Pigskin ponderings

Now that football season is back, I feel normal again. Actually, I won’t feel normal until the power outages go away.

Last Sunday morning I looked forward to seeing the Florida Gators play the Hawaii Warriors on the internet at 2:30am. I set my alarm clock for 2:20. I awoke at 2:05 (instinct) and was ecstatic to see the power was still on. I sat at my desk and leaned over to turn on my computer. The power went out at 2:06. My scream woke up my wife.

“What’s the matter?” she asked.

“Gawda#$$%+#&*@#”, I grumbled back.

“Oh, I see,” she said in the dark.

You could say, Saipan has less power than a Chicago Bears quarterback.

Here are the some NFL thoughts from someone who has grown more fond of the college game than the pros.

I don’t really know what happened to the Brett Favre/Packer relationship except something went terribly awry. There was no good reason for Green Bay management to force Favre last March into making a decision to retire or come back. It wasn’t like they needed to know in order to draft a quarterback in April. They could have waited until the opening of camp. If Aaron Rodgers was their man, so be it. Then let him beat out Favre fair and square.

But Favre coming back to the New York Jets sounds too much like Joe Namath going to the Los Angeles Rams at the end of his career or Johnny Unitas going to the San Diego Chargers. Or Willie Mays fading as a New York Met. Or Pete Rose batting in the low two hundreds in a Phillie uniform just so he could break a record. It doesn’t feel right.

And if Favre is true to himself when he says he only plays because he wants to win a championship, then he fooling himself because the Jets will not get to the playoffs.

Oh well, who am I to tell Brett Favre, one of my favorite players of all time, what to do?

Here’s my prediction: Jets go 8-8 and fail to reach the playoffs. Favre erodes into an average quarterback and decides to retire at the end of the season.

Personally, I would rather go out like Jerome Bettis who retired in a Steelers uniform as a champion. That’s exiting in style. Or like John Elway.

With no special inside knowledge, I think something is wrong with Tom Brady’s foot which could spell trouble for the Patriots. It’s possible that he can play thru the injury but that problem has now been with him for nine months. That’s a long time. The heel should have healed by now.

Peyton Manning was considered by many to be a choker, a terrific quarterback who was terrible in big games. And then he finally won the Super Bowl in his ninth season. I think Tony Romo is following a similar path. His failure in the playoffs is now his reputation which will stay until he takes the Cowboys to the Promised Land. I think this is the year.

If Brady stays healthy, then the Patriots should repeat at AFC champs. If he goes down, then I am going out on a thin breadfruit limb and taking the Jacksonville Jaguars to pull off the upset special and represent the AFC.

Don’t laugh. In 2002 I picked the Tampa Bay Bucs to win the Super Bowl and they did. Of course I picked them in 1999, 2000, and 2001 as well.

Super Bowl Prediction: Dallas 27, Jacksonville 16. Don’t laugh. Just be thankful if the power is on so we can see it.