Are you Ready for Some Football?



Of course I watched Monday Night Football and you knew I had to blog about Favre's first actual start with the Vikings (for the record, no, I don't count last week as a real start since he had been with them 3 days and played 1 series)! I still have a hard time seeing him in purple, but I'm so excited that he had a good game overall. I think that he did a great job and he also shut some people up that he can still play. Honestly, if you can make a good argument that he's not in the top 5 NFL QB conversation then I'll acquiesce, but I don't think you can. I realize that really isn't saying much right now with the status quo of NFL QB's, but you get my point.



He said that if he could still play at the NFL level then he felt like he should come back. He's doing it and he proved it Monday night. Now, a lot of people are asking me about his "chop block" and my thoughts on that. My first thought was how crazy is Childress for even putting his almost 40 year old QB that just had shoulder surgery in that type of position. The man is a QB and doesn't know how to block for heaven's sake either! Before all of you start telling me that he played D Line and SS in high school and should know how to block better please bear in mind that that was over 20 years ago. Anyway, I don't think that it was intentionally to hurt anyone...it could have hurt him too. I think it was a crazy call by the coaching staff, but I do agree with my buddy, Dunaway, who said that if anything, it did send a message that he's still got the toughness that some people have questioned since this injury and surgery.

After watching him play Monday night with all the pressure that he had to prove himself again, I have to say that I'm so glad he came back! He's always fun to watch and he looks like he's still enjoying himself...I just hope we intercept him every time on October 5th and November 1st! Those are circled on my calendar. Both teams are undefeated so far in preseason with the Pack facing the Titans Thursday night. My Pack looks REALLY good and I can't wait for that first test against our arch rival da Bears with their new QB. Watch out for the Pack this season...our D is nasty good!

It's game week for college football, people! I've never been more ready I don't think. NC State and SC as well as Troy playing the first games. Saturday night in the GA dome...it's almost too much to take and we haven't kicked off yet! I'm a little nervous about Bama this weekend with Va Tech since we've had so many distractions this week. I know that we will bring our A game though just like we did last year in the same place against Clemson.

The SEC teams will be tough this year for the most part and fun to watch. All I have to say is, "Are you ready for some football?" Have a great season!

I don't know why...

but a couple of people asked me to post what I sent to the Dunaway and Brown show (greatest sports talk show in the southeast) on my blog with my thoughts on the Sugar Bowl after attending so here it is:

Ok…in case you don’t have enough topics for conversation about the game (ha ha…yeah, right, that’s a funny one, Cheesehead) – here are a few observations from someone who was there (some reality and some with tongue firmly planted in my cheek):

1. Halftime show was fabulous (pretty sad when the best part of the game is the halftime show…although I’ve been down on the Million Dollar Band for a few years, but they apparently have made a comeback)
2. Their fans – they never let up…they were great and truly supported their team 110% wholeheartedly and 110% of the time no matter what
3. Our fans – we have the best and the worst fans all at the same time. Our fans are great when we’re doing great – a little cocky, but mostly great. Our fans are the WORST fans when we’re doing badly and that’s when the team needs us the most. I’m so thankful that I didn’t take my kids…there were expletives that I hadn’t even heard in MY lifetime…some were directed at refs, some at coaches and some at players, but overall I have been VERY disappointed by our fans over the past couple of years from booing our own team to Friday night and I’ve not noticed that before – it seems to be getting worse and alcohol certainly makes it worse.
4. Acoustics in the dome are horrible!!!! We couldn’t even hear our band because they basically were sitting up underneath our section…it’s terrible. There were times that you couldn’t hear the announcements about different things like what the band was doing or dignitaries in attendance, etc. (as if we cared), but I heard all 4,386 times President Palmer talked about Allstate…were they the sponsor of the Sugar Bowl? I couldn’t tell…I’m sorry.
5. The announcer in the dome for play calling was TERRIBLE!!!!! Surely I’m not the only one that noticed this…he was nasal toned and he got names wrong and couldn’t even get yardage right half the time. You would think for a paying gig you could AT LEAST get to know who the team’s play makers are before the game and don’t pause in the middle of the sentence and wait until the digital board says what yard line the ball is on before announcing it…at least wait to start the sentence so you don’t look so amateur.
6. I think we (hubby and me) were the only ones in N.O. NOT drinking alcohol
7. The Florida loss took a lot more out of our team than we thought it did.
8. Sirhan Stacy needs to come to EVERY game and come out on the field at the beginning of the game
9. Our team didn’t even run out of the tunnel or look fired up from the beginning…if the Sugar Bowl, national TV in prime time, wearing a crimson jersey, representing THE University of Alabama, representing the SEC, coming out in the middle of your band playing the fight song and PYROTECHNICS don’t light your fire then your wood is wet.
10. We’ve won without Andre Smith before…get over it – he’s not the reason why we lost the game, but his suspension did take some of the spirit away from our team
11. Marquis Johnson (#24) is horrible and we should have figured that out after the Florida loss…if not before…hello?
12. The timing of the Steele story getting leaked stunk and probably had something to do with how terrible our defense looked
13. Next year we need to remember how Urban Meyer must have handed over our play book to Utah and make them pay for it
14. Only a few Alabama players actually came to win…Bobby Greenwood (great game), Javier Arenas and possibly Mike Johnson, but he got hurt before we could find out.
15. We were sitting behind 4 Auburn fans…why would they be happy that we lost and lost badly? I have been pulling for EVERY team in the SEC…if the shoe were on the other foot I would want them to do well too in their bowl game because I would want the SEC to make a good showing…give me a break – it doesn’t do anything for you fans!
16. Outside of the game…I can also add that the Sheraton must not have gotten the memo that the Sugar Bowl was in town…totally ill-prepared and just finished inking the letter to their management
    
    I think I’m through with my rant. Roll Tide anyway…and to add insult to injury I came home to no Packers or Favre in NFL playoffs…what a shame…Southern Cheesehead

Apparently CBS and ESPN think the SEC has merit!

For all of you football fans out there that love the "dominant conference" debate...how about that CBS deal? Wowzers! Apparently we have to agree on the fact that the SEC must have some smarts! They were interested in hiring Chuck Gerber when no one else was according to Tony Barnhart. It sounds like that was the ace in the hole.

I've seen so many blogs and comments from people who are guilty of nothing but being passionate about the conference in which their preferred team is a part. I really try to not engage in such debates because I believe "the proof is in the pudding" as they say down here in the south, but truly this is quite a deal for the entire SEC and all schools represented. Imagine basically tripling your income overnight! Not to mention all the residual affects that the above mentioned article spells out for each of the teams.

Apparently Forbes Magazine got it wrong and Mike Slive should have been on the cover...or even Chuck Gerber instead of Coach Nick Saban. Listen, you may not like our "podunk" schools down here in the south or the way we live college football as a religion and will go to our grave thinking we're better than you, but you have to hand us this one...your conference just got schooled!

Big Orange Crush...and even St. Nick has a heart...
Short blog today as I'm pressed for time, but what kind of blogger (or fan for that matter) would I be if I didn't at least mention the beautiful Saturday morning game that I was able to enjoy in T-town? Have I mentioned that I hate orange? I sat right next to some TN fans...nice people for the most part and good sports, and I was proud of myself too for not being too terribly obnoxious.

I can't believe the onside kick call at the beginning of the game. We were all in shock...elated state of shock, but shock nonetheless!

Our 4 million dollar man may not care about the media, but you can tell that he was really proud of the players...he even got choked up in the press conference after the game. People say that he has no heart, but I disagree...he is just selective with what he cares about. It's fine with me, by the way.

We have a week off to rest and then our truly toughest test of the season with LSU with whom we are tied for the west in the SEC. It bothers me that they have a week off as well after a tough one down to the wire against our in state rival, but I know it will be a good one. Could there be any more hype for this game? I say if Game Day comes a-callin' that we refuse...we can't win when they're in town to save our lives! Auburn turned down their offer to be on Lincoln Financial against Ole Miss this weekend for pay per view and I think it's for the same reasons...they lose in that 11:30 slot. It will be a long shot, but I truly believe that if we come out with the arsenal loaded like we did this past weekend that LSU is beatable (if that's a word). They are much more talented and deep than we are...they're truly like an NFL team this year, but as it has been stated before...at some point and time Les' luck will run out. It will eventually catch up to you and bite you and I'm hoping that happens on 11/3! I've been to 3 games live this year so far...Vandy, Arkansas and Tennessee and those turned out great so maybe I'm the lucky charm...have I mentioned that I will be at LSU?? I can't wait...I hope I don't eat those words!

Winners, Squeakers...and a bye bye bye...

I'm back among the living in blogger land...sorry for the hiatus.

Luckily I didn't have to add the "losers" up in the title, but squeaking by with 3 points seems to be the theme this weekend for both my college and pro teams so they get called "squeakers". I don't like just barely getting by - I like for my teams to dominate and that just didn't happen.

Let's start with my Tide. For heaven's sake, Ole Miss is the worst team in the SEC and you can't even understand their coach when he talks so why couldn't we put them away? I'll tell you why - our D-line! We need some serious help in that area, but hopefully that will improve over the next few years as Saban gets his own recruits in their to run his defensive scheme. I guess he's doing the best he can of trying to fit square pegs into round holes, but Alabama fans have never had realistic expectations from anyone so why would we start now? We expected to blow out the Rebs and just didn't do it. We've got the ol' pumpkin this weekend in T-town before a bye week and then LSU...I hate orange. 'Nuf said.

Well, it wasn't enough that I had to pull against Jason Campbell and Carlos Rogers in college and now I have to do it on Sundays. Campbell's stats actually were better than Favre's, but luckily his supporting cast likes to cough the ball up and our defense still played well for the most part and capitalized on those mistakes. My Pack's D-line needs some work as well for the most part, but they got the job done again and our offense fortunately scored more points than the opposing team's! Thankfully that's all that matters in the NFL. I'm not sure if I'm grateful for a bye week this week for the Pack or not. Normally I would say that's a good thing, but we've only lost one game and I don't want to lose momentum. After our bye this week we've got 2 road games in a row. In years past we haven't been a good road team, but this year seems to be different...we beat Minnesota on the dreaded turf already!

On paper it looks like Green Bay should do well with the remaining schedule, but we still don't know how good we are 6 games into the season...strange, isn't it? We're 5 and 1 and most people would agree. I don't like that most people say that we're not as good as our record dictates (I'm referring to talking heads here). At the end of the day, that doesn't really matter. What matters is that we're 5 and 1 regardless and in my experience it puts us in a good position to make the playoffs and Packer fans (as well as Favre) want another shot in the post season.

I'm looking forward to playing the Cowboys at the end of November since everyone is saying that Romo is the next Favre in the league. The jury is still out on him in my book. Yes, he's had an incredible year so far, but we know he doesn't do well under pressure and we'll have to wait and see how durable he is over his career. Favre has earned the Ironman nickname outright - he even had a pretty good season playing with a broken thumb!

I'm glad that this weekend I only have to worry about one nailbiter since the Pack is off, but I long for the day that both teams just seriously put someone away and I don't have to have the paramedics on standby! Roll Tide Roll!! Go Pack Go!!

ANOTHER FOOTBALL WEEKEND...

Good grief, I love this time of year!

I made the trip to Nashville this weekend to watch my Tide play Vandy. Everyone jumped on the bandwagon and called upset on this one, but it just didn't happen. That being said, we need a TON of work! I went in concerned about our defense and left more concerned with our offense. Wilson didn't set the world on fire. He seems to be ok if he has a lot of time, but if he gets rattled or has to run for his life (which happens way too much) then he's likely to make poor decisions. I also hate the draw plays because he just isn't a fast runner to say the least. Kicking game still concerns me because at best it's inconsistent and that needs to change because the red zone offense isn't better than last year's unfortunately.

I have to say that it is so much fun to watch Andre Smith play. As large as he is (even after losing 19 pounds in the offseason he still logs 340) he is fast. He truly might end up being the best Offensive Lineman to play at Alabama. I would certainly feel good about running behind him...which brings me to Terry Grant. If he can stay healthy (please, God, keep him healthy) then he just might be a Heisman candidate...great freshman talent!

Moving forward with my Pack on Sunday. We squeaked out a win, but apparently my college and pro teams are both going to have red zone offense issues. I'm going to have to get NFL ticket or something...I can't stand not seeing these games, btw. Anyway, I digress, hats off to the defense for containing Westbrook and McNabb, but if our offense doesn't get it together then we're going to have another season like last year if we're lucky. I don't know if I expected anything more than that anyway beginning this season, but I always hold out hope as a fan(atic).

This next Sunday we're going to the Giants and we'll be able to tell a lot more about the Packers with that game and see what they're made of and if they can man up...away from the Lambeau "magic".

The Tide welcome the Hogs to T-town and I'll be there to hopefully pull us through. As good as our defense was this past weekend, they're going to have to be even better to shut down McFadden. Vandy didn't come close to having that type of talent. It will be a line battle and for the love of all that is ESPN I hope that we can win it consistently enough to win this SEC battle in the western division.

As for our in state rivals...sports talk in Birmingham is eaten up with Auburn fans calling for Cox's head on a platter. My question is the same as some other people's that I've heard in response...who else is there? I think he's a head case more than anything...he has the talent. He's not as good as some recent past QBs that Auburn has had, but he has the experience and some talent...he's just a head case from the hits he has been taking. I may be wrong, but that's my opinion.

There are a lot of good weeks ahead in football so I would just caution anyone and everyone to not knee jerk...it's still early.

FIRST COLLEGE FOOTBALL WEEKEND FOR 2007 IN THE BOOKS
...Let's not get too hasty!
Wow is the only word that I can think of to describe this past weekend in the wonderful sport of football! Mine started Thursday night when I went to Nashville to watch the last pre-season Packers game against the Titans. I was keeping up with the score of the first SEC game while I was there via Blackberry (love modern technology). I realized very quickly that it wasn't much of a game so I turned my total attention to the Pack.
I unfortunately missed the opening drive which was the only one that Favre played and he also scored a touchdown...if we had only left 30 minutes earlier! :-) I see some much needed improvement on the o-line and got to see our 3rd string QB which I didn't even know his name (it's Thompson, btw). Overall we looked good at times even though we lost - which I mostly equate that to the fact that most of our 1st string was out by the end of the 1st quarter and their 1st string was still in by the 3rd (Vince needs the reps)! Our defense has also improved thankfully, but we still need work in all of these areas.
Now, to turn to college discussion. ROLL TIDE ROLL, first of all - I had to get that out of my system once again. We hung 52 points on someone (finally), Tennessee got beat, Notre Dame got beat (loved seeing Charlie Weiss rattled on the sidelines)...I could go on and on. Auburn almost got...well, I won't be ugly - it's still early in the season...I'll save it for November (hopefully we'll still be in a status worthy of some smack talk).
I can't wait to see the Tide live and in person this weekend in Nashville (I just need to take up residency there or something I guess). I was speaking to a fellow "Bammer" this morning and we were talking about the difference on the field Saturday. You knew who was in charge and there was a level of respect that we haven't seen in a while and we never worried that our coaching staff didn't know what to do next...LOOOOOOONG overdue!
I don't want to get too hasty though either. I've said before that I'm a realist as well as a passionate fan. I try not to look too much through the green/gold glasses or the crimson glasses...which ever shoe fits. We were playing Western Carolina, for heaven's sake! We will have a much better opponent this weekend at Vanderbilt who scored 41 points this past weekend lest we forget! Vandy has been one of the SEC step-children for a long time, but they may surprise some people this year. That being said, Alabama will be prepared. We have a great coach that will study game film and will know how to call the game (again, have I mentioned that this is long overdue?).
Also, Bama fans, look out for the 22nd against Georgia. They are for real this year and it could be our first loss of the season. I've always been a fan of Coach Richt and respect him a great deal - I'm glad that they will have a good year, I just hate that they chose the year we have to play them to get it together, if you know what I mean!
I can't wait for another football filled weekend - my Packers play the Eagles on Sunday and my Crimson Tide against the Commodores of Vandy...look for me on that Lincoln Financial game as the hubby and I will be enjoying the southern hospitality in Nashville for that one!
On another note...
Thank goodness that I no longer feel alone! I'm meeting more and more females that are geeked up football fans like me this year. I don't know if they're just finally coming out or they're just catching on, but either way PLEASE know that the welcome mat is out and I'm thrilled to finally have some company. We can dispel all the myths that women can't hang in the conversation or know what we're talking about just because we're women...that has ALWAYS been my pet peeve!!! Ok - glad I got that off my chest.
It was a great beginning to the season and I look forward to the momentum continuing as the weeks go on...happy football season!

Are you ready for some football?!!! Apparently the Pack wasn’t Monday night. What a way to debut on Monday night football! Favre had an up and down night at best – started out pitifully and ended up making a few good plays. Although I’ve never claimed he was the most consistent QB in the NFL…he just keeps on going like the energizer bunny and I still love to watch him play because he’s one of the few guys left in the NFL that simply loves to play the game and could care less about the money. I love that competitive spirit in him still!

I had originally said that I thought that we’d at least be a little bit better than a 4-12 team like last year, but now I have my doubts after finally getting to see them in action. They make too many mistakes and there isn’t enough time to correct them before regular season. Our backup RB, Davenport, looked better than our starter…I know Green is coming off an injury, but so is Davenport and he made some things happen. I’m genuinely depressed at this point…another long season. I just hope and pray that my Tide doesn’t look as sloppy on Saturday night. Carson Palmer had a good night the other night and I’m glad for him because I genuinely like him (and my youngest son’s name is Carson), but I really don’t think he’s THAT good the way Tirico, Theismann and “Kornball” made him sound Monday night…he owes every guy on that line Monday night a steak dinner at Shula’s – they really worked so that he could stay in the pocket and fire them off as well as he did!

SEC starts tonight and this weekend is Alabama as well as Auburn. I can't wait! Pre-season NFL ends this week and regular season starts next week!!!!! I can smell it in the air...it's time and I'm ready! I'm excited that I'm going this Saturday to the Bama game. I can't wait to hear the first 5 notes of the fight song...the first 4 notes of "Sweet Home Alabama" and to scream Rammer Jammer at the top of my lungs. Football is a religion and staple in life here in the 'ham and the deep south and I'm right there in the middle of it being a true Southerner.

In between games...check out one of my favorite musicians...all you have to do is click on the picture below to see the video - I'm a Bo Peep member of the fan club!!