Time Out for Sports Talk: Spreading the Field with Opinions
Todd: It’s been said many times, but sports is the toy department of our lives. It’s the final two minutes jammed in at the end of your local newscast (if there’s time). During our leisure time we watch a game or two so we can be entertained, much as we do when viewing a movie or TV show.
Unfortunately these first few weeks of the NFL season have been dominated by too much off-field news and not enough on the gridiron. I would like to hope that will change in the weeks ahead, but probably not—there are simply too many incidents happening involving people we prefer to watch in shoulder pads trying to elude a tackle.
Another distraction for me is NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. Late last week he finally spoke, but sounded more like a politician spewing rhetoric than someone taking responsibility for his actions (or lack thereof).
For the last eight years, Goodell has held teams, players and coaches accountable for their transgressions. When New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton was suspended for an entire season due to the Bountygate scandal, the commissioner uttered the words, “ignorance is not an excuse” as reason for such a harsh punishment.
Really, Roger? All we heard from you last Friday was, “I got it wrong, I’m sorry and now I will get it right” regarding his recent handling of events. Sounds pretty ignorant to me. When pressed by reporters, he gave ambiguous responses to their on-the-nose questions.
Bottom line is, the man no longer has any credibility. Create all the subcommittees you want NFL, but it won’t mean much if the face of your league doesn’t change.
Quick baseball thought (a full Red Sox column coming next month, we promise). How rare is it that both the Red Sox and Yankees fail to make the playoffs? How about that it hasn’t happened before now since 1993? The two AL East rivals close out the regular season at Fenway Park this weekend and hardly anyone cares, except the hardest of hardcore seamheads and Derek Jeter’s family.
Speaking of Jeter, he began his career in 1995 and until this week had only played ONE game when his team was not in playoff contention. Now the pinstriped shortstop is playing out the string.
By the way, MLB knew 2014 was going to be Jeter’s final season, and they didn’t allow the Yankees to close out the regular season at home? I suppose those involved in that decision assumed the 27-time World Champs would make the postseason. Guess we all know what happens when you assume…as an aside, it will be interesting to see what Dr. Charles Steinberg and the Red Sox will do this weekend to honor #2.
Did any of us expect the Oakland Raiders to put a scare into the Patriots at Gillette Stadium? Let me answer for everyone—NO. Unfortunately, the real scare of that game was watching the Pats’ offensive line play like a sieve and Tom Brady take a beating to one of the worst teams in the league. TB12 is not going to last the season if he continues facing that kind of pressure week in and week out.
And why, of all quarterbacks, is Derek Carr not afraid to throw the ball in Darrelle Revis’ direction? Aaron Rodgers spent an entire game avoiding Seattle cornerback Richard Sherman, who as of now does not have an island named after him. But it’s suddenly ok for QB’s to throw to receivers covered by Revis, who got beat a few times last week. Quick, name a Raiders wideout…I’ll wait.
Suddenly this Monday night’s game at Arrowhead looks difficult. True, the Kansas City Chiefs have their own issues and injuries to deal with, but they managed to trounce the Dolphins in the heat of South Florida last week.
The Pats defense is going to need to lead the way—they’ve been on a roll forcing turnovers (eight in three games), while the Chiefs are dead last in the league in creating takeaways. Without that, I think it could be a long night. Chiefs 24, Patriots 20.
My other game picks (2-1 last week, 3-3 season): Colts over Titans, Falcons over Vikings and Chargers over Jaguars.
Mike: Well, well well, it seems that Derek Jeter managed to avoid the rain hovering over his final Yankee Stadium game and pulled off the Hollywood ending.
If you've been living under a rock, Jeter got the walk-off base hit last night (9/25) to close out his Yankee Stadium career on a winning note. And he did address the question of playing in Boston this weekend by saying while he wouldn't likely be in the field, he would play in some capacity out of "respect for the rivalry and the Boston fans."
It was a classy gesture. And that is the last time I say anything positive about a Yankee.
I tried to watch the lovefest on MLB Network last night, but I tuned in during the 8th inning and Bob Costas was treating the situation like it was going to change the world, instead of just being about an athlete's final game, that I turned it off and watched "Modern Family" on my DVR instead (which was a much better choice BTW).
And I know there will be memorable moments this weekend at Fenway with Jeter's final games and the Sox fans saying farewell to a respected rival, but I can't force myself to care. Maybe it's the simple fact that the season has been over for a while, but maybe it's also that I've never really cared about Jeter before, so why should I start now?
As for the Patriots last week, to continue Todd's theme, that was scary. They should have destroyed the Raiders, but instead they were in a down-to-the-wire game that never should have never been that close.
There's some potential trouble ahead if they can't work things out. And they have a tough game on the road this week. I'm still thinking they can pull it out, but my pick is a shaky one. Pats win 21-20.
For my other picks (3-0 last week, 5-1 season), I'll take the Lions over the pathetic Jets, Miami over Oakland and the Steelers in a huge win over Tampa Bay!
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