Season's underway, and I haven't done any Random Thoughts in a while, now's a great time!
1. It was nice to see a close Thursday night season opener after two consecutive years of blowouts (Colts over Saints, Giants over Redskins). No defending Super Bowl champ has lost their opener since 1999 (Denver, but Elway had retired prior to the season), winning 10 straight.
2. I have a gut feeling that people may be overrating USC heading into their game on Saturday. Yes, Ohio State struggled to beat Navy, but at least the Buckeyes played an actual opponent, whereas USC played a WAC creampuff (i.e. teams not named Boise State, Hawaii, or Fresno State). I'd like to see the Buckeyes win- I know HD wants a win so badly, plus it would finally shut up all the Big 10 media bashers/USC worshippers.
3. Michigan-Notre Dame, after being totally irrelevant for a few years, is actually shaping up to be a pretty meaningful game this year. I'm not jumping to conclusions, but it's nice to see at least one or both of these teams playing above-average football.
4. Salsa, I may not be picking the Raiders to beat San Diego in their opener, but I actually do like their chances against the Chiefs and Broncos. Honestly, I see Oakland going 4-2 in the division- sweeps of Kansas City and Denver, swept by the Chargers.
5. Speaking of HD and Salsa, I can't wait for when the Browns play the Raiders- their trash-talking will be something to watch, considering how their always-entertaining "LeBron or D-Wade" debates.
5. What does the C in SandraC stand for?
6. Last year, I completely trashed the ACC conference, poking at their boring play and woeful BCS record- what a difference a year makes. They finally got a BCS win, Miami-Florida State and Clemson-Georgia Tech were great games- this conference is looking pretty good. The ACC is not crappy anymore!
7. It's amazing how many different "Nations" there are in sports- I am long familiar with Red Sox Nation, Raider Nation, and Steeler Nation, but some of the other teams are just adding it on to make them sound cooler.
8. I will not be doing any avatar bets this year- I went 1-3 last year, and that one was only because of a great play by Michael Crabtree against Texas.
9. IMHO, these upcoming are going to be baseball playoffs are wide-open. There is no truly dominant team out there- I honestly feel that any of the teams that can make the playoffs can win it all. The only one that would really, really surprise me is the Rockies, but of the eight teams that would make the playoffs if the season ended right now, only one- the Dodgers- has not made a World Series appearance in this decade.
10. It's amazing that more attention is focused about the unretirements of Brett Favre than the legitimate retirements in sports this year (i.e. Tedy Bruschi, Joe Sakic, John Madden, Tony Dungy, Curt Schilling, Alonzo Mourning). It's a shame that Mourning, one of the classiest and most dignified men to ever play basketball, gets so little attention for calling it a career after some thought he wouldn't make it this far after his kidney problems, whereas anything and everything #4 does is a lead story.
11. Tomorrow, Michael Jordan will be inducted into the Pro Basketball Hall of Fame. Salsa covered this team during his time as a Chicago reporter- it's hard to believe that one of our very own was able to follow around the footsteps of a living legend during the Bulls' great run in the 1990s.
12. The rest of the inductees are no slouches themselves- Jerry Sloan, one of the NBA's great coaches (and arguably one of the best ever without a ring), John Stockton, the NBA's all-time leaders in assists and steals, and David Robinson, one of the game's great big-men and class acts.
13. Tomorrow, I am going to The Shops at North Ridge in Chicago. Alyssa Milano will be signing autographs and greeting fans- I am going to meet her! (Salsa, I'll check for any "skanky circles.")
14. Finally, this last one is something I've wanted to get off my chest for a while. KCK, I love your baseball knowledge, but I cannot agree with your thoughts about Alexander Ovechkin.
How can you call him cocky, arrogant, and spoiled, a prima donna, and say you don't like him as a human being? All he said was that after he plays here a long time (19-20 years), he would like to go back to his home country of Russia many years down the road. When he's done with his likely Hall of Fame Career, he'd like to play a bit back home before he calls a career. Somehow, because of that statement, you now view him like he's Terrell Owens. What's so bad about that? Jaromir Jagr went back to the Czech Republic after 18 years in the NHL, yet I don't recall him getting that treatment.
As for the other players you said you'd rather have over him- I'll give you Malkin and Crosby, I'll give you Getzlaf, even Toews. If you want to say you'd rather have those players, I'll give you that. But I cannot say with a straight face that I would have rather have Kopitar- he's had one 30-goal season and never scored more than 77 points. Also, Ovechkin's Capitals have evolved in a legit Stanley Cup threat, while Kopitar's Kings languish at the bottom of the Western Conference as a cellar-dweller. Kopitar has yet to lead his team in the playoffs, let along get there.
His so-called "self-centered" antics are entertaining. Hockey NEEDS excitement- the NBA braces this type of emotion, ditto for the NFL. It's a nice change of pace- I like hockey players with emotion that want to entertain. What's so bad about wanting to entertain the fans?
1. It was nice to see a close Thursday night season opener after two consecutive years of blowouts (Colts over Saints, Giants over Redskins). No defending Super Bowl champ has lost their opener since 1999 (Denver, but Elway had retired prior to the season), winning 10 straight.
2. I have a gut feeling that people may be overrating USC heading into their game on Saturday. Yes, Ohio State struggled to beat Navy, but at least the Buckeyes played an actual opponent, whereas USC played a WAC creampuff (i.e. teams not named Boise State, Hawaii, or Fresno State). I'd like to see the Buckeyes win- I know HD wants a win so badly, plus it would finally shut up all the Big 10 media bashers/USC worshippers.
3. Michigan-Notre Dame, after being totally irrelevant for a few years, is actually shaping up to be a pretty meaningful game this year. I'm not jumping to conclusions, but it's nice to see at least one or both of these teams playing above-average football.
4. Salsa, I may not be picking the Raiders to beat San Diego in their opener, but I actually do like their chances against the Chiefs and Broncos. Honestly, I see Oakland going 4-2 in the division- sweeps of Kansas City and Denver, swept by the Chargers.
5. Speaking of HD and Salsa, I can't wait for when the Browns play the Raiders- their trash-talking will be something to watch, considering how their always-entertaining "LeBron or D-Wade" debates.
5. What does the C in SandraC stand for?
6. Last year, I completely trashed the ACC conference, poking at their boring play and woeful BCS record- what a difference a year makes. They finally got a BCS win, Miami-Florida State and Clemson-Georgia Tech were great games- this conference is looking pretty good. The ACC is not crappy anymore!
7. It's amazing how many different "Nations" there are in sports- I am long familiar with Red Sox Nation, Raider Nation, and Steeler Nation, but some of the other teams are just adding it on to make them sound cooler.
8. I will not be doing any avatar bets this year- I went 1-3 last year, and that one was only because of a great play by Michael Crabtree against Texas.
9. IMHO, these upcoming are going to be baseball playoffs are wide-open. There is no truly dominant team out there- I honestly feel that any of the teams that can make the playoffs can win it all. The only one that would really, really surprise me is the Rockies, but of the eight teams that would make the playoffs if the season ended right now, only one- the Dodgers- has not made a World Series appearance in this decade.
10. It's amazing that more attention is focused about the unretirements of Brett Favre than the legitimate retirements in sports this year (i.e. Tedy Bruschi, Joe Sakic, John Madden, Tony Dungy, Curt Schilling, Alonzo Mourning). It's a shame that Mourning, one of the classiest and most dignified men to ever play basketball, gets so little attention for calling it a career after some thought he wouldn't make it this far after his kidney problems, whereas anything and everything #4 does is a lead story.
11. Tomorrow, Michael Jordan will be inducted into the Pro Basketball Hall of Fame. Salsa covered this team during his time as a Chicago reporter- it's hard to believe that one of our very own was able to follow around the footsteps of a living legend during the Bulls' great run in the 1990s.
12. The rest of the inductees are no slouches themselves- Jerry Sloan, one of the NBA's great coaches (and arguably one of the best ever without a ring), John Stockton, the NBA's all-time leaders in assists and steals, and David Robinson, one of the game's great big-men and class acts.
13. Tomorrow, I am going to The Shops at North Ridge in Chicago. Alyssa Milano will be signing autographs and greeting fans- I am going to meet her! (Salsa, I'll check for any "skanky circles.")
14. Finally, this last one is something I've wanted to get off my chest for a while. KCK, I love your baseball knowledge, but I cannot agree with your thoughts about Alexander Ovechkin.
How can you call him cocky, arrogant, and spoiled, a prima donna, and say you don't like him as a human being? All he said was that after he plays here a long time (19-20 years), he would like to go back to his home country of Russia many years down the road. When he's done with his likely Hall of Fame Career, he'd like to play a bit back home before he calls a career. Somehow, because of that statement, you now view him like he's Terrell Owens. What's so bad about that? Jaromir Jagr went back to the Czech Republic after 18 years in the NHL, yet I don't recall him getting that treatment.
As for the other players you said you'd rather have over him- I'll give you Malkin and Crosby, I'll give you Getzlaf, even Toews. If you want to say you'd rather have those players, I'll give you that. But I cannot say with a straight face that I would have rather have Kopitar- he's had one 30-goal season and never scored more than 77 points. Also, Ovechkin's Capitals have evolved in a legit Stanley Cup threat, while Kopitar's Kings languish at the bottom of the Western Conference as a cellar-dweller. Kopitar has yet to lead his team in the playoffs, let along get there.
His so-called "self-centered" antics are entertaining. Hockey NEEDS excitement- the NBA braces this type of emotion, ditto for the NFL. It's a nice change of pace- I like hockey players with emotion that want to entertain. What's so bad about wanting to entertain the fans?
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