The Redskins wrap up their preseason with a trip to Jacksonville-- and in theory the 60 minutes Thursday will determine the final spots in the 53 who remain after Saturday. Bubble positions this week include:
August Mirages? One would think that Marko Mitchell has earned the fifth WR spot...but stranger things have happened on cutdown day. Marcus Mason and Dominique Dorsey have seen quite a bit of preseason play--but both could be gone...unless Mason takes the place of Rock Cartwright in what could be the Labor Day Surprise.
Kicker--Dave Rayner or Shaun Suisham? Does the challenger or the status quo have get the job if it's a stalemate? Could there be a "soccer-style shootout" after the game ends if there's no clear winner?
Get in Line...outside of the starting five (Samuels-Dockery-Rabach-Thomas-Heyer) there are more than a few maybes... the hefty Mike Williams and Chad Rinehart qualifying as definitely maybes (more on the group who released that album below)...after that it's who plays better against the Jaguars.
He aint Heavy--he's my brother... and I refuse to work with him. Oasis is breaking up.
Such a vain lead singer...such a strung out lead guitarist. Never an ounce of modesty. Wishing AIDS on a rival band. Sprinkling cocaine on his cereal like it was sugar. Never a dull moment.
Evidently the Gallagher brothers simply can't get along-- they won't be the first... as the Kinks (Ray and Dave Davies) and Creedence Clearwater Revival (John and Tom Fogerty) had fractious family situations. But while Liam and Noel seemed to be dueling equals within the band, Ray and John were the respective dominant brothers from the get-go...one just hopes things won't be as bad as CCR--when John and Tom didn't talk for the last 19 years Tom was alive.
Oasis Myth #1--when a fan jumped on the stage to attack guitarist Noel, Liam was upset: not because his brother was accosted, but because as the lead singer he deserved 100% of the attention-positive and negative.
The Brighter side of Blackouts-- the current economic times have even touched the monolith that is the NFL...as more than a few teams anticipate home games being blacked out this fall. This is off the heels of 97% sellouts (before the 72-hour window necessary to avoid the blackout)...longterm there have been fewer blackouts each decade since the policy was instituted in 1973. [CNBC reports the decade by decade blackout stat--50.5% in the 70's...40% in the 80's... 31% in the 90's and 8.5% this decade]. While it's not ideal to have games blacked out, it's part of the business cycle and once the economy picks up the NFL's non-obsessive markets (San Diego, Carolina) will start to sell out again. When core franchises like Pittsburgh, Dallas and Green Bay start playing in front of half-empty houses---that's the time to be seriously concerned.
One team that might not survive this current low tide... Jacksonville's season ticket base has reportedly declined from 44,000 to 25,000. They're a third Floridian team playing in the 47th-largest TV market (that can easily be classified as Tampa Bay-North)...and one that bleeds college football. Solution? Move the Jags to Los Angeles and the NFC West (St Louis would go to the South while Carolina would skip over the AFC South).
Favorite Oasis Album...the Brothers Gallagher have released seven albums--and the first two (Definitely Maybe, Morning Glory) put them on the map. But for me it's their third project Be Here Now that rings true... with "My Big Mouth" or "I Hope, I Think, I Know" my personal favorite tracks. The CD closes in fantastic fashion with "All Around the World".
Dread Pirate Roberts Quarterback Curse Continues--documented earlier this week has been my unfortunate Fantasy drafting history... from Trent Green in 2006 to Derek Anderson in '07 to Tom Brady last year. Once is an occurrence, twice is a trend, thrice is a blasted curse... and already my QB is banged up and the regular season hasn't even started yet! Houston's Matt Schaub sprained an ankle-- while they say it won't effect his season, I know have the familiar sinking sensation it might.
Quite a Comeback: I saw Oasis twice in 2005-- and thoroughly enjoyed the CD they released that year Don't Believe the Truth. What made this album different was there was much more of a community effort-- as Noel had only written 5 of the 11 songs on that album instead of the usual 90-95% authorship.
Preseason Value--every year the clamoring for decreasing the August exhibitions and increasing the regular season gets louder. I'm fine with four preseason games--for more than a few reasons....:
Guest-starring opportunities...despite the recent upswing in blackouts this year, tickets to NFL games are tough to aquire. The "meaningless" preseason games give those who don't have the chance to attend a regular season game the opportunity to taste the NFL gameday experience.... widening the potential primary fanbase.
Who wants to get full on the appetizer? Preseason football whets one's enthusiasm for the season, allowing fans to ramp up to opening day.
Sixteen going on Seventeen...for some reason the current NFL schedule makes sense. Four quarters of four games each--and with the bye week thrown it the slate fits perfectly between Labor Day and New Year's. Right now the regular season is just long enough to get a true test of a team but not too long where it becomes a game of attrition.
Some Like it Hot--not! Does anyone know that August is one of the hottest months of the year? We want players running around at 100% in 100% heat and humidity? Good luck to that.
Favorite Oasis Songs-- I'll go with "Slide Away", "Some Might Say", "I Hope, I Think, I Know" and "A Bell Will Ring"... with Noel as lead singer "Don't Look Back in Anger" or "Part of the Queue".
Did his contract contain a Karma clause? Cincinnati rookie offensive lineman Andre Smith ended his lengthy holdout with the Bengals only to break his foot two days later... so not only was his first pro season severely set back by his own doing-- he won't even be able to run around on the field come opening day. So much for the team getting any return on their top ten pick this fall. Welcome to the Bengals, buddy. Take your place with David Klingler, Akili Smith, Kijana Carter and David Verser.
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I would like too take time too thank the active members for doing what you do and making the community what it is im a long time reader and first time poster so i just wanted to say thanks.
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