I am never short of opinions in my head as to how I feel on a particular subject, the problem is putting those thoughts down in a post. I hem and haw and by the time I decide that I should post about it the moment has passed and we are on to something else. That’s the dilemma I face on a daily basis, so do I post about it, do I wait, or do I just let it go, I really have a problem with it. I get distracted, I focus on other things, I lose the moment and it pisses me off sometimes, because I know I have lost the most opportune time to speak up. By the time I am prepared to discuss or speak my mind, the moment is gone and other events have occurred and seemingly what I have to say doesn’t seem important any longer. This is part of my habitual procrastination and has been my entire life. I lose the moment because I am afraid to offend or worried about the perception of my peers, whether it be family, friends, or co-workers. I also tend to lose the moment because I get distracted by outside forces, whether it be work, the occasional outing, or the TV/internet.
Problem is that I have been making these same excuses for years and it is time for me to come out of my shell, whether it be like a bull or with a murmur, I am going to come out of this shell and once released, it will be a sight to behold. I’m going to try and start with this post tonight and will follow up that with hopefully one tomorrow night, and hopefully the night after that. Let’s just start with one, shall we? I’m not gonna stick to sports, although most of what I post will be about sports, I will at times, go off the reservation, as they say. My words may not be eloquent, and my grammar will most definitely suck, but what I post will be from the heart, from my warped mind, and the words will most definitely be all mine. So buckle up, get comfortable and let’s do this.
Let me begin with something easy. The NCAA Men’s tournament started today, and no, I did not fill out a bracket. I learned from last year that I don’t have a clue how to fill one out. (or was it two years ago?) Anyway, I only filled out the first round and thought I would be able to fill it in as the tournament progressed (yes I am an idiot). It was my first AND LAST year filling out a bracket. I don’t follow college basketball as closely as I do NCAA football, and from the brackets that I have seen in the past, neither does anyone else for that matter, so for me to fill out a bracket and embarrass myself is not one of the things that are high up on my to-do list. So good luck to whoever decides to put themselves out there and pick all the wrong teams, only to be shamed and laughed at for the next 12 months. I will watch for the pure enjoyment of the games, the upsets, the close games, and ultimately the Final Four in Minneapolis.
Now something closer to my wheelhouse… The Raiders traded for Antonio Brown, the Jets signed L’eveon Bell, Odell Beckham Jr was traded to the Browns for Jabril Peppers and some draft picks, Bortles is out of Jacksonville in favor of Nick Foles, Fitzmagic has landed in Miami, and just in the last couple of days, Clay Matthews is a Ram and Vontaze Burfict is a Raider (Perfect!!) . Now, these aren’t all of the signings or trades, but these are some of the biggest in my head, and although I won't go into great detail into each trade I mentioned but I will say that the NFL is gonna look pretty weird next year will all of these faces in new places. Players that were thought to be with their former teams the remainder of their careers just up and left for what they hope are greener pastures.
I’m glad to have Beckham in Cleveland, but I won’t be sold until he can prove that he plays well with others. I have the same feelings about Bell and Brown. They were distractions on their former team, despite the rumors of Big Ben playing favorites, and now they have to play on teams that are worse than the one they left. Both teams are in rebuild mode and it may be a year or two before they see the playoffs (if they even do) and both will have a lot of growing up to do. Blake Bortles was run out of town in Jax, and now is backing up Jared Goff in LA, which is like going to purgatory. Oh sure he may get a ring, but it won't be because he is under center, it will be either holding a clipboard or Goff’s jock. Dude had a great defense to carry him, ala Trent Dilfer and Brad Johnson, but yet he still could not muster enough offense to get them back to the playoffs this year. Foles has a great situation and if he doesn’t succeed in Jax, then no one can. The Dolphins have already given up on 2019 with the signing of Fitzpatrick. Look for them to go after a QB in the draft next month and allow him to learn next year under Fitz, which is a pretty good deal in my eyes. I will only say this about Burfict – he is the dirtiest player in the game and him going to the Raiders is perfect, he’ll fit right in with the history of the Black Hole and the fans will love him, but don’t expect him to play all 16 games, I expect an injury or a suspension to sideline him at some point during the season. Finally, I will say that Clay Matthews leaving the Packers was never even on my radar. This is shocking to me. He is one of those players that I thought would be with their team until the end of his career, boy was I wrong about that. The Rams are a good fit, he lives minutes from the facility and he gets a fresh start to his potential HOF career.
I’ll save my Tampa Bay Lightning speech for the next post, so as to spare my good friend Jon Olson the torture, so I will end on this.. Let me be perfectly clear and concise so there is no gray area because I want to make it clear where I stand. I rarely talk politics in the open, and the reason for that is because I happen to be the only member of my family, with the CA contingent as an exception (Hi John & Karen!!), that did NOT vote for the Cheeto in the White House, thus I try and avoid the discussion or just let them get it out of their system and discuss something else. I love my family and would step in front of a bullet for any of them, but I don’t see the needed effort to try and change the minds of those that will not change. I have friends and co-workers that are in love with this man, however, I also cherish those relationships and do not get into the discussion with them either, so as not to lose them as friends. I don’t believe that one’s political leanings should be the basis in which family and friendships are made, so I enjoy their company and simply do not discuss the current political climate so as to keep those friendships. If I didn’t care about them being in my life, then by all means, we would get into it, but otherwise, I will not approach the subject. With that being said… I reserve the right to speak my mind here in written word and if you choose to comment, by all means, comment, but I will not get into a shit throwing match with you nor will I accept any insults toward either myself or my commenters. You want to have a civil discussion, I’m all for it, but keep in mind I will not throw personal attacks at either his supporters or detractors, but I WILL call him out and express my opinion of him. He is a political figure in the public spotlight and is fair game.
How’s that for a start?… Let the games begin…
Scott – The Sports Nerd