Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader is pained today. The pain comes from the absolute slapdown put on two of his teams last night. Yes, minions. Your Maximum Leader is talking about the Braves/Astros game and the Packers/Titans game.

First to Baseball… All your Maximum Leader can say now is “Go Sox!”

Your Maximum Leader has, for many many years, been a Braves fan. Why you ask? Well, your Maximum Leader, for reasons that shall not be explained here and now, has an almost pathalogical hatred of the whole state of Maryland. But, springing up from the bottom of the wellspring that is spite directed at Maryland the state is the black-blooded detestation of Baltimore. Growing up in the DC area, and liking baseball, generally equated to liking the Orioles. (And to this day Peter Angelos maintains that DC and Northern Virginia people are Orioles fans…) Well, since your Maximum Leader can’t abide by Baltimore, he looked around for another team to like. Philly and Pittsburgh were out - due to distance and inability to see the games on TV. He then looked south and found… Richmond, VA. Home of the Richmond Braves. Richmond was, and still is, the primary farm club for the Atlanta Braves. So discovering the R-Braves, and finding A-Braves baseball on cable, your Maximum Leader started following Atlanta.

Now, having given you the background… Your Maximum Leader can state that for at least 8 of the past 13 years that the A-Braves have been the least meaningful team in the playoffs. Your Maximum Leader thought, this Sunday afternoon, that the Braves might actually duke-it-out and beat the Astros in the NLDS.

Well, watching them last night disabused your Maximum Leader of that pipe dream.

Still speaking of baseball… Your Maximum Leader is now facing a dilema. Should he ditch the Braves in favour of the new DC baseball team? Or should he just remain true to the raise-your-expectations-then-dash-them-against-the-rocks-of-Mt.Taegus Braves? It is a tough question. He may just remain a contrarian who roots for non-local teams…

Like he does in Football…

Before getting to the Packers ame, your Maximum Leader expresses his deepest condolences to Brett Favre and his family. Your Maximum Leader can’t imagine how he must feel after his wife’s 24-years-old brother died in an accident while ATV’ing somewhere on Farve’s property. It is very very sad.

Well, what can one say about the Packers game last night? Try this on for analogy.

The Packers were repeatedly cutlered by the Titans.

And the Titans “forgot” the K-Y.

They also “forgot” to leave five bucks on the dresser on their way out.

Now the Packers are sitting at home wondering if he’ll call or does he just love me for my arse?

Oy! The Pack was “rode hard and put away wet.” (To quote Mrs. Smallholder.) It pained your Maximum Leader to watch the game. Indeed, he was watching both the Braves and Packers using the split-screen feature on his übertelevision. It felt sort of like how your Maximum Leader imagines being on the receiving end of a gang-bang would be. Not fun. By about 22:00 your Maximum Leader had resolved to just finish off the case of beer he had in the fridge and pass out on the floor.

It hurts less that way.

Moving on…

By the way, since he forgot to last week… Here is LAST WEEK’s TMQ.

And HERE is THIS WEEK’s TMQ.

Your Maximum Leader wishes Gregg Easterbrook would start up Easterblogg again. He really likes reading his stuff.

Your Maximum Leader also watched the Patriots game. Wow. What a team. Those Pats just know how to play together and win. Your Maximum Leader believes they will likely appear in another Super Bowl this year. But they will not go undefeated. Your Maximum Leader believe it is harder to go a whole season undefeated than it is to go a whole season winless. Your Maximum Leader predicts that the Patriots will have their Achilles’ heel discovered by the Chiefs on Monday, November 22.

The loss will remotivate the team who will go 15-1 in the regular season.

Hummm… Joe Gibbs… miserable… Your Maximum Leader is sure he is. But look at the crappy team he inherited! Joe will turn things around.

Pop quiz! Who’s suffering more: Joe Gibbs or Dave Wannstedt? That is a toughie. Your Maximum Leader will let you ponder that one.

One last football thought. Ben Roethlisberger. Football stud.

That is about all your Maximum Leader can stand to do right now.

Carry on.