There is a row of hats all dating from 2001 that hang above my desk. Mets and Yankee and Football Giants hats all bearing an American flag on the side, reminding me that for a brief shining moment, sports did something very right in the autumn of 2001.
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Penn State Season Preview
Hands down, Penn State was the biggest surprise in college football last season. Outside of State College, you would be hard pressed to find anyone who thought that Penn State would be one of the top three teams in the country last season. This season Penn State, who lost a slew of starters from last season, will have to prove that last season was no fluke and their young stars can keep them at the top of the Big Ten and college football.
We’ve finally gotten another no-hitter (ending the longest drought in MLB history), and although I wasn’t able to fulfill a life-long dream of seeing one in person, or even watching it top to bottom on television, I did get to see the final six outs on live TV, and I thought I was going to cry right along with Anibal Sanchez. I held it back. Barely.
Some other goings on have postseason implications- Mark Mulder is shutting it down for the season to have his torn rotator cuff repaired, Eddie Guardado is doing the same for a torn ligament in his elbow, and superstars Pedro Martinez, Hideki Matsui, and Gary Sheffield are still yet to return. On the other side of the coin, Big Papi is back in the lineup, and Flash Gordon has come back just in time for the Phils. But the loudest whispers on the injury news wire involve a guy named Liriano, and I’m not talking about Nelson.
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College Football: Week One Remix
It began with a “did that really just happen” moment on August 31 and ended (mercifully) around the twilight hour on Labor Day.
Here’s what stood out from college football’s opening week:
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2006 NFL Week 1 Picks
Welcome back football fans! We’re back for the 2006 NFL season. Every week, we pick all games straight up and then give you our Lock of the Week against the spread. This year, we’re throwing a little wrinkle into the Locks of the Week by telling you how much we’d put on each game. This will give you a sense of how good we feel about each Lock.
As with last year, we have an associated podcast where we discuss a bunch of games in depth. The featured games this week are Miami @ Pittsburgh, Atlanta @ Carolina, Cincinnati @ Kansas City, Dallas @ Jacksonville, and Indianapolis @ NY Giants. You can download the podcast directly (running time 38 mins) or subscribe to the feed.
If you use iTunes, just click here and then click subscribe and iTunes will take care of the rest.
by Trevor Freeman
With the NFL season starting on Sunday, I figured it was about time to talk about the Five-Time Super Bowl Champions. Like Judge Wapner, I’m going to be as even-handed as possible when breaking the San Francisco 49ers down position by position. I think it’s important as a writer to always maintain credibility and to avoid being a shameless homer. Without further ado, let’s begin our look at the Greatest Franchise In NFL History.
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Hell Freezes Over
Look, I know this weekend’s “Game of the Week” is the Ohio State vs. Texas matchup, and for good reasons. But, obviously, there is a sleeper game in Week Two of the 2006-07 College Football season. The Fighting Irish of Notre Dame will host the Nittany Lions of Penn State, while at the same time marking the renewal of an ancient rivalry that is ready to kick off like a bat out of hell. It’s not so much of the game I’d like to inform you about in this column. Instead, I would like to pick my ways with the “experts” of America, mainly targeting the entire ESPN College Football GameDay crew, while also including Mark May (who now has his own segment on the Sunday SportsCenters, entitled “May Day”??). Please enjoy the following presentation and feel free to leave your own comments and rants for Week Two of The Great Notre Dame Football Show, I mean… excuse me, College Football.
Yesterday we took a look at the NFC. Today it’s time to break down the AFC – winners of 7 out of the last 10 Super Bowls and 4 of the last 5. Can the AFC do it again this year? Will the Colts finally get over the hump? What team will come out of nowhere and make the playoffs? Are the Patriots back in championship form? Why does CBS’s pregame show suck so much compared to the Fox broadcast? Here we go with the AFC division previews.
Outside of the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament, there is no better span on the sporting calendar than the opening weekend of the NFL season. No more guessing how preseason performance really translates into regular season play, no more thinking about who will make the 53 man roster, no more praying that a key player on your team doesn’t get hurt in a meaningless game. It’s just you, your remote, perhaps a cold brew, and the joy of Christmas in September. And while I appreciate the Thursday night teaser, I’d almost rather the NFL not have gone to that. It’s like getting an appetizer and then having to wait 3 hours for the main course to arrive. Just fast forward me to Sunday already!
But before we can start week 1, we need the obligatory 2006 NFL predictions. Here it is folks, what you’ve been waiting for… the official Sportscolumn 2006 NFL Predictions. I have spent all weekend digesting stats, schedules, rosters… and lots of alcohol. Depending on how much you agree with these predictions, is how much of the relative mix of those things went into the picks. I predicted game by game for each of the 17 weeks and came up with the final standings and records of every team in the NFL. We’ll kick it off with the NFC.
The annual jaunt to professional football immortality, better known as the Super Bowl, begins in earnest in less than one week. Of the 32 teams in pursuit, two will be forever remembered; one as the glorious victor, the other as their inglorious victim. Who will they be this year? Will it be like last year, where two perennial playoff teams (Steelers, Seahawks) that had come up short finally achieve the immortality? Will it be reminiscent of the 1999 season when two teams came out of nowhere (Titans, Rams) to deliver not only their own immortality, but an immortal game, as well? No one really knows. And, it’s good that prediction columns are not immortal (see last year’s column).