Midnight Snacks

JA here, up late watching the Nadal-Fish US Open match.

While I’m no tennis super-fan, I really enjoy watching the sport when I can, and every time I see it I add it to the list of sports I wish I could watch more of (hockey is number one, then it’s a free-for-all including most Olympic sports, lacrosse, hurling and even some motorsports).

Night owl sport fans like me thrive on this stuff. I’ll pretty much watch any sport, live or recorded, on after midnight. That being said, I usually expect it to be Pac-10 football or WCC basketball not something from New York. The match just ended at 2:10 A.M. Eastern, certainly an anomaly

So, I am an advocate of the start times of events creeping back. With the Internet, you no longer must wait until the day after to find the score, and it’s very enjoyable, so if your event needs more coverage (this means you, sports I mentioned earlier) perhaps you’ll find the late-nite is just what you need.

Hopefully, this makes sense in the morning.

-JA

AJ’s Week 1 Ruminations

First of all, I’d like to ask all those who predicted Texas A&M to win eight-plus games this season to please smash their crystal balls. Thank you.

Now for my reflections on the opening weekend of the best season of the year:

-Several upsets occurred in week 1, including Arkansas State’s victory over the Aggies (at Kyle Field), UCLA and QB Kevin Craft stunning Tennessee (who probably won’t be traveling West of the Mississippi for a season opener anytime soon), and East Carolina over Virginia Tech in Charlotte. How ironic that special teams won the game for the Pirates over the program that is most renowned for them with their “Beamer Ball” style. Although I think what really lost VT the game was the fact that they’re still playing “Glennon Ball.” Tyrod Taylor might not want to get too comfortable on the sidelines…

-We have the answer to “Will Clemson be a National Title dark horse this season?”

-Two of my breakout picks for this season (USC’s Joe McKnight and the Wisconsin Badgers) looked very strong in their season debuts. However tests loom for both in week 3, when Ohio State visits the Colessium and the Badgers go to Fresno (who looked solid in their dismantling of Rutgers.)

-BRETT FAVRE’s alma mater, Southern Mississippi, looked strong in their victory over Louisiana-Lafayette’s Ragin’ Cajuns. No word yet on whether FAVRE will seek a comeback to college football. The last I heard, he was still enjoying his retirement after the 2006 NFL season.

-Texas Tech looked less than stellar against Eastern Washington in their season opener. The defense was unimpressive, Donnie Carona was miles from ordinary (and not in a good way), and the Red Raiders had 18 penalties. The players and coaches know that Tech still has a long way to go to earn their high preseason ranking. One bright spot from the game against the Eagles was the strong start to WR Eric Morris’ Heisman campaign.

-Hot picks for next week: Mississippi over Wake Forest (you read it here) and the “Over” on the number of Ben Mauk eligibility requests. Until next week, get excited for Notre Dame (once again NOT rebuilding) hosting San Diego State.

-AJ

U-S-A U-S-A

I love the Olympics. Fellow Gent AJ, not as big of a fan as I am, and I see where he’s coming from, but something about watching the best in the world compete really does it for me. Especially satisfying is seeing the US win at pretty much anything. As I write this two of our synchronized diving members narrowly missed the medal stand. AJ and I hope to enter our Sports Gents synchronized diving team in the 2012 Olympics in London.

To the world of American soccer, where the Olympic team is attempting to miss the next round (though they are in good shape to go through) and the LA Galaxy have unloaded their crew. LA is pretty much always a circus, so we’ll see.

Michael Phelps eats more than anyone I’ve ever seen, according his autobiography and an NBC feature. It’s hard to remember that he was only 19 when he won 6 gold medals in Athens. Phelps goes for his 3rd of this year’s Olympics in an hour or so.

Meanwhile, AJ’s boy Knowshon Moreno is splashed across ESPN.com’s front page with a story on the target Georgia will have on them as the number one team. Pre-season polls usually end up meaning nothing, but there are some interesting new teams popping into top 10s and 20s. I would elaborate, but women’s volleyball is on, sadly both American women are married.

Packers are on Monday Night (pre-season) Football. Farve didn’t even get the start, I thought he’d at least get to play the first series. I guess they are saving him for the season.

August Rush

Get it? It’s a movie, and there are a lot of things going on in the world of sports.

Let’s get to it, the Olympics are nearly upon us (although the women’s soccer has already started, not an auspicious start for Teams USA). One must believe that these Games will be one for the ages, hopefully more for the results, but more likely for all the craziness that will inevitably occur in China.

Men’s soccer starts tomorrow, US Vs. Japan at 4 a.m. Thankfully, with digital recording and NBC online coverage I won’t actually need to watch the game live (though I might).

And while the NBA superstars are in the Far East, the full NBA schedule is out. It’s chock full of marquee match-ups the league hope are not marred by injuries to superstars. Here in the Metroplex anyone who bothered to scroll all the way to the bottom was informed that the Mavericks season finale would be a home game against Houston…in Boston, MA. The location has since been pulled off of the site, but no word yet if anything is amiss or if it was just an odd publication error.

Speaking of Mavs home games outside of Dallas, March 2nd will be the first opportunity for fans to road trip and watch the Mavs play the TBAs.

More to come including, but not limited to, football previews (both American and Association (soccer)), baseball discussion, dissection of one of Brett Farve’s beard hairs, Tri-Nations rugby, Olympic stuff and whatever else we feel like.

-JA

Under Construction…

The Sports Gents will provide thoughts and opinions on a variety of sports topics. Stay tuned for our exciting new developments.

-AJ and Jon

The Sports Gents