Up For Debate

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

Green Bay played, too. See above.

It may have been a rough week for my teams, but all true sports fans learn to take the ups with the downs. As a friend of mine often reminds me, those of us who are fans of teams that have regularly been successful for a while get spoiled. We’re used to coming out ahead, not having to worry about working our way up in the rankings, but rather watch that we don’t fall too far out, and start to take these things for granted. Before the Gator loss was final, I heard that Kentucky beat South Carolina, who beat Alabama last week, which gave us a potential (though small) chance to work our way back into contention. Not so much anymore. The upside from this week was that Wisconsin beat Ohio State, taking out one more of the unbeatens. Things are always more interesting when the field is more even. The dilemma, though, if so few are left undefeated in the end, is whether or not that will be enough for Boise State to get in the championship, or if their weaker schedule will end up keeping them out. If they win out, will they be deserving of a chance?

As for the NFL, there were some close games this week, namely Green Bay v Miami and Baltimore v New England that went into overtime. Surprisingly- well, at least somewhat surprisingly- the Chargers lost to St. Louis. Yes, the Rams. It’s sad, really. They haven’t looked the same since they got rid of LT. In today’s NFL text commentary, there was discussion of San Diego’s tendency to let guys go, thinking they’re past their prime or need new blood, like with LT and Drew Brees. Then these guys go on to be successful with their new teams, winning a Super Bowl, making plays like they used to, general successes elsewhere. Are they actually getting rid of guys too early, or is it that they're just not meshing with the system anymore? Though it might happen more often with the Chargers, it's happening elsewhere, too. Look at Randy Moss and his supposed hair debate with Bieber, I mean, Brady before he joined Brett at the Vikings last week got them all riled up. And then there's Jake DelHomme being let go by Carolina and going on to the Browns to... oh wait, nevermind. But still, with San Diego, the question is legit.

Losing to the Rams may have been the final straw for Norv’s job security, which was already on its last leg. PR’s been doing relatively ok still, either that or Orton’s been doing a lot better. They’re my usual tandem for the fantasy league, though I’d typically end up using Orton on the weeks he did the worst, but this year they’re literally even as of today’s games in fantasy points for the season. Watching him today, I was seriously starting to rethink leaving Orton on the bench, really impressed by his performance so far. I even apologized for any negative comments in the past season as he was leading a successful drive within the 2 minute warning to potentially beat the Jets. Then he fumbled and the game was over. That was the Orton I knew….

In other NFL news, Big Ben came back this weekend and delivered a win for the Steelers over the Browns in Colt McCoy’s debut. Considering it was his first time leading the Browns, and considering that it’s the Browns, he didn’t do half bad, going 23/33 for 281 yards, 1 touchdown and unfortunately, 2 interceptions. The 49ers managed to finally get a win. Minnesota prevailed in the battle for survival with Dallas. The Sunday night game is going on as I write, but the Skins are going at it without the, um, help(?), of Albert Haynesworth who was scratched with “Coach’s decision” given as the reason. I have no words for that man.

PATs-

• The Canes lost their first game after the Finland trip and have a crazy travel schedule ahead through early November. The bright side is they get a break toward the end of the season having most of their games at home. For now, they’ll have to keep adjusting to time zone changes all over the place as they do a tour of the west coast, then return at the end of October to face some of the toughest teams in the eastern conference. Their game v the Canucks is in progress, too, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed that that great 4 point start to the season doesn’t get completely lost in the time changes.

• Even though the rest of my weekend was rough sports-wise, the highlight of my Saturday was watching the Yankees lose 7-2 to the Rangers in the ALCS Game 2. And it was even more appropriate that this happened while I was in Boston. In the B.S. Report this week, Bill Simmons discussed his theory that the Yankees blew the end of their season so they’d face the Twins instead of Texas at the beginning of the ALCS. I have to say, he just might be right… it’s starting off as a great matchup!

• This may seem completely random, but UCF is looking pretty good from what I caught of their game this Thursday. They had to skip halftime, taking just a short break between the 2^nd and 3^rd quarters, due to an intense rainstorm. They were doing well, forcing Marshall to punt quite a bit, avoiding penalties, and dominating in rushing yards. While it being against Marshall might not be saying too much, they still looked pretty legit and like they might be on the path to becoming yet another force in the realm of Florida college football in the years to come.

• Alright, fine, I’ll talk about it. I couldn’t watch it (which was good), but I was getting the play-by-play from my good friend that is my faithful sportscaster via text for Gator games I can’t watch—earning her the title henceforth of The Sportstexter—and it wasn’t pretty. I sensed the glimmer of hope in her texts when Miss. State missed their field goal and we got the ball on their 35… then the disappointment as Demps fumbled on the 16 yard line. Then hope again as we were driving down the field with under 2 minutes left in a challenging, but do-able last ditch effort… then the disappointment when Henry missed the field goal attempt we worked so hard for wide right. My phone battery died right after that text, and with it, our post-season hopes. It’s official. This season is all for rebuilding…