* After March Madness - this is the longest time of the year for sports fan - however it's starting to pick up......
* Hard to believe school is starting & football is right around the corner. Fantasy teams are being picked, everyone is optimistic (except for Raiders & Lions fans), and Buckeye fans have their usual high expectations.
* So many things to think about with the upcoming seasons. I think this season, unlike any other that I can remember, has so many quarterback stories.
- In the NFL you have Favre, Vick, Quinn vs Anderson, Cutler as a Bear, the return of Brady, is Romo better without Jessica, can Aaron Rodgers repeat on such a fantastic last year, can Carson Palmer find Ochocinco without TJ in the lineup, is there a soph slump on the horizon for Matt Ryan (or is he even better with Tony Gonzalez in the lineup), what will the Chiefs do without their very expensive Matt Cassel, does Hasselback improve with TJ Housh in the lineup, how bad will Mark Sanchez be and many more. Can't wait to kick it off.
- In the college world, the big 3 are back - Tebow, McCoy & Bradford. They will have amazing years. The heisman will be a 3 horse race simply because of the press these guys have received & the expected success of their teams.
- In the Big 10, we have Pryor, Juice and Daryll Clark - all 3 are quality QBs.
- Others to mention & watch - Todd Reesing (Kansas), Dan Lefevour (Western Mich), Jevan Snead (Ole Miss), Zac Robinson (Ok St), Russell Wilson (NC State).....oh my I get excited just thinking of the fun to be had.
* Is Eli Manning really worth more than his brother? Just imagine if David Tyree doesn't make the incredible helmet grab. Are we still talking about Eli as an elite QB? I don't think so. I think
he's an OK quarterback, but there are many that I would take before him.
* As a matter of fact, I would take Drew Brees over almost any other QB (maybe Brady & Peyton----maybe). The dude threw for over 5,000 yards last year. That offense is absolutely unstoppable (they also have a Westerville South player named Lance Moore). If only the D (led by OSU's own Will Smith) could pick it up a notch, that team is scary.
* Speaking of scary, the Vikings have 3 world class sprinters in their lineup - AP (All Day), Bernard Berrian & Percy Harvin - talk about excited. If #4 can be average, the purple team could be very good this year. It's honestly the most excited that I have been since they were upset by the Falcons in the NFC championship many years ago. Go Vikes.
* Time for predictions - NFC - I like the Giants, Vikings, Saints, Seahawks with the Bears & Eagles getting the wildcards. The Vikings (yes the Vikings) will be the last team standing from the NFC. Gonna be a fun year.
* AFC - I like the Colts, Pats, Steelers, Chargers with the Jaguars & Titans grabbing the wildcards. The Chargers will represent the AFC.
* Sadly I predict the Chargers will give the Vikings their 5th Super Bowl loss.
* Hockey kicks off on Oct 3 - expect the CBJs to be much improved this year. Need to get up in the top 4 of the conference. I expect this to be a good year - A healthy Brassard will be a horse.
* Baseball is finishing - don't see anyone stopping the Yankees & Dodgers - the deepest pockets in the majors.
* Surprise - Michigan's Rodriguez is cheating with his practices. It won't be long before that guy is run out of town. That's too conservative of a school to take too many more hits.
* Expect Lane Kiffin to get quiet after Florida smacks Tennessee on Sept 19th.
* Games of the week:
9/3: Oregon @ Boise State
9/5: Alabama @ Va Tech, Georgia @ Oklahoma State
9/12: USC @ OSU
10/3: LSU @ Georgia, USC @ Cal
10/10: Florida @ LSU, Alabama @ Ole Miss
10/17: Texas v Oklahoma, Va Tech @ Georgia Tech
10/31: USC & Oregon, Florida v Georgia
11/7: LSU @ Alabama, OSU @ Penn State
11/14: Utah @ TCU
11/21: OSU @ michigan (not the luster of the ole days but still very meaningful), Penn St @ Mich St.
12/3: Oregon State @ Oregon
Lots more thoughts to come.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Sunday, August 2, 2009
It's Been A While
But there's a lot on my mind:
* I'm very mixed about the Brett Favre situation. On one hand, I'm tired of it. It's been very frustrating going through his change of mind - especially since the team he is impacting is the Vikings (a team I'm pretty near & dear to). On the other hand, I can't help but feel #4 would have been a lot better than the other options the Vikes have at QB. They are quite possibly the most talented team in the NFL outside of QB. It's been over 30 years since they've been to a Super Bowl. Now, it's Sage Rosenthal that is my QB in Minnesota. Wow!
* It's very tough to be an Indian fan these days. They only have 4 guys left on the team that played in the playoffs just 2 years ago. You would think their farm system is very stocked now. I'm a skeptic - I'm not expecting these trades to ultimately pay-off for the Tribe in the next few years. How do you justify going to the Jake these days when you can go to the brand new Huntington Park in Columbus & watch the minor league Indians for $6?
* This has been the most boring sports season that I think I have gone through. The options right now - Baseball, Soccer, Nascar, Golf - none are very interesting to me. I continue to lose more & more interest in baseball. Not sure why. Maybe it's due to the ridiculous salaries. Maybe it's due to the Indians & Reds being terrible. Maybe it's due to me being a basketball & football fan primarily. I'm not sure. But I'm having a very rough time finding things to watch on tv.
* Played Mud Volleyball last weekend. If you haven't done it, I highly recommend it. You don't have to be a good volleyball player. The mud makes it difficult to move & jump - equalizing most of the players. It's hard not to have a great time splashing around in the mud. Lots of laughs, smiles & fun no matter how good you play.
* I finally bit the bullet & got a Facebook. I was very reluctant. I felt Facebook was more of a HS/College thing to do. But one day, my daughter set me up an account without me knowing. Next thing I know I have a ton of friend requests. These are people that I haven't seen or talked to in many months or years. Now I'm connected to so many different people that it's been fun. I don't do much on FB. But it has been fun re-connecting. I have another HS reunion next year & it's going to be a great tool to communicate getting it setup.
* College is expensive - I now have 2 in college. One of the things I've learned is SAVE, SAVE, SAVE while your kids are young.
* I recently had another birthday. One of the things that I've reflected on as I've continued to age is 2 simple statements:
1) Life is about relationships
2) Be comfortable being uncomfortable.
I'll explore some of my thoughtse on these statements in future posts.
* I'm very mixed about the Brett Favre situation. On one hand, I'm tired of it. It's been very frustrating going through his change of mind - especially since the team he is impacting is the Vikings (a team I'm pretty near & dear to). On the other hand, I can't help but feel #4 would have been a lot better than the other options the Vikes have at QB. They are quite possibly the most talented team in the NFL outside of QB. It's been over 30 years since they've been to a Super Bowl. Now, it's Sage Rosenthal that is my QB in Minnesota. Wow!
* It's very tough to be an Indian fan these days. They only have 4 guys left on the team that played in the playoffs just 2 years ago. You would think their farm system is very stocked now. I'm a skeptic - I'm not expecting these trades to ultimately pay-off for the Tribe in the next few years. How do you justify going to the Jake these days when you can go to the brand new Huntington Park in Columbus & watch the minor league Indians for $6?
* This has been the most boring sports season that I think I have gone through. The options right now - Baseball, Soccer, Nascar, Golf - none are very interesting to me. I continue to lose more & more interest in baseball. Not sure why. Maybe it's due to the ridiculous salaries. Maybe it's due to the Indians & Reds being terrible. Maybe it's due to me being a basketball & football fan primarily. I'm not sure. But I'm having a very rough time finding things to watch on tv.
* Played Mud Volleyball last weekend. If you haven't done it, I highly recommend it. You don't have to be a good volleyball player. The mud makes it difficult to move & jump - equalizing most of the players. It's hard not to have a great time splashing around in the mud. Lots of laughs, smiles & fun no matter how good you play.
* I finally bit the bullet & got a Facebook. I was very reluctant. I felt Facebook was more of a HS/College thing to do. But one day, my daughter set me up an account without me knowing. Next thing I know I have a ton of friend requests. These are people that I haven't seen or talked to in many months or years. Now I'm connected to so many different people that it's been fun. I don't do much on FB. But it has been fun re-connecting. I have another HS reunion next year & it's going to be a great tool to communicate getting it setup.
* College is expensive - I now have 2 in college. One of the things I've learned is SAVE, SAVE, SAVE while your kids are young.
* I recently had another birthday. One of the things that I've reflected on as I've continued to age is 2 simple statements:
1) Life is about relationships
2) Be comfortable being uncomfortable.
I'll explore some of my thoughtse on these statements in future posts.
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