The matchup on Sunday between the Detroit Lions and the Cleveland Browns is a game between two of the worst franchises in the NFL. Both teams sit with records of 1-8, and a person has to wonder: What in this game is worth watching?
The team with the worst record in the NFL is granted the first pick in the next season's NFL Draft, so the game between the two teams has interesting implications. No players would want to tank a game on purpose, but would the owners of either team want to lose on purpose?
When the San Francisco 49ers and the Houston Texans squared off for last place in the final game of the 2005 NFL season the skepticism was proven wrong. The 49ers came out and defeated the Texans, thus costing themselves the first pick in the draft the next year. The players for the Texans were distraught over the loss, but the team did receive the No. 1 pick and drafted defensive end Mario Williams out of North Carolina State University.
The other interesting thing to watch in this game is the utterly bad football that will be played. If you like follies then this is the game for you. When the Lions and Browns played against one another eight years ago Lions quarterback Ty Detmer threw seven interceptions, the most thrown in NFL history. That's not exactly the record a player wants to associate himself with. The Lions have a terrible defense and the Browns have a terrible offense, scoring no points in their previous game. It's time to bust out the 1920s piano bar music for this game. It's going to be ugly.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Sports Wars Episode VI: Return of the Legends
Well the Yanks finally did it: after a nine-year drought the New York Yankees are World Series champions.
For the world that doesn't care about sports your regular scheduled programming will resume. For me, this World Series brings to mind the fact that the teams of old who dominated the previous century are returning to glory here in 2009.
The Pittsburgh Steelers, the team of the 70s, returned to glory winning their sixth Super Bowl. This set an NFL record for Super Bowl wins. The Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Detroit Red Wings in the NHL Playoffs to win a third Stanley Cup, reviving the glory days of the early 90s. The Los Angeles Lakers, showtime of the 80s and Shaqtime of the early 2000s, won their 15th NBA championship by defeating the Orlando Magic. Now, the New York Yankees, the team who made baseball what it is today, won their 27th World Series Championship.
I think this is fantastic for sports. To see the traditional teams winning championships again reinvigorates the old-timers. More importantly, it gives the youngsters a feel of what it might have been like to watch Magic Johnson vs. Larry Bird in the NBA Finals, to see Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, Mario Lemieux in 1991 and 1992, and Terry Bradshaw and the Steel Curtain against Roger Staubach and the Cowboys.
Today it's Kobe Bryant vs. Dwight Howard in the NBA Finals, Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter, Sidney Crosby in '09, and Ben Roethlisberger and the New Steel Curtain against anybody from the NFC. This has been a fantastic year of sports.
For the world that doesn't care about sports your regular scheduled programming will resume. For me, this World Series brings to mind the fact that the teams of old who dominated the previous century are returning to glory here in 2009.
The Pittsburgh Steelers, the team of the 70s, returned to glory winning their sixth Super Bowl. This set an NFL record for Super Bowl wins. The Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Detroit Red Wings in the NHL Playoffs to win a third Stanley Cup, reviving the glory days of the early 90s. The Los Angeles Lakers, showtime of the 80s and Shaqtime of the early 2000s, won their 15th NBA championship by defeating the Orlando Magic. Now, the New York Yankees, the team who made baseball what it is today, won their 27th World Series Championship.
I think this is fantastic for sports. To see the traditional teams winning championships again reinvigorates the old-timers. More importantly, it gives the youngsters a feel of what it might have been like to watch Magic Johnson vs. Larry Bird in the NBA Finals, to see Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, Mario Lemieux in 1991 and 1992, and Terry Bradshaw and the Steel Curtain against Roger Staubach and the Cowboys.
Today it's Kobe Bryant vs. Dwight Howard in the NBA Finals, Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter, Sidney Crosby in '09, and Ben Roethlisberger and the New Steel Curtain against anybody from the NFC. This has been a fantastic year of sports.
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