From: Etan Orgel [etano@yahoo.com]
Sent: Tuesday, May 13, 2003 1:30 PM
To: bgalper@aecom.yu.edu; Mark Ryan
Cc: etano@yahoo.com; Brian Colsant; mtritt@aecom.yu.edu; Howard Forman;
dfein@aecom.yu.edu; Paul Riegelhaupt
Subject: RE: Are you Ready for Some Football?

In a bunch of closely fought games (yes, the Pats too) the playoff picture
becomes even murkier...

In a come-from-behind victory bret Favre lead the Packers to a 31-38 victory
over the ever-lagging Vikings (Howie).  After being down by three touchdowns
starting the second half, the Green Bay defense rallied, and finally came
alive midway through the third.  The turning point of the game was clearly
the bruising sack of Dante Caulpepper.  Although he returned from his
strained pectoral after only a minute or two, the defense had gotten in his
head and he was never the same.  Either overthrowing or underthrowing, he
finished the game without an interception, mostly due to the fact that the
ball never came close to receiver OR defender.  The defense continued to
clamp down on Randy Moss, holding him without a reception for 2 consecutive
possessions, after which the Packers tied the game 38-38 with 2 mintues
left.  Once again it simply did not to come together for the Vikings, and
Moss, in a rare occurrence, dropped a first down completion after pro-bowl
cornerback Keith McKenzie delivered a 'whopping' hit.  The Packers took
control, and despite wasting two timeouts in the 3rd, drove to the 17 yrd
line and kicked a field goal with 26 seconds left.  The Vikings last drive
ended with a Moss reception on the twenty, but with no timeouts left,
Minnesota could not get another play off and watched discolonsolately as the
Packers won their first game in Minnesota (and in a dome) after quite a
hiatus.  Now tied for first, but suffering from a 2-2 division record and a
loss to first place Bears (4-0 NFC), the Packers managed to retain their
slim playoff hopes.

In other news...
The marquis MNF matchup of Patriots-Raiders was as exciting as a blowout can
be.  It started poorly for the Pats, as their defense surrendered a TD in
under a minute and Rice was clearly on his way to breaking every known
record.  From there, it just got worse.   The ensuing kickoff return was
fumbled... recovered by the Raiders, and returned for a TD by the fattest
man to ever grace a special teams squad.  Down 14-0 in under a minute, the
Pats finally get their offense on the field, and newly promoted Rohan "JC"
Davey got his chance to shine in the spotlight.  His first throw was a
wobbly one, and just cleared the blitz, but it landed perfectly- right in
the basket, right on the numbers... of the Raiders CB.  The next play saw
the Raiders up by 21, still early in the first.  Sadly, it continued in a
downward spiral.  Even with Gannon injured at the start of the second half
(1 week), the Raiders second-string QB stepped up to the challenge in the
face of a faltering Patriot defense.  How can you call this game close?
With 54 seconds on the clock, and up by 66, the Raiders scored their 92
point.  Again, in what would prove to be a huge defensive stop, Oakland was
left with 12 seconds and the opportunity to be the first (ever?) to score
three-digits in an NFL game.  It was not to be, however, as Rice, in a day
that once again set team and league records, fell short, tackled at the 40
yard line.  Despite the blowout, the Patriots left the field cheering "we
are the king!" simply glad that their names wont be inscribed in the record
book for that particular eminence.

Quote of the week: "What the fuck? Do you have twenty guys on the field?!"

Misc Notes:
In a special halftime appearance, the MNF version of the chinaman made an
appearance to shake some hands and let us know that he is cool but has to be
up at 6 am to do some doctor-type stuff so can we all fucking shut up cuz he
can hear every "oooh" and "ARRGH."

Although sadly only a case of beer was drunken (which probably contributed
to the Patriots poor performance), it was more than compensated for by the
fans who not only showed up to root for the Raiders, but rounded out the
night with the best falafel of NYC.

LONG LIVE FOOTBALL!