View My Seats

At the Intersection of Sports and Culture

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A Weekend of Watching: A Football Life Edition

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Last night I accidentally stumbled upon the Bill Belichick documentary airing on the NFL Network and came away from the Part I experience totally impressed by the candor and callousness of the famously tight lipped football general who, with this special, has given viewers unprecedented access to the behind the scenes life of an NFL legend. With this special, Belichick has the opportunity to emerge as a likable perhaps even sympathetic figure, a feat which before last night would have been next to impossible.

Here are just a few of my favorite moments:

– Who knew that the underbelly of Giants Stadium included a large raquetball court? At least I think it was a raquetball court. Either that or a fallout shelter. In any case, I could totally picture Parcells ripping 3/4 cigarettes after 10 minutes of modestly paced squash.

– It won’t be long before “eff you Mason” officially enters our everyday vernacular. I also appreciated the “why don’t we talk after the game” which I could see myself using in all too many social situations.

– Tom Brady thinks Lawrence Maroney has bad hands and you know what, Patriots fans would have to agree. Also, it’s clear that Brady’s hair today is the product of some sort Wayne Rooney like enhancement.

What I’m Watching this Weekend

College Football: While most eyes tune in to either Ohio State/Miami or Oklahoma/Florida St., I’m most excited to catch a quick glimpse of Andrew Luck against Arizona. But, to be clear, a 10:45pm start from the desert doesn’t really fit in well with my normal sleep pattern so I may have to wait for the Sunday morning highlights on this one.

Golf: I might as well check in to watch some of the BMW Championship, especially since I’ve spent more than my fair share of time on the couch this summer watching lower stakes tournaments like the St. Jude Classic and Scandinavian Masters.

NFL: Have to pick your battles. Week 2 is not the time to haggle with your wife over a day trip to a flea market in Brooklyn. The hope here is that by not complaining I can build up enough good will to make it home in time for the second half of Pats/Chargers. Different story if this were week 15.

MLB: Will the Boston Red Sox allow the Tampa Bay Rays to overtake them in the race for the AL Wild Card? Not if my Baltimore Orioles have anything to say about it. The Sox play 7 of their last 13 regular season games against the Birds which should make most of New England happy seeing as how Baltimore is currently mired in their 14th straight losing season. Hey, look at the bright side, at least Matt Wieters has 20 homeruns.

view from MSU/LSU courtesy of @kirtissbrown

 

View My Picks: NFL Week 2

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Week 2 (home team in CAPS)

NEW ORLEANS (-6.5) over Chicago: The Big Easy tops the list of cities I wish I visited before I got married. Next is Last Vegas, last is Paducah, Kentucky.

DETROIT (-8.5) over Kansas City: How did Kansas City, a quaint midwestern hamlet, get to be known for its BBQ? Seems like a fairly random pairing sort of like Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes or Rex Ryan and a salad.

Jacksonville (+9.5) over NY JETS: I’ll be in Brooklyn for most of Sunday afternoon and to mark the occasion I expect all you hipsters to don your favorite NBA throwback, replete with a slashed pair of baggy cargo shorts and low top cons. Don’t let me down Williamsburg!

BUFFALO (-3.5) over Oakland: I’m riding these Bills and their new uniforms all the way to the AFC Wild Card!

WASHINGTON (-4) over Arizona: The beltway has jumped all over the Skins as the surprise team in the NFC. Many now believe that Washington will contend for a spot in the playoffs which is remarkable considering that their top 3 wide receivers are Santana Moss, Anthony Armstong, and Jabar Gaffney.

TENNESSEE (+6) over Baltimore: What happened to Chris Johnson last week? 9 rushes for only 24 yards? That’s a horrible performance by even Reggie Bush standards. I guess football players need the preseason after all.

Seattle (+14) over PITTSBURGH: 14 points seems like a lot of points in only the second week of the season. Having said that, I would not be surprised if the Steelers won this game by three touchdowns.

Green Bay (-9.5) over CAROLINA: Ironic that the same week Cam Newton goes off for 400+ passing yards in his NFL debut, The Atlantic publishes a story about the corruption in college sports. It’s a great read and as a historian I really appreciated the comparison of college athletics to colonialism. The whole time I was reading the article I couldn’t help but picture Steve Spurrier aboard the HMS Victory.

MINNESOTA (-3) over Tampa Bay: Don’t like hearing about the large forest fire running along the Minnesota/Canada border and hope it’s under control before destroying too much of the pristine/peaceful northwoods.

INDIANAPOLIS (+2.5) over Cleveland: Is it too late for NBC/ESPN/NFLNET to pull all Colts games out of primetime? If week 1 was any indication, Al and Chris are going to have a tough time filling the air during the second half of Steelers/Colts on Sept 25. I hope Faith Hill is available for a live drop in.

Dallas (-3) over SAN FRANCISCO: Strange that SF Giants CEO Bill Neukom has been asked to step down by the other members of the ownership group. Was it a simple case of “what have you done for me lately” or perhaps a question of financial transparency? Either way, I’ll miss the bow tie.

Houston (-3) over MIAMI: You don’t have to spend nights in the basement of NFL Films to see that this Dolphins secondary is absolutely, positively overmatched. There were a few moments during Monday night’s game against the Patriots where I wanted to physically reach through the television screen and give Nolan Carroll a big hug and tell him that it’s not his fault.

San Diego (+7) over NEW ENGLAND: This Tedy Bruschi/Ochocinco kerfuffle is one of the most overblown kerfuffle’s in the history of kerfuffle’s. Mike and Mike weighed in on the subject this morning and I could have sworn that they were simultaneously agreeing and disagreeing with one another. It was like a bad version of Abbott and Costello’s “Who’s On First”.

DENVER (-4) over Cincinnati: There’s a 60% chance that the entire country doesn’t even know this game is being played. Wait, that doesn’t even make sense.

ATLANTA (+2.5) over Philadelphia: I’m giving Atlanta one more chance before completely bailing on them this season. In retrospect, this is exactly what I should have done with season 1 of the The Killing.

NY GIANTS (-5.5) over St. Louis: Monday Night Football ain’t what it used to be. I can remember being a kid and just hoping to convince my parents to let me watch the first quarter before heading up to bed. Now, I can’t imagine many young football fans clamoring to stay up so they can see Cadillac Williams averaging 3 yards a carry or Eli Manning throwing another red zone interception.

Last Week: 8-8

view from 49ers/Seahawks courtesy of @FaleshaAnkton

Between the Hedges at the US Open Final

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I was all set to talk about how my friend Chip went down to Athens, Georgia for some good old fashioned SEC football between the Bulldogs and the South Carolina Gamecocks, and then the US Open men’s final between #1 seed Novak Djokovic and #2 seed Rafael Nadal happened. Not to take anything away from Chip’s experience “between the hedges” – by all accounts it was a once in a lifetime experience highlighted by a unannounced trip to a sorority and plenty of hearty tailgating in “the grove” – but the effort and skill on display in Ashe Stadium Monday afternoon into night was impossible to overlook.

In the end, last night was one of the few sporting events where it really didn’t matter who won the match, both were equally deserving of the honor. By far the most compelling aspect of this US Open final was the physical and emotional exertion put forth by these two world class athletes. I was tired out just watching the match from the edge of my couch, tipping and tilting my body with every long rally. How these two players didn’t strain every single muscle in their bodies is beyond me. If it were me on the court last night, I would have needed a week in a hyperbolic chamber to recover from that 4.5 hour marathon.

So Chip, thanks for the view from Sanford Stadium. I still want to know what brought you to Athens in the first place and how in the world you ended up on the 50 yard line. I guess you’ve spent enough time now south of the Mason-Dixon line to warrant inclusion into the world’s largest cocktail party.

Monday Musings: A Quick Transition from Baseball to Football

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Can’t promise many more baseball centric Monday Musings now that the NFL is here. I’ll probably end up making it a few more weeks before taking the leap over to football. Until then, you’ll have to look elsewhere for some good old fashioned Cam Newton day after fawning.

A Quick Trip Around the Bases

1B – Someone mind telling me why MLB wouldn’t allow the Mets to play in FDNY & NYPD commemorative caps in honor of the 10th anniversary of 9/11? On the surface, this decision strikes me as totally out of touch with the spirit of remembrance and the healing power of baseball. Commisioner Selig has some serious explaining to do.

2B – Unbelievably, the Tampa Bay Rays have climbed all the way back into the wild card race and are poised to overtake the bruised and battle weary Boston Red Sox? With  the injuries piling up in Fenway, it’s a good thing Massachusetts requires all of its citizens to have health care. You can thank Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney for that, although, if you were to ask him now about the program he created, he would probably either deny it or say it was a mistake.

3B – As of this morning, the Detroit Tigers are only 4.5 games behind the New York Yankees for best record in the AL and home field throughout the playoffs. If the Tigers do end up with the best record in the AL, file that under the category of reasons Justin Verlander should win both the Cy Young Award and MVP.

HR – For all that has gone wrong in Dodgertown this season – see the divorce of Frank and Jamie McCourt – some credit needs to be given to manager Don Mattingly for keeping things together both on and off the field. LA has an outside chance of overtaking the SF Giants for second place in the NL West, a feat deemed inconceivable at the start of the season. It also helps that the Dodgers have a leading MVP candidate – Matt Kemp – and Cy Young frontrunner – Clayton Kershaw.

Extra Bases – Here are a couple of clips that I enjoy revisiting on and around 9/11. Use the memory of those we lost that day as yet another reason to appreciate each and every day of your life.

view from “The Trop” courtesy of @BradGlovrr 

A Weekend of Watching

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On the occasional Friday I like to share with the viewing audience a list of sporting events that I’ll be watching over the weekend. Of course, my list isn’t all that different from what most of you will be watching so if you are looking for something a little more “alterna”, may I suggest you try the Speed and Fuel channels instead.

US Open Tennis: The rainy weather has added an extra element of patience, physical hardship to the already grueling fortnight of tennis. Looking forward to the Serena/Woz women’s semifinal on Sat night along with the Fed/Nole & Nadal/Roddick vs Murray/Isner men’s semi’s earlier that afternoon. Although, I’m not sure how I feel about the men’s final being moved to Monday afternoon at 4pm. Wouldn’t it make more sense to move the final to 7pm and put it up against MNF rather than have it run during the end of a long work day when most people are busy with a final round of emails before getting in the car for the evening commute? I guess this decision to air the final during the afternoon shows us the true influence of the NFL.

College Football: Saturday night is date night in the View My Seats household as husband, wife, and hopefully a sleeping son prepare to watch Notre Dame/Michigan in the first ever night game to be played at Michigan Stadium. Not sure why we need to build an entire evening around this game other than the fact that my wife is Catholic and she believes Notre Dame would eventually be an excellent choice for our 7 month old son. Never too early to start saving!

NFL Football: Opening weekend and tons of great games to watch. The matchup I am most excited for is the Ravens/Steelers heavyweight bought which, to be honest I’m surprised is being played in week 1. This is the type of heavy hitting rivalry best served in the colder months when the frost is on the pumpkin and both teams are fighting for a first round bye.

view from Arthur Ashe stadium courtesy of @hodakotb