FINANCIAL STRIFE IN TAMPA, MY "OFFICE POOL" PICKS & ANY CHANCE MIKE LEACH HAS A NEW JOB?
I know from personal friends in Florida things are really tough in the Sunshine State. Third nationally in home foreclosures, tourist business is off nearly 20% & unemployment is above the national average. All these ills have contributed mightily to attendance, or the lack of, in the Tampa area. The Buccaneers game with Pittsburgh has already been declared a blackout. A pair of 2-0 teams, a visiting team that has a national following & still can't sell enough tickets for the game to be shown locally. What's surprising to me is the Jacksonville Jaguars can sell enough tickets to have both their homes games shown on local TV, but Tampa, with a larger population, is unable to get the job done. Jacksonville has a metropolitan area population of about one-third of Tampa's. The Tampa Devil Rays MLB team, currently battling the NY Yankees for the American League Eastern crown, can't draw either. In a four-game do-or-die series with the Yankees, the biggest crowd has been just over 29K. Pretty sad. I can't believe this is anything more than the economy, the Bucs had always packed Raymond James Stadium with 65,000 fans. Last season the Glazer family bought up enough unsold tickets to keep the Bucs on local TV. This year, with mounting debts incurred from their purchase of Manchester United, an English soccer team considered by many as the most valuable sports franchise in any league anywhere in the world, they aren't going to spend the money on the Bucs. Once again it's the fans that lose out, their economy stinks & now they can't even catch an important Bucs game because of a blackout.
Charlie Batch will start for the Steelers Sunday with Byron Leftwich listed as the backup. He was resigned Tuesday after being cut on Saturday. This is "creative roster management" at it's best. Since Pittsburgh has three former college quarterbacks, they have the third QB slot covered with no problem. Antwaan Randle El, Hines Ward & Arnaz Battle were all very successful college QB's.
If the Houston Texans can get by the Dallas Cowboys this Sunday & the Raiders the following week, they should be in great shape as they will have gone 4-0 without the 2009 defensive rookie of the year, Brian Cushing. Cushing was the Texans 2nd leading tackler last year & when he rejoins the team after his 4-game suspension for violating the league's policy on performance enhancing drugs, the Texans just become a much tougher force defensively.
The Ohio judge who said to Braylon Edwards "for someone who has as much to lose as you do, I am surprised to see you standing before me," reserved her right to rehear Edwards' probation after his New York D.U.I. is settled. He is currently on probation for punching out a Cleveland night club owner last fall. A 140-pound night club owner, Braylon's a real hard guy. Facing unknown penalties from the Cleveland judge & for his utter lack of responsibility since joining the Jets, I have to believe this will be his last season as a member of "Gang Green."
It's only week three in the NFL but already we've seen nine teams change their quarterbacks. Every division in the league has seen quarterback changes. The Steelers are on their third quarterback & it will be four in two weeks when Ben Rothlesberger returns from his 4-game suspension.
Rumors are flying around the Southwest about Mike Leach. KKKOB 770 in Albuquerque is reporting University of New Mexico coach Mike Locksley will be fired after the in-state game with New Mexico State on October 9th. He will be replaced by Mike Leach, or so the story goes. Locksley has been embroiled in controversy since taking the job. He's been accused of sexual harassment by an athletic department staffer. He had to apologize to a student reporter for blowing up during an interview & cursing the student. He was also suspended for one game by the University for an altercation involving an assistant coach. His record is 1-14 since becoming the Lobos' head coach. Gerges Scott of KKOB & the Lobos' radio network, reported yesterday Leach will be hired in Locksley's place. Leach's attorney Ted Liggett, who is representing him in his wrongful termination against Texas Tech, said this afternoon "there's zero truth to these rumors, none. You can quote me on that. There have been no discussions with anyone as far as I know." Liggett also said "I hadn't heard of these rumors until just a little while ago." Maybe this deal is B.S., maybe. But does anyone have a problem with Liggett's "as far as I know" & not hearing about this rumor for 24-hours? Does anyone believe him? Of course not, he's an attorney for starters, so his credibility is non-existent with many people. I've know people will doubt Leach would coach at a place like New Mexico, but after what happened in Lubbock, bigger, more important programs won't go near the controversial coach. Who knows, if Leach took this job, maybe he could turn the Lobos into Boise State southwest, you never know.
This week's office pool picks contain a couple of upsets, they happen every week & trying to pinpoint where they will come from is very difficult. I'm picking Kansas City for a couple of reasons. Vegas, the public & the media loves the Forty-Niners. The Niners have no one to blame but themselves for their 0-2 record. Six turnovers while only creating one is a big part of it. I've always been a big non-believer of the "Due Theory." Just because a team is due to win doesn't mean they will. It's been that way for many, many years. I'm also taking the Bears on Monday night to beat my NFC Super Bowl pick, the Green Bay Packers. This intense rivalry should make for a good Monday night game. I also picked the Falcons over the Saints. New Orleans has slipped by barely in their two games. They haven't been able to run the ball & now Reggie Bush is out. The Falcons owned New Orleans in the Superdome for many years & vice versa, the Saints won the majority of games in Atlanta. As always, the team in bold print, is my choice to win the game.
Buffalo at New England
Atlanta at New Orleans
Detroit at Minnesota
Cleveland at Baltimore
Dallas at Houston
San Francisco at Kansas City
Tennessee at New York Giants
Pittsburgh at Tampa bay
Cincinnati at Carolina
Philadelphia at Jacksonville
Washington at St. Louis
Oakland at Arizona
San Diego at Seattle
Indianapolis at Denver
New York Jets at Miami
Green Bay at Chicago
MNF total points for those of you who need it: 51
Charlie Batch will start for the Steelers Sunday with Byron Leftwich listed as the backup. He was resigned Tuesday after being cut on Saturday. This is "creative roster management" at it's best. Since Pittsburgh has three former college quarterbacks, they have the third QB slot covered with no problem. Antwaan Randle El, Hines Ward & Arnaz Battle were all very successful college QB's.
If the Houston Texans can get by the Dallas Cowboys this Sunday & the Raiders the following week, they should be in great shape as they will have gone 4-0 without the 2009 defensive rookie of the year, Brian Cushing. Cushing was the Texans 2nd leading tackler last year & when he rejoins the team after his 4-game suspension for violating the league's policy on performance enhancing drugs, the Texans just become a much tougher force defensively.
The Ohio judge who said to Braylon Edwards "for someone who has as much to lose as you do, I am surprised to see you standing before me," reserved her right to rehear Edwards' probation after his New York D.U.I. is settled. He is currently on probation for punching out a Cleveland night club owner last fall. A 140-pound night club owner, Braylon's a real hard guy. Facing unknown penalties from the Cleveland judge & for his utter lack of responsibility since joining the Jets, I have to believe this will be his last season as a member of "Gang Green."
It's only week three in the NFL but already we've seen nine teams change their quarterbacks. Every division in the league has seen quarterback changes. The Steelers are on their third quarterback & it will be four in two weeks when Ben Rothlesberger returns from his 4-game suspension.
Rumors are flying around the Southwest about Mike Leach. KKKOB 770 in Albuquerque is reporting University of New Mexico coach Mike Locksley will be fired after the in-state game with New Mexico State on October 9th. He will be replaced by Mike Leach, or so the story goes. Locksley has been embroiled in controversy since taking the job. He's been accused of sexual harassment by an athletic department staffer. He had to apologize to a student reporter for blowing up during an interview & cursing the student. He was also suspended for one game by the University for an altercation involving an assistant coach. His record is 1-14 since becoming the Lobos' head coach. Gerges Scott of KKOB & the Lobos' radio network, reported yesterday Leach will be hired in Locksley's place. Leach's attorney Ted Liggett, who is representing him in his wrongful termination against Texas Tech, said this afternoon "there's zero truth to these rumors, none. You can quote me on that. There have been no discussions with anyone as far as I know." Liggett also said "I hadn't heard of these rumors until just a little while ago." Maybe this deal is B.S., maybe. But does anyone have a problem with Liggett's "as far as I know" & not hearing about this rumor for 24-hours? Does anyone believe him? Of course not, he's an attorney for starters, so his credibility is non-existent with many people. I've know people will doubt Leach would coach at a place like New Mexico, but after what happened in Lubbock, bigger, more important programs won't go near the controversial coach. Who knows, if Leach took this job, maybe he could turn the Lobos into Boise State southwest, you never know.
This week's office pool picks contain a couple of upsets, they happen every week & trying to pinpoint where they will come from is very difficult. I'm picking Kansas City for a couple of reasons. Vegas, the public & the media loves the Forty-Niners. The Niners have no one to blame but themselves for their 0-2 record. Six turnovers while only creating one is a big part of it. I've always been a big non-believer of the "Due Theory." Just because a team is due to win doesn't mean they will. It's been that way for many, many years. I'm also taking the Bears on Monday night to beat my NFC Super Bowl pick, the Green Bay Packers. This intense rivalry should make for a good Monday night game. I also picked the Falcons over the Saints. New Orleans has slipped by barely in their two games. They haven't been able to run the ball & now Reggie Bush is out. The Falcons owned New Orleans in the Superdome for many years & vice versa, the Saints won the majority of games in Atlanta. As always, the team in bold print, is my choice to win the game.
Buffalo at New England
Atlanta at New Orleans
Detroit at Minnesota
Cleveland at Baltimore
Dallas at Houston
San Francisco at Kansas City
Tennessee at New York Giants
Pittsburgh at Tampa bay
Cincinnati at Carolina
Philadelphia at Jacksonville
Washington at St. Louis
Oakland at Arizona
San Diego at Seattle
Indianapolis at Denver
New York Jets at Miami
Green Bay at Chicago
MNF total points for those of you who need it: 51
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