Saper Special

My my my, friends - it's been far too long. A special thanks to one Craig Saper Esquire for getting me off my arse and driving forward....Sorry it's a few days after I was shooting for, but we're here now so let's make the best of it.

So much to cover so fill your coffee, settle in and get ready to have your mind blown.

Lockout Fever:
So we're having a season...we're not having a season......naaaaa, we're having a season. All of us know that this will get settled - we'll say Tuesday-ish so we're good. I won't bore you with all of the same BS speculation you've been reading over the last few weeks, but here's the bottom line - if neither side is very happy, than it's probably a good deal. Our friends in Washington could learn a thing or two from this situation.

Here's what will be interesting - free agency, signing draft picks, installing schemes, yadi, yadi, yadi - all of which takes weeks and weeks and will be condensed into days. Don't be surprised to see some really sloppy play early by some really good teams (and the bad ones). Sydney Rice, Santonio Holmes, Braylon Edwards, Nnamdi Asomugha, etc., etc. - there are some big names out there. Buckled up NFL fans - will be a fun next week or so.

Women's Soccer...wha-wha-wha-whaaat???
That's right - I watched most of the women's world cup final and let me tell you, it was easily the best soccer game I've ever seen. Sorry men's world cup, but this was hands down better. Hugely disappointing loss, but that's sports. My one observation - the US team just looked better than the Japanese. Of course what I don't know about soccer could fill a warehouse or two. Either way, good game. Tough loss. Ridiculous way to lose the game like that too by the way. Oh well..

Just General Rubbish...

• And how about those Mavericks...no need to relive it, but really great series. And don't worry Miami haters, they'll get there's.
  
• Really great British Open this year - way to go old-man Darren Clarke.
  
• I'm not going to read too much into the Tiger Woods firing Stevie Williams thing, but based on what I've been seeing, old Tiger is taking it on the chin in this one. He's still not the most popular guy in the world in that court of public opinion now is he?
  
• Austin cyclists - please God stay off of the curvy, country roads (Fitzhugh, Hwy 12, Hamilton Pool Road, Troutwein, etc.). You are going to get killed and it won't be anyone's fault. I find it idiotic. There are plenty of roads with bike lanes and wide shoulders where you can do your thing, be smart. And please spare me your "share the road" BS - cyclists hijack the road. Period. Look, I'm not anti cyclists, I'm really not - I'm all for adding new bike lanes as the opportunity arises. Plus, cycling keeps people healthy and is good for local businesses. But man, don't be stupid.
  
• Sadly I don't really have anything to say about college football except for this - College Football is, in a way, becoming it's own little figure skating or pro cycling with all of the corruption. Wouldn't it be funny if both schools (Oregon and Auburn) in last year's championship game had to vacate their appearance in the title game? That's the world we now live in. I wonder if the schools care at all - vacating wins DOES NOT mean vacating payouts. Soooo, who really cares? Oh, I have to take down my national title game contender banner, but I can keep the $3 million payout? That's cool.
  
• I will say - Oregon has 22 starters coming back (that's all of them). That's big.
  
• We're like 2 or 3 weeks from pre-season NFL games....so we'll come out of this malaise soon enough and get back to normal.
• It's stupid how hot it is. I'm about done with it.
  

Keep it real everyone.