Suicide is never the Answer!

Yesterday a tragic event took place in the NFL. A linebacker for the Kansas City Chiefs took the life of his girlfriend then Jovan Belcher went to the practice facility and took his own life. Now, as I watch the pregame programming on ESPN, CBS and Fox a lot has been said about how tragic it is that former Chiefs linebacker took his own life. The only person that I have heard to this point that actually got the story into perspective was on ESPN when former Denver Bronco Tom Jackson articulated that former Chiefs linebacker killed someone and that due to his murder and death that there will be a little girl without her mom and dad.

Tom Jackson hit the nail on the head of where my frustration has been with the coverage of this event. Apparently, the NFL gave the Chiefs until 9:30 pm last night to decide if they wanted to play this game in light of recent events. Coach Romeo and the Chiefs GM were eye witnesses to the former Chiefs linebacker's cowardly act as he walked away from them and shot himself as the police were rolling up on the scene. The focus of this story shouldn't be on the former Chiefs linebacker; rather it should be focused on Kasandra Perkins, 22 year old, that had her life ended prematurely.

The two, the former Chiefs linebacker and Perkins, had a three month old girl. THREE months old. Imagine the questions this little girl is going to have as she grows up without her parents. I am sure more information will come out in the coming days to soften the suicide of the former Chiefs linebacker as that is the nature of our society. The focus should be on the fact that suicide is never the answer. Take a moment today to do a person inventory and realize that life is short enough. Talk to your kids, your family and your friends today about the importance of life and that suicide doesn't impact the coward that takes their own life as it does those that are left to deal with it. My prayers go out to Perkins family and to Kasandra's three month old daughter.

In full disclosure on why I view suicide in the nature that I do. I once was in Romeo's shoes.

NFL - Referee Experiment is Over!!!

Fans, coaches, players and anyone else can stop their dribble and light their heads out of their Cheerios this morning as the NFL and striking referees have agreed on a deal. While the referee union won't ratify the agreement til Friday the regular referees will be back on the field this evening for the Browns/Ravens game.

For the past two days all we heard about was the blown calls made in the final drive of the Seattle Seahawks and Green Bay Packers game. Did the replacement referees blow three critical calls in the final drive? Sure. Just because we will be getting back the regular referees doesn't mean calls will be blown as well. Maybe not as blatant but I will argue, as will others, that the referees blew the call when Charles Woodsen lit up Tom Brady in the playoffs and forced a fumble that later became known as the "Tuck" rule. Even our favorite referee Ed Hochuli blew the call that cost the Denver Broncos a win a few years back. Or not to mention the botched coin flip in the Dallas Cowboy game.

Remember folks there is a reason why we have instant reply and the regular referees were no quick users of this process either. I just wonder if this now will result in more penalties called on the Oakland Raiders. While it is good to see the regular referees back in action don't be fooled that they are immune to blown calls.

As an aside..now the rest of the NFL knows how Raider fans felt with the "tuck" rule!

The Year of the Raven

After a nice long weekend and reading that the private sector is creating jobs while good ole big government is not perhaps the man in charge will realize his economic philosophy is not working. That being said the NFL starts another season on Thursday when the Minnesota Vikings travel to New Orleans to take on the defending Super Bowl champs. So what do people think?

Let's start over in the AFC East where Owens bolted from the Bills for greener pastures in Cincinnati. Tom Brady will try to make it a go this year and Randy Moss is hungry for a Super Bowl ring. With all that said, no sophomore slump will take place in New York as the Jets will roar and win the AFC East.

Pittsburgh Steelers will have a tough time this year taking the division let alone making the playoffs but having Big Ben's suspension reduced by 2 games could help. The loss of Leftwhich will really hurt them. The Cleveland Browns will be the doormat of the league this year especially after losing their rookie running-back to ACL tear. The division will come down to a re-vamped Ravens O and Bengals. Carson Palmer has the weapons to have a Peyton Manning style season but is he the same quarterback before the knee injury suffered in the playoffs? Even with Ed Reed out the Ravens will take the division as the O will get the D 20-24 pts a game.

AFC South will continue to be dominated by the Colts. The Jags will fair well as they always play the Colts tough but it won't be enough to overcome Manning. The Texans could make things interesting if Foster can improve on Slaton's numbers and Walter and Owens come back in prime form from season ending injuries. The Titans may figure out a way to get into the playoffs as a Wild Card team but losing some keep members on D may prevent that.

The AFC West had a clear cut winner in the Chargers before Vincent Jackson held out. Without Jackson the Chargers offense may struggle this season as they will have a rookie running back carrying the load for the first time in 10 seasons. The Raiders showed promise in the pre-season but a lot of answers were still left unanswered. If the O can get on track then they may break .500 for the first time since their Super Bowl appearance. The Broncos are not going anywhere this year and may be the doormat of this division.

Divisional Winners – Chargers, Colts, Ravens, and Jets with the Titans and Bengals making the Wild Card. The Ravens will represent the AFC in the Super Bowl.

The NFC won't be so much a crap shoot as each division has a clear winner with few dark horses.

The Cowboys are the class of the NFC East with the Giants a close second. McNabb going to an aging Redskins team will do little but get them a high draft pick next season. The Eagles are in rebuilding mold with a young QB and a second-year back.

The NFC North goes to the Packers. Rodgers has looked near MVP like this pre-season and with another year under his belt in the O; watch out. The Vikings will go as far as Favre goes which may be only until Thursday. The Bears could be the most interesting as Martz takes over the O. The Lions are one year away from actually competing for the division.

New Orleans Saints won't experience the Super Bowl hangover that so many previous winners have. Brees comes out slinging with 4 TD's against the Vikings on Thursday night. The Falcons will give them a run for their money but in the end the Saints D wins out. Panthers and Buccaneers are both in re-building mode and will not factor this year.

With the changes in the desert and Alex Smith finally getting back to back years with the same O Coordinator, the 49ers are the front runner in the NFC West. The Rams will rely on overused Jackson to shoulder the load as the rookie attempts to learn under fire. The Seahawks will battle the Browns all season for the overall number one pick.

NFC Divisional Winners – 49ers, Saints, Packers, and Cowboys with the Vikings (if Favre holds up) and the Giants rounding out the playoff picture.

It will be the Packers going to the Super Bowl. Once at the Super Bowl the Ravens will eke out a last second win as Ed Reed picks off Rodgers bringing back memories of the INT return for a TD by the Raiders when they defeated the Vikings in Super Bowl XI.

NFL Sunday is back!!!!!!

Yesterday the National Football League (NFL), yes they had a Thursday night game, kicked off the season with some exciting games. Even though the Vikings were trailing at half, they were able to come out in the second half and put 24 points on the board. While Favre didn't put up huge numbers, Adrian Peterson showed that the extra pounds put on over the off season will not slow him down or effect his running. Peterson scored three times, including one 64-yarder that was benefited by at least three miss-tackles, and rushed for 180 yards. The team to beat in the National Football Conference (NFC) will not be the Vikings or the Giants it will be the New Orleans Saints. Granted they played the hapless Lions on Sunday.

As long as the Saints can keep Drew Brees healthy their shot at taking the NFC title will be firmly planted. Brees hooked up for six touchdowns and 358 yards against the Lions. Fantasy football owners are smiling this morning by that performance. Good thing for Direct TV and their NFL package as it enabled me to see the incredible pass reception and touchdown by Brandon Stockley who rumbled 87-yards to put the Broncos over the Bengals. For those that missed it or didn't see the reply the pass brought back memories of Franco Harris catching a ricochet pass for a touchdown against the Oakland Raiders. Just when Bengal fans thought their D had stopped the Broncos and sealed victory the tipped ball found its way into the hands of a Bronco.

Although I am in the lead in one of my fantasy football leagues, looks like I may win in all my leagues this week too, the Houston Texans offence really let me and other fantasy football owners down yesterday. Nearly every fantasy football rag and website projected a breakout season for the Texan offense. Now the Texans were facing a Rex Ryan Defense that has a knack of shutting down high potent offenses. Thankfully for one of my fantasy football teams I had Matt Ryan to use this week instead of Matt Schaub.

In another upset the Arizona Cardinals appear to have fallen into the Super Bowl loser hangover category. Neither Fitzgerald nor Boldin had a catch for the most of the first half and the player with the most catches was running back Hightower. San Francisco Giants do not have a stout defense but one would not have noticed that as they put the clamps on the Cardinals offense. The day ended with an exciting game between the Bears and Packers.

Jay Cutler did his best effort to give the game to the Packers and while the Packers did finally pull ahead when Rodgers found Jennings the score should have been much worse. The Packers did not make the most of the charity of Cutler which could prove troublesome down the road when they face more potent offenses. Tonight football fans get two Monday night games with New England/Buffalo and San Diego/Oakland. The games will prove important to many fantasy owners with studs like Rivers, L.T., T.O., Brady, and Moss playing tonight. On a personal note, I will be up late tonight watching my beloved Raiders try to recapture the "Just Win Baby" mystique against the Chargers.

While I am optimistic that the Raiders will score more points than last year, I am a realist to understand that if the defense is not able to stop the run the season will be another long one. At the end of the season last year the Raiders showed signs of major improvement under Tom Cable. Hopefully they will continue that tonight against the Dolts (Chargers). I will be rooting with reserved optimism tonight. At the end of the day the NFL is here and the season is underway!!!!!