The one where we lament over Tiger's tragedy

When the dust settles and the facts of the incident become clear to all, the impact of December 2009 in the world of sports culture will be unable to be understated. Only Jordan had such an impact on sports from such a young age. And even he didn’t find worldwide success as quickly as Tiger did.

In 1996 Tiger was a boy challenging men in the most grueling golfing event of the year. How many times in life do we say, "That kid will be the greatest ever," and it's actually true? Nearly never, but with Tiger it was.

In the midst of steroids and Vick and Kobe and Phelps’ bong...we had Tiger. Even Lance Armstrong faced accusations and a broken household.

He won with class and without controversy. Quite simply, he was (is?) the best.

Was it a lie? Did he let us down? Was the pressure we placed on him fair? He always owned Sunday, and was seemingly never rattled. But was he really striving under the pressure, or just simply keeping from cracking? Did we let him down? He didn’t ask to be our sports savior, were we really offered anything more than the best he could do on the course?

He never cheated the game. This wasn’t Rose’s or Jordan’s gambling. There will be no investigation by the PGA or the FBI. It speaks to how we held Tiger, that he is being so indicted for not a legal issue, but a moral one. Who knows how many women he slept with or how many will come forward? It isn’t important now; once that number hit more than one it was all over. Now each one still matters, is still significant, but they matter less and less.

But should we fans be surprised? The notion of a hero striving for perfection and falling just short is one that is as old as human history. Aristotle coined the term hamartia, referring to the tragic flaw of Grecian heroes. There was always one imperfection, no matter how small or discrete, that would prevent a hero from being anything more than just one of us…from being human.

Perhaps that is what it boiled down to. We were all just shocked that it turned out Tiger Woods was as human as the rest of us. He does stupid shit that he probably knows he shouldn’t. He does things without thinking about consequence. These things are natural and integral part of the human experience.

The next chapter of this saga remains largely unseen. Woods has made his path to greatness even that much difficult. He must continue to chase history under an even larger magnifying glass than before. The fans will be relentless. Everyone will be watching and waiting to see—just as on nearly every summer Sunday afternoon—whether Tiger will persevere and overcome or will he crumble and fail as he rarely does.

If You Want REAL Winners; Listen to Me, Not Baum

Over the first few weeks of the season I would glance at my good pal Baum's "can't miss picks of the week" and at times I would just find myself laughing. How do you pick against Tom Brady and Peyton Manning in the same week? Those picks might even be worse than the Cleveland Browns performances so far this year. Baum, stop holding out hope. Derek Anderson is NOT the savior.

Enter me. I mentioned to Baum earlier in the year that we should make this competitive. He said no. He was scared. And after an 8-12 start on his part, I can understand why. Beginning this week, I will give you MY 5 picks of the week. Now, I'm not going to give you any guarantees or anything but I can promise you I won't do as bad as Baum. If I do, then I'll just blame the swine flu or Eric Mangina.

1. Virginia Tech (-17) at Duke
Coach Beamer and crew have played well all season except for maybe two quarters. They looked like they pulled all the pieces together last week when they absolutely clobbered Miami 31-7. Don't look for them to fall asleep against Duke this week. Virginia Tech covers the 17 points.

2. USC (-5) at California
Who would have thought that both of these teams are playing in a "must-win" game the first weekend in October? Well this game could very well be one of those situations. California got absolutely rocked last week by Oregon on the road. USC has looked great at times and bad at times. Losing to Washington and struggling in the 2nd half against Washington State. Look for the game to be close but my gut tells me that this is the worst USC team we have seen in Pete Carroll's tenure. However, USC still finds a way to win by 7.

3. Cincinnati Bengals (-6) at Cleveland Browns
This game actually scares me a little bit and I'll tell you why. By no mistake am I saying that the Browns are any good, but they have a chance to win this game. And by chance I mean, as much of a chance as Baum has at beating me this week. The thing that scares me is that it is hard to swallow the fact that the Bengals are legitimate. I want to believe it just seems too much like an oxymoron to me. Derek Anderson will try his best to give the Browns a chance to win. I'm going against my gut here, and am going to say..... Take the Bengals, AND the points.

4. New York Giants (-9) at Kansas City Chiefs
I know I'm picking a lot of road favorites to cover, which statistically is not a favorable choice, but the reality here is the Chiefs are almost as bad as the Browns. They got ran over last week by a Philadelphia Eagles team that is not as good as the New York Giants, especially on defense. Look for the Giants to continue their fast start and improve to 4-0. Giants win by at least 10.

5. Green Bay Packers (+3 1/2) at Minnesota Vikings
As if we aren't all intrigued by this matchup. Brett Favre finally gets his chance to play his former beloved Green Bay Packers. I'm emotionally invested in this game as I'm sure a lot of the fans that will be watching are. This is a toss up. Favre was miraculous last week with his 4th quarter comeback. How will he handle the nerves, and the pressure to win this game? Aaron Rodgers also has a lot to prove in this, did-we-forget, huge divisional rivalry. I'm pulling for Brett Favre to have a performance of the ages, but I'm betting on Green Bay to cover the points.


So there you have it folks. My introductory picks of the season. All I really care about is that I get more correct than Baum does, cause he stinks and he's a Browns fan. FHL.com.

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The Warehouse Fantasy Football Standings: Week 2!

Mary-- you're lucky.

Ben-- you stink.


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NFL Update: What Have We Learned After 2 Weeks?

It's hard to believe, but two weeks of the NFL season have already come and gone. What have we learned? Let's dig into it....

#1 - Drew Brees is the real deal. Through two games he has thrown for 9 touchdowns with only 1 interception, while completing a ridiculous 75% of his pass attempts. The question now becomes, are the Saints legit? They have put up 45+ points in both of their games this season. Will anyone's defense be able to stop this offense?! Saints are going to be a factor late in the season.

#2 - Tom Brady might be feeling the effects of his knee injury after all. Not only that, but I think the Patriots formula is finally slowing down. For years they have been notorious for signing post-prime players and rejuvenating their careers. The players cost less, and usually performed at a higher level than they did with their previous team. However, I think this formula is slowly going to cost the Patriots some games this year. Their defense is old and slow, and their offense won't be the same until Brady stops thinking about his injury. Don't count the Patriots out just yet, but there should be cause for concern.

#3 - Tony Gonzalez was a major pick up for the Atlanta Falcons. The Atlanta Falcons were an 11-5 team last season with a rookie quarterback and a rookie head coach. After upgrading with a guy like Tony Gonzalez, it give Matty Ice the perfect check down guy. He is arguably the best tight end to play the game and could possibly be the piece that puts the Falcons over the top. So far it looks like the Falcons are a surefire lock to end the streak of never having back to back winning seasons. Falcons are legit.

#4 - Brett Favre is doing exactly what he needs to be doing for the Minnesota Vikings. Favre was brought back to manage a game. His main job is to turn around and hand the ball off to Adrian Peterson, who is the best back in the game. In passing situations, he is protecting the ball and not being his traditional gunslinger self. This has prove very effective for him and the Vikings who are looking solid at 2-0 in a fairly inconsistent division. Props to my boy Favre, glad to see him back on the field doing well.

#5 - Are the San Francisco 49ers legit? Mike Singletary is proving to be a pretty solid head coach. Their defense is playing well enough to keep them in every game as they have gotten off to a 2-0 start to the season; without Michael Crabtree. Koudos to that organization as they finally seem to be turning in the right direction. They have a legitimate shot at winning the NFC West with all of the other teams being fairly inconsistent.

Other quick comments...

-The Browns and Lions are bad. Period.

-Chad Ochocinco is still the man. Loved the Lambeau leap this past week.

-Sleve Slaton was a horrible fantasy draft pick so far.

-The Cowboys new stadium is INSANE. Love it.



That's all for now...

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