Weekend Sports Recap - Mostly Football
It was a gooood weekend for me.
I grew up in Louisiana, so I tend to root for all things Louisiana related in the sporting realm. Sometimes, that means rooting AGAINST specific other teams, and both USC and Florida did the LSU Tigers a big favor by choking and losing against inferior competition. At least USC was on the road. Florida lost in the swamp. Mike the Tiger says thanks. Actually, he mostly just went for a swim.
Why do I care? Well, LSU took care of business this weekend, defeating Mississippi State 34-24 in a game that wasn’t even that close. Since teams ranked ahead of them lost, LSU moved up to number 3 in the national polls. In my opinion, they continue to be disrespected by the pollsters, though, with Alabama leapfrogging them. Admittedly, Bama killed Georgia. But Georgia has simply not lived up to their hype at any point this season.
I’d like to remind people that LSU is the only team in the BCS era to win two national titles. But they never get any respect in the polls, constantly being outranked by those overrated in talent (Georgia) and those overexposed at the national level (USC, Ohio State). It won’t matter - Bama and Georgia will have to come into Death Valley, and then we’ll see what’s what.
Note - there’s a very good chance LSU will lose one or both of those games. There’s also a great chance they will lose on the road at Florida. They have a great defense, great offensive and defensive lines, good running backs, good receivers, good defensive backs. But they have young, untested quarterbacks and that can kill you, especially in the SEC where defensive schemes are complex, fast and dangerous. I’m mostly just glad a lot of this will get sorted out by playing the games, rather than leaving it up to pollsters and the computers, which consistently put teams in weak conferences like Ohio State in the national title game where they get destroyed. If LSU wins out, they will play for another national title. Now that they are up at #3, it’s all on them, and that’s not always the case. Now if only they can avoid getting upset by Arkansas (again).
Of course, it’s also possible all the SEC teams will beat each other up and TWO teams from inferior conferences will play each other for the national title. One can only hope.
Of course, there’s also pro football. Where the Saints continue to either make me happy or break my heart, at a 50/50 pace. They won on Sunday! They are now 2-2. This week, I do NOT need prozac. It has ALWAYS been like this, and yet I’m still a fan. Actually, some years it is much, much worse.
I also think they are better than 2-2. I think their two losses were very close, and if they hadn’t fallen apart… and if they had been able to convert on short yardage… they could be 3-1 or 4-0. Of course, if ifs and buts were candy and nuts….
Pools, Fantasy Football, Etc In one fantasy league, I’ll be 4-0 after this week. Good news! In the other league, I’ll be 1-3 even though I’ve got the second most points scored… and I’m losing this week by .90 points. Bad news. .90? This is why some people hate fantasy football. There’s no .90 points in football! Ridiculous. At least let me lose by a freaking point.
I’m not doing great in pick’em pools… but I am one of the last two standing in the survivor pick’em in which I am participating. In this variation of a pick’em pool, you choose one game of the week where you believe that team will win. If they do, you stay alive for another week. You can only use each team once, so a great strategy is to approach it by… picking the losers. Try to pick against bad teams. Three people went down this week choosing Denver over Kansas City. According to the pick’em league, about 40% of the people playing made that pick, much to their chagrin. I picked Carolina over Atlanta and lived.
Okay, it’s not all about football - how about some local color? Everyone I work with in the Philadelphia suburbs agrees that though they hate that the Eagles lost, it’s a fair trade off for the the Phillies winning their division and going to the playoffs again. Especially with the Mets staying home and crying. I lived in North Jersey for about 5 years. I imagine with the Yankees and the Mets both missing the playoffs in the year that they are shutting down Yankee Stadium and Shea Stadium, there are a lot of people there in meltdown mode.
Nothing is quite as much fan as a New York fan completely overreacting. It’s almost as much fun as watching the Couric/Palin interview. Mets manager Jerry Manuel was reportedly asked how his team could collapse at the end of the year for the second straight year. His answer - “I’ll just have to go get that answer and bring it right back to ya!” Palin-mania is sweeping the nation.
One Response to “Weekend Sports Recap - Mostly Football”
Alison - September 30, 2008
Football needs more tigers. And also the tigers should be on the field instead of the players. *Then* I would watch football with you!
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