The 5 Step Drop 10.25.07: Regular Season Week 8
Posted by Javier Zuniga on 10.25.2007
The fires in Southen California put sports in their proper perspective. But does that mean they should cancel the Chargers game? Plus the Pats continue their impressive (and unsportmanlike) run and the rest of the best from NFL's Week 8.
Namaste.
It's been a weird week. Normally I start off this column with a little bragging about my record for predictions this year (now 22-8) and then add some sarcastic comments designed to piss off at least a few of you. But like I said, this has been a weird week.
For those who don't know, more than a dozen wildfires have raged across large parts of Southern California over the last few days. Fueled by an incredibly dry year, and the annual Santa Ana winds, these fires have absolutely devastated the area
As I've mentioned before, I live in Los Angeles. Specifically I live in Newhall, a city in the Santa Clarita Valley which is a suburb of L.A.'s San Fernando Valley. Over the last few days, several large fires (collectively being referred to as the Buckweed Fire) tore apart the SCV. The sky was filled with thick clouds of smoke. Highways were closed. Several bridges were destroyed. More importantly, the fire consumed more than 37,000 acres and also destroyed 15 homes. Thankfully, no deaths have been attributed to the fire, but more than 15,000 residents had to be evacuated
Sunset. Sunday, October 21, 2007
The "Buckweed Fire" over Sierra Highway. A little less than 5 miles from my home.
"Buckweed Fire" as it approaches Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, CA.
My personal experience was one of temporary panic and fear but mainly inconvenience. I spent Sunday at home and there were a few mentions of brush-fires during the early game. By the time the afternoon game had finished, however, looking outside my window was like looking out on a Martian landscape. Smoke hung low in the sky. The ash in the air gave the sun a bizarre red tinge. And just standing outside, I could taste the ash in the air and it was noticeably harder to breathe. By late that evening I had been informed of a "voluntary evacuation" which means that the fire isn't close enough to be an immediate threat, but it probably wouldn't be a bad idea if you packed u all your valuables. A few hours later, (late Sunday or early Monday depending how you look at it) fire came close enough to prompt me to hightail it to my mom's house fifteen minutes south on the highway.
I've only recently moved into my condo. By Monday night, I was kicking myself in the ass for not having more insurance and having to face the very real possibility I was going to lose everything I owned in the world.
Now, things got better. 411mania's Sports Editor Dan Stone clearly isn't asking me to write this column from a charred mound of ashes. The winds died down, more aircraft were deployed, and by Wednesday Santa Clarita Valley was back to normal. I went home and found out I had lost power for a few hours. But other than some soot that needed to be swept up and replacing the groceries that went bad in my fridge, the worst thing I [i]really[/i] had to put up with was arguing with my mom on Monday night because I wanted to watch the game and she was busy having a heart attack because Donnie Osmond was fainting on Dancing with the Stars. So I got off easy.
Boy did I get off easy.
Satellite Map of L.A.'s affected areas.
As I write this, the numbers had begun to be reported by a variety of news agencies. The LA Times reported that the fires had burned more than 420 thousand acres – about 650 square miles – and destroyed over 1,100 homes. More than 800,000 people had been displaced or evacuated. Some were estimating that the final tally would be well over a million people would be temporarily evacuated or lose their home outright before everything is said and done. In his first address after the fires, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger estimated that the fires would end up doing more than a [b] BILLION [/b] dollars in damages.
Destroyed homes in San Diego's Rancho Bernardo neighborhood.
Assessing the damage.
Fires over Camp Pendleton outside of San Diego.
Numbers aside, the personal tragedy is beyond estimation. Sadly, much like with Katrina, many people will never recover form this. There are entire neighborhoods that look as if they've been hit with napalm. Local news agencies have all run footage of Los Angelenos, desperate in the face of losing their worldly good, refusing to leave their homes after being asked to evacuate, pleading with firefighter because their homes were everything they had in the world. To put in perspective just how much damage was done here in Southern California over the last few days: more people had been evacuated in 48 hours out of the Sam Diego area alone than had been evacuated out of New Orleans during the entire Katrina tragedy.
That's just really hard to wrap your mind around.
And San Diego is still fighting. The city was hit far harder than any other area of So Cal. The numbers: at least 500 homes and 100 businesses had been destroyed. One hundred thousand acres were burned. Dozens of schools were closed hospitals had to be evacuated by bus. Thankfully, again, no deaths were officially attributed to the fire. But in San Diego alone 250,000 people were evacuated.
And, as silly and trivial as it feels to talk about sports at a time like this, that's where this story connects to the NFL.
Morning outside Qualcomm.
Evacuees lined up for rations inside Chargers' hime field.
Some 8,000 of those evacuees have taken shelter at the San Diego Chargers' home field, Qualcomm Stadium. Under a smoke-filled sky, volunteers hand out water, food, and any other necessary perishables to those displaced by the fires. Many actual members of the Chargers had to deal with the fires as well. Roughly 40 players, coaches, and staff members had to evacuate, including Head Coach Norv Turner (Go ahead and make your jokes about the Chargers being better off if Norv hadn't made it out, San Diego San. If you must. But if you, you're going straight to hell. ) San Diego RB LaDanian Tomlinson had to evacuate his home with his family at 4 a.m. Monday morning. [i]"I could see the fires coming," said Tomlinson, the reigning NFL MVP. "You wake up at 4 o'clock in the morning. You get the phone call, 'You need to evacuate.' I see the sky was orange, so I'm like, 'It's serious. You just adapt to it and deal with it. Everybody is. Look at all those people over there at the stadium."[/i]
San Diego QB Philip Rivers was also evacuated and, at least publicly, tried to keep a good frame of mind: [i]"All our families are safe. That's what's most important. Obviously we feel for the people that were more directly affected. There is going to be a game this week. We've got to put all the focus there. From what I gather, we've all been able to do that."[/i]
The team itself has several scheduling issues to deal with. Due to the poor air quality, the team had to practice this week in the Arizona Cardinals' facility in Tempe (Yes, they have a practice facility. And yes, I know it doesn't show.) The Chargers are scheduled to host the Houston Texans this week, but that won't happen now (obviously!) because of the poor air quality and those ‘pesky' evacuees. Now, four years ago, during similar circumstances, San Diego moved a Monday night game to the Cardinals' stadium. But that option isn't available this year even though the Cards have a bye week because the stadium is hosting a motorcycle show all weekend. Seriously.
So now, as reported by nfl.com, the options include playing the game in Los Angeles, at Arizona State's Sun Devil Stadium -- the Cardinals' former home -- at Texas Stadium in Dallas or Reliant Stadium, the Texans' home field. The last option is probably the least popular, especially after the negative response by fans to the "home game" the New Orleans Saints played against the Giants at the Meadowlands.
But there are some very public figures that have actually said that the game should be cancelled entirely.Why?
I know a football game is a totally unimportant and relatively trivial matter in comparison to everything the people have suffered through this week. But pro sports is one of those things that people can lose themselves in; candy for the brain at a time when people have to feel mentally exhausted. Even for those whose homes weren't destroyed, you've spent a week straight watching your neighbors and family and friends and friend-of friends having their lives turned inside out. That takes its toll.
Professional sports are a form of escapism. And we need an escape.
They played games only a few days after 9/11. It was deeply emotional and many people called it a moment of healing, almost as if it was a way to tell the terrorists "We're still standing." The Monday Night game in the Superdome last season was a MAJOR sign of the rebuilding in New Orleans. And that feeling of rejuvenation in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina propelled the Saints and their fans throughout a magical season.
So why not play now?
The Charger and their fans –hell all the people in San Diego – deserve the break. If not for a day, then maybe for a few hours. They deserve to have something to cheer for. They deserve to have something to pay attention to besides the carnage around them. They deserve to invite their neighbors over for a BBQ. They deserve to clap. They deserve to high-five. They deserve to drink a beer and call their coach an idiot and to think abut something besides the brush-fires. Even if they don't care about football.
They deserve to smile.
They have the rest of their lives to take up the serious matter of recovering and re-building.
This weekend, they deserve to feel normal.
Here are this week's picks:
Sunday, October 28 (?), Houston Texans (3-4) vs. San Diego Chargers (3-3) @ ???: It's going to be very hard to rot against them for the rest of the year. The Chargers win.
Sunday, October 28, Washington Redskins (4-2) @ New England Patriots (7-0) : This is an easy pick as well. Pats win. Not only has their offense looked virtually unstoppable, but their defense has been ridiculously impressive despite being nicked up for most of the year. Well, LB Adalius Thomas is getting healthy. And DL Richard Seymour (arguably their best defensive player) is back practicing this week. New England is favor by an unheard of 16 points this week. That may not be enough.
For the rest of the season, especially against punching bags like the Skins, the most entertaining part may be watching how they score the "F*** You TD." I'm stealing the idea from ESPN.com's Bill Simmons. Essentially, either because of some quest for perfection, a heightened sense of competition, sheer spite because of the reaction to the staling of the Jets' defensive signals, or maybe because Bill Belichick is a giant douche bag, the Pats are on a mission to destroy their opponents.
Not just win. They want to utterly humiliate them.
Which is why, in every game this year they have score a TD at the end of their game even when the game was well in hand and the TD was totally unnecessary. Football's equivalent of knocking a guy down and then stomping on their groin. Again, from Simmons:
Week 1 at New York Jets (38-14): 1-yard TD by Heath Evans, 1:58 left.
Week 2 vs. San Diego (38-14): 3-yard TD by Sammy Morris, 3:18 left.
Week 3 vs. Buffalo (38-7): 45-yard TD catch by Randy Moss, 10:22 left.
Week 4 at Cincy (34-17): 14-yard TD catch by Randy Moss, 3:18 left.
Week 5 vs. Cleveland (34-17): 15-yard fumble return TD by Randall Gay, 0:42 left.(Important note: This came one play after the Pats failed to convert the "Eff You TD" on fourth-and-goal from Cleveland's 4 when Brady just missed Kyle Brady in the end zone.)
Week 6 vs. Dallas (48-27): 1-yard TD run by Kyle Eckel, 0:19 left.
And they outdid themselves against Miami. The 'Phins returned an interception late for a meaningless TD against back-up QB Matt Cassel. So Bill, despite still being up by three TDs, stuck Tom Brady back in the game. Brady proceeded to march the Pats down the field and throw his [i]sixth TD of the game [/i] to put his team back up by 28. Well, then.
So what's next? An onside kick when his team is up by 35? Faking a knee to kill the clock and then throwing a late TD? Maybe Bill could use his time-outs even when he's up 21 and force a punt with less than a minute left? Maybe they can start running Tom out there with a blindfold to prove a point? The possibilities are endless.
The Pats may be playing with a totally unnecessary chip on their shoulder. But at least they're fun to root against.
Sunday, October 28, Indianapolis Colts (6-0) @ Carolina Panthers (4-2): Keeping it brief: Peyton is a machine. The Panthers are physical and their defense is underrated. But Manning is a cyborg and the Panthers offense is horribly inconsistent. No way the Colts trip up the week before their super showdown with the Pats. Colts win.
Monday, October 29, Green Bay Packers (5-1) @ Denver Broncos (3-3): The Packers have used the same game-plan since Day 1 this season. Throw the ball. A lot. The Broncos are still doing it with smoke and mirrors. Despite their impressive won over the Steelers, their defense is giving up too many points, even with the best set of corners in the league. In order to beat the Pack, you have to slow down Favre and make Brett makes plays in traffic. I just don't think the Broncos can do that. Packers win.
Sunday, October 28, Detroit Lions (4-2) @ Chicago Bears (3-4): Thanks to a much needed big drive from their QB Brian Griese, the Bears are still alive in the NCF North. And their defense played better. Chicago has always been a house of horrors for Detroit and now, even if they make it a shoot-out, it looks like Da bears might be able to keep pace. Keep an eye out on this Chicago team. They're going to win this game. Their defense has underperformed. But if that unit plays to its potential, and with the improved QB play, and if the running game ever gets on track, this will be the best 4-4 team in the NFL.
That's it. I apologize for the abbreviated previews. But as I said way back at the beginning, it's been a weird week.
