Every time I begin to worry about the results of preseason football, I remember that Steve Spurrier rolled up something like 30-40 points a game in preseason several years ago and then proceeded to stink the hell out of the games once they began counting. So, I can honestly say I don’t care about the game’s result.
Clinton Portis’ shoulder, on the other hand, should be flown to an elite Swiss hospital and worked on by the finest surgeons from across the globe. Dan Snyder, get on this. Also, he hurt his shoulder playing defense. Once the ball changes from offense to defense, Mr. Portis should go directly to the sidelines – do not collect $200.
Bonus: John Madden said the Bengals had “five Johnsons on the team.” The five year old inside me thought that was hilarious. So did the 28 year old, to be honest.
One upside to this early game is that the recap is done by Channel 4 WRC’s Lindsay Czarniak, who is about 100000% more attractive that George Michael (even with his Sports Machine at full operating capacity).
Screw the Swiss hospital. Bring him to Minnesota baby. The Mayo will fix that right up- they understand American football better!
I loved Collinsworth’s joke about nobody getting arrested during the first quarter.
I’m also happy to report that NBC’s coverage in HiDef was clean and crisp. No switching of resolutions between some camera shots. Good stuff for anyone thinking about getting HiDef programming.
Pre-season is about trying out new players and new strategies. It is not about winning. Here in Tampa, the fans and the coaches take these games seriously and I think the Bucs suffer for it. If a team loses every pre-season game, but the coaches got the info they need to adjust for their strengths and weaknesses they should consider it a successful pre-season. Winning is incidental.
That said, I predict (1) Cincinatti will win about the same number of games in the pre-season as the regular one and (2) if the Bucs win two more pre-season games, they will be a wild card team at best.
I finally bailed on my league this year after 18 seasons. Otherwise, I’d've been drafting sixth — right about where Portis is likely to be the best available pick under our scoring system. I knew I’d made the right decision when I read about Portis and thought how great it was that now I didn’t have to particularly CARE how his shoulder is doing.
That said, I don’t wish him ill, although if he wants to take the Panthers game off, that’d be fine by me.
Is that Crocodile Dundee’s wife?