Head Start

"Early in the morning and I can't get right
Had a little date with my baby last night...
...Now it's early in the morning
And I ain't got nothing but the blues"
--Early In the Morning, Van Morrison

I'm more going after the early morning portion of the lyrics to set the tone for the hour of my writing, but the rest of the lyrics aren't too far off either, unfortunately. Oh well.
Two thoughts on football from this past weekend:
- Of course the Pats beat the Colts. I've been on Sports Guy's side ever since last season, and Peyton had never shown the ability to win in Foxboro, so why should Sunday have been any different? Why do people keep picking against that team? Remember how they started last season 2-2, coming off a disappointing 9-7 year (missing the playoffs)--people counted them out, looked at the Super Bowl victory over the Rams (profuse apologies to my bro for even bringing up this painful memory) as a fluke? So then they reel off 12 in a row, destroy Peyton in the conference title game and hold on for a great win over the Panthers, and everyone's back on Belichick's jock. Now here come the Steelers, ending the 21-game winning streak and rolling to homefield advantage. Here comes Peyton, breaking records and running the best offense the game has ever seen--quick break for a side note: this is not my opinion, this is the opinion expressed by many a hack over the past month or so. In my humble estimation, you can't do any better than the '94 Niners, who shellacked my beloved Bolts in SB XXIX, 49-26. That would be Steve Young (70% completions, almost 4000 yards, 35 td's and seven rushing scores) at quarterback, Ricky Watters (877 yards and 6 td's rushing, 719 and 5 td's receiving) at halfback, Bar None at fullback (6 td's and a ridiculous number of pancake blocks), Jerry Rice (112 catches, 1499 yds, 13 td's) and John Taylor (41-531-5) at receivers, and Brent Jones (49-670-9) at tight end. For those who don't remember, "Bar None" was the nickname given Florida State grad William Floyd, because he was the best fullback in football, bar none. Of course, his successor at FSU, the touchdown machine known as Pooh Bear Williams, might have been close, registering the following statistics during his sophomore season: 46 carries, 127 yards, and 12 touchdowns. For those who didn't major in math, that's more than one touchdown in every four carries. That's absurd. To compare, Auburn's Carnell "Cadillac" Williams scored 12 touchdowns this season for the undefeated Tigers. He carried the ball 239 times, more than five times the number for Pooh Bear. But I digress, back to the Patriots, or at least that's what I think I was writing about...So yeah, here comes Peyton and everyone's writing off the Patriots again, saying they'll have no answer for this amazing offense, and of course, they had plenty of answers. Shut those Colts down. No touchdowns. They're incredible. I'm not a fan, per se, but I can certainly appreciate what they're doing.
- Michael Vick is pretty much just a running back--and a great one at that--who gets to throw occasionally. He's the only quarterback in the league who can throw for just 82 yards and still absolutely destroy a defense. I would love to see the Falcons beat the Eagles if only to see what on earth Bill Belichick would come up with to stop this guy. It's possible that Jim Johnson (the Eagles' defensive coordinator) will beat him to the punch and get the job done with that crazy blitzing style they employ, but man, that would be a fun buildup to the big game. Supposedly, video game Vick is comparable to video game Bo from back in the day, but I'm not so sure. As far as quarterbacks go, it didn't get any better than Philly QB #12 (or Randall Cunningham) from the old Madden, rolling out and running or passing, leaving helpless defenses in his wake. Having suffered through the leadfooted reign of Drew Brees in our Charger franchise, there's no doubt that a mobile quarterback is a necessary part of a successful video game squad. We've had Madden for a while now and I still haven't played with Vick; I think that needs to change sometime soon...
Okay, so with the sidebars, that ended up being way more than two thoughts, but only two of them actually related to this weekend, so my conscience is clear--I don't feel I've mislead anyone.
As is the case with most of these posts, my thoughts are returning to the Chargers, who have a lot to do before training camp starts. They've got so much on which to build, following this amazing 2004 season, but plenty of challenges await. Next year's road schedule includes visits to New York (Jets), Indy, Philly and New England, which means the record might not be quite as stellar, but the product could be even better. Marty's already been extended, so as long as he's not coaching a playoff game, we're fine. He does a great job managing the roster, and he should have at least two rookies ready to step right in and contribute (hopefully even more than that). With the 12th and 28th picks in the draft, we should be able to help out on both sides of the ball. My wish list: a pass-rushing defensive end and a big receiver. Guys like Steve Foley put some good pressure on quarterbacks this season, but we need more help. Kassim Osgood might be on the verge, but we need a real number one guy to play opposite Keenan McCardell and give Brees another year with plenty of options. I'm confident we can address both needs.
Lake Show hosting the T-Wolves tonight, which should be an interesting one. KG & Co. have been an incredible disappointment, much moreso than the Shaq-less Lakers, so we'll see how Lamar and Caron continue to cope without Kobe. Spree has quickly become one of my least favorite players in the league, based mostly on his "feed my family" line and his awful play in the midst of this season's contract dispute. I've gotta brainstorm some of my other least favorite athletes, hopefully for presentation tomorrow. Work time now.