A lawyer in his spare time, Seth Frankel is a University of Michigan
graduate and hopelessly obsessed Mets fan, who is a newcomer to Sports
Grumblings. He's been hooked on fantasy sports since junior high
school, and before that, Strat-O-Matic baseball.
Rumor has it that Edgar Renteria has signed with the Giants.
Sweet relief. The season is finally over. It was an absolutely brutal year to be a Wolverine, as we slowly transition from a pro-style offense into a spread, running zone-read plays. Even though things will get better starting next year, this year was probably worse than any Michigan fans expected. It was a struggle, and really tested your ability to be a fan, what with constant fumbles, big plays allowed by the defense, and an offense that was inept at best, catastrophically bad at worst. The good thing is now my Saturday's will not be spent torturing myself by watching this team. We've got something like 285 days to go until next year starts, and it can't get here soon enough.
In other college football news, I've been raised to hate the Notre Dame Fighting Irish since birth. My father attended University of Miami, and I grew up during their big Catholics vs. Convicts rivalry. Once I attended Michigan, the hatred just intensified to something close to unhealthy levels. So, despite the 3-9 season, I definitely cracked a smile when Charlie Weis, in his fourth season, managed to lose to a dreadful Syracuse team. In theory, the Fighting Irish should be improving, but they appear to be regressing with each passing year. The natives in South Bend are getting restless – throwing snowballs after the loss. If Weis can't turn it around in 2009, he could very easily be canned, sending the Irish back to square one.
One final point about college football: Oklahoma absolutely thrashed Texas Tech. I expected Oklahoma to win this game, but I must admit, I did not expect them to destroy the Red Raiders by such a margin. Now it gets extremely interesting. Alabama is the clear #1. However, after that, how do you separate the teams? You have Oklahoma, who lost to Texas, but beat Texas Tech. You have Texas, who beat Oklahoma but lost to Texas Tech, and you have Texas Tech who beat Texas but lost to Oklahoma. And waiting in the wings is Florida, who is possibly playing the best football in the country at this point, but also has the worst loss of any of the teams with a loss to Mississippi. And this says nothing of the undefeated BCS-buster Utah squad, or the always dangerous Trojans from USC. Despite Texas' win over Oklahoma, if the Sooners can beat Oklahoma State next week, I tend to think that an out of conference schedule that includes Cincinnati and TCU puts the Sooners over the top. For now, I say: 1) Alabama; 2) Oklahoma; 3) Texas; 4) Florida; 5) USC. Of course, complicating the issue would be if Oklahoma loses to Missouri in the Big 12 championship game, and Florida and USC manage to lose, we could be faced with the highest ranking team left as Texas, a team that did not win its own conference. This was a similar debate we had with Michigan in 2006 regarding a rematch against OSU in the title game. This convoluted paragraph is perfect evidence of why we need a playoff and now.
Turning to the NFL, it's times like these that I wish I did not live in the New York area. With both the Jets and the Giants on a roll, everyone in New York is talking about a Subway Super Bowl, featuring the Jets against the Giants. I dislike both of these teams, so while it is certainly a possibility, I am rooting aggressively against this happening.
The poor lovable Lions took a 17-0 lead against Tampa Bay in the first quarter, only to get thrashed for the rest of the game. With a remaining schedule of the Titans, Vikings, Colts, Saints, and Packers, 0-16 is not out of the question for the Lions, especially with Daunte Culpepper failing to recapture his old magic thus far. It's a sad state of affairs in Detroit.
And finally for this week, the baseball hot stove is beginning to heat up. We've got rumors of an Edgar Renteria signing with the Giants; rumors of Rafael Furcal being offered an enormous contract (at least for someone coming off of back surgery) by the A's; and daily rumors of the Mets in their hunt for a closer (presumably Francisco Rodriguez). The December GM meetings are rapidly approaching, at which point we should see some movement on the marquee free agents like the aforementioned Rodriguez, along with C.C. Sabathia, Manny Ramirez, and Mark Teixeira. For my part, I say Yankees, Dodgers, and Angels, respectively.
A lawyer in his spare time, Seth Frankel is a University of Michigan
graduate and hopelessly obsessed Mets fan, who is a newcomer to Sports
Grumblings. He's been hooked on fantasy sports since junior high
school, and before that, Strat-O-Matic baseball. 