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As a sports fan are you superstitious or do you believe in jinxes or curses?  While I do not consider myself to be such a person I waited to write this entry for one reason.  I believed the Boston Red Sox had a curse on my favorite baseball team, The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.  I am an old guy and it is still hard for me to call them the Los Angeles Angels but I have become more used to it.  I used to work for the Angels and was there way back in 1986 when Dave Henderson hit his home run and well let’s not rehash painful history.  The Red Sox also eliminated the Angels in 2004, 2007 and 2008.  It was not just that the Sox beat them it was how they smashed them.  The Angels team that played in those playoffs did not resemble the team that played in the regular season.

So I was very fearful that this year would be a replay of years past.  The Sox had the Angels cursed or the very least they had their number.  I held off writing about the baseball playoffs because I did not want to jinx the Angels against Boston.  There is still a part of me that is not sure this is a good idea but maybe the curse has been lifted (I apologize to all Cub fans when I use the word curse).  I am rooting for a Freeway World Series.  Might as well go for broke and risk the wrath of the Baseball Gods.

Although I was greatly encouraged that the Angels took a two game lead in the series, I was filled with great fear going to Boston.  The game went as expected, Boston had the lead and brought in Paplebon.  Paplebon has a career era of 1.84 and they put up the graphic that he had not allowed an earned run in all of his post season play.  Should be game over lights out let’s regroup and get them next game.  Somehow the Angels overcame the hex and swept the Red Sox in three straight with the last one in Boston!  Reliever Darren Oliver got the win and he hails from nearby Rio Linda up here in Northern Cal. Very Sweet.  The graphics people at TBS were stunned as I noticed they kept getting the score wrong at the end.  They had 7-7, then put up Boston 7 Los Angeles 6 and finally got it right at Los Angeles 7 Boston 6.  So let’s go all the way and root for a Freeway Series.

Angel fans please do not pay any attention to the chatter that will becoming up about how the Angels have a winning record against the Yankees and have…gulp, the Yankees number.  It is not good to believe in a curse working for your team because as the Angels just proved, curses can be broken.

After many of our games on SportsNetUSA.net, I like to go back to the college campus and visit with the fans and players about their latest victory or loss. Most of our conversations are lively and filled with colorful expressions and in many cases I have to be frank, I am not quite sure what is
being said to me.  I know I am a little, okay a lot, older… alright, I am old enough to be most students’ parent on the college campus. But please, is the art of communication no longer taught on college campuses or am I fooling myself into thinking that I am dealing with student-athletes.

Ah yes, the student athlete: He is 6’2” 223 and is astute, bright, clever and shrewd. She is 5’9” a perfect size 6 and is eager, ardent, interesting and intelligent ……..wait a second my phone is ringing and I haven’t even posted this blog yet, “hello, hey Ed, no, no I am not forgetting
the past students in, wait my other line is beeping, Title IX what’s up, yea I know I got Ed on the other line and I do remember all those conversations we had on FRIDAY NIGHT MIC’S , just a sec my other line is, ED, hold on ..Franchise what do you want? …Ed got to go …Title IX talk to you later …..Franchise? call me back.”

Wow! What reaction you get when you put the words student and athlete together and I get it just because, as we see, more student athletes, no matter what gender, use the schools they attend to promote their athletic abilities and not further their educational dreams. But where in this whole case of semantics do the colleges and universities fit into scheme of things? What has happened to the phrase Coaches/educators or Educators/coaches?

Nowadays it seems what is more important to many people in the athletic departments is: how do we build the next great college dynasty and who cares how we do it?  There will be those out there that will try to explain to me that these young athletes are now in the college world and it is not the
responsibility of the college to follow them around from class to class to make sure they are maintaining their GPA in all the appropriate areas. But boy howdy, if an athlete may be running into the question of being academically qualified a college or university will pull as many strings as they can to make sure that athlete plays in the upcoming game on the team’s schedule. Let’s be realistic,
there are very few Pat Hadens and Myron Rolles in the academic side of sports, they are the exceptions to the rule.

I need to apologize about not getting this entry in earlier. Sometimes I am really very indecisive about what subject to write about. I have learned that sports fans hate people that are indecisive and really hate those that change their minds. Anyway, as a former president used to say, there you go again. That is right, another entry about the Brett Favre endless story. I really just want to hear people that were against him coming back to now say, the facts are in and it has been great for the NFL. Is that asking too much? I have enjoyed watching TV and listening to announcers attack this guy and then last week watched them retreat before the Monday night Packer-Viking game. There were many ESPN guys that were against his comeback and then turned and pumped up the Packer-Viking game and the hype machine. The hype worked as that game was the most-watched show in cable TV history with 21.8 million viewers watching.

So is it really asking too much for some of you to come clean and say, Favre’s return has been fantastic for the NFL? I know you can do it. There is not much else to say about the game, it was a pretty good game. Aaron Rodgers will probably end any association he has with any one with a first or last name of Allen. Jared Allen could not be blocked all night but it would have been nice if a Packer at least touched him on occasion. Could someone explain to me why Allen’s calf roping/tying thing is not taunting? What is the difference between an end zone taunt and what he does after a sack? I have heard some say, well Brett is with a better team. Well that is not his fault is it? If the Vikings have more talent then certainly that would be on Mike McCarthy and Ted Thompson. I look forward to the rematch in Green Bay.

Here is some more retirement news. Junior Seau is reported to be rejoining the Patriots. Charger fans you need to burn your Seau gear as he is just coming back to stick it to the Chargers. Junior is even older than Favre! Olympic swimmer Dara Torres is having surgery that may take 18 months of recovery time. Torres who is 42 is not saying she is finished yet and has not given up on the Olympics of 2012. It is obvious she is coming back to just stick it to…okay I don’t know who she is trying to stick it to. Jeff Jordan who played guard for Illinois and months ago said he was done with basketball to concentrate on studies. He has changed his mind and wants to un retire. Guess he has had some Favre-itis or maybe he has done a Jordan. His dad, Michael changed his mind on retiring a time or two. You know Jeff is coming back just to stick it to Iowa.

This week the Broncos play the Patriots which can only mean one thing. Josh McDaniels went to the Broncos just so he could stick it to the Patriots and Belichick. Patriot fans you must burn all of your Josh McDaniels paraphernalia. He could have been a college coach but no he stays in the AFC all so he could stick it to the Patriots. How much more obvious can these examples be? They are all selfish and do not care about their sports or play because they love their sport. They all just want to stick it to someone. I know what you are thinking about now, you would like to stick it to me.

So let’s move on shall we? Are Cleveland fans still happy they brought the Browns back? One of the true joys of living in Northern Cal is the chance to watch the Raiders nearly every week. The previous line was sarcasm. The Colts need to be looked at as one of the best run organizations in the NFL. They are the Patriots without the cheating. Hey TO how is life in Buffalo? Chad Pennington has been a class act and lets hope for a great recovery. Broncos defeat the Cowboys and the Steelers defeat the Chargers, four words, Wade Phillips, Norv Turner. I love Jon Gruden as an announcer. He is actually an ex-coach that really adds actual insight into the game. Enjoy him this year because he will be back on the field soon. Last item for the day. Is anyone else sick of the little robot football guy that is on the commercial breaks on Fox? I was hoping that he would be dumped this year but no, he is still around. Maybe we should start a write-in campaign or maybe it is just my issue.

One of the things I really enjoy about a professional sport season is the up and down ride we go on. Very few times is there a dominant team that looks to be the favorite at the beginning that is the champ at the end. Many times when the best team at the beginning is the best team at the end there was still much to overcome in the middle. I love it, it makes each season interesting.

So, hey did you catch any of that San Francisco and Minnesota game? Did you find it very, very sad? I don’t know about you but I had to tell my son to avert his eyes. Wait I do not have a son. Well, if I did I would have said son this is too sad to watch, too much pain to bear. Old number four is almost forty and not what he once was. You see him throw a pass down field and then run forty yards to knock All-Pro linebacker Patrick Willis off his feet? Very sad. You know he only ran down there to block Willis because he came back to just stick it to the Packers.

That is no way for a quarterback to act, you know the young qbs in their twenties do not run forty yards to make a block, silly guy. Look away son, number four is running around without a clue and avoiding younger, stronger, bigger guys trying to sack him as he throws a dart in the end zone for the game winning score, so sad. You know he held up that poor Packer team, just held them hostage. He led them to a 13-3 record and then retired and my gosh had the nerve to change his mind and wanted to try it again. He is a rotten human being, so selfish, in it for the fame and money. He came back only to stick it to the Packers. This guy does not love the game. This guy has no love for the game he only plays for the wrong reasons and is so selfish that he won’t let the other quarterbacks get into play as he starts for the 270 something time. The end of the game is the reason I love sports so much.

Despite all of the things that go wrong and off field woes, all of the money pro players make, it still comes down to talent, effort and competing. The players and the fans at the end of that game knew they had witnessed something special and for three hours all the bad stuff is left behind. Favre did not look like a famous multi-millionaire, he looked like an excited kid that loves football.

I know it is a long season and this still may not end well for Favre and the Vikings. I also think there may be some Packer fans hoping he will get hurt, I hope not, never root for injury even if to prove your point. He may very well get injured however it will not be because of his age but because football is so violent. Look at Tebow and Bradford, guys in their twenties, we all think we are indestructible in our early twenties. Indestructible and football do not go together. I am also laughing at the ESPN announcers. So many of them cracked jokes about Favre coming back and how bored they were of the story. Those same people are now hyping the Monday night game with the Packers and the Vikings and the anticipated ratings. Believe me, the ratings will be through the roof. This is so perfect for this game to come up now. You can now admit it. Brett Favre coming back has been great for the NFL and has added even more interest. Last on Favre, love the Sears commercial where he can not make up his mind. Hey, how come there was no commotion about John Smoltz not retiring?

Here are some other of my thoughts about the NFL. Remember when Marc Bulger was considered one of the best quarterbacks in the league? That is what injuries can do to a promising career. By the way, how is the attendance out there is St. Louis? I could not stand his dad Buddy but I love Rex Ryan. Mark Sanchez is an example of a player being ready to grab his opportunity and making the most of it. Remember when Kevin Kolb replaced McNabb last year when Andy Reid benched him? Kolb had an awful half and then the word was out that Kolb could not play. Last week his 24 of 34 for 327 yards and two touchdowns may indicate differently. Good for him.

Congrats to Matt Stafford and the Lions for ending their losing streak which makes me ask. Why is Matt Millen still considered an expert? I am happy any time the Redskins lose because I love to see another expert, Daniel Snyder the skins owner fail. I was happy to see Carson Palmer and the Bengals pull that game out over the Steelers. I saw Troy Polamalu interviewed and what a kick that was. He is so quiet and soft spoken that it does not match the whirling dervish he is on the field. The Jags won over the Texans. Let me see the hands of those who said Maurice Jones-Drew would be a better back than Reggie Bush. At this point it is not even close, Jones-Drew has 46 career touchdowns to Bush’s 21. I always want to see Phillips Rivers of the Chargers play. Josh McDaniels has obviously done some things right in Denver. All of the problems with Cutler and Marshall and they are 3-0. Finally, the Dallas Cowboys are not a very well coached football team right now. It is a long season so that may change but for now, just two words, Wade Phillips.