Saturday Afternoon Reading

This would have been posted earlier, but we were unavoidably detained at Sofia Restaurant, the unofficial second home of the People's Pigskin. Anyway, here are some links to peruse while you decide how you will vote in our polls. (Reminder: the lineup poll will close Saturday night.)

Maybe he and the producers should huddle. I wish I could find video to support my point here, but I can't, so you'll just have to trust me on this one.

The NFL Network has a show called Playbook, where several National Football League veterans, including the inimitable Sterling Sharpe, analyze game film and try to use what they see on that film to predict the outcome of the upcoming games. If it sounds familiar, it's because ESPN has been using that format for years for its "NFL Matchup" show with Ron Jaworski and Merrill Hoge. (If you're looking for that show on your TV listings, it's easy to find -- just look in the boxes marked "3:30 a.m. EST Sunday" and "7:30 EST Sunday." You know, the times when every football fan's TV is on.)

Anyway, this week on Playbook, Sterling and company were analyzing this week's titanic matchup between the Cleveland Browns and the Detroit Lions. Sterling was telling us that the Lions would prevail, because he likes what he's seeing from the Lions defense. While he was praising the defense, the producers were showing three plays from last week's game between the Lions and the Minnesota Vikings. The plays: a long Sidney Rice touchdown, a long reception by Percy Harvin and a touchdown run by Adrian Peterson. In at least two of the plays, the Vikings player broke at least one Lions tackle.

I still don't know whether the producers were paying tribute to Alanis Morissette's take on irony, or whether they didn't get the memo that all three analysts were picking the Lions to beat the Browns. Or maybe it was just easier to find three plays where the Lions were schooled.

Conflict of interest? By now you know that Maurice Jones-Drew's taking a knee at the 1-yard line last week hurt a lot of fantasy football players last week. Well, the Chicago Tribune learned that one of the players burned by the decision was Robbie Gould of the Chicago Bears. He has a team in the NFL Players Association league, and his team had Jones-Drew in its lineup.

That's right. The NFL Players Association has a fantasy football league. Now, it would be the height of hypocrisy for me to criticize NFL players for playing fantasy football. But it is interesting that a league that sued to keep Delaware from taking bets on football games allows its players to play fantasy football, a game where inside knowledge about who's starting and who's healthy (and who's lying about their injury reports) would be worth a king's ransom.

Your weekly "opposing view" update. A fellow WordPress blogger, Pigskin Is the New Pink, has something to say about fantasy football. In the post "Fantasy or Loyalty," the blog (which, to be fair, is written by a fantasy player) tells us that fantasy football "has shamed the way fans treat their rivals." The thesis: Playing fantasy football encourages you to root for players on your archrival's team, in the hopes that said players will reward you with points and victories.

"I encourage you all to stop playing fantasy football for money and start cheering for what really matters, when your most hated team and/or player has a TERRIBLE GAME and LOSES!"

Ummm...good luck with that.

Now to the important stuff. Remember what's truly important about football: the chance to enjoy whatever your favorite beverage may be, even if you feel the same way as this guy.

We'll be back Sunday morning with an update on our lineup.