Preseaon NFL rant

Training camps open up later this month and soon the NFL season will commence. It will be another season for me to root against Payton Manning, hate Herm Edwards, watch the Texans miss the playoffs and wait another year to go piss in the confluence of the rivers in Pittsburgh. Oh yeah and figure out how to make a Joe Pisarcik reference each week.

It will also be another season in which old man Ford tries to figure out how to fire Matt Millen from beyond. Maybe Tony Romo will remember to start his vacation after the season. And just maybe the Patriots will remember if you're going to lose a one game all year it shouldn't be the Super Bowl.

Being a Texans fan hasn't been easy but I scan the NFL landscape and rejoice I'm not a Dolphins or Bears fan. The Bear quarterback situation is a disaster. Only Miami fans can look at the Bears quarterbacks and be envious.

It's a shame Brett Farve didn't ride off into the sunset. At first I thought it was the media stirring up all the unretirement mess. Green Bay should have taken the high road and given Farve his release. Farve is a fierce competator and last year showed he can still be a good player. Realistically though where can Farve step into the starters role and make the team a serious Super Bowl contender? Minnesota comes to mind. Combine Farve with Adrian Peterson and the Vikings defense and the Vikes become a instant threat to win the NFC. However, I don't see Green Bay releasing him to play for a division archrival. The only other teams where Farve might be a good fit are Washington or Buffalo.

As much as it pains me to admit, Dallas is the class of the NFC but the Giants and Vikings are half a step behind. In the AFC it's the Pats and Colts with the Chargers and Jaguars a hair below.

Pittsburgh just has too many questions to be considered an elite team anymore. Age and free agency have caught up with the O-line. Denver and Jacksonville showed the Steelers can be pushed around. The Steelers can still win it all but it is a tough road with the Pats, Colts, Chargers and Jags standing in the way. An interesting side show will be if the Rooney brothers turn the ownership issue into an old man pissing match. As much as I like chaos, I'd hate to see the Rooneys no longer majority owners of the Steelers.

As usual I save my Texans comments for last. The hype is that the this might be the year the Texans make a playoff push. I don't see it happening it all. First of all the Colts and Jags reside in the same division. The Titans will have a big say on how the Texans season will go. The offensive line remains a big question mark. Matt Schaub needs to stay upright all season an running back needs to emerge. The defense has a nice base of young players in Mario Williams, Amobi Akoye and DeMeco Ryans but Dunta Robinson's injury keeps the second player off the field until November. To top it off the first five games are brutal. The first game is at Pittsburgh, first home game with the Ravens and on the road for games @Tennessee and @Jacksonville and the home to face the Colts. A 1-4 start isn't unrealistic and 0-5 is quiet possible.

The early predictions range from 7-9 to 9-7 with a rare 10-6. I'm jumping in on the early prediction business. My bold fearless prognostication is that they go 7-9. They start the season 1-4 with the Ravens the lone victory. The will split the season with the Jags and Titans with two losses to the Colts. Here's to hoping I'm wrong and they make the playoffs.

For the third season I'll be on my perch near the twenty five yard line yelling and wishing bad things on the opponent. In spite of my prediction....BRING ON THE STEELER!!!! That hatred still burns from the Oiler days.

Spurs & Penguins, Steve Chacon

I'm slowly coming out of my self imposed sports moratorium. It's been my way of the Spurs not winning the NBA title. It's my way of the Pens losing in the Stanley Cup finals. It's my way of coping on how really bad the Astros are. As NFL camps open up, I'll emerge and enmesh myself in the sports I truly love.

Briefly on the Spurs and Pens
You know how far the Spurs have come as a franchise when a season is considered a failure when they don't win the NBA title. Winning four titles will do that to a team and it's fans. That's four more titles than most teams can claim. Obviously expectations will have to come down sometime. Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobilli are on the downside of their careers. The window for a title is probably two, maybe three, years unless the team can add some top notch bona fide youth. I've heard fans and message boards talk about Plan 2010. Seems they believe the team has a plan to reload in 2010 and continue the success. That remains to be seen.

On the other end of the spectrum are the Pittsburgh Penguins. They boast youth and scoring in Sidney Crosby and resigned Evgeni Malikin. For the Pens the future looks bright. The plowed throw the Eastern Conference in the playoffs before being brushed aside in the Finals. While it was a disappointing result, it was also an unexpected run. I figured they were a year or two plus a defender and a top notch goalie from nailing it all down. The are obviously on the right track and hope they stay on course. Here's to hoping for a Stanley Cup dynasty.

Steve Chacon
My two cents. By now it's old news what happened in the Astros club house. Steve Chacon is history and Ed Wade has egg on his face. Chacon was already unhappy about his demotion to the bullpen and was agitating for a trade through his agent.

Obviously Chacon's behavior is unacceptable but Wade bares responsibility too. Wade lost his cool and told Chacon that he needed to "go look in the mirror." According the Ken Rosenthal, Ed Wade already has a reputation for his temper from his Philly days. Wade is supposed to be a team lead and should have taken the high road in this. He should have let Chacon throw his tantrum and then later suspend him for insubordination. Chacon had no intention of going to manager Cecil Cooper's office. That should have been the nail in his coffin and not the physical confrontation.