ROUGH RYDERS: Week Twelve

OCHO-CINCO!!!!!

Chad Johnson EXPLODED for 12 catches, 103 yards, and 3 touchddowns this weekend, something he should have been doing since Week Two, but whatcha gonna do? After his first TD catch of the game, #85 went and manned a TV camera in the back of the endzone, and it really wasn't clever or particularly funny, but what was interesting to me what the palpable disdain the FOX NFL crew has for the guy. Terry, Howie and Jimmy really have nothing good to say about the guy...I don't really either, to be honest, but hey, he scored 40.3 FP for me this weekend, so I'll just keep my mouth shut.

WEEK TWELVE was Thanksgiving Week, and on Thursday six of my fourteen players hit the gridiron...I'm happy to report that my beloved Green Bay Packers defeated the Detroit Lions, and in the process, recent phenom Ryan Grant had a great game, running for 101 yards and a TD, and catching a half-dozen clutch passes. Of course, when one of my guys does this, they're "clutch" catches, but when somebody else's guy does it, I call 'em "Garbage Man". Reggie Bush comes to mind...Anyways, Ryan Grant was the best of my three RBs this weekend...Once again, LaDainian Tomlinson had a solid game, but certainly disappointing by his own standards...Kevin Jones had a pretty good game himself, but I didn't play him out of respect to the Packers' defense.

Elsewhere, and speaking of garbage, Jacksonville's defense shut down Lee Evans, who's disgusting 3.9 FP came in the closing minutes of a lost game...

Tony Gonzalez was kinda lame as well...7.8 FP was certainly a letdown, though I should probably cut Gonzo some slack because he's been dependable all season, and is currently the 4th most productive TE in the NFL...Plus, I didn't need a big game from him this week...

Meanwhile, Bernard Berrian was silent for almost all of the Bears-Broncos game, and then BAM! the dude extends himself out, leaning leaning leaning out, snagging the ball as he falls and drags those toes...TOUCHDOWN!!!! Fantasy redemption in the closing seconds for me, and tying their game that they would eventually win in OT...

As much as I don't like the Chicago Bears, they do provide their fair share of fantasy points for me...Berrian is reliable for double digit FP production every week, which makes him a viable WR3 or Flex play every week, and their defense might not be as dominant as it was the past 2-3 years, but in fairness to them, they've been riddled with injuries to some of their best defensive players, and the Bears half-inept offense has put the defense in bad places all season long...But then, there's Devin Hester, who's already a shoe-in for the NFL Hall-Of-Fame in only his second season...His return abilities are bona-fide...Chicago's Defense contributed 30.07 FP to the Rough Ryders' cause, and Hester's 2 TD returns and the accompanying yardage were responsible for more than half that FP total...But the defense also forced a fumble, and intercepted a pass, and blocked a punt...And had 3 or 4 sacks...Not a bad day, all around...They may not be the elite defense right now, but they're dependable, and exciting, and I've also got Lance Briggs in my lineup, and he's just as dependable...He forced that fumble, and added four tackles...

I may not like the Bears, but I do respect them...That's the thing about the Packers-Bears rivalry...There's really not much animosity there anymore...I think you'd have to go back to Charles Martin's late-hit body-slam on Jim McMahon sometime back in the mid-80's to find the hate between the teams and the fans...But the Bears have always been scrappy underdogs of a sort that Packer fans can relate to...Blue collar...Midwestern men playing a hard game in the freezing cold and wind and snow in the late weeks when the games mean the most...And the Bears history goes back just as far as the Packers' history does, and there's alot of greatness in their story - Papa Bear Halas, Dick Butkus, Gail Sayers, Walter Payton, Mike Singletary, Mike Ditka...I dislike the Bears, and sometimes I even hate 'em, but I do respect 'em...

When the Vikings still played outdoors, we (Packer & Bear fans) already didn't like 'em, but when they moved their circus indoors, they lost all respect...There has never been a Viking on the Rough Ryders roster, and there never will be...This includes Adrian Peterson...

Oh, and the Detroit Lions? Well, they've played in a dome forever as well, so there's really no respect there either...But then, they never win, and I got drunk and had a bitchin' fun night in Las Vegas with a trio of Lions' fans on Super Bowl Sunday in 1997, when the Packers won their 3rd Super Bowl, so I don't hate the Lions...I just feel sorry for 'em, really, and I think that's how most Packer fans feel...

And that's my quick take on the NFC central, as a Packer fan, an insider of sorts...

I guess I'll finish off this week's recap by mentioning that Hines Ward had a fairly solid game in the swamps of Pittsburgh on Monday night...I didn't see the game, but it was delayed by lightning, and Heinz Field had been used extensively in the previous couple of weeks for high school playoff games and then the rains came...They resodded the field the day before, but it was an absolute fucking mess...Such a fucking mess that Jeff Reed kicked a field goal with about 17 seconds left on the clock to lift the Steelers to a 3-0 victory over the absolutely and inexcusably inept Miami Dolphins...I don't think I've ever had a Dolphin on my team either...

Anyways, Hines Ward caught a bunch of short passes, which is 100% Wardish...Hinesian...I would have liked to have seen that game, but I refuse to give Charter Comm any more money than I already do...

After twelve weeks, I am proud and happy to announce that the beloved WINONA ROUGH RYDERS are now 9-3, and sitting comfortably alone in 3rd place in the APFL...

Next week is the final regular season matchup before the APFL playoffs begin, and our beloved ROUGH RYDERS are facing the outmanned and outgunned Team Excelsior...If the APFL situation doesn't change, and I don't believe that it can or will, we will be facing Team Excelsior again in the first round of the playoffs, so looking ahead to the semi-finals, it looks like a 3rd game, a rubbermatch, against Just Another Team, a team that I respect, but do not fear...

And finally, a respectful RIP to Redskins' saftety Sean Taylor, who was shot and killed by a home intruder this past week...

Hotcha! Hank