Here’s the Czabe on what that Eagles +4 line is really saying:

Think about this: if a team had beaten another team by a 48-20 margin in the regular season, even if it was at home, how on earth would they only be 4 point road favorites? Makes no sense right? Unless it makes perfect sense. Arizona is one of those typical “front running” teams, just like their fans, who are SUDDENLY on the bandwagon. Now that the Cardinals have a chance to go to the Big Game, I think they’ll play like a house on fire. Plus, isn’t Philly’s move to CHOKE when everything is perfectly lined up for them? This is who they are. This is what they do. Westbrook, hurt. Boldin, back. Nah. Andy Reid and Donovan McNabb aren’t this lucky. PICK: Cardinals 38-21.

I have no retort.

KSK has Jim Johnson’s Match.com blurb:

I coached the number three defense in the league and am really the only thing that’s kept Andy Reid employed the last few years. I’m four years younger than Old Man LeBeau up there and twice as dessicated. And I’ll send nine guys after your quarterback up 30 points in the 4th quarter on a 3rd and 20, ’cause I don’t fucking like your face.

Deserve’s got nothin’ to do with it.

Another hit-piece on David Lereah, this time courtesy of the WSJ. You should read, and savor, it all. But just to tantalize you:

* Lereah claiming that was only following orders!

* Lereah’s wife lamenting that they have “an expensive lifestyle” and that her husband needs to make some more money so they can still afford the housekeeper, the country club, etc.

* Lereah explaining how great he is now as an analyst: “I feel I have such a refreshing view now because I’m not representing any interests.”

(Is that even English? What is a “refreshing view”? Does Lereah actually have one, or does he just “feel” like he has one?)

The best part is the revelation that Lereah is now working for himself, advising “Japanese companies” (he’s huge in Japan!) and churning out a weekly newsletter on the housing market, for which he charges $495 a year.

Lereah says he’s got “under 50” subscribers now–which could also mean 2 subscribers–but expects to have 1,500 by the end of the year. The market for his refreshing views is red-hot!

Sean Penn, Milk!

Who will be the first to run this headline next week:

“And The Government Will Be Upon His Shoulders”

I now know of three people who are involved in the ever-expanding luxury vodka industry. One works at Diageo, an empire of alcohol whose vodka products include Smirnoff and Ciroc. His house is never dry, though it comes close when I am there. Another is an old friend from New Jersey who invested in a fledgling company a few years back and from what he tells me, the numbers already look good. The brand is called Americana Vodka and if you consider yourself a patriot, you’ll buy it! Not that it is available everywhere. Yet. But up in the tri-state area it is certainly in stock. Just look for the handsome angular bottle with hues of red and blue. The cap is actually a cork. And the flavor… well, it is vodka after all so there really shouldn’t be a taste or smell. But it is extremely smooth and does have a clean finish. Try making a vodka martini with it or mix in some club soda and a twist of lime. No, I do not get any kickbacks for supporting Americana Vodka. I’m just doing my job. As a patriot.

If you cannot get a handle of Americana, be on the look out for another fine brand known as Koval. The website has not yet gone live but the distillery site is here. At the moment, Koval is a husband and wife team. Robert Birnecker left his job at the Austrian embassy and his wife left her tenured teaching position to move back to Chicago and devote themselves fully to the operation. Ultimately they plan on distilling not only vodka but fruit brandies and other liqueurs. Since the age of 16, Robert has been interested in distilling, watching his grandfather at work back in Austria. That sort of professional craftsmanship he is now carrying over to Chicago. The potstills are imported from Germany.

You’re probably thinking there couldn’t be a more perilous time for such ventures. After all, isn’t there already a glut in this market (think Grey Goose, Ketel, Belvedere, Chopin, Imperia, Stoli, Absolut, Smirnoff, Van Gogh, Level One, Hanger, Effen–yes, Effen Vodka–Skyy…)? Robert would argue that with a wealth of expertise and knowledge and just the right amount of careful marketing, there is still room for good vodka. (We both agreed that Svedka has got to be the worst.) He also pointed out a few misnomers. For instance, just because a vodka is super-filtered (Absolut is more filtered than Ketel) does not make it better or more enjoyable.

Robert had recently done extensive taste tests on vodkas (not actually ingesting) and considers–next to Koval–a Polish vodka to be superior. Unfortunately he forgets the name. He used to enjoy Absolut but not as much these days. He is not a fan in the least of Grey Goose. If Koval is not on the shelf, what would he prefer? Ketel One.

They are living the American(a) dream. And I wish them all well. No, I do not expect a case of vodka to come my way. Maybe a bottle? In any event, they at least are doing something they love. Or at least I hope. I asked Robert if his wife (and business partner) likes vodka. He said, “She does now.”

News items:

“President-elect Barack Obama made an unannounced visit Saturday night with his family to see the Lincoln Memorial, paying tribute to a former president he frequently invokes as an inspiration. . . . After touring the memorial for about 20 minutes, including the lower part of the memorial that houses some exhibits, the Obamas walked out, facing the reflecting pool and Washington Monument. They waved to some onlookers standing around the memorial’s lower steps. Obama frequently invokes the memory of Lincoln. He announced he was running for president in Springfield, Ill., at the steps of the Old Capitol, where Lincoln was a legislator.”
–Washington Post

“President-elect Barack Obama will take the oath of office using the same Bible upon which President Lincoln was sworn in at his first inauguration.”
-Politico

“President-elect Barack Obama will welcome Americans to his inauguration at the memorial to his political hero, Abraham Lincoln.”
-Associated Press

“Obama’s jampacked Abe-apalooza moved into high gear with an announcement from the Congressional Inaugural Committee that it will hold a luncheon next Tuesday following the swearing-in ceremony that’s modeled after foods Lincoln enjoyed. . . .Part of the meal will even be served on replicas of the china picked out by First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln at the beginning of her husband’s first term in office in 1861. . . .

“The painting, which will hang behind Obama, is a landscape of Yosemite Valley at dawn – representing Lincoln’s signing of the 1864 Yosemite Grant that set aside the land as a public reserve. . . .

“[T]he Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, which handles much of the inaugural planning, has deemed that “A New Birth of Freedom” will be the official inaugural theme.

“The phrase, from the Gettysburg Address, expresses Lincoln’s hope that the sacrifice of those who died to preserve the nation would lead to “a new birth of freedom” for our nation.”
–New York Post

Yes, we fucking get the point.

Philadelphia is now poised to take its rightful place among the great powers. We hereby announce our intention to formally annex the NFC West. We have suffered this pathetic division’s insolence for nearly four months and will not tolerate further provocation.

Once we have consolidated our rightful dominion over the National Football Conference, we will determine our future demands.

Neocon exit question: Who would be more obnoxiously aggressive–a Philadelphia fan with a Super Bowl and World Series victories or a nuclear-armed Iran?