In a Glass Case of Emotion

The Gators played football this weekend, and I don’t want to talk about it.

LSU ruins the birthday weekend almost every season, regardless of how either team is playing otherwise. This year was no exception, with a game that had 7 lead changes and some crazy calls that ended in the Gators’ second loss in six weeks. Most coaches I at least respect, but Nick Saban and Les Miles are two I’m not a fan of. Now I’m a strong supporter of the fake punt whenever I play Madden (mostly because that’s one of the few plays I can actually execute), but when a coach is known for using them, his team is in the ideal situation to use one, and you don’t plan to counter one—not cool. The feeling of Gator Nation slipping into the coma of a rebuilding year is becoming more real. If nothing else, at least Alabama lost to South Carolina and Miami lost to FSU. Almost makes up for our loss… but not quite. It does bring up the question, though… with Alabama out, who is deserving of the #1 spot?

I didn’t get to watch the NFL games this week, though I was keeping track of the scores. Shaun Hill seems to be doing fine with Detroit after their 44-6 win (over the Rams, mind you). Kansas City has finally lost, and poor Buffalo still can’t get a win. The backup QB switch between Washington and Chicago worked out ok for the Bears, though it’s a miracle that Todd Collins was able to pull off the win with 4 interceptions. My 2 favorite teams, Washington and Green Bay, played each other this week in a really close game. It was hard to follow rooting against the Skins (partially because Gano is my kicker in the fantasy league), but the Skins pulled it off in OT. Once I got home and saw more info than the score, I found that Rodgers had a concussion, Jermichael Finley left with a knee issue, and Clay Matthews and about 3 other guys all had random injuries, too. That might have had something to do with it. This slew of injuries on top of the loss of Ryan Grant earlier in the season leaves us with a tough 12 weeks ahead.

Finally, on a happier note, the Canes won both of their season opening games in Helsinki this week. Due to the time difference, they were on at noon here, so I was able to listen to Chuck K. call the game via streaming audio at work. I’m not gonna lie, I was having some serious regret for not blowing all my money and flying over there for the games. My team in Finland?! Too perfect. Maybe they’ll do it again since it went so well. Coming back with 4 points to start the season is definitely a better start than we had last fall. The Caps are right with us with 4 pts, too, but over 3 games compared to our 2. It’s nice to be at the top :) I completely didn’t realize how much I missed hockey until our first game started. It’s a very close second to football, all thanks to the roster full of humble guys on the Canes and the great atmosphere of the RBC Center fan-wise. We have a lot of young guys that look like they have a lot of potential, including Skinner, our prized draft pick, who won the 2^nd game for us with his shootout goal. Speaking of young additions looking impressive, Derek Stepan of the Rangers made a hat trick in his debut game. Pretty impressive, yet slightly concerning for when we face them later this month. Also good- New Jersey has lost all 3 of their games so far. It’s starting off to be a great season :)