Viking Funeral
I wonder how the Gruden haters around the Tampa area plan to attack the man next? The first regular season game saw two rookies make big plays on offense. That doesn’t quite jibe with the standard view of Chucky, that he’s a veterans-only kind of guy. There were a fair number of young guys out there on the carpet Sunday, so what’s the deal haters? But before that, another round of upsets in the college ranks has the polls a shakin’ as October nears and the first BCS rankings start to take shape. Though this week’s poll results did show us one of the biggest flaws in the human poll system. Miami (FL), who did not play and is 0-1, moved up one spot to 13. Simply from attrition by teams losing above. What a great system. Why are the human polls so sacred?
Oh, and I got killed in fantasy.
Run Caddy, Run!
The Bucs wanted to start fast this season, and they sure did. With the Bucs in desperate need of a solid runner, rookie Cadillac Williams scooted for 148 yards and a touchdown on Sunday. The defense, always the Bucs’ strongest unit, flexed their muscles as well. Limiting the mighty Vikings’ offense to just six points. One low point, QB Brian Griese tossed another touchdown to the other team, putting the Bucs in an early 7-0 hole. But he came back and hit rookie TE Alex Smith for a pair of scores to put the Pewter Pirates ahead for good. Daunte Culpepper turned the ball over five times. And what was up with Mike Clayton dropping all of those balls?
For some reason, the game seemed to be ho-hum. Even with the Bucs doing good things on both sides of the ball. Heck, even the special teams showed some promise. But I just was not that excited about the game, and the win. Though with the emergence of Alex Smith and Cadillac as threats, the Bills might just have their hands full with us next week. Then again, we didn’t show much in the way of the vertical passing game. So the Bills can still stack the line and cover the short outs and possibly keep Gruden’s offense contained.
Bring On The Vols
One last tune-up game until the real season gets underway next week versus hated Tennessee. As expected, the Gators throttled Louisiana Tech by a score of 41-3. For the most part the Gators dominated on offense and defense. The special teams were another matter. The punt returners couldn’t seem to get anything going at all. Though Eric Wilbur did manage to make a botched snap into a decent punt in the second half.
One wonders about the intelligence of the SEC management at times, well okay, all the time. But this one takes the cake. The SEC was planning to send the same officiating crew from last year’s UF-Tennessee game to “work” the game this year. If you recall, those officials made a couple of mistakes that hurt the Gators. The SEC has since decided to send the side judge, who might actually be blind (he missed the first hit in the “Dallas Baker Incident” last year), to work another game.
Overmatched
It took playing an overmatched team for the Bulls to explode offensively. While super back Andre Hall was all over the field, the quarterbacking for the Bulls was still in the dumps. Between the three men who attempted a pass, they racked up the following stat line; 8-18, 113 yards, 1 TD. But when you have three guys run for 15, 91, and 83 yards you don’t really need the passing game. Next week should be another feast for the Bulls as the take on the UCF Golden Knights before embarking on their first run through the Big East.
Bad Things Man
The Thunderers limped into the season by being stomped by this week’s high scorer, the Gonads by a final tally of 80-59. I could have had a more respectable score had any of my skill players actually scored a touchdown. Aside from QB Ben Rothlesberger, no one could manage to find the end zone Sunday. Not Tory Holt, Willis McGahee, Curtis Martin, nor even Jason Witten toted the rock across the goal line. Next week, the Tunderers face Gr8hakr’s 1-0 Big Gimmicks.
Superdoomed?
Now that the remaining survivors from New Orleans have been moved to better shelters than the Super Dome, the assessment of the venue’s future can begin. The managers of the dome are saying that things might be salvageable at the venerable old stadium. Though, before they can figure out what needs to be fixed, they’ll have to remove the “leavings” of those who hunkered down beneath the dome’s Teflon. The tragedy along the Gulf Coast is enormous, and to think that anyone would care one way or the other about the future of this stadium right now is ludicrous. Once the city has been dried out, services restored, law and order back in charge, and people start to move back in; that’s when you can figure out what to do with the old girl. But for now, get on with more important things.
In related news, the Saints will play their home games as follows:
Week 2: Giants Stadium
Weeks 4, 6, 16: Alamo Dome
Weeks 8, 9, 13, 15: Tiger Stadium (LSU). This includes the week 13 match-up against the Bucs.
Parity
Week 1 in the NFL was “Upset Sunday” as many teams favored to win fell to defeat. Who would have thought the Lions, 49ers, Bengals, and Dolphins would all win on the same Sunday?
Touchdown? Jesus!
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are on the rise again. Oh boy. I grew up in an ND household. I even rooted for them for a time. But once the embarrassed the Gators in the Sugar Bowl one year, that was it. I was done with them and their little urchin coach Lou Holtz. Since that time the program has gone downhill and fallen off the radar. But with two big wins in the first two weeks of the 2005 season, the Irish have climbed into the Top 10 in the AP poll and seem poised to do some damage in the BCS.
Sonic?
SoS nearly got it done again against his most hated rivals, the Georgia Bulldogs. The Fun N’ Gun Cocks gave UGA everything they could handle before falling by a pair of points. Of course, the last time Spurrier headed “between the hedges” his Gators hung 52 on poor old Ray Goff’s Dawgs.
Running Items
WTF?
FSU nearly blew it big time to The Citadel. Bobby’s going to need to make some changes if he wants to escape the season with more than seven wins.
Some People Call Me The Space Cowboy
Just when I thought it would be safe to retire this running item, Maurice goes and makes news again. As expected, the people around this young man have led him a-stray and he now finds himself over $1 million in debt. Maurice is not blameless in this affair, far from it. However, the story of Maurice Clarett has gone from comedy to tragedy in just a few short months.
Grated Cheese
Brett Favre was his usual self on Sunday. Tossing a couple of interceptions among his many blind heaves toward guys who might be wearing G’s on their helmets, but he wasn’t sure at the time.
Breath Of A Salesman
The ad agency for Burger King must be in the middle of a burning pot field or something. Nuff said.
Bonus: I simply love the Red Stripe commercials. You can view the TV spots and listen to the radio ads here.
Super Bowl XL
Patriots vs. Giants. What the hell, the Giants racked up 42 points against the media darling Cardinals.
Next Week: Home again. WTF a Vol? And Skippy the Wonder Predictor.
