Hornswaggler | The culture, the humor, a bit of the sports, not so much the politics, and the workplace distraction
Hornswaggle is an alternate spelling of
hornswoggle, an archaic word that means to bamboozle or hoodwink. I take my
pronunciation from the late Harvey Korman in "Blazing Saddles" --
"I want rustlers, cutthroats, murderers,
bounty hunters, desperados, mugs, pugs, thugs, nitwits, halfwits, dimwits,
vipers, snipers, conmen, Indian agents, Mexican bandits, muggers,
buggerers, bushwhackers, hornswagglers, horse thieves, bull dykes, train
robbers, bank robbers, ass kickers, shit kickers and Methodists!"
-- Ryan Moats started out with the Eagles but never established himself and was cut after a few seasons. It was never adequately explained, but it seemed the main reason was his inability to pick up the Birds' complicated blocking schemes. He was always electric with the ball though, a lot like Brian Westbrook at the time. He also fumbled occasionally, but nothing like Steve Slaton, apparently.
-- Could there be a worse predictor of future success in football than the NFL's Punt, Pass and Kick contest? Hey, Roger Goodell: No one's looking for the next George Blanda. All the blond, blue-eyed contest winners the NFL sends out at halftime are probably done with football by the 10th grade. If the NFL wants a competition involving relevant skills it should institute a pass, 40-yard dash and 3-cone shuttle contest. That'll weed out the white kids.
-- I don't hate Tim McCarver as much as other people seem to, but he did say something stupid during Game 4 when Joe Blanton hit A-Rod with a pitch early in the game with one out and a man on third. McCarver vehemently denied that it could have been intentional, saying "I can't imagine" why Blanton would hit A-Rod for the third time in the series on purpose. I can think of a couple: Blanton was looking a little shaky, A-Rod was the most dangerous hitter in the lineup, and plunking him put a man on first, allowing for a potential double play.
-- Peter King has been writing the last couple weeks about the NFL's thirst for global domination and how one team in the near future may play a whole season in London. This is the stupidest thing I've ever heard. Maybe the fans in Jacksonville or Buffalo wouldn't mind, but if they tried that shit with the Eagles, they'd have riots on their hands. Almost as stupid is the notion of expanding the season to 17 or 18 games. Football already leaves too many of its players crippled, hobbled and brain damaged. Sixteen games is enough.
UPDATE: I forgot to give credit where it's due to Donovan McNabb and the Eagles offense for their performance against the Giants. I have no explanation for how McNabb can go from dropping a turd in the punch bowl against the Raiders and, to a lesser degree, the Skins to spiking the punch with ecstasy, although he was helped along by a hideous Giants secondary (I feel badly for C.C. Brown -- he is not long for the NFL) and great play by our offensive line, but hopefully he'll keep it up.