Have you emerged from your Thanksgiving Day tryptophan coma yet?  Here’s hoping that you have, because the 72-hour span of holiday sports coverage generated enough headlines for another edition of Throwing Tomatoes.  This week’s topics focus on the Egg Bowl (Mississippi-Mississippi State), the Dallas Cowboys, NFC East, NBA City Edition jerseys, Michigan-Ohio State and more.

For those new to the site, here is a quick rundown of the world that is Throwing Tomatoes.  The basic idea dates back to the old days when a stage performer would get pelted with tomatoes after an abysmal performance.

Find a story in sports or entertainment that irks you… and throw a tomato.  It’s that simple.  You know what else is that simple?  Throwing tomatoes at these headlines in the world of sports:

Throwing Tomatoes: The Ugly Eggs and Cracked Insults Edition

Milwaukee Bucks

…for making thousands of immature adults giggle.

Hi, Milwaukee.  I like you, I really do.  But, a word of advice?  Before you decide to plaster your city’s nickname all over your NBA team’s City Edition jersey, maybe make sure the rest of the country is familiar with said nickname?  Example: The Windy City, we all know that is Chicago, ok? 

But this?

Go ahead and celebrate your town and its history – we are all for that.  However, when you call yourself “Cream City”, just know there are a lot of childish people out there that are sure to ask questions and bring that one to the forefront for different reasons.

Maybe next time focus on beer and cheese.  Most of us can get behind that. 

Cheers, Milwaukee.

NFC East

…for stealing away a playoff spot from a more worthy team.

After watching the Cowboys flounder on Thanksgiving at home against another formidable opponent, it is becoming more clear that a mediocre football team is going to make the playoffs in a very strong NFC conference this year.  That is, unless the Cowboys or Eagles can right the ship over the next month.

Despite not being officially eliminated from NFC East contention, the Redskins and Giants will each be fighting for top draft picks in 2020.  The Eagles and Cowboys continue to hover around the .500-mark.

Dallas, specifically, is a mess.  This was considered by many to be an NFC East lock and Super Bowl contender.  Jerry Jones is a mixture of emotions in front of the media over recent weeks.  He’s talking jobs and he’s not talking jobs.  He’s talking about writing checks.  His hands aren’t cramped.

Barring a miracle turnaround, a major overhaul in Dallas is a near certainty by the time the weather warms up.  Milwaukee is “Cream City” and Dallas is quickly becoming “Creamed City”, because of how many times the Cowboys continue to get crushed by good teams.

Maybe it’s finally time for us to stop awarding division champs in the playoffs.  To start, perhaps we still award each division winner a playoff spot, but not home field.  Something has to change, because a  more worthy team might miss out on a deep run because of it.  That plus the ultimate goal is the quality of the product on the field, right?

Ole Miss Football

…for having egg on its face.

Doggone it, Rebels, now you’ve gone and done it.  You couldn’t help but mock your biggest rival’s mascot with an end zone celebration and it cost you the game.  You got in a “pissing match” and lost.  Every game comes down to one moment that receives the blame for a loss.  There were certainly other blunders, but this was one – a #1 – was the obvious choice.

By now, many of you have seen how the 2019 Egg Bowl ended.  The heated rivalry between Ole Miss and Mississippi State came down to the wire.  What easily could have been a game-tying touchdown (+XP) by the Rebels led to a crude opposing mascot celebration, a resulting penalty and a missed extra point.

I think we all know that kid has landed himself in the dog house.  Yes, the puns are endless.

This also opened the door for some real social media gems.  Take this one, for example:

Ohio State vs Michigan

…for being nothing other than a game.

They call it “The Game”.  Ohio State and Michigan was a rivalry that many of us looked forward to watching every year, no matter what our fandom.  Now, the rivalry is so lopsided, there are too many other rivalry games to set our minds to.

This year, the best thing we got from “The Game” was Harbaugh’s wayward (and awkward) commentary during the post game press conference:

The rivalry as it currently stands is the real insult.

Atlanta Falcons

…for providing TV viewers with a few… uh, visual moments.

There are a few clips I want to focus on from the Saints-Falcons game on Thanksgiving night.  Celebrations in the NFL, man.  They come in all shapes and sizes (sounds, too). 

First, here’s how Atlanta gets excited about recovering multiple onside kicks.  I’m part confused, but more so amused.

Second, not only did Matt Ryan have a brutal game, but he had this moment that the world got to see.  Credit the hustle, but in the end, Ryan can only hope most of us had already passed out from too much turkey.  Then again, there are the hundreds reliving it on social media (or on websites like TWHS).

Honestly, it’s even better in German (and yes, that option exists THANKS to Twitter):

How do you say “The Falcons stink” in German?  Asking for a friend.

This has been Throwing Tomatoes, where the red fruit is not in any way creamy.