NFL Week 3 Observations

I think week 3 told us a little bit more about who is a contender and who is a pretender. Here are a few of my thoughts after week 3.

1) New England, Indianapolis, and Pittsburgh look like the cream of the crop. Its still pretty early though, and none of them have faced a proven opponent yet. New England has blown out the Jets, Chargers, and Bills. The Colts have blown out the Saints and narrowly escaped the Titans and the Texans. The Steelers have annihilated the Browns, the Bills, and the 49ers. I initially thought the Chargers and Saints were going to be really good this year, but they both apparently suck.

2) I thought the AFC North was going to be the toughest Division in football this year, but I'm starting to think the AFC South may be the toughest. Jacksonville really made Denver look bad yesterday and Houston and Tennessee both look like they are really improved this year. If Tennessee beats New Orleans tonight, all 4 teams in the AFC South will have a winning record after their first 3 games. No other Division in the NFL has more than 2 teams left with a winning record.

3) I'm still not sure what to think of Green Bay. Beating the Eagles, the Giants, and the Chargers to start the season seems really impressive. I'm just not sure how good the Eagles, Giants, and Chargers are gonna be this year.

4) Dallas has been fun to watch, but I'm not too sure about their defense yet.

5) Detroit looked like Detroit again. They did score some points, though. I don't think they are ready for the playoffs yet, but anything could happen in the NFC.

6) What the hell is going on in Chicago? I think "Bad Rex" needs to take a seat. In 3 games he has 1 touchdown pass and 6 interceptions with a quarterback rating of 45.2. I think they need to give Griese a chance before they are eliminated from playoff contention.

7) Matt Schaub threw 2 interceptions yesterday and he still looked pretty good overall. I bet the Falcons are kicking themselves in the ass for letting him go.

8) I am starting to think that Eli Manning is showing some improvement this year. And don't look now, but the Giants 2 losses to Dallas and Green Bay are beginning to not look so bad. The Cowboys and the Packers are the only 2 undefeated teams left in the NFC.

9/21/07: Kentucky Basketball Update

Joe Crawford's knee surgery last week apparently went well. Billy Gillespie is reporting that Joe should be ready by the time the Big Blue begins practicing on October 12th. Billy did, however, express concern over the fact that Joe is missing a substantial amount of conditioning time.

Billy also said that Jared Carter and Derrick Jasper are recovering well from their off-season surgeries and they should both be returning to "full speed" in October.

UPDATE: Floyd landis Loses!!!

Read the ESPN story here.

He will have to forfeit his Tour de Farce title and he will be banned from competition for two years. I'll try to have more on this later.

And no, I didn't accidentally misspell France.

Dirty, Dirty, Dirty!

I'd like to say I'm surprised, but I'm not. I firmly believe that Rodney Harrison is a very bad person.

According to law enforcement sources, Rodney Harrison was ordering HGH from the Palm Beach Rejuvenation Center as far back as 2004. You may remember that the Patriots went on to win the Super Bowl that year over the Panthers. And, you may also remember that Harrison was outstanding all throughout the playoffs that year.

Didn't Rodney try to tell us just a few days ago that he only took the HGH the past two seasons "to try to accelerate the healing process" from his various injuries?

Wouldn't the playoffs and Super Bowl in 2004 be a little before the past two seasons?

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There are two things about this story that I find interesting:

#1) There were several Panther players in that same Super Bowl game who were also apparently hopped up on HGH and steroids. So, its not like the Panther players or fans can whine about Rodney Harrison cheating during the Super Bowl. Who says cheaters never win? How many Super Bowl rings does Rodney have now?

#2) How will Roger Goodell handle this situation if Rodney Harrison didn't tell the Commissioner the whole truth about his HGH use?

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I would think that the Commissioner would have no choice but to lengthen Harrison's suspension if it can be proven that Rodney did, in fact, lie to the Commissioner about how long he has actually been taking performance enhancing drugs.

I wonder what kind of lies are gonna come out of Rodney's mouth this time.

So What's Dan Patrick up to?

The countdown has begun.

I guess we'll find out approximately 11 Days and 20 Hours from now. I'll just be glad to see an end to all the Dan Patrick rumors.

The link above is to Dan's website.

Leftwich Signs With Atlanta

I think Joey Harrington is a really nice guy, but I'm starting to think he is not an NFL quarterback. Apparently, Arthur Blank is losing confidence in Joey as well.

The Atlanta Falcons signed Byron Leftwich today to a two year, 7 million dollar contract.

I find it interesting that Atlanta signed Byron to a two year contract. The length of the contract pretty much tells me that Michael Vick will not be welcomed back in Atlanta and that the Falcons think that Leftwich has something legitimate left in his tank. I don't think the Falcons were 100% convinced that leftwich was their guy, or they would have offered a longer contract. But, I bet you they open up the checkbook again real fast if Byron delivers like I think he will.

I think this signing is a good deal for the Falcons and for Leftwich. I just hope the Falcons can fix their offensive line issues before they ask Byron to take the field in a game. Leftwich can pick apart defenses if you give him some time, but he is notoriously slow of foot in the pocket. He also has an agonizingly long delivery on his throws. He won't be any more successful than Harrington if they can't give him the time he needs.

I'm still shocked that it took this long for somebody to sign Leftwich.

In Case You Haven't Heard

"The Mike Tirico" show will debut on ESPN Radio this Thursday and will fill part of the old "Dan Patrick Show" time slot. The Tirico Show will run from 1pm to 3 pm Monday through Friday. The remaining hour of the old "Dan Patrick Show" time slot will be filled by Stephen A. Smith and will run Monday through Friday from 3 pm to 4pm.

I really like Mike Tirico and I can't wait to hear his new show.

I'm not so excited about Stephen A. Smith. In fact, I'm pretty disappointed.

But, I have already done some checking and I have discovered that FOX Sports Radio has a show called "The Drive" that runs Monday through Friday from 3 pm to 7 pm. "The Drive" features Chris Myers and former NFL star Bryan Cox. So, I guess it will work out for me. On the days that I am working out of my truck I will listen to Tirico from 1 pm to 3 pm, and then I will switch over to Fox Sports Radio and catch "The Drive."

If you are like me and can't stand Stephen A. Smith, you might want to check and see if you can get Fox Sports Radio in your area. I have never listened to Fox Sports Radio, but it has to be better than listening to Stephen A. Smith!

McNabb Plays the Race Card

I was disappointed when I read the Donovan McNabb story on ESPN's website today.

It seems that Donovan did an interview for HBO's "Real Sports" where he claims that African-American quarterbacks face more pressure and criticism than white quarterbacks.

Let me start here by saying that I really like Donovan McNabb. I enjoy watching him play football and I thoroughly enjoy listening to him whenever he gets interviewed. But, I am going to have to disagree with Donovan on this one.

All quarterbacks, whether white or African-American, get criticized. Hell, even Peyton Manning has taken a lot of heat over the years for having "happy feet" and "not being able to win the big game." Joe Montana, Dan Marino, John Elway, and Tom Brady all have been criticized. The quarterback is the most visible player on the football field. He gets the credit when his team succeeds and he gets the blame when his team fails. Right or wrong, that is the way it has always been. Maybe Donovan should give Rex Grossman a call and get "Bad Rex's" opinion on the subject. The last time I checked, Rex was white, and he seems to take more criticism than any quarterback in the league. And Rex went to the Super Bowl last season.

I think Donovan might feel like African-American quarterbacks are being singled out for criticism right now because of the whole Michael Vick thing and because of McNabb's own current situation.

Donovan has been playing hurt for awhile and by his own admission he is probably only performing at about 75-80 %. It is obvious that he is not the same player that he was when he was healthy. I don't think Donovan is taking any more criticism than anyone else in his shoes would be taking right now given his recent performances. Plus, he plays in Philadelphia. Every athlete thats plays in Philly is under pressure from the crazy fan base and the ridiculous expectations.

I think Donovan McNabb needs to take a step back and look around the rest of the League. He isn't the only guy under pressure and being criticized right now. Joey Harrington and Eli Manning come to mind.

I'm not gonna sit here and say that African-American quarterbacks have never been judged unfairly because of the color of their skin (I firmly believe that Warren Moon never gets the credit that he deserves as one of the best quarterbacks who ever played the game). But, I think you could also easily make the argument that sometimes African-American quarterbacks might get more credit than they deserve. I'm not saying that is a true statement, but I think it holds about as much water as what Donovan McNabb just said.

This is all about perspective. The grass is always greener on the other side. etc. etc. etc.

Donovan needs to stop being so sensitive and start playing ball.

"There's no room for crying in football!"

Stern Still Doesn't Get it!

It was announced today that the NBA has reinstated Joey Crawford.

In case you forgot, Joey had been suspended indefinitely for the "improper conduct and lack of professionalism" that he displayed during a game between the Spurs and Mavericks back in April. Joey is the ref who assessed two technicals on Tim Duncan in a span of 76 seconds. The second technical appeared to have been assessed to Duncan simply because he was laughing while he was sitting on the bench. Then Joey apparently tried to challenge Duncan to a fight.

I just don't understand why David Stern would let a ref with Joey's reputation back into the League right now. I think most sports fans would probably agree that Joey Crawford might be the worst referee they have ever seen. I know he is the worst ref I have ever seen. I think the decision to reinstate Crawford is just further proof that David Stern just doesn't see the big picture.

David Stern needs to resign!

In case you haven't guessed, I don't think much of David Stern. I have included the links to some of my previous posts about the idiot below. If you check out the "Stern Sucks" post at the bottom you'll notice that I posted that one on April 18th, 2007. I think you might find it kind of prophetic since I posted it well before the Donaghy story broke.

Pompous Ass
David Stern Should Resign
Sterns Press Conference
You Gotta Read This
David Stern's Email Address?
David Stern Is An Idiot!
I Knew It!
Stern Sucks & So Does The NBA

Observations From Week 2

Here are some of my thoughts after week 2 of the NFL season.

1) I bet there are some people in San Diego who think that Marty Schottenheimer doesn't look so bad right now. I sincerely hope there are some people in Cleveland who agree and might be willing to give Marty a job next year.

2) I'm thinking I might have been way off base when I predicted that the Saints were going to the Super Bowl this year. They looked absolutely putrid again.

3) Don't look now, but the Lions are still undefeated.

4) I'm thinking the Steelers might go undefeated through the regular season this year. Take a look at their schedule. It looks like New England might be their only tough game.

5) I think I might change my Super Bowl prediction to New England over Dallas. Not that Dallas is that great, but the rest of the NFC is looking pretty bad (again).

6) I know it is still early, but I think the Patriots have already clinched the AFC East. The other East teams are a combined 0-6 after the first two games.

7) I wasn't really surprised there were 96 total points scored in the Bengals/Browns game. I was just surprised that the Bengals didn't score all 96 of them.

8) The Vikings may want to take a look at Byron Leftwich.

9) Jeff Fisher is a great coach. I am convinced the Colts would have 3 or 4 Super Bowl Championships by now if Fisher had coached in Indy instead of Houston/Tennessee.

10) Derek Anderson turned in a great performance against the Bengals. Can he do it again?

11) Atlanta's offensive line sucks. Joey Harrington got sacked 7 times Sunday. In case you were wondering, he was sacked 6 times in the game last week. Those are David Carr numbers.