The Beginning...

I've always wondered who would put themselves through this. Who would want to toss out all of those ideas, predictions, pondering, and opinions, just to have the world mock, ridicule, and scream about the shared information. I guess I'm a glutton for punishment.

This article is not like the 'unbiased' articles you'll find all over the internet. I won't lie about the facts and here they are.

1. I love football.
2. I follow professional Minnesota sports. (You'll notice that didn't claim to cheer for them.)
3. I believe in the Madden curse.
4. Most announcers annoy me to tears. (I'm inviting the worst phrases of the day to be sent in.)
5. When sports aren't holding my attention, I will likely ignore their existence.
6. I believe Soccer is an enjoyable sport, deal with it.
7. I should probably take remedial English at some point.
8. I love lists.

A few final points. I can't guarantee the occurence of this posting. Unfortunately, I have a job, wife, and life, and though they don't exactly come in that order of importance, they all come before this article. This would be, because I need to keep money in my pocket, my hearing, and some semblance of sanity. You can choose what leads to what.

On to the heart of the matter: the NFL season. Now, the one thing I want to start with, is my booms and busts for this year. Unfortunately, the season is going already, so you're just going to have to trust me on the honesty of the list.

Biggest busts this year:
1. Randy Moss: I figured he'd be gangbusters for a few games (not necessarily the first few), but had the idea in my head that his injuries would come hard and come fast. This may be, but I watched him in Minnesota play through injuries when he was winning. We may see this again, and Raiders fans are going to be angry, and rightly so. ESPN's Page 2 pointed this out today.
2. The Dallas Cowboy's offense: I was guessing that Romo would succumb to the missed snap, TO would implode due to it, and Julius Jones would finally show that he is not a starting back. Wade is holding them together so far, but the season is still young.
3. Plaxico Burress: Injuries and the loss of a running game, right? Well, maybe an injury, but it looks like anyone can run behind the Giants line right now.
4. Fred Taylor: How would he handle the loss of some carries to the young kid? How would the thought that it is his last year in Jacksonville treat him?
5. The NY Giant's defense: Strahan's holdout and a couple of brittle young guys around him (Osi and Kiwanuka). Their DB's have never scared anyone.
6. Ronnie Brown: He's taken a bit of a beating the last few years, and no one is fearing the Dolphin's offense with a new QB, porous line, and fading receivers.
7. The Baltimore Raven's offense: Unless Heap and McGahee could carry the team, it just seems like a team without a hope.
8. Rex Grossman: With or without a Superbowl visit, Rex is a stumble away each week from turning a 4 TD game into a 4 TO game.
9. Vince Young: On top of being the Madden cover boy (which Manning and LT passed on), it just appears he needs to make faster better reads to be successful. That is the case with everyone, but it is going to be near impossible for Young to live up to many people's expectations this year as a second year QB.
10. Frank Gore: This has nothing to do with Gore's skill. I just assumed defenses would finally give up on Alex Smith's passing and stack 8 and 9 guys in the box to stop Gore. Davis is fast, but runs pour routes and Darrell Jackson was great in Seattle, because Hasselbeck knew where Jackson was every hour of every day. It was magic, and he doesn't have that with Smith. Don't get me wrong, Smith might be good some day (he's 23 as a 3rd year player), but the magic 8 ball doesn't point to this year.

I won't claim to be a psychic, and that should be obvious when you read this list. The reasoning seemed sound at the time, but, like my attention span, it faded quickly. This is where I will stop for the day, but I will end with one request. If you read this, let me know. If not, at least visit www.vote756.com. I'll later go into why I think this is one of the greatest things done in recent memory, but I feel this deserves more time and focus than I have tonight.

This has been a Matter of Fact.