finally, it's fucking football time. the first of sixteen parts of my personal take on the upcoming nfl season is here. when it's all done, it'll be aggregated and posted. and as the season progresses, i reserve the right to go back and change this- who'll know that i was ever wrong?
NFC North
1. Green Bay--the out-and-out favorites for this season. the boys are back in town, gentlemen. and those boys have better toys and healthier bodies than they did last year. oh, and a cohesive unit on BOTH sides of the ball, on the field and in the booth. that goes miles and miles, especially when the rest of the division has seen huge upheavals in personnel and staff in the last few years. the packers ranked 7th in total offense, 6th in the passing game, and 11th on the ground and return that same weaponry (except for donald lee, but finley and quarless are still on the roster). the packers run away with the division, hands down. icing on the cake? they're tied for 13th strongest schedule, just below minnesota and well below detroit. really, the only two games i see them losing are at atlanta in week 5, and at home against nawlens in the opener. i'll throw in the upset in kansas city in week 15, but really that's stretching it in my mind. so let's say 13-3.
2. Vikings-- oh, donovan mcnabb. this name alone gives me some confidence in my beloved vikes. not much, though. mcnabb has most recently earned/been assigned the reputation of "lazy fuck" along with fellow redskin alumnus albert haynesworth- a reputation that he has stressed that he wants to shed. that said, this is the same vikings team that chilly managed to somehow run into the ground (imagine a world where he didn't make the stupid fucking moss trade). it's his first (only?) year with a new coach, a new system- i doubt he will be able to integrate very fluidly. as far as the receivers go, sidney rice is gone to seattle, so the young wide-out talent lies mostly with the injury-prone harvin (god, that's so depressing) and the former sooner iglesias (who was hot/cold in norman). the additions are mediocre at best. the defense is generally meh, but in a love-to-rush nfc north, the front line looks promising: jared allen, remi ayodele, kevin williams. i'm not expecting much out of them, but i do see them splitting the series with chicago and edging them out for the second spot in the north. 9-7.
3. Bears--two words: jay motherfuckin cutler. this dude (along with, amusingly enough, kyle motherfuckin orton) is the quarterback equivalent of katy perry's "hot and cold". he has two settings: touchdowns or interceptions. period. that's why he was traded from denver (that, and being a whiny man-child), and he performed remarkably the same in chicago- except, he had a better receiving corps and a tight end called greg olsen. the biggest problem other than cutler is the o-line. they lost the center kreutz to free agency and the saints, and have turned it over to garza- who is a little bit on the aged side. despite the retooling, this line gave up NINE FUCKING SACKS against the BUFFALO BILLS whose defense was 25th in the league in pass defense. 8-8.
4. Lions--the perennial bottom-feeders of the nfc north. Don't get me wrong, the lions have great talent, and jim schwartz has some guile. and stafford has a cannon. but the fatal flaw in the team, as i see it, is their almost mystical ability to go down with injury. stafford hasn't played a full season, and has only played 16 games in two years in the league. nick fairley is down with a foot injury (not to mention i'm leery of his one standout year at auburn), leshoure is out with a RUPTURED ACHILLES... it's rough for those poor, millen-smitten felines. combine all of this with their tie for third-strongest strength of schedule (though the toughest non-division games are generally at home), and i'm not envisioning a great year. not saying it's going to be as bad as their gopher year (which i distinctly remember us lampooning all season), but things aren't looking up for them. i'd say 5-11.
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
The NBA Finals, or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love LeBron
Seriously, this is where people stop hating King James.
Tonight the Eastern champs from Miami tip off against the Western champs, Dallas. And it is on this stage that people will finally come off their irrational hatred for James.
For what he's done in his career, it's almost surprising that he hasn't won a ring yet- and then you remember that he was both playing for the Cavaliers and functionally WAS the Cavaliers. He carried them to prominence in the East while he was with them (mostly in his early twenties, too). Then, he bolts to Miami in free agency and suddenly people hate him. The only two real reasons I see as legitimate are: "The Decision was pompous and arrogant" and "he's not in it for the love of the game, just the love of winning". Let's look at them individually.
There is no possible way to defend The Decision as anything other than a grand showboating effort. But is this really a reason to continue to lambaste the guy? So he made a stupid, tasteless call on how to exit Cleveland... other players around the league do similar stupid stuff. In April, Kobe Bryant was slapped with a $100,000 fine for calling a ref a "fucking faggot", and in the waning parts of the Eastern Conference Finals Bulls' center Joakim Noah lashed out at a fan with a similar invective. These are stupid and tasteless as well- so why not hate Bryant and Noah?
The point here is that he made a bad, well, decision. But look at the numbers. The guy only puts up big numbers, even in the distributive role that he's taken on with the Heat. This season, James is shooting 51% from the field, 33% from downtown, averages 26.7 points per game, 7 assists per game, and 7.5 boards a game. The guy can PLAY. Even looking past this season, his career numbers are still phenomenal. He averages 27.7 ppg, 7.1 rpg, 7 apg, and shoots 47.9% from the field and 32.9% from three-land.
And in the playoffs, he's only increased the intensity and numbers. And this isn't even considering the fact that he's got Chris Bosh and Dwayne Wade flanking him, either. If The Decision was about pomp and circumstance and putting a lot of money where your mouth is, this series will demonstrate that he is the real deal.
The second argument against LeBron (that i've usually heard, anyway) is that he just wants to win, not actually enjoy the game. Who doesn't, though? He left Cleveland because they were consistently unable to a) field a team that didn't rely on him to do everything and b) muster enough talent to win. The convergence of free agents upon Miami gives him the chance to win and become a real legend. Certainly, staying in Cleveland and trying to keep building up that franchise would have been a greater competitive thing to do- especially if he were able to actually win a title with the Cavs. But come on. They're Cleveland. What could they do?
The fact of the matter remains that the Big Three boldly declared that they would be champions for the greater part of a decade. This bravado will be recognized when they start doing that. And tonight is the beginning of the Heat dynasty that James predicted and took an accordingly South Beach-like heat for. After this series, you'll respect James the player much more.
And he will finally have a ring to prove that he is, in fact, the King.
Tonight the Eastern champs from Miami tip off against the Western champs, Dallas. And it is on this stage that people will finally come off their irrational hatred for James.
For what he's done in his career, it's almost surprising that he hasn't won a ring yet- and then you remember that he was both playing for the Cavaliers and functionally WAS the Cavaliers. He carried them to prominence in the East while he was with them (mostly in his early twenties, too). Then, he bolts to Miami in free agency and suddenly people hate him. The only two real reasons I see as legitimate are: "The Decision was pompous and arrogant" and "he's not in it for the love of the game, just the love of winning". Let's look at them individually.
There is no possible way to defend The Decision as anything other than a grand showboating effort. But is this really a reason to continue to lambaste the guy? So he made a stupid, tasteless call on how to exit Cleveland... other players around the league do similar stupid stuff. In April, Kobe Bryant was slapped with a $100,000 fine for calling a ref a "fucking faggot", and in the waning parts of the Eastern Conference Finals Bulls' center Joakim Noah lashed out at a fan with a similar invective. These are stupid and tasteless as well- so why not hate Bryant and Noah?
The point here is that he made a bad, well, decision. But look at the numbers. The guy only puts up big numbers, even in the distributive role that he's taken on with the Heat. This season, James is shooting 51% from the field, 33% from downtown, averages 26.7 points per game, 7 assists per game, and 7.5 boards a game. The guy can PLAY. Even looking past this season, his career numbers are still phenomenal. He averages 27.7 ppg, 7.1 rpg, 7 apg, and shoots 47.9% from the field and 32.9% from three-land.
And in the playoffs, he's only increased the intensity and numbers. And this isn't even considering the fact that he's got Chris Bosh and Dwayne Wade flanking him, either. If The Decision was about pomp and circumstance and putting a lot of money where your mouth is, this series will demonstrate that he is the real deal.
The second argument against LeBron (that i've usually heard, anyway) is that he just wants to win, not actually enjoy the game. Who doesn't, though? He left Cleveland because they were consistently unable to a) field a team that didn't rely on him to do everything and b) muster enough talent to win. The convergence of free agents upon Miami gives him the chance to win and become a real legend. Certainly, staying in Cleveland and trying to keep building up that franchise would have been a greater competitive thing to do- especially if he were able to actually win a title with the Cavs. But come on. They're Cleveland. What could they do?
The fact of the matter remains that the Big Three boldly declared that they would be champions for the greater part of a decade. This bravado will be recognized when they start doing that. And tonight is the beginning of the Heat dynasty that James predicted and took an accordingly South Beach-like heat for. After this series, you'll respect James the player much more.
And he will finally have a ring to prove that he is, in fact, the King.
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