Don’t get me wrong, the defense played a hell of a game the first half, but the offense was anemic. Toss in a poorly timed Foster fumble, several penalties and you have a recipe for disaster.

As I see it right now, Crompton isn’t the answer. Three step drops in the pocket and no mobility just is not going to get it done in the SEC. And this sure isn’t the same offensive line that protected Ainge last year.

And I know, we’ll hear all of the loud mouths calling for Phil’s firing this week on sports radio in the area. Not me, I’ve got only two words to say…

Retire Phil.

Ramble on…

“Some people think football is a matter of life and death. I don’t like that attitude. I can assure them it is much more serious than that.”
- Bill Shankly

Give me:
The Bonfire
Planting the spear
Dotting the I
Howard’s Rock
Running through the “T”

Give me:
Paul Bunyan Trophy
Bedlam Bell
Golden Egg
Iron Bowl
Little Brown Jug
Red River Rivalry
Third Saturday in October

Give me:
Enter Sandman
Also sprach Zarathustra
Rocky Top

Give me:
The 12th Man
Ramblin’ Wreck
War Eagle
Cowbells
Ralphie
Bevo
Sooner Schooner
Brutus Buckeye
Uga
Smokey

Give me:
Death Valley
The Swamp
Rose Bowl
The Horseshoe
Between the Hedges
Happy Valley
The Big House
The House that Rockne Built
Smurf Turf
Neyland Stadium

Give me:
Buckeyes
Wolverines
Boilermakers
Spartans
Hawkeyes
Nittany Lions
Gophers
Hokies
Demon Decons
Hurricanes
Seminoles
Yellow Jackets
Bruins
Trojans
Ducks
Golden Bears
Beavers
Utes
Mean Green
Ragin Cajuns
Vandals
Longhorns
Cornhuskers
Aggies
Sooners
Red Raiders
Crimson Tide
War Eagles
Gators
Bulldogs
Tigers
Volunteers

And give me “Football time in Tennessee!”

I’ve overheard the announcers saying that the next Olympics games will not have baseball nor softball. Who ever though that this was a good idea? Just now, NBC is showing men’s volleyball while the USA Network is showing badminton… Badminton… Are you serious? Badminton is considered more of an Olympic sport than baseball or softball? How can they seriously say that smacking around a shuttlecock for 30 to 45 minutes is more athletic than the skills associated with both baseball and softball? I just don’t get it.

Either way, the next couple of weeks should be interesting as NBC tries their best to make things such as handball and ping pong interesting.

Ramble on…

It just became officially close to being almost over… Brett Favre was traded to the New York Jets late this evening for at least a third round draft pick, with the possibility of the pick being improved to a first round pick depending on how well Favre plays this season.

I, for one, am glad to hear that this mess is as close to being over as possible. Every where you look, it’s Favre this, Favre that, and it is getting old. Unfortunately for us (and Brett), he changed his mind and decided to not retire this season. Instead of going out with the praise and support of the whole Packer nation and his teamates, Favre now turns his attention to New Jersey to help prop up a poor Jets team that went 4-12 last season.

Like so many others before him, Favre has overstayed his welcome and moved on to obscurity elsewhere which will probably just be a footnote in his Hall of Fame career when he finally does decide to hang up the cleats. Emmit Smith made the same mistake when he went to the Cardinals to try and extend his career and he sadly tucked his tail between his legs and retired soon after.
What makes a great player do such a thing? Is it the competition? The money? Myself, I believe Favre was hoping one of the big networks would come calling when he retired and beg him to do color commentary or be an analyst on a pre-game show. But, alas, no one came a calling, so Favre was left with one option, return to the Packers and give it another whirl. But this time, the team had already moved on and had set plans in motion to make Aaron Rodgers the starting quarterback for the upcoming season.

I certainly don’t blame the Packers for doing what they did as Favre has strung them along for many years. How can you build for the future when the past won’t let go? Sure, the Packers aren’t getting all that they want out of this trade, but they did remedy their one major concern, which was to elimate the Favre problem. It may not be a very popular decision right now, but at least now the Packers can move on and begin building their team around Rodgers and see if he’s worth the first round pick they used on him so many years ago.

As for Favre, he steps right into the starter quarterback job in New York as the Jets have been looking to replace Chad Pennington for awhile now. They even went as far to draft Erik Ainge in the fifth round of this years draft to try and sure up that weakness. I look for Favre to take the starter job away from Pennington leaving Clemmons, Ainge, and Pennington to duke it out for the back-up job behind the future Hall of Famer, with the odd man out possibly getting cut and looking elsewhere for a job, i.e. Pennington.

As for the Jets, this is a good move on their part. This definitely improves their QB position, but I look for age and regret to sneak up on Favre and the season being a slight improvement over the previous season’s 4-12 record. I also look for them to start grooming either Ainge or Clemmons to be the heir apparent to Favre who’s contract is up in 2010… even after he contrmplates retirement once again at the end of this season…

Ramble on…

I hate to admit it, but I am a Dodgers fan. For as long as I can remember, the Dodgers were the only baseball team I cared about (until recently when the Cubs have snuck up and made me a fan as well.) Maybe it was Tommy Lasorda or Fernando Valenzuela that made me a fan, but the Dodgers were my team when it came to baseball.

I remember watching Kirk Gibson hit that home run in the World Series and about jumping out of my skin in excitement. Fast forward to the present times…

The Dodgers, along with the whole National League West, have been abysmal for several years. I mean really, the Dodgers haven’t even sniffed a World Series since 1988. Even with the addition of Joe Torre, I was a bit weary that this season would be very similiar. That is, until I saw on Sportcenter that the Dodgers aquired Manny Ramirez from the Red Sox in a 3-team trade. What good is it to add yet another high-priced outfielder to the line up and a head case to boot?

Well, I guess we need to look at the numbers for his 16 year career. With 510 home runs and 1672 RBI it appears that Manny can hit for power, but like everything with age, his productivity has dropped off. The past few seasons, his numbers have steadily declined. Could it have been his unhappiness with the Red Sox that encouraged this decline? Is being 37 years of age a factor?

Could Manny be the spark that the Dodgers need to get back to the World Series? Hopefully, with the change of location and change of number from 24 to 99, Manny can do just that. Otherwise, I’ll just keep my mouth shut until the Dodgers come close again. With Torre at the helm, I look for that sooner than later.

Ramble on…

Also being the first of the month, state and federal support checks made the way out to mailboxes around the area, ensuring that there was some fatter wallets to many more potential shoppers. Add these two things together and you get a recipe for busy malls and department stores.

I stopped at Kohls to take advantage of the tax break and also found they were offering extra incentives to shop there as well. I picked up quite a few bargains and got out of there with a $20 credit off my next purchase. Score for me. Oddly enough, there weren’t that many shoppers out and about at the Kohls, but it appeared there were plenty of cars at the mall. Granted, this was late in the evening and perhaps I missed most of the crowds, but only time will tell if this weekend will help the economy as well as all the families of students. I know, I for one benefited from a new wardrobe… That’s good enough for me.

Ramble on…

So pull yourself up a rocking chair and visit with me. And if you’ve got something to add, by all means let me know. It doesn’t mean I’ll agree with you or like what you have to say, but I’ll give it a listen.

Again… Welcome to my front porch!