Football season is finally here.  It starts this Thursday.  It seems like an eternity between the time the Superbowl ends and the regular season starts.  The pro-bowl and the pre-season don’t count, either.  This is the time when all the work spent during the off-season is either going to pay off, or another huge disappointments will befall the city of your choice.  Will there be another unlikely giant killer (pun intended) like the Giants of New York from last season?  Could it possibly happen again?  And is there a team that is as daunting as the Patriots were last year?  I don’t think that they could be as good as they were last season, in fact I don’t see any team going undefeated this year.  I would almost say that it was impossible, although I didn’t think that the Pat’s could do what they did last season.  Oh, to be so close and not be able to finish.  I still smile at the thought of the hail-mary like pass being snagged from mid air in front of the Pat’s cornerback, the gasps of millions of New England fans echoing across the country.  It was great.  Every time I see the re-play on ESPN,  it brings joy to my heart.  Lets just hope that it does happen to be another one of those great NFL seasons that will have at least one moment that will be talked about for years to come.

The Olympics ended just over a week ago, and it seems like they never even happened.  The Olympic games crash into your life every four years like a drunk cousin at a family reunion, and then disappear just as quickly as they arrived and like your drunk cousin, your hard pressed to even recall a name.  Sure, this year there happened to be a Phelps, but, really how often does that happen?  I think back over all the games that I’ve watched since I was a kid and I can only remember a few names, and I’m sure most people can only remember a few names over the history of the games.  Jesse Owens, Mark Spitz, Greg Louganis and only because he hit his head, and maybe Carl Lewis.  Oh yeah, and don’t forget the little gymnastic girl with the hurt ankle and the creepy images of her being carried off the floor by that creepy old guy.  I think that was in Atlanta.  And that brings up another point, as in what is the point of having the games in your city.  Does it really help the city?  Does anyone even remember what city the 1996 games were held in besides the athletes?  The only thing more forgettable than the summer Olympics are the winter Olympics.  I don’t even want to start on them.

The Tampa Bay Rays are the surprise team of the season.  I wonder if the name change(formally Devil Rays) had anything to do with it.  Or possibly it was the emergence of a young pitching staff with the second best ERA 3.71 in the majors.  It could also be the hot bats of the young up and coming superstars like B.J Upton and Evan Longoria.  Or maybe the timely hitting with players on base.  Not to mention the new found swagger and confidence that comes with winning.  They are currently leading their division with a record of 79-50, second best in the entire league, just the Cubs have a better record.  They also boast the second best home record of 47-18, again, just behind the Cubs.  After more than a decade of losing, it just might be the Rays year.  And if your anything like me, you like to see new, fresh talent succeed against the super powers of the game like Boston and New York which the Rays have always had the misfortune of playing behind since their inception.  Oh, how the mighty fall and I would love to see a Tampa Bay-Chicago world series.  Unfortunately, for the Cubs, I’d have to pull for the Rays.

Is it just me, or can anybody else not wait for Hockey season to start?  It feels like years since I’ve had my hockey fix and Playstation hockey isn’t cutting it for me anymore.  I just hope that the 2009 season will be as exciting and engrossing as last season.  Watching a young Pittsburgh Penguins team show up in the playoffs and nearly do the impossible, almost knocking the Red Wings back down a peg or two made for a riveting climax to an already stellar season.  Here in North Carolina, as you could imagine, Hockey is not the hot topic.  It’s all Nascar and collage basketball around here, with a little bit of NFL (if the Panthers happen to be any good) just to mix things up a bit.  But if you want to get the latest on Hockey, you have to go online, you sure as heck won’t find anything on the local channels unless the Hurricanes happen to be playing.  If they are not in the playoffs, they won’t even report the scores around here.  I just can’t wait for the ice to freeze and for the skates to be laced up and to watch some real athletes start playing for the most difficult to attain and most illustrious trophy in all of sports- the Stanley Cup.