evolution

the chiefs beat the baltimore ravens in a smashmouth, old school affair 17-10. players of the week:

• offensive: WR johnnie morton – 5/73 catching, 1/36 rushing.
• defensive: CB dexter mcleon – 2 INTs including one to seal the victory
• special teams: hall again. 97 yard kick return with 5:40 to go put the chiefs ahead for good. i might name this award for him.

yesterday my stepsister and her husband welcomed riley jade moreno into the world. i won’t get to see my third niece until thanksgiving, but i’m told she has dark hair like her sister raven’s, and weighed in at 8 pounds. everyone’s doing fine.

a federal judge ruled that the ftc overstepped its authority in creating, at president bush’s direction, a national do-not-call list. as is evident from reading my previous posts on this topic, i think this judge is an idiot. i think that this is precisely what the ftc should be doing – regulating the means of doing business so customers don’t get screwed.

the telemarketing pigs say they have a constitutional right to call us at home so that they can make money and make a living – the same argument that maurice clarett is using to sue the national football league so that he can get into the draft. i say these are two different situations. in most other jobs, people can go to work as soon as they’re legally adults – including the nba, major league baseball, and the nhl. if i were to call someone as often as telemarketers used to call me (before i changed my number three times and finally got a cell phone), i would probably be guilty of some form of harassment. the difference is that what they do is unethical and sometimes illegal. (no, maurice clarett should not be your standard of ethics, but you know what i mean.)

anyway, i see this as just another case of old men helping big business screw you.

the chiefs thumped the houston texans 42-14 in houston. the colts were blacked out again here, but i got the steelers and bengals this time. players of the week:

• offensive: holmes. 89 yards rushing, 69 yards receiving, and two touchdowns.
• defensive: FS shaunard harts: 1 fumble recovery, 38-yard INT return for TD.
• special teams: hall. dinner with mom, 124 return yards, including a 73-yard punt return TD.

next week the chiefs to go to baltimore next week to face the ravens’ stingy defense before they return home in week 6 to face the denver broncos, riding high after their throttling of the raiders on monday night. both of these games are key if the chiefs mean to win the division.

the season isn’t over quite yet, but i didn’t know if i’d have time to do the last royals report next week, so here it is. the royals have 5 games left to play, and are at 82-75, so they are guaranteed to finish with a winning season. this is impressive, cconsidering the royals lost a hundred games last season. yes, they did blow an 8-game lead in the division, which is disappointing, but one cannot ask for too much all at once.

with the twins’ victory over cleveland and the royals’ loss to the tigers and also the white sox loss to the yankees, the minnesota twins are the division champs and will go to the playoffs. the royals were exciting to follow all year and sure gave everyone a run for their money. in the end, the royals’ inexperience proved to be too much.

things are looking up though – manager tony pena’s system works, and the royals have a nucleus of great young players, including CF carlos beltran, whose contract is up and is sure to receive offers from many teams, but who is talking about himself and the royals in the future tense, so that’s good news. the royals need pitching – hopefully some of the acquisitions the royals made this season will stick around with the club next year.

my postseason awards:

• player of the year: beltran. .306, 24 HR, 39 stolen bases, and a number of highlight-reel caliber plays in centerfield.
• rookie of the year: SS angel berroa. hitting .292 with 17 HR, and rock-solid defensively at short.
• pitcher of the year: jose lima. rescued from the minors, he went 8-2 and brought loads of energy to the team mid-season.

i got my wish: gen. wesley clark declared his candidacy for president. unfortunately the people he has were clinton’s people, so i’m afraid he is just going to look popular and say nothing of substance just like bill clinton did.

hopefully they’ll tell him not to be the filthy liar that bill clinton was.

as always, time will tell. i hope greatly that time will not tell me that clark will become “gen. clinton”.

as it stands now, bush has got my vote, but i’m willing to listen to dean and clark. (you know, it might be a good idea for clark to go as dean’s vp. that might lend anti-terrorism credibility to dean, while scrubbing the clinton stink off of clark. but nobody asks me for my opinion.)

thanks to the indianpolis colts fans, who decided not to buy tickets for their game against their divisional rival, the tennessee titans, that game was blacked out in this region and i got to see the chiefs play and rout the steelers, 41-20. my players of the week:

• offensive: RB priest holmes – 122 yards rushing and 3 touchdowns
• defensive (tie): DT ryan sims (2 sacks) and FS jerome woods (46-yard INT for touchdown)
• special teams: WR dante hall – 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown, and a 46-yard punt return to set up another.

next week the chiefs go to houston to play the 1-1 texans in week 3. with a weak offensive line and an average defense, the texans have a lot of heart but simply won’t be able to put up enough points. prediction: chiefs win, 35-10.