Top Ten Zen Storylines Of The NFL's Second Half

In this village, a little boy is given a gift of a horse. The villagers all say, "Isn't that fabulous? Isn't that wonderful? What a wonderful gift."

The Zen master says, "We'll see."

A couple years later the boy falls off the horse and breaks his leg. The villagers all say, "Isn't that terrible? The horse is cursed! That's horrible!"

The Zen master says, "We'll see."

A few years later the country goes to war and the government conscripts all the males into the army, but the boy's leg is so screwed up, he doesn't have to go. The villagers all say, "Isn't that fabulous? Isn't that wonderful?"

The Zen master says, "We'll see."

Phillip Seymour Hoffmann is the man, period.  It doesn't matter what role he plays, he always seems to kill it.  Big Lebowski, yup.  Before the Devil Knows Your Dead, loved it.  Along Came Polly, saved it.  Twister, well all have off days.   You hardly ever watch a  PSH movie and say "Actor X would have been better casted in his role." 

Seymour's turn in Charlie Wilson's War as Gust Avrakotos produced these lines (It's a pretty good flick if you haven't seen it, lots of witty dialogue).  As we enter the middle portion of the NFL season, I swear this story was made for football.

Think about the significant events in the recent past of the NFL:

"It's horrible that Trent Green tore up his knee and Kurt Warner is our starting quarterback"

....We'll See.

"It's horrible it is that Drew Bledsoe got hurt and Tom Brady has to come in"

....We'll See.

"How great is it that the Patriots had the first perfect regular season in NFL history."

....We'll See.

"How great is it that the Jets got Brett Favre"

 ....We'll See.

Football really follows the old adages:  never count you chips when your sitting at the table and don't count your chickens before they hatch.  The NFL is played at a breakneck pace and unlike baseball and basketball, where due to the number of games and the short time between games change is gradual and can be seen more as a trend than as an apparition, it is nearly impossible to discern week to week whether something really good or really bad is a trend or an apparition.

We as fans are all guilty of it.  We take educated guesses, convince ourselves that they are absolute fact, and hope that we are right.  Sometimes we hope against hope.   We get a week between games to digest them, formulate a hypothesis, change our minds, fall into a mindset, and reset it at any time.  Either way, it is part of the charm of the National Football League. 

So without further adieu, here are the Top Ten Zen Things to Look for in the second half of the season (in no particular order).

1.  It's so great that Brett Favre came back

2.  It is so horrible that Brett Favre came back.

3.  It was a really good idea that the NFL starting enforcing helmet to helmet hits with suspension.

4.  The Patriots were right for trading Randy Moss

5. The New York Giants are the class of the NFC.

6.  It's horrible that the Browns brought back Eric Mangini.

7.  The Kansas City Chiefs are playoff bound.

8.  It's awesome that the Eagles have Mike Vick as their starting QB again.

9.  This is the year for the Texans to finally break through.

10.  The Vikings, Cowboys, and Chargers will not make the playoffs.

Some of these are bound to come true.  Some will undoubtedly be wrong.  Ask me how how I feel about them and all I can say is We'll See.