Friday, September 15, 2006
Sports Barf, The Response
Since I'm a little late to the party, I thought I'd go with a second post in response to Big Thunder's football extravaganza (sp?). So we'll go one at a time:
Tennis
The fourth set had nothing to do with Roddick's heart and everything to do with Federer's talent. I actually think Roddick plays with about as much heart as anyone in tennis, right up there with Lleyton Hewitt and Marcos Baghdatis (who is big on pounding his chest as a reminder), but when Federer shifts into a higher gear no one can stay with him. That includes Nadal. With all apologies to Tiger, Federer should be the 2006 Athlete of the Year. Heading into the 2004 season Federer had one major. Now he has nine. No one but Borg has accomplished as much by 25 as Federer, and he's the most amazing athlete I've ever seen live. Ok, I'm done gushing here.
College Football
Couldn't agree more about Ohio State. They dominated Texas. I thought the Buckeyes would win, but not as convincingly as that. A really, really impressive showing because Texas is still a very talented team. Plus, now Ohio State gets to sit back and see who will contend after this weekend, which is the first time in 13 years that seven games have involved top 25 teams.
I know everyone loves the Notre Dame-Michigan matchup and ABC is pumping USC-Nebraska (probably the day's fifth-best game), but the clear Game of the Day is Auburn-LSU. They would be No. 3 and No. 5, respectively, in my top 20 and the winner has the inside track to winning the best conference in football. Huge game. The other interesting one is Lousville-Miami because, oddly enough, I want to see if Miami is any good. I have a feeling that the Miami-FSU game to start the season may have been a matchup of two teams more likely to finish around 25th than around 10th. But I'm wrong frequently, which brings us to ...
NFL
The Ravens blew me -- and the Bucs, for that matter -- away. Wow. I thought they were the most overrated team heading into the season, but they looked great. Now, it's only one game (ie, no need to panic in Tampa, Dallas, etc.) but that defense was remarkable and McNair looked solid. The North division, particularly with how well Cincy has rebounded from their rash of incarcerations, is really interesting.
As to the Jets, a great start. Pennington looked really good and it was a good win considering it had all the makings of a typical Jet come-from-ahead loss. This team is still going 6-10, but at least it provides some rooting interest for a few more weeks. Side note, interesting that the Jets used a second round pick on Mike Nugent after one bad game by Doug Brien (I know this game was far less important, but I can't imagine this has been a fun week for Nugent).
Also, I completely agree about Steven Jackson. I thought he was a stud in college and is a perfect NFL back. I think the same of Laurence Maroney. And Larry Johnson will struggle some because the Chiefs are going to have a tough year. I always really liked Herm Edwards, but I don't think he's a great coach and this team lacks playmakers outside the new LJ (doing the old LJ pose via the 4-point play).
While I hesitate to make too many judgments off Week 1, I think we can safely conclude that the Titans, Raiders, Packers and 49ers will not be contending for playoff spots this year. I see them as the Jets' big obstacles to Adrian Peterson.
Tennis
The fourth set had nothing to do with Roddick's heart and everything to do with Federer's talent. I actually think Roddick plays with about as much heart as anyone in tennis, right up there with Lleyton Hewitt and Marcos Baghdatis (who is big on pounding his chest as a reminder), but when Federer shifts into a higher gear no one can stay with him. That includes Nadal. With all apologies to Tiger, Federer should be the 2006 Athlete of the Year. Heading into the 2004 season Federer had one major. Now he has nine. No one but Borg has accomplished as much by 25 as Federer, and he's the most amazing athlete I've ever seen live. Ok, I'm done gushing here.
College Football
Couldn't agree more about Ohio State. They dominated Texas. I thought the Buckeyes would win, but not as convincingly as that. A really, really impressive showing because Texas is still a very talented team. Plus, now Ohio State gets to sit back and see who will contend after this weekend, which is the first time in 13 years that seven games have involved top 25 teams.
I know everyone loves the Notre Dame-Michigan matchup and ABC is pumping USC-Nebraska (probably the day's fifth-best game), but the clear Game of the Day is Auburn-LSU. They would be No. 3 and No. 5, respectively, in my top 20 and the winner has the inside track to winning the best conference in football. Huge game. The other interesting one is Lousville-Miami because, oddly enough, I want to see if Miami is any good. I have a feeling that the Miami-FSU game to start the season may have been a matchup of two teams more likely to finish around 25th than around 10th. But I'm wrong frequently, which brings us to ...
NFL
The Ravens blew me -- and the Bucs, for that matter -- away. Wow. I thought they were the most overrated team heading into the season, but they looked great. Now, it's only one game (ie, no need to panic in Tampa, Dallas, etc.) but that defense was remarkable and McNair looked solid. The North division, particularly with how well Cincy has rebounded from their rash of incarcerations, is really interesting.
As to the Jets, a great start. Pennington looked really good and it was a good win considering it had all the makings of a typical Jet come-from-ahead loss. This team is still going 6-10, but at least it provides some rooting interest for a few more weeks. Side note, interesting that the Jets used a second round pick on Mike Nugent after one bad game by Doug Brien (I know this game was far less important, but I can't imagine this has been a fun week for Nugent).
Also, I completely agree about Steven Jackson. I thought he was a stud in college and is a perfect NFL back. I think the same of Laurence Maroney. And Larry Johnson will struggle some because the Chiefs are going to have a tough year. I always really liked Herm Edwards, but I don't think he's a great coach and this team lacks playmakers outside the new LJ (doing the old LJ pose via the 4-point play).
While I hesitate to make too many judgments off Week 1, I think we can safely conclude that the Titans, Raiders, Packers and 49ers will not be contending for playoff spots this year. I see them as the Jets' big obstacles to Adrian Peterson.
# posted by EJ @ 9:54 AM 
