Mary Nabokova Makes Her Debut, Fed Ex Field Has Issues & FSU Player Proposes After Loss
So far, so good for the 2021 NFL season
Full disclosure: I went golfing Sunday. I had no choice. It was 90-plus degrees in NW Ohio and I needed to do something other than sit on the couch for 6-7 hours on September 12 because the NFL season is now a full 17 weeks and the regular season ends on January 9.
I know what you guys are thinking: Are you nuts?!? Look, I was still able to catch the radio broadcast of the Browns losing in Kansas City and the Sunday night game where, once again, Cris Collinsworth went into full lust mode over Matthew Stafford, acting like he had no idea the guy had a big arm. At this point, Collinsworth's charade is laughable. We're talking about the guy who runs Pro Football Focus.
Anyway, I was able to catch plenty of football and my dream season is still on track. The Browns did their part in making sure the Chiefs have a one-game lead in the home-field advantage department.
In Cincinnati, Joe Burrow went 20-of-27 for 261 yards and two touchdown passes. And I didn't turn on my phone to find Bengals fans going nuts over the offensive line. That's refreshing. Add in Joe Mixon rushing for 127 yards on 29 carries to take pressure off of Burrow standing in the pocket with that reconstructed knee, and we have ourselves a perfect weekend.
That said, the Browns are clearly going to destroy some opponents on their way to the playoffs, and Burrow gets to face Khalil Mack on the road next week before a Week 3 trip to Pittsburgh.
Moving along...how about the weekend Tennessee fans just endured? The Vols lost Saturday and then the Titans were absolutely blown out by the Cardinals. Pray for Clay's sanity after the weekend he just went through.
Like I said, a rough weekend:
My golf team finished -10, I should've won closest to the pin -- guys, if the tournament director says play from the tips, don't claim closest to the pin if you played from the whites -- and it was a great day out with friends who will soon hunker down at their houses on Sundays with pots of chili and blankets. We had to get that golf in before the weather turns.
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• Look at this tweet from Jeff just trying to get me a raise or a spot on the OutKick bus for the Alabama-Texas A&M game. No, I didn't pay Jeff to say it. I have no idea who this Jeff guy is, but I'll Venmo him $20 if out of nowhere Clay tells me I can sleep on the couch in College Station.
• Beau in Toledo has advice for Dave in Hicksville, OH who has a leaf problem on his three-acre property:
Been a busy last few days... Lawn Work, detailing vehicles, taking care of Parents, etc, and i haven't been able to get to the 'net much or respond to Your Call for advice towards Dave in Hicksville, Ohio, regarding leaf disposal. And Mr Kinsey Sir, it's Propellor plane fuel, not jet fuel... the difference is quite explosive, unless of course, you've put a jet turbine on Your rider(you won't be the first; look it up). :)
But of COURSE, i *do* have ideas!
First, I live in toodle-ee-doo... we have a city-run leaf vac department that sweeps piled-up leaves and turns them into compost, so many take advantage of that. I'm not sure of Dave's yard situation, but some of the things I've been able to employ with my FrankenRider is that I bag up my leaves(yard is 72x245). I do a couple of things with the mulched leaves: spread the clippings over the dirt in my vegetable garden(over the top of my grass clippings, which acts like a weed barrier, and feed nutrients into said garden; then till it all into the dirt after growing season is done), spread them into my flower beds as a natural cover for winter(rake out late winter), and burn the rest, slowly and carefully. The burning part makes for a good relaxing evening, and for Guys, the smell of leaves burning in the 419 and 734 is like the scent of pumpkin spice for Chicks. The last part is sorta illegal here in toledo, so i declare it as "speed-composting"; Dave should refer to Hicksville, Oh Code on Open Burning, 521.11, Line J, 521.11 OPEN BURNING. (amlegal.com) then maybe build himself a nice firepit to relax by! Cold natural/green ash is a really good Ph balancer for soil, by the way{NO TRASH!!}. SideNote: used coffee grounds are high in Nitrogen; a compost pile must..
Hope this helps the Entire League!
• Chris B. in Texas writes:
I’m a Houstonian & Aggie, keep up all the love that screencaps is showing for my teams!
I went to the Astros game on Friday night and saw them beat up Ohtani. Loved it. I’ve always wondered what they do with all the baseballs that come out of the game, and I had a front-row seat to see the process. See attached video. He documents every ball used in the game and said they sell some, give some to season ticket holders, etc. On Friday nite he said they used about 14 dozen balls.
• Michael V. writes:
Hello Joe, I just wanted to thank you for putting my email in screencaps on Friday. I have no social media (like Jason in Nebraska) and enjoy reading about regular people like me from around the country. I really laughed when I read the post from Euclidbuck004. Ryan Day has only lost 1 regular season game at Ohio State and this guy wants him fired by the end of the year. I never had a college football team (I live in NY, not many great programs within 5 hours of my house when I was growing up), but then my brother married a girl who grew up in Eugene. The wedding was in Portland 11 years ago and we went to a game at Autzen.
From that moment on I have adopted the ducks as my college football team. I watch games from around the country every Saturday and love it. Animal House is my favorite movie of all time so I think I was meant to root for the Ducks even though I didn't start paying much attention to the sport till I was in my 30s. I am not writing this to talk trash about what happened yesterday. It is impossible to do that when you root for a team that has never won a national championship and plays in a conference that is an afterthought in most of the country (but I'm sure that won't stop some on social media from doing it).
I think Ryan Day is a very good coach and I thought it was funny that some wanted him fired after one loss. I also really like the traditional unis Ohio State wears every week. Hope they keep them forever. Thanks again and great job on screencaps as always.
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• I know we are loaded with SEC fans here on OutKick and you don't care at all about the Pac-12, but I highly recommend a trip to Autzen if you guys ever get the chance. Make sure it's a big game and then report back on how loud it was. I'm not sure I've ever been in a louder college football stadium. It's a one-two battle between Death Valley and Autzen.
• Bob R. has advice on those pesky armyworms. They are supposed to come back!
Don't know about Ohio, but here in East Tennessee the lawn companies are advising a second application of a granular killer (don't recall the name) in a couple weeks. The reason is that all those worms left their eggs in the soil, and if you don't get a hard freeze they will hatch next year. They are also recommending cleaning and spraying your mower's undercarriage to prevent spread. Just an FYI.
I'm not a TNML member because I have pretty bad arthritis (and also lazy)! I have a great local lawn guy that comes every Friday, so my lawn is shipshape every weekend. Love reading your columns every day.