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Wed. Sep 18, 2002

Boys of September

Boys of September – And I ain’t talkin’ ’bout baseball. The NFL just finished its second week, and it’s already stolen what little interest I had in baseball. The two teams most favored to go to the Super Bowl are 0-2, the New Orleans ’Aints have put the ”S” back in front of their name, and the Falcons … well, they’re 0-2.

But at least they’ve made it interesting. They took the Packers into overtime in a 70 point shootout, and lost to Chicago when they missed last minute field goal. And judging by the jump in performance between his first year and his second, Michael Vick is going to someday be remembered alongside names like Montana, Marino, Elway, and Young. He’s still got a ways to go to match someone like Donovan McNabb, a QB with a somewhat similar style, but he’s very young. And he’ll be around a long time. Even in his current near-rookie form, he’s been a blast to watch.

It’s also been fun for me to watch Steve Spurrier cannonball into the NFL in his inimitable style. I’m not a Redskin fan, but Donald Sensing is: "Anyway, what Spurrier has to consider now is that there are no off weeks in the NFL. He is playing the equivalent of Tennessee or FSU every week. There are no rankings, there is only the cold, cruel ledger of the win-loss ratio. Not only is every NFL team going to play him at a consistently high level he is not used to facing week after week, at some point he will realize that the other head coaches are just as good as he is, or better."

I admit it. I giggled quite a bit at his distraught face on the sidelines Monday night. Welcome to the Big Leagues, Steve.