Sometimes things are so easy that they become difficult. Like the ten pin. I must’ve left about 8 or 9 of ‘em during league play last night, and I ended up missing three of them spare conversions.
The ten pin, for those non-bowling-league readers, is the pin furthest back and to the right. For a hook-tossin’ righty like myself, they are a common ‘leave’ – wherein all other pins fall but the ten. Typically I’ll leave the ten if I didn’t have enough velocity on my first ball, or if I didn’t snap the wrist hard enough. And sometimes that pesky ten pin will stand there even after a really good shot. The ten pin has a mind of it’s own. It may have the ability to cross into strange dimensions.
Now picking up the ten pin isn’t rocket science. Really, there’s no excuse for a regular league bowler to miss that spare attempt. Move your feet left, your target arrow right and drop the rotation rate. Presto.
Now to miss it every once in a while isn’t outrageous (it is neighbors with the gutter), but to miss that spare three times in one night? Well, dear readers, I had steam shooting out my ears. Let’s just leave it at that.
The Lions are a lot like a ten pin spare. So long as you’re concentrating and not letting the stupid Brewers distract you on the big television over-head, you should be able to knock them down and pencil in the little triangle next to the “9.” Boom. Next frame.
I don’t think the Packers will be distracted, even with the Cowboys looming on the horizon. Coach McCarthy has been really good about avoiding these mental let-downs against lesser opponents and I expect he’ll have the team ready come Sunday. Reports from the practice field indicate that preparations are going really well.
Based on what the Lions showed against the awful Falcons last week, I think we should have our way on offense, on the ground and through the air. Take your pick, dear readers. Say the Vikings are a 3-10 split. The Lions, by comparison, would be a five pin – right down the middle. Do what you want with ‘em.
Normally I would think Coach McCarthy would focus on running the ball. It’s Rodgers' first road start and the Lions home opener in Fort Detroit, so controlling the ball and the clock is going to be important for success. But Ryan Grant’s hamstring has been acting up all week. The coaches were actually hollering at him last week to take it easy during the game. They didn’t want him ‘opening it up’ according to several sources. And now they’re holding him out of practice. Smells like sour milk to me.
It doesn’t help that Brandon Jackson had a mild concussion. He should be OK, and I expect him and rookie thunder-thumper Kregg Lumpkin to get a fair number of carries. Zooey.
Due to these injuries, I think we’ll see Rodgers open up the passing attack a bit more. Detroit’s secondary is even worse than Minnesota’s, so it should be easy going.
Then again, nothing is easy. Even the best bowler can miss a ten pin, and even the best team in the NFC North can struggle.
Luckily our defense is perfectly suited to match Detroit’s pass-happy attack. I expect they’ll hit some big plays, but overall they’re going to have a tough time putting up enough points to compete past half-time.
I’m looking for a game with less nervous-ness and more hooting, folks. Just line it up and knock it down, that’s what I say.
Green Bay – 30, Detroit – 10. Until next time, then.
