This week Football chat and ye...

20 September 2022

Richard Nixon: “Only when you’ve been in the lowest valley can you know what it’s like to stand on the highest mountain“

Former Nebraska Head Coach Scott Frost: “Hold my beer”

This past week was a very good week for some in the sports world and its followers. For others it was not so good, and for a few it was downright terrible. As we do every week, we said goodbye to some great athletes and welcomed new stars. There were highs and there were lows, there were victories and there were defeats. All in all, it was another great opportunity for all of us to sit back and ponder the many stories that define our sporting experience. I’ll do my best to help you along.

I have to begin this week’s article by mentioning the fact that woman’s sports are becoming more popular and more viewable day by day. I can’t ignore it as it’s difficult to write anything without giving woman’s sports it’s due.

This week the WNBA, (the woman’s side of the NBA) crowned a new champion, The Las Vegas Aces. The finals of the WNBA and the league itself are no longer page three news. They are a prominent fixture on every major sports viewing outlet and are the lead story on a daily and nightly basis. The league and its games generate millions of dollars in ticket sales, national advertising, merchandise sales and salaries. It’s players and coaches are becoming household names. In short, The WNBA has arrived and is here for good. The journey for them has not been easy. There are still issues such as salaries levels that are comparable to the men’s league, and equitable treatment for the players and teams (did you know they still travel commercial like the rest of us) Much of the hurdles they face are revenue driven but the league is generating millions of dollars so I imagine these barriers will fall. It will be a win for all as we the sports fans will get a better quality of entertainment, so I for one will keep watching and enjoying the games and the competition.

Since I’m on the topic of woman sports, I’m not sure if you all noticed, but woman’s soccer is becoming huge. It’s generating a massive amount of national and world-wide interest. The US woman’s national team has been packing stadiums and taking prime time television spots for years, and now that enthusiasm has spawned a US Professional Woman’s League that is packing stadiums from LA to Chicago To New York. The league is attracting huge investments from major, billion-dollar corporations and is garnering a fan base of millions both men and women. I know, I’ve watched a few of their games and it is a site to behold though for me watching any high caliber athlete show off their abilities is always a treat. I can image that woman’s professional soccer will be the next big sports draw in American sports entertainment. Look for the match between The US National Woman’s Team and The English National Woman’s Team next month to be a big one. It’s being played at Wembley Stadium in London and has been sold out for months.

Let’s talk a while about college football. College Football never fails to entertain and confuse me. One weekend you are in the lowest valley of existence, the next weekend you are standing on a mountain top. This week was no different from the rest. There were a lot of trips between that valley and the mountain top. Strange as it seems that some even managed to exist both in the valley AND on the mountain top almost simultaneously.

Some of the top schools in the country continue to play cream puff teams. I’m not really sure how you coach a team up to play Louisiana Monroe after going 1 point over a team like Texas. Alabama apparently has the secret sauce however as they hung 67 points on UL Monroe on Saturday winning 67-7. Good tune up for SEC Conference play maybe? Several other teams showed their colors by logging shut outs on teams that may or may not have come to play this week such as Kentucky (31-0) over Youngstown State, Ole Miss (42-0) over Georgia Tech and Michigan (59-0) over UConn. As we enter week #3 I’m reserving real judgement on most of these programs until November. I’m keeping a “Let’s wait and see” attitude on whom the FSB playoff picture and The Heisman Trophy Winner will be. Additionally, I think I’ll start making my picks based on real data instead of deciding with my heart. Right now, I’m 2 wins versus 8 losses. Good thing I haven’t shared my picks with you but at least I’m honest about that.

My hat goes off to two additional teams this past week with Notre Dame FINALLY winning for née Head Coach Marcus Freeman. Talk about a hard climb up a very tall mountain! After going 0 and 2 to start the season and the loss in last year’s bowl game, I was thinking that a loss this past weekend would have been his doom, but The Irish were able to pull off an upset over a well-coached California Team winning 24-17. Onto Appalachian State, who after hosting ESPN’s college game day for the first time ever and surviving all the hoopla associated with the media frenzy, we’re able to pull out an incredible victory over a feisty Troy team with a last second Hail Mary touchdown. Worth a look on U tube if you have seen it yet!

Lastly, my “Top of The Mountain and Lowest Valley” rant which concerns former Nebraska player and Head Coach Scott Frost. After leading The University of Central Florida to an undefeated season (and a self-declared National Championship), he moved to Nebraska where he pretty much turned out to be a complete bust. I mentioned his buyout clause a few weeks ago right here. I can assume rightfully so that the pain was too much for the Nebraska faithful as he was fired and walked away with a check for 15 million dollars. So, in effect, he got both ends of the spectrum. I just can’t decide if his walk up the big mountain to the top or rolling down its side to the valley below was more difficult. I think 15 million dollars (of Tax payers money mind you and it’s a public university) will do wonders to cushion the fall.

Where do I begin about the NFL. It appears to me that the season is not starting out in a way that many thought, or hoped, that it would. There are currently 5 teams that are 0 and 2 (Cincinnati, Tennessee, Las Vegas, Atlanta and Carolina). The Indianapolis Colts are 0-1-1. Correct me if I’m wrong, but no team that has started the season 0 and 2 has ever made the playoffs. This is a sobering thought for their fans. I’m willing to give Cincinnati a pass on this inference considering they played the Steelers down to the wire, but watching their quarterback Joe Burrow get sacked is getting to me. The guy gets more hits than the punching bag at my gym. You can’t win football games with no offensive line.

For the first time in living memory the Miami Dolphins are the darlings of the NFL and the talk of the town. It was a huge comeback win over The Baltimore Ravens that propelled them to this point. Tyreek Hill, in his first year as a Dolphin and the highest paid receiver in the league proved to me that he is the real deal, at least for now. With Jaylen Waddle as the other top-quality receiver on the Dolphins it’s not hard to see how Quarterback Tua Tagoviola threw for 6 touchdowns and nearly 500 yards. This coming week they play the Buffalo Bills, so we’ll see if the hype is for real.

Some other notable surprises in this so far short season include The Dallas Cowboys who have won a game even after losing Dak Prescott. For many it was literally a miracle. Last week many in the media were declaring their season over. It’s the first time in many games that they’ve had a solid running game. Backup quarterback Cooper Rush played an excellent game and they finally have a kicker that can do his job. It’s good to see Jerry Jones getting some love from his billion-dollar franchise.

What can I say about The Buffalo Bills? Unless you live within 500 miles of Kansas City, you’ve probably picked them to win the Super Bowl. All my friends have picked them. My boss has picked them. People I know that have never watched an NFL in their life have picked them. Even I have picked them and I still remember them losing 4 Super Bowls in a row. I don’t want to get ahead of the season, but they look pretty darn good. They’ve been absolutely destroying teams both on offense and defense. It’s a long season so we’ll have to wait and see.

In closing, I’d like to point out that I didn’t spend 15 minutes talking about Arron Rogers. I didn’t profess my absolute adoration about Tom Brady nor did I make a dozen suggestions about where they should place the Statue of Nick Sabin.

I’ll save all that and more for next week! Thanks for reading looking forward to starting by Blog next week here at SportsBookStuff.com