SportsGirl

In the last month, I have re-discovered my passion for watching sports. I know, that probably seems like the impossible given that I watch more than half the sports fans I know. But I have forgone watching almost any regular TV if there is a sporting event on, unless that sporting event is something along the lines of University of Louisiana-Lafayette vs. Tulane. It’s made me realize just how entertaining sports can be.

So needless to say, with my re-discovered passion, I’ve been in heaven with all of the sporting events on TV recently. Let’s start with the baseball. My support is squarely behind the Rockies because I’m over all Red Sox fans. (all due apologies to my sister and her husband) I don’t want to hear another announcer use the phrase “shades of 2004″ or talk about Schilling and the sock, etc. I especially hate listening to that chatter because I think the 2007 Red Sox are a better team. Forget all of that “Team of Destiny” crap, this year’s Sox are just freakin’ lights out. Their pitching has been unhittable lately and their bats are on fire. After Game 1 of the World Series, I was seeing “shades of 2006″ when my Tigers got blanked by the Cardinals and everyone wanted to blame it on the time off between their series. But last night’s game I think really spoke to the incredible pitching that the Sox are getting, and also gave me hope that the Rockies could regain some footing when the series heads West. If they lose on Saturday, the Rockies are d-u-n done.

Now, onto my true love, football. It was almost painful to watch the first 55 minutes of the BC-VA Tech football game last night. BC looked inept, and I kept cringing thinking of my father who said last weekend that Matt Ryan should be the lead contender for the Heisman this year. Then the last 5 minutes of the game took place, where Ryan threw for two touchdowns and stunned the home crowd into silence with a last-minute victory.  It was awesome. Just when I was getting disheartened, feeling like none of the top 5 teams really wanted to be there, BC pulls it off. And no, I don’t have any particular affinity for Boston teams, I just like to see good teams win games they’re supposed to win. And BC still falls into “Little Guy” status with me, much more so than VA Tech. It was a great ending to a not-so-easy to watch game, complete with a BC-recovered on-side kick with the announcers saying in the background that the best option is to kick it deep and ask your defense to hold the other team to a 3 and out series. Poetic.

And last of all, we have basketball. I was fortunate enough to attend the Mavs-Bulls pre-season game on Tuesday night. I was stoked for the game for many reasons, not the least of which was the food. I LOVE stadium hot dogs. And nachos…anyways. I was looking so forward to the game–which was a last-second suggestion–and much to my chagrin, someone forgot to mention to the crowd and to the teams that basketball game are supposed to be exciting. Let me start by saying that offensive rebounding seems to be optional in the NBA. No one, and I do mean no one, from the shooting teams appears to care to go for the board on a missed shot. On Tuesday, for every 1 Maverick at the basket “vying” for the rebound, there were 4, count ‘em 4, Bulls trying to pull it down. And the same would happen when the Bulls would shoot. It’s like once the shooting team realizes the shot didn’t go in, they start back down the floor, switching into defensive mode. Annoying! So between the lack of rebounding and just the general feeling of apathy (I know, it was pre-season) between the two teams, the game was less than interesting. Maybe it was the hot dog and bowl full of processed cheese on chips that I inhaled in about 2 minutes that made me feel sleepy. But the play on the court did nothing to revive my interest and we left at half time. Happily. So it was a big disappointment and my only hopeful thought is that maybe Avery Johnson has decided to view the regular season the way my dad looks at cars. They’re just a means of transportation from Point A to Point B, so who cares what you look like when you arrive at Point B. Maybe the Little General realizes that it’s great to have a phenomenal regular season record but if you waste your intensity during the regular season, what do you have left when you make it to Point B, which is the post-season? That’s the solace I’m trying to glean from my basketball outing this week. We’ll see if it works…

All I need is to watch some compelling hockey or soccer and I’ll be a happy camper. For now, I’m enjoying my re-discovered passion and giving my thanks that I don’t have to watch the likes of Desperate Housewives for another season!

There has been a wealth of discussion on whether the Pats are the best team in football or if that designation belongs to the Colts. Enough discussion that it caused Steve Young to practically melt down on Sports Center after the game last night. His point? Why discuss what the impending match up between the two teams will mean when we all know they’ll likely meet again in the AFC title game. All due respect to Steve, as I understand where he’s coming from, but I don’t agree. Emmitt Smith made a great point during what became almost a heated exchange between Stu Scott and Young that the match up in November does mean something because it gives the winning team an edge, especially in the mental game. If you’ve beaten them in the regular season, you have that slight swagger when/if you meet again in the post-season. When you have two teams that are playing at this level, even a minor mental edge can make a huge difference.

So, it will come as no surprise to any of my readers that I think the Patriots have the superior team this season. If you compare the two on both sides of the ball you might think it’s a draw. They both have prolific quarterbacks who are amazingly accurate, with a full compliment of receivers to spread the ball to. They both have defenses with play-makers, though I think New England gets the edge there because they have a number of key guys that make plays (i.e. Tedy Bruschi, Mike Vrable, etc) whereas I think Indy’s main man on D is Bob Sanders. Don’t get me wrong, Bob Sanders is a guy to build an entire D around, but he’s probably the biggest play-maker on the team and the others are simply good.

Then it comes to coaching. Both teams are well-coached but I think NE will have a huge advantage in this department this season. Bill Belichick has something to prove. Bill Simmons of ESPN.com fame has written a great articleabout exactly how Belichick will prove his greatness this season. Because Belichick is a student of the game, of the game’s history and wants to be a part of the game’s legacy. His talent has been questioned so this season will be a 16-week response letter to all the critics. “Dear critics, I’m awesome and belong in the discussion of the best coaches ever. Don’t ever question me again. Sincerely, Bill Belichick” Or something like that…

So all eyes are on the match up in a few weeks, provided neither team succumbs to the trap of losing a gimme game in the meantime. And my money is on the Pats (of course). Because I can’t listen to Colts fans bragging if the Colts win. Too much to handle!

Blogging about baseball, that is. I find myself compelled to comment on the Indians-Red Sox series that culminates tonight in Game 7 in Bean Town. Let me state in no uncertain terms that while I might root for the Patriots, that love does not extend to all Boston teams. I’m actually throwing all my support behind the Indians, especially since they vanquished the Yankees. (note: I’m not just a “root for the winner” kind of fan. I’ve loved the Yankees since I was 13.) If my team is no longer in the picture, my support defaults first to any team from the midwest.

Now that you know who I’m rooting for, let me say the performance of the Tribe in the last two games was not enough to make me feel comfortable that they’ll take care of business tonight. Their bats have been nearly silent while Boston couldn’t look any hotter. I mean for goodness sake, JD freakin’ Drew hit a grand slam last night. The same man who hadn’t had an RBI in the post season hits a grand slam. And the Indians managed only 2 runs all game long. Their two aces, Sabathia and Carmona, have 10.54 and 16.50 ERA’s respectively in the post season. Paul Byrd has been better than these two, do that math! And I cannot stand hearing how this post season has “shades of 2004″. The bloody Schilling sock has made it’s way into my collection of hated memories. And I so desperately want the Indians to smoke the Sox on Sunday and then I want them to stand there admiring their work, just to stick it to Manny Ramirez. I can’t stand the Red Sox!

So tonight will be a nail biter for me. If the Sox do win, then my support swings to the Rockies. Because I like that they’re a young team with heart and best of all? They’re not the Red Sox!

Since last night’s meeting between the Falcons and Giants was somewhat of a bust in terms of viewing pleasure, I wanted to comment on the broadcast team that ESPN selected for this season. You know Mike Tirico has got to be thinking “As hard as it is to admit, Joe Theismann was not the problem last year, Kornheiser was! Who knew?!” Because Mike Tirico is a consummate professional in my opinion. He is a great play-by-play guy who can deftly move from the play on the field, to mixing it up with the color guys, then back to the play on the field. Ron Jaworski makes a good color guy, and really is able to bring his knowledge from his playing days in without sounding like a stereotypical meathead former jock. But then you throw Tony Kornheiser in the mix and the formula develops a bad taste.

I understand that above anything else, Monday Night Football is a broadcast program competing against the likes of the Bachelor and The Big Bang Theory, which is one of the main reasons it was pulled from ABC’s line up and moved to ESPN, where you get more slack for lower ratings. Because of the pressure to keep a large market share, so as to continue to merit the high dollars that advertisers pay, ESPN wants to find lightening in a bottle in the broadcast booth. But I think they’re trying too hard.

Everyone said at the beginning of last season that Tony Kornheiser would be the “Howard Cosell” of the team. He would bring a unique, not always sports-themed, perspective that would liven up the perceived monotony of simple play-by-play and color exchanges. But they’re trying to force a dynamic that isn’t working. And to be fair, they also did this when the telecast was still on network television by thinking that Dennis Miller could be that “catalyst” for thought-provoking discussions. And that might be accurate, except when I’m watching football, I don’t want to listen to a thought-provoking discussion about anything other than whether or not someone was smart for drafting Adrian Peterson in the first round of their fantasy football league. I don’t want to hear someone slam President Bush. I don’t care about some obscure movie reference that they find particularly appropriate for that moment of the game. I want to hear about football. I think the Al Michael’s/John Madden tandem works well in this respect. They’re lively together and I think Michael’s is the best in the business. They play off of each other’s moods well and they keep it interesting. They also keep the discussion centered on football and pretty much nothing else, save for the few promos they have to kick out during the broadcast. Imagine if you threw Jon Stewart into the booth with them. I like Jon Stewart, but how is he relevant to football?

Last night, as with all broadcasts, the MNF crew brought a guest into the booth to provide more unnecessary commentary on all things non-football related. Their guest was Jimmy Kimmel. Kimmel is great on his talk show. Absolutely horrible in the booth. The guys were stepping all over each other vying for air time and meanwhile Tirico was desperately trying to recount what was going on down on the field. Not that there was much, the game was fairly difficult to watch. Sloppy performances on defense and offence from the Dirty Birds and the G-Men weren’t much better. It’s pretty sad when Joey Harrington throws fewer picks than Little Manning and yet Little Manning’s team still wins. But still, I didn’t want to listen to Kimmel detail his flight patterns as he juggles two gigs this week,  hosting both Regis and Kelly and his own show. If I’m watching the game, I want to know things like when Amani Toomer becomes the all-time leading receiver for the Giants. Give me insight on that. Talk about how you think Tiki Barber will react to being replaced. (On that subject, check out this articlefrom Gregg Easterbrook on the subject of records being broken)

So, my advice to the producers and the suits at ESPN? Kick Kornheiser off the broadcast and leave it to Jaws and Tirico. Seriously, test this out. Next week just tell the audience that Kornheiser got sick shortly after taping PTI that day and let’s see the reaction to the broadcast that night. Since something like that might take a week to get spread by word-of-mouth, repeat the experiment the following week and see what it does for ratings. Or float the story the night before that he’ll be out of the booth. Guaranty it will increase viewership, even for a crappy game. Just don’t make me listen to another season of “insight” from Big Tony that just fails to pique my interest.

My immediate thanks to ESPN’s John Clayton for using that phrase in his recounting of yesterday’s Dallas-New England matchup. What a great way to describe the team they’ve assembled up there in Bean Town. And my immediate apologies to the devout Dallas Cowboy fans that are still smarting from the loss and who will think me a traitor for being excited over the Patriots win. But seriously, what football fan isn’t gaga over what the Pats are doing so far this season?! They’ve been amazing and yesterday truly wasn’t even their best game.

Sunday’s game was the kind I like; I honestly would have been happy if either team had won. I obviously love the Patriots because of Brady being a Michigan guy, and also because he was a late-round pick that gives us all hope that the “little guy” or the diamond in the rough can actually make something of himself. But I really do like this Cowboys team, more-so than any team in years past, despite my lack of affection for Wade Phillips. I love Romo (see little guy reference above), I don’t hate TO with the passion I felt last season, and I think this team is going to do some good things this season. But I grew up loving anything U of M; I didn’t grow up loving the Boys. So yesterday’s outcome thrilled me to death!

One thing that killed me from the game? Romo taking a knee with about 30 seconds left at the end of the fourth quarter. I know, there was no prayer of them winning at that point. Even if he threw for a touchdown and they recovered an on-side kick and immediately returned that for a touchdown then recovered another on-side kick…you see where I’m going. But by the same token, the game was done, so what’s the harm in risking an interception by throwing a bomb down the field? Are you going to be more demoralized at that point with an incompletion or a pick? Probably not. But to just give up and take a knee and concede defeat was horrible to me. I want to go down fighting, leaving everything on the field. I just thought the action lacked spirit and sent a message to that team that their coaching staff didn’t care at that point. I know, I know, the risk of injury on every play is real and if you’ve lost the game why continue with the risk. I didn’t like it.

Up next for the Cowboys is Minnesota. I’m back and forth on how I think that game will go. Adrian Peterson is paying huge dividends to any fantasy owner who took a chance and drafted him. However, the Boys did at least stop the Patriots run game, albeit with Sammy Morris and Lawrence Maroney on the sidelines. I think Dallas will bounce back, get their wits about them after two weeks of under-performing.

Next up for New England are the Miami Dolphins. No game is a gimme in my book, but good golly if the Pats don’t win this one it better be because Brady has the first known human strain of the bird flu and Randy Moss, Wes Welker and Dante Stallworth all have double broken legs. Miami is that bad.

If week 2’s game was the Patriots making a statement that they can win without the use of any “visual aids”, this week was their follow-up to that statement to remind us that there is not a stop to their dominance in sight, until possibly Week 9 when they meet Indy. I’m already popping the popcorn for that match-up!

I have been out of town on business and have not been near a computer to blog about the ‘Boys, baseball, or anything else sports-related. My fault! Look for more posts this weekend. The game Sunday between Dallas and New England will be awesome. I will plan my day around that event. And there will be discussion on this blog so just hang tight.

Now that the Yankees are out of it, my full support is behind the Indians to win the World Series. Though the Rockies certainly are making a case for their belonging! But when my primary team is knocked out, my loyalty defaults to anything that’s close to my native Michigan. So come on Tribe!

I need to take a minute to express my complete disgust with the verdict that has come out of the Isaiah Thomas trial in regards to his (no longer alleged) sexual harassment towards Anucha Brown Sanders. I feel like this is the final nail in the coffin around his career or at least his respectability. And this is a man who was revered after the Pistons won their back-to-back titles in ‘89 and ‘90.

There is something about Zeke that just seems like he should be uber-wholesome. Maybe it’s the smile. It seems genuine. He always reminded me of Webster with that smile and that sort of little boy look. Now, not only is his basketball acumen in question but he’s been convicted of being a sexual harasser. If his critics needed any more reason to call for his resignation, this is it. Of course so far the team is saying that they stand by him, as does ownership. But how long will that last? Unless the Knicks just have an unbelievable season, which is highly unlikely given their roster and past performances, I see Isaiah losing his job and probably deservedly so. Which is just a shame to me because I want to remember him as a good guy. Especially in today’s sporting culture where so many of the champs are not truly good guys.

By the way, if you haven’t read anything about the accusations from Ms. Brown Sanders against Isaiah, you may not realize that the title of this entry is a reference. She stated that, after backing away from a kiss on the cheek initiated by Isaiah, he said “What? No love today?”. So no, Isaiah, no love today. Only dismay at the fact that your legacy is forever tarnished and you have forever altered the perception of a girl who was a huge fan of your Championship teams almost 20 years ago.

The city of Dallas has fallen in love. You might not think that it’s possible for an entire city to collectively fall in love, but it’s happened. The object of our affection? Tony Romo. I know it’s only the fourth game of the season but he is quickly ascending to “legend” status, and his performance in yesterday’s game against the Rams helped tremendously.

If you didn’t watch the game you might not have recognized the sound of the city’s fan base simultaneously sucking in their breath as Andre Gurode snapped the ball way above Romo’s head and sent it rolling the wrong direction towards the Cowboys’ end zone. If the rest of the fans are like me they were thinking for God’s sake just fall on the ball Romo, don’t make it worse! And then he managed to gain control and ran over 30 yards to pick up the first down. Further down the field and later in the game, Romo had the presence to see the open field and took off running to score a touchdown and officially lit the fire in the Cowboys’ bellies. They went on to thump the Rams 35-7 and avoided the pitfall of playing a bad team without properly game planning the week of the game.

If this continues, Troy Aikmen might start getting quite defensive in the booth while announcing the Cowboys’ games. The city may have found their new football darling. I have complete faith that Jerry Jones will lock Romo up in a long-term contract one of these days, probably once we’ve crossed the half-way point in the season. And then this city can continue to stare, starry eyed, at their television screens every week just hoping for a glimpse of their man, Tony Romo.

Side note: I cannot stand Joe Buck as an announcer in any sport. I can’t designate him the worst commentator in the NFL because that special moniker is reserved for Joe Theismann. I just don’t find him insightful or funny. He was ragging on Terry Bradshaw for a shirt that Bradshaw was wearing and it just came out sounding like he was bitter somehow about this shirt-wearing. The humor of his “Hey Terry, the 70’s called and they want their shirt back” joke was lost on me. Don’t like him. Think we need to pull him from the booth. Any objections?

I don’t write enough about college football, so today is my attempt to remedy that. Especially considering that I absolutely love college football and, on any given weekend, find half of those games to be more competitive and compelling than some of the NFL games (i.e. last night’s Giants-Eagles game). Of course, if you’ve read my blog before you know I root for Michigan. What you might not know is that I’m Irish-Catholic so naturally, I have to also root for Notre Dame. A lot has been made about the infamous starts to their seasons, but now it appears these two teams are moving in polar opposite directions.

Three weeks ago, the sporting nation was paying close attention to the match up between these two teams. Michigan of course had garnered the headlines due to their historic loss to Appalachian State, followed by the shellacking they took against Oregon. Notre Dame at that point hadn’t even scored an offensive touchdown so the game between them became the “Who’s going to get their first win” game for two pretty storied teams. Michigan won, and since then seems to be heading back to the realm of respectability. Notre Dame seems to have taken a wrong turn somewhere around Albuquerque and is still searching for that first victory of the season.

Outside of the win against Penn State, I’ll give you the fact that Michigan’s wins have come against some non-noteworthy teams, Notre Dame included. But a W is a W, I don’t care who it’s against. And before this season began, these were games that everyone expected Michigan to win, so they are getting back on track and have the possibility of finishing with a decent record. The highlight reels from the collapse against A State are diminishing and finally Mike Hart is reminding people that he might actually be a decent pro athlete. Hey, we’ve even gotten to see the future of the U of M QB position with Ryan Mallett playing a few games and it’s not looking that bad.

On the flip side, Notre Dame can’t seem to find a win with the proverbial two hands and a flashlight. I haven’t lost faith in Charlie Weis; if anything this proves that the public heavily discounted the effects of losing several senior starters, including an NFL-worthy QB. I’m willing to cut them some slack but what will be most interesting to me will be to see where they will enter next season in terms of expectations. Have they officially fallen off everyone’s radar for the next few years? Or will they start next season with the same set of lofty goals–National Championship or bust? I’d love to see them find the on-ramp to the road of the elite teams, I just wonder how they’ll get there.

On a side note, I have to share my thanks for a random happening this weekend. While watching the highlights of the Michigan-Northwestern game on ESPN I lamented the fact that we don’t get the Big Ten Network. A fact on which my husband corrected me. Turns out we do, or at least did that moment, get the Big Ten Network and I was able to tune in the last 10 minutes of the game. How did I not know this before?! At any rate, like a true fan I watched until the very end of the game. I kid you not, literally 2 minutes after the game ended, the channel went to a black screen and I got the Dish Network “we have no programming at this time” music and screen saver. I don’t know if that means that I was getting a free preview of that channel or if I really get that network. I’ll do more recon this weekend. Either way, thank you to whomever beamed that signal into my TV. You are forever on my good list.