After the last preseason game here against the Redskins, the Jaguars will now get down to the ‘good stuff’! They begin the regular season here at home against the Titans on the 9th. It will undoubtedly be damn hot. Already, the talk is almost all about Byron Leftwich. Many are unimpressed with his play during the preseason, leaving them quite apprehensive about what is to come for the regular season. All this, while back up David Garrard looked quite sharp during his own preseason play, albeit against second-teamers. And while I would agree that Leftwich has not looked all that great in these games so far, I would also have to agree with him in saying that the preseason means nothing at all! Wait until the regular season starts to begin your wining about who should and who shouldn’t be playing! We’ll get plenty of opportunities to see Byron and his boys play, as they begin their season at home with two home games.
The season cranks up this weekend with games all over the place. There are plenty of wild match-ups, as we’ll see in Athens, when the Georgia Bulldogs host Oklahoma State. Also, Tennessee goes to California to play the Golden Bears, while Georgia Tech heads to Notre Dame. The #1 Southern Cal Trojans host Idaho. We also get to see Florida State make their debut against a Clemson team that is always fairly tough. It will be a stern test for this Seminoles squad we have heard such good things about, with their new coaches in place. We’ll also hear the father/son line play out, with Bobby and Tommy Bowden.
Florida (Western Kentucky), and Miami (Marshall), will get walks in the park at home, as will a number of other powerhouse teams, playing what amounts to exhibition practices against weaker opponents.
If the Atlanta Braves plan on catching their rival New York Mets, they may want to beat them a few times at home this weekend. This is a pivotal series for the Braves, who have to make a move soon if they are going to get into the playoffs. New York has been solid all season long, and the Braves have to be thinking wild card if they want a shot. Meanwhile out West, the Dodgers and Padres will get it on in San Diego for a weekend series, which should be a nice scenario for David Wells, now throwing for L.A. after being cut by the Pads a month ago. Both are going after the D-backs in the NL West.
This week the U.S. Open Tennis Championships cranked up in Flushing Meadow, NY, outside New York City.We all know about Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. Both are clearly at the top of the heap on the Men’s side, and its gonna take a lot to unseat them in the next few years. Americans Andy Roddick and James Blake will give fairly valiant efforts, but unless they raise their respective games, will not come through with a title. So, look for Nadal and Federer in the Final.For the Women, the landscape is entirely different. There are a number of girls who can make a good, strong run and come away with a U.S. Open title, and we have seen that quite evident so far this season, with the reemergence of the Williams sisters trumping the stories.We shall see how things play out here. We always get an early upset or two, which heightens interest in the tournament.
There is one faction of humanity loving this whole Michael Vick fiasco, and that is my fellow Media. Its absolutely amazing to me how the Media will simply devour a story such as this, take it, and run with it as far and as long as they possibly can, squeezing every last drop of viewer attention they can get. ESPN has been they most prominent, staging set ups for reporters, analysts, and experts at all times, as if they are uncovering ground-breaking information for us. All the while, it is becoming public knowledge as even before they report some news. They’d never let you know that, though.
The only thing I can say, though, is that Vick brought this all upon himself. If he was ignorant enough to NOT know the ramifications of the activity he was getting himself into, then perhaps he should’ve done some serious fact-finding, especially after signing a $100+ million contract, along with some fantastic endorsement deals with Nike, EA Sports, and the like. Michael Vick decided to flush that all down the toilet when he staged a few dogfights, then hung them out to die. I’m sure he’ll have plenty of time to think about it all in jail.
Tom Weppel talks trash with Greg Larson, Lonnie Marts, Eugene Chung, Artis Gilmore, and Ron Duguay on SportsAvengers.com 24/7.
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EU Critic’s Choice Awards
