by Tom Weppel
The Jaguars are on a nice roll now, having won four in a row, and now they will host the Super Bowl Champion Indy Colts. If you remember last season, the Colts came into town and the Jags beat their ass 44-17. The Colts are one of only two teams left with an unblemished record, and they come in off a bye week, so they should be fresh and ready to play.
Meanwhile, Jackie Del Rio has done a good job of getting his thugs ready to play. He’s got a good group of players and a coaching staff that is fired up and ready to go each week. I will say, though, that Del Rio has looked a little ragged lately, as if he’s putting in a lot of hours lately, perhaps burning the midnight oil. All things considered, this should be an exciting contest between two very good squads.
Now, I’m going to assume this game WILL NOT be blacked out, as opposed to the last two against the Falcons and Texans. Obviously, the Colts are more of a draw, and being on Monday night should make this a showcase game. The game can be seen on ESPN as well as Channel 4, and the folks down at WJXT are bouncing off walls at being able to air this one.
Last week there were all kinds of discussions over what the deal is about Jag games being blacked-out. People were wondering why, after so many years of this town saying it could support an NFL team as a passionate, football-crazy market, all the tickets to these games aren’t getting sold. As a casual, yet educated, observer, I can place blame on certain fans around here who aren’t going to games, but I can also place blame on the Jaguars’ organization for not doing a better job of marketing their team, their franchise, and the game-day festivities.
Look, Wayne Weaver built his vast fortune by selling women’s shoes. His Nine West retail stores were damn successful, giving him enough money to invest in becoming the majority owner of the Jacksonville Jaguars. He knows how to sell, pure and simple. However, I firmly believe the Jaguars can do a much better job of promoting and selling their games, their players, and a whole bunch of other aspects of the game that would entice a lot more people to WANT to go to the game.
Did anyone see ONE TV commercial last week promoting the game? Did anyone see ONE billboard showing cool shots of Jaguars/Texans? Did anyone hear ANY players or cheerleaders enticing people to come out and buy tickets? Has anyone seen WAYNE HIMSELF simply ASK people to come out?
Somebody inside No-Name Stadium has to come up with interesting, exciting, enticing ideas to market and advertise a pretty kick-ass Jaguar squad. Right now, that is not happening.
If they were to do that, my guess is that more people WOULD INDEED come out, show up, and have fun, enjoying what clearly has become a good team and a great experience. At that point, I would challenge football fans around here, and in outlying areas as well like St. Aug, Fernandina, Brunswick, and other towns, to check the boys out.
Remember! There are still NO TEAMS in Los Angeles.
This weekend should be pretty tasty, if you are a fan of college football. After a bye week, the Florida Gators head up to the Bluegrass State to take on a Kentucky team that is jacked up after their win last week against LSU. Mainly known as a basketball school, the Wildcats have put together a pretty good squad and it will be up to Urban Meyer to get his boys positioned to take care of business and beat UK. Obviously, Kentucky wants this one badly. A third loss by the Gators would almost shut down the season.
Ten years ago, a Miami/Florida State game would carry National Championship implications without question. Here in 2007, people are wondering where the two programs have faded off to. Miami lost last weekend at home to Georgia Tech, while the ‘Noles lost their game last Thursday night to Wake Forest. That’s the second straight year that has happened. It is quite obvious Bobby Bowden has let this program slide. They are not what they used to be, even though he brought in a good coaching staff. In the meantime, the Hurricanes have also fallen off to being simply a mediocre squad. And so this game in Tallahassee on Saturday, while carrying a certain degree of interest and curiosity among loyal fans, is a game with no strong consequence.
At the beginning of the season, plenty of people thought the game between Southern Cal and Notre Dame would carry considerable weight. Now, we’ll see a game between the hapless 1-6 Irish, and a Trojan team that has stumbled in the last few weeks. USC should be able to go into South Bend and win this one, but with the way this season has gone, nothing is a given anymore.
In other games, top-ranked Ohio State will host the Spartans of Michigan State, LSU will be hosting Auburn, making it a Tigers/Tigers game, and Tennessee will head to Alabama to play a Crimson Tide squad that barely beat Ole Miss last weekend.
The Major League Baseball playoffs are continuing and the Colorado Rockies are a team on fire, yet not too many people are caring at all. They have become the team nobody knows. Meanwhile, Jeff Gordon has pretty much wrapped up the Chase, for all intents. Last week, his win in Charlotte was the sixth of the year. The Boys head to Martinsville this week.
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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