USA Woman’s Team Out Loses A...

Everyone knows that Americans have an insatiable appetite for sporting events. We love playing sports, we love watching sports and most of all we love talking about sports. If we’re not playing sports we’re watching it or we’re talking about the game last night or the one this weekend. For most of us sports is always on our minds. We Americans love sports no matter what sport it is. From football to horse racing to corn hole competition we’ll watch and play and talk about it all and we’ll love doing it no matter what’s going on in the world around us. Although it may be the duldrums of summer I’ll always say “Let The Games Begin”

The Woman’s National Soccer Team are out of the World Cup after suffering a crushing loss against Sweden. I’m not a bit surprised. Their play was lack luster at best. In four games they scored a total of three goals. Pathetic. They scored a total of zero goals against a Swedish team that beat them in a penalty shootout after full time. The only bright spot in the entire game was Dennis Rodman’s daughter hefting a hard left elbow into a Swedish player’s mouth that put her down in the field. Like Father like Daughter right? Of course, the woman spent the better part of the last three years advocating and actually bringing suit against U.S. soccer for higher pay and of course what happens, they loose. Go figure. I will say that the final teams left standing are definitely the best out there. There are no more Cinderella stories left in the field. With The Olympics in Paris just a couple of years away, U.S. Soccer has some soul searching to do for sure. Let’s hope they can put it together and restore some of the greatness. As some teams have found out this season, more money doesn’t always equal more wins.

We’re finally approaching the eve of the 2023-24 NFL season as well as the same in college football and I couldn’t be more happier and relieved. I thought it would never arrive. As I look back on the last few weeks of a hot, sweltering summer season I feel like a survivor. It’s not over yet but on the horizon I see better days to come. Huge crowds, marching bands, cheerleaders and all that. I think we might all need some good, hard hitting contact sport to release our frustrations and get us back on the right path.

I’m anticipating an exciting season for college football. The momentum is gathering like a storm full of rain and thunder and lightning. After being relatively silent all summer as student bodies and players enjoy their breaks college coaches have begun the ritual trashing talking, player hyping rhetoric that we as fans have grown to love and anticipate. I couldn’t be more pleased. Of course everyone expects the Southeastern Conference to go deep this year and of course they certainly will. Why break tradition right? Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, Florida and Mississippi all have huge expectations as usual and are loaded with highly regarded veteran talent and top notch recruits. Texas of course has Arch Manning waiting in the wings. The University of Southern California is ready to unleash last years Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams and has vowed to make a run for the Nationsl Title. In Colorado everyone that is a Buffalo fan is waiting with bated breath to see if Neon Dione Sanders, their new head coach, can make them a perennial power house like he made Jackson State. There are some massive games to start off the season during weeks one and two both. With the weatherman predicting the withering heat to continue for some time I’m going to keep hydrated, turn down my air conditioning a few more degrees and watch the show. It should be a barn burner!

The NFL pre season has finally begun. With the yearly play of the Hall of Fame game last week we can all breath a sigh of relief in knowing that yes, the pre season will happen and yes, it will begin soon. Let us all rejoice.

There doesn’t seem to be any major surprises coming out of training camps this year. There is no Phenoix being resurrected from the ashes, at least not yet. Several prominent quarterbacks are on the hot seat however and I think many will agree that it’s a make or break year for Dak Prescott and Deshaun Watson among others. Personally I feel that we’re going to need to see some stellar performances from Lamar Jackson and Jalen Hurts as well, if not only to prove they are worth the hundreds of millions their contracts are worth. I hope they both make me a believer.

I’ve already mentioned several times this past summer that I feel Jacksonville is on the verge of becoming a Super Bowl contender but I also feel that Seattle and The 49ers are there as well. Not a lot of people are talking about Seattle but I’d keep an eye on them to sneak out of The West. Of course everyone remembers last year’s feel good story of the decade Brock Purdy in San Francisco so we’ll all get to see if he’s a flash in the pan or the next coming of Joe Montana and Steve Young combined. It’s way too early to make predictions but as I took The Cleveland Browns getting the points in The Hall Of Fame Game I’m feeling a little cocky with my picks being at 100 percent right now. I’ll take Flash In The Pan for 100 dollars Alex!

I promised myself I wouldn’t write about Arron Rogers but here I am mentioning him once again. The guy gets more air time then the president. His face seems to be everywhere, on tv, in print, on line. He’s dating all the top social media influencers. He’s hanging out near broadway and being scene with all the right people in all the right places. He’s doing everything but playing football, at least for now. You literally can’t walk into a sports bar without hearing people whisper his name. He’s like the wind, he’s everywhere. Will his sudden rocket to the pinnacle of the sports media world be a curse or a blessing? No one knows for sure. As for me, it’s the quiet ones I look out for. And as I’m a perfect 100 percent on my picks so far I think I’ll go with the Dolphins of course!

Last but certainly not least there’s Messi Mania once again this week. The guy seems unstoppable. He’s scored so many times and in so many ways in the four games he’s played it’s hard to keep track of it. His debut and scoring in Dallas brought down the house and drove ticket prices thru the roof. He’s an instant sell out. Apple TV has added millions of subscribers overnight due to their exclusive coverage of MLS Soccer. And the hits just keep on coming.

However, I did read an interesting article written by a notable Spanish journalist in Barcelona this week.

Apparently, Messi knew before hand that The MLS league would be a cake walk. He’d be an overnight sensation, a mega star like no other. His continued rise to global superstardom would only make him all the more valuable to Saudi Arabia who in the end after Messi’s 2 years in Miami would offer him several times more then the half billion dollars he was offered this year. So in short, the whole effort is to strengthen the Messi brand for the Saudi’s, and make himself more profitable. Again go figure. Sports being all about money! No there’s a new one!! Play on I say!!

Kev

Kev's Corner Our Staffs Weekly Sports perspective (click here for more of Kev’s past articles)