Archive for July, 2009

July 31: Happy Bday Gus Frerotte

Redskins Training Camp: Day 1 In Review

July 30: Happy Birthday Jim Mcllvaine

Football Makes Everything Better

This post originally appeared at The Cooley Zone

It’s the most wonderful time of the year…well, maybe not for the 2,500 NFL players that are reporting to training camp this week. For the next 3 weeks they’re going to be sweating their sacks off in two a day practices. Knocking the shit out of each other, sitting in endless meetings and soaking achy muscles in ice tubs. How do they do that anyway? Just the thought of lowering my boys into ice…not worried about shrinkage…worried about disappearance! Anyway, I’m happier than a puppy with 2 peters because the beginning of training camp means that the 2009 NFL season is upon us and football just makes everything better! Yes, it actually improves quality of life. Sound silly? It’s not; I’ll prove it to you.

10 things football makes better.

#10 – Food – I’m trying to figure out how to lose 10 lbs before the start of the season because I know I’m going to put on 15 during the season! Wings, chips, pizza and dips all taste better during football season. I think Velveeta was invented specifically for the NFL season. It gives us all a reason to eat bad foods because that’s what you do during football games. It just is.

#9 – Sports Blogs – Let’s face it, without football, blogs kind of suck. How much baseball can we talk about? How many top 10 lists can we make up? Bloggers need coaches like Dennis Green and Jim Mora going berserk, that’s good material. Bloggers need bad play calling and underachieving draft picks. And let’s face it; you want to come here to see Cooley talking about the Cowboys, not Fatpickle talking about cheese.

#5 – Tailgating- Unless you’ve been to a Kenny Chesney or Jimmy Buffet concert this summer, you probably haven’t tailgated in awhile. Football gives us a reason to do so. Football gives us a reason for more food, Jell-O shooters, tossing the football around and cornhole. Good times with family, friends and strangers. And if you are tailgating, it sounds like Mama Cooley has the right game plan to follow.

#4 – Personal Relationships – From February to July I talk once or twice a month with some of the people that mean the most to me, but come football season, we may talk once or twice a day. We are always emailing, texting or phoning each other to talk about the games and events of the week. Football brings us closer for 6 months a year and I’m thankful for that.

#3- TV Viewing – summertime is the worst for TV, but that will end soon. We now have the NFL channel, the Sunday Ticket and TIVO working for us. We can watch an entire replay of the game in 60 minutes, anytime we want! No more reruns of the New Adventures Of Old Christine, we got choices!

#2 – Hope and Optimism – There is nothing I want to see more than a parade in Washington D.C for the Super Bowl Champion Washington Redskins. As the season starts I feel like that can happen. I see Cooley on the left and Portis on the right, Obama in the middle. I see it. I’m happy. When I finish this post I’m checking flights to Miami. I’m drinking the Kool Aid; I’ve got my Nikes on.

#1 – Fantasy Football – Is there anything better than Fantasy Football? Most of you are probably working on your cheat sheets and sleeper picks already. The drafts (more fun, food and booze) are so much fun. In late August I will travel back to VA for my league’s 12th annual fantasy draft. 12 years ago we were single college aged guys with no wives or kids. We return this year, most of us married, and we now have 12 kids among us. We’re still kids, just with more chins. We come from Florida, we come from Ohio, it doesn’t matter…football keeps us together. And I (the 22 Swinging Dicks) am going to kick some ass this year.

Now after all that, I have 1 question for you…ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL?

Cheers and Hail

July 28: Happy Birthdays

On a daily basis, Fatpickled recognizes the birthdays of the men who have played, and currently play for, my favorite teams. The Redskins, Orioles, Wizards, and Terps.

Happy birthday Doug Collins. Doug was handpicked by Michael Jordan to coach the Wizards in 2000. With the arrival of Collins and Jordan’s decision to return to the court, big things were expected. 2 short years and a pair of 37-45 seasons later, both were gone.
No glory, no titles, not even any playoff appearances. Overall Doug coached 8 seasons in the NBA, including Jordan’s Bulls from 1986-89. Collin’s teams were great in the regular season, underachievers in the post season. The Bulls considered bringing back Collins this year to coach again but he removed his name as a candidate late in the process. As a player, Doug was chosen #1 overall in the 1973 draft y the 76ers. He was a 4 time All Star and averaged 17.9 pts per game over his 8 year career, but he sucks at H-O-R-S-E (watch below.) Doug currently analyzes games for TNT and NBC, and does a good job at it. Happy 58th Mr. Collins.

photo courtesy of oriolescards

Happy birthday Bob Milacki. Bob pitched 5 seasons for the Orioles from 1988-92. Bob had an incredible September call up in 1988. In 3 games he went 2-0 with a 0.72ERA including a complete game shutout. He followed that up with a stellar rookie campaign in 1989. In 89’ Bob went 14-12 with a 3.74ERA. His career never reached the same level from that point on and he retired after the 96’ season. Bob finished his career with 39 wins, 37 with the Orioles. In retirement Bob got into coaching and is currently the pitching coach for the Lakewood Blueclaws, a single A affiliate of the Phillies. Happy 45th Mr. Milacki!

Cheers and Hail

July 27: Old School Oriole Birthdays

On a daily basis, Fatpickled recognizes the birthdays of the men who have played, and currently play for, my favorite teams. The Redskins, Orioles, Wizards, and Terps.

Happy birthday Floyd Rayford. “Sugar Bear,” played 6 seasons for the Orioles from 1980-87. A fan favorite, he played every infield position (except shortstop…some guy was hogging that positionJ) and catcher. His best season came in 1985 when he batted .306 with 18HR’s and 48RBI’s. The Toy Dept recently caught up with Floyd and he has a unique take on why that season was so good for him as well as good stories of Cal and him rooming together in the minors. Floyd was traded to the Cardinals in 1983 for Tito Landrum, whom would hit the home run that sent the O’s to the World Series. Of course the O’s loved him so much that they actually purchased him back from the Cards that offseason. In retirement Floyd got into coaching and he currently serves as the batting coach for the New Britain Rock Cats. Happy 52nd Mr. Rayford.

Happy birthday Rich Dauer. Rich played all 10 seasons of his career with Orioles from 1976-85, appearing in 2 World Series and winning a ring in 83’. He ranks in the Orioles top 30 all time in games played (1,140) and hits (984.) Rich was a great contact hitter that ranked in the top 3 in the AL in at bats per strikeouts from 1980-1983, leading the league twice. Primarily a 2B he also played some 3B and had an excellent .985 fielding % for his career. He also holds the AL record for consecutive errorless games (86) and errorless chances (425) for a 2B. In retirement he has coached extensively at the major league level and was a candidate for several managerial openings, including the O’s in 2003. I hope he gets his chance one day. Rich currently is the third base coach for the Colorado Rockies. Happy 57th Mr. Dauer.

Cheers and Hail