Weekend Observations

It was a very up and down weekend on the fantasy football front. My team in the trash talking league is either feast or famine. This week was famine. Once again Ryan Mathews did absolutely nothing (the divorce is final) and 4 of my players combined for a measly 7 points. I still have Carson Palmer going tonight but I'm down 22 points and my opponent is starting Hines Ward, Cedric Benson, and Pittsburgh's defense. Doesn't look good. I got called out in one of my leagues so luckily I have Adrian Peterson, Peyton Manning, and LeSean McCoy to take care of business. They made him eat his words. In my last league I lost by 2 points even though I had the star of the day Peyton Hillis on my team. I'm a little miffed about that defeat. I'm still in the playoff picture in all 3 leagues and that's all that counts. Here are some weekend observations.

The NFL:

Kickers are still trying to sabotage the outcome of the game. 2 contests were decided on missed extra points. By the way the extra point is the simplest play in football.

The New York Jets defense is overrated. Although the Jets are 6-2 and sit atop the AFC East, their vaunted defense is a little suspect. Maybe I'm just being bitter because they yield me no points in my fantasy league, but they don't play like the top 5 defense they were projected to be. This may cost them in the 2nd half of the season.

Wade Phillips (dead man walking) will not make it through the season. The Dallas Cowboys play with no heart, no passion, and no sense of urgency. This team had Super Bowl aspirations to start the season and now they will be lucky to win 4 games. Someone has to take the blame and clearly the team is not responding to the current leadership. So long Wade.

The NBA:

Nicolas Batum is the front runner for 6th man of the year. He's improved his outside shooting and ball handling skills over the summer. At 6'8 he's a great compliment to Brandon Roy in Portland and could ultimately end up as a free agency prize. Stay tuned.

Miami will demolish Boston this week. The Heat were embarrassed by the Celtics on opening night and are out for revenge. They have a few games under their belt now and have learned how to play together. They will make an example out of Boston.

Look out for Tito Horford in Atlanta. Armed with a new $60,000,000 contract Tito Horford is capable of going for 30 and 10 on any given night and is a big reason the Hawks have only one loss this season. He looks ready to make the leap from good player to perennial all star.

MLS:

The Sounders are not who we thought they were. Seattle was overwhelmed in every facet of the game by the LA Galaxy in the opening playoff round. David Beckham and Edson Buddle made the Sounders look like amateurs. So much for riding the momentum of the regular season.

On a side note I saw 2 horse jockeys and 2 NASCAR drivers get into fights over the weekend. This goes to you show those guys may be small, but a competitor is a competitor. The fights were hilarious by the way. They looked like 7th graders fighting on the playground.