Took a bit of a break to reel in my thoughts and emotions on everything going on recently. I feel vulnerable and lost and drunk with delusion. Facing harsh realities that will only bury me the more I pursue the things I want. I feel like taking all of my work and giving it to someone else once it’s out there. The closer the production gets to the vision, the closer I feel to danger. The wave that is building is massive, so here’s some sports.
UFC 265
Derrick Lewis is fighting. That’s all. That’s all that needs to be said in order to create some attention. Why? Because if Derrick Lewis is fighting, someone is getting sparked unconscious. He has the most KOs at heavyweight and he’s fighting in front of his home crowd in Houston. I think ‘The Black Beast’ finds a home for his right hand somewhere in the 2nd or 3rd round and he shuts off Gane’s lights. Gane is very young, very technical, however, Lewis is just too damn big. Everyone ends up getting caught. Next, Jose Aldo fights Pedro Munhoz in a fight that puts him one step closer to yet another shot at the bantamweight title. Aldo admits that he bit off more than he could chew by going straight for Yan and I think he’s right. He wasn’t ready at all for Yan’s boxing and sweeps. Aldo’s now going to have 3 fights at bantamweight against top guys which I think will be enough experience for him to challenge the winner of the Aljamain/Yan rematch. Aldo wins by decision. Michael Chiesa at welterweight has been working great for him. He was dangerous at 155, but there’s something about him at 170 that makes it that much more dangerous to make a joke about his mom. Nonetheless, I think Vicente Luque starches him. Luque took some huge shots from Tyron Woodley and kept coming forward. I doubt Chiesa can bring it like that. Luque stops Chiesa early.
NFL
Preseason games have kicked off. I feel the hat on hat football in my veins. There’s something so special about American football for me. I didn’t grow up watching it, but by the time I was a freshman in high school, I was obsessed. I loved the culture of the teams and fans. I loved how structured everything looked on the sidelines. Like the teams were getting ready to go to war. I loved how different coaches approached their goal of winning. I think fantasy football fanned the flame but the result was always going to be the same. I was always destined to drown myself away in beer and wings on Monday, Thursday, and Sunday while men in pads hit each other. Enough romanticizing, here are my picks to win the divisions:
AFC North - This division has really picked itself up in terms of competition over the last 3 years. The Browns aren’t the Browns anymore, the Bengals will have a healthy Joe Burrow, while the Ravens and Steelers seem to be at the same level as last year. I think this is perhaps the toughest division in the league. I’m never that convinced by anything the Browns or Baker do, so I see the Ravens clinching top spot.
AFC South - This division just feels weird. Carson Wentz is a Colt and already hurt. The Texans are some sort of cult that is adamant on not giving their franchise QB any help. The Jaguars picked Trevor Lawrence and brought in Urban Meyer. Coach Marrone will serve better on the defensive end but I’m still not sure what to think about the Jaguars. They’re young and inexperienced which can always end up being exciting. Then there’s the Titans who are actually pretty good and have a hell of a head coach. They’ve only gotten better this off-season and with the inclusion of Don Julio I think they carry the division.
AFC West - Another super-competitive division that has only gotten better since last year. Justin Herbert looked great as a rookie and will surely build on that. The Raiders were a gritty team last year that has had more time to mesh with their style of play. The Broncos, despite having a whirlwind of problems at QB, are always a tough team to play. They can run the rock and play tough defense. Finally, the Chiefs should remain a sort of gold standard for how a team should perform offensively. That’s really all that has to be said about them. I think the Chiefs win the division but with more problems than we would initially expect.
AFC East - The Jets are going to suck but not that much. I think Robert Saleh is the type of guy that can bring some clarity to that organization. The Patriots are in a weird spot when it comes to quarterbacks. They drafted Mac Jones but still have Cam Newton and Stidham. I don’t think that there will be an easy answer to that dilemma which will be highly detrimental to the Patriots season. Bill the GM needs to be validated badly. The Bills are good at football and they scare me as a Chiefs fan. They scare me a lot. The Dolphins should continue to grow on the solid foundation they gave themselves last year with coach Flores and Tua. The Bills steamroll the division.
NFC North - Stafford is gone, Rodgers is back, Kirk Cousins won’t get vaccinated, and Matt Nagy still looks like an asshole with that visor on. I’m officially calling this the most boring division. All I see are 3 mediocre to bad teams and the Packers. I think surly Mr. Rodgers backpacks his team to the playoffs only to crash out once they face real competition. Oh and I do hope Justin Fields is fun to watch but I doubt it.
NFC South - I think the Panthers will be good. I don’t know. Sam Darnold’s head doesn’t look as big and I think that having CMC will really help him. I also think coach Rhule is a tough guy to game plan against and the locker room loves him. The Falcons won’t be good because well Matt Ryan (I just think he’s the worst). I’m not sure what the hell the Saints are going to do at QB but I’m sure Sean Payton will find some way to win. And the Bucs have pretty much the same team as last year so I expect them to win the division.
NFC West - I think the Cardinals are my sleeper super bowl pick. Kyler is electric and they’ve gotten him some more pieces to work with. That being said, I also think the 49ers are set to have a bigger year than most expect. Coach Shanahan flat out knows how scheme up running plays. He’s also got a new QB and I actually think that excites him. He will be able to just program his offense into a fresh mind. The Seahawks will be competitive because of Russ but I do wonder if this is the year he finally gets over that hump and truly performs week-in-week-out as an MVP. I’m not sure if he’s there yet. Last year he just fell off a cliff around week 9. It’s worrying. Finally, the Rams look scary as shit. Something about McVay whispering football sorcery into Stafford’s ear while he slings it under the beautiful California sun makes me very nervous and, yet, very happy. I don’t know, this is an insanely competitive division but the Cardinals win it.
NFC East - Saved the best for last. So much to talk about in this division, aside from how terrible it is. Saquon is back. Lazy eye Doug Pederson is gone from Philly. Fitzpatrick still has a job and Dak is healthy. It definitely won’t be boring but it also won’t be pretty. Cowboys win the division going 9-8.
SOCCER
The French league starts tomorrow and Messi isn’t going back to Barcelona. This summer transfer window has been intensely monotonous at times and then just a rush at others. Messi’s saga is the perfectly strange finale to it all. It’s odd how nothing happened in regards to Mbappe, Haaland, Kane, Cristiano, or Neymar but in the last few weeks, something happened with the Barcelona legend. I really never thought he would leave his home. This all feels so out of the blue. I think he ends up in Paris and that’s about all I can predict. It should create shockwaves in the sport which will result in other transfers occurring. Wishful thinking.