From the Cheap Shots

For many sports, now is the turning point of their seasons.
Of course, within a week a new baseball champion will be crowned. The winner of the World Series, whether it’s the Florida Marlins or New York Yankees, will emote no joy out of a lot of people.
So many people had their hearts set on a Boston Red Sox/Chicago Cubs World Series that anything less has been a tremendous let down. For many, the World Series match-up now leaves them flat.
However, is it just the World Series match-up itself or is it the anticipation of competition for other teams? Some fans believe that the Marlins will be another victim for the Yankees this October. But many doubters thought that in 2001 when Arizona defeated the Yankees in seven games.
This has been one of, if not the best, post seasons ever. From the divisional series to the Championship series (both won in the seventh game), it has been very entertaining and emotional even if your team wasn’t represented.
However, maybe people are burnt out by now. I think one of the Fox Network broadcasters put it best during the first game of the Fall Classic when he said that New Yorkers must be having a hangover from their championship series with Boston.
Pro football has almost reached the halfway point of another season. So far there have been more great plays than great games.
If you’re a fan of the Jacksonville Jaguars, the San Diego Chargers, the Chicago Bears, the Detroit Lions, the Arizona Cardinals, or the Atlanta Falcons, the rest of the season could look like a slow walk to an execution.
Each of these teams has only one win in the season. However, with the way the NFL divisions are shaped now, do not count them out just yet. Last year, the Falcons started off 1-4 and went on to capture a wild card spot for the playoffs.
In two weeks, all Falcons fans are invited to take those paper bags off of their heads and watch the arguably, most exiting player, not only in football but in all sports, Michael Vick take to the field again.
I’m one of those people who doesn’t believe that on a team sport it’s a one-man show. That is to say, I don’t think that one player can change a whole team’s success or failure. Vick has such a dominating presence on the field and in the minds of the opponents, that just being on the field can be enough momentum to turn things around for the hapless Falcons.
The Bowl Championship Series standings were released for the first time this season. For Bulldog fans who don’t already know, basically the ‘Dawgs’ would have to win out the rest of the season and have two of the three teams in front of them lose only one game.
This, of course, could theoretically happen. West Virginia University has a good chance of beating Virginia Tech. If Virginia Tech does get by West Virginia, then they would either lose to the University of Pittsburgh or the University of Miami.
This is where it gets tricky. Dawg fans need to root against Virginia Tech one week and cheer for them when they take on Miami next weekend.
Oklahoma University has two big games left. They face their arch-rivals the Oklahoma State University Cowboys next weekend. The Cowboys have played spoiler to the Sooners many times. Most recently the last two years OSU has prevailed in the Bedlam Game.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Oct 24 2003. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry