Monday Mashup

Well, we're all back in a football state of mind. Here's a quick post about the weekend happenings, good or bad.

A nice job and a congrats to the NB Panthers, beating Tussey handily 35-6 after a nearly two hour rain delay. NB has bragging rights another year.

Seriously, UConn offense? This defense is top 10 nationally hands down, can't rely on them to score your points for you! Pasqualoni needs to get rid of George DeLeone, one of the reasons he was fired from Syracuse. I can definitely see why now. Running a wildcat with a QB who can't throw is bad enough, but even worse when you can with a large amount of accuracy predict the yardage gained each play. The offense is returning to Edsall era predictability. Speaking of Edsall, up next: Maryland. Yours truly will be down there, hopefully live tweeting and blogging. @J3cnb11 on Twitter.

Shaky start for Andrew Luck, throwing for 309, 1 TD and 3 picks. Colts lose 41-21 and never really cut into that lead after the 2nd. The line struggled, allowing 3 sacks. The secondary was picked apart by Jay Cutler and Brandon Marshall, with Cutler finishing with 333 and 2 TDs and Marshall 119 with one TD. There is promise for the future, even with a loss like this.

Colts to take Andrew Luck at No.1

It's been common knowledge since the Colts lost their regular season finale to Jacksonville on New Years' Day. The Colts will select Stanford superstar Andrew Luck with the first pick in Thursday's NFL Draft. Coming off a 2-14 season which saw them lose 4-time league MVP Peyton Manning to a degenerative nerve disorder, head coach Jim Caldwell and GM Bill Polian were fired in surprising moves by owner Jim Irsay. New blood was brought in with the hiring of Ravens defensive coordinator Chuck Pagano and Eagles director of player personnel Ryan Grigson as GM. The roller coaster offseason continued with the release of Manning, who signed with the Broncos in a lengthy recruiting process. That cleared the way for Luck to be chosen to succeed Manning. After the glitzy selection of Luck on Thursday, the Colts will focus on Friday and Saturday to fill holes at WR, TE, DT, CB, SS, FS, and OT. A fact worth noting: the Colts have the first and last pick in the draft, aka Mr. Irrelevant. This is the chance for the new brass to make an impression. Having Andrew Luck certainly doesn't hurt.

Lady Lions take Big 10 title over Ohio State

*I know this is a football blog, but I got the opportunity to cover the Penn State vs. Ohio State women's basketball game on February 20th*

Ohio State coach Jim Foster summed up his team's performance best when he stated matter-of-factly, "They just kicked our butts, that's what happened."

Foster's No. 8 Buckeyes were routed by the 11th ranked Penn State Lady Lions (22-5, 11-3 Big 10) 84-66, who claimed their first Big Ten title since 2004 with the victory.

Junior post anchor Nikki Greene was PSU's leading scorer with 25 points and 15 rebounds, one of three Penn State players with a double-double.

"There are no words," Greene said. "It's amazing, just amazing. We just worked so hard to get here."

Penn State led by 15 at the half, and never let Ohio State get within 13 the rest of the way, stifling OSU on the boards and with second chance opportunities.

"This might be the worst we rebounded (in) my life," offered Foster, "and certainly the least competitive."

Penn State clinched the No. 1 overall seed in the Big Ten Tournament, which begins next week in Indianapolis.

Penn State coach Coquese Washington wasn't as excited about stats and figures as she was for what the win meant to the university as a whole, a real bright spot among the dark past few months.

"It means a lot to me for Penn State to have this experience, especially this year and all that our university community has gone through."

Washington continued, "There's a lot of good here at Penn State; there's a lot of things right. And all year long, we tried to be one of the shining examples of what 'Success with Honor' means. I'm glad that our community is able to share this moment with us."

Samantha Prahalis had 16 points and 8 assists for Ohio State.

Maggie Lucas and Mia Nickson added double-digit points and rebounds for Penn State.

At a loss for words, Nickson said Penn State was just in the "right place at the right time".

"And they're beasts inside," Lucas added. "I don't think it's just right place at the right time."

Ohio State fell to 23-4 overall and 10-4 in conference play and will receive the No. 2 seed in the Big Ten Tournament.

Are the Colts looking at Andrew Luck?

Okay, so the Colts are 0-4 following Curtis Painter's 1st start. I'm not really sure anything better could or should be expected. Manning's done for the year, you go out and get Kerry Collins (who I believe was the best option), he gets hurt. Enter Painter. He's not played any meaningful minutes, and there was a reason why Jim Caldwell didn't think Painter was the answer because he brought in a retired QB to start ahead of him. This is the price you pay for not getting any insurance years ago. Manning isn't indestructable and the Indy front office is dumb if they didn't think something like this would happen. If the Colts continue to melt down and end up with 0-2 wins, they will get the number 1 pick. With that pick, the Colts (had better) select Andrew Luck, QB, Stanford. If they do take him, they need a plan, and it should work itself out pretty quick. The 1st option, which they may decide that they want to set the franchise back 15 years, is to trade the pick. They won't do that if they're smart. The obvious choice is to have him sit behind Manning a few years and he can learn from the best. If Manning retires, Luck is good enough to start from Week 1. Luck is the best QB prospect to come out since Manning himself. There's other holes to fill, but they have some good young players that they can expect to be good starters for them in a couple years. I think it's simply too big of a risk to not snag the future of your franchise.

So...Who Does Carolina Pick at Number 1?

My guess is as good as anyone's. I'm thinking there's really only a pool of 4-5 guys that they would seriously consider taking: Blaine Gabbert, Cam Newton, A.J. Green, Patrick Peterson, and Nick Fairley (Da'Quan Bowers could be in place of Fairley). They need to decide if Jimmy Clausen is their franchise QB first. If he's not, they need to get Gabbert or Newton. Then again, if Ron Rivera is dead set on a QB, he would have some debating to do on which he thinks is the better fit for them. As we all know, Cam has some questions as far as his character goes, but he's a once in a lifetime athlete and talent. Gabbert is safer in those regards, but people worry about the scheme he had at Missouri and how it translates, etc. If they're keeping their options open and they've decided that Clausen is the guy, A.J. Green is a possibility. Big, speedy receiver to help the offensively (and defensively) challenged Panthers and their now second year project of a QB. Patrick Peterson is probably the least likely chosen, but he's there. He would easily become the centerpiece of the defense. Most likely an opening weekend starter no matter where he goes. If they go with Bowers or Fairley, it'll be a big d-line improvement after they lost Julius Peppers. The line wasn't terrible, but it could use an upgrade. Personally, as a Carolina fan, I want them to take Newton. He would share duty with Clausen as a starter and situational QB. He'd be a monster running a red zone and goal line offense that allowed him to run from the shotgun and on play action rollouts. While the draft still goes on, this largely depends on the well-known lockout situation. The court date for the player lawsuit is April 6, but we might not hear anything for a couple weeks after that.

Is Peyton Manning Responsible for Another Loss (Again)?

Having just watched the now 4-8 Cowboys beat the Colts on an overtime field goal, I'm really starting to think Peyton's ability to win close games is slipping away much too quickly. He led a great game-tying drive with just seconds to go in the fourth, but after the Indy defense held Dallas to give Peyton the chance to win it, he made a poor decision (one of many of late) and the ball was picked off for the fourth time in the game. Many of these errant throws and bad decisions have become a significant reason as to why the Colts are 6-6 and are looking at missing the playoffs for the first time in a long time. (Since 2002). They are now at least a game behind AFC South division leader Jacksonville, but if they defeat the Titans this Thursday, and can take down the Jags at home the following week, they could still have a shot, although they'd have to hope for some help elsewhere. Granted, it hasn't always been his fault since the skid began. I lost track of how many key players are hurt and out for the rest of the year, but he is arguably the best quarterback of all time and has proven just how good he is leading come from behind drives. They do have many young and new players that have stepped up to help make this challenging time much more easy for Peyton, but he needs to continue playing at the high level that has earned him 4 MVP awards. With the possibility of having this season over and done with, and the scary fiasco that is the potential lockout resulting in no 2011 NFL season, maybe the Colts just need to forget this year, be happy with the progress despite the injuries, and hope that in 2012 they can be the first team to play a Super Bowl in their home stadium, just like the Cowboys' high hopes had them poised to do this year. I do say this: anything is still possible. The AFC South is very weak and if the Colts win out and win the division with a 10-6 record, something could still happen...

Wide Open Big East

The college football season is almost over. Most of the conferences know who will be the unquestioned champion. Not so fast. The Big East still has to answer that question. At the beginning of the season, it was basically a three-way tie for preseason BE championship honors between Pitt, UConn, and West Virginia. Throw in Cincinnati or Rutgers as a sort of wild card pick. That tie still is pretty much the theoretical way the BE standings are, but Syracuse is having a breakout year, and Louisville looks to have a little spunk as well. Pitt and UConn stumbled early, while WVU and 'Cuse were the top dogs back then. UConn had a make-or-break game a few weeks ago against WVU at home and pulled out the 16-13 overtime win. That gave them some hope for the Pitt game this past week. They again pulled out a tight win, 30-28. Towards the middle part of the season, Pitt started to look like the team they were hyped to be in the preseason, while UConn and WVU kept tripping up. After UConn beat both teams, they are quite possibly the hottest team in the BE and except to travel to the Carrier Dome for a showdown with Syracuse this Saturday. If they win, and Pitt would trip up again this week or next, UConn is in a great position to still push for the title. Being that the BE has an automatic BCS bowl bid, amidst controversy, a UConn team that wins out at 8-4 could get that berth. With Pitt, WVU, and possibly Syracuse succumbing to the Huskies, followed by a late season home game with Cincy, there probably isn't a whole lot that will stop them. They're young and talented, like Pitt, and Randy Edsall's teams play smart, fundamental football. They have Jordan Todman on their side, and the pressure has lessened with being 5-4. This season in the BE is not over yet, and you gotta check out some of these games coming up. These will be a great last few weeks of football season! (There's always the Big East basketball season :) )

Go Huskies!

District 5-A Championship

After a perfect 9-0 regular season and a strong showing in the district playoffs have led the Northern Bedford Black Panthers to prominence, it's time to take home the District 5 crown. We are the No. 2 seed this year. The North Star Cougars will be our opponent. The Cougars are a great team, being the No. 4 seed. More importantly, North Star upended No. 1 seed and previously unbeaten Berlin 21-14 last Friday. Our offense was held in check by the Conemaugh Twp. defense for the first half on Saturday, but we exploded later to win 28-7. Our QB went down vs. Meyersdale a couple weeks ago, so we implemented a wildcat-type offense to specifically accommodate our needs. This appears to be the same plan for this week. Both Conemaugh and North Star boast great quarterbacks. We've taken care of Township, as our stifling defense held strong. We look to do the same again and although our last game really wasn't as close as many thought, I believe this will be the closest we've had. Let's get the job done this week as we have all season...Let's Go Panthers!

Perfect!

After another season of football, history has been made for the Northern Bedford Black Panthers. They have achieved a perfect regular season record of 9-0. This was our first perfect season since 1975. They've got a lot of momentum heading into the District 5 Class A playoffs. Meyersdale will come to town this Friday to face off in a first round playoff game. Berlin is the top seed in D5 A and appears as if they will be the Panthers' challengers for the championship. Look for it to be a great game when (or if) these two area powerhouses meet. I'm sure we'll be looking into the weaknesses that Berlin has and use them to our advantage in the event of a potential game matchup. We defeated West Branch 42-0 last Friday on Senior Night to clinch our perfect regular season. I think we'll be pumped and ready for the start of the 2010 high school postseason.

Week 7 College Football

The week is over, and its time to review the games. This week featured a few major upsets that will surely mess up the polls and BCS standings. Conference frontrunners have been jumbled from week to week. There still looks to be little to no definition of a conference champion in many leagues. What does the future hold? I'm not sure, and sometimes I love to see shake-ups. Although not good for the teams ending up the losers, it adds more depth to the sport; makes it fun to watch no matter who you're cheering for. Here's some pivotal games and upsets from Week 7.

Auburn 65, Arkansas 43: Auburn should really start to get into some of the national title talk with this win over the Razorbacks.

Texas 20, Nebraska 13: Texas looked like the team we thought they were earlier in the year as they smacked Nebraska around to get the win on the road.

Ohio State 18, Wisconsin 31: OSU knew this game was a potential trap game, going up to Camp Randall Stadium, one of the toughest places to play in the country.

Mississippi State 10, Florida 7: Florida continues to slide down with an ugly loss to the Bulldogs, led by coach Dan Mullen, who was once a member of the Gator staff.

Iowa 38, Michigan 28: Just having Denard Robinson on their side was not enough to upset the powerful Iowa Hawkeyes, who are now in the the front of the pack for the Big 10 race.

I'm ready and excited for Week 8 to come. You can never have too much football.

Week 7 Football

It was once again a victorious week for the Black Panthers. They defeated the Southern Huntington Rockets by a score of 46-7. The win brought the Panthers' record to 7-0 heading into a Week 8 matchup with the struggling Mount Union Trojans. The Panthers are in sole possession of the ICC South and are a top team in the ICC, along with Juniata Valley and Berlin Brothersvalley. Turnovers were prominent in the game, with all turnovers resulting in points for the Panthers. The Panther defense has been utterly dominant this year. The defense is part of a total one-two punch the Panthers bring every game. The offense is high-scoring and incredibly potent led by tailback Preston Albright who had scored five touchdowns en route to the trampling. High profile games have not proven to be a very difficult challenge for the experienced Panthers, being that a magnificent Glendale team, a speedy Southern Huntingdon team, and a physical Tussey Mountain team have all fallen victim. Three more games remain to be played on the schedule, the next of which is Mount Union. I expect a Panther victory in each upcoming game. The playoffs will be great games to watch. Anyone thinking state playoffs?

HS Football Week 6+7

I'm back! I've been so busy lately I haven't had time to keep this updated as much as I would like to, so please forgive me. Time for some football! Week 6 was spectacular for my Panthers, but not so much for Tussey Mountain as we trampled them, 49-6. I said here last week that I'd be shocked if we won by more than 10 points, but I was obviously wrong and I give a lot of credit to us. I thought Tussey was worthy of the hype despite the record they had coming into the game. It was Homecoming for them, it was the Backyard Brawl, it was just an important game overall, and they couldn't find a way to keep it close. My Panthers, however, proved they have all that it takes to be an undefeated team at the end of the season and enter the playoffs locked and loaded. We face another important test Friday against Southern Huntingdon. The Rockets are 4-2 and are a great, tough team that may very well test our limits the way that Tussey was supposedly to have done. I do believe that with a win tomorrow, we will clinch the ICC South with an overall record of 7-0. I'll be up in the cozy press box and cheering for my team tomorrow night. My birthday's Monday, so I'd love to have a Panther victory as an early birthday present....Go Panthers!

College Football Picks For Week 6

I can't believe just how fast the season is flying by. Seems like just a couple weeks ago we were intensely studying the Preseason top 25 and hyping highly anticipated games...but now it's October and we're in the heart of football season. Here are some of my Week 6 picks:

UConn at Rutgers: UConn, but not by much I'm afraid. (Sorry, I'm biased :P)

Pitt at Notre Dame: Toss up, but I give ND the edge. Beating FIU doesn't really count for much.

Illinois at Penn State: PSU. Still too good for Illinois.

Michigan State at Michigan: If Denard Robinson plays well early, Michigan no doubt...not so well, watch out Michigan!

Oregon State at Arizona: Arizona in a close one.

LSU at Florida: Hmmm...I'll say Florida. Very close call.

Florida State at Miami: Florida State in an upset win. Jacory Harris is too inconsistent at times.

USC at Stanford: USC. Stanford may still have the aftermath of Oregon fresh in their minds, but they do have a chance.

P.S.

I love making picks. They're not everyone's favorite, but I just love them. I guess I'll just have to wait until Saturday to see how well I did :)

Backyard Brawl Preview

This Friday's Backyard Brawl is the annual game between historical Bedford County rivals Tussey Mountain and Northern Bedford. The rivalry is decades old and past games have decided seasons on occasion. The basketball rivalry is very passionate between the two, but the football rivalry carries much more. This year's game features the 5-0 Panthers vs. the 3-2 Titans. Tussey has been a fierce competitor in every game this year and they are much better than their record indicates. It is always a spirited contest and yields maximum effort from the teams. Last year saw Tussey defeat us at home in a torrential downpour. (I sat through the whole thing..not fun) Tussey isn't about to let us march into their house and hand them a blowout loss. If we remain confident and keep in mind the tradition of the game, we ought to come away with a win. I'm sure though it'll be a dogfight. I would honestly be shocked if we won by more than ten points. I can't wait to get down to Saxton to see what seems to be a classic example of what the Backyard Brawl is all about. (Beat Tussey!) Go Panthers!

Week 4 College Football

I want to look at the Top 25 poll. The newcomers are Nevada and NC State. They need a higher ranking, and UCLA needs a ranking. The top 3 remained the same, while Oregon jumped a spot to move to number 4. Stanford impressed some voters with a win over Notre Dame and jumped 7 spots to number 9. Stanford plays Oregon this week in the primetime spotlight, so we'll see a lot more about these teams on Saturday. Auburn also jumped 7 spots to number 10 after winning a hard-fought SEC victory over South Carolina. Michigan jumped one spot to No. 19, South Carolina dropped to No. 20, and Texas fell to No. 21 after being upset at home by UCLA. The loss was one of the worst in the Mack Brown era at Texas. Penn State settled at No. 22 after pulling out a close one with the ever-dangerous Temple Owls. NC State came in at 23 after several big wins, including Cincinnati and Georgia Tech. Michigan State rests at 24 after starting a strong 4-0 in a loaded Big Ten. Nevada is the true newbie to the polls at No. 25. I don't think there has ever been 2 WAC teams in the Top 25 poll at the same time. I will try some predictions later this week, as it seems to be a huge week for monster games.

Week 4 HS Analysis

Northern Bedford traveled to Williamsburg last Friday to face the winless Blue Pirates. That winless part? It didn't change as my Panthers moved to 4-0 on the season with the victory, 30-12. Now for the game coverage... NB recovered a Williamsburg fumble on the first series of the game, but they were unable to capitalize on their first drive, going 3 and out. When Williamsburg got the ball back, the NB defense drove the Pirates back into the endzone for a safety. Score: NB 2, Williamsburg 0. After the free kick back to us, we aired it out on a long pass play for a touchdown around the 4:18 mark of the 1st quarter. Score: NB 9, Pirates 0. Williamsburg went 3 and out on their next drive and lined up to punt, but the snap was botched and resulted in good field position for NB at the Williamsburg 15 yard line. 3 and out followed and we lined up to kick about a 29-30 yard field goal, but the attempt was no good to close out the 1st quarter. An NB sack forced the Pirates to go 3 and out on the first drive of the 2nd quarter. NB then scored on a 17 yd. TD run at a little over 9 minutes to go up by 16 points. Williamsburg still couldn't put anything together again, and ended up punting. NB still wasn't done before the half and capped a 12 play drive with a TD at the 53 second mark to make the score 23-0 at the half. A mostly uneventful 3rd quarter came to an end with a bang as Williamsburg scored its first points of the night that were set up by a great-looking 40 yd. pass play. The extra point was blocked by NB and made the score 23-6 heading into the 4th quarter. Williamsburg seemed to have been given some life when they picked off a NB pass at 10:33 left to go. Williamsburg almost lost the opportunity with a fumble, but they were lucky and recovered it. They stalled yet again, tried on 4th down, but failed. NB stalled on a lackluster drive and gave the ball back quickly. We put the clamps down one more time for a TD run at 3:28 to make the score 30-6. Williamsburg gave it their all and came away with another TD at 1:23 and tried for the 2pt. conversion, but they were denied to all but end the game. Final score: Northern Bedford 30, Williamsburg 12. Tussey won at Everett convincingly....They play Mo Valley next, we have Claysburg at home.

Week 3 HS Preview

Week 4 of the high school football season has arrived. Northern Bedford heads to Williamsburg this Friday to take on the 0-3 Blue Pirates. The game shouldn't be close and I look for NB to beat them by at least 30 points. The Blue Pirates haven't exactly challenged us in the last couple of years as far as I can remember. I'm growing more and more excited about Bedford County's traditional rivalry, the Backyard Brawl. Tussey has proven they may present a challenge for us, but it's nothing we can't handle. Everett travels to Tussey tomorrow and if I can't hitch a ride to Williamsburg, I might go down to Saxton just to see how good they really are. We still have another game yet to prepare for them, though. Claysburg is Oct.1, Homecoming. Last year Tussey stole one from us at home. I think we'll get 'em thinking twice about us the next two weeks, then once we march down there to their house and beat them like in 2008, we're back on top of the always great local rivalry. Go Panthers!!!

Week 3: College FB Analysis

Wow. Is it just me, or is the Big East really looking bad this year? The Big East is somewhat respected, and very much more capable of doing what they're not given credit for. This year may not be the year to silence the critics. Cincy hasn't lived up to the hype, losing to Fresno State and NC State, both winnable games. It won't get easier either, facing Oklahoma this week. UConn may not have started out the right way, losing to Michigan and Temple, but I think they will bounce back against Buffalo this week. The Huskies can probably kiss the Top 25 goodbye. The losses have set them back too far, unless they win every game until the end of the season. Don't write them off just yet...Michigan survived an upset scare by UMass, winning 42-37. UMass is a very good FCS team, though. Somebody could get surprised by them. Arkansas needed to prove they could contend in the SEC, and did just that by beating Georgia 31-24 to stay undefeated. Florida State beat BYU in a sort of rivalry game, 34-10. Oregon crushed Portland St. 69-0, to remain a top title contending team. Michigan beat ND on a trick play to stay undefeated and win, 34-31, in OT. In perhaps the game of the week, Arizona upset Top 10 Iowa. I saw the game, and was very impressed with the Arizona offense. It takes a lot to defeat Ricky Stanzi and the high-powered Iowa Hawkeyes. Nevada and Colin Kaepernick took care of Cal, 52-31. Alabama beat Duke to remain on top of all the National polls. Nebraska took care of top NFL prospect Jake Locker's Washington Huskies, 56-21. Clemson and Auburn renewed an old rivalry, Auburn winning in a shootout in OT, 27-24. Boise State trampeled Wyoming 51-6 to stay in the running for a national title berth. Pitt's had a bye week to rest up to play Miami (FL), but I still think Miami wins big, dropping Pitt to 1-2; same as UConn right now. UConn beats Buffalo, 2-2; better than Pitt. :) Miami 45, Pitt 10; UConn 38, Buffalo, 14.

Week 1 and 2

I'm pretty surprised at the first few weeks of football. Some games were predictable, some so-so and some downright painful to watch. I'll start with HS football. I'm set up with my own seat in the NB press box, so I get to make my true sports reporting debut. I didn't get as many notes as I wanted because it was a big game for NB vs. Glendale and everyone from the local media was there in the box and it was quite crowded and only my first game of the season, so I tried taking some mental notes, but I had a hard time remembering them so I'll just give my opinions on the game. I promise I'll have some good notes for next week. The game was highly anticipated and was a matchup of a couple of the top teams in the ICC. NB started out with a great drive and would've been stalled if not for a costly Glendale penalty. NB scored on the drive I believe. Glendale wasn't fazed thought and quickly fired out a pass and outran the NB defenders to make the score 7-6 after missing the extra point. The Panther running game was very strong, trampling Glendale. The passing game wasn't really on display except for a few plays here and there, but they also showed their stuff. At one point I remember NB picking off what might've been a touchdown in the endzone right before halftime I think. As the game wore on, Glendale wore down due to the dominant Panther defense. At the very end of the game, Glendale QB Tyler Jenny rifled a pass to the endzone. It was surprisingly caught and made the final score of the game 28-18 and made NB 2-0 heading in to a Week 3 game with Everett. The Warriors shouldn't be a problem. College football was pretty fun to watch. In Week 1, Boise beat VT, most other high profile teams played cupcakes, but UConn and Pitt played respectable opponents in Michigan and Utah. UConn was favored to beat UM, but the defense couldn't stop UM QB Denard Robinson and they lost 38-10. Pitt also lost but by a smaller point total. Utah won on a field goal to win 24-21. Week 2 was muuuuch more fun. VT played FCS team James Madison. HOKIES WIN 72-0!!! Nope. James Madison handed VT a shocking loss, 21-16. Florida State was throttled by Oklahoma after many thought was a winnable game for FSU after a poor showing by OU vs. Utah State in Week 1. Ohio State forced Miami QB Jacory Harris into throwing 4 picks en route to a 34-26 win by OSU. West Virginia almost fell victim to in-state rival Marshall. UConn wiped out Texas Southern 62-3 to bounce back from the Michigan loss, and Michigan edged Notre Dame 28-24.

Why I Love (And Hate) Preseason Football

Preseason football: What comes to mind when you see that? The beginning of another great football season? Fall? Who cares? Well, all of these can pretty much describe my feelings towards preseason football. Sure, we've been all dying for football season to start, and I'll be the first to admit I'll take preseason football over none at all, but something about it gives me a 'boring' vibe. First, I'll explain why I love it... ROOKIES!!!! The preseason is a great time to see how your favorite college players are doing in the pros, or for that matter, just comparing them against other rookies. Most of the time, rookies aren't first-team offense or defense, so they won't play much during the season, barring an injury. Second, it can be quite entertaining watching players compete for roster spots, even though starters are mostly decided already. Third, its great to see how the bottom-dwellers have improved (or gotten worse). You can see how the stars of the league react to new teams, players, coaches, etc. So you get my point. Now, why I hate it. Injuries. Seems like someone always gets hurt in the preseason. This year's big injury was Elvis Dumervil. The starters don't play much for safety reasons but it still should be a little more entertaining considering we've been starving for football all summer. When you do get a player that does play for more than a few series, they take them out right in the middle of a great drive or defensive possession. You think you'll get to see some action, then you get a stalled drive or a blown defensive stand. Either way you view it, its still football!