Football is Upon Us

"Today is the greatest
Day I ’ve ever known
Can’t live for tomorrow
Tomorrow’s much too long"
--Today, Smashing Pumpkins

College football started two weeks ago with USC's come-from-behind victory over Va. Tech, the NFL kicked off Thursday night with that thriller in Foxboro (and technically continued yesterday with Tennessee's win over a very bad Dolphins team), but today is the day. This is the true kickoff Sunday: nine games kicking off at 10 this morning, three more at 1:15 and a Sunday night game definitely worth watching (Kansas City at Denver). I'm up early and ready to head up to work and have this thing get going. I mentioned the other day that baseball had surpassed basketball in my love of sports scale, and the anticipation already created by this football season has me fearing a third-place tumble for hoops anytime soon.
Five things to look forward to today (and the rest of the season):
1) Deion in nickel packages, helping defend all the bad Browns receivers, and Jeff Garcia doing his best to make that offense look decent. What's the line on a Kellen Winslow blow-up by week two?
2a) Clinton Portis running the ball as the focal point of Joe Gibbs' new offense, and Mark Brunell getting enough protection to make that offense look good. With Laveranues (yes, that's how he spells it) and Rod Gardner, then Thrash, McCants and Taylor Jacobs, he's got some receiving depth to help that process.
2b) Sean Taylor at the back of that Redskins defense. He was the best player in college football last season, dominating games from the free safety position, and he'll be starting right away. How much can be expected of him early on, and how much will Brad Johnson try to throw over the middle?
3) How much better will the Lions be in year two of the Mooch era? Adding Kevin Jones and Roy Williams was big-time, but only is Charles Rogers stays healthy and if Joey Heisman can do something to improve upon that career 53% completion rate and 29-to-38 TD-to-INT ratio.
4) How long will the happy T.O. last in Philly? As soon as McNabb nails two or three in a row into the dirt at T.O.'s feet, he's going to long for the days of Jeff Garcia. It's a happy marriage now, but we'll see. I'd love to see it work, even though I'm not an Eagles fan, because it could turn into an even more attractive tandem than Daunte-to-Moss or Brees-to-Parker. Speaking of which...
5) Will the Chargers win three games this season? Yeah, the schedule looks easy, but the teams that have San Diego on the schedule are saying the exact same thing. It makes me sad to think that LT could end up being the best running back in the history of the league and maybe never make the playoffs. There isn't much light at the end of this tunnel, though I try to remain optimistic. Here's the problem: Tim Dwight, Eric Parker, Kevin Dyson, Reche Caldwell, Kassim Osgood. Is there a real starting NFL wide receiver in that group? Nope.
Picks for today, real quick-style: Pittsburgh (+4) over old, old Oakland; Washington (+2) over old, old Tampa Bay; Baltimore (+3) over Cleveland; Jacksonville (-3) over Buffalo; Cincinnati (-4.5) over J-E-T-S, Jets, Jets, Jets; Detroit (-3) over Chicago; Arizona (-11) over St. Louis--Rams will still win, just not cover; Seattle (-2.5) over the 'Aints; Chargers (+4.5) over Houston; Philly (-9) over the Giants--poor Michael Strahan, that team is so bad; Vikes (-5) over the Cowboys (despite our Madden victory in this contest); Vick & Co. (-3.5) over the bad, bad Niners; KC (+3) over the Broncos on Sunday night.
So yeah, I'm off to work, pretty excited about it. One more, non-NFL related question, one that occurred to me as I was getting the newspaper this morning: Is Jose Cuervo Spanish for Joe Corvo? Mull it over.
Peace.