Full of Focus

A lot of people are saying that this is the best weekend of the year. While I don’t really agree with that statement (Both the opening/second round and the Sweet 16/Elite 8 weekend’s of the NCAA tourney are better), I can’t really argue that this weekend is going to be great. Here is a list of where my attention will be, going from least amount of attention to most.

15--The U.S. Open
I’m not much of a tennis guy. Correction, I’m not a tennis guy at all. I did watch a few minutes of the five-set, opening round Agassi match, and I’ll admit it, it was pretty exciting. And these are the finals of our national championship. But on a weekend like this, I don’t think my schedule will be able to fit it in.

14--My dynasty in NCAA Football 2007
Maybe I’ll play a game or two with my Oklahoma State Cowboys tonight, when there’s nothing else to do. Currently I’m 5-1 (2-0 in the Big 12), with back-to-back games that ended up being instant classics. First against Houston, I scored a touchdown with no time left in regulation to push the game to OT. In extra football, the Cougars kicked a field goal, only for me to turn around and score a TD, giving me a 44-41 victory. The next week, in my conference opener at Kansas St., I was down 16-0 in the third quarter only to come storming back to win 19-16 on a field goal with about a minute left. For anyone who has this game, try playing with OSU. Their QB, who I believe is one of the Woods brothers (Remember RaShaun Woods, the All-American WR who became a first round bust with the 49ers), is extremely fast and a surprisingly accurate passer. The D isn’t so great, but they tend to force a bunch of turnovers. I have Texas A&M and Oklahoma coming up, so I need to come up with some big wins.

13--Cubs at Braves
Since these games mean as much as a wooden nickel, I will only be watching for two reasons. One, I want to see how many different ways we can cause injuries to our pitching staff. Two, I want to watch the TBS coverage to see if Chip Carry pretends to like the Cubs, since as a Cub announcer, he always cheered for the opposing team. Other then that, I’ll just be checking the Tribune box score to see how Aramis Ramirez did. (More on that later)

12---Homework
Uh, sorry Mom. But when the NFL is kicking off, the two best college football teams in the country are playing each other and the baseball races are coming down to the wire, this is not the time to be hunched over a text book.

11--College Football Week II
I will mention three specific games later on, but just college football in general is worthy enough of being put on the list. Some games that I will have my attention on will be Clemson at Boston College, Ole Miss at Missouri, Illinois at Rutgers and Arizona at LSU. If you want a couple of upsets, go with UTEP over Texas Tech and North Carolina over Virginia Tech.

10--Penn State at Notre Dame
As I stated in my column, ‘That Time of the Year’, I am actually excited that Note Dame is a national power once again. Because when the Irish are near the top of the rankings, they tend to play big-time games, like this one. Penn State is better then people think, even though they have a young quarterback. Notre Dame is also a good team, and because the game is at ND Stadium, I’ll give the win to the Fighting Irish.

9--MLB Pennant Races
With the exception of the Wild Card, pretty much everything in the NL has been decided. And we know the Yankees are a lock in the AL. But for a race that I have no rooting interest in (other then against the White Sox), I am glued to that AL Central / Wild Card battle. The Tigers have been in control all season but they suddenly seem to be slipping. The Twins were in it for a while, then fell behind, but now are in the driver’s seat to make the playoffs. And the White Sox, who before the season were the only team considered to be a playoff lock, are falling fast, with apparent holes in both their pitching and hitting. This may come down to the last week of the season, which would make for some thrilling baseball.

8--Monday Night Football
OK, so this really isn’t during the weekend, despite the fact that ESPN would like us to think so. And I really don’t care who wins in either of the games. But I am interested to see Tony Kornheiser when it really matters. Like with players, announcers use the pre-season to figure stuff out, see how they fit in, smooth out some wrinkles. But now the games count, and I hope Tony has his A-game working. As I’ve said before, I strongly dislike Joe Theismen, but I’m a big fan of Mike Tirico. Kornheiser may be the deciding factor weather I continue to watch MNF. (Wait, who am I kidding? As long as the games are close, I’ll watch)

7--Central Florida at Florida
It will probably take Chris, Lee, and Kirk over two hours before they mention this one on ‘College Gameday’. The highlight clip on SportsCenter will not even last 30 seconds. But as a Gator fan, I’m definitely paying attention to this one. I want to see Chris Leak be more accurate with the ball, and it’s a must that the running game gets going. With Tennessee next week, it’s vital that Florida is running on all cylinders.

6--Fantasy Football
Touch(down) the Sky, my fantasy team, got off to a solid start last night when Ronnie Brown scored two touchdowns. But the key for me is having one of my receivers step up. I have Andre Johnson, Keenan McCardell and Reggie Brown as my current starters, and I need one of them to exceed 12 points or so if I want to win this week. If I can get that, and if Peyton Manning does as I expect him to, I should be 1-0 after Monday night.

5--NFL Week 1
You already have seen my picks, and I’ll go into further detail about a couple of the games later on. There will be a lot of focus on Reggie Bush’s debut, Carson Palmer’s return and Steve Smith’s injury. Here are three things I’m going to be watching for. The first is a key injury. It happens every season. Someone on a so-called Super Bowl contender gets dinged up, and everyone over reacts. Second is I want to see how the new coaches do. Are we going to see the same old Lions, or are Rod Marenelli and Mike Martz making a difference? And last is a surprise player. Last year it was Willie Parker, who came from nowhere to become starting running back on the eventual Super Bowl champs. (And please don’t give me Mike Bell as a sleeper. If you are a back for the Broncos, it’s not a surprise if you run for 130 yards and a score)

4--Colts at Giants
As a younger brother Eli, I have a little bit of a connection to this game. It will be interesting for me to watch how one brother reacts when the other makes a big play. Will Eli be happy when Michael Strahan sacks Peyton? Will Peyton crack a smile if Eli throws a TD? I doubt that either will even pretend like it matters to them, but as a brother, you know it will. And for the record, I like the Colts to win 34-28

3--Ohio State at Texas
I heard something about this game on TV somewhere, but I can’t remember what they said. I think it sounded like number one versus number two, but that can’t be right? Why would the top team in the land want to travel on the road to a hostile environment to face the defending champs? Why would the mighty Longhorn’s throw a freshmen quarterback to face the always-dangerous Buckeyes D? This game will be so huge, and I fully expect it to live up to the hype. A lot of people think it will be pretty high scoring, but I don’t think so. Mark me down for Texas 20 OSU 14.

2--Fantasy Baseball
Every morning, before I brush teeth, read the paper, or even change out of my boxers and shirt, I check my fantasy baseball team. Why you ask? Because when you’ve stuck with something for almost six months, it becomes quite important to you. And after struggling through the early part of the season, then coming up big to in May and June, only to go on a downswing in July and early August, the Vicious Vendors recent rise to the top has been very exciting for me. Led by half-man/half-beast Ryan Howard, who I plucked in round seven after other first basemen like Richie Sexon and Paul Konerko, and other top players like Joe Mauer, Miguel Tejada, Carl Crawford and Aramis Ramirez, I am either first or near the top of almost every offensive category. My pitching has been decent (Taking Mark Prior over Carlos Zambrano and Brandon Webb probably wasn’t a great idea), but they’ve done better recently. I’m currently up by a ½ point (It’s rotisserie scoring) with about three weeks to go. And if I do end up winning, I’ll be sure to let you all know.

1---Bears at Packers
To be number one on this list, you know it has to be something pretty big. Something like the oldest rivalry in the NFL, the beginning of the end for one of the top QB’s of all time and a potential Super Bowl run for my favorite team. I think the Bears will win easily, but I’m still very interested to see how well everyone on offense plays. Can Rex live up to the expectations, especially with a valid backup looking over his shoulder? Can Jones and Benson each produce while splitting carries? Will the O-Line be able to keep everyone in the backfield healthy? And will a number two receiver please stand up, please stand up? (Sorry, I was just listening to the Marshall Mathers LP) I trust Lovie to get the team ready, and honestly, the Packers suck. The Bears should win by at least two touchdowns.

I guess I'll talk to you on Monday, because I doubt my computer will get much use this weekend. Except to check the fantasy teams.