Before we get to the column, which will be mostly useless, and possibly amusing, I thought I’d share some Free Agent suggestions. These are guys who may not be obvious but I’m assuming that other people have gone in and gotten the bigger names, so now we all need to get creative to fill bye weeks.
Here they are in no particular order –
- Cedric Houston, RB, Jets – With Derrick Blaylock out and Curtis Martin old and dinged up, look for the Jets to get this rookie some touches. If Martin goes down, he’d likely be the starting RB.
- Aaron Stecker, RB, Saints – Sure, Antowain Smith will be listed as the starter for New Orleans now that Deuce is out for the season. But Stecker is shifty and if Smith is slow and not getting many yards per carry, they will likely turn to Stecker.
- D.J. Hackett, WR, Seahawks – The obvious choice to fill in at WR in Seattle is Joe Jurevicius who will replace Darrell Jackson who may miss more time with a bad knee. But Bobby Engram has cracked ribs and may miss more games too. Keep an eye on that situation since Matt Hasselbeck is throwing well (318 yards and two TDs last week). Hackett was in the starting lineup on Sunday and caught five balls for 43 yards. Peter Warrick only had one catch for seven yards. So look for Hackett to play a role in the Seahawks offense as long as Engram and Jackson are hurt. He might be a good sub if you’ve got one of your wide receivers on a bye week. Seattle’s bye is in Week 8.
Now onto a Great Day for Sports…
At about 7 p.m. on Sunday, my brother Adam calls me from his couch in DC. I see his number and get nervous that something bad has happened (that’s my nature). Instead, the conversation goes as follows:
Brother: Is this the best sports-watching day ever?
Me (relieved that sports is the topic): Yesss! This Astros/Braves game was insane. Eighteen innings! But I have to admit I was hoping it would end in 15 innings and not beat the Mets/Astros record for longest playoff game in history (Note: my brother and I are Met fans).
Bro: I know. Me too.
Me: Can you believe Clemens? I still haven’t gotten over him throwing at Piazza’s head and the bat incident, but you gotta respect the guy.
Bro: I know. Ridiculous! It shouldn’t be possible to pitch three scoreless innings on three days rest. Not at his age. And he was the last guy in the pen. I was hoping the game would keep going and he’d have to pitch another five innings just to see what would have happened. And we still have another baseball game to go with Yanks/Angels tonight. And on top of that, it’s a football-viewing bonanza today. And we’ve got another football game tonight. It’s a sports smorgasbord.
Me (sung to tune of Elton John song): “Vinny. Vinny. Vinny and the Jets.”
Bro: Very nice. Keep your day job. Actually, they showed the Jet game here in DC so I got to watch some New York football. Testaverde was amazing.
Me: I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. How is it possible to go from mowing your lawn and sitting on your couch eating chips one week to starting at quarterback for an NFL team a week or two later? And he leads them on two touchdown drives and only gets sacked once. It’s simply not possible. He’s been out of football for nine months and he’s old. The guy is your age (Note: my brother is older than I am so it’s always good to point that out whenever possible).
Bro: Yeah, but how come Ronde Barber didn’t get thrown out? Did you see that play? He punched a ref! I had the Ravens game on and Suggs did a lot less than that and got tossed.
Me: I know. I couldn’t believe it. I was watching to see if Barber would cost the Jets the game. If they lost, I would have protested on behalf of the Jets. You can’t leave a guy in who takes a swing and hits the ref, even if he meant to hit one of the Jets instead. They threw Jeremiah Trotter out for less of a swing on the opening Monday Night Football game. It’s a good thing the Jets won. I wouldn’t be surprised if Barber gets a one-game suspension when they review it. Unbelievable!
Bro: If they didn’t throw him out of the game on the spot, they’ll probably just fine him.
Me: A travesty. He should miss a game. And get a huge fine.
Bro: Did you see that the Eagles lost to the Cowboys? The Giants are in first place in the division.
Me: Yeah, they showed Eagles/Cowboys here in New York. It wasn’t so much that the Cowboys looked good, but the Eagles looked awful. They have absolutely no running game. Westbrook should be a change of pace back, not an every down back. And McNabb killed my fantasy team. You know that NFFC league I’m in that pays $5,000 to the winner of each league and 100 grand as the grand prize? I was undefeated until now but McNabb did nothing. Nada. Nyet.
Bro: Still, as a Giant fan you have to be happy the Eagles lost.
Me: As a Giant fan, I’m happy but I’m embarrassed for the conference. If the Eagles aren’t an elite team, then there aren’t any in the NFC. The Falcons defense is a big disappointment. The entire NFC North is a bad joke. I know that if it’s a down-year the Giants have a shot to make the playoffs but how about some pride from the NFC?
Bro: Who cares about pride? I care about playoffs. Do you think Padres fans cared that their team was a joke when they made the playoffs?
Me: Padres? Were they actually in the playoffs? Talk about no respect. If you blinked, you missed their games. If you live on the East Coast, they never played a game at a time you could view it. I don’t actually think they played the Cards. I think they just decided it was kinder to concede the series and spare everyone having to watch it.
(Loud ringing sound can be heard in the background.)
Bro: What did you order?
Me: Chinese food. Hey, it’s Sunday night in New York.
Bro: Enjoy.
Me: Cool. Thanks for calling.
Lori Rubinson co-hosts a daily sports talk radio show in NJ called The Sports Buzz. Through four weeks, her NFFC fantasy team was undefeated and she was in fifth place out of 280 teams. That will likely not be the case after Week Five.