“The only reason for a bee that I know of is making honey.” Winnie the Pooh, A. A. Milne
It’s early on this Monday morning but thanks to daylight savings time, dawn is already spreading its early light. The fuzzy snores. The leaves remaining are colorful and still, and the whirr of Monday morning traffic is beginning to strengthen as humans dart around in all directions rushing little ones to school, themselves to work, and stopping off at their favorite coffee store somewhere in between. Mine is called Sunset. The people are fantastic.
The weekend is behind us and it’s time to get about the week. Duties call. They always do.
But–at the end of this week we get sports. Football to be specific. Well, today really. Monday Night Football kicks at 1:00 as Everton visit Sunderland and then the oblong version of MNF kicks at Primetime. Somebody is playing somebody…but for the sake of being informative, it’s Arizona and Dallas. I’ll take Marvin Harrison to have 23 to 24 fantasy points at least.
Then, there will be winless UMass taking on always dangerous Akron tomorrow night. Riveting.
But–like I said, after these ‘so-so’ matchups and the long work week has concluded, it will be time for football.
So, what do I love, or how am I approaching the weekend?
THURSDAY
Strong AAC Matchup as UTSA play at South Florida. This is a niche game that I’m not sure will garner any kind of attention, but I think it’s a good matchup. UTSA can certainly play and USF love to score points. Should be a nice sampler for the weekend but perhaps only enjoyed by a few.
FRIDAY
Regular readers will know so say it with me, Friday Nights are reserved for Friday Night Lights. Saturday is for the college game. That said, the weirdos pulling the strings have put two ranked matchups on this week and both games feature teams I love/ Like this season.
The Hometown Tigers play at 9PM Eastern against Tulane on Espn and Southern Cal plays Northwestern at the same time on Fox. Two games that a guy like me would love to see on a Saturday. I mean it’s 5-3 Northwestern playing 6-2 Southern Cal and 6-2 Tulane playing 7-1 Memphis. These are strong matchups that do not deserve to be cast aside to Friday nights where families have plans together and the High School lads are in action. Many football fans will not see these games in their entirety.
Again, Harvard vs Princeton at 5:00 and New Mexico @ San Jose St at 8:30 is about all I believe should be on a Friday night. Just for the record Harvard play Columbia at 5:00 on Espn2. I’ve watched more than a few Friday afternoon Ivy League matchups since I’ve lived out West. The first half of them anyway.
To conclude this tangent and get back to what I love, STOP putting good games on Friday Night. Just stop. Let College Football Saturday return.
FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS
Herriman play Mountain Ridge, Corner hosts Syracuse, Lone Peak travels up North to Davis, and American Fork is at Skyridge. These are only the 6A matchups.
Louie Hamilton coming off his six TD performance will look to do more of the same for his West High squad as they host Bountiful in the 5A Quarterfinals. Brighton at Fremont is also a sneaky good matchup. The number one player in the state may be Knoxville bound, but he’s not done with his Friday Night Light’s journey just yet.
Well, unless Tennessee gets a random Friday Night Game thrown on the schedule. Then he would still be playing Friday Night football.
–Pick a game and enjoy. Find one near you and enjoy. If you are looking for a good game in your area, you probably have one within an hour drive. I’d love to help find you a good game in your area if you need some help.
The High School lads deserve support in this sport.
SATURDAY
10:30 Arsenal @ Sunderland
Game of the day. Must watch in the truest since of the phrase. My days! I can’t wait for this game.
NOON
- Unbeaten BYU @ Texas Tech on ABC
- Indiana @ Penn St on FOX
- Maryland @ Rutgers at Noon:30 on FS1
- Eastern Washington @ Montana at 1:00 on Espn+
AFTERNOON
- Oregon @ Iowa at 1:30 on CBS
PRIMETIME
- Wake Forest @ Virginia on Espn
Georgia, Texas A&M and Alabama are in action, but all should win their games as they are playing opponents well beneath their level. Anything could happen. Miss St, Missouri, or LSU could pull the massive upset but it’s far from likely. I’ll tune in for a Georgia game when they play an opponent worth watching. They are Final Four bound in my mind, so either I’m right and I watch them when they get there to play a real matchup, or I’m wrong and I didn’t want to watch them anyways.
As I’ve said before, the beautiful nature of the Saturday game is that these are just kids and anything can happen, so I’m not saying Miss St won’t knock off the number two team in the land. What I am saying is that I won’t be intentionally watching it. If Georgia, Bama, and A&M win by at least one, nothing changes in the rankings. The goal of the season is to make the twelve.
I’ll just about guarantee that these three teams should have no problem winning against their inferior opponents by at least one. Once they are in the twelve, the real top shelf matchups will begin to be served, and I’ll be right there watching these SEC giants.
So, a semi-light Saturday but I’ll take that every now and then.
SUNDAY
“Well cut my legs off and call me shorty.” There is an NFL game on at 7:30 that I’ll be tracking.
- Future MVP Daniel Jones vs Atlanta in Berlin at 7:30 on NFL Network
A bounce back game is in order for the former Duke Blue Devil.
- Vrabel at Tampa Bay
- Jaxson Dart @ Chicago
1PM Memphis Time
- AAC Lady Soccer Championship Game on ESPNU
- Hoping for the Lady Hometown Tigers to be one of the teams.
The End.
And that’s about it.
Let’s have some fun this week and even more fun watching the sport we love this weekend: football. Both round and oblong. Action across the globe this week.
Arsenal play in Prague tomorrow but more on that later.
Until then,
Find the Humor and Keep on Movin’
Whit W.