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The NFL season has officially begun. Let’s all take a moment and rejoice in this joyous occasion.
Being a complete sucker for sports history, I watched the Hall of Fame induction and imagined what it would be like to cry in front of a group of my peers and a national TV audience. I also caught most of the Redskins/Colts game and am on the verge of jumping onto the Colt Brennan bandwagon.
And although neither event was particularly memorable, watching them did get me even more excited about the upcoming season. Since I was so excited about football I decided to take a break from preparing for my fantasy football draft and came up with 10 reasons to be psyched for this year’s NFL season.
10] The Brett Favre watch – Everybody complains that they are tired of hearing about the latest will-he-or-won’t-he-play talk, but every time I speak to a NFL fan they always seem to know the freshest Favre information. Adding to the intrigue is the fact that both he and Packer’s management have treated the situation about as bad as they possible could.
Now we all begin each day wondering whether or not he will he start for the Packers this season; if Aaron Rodgers can ever mentally overcome the circus; how likely it is John Madden cries during Sunday Night Football if he sees Favre Play; and how ESPN will survive in the post-Favre era?
9] Watching this year’s “sleeper” team fail – I know it’s a little perverse, but I get sick of everyone jumping on a sleeper team every year. It has gotten to the point where it is just as bad to be the sheik sleeper team as it is to be on the cover of Madden; no one wants the curse.
Last year the media was talking about how the 49ers were a team to watch, and the moment they did, as a 49er fan I knew the season was doomed. This year the NFL community is hyping the Minnesota Vikings like crazy. Now we have to spend 16 weeks watching them not live up to expectations.
8] NFL Live – Really, is there anything more ridiculous than watching NFL Live in June? Over the summer we take a half-hour out of our day to hear why the Miami Dolphins cut their backup janitor. But once the season rolls around, NFL Live becomes as addicting as crack.
The show keeps us up to date on how every team in the NFL is doing and points us in the right direction for players to watch and players to forget. As an added bonus, hearing Ron “Jaws” Jaworski break down film makes us all wish we would have paid attention more while in school.
7] Seeing karma destroy the Patriots – Like most people who don’t live in Boston, I’m not a fan of the New England Cheaters Patriots. Although I dislike them for different reasons then most people (Bledsoe shouldn’t have lost his job to injury!), watching their perfect season swirl down the Super Bowl drain last year was beautiful.
Who would have ever thought that Eli Manning would go toe-to-toe with Tom Brady and come out on top? The Patriots look good again this year, but I have the feeling that their Spygate misdeeds will once again be punished by the football Gods.
6] Grown men beating each other senseless – If we were really honest about it we would say that one of the best things about the NFL is the big hits. Seeing a defensive end blindside a quarterback who stood a little too long in the pocket sends shivers down our spine and adrenaline throughout our body.
You could also add to the list: a running back trying to jump over the pile, a punt returner not waiving for a fair catch and getting laid out, and a wide receiver that was hung out to dry by his quarterback who makes him jump in the air over the middle.
I know I wasn’t the only one who was a bit freaked out last night from the Yankees and Red Sox pregame show on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball.
I couldn’t understand why I was not paying attention to the commentators, then it hit me. It was because I was trying to figure out what was going on with Orel Hershiser’s nose. Then last night I woke up in a cold sweat from a nightmare from Orel’s haunting, Satanic face. I swear the man looks he’s going to jump up and bite my ankles.
With the high angle ESPN was using to shoot these guys, it made me think of Orel as a little rottweiler and Jim Miller kind of looked like the little Keebler elf without his little, funny hat.
Great, now I want a cookie. Be right back.
If you spend any time watching ESPN or ABC, you surely have seen one of the NBA’s where amazing happens commercials.
These 30 second melodramas display messages of perseverance, dedication and emotion – each glorifying a different NBA superstar – ending with a flash of the NBA logo in what is truly some of the best PR in sports.
They’re catchy. They’re emotionally charged. And now I can’t watch one without getting a dirty feeling in the pit of my stomach.
The Seattle Supersonics Oklahoma Yet-To-Be-Named played their first summer league game Monday, their first action since last week’s $75 million dollar settlement that finally brought an end to one of the saddest stories in sports.
A month from now nobody will remember the final score (95-78, Pacers) or who took the first shot in Oklahoma’s newest chapter of basketball history (Jeff Green), but years from now people will still be talking about the team formerly known as the Seattle Supersonics.
When Starbucks millionaire Howard Shultz sold the Sonics to Clay Bennett two years ago, the deal was that Bennett’s ownership group had to make a “good faith effort” to try and keep the team in Seattle. Two years and several revealing emails later, it became known that Bennett and company never had any such intentions and were in fact waiting for the right time to leave Seattle in their rearview mirror.
Throughout the entire process, NBA commissionaire David Stern had disturbingly little involvement. He sat back and let the spectacle play out, losing one Seattle fan at a time. Isn’t his duty to protect the league’s integrity? Don’t you think that if a NBA player reneged on his contract and left to play for another team Stern would have intervened?
But of course he did nothing. The people of Seattle are left with nothing more than 41 years of memories. But hey, Stern says maybe in the future it might be possible for the city to get another team.
The people in Seattle who spent the last year dishing out their hard earned money on Kevin Durant jerseys are left with a useless piece of memorabilia. But hey, maybe it will be worth money some day.
The people who grew up in Seattle watching The Glove dish alley-oops to Shawn Kemp will have to explain to their kids why they can’t go to Sonics’ games anymore. But hey, kids have to grow up sometime, right?
I realize that when it comes down to it the NBA is merely a business, but everything about this franchise relocation stinks. Bennett justified the move with a lack of public financing for a new building, but Seattle shelled out money to renovate Key Arena just 14 years ago.
Ask yourself, how long has it been since your favorite NBA franchise received a new building? Is your team next? Is mine?
Eventually we will all move on though, and to show Bennett that I’m not a poor sport I’ve even prepared an ad to get the people of Oklahoma excited for their new team.
Two tickets to opening night of the Oklahoma Yet-To-Be-Named … $120
Two hot dogs and two sodas … $18
Hijacking 41 years of history and part of a city’s identity … $75 million
Who said reporters can’t be cool and get the girls.
They can be hip. They can be cool. So cool, that they are hanging out with porn stars and Playmates.
After the Lakers game the other night, Pardon the Interuption’s Michael Wilbon, ESPN.com and LA Times writer J.A. Adande and analyst Jon Barry were all out at the Los Angeles club Les Deux. The trio was enjoying a night on the town when they ran into an unlikely crowd that I never thought they’d ever socialize with. It’s like the band geeks hanging out with the jocks. It just seems so weird.
Anyways, Wilborn took a picture with none other than Carly Parker and The Girls Next Door’s Kendra, whereas Adande looks way too happy next to Lisa Lipps.
I wonder if they’re big fans of the ladies’ work.
Source: Deadspin via
I’ve seen some devastating skiing accidents courtesy of ESPN, but this made me flinch a little more than usual.
This video shows the horrific accident of Austrian skier Matthias Lanzinger.
The aftermath? He had to have his lower left leg amputated yesterday.
If you have a weak stomach, I recommend not watching.
To check out our skiing equipment on Smarter.com, click here.
Source: The Big Lead via Canadian Press
This week in news and sports blogs around the Net:
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ESPN’s Chris Berman should know by now that when the guys in the studio say that they’re not recording, that they are still recording.
But this time, Berman is a bit more friendly. Probably too friendly. It’s like he’s on some prescription drugs he smuggled over from Canada.
Umm, NSA, can you please be sure to check Chris Berman’s bags a little more thoroughly please? Apparently this man has been a smuggler for quite some time. This video is proof that whatever he’s taking, it clearly makes him speak in tongues.
And just in case you missed Berman’s explosion on air, here is the link. But just warning you, Berman is using some pretty strong, profane language. It’s funny to see this side of him though.
Source: College Humor
This week in news and sports blogs around the Net:
And in Smarter Sports we talked about:
This week in news and sports blogs around the Net:
And in Smarter Sports we talked about:
