/reporter. He has the contacts and rolodex to be a reporter but he also sprinkles his MMQB columns with his commentary. I think that he needs to be a bit more honest with his readers on this fact. Because if he thinks MMQB is five pages of "facts", then he's completely incorrect. Even if you take out his "10 Things ..." portion, there is a ton of commentary interwoven to what he reports. And for the record, I am fine with this; this is the new mode of journalism, especially on-line journalism. What I'm not fine with are his opinions, but whatever.

2. I think that King has a point about interacting with his readers. Twitter is unlike, say sports radio, where the host (or the Twitee) has the power. I think that his readers just message him whatever is on their heads and King respond, or interacts, with them. Maybe he should be a bit more discriminating when responding to things, but then there will be a vocal group who say that "King only responds to football questions and nothing else." Again, personally I don't give a shit as to what Peter King thinks about Newtown or "Lincoln" or the price of bread, but there are others who do. And they seem to care a lot.

[drleather2001]

I don't necessarily disagree. I guess my point isn't that King is doing anything "wrong", it's that his explanation of why he devotes so much effort to non-sports related issues is bullshit.

I read his explanation as saying "I'm a reporter, my job is to report on things, including my personal opinion on a lot of matters."

In other words, he's using his status as a reporter to justify standing on his soapbox about any goddamned thing he wants. It's not that he WANTS to tell you about coffee, oh no, it's his JOB to tell you.

That's self-serving (probably self-delusional) bullshit.

Edited by drleather2001, 17 December 2012 - 10:50 AM.

[E5 Yaz]

Peter King ‏@SI_PeterKing
MMQB2: Playoff folderol ... Wild Card dreaming: Russell Wilson at BobGriff

[Reverend]

It's bullshit because he's pulling the "I've got a right to my opinion" bullshit which is, well, bullshit.

People aren't telling him he should stick to football (See what I did there?) because he has no right to his own opinion outside of that area; they're telling him to stick to football because he sucks when he expresses opinions in other areas.

I mean, yeah, he has a right to suck, but the conflation of rights and the good drives me batshit.

[CoffeeNerdness]

If this guy didn't write all his Starbucks, beer nerd, haiku bologna this thread would maybe be 2 pages long. I'll be honest, I've never read more than a paragraph or two of the guy's writing, but I check this thread every Monday. Here's to PK sticking to his guns. He's a glorious trainwreck.

[John Marzano Olympic Hero]

I'll be honest, I've never read more than a paragraph or two of the guy's writing, but I check this thread every Monday.

Looking at your screen name and reading this, I wouldn't have guessed that.

[pappymojo]

So what was the haiku this week? I'm tempted to open SI myself, but I don't want to give the guy any more views than possible.

[Turrable]

The funny thing is I thought about adding a square for "Roger Goodell verbal fellatio" but figured he'd have no room for that in a post-tragedy column. PK never disappoints.

[Dan Murfman]

Why I'm not a coach:
Kaepernick over Alex.
Harbaugh knows his craft.

[drleather2001]

With the caveat that King ultimately (reluctantly, it seems) voted for Peterson over Manning for MVP:

MVP and Offensive Player: Manning had one of his best seasons ever, and he had it coming off four neck procedures in two years, and while learning a new offense and a new team and all new players in an offseason governed by the new NFL Offseason Lite rules, and he lifted the Broncos from a marginal playoff team to a dominant one finishing with 11 straight wins, and it's hard to fathom not voting for him for MVP. And I had Manning as MVP until Sunday.
But this award is almost unfairly balanced to the quarterback, and will be for a long time the way the game is being played now. If you have a mind to vote for Manning, Tom Brady or Aaron Rodgers -- but particularly Manning in leading a new team to the AFC's top seed -- it's easily justifiable. But the Vikings without Peterson would have been toast by Thanksgiving, Halloween maybe.

Why do NFL writers concede that Manning's injury last year, and the fact that he's on a new team, work in his favor? I understand it helps the narrative, but when did anything other than a player's actual performance during the season in question form the basis of who the "MVP" is in a given year?

The problem with these supplemental grounds for voting on an MVP is that they are inherently malleable. I am 100% certain that, had Manning stayed on the Colts and led Indy to the same record that Luck has led them to, King et al would be trumpeting the win differential between last year and this year. Likewise, If Peterson happens to go out next year and rush for *only* 1950 yards, will writers say "Well, we can't vote for him this year because he wasn't as good as he was last year."

It's a common debate (we have at least one thread on it), and I don't want to belabor the point, but one of the reasons King irks me as a writer is that this is an opportunity for him to really examine Manning's and Peterson's season beyond a "Well, what a story!" point of view. But he doesn't want to. It's easier to just eyeball the two players' performances and pick one. And, frankly, I don't think either Manning or Peterson are the wrong decision on MVP, I just wish King, of all people, would stop short of conceding that the juicy, but frankly meaningless, aspect of a team's prior performance (a playoff team, no less!), or that a player was injured last year, or that Manning deserves some extra credit for learning a new offense in a shortened preseason (as if other teams didn't have new arrivals). If you want to vote for Manning (or Peterson), fine. But make an argument based on their performance, not something that makes writing about their performance more engaging.

"Norv never really got a fair shake. I hope the next guy gets a fair shake."
-- San Diego quarterback Philip Rivers, after the last game of Norv Turner's San Diego coaching career, to San Diego radio reporter Marty Caswell.
Philip, here's the way the NFL works: You coach a team with a good quarterback, and you go five years without winning a playoff game, well, you lose your job. You think it ought to be any different than that? You would be one sweet NFL owner, with coaches paying you to work for them.

Rivers strikes me as a loudmouth idiot, so I'm not entirely sympathetic toward him here. However: without knowing more of the context of the quote (for instance, what was the question he's responding to?), I think it's fair to say that he's just trying to not kick a guy in the ass on his way out of town. It's also possible he was talking about how the fans received Turner, and that he was questioned and never supported by the press/fans from the get go. Judging from how many "Norvball" jokes I've seen on places like Deadspin and, well, here, I think that may even be a fair point. Maybe Rivers is just saying: "I hope the next guy is supported and not second guessed right away the way Norv was."

But regardless. Rivers was standing up for his coach in a pretty mild way, and in such a way that makes it clear he'll support the new coach too, and King gives him shit for it. Fine, but, again in these situations, what is he supposed to say? "Norv sucked!"? "I sucked, they fired the wrong guy!"?

In a profession littered with cliches and boring responses, it always makes me roll my eyes whenever King goes after someone for saying something that, even if taken 100% literally, is, at best, maybe kind of questionable or silly. Also, would King have gone after Manning if Manning had made a similar quote? I doubt it very much.

Factoid of the Week That May Interest Only Me I

On the occasion of the last column of the regular season, I look back at the two greatest catches in New York Giants history, the 32-yard Velcro catch by David Tyree that led to the winning touchdown in Super Bowl XLII, and the 38-yard rainbow catch by Mario Manningham along the sidelines that led to the winning touchdown in Super Bowl XLVI.
Giants offensive possessions that included Tyree after the Velcro catch: 0.
Giants offensive possessions that included Manningham after the rainbow catch: 0.
Obviously, the Super Bowl in Phoenix was Tyree's last game for the Giants (he never caught another pass in his NFL career), and the Super Bowl in Indianapolis was Manningham's last game for the Giants.

Appropos of what, exactly? This is an observation (oh, sorry, "factoid") that could have been made at any time in the previous 3 months. Why now? He was saving this for his last column of the calendar year? Why?

Factoid of the Week That May Interest Only Me II

Dec. 31, 1972 -- 40 years ago today -- was the most heartbreaking day in the history of Pittsburgh sports. And maybe in the history of Pittsburgh. At 3:05 p.m., at Three Rivers Stadium, the Steelers walked off the field 21-17 losers in the AFC Championship Game to the Dolphins, who would go on to have the only perfect season in modern NFL history. That was just a game. Less than seven hours later, something truly horrible happened. Off the coast of San Juan, a plane ferrying beloved all-star Pirates outfielder Roberto Clemente, who was on a mission of mercy carrying supplies to earthquake victims in Nicaragua, crashed in the water, killing Clemente and the other four aboard the relief plane.

With all due respect to Roberto Clemente (fuck the Steelers):

"[In] March 17, 1936, the Pittsburgh area once again found itself underwater in what has become known as the Great St. Patrick’s Day Flood. Once again heavy rains and rapidly melting snow sent the rivers rising. The flood claimed 62 lives, with 500 injured and 135,000 people left homeless. The city suffered millions of dollars in damages to homes, businesses, and industries."

http://www.popularpi...htragedies.aspx

Edited by drleather2001, 31 December 2012 - 10:15 AM.

[fawstahcu]

This was one of my favorites:

h. Too many officials look too heavy to me.

Rocks, glass houses, etc.

[drleather2001]

Travel Notes:

Brian Costello, Jets beatman for the New York Post, saw the snowy forecast in the metropolitan area for Saturday and moved his flight from Newark to Buffalo for Jets-Bills from 3:30 p.m. Saturday to 10:30 a.m., thinking he'd beat the worst of the weather. He did. But then enough happened to him to make him the featured scribe in this week's travel note.
A good traveler, Costello got to the airport at 9 a.m. The weather looked fine, and the plane was on time, set to make the 49-minute flight to western New York. Once there, Costello would rent his car, drive to a hotel and write his Sunday preview story on the titanic tussle between a couple of teams playing for nothing.
Shortly before boarding, an announcement came that the lavatory was out of service, and maintenance would have to be called to fix it. Delay of game, two hours. "I thought the Jets season might have clogged the toilet,'' Costello said.
Passengers began to board at noon. The plane had to be de-iced, and then it began its taxi to the runway, and around 1 p.m., it appeared the flight would take off on time, despite some snow outside. But then a disturbed-looking and disturbed-acting man in 17B ("Charles Manson-like,'' Costello thought) got out of his seat. The flight attendant asked politely, and then firmly, and then firmly again, for the man to sit down. He wouldn't.
Costello was sitting in 1A. He heard the flight attendant tell the pilot about the wackjob in 17B who wouldn't sit down, and the pilot made the decision to go back to the gate. Much groaning. A United Airlines supervisor came on the plane, walked back to where Standing Man was, and escorted him off the plane. Standing Man went peacefully.
Now back at the gate, the snow increased in intensity. They weren't going anywhere for a while. While Newark Airport powers-that-be discussed whether flights would leave the airport, time passed. Finally, at 3 p.m., the pilot taxied out, there was more de-icing, and the plane took off -- at about 3:15. Costello was on the ground in Buffalo at 4:10 ... about 10 minutes before his originally booked flight would have landed.
Costello got off the plane, went to an airport bar, took out his laptop, ordered some wings, and wrote his advance. At 5:30, he went to fetch his rental car and drove to the hotel. What he took from the fun day in northeastern airports in late December: "There's no doubt this game is going to be a complete disaster."
At 9:50 a.m. Sunday, Costello tweeted: "Travel woes postscript: just opened my computer bag and there is a hat in there that's not mine. Gift from United?"
No, but I think the late John Candy was on your plane, and you just were unwittingly involved in Planes, Trains and Automobiles II.

Ok, to summarize: Guy sees that there might be bad weather, re-books for an earlier flight, there are some delays, but he gets to his destination when he needs to be there.

Wow. Fucking riveting.

Tweet of the Week VI

"Brings new meaning to the term 'the whole nine yards.' "
-- @LATimesfarmer, football writer Sam Farmer of the Los Angeles Times, just after Adrian Peterson finished nine yards shy of breaking Eric Dickerson's single-season rushing record.

It does? IIRC, "The whole nine yards" has to do with the length of a bolt of cloth, so if you go the "whole 9 yards" it means to use something up entirely; make complete something.

In fact, Peterson did not complete his quest to break Dickerson's record. I wish he had, but he didn't. So, it seems to me that the only thing that the expression "the whole 9 yards" and Peterson coming 9 yards short is that both involve the specific measurement of "9 yards."


[color=#212121 !important]in·ane[/color]

/iˈnān/

[color=#878787 !important]
Adjective[/color]
Silly; stupid; not significant. [color=#878787 !important]
Synonyms[/color]
vacuous - empty - senseless - blank - foolish - vacant

2. I think this is what I didn't like about Week 17:
a. Not sure whether to like or dislike this, but it's so Patriot to announce the whacking of disappointing 2009 second-rounder Ron Brace at 5:44 p.m. on a Saturday evening of Week 17.

Well, for one it's listed under 'things [you] didn't like about week 17', so, I think it's safe to say that you DIDN'T like it.

But, other that that, I mean...why? Why is this even significant? Did it shock you? I'm guessing no, because you admit it's "So Patriot Like", and that Brace was "disappointing". So...what? What's the fucking problem?

c. Saw two movies over the holidays. Silver Linings Playbook I liked a lot; Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence were superb, and the story felt real. And I saw on a movie channel Contagion, the doomy Matt Damon/Laurence Fishburne job. Liked that one too, particularly the way the contagion is researched and sourced back to bats.

Is King a fan of bats or something? The movie only references bats once, at the very end, and it has no significance on the plot. Just a really weird thing to point out; like saying "I really liked 'Goodfellas', particularly the way the main character doesn't like egg noodles and ketchup."

g. Coffeenerdness: Just my luck Sunday to get behind the Parisians with the $47 order in line at Starbucks in Manhattan. They must love that bisciotti. Got nine of them.

I feel ya, King. It takes so long for the cashier at Starbucks to pick up pre-wrapped biscotti from the little jar and ring it up.

Also, the thought of King admonishing people for liking Starbucks too much is a real gas. Finally, what the hell difference does it make that they were Parisians? And how did he know?

[drleather2001]

The End

Among those we lost in a particularly sad year for deaths:

Did he name this part "The End" after the fact that these people died? That seems a little...coarse.

Neil Armstrong, astronaut and fiercely private citizen who uttered the first words from the first step on the moon: "One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."

Oh, is that who that was?

Fontella Bass, soul and pop singer, singer of one of the great songs of the '60s, Rescue Me, which, to my amazement, was in part messed up (brilliantly, as it turns out) by Bass when, in the studio, she forgot some of the words and said, "Mmm-hmmm,'' in place of the words she forgot. Remember? It was around the time when she sang, "Can't you see that I'm lonely,'' and she forgot the next words "Take me baby'' and while she was thinking of them, she threw in a couple of Mmm-hmmms,'' and it worked out great.

I'll give him this one, I had no idea who this woman was, or that she had died. And that anecdote is kind of neat, although I'm not sure it's really what she would want to be remembered for, fucking up a line to a song.

Ernest Borgnine, actor. McHale's Navy was a big hit in the King household.

Dude won an Oscar and an Emmy (at age 92!). But what he's really worth being remembered for is that Peter King liked one of his less acclaimed TV shows.

Ray Bradbury, writer. Not a science-fiction guy, but I did enjoy Fahrenheit 451 in high school.

King's memorial to Bradbury, however, tops out at a lukewarm 73.5 degrees; the temperature at which coffee becomes cold and gross.

[drleather2001]

Dave Brubeck, composer, musician. Authored and performed so many songs we don't even know are his.

...such as? Hello?

Don Cornelius, Soul Train conductor. How great is Jeff Pearlman's story of Walter Payton and a partner appearing in a dance contest on Soul Train in 1973 when he was a Jackson State student, and finishing second out of 50 couples from across the country?

"Let me fondly recall Don Cornelius by referencing an obscure anecdote about someone else entirely."

Whitney Houston, singer of the best National Anthem I've ever heard, at the Gulf War Super Bowl, Giants-Bills, in January 1991.

I know we're tempted to assume that King knows that we know that Houston was so much more than this, but...judging from his other tributes, I don't think we can afford him that assumption. I think he really believes that this was Houston's greatest contribution to the world. Which is kind of insane.

Davy Jones, Monkey. Okay, maybe I'm overrating the Monkeys by putting Jones in this list, but they were BIG for three or four years of my youth.

Dude, you have Larry Hagman and the woman who sang that one song ("Rescue Me") on this list. If you left off Davy Jones, who was probably more famous in his day than maybe 3-4 people you've listed, you'd be a fucking idiot. I also love that King continues to be defensive about having liked the Monkees when he was, what? 11? He's totally afraid people are going to make fun of him.

Joe Paterno, football coach. Incredible career, good man, very sad end.

Now this guy, you maybe could have left off the list.

Donna Summer, singer. She worked hard for the money.

Jesus, that's just horrible.

Gore Vidal, incredibly prolific writer.

"...of which, I have read none of."


I'm not surprised King left off Levon Helm. Frankly, I'm relieved.

Edited by drleather2001, 31 December 2012 - 11:47 AM.

[DrewDawg]

The End

Among those we lost in a particularly sad year for deaths:

As opposed to a particularly happy year for deaths.

[K.C.R.E.A.M.]

Manning as MVP and Denver to the Super Bowl? Wow.

He's definitely got a man-crush on Peyton. MVP and AFC Champ.

So, my theory is he's just trolling everyone for clicks and to make people talk about him. Even if he's wrong, he can say he went for the "bold pick", and in the statement he couched things quite a bit.

He's mentally ill.

He's not trolling. Remember, this is a guy who bases everything on his own eyes. He's old school scouting, baby.

He's also not smart enough to be aware of people who are public relations-ing him, and he's not self aware enough to contrast what he has seen with what he hasn't seen.

Basically he buys into bullshit - we know this - if a player or coach or team pander to him via tweets, text messages, special access open days and spends the time taking his inane Peter King questions seriously and replying with 'Peter, you are absolutely correct, that's exactly what we are doing' before adding a football cliche like '... and here I feel great, we have a great team, we're fighting as one, guys are int he best shape of their lives, etc etc'.

He spent a day watching his new Favre binky, Manning, and ate every spoonful of shit he was fed. And now he's convinced that his own special football brain has seen what no one else has seen - Manning is going to lead that team to every level of Glory.

So, if you recall, King has been trumpeting the fact that he thinks the Broncos will win the Superbowl. This seems odd, given, well... a lot of things.

What a jackass!

[drleather2001]

Well, to be fair, Manning has to win the Superbowl and be MVP for King to be correct. You don't get to make a really bold prediction and then get credit for being almost right (unless you're Bill Simmons).

But yes, he was right about Manning being better than any of us expected. "Kudos" to him for that.

Edited by drleather2001, 31 December 2012 - 01:01 PM.

[Stevie1der]

I may be misremembering, but the part of his prediction that was especially galling to me was his assertion that Manning had "arguably" his best supporting cast ever. And this is classic Peter King, throwing out a statement like that then neglecting to actually make the argument, because I would've loved to hear how any combination of the Broncos skills players this year match the talent of Harrison/Wayne/Stokely/Clark plus Edge James.

[E5 Yaz]

BobGriff v Wilson
Wild Card dream is coming true.
Will Obama watch?

Let's give King some benefit of the doubt and that "BobGriff" is actually a nickname that's in some usage somewhere. But does the average MMQB know that? Or is King using it in an attempt to earn Fonzie Cool Points over those fools who still say RG3?

Exactly who had a "wild card dream" about Washington and the Seahawks meeting each other?

Obama is a Bears fan, but with them out he's likely to switch outward allegiance to the local team ... regardless of who was playing QB ... and, if he has time, likely would have the game on. But King wants us to think that Obama might watch specifically because two African-American QBs will face each other.

[pappymojo]

I may be misremembering, but the part of his prediction that was especially galling to me was his assertion that Manning had "arguably" his best supporting cast ever. And this is classic Peter King, throwing out a statement like that then neglecting to actually make the argument, because I would've loved to hear how any combination of the Broncos skills players this year match the talent of Harrison/Wayne/Stokely/Clark plus Edge James.

You can't possibly be suggesting that when making preseason MVP predictions, King would identify the Broncos as a good team, but when making MVP picks after the season he would trump up Manning's accomplishments by describing the Broncos as a marginal playoff team.

[Cousin Walter]

New York Giants (9-7). Bizarro Jerry Team of the Year. Last four: win by 25, lose by 34, lose by 19, win by 35.

What exactly is a "Bizarro Jerry" team? What he described is just inconsistent performance. If King was trying to make a Seinfeld reference, perhaps "Even Steven" would be more appropriate. He doesn't get the Bizarro concept at all.

[Corsi]

Don Cornelius, Soul Train conductor. How great is Jeff Pearlman's story of Walter Payton and a partner appearing in a dance contest on Soul Train in 1973 when he was a Jackson State student, and finishing second out of 50 couples from across the country?

This is amazing. You really couldn't even make this one up if you tried.

[Corsi]

Stop telling me, "You can't compare anyone to Peterson and what he did." Yes we can. It's our job to compare, then pick the winner.

http://twitter.com/S...761817605705728

[Reverend]

Ok, to summarize: Guy sees that there might be bad weather, re-books for an earlier flight, there are some delays, but he gets to his destination when he needs to be there.

Wow. Fucking riveting.

None of which is supported by United's flight logs, by the way. I only mention it because of shit like this:

Don Cornelius, Soul Train conductor. How great is Jeff Pearlman's story of Walter Payton and a partner appearing in a dance contest on Soul Train in 1973 when he was a Jackson State student, and finishing second out of 50 couples from across the country?

"Let me fondly recall Don Cornelius by referencing an obscure anecdote about someone else entirely."

His partner's name was Mary "Bullet" Jones. Would it have killed King to just google the story and drop her name in here? She's a fucking person with a name.

Is it minor? Yes. But it's emblematic of what makes King, like, Bizarro Poz.

What exactly is a "Bizarro Jerry" team? What he described is just inconsistent performance. If King was trying to make a Seinfeld reference, perhaps "Even Steven" would be more appropriate. He doesn't get the Bizarro concept at all.

The guy thinks Shankapotamus is a verb.

[drleather2001]

Only Peter King gets to use hyperbole. Hands off!

[TheWinkleman]

Ok, to summarize: Guy sees that there might be bad weather, re-books for an earlier flight, there are some delays, but he gets to his destination when he needs to be there.

Wow. Fucking riveting.

I have a nice headache after reading that. His ability to find such vapid stories to tell is impressive.

I may be misremembering, but the part of his prediction that was especially galling to me was his assertion that Manning had "arguably" his best supporting cast ever. And this is classic Peter King, throwing out a statement like that then neglecting to actually make the argument, because I would've loved to hear how any combination of the Broncos skills players this year match the talent of Harrison/Wayne/Stokely/Clark plus Edge James.

Exactly. His premise was: if the Bronco defense is decent, then with Peyton having these all-time great weapons on offense they'll make the Super Bowl. King didn't even have the guts to say it more firmly than - "there's a possibility that [Peyton] could have the best set of skill players he's had in his life." It's not difficult to argue that they're actually the worst set because Peyton was consistently surrounded by many great skill players on the Colts. Regardless, King never bothered to explain why he likes this Bronco cast so much or compare them to the best Colt cast in his eyes. Instead of discussing why he thought the Broncos were a great team, he lazily gave an opinion without attempting to support it as usual.

Picking the Broncos in the preseason wasn't a terrible pick, but it was quite questionable. Yes, he looks good now... in the same way that a Hold 'em player who goes in with a mediocre hand looks good after a lucky flop. How hindered would Peyton be at age 36 by his recovery from neck surgeries? Would he be able to stay healthy? How long would it take for their offense to gel? Obviously, those were serious issues heading into the season. The Patriots, Texans, Ravens, and Steelers were the popular picks in the AFC, and rightfully so, because they didn't have their hopes riding on a single player with significant concerns. King played a flimsy hand with deficient reasoning and got lucky on the flop. Good for him, I guess.

Edited by TheWinkleman, 01 January 2013 - 03:51 PM.

[DrewDawg]

This is amazing. You really couldn't even make this one up if you tried.

Is it really Pearlman's story if Payton was on a national TV show?