With the start of football season came some surprising turns of events.  It looks like the PAC 10 is for real and the BIG 12 is just plain average. 

When the season started Stanford, USC and Oregon were all ranked but only one higher than 10 while the Big 12 featured Oklahoma, Texas and Nebraska all preseason top 10.  We’ve learned that Oklahoma is undefeated but possibly shouldn’t be after nearly losing to Utah st and Air Force.  Texas got pummeled by UCLA who was beaten by Stanford 35-0.  Nebraska actually looks pretty good but the depth of the conference isn’t what it used to be.

The PAC 10 meanwhile is getting respect but not like they should.  USC is undefeated but can’t seem to move up in the polls despite being arguably the most talented team in the country.  Stanford is killing people as they head into conference play coming off a drubbing of Notre Dame.  Oregon is doing what they always do to start the year and that is put up a ton of points and make everyone think they can’t be beaten.  Arizona is tough as well and playing as well as they ever have.

The season gets tough now for most teams as they start to play each other in conference so the shine will come off of some.  We’ll see.

Several years ago the Bears reached the Super Bowl and were beaten by Peyton Manning and the Colts.  It was a great season for Bears fans but something just always seemed a bit off.  It seemed like they could just have easily lost every game as win most games like they did.  This season is ringing a lot the same way.

The Bears lucked out for a win against the LIONS on a play where Calvin Johnson scored a touchdown but didn’t get proper credit for it.  Then the Bears played the Cowboys in Dallas and beat them while playing a close game but they gave up 400 yards passing.  Last night the Bears beat the Packers by 3 points in a game where the Packers threw for 400 yards and shot themselves in the foot constantly with penalties and the Bears luck out with a field goal with 4 seconds left. 

My point is that good teams tend to find strange ways to win games.  The Bears are getting the bounces right now and playing very well on defense despite giving up so many passing yards.  Sure it will even out a little bit over the season but usually teams that win like this continue to througout an NFL season.  The Bears are not as good as there record indicates but they are for real.

It’s that time again where the schedules start to get a little tougher for a lot of teams as they creep into conference play.  Heres’ some of the games to keep an eye on this weekend.

1.  Alabama vs Arkansas:  This is the game that I’ve looked forward to all season to be honest with you.  Arkansas has the talent to play with and beat Alabama this weekend.  They have a couple things going for them in that they will be playing at home and they have a veteran quarterback who can make plays.  Ryan Mallett is a pro qb in the making with a gun for an arm.  He should be able to throw the ball and keep Arkansas in the game.  If it is close late then you have to favor the hogs playing at home.

2.  Boise st vs Oregon st:  This is just about it for Boise.  This is the toughest non conference school left on their schedule so they need to win and win big.  It was actually really bad for Boise that Virginia Tech lost to James Madison because they play such a soft schedule in conference that they need all their non conference wins to mean something and for those teams to play well.  The more losses for Oregon st and Virginia Tech the more rungs down the ladder that Boise st falls when the BCS rankings start to come out.

If Vegas were to have set odds on these 2 teams starting 0-4 combined they would’ve had a hard time finding any takers and I still can’t believe it when writing about it.  The Vikings and Cowboys are both 0-2.

The Cowboys are the Yankees of pro football with their new stadium, unlimited budget and ability to bring players to Dallas.  They feature several all pro talents on offense and defense.  They seemingly have it all, except a win.  Tony Romo threw for nearly 400 yards the other day against the Bears but only because they couldn’t run the ball at all.  The Bears wanted to force Dallas into being 1 dimensional and they did just that. 

With the Vikings, it was forseeable that they would lose to New ORleans, but not Miami at home.  Brett Favre looked his age and threw interceptions in the red zone twice and also not being able to make the key play down the stretch several times when his team really needed him.  IT was telling to me that when the Vikings got close to the goal line late they didn’t even think of throwing the ball as if the confidence in the ‘old man’ was lost.  Favre is quickly losing his luster and you know he didn’t think he’d go out like this.  Clearly he is done after this year and maybe sooner if the team doesn’t quickly turn it around.

Both these teams are going to win some games and I think both will probably still make the playoffs.  2 games is equivalent to 20 in baseball or 1/8th of a season so they have time but not if they start to implode on the inside and get after each other with doubt and selfishness.

What a great football game.  Boise st jumped out to the early lead and I thought it might be a whooping but Virginia Tech is a good team.  I love Tyrod Taylor and think he is going to be a pro.  He has great footwork and can fling the ball effortlessly 60 yards. 

What people don’t understand completely about Boise is that they beat the good teams.  They are great at preparing and the talent they have is underrated.  I’m serious.  Kellen Moore is a legit top 5 heisman candidate and does a great job of reading the defense and then taking what the other team gives him.  Athletically he is no match for Taylor but as a leader Taylor is no match for him.  When the game was on the line and it was 4th and 11 the camera flashed to Taylor who had his head down and he was shaking it.  That’s not what anyone wants to see coming back to the huddle.  Moore simply had that look like his team was not going to lose and they didn’t.  He’s a great player.

Chris Peterson is a great coach and does an amazing job.  He is no longer and underdog and he still gets his teams to play as if they are.  They came out prepared and on fire and almost ran away with the game early.  Peterson has this team in great BCS contention after 1 game and really wants Virginia Tech to go undefeated the rest of the way. 

I love college football and this game really showed me why.

What a great night yesterday.  Sure I was interrupted 10 times while trying to watch the Utah vs Pitt game and I had to pause it for hours while I helped kids with homework but that’s what being a parent is about I guess.  Either way, the game was great and got the season off to an amazing start.

Utah won 27-24 but the game had some of what you want to see every game.  We saw some hard hits, some great players and some tough coaching calls.  Kyle Whittingham, Utah’s coach, iced the PItt kicker twice with one working and one backfiring on him.  I was sure that was going to come back to haunt him but it didn’t.  Utah intercepted the first pass of overtime and you could see Pitt just deflate as Utah ran the ball to the 3 yard line before a game ending field goal. 

What was missed on the game was the Utah defense against Dion Lewis of Pitt.  Lewis is a great running back who ran for nearly 1800 yards as a freshman last year.  He was held to 75 yards on 25 carries.  The impressive part though is that 18 of those yards came on his first carry of the game. 

In other games, the only other one I really watched was Hawaii and Usc.  I was very anxious to see how Lane Kiffin would coach and how his team would play.  They have some serious talent at USC but Hawaii was a defensive joke.  I could assemble 11 guys and score against those guys but USC will be very good this year.  USC struggled on defense against the pass but a lot of teams will against the run and shoot of Hawaii.

It was a fun exciting way to start the season and get us all geared up for Saturday.

My nephew is a health nut.  He’s 15 years old and a very gifted football player for his age.  He tries to eat healthy foods and is always working out so he can play well on the football field and earn a college scholarship.  He’s also been drinking certain kinds of VitaminWater for as long as I can remember.  He has his favorite flavors and can recite all the different things that they do for him.  I never took the time to actually read the label until recently and I’m a little stunned at what i found.

To make matters worse then I got online after hearing about a suit filed by a non profit organization claiming that VitaminWater is a hoax and that the drink really provides no real health benefits at all.  To make matters worse Coca Cola’s lawyers (VitaminWater is made by Coke) had this to say  “no consumer could reasonably be misled into thinking vitaminwater was a healthy beverage.” What is that?  The name of the drink is VitaminWater.  If I’m eating a ‘brownie’ I know exactly what to expect.  If I order a ‘brownie’ and someone brings me soup then I’m obviously going to be confused.  VitaminWater should be water with Vitamins in it.  If it isn’t that then change the name of the product because it is completely misleading.  My nephew has been spending good money on sugar water for years now. 

Coke has been shot down in their efforts to have the case thrown out and recently a judge stated that the product could easily be misconstrued by consumers into believing that the product contains Vitamins and Water.

Gatorade has never claimed to be a health drink, only to help you avoid dehydration and put electrolytes back in your body quicker.  People have grown to trust the product over the years and it contains plenty of sugar as well.  VitaminWater is soon going to be going away or completely revamping what they offer.  This is a complete bait and switch and something should be down to fix it.