The weekend special

The NFL season is officially under way, starting the same way last year ended, with a Colts victory. That obviously kicked off the pro football season, but also one hell of a crazy weekend (plus a few more days). Spanning from Thursday night (Colts-Saints game) all the way to Tuesday morning (number three on the list), these next five days have a little bit of everything. Like I did almost exactly one year ago (Check the September 9, 2006 “Full of Focus” column), I’m going to rank the ten events I’m most excited about these next few days.

NOTE: I didn’t put on Thursday’s NFL game, because it has already taken place.


10-‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’ premiere-Sunday
The funniest show on TV is back. Over the summer I plowed through the season four DVD in about two days and watched every re-run of season five on TV whenever HBO showed it. Now we have season six, and I can’t wait to see what Larry, Jeff, Cheryl and the rest of the crazy characters are going to get into next.

9-Troy at Florida-Saturday
This game doesn’t look like much on paper, but if App. State-Michigan last week taught us anything, its don’t look ahead. So I’m not looking ahead to next week’s showdown with Tennessee at the Swamp. I’m not on edge to see how the defending National Champs do in a huge SEC East clash. It hasn’t even crossed my mind that Tim Tebow has never started a conference game. Who the hell am I kidding? The Gators should crush Troy easily so we can get going with the real thing.

8-Ravens at Bengals-Monday
NBC might be telling us that Sunday night is the premier night in football, and looking at their schedule compared to ESPN’s, they are right. But there is still something special about Monday Night Football. Maybe it’s the music, maybe it’s the helmets crashing, I’m not sure. This year MNF kicks off with Ray Lewis versus Ocho-Cinco, a big AFC North clash that gives the winner a big leg up in the division.

7-Oregon at Michigan-Saturday
Another spread offense, another fast quarterback; could we see another Michigan loss? Well as the joke that’s been circulating around this week says, you can’t spell Lloyd without two L’s. But really, I think the maze and blue will come out with something to prove this weekend and beat the Ducks. Mike Hart should have a big game against a weak OU defense, and maybe the kicking game will actually be able to do something this time.

6-Fantasy Football-Sunday/Monday
Fantasy Football is kind of like TiVo. It looks stupid and pointless until you try it, but once you do, you’ll be hooked. I’ve been addicted to Fantasy sports since I was 13, and it doesn’t seem to be letting up anytime soon. This year I am in two football leagues, which is what I usually do. One public, with people I don’t know, ran by the lords of Yahoo. The other is with friends, which is intense because bragging rights are on the line. The strange thing is this year I have only one guy who is on both teams. Usually it’s more than that. So for my sake I hope I’m correct that Bills running back Marshawn Lynch wins NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, because that will mean big points for the Vicious Vendors and the Windy City Flyers.

5-Brewers at Reds and Cardinals at Diamondbacks-Friday/Saturday/Sunday
As of Friday afternoon, the Cubs are tied for first in the NL Central with the Brewers while the Cardinals are sitting one game back. And its September. So these games are HUGE. Milwaukee sucks on the road but the Reds just plain suck, so that will make their series very interesting. St. Louis has been playing well lately, but the Diamondbacks are in the playoff hunt as well, meaning the intensity will be at playoff-level. Cardinals outfielder Rick Ankiell’s rumored HGH involvement also will hopefully be a distraction to the Red Birds.

4-Va Tech at LSU-Saturday
The last two years it has been Ohio State and Texas that met up in week two in an out of conference top-five clash. Now it’s the Hokies and the Tigers. I’m excited for this one, not only because both teams possess top-of-the-line defenses, but also because the game is in always hostile Tiger Stadium. Will the LSU faithful boo and be rude to Virginia Tech, which because of what happened on their campus in April has now become America’s Team? I think LSU will win, because I’m still unsure on how Va Tech is handling all the pressure that has now been placed on them. Look for the final score to be in the teens though, because both defenses are that good.

3-“Graduation”-Tuesday
With the exception of Brian Urlacher, Loul Deng and Derek Lee, the best Chicago has to offer is rapper Kanye West. And when his new album, “Graduation”, is released on Tuesday, I will be the first in line to buy it. The big hype about the CD is that it’s being released on the same day as the album of fellow rapper 50 Cent and that if West’s album sells more, Fifty will retire. I’m hoping for that, not only because Fifty is annoying and has put out the same album three times already, but because I got to represent for the best hip-hop has to offer who just happens to be from the Windy City.

2-Cubs at Pirates- Friday/Saturday/Sunday
Like I said in number five, we are coming down to the wire in the baseball season. And in the NL Central, absolutely nothing has been decided yet. The Cubs face a Pittsburgh team that is pretty bad, but the last time we went to the Steal City, we lost two of three. One of the keys to our team, Alfonso Soriano has played well lately, but the number one main man, the centerpiece of the entire season, Carlos Zambrano, has got to pitch well. No more excuses about contracts or about getting booed. Just do your job Z.

1-Bears at Chargers-Sunday
Wow. I thought last season, when the Bears kicked off at Lambeau Field in what was supposed to be Brett Favre’s last season, was a cool opener. But this is crazy. Bears versus Chargers, Urlacher versus Tomlinson, Benson versus Merriman. As I said earlier in the week, I don’t foresee a Bears victory, mainly because I’m not sure how Cedric Benson can handle the every down grind against a fast and physical San Diego D. But saying that, I would not be shocked at all if the Bears won. The defense, which a lot of people are doubting for some reason, is still beastly and dominant. If a side of the ball other than the offense scores, put me down for a Chicago W.