Titans Lose the Opener, But Not Without Some Heart

No football fan likes watching their team lose the first game of the season. Nothing is worse than being all pumped up about the season getting underway just to watch your favorite team lose. Titans fans, let me just tell you it will be OK.

The NFL got its season underway Thursday night with the Titans and the Steelers doing battle. This is easily the NFL's newest rivalry.

Many probably think this rivalry started last season when Lendale White, Keith Bullock, and a couple other Titans stomped all over the sacred Steelers terrible towel. As obvious as it would seem, that's not where the rivalry started.

The rivalry really started during the 2002-2003 playoffs when the Steelers were called for a roughing the kicker penalty which gave kicker Joe Nedney one more chance to nail the winning field goal in overtime. I can't imagine how bitter Steeler fans were after than game and I'm sure that stuck with them up until now.

After watching tonight's game I realized that the Titans and the Steelers are probably the two best teams in the AFC, thanks in large part to their defenses. They mirror each other in so many ways that it's scary. In fact, the first half showed both teams trying to go vertical when that obviously didn't work for neither one of them. Then they both started pounding the ball down the middle and relying on the short underneath routes. In the end the Steelers obviously won that battle.

I have to admit that at first I was very upset to watch the Titans lose. However, after a few minutes of the loss sinking in I realized the Titans lost to a good team. No, not a good team, a great team. Not even a great team. How about the Super Bowl Champs?

Both teams showed a ton of heart and made it all more apparent to why I love football so much and why I have been so impatient watching baseball all summer.

Iverson's Next Destination is Memphis

It's now official. The sports world has been taken over by Twitter.

We've reached a time in history where we get just as much, if not more, sports news via Twitter than we do from the actual sport reporters themselves.

The most recent news comes from Allen Iverson's twitter which states he's going to the Memphis Grizzlies. This deal has been speculated all summer but now it seems to be confirmed.

This is actually a great fit for Iverson. He wants to be the main guy on the court and he'll be able to do that in Memphis.

You may think that this is a horrible fit for Iverson considering Memphis has been historically one of the worst teams in the NBA, but not so fast.

The Grizzlies are one of the up and coming teams in the NBA. They're loaded with young talent and those younger players are only going to get better. The only thing that could hold the Grizzlies back could be the management side of the team.

However, the Grizzlies could be hurt by this deal if Iverson starts to be the dramatic player that he has been at times in the past. I don't see that happening.

There is already a solid nucleus within this team with O.J. Mayo and Rudy Gay running things. Marc Gasol, Pau Gasol's younger brother, showed that he can be a solid center for the team last season.

Iverson has a great opportunity to end his career on a solid note. He doesn't have to win a championship to solidify his legacy. All he has to do is show he can be a leader of a team that is very young. If he does that, he will that he's one of the best point guards in NBA history.

Sooners' National Title Hopes Take Hard Hit

An opening season loss for a team ranked at number three isn't necessarily the end of the world.

Oklahoma lost to a good BYU team that was ranked No. 20, and a big reason for that was being without their Heisman winning quarterback Sam Bradford.

However, I don't want to take anything away from BYU. They outplayed, out hustled, and overpowered the bigger athletes of Oklahoma for much of the game. Their defense stepped up and held one of the best offenses from a year ago to only 13 points.

Even when Bradford went out in the second quarter they only had seven points on the board. That's not like the Oklahoma offense that I've come to know the past few years.

Early evaluations are estimating that it will be at least a month before Bradford even throws a football. Lucky for the Sooners the next part of their schedule is the easiest part of the schedule. Their next significant game comes on October 3rd at Miami. We'll get a good idea of how bad Oklahoma will need Bradford for that game when we see Miami take on No. 18 Florida State tonight.

It definitely doesn't look pretty for the Sooners after this loss, but it's nowhere close to being over for them if they want a national championship. As tough as it will be with or without Bradford, if the Sooners win out they'll be in the National Championship game. By winning out they would have to beat Texas, Oklahoma State, Kansas, and Nebraska. Those are just the currently ranked teams. You also can't obviously forget about Miami or Texas Tech which are both on the road.

One thing is for sure. If Bradford doesn't return before the Texas game on Octboer 17th, and he's not 100 percent, it will be over for the Sooners.

Oklahoma's Next 5 Games

Sept. 12 Idaho St.
Sept. 19 Tulsa
Oct. 3 @ Miami (Fla)
Oct. 10 Baylor
Oct. 17 Texas ( at Dallas)

Oregon Player Suspended for the Season

Apparently the new procedure of making the teams shake hands before the game didn't work so well for the Oregon-Boise State game on Thursday night.

In case you haven't had a television for the past two days, the matchup between these two teams got extremely ugly just moments after it ended.

As the players were walking off the field, Boise State defensive end Byron Hout appeared to taunt Oregon running back LeGarrette Blount. From this point on Blount just completely lost his sanity and started the chain of bad decisions by sucker-punching Hout as he turned away.

I don't care how caught up you are in the moment, you can't let yourself make such a dumb decision.

What made Blount look even worse was how he reacted while being removed from the field. He was seen yelling at fans and even resisting one of his coaches who was trying to hold him back.

Losing your cool for a split second is one thing, but losing your cool for a good two or three minutes is inexcusable.

The entire blame does not rest completely on Blount's shoulders though. Hout showed no class by running up to Blount and taunting him. You have carry yourself better than that and I'm sure his coaches will handle it accordingly.

Blount is now suspended for the rest of his senior year. There was a lot of buzz about this guy going into this season after he rushed for over 1,000 yards and had 17 touchdowns on the ground in 2008. It's sad to think that one stupid decision could have ruined his opportunity to take his football career any further.

The Ducks are going to be hit hard by this too. They have to figure out a way to replace a very explosive player on their roster. Their next option at running back is probably freshman LaMichael James who rushed for 22 yards on only two attempts against Boise State.

Addition of Lee, Martinez Have Phillies As NL Favorite

Everyone can forget about the Dodgers being favorites in the National League like they have been for much of the season.

The only thing that was keeping the Phillies from possibly repeating as World Series champions was their weak starting rotation. Well, you can go ahead and toss that out the window.

The additions of Cliff Lee and Pedro Martinez have completely transformed the Phillies from wild card hopefuls, to easily the NL favorites.

Before the Phillies revamped their pitching rotation, they were still one of the best hitting teams in all of baseball. Not only has their offense gotten even better over the past month, but now even Cole Hamels and J.A. Happ are pitching lights out.

I never thought I would say this, but the Phillies rotation may be better than the loaded Giants rotation.

Speaking of the Giants, they witnessed first-hand tonight just how dangerous the Phillies are by being dominated by Pedro Martinez. Martinez is now 3-0 with a 3.52 ERA. Not bad for being out of the game for almost a year.

Cliff Lee, which won his first five starts before finally losing on August 29, gets the start tommorow against the Astros.

With the exception of the Cardinals, there is no team in the NL that will even come close to defeating the Phillies in the playoffs.

For all the Dodgers fans out there, you may be wondering why I have suddenly jumped ship on them. Well it's no mystery that they have cooled off dramatically since the All-Star break. They'll be lucky if the Rockies or the Giants don't catch them in the standings.

The Phillies are now the most balanced team in all of baseball and that is what wins championships in all sports, not just baseball. So brace yourself Phillies fans becasue it should be another great postseason.

Phillies NL Ranks

Home Runs 85 (1st)
Runs Scored 666 (2nd)
Doubles 255 (T-2nd)
Slug PCT .449 (1st)
ERA 4.12 (6th)

A Look at the Opening Weekend of College Football

Football finally returns tomorrow night after a long, grueling summer of depending on sports such as baseball, golf, and dare I say tennis?

There is really only one noteworthy game on the slate Thursday night to get the season kicked off and that's No. 16 Oregon traveling to the blue turf and to take on No. 14 Boise State.

At face value this game might not have a lot of appeal for the average fan. Trust me there is plenty of value in this game, particularly for Boise State.

Boise State has a popular reputation of being the BCS busters every year but always seem to fall up short with the exclusion of their Fiesta Bowl appearance a couple of years ago.

If Boise State can figure out a way to get through Oregon, which is arguably the second best team in the Pac-10 outside of USC, then they will have an easy road to going undefeated.

I expect a great game in this one with plenty of offense. It's the first game of the season and the defense will be a little sloppy and both of these offenses have serious playmakers.

In the end I like Oregon to take the victory, but it won't be sealed until late in the 4th quarter.

This weekend is loaded with great games to get pumped for the return of college football and most will be seen on the ESPN family of networks.

One of the most intriguing games of the day will be pit the two best conferences in college football against each other as Georgia takes on Oklahoma State. Basically, good defense against good offense.

Something is going to have to give in this game and I like Oklahoma State to take the win. Georgia lost too much offense over the offseason and Oklahoma State is just stacked with offensive firepower, starting with quarterback Zac Robinson and wide receiver Dez Bryant.

The key game to watch for during primetime is No. 5 Alabama traveling to Blacksburg to take on No. 7 Virginia Tech. This game will be close early, but Alabama's defense will prove too much and the Hokies will go down with little to show for on the scoreboard.

Of course there are plenty more games than I mentioned above this weekend that will show why college football is one of the greatest, most exciting American traditions.

Other Key Games This Week

Thurs: Utah State @ No. 19 Utah
Sat: Navy @ No. 6 Ohio State, Nevada @ No. 23 Notre Dame, No. 20 BYU @ No. 3 Oklahoma, Maryland @ No. 12 California, No. 11 LSU @ Washington
Sun: No. 8 Ole Miss @ Memphis
Mon: Miami(Fla) @ No. 18 Florida State

Patriots Fans Can Breathe a Sigh of Relief

The scene of Tom Brady lying on the ground grimacing in pain had to be a scary one for Patriots fans, and fantasy owners alike. I was the second of the two and for me it was bone chilling.

The worst part about it was that Bill Belichick kept his thoughts to himself on the injury, which is nothing new.

The man responsible for the monstrous hit, which was totally legal, was none other than Albert Haynesworth. This guy has now injured three quarterbacks this preseason, with the other two being backup quarterbacks.

That might be a sign to Jaguars coach Jack Del Rio to possibly leave starting quarterback David Garrard of the field and out of big Albert's way when they play their final preseason game against the Redskins.

All that turmoil can mostly be put to rest now that Tom Brady was back on the practice field Tuesday. Brady was seen at practice showing no signs of a shoulder injury.

Before Brady was pulled from the game he was putting up great numbers that included two touchdown passes. Those two brought his preseason total to four.

If Brady had gone down it would have been a disaster for more ways than one. For starters, the backup quarterback situation in Foxboro isn't exactly pretty.

Without Brady the Patriots have to choose between Andrew Walter, the former Oakland Raider who got some playing time the last couple of seasons, or rookie Brian Hoyer out of Michigan State.

Walter has some experience in the league but he hasn't even had a month to learn the Patriots system. And of course we know how starting rookie quarterbacks usually works out. Lucky for the Patriots they won't have to come to that decision. Well, at least not yet.

Preseason Stats for Tom Brady

@ Philly: 10/15, 100 yards, 2 TD, 1 Int
vs. Cincy: 4/8, 57 yards
@ Wash: 12/19, 150 yards, 2 TD