Just for Sport

Depending on your viewpoint, the first All-English UEFA Final was either a very fortunate or a very unfortunate pairing.  In my mind, it was terrible: The Soccer equivalent of the Red Sox versus the Yankees.  Bandwagon Red Sox fans are only outdone by bandwagon Manchester United fans.  On the other hand, Chelsea’s payroll this year is a whopping $270 million, bringing new meaning to the term "trying to buy a championship." 

Unfortunately for the popularity of soccer in the States, the game was rather unexciting and full of all the stereotypes and excuses that keep Americans from watching the game.  There were two goals in regulation, and they both came in the first half.  Nobody scored in 75 minutes of play.  Edward Van der Sar made a grand total of one save in 120 minutes, yet still ended up on the winning side.  Then there were the referees, who seemed determined to affect the outcome of the game, handing out cards for every mistimed challenge.   Finally, the superstar on each team lived up to their respective bad reputations: Cristiano Ronaldo apparently wanted to set a record for flops in one game, while Didier Drogba showed his maturity by throwing the wussiest slap recorded on television during extra time.

All in all, this was a missed opportunity for a highly visible game to have an impact on America.  Instead, stereotypes have been confirmed in the minds of those who need excuses not to watch.

 

Most Americans have no idea what this means.  These people will continue to not care after today. 

Interleague play starts tomorrow, which means at least one thing: Baseball records and statistics start to mean something.  Up until now, it’s all about positioning.  Sometimes the Pirates or the Royals stay close to the top of the division a couple of weeks in, but unless they make it to the quarterpole with a respectable record, it doesn’t matter.  Obviously, things can always change, but at this time of the year you can put some stock into trends and statistics.  Here are some observations about the state of the Majors:

American League 

East - As of today, the Rays are in first place in the AL East.  Who knew?  We did.  Will they keep it up?  A strong pitching staff, a surprise closer, and some young upstart players say they will probably stay in the race longer than most think.

Central - Our chosen AL representative, the Detroit Tigers, sit in last place in the Central, 6 games back of first.  Can they turn it around?  Only if their starting pitching delivers.   Minnesota and Chicago hover around .500, and both teams could go either way.  This will likely be a competitive division deep into September.

West - The Mariners do not look good at all.  The loss of Erik Bedard coupled with the offense acting their age is a recipe for last place in the league’s smallest division.  The A’s are off to a surprising start and the Rangers can’t decide if they’re a basement team or a contender - the end result will likely be a record around .500, which will be an accomplishment for this team.

Statistics and Trends to Note: 

• The Rays own the best home record at 16-8 as well as the best overall record.  Their 24-17 record puts them on pace for 95 wins.
• Only two teams have a winning record away from home: California and Oakland.  Could it be because they both get to play the Rangers and Mariners more than anybody else?
• The team with the worst record is Seattle, at 16-26.   They are on pace for a 62-100 season.
• The Tigers are 5-1 vs. LHPs and 11-24 vs RHPs.  Too many right-handed bats in the lineup?
• The Red Sox have scored by far the most runs: 216.  The next highest total is owned by Texas, with 200.  However, the Rangers have also given up an AL-high 229.  Puts the Edinson Volquez for Josh Hamilton trade in perspective, huh?

National League

East - The Marlins are the surprise team of the NL.  Has anybody mentioned that the have the league’s lowest payroll?  Meanwhile, the Mets are stuck around .500 and reportedly have chemistry issues.  The Braves play inconsistently, so it looks like the Phillies stand poised to benefit from a Marlins collapse - if it happens.

Central - It would be easy to say "I told you so."  So I’m going to do it.  The Cubs looks like they’re in control (for now), Houston is playing better than everybody thought, and the Brewers are tied for fourth with…Pittsburgh.  The only surprise in our mind is that St. Louis is playing so well, and they don’t even have key pieces of their rotation pitching at the moment.  If Carpenter and Mulder come in and pitch well, they could run away with the division.  On the other hand, they could struggle to find their mid-season form and create all kinds of chemistry issues.  The top three teams are separated by 2 games, so anything could happen, but it seems clear that by the All-Star break there will be only 3 serious contenders in this six-team division.

West - It looked like four teams would contend for the West division title, but only two appear to have a shot.  The Diamondbacks are red-hot as expected, and the Dodgers look good as well.  Only three teams in the entire league are 9 or more games back of first place, and they all call the NL West home.  

Statistics and Trends to Note:

• The Diamondbacks boast the best record in either league at 26-15, which puts them on pace for 103 wins.
• Three teams have home records over .700: The Braves (14-4), the Cubs(17-7), and the Diamondbacks (17-7).  The Braves are 6-16 on the road, however, making them and even .500 overall.
• San Diego has the worst record in either league at 15-27, which gives them an expected loss total of 104.
• All three teams at the bottom of the NL West have given up 200 or more runs.  The Rockies share the league "lead" with the Pirates.  The Padres have an already dismal run differential of -60.
• The best run differential belongs to the Cubs, at +68.  They also boast the most runs total at 238, while the Braves have given up the least runs: 154. 
• Atlanta, which sports a .500 record, is 1-11 in 1-run games.  Amazingly, the Reds are 8-3 despite sole possession of last place in the NL Central.

After 19 years of living two hours away from Dallas (in 2 different cities), I will be moving to Big D some time in the next 3 months.  That means, among other things, that this blog will take a new direction.  The changes will be thus:

1. A new url, possibly with its own domain name.  Watch for this announcement.
2. Possibly some new contributors, which will take the pressure off of me to update frequently.  Speaking of which…
3. More time to update, which means this blog will look more like, well, a blog.
4. Most importantly, a change in focus.  While JFS (or whatever it’s called when we move) will continue to cover the sports world at large, the main focus of the new site will be coverage of DFW area teams.   

Some of the posts will migrate to the new site.  I keep track of what pages get viewed most often, and these posts will be among the ones that make the cut.  They may also be part of the template that we use to try to stay unique and relevant on an oversaturated medium.  (Most popular posts: #1 #2 #3 #4 #5)

Check back for info on the new site! 

I always hoped that by 2008, the Cubs would have won the World Series.  Alas, they haven’t, and now I have to endure insufferable Cardinals fans and Cubs haters of all stripes (hey Brewers fans, bandwagon much?) chanting "100 years" and coming up with other creative, original, and relevant things to say about the situation all year long.  So in the year 2008 will I pick the Cubbies to win it all?  No way.  I may not subscribe to all the curses and jinxes, but I am still a Cubs fan, and I know better than that.  Not this year.

AL East

On some level, the AL East is the easiest division to pick year in and year out.  You can pencil in either the Yankees or the Red Sox as the division winner and walk away feeling okay about it.  I’m not sure that it’s that simple anymore.  In any other division, I like the Rays to challenge for the title.  I would love it if they did so this year, but I don’t think they have the pitching staff for it yet.  They will play spoiler, and that’s why I’m picking New York: The Red Sox play the Rays more down the stretch.  I like the Blue Jays as well, but it’s hard for me to see them breaking through.  This division boasts 4 good teams, but I think the Yanks and Sox will stay on top for at least one more year.

New York
Boston
Tampa Bay
Toronto
Baltimore

AL Central

This division could easily become a two horse race early.  In my opinion, it is the weakest division in baseball.  I will drink the Kool-Aid on Detroit mainly because of the division.  In fact, I believe they will capture the highest record in the American League.  While all of the East teams beat up on each other, the Tigers get to play Chicago, Minnesota, and Kansas City over and over.  Detroit will clinch early and be well rested for the playoffs. 

Detroit
Cleveland
Chicago
Minnesota
Kansas City 

AL West

The major storylines in the AL West will be the battle for the division title between the Angels and the Mariners and the battle to stay out of the cellar between the A’s and the Rangers.  You could pick any combination of four teams in the entire league and the gap between the top two teams and the bottom two teams would not be as big as it is here.  The Angels are among the elite teams and have only gotten better with their free agent acquisitions.  The only suspect area is their starting pitching, especially with John Lackey injured.  The Mariners are young and eager.  This will be an exciting race, and I think the Angels win because of their experience.  The Mariners capture the Wild Card, beating out Boston and Cleveland with their incredibly weak September schedule. 

Los Angeles at Anaheim (Can we just go back to calling them the California Angels?)
Seattle - Wild Card
Texas
Oakland 

NL East

Last year, Jimmy Rollins predicted a division title for the Phillies, and they delivered.  It took an amazing stretch run coupled with a historic Mets collapse, but it happened.  There was one major difference between what happened last year and what will happen this year: the Mets didn’t have Johan Santana last year.  I like the Mets to win easily this year.  I also like the Braves to surprise some people and beat out the Phillies for second place.  As for the other teams, I don’t see much movement from the cellar.

New York
Atlanta
Philadelphia
Florida
Washington 

NL Central

The six-team division is really only a four-team race.  A couple of years ago, I thought the Pirates would be an up-and-comer, but they haven’t done anything to improve themselves.  I also don’t believe in the Cardinals this year.  Last year, they looked out of it, and made a late push, and I don’t like to pick against Tony LaRussa, but look at their roster.  Their outfield is terrible, they have no middle infield, and the rotation is sub-par.  They just don’t have the personnel to compete.  Of the four other teams, I think the Cubs and the Reds look the strongest.  The Cubs’ lineup is formidable and they are solid in the rotation and in the bullpen.  The Reds look good as well, but you must consider the Dusty Baker factor, especially considering the state of their bullpen (save for Cordero).  The other two teams have glaring weaknesses.  The Astros have no rotation after Roy Oswalt, although I believe they will surprise a lot of people and beat some good teams.  The Brewers’ bullpen is the definition of suspect, and they must rely on Ben Sheets to be healthy, which is no small task.  This isn’t relevant, but they also have loudmouth fans that overrate their young players.

Chicago
Houston
Cincinnati
Milwaukee
St. Louis
Pittsburgh 

NL West

Like the AL East, the NL West boasts four very strong teams - in this case, Arizona, Colorado, Los Angeles, and San Diego.  I think a lot of people believe that Colorado’s run last year was a fluke, but I’m not one of them.  I think they are legit, and they will challenge for the division.  I would feel good about choosing any of these four to win the division or the Wild Card, but I’m choosing Arizona and Colorado, in that order, for their mix of veteran leadership and youthful enthusiasm.

Arizona
Colorado - Wild Card
Los Angeles
San Diego
San Francisco 

Playoffs 

American League Divisional Series

Detroit over Seattle (Wild Card) in 4 games

Seattle’s youthfulness works against them, especially against such a seasoned team. 

New York over California in 5 games 

You can point to Anaheim’s win over New York in 2002 as a turning point in the Yankee dynasty, and since then, the Angels have had a mental edge over the Yankees.  However, I believe in Joe Girardi, and I think he’s going to turn the Yankees around.

National League Divisional Series

New York over Colorado (Wild Card) in 3 games

The Mets, with Santana, have a significant advantage in a short series.  If Pedro Martinez can regain his form or John Maine can live up to expectations, they will be almost unbeatable.

Arizona over Chicago in 5 games

A rematch of last year’s series will end up the same way.  Arizona has all kinds of weapons that most casual fans don’t even know about: Connor Jackson and Chris Young are just two of them.

ALCS

Detroit over New York in 6 games

This sets up all kinds of interesting storylines: Gary Sheffield versus the Yankees, Joe Girardi versus Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis, and the rematch of two teams who brawled during the regular season.  That would probably be the case no matter who the Yankees end up playing, I guess, but still interesting nonetheless.  These two teams are represented by a ton of playoff experience, and I think it will be hard-fought.  In the end, I think the pitching for the Tigers wins out.

NLCS

Arizona over New York in 7 games

The media will be abuzz about a Subway Series, but neither New York team will make it there.  If you haven’t figured it out by now, I really like Arizona this year.  I think the addition of Dan Haren puts them over the top, but they need a lot of things to go right.  Their young players must perform up to expectations, Randy Johnson must have a resurgence, and above all, they must find a closer they can rely on.

World Series

Arizona over Detroit in 6 games

Ok, so you can see why I’d be tempted to take the Cubs to go to the Series, right?  Arizona has to have all these things happen just right, New York has a history of collapsing and they have one solid pitcher (granted, he’s more than solid), and everybody else has their flaws, too.  But, um, I’m not picking them.  Not this year.  Arizona will win the World Series, NOT the Cubs.  It’s in writing.  I am NOT jinxing the Cubs this year, the 100 year anniversary of their last championship.  It’s Arizona all the way.

Convincing enough?  I sure hope so… 

Last night we were all graced with one of the great football games in recent memory.  It surely goes down as one of the greatest games I’ve ever seen.  If I had to choose the five greatest games in all sports in the last ten years without spending a bunch of time thinking about it or researching, they would go as follows:

5 - 2007 Fiesta Bowl, Boise State over Oklahoma, 43-42 (OT).  This makes the list for me because (A) I hate Oklahoma - see sidebar, (B) Nobody thought Boise State would stick it to OU for three and half quarters, much less pull the upset, and (C) Those last couple of plays - The Hook and Lateral and The Statue of Liberty.  Instant classic.

4 - Super Bowl XLII, New York Giants over New England, 17-14.  Not many people predicted a low-scoring game, much less a close one.  The three lead changes in the 4th quarter plus Eli Manning’s escape/David Tyree’s catch (Do we have a name for that yet?) made it a great game anyway.  The storyline behind the game (destroying the perfect season, etc.) put it on the list.

3 - 2004 AL Championship Series, Games 4 & 5, Boston over New York.  Game 4: 6-4 (12 innings).  Game 5: 5-4 (14 innings).  I think it’s fair to lump these two together because it was really the series that was impressive.  Also, Game 5 started 16 hours after Game 4 ended.  These games were great not only because nobody had ever come back from a 3-0 deficit before, but because the Yankees had so thoroughly dominated the series up until that point.  The way they won those games was just fantastic.

2 - 2006 Rose Bowl, Texas over USC, 41-38.  This one was just like last night’s game, except with 4 times the scoring.  USC were the overwhelming favorites, and Texas overcame the odds in the Championship Game, with Vince Young scoring the winning touchdown on 4th down.

1 - 1998 NBA Finals, Game 6, Chicago over Utah, 87-86. Michael Jordan hits "The Shot" (Does that play have a name?  What is it?) in his last game in a Bulls uniform to cap off a 45-point performance and the Bulls 6th Championship.

There are some others that perhaps mean more to me than the greater sports world:

1999 Stanley Cup Finals, Game 6, Dallas over Buffalo, 2-1 (Triple OT).  Creasegate.  Modano plays 55 minutes with a cast on his arm.

June 29, 2007, Chicago Cubs over Milwaukee, 6-5.  The Cubs rally from a 5-0 deficit to win on Aramis’ walkoff home run.  This game also turned the tide in the division race.

2007 NL Wild Card Tiebreaker Game, Colorado over San Diego, 9-8 (13 innings).  This was a great game even before the 13th inning.  Plenty of offense early, followed by dominant pitching and stellar defense.  There was a grand slam and a killer error that allowed the game to go into extras in the first place.  The Padres got 2 in the 13th, and the game was thought over.  But the Cinderella Rockies beat the odds and killed Trevor Hoffman.  The play at the plate, which is consistently the best play in sports, capped it all off. 

2006 NL Championship, Game 6, Florida over Chicago Cubs, 8-3.  I hate this game, but for the Marlins, this was a GREAT game.  Cubs fans, please don’t blame Bartman.  Blame Baker.

2007 AFC Championship Game, Indianapolis over New England, 38-34.  If this game was the Super Bowl, it might have made the list.  The Colts looked dead in the water, behind 21-3, then rallied to beat the team that had been keeping them down in dramatic fashion.

Feel free to disagree or suggest some other games. 

I’m too dumb to embed YouTube videos, so here’s a couple of links:

Great Play

Best Commercial 

11:40 AM CST: I haven’t posted here in quite a while, and probably won’t be able to regularly until I’m done with this MSW, but what better time than the day the Mitchell Report comes out?  As information comes out, I will write about my reactions, updating this site periodically.  This should be a huge day for baseball. 

 
So far, Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte have been leaked as names that will appear in the report.  I have a draft on this site that I never posted about how media and the fans are hypocritical because of their hatred of Barry Bonds and their apathy toward Roger Clemens.  I wonder if that will change at all.  As for Andy Pettitte…he’s always been attached to Roger at the hip, so should we really be surprised? 

An interesting storyline to watch will be the reactions of Hall of Fame voters.  If several big names are brought to light through this report, we may be finally forced to admit that the Steroid Era is just that, an era.  Does the fact that both big-name hitters and big-name pitchers are named mean that the playing field is more or less even?  Will voters shun an entire generation of players, or will they relent and vote in the best players from this era?  If that’s the case, will players like Mark McGwire see a surge in their voting percentages?

I expect the following names to be named: Barry Bonds, Rafael Palmeiro, Sammy Sosa, Jose Canseco, Gary Matthews, Jr., Jason Grimsley, and of course Clemens and Pettitte.  I’m worried, like most fans, that prominent members of my favorite teams will be named.  As a Rangers fan, that’s even more of a possibility.  Surely Canseco and Palmeiro will come up, but what about Juan Gonzalez, Alex Rodriguez, Ivan Rodriguez, or even local heroes like Rusty Greer?  I do know this: there are certain names that would be absolutely devastating for baseball.  I think the most devastating one would be Albert Pujols.  He plays in the Midwest, which most people assume is purer than the rest of the country, and he’s been held up as an example of a player who hits for power without artificial enhancement.  He’s also a community leader and gives credit to God for everything he does.  I cannot imagine a bigger shock than to find Pujols’ name on the list, and that’s pretty telling, because it wouldn’t be all that surprising.

More to come as more is revealed. 

12:14 PM: This whole thing is going to look really fishy if no Red Sox players are named, given Mitchell’s association with the team.  Colin Cowherd insinuated this morning that "one Red Sock" will be named, but I wonder how much he and other members of the media actually know.  Who could that Red Sock be?  David Ortiz, Manny Ramirez, Josh Beckett?  Certainly not Curt Schilling…right?  The more I think about this, the more I realize that we don’t know anything. 

12:21 PM: Just found this link - I’m sure this list will grow exponentially in the next few hours. 

12:29 PM: Be watching this page as well. 

12:45 PM: Apparently, Jose Canseco is present at the press conference.  He’s not a very shy guy, is he? 

12:55 PM: Paul Lo Duca, Fernando Vina, David Segui, Miguel Tejada, and Rondell White have been implicated.  Isn’t Lo Duca a free agent?  That’s going to hurt the bottom line a little.  I wonder how the Astros feel about Tejada, having just given up 5 players for him. 

12:58 PM: Mitchell just announced that the Report will be made available shortly on mlb.com.  I will post a link when I find it. 

1:00 PM: And here it is.  I will probably be doing more reading of this than listening to George Mitchell, although I will be keeping my ear open. 

1:03 PM: Mitchell just said that each of the 30 clubs have had players that have used steroids.  He also estimated that 5-7% of players have used.  If that’s true, and the Mitchell Report does indeed name 80 people, he’s at least 170 people short (give or take).

1:12 PM: Apparently, Giambi did not name names, and says he hasn’t used PED’s since the All Star Break. 

1:18 PM: Mitchell: "I urge the commissioner to foregoe imposing discipline on players for past violations of baseball’s rules on performance enhancing substances." 

1:22 PM: From the report: "I did not include in this report the names of three players to whom Radomski said
he sold performance enhancing substances: two of them because the players had retired from
Major League Baseball by the time of the alleged sales; and one of them because the player
admitted that he had purchased and possessed the substances but denied that he had used them
and his version of events was corroborated by other credible evidence."

1:23 PM: A very telling paragraph: "The players for whom evidence has been gathered of possession or use, or both, of illegal performance enhancing substances defy categorization. They include winners of Most
Valuable Player and Cy Young awards, members of All-Star teams and World Series rosters,
players whose tenures in the major leagues were long, and others whose tenures were brief. We
heard often about the pressure on marginal players to use performance enhancing substances
because they believed they needed to do so to keep up with the competition or because the
money was so much greater for those who could make the jump to the major leagues."

1:27 PM: Brian Roberts and Chuch Knoblauch: I did not really see those coming, although Roberts played with Miguel Tejada and Knoblauch on the Yankees.  It seems that a lot of these allegations are connected to five teams: the Giants, Yankees, Blue Jays, Orioles, and Rangers.

1:33 PM: More big names: David Justice, Mo Vaughn, and Eric Gagne.   

1:36 PM: Page 232 implicates two 1999 Chicago Cubs, but does not name them.  Sosa, anybody?

1:47 PM: Here is a list of players named in the report.  What this page doesn’t show is that there are several references, like the one listed above, to unnamed players, including a mysterious Player X.  I wonder if anybody has any theories about who this Player X might be.

2:02 PM: I’m going to stop until Bud Selig’s conference in an hour and a half.  I hope this wakes some people up.  The Player’s Association has been exposed for the evil organization that it is, and maybe they will be compelled to cooperate for a secondary report. 

Here it is: the 2007 NFL preview, division by division.

AFC East

1. New York Jets (12-4) 

I know I will be labeled a Pats hater, but there’s no denying that Bill Belichick’s "genius" was exposed last year.  Mangini has their number, and a close division almost always comes down to head-to-head matchups.

2. New England (11-5)

Randy Moss was supposed to make a huge difference in Oakland, too. 

3. Miami (8-8)

I’m not a believer in Trent Green, but I am a believer in their defense. 

4. Buffalo (4-12)

The loss of Willis McGahee will make a bigger impact than thought. 

AFC North

1. Baltimore (12-4)

I really like Baltimore this year…except that they have a walking injury at quarterback.   

2. Cincinnati (10-6)

Remember when Carson Palmer and the Bengals were going to go deep in the playoffs and then Palmer got his knee blown out?  Yeah, me too. 

3. Pittsburgh (8-8)

Coaching change doesn’t make much of a difference.  Roethlisberger is a game manager and not much more, and the sooner the Steelers figure this out, the better. 

4. Cleveland (3-13)

A bad team that just hasn’t done anything to make itself better.  Jamal Lewis is supposed to be their big improvement?  No. 

AFC South

1. Indianapolis (12-4)

There’s been a lot of hand-wringing about the Colts.  Super Bowl Letdown, losses on defense, the list goes on.  Listen - they’ll be fine.  As someone who has watched the Colts carefully for the last several years, I will tell you that the losses at cornerback were actually a good thing, and I think Thursday’s game against the Saints proved that.  Who did Peyton pick on all game long?  Jason David and Nick Harper. 

2. Jacksonville (10-6)

I was ready to say that this would be the year Jacksonville would compete for the division title…and then they cut Byron Leftwich.  Look, David Garrard was a nice change of pace, but he’s not going to lead you to the promised land. 

3. Tennessee (7-9)

I’m really high on Vince Young, but that defense minus Pacman Jones is not really a defense. 

4. Houston (5-11) 

I’ve watched lots of Texans games since they came into the league because of where I live, and let me tell you something: it was a mistake to get rid of David Carr.  On many occasions, he was the only player who showed up to the game.  I hope Matt Schaub enjoys the view from his backside. 

AFC West

1. San Diego (13-3)

Coaching change: does it really matter with that kind of talent? 

2. Denver (11-5)

Their defense is AMAZING.  If Jay Cutler can live up to his potential, this will be a good football team. 

3. Kansas City (7-9)

7-9 may be a little optimistic, especially when Brodie Croyle is competing for the quarterback spot.  Doesn’t anybody remember how bad he sucked at Alabama?  That team won games with a score of 6-3 because their defense was so good.  Kansas City’s defense?  Not that good. 

4. Oakland (3-13) 

I just don’t see it turning around. 

NFC East

1. Dallas (12-4)

This was the toughest division to pick for me because Dallas and Philly are so close.  Whoever wins the head-to-heads will take it, and I like Dallas when matched up against the Eagles. 

2. Philadelphia (11-5)

But watch out if McNabb can stay healthy all year… 

3. New York Giants (6-10)

This team should scrap together a few wins, but it won’t be because of Eli Manning. 

4. Washington (3-13)

Worst defense in the league = 3-13.  Or worse. 

NFC North

1. Chicago (12-4)

Chicago still plays in the worst division in the NFL. 

2. Green Bay (8-8)

I think they will overachieve this year.  Why?  Brett Favre will announce his retirement in Week 4.

3. Detroit (6-10)

They should improve, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves, people. 

4. Minnesota (4-12) 

When you’re depending on Tarvaris Jackson, you’ve got problems that run deep.  Maybe it’s time to ask about who is making the personnel decisions up there. 

NFC South

1. New Orleans (13-3)

Their defense is a liability, but look at their schedule.  Drew Brees always starts slow and finishes strong. 

2. Atlanta (8-8)

A lot of people think their season is lost, but does nobody remember about all of the games Mike Vick LOST for them in the past few years? 

3. Carolina (5-11)

Their win-loss record goes up if they get that bum Delhomme out and put David Carr in. 

4. Tampa Bay (3-13)

One thing’s for certain in Tampa Bay: Jon Gruden will get 2 hours of sleep a night, yell at people on national television, and still lose a lot of games. 

NFC West

1. Arizona (10-6)

This is my sleeper pick this year.  Matt Leinart has had time to gel with Boldin and Fitzgerald.  They have a new coach, a new defense, a new offensive line (and O-line coach to go with it), and a decent schedule. 

2. St. Louis (8-8)

Scott Linehan is a good coach, but you how does that help you tackle? 

3. Seattle (7-9)

Look, I could be really wrong about this, but Seattle is severely overrated this year.  This might be the oldest team in the NFL.  Could someone check on that?

4. San Francisco (6-10) 

I need to see more from Alex Smith before I give San Fran any credit. 

 

Playoffs:

Wildcard

Patriots over Ravens, Jets over Broncos 

Bears over Rams, Eagles over Cardinals 

Divisional Round

Chargers over Patriots, Colts over Jets

Cowboys over Bears, Eagles over Saints 

Championship

Colts over Chargers 

Cowboys over Eagles

Super Bowl

Colts 31, Cowboys 22 

This year, I am in 7 different fantasy football leagues, which is more than I’ve ever done.  Because I’m excited about football season, but I’m staying away from sports news because I don’t want to hear anything else about the NL Central race until the Cubs win a game again, I decided to break down how I drafted this year. 

Here’s what you need to know.  As I said, I’m in 7 leagues, using 5 different scoring systems on 4 different sites.  Only two of my leagues are private.  One of them is a keeper league, and the other one uses IDPs.  Some of my leagues are point per reception, and this year, in our keeper league, we are trying something I’ve never heard of before: 1 pt to the QB for a completion, and -1 for an incompletion.  What I’m trying to say is, not one of my 7 leagues is the same as another.  When it comes down to it, though, you just have to have the best players.  Here are the players I drafted this year:  

QBs 
Marc Bulger x3
Steve McNair x3
Chad Pennington x2
Philip Rivers x2
Drew Brees
Jay Cutler
Matt Leinart
J.P. Losman
Donovan McNabb
Tony Romo 

RBs 
Tatum Bell x3
Steven Jackson x3
Maurice Jones-Drew x3
Shaun Alexander x2
Edgerrin James x2
Chester Taylor x2
Joseph Addai
Ronnie Brown
Reggie Bush
DeShaun Foster
Ahman Green
LaMont Jordan
Marshawn Lynch
Laurence Maroney
Deuce McAllister
Jerious Norwood
Adrian Peterson (CHI)
Adrian Peterson (MIN)
LaDainian Tomlinson
Brian Westbrook
Carnell Williams

WRs
Santonio Holmes x5
Donald Driver x4
Anquan Boldin x3
Vincent Jackson x3
Reggie Brown x2
Marvin Harrison x2
Wes Welker x2
Troy Williamson x2
Bernard Berrian
Laveranues Coles
Jerricho Cotchery
Braylon Edwards
Ted Ginn, Jr.
Anthony Gonzalez
T.J. Houshmandzadeh
Greg Jennings
Steve Smith
Reggie Williams
Roy Williams

TEs
Chris Cooley x3
Vernon Davis x3
Eric Johnson x2
David Martin x2
Alge Crumpler
Heath Miller
Kellen Winslow, Jr. 

Ks 
Robbie Gould x2
David Akers
Jason Elam
John Kasay
Ryan Longwell
Neil Rackers 
Jeff Reed

D/STs 
Denver x3 
Arizona 
Baltimore
Carolina
Dallas
Oakland
San Diego

IDPs 
Dre Bly
Karlos Dansby
Julius Peppers
Jonathan Vilma

Look for a brief season preview some time in the next 2 days.
 

Today, I walked into The Ballpark in Arlington and rooted against the Texas Rangers.  It was a strange feeling.  The reason?  My Chicago Cubs were in town, finishing up the first series played between the two teams since the Rangers moved from Washington.  My baseball bigamy is well documented, and when we first obtained tickets for this game in February, I worried about who I would cheer for.  Little did I know that by June 21st, the Rangers would have the worst record in baseball, leaving me with an easy decision to make: I would root for the Cubs, the only team in the game with a chance. 

When gametime came, I really was rooting for the Cubs to win.  In fact, when the Rangers won 6-5 on Frank Catalanotto’s walk-off single, I was pretty disappointed.  But, I did find myself rooting for the Rangers at times.  I jumped up and cheered when Hairston made an awesome running catch in left field.  Same thing when Michael Young came through with some clutch hits.  The people behind me must have thought I was crazy.  All in all, I’m just glad neither one of my teams got blown out and that there were no fights.

Here are some more observations from the game:

1 - Apparently, I’m not the only one with an affinity for both the Cubs and the Rangers.  I saw several people wearing merchandise for both teams. (I simply went with the Cubs hat I bought at Wrigley 4 years ago.)  One lady was wearing a Texas Soriano jersey with a Cubs hat.  By contrast, a man was wearing a Chicago Sosa jersey with a Rangers hat.  The funniest one I saw was a man wearing a "Don’t Mess With Texas" shirt under his unbuttoned Mark Prior jersey.  He completed the ensemble with a 1914 Cubs hat.

2 - We got to the game a little more than an hour early and took our seats just over the right field fence.  Both teams had already taken batting practice and there were no players on the field.  At about 12:10 (Gametime was 1:05) a very tall, scrawny man wearing athletic gear and an iPod started walking toward us on the field.  I was confused, because he carried himself like a player, but he didn’t really look like one.  He stopped right in front of us, saw me watching, gave a little nod, and took off jogging around the perimeter of the field.  After taking three laps, he stopped to stretch, then put his uniform and gear on.  It turns out that this very skinny man was Adam Melhuse, who was getting the start at catcher.  I guess the extra work must have jacked him up for the game, because he hit a home run and was solid behind the plate.  It was nice to see the backup catcher who is new to the team take such a serious approach to his preparation, and then watch it pay off for him.

3 - It seems that both teams had some pretty similar things going for them positionally.  Both had their new back-up catcher starting (Melhuse and Rob Bowen, though it remains to be seen what role he’ll have).  Neither gold-glove first basemen played in the field (Derrek Lee was the DH, and Teixeira is on the DL).  Both had rookie phenoms in center field (Felix Pie and Marlon Byrd).  Both had utility infielders playing for their injured third basemen (Travis Metcalf and Mark DeRosa). 

4 - Another similarity: both right fielders struggled with the glove.  Wilkerson was his same slow self, plodding along as if he has no knees.  I honestly felt as if any pop-up to right had a chance to fall in.  Pagan let one go over his head in the fifth that opened the floodgates.  I doubt it will show up in the highlights of the game, but that play looked really bad.  Finally, there was the final play.  Angel almost got to the ball with a dive, but I feel as if he could have gotten there if he had made the correct read.  Just my opinion.

5 - Apparently Vicente Padilla has been working on the Eephus pitch, and he brought it out four times, hitting below 60 on the radar each time.  Three out of the four times it happened, the Cubs hitters stood in the box looking dumbfounded.  The other time, Pagan hit a weak pop-up to center when it looked like he was trying to foul it off.  Padilla seems to mix it in well, either following it or preceding it with a fastball in the 92-95 range. 

All in all, a very good experience to have.  It was fun to see the Cubs.  I had only seen them two times previously.  The first was a four-inning unofficial game at Wrigley and the second was the fourth game of a four game sweep of the Astros at Minute Maid.  I don’t really like the feeling of rooting against the Rangers - I got some of the same looks I must have given people wearing Red Sox hats at the home opener.  Saturday I will be at Game 5 of the Lone Star Series, so it will be all Rangers, all the time.  I should have a report after that one as well.

Just thought I would pass this on to you, the loyal reader.  I found this during spring training while I was looking around preparing to write a baseball preview for this site, which you no doubt have noticed has still not appeared.  Patience, grasshopper.  The semester is almost over.

It turns out that the Cubs are not cursed by a goat after all…

            

 We’re sorry we blamed it on you, Mr. Sianis.