Thanks, TJ, You Saved Me a Lot of Walking...

Following up on this post from July.

To recap, TJ Houshmandzadeh complained about his 91 WR ranking in Madden 10 (sixth best in the NFC), and I pledged to walk to Culver City if he finished with top five stats.

Well, the season stats are in, and TJ was 9th in receptions, 16th in yards, 38th in average, 8th in first downs, and tied for 37th in TDs with a measly 3 TDs over the season. The only positive stat he's in the top five is he's tied for fifth as top target with 135 passes thrown his way.

A down year for him on a lousy team. TJ didn't make the transition from #2 to #1 target, as has happened with a lot of solid #2 wideouts who end up leaving a team for a big contract to become the #1 target for a different team.

Some of his downturn has to do with his QB, and the OL problems at Seattle, but he's also just not a #1 wideout.

Topic for Discussion: Genetic Linkage and Certain Attributes Pertaining to Athletes

From the Genetic linkage wiki:

Genetic linkage occurs when particular genetic loci or alleles for genes are inherited jointly. Genetic loci on the same chromosome are physically connected and tend to stay together during meiosis, and are thus genetically linked. This is called autosomal linkage. Alleles for genes on different chromosomes are usually not linked, due to independent assortment of chromosomes during meiosis.

Using NFL wide recievers as data points, I posit that the genetic stew that leads to the ability to both sprint short distances fastly combined with being able to make sudden and quick course changes, those alleles that are responsible for these capacities are also linked to the genes that control extreme narcissism.

Previous data points, see: Terrell Owens, pretty much everything he's ever done, latest data point TJ Houshmandzadeh and his ridiculous beef with MADDEN 2010.

Seriously, dude, seriously.

First of all, according to the game, you are 6th overall amongst NFC WRs with a 91, and you are complaining?!?

I pledge right now, if he finishes the season with top five stats like he told Sporting News he would, I'll make a similar pledge as to the one he made last year. That's right I'll walk from my home to NFL Networks HQ.

OK, so from my house it's only about 5 and half miles, nothing close to the 31 miles you were willing to walk, but it's not my fault that the destination is on my side of town.

Well, If He's Single He Can Append His Profile With, "I Like To Take Long Walks Along Firestone Blvd...."

View Larger Map

Here's Google Maps suggested route for walking from Cerritos to NFL Networks headquarters in Culver City. Might be a nice way to spend a pleasant Saturday in January. TJ Houshmandzadeh has promised to walk from his home in Cerritos to NFL Networks HQ in Culver City should his Cincinnati Bengals not win at least two games. TJ might want to target January 10th for the trip, as he won't have to worry about any pesky playoff games to get in the way, and the weather's likely to be ideal for a long, brisk, walk. I suggest starting early, like about 8AM, you'd be done well before the sun sets, and you'd probably be feeling a bit peckish by the time you get near Dinah's Restaurant, so I suggest stopping for a lunch break and load up on one of their fine pasta dishes before you complete the last ten or so miles.

I hope he has some good walking shoes, and he could turn the ordeal into a fundraiser and health awareness campaign type deal, so some good may come out of this.

I picked a starting point at the big mall in Cerritos, since if they were to make this a big public event, that would be a logical starting point, and the terminus for this jaunt is at NFL Networks studio at 10950 Washington Blvd in Culver City.

It's slightly more than a marathon, but TJ's an athlete, and I think he can handle it no sweat. Google predicts this trip should take 8 hours 39 minutes to walk, but I think one of the better WR in the league ought to be able to do this in under six hours.

(and given the woeful state of the Bengals, looks like a good chance that he's going to have to make good on this promise by walking, and not winning two or more games)

And to Tony Reali (at the end of PTI on 10/29 (here's the MP3 link, he mentions it at about 20:31 into the podcast) added an aside about this since Tony and Mike discussed it in the first segment of the show), you are an idiot, you said, "I think it's on the 405", there's plenty of ways to get from A to B without using a highway. Besides that, I don't think that taking the 91 to the 405 is even the best way to make the trip by car. That may be the most direct route, but direct and best aren't always the same hereabouts. Taking the 91(west) to the 605(north) to the 5(north) to the 10(west) and getting off at Washington would probably be better. The 91 to the 405 is best avoided most of the time.

(also, to you Northern Californians who may be reading this, I will not apologize for using the word "the" before the name of the freeways mentioned, you'll take the "the" away from me when you pry it from my cold dead mouth)

(Grant Geyer ("a" Grant Geyer, not "the" Grant Geyer) wrote an article published in American Speech on the subject, Kevin Drum also muses on the subject)

And to the idiot blogger at NFL Network (Adam Schefter), he did the map thing, too (his link is the first link at the top of this post), but:

A) he forgot to indicate the route would be attempted by foot, and not by car before plugging it in, so his suggested route includes highways (a path I wouldn't advise, even by car, by the way)

B) You have the directions backwards, he said he'd walk from home to NFL Networks HQ, not the other way around, I know the "from" and "to" thing gets complicated, but you're a paid professional, get it right, anyway.

C) If your end point is really TJ's home address in Cerritos, not cool, give the guy some privacy. And even if it's not, plenty of people will think it's his home address and might start disturbing the actual owners of the house you designated, so either way, not cool, Mr. Schefter, not cool at all.