The Week That WasThe mess that is Football.  It has always been an interesting landscape but this year it is a mess.  The Astros and the Dodgers are putting on a show in the World Series.  Making the case for Baseball to be exciting.  An interesting NBA season is starting to shape up.  The next month will really give us an idea of what to expect.  NASCAR is wrapping up with the group of 8 in the NASCAR playoffs.  Help me NBC is the NHL season started?  Around the corner the NCAA Basketball season will be starting.  The last week of October provided us with a lot of excitement that will propel us to the end of the year.

What in the World are NFL Owners Thinking

With all that is going on in the NFL it appears that the owners have decided they want to destroy their cash cow.  Two years ago it looked like the only way the NFL would stop growing was if they actually tried.  Last year at best viewership was stagnant.  That is fine.  You can’t have double digit growth every year.  It was just a blip.  At least we though it was.  Then this year came about.

The Anthem protests became more prevalent.  The public has voiced its displeasure over how the protests were being handled.  The NFL appears to have done nothing but make the outcry worse.  This has been mishandled on both the players and the owners side.  They were both coming out of it looking pretty bad.  The players because no one is really sure why they picked the anthem for the protest.  The owners because they seem oblivious to what is happening here.

The number have been mixed.  Some games up other games down.  This is probably the way it is every year.  This year it is magnified.  Then came the tone deaf statement by the Texans owner Bob McNair saying that the “inmates are running the asylum”.  He has since apologized – Twice.   It is too late.  The comment is already out there.  This was the exact wrong thing to do and makes the owners look really bad.

This comment will only make things worse.  Much worse.  It did however put the public on the same side as the players.  Almost the whole Houston Texans team joined in the anthem protest and the crowed cheered for them.  As they should have.

On the Field

The Eagles are looking like they may be the best team in the NFL at this point.  At 7-1 and destroying the teams that they play.  Of course this week they played the 49ers.  So take a 33-10 win for what it is.   In the NFL though a win is a win.  Even when it is the Vikings destroying the Browns 33-16 in England.    I will  say that I do enjoy the Sunday morning games.  It is much better when the England games are played in our morning time.  That we we get NFL games all day long.  Even with the Browns playing it was better that what is usually on Sunday Mornings.

The race for the Bottom

It looks as if the Browns have the race to the bottom locked up.  They could fool us and accidentally win a few games.  Of course the 49ers very quietly with a matching 0 – 8 record could have something to say about the Browns quest for the the bottom.

NCAA the Race to Four

The first Bowl Cham   College Football Playoff rankings will come out this week.  The only thing that I am am sure of is that Alabama will be number one.  It seems pretty safe to say that after their thrilling win over Penn State is that Ohio State will be in there somewhere.  Georgia will also be in the top three.  After that it is difficult to say.  I still think that it is too early to put the first ranking out there.  They really should wait another two weeks.

Yes it is fun to debate where teams are slotted and who should be where and all of that.  Really though the first two weeks of the poll mean nothing.  There is too much significant football to play yet.    The teams that are outside of the top 4 will all have their undies in a bunch saying that they are better.  Oklahoma may have an argument since they beat Ohio State earlier this year.  Of course if they can’t get by one of the other OSU’s out there it really will not matter.  We will find that out this weekend when Oklahoma and Oklahoma State play.

Really all these teams need to do is take care of business.  If you are a no loss or one loss team at this point.  Then you win out.  You will make it in.  It is that simple.  Well not really.  It is possible there will be a bunch of one loss teams.  But just win and the you will be good.

World Series for the Ages

There has been talk of a different ball being used in the World Series.  If that is true.  Put that ball in play for the whole season.  This is turning into one of the best Series in a really long time.  The numbers are off the charts and even beat the NFL game on Sunday night.  So clearly people like what is going on here.   The baseball purists will say that it is ruining the game.  Maybe it is ruining your game that was dying.  It is pulling in the fringe fans and creating a ratings bonanza.

Personally I am rooting for the Astros.  It would be nice to have a team win that never has won the World Series before.  They also have Justin Verlander and he deserves a ring.

Even if this Series ends on Tuesday night having gone 6 games it will still go down as one of the best ever.

NBA Upheaval

The Cavaliers have a losing record.  The Warriors are 5-3.  The Thunder are 3 – 3.  These were teams that we were predicting to be at the top of their divisions.   They probably still will end up there.  The start has been difficult for them at best.  And possibly a major concern.

In the East the Celtics, Magic and Buck are tied for the top all at 5 – 2.  Will they keep this up.  Not sure they will stay at the top but pretty sure they will all make the playoffs.

In the West The Grizzlies are 5-2 and the Clippers are 4-2.  Who knew that these two teams would make this kind of start.  Not me that is for sure.  It is still very early so chances are that things will change here quite a bit.   The Lakers are still bad having only won two games at this point.

 

Interesting other things this past week

Visitor from beyond.  NASA said that this week an object that is not from our Solar System passed by.  This was not a Rendezvous with Rama Event.  They are not sure but it was more than likely and asteroid.   It was still a pretty cool event.  Being the first time that an object from out side our Solar System has been confirmed inside our Solar System.  Maybe someday we will have a visitor from beyond.  That would be really cool.

Space X is now looking for a launch of the Falcon Heavy in the next few months.  We were hoping for the November launch but not sure that they are going to make it happen by then.   No matter when it happens I will be watching.  Would love to be able to see it in person but probably not going to happen.

The Walking Dead had a lot of gun fighting and a lot of questions at the end.

That is it this week.

Next week will have more to say about the NHL and NASCAR.  The NFL Trade Deadline and who won the World Series.

Read last weeks post here