Only one more week of pointless crappy football before the real thing starts. Hooray! It's about time.
I've never really had the patience for Baseball. For me, as a Detroiter, Baseball means turning on the radio and listening to Ernie Harwell while you sit on your porch and drink lemonade, or beer or your beverage of choice. You probably would want a book too. It certainly doesn't mean paying attention to what is actually going on with the team. 162 games? Who has that kind of time? Is this a hobby and diversion or a part time job? And why aren't I getting paid for it?
So summer is always low sports time. The Olympics provided a bit of a diversion, but really were little more than that. So the end of the annoying preseason is welcome, because by August you've been long enough without football that even pre-season games seem interesting, which is more a sign of just how far my definition of interesting has slipped.
I'm going to discuss something now that may be a Detroit phenomenon. In general, people support their home teams and remain home team fans do or die. This is as it should be and I support it. Ocassionally you will find the lone dissenter, of the kid from Texas that roots for the Redskins, but it generally remains the same. But as a Detroit football fan, almost everyone I know who is one is a simultaneous fan of one other team. I think this is a direct result of how incredibly inept the Lions have been in my lifetime. Its possible that a similar situation exists in Cinncinati, but I have observed very strongly in Detroit. For me, it was the Eagles. Between Dick Vermeil and Randall Cunningham, I was hooked. Not to mention the best cheerleaders in the game. My cousin was always a Steelers fan. I know others that follow the Redskins, Bolts, and Dolphins. They are all Detroit fans, and their first loyalty is to the Lions, but somewhere deep down they all know that nothing good will happen, so they'd better have something good to root for in the meantime. Non-Detroit people, do you see this too? Detroit people (football fans), do you do the same thing?
My Eagles look pretty good this year. T.O., punk or not, should make an impact since Philly's receiver corps is not quite up to High School quality without him. It's a shame to see Staley go across the state to Pitt, but it will probably be better for him over there.
The Lions, well, I'm cautiously optimistic. They have what could be a better than bad first team, but 2 or 3 injuries and they're back to cellar-dwelling. The defense doesn't look to be much better, with Bailey out and the line still pretty patchy.
But time will tell, and finally after this weekend they start playing for real. If Hockey gets locked-out like all the experts say it will, Football season will be that much more essential for my weekly diversion.
hmmm. I never thought of rating a team for their cheerleaders but I must concur that they have very nice cheerleaders. I am not really a detroiter as I have always been a west-sider. However, my first loyalty lies with detroit lions as well. As for a second team, I tend to latch onto fun players to watch. Right now I would say there is no second team. I prefer it that way. That way there is no way I can feel doubly down in a week versus just a single let down.
My second team (flame me if you must) is Green Bay for exactly the reasons that TMQ frequently gives in his column, not the least of which is that the fans have the just good common sense to wear foam cheese on their heads.
I just think that Detroiters (and other Micheganders) have developed the second team strategy out of sheer desperation. Lions- painful. Tigers- woeful. Pistons- okay, they're champs now, but it really wasn't that long ago that they were basement dwellers. Red Wings- if you don't remember the "Dead Things" era, you're lucky, but you need a history lesson before you go strutting around representing "Hockytown".
Incidentally, I don't like or watch baseball or basketball, hance no second team, but my hocky second team is Vancouver.
And Eagles cheerleaders are indeed number one.
Do a lot of people over there root for the Bears, Lenny? Or are they normal, right-thinking people?
Ummm.... There are way too many bears fans by me. But what is worse is the fact that there a ton of notre dame fames which are far worse than bear fans. Plus bear fans tend to not be as obnoxious as green bay fans. so nope. Few right thinking people by me. Of course most by me are from chicago.
by the way. posted from Andy's house
I'm on my way.
"Only one more week of pointless crappy football before the real thing starts. Hooray! It's about time." -- ish
Is that so? What do you find so crappy about the CFL? Its just like being back in the Great Lakes state... I get to root for the Lions (BC Lions in this case.. They play about 6 blocks from my apartment) and they lose... This year they are working on raising false hopes by being at the top of the Western Conference, but there is still time left to blow it. I am starting to believe the curse is all within the name. Maybe its just Jungle animals that cause the problem (Tigers... Lions.. Cannucks...)
My 2 cents anyhow.. and because I like links, get even more stats at http://bclions.com
Well, technically I was referring to the NFL Preseason. CFL is probably fine, but it would take too much time to get to know the teams and histories. I think this is the same reason Arena will never take over the offseason like many think it will. The "soap opera" aspect is almost as powerful as the sports aspect. Like, will Andy Reid finally make it to the super bowl after 4 straight bow outs in the conference finals? Will the Broncos be able to maintain their running game dominance with the 5th running back in as many years? Will Jamal Lewis go to prison? Will Cinncinati lose now that they're finally expected to win? Will Jerry Jones have even more plastic surgery so he looks like The Joker? Will Luke and Laura ever be together? I think the storyline (even if its only your individual team) is a big part of what keeps people watching. And in football everything is just that much more dramatic, which is a big part of why its the most popular.
To start watching the CFL I'd have to discover all new storylines. Of course, if I didn't have any other choice I might consider it.