First, in my college football picks, I was 4-2. Not that great, really--because even though I picked Arizona State to beat Stanford, I thought it would be a much closer game than it turned out to be (ASU won 41-17).
One big question going into this coming week: is Ohio State really ready to do battle with the mighty Trojans, given the Buckeyes' poor performance against Ohio U.?
Another: when was the last time both Michigan and Notre Dame both appeared to be in such shaky shape going into their annual showdown? (unfortunately, it was last year!)
On the pro football side, the big story of course is Tom Brady--knee injury, officially out for the year.
You know, it's strange--but didn't you almost sense impending trouble for the Patriots?
I recorded and watched (thanks to the NFL Network!) parts of all 4 of the Pats' pre-season games late this summer. They didn't look good, at all, in any of them; and you had the feeling that they really hadn't recovered from last year's shock of blowing the Super Bowl and losing out on the chance of a perfect 19-0 season. Chances like that don't come around often. I suspect the team knew it. Because in football, injuries come. On offense, they didn't affect the Patriots much last season.
But this year, they have. Didn't you almost get the feeling that you just knew the Pats were in for some bad luck? Well, it's come. It's a shame. Tom Brady has been one of the NFL's best. The Patriots still have a lot of weapons. But Brady made that offense go; without him, the team has got to be a long shot to make it to the Super Bowl, at best. Which just goes to show you: when you have a shot at immortality, as the Patriots had, last season, you better grab it.
Because those chances don't come around often. It almost surely won't this year.
