TheAgitator.com
SportsBlog, With Admitted Homer Bias
Monday, September 6th, 2004Is there a better time of year for sports? The NFL fires up. College football’s all over the place. Baseball finally gets interesting. And basketball season’s just around the corner. A few thoughts on the fields of play…
1) I’m as devout a Yankee hater as anyone. I savored the 22-0 thumping by the Indians. I snickered when Kevin Brown played Ike Turner on the clubhouse wall. And I’m loving the outside chance that if they keep losing, they may not even make the playoffs. But this latest Red Sox run on the Bombers strikes me as yet another Lucy Van Pelt–Charlie Brown set-up. Just as Boston fans collectively tilt toward thinking “this might be the year,” I’m almost certain George Steinbrenner’s going to pick up the ball, and send all of Boston tumbling ass over teakettle. Again.
2) My Colts play the Patriots in the NFL opener Thursday night. We’ll win. I also take some small comfort in the league’s much-publicized “rule change” this year (and by “rule change,” I mean they’re actually going to enforce an existing rule). That rule would be the 5-yard chuck rule, which states that defensive players can’t touch wide receivers once they’re five yards from the line of scrimmage. The Patriots shit all over that rule against the Colts in last year’s AFC championship game, which prompted the league to instruct the referees to start enforcing it. I’ll take that as vindication that the refs blew last year’s AFC title game.
3) Speaking of which, my NFL predictions (guranteed only to be wrong):
AFC North: Baltimore. Cincinnati will bust. Cleveland’s a joke. Pittsburgh will compete but ultimately miss the playoffs.
AFC South: Tennessee. My Colts will get a wildcard, but they lost three big names on defense and did nothing on the free agent market. I put them at 10-6. Jacksonville and Houston will both improve, but neither will make the playoffs.
AFC East: New England will run away with this division. Corey Dillon will make them ever more invincible. I’ll say 14-2 this year. Miami, Buffalo and the Jets will all finish within a few games of one another, and all out of the playoffs.
AFC West: I like Kansas City, with Denver taking the other wildcard slot. The Raiders are rebuilding, and San Diego’s an absolute disaster.
NFC North: Never underestimate Brett Favre. I’m taking the Packers to win the division. Minnesota will get a wildcard. The Lions will be improved, but still bad. And Chicago will land in the cellar.
NFC South: Carolina wins by default. All of these teams are bad. I still don’t think Michael Vick is an all-pro NFL quarterback. We’ll see this year. The Saints have one of the best tailbacks in the league, but very little else. I’ll put Tampa second in this division, but they won’t get a wildcard.
NFC East: Maybe I’m caught up in the Beltway Joe Gibbs hype, but I’m taking the Redskins to win this division. Gibbs knows defense, and if anyone can get the big-name, chronically underperforming Redskins D off the ground, it’s Gibbs. He’s a running game coach with a rugged, all-pro back in Clinton Portis. And he has a veteran quarterback with an extremely talented corps of receivers. Philadelphia will get a wildcard. Dallas will finish just out of the hunt. The Giants will struggle.
NFC West: I like Seattle. Coaching full-time is what Mike Holmgren needed to optimize his time. St. Louis will just miss the playoffs. Denny Green will get Arizona out of last place, but not by much. San Francisco has lots of work to do.
AFC Wildcard Games: Colts over Kansas City. Denver over Baltimore.
NFC Wildcard Games: Philadelphia over Carolina. Washington over Minnesota.
AFC Divisional Games: New England over Denver. Colts over Tennessee.
NFC Divisonal Games: Green Bay over Philadelphia. Washington over Seattle.
AFC Championship: New England over Colts.
NFC Championship: Green Bay over Washington.
Super Bowl: New England over Green Bay.
4) How ’bout them Cards? Nearly 50 games over .500, and approaching .700 baseball. Three legitimate MVP candidates. And all without a marquee pitcher.
5) Purdue QB Kyle Orton is your darkhorse candidate for the Heisman.
6) Finally, an item that’s been in my posting queue for awhile now. How in the world did Indianapolis not make ESPN’s “Most Tortured Sports Cities in America?” We haven’t won a title of any kind since the Pacers won the ABA in 1973. Since then, we’ve had one NBA Finals appearance, NBA conference championship appearances, and two NFL conference championship appearances. That’s it. I’ll give Cleveland #1. But other cities on the list baffle me. I’m tired of hearing about long-suffering Chicago and Boston fans. Give me a break. Chicago has six NBA titles and a Super Bowl in my lifetime. Boston has three NBA titles and a Super Bowl. Yeah, their baseball teams are cursed. Guess what? Indianapolis doesn’t even have a baseball team. Philadelphia has a World Series in my lifetime. Buffalo has four Super Bowl appearances (though, I’ll concede them the #2 slot for having lost all four). Minneapolis has a World Series. Seattle is in about the same boat as Indianapolis, save for that they also have a baseball team. Atlanta has the most dominant baseball team of the 1990s, a World Series, and a Super Bowl appearance. San Diego has two World Series appearances and a Super Bowl appearance. Houston has two NBA championships. Washington, D.C. has an NBA championship and three Super Bowl victories. Phoenix has a World Series winner just two years ago. Cincinnati has one World Series since I came of age as a sports fan, and I believe three more in the 1970s. Kansas City has a World Series. And Tampa just won a Super Bowl two friggin’ years ago.
I say we Indy fans have suffered more than all of these cities, save for maybe Cleveland and Buffalo.
But, sir, the Cardinals are the only team that has a bonafide Marquis pitcher.
I’m glad I’m not the only one picking New England to go all the way again. And Indianapolis really is a tortured city. I’ll take Chicago and my cursed White Sox any day of the week.
2/3) Tennessee for the division? Hm. I… don’t really know what to think of them this year. Losing their best defensive lineman certainly can’t help, but I think their offense will improve with the fresher legs at RB.
As for an AFC title game rematch? I certainly hope so, though I’m afraid your prediction would probably be correct. I just hope our Colts win the first game so this ridiculous win streak talk ends.
4) I’m a Cubs fan. As much as I hold hope against hope every single year, I know that they have absolutely no chance of getting out of the NL unless Atlanta gets paired against St. Louis in the first round. The Cardinals are just too powerful, and are absolutely to be feared and respected.
5) I say we Indy fans have suffered more than these cities
On one hand, we have recently had consistently winning teams. On the other, they consistently get eliminated from the playoffs in a painful manner (only team to take Jordan’s Bulls 7, phantom 4-point play from LJ, one play from the Super Bowl, a properly enforced rule from the Super Bowl, etc.)
Honestly, I’d put Philly above Indy, despite their more recent title. Indy’s been more about bad luck or simply being outclassed (Bulls, or Detroit this past NBA season)… Philly’s frequent complete collapses seem a bit more painful to me.
But we still should have made the list.
Two predictions:
1) My Pats will not lose one game this year. 16-0. And it starts with the Colts.
2) Zell Miller will kill someone — I’m not sure who — before Election Day.
Nah – Purdue just doesn’t generate enough publicity to make a serious run at the Heisman. They aren’t THAT good, and Syracuse probably isn’t that bad. Just one of those days. I wouldn’t be surprised at all next week if Purdue barely gets by Ball State.
I can agree with everything but the Super Bowl prediction!!!
CPF
With all due respect to the city I was born in, Indy just doesn’t count in the pro team sports category. While it has the Pacers (a legit team, but not one that has been long-suffering really – I mean, no world championships, but some awfully good years). The Colts don’t count as they were stolen from Baltimore, and the first one they win, is owed to that city. No, Indy isn’t about the big four (hockey, football, baseball and basketball), but don’t start whining just yet.
Indy has plenty to crow about. First, it has IU (Bloomington is close enough for these purposes – considering the NY football teams play in North Jersey), which has done sorta alright on the national level in basketball, not to mention soccer and swimming.
Then you have the Indy 500, which is not a team sport, to be sure, but gives the city an annual reason to celebrate its local image, even if the bloom is a bit off the rose for Indy Car racing. The Brickyard’s tradition is simply too much to overlook.
And I don’t see John Mellencamp singing about Cleveland…
For anyone not from Indiana it is saying something when an IU guy compliments a Purdue quarterback publicly!
I’d like to think that KC won’t let Indy by them again, but you’re probably right… The only difference is, if we meet in the first round, Gunther Cunningham will make sure the Colts will have to punt this year!
My Seattle Seahawks WILL make the big game this year for the first time. The Colts won’t, and personally, I think they have a good chance of missing the playoffs with Jacksonville beating them in. That team will be under-the-radar good this year.
The Colts will be in trouble in the future with that ridiculous contract they gave Manning. It will be another A-rod in Texas deal- Sure, we have the best player in the sport, unfortunately, we can’t afford to get any halfway decent guys to play with him.
And while I agree that Gibbs will make Washington better, I think IF they get in the playoffs, they go out in the first round, and there is not a chance in hell they could beat the Seahawks in any game this year.
Richard, it won’t be another A-Rod deal. Most of the money from the contract was a signing bonus, and that doesn’t count toward the salary cap. Add to that the fact that Manning isn’t a money whore like A-Rod and will most likely restructure his contract if need be.
And Tampa just won a Super Bowl two friggin’ years ago.
And the Stanley Cup THREE FRIGGIN’ MONTHS ago. If Tampa is a “tortured sports city”, the term has no meaning.
I love reading about tortured sports cities. Makes me glad to be from a championship area . . . The SF Bay Area!
SF 49ers: 5 Super Bowl Championships
Oakland A’s: 4 World Series Campionships
Oakland Raiders: 3 Super Bowl Championships
Golden State Warriors: 1 NBA Championship
Don’t even mention my Giants. Don’t jinx ‘em. Don’t say a word . . .
Sharks have a chance over the next few years for a Stanley Cup . . . if they ever get around to playing.
My two favorite teams…
1. the New York Mets
2. whoever’s playing the N.Y. Yankees
Danno – You call your home the “SF bay area” and include SF teams, Oakland teams, and even the Sharks! Eventually, you’ll have to find at least a few good teams in the area ;)
As a Coloradoan born in Dallas, my life has been full of nothing but success with sports teams. I left the Dallas area right when the boys’ streak was coming to an end, the Broncos and Avs started winning, and now even the Nuggets aren’t playing half bad. If only the Rockies…well, okay, they’re terrible. I’ve been here for some of the most memorable recent events in sports – Elway retiring on top and Bourque getting his cup.
I hate to say it though, but the Broncos aren’t gonna do to well this year. As well as the defense will play, the offense will play worse. Lelie is crap, Smith should retire, our backs are too small and inexperienced, and Jake is no John, no matter how much Denver wants him to be.
Otherwise, I like your picks Radley. And aren’t you close enough now to another city where you don’t have to root for the Pacers and Colts anymore? I guess I still have a soft spot for even the Mavs and the Rangers.
In some people’s eyes, the Colts are STILL a local team (Baltimore is close enough to DC to qualify as local). Like Cardinal fans with the I-70 World Series, some folks just can’t let it go…
Danno – You call your home the “SF bay area” and include SF teams, Oakland teams, and even the Sharks! Eventually, you’ll have to find at least a few good teams in the area ;)
Avis . . . I will admit to a bit of broadening there so some explanation is in order . . . the Bay Area has three of the largest cities in the United States all less than 50 miles from each other (San Jose (11), SF(13), Oakland(40)). Any self-respecting Giants (which I am) fan wouldn’t be caught dead rooting for the A’s. Any self-respecting 49er (which I am) fan wouldn’t be caught dead rooting for the Raiders. The Bay Bridge World Series of 1989 brought out a lot of casual fans and they even sold ‘We Win’ t-shirts along with Giants/As split logo caps. Pure crap.
That said . . . as a whole, while we don’t seem to have the passion for our sports as the East coast and the South does, we are proud of the championship legacies the teams in the immediate region enjoy.
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