A Super Sunday In Sports

Wow...the Sports Gods gave me quite a bit to blog about today. Hopefully I won't let them down.

Because I've never claimed to be fair and balanced and I'm a Giants fan, guess what I'm starting with?

Despite, all of these pundits who have jumped on the Arizona bandwagon over the last couple of weeks, I'm not one of them. I thought that Giants had too many playmakers on both sides of the ball to lose to the Cardinals. Even with Manning in game eight of development, I thought that the Giants improved enough around with their skill players and defense, that they could compensate for Manning's inexperience.

Barber, Jacobs, Burress and Shockey proved me right. Those guys, great special teams and a very opportunistic defense enabled the Jints overcome Eli's first half problems.

Jacobs, I feel, is one of the great steals of this year's draft. This kid is a keeper. I think he'll do a good job of complementing Tiki in the backfield.

Manning is going to have to be better next weekend vs the Saints. But this was a very nice start to the season for Big Blue.

On the other side of the ledger is the NY Jets. You couldn't have played a worse game than they did yesterday vs the Chiefs. They made the KC defense look the Doomsday Defense or the Steel Curtain. An absolutely putrid performance.
While Pennington's shoulder strength is a legitimate concern, I would caution to Jet fans to hold off from jumping off the GW or the Goethals. There have been many teams who have been as horrible as the NYJ in week one, yet went on the playoffs. One team that comes to mind is the Pats in 2003. They got their wigs split by the Bills 31-0. They looked even worse than the Jets in that game if that's possible. So people jump off the Gang Green bandwagon.....and onto the Dolphins, Lions, Bucs or anyone else's...wait a couple of weeks lest you break your ankles in the fall.....



I didn't realize that the Titans were that bad. McNair is healthy, but outside of Brown, Bennett and Henry, there's not much there. I guess I always assumed like most everyone else, that Fisher and Co. would find a way to be compeitive. The Steelers looked good in their first game. It's hard to know if they're that good or if the Titans are that bad. Probably a little of both. We'll see.

One more note on PGH....I loved the team growing up, but I hate their fans right now. God, I hate them. They're as obnoxious as any I've encountered. Now you're probably saying, Darth Marc, you're a Yankee fan. The most evil and toxic creatures in the universe, how can you say that Steeler fans are worse? And what about Eagles fans? And Red Sox fans, aren't they scum as well?

You're absolutely right. All I can say is come to Blondies in NYC on a Sunday when the Steelers are playing. And you'll see what I'm talking. Some jackass in a Joey Porter jersey giving you grief about the Giants losing to Eagles. Or calling someone's wife a bitch because she has to nerve to disagree with a penalty call. Or talking smack about the Yankees during the ninth inning of the Yankees-Sox game yesterday. Worry about your own game, jackass!!!

The point is, it's one thing for you to talk trash to your opponent. It's another thing to kick someone who's down just because they're an easy target. That's a good way to catch a beating.

Another team that probably going to have a long year is Green Bay. If their offensive line woes continue, then Javon Walker isn't the only who will be on the IR. Speaking of Walker, losing him, absolutely killed me in one of my fantasy leagues. Just killed me.

Let's talk baseball now and about two teams going in very opposite directions. The Indians are red-hot (no pun intended). A week ago, they were a game and a half out of the wildcard lead. Now they're coming off a sweep of the Twins (beating Johann Santana Friday night for the first time ever) and face the A's in tonight. They can knock the A's down a peg and put some distance between them and the Yankees if the Bombers don't get their acts together and beat Tampa.

I hate Cleveland. With the fire of a thousand suns. But I have to admit...this team is very good and very dangerous. They can hit, run and field their positions. Their is starting pitching isn't great but it's serviceable. With that lineup, if their starters can limit the opposition to three or four runs a game, That might be enough to get it done on most nights. The Yankees need to bring their A-game for the next three weeks if they hope to overtake the tribe.

On the opposite side of ledger, is the Mets. Six games above .5000 and a half game out of the NL wildcard lead a week ago, the Amazin's are now a game under .500 and 5 and a half out.

Now I despise the Mets (see a recurring theme?) but even I think the baseball gods were a little cruel in leading the Flushing faithful on like that. This was nothing more than a .500 team and they made their fans think that they were something more than that. Their starting pitching is solid, but their bullpen is atrocious and they can't hit a lick. Carlos Beltran has been a huge bust this year. If he had anything close to the years he's had in the past, the Mets would still be in the hunt. They're another bullpen arm and a bat from being real contenders. They'll probably finish at around .500. Which I thought would happen in the first place, but it's a shame that they fell as flat on their face as they did.

Heh, Heh, Heh.....

Onto the US Open, as God...I mean, Roger Federer, won his second US Open title by beating Andre Agassi. It was his sixth career Grand Slam title and 24, he's poised to take his place among the all-time greats, if he hasn't already.

Andre Agassi called him the best he's ever played. Whoa, Andre. Do you remember abushy-haired lad who used to beat consistently in your prime? A certain player who, when you were at the peak of your powers, when noone else on the earth could touch you, would pummel you on a consistent basis? A man who has been number one longer than anyone in the history of men's tennis? Won more Grand Slams than anyone on the Men's tour?

Do you remember Pistol Pete?

I know you're probably sore that you could never get the best of Pete when it mattered, but to annoint this kid as the best you've ever faced is disengenous. This kid beat you at age 35. Pete beat you just as badly, worse even, when you were at the top of your game. That would be like Floyd Patterson getting his ass kicked by Ali or Sonny Liston...but saying Ingemar Johannsen was the best he ever faced. No, the guy who knocked you out in the first round twice (Liston) and the guy that punished you mercilessly before knocking you out twice because you wouldn't acknowledge him by his Muslim name, are probably a little better than the Swede.

This is not to say that Federer won't become the best ever when it's all said and done. But a lot of things can happen in a career and a life. He could get hit by a truck. Or he could meet some hot chick and she gets him hooked on Coke and Heroin. Anything can happen. Agassi was supposed to the next big thing when he was 16. He didn't win his first Grand Slam until he was 24. Life is a funny thing that happens to the living.

Federer certainly has the most fluid game that I've seen and he certainly has the right temperament to stay on top for a long time. But let him actually win a few more matches before annointing him the best ever.

Let Pete keep the title a little longer before giving it to someone else. He deserves it.