Stephanie Stradley Posts

The conventional view is that Peyton Manning is an extraordinarily precise passer whose single-minded dedication to the NFL may make him one of the most game-altering quarterbacks to ever play the game. Those of us who have watched him carefully over the years know the truth, however. Peyton Manning is a witch.*

I use to think that The Peyton was evil and had a pact with the devil. Colts fans took exception to that because they said Manning is a really swell guy who does good deeds and likes Oreos. Okay then, can we just agree that he is a witch, and then just agree to disagree on his evil status, and whether he should be burned at the stake?

If you write about the Houston Texans, the No. 1 question you get from fans and fantasy football types is what's up with Steve Slaton? In the last game against the atrocious run defense of the Buffalo Bills, Slaton was benched after only one catch and carry because he fumbled the ball. Yet again. Slaton has a league-high seven fumbles for the year.

Coach Gary Kubiak was up front about the benching, talking about it to Slaton and the team: "I told Steve in the locker room to get his chin up. This team needs him playing well and making plays and I'm expecting him to come right back next week and help us."

Houston Texan Owen Daniels is currently leading the NFL in yards by a tight end with 497 and is near the top of the league in touchdowns, yards per game and receptions. Apparently, he also leads the league in excellent Halloween costumes.

According to right tackle Eric Winston, the picture to the right is Daniels dressed up as one of the Saturday Night Live D**k in a Box guys. You can see pictures of other Texans players in Halloween costumes on Winston's twitpics page.

If you are not familiar with this costume, here's the censored version of the SNL sketch (things get a little racy after the jump, it may not be for those with delicate sensibilities):

Some Titans fans weren't amused when coach Jeff Fisher wore a Peyton Manning jersey at a Nashville fundraiser, and he joked "I just wanted to feel like a winner today." Fisher seemed surprised anybody would be angry about this, even after his 0-6 team just got humilated by the Patriots 59-0.

He gave the "apology to those I've offended" non-apology, saying he wore the jersey in honor of former Colts coach Tony Dungy who he was introducing, it was all in fun, and even with what he knows now, he would do it again. Really?

How about if he knew some Bud Adams-hating Houston Texan fans got pictures of him in the jersey and decided to do their own Photoshop fun? The video of the result is after the jump. I have to give a Celine Dion warning, and tell you that the video starts off a little slow but then gets very wrong, which means it gets very funny.

Some Titans fans weren't amused when coach Jeff Fisher wore a Peyton Manning jersey at a Nashville fundraiser, and he joked "I just wanted to feel like a winner today." Fisher seemed surprised anybody would be angry about this, even after his 0-6 team just got humilated by the Patriots 59-0.

He gave the "apology to those I've offended" non-apology, saying he wore the jersey in honor of former Colts coach Tony Dungy who he was introducing, it was all in fun, and even with what he knows now, he would do it again. Really?

How about if he knew some Bud Adams-hating Houston Texan fans got pictures of him in the jersey and decided to do their own Photoshop fun? The video of the result is after the jump. I have to give a Celine Dion warning, and tell you that the video starts off a little slow but then gets very wrong, which means it gets very funny.

NFL Coaches Fight Club: the Tournament. Because we have nothing better to do than predict what might happen if head coaches started punching each other in the face.

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If Curt Flood were an athlete in any sport other than baseball, he would have certainly won his 1972 Supreme Court antitrust case. Flood wanted the Court to rule that the "reserve clause" that baseball teams used to tie a player to the team that first signed him, and allowed the team to trade the player with no ability to contest it was in violation of federal antitrust laws that prevented such rules.

Flood lost his case because the Supreme Court decided an old stupid case that they knew was old and stupid was controlling precedent and shouldn't be overturned. Antitrust law applies to every single sport other than MLB, with the exception of limited antitrust exemptions granted by Congress. Flood v. Kuhn is considered a ridiculous case in many ways.

The first part of the Flood v. Kuhn opinion is a gushing, flowery homage to baseball, done in an attempt to demonstrate baseball's special place in American society. Supreme Court decisions, or any sort of sane and sober judicial opinion, doesn't typically read like a press release for one side of the case.

This season, FanHouse writers take their cameras to NFL stadiums to document what happens when you stop being polite and start getting real. Or something. We've cleverly titled it FanHouse in the Stands.

Right in front of me, I saw something happen at the Texans 29-6 win over the Raiders that I've never seen at a NFL game. A Raiders fan jumped onto the field, got tackled by security in the Raiders end zone, and the Raiders ran a play as the guy was getting handcuffed. Either the refs didn't see it happen, or they figured the guy wasn't in the field of play because the Raiders weren't going to be visiting the end zone with that offense. Zing!

This season, FanHouse writers take their cameras to NFL stadiums to document what happens when you stop being polite and start getting real. Or something. We've cleverly titled it FanHouse in the Stands.

If starting off the season 1-2 isn't bad enough, the Houston Texans have confirmed that one of their players has been hospitalized with Swine Flu, or the more accurate name, the H1N1 virus. At first, the Texans believed that rookie Tight End Anthony Hill had pneumonia but on Friday afternoon confirmed the flu diagnosis.

Coach Gary Kubiak says that they do not believe any of the other players have the disease, though he did acknowledge that a number of players were sick on Thursday but were back Friday. The team is taking precautions against the spread of the disease. Kubiak says that there is no panic about the situation within the organization, and believes that Hill is recovering may be released from the hospital this afternoon.