womenwatchingfootball

I probably shouldn’t do this because it’ll be down in black and white and will come back to haunt me, but here are my predictions for the 2008 season.

AFC East - This is a no brainer, the New England Patriots. Not just because they are my team, but they have no real competition. Even with Brett Favre on the Jets, the Pats will still win the division.

AFC South - It has to be the Indianapolis Colts once again. It’s like playing the same tune over and over but you never get tired of it. The Jaguars and Titans play in week 1 and the winner will probably come in second place.

AFC North - The Pittsburgh Steelers. The Browns should give them a run but just can’t get it done against the Steelers. The Bengals and Ravens will not be a factor.

AFC West - San Diego Chargers. Even with that annoying theme song, they’ll still get the job done. They still need to prove themselves in the playoffs though.

NFC East - Definitely the toughest division to pick but the Dallas Cowboys seem to have the edge. The New York Giants will finish a close second.

NFC South - In a less than stellar division, I see the New Orleans Saints taking the South. The Falcons could be a team to watch with rookie QB Matt Ryan.

NFC North - I see the Chicago Bears outlasting everyone in this tough division. As always, it’ll be interesting but it’ll be the Bears.

NFC West - Once again it will be the Seattle Seahawks. Arizona is the only team with a chance to put pressure on them but they don’t have enough.

There it is, my division winners. Tomorrow, I’ll add in the wild card winners and make my Super Bowl prediction. My crystal ball is a little fuzzy right now.

OK, we all know that Chad Johnson is a pretty strange dude. This week he legally changed his name to Chad Javon Ocho Cinco. You know, ocho cinco, the number 85. I need one of those head slapping smilies for this one.

He’s done some crazy things before but this takes the cake. He is so full of himself actually there is no room for cake. He tried to demand a trade this off season but the Bengals wouldn’t trade him.

Only 5 years into his career a book was written about him called “I Can’t be Stopped”. You can get your own copy off his website for the low price of $29.95. He also sells gourmet popcorn for $34.00. His autographed mini-helmet sells for $149. I guess he needs to bring in a few extra bucks.

This season should be an interesting one for Mr. Ocho Cinco. I’m sure there will be merchandise to go along with it. Isn’t there always?

To add to the madness that surrounds the first game of the season, the NFL has a kickoff concert. This year’s concert is Thursday September 4th starting at 4PM. It’s live from Columbus Circle in New York City.

Usher, Keith Urban and Natasha Bedingfield will headline the event. It will run from 4 PM to about 6:45 PM. It is free and no tickets are needed so if you’re in the area, check it out. If you can’t be there (and most of us can’t) you can check it out on NFL Network or NFL.com in streaming video.

The first game of the season seems to be trying to out do the last game of the season, the Super Bowl. It’s no longer just a game, it’s an event. Everyone wants to be involved, sponsors included.

The countdown is on, everyone is getting ready. Plan those snacks, it’s just 5 days away. “ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL?”

So, after yesterday’s post about NFL rivals, I got messages from two friends defending their team. They were both giving me a hard time for leaving out the Minnesota Vikings and the Detroit Lions.

The point they were trying to get across to me is that any time 2 teams from the NFC North Division, match up, it’s like the game of the century. I guess I’ll give in a little and say that historically, it has been a tough division. They have been known to beat up on each other really good.

Now, if all 4 teams played in outdoor stadiums, that would certainly add the elements into all the matchups. Since Minnesota and Detroit play in domed stadiums, it takes something away from those December games.

I have also seen it mentioned that college football plays into this rivalry too. All 4 cities are within Big 10 territory.

So, I say to my NFC North friends, here’s your props but if you want to be known as a tough conference, you need all your teams playing outdoors.

Many rivalries exist in the NFL. These are usually the can’t miss games of the season. The oldest rivalry is between the Green Bay Packers and the Chicago Bears. It goes all the way back to 1922. There is never any love lost between these two teams.

Another huge rival is the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Cleveland Browns. The two cities are separated by only 132 miles. I’m sure there is much fuzzy area between the two cities where loyalties are divided. It’s like pitting neighbor versus neighbor.

The Kansas City Chiefs and the Oakland Raiders is an unusual rivalry. The Kansas City Athletic baseball team packed up and moved to Oakland, became the A’s and Kansas City’s bitterness towards Oakland began.

The New England Patriots and the New York Jets are two teams that dislike each other. Many coaches have deserted one team for the other. Eric Mangini, the Jets current head coach, served as a defensive coordinator for the Patriots.

The Dallas Cowboys and the Washington Redskins have been rivals since Dallas came into the league in 1960. It could be the classic cowboys and indians matchup.

There are many more but those are the major ones. Rivalries are good for the league. It can keep interest in a game when there otherwise might not be any. Sometimes, as long as you beat your rival, your season might not be so bad after all.

The New York Giants have been hit by the injury bug on the defensive line this preseason. So they gave a call to recently retired Michael Strahan. You probably know him best from his deodorant commercial where even the squirrel passes out from the smell.

As it would happen, he was on vacation in Greece when the Giants tracked him down. Reportedly, they offered him $8 million to play this year. After thinking about it for a day, and a sleepless night, he turned the Giants down.

Good for him. The regular season starts a week from Thursday. There is no way he is in game shape but he probably would have played in the opener against Washington. Also, I’m sure the initial decision to retire was probably a difficult one but going out a Super Bowl Champion makes it that much easier.

Coincedently, or maybe not, Strahan and Brett Favre are entangled in NFL history. A few years ago, Strahan was headed for a record breaking sack during a game with the Packers. Many people believed Favre laid down and took the sack to give Strahan the record.

Fans of teams other than the Giants are breathing a sigh of relief today hoping their quarterback might be a little bit safer this year with Michael Strahan coming across the line for a sack.

Nothing is better on game day then a table full of snacks. I like to keep them simple and easy. No utensils allowed.

Watching football gives us an excuse to splurge. It’s got to be finger foods, all the way, with paper plates so there’s no clean up.

For a really big game, I like to break out the shrimp. Already cooked and mostly peeled, nothing is better. There always has to be the old stand by of chips and dip. Tortilla chips and salsa are always good.

For something with substance, a good calzone hits the spot. It’s a lot less messy than pizza, with none of that annoying tomato sauce. Pepperoni with mozzarella is my personal favorite.

For a special treat, try mini hot dogs wrapped in bacon. Nothing says good like 1 smoked meat wrapped in another smoked meat. What I do is wrap them a 2 or 3 days ahead and put them in a zipper bag with brown sugar and refridgerate. On game day, pop them in the oven until the bacon is cooked. Heaven on a toothpick.

Remember, on game day, keep it simple, easy and have no clean up. It almost doesn’t matter who wins the game. Well, yes it does.

Sunday, the day for football. With today being August 24, 2008, there are only 2 Sundays left until week 1 of the football season. Today actually still felt like a summer day, watching baseball, not quite ready for the season to begin.

Next week, August 31, 2008 is Labor Day Weekend so we’ll probably have things to do and be glad that there is still one week until the first Sunday of football season.

Week 1 actually begins on Thursday September 4th with a game between the Super Bowl Champion New York Giants and the Washington Redskins. Then Sunday will have 9 games at 1:00 PM eastern, 3 games at 4:15 PM eastern and the Sunday night game at 8:15 PM.

Ahhhhh, Sundays. I am so looking forward to them strapping on the helmets for real. To really get into it, tomorrow I’m going to talk about game time snacks.

Kickers, the most underrated players on the team. Most teams have a place kicker, who kicks off, kicks extra points and field goals, and a punter. Right now, we are going to talk about the place kicker.

Kickers are rarely drafted in the early rounds of the draft, if they are drafted at all. They are pretty low on the totem pole overall. No one usually thinks of them, until they miss the big kick.

There have been countless times where kickers have won or lost the game. Take Scott Norwood, who’s infamous wide right kick cost the Buffalo Bills a Super Bowl. On the other hand, there is Adam Vinatieri, who’s kicks won Super Bowls for the New England Patriots.

Kickers usually have pretty long careers, some kicking well into their 40’s. They usually bounce around from team to team. One day they are getting released and the next, they are being picked up by someone else.

It’s so ironic that these guys have the game in their hands so often but don’t get the respect as other players do. I’d like to see some of the games biggest superstars in that position and see how they do.

Such is the lonely life of an NFL kicker.

Lets talk defense today. Obviously, it’s not as flashy as offense but everyone says that defense wins championships. Not just in football, either.

Football defense is broken down into 3 main parts. First there is the defensive line. They are up close to the ball. They are very large men who run insanely fast for their size. They have 2 main objectives: stop the little guy running with the ball or put a hit on the quarterback.

Behind the line, is the linebackers (get it, linebackers). These guys are not quite as large but are fast. They have to stop the run if the runner gets through the line. They also have to defend the pass. Occasionally they get the call to rush the quarterback. This is probably their favorite. Tough job, they are usually the defensive studs.

Behind the linebackers are the defensive backs. These guys are generally small but with lightning speed. Most of them, if they were 6 inches taller, would be receivers. Defensive backs love to put the hit on the receivers. It’s what they live for.

As you can see, it’s not quite as flashy but they need to get the job done. They are rough, tough and not afraid to get dirty.