Ritualised Warfare... the sports thread!

[naut]

Andrew Walker from Carlton Football Club (my team) taking what will probably be AFL 2011 Mark of the Year

http://youtu.be/ERTcZV7uTFU

Best thing about it is that it was against our arch rivals Essendon who we absolutely flogged 

[Goose]

That is just fucking epic regardless of what sport it is.

[r00]

that guy got tooled big time.  hahaha

[Stariki]

It was indeed wonderful! The best feature of our great game... to see the big men fly high!

Seeing as how a couple of you enjoyed that, I searched out a couple more clips for your entertainment

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlkSHIJkilc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lc2uammtLQ0

Enjoy! 

[rokken like dokken]

AFL is totally awesome, I wish games were easier to see here in Canada. 

NFL is back!  You are all going to think I am insane but I expect big things from the Lions as long as Stafford can stay healthy.  No lie, I had a dream Stafford was going to take them to the Super Bowl. 

[sin]

I don't even think Stafford necessarily needs to stay healthy, since they won 4 games to close out the season without him last year, including a win over the eventual champion and division rival Packers (granted, without Rodgers, but still...).  The x-factor for the Lions this year is if their inconsistent secondary can hold receivers long enough for that tits D-line to get the pass rush on and sack opposing QBs.  I think Detroit's receiving corps is strong enough that whichever quarterback gets thrown in there will play well.

[rokken like dokken]

Agreed - their secondary and O-line are probably their biggest liabilities this year.  It's just astounding to see the Lions competently run; I couldn't believe they were so close in the 90s but Fontes wanted a quarterback carousel or something. 

[kristin]

Ocho Cinco. Wow.

Woodhead got his bell rung big time last week, they say that they're going to let him rest the remainder of the preseason.

[sin]

Just wrapped up my NFL Fantasy Draft.  I had an opportunity to draft Arian Foster, but I passed due to his hamstring injury.  Good god I hope that doesn't come back to bite me on the ass.

My first four rounds:

1st: LeSean McCoy
2nd Maurice Jones-Drew (everyone was taking QBs in the first round, allowing me to glut myself on RBs)
3rd: Ben Roethlisberger
4th: Larry Fitzgerald (Larry, don't FUCK me this year like you FUCKED me last year.  I believe in you...)

3 QBs taken in the first round (Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees, Tom Brady), and I didn't take one until the 3rd.  Hope that works out.  Managed to snag Matthew Stafford in the 9th round, as, IF he's healthy, he might actually be one of the top QBs in the NFL this year.  Drafted Vernon Davis AGAIN, for the 3rd straight year, as he's always seemed to come up big for me in crucial weeks.

edit:  I REALLY wanted to take Ray Rice instead of McCoy, and I'm worried I may have "outsmarted" myself.  I liked McCoy's chances against the defenses in that division better than Rice's, but I immediately started second guessing myself as soon as I made the pick.

[rokken like dokken]

We all know that preseason is a perfect look at the season to come, so the Rams and Lions look really really good this year. 

Serious post: the Rams and Lions actually do look good this year. 

[sin]

Really.  I can't recall a preseason game that got so much analysis as Detroit vs. New England.

I thought the Lions looked pretty sharp in that game, but I thought the main stat (buried under Staffords 2 touchdowns, and the defenses hits/hurries/sacks vs. Brady) was overlooked:

Ford Field was sold out that night.  FORD FIELD.  IN DETROIT.  WAS SOLD OUT.  When is the last time that happened in the REGULAR season?  This is the first season since Barry retired that the city of Detroit is excited about their team, and the first season in forever that the team has been excited to suit up for the Lions.

[rokken like dokken]

Ford Field was sold out?  Wow.  Seriously though, I actually think these Lions almost look better, as a team, than the 90s Lions did, although it's hard to say.  Certainly Scott Mitchell was good for a year, and I'm not 100% sure Johnson-Burleson is a better tandem than Moore-Perriman.  But Sanders had to carry that team and it's just...not easy to carry a team on one marquee running back, even as good as Sanders.   

Hell, the Bears didn't have a hope in hell of contending for the Super Bowl when their only superstar was Payton; they needed that whole 46 defense too. 

[sin]

Yeah, with LeShoure's injury, I'm a little apprehensive about Jahvid Best's ability to carry that running game, which is why I'm tempering expectations.  There's a lot of people outside of the organization picking them to go deep in the playoffs, but I'm sticking by my original 8-8 prediction.  I would be ECSTATIC at a 9-7 finish.  I'm just worried that a 9-7 non-playoff season (in THAT division?!) will seem like a failure due to unrealistic expectations.  They're moving in the right direction, and that's all I ask for. 

I'm a bigger Iowa Hawkeyes fan than any pro-team, and I showed patience during Ferentz's first 3 seasons when a lot of people wanted to fire him, and my patience paid off when they went 11-1 in his fourth season and lost to USC in the Orange Bowl.  I think Jim Schwartz "gets it," and if the fans and management can have patience, I think he's capable of molding the Lions into contenders.

[rokken like dokken]

Yeah, I'd be surprised at anything better than 8-8 or 9-7.  Not that I think they'll be that bad, mind you, but the NFC North looks like maybe the stiffest division in the league this year.  NFC South should be super-competitive too, mind you, but not quite like NFC North. 

I have confidence in Schwartz; unlike Fontes, he understands the value of consistent quarterbacking, and has been in charge of some really great defenses with Tennessee. 

[rokken like dokken]

On another note, man; the way people talk about Michael Vick, you'd think there was no guy who wore no. 12 for the Eagles and was a dual-threat quarterback, named Randall Cunningham.  His 1990 season was crazy:

-no truly excellent receivers (ever heard of Calvin Williams and Fred Barnett?)
-He was the top rusher on his team with 942 yards
-His top receiving target was a fullback named Keith Byars
-3466 yards, 30 TD, 13 INT, 58.3% completion

No wonder he was a one-man offense in Tecmo Super Bowl.