Skip is back!
To (hopefully) much fanfare, I’m announcing my return to Sorts of Sports. Mr. Carmona has been pestering me for most of the past two years (during none of which have I have seen him in person) to get back to writing on a semi-regular basis. This morning I checked out SOS and realized that, outside of an NFC North preview that I cobbled together after a dozen or so Natty Boh’s, I hadn’t written anything for the site in nearly 18 months.
So, I’m back. For awhile anyway. And I’m marking my return with a Top 10 list – in this case, the Top 10 Reasons why I’m ecstatic that NFL Training Camps Have opened (and the season is near). Maybe it’ll be a running series?
10. Because it’s good to get back to the football that really matters
-The only real football news we’ve gotten in the last three months is the debacle that is the BCS. America’s worst playoff system finally imploded this past spring, and now I’m not even sure who’s in what conference. Not that I care. But I do know that I’m sick of hearing about who’s going where and why. College sports long ago became even more crooked than pro sports and absolutely disgust me anymore. They try to take Reggie Bush’s Heisman away, but Pete Carroll gets to go hide in Seattle and pretend USC never happened. Memphis and Massachusetts have had their basketball programs destroyed, but John Calipari is one of the most high profile coaches in the nation. At least in the NFL people pay consequences for their actions. Most of the time.
9. Because Football is always better than Futbol
-This summer we were plagued by the ultimate once-every-four-years fad in the World Cup. Every four years American sports fans rally behind players they don’t know and pretend to care about soccer – and immediately jump ship after team USA gets slapped in the face by some third world nation that has a GDP lower than most states on the eastern seaboard. This kind of psychosis can only be cured by one thing – a good, clean American sport like football. No vuvuzelas, acting is limited to kickers and quarterbacks and teams actually try to score more than once a game.
8. Because Baseball was more fun with steroids
-Have you watched a baseball game lately? Low scoring games with good defense, and players that have higher WAR numbers than they do batting averages. I miss steroids. The good old days where 10-9 was standard, and guys would be hitting .397 with 25 bombs at the All-Star break. When Home Run Derbys were crushing cars three parking lots away. Now baseball’s slow, boring and full of players like Cesar Izturis. Pass.
7. Because we’re actually talking about NHL free agents
-Do I really need to explain how depressing the sports world must be for NHL Free Agent talk to be a legitimate subject?
6. Because This Year the Rams might actually make the Super Bowl
-Since your very own Chris Carmona selected the Rams to reach the Super Bowl on From the Stands (which remains New Jersey’s least listened to sports program) in Fall 2007, St. Louis has gone 6-42. Soak that in, and pray that Carmona doesn’t select YOUR team to reach the next Super Bowl.
5. K² is the Answer/D-Mac in DC
-The Eagles and Redskins both got really bold this offseason – the Eagles were ballsy enough to deal Donovan McNabb, and the Redskins were ballsy enough to trade for Donovan McNabb. I’m excited to see how each plays out, and the Chunky Soup Bowl on October 3, 2010 will have astounding ratings for two teams that won’t even make the playoffs.
4. Fantasy Football
-I love Fantasy Baseball, but it tends to drag mid-season (kind of like real baseball). So I’m ready for the Fantasy Football year to get started. I think Sorts of Sports is should have a league (complete with cash prizes, right Carmona?) that’ll get regular weekly updates. Heck, I’ll even draft Brett Favre on purpose if Carmona can make it happen.
3. Skip’s first year as a Brett Favre fanboy (see last post)
-I broke the ice on hating Brett Favre way back in 2003 when the entire nation made Favre out to be some kind of superhero after the unfortunate passing of his father. While that certainly is a sad situation, the love affair fans and the media had with Favre that year was absolutely flabbergasting. I was a staunch Anti-Favre guy up until last year’s NFC Title Game – where Brett continually dragged himself off the turf and went after the Saints again and again. Fans crapped on him for a late interception and were ecstatic to see him lose – and I don’t put up with annoying bandwagon jumpers, especially when they’re the same people that were swooning over the guy in 2003. So I changed sides and I’m now 100% pro Brett Favre. Go get ‘em, gunslinger.
2. We might not have a 2011
-Because football players and owners are equally greedy, there’s a great chance we’re going to have a holdout/lockout after this season. We can all hope that the two sides realize that lockouts alienate fans (no matter how powerful you think you may be – remember Major League Baseball was the undefeated, unparalleled champion of the sporting world until 1994) and get this thing done… but there’s no guarantee.
1. Because I love gambling on football
And I live in Delaware, where it’s 100% legal to go to the Casino and play a card, so I can celebrate that.
And that’s the Top 10. I really do promise to stick around this year and write far more often. Maybe even weekly, if Carmona keeps reminding me. Go Rams!
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