Chicagoland native recently relocated to San Diego, California. Been out here since February 2015 and have come to the conclusion that the west coast time zone is amazing for sports fans! No game is too late. I envision the perfect football season ahead: waking up by 10am, start sippin on bloodies on the couch, planted drinking IPA's by the Sunday night game and passed out by 9:30 with plenty of rest for Monday!
Well, if you are lucky enough to live on the East coast, then you probably didn't waste any of your life Monday night watching the abysmal display put forth by the Los Angeles Rams and the San Francisco 49ers. I envy you for this - Case Keenum and Blaine Gabbert playing quarterback in the same game should be an FCC violation. In a game that gave us a combined passing total of 300 yards and a mere 185 yards of total offense from the Rams, there was little to get excited about. There was however one exciting moment which came early in the fourth quarter brilliantly called by Kevin Harlan.
Watch Kevin Harlan's brilliant call here.
There were a few things I could take away from this game. Gurley and Hyde will be 2 of the top rushers for this season if they can stay healthy. Tavon Austin will be a focal point of the Rams’ offense. Jared Goff will be starting under center sooner than later, watching the display Keenum will put on week in and week out will have no educational value and can only hurt in my opinion. Finally one of these two teams will likely be picking number one in next year’s draft.
So as I sit on my couch today to watch a potential series clinching game for the Chicago Cubs at home against the St. Louis Cardinals I am left saying “What The Fuck”! Who is making the MLB playoff schedules? This game with the most popular team in the playoffs playing against the team with the best record in baseball is being played at 4:30pm in the eastern time zone. What the Fuck? Now that would be bad enough if even one of the teams resided in the eastern time zone, with most fans still at work even on the east coast. But both teams are in the central time zone where it will be 3:30 and the west coast can enjoy the game over their lunch break.
Major League Baseball, get your heads out of your asses! The playoffs are the only time your snail paced sport is more exciting than reading Apples terms and conditions agreement, and you are burying all your games in the daytime as if it is week one of your 60 week season! You are missing a great opportunity to appeal to casual sports fans and squandering countless dollars.
It is clear to me that the season is just too too long. They are trying to rush the most important portion of their season simply because they have run out of time in the calendar year. Let me offer up a simple and reasonable solution to your problem. First, the amount of non playoff games needs to be reduced. This can be done by doing one or both of the following. Eliminate the preseason, players train year round and no longer need the time to get in shape, so it is really only useful to let young minor league players get a shot in a non typical major league situation. This year players started arriving at camp February 19 and the regular season didn't start until April 6th. Next, shorten the regular season. 162 games is absurd - lets make it a clean 100.
Now with all this extra time we will fix the post season. First off no more one game wildcard “Playoff”. Even as the season is currently constructed, this needs to be a minimum 3 games. Next, each series thereafter should be 7 games. It makes no sense to jump from 5 to 7 in the conference finals.
NO DAY GAMES DURING THE WEEK! These games are so buried that a casual fan like myself can barely tell you which teams are playing. You want your games on in prime time when you can make more advertising dollars and people don't have to call out of work to attend the games. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, give the team with the best record home field advantage in the Damn World Series! It boggles the mind that the winner of the exhibition All Star game decides home field and that it makes more sense than the previous method of alternating years. I don't give a shit if the All Star game wasn't competitive, that's not what it is about. It is about seeing all the best players in one city and having fun.
While there are several other things about the sport that I would like to change, this should be a good start. I can't promise my changes will make the game exciting, but maybe at least you won't have to worry about a summer sport having a game snowed out in the championship Series.
Last week was a great start to the NFL season and my quest for the cash. Week 1, I correctly chose the Packers and the Dolphins to take care of business in my collective pools. The Packers looked solid against the Bears and the game was never really in doubt. While I wasn't impressed with the Dolphins performance against the hapless Redskins, I can breathe a sigh of relief booking the win and eliminating the Dolphins from my list of potential teams to pick in the single entry league.
I'm keeping it simple this week and picking the Saints to trounce the Bucs in their home opener. Not much to explain about this pick. Last week Dick LeBeau and the Titans defense held rookie QB Jameis Winston in check, and I expect similar results from Rob Ryan's Saints D. That Bucs offensive line brings back nightmares of the Lovie Smith/Mike Tice Bears Olines that had Jay Cutler shoving J'Marcus Webb during games. Then there's the fact that the Bucs defense was soo bad it has ESPN analyst putting Marcus Mariota in the Hall of Fame after his first game! Drew Brees must be licking his chops.
The line on this game is Saints10 or 10.5 depending on your source, the largest of the week. I expect a majority of entrants in both pools to take the Saints and am willing to go down with the masses if it comes to that. I see this as a good opportunity to use an underwhelming Saints team in the single entry format league against a rebuilding Bucs team.
Week | Single Entry Pick | Unlimited Entry Pick |
1 |
Dolphins | Packers |
2 | Saints | Saints |
The last two seasons have brought early exits for me in the survivor pool league. (Hey even Sex Panther only works 60% of the time every time). I hope to turn it around this year by offering kings blood to the football gods. Also I joined a second and theoretically easier elimination pool where I will be able to pick a team multiple times. I will be referring to the leagues from here on out as single entry(for the league I can only use a team once) and unlimited entry for the other. Each week throughout the season I will give my picks and offer up the reasoning for my choices. And if I am wrong I will explain why the NFL is stupid and my team is the real winner.
So week one is a tough one. All I have to go on is the pre-season, which I watch little to none of every year, trends being established at the end of last year, and off-season moves.
For my single entry pick I am going with the Miami Dolphins over the Washington Redskins on the road. Washington is quickly becoming the laughing stock of the league with their terrible Quarterbacks, insane coach Jay Gruden and meddling owner Daniel Snyder. My early money is on Gruden to be the first head coach firing of the season.
The Dolphins bolstered their defense with the biggest free agent signing of the off-season in Ndamukong Suh, who they hope will make a big impact this season. Also they traded for wide-out Kenny Stills to provide a deep threat for blossoming QB Ryan Tannehill. The Dolphins could sniff a playoff berth this year, especially with the soft first 6 games of the season vs: Skins, Jags, Bills, Jets, Titans, and Texans. They will be looking to come out of the gate hot by first rolling over the hapless Redskins.
On the unlimited entry pick I have to go with the Green Bay Packers, a team I have a feeling I will be picking a lot this year. Vegas has them as the pre-season favorites to win the Super Bowl. Aaron Rodgers has a 12-2 record vs the Chicago Bears and should improve upon that come Sunday in a game they are favored by 7 points. (the 2nd biggest spread of the week after the 7 ½ pt favorite Patriots) While I think the Bears will seem more like a football team this year with the hire of real life head coach John Fox, it just won't happen on Sunday.
Good Luck this year, and drink five for the start of the NFL season tonight when the Steelers take on the Patriots!!