Start waving those orange towels

Tonight the World Series that Fox TV didn’t want begins in San Francisco.  I heard the network execs crying all the way here in Kansas City when both the Yankees and Phillies went down.  All they could think about was all those TV households on the east coast that couldn’t care less about any team west of the Alleghenies.

Despite that, this works out to be a fascinating series.  The undermanned, Giants against the upstart new kids on the block from Texas.  A marquee pitching match-up to start things off, but featuring some other outstanding pitchers who are capable of great games in their own right.  I’m expecting big things from Jonathan Sanchez.

On the surface, you have to go with the Rangers.  They have the invincible Cliff Lee on the hill for three games if necessary, plus a powerful lineup led by Josh Hamilton.  They also have the better defense going in, but the same could be said for the Phillies and look who’s home for the winter.

The Giants come at you with pitching depth, a versatile lineup that doesn’t scare you, but can hurt you in many ways and they’ve got the home field advantage.  It’s not like the Rangers have been there before.  

In the end, I think this series will go down to the bullpens.  Brian Wilson can scare you to death as a closer and may blow one or two games under this kind of pressure, but the same could be said for rookie Neftali Feliz who really hasn’t been tested so far in the post season.  If it comes down to bullpen depth, I like the Giants and don’t San Fran fans finally deserve a pennant of their own?  I’ll take’em in seven.

NFL rule changes coming from the wrong direction

For years the NFL ignored the repercussions of concussions.  Players got their bells rung and team doctors and coaches sent them back on the field and laughed about the fact the player was in another area code for a while.  Finally, they came around to the fact that players needed to be held out of games until their brain function and cognition had fully returned.  Helmet to helmet hits were outlawed and those committing the crime have been fined and punished.

Now following a weekend of numerous player concussions, they league is ready to change the rules and really bring down the hammer on players for vicious hits.  But is this really a step in the right direction?  I’m all for the rule changes regarding keeping players off the field until they’ve been fully cleared after suffering a concussion, but I think they’re attacking this new issue from the wrong direction.

Sunday DeSean Jackson suffered a severe concussion as a result of a violent hit from Dunta Robinson.  But it wasn’t a helmet to helmet hit.  It was a form tackle.  Shoulder to sternum.  It was the speed at which the blow was delivered that caused the whiplash and concussion.  It occurred on a crossing pattern where Jackson was left open to the possibility of a hard hit.

NFL Operations Executive Ray Anderson says the league wants to eliminate hits with the head, forearm or shoulder to the shoulder or head areas.  You might as well say let’s play flag football.  Now you’re asking defenders to lower their heads where they risk serious injury by exposing themselves to neck injuries and concussions from contact with knees.

The only way the NFL is going to eliminate the ferocity of the hits is to eliminate the extent of the armor the players wear.  Shoulder pads need to be brought back to the size they were in the 60’s.  Players have little fear about launching themselves into another player because they’re so well protected and because of the speed at which they game is now played.  Coaching has to change as well.  No one really teaches wrapping up a player with your arms anymore.  Most tackles you see today are from a player just trying to deliver a shoulder blow.  Lessen their protective gear, lessen the ability to deliver the blow.  That should even go for helmets. 

Players use their helmets and lead with their heads because the helmet is now a weapon.  Protecting the players is important, but I believe making rash rule changes in mid season doesn’t solve the problem.  Football is a violent sport and that violence is what made it popular.  The NFL promotes that violence at every turn.  The players can change in time, but this doesn’t solve that issue.  Change the equipment.

This one should really hurt

This is one that got away for Kansas City and when the season comes to the close, it could be the difference between going to the playoffs and sitting home for another year.  For the first time this season the culprit was the defense.  The offense did everything it could do to win this one, but when your defense gives up three fourth quarter touchdowns, it’s not often you win.

The Chiefs offense was everything you could hope for.  It rushed for a season high 228 yards, Thomas Jones getting 100 and Jamaal Charles 93.  Matt Cassel was 20 of 29 with 3 TD’s, no interceptions and a 122 passer rating.  Dwayne Bowe...yes, Dwayne Bowe had six catches for 108 yards and two scores.  KC scored 17 second half points after leading by 7 at halftime and yet they lost.

The Texans scored TD’s on their final four possessions, the last two on drives of 80 yards or more in the final four minutes.  They never led until the last score in the final 28 seconds of the game.  You could point to several factors but the lack of pressure on Texans QB Matt Schaub in the second half and the failure to force a turnover were critical in my book.  

Throw in a bad interference call on the final drive and a rookie mistake by Eric Berry on Andre Johnson’s game winning catch and you have a loss that shouldn’t have been a loss.  How the Chiefs bounce back from this defeat next week at home against Jacksonville will say everything about how far Todd Haley’s team has truly progressed.

Do we really care who Favre is texting?

As the Minnesota Vikings prepared for Monday night’s game against the New York Jets there was more talk about Brett Favre and Jenn Sterger than there was on the effect having Randy Moss in the Vikings lineup was going to have on the game.  Isn’t it amazing that a story that has been percolating on the internet for months now suddenly became a big story just days before the Vikings and Favre were headed to the Big Apple for a game?

I’m not quite sure when covering the world of sports suddenly crossed over into the porn beat, but I’m really sick of it.  First of all, if Favre was sexting and making passes at Jets female employees when he played there two years ago, he was an idiot.  But sexual harassment aside, I’m not quite sure where the public and NFL comes in here.  

In the case of Sterger, she’s apparently said all along she had no intent of pursuing the matter, she just happened to let a few friends know what was going on, allegedly and word got out.  In the case of the other two Jets female masseuses, they sound like bandwagon jumpers.  

One claims Favre stared at her ass while he was getting a massage from another woman.  Really?  If it’s a sexual harassment issue, wouldn’t it be something that would have been taken care of privately by his employer, the Jets?

If true, as I said, Favre is giving his good old boy Mississippi background brand name a beat down.  But does America really care?  Do NFL fans really care?  And by the way, if the NFL is fast tracking their investigation with a possibility of suspending him, don’t they need to start suspending all players involved in infidelity?  And if they’re going to suspend players for that, they damn well better suspend them for DUI’s.  

If this was sexual banter between two consenting adults, why does everyone else have to get involved?  It’s Brett’s problem and an issue he and his wife have to deal with.  I could really care less. 

It's a great start, but it's only a start

The Chiefs head into their bye week probably wishing they didn’t have the time off right now.  The team has a lot of momentum following their 31-10 demolition of San Francisco.  KC is now the surprise team in the NFL sitting at 3-0 and they didn’t win this one ugly.

Kansas City dominated the 49’ers in all phases.  Defensively they shut down the San Fran running attack and pressured QB Alex Smith into five sacks and an interception.  Offensively, Thomas Jones and Jamaal Charles each had over 95 yards rushing and combined with Dexter McCluster accounted for 310 yards in offense.  

I've got no problem with how the Chiefs used Charles, who had 154 yards in total offense.  In fact, you can understand the philosophy of limiting his touches early in the year if possible.  I puts less of a strain on the shoulder he had surgery on in the off season and leaves him fresher for the later part of the year when the run game often times becomes more important.  As long as they win, it's tough to argue with it.

Matt Cassel threw for 250 yards and three TD’s, his best performance by far this season.  Rookie tight end Tony Moeaki made a phenomenal one handed grab for one of the scores.  He continues to impress me with his athleticism.  With the exception of a missed 38 yard FG by Ryan Succup, not much went wrong in this game for KC whose offense totaled 447 yards.

Head coach Todd Haley was thrilled with the win, but kept an even keel after the game, talking first about being 3-0 in the first quarter of the season, but also about having a week off to work on the things they need to improve on since they’re a team that hasn’t had much success in recent years.  It was a response really meant more for his players than the media.  

Haley knows 3-0 guarantees a team nothing when it comes to making the playoffs, but it certainly improves the odds.  In fact, 75% of teams that start 3-0 make the playoffs.  But Kansas City shouldn't start making plans just yet.  Last season the Broncos started off 6-2 and led the division by two games, but they didn't make the playoffs.  In 2008 Buffalo started 3-0 but they were sitting at home in front of their fires when playoff time came around.