Monday, September 10, 2012

Dave's Thoughts of the Day: September 10th

Football is back!  Don't you love it folks?  Let me tell you, yesterday was about vindication.   Few people gave the San Francisco 49ers a chance to win outright at Green Bay.  A few days ago I wrote a long defense of the 49ers.  Yesterday, the 49ers proved themselves worthy among the elite teams.   Their defense is not only great, it is the greatest.   SF has it all together: linemen, linebackers, and secondary.   There isn't another team in the NFL who has THAT good, that young, that complete a defensive unit.   The offense was its usual good but not spectacular.   I'm happy about the Niners win because it's not just a win for San Francisco, it's a win for West Coast football.

Time after time, experts love to push aside teams like SF because they assume "they play in the weak [west coast division]," and yet they'll have no hesitation pumping up true mediocre teams like the Jets.  Yes I know the Jets won yesterday, by a lot, but they also played the Bills.

Something about the Buffalo Bills is an enigma.  They have not played the Jets well at all, head to head.  Last year at home, the Bills were destroyed by the Jets.  I'm not willing to write off the Bills, especially after week one.  The Jets next game at Pittsburgh will be a much truer indication of how good they are.

One thing I will say however: Ryan Fitzpatrick is an awful quarterback.   Yesterday the threw a pass right to Antonio Cromartie that was easily the worst pass I have ever seen in my life.  Lesson learned: I thought he was much better.   Use him less and maybe the Bills will be a better team.  I think Buffalo will rebound -- too many playmakers not to.  That includes defensive playmakers too.

Pittsburgh did about what I expected last night at Denver.  They had awful, old, sagging cornerbacks and safeties.   More than anyone else, Troy Polamalu got schooled last night.  Dude is old.  He's just bad now.   It's hard to expect any team to win with pass coverage that bad.  Having said that, I was satisfied with what PIT brought to the table.  In fact they did a great job with time of possession: sustained long offensive drives helped by a pretty good performance by Ben Roethlisberger.  The primary problem with the Steelers is defense... it's just not that good anymore.  Nonetheless, the Steelers should have a decent season and there were highlights from last night.

More than anything, I think the Broncos' defense stands up after speculation last year about whether it was a mirage.  I think these fellas are here to stay.   They stick like glue to their receivers most of the time.  Linebackers are, obviously, quite great.  Lastly, Peyton Manning had a terrific debut.  Looks like he's picked up where they left off.

The Lions are a joke.  That is all.

I made it to El Taurino!  Do the dance!!   Al Pastor tacos have never tasted so good... I wasn't sure if I could dig the extra sweetness of the meat, but in truth, I thought it was legit.  The extras sweetness is natural because a pineapple is in the mix when it comes to marination or what have you.

Best game of the weekend:  Nebraska vs UCLA.   That game was so good, it beat every NFL game I saw on Sunday except possibly Pit/Denver.   In terms of sheer thrills for a 60 minute period, both teams had good offense on Saturday, but Taylor Martinez leaves a lot to be desired with his arm.  Jonathan Franklin, UCLA's running back, was pretty good last year, and this year he's off to a fast start.  How about QB Brent Huntley?  Guy makes plays.

Then to my team of rooting interest:  USC.  Not a good performance, overall, at MetLife stadium.   They looked flat, but eventually they picked it up and in the midst of all that QB Matt Barkley threw 6 touchdowns.  Haha!  Well, I can say they got it going on offensively, but their D looks pretty weak, and rather depth-less.   They were flat but I was pretty satisfied with the outcome.  Going clear out to the other coast to play anyone and winning is tough to do.  Too bad SEC teams never take this challenge... stupid SEC, and emphasis on "DUMB", because you'll get teams like LSU who don't leave their own state for 80% of the season.  Special shout out to Robert Woods for his super effort on Saturday.  By the way, Nassib and the Syracuse Orange have a damn good offense, imho.  That team may not get the wins, but they look like they'll be fun to watch.

Speaking of "Stupid SEC", I enjoyed the Louisiana-Monroe Overtime upset of #8 ranked Arkansas AT Arkansas.  That was a thrill!  Truly, anything can happen in sports.  Up next for Arkansas: Alabama.  Thanks for playing, Razorbacks.

They lost to Georgia, but I thought Missouri held their own in their first big SEC in-conference game.  They might have gumption after all!

The Dodgers have not won a single series since the Boston trade.  They had won a series against Miami, but since the first game of the series was before the trade, it won't count.

Never drink coffee past 10pm.  I was so screwed up from that point well through 3pm the next day.  It was impossible to sleep that night.  Oy vey.

I went to George's Burgers on Sunday (Lincoln Blvd in Santa Monica) and tried a changeup.  One reason for it was because the guy who normally works the counter had the day off.   I was not confident the rest of his staff could create the breakfast burrito to the same level of quality.  Instead, I tried the french toast breakfast.  Incredible value for five bucks:  french toast, eggs, bacon *and* sausage all together.  While pretty good, I like the breakfast burrito more for the same price.

Today's breakfast, a peach.   The peaches aren't too bad right now, in fact, very sweet!  I can tell that we're getting close to the end of the peach season, so get 'em while you can!

I still don't like the Week 1 Monday Night Football doubleheader.  Even after a few years, I think it's pretty pointless.   You screw the East Coast guys with the second game starting so late so that they have no chance to finish it.  You screw the West Coast guys by starting the first game so *early* that they miss the entire first half when they get home to watch.  What's the point?

That truly is all, for now.  More tomorrow!

No comments: