Senator McCain's Big Speech
I can sum up the highlights of McCain's acceptance speech thusly: I have experience. I'm a maverick. Governor Palin will do all my dirty work for me with the Evangelicals and the base - isn't she lovely? I was a war hero. I have a great and compelling story of perservering through adversity. I love America. America is threatened by terrorists. The economy is bad and both parties helped to ruin it. I'm not going to tell you how, but vote for me and I can fix it. Obama will raise taxes. I'm John McCain and I'm not the old asshole the Democrats say I am.
See, it's like you were there in St. Paul isn't it?
I Preview the NFL Season - The NFC
Ah, the National Football Conference. All of the NFL's oldest and most popular teams, with a host of history and tradition. But the NFC has been the inferior conference now for a dozen years. Oh sure, they have a team that occasionally breaks through, gets incredibly hot and wins a Super Bowl (see the 1999 Rams or 2007 Giants), but for reasons that remain a complete mystery to me, year after year the NFC has the dullest football and generally the weaker teams. In a league that has the draft, free agency and prides itself on parity, I don't know why this disparity hasn't changed yet. Maybe last year was a harbinger. Whatever, here is my NFC preview--which I promise will be much less wordy than the AFC half posted on Wednesday. As before, watch for the UP AND COMING TEAM alerts.
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WEST
1. SEATTLE (10-6) - I'm getting bored with the Seahawks winning this weak-ass division year after year, but they are the best team in it. At least Mike Holmgren's farewell season will provide a little bit of drama and interest. Best player: linebacker Lofa Tatupu is a playa baby.
2. Arizona (7-9) - The Cardinals continue to be the media's trendy pick year after year to make that leap into the playoffs. But these are still the Cardinals, and despite a sprinkling of talented personnel throughout their roster and good coaching, you just know they'll find some way to screw it up. A fairly tough schedule down the stretch doesn't help either. Best player: wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald has 1000 catch potential.
3. St. Louis (6-10) - Making strides from last year's injury riddled disaster, but still a ghost of the team that had four playoff appearances and two Super Bowl appearances from 1999-2003. Best player: Torry Holt may go to the Hall of Fame and Steven Jackson is one of the NFL's most complete backs, but without a healthy tackle Orlando Pace in the lineup, the Rams just ain't right.
4. San Francisco (5-11) - New offensive coordinator Mike Martz should draw up schemes to make the 49ers less boring, but if you seriously have a hard time choosing from among three quarterbacks (J.T. O'Sullivan wound up winning the job) that means you don't have one very good one. That's a problem. Best player: linebacker Patrick Willis is a beast who averaged over eight tackles a game last year. He should be very good for years to come.
SOUTH
1. NEW ORLEANS (10-6) - UP AND COMING TEAM ALERT! Confession time: I've always had a soft spot for the Saints, my favorite NFC team. So I might be overly generous, but I think they have so many offensive weapons and a strong enough pass rush that they can return closer to their 2006 form when they advanced to the NFC Championship game. Reggie Bush has to start playing like a first round draft pick though and not just another guy. Best player: QB Drew Brees might be the best all-around quarterback in the NFC. He has two consecutive 4000 yard seasons and he does not throw very many interceptions.
2. Tampa Bay (9-7) - What's the deal with smug head coach Jon Gruden? He gets so much love from sportswriters for what? Inheriting teams others have built and winning with their talent? The Bucs are boring, but in the NFL if you can run the ball and stop the run you'll always contend and that's what the Bucs will do. Best player: linebacker Barrett Ruud is another one of the best players that people generally haven't heard of.
3. Carolina (8-8) - I don't get it with this team. Sometimes they just don't seem to care enough. And how do players like Julius Peppers and Ken Lucas dominate one week and disappear the next? They have the talent to go deep in the playoffs but they're just as capable of losing ten games. Best player: defensive end Peppers. At one time one of the most feared pass rushers in the league, he's looking to rebound big time this season.
4. Atlanta (3-13) - I'll be succinct - the Falcons suck. They have no strengths at any position on the field. Their best player, runningback Michael Turner, was LaDainian Tomlinson's backup for four seasons in San Diego. Good thing Atlanta's not an NFL town anyway.
NORTH
1. MINNESOTA (11-5) - Everybody seems to like the Vikings and I do too. I guess that makes them an UP AND COMING TEAM! I'm still not sold on quarterback Tarvaris Jackson though. Luckily, the Vikes have one of the NFL's best defenses and two runningbacks who are each capable of rushing for 1200 or more yards. Best player: I believe runningback Adrian Peterson is the most exciting player in the league. The best player on the team though is defensive tackle Pat Willliams, the Great Wall of Minnesota.
2. Green Bay (10-6) - Well, the Brett Favre saga accomplished one thing: it actually made adoring Green Bay fans a little bit sick of him. Aaron Rodgers will do just fine (although I don't believe he will be a Pro Bowl-caliber quarterback), but the Packers will make the playoffs with a strong defense, solid special teams and a power running game keyed by back Ryan Grant. Best player: linebacker Nick Barnett has been under the radar for a couple of years now. He holds that defense together.
3. Chicago (7-9) - What happened to that vaunted Bear defense from the Super Bowl run of a couple of years ago? Now they look vulnerable to the pass and inconsistent against the run. Since they don't have much offense to speak of, that just leaves linebacker Brian Urlacher and the marvelous return man Devin Hester and he's not enough. Best player: can a kick return specialist be any team's best player? He can if his name is Devin Hester.
4. Detroit (6-10) - Last year the Lions got off to a great start and played exciting football with o-coordinator Martz and a group of fast, tall wide receivers. Then they came quickly back down to Earth. So what about this year? They're going to pound it on the ground with two injury-prone runningbacks (Rudi Johnson and rookie Kevin Smith) after having traded their best (although inconsistent) defensive player, tackle Shaun Rogers. Does GM Matt Millen have any idea what he's doing? Best player: wideout Mike Furrey gets much less attention than his more heralded receiver teammates, but he's one of the most productive receivers in all of football.
EAST
1. DALLAS (12-4) - Did you hear Tony Romo is dating Jessica Simpson and that Carrie Underwood is mad at him? Yeah, I don't care either. Best players (tie): wide receiver Terrell Owens and quarterback Romo.
2. New York Giants (10-6) - How can the defending Super Bowl champions get so little love? They looked pretty good (for a half anyway) against the woeful Washington Redskins and they have a hard-hitting defense that flies to the ball, two good runningbacks and Eli Manning. I think they have another playoff run in them. Best player: it was Osi Umenyiora before he was lost for the season, but now I'll go with Manning.
3. Philadelphia (9-7) - I don't get Sports Illustrated's pick of the Eagles as NFC champions. (East Coast bias?) I thought the Eagles were overachieving even during their glory days a few years ago when they won four straight division titles. But Donovan McNabb seems to be fully healthy, which counts for a lot and the defense should be improved with Asante Samuel now paired at corner with the underrated Sheldon Brown. Best player: Donovan McNabb is still one of the league's best QB's.
4. Washington (5-11) - I thought the Redskins had a chance to do something this year, then I caught them a couple of times in the preseason and watched them bore America to death in the Kickoff Classic. Either this team REALLY starts slowly or they are just God-awful. Their defense will keep them in most games but they don't seem to have enough players to win. Best player: tight end Chris Cooley would be a 100-catch a year player in a sophisticated, talented offense like the ones they run in New England or Denver.
NFC PLAYOFF TEAMS: Dallas, Minnesota, Seattle, New Orleans, NY Giants and Green Bay.
NFC CHAMPION: Dallas Cowboys
SUPER BOWL CHAMPION: I picked this last year and hopefully the second time is in the charm--San Diego over Dallas in a thriller, 34-31.
Happy Opening Day! Peace...
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