That’s right, I’m gone … but no, not for good.  Tomorrow I’m leaving the continent for a much-needed vacation, where I will have limited access to the interwebs. As such, you won’t be seeing the same volume of posts that you’ve grown accustomed to around these parts.

So for the next two weeks, you’ll just have to find your biting NFL commentary elsewhere (which I’m sure will be quite difficult) … see you on the flip flop!

(Image via Facebook)

SIGN THE PETITION TO SAVE RYAN FITZPATRICK’S BEARD

It has all come down to this for the the campaign to Save Ryan Fitzpatrick’s Beard. The Bills quarterback’s self-imposed shave deadline of January 3rd is fast approaching, so we have less than a week to gain as many signatures as we can to try and convince Fitzpatrick to keep his glorious facial hair.

Folks from all over the land have come together behind our cause, and as of the time of this posting, we have over 450 signatures from people who have been equally inspired by the “Amish Rifle”. We also discovered the Facebook page for Ryan Fitzpatrick’s Beard, which we obviously wholeheartedly support (and is where we got the incredible banner pic to the right).

Read our previous update, with quotes from other beard supporters, HERE

And while this outpouring of support has been tremendous, it’s not likely to be enough to overrule the wishes of Fitzpatrick’s wife … yet. We still have four days to rally support for the FitzBeard, and with the power of the internet, we should be able to take this thing viral and gain the thousands of signatures necessary to really get Ryan’s attention. We believe in the power of the beard, and we’re not ready to give up the fight!

So for one final time, we’re asking for your help. Please sign the petition and forward it on to friends, family, news outlets or anyone you know inside the Bills PR department. Together, we can make a difference.

SIGN THE PETITION TO SAVE RYAN FITZPATRICK’S BEARD

TRACK OUR PROGRESS WITH THE “SAVE RYAN FITZPATRICK’S BEARD”
PETITION SIGNATURE COUNTER

Now, we generally don’t get a lot of recognition for the work we put in as bloggers, and that’s fine … we’re just happy with all the crazy money and women it gets us. But it sure is nice to be listed alongside those other great finalist sites after less than two years in existence.

And it would be even nicer if you were so inclined to head over there and vote for us. You can vote or up to 3 different sites, and it takes like five seconds, so if you could find it in your heart to check the box for ReadAndReact, we’d really appreciate it.

VOTE HERE

Thanks for your continued support, and have a great holiday!

OK, things are starting to get a little nutty with holiday cheer around R&R HQ. As is our tradition, we’ll be tapping the egg nog keg around noon, watching A Christmas Story on loop for the next 3 days, and participating in (then recovering from) the airing of grievances and feats of strength.

Happy Holidays from all of us here at ReadAndReact! Thanks for making this past year so much fun & rewarding. We hope you all have a safe, healthy and joyful holiday season!

(Image via ThePigskinDoctors.com)

SIGN THE PETITION TO SAVE RYAN FITZPATRICK’S BEARD

Last week, we here at ReadAndReact caught a wave of holiday spirit, inspired by the sublime majesty of Ryan Fitzpatrick’s beard. We were so embiggened by the noble beauty of the Bills quarterback’s facial hair, and so devastated when he announced his plans to shave it after the season, that we simply had to take action.

Since launching the Petition to Save Ryan Fitzpatrick’s Beard we have received over 300 signatures from like-minded beard lovers who share in our adoration for this beard, and don’t want to see it go. People from all over the country, Bills fans or otherwise, are coming together behind this cause, united by the spirit of the “Amish Rifle”. We have gotten support in spreading the word from sports media outlets throughout the land, and this thing is starting to catch on like wildfire … or more appropriately for the season, snowball into a full-on viral campaign. In fact, Nick Mendola of WECK-AM in Buffalo has gone on record and said that if this petition gains enough signatures, he will personally deliver it to Fitzpatrick in the Bills locker room!!

That’s why we can’t rest on our laurels now. We only have 2 more weeks of the regular season left, people, and we need to continue to spread the gospel of Fitzpatrick’s Beard far and wide! The self-imposed shave deadline is approaching fast, so it’s time to kick this thing into overdrive, and make sure everyone knows about our cause.

So again, please sign the petition and forward it on to friends, family, social media, blogs, radio stations, newspapers, members of the Bills organization … whatever you can do to help spread the word. Let’s all come together and do something meaningful this holiday season.

SIGN THE PETITION TO SAVE RYAN FITZPATRICK’S BEARD

TRACK OUR PROGRESS WITH THE “SAVE RYAN FITZPATRICK’S BEARD”
PETITION SIGNATURE COUNTER

In parting, we thought we’d share a few of the emails, signatures and notes we’ve received over the past few days, so you can hear what some of your fellow-FitzBeard lovers are saying:

• “I am a Bills fan and I started growing my beard about 2 months ago to try and go inch for inch with my boy Fitz-Magic. I told myself I’d shave when Fitzy does, and every Wednesday when he does his player press conference I expect it to be gone, but to my delight it only gets longer. I don’t want to shave my beard, so please dont shave yours!”
• “That beard is a national treasure!”
• “Such a glorious beard deserves a permanent place on the Amish Rifle’s face”
• “Harvard’s Motto is Veritas: The Truth. Nothing says the truth like the Beard. As a Harvard man he has to represent the truth.”
• “As a huge Bills fan, I can’t help but worry that shaving your beard will have Samson-esque results. You’ve been great this year. I look forward to you in the red, blue, and white for years to come!”
• “Nothing is more Western New York than Ryan Fitzpatrick’s Beard”
• “Great Odin’s Raven, that thing is amazing!”
• “For all the Crimson on Wall St. who CAN’T wear a beard, I beg you. Keep that thing!”
• “I want to live in a world where my son’s favorite team’s starting quarterback isn’t afraid to eschew razors. Is that too much to ask?”
• The beard is the only thing that keeps me watching…totally badass! DON’T SHAVE IT!

And finally, our boy Nick Mendola alerted us to the epic beard of Troy University Punter/Nordic God Will Goggans, which is simply breathtaking:

WINNER! (Image via MichiganZone.com)

It’s the beard we can only hope Fitzpatrick’s will someday grow into.

Don’t worry, this doesn’t mean we’ve sold out to “the man.” We’re still a 100% independent site, and control our own editorial, so you’ll still get the same biting commentary that you’re used to. But as part of our membership, you may have noticed some minor aesthetic changes around here, which are designed to give you easy access to the YardBarker Network and our partners. Now, thanks to our YBN affiliation, all of our posts have a chance to be shared with a much larger audience of readers, including on FoxSports.com.

So as always, if you enjoy this site, do us a favor and click on an ad or two … it’ll really help us out.  And be sure to bookmark Yardbarker’s NFL Page, and check out the ReadAndReact page there. If we can get some action going on our articles over there, it will really help us gain traction within the network.  Which means it will just be a matter of time before we can retire and waste away the days counting money on our golden toilet.  But don’t worry … as bloggers, we’ll still be living in our parents’ basement for as long as possible.

Now if you’ll excuse us, we ‘re going to go dive head first into the bourbon birthday cake and really kick this party into high gear!

This will be my view for the next 9 days ...

That’s right, I’m outta here! Tomorrow I’m escaping south for a much-needed vacation, where I will have limited access to football or the interwebs.  As such, you won’t be seeing the same volume of posts that you’ve grown accustomed to around these parts … I mean, unless some of my RnR counterparts pick up the slack (not likely).

I return just in time for the Super Bowl, so until then, you’ll just have to find your cutting Pro Bowl and pre-SB coverage elsewhere. Which I’m sure will be quite difficult … later suckers!

I triple dog dare you ...

Happy Holidays from all of us here at ReadAndReact HQ!  We’ll be tapping the egg nog keg at noon today, and things are bound to get a little crazy with cheer around these parts over the weekend.

Thanks for making our first 9 months on the interwebs such a blast … We hope Santa brings you everything you asked for, and that you stay safe, healthy and warm this holiday season!

Brett Favre is one of the greatest QBs in NFL history.  This is not up for debate.

However, we here at ReadAndReact have grown weary of Favre’s act of late.  We are well-documented in our distaste for Favre’s retiremental flip-flopping, which actually grew tiresome last off-season when he originally un-retired to play for the Jets. But after retiring yet again, only to entertain talks to return just months later – thereby fueling a NFL off-season feeding frenzy among the news-starved media – Favre has just become plain irritating.

After months of speculation and waffling, including clandestine flights to Hattiesburg, MS and back-alley shoulder surgeries to heal his ailing arm, the latest “news” is that Favre may already have a contract in place with the Minnesota Vikings.  ProFootballTalk.com says that the Vikings are waiting until July 3rd to make the announcement.

Well, guess what?  We just don’t care anymore.

We no longer choose to waste our time discussing non-stories regarding the future of an over-the-hill QB who can’t let go of his glory days, and seems to have some ludicous chip on his shoulder toward the Green Bay Packers (who incidentally made his career possible).

As such, we are are hereby declaring ReadAndReact.net a Favre-Free Zone!!! As our new header suggests, from this day forward, we are banning his name from these pages.  We promise to honor this ban until opening day of the 2009 NFL season (09/10/09) – at which point, if Favre does happen to suit up for an NFL team, we will mention him only as it relates to actual football news … or at least to mercilessly make fun of him.  But until that time, Favre is dead to us.

So if you’re looking for the latest news about Brett Favre, from now on, you should probably look elsewhere.