August Blues
August is a tough month in the world of sports. You basically have Baseball, the PGA Championship and the unfulfilled promise of football.
The PGA championship is fine, but it has the downside of being golf. For me, watching golf can actually be fairly entertaining but it really requires Tiger to be in the hunt. I’m an unapologetic bandwagon Tiger fan. I don’t so much like Tiger as I enjoy his dominance. I just like watching Tiger set records and dominate the sport, so if he’s in contention golf is pretty fun, but if not…it’s just golf. So the PGA has a chance to be interesting, but you can’t really count on it.
I’m a baseball fan, but mostly I’m a Giant’s fan, so like Tiger and golf, I’m mostly only interested in baseball if the Giants are good. If you follow baseball at all you know the Giants are..ummm…how should I put this….awful. That’s it, they are awful. And that would be bad enough, but to make matters worse they have this Bonds guy, maybe you’ve heard of him, who is relatively hard to get behind as a fan. Easy to hide behind (my man is huge), but hard to support. So, baseball’s not offering much.
The real problem with August though is that you can’t stop thinking about football. It’s like a constant tease. Preseason NFL just makes matters worse. It is even really too early to be planning for fantasy football, but I can’t help myself. So, for no good reason other than the promise of football is crowding my brain right now, here are some predictions about the upcoming football season:
1. The Oregon Ducks will win the Pac-10 outright. I think football is won and lost on the O-line and with Oregon returning theirs, they are off to a good start. Plus, even though he may not be as good all around, I believe Dixon is actually an upgrade given the type of offense the Ducks want to run. USC will stumble, Cal isn’t ready and everyone else is mediocre at best. There you have it, your Pac 10 champs, the Oregon Ducks
2. The 49ers will be the surprise team in the NFL this year. They will go 8-8 and shock the world by making the playoffs. Alex Smith will start to look like an elite QB and Frank Gore will rush for 1200 yards while Vernon Davis becomes the next Antonio Gates.
3. The trailblazers will trade Darius Miles to Chicago for the Knicks’ number one pick next year which could lead to the Blazers getting Oden and another stud in the same draft. Ok, so I know that’s not football but I had to toss it in.
4. Miami is going to win 11 games and go into the playoffs with Joey Harrington as their starting QB.
5. Parcells will hire Jeff Gilooly to take TO out so he doesn’t have to deal with him any more. This will happen in about week 3.
6. The Cardinals will still be really bad and Edge will miss Indy way more than Indy misses Edge.
7. USC will lose its home opener to Arkansas
8. Tony Kornheiser will be everything Dennis Miller was supposed to be but wasn’t on MNF and Joe Theisman will pass everyone but Bill Walton on my “most annoying sports commentators” list.
9. Larry Johnson will score half as many TDs as he did last year, killing countless fantasy seasons and the Chiefs will be this year’s “what happened to them, I thought they were supposed to be good” team.
10. StumpTown will return to past glory and win the Boyz Near the Hood fantasy football championship.
There you have it. All that stuff is going to happen (at least it should), so now you don’t even need to watch, but I still will, of course. Anything but more Yankees/Red Sox.
Oh, also, I am really enjoying two other sports related things right now.
First, team USA in the world basketball championships. I love that James and Wade appear on their way to saving America’s hoops rep in the same way they’re saving the NBA. I am not predicting nothing but blowouts like so many on local talk radio, but I do think they’ll win and it’s just good to see them finally taking the right approach.
Second, The Contender. This boxing show on ESPN shines a bright light on what is wrong with boxing. The fact that this show can take 12 guys no one has ever heard of and show them in 5 round bouts that are totally altered with camera work to manipulate the viewer, and make that by far the most interesting thing in boxing tells you all you need to about this sport. Boxing is totally lost right now, but this contender tournament is good, good entertainment. For what it’s worth, if you’re watching, right now I like Walter to win it all. If you aren’t watching, give it a whirl. It’s cheesy and contrived, but surprisingly compelling.
Ok, that’s all for now.
August is a tough month in the world of sports. You basically have Baseball, the PGA Championship and the unfulfilled promise of football.
The PGA championship is fine, but it has the downside of being golf. For me, watching golf can actually be fairly entertaining but it really requires Tiger to be in the hunt. I’m an unapologetic bandwagon Tiger fan. I don’t so much like Tiger as I enjoy his dominance. I just like watching Tiger set records and dominate the sport, so if he’s in contention golf is pretty fun, but if not…it’s just golf. So the PGA has a chance to be interesting, but you can’t really count on it.
I’m a baseball fan, but mostly I’m a Giant’s fan, so like Tiger and golf, I’m mostly only interested in baseball if the Giants are good. If you follow baseball at all you know the Giants are..ummm…how should I put this….awful. That’s it, they are awful. And that would be bad enough, but to make matters worse they have this Bonds guy, maybe you’ve heard of him, who is relatively hard to get behind as a fan. Easy to hide behind (my man is huge), but hard to support. So, baseball’s not offering much.
The real problem with August though is that you can’t stop thinking about football. It’s like a constant tease. Preseason NFL just makes matters worse. It is even really too early to be planning for fantasy football, but I can’t help myself. So, for no good reason other than the promise of football is crowding my brain right now, here are some predictions about the upcoming football season:
1. The Oregon Ducks will win the Pac-10 outright. I think football is won and lost on the O-line and with Oregon returning theirs, they are off to a good start. Plus, even though he may not be as good all around, I believe Dixon is actually an upgrade given the type of offense the Ducks want to run. USC will stumble, Cal isn’t ready and everyone else is mediocre at best. There you have it, your Pac 10 champs, the Oregon Ducks
2. The 49ers will be the surprise team in the NFL this year. They will go 8-8 and shock the world by making the playoffs. Alex Smith will start to look like an elite QB and Frank Gore will rush for 1200 yards while Vernon Davis becomes the next Antonio Gates.
3. The trailblazers will trade Darius Miles to Chicago for the Knicks’ number one pick next year which could lead to the Blazers getting Oden and another stud in the same draft. Ok, so I know that’s not football but I had to toss it in.
4. Miami is going to win 11 games and go into the playoffs with Joey Harrington as their starting QB.
5. Parcells will hire Jeff Gilooly to take TO out so he doesn’t have to deal with him any more. This will happen in about week 3.
6. The Cardinals will still be really bad and Edge will miss Indy way more than Indy misses Edge.
7. USC will lose its home opener to Arkansas
8. Tony Kornheiser will be everything Dennis Miller was supposed to be but wasn’t on MNF and Joe Theisman will pass everyone but Bill Walton on my “most annoying sports commentators” list.
9. Larry Johnson will score half as many TDs as he did last year, killing countless fantasy seasons and the Chiefs will be this year’s “what happened to them, I thought they were supposed to be good” team.
10. StumpTown will return to past glory and win the Boyz Near the Hood fantasy football championship.
There you have it. All that stuff is going to happen (at least it should), so now you don’t even need to watch, but I still will, of course. Anything but more Yankees/Red Sox.
Oh, also, I am really enjoying two other sports related things right now.
First, team USA in the world basketball championships. I love that James and Wade appear on their way to saving America’s hoops rep in the same way they’re saving the NBA. I am not predicting nothing but blowouts like so many on local talk radio, but I do think they’ll win and it’s just good to see them finally taking the right approach.
Second, The Contender. This boxing show on ESPN shines a bright light on what is wrong with boxing. The fact that this show can take 12 guys no one has ever heard of and show them in 5 round bouts that are totally altered with camera work to manipulate the viewer, and make that by far the most interesting thing in boxing tells you all you need to about this sport. Boxing is totally lost right now, but this contender tournament is good, good entertainment. For what it’s worth, if you’re watching, right now I like Walter to win it all. If you aren’t watching, give it a whirl. It’s cheesy and contrived, but surprisingly compelling.
Ok, that’s all for now.
Comments
- Oregon. I like the Ducks, so I hope you are right. Love the uni's, love Colvin, LOVE Jonathon Stewart. That said, I think you are underestimating their chief rivals in the Pac-10. Cal gets their QB back and won't have a converted fullback tossing passes this year (which means that WR DeSean Lynch is about to blow up) and will have Lynch back at full strength (he might be the best RB in the country, along with Kenny Irons at Auburn, Peterson at OU, Slaton at West Virginia, Bush at Louisville, Bernard at OSU, and Garrett Wolfe at NIU) with Forsett backing him up. Cal is going to score a lot of points and be real good. As for SC, I am sad to say that they aren't rebuilding, but simply reloading. They have key positions to fill, but oh so much talent. Booty and Sanchez are both elite QB's, they have like six RB's better than 100 schools' starters (led by junior Chauncey Washington who was more heralded than Bush or LenDale as a frosh and freshman sensation Stefon Johnson), and they have three of the best receivers in the country. Throw in the fact that half of their "replacements" were starters two years ago that missed last season with injury and you are looking at a scary, scary team. Throw in the fact that the Ducks have to face both those teams on the road (not to mention road contests with two of my Pac-10 sleepers: OSU and WSU) and I don't see how they can win the conference.
- Niners. Sorry again. Gore is brittle, Bryant should never, ever be someone's #1 WR, they are inexpicably starting Johnson over Davis at TE, and the defense is still too young to carry the load. Not to mention that Alex Smith may still be a total trainwreck for all we know. Even if he's decent I think they win 6 games, max. I can honestly see them sitting at 1-7 when they go to Detroit.
I do think you were close though, geographically. Because the Raiders are going to be one of the big surprises this year. I have to cover them for Rotowire.com so I spend like 30 minutes each day scouring for tidbits like, "Ronald Curry was able to get out of his car without tearing his Achilles today." So I've been paying close attention and think that Shell has them going in the right direction. They have a lot of talent on offense and a young, lightening fast defense. They also have a pretty favorable sked and a division with some overrated teams (namely the Chiefs, as you pointed out). ("Big Ifs" alert!) If Brooks can be halfway decent at QB and if they can trade Porter and rid themselves of a huge distraction, I think they can win 8 or 9 games. They won't make the playoffs in the brutal AFC, but I think they will win more games than the Niners.
- Miles isn't getting traded to the Bulls. No chance Paxson is dumb enough to do that, especially when he already has a logjam at small forward. You know he is salivating over the prospect of landing Oden, as well he should be. They are a lowpost scorer away from being the best team in the East and they aren't going to spend that lottery ticket on Darius Miles.
Okay, now I am tired.
That said, your coverage of the Raiders must be affecting your objectivity. Apparently you forgot Aaron Brooks is their QB and no one is there number 2 WR right now. Plus their D is old at key positions and they play in a tough conference. I honestly think the Niners have a better shot at the playoffs which admittedly, is not that great.
And of course Chicago will not trade for Miles, just like no one will and we'll end up trading him for someone awful's expiring deal if we're lucky. Anyone have Jalen Rose's phone number?
Still, if you're going to make predictions about things you can't control, you might as well make them outlandish and things you want to happen. Afterall, everyone will forget the ones I get wrong, but I'll never let anyone forget the ones I get right.
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As the Raiders beat writer, it seems appropriate to go on record with a prediction for the 2006 season. So here it is ... 9-7, no playoff spot.
9-7 feels like a bold statement, and not just because they went 4-12 last year and had a decent shot at landing the #1 pick until late in the season. There is also the fact that they play in the mighty AFC, which features no less than nine teams that look like legit playoff squads. There is the fact that the AFC West in particular looks like a monster, with Denver, San Diego, and KC all teams capable of winning 10 or more games (stress capable - I personally think SD and KC are going to suck). Finally, there is the fact that they have a coach implementing an archaic system, two egotistical receivers that tend to make T.O. look stable and cooperative, a quarterback that the Saints didn't want (let that sink in for a minute), and a defense coming off a record-setting season for futility where interceptions are concerned (they picked off a whopping five).
So why, despite all that, am I forecasting a record better than .500? Am I insane? Am I drinking the Al Davis Kool-Aid?
Before you answer, allow me to forward my own possible solutions to this riddle:
1. To quote the annoying teenyboppers populating malls, movie theatres, and Maroon 5 concerts, the problem might be one of "TMI." That's right, too much information. Every day I read five different Bay Area newspapers in search of tidbits like "Ronald Curry was able to get out of his car without snapping his Achilles tendon today," and when you do that, you tend to get some of the fluff pieces as well. And I have to tell you, these Raiders beat writers are an optimistic bunch. They LOVE Art Shell. They LOVE rookies Thomas Howard and Michael Huff. They LOVE the assistant coaches, the practice facility, and Jerry Porter's giant gold belt. I'm telling you, these people are buying what Al Davis and Art Shell are selling. And after a while, I started to believe them. You read enough, "Aaron Brooks is picking up the playbook at an alarming rate!" stories and you start to think these guys are pretty great. Throw in the fact that I am universally ignoring the same over-indulgent stories about every other team and you can see why I might have blinders on.
2. The other factor is a better attempt at intelligent thinking (and less about being persuaded by propaganda) but a bigger stretch: I really believe that this Raiders team has a "the sum is better than the individual parts" feel to it. Shell’s schemes might be outdated, but I think Oakland will play hard and cut down on mistakes. The defense is young (well, except for Warren Sapp), but they have more playmakers now. There are plenty of skill position players that will make each other better, most notably Brooks and Moss, who may be able to tap into some of the things that made Culpepper and Moss so tough in Minnesota. Brooks needs a big time downfield threat and he has that in Moss, and Moss needs a mobile quarterback that can buy time for routes that go long (both in distance and in time) and he has that in Brooks. I think they can make it work. I think this whole roster can make it work, despite ample evidence to the contrary.
Overall, I just get a good vibe from this Raiders team. The question is which of the aforementioned reasons turns out to be real reason why this is the case. Do I like Oakland because they are going to be this year’s unexpected team that puts it all together, or do I like Oakland simply because I am too close to it all now and can’t see the forest for the trees? Stay tuned.
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So there you go.