By Joe Torosian —
“Call out the instigators
Because there’s something in the air
We’ve got to get together sooner or later
Because the revolution’s here, and you know it’s right
And you know that it’s right…”—Thunderclap Newman
Kick it!
I come to this new NFL season, and the Fall, with concerns. I think Matt Stafford will do well with the Rams, the Chargers are going to be better, and UCLA—well, isn’t everybody a UCLA fan now?
(If I were a long-time UCLA fan, I’d tell these Born-Again Bruins there are zero seats available on the bandwagon.)
The Dodgers are banged up and might have to play a one-game playoff. The Lakers have signed every resident at Del Boca Vista Phase IV… there’s so much in sports to be optimistic about.
…But…
It feels like a problem is brewing.
I just don’t see how we can have another weekend, like this past one with packed stadiums and 95+% zero masks, and continue to make people jump through hoops everywhere else.
You’re going to mandate the vaccination to go to a restaurant, but you can’t control a crowd of 75,000. Make the argument that all these people are vaccinated…but when vaccinated, NFL players like Ryan Tannehill, Zack Martin, and Jamison Crowder test positive for COVID-19–what are you going to do?
Oscar De La Hoya—fully vaccinated—ends up in the hospital.
And you can’t blame Cole Beasley for all of this.
I’m kind of curious what the NFL is going to do—with full stadiums—when it’s not Tannehill, Martin, and Crowder… But Patrick Mahomes, Tom Brady, and Aaron Donald–fully vaccinated–testing positive for COVID-19.
What arguments will we be making if there’s another college weekend like this past weekend and then doubled up with NFL stadiums open? What truly can you mandate…and for what reason?
The horse is out of the barn.
It sounds like if logic is involved—and there is very little logic top to bottom, all the way around in our world today—masking and vaccination will have to be a personal choice.
It’s become clearer, and clearer vaccination status means nothing. You’re going to get COVID-19. But it’s the condition of your lungs, the size of your waist, that will decide whether it is deadly or not.
It would be a shame to see another shutdown…and I think really tough to justify.
Back to college football…
I love watching highlights of Kansas State…Its uniforms are close enough to give me an old LA Express fix. I’ll always have a soft spot for the USFL. (Even this weird version they plan on rolling out next year.)
I saw my first UCLA game when John Sciarra was playing quarterback. I’ve never seen them as physical on both sides of the ball as they were against LSU. It was the oddest thing I’d ever seen. It was so out of context to see the SEC representative get pushed around by those dudes from Westwood.
I’m genuinely happy for all of us long-suffering UCLA fans…
(I’m just going to leave that right there…Let me know if you catch it.)
And I never gave it much thought before…but I like Joel Klatt. His call of the Penn State-Wisconsin game was great. I liked the “Jump Around” at Camp Randall. If not for my plantar fasciitis, I’d have joined them.
Saw three games this weekend—But I missed Florida State-Notre Dame.
TOP Four College Playoff Teams
(Based on what I’ve seen)
1—Ohio State—If C.J. Stroud is good, the Buckeyes will be good.
2—UCLA—People will be mad, but I’m still not sold on DTR.
3—Penn State—Tough, tough, tough…Great? IDK.
4—Wisconsin—The Badgers need a better quarterback.
(Outside Looking In)
5–LSU–They have to be better than this, right? The bummer for Coach O is he doesn’t seem to have much of a future behind the microphone or in front of the camera.
6–Minnesota—Mohamed Ibrahim’s coming-out party was also his last farewell. That was sad.
***
My fantasy baseball team this season has lost:
Mike Trout, Francisco Lindor, Clayton Kershaw, Trevor Bauer, Ronald Acuna, and A.J. Pollock. I’ve also suffered through horrid seasons by Blake Snell, Michael Conforto, and Yoan Moncada.
So, yeah, I’m ready for football.
But this has me smiling…
After how well the Dodgers have played this year, could you imagine them having to take the field in a one-game playoff? …And the Mets are only 4.5 games out of the last Wild Card spot.
I can only dream about the sort of bad things people would say to me if the Mets got to play the Dodgers in a one-game playoff and then beat the Bums.
Plantar fasciitis, or not that would get me to do the Jump Around.
The Dude abides…
1,190
2 Corinthians 10:5
Joe T. is the author of “Tangent Dreams: A High School Football Novel” … “Temple City & The Company of The Ages” … “The Dead Bug Tales” … “The Dark Norm” & “FaithViews for Storm Riders”…all five available through Amazon.com.
www.JoeTorosian.com
jtbank1964@yahoo.com
Follow Joe on Twitter @joet13b
Instagram: @joet13b
Be sure to read:
College Hoops Breakdown—by Riley Saxon
The Urena Express—by Steven Urena (MLB)
From The RamCave–by Joe T. (NFL) Every Friday.
