Football Cat’s Week 16 NFL Picks

This is Badger. Badger has the Christmas spirit.

Big Thurrsday win for the Los Angeles Shovey Sheep. Now for the rest of the games:

SATURDAY PROWLTIME

Bengals (-2) at Steelers

Steel City unfriendly to Stripey Cats. Pittsburgh wins

SATURDAY PROWLTIME

Bills (-11.5) at Chargers 

Chargers powerless to stop the Buffalo stampede.

SUNDAY LUNCHTIME

Colts at Falcons (-1)

Both teams need a win to stay in or return to the playoff hunt. Preybirds get that win.

Packers (-5) at Panthers

Green Bay get-right game.

Browns (-2.5) at Texans

Trickster Brownies pull another whimsical win out of their helmets.

Lions (-3) at Vikings

Hardy Minnesotans and their outdoor stadium get the edge here. Sorry Jungle King cats.

Commanders at Jets (-3)

The Planes are meh at home, the Prez are iffy on the road. Planes win.

Seahawks (-2.5) at Titans

Seahawks are made up, Titans are mythical. False Birds win.

SUNDAY SUNSET

Jaguars at Buccaneers (-1)

Spotted Cats get their first win this December as an early Christmas present.

Cardinals at Bears (-4)

Non-hibernating Bears win.

Cowboys at Dolphins (-1.5)

Pokes prove Porps can’t beat a good team.

THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS

Patriots and Broncos (-6.5)

Leave all the yappy malcontents like Trent Brown at the Denver Airport. Broncos win.

CHRISTMAS DAY

Raiders at Chiefs (-10)

Las Vegas gets that the smart money is on the Chiefs. KC wins.

CHRISTMAS AFTERNOON

Giants at Eagles (-12)

Someone’s losing streak has to end. It will be the Birds.

CHRISTMAS EVENING

Ravens at 49ers (-5)

Prediction: Prospectors pound Poes.

Football Cat wishes all of you a safe and happy Christmastime free from ignorance, want, & the cone of shame. Well, most of you.

Football Cat lives in New Hampshire, enjoys watching football, and is a cat.

12/20/2023 Cleaning Out the Sports Junk Drawer

Yvonne Craig wishes you all a Merry Christmas. Even if she knows you were naughty. Oh yes, she knows.

Winnable games this week lost by the P’s, B’s, and C’s. Less than ideal.

I might have been inclined, myself, to regard a coffin-nail as the deadest piece of ironmongery in the trade. But the wisdom of our ancestors is in the simile.

Keep your head down for 25 years and you too can receive a too-late promotion in a dying industry.

Welcome to New England, two-time MLS Cup winning coach Caleb Porter.

There hasn’t been a good new Christmas song since 1992.

Looking for a last-minute Christmas gift? Consider a pound or two of Callahan Coffee: it’s dark and delicious and as a bonus a portion of each purchase is donated to keep a needy Russian conscript fighting in Ukraine for another six days!

Maybe name your burner something other than Andrew.

Cakes are cooking for Peter Criss, Dick Wolf, Uri Geller, Alan Parsons, Cecil Cooper, Anita Ward, Joyce Hyser, Nate Newton, Aubrey Huff, Jonah Hill, Lucy Pinder, Jojo Levesque, and Kylian Mbappé.

“Damontae Kazee” sounds like something a vaudevillian magician would shout before he made his lovely assistant disappear.

This Iceland volcano shit is insane, kid. It’s gon’ be ugly when Ma Nature has that big-ass, lava-spewing, Earth-shaking ultimate orgasm. Just another reason to #BuyPhysicalMedia.

I never realized how many loser fans Ted Johnson has.

Not saying there is a prejudice against Japanese pitchers, but the Sox got Koji Uehara cheap in 2013 because people said he couldn’t close games and couldn’t pitch on consecutive days. He closed, pitched on consecutive days and had a 1.09 ERA, 10-1 strikeout/walk ratio.

Call me Jayson Tatum: I love hitting 3s.

Hey gang of nonprime numbers, this week’s Phrase that Pays is, “Hug your penguins a little tightah.”

Everybody has a price. Cerrone Battle’s is just really low.

One could scarcely help fancying it must have run there when it was a young house, playing at hide-and-seek with other houses, and have forgotten the way out again.

I could never say “Courvoisier, please” to a bartender.

Can you have offered Yoshinobu Yamamoto $300 million and then not have offered him $300 million?

Green Line D Branch Reminder: Shuttle Buses replace service between Riverside and Kenmore due to track work. Regular service will resume on December 21.

UConn Men’s BB holding steady at #5 in the AP Poll.

The modern-day equivalent of “don’t trust anyone over 40” is “everyone under 40 is mentally irregular”.

I’m not hearing Boston sports talk being done differently. At all.

It’s okay to not be okay, J.C. Jackson.

I hear Cashman is working on a trade for Connor Wong next. Then will try to package Wong, Downs, and Alex Verdugo to LA for Mookie Betts. BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!

Hardy goes from being the third guy on the midday to being the solo host next time Toucher has a relapse of (cough) “throat issues”.

SMARTEN UP

‘Electeds of Color’ sounds like a kick ass band name.

You can ring my bell, you can ring my bell
Ding, dong, ding, ah-ah, ring it
You can ring my bell, anytime, anywhere
Ring it, ring it, ring it, ring it, oww
You can ring my bell, you can ring my bell
Ding, dong, ding, ah-ah, ring it
You can ring my bell, anytime, anywhere
Ring it, ring it.

It is required of every man, that the spirit within him should walk abroad among his fellowmen, and travel far and wide; and if that spirit goes not forth in life, it is condemned to do so after death. 

Joansies’ ratings are so low they’re all RT’ing and favoriting ballwasher posts.

Society has progressed past the need for Zack Snyder movies and/or multiple bad cuts of said movies.

So you are telling me ‘Hardy’ and ‘Sarge’ are different people? If you say so.

Honk if you remember the Sears Wish Book. And honk twice if you remember Old Fezziwig.

If the local media could kindly stop trying to press a gold watch into Belichick’s palm and push him out onto a waiting ice floe that would be great.

Oh God! to hear the Insect on the leaf pronouncing on the too much life among his hungry brothers in the dust!

Looking for a last-minute Christmas gift for that hockey fan in your life? Try Tough Guys by Dale Arnold (Triumph). He profiles a long list of NHL’s enforcers, who talk about their peculiar roles. Among his subjects: Chris Nilan, Jay Miller, Terry O’Reilly and P.J. Stock. It’s a revealing read into an increasingly rare subculture and comes recommended.

So apparently the frails don’t like being called broads. Who knew?

MLS dropping out of the US Open Cup tells you everything about that league. The only real and historical piece of US Soccer and they ask out.

Referring to drug and alcohol abuse as “self-medicating” is like referring to candy bars as “Nutrional supplements.”

A: Dart Adams’ nephew is 6’6″.

Lauko didn’t waste much time getting into it again, did he?

This boy is Ignorance. This girl is Want. Beware them both, and all of their degree; but most of all beware this boy, for on his brow I see that written which is Doom, unless the writing be erased. 

It’s amazing. My buddy’s son’s team lost a heartbreaker to their rival last night in almost the exact same fashion as the Celtics did v. Golden State. Lead throughout. Lead slips. Offense at the end dries up. Back breaking 3 by outstanding shooter to tie. Wheels come off in OT. Lordy.

If you don’t find National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation funny I don’t know what to tell you.

Ron Hobson Media Good Guy Award SZN.

I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future. The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. I will not shut out the lessons that they teach. 

Best bet for the weekend: traffic by the shopping centers.

All fix!

Material from interviews, wire services, Twitter, Meta, other writers, league and team sources, Bill James, and the members of #the15 were used in this column. And so, as Tiny Tim observed, God Bless Us, Every One!

Bianca should win all the awards.

Immaculate Squids 16

The Immaculate Grid, Boston sports media edition. This week’s theme: the follicly challenged! Be it receding hairlines, male pattern baldness, dubious comb-overs, or just plain old cueball-baldness.

Past or present media members, regular or guest appearances are okay. There may only be one answer, and you can’t use anyone more than once. The15 merchandise (& other) prize giveaways will continue for the best solution!

Football Cat’s Week 15 NFL Picks

Football Cat is rested and ready.

Wow. What a Thurrsday night beatdown. And then the bloodletting. Saturday games this weekend, too.

SATURDAY LUNCHTIME

Vikings at Bengals (-3)

Stripey Cats win streak runs to three games.

SATURDAY SUNSET

Steelers at Colts (-1.5)

Go Horse? I guess.

SATURDAY PROWLTIME

Broncos at Lions (-4)

Broncos are hot. Won’t matter. Jungle king cats win.

SUNDAY LUNCHTIME

Falcons (-3) at Panthers

Black Cats luckless streak ends. Sorry birdie.

Festive!

Bears at Browns (-3)

Trickster Browns and Joe Flacco. What a match! Cleveland wins.

Buccaneers at Packers (-3.5)

Prediction: Pack Pummels Pewts.

Jets at Dolphins (-8.5)

Prediction: Porps Plaster Planes

Fly you Dolphin, fly!

Chiefs (-7.5) at Patriots

Heart says Pats, head says Chiefs.

Giants at Saints (-5.5)

Francis of Assisi is the patron saint of Italy. Tommy DeVito and his agent are Italian. Won’t matter, Because St. Francis is also the patron of animals. Like me.

So good with the animals.

Texans at Titans (-3)

Houston’s old team edges Houston’s current team. Go Tits!

SUNDAY SUNSET

49ers (-12.5) at Cardinals

Prospectors and Purrdy too much for the Pretty Birds.

Commanders at Rams (-6.5)

Bighorn Sheepies win bigly.

Cowboys at Bills (-2)

Pokes paste Payables.

Gotcha, you ornery varmint, and things of that nature.

SUNDAY PROWLTIME

Ravens (-3) at Jaguars

Spotted Cats send the visiting Evil Birds back home as losers.

MONDAY NIGHT

Eagles (-4) at Seahawks

Fake Seabirds eke out a home win over the National Bird Team.

Football Cat lives in New Hampshire, enjoys watching football, and is a cat.

12/13/2023 Cleaning Out the Sports Junk Drawer

700 million dollars is a lot of money.

If Shohei Ohtani had a sense of humor, he would have made his surprise announcement on December 7th.

Do you think that Bailey Zappe has blocked Dan Orlovsky’s phone number yet?

I’m being told #10 is not in fact Top 5.

Do New York Giants fans have a nickname for winning with Tommy DeVito yet? Like a Linsanity-type thing? If not, they should.

Malik Cunningham wasn’t even here long enough to be referred to as “the player”.

Dan here’s my message to the Red Sox and it’s as simple as it gets. Stop talking about doing things and do them in front of me and make me stop not believing that you don’t care about winning.

It’s the final two minutes of the game, it’s not The Purge, Mahomes. There are still rules.

Cakes are cooking for Dick Van Dyke, Lou Adler, John Davidson, Ferguson Jenkins, Skunk Baxter, Ted Nugent, Wendie Malick, Steve Forbert, Morris Day, Richard Dent, Bo Pelini, Josh Fogg, Amy Lee, Rickie Fowler, and Danielle Collins.

Plans for Ohtanis Japanese Steakhouse in the Big Concourse have been cancelled. Instead we’ll get Breslow’s Kosher scratch & dent knish cart.

The Steve McNair ottoman claimed another one. RIP, Frank Wycheck.

The Los Angeles Chargers at the Las Vegas Raiders sounds like it’s from Biff Tannen’s sports almanac.

There’s no vulture emoji.

Ohtani banked $700 million and immediately apologized for making people wait lmao imagine being that polite

Sal is The15’s Larry Flynt. Except that he’s crippled by gas station drugs.

Your Christmas lights temperature color is wrong.

Pat McAfee seems like a guy who has at least two stepfathers, has kids who have multiple stepfathers, and is a stepfather himself. #tanktops

The fact college hockey is on a break for exactly the time period I am back in New England is ruining my life.

Hey gang, this week’s phrase that pays is “Serbian stolen valor.”

Between MegO drinking Mountain Dew and convenience store energy drinks and hating all vegetables, she has to be the trashiest college women’s lacrosse player ever.

The Andelmans ruined the Three Stooges Marathon.

If you combine this IST championship with the Lakers bubble championship, that’s almost like one whole championship.

HAHAHAHAHA! Cutlets!!

Bobby Bonilla walked so Shohei could run faster than the speed of light.

Meet me in the middle of the day,
Let me hear you say everything’s okay.
Bring me southern kisses from your room.
Meet me in the middle of the night,
Let me hear you say everything’s alright,
Let me smell the moon in your perfume.

Oh, Gods and years will rise and fall
And there’s always something more.
It’s lost in talk, I waste my time
And it’s all been said before.
While further down behind the masquerade the tears are there.
I don’t ask for all that much I just want someone to care.
That’s right now.

I feel like every franchise needs a third-string QB that’s an egregious stereotype of the people who reside in the geographical area of the team.

Honk if you remember Mark Henderson.

If you think Belichick is terrible why does it matter where the draft pick is?

Max Strus looks like he sells MDMA.

There was a psychic named Criswell. No idea if he predicted the Red Sox signing a guy with the same name.

How many times in the last year have you ridden in an elevator?

I see this alot nowadays. I get in with 5mm of rubber covering everything but my eyes and nose. These people getting in bare is something to do with Wim Hof or cold therapy. Either way, it’s fucked.

Dan Orlovsky is the NFL’s Myrna Carter of advice giving.

I’m kind of disappointed that Kirsty MacColl couldn’t be bothered to show up at Shane MacGowan’s funeral.

No famous person has had a birthday in secret since the turn of the century.

Congratulations Joe Castiglione on winning the Frank Deford Award.

Baseball bat knob shot glasses!

Malik Willis and Malik Cunningham should join forces to create 3/5s of a good QB.

Detective Frank Pembleton could have gotten a confession out of Ray Ray. Gone too soon, Andre Braugher.

Best bet for the weekend: things could still change.

Whooooooo! Cake with candles! 1967! Where’s the presents!?!

Material from interviews, wire services, Twitter, Meta, other writers, league and team sources, Bill James, and the members of #the15 were used in this column. It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

And Happy Birthday to Taylor Swift, pictured here with two of her cats, ‘Tom Luger’ and ‘Baron von Zeppelin.’

Football Cat’s Week 14 NFL Picks

Football Cat is less than 100%, but is going to gut this one out.

Pats at Pittsburgh on Thurrsday, hope you knew what to do. Easy money.

SUNDAY LUNCHTIME

Buccaneers at Falcons (-1)

Bucs vs. Birds. Shades of Coleridge’s The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. Not really though. Falcons win.

Rams at Ravens (-7)

Wait, Evil Birds and potential bad weather? Maybe this is like the epic poem. Balmer wins.

Lions (-3.5) at Bears

The lion is the king of the jungle, the Lions are the kings of the NFC North.

Colts (-1) at Bengals

Nature is red in tooth and claw. Stripey cats take down the young horse team as in the wild.

Jaguars at Browns (-3.5)

Trickster Browns have the Kevin McCallister home advantage. They win.

Panthers at Saints (-5)

Cool jazz cats over the bad luck black cats, daddio.

Texans (-3.5) at Jets

The Planes get splashed like the Japanese Zeros in The Final Countdown.

A Tomcat Fighter Jet.

Later games to be added..later.

UPDATE:

And later is Now.

SUNDAY SUNDOWN

Vikings (-3) at Raiders

Purps at Plunds! Vikings win.

Seahawks at 49ers (-10.5)

Prospectors best the fake seabirds.

Bills at Chiefs (-1.5)

Bleah. Sick of both teams. Bisons, I guess.

Broncos at Chargers (-2.5)

Prediction: Plugs punk Ponies.

SUNDAY PROWLTIME

Eagles at Cowboys (-3.5)

Americas’s Team versus National Bird! Pokes win.

MONDAY NIGHT DOUBLE FEATURE

Titans at Dolphins (-13)

Porps remain a wagon, Tits might be azz. Sad.

Packers (-6.5) at Giants

The Packers power past the Pituitaries.

Football Cat lives in New Hampshire, enjoys watching football, and is a cat.

12/06/2023 Cleaning Out the Sports Junk Drawer

This is where the MLB Winter Meetings magic happens, folks. The Gaylord Opryland Resort & Hotel, Nashville, Tennessee.

The Patriots sucking might just flex some of these media losers out of jobs.

Dugie traded to New York? They’re obviously trying to launder the return on Mookie.

Someone has to be held accountable for losing the in-season tournament that I thought was a dumb idea until just recently. And that someone is Kornet.

This is of course payback for FSU stealing a national championship from Notre Dame in 1993.

“This Banton guy”. Says the guy whose name Felger nearly remembers.

Imagine wearing a ‘Big Dom’ sweatshirt and an attractive woman asks you what your shirt means and having to explain it.

Cakes are cooking for Dan Harrington, JoBeth Williams, Keke Rosberg, Thomas Hulce, Steven Wright, Peter Buck, Nick Park, David Lovering, Judd Apatow, Kevin Cash, CoCo Vandeweghe, Johnny Manziel, and Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Logan Paul needs better entrance music. Too generic for a big-name star.

Nothing says “moving on to the 21st century” quite like getting fired by NFL Network and then writing for Bedard’s shitty website.

Green Line: Service has resumed between Babcock St, Kenmore, Heath St and North Station. Trains will continue to bypass Haymarket Station through December 16 to allow for work on the Government Center Garage demolition.

The Reds moved up into the top 6 in MLB Draft Lottery, so the Red Sox stay at 12 even with the Mets falling back 10 slots. That jump up by the Reds cost the Red Sox at least $210,000 in bonus pool value (based off 2023 values).

Anyone else object to announcers at high school football games saying, “I hope you took the over?”

Also, it is just me, or has Sophia Jurksztowicz changed her appearance and primed for a network spot? She is an absolute pro on the hockey analysis side already.

Hey gang of bean counters! This week’s Phrase that Pays is, “The last thing that tub of goo needs is more red meat.”

Ohio State QB Kyle McCord has entered his name into the transfer portal.

“You are a bad sandwich like the one in Minority Report” is a very very solid niche comeback.

I have the world’s largest collection of seashells. I keep it on all the beaches of the world… perhaps you’ve seen it?

Nicholas Judice, one of the pitchers who the Red Sox received in the Alex Verdugo trade, is 6 foot 8.

I’m hearing whispers MMFR1 has never not been disappointed by a scone.

Oh, pipe down, Dark Bertrand.

Something that never existed cannot recur.

I just want Shohei to go where he’s most comfortable. There; I said it.

Honk if you enjoy a Gershwin tune.

It took me way too long to realize Joaquin Wilde was DJZ in Impact.

Cris Collinsworth owns PFF and every time he appears on national television, he devalues his investment.

People comparing Giannis to Shaq in any way need to calm down.

Wow, you thought you heard ‘Fairytale of New York’ during December a lot before!

I saw the sign
And it opened up my eyes, I saw the sign.
Life is demanding without understanding.

I saw the sign
And it opened up my eyes, I saw the sign.
No one’s gonna drag you up to get into the light where you belong;
But where do you belong?

So I had trouble sleeping last night, or so I thought. Turns out I was dreaming that I couldn’t get to sleep. Got in some good delta wave sleep. I woke up confused but refreshed.

Joe Mauer is an obvious Hall of Famer. That is all.

The good news is if Bill Belichick wins three more games this season, he gets to take Coach Prime’s spot as Sporthuman of the Year.

A: Gifts are multiples of 18 because 18 is the number of life or lucky number.

The Verdugo trade is about the best prospect they got back. Insight like that is why Lou Merloni makes the big money.

‘Gaylord Opryland’ was also one of Upton Bell’s P-Town stage names.

It would be epic if the Trev Lawrence injury opened up an opportunity for a quarterback of colorrrrr

The tongs silenced Big Jim’s dad. RIP.

What do we think of Rhode Island FC’s kit reveal yesterday? Let us know in the comments.

Tanking and sucking are not synonyms.

Did Von Miller bribe the League Suspension Man like he did the Piss Man?

Best bet for the weekend: More than six total points getting scored in the Army-Navy Game.

Welp. Won’t be needing to find room in the Celtics trophy case for this one.

Material from interviews, wire services, X FKA Twitter, Meta, other writers, league and team sources, Steven Wright, Bill James, and the members of #the15 were used in this column. Your head will collapse, and there’s nothing in it. And you’ll ask yourself-Where is my mind?

And Happy Birthday to actress Sarah Rafferty. Who you may know from ‘Suits.’

Football Cat’s Week 13 NFL Picks

Football Cat knows coffee is for closers.



(Cowpokes won at home but didn’t cover against the fake seabirds Thurrsday.)

SUNDAY LUNCHTIME

Broncos at Texans (-3.5)

Wildcatters win.

Chargers (-5.5) at Patriots

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is image.png
Zzapp!

Prediction: Plugs Paste Pats.

Lions (-4) at Saints

Lions are 12-13-1 all time versus the Saints. They get to .500 Sunday.

Falcons (-2.5) at Jets

Actual falcons are used to keep nuisance birds away from airports to reduce the risk of birdstrikes. Can I apply for that job? Atlanta wins.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is image-2.png
He sees you.

Cardinals at Steelers (-5.5)

Pretty birds no match for Pittsburgh at home.

Colts (-1) at Titans

This is a game Indy should win but won’t. Go Tits!

Dolphins (-9.5) at Commanders

Can you FedEx a porpoise? Dolphins win this winnable game.

SUNDAY SUNSET

Panthers at Buccaneers (-5)

Poor unlucky Blacks Cats. Not their year.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is image-3.png

Browns at Rams (-3.5)

Trickster Browns create mischief, win the matchup in LA.

49ers (-3) at Eagles

Prospectors prove too much for the national bird.

SUNDAY PROWLTIME

Chiefs (-6) at Packers

Mahomes leads the Chiefs to victory his first visit to the not yet frozen tundra of Lambeau Field.

MONDAY NIGHT

Bengals at Jaguars (-9)

An inter-cat matchup! Spots over stripes.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is image-1.png
How very ferocious of them.

Football Cat lives in New Hampshire, enjoys watching football, and is a cat.

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