Please welcome Chester Wright to the site, for the first and possibly the last time. Chester has written for many other outlets in the past, and he’s really smart. If you don’t believe me, just ask him.

I would like to begin by telling you how stupid you are. Yes, you, with your jumping to conclusions about the great Jay Cutler, who so valiantly tried to lead the Bears to Super Bowl glory! You thought that Jay Cutler just sat out of a conference title game because he could not take the pressure? And what, dear hard-working person, would you know about pressure? Did you spend your formative years in the Cambodian militia? I THOUGHT NOT. Point, Chester!

You probably thought you were “calling a spade a spade” as my grandfather from the old country would have put it. Mr. Cutler sat out the second half of his game due to legitimate injury! Legitimate, I say! What do you naysayers know about the stability of knee joints? Certainly less than the handful of Mr. Cutler’s bretheren, whose myriad of knee injuries surely don’t compare to that nobody can seem to find the injury on replay! You’d be too stupid to realize that the injury was actually occuring! Are you a doctor? NO YOU ARE NOT. Mr. Cutler is not required to discharge his duties with “sparkle” or “verve,” or even any putrid speckle of “exuberance.” Do not consider yourself worthy of Mr. Cutler’s exuberance. That is his to dispense as he wishes.

YOU FOOLS! You just took to the Twitters like the knee-jerk idiots that you are! But not me! I waited until more information became available, and then pounced like the classical golden tabby tigers of Mysore Pradesh! Such beautiful animals, they were, not that you would know, peasant scum. Torn MCL, see! Coach Smith said so, and why would he misconstrue the truth when his mismanagement of game’s end made for such a tidy alibi? Nobody could have played with that sort of ligament damage! It’s only good for standing on while pouting on the sideline, but nothing more! Did you know that? No! Point, Chester!

How stupid you were to think that Jay Culter simply lacked fortitude. Next time you feel foolish enough to judge something with your own eyes, any information available online, and the broadcast crew performing their craft to the utmost of their abilities, think twice! It still won’t be as productive as me, Chester Wright, thinking once. That’s just my cross to bear.

The Giants, who started out 5-2 before their bye week, have now gone 4-4 after it and look to other teams to help them squeeze into the playoffs after getting embarrassed against the Packers in Wisconsin, 45-17. New York had half a dozen turnovers in the game, which sounds delicious, but I’m being told that’s a bad thing. Eli Manning threw for 301 yards and two touchdowns but was also picked four times. Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw also had a fumble each, and if I may channel some inner John Madden, you can’t win football games in the National Football League if you give away the football that much. Football.

Aaron Rodgers was all like “What concussion? No seriously, I had a concussion? My memory’s pretty fuzzy” in his return as Green Bay’s quarterback, throwing for 404 yards and four touchdowns. If I could put on my pessimist glasses for a second, the Packers had a very weak rushing game, with Brandon Jackson having 18 carries for 39 yards (a typical Brandon Jackson day) and some guy named Dimitri Nance carrying nine times for 32 yards. John Kuhn was a goal-line beast (or just fat and able to throw his weight through lines), however, as he rushed six times for 22 yards with two touchdowns and also had a receiving touchdown.

Although it’s nice to see Green Bay succeeding, the main story in this game is how poorly the Giants have collapsed at the end of the season. They had pretty good hopes to win the NFC East, but a loss to the Cowboys and getting swept by the Eagles gave them a poor division record. Since that fourth-quarter pants-shitting thanks to Michael Vick and DeSean Jackson two games ago, the Giants have been… well, terrible. This game, unlike last week’s, can’t be blamed on Matt Dodge but instead on different players who made stupid mistakes.

Green Bay has built up a reputation as a coach killer this season, as two teams (Cowboys and Vikings) who lost miserably to them had their head coaches (Wade Phillips and Brad Childress, respectively) fired shortly after. I doubt he’ll get fired with only one week left, but if Coughlin’s still around next week, the Giants better beat the Redskins and hope a bunch of crazy stuff happens if they want to get into the playoffs.

–Contributed by Samer Kalaf

Allison Van Pelt* has worked “for the better part of a decade” in multiple jobs in and around professional football. Before today, I knew who she was, but relatively little about her experience in the game. In the wake of this this Ines Sainz/Clinton Portis business, Allison wanted to deliver some of her thoughts on how women have been treated in the game over the course of her career. We were only too happy to accommodate.

I was recently told by a superior that I am lucky to work for a company that gives me the respect they do, given that I am a female in the football industry.

The part about getting respect here is true. I certainly no longer feel uncomfortable, as I did when I was working for other football-related organizations. I don’t have to worry about ignoring the type of comments that Ines Sainz heard from Jets players and coaches, and Brett Favre isn’t sending me pictures of his junk.

But does that mean I should consider myself lucky? That would be like saying that all women in the corporate world are “lucky” that they no longer live in a Mad Men-esque world, where looking as attractive as possible to your employer is considered a career goal. Read the rest of this entry »

Ollie Irish has written about “sport” for a bunch of people, including Goaly Moly, The Guardian and The Observer. He is the former editor of Stuff magazine and deputy editor of Observer Sport Monthly. Today, he provides syndicated soccer content for With Leather, and we’re damn glad to have him.

Franck Ribery resembles the Bond villain you just rescued from a burning building, but he’s a multi-millionaire footballer so he doesn’t have to pay for sex. If you look anything like Ribery and you’re not a multi-millionaire footballer, well… sorry about that. I guess if you want to have sex, with a real live person, you only have two options:

1. You pay for it.

2. Rapey time! (too much?)

So, yeah, sorry about that.

Ribery has a presentable wife and, presumably, free sex on tap but that didn’t stop him from going out and sleeping with a 17-year-old prostitute, in a nightclub in Paris (In France, hookers must be 18 or older). She’s called Zahia Dehar and she looks like this: Read the rest of this entry »

LeBron doesn’t want to just wear No. 6 during the Olympics. The Cleveland Cavaliers guard just submitted paperwork to the NBA that would allow him to change his number from No. 23 in time for next season, in the event that he stayed with Cleveland (no such notice would be required if he wound up with another team). This move is either an attempt by James to pay tribute to the Nets current win total for the season or James is distancing himself from Jordan after MJ lost two games of H-O-R-S-E to a Bobcats benchwarmer.

James said in November he was considering the change out of respect to Michael Jordan, who wore No. 23. Paperwork had to be filed this week to request a number change for next season. –SI.com

This is almost too silly to even discuss, but LeBron’s jersey switch, whether it’s with the Cavs or some other club, should give the economy a boost. I almost feel sorry for the idiots that shelled out $80 or whatever it was for LeBron jerseys that will be almost worthless after this year. The NBA should pass a resolution that prohibits changing jersey numbers without stints in minor league baseball or rape accusations. Just think of the children. –Thanks, Brandon.

Noted bloggerati Unsilent Majority and Sarah Schorno spent a weekend in Vegas to check out the new Lagasse’s Stadium. It’s a new restaurant and bar nestled squarely into the Palazzo hotel lobby, promising entertainment and food and over 100 HDTVs in case you hate everyone at your table. UM and Sarah wrote something up for their trip about the newest venture from famed TV chef Emeril Lagasse; their words are after the jump.

Read the rest of this entry »