The Kind-Hearted Smart Aleck

Recently, New York magazine writer Jonathan Chait released an article by the title of, "Not a Very P.C. Thing to Say," which dealt with the concept of "political correctness" and he's received his fair share of criticism in return. In the article, Chait criticized leftists (liberals) at length, in saying their PC-policing was slowly stripping our society of civilized debate, especially in the online world. Chait talked about a growing list of words which were off limits according to these leftists - if anyone uttered these words, they wouldn't hear the end of it. The article also made the claim that if leftists heard something from another they strongly disagreed with, they often times referred to that person as bigoted or his/her viewpoint as illegitimate. Yes, according to Jonathan Chait, "political correctness" is at the forefront of our social problems, and if we want to engage in civilized debate with a wide range of people, we must eliminate ...

It's being reported that shock rocker Marilyn Manson will soon be making the most shocking move of his entire career and releasing a gospel rock album. According to Manson, the man who was once self-described as the "Antichrist Superstar," he'll be putting a different spin on some classic hymns. When we talked to him about it during a recent interview, he said this: "I've done heavy metal, space rock, punk and goth rock, classic rock, and even blues rock. I've shocked through my lyrics and onstage antics, but that shock has lost its luster through the years. So, I thought to myself, what would shock people more than anything right now? Releasing a gospel rock album! That would f**king shock the sh*t out of them!" When asked, Manson also added that the album will be called, "The Helly Bible: King Manson's Version," and will include the following songs: - "Amazing Lace" - "I Philander All" - "Onward Dr...

"My fellow Americans, as well as all my brown, yellow, and black foreign-student friends, it is my honor today to congratulate all of you for being the 2022, or whatever year it is, graduating class of Mylard High School! I heard the vale, vale, the vegetarian's speech and was mighty impressed, you betcha! What that smart little Asian girl said was 100% true - your future, even though it started in the past and starts in the future, starts today. That may not have been exactly what she said; I'm just parapleasing here, but still, just think about it for a moment. Like tomorrow, your future, started when you were born, back in the past. It also starts tomorrow, in the actual future. Last but not least, it starts right now, in the presence. It's always starting. People might ask me, 'Oh, gosh, gee, golly, Sarah, how can my future always be starting? What then is a future exactly?' That's exactly my point. Your future is always starting, but is never actually ...

Based on what I've seen this year, I do think the two best teams in the NFL will be playing in the Super Bowl on Sunday. Since some early season ups and downs, the two teams have been red hot to close the season, combining to go 24-3 in that time-frame (including the playoffs). The Patriots offense has been one of the league's best since their early season struggles and the Seahawks defense, after not appearing to be quite as dominant in the early going, again established themselves as the best in the league toward the end of the year and in the playoffs. Speaking of the playoffs, these two teams both pulled off miraculous comebacks to get to the Super Bowl. New England was down two touchdowns to Baltimore in the second half before Tom Brady and the Patriots offense took over. Seattle's comeback against Green Bay in the NFC Championship game was even more miraculous. The defending Super Bowl champions turned the ball over 5 times in the game and trailed 19-7 until 2:09 was ...

Here's the URL to my Facebook business page. I update it fairly regularly, but still haven't put forth a great deal of effort yet in researching matters and attempting to make the most out of it. In any case, it can be perused here: http://www.facebook.com/AuthorCraigRozniecki?ref=hl Up next is my Twitter page. I'm still not 100% certain what I'm doing on there yet, but feel I'm gradually getting the hang of it and am up to 16,054 followers. I update it daily with many of my own tweets, but also by retweeting some others'. It can be found here: https://twitter.com/CraigRozniecki Lastly, here's my Tumblr page, which I've neglected quite a bit recently, but if you're at all curious, you can find it at the following link: http://www.tumblr.com/blog/rozzy81

For new readers (and regular ones, I suppose), here's some information pertaining to my books. All twelve of my books can be purchased in paperback form at the following site (and others): http://www.lulu.com/shop/search.ep?type=&keyWords=craig+rozniecki&x=7&y=5&sitesearch=lulu.com&q= The ten books I've written and released in the past 3 years (yes, I've been on a roll) can be purchased for much cheaper in Kindle form at the following link: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_22?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=craig%20rozniecki%20kindle&sprefix=craig+rozniecki+kindle%2Caps%2C228&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Acraig%20rozniecki%20kindle

Even though I happen to label myself as rather progressive or liberal, I still had to shake my head and laugh at the recent spectacle where John Kerry sat beside James Taylor in Paris, while Taylor sang the song, "You've Got a Friend." Yes, I'm sure that moment is what convinced all of France and Europe that the U.S. stands by our French brothers and sisters, especially following the recent tragic events in Paris. In light of this international facepalm moment, it seems all but inevitable that John Kerry will travel to the following areas and sit beside the mentioned musicians, where they'll perform these songs: Mexico: "I Don't Like the Drugs (But the Drugs Like Me)" by Marilyn Manson Any country in Africa: "Africa" by Toto Netherlands: "Don't Worry, Be Happy" by Bobby McFerrin Middle East (pretty much anywhere): "I'll Be There" by The Jackson 5 or Mariah Carey Australia: "Crocodile Rock" b...

A conservative acquaintance of mine posted a meme for the ages on Facebook yesterday, and even after trying to sleep it out of memory overnight, I still can't get it out of my mind. Yes, it's that ridiculous. The meme stated, and I quote: "Rich people stay rich by living like they're broke.. broke people stay broke by living like they're rich!" Read that again, and again, and just one final time to try and let it fully sink in. I was speechless upon reading this meme at first. Study after study shows that if a child is born into a poverty-stricken family in this country, the odds are he or she will be poor as an adult, and on the opposite end of the spectrum, if a child is born into a wealthy family, the odds are he or she will make decent money as an adult. Those with money are able to afford better education for their kids, better healthcare and more quality food, more opportunities in all areas, etc. If a family is really rich, this affords them eve...

When I heard that former Daily Show correspondent Larry Wilmore would be taking over for Stephen Colbert in the 11:30 (pm EST) slot following Jon Stewart's show on Comedy Central, I honestly didn't know what to think or expect. Wilmore was used rather sparingly on The Daily Show , typecast as the show's "black correspondent." So, how was one to really know what to expect of a Monday through Thursday half-hour show hosted by The Daily Show 's black correspondent? While we're just through the first week of The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore  and I'm sure there will several tweaks made in the near and distant future, I'd have to say I'm rather impressed with the show in its early stages. First off, if you were a die-hard fan of The Colbert Report like I was, try to erase that from memory when viewing this show in order to give it a fair chance. The Nightly Show is drastically different from The Colbert Report . It starts in a similar manner t...

When reading a review of a film, a book, or an album, have you ever wondered to yourself, "Did this critic even read the book?" or "Did (s)he watch a different movie than I did?" This doesn't happen to me very often, but every now and again, I have to re-read the review and double-check to make sure I'm not on The Onion 's homepage. This very thing happened to me this morning, when I read a review of Marilyn Manson's new album, The Pale Emperor , by JC Macek III of PopMatters . In this review, Mazek said the following things: - "...Instead, the Marilyn Manson we hear on The Pale Emperor presents himself in the form of a slow and driving murky metal that brings in elements of dark blues rock and even alternative country..." - "...The driving metallic Honky-tonk guitars give way to some trippy Ennie Morricone-esque spaghetti western-styled desert rock..." - "...While the rest of the album does play with alternative co...

The musical life of a shock rocker can be typically summed up as an act that garners great short-term attention and success due to the controversy and with that, the intrigue that surrounds them, however, after this shock value loses its luster, the band quickly becomes a thing of the past. Fair or not, shock rockers then typically have a difficult time transitioning from shock rock musician to musician and being seen and critiqued on their musical talent rather than their on-stage persona. This may have never been more the case than with Marilyn Manson. With MTV still playing music videos and the Internet not being too far along yet, when Marilyn Manson came out with the 1996 album Antichrist Svperstar , he ultimately crowned himself as the new king of shock rock. This continued through the band's 1998 album Mechanical Animals , when the band shifted from industrial metal to space rock. After the tragic Columbine shootings in April of '99, though, Manson was largely (and wro...

Sadly, the New York City Marathon was cut short this year when David Nairobi of Kenya was tragically shot and killed by Sheriff Daniel Shihtferbrains as he crossed the finish line to win the race. When asked to comment about the event, Sheriff Shihtferbrains said, "The guy was coming right at me, really fast too! His arms were violently swinging back and forth when he was running! Not only that, but he charged right through this banner looking deal, which I think was made of steel or bricks or something! In any case, I had no choice. The man appeared to be on a mission, like he was seriously going for something and nothing was going to stop him! I mean, what was I supposed to do, you know? Fortunately, I got that first one, because for whatever reason, tons more were about to follow him. After I shot him, though, and I'm still not sure why this happened, but everyone started running away from me. They should have been walking right up to me and thanking me. I mean, who knows...

I won't spend a great deal of time writing about the president's speech last night and the GOP's response, but thought I'd touch on both briefly. First off, I personally feel this was one of President Obama's best speeches in years. While he's always been a great orator, that fire and optimism which the country fell in love with in 2008 seemed to wane through the years, but appeared to be back on full display last night. Perhaps it's because he doesn't have to worry about another election and can talk like he has nothing to lose. Maybe with how the elections went this past November and knowing that a majority of Americans agree with him on a number of issues (even if they don't realize it), that helped to reignite the fire as well. Whatever it was, the President Obama from last night reminded millions of Americans why they voted for him in the first place back in the 2008 election. He was frank, hopeful, displayed a willingness to reach out to the ...

The season may be almost over, for both the NFL and college, but there's still a lot to talk about in the world of football. Shall we begin? 1) Was the playoff ultimately successful in its first year in college football? Did anyone see the ratings? Uh, yeah, I'd say it was a success. The only problem I had with the whole process was regarding the committee. Each major conference should receive equal representation among the committee members, the Power 5 conferences need to decide whether to all have conference title games or not, and either the committee should come out with just one poll (the final one), or stay consistent and logical from week to week. The Big XII may not have had a conference title game, but dropping TCU from 3 to 6 after beating Iowa State 55-3 makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. 2) Did the Detroit Lions get jobbed by the refs in their loss to the Dallas Cowboys? Quite possibly. Sure, the Lions could have gone for it on 4th-and-1 and converted, c...

Here's the URL to my Facebook business page. I update it fairly regularly, but still haven't put forth a great deal of effort yet in researching matters and attempting to make the most out of it. In any case, it can be perused here: http://www.facebook.com/AuthorCraigRozniecki?ref=hl Up next is my Twitter page. I'm still not 100% certain what I'm doing on there yet, but feel I'm gradually getting the hang of it and am up to 15,713 followers. I update it daily with many of my own tweets, but also by retweeting some others'. It can be found here: https://twitter.com/CraigRozniecki Lastly, here's my Tumblr page, which I've neglected quite a bit recently, but if you're at all curious, you can find it at the following link: http://www.tumblr.com/blog/rozzy81

For new readers (and regular ones, I suppose), here's some information pertaining to my books. All twelve of my books can be purchased in paperback form at the following site (and others): http://www.lulu.com/shop/search.ep?type=&keyWords=craig+rozniecki&x=7&y=5&sitesearch=lulu.com&q= The ten books I've written and released in the past 3 years (yes, I've been on a roll) can be purchased for much cheaper in Kindle form at the following link: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_22?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=craig%20rozniecki%20kindle&sprefix=craig+rozniecki+kindle%2Caps%2C228&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Acraig%20rozniecki%20kindle

It's amazing how crazy these past six weeks have been, the past couple in particular. I suppose most people's schedules get overloaded around Thanksgiving and Christmas, to the point where, in a panic, they look at the calendar and say, "Wait... I just scheduled a half-hour lunch get together for Tuesday! I don't have a half hour to spare! Where did all my time go? Dammit! Where did I put my eggnog?" However, not only did things get hectic for me around the holidays, my brother, sister-in-law, and niece flew into town for a week and a half just two weeks after Christmas. So, between catching up and spending quality time with them and the rest of my family, looking after my niece at times, and my 2-year-old Siberian Husky always around contemplating about taking a baby toy into the backyard, it has been quite the enjoyable, yet draining week and a half, six weeks overall. For as sad as I was to see them travel back home, however, it will be kind of nice to get back...

Sunday Game: Green Bay at Seattle Pick: Seattle - One has to be pulling for the hampered Aaron Rodgers somewhat, but I have a difficult time seeing a hobbled Rodgers going into Seattle and getting the better of the best defense in the league. Seattle's on a roll and is once again looking like the Super Bowl-winning team from a year ago. I'll go with the home team in this one by a touchdown. Result: Seattle 28 Green Bay 22 OT Record: 1-0 Game: Indianapolis at New England Pick: New England - With the AFC Championship game at Foxboro, this has all the makings of a Bill Belichick/Tom Brady victory, especially with the impressive way they overcame a two touchdown deficit in their come-from-behind win over Baltimore a week ago. Indy is a team on the rise, but is still a year or two away from seriously contending for the Super Bowl. I'll go with the Pats at home by 10. Result: New England 45 Indianapolis 7 Record: 2-0 Week Record: 2-0 (1.000) Overall Playoff R...

Here's the URL to my Facebook business page. I update it fairly regularly, but still haven't put forth a great deal of effort yet in researching matters and attempting to make the most out of it. In any case, it can be perused here: http://www.facebook.com/AuthorCraigRozniecki?ref=hl Up next is my Twitter page. I'm still not 100% certain what I'm doing on there yet, but feel I'm gradually getting the hang of it and am up to 15,356 followers. I update it daily with many of my own tweets, but also by retweeting some others'. It can be found here: https://twitter.com/CraigRozniecki Lastly, here's my Tumblr page, which I've neglected quite a bit recently, but if you're at all curious, you can find it at the following link: http://www.tumblr.com/blog/rozzy81

For new readers (and regular ones, I suppose), here's some information pertaining to my books. All twelve of my books can be purchased in paperback form at the following site (and others): http://www.lulu.com/shop/search.ep?type=&keyWords=craig+rozniecki&x=7&y=5&sitesearch=lulu.com&q= The ten books I've written and released in the past 3 years (yes, I've been on a roll) can be purchased for much cheaper in Kindle form at the following link: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_22?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=craig%20rozniecki%20kindle&sprefix=craig+rozniecki+kindle%2Caps%2C228&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Acraig%20rozniecki%20kindle

Well, for the third time in the past six weeks, I'll be traveling over the next few days. My brother, sister-in-law, and niece will be flying up from Omaha and meeting up with the rest of the family and I for the weekend, before heading back here and spending some more time with them over the following week. Due to that, my blog posts may be few and far between over the course of the next week. I'll attempt to write some when I return back home, but have a hunch I won't have a great deal of time to do so. In any case, I have jotted down several satirical short story ideas and plan on writing a bunch when time allows for it. I have honestly been fairly burned out when it comes to politics of late, so for whatever reason, as you may have seen over the past couple of days or so, I've been on an Onion-type satire kick, and plan to continue that trend when I return. A great number of ideas have sprung to mind in recent days for these satirical short stories, and it seems lik...

I haven't followed comedian Steve Harvey's career too closely, but ever since he became host of the game show Family Feud , I've been much more prone to tuning in than I had been previously. In addition to the more adult humor displayed on the show and the greater frequency of laughs as a result, Harvey appears to be having a genuinely good time, which makes the show twice as enjoyable to watch. Even though I've enjoyed watching Harvey as the show's host and tend to enjoy his humor, I had to shake my head at some recent comments he made while speaking to CNN's Joy Behar. A portion of the back-and-forth went like this: Behar: "You say in the book ( Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man ) that you wouldn't go out with a woman, I guess, a woman should not go out with a man that doesn't believe in God." Harvey: "No, I mean, why would you?" Behar: "Do you believe that only people who are religious are ethical and moral?" Ha...

Former MTV VJ and current Fox News host Kennedy Montgomery recently came down with a case of Princess Bride  Syndrome, where she and a co-host used a word of which they apparently didn't know the meaning. The word wasn't "inconceivable" this time; it was "slut-shaming." According to the urban dictionary, "slut-shaming" can be defined as follows: "An unfortunate phenomenon in which people degrade or mock a woman because she enjoys having sex, has sex a lot, or may even just be rumored to participate in sexual activity..." That's the condensed version of the definition. So, how did Ms. Montgomery and Outnumbered co-host Andrea Tantaros interpret the word? I'll allow them to tell you... Montgomery (when talking about the 2010 Dodd-Frank law, which would require companies to report pay ratios between its CEOs and employees): "They are essentially trying to slut-shame companies into paying their highest workers less mon...

RedState.com editor and Fox News contributor Erick Erickson has never been coy about making ridiculous statements at the expense of the LGBT community. Well, just yesterday on his radio show, he was at it yet again. In light of the tragic shooting in Paris, which left 12 journalists dead, Erickson decided to make the asinine comparison of that to an Atlanta fire chief who recently got fired, due to, according to Erickson, being against the LGBT community. First off, Erickson's claim on why Fire Chief Kelvin Cochran was fired is inaccurate. According to Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed, Cochran was not fired because of his religious beliefs. He was fired because he distributed his self-published book condemning homosexuality, which goes against Atlanta's sexual orientation nondiscrimination protections. Even while Cochran was being suspended for a month due to complaints of him distributing said book, he openly stated that he would continue to do so. This, and not his religious views,...

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has frequently admitted he's not a scientist, but due to his recent comments, Democratic National Committee Communications Director Mo Elleithee added, "...Now we know he's not a mathematician or an economist either." This is because a day after Republicans took control of Congress and long after the economy began to show signs of improvement following the recession, McConnell made the following statement: "After so many years of sluggish growth, we're finally starting to see some economic data that can provide a glimmer of hope; the uptick appears to coincide with the biggest political change of the Obama Administration's long tenure in Washington: the expectation of a new Republican Congress." Yeah, that's it... Unemployment is at 5.8 percent, far lower than where it had been previously, and yes, the decrease occurred prior to Republicans taking control Congress. The gross domestic product (GDP) also...

Gracefully dropping from the sky, held up by a funky looking parachute, Jesus made his long-awaited return to earth this past weekend. He was decked out in a robe, sandals, and shades that would even make CSI : Miami 's Horatio Caine jealous. An incredible light surrounded him which can only be summed up in one word - sunlight. As his feet gently hit the ground, he remained quiet, as everyone started pointing small screens at him, from which they were just speaking into. Some even came up next to him and held up this very screen in front of the two of them while clicking a button of some kind and then walking away. Then the moment finally arrived - the one everyone had been waiting for since JC's demise and rise. Someone even started playing the Dave Matthews Band song, "What Would You Say?," before Jesus silenced them. He then looked from side to side, cleared his throat, grabbed a microphone that hadn't existed previously, and said, "WTF?!?" before sna...

During Fox News' annual miniature golf outing, The O'Reilly Factor host Bill O'Reilly apparently lost his cool on the 18th green, as his ball bounced against an alligator's mouth and into the water for a one-stroke penalty, which eliminated him from winning the coveted FNMG Trophy (Fox News Mini Golf - called F'in MG by its competitors). When asked to rehash the events, eventual winner of the competition, Chris Wallace, said, "I'm not sure what got into him. As soon as his ball bounced against that alligator's mouth and into the water, he must have known it was over, and started yelling some obscenities that I had never even heard before. He then tried breaking his club over his knee, wound up hurting his back in the process, but instead of stopping there and taking it easy, he decided to throw the club as far as he could. It wound up going a couple feet and hitting Shepard Smith in the back of the head as he was trying to take a sip of his Snapple. T...

It's being reported that NFL referees have decided to take a stand against former NFL vice president of officiating and current rules analyst, Mike Pereira, by giving him the silent treatment in response to his recent criticism of them. In Sunday's NFC Wild Card game between the Dallas Cowboys and Detroit Lions, Pereria harshly criticized the officials for picking up a flag for defensive pass interference midway in the 4th quarter, and also for not calling defensive holding on the play, which largely aided the Cowboys in their 24-20 come-from-behind win. He's continued his criticism in the days following, even allegedly saying behind closed doors that, "Stevie Wonder could have seen those penalties!" and "These officials lend credence to that old phrase, 'I'm blind, I'm deaf, I wanna be a ref!" In response, NFL officials have vowed to give Pereira the silent treatment until he apologizes, by saying, "If you wear stripes, you're a...

It's being reported that New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick was stopped and frisked yesterday by police when walking his dog Gronknuts around the block. Belichick allegedly resisted at first, saying, "I only raise my arms when we score a touchdown or when my wife asks if I'm 'sure,' as in that deodorant crap. What are you, a Ravens fan or something?" The Patriots head coach then said, "Fine, go ahead - search away. As a matter of fact, I urge you to search all of my pockets." Upon doing this, Officer Francis Dick found his hands covered in dog treats and dog crap, before letting Belichick continue onward, snarling as he walked away, or smiling - it was difficult to tell which. When asked why the Super Bowl-winning coach was stopped and frisked in the first place, Officer Dick said, "We received several calls from neighbors about a suspicious man in a hoodie with his hands in his pockets, so we had to promptly check out the situ...

Here's the URL to my Facebook business page. I update it fairly regularly, but still haven't put forth a great deal of effort yet in researching matters and attempting to make the most out of it. In any case, it can be perused here: http://www.facebook.com/AuthorCraigRozniecki?ref=hl Up next is my Twitter page. I'm still not 100% certain what I'm doing on there yet, but feel I'm gradually getting the hang of it and am up to 15,010 followers. I update it daily with many of my own tweets, but also by retweeting some others'. It can be found here: https://twitter.com/CraigRozniecki Lastly, here's my Tumblr page, which I've neglected quite a bit recently, but if you're at all curious, you can find it at the following link: http://www.tumblr.com/blog/rozzy81

For new readers (and regular ones, I suppose), here's some information pertaining to my books. All twelve of my books can be purchased in paperback form at the following site (and others): http://www.lulu.com/shop/search.ep?type=&keyWords=craig+rozniecki&x=7&y=5&sitesearch=lulu.com&q= The ten books I've written and released in the past 3 years (yes, I've been on a roll) can be purchased for much cheaper in Kindle form at the following link: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_22?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=craig%20rozniecki%20kindle&sprefix=craig+rozniecki+kindle%2Caps%2C228&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Acraig%20rozniecki%20kindle

I had wanted to see the new Seth Rogen and James Franco film, The Interview , anyway, but after threats were made to theaters across the country that featured the film, which resulted in most of them cancelling the movie's premiere, this made me want to see it all the more. Fortunately, I was able to check it out on-demand the other day, and I'm happy to tell everyone, I've yet to get nuked, so that's nice. Having seen the film now, I have to laugh at why we were threatened over it in the first place. This wasn't just a comedy, it was a comedy so ridiculously over-the-top, even a man that goes by the nickname "Seriously Literal" would have seen that. It included so many butt and poop jokes, The Count from Sesame Street  would have even reached a point where he said, "Ah, f**k it! I'm done counting!" Heck, the film attempts to satirize the modern day news media (or media in general) about as much as it does the North Korean leader. Kim Jong-...

Well, I can't say I was expecting that. Most days, my blog gets between 100 and 200 views. My record up til today was 355 in a single day. Then, low and behold, largely due to the controversy surrounding the Detroit Lions/Dallas Cowboys game yesterday and a previous face-guarding post I made, I broke that previous record by quite the margin - such a significant margin, I can't even see my previous record in my rear-view mirror. My record went from 355 views in a single day to 1,114 views. Thanks to all my readers, old and new. I hope you stick around to read more than just the face-guarding post and that this lovely day becomes more of a trend than an aberration.

While, at the end of the day, the Dallas Cowboys came back from 14 points down to defeat the Detroit Lions 24-20 on Sunday, all the talk is about the phantom flag (phantom flags would be more appropriate). With 8:25 left in the 4th quarter and the Lions up 20-17, Detroit faced a 3rd-and-1 from the Dallas 46-yard line. Quarterback Matthew Stafford then threw a pass toward tight end Brandon Pettigrew near the 25-yard line. Cowboys linebacker Anthony Hitchens had his back to Stafford as the pass was coming in toward Pettigrew and appeared to make contact with Pettigrew as the pass hit Hitchens in the back. Almost immediately, a flag was thrown for pass interference on Hitchens. In the NFL, if a defender "face-guards" a receiver, but doesn't make contact with him, it's not a penalty. However, if contact is made, then it constitutes as pass interference, according to Rule 8, Section 5, Article 2 (1) of the NFL rule book (prohibits "contact by a player who is not pla...

I assume in light of the controversy surrounding the Dallas Cowboys' 24-20 win over the Detroit Lions yesterday, where the refs picked up a flag for pass interference at a critical point in the game and later stated that it was because the Dallas defender was face-guarding, which is legal in the NFL, a previous post I made with regard to face-guarding has received more views in the past 24 hours than groupies that have slept with Gene Simmons. Due to that, I'll indeed make a post about the controversial call later in the day. Whether or not the refs want to make the claim that the defender was face-guarding (he wasn't), however, the Detroit Lions got jobbed on the play, which I'll explain later.

Saturday Game: Baltimore at New England Pick: New England - Baltimore's offense actually looked decent in their victory over Pittsburgh on Saturday. It had been struggling quite mightily down the stretch. Due to that performance, I'm half-tempted to take the Ravens in this one. However, the Pats, at home, basically coming off a bye week - it's difficult going against Belichick in that scenario. Baltimore should keep it close, but I'll go with the Pats at Foxboro by 6. Result: New England 35 Baltimore 31 Record: 1-0 Game: Carolina at Seattle Pick: Seattle - Carolina's playing their best football of the season right now, but their defense was largely aided by Arizona's injuries on offense in the Wild Card game and Cam Newton was cringing for about 2/3 of the game. I have a hard time seeing this Panthers team going into Seattle and beating the defending Super Bowl champs. Expect Newton to cringe plenty more by the time this one is through. I'll go w...