Cute wool hats, floating heads and stupid Tebow: Your NFL Wild Card Weekend Preview

I'm just relieved this isn't an animated gif in which the outer floating heads rotate around Boomer. (Image source: ESPN)

It’s NFL WILD CARD WEEKEND! And I know this because ESPN sent me the most frightening email yesterday to remind me. I’m normally all for floating heads, but I live in fear of falling asleep and having the floating head of Keyshawn Johnson bellow “C’MON MANNNN!” in my dreams. Also, what the hell is with the green glow? The Countdown Crew are aliens, I tell you.

Meet me after the jump for a quick look at Wild Card Weekend. I have to go find my tinfoil hat first…

Super Bowl 45, now with Predictions

 

We’re (finally) a mere 48 or so hours away from the game and I can’t be the only one who’s antsy for it to get here already.

Local (Milwaukee) media have gone so far overboard on their coverage of the Packers leading up to the game that I’m ready for it to be played just so I don’t have to wait 15 minutes into the nightly news to hear about Egypt.

In case it hasn’t been abundantly clear over the past two weeks that Packers fans are a special kind of nuts, check out this article. It includes the complete text of a letter from the Green Bay Superintendant of Schools. The schools will close early on Monday in anticipation of the team’s return to Green Bay. Should the Packers win, there will be a parade and celebration on Tuesday and the letter let’s parents know that they can take their kids of of school on an excused absence for the celebration.

I know you’ve all been waiting to see where the Ladies… come down on the outcome of this game, so wait no further.

I have to be a homer and pick the Packers. They have the momentum heading in to the game and have had plenty of time to study tape and prepare for the Steelers offense. Aaron Rodgers will cement himself in Packers’ lore and the secondary will have a huge night, netting at least 2 INTs   Packers 28, Steelers 20

Games Mistress: 34-21, Packers and Rodgers throws for 300+ yards and 3 TDs, so I can further rue the week his concussion enforced hiatus cost me a berth in my non-Ladies league Super Bowl. 

Lady Bee: As Queen of the Way Off Predictions (I called a Bears-Jets Super Bowl), I’ll say Packers 30-27. It will be close and decided on a field goal. We will wake up Monday morning worshipping Mason Crosby.

THE Blonde Bomber: 21-17 Packers

Miss Minda: 24-20 Green Bay. Go Pack Go!

Buffalita: I predict 24-17, Packers.  Yes, the Steelers defense is good. But if the Jets can manage to score 19 against them, I have plenty of faith in Rogers

So I have all the Ladies… aboard the Packers’ Super Bowl Wagon. Lets hope we’re not all super disappointed come Monday morning!

Settling Conference Scores…Who Y’a Got?

Hailing a cab to Pittsburgh, it's Mark Sanchez! (Getty Images)

Only a little part of me will be glad to have my Sunday nights back (that means I might actually file my posts on time!) I mean, really, has the football not been superb these last two weekends?

Saturday’s NFL Divisional matchups saw the Steelers topple the Ravens 31-24, while Green Bay annihilated the Falcons 48-21.

Then came Sunday. We figured the Seahawks wouldn’t stand a chance against the Bears, and while they put up a fight the end result was as predicted: Chicago over Seattle 35-24.

But did you think for a minute…that the Patriots would fall to Rex Ryan’s Jets? Oh, the drama, the vitriol, the stupid hair, the gentle musings of one Bart Scott (please do yourself a favour and watch the video clip!)

Get’cha popcorn ready for Sunday and join me, Games Mistress and CuteSports after the jump for our NFL Conference Showdown predictions…plus a chance for you to vote for your NFL Conference Championship picks.

Hump Day Hotties: NFL Divisional Playoffs

To get you ready for the NFL Divisional Playoffs this weekend, I thought I would feature a hottie from each team playing this weekend.  To see if your favorite hottie made the cut, take a trip with me after the jump.  I hope I don’t disappoint!

Advent Calendar of Hotness- Day 9

Note: This really was supposed to be yesterday’s post (which is actually day 9, not day 7, but GM is having calendar amnesia this week).

In a first for the ACoH, today’s designee never actually played professional sports, but I know I’m not the only Lady who enjoys spotting him on the sidelines…

Hit & Run: Fantasy Football Disasters Edition

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

Guess who writes for a sports blog and has Reggie Bush on both her fantasy teams, including one that is in such bad shape as far as running backs go that she is resorting to starting Fred Taylor and 3 WRs for week 3?  Yeah.  So.  (Though as someone who dates a Saints fan, I must note there’s a certain amount of relief among the NOLA fanbase that Reggie’s leg is “just” broken and he didn’t reinjure his knee.)

Injuries and fantasy football lineups thus being on my mind, I thought I’d take a quick survey of other developing situations around the league that might impact your fantasy choices this week.

2010 Welcomes You… With Hotness!

2010 begins with a plea from this sports/man loving lady.  I believe in the power of intention and attraction, so let’s put our thoughts together, and will Jeremy Bloom back into the world of professional sports.

Lusty Locks

In honor of Troy Polamalu’s return to the field yesterday and because this commercial

never fails to make me laugh, we’re starting off Monday morning with an ode to boys with long hair.

Write your own caption, you want one so damn much.

We’re watching football, so this is what you get.

We Dey, so STAY DOWN.

Write your own caption, or we’re sending Troy Polamalu after you. And he’s cranky.

Hump Day Hottie: NFL Coaches Edition

A preview of things to come?

So we all know who the hot players are, but do you know who the hot coaches are?  With the new trend of hiring younger coaches, the NFL has provided us with a new crop of hotties.  Instead of the coaches reminding you of the old, creepy man who hangs around the neighborhood (Brad Childress, I’m looking at you!), now they’re more like the hot, 30-something dad that moved in down the street! Yippee!

Take a trip with me after the jump where we explore some hot NFL coaches!

Is It Football Season Yet?

If you haven’t noticed from the last couple of posts, the ladies cannot wait for football season to start. Training camp is in the full swing of things with the first preseason game coming this Sunday. But even still, real football has not started yet so it’s only natural that news is a little slow. The first game of the season is still over a month away. People are mostly grasping for stories to report on. So I have decided to sort out some of the more ridiculous, and entertaining, stories coming out of training camps.  Enjoy! Take solace in knowing football season is almost here.

NFL Training (Camp) Wheels: A Photo Essay

Right, Reggie. Back to work. We get it.

I love NFL training camp, not because football is upon us again (if it’s still hot, it’s still baseball season, in my mind) but because of the sheer entertainment value of the photos.   Reggie Wayne showing up to training camp in a dump truck, dressed as a construction worker?  Obvious publicity grab, sure, but funny in a look-at-the-rich-and-talented-athlete-being-a-cheesy-goofball sort of way.

Strangely enough, Reggie’s transportation related stunt reflected a similar theme in many of the less staged photos of training camps across the league : the many unusual ways in which the athletes travel to and around their team’s facilities.

Ben Roethlisberger…fix your TV? That’s the best you’ve got?

The charges* filed against Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger this weekend are serious, and in no way do the Ladies… condone such acts. Sexual violence is disgusting and pathetic, and should not be committed by anyone at any time. We doubt many of you would disagree.

One could also file a lawsuit against that shirt.

*If you haven’t heard, Big Ben faces counts of assault, sexual assault and batter, false imprisonment, false pretenses, fraud, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Story here. If true…not cool, Ben.

HOWEVER, I couldn’t help but smirk at the line he allegedly laid down on the Harrah’s employee who filed the suit.

Get your own stuff!

I was all set to write my first post as a love letter to Josh Beckett’s fastball. (Look, if it was possible to make out with a pitch, I would do so with that one, happily, and without regard for leaving lipstick prints on the leather.) But then my cousin sent me a text message from her seats at Citi Field last week. “Maggie,’ she wrote. ‘They’re doing it again.’

The ‘it’ in question? Playing ‘Sweet Caroline’ in the eighth inning.

Post-Bowl High Fives: Congrats to the Steelers

While I agree with Miss Minda, I am sad that the Cardinals didn’t win the Superbowl as I was rooting for them and they made a teriffic showing, I still think that we here at Ladies… need to give recognition to the Steelers. After the break, some fun celebration photos to help wipe away the sad.

Post-Bowl Antiparty: Sad Cardinals

So, the Steelers won the Super Bowl. It was a pretty frickin’ crazy game. Congrats to them, I suppose.

I do not appreciate the way this Cardinal is looking at me.

I present to you these Sad Cardinals with no further comment.

The Ladies … Super Bowl Party Preview, or Preview Party, Your Choice

I hope the game is more exciting than this logo.

We are now a little over 48 hours away from the culmination of the entire 2008-09 NFL season.  Just like the World Series, this championship features a team making its unlikely first appearance in the big game and … a team from Pennsylvania.  Plus they are playing it in Tampa.  It’s certainly not the first time a city has hosted both a World Series and a Super Bowl, but it may be the first time a city outside of California has done it. So there’s your (unverified) Super Bowl fact of the day.

As this is a sports blog, written by sports fans, most of us Ladies have plans to watch the game. Some of us are neutral, some of us have a particular team, some of us are just obsessed with Kurt Warner, but we’ll all be parked in front of a television somewhere at game time.  Further details after the jump, but first:

POP (AND ALCOHOL)  QUIZ

Can you match the beverages below with the Lady who will be drinking it during the game? (Options: Lady Andrea, SA, Minda, Games Mistress, and Cinnamon Girl)

In Which I Use NFL Team Merchandise to Predict the Super Bowl Matchup

In my short tenure here at Ladies …, I have picked an Angels-Cubs World Series, and managed to finish last in our Bowl Pick ‘Em Pool (technically second to last, but that’s only because Cinn forgot to actually pick the games).  So it’s pretty clear I have no business whatsoever picking winners of this Sunday’s NFC and AFC championship games.  Like any good sports blogger, this is not going to stop me.

Since picking based on my sports “knowledge” doesn’t seem to be working, I decided to use a random and arbitrary method, completely unrelated to how much big-game experience the quarterbacks have and whether a star player is not 100% healthy.  However, I wasn’t exactly sure how to come up with said randomness.  And then, while conducting a Google Image hunt for a picture of the Arizona Cardinals’ mascot, I found my muse :

Associated Press Defensive Player of the Year James Harrison

The AP named its defensive player of the year: Pittsburgh Steelers’ James Harrison. I’m sure he’s good and all – however…

Our Year End Hump Day Hottie Spectacular!

Chances are you’ll be reading this in 2009. That’s okay. It’s a holiday and you were preparing yourself for the New Year’s Eve celebrations. But if you are reading this in 2008 then let’s go through a review of what happened this year. Specifically what happened every Wednesday of this year. Yes, we’re going to be taking a look back at the Hump Day Hotties that have graced our blog in the ’08. Why? Because how could you not want to take a trip down memory lane and remember Ryan Lochte?

So let’s go back through the year that was and enjoy our hotties one more time before we sing “Auld Lang Syne.” And if you’re reading this in 2009, remember when Lochte was so smoking in 2008 he made the Ladies… HDH? Yeah, that was awesome.

Hump Day Hottie: Willie Parker

During the Ladies… fantasy football draft, my computer went a little wonky, and froze right after my first pick. By the time I got everything working again, the computer had autodrafted Willie Parker for me. I didn’t want Willie Parker. No reason, really, it was more that I just wasn’t feelin’ it. Judging by his first two weeks (243 yds, 3 TDs), I was wrong. I’m sorry Willie. Please consider this collection of your hotness an official apology, and take me back with open arms.

Nolan Vs. Tomlin-Whose Team Do You Wanna Be On?

This Sunday in Pittsburgh the 49ers and the Steelers meet in an important early season match-up.

Not the teams. I’m talking about the coaches-Mike Nolan and Mike Tomlin.

I envy the woman who’ll be at Heinz Field. But the question is, who’s hotter? This was brought up last Wednesday when I said this is the Hit & Run:

Nolan > Tomlin

Needless to say, TheStarterWife didn’t agree. So we thought we’ll put it out there…

Nolan or Tomlin? Who ya got?