Football Friday, Vol. 2

This weekend marks the tenth anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York, Washington DC, and Pennsylvania.  It seems hard for me to believe that it has been a decade since that infamous day.

I was a junior in high school when the attacks occurred.  I still can recall sitting in Mr. Autio's French III class in second period when the president of the school announced over the intercom what had happened.   It was tough to comprehend what had happened at the time, especially without seeing any of it.  As the school day wore on a lot of teachers tried to continue with normal classes, but it was anything but a normal day.  Several teachers put television coverage on in their rooms and this is where many of us were first introduced to the now famous images of that day.

All after school activities were cancelled for the day.  Usually I would have been out at football practice but instead I took the bus to my mother's work then was home for the afternoon.  Any attempt at doing my homework was useless because I was glued to the television.  People didn't want to see it but at the same time couldn't take their eyes off of it.

It seemed like life would never be the same again.  The concept of normalcy became foreign.  Going to school in Dorchester it was strange not to have planes flying overhead on their descents to Logan Airport.  Normalcy did eventually return, or at least a new normal emerged.  The American spirit shone through both on September 11 and in the days and weeks that followed. 

One of the most striking moments of the week occurred the Friday after the attacks.  I was at the BC High football game that afternoon and all of a sudden we heard a plane.  When people are in that area consistently the noise of planes becomes an afterthough.  People get so used to the constant flow of air traffic to and from Logan that they don't even notice the noise after a while.  On this day though everyone took notice of the plane making its approach to the airport.  Eventually we would go back to not noticing the planes like before but on that particular day you couldn't help but take notice.

Joe Andruzzi and his brothers

Sports played a role in the recovery effort.  They allowed people an outlet to forget, at least for a few hours, all that had happened to the United States on that day.  It was right not to have games the weekend immediately after the attacks but eventually people needed to begin the healing process and sports helped to facilitate that.  I am sure most people have some image in their minds of their particular team doing something special that first weekend that football returned.  I still remember the goosebumps when Joe Andruzzi, an offensive lineman for the Patriots, came running out to the field with an American flag in each hand.  He also participated in the opening coin toss before the Patriots' game with the Jets.  Andruzzi's brothers, New York firefighters who were at the Twin Towers, were present for the coin toss.  The emotion on the field and in that stadium was palpable.

It will be great to have a full day of football again on Sunday, but we should all take some time to reflect and remember that day.

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SEC in the Spotlight Again

Just like last week the conference with the highest profile games will be the SEC.  #2 Alabama will travel to Happy Valley to take on the 20th ranked Penn State Nittany Lions in the premier non-conference tilt on Saturday.

There are also some conference games that will begin to shape the SEC race.  Two ranked teams will have road tests this weekend in their quest to get to Atlanta in December.  #16 Mississippi State will get its first opportunity to make a statement when it travels to Auburn Saturday afternoon.   Auburn extended their winning streak last weekend in unimpressive fashion against Utah State.  The Tigers were forced to score twice and recover an onside kick in the final 2:07 to avoid the upset.  I think Dan Mullen and MSU will put an end to the streak come Saturday.

I wonder why Clay Travis calls Athens the "cleavage capital of the South"

Later in the day #12 South Carolina will head to Athens to face the Georgia Bulldogs.  This will be South Carolina's first test in the East and a big challenge for Stephen Garcia since there are a lot of "distractions" (scroll down to just under the first image in the article) around campus on gameday in Athens.  Both teams were less than overwhelming in week 1, with Georgia losing convincingly to Boise State and South Carolina having to overcome a large deficit to defeat East Carolina.  I think South Carolina has too much firepower for the 'Dawgs as long as Garcia doesn't let his eyes wander into the stands.

The Alabama-Penn State matchup will be intriguing as neither team has settled on one quarterback yet.  Alabama split time between sophomore A.J. McCarron and freshman Phillip Sims.  The pair combined for 4 interceptions against Kent State, but the general feeling was that McCarron created some separation in that game.  It will be interesting to see how Nick Saban manages the pair in a hostile road environment.  The Nittany Lions started sophomore Rob Bolden against Indiana State last week, but also allowed junior Matt McGloin to see some action.  The pair was not asked to do much against the FCS Sycamores, as Penn State rushed for 245 yards, but that should change against the Crimson Tide.  Joe Paterno, who will likely be coaching from the press box for a second consecutive week, and Saban should have a much clearer idea about their teams, and their quarterback situations, after Saturday.  Whichever team gets the steadier play from their signal callers should win, and I think McCarron makes a statement Saturday.

Predictions (Home Teams in CAPS): 
Alabama (-10) over PENN STATE
South Carolina (-3) over GEORGIA
Mississippi State (-5.5) over AUBURN
Utah (+9) over SOUTHERN CAL
Brigham Young (+7) over TEXAS
VANDERBILT (-2) over Connecticut
Boston College (+7.5) over CENTRAL FLORIDA
MICHIGAN (+3) over Notre Dame
EAST CAROLINA (+17.5) over Virginia Tech
TENNESSEE (-4.5) over Cincinnati

Last Week: 5-4-1
Season: 5-4-1


Back in a Big Way

The NFL returned officially last night as the league kicked off its 2011 season in Green Bay with its annual Thursday night game.  The Packers and Saints put on a show and challenged the notion of defenses being ahead of offenses early in the season.  The teams combined for 76 points, but the game was decided by a goal line stand by the Packers defense to end the game, thus ruining the Saints chance to cover!

Fans can only hope that last night's game set a tone for how this season will go.  If the rest of the season can match last night's excitement and drama then we should be in for one hell of a season.

On to the picks...

RAVENS (-1.5) over Steelers
This is my favorite current NFL rivalry.  The two teams have a respect for each other as they both play a physical brand of football that gets elevated even further when they match up.  Baltimore's offense will be able to do a little more in this game I believe and Lee Evans is an interesting addition to the lineup.

BUCS (-1.5) over Lions
There seems to be a history with these "sleeper:" picks each season.  One team always gets pumped up by everyone to the point that they can't be a "sleeper" anymore because everyone is talking about them.  The Bucs took a step forward last season and look to continue to develop under Raheem Morris.  The Lions still may contend for a playoff spot in the NFC but so will Tampa and I give them the edge in Week 1.

BEARS (+2.5) over Falcons
Jay Cutler in a big game at home, what could go wrong?

CHIEFS (-6) over Bills
The Chiefs may fall back a bit and the Bills may take a small step forward in 2011, but I still don't think the gap is closed to the point that I could take the Bills on the road at Arrowhead.

Colts (+8.5) over TEXANS
This line jumped 2 points since yesterday when it was revealed that Peyton Manning would likely miss the entire season.  Not sure why that affected things so much when it was already known he wasn't playing in this game.  I still think this game will be close since the Texans still need to prove that they can stop someone on defense.

RAMS (+4) over Eagles
Rams offense should put up points with Josh McDaniels coming on board as coordinator.  Also I want to see the Eagles continue their Heat comparisons by flopping out of the gate.

BROWNS (-6.5) over Bengals
Does Ohio even care about this game?

Titans (+2) over JAGUARS
Luke McCown, who attempted 15 preseason passes, will get the start at QB for the Jags.  Tom Jackson is prepping his "they hate their coach" speech for Countdown next weekend.

Giants (-3) over REDSKINS
Eli gets the treat of looking across the field at Rex Grossman and knowing he is the superior quarterback.  Listening to his quotes regarding how he stacks up with Brady I'm sure he does this every week, but this week he will actually be right.

CARDINALS (-7) over Panthers
Cam Newton gets his first loss as a paid quarterback, ending his 14 game winning streak.

49ERS (-5.5) over Seahawks
The race to finish behind the Rams should be riveting television.

CHARGERS (-8.5) over Vikings
Couldn't decide between a Donovan joke or a Metrodome joke so let's move on...

JETS (-5) over Cowboys
The Jets at home on the anniversary of 9/11 should lead to an amazing atmosphere.  With both Ryan brothers probably getting a lot of face time NBC might have to rate the telecast TV-14.

PATRIOTS (-7) over Dolphins
Crazy things seem to happen to the Pats in Miami, sometimes good and mostly bad, but Chad Henne leading the Dolphins to a season opening win on MNF would probably rank pretty high up there on the list.


BRONCOS (-3) over Raiders
Al Davis thinks this is the year.  He also thinks that it's 1978.

Last night: 0-1-0
Season: 0-1-0

One final note, I am going to a wedding this weekend so I probably won't have anything posted again until Monday.  Have a great weekend!

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