The Dugout – Say G’Day to the New Season
And So It Begins…
The National Football League, finally now returned. They do it smart in the NFL, keeping the season brief (17 weeks of regulars) but always maintaining the hype. By the time it comes back each September it takes about three minutes before you’ve settled in like it had never gone away.
Week one gave us a surprisingly tough Atlanta Falcons team, it gave us a rookie QB showdown that wasn’t exactly a close fight (we’ll come back to that), it gave us a Carlos Hyde breakout game and it gave us some old veterans doing their thing as well as ever.
A few of defensive units that are gonna be tough to face:
The Buffalo Bills made Andrew Luck look his age. Not many can do that. This Bills D was always gonna be good but not that many pundits seemed to rate them as a threat thanks to their unproven QB: Tyrod Taylor. Well, Tyrod was gigantic. The Bills are legit.
The game between the Ravens and Broncos should have been a shootout but instead it was a defensive burner. Both units were great, however the Broncs were the ones that sealed it with a late interception. And Balty will be ruing the loss of leader Terrell Suggs, done for the season with a torn achilles. That Ravens lot is a deep one though, they’ll bounce back.
And then on top of that, we have the biggest surprise defensive unit and that’s the Atlanta Falcons. They softened in the second half some, yet this was not supposed to be a threatening D. Mike Quinn’s got them moving though (he was one of the masterminds of Seattle’s Legion of Boom, so.., pedigree). Sam Bradford and the Eagles couldn’t get anything going in that first half. Aside from a 69 yard drive for a FG, they only managed another 59 yards in the first two quarters. If it weren’t for a couple red zone interceptions then ‘Lanta would’ve had it in the bag. As it was, the Eagles rallied and the Falcons needed a late goal to win it. DeMarco Murray had just 9 rushing yards total.
Hayne Plane #1
‘BUT WILL HE PLAY!?’ – Educated Australia after Hayne-Bags made the 53 man roster.
Yeah, turns out he will. And he did.
Hayne was made active for the season opener, with RB Mike Davis sitting it out. That meant three running backs for the game against the Minnesota Vikings, starter Corey Hyde and backup Reggie Bush. In what was an otherwise kinda terrible game full of flags and mistakes, Hyde was absolutely fantastic, proving himself the starting RB that the organisation thought he could be.
But Reggie Bush didn’t have such a night. He left the night with a strained calf after just two carries. It was feared he’d be out for a while with a tear but that’s been assuaged, at least. Which might not be the best for Hayne in the meantime, Bush is week to week, and with him out against the Vikes it meant Hayne got his reps as Hyde’s backup. So when Hyde needed a rest, in came Hayne.
His first touch was a punt return, though, and it was as bad as you could imagine.
Hey, but this is a guy who picked up his entire life and career to chase a passion. He’s pretty resilient. The rest of his night was sparing but under-cover solid as he threw in a few blocks and ran the ball pretty well. One shifty step on a backfield catch won him some yards, as well as a 9 yard run in which he shook a few tacklers off him. Decent start, should be more to come.
And while we’re at it, gotta update ya on kiwi Paul Lasike. Unfortunately after getting named to the Chicago Bears practice roster, he was cut a day later due to visa issues. He needed a new work visa to take on a new employer and that wasn’t done in time. It’s a complicated process, and could take up to a month to sort out, so if they choose to go through that process and get it done then there’s no reason they can’t add him back when the paperwork comes through. Don’t give up the dream just yet.
Corey Web-Star
One more NZer whose American dream is very much still alive is Corey Webster. He’s officially had his NBA trial with the New Orleans Pelicans extended with a three year non-guaranteed contract that’ll get him into training camp.
That training camp begins on the 29th of September and runs for 4 days. Webster will stay in America ‘til then and work with the Pelly coaches to improve his odds. As it stands, NOP has 13 players contracted for next season with Norris Cole expected to join them. Which leaves one open spot to compete for.
The three year contract sounds awesome but mostly it’s just formality. All non-guaranteed so he can be cut at any time. By the looks of the roster and other camp invites, Webster will be battling Sean Kilpatrick and Bryce Dejean-Jones for that last spot.
"It is again up to me now to prove my value to the organization, to put my head down and give it my best shot at training camp. I came here this week with a three day window to impress, this has bought me more time and a chance to take the jump into the actual NBA roster." - CW
Best of luck, champ.
The Post-Season Pile-Up
Believe it or not, we’re just three weeks removed from the end of the MLB season. 162 games will be complete and a lucky/good select few teams will be preparing for some playoff action. But who? Let’s take a look-see, shall we?
Over in the National League, we can basically write the New York Mets and LA Dodgers in permanent ink coz it’s gonna take a reverse miracle for them to miss out. The Mets have been helped by the fact that the Washington Nationals have had a shocking second half of the season, way too inconsistent to compete with the best of them, despite what looked like the best rotation in the business. The Mets swept the Nats last week, so that’s more or less over. The Dodgers have slightly less room to move but it oughta be enough to keep last year’s champs, the San Francisco Giants, from having the chacnce to defend their title. The NL Central is where it’s interesting, coz the St Louis Cardinals hold a slight lead over the Pittsburgh Pirates, who in turn are four games up on the Chicago Cubbies. The Pirates still have three to play against the Cards, so that one’s headed for a photo finish. All three should at least get a wildcard spot but the wildcard means a one game playoff. The division title is so much less of a lottery.
The Kansas City Royals won the American League last season and have the best record in the majors this one. They’re cruising back to the playoffs. But the other two divisions and the wildcard race are anyone’s guess. The Texas Rangers just overtook the Houston Astros in the West for the first time in 2014, while the Toronto Blue Jays are holding tight to a lead over the New York Yankees. And however doesn’t win there is battling the LA Angels and Minnesota Twins for those two wildcard spots.
Baseball tends to be all about the long haul, which can make following it day in day out a bit unrewarding. Yet come this time, the stakes are higher than ever and suddenly every game counts. Every run goes to make up for the toils of the rest of the year.
Put simply: It’s business time.
RIP Moses Malone
Throwback Bo
Big Bad Billy
Young Billy
Uncanny Melo
Nipple Fashion by Russ
Get On Up
NFL Week 1 Power Rankings:
- New England Patriots
- Green Bay Packers
- Dallas Cowboys
- St Louis Rams
- Atlanta Falcons
- Denver Broncos
- Buffalo Bills
- San Diego Chargers
- Cincinnati Bengals
- Miami Dolphins
Quote of the Week:
“This year, I've been getting a lot of requests for Future. But that dynamic is weird too, because I can barely play Future with Ciara running around and that's her baby's dad. It's just that he has a dope-ass album out right now, players like to hear it, it definitely gets you pumped up -- even though it's low-tempo, it's still stuff that you want to hear -- and then you've got Ciara running up with little baby Future and she's dating Russell so it's like, ‘Oh fuck’”
DJ DV One, the official DJ of the Seattle Seahawks, is conflicted about what songs to play on game day.
Runner-Up Quote of the Week:
Good Week:
Tom Brady (New England Patriots) – Dammit, of course he was gonna come out and just slay. Brady celebrated his lack of a suspension by going 25-32 for 288 yards with 4 TDs, three of them to Rob Gronkowski. The Steelers defence is far from the Steelers defence of old but even still that was just clinical from Brady. So good.
Carlos Hyde (San Francisco 49ers) – There are a number of dudes this week that could get this spot, Phil Rivers was tops, Julio Jones, Tony Romo, Keenan Allen, Aaron Donald… but Hyde gets it for his 168 yard, 2 TD night against the Vikings. 77 after contact, he was a monster on the ground. This spin move is wicked.
Bryce Harper (Washington Nationals) – Just checking in to confirm that Harper will indeed be winning the National League MVP this season. His two-homer night against the Phillies puts him at 39 for the year with an average of .338, 90 RBI and an on base percentage of .467. And he’s only 22 years old.
Bad Week:
Peyton Manning (Denver Broncos) – His team may have won but that was all down to some suffocating defence. Peyton, meanwhile, seems to have continued on the path of struggles that he ended last season on. Including playoffs, he’s throwing at 59.3% with 3 TDs and 5 INTs in his last 4 games.
New York Giants – Once again, ouch.
James Harden (Houston Rockets & Adidas) – The almost-MVP Harden made a bit of a fool of himself by getting snapped by some paparazzi (scum) at the movies wearing Air Jordans… despite his strict endorsement with Adidas – that he only signed last month. Sounds harsh, but when they’re paying you $200m over the next 13 years, and giving you free shoes on top of that, like… come on, man. Luckily that new deal doesn’t officially commence until the start of October, so no breach of contract just yet.
Player of the Week:
Marcus Mariota (Tennessee Titans) – Sure, he’s only played one game. But what a game! 13-16, 209 yards, 4 TDs and 0 INTs. A perfect QBR of 158.3. The only other player in NFL history to throw 4 TDs on debut was Fran Tarkenton, now a Hall of Famer. Meanwhile his opposing QB was the only man picked above him last draft, Jameis Winston... who threw his first pass for a pick six. But hey, the last guy to do that was Brett Favre.