Thursday, September 10, 2009

Are you Ready for some Football?

-Frist off, if you didn't see the Woodward Stakes at Saratoga this Saturday, Rachel Alexandra made history in incredibly exciting fashion. She became the first filly (female horse) to ever win the Grade I Woodward. It is very rare for a filly to run against older males at all, she did so and actually beat them, securing her spot as the horse of the year...and also is going to now be widely considered one of, if not the greatest fillies of all-time. Why I really post this however is to listen to Tom Durkin give what is one of the best calls in recent sports history. Just an enthusiastic, brilliant racing call that rivals anything I have heard from a sports announcer in recent history, enjoy:



-Just got back from Buffalo, sorry that the NFL Divsional Previews have been dis-jointed if we still have any readers out there. I will be churning out all but the AFC East and NFC East throughout the rest of the day, so if you're still following, be sure to keep coming back and let's talk some football. NFC East I will be giving an extended breakdown of tomorrow morning and I'm not sure when, but the Millman will be handling the AFC East at some point.

-Tonight we have an excellent kickoff to the NFL season as the Titans head to Pittsburgh to face the Steelers. These are two teams I am a bit down on this year, but if one of these teams has a chance to be truly bad this year it is obviously the Titans. Kerry Collins, I think, should have a tougher time this year. The running game with Chris Johnson and a motivated Lendale White could be very good. Meanwhile, the biggest loss comes in the form of DT Albert Haynesworth..and I think we are going to see the Titans really struggle due to this loss (and the Redskins really improve). Hard not to side with Pittsburgh tonight.

-During Wimbledon, I made a post about an American teenager named "Melanie Oudin". Sound familiar? Unfortunately, Oudin lost last night in the US Open Quarterfinals, but she certainly made a lot of noise, upsetting three ranked opponents and becoming the youngest American woman to make the US Open Quarters since Serena won the whole thing at the same age (by the way, Cris Everett also lost in the quarters at 17, not bad company). In my post (which you can find by simply searching Oudin in our search feature) I mentioned that I was impressed and that I thought she could possibly become a top-20 player. I think she secured a top-50 or top-40 rankings with her effort here and after watching some more I still agree with that analysis. She needs to become more consistent, but the gutsy teenager has enough talent to finally get excited about an American tennis player and she should be at least somewhat of a contender over the next few years.

-Speaking of tennis, this just in: Roger Federer won a challenge. Shocking to everyone I know. Seriously, how is it that the best player of all-time really can't tell if a tennis ball is in or out? Could you imagine playing Roger in a pick-up game? The guy is the best of all-time and he's calling balls you hit 6-inches inside the line out and complaining everytime you call one of his out.


5 comments:

  1. Love the enthusiasm for the ponies on this blog. I personally don’t bet them but love the write ups...I too was impressed by the Oudin but she still has a few holes in her game before she could take it to Serena or venus on a consistent basis. I have been having this discussion at work. Can you name the 25 tennis players in the top 100 in the world rankings? No how many golfers can you name in the top 100? How come these two country club sports have such disparity at the pro level? on another note, how good is Fed and Rafa, these guys are so good its almost boring to watch, they lose the occasional set but its almost a foregone conclusion that the opponent will not be able to string together three sets, pretty amazing...I agree on the game tonight but like i commented yesterday I don’t care who is playing I am just pumped for the start of the season. I equate the start of the football season something akin to how the indians/aztecs felt about start of the planting season/rain season, its almost a religious experience with ritual drafts, long hours of reading in preparation of the season, and trash talking.

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  2. I can easily name 25 tennis players in the top 100. As far as 25 women? Probably just barely. Men, I could get over 50 easy. Might top 75.

    As for golfers, I'm actually weaker there. 35 or so probably would be about my peak. I know a lot of names when I see them, but don't think I could list the top 50 off the top of my head or so like I could with tennis.

    Agreed, tonight is a great night. NFL is back. Can't wait to root on one of my least favorite players - Ben Roethlisberger - since I thought he was undervalued in fantasy football and ended up taking him.

    Oudin certainly lacks the consistency needed and makes far too many errors with her forehand. It's nice to have a talented young American tennis player to look out for though, especially for those of us who have finally given up on Donald young (I am talking about you Curtis).

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  3. Actually no way I top 75 men's top 100 tennis players. Definitely could hit 50 though.

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  4. I guess i say that because I feel golf is on TV to a much greater extent than tennis in the US. You get golf just about every week in the summer and you really only get tennis at the majors. That is why I think more american sport fans would know the golf names over the tennis names. just some thoughts

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  5. I agree, I'm sure that is true for most, I'm a little weird. Tennis has gained a bit of steam with the Rafa / Fed stuff getting more coverage I feel though.

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