Two weeks in and I’m fully engulfed in football season. I don’t know why I’m feeling this way, I’ve never been like this in the past. I’m a baseball guy through-and-through, but this fall I’m all about the pigskin.
Here are some thoughts on the weekend.
One. What a beautiful day for football this past Saturday at Folsom Field. Kickoff was a brisk 50 something degrees and it was misting. And although it should have easily been 21-0 in the first quarter (for the second game in a row) it wasn’t. Somehow the defense came through. And it’s an astonishing fact of this team that the offense is providing ZERO help for the defense. No time to rest, and no support by scoring. But the second half the Buffs played like an average team that won’t compete in the Big XII but will beat the small schools. I can deal with decent. 
(Hawkins note: It took an elbow to the nose-piece on Hawkins’ sunglasses and a cut that made him look like the swat linebacker from the Replacements to make the Buffs play better.)
Two. The Broncos will not go defeated this year. There next 4 games will be losses (Colts, at Tennessee, at Baltimore, NYJ) so it felt good to beat a bad team. That’s about it, beating a bad team at home. Although we did see a glimpse of D. Thomas, and the huge weapon he could be. (I do think he could be good, but I think we wasted a #22 pick on him. This type of receiver is a dime a dozen nowadays. And they don’t always come through. Aka Roy Williams, Calvin Johnson) We didn’t see much more. An aging defense, a conservative qb, too many places to improve and a sub-500 team.
Three. Some college side notes. Houston’s better machine like version of Colt Brennen, Casey Keenum is done for this year, and so is his backup. Such an unfortunate break that I feel obligated to say he will be a solid pro. He has all the tools; strong arm, understands a complicated system, and the best thing to happen to a small Texas school since Eric Dickerson and SMU. Auburn’s new qb Cameron Newton is too raw and has a long way to go to develop into an even decent SEC quarterback. And Kyle Parker should just sign with the Rockies so he can help them in October, what a story that would be. I jumped on the Iowa bandwagon early last year, and after so many breaks and games that somehow turned out in their favor came back to bite them in the foot. A tipped ball and pick-6, and a kickoff returned to the house put them down 20 at the half and eventually did them in. This could ruin the Big Ten, if they go out and beat/ruin the chances of any big time hope to win a national title. There is some other college talk I have, but I think I got most of it.
Four. Back to the pros. I watched most of the game last night, if you could even call it a game. Dwight Freeney looked literally unstoppable. There is not a single left-tackle in the game that can stop him, and my initial pick for defensive player of the year. The Bob Sanders loss won’t hurt the Colts as much if the opposing quarterback is looking around for #93 instead of his receivers downfield. Also Steve Smith is the ultimate pro. He went out and did his job in a 38-14 loss. Its hard to imagine that an idiot like Plaxico Burress and Steve Smith hung around each other on a daily basis. Favre will come back, even though I think he should just retire right now and ruin some people’s fantasy hopes. Finally, it’s going to be interesting how the NFL progresses with its strictness on concussed players. Kolb got held out for this week and Moore did not. Witten was upset they wouldn’t let him go back in the game against the Bear. But what is going to happen as the games become more meaningful? Is the NFL going to once again put the issue on the back-burner when the money tells you too? Is this like steroids in baseball, will it come back after something really bad happens?
I don’t what has gotten into me, but I like it. I’m ready for somemore football.
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