Football season is finally here!!!!! I can barely contain my excitement. We are officially out of the "sporting doldrums" and back to the wonderful world of sports we are used to. Football season has arrived and that means hockey season isn't far behind and that baseball season is getting closer to the excitement of the postseason and the English Premier League season is about to kick off as well. Finally back to the times that I thoroughly enjoy!
Last week I wrote a little bit about Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel. No sooner did I write about it that I come across an ESPN Outside the Lines piece and a Sports Illustrated piece revolving around Manziel's off-field plight as well. Both pieces were very well-written and will now see great followup as Manziel is in hot water yet again. There are several sources who maintain Manziel took compensation for autograph signings, which of course would be an NCAA "no-no." A&M has retained the same law firm that Auburn used in 2010 to keep quarterback Cam Newton eligible. Many will be keeping an eye on this as obviously the Aggies SEC and National Title hopes rest on the legs and right arm of Manziel. If Manziel does get suspended, don't be surprised if it's only for the Aggies' first two games. Week 3 sees defending national champion Alabama come to College Station for a nationally-televised SEC contest on CBS.
Here's the link to the excellent ESPN piece on Manziel, written by Wright Thompson: http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/9521439/heisman-winner-johnny-manziel-celebrity-derail-texas-aggies-season-espn-magazine
I have no desire to focus on the Biogenesis suspensions that are all the rage in Major League Baseball headlines right now. It is a well-known fact that I've never been a big Alex Rodriguez fan, going all the way back to his early days as a Seattle Mariner. I was always a Griffey fan and my admiration for his swing (one of the best the game has ever seen) was noted in a 2008 blog post that I can't seem to get a link up to at the moment. (I'll post it as soon as I can.) That said, I don't want to waste time talking about A-Rod, Nelson Cruz, Jhonny Peralta, or anyone else. Let's focus on the Kansas City Royals winning 12 of their last 13. Let's focus on the Los Angeles Dodgers winning 15 straight on the road. Let's focus on the Atlanta Braves defying every preseason prediction and running away with the NL East. Let's focus on the Oakland Athletics once again showing everyone they're never to be underestimated. And best of all, let's focus on the fact that the Pittsburgh Pirates, at 67-44 (with a .604 winning percentage), have the best record in baseball and we're a week into August. Those are the stories that should be dominating MLB headlines right now, not all of this PED nonsense.
The injury bug continues to make its way through NFL camps. Aaron Rodgers has lost his blindside protector as Green Bay left tackle Bryan Bulaga tore his ACL and will be lost for the season. After last week's rash of injuries, I thought maybe there would be a slowdown but here we go again. The Packers have options, including moving Marshall Newhouse back to left tackle after starting 28 games there the past two seasons. In addition to dealing with this, I'm also slightly curious to see how Green Bay splits backup quarterback reps to give recently-signed Vince Young an opportunity to compete for the job.
I know it's been over a month but I'm still having a really hard time digesting Daniel Alfredsson leaving Ottawa to sign with the Detroit Red Wings. With the Wings moving to the East and being put in the newly-configured Atlantic Division, it won't take long for Alfredsson and the Sens to renew acquaintances. A lot has been made of Alfredsson's comments before Game 5 of this year's Eastern Conference Semifinals, when he stated that he didn't believe the Sens had anything left in the tank to come back and defeat Pittsburgh. Then for him to turn around and say that he felt the Wings gave him a better chance to win a Stanley Cup at age 40 was the stake in the heart of Ottawa and its fans. Alfredsson has played the heel turn perfectly and there's no doubt that Sens fans will vilify him to the fullest. The Sens even took a huge step forward, trading for Anaheim winger/goal scorer Bobby Ryan who will likely skate alongside Jason Spezza (who many believe will be the next Ottawa captain). It all seems too easy, wrapped up too quickly. After 17 season, 1,108 points, 14 playoff appearances, and an Eastern Conference title, Alfredsson is just walking away to Detroit. "Alfie" has made this whole thing very easy for Ottawa and its fans. He has completely embraced his heel role but something still doesn't sit right with me. Alfredsson had been Ottawa's captain since the 1999-2000 season. Canada's capital city had embraced the Swede beyond words. I have had the privilege of witnessing this first-hand, trekking to Ottawa this past May for Game 4 of Ottawa's Eastern Conference Semifinal series. Anytime Alfredsson's face came across the giant video board the crowd went into an absolute frenzy. I would say about 65-70% of the jerseys I saw in the crowd had "Alfredsson" stitched on the back of them. I, too, joined in and wore an Alfredsson player t-shirt with the captain's "C" on the front. Then, when the video board showed Alfredsson and mentioned his nomination for the NHL's Mark Messier leadership award, the crowd gave him a standing ovation during an otherwise mundane stoppage of play during the second period. Each period when the clock hit "11:11" the fans would start chanting "Alfie" over and over again for the next 11 seconds. Alfredsson also acknowledged the fans at every turn. This all begs the question of "why leave." I suppose we will never truly know but it just bothers me on so many levels. In today's sporting universe you don't see many players stay with one team their whole careers. I am lucky enough to have both Martin Brodeur & Patrik Elias currently with the Devils as well as the privilege of having seen Ken Daneyko spend his entire 21-year career with Jersey's Team as well. But these types of players are few and far between, regardless of sport. Dan Marino with the Dolphins, Derek Jeter with the Yankees, Cal Ripken Jr. with the Orioles, Tony Gwynn with the Padres, Chipper Jones with the Braves. I'm sure I missed a few but you get the point. The number is few and far between. And how about in Canada? Wendel Clark gets traded from Toronto to Quebec. Mats Sundin goes from Quebec to Toronto to Vancouver. Ryan Smyth leaves Edmonton and then comes back. Even Wayne Gretzky left. It seems that Canada just can't seem to find a hockey icon who is willing to ride it out. I really wanted to see that happen with Alfredsson and Ottawa. And even though I'm not a die-hard Sens fan, I will be very sad to see "Alfie" skate out in a Wings jersey next season.
As excited as I am to see Daniel Bryan get a WWE Championship opportunity at Summerslam, I can't help but get the sneaking suspicion that it will be "Mr. Money in the Bank" Randy Orton that actually walks out of Los Angeles with the title. I really don't want to see this and the fact that Orton is not booked on the card at the moment makes this a very high possibility. In other WWE news, if you get a chance to check out Total Divas on E!, do it. It's actually pretty entertaining television.
That'll do it for now. And don't forget, college football starts on the Thursday August 29th! Among that night's games are North Carolina/South Carolina, Utah State/Utah, Rutgers/Fresno State, and USC/Hawaii.
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