Fresh Take: Broncos, Eagles, Titans and Bears, oh my

 

Welcome back Sports Fans, it’s another addition of the SCL Fresh Take!  Has the NFL season been a surprise, or what?!?  Jockeying back and forth for biggest surprise of the year are the Denver Broncos on the good side and the Tennessee Titans on the bad!  The Broncos are six and oh and running away with the AFC West after pasting San Diego on Monday.  The Chargers are off to their normal weak start and look to be looking up at Bronco butt in the standings for the rest of the season. 

     Meanwhile the Titans got lathered by Golden Boy Tom Brady and the Patriots who watched Brady throw five TD passes in one quarter on route to a 59-0 laugher!  The Titans never showed up for the game and did not want to be playing in the ice and snow in New England.  I love Jeff Fisher and will love him even more when he’s coaching Dallas next year…  A Fisher firing is on the horizon especially after watching the Titans mail it in game after game this year.   On the flip side, Brady continues his reign as the NFL’s favorite and most protected QB.  Did you catch the “Roughing” the Passer penalty called when one of the Titans waved his hand in front of Brady’s face?  I’m stunned Tom didn’t take a dive to get away…

     Two other disappointments showed up on Sunday as the Eagles threw the ball 46 times (88% of their plays) against the Raiders and their 31st ranked run defense.  The iggies went down 13 to nine which led Head Coach Andy Reid to ponder if they should have ran the ball a few more times.  The San Diego slow start makes one forget about Philly, but the Eagles always seem to flush home field advantage in the playoffs by blowing games like this and at Cincinnati last year!  Meanwhile Matt Forte of the Chicago Bears matched his season total of two fumbles in two successive plays at the goal line Sunday night in Atlanta.  The Bears went down 21 to 14 and it looks like Forte will get to go the the Tom Coughlin school of frequent fumblers; wrap it up Matt!

     And that wraps it up for us, stay Fresh!

Read more NFL news on BleacherReport.com

Fresh Take – Hurricanes, Jets, MLB and Texas Stadium

Hey sports fans, are you ready to go?  Break out the wafers, throw the rag-top back and get ready for a spin with today’s SCL’s Fresh Take, a whole new twist on sports for you, the fan.

The U is back.  After navigating the first half of the college football equivalent of “Murders Row,” the ‘Canes have a head full of steam charging into their next two clashes with ranked opponents Virginia Tech and Oklahoma. Lead by sophomore quarterback Jacory Harris, The U put a “beat down” on a decent Georgia Tech team and find themselves as the talk of the ACC.  Third year head coach Randy Shannon has assembled a lot of young talent and surrounded that talent with exception coaching with the likes of offensive coordinator Mark Whipple.  This is a good story because college football is much better when the ‘Canes are at their best.  Whether you love them or hate them, when the boys from Coral Gables are good, they wear the largest bull’s-eye in D1 football.

Has Buddy Ball taken up residence on Broadway?  With the arrive of Buddy’s son Rex Ryan in New York Jet green, it has the feel of Buddy Ball and Bounty Bowls all over again.  As the Jets prepare for their Sunday clash with the Patriots, there is no shortage of trash talking or bulletin board material being doled out by the Jet players.  Ryan has certainly brought a swagger with him to the Meadowlands and will have his team ready to play come kickoff, but with a rookie quarterback and inferior talent on the roster, look for the Pats to win this game.  I love the BOLD and cocky approach of aggressive coaches.  Buddy had it, Jimmy Johnson had it and it looks like Rex has it.  Game on!

Did you catch the Angels and Red Sox game Wednesday night?  Blue was squeezin’ the Angel pitcher in the ninth inning much to the chagrin of Angel Nation.  I watched the end of the game and saw a “coke can” for a strike zone which lead Angel manager Mike Scioscia to say the count was “three and four” on the one batter.  That is a strikeout plus one for you baseball novice.  Umpires blow calls, but the Angels need to look at the two double plays they booted earlier in the game which largely contributed the additional game in the L column.

The MLB post season race is heating up with the best races in the American League Central and National League Wildcard.  The Twins have closed the Central race to four games behind the Tigers and the Giants trail the Rockies by only 3.5.  While pitching wins championships, I do enjoy watching pearls flying out of the yard and players running around the sacks.  Whatever the outcome of the games, October is almost here and baseball will have its grandest stage.

The OFFICIAL opening of the new Texas Stadium is upon us.  The Ring of Honor and the blue star on the 50-yard line will be the finishing touches on Jerry’s billion dollar bonanza which will debut Sunday night as the Cowboys host the New York football Giants.  This stadium is JJ’s watershed moment in his twenty plus year tenure at the helm of America’s Team.  Three Super Bowls do not compare as this stadium will be Jerry Jones’ legacy to the Dallas Cowboys, Cowboy Nation and the DFW metroplex.  Did you catch that?  I said DFW metroplex, not the city of Dallas.  Why?  Because Jerry originally wanted to build his masterpiece next to American Airlines Center in downtown Big D, but the mayor of Dallas balked at the notion of providing funding for the venture.  I’m fine with the mayor looking out for the tax payer’s dinero, but she never gave the people of Dallas a chance to voice their opinion.  She swept it under the rug and never put it to a vote.  That is criminal and I hope the citizens of Dallas and Cowboy Nation let Laura Miller know that before she left office.

And that, my friends is what is HOT in sports.  Join us again tomorrow for SCL’s Fresh Take.

Read more NFL news on BleacherReport.com

Brett Favre’s a Viking, Stunning

I am being facetious with that headline, of course, though I am absolutely stunned by the reaction to Brett Favre’s signing with the Vikings.

Why all of the hating?!

Oh my gosh, Favre turned his back on the Green Bay Packers! Sorry, Packers fans, no he didn’t; Ted Thompson made it perfectly clear that the Packers wanted to move on to the Aaron Rodgers era, despite Favre’s wishes. And by your tacit approval and support of Rodgers, you all moved on as well.

You didn’t move on? Did you show any outrage over Thompson’s handling of the whole Favre affair? Did you stop going to games? Nope.  Guess what then, you moved on! 

Was I thrilled watching Favre vacillate back and forth on his decisions to play or retire over the last two years?

No, of course not, but it’s his decision, made much more difficult by you and Thompson who made it pretty clear that Favre was considered old baggage and no longer wanted.

The Packers turned their backs on Brett Favre well before he reciprocated.

Why did he have to be so secretive?! Are you kidding me?

He’s in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, not LA or Miami. He can’t blend into the scenery, he is the scenery! Any time Favre burped, you had two reporters who told you what he had eaten.

How come it’s okay for Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie to sneak off in order to avoid paparazzi, but when Favre does it, it’s a major crime? Wake up people, your rampant desire to know all and learn all about Favre, is the reason he has to do what he does.

He skipped training camp and screwed the other quarterbacks who were working so hard!  Wow, and that’s the first time a major veteran has skipped training camp, right? Ever heard of Michael Strahan or other guys who were in “contract negotiations” and didn’t go to camp? 

This was all by design; why would Favre want to go through two a days just for kicks? Sure, he could have used the time bonding with his new teammates, but it looks like he did plenty of bonding already based on all the emails, texts, tweets, and voicemails his hopeful Viking teammates sent him, begging him to join them in Minnesota.

I feel a little bad for Tavaris and Sage, but guess what, play like a Hall-of-Famer and maybe your teammates will give a little more respect.

All in all, this is a story of supply and demand.

The Vikings needed an experienced veteran quarterback and Favre needed the opportunity to stick it to Ted Thompson. Both sides got what they wanted.

Was it worth it?

We’ll see, but Vegas improved the Vikings odds of winning the Super Bowl from 18-1 to 12-1 and the Vikings sold 3,000 additional season tickets on Day 1 of the Brett Favre era.

Sounds pretty good to me.

Michael Vick: Fallen Falcon to Eager Eagle

It’s finally here!  The day that the villainous dog killer Michael Vick rejoins the NFL, this time as a Philadelphia Eagle. 

I do not envy Michael Vick one bit. Granted, the Eagles run the West Coast Offense and Andy Reid is an innovative offensive mind, but Philadephia?  Philly fans are tough and have a reputation of being hard on players, but I don’t think the Eagles management envisioned the fury that started bubbling last night when the team made the announcement about the Vick signing. The preseason game with the Patriots was forgotten (though the Eagles made a nice comeback in a 27-25 loss) and the Vick arguments began. 

Even the talking heads can’t agree. Steve Young thought the signing was a great move, while former Eagle great Ron Jaworski thought the pressure may be too much for Vick and good friend Donovan McNabb who was supposedly consulted and signed off on the Vick deal.      

The members of the Eagles brass have a great reputation, but I don’t agree with the assessment that they are a stable organization that can handle any crises the Vick signing will bring.

The organization was well on their way to potentially firing Andy Reid and dumping McNabb after embarrassing games last year against the Bengals and Ravens.  And McNabb was worried about Kevin Kolb looking over his shoulder, let alone Michael Vick who has led a team into the playoffs and NFC Championship Game.  Couple that with the loss of Jim Johnson and Brian Dawkins and the aftershocks of the Terrell Owen debacle a couple of years back and the Philadelphia Eagles organization may be mixing an explosive brew.

As I stated a couple of weeks back, people need to move forward and let Michael Vick try to rebuild his life. His actions were reprehensible and heinous. They should not be overlooked, but he should get the chance to show he is willing to make amends and be a positive influence on the football field and off.  We’ll see if Philly’s the right place for him to start that journey.

Steve McNair: Hero or Zero?

Steve McNair was laid to rest Saturday. 

The former quarterback of the Tennessee Titans (formerly the Houston Oilers) and Baltimore Ravens was widely loved and respected as evidenced by the huge turnout for his memorial service by celebrities and fans alike. 

Ever since he was chosen third in the 1995 draft by the Houston Oilers after coming out of Division I-AA school Alcorn State, McNair has been synonymous with perseverance and toughness on the football field. 

He is well respected for these attributes and definitely should be based on his well documented NFL career.

   

 Unfortunately, it now appears the toughness and perseverance, the loyalty and grit shown by McNair only was exhibited between the white lines of the football field. 

A husband and father of four, McNair was gunned down by a crazed girlfriend at a friend’s condo while shacking up with her. His exploits with the 20 year-old Iranian girl are well documented as are the trips they took together and vehicle he provided for her.  

I’m not naive: I understand that many pro athletes don’t live under the same standards and guidelines that many of us do. That still doesn’t stop me from being disappointed and disgusted by McNair’s behavior.

And how stupid was he? 

He obviously felt comfortable enough to nap in front of a distraught and suicidal girlfriend who proceeded to aim a gun at his head, take his life and shoot him three more times for good measure before killing herself. 

Not a real good judge of character nor an astute reader of people was he?

The good people who laid him to rest and came to his funeral obviously revered the man and that’s great for them. 

But please, keep all references to how heroic Steve McNair was to his exploits on the football field, his personal life left a bunch to be desired.

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