Well people it's that time of year already. Time to get fat, and watch football.
First game up is Green Bay at Detroit at 12:30. I don't understand why the NFL insist on shoving the Lions down our throat on Thanksgiving. They have been nothing short of embarassing for about a decade, maybe more. The first meeting this year resulted in a 26-0 victory for the Packers. Matt Stafford is coming off his best game as a pro, 26 of 43 for 422 yards with 5 TD's and 2 INT's, and his favorite target, Calvin Johnson came back from injury with a strong outing. Keep in mind that both have missed practice time this week. Green Bay has the 7th ranked offense in the NFL, and Aaron Rodgers, unless you've been under a rock, is the real deal. The matchup to watch here is the Packers' Charles Woodson vs. Detroit's Calvin Johnson on the outside. I think Johnson wins the matchup, but Green Bay wins fairly easily.
Next up is Oakland at Dallas at 4:15. What can I say about Oakland that hasn't been said about rotten eggs? This once proud franchise has been in decline for years. Al Davis needs to step aside and let someone else run the show. He owes it to those die hard Raiders fans. They rank last in just about every statistical category, and the Cowboys come in with a 5th ranked offense in yards gained. I would not be shocked to see Dallas lay an egg since they've been so inconsistent, but Cowboys stadium, Thanksgiving day, unless someone lets Leon Lett into the building, Cowboys win.
For those of you that don't know or remember the legend that is Leon Lett here's 2 examples:
Lastly, we have the NY Giants at Denver at 8:20. I would say this is the best match of the day, but the health of the Broncos' QB Kyle Orton is a concern. He paticipated in full practice, but I'd keep an eye on him, if he goes, as much as I root for Chris Simms, it's over. The Giants rank in the top 10 in every major category, and should handle the Broncos, as long as they're on their game. However, the Broncos can be a threat on offense, with Eddie Royal and Brandon Marshall on the outside, anything can happen. I'm calling upset on this one, Broncos win (as long as Orton's on the field).
What do you think?
P.S. HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Friday, November 20, 2009
What I Think About Our Teams
Under the advisement of some friends recently, I have started this secondary (sports) blog, so I can put some of my useless information out for all to see. I mostly watch all of the major pro teams, there is just too much to keep up with on the college level, but I do enjoy college football.
For my first sports post, I will just give you a look into the side of my brain ruled by sports, so you can see where I'm coming from.
Florida Marlins:
This is typically the most underappretiated pro team in town, simply in terms of how they field a competitive team every year, with the lowest payroll. However, there is a catch. Major League Baseball does have a revenue share system in place, that distributes a certain amount of profit to smaller market teams throughout the league. This does not in any way constitute or operate as a salary cap. But, it means that even though we have the lowest payroll, we are the most profitable team in the league. So, there is around 45 million dollars of profit that went unspent last year, just to give an example. Some of that could've went to roster improvement, or to the new stadium that our tax dollars will pay for eventually, no matter how they sell it to you. I will give them credit for not having a fire sale, like after the 1997 Championship under the previous ownership. After the 2003 title, they put out big bucks for a couple more years to defend, but later traded it all away anyhow. I love the Marlins, but as long as they coninue to operate this way, they will not be here for long. People will not support a team that is not consistent. They've been lucky so far, but how long do you think they will last rotating these young players in and out all the time? Look at the players around MLB that were rising young stars as Marlins. Miguel Cabrera, A.J. Burnett, Josh Beckett, Derrick Lee, Adrian Gonzalez, Brad Penny, and the list goes on. Look it up, imagine if we could've kept half these guys.
Miami Heat:
Really, what's not to love about this franchise? From Rony Seikaly to Dwayne Wade, they've always been a tough team. I really cannot complain about how Pat Riley runs this team. When they're down, it doesn't take them long to get back up. Riley and owner Mickey Arison just simply knows how to manage a team with that big picture in mind. Not to mention we get to watch Dwayne Wade play on a regular basis (at least for now, cross your fingers). Personally, I think Wade will ultimately stay, seeing as we can offer the most money, and still have enough to sign 2 premier running mates next season. Chris Bosh is a viable option. The Lebron James rumors, while nice, will NEVER happen. The NBA likes their stars all spread out to give the illusion of competition, when really every year you can narrow it down to 4 teams that are legitimate contenders. Bosh, and a true startinig point gaurd would be exactly what the doctor ordered.
Florida Panthers:
Hockey is my second favorite sport to football. South Florida is in real danger of losing the hockey team. The team just got 2 new majority owners this past month, but it was not a sale. They used to be minority owners, and basically, Andy Cohen bowed out, and left them with the debt. 80 MILLION DOLLARS WORTH! I must give Cliff Viner and Stuart Siegel credit, they have every intention of making it work, and keeping the team in South Florida knowing what they were taking on. Whether or not that works will be tough, as the team faces declining attendance after almost a decade of no playoff hockey, even though last year they had 93 points, their second highest total in franchise history. This after averaging near capacity (18,5oo) unitl about 1999-2000. It now stands at about 14,000. This is shear poor managment. Hockey, like football has a salary cap. Which means every team has the same amount of money to spend every year. The cap may rise and fall, but it's even across the league. We have watched players come and go like Pavel Bure, Jay Bouwmeester, Roberto Luongo, Ray Whitney, Ed Jovanovski, Craig Anderson, Radek Bonk, etc. There is a bright future in soome of the young players, like forwards David Booth, Stephen Weiss, Nathan Horton, and great goaltendnig from Tomas Vokoun. They need to improve their defense if they want to take the next step.
Miami Dolphins:
After years of Jimmy Johnson, Dave Wannstedt, Nick Saban (a.k.a. Little Nicky, Osaban Bin Lyin), and Cam's Camerones, we seem to finally be building a team to compete for years. The afformentioned coaches tried to put band-aids on the situation, in order to win now and save their reputations. The caveat here being that it takes time. We were instantly spoiled by an 11-5 season, a division title, and the best string of luck I have ever seen. However, this year is showing us that we finally may have a quarterback, after years of searching. Look at this list of QB's that have started games each year since Marino in 1999:
For my first sports post, I will just give you a look into the side of my brain ruled by sports, so you can see where I'm coming from.
Florida Marlins:
This is typically the most underappretiated pro team in town, simply in terms of how they field a competitive team every year, with the lowest payroll. However, there is a catch. Major League Baseball does have a revenue share system in place, that distributes a certain amount of profit to smaller market teams throughout the league. This does not in any way constitute or operate as a salary cap. But, it means that even though we have the lowest payroll, we are the most profitable team in the league. So, there is around 45 million dollars of profit that went unspent last year, just to give an example. Some of that could've went to roster improvement, or to the new stadium that our tax dollars will pay for eventually, no matter how they sell it to you. I will give them credit for not having a fire sale, like after the 1997 Championship under the previous ownership. After the 2003 title, they put out big bucks for a couple more years to defend, but later traded it all away anyhow. I love the Marlins, but as long as they coninue to operate this way, they will not be here for long. People will not support a team that is not consistent. They've been lucky so far, but how long do you think they will last rotating these young players in and out all the time? Look at the players around MLB that were rising young stars as Marlins. Miguel Cabrera, A.J. Burnett, Josh Beckett, Derrick Lee, Adrian Gonzalez, Brad Penny, and the list goes on. Look it up, imagine if we could've kept half these guys.
Miami Heat:
Really, what's not to love about this franchise? From Rony Seikaly to Dwayne Wade, they've always been a tough team. I really cannot complain about how Pat Riley runs this team. When they're down, it doesn't take them long to get back up. Riley and owner Mickey Arison just simply knows how to manage a team with that big picture in mind. Not to mention we get to watch Dwayne Wade play on a regular basis (at least for now, cross your fingers). Personally, I think Wade will ultimately stay, seeing as we can offer the most money, and still have enough to sign 2 premier running mates next season. Chris Bosh is a viable option. The Lebron James rumors, while nice, will NEVER happen. The NBA likes their stars all spread out to give the illusion of competition, when really every year you can narrow it down to 4 teams that are legitimate contenders. Bosh, and a true startinig point gaurd would be exactly what the doctor ordered.
Florida Panthers:
Hockey is my second favorite sport to football. South Florida is in real danger of losing the hockey team. The team just got 2 new majority owners this past month, but it was not a sale. They used to be minority owners, and basically, Andy Cohen bowed out, and left them with the debt. 80 MILLION DOLLARS WORTH! I must give Cliff Viner and Stuart Siegel credit, they have every intention of making it work, and keeping the team in South Florida knowing what they were taking on. Whether or not that works will be tough, as the team faces declining attendance after almost a decade of no playoff hockey, even though last year they had 93 points, their second highest total in franchise history. This after averaging near capacity (18,5oo) unitl about 1999-2000. It now stands at about 14,000. This is shear poor managment. Hockey, like football has a salary cap. Which means every team has the same amount of money to spend every year. The cap may rise and fall, but it's even across the league. We have watched players come and go like Pavel Bure, Jay Bouwmeester, Roberto Luongo, Ray Whitney, Ed Jovanovski, Craig Anderson, Radek Bonk, etc. There is a bright future in soome of the young players, like forwards David Booth, Stephen Weiss, Nathan Horton, and great goaltendnig from Tomas Vokoun. They need to improve their defense if they want to take the next step.
Miami Dolphins:
After years of Jimmy Johnson, Dave Wannstedt, Nick Saban (a.k.a. Little Nicky, Osaban Bin Lyin), and Cam's Camerones, we seem to finally be building a team to compete for years. The afformentioned coaches tried to put band-aids on the situation, in order to win now and save their reputations. The caveat here being that it takes time. We were instantly spoiled by an 11-5 season, a division title, and the best string of luck I have ever seen. However, this year is showing us that we finally may have a quarterback, after years of searching. Look at this list of QB's that have started games each year since Marino in 1999:
2000 - Jay Fiedler, Damon Huard
2001 - Jay Fiedler, Ray Lucas
2002 - Jay Fiedler, Ray Lucas, Sage Rosenfels
2003 - Jay Fiedler, Sage Rosenfels, Brian Griese
2004 - Jay Fiedler, A.J. Feeley, Sage Rosenfels
2005 - Gus Frerotte, Sage Rosenfels
2006 - Joey Harrington, Dante Culpepper, Cleo Lemon
2007 - Trent Green, John Beck, Cleo Lemon
2008 - Chad Pennington
2009 - Chad Pennington, Chad Henne
Out of this group, Jay Fiedler deserves credit. In his time with the Dolphins, he had a better winning percentage than ANY QB during his starting tenure (yes, I remember the defense and the running game), and Chad Pennengton etched himself into Dolphins lore for leading the team that had the best turnaround in NFL history, from 1-15 to 11-5.
Now comes Henne. He seems to have the tools, and he learned how to be a pro from the one of the most professional inividuals in sports, Pennington. Let's hope there's no changes to this list for a few years.
Bill Parcells and Tony Sparano have built this team from the inside out. The offensive line looks solid with Jake Long and Vernon Carey as the bookends, and there are some promising young defensive lineman in Paul Solai, Randy Starks, and Cameron Wake. They also seemed to have knocked it out of the park, stealing Sean Smith and Vontae Davis in one draft.
What this team is sorely lacking is, guess what, PASS CATCHERS! I don't care if it's a receiver, or a tight end, we need someone who can catch consistently. I don't even need to explain this any further.
Other than solidifying the backfield after Ronnie Brown's injury and uncertain future with the team, we need some young depth at linebacker, but they should just focus on getting someone to help Henne out. A good offense will help to alleviate problems on defense by making your opponent one dimensional.
In short, we still need to be patient, but I love where the Dolphins are headed.
So there, that's how I see it, I will update this blog at least once a week, or more depending upon the week's events. Feel free to argue with me if you like, as I said I am not a sports writer, I'm just a fan who can just speak on what I see.
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