PEYTON MANNING'S DIARY: WEEK 8

Dear Diary,
I'm sorry I haven't spoke (or written, I guess, LOL) to you the past few weeks. I've been shooting 10 commercials a day. But I didn't get paid for any of them. I just decided to shoot a commercial for every product/service/company in the world, that way my agent can call them and offer my endorsement with the work already done.



But these days the advertising agencies don't seem to want me to be in their commercials. Unless I bring Eli with me. The economy must be really bad if they don't want me in commercials.

I've been sick the last two days with the sniffles. It was cold in Nashville Monday night. 45 degrees! Where were we? Santa's Workshop on the North Pole?



I remember asking Coach Fisher and Coach Tony if we could play the game inside, or postpone it, because it was so nippy. "I left my mittens and scarf in Indiana," I complained, but Coach Fisher just rolled his eyes and walked away. Jeff Saturday offered to keep me warm with his body heat. Then he winked at me. I told him to take care of Marvin, because he gets the coldest.

Monday's game was hard, and I almost cried on the sidelines. But I was afraid my tears would freeze to my face and I'd get hypothermia and die, so I held it in. I've said it before, I'll say it again: football should only be played when it's sunny, and warmer than 55 degrees.



We lost because it was cold and we have lots of injuries. At least, that's what Coach Tony said, and everyone on the TV seems to agree. We do have a lot of injuries. I played Monday night with a headache that really bothered me until Dallas Clark gave me a head massage and got rid of it.

I've been throwing more interceptions than I used to, but they're not my fault! The other teams must be cheating somehow. How else could it be possible?

I decided to talk to Bill Polian. He lets me call him Willy because he likes me so much. He's the one that complained about those mean old Patriots being mean to my teammates and made sure they'd get in trouble for it. This time, I asked him if we could make a rule eliminated the interception altogether. Not just for me, I think it hurts every quarterback's feelings when they throw one. Football is supposed to be fun, it isn't supposed to hurt. He said he'd try, then he gave me some gum.

Coach Tony decided to cheer us up this week with fun Halloween activities. Yesterday we bobbed for apples and Officer Tim from the Indianapolis Police gave us a talk about Halloween safety.

Guess what we did today...

JACKOLANTERN CARVING!!!

It was so much fun. Coach Tony said he loved mine, and it was real scary.

I can't wait for Halloween. Do you know what my costume is? It's a big secret, but I know I can trust you, diary. I'm going to be my favoritest character from my favoritest movie ever: Woody from Toy Story. I know it's not scary, but I always wanted to be a cowboy. Or an astronaut. Maybe next year I'll be Buzz!!!! Why can't there be 2 Halloweens a year?



Robert Mathis has the scariest costume in the history of Halloween. He's going as Rodney Harrison. When he said that, my heart skipped a beat. Coach Tony yelled at Robert and told him not to bring the costume into the locker room because it was too scary. I asked where Robert would be trick-or-treating on Friday so I could stay on the other side of town. Ghosts, goblins, and ghouls are scary, Rodney Harrison is terrifying!



I'm just glad I don't have to see him on Sunday.

Until next time diary, I love you. And Happy Halloween!

BOSTON: NO KINGS ALLOWED SINCE 1775

The World Champion Celtics picked up right where they left off, with a 90-85 win over LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. With the PGA Tour back for another season, and young guys like Rajon Rondo and Leon Powe gaining more and more experience, you've got to like the Celtics' chances of a repeat.

The C's overcame a slow night from Kevin Garnett, who finished 5 of 15. Ray Allen also missed the mark a great deal, shooting 2 of 9 for 8 points. But the defense first Celtic philosophy kept them in the game. Pierce's 27, Rondo's 14 were the bulk of the offense. Tony Allen and Leon Powe provided the remainder off the bench, with 11 and 13 points respectively.

Combined, the bench was 11 of 24, a slightly better percentage than the 5 starters shot (45.8% compared to 44.0%).

When KG and Ray Ray get going, the offense is going to roll over the opposition.

And how about those rings? It's nice to see some tasteful championship jewelry for once. Rings should be flashy, but shouldn't be deafeningly loud.



Seeing Paul Pierce get choked up makes it clear that these guys won't be satisfied with just one ring.



The Celtics host the Bulls Friday night.

Source:
ESPN.com

Photo Credits:
AP Photo/Winslow Townson

THOMAS' ENGLISH SHUTOUTS

I don't know what the "English" means, I just wanted to use a stupid title.

You very rarely see a goalie start games on back-to-back days. Coach Claude Julien, however, went against the norm and started Tim Thomas in net Tuesday night. It was a wise decision.

Thomas stopped every shot that reached him, recording 31 saves for his 2nd straight shutout. Unlike Monday night's outing, Thomas needed to make a few more spectacular saves. He went post-to-post, made saves on his back, and kept calm when the crease was crowded.



He hasn't allowed a goal in 132:14 of game time. He's stopped 61 straight shots on net. Last season, he didn't record a shutout until January. He already has 2 and it's not even November.

The Bruins have excelled on the road so far. They're 4-1-2 (10 points) away from the Garden, as opposed to 1-1-1 (3 points) at home. They're also 3-0-0 west of the Mississippi. Maybe the B's should start their home games at 10 PM Eastern time.

The road trip ends Thursday night in Calgary. I'm just going to assume Thomas will be starting in net.



Source:
ESPN.com

Photo Credits:
AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Darryl Dyck