Well, the Tennessee Titans played a solid game of preseason football on Saturday...for about 58 minutes. A one yard plunge buckled any attempt at a last-string goal line stand and erased any offense the Titans had put up...then a goof-up by a reserve center tossed the Redskins a "double your pleasure" bone to ice any hopes of a comeback. Ouch.
Positive thoughts? Kicking game was pretty good. Defense was outstanding. And we were without our best player on offense. Like a world-class kickboxer in a straight-up boxing match, our offense waddled and staggered through, doing a decent job, though propped up by our surprisingly scrappy defense. And though I want to fault Coach Jeff Fisher for holding Vince Young out, I can't. He violated a team rule, and must be punished by the team as a result. (By the TEAM...you hear that, Goodell?) No player is above the law. (Ask Pac, after his TNA toussle with the Titans' front office.)
All in all, I think we're going to be okay, especially when our rabid dog VY is let out of his cage and turned loose--all Michael Vick jokes aside.
Glad the team went tasteful for the preseason opener, with the reverse 2-tone blue look, light tops over dark pants. I think the alts need to be worn with white pants more than dark blue, though the dark pants don't look bad. Dark-over white I still prefer as the home set, and white over the light blue pants needs to be the permanent road set, no ifs, ands or buts. Matching shoulders to pants just looks good, and puts the dark blue road pants to shame. Monochrome white is weak, and don't even get me started on the blueberry monochrome set. Seeing Big Al in a down stance in the all-blueberries is enough to turn our fans into Ravens fans. (Just kidding. I don't think anything could be that bad.)
Speaking of attrocious uniforms...we come to the slow unveilings of the NHL's new Rbk EDGE jerseys. Nashville's? Ick. Made with the move in mind--the move that now seems less and less likely. The silver shoulders on the white roads are Nashville hockey's answer to the "Titan blue" football shirt--looks great on one person up close, but not so much at a distance (in this case, gets washed out) or on a whole team. I do like the last-minute addition of the "Nashville" wordmark however. The home blue looks...well...not riot-worthy, but still far too templated.
Many of the other teams look decent. The Bruins made a classy update. Columbus actually looks kinda cool now, with the flag-star crest and the explain-the-name alt logo (which in itself is kinda cool also). The Rangers and that red team from Detroit even seem to be true to their looks. Carolina's 'cane-flag trim even appears to have been integrated into its EDGE look, which is surprising as it was implied horizontal striping was iffy at best with the new looks. Washington's retro-retread is cool for traditionalists; I preferred the last set, with the screaming eagle and the Capitol building, but hey--classic sells too. Alt logo is PIMP.
Florida's new look pretty well sucks, being on a similar template to the Preds', but it could be worse. LA looks about the same, and everyone else is speculation at this point. New logos unveiled for SJ (upgrade), OTT (upgrade), and TB (slight upgrade, but they have a similar look to the Rays in terms of wordmarks...so I can't complain). Redesigns in the works for VAN, DAL, PHI, NYI, and STL.
Beckham-Mania appears to be growing weary. The fans are restless and agitated that soccer's Achilles has a thorn in his heel--heaven forbid he nurse an injury, especially when milking $250 mil to cross the pond.
I'm on his bandwagon for two reasons. First reason: He's a good player. Call him the MJ of soccer, if you must. He's not God(dess); he's human. MJ missed shots, Tiger doesn't win every tournament, and Barry Bonds--love him or hate him--doesn't dink MIR every time he sees a pitch. But bottom line--Becks is good. When he's 100%, he's going to excel...and he's going to lead.
Second reason: He's LA Galaxy. My teams are the Gals and the Rapids. He's on one of those squads, vis a vis I automatically like him more than Joe Soccerjockey in New York, Columbus, or Houston. There are exceptions (notable Atlanta Braves castoffs come to mind, like Vinny Castilla, Mark DeRosa, John Rocker...)
And let me add a third reason. He makes people care about MLS. He's selling out stadiums across the country. He's making crusty old Brits and soccer elitists overseas look at MLS. Granted, it's currently with looks of disgust and disdain, but they're actually LOOKING at us with a closer eye now. And as much as it pains me to admit it, he and Posh are getting the names of the Galaxy and its foes on the lips of blue-collar America with their featurettes, reality shows, and ET/People-mag fluff.
The jersey's selling. The kids are biting. The stadiums are filled. The media (though thinning) is still everywhere. And whether it's for his trademark kicks or his about-as-equal trademark smile (never underestimate the spending power of the sexually repressed mothers-of-many; an attractive man with an accent like this can work wonders, much less one with this much fanfare, legacy, power, and wealth)...people are caring.
They are falling asleep waiting or hopping mad that he's not out there playing--since he's not playing, how can he be out there netting 10 goals a game by himself, hmm? But they are paying attention, because no one wants to miss the big moment when Beckham makes a physical impact on soccer in America. (He's already making a general impact, through interest, merch sales, tv opportunities, and just more league money in general.)
And when he does play, slowly but surely, he's going to earn his spot among the MJ's and Willie Mays' of US sports immortality. Not overnight, but in due time.
Currently he's in a cycle of "play too soon, have to rest, repeat." If Yallop thinks he's ready I expect Becks to make an appearence early in the second half of the SuperLiga game against D.C. United. Around the 54th, 55th minute, if he's healthy enough. He might even start the second half, though I doubt it. I'm not entirely convinced he will play Wednesday, however, but we'll wait and see how the million-dollar ankle holds up. He set his sights on Giants Stadium and the New York Red Bulls for his first start, but I'd say hold up on that call. We'll see how he does with United before we make any rash decisions like that.
Worth noting:
How about Edwin Jackson's complete-game shutout on Saturday, giving the Rays their first shutout of the year, 3-0 at the Rangers? A man who improved to 3-11 bringing 99-mph heat in the 9th...in 96-degree Dallas-suburb heat? It's why the games are played and watched, my friends.
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