Sunday, September 11, 2005

Sunday Bloody Kickoff

Today is the first Sunday of the new football season. Since I normally have Monday and Tuesday as my days off, I try to take today off using vacation pay to join several co-workers at a bar called Nikki Lee's to watch the first games. I mean games because the watering hole plays all of the games available on satellite on a combination of plasmas, LCDs and big screen TVs all mounted near the ceiling tilted down towards the attendees. Usually, we grab breakfast there and read the paper before the games start but I was running a bit later than normal (I live farthest away.)

What I've learned so far:

  • I shouldn't have broken my betting rules as Oakland cost me my only bet of the season. Not a big loss as statistically they were pretty well matched other than the nearly 150 yards in penalties they gave up.

  • We have a contest at work called Last Man Standing. The idea of it is that you pick 1 team to win this week. Next week you pick another team to win without picking a team you have used before. My pick (Denver) cost me and I'm out in the first week. I'm not too worried as many took the Vikings, Saints and others are awaiting scores from the second set of games.

  • Tampa Bay found a red zone threat in Alex Smith (no not the San Francisco quarterback). The 6-4 258 rookie tight end out of Stanford caught 4 passes for 23 yards and 2 touchdowns. He'll be interesting to watch this season.

  • Pittsburgh 3rd string running back Willie Parker is going to give the team reason to create some cap room as Duce Staley who is hurt for his second year and veteran Jerome Bettis are a bit more expensive and aren't healthy. 161-yards on 22 carries (7.3 yards per carry) and 1 catch for 43 yards... we'll have to see next week as maybe Tennessee can't stop the run. (Parker avoided 6 tackles on one play.)

  • The Jets were lucky to score a touchdown. The team fumbled the ball 8 times and threw an interception. As bad as this looks, something smells fishy (no they weren't playing the Dolphins.) QB Chad Pennington fumbled the ball only 5 times last year but 6 times in a game is going for a record. I put a lot of this on center Kevin Mawae as he fumbled the ball once and he had problems getting the ball to Pennington. When Jay Fiedler relieved Pennington... another bad snap sent Fiedler scrambling to get the ball.

  • Tim Rattay throws 2 touchdowns in the first half against the Rams. Shocking, I know, but that was only on a total of 8 attempted passes (6 were caught.) 21-9 in the first half. Who would have guessed (oh, and many people have the Rams in our Last Man Standing.) The 49ers rushing in the first half is pretty underwhelming as Kevan Barlow has 4 yards on 6 attempts. That's not good but they are winning at this time.

Have I said that I really like football?

10 comments:

Unknown said...

excellent post my dear man!!! I am so glad there is someone else I love to read that can appreciate the finer points of football.. you have warmed the cockels of my heart..
Duce-the man had one great year in Philly and dats it..waste of money

Tampa..Gruden..only reason I watch them. I still think he is one of the best minds in football.

Pennington..I had higher hopes for him than what transpired today..and to think i have him in a couple fantasy leagues..oh the pain..

Niners.the ball and chain is a niners fan which means I root against them..its a family tradition I feel compelled to uphold. But Rat seems to be doing better than expected.

Unknown said...

And the Niners win, the defense was outstanding, 7 sacks, and an interception in the closing minutes. Wait until the offense starts to click (hopefully).

Teri said...

I think I am the only person in the world who does not like football. My life as I know it has changed (until February)... sigh

LoraLoo said...

You are a football Nut too, this is evident by your post. :)

I agree with Diva - no mention on the Cowboys game? I'm disappointed. You know I'm a serious Cowboys fan - and I hardly got to watch the game; I was cooking for a buttload of family at the house. BUT - they won! They won! Did I mention they won??!! Gotta love football season. My life is complete for the next few months.

Martin said...

Diva - No prejudice here as you'll note that I posted that prior to halftime. I didn't mention how bad the Packers looked because there was a lot of game to play and I wasn't shocked that they would struggle with points giving away their two starting guards. But, what I did like in the second half with the Cowboys was how Bledsoe worked the field getting passes to 5 different receivers. KJ and Glenn looked youthful and Crayton proved he'll be a threat all year. Running game was as I expected, strong. I'd praise the two interceptions the revamped secondary snagged but I keep wondering how they would have fared handling Antonio Gates. Still it's promising.

RT said...

You guys are making my brain hurt.

I'm still trying to figure out what those orange lines on the field are for... And why they keep disappearing!

Fred said...

We also do the Last Man Standing. Last year, I was knocked off the first week picking Green Bay. This year, I picked Pittsburgh and made it through. Out of 62 people, only 30 are left after week one. My chances have improved!

Unknown said...

yo 80's..i am sorry to bother you but I have a cause to promote tonite..and its for the animals that were left behind in Katrina's wake..i usually do NOT bother fellow bloggers with such things but i feel compelled to do so..the animals are the least able to protect themselves from this horrible disaster..if you feel so inclined could you post their link.its: http://www.uan.org/

they have been doing this work for quite sometime and i apologize in advance for posting this if it offends you.

Unknown said...

I don't like Barlow either vavoom, but I am holding out hope as he did look good 2 years ago and Frank Gore is a year away.

Martin said...

Gore is going to be very interesting prospect next year (maybe even late this year as there isn't much depth there.)