Monday Update and Reading

It's Monday, and the People's Pigskin is alive and well. We currently lead Big Lough O by a score of 84-80. That means that if the Baltimore Ravens defense/special teams can be held to under 4 fantasy points tonight, the Pigskin will record a victory. How hard could that be? After all, it's not as if the Cleveland Browns have a head coach who has ticked off enough players to draw the union's attention, right?

While we wait to learn about our fantasy football team's fate, here are some links for your surfing pleasure.

Better take a knee for this one. There are countless ways to lose a fantasy football game. It's painful, for example, when your running back is tackled on the 1-yard line and his backup scores the touchdown. It has to be even worse when your running back takes a knee at the 1-yard line on purpose, as Maurice Jones-Drew did Sunday, following the orders of his head coach.

The Jacksonville Jaguars wanted to deny the New York Jets a chance to get the ball back (sound familiar?), so they told Jones-Drew to take a knee if he was in a position to get into the end zone. He apologized later to those who had him on his fantasy team. One of those teams: the Big Lough Os. I'm just saying...

Well, that was quick. As I'm typing this list up, ESPN is reporting that the Cincinnati Bengals will sign Larry Johnson to a contract. The Bengals were pushed into the LJ market by Cedric Benson's hip injury Sunday against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

What kind of first impression will Johnson make in Cincinnati? Hopefully, it will be better than the last impression he made in Kansas City. (Not that the bar is set particularly high.)

On a more positive note. If you used your first-round fantasy pick to draft LaDainian Tomlinson, you're probably starting him no matter what. Still, wouldn't you have liked to know before the game that LDT would have extra motivation after learning that he was going to be a father? It reminds me of when Brett Favre had a monster game a day after his father died. Emotion has a well-deserved reputation for fueling big performances like Favre's and LDT's.

If you're running an NFL pregame show, would it kill you to squeeze a few more notes like this into your broadcast in between the analysts' efforts to talk over one another and laugh hilariously at the drop of a hat? I'm sure fantasy players would really appreciate actually learning something from your shows every once in a while.

This Bud's for you. Imagine if you're the owner of a National Football League team. Imagine that your team just recorded its third straight victory -- and did so in front of its home crowd, the folks who buy your tickets and merchandise and allow you to live the lifestyle you are currently living. Now imagine that you live in a world where cameras are everywhere, and that every single fan in that stadium, friend or foe, could have a camera-equipped phone in his/her pocket.

Knowing all that, how would you celebrate after your team's hard-earned victory? If you're Bud Adams, the owner of the Houston Oil...er, sorry, the Tennessee Titans, you do this. (Warning: This link shows an unsafe-for-work video.)

Bill Belichick is being called stupid in many circles for what he did Sunday evening, but at least his decision had a chance of working out in his favor. I can't say the same for Adams.

We'll be back tomorrow with an update on our matchup with the Lough Os. Until then, enjoy the Monday night game. (And get comfortable with Jon Gruden's voice. You'll be hearing it for a while.)