Shouzer

Oh how I’ve missed the great gridiron. Football is probably the thing I miss most about American culture when I am living overseas, and it’s great to have it back in my life again. Unfortunately, the Rams appear to be the worst team in the NFL, and the team of my new city, the Lions, made a rookie quarterback look like a star in his first game. (And they gave up a ridiculous amount of rushing yards.)

The biggest complaint about the Lions has always been that their front office is full of morons, and I think the Rams are suffering from the same condition. When Dick Vermeil was at the helm, things seemed to go very well, but there has been a great decline since he left. My evidence of this is in their draft choices. Let’s look at their 1st round picks for the last five years:

2006: Tye Hill. When he’s not getting called for pass interference he’s getting burned deep.
2005: Alex Barron. I think this quote from Wikipedia says it all:

Some seasons, he has had more false start penalties than other teams’ entire offensive lines. One particularly memorable play happened in the 2005 season on a screen play (at home vs. Jacksonville.) Barron apparently forgot what the play was and stepped in front of Steven Jackson, the intended receiver, to catch the ball for an illegal touching penalty. Some fans have simply dubbed this as “The Play.”

2004: Steven Jackson. His durability is a question mark, but he’s the best player on the team right now.
2003: Jimmy Kennedy….is no longer on the team. He was traded for a 6th round pick. Talk about a good return on your investment.
2002: Robert Thomas. (who?) I had to look him up. He was traded 3 years after being drafted for a Chris Johnson, a former 7th round pick.

Some of their more notable player acquisitions over the last few years:
Dante Hall. He has has-been written all over him.
Will Witherspoon. I’m fairly happy with this one. He’s been decent.
Corey Chavous. Ditto.
Drew Bennett. You could call him a has-been, but that would imply that he was good at some point. He was brought in to help the Rams punch the ball into end zone, but you can only do that when you can make it past the 50.
Randy McMichael. He didn’t do much last season, but he was good on Sunday. Actually, he might have been the only player on the team who played well in week one.

The Rams did have some impressive young talent set to replace their aging skill players. Kevin Curtis, Shaun McDonald, and Mike Furrey added explosiveness and speed at WR. Furrey even showed some aptitude at safety. All three were let go because they didn’t fit with the team’s new mindset. Apparently, they only want old guys who are going to get hurt and run slow.

It was amazing to watch football again though. I even saw quite a bit of college action, which is something I’ve never gotten into before. I was very impressed with East Carolina as I love watching an underdog crush people. It just feels good.

Delhomme’s last second TD pass against San Diego was pretty sweet as well. I don’t know why San Diego struggles to win so much. They have such talent. They seem to be lackadaisical for some reason.

Monday Night Football was great last night as well. What a match-up to start the season with. Green Bay vs. Minnesota. Aaron Rodgers was downright impressive. As was Peterson. Jackson, not so much. I couldn’t stay up for the late game, but it was a blowout anyway.

I was knocked out of my eliminator pool on week 1 for the second year in a row. I picked the Colts, and they failed me. I guess I have yet another reason to hate them.